Orion Pax Steals A Houseguest

It's a typical day at the Decagon, at least these days. With Clench dead and Megatron taking charge of the Forge, there is a distinct need for action to prevent things from escalating out of control. Plans are being set in place for an end to finally be brought to the savage gladiator fights--what sacrilege! How heinous!

And thus, even the cadets are training harder than usual. Such an endeavor is going to take a lot of mechpower, and the more recruits are ready for battle in time, the better. At the moment, Prowl is overseeing a group of cadets working on their various schools of combat discipline or weapons training. He happens upon a recruit attempting timed field strippings of a standard plasma blaster. Peering over the trainee's shoulder for a moment, he shakes his head disapprovingly. "Be careful how you dislodge the ammunition chamber, if it cracks you'll be ending up with some nasty burns on your hand. Trust me--you -don't- want that happening to you in the field." he chastises.

tromp Tromp Tromp! TROMP! \*TROMP!\* An orange and black recruit fembot is somewhat late to the party, and she is running down the halls to catch up to the rest of the cadets. Her training and function are different, but she still has to make progress reports on how she's coming along and be inspected, regardless. She's chugging a canister of energon as she barrels forward at high speed, tossing the can aside -- just like that, onto the floor!! -- as soon as she's finished.

SKREEEEEEEEE! Her wheels and heels skid along the floor as she realizes she's coming in /too/ fast and she tries desperately to slow herself down, leaving big black marks across the floor. Her optics widen and she flails her arms uselessly as she crashes right into a few of the cadets at the end of the line.

".... sorry," Shiftlock mutters from among the pile of tangled limbs.

The looming Autobot has been observing the recruits for awhile from his vantage point at the entrance to the room. Quickswitch would never disturb them.. so he watches....even outside of his training in the quiet, the hefty six-changer feels odd, so seeking out the training of others to watch is what he does. All the while, emotions drift and play over his features. "Hey--" he calls out as the smaller femme runs right past him, realizes who it is and breaks into a large smile, "Good to see ya, Shiftlock."

Yesterday, Orion Pax had discussed meeting the newest, rather clumsy recruit known as Shiftlock. They discussed her admittance into the Autobots and he inferred that her mind may have been altered by a mech known as Cipher. Now, he was meeting her at the Decagon during her break to have a more in-depth conversation with her. Plus, the femme sounded lonely. He felt sympathetic for the abuse she couldn't remember and oddly protective. No one should be treated in such a manner and deprived of their freedom. At the moment it seemed they were training, so he stuck to the shadows and watched from the second floor.

Skids has returned to Decagon after a few weeks out in the wild doing 'stuff' for extra-curricular projects of his which reminds him to try and get/steal/squat an office somewhere in the base so he can continue his research and 'projects'. The blue mech passes by the gathered group and stops to check on the recruits.

Arcee has been here this whole time, honest! And she's taken to the training like a sharkticon to water. She WANTS to learn all of these things! At the moment, she's demonstrating a few self-defense moves that seem very...Vanguard-ish in nature. "Learned this routine from an old friend of mine."

Shiftlock pulls herself out of the recruits, who are grumbling, groaning and fistshaking at her. She sheeplishly over apologizes and gets herself righted, greeting Quickswitch and trying to look composed and not at all like she just ran into fifteen people. If she were a cat, she'd be grooming to recover dignity points. She picks out Orion Pax in the crowd because she decided to do some research on Captain Super Policeman With Decorative Arm Cannons and can now pick his red and blue butt out of a crowd. She waves furiously in his general direction. "HEEEYYYYY!"

So much for trying to remain unseen. Orion waved back at her, smiling slightly beneath his mask. He tapped his wrist as a signal to meet her whenever she was on break.

Arcee does a few quick defensive maneuvers with one of the other cadets, then kicks him in the head. <\*BONK\*> "Oh, NO! Are you okay??? I'm so sorry!!"

Well since Prowl isn't immediately yelling at her, Shiftlock jogs right over to Orion Pax. She's clearly on break until proven otherwise. "Hey, there you are!" she says a little more quietly since she's right next to him. "Thanks for talking to me yesterday. I kind of get bored."

Prowl stares at Shiftlock when she comes tumbling into the room, running into every possible mech at once. Really? -Really-. Yeah, the other cadets aren't happy, either. "Hey watch it, klutz!" One of them says indignantly. Prowl sighs, examining the marks she's made on the floor with a disapproving glare.

Arcee's partner staggers backward a bit, but laughs. "I'm fine, I'm fine! Slag, you're gettin' good!" he jokes.

Skids is observing Arcee's hand-to-hand training with curious interest. He glances at Shiftlock as she knocks into some recruits and mumbles something about hoping she is not a future bomb technician.

Orion chuckled. "That's quite alright," he said. "I enjoyed our little chat and I'm surprised you figured out it was me speaking to you. Do you have time to talk now?" He glanced behind her to see Prowl. It looked like the Chief was busy with the other recruits, even if Shiftlock /did/ make quite the entrance. "Come with me." He led her away from the others and towards where they kept the energon.

Shiftlock turns and shouts back to Prowl, "DON'T WORRY I DIDN'T GET HURT!" Because that's what matters, right? She sneaks off with Orion Pax, playing hookey for a bit.

"Thanks! Sorry about the dent, it's...not super-noticable," Arcee bends the truth slightly so the other cadet might not notice the head dent until he gets back to his habsuite. Eesh. Vanguard kick is super-effective, it seems! She stares over at Shiftlock in momentary confusion, then looks back at the cadet. "Actually...the least I can do is teach you that move."

Orion grabbed two cubes of energon, handing one to Shiftlock. "I wanted to continue our conversation from yesterday," he said. "You were talking about your ... epiphany; how you decided to become an Autobot. You mentioned a Cipher? And being locked up after training?"

"Oh yeah! Cipher's great, he helps out Blurr a lot," Shiftlock confesses easily to Pax, taking the offered cube. "See, Blurr was really worried about his emotions getting the best of him and all that, and I was just tired of feeling confused and lost. Now I feel great! Well, except for this UV allergy out of nowhere, but eh, weirder things have happened to me. /Trust me/."

Prowl turns as Shiftlock shouts at him again. Good Primus, this room was that big. She didn't need to shout. Inside voices. He sighs. Well at least no one seems to have gotten injured. The security chief turns toward Arcee. Now -there's- someone he actually approves of. But it's Skids he's sure to keep a special optic on...

Arcee's training partner laughs good-naturedly. "Hey, I'm sure I'm gonna get something much worse once we actually get out there. If I'm going to do this I'd better learn to brave a few dents." he jokes.

Pax cocked an optic ridge. "A UV allergy?" he asked. He made a mental note of everything she was telling him. No doubt Cipher was messing with their processors in a way that made them oblivious and obedient. He continued on. "Who is he affiliated with?"

Arcee isn't really paying too much attention to the rest of the room, although when she overhears the name 'Cipher', her audials hone in on that name, and now she can't UNhear what Shiftlock's talking about. In the meantime, she keeps her gazed focused on the cadet. "...Right! Well...here's how it works. Inner focus to the peripheral sensors. Vent a bit to destress, assume a posture like so..." She demonstrates a defensive pose for the cadet. "And then you target an area. Best area is, naturally, the head." She runs through the pose routine in slow motion, as she listens to Shiftlock. (Cipher is WHAT??) she thinks. (Cipher is HELPING BLURR? What the what.)

The cadet starts imitating the poses as best he can. Though at this point, Prowl chimes in with a...correction. "The head is not always the best target. It depends on your opponent's build, and of course the objective of the operation. You may wish to cripple, but not to knock them senseless."

"Yeah, it's out of nowhere, but it's nothing as weird as the combiner experiment I was in. See, that's the whole reason Senator Ratbat is under suspicion right now." Shiftlock isn't sure of how sensitive that information is, but since Pax is a police officer that means it's okay. Always tell your police officers about crimes! It's not just a good idea, it's the law.

"See, he stole me right out of nurturing and then tried to kill me so I wouldn't have any records or ID! And then he fused me with a Shifter for a long time and then I got free and he thought I had all this information I didn't have and so he was chasing me down and hired people to kill me so that's why I ended up with the Decepticon and Barricade in Kaon because Barricade is all like 'what you are no better than protoform you don't know anything at all so I'm going to teach you what no one taught you' and he MADE ME READ BOOKS SERIOUSLY IT WAS THE WORST HE MADE ME TAKE TESTS anyways he kind of made me his kin at least until I found this guy named Whirl in the Dead End and I tried to make Whirl feel better since he was all 'my life is ruined' and then Barricade found us and he flipped out because apparently Whirl is someone Megatron really hates and then they fought and I tried to save Whirl's life by taking him to the free clinic and Barricade said if I went back to the Forge he'd kill me so THEN I WENT TO NYON!"

And you thought Blurr was bad.

"Oh! Well..." Arcee pauses her training session as Prowl weighs in on the technique in a teachable moment. "...That's probably very true, the best target...is dependent upon the situation, then. Use your best judgment in the situation."

And then before she can get anything ELSE out, Shiftlock purges an entire gigabyte of memory out of her vocoder. Arcee stares at the other femme as if she had just demonstrated her ability to transform into a hot mess. "...Are you on circuit speeders? Because you're acting like you're on circuit speeders," she points out in the awkward silence that immediately follows.

Senator Ratbat took a fresh protoform right out of nurturing to ... to offline her? No, there must have been more to it. He /experimented/ on her. She was young, too young to have to go through all of that. It made Pax angry just thinking about it. He clenched his fists. Oh, he was definitely bringing this information forward for /everyone/ to hear.

As much as Orion didn't agree with the way Decepticons handled the troubles of society, he did respect Barricade for taking care of her. Now that they were separated, though, she was going to need someone else to watch out for her. "Now you're here," he said, having to tear himself away from his thoughts so he didn't seem so spaced out. "You've been through a lot. I commend you for staying so strong, Shiftlock." He looked around. "You like it here...? Where they train you all day and lock you up at night?"

"No, I'm not on circuit speeders, I AM a speeder!" Shiftlock cheerfully announces to Arcee. "Tunnel speeder! I can explore all the way to the center of the planet! -- well, if there's a function for that. Right now we need people to train and get ready to fight and enforce the law! SO MANY LAW BREAKERS! They are -everywhere-." She points at the can she dropped a short time ago. "LOOK AT THAT, SOMEONE LITTERED."

"I'm okay for now," she quickly adds to Pax. "They have to keep me locked up, I'm evidence! You put evidence in an evidence locker and after the whole thing with Ratbat is settled I'll be free to go beat up all the lawbreakers ever. FOR JUSTICE."

Pax seemed a little amused. "You want to be an officer, I see. Well, I'm an officer, too. In fact, I'm involved in the investigation, so if you come with me, you'll just be in my evidence locker. I assure you it's roomier and comes with more freedom," he said. "Of course, it's entirely up to you." When he brought this to the forefront, he knew that it would circle back to poor Shiftlock. She shouldn't have to pay for being the victim.

"HEY CHIEF PROWL I AM GOING TO GO LEARN HOW TO BE A COP I WILL BE BACK SOON TELL MASTER BANZAITRON I WILL DO ALL MY KATAS OKAY?" Shiftlock shouts back to Prowl, loudly, before offering her hand to Pax. "Lead the way!"

Arcee looks back toward Prowl, silently very, very glad that she hasn't been paired up in any way with the spazz-o-matic currently leaning all over Pax. "...." She has an awkward moment of silence to get her bearings, then looks back to the cadet. "Right! So. If the person needs to be dispatched quickly -- for whatever reason -- that's when you kick them in the head."

"Decisions such as these must always be made." Prowl continues. "Therefore you need to be able to make them quickly. Don't 'default' to anything, it may land you in a difficult position." He nods to Arcee's advice. She's doing a excellent job.

And then Shiftlock is shouting at him again. He doesn't even think he knows her personally, so this is extra irritating. "You do reailze that you are capable of maintaining contact with him through your personal hailing frequency?" he points out. "There is no need to shout, my audials are functioning fine. For the time being, at least..." But if she keeps on yelling like that...

[IC-Autobot] Shiftlock says, "Okay Chief Prowl I will maintain contact on this com frequency too! I will make you pround some day I promise!"

[O-Autobot] Shiftlock says, "Proud, rather"

[IC-Autobot] Prowl says, "..."

[IC-Autobot] Shiftlock says, "You are my hero. I even have a chevron too except mine is gold."

[IC-Autobot] Shiftlock audibly salutes.

[IC-Autobot] Prowl has no comment.

Pax smirked. "Let's take that as a yes," he said to Shiftlock and took her servo. He began leading her out of the training arena. "I've got an apartment a short drive away that you can stay at. I won't lock you up, but I do suggest you stay under the radar. A good cop knows when to be stealthy." She was going to be a big help in his endeavors to bring down the corrupt Senate. Though she was young, he sensed great potential in her. "Come on," he said before transforming to leave the Decagon.

Shiftlock drops down into altmode. "Okay but is it okay if I come back here? There's someone I need to keep an eye on. He gets lonely and I don't want to forget him." She fires up her engines and tries not to go faster than Pax, because he's the one that knows where they're going.

Pax took to the streets with her right behind him. He made sure to stick to the alleyways less traveled. "Who is that?" he asked. "I'm not quite sure coming back here is a good idea if you come with me."

Suddenly, Arcee seems to make a connection about who Shiftlock is. She isn't just ANY random crazy cadet! She didn't know what her connection to Cipher was, but...yes, SHE was the one who seemed so important to Blast Off at one point. She may never comprehend why. She can barely comprehend how it is she's here in this place.

"His name is Quickswitch, he's got /six whole altmodes/!" Shiftlock says excitedly. "They've got him in training too, he's not allowed to go out anywhere or do anything fun and he's kind of twitchy but nice."

Orion sighed. "You cannot visit him," he replied. "But I will find a way to bring him to you whenever you want to see him." That was the most he could promise at the moment. "How does that sound?"

"That sounds just fine. Also I'll help you with anything you need, I don't want to be a burden," Shiftlock adds. "I'm pretty sure I won't break an energon dispensor like last time, and I will TRY to sit still and read anything you give me."

He chuckled. "You won't have to worry about reading anything unless you want to. I have a large enough living space for you to train should you get the urge." Thankfully he didn't have many breakable items in his apartment. Speaking of that, they were arriving right now and he transformed to lead her up an elevator to the sixth floor. It was a spacious apartment, not flashy like Ratchet's but comfortable enough. "After you," he said, motioning for her to step inside.

Shiftlock is now quiet (SURPRISINGLY) as she looks around, and she just looks for a safe place that she won't mess up or break to sit. "Thank you, really. I don't know what I'm going to do to pay you back for this kindness. Just show me what I can do, what I need to learn. I'll try to tell you what I know."

Prowl watches them go, his face fixed with the usual disapproving glare whenever he's around Pax. He glances at Arcee, and pulls her aside for a moment. "Keep an optic on them." he says lowly. Yes, them too. On top of Rung. And Skids.

Orion smiled behind his mask and squeezed her shoulder. "Don't worry about paying me back. I appreciate the information you give me. It does a lot to help our case. Now get some rest. If you need energon, it's down the hall and to the right. A recharge slab is across that room."

Shift is... actually tired. She's finally had a break from intense training, and her systems are worn down. It's not like being an empty for awhile really helped - lack of maintenance takes its toll. "I... I think I'm going to do that, thank you."

"...Okay." Arcee's trying to keep all of this covert-watching sort of business prioritized. It won't be long before Prowl's going to have her watching everyone. She can't tell Prowl that she'll 'try', because the rule here is 'do or not do, there is no try'.

"Thank you. Good luck." Prowls nods and returns to attempt to get the cadets back into -some- semblance of order.

LATER

Arcee is loitering in the area, trying to look like she isn't being too conspicuously nosey about who's doing what.

Then Rung quietly strolls into the room, and regards the situation quietly, watching as Prowl unsuccessfully attempts to bring the cadets order. He smiles slightly and sighs, but waves to Arcee in greeting.

    Prowl is busy chewing out one of the recruits who hadn't been behaving according to him. Probably lecturing him about being disruptive, or something. He doesn't notice Rung.

Arcee glances over at Rung and grins, making her way over to him. "Hey, how's everything going?? Have you settled in okay? You missed the...interesting part of the evening, one of the new recruits just blabbed all of her secrets to the entire room."

Rung pauses, then nods quietly. He looks a little drained. "I'm alright," he says to her, "I am all settled in. Just.. readjusting, that's all." He offers her a weak smile. "Oh, well. I'm glad I had a rest then," the psychiatrist says dismissively.

He walks over to Prowl and the misbehaving cadet. "Excuse me, but what exactly is going on?" he says patiently.

    Prowl starts and turns to Rung who just shows up and butts into the conversation. Oh...-no-. Not here, not now. "I was simply disciplining this cadet for disruptive behavior." he replies. "Now is there something you needed, Rung? Have you settled in all right? Find your accommodations suitable?"

Arcee is still standing nearby...keeping an optic on Rung, for whatever reason. Maybe she's taken a liking to him.

Rung gives Prowl a discerning look, and glances over at the cadet. "What happened?" he asks inquisitively. He peers at the disobedient cadet, then looks quietly over at Prowl. "I was simply wondering what your needs were."

    "Nothing," Prowl huffs, not answering Rung's question. "I have this situation under control." he insists, and glances over at Arcee. "Why don't you...go talk to Arcee. You two appear to be close." He turns away, and goes back to inspecting the trainees.

Arcee shrugs slightly at Rung. She's probably one of the few mechs around this place who actually 'gets' Prowl, but that just means she knows how to be so she isn't on his bad side anymore.

Rung sighs. "Very well then, officer," he says, but makes no move to join Arcee, for the time being anyhow. He simply starts to observe Prowl and his mannerisms towards the trainees, even taking out a small data pad and starting to take notes.

    Prowl is definitely rather gruff with them. He scrutinizes their performance at every turn, and criticizes their posture. He's certainly good at the negative reinforcement thing.

    "Posture." he barks at one. And, "Don't throw your weight into every swing like that." to another. "I -told- you, you can't hold the plasma chamber like that."

Arcee muses to herself. (Did he talk to me like that when I got here? ...Hm, well, yes, I suppose he did. Especially when I thought I was going to 'wash out',) she thinks. (But Prowl's a lot nicer to me these days. Must mean I've gone past the 'greenhorn' stage. I think.) She watches Rung taking notes on Prowl, and grins slightly. What is he writing down, she wonders...maybe she'd just need to go take a look and find out.

Rung watches quietly, recording Prowl's words with the tiny mike in his thumb, absently scribbling a few notes down every so often, but inadvertently puts the data pad away as soon as Arcee leans over his shoulder to look at them. "...yes?" he says, arching a brow at her suspiciously.

After a moment, the tiny psychiatrist clears his throat. "I beg your pardon," he addresses the mechs Prowl is tutoring, "but to maximize your efficiency as a solider, stand erect. Good posture now means less structural problems in when you're older. And if you wish to avoid a painful face plant and utter embarrassment, you may not want to swing so heavily. And perhaps a physical demonstration of how to hold the plasma chamber may assist better. Arcee?" He looks over at the pink femme. The cadets are actually listening to Rung though, and nodding in full comprehension. They seem to be performing better now.

* later

    Prowl stops and stares at Rung, feeling annoyed. He would just...interrupt like that?! No, that's...no. "I told you, I have--" But then, it seems that whatever Rung is doing, the cadets are actually listening to him, and it's actually -working-. And that's what he was trying to do, right? Get results. So he just looks exasperated, crossing his arms indignantly.

Arcee smiles innocently. It's not like she was trying to read Rung's tablet or anything! Nope, not at \*all\*. Taking one of the uncharged plasma weapons, she demonstrates to the cadets how to hold and aim it properly. "Like that."

Rung smiles and gestures at Arcee. "Like so." He nods and hands the plasma charger to the cadet, who handles it correctly this time. He beams at Arcee and Rung. "Thanks!" he says, and hurries off to continue his training.

"What's the matter officer?" Rung says lightly, "you're doing so much better. They all respect you so much, dear." Did he just call Prowl a dear? Of course, because he is. <3

[IC-Cybertron] Swift Blade has chained herself up to the Ark-1 Memorial in Iacon.  Word has probably spread through different methods, even if it hasn't yet been officially reported.

    Prowl just...stares at Rung in a baffled manner. 'Dear'? Did he just...call him a 'dear'? What is this world coming to. He nods slowly, and awkwardly. "I...thank you, Arcee." Ugh. "You mean to say, they respect -you-." he sighs. "I suppose, this is why I told you we needed someone like you."

[IC-Cybertron] Rewind hmms.

"Sure, no problem," Arcee says, trying hard to hold back laughter. Rung's so everything-that-Prowl-isn't. Which is to say, getting them in the same general area produces a lot of friction.

"Oh no, I meant what I said. They do. But that doesn't mean they like you. You'll have to work on that some more." He smiles and laughs a little. "Officer, I'm flattered," he says, "really, you should be more sparing in your compliments, especially with a humble psychiatrist like me. I'm nothing unique." He says, stepping back.

Rung glances over at Arcee, suddenly looking tired and slightly troubled. He sits down with a sigh. "<Arcee, whatever happened to Blast Off?>"

Arcee says "< Not entirely sure, >" Arcee admits to Rung. "< Last time I saw him, he was in Nyon, and he was not happy with me because he considers my work with the Autobots to be a betrayal of our friendship. He wanted more answers than I could give him. He could still be in Nyon for all I know, but he's probably since moved on. >""

    "I--" Prowl looks as if he is about to protest, but then decides against it. "Yes, I suppose you are right." He admits begrudgingly, then makes an exasperated sound. "I'm not flattering you, I'm simply stating the facts. It was a distinct need." End of story. "You don't need to be unique, you just need to do your job."

"Yes, yes, you're very sweet, to think I am in distinct need of a compliment," Rung continues absently, pulling out the data pad and mulling over the contents of its screen.

"<...well, actually let me rephrase that. What happened to him since my disappearance and supposed death?>"

"< He, um...he really got involved with some mechs who were loyal to Megatron, and he embraced that Decepticon philosophy pretty hard. He told me that I was being foolish after everything that happened to join the Autobots, and he could see them for how they actually are, or something like that, >" Arcee tells Rung. "< And I kind of see it the other way around, you know? After all we had been through, I couldn't understand why he thought the Decepticons had all the answers. >"

    Prowl just...gives up. Rung is just so confusing. "What? I am not--" he groans. "I didn't--" Oh, forget it. He sighs. "Well I have other work to do, so if either of you have need of me for anything, I will be in my office." And with that he stalks off.

"<...is there something you'd like to tell me about Blast Off?>" Rung says suddenly with a slight frown. "*"*

*"Thank you," Arcee says, watching Prowl leave because he just can't handle being around Rung. That strikes her as funny, but she keeps it to herself because she absolutely has to do it. "<< Oh, I didn't tell you? I thought I told you. My first assignment was to capture Blast Off so he could be arrested. I went undercover in Kaon as a videojournalist, tracked him down, and got him. Only he doesn't realize I was the one responsible for his capture, and frankly I'd like to keep it that way. It was nothing personal, >>" she tells Rung.*

*The data pad clatters to the floor, and Rung stands up very slowly. His hands are shaking. He takes his glasses off. "Primus," he says, his tiny frame trembling, "what have you DONE?!" He slowly starts to back away, shaking his helm. "I thought... I..." his voice breaking a little. He turns away, in shocked horror. "Damn. Damn you, damn me, damn this miserable world. I was such a fool to think that joining the Autobots was good for you. Now, I see how it is. You used Blast Off to gain favor in Prowl's optics, simply because his belief system no longer aligned with yours. Nothing personal, that is a load of slag. Somehow, you thought it was /right/ and /justified/ to send him to Kolkular. How warped you have become! What sick monster would believe that? Do you even realize what you've DONE? I thought I could trust you. And once upon a time, we were all friends who could. But I see now, how everything has changed. And if you would so willingly turn against Blast Off, then I simply must believe that it is the same for me. You.. you are not my friend. You are not Arcee. I don't know who or what you are anymore, except that you are no longer the person I once loved and cared for." He starts running away, hugging the datapad he had been carrying to his chest.*

*Arcee says "Yeah, but --" Arcee just stands there and gets to be on the receiving end of Rung's tirade, because she can't really get a word in edgewise. "I, uh, know you probably think it's like that...but...it's not like that...you missed a big part...uh...when you were dead...or we thought you...were..."*

*Arcee sighs, watching Rung disappear down the hallway. "...Great. This had \*better\* be worth it in the end," she grumbles, and heads off in the opposite direction."*

*"<It doesn't matter, Arcee. Not even the likes of someone like Megatron deserves what Blast Off probably endured. I thought I knew you. Clearly, I didn't. Now, unless you have something job-related to say to me, I do not wish to speak to you anymore>" And then Rung's comm goes dead. If she tries to contact him anymore, she'll simply be rerouted to his voicemail.*

*Arcee sighs, leaning up against the wall. Suddenly she feels an odd sense of vertigo she's never felt before. It almost feels like the walls are closing in around her. Is this what it feels like to lose her spark?*

*Maybe she didn't HAVE a spark anymore. Maybe that feeling she had, that sense of accomplishment, that sense that things were beginning to feel \*right\*...were they all an illusion? Had she chosen the wrong path after all? And now she was paying the price. She wasn't going to HAVE any friends.*

*Because she didn't DESERVE any friends. Naturally.*

*Still pressed against the wall as if it were the only thing propping her up, she slides into Prowl's office, whether or not he wants her there, and she simply has a seat across from him.*

*Prowl, as he had promised, is sitting there, going through rosters and checking through security codes. All his usual desk work, when Arcee just slides in and sits down unexpectedly. Hm, this was odd. She didn't usually just -show- up like that. He looks up at her. "Arcee? Can I help you with something?"*

*Somehow, Prowl's office is their safe haven. Rung shows up outside of Prowl's office nanokliks after Arcee does, but when he sees she's beat him to the chase, he will sink to the floor right outside the door and bury his face in his knobby knees, curled up like a little orange elf. Perhaps the surveillance feed right outside Prowl's office will notify him of Rung's presence also--the officer will just have to make what he wills of this odd coincidence.*

*Arcee maybe notices Rung, maybe not, but either way she gives no outward indication. "Could you explain to me again why what I'm doing is a 'good job', please? And by that I mean, specifically, the work I've done up to this point," Arcee asks Prowl.*

*Prowl definitely notices Rung all curled up like a sad little elf outside the door. He sighs. Oh, what now? But Arcee is the one here, asking him questions at this very moment so he addresses the matter at hand. An optic ridge arches slightly at her. Hadn't he gone through this before? "Because, Arcee, we need to keep criminals off of the streets as much as possible. It isn't fair to the rest of the populace to allow dangerous indviduals to be at large, free to continue on the destructive path they've resigned themselves to. Dangerous people, like Blast Off, and Brawl, and Megatron." he says, citing various mechs whom Arcee have witnessed in the midst of violent acts, or had seen evidence of said acts.*

*Rung radios Prowl privately. "<May I have a word privately. When you're finished>"*

*Arcee nods, and seems to agree as if this came as no surprise to her. It isn't like she didn't understand this already. Perhaps she just...needed to hear it. "If nothing else in my life makes any sense whatsoever right now, at the very least, I can say that...this principle \*does\*," she says. "I want you to know that I wouldn't have brought Blast Off in if I knew he was going to be tortured. I've heard he was tortured or threatened with torture in prison...and I don't agree with that at all. But that's the thing. I didn't know. I'm still learning."*

*Prowl shakes his head. "He was not tortured." he states. Of course, he doesn't know about the experience with Feint. "He was to await a trial at Kolkular. There may have been some...legal complications that arose, but then again, he escaped before any of it could be resolved, unfortunately." He straightens a pile of datapads absently.*

*And then comes a comm from Rung. Oh, -great-. << Why privately? Are you trying hide something from the other Autobots? If you have some grievance with Arcee, then why don't you come in here right now and resolve your differences, in whatever way is necessary. >>*

*"<No. I just need to tell you something that I prefer Arcee be absent for, and she would most likely want to be absent as well, if she knew what I was going to say>" Rung answers immediately.*

*"I'm getting conflicting accounts, but you're right, he wasn't in there for very long and there's really no way to prove it, one way or the other. Anyhow...that's really all I had." Arcee doesn't seem \*pleased\*, but then again, neither does she seem angry or hysterical. She's just...there.*

*<< Why wouldn't she want to hear it? She"Good, because I believe Rung has something to say to you." Prowl suddenly says, and the door opens right in front of the slight psychiatrist.*

*<< Why wouldn't she want to hear it? She was your friends before, and now she is also your teammate. So you had better figure out your problems. >> Prowl replies bluntly.*

*"Good, because I believe Rung has something to say to you." he suddenly says, and the door opens right in front of the slight psychiatrist.*

*Prowl has already opened the door, so he might as well say it. "I quit," he says, "she isn't now." And with that the, the psychiatrist turns and leaves, heading for his quarters. "<You'll find me in my quarters. You can send me back to jail, Kokullar, even execute me--I don't give a damn. I just can't be here anymore with people like Arcee anymore>"*

*Arcee doesn't seem surprised by Rung's reaction at all. "He's acting like that because he's under the impression that I sent Blast Off to Kolkular for my own sick enjoyment, because...as anyone can tell you, I'm a terrible, horrible, evil she-demon who throws innocent sparks to Sharkticons because it brings me tremendous pleasure to do so. Obviously," she explains to Prowl.*

*Ugh, just -ugh-. Prowl is not a counselor, nor is he some kind of settler of disagreements. He rubs his head in frustration. How is it that everything is fine one moment, and the next, he wants to go back to jail? -No-. This is not happening. He's not -letting- it happen.*

*He suddenly gets up from his desk and strides across the room, barring Rung's path. "Arcee did what she did because she believes it's -right-, not because she -enjoyed- arresting Blast Off. Do you think it would be fair if -I- called you a monster for acting on what -you- believed was right? No, and no, I am not letting you quit. I refuse to give up on you because of some petty misunderstanding."*

*Rung's brows furrow in fury. "What?! And how the hell did you deduce /that/?!" He turns and glares at Arcee. "I /never/ said those words, but someone who makes up lies about me to my face and my superior officer simply to hurt me most certainly is one! This is not a petty misunderstanding, she has betrayed my trust. And I cannot work with someone I do not trust." He ducks under Prowl's arm. "You should. Because I am giving up on myself."*

*Arcee just gets up, and begins heading off down the hallway in the opposite direction. "Pssshh, what a crock. I don't have to put up with this. I don't. And I /won't/. I've done nothing wrong," she insists defiantly.*

*And Prowl definitely agrees with Arcee's statement. He doesn't follow Rung, but makes his disapproval quite clear. "No, you will not quit, because I won't allow it. You will not leave the Decagon until you've resolved your grievances with Arcee. That is an order." And he can -make sure- Rung can't leave, too.*

*"You want me to resolve the grievance? I suggest you try talking to /her/ first. Unless you can agree she is a perfect, holier than thou solider who has committed absolutely no mistakes or wrong doings." Rung turns to leave again. "Otherwise you can consider that order dismissed. You can't stop me from breaking the law, Prowl. And if I do, you /will/ have to send me back to jail. Protocol will demand it. Well, at least Arcee will be happy, right? You heard her. She wants me to leave. So why don't you do us both a favor and send me back to jail."*

*Arcee just heads off, probably to go drink somewhere, alone.*

*"No, I am not going to resolve it. -You- are going to." Prowl insists. "I never said anyone was perfect." He shrugs. "Fine, I am sending you back to jail. But I don't have to send you to Kolkular. You want to be a prisoner? Fine, you'll be a prisoner -here-." He then turns and strides back into his office, shutting the door behind him.*