kismet_loop | [video]

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[Sam's broadcasting from a seat at Your Place, a milkshake on the table in front of her.]

Having now completed a couple years of it, I'm now pretty sure everyone under a hundred is improvising this 'real adult' stuff. And as for the rest of you? [She grins a crooked little grin, pointing at the camera with a cherry stem.] I've got some suspicions still.

[The broadcast would end there---and does, briefly---but the network's treated to Hiro hijacking Sam's drone to properly inform other Haveners.]

Hey, so, uh, what Sam means is that it's her birthday and she's just being cryptic. So, y'know. Don't let her forget it.

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I guess you could say he’s the leader of New Crystal City’s government.

[The last makes him pause.]

Ah...not...much at all really. See, I...died just before arriving in Haven.

Ah, alright.

[She'd been on the brink of some inquisitive sound, but is shocked into silence. After a moment (a short moment, a split-second because what's rattled in her at this comes crashing) she manages one word---once, twice, and then the others.]

What?! What the hell happened to you?!

........I'm sorry, Sam. It was a choice I made, and I do not regret it.

[And he certainly had not meant to upset her...on her birthday]

What happened is a...bit of a story. [One he'll tell if she's sure she wants to hear in now.]

That---if there's that, still.

[She smoothes both hands over her hair, at a loss, but that 'bit of a story' is something to start from and so she doesn't hesitate to ask again.]

What happened?

[He’s quiet another moment.]

To understand I have to go back to long before the incident. Our people had been at war. There came a point when it could have stopped, but because of hate, or fear, or a want for power, both sides pushed on and continued fighting. There were many of us who just decided we were not going to take sides in the pointless killing. Many were leaving Cybertron anyway, and the Circle of Light was just one group in that many.

We disappeared in the chaos, found a planet with no other life forms and settled, building a city under ground. A lot of time passed and I found myself growing restless. I wanted to help people, there were so many of our own who were out there, no part of the war and yet still caught up in it. I would go to the surface, trying to think of ways I could convince Dai Atlas to authorize even a small group of us to find refugees trying to leave the fighting.

...And then a slaver’s ship landed on our planet. Taking a break to take stock, or planning to meet buyers there, I don’t know, but I knew I had to do something. It’s also when I met Drift. He’d crashed there earlier, and he wanted a way off-planet. I wanted to help the slaves.

He was injured in the fight and to save his life I brought him back to New Crystal City. He was an outsider, and had many of the Circle worried. If someone knew about us, and left, the war we’d avoided for so long could come crashing down on us. He was lost, fighting for a cause he no longer believed in. He was my charge, and for a few weeks I trained him, helped him choose his path.

Unfortunately, our attack on the slavers meant they knew someone was on the planet. They were able to contact Drift and wanted to make a deal. Us, for him; he could go back to the war if he gave us to the slavers. Instead, he came back and told us of the deal.

I chose to face the slavers, to protect the city. They had to have someone, they didn’t have to know an entire city was there. Others joined us, including Drift, and we set our stage. We knew we’d be outnumbered, and that we’d likely all die, but even if we did lose the battle, we’d have protected the city. It’s what mattered most.

I faced the leader of the slaver traders...and did not survive. [To his shame, it was because he did what ever fighter knows they should never do...he let his worry for another distract him.]

I do know that after my death Dai Atlas raised the city, and the citizens fought for themselves. I know the slavers were defeated and that our city was safe. I did not wish for death, but I know it was not in vein, and that’s what matters to me.

[Sam listens mutely. The initial shock's fading, eroded by a mass of other emotions. The dismay's there, deepening, and a kind of morbid curiosity (it's not cold, but a deep itching ache like an abscessed tooth somewhere in her sternum) and what borders on a dumb disbelief, grounded in the fact it's not fair. It's dumb because fairness has nothing to do with it---when there's warring, people fight and people die. Doesn't matter who; it happens.]

[And still, she thinks; yes, but--- But? Even Breakdown didn't have his death happen to him. It's something that Wing's here in Haven despite his dying, and it's something that he's satisfied with what he'd accomplished, but... 'it's something' doesn't seem like it's enough. Wing's a good person, her first friend here, and here he is, telling her how he came to be killed, not through any accident but by somebody.]

[For the first time in a long, long time, Sam pushes past what she wants to ask to first offer what condolences she can.]

I'm sorry. But, I'm glad you've got that.

...though. What were these slavers? Who was their leader?

[She wants to know, she needs a name, because now acrimony is welling up with everything else---bright and all edges.]

They were travelers, going across the universe to find a way to make themselves immortal.

[He stops there, studying Sam...and then shakes his head.] It’s not important anymore, Sam. It’s past and they’re not here.

What do you mean, it's not important?

[The question is immediate, edged with incredulity. Sam stops herself short before saying else, realizing that something's shifting---or shifted---in this conversation. She takes a moment to tamp down her disbelief, to try for a feel as to where this is going to go..]

It's past, and they're not here, but there is an off chance... And even if nothing ever comes of the off chance, it's important.

And if by chance they do come here, they will not have the same resources, and will have the law to face should they try anything against the people here. They will also have the chance to start fresh and change their ways, just as everyone should have.

[Doesn't mean he really believes they'd take it, but...yeah. Frankly he just wants her staying clear of the giant aliens and not risking herself for a grudge he doesn't even hold...]

I'm not going to argue any of that. It's not even me deciding to be diplomatic; I do agree. It's just---give me a name. Please.

[Oh, Sam...he knows you too well.]

No. His name isn't important.

Why not? Give me something.

[She has suspicions of her own, huffing in upset as they seem sure to be fixed in this exchange. Everything she's heard is bad enough, but Wing's walling makes it even worse.]

What d'you think I'll do?

Why, Sam? Why do you need his name? [He's not mad at all, his tone is...firm, but not upset.]

If I give you a name what will you do with it? Be prepared to set a spell on him is my guess. But what for? For what he's done? It's past, Sam. Let it go.

This place is full of possibilities. There is such a slim chance that he'll show up here anyway, he's not worth your efforts. And if he does, there's a chance he won't even be from the same reality, and would be guiltless of the acts you would hold against him. I know of seven different versions of my home, not including the one we all now live on, and there could be more.

Please, Sam. Let it go.

To be ready. Or at least as close to it as I'm going to get.

You're right that I'd look into setting something up. Setting whatever it is off, though, that's something else. I wouldn't do that without something being done here, first. You're the wronged party, so 'hold it' is your call, and yeah, name and face won't matter if he doesn't have the history, but in case...

I want to be ready. I don't want anything bad to happen to you, or to anyone else. Some worst case scenario shakes out, I want to be able to do something---but if it's in a hurry, doing something that's actually effective is gonna be much, much harder.

And I appreciate that you care, I truly do. I still ask that you leave this alone. Please. The worst case scenario is so unlikely. I don’t want you putting your effort into someone who isn’t worth it.

I will not give you his name, or his appearance. …However, if he does end up drawn here, I give you my word that I will identify him to you immediately.

We could argue this until I run out of air. [It's just an observation, nearly-neutral---but it's the truth, too. Putting effort into someone who isn't worth it? She knows what Wing means, but that effort would be 'for' his killer the way a tripwire would be; it'd be for his security (and her own peace of mind) and Wing is more than worth it.] But I get the feeling there's not much point to that.

What you're putting forward is fair.

[It makes being walled only slightly less upsetting, but she's got the good grace to admit that much.]

[He smiles, understanding where she's coming from, but at the same time grateful she seems willing to respect his wishes.]

Thank you, Sam. I know this isn't an easy choice for you, and I do appreciate it.

[She takes a moment to just... take a moment, head lowered and arms tucked tight; the heels of both hands against her chin, fingers fanned against her cheeks. Then, she huffs.]

Don't thank me. I still don't like this---any of this!---at all.

[It's an understatement, the emphasis on 'any' more than she'd actually intended.]

Shit, Wing.

[Acknowledging that what he wants is fair is one thing; actually accepting it, another. She's not wild about what seems to be the natural next step, but being walled is worse.]

I know, and that you have agreed is more than enough reason for my thanks.

[She makes a frustrated noise, shaking her head in what could be concession.]

I'm not entirely unreasonable. Just choked.

[Still, she sighs, running her hands up to her hair and over it.]

You know the last thing I want to do is let this go. But... we can drop it. Hold off on it a while, anyway.

How's that?

[This conversation can't be the end of it, but an intermission (being an opportunity) is alright.]

[He nods, accepting.] I'm not going to change my mind on this, Sam...

[Just saying.]

~~[He is going to feel so hurt and betrayed when he learns of this.]~~

[That cinches it.]

Okay.

[He studies her a moment...and nods again. He'll let her go if she doesn't say more.]

[She'll cut the feed before he can.]

[Places to go, people to see.]

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