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South Wing Activity Area

Umbra was mentally berating herself for drawing Steelhand’s attention. Her first impression of him seemed to be proving all too true. Although she hadn’t really hoped to accomplish anything by her smile and gesture, it might’ve caught a less experienced guard off-guard. Now, Steelhand would likely keep a much closer eye on her. This would make it much harder in the future if she needed to do something. Umbra preferred to keep her options open.

Umbra mentally shrugged. If the need arose to do something and it came down to it, she would think of something then. No use worrying over what couldn’t be helped. Umbra did feel a bit of curiosity regarding Steelhand. Because of her reconnaissance training, she had become somewhat of an information hound. It never hurt to know things. One never knew what tiny little piece of information could come in handy later. Umbra regarded Steelhand as he began to speak again.

"You better break this habit, fast.", Steelhand firmly responded, "Unless you want to get on the wrong side of some of the other prisoners here. Whatever happened on the outside, in here it's over, understand?"

“I understand, sir. I won’t cause any trouble. The last thing I’d want is to get into a fight with another inmate. Though,” Umbra added with a chuckle, “I suppose you can’t take my word for that. Inmates can’t be trusted, can they?”

A painful sorrow stirred in Umbra, though she did her best to conceal it. It was highly unlikely anyone here would ever trust her being a prisoner as she was.

Once my word had value in the Autobots. They could believe me. It wasn’t that long ago…well, I suppose it was a long time ago, considering. Strange how quickly trust is destroyed compared to how long it takes for it to build back up again. It’s almost funny. But I did choose this. I…

A rather annoying outburst shook Umbra from her reverie. She didn’t bother to conceal her irritation as she looked over to where Vroom had taunted the warden again. She saw him this time. Umbra marked his appearance down into memory. Still aware of Steelhand’s presence, however, she looked back to the senior guard and made a gesture of deference that seemed to say “I’ll leave you to your job then, go on”. After all, she wasn’t here to make enemies. Simply observe.

Southern Wing Activity Area

Scowl offered a chuckle at Icepick’s observations. “Yeah, I suppose you can only eat so much then huh?” He inched a little bit closer to the action to try and hear better. While his audio receptors were quite sensitive still, there was an awful lot of noise now. Between the movement of the guards, prisoners and all the chatter going on it was hard to pick out individual voices.

“I can’t tell who he picked a fight with, although I’m not sure it matters. There are any number of mechs around here who would be itching for a fight. It sounds like the new guy got the best of him though.” He paused for a moment as his listened some more. “Oh, the new guy is Kronus. I remember hearing about him. The guards sometimes whisper about him, usually giving him crude nicknames.” He laughed again before turning back to Icepick.

A broad smile formed over his face. “At least now everyone will have something to talk about.” He slapped Icepick on the shoulder. “That’s what keeps me going here Icepick, conversations, or, at least, listening to them. Its going to be a good few cycles now with this bit of gossip running around.” The Monstercon rubbed his hands together in glee. Deep down inside though some small part of him realize how pitiful it was to be so excited over this. That bit had long since been buried under layer after layer of pure boredom so that he hardly noticed it anymore.

Rung’s Office

Rung had left Kronus standing before the chair situated just in front of his desk. The thief’s back was to the psychiatrist as Rung took his seat and pulled up Kronus’ file on his computer console. He had been seeing this particular inmate for the past 80.3 vorns, and thus far he was able to get the mech to admit that he has a problem. Unfortunately, Kronus would not accept just what his problem was.

After a moment of silence Kronus finally turned around and took a seat. The grin that had been plastered on his faceplate after Rung’s initial question grew further as he recalled the entire ordeal outside in the yard. Kronus sat back in his seat and placed his right leg on his left knee. After all, if he was going to be talking with the scrawny egghead, he’d better do it comfortably.

“He started it.”

Rung quickly looked up from his screen when Kronus finally responded to his query. He leaned forward and placed his elbows on the desktop. He rested his chin on the tips of his steepled actuators as he took in the entirety of Kronus’ body language and demeanor.

“I see. And what exactly did he start?”

The thief cocked his head to one side as he too took in the doctor’s body language and demeanor. He always hated coming here; the detestable little gnome somehow knew exactly what he was thinking before he even knew.

Kronus shifted in his seat before he finally responded.

“Look, you know how it is. You leave me be I’ll let you live. He crossed that line.”

Rung’s expression remained stoic as he listened to his patient’s account.

“How did he cross the line, Kronus?”

“That slageater kicked me!”

To emphasize his anger Kronus shot up from his seat and slammed his hands on the desk top the chain hanging from the cuffs around his wrists clanged against the front of the desk. Rung’s reaction was a mixture of surprise and fear. He hadn’t experienced this kind of reaction from this particular patient. In fact, what Kronus said before was true. If he was left alone then Kronus was a calm and very collected mech, but this recent occurrence had set the ‘Con off.

Rung put up his hands in an attempt to try and calm the mech down. It seemed to help as Kronus backed off slightly.

“You need to calm down, Kornus. You’ve made excellent progress, and I don’t want you to lose what little privileges you’ve been rewarded with, your time in the activity area included.”

“That was your idea, you little…”

He stopped before he finished what was on his mind. He certainly didn’t want to lose the time out in the yard, and he certainly did not want to be forced in to solitary again. When he was first brought in they shoved him there because they had no idea how to handle him. He spent vorns behind that thick door; he had no desire to spend any more time there even now.

He sat back down, this time he slid down low and let out a low grumble.

“I was just sitting there minding my own business when that slaglicker and his cronies showed up and told me to move. I ignored him and he slaggin’ kicked me!”

“Calmly, please.”

Kronus let out a heavy sigh as he went on.

“He kicked me so I got up and showed him why he should have left well enough alone.”

“By doing what, Kronus?”

“It was his own fault. The moron should have watched his back. I got behind him and wrapped my arm restraints around his neck.”

Subconsciously the thief had taken hold of the chain and fiddled with it while his optics seemed to focus on nothing in particular. A broad smile made its way to his face as he remembered how good it felt to tighten the chain and hear the various fuel lines and wires popped from the strain.

“Once I had him I just pulled. Heard those wires and lines snap like an organic's skeletal structure…was like a sweet symphony…”

Rung furrowed his eyebrows as he raised his hand and snapped his fingers to break the inmate’s concentration. Kronus looked back to the psychiatrist and slumped even further in his chair.

“I know it’s been hard for you here, Kronus, but you have to understand you’re a special case. It’s difficult for any of us to understand what you go through and what you’ve already been through. And that’s why I’m here.”

The doctor folded his hands in front of himself and let out a low sigh before he continued.

“I believe you. I know you’re not one to throw away what little freedom you’ve already worked so hard to acquire. That’s why I’m going to recommend that you not be put into solitary. However, I am going to require that your appointments with me be doubled. Is that understood?”

A simple nod was Kronus’ only response.

“Good. Now, in the meantime Streamlight will take you back to your cell while I contact the warden to give him my evaluation.”

Rung motioned for the inmate to stand and guided him back to the door.

Streamlight heard the door slide open to reveal both the psychiatrist and Kronus. Without a word the young guard moved in and took hold of the thief’s forearm and began to guide him out of the doctor’s office. Before the outer door slid shut Streamlight looked over his shoulder and flashed the doctor a slight nod and a small smile.

Once the door had closed Rung returned to his office and took a seat behind his desk. He stared at the terminal in front of him quickly reading through the text that had been taken during the interview. As with all of his patients Rung would always record their sessions using his terminal which, thanks to its software package, would convert the spoke recordings to text.

Once he was satisfied that the information was correct, Rung opened a communications channel with Fortress Maximus.

>>”Fortress Maximus, this is Rung. Streamlight was just here with Kronus and he and I had a very informative discussion. It would seem, sir, that my patient was forced to defend himself from the inmate he ultimately attacked. I know Kronus, and he would not willingly put his freedom on the line unless he was provoked. I recommend he be kept out of solitary and that his appointments with me be doubled. I believe if he were to be locked away for any length of time any progress he has made would be lost.”<<

South Wing Activity Area

Steelhand stood firm as he watched Umbra, though her words only served to confuse him. He'd heard prisoners tell him a thousand times that they weren't going to cause any trouble. But the "inmates can't be trusted" comment... that was a new one, and he didn't know what to think of that.

Is she mocking me? Toying with me? Is this some kind of head game?

She was well trained, that was for sure, as he couldn't read much from her facial expression. This cemented his earlier thought about keeping a closer watch on her. His train of thought was then interrupted by the usual cravings of attention from Vroom. From her reaction it was obvious that Umbra didn't care for the Autobot inmate's antics either. Maybe that had something to do with her sneaking earlier.

Annoyance came over Steelhand as Umbra gestured him to "get back to his job", which felt like a slap in the face. It may not have seemed like much to others, but it felt disrespectful to him. Fortunately for Umbra, Steelhand wasn't the type of bot to abuse his authority to keep inmates in their place. He would never hit an inmate, male or female, unless there was an actual threat to him or one of the other staff or inmates. But he would make himself perfectly clear verbally.

"Know your place, don't think for an astrosecond you can dismiss me like that." he said, looking her straight in the optics with authority, "This is your first and only warning. I've got my optics on you. Try anything and you'll be going straight to solitary."

Finished with Umbra, Steelhand turned and unceremoniously went back to his normal patrol, which would take him toward Vroom. He hoped the Autobot inmate was done taunting the guards, he was not in the mood to hear more.

South Wing Activity Area

Umbra listened attentively as Steelhand dismissed her and watched him return to his rounds. Umbra considered their conversation. It seemed Steelhand had misinterpreted her gesture. It was meant as more of an act of deference to his authority. But…It wasn’t likely that he was fully aware that Vroom was the initial trigger for her behavior, though he probably suspected it. Initially when she had been acting on instinct, she’d meant to do something about it. But…it wasn’t her place to do so. Handing off that responsibility to Steelhand had probably seemed really insolent. So, she had been unintentionally out of line.

“Scrap,” Umbra muttered under her breath, expressing her self-loathing.

In any case, Steelhand had given sound advice. She needed to adjust to the fact that the war did not exist here. Umbra had been treating Steelhand more like another Autobot rather than a prison guard. This habit had to be broken immediately. She was becoming her own worst enemy.

You’re not an Autobot anymore, Umbra. Get used to it. Adjust.

Her optics continued to follow Steelhand as she tried to set her thoughts more into line with that of a prisoner. She thought of what kind of prisoner she should become. Umbra had only the highest respect for her superiors, which is what Steelhand was in this case. So, she would try to keep her head down around him and other guards and watch her words. From now on, anyway. As she pondered this, Steelhand vanished from her sight. Her training asserted itself once more.

Umbra melted into the crowd of prisoners around her, slipping smoothly between the prisoners. She walked casually-so as to appear like she is just wandering the area instead of having an actual goal in mind-in the denser crowds until Steelhand came into sight once more and stopped. She wandered around without any real direction for a moment, watching Steelhand’s movement in her peripheral vision. Realizing that Steelhand would be keeping an optic out for her, she stayed back as he continued his rounds. Following him wouldn’t be the best course.

Umbra began a slightly more direct route toward Vroom, traveling through dense crowds of prisoners to avoid being singled out by other guards easily and to keep a good distance away from Steelhand. She didn’t care to provoke him again. Once she had a clear visual of Vroom from a fair distance away, she stood slightly behind and to the right of a nearby group of prisoners turning to the side looking bored.

She folded her arms over her chest plate and watched the prisoners in front of her. Among them, she thought she saw some decepticons that she recognized, though that wouldn’t really surprise her. She had faced several decepticons in the war. She also noted some guards performing their rounds. Her first time in the activity area had been dedicated to learning the patterns of the guard rounds, so she didn’t bother paying much attention to them.

While she observed the prisoners in her direct line of sight, she kept tabs on Vroom using her peripheral vision. Umbra was very curious to see how this would pan out. She had quickly discovered that a bot needed something to do in this prison to stay sane. In her cell, she would memorize the guards’ rounds and practice her technique in diffusion. Out here, she would observe. And, perhaps, ask some questions of someone when she got the opportunity, which would be soon hopefully.

South Wing Activity Area

Vroom chuckled as Fortress Maximus left. He knew there was a fine line between a show of rebellious spirit and just plain being obnoxious so he said nothing further for the time being. He privately wondered if Maximus really understood what all his actions were about or if he stood war too above others, literally and figuratively, to truly comprehend what was at work. He shook his head concluding that the later was probably the most probably.

He turned and headed towards the exercise section of the area. Might as well get in some physical activity to prepare for his next show especially since the Decepticon he had gone to talk to had proven no fun at all.

Fortress Maximus' Office

Punch looked up from the files and stood up to acknowledge his superior's entrance.
"Sorry Sir, in my line of work you know the lay of the land or you are dead, and I am no good to the cause if I am dead.

"I understand your sentiment though Sir, I'm not incredibly comfortable with what the other side of me is capable of either - I do not enjoy the pain I bring to friend or foe alike, but wisdom is knowing when sacrifices have to be made for the good of the Autobots, and as you rightly said, this is war. Whilst my presence here will bring temporary disruption to your facility, you will agree that the long term benefits outweigh the risks." He could feel the Counterpunch side of his personality screaming at him HOW DARE HE TALK TO US LIKE THAT!!? HAS HE NO IDEA OF THE RISKS WE TAKE FOR HIS CAUSE??! Punch fought for the briefest second to regain control of himself. That was happening far too often, he just hoped that it was that easy to break back through one the other side was in the lead...

After a second, Punch stood up. He was never comfortable having to a brief a superior officer, especially not one of Maximus' stature. He solemnly opened the lid of a laptop-terminal, punched in a handful of codes and one of the inmates files came up on the screen. He kept the screen pointing towards him and stared intently at the file.

"From the files I have analysed, this individual currently looks like the most useful to me and is the most likely to get me to Scorponok. My orders are simple, infiltrate the Decepticons command structure, specifically their strategic officers, and prevent their operations from succeeding. Garrus-9 is my insertion point, and until I am fully entrenched, I believe you are to be my handler, and as I said before, I calculate that this inmate gives me the greatest chance of success in both breaking out and getting to the Decepticon fleet - not an easy feat considering how scattered they are, but Intel reports state that Scorponok may be in the area."

He placed the lap top on the table still facing him, and away from Maximus, and looked up at the face of his commander.

"What I need from you Sir, is to know what safeguards you wish to put in place to ensure minimum casualties to the guards and inmates alike in my escape. Once I am inside, I will not be able to show mercy or clemency to the staff as I will have a cover to maintain that they can not know of, under any cicumstances. Not even Rung is to know, and I have no doubt that I will meet him on more than one occasion, Counterpunch is well known for his hair-trigger and I have seen a few of your guards can be a bit heavy handed at times."

"This is the inmate I have selected. All the others are either too tightly knit as a team or are not dedicated enough to the Decepticon cause to want to rejoin the main force immediately upon extraction. I need an individual as crazy as Counterpunch, and this is it..." At the mention of his name, his alter-ego began to surface, Ohh! I like him... We will have great fun together! HA HA HAA!!

Punch scrunched his eyes up to regain control, turned the laptop around and pushed it to Fortress Maximus' side of the desk to reveal the file on Kronus.


(OOC: Not sure if its known that Scorponok is in the area or not, will remove reference if I've got that wrong.)

Corridors – Southern Wing – Level 4 – Block C

The trek from the upper level where Rung’s office was located down to the lower levels of the penal facility was done in total silence from both Streamlight and Kronus. Once they rounded the last corner that led to his cell, Streamlight finally spoke up.

“I’m sorry you’re first time out in the activity area wasn’t a pleasant one. Maybe when you’re allowed back out things will go much more smoothly.”

Kronus let out a low sigh as he moved along next to the young guard. Oh yes, he was going to have to kill this naïve little brat. But for now he’d play along and get Streamlight on his side…work his little magic in order to win him over even more.

“Thank you, Streamlight. You’re the only guard who’s been assigned to me to actually treat me like a normal mech.”

The young guard looked over at the slightly taller mech and flashed him a bright smile. It was the truth; he didn’t feel that any inmate should be treated worse or better than any other mech. Streamlight picked up his pace slightly as they finally arrived at Kronus’ cell. Reluctantly the guard punched in his code and waited as the cell door slid open.

“Umm, you’ll have to get into position.”

Kronus nodded slightly as he moved into the cell and pressed his back against the far wall. The thief raised his restrained hands above his head and waited until the wall restraints clicked into place around his wrists just below the cuffs. His ankles were also locked into place at the same time.

Once the inmate was secured Streamlight stepped up the Kronus and removed the arm restraints. He had already turned to leave when he heard Kronus call him softly.

“Streamlight. The face restraint. Please, I can’t take it anymore. Take it off, just for a little while, please.”

The young guard’s jaw dropped not believing what the inmate had asked of him. How could he ask that? But it’ll only be for a little while, and he’ll be in his cell. What harm could it do?

After a moment of quiet contemplation, Streamlight looked back up at the already restrained mech, Kronus’s optics focused intently on the young guard.

“Please.”

Streamlight looked over his shoulder just to be sure no one was in the area before he looked back to the thief. Slowly he made his way to the console next to the door and motioned for Kronus to place his head against the wall. He complied without hesitation and Streamlight activated the neck restraint so he could safely remove the face covering.

“I’ll have to leave the wall restraints in place, I can’t have you…you know…”

“I understand.”

Streamlight then made his way to the ‘Con and carefully removed the face restraint. In all the vorns he had been assigned to the thief he never once laid his optics on his entire face. There before him was a ‘Con who, quite possibly could get by on just his looks alone, but he was an experienced thief, and his looks were an asset.

Not only was Kronus grateful that the guard had done as he asked, but the act only verified that he truly was as gullible as Kronus had suspected. If he was willing to remove his face restraint then he’d be willing to do just about anything. This little act of trust was simply a test. One the young guard passed with flying colors.

Kronus flexed his jaw slightly before he looked back down at Steamlight. He offered him a grateful nod, well, a nod as best he could manage with his neck still restrained.

“Thank you, Streamlight.”

“You’re welcome. I need to make my rounds but I’ll be back to put the face restraint back on. So you have a few breems and then I’ll have to…okay?”

“Yes. I know.”

With that Streamlight backed out of the cell, the door slide closed and from the outside he secured the locking mechanism. He waited a moment before he quickly made his way down the corridor to check in with the other inmates on the Block.

Once his guard was gone a broad, demented smile spread across Kronus’ faceplate.