The area is dark. Muted colors of purple and black help to hide not only any would be openings, but also any Bot or Con who's looking to do that which they wish to hide from others. Several doorways lead out of this room, each one flanked by unpowered lamps. A table sits near one end while a pile of various types of equipment sits in a corner. Odd forms can be seen in the pile as well as various scraps of wire, all however have a malicious look to them in any case.

One of the doors opens and a figure enters causing the two lights near the door to flare to life. Faded green reflects off the transformer, along with dirty black treads and scratches exposing gears to the elements. Looking left to the pile, Scavenger, the wannabe leader of the Constructions, turns and clomps toward it. "Gremlin," his cool voice calls out, half in question and half in command. "Come out. I think it's time you meet Lord Megatron."

Note to anyone else, this thread is only for Gremlin, but she has agreed to make this opening scene available for all to read. Please do not comment here unless you are Gremlin. Hope everyone enjoys and gets their characters done soon so they can start to RP.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:36, Sun 06 Jan 2019.

Despite the fact that Gremlin had been given explicit orders not to leave that isolated room until she was called for, it seemed as though she'd ignored the commands.  Not too surprising, all things considered.  Every public and criminal record files that detailed her made it abundantly clear that she was a trouble-maker to say the very least.  Cybertronian authorities would be more keen to call her a serial arsonist and a reckless threat to civilian peace, but Gremlin herself always felt they were too harsh in their criticism.  But a Constructicon who couldn't follow orders was a problem, no two ways about it.  How she'd gotten out of the room was another matter entirely though.  She'd been locked in and there was security available, so how could she have escaped unnoticed?

Scavenger's call to arms is met with nothing but silence for a long moment.  Nothing but the quiet of that dingy room and its many haphazard piles of scrap, all battered and ruined.  One of the lamps that glowed up to illuminate the chamber abruptly flickers and dies with a hiss as its wiring fails, seemingly for no good reason, and casts the room into long, uneven shadows that crawl up the scorched, dented walls. Nothing ever seemed to work right for very long wherever Gremlin lingered and the room is sporadically left in darkness as the bulb of the single surviving lamp begins to flicker on and off as well.  As Scavanger stands alone, waiting expectantly at a pile of scrap, he's left in total darkness for half a nanoklik.  Yet as the lamp manages to struggle its way back to stability, he suddenly is no longer by himself.  Perched atop that same scrap pile like some sort of gargoyle is the Bot in question - a still and silent figure gazing up at Scavenger with her single, luminous red optic orb.

"Did you say Megatron?  The Megatron?  I finally get to meet him?!"  Despite having seemingly appeared out of thin air - or that she'd at least somehow sneaked back in unnoticed - the diminutive Bot didn't miss a beat of conversation.  She springs up with a sprightly glee, hands clasped to the sides of her face plate while she scampers about in circles atop her scrap pile, heedless of the mess she makes in kicking around bits of debris.  "Oh, my spark is humming~!  Did he ask to see me?  Does he know my name?  Did he seem happy?  Angry?  Am I finally going to be allowed to be a Decepticon?  Is he going to melt me down to slag?  Do I have time to buff my plating?" she chatters at a rapid pace, somehow just as giddy and excited with each question despite their very dire contrasts.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:58, Wed 09 Jan 2019.

When the small decepticon made it's appearance, Scavenger drew back in surprise. His broad optics looking at Gremlin and around her as he fallen prey to her destructive antics a time or two before. "Y-yes. No. You're talking to fast. Lord Megatron has a job that I think you'd be perfect for. Not to mention, if you do a good job, Megatron might finally see my worth. Come little one, you can ride up here on my shoulder, but try to keep your claws out of my circuits."

"Yes, you said Megatron.  No, not The Megatron?  Which one?  There are more?  A Megatron?  Megatroni?  Megatronus?  Of course there are more, everyone knows he died and came back.  Literal?  Philosophical?  Metaphorical?  Nevermind, I'll figure it out when I get there." Scavenger's plea for a slower pace does absolutely nothing to temper Gremlin's digitized chatter.  Micromasters are built with far newer and more efficient forms of living engineering, which means they often left their predecessors' processors struggling to keep up.  It's hard to even keep optics on her jerky, sporadic motions.  Even as she speaks, she leaps out of sight from the top of her scrap pile and, despite it being a relatively short drop, there's no sound of her ever landing at all.

Half a nanoklik later, Scavenger suddenly has a soft impact land atop his shoulder as Gremlin seems to appear out of nowhere in her default crouching perch.  "How is my accomplishment supposed to prove your worth?  Oh, wait, middle-management syndrome.  I succeed, you take credit.  I fail, I take blame.  Unlikely.  Unwise.  Ill-advised.  DO IT.  Let's work well together!  Why are we still here?  A Megatron has summoned me!  GO!  Go go go go go.  If you're going to guzzle Energon, do it in motion rather than idling!" she continues her endless chatter, now right into the giant Constructicon's poor audio receivers.  If Megatron lacks a sense of respect for Scavenger, it's likely the reason he was the one chosen to have to deal with lassoing Gremlin's glitchy behavior.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:25, Sun 06 Jan 2019.

Scavenger does his best to follow along with Gremlin's chatter, but his precessor is just not up to the task. As they exit the room, Rollbar comes from the hallway and gives the small Con a weary eye before transforming to attach to Scavenger's hip, his usual spot. The fact that Rollbar had not been ripped from Scavenger's grasp was a testament to Megatron's word. He had been promised as the first Minicon the Constructicon dug up, and it was so. The fact that Rollbar helped to focus the usually flighty Con was also another reason they were still partnered up. "Careful scrapling, Lord Megatron doesn't like to be reminded that he is not technically the original one."

"While yes, your performance will reflect on myself as the one who mentored and recommended you, you will also have the opportunity to shine." Yes, Rollbar was a good fit for the normally trepidatious Con.

They all walked, well two rode, down the hallway taking several turns and passing several doors that lead to various laboratories, storage rooms, and various rooms filled with machinery.

After was felt like an hour to the micromaster, they finally arrived at what must have been the bridge of the Nemesis, but was now a command center and throne room. Several other Cons milled about as they entered.  There was Soundwave working at a terminal while Ravage rested at his feet. Starscream was standing off to one side with his fellow Seekers, talking in hushed tones and glancing with a suspicious eye at the three of them. Shockwave stood in silent vigil watching everyone with his cold single eye.

Finally it was Scavenger's turn to approach Megatron's throne. "Lord Megatron, I offer the services of Gremlin. A small Con who could be useful in the mission we spoke about."

"Come forward little one," Megatron's voice books throughout the room. "Tell me of what use you can be to our cause."

The lumbering pace of Scavenger making his way through the compound's halls is nearly enough to drive Gremlin up the walls, which is saying something given her usual antics.  Slow!  So slow!  There are a handful of moments where she nearly gives into her urge to abandon Scavenger altogether and zip on ahead without him as he insists on being so sluggish in his natural movement, but she thinks better of it each time.  For as frantic as she can be, the diminutive Bot isn't without awareness of manners.  She has to make a good second impression on the Decepticons.

Her first impression, of course, was sneaking into their base.  No easy feat to begin with.  One may have assumed she'd gotten herself caught when she tripped a proximity alarm, but the fact that it was a silent alarm and she immediately sat herself down to wait as soon as she'd triggered it plainly said she'd done it intentionally.

Finally, finally finally! they made it to the bridge.  The heart of operations!  And it is there that the sight of so many notorious figures has Gremlin's head nearly swiveling about to take them all in.  She nearly vibrates atop Scavenger's shoulder out of her barely contained excitement, feet tapping rapidly against his plating as she can't help but fidget.  Her expression - or rather, her total lack of it - is reminiscent of Shockwave's unmoving features.  Yet her body language is anything but subtle as she practically seems to be blowing her coolant valves in anxious glee.  At Megatron's tempered call she springs up in an instant, launching from Scavenger's shoulder to the floor before the Decepticon throne like a shot, yet lands with remarkable softness for such a vigorous approach.

"Megatron!  Megatron.  Starscream.  Soundwave.  So much!  So much so so so much.  So many accomplishments, so much destruction, so many questions~!  I want to ask, I want to know, I want to touch-- no, no, shouldn't.  No.  Yes?  Maybe.  Later, over Energon wine?  Oh my spark, he's looking right at me..."  It practically seems as though the tiny Bot's neural circuits are on the fritz as she seems to be speaking more to herself, her voice modulation spiking from word to word.  Yet she manages to force herself to focus and jolts into a more upright posture.  Megatron had asked her a question!  What was it again?  It seemed important.  What she could do for them!  Why did he ask that?  He'd called her in and there was already a mission at hand, so clearly he already knew what he wanted from her?  Was it a test?

"I was looking for you!  Located your agents, located their routes, located your security, bypassed most of it until I got bored.  Codes.  Serials.  Backdoors.  Only knocked down one wall.  Didn't tell the Autobots.  Could have, didn't.  Their security isn't as good as yours." Gremlin practically dances in place as she can't  help but move, rapidly taping her clawed fingertips together to try and vent her excess energy.  She seems to realize how much her remarks sound vaguely like a threat but doesn't give it much consideration as she continues.  All at once that large central optic orb mounted in Gremlin's head sparks up with a flicker of light and casts out a beaming array of holographic panels into the air around her.  It's a downright chaotic flurry of information - lines of code, images, blueprints, video feeds, data files on various Bots, scenes of horrible destruction on Cybertron, and countless other facets.  If it's even a glimpse into the swarm of data that's buzzing around through the little Bot's processor at any given moment, then it's no surprise at all she's so frenzied trying to keep up with it all.  "Primary function: controlled demolitions and engineering.  Implosions, explosions.  Good at it.  Too good.  Way ahead of schedule.  Bots were still using those buildings.  Oh well.  Good at taking things apart.  Too good.  Buildings.  Security.  Programming.  Bots.  Good at breaking things, not so much putting them together, unless they're supposed to come apart again.  Cybertronians didn't like that.  I'm made to break things, but then I broke too many things?  I don't get it.  Locked me up, I broke out.  They seemed surprised.  I don't get it.  Did it again.  Did it again.  Didn't stick.

Autobots would be the same.  They wouldn't like me.  They don't understand.  Nobody on Cybertron did either.  Too afraid of exploding.  I can't be myself around Bots like them.  But you!  I can around you!  Can't I?  Please?"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:11, Wed 09 Jan 2019.

Megatron watches intently as the little Con goes through her speech without interrupting. Allowing her to get everything out before he looks at Scavenger. "Your file on her is spotty at best and woefully managed." Scavenger shrinks back from the glare Megatron gives him, doing his best to not full out run out of the room. "However she will have her uses." Starscream gives Scavenger a snear of contempt as he comes over.

"Mighty Megatron," Starscream says, "perhaps we should just scrap this unit before she injures yah-I mean one of us." He gives a slight bow and a glance of superiority tword Scavenger who looks more and more like he wants to be anywhere else.

"What have I told you Starscream?" Megatron says, turning his full attention to the Seeker. "All Decepticons are useful. It takes a real leader to see their potential."

Starscream gives a trepidatious smile and another bow, "Of course Lord Megatron. That's why we serve you." It is Scavenger's turn to give Starscream a triumphant look, to which it is returned with a snear.

"Shockwave!" Megatron calls out, "Download this Con's data banks and upload the details of Operation Sigma 8." He then turns back to Gremlin, "Shockwave will do exactly as he's told so fear not little one. He gives a withering look back to both Starscream and Scavenger, "I only wish to fill the holes in your file so as to better assure your placement in the ranks. Yes. I see your potential and you will be rewarded if you're successfully in your tasks. Do you consent?"

To her merit, Gremlin manages to keep quiet as the other Cons around her speak as if she's not even there.  Quiet, yet clearly not inactive - the way she fidgets about in place and allows her luminous central optic to swivel about in its socket all around the room non-stop makes that apparent.  It isn't until Megatron actually speaks to her again that she seems unable to contain herself and once more lets a avalanche of noise spill from her speakers.

"Accessing.  Access-cesss-^cesss-_sss-compiling.  Statistical analysis accurate within 18.554%; direct threat level comparison.  Megatron: overwhelmingly superior - do not engage.  Soundwave: superior - do not engage.  Ravage: superior - do not engage.  Shockwave: superior - do not engage.  Starscream: comparable - engagement circumstantial, could be fun.  Scavenger..." While it's rather rude to go directly comparing her capabilities to others vocally, it doesn't seem as though the glitchy little Bot can quite help herself.  Still, it's obvious she finds herself outclassed by far amid such imposing Decepticons, for the most part.  At least until she gets to Scavenger, where her optic scans him up and down with a look of scrutiny, to which she just clears her speakers with a soft cough and returns her attention back to Megatron.

"Yes, well, I suppose someone needs to do the heavy lifting.  Where were we?" she changes gears quickly enough.  Back to the topic at hand!

"I'm not programmed with fear, Megatron.  Caution circuits operational.  Fear protocols, deleted.  Unnecessary.  They were in my way.  More room for data processing.  CAUTION: Micromaster data cascade threshold is approximately 78.888888-^TRUNCATED percent greater than observable Decepticon system capacity.  Buffer overload, system lock, system failure." Gremlin manages to get a hold of her speech once more as she forces herself out of her twitchy, shoulder-hunched posture to stand properly upright again.  "I'm certain Shockwave is more than capable of compensating for the conversion difference.  My data core is yours for perusal."

Though before any further processes can be taken, Gremlin belts out a shrill giggle that - like so many of her mannerisms - seems wholly beyond her ability to contain.  "Does this mean I'm a Decepticon?  Can I have a new insignia?  No more Civilian-code?  They don't want me.  Does it hurt?  Can it hurt?" her voice pitches low and hopeful to barely a whisper as she gazes up at Megatron with an obvious fixation.  "Will you do it~?"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:21, Tue 08 Jan 2019.

Again, to Megatron's credit, he lets the little one get everything out before answering. "Yes, you will be one of us. I will give your insignia to you once the uploads are done. It will be. . . uncomfortable."

Shockwave steps forward and says, "This way to the terminal." He shows her to a table with a single data cord laying near the top. "Do not fight the transfer or it will have a 89.9934 percent chance of frying your circuits. Any files that are marked secret will remain so per Megatron's orders, but it will be my suggestion that you have no secrets. Let us begin."

While the transfer is happening, Megatron goes back to studying a data pad.

What happens next is determine by what you hold back and if you fight it.

It's all Gremlin has in her not to swoon on the spot as Megatron confirms her hopes and leaves her in Shockwave's care.  As she's shown to a desk space for the enormous science bot, she springs right up with a deft leap and lands already seated in a cross-legged position as silent as ever despite her metallic frame.  Apparently she has excellent shock absorption.

"I don't have any secrets.  Just data.  ^{Lots of data.}  Too much.  14 zettabytes of encrypted files generated since the last time I accessed the Cybertronian council's transfer feed when they put me on trial for crimes against Cybertron.  ^{More on the backburner!} Don't know what's on them.  Can't read.  _Tried.  Still trying.  Need more processing power to manage the encryption.  Maybe you'll have more luck~.  Watch out for viruses.  Some are automated.  ^{Careful what you click!}  I like making viruses.  Cute little friends to bypass firewalls and dig tunnels and overload networks and ^{do you think Soundwave will let me play with Ravage later?}  I'll try not _{to br--}" It's rare to ever have a moment's peace around Gremlin, yet silence finally falls as she abruptly shuts herself down mid-word and clatters face-plate down onto the table like a puppet with its strings cut.  Normally Bots are a fair deal more careful when they put themselves into voluntary system stasis, but then again Gremlin is hardly like most Bots...

Come what may, Gremlin isn't going to fight the process at all or hold anything back.  The real fun is whether or not Shockwave can actually make sense of her chaotic file naming convention.  :3c
This message was last edited by the player at 14:33, Tue 08 Jan 2019.

If Shockwave has any comment on anything Gremlin has to say, he neither voices it and his face, being non-existent, it completely unreadable. Hooking up the direct data codes to Gremlin's central processor takes but a moment as she goes under.

Awakening, the small bot's inner chronometer realignes with the chronometer of the Nemesis and realized she's been under for only an hour.

As all her systems come on line she notices first that Megatron was correct in his statements, her files, while they had been accessed, had not been manipulated in any way as backups where checked against her current records. Second there was a new file named Sigma 8 under an Operations subtab that was not if her making, but, again, aligned with Megatron's words.

Opening the file finds situational data and maps detailing plans and a very interesting lit up directional line indicating her suggested target: A communications array that could be used to alert Autobots to the attack location.

Yes. She has been given a job and, the exterior scans of her person being the last system updated, a shiny fresh insignia.

OCC: End of background thread. While feel free to post a reaction to the post, understand this ends my part.