(Untitled)

[due_caution]

Red Alert had briefly considered tagging along with Kitten Prime and Company, if only to make sure Rodimus stayed safe and out of trouble, but thought better of it after contemplation. Right now, at a glance, who would even know that the small orange Terran cat is the Autobot Prime, unless someone draws undue attention to him

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[due_caution]

Although Starscream had brought up several points, it is one of the last that Red Alert finds himself a little fixated on for the moment. Too many little things that had seemed insignificant in and of themselves drop into place into a whole, big picture that is much greater than the sum if its parts.

Duskwing gets a shifty-optic'd look. "There's a couple. Can't tell you who; they both want it kept quiet. They want you to know they're dead, they'll tell you. They got personal stuff to take care off, see?"

That vague, uncomfortable sense of unease he'd felt when Duskwing had appeared, both times, and before Red had even known he'd been there. The same sense of unease that he feels right now, that he'd felt the last time Starscream had dropped by and that Red had shrugged off as lingering wariness and bias

[attair_al_fada]

"The dead," Starscream said evenly, "are not much concerned with the problems of the living. Factions don't matter; there's only friends and memories

[due_caution]

Red stares thoughtfully at Starscream for a long moment, finally nodding. "Fair enough," he replies evenly.

Leaning forward, he rests his elbows on the table, chin on his clasped hands as he stares off in deep thought, having returned his attention to the previous problem. "So. Drath is willing to forgo expedience for revenge. That could very well work in our favor. He's gotten away from us twice now; the last time he tried this, and now with his synthoid replacement taking the fall for him. We can't count on it, but he'll likely be overconfident now. He has every reason to be, with the absolute scrap-pile we've made of this thus far," he growls in frustration.

"Everyone except Galvatron, Cyclonus, and Scourge were sent off to the slave trade, and those three were used as a distraction. Even Daniel was shipped off with the others to be sold, which argues for him being the genuine Daniel," he observes, meeting Starscream's optics again. "Let's hope that's a correct guess." For Duskwing's sake, at least.Red is surprised to realize

[attair_al_fada]

The gathered shadows dispersed as if they never were, and all three of them sat or stood in a normal, well-lighted room that smelled faintly of air freshener

[due_caution]

Red looks up again at Starscream's hypothesis, his expression distant and thoughtful as he considers it. It's more clear than ever that they need Starscream, if for no other reason than he still thinks like a Decepticon, regardless of whatever temporal state he may be in and whatever meeting of the minds he has come to with various other mechs. Try as they might, most Autobots - and Red lumps himself in there, too, to his continued disappointment - simply aren't capable of thinking along the same devious depths. Core programming is simply too different, regardless of its evolution

[attair_al_fada]

Starscream turns his head and stares at Red Alert.

"Red, has your CPU overheated again?" He waves a hand dismissively. "No, don't answer that." Starscream looks distinctly uncomfortable.

What is with these Autobots and their sudden willingness to trust me after all these years? Not even my fellow Decepticons do that! Is there a Gullibility Plague going around?

The haunting feeling that the change was in him, not the Autobots lingers. His glance shifts to Frostbite, curious to know her reaction. She agreed! Starscream's wings twitched slightly, and his discomfort increases

[due_caution]

Yes, there is an almost childish little flicker in Red Alert's spark that is deriving wicked glee from seeing Starscream squirm uncomfortably for once. He allows himself a full two seconds to savor that before getting back to business.

"Access to the files," Red Alert observes wryly, "can acctually be accomplished quite handily without handing our systems back over to you with a CMO colored bow

[midnightspook]

Unbeknownst to Blackstar, the two mechs he is looking for are actually with Starscream when the ghost appears - to Starscream only - next to his Air Commander.

Starscream I- oh. Hey. That's convenient. These are the two I was looking for. Skyfire didn't need me anymore, so I'm helping Duskwing out. Any updates on the kid's designer? Spike Witwicky?

[attair_al_fada]

Starscream was part-way through answering Red Alert's question when Blackstar dropped in.

"I left that particular bit of Dark Science out of the Machine," he says drily. "Corrupting a spark involves things even I hesitate to tamper with, not being utterly stupid. Mindbender didn't understand Cybertronian minds and sparks well enough to make the conversion in the first place, so I doubt he could have applied any such changes. Now, the cerebral circuitry in the mech body is still as programmable as it ever was, and--" Starscream pauses for just a moment.

No, Blackstar, we're still at the 'throw stupid ideas out and see what doesn't die' phase. How did you get involved? Have you run across either Spike?

"--the organic brain circuitry can also be 'programmed', but not the spark that is transferred from one to the other and possibly back."

[midnightspook]

No. Not yet, he replies, shaking his head. I don't even honestly know what he looks like yet. Promises to keep, though, boss, and Duskwing needed a hand.

He shrugs, knowing that Starscream will understand at least part of that.

And it's not like I had anything better to- he is interrupted when Frostbite takes rather obvious notice of his presence.

Slag! I forgot about her! Sorry boss. What do you want me to do with this?

[attair_al_fada]

Starscream looks back at Frostbite, face expressionless. "A friend of Duskwing's. And when he gets a chance to finish his report, I might even know why he's here."

What does Duskwing need help with that you need to know about Spike? A flash of images--a tiny, insolent brat of a human child, the same individual older and more confident, firing at Starscream with a laser rifle from cover; a grown man,russet-haired, enclosed in a exosuit and standing beside Jazz. The ghost of ancient hatred at being thwarted by this insignicant fleshling; a grudging respect for the fierce warrior spirit housed in that fragile form; slow appreciation of a vicious, if alien, wit; growing awareness of the sheer dangerousness of the entire human race.

Then Skyfire sends his message and Starscream gets even more distracted.