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[deadpartners]

Who: Arcee and YOU!
Where: All around L.A.
When: THIS WEEK
What: Arcee's scouting out the city, gathering information and getting to know humankind.
Warnings: idk robots

Nothing about this mission has been easy. Not spending the terse weeks in the cramped Rod Pod with Rodimus, not trying to keep her troops in line, nothing to do with Optimus -- no, Orion now. It had been hard to let him go, to watch him walk away when she knows that she and the other Autobot pose the least threat to him. If he goes back to Megatron, Arcee's not sure what'll happen with the war. And the fact that Megatron's on this planet at all is cause for concern.

That, and the considerably more local threats. Orion's terrifying bout of mind control hadn't come at the hands of the Decepticons, but something Earth-based. Something deeply sinister. Arcee knows a bit about this planet, but not enough. It's starting to look like they might be here a while, so she decides it's time for some serious recon.

She has a holomatter avatar for precisely this reason -- blending in with the local populace, maintaining a low profile. It's a remote projection, solid enough to interact with its environment and relay data back to Arcee. She can learn a lot just by driving around, but certain information is a lot easier to come by when you get up close and personal. She can be found around the city either as her human avatar, who's gathering any information she might be able to find about Megatron's whereabouts and the strange happenings in L.A. of light, or as a sleek motorcycle on the city streets, either bearing a holographic rider when on the move (because a motorcycle moving on its own would definitely be cause for suspicion), or unattended while parked out of the way to watch passersby.

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Comments

[squanderlust]

Look. Severa wouldn't call herself clumsy. But it was possible she was getting used to a street she hadn't gone down in a while—she knew the city, sure, but she didn't know every part exactly the same. And it was possible that she tripped over a jutting up piece of the sidewalk. And she miiiight have tumbled into a bunch of motorcycles parked on the street when she did.

But all that was totally hypothetical, because nobody saw, right? No muss, no fuss. She could just go on her merry way and pretend that somebody else was responsible for knocking a couple of motorcycles over. Even if one or two of them looked kind of expensive. Punk kids, right? You couldn't trust them for anything. Nobody would ever suspect someone like her, looking like she just walked out of an American Eagle catalogue. The perfect... accidental not-a-crime.

[deadpartners]

Arcee had slid into a vacant space in the line of motorcycles parked
in front of a strip of restaurants and small shops, watching -- and
listening -- to the people passing by. She's idly keeping an audial
out for any important keywords in passing conversation, but most of
her attention is directed inward as she taps into human data networks.
That's where the real information seems to be.

So when a spectacularly clumsy human knocks into a motorcycle a few
away from her, she doesn't notice right away -- not until she feels
the scrape of the one next to her hitting her plating and her kneejerk
reaction is to rev her engine and try to gun it out of the way. She
doesn't quite manage, her tires squealing for traction briefly before
she topples over altogether with a noisy clank. Scrap.

"Hey, watch it, kid!" she snaps, scrambling to project her holomatter
avatar in her surprise. Her avatar appears rounding the corner toward
Severa, an agitated-looking woman in biking gear, but it comes just a
moment too late -- anyone paying attention might think that the voice
came from the motorcycle and not the lady moving to hoist it
back upright.

[squanderlust]

Oh, crap. "Uh. What?"

Yeah. Yeah, still perfect. Severa looks over her shoulder at her "handiwork" and pretends to have no idea what's actually going on. "I didn't do that."

She's not really paying attention to the source of the voice right now, because she's focused on her lie. Which is still amazing and believable. In fact, she even tries to keep walking and let this be someone else's problem. But... dammit, no, she can't. She stops.

"Which one is yours?" she asks, still totally committed to her lie.

[deadpartners]

"Which one do you think?" The words come out waspishly as Arcee's holomatter avatar grasps her alt mode and appears to pull it upright with a little grunt of effort. She wouldn't ordinarily be this peeved, but with everything that's happened recently, she's kind of on edge, and she's been wearing a little thin lately. So much has been heaped on her shoulders -- the responsibility almost too massive to bear -- she just doesn't have the patience for clumsy organics today.

"You know, if you're going to lie, the least you could do is pick a convincing one, kid."

[thanksoptimus]

Despite his best efforts, Orion's attempt at being independent has yet to become very constructive. In truth, he just has no idea where to start.

He managed to talk Magdal's ear off a little about issues, but even that couldn't give him an answer so easily. It helped him consider things a bit more objectively, perhaps, but that was only of limited use when his spark was so tied up in this. Either option would hurt, and even if he could decide which hurt more, what he wants to believe has little to do with what's actually true.

He knows that. He does, and he hates ever day he wastes not being sure. Either way, he is leaving his friends to worry - or people who should be his friends. He hasn't spoken to Megatron since he left.

The guilt is what has really been getting to him. It seems like no matter what action he takes he is doing someone wrong, but he knows that anything less than the correct choice is unacceptable. There's not guarantee that if he doesn't make the decision for himself, and soon, that someone else won't make it for him.

Right now, his indecision has him shellshocked, and he can think of little to do with the situation but remain in his alt mode and try to think. He's taken to parking at a truck stop towards the outer rings of the city, and thus far he's spent almost two days doing nothing but watching humans come and go and intermittently recharging.

He's angry about what's been done to him, but more than anything, he's angry at himself.

[deadpartners]

Arcee's spent most of the day just driving around the city already,
trying to gather information, but while she's learned some things
about the day to day comings and goings of humankind, she's picked up
very little about the Decepticons or the threats the Earth itself
holds. She's decided to call it a day and head back to the Rod Pod to
regroup; she's grinding out her frustration on the road, just focusing
on the sensation of her tires on asphalt, when she passes the truck
stop. It's impossible not to recognize Orion's alt mode, especially
when she spends so much time thinking about him, about whether or not
he's okay on his own. He'd been in bad shape when he'd left the
Autobots.

She hesitates to approach him at first. He hasn't reached out to her
since he left; she doesn't know what's happened in the interim. Then
again, she's fairly sure he's alone. And it's not like she wouldn't
leave him alone if he asked her to. She just wants to check on him,
that's all.

Arcee flashes her headlights briefly as she circles around to pull
into the space next to Orion, her holographic driver appearing to
dismount once her engines have idled, and she hits up his comm link.
Might as well keep the conversation private, if they can. "Orion? It's
Arcee."

[thanksoptimus]

When he's already been doing little more than zoning out for several hours now, its easy for such a communication to catch him off guard - especially since his comm link has only just been repaired. His engine abruptly rumbles in surprise, and he finds himself far more agitated than he would have been in the past.

He's still feeling the edges of what happened to him in the tower. Any sense of being snuck up in leaves him panicked.

It takes him another moment to realize that her vehicle mode is actually right next to him.

"Arcee," he replies, his voice stiff in a way that clearly betrays his surprise.

(Muffled spaghetti western music playing in the distance)

[starscheme]

Nothing is coming up Starscream. Ever.

Sure, he's fortunate that Megatron wasn't anywhere NEAR as mad as Starscream had thought he'd be upon learning that they still only had half a synthetic energon formula, or at least he hadn't taken it directly out on his second... but once Starscream had given him a name for a possible holder of a second piece, Megatron had sent him on his way and out on Orion Pax hunting duty.

This in and of itself wasn't necessarily a poor assignment. He had his orders: Locate Pax, observe from a distance and avoid engaging him, and tell Megatron immediately. This he didn't mind, because he now had his own personal investment in the task, especially since Pax had gotten in touch with him and informed him of the presence of Autobots on the planet.

Thing was, he is having zero luck locating the bot from the air, which is infuriating because how damn hard could it be to locate a bright red and blue big rig? And so he finds himself (rather unwillingly) wandering the city once more, holomatter avatar skulking about a local shopping mall among the crowds upon crowds of humans, keeping an audial out for any sort of rumors or leads that put him back on the right track.

He's marching his way past a food court when an internal warning indicator starts going off. Conflicting signal... He turns this way and that, looking for the source before finally tracing it back to what looks like an ordinary Earth female to the naked eye, but under the scrutiny of an energy scan its origins become immediately apparent. Another holomatter avatar. Another Cybertronian. A Decepticon would have likely checked in upon arrival on this planet, so this could only mean one thing: Autobot.

He carefully falls into step a good distance back from them, watching carefully. Willing to observe for as long as possible, but also waiting for the moment when they inevitably catch on to his presence there.

puts on the good the bad & the weird soundtrack

[deadpartners]

Arcee isn't exactly on the lookout for other avatars -- although she knows it's a distinct possibility -- but she is keeping an eye out for suspicious figures. That, and she's been in the field for a long time. Honestly, she'd be pretty put out with herself if she didn't notice the guy tailing her eventually.

Her sensors pick up the guy tailing her and she lets him follow for a while, just to make sure it is what she thinks it is. At first she thinks it's just some human being a creep, but an extra sweep of the area with her remote scanner reveals...an anomaly. That's not a normal human. No, it's definitely a holomatter avatar, not unlike the one she's using now. And an unidentified Cybertronian holomatter avatar on this planet, following her here now, means only one thing.

Decepticon.

This could be her chance to really learn something new. After all, if she can get any intel at all on Megatron and the other Decepticons...this might sway the tide of the conflict here. Of everything with Orion.

Arcee weaves her way through the food court and past a few shops, stepping into a corridor whose signs advertise they lead to a restroom. The second it becomes apparent that her would-be pursuer is still following, she sidesteps and pivots to face him, and she sure doesn't look like she has time for any bullshit.

"All right, I've had about enough of letting you follow me. Who are you and what, exactly, were you hoping to gain by staring at my back all day?"

[starscheme]

Despite the fact that he completely expected her to turn on him like that the moment he decided to follow her down that hallway, the sudden launch into confrontation still startles Starscream, and he pulls back a bit as Arcee whips around. That voice was oddly familiar, but he can't quite place it...

He smooths over that pretty quickly though, laughing darkly and leaning on one arm against the wall with an obnoxiously smug grin on his face. That no-nonsense look she's giving him is really only encouraging him to be obnoxious. It isn't like they can do much to each other like this anyway, which actually gives him more free reign to say whatever he wants.

"An ex-Prime-- I believe you might know him-- he informed me that there might be some autobots on this planet... Rumors have a tendency to make me curious, so when my sensors picked up signs of an unknown Cybertronian in the area I just thought I'd take a look and see what we're up against." He pauses, for a moment, looking her over and raising one eyebrow. "My initial conclusion to that line of inquiry would be: 'not much'."

[nailsandglass]

The past few days have been rather crazy for Matilda, needless to say. A lot had happened in the couple of days that she had begun to live on her own, and she couldn't say that much of it was particularly good. After the recent events with the towers, however, she had decided that maybe taking a more active role in her community would be a good thing. The first thing she thought she ought to do was warn others about the dangerous Cybertronian in the forest.

Sadly, it seemed like she was running into the same problems she often had before.

Everyone seemed to think she was lying. Some of them even though she was joking and sure perhaps her artistic rendition of Airachnid wasn't exactly the most intimidating thing but no one seemed to be bothering to listen to what she had to say.

Yet she would continue looking for at the very least one person who would heed her warning, and so that's why she remained near the library entrance, trying to get the attention of anyone who came through it.

[deadpartners]

The library seems like a good place to check out information -- she can probably get a good connection jacking into any human data networks here, at least, and there are plenty of people, too. Arcee's been doing a lot of people-watching. It's been pretty informative.

But the little girl at the entrance of the library with the spider drawing catches Arcee's attention. She's far more inclined to take the word of a six-year-old girl than most other humans, if only for the fact that Cybertronians don't...really have a concept of childhood. Arcee gets that it's a thing, sure, but she doesn't have the same reluctance to trust a kid that other humans might.

She stops at the entrance to the library, her avatar frowning in concern as she bends slightly to address the little girl. "Sorry -- wait -- could you repeat that?"

[nailsandglass]

Matilda seems to straighten up when Arcee approaches her. It finally seems like she has caught someone's attention. Granted its an adult, but she supposes that's better than no one.

"My family and I were camping in the forest not to far from the city," she didn't really want to explain why she was out there by herself, "when we saw a really big robot lady. She was really, really big and built like a spider." Matilda stood on her tip toes and stretched her arms out to try and indicate just how big Airachnid was. Which of course would not actually be a clear indication to anyone who had know knowledge of Cybertronians.

"We've been trying to warn people not to go there, but no one has been taking us seriously."

[chapterfiveversenine]

Legion catches Arcee's unique heat signature during another people-watching session, and pings her comm. The consensus decides to use audio this time; she preferred it the first.

"You remain upon Earth, despite your assurances that you would leave when Optimus Prime alias Orion Pax was secured."

[deadpartners]

Legion again. Arcee's been distracted lately, but she figured she'd her from them again eventually. And it doesn't sound like they're pleased.

"He hasn't been 'secured'. The mission got complicated."

[chapterfiveversenine]

"Murphy's Law," the consensus transmits back. "Inquiry: presence of Megatron, auxiliary Decepticons?"

Hope you don't mind the lateness of this tag.

[withhercleverhead]

Annabel understands the need to investigate. It's what she's been doing or...pretty much the entire time she arrived. Which granted, has not been long and is more in line with a tourist than a scout but well.

At the moment, she and her mechanical cat, Bartholomew, are making their way down the street, a bag of groceries under one of her arms.

She doesn't actually have a place to live yet, she's squatting in a mostly abandoned building, but she's fine with that. Although she had lived quite well before her parents died and she had plenty of money, she couldn't seem to find a place she wanted to call home. Or a lab for that matter.

The lab mattered more.

She stops for a moment to admire the motorcycle, studying it's design. She has no interest in automotive of any kind but it's curious to see their deign and efficiency. Bartholomew is staring intently at it as we, tail flicking back and forth as he occasionally makes a small noise towards his mistress.

it's not late at all!

[deadpartners]

Arcee is parked on the street while she keeps her sensors out for local observation, the rest of her processor power mostly focused on sifting through human data networks, collecting any information she can find that might contribute to Autobot intelligence. The human stops and studies her, maybe a little too curiously -- just to be on the safe side, she projects her holomatter avatar and a woman appears to come around the corner, a helmet tucked under her arm. She stops next to Annabel, giving her a sidelong glance.

"You like motorcycles?"

[withhercleverhead]

She jumps a little, blinking and then turning to face the woman. "Oh, sorry. Is this yours? I...I like machines?" It comes out like a question mixed with an apology.

She looks way, her arms curling around her cat a little more tightly. She feels awkward and uncertain, like she's somehow messed up and she's not sure how.

[positiveenergy]

The base wasn’t actually too far off from where he’d landed his ship. And now that he’s spotted the Rod Pod, he wonders how he’d missed it. Even if it was in hiding. It was certainly very…Rodimus.

The closer he gets to it, the more he can feel a nervousness building up in his spark. He’d promised Rodimus that he’d keep their plans to himself, and he would. He wasn’t too worried about that; some bots might write him off as an open book, but Drift could keep a secret if he needed to. Even so, he doesn’t like the idea of lying to his fellow Autobots.

If nothing else, it would be good to be among their ranks again…to actually do something instead of just sitting around and waiting for orders. As he walks up to the ship, he looks around to see if he can spot anyone.

“Hello? Is anyone here?”

[deadpartners]

The last thing Arcee's prepared for is an unfamiliar voice right in their little encampment. They're not exactly cloaked, but she'd thought they were far enough out of the way to keep from prying human eyes. It can't be a Decepticon, at any rate. A Decepticon wouldn't just...waltz right up, asking if anyone's around. Probably.

It's because she's cautious and wary that she appears at the entrance of the Rod Pod with both blasters out and trained on their would-be intruder, a demand for identification hovering on her vocalizer, but as soon as she sees who it is she relaxes immediately, cycling her blasters out for her hands.

"Drift!" There's a mix of surprise and relief in her voice as she steps out of the Rod Pod toward him. "Drift, when did you get here?"

[positiveenergy]

“Arcee! Good to see you too!”

Drift grins – lowering raised hands as she switches out her blasters. There’s surprise in his voice too. He hadn’t been sure of who he’d meet at the base, but Arcee was one of the last bots he expected.

“I’ve been here on my own for a while now. Solo scouting mission and all that.”

Although he’s excited to see her at first, the more the reality of the situation sinks in, the more dread builds up inside of him. Not only will he have to lie to his friend, he’ll have to lie to the Autobot commander.

“But what about you? Things can’t be good if you ended up coming here yourself.”

[airachnoid]

Airachnid walks the streets of L.A. through her holomatter avatar, much as she has been doing for the past few days. Her intention is to familiarize herself with human cities, human culture, and human society. To bring humanity to near-extinction, she has to know how it works. Her projects often take time, but it doesn't matter. Airachnid is patient. She's refined this into an art, even if it's an art few appreciate.

Right now, she stands near a sidewalk corner of an intersection. Some people cross the streets beside her, and she just watches them and listens in on the snippets of their conversations she can catch. She's contemplating what to do next when she spots it.

There's a blue motorcycle coming down one of the intersection's streets, and the more Airachnid watches it, the more the way the rider is driving it seems strangely familiar. Could it be...her? No, no. Surely not. There's no way she could be here. Airachnid keeps her eyes on it until it stops at the intersection. She decides that she's definitely seeing what she wants to see, so she starts walking down the sidewalk of the street opposite the motorcycle to go find somewhere else to do research. It's not long before the motorcycle drives down the same street, passes Airachnid, and turns into a nearby side street.

After a moment of hesitation and reflection on the way it turned, Airachnid revises her initial decision and hurries to follow the motorcycle before it gets too far away. It won't hurt to make sure her instincts are incorrect on this one. Luckily, the motorcycle's rider seems to be parking it in the side street. Airachnid approaches her.

"Where did you learn to drive like that?" she asks, hoping that it's not a question with an answer that would be obvious to humans. "That is, if you don't mind sharing."

[deadpartners]

Arcee's gotten a few interested looks and questions from human passersby, so it doesn't seem too far out of line. Unfortunately, she hasn't been the best at coming up with ready, believable answers -- when she'd first started venturing into the city with her avatar, she hadn't given the persona much thought, but sooner or later she'd realized that she needed a cover story. At least a vague one.

She'd pored over her research from the human data networks and cobbled together a bit of a backstory, so to speak, in case any of her dealings with humans required she give any personal details. She'd chosen familiar elements to her human backstory, things she could connect with. At least their law enforcement structure bears some similarity to that of pre-war Cybertron.

"I was in the force," she says, quite believably. It's been a long time since Arcee was actually a cop, but she's never really forgotten that. The avatar doesn't quite dismount, just looking over at the woman questioning her. "You get pretty good at navigating around tight corners when you spend a lot of time chasing down criminals."

Arcee's filtered through dozens, maybe hundreds of human vids about police activity. Some of them seem dramatized, but it's honestly hard to tell. Either way, human police chases on motorcycle are totally a thing that happens all the time. Right? Right.

[airachnoid]

The woman's answer only serves to heighten Airachnid's suspicions, despite the very real possibility that she is just a normal human ex-cop. Arcee used to be a cop too, after all. In fact, that's how the two of them first met. One could say they've always had clashing interests.

"Of course," she says, keeping her tone conversational. "You know, I've always had a bit of an interest in the relationship between criminals and the police. Have you ever encountered any noteworthy or particularly elusive criminals?"

The test benefits Airachnid either way. If the woman mentions anything familiar, Airachnid can put down another mark in the Might Be Arcee column. If the woman mentions any unfamiliar human names, Airachnid can start looking into making contacts in the human criminal underworld.