| abstract | - Nurse's Office - Iacon -- The Past The nurse's office is in a shambles as poor, frazzled Pipo tries desperately to clean back and return the assorted tools, scanners, and robomedications to where they belong. He never actually manages to get this done before some other person - as often as not, the Prime himself - comes stumbling in needing repairs and forcing him to pull everything back out again. The patients are no help, cheerfully leaving the area in as much of a shambles as they can get away with - some sort of revenge on Pipo for being a male Micromaster nurse instead of a hot babe nurse. If he ever had time to take a proper inventory, Pipo might realize that someone's been raiding those medical cabinets, but he doesn't, and so it's gone unnoticed. Alpha Trion can't say he approves of what Sentinel Prime has done with Iacon. The medical ward is a right mess! Seems like Pipo cannot keep a handle on what his patients dish out. They say wizards can clean a room by just waving their hands, and Alpha Trion is - he's waving his hands while wielding a vacuum. Magic. Ultra Magnus -was- resting in what passes as a Medical Facility here in Iacon. It is nothing like back home, where silence is golden, parts and help are usually in abundance. But this is a different time, a different Prime. Speaking of which, is that a vacuum Magnus hears during his rest? Leaning up, the City Commander squints an optic at what appears to be Alpha Trion. "Excuse me sir, but is that neccessary?" Alpha Trion replies, unwavering, "I'd say so. I'd say it was necessary fifty vorns ago, but there's no better time than the present." He peers over at Ultra Magnus, blue optics more than curious. "But maybe not right this moment. You aren't from around these parts." He says it as a statement, not a question. "You'd be correct in that assumption, sir." Ultra Magnus replies, getting up from the slab he was rested on and walking a few paces across the room towards the Autobot elder. Technically, aren't all the Autobots in this time elders ... since they are all older than him? "We haven't had a chance to meet, the name is Magnus." he states calmly, leaning forward with a hand held out. Alpha Trion is younger now than he will be when he dies! But he is certainly an elder, all the same. He accepts Ultra Magnus's handshake, perhaps not the feeble, infirm old man he might seem. He introduces himself simply, "Alpha Trion," and does ask, "Should you be up and walking, Ultra Magnus?" He says the name like he is testing it, trying to shake out its echoes and see what it is made of. "I saw those Ibexians carry you off. Sentinel Prime," now there is a name Alpha Trion does not favour, "was not interested in a rescue. Care to tell the tale?" Ultra Magnus relaxes back against a slab, his hands held behind him on the ledge to prop himself up. "Well, I should take things easy ... but walking should be well within my capabilities at the moment, sir." he replies, a glint in his optic. He's actually speaking with Alpha Trion, the Alpha Trion. "Where should I start? I'm sure I won't have to bore you with details on the torture I recieved, so why don't we skip to the rescue?" Alpha Trion taps his fingers on his lower arm, and he notes, "It's a man of a certain character that can call torture boring. What were they after, out of you?" Unsaid: and what did you tell them? "And who were Autobot enough to rescue you? Do tell that, truly." "Me Grimlock rescue him Magnus 'cuz nobody else brave 'nuff for do it!" And so enters Grimlock! Perhaps he's caught rumors of 'that beardy guy' in the medical bay- and if it's Scourge, he'll have to beat the snot out of a Sweep. Good thing it's Alpha Trion. "Oh, and him Jazz help some too." Grimlock notes, almost as an afterthought. If Grimlock has any sort of reverential awe for the ancient sage, he certainly doesn't show it. "Well, it was riveting ... I'll leave it at that. They wanted certain, information. That which couldn't be given, no matter the consequences or threats delivered upon me." Ultra Magnus sighs, trying to keep his mind off of subject of electrictrifying punishment handed out to him. "Soundwave has ... certain methods that resist concious deterrents. He was able to ascertain my origination, nothing more." Alpha Trion is so not Scourge. Alpha Trion is wise enough not to wear pink nailpolish. He suggests, "I don't think it was a lack of courage that kept Sentinel Prime from helping." More jealously and paranoia. "But you aren't from here, either, Grimlock." Alpha Trion seems accepting of the primative, where others may have shown bias. It isn't the form that matters but the actions taken. "That much? A pity. But we will make due, hmm?" "Psh! Him Big-Chin am BIG WEENER. Me not know how him be leader." and with that, Grimlock affixes Alpha Trion with a slightly suspicious look- one exaberated by the old mech's words as to his origins. "Hnnn. That right. You know how us can get back?" Grimlock asks, blunt as usual. Ultra Magnus looks up at the Dinobot as he saunters in, with his usual air of arrogance. However, that doesn't dismiss the mech's ability in the thick of it. "Yes, we will have to. Grimlock! I was just telling Alpha Trion about your daring rescue attempt. Why don't you take over the retelling, it's probably more envigorating from your perspective." Alpha Trion replies dryly, "I have gathered that much." The Matrix makes mysterious choices, but Alpha Trion feels he has a right to question it. He holds up one hand, and he asks Ultra Magnus, "Do you /want/ to go back?" It isn't an answer to Grimlock's question, but it is perhaps more important. Grimlock has gotten right to the point, while Ultra Magnus has avoided it. That is a curious thing, a thing to be poked and prodded. "YEAH." Grimlock says. "This place am dumb!" Grimlock crosses his arms across his chest. "But if me Grimlock stuck here, me Grimlock am gonna take over. Him Sentinel not very good at Prime-ing." Having met three such Primes now, Grimlock would know! "Right. Well, I suppose the story will have to wait for another time Trion. I can call you Trion, right?" Ultra Magnus stammers, having relaxed a little too much. "Do we want to go back? Is that a rhetorical question, sir? Every moment we stay here, we risk more permanent damage to the timestream. Even now, we're not entirely sure if our future exists at all ... just some alternative reality because of this meddling, however insignificant." Grimlock turns towards Ultra Magnus. "Unless us already SUPPOSED to go back in time. Cuz it already happen when us am in future. Which am us past. Or...uh, somethings." Grimlock scratches at his helmet- his CPU obviously not used to mulling over quantum dynamics. "So us can do whatever us want, right? 'cuz it already happen?" Alpha Trion looks at Ultra Magnus, expression stern, and he replies, "You can call me anything. Doesn't make it my name. And you still haven't said if you /want/ to go back. You've just told me why you should want to. Not if you do." Alpha Trion is splitting wires very fine here, but it is of the utmost importance. He looks over Grimlock, arms crossed. Take over from Sentinel Prime? Alpha Trion supposes the Autobots could do worse. Ultra Magnus leans backwards, contemplating the correct response. Is he selfish for considering his options, considering how the Autobots would be with different leadership during these trying times ... hell, how the war would have gone with heavy hitters like Grimlock and himself on their side, here and now? Does that make him a selfish mech, because the thought of ending this war before it gets out of hand, gets off planet ... entices him? "Yes." he replies, his stern voice curt and emotionless. Grimlock grunts at Alpha Trion. "So? You know how send us back? No say us have to click magic shoes or nothings, 'cuz that trick no work. Also am dumb." Alpha Trion paces a bit, as if he is uncertain. But he's decided. He was decided as soon as he learned of the matter. He just had to know these strangers were decided, as well. Alpha Trion finally answers Grimlock's question, "I know a way that might work, but you'll have to focus, and you'll have to want it, really want it. You'll only get one shot. You see, the Quartzite Mountain doesn't belong here, either. Dealer can lead you to it - he's a knowledgeable lad," and perhaps Alpha Trion is trying a gambit of his own here, in his choice of guide. "Search it carefully - it is quite dangerous - and you will find something like a great lense. But it doesn't just bend light. I think it bends... more." Thoughts. Space. Time. Perhaps something else entirely. "It is a doorway, but there's nothing on the other side. Use it to focus your thoughts. Put your home on the other side of the door - but be quick about it, before the door slams shut." Grimlock uuuuhs, and scratches at his helmet again. "Big. Lens. Huh. That dumbest idea me Grimlock ever heard!" he shakes his head. "But me Grimlock go ANYWAY, 'cuz me got nothing betters to do..." he considers for a few moments, and glances to Ultra Magnus before he looks back to A3 again. "Hnnn. Fore us go, maybe us need to kill him Scorponok or somethings?" he offers- almost hopeful. Ultra Magnus follows suit, scratching at his helm. A giant lense, that can send us back through time? Or forward through time, however you look at it really. But will it work, I mean ... it sounds loopy as all get out. Then again, so does hitting a black monolith and suddenly appearing here in the past. "Oh, sorry. Lost in my thoughts there." Magnus stammers, "But yes, we must try. And we will not be silencing Scorponok in the past Grimlock. I implore you to make it your first objective upon returning to our proper time and place. And if it doesn't work?" he asks Alpha Trion, his brows bridged up and optics wide. Alpha Trion shakes his head, and he says, "My brothers were more adept in matters of time than I am, Excelsius with his Oracle, and..." And Straxus doesn't bear speaking of. "You won't have time to do any pest extermination. You must gather your fellows." He crooks a finger at the displaced Autobots. "I know you aren't the only two." Then, Alpha Trion looks to Ultra Magnus and explains, "If you worry about other options, I can guarantee that it /won't/ work. One little imperfection can shatter the sturdiest wall. If it doesn't work, cross that bridge when you come to it, but no sooner." "Oooh oooh ooh! What 'bout Septi-cons? Him Astrotrain still 'round. Me Grimlock bet it be bad if future-cons am still here!" "He does bring up a very good point, what about the myriad of Decepticons displaced in this time as well?" Ultra Magnus questions Alpha Trion. Alpha Trion smiles faintly, and he replies, "Oh, I have a feeling they'll be around." He waves his hand dismissively. "Just in the nick of time." Decepticons are dratted pests, that way. Grimlock hmms, and narrows his optic ridge. "Hnn. If you say so..." he rumbles- and then looks over at Magnus. "Me Grimlock go look for them other guys. Me see you when it time to go!" and with that, Grim tromps out! Ultra Magnus starts to speak, then cuts himself off. What's the use of preaching caution at a Dinobot ... he'd have better luck convincing a wall to dance around in a jig. "So, Alpha Trion. Why exactly are you helping us? It may go without saying from some of my troops, but I'd like to hear it straight ... from you. If that's all fine and dandy." Alpha Trion is also headed for the exit, but he pauses. "A fair enough question. We're all products of our times. If you're what the future holds for the Autobots, I can only assume that it needs you." He nods his head once firmly. Ultra Magnus nods his head in approval, then climbs back up onto the slab and lays out. "Your answer is ... satisfactory. My thanks Alpha Trion, without your help..." he trails off, preferring not to finish that particular statement. Alpha Trion snorts, "Without my help, you'd just have to find another way, hmm?" But then the eccentric old Autobot's off.
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