.002 ← Video/ Audio Files || Released footage from inside the Unnatural

[stand_witness]

[ The feed opens to a place that few have seen first hand, and fewer still come out remembering it. There is of course one very notable exception showing the inner workings of the mysterious, leeching land

Comments

text;

[stand_witness]

[ Meet with a fleshling? Not sure about that...but then again, these PORTALS aren't safe, either. ]

Primitive fleshling network compromised. Personal interaction optimal.

[ That means yes. The next thing you get? Is a set of coordinates popping up on your PORTAL, Thad. He's a bot of few words. ]

[audio]

[reverse_impulse]

So I've seen.

[Thad gives a little thoughtful noise as the coordinates are received.]

I'll be there in a few seconds.

[And he will be too. Yay superspeed!]

[action? ]

[stand_witness]

[ Said coordinates are actually past the castle grounds, and headed out to a large, open parking structure's roof. It's off the main road, but still enough to provide some cover for something even as large as Soundwave.

...Soundwave who's conspicuously absent. At first there's nobody there at all. It's nothing but an empty parking lot at least until Thad shows up. Then Soundwave might shift out of his high altitude UAV form, and consent to talk to a human.

[Action!]

[reverse_impulse]

[Thad arrives in uniform, just blurring into view. Crossing his arms, the blond waits. He's a patient one. He'll be silently impressed by the transformation, not expecting to see it in Promenade.]

[Action!]

[stand_witness]

[ Well. Another one of these anomalous fleshlings to scan, which Soundwave does as he makes a slow orbit around the parking structure. Thad would probably notice an MQ-9 Reaper UAV flying at this altitude, and the fact it banks to gain some altitude.

Soundwave toyed with the idea of sending another drone to talk to Thad, but he couldn't very well drop Deployer in his jet mode, and anything else would be too obvious. Nothing for it, then.

Circling down once, the UAV buzzes the roof, and about halfway toward the other end of the empty lot, Soundwave transformed to his usual mode, bases making impact with the roof hard enough to leave small impact cracking in the black top.

In silence, he turned his blank faceplate to regard Thad again. This time, scanning this little spinal chord based organism obviously with a green bar of light that shines from the tips of Thad's hair to the soles of his feet. ]

[Action!]

[reverse_impulse]

[Sharp gold eyes lock on that aircraft, Thad wondering if the pilot is the one he's here to meet or if it's one of the Unnatural's toys. Thad's unarmed right now but he's definitely not a normal human. His whole body is faster than any human's and there's some unusual energy around him that seems to defy identification. The SpeedForce is like that.

When the UAV buzzes and circles, Thad tenses and waits. The transformation into giant robot form makes Thad pause and stare but he quickly recovers his composure. He holds still for the scan and then nods.]

Hello then. My name is Inertia.

[Action!]

[stand_witness]

[ Apt designation, actually. Some sort of energy generated around this little human seemed to actually manipulate friction. Curious.
Unfortunately for Thad, Soundwave isn't much for the talkative type.

Instead? Thad's own voice clip is played right back to him; ]

If you're not opposed to the idea, I'd like to discuss something with you away from these little devices

[Action!]

[reverse_impulse]

[Thad rolls his eyes at the recorded message. He'd call that impatient but he lets it go.]

To the point then. We share a goal. Information gathering presumably to use against those fools inside the Unnatural. And since you're the only one in this wretched city that has shown technology that's even close to what I'm used to, I'd like to propose we work together.

[Action!]

[stand_witness]

[ ...If he were another bot, Soundwave would have laughed right in Thad's face. Him? Work with a fleshling?! ]

opposed to the idea.

[ The blank mask tilts, and partially as a demonstration, partially as a threat, one of Soundwave's feelers leaves it's dock to extend toward Thad. Now, Thad's staring goggles-to-metal at the anchoring end of one of Soundwave's tentacles. ]

shown technology that's even close to what I'm used to, I'd like to propose we work together.

[ Does any of this look like technology you're used to? And the most important part of this equation is parroted back at Thad in Rebecca Crane's voice; ]

personal Advantage?

[Action!]

[reverse_impulse]

[Thad doesn't seem phased by the initial response. He's used to that from anyone he works with. He's equally unphased by the tentacle.]

Cute.

[He smirks a little. It does look a lot like CRADYL and the other technology he's been surrounded by for his entire life. Being from far in the future is helpful when it comes to tech.]

If you're asking what I stand to gain out of an alliance, it's simple. I don't want to be in this city. I can assume you don't either. And gathering information on the enemy is the first step in formulating an effective plan to defeat them.

[Action!]

[stand_witness]

[ Odd. The little fleshling didn't seem phased by Soundwave, but also seemed ignorant of Cybertronians in general. The feeler started to slowly orbit around Thad, looking for further observational data about this strange human.

But said human also seemed to be misinterpreting. ]

personal Advantage?

[ So far you've only talked about yourself, here. Just like all humans. And unless Thad had something good to offer in return, Soundwave was ready to simply pick up the little human, and take him back for more...ah... invasive testing ( read; torture, and maybe dissection ) ]

[Action!]

[reverse_impulse]

[There wasn't much else that had changed about Thad since the initial scan. He was standing still after all.]

Of course. Something for you.

[He uncrosses his arms slowly and lifts his hand. A quick press to a hidden button on the ring on his finger and the ring pops open. Instead of clothes like he might usually carry in there, a translucent green substance springs out. A lot more than should be able to fit inside thanks to his compression technology, about 25 ounces of it. The gel is some of the Technoplasm Thad has been working to create since he recovered from the injuries he sustained in the Unnatural. It may look like gel but it's nano tech and quite advanced.

It pools on the ground in front of Thad and he lifts the ring up again.]

Demonstration sequence.

[Thad scowls at the gel. He's not happy he's only been able to give it incredibly basic programming with the limited resources he has in Promenade. Being cut off from CRADYL is not something he's used to. Second after the command, the gel springs to life. It takes on

[Action!]

[stand_witness]

[ Congratulations, Thad. You officially have Soundwave's attention. In fact, the slowly orbiting tentacle snaps instead to study the gel intensely.
Soundwave himself also kneels in order to get a closer look a the technoplasm is put through it's paces. Two more of his feelers undock, and continue scanning for everything from composition, to conductivity, and any other question Soundwave could think of in between. The subversive, and combat implications for something like that were staggering!

Leaning down a bit further so that Soundwave's faceplate was close enough for it, text flashed up onto the screen. ]

Designation: Soundwave

Unknown Substance "Technoplasm" acceptable. Requires study.
Increased Quantity requested.

Query: Storage device uses gravitational compression?

[ Your ring, Thad. That's also something Soundwave is familiar with. ]

Proposal accepted. Terms of agreement negotiable_

[Action!]

[reverse_impulse]

[Thad keeps an eye on those feelers, curious about them as well as making sure they're not about to turn hostile. Some of the materials that make up the technoplasm definitely didn't come from Earth and the science that created it is beyond what humans are capable of. It's currently in a non-conductive mode but it can be altered.

Thad appreciates the text far more than he did the recorded voices. He concentrates and 'dreams' up a glass container. As much as he dislikes the process, he can't deny it's been useful. Letting the Technoplasm pour into the container, the speedster nods.]

This model does. I only have a small amount of Technoplasm at this time. With proper resources and facilities I will be able to create more. Proper computers can also make better programming possible.

[Once the gel has poured completely into the container, Thad closes it up and holds it up to the Decepticon.]

Very good.

[Action!]

[stand_witness]

[ One of said feelers plucks the container offered out of Thad's hands, and retracts a bit for one more periphery scan. He'd need to get it back to his small stockpile of equipment to test it properly.

But now for Thad's part of the deal. ]

Analysis, recorded video, audio data from unknown location.
Codename: Unnatural.

[ Even with his faceplate obviously turned to inspect the container of technoplasm, a second feeler moves up to a small slot behind Soundwave's antennae array, and withdraws a datapad. Downloading swiftly, and efficiently to it, Soundwave's faceplate only turns to "look at" Thad lon enough to display a line of text; ]

Human data storage device requested.

[ Because he knew that human technology was often very primitive, and inefficient in comparison to Cybertronian. Still, Thad couldn't very well read Cybertronian, could he? ]

[Action!]

[reverse_impulse]

[Thad quirked a bow when that datapad was brought out. It seemed like an odd place to store them to him but he withheld his comments. The text received a nod in reply and Thad concentrated on dreaming up his own variation of a datapad. Not as interesting to look at as Soundwave's but served a similar function for recording things back home.]

Here.

[The blond nodded and held the pad out. He couldn't read Cybertronian but he was thinking about trying to learn at some point.]