IN NEED OF A ROLLED UP NEWSPAPER

An unnatural glow illuminates the tunnel as you head down
into a cavern that seems larger even than the one containing
the Ark. Blood red light floods the cave with a sinister
light, as you stumble across the molten core of the volcano.
It seem there is life here still, an unpredictability that
could at any moment be unleashed. the ground heaves beneath
you as lava streams force through cracks in the cavern
floor, seeking to flow slowly to the surface. Luckily, the
strength of the volcano is not enough to force these streams
more than a few feet and the rapidly cool, forming a
steaming crust to the molten core below. The atmosphere is
unbearable, a furnace like heat fills the whole cavern,
unable to escape, dissipating down the tunnels leading to
and from this cavern. Looking now at the core of mount St.
Hilary you are left to wonder that it is surprising that the
recent eruption did not engulf the whole Ark and destroy the
Transformers.

Hound just keeps on walking, heading away from the main
thouroughfare, moving deeper into the volcanic structure of
the mountain.

Candice studdies Hound. Something seems to be missing from
him. But...she doesn't quite notice what yet. As he
continues on his way she shrugs to herself and...follows.
"You...alright, Hound?"

Hound takes a position away from the broiling heat of the
lava itself, sitting on a RELATIVELY cool slab on the other
side of the cavern.  "I'm just as 'alright' as the current
state of the Autobots."  He crosses his arms, and stares up
at the roof of the cave, apparently in thought.

Candice flickers a glance around at the cavern as she
continues to follow....remembering when it was the last time
she had been here. She's relieved he sits where he does and
not where he could have. And she moves to join him.  She
nods quietly, already knowing what the general current state
of the situation here is. "Waht to talk about it?"

Hound sighs, "Not much to talk about.  I come here mainly to
think... to figure out what I'm not seeing, pieces of the
puzzle that aren't fitting right.  It's not working, today."

Candice shrugs in response as she continues to study the
scout. "Other things on your mind ya mean?"

Hound says, "You could say so.""

Candice nods in understanding. "Lot's of things been
happening around here that would bring that on I think..."
she muses aloud.

Hound says, "Things that I couldn't even TRY to stop... The
Proton Bomb is still out there, Omega Supreme's in danger,
and Primus knows where Optimus is...It's like... one big
puzzle, that has an obvious answer, that I... I JUST CAN'T
SEE."

Candice falls silent. "Omega's been looked to already," she
tells Hound. But she's unsure of what to say regarding the
other two issues. She pauses for a few beats. "I talked with
Magnus last night. He seems to think this is all related..."

Hound just stares out at the magma.^

Candice sighs. "Getting the Autobot army to scatter to
search. Then two diversions in order to abduct Optimus..."

Hound says, "We don't even know where he is."

Candice shakes her head. "Not even the other Decepticons
know."

Hound says, "But that's just it... something is seriously
wrong. The Decepticons HAD him. Why give him up?   Someone
had to TAKE Optimus from them. And if they could take
Optimus... how strong ARE they?"

Candice blinks at Hound. "What are you talking about? As far
as I know Megatron, Soundwave, and ravge have Optimus...but
the other decepticons are the ones who have no clue as to
why. they didn't even know it was Optimus Megatron had come
here for."

Hound says, "You said yourself the other Decepticons don't
know where Prime is. Why not? Why isn't he in their brig? Or
dismembered, with his body strung up as a trophy for all to
see?  Something is very wrong, Candice."

Candice shrugs helplessly. "There's only one thing that I
can come up with why he wasn't killed. Before I even knoew
the Autobots Spike and I were captured as prisoners...as
experiaments for brainwashing and mind control." She shakes
her head. "Every Autobot that has been singled out and taken
has had something like that done."

Hound says, "That's a reasonable why. Something I'd expect
the Decepticreatins to do..."  The scout's face hardens to a
degree. "You said the other Decepticons don't seem to have
knowledge about Prime's abduction..."

Candice is only stating what she has personally seen and
knows of Decepticons. "I'm thinking that he wasn't killed so
he could be used against you. I heard Megatron state---."
she cuts cut off and asks, "Yeah...from what Ultra Magnus
told me was reported."

Hound says, "What did you hear from Megatron?"

Candice thinks back. "After...after Megatron shot Optimus
with that cannon of his he told Optimus that his end wasn't
going to come yet. He...then slung him over his shoulder."

Hound thinks before responding. "And, that Megatron has him.
On the same train of thought, Megatron probably has special
plans for Optimus... special enough that the Decepticons
can't be trusted with them..."

Candice states, "Well...I saw what Megatron, Ravage, and
Soundwave did in medbay...then Tom saw them all leaving."
She grunts. "And as long Roller is alive...Optimus is
alive."
Candice nods to Hound's assessment. "Either that or rather
delicate plans as well...that can't be tamperede with until
they're ready to unfold."

Hound nods, glancing out over the magma again. "As long as
Roller is alive...Roller... oh Primus, it can't be that
simple.  Roller can track Prime down without any trouble
whatsoever."

Candice hmms. "If your thinking about trying to use Roller's
bond with prime...forget it. Prime is out of Roller's radio
range. And he can't 'feel' his bondmate."

Hound says, "But even that's a clue."

Candice comments, "A small contraption was set up so for a
short time Roller's speech could be translated. Ultra Magnus
tried to find a way to use Roller to help Optimus but...it's
just not possible. Not even Roller knows about the bond to
it's full extant."

Hound says, "Blaster could hook up Roller to his radio
transmitter array, and in turn, the Ark systems; he could
contact Prime anywhere in the solar system, then.  Which
means they're under some kind of radio shielding...
selective, at least.  Roller and Prime are united, somehow,
though... and if the pair gets close enough, they could get
in contact."

Candice blinks. "I wouldn't know...you'd...have to ask them.
Roller said something about the bond being partially
radio...partially...something else. Whetever that something
else is. As for the radio...that would be helpfull only if
Prime's radio wasn't disabled."

Hound sighs, and shakes his head. "You're right, of course.
Me and my false hopes. I don't even know why I bother to put
on a cheery face anymore..."  He calmly settles back against
the cave wall, and shuts off his optics, slowly scanning the
cavern itself, especially the magma flow across the way.

Candice draws in a deep breath and gets to her feet. She
reaches out for the scout's arm. "Hound, don't give up hope.
Optimus is alive. That's at least something."

Hound says, "Sometimes, this place gives me answers... the
magma is never the same... it's soothing to watch, to feel
its heat... occasionally, I just... understand things when
I'm here..."
Hound turns on his optics again, and shuts down the scan.
"But all I get right now are bad memories and even worse
premonitions."

Candice turns to watch some of the molton rock churn rather
briefly. She usually comes here when it suits a rather dark
mood. "Doesn't look too good right now..."

Hound says, "And this only proves my point.  I'm worthless
to the Autobot cause. I can't do anything of value anymore."

Candice refocuses back on Hound. "Why...do you say that?"

Hound says, "I failed to recover the Proton Bomb. I failed
to help prime when the Decepticons first attacked. I gave
the 'cons crucial information ABOUT that Bomb. I wasn't
active when the Decepticons attacked Omega OR the Ark.  And
now, I can't do a damn thing to solve this case.  There's
only one thing I really *can* do now."

Candice narrows her eyes a bit. "Hound, we all have our
limitations."
Candice adds, "Have you ever thought about what you *were*
able to accomplish through all this?"

Hound says, "Yes.  I delivered a CD from the U.S.
government, recieved repairs several times after a pointless
fight with a Decepticon... and wasted Autobot energon,
materials, and time."

Candice suggests, "Such as getting the information the
Autobots needed about the proton Bomb in the first
place...investigating leads so we know where not to
look...'items of elimination ' I think what it's called.
Stood up against the Decepticons in whatever they were
doing. Hound...no one knows what kind of reprocussions
they'll be making by their actions for both the good and the
bad."

Hound shakes his head. "I appreciate what you're doing,
Candice. But you don't have to."

Candice sighs quietly. "I just wish you wouldn't beat
yourself up so hard. You do the best you can. I know that
and so does everyone else. It's a fact of life that...you
can't always accomplish what you...want to."

Hound says, "Then what do you say when you can't accomplish
what you HAVE to?"

Candice looks down for a moment...thinkong about that one.
"There's a human prayer. It's called the 'Serenity Prayer'.
You may have heard of it. may not have. ''Give me the
courage to change they things I can, acceptance to change
the things I can't. And wisdome to know the differnce."
Candice still doesn't know the extent of Hound's problem.
Or...maybe she does...or at least suspects. "You're still
trying to do this all on your own aren't you?"

Hound says, "I'm trying to do my duty."

Candice perks an eyebrow. "What's your duty?" she asks, not
in a snotty manner but one of intense curosity.

Hound says, "Officially? Or Realisticly?"

Candice simply answers, "Both."

Hound says, "Recon and exploration, mapmaking and forward
scout.  And doing whatever it takes to help bring this war
to an end."

The later part Candice perks her other eyebrow at, well
knowing that the Autobot Code doesn't allow just 'whatever
it takes'. But she doesn't comment on it. "And you're pretty
good at it...no matter what you may think right now. You're
part of the whole...not a one-Bot army."

Hound says, "I never made any claim to that. I'm not going
to take on Megatron, one-on-one. But I should be able to do
more, I *SHOULD* be able to do something... productive."

Candice stares at her friend. "Will you stop looking at what
you couldn't do and start looking at what you have been able
to do?" She takes a deep breath. "All I could do when
Megatron and the other two Stooges infiltrated the Ark was
just watch as the gunned down Optimus, nearly kill Roller,
and kidnap Prime. I couldn't do *anything* But Magnus told
be just a few days ago that despite me not being able to see
it I *did* do something important. I was there and bore
witness. And that's all that I could. But it was something.
Don't sell yourself short, Hound."

Hound says, "Your witness gives the Autobots valuable
information... information we desperately need. Tell me -
HONESTLY - what I've done recently that contributed anything
of worth to the Autobots."

Candice narrows her eyes slightly further. "You're loyal.
You're faithful. You answer the call to duty and preform it
to the best of your abilities...no matter what a personal
loss there is to you. You're there in spirit of not
phisically as you do what you can for what the Autobot's
fight for."

Hound says, "In other words, I'm the Autobot cheerleader.  I
*do* appeciate what you're trying to do. But right now, the
only person I need to prove my worth to is myself. And no
amount of pep-talk is going to do that."

Candice releases a breath. "In a way...that too." Although
*right now* that's up for debate. "You've been putting
yourself down because of a lack of results. Who's to say
just because you don't get those results someone else won't?
By your efforts you may be helping someone else and don't
even know it. The Autobots are a *team*. And your a team-
member. You don't always have to know how your helping.
Because no one always knows. Just...do your job."  Candice
pauses for a moment and crosses her arms in front of her
chest. "And...believe me...I already know simple 'pep-talks'
don't always work. so don't think this is one."

Hound says, "Do my job?  You want me to make some maps while
the Autobots are falling apart around me?  I can't do that
in good conscience."

Candice gives a small shrug. "Help out in whatever way you
can, Hound. That's what I'm saying. And if that includes
doing maps...do them. Besides...what if your maps *are*
needed and they're not completed?" She comes up with an
idea. "Or what about surveying the maps you have done for
something not noticed before....such as anything that could
have to do with the Decepticons."
Candice gets more precise. "Like a place where Prime *could*
be secretly hidden that would go unnoticed by anyone who
didn't have an overlay of an area."

Hound says, "I've tried it.  When I was off by myself, I was
running over every square inch of the western united states,
searching for any trace of the bomb.  And when I learned
Prime had been captured, but no one knew where he was, I
modified my internal search for potential hiding places."

Candice furrows her brow. "Thereby eliminating where he
*isn't..." she offers.

Hound says, "I found over 92,000 individual locations, about
a quarter of which could accomodate SEVERAL transformers of
Optimus' size, let alone only three or four. And a tenth of
THOSE already have natural radio-dampening qualities.  That
leaves a convenient two or three hundred potential
locations.  I've calculated... if I run a full scan on each
of those sites, I might be done by October.  And that's
assuming they've stayed in the western portion of North
America."

Candice blinks. "And you said you weren't contributing? It's
at least *something*."

Hound says, "It's worthless. The Autobots could sweep faster
with metal detectors mounted to their bumpers."

Candice hmphs. "You don't give yourself enough credit. You
at least pinpointed locations worth checking into. You told
Magnus or Prowl of your findings?"

Hound says, "Why? My findings are inconclusive at best...
and more likely than not, grasping at straws."

Candice replies, "And you think they have anything *else* at
the moment?"

Hound says, "They have better things to do than listen to a
Junior Lieutenant with outlandish ideas."

Candice is getting pretty frustrated with Hound by now. And
it's starting to show. "Even though one of those outlandish
ideas may save Optimus Prime's *life*?"

Hound says, "Their current methods are more efficient and
structured than mine. Without Teletran, I can't analyze the
data properly. Which means, my ideas are very rough THEORY.
They're operating on fact. At the moment, they're better
off."

Candice rolls her eyes completely for the scout's benefit
while backing away from him. "Fine!" she practically shouts.
"If all you would rather do is be involved in a 'pity-party'
and feeling sorry for yourself then maybe its better that
you continue to refuse to wear your insignia." Yes, she's
noticed. "I just pray Optimus isn't killed because you're
too afraid to stare down your own defeat and at least
try...!" And with that she aruptly turns and begins heading
back towards the cavern that led she and the scout here to
this inner chamber.

Hound slowly watches her leave. "I'm trying," he mumbles,
mostly to himself. "Primus knows, I'm trying so hard, I'm
destroying myself..."

The young woman walks briskly. But then...she probably
doesn't hear him. Still, it's up for debate what she would
do even if she did. She pauses for a moment and turns back,
studdying the scout with a rather pained glance. She turns
aruptly away before he could catch a glimps of her eyes
misting over...and disappears within one of the adjoining
caverns.