0003: NEW ARRIVALS

[crux_npcs]

Who: New Arrivals, Captain Jack Hollis, Science Captain Urist McEngineer, Graham Baker
Where: Briefing Room
When: Late afternoon
Warnings: None

When awakening, you'll find the area you're in to be very busy. The people in the medical ward are polite and understanding, but firmly refuse to answer questions until the briefing. The same goes for the robots in the hangars. Either given hospital outfits resembling very comfortable pajamas, drone bodies, or their own bodies, they are escorted by polite, unyielding people in red and black uniforms to the briefing room.

The room is large, but not quite large enough for some of the bigger Cybertronians. They've been given drone bodies at least, skinny little things with no real features beyond primitive masks made of paper plates. There's seats for everyone, at least, well-cushioned and comfortable, and the room is pleasantly lit.

A few Security personnel, dressed in their red and black uniforms, stand at ease in the rooms in strategic areas. Three men stand at the head. One is Graham Baker, a slightly nervous-seeming middle-aged man wearing a multi-layered business suit that seems rumpled and oversized. The other two men are dressed in military uniforms, one with the blue undershirt and piping of Command, while the other wears the gold of Science.

[Questions to the NPCs will go in the briefing thread. The rest of the post is there for people to mill about and do whatever with.]

Comments

[crux_npcs]

"That's what it's called? We'll make a note of it for future awakenings."

There's a slight delay of a few minutes before the questions are input. They're short and to the point, at least.

"First: Are you aware of, or have you had contact with, the Rogue AIs of Bama?"

"Second: What is your current legal status among your people?"

"Third: Will you harm any Fleet civilians or personnel upon being reinstalled into your proper body?"

"Fourth: If reinstalled, will you comply with Fleet orders until you have completed the briefing?"

[tomemyoutliers]

"No, I have not." But it's the second question that gives him pause - if they can tell that he's lying, then it's likely they can tell when he's not giving them the full truth as well. "I am a Senator of the Grand Imperium of Cybertron, and wrongfully accused of creating an army. It was a school."

Shockwave isn't an idiot - he knows the Outliers were only a convenient excuse to send him to the Institute and for Proteus to make him manageable. His anger returns for a second or two, and he doesn't reply until he's able to shove it aside.

"No, certainly not." He can't even imagine doing so. "Yes - and I can expect the full story there, correct?"

[crux_npcs]

Another Senator? With all of the royalty and politicians they were getting, he was beginning to feel like he was in some kind of robotic Shakespeare play.

"Well, Senator, we don't consider education a crime here. If you'll hold on just a second..."

There's a long pause, and then an influx of data. His body, recorded down to the last scratch, the various layers of paint, and even the molecular make-up of his teeth. It even has pictures.

"This is the body we have on record for you. Is this correct?"

[tomemyoutliers]

"Thankfully. I'd have to take it up with your superiors otherwise."

It would certainly be an emotional conversation.

"That's correct." It could use a new color scheme. Maybe something in purple? He'd have to think about that, and find out if it was possible to even get paint here in the first place. "Your information is astonishingly thorough."

Shockwave's more curious than upset at that.

[crux_npcs]

That'd be a thing to watch.

"We use sensors capable of running through the entire EM spectrum. That and, well. We've sort of had your body in rotary storage for a few weeks. That's a long time to get an in-depth readthrough." And they've been pretty bored.

"Give us a few minutes and we'll be able to put your spark back in your body. Don't worry, we've been doing this pretty often lately."

It's more like a thirty minute wait, but they're true to their word at least. The only thing that might seem off are the large robotic suits standing in out-of-the-way corners of the room. Just in case.

[tomemyoutliers]

"A few weeks?" That was disconcerting, and the wait only makes him more eager to get back into his body. To say nothing of the fact that they've been doing it often.

Shockwave at least waits waits a moment or two for whoever is placing his spark back in his body to get clear before he gets to his feet - running a quick systems check while he does so just to be certain that everything at least feels like it should.

"Thank you." A pause, and Shockwave's easygoing expression changes into a frown. "I don't suppose I could speak to whoever is in charge at a later time?" Once he has a better grasp of the situation here, that is.

[crux_npcs]

"Closing in on about six or seven, yeah. You guys have been out of it for a while." Not that they'd put a lot of effort into waking the robots up. And, really, some of them warranted a lot of investigation.

The movement draws some attention. There are some other robots around, mechanical suits, really, that were roughly Sentinel Prime's size. Thankfully, they didn't seem as heavily armed, but the fact that they had weapons in an environment like this probably said something as to how confident they were.

The one who answers him is a young man in the all-black of Engineering. An Ensign, from the looks of things. Not that Shockwave had that knowledge yet.
In any case, he makes an amused noise. "The two Queens didn't want to speak to anyone and then the Senators all want to talk to someone. Yes, Senator Shockwave, you may speak to Captain Allerdyce after the briefing. She's already accepted the other request, so we should be able to squeeze you in easily enough."

Apparently not considering his statement worth following up on, he gestures to a small, spindly robot. "We apologize for the state of our drones. We made them in a hurry a few weeks ago and we're still working on an improved model. You'll need to use this to attend the briefing. We can let you control it through radio signals, if you've got that capability, or we have some electrodes and lenses to let you control it remotely through your own, ah..." How to phrase it? He waves his hands for a moment, then sighs. "...the same impulses that you move your own limbs."

[tomemyoutliers]

His optics narrow at the sight of the mechanical suits and their weapons - he couldn't be more unarmed if he tried. Surely their scans had told them that much, to say nothing of the time they had with his sparkless body. It's not the second part of whatever the organic had to say that catches Shockwave's attention, however.

"There's another Senator here?" That was-- he trusted very few of his coworkers. Just Dai Atlas, in fact, although Sherma and Momus had both appealed to him before their murder. Shockwave wasn't going to hold his breath for anyone he'd like to see. "Your Captain Allerdyce has my thanks."

Which just leaves the small drone. He crouches down to get a better glance at it, a thoughtful hum coming from his throat. "Understood. I'll take the second option." Mostly because he'd like to see the tech involved.