Recall

* + Radio: Clean. and Maint. \*\* Swivel says, " Pits... \*fzzzz\* dang communications.....\*ffffsssssss\*one gotter try an' boost \*fzzz\*"

* + Radio: Clean. and Maint. \*\* YX-939 says, "\*incoherent high pitched, panic-filled chatter\*"

* + Radio: Clean. and Maint. \*\* Swivel says, " Dun tell me where y'are in case \*ffzzz\*'senin' to the ra\*fizzz\*. Jus gonna track ya by \*fizzzz\*nal stre\*fizz\*"

* + Radio: Clean. and Maint. \*\* YX-939 says, "\*constant panic chattering of so many bots\*"

Ripping up the tunnels, Swivel is in her alt mode relying on signal strength of a short band radio set to the cleaning and maintenance frequency to try and locate YX-units. While she can't really do much herself, she's been frantically trying to gather who she can. Although Spritz is her main objective, she will try and usher what bots she can find into hiding. With the communications black out, only very short wave seems to work - further impacted by being underground. However, the femme is used to dealing with underground interference.

Underneath Nyon, there's a whole lot of secondary and tertiary tunnels. Most of them were built for now inadequate and outdated systems; aqueducts later replaced by more advanced plumbing, cheaper alloys rebuilt in a more secure location and even a few rubbish pits from ages past.

The YX bots knew where they all were. They lived and worked down here. As soon as the word got out, they fled, an exodus of the small. Right now, Swivel's beacon will lead her to a cavern that could only be called large by their standards; there's at LEAST thirty disposables in there. Maybe as many as fifty.

That's a LOT of bots all huddled together. When Swivel finally finds the cavern they took to hiding in, she just stares. She'd never seen that many before. Almost that many, but not THAT many. She shines her low lights on them and glances around them to see if Spritz is among them. "It's me, Swivel. I'm gunna try a'n 'elp!" Swivel announces to those that may not have seen her before.

Swindle is around near the tunnels, curious about sounds he hears coming from them.

There's a few startled screams of surprise at the sudden light; once she says her name, though, they settle down.

Spritz is somewhere near the back; he looks absolutely terrified. They all do, though. "Swivel!"

YX-939 runs right for Swivel, nudging a few of his fellow disposables aside in the process. He shoves a few credit cards in her hands. "We never got to use the money we got. Can you use it to help us?!"

Swivel looks down at the cards in her hands indreculously. "I-I-I dunno... I kin try." She looks over all the terrified bots huddled together, her core just melting at the sight. And then a sort of maternal instinct, or maybe big sister instint, kicks in and she feels overhwlemingly protective, and as if she was meant to be here in this point of time. Of course, that could just be delusions. "Jus gimma a sec..." Swivel says as a thought occurs to her. She activates her usually formant infra red sensors to see how much heat they are generating, for if she has sensors, so do the people looking for them. And more importantly, those searching for the bots to haul them off and likely smelt them down would hve better equipment. Swivel's concern is having them all in one place making them easier to find, and easier to dispose of.

Swivel's instincts are not far off. Trackers have been deployed to search the tunnels systematically for the renegade, defective drones. And it will only be a matter of time before they find the hidden cache of huddling YX-units. Currently, they are far from the cavern, but their search has begun, and they are using sensors, maps and navigation programs made specifically to work underground.

The huddled bots know they're being hunted; they've been arguing for the past few minutes over which tunnel they should take where. Considering how many YX bots there are, this group probably split off of another one.

YX-939 isn't the only one there that Swivel might recognize; a few of the others she gave names to are here, as well. Looks like they're sticking together. Or most of them are.

"Roight!" Swivel claps her hands to get their attention. Okay, what then? Swivel hadn't really made a plan, she just pulled a Hot Rod and rushed in to try and save the lives of many innocents. She does know that moving that amount of bots through the tunnels, even with her expertise as getting round them, will be difficult. Swivel is not a logistics expert, nor is she a rescue bot. She hmms and haws and glances about herself. "Wellum, we dun 'ave much time. We may need ter split yous up... somer you mi'na'survive, but if y'all stay together, ya'def wunt be makin' it outer 'ere alive." Yeah Swivel! That will boost morale. "But I'm gonna save as many o' ya as I kin!"

There's some nervous muttering; it looks like they don't like the idea of splitting up.

It takes a very short couple of minutes for hugs to go around and words to be shared, but they seem to be separating themselves willingly. Saying last good-byes along the way.

It's quite depressing.

Swivel tries to think of what to do. She knows the YX-units are orderly and organised, but still often require some instruction to keep them all on task, and this task is the difference between life and death. Swivel looks at how many exits there are to this particular underground cavern, which may have at one point been used as a reservoir. Swivel just wishes she wasn't alone. She'd left word with a fellow courier to try and find the femme Moonlight as quick as possible to tell her to head into the tunnels and try radioing Swivel until the message got through. With the blackout, radio range is short, and tunnels make it extra so. "Okay, I'm seein' yall are makin' yer own groups - tha's good. Now w'needer good exit plan."

The smuggler, Moonlight, had heard the news, so it wasn't a big surprise when the word came to contact Swivel. Using short range, personal radio she eventually gets a singal through to Swivel. << Okay, I'm down here. What next? >>

The YX bots are all just staring at Swivel.

"A couple of the tunnels lead to old waste deposits." Spritz whimpers. "A few to drain pipes on the surface, some to dead ends... We were going to go to the waste places and try to hide."

"<< Section C-8 through C-11 cleared. Only three units collected, one looking like some nasty Turborat got to it before us. The others aren't telling us where any others went. >>"

"<< Section D-40 to E-1 cleared. 48 Rounded up. Thye put up a fight, but not major injuries. I'll be on standby until I can get another cradle in; my capacity is clocked."

" << Section B cleared. Heading deeper into old disused A-sector. >>"

Those tracking YX units are closing in, disabling the units with brutal efficiency as they come across them. They've already combed through most of the more recently used tunnels, and are heading deeper.

Swivel has an expression of relief as one of the people she sent word to finally gets through to her. "<< Moonlight! D'ya know a place we kin stash aboput, oh, maybe 30 ta 50 YX-units safely? Coz I got quite ther group o 'em in a cavern. I'll give ya the cords," >> Swivel radios back, her voice sounding overly emotional. She then looks at the group. "Kay, Moonlight is on 'er way t'elp. She's a smuggler, but she 'ent ruthless an' we kin trust 'er." Swivel glances side to side as she transmits her location to Moonlight, hoping her transmition doesn't get intercepted. "Kay fer now, let's make two big groups. Once Moonight is 'ere, we'll work out the rest o'ther plan 'en."

<< Gotcha. I'm on my way. >> And so she is, sloshing through the underground. << Well, there's my ship, but they might be able to track them there. I gotta know more about the system they use before I can think of the best way to hide them. >> Hopefully Moonlight will get there first.

The YX bots obediently separate in to two groups. Almost equal numbers, in fact; it probably would have been if there wasn't an odd number of bots present.

There are so many frightened and sad faces.

They're all looking to you, Swivel! ALL OF THE SAD OPTICS.

All of those sad and frightened optics only make Swivel more determined to do THE RIGHT THING! She just wishes she knew the most efficient way of doing said RIGHT THING. Because the right things can turn out being the wrong thing, as Swivel has learned by observing Hot Rod. "<< Kin yer ship fly in orbit? I dunno much 'bout space ships, an' dunno if they kin go, uh... slow 'nuff? Dun they gotter be real fast.... ah no time fer this. Kin yer ship be moved wi'out violatin' clampdown? >>" Swivel looks at them all. "I know it's squishy in 'ere, but I wan ya ter start to make orderly lines by those two exits, two by two, if ya kin! Moonlight otter be 'ere soon."

Coming around the final corner, Moonlight finally sees the little gathering. Poor things. Personally, she's been outraged since she heard the announcement on the news. But outwardly she looks as impish as ever. Her anger will likely only distress the unfortunate cleaners even more. Since she's here, there's no sense using radio. "I can move it in atmosphere. In fact, that's the only option I have right now; I can't get it into space yet. If I had one of those mega-ships, it wouldn't be possible, but this is just a small freighter class."

She looks at all the sad faces. "Don't worry mechs, we'll do everything we can to keep ya safe." No sense talking about the ones they failed to help; that will do no one any good.

The YX bots look between Swivel and Moonlight, but don't seem any calmer or at ease about anything. They're just a bunch of frightened little bots right now.

And looking for direction. They're in two groups; what should they do now?

"Okay Moonlight, I got 'em in two groups... I think we otter take two routes to.... uh.... where /is/ your ship? Once I know where we're 'eadin', I kin get 'em there as well as give ya 'structions fer alt routes. Less it'd be better t'meet sumwheres else an' 'ave ya bring th'ship there?" Swivel glances at the little bots. She needs to think fast.

Indeed, fast would be good, for some people tracking down bots for the hefty reward and they have their own cargo vehicles to ship the little defective disposables in. Three of them, one with sensors, one with weapons and nets, and one with a large alt but moderately sized root mode have entered into the reservoirs. In the distance, the YX bots, Swivel, and Moonlight can hear footsteps approaching, the tunnel accoustics making the origin somewhat difficult to pin-point.

Aw scrap! Those are not good sounds. Moonlight makes a motion with her lips to be very quiet. Then she has a few things to say, at a whisper of course. "Alright. Anything flammable people have, we're going to pour at the entrances. If people are gonna hunt you down, we're doing to give them something to make them think twice." Out of subspace she pulls some organic alcohol and starts dumping bottles of the stuff at the two exits that the sounds are NOT coming from. She had despaired of ever selling them, so she might as well use them now. "Then Swivel will take one group and I'll take the other down each of the exits." She hands a gun to Swivel. "This is a simple blaster; just fire it at the entrance and it should ignite. You can give it back to me after. Or ditch it. I'll do the same in my tunnel. We'll meet at my ship." She gives the locaion of the ship; it's at a disused space port in Nyon.

The cleaning bots' optics light up, first at the footsteps and then at being told to use whatever flammable liquid they have.

Boy, do they have a LOT of it. Cleaning solution is sprayed at the entrance to the tunnels; along the arch of it, not he floor, a bit on the walls. It's spudsy.

Then, they separate to follow both Moonlight and Swivel. YX-939 -- as well as the others present that Swivel had named -- all bunch towards her.

Swivel nods as she listens to Moonlight. She heard the sounds and could identify the direction However, the gun in her hands makes her uneasy. But... but right now it is worth it... and there's no trickery here. Not like with Starscream and that HORRIBLE spark stealing device. Swivel quivers a little. Then she looks at the YX Units. Time to get over her supersition. It's just for a little while, yes? "So uh.... I just point and press that butter - er, pull the trigger?" Swivel confirms. She's never handled an actual live gun before. She looks almost as nervous about it as Spritz probably did in Blast City.

With the place fairly doused, Swivel stands by one of the tunnels and says to Spritz, "Spritz, take up the front. Ignite, the rear. Duster 'n Bustle, help relay messages front 'n back - it'll be a long line and we needa be quiet." The femme is speaking suddenly VERY well. "So whisper up and down the line. Now move, move, move - I'll hang back ta ignite our exit."

One of the mechs in the cavern hears some noises faintly, and holds up his hands for the others to be still and silent. After listening, he silently motions for the two to follow and heads into one of the passages leading into the cavern. It isn't long before the darkly coloured mechs reach one of the entrances into the cavern, one of them with a large rocket-launcher sized weapon mounted, and another with a rifle. The one with the launcher does not say anything or even care there are two civilians. Perhaps they are rounding them up for rewards - in which case his greed overrides his sense and he fires his weapon. It's not a rocket - far from it! Instead it's a large energy web aimed at the bots in Moonlight's group. The mech with the rifle, however, isn't quite as eager and just levels his rifle at Swivel. "Don't move, ANY of you. I will fi-" The mech suddenly stops at a sensor reading. High levels of volatile fumes and substances are reading out. He pauses to run a second scan just to be sure, causing him to lower his weapon just so sightly for a moment. The third mech stands back, slightly stooped forward.

Swindle hmms. The entrance to the tunnel seems suspiciously....CLEAN! He goes inside.

It's going to be a glorious blaze when the shots ignite, and with both Moonlight and Swivel firing shots, something is bound to catch. At least, that's the smuggler's hope. And she does know how well organic alcohol can catch fire. She manages to get most of the units into the tunnel that is 'hers'. The net might catch some of them, but since Moonlight is biggest, she tries to get herself targeted instead; she has a better chance of getting out of it than they do. Once it catches her, however, she transforms and starts up her rotor. This does two things: it blocks her tunnel and it also lets her contend with the rope. "Do you /really/ want to turn this place into an inferno?" she asks the one who had lowered his weapon.

At the arrival of PEOPLE, the YX bots let out a few startled screams; they scatter at the sight of an incoming weapon of any sort, but they don't actually leave the cavern.

Moonlight's group huddles back, but then stares in awe as she single-handedly takes out the rope and net.

Swivel's group followers her directions to a T; they're very good at listening, though the fear is probably putting a lot of extra oomph in to their actions.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, know yer scared but keep the line movin', we dun 'ave much time!" Swivel says motioning broadly with one arm to the YX bots in her charge while the other hand shakily holds the gun. "Back orff! These are OUR units!" Swivel says trying to sound vicious, but instead just sounds like Swivel.

Now it comes down to survival versus greed. The one with the rifle completely lowers his weapon and looks to the one with the net launcher, who is looking grim as a copter is in the way. He did NOT expect a flier to even condescend to be in the tunnels. However, he does not lower his launcher and instantly switches targets to the momentarily scattered ranks of Swivel's group. After all, Swivel is small and if she gets caught too, well, who cares?

The energy net flies into an arc and then unfolds as it descends upon the area by which units are escaping. Swivel panics and fires her weapon at the feet of the mechs standing there, starting the blaze prematurely. That doesn't stop the net from descending, and there are still about 10 units who have not exited the cavern, among them, Ignite. Swivel looks up with wide optics at the net and fires at it - but that doesn't really do anything.

Dear little Ignite -- YX-800, who was almost named Washatron by the ever lovely Swivel -- is caught along with six others caught in the fire. All six of them start screaming. Also, they're on fire now.

The other four stand there in shock for a moment. One of them, after a time, runs back with a broken piece of pipe and tries to cut the most not-on-fire part of the net.

Ouch. Okay, so it already is an inferno. The only way Moonlight can get out of here is to transform back and go down the tunnels. So, that's what she does. Already she can feel that her paint is going to be a casualty. She's not sure if she can get over to Swivel's side to help her without getting burned to the point of real danger as opposed to a bit of pain and annoyance. She only has a few moments to calculate the risks and rewards. She only hopes that while she takes that moment, the little YX units are running for dear life down that tunnel.

The net dissipates, not made to withstand the power of a cargo copter's rotors. But that is of little consequence as the bigger issue now is the fire. There are a string of curses from the three mechs. The one with the rifle will have NONE of this, and retreats back the way he came, dragging their cargo friend along by the arm. The net mech however is lingering. He steps back away from the flames, but he isn't retreating either, trying to figure out a way to get past the flames in relative safety or put them out, wondering if charred remains of YX bots will still get him some reward.

As for Swivel, she'd dodged out of reflex, and did not valiantly try and push or pull any bots along. She's used to being the protected, not the protector, so lot of her instincts are rather counter intuitive. swivel yells at the unit who came back to try and get the net open. "JUS' GO! I"ll TRY AN' FREE EM! GO GO GO!" Swivel kneels down by the net, her paint peeling from the heat. She gets out a box cutter used to slice open weaker metals like aluminum and tin. The nets are charged with energy to dampen other energy tools and weapons, but there is a wire frame emitting it, and that is what the femme is trying to hack at. However, Swivel's survival instincts are also screaming at her to just go.

YX bots from both Swivel and Moonlight's groups are running, now; both went down different tunnels, keeping to their own pre-decided numbers. Some have turned in to vehicle mode, but it hardly goes faster than they can run, so it doesn't really help.

Two of the bots in the net are pulled out; they're badly injured and unconscious. There aren't any screams, now.

Swindle suddenly notices there's smoke in the tunnel! Fortunately he has a fire extinguisher, and he sprays the flames when he reaches them.

Swindle sees two mechs run past him, one of them large enough to have to be stooped forward.

At the site of the flames where Swindle is trying to put them out is another mech. He glances at Swindle suspiciously, considering taking the extinguisher from the mech, but then instead lets Swindle do the hard work.

The courier message that Hot Rod received from Swivel lacked both context and direction, but knowing that Swivel's in the tunnels saving ... someone? ... from ... something? ... is enough to get him moving. For all that he's a wanted mech, Hot Rod takes the streets to Swivel's last known location, and from there follows the trail before he finds the right tunnels. Then he doubles back, goes underground, and comes at it from another direction rather than risk putting the Nyon Police Department or Senate Enforcers on Swivel's tail.

Anyway, he's /late/. He's /so late/. Catching a glimpse of firelight flickering in the distance, he hastens to catch up. He runs into the retreating YX bots, first and pauses just a step to ask, "Are you guys okay?" Dumb question. "Do you need more help?"

Of all the YX bots, YX-939 is the one that literally smacks in to Hot Rod in their mad rush to escape.

"You!" Poor Spritz actually hugs Hot Rod. "Swivel is back there and there were these guys with nets and there's fire and EVERYONE'S DYING and everyone wants to kill us!" There's about twenty other YX bots with him.

Talk is for later. Now, Moonlight is just running, scooping up the two YX units that are in the rear to give them a better chance of getting out, holding one in each arm. Her paint is all peeled and she's likely very uncomfortable, but it's not as though she's never been in rough spots before. She's been in worse, actually. Every so often she spouts out words of encouragement to the little mechs. She doesn't know how well Swivel is faring, and though she's worried, she realizes that it's better to save half of these little guys than none at all. Well she plays loose and fast with the law quite often, she was quite indignant at the INJUSTICE that is going on here. And that's saying something.

Yes, he IS late, but at least he came. Swivel is frantically dragging unconscious YX units out of the fire, one at a time. She had intended to go back to a third, but a minor explosion from the fire causes her to hop back in fear. She wants to save more, but she can't! She won't be strong enough to get them all, and if she dies trying, who will lead them the rest of the way to safety? Swivel realises this fundamental thing about leadership besides not really being a leader and more of a follower... but because she IS a follower, she knows how terrifying it is when your leader isn't about to call the shots. As she stands there with two unconscious and badly burnt mechs just barely out of the flames voracious reach, she hears a familiar voice. "O'Rod? I'm down 'ere! Got two knocked out, I need yer 'elp!" she calls loudly, but doesn't shout, trusting the acoustics to carry her voice further.

"So, what's going on here? How'd the fire start?" Swindle asks the suspicious mech.

"Whoa, steady." Hot Rod steadies YX-939 with a hand on the shoulder as he stumbles back himself from the unexpected whack. He looks startled, then alarmed by what the littler bot says. "Right. Do you know where the Acropolex? The old building? You guys will be safe there if you can get there. I'm going to go make sure Swivel's okay. You can wait for me here, or head there. Up to you." His words are quick, not sparing any time, but he sounds more confident than he should be. (But then, it's at least half show.) He waits just a moment to see if they are going to keep scrambling or stay put, and then heads back in the direction that YX-939 came form to go find Swivel. "I'll be right there!" he says, and then he is, with his hands held out to help her carry them.

The suspicious mech stares at Swindle. "Some femme who don't know how to use a gun started the fire. And she's getting away with a bunch of YX units I'd been working hard to track...." The mech frowns. The fire is tenacious and hard to put out due to it being chemical in nature.

Swindle ohs. "Are there any left in this mess here and now?"

"Th-The Acropolex? That's been abandoned for..." YX-939 talks to himself, mostly, as Hot Rod runs off. "...Brilliant." He then starts to head down the tunnels -- one twisted path goes to a manhole cover a block from the Acropolex -- and the lot of 20 or so rush down there.

Moonlight's group, meanwhile, is running in a completely different direction. Moonlight's leading them who knows there.

Such relief comes over Swivel when she actually sees Hot Rod - but she is a mess. Her paint is discoloured and peeled, and there is some distortion and bending on some pieces of her armour that looks like it would actually be rather painful, if not uncomfortable. Without a word, Swivel grabs one of them under the arms and grunts, lifting it towards Hot Rod to take. He can pick up the other one. "Once we get 'em sumwhere safe, Moonight's offered t'use 'er ship ta transport 'em if needs be..." she explains. She tilts her head towards the fire. "She's got some o' 'em runnin' a diff route... 'en we'l get in contact once we kin t'arrange stuff..." There is a groaning, creaking noise, and it doesn't sound like it came from Swivel's vocoder, but rather, some of her armour protesting against the weight of her trying to lift... well... anything. She gives up doing that and just picks up the gun Moonlight handed her and then hands it to Hot Rod. "'Ere, this thing's a danger in m'ands but I dun wan it left b'ind."

The suspicious mech regards Swindle for a moment. "Look, I ain't lookin' ta give up the reward on any stragglers I find, so you'd better not be thinking of swooping in and taking what I've worked hard to capture."

Hot Rod subspaces the gun rather than wield it, but then he doesn't really need it. He went for built-ins. "Scrap," he says, taking in Swivel's injuries as well as those of the YX unit she hands over. That he /doesn't/ subspace. No shoving people in pockets. Taking the second as well, he nods down the tunnels. "I told YX-939 to head for the Acropolex. It's safe there. We'll catch up with Moonlight's group. What /happened/?" he asks, keeping pace with her as he heads back the direction that he came.

The Acropolex lies at the end of the path, and from a block away, it looks just as abandoned as ever. On the other hand, maybe no one will look for them there if it is /that/ abandoned, right? Probably what Hot Rod was thinking, Spritz.

Spritz and his twenty YX bots don't pause; they go in to alleyways and use the shadows of buildings to try and hide as they make it to the Acropolex. Is there a door? SHOULD THEY KNOCK?!

Spritz decides to just try and open the front door. Walk right in.

Of course there's a door! There's a grand door, in fact, leading into the Halls of Order. Vaulted ceiling, bronze floors, murals of the matrix, statues of heroes, and everywhere -- everywhere! -- the red Autobot insignia stares down at YX-939. /What was Hot Rod thinking/. It's quiet inside, quiet and dark, with a gate in the far back of the hall.

Swivel takes up the rear, relaying the directions up the line of YX-units to Spritz who was told to take the front. "I'l 'splain later, fer now, I want ya t'take the front with Spritz. I'l make sure no trouble follows... but I worry 'bout worse trouble we might run inter, an yer better 'quipped ta deal with tha' 'en I am." She tells Hot Rod the tunnel Moonlight's crew took for his own information. "I kin try ta radio 'er, tell 'er to 'n give 'er directions if she 'ent too far away.... yanno, tunnels and com blackout kills long range radio."

Radio flicks on her radio and begins tuning the frequency, getting a lot of noisy static. "<< Moonlight, I 'ope this reaches ya 'fore yer too far 'way... 'ead to Acroplex... it is... >>" Swivel gives her as detailed directions as she can.

Moonlight herds her group as best she can towards her ship. Perhaps it is a good thing they are split up, perhaps not, but whatever the case, they'll deal with things as they come. Once they hit the surface she'll try her best to get them there unseen, and will lie pretty smoothly if she gets found out. But if all goes well, they should get to her ship pretty soon.

Or not. Now she's getting different orders. Well, okay. Time to shift course everyone. Would have been good to know this before hand. << Got it. >> The message is short and sweet.

The YX bots following Moonlight are far beyond the stage to do much more than follow. They're practically clinging to her; one is literally doing so, a hand clutching at her own.

Spritz, on his end, walks right on in. He doesn't even pause to look around. There's no time, THINGS MIGHT BE CHASING HIM. So, he and his own YX buddies quickly rush for that gate in the back.

Hot Rod can't help but glance over his shoulder, but he's got his hands full -- literally, his hands, they are full -- as it is. "Are you sure the worst of the trouble isn't /behind/ you?" he asks, a touch skeptical. And yet he did, after all, only just arrive. With no real idea what's going on, he grants her point with a tip of his head to move forward.

Just past the gate are dozens upon dozens of layers of twisting, meandering tunnels. Spritz has scarcely taken a step past the gate before a half dozen doorways open ahead of him, offering no indication where they might lead.

"...Are you serious?" YX-939 asks aloud to no one in particular.

"Didn't we see this in a movie?" One of the other escaped cleaning bots boggles. "Primacon and the Hightower Castle?"

"Can we NOT use movies as a reference point right now?" Spritz whines. "Stay here a sec, I'll look through the doors." He inches forward, trying to peek through the doorways without actually going in any of them.

If Swivel were a better leader, she'd have stuck to the plan for the sake of minimising confusion and other errors. But she is neither a leader nor a thinker. However, she has managed to save a majority of the YX-Units she was able to find. Five casualties is - no, don't think of them as numbers. Ignite was among them. Five deaths, each someone never getting to realise their individuality. But Swivel is pragmatic enough to be content that she saved more than she let perish. She is counting on Hot Rod to take the lead so he can guide Spritz, and therefor everyone else, to safety. Anytime he looks back, she just makes a shooing motion for him to keep going.

One doorway leads to stairs that go up; one doorway leads to stairs that go down; one doorway leads to a dead end; one doorway leads to an unending hall; one doorway leads to a path turning right; one doorway leads to a path turning left. Variety! But no direction.

"...This is stupid." Spritz whines as panic creeps up. "Who DESIGNED this building?!"

"Maybe we should split up?" A YX buddy suggests.

"No splitting up. Not again." Spritz looks between the doors; well, no point going to the dead end one. "Follow me." He heads for the stairs going down.

"Okay, okay," Hot Rod says after maybe the third time Swivel shoos him forward. He doesn't actually take the same path that Spritz took. When they get to the end, he takes a side passage that leads them up into the Acropolex itself. It's an empty store room that contains more empty crates. Empty, empty, empty. He heads in first and sets the two YX units that he is carrying down on a crate. (Empty crate.) He pauses to radio something, then reaches to help Swivel up as last in line. "Do you need a medic? Well -- no, let me rephrase. Obviously you guys need a medic. Do you want me to call one or did you have someone?"

Eventually Moonlight's team makes it to the place. She doesn't know her way around anymore that the others, but hopefully this will all be sorted out. The little cleaners with her are hopefully going to be happy to reunite with each other. As for the femme herself, well, she's seen better days. Right now she could REALLY use some engex. But there is time for that later. Now, what to do with this crazy place?

As Spritz and his friends head down the stairs, there's a groan of metal. When he steps around the corner and onto a landing, he watches as the next flight of stairs /right/ ahead of them transforms instead into a passageway before his eyes. So that's great.

"...The Magic Castle." A cleaning bot gasps.

"NO MOVIE REFERENCES!" Spritz practically screams it. "Guys, come on, this is the most serious thing! WE COULD DIE!"

With that, he pulls a very small piece of piping from subspace and throws it down the hall. At the odd looks he gets from his friends, he throws up his hands. "Okay, is movies taught us anything, it could transform in to a trap. So, I threw a thing, okay?!"

The pipe goes clatter tink tink in the hall. Nothing else happens.

Swindle hmphs at the strange mech. "Whatever."

"...FINE." Spritz yells at no one in particular. Then, he just... Walks down the magically transforming hall. His friends follow closely.

The ground shakes beneath their feet and a groan echoes through the halls and walls right into the room where Hot Rod is helping Swivel out of the tunnels. There's a door just ahead on Spritz's right.

As Moonlight enters, she faces the same hall, the same gate, the same six doors that YX-939 and his crew faced. Despite the movement occurring ... elsewhere, all seems still and quiet where she stands.

Using Hot Rod's help, Swivel climbs out of the tunnels. "I jus' got repaired..." she says sounding a little exasperated. This did NOT used to be her usual cycle-to-cycle life. Sure, Hot Rod might be used to it (that's probably another reason he's so poor) but she sure as heck isn't. Swivel moves stiffly over to one of the crates, but then jumps as she hears movement and feels the vibrations of the massive workings happening around her. "Wotzat?"

Spritz doesn't hesitate. He opens the door... And promptly blinks in surprise.

"Magic Castle!" The same cleaning bot cheers, hands going in the air. "Yeaaah!"

"Swivel!" YX-939 rushes in. "Oh my goodness, you're burned all over and OH MY GOODNESS!" He gapes at his near-dead friends. "...How many died?"

ARGH! More mazes. Well Moonlight uses her sensors to try to determine which way the others went. She's not going to go running wildly through here like a rat looking for cheese.

"That's the Acropolex," Hot Rod offhand and carelessly. "It does that--." He breaks off when Spritz breaks through and smiles, faint and crooked. "It does that when it's moving people," he finishes. "Hey, you guys. Have a seat. Does anyone need a medic right now or is everyone stable? Do you need fuel?"

The tunnels and metal and what have you might make it hard for Moonlight to get a clear signal, but she can at least get a /general/ idea of where to take them. It seems as though they are fairly deep within the structure -- certainly deeper than YX-939 would report actually walking.

Swivel's optics widen as she sees Spritz enter through a door. "Spritz!" She exclaims in relief. Having had to stay behind to drag the two she could save out of the fire must have been when the group broke up. But then Spritz asks about deaths and Swivel casts her glance downward. "Uh.... I uh.... five? The fires were makin' it 'ard ta see fer sure," Swivel says hesitantly. She then ooks to Hot Rod. "D'ya 'appen ta 'ave a medic stashed somewhere 'round 'ere?"

Okay, so EVENTUALLY Moonlight's group makes it in here, hopefully without the building EATING one of the little cleaners. What a horrible fate that would be, escaping the clutches of hunters only to be nommed on by a shifting building.

"...Five." Spritz repeats to himself, looking terribly sad. His head bows a little. "Five more. Why is this happening? We didn't DO anything..."

The rest of the cleaning bots are silent.

Actually, Moonlight & company probably make it there a lot sooner than she might expect, given that the hallway she chooses transforms beneath her. No one gets eaten, and at the far end of the hall, she can see through the open door to where YX-939, Swivel, and Hot Rod gather with the others.

"Nautica, most of the time, but she's actually out helping get communications back up. But I've got a friend who's as fast as -- anything," Hot Rod says after an awkward pause to not say the obvious. "He can go get a medic if we need one." Of course, this implies that Hot Rod's friend is close. Together with the fact that he says he keeps Nautica stashed around here most of the time, and there are probably some assumptions to be made about his ties to the Acropolex.

Hot Rod watches Spritz and the others uneasily, and makes as if to touch the nearest on the shoulder before pulling his hand back. "Hey, I'll go get some fuel for you guys, okay?" He can't fix things, and he can't fix them, but he can at least do that much.

Moonlight leans against a wall to rest. "If you go into my ship, there should be some nice bottles of engex there. Bring back a couple if you like." She gives more details as to where they are. Usually she'd sound pretty saucy, but at this point, she just sounds tired.

Swivel frowns even more and sumps her shoulders. She finds a smallish crate to sit on and exvents a woeful sigh. "Ignite was among 'em.... I coona save 'im... by the time O'Rod arrived..." Swivel gives a grim shake of her head. She only momentarily looks up at Hot Rod, just vaguely nodding to him, not thinking too much about what he is saying other than he might get some help, and right now, something to refuel with. Names and implications don't strike her presently.

When Moonlight arrives, Swivel looks up. "Ya made it! Sorry 'bout the pan change... O'Rod showed up an...."

The YX bots are still all quiet. They start to sits down -- slump down, really -- in huddled pairs and trios. A whole lot of depressed, frightened little mechs.

They don't directly ask for energy, but they don't say NOT to bring it, either.

"Engex? Nice. I won't say no." Hot Rod's expression brightens and he gives Moonlight a quick slap on the shoulder before transforming to drive off down the hall. He turns a corner and is gone. Forever. Because the building ate him. (He'll be back shortly.)

Moonlight winces at the slap on the shoulder. Welp, there goes more of her paint. Sigh. She looks around at the sad little cleaners. Poor things. She knows a little bit about this sort of thing though; a lot of her crew had been killed and taken away before she got here. But she doesn't know that telling them this will make their own burdens any easier to bear.

Swivel buries her face in her hands. She's burnt out. Physically and mentally. Where's that perk and cheer the femme is known for? Well, it's just stepped aside for a little while. Trying to cheer anyone up too soon might just have the opposite effect. Swivel sort of slides off of her crate and crawls over to wherever Spritz is, but says nothing. She's going to let the silence do the talking, and her presence do the consoling.

Poor little Spritz. YX-939 buries himself in to Swivel's half embrace. He's shaking quite badly and his intakes hiccup in silent sobs.

He has not had a very good day.

A half embrace becomes a full embrace as Swivel wraps her arms reassuringly around Spritz. She doesn't care if flecks of burnt paint slough off on him, or any discomfort from the contact. She continues saying nothing, just rests her chin on Spritz' helmet as he sobs.

It takes a little while, but Hot Rod's back sooner than he should be. Whether that is because of some strange property of the building itself or because he cheated is a mystery. (At least, it's a mystery until he passes the bottles off to Moonlight. They are her bottles.) It's not the engex that he offers first, though. He pulls a cube of simple energon -- weak energon, but clean and without contaminants -- to pass.

Moonlight eventually sits herself on the floor, leaning back against the wall, hat pushed so that both her optics are showing. It's not time to be cheeky or mysterious right now. It doesn't matter that they saved most of them; the five that died were still people, even if the laws are dumb enough not to see it.

She gives Hot Rod a weary smile when he comes with the energon and the bottles. "Thanks," she says. "You know something, Hot Rod, I can't be distant about this anymore." She gestures to the little cleaners. "These guys here, they don't deserve this."

Glancing up at Moonlight from consoling Spritz, Swivel responds shakily, "No. They don't. Question is... wotter we do next?" Swivel is already looking past her grief onto the big questions that need to be resolved. There's a lot more she was going to say and ask, but then wondered if it would not just distress them more to bring it up. On the other hand, despite their antics, they aren't children, and deserve to be part of the conversation of their fate. Or perhaps that is too much for them. Swivel battles between pragmatism and the cybertronian equivalent of maternal instinct.

"They don't." Hot Rod passes out the energon and then takes a seat, leaving a cube next to Swivel and Spritz. "Scrapsweeper--" Now there's a randomly generated name that sounds like it could fit /right in/ with the YX squad. "--will be along shortly. First things first: fuel up, fix your injuries. You said you were going to explain later? Is now good, or--?" He tips his head back over his shoulder. Maybe they should talk about it somewhere else? There's a glimpse of yellow down the hall as someone or something /zips/ into sight and drops off small-framed femme with a medic's paint.

Spritz seems pretty listless; he doesn't reach for the cube.

A completely different YX bot grabs it, however, and guzzles a bit before passing it on. There's mix reception to the cube generally; half the cleaning bots seem willing to sip at least a little, while others refuse it.

None of them look up at the incoming medic; they're just so TIRED.

Very fast zipping people makes Swivel RATHER uneasy, but she maintains her cool. She just looks over at Hot Rod. "I dunno if ya 'eard - I was jus south in Tarn 'en I learned 'bout it, but all 'em YX units, na'just groupe 5, 'ave been declared defective an' are bein' rounded up fer disposal." Swivel shudders a little bit. Swivel reaches over to the cube only taking a sip, and then hold it by Spritz with curious look that says 'you gonna have any?' without actually saying it. She looks back at Hot Rod. "I din 'ave much time. They was 'andin' out rewards - an' this is a global order - for people ta bring 'em in. So not only are enforcers roundin' 'em up, an' businesses usin' 'em sendin' 'em in, but e'en civs are gonna be grabbin' for 'em. I knew cozer the com black out gettin' the message 'round would be slower, so I knew i 'ad a chance o' findin' Spritz an somer the other ones in Nyon 'fore 'enone else did. Sent out couriers to few peeps I knew'd 'elp an' ran inter the tunnels, makin' up a plan as I went." She glances over to Moonlight, letting Moonlight explain the fire if she so chose.

Moonlight doesn't think the why of the fire is terribly important at the moment. She peers up at Hot Rod. "Well, whatever it is you're doing, I want to help. The whole nine yards. Usually I want to stay out of the politics and all that. It's no place for folks like me. But..." And she shakes her head several times. "The line's been crossed."

Hot Rod stares at Swivel. "Scrap," he says, then again, sharper, "/Scrap/." He stands and draws back his leg like he wants to kick the box he was sitting on, but there are all those YX units littering the room, and one of them is right next to the box on the other side. And they probably don't need him to throw a tantrum and lash out at helpless furniture. He takes a step back and turns instead to the incoming medic. He exchanges a few quieter words with her, then steps back so she can go to work. He takes up a place next to Moonlight. "Then you're in." It's just that easy. "The problem with politics is that as much as you ignore it, it doesn't ignore you." As he was recently reminded.

Scrapsweeper steps forward to triage the injuries. From her frame, a knowing eye can make guesses where there were once attachments that would make her name make a little more sense, but she's been obviously, illegally modded and upgraded to a medic's toolset. Her voice is cool and steady as she appraises each person's injuries, beginning with Moonlight as she's nearest the door and ending with Spritz and Swivel. Everyone gets scanned before she begins, because you never know who might have a busted line instead, and be bleeding out all unknowning.

Except for the two burned bots, the rest of the surviving YX units are in pretty decent shape. A few bumps and dents and a whole lot of dirt, but otherwise... Physically okay.

Just a lot of shock. And fear. Emotional trauma.

Moonlight nods to Hot Rod. "Just so you know, I often play it pretty cool, like I don't care. It's just my way. So if I make inappropriate jokes you can stomp on my foot or something." That being said, she tries to smile again, but it just doesn't quite happen. "I've done a lot of shady things in my time, but I don't deal in death. Hauling these guys in like cattle....there's NOTHING right about it."

Swivel watches Hot Rod get riled up - and then manage to more or less calm himself down. She had been tense for a moment that he might break something and upset the shaken little 'bots further, but it doesn't come to that. Swivel takes another drink. She listens as Moonlight throws her cap in with Hot Rod and his band of merry mechs. She considers it for herself for a moment, but then shakes her head. She knows better. She'd regret it if she did. She'll regret if if she doesn't, though. "I jus' wish we din' put it in their 'eads t'spy..." Swivel says in a non-blaming way, just one full of regret. She would ask what cattle are, but she's too focused on her own feeling of remorse to feel overly curious.

As for Swivel's injuries, they are not as severe as the two extra crispy and unconscious YX-units she managed to salvage from the net and the fire, but they are more extensive than anyone else's next to them. The difference is, she is still standing. Metal on her armour is warmed and dent painfull out of shape, all of her paint is peeled and discoloured, and some internal components have been comprimised. It's just a good thing nothing got hot enough to outright melt any of her metal, otherwise she'd might have some fused internal components and be in much more critical condition.

Well, Scrapsweeper's not qualified to deal with that, and /Hot Rod/ is certainly not qualified to deal with that, so both of them will just leave the shock, fear, and emotional trauma to someone else. In the meantime, Scrap'll just go ahead and deal with the most severe of the two burn injuries.

"I'm not really much of a foot stomper," Hot Rod says with a quick smile in Moonlight's direction. "And there is -- I mean this with complete honesty, absolutely literally -- /no way/ that you could be as inappropriate as the last mech who passed through our ranks." He rolls his eyes at the memory. /No way/. "You'll be fine. I'll introduce you to the others later. Nothing much is going to change about what you do, but most of what you make will go into helping out everyone, rather than your pocket. You sure you're okay with that? Anything you had before is yours. In return we'll give you a place to recharge, fuel, and take care of repairs."

Once that's laid out, Hot Rod glances across at Swivel, and then away again. He doesn't say anything.

"Stuff is just a way to keep score, Hot Rod. As far as I can figure it, this isn't a game any longer. The stakes are for real. So apart from a few personal oddities, what's mine is now going to be used to some purpose." Then Moonlight actually does grin. "Is that a challenge?" Bring it!

Swivel remains quiet and thoughtful. "So... affer repairs... wot then?" Swivel asks. "I dunno if ya kin s'port all these li'l fellas long term." Swivel then looks at some of the frightened YX-units. "Folk will be lookin' for 'em. 'En'one 'oo sees 'em might turn 'em in, so's I dunna iffin think they'll be safe in ther tunnels." Swivel then has a thought. She gently nudges Spritz off of her, GENTLY, so that she may stand up. She walks over to Hot Rod, digging the cred chips out of her subspace. "Can this accommodate 'em fer a while?"

Hot Rod's grin is drawn in response to Moonlight's. He warms and brightens. "I like your attitude." The warmth lingers as a slighter smile as he looks at Swivel. "What happens next is up to them. There's a frame engineer in Protihex that might be able to help, though, and Nautica's dabbling in frame work and upgrades, too. I'd use this...." He accepts the chip, checks it, and makes a surprised face. "I'd use /this/ to help as many of them get a new look as possible--" Which is wildly illegal, by the way. "--and have the rest of them make the same upgrade and work it off."

When Scrapsweeper finishes making sure the two badly burned units are stable, she turns her attention next to Swivel. YX-939 is next down the line, first things first.

At the talk of being given new bodies and upgrades, the lot of cleaning bots share nearly identical looks of surprise; the idea had never actually occur to them to DISGUISE themselves.

"Can... Can we DO that?"

"Won't people find out? I mean, can't we be scanned or something?"

"How does it even WORK?"

YX-939 says nothing; he looks completely depressed.

"I have some smuggling gear that might help," says Moonlight. "Things to erase their ident numbers and short out whatever they use to keep track of the cleaning crews. I'm guessing, if they have been seen as property, there's all sorts of ways to keep them in line. We need to get rid of all that first. I'll have to get the stuff from my ship though." She gives Hot Rod a long look. "Is this place pretty secure? Anything I have worth anything should be moved in here if that is the case."

Swivel sees Hot Rod's surprised face and smiles a little bit. "Wellum... 'ow much d'ya figger basic frame work'd cost? Good t'know 'ow many this might cover, an' 'en we can work out a plan on 'ow ta disguise th'rest. But I dun e'en know that I'd iffin wanner take 'em as far as Prot'ex roight now. Not without, loik, super trained smugglers an' escorts an' top-notch scanners an anti-surveillance an' did I mention santi-aircraft missiles?" Perhaps she is getting a little over protective of her litter of YX-units she has taken on as her responsibility. Swivel usually avoids this sort of responsibility for a reason.

Swivel finds a place to sit down while she is attended by the little medic Hot Rod had brought in, but her attention remains on figuring out what to do next.

"It's really illegal, but yeah, you can do that," Hot Rod says with a glance at the other YX bots. "Sounds like Moonlight could help. It's not really my kind of thing, but." He shrugs at Swivel. "I know who you need to talk to. It's not cheap. Maybe you could get a message to the Protihex guy. We can work it out." He meets Moonlight's look with half a smile and tips his head. "Yeah. It's secure. It's because of those tunnels out there. I don't know how they work, but they do." And he has never been one to question his luck when it works so well for him.

Scrapsweeper takes her time checking Swivel out, making sure that the burns go no deeper. "You'll need time in a real repair bay, but you're stable for now," she tells her. This, after all, is just a room with boxes in it. It's not the place. She crouches down next to YX-939, but what she seems to expect to be an easy scan ... pauses. And she runs it again. "Do you have a non-standard radio?" she asks YX-939 in a slightly confused tone.

"...Huh?" YX-939 blinks dumbly at Scrapsweeper. After a moment, he lets out a breath of relief. "Oh, I forgot about this thing..." He pulls out a simple two-way communicator out of subspace. "Swivel and I use this to talk sometimes..."

There is a moment where Swivel looks very uncomofortable. "Yeah... it's illegal.... but I figger... I just dun somethin' illegal by bringing 'em 'ere. But wot else coo I do 'en it's illegal t'save the innocent?" Swivel sighs again. She glances over at the radio YX brings out and smiles a little bit. "I /really/ would rather stay on th'good side o'the law. If they d'cide ta get frame work dun, that'l be up ter 'em an 'ow they feel 'bout breakin' the law." Swivel idly picks at a bit of peeling paint for a moment or two. "I jus' dunno wot more I kin do."

Scrapsweeper sweeps again, and in a more certain tone, she says, "No, that's not it." She reaches for YX-939's head to turn it toward her so that she can pass a fine scan over his head. And eyes. It takes time.

Moonlight glances at Swivel. "Just having their sparks continue to beat right now is illegal," she points out. "This law, it just ain't worth listening to. Not one bit of it. But don't take it from me, I never had much respect for the law." She rubs the side of her cheek. "Okay, that's not completely fair; I don't respect much of anything." She shrugs her shoulders. "In a case like this, they might as well go for broke and really make sure they can escape undetected."

YX-939 blinks in surprise at Scrapsweeper, but doesn't resist. He just seems... Confused. Still in shock. He allows himself to be scanned, not knowing what else to do.

"Right now, being alive is illegal." A different cleaning bot whimpers. "We literally can't do ANYTHING legally. I don't think any of us are going to back out now."

"You're learning," Hot Rod breathes in a very mild voice as Swivel sighs. "It's up to you guys," he tells the YX units. "But whatever you decide, I'll help you."

Slowly, but surely, the readings come back--and it seems that YX's optics are no ordinary optics. Yes, they've modified. They're not just optics any more but high-definition -cameras- with live streaming capabilities. It's a good thing there's a comms blackout in Nyon right now, because if not, whoever was watching that feed would've been staring right at them all, listening to -everything- being said.

Scrapsweeper squeaks. It's decidedly out of character with her otherwise cool and collected mannerisms, and she scrambles to her feet. She looks from YX-939 to Hot Rod and then back. She folds her scanning equipment away and says, "Your optic modifications--. The others didn't have them." She nods to the badly burned pair. "What /are/ they?"

"...What?" Spritz blinks dumbly again. "I don't have any optic modifications. We weren't allowed ANY modifications..."

"Eh... they are terrible laws. But... I dun wanner give 'em much reason ta 'aul me in either. So the less I break the law, less chance I'll be caught. An' if I get caught, I kint be of any 'elp t'any of yeh," Swivel says. "It's less 'bout right 'en wrong now as it is... I dunno. I wanner 'elp, but I 'ent ready t'put m'life on ther line every cycle o' m'life jus' yet." Swivel huffs as she crosses her arms over her chest, looking somewhat annoyed with herself. But she's at least being honest. She might have saved more from the fire if she weren't caring more about her own survival, and she knows it.

The revelations of the medic get Swive's attention. "When woo'd ya been modded!?" Swivel asks. Yeah. Obvious question. "An wi'out ya knowin'?" Swivel thinks for a moment. At some point, a tracker was put on her without knowing and the femme suddenly looks very ill. "Coo... coo it be a... tracer?"

"Eh... they are terrible laws. But... I dun wanner give 'em much reason ta 'aul me in either. So the less I break the law, less chance I'll be caught. An' if I get caught, I kint be of any 'elp t'any of yeh," Swivel says. "It's less 'bout right 'en wrong now as it is... I dunno. I wanner 'elp, but I 'ent ready t'put m'life on ther line every cycle o' m'life jus' yet." Swivel huffs as she crosses her arms over her chest, looking somewhat annoyed with herself. But she's at least being honest. She might have saved more from the fire if she weren't caring more about her own survival, and she knows it.

The revelations of the medic get Swive's attention. "When woo'd ya been modded!?" Swivel asks. Yeah. Obvious question. "An wi'out ya knowin'?" Swivel thinks for a moment. At some point, a tracker was put on her without knowing and the femme suddenly looks very ill. "Coo... coo it be a... tracer?"

"A who and what now?" YX-939 is only looking more and more confused. "A tracer? In my eyes? What? Why would someone put a tracer on me anyway?"

"No, it's not a tracer -- too complicated. The signals are much higher bandwidth as well." Scrapsweeper finishes her scans and then downloads the data onto a datapad she draws from her subspace. She sets the datapad down in front of Spritz and points at the various parts: "There, see? Your vision feed has been doubled so that it functions as a camera and this part here transmits it. With the communication blackout, there's not much I can tell about the feed, but it's not currently getting out. It looks like this part here stores the data for later recall in case of a problem with transmission, however."

For once, Hot Rod holds his tongue about Swivel's choices. He glances at her, and then glances away. He couldn't be Not Saying Anything any harder if he tried, but at least he's not saying anything. Until the conversation catches his attention. "Wait, what?"

"...There's a CAMERA IN MY EYES?!" Well, now Spritz is panicking again. "How?! What the scrap?! I don't remember being modified or anything! I haven't even been knocked unconscious in over a month!" He starts to hyperventilate. "Can you get it out?!"

"Scrap," says Moonlight, letting out a low hiss. "That's going to take some real work to deal with." She sighs and shakes her head. "Are you up for that sort of tinkering?" she asks the medic. "Do you need supplies?"

Swivel seems oblivious about Hot Rod's disapproval. If she were aware how hard he was not saying anything, she'd be grateful. But she is more absorbed in the more pressing matter of... perhaps Spritz has been an unwitting spy for a very long time. That may explain some things, but she isn't sure of all the implications. "Tha' needs t'be... gone... som'ow...."

Nope, it's true, YX hasn't been knocked into stasis lock for several deca-cycles! Which means, that the mod must have been implemented -before- that. Which means, the footage that had gone through outside of Nyon or within Nyon -before- the blackout has already been transmitted. It would also appear that the camera is indeed still running, if not transmitting. The data, as the medic had said, is being stored temporarily.

How else did Hot Rod think Blurr had found that one datanet node in that bar a few megacycles ago?

"I can remove your optics, yes," says Scrapsweeper, "but I'd be /removing your optics/." She sounds just a little -- panicked herself. Which is just what you want to hear from your medic, right? So she takes a long pause to center herself and then says, "It's a simple operation." She sounds calm and reassuring. She glances at the other YX units, and says, "If you had a donor, I could do it now. The two of you would have limited vision until replacements could be found, however."

"We've got a medbay," Hot Rod grants. "A /real/ medbay. But--." He doesn't look excited about taking any of them deeper. "I'm sorry, but I can't let everyone come down. Just Scrapsweeper, YX-939, and maybe one of the donors. Oh, and Moonlight, of course." Because she was fool enough to join.

YX-939 flails his arms a little. "Take out my optics! Just take 'em! Someone's using me to track 'em, TAKE 'EM OUT!" He doesn't seem to be considering the whole 'being blind' thing. "If we survive all this, I'll get new ones later somehow!"

Swivel isn't bothered by this restriction. In fact, she's relieved Hot Rod is showing SOME proactivity toward security. "I doubt I'm combatible, but I'd be willin' ta done an optic. Fact, I'd iffen donate 'em both. I got sensors I kin use ta sorter get by if I dun move too recklessly."

Moonlight might be a fool, yes, but like the lead fool, her spark is (mostly) in the right place. "I'm probably too big to be of much help there. But if supplies are needed I can see what I've got." That's about all she can do for now.

Hot Rod glances at Scrapsweeper when Swivel says that she's willing to donate, and groans a little when Scrapsweeper nods. "Fine. Fine, come with me, then. I'll get someone up here to stand watch with the rest of you guys," he says to the other YX units, "and come find us if you need anything. Okay?"

That groan does not get past Hot Rod. "If yer worried 'bout s'curity, I kin put me optics offline an 'ave ya lead m'there by th shoulder." She isn't trying to be saucy, the femme sounds absolutely earnest. That's the problem with Swivel. She does a lot of things in earnest. However, she looks at Spritz ultimately for his final say on the matter. If he tells her not to donate, she won't.

YX-939 looks up at Swivel with absolute awe and amazement. In fact, all of the cleaning bots do. "You'd do that for me...?"

"Path's never the same twice," Hot Rod says, "so it's not that, but it's everyone else down there." He glances from YX-939 to Swivel and then tilts his head. "That looks like a yes. Come on, then, and be ready to close your eyes when I ask you to, yeah?"

"O'course. Wot're friends for, o'er 'en takin ya out on Not Dates?" Swivel asks, her optics wide, and a light grin tugging at the corner of her optics. Perhaps it's too soon for humour, but in all reality, how COULD she resist. Levity is something of a guiding light for her, and without it, she feels lost. "Wellum, let's get this done."