Meeting the Sage

Synopsis: The Autobots question John Dunn, who made a miraculous mirror that Galvatron craved for his plans, but what other surprises are in store for them?

AC Command Center

Once you enter this gigantic room, the first thing you notice is the big scanner sitting against the far wall. Looking like Teletran One's bigger cousin, the main computer that is Metroplex sits there checking the perimeter defenses of Autobot City. The gigantic viewer currently shows the exterior shot outside of Autobot City, a pastoral view of a wide plain surrounded by a large conifer forest. Several smaller monitors show different pictures, some of Earth by orbital satellite, others of various computer graphics, giving the viewer the current situation on Earth at a moment's notice.

Next to the main computer is a FTL communications terminal used for talking to Cybertron, Junkion, and other worlds. It is linked to Blaster's main communications tower located upstairs.

Along the other walls are assorted computer terminals that are used by individual Autobots for data processing and accessing information from the main computer core. On the wall to the right of the main computer is a large, recently finished portrait of Optimus Prime with Prowl and Ironhide in the background. A small caption below reads, "Until All Are One".

Outrun enters from the Main Lobby - First Floor to the west.

Outrun has arrived.

Raindance has arrived.

Nightbeat has arrived.

Rodimus Prime is sitting at one of the terminals, reviewing information about Africa for whatever reason and frowning intently. Now and again he looks up towards the blast doors, as if expecting someone, and indeed, it may have already been leaked out that a certain human is due to arrive in Autobot City around now so he can shed some light on recent events.

From outside the commander center, the sound of a reving engine can be heard. It is suddenly replaced by the sound of tires screaming on the metalic floor of Autobot City. The door finally slides open revealing a car that is side sliding towards them. A milisecond before the impact, the Vector WX3 unfolds into the robot form of Outrun who lands the the ground and slides inside the room before he finally comes to a halt a few feet away from Rodimus, "Hey Prime." he greets with a slight grin on his friendly face.

Ultra Magnus has arrived.

Nightbeat slouches down into Porsche 959 form. Time to roll.

Porsche 959 has room for two, if they want to ride in style, though he usually only has one passenger. Today, however, there is another occupant. Nightbeat comes to a gentle stop in the command centre, and both his doors pop open. Muzzle, in 'civilian garb' (read: trenchcoat and fedora) rushes out the driver side to help out the other passenger, clearly concerned.

The other passenger, it turns out, is John Dunn! He's looking a little better than when the Autobots initially found him, but nonetheless he has a haunted look on his face. Mr. Dunn takes in the room warily, as if expecting the Autobots to suddenly go berserk on him at any moment.

Ultra Magnus is seated two terminals over from Prime, pouring over reports from Africa and whatever intel they managed to garner on this 'mirror' buisness. He's not entirely convinced the Decepticons are wasting their time with mirrors, and this seems like just a sleight of hand trick to get their optics of the real agenda ... whatever that may be. Shifting uncomfortably back in his chair, he dares a sidelong glance at Rodimus Prime.

"Outrun," Rodimus greets, inclining his head towards the car. He still keeps looking towards the door - apparently Outrun *wasn't* who he was expecting. He turns and stands, however, as Nightbeat arrives with his special passenger, sparing Magnus a glance to see his reaction to the frightened human before he gets down on one knee in an attempt to bring himself closer to John Dunn's level. "Hello, Mr. Dunn. Welcome to Autobot City." He glances around the room. "If you like, I can give you the grand tour later, but for now we should probably get right down to business."

Outrun nods at Magnus and then look over his should to see what Rod is watching. He soon finds out when Nightbeat enters into the command center. He's about to ask what's going on when Dunn climbs out of his ride. Outrun knows who this is because like the good little soldier he is, he read all the reports, "Greetings Mr Dunn." he says, trying to be as friendly as possible.

Muzzle pulls a box of doughtnuts out from under his trenchcoat, smoothly, with no sudden moves, and he opens it and asks, "Doughnut, Mr. Dunn, sir? Maybe some coffee?" He smiles brightly.

Spectrum has arrived.

Ultra Magnus swivels around in the chair and gives the fragile human a glance. Preferring to remain silent and let the other Autobots ease his discomfort, the City Commander puts on his friendliest face. Leaning forward, he rests his chin in the palm of his hand and waits for the human to 'spill it'.

John Dunn backs away a little bit from Rodimus Prime, gulping. "Um, yes." He nods to Outrun, trying to be polite. "Okay, I suppose you're wondering how I got involved in this mess. Well. It all started one day when I was in my workshop, working on my mirrors. I make those as kind of an art and as a hobby. Usually I make them into all kinds of interesting shapes, sizes, so on. But I wanted to do something special. I wanted to make a really big mirror, but not just big. But, um, a really stunning mirror. One that looks so real you'd swear you could touch your reflection."

He peers at the box of doughnuts. "How did you keep that--uh, nevermind, thanks." He reaches for a doughnut. "Been so long since I had one of these," he mutters as he chomps down on it.

Spectrum jumps into the air, only to shrink down into a tiny handheld system.

"Oh, and yes, some coffee, please," John Dunn adds.

Sony PSP < Spectrum > is off in the corner, appearing to be charging itself.

Blades enters from the Main Lobby - First Floor to the west.

Blades has arrived.

When John Dunn backs away from Rodimus, Rodimus shifts and moves a bit further away from the human, trying to make it clear that he is not a threat. He listens as John Dunn explains his hobby and his idea. "All right. So I take it this was the mirror from Egypt. But... what would Galvatron want with a 'really realistic' mirror?"

Decibel enters from the Main Lobby - First Floor to the west.

Decibel has arrived.

Outrun learns that most humans feel uneasy when surrounded by giant robots. Even though he doesn't understand the reason behind that psychological fact, he realizes that Mr Dunn would probably speak more freely if he stood a little farther away so he takes a seat just out of the human's sight and listens carefully to his story.

Muzzle has a subspace compartment. (They took out his appendix to put it in.) It's handy for storing small objects, such as doughnuts. But he just smiles pleasantly as Mr. Dunn takes a doughnut, and he comments, "I like the jelly-filled ones. They remind me of these big speckled insects back home, that I used to catch when I was just a boy. And they'd go SQUISH between your teeth!" Sure. Muzzle looks human, but is he REALLY helpful around a traumatised human? Hmm...

John Dunn looks at the various Autobots in the room. They SEEM friendly enough for now, so he relaxes a bit. At Rodimus's question, though, he clutches his head, grabbing at his hair. "That's what I don't understand! It's a mirror! It's my best mirror, sure, but why attack that when they could be raiding for parts or whatever they do? All I know is... this guy was helping me with the mirror. I never met him in person--he called me on my cell phone whenever he wanted to talk. I didn't get his number, either. But he told me what I had to do in order to perfect the mirror, gave me the formula for this stuff I called "transparetium." And he told me that once I made the mirror, everyone would want it, but he didn't explain why."

He gives Muzzle an odd look. "Wait... you ate insects as a kid?"

Rodimus Prime frowns and looks around at the room at the others for a moment, glancing for reaction, before he looks back at John Dunn. "Now... wait a minute - you don't even know the name of this guy, he calls up knowing what you're trying to do, gives you a formula, and you... just do it? No questions, no investigation?"

"And you trusted this unknown source and it's information?" Ultra Magnus pipes up, scooting th chair forward. He's about to go further into detail, but Prime has picked up the scent like a beagle. Slouching backwards, he awaits reply from Dunn.

Outrun frowns too but he got to ask, "How did you get in touch with that guy? I mean you met him on the internet or what?"

Muzzle looks blank and protests, "But they went really well with mercury." He looks shifty and says a bit more slowly, "...mercury's a poison for humans, right?"

The command center's doors slides open and in comes Blades, the most unlikely Protectobot to drop by in interview session with John Dunn, but yet here he is. He probably has a good reason to be here. Probably. Either way, a frown can be seen on Blades' face as he realizes just exactly how many people are in the command center already as he makes he way over to the gathered group in the room.

"Eh, sorry to drop by unannounced like this. The chief (Hot Spot) asked me to drop by and listen in so I can fill him in later on this. He seems really enthusiastic to get the Protectobot involved, one way or another." Blades explains off handedly to no one in particular as he attempts to keep attention to his arrival at a minimum and maintain the focus on the guest of honour, John Dunn.

John Dunn shrugs. "Ok, I was a little creeped out by this guy, sure! But I was stumped! I wanted to make my mirror better! And this guy's formula worked! Like I said, he called me on my cell phone. He never gave his own number, email address, or any other way of contacting him. But he'd call every now and then to check on my progress. The only name he gave was "The Sage," and I guess that's supposed to be an alias or something."

As Muzzle does his best to explain Nebulan cuisine, John Dunn grimaces. "*Mercury*?"

Muzzle turns his hands palms up, and he insists, "But it's delicious!"

Ultra Magnus nods, apparently accepting the inventor's thirst for knowledge far outweighing his common sense. "He only referred to himself as 'The Sage'? Anything else, specific speach patterns, calling hours, any leads whatsoever?"

Outrun is amazed by the risks Dunn took to create...a mirror. "What is so special about those mirror?... I doubt Galvatron wanted one so he could look at his ugly face every morning..." The speedster looks around the commander center wonder where are the science guys... those geek are never around when you need an explanation!

Rodimus Prime rubs the bridge of his nose, optic protectors shut, and shakes his head. But he supposes he's really not in a position to condemn someone else for being a little, well, reckless. He opens his eyes and says, "So you're... unaware of any special properties this mirror might have besides looking really clear?"

Porsche 959 reports, "Anagrams of the 'The Sage' include: The Ages, He Gates, He Stage, Hag Tees, Shag Tees, Gash Tee, Gas Thee, A Gets He... Hmm. Probably not an anagram."

John Dunn frowns, recalling his conversations with this person. "Well. It seemed like he didn't quite understand, I dunno, grammar? He'd pause awkwardly in the middle of sentences, emphasize the wrong words. I guess he was a foreigner or something. Seemed to be sick, or something, judging from his voice. He was really raspy. Oh, and he'd call me sometimes in the dead of night, or when I was at work. Hell, one time I forgot to charge my cell phone and he left me fifty messages. He was really persistent. And nobody I knew ever heard of this guy before."

As Outrun and Rodimus ask about the mirror's properties, Dunn replies, "I'm not really sure. If there was something special about it, other than it's clarity, I didn't have the equipment necessary to investigate it."

Muzzle suggests, "Could your mysterious friend have perhaps been... not human? Might explain the lack of grasp on the language and odd timezones. Granted. He could just be foreign, but given that you /were/ kidnapped by aliens..."

Glancing towards Nightbeat, Outrun asks, "Did we tried to traceback that Sage guy?"

Blades chips in, "Any chance we can drop a tracker for the next time this 'Sage' fellow decides to check in with Mr. Dunn here?" He pauses for a moment, he ain't the smartest tool in the shed of the lot here so he's probably risking sounding redundant or useless, "Or if he isn't check in anymore, maybe we can set up a bait?"

Rodimus Prime stands up, taking a step away from John Dunn as he does, and turns towards Ultra Magnus. "Magnus, has Operations made any headway on analyzing that formula we recovered? Maybe we can figure out what Galvatron wants with the thing on our own."

Porsche 959 asks Decibel, "You were lead on the Sage investigation, and I seem to recall you're pretty handy with communications. Did you ever manage a phone trace?"

"Oh, how obtuse of me ... Allow me to pull up the full report Prime." Ultra Magnus replies, punching a series of keys on his data-pad to bring up his inbox. A few more clicks as he finds the correct file, "Yes, here it is. Autobots Crosschek and Decibel along with the aid of Paco from the EDC have analyzed the formula. Their assumption is that it is an advanced polymer that somehow eases the transition of light through a medium. Pending further testing, they hypothosize that any energy would be affected similiarly."

John Dunn says, "I don't know. Maybe he was? I don't think he was a robot though. I mean, I don't know, maybe he was." He looks up at Blades. "I'm sorry, but he seemed pretty insistent on not meeting me in person. I don't think he trusted anyone." He makes a pained face. "Good Lord, was I working with some kind of terrorist all along?"

He peers at the talking Porsche. "I... could give you my cell phone? Maybe that would help?" He takes said object out of his pocket and holds it out.

Decibel who had been here all along resting on a terminal across the room flops once and transforms from his iPod form to robot. Shaking his head towards Nightbeat he gives a short and direct reply. "No phone to trace. It wasn't logged by the team that recovere the host...well guess we have it now."

Muzzle is the one who apparently answers for Nightbeat, slipping on a black leather glove and reaching out to pick up the cell phone. He frowns and asks, "You had your cell phone all along? You couldn't use it to call for help?" He also adds darkly, "Not all Decepticons are robots."

John Dunn shakes his head, letting Muzzle take the fun. "I tried calling for help but I think they jammed me. Or I guess I just couldn't get a signal at wherever they kept me. My cell phone eventually ran out of power, and, well, they didn't exactly provide a charger for me, you know? And, um, what do you mean? I thought all Decepticons were robots! They hate humans, right?"

"Well, the problem is, Mr. Dunn, we don't know *who* you were working with," Rodimus Prime says, tone clearly frustrated. "That's what we're trying to figure out." He turns towards Ultra Magnus, then glances over at Decibel, the most sciency guy in the room. "Jazz recently theorized that maybe this mirror could somehow be used to... cross into another dimension? We do know that there's a universe that 'mirrors' ours, so to speak, already. This... helping energy through a medium." He pauses and snaps his fingers as something occurs to him. "Anyone else notice anything unusual about Galvatron's cannon recently?"

Muzzle looks up at Decibel and offers him the phone, suggesting, "Try a trace now?" It might be out of batteries or something, but maybe Decibel can jumpstart it. Muzzle says mildly, "I would reckon that Decepticons hate humans, but some Decepticons have Nebulan partners. Partners who can pass for human. When they don't mention our native cuisine." He rubs the back of his head and looks away.

Decibel takes the offered phone and opens a panel on his arm. Reaching in he withdraws a cable and hooks it to the phone, "Running it now." Looking over towards Rodimus he comments, "Can't say as I have. Though I do my best not to be anywhere near that particular device, it tends to be bad for ones health."

Blades winces a bit as he hears Ultra Magnus' report, he has absolutely no idea what the city commander has just said. The Protectobot raises an optical ridge in surprise as he hears Johnn Dunn recount his story, it sounded to Blades that the human might have been in captivity. "Hate to admit it, but I've never been a big fan of reading all those pile of mission reports on the public network." He eyes the human with concern, "Although you were in captivity? I might be getting ahead of ourselves, but should we post an escort or two for Mr. Dunn here when we're done here? It sounds like whoever we're dealing with are pretty damn good at this cloak and dagger business. They might not appreciate him speaking to us here today." The Protectobot pauses for a moment before volunteering himself, "Eh, I know me and Streetwise are available if we need to assign protection."

After giving the report, Ultra Magnus fades into the background and watches him intensely. Has he been scanned for any tampering? What if this is an elaborate ruse to get a Decepticon pawn deep into Autobot territory?

John Dunn sighs. "I'm sorry, Mr. Prime. I didn't realize this would be such a huge mess." As Muzzle explains the whole schtick with Nebulans, he gapes a bit. "They have alien partners that look human? Oh, wow... uh, are YOU a Nebulan?" he asks. Then Blades makes his offer, and John Dunn says, "Sure, I'd really appreciate an escort. But I don't think the Decepticons are interested in me anymore. I mean... they just let me go, like they didn't care if I lived or died. I thought for sure they'd kill me, but Galvatron said it didn't matter either way."

"Wait, they /let/ you go?" Ultra Magnus chimes in, standing up from the chair and striding towards the center of the room and John Dunn.

Muzzle says cheerly, '"Am I a Nebulan? Sir, you would be correct! Now, some of us are bright green or blue, so those ones're easy to identify, but the rest of us fall into what would be conidered normal human skintones. Makes it real easy for us." Nightbeat is a bit disturbed by the implications of what Mr. Dunn has to say, and the Porsche pipes up, "What if this is all a giant ruse, and he wanted Dunn to escape to feed us misinformation?"

Rodimus Prime inclines his head towards Blades. "We'll make sure he stays safe, Blades," he agrees, then looks down at John Dunn. "And I think he's more worried about this 'Sage' causing problems for you than the Decepticons. Anyway," he looks around, "last time I was in combat with Galvatron, his cannon beam... split, somehow. Multiple times, before it hit. I'm no scientist, but what that blast did didn't *look* like it should be possible. I think he called it his 'fractal cannon'?" He turns towards Decibel. "When you're done with the trace, a few guesses on what 'fractal energy' might do with this mirr-" he cuts himself off as Ultra Magnus starts striding towards John Dunn.

Outrun frowns since this isn't like Galvatron to let anyone go freely, not even a human...

John Dunn blinks, backing away nervously from Ultra Magnus. "I... yes! I asked him why he didn't kill me, and he just said, 'You'll find out!'" He shrugs anxiously. "I don't understand, is this bad?"

"Depends. Remind me how long you were in captivity again? Do you have any physical signs of maybe surgery or tampering? Do you feel ... normal?" Ultra Magnus questions, scratching his helm.

Decibel sighs as he manages to pull up a list of stored phone numbers, pictures and text messages but no direct signal to trace back. "Hmm. This isn't right, there should be a better record for an incoming call on this thing." Disconnecting his link to the phone he moves towards Teletran Two and sets the phone onto a scanner panel. Sitting down he starts typing away, "Ok, lets see what we can find. Different type of transmitter, interesting...but from where?" Decibel lets his fingers dance across the keys as he digs deeper to try and trace a signal. As he works he nods a bit, "Fractal energy, yeah on that too no worries."

Rodimus Prime holds up a hand, trying to both calm John Dunn and Ultra Magnus. He looks down at Muzzle. "Muzzle, he'll have to be checked for transmitting devices. Or, well, anything else out of the ordinary." He looks back at Decibel and frowns. "I don't think I like the sound of that early reaction there..."

John Dunn shrugs. "I'm still kind of shaken by what happened, I guess. I don't FEEL too odd. Sometimes I'd get light-headed in their cell and pass out, but uh, I dunno. I don't think they did anything. I hope."

Muzzle stares up at Rodimus Prime suspiciously and sighs. He reminds, "You know that we organics don't have armour like you robots? That we, uh, wear clothing? Soft stuff, several layers?" Muzzle is a detective. He's patted people down before. But patting down a traumatised mirror-maker while surrounded by robots just gets into some weird, weird territory. Muzzle sets down his box of doughnuts and takes a few steps toward Mr. Dunn, putting on a second black glove on his other hand.

"Well, if you'd prefer some privacy, there's the meeting room," Rodimus answered, tone faintly confused. Human modesty is just something he doesn't quite get - comes from living his whole life naked.

Maybe Ultra Magnus would understand it better.

John Dunn ulps as Muzzle slaps on the glove. "You aren't going to, uh, do a cavity search, are you?"

Decibel gives the phone a quick glance as he continues to work, "That's right tell me all of your secrets." Having made a bit of progress he is not about to stop now, not when he's so close to getting to the end of the road. "Well one thing is certain, it wasn't a phone that was used to contact Mr. Dunn. Seems somebody rigged a radio transmitter to send a similar signal, trying pin that down now." Just to be ready he pulls up and mp3 of a telemarketing call about reducing credit card interest rate should he need to transmit something back along the signal if he narrows it down.

Muzzle nods slowly and admits, as if it pains him, "Think I have to, sir. If you lost consciousness, there's no telling WHAT the Decepticons could have put inside you. So. Want that privacy?" He looks over at the meeting room meaningfully. Sometimes, Muzzle loves his job. Today is not one of those days.

"Eh, correct me if I'm not mistaken, but /if/ the Decepticons did do something to this fellah, it'd probably be inside him right?" Blades tosses out his speculation out in the air. Like other the other Protectobots, he's been around humans extensively and can more or less empathise with John Dunn and the awkwardness of receiving a cavity search out of the blue, "Eh, can't we contact First Aid or arrange with the local human health care facility to arrange a detailed check up? I mean if we're concerned about any remote Decepticon bugs on this fellah, wouldn't Decibel detect the uplink frequency from him already?"

John Dunn stares at Blades, mouth gaping. "What? INSIDE me? They put something INSIDE me!? Oh, God!" Weakly, he nods at Muzzle, shuffling off into the meeting room.

Sighing, Ultra Magnus sits back down and waits for Muzzle's findings. He'd rather not put the human through this sort of thing, what in his fragile state and all. But then again, the repercussions of leaving a transmitter unchecked is far worse than frightening John Dunn. Looking towards Rodimus, "So, what do you think so far Prime?"

Muzzle also stalks off to the meeting room, looking the exact opposite of thrilled.

Clutch wanders in, watching Muzzle and John Dunn head off to another room. He opens his mouth, expression curious, then catching sight of some of the expressions he decides it's probably better not to say anything.

Rodimus Prime crosses his arms as Muzzle and John Dunn depart. He turns towards Blades and explains, "Well, Muzzle can still do the preliminary. But if he doesn't have any fresh surgical scars, there's less of a chance of something being, well, inserted that way." His arms lowered and he turns towards Ultra Magnus, shaking his head. "I think we need to figure out how this all ties together, and fast. Galvatron gets a... reality breaking new energy attack at the same time he tries to steal a mirror that accelerates *energy* through things? There's got to be a connection."

Decibel lets out a laugh and fist pumps. "Hah!" Spinning in the seat to face the others he waits for Muzzle and John to depart before he speaks. "Sage, rosemary and thyme fellas. Singal cracked and tracked. While they seem uninterested in getting a better APR on their Discover card one thing is for certain. Who ever made the calls to Mr. Dunn called long distance, like from orbit long."

"Certainly Prime. How do you suggest we get to the bottom of this? Perhaps Mr. Dunn could work alongside Perceptor or Crosscheck, if we can replicate the technology ... it just might open the door for options to nullify it." Ultra Magnus runs a hand down his optics and face. It's been a long day, and this is only the cherry on top.

Muzzle is gone for an awkwardly long time. Then, he eventually peeks his head out the door from the meeting room, and he comments, "Mr. Dunn, if you want to just have the rest of the doughnuts, I really won't blame you sir." He pulls a flask out of its hip holster and takes a swig before holding out one his gloved hands, where there is something small, a little transmitting device, not active. He reports, "Found this in one of his molars."

Rodimus Prime clasps his hands behind his back and begins pacing. "We'll mark that 'plan B,' but get started on it now. I'm pretty sure the 'Cons already have too big a head start on us to get things done *that* way." He stops and looks at Decibel. "Decibel, when you were intercepting that chatter about mirrors, did they say where they're keeping it? Maybe a full-out attack on the location can do enough damage to shatter the thing from outside." Then he turns towards Muzzle and curses. "Hand it to Decibel and see if he can't trace where *that* was sending." It doesn't occur to Rodimus that perhaps Decibel might want it sterilized first!

Decibel doesn't even have a chance to enjoy his victory over the cell phone when he's given yet another signal to try and pinpoint. Turning he pushes the phone off the scanning pad to make room for the next item. "No word on location Rodimus, just talk of guarding it from dust and the usual. Plus mention of additional armed protectors. Not so much as a hint of where it is or where it might be going."

Blades steps away from Muzzle, yeah he's not quite enthusiastic with the chance of coming into contact with the transmitter or the hands that had a part in removing it. "Eh, well... seems like the only real lead we got is up in orbit. Maybe it's time we schedule for a little trip?"

"Well, we've already got the Absolution up there!" Rodimus answers as he turns to watch Decibel, interested in the results. "Shouldn't be too hard to catch a shuttle and see if its sensors have picked up anything. If not, we can get the 'Haven into orbit, too, cover more area that way. But first... I'd like to see what else we can figure out right here on the ground."

Clutch perks up a bit as the discussion is brought back down to earth. "Well, if we need some more wheels on the ground, count me in."

"Well, we've already got the 'Pax up there!" Rodimus answers as he turns to watch Decibel, interested in the results. "Shouldn't be too hard to catch a shuttle and see if its sensors have picked up anything. If not, we can get the 'Haven into orbit, too, cover more area that way. But first... I'd like to see what else we can figure out right here on the ground."

John Dunn whimpers a bit from the meeting room as he eats doughnuts noisily.

Decibel is a robot! Saliva may be wet, but it won't kill Decibel. Unless John Dunn is really a killer android with acid saliva. Which is possible. Either way, Muzzle attempts to delicately hand the transmitter up to Decibel.

Rodimus Prime has left.

AUTOBOT SPINNY!

Dun dun dundun, dun!

AUTOBOT SPINNY!

Cut to... the deck of the Orion Pax! Rodimus Prime is standing near his chair, looking towards whatever station Decibel is at (probably, well, the comms station). He approaches it and peers over at the panel - and possibly the Autobot, depending on what mode Decibel is in. "Any luck getting a better trace on the signal up here?" he asks, to remind the home viewers what they're doing IN SPACE.

Muzzle is in the scene, sitting atop a chair that is far too big for him, and drinking copiously out of his hip flask. He seems to be mumbling something about 'hazard pay'. His Porsche partner is nearby, parked next to the chair.

Blades is seated in one of the many 'red shirts' chair on board the Orion Pax. The Protectobot aerial warrior hasn't had a lot of opportunities to come aboard the Autobot's new fancy flagship, being mostly station planet side on Earth due to his team's function and all. He doesn't do much at the moment, content with being on board for the ride at the moment.

Decibel is indeed sitting at the comm station adjusting the sensors to the frequency that was discovered earlier. He's also looking over the transmission coming in from Teletran Two about the device that was torn out of John Dunn. "We're getting something bringing it up on screen now." The forward display shifts from the normal view of the ships exterior to a cluster of terran satellites. "Trying to focus in better, give me a moment."

Ultra Magnus is standing near Muzzle, looking all important and stuff. Looking down at the Nebulan, "Hey, is that highgrade energon you got there?" he questions, giving th flask a glance.

Zooming in on the satellites reveals that one of them has a ship floating just a little behind it! It looks to be only large enough to serve as a one-person shuttle for a Transformer, or maybe something else.

Muzzle looks up at Ultra Magnus, because even on a chair, he's just a little Nebulan, and he takes another swig of his drink. He answers, "Of course not, sir! This is single malt scotch." He smirks.

"There it is!" Rodimus exclaims. He strides over to the nav counsel and leans over the pilot, starting to reach for the controls himself before he stops himself, remembering that he's not the guy who's supposed to do that. "Try to take us as close as you can without damaging the satellite. Get our onboard shuttles launched, ASAP, too, so we can cut off escape routes."

Earth Orbit

From Outside:

As you enter orbit above the blue-green surface of Earth, you peer through the clouds and see various possible landing sites...

From Outside:

Contents:

NOTICE: Paint on Station

Harvest-One

Not-Blot Station

Terran Sensor #8438

Moon

The little shuttle has yet to respond to the approaching Orion Pax! Is it actually unaware of them, though?

"Eeesh, I know there's a button somewhere that does that..." Blades mumbles to himself as he studies the control panel in front of him. Eventually he finds that green button labelled 'Shuttle Preparation' and pushes it, "I think hangar bay's got the message, they ought to be prepping up now."

Ultra Magnus grasps onto the chair Muzzle is seated in as the ship begins to take course. Space travel /always/ ends badly for him. The City Commander looks warily for the 'emergency seperation' button.

Still nothing from the shuttle--oh, wait, it drifted away from the satellite a little bit. It seems to be igniting thrusters, too. Uhoh!

Muzzle screws the cap back on his flask, getting a clue from the way that Ultra Magnus is grasping the chair that things might get a bit hairy. And the shuttle seems to be making a run for it, too. Oh no!

Twin Twist has arrived.

"Engage the magnetics!" Rodimus Prime demands, stalking over towards the, uhm, magnetic-docking operating station. Probably the one that Blades is sitting at! "Get a lock on that shuttle and reel it back in!" He straightens, crosses his arms, and smirks. "And here I was just thinking it's been a bit too long since I went fishing."

Twin Twist looks in curiously, sticking his head around the bulkhead. "Need me to get out and push, Prime?"

Decibel does his best to keep track on the moving ship with scanners while still being sure to issue an order back to earth to have the transmitter placed in a jamming field, until the data can be retrieved and cleared. "Well we could always fire up the forward guns. Won't get much info out of it but he won't get away."

Blades might not know much about the more advanced systems that the Orion Pax, but when it comes to anything that shoots on the starship, the Protectobot has gotten that committed to memory. "You got it, boss. Engaging magnetics now---" the Protectobot pushes plenty of buttons on the console in front of him like a professional red shirt, "---I think..."

Soon a slight shake can be felt on the port side of the ship as bulkheads open and a pair of magnetic grapplers are fired out from behind the new openings. Woosh! The grapplers goes flying towards the little shuttle.

Porsche 959 muses, "Shoot first, ask questions later?"

"Careful Blades, we don't want to puncture the shuttle's hull!" Ultra Magnus shouts, awkwardly moving over towards the Protectobot.

"Grab first, question when we're holding," Rodimus answers Nightbeat. And then... the SPINNY!

Orion Pax - Hangar Bay(#1968RLt)

==============================[ The Orion Pax ]===============================

This yawning chamber is the reason the entire star carrier exists, and runs a substantial portion of the length of the kilometer-long starship. In fact, if certain cargo modules were moved around, one could stow an entire Nimitz-class aircraft carrier within the Ark II's hangar hold if one so chose to do so. (Or if Broadside just wanted to stretch his legs, so to speak.) The area is a flurry of activity, offering sensory overload to any one individual who attempts to track all that is going on here at any given time. Several gleaming orange Autobot shuttles rest in parking booths, with a number of umbilical fuel hoses attached to their ventral connection ports. Service vehicles (and possibly vehicle-mode Autobots) wiz back and forth, and the constant hiss and clanging of machinery fills the air. From time to time, warning lights flash as a ship taxis towards one of the massive airlock-lifts, which lead to the carrier's surface deck.

Nightbeat arrives from the Orion Pax - Corridor - Aft.

Nightbeat has arrived.

After being forcibly reeled in, the mysterious shuttle now sits on the hangar floor of the Orion Pax. Eventually, a hatch opens on the little craft, revealing steps and a smoky interior. Mysterious!

Twin Twist arrives from the Orion Pax - Corridor - Aft.

Twin Twist has arrived.

Rodimus Prime is standing near the shuttlecraft's hatch. He has no weapon drawn, but really, he doesn't need to - his build includes pipe-guns attached to the arms, after all. He peers into the smoke, trying to see what's inside. "You in there - the 'Sage,' is it? Come out here and explain yourself!"

The puzzle pieces of Porsche 959 rearrange into the hard-boiled Autobot detective, Nightbeat!

Decibel is standing a bit off to the side scanner in hand running any tests he can while they wait for the passenger to emerge from the shuttle. He too has no weapon drawn, but given that he can blast out some Hannah Montana at a moments notice he doesn't much need to have his rifle ready to incapacitate a foe.

"Or else we'll drill ya!" shouts Twin Twist, although this is his answer to everything.

Nightbeat is back to being Nightbeat now, because if there's something dangerous in that shuttle, an Autobot is a heck of a lot more durable than a little man and a Porsche. Funny how things stack that way. He peers at the smoke, cycling through different wavelengths.

Ultra Magnus is standing away from Rodimus, sort of on the other side of the Autobots. Unlike Prime, he doesn't have any nifty pipe-guns. So he has his Laser Blaster Rifle hefted between both of his hands, glaring at the docking station.

"Eh, awful lot of smoke coming outta that thing." Blades comments, but the Protectobot doesn't have a weapons drawn, seeing as there are plenty other Autobots in the room already with much larger weaponary on hand.

"Drilling me is.. unnecessary?" rasps a cloaked figure as it slowly walks down the steps. Its hands are clasped together in front of itself, and a mask, which possibly has some sort of breathing assistance mechanism, over his scarred face. The "guest" appears to be humanoid and about the size of an Autobot car in robot mode. "Yes, I *AM* the Sage. Was hoping to meet when timer was closer to the end with you, Rodimus Prime."

Nightbeat protests, entirely too quickly, "No! Don't drill anyone!" /Someone/ seems a bit sensitive today.

Rodimus Prime glances around the room at the others, looking for the reactions of his fellow Autobots, checking to see if *they* can make sense of what he just said. Whether he manages a clue from them or not, however, he takes a step towards the cloaked figure. "Timer? What timer?" he asks. "What are you talking about?"

Blades raises both optical ridges in surprise, "Well I'll be dipped, this fellah ain't a Decepticon. I guess I lost the bet." The Protectobot doesn't look too pleased but other than that he continues to remain an observer.

"Easy Prime, don't get too close." Ultra Magnus states, stepping closer himself to the emerged cloaked figure.

The Sage does not approach further, and gives Rodimus a quizzical look. "Timer. Perhaps I mispoke? I refer to time remaining. Before the end. Of everything. Have proposition for you, Rodimus Prime. You will be very interested, I am certain."

The Sage is not carrying any obvious weapons, but who knows what kinds of things that cloak could be hiding?

Decibel switches scanner targets from shuttle to Sage without so much as blinking when the cloaked figure makes his way out of the craft.

Twin Twist scratches the side of his thick helmet with the muzzle of his bomb rifle. "Timer? Like a bomb?"

"I'm al*ready* very interested," Rodimus answers, although at Ultra Magnus's warning, he straightens. While he doesn't back up, he also doesn't continue moving forward. "What's all this talk about the end? Why did you tell Dunn how to make that, uhm, super-mirror?"

Nightbeat is a cynic, but he takes doom prophecies a bit more seriously than might be expected. He's a good listener, for all his big mouth, and right now, he just listens.

The Sage says, "I will explain everything. I earned my title because I am holder of vast forbidden *knowledge,* Rodimus Prime. However, the one who is called Thunderwing captured me, imprisoned me, tortured me, tried to obtain my knowledge. But I did not yield that knowledge. I did meet Galvatron while I was under his control, however. Interesting. This person was. I learned from him, and he learned from me. He helped me escape, in return for knowledge, and to help his plan. I agreed, but had plan of my own."

He takes a few slow steps towards Rodimus Prime. "I know of a way to recharge Matrix of Leadership. Convert memories directly into data," he says, pointing a bony finger at Rodimus's chest. "You will gain all my knowledge and discover how to defeat Galvatron's plan."

"Not so fast Sage, how are we to assume /any/ of this is the truth. If you wanted to help Prime..." Ultra Magnus states rather blankly, tilting his head towards Rodimus. "Why didn't you come to us in the first place, instead of helping Dunn create this super-mirror?"

Nightbeat points out, "Thunderwing and Galvatron don't exactly play ball, y'know? And that... sounds like a real good way to get yourself hacked stupid."

Decibel seems both pleased and interested as basic scans scroll across his screen. Pushing closer he moves around the group pretty much ignoring Rodimus, Magnus and even the Sage. nope Decibel really doesn't seem to be giving him much of a second thought, his wardrobe on the other hand that's another story. Adjusting the scanner setting he runs a more detailed scan on the concealing garment.

Twin Twist looks blankly between Nightbeat, Rodimus, and the alien. He doesn't get it, but he often doesn't get it, and knows not to ask too many questions when other people are talking.

The Sage continues to walk towards Rodimus, that bony finger aimed at his chest. "The mirror was necessary to achieve Galvatron's plan. I informed Galvatron of its existance once it was ready, and he attacked it. Sadly, complications forced him to grab the John Dunn instead. No matter." He nods at Nightbeat. "Indeed. Galvatron was also prisoner while his mad clone ruled the Decepticons. They also were extracting information from him, though with great difficulty. Galvatron hates Thunderwing such that it is difficult to convey correctly."

"Regardless, I did not come straight to Rodimus because of how memories are extracted," the Sage continues. "It will require my death. But I accept this--my knowledge will be preserved in the Matrix."

As the Sage talks of recharging the Matrix, Rodimus Prime takes a half step forward, then his optics widen and he takes a full step back, his expression going almost *fearful*. "Wait! Wait! Hold on!" He nods towards Magnus and Nightbeat. "Like they said, how do we even know you're on the level? And... why should I even give you access to our most sacred artifact?"

Blades crosses his arms, a bit amused at what he perceives to be a show of theatrics from the Sage, "I never knew Galvatron was the sharing type." As the Sage continues to explain his story, the content becomes way too complicated for Blades (and his player) to understand, thus the Protectobot opts to keep his mouth shut for the time being.

Nightbeat stares at the Sage, rubbing his temples, and then he puts a hand up, "Wait, wait, wait, you expect us to believe that Galvatron's mad clone was ruling the Decepticons while the real Galvatron was stuck with you?" Then, he looks over at Rodimus Prime. "..." Nightbeat eventualy grunts, "Plausible."

Twin Twist nods knowingly. This (he thinks) he understands. Autobot legend holds that all the Primes of history and their wisdom live on within the Matrix.

Blades mutters to himself, "Galvatron's mad clone, eh? No wonder none of the Decepticons could figure that out, probably couldn't tell the difference."

First Aid has arrived.

"Hold on, let me get this straight. Being a character of virtue, you helped Galvatron with this mirror buisness because he helped you escape ... although now you're willing to lay your life down on the line for Prime?" Ultra Magnus questions, stepping forward. "Call me a glitch, but this just seems awfully considerate of you."

The Sage continues to walk forward, his eyes meeting Rodimus's with an intense gaze. "YOU LACK ANOTHER CHOICE OR OPTION! You need not trust me, you need only accept my offer! Time is short, and soon everyone will be dying! Everyone everywhere!"

If the Sage had thought ahead, he might have brought a flowchart with him to help explain things a little better. Alas, he did not.

"Indeed, Galvatron was replaced by mad clone. Of course, as the helicopter pointed out, hard to tell madman from madman?"

The Sage gives Magnus a brief, scornful look. "I do this not for you, but for the sake of the knowledge I was entrusted with."

Nightbeat crosses his arms, tilts his chin down to shade his optical band and bring a surly glare to his expression. He opines, "There is always a choice. For one thing, we could go shake down Galvatron and see if your story hold water." 'Shake down Galvatron'. Yeah. That's a real good plan.

Decibel stares at his readings then looks up at the Sage then back down again. Finally he looks up again ad rubs his chin, "Fascinating." All but ignoring normal states of good behavior Decibel tries to get a better look at the being beneath the robe. Stopping short of lifting said garment up he pauses and looks towards Rodimus. "I'm not entirely sure I trust all of what is being said. It seems unwise to allow an unknown being and an unknow life form acces to something that, as we have recently seen, can cause so much trouble."

First Aid wanders into the Hangar Bay carrying a box of Thanksgiving decorations. Upon seeing the huge crowd and hearing the shouting, the Protectobot hesitates, wondering if perhaps this is not the best time.

"There is ALWAYS another option!" Rodimus Prime argues, stepping forward, right hand clenched into a fist. "If I have to recharge it myself-!" and he cuts himself off. After all, Rodimus *does* know how to recharge the Matrix. Everyone knows what it takes to charge the Matrix.

A Prime has to die.

Rodimus drops his hands. "One of the things we learned from those false Matrices is that whoever... whoever goes to fuel it the first time will set the... mood for the thing for the rest of its existence. And you... you're asking me to set the tone of the Matrix by someone... someone who operates on deception, and who doesn't see options." He shakes his head. "The Matrix is not just about Knowledge, it's about *Wisdom.* I may no longer have the Wisdom of the Ancients, but in a way, I *am* a creature of the Matrix, and that... just doesn't seem wise to me."

"Eh, I don't know about the rest of you guys, but maybe we should get a little more detail on this fellah's background before we go and accept his gesture?" The Protectobot voices out and continues as he shifts uncomfortably, "And what is all this about people dying soon everywhere? I know I ain't the poster boy for patience, but maybe we ought to learn a bit more about him before you hop on board to what he's proposing?"

Drawing back with his arms crossed over his chest, Ultra Magnus allows Rodimus take over from here. Afterall, it's 'his' matrix and livelyhood they're talking about here. Looking sideways at Blades and Nightbeat, he mutters something into his commlink.

The Sage appears to almost recoil from Rodimus Prime, his bony finger curling away. "Nnnh. You would sacrifice everyone for your principles? To protect sanctity of Matrix? May find that is a foolish decision, you will. There is little time left to avoid this, and before I myself succumb to injuries and age. I must protect my knowledge. I will do anything to achieve this."

Blades nods in silent acknowledgement at Ultra Magnus and repositions himself closer to Rodimus Prime and the individual calling himself as Sage.

First Aid puts down the box of decorations and creeps up towards Blades (and thus also Rodimus Prime). He taps his fellow Protectobot on the shoulder, silently asking him what in the world is going on. He spares the odd confused glance towards 'The Sage'.

"What's the so important thing you know about, anyhow?" asks Twin Twist, puzzled. He knows drilling. And sometimes bombing. Mostly drilling, however. He has a hard time imagining what could be so precious in the category of 'things to know.'

"How to stop Galvatron. How his weapon works. What it does," the Sage replies to Twin Twist. "I know all these things."

"Couldn't you just tell us then?" asks Twin Twist, thinking he's just been clever.

"And why can't you just tell us?" Rodimus asks. He narrows his optics. "Oh, because accepting your offer means your full set of knowledge is protected, instead of just the 'saving the universe' portions?"

The Sage is about to answer Twin Twist's question when Rodimus does it for him. "YES. Galvatron told me of your value for life, so I knew you would only contemplate this offer if there is no other way to save many other lives! Accept my offer, Rodimus! Limited time offer, as human solicitations would put the statement."

Nightbeat looks uneasily from the Sage to Rodimus Prime, and the hardboiled detective is a little shaky as he reasons, "Boss, if the Matrix kinda imprints on the first thing to fill it do you REALLY want to let an extortionist in as its first influence? I mean, it's up to you, and I got faith in you, boss," Rodimus Prime got him off that hellhole of a planet! "But... I mean, that thing lights Darkest Hours. Maybe we'll save the day today, if we let that guy in, but what if it's too corrupt, next time?"

Decibel begins to walk towards some of the others making sure to keep his back to the Sage as he goes. A few steps on his way and he starts humming a bit of Nonagon and flashes the scanner finding on the odd nature of the cloaked being across his chest display. After the short display he blanks the screen and turns joining the others.

Rodimus Prime's optics widen as his jaw drops in horrified realization. "You... wait a minute. You *knowingly* endangered the whole *universe* just to try to *force* me to do this?" His right hand balls into a fist and he takes a step or two forward, eyes narrowed, brow-ridges knitted furiously, mouth pulled back in anger. "How *dare* you?!" He looks ready to start throwing punches.

The Sage's eyes narrow as he chuckles. "Hm hm hm. Yes, now you understand. Now you see your choice. Now, do you accept my offer, or trick yourself into thinking there is nothing you can do, when indeed there is?"

Ultra Magnus rushes forward, arm held tightly on Prime's reared back fist. "Okay, this hoop-lah has gone on long enough. Rodimus, get ahold of yourself!!" His other arm loops underneath the Matrix bearer's other arm and he drags his commanding officer away from the cloaked figure. "Blades, Nightbeat ... I want The Sage put into the Brig immediately! Under lock and key, no one speaks to him until Prime or I say so." Still struggling with Rodimus, the City Commander manages to heave him out of the way for the Detective and the Protectobot to get to work.

First Aid and Blades exchange radio transmissions. Most of it is just exposition about what happened and a shared agreement that this Sage individual's story seems awfully suspicious. "I'm sorry, I might have missed this part, but why do we suddenly need the Matrix refilled so quickly?" he asks. When Magnus declares that the Sage is to be brigged, First Aid's right hand falls to his side, near his subspace holster in case there's trouble.

Twin Twist points out, "He looks really old. Didn't he say he was sick? Might want to get the medical staff to look in on him."

Nightbeat pulls out a trusty pair of handcuffs, hoping secretly to himself that there won't be any more strip-searches today. Grimly, he approaches the Sage.

The Sage helpfully holds out his hands for the cuffing. Seems like he isn't going to resist.

Rodimus Prime is dragged back by Ultra Magnus, which seems to snap him out of it. He straightens and holds up a hand. "I'm fine, I'm fine," he murmurs. Then he looks at Sage, and while he's still clearly angry, the fury has fled. "The only way I'd be tricking myself into thinking there's no choices is by taking you up on your offer. There are ALWAYS options, and we will find ours without your help," he states firmly.

"We will see the truth, in time," the Sage says before he is carted away. "We will!"

"Eh, alright, you got it." Blades verbally acknowledges Ultra Magnus before stepping forward slowly towards the Sage with a single rotor blade gripped in one hand, leaving the remaining free hand to escort the mysterious individual. < < Hey brig, we're sending a nut case over down over to you folks now. > >

The Protectobot aerial warrior waits for Nightbeat to do what he needs to do with the hand cuffs before guiding the Sage down the corridor, "Eeesh, just down that corridor, if you don't mind, yeah?"

Nightbeat glares at the Sage. Who holds out their hands for arrest? Weirdo! He slaps the handcuffs on and moves to cart the Sage off, and he grouses, "The truth will out. It always does. Out just like a stain."

First Aid hears Twin Twist's concerns and offers to help, "I'll go with them just in case." Chances are this newcomer is going to need a medical examination at some point anyhow.

Ultra Magnus releases his hold on Prime, stepping back a few feet. "Sorry old friend, just didn't want you to do anything you'd regret next cycle." Looking around, he eyes Deceibel. "Decebel, I want you to get in that shuttle and scavenge it for anything useful. First Aid, see to our /guest/ and make sure he's in better condition than he states." Turning around to regard his superior, he merely sighs and says nothing more.

Rodimus Prime looks over at Ultra Magnus and nods, smiling faintly and gratefully. "Thanks, Mangus. You did the right thing." His hand goes up to rub his forehead tiredly. "I've... I've got to be better," he adds sadly, a hint of... realization in his voice.

Ultra Magnus has left.