12th Transmission -- Audio

[heavyweaponsbot]

[Oh hey Keep. It's Ironhide again. And boy does he sound unhappy.]

Tell me, lord.

[There is so much derision in that word, it should be a curse, not a title.]

Where are those who go missing? Do you send them home, to their "vanished worlds"? Or are you keeping them locked up!

[Something big and heavy impacts a wall.]

Answer me!

[... Finding Lea missing isn't sitting well with the big old bot.]

Comments

[Audio]

[heavyweaponsbot]

[He grunts, then falls silent for several long seconds.]

... They have much to answer for.

[Audio]

[snowtop]

Y-Yeah, [he replies, and then his tone goes bitter.] Y-Yeah, they-- th-they do.

[Audio]

[heavyweaponsbot]

...

Were you on the ship for the mutiny?

[Audio]

[snowtop]

[Now this has him frowning at his journal for an entirely different reason.]

N-No, I... I-I was-- I was only there r-right when the-- J-Jennifer, the, th-the ghost girl, r-right when she... y-you know.

[Right when she got out and rampaged. He was even there when it happened, though he has no scars to prove it.]

Th-there-- there was a-- a m-mutiny?

[Audio]

[heavyweaponsbot]

Yeah... I know.

[Ironhide falls silent again -- that girl. He remembered her clearly. Her, and her destruction of the theater. She was the only one on the ship to ever have the dubious honor of claiming Ironhide's life.]

[... Taking his life, and leaving Ratchet behind.]

[Metal creaks.]

There was. Not sure how many answers we found. But it showed them we were tired of being strung along.

[At least, that's what Ironhide has to believe.]

Maybe we need to give these captors a wake-up call.

[Audio]

[snowtop]

[It's obvious what Ironhide means, but to say it over the journals? They were called records for a reason.]

Wh-- wh-where-- where are you?

[Audio]

[heavyweaponsbot]

[Oh, yes. He's aware that this is wide open. That anyone can read it.]

[But Ironhide just doesn't care anymore.]

Still looking for the boy.

Why?

[Audio]

[snowtop]

Sh-should-- sh-should you really-- o-on the, th-the journals...

W-What if someone h... hears?

[Audio]

[heavyweaponsbot]

Let them.

[Audio]

[snowtop]

D-Don't-- don't you think i-it'd be... better i-if they-- they didn't?

[Audio]

[heavyweaponsbot]

If they want to stop me, let them try.

[Audio]

[snowtop]

J--Just...

[He sighs. He's in no mood to argue.]

B-- B-Be careful?

[Audio]

[heavyweaponsbot]

There is a system here.

If they kill me, I will just return.

[Audio]

[snowtop]

B-But-- you-- y-you still...

[You still die, Ironhide.]

A-And what if-- w-what if i-it's like on th-the... E-Elegante? It... it wasn't f-free passes for-- forever...

[Audio]

[heavyweaponsbot]

Three times, and your optics blacked out. Yeah, I remember.

I can live with that. Only got one good one anyway.

[Audio]

[snowtop]

B-But the-- th-the rules are... th-they're different, h-here. W-When you die, y-you-- you lose your m-memories.

F-For a while, a-at--- at least.

[But he hasn't met anyone who's died three times or more...]

[Audio]

[heavyweaponsbot]

They come back. Nothing else happens.

[Audio]

[snowtop]

But-- we-- w-we don't know f-for sure. A-All I'm saying is, wh-- w-why-- why p-push it?

[Audio]

[heavyweaponsbot]

Why not? Why not push until we do?

[Audio]

[snowtop]

B-Because-- we--

[But Xanth breaks off. Ironhide has a point; someone should figure this out eventually. Xanth just wishes Ironhide didn't sound so damn determined to find out at his own expense.]

... I-- I don't know. I-It just-- i-it sounds... r-really d--dangerous.

[Audio]

[heavyweaponsbot]

My entire life has been dangerous, boy.

What is one more risk?

[Audio]

[snowtop]

O-One more risk... it m-might be-- th-the risk, th-the... the last risk, y-you know?

[But he's lost the argumentative tone, and it's not coming back.]

[Audio]

[heavyweaponsbot]

... You okay, boy?

[Yep, we're just avoiding the subject here.]

[Audio]

[snowtop]

I-- I'm f-fine, I'm just--

A-Are you?

[Audio]

[heavyweaponsbot]

...

Yeah. Everything is fine.

[Ironhide speak for "No, but I'm not going to say so out loud".]

[Audio]

[snowtop]

[Xanth knows that's a lie. Even if he didn't know Ironhide, he'd need only to look at Ironhide's initial post to tell.

But he lets it go.]

Okay.

[He lets it go, because that's all he can do.]