| abstract
| - Fireflight is in his jet mode, parked in a free spot. his wings were currently... not present. Removed for repairs it seems as the Jet listens to a radio put nearby for music while the gumbies worked, the candy apple red armor pocketed and burnt almost all over from the beating it took. Mishap is here! Lock up your daughters! Or your valuables! Or your valuable daughters! Sidling into medbay, the minibot lurches to a halt, surprised to see a jet parked in the corner. "Ah!" he yelps. "Don't scare me like that... wings, cockpit.. I thought you were a Seeker that had sneaked in the back door!" THe wingless phantom jet jumps a little himself. "... ERrr, sorry?" the plane asked, halfway distracted " I figured my autobrands would have tipped you off! I'll try harder not to look like a seeker next time. Somehow. "You might have been in disguise" Mishap replies. "Gahh.. my fuel pump nearly stalled. I need something to repair my nerves" The diminutive Autobot saunters over to a storage unit and begins rummaging through it. "Now, where do they keep the good energon in this place again?" "... ITs all good." firelight notes in amused tones as he sat there, the gumbies continuing work on his wings, carrying them over to have them welded back on "Sorry, I really am sorry about startling you." he apologises again. Mishap emerges from the cubboard with a large bottle marked "HIGH-GRADE ENERGON - MEDICAL USE ONLY", plus a couple of vials of what appear to be metal shavings. "Oh that's alright" he says, clambering up to sit cross-legged on a spare repair-bed. "Say, have you seen Kup? I'm supposed to be secretly following him." "No." a pause "How can you follow him if you dont know where he is? " the mech asks, puzzled now. Sparks flash and spray all over as the welding of the wings begins on the battered Phantom "I heard him on the radio I think last night but I was kind of distracted." Mishap holds the bottle up to one optic, peering at Fireflight through the glowing pink liquid. "See, that's what I said" he remarks, putting the energon down and unstoppering one of the vials. "So I figure I'll just wander around asking people if they've seen him. I'd ask over broadband, but it's supposed to be a secret." Fireflight is quiet a long moment, then states "I could ask FOR you." he offers to help "That way they wont know YOU are looking for him." "But then I'd have to look for YOU as well." Mishap shakes his head. "This is why I'm a highly valued member of Autobot intelligence, and you're not. You've got to think... horizontally? Yes, horizontally." The beige and crimson minibot carefuly shakes some of the metal flakes into the energon, small white sparks breifly flaring into existance as they hit the surface. "You would have to look for me too? Why? " Fireflight asks, obviously not thinking very horizontally, despite his current position. The medics then tap Fireflight's wing "Transform please sir, so we can finish the repairs." Fireflight stretches a little, before taking a seat on a repair bay next to where he was on the floor, moving stiffly still "I suppose that IS why. It makes no sense though" Mishap ah hahs! "Because otherwise how would I know if you had seen him unless I asked you, and I would have to go looking for you in person because radio transmissions are too insecure. What if a Decepticon is listening in?" He puts the stopper back on one vial and opens the other, only adding a small amount of its contents to the now fizzing energon in the bottle. Fireflight falls silent "... That could be true I guess. I thought I could ask him on broadcast, and you just 'overhear'." he admits, optics turning to watch the bottle now with a tilted head. Mishap begins to expertly shake the bottle. "No no no, broadband is too insecure. I will just have to do it myself, more's the pity. I mean, it's hardly my area of expertise, is it? I'm not a ninjabot, am I? No I am not." He puts the bottle down, having produced what appears to be a martini glass from somewhere (perhaps up his metal sleeves?). Fireflight stares at the glass in surprise a little, looking quite baffled. Then he nods "well, you know more about it than I. I fI see him and then run into you I will let you know if you dont know already." he promises. "And not tell anyone else of course." "Of course" Mishap agrees as he pours his concoction into the glass, holding it up to the light and swirling it around. Seemingly satisfied, he places a small metallic rod into the liquid. Perhaps in reaction to the fuel, a light blinks at the top, then the rod slowly extends... and then with a small *PHWUMP*, a tiny metallic parasol suddenly unfurls. "Ahhh" Mishap sighs, sipping his drink. "I feel better already." Fireflight grins a little, mostly at the umbrella as his arm is lifted for repairs, most of his paint still missing "Ow - yeah, that's better." he mutters to the medic "So why-no, you prolly can't tell me. So uh..." he pauses, at a loss of what to talk about "Why what?" Mishap says, the potent blend of high grade energon and additives already having an effect on his small frame. "Why are you following Kup? " asked Fireflight after a pause to consider if he should finish acting, watching the small mech curiously "Are you okay?" "I'm fiine" Mishap replies, waving his glass around. "Well because I've been ordered to, haven't I? That's why. I don't know why, I mean it's not like he beat himself up, is it?" Fireflight blinks, surprised "... Kup got beat up?? " he scowls a little, the Medic pushing him back onto the table "So you need to find out why?" Mishap shakes his head. "No, I just need to follow him. Huh. Maybe it's Red's idea of a joke. Maybe I'm supposed to be his bodyguard. Well I'm not laughing." Fireflight nods "ITs not very funny." he admits 'Whichever reason it is, I hope you find him soon then." "After I'm done with my break" the minibot replies, taking another drink. "It's hard work all this stuff. And I've got weak ankle joints, they're very sensitive." Fireflight nods "Why dont you take a seat then? " the Aerialbot offers, pointing to a nearby Minibot sized chair "It would make it easier for you." Mishap blinks. "But I do have a seat" he says, pointing to the bed he's sitting crosslegged on. "So what happened to put you in here anyway? You didn't get attacked by mysterious assailants and wake up with no memory of who did it, did you?" Fireflight looked somewhat embarassed at the pointing-out, but moves onto the other topic gratefully "No. My brothers and I went to Ifraggle to help the natives against the Decepticons." he explains "I caught Focus, got shot a lot, then we merged and chased off the Decepticons! Grimlock was there too, and I think I saw Clutch." he smiles a little weakly "I think I passed out on the way back home. Fireflight lays on a repair bed, the gumby medic working dilligently to repair the battered up aerialbot as he spoke to MIshap, sitting on a bed nearby. Punch is standing arguing with a gumby medic shaking him from side to side. "Look, just /sign me off/" he snarls. "I'm fit now, my head's back on my shoulders, I have WORK to do!" Mishap is sitting crosslegged on a repair bed, with a large bottle of fizzing liquid beside him, the label of which reads "HIGH GRADE ENERGON - MEDICAL USE ONLY". Also lying on the surface of the bed are two vials of different colored metal shavings. Oh, and he's holding a martini glass full of energon and a tiny metal parasol Red Alert returns. He has cameras to double-check on. His attention is on his datapad, but even without his enhanced senses he could hear the fuss Punch is raising easily enough. "Problem, Punch?" he asks. He hasn't yet noticed what Mishap has with him. Some might consider that strange. "Signed by a superior /what?/" Punch holds a data pad aloft and turns to Red Alert. "Yes of COURSE there is a problem. I may have been brutally deactivated but I am FINE now and ready to get back into the field. Sign" He thrusts the data pad at Red Alert and squints at Mishap. "How is Kup?" he asks simply "Elusive" mishap replies, draining the last energon from his glass. "I think he's on to me. The jig is up. I've been rumbled. Snapped. Screwed the Pooch." Fireflight blinks and turns over to look at Punch, startled at the sudden outburst. He glances also to Red Alert's arrival, nodding to the security mech. Then he snickers at Mishap "You mean your cover is blown?" Mishap says, "Shh!" - Click-click-clack - A blaster appears in Punch's hand and is pointed at Mishap's head. "Put down the glass and place your hands against the wall!" he announces loudly "Erm, I mean... slag... oops. ACk!" Fireflight tries to sit up, despite his injuries "Red Alert, I was just Joking!" he notes, optics widened now with a bit of panick. "Physically, he's fine," Red Alert replies stiffly and formally as he reads over the data-pad. "He /appears/ to have recovered from that shot as well," the Lambo adds in tones that suggests he has his doubts that things are as they appear. The Security Director starts to sign the datapad, but stops very suddenly at Fireflight's words. Mishap's words, he misses, but Fireflight's words, and the subsequent shushing, are right here. He turns, datapad and stylus still in his own hand, optics narrowed, and simply adds, "Oh, really?" "Ahh!" Mishap yells, flinging his hands up faster than his lazy demeanor would suggest possible, the empty glass sailing across the room and shattering on impact with the ground. "I surrender!" he blurts out of pure instinct. "I was framed!" Fireflight glances to Red alert now, and gulps. Uh oh. "Framed? There seems rather a lot of that going around lately," Red Alert says in sharp little words that sound like they were carved from ice. "Rather convienent, I think." Punch glares at Fireflight with a look that could cut glass (he has laser eyes). "Truths often slip out in the most innoculous of jokes.." he mutters. Then he turns back to Mishap, his weapon still trained on the Minibot. "Fireflight has made an accusation on you. I will carry out a complete background check AND a locker search!" He snaps his fingers. "Fireflight, bring in Mishap's locker, we will go through it here "Wait.. this is just a misunderstanding.. I don't even know what I'm being accused of!" Mishap says, arms still raised. "Look.. why don't we just sit down and have a drink.. no need to point guns around. They make me nervous, and when I'm nervous I tend to babble on about nothing in particular. Punch? Come on buddy.. Red Alert? Fireflight? Anyone?" "What?? I didnt accuse anyone! Mishap is intel - isnt most of his stuff undercover?" Fireflight says, propping himself up on his elbow with a grunt. A grimace, and the gumby medic pushes him back down tuttingly, the Aerialbots' body not up for moving just yet. His optics then look to Mishap apologetically. Red Alert lifts a hand towards Punch. "No, no, we need to send someone else to collect his locker." He looks at Fireflight. "After all, it was awefully convienent that Fireflight already knew that he'd need cover, isn't it?" Punch continues to glare at Mishap, not moving at all. Then his glance moves to Fireflight and he takes a step closer to Red Alert. "Point. We're going to need more cameras" As Punch glances away, Mishap swallows hard, a mental command causing a powerful forcefield to flicker into existance around him. The minibot doesn't move, however, still remaining sitting on the repair bed, arms raised in the air. Mishap successfully activates a powerful protective forcefield, shielding him from the next attack. Fireflight settles back on his bed, his face now quite apologetic and guilty now. He couldnt really do much, so just lay still so that the medics could finish on his wounds. Under ordinary circumstances, Red Alert would hear - probably smell, even - that forcefield going up. This time, not so much, as he leans forward to hear what Punch has to say. He says softly in response, almost apologetically, "Kup wants me to limit the number of cameras." "Do.. Do I get a phone call?" Mishap asks. "Or a last request? Last meal? Last rites?" Punch strokes his chin. "He does, does he? Interesting. Very interesting. I wonder what else 'Kup' wants." He then flips up a communicator. "Foxfire what is taking so long with those lockers!" Fireflight sighs heavily at all of this, muttering under his own breath as he fingers with a wire sticking out of his armor. Then it zaps his fingers and he yelps. Red Alert frowns darkly. "He wants me to stop investigating for traitors," he answers Punch softly. And then he smiles. "However, I have been cleared to take whatever steps necessary to investigate for thieves, and I can hardly be blamed if I just /happen/ to find a traitor while searching for them." Then he looks up at Mishap. "Your life's in no immediate danger. First, we haven't received the contents of your locker, and second... well, you still need to be questioned." "YOU try pulling lockers that are bigger than you are!" comes the irritated reply. Not long after that, Foxfire appears in the doorway, pulling the lockers along via a harness. "I was not *meant* for this kind of thing...!" Fireflight looks u at the lockers now, his optics widening just a tad as he looks to the security mechs "Be VERY careful opening mine. Its uhm, very full." he notes. "So some stuff may escape. Mishap gives Red Alert a disbelieving look. "There's a gun pointed at my head. You call that 'no immediate danger'? What DO you call immediate Danger, Red Alert? Dancing on a supernova?" Punch strides up to Mishap's locket, a serious grimace on his face. "Now Mishap, do you care to open yours first, and present the contents to me?" Mishap thinks about that for a moment. "No. It's your show, you open it" he replies, arms and forcefield still up. "I'm not going to participate in my own witch hunt." "Ah, but he's not going to pull the trigger unless he has good reason to," Red Alert answers Mishap. Then he frowns and looks down at his datapad. "Your lack of co-operation will be noted." Then he strides over to the locker himself. Carefully and gently, he lowers it to the floor, door facing up, and then does the same with Fireflight's. "Okay then, I'll just- " Punch inserts his skeleton key, and twists is about. "Hmm this isn't a standard lock." He peers at it. "You fitted this yourself, it isn't regulation! How are we supposed to do security inspections!" He takes out an auto-hammer and starts pounding on the door Fireflight's locker rattles a little as things tip over and settle to the new bottom. Foxfire flops down onto the floor. "This would have probably been easier if I had opposible thumbs," he grumbles. "Hey! HEY! That's a precision lock!" Mishap says, waving his hands. "That's practically a work of art! That's no way to treat art!" Red Alert answers almost too cheerfully, a manic edge to his voice, "Well, then, maybe you should have unlocked it yourself when you were requested to do so." Fireflight looks at the tipped-over lockers ponderously "... Why didnt I think of doing that." he murmers. - Bang bang hisss - Punch inserts a blowtorch into the lock and slowly melts the delicate mechanism, before swinging open the door to view the contents inside. "Well well well, what have we here?" he asks Mishap ominously "If you need my consent to make yourself feel better about this, you shan't get it" sniffs Mishap. "Probably because you're not Cybertron's best lock-breaker, that's why" he asides to Fireflight, before jerking his head up at the distinctive sound of his locker door being opened. Mishap's locker contains the following: - Several small cubes and bottles of energon, all roughly half full, several marked "MEDICAL USE ONLY". - Cheesecake pinups of various femmes, some missing their chestplates. - Lots and lots of small human items of dubious value, the kind you'd find at souvineer shops. - A CUDDLY TOY! - What appears to be a model of an undersea city - Human money. Mostly loose change and small bills - Chips from the casino on Monacus. - A washrack and notice - A giant post-it note - A cardboard box - A beaten metal box - Another strange pistol like the one on Mishap's hip, complete with curly power connector and battery - A brown metal braclet of unknown metal. Fireflight glances back to MIshap and notes "I meant about putting them on their backs so stuff doesnt fall out." "Well this all looks perfectly fine..." Punch mutters, looking at the contents of the locker "...in OPPOSITE land!" He pulls out some of the pictures of femmes. "Hmm. Schematic diagrams eh?" You say, "No, those are pinups." Fireflight blinks, turning to focus on that "Pin ups? " he asked, trying to sit up again. Red Alert nudges the closed boxes, an intent frown on his face. He should probably appear satisfied with this, but he doesn't. In fact, he seems, perhaps, even more worried than he was before. Mishap gives Fireflight a quizzical look. "Yes. You know.. like.. 'check out the bumper on her!' or, 'look at those lines!' Fireflight glares at Mishap "I know what pin ups are! ... Skydive has lots of them." he points out. Foxfire just watches the larger mechs from his position on the floor. Silly bipeds. "Fireflight," Red Alert says, tone formal, "would you care to open your locker as well?" He stands up and steps back, so as to give Fireflight an opportunity to do just that. Punch then picks up the pistol. "Weapons should be stored, logged and registered with security!" he counters. "Explain this one, Mishap" Fireflight glances to Red Alert, hesitating "I'll try, but I'm not too steady on my feet" he notes, sitting up slowly and swinging his feet over. Standing, he manages to keep himself up and limp over towards his locker, kneeling there for better balance as he fishes for his key. "Where did I put it..." Mishap has decided that it is safe to put his hands down. Indeed, he has also decided that it is safe to produce another glass and pour himself another drink. Punch waves the weapon in the direction of Mishap. "Come on..." And then he sees the Post-It note. "Hmm a message from /Megatron/, keeping interesting company are we?" "And when were you planning on using what's in that box, Mishap?" Red Alert asks, gesturing to the cardboard box. "What?" Mishap replies to Punch, before turning to Red Alert. "Huh? Oh, never. But I found that box in the middle of the lab, and I thought to myself; "Mishap, this is far to valu..dangerous a thing to just having lying around, so I put it in the safest place I could think of, which was my locker." "And this?" Punch mutters, holding up a wad of paper. "Some sort of paper, with the head of a noble monarch. What is this Mishap?" He takes one sheet of paper and sets it alight. "Planning on some ARSON?" Fireflight is still trying to find his key, looking somewhat annoyed. A few charred bits of paint tumble off him as he looks, the medic who's work was interrupted giving Red Alert a bit of a glare at this. Finally, the key is produced and he starts to work the lock open. Inside Fireflight's Locker there is: A book of Edgar Allan Poe Poetry Three 'Aviator's Fancy' magazines A high school shakespeare literacy book (Specifically, Henry the IV) A copy of Paying Attention for Dummies (Still in shrink wrap) Various odds and ends, interesting looking rocks a toy model of a Phantom painted red (Badly) Five red-bound transformer-sized journal-diaries, all of them empty. Fifteen pens, twenty half-used pencils. Lint. Mishap errrrrrs. What to say to someone that doesn't recognise Earth money? Hasn't Punch been on this mudball far longer than Mishap? Guess they've got different priorities. "Those are human credits. You.. you exchange them for goods and services that you can't be bother st.. that you want." Punch is about to throw the money on the floor, when he notices Fireflight's locker. "Models of planes AND Henry IV. Been speaking to Nightbeat have we?" he muses loudly Fireflight settles back with a sigh, wearied. He blinks, looking to PUnch "Huh? " he asks, confused "Err, not recently no. Why?" he looks in his locker again, a bit of an embarassed expression at the clutter. "This is actually quite fun" Mishap remarks to no-one in particular. "Shall we do your lockers next, Punch? Red Alert?" "Go back to your berth, Fireflight." Red Alert looks at Punch. "No matter what we find, he's not in a condition to leave, anyway." He inclines his head towards the on-duty medics, indicating they should get back to work. Then he examines the play. "Haven't been speaking to him... and yet you just /happen/ to have the precise play he's attempting to put on, Fireflight?" Red Alert's locker is filled with Security periodicals. :(Fireflight stands carefully, limping back towards his berth again gratefully to sit down. HE then blinks "... He's putting on a play?" then he notices what Red Alert was looking at "Oh. Silverbolt gave me that I think a few years ago. I forgot I had it..." he admits sheepishly. Foxfire's locker is likely filled with energon treats and chew toys. Not that anything would probably bother to look, of course. "Of course, I have nothing to hide!" Punch exclaims, clicking his fingers. "Foxfire, bring in my locker!" He then examines the rusty bracelet in Mishap's locker. "And what is THIS?" Foxfire sighs and gets up. "Okay, okay..." He pads off, and a minute or so later he returns, requested locker in tow. "Not a freakin Red Alert looks at Foxfire and inclines his head. "You may bring in mine as well." Foxfire sighs and gets up. "Okay, okay..." He pads off, and a minute or so later he returns, both requested lockers in tow. "Not a freakin' ox..." Fireflight just falls silent now as the questioning seems to be over for him, laying back down on the berth with a sigh of relief. He rubs his battered up leg, the medic returinng to work. "Oh, that's a communicator that we rigged up in Cygnus Beta" Mishap says. "They'd deactivated our radios." Red Alert frowns as he once more crouches over Mishap's locker. Naturally, good deal of this will have to be compenscated, and he's found the thief... a thief, anyway. But now that he's found a thief, does that mean Kup won't let him continue looking? Punch triumphantly swings open his locker. Inside it is mostly empty aside from a well-thumbed copy of the Autobot Handbook and a half-full prescription vial of energon-based mood stabilisers. "There. Now Mishap, back to you..." You say, "Back to me what? I've forgotten what this is all about." Fireflight looks over at Punch's locker "What's in the pill bottle?" he asks curiously. Red Alert looks up as Fireflight asks the question, and then raises both brow-ridges. "Yes, Punch, what /is/ in the pill bottle?" Red Alert works, meanwhile, to open his own locker. He has several of the security cameras of the same sort that he's been hanging all over the place, a rather large volume of security related periodicals, a couple of conspiracy magazines, and rather little else. "/Pills/" retorts Punch, taking a handfull and throwing them into his mouth before slamming his locker shut. "Your locker is pathetic Mishap but I see no evidence of traitorousness or theivery, simply /messiness/" Fireflight blinks at the snap of Punch, and shrinks back onto his bed "... okay." he states in a meek voice, falling silent once more "... Are we done then?" "Well it wasn't messy before you broke into it and started poking around" Mishap replies, pouring himself another drink. "I'm a victim of wossname." Red Alert staaaaaaaaares at Punch, and then he starts to open his mouth, and then he closes it again. He stands silently for a moment, and then finally says, "Ah." A moment later, he adds, "Yes." He looks over at Fireflight. "I believe we are done, yes. Foxfire, you may return the lockers to their proper locations." Foxfire rolls his optics. "Fine... Make the little guy do all the work..." He starts pulling the lockers out of the med bay. Punch shoves a form in the direction of Mishap. "If you feel any of your possessions were broken in the search you have 24 breems to claim compensation. Now, I must get back to work." He takes out his sidearm and snaps it into place with a satisfying click Fireflight calls after Foxfire "I'm sorry Foxfire! It was my fault!" "Not yet," Red Alert interrupts, holding up the datapad that Punch had shoved at him when he entered. Red Alert lowers stylus to datapad to /finally/ sign the thing as he leans close to Punch. It mutters to Punch, "... you," he murmurs quietly. "Ah yes." Punch exclaims to Red Alert. "If you would be so kind... thank you" Mishap carefully folds the form and stows it in one of the compartments on his legs. "See? I told you! All just a misunderstandimating. Nothing to get worked up about!" "Well, you might want to be careful about how you joke, Fireflight," Red Alert says solemnly. "Security is a /very/ serious matter." Then he looks around the room. Fireflight nods obediently "I understand sir. Sorry." he admits quietly. "Just trying to lighten the mood and all. Haven't seen my brothers since we got back. "Oh yes, no time for jokes in the Autobots" replies Mishap, rolling his optics. He lifts his energon bottle up and swirls the metallic flakes around. "It's all weapons in your face and random searches. What's next, waste testing? It's like I'm back on Cygnus Beta." "I hardly said no jokes of any kind were allowed," Red Alert replies coolly as he starts double-checking the newly installed cameras. "Only that security is not a joking matter." Message 3/67: Mishap & Fireflight Posted: Fri Nov 14 Author: Punch Punch's face appears on the screen. He is currently hurredly walking down a corridor, busy as usual (or is he, the slacker!) "After a locker search, Red Alert and I have ascertained that Mishap and Fireflight are /probably/ not traitors. Inspections will continue at random intervals. Punch out" Message 3/68: Addendum Posted: Fri Nov 14 Author: Red Alert Red Alert has attached addendum to Punch's report. He adds hastily, "Erm, naturally, I was looking for evidence of theft, not treachery. As ordered. There was no evidence of thievery, either."
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