Broken Stadium Theory

Arcee has been spending a great deal of time in and around what appears to be an old mecha-soccer stadium in the Rust Narrows. Once a proud place where sports fans could gather and enjoy sports, it's fallen into disrepair and abandonment. However, it would seem that Arcee's working very hard (as a team of one!), to restore the place, bit by bit. It's a very slow process, but she's proud of the progress that's been made.
Now, she emerges from the stadium to take a break and reflect upon all the work she's done. She could probably be doing something more important, such as training or patrolling, but when she's got any sort of free time, she's out here.
Hot Rod would like to pretend that there is nothing that happens in Nyon without him knowing. That's so wrong it barely even deserves touching on how wrong it is, but /in this case/, he has actually heard what Arcee is up to. "Okay, but why a stadium?" he says instead of saying something reasonable like 'Hello, Arcee!' or 'How are you?' or anything like that. He's standing not far from the entry as she emerges, studying the work she's done. It's unlikely he's been here long. It's not like him to stand by quietly, after all. He flashes her a grin with the question, which is curious rather than demanding.
Tonight, however, Arcee will not find herself alone. Standing in the entry tunnel for the home team, a mecha ball comes rolling out of stadium, and shortly behind comes a tall red and blue mech. "I did not mean to intrude, Arcee," Orion offers with a faint smile in his voice as he comes out of the tunnel from seeming the shadows to being right there. "but I had heard of your construction here and wanted to come see for myself." He holds out his hands to prove he's unarmed, after all she's still with Sentinel's bots and he knows of the orders to arrest him on sight. 
As Hot Rod makes his demand, the bot actually offers a small chuckle. "Have you not ever had a hobby or a vision that you just have to carry out, Hot Rod?" he suggests. "This is apparently Arcee's idea that she wanted to seek and carry out. Instead of questioning her on it, I would think it would be a good chance to teambuild amongst the Nyons in light of the recent events of losing their police force and needing guidance and some way to fill in the gaps. Would you not agree?" 
Around the stadium area are a number of small projects in progress: anti-rust treatment is being used on all the light fixtures and the lights themselves have been replaced, including the ones in the scoreboard; the field has mostly been scrubbed clean, and a lot of repainting is in progress.
"You know, Rod, other than wanting to see mechs enjoy this stadium again, I really couldn't tell you. I've been through some stressful things recently, and I guess it's just something I see as a positive way to give something fun back to an area that could use a little cheer," Arcee admits...right around the time the mechaball comes rolling onto the field. She glances over at Pax in complete surprise.
"Wow, now there's someone I haven't seen in a while!" Arcee exclaims. "And...you're right, basically, it's just a hobby, it's something to do that has nothing to do with...conflict." Or Starscream.
"I -- well, sure, but I was just teasing. She knows I don't really mean it, right?" Hot Rod asks, glancing back at her with a somewhat sheepish edge to his smile. "I wasn't really /questioning/ her questioning her," he says, emphasis clarifying good will and cheerful intent. He refrains from further acts of obnoxiousness. Pax has performed one minor miracle already.
Glancing away, Hot Rod looks over the repairs and repainting, studying now-clean corners. His breath cycles in a long vent, and he looks to Arcee with a smile. "Yeah. I know what that's like, 'Cee. I hope no one's giving you too hard a time. People in Nyon don't always like to see Autobots around."
Orion looks more amused than anything. "I am sure she did not see any ill-intent on your behalf, Hot Rod. And if anything, I was just offering clarification for her position. How have you been, Arcee?" the rebellious Autobot offers as he steps further onto the stadium grounds. He realizes the need for caution these cycles. "And I trust that there will be no mention to Sentinel Prime or Prowl of my presence, Arcee?" he asks as he turns his attention to Hot Rod. 
"I heard that you decided to transfer the former Nyon police to the Autobots. Excellent call." the bot offers. "But now that there is noone here to protect and serve the citizens, what's your next step?" he asks Hot Rod in particular, hoping to pick his net on the next step of his plan. Hopefully it wasn't: 
1) Start a rebellion. 
2) Overthrow and capture the corrupt police. 
3) ???? 
4) Profit! 
"I know you wouldn't," Arcee grins at Hot Rod, "But I'll bet your friend would, she didn't like me very much when I came around last time. Seriously though, I think she's a keeper. Maybe even the best recruit you've made so far. And I think the only mechs who have given me a hard time about this project were using the dugout as a makeshift shelter when I got here, but I told them they can stay."
"I've been well, Pax. I've missed working with you but...all the same, I understand why you left. Only one thing keeps me there these days. And believe me, I've thought about leaving a number of times. It's getting more difficult, that much is a given." Arcee frowns as this particular paradox gives her a lot of cognitive dissonance.
"Protect and serve." Hot Rod's eyes flash, vibrant and bright. "If they'd been /protecting/ or /serving/ the citizens instead of their own interests--!" He's not hard to wind up on that topic. His feelings when it comes to Nyon's citizens are an ember that's forever a breath away from flame.
Heaving his shoulders in a broad shrug, Hot Rod says, "I wish there had been a better call. I don't trust any Senate system to really bring justice. But it wasn't my place, either." Expression a little uneasy, he says, "Not a responsibility I'm out for." He doesn't want to take over anything, that much is clear. "I've been working with getting the leaders of Nyon's neighborhoods to organize their own watches. It's really just a matter of formalizing what was already in place."
Hot Rod's features brighten as he looks back at Arcee. "Yeah, well. Autobot. A lot of people see that, and they see the Senate, and every bad thing they've done. I'll put word out that people should leave you alone. I already told my people--" And for someone who doesn't want responsibility, doesn't want to take over, YOU CAN'T MAKE HIM BE IN CHARGE OF PEOPLE ... well, that 'my people' comes a little easier each time. "--that they can trust you."
"I never said you made the wrong call, Hot Rod. I was just curious as to your next step." Orion Pax gently corrects the quick to rush to anger one as the large mech frowns. "I see. However, as Arcee stated, you seem to have a former member of the police working for you now? Perhaps she could assist you in helping secure the polity as well." A suggestion is offered to Hot Rod as he nods his head, hands settling against his hips as he listens to the interaction between Arcee and Hot Rod. 
He turns his attention back to Arcee. "I would offer you to join me and my small group, Arcee, but I do not believe that you would want to place yourself on the same list that I am on with Sentinel Prime." Orion points out gently. "I need for those that are still willing to work within the system to continue to try to. There must be a need to change, and for that change to come from within makes it more powerful, but do continue to exercise caution. This project is a good way to keep yourself from falling too far gone from what is currently occuring." 
"I try to be very quiet and keep to this business right here, and most of the time no one even asks. I've only had one mech question what was going on and I've been at this for a while," Arcee tells Rod with a grin. "I think that's the case a lot of the time: just act like you're supposed to be somewhere, and the rest just kind of falls into place. -- Oops, wait. That didn't work for you. But I think in your case, it was just the wrong place at the wrong time." Right away, she can't help but remember Rod getting 'caught' at the state funeral. OOPS.
Arcee nods in agreement with Pax. "Right, I don't think that there are very many who are really in agreement with Sentinel...not as many as he'd like to think there are. I'll be as careful as I can be. As long as Prowl is still there, though, I'll...I'll probably still be there. I don't think I'll be leaving as long as he's there." She knows that probably sounds like a strange reason, but it is what it is. "But don't worry, far as he goes, I never saw you OR Rod today."
"It just makes me mad, everything they did, how they abused the trust of all those people relying on them." Hot Rod shakes his head, short and harsh, with a twitch of his shoulders that quivers right up to the tip of his spoiler. With obvious effort, he sets it to the side.
"Arse is great, but she's one person, and Nyon's a whole city." Hot Rod admits, "Even all of us, there aren't enough of us. And it's not something we're suited for." His features relax into a wry sort of smirk. What they /are/ suited for is better left unexamined, perhaps. "We can't secure Nyon. But we can help Nyon secure itself. It's just an extension of what we've been doing the whole time."
Glancing at Arcee, Hot Rod says, "This is me not saying anything bad about Prowl. You're welcome." He opens his hands and dips his head in a sweeping gesture: behold his grand and generous present of silence. Ish. Sort of, anyway.
"What I was suggesting, Hot Rod, was perhaps to allow this.. Arse you said her name was? That is an interesting name, but such is the choices made, I suppose. Anyway, allow Arse, if she has previous experience, recruit a new force so that the pressure is not on you to be responsible alone for it." Orion offers helpfully to the little flaming bot of shakiness. Folding his arms across his chest, he sets his feet, and nods. "Exactly. Let her lead the charge in security - you lead the charge in making sure that the message gets out that things have changed here in Nyon." he points out. 
There's a glance over to Arcee. "Arcee may be using this as her hobby, but eventually she is going to wish to show it off. Perhaps you two could work together in hosting a few games - or just to bring the citizens here to show them that change can be made if we work together instead of working against each other." he comments as he looks around and gestures with his arm towards the whole of the stadium. "This can be just the first step in revitalizing the whole of Nyon, if you are willing to work with those that want to work with you, Hot Rod. And I know that is something that you are capable of. As is Arcee. Even with the..." An amused noise escapes from Pax, "..Prowl issue." 
"I know, I know you don't like Prowl, hardly anyone does, that's how he wants it," Arcee says, looking amused at Hot Rod's attempts not to launch into a tirade against Prowl. "But THANK YOU, yes."
Then, Arcee suddenly laughs, looking over at Pax. "I think her name's 'Arsenal'," she says. "As someone who has a...um, a similar problem with nicknames, a quick word of advice...don't call a femme that." She looks very amused, so she means it in good fun.
Hot Rod gives Arcee a brilliant smile in answer to her thanks. "I try," he says, all false modesty. He's so kind and generous and good to her.
Glancing at Pax, Hot Rod echoes the rest of the missing name: "Yeah, Arsenal." Looking at Arcee in confusion, he asks, "What's wrong with 'Cee?"
The nickname talk distracts him only a moment. Hot Rod looks quite serious as he explains to Orion Pax, "That's what we've been doing, recruiting people neighborhood by neighborhood. A lot of them don't have training, so we've been -- teaching them." His hesitation is obvious. He shrugs. "Arming them," he admits. As though that weren't /blazingly/ obvious.
Looking past the others to the stadium, Hot Rod studies it. "I don't know. I mean -- yeah, of course, anything that helps Nyon, I'm there for it. If people can look at something and see hope for a future instead of a ruin from the past, I'm /there/. But."
"But?" Orion gently prompts Hot Rod, trying to get him to lay all the cards out on the table to be addressed. At the mention of the rebels being armed, the bot's optics furrow slightly in a frown but he dismisses it for now. There will be time to address that eventually. 
"Speak with Arsenal, and see if that is what she would like to do. At worst, she'll not agree to it." Orion offers a shrug of his shoulders as he glances between the two of them. 
"Give it a chance," Arcee insists to Rod. "It might just catch on. I mean, opera houses are still open, the live theatre and schools still carry on despite the turmoil, so...why not a simple game of mecha-soccer?"
As Orion encourages Rod to work with Arsenal, the pink femme idly 'foots' around the ball as if going through the motions to pass it to another player.
Hot Rod glances over at Orion and smiles with another dip of his shoulders. "Getting people to work together might be a lot to ask of a ballgame." Looking at Arcee, he nods. "Of course I'll give it a chance. It sounds like fun. And I'll help you get it ready, too, if you want. It'll be good for Nyon." The rest of his 'buts' he leaves unsaid, and just lifts his foot at the toes in a silent cue to pass in his direction.
Orion nods satisfactorly. "Small steps lead to larger steps, Hot Rod." the Autobot offers before he steps back and glances skywards. "It seems that the hour is drawing late. I should return to the others. I am glad to see that things are going well." he offers as he turns his attention to the path that he came from. "I will be in touch again soon. Sooner than last time." A slight promise to that as the former police chief turns and heads back into the tunnel that he came out of before protoforming to his vehicle mode and heading back towards his hideout. 
"Nice to see you again, Pax! I hope we can talk later," Arcee says as Orion prepares to depart.
Arcee then scoots the soccer ball in Hot Rod's direction, passing it over. Did he even know how to play?
"Later, Pax." Hot Rod's a little distracted making sure to say goodbye and watching as Orion Pax heads off. "I'll see you later! Say hi to the others! Small steps!"
(Nerd.) The ball bounces off the side of Hot Rod's foot -- not because of any flub in Arcee's pass, but because he's too busy watching his ~hero~. "Wups." He glances back down, reaching out to tap the ball with his foot before it can roll away, then nudge it back to her. "So there are rules, right? Because around here, we probably play a rougher version than you do in Iacon."
"Well back in the time when the league was still around, yeah, it was a little more formal than street ball. But it's playable any old way when it's informal," Arcee notes with a grin. "The best games are the informal ones, of course, but the league games were fairly amazing. Have you ever run across Captain Springer of the Tritorian Guard? Probably not on your 'favorites' list now, but there was a time when he was a league champion."
"I think he tried to arrest me once," says Hot Rod with vague uncertainty. It's hard for him to keep track of everyone who has tried to arrest him. Especially when he goes and pulls the kinds of stunts that send /many/ Autobots after him. /All at once/. "So if I kicked him in the head with the ball, it's cool?" he asks with a sly grin.
Arcee chuckles. "Probably not, but I'll bet you'll try it at some point anyway, because you have a talent with antagonizing big angry mechs," she admits. When Rod wasn't being blatantly annoying, he really was pretty funny. "I don't know what Whirl's going to think of this place, either, but I guess we'll see. He's come around this way recently, hasn't he?"
Hot Rod hesitates. It's fairly obvious that he thinks about, uhm, let's say prevaricating. Then he remembers -- duh, Autobots Autoboting Autobotly. The truth comes much more easily to his lips, anyway, and his shoulders ease out of a touch of tension as he says, "Yeah. Whirl the ambassador, huh? Well, I guess I've got him for the official word, and you to tell me what's really going on, and we'll see how well it all adds up, yeah? How's he doing? With the Autobots? I never would've expected him to go back."
"Wwweelllll..." Arcee has an uncertain expression. "He's doing better than he HAD been. This gives him something to do, so it's a good sight better than him sitting back at the base." She realizes that probably sounds depressing, so she adds, "I think he came back because he's out of options. Not out of any sense of duty."
"Yeah. I know." For a moment, Hot Rod's expression darkens. He looks past the stadium to the rest of Nyon. Compared to the stadium's state of slow repair, the city itself sinks slowly in decay. "It's pretty bad when the only stability for some mechs is to go back to the Senate and keep killing for them. I mean, sure, it's all small steps, like Pax said. Like we try to do here. But sometimes it seems like small steps aren't fast enough for the people who need it."
"Hey, we do what we can, right? And here's the thing to keep in mind..." Arcee glances up toward the bleachers, which still need some cleaning. If one looks close enough, disposible mechs can be seen using the bleachers and dugout as shelter. "Things are changing very quickly, and there's no telling /who/ is going to be calling the shots tomorrow. All of the rules could change."
"Yeah." Hot Rod looks back at Arcee. His expression brightens, warming back to his usual cheer. "Thanks, Arcee." He leans over to pick up the ball and bounce from one hand to the other, then nods at the stadium. "Why don't you show me around? Tell me what else needs to be done, and I'll see if I can't find some help?"
"Oh, sure!" Arcee looks suddenly delighted. Rod's going to do more than just kick the ball around? Hey, she'll accept help! "Take your pick: Refinish the bleachers, dugout paint, clean the field...change the lights..." And so on. There's no shortage of work to do.