A Conversation Gone South

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Having returned from the incident at the structure housing the sparks, Phantom has retired to the barracks to watch the sparks he has brought back. Though their casings are broken, they're still alive -- weak, but still alive. He sits quietly on a bench, monitoring them religiously, and continues to do so for the next several cycles, not even allowing himself a break.
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Quantum wanders into the barracks and notices Phantom stooped over the sparks. He sighs. Oh what in the name of Primus could he be up to this time? He peers over his friend's shoulder. "Where frag did you get -those-?"

Phantom doesn't respond right away. He's staring, transfixed at the sparks, his expression grieved. After a moment, he finally turns to Quantum. "There was this place, full of cores," he says in reference to the sparks.

His optics narrow. "Then the Autobots came, and broke a bunch of things, including the casing for these."

He sighs, and as they are watching them, Quantum will notice that the sparks are changing color -- one of them turns a deep gold, and the other a shade of crimson. A spinning ring of matching color forms around each of the sparks, and they begin rotating in a peculiar pattern...

Quantum stares at the sparks and the strange colors. He's never seen anything like it...

"What the...what are you doing? Phantom, you -need- to be careful. We don't--"

Then he sighs again. "Look, quit getting so upset over these things. Might be news to you, but these kinds of things happen all the time here."

His expression becomes even more grieved when the rotating rings around the sparks begin to move in a strange fashion. "...they will not be normal," he says softly, sounding upset.

He stands up, optics narrowing suddenly. "Careful, what? There is no /careful/. You must do everything to save lives that are pure like this, not having lived a life yet and become bad."

Quantum seems to have frustrated him even more. "I don't care! Just because it is happening all the time doesn't mean you just stop caring. A newborn life is always worth whatever risk you have to take to make sure that he is safe. It matters." He sits down and continues to watch the sparks. lips pressed into a thin line.

Quantum sighs, shaking his head. "Listen Phantom, life is cheap. The government will always find ways to create life. Spark splicing, whatever twisted thing they have to do to make sure we keep on existing. Stop obsessing over it."

Apparently this is a sensitive topic for him, he stands up, fists clenched, phasing in and out. "That is /not/ true! Life is /never/ cheap. We are ...finite beings, just because you can find a way to do it doesn't mean you will be able to sustain it! What, do you think that we have unlimited resources?? Time passes, and the amount of energon we are needing to live goes down, don't you see it? One day, we will run of out something that we need to keep living if people like the Autobots keep being so wasteful. It is just how the universe is. This is why we cannot co-exist with the Autobots. They are wasteful, and will make the Cybertronian race extinct in the next few millennia."

Quantum stares at Phantom as he goes on a tirade, long and hard. Finally, he shakes his head and laughs. Wasteful. Pfff. Is that what he thinks? "Heh. Is that why you think we're at war? Is that the only thing you think we're fighting over? -Environmental- issues? No, Phantom. We're fighting because the Primal lineage needs to end. Because the Primes -murdered- and -mutilated- anyone who disagreed with them. Because they used people and threw them away like scrapheaps. Hah....'wasteful'. If -any- of us were worried about resources we would've surrended to the new Prime a -long- time ago."

Phantom just gives Quantum a confused look. He hasn't the slightest what he's talking about. "...okay fine, then we are fighting against them because of that too, but if you think life is cheap, what the hell do you even care if they used people and threw them aside, huh? Always can make new guys, right? That's what you said! You are stupid if you do not worry about resources. Look at this planet, already half wasted away. If we do not win the war, the Autobots will put us under great oppression and we will soon be a dying breed." He shakes his helm, turning away. "Then, everyone will die. You will die. I will die. Don't you /care/?"

"Heh." Quantum turns away partially, glancing toward the hallway. "Well it's got to happen sometime, right?" he mutters at the floor.

Phantom stares incredulously at Quantum, confused and hurt, at a loss for words. "How could you?? I...I thought.." he whispers, in shock.

He doesn't finish his sentence. The lights in between the cracks in his faceplates light up, flickering dimly in a dotted pattern like fireflies. "I went away from my home world, to come here, to be with you and be your brother, leaving behind everything. Isn't that something to you?" he says quietly.

Quantum doesn't reply immediately, his face turned away for a few moments as he shakes his head once more. Finally he turns around, his tone angry. "Don't you -dare- guilt trip me with that, Phantom. I didn't -ask- you to come here. -You- wanted to follow me. In fact I warned you, I -told- you that I sure as smelt wasn't the kind of person who was worth following into some unknown territory. You brought this on -yourself-."

Phantom backs up, shaking his helm. "I... I made a grave mistake." He turns away, shaking his helm. " I thought that if I came here, I would be able to find meaning, or something else. But what did I find? Nothing! Just some crazy, short circuited tyrant guy leading the Decepticons, he hardly knows the difference between repair and destroy! And the one person I came here for, he keeps insisting on pushing away the people who want to help him."

He steps over to the sparks, placing them in his subspace compartment. "Stop talking like that!" he says angrily, "it doesn't matter! Even the most wicked people understand how karma works." He starts to head for the exit of the barracks, optics dim. "All I wanted to do was to repay you my debt. But you don't even want me to do that, so it must be time for me to leave. I will... find a way to go home. That way, you will be finally be rid of me, like you always wanted." He hands Quantum a data pad. "Please just give this to Bombshell. I promised him this gift." He then transforms, ready to leave Kolkular for perhaps the last time.

"Okay maybe you did make a mistake, so what? I'll tell you what doesn't matter. Whether you coming here was a mistake or not. The fact is you -did-. It's in the past, and there's nothing you can do about it now. Stop dwelling on what happened before and start focusing on making the future better." Quantum replies, though he doesn't move to stop Phantom from leaving. "Not that you ever really valued my opinion anyway..." he shrugs. "So whatever, fine. Go."

"I came here for you," Phantom replies, "but since you never wanted me to come here in the first place, why should I stay? And I am not from here, what is my concern about making its future better? You do not even care about the future either, so I do not know why you are saying that to me." His jet engines light up, and he takes off, leaving Kolkular behind, going towards Petrex, disillusioned and unsure of whatever is next, except that he needs to find a way home...