Watching the Watchman

Fri Oct 10 2029
&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "NIGHTBEAT! Respond!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Autobot Scout Hound says, "What's wrong there, Kup?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Shockwave says that Nightbeat sabotaged one of the space bridges! And he ran away despite me yellin' at him not to!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Autobot Scout Hound says, "Shockwave? He's going around saying things like seriously? He must have a flaw in his logic chips!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "The way Nightbeat was actin', it was like he knew he was in trouble."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Autobot Scout Hound says, "If Shockwave was mixed up in, he probably was."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Tailgate says, "Aw, he was just fooling, wasn't ya Nightbeat?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Yeah, well, I'd appreciate it if I could hear an explanation from him! This ain't lookin' so good, you know!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "Kup! Kup! KUUUPPPPP!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "KuppppppKupKupKup"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Tailgate says, "Oh no, the dinos remembered they can talk!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "I am in a bad mood, Swoop..."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "What happen?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Nightbeat happened! Shockwave says he sabotaged a space bridge. An' since I was there, an' saw him run off EVEN AFTER I TOLD 'IM TO STOP, well... dammit."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "Ohh."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "That explain bad mood."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "Him Nightbeat kinda, erm..weird, me think."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Dee-Kal says, "Excuse me, Papa, but... I wonder if...?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "If what?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Dee-Kal says, "Nightbeat-sama is many things, but I suspect he is not a traitor type. Also Shockwave is logical but... well, he is a Septic... my thought is that perhaps if what Shockwave smurfs is true, that perhaps Nightbeat did something in order to expose or defeat something that Shockwave did. Or was planning."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "What."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Dee-Kal says, "I do not know the whole story, of course. It is a thought..."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Tailgate says, "Who the slag is Nightbeat? Isn't he that Streetwise clone?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Uh, he was tryin' to expose the Decepticons? That's the kinda thing that needs to be run by me, Magnus, and Rodimus before it ever happens, and it wasn't. If that's what he was doin', he's still in deep slag. An' I gave him a fragging order, an order even Tailgate could follow, and he didn't do that, either!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "And, no, he's not a Streetwise clone! They're nuthin' like each other."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "Yeah. Streetwise white, Nightbeat blue. Duh."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Autobot Scout Hound says, "He must've had some kind of reason, Kup. I don't think he'd do something like this just for doing it."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Dee-Kal says, "It is just a thought, Papa. Nightbeat-sama is a little unsmurfy when he wishes to get tho the bottom of a mystery fast, ne..?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "Wait, me confused. So..him Nightbeat smurf?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Tailgate says, "Well, he /is/ blue.."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Dee-Kal says, "(chuckles) Apologies Swoop. No, Nightbeat is not a Smurf."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "Oh."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Tailgate says, "Wait, /I'm/ kinda blue! Am... I a smurf..?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "Maybe"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Dee-Kal says, "Hee! Maybe! It is not a bad thing!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "Me think it is."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup sounds mega-furious, like it's whipping time. "If he's got a reason, then he needs to turn on his damn radio and TELL ME!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Tailgate says, "I don't wanna be a smurf! They're tiny, and carry.. /diseases/!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "Diseases!?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "What that again?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Dee-Kal says, "No, I do not think so. They are tiny, but they carry apples or inventions."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Tailgate says, "Inventions can be diseases."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Dee-Kal says, "Silly Tailgate. Inventions can be cures for diseases, too."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Tailgate says, "Inventions can be diseases for cures, too!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "Me confused."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Dee-Kal says, "Tailgate, they probably have more cures that diseases!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Dee-Kal says, "You may wish to be careful in case you catch a *cure* from a Smurf!. You might feel poorly!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "Me bored with conversation now."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "We talk 'bout better stuff."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Tailgate says, "What /ev/, lady. I totally know a guy who caught smurfitis. He was blue FOR EVER."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Dee-Kal says, "(chuckles)"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "Like apples or something. Me not really care."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Tailgate says, "Apples are /so/ snooty.."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Dee-Kal says, "Because they do not talk to you, Tailgate?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Tailgate says, "What? They talk! They talk all the time! Never shut up in fact! What did they tell you?!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Dee-Kal says, "They said you were blue."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "They usually just go crunch to me."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "Maybe me just bad talker."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Tailgate says, "They probably deserved it. Jerks."

================================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/158 Posted Author NIGHTBEAT! Fri Oct 10 Kup -- Kup's extremely angry mug appears after the spinny. He seems to be seated in a single-passenger transport.

"NIGHTBEAT! Where the fragging hell are you? Shockwave says you damaged the Space Bridge on Mia! And why'd you keep runnin' off when I told you to stop? I'm your friggin' superior officer, slaggit! Can't you follow an order!?" Kup leans into the camera, optics twitching. "And then I called you on the radio... AND YOU DIDN'T RESPOND! What. The. FRAK!?" The old man slams a fist into his control console.

"I am giving you one megacycle to come and see me so that you can explain what the frag you were doing. And if you need to use a space bridge, then you're going to do it under armed escort, get me? I better see you before that deadline is up, because if I don't...." Kup gives the camera the evil eye. "Yer gonna have a whole buncha reasons to make you wish you did."

Calming down a bit, Kup says, "Ehhn, 'nother thing. Shockwave requested Huffer's help to fix the damage. Ehm... seems the glass/molybdenum frame of the, ah, #18 microcircuitry flat-package was torn, whatever that means. So, Huffer, if yer around, head over to Mia, pronto." Sighing wearily, Kup starts to press buttons on his console. "Kup out."

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==================== Decepticon ================================= Message: 2/84 Posted Author Warning: Nightbeat Fri Oct 10 Shockwave --

Be aware: the Autobot Nightbeat has defied our agreement, the principles of self-preservation, and common sense. Autobot Kup and I witnessed his sabotage of one of the three spacebridges under construction in the Proxima system, specifically the Mia bridge. Nightbeat escaped after damaging the spacebridge, which was under construction at the time. The Autobots have determined to arrest him when they find him. If you find him first, eliminate him. End of line.

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Sat Oct 11 2029
&lt;Autobot&gt; Coaster XO Raindance says, "Hey, has anyone seen Nightbeat?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Monstereo says, "Nope... check him for a cerebro shell?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Scattershot says, "Maybe you better check him for a clue...because he's obviously got one. Unlike the rest of us."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Coaster XO Raindance says, "Why would the Decepticons want to sabotage the spacebridge?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Monstereo says, "Angst?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Scattershot says, "Oh I dunno...but MAYBE it's some kind of trick?! They aren't exacty in the habit of telling us what they're doing. Or being straight with us in any way."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Scattershot says, "You all know I'm right."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Coaster XO Raindance says, "But... why would they want the plan to fail and Cybertron to explode?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Silverbolt says, "they delight in destruction?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Scattershot says, "Who even cares? When I want to know what a Decepticon's thinking I'll just crack open his processor casing and look for myself."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Monstereo says, "Seems shifty to bme from either perspective."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Monstereo says, "Shifty eyes, activate!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Scattershot says, "You got that right."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Scattershot says, "Even though I don't know what the frak you just said."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Monstereo 's optics make a sound like maracas ~chickachickachickachickachicka~

&lt;Autobot&gt; Scattershot says, "Not helping."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Monstereo says, "Meow."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Scattershot says, "...still not helping."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Perceptor says, "But not necessarily in the destruction of their homeworld, as well as ares. Listen, lads, all this talk of wanting Cybertron to perish in the ensuing operation is hogwash - purely the talk of conspiracy theorists and the unstable. This sabateur, whomever it is, is just wanting to exacerbate the conflict between us and the Decepticons and prove that we can't work together. I myself say, let's prove them wrong. Let's take the high road."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Monstereo says, "But... Dave's not here, man."

Cybertron Olympic Site - Intersection

Here are the many roads and underground monorails that link the three Olympic Site districts together, as well as providing easy transport to the gleaming Crystal City itself. Above ground one can have an excellent vantage point for the rest of the site. To the north one can see the tall Roman-like pillars of the Central Stadium. To the east one can see the rows upon rows of shops from the Commercial District. To the west one can see the stubby multi-sized and greatly varied buildings of the Habitat District, and to the south one can see the gleaming walls of Crystal City and the beautiful spires and towers that make it up.

Obvious exits: Space Bridge &lt;SB&gt; leads to Six Lasers - Grand Central Station. North &lt;N&gt; leads to Cybertron Olympic Site - Stadiums. West &lt;W&gt; leads to Cybertron Olympic Site - Habitat District. East &lt;E&gt; leads to Cybertron Olympic Site - Commercial District. Out &lt;O&gt; leads to Outskirts of Crystal City.

Subway System &lt;SS&gt;

Nightbeat wanders out from the Olympic Space Bridge to Six Lasers. Head down to a datapad, he's rather absorbed in looking at some spectrograph readings that show chemical compositions of two different batches of syk. The spectrograph readings are the same, indicating that the syk batches were made by the same chemist. Nightbeat is quite clearly alone, and he doesn't seem to be overly concerned.

Raindance has arrived.

"THERE HE IS! GET 'IM!" All of a sudden a huge swarm of Autobot gumbies charges at Nightbeat as he steps out of the space bridge, and leading them is none other than Kup. "You're not getting away from me this time, you slagging idiot!" The swarm of Autobots tries to grab the detective and force him to the ground. "I tried to frikkin' warn you, but now it's too late, buster! You're in for it now!"

Kup succeeds in grasping Nightbeat, throwing it off-balance.

Amongst the pile of gumbies is none other than Raindance, the little cassette-bot flying through the air, his little stunner laser firing away. "How COULD you Nightbeat!" He sounds almost hurt!

Raindance used special.

You are temporarily incapacitated by Raindance's Wheel Clamp Gun attack.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Coaster XO Raindance says, "GOT HIM!"

Nightbeat looks up just in time to see a horde of Autobots mobbing him, led by Kup. He remarks dryly, "Man, you guys missed me that much?" However, it is quite clear to him that these Autobots mean him ill, despite his joking tone. He just can't evade all of them, and he is summarily tackled some Autobot or other and stunned by Raindance.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Coaster XO Raindance says, "Foxfire get over here!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Monstereo says, "Pacific?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Coaster XO Raindance says, "We need an INTERRORGATOR"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Nightbeat would say something, but he is stunned and can't. Thanks, Raindance.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Monstereo says, "I'm all out of corks."

Springer arrives from Outskirts of Crystal City.

Springer has arrived.

Kup soon has Nightbeat's arms behind his back, whereupon he quickly secures them with a pair of nearly unbreakable energon cuffs. The gumbies do the same to Nightbeat's ankles, securing them with cuffs as well. Roughly, Kup grabs Nightbeat under the shoulders and hauls him up to his feet, giving him a good shake as he yells, "What the FRAK were you thinking, you dimwit!? Trying to kill us all?"

"What's the deal Nightbeat, what did they pay you SLAP!" Raindance floats by the Autobot but can't really slap him. "When did they get to you Nightbeat? Some sort of DRUGS?"

Nightbeat is tackled, stunned, and cuffed at the wrists and ankles. Funny. He's usually the one doing this exact thing to other people. There is a glare in his optics, and as the stun wears off, his face controls into an ugly snarl. His datapad lies, forgotten, off to the side. He demands angrily, "What in the deuce has gotten into you, Kup?" He then shoots a bewildered look at Raindance. "What are you even talking about?"

Kup yells, "You know damn well what I'm talking about! You ripped sumthin' important outta Shockwave's space bridge on Mia, an' I had to send Huffer to fix it. Then you ran away from me even after I told you stop!" He drags Nightbeat off and away from the space bridge, then slams him up against a wall. "Then I tried to call you on the radio, and no response! Then I issued a message on the bulletin board tellin' you to get your aft over to me in ONE MEGACYCLE, and yer late! I also told you not to use a space bridge unless it was under armed escort, and you went ahead and just trotted outta one, an' I don't see no escort!"

"Yeah, we had to get Huffer man, HUFFER!" Raindance's lights flash angrily. "Can you imagine what that DID to Kup, having to crawl to HUFFER of all people!"

Springer looks between Kup and Raindance, then mutters under his breath, "Good cop -again-?" He moves over next to Nightbeat and tries to take over holding him in place, but is probably a little gentler than Kup or the gumbies were and makes sure Nightbeat is standing comfortably aside from the cuffs. He's also careful to keep his tone mild and reasonable. "Not like you to miss a report, 'Beat. The Decepticons claim you damaged the spacebridges they're building to move Cybertron. Not all of us believe them, of course...but we figured it was best to be careful."

Nightbeat looks absolutely baffled, an odd look on the face of the usually astute detective. Then, his optic band flashes with insight, and he replies, "Oh, I see what you're doing! You're trying to teach Raindance how to take in a suspect, right?" He laughs, a little uneasily, because Kup seems to be awful serious. "You can let me go, now. I think Raindance gets the lesson."

A little glint appears in Raindance's cockpit as he floats next to Kup. "Kup, Kup, we need to do a brain biopsy and search for cerebro shells. He's probably being controlled by the Decepticons so they can destroy Cybertron!"

Kup glances at Raindance, trying to remember if he selected him to join his lynching mob. "Uh, for some reason that doesn't sound too likely Raindance." He's distracted enough that he doesn't complain as Springer takes over for him in restraining the prisoner. Then, however, Nightbeat says something that sets him off. "You trying to mess with me?!" he screams, then pulls back a fist...

Kup used punch.

You evade Kup's SMACK attack.

THWAM! Kup's fist strikes the wall just a few millimeters shy of Nightbeat's precious, precious head.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Coaster XO Raindance says, "Do we have any brain surgeons to look for Cerebro shells?"

Nightbeat looks a little horrified about the thought of anyone touching his CPU - it's a nonstandard, custom unit, a genuine one of a kind Wonder of Cybertron; it actually functions more efficiently when inebriated than when sober. He gulps and automatically ducks under Kup's punch, his detective reflexes too ingrained to ignore. Nightbeat protests, "Kup! What's going on here? Seriously. And Raindance, my CPU is fine!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Springer says, "I think you'd be the first to know about it if we had any brain surgeons."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Nightbeat says, "...cerebro shells? What?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Monstereo says, "I /could/ but I don't want to get sued again."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Give it up, Raindance, it doesn't make any sense. Why would the Decepticons sabotage themselves?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Coaster XO Raindance says, "Why would NIGHTBEAT?"

"Well obviously it isn't!" Raindance bleeps back. "Because you tried to wreck the spacebridge and doom Cybertron! Now, start talking, I was taught by the best!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Nightbeat says, "Yeah, why would I... what did you say I did?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Why you... you little smartaft, you know what you did!"

Springer says, "Look guys, I think we're putting a lot of weight in what Shockwave said. Or what he says he saw. I mean come on, the guy's got one optic. Isn't it possible he could have been mistaken? Were there any other, more -reliable- witnesses? Any actual evidence?" He gives Nightbeat a little 'that one's for you' nod. "And Kup, take it easy...it's not like he's going anywhere. Let's just give him a chance to give his side of the story."

Springer says, "I mean, if his only real crime here is not listening to Kup...well Primus, might as well lock ALL of us up." Springer says, "Er, I mean..."

Nightbeat squints at Raindance. He thinks that he may have actually taught Raindance a thing or two, thereby making this whole exchange extremely awkward. He protests, "I've been on XXX for the last few days, scoping out a case." Only when he says it does Nightbeat really realise just how pitiful that alibi sounds. XXX, where he could hand over a few credits, and he could get someone to claim to be his dear old granny. He looks over at his datapad and points out, "Look, I was looking at spectrographs of syk batches when you lot came down on me." Spectrographs that he could look at any time.

Kup growls low and deep, then stomps over to Nightbeat's datapad. He picks it up and taps away at the screen. He scowls at it, then holds it up for Nightbeat to see. "See this? Unread messages? The one friggin' labeled "NIGHTBEAT!"!? Why didn't you freaking open it, huh?" He taps on the message, and 3/158 pops up. Kup is yelling in that message, too, but he seems slightly less angry than he does now. "And yeah, there was a witness, Springer..." Kup says. "ME. We were both checking out that space bridge, when he just up and ran off! And I saw the damage myself, too." He leans into the triple changer. "And watch yer mouth. I'm in a BAD mood, in case ya haven't noticed."

Kup listens to Nightbeat's alibi for a few moments, then shakes his head. "Oh, great, you were in Planet XXX. Did any AUTOBOTS happen to see you there? Or at least anybody that isn't some kinda trisexual alien prostitute, or whatever they got down there? Huh?"

Nightbeat snaps, orange optic band flashing stridently, "I was working on a case! You know how focused I get when I'm in the zone. I swear, I was this close to collaring..." He trails off, making an extremely sour face, and Nightbeat answers sullenly but honestly, "No. No Autobots. I work alone." He thinks for a moment. "There was this Seeker, but he was kind of pastel..."

Raindance floats closer to Nightbeat's face. "I dunno Kup. Nightbeat doesn't USUALLY sabotage spacebridges. Maybe it was a clone. Or a double. Or an evil twin. Or a robot. Or a shapeshifter. Or a hologram. Or a clone!" He repeats the clone one because it was really good.

Springer gives Kup a careful look, but doesn't back down. He does seem to get a little more serious though. "Look Kup, your report said that -Shockwave- told you Nightbeat damaged the spacebridge. Shockwave the high-ranking Decepticon, the same guys who dumped you in space after you helped them? Now is it just possible that maybe he's got an ulterior motive here." He nods at Raindance. "And he's got a good point...for once." Springer mutters that last part. "There's a lot of possible explanations here. Shouldn't saying 'Nightbeat is lying and the Decepticons are telling the truth' kinda be at the bottom of the list?"

"Thing is Springer, how likely IS it that Shockwave's evil plan would be to pretend Nightbeat would sabotage a spacebridge. That's a bit of a dumb trick for someone so clever. Unless that is the point..." Raindance pauses, bobbing, his little thrusters humming. "Say... what if we scan Nightbeat for Mia Moondust, that would prove if he was there or not!"

Nightbeat considers a few facts.

1. Nightbeat was sent to P-19170167 with a bunch of maladaptive Autobots that no one wanted around and a horde of murderous Decepticons for company. P-19170167 compares unfavourably to Hell.

2. He was the smartest Transformer on the planet and was bored out of his cranial unit most of the time.

3. They were forgotten and neglected.

4. He has a rather expensive energon habit.

5. He tends to work alone.

6. He has recently been demoted.

7. He is quite skilled in technical areas. Easily good enough to sabotage a space bridge.

8. He is a space pilot and could have gotten out to... wherever and away quite easily.

9. Nightbeat knows every trick in the book a criminal could use.

Blast. If he was handed a suspect description like that for this particular crime, he'd think he did, it too. There's clear motive and means, and his alibi is laughable. Automatically, he points out, "If I was smart, I'd take a solvent shower and eliminate any trace of mo... oh, slag."

Kup growls, "You can't just "clone" a damn robot, Raindance! Doesn't work like that. And as for YOU," he glares at Nightbeat. "Yer alibi's crap. Who were you collaring? And pastel Seekers? You have any idea how many of those there are? Geeze, I can't believe the colors they go through just to look different. Once ran into one with polka dots..." Realizing he's getting off-track, the turns back to Springer. "Ok, so Shockwave wrecked his own space bridge. If that's true, though, then why'd Nightbeat run away from me? Why did it take 'im so long to turn up again? It looks really suspicious."

Again, to Raindance, Kup snarls, "Moon dust?! Are you... eh, fine. If you can scan for that stuff then do it. He's probably got the stuff coming out his transistors."

Kup scowls. "Or he took a solvent shower."

"WHAT!" Raindance emits. "But like, what about Pounce and Wingspan? They ARE clones, you can totally get robot clones Kup!"

Kup waves a hand dismissively. "Feh, they were built with similar chassis, that don't make 'em clones. It's just a stupid name for 'em."

Nightbeat points out, slightly more helpfully, "Rodimus Prime has been cloned a few times." Why anyone would bother cloning Nightbeat, he doesn't know. One of him is bad enough. He explains, tossing his head to the side in annoyance, "I've been chasing after a syk smuggling gang. Those illegal circuit boosters are dangerous, and they've been showing up on Cybertron. I don't want to see some Minibot overdose and end up face-down in a ditch." He then mutters, "I think the Seeker's name was Fleet."

Springer frowns at Kup. "Yeah, maybe Shockwave wrecked his own Spacebridge...maybe he's got the slagged part he needs already. Or maybe he's expecting us to cough up the same part from one of ours, so that we can't use -our- spacebridges any more. Or maybe...maybe..." he throws up his hands. "Or I don't know what. Forget it, I'm heading back to Iahex. I need to check in with the guard platoons."

"Yeah yeah" Raindance bleeps. "So your only alibi is a Decepticon..." He pauses. "Though Kup, if this Decepticon DID co-orberate Nightbeat's story it would mean he IS innocent, since they want us to think it was Nightbeat... yeah?"

Springer has disconnected.

Kup sighs, hearing a bunch of information tossed at him all at once, none of it helping. "Ok, so, you busted a syk smuggling gang then you saw a pastel seeker called Elite. Look, I killed that polka-dotted bastard back on Forza 4. His cone is probably still lodged up his aftplate. So I ain't buyin' it." Then, to Raindance, "While that's a retarded enough plan for the Decepticons to go with, I don't think so. This is Shockwave we're talkin' about. He doesn't do that sorta thing."

Nightbeat does not point out that the Decepticon saw him on XXX a day or so ago and Nightbeat would have had plenty of time to hop in a shuttle and smash up a spacebridge. He does appreciate Springer's theories about why Nightbeat might be innocent, though. He snaps, loudly, "Fleet, not Elite! This guy was pastel yellow with cyan and light grey accents, and his arm guns aren't standard. He runs colder than the Seeker average. Do you want me to tell you what his average walking cadence sounds like?"

Kup blinks. "Fleet? Eh. Sounds kinda familiar. Fine. I got all day. What does his walking cadence sound like?"

"Nightbeat, that's the worst alibi ever!" Raindance points out. "But then again, you are the second best Pee-Eye we have! Kup, I will watch Nightbeat like a dog to make sure he doesn't try anything, but I reckon it is a stitch up! Then we find this seeker and get him to support Nightbeat's story"

Nightbeat looks fairly irate at being taken seriously on a sarcastic comment and imitates the sound of Fleet's walking cadence. As exacting as Nightbeat's sensors are, it's a very good imitation. It's a light, soft sound, almost mincing, but not quite. He glances sidelong at Raindance and pssts, "It's watch like a hawk, not a like a dog."

Kup's face goes blank for a moment. He didn't expect the question to yield anything useful, but that sound... it's REALLY familiar to him. "Hnnnh." Several moments pass as Kup thinks about this carefully. Then... he turns Nightbeat around, and uncuffs the binds on his ankles and wrists. "Yeah... that's not a bad idea, Raindance. In fact, I got somethin' that'll help ya keep an eye on 'im." Reaching into the passenger compartment on his chest, he reveals a Sony Walkman with a very long strap, which he ties around Nightbeat's left ankle. "There, now you can hang out in there, and you'll always be right there wherever Nightbeat goes. If he runs off, it'll be up to you to tell us."

Kup says, "And don't try to take it off! Only I can do it without gettin' zapped."

"Yessss!" Raindance flips into his cassette mode, to slip into the walkman. "I'm watching you, oooo!" he bleeps as he plays Sting

The small spaceship shudders down, compacting into the small and innocent form of a cassette tape

Monstereo arrives from the Six Lasers - Grand Central Station.

Monstereo has arrived.

Nightbeat gets saddled with an ankle monitor bracelet than can backtalk him. It occurs to Nightbeat that Kup is a wily old bootleg, because this is quite possibly worse than being brigged, and that's taking into account the slop that they serve to prisoners. He stretches his wrists and rubs his face, replying dubiously, "Er... thanks, boss. Right."

Raindance begins following you.

Kup grins evilly. "Heheh. No problem. But let this be a lesson to ya. When someone tells ya to return to base, you do it next time, got it?"

Nightbeat glares at Kup and grouses, "I didn't HEAR you. I..." ...was passed over from an energon overload. "...was out of radio range. Hmph."

Kup smirks. "Yeah. Sure. Look, we need to get ready to transport the planet outta here. An' don't mess with the Space Bridges. I'll let Raindance kill ya if you do."

Nightbeat looks down at Raindance and asks bluntly, "So. Got any jazz on you?" He pauses and clarifies, remembering that this is Raindance strapped to his ankle. "The music. Not the Autobot." He promises Kup, his hand behind his back and fingers crossed, "I promise I won't touch the space bridge until you give me the okay, boss. Speakin' of, am I under house arrest or what?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Alright... it's time to get ready. We've got our non-essential personnel and most of the civilians off of the planet, eh, I guess now it's up to you science types."

Monstereo comes out of nowhere... to see how spacebridgeriness is coming along and if he can contribute to the chances of success for this planet saving mission.

Kup frowns. "Sorta. I just wanna keep an eye on you. An' I wanna make sure there's someone around to "remind" you that we need you in case we call for you!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Nightbeat deadpans, "And I just want to say that I am thrilled to be here."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Perceptor says, "Perceptor here. We've run a full level diagnostic on all systems - everything is green across the board. Simulations plugged into Teletran II suggest that everything is ready within a eight-seven-point-five-three-two-nine success rate. We're as ready as we can be, given the time we've had to do this."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Kup says, "Ennnh... not high enough, but we don't have a choice, do we?"

Nightbeat rubs his chin and inquires, "So, the space bridge aside, just what am I allowed to do? An' what am I not allowed to do? Wouldn't want to violate my... parole." Or maybe he does. It depends on how batty Raindance drives him.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Perceptor says, "If I had another few days, I could increase the redundancies and do some work on the effeciency of the system which would bump things up some, but sadly I fear we don't have the time for that."

Kup scowls. "Just keep doing your job. All I wanna do is make sure you ain't sabotagin' anything anymore, least until we can confirm yer innocence. THEN we can take that thing off."

Monstereo goes home.

Monstereo has left.

Nightbeat puts his hands on his hips and insists, "Not sabotaging anything anymore? I wasn't sabotaging anything in the first place!" Yup, he's sticking with the innocent plea, as crazy as that might be. Then, he sobers and asks seriously, "Where do you need me now? Sounds like it's zero hour."

Kup shrugs. "Up to you. You ain't a science type, but we might still need ya to help reinforce one of the vital areas of this project, an' make sure nuthin' bad happens to it. An' like I said, Raindance will kill you if YOU are why sumthin' bad happens."

&lt;Cybertron&gt; Across Cybertron and the space around it, the skies turn red as the ion storm approaches. Flashes of lightning discharge across the void, as the astral terror nears, ready to wipe out all life.

Nightbeat snorts at the idea of Raindance killing him. That'll be the day. He delivers a sloppy salute to Kup and wanders off to be useful.

================================== Autobot =================================== Message: 3/160                    Posted        Author Nightbeat's status                Sat Oct 11    Kup -- (Text message:)

I'm still mad at Nightbeat for not reading his messages, or showing up on time, or really making any effort to follow my orders, but I have my doubts that it was Nightbeat who sabotaged that space bridge after all. Despite this, though, I'm going to assign Raindance to keep a close eye on Nightbeat until his innocence is proven conclusively. That is, if Raindance isn't too busy taking pictures!

(End of message)

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