Friendly Foe

-It's a typical busy day in Ibex, with races going on all solar cycle, and hence merchants wandering the streets trying to sell paraphenalia and such. Lots of people are here from other parts of the planet, likely to watch the races. There are a -lot- of advertisements and other large and brilliantly colored signs and banners with Blurr's name or Blurr's picture, or videos, or something on them.

      Speaking of Blurr, the racer is probably hanging around somewhere, maybe near IAA HQ or something. Or maybe he's stalking someone again...

-With all the history she has with Blurr, it's a wonder that Swift Blade is here at all. In fact, this is probably one of the last places she should be. But, here she is, just the same. Seeing the mech's face plastered all over the place makes her wonder what the fans would think if they knew how unstable their sports hero was.

-Ah, but that's just it, isn't it? The IAA is so intent on making sure -no one- ever knows all their deep, dark, dirty secrets, particularly those surrounding Blurr--their greatest success.

      But if she ventures near their main offices, she'd probably spot him heading toward it, surprisingly not running or zipping as he typically likes to. He's carrying something under an arm that looks like some kind of pod. It's fairly sizable, though not so large that it's difficult to hold. It looks like a case about the size of a smaller mech, like a dataslug altmode or disposable minibot type.

-Success is measured differently by different people. Swift Blade doesn't think much of Blurr's success since he comes across as rather wretched to her for all his speed and fame. Sometimes he seems like only half a mech. Either way, when she spots him, she freezes for a moment. She had come here just to see the place before it became far TOO risky. It might be that way already; she has no idea if Blurr reported her in that incident or not.

-For now, she seems to be in the clear, however. Blurr doesn't appear to have noticed her. Well, the streets are quite crowded right now, anyway. So he probably hasn't spotted her yet. But instead of heading toward the main entry to the building, he turns and makes his way toward the side, slipping into a narrow alley between the main office complex and the training rooms.

-Swift Blade really has no desire to encounter Blurr in an alley way. She really doesn't; the mech has the advantage of speed over her, and she's hardly a marksfemme. Still, she watches the mouth of that alley from where she is. One of the ups of being a very standard looking Seeker is that she doesn't stand out in a crowd overly much.

-Blurr continues down the alleyway, but pauses about halfway through to peer down at the strange pod he is holding. He taps a control panel on the side, and the front of it suddenly turns translucent...

      There's a -person- inside. No, it's not Rewind but someone Rewind-sized.

      Appearing satisfied with whatever he was checking up on with this capture of his, the front panel frosts over, once again obscuring what's inside, and he moves on toward what appears to be a loading dock of sorts that opens into the alley.

-Do people belong in pods? Swift Blade doesn't really think so. Then again, this could be some way of apprehending someone. While she interceded on Blast Off's behalf, for some strange reason, that doesn't mean she believes in rescuing EVERYONE from his clutches. As far as she can tell, he's young, impressionable, and troubled, but not necessarily malicious. Or so she hopes. Still, she finds herself nearing the alley cautiously.

-Blurr arrives in front of the loading area and opens a large blast door that reveals a storage room of sorts. It's crowded with piles of crates and cases. He stands in the doorway, apparently waiting for something or someone.

      But it's not long before another mech shows up, emerging from behind one of the shelves. He's indigo-colored and some kind of flight form, and he smiles when he sees that Blurr is already waiting for him there. This particular alley isn't too large, and thus Swiftblade can easily hear their voices echoing off of the surrounding buildings as she approaches. "Ah, excellent, Blurr--you never disappoint." he nods, and Blurr sets the container down and opens it up.

      "Yeah, picked him up in Nyon." The racer replies.

     The other mech crouches over the pod, as if examining a specimen. "Mhm. It would appear so...oh, good! He has quite the brightly burning spark. He will make an excellent addition to our sample population indeed." he straightens up. "Thank you."

-Sample population...for what? That doesn't sound like a law enforcement thing at all. Swift Blade takes a leap of reasoning to conclude then that this is something else. But what sort of thing /is/ it? Remaining where she is for now, she continues to listen to learn what she can. She knows nothing of the other mech, his abilities or predilections, but two against one is bad enough without including Blurr's speed in the equation. Prudence dictates she not go rushing into something she doesn't understand. For now.

-It's not really that much of a leap of reasoning is it? If this mech -had- been arrested for something, why would he have been brought here, to the IAA? Wouldn't he have been taken to a police station or to Security HQ? It doesn't make much sense for this to be a law-related issue.

      Blurr nods in response to the expression of gratitude.

      "I'll keep my optics out for more."

"Of course, we could always use more. But thanks to you we're coming along quite nicely." The other mech closes up the pod and picks it up off of the floor. "Well, I'll get this one up to the extraction chamber." He starts to leave, but then pauses. "Oh, I'm sorry I nearly forgot." The dark-colored bot pulls a series of tubes filled with a colorless substance from subspace and hands them to Blurr, who takes them quickly before the other mech disappears into the building.

-Swift Blade pulls herself into a less obvious positioning while Blurr heads back from the alley. She's not ready to run into him quite yet. And, foolish as it might be, she might just have to intercede again. Still, she hasn't reached a point of being angry with, or hating, the blue speedster yet. As far as she can tell, he's being eaten alive by the system that he so doggedly serves.

-The blast door closes, and Blurr steps away from the loading dock, tubes in hand. He opens a compartment near his waist, stowing all but one as well as pulling a needle out of the same space. Attaching it to the tube, he injects himself with whatever was inside of it in one swift, fluid motion. There's a hiss as an auto-injector pushes the substance into his body. Yes, it's the same stuff Panacea saw before. Though instead of tossing the empty container he puts it away in that compartment as well.

      For a moment, he stands there, grimacing in pain, though it seems to pass quickly and he starts to leave the alley.

-Not being a medic, scientist, junkie, or dealer, Swift Blade doesn't have any idea of what Blurr did. Then again, the stuff is so 'hush hush' that she probably wouldn't anyhow. Still she waits, though this sort of tactic is not her usual method and thus not her forte.

-Blurr approaches the street, but pauses at the entry to the alleyway, staring at a moderately reflective surface in a piece of broken videopane on the ground. He looks...anguished, suddenly, and kicks the piece of debris away. Sinking to his knees, he just...stares at the ground.

-If Swift Blade had been a more cynical individual, she might have thought Blurr was play-acting. But she's not, so she believes that what she is seeing is the result of some pain, physical or emotional. Slowly, quietly, she approaches him. "You are unwell." It is a statement; not a question.

-Blurr startles at her approach, optics widening. Oh, no that hadn't been any sort of act, that much is clear right now. "You!" Immediately the weapons in his arms emerge, although he does not fire just yet. "G-getaway..." he demands, albeit not very authoritatively.

-Swift Blade takes a step back. "I have no intentions of harming you this cycle," she states gravely. She can't promise she will never harm him, but for now she is not technically a Decepticon. "But you are clearly unwell," she reiterates.

-"Wh-whatdoyouwant?" Blurr demands. "Didyoufollowmeherewhatdoyouwant?" He talks fast, but this time around he's talking even faster, so much so that his words are blending together. The speedster glances around nervously, as if looking for Blast Off or someone else who might be with her and waiting to ambush him.

-"I am alone." Yeah, brilliant Swift Blade, just brilliant. But deceit is not her strong point either. In some ways she's definitely joining the wrong team. She'll have to worry about that later. "What do I want? That's a hard question to answer. Peace under a benevolent government would be nice, but that's not happening any time soon."

-Blurr seems to relax just a little bit, upon seeing that she hasn't attacked him -yet-. "I meant what do you want from -me-, not in general!" He narrows his optics at her. "Did you follow me here?!"

-Swift Blade tilts her head to the side. "I saw you go into the alley. I watched you come out, and you fell to your knees," she states. "As for what I want from /you/, I came to see what the problem was." She gives him a long look, expression thoughtful. "I hold no ill will towards you, though I doubt you can say the same about how you see me." Her hands open in a gesture of non-conflict.

-"N-nothing.Nothing." Blurr insists. "There's no problem here." He keeps glancing around nervously, probably because he doesn't really trust her. It's strange that he's so worried, even though he does have the advantage over her, with how fast he can move. But why's he so concerned? "Iwasjust...tired." Tired? Really? He doesn't get tired, does he?

-Swift Blade shakes her head. "I can see why you might not trust me, but trust or not, there's a point at which lying just makes you look like you're in denial. The look on your face was not one of weariness; it was of pain," she states. "I am not planning to attack you; you might as well be honest with me."

-"I -am- being honest with you!" Blurr -still- insists. Then he frowns. "But why do you care so much? We never saw optic-to-optic, andand...I threatened you!"

-"We started off getting along well enough," Swift Blade says. "And I suspect that sometimes you're just young and in way over your head. Yes, you're talented, and I'm sure you're smart, but you lack experience and wisdom." She folds her arms across her chest. "I don't hate you and I certainly don't want to see you suffering." Physically at any rate; she doesn't doubt she's probably inflicted some emotional suffering on poor Blurr. But she also believes it is a small suffering compared to the kind that awaits Blast Off should he ever be captured. The thought makes her shudder.

-Blurr stares at her, as if he can't believe what he's hearing. "But--you--I-I-..." He stumbles over his words, because he doesn't know how to respond to that. Everyone -else- who felt he'd wronged them had kind of...given him the cold shoulder. Right now he would probably remind Swiftblade of organic children. But then he looks determined again. "No! I am -not- in over my head, I know -exactly- what I'm doing! And I know it's right!"

-"I don't mean you're in over your head because you're not right or because your convictions are lacking," Swift Blade says softly. "It's because you should have had more years before getting involved with such serious matters. Once you reach this stage, it's hard to reclaim your youth. My own was cut short very abruptly. But those were outside forces that did it. Our own people did this to you. We're so long lived, surely they could have given you at least a hundred years to just be young."

-"N-no!" Blurr argues. "No one did anything -to- me, I made this choice for myself!" Sure, that's what -he- thinks. "I wanted it, because I wanted to help make the world right, and I still do! Th-that's why I have to do this, so that the world doesn't fall apart..." He exclaims. "I--" The racer rubs his head. "I shouldn't even be talking to you. I shouldn't even be here."

      So he fixes that. The speedster zooms off suddenly, leaving Swiftblade in the alley alone.

-Swift Blade has no desire to stay in this alley alone. So she leaves, albeit slower than Blurr does.