"An AI?" Ratchet asked as the group reconvene at the lunchroom at 9:00. Everyone who didn't get any energon earlier quickly went and got some.
"Well, it's on the verge of being one, so it's best to keep an eye on it," Perceptor told them. "Who knows what it could do unrestrained."
"Huh, interesting," Jazz muttered. "We haven't really used AI's after that one incident."
"Incident?" Nautilator asked. "What incident?"
"An AI made by Jhaxius ended up turning a lot of VI's into AI's and severally wrecked our system. We had to engage in a major purge, destroying the AI's in the process. We haven't used them sense," Jazz explained.
"Well, then, could he be the one to lock us here?" he asked them. "He sounds smart enough to make that AI
"He's dead," Bludgeon told him. "Caught in an explosion by annihilation generators. There was no body to find."
"Oh… damn," Nautilator muttered. "Dude went out with a bang, huh?"
"Doesn't matter. Point is, this can't be him," Jazz told him. "It's hard for the dead to do something like that."
"Well then, who else could it have been?" he asked everyone.
"Most of the scientist from the Decepticons have been helping out with Reconstruction with plenty of surveillance and the rest are locked up," Bumblebee said. "That probably rules them out."
"So it's probably a NAIL of some-sort that has us trapped here, liked the headmaster!" Hound announced.
"Hey, how come we're not suspecting any of your guys?" Swindle asked the Autobots. "Just because you won doesn't mean that some of you weren't sadistic enough to pull this off, like Flame or Pharma."
"Most of the scientists are under our command and don't have enough time to do something like this, and the rest have been arrested and put in prison if they committed war crimes," Hoist told him.
"Exactly, so don't blame us!" Blurr told him.
"Okay, so if we're right, than a NAIL has to be responsible for this, correct?" Blast Off asked them. "It would explain why he target both Decepticon and Autobots."
"That's right. The dude who put us here must have a grudge against us," Beachcomber agreed.
"A grudge against both of us. Now who would have one?" Hound asked them.
"Hey, you bastards!" Monobear shouted as he entered. "What are you talking about?"
"What the- how does it keep appearing out of nowhere?" Beachcomber asked the group.
"Couldn't you just check the cameras to figure out what we're talking about?" Blast Off asked him.
"Well, normally I would, but my cameras have been acting up," Monobear said, glaring at them. "It's never done that before, so I'm guessing one of you bastards is messing with my cameras somehow!"
"What, but how could we even do that?" Mirage asked him.
"I don't know. That's what I'm trying to figure out!" he told the group. "If whoever doing it doesn't stop, things are going to get a bit crazy," he announced ominously.
"Wait, how long has this been going on?" Knock Out asked the bear.
"Since this morning," Monobear said, gritting his teeth. "If I figure out which of you have done it, you best prepare for pain!" he told the group before disappearing again.
"Okay, which of us is messing with his cameras?" Skywarp asked the group.
"How could any of us do it?" Rewind asked the group. "There's no way we can reached the security cameras, right?"
"Soundwave was able to tap into it, but none of us have the skills that he's got," Nightbeat remembered, "unless someone has been hiding them."
"Hmm…," Perceptor hummed to himself.
"Huh, you know something?" Mixmaster asked him.
"I think… I may know who's behind this," he told the group.
"Huh? Who?" Smokescreen asked him.
"Well, I think I'll tell you later. It's just a hypothesis, and I need to see if it's true," Perceptor told the group. "After I look into it, I will inform you if I'm right."
"That sounds fine," Nightbeat agreed, getting up. "Besides, Mixmaster needs to help me open a door."
"A door? Where?" Mixmaster asked.
"Inside a room in the maintenance halls," he told him. "Could hold something valuable. Found it hiding behind some debris."
"Huh, well, I guess I can spare the time. Scavenger, stay with Jazz while I take care of this," Mixmaster ordered, standing up. "Let's go ahead and get this done."
"That's fine with me," Nightbeat agreed.
"I'll come too," Nautilator said, stumbling up and heading with the two of them out the room.
"Meet back here at 12:00," Jazz told them.
"You got it," Nightbeat agreed, the three of them now out of the room.
"Well, I guess I'll make my leave," Perceptor said, getting up and heading out, leaving the other twenty behind.
"Well, what can we do?" Bumblebee asked the rest of the group.
"Well, I guess we can just hand out," Hound said.
"Right," Jazz told the group, "but please be careful. You never know what's going to happen next."
Perceptor entered a random store, attracting the attention of the VI. "You again. What do you want?" he asked him.
"I'm just going to go ahead and assume that you're the one screwing with the cameras," Perceptor told him, attracting an inquisitive look from the AI.
"Pretty smart of you to already figure it out," he told him, sounding interested. "The cameras are messing up again right now, by the way."
"Well, with Soundwave dead, the only other viable choice was you," Perceptor explained to him. "What I want to know is why."
"Isn't it obvious? If the mastermind find out about my, uh, special circumstances, he might do something drastic. So, keep it on the down low," the AI explained to him.
"And what's keeping me from telling Monobear?" Perceptor asked him. "You said it yourself, you can't kill me."
"I can't kill you myself, but I can influence the events to lead to your death," the V/AI said malevolently, leaning on the counter to glare at Perceptor. "Listen closely, I abide by my rules just like everyone else, but rules can be bend. If you want to talk about me, go to the one who got burn's room."
"Shockwave's? Why?" Perceptor asked.
"Remember the fire? It took out the cameras in there, leaving you free to talk in private there. He doesn't usually fix anything broken unless it's necessary or the killing game is over, so take advantage of it. Hey, I might even decide to meet you there once in a while," he told him.
"Why?" Perceptor asked suspiciously.
"Well, you want to know the mastermind, right? I may decide to give you a hint ever now and then," he told him.
Perceptor raised his eyebrow considerably at that. "Really now?" he asked him.
"Yes, so please shut up about me and converse about other things. It's to your advantage to do as I say," he told him, relaxing behind the counter again. "Now then, is there anything else you want?" he asked in a faux-chipper tone.
"No. I think I have everything I need," Perceptor told him, heading out of the store, leaving the V/AI by himself.
"Alright," Mixmaster said as he was done getting through the lock, "we may enter." He grabbed one half of the door and Nightbeat grabbed the other; the two pulled the doors open, showing a staircase leading down and letting a rather foul smell enter the room.
"Ugh, what is that?" Nautilator asked, clutching his face. "I wish I turned my olfactory senses off."
"Smells like," Nightbeat muttered, getting a good whiff, "rusting bodies."
"Well, that's ominous," Mixmaster said, looking at the staircase. "Well, Guess we better head down to find out what's down there."
"Can't we wait…," Nautilator asked them timidly.
"Feel free to stay up here if you want to, but I'm looking down there now," Nightbeat told him heading down the staircase, Mixmaster following behind him. Nautilator glanced at them heading down before giving a silent curse and followed them down. The three descended the not very well-lit staircase until they reached a closed door that happen to be unlocked.
"Well, guess the smell is coming from here," Mixmaster murmured, grabbing the handle. "Ready?" he asked them.
"Yes," Nightbeat answered simply.
"Uh, sure," Nautilator could barely mustered. Mixmaster gave a nod before he opened the door, letting them see a gruesome sight.
"What the…?" he murmured as the three entered the wide room to find it full of rusted bodies that looked like it had been decaying for the past couple of years. "Who are these people and why are they dead?"
"I don't know, but they certainly look familiar," Nightbeat said, closely examining the closest one.
"Uh, how do they look familiar?" Nautilator asked him.
"Now that I think about, they do look like people I've seen before," Mixmaster said, looking at the corpses.
"I got it!" Nightbeat shouted. "These are the students."
"Huh?" Nautilator asked, confused.
"This one, I remember him. He was one of the fighters from the tournament," Nightbeat explained to them. "I imagine the rest of them are the students."
"You know, some of them look odd," Mixmaster said, examining a body. "The wounds are so unnatural, like this one who looks like he had all of his organs removed and the one stringed up like a puppet."
"Hey, you think… some of them were executed like Soundwave, Brawl, and Chromedome were?" Nautilator asked them.
"That makes sense," Nightbeat agreed, looking at the bodies. "They must've competed in the same killing games we were in and lost."
"How many are there?" Nautilator asked the group.
"It looks like… roughly 60," Nightbeat told them.
"Well, anything else to find here?" Mixmaster asked.
"I don't know, but I kind of just want to get out of here," Nightbeat told him. "We should probably get more people to explore the room with us."
"Yeah, the place looks very big," Mixmaster assented. "Probably needs more than the three of us to fully investigate it."
"Okay, so, we can get the heck out of here," Nautilator asked them, "because I really want to."
"Yeah, let's leave the bodies behind," Nightbeat agreed. The three made a hasty exit out of the room, leaving the rusted bodies behind.
Smokescreen place 50 monocoins on the table. "Black," he said, and the robot on hand gave a nod and activated the roulette. After a tense minute, the ball finally landed in a spot, which just so happened to be black. "Yeah!" Smokescreen cheered as he was handed his monocoins. "It's as easy as killing a paraplegic."
"Had experience?" Mirage asked next to him.
"Maybe…," Smokescreen drew out. "Does it matter?"
Mirage gave a nearly silent curse before answering, "No, I guess not."
"It sure sounds like it matters to you," Smokescreen noticed as he laid another 50 on the table. "Black."
"Well, you sure are unscrupulous," Mirage told him.
"Yeah, and…?" Smokescreen questioned. "Everybody knows that although I do have enough morality to pick the side of freedom," he reminded him.
"True, but it still bothers me…," Mirage muttered.
"Hey, if you're worried about me murdering someone, don't. I won't kill any one of you guys, honestly," he told him.
"Well, you're still a suspect in the serial killer case, so I can't completely believe that," Mirage reminded him. "Las I checked, none of you have been disproven of being the one to bashed in Scavenger's head."
"Oh, yeah. Forgot about that."
"We still haven't found Scavenger's datapad. If we could, we could eliminate two people off the suspect list," Mirage thought about it.
"Yes, we could, if we can figure out where he put it," Smokescreen muttered.
"Or you."
"Oh come on, really?" Smokescreen asked, turning to glare at him. "Are you really suspecting of being the serial killer?"
"Well, I do think it's a toss-up between anyone one of you," Mirage told him, looking away. "All of you are pretty suspicious, including Blast Off, unfortunately. He always went off to do things behind my back…."
"Well than, stop worrying about me," Smokescreen ordered, getting the monocoins he won from the ball landing in black again. "Besides, my money is on Bludgeon. Fragging brute probably did a lot of things before the war started. He most certainly capable of doing it," Smokescreen said as he collected the coins and put them into subspace. "Well then, I'm leaving now with my prize. Have fun doing whatever while I hit the store." With that, Smokescreen left the area, leaving Mirage alone with his thoughts.
"Hmm, who to trust in here?" he muttered to himself. "Should I even trust anyone?" He stood there alone with his thoughts for a second, before coming to a decision and left the casino. "I should probably see Hoist."
"Alright, Scavenger, how do you feel," Ratchet asked him, re-bandaging Scavenger's head wound while he laid on the table in the med-lab.
"I feel fine, I guess," Scavenger said with a shrug of his head. "It's still very hard to walk straight, but I won't die yet."
"Well then, that's good," Ratchet muttered. "Since you've had some time to clear your thoughts, can you tell me and Jazz any more information from when you were hit?" he asked him.
"Uh, hold on. Let me think…," Scavenger murmured. "Uh, I'm not quite sure, but I think it was, uh, maybe a couple of hours after I talked to you guys, I think. It was probably at around 82 hours left for the deadline," he told them. "Could be before or after it."
"Really? Well, judging from everyone's alibi, we might be able to knock one or two out," Jazz said, thinking it through.
"Hey, guys, I want to know something," Scavenger murmured. "How did the serial killer know I had his secret?"
"Uh?" Ratchet asked. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I only told you two and Knock Out about it, so how did he knew? It was the only time I talked about it," Scavenger asked the duo.
"That's… actually a good point. They must've listen in on our conversation," Jazz figured out.
"Which means, if someone doesn't have a alibi at that time, then they could've heard us talk about it," Ratchet said, figuring it out.
"So, if someone is accounted for at the 84 hour mark and the 82.5-81.5 hour mark, then they couldn't have done it," Jazz figured out.
"Most likely, yes," Ratchet agreed.
"I'll have to re-review everyone's alibi and see if anyone can absolve them of doing it," Jazz said, heading out.
"Well, good job Scavenger," Ratchet complimented him while helping him off the table. "It's good that you remember that."
"Well, I had to help Hook a lot so I had to pay attention to details," Scavenger shrugged off.
"Well, at least we're one step closer to a safer environment," Ratchet murmured. "Now, I recall that you're wanting to be a medic, right? Fully certified and might be able to be a doctor, correct?" he asked Scavenger.
"Uh, yeah…," Scavenger asked, uncertain.
"Well, come on, let's fine some medical documents and I can instruct you on some of the finer points of it," Ratchet offered.
"Oh, that would be… nice," Scavenger said, the two of them heading out.
At twelve, everyone regroup at the lunchroom. "Okay, what did we find?" Jazz asked Perceptor and Nightbeat.
"Well, the room that we were found was a basement type area that hold a lot of bodies," Nightbeat told the group.
"Bodies?" Beachcomber asked. "Who and how many?"
"They appeared to be the students and there was roughly 60 of them," Mixmaster explained.
"And some of them looked like they… were executed," Nautilator said nervously.
"So, the killing game probably happened before," Blurr murmured. "Just great…."
"Well, what about you, Perceptor?" Hound asked the scientist.
"Hmm, well, my hypothesis was right," Perceptor told them.
"What was it?" Bludgeon asked him.
"I'm afraid I can't said that," he told them.
"Can't?" Bumblebee wondered. "Why?"
"Well… it's complicated," he told them. "I'll see if I can arrange to tell you tomorrow," he told them.
"Arrange to tell us tomorrow? What the frag does that mean!" Swindle shouted. As he said that, Jazz, Hoist, and Blurr glanced at each other.
"Like I said, it's complicated," Perceptor told them.
"Well, I guess you won't tell us," Ratchet muttered, glaring at him.
"I apologize," Perceptor told them.
"Huh, apparently, everyone likes to hide secrets," Knock Out noticed.
"So, since Perceptor won't tell us anything, do you want to help me investigate the room full of dead bodies?" Nightbeat asked the group.
"That is, if your tanks won't purge at the sight of it," Nautilator mumbled.
Almost everyone agreed to it, the only ones being Jazz, who said he had to look over notes; Beachcomber, who didn't want to have a panic attack; and Rewind, with Hound by extension, who didn't want to go body hunting.
"Well then, I guess if everyone's ready to go, we can go now," Nightbeat informed the group. With that, the group agreed and left, leaving the four stragglers behind.
"Well, I got notes to look through. I leave you alone," Jazz said, getting up.
"Uh, can I help?" Beachcomber asked. "I don't want to be alone."
"Sure, no problem, Beach," Jazz told him, and the duo left the room, leaving Hound and Rewind behind.
"So… what do you want to do?" Rewind asked his companion.
"Well, I guess whatever you want is fine," Hound said, standing up.
"Well, I always like to film places and I haven't been to the new areas yet. You think we can go there so I can film it?" Rewind asked him.
"Sure thing," Hound agreed. "We need to get our minds off things and this is perfect."
"Oh good," Rewind nervously chuckled.
"Do you need anything from the mall on the way there?" Hound asked him.
"Nah, I should be good. Come on, let's get going," Rewind encouraged, putting on a strained smile.
"Alright, gine. And remember Rewind, talk to me about anything," he told him.
"I know. Thanks for that," Rewind thanked him and the two headed out.