Check-in was becoming a familiar routine. Arcee cleared Soundwave as disarmed and then Springer waved him through the gate.
"Who are you carrying today?" the triple-changer enquired.
Soundwave had noticed yesterday that they hadn't made him eject the cassettes to go through individually; it seemed they were following the same lazy practice today. "Frenzy; Rumble," he listed, before trying his gambit. "Ratbat; Laserbeak." Three truths and a lie.
Springer simply nodded and tapped the names into the system. "Right. See you down there."
The perfect crime, Soundwave thought as he followed the track to the elevator below the surface. Granted, it was a petty crime with little benefit, but it would not be discovered and traced back to him. Proof of concept.
Scrapper was already underground with today's team of Constructicons, Long Haul and Bonecrusher. The rest of them would stay on the ship today producing the environmental control system, light fittings and various other infrastructure to be installed tomorrow. Scavenger had been unduly distressed by this for no clear reason. There was nothing in Scrapper's electrical field to cause concern about his motivations, but Soundwave also favoured empirical evidence if he could obtain it.
"Laserbeak, eject. Monitor location."
Obediently, Laserbeak flew from his chest and found a perch against the elevator shaft. He very rarely displayed independent thought these days, yet that was preferable to the active grief over Buzzsaw.
Scrapper raised a hand in acknowledgement of Soundwave's entrance, but he was too busy listening to Rewind to give a greeting Soundwave wouldn't have wanted anyway.
"I know the others raised concerns," Rewind was saying, as he examined the dividing line in the floor, "But I'm glad you'll be restoring the original blast doors. In my opinion, they're an essential architectural element."
"Exactly!" Scrapper assured him. "What better way to seal the crypt?"
Going through Laserbeak's recordings was going to be a tedious experience. Soundwave left the chamber and walked down the hallway. He was almost at the end of it when he picked up on the hum of Ratbat's satisfaction.
He didn't bother to look for his cassette's hiding place. "Ratbat, return." For once, Ratbat didn't protest, slipping smugly into Soundwave's chest as if he had been there all morning.
Soundwave had left him in the crypt overnight, mostly to see if he could. He stored the cassettes partially in subspace, so it was impossible for the Autobots' gate to read them properly as he passed through, but he had guessed correctly that the Autobots were worried about Constructicon numbers and not the cassettes.
Soundwave viewed Ratbat's observation of Steeljaw checking the crypt after their departure. Ratbat had spent most of the previous day clinging to a crack in the ceiling, letting his scent gather there. At the end of the work cycle, he had slipped inside the crack, hiding behind his own scent.
When sent his approval, Ratbat positively preened to Soundwave's gratification. Ratbat was the most intelligent of his cassettes; his current compliance suggested that he had had a successful night and was eager to show off what he had done.
Soundwave indulged him: Report.
I successfully hacked into the security gate's registration software. Unlike Laserbeak and Ravage, Ratbat insisted on verbal communication. Although Rumble and Frenzy had set that precedent for the cassettes, it had never sat well with Soundwave for an animal-mode to talk.
He did not engage the bat in conversation, instead waiting until Ratbat shared the gate's algorithms—with areas vulnerable to manipulation already highlighted. Perusing the information, Soundwave moved quietly into the main chamber by way of looking busy. He disdained manual labour, but with all his sensory abilities, he had long since learned that 'scanning' was a universally accepted excuse for loitering anywhere.
Remember the Autobot spy camera you told Scrapper to power on? Ratbat asked. Your theory was right.
Smart bat. Verbal acknowledgments of Soundwave's capabilities and authority would earn his response. You used it to connect to Iacon's mainframe?
Easily. They never noticed a thing.
Soundwave made sure his wave of pride also went to Ravage, who had told them the Autobots were using the computer from their old moonbase, and to Laserbeak, who had infiltrated that same moonbase two weeks ago to discover its Teletraan system was receiving video from hidden cameras in Polyhex.
Soundwave's emotion was twisted by the sudden memory of Megatron's pride in them that day. Had it only been two weeks ago?
Rumble had caught the memory, his flicker of grief. Big boss woulda been even prouder today.
And Starscream woulda blown fumes! Frenzy added. He was good for airing petty sentiments so that Soundwave did not have to sully himself with them.
Steeljaw prowled into the room, his gaze zeroing in on Soundwave immediately. Soundwave ejected Frenzy and Rumble while he returned to the entrance. Through Frenzy's optics, he could see Steeljaw tracking him, but when Rumble started poking at some exposed electrics, the Autobot's attention snapped his way.
Rewind was still absorbed in conversation with Scrapper and did not so much as look up as Soundwave passed through on his way upstairs.
The Constructicons will be interested in this? There was the slightest of queries in Ratbat's voice as he uploaded the latest report on Iacon's defence system as well as an updated map of the city.
Superion's presence on Cybertron is valuable information by itself, Soundwave agreed, but he did not provide the response Ratbat was fishing for, partly because he was undecided over whether or not he would tell the Constructicons.
He thought he picked up Wheelie's startled burst of fear as he passed by the second level, but if he were there, the newest Autobot did not come out.
There was more debris on the third level, making it harder to walk. Ratbat ejected and guided Soundwave to a doorway blocked by rubble. The cassette wriggled through a crevice near the top of the pile and transmitted his video feed back to Soundwave: energon cubes were stacked high. This was a find beyond what Soundwave could have hoped for. He would have to tell the Constructicons about this—there was no way he could get them back to the ship himself, but it would buy the Constructicons' full allegiance for a few more days.
Energon located, he sent over an open Decepticon band. Bonecrusher and Long Haul required for retrieval.
He was walking away, even before Scrapper answered, knowing that it wouldn't be long before one of the Autobots came to find where he was.
Amazing news, Soundwave! Scrapper had been overly enthusiastic in his responses ever since Soundwave had started being cooperative. It made Soundwave miss the days when they had refused to talk each other. I've told the Autobots we'll be transporting scrap materials to the ship to smelt down for statues. Long Haul can hide your energon underneath those.
Those statues had caused conflict last night, and Soundwave recalled Ratbat so he could review it with him. They planned to memorialise the more prominent Decepticons as well as the recent dead, and Hook had insisted they recreate the destroyed Hall of Heroes within the crypt. This had raised the question of adding heroes to the lineup: Soundwave had nominated Megatron for inclusion, and Dirge had suddenly got very pedantic about what qualified as 'dead'.
Ratbat accepted Soundwave's disapproval of Dirge's view, but posed his own question: If we consider that Megatron is not dead, then could we also project that he might one day return?
Soundwave considered the theory: Were Galvatron still alive somewhere, would it be possible to strip Unicron's influence from him and restore Megatron? There were far too many unknowns in that. Probability: negligible.
But not zero, Ratbat pointed out. Soundwave retaliated by forcing a shutdown on the cassette. Ratbat needed rest after the stimulation of last night, and Soundwave needed to spend his time on pragmatism not speculation.
He met Arcee coming up the stairs to look for him, but he swept past her without comment.
"Good to see you too, Soundwave," she told his back. "Hope you have a productive day." There was a light but definite emphasis on 'productive'. He supposed he could not claim to be scanning the area for three days straight.
I will return to the ship with Ratbat and assist Hook, he announced over the com-link. Rumble, Frenzy, report to Scrapper for the remainder of the cycle.
Oh, sure, Scrapper replied, futilely trying to conceal the surprise in his voice. Whatever you want, big guy. Maybe keep a receptor out for any Decepticon signals while you're up there, yeah?
Affirmative. If nothing else, the void of space would be easier on his receptors than Scrapper's pandering.