Blind Eye

Summary: Autobot Intelligence plays poker. Red Alert lets them cheat.

Orion Pax - Grapplebee's

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

A fine family establishment geared toward Transformers and humans alike, "Grapplebee's" is the affectionately given nickname to the ship's mess hall, owing to its distinctive look -- the unmistakable modernist touch of Grapple is everywhere you look. Elegant, shallow curves, chrome plating, and parallel lines are the dominant theme in the decor, with beautiful relief carvings set onto the walls as decorations. A walkway leads through the mess hall directly, onward to the living space of the ship, allowing passersby to have a glimpse of what's on the menu (for Transformers, energon), or lean over the railings in the arcade-styled partitions to say hey to a friend. The path has a circular space in its center with steps running perpendicular to the path to allow access to either end of the hall. In the center, a statue built out of water coolers by Pipes commemorates Ultra Magnus. The actual seating areas are spacious, with separate, narrow pathways leading up to raised platforms where humans can order food from their cook and chow down. Meanwhile, the Transformers get energon straight from the dispenser, and each table is mounted with at least one hydraulic seat that raises and lowers to allow humans and Transformers to eat together in harmony.

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External ship broadcasts for this room are OFF        Type +shiphelp for help

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Contents:

Red Alert

Obvious exits:  leads to Orion Pax - Living Quarters.  leads to Orion Pax - Corridor - Fore.

Punch arrives from the Orion Pax - Living Quarters.

Punch has arrived.

Nightbeat is sitting at one of the tables on Grapplebee's, shuffling a deck of cards. He glanced around shiftily, now and then, but he doesn't really seem to be paying any attention the the cards themselves. In fact, he shuffles them more quickly than most optical systems can follow. The detective seems a bit bored, as if he is wating for something.

Punch is sitting at another table, waving a scanner in the direction of Nightbeat's shuffling. "Slower Nightbeat, I can't ensure they aren't being /tampered/ with if you go too fast..."

Red Alert still watches the cards warily, despite the speed of the shuffling, although he's not sure why he bothers. He's fairly certain that both of the others are cheating. Fortunately, due to his rank, he can afford to lose more than most, and in theory, this is 'good for morale.' "And if he goes slower, it's easier /to/ tamper," he points out, then clears his throat. "However, back to business. I assume I don't have to emphasize just how dire our current situation is. Current events on Nebulos call for a... delicate handling, and we are currently lead by... Grimlock. Our primary alternative? An untried deserter. This is unacceptable."

Nightbeat grins cockily. He isn't /doing/ anything to the cards, per se. He doesn't need to. Not when he can see the pattern of scratches on the back of each card. Even when they're fresh cards, right out of the box, which these are. Nightbeat deals out cards, starting with Red Alert, then Punch, then himself. He adds, "Also, we don't know /how/ the Decepticon got their mitts on *master technology."

"So obviously there's the question of a leak among our new 'allies,' as well," Red Alert answers, picking up his cards. He twitches slightly, but from his gaze, that's probably more due to the fact that one of the on-board organics has just spilled their drink on the other side of the room.

"Can't trust anyone these days..." Punch mumbles as he watches the cards being shuffled. "I dont' see that as a /tactical/ concern though, it does not seem to gift benefits, more an information one..."

Nightbeat explains, "I chatted with Arcana and Brainstorm a bit yesterday. The case is baffling. All of his lab assistants were either enslaved under Thunderwing's regime or had relatives who were, and he didn't explain the whole process to any one of them. Even if they all got together and compared notes, they probably couldn't replicate the process. Arcana used multiple suppliers," not all of them legal. "The lab was kept in a secret location, with multiple alarms in case of an intrusion on the data systems. None of us *masters have been captured, so it couldn't have been reverse-energineered. So unless Arcana and Brainstorm are lying..." Nightbeat considers his cards with narrowed optics and glances around the room, looking for shiny surfaces.

"Yes, but /information/ is our trade, Punch" Red Alert reminds, smiling faintly. "/Tactical/ matters fall under Grimlock's command." He removes two cards from his hand and lays them face down on the table. "Two," he tells Nightbeat before continuing. "The big concern, however, is that the leak, the double agent, the... whatever may still be there. All of these returned Autobots are deserters, but one could be a worse kind of traitor on top of that."

Mishap has arrived.

"Double... agent..." Punch muses slowly, before shiftily looking at his cards. "Some sort of ... double dealer you might say?" He taps his cards against the table with a 'hmpf'. "We should arrest all these deserters and lock them up, dont give them a chance to knife us in the back."

Red Alert is sitting at one of the Grapplebee's tables, playing pokwer with Punch and Nightbeat. He's also apparently on a losing streak, which may explain the intensely worried frown on his face. Or maybe that's unconnected. "Agreed, but the safeguarding the people of Nebulos takes the priority. Once it either becomes apparent that this will be a long term front, like Earth, or the situation is wrapped up, then we can see about arrests." He sips at a small, mostly filled cube to his left. "In the meantime, they need to be watched, and all suspicious activities reported on. That's not the end of our problems, though. We need our chain of command back!"

Nightbeat deals Red Alert two cards from the deck, sliding them flat across the table. He looks over at Mishap and remarks, "Probably still time to deal you in." Nightbeat is looking about everywhere, but he seems to look at people's optics a fair amount. Their glassy, reflective optics.

"Huh?" replies Mishap as he wanders in the door, idly throwing what the technical minded may recognise as a Hyperdrive Compensation Valve Ring from one hand to another. "Oh! What are we playing? Death Chess? Cripple Mister Onion? Old Gynoid?" He pushes over a tall stool and clambers onto it.

"Maybe we could organise a coup on Kup's behalf..." Punch idly murmers whilst he takes a small energon cube from a bowl. "Primus knows the Decepticons would have a field day if they knew the state we were in. We're Autobots, we should be united..."

"It /was/ standard five card draw," Red Alert explains to Mishap. "However, given the amount of cheating going on, I wouldn't be shocked to know someone's switched games and not bothered to tell me." Then he shakes his head towards Punch. "Kup won't take command, Punch. He's declared himself unfit to lead." Then he points at Nightbeat. "Which is why /you/ need to get to the bottom of this haunting business."

"United, huh!" Mishap complains. "Tell that to those new..uh.. old Autobots. I went to go help fix up their ship, and what happens? Sureshot yells at me." He expertly rolls the engine part in his hand across his fingers with a musical clattering sound, catching it between his last two digits before rolling it back. "I only wanted to help! Ungrateful if you ask me"

Nightbeat snorts and protests, "Cheating? We're Autobots, boss! We... creatively reinterpret the rules." He deals Mishap five cards, whether or not Mishap wants them. The detective adds, "I gotta call up Pile-Up and whoeever else was on the scene and see if I can get a sample of the blood. Also gotta look into this Firebomb fellah a bit more."

"Firebomb?" Punch mutters as he flips a card over thoughtfully in his hand. "What's a Firebomb? Maybe I have been too... lax in my duties of late. Do we have any intel on the location of Rodimus' head?"

Mishap peers at his cards. "How do you play this again?" he asks, already wondering if he's still got that spare deck hidden in the compartment in his wrist.

Red Alert sighs heavily. "Autobots are perfectly capable of cheating, deserting, theft, treason, murder, and all other manner of wrongdoing, Nightbeat, as you and I /both/ know. Usually all with the best of intentions. So try your arguement on Foxfire, why don't you?" He looks over at Mishap, then looks down at the part Mishap is rolling around on the table. "Why did he yell at you? Did you note any other suspicious behavior?" Finally, he turns to Punch. "Firebomb is a Decepticon Warlord, last reported on Nanxis IV by Kup, apparently deceased, apparently not restfully so. Suspected connection with these blood incidents that have been occurring near Kup. As to your other question... no, although Foxfire is still looking."

Nightbeat smirks and records that soundbyte of Punch saying, 'What's a Firebomb? Maybe I have been too... lax in my duties of late.' He will treasure it forever. "Nanxis IV is in the Spectral Climbs, by the way."

"He kept shooting at the wall and stuff" Mishap says, "I don't know why he yelled at me, I was just trying to help. Think he was just on edge, kept complaining about scavengers." The minibot begins to idly fan his cards then flip them shut with a flick of his wrist. "Uh.. wait, did you say Warlord? He's... he's not been seen anywhere near here has he?"

Nightbeat assures, "Firebomb is dead. Just not restfully." He wiggles his fingers in spooky fashion.

Nightbeat considers his cards. Yeah, he was counting cards. Yeah, he's almost entirely sure what is everyone else's hands. Unfortunately, the detective just knows that this means he's going to lose hard. He places his cards face-down on the table and grumbles, "Fold." He then stands and pushes his chair against the table, adding, "Gonna go try to get ahold of Pile-Up."

Red Alert smirks faintly as he looks over at Mishap. "In fact, one of the Decepticon Headmasters has reported seeing him /very/ recently on Nebulos." He tilts his head to consider. If this Headmaster was yelling at Mishap and complaining about scavengers... well... taken in a certain light, that's not particularly suspicious behavior. "Punch, I want you investigating the Steelhaven Autobots. Try to speak with them where you can, get more up to date information than what we've got in our databanks. If there's a double-agent among them, I want you to sniff him out. Nightbeat... if you need to go to the Spectral Climbs, for Primus' sake, /tell/ someone first, or you're getting Twitch as a permanent partner. Mishap... continue to... do... stuff." He pauses. "Aid Punch, Nightbeat, and Foxfire, as they require it."

Nightbeat grimaces at the thought of Twitch as his permanent partner. Urghle. Then he's off, out the door.

Mishap is still idly flipping his cards back and forth, waiting for Red Alert to look at Nightbeat before palming one of his cards, a replacement flicking into his hand almost faster than the optic can follow. "Stuff? Can do" he says, flipping his cards one final time before spreading them out and examining them with some consternation. "I guess.... I'll keep playing? Stay. That's it, I'll stay."

Red Alert glances at his hand. He sighs and looks towards the ceiling. "Well, good job, Mishap, because I'm out," he reports, putting his hand down. He then picks up his mostly-filled cube and takes a sip. "What would you like, anyway? I'll get you a drink. Provided it's a legal one."

"High grade energon with Soma additive" Mishap replies promptly, then looks down at his now improved hand, feeling kinda cheated that Red is passing too. Only Punch then? Easiest hand of poker he's ever won!

Red Alert has been losing all night, anyway. He's also fully aware that all his opponents have been cheating, but really hasn't done anything besides frown disapprovingly at them. He activates the at table-dispenser, enters in his codes, and then dials in Mishap's request before handing it over.

Red Alert has left.

 Clutch says, "Guys, this isn't going too well. If we can free these Nebulans, we can cover them while they make a break for it!"

 Brainstorm says, "I can try to blind them. That might buy us some time!"

 Tailgate says, "What Nebulans?"

 Hollywood says, "Use The Force."

 Brainstorm says, "...Who is that? Uh. You do know why we're here, right?"

 Tailgate says, "Me? Who are you?"

 Hollywood says, "Who's on first."

 Clutch says, "He's an Autobot. Both of you are Autobots. That's all that counts. Well, -almost- all. We've got to save these people!"

 Noah Wolfe says, "Huh? What's going on?"

 Brainstorm says, "I'm Brainstorm! Nice to--well, yeah."

 Hollywood says, "Doom. And a rescue, sounds like."

 Hollywood says, "WHICH! I might add. Would be over already if I was there."

 Hollywood says, "Because Hollywood is Hollygood."

 Noah Wolfe says, "Need any help? Give me a location and I'll grab my armor."

<Autobot> Brainstorm says, "Plains of Thok, East of Koraja, our capital--I mean, the Nebulans' capital."

<Autobot> Brainstorm says, "Ok, Autobots, watch out! Things are going to get really bright!"

<Autobot> Hollywood says, "Kinda' like my limelight!"

<Autobot> Clutch says, "Smooth move, Tailgate. I don't know what that was, but it didn't look healthy!"

<Autobot> Tailgate says, "I CAN'T SEE!"

<Autobot> Brainstorm says, "Um, sorry!"

<Autobot> Clutch says, "You, uh...seem to be doing better that way."

<Autobot> Tailgate says, "I CAN'T HEAR YOU I'M BLIND!"

<Autobot> Clutch shouts over the sound of skidding and noises. "We need to evacuate these civilians! Get some sort of heavy transport out here! Any shuttlecraft a vailable?!"

<Autobot> Cosmos says, "Cosmos is he -- ow! Hey, no problem, I'm still flying, see?"

<Autobot> Brainstorm says, "Glad to have you, Cosmos! We're getting clobbered out here!"

<Autobot> Clutch mutters, "I think he noticed."