Ch. 231
"I swear, Brainstorm's lucky he's not actually here," Breakdown snarled, transforming out his hammer.
Knockout and Arcee went to the mech's side, holding him back before he could run into the lab with Starscream, "Easy, easy, big boy. Let Psychic have a little one-two-punch with the little slagger before you go charging in."
"I gotta make sure he's got back up."
Predaking snorted in agreement with the blue mech but the Predacon grumbled instead of moving forward, "Starscream has not shown me a sense of unnecessary foolishness. He will tell us when we can follow."
The rest of the bots held onto the great mech's words, watching from just beyond the door's threshold as Starscream made his way close, but not too close, to Nexus's vocal monitor. The seeker was adamantly sustaining a cautious attitude, digging into feelings and emotions he needed to rely on only days prior when he was a prisoner alongside Predaking's company... but details aside on what had made them, those emotions were needed now. It was draining, but it was the only way the red and white mech could see himself confronting this little horror now...
"... So, thought yourself very clever, did you?"
Nexus chuckled brightly, "I was unsure of what to expect! I may be endowed with Brainstorm's personality, memories, thought process and the all important ability to recognize my own self from the one who made me, but to trick a whole mess of intruders!" it giggled, "I was almost unsure if it would work! My programming, you see, I had to trick myself into believing Brainstorm was here! Oh, and that mech I chose," it made a small noise, "mm, not at all like my team leader... but! The tension I sensed, I knew he would be a perfect candidate. He seemed the scientist, the one who wanted to take charge of all these things. I knew it would increase the illusion of my compliance ten fold!"
"Tension?" Starscream tried not to growl, "Find that out in the med bay, did you?"
"Oooo, what a clever creature you are!" Nexus purred, "Trying to find out if I'm more mobile than my data logs claim to be, hm? Sadly, the situation you say transpired went unobserved by my sensors. Though, I am intrigued to see how well you communicate among others. A test for another day! You do spectacularly well talking with me-"
The seeker's wings flared widely as he snarled, "Don't analyze me as though I'm some foreign body!"
The anger expressed by the mech made everyone else flinch. Smokescreen moved into the room, but stayed by the door when Starscream's servo came up to stop him; the seeker took a long, shaky intake.
"I am not your test subject," he growled out, "I am here for answers. You... violated me," he spat, "and you dare speak with me now in a way that feigns a sense of connection."
Nexus made a sad noise, "Oh, my programming," it mumbled sadly, "the upbeat tone is buried in tight, I'm afraid. But don't let it get those wings of yours up in a bunch. You have questions, don't you? And I would almost be pleased to answer them if that were in my programming."
"The answers I want-"
"I will not be giving you. Not unless you decide to comply with the tests I need to perform," Nexus mused, the vocal line jumping with excitement, "So few of you exist! Each of you so unique and precious! Brainstorm knew it would only be a matter of time before his theories would be proven right and here you are," Nexus's voice faltered, a sense of unbridled emotion as he whimpered, "after all this time, you have finally arrived!"
Starscream was beginning to shake. As much as he didn't want his knees to tremble or his fists beside him to clench so tightly, what Nexus was saying didn't make any sense to him. But the assistant was so certain and its methods had been one devised by a very calculating mind. While it painfully reminded Starscream of... someone else who had also been 'so sure' of his destiny, this assistant's demeanor and ability to convey an air of control over itself was unsettling. It made all of this seem believable...
Starscream shook his helm, stepping back, "... I'm done with you..."
The rest of the bots moved in quickly, and Optimus took a position to stand in front of the seeker, his optics in a tight frown, "Nexus," the Prime commanded, "Starscream is not yours to toy with. He will not be subjected to you any longer."
"Ooo, on the contrary~" Nexus seemed to sing, "He has had a taste from a well of self analyzation, a very addictive and pleasurable pool that leads those who chose bravery down the path of creation! What are you, what makes you, what defines you? And what makes all those little pieces tick and work together? Can't you see? He has so many questions! His need to know will eventually outweigh his sense of self preservation! What are you, what makes you, what defines you, test subject Starscream? How is it that you are what you are, can do what you do, and came to exist in this world among such mortal mechs and femmes by comparison? You want to know. They all wanted to know. And him," Nexus's sensors trained on Ratchet, "he wants to know, and they want to know," his sensors scanned around the room, "Don't you all want to know about this creature so feeble at face and yet godlike with the turn of a switch? Don't these questions consume you like they did Brainstorm?"
Starscream shook harder and stiffened when he felt a servo clasp his tightly, flinching as he looked to see Smokescreen holding onto him and glaring at Nexus's monitor, "No way," the young mech shouted defiantly, "cause no answer is worth losing someone over! We don't have to know what Starscream's definition is to you; we're happy having him just like this, unanswered questions and all!"
The rest of the group was in agreement.
Nexus's vocal line vibrated in a displeases manner, "Oh... how... disappointing," it seemed to growl, "Not all of you are scientists... Not all of you see there is a far brighter light at the end of this tunnel. A journey half-made may as well be a failure... But I know that eventually I can persuade-"
Nexus silenced itself. The slow, dramatic tapping noise of confident pedfalls drew closer to the room. The vocal line buzzed.
"Hmm? Not all of you are here?"
The pedfalls stopped just before the mech became visible, a harsh, staticky noise becoming more audible, before Soundwave stepped into view.
Nexus's sensors trained on the new arrival, "And who is this? Another assistant? Or my newest test subject?"
Soundwave silently surveyed the room. When he finally walked in, it was slow and loud as he seemed to dig his peds into every step he took. Starscream's optics widened. Soundwave... was furious.
The lithe blue mech stepped in front of Optimus, putting himself in close proximity to Nexus's vocal monitor, "... Designation: Soundwave."
"Soundwave," Nexus hummed, "My, you are intriguing. And would you, perhaps, be a visionary who sees potential in-"
Nexus seemed to choke as Soundwave's tentacles lashed out and dug into the console the vocal monitor was attached to. The assistant let out a highpitched squeal of surprise, the vocal line glitching and fracturing.
"What-what-wh-WHAT are you-y-you dooooing-ING?!"
Soundwave dug his clamps in tighter, quirking his helm to the side, "Nexus: harmed Starscream. Soundwave: reestablishing control. Soundwave: is going to frag. You. Up."