Betrayed

++ Iacon ++

Blast Off steps off a public shuttle. He first searched the street for any signs of trouble, and, seeing none, proceeded off, then turns his head to look behind him. "Our destination is not far from here." He says to a nearby femme.

As he waits for her to step off, he again looks around, studying every rooftop, dark shadow, and face... as if expecting ambush or attack at any time. His demeanor remains calm and quiet, but alert. He is taking Shiftlock to meet Rung, whose office is just up the street. Perhaps the meek but knowledgable mech can offer them some insight into Shiftlock's recent, traumatic experience....

Shiftlock meanwhile is still playing herself off as Blast Off's lab assistant. She's maintaining an air of poise, decorum and complete self-control. She needs it; she doesn't remember anything. All she knows, for the time being, is that Blast Off is her own personal savior.

"Very good sir," she replies coolly. Something reminds her that the best way to avoid arousing suspicion is to look as if you belong where you are, and are a part of what's going on around you. She nudges him with her elbow. "Stop looking as if you know some terrible secret," she whispers. "We're going to meet a doctor, as far as anyone knows, nothing is wrong."

The two mechs are now approaching an elaborate and extensive campus on the far end of the block. When they draw near, the silver gates slide open, allowing both of them access to the large courtyard that is home to a number of organic flora and fauna non-native to Cybertron. Just up ahead is the main campus building--which is where the lobby and Rung's office is located. It looms above them, a vast, avante garde gold structure with tall, geometric spires.

Before they even reach the aforementioned building, the doors slide open--it looks like Rung saw them from his office window from afar and has been expecting them.

Blast Off has just begun stepping down the street when he gets nudged by Shiftlock. He turns to look at her again before letting out a small huff. "I.. I do NOT look like I..." He stops, then continues in a low voice, "I mean, I am simply taking precaut..."Pause. "...It's simply \*prudent\* to..." He blinks, then sighs, gives up the excuses and turns to begin walking down the street once more. Then says, more loudly this time, "Very well, Assistant, let us get this menial chore out of our way." He attempts to not be quite so obvious about scanning the street, but... it's hard to avoid it completely. Fortunately, his optical visors hide much of his optic gaze, so he just scans from side to side without turning his head as much now.

He radios Shiftlock, <<When you've had two attempts on your life recently, YOU'D be a little cautious, too.... and I \*don't\* like being taken unawares.>> However, he does approve of her acting ability... she carries herself in a way that befits someone who would be \*his\* assistant. <<We should be at Rung's office shortly- and he may be able to help you recover your memories- or at least make sense of what happened to you.>>

As the shuttle walks towards the building Rung is located in, the gates open, and Blast Off notices the organic animals- and avoids them as much as possible. When the doors open- and there's Rung himself- Blast Off nods to the mech. "Greetings. Do you have a moment?"

Rung smiles kindly at the both of them. "Good evening, Blast Off. Of course, anything for a friend." His expression becomes worried when he sees Shiftlock with Blast Off. He immediately senses something is wrong, but he offers a hand servo in greeting to her. "I am Rung. And your name is...?"

Somehow, somewhere nearby, someone is watching all of this unfold.

A moment ago his finger was feeling trigger-happy. However, when Drift's gaze falls on Shiftlock, his finger eases off the trigger.

Blast Off nods, though hearing Rung call him "friend" sounds odd... but hearing \*anyone\* call him "friend" always sounds odd, anyway. He looks around, not wanting to say too much out here on the street. "Yes, we'd like to talk to you in your office." There's a glance about, as he is still wary about getting sniped from a rooftop again. It's Ok when \*he's\* doing it, of course, not as Ok when someone \*else\* does it to HIM.

He turns and lets Rung introduce himself, and Shiftlock respond, then will gesture towards going \*inside\*.

"I'm assuming it's Shiftlock, but I don't specifically remember," the fembot replies politely to Rung as if there's just nothing wrong at all with what's been said. "Blast Off said it would be a good idea to see you as you specialize in psychoprogramming, and I've had a rather troubling memory glitch as of late. I've heard that there may be an eventual way to treat mnemonic issues but so far, no luck for me." She makes her way into the office once Blast Off and Rung move out of the way.

Rung's expression greys. He frowns, looking worried. "Yes. Yes of course," he says as he quickly leads them to his office. Once inside, he closes the door and locks it. "Now," he says in a soothing voice, "Shiftlock, it's very nice to meet you, but I need you to sit here, please," he says, gesturing to a chair that looks more like a comfortable patient berth. "I'm going to run a few tests on you, just to see if I can diagnose what's wrong with you."

Drift scales the golden structure. Like a boss. Then, pressing himself flat against the wall and perching on a small platform adjacent to the roof, he peers in on their private session, his optics narrowed, sniper rifle unholstered.

Blast Off follows Rung inside, still keeping a wary optic out. You can't entirely take the military training out of the former Combaticon. Once at their destination, Blast Off stands, watching the proceedings. "I discovered Shiftlock wandering the streets of Iacon, dazed and with a completely wiped memory. Well, except for..." He looks at the femme, "What was it you said? Several hundred finanical analyses? Which made no sense, given that they were they only thing you knew." He turns to look at Rung again.

"I know her as Shiftlock, and... well.." He glances once more to to the femme and back again, "...I will admit we started on rather... rocky terms. But she has appeared to have absolutely no recollection of that past, her name, anything. I wonder if she experienced some sort of memory wipe similar to Blurr."

Arcee is walking toward the campus where Rung does his research. She wants to see if he's available to discuss the results of Kickback's tests. But the trick is to slip away from Senate work! She worked extra hard on her assignments today to get the remainder of the day off. She finds it's getting harder to be proud of working for the Senate anymore. These, and many other thoughts, go through her mind as she heads up the walk toward the main building.

"I have all kinds of memory fragments, things that don't make sense or connect together in any way I can make sense of," Shiftlock explains. "The weirdest thing is that some of these memories aren't ... well they aren't MINE. I have memories of being other mechs and femmes, if that's even possible." She makes her way over to the couch-berth, and has a seat.

Rung nods. "Yes... that's all possible. I am going to see if I can do what I did with Arcee--if it was a shallow data wipe, her memories may still exist, she just can't access them. In that case, with proper therapy and the right stimulants she maybe be able to regain her memory." He walks calmly over to Shiftlock. "Interesting... well we shall find out." He gestures for her to lie down. "This might be a little bit traumatic for you, is this alright?" He begins attaching small wires to the back of Shiftlock's helm.

Drift actually doesn't even see Arcee. His optics are glued on the psychologist and his patient--Shiftlock. Seems like he's almost forgotten the job he's on right now....

Blast Off listens to Rung, watching with interest... though he's still glancing out the window and listening for anything that sounds amiss. "Rung has worked with similar situations before, Shiftlock. He..." He stops. "Arcee? Did something happen to Arcee, as well?"

Shiftlock lies on her side and lets the doctor do his work. "Can't be any more traumatic than waking up in a gutter with a wound on the back of your neck, and no idea where you got it, where you came from, or who you are," she replies casually.

Arcee does a double-take as she's walking up to the building, as she notices...Drift, peeping into a window. Which brings to mind the time SHE was peeping in windows trying to catch that crooked envoy of Starscream's, Cloudkicker! Only...wait, this guy is spying...on Rung! That's not good.

"Hey!! What are you doing??" Arcee demands, glaring up at Drift defiantly. "You're in big trouble, mech!"

"... right, then," Rung mutters quietly. He finishes attaching the small wires to the back of Shiftlock's helm, and boots up the computer attached to the wires. "No, but do you recall when I showed you the truth about Blurr? I accessed her memory files. Here I will attempt to do the same, except for memories earlier than the recent past. I will see if they still exist and if I can view them." He initiates the program. "Please, tell me, at any time, if it becomes too much for you."

Drift turns to Arcee, a deceivingly charming smile lighting up his expression. He leaps off the platform he's been perching on deftly, landing silently on his feet right next to Arcee. "Just making sure the doctor is safe and sound, y'know? I mean, surely he's told you, someone's out to get him--as in, make sure he's dead." He pauses, and leans in closer to her, lowering his voice. "Can't exactly let the assassin know I'm around, because.. you know. "He'll find a way to avoid me." He winks at her.

"I don't think I can trust you," Arcee says uncertainly, as mental 'red flags' go up. Blast Off DID warn her about this guy, but she didn't want him hurting Rung, no way! And...and maybe she wasn't on his hit list. Maybe. She was betting on an awful lot of maybes. As Drift approaches her with that dangerous-sounding charm, she backs away slightly. "Sssoooo...you're checking on him. If...if that's the case, then why didn't you just go inside to see him?"

Blast Off nods at Shiftlock's comment. "That was also like Blurr's wound. A precise, skillful incision in the middle cervical vertebrae-strut. I inspected it on scene, though it was drying by the time I did so. It had not happened that long before, however."

He then listens to Rung's explanation, nods about Arcee, and... hmmm. A wing elevon suddenly twitches as it occurs to him that Rung \*might\* access the memories of HIM... y'know, that \*piffling\* little \*trivial\* (OK, not so much) time when he \*tried to kill Shiftlock\*. Yeah, that one. There's a blink. "...How... recent are the memories that you might find?"

"I am going to try to access the earliest memory she has recorded in her cerebral circuitry," Rung says, as the loading bar on the screen leaps from 15 to 45. He pauses, and glances over at Blast Off. "Why? Is there something in here memory databank outside of this subject you'd like to me to know about?"

Drift just waves a hand dismissively. "Ah, well, suit yourself. I wouldn't trust me if I were you, either." He grins. "I am checking up on him. But I can't just bust in there right now.. because you see that Autobot standing right there? He's the one trying to kill Rung. I don't have a clear shot of him--I don't want any casualties, and he isn't making a move because right now, there is a witness and possibly more. He might know I'm here, that could be part of it too." From where they are standing, the screen that Rung is looking at right now is visible. "You know..." Drift says, sidling closer to her. "Working for the government is often not.. what people think it is. The Senate.. the Autobots. You'll never know who to trust among them. Nobody is who they seem to be."

Shiftlock's memory files are a mess to be sure; it's an imprecise burst of erasure commands aimed at the upper most clusters of her file structure. As such, there are pockets of memories that are untouched around the periphery of a big blank spot right in the middle. Because of this, her file allocation tables can't make sense of where the memories should be, and link to them at random. Her most recent memories (the last couple of days) have been storied neatly at the uppermost level.

Below this, there is scrambled data, the signs of repeated erasures down to root level. This isn't the first time she's been erase, and, like Blurr, it's apparent that someone has made erasure routine.

The most curious part of Shiftlock's memories aren't her memories at all, but rather, there are programming links to a kind of cell-like storage bank that, frankly, she shouldn't have at all. Each of these cell-banks contains memory files that clearly do not belong to her, along with CNA data.

Blast Off blinks, then crosses his arms and looks away. "No. Nothing." Of course, he's worried Shiftlock is going to figure out he tried to kill her... but if she does, then... he'll just have to deal with that then. No point in worrying about possibilities he can't control anymore. So he shakes his head, then awaits whatever... they are able to discover.

"I think you \*will\* find some rather interesting data there, Rung." He's recently learned Shiftlock is /truly/ more than meets the eye....

Rung's thick eyebrows furrow, as he tries to sort through the mess of data that is Shiftlock's memories. He first tries to access what he thinks might be the earliest memory she has recorded. Perhaps from here, he can make an educated guess on a general order for her memories.

He briefly looks at the memories that are not hers. But as that is not a currently priority, he dismisses them for the time being.

"Yes.. I am certain of that," Rung says, still looking at the screen.

Shiftlock's earliest memories go back to a perfectly white room.

Everything is pure, clean, featureless white, save the circuit slab bed and the dull brushed steel door. The room is illuminated from above, and opposite the door the wall is some kind of darkened glass which one cannot see clearly through. Above the door in Cybertronian are the words "WARD 2E".

Blast Off simply stands and watches for now. Shiftlock has turned out to be rather interesting, and he hopes what they learn will be another piece in the puzzle of just who the true \*enemy\* really is.

Rung hmms and continues to examine the memory, hoping this will give him a clue as to how to put her memories back in order and in an accessible spot in her cerebral circuitry.

[The door opens. Two figures move inside. The view is from Shiftlock's optics, so the focus goes to the door.]

["I thought they were extinct." A slender figure in purple and sentate gold moves in closer; he looks as if he's wearing a cape and an animal-head mask. He's a beast-mode, and yet, a senator... leaving little need to guess who it is.]

[Following him is a creature in a long red robe with multiple glowing optics from within the dark of the hood. "We managed to find one still functioning even after Nove's purge. He never trusted them, you know," the elderly mech says in a raspy voice.]

["Nova is the reason we're having these energon shortages. He cost us too much as a whole." His face crinkles in disgust. "I despite lost opportunity for gain, especially with a valuable tool like this." He looks at the hooded figure. "Have it wiped and sent to the drop off point. I'll make sure you receive the payment you have so richly earned, Tarantulas."]

[The old creature cackles. "Oh I \*do\* look forward to it Senator."]

Rung frowns, looking disquieted. He strongly dislikes when people refer to another individual as "it." Looking pensive, he locks that memory into place as the earliest recorded bit of data, then moves onto sort to what he believes is the next most relevant memory.

Blast Off watches this closely, optics narrowing. Oh ho... VERY interesting indeed. Yes, he made the right call to spare her life. Looks like she's /already/ "repaying him". For now, he simply continues to observe.

The nextmost memory is Shiftlock standing in a room with Proteus, Ratbat, and a handful of other Senators. ["Momus is going to be a problem. He wasn't forged high caste, you know, he actually cares what becomes of the constructicons," one says. Proteus seems thoughtful as he listens. Another pipes up. "Decimus is beginning to actually -listen- to the rag that jumped up miner published. He thinks it's time we reconsidered strict caste lines!"]

Proteus begins to smile. "Gentlemechs, I think we can deal with this very simply. Find a couple of disposables, something at one of the clinics - and have them kill Momus and Decimus." There's murmurs of alarm before Proteus raises his hand to continue to speak, quieting them. "We'll expose them as Decepticon sympathizers, capture their assassins and execute them. This will let all the malcontents know we 'care' about them. We'll offer them political assylum as a part if they put their names on the registration act. Once we have the names, we turn them over to the Insitute and deal with them, quickly and quietly." Shiftlock seems to have witnessed this. Proteus leans over to murmur something to Ratbat, who gets up and approaches Shiftlock. ["Come on then. Time for your booster, I have another mission for you, and you need plenty of element zero for this one. I don't need you passing out on the job."]

Blast Off's jaw starts to drop as he listens to \*this\* little tidbit. Once again, he's glad he wears a faceplate... he'd look rather undignified otherwise. Pale optics stare at the screen, and his crossed arms loosen in some shock.

There's a further shock at the mention of "element zero", and he glances to her. "Element Zero? \*She\* uses that substance?!?" Blast Off's usual mask of aloofness and unconcern is dropped for a brief moment as he turns to gaze at Rung in near disbelief at all this.

Rung says "Primus.. " Rung mutters. "The corruption runs deeper and worser than I feared. I.. am ashamed to call myself a citizen of Cybertron," he says, meeting Blast Off's pale gaze. He continues to sort to the next memory. "Blast Off.. what do you know about this Element Zero?""

"Primus.. " Rung mutters. "The corruption runs deeper and worser than I feared. I.. am ashamed to call myself a citizen of Cybertron," he says, meeting Blast Off's pale gaze. He continues to sort to the next memory. "Blast Off.. what do you know about this Element Zero?""

["This has to be what, the twelfth time you've wiped her?" the four-armed technician asks from above Shiftlock's field of view. Ratbat sighs irritably. "/Yes/, now get on with it. It's called 'plausible deniability'. She's served me well but I cannot afford to have her spill her struts if she's captured. That is why we do this - and you don't want others to know you do this, do you?"

The technician grunts. "You're lucky she regenerates. A normal brain module would simply -wear out- from all this editing."

"Well then it's a good thing she's resilient, isn't she?" Ratbat snorts.]

Blast Off shifts uncomfortably at the mention of Element Zero. of course, that's the substance he has been (highly illegally) been going into deep space to get for Blurr. And more than that... as an excuse to get back to deep space- \*screw\* the authority figures who say otherwise. There's a nervous glance away, as if not wanting to look Rung in the optic. "It's simply... something racers use, isn't it? Something rare and valuable?"

Then he looks back to Shiftlock's memories and frowns under his faceplate. "No wonder her data storage feeds are a mess..." Even the indifferent shuttle is finding himself really NOT liking these scuzzballs. It's not... honorable in any way, shape or form.

Rung's eyebrows twitch. His expression is unreadable, but he looks like he might be about to fall subject to borderline rage. "..." He shakes his helm. "Unfortunately.."

He frowns. "Could you please be a bit more specific?"

[Blurr's face is on the screen now. "Because I need it, and I smelled it here, I smelled it on you," Shiftlock's voice says. Blurr frowns. "I don't know what you're talking about," he dismisses.

"Element Zero, c'mon, I know it when I detect it. Look, I don't want to have to keep going back to.. to -them- to get it. Every time I change shape, it uses up element zero. Look, I'll show you--"

Suddenly there is a scramble of memories that the file is having trouble dealing with, because it's two overlapping memory files - one from Shiftlock, one from Blurr. Blurr seems to be panicking now. "What am I going to do?!" he gasps. "What can I possibly do about all this!?"

"Look, it's okay, we'll figure something out but... but I need.... I need to get...>

The memory ends with Shiftlock blacking out. It abruptly skips and resumes later - at Blurr's apartment. Shiftlock is looking at a terrified ultramaine flying frame who is peeking over the back of the couch and another femme who seems quiet at home in the luxury. "Oh -sure-, I'll go get that thing we talked about," Blurr reassures Shiftlock. The memory scrambles even more, and now it's just a few frames at a time: Blurr moving rapidly, striking her from behind. The flying femme panicking and backing into the corner. Shift looking down at energon on the back of her hands. The file ends.]

Blast Off twitches another wing elevon, again glancing away. "It's simply a... substance. Element Zero can only be obtained from certain asteroids in the Ganamede Sector, and..." He glances off another direction. "I..I believe it is used as a racing performance enhancer... sort of a.. booster." Then... there's Blurr, as if to further emphasize the connection here. The shuttleformer leans back, staring, still feeling slightly dumbfounded but trying not to let it show... too much. Then... it dawns on him. "It was... it was Blurr, wasn't it? He attacked you. His residence is not far from where you woke up, Shiftlock. Where I found you... with that wound on your neck."

Rung isn't saying anything. He sighs heavily, and places a hand on computer console, looking drained. After a moment, he resumes sorting through the rest of Shiftlock's memory. Even though they have the information they were wondering about, if he didn't sort out all her memories and put her back in functioning order, then who would? However, he turns off the large LED display and continues working on his personal console. "This substance. It is illegal. Is it not? And how do you know about it?"

"I don't know if it was Blurr - was it? Everything's so fuzzy," Shiftlock says to Blast Off, squirming a little from the deep mnemonic probe. "I'm just tired. Really tired. I want to recharge."

Blast Off finally looks Rung in the optic. "Yes, it is. And, well... I am a space shuttle, I know these things." Glance away. "That's all." Back to Rung. "Why?" Then his looks to Shiftlock. "Yes... that was most definitely Blurr. He's in on this... one way or another. Though who knows... he may well being manipulated, too." He looks down to Shiftlock and lets out a small sigh. "You have given us... quite a good deal of valuable information as it is," he says quietly.

"Please.. I'm finishing up re-organizing your memories and am calibrating your cerebral circuitry for a re-sync once everything is aligned right. I am going to administer some general anesthetic, though, you will need to be in temporary stasis lock for this," Rung says flatly. A moment later, he's walking over to her berth with a catheter in his hand servo.

"That doesn't explain anything," he says, "but I suppose prodding you won't do any good since it's clear you're set on keeping me in the dark."

Shift does as is asked. She's too tired to argue anyways.

Blast Off glances off again, shifting uncomfortably, and unsure whether to "spill the beans" or not. He generally tries to keep everything close to the vest, as it were... the less secrets other know, the less likely he'll have to "clean up" later. Or less trouble he may get into.

Abruptly, something on the console Rung is working on lights up to indicate that someone was waiting at the door to his office. And if the psychiatrist were to check who it was, he'd find that it's Blurr, again.

Speak of the devil.

Rung plunges the catheter quickly and gently into Shiftlock's arm. Then he walks over to his personal console, his brows furrowed. He's finishing up sorting through her memories and initiating the sync. Did he happen to see the memory of Blast Off trying to kill Shiftlock? One will never know. If he did, he hasn't made any comment about it.

Rung shakes his helm, and ignores the notification. He's not allowed to see Blurr, remember?

Blast Off crosses his arms again, gazing off to the distance... somewhere. Still not sure if he should say anything or not. Then there's a ring. He looks at the console and out the window. "Hmm. Aren't you going to get that?"

The notification keeps coming up. Over and over again, and more and more rapidly.

If he still ignores it, then the physical banging on the door comes.

"No." Rung says very patiently, although the combination of the constant pinging from his personal console and then the banging on the door is loud enough to unnerve most. He doesn't make optic contact with Blast Off. He continues to watch quietly over Shiftlock, carrying on in his work as if nothing is going on.

Blast Off sighs and looks at Rung as the noise only increases. Then at the console. Then Rung. He winces at the cacophony, then looks to Rung once more. "....Why?"

The noise continues to be just as obnoxious.

"You may go." Rung says curtly, ignoring his question "I am almost finished." He turns back to attending Shiftlock.

Blast Off looks at the source of the noise again, then at Shiftlock. "Well... I should stay to get her home... unless you wanted her to remain here..." Then he's looking back to Blurr. "You don't trust him, is that it?"

Shiftlock's healing is taking place. While a lot of memories are permanently gone, she'll at least be able to connect them. As she recharges, the glowing lines along her body don't stay one color - they pulse lightly with a prismatic cycling of color.

"I will send her to the lobby when I'm finished. You may wait there." The psychiatrist is staring out the window of his office, his expression blank, hands folded neatly behind his back.

Rung continues to dutifully ignore the noise Blurr is making.

Blast Off glances at Rung, wondering if the mech is angry at \*him\* now, as well... but he nods. Nothing much else he can do except turn and proceed down to the lobby as told.

Of course, as SOON as Blast Off opens the door, Blurr bursts in. Yeah, there's -no- way anyone could open that door without him coming in, he's way too fast. He gives Rung a pouty look. "The slag was that about, are you mad at me?" he demands.

Rung simply ignores Blurr. He watches over Shiftlock's memory resync as the progress bar shifts from 99 percent to 100. After a short moment, he walks calmly over to her and detaches the catheter. ".. how are you feeling?" he asks her, offering her a helping hand servo.

"A little dizzy." She takes the offered hand, but at the moment she has no control over herself and her abilities. Immediately and accidentally the surface of her digits becomes soft. Her mental fuzziness crosses over at the edges of Rung's perception, while she picks up on the gist of his emotional state. From the top of her head there's a wave of flickering tiny transformation plates, like scales raising and resettling, until Shiftlock perfectly resembles Rung.

Blast Off huffs as Blurr burst in, "Hold on just a..." but too late. He looks on, a little annoyed, as the racer speeds in. Then heads back in just to make sure Blurr doesn't try anything. "Blurr... wait in the Lobby." And then... he stares. She's... done it again. Now she looks like Rung. "....You did it again." Then he blinks and steps towards Blurr, again in case he tries anything.

Blurr doesn't listen to Blast Off's request. Rung ignores him again, but now he has something -else- to worry about. He glares at the sight of Shiftlock there, even as she turns into a copy of Rung. "Um, excuse me, but what the slag is -she- doing here?" He glances at the progress bar. "You...whatareyoudoing?!" The racer demands further. "You can't just -do- that!"

Rung still refuses to answer any of Blurr's questions or even acknowledge his presence. "It should wear off in a little," he says, nodding at her and helping her to stand. "Can you remember what happened about three megacycles ago?" He seems a little bit surprised at her ability to imitate his appearance, but doesn't comment on it.

Runglock frowns with those impressive eyebrows. "You," he says, pointing at Blurr, "Promised me assistance in locating element zero, then proceded to stab me in the back of the neck with a memory erasure tool. You did a poor job of it, too, speedbump."

And then Runglock points at Blast Off. "And you tried to kill me."

Blast Off bristles slightly. "None of your business, Blurr. Now leave." He's watching the racer intently, the former Primal Vangaurd bracing in case he has to bring a weapon out and start shooting. But that is a last resort.

And then ...Runglock... remembers. The shuttleformer freezes. He simply stares at her a long moment... then slowly starts to lean back a bit, even taking a step back. His demeanor shifts slightly from tense and guarded to... well, still that, but more resigned, more... the jig is up. He lets out a small sigh, and finally nods his head ever-so-slightly. He regards her with an even gaze.

"...Yes."

Rung sighs, looking relieved. "Well it would appear your memory is intact. You may go as soon as you feel well enough to do so," he says tiredly, waving a hand dismissively at everyone.

Indeed, the jig IS up. Blurr seems to no longer be concerned about Rung ignoring him. He looks pretty furious, in fact. "Rustwash! I never promised you -anything-! Why the slag would I help -you-? You're a -criminal-, Shiftlock, and you should consider what I did to you a -favor-! So the both of us could just go live and let live! So that both of us could just go on with our lives as if nothing happened! But -no-, you couldn't have THAT, now could you?!"

He whirls around, turning on Rung. "And -you-. I can't -believe- you helped her. I -trusted- you. And you -knew- it was wrong, that's why you wouldn't let me in!"

"No, Blurr. I'm not a criminal," says Runglock. "I'm far worse than that. I'm the pawn of Senator Ratbat, which puts me outside of the law. It would have caught up to you anyways. You can't outrun reality, and you'll learn that some day."

Runglock's features ripple out and realign into a duplicate of Blurr - this done without need for contact. "You have a part of me with you forever now, kiddo. Your mind is going to regenerate, and pretty soon they won't be able to alter your memories anymore. You're going to have to make a choice, because you can't outrun fate."

Blurrlock gives Blast Off a smile and a dismissive handwave. "Don't worry about trying to kill me. That's part of the game we're stuck playing." Blurrlock puts his hands on his hips. "As for me though? I'm getting what I need, and I'm going to look out for all of you, especially you, Doctor, you'll need someone watching your back. This pawn? Is going to become a Queen."

And with that, Blurrlock bumrushes the door - and muscles past Blurr at his own speed - before zipping away and out of sight.

Blast Off glances over at Rung as he dismisses them all, and that sounds just fine to the shuttle. But it doesn't appear to sound fine to Blurr, who suddenly shows a bit of an angrier side than Blast Off has ever seen. The former Combaticon watches him intently, trigger finger suddenly twitching, though he still doesn't bring out any weaponry. Again... last resort only. Interesting that Blurr seems to \*remember\* all this, too. "Blurr, calm DOWN. Back off, and LEAVE NOW."

Then Runglock becomes...Blurrlock... \*without\* touch this time. The shuttle stares a long moment. He blinks as she smiles, and finally thinks to give her a small nod just before she races off. Well. That was indeed... interesting. An optical ridge raises... yes, perhaps he did the right thing by saving her, after all. Then the optic ridges furrow again doubtfully. Well, hopefully.

He glances to Rung... and realizes Shiftlock is right... the doctor could be in trouble. He nods to him as well, and for now, decides the best thing to do is simply leave, and allow Rung some...space. And distance. And QUIET. \*Provided\* Blurr does the same.....

Rung just gives Blurr an incredulous look. "...who /are/ you? You are not Blurr. You are not the mech I knew and cared about. I don't who you are, anymore. Did you not stop to think that I trusted you too, once, a long time ago, before you even knew what it meant to violate someone's trust over and over again? Now you have become the habit that you once didn't know existed. I didn't let you in because you are not allowed to see me, not because what I am doing is wrong. I, unlike you, can say with full confidence that I am not in the wrong. I don't know what you've become and you don't either. You don't even know who you are, or what is even right or wrong, you just.. /do/! Whatever it is that IAA wants you to do, you do. The reason why no one is doing damned thing about the injustice around here is because of exactly what you just said. People live and let live, as if nothing happened. Well, I can say this for certain about myself, I will /not/ be one of those people. I will do what I believe is the right thing even if it takes me to my grave. Now, if you will, please, just go. Not only for your sake, but for mine as well. I can't.. watch you become the person you are becoming." And with that, he exits his office and heads down the hallway towards the elevator.

"No! You're wrong!" Blurr shouts after him. "This had nothing to with the IAA, -I- did it to protect myself, and even to protect -her-!" But he's gone already. Clearly he isn't going to listen, anyway. He sighs, staring at the floor. How did he ever think Rung understood him? Obviously, such was not the case. Far from it, in fact.

Feeling betrayed, instead of leaving the office, the racer turns to the workstation, and begins to copy all of the data Rung had just downloaded off of Shiftlock's memory banks onto a dataslug. It wouldn't be fair...if he wasn't made to face justice for this! For assisting a -criminal-. And apparently she was -worse- than a criminal, too.

Blast Off stares as Blurr goes on a...rampage? He blinks in surprise as Blurr starts... copying files??!! What the SLAG??!! No, this cannot be ignored. Or allowed. Blurr will ruin everything. Blurr's fast, but so is Blast Off. Quickly, the Elite Guard's ionic blaster is drawn and out- and aimed right at the workstation's power source. With one expert shot, he's taken out the workstation's power.

Then he stands there, and aims the weapon at Blurr, too. "Leave." There's no telling how much information Blurr got before that shot... but he's not getting any more.

One of Rung's burlier clinicians notices that Rung's guests seem to either be harassing him or causing trouble. He gives Blast Off a dirty look and frowns at Blurr's suspicious activity. Rung, who is waiting for the elevator, gets addressed by the clinician. "Are these visitors friends of yours, Rung.. or..?" The clinician asks. Rung shakes his helm. "I honestly don't know. Maybe you should try asking them." And then the elevator arrives and Rung boards, leaving Blast off and Blurr to do what they will.

Blurr turns around, and glares at Blast Off as well, right in the face of that gun. "Too little, too late." he states, and puts the slug away. "Justice -will- be served, and nothing is going to stand in its way. In MY way. Not even -you-." His voice is low and threatening, and it wouldn't take a psychiatric expert like Rung to know he was serious.

And with that, he's gone. Out the door, or maybe out the window, who ever knew?

Blast Off stares at Blurr with an icy glare, gun still aimed at the racer... and Blurr can probably tell he's quite serious about using it, too. He takes this all in as Blurr threatens and leaves... and his relationship with the other mech has definitely changed now.

Well... no more Element Zero. There's a blink. Slag. Blurr's going to turn him in... somehow. And conveniently leave out his own involvement. There's another wing elevon twitch, then the gun is subpaced and Blast Off quickly exits the place as well, but not before sending a radio message to Rung. <<He knows, and he took information. Watch your back.>> ...Advice he plans to take himself.