#cirrus the accomplice

[pottedplantson]

Knock-knock-knock. Knock. Knock. Knock-knock

Some time had passed since the conspiracy in the storage room - a length Cirrus thought suitable to throw off any suspicion and to assure himself that no one had noticed him coming or going from the practice hall at an odd time of day. Now he stood outside Kris's door, clutching a tall stack of datapads and glancing around while clearly trying to look like he wasn't glancing around.

Along with the datapads, he also held a box of Rust Sticks, gripped precariously against the stack with his thumb talon. Apparently schemes required snacks.

@a-mothers-wings

[circuscarnage]

I've been wanting to get into more details about Woe's relationships with the cast of Obscura so I've made a little chart showing a basic run down. More details under the cut.

Cirrus:

There is danger, but there is also desire. Cirrus has the ever glowing presence of a wanting river, constantly pulling people in one direction. Swimming against the tide is useless against his presence. He can help her, but only if she obeys. Also haha priest hot.

Keir:

Does not trust him. I mean, who would after forcing you to be an accomplice and hiding out in a hole on the first day under the mountain? Even though she may talk back and poke all his buttons (Right and wrong) she see's something good in him. And I like to think he see's something good in Woe too, underneath the jokes and wit.

Oleander:

There is something playful about their relation. It feels like they're both playing a constant game of chess, both waiting for the other to make their move before calculating the next. She probes him for more information than he is willing to give. He has a lot of secrets, and Woe loves secrets.

Francessco:

He doesn't belong here, yet he insists his presence is necessary. Oh well, best not get between anyone and their last wishes. If Floppy wants to have a good time, he shall have a good time. Woe keeps a watchful on him, letting him be free, but never letting him stray too far from her sight. Trying her best not to let the bunny step into a hunters trap.

[gloomverse-theories]

Who killed the lawn?

Ah, strolling through the presidential lawn!!!! 

It’s a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming... on days like these, lawns like you...

Seem to have been burning in hell.

(All page references: Locks chapter unless otherwise specified.)

Now, now, I hear you say, “but mod Xela!! It’s pretty obvious that CQ just forgot to recolor the lawn for autumn on the first page!” 

And you would be right. 

Now introducing Doylist vs Watsonian perspectives. (For a more in-depth explanation, you can check out our #references tag, or the TV Tropes article called Watsonian vs Doylist.)

To keep it short.

Doylist: The real-life, author’s reason explanation.  Watsonian: The in-story reason. 

They are both valuable and useful for different things! And for our purpose we are going to focus on finding a watsonian explanation, so in-story. Also, it’s going to be a silly one, so don’t take me too seriously. 

Why? Fun, that’s why. Scroll all the way down for the tldr, it’s bolded.

So what do we have here? A pristine, flowering lawn. And then... disaster. It’s all yellowed and dried up. Even the trees have started to brown!

First we will start to look for three things: the timeframe of the murder, the murder weapon, and the murderer. 

So. First off. Did Fall happen in the time between Ylil waking up and Yma sitting on the lawn? How much time are we working with here?

Ylil states that talking to Gloomversians is “orders for the day”, so it’s got to be the same day we started with. 

Ylil takes a little bit of time to wake up. Let’s say a couple minutes. Then she talks with Yma— hard to say for how long exactly, but we can reasonably round it to ten minutes. Then, Yma leaves, and walks around the building until she meets with Indigo— she was still thinking about her sister, so maybe another three minutes. Her conversation with Indigo is pretty short, let’s give another five minutes for Red and Blue to interrupt. 

Of course, this is all arbitrary— all we need is a general scale.

So we get: 2 + 10 + 3 + 5 = 20 minutes... then we have a blank between Red’s murder attempt and the girls calmly sitting under a tree. We know it can’t have been TOO long, since it’s not evening yet.

The time is around noon, since there’s a vertical-looking shadow. (That could also imply Prisma’s relatively close to the planet’s equator..? Hard to say.)

We also know Blue had time to buy a Red Drink before sitting down. There’s a distributor in the building— in the rec room actually! And Cocos did the same for Virga, and they sat under what appears to be the same tree afterwards, too. This must be a popular, close-by spot.

We don’t know how long Red took to calm down or if there were other shenanigans, but introducing each other properly, buying the drink and sitting under the tree would probably take at least 10 minutes. So we have a 30 +  x minutes timeframe. Hm. It gives us a minimum, but the blank makes it not very useful.

Considering the last time the victim was seen alive and well was when the Judge of Inverse woke up— and considering not only Yma, but also Blue and Red, two regular people, probably woke up around or even before then— it was probably mid to late morning. 8 am at the earliest, and about 11 at the latest. When the victim was found dead, it was around 12 pm—let’s say 11 am to 1pm. 

That makes the maximum amount of time to kill the victim (yes, yes, it’s still the lawn), five hours. Averaging the events’ time we get 9:30 to 12— a more likely two and a half hours. So we have the timeframe:

The murder was committed between 8 and 11 (average: 9:30 am), and discovered between 11 and 1pm (average: 12pm).  

Now, the murder weapon. How do you destroy a lawn in a handful of hours? The sun can’t have done that on its own! 

Let’s see... the most obvious answer is that weedkiller was used— they notably cause yellowing of plants, and fast. It would need to be spread over the whole lawn, but we will see such details later. Would it work in a matter of hours?

In our world, the answer is yes, some weed killers (”Roundup 5107300 Extended Control Grass & Weed Killer”, “Spectracide Grass & Weed Killer Concentrate 2″ if you want names) advertise giving results within about 3 hours. That’s within our maximum timeframe! A likely murder weapon. Furthermore, strong sunlight makes weedkiller act faster. 

Also Gloomverse is a magic country where a sole magician can make huge bitey plants in a matter of seconds, so we can reasonably assume that they would have potent magic-made weedkiller available, perhaps even capable of acting in minutes. 

The murder weapon was most likely fast acting weed killer.

So, we have a timeframe, and we have a weapon. Now... we need a murderer and their mobile. Who are our suspects? Who was on the scene??? 

We see nobody but Ylil, Yma, Indigo, Red and Blue in this chapter, so they will be our primary suspects. 

- Ylil is MIA after the first twenty minutes, and if I was her I would just go back to bed, but she could technically go out and kill the lawn while no one’s looking. We lack a mobile, though— in fact we have a negative mobile for her: through precise on-the-spot knowledge, she showed interest in plants in the Date. It’s not proof she likes plants, but considering she shares the flower name theme with Petunia, we can reasonably assume she doesn’t hate them. So let’s assume she is innocent for now.

- Red and Blue are MIA during those first twenty minutes, but considering Red made a beeline for Indigo, it is unlikely they randomly committed an additional murder before attempting that one. So... this could only have been done by them during the missing time shenanigans.

- Indigo is a known chaotic factor, but he was sleeping and accounted for up until Red’s murder attempt, and still with them at noon looking like a sad puppy, so we can assume he did not leave Red, Blue and Yma’s sight to commit this murder. Which means they are either accomplices, or he is innocent.

- Yma couldn’t have done anything for the first twenty minutes either, but she is free during the x timeframe and assumed to have been witness to the other suspects’ shenanigans, which could be as long as a couple hours, depending on what Blue means by the “all that” she is sorry for. 

Wait. All that? So... many things happened that we didn’t see... suspicious.

After examining suspect alibis, it appears the specific timeframe during which the murder could have been committed could only be the blank time after Blue separated Red and Indigo, so after 8:20 at the earliest, and 9:50 on our averaged time. 

We can therefore place Indigo, Red, Blue and Yma on the scene... 

We know very little about this mystery timeframe, beyond that it was likely at least 10 minutes long. However, Blue bought a drink! She would only do so once the crisis was behind them, and we saw a distributor in the same room Red attacked Indigo in! Which means... 

Indigo, Red, Blue and Yma stayed in the rec room up until they came out of the building to sit under the tree.

So then... did they kill the lawn before sitting down? Why would they spray weedkiller before sitting down in the same grass? No... the truth can only be much more insidious...

If Indigo, Yma, Red and Blue have been innocented... we only have one primary suspect left... 

Ylil.

But why? Why would she commit such a heinous crime??? We already went over her lack of motive for it. What factors have we not considered? Who else is here? 

While the building looks empty, and it seems that this is still the weekend (considering the date was Friday evening and Ylil apparently slept in, though since Indigo went to work the previous night this could be Sunday rather than Saturday). Shaman Cocos and the Ecoversians she brought here should be here...

But they wouldn’t spread weedkiller, that could damage their hair! In fact, weedkiller could probably make them sick, if not kill them— 

Wait

Could it be... all along the lawn was not the intended victim? 

Could it be....... attempted human murder? 

GASP... Ylil did mention concerns of assassination during the Date... and we HAVE seen Shaman Cocos hanging out and even sitting in this grass.

So we now have a motive for the culprit... Murdering Shaman Cocos. But we still don’t have a murderer, because Ylil needs Cocos for information right now. She would have no reason to try and kill her now. Yma, Indigo, Blue and Red have no reason to kill her, either... 

So there is someone else, someone unseen, who had to have acted between Ylil waking up and this little color gang leaving the building— otherwise they would have been seen. The timeframe for this is likely about half an hour... Who could have spread fast acting weedkiller over the whole lawn (and perhaps even the trees) in half an hour? Who is confirmed to be around? 

Cirrus and Purple’s book do both show Stratoversians don’t like Ecoversians. That could cover the motive. A Stratoversian could also use weather magic to spread weedkiller— the wind could even explain why event he trees yellowed! 

But... Virga, Nim and Cirrus all left the premises... Who—

(The New Job) 

“Weather Gods”. Gloomversians at large seem aware that Some People has the ability to control weather, though they don’t usually know their nature. We also know there are squads of Stratoversians hanging out in or around Gloomverse, out of sight— because Virga heard about the magic show through her troops. 

(Yes, I am implying Rylie flipped off random Stratoversians here. I’m not the first one saying it.) 

So there we have it. 

We have largely innocented Yma, Ylil, Indigo, Blue, and Red. The murderer of the lawn is a Stratoversian who spread weed killer with weather magic between Ylil waking up and the four stepping outside on the lawn. The grass and the trees have both decayed because they used wind to spread it faster and overshot a little. The intended victim of the crime would be the Ecoversian delegation, as they have plant hair that could be affected negatively by weed killer. 

[hicglobals123]

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[cirro-stratus]

Gosh Cirrus, what ellen and basil did was over two years ago!! Why are you still talking about it?

Turns out emotional scarring is real, and things take time to heal!

There is no set timeframe, by the end of which, all negative feelings and its impact on your life magically vanishes. It will always be there with you, and some people take longer than others to heal for various reasons.

Gosh Cirrus, stop saying their names!! It was a long time ago and people change!! It makes me really uncomfortable to see you name them!! uwu

I'm not going to 'other' my abuser and their accomplice for your personal comfort. I'm not going to make some faceless entity my abuser so that you don't have to face the reality that they're people you may or may not know. I'm not going to other my abuser and their accomplice so that they don't bear the weight and burden of what they did because they can pretend I'm talking about someone ELSE, and can deny any connection to it, both to theirselves and other people.

These are the people that deeply hurt me, whether they want to admit it and own their behavior or not. I can't erase what happened any more than they can undo it. Sure, they can change. But it doesn't mean that what was done was undone just because they changed. It doesn't mean that I was ever given closure and my trauma acknowledged/respected by them just because they changed.

[pottedplantson]

pottedplantson

a-mothers-wings

That breeze was so nice to feel. Kris needed to get out more for sure, she was wind starved for sure. Her own wings flicked at the idea of of having her wings numbed from an EMP blade. Maybe in a medical setting but it was nothing worth her continued attention as Cirrus was happy at the double attack idea. She gave a giggle and even wiggled a little as she nodded in agreement to the plan. Everything was agreed upon and now they could get things in motion. “I guess…April Fools are for laughs that have gone too far occasionally? You’ll know what mine is later, I’m just telling you when it happens, don’t freak out, it’s just meant for silly absurdity. As for the Ides of March… it being a whole ‘stab your leader’ thing, it’s a challenge? A compliment from the efforts put into successfully landing a hit.” Okay so actually talking it out made it easier to digest and embrace. Even if Kris didn’t understand all of the reasons, it was palatable for now. “I can solder and weld, I’ve practiced so much before actually beautifying the last hall so if anything, I’ll happily take the ire of that. I’ll also probably keep it to work on not being so ‘weapon’ shy. That way you and I could spar, I’m not too sure about others though.” Kris stood up on the shelf and clapped her hands together. They didn’t have long to get this done. “Meet back up at my hab? That’s where I have my set up for soldering.” It would be too suspicious if they traveled together plus she wanted to go start the psychological warfare to get Starscream all excited.

"Okay!" said Cirrus, already bouncing up and down. "I'll come to your hab as soon as I get the blades! Here-" He opened his hand to pick up Kris if she wanted, but then he hesitated.

"Oh wait! We can't be seen leaving this room at the same time. Co-conspirators need to look like we're not in cahoots at all. I'll stay here and change the message on my hologram, and then I'll leave once it wouldn't be suspicious. Ooh! And you'll know it's me at your hab because I'll knock like this-"

Knock-knock-knock. Knock. Knock. Knock-knock

Cirrus's optics glowed brighter as he schemed, and his wings gave the most un-secretive flutter.

“Oh Ciiiirruuuuus~” The sing song voice preceded the appearance of the small femme. Kris had made sure to approach Cirrus when he wasn’t in his hab or amid studies. Kris hovered at shoulder height, having gained proper control of transforming her lower legs into the thrusters she now used. It made it easier to talk to others who weren’t prone to swatting at her. Most were used to her but she didn’t push her own reflexive response time. “You are now my accomplice by association.”

Cirrus blinked as Kris floated up to him, apparently being pulled out of his own thoughts. His wings flicked up and he smiled.

"Accomplice? For what?"

[pottedplantson]

“Oh Ciiiirruuuuus~” The sing song voice preceded the appearance of the small femme. Kris had made sure to approach Cirrus when he wasn’t in his hab or amid studies. Kris hovered at shoulder height, having gained proper control of transforming her lower legs into the thrusters she now used. It made it easier to talk to others who weren’t prone to swatting at her. Most were used to her but she didn’t push her own reflexive response time. “You are now my accomplice by association.”

Cirrus blinked as Kris floated up to him, apparently being pulled out of his own thoughts. His wings flicked up and he smiled.

"Accomplice? For what?"

[pottedplantson]

pottedplantson

a-mothers-wings

Kris made a… face at the mentioning of a blade. Clearly she was having a hard time understanding it was harmless, just a sensory disruptive of sorts. When Starscream’s wings were mentioned, her own went rigid. “I don’t care if I am a broken record I will repeatedly remind all flyers: I revere wings as sacred and not to be touched without permission of the owner.” Her tone was resolute and firm, proving that she would never waiver from her personal belief. However, when the femme felt her point was made, she relaxed and refocused on the conversation at hand. “If he lets me sit on his shoulder I should be fine… so… my target will have to be in the seams?” Primus, she did not feel like that was safe but if her EMP ‘blade’ was her size, surely it wouldn’t do more than tingle. “If you are on his opposite side and strike first, then when he looks at you I can get his neck… PRIMUS I really want to succeed but I feel like I am doing something so morally HEINOUS!” Kris flopped on her back to lay on the shelf and throw her hands in the air. It is just a prank. It is just a prank. It is just a prank. Yeah, that didn’t help. “I’m frustrated how much I want to win… I really enjoy this holiday. Better than April Fools although that day means everyone and anyone could be a target.” Was she overthinking? Yeah. She genuinely tells on herself that she has a hard time on a sanctioned ‘stab your leader’ holiday that it would be impossible to do anything for ‘real life’. Actually, if she were honest, she’d ‘go feral’ on someone actively trying to hurt or kill the two seekers that meant so much to her. They are family and she refused to lose family ever again. “Dude….” Kris finally spoke after her mind refocused on the present. She sat herself up again and rested her forearms atop her thighs. “You are the best fellow accomplice. Can I be of any helping making these EMP blades?”

Cirrus smiled. "Yeah, I guess I don't have to remind you to not touch wings. You're the most considerate person about that. When we're sparring wings are fair game, and it feels so weird if they get numbed! Bleh!" He shivered, flicking his wings hard enough to create a breeze.

Recovering, he grinned wide. "Yessss! A double attack! You point at someplace on your side of the hall where you want to beautify, and I'll get him on his side, and then you can get his neck cables when he looks at me. It's perfect!"

Cirrus approached the shelf Kris was sitting on and put his hands on it. "It's natural to be nervous, but remember - Starscream wants to be pranked this time. It's, as he would say, a win-win." A wing flick. "I wonder why he likes this and hates April Fools... huh."

"For the EMP blades, I was just going to... uh, borrow some from the sparring gear. I'll put them back! Well, except for the one we're going to take apart and make tiny for you... I don't think I'll be able to fix it. But then you can spar with us maybe! The only thing is, can you solder? Because I am not great at that!" He laughed a little, recalling Knockout's frustration once their first aid lessons moved from theory to actual welding and soldering.

"I can show you what goes where, but especially at such a small scale, it would be best if you do the soldering."

“Oh Ciiiirruuuuus~” The sing song voice preceded the appearance of the small femme. Kris had made sure to approach Cirrus when he wasn’t in his hab or amid studies. Kris hovered at shoulder height, having gained proper control of transforming her lower legs into the thrusters she now used. It made it easier to talk to others who weren’t prone to swatting at her. Most were used to her but she didn’t push her own reflexive response time. “You are now my accomplice by association.”

Cirrus blinked as Kris floated up to him, apparently being pulled out of his own thoughts. His wings flicked up and he smiled.

"Accomplice? For what?"

[pottedplantson]

pottedplantson

a-mothers-wings

Kris’s feathers fluffed up with realization. “Excellent! He genuinely believes your lack of ‘enthusiasm’ is genuine because that’s why I mentioned it in the first place! Oooo, you have him off your tail with that one, genius!” It was a relief to know Cirrus was into the Vos-established holiday. She sat herself down on a shelf and dangled her legs over the edge to transform them back into her talons. She was excited before hand but now she was absolutely thrilled that the two youngest inhabitants will have the best plan. Her eyes watched Cirrus pull things out of his subspace. Kris felt confusion for what exactly she was looking at, since tech was absolutely not her strong suit. Luckily for her, Cirrus explained AND demonstrated what he had created. When the hologram appeared she squealed in delight and clapped her hands in applause. “This is GREAT! Again, you’re a genius. That sort of thing is beyond what my brain has desire to grasp. So that just leaves… the actual attack.” What did Starscream suggest again? “EMP darts… something about EMP darts…. “ Kris thought out loud as she crossed her arms. “This is whyyyy we write things down Kris.” Her frustration at her memory recall was clear as day. “Last time I literally waited for hours at the ceiling of one of the halls, waiting for Starscream to pass, and then I glided down and landed on… ugh what is WITH my memory? The spot between your wings? Well yeah… I landed my ‘hit’ but got stuck because I didn’t want to scratch up his paint. I’ve never… used anything to land a hit. You know how I am unable to bring myself to inflict damage…” Well, unless it was a MECH agent, that is. Weapons of any kind being used against any resident, let alone Starscream, was horrific enough as just a thought. “I’m strictly a self defense person…. So I may need a lot of reassurance and encouragement to strike at Starscream. Even if I consider it a pranking holiday…” She knew many mechs did not understand her hesitance towards violence, but she knew Cirrus was capable of empathizing with her. Rubbing the back of her neck, Kris looked up at nothing in particular on the ceiling. “Okay, this is an idea on a whim: I could lure Starscream to another hall I’ve been eyeing to beautify. It is a sincere topic I want to discuss with him so I don’t have to act— OH! Maybe right after the failed attack so that it really seems believable, meaning I invite you along too so there is close proximity without setting off suspicions?”

"EMP darts would be awesome! Why didn't I think of that? But no..." He vented and tapped his chin again, beginning to pace. "We'd still face the same problem of my magnet launcher - how to make sure it gets Starscream and no one else. Plus they might just bounce off unless they hit in between his plating."

He considered for a moment, looking up the ceiling. "So last year, you glided down silently and got him on the top of his engine? That's amazing! And sure to hit. Ooh! I know!" His sudden enthusiasm as he bounced toward Kris would have been alarming if not for his fluttering wings. "We use EMP 'blades' to practice sparring sometimes. They're not sharp, just a force field that feels weird and make you go numb if it hits the right spots. It's for practicing strikes on joints, which are more effective than strikes on plating." He shook his arm, remembering the strange tingling feeling he'd experienced a number of times during practice. "Don't worry - you can't hurt anyone with them. They're not even strong enough to knock someone out."

"I think I could modify one so it's small enough for you to carry, or if you wanted to talk to Starscream about decorating the hall, I could be the one to strike. We should probably both have one in case we need to improvise. I'd say don't drop on his back this time though - the only place you could numb with an EMP blade would be his wings, and that would probably make him mad."

“Oh Ciiiirruuuuus~” The sing song voice preceded the appearance of the small femme. Kris had made sure to approach Cirrus when he wasn’t in his hab or amid studies. Kris hovered at shoulder height, having gained proper control of transforming her lower legs into the thrusters she now used. It made it easier to talk to others who weren’t prone to swatting at her. Most were used to her but she didn’t push her own reflexive response time. “You are now my accomplice by association.”

Cirrus blinked as Kris floated up to him, apparently being pulled out of his own thoughts. His wings flicked up and he smiled.

"Accomplice? For what?"

[a-mothers-wings]

“Ides of March. It may not be a holiday on earth, but I love celebrating it here, especially because Starscream loves this time of year.” Kris sung merrily. Her smile was growing as she considered what words she would choose to best explain this. Well, perhaps a bare minimum such as bullet points or a list will at least outline her plot. “In here..” she motioned him to follow her into a storage room.

“Hear me out..”

Kris paused as she looked around to make sure everything was clear. “Ides of March, psychological warfare this time. We make an effort to approach Stascream cheerfully. Make him constantly think we are sus. Then we pull a prank that will fail. Followed by a prank later that WILL succeed when least anticipated. Any questions?”

Sure, her layout of the plans was… unorthodox, but Kris was too excited and pressed for time to execute all of this. She didn’t have time to draw out an elaborate, mapped out plan. Ooooo! The femme was positively glowing from her sub-dermal circuits, too certain that this would be the best Ides of March yet!

“Oh Ciiiirruuuuus~” The sing song voice preceded the appearance of the small femme. Kris had made sure to approach Cirrus when he wasn’t in his hab or amid studies. Kris hovered at shoulder height, having gained proper control of transforming her lower legs into the thrusters she now used. It made it easier to talk to others who weren’t prone to swatting at her. Most were used to her but she didn’t push her own reflexive response time. “You are now my accomplice by association.”

Cirrus blinked as Kris floated up to him, apparently being pulled out of his own thoughts. His wings flicked up and he smiled.

"Accomplice? For what?"

[a-mothers-wings]

That breeze was so nice to feel. Kris needed to get out more for sure, she was wind starved for sure. Her own wings flicked at the idea of of having her wings numbed from an EMP blade. Maybe in a medical setting but it was nothing worth her continued attention as Cirrus was happy at the double attack idea. She gave a giggle and even wiggled a little as she nodded in agreement to the plan. Everything was agreed upon and now they could get things in motion.

“I guess…April Fools are for laughs that have gone too far occasionally? You’ll know what mine is later, I’m just telling you when it happens, don’t freak out, it’s just meant for silly absurdity. As for the Ides of March… it being a whole ‘stab your leader’ thing, it’s a challenge? A compliment from the efforts put into successfully landing a hit.”

Okay so actually talking it out made it easier to digest and embrace. Even if Kris didn’t understand all of the reasons, it was palatable for now. “I can solder and weld, I’ve practiced so much before actually beautifying the last hall so if anything, I’ll happily take the ire of that. I’ll also probably keep it to work on not being so ‘weapon’ shy. That way you and I could spar, I’m not too sure about others though.”

Kris stood up on the shelf and clapped her hands together. They didn’t have long to get this done. “Meet back up at my hab? That’s where I have my set up for soldering.” It would be too suspicious if they traveled together plus she wanted to go start the psychological warfare to get Starscream all excited.

“Oh Ciiiirruuuuus~” The sing song voice preceded the appearance of the small femme. Kris had made sure to approach Cirrus when he wasn’t in his hab or amid studies. Kris hovered at shoulder height, having gained proper control of transforming her lower legs into the thrusters she now used. It made it easier to talk to others who weren’t prone to swatting at her. Most were used to her but she didn’t push her own reflexive response time. “You are now my accomplice by association.”

Cirrus blinked as Kris floated up to him, apparently being pulled out of his own thoughts. His wings flicked up and he smiled.

"Accomplice? For what?"

[a-mothers-wings]

Kris made a… face at the mentioning of a blade. Clearly she was having a hard time understanding it was harmless, just a sensory disruptive of sorts. When Starscream’s wings were mentioned, her own went rigid. “I don’t care if I am a broken record I will repeatedly remind all flyers: I revere wings as sacred and not to be touched without permission of the owner.” Her tone was resolute and firm, proving that she would never waiver from her personal belief. However, when the femme felt her point was made, she relaxed and refocused on the conversation at hand.

“If he lets me sit on his shoulder I should be fine… so… my target will have to be in the seams?” Primus, she did not feel like that was safe but if her EMP ‘blade’ was her size, surely it wouldn’t do more than tingle. “If you are on his opposite side and strike first, then when he looks at you I can get his neck… PRIMUS I really want to succeed but I feel like I am doing something so morally HEINOUS!”

Kris flopped on her back to lay on the shelf and throw her hands in the air. It is just a prank. It is just a prank. It is just a prank. Yeah, that didn’t help. “I’m frustrated how much I want to win… I really enjoy this holiday. Better than April Fools although that day means everyone and anyone could be a target.” Was she overthinking? Yeah. She genuinely tells on herself that she has a hard time on a sanctioned ‘stab your leader’ holiday that it would be impossible to do anything for ‘real life’. Actually, if she were honest, she’d ‘go feral’ on someone actively trying to hurt or kill the two seekers that meant so much to her. They are family and she refused to lose family ever again.

“Dude….” Kris finally spoke after her mind refocused on the present. She sat herself up again and rested her forearms atop her thighs. “You are the best fellow accomplice. Can I be of any helping making these EMP blades?”

“Oh Ciiiirruuuuus~” The sing song voice preceded the appearance of the small femme. Kris had made sure to approach Cirrus when he wasn’t in his hab or amid studies. Kris hovered at shoulder height, having gained proper control of transforming her lower legs into the thrusters she now used. It made it easier to talk to others who weren’t prone to swatting at her. Most were used to her but she didn’t push her own reflexive response time. “You are now my accomplice by association.”

Cirrus blinked as Kris floated up to him, apparently being pulled out of his own thoughts. His wings flicked up and he smiled.

"Accomplice? For what?"

[pottedplantson]

Cirrus vented unhappily when Kris mentioned the Ides of March not being a real holiday on Earth, but immediately brightened as she went on. By the end of her scheme, his wings had begun to flutter.

"I'm so relieved!" he said. "I told Starscream it wasn't a real holiday to make him think I wasn't going to try anything, but then I really couldn't think of anything to try!" He shrugged, puffing air through his vents. "I was starting to think the real attack would be the spoiled holiday we had along the way."

"Your plan is perfect, because I'm terrible at keeping secrets and we can lean into that." Cirrus steepled his talons together as he'd seen Starscream do when making plans. "I even have a plan that won't work, for phase one."

Cirrus retrieved a handful of small devices from his subspace and held them out. "I was going to stick these lasers on a doorway, and then it would drop this off the top of the door." Holding out his arm, Cirrus activated one of the devices and let it go. It zipped through the air and magneted onto his plating with a sharp clang. A hologram projected from it, displaying a drawing of a knife and the words "You've been stabbed! Love, Cirrus"

The young Seeker stashed his inventions away again and vented. "The problem is, I couldn't figure out how to make sure it gets Starscream specifically, or even at all. So many people move around the base that it's more likely to get someone else. I thought about putting it on the door to his quarters, but he might not even go to bed all day and night, plus I've seen him check for traps when he goes in and out. It's an infrared laser and he can see those if he's on the lookout. He'll definitely be watching today." Cirrus was rocking on his heels, excitedly going over the ins and outs of his plan, happy to have someone to think aloud to. He felt like Starscream, taking a setback and turning it into a brilliant scheme.

"But now its bug is a feature! If it traps someone random, Starscream will laugh at us and think it was a failed attempt. And it's juuust good enough that it would seem like we spent all our time on this one shot. He has no idea I was already working on anything in advance. I can change the text so it's from both of us, and then we can come up with our real plan."

He tapped a claw against his chin in thought. "The real prank should be hand's on. My other problem with my plan was how impersonal it felt."

“Oh Ciiiirruuuuus~” The sing song voice preceded the appearance of the small femme. Kris had made sure to approach Cirrus when he wasn’t in his hab or amid studies. Kris hovered at shoulder height, having gained proper control of transforming her lower legs into the thrusters she now used. It made it easier to talk to others who weren’t prone to swatting at her. Most were used to her but she didn’t push her own reflexive response time. “You are now my accomplice by association.”

Cirrus blinked as Kris floated up to him, apparently being pulled out of his own thoughts. His wings flicked up and he smiled.

"Accomplice? For what?"

[a-mothers-wings]

Kris’s feathers fluffed up with realization. “Excellent! He genuinely believes your lack of ‘enthusiasm’ is genuine because that’s why I mentioned it in the first place! Oooo, you have him off your tail with that one, genius!” It was a relief to know Cirrus was into the Vos-established holiday. She sat herself down on a shelf and dangled her legs over the edge to transform them back into her talons. She was excited before hand but now she was absolutely thrilled that the two youngest inhabitants will have the best plan.

Her eyes watched Cirrus pull things out of his subspace. Kris felt confusion for what exactly she was looking at, since tech was absolutely not her strong suit. Luckily for her, Cirrus explained AND demonstrated what he had created. When the hologram appeared she squealed in delight and clapped her hands in applause. “This is GREAT! Again, you’re a genius. That sort of thing is beyond what my brain has desire to grasp. So that just leaves… the actual attack.” What did Starscream suggest again?

“EMP darts… something about EMP darts…. “ Kris thought out loud as she crossed her arms. “This is whyyyy we write things down Kris.” Her frustration at her memory recall was clear as day. “Last time I literally waited for hours at the ceiling of one of the halls, waiting for Starscream to pass, and then I glided down and landed on… ugh what is WITH my memory? The spot between your wings? Well yeah… I landed my ‘hit’ but got stuck because I didn’t want to scratch up his paint. I’ve never… used anything to land a hit. You know how I am unable to bring myself to inflict damage…” Well, unless it was a MECH agent, that is. Weapons of any kind being used against any resident, let alone Starscream, was horrific enough as just a thought.

“I’m strictly a self defense person…. So I may need a lot of reassurance and encouragement to strike at Starscream. Even if I consider it a pranking holiday…” She knew many mechs did not understand her hesitance towards violence, but she knew Cirrus was capable of empathizing with her. Rubbing the back of her neck, Kris looked up at nothing in particular on the ceiling. “Okay, this is an idea on a whim: I could lure Starscream to another hall I’ve been eyeing to beautify. It is a sincere topic I want to discuss with him so I don’t have to act— OH! Maybe right after the failed attack so that it really seems believable, meaning I invite you along too so there is close proximity without setting off suspicions?”

“Oh Ciiiirruuuuus~” The sing song voice preceded the appearance of the small femme. Kris had made sure to approach Cirrus when he wasn’t in his hab or amid studies. Kris hovered at shoulder height, having gained proper control of transforming her lower legs into the thrusters she now used. It made it easier to talk to others who weren’t prone to swatting at her. Most were used to her but she didn’t push her own reflexive response time. “You are now my accomplice by association.”

Cirrus blinked as Kris floated up to him, apparently being pulled out of his own thoughts. His wings flicked up and he smiled.

"Accomplice? For what?"