::Where are we going?::

::To a hotel. I don't trust my apartment.::

A dose of paranoia has never hurt someone, Soundwave supposes.

Shockwave leads him through Iacon, speaking in hushed tones about the buildings they see. He describes the Senate building, with its glass ceiling and excessive decorations, in a disgusting tone. He talks about the Translucentica Heights with a somehow indifferent tone. The Senate Square is a foot note. It's a bit overwhelming, but Soundwave does his best to concentrate on Shockwave, on his emotions and his tone and his gestures. And, the strangest part, is that it works. He brushes with several mechs who are astonished to see Shockwave alive and well, with several nobles whose disdain for Soundwave's existence is seen all over them, but it doesn't hurt, not like Soundwave expected.

::You seem astonished.:

::It doesn't hurt anymore.::

::See? I told you I can help you. You are not the first outlier I'm helping.::

::You know more? Where are they?::

::Somewhere safe, I hope.::

Soundwave would like to ask more, but he stops. It's not his place to bring up things he has no business knowing.

The road to the hotel is spend in comfortable silence. Occasionally, Shockwave stops to speak with a concerned citizen, answering questions and whatever else he is supposed to do, but they don't talk at all. And, somehow, neither of them minds.

"Tomorrow is an important day," Shockwave starts. Soundwave looks up from his energon cube, eyeing Shockwave. "I received a notice. It looks like we are invited to tell our story to my fellow Senators."

Contempt. Disgust. Hurt.

Soundwave doesn't comment.

"Drink slowly," Shockwave says, "I don't want to shock your systems. Tomorrow, I'd like you to concentrate on Decimus, Proteus and Ratbat. You've met the first two today. You will meet Ratbat tomorrow. If the first two aren't predictable, Ratbat is. To some degree," He adds. "He's an opportunist, always was and always will be."

"Any danger?" Soundwave puts the cube down, feeling a bit nauseous. It's going to take a while for his systems to get used to Iaconian energon.

"On a scale from 1 to 10? I'd say a 7. I don't know things about him. I don't know where his allegiance is. I don't know what ties he has with the Cybertron underground, I just know he has."

"You know where to start from. You have the Institute, Cybertron Underground, and those three Senators. You need to find the tie between them," Soundwave points out.

"Which is the hardest part. They don't trust me. They know where my allegiance lies. For all I known, they believe Sherma, Momus, and I are Decepticons sympathizers."

"Did you speak it in front of them?"

"No, but actions speak louder than words. I've had my share of dumb things."

Soundwave stops to consider Shockwave's words. While actions do speak louder than words, hidden alliances are easier to hide than visible ones. As long as Shockwave never told someone he believes in the Decepticons' cause, then a sudden change in his behavior wouldn't be put under the same scrutiny. However, Shockwave has a point. A person who fought for equal rights turning their behavior 180º would raise questions indeed. It might be explained as trauma response, but how many will accept it?

Soundwave is at an impasse. He has known Shockwave for three weeks while Decimus, for example, has known Shockwave for much longer. Soundwave sees the tip of the iceberg– the circumstances and actions which lead to them meeting. He's vaguely aware things, Shockwave debriefed him about his life and whatever, but here's another problem. Shockwave has his perspective, which implies an unspoken bias. It's easier for someone to justify themselves in front of a crowd because they have the experiences, the past, and the perspective which makes sense to them, but might not make sense to the crowd at all. After all, everyone is unique.

Shockwave could have been reasonable in his quest for justice, but that's his opinion. In everyone's opinion, Shockwave might have been a complete lunatic. He can justify himself, but it won't justify him in front of Decimus.

Which leads to another problem: how much does Decimus knows about what happened? Soundwave tried to peak in his mind earlier, but found nothing of interest there. Decimus was curious about what happened, but nothing more. As far as Soundwave is concerned, Decimus has no problem with Soundwave. However, when it comes to Proteus, Soundwave is at loss.

"No. As long as you didn't announce yourself as a Decepticon sympathizer, there is no need for them to treat you as one. A hidden alliance is easier to hide than a spoken one," Soundwave speaks.

"I need a good excuse," Shockwave admits. "I can use the whole experience, but it wouldn't explain the sudden change. Unless… I act confused. If the experience was so traumatic," Shockwave stops and stares at Soundwave, "it might be enough to change my cores value. If the things I've seen were so horrible, then it would explain why I am no longer interested into equality."

Soundwave follows the idea. Kind of, but not quite sure.

"Explain," he says.

"Earlier, I said everyone has their place and we shouldn't intervene. If I appear too radical, they won't trust me," Soundwave nods, "But if I look swayable, no longer so confident in me and my beliefs, like I could be persuaded to their side, it might work."

Soundwave doesn't trust the 'might work' at all. The idea is good, but he wonders if Shockwave can pull it off. He has the determination, and yet Soundwave can't help but wonder how far is Shockwave willing to go to get his revenge. Flirting with the devil will bring more devils out.

Instead of voicing his doubts, Soundwave nods. It's not his place.

"Work on Proteus. He's… emotionally weaker than Decimus."

Shockwave gives him a brilliant, confident smile.

Soundwave has a headache.

Proteus is linked to Sentinel Prime, which isn't good at all. Last night, when Soundwave told Shockwave to go after Proteus, he had never expected such an entanglement. It serves him right for not thinking about possible complications, but to be fair, who could have knew Sentinel was loyal to Proteus for no reason other than something more intimate.

::We have a problem.::

::What kind of problem?::

::A rather complicated one.::

::Shockwave sighs.::

::Explain.::

::Sentinel Prime and Proteus are … intimately involved.::

::Together? Dating?::

::Not quite. They are involved.::

::How wonderful. How involved?::

::Hard to say.::

::So I might make a mistake if I go after him?::

::Most likely. Do not approach until he does.::

::Sure.::

::Shockwave?::

::Yes?::

::Do not overthink. Do not overestimate. Do not underestimate. Follow his lead.::

::Will do.::

After Shockwave led him to his chair, someone requested his presence and Shockwave had to leave to attend his duties. According to his internal clock, it's been 15 minutes. He hopes no one had the mind to assassinate Shockwave before the meeting could start.

"Soundwave, how delightful to see you again."

"Good morning," He gets up and bows, just like Shockwave taught him to. A serene expression falls on his face, features arranged into a calm he doesn't feel.

"Senator Ratbat, I'd like to introduce you to Soundwave, the mech who saved Senator Shockwave from an unfortunate death in Yuss."

When Shockwave described him, he was underestimating him. The mech's field is warm and gentle, but the leer on his face doesn't hide the disgust and the contempt at all. Soundwave decides he can't be trust at all.

"We were just talking about the unfortunate event. I was looking forward to seeing Shockwave, but I had other duties to attend, so I told Senator Proteus and Senator Decimus to send my warm regards. It's a pleasure to meet you," Ratbat says, studying him.

Such a pity. If it weren't for your optics, you would look so cute in my collection. What a pretty thing you are.

"Likewise."

Never underestimate, Senator Ratbat. It might be your undoing

Senator Momus leads Soundwave to the podium. No one is watching, which makes it easier for Momus to slip a piece of paper inside Soundwave's wrist. After all, it's not like Soundwave's confession will matter so much. It's a part of formalities.

Senator Shockwave follows. If Soundwave delivered the minimum, the same narrative he fed to the enforcers, Shockwave is prepared for something dramatic.

"I was meeting with a friend of mine, Orion Pax," he starts, looking straight at Soundwave. Soundwave looks back.

Sentinel Prime doesn't care. Neither does Decimus. Nor Ratbat. Dai Atlas is listening. Sherma and Momus are discussing the inconsistencies, sending them to Soundwave through a secured link. And Proteus is watching, but there is something different with him and Soundwave can't put his finger on what.

He would like to push, but there is the risk of being discovered, so Soundwave doesn't go further. There will be more opportunities, he tells himself.

A bit of concern surrounds Proteus, but about what? It could be related to the report he mentioned yesterday, but the senator never said something about its content. He was worried yesterday too, especially when Decimus asked about Shockwave's memories, but it ended as soon as Shockwave mentioned them being corrupted. And he was also suspicious of Shockwave too, as if he knew he was lying.

Which makes no sense from a logical point.

If Decimus was the reason Shockwave was taken away, why is Proteus worried? Or is he worried because of Shockwave? But he and Sentinel Prime are… intimately involved, so why does he care about Shockwave? It's back to square one. Why is Proteus the weird one?

Maybe Shockwave was wrong, Soundwave concludes, but he saw the memories, even relived them at some point. If he hadn't heard Decimus' voice, he would have told Shockwave he was wrong, but he heard it. Furthermore, the vocal samples are a match, which means it was Decimus who spoke.

Perhaps, Proteus knew Shockwave saw Decimus, but why is he the worried one instead of Decimus? Didn't he keep this as a secret?

Soundwave's headache gets stronger. There's something not clicking and Soundwave would like to move away from it, let it be Shockwave's headache, but he can't. Soundwave made a promise and will see it through, not matter what.

But to move back to point one, he just wants to know why Proteus is being so weird. His emotions are all over the place. His thoughts are a scrambled mess. Why?

::Soundwave?::

::Yes, Senator Sherma?::

::Shockwave is almost finished.::

Shockwave lies and lies and lies until there are no more words on his tongue. Then, when he stops, the silence becomes overwhelming. No one dares speak yet, still processing Shockwave's words.

"Does anyone have questions?"

"Are you sure his memories are corrupted?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, I've tried everything, but the files can't open. It appears that whoever took Senator Shockwave was well-versed in hiding their tracks."

"Senator Shockwave never told me where he went," Orion Pax answers. "He mentioned an emergency, then left rapidly."

"And you never questioned it?"

"Shockwave is a senator. I don't have a reason to question him. If he has an emergency, then who am I to tell him to stay? I thought it was related to his work, so yes, I never questioned it."

The meeting doesn't end with a conclusion, which isn't surprising at all. It feels quite anticlimactic to return to Shockwave's hotel room without a tangible result, but Soundwave still has a long way to go. The pieces are there, but it seems futile to attempt it without a complete picture. He has some ideas, which one to go after, which one is more likely to…, but so far, it's all been intuition.

Then, he remembers the paper Senator Momus shoved inside his wrist.

"The message," he says and extends his arm.

It takes a few seconds for Shockwave to get it out. Inside, messily written, Soundwave finds a bunch of numbers followed by a name.

"Megatron?" He reads out.

"The leader of Decepticons," Shockwave answers.

Author's Note; So far, Shockwave and Soundwave are still working on getting the band together. We will have all the players on the board soon. Until next chapter, take care and see you next time.