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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2023 7:52:15 GMT
As Quinn sputtered on the drink, Punch couldn’t help but chortle, hastily covering her mouth with her uninjured servo. After regaining her composure, she took back the flask, shaking her head slightly. “I guess not, huh?” She answers herself rhetorically. “It isn’t energon - it’s more of a synthetic engex, if I had to make a comparison. Takes the edge off. I figured you might need that.”
After a brief awkward pause, she leans back up against the tree, and takes a swig from the flask. “Look, I dunno how to say this..” she starts. “The war’s over. Officially, at least. It depends who you ask, but…” she pauses again, as if she’s struggling to choose words, and then gestures in the direction of the memorial where Quinn had priorly emerged. “That’s what that monument was for.”
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Quinn
DECEPTICON
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Post by Quinn on Oct 18, 2023 8:11:07 GMT
Quinn manages to choke down the rest of the liquid and clears her throat. “…I’ve never had that before. My master forbade me from consuming it. Said it dulled the senses I needed to complete missions.” She looks at Punch in mild confusion, “Why would I need it?”
She pauses as she listens to the next words uttered from the Autobot. Confusion and disbelief were clear on her expression as she struggled to comprehend. “…The war is over? How is that possible? The only way could be either Optimus Prime or Megatron were terminated…. But I didn’t see their names on that monument. When did this happen? I don’t know how long I’ve been in stasis for…”
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Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2023 19:24:28 GMT
Punch still avoids eye contact, her expression darkening and voice flattening as she continues to talk. “I thought the same, kid.” She swirls her drink absentmindedly. “But I guess they got over it. Megatron had a change of heart, bonded with some humans…” she waves her servo in lieu of words. “Things kept escalatin’, and they brought the AllSpark here, and everyone got real mad. Until one day…” she sighs, mimes an explosion with her servos, and then gestures again towards the monument. “Spacebridge Memorial Park, markin’ where the war ended. And the day we all got stuck on this slaggin’ planet.” She exhales heavily, shaking her head, and then glances back towards Quinn. “But that was all 30 years ago. I’unno how long you’ve been out.”
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Quinn
DECEPTICON
Posts: 59
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Post by Quinn on Oct 18, 2023 20:35:44 GMT
Quinn froze, going silent and still as Punch’s words hit her like a freight train. All of it was almost too much to absorb: Megatron’s defection, the loss of the Allspark, being left in stasis for 3 decades… That would mean everyone just abandoned her to slowly rot away in her stasis chamber. But how could this possibly be the truth? It didn’t make any sense, and now she had a pounding headache as waves of emotion swirled through her processor.
Quinn placed a servo on her pounding helm and shook it, “…that can’t be true. Megatron would never defect to the Autobots.. H-he hates them and Optimus Prime. T-this doesn’t make any sense!” Her body language and tone grew increasingly unstable.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2023 17:18:56 GMT
Punch leans back on the stump, conversely becoming increasingly open, albeit downtrodden, with her body language. She takes a swig from her flask, keeping her optics on the quivering Quinn as the tense silence draws thin. After letting the words sit, she softly continues to speak. “Yeah, that’s what I thought too,” she agrees solemnly. “But I guess things change. War’s a mess, kid. Who knows what people are thinkin’.” Reluctantly, she holds the flask back out, offering it again to Quinn. It’s the same contents, but maybe the bitter burning intoxicant would be better than focusing on the missing 30 years of information. “It did me better to leave all of ‘em behind. There’s no obligation to anybody now. Maybe that’s good for you."
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Quinn
DECEPTICON
Posts: 59
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Post by Quinn on Nov 7, 2023 10:24:42 GMT
As the waves of information and emotion crashed through Quinn’s processor, she paused as she saw Punch hand out the flask again. Despite finding the contents unappealing, she understood what the Autobot was really offering her. A way to numb the pain, if only for a little while. Still…. It was a kind gesture. Hesitantly, Quinn took the flask before taking a deep drink, forcing herself to swallow before handing the remaining contents back to Punch.
“Thank you… again. …I appreciate your kindness, Punch” she pauses briefly as she calms herself slightly, “…You said it did you better to ‘leave them all behind’. Did you defect from the Autobots?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2023 22:46:28 GMT
She accepts the flask and reclines further, quietly wiggling a hand in a gesture of ‘more or less’. “It’s a little more complicated than that, but yeah. The war ended, and I was out,” she jabs a thumb over her shoulder, for emphasis. “I don’t owe anythin’ to ‘em, and I don’t trust ‘em to make good on their promises.” She kicks a leg up and crosses it over her other knee. “It’s a complicated world out there, kid, but there’s no rules. Not for me, at least.” She sips a little from the flask, and then gestures loosely at Quinn with that hand.
“And somethin’ tells me you weren’t a big fan of your cause, either.”
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Quinn
DECEPTICON
Posts: 59
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Post by Quinn on Nov 27, 2023 9:04:30 GMT
Quinn listens to Punch's vague response to her question, understanding she didn't seem to want to share explicit details. She didn't mind that, not in the least as she understood the value in keeping information close to oneself. Despite wanting to know more, the hopefully 'former' Decepticon assassin would abstain from any more questions unless Punch wanted to provide more information. Quinn twitched slightly as Punch made her final comment.
"...Actually, no. I wasn't. Now that I've been able to process all of this a bit, I realize that everything I did wasn't for the Decepticon cause. As in, I didn't do it because I wanted to help the cause. Everything I've done... Everyone I killed was because I didn't want to die. I wanted to live," her voice is solemn and her face looks drained of color as she speaks. "...I guess that makes me a coward? I could've just refused and that would've been the end right then and there. But no... I was afraid of what punishments my master would inflict on me if I failed or disobeyed. I--- I snuffed out sparks of others so I didn't have to feel pain," Quinn's expression grows more and more saddened and horrified at each word, her optics wide as she dissociates from the moment. "I was created solely to kill at the whim of others. I don't have much of a purpose beyond that in this world I suppose."
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