Snack and Secrets

EDC HQ - Lounge and Park - 

Were it not for the GroundBridge terminal hidden in the subbasement, it may seem difficult to think of the Paris base as a military facility. The lounge is an open two story building with big glass windows that look out over the park. The city of Paris itself can be seen in the distance. Comfortable leather couches and tables are arranged amongst the pool tables, foosball, arcade, and other games. The food is good and the atmosphere is relaxing. The lounge has a very Starbucks meets local pub feel to it.

The park includes a beautiful garden with flowers, several large plane trees near the benches. A stream runs through the park, eventually reaching a pond and fountain. In the winter, the pond freezes over and is available for skating. Of all the EDC bases, this is the least self-sufficient, having no central command facility and no defenses beyond several lampposts able to transform into laser turrets.

Obvious exits: &lt;Out&gt; leads to Paris, France. &lt;Hub&gt; leads to EDC HQ - Ground Bridge Hub - &lt;Korea&gt;.

Torque has arrived.

EARLIER

Apocryphacius argues with one of the EDC xenodocs. "You see? One of the Autobots has confirmed that a Quintesson known as Archaeonix does exist. I was not hallucinating."

The xenodoc frowns and points out, "Just because you weren't hallucinating /then/ doesn't mean that you're mentally capable of duty. Tell me, just how are going to handle actually /talking/ to the Autobot, huh?"

The Quintesson wrings his tentacles together and admits, "I... well..."

NOW

Apocryphacius has on something like sunglasses or welding goggles on over his ten optics. Those seemed to work pretty well at the funeral. As long as he cannot see Autobots too well, they aren't as terrifying. He has some energon cubes set up on a little table in the park. This meeting should be as pleasant as it possibly can be.

Torque is, honestly, a tad nervous herself while making her way out to the EDC base in Paris, memories of her time in the past rushing back, both a great and terrifying trip. But she manages to keep a cool head once at the base, following the lead of a random soldier straight to Apocryphacius. Upon seeing him she feels that bit of anxiousness itching the back of her processor, given his race and all the stigma that comes with it, but she ultimately smiles, giving a nod while walking up to join him.

"Good to finally meet you, Apocryphacius. I don't think we've actually met before. Torque." The femme states, hand extending to shake. She knows he's one of the good ones, even though that's pretty hard to believe.

Torque's indigo and orange? Thanks to the goggles, that's black and brown. And kind of blurry. Not too threatening. Apocryphacius still can't quite shake his fear, though, even knowing that he's on an EDC base, just a groundbridge away from a lot of very well-armed people. He is visibly nervous. When she offers her hand to shake, there is a part of him that wants to just hide under the table as if she had brandished a gun. He forces that down and offers her a tentacle to shake. He sounds shaky as he replies, "Ah. Greetings, Torque. I appreciate your assistance." Apocryphacius does, really. He's just worried that she's a serial killer due to his own hang-ups.

Torque's antennas perk up at the clear shake in his voice, smile turning more sympathetic while giving the offered tentacle a light shake, soon turning to sit at the outdoor table. "Of course, glad I could help. And please, no need to be nervous. I know you're Quintesson, but I've nothing against you in particular. Actually, I think you're pretty nice." Smile becomes warm and delightful as the femme sits back in her seat, not touching the available cubes on the table yet. "Now... Where exactly did you see this Archaeonix? Did you see what he was doing?"

Apocryphacius has nothing but doubt when it comes to Autobots. Is she being kind to him because she actually want to be nice or is she being kind so that she can invite him off to a warehouse in Taiwan where an Autobot tac team will beat the slag out of him for information? That, and her words make him feel a flash of guilt. Apocryphacius is by no means 'nice'. He does, however, assure, "My aversion reaction has nothing to do with you in specific. I do apologize. I simply... find your kind frightening." Apocryphacius gestures vaguely. He does not sit down, instead 'pacing' near the table. "You may help yourself to the energon if you like. Archaeonix was inside a maintenance tunnel in the EDC's Siberia base. The security team could not find any sign of forced entry. No one saw him but me. The xenodoc was starting to think that I must have hallucinated the whole episode, but it is extremely unlikely that I would hallucinate someone /I/ have never heard of but who actually exists."

Torque waves a hand a bit in dismissal. "No no, it's okay. I can understand, given our history." Optics follow the Quint as he paces around atop his tentacles, eventually accepting the offer and taking a cube in hand, thoughtfully sipping at it while listening. His mention of the other's prescense in an EDC base garners a knit of her brows though, cube settling on a knee while she leans forward, thumbing her chin a moment.

"Hmm... What would he be doing there.. Did he even get off the island?" She muses softly to herself, though loud enough for Apoc to likely pick up. "I'm a little skeptical myself, honestly. But you actually know his name, so your story's looking a lot more credible." She finally looks back up at him, idly swirling the contents of her cube. "What do you know of him, if anything? Is he well known by your kind?"

Apocryphacius continues pacing, not at ease, and explains, optics narrowed, "I have no idea if Archaeonix is well known by the Quintessons. I awoke first on Earth. I was raised by humans. Everything I have learned of the species to which I belong, I have learned either from secondary or tertiary sources... or under tense circumstances." His voice turns wry. "You could sooner ask me about human pop celebrities. I certainly hear enough about them in chatter around the bases here. I have never been a part of the Quintesson Empire or its remnant. I never visited Quintessa before it was destroyed," a pause, "by your kind. But."

He waves a tentacle airily and dismissively. "I was doing a routine maintenance sweep, checking for cracks. The water gets in, freezes, expands, and cause cracks, you see. There he was in the tunnels. He had some sort of cloak at first, and when I saw him, I... I am rather stupid around other Quintessons. I always know that I should draw a weapon. My kind are too dangerous to give the benefit of the doubt." His voice turns bitter. "Archaeonix said all he wanted was to talk and to make me aware that he was here and perhaps talk again later. He had sauropod bones for spider-legs instead of a proper hover column. He did not look... well. He had faces of a tyrannosaurus, a triceratops, a sabertooth tiger, and a mastodon, and one normal face. I told him that I expected I would be a disappointment to him. I did not stand with General Cross to destroy Cybertron but rather against him. I am unsure if Archaeonix heard. He left rather suddenly."

Torque never knew that about Apocryphacius' past, only hearing snippets of him from time to time. "My mistake, sorry." A Quint raised by humans. A little amusing, honestly. But that's neither here now there, her attentions focusing back when he speaks of Archaeonix. "Not well? Hrm. Though the legs and faces it seems he's kept for the last several million years..."

Gaze turns sidelong a moment, clearly pondering as hands fiddle with her cube. Should she tell him? ..Maybe just a little. Optics return, leveling with Apoc, her expression turning a bit more serious. "To be honest with you, only a bare handful of us Autobots know about Archaeonix. He was attempting to harness the power of time travel when we found him, which likely would have led to our speaking here, or even us in general, to not even exist if we hadn't stopped him. He's.. very dangerous, to put it shortly. I don't know what happened to him afterwards, but I know he shouldn't be where you say he is..."

"I make no secret of my past, but at the same time, it /is/ a rather implausible sequence of events. I cannot blame you for not knowing. You have nothing about which to be sorry," Apocryphacius replies absently, still moving, still not looking at Torque for long. One wonders how he can fight Decepticons, if Autobots frighten him so much.

Only, Decepticons don't frighten him. Not like Autobots do.

His faces ratchet around, though, and he flings a pair of tentacles in the air. "This! This Autobot /paternalism/. I swear, it will drive me completely mad if the hypocrisy does not. There is a 'very dangerous' being loose on Earth, and you do not even wish to speak of him with me, when my sworn duty is to defend Earth. Because... because you Autobots obviously know so much better and the EDC will only make a mess of the situation like little children, you feel, so you wise and perfect Autobots will simply go deal with the problem in your gallivanting way."

He pushes the goggles up to rest above his red, red optics, which he turns on Torque, finally looking right at her. "Go on. Tell me I am wrong."

Apocryphacius transforms into his Apocryphacius &lt;Wrath Face&gt; mode.

Antennas twitch in surprise at the Quint's sudden turn around, going from nervous to vicious in a split second, Torque left staring at him, optics slightly wider. But that dare, oh that dare in those red optics. It has the femme narrow her own back, mouth setting in a thin, unamused line. "You're wrong." She snorts, leaning forward again, jabbing a finger in his direction with the hand holding the cube.

"Don't insinuate such a thing, Apocryphacius. I'm not supposed to be telling /anyone/ about this, not even the Autobots who didn't come with us. You're /lucky/ to even be hearing what little I'm telling you." The medic grunts in displeasure, soon lowering her finger and sitting back again. "Look.. I'm sorry I can't outright share the entirety of what happened. Most of it is a damned blurr to me anyway. I don't even know if I'm allowed to tell you as much as I have. I'd need Prime's permission..." And yet he's not even around lately.

Apocryphacius &lt;Wrath Face&gt; laughs, and his faces switch around. He shoves his goggles back down, and he steeples his tentacles. Seemingly calm, despite his sudden outburst, he replies cheerily, "I see. I understand what it is to know things that you are bound by duty not to speak. Do you understand the bind in which this places me, however? The fact remains that there is a chronal manipulator with unknown motives walking Earth. He may hurt the people I am sworn to defend. I may have to fight him. So I wonder now, if the things you cannot say are going to going to lead to lives lost."

Apocryphacius &lt;Wrath Face&gt; transforms into his Apocryphacius &lt;Judgement Face&gt; mode.

Great, now he's trying to guilt trip her with that Quint intellect, earning him a sharp look from Torque as she slowly sips at the remainder of her cube. You could take a Quint from his home and people, but that obviously doesn't stop him from acting a bit like them. "Mmf... Fine. The only thing I know is that he was coming from the past to the future, this future, to apparently 'conquor' us. How he thinks he can do that by himself, I've no idea. But his plan failed and he ended up in the time of a young Earth, crashed his ship, and was stuck on an island that he kept preserved with some sort of temporal shield. The made crazy things start happening here, sending a few back in time."

She stops to take another drink. "We found out he'd apparently woken up both Autobots and Decepticons before they should have, taking Optimus and Megatron to try and power another time device, though I'm not sure if he wanted to continue to the future, or go back to his home. Anyway, we go get him, kick his aft, put everyone back to sleep, and get put into stasis pods to be sent back into the future, closing any loose ends. But... I went in before Archaenix, so I've no clue what he ended up doing with himself. Or even how he managed to get off that island, given he never could before."

Was Apocryphacius trying to guilt trip her? Or was he simply explaining his perspective? He wonders how well such tactics would have worked, had the Autobots tried them on /him/. Just sat him down. Put out some snacks. Had a nice conversation... asked about the cybercidic radiation and General Cross's contractors. Reminded Apocryphacius about the potential for loss of innocent life. Would that have worked, he wonders?

Apocryphacius lets his tentacles fall loosely to his sides, and he says softly, "If it makes you feel any better at all, I already had a source who told me that Archaeonix was, ah, I quote, 'a specialist at temporal manipulation suffering from extreme MPD'." He raises one tentacle warningly. "What I said earlier about not having heard anything about him from other Quintessons was entirely factual. My source is not a Quintesson. So. He wishes to conquer the Transformers, hmm? Well. That simply will not do. I thank you, Autobot Torque. Your information will help me decide how to deal with him should I ever see him again."

"Extreme is right. I actually feel bad for his normal face. It seemed the only reasonable one, though the others clearly override him somehow." Didn't they actually have that face gagged at one point? Possibly, Torque can't remember all that clearly. Apoc gets a mild raise of a brow. "Who's this source, exactly? Also... I really have to tell the others you're involved in this now, if you don't mind. I can't leave you to face Archaeonix alone, it wouldn't be right." Setting her empty cube upon the table she soon stands, giving the Quint a small smirk. It seems she's not about to hold that outburst or success in telling against him. "Just keep in contact, alright? We were supposed to tie up all the loose ends, but it seems he's the only one to get away."

"You may tell what you wish to whom you wish," the Quintesson says indifferently, "They will then do as they will. However, it would be rude to reveal my source. I will ask if it wishes to reveal itself. I will stay in touch as long as I can. General Faireborn will need to know. This world is hers to defend. You may ask a personal favour of me, though. You need not be hasty about it. I will not divulge sensitive information, but I am, nonetheless, useful. I prefer to work on biologicals, but your kind is not difficult for me to modify. Buildings, as well, are relatively simple for me to alter."

Torque is little unhappy when he doesn't reveal his source, but she doesn't press the issue, reqspecting his wishes. She can probably guess anyone, since a human or two managed to join them on their quest. She has her cards on Amber, honestly. "That's fine then." Hands reaches out yet again to offer a shake in goodbye, brow lofting when Apoc lists his usefulness. "I'll ah.. keep that in mind then if I need your help with any of those things. I'll speak with you later then, Apocryphacius. Thanks for agreeing to meet me. I just hope we can sort this whole thing out soon." She's sure he means well enough, but he seems to always say things in the strangest manner. Either way she gives a curt nod to him and, even if he shakes her hand or not, turns on a heel to set off out of the garden and the base itself, having a lot of food for thought on the trip back to Metroplex.

==================================== EDC ===================================== Message: 22/20                    Posted        Author Archaeonix                        Fri Nov 23    Apocryphacius -- Apocryphacius appears, looking fairly composed and wearing Judgement, though he has welding goggles on for some reason. His tentacles are steepled before him, and he explains, "The Autobot Torque was quite useful, and I thank her, as I thank my other source. The Quintesson Archaeonix does indeed exist and is not a figment of my imagination. He is said to be a specialist in temporal manipulation with extreme MPD. Very dangerous. Wishes to conquer the Transformers. Archaeonix is /supposed/ to be confined to an island in the Earth's past. The Autobot Torque expressed skepticism that he could escape. Nonethless," his faces shift around to something grimmer, "we are facing an enemy who can bypass our security systems as a fish swims through the ocean. Who has some sort of interest in me. He knew I was there in the Siberia base and claimed to know a lot more about me. So I suppose we must act as if he knows /everything/. Moreover, there is the possibility that MECH will go after him. We cannot allow him to fall into their hands. If you think what I can do is at all worrisome, just keep in mind that I am a half-wit infant of my species, and Archaeonix is an elder."

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================================================================= ==================================== NEST ==================================== Message: 15/3                     Posted        Author Re: Torque                        Fri Nov 23    Apocryphacius -- Text Only

The Autobot Torque has my thanks and may ask a favour of me if she wishes, so long as it does not violate my duties. I will keep her apprised of any developments on the Archaeonix situation.

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