A Rescue, A Death, A Decision

Rung has been missing for some time, as many may have noticed. Feint even asked after him, and was met with the 'classified information' excuse, which no doubt raised some concern.

However, not long after that, the fembot finds that someone from higher command has contacted her, requesting that she report to the IAA in Ibex to meet with Cipher in order to assist him in a procedure on the psychiatrist. After all she has those mnemosurgical needles now, she might as well learn to master the art of shadowplay.

So -that's- where Rung was.

She's learned how to swim with sharkticons. She's learn how to play the game. With Scattershot's 'adjustment', she probably got noticed. Feint wanted it this way.

She arrives divested of any Senatorial raiment that would be unnecessary and showy, carrying only a small mag-locked badge to indicate status and caste visually to any guards or Enforcers present. Hands at her sides, she arrives at the location to where she's been summoned, and acknowledges the others with a polite nod. "Gentlemechs," she greets. "I hope I have not unduly delayed you."

Rung is lying inert on a berth, his optics dim and his demeanor exhausted. His chassis having been pried open, his spark flickers feebly and wires dangle limply from the berth he's been strapped to as pink viscous liquid pools on the floor below him. His hands shift weakly, and he mutters. "Blurr..."

His wrists and ankles are chafed visibly and horridly from all the futile struggling and thrashing due to incalculable amounts of pain. The state of the psychiatrist can be likened to a shell, fragile and nearly void of life, and emotion...

Quickswitch had followed Feint here, shadowed her in fact. He is a loyal Autobot, a loyal, loyal Autobot, right to the core, but in this case, his shattered mind has reasoned among itself, a dear friend is in need. He hangs back, beast paws making no noise as they hit the floor, as he watches through slitted, beastly eyes at what he sees. Tragic. Horrified and deadened by the sight of Rung at the same time, the beastly sixchanger does not reveal himself. Whatever orders are--and should be obeyed absolutely--his friend is in danger.

Quickswitch and Feint will find Cipher, Blurr, and a lot of drones in the lab where Rung is being kept. Most of the drones are manual laborers, floating around here and there with various tools and such, though there are a few with turrets ready to defend if necessary...especially after what happened -last- time someone else came in here.

Blurr had been standing at the door, and greets his endura with the usual warmth, though with her keen insight, she might sense a much deeper feeling of fear and distress within her beloved.

Cipher himself had his back turned at first, because he'd been busy prodding at Rung's spark one last time. He pulls another section of it off and places it into a sample container of sorts, then seals the tube. Finally he smiles and looks up at Feint, putting his tools down. "Ah, Feint. Perfect timing." he greets, standing. "I hope you are eager for some good practice today."

Practice? Quickswitch's ears flatten and his lips curl, revealing sharp fangs.

Feint takes note of Blurr and Quickswitches dispositions, marking their distress not with Soundwaveish telepathy but by looking into and through them, seeing the physical forms of distress racing through internal circuitry and mechanisms. She can do nothing to calm them at the moment without tipping her hand. They will have to be pieces on the chessboard for now.

"This is highly irregular, Cipher," Feint begins with mild protest. "Rung is one of the top psychometrists on the planet. It's hard to believe something could be amiss. May I see the patient's medical report and assessment please? There has to be at least two signatures on this file before I can work." She carries on as if this is all standard fare.

It's all Quickswitch can do not to leap forward and tear Rung away from the berth, giving off some parting shots and a swipe of claws or two for good measure. He's unsettled and displeased, fearful and worried. He hasn't realized he's been seen yet, so he remains where he is, listening silently, his mind afire with torment and activity. --I can't let this happen, not again-- --Just wait and see. Then we'll act-- The sixchanger shakes his head in order to dislodge the discordant thoughts.

Rung's optics flicker in the barest hint of recognition of Feint's presence. He is too weak to do anything other than lie incapacitated on the berth.

When Cipher pulls out another section of his spark, the psychiatrist cries out in pain, arching his back and tensing against the restraints pinning him to the berth. "..." He then sinks back down, his body ever growing frailer...

Quickswitch's mouth opens in a silent scream as he hears Rung cry out and lubricant begins coursing from his animal optics as he begins to shake at the sight of it... Oh yes, he damns himself for it, pads from foot to foot restlessly.

"Yes, of course." Cipher nods and pulls out a datapad that contains all of the requested documentation. Medical report, medical history, and pre-operation assessment. Indeed, the signatures are there. In fact, there are three. Two are from licensed medical professionals, namely Pharma--one of Cybertron's most lauded physicians, and Cipher himself--a well-respected neurological specialist. The third is from Rung's current superior: Cybertron's chief of security, Prowl.

Once the documentation is handed to Feint, Cipher chuckles and nods in agreement with her. "Oh yes, I would definitely agree. This is -highly- irregular. I don't think I've seen a spark as bright as his in a hundred vorns. It's really quite incredible." When Rung writhes in pain, he pats the slighter mech gently on the arm in mock consolation. "Don't worry, this will all be over very soon!" he smiles. "Feint here is going to make everything -better-."

"WAIT!" the cry is equal parts terror, warning, and making his prescence known. Quickswitch lopes into the room toward Cipher and Feint and transforms to root mode, "I was summoned here too--" he lies, full of barely constrained emotion, "--As security detail. So this... proceedure of yours all goes well without interruption." Quickswitch indicates his photon blasters, "Don't worry. I have six modes, so nothing much is getting in here."

Thanks to that training by Skids, Feint modulates her outlier-level sensor field to appear to Blurr, Rung and Quickswitch only. She signals to them - if they pick it up - in words simply -floating- in the air.

+Don't look. Turn away. Shut off your audials. I don't wish to damage you by what will happen next.+

Feint looks at the documentation, her fingers flipping across holomatter pages, calling them up, turning them, dismissing them back into the ether quickly. She doesn't so much as flick a piece of plating at Rung's noises of pain. Her poker face is complete and impenetrable.

The mnemnosurgical cables slide free from their housings with a soft hiss of metal against metal, the ends blossoming into an array of fine, sharp needles with optical fiber arrays inside. Like coiled cobras, they strike in the blink of an eye, burying themselves into their target, one at the base of the skull, the other at the center of the back. Numbness, tingling or burning sensations at the injection site are common side effects, Cipher.

Rung's helm tilts softly to one side and he glimpses the documentation Cipher is holding. The only thing visible to the small orange psychiatrist is Prowl's signature. His features crumple and he turns away, cringing then going limp as his will to live quickly evaporates. He lets out a shaky, shuddering sigh and heaves a single, dry sob, wishing to curl up into oblivion. But unfortunately, he is unable to because of the restraints on his ankles and wrists.

However, he will at least obey Feint to the best of his ability, though he knows not what the next few moments will bring.

Fighting back unbelievable emotion; fear, abject terror, rage and a terrible sense of deja vu. The visibly shaking sixchanger summons up every ounce of strength. ...This is his path... -- but, the--the needles piercing, boring into his head, into his mind, and once there-- the needles--not Rung too--! Quickswitch's mouth quivers and his face tics awfully under the strain, breaks into an unhinged but happy smile. "Rung! We're here!" he calls out happily, moving toward the berth, one blaster out at the security drones, and the other recklessly trying to yank out wires and tear the bonds from Rung, "We've got to go.." he whispers more to himself than to the limp psychiatrist.

Blurr picks up on Feint's request, though he finds himself confused by it. She's just performing a procedure on Rung, right? To make everything better, like Cipher said, so that he wouldn't remember all of these horrors? So that he'd be more...cooperative? How bad could it be?

And then it's too late.

As the racer watches, Feint takes Cipher -completely- off guard, her surgical needles boring into the back of his neck. "I...security--!" He gasps out helplessly as the numbness starts to set in. The drones spring into action as Quickswitch dives for Rung, a group of them advancing on the sixchanger in an attempt to knock him away. Another one lunges at Feint, raising its weapons as it is about to fire upon the fembot...

Blurr...well, he seems frozen on the spot, his optics wide and horrified. No...this wasn't happening...this wasn't happening...it wasn't...

"F-feint...w-whatareyoudoing...s-stopplease..." he begs quietly, his voice small.

Rung smiles very weakly at Quickswitch. "..." However, Quickswitch's methods of freeing him are exactly gentle and he stasis locks once the drones leap into action.

Quickswitch will need to hurry though. He'll notice, that since his chassis case is open, Rung's spark is flickering. And if the six changer doesn't get him out of here quickly, he might die...abruptly. There's no telling how long his spark will hold out.

Quickswitch doesn't dare close the small robot's chassis in case he hurts the fragile Autobot further. His face twists into a wrathful snarl, "GET BACK!" he roars at the drones and fires blue-white light into the group nearing him rapidly. Feint is in danger too..!! But he can't focus on them both, so Rung it is. That twisted scientist be damned. No matter what happened, Quickswitch would get them out. In pieces if neccesary.

Feint will yell at Quickswitch later. These kinds of slap-dash heroics have to come to an end if people are to stay alive in a rescue sitation.

"Now that I have your attention Cipher, I want you to do something for me. I want you to tell Blurr the -truth-. Tell him what you're doing, why you are doing it to him. Tell him the truth about what is in his head. Oh, and you're going to make those drones stand down."

"--And Quickswitch, get Rung to a doctor. NOT PHARMA!"

[O-Autobot] Quickswitch says, "Haha. XD"

Blurr's mind is swimming in a panic that seems to grip his body like a claw made from zolanium steel. Why won't she stop...she's never ignored me like that... "P-please..." But somehow he can only stand there in abject horror at the lurid scene before him.

Quickswitch's shots blast armor plates off of the security drones, though they are relentless in their attacks. That is--until Cipher obeys Feint's demands and calls them off. Immediately, they comply, backing away and returning to standby mode.

Strangely though, Cipher's original expression of distress seems to calm to a more unperturbed one. He grins devilishly, sitting up slowly. "Why yes, of course...I'll tell you. From the very beginning I'll tell you..." He pauses, as if to settle in for a bit of a story. "You see, not too long ago, my predecessor, Axle, had a dream. He wanted to create the perfect racer. Someone who could not only move at an incredible speed but who also had a -mind- who could keep -up- with that amazing speed! And so he appealed to the Senate...and it just -so- happened, that the Senate had been hoping to find a way to create their -own- synthetic 'outliers'. Bots with unusually powerful abilities whom they could have complete control over. So they made a deal with him. They'd let him have access to a hot spot, once...to allow him to harvest a single spark--as long as they had the right to order him to do with it as they commanded. So Axle agreed, and Blurr here was born!" He exclaims proudly, gesturing toward the speedster.

"But..." he continues, sighing disappointedly this time with a shake of his head. "Unfortunately, Axle was short-sighted and far from competent. All he wanted was to hoard his shanix and look good in front of all his sports fans. No doubt you, Feint, saw firsthand the results of his botched efforts to keep Blurr in a desirable state. Absolutely -pathetic-! Probably a -good- thing you finished him off, though I had to inherit a -mess-. Fortunately, I had the resources and expertise to clean things up. It took time to perfect, but now, the Legislator programming has neared perfection." Cipher again gestures toward Blurr. "Fully integrated, anyone short of a -specialist- would have no way of knowing." the mech beams, clearly proud of his work, before continuing.

"But you see, Axle lost -sight- of the -real- goal. The Senate's desire--no, -need- for an -unstoppable- task force with which to put down the rebellion. And if I do say so myself, our -first- test has proved to be immensensely successful! Now if only we could get the splicing to work, the final cog in the masterpiece will fall into place!"

As he is speaking, Cipher is actually preparing an attack of his own. Mnemosurgery is designed to be a one-way street...but if the 'patient' is knowledgeable enough, it -can- become two-way. No doubt Feint was aware of this risk...

"And so you had to have control of his mind," Feint acknowledges. She may not be a surgeon on the level of Ratchet or Pharma, but she has made a few private modifications to the cortical psychic patch she's now implementing on Cipher. "You were quite willing to crush his free will to get him to become what you wanted: A customized drone." The needles in Cipher's back begin to spread open, blossoming inside his frame, as a secondary boring probe slips out and drills into the sea of innermost energon encasing his spark.

She flips on the siphon.

"Congratulations, Cipher; you have, in a way, created what I have become. Everything I have become up to this point has been in the service of saving Blurr's mind and will. I have moved moons and planet for that mech, done things you cannot even begin to imagine -- so here's to your success Cipher. Let me share with you what you've done to minds of those you've made your test subjects." As the drain kicks in, Feint attempts to flood Cipher's mind with the full spectrum of everything she can see, hear and feel, as well as the memories of all the pain and suffering and damage and broken control code that Feint has experienced and felt in herself and Blurr.

Cipher's story mostly doesn't penetrate the occupied six-changer's thoughts and focus. He doesn't even notice the drones anymore as they back off. All of him is focused on getting Rung free and to a doctor immediately. "We're here, Rung," Quickswitch murmurs over and over, "We're here.. We're here now.." the quiet of his voice contrasted by his savage twisting of the bonds. He watches the flickering spark worriedly. He's no medic, but that looks like a bad sign, a -very- bad sign, "Please be all right.. please.."

Quickswitch darts from the room, holding the tiny psychiatrist close, "We'll get some help!" he shouts, not caring whether or not he's heard.

-- Radio: Distress -- Quickswitch says, "Anyone! I need a doctor right away! I'm headed to Iacon with a badly danaged patient. Please hurry! Quickswitch out!"

-- Radio: Distress -- Wheeljack says, "I can get there but I know a better medic than me that should be closer! Torque, ya' there?"

-- Radio: Distress -- Torque says, "Already on my way!"

-- Radio: Distress -- Wheeljack says, "If ya' need my hands, let me know!"

Cipher's optics widen as he realizes what Feint is doing, and feels his frame weakening rapidly. No...he refuses to go down without a fight. His face and body begin to fade in color and contort with pain, creating a rather horrific and twisted visage. But instead of shrieking with pain, he begins to laugh, a slight titter at first but it quickly turns into maniacal howls. "Yes....YES! Kill me...let it all out...all of your pent-up fury at the world...show him...show your dearly beloved what you TRULY are, a monster! You can kill me Feint...just like you killed his creator...but someone will continue my work...as long as there is a need...kkk....it WILL see fruition...! And now, allow me to -demonstrate-...give you a -taste- of what I've been working on..."

Even as Feint floods his system with pain and devastation, Cipher in turn attempts to bombard hers with the same programming he had used on Blurr and Shiftlock. Only now, it's stronger, forcefully attempting to drive its way into her code and wreak as much havoc as possible. Voices, there are voices...like the ones she'd heard in Blurr's head before. Vying for control; struggling to seize her conscious self and beat her into submission....

Meanwhile, as Blurr begins to witness Cipher's deterioration, his pleas become even more distraught. "N-no! Wh-why...F-feintpleasestopit...s-stopit...m-makeitstop...p-please..." He sinks to his knees, his frame shaking violently as he continues to mumble incomprehensibly. He can't hurt her...he won't hurt her...but how could he let this happen? Why was this happening?

Of course, Cipher just laughs at the pain. "HA! Just look....at him! You're hurting him more than you're hurting...me! Ahahaha. HAHAHAHAHHAH!"

Talk about a crash course in everything you've learned - it's a damned good thing Trepan has been Feint's teacher.

She sets up a shell script in her own head, diverting Cipher's code into digital moats disconnected from her central thought processes. Her multiple sensor arrays allow her to multitask on dozens of levels, the foreign code having to break through false walls only to reach another false wall. Feint's concentration is so intense that the color fades from her extremeties while her lights brighten at the core.

"Nineteen-eighty four. You are violating the law," she states calmly. "And I have the authority to carry out your sentence." From inside the upper cortical psychic patch attached to Cipher's head, the other bore-probe emerges, ending mnemnosurgical contact to lance directly through his brain module.

And that's it.

The laughter stops abruptly as Cipher's brain module is literally sliced clean in half. His lifeless frame blackens and slumps to the floor, silent and motionless.

Finally, Blurr seems to have been released from his panic-frozen state. He rushes over to the dead mech, staring down at the corpse of his former caretaker. "I--you--how--why..." It would be difficult to find words appropriate to describe the amount of pain and rage and confusion rushing through him. "H-howcouldyou...howcouldyou..." The racer can barely speak. "Ithought--" But he doesn't finish, instead turning his face away.

Feint withdraws the patches into her body, releasing Cipher's body. "Hate me if you must, Blurr, but I have just saved you. Saved Rung. Saved -hundreds-, maybe -thousands- of others from being nothing more than mindless, walking drones to the slaughter. I have tried and tried to make it any other way than this but he would not relent. Did you not hear what he said? That you were to be an experiment? A -weapon-? Do you refuse to understand what he's made you do? People have -died- because of what he made you do, Blurr!"

She follows Blurr with her optics as he leans over Cipher, and then turns away. "If there had been another way I would have taken it, but he left me no choice."

Blurr doesn't look back at her for a few moments, and for a while it seems that this was it. It was over. She'd finally torn an irreparable rift between them. "N-no! He -was- saving Rung, you don't understand! They would've sent him back to -jail- to -rot-! A-and I-I...I was supposed to be an experiment, I'm lucky to still even be alive right now! Don't you -get- it?! They would have -smelted- me without him!"

Trembling, he sinks into the chair Cipher had been sitting in only moments before, a hand on his head. "No...I can't leave you Feint...I never could..." he says quietly. "...I love you."

"They were -shaving off his spark-!" Feint erupts, gesturing to the berth where Rung had been held. "How is that helping him? Blurr I am a -medic-. They were -killing- him, not saving him! I was ordered not to heal him but to -lobotomize him-!" She picks up the datapad with the medical orders and thrusts them into Blurr's hands. "Look at this! This is not saving! You don't save people by destroying their minds and wills!"

Blurr doesn't take the datapad, just stares at it. "Would it have been better if they'd sent him to Garrus-1 or some other hellhole to rot for the rest of his life?" he asks quietly. "Is better to live in physical chains, or mental ones? I-I...I don't even know..."

Feint sits down on the ground next to Blurr's chair. "You can live down physical chains and confinement. I lived down five hundred thousand years of it. When your mind is gone... you are gone too. Those are chains you never escape. You simply continue to exist, though you are dead to everyone who ever knew you."

"Axle swore he was going to erase me from your mind, so that I would never interfere with his work. You would have lived, but you would be dead to me like that. Everything we've shared would have been casually murdered. Before he died, Cipher was trying to control and destroy my mind. I would have been nothing but a body without any love or memory for you anymore, Blurr."

"I know you're young, and that's why it's hard to understand these things, but think of how that would have felt - if Cipher had decided that, 'for your own good', that I would simply be erased, never to know you or care for you again. That... that is the sort of fear I have been living with every day, as I watched him slowly erasing you before my eyes."

"I love you too much to let that happen to you. I'd rather you hate me forever, and have your own mind intact, than have you become an obedient, thoughtless drone."

"..." Blurr stares down at her as she sits down on the floor in front of him. It's true, it's hard for him to grasp these things. And the brainwashing hadn't exactly helped. He's quiet for a while, but finally he slides out of the chair and joins her on the floor. "But...he never would have decided that, he knew I couldn't live without you...I don't understand..." Then he seems to have thought of something. "...so help me understand. I want to see the world the way you do, Feint."

Feint reaches out to Blurr with her right arm to pull him close and embrace him. "I'll try my best," she says in agreement with his request. "This time around, you'll get to keep your memories and build on them. You'll become who you really are inside."