[Open][Video; At the edge of the Haven, slight static]

[megaton]

[So he'd made it. He'd made it, he was alive, and he was still here. He could see the distant temples from the mountain he stood on, some ancient and run-down building in ruins behind him. Despite the dilapidation, there is a very new 'STARSCREAM FOR OVERSEER' poster tacked onto the wall within his view...the perfect place for a high-flying, far-ranging jet to test out non-permanent adhesives without anyone noticing.]

So.

[He begins by reaching out, aiming, and completely blasting the wall and accompanying poster.]

Is there anyone who actually intends to vote for Starscream?

Comments

[megaton]

Then if it is not so cut-and-dry, there's something else they're lacking. Direction. Leadership, maybe.

Surely you have some thoughts on the path they ought to take?

[He hears that tension, and is curious.]

[sword_redemption]

I think the pressure of leadership is what breaks them.

[Blurr had stepped down, his brightness damped, Ultra Magnus also. He's worried enough for Wing already.]

My thoughts aren't important. There's too much opinion and not enough compromise.

[That's his opinion in a nutshell.]

All I know is before we set up laws we need to have some ways to effectively enforce them.

[megaton]

Something that is not the police force?

Maybe you and I are in agreement about this. From what I have been hearing, the needs of the populace are not being met. I've been told about fear--of the badlands and of one's neighbors.

No one seems to know what they want, or how to get there.

There's no concentrated effort to leave, and no concentrated effort to stay.

[sword_redemption]

N-not necessarily. It's just you can't have rules--where there are people intent n breaking those rules--unless you have a way of getting them to respect authority.

[He sounds really uncomfortable as he says this, because it's probably something Zeta Prime would have agreed with.]

Some of us don't, uh, necessarily want to leave.

[megaton]

I see what you are saying. The illusion of barriers we set--police, military, security--is no illusion here. Everyone knows precisely what they can get away with.

[It told him that he could probably get away with a little bit, too.]

What will you do if you stay?