Mending Streetwise

7/4/2011 
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Ratchet First Aid Streetwise Guinny(NPC)
Ratchet pulls into the med bay’s loading dock and pops his doors, waiting for someone to unload his precious cargo. He stops beeping his sirens, but the lights continue to flash. "First Aid," he radios, "Get him into the 'Bay and start monitors."
Just behind Ratchet was the limousine form of Guinny as he pulled up, skidding to a halt right next to Ratchet and transforming. He shifted, nervously as he looked about.
"Right," First Aid says, opening the hatch to Ratchet's ambulance mode and stepping out. "Help me with the gurney," he says to Guinny, although once it's unloaded, he moves Streetwise into the bay by himself.
Guinny nods, hefting it up and out carefully. Streetwise had a grimace on his face, but his optics were shut as he waited it out. "... We're there? " he asks.
Ratchet transforms and stands, letting his back pop back into place with a wince. "All right. Get him started on energon drips and prepare hose grafts. Let's see the circuitry that's arcing, and anything nonessential is getting pulled."
Guinny looks at Ratchet, and then First aid before he fidgets again "And I stand outta the way? " he assumes. He knew where he belonged. Streetwise opened one optic, "First Aid. Here a moment..." he murmured
First Aid pats Streetwise on the shoulder. "Yeah, you're in Iacon- you're going to be fine." He pauses, about to head off for the parts Ratchet requested.
"C'mere.. one sec." murmured the damaged mech, wriggling his fingers anxiously.
First Aid grabs Streetwise's hand. "I need to get the parts for Ratchet, okay?"
The hand grips on tightly as he pulls First Aid closer to whisper. "Dont forget the scan!"
"Later, okay? It'll be fine." First Aid pats Streetwise's hand and heads off to the supply cabinet at a near-run to get the parts Ratchet requested.
"Just relax, Streetwise," Ratchet says, ignoring the exchange between patient and intern. "I need to look in here." He starts pushing wires and cables out of the way to see Streetwise's internals. He pokes a sensor node that looks to be on the wrong side of some severed circuitry. "Feel this?"
Streetwise had started to protest, then winced as he was jarred. Pushed back to the table he rasps "Yes! Ow... It wasn’t before."
First Aid returns with the materials to set up an energon drip and hose graft kits. He sets the kits down on the stand at the side of the berth and begins setting up the energon drip to feed into the major line on Streetwise's left arm- the uninjured side.
"What wasn't before, Streetwise?" Ratchet asks, pulling wires from around the tender node.
"Hurting." remarks the young mech as he moves to lay still. Guinny folds his arms, staring at all three. Not really glaring, but definitely watching uncomfortably intently.
First Aid finishes setting up the transfusion line and starts the flow of energon. He glances up at Guinny uncomfortably, then returns his attention to Streetwise and Ratchet. "Should I start patching the lines?" He asks Ratchet softly, one hand reassuringly on Streetwise's shoulder while he waits for further instructions.
Streetwise relaxes a little bit as he sighs, lifting his own hand to the one on his shoulder, then dropping it when it was now feeding energon into his system.
"Yes, of course," Ratchet replies as he yanks cabling from the circuits surrounding the node, then pulls the circuit boards themselves. "Just be quick about it, because I don't want his circulation impeded for much longer than it already has."
Guinny shifts nervously, folding and unfolding his arms. He frowns a little "Will he be okay?" he asks abruptly
First Aid nods to Ratchet and leans over to begin clipping the melted ends of energon and coolant lines to get a clean edge to graft in new sections, setting the splice kit he'd gotten off the berth side stand close at hand by Streetwise's elbow on the table, working silently.
A puff of smoke emerges from Streetwise's chest as he shifts uncomfortably.
"Fraggit," Ratchet swears, grabbing the fire extinguisher and discharging some foam into Streetwise's body cavity.
Streetwises' optics flicker, and the small flame was quickly put out. He then opens his optics again "UGh... Next time... duck." he comments.
"Ducking is good," First Aid says. "Not getting shot again would be better." He grabs a rag and wipes foam away from the energon line he's in the middle of splicing closed, wrapping each end of the join with nanite tape to speed up the time it takes self-repair to integrate the new parts, and starting on the coolant line, keeping an eye on Streetwise's temperature- a combination of a compromised coolant system and burning internal components could go very badly, very fast.
Ratchet snorts. "Well said," he mutters as he pulls a sparking panel out of Streetwise's chest with a growl. "Hopefully, if that's the last of your pyrotechnics, you'll be fine. If not, I need to introduce you to a better pyrotechnician."
Streetwise grins through the pain, trying not to laugh. But he does let out a soft snicker. "Laughing hurts. Stoppit." he remarks
First Aid wraps the tape around the coolant line and picks the pieces that he cut off to make a clean join out of the wound neatly. He wasn't /trying/ to be funny.
Ratchet removes another circuit panel -- he's up to six now, and it sure would be nice if he could start leaving the slagging things in -- and peers curiously into the transformer's body. "Streetwise," he says curiously, poking at the cog-like structure oriented out of the normal plane for such a thing, "Why do you have this?" Poke, poke, tap.
Streetwise flinches at the poke and tap, and notes "... I don’t know. I can't see what you're poking at. " he comments dryly.
"Transformation cog?" First Aid leans forward to look, hazarding a guess. "That's a weird placement, isn't it?" He glances at the circuit panels set to one side on the berth. "I'll get the replacements for those for you, Ratchet."
Ratchet frowns. "So if that's a transformation cog, why do you need two? Don't you have only one alt form?" he asks, now tapping the other cog, oriented in the expected manner. "Having two might give you a nice extra bit of support and strength, but that's why you have struts. Who mistook a cog for a strut?"
Streetwise blinks "Didn't know I had two." he comments simply "And I don’t even know what my alt mode is yet. Nobody ever said anything about it."
First Aid returns from the supply cabinet with a stack of small boxes containing replacement circuitry and sets them down on the edge of the berth, in easy reach for Ratchet. Circuitry repairs are a bit beyond anything he's done yet.
Ratchet hmphs and sets to work with replacing circuitry, panel by panel. Occasionally he pokes and prods a large frame to which several boards attach, splitting from what he would normally expect to be a single line. He narrows his optics. "This doesn't make a lot of sense, either," he says.
Streetwise blinks again "Now what? " he asks, and looks over to First Aid "Is this what you were talking about?" he asks
First Aid shakes his head. "No- I mean, it doesn't totally surprise me. I kind of thought you might have a similar error that I was getting when I tried to load trans-scans, but other than knowing that my own cog system is non-standard... And it's not like I can see my own internals, either." He watches what Ratchet is doing curiously.
"Don't you 'now what' me," Ratchet growls, now examining the frame in earnest. "You've got sensory connectors here -- leads, not feeds -- that come from nowhere, and you've got feeds that look like they don't go anywhere. You've never had any sort of odd symptoms? Phantom limbs or random numbness? Nothing?" He puts a finger on one of the connection ports.
The young mech falls silent, thinking "... Hard to think right now when I'm in pieces." he admits softly. Then he gasps as the port was touched. "lemme think. I... yes. I remember now. Sometimes when I was thinking and stuff, I'd just suddenly feel like there was m... more to me... but I couldn’t really find it. I thought nothing of it at the time."
First Aid tilts his head, saying nothing, but curious.
Guinny was shifting uneasily and impatiently, looking away, and then back. Streetwises' optics dim a little bit as he thinks.
Streetwise comms First Aid: DO THE SCAN. MAKE UP STORY. GUINNY TATTLES
First Aid sends over a private comm to Ratchet- Ratchet, Streets says it's okay to scan him, but Guinny talks and he can't know what it's for.'
First Aid pats Streets on the shoulder and gives a slight nod with a glance at Ratchet. Message passed on.
Ratch pages First Aid: Ratchet replies over a private comm - Then get him the slag out of my med bay.
First Aid paged Ratchet with 'How?'
First Aid sends back on the same channel to Streetwise- “need to get rid of him for a few minutes- any ideas?'
Ratchet (Ratch) pages First Aid: I don't know. Gangster's kid's prerogative?
Streetwise pages First Aid: No. He won’t. Call it 'damage scan'. He's stupid
First Aid paged Streetwise with '"Develop a case of acute embarrassment or something? Or send him to get something you want?'
Streetwise pages First Aid: Good one. gimme a moment to think actually.. '
First Aid paged Ratchet with 'He's thinking of something, just a second.'
First Aid paged Streetwise with 'Maybe you want an enerfizz or something? I can tell him where the refectory is.'
Ratchet eyes his intern and his patient and casts a sidelong glance to the monitoring gangster. He continues to busy himself with replacing circuitry.
"Hey G... Guinny? I really want an energon fizz... Could you get me one ?" Asks Streetwise abruptly "It would make me feel better I think." 
The gangster blinks "I have no clue where they keep it kid, and I can't leave you alone..." 
"... NOW." responds Streetwise, his voice having dropped half an octave. His optics flash. The gangster blinks and looks at First Aid "... Where's the concession?"
First Aid glances at Streetwise, then at Ratchet, as if asking permission. "There's shops on the main street a few blocks over-" he says. "In the merchant district."
Ratchet nods, his mouth a thin line.
Guinny grumbles and eyes both of you "No funny stuff." he states, turning to stomp out.
First Aid heads to the supply cabinet for the software diagnostic scanner. "I'll get the scanner." He returns quickly with it, handing it to Ratchet. "Do you want him on his side or what?" The data ports on the back of Streetwise's helm are going to be hard to access with him flat on the berth.
The CMO nods. "Streetwise, I need you to turn towards First Aid," he says. He pulls a screwdriver to anchor the cable into the data port.
Streetwise pauses "All of me or just my head? " he asks, putting an elbow down to start to roll to his side.
"All of you, unless you want a very sore set of neck cables when you're done," Ratchet replies.
Streetwise nods again "okay okay." as he carefully turns to his side, grimacing a little "That actually feels a little better.
First Aid reaches down and grabs onto Streetwise's shoulders, helping him turn without disturbing the damaged area. "The scan feels weird, but it doesn't hurt, especially in the check mode- and he's not going to do anything like the decryption that Wheeljack and Perceptor did on my memory, right Ratchet? That was kind of intense."
"I wasn't particularly planning on it," Ratchet replies. "Come to think of it, though, we did get a lot of useful information from that..." He undoes the latches covering Streetwise's data ports and fastens the cable. "It's up to you, Streetwise. I can do that, but it will take time, and there's a good chance Guinny will come stomping back while you're under."
The mech ponders this, and states "Maybe just the basic for now? We can plan for a more in depth one later... " he promises.
First Aid pats Streetwise on the arm. "Thank you for letting him get the scan."
"I'm as curious as you are First Aid." admits Streetwise, relaxing as the repairs started to reach his CPU
Ratchet initializes the scan, and waits.
Slowly the data started to fill the screen, with a little predictably. A partition appeared - a rather normal one. The second one appeared, which was slightly full, but was mostly empty and the information was all encrypted. The third one was middle in size, and also encrypted heavily, entirely full as well.
Ratchet watches the readout and lets his engine rumble softly.
First Aid leans over, trying to get a look at the screen and not even bothering to hide his curiosity. "What does it say?"
"I can't see from here. I wanna see." notes Streetwise, even while he didn’t move.
"Much the same that yours did," Ratchet says. "Anything else popping up, Streetwise?" He hands the unit to First Aid and plays the cable out a little to give it enough length for First Aid to show it to his brother and patient.
"Pop up? " asks Streetwise as he blinks a few times. As he moved, he froze, gasping "Gah! What was that??"
First Aid takes the readout and reads it while angling it so that Streetwise can look too. "You've got the same encrypted partitions I do- did- it looks like. What was what? Are you okay?" He pauses as Streetwise freezes, instantly looking to see if something has broken loose with Streetwise's fresh repairs.
Streetwise looks one way, and then another "You didn’t see it? " he asks, surprised 'I saw a Petrorabbit." a pause "No wait, I HAD seen one, ages before.... Who's the blue mech, First Aid?" he closes his optics to try and bring back the memory
First Aid shakes his head, then realizes Streetwise can't see him. "No- big, light blue, red optics?" I don't remember his name. I don't remember any names- I recognized you, but I didn't remember your name."
"He's very responsive to the scan. Clearly a lot of this is just below the surface." Ratchet hums. "Which is interesting."
"Same here First Aid. When I saw those recordings you sent? It triggered one... I was running, and freaked out. I saw someone with swords on his back running another direction too. We were being chased by something." notes Streetwise, opening his optics again, looking rather shocked
First Aid nods again. "Yes- Perceptor and Wheeljack found... it wasn't the same, but I think I know what you're talking about." He squeezes Streetwise's arm comfortingly.
Ratchet vents air while he thinks this over.
"Huh... " replies Streetwise "But why would someone DO that?" he asks, confused
First Aid shakes his head. "Wish I knew. I think- and I don't know why I think this- they thought it'd be safer for us." He halfway smiles, but it's sort of sick looking. "I don't think it worked like they meant it to."
Ratchet snorts. "No kidding," he says. He holds his hand out to accept the scanner from Aid.
"Yeah, heh." admits Streetwise "Is the scan almost done?"
First Aid hands the scanner back. "Looks like it. Thanks for getting scanned, Streets."
Ratchet nods slowly. "Yes, thank you, Streetwise," he says distractedly. He removes the cable from the back of Streetwise's head and gently presses on his shoulder to guide him back to a prone position.
Streetwise relaxes, and moves to roll over again. Just in time, Guinny was back with his fizzy drink "Bout time. You guys sure make it hard fer a bloke to get a drink."
"Sorry about that- were my directions bad?" First Aid says guilelessly. "What do you want me to do next, Ratchet?" He's still holding onto Streetwise's arm with one hand.
Streetwise lifts his hand attached to that arm, squeezing First Aids' gently in response before laying it back down "how long will I be here?" he asks, anxiously
First Aid looks at Ratchet - not his call to make.
"Well, for one thing, this armor needs repaired. Beyond the injuries, though, I have no reason to keep you," Ratchet says, eyeing Streetwise significantly.
Streetwise considers this, and states "We have armor and parts at home. But maybe I am not stable yet?" He looks at Ratchet, one optic blinking.
First Aid adds, with a tiny smile, "Major injuries to vital circuitry should be monitored, shouldn't they, Ratchet?"
Ratchet slides his optics to the two mechs, then makes a show of writing an extended report on Streetwise's new medical records in Iacon. "Of course. A minimum of a quarter of an orn, just to assert stability," he says loftily.
Guinny looks form one to the other, quirking an eyebrow. He knew something was up, but couldn’t figure what. But he nods "Fine. Ah guess Ah'll make myself comfortable. Is there a chair I can use? " he asks, unhappily. "I better send a message to the Boss."
First Aid eyes the bodyguard. "There's a really comfortable bench outside, but he's not going anywhere for a little while at least. Why don't you give V- um, the Don a comm and update him?"
Ratchet nods in agreement. "He's going to be staying here until I'm sure he's stable. You might as well camp out, if you don't want to leave him. I don't stock visitor rooms, though."
The bodyguard glares at First Aid a little bit "I think I will. But I'll be RIGHT back. Anything happens to that kid, it’s MY aft on the line." he points out, turning to stomp back out. 
"HE's really nice. Just takes his work seriously." notes Streetwise
First Aid ignores the glare. As if Ratchet's going to let him start anything in the med bay.... "I'm sort of surprised that worked." He says quietly, with a smile.
Ratchet snorts. "Now," he says. "Just what is it that you two want?" he asks, optics narrowed. "It doesn't take a surveillance receiver to know you've been conversing."
The wounded mech states "I think he knows more than he lets on, but he doesn’t care. It’s hard to tell. " He turns his head to look at Ratchet, and speaks "Answers."
First Aid nods in agreement and repeats, "Answers." A beat. "And I don't think we're going to find them sneaking comm calls and meetings every other orn." He's not sure if Ratchet knows how often they've been talking.
Ratchet frowns. "They're your memories and bodies," he says. "How those answers happen is up to you. I'll help you however I can, but you're going to be better able to drive this than I am."
"Been driving it already." notes Streetwise with a weak smile. "I can't completely change dad's mind, but if you play this right then we can hang out a lot more."
"I know, but I'm not sure how to find the answers I want." First Aid frowns. "Although it'd be nice to be able to hang out more," He smiles at Streetwise.
Ratchet eyes his patient. "What's happened to you is serious enough that you can't go home right away," he says with a subtle engine rev, "although I can't keep you here forever. And I can't falsify your records, either! Just rest for now, and don't worry about going back to Cubicron just yet. For now," he says drily.
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