Temper Tantrums

++ Nyon ++
Nyon was the capital of Cybertron during the Golden Age, the rule of Nova  
Prime, when energon was plentiful and the planet's population was at peace.
Now, with nearby Iacon the capital of the planet, Nyon has become a ghetto,
and a shell of its former self.                                            
                                                                             
Temples, libraries, energon refineries and places of culture have been all 
but abandoned, left to corrode and rot away as their patrons moved to the  
newer, better capital city to the east. Left behind were the low caste and 
disposable laborers, who commute to Iacon to maintain and keep it, while   
being denied the privilege of its living quarters. Poverty and crime are   
rife here, with only minimal police presence to keep it at bay, making it a
fertile breeding ground for rebellion and dissent.                         
Working out of Nyon was getting more and more difficult as the cycles went on. Also, the fact that Swivel no longer had the advantage of binocular vision did not help. However, Swivel was eagerly cashing in on the fallout from the communications blackout, finally managing to get ahead of some of her debts and even starting to save up for a new optic. At present, the femme was down by one optic, and a patch of metal had been screwed in place to cover and protect the gaping hole where her other optic had been removed from.
Presently, the femme was walking out of Steamcore's Courier Agency, muttering some calcuations and looking otherwise deep in concentration.
As she's walking out of the agency, by now Swivel should be very keen at recognizing the famous blue athlete Blurr. What is he doing in Nyon again? Looking for someone? Or maybe someTHING. Upon spotting the familiar fembot, he hurries over to her.
As such, he suddenly 'appears' in front of her, almost as if he'd teleported or something, but likely she'd know better. "Swivel! I thought I'd find you h--" He frowns upon seeing that she's got a missing optic. "Primus, what happened to you?!"
The appearance of Blurr suddenly standing there seldom ceases to cause the femme to jump. This time she even screams a little. However, once he is merely just standing there, her optic ridges furrow. She stares at him silently for a few moments, looking almost as though she were brooding, before she relaxes her face into one of neutrality and gives a nonchalant shrug. "Jus' tryin' a new look. One optic is in, yanno."
Blurr arches an optic ridge at her reply, not really buying it. "A new look that robs you of your depth perception?" He chuckles a little, then shakes his head. "Come on, tell me what happened, Swivel. That can't have been the only reason."
Blurr arches an optic ridge at her reply, not really buying it. "A new look that robs you of your depth perception?" He chuckles a little, then shakes his head. "Come on, tell me what happened, Swivel. That can't have been the only reason."
As Blurr chuckles, Swivel giggles, and she does it freely despite standing by an arrogant smeg who has no qualms against killing some of her friends just because the law doesn't recognise them as people. Duplicitous or just very forgiving? "Naw, I was pullin' yer pedes," Swivel says waving a hand. She then lowers her chin and peers up with her singular optic. "Donateded oner m'optics t'a friend. Tha's all." She shrugs her shoulders. "Nor o' us kin 'ford new uns, so rather 'en 'im bein' blind, both us jus 'ave reduced sight."
Blurr nods. "Oh, well that was incredibly kind of you." He says, smiling genuinely. "Tell you what, I'll get you another one. Or I'll just give you the money to get one. Let you pick one out yourself. How much do you need?"
"Now why'd ya do a thin' loik 'at fer me?" Swivel asks sweetly, perhaps a bit too sweetly. "More 'portantly, wotter ya lookin fer me fer?"
"Because, you're one of the few people who aren't Security or IAA who ah..." Blurr stares at the ground momentarily. "...don't run the other way at the sight of me. Or try to kill me, I guess." Then he looks back at up at her. "Well, I was going to, um," He hesitates. "Ask you something. I know you liked to hang around those YX bots, and you named one of them, right? Spritz or something? The one we saw back there, when they tried to arrest Hot Rod."
The femme raises her optic ridges, looking perhaps a little bit surprised about everyone trying to run from him or kill him. Perhaps she even feels a bit bad for him. SUCKER! But at least Swivel is a cute sucker. "Look, Blurr, dun go'n further," Swivel says sounding suddenly tired. "I 'ent gunner talk 'bout YX units since I 'eard th'order ta recall 'em. I'm angry 'bout it, 'n I kinna promise I wunt get too 'motional on ther topic."
Okay, Blurr's probably exaggerating a bit. There are a lot of people who still practically worship him. But if it gets her to feel bad for him, then good! He sighs. "Swivel, I'm sorry about what happened, but it wasn't exactly my choice. It was an unfortunate accident, but it's not the first time it's happened either. Automation is becoming more and more widespread these cycles, it was bound to happen sooner or later regardless of a recall or an accident or whatever." he shrugs. "Anyway, I..."
He pauses, as if searching for the best way to say this. "I have a confession to make." Knowing what he does about the experimental implants, he has his suspicions of what probably happened. "I know who you gave your optic to. And I know why he lost his. It's because -I- sabotaged a pipe they were cleaning several stellar cycles back, so that they could be repaired and have their optics replaced with...recording devices."
There's nothing exaggerated about the alienation Blurr must feel, even when so many people worship him. Nonetheless, Swivel furrows her optic ridges, looking somehat concerned, then perplexed, then intrigued, then skeptical, then like she is going to interrupt but held herself back, and finally a stunned expression. It is this expression that lasts longest.
"Sometimes I think yer tryin' REAL 'ard t'make yerself 'ard ta trust," Swivel observes. She folds her arms over her chest and narrows her optic for a moment. "But I'm glad ya told me, less now tha' means ya gotter kill me. Tha'd really ruin m'cycle." Swivel cocks her head to one side, smirking just a little, trying to indicate she was more or less speaking in humour. "But why are ya tellin' me this?"
"Because I wanted to have a chance to explain myself." Blurr sighs. "I knew this was coming." He says, waving his arm for emphasis. "Like I said, automation is become more and more widespread. It was going to happen sooner or later. No way I could save all of them, but I knew you were friends with, uh, Spritz, and I thought, maybe I could at least save some of them. So when I was told they needed test subjects for those implants, I suggested your friends, because they're so inconspicuous, and they'd never suspect, right? And if they were test subjects, they weren't going to get dismantled and sent to the drone plants."
For quite a while, Swivel studies the mech in silence. And then a thought comes to her. She has that look like someone mentally finding a loose thread and pulling it, seeing how it all unravels. After a while her optic flash. "Tha's why ya covered fer 'im when 'em N.P.D. were firin' at 'im. 'Coz 'e 'ad 'em optics. Not at all 'coz ya gained fin'ly started seein' 'em as people. Kinner a pity, tha'. Still, ya did save 'im. But now tha' they've been removed, guess 'e 'ent worth nuttin' ta 'em 'enmore 'n kin be dismantled wither rest o' them... if they find 'im."
Blurr sighs. "That's why I was hoping you hadn't removed them..." he slumps sadly against the wall of the courier agency. "But now I need the data in them, because of the comm blackout, some of it wasn't transmitted. If I can just return it to them, maybe they'll leave Spritz alone."
Shrugging her shoulders, Swivel glances down at the ground, kicking the front of her foot against the ground. "I kin do nuthin' bout tha' now. I'm a donar, but I 'ent involved with 'oo took the optics out, dunno where they are, if they've been kept're destroyed, an' I 'ent in a position ta find out. An sides.... with the recall... what wooda stopped 'em from just grabbin 'im, takin out the optic cameras, callin it a success, and 'en just usin' it on summon else? I mean, e'd fail as a spy if all 'em was recalled, e'd be stickin' out loik a sore servo." There is a long drawn out sigh from the femme.
"Not really." Blurr contradicts. "A lot of people mistake them for drones, which is what they're going to be replaced with." He shrugs, then frowns. "So you weren't there when they took them out? Do you at least know who did it? Was it one of Hot Rod's people?" As good a guess as any, after all this was Nyon. He sighs. "Come on Swivel, I know you have a hard time believing me, but trust me on this at least. If I bring them back the data, they'll leave him alone. If I don't, they'll hunt him relentlessly until they find him, and then they'll torture him until he tells them where it is. And if he doesn't know, well then, he's not useful any more. And what's a disposable if not useful?"
Blurr gets a very sharp look when he mentions trust, and the look is sustained as he goes on to explain this supposed dilemma. "Blurr. Yer not askin me to trust YOU, yer askin' me ta trust THEM. So... let's say I kin get the data t'ya... an' 'coz I know t'much, both Spritz an' I get killed once they get wot they want? I'm sure ya'd mebbe be a bit sad, but accept us as acceptiable losses."
"No, they know I was planning on telling you. They also know that you can keep a secret." Blurr shrugs. "Look, I'm not going to equivocate here. I don't know if that will happen or not; I have no control over it. But I do know that if I -don't- get them the data they want, they -will- do what I just told you about to Spritz. He can't hide forever, someone will find him, either dead or alive."
Tapping her chin, Swivel takes a moment to be thoughtful. "Wellum, guess I'm kinner in a bind. Coz loik I said, I 'ent got no control o'er 'ooever 'as 'em and wot they do with 'em. Jus' as you 'ent got control o'er the terrible thin's the people you says 'ent terrible are gunna do. I guess we kin both recharge easier knowin' we're too low onther chain o' command ta do enthin' about enthin'." Swivel shrugs her shoulders, but looks rather worried despite her attempt to seem nonchalant.
Blurr folds his arms. "I'm finding it hard to believe that you don't even know who has them. You and Spritz were close, weren't you? I doubt you'd just, not even care who was taking care of him, especially if they were doing -surgery- on him."
There's a pause, and he makes an exasperated sound that is somewhere in between grieved and frusrated. "I'm also starting to find it hard to believe what you said about wanting to trust me but not being able to, especially since every time I say I'm trying to help or try to make an offer to help, you refuse, or you lie."
"Wellum, if ya says my 'bility ta keep secrets'll keep me alive, wot makes ya think I'd go tellin' ya summun else's secrets? Coz tha'd prove I KINT keep secrets, 'en there goes me leverage," Swivel responds. She then smiles pleasantly, folding her fingers together and holding her hands out in front of her thighs. "So's, 'en I tell ya, I know nuttin', I know nuttin'," Swivel adds and blinks. It would be a wink if she had both of her optics, but the way she tilts her head, pushes up one cheek and brings down one optic ridge, it still sort of looks like a wink. Or maybe a grimace. "Look, me secret keepin' works both ways, once I betray either side, I b'come useless ta both. Ya follow? So I'll say it again, I know nuthin'. An iffin I did," another blink-wink, "I still coona do 'enthin' 'bout it coz its outter me 'ands. Fact is, I dun think I'm overly welcome where Spritz is taken' refuge... because I actively refuse ta join 'em. But I 'ent sayin' 'oo." Actually, that could be the rebels or the Decepticons, as both advocate fighting for disposables. Swivel attempts to bring a hand over to clap on Blurr's arm, since she can't really reach his shoulder with ease.
Blurr groans more obviously, shrugging her hand off with disgust. "Don't you -get- it? I'm -trying- to help you, and help -him-. This isn't for -me-. It's for -his- sake. I'll say it again, I don't know what will happen if I don't hand the information over, the only thing I know is that the only chance he has of -not- being hunted down and killed is if someone else delivers the research data to its creators -independently- of Spritz.
"And you aren't even broadcasting it to the world, in fact you don't even have to tell me where it is, if this 'secret keeping' is an issue to you! You can just bring it to me, I'll take that and I won't ask any more questions."
He sighs angrily again, throwing his arms up in frustration. "Look, you all think I'm some kind of fiend, but you never exactly gave me a chance to prove to you otherwise, because every time I try to help, you run the other way, without having a -clue- what I have to deal with cycle in and cycle out. I could have killed -all- of them instantly back there in that lab, but I didn't, because I wanted to give them a chance to get away but still look like I was doing what I was supposed to. I told you, the IAA -made- me, and not only did they make me but they made me with -Senate- money and -Senate- approval. Which means they can do the whatever the frag it is they want to me, whenever they want. Do you understand now, Swivel? Do you?!"
He seems to calm down a bit. "Anyway, the point is--if I don't get the data, someone -else- will. And someone else is much more likely to be a lot more -rough-. That's all."
Swivel perches one hand on her hip and then points at Blurr. "DON'T YOU GET IT EITHER BLURR? I'm not the medic 'oo removed 'em, an' I 'ent able ta get 'em back now. All I kin do is ask, an I doubt they'll let me 'ave it, IF it 'ent been destroyed. Ya think I got some influence? I DON'T! I'm just a courier, 'en I placed Spritz' care in the 'ands of peeps 'oo 'AVE the resources I dun 'ave ta take care o' 'im, iffin it meant I moight not see 'im for a while 'coz I'm NOT one of 'em. I see that yer tryin' ta 'elp me, but as I said, I'm in a bind. Wot am I s'posed ta do, Blurr? I kint retrieve the info." Now it is SWivel's turn to gesticulate angrily, flailing arms and thrashing and pulling all sorts of exaggerated expressions. "I said I was glad ya told me, din I? 'En I dun think yer a fiend, I think ya coo' iffin be a friend if ya jus' weren't tangled up in such a MESS! I'm just a courier, BLurr. I'm not some fancy work of art 'oo is bein' protected, I 'ent some flamin' rebel with guns an' courage, an I sure 'ent a friggin miner with a big scary gun! I got friends, but I 'ent got no safety net. I 'ad taa make a choice wot I thought was best fer 'em with the info I 'ad at the time. And now? That was the wrong choice? I kint undo it!"
The femme is perhaps more worked up than Blurr has ever seen her before. However, this rage reaches such a pinnacle of hysteria that she just begins laughing madly. A few times she tries to continue her angry rant, but is choked off with more laughter.
Blurr doesn't even let her finish talking before he interrupts. In fact he interjects right after the 'what am I supposed to do' part. "I -told- you, you can at least TELL ME -who- it was! You can tell me -where- it was, you can tell me everything you know so that I can HELP Spritz have a better chance at -living-!"
Finally he throws his hands in the air once again, this time in resignation. "Fine! Fine! You know what, just shut the hell up! You want your friend to be hunted relentlessly, and then interrogated and probably killed, fine! Don't try to do a damn thing about it, because you think you -can't-. You're no better than whoever's idea it was to recall them, yourself! And -no-, you -don't- want to be a friend, not to me. If you -really- did? You'd be trying a whole slagging lot harder than you are!"
The click and whirr of a cooling fan can scarecely be heard above the peals of laughter coming from the femme. At this point the femme is doubled over, and though laughter is the sound she is making, her face shows signs of pain. The femme's temperature is steadily rising, threatening to overheat. She brings up a hand, holding up her index finger as if to indicate she wants to say something, but any words she tries to make cuses her just to choke. It would seem the femme is going into some sort of fit, and likely, most of Blurrs biting words aren'y really reaching her. She throws an arm out, grabbing for anything to grab a hold of to steady herself.
Blurr stares derisively at her, shaking his head. "Just look at you, you're completely out of control. It's pathetic, really. What am I even doing, it's a waste of time trying to get anything -useful- out of you. I'll just have to find it on my -own-, and possibly get shot by rebels. And Spritz will just have -me- to thank for saving his aft -again-, even though of course he's sure as frag not going to do it. Because he hates everything he can't understand, which includes me. That's the problem with disposables, they live in their own little worlds of self-pity and assume that everyone else just has their lives served to them on a platimum panel and is out to lord over them and make them suffer. Funny that, isn't it, that he's so grateful to -you-, even though you're not even willing to risk your own spark for him, in fact you won't even give away 'secrets' for him. Give him one of your optics, sure since that's not really a risk, now is it?"
He sighs then, facepalming and suddenly looked exhausted. "What am I even saying, it's not like you're ever going to get it, anyway." He turns away.
THUNK.
Swivel is suddenly eerily quiet.
Blurr stops and opens a panel in his arm, poking at a few keys. Then he puts his arm down again. "There, I gave you enough shanix for a brand new pair of optics, keep the extra if you end up with any."
Hey, at least he kept his promise about that. Although maybe he's just trying to guilt trip her. Probably. He then storms off angrily.
Swivel twitches, laying prone in the street.
Blurr was still stalking away, but he pauses and looks back to see if Swivel has gotten back up.
She hasn't.
Groaning once more, he walks back over to her and starts dragging her out of the street. He'll take her to the visitor's wing at the Decagon, at least there she won't get robbed or stripped while she was stasis locked and out in the open.