A Meeting of the Minds

Log Title: A Meeting of the Minds

Characters: Deadline, Lt Bludd, Dr. Over-Kill

Location: Waffle House, Indianapolis, United States

Date: December 11, 2010

TP: Shattered Glass TP

Summary: On a snowy December evening, Deadline and Lt Bludd have an unlikely meeting. Dr. Over-Kill entreats the two to consider the perils of the portals.

Indianapolis
Indianapolis has long enjoyed fame among racing fans, who flock to this capital city every May for the Indianapolis 500. Thanks to a recent large development effort, Indianapolis now boasts several new attractions aimed at families. The citys unhurried pace and spacious layout encourages visitors to relax and enjoy the sites.

Eddie is sitting quietly in an Indianapolis Waffle House, stirring sugar into his 7th coffee refill, and watching the snow blow by through the nearby window.

Deadline
You see a man in his late 20s - early 30s, who stands a few inches shy of 6 ft. tall, and has an average build. Despite his slightly below-average height, he seems taller at first glance, because of his rather imposing appearence.

His waist-long hair is dark, snagged into a wild, raven ponytail which hangs down his back. A 5 o'clock shadow adorns his lower face, and there's usually a lit cigarette dangling from his lip when he speaks. His wild brown eyes are partially obfuscated behind green-tinted prescription glasses. Both ears are outfitted with countless piercings, bars, and chained adornments. He's dressed in a dull grey 'wifebeater' style tank top, which is tucked into a pair of form-fitting camo pants. Over the tank top, he wears a black leather jacket shell with the sleeves ripped out. His exposed arms are adorned with all sorts of tribal tattoos, from his biceps down to his wrists. His hands are covered with black leather fingerless 'biker' gloves. These seem to match his knee-high, black leather steel toe boots.

He also wears a fairly obvious belt holster with ammo clips, and a Heckler & Koch USP.

The inhospitable weather typical of Indiana winters has never been something Sebastian Bludd has favoured. The Sydney native huddles into his leather jacket, its collar turned up against the blowing snow, as he pushes into the lobby of the Waffle House. He spends a moment shivering and stamping his feet before being led to a booth.

Lt Bludd
Standing just under six feet tall, this unassuming man looks out at the world with a calm expression. His black hair, streaked with grey at the temples, is tied back into a short ponytail that just brushes the back of his neck. He has an athletic build and his skin is slightly tanned. Though obviously not a young man, his clean-shaven face lends him an air of youth.

He wears a black leather jacket with an Australian and French flag on one shoulder, and blue jeans. His hands are clad in tight black gloves.

As the newcomer arrives in a blast of freezing-cold air, Eddie glances over reflexively, but doesn't immediately recognize him due to his bundled-up state. However, the longer Sebastian sits there and thaws out, the more Eddie's attention is drawn to him. (Where'd I see him before?) he thinks through an opiate-induced haze.

Lt Bludd gratefully accepts a cup of coffee from the server, gazing out into the swirling snow outside. A sense of being watched steals over him and he glances to the faces of nearby patrons, aware he's not in his own world any longer.

Suddenly, it occurs to Eddie exactly who's arrived, and his grin nearly reaches his ears. Giggling to himself, he picks up his coffee, and heads over to Sebastian's table.

Sebastian sits up abruptly as Eddie comes over. He doesn't need more than a moment's glance to recognise the face of the maniac who drove a semi truck through the front wall of the bookstore in his own Indianapolis. "Whaddyou want?" he asks through gritted teeth.

Eddie chuckles, sliding into the booth opposite Sebastian. "Relax! Just a little coffee talk. I don't have a semi truck this time; I was just trollin' you. In real life. Basically."

"There's nothing you could say that could possibly interest me," Sebastian grinds out, his fingers closing more tightly around his coffee cup.

"Woooooow. Dude. Calm down. You're gonna get a heart attack. Oh, speakin' of heart attacks...you get your son back? I heard a rumor or somethin'." Eddie's eyes sparkle with amusement. It's hard to say whether he's playing Sebastian for his own amusement, or gave him the 'tip' about his son intentionally so he could get him back.

Sebastian glowers at the unshaven malcontent. "That's none of your concern." Cautiously, without taking his gaze from Eddie, he lifts his coffee cup to take a sip of the hot liquid.

Deadline sends a radio transmission.

"Sure it is! A lot of shit is my concern, you'd be surprised." Eddie's eyes seem kind of...glazed-over placid, pupils large. He might be on some drug that's having a calming effect on him, which is much to Sebastian's benefit. "I'm surprised you're takin' your chances over on this side, to be real honest."

Deadline sends a radio transmission.

"It's safer here than it is on our side," Sebastian opines.

Deadline sends a radio transmission.

"Sure is. An' the money's better, too." Eddie grins, fiddling with a cigarette. "I'm lovin' it, man. More job ops than you can shake a stick at." He chuckles again. "So y'didn't think that was funny, at your book signing...heh...I was pretty high on crystal when I paid you a visit."

"FUNNY?!" The volume of the Australian's voice causes ripples of head-turning throughout the restaurant. "Did I think it was /funny/ that you destroyed half of a store, /killed/ at least one patron and taunted me about the predicament of my son?!" He slides out of the booth and stands at the end of the table, his fists clenched. "You're a bloody damn menace, that's what I think!"

Eddie watches Sebastian's furious outburst with great amusement, as if watching a very entertaining play. Finally, when he gets to 'bloody damn menace', Eddie begins laughing. "That how you feel, seriously?" he titters, taking a sip of extra-leaded coffee. "Hell, if it wasn't for me, you woulda been at square one with your son, let's face it." he says. "An' the rest of that? Collateral damage. That's what we call it in the Army. Anything between the objective an' the soldier is collateral damage."

"You are insane," Sebastian replies, staring in disbelief. "You cause terror and you call it 'collateral damage'? This is not a warzone!"

"See, Sebastian, that's where you're wrong," Eddie points out, ironically sounding very rational in his delivery. "The war zone is a very specific term. It means more than dots on a map. The war zone is -- well, the war zone is wherever you need it to be. The war zone is any place you got an objective." He itches one of his arm bandages, pulling it loose idly. "Therefore, it's a movable concept. You gotta think outside the box."

In a Waffle House restaurant in Indianapolis, Eddie and Sebastian are among the patrons who have taken refuge from the snowstorm. At the moment, Eddie sits calmly in a booth while Sebastian stands at the end of the table, fists clenched in anger, glaring down at him.

Dr. Over-Kill has also chosen the same Waffle House to seek refuge in, albeit a bit later then the other two. The doctor heads into the building, brushing snow off of his jacket as he heads to sit in a booth by himself. "Coffee, please." the large stranger asks, sounding quite tired.

Dr. Over-Kill
Standing before you is perfect amalgamation between man and machine. Standing at seven and a half feet in height, this cyborg is a sight to behold. Over Kill is usually in the center of a platoon of at least a half a dozen of his robotic assistants, working on some project or another.

The man has a humanoid face, and is almost a pale shade of gray with closely cropped red hair normally kept under a teal helmet. He wears a red scarf around the lower half of his mouth most of the time, which seems to be one of his favorite posessions, and his green eyes glow with an almost fiber optic nature to them, yet his gaze is gentle and thoughtful.

Moving down his body, he is quite a sight to behold.His torso is a dark teal, and seems to be heavily armored over a gray abdomen. His limbs are gray with teal ball and socket hinges, and heavily armored gray shoulders. His left arm is human and his humanoid hand is covered in a teal glove. His right arm is mechanical from the elbow down and seems fully replacable. His chest makes odd hissing sounds, as if his lungs may be mechanical.

His legs seem long and flexible, with color scheme of hisarms are repeated, starting with a gray waist and thighs, black knees and black patent boots, heavy treaded for whatever conditions he may find himself in.

He normally carries a bulky messanger bag around and oddly enough wears a teal labcoat most of the time. This man of his own scientific design speaks with a soft British accent and seems professional and intelligent.

One corner of Sebastian's mouth curls upward. "You wreck things wherever you go and you paint with words to cover the truth of what you really are," he spits. He lowers his voice. "You're lucky I don't just tear you t'bits over what you did at the bookstore."

"You gonna tear me to bits?" The crazy smile returns, and Eddie shrugs. "Fine. Back it up. Let's go, tough guy. I'll even letcha go first." He leers at Sebastian, grinning like a maniac.

Dr. Over-Kill looks over at the conversation, and facepalms. "Everywhere I go, violence follows."

Sebastian grunts. "Not in here," he says. "No reason t'cause more disturbance."

"Yeah, right." Eddie flutters his eyelids, then sips his coffee. Noticing the large cyborg in the place for the first time, he stares at him curiously.

Sebastian follows Eddie's gaze and recognises Dr Over Kill from a previous meeting. He gives the cyborg a somewhat embarrassed smile, feeling a bit like a kid caught picking on a playmate at school.

Dr. Over-Killnods "Sebastian, how good to see you again." he says. "And who is your new ...friend?" he asks.

"I'm Eddie!" the rather rough-looking punk seated across from Sebastian answers Dr. Over-Kill. "Ohhh, you two know each other! That's great! Here, come join us. We were just talkin' about war zones."

Dr. Over-Kill nods "We do, in a way." he moves over to the table, dragging a chair with him so he doesn't take up too much booth room. "My name is Dr. Andersen, though many call me Over-Kill these days." he says. "I take it you are from the same.. world?"

Sebastian turns his head to glare at Eddie, so Dr Over-Kill won't see it. "Lucky," he mutters. He slides back into the booth, reclaiming his coffee cup. "He's from our world, alright," he adds, unable to keep the distaste he feels for Eddie off his face.

Eddie snickers, then he hrms. "Dr. Andersen...Dr. Andersen...hey, by any chance, were you involved in a certain...POLAR EXPEDITION?" he asks Dr. Over-Kill with a twinkle in his eye.

Dr. Over-Kill 's hands clench a bit. "I may have been. Along with Dr. Archeville. What do you know of it?" he asks.

Sebastian tenses, watching Eddie carefully. "This bloke's dangerous, doc," he says.

"Sebastian's mad at me," Eddie pouts like a petulant child, then looks back to Dr. Over-Kill. "Umm...well, I mighta borrowed a semi tractor-trailer truck from your site. I really meant to bring it back." "But somethin' came up, see."

Dr. Over-Kill pauses. "You were the one." he frowns. "Yes, I see. The portals." he says. "So have you found anything that might lead to a solution? These portals must be closed quick and the people who need to be sent back, need to go where they belong. This dimension is growing unstable."

"Was that before or after you crashed it into the bookstore, you maniac?" Sebastian flicks a glance toward Dr Over-Kill. "You think he cares? You think these people give a rat's furry ass about anything but making people suffer?"

Eddie chuckles. "OK, the bookstore idea came to me 48 hours into a meth binge. It was kinda spontaneous. I didn't plan it, I swear." He glances toward the scientist skeptically. "I gotta new lease on life here, man. I ain't goin' back, no way."

"Do you think things will ... come apart ... if everyone doesn't go back where they belong?" Sebastian asks the cyborg.

Dr. Over-Kill murmurs. "If my theory is correct. Yes. This isn't the first time this dimension has had visitors. I'd like to make sure things at least stabilize." he pauses. "Crashed into a bookstore. Now that's new..."

"He /shot/ one of the customers!" Sebastian declares, slamming a fist down onto the the table.

"Now wait. What's your theory?" Eddie asks, his smile fading and a look of irritation replacing it. "I been here a WHILE an' there's been no 'end of the universe' -- would you mind? Dude was in my WAY," he says to Sebastian as the fist-slam interrupts his thoughts. "Like I was sayin', Dr. Andersen or whoever you are -- if somethin' BAD was gonna happen to this universe by us bein' here, wouldn't it have happened already?"

Dr. Over-Kill nods "As have I. Nearly a year now, studying this in any way I can." He frowns. "I do not think violence is the answer. I do believe the universe is held together by strings." He says. "And that by us being here and others being at..home, we may be fraying said strings."

"We're not /safe/ in our world, Doctor," Sebastian insists. "With the United States government being what it is, and with people like them," he jerks a thumb at Eddie, "around, it's just not safe." He sighs. "A man shouldn't have to wake up in the morning and worry about whether his family is gonna be broken up today." He glares across the table at Eddie. "Or if a perfectly ordinary booksigning is gonna turn into a goddamned charnel house."

Dr. Over-Kill frowns. "Do you think I am safe there?" he asks. "There's a death warrant on my head- on my daughter's head. It's my saftey versus the saftey of everyone. This world should not be a hiding place for people seeking to avoid the one we came form."

"I dunno why you hate me so much, man, I gave you a big freaking clue about your son. Jeeze, lighten up." Eddie pulls a strand of bloody bandages off of his arm. "As for Dr. Genius here, I'd love to hear a better theory on where the hell we're supposed to go. Let's face it, this place is better than our own universe, no question."

Sebastian gazes at his hands, cupped around the coffee mug. "You're right, Doctor," he says quietly. He presses his lips together, steadfastly attempting to keep his temper under control as Eddie speaks. "Some of the people from our world ought to display some kind of sense of responsibility." He looks over at the cyborg. "But it's amazing, isn't it?" he asks, his expression brightening. "We're in an entire other /universe/! This is the kind of thing I ought to be writing about in my next novel!"

Dr. Over-Kill nods "I've had enough of hiding with aliens." He says. "This isnt a good place to hide. Better or not, its not our world. Who knows? If we return, we may help save it. There's people that are trying to stop the madness. People like Father Cobra."

"THAT guy?" Eddie snortchuckles. "Lame. He's lucky if he can get his hash brownies to bake right."

"Father Cobra is more of a man than you'll ever be, Seppo," Sebastian sneers, glaring daggers at Eddie.

"Oh snap! An' you even gotta pet name for me now, too!" Eddie chuckles, unraveling his arm bandages to reveal thin, track-marked limbs. As if it were perfectly normal, Eddie sets about changing the bandages to clean ones. "These arms need to heal faster, so I can stop injectin' my neck," he complains. "This is MY world now. I gotta great life here, an' I ain't going back. Don't care if the old world falls into a wormhole."

"You are a disgusting example of humanity," Sebastian declares, staring at the track-marks on Eddie's arms. "Good thing your habits'll do you in before long."

Dr. Over-Kill shakes his head "It's all connected. Our world dies, this one does too. You can't hide here forever." he looks to Eddy's arm. "Do you need a doctor?" he asks.

Eddie giggles at Sebastian's disgust. "Nah, man, it ain't happenin'. I know my limits. So I'm neeeever gonna OD." He winks, then looks at Dr. Over-Kill proudly. "Nah, I *am* a doctor. I save a ton on medical costs, lemme tell you."

Sebastian reaches into his jacket. "Oh, of course," he says. "Never happen to /you/." He takes out his wallet and slides a five dollar bill under his coffee cup. "It was good to see you again, Doc," he tells Dr Over-Kill. "But I ought to move on before I do something someone will regret." He flicks a glare at Eddie.

"Keep on writin' those books, Bludd," Eddie says jauntily. "Maybe I'll show up again at one of your book signings." He laughs wildly at his own suggestion.

Dr. Over-Kill nods "I'd like to know where we're all staying. So I can keep track of those of us from our world."

"You think I'm gonna tell you where I'm stayin', just like that?" Eddie says, giving Dr. Over-Kill a skeptical look. "Um...NO! Cause I don't want you an' your dorky friends showin' up there."

Sebastian ignores Eddie. "I hadn't set anything up just yet," he tells Dr Over-Kill. "I'll just get a motel room somewhere."

Dr. Over-Kill pauses. "have you considered the Autobots?" he asks. "They have offered amnesty to both me, my daughter and Greg."

Sebastian presses his lips together. "I haven't," he admits. "Honestly I'm not sure which of them to trust. In our world, I met a couple of very friendly Decepticons."

You mutter to Dr. Over-Kill, "You might not want to say too much about Greg in front of this one. It might be dangerous."

Eddie remains quiet for the moment, staring out the window at the snow with a dazed expression. However, there is the distinct possibility that he's nowhere near as stoned as he appears to be.

Dr. Over-Killnods "Allright. I'll keep his secrets safe." he says, looking out the window. "None of us are going to get far tonight in that storm, I think."

"How're you travelling?" Sebastian asks the cyborg.

Eddie stands and stretches. "Well, kids. It's been fun, but I gotta fun agenda to meet tonight." He grins, and shoulders on his coat. "Till next time." WIth that, he heads outside, lighting up a cigarette and walking out into the snow until his form vanishes from view.

Sebastian wrinkles his nose at Eddie's cigarette as the maniac walks off. "Ugh."

Dr. Over-Kill shakes his head. "He's... colorful isnt he?"

"He's a damn bloody menace," snarls Sebastian, getting up from the booth. "And I wish I had a good way to keep tabs on him. Only a matter of time until he wrecks someone or something else." He frowns. "You stayin' somewhere in particular t'night?" His drawl creeps back in slowly now that Eddie has left. "The storm looks pretty serious."

Dr. Over-Kill nods "People like that tend to come and go. I wish I could keep track of him too." he looks out the window. "I'll have to call around. Maybe there's a motel nearby. I don't think my rental can make it in that weather."

"Maybe we should stick t'gether," Sebastian suggests. "At least for now." He, too, looks out the window at the storm. Dr. Over-Kill nods "Agreed, sir." he says. "Where are you staying?"

"There's a place a few miles down the highway," Sebastian informs the doctor. "Figure we could catch a cab?"

Dr. Over-Kill nods "If they'll come out in this." he says. "Sounds like a plan. Sebastian is it?"

Sebastian smiles. "Yep. Let's give it a try, anyhow. If not," he lifts first one foot and then the other, "we still got feet."

Dr. Over-Kill nods "Right that." he says, pulling out a cellphone. He says, looking up some numbers on google maps. "There'a motel six right down the street, and a yellow cab can get us there in 20 minutes, it looks like." he pauses. "Would you like some coffee or anything? My treat."