Shiftlock

Name	Shiftlock
Faction	Autobot
Function	Scout
Class	Unknown
Alt Mode	Tunnel Speeder
Species	Original Character

Profile

 "Never compromise who you are."

Beneath a mischievous and playful demeanor, Shiftlock is compassionate soul with a strong protective streak towards the innocent and the downtrodden. Fiercely independent - naturally suspicious of authority. She is always looking for the motives behind words, orders and deeds. Loves to throw herself into dangerous or risky situations for the challenge and thrill of escaping them. As a tunnel speeder, she loves racing and is particularly skilled in drift racing, stunt and combat driving, particularly in the tight quarters of Cybertron's massive undergrid. Impulsive; makes rash decisions on a whim.

History

Shiftlock's point of orion and even true age are lost to her thanks to a complete memory wipe performed in the Institute by the Primordial Tarantulas . Given as a 'gift' to Senator Ratbat , Shiftlock was put to work as the ultimate espionage agent: as a Shifter , she was able to assume the form of anyone she could come in contact with, and gain insight into their thoughts and memories. Drawn to the Dead End of Polyhex, she made friends with an Empty named Drift , trying her best to keep him away from drugs and out of trouble. After breaking him out of jail in Rodion, she was forced to return to Ratbat again and suffered under another routine wipe in order to get another dose of Element Zero, a rare fuel additive she is dependant on to live.

Suspicious of all the scattered fragments of information and memories that were not her own, Shiftlock decided to seek out a source of Element Zero on her own to go rogue, hoping to learn more of the truth of the jumble of data in her head. Locating a source in Ibex, she came in contact with Blurr , and attempted a merge with him in order to show him the truth of what was going on in the lower castes. This lead Blurr to panic, and caused his handlers to give him new instructions - wait for Shiftlock, and wipe her again.

Attacked by Blurr (who believes her to be an anarchist criminal) in his residence and left on the streets, Shiftlock was discovered by Blast Off , who, against his better judgment, decided to assist her in finding her memories. This lead them to Rung ... and even further down the rabbit hole as they began to uncover secrets leading to the Institute in Shiftlock's memory. With all but her oldest memories prior to her induction into Ratbat's service recovered, Shiftlock is now on a quest to take the terrible secrets of the Senate to Megatron himself, in hopes that the revolutionary will be able to make the best use of the evidence of state sponsored menticide. Having only a limited supply of Element Zero, she is in a race against time to achieve her goals before she falls into total shutdown.

Post Hello Goodbye :

After having run out of element zero from repeated escapes from the law, Shiftlock finally started to suffer the ill effects of withdrawl. Taken by Hot Rod to the Free Clinic in the Dead End, Ratchet was in a race against time to save what appeared to be a melting Shifter. Due to interference from Lockdown and a general shock at what was happening, Shiftlock's ezero injection was delayed - long enough for the Mutacon colony leader Mercury to de-merge from Shiftlock's body. Explaining that she had been forcibly combined with Shiftlock (Project: Shifter Locked) in order for Ratbat and Tarantulas to harness her powers, she repaired the injured Empty, warned them about Ratbat's economic meddling, and then left Cybertron to be reunited with her colony to tend to their well-being.

Shiftlock, upon awaking, revealed that she had been a speeder marked for breakdown (not Breakdown) who had escaped the fate of being smelted alive. Wandering through Polyhex she'd been approached by Ratbat's agents, who easily convinced the scared and hungry fembot to accompany them for a "job" - and had been merged with Mercury. Unexpectedly free, she has decided to join Hot Rod in Nyon and fight against governmental tyranny.

Shiftlock's altmode, pencil sketch.

Skills

Drift Racing, Knowledge: Senate Secrets, A Badge For Every Occasion, Getting On Your Last Nerve, Knowledge: Empties, Knowledge: Cybertronian Underground

Logs

September 2014 Logs

• Auction: Drift, Lockdown and Shiftlock go to an illegal spaceship auction. Shiftlock draws the wrong kind of attention.
• All Her Fears: Shiftlock pays a visit to Blurr, expecting him to fulfill his promise, but instead finds that someone has pulled all the wrong strings.
• Who Am I?: After being attacked by Blurr, Shiftlock wakes up in the gutter, and the mech that was sent to kill her has a change of heart.
• Reunion: Shiftlock goes to find Drift and is pretty shocked by the results.
• Secrets in the Open: Knock Out and Shiftlock have a chat after the events of Excitement and Egos.
• Excitement and Egos: Shiftlock special guest stars as Knock Off and then there's an ego-off!
• Racers and Spacers: Folks of all stripes meet and mingle and Macaddam's.
• Betrayed: Shiftlock's memories contain some disturbing truths...

October 2014 Logs

• Friends In Low Places: Shiftlock goes looking for work and finds Rumble.
• Good Idea, Bad Idea: Shiftlock and Drift catch up. Shiftlock is confused. Drift doesn't know what he wants.
• Hello, Goodbye: Shiftlock's friend splits. From her. Look, just read the log.
• Birds of a Feather: Soundwave's ability to pick up thoughts leads to an interesting discovery.
• MechHunt and Memories: Shiftlock helps Blast Off as he is the target of a massive mech hunt, while reclaiming some of her own memories in the process.

November 2014 Logs

• PuzzlePieces: Soundwave has been ordered to kill Shiftlock, who is currently studying with Barricade. It's time to start piecing puzzles together.
• Now You See Him, Now You Don't: Skywarp and Blast Off face off in the Arena for the first time.
• Aftermath to an Execution (Date): Blast Off and Shiftlock find each other again after their date-gone-wrong. Rumble comes in to provide some comfort and well-wishes.
• Execution Date: Blast Off and Shiftlock's date turns into a stay of execution as Drift and Quantum come calling. Check please!
• Parental Advice: Shiftlock and Hot Rod aRE NOT READY TO BE PARENTS
• What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate: Blast Off makes the world's most drawn out and painful attempt at asking someone on a date ever. Shiftlock and Rumble are confused.
• Three (Mechs) Are a Crowd: Shiftlock has to deal with 3 present/past/would be suitors. It's enough to give a femme a headache.
• Tunnels and Trouble: Hot Rod has a GREAT IDEA. Shiftlock is cleaning up messes. Has cleaned up messes. Will clean up messes.
• Willing Sacrifice: Blurr and Shiftlock meet again.
• Lost and Found and Lost Again: Blast Off is lost. Rumble is feeling quite *found*, thankyouvery much. And Shiftlock is simply trying to deal with what life has thrown at her recently.

NC Institute

• All Friends Here: Everyone is a friend of a friend.

March 2015 Logs

• Paying Respects: Scattershot returns to Dead End to pay his respects to Shiftlock and gets an unexpected visitor.
• FINALE 3 - Acquisitions and Deductions: Ratbat wants to get rid of a problem. Soundwave inherits a mess.
• The Ultimate Price: A memorial dedicated to the late Bumper and Fastback is held at Iacon.

July 2014 Logs

• Welcome To Maccaddam's: Arcee walks into a bar and meets some very interesting people.
• Disposable:

January 2015 Logs

• Hot Rod Is A Headache: Hot Rod gives Shiftlock a massive headache and he wasn't even trying.
• Orion Pax Steals A Houseguest: In which the new recruit is a trainwreck, Orion Pax gets a frowny face, Prowl asks Arcee to keep an eye on even more people and Arcee doesn't have enough eyes.
• Introducing: Quickswitch: Quickswitch and Shiftlock meet for the first time.

February 2015 Logs

• Decisions and Destinies: Scattershot pays Shiftlock a visit in the hospital, and the plot thickens.
• Finale 2 - Prisoner Exchange: The Autobot Security Forces and the Decepticons agree to a prisoner exchange. Tensions mount and shots are fired.
• Break the Cutie: Shiftlock loses it. Whirl tries to pick up the pieces.
• Good Con Bad Con 2: Hook uses Shiftlock for medical experimentation, Barricade is a Sad Panda and Shiftlock becomes the new superhero TORSO GIRL.
• Good Con Bad Con: Shiftlock is brought into the Forge for her first interrogation - by Hook and Soundwave. Yeah. She's fragged.
• FINALE 1 - First Blood: Bumper, Fastback and Shiftlock are sent to find the location of the Forge. Two of them are going home in body bags.
• All Better: Shiftlock's better! Hot Rod's happy!
• Introducing: Slag: Trying to earn the funds to get off the planet, Slag finds the way harder than he first thought, thanks to a little interference from Shiftlock.

December 2014 Logs

• No More Confusion: Shiftlock is tired of being confused and ignorant. She agrees to getting brainwashed in order to fix that problem.
• Nyon Alley Adventures: Part One: Blast Off and Shiftlock have a long conversation about life.
• Nothing Personal: Shiftlock tries to sympathize with Blurr, but ends up getting herself arrested instead.
• Fix You: Whirl and Shiftlock are two very broken people.
• More Troubles: Team Trouble grows.
• Trouble In, Trouble Out: Team Trouble picks up a new member and says goodbye to a friend, for now.
• A Few Small Repairs: In the aftermath of the fight with Barricade, Shiftlock takes Whirl to be repaired by the Free Clinic's resident medic, Ratchet.
• Actions Have Consquences: One rash decision changes three lives forever.
• Getting Schooled: Blast Off should really truly probably just stop trying to impress femmes. Also, Combaticons make for lousy emotional support, even when they're actually trying. Meanwhile, Arcee sets her trap for the wanted fugitive (shuttle).
• Crazy Gossip: Shiftlock has some gossip about misc. crazy things for Hot Rod and maybe a mystery listener!
• Return To Start: Drift and Shiftlock have a confrontation. Drift takes a trip to medical.
• School's Out: Breakdown, Barricade and Shiftlock bum around in the Forge and get to know one another.

August 2014 Logs

• Information Overload: How Shiftlock got her Blurr suit.
• Compromised: Blast Off moves in on a target, but Shiftlock is more astute than he bargained for.

April 2015 Logs

• 042515 - Towards Peace: Pursuit finds Orion Pax for a talk to find out why Shiftlock was so fond of him.