video

[knaval]

[riptide is pale. very pale. his optics are wide and the usual deep yellow glow of them is so intense it's almost white.

his grin is uneasy and forced.]

Hi! Just a quick note - who deals with the Ingress junk mail? Can I ask you not to leave body-- [he stops, inhales.] --just be more careful where you leave stuff, yeah? And, uh. Personal request. If anything comes through for me, space it. I don-- I don't want it. Ever.

[he looks about ready to shut off the video but stops.]

...Rodimus, don't look in the blue crate in the cargo bay. Just leave it.

Comments

[knaval]

Yeah, the DJD got him. Ripped the poor guy to pieces.

[fortunately, he already knew. still not a nice thing to get, seeing as he liked trailcutter quite a bit.]

Last I saw him we were screwing around in the bar. Now all I can see is this-- half destroyed head.

[soldiergenes]

The DJD?

[ It must be something that's common knowledge where Riptide is from, if he hadn't thought to explain it. (Or he's just that spacey.) ]

And wait -- you mean this bar? On the Moira?

[ A half-destroyed head wouldn't be so grotesque if it was robotic, though Snake realizes that's only from his perspective. It's probably just as horrifying for Riptide. ]

[knaval]

Decepticon Justice Division. You know the big purple guy? He's the leader. They're kinda known for being... homicidal psychopaths. Their job is basically to hunt down and torture traitors to death.

[he's a little uncomfortable talking about the djd, mostly because they're horrific and also because tarn killed him.]

No, at home. He went on a mission with Mainframe and First Aid and... [riptide shakes his head suddenly.] ...That happened.

[soldiergenes]

You mean Tarn?

[ Snake has never actually exchanged words with the "big purple guy" in question, but he recalls when warnings had been issued about him over the MID. For all that Snake wants nothing to do with all of this giant robot drama, he makes sure to keep his finger on the pulse of it when he can.

Even during this fairly serious conversation, Snake takes a moment to be weirded out by the naming system for these robots. After that pause, he scoffs and shakes his head. ]

One hell of a souvenir. What's the Ingress even doing?

[ Not that anyone has the answer to that question, hence why they're stuck out here in the first place. ]

[knaval]

Um. Yeah.

[THANKS INGRESS FOR TAKING AWAY HIS MEMORY... riptide involuntarily winces at the fact the name immediately slips from his head again.

he sighs.]</small. I don't know, but I don't like it. I haven't felt right since it brought me back.

[soldiergenes]

Brought... you back.

[ Snake repeats the words as if he's trying to figure out how they sound coming out of his mouth. There's a testing quality to his tone, as he puts the puzzle pieces together. As far as he can tell, that can only mean one thing.

He can't keep track of everything, though he might try, and people tend to keep nasty things like death on the downlow.

He frowns, fixing Riptide with a stare. ] What happened? [ How do robots even die? ]

DANG HTML

[knaval]

Heee... violently killed me?

[horrendously traumatic and riptide is probably never going to be over it. fun times!]

Then I woke up in Cryo. Actually, I have no idea if it was the Ingress, I just kind of assumed because it was weird and kind of inconvenient and the Ingress is pretty good at doing stuff like that.

[soldiergenes]

[ It's one of those things that's so terrible that the only option is to speak of it lightly. Well, the Cybertronians hadn't been kidding when they told people to watch out for Tarn. Here's the proof.

At Riptide's speculation, Snake slowly nods. ] I don't really know how the whole revival process works, but that sounds like a safe bet. [ It's something he'd rather not think too hard on, the idea of people being brought back from the dead enough to get under even his skin. ]

Has this Tarn killed anyone else?

[knaval]

Here? No. In our own universe? Literally scores of them.

I don't know if you saw any of the announcements about him, but everything they said is true and more. He's the type of guy who's committed war crimes so horrific you wouldn't believe it.

[soldiergenes]

Yeah, I saw them. Has there been any real talk about containing him somehow?

[ Easier said then done, especially with a giant robot, but there has to be something they can do to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again. Allowing a war criminal to run free throughout the ship is insane. ]

[knaval]

Yeah, Megatron said he was gonna do something about it, but...

[riptide trails off. guess WHEN megatron said that.]

[soldiergenes]

Nothing ever happened?

[ Snake shrugs one shoulder, a "what-can-you-do" kind of motion. ]

Listen, I know you probably don't want to make waves, but if he comes after you again? I have experience taking out giant robots. Not sentient ones, they were piloted, but still.

[ So there. The cat's out of the bag. ]

[knaval]

I appreciate the sentiment but he's spent millions of years doing what he does. He won't kill you immediately, but he'll make you watch as he tortures all your friends, then kill you.

He's just...

...Stay away from him.

[soldiergenes]

[ Is Riptide actually worried for him? It's still a strange, foreign sort of thing to be on the receiving end of that, and Snake doesn't know if it's that necessary.

On the other hand, he doesn't want to underestimate Tarn either. ]

So what, we're just gonna keep letting him get away with this? There's got to be another option.

[knaval]

People have been trying to stop him longer than I've been alive.

[he doesn't feel positive about it.]

[soldiergenes]

[ With a hint of uncertainty: ] Okay...

[ That doesn't mean that it's impossible, but Snake can understand that Riptide doesn't want to meddle with something that's more likely to get people killed than fix the problem. ]

Then let me put it this way. Is there anything that can be done to keep further deaths to a minimum?

[ It doesn't matter if it's a temporary thing, Snake doesn't want people to die needlessly if they can prevent that. ]

[knaval]

Ask Megatron. Purple guy is the way he is because of him. Because what's a warlord without a pet group of torture murders, huh?

[riptide runs through the djd names mentally, scowling ever so slightly when he gets to tarn and draws a blank.]

[soldiergenes]

Yeah, he mentioned that.

[ Snake assumes that Riptide doesn't use Tarn's name as a way of showing disrespect. He has no reason to think there's anything more to it.

He can sense that Riptide doesn't really want to talk about this anymore, though, so he figures he'll check in with Megatron, much as the idea exhausts him. ]

Look... [ Snake meets Riptide's eyes, as much as he can manage that over the MID. ] Don't let this place get to you. I don't know what point it was trying to make with the mail, or if it was trying to make a point at all, but you shouldn't make yourself nuts over it.

[knaval]

I'm-- I'm trying to...

[it's just hard when it's his friend and he tried so hard to save them both but just couldn't bring himself to go back after megatron got him.]

[soldiergenes]

Yeah, I know, easier said than done.

[ Snake runs a hand through his hair and then down the back of his neck. There's not much else that he can do for Riptide, and he's hit with that moment of clarity that he's trying to console a giant robot.

Whatever. ]

Hang in there, all right?

[knaval]

Okay. I'll try.

[look into his big soulful yellow eyes, snake. look at them. he's upset.]

Thanks.

[soldiergenes]

[ Robot eyes should not be able to convey emotion. Snake's uncomfortable with it, but ignoring the truth isn't going to help anything either. ]

Not sure there's anything to thank me for.

[knaval]

Sometimes it's just nice to hear this stuff out loud.

[soldiergenes]

Fair enough.

[ Pause. ]

I'm... not really the best at talking, so you're probably better off finding someone else. If you don't have any other options, though...

[ He shrugs. ]

[knaval]

Aww. You care.

[how much are you regretting snake]