[Video. Not locked]

[not_your_gun]

[The video starts by focusing on a large, empty dog bowl...which a cybertronian hand picks up for size reference.]

It turns out something of mine is missing. [He shakes some dust off the bowl.] And probably has been for some time. I can't imagine that a three-headed, one story tall organic canine can vanish easily, so I want him found.

Comments

[Video]

[swordofpeace]

[A long pause, video spooling. ]

And so you rate your dog the same as one of your most loyal mechs.

[Halfway between shock and disgust. How could he have been so...wrong?]

[Video]

[not_your_gun]

[...there's a note of shock, because...well. He hadn't expected to be accused. His optics flare after a moment, in answer.]

Do not dare presume anything about my feelings toward Soundwave.

If you did not notice, there is a reason one broadcast precedes the other.

[Video]

[swordofpeace]

And am I not allowed to 'dare'? Is that part of the new Cybertron you are seeking to build? Not even dissent, but no opinions allowed?

And yes. I imagine--I presume--that the reason is order of preferment.

[Video]

[not_your_gun]

Calm down, Knight.

[He's staring at Wing, knowing this...must be about something else.]

If you're going to presume, at least use some of that logic I know is in there somewhere: I didn't know Soundwave was gone before I'd already made the first part of the post.

[Video]

[swordofpeace]

I am calm. [All right, not really. But he's not going to give you the satisfaction of taking your 'orders'.]

And do you 'presume' to lecture me about logic?

[He narrows his optics.] You should stick to threats and intimidation, Magnum. At least you have the ethos for those.

[Video]

[not_your_gun]

Yes, I do presume, because you seem to be completely lacking in it.

[Hm. So appeals to a higher mental function weren't working. He'd have to be a little more direct.]

But I doubt you're so furious because I might have slighted Soundwave. Tell me...did I accidentally step on a friend of yours?

[Sarcasm--he has it.]

[Video]

[swordofpeace]

[The insult rolls off him. He lacks the narcissism to get injured over a slight to his intelligence and he's still embroiled in the larger puzzle: this was the Megatron in all his arrogance that he knew, he remembered from Cybertron. But then...who was that before?]

If you had hurt a friend of mine, Magnum, I would not simply be speaking to you.

And I am not 'furious.' I'd...choose another word. [Disappointed. Disgusted. Reeling at how he'd let himself be manipulated.]

[Video]

[not_your_gun]

Good. I like a bit of action, now and then.

[Wing gets a very special tailored smirk of snark.]

What word, Wing? If I have transgressed, don't I at least deserve to know my crime?

[Video]

[swordofpeace]

[Now...that one strikes home, Megatron.]

So I've seen.

[Have a snort to go with your smirk.]

Are your crimes so many that you need someone else to keep track of them for you?

[Video]

[not_your_gun]

You seem to think they are.

[He likes that tiiny little bit of surprise that registered when you realized what other meanings 'action' could have.]

And you'd be welcome to tell me all about them.

Later.

[He glances down, checking other messages.]

If you haven't noticed, I'm trying to overthrow the mech who is seeing fit to remove me of my Soundwave. It is...important to me.

Now, are you going to help, or shall I consider your affronted self to be reneging on our deal?

[Video]

[swordofpeace]

Seem to think...? [Perhaps he was not being clear enough in his disapprobation. He shall strive to be clearer in the future. ]

'Overthrow'? [He laughs.] And under what delusion are you suffering that you think I will help you prosecute your war, Megatron?

[Video]

[not_your_gun]

I did nothing to you that you did not consent to.

And, speaking of consent...

Perhaps I'm operating under the memory of you swearing your services to me.

Or did that not happen?

You're either mine or you're a traitor. Take your pick.

[Video AAAND your audio is ringing from how hard he slaps a LOCK on this]

[swordofpeace]

That...was an anomaly.

[He's going to hypervent for a few cycles here.]

I did not give my word to start a new war, here, Magnum, but to prevent one in our home.

[He forces himself calm. Or calmer].

And again, you see the world in such limited binaries, don't you? Enemy or servant, those are the two colors in which you paint the entire world?

[Video Locked~]

[not_your_gun]

You fight well. That is nothing to be ashamed of.

[His smirk is gone...showing how serious he is, because this is important.]

You gave your word to follow me, in exchange for a reasonable chance to change the future. And you should be smart enough to know that changing the future starts with listening to what went wrong.

So listen, Wing.

I. Am. Not. Starting. A. War. Here.

Not yet.

I am, however, organizing a contingent to pursue a mech who has been kidnapping residents against their wills and experimenting on them. [He had ulterior motives, of course, but he wasn't lying about this.] Would you prefer I just...let them be tormented?

[Oh, is he staring at you for this.]

Or would you prefer to continue jumping wildly into your allegations? Must I fit into this mold you pour me in?

[Video Locked] 1/2

[swordofpeace]

....?

[Video Locked]2/2

[swordofpeace]

[He's just going to shake that first bit off then.]

I... [He cycles a vent. He knows it's not how Magnum is putting it. It can't be. He won't be seduced by pretty words again. He won't.

[But...it squares with everything he's heard. Mechs taken, returned--changed. And not for the better. Someone behind it all, someone no one else wants to, dares to stand up with.

[Save Magnum.]

I will aid you that far. [Why did it feel like a slippery slope?]