1095/Regretful Yet Resigned

**Pharma has posed:**
    It's just another day at Deltaran's Iacon facility, the medical staff bustling to and fro dealing with the multitude of patients, most of whom are from the recent failed defense at Praxus.

    Up on the office floor though, Pharma's PA Triage is cleaning up the mess that had been made in his boss' office earlier, while the doc himself is again up in the ICU fixing up the most challenging of cases.

**Ratchet has posed:**
Ratchet had told the others they should look into Triage and his potential involvement. Triage could be perfectly innocent, a victim unaware of Pharma's goings on, but there was also the probability that he was in cahoots or even the one responsible for all of it. They had to question him and he knew a good place to start. "Follow my lead."

He told the others as he moved to the doorway of Pharma's office, watching Triage as he asks, "Triage, can we have a word? We wanted to talk about Pharma's office, it seems like someone was snooping around through his things." Yes Ratchet is aware it was /them/, just roll with it, "Do you know anything about that?"

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock nodded as she was keeping near Ratchet, after all she did /not/ want to violate Primes orders, thankfully she wasn't, given Ratchet was here, starlock pressed a button in one of her audial headphones as she followed behind Ratchet, trying to keep out of line of sight. She kept near the wall, on Ratchet's left side, she was going to remain quiet at the moment, and let Ratchet do the talking.

**Whirl has posed:**
Whirl has come to Deltaran because he's having one of Those Days and he can't find First Aid or Starlock or any of the other medics who will put up with him. He walks into the hallway near Pharma's office, claws clack-clacking together with more than the usual speed and force as he looks for the office he was told to go to. Currently, he's lost, annoyed and in an increasing amount of discomfort. He grumbles as he walks along, head bobbing back and forth, scanning plaques to try and find the clinic he's been directed to. "...ok, I'm gonna find the fragger who numbered this place and I'm gonna ram my claws so far up their aft..."

**Pharma has posed:**
    Triage was picking some tools and datapads off of the floor and putting them away in a drawer when Ratchet shows up in the doorway. The office was almost clean, now. He looks up at the CMO. "Oh, uh--Ratchet, hello there." he greets, straightening up and approaching. "Yeah, I suspected someone was looking for something." the PA says, frowning. "Unfortunately I don't know much else."

**Ratchet has posed:**
Ratchet frowns, "Are you sure? You don't know /anything/ Pharma might have had in here that someone wanted to get?" He tries not to tense up as he can hear the telltale 'clack clack clack' of a very distinctive mech's clawed hands, "If they'd just wanted patient records they would have taken them, not messed the place up." His optics narrow at the assistant.

Like someone who knows something but is waiting for you to admit it.

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock would be quick to notice whirl, and tried to motion for him to be quiet on approach as casually as she could, trying to ensure Whirl wouldn't interrupt Ratchet's attempts to question Triage, nor would she missed what was said, mumbling something over her personal frequencies.

**Whirl has posed:**
Whirl growls, head jerking up and to the left as if he's trying to spot something on the ceiling. "I'ma kill that kid," he says, speaking to himself but it's loud enough that he gets the side-optic from a passing nurse. He looks at the nurse as if he's about to say something snappish but then he doesn't. "...I'm looking for the amputation clinic, can you tell me where it is?" He sounds like someone who is trying very, very hard to hold onto his temper, which has unfortunately been dipped in a very slippery substance. "The guy at the information desk was uninformative. And a slaghead."

**Pharma has posed:**
    Triage recoils slightly at that suspicious frown. Then he frowns himself. "Do you...think Pharma is hiding something from someone?" he questions, the shrugs. "If he is, he wouldn't tell me a thing about it. I mean if anything I would think he'd tell you, Ratchet. Aren't you two like, best friends?"

    He overhears the conversation in the hallway that Whirl is apparently having with a nurse. "Uh, do you know that guy?" he asks, pointing at the angry mech and hoping to distract Ratchet.

**Ratchet has posed:**
Ratchet would be distracted... if he wasn't used to this kind of slag on a constant and neverending rotation. His optics don't waver from Triage, he just sends Starlock a quick tightbeam of, "<< Go take care of that. >>".

"Yes, yes I do." Then he moves past the distraction. To Triage, he sighs, "We are very close and in a lot of ways that's the problem. Pharma has an ego and chances are if there was a problem he would insist on dealing with it himself. He doesn't want others to worry and if they do it can harm his ego." he meets Triage right in the optics, "I am questioning you because you were seen bringing something unidentified to Pharma's office, Triage. We are worried it may have been something dangerous or someone sent something suspicious to Pharma." Not quite the truth but close enough.

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock turns her commlink off, /very/ annoyed by Hyperdrive at the moment, an nagging anxiety telling her she should turn it back on, but she'd stuff it down as best as she could. She'd knit her ridges at Triage tries to distract Ratchet, only to fail. She'd nod to Ratchet. "<<On it, going to try and stay within aduial shot...>>" She'd then move over to Whirl, tapping his shoulder.

      She'd drop her voice to a whisper, trying very hard to stay focused. "Whirl, do you need help?"

**Whirl has posed:**
Whirl does indeed need help. So much help. He turns, sharply, claws coming up in a defensive posture. His posture almost immediately relaxes, though not entirely when he sees it's Starlock. His antenna flatten back as he speaks. "You weren't at the other medbay. Neither was First Aid so I had to come here," he says, definitely not speaking in a whisper, but not shouting either. There's the faintest note of accusation in his tone. "My hands are bothering me again. There's supposed to be an amputee clinic here but the slaghead at the information desk wouldn't listen when I told him what I wanted help with so I'm trying to find it myself and I can't because apparently this is the hospital where numbers don't make sense."

**Pharma has posed:**
    "Oh uh--" Triage laughs nervously when Ratchet seems concerned about Pharma. "Don't worry about Pharma, he'll be just fine. Trust me, he can handle himself." He keeps glancing toward Starlock and Whirl talking in the hallway, then back at Ratchet. "Wh-what do you mean something 'unidentified'? What did it look like?" Were people spying on him? "Usually it's just datapads, or tools or--or something."

**Ratchet has posed:**
Ratchet continues to meet Triage in the optics as he reassures him, "What can I say? Its the problem having me as a friend. I worry. Even if they are capable of defending themselves." He can hear them speaking in the background but stubbornly keeps facing forward, "A case of some kind. Something that the administration, or I, weren't informed of." An optical ridge rises, "Or something?"

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock frowns and gets up a directory up for Whirl, and pointed him in the right direction, keeping her voice low. "I'm sorry Whirl, i'd been there but I'm currently trying to help with something.."

      She'd frown, in fact she was still in the middle of that, and would give Whirl a one armed hug in apologie. "Aid should be here, and able to see to this." Needless to say she'd not trusted many of the meches here anymore with peoples health... Anyone under Ratchet though? She'd trust to have a back strut and sound ethics.

**Whirl has posed:**
Whirl shifts uncomfortably as he's touched, though he doesn't jerk away or strike out at Starlock. "He's not though," he says, a faint whine of distress in his voice. "Something's going on and I don't know what it is. It's not just my hands, it's creeping up my arms and it's starting in my neck."

**Glyph has posed:**
Just then, a blue hovercraft glides into the hallway and then protoforms in front of Triage.

 He smiles in a disarming fashion at Pharma's PA, and gives a small nod towards Starlock, Ratchet, and Whirl. "Hey~ I was looking for you. Wanted to tell you to let Pharma know, I'm still waiting to see when we can catch up and chat about me volunteering at the New Institute. No rush or anything, but just a heads up." He pauses. "Also, I ran into an old colleague of mine, who studied programming and artificial intelligence way back in the day. He mentioned that your name sounded familiar - he thinks he might have shared a class with you one time. I was just curious, because damn, if he's right, how'd you end up a medical PA?"

**First Aid has posed:**
First Aid comes into the area, his head buried in a datapad. The young medic seems lost in his own personal world, murmuring to himself. "If you reroute the wrists through the forearms,but then you'd lose mobility."

**Pharma has posed:**
    "A case? I mean, it was probably just forms or something." Triage says hurriedly. There's a tense, awkward pause as he doesn't say anything for a breem or so, although Whirl and Starlock talking in the background can still be heard.

    Finally, he sighs and lowers his voice. "Look, is it -actually- Pharma's well being that you are concerned about? Or is it...something else?" he asks. "Just be honest, all right?"

    Then Glyph shows up. He arches a brow at the mech. "Oh, is that so?" he shrugs. "Eh, I guess I just got sick of code. I knew it would take forever to actually become a doctor, but I figured I could settle for assistant, at least for now." he sighs.

**Ratchet has posed:**
Its quickly becoming very obvious slag is going on. Triage seems rightfully nervous... but not in the way someone guilty may be. Not fully, at least. "... If I'm being honest. Yes, I worry about what Pharma may be doing or be getting himself into. But I also worry about the reputation of the medical facility and the wellbeing of our patients. If there is something going on with Pharma, we need to know so we can assure his safety and make sure his patient's don't suff-"

Glyph shows up and Ratchet's expression darkens, glaring down at the shorter mech. "I'm sorry," Ratchet doesn't sound that sorry, he's actually sounding slightly scary, "But we were in the middle of something. You can talk to him later."

**Whirl has posed:**
Whirl looks at Starlock, then sighs. 'Y'know what, you're busy, forget about it," he says. "thanks for the directions, I'll go find my clinic. Hopefully they can help me. Later, Sarge."

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock flinches at Whirl, she'd wanted to help but.. She'd sigh, and then flinch again, if she could sweat, she would! because she knew Ratchet's truly angry voice, it was directed once at her! and that was it. Once she was sure Whirl was off to the proper place she'd move back to the side of the wall and gestured for Glyph to join her.

**Glyph has posed:**
"Oh, really?" he says to Triage. "What kinds of projects did you work on when you were in school? My colleague said some of his classmates got to work on a really cool malicious code injection project, but he never did. He was sooo jealous. Were you one of the lucky few that got into that particular course?" he says with a chuckle. Then Ratchet looms over him, however, he doesn't seem at all intimidated by Ratchet."Sorry about that, Doc, didn't mean to interrupt," he says with a bright grin, moving to join Starlock. "Carry on."

**Pharma has posed:**
    Ratchet gets that...scary angry look, and Triage shudders internally. He'd -heard- about that look. But he's glad it wasn't directed at him. When the CMO turns his attention back to him, he shakes his head and scoffs slightly. "Hah, oh Ratchet you have -no- idea, if you're just figuring this out now. But we all want to keep our jobs, yes?" he looks regretful, yet resigned at this. "Primus forbid we should end up as empties on the street these days."

**Ratchet has posed:**
Ratchet refocuses on Triage, staring at his reaction and guaging his options against his growing irritation. Glyph may have just accidentally set the tone for a very displeased ratchet moving forward. "Who says I'm figuring this out now? You think I don't know when slag is going on in my medical ward?" His optics narrow, but his voice has remained fairly even so far, "Then tell me what you know, so I can keep all of us off the street."

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock remained quiet, listing, that light on her aural headphone still on as she remained pressed against the wall, was Triage going to tell Ratchet or was he going to dance around it..? She'd glance to Glyph in silent questioning, as what Glyph has said, did have some weight to it.

      "<<Take that was you indicating that.. He made that code that messed with the cameras?>>" she'd ask in a tightbeam.

**Glyph has posed:**
Triage doesn't answer Glyph's question, but the blue minibot doesn't press the issue further. Instead, he just folds his arms, watching everything unfold and chuckling quietly when Ratchet goes savage on Triage. "Hey Doc, cut the guy a break! He's just the PA..." He then transforms and takes his leave, but not before tight beaming to Starlock and Ratchet, "<I had a feeling Pharma had hired him for more than just his medical ability - it isn't so much what he did say, but what he didn't, that makes me rather certain he was the one who injected the database with malicious code, making the room surveillance not viewable. I have a suspicion, that there's more than meets the optic with this matter - and at the very least, is going to require a lot digging and research, to fully uncover. Sadly, making Triage uncomfortable is probably the last thing you want to do, if you want information out of him>"

**Pharma has posed:**
    Triage laughs bitterly. "Oh, and how exactly do you plan on doing that, hm? We're not on the streets now, are we? Despite as long as you claim to know this has been going on? Trust me Ratchet, we are doing everything we can to keep this institution from falling apart. Because there are things...that simply can't be undone, or fixed. We're already 'in too deep', as they say." he sighs.

    "Yeah, cut me some slack." he reiterates when Glyph suggests it. "I'm just doing my job, and trying to stay -sane-." Then he pushes past the CMO and locks the door to Pharma's office. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

**Ratchet has posed:**
Uh oh, Triage that may have not exactly been the right thing to do, dark look still on his faceplates Ratchet grabs the mech by the arm. When he speaks, its quiet. Dangerous. His attention is solely focused on the PA. "You think I care if everyone is 'too deep'? This is /my/ medical ward, there is nothing deep enough for me to find it no matter what anyone might do to bury it. Lines have been crossed, kicked up, and scribbled over, so from now on my new spark gloves are off and I will give you a hint, so far things aren't looking good for you. How much do you think Pharma will have your back in the end if we bring all of what we've found to light?

 "have the technical knowledge to make coding that tampered with security footage, /you/ went along with Pharma's plan to mess with Blurr's processor, /you/- I assume- forged Blurr's signature when it should have been obvious to anyone with half a processor he was in no state to even sign anything, and I can also only assume /you/ assisted in the blatant alteration of official logs of care- theoretically even just one of this is an offense enough to have you fired and banned from working in this sector or any related to it ever again." Ratchet's grip has been growing in strength, keeping Triage rooted in place and staring straight into his viciously burning optics, "When I find out how deep this goes, I will find out, and if I discover just how much you all did without helping me stop it, I will drag you, Pharma, and everyone I can possibly associate with it all through the mud." Ratchet may not have enough sway over the administration, but he has more than enough outside contacts and sway amongst the medical community and Autobot faction (maybe even some of the decepticons if he really pushes it) to set someone's reputation ablaze in a dumpster fire of metaphorical red marks. He lets go and turns to Starlock, "Come on. Let's go."

**Starlock has posed:**
     Starlock just watches as the fire is set and just watches and listens, because whoo boy.. If it was one thing it was another... Lines where definitely crossed, then again to her they'd been long crossed the /second/ she found out about Pharma's involvement with Gallo and the thinning plague... But she didn't' have the power or respect Ratchet had.. but.. Well she was glad she trusted him, and had him for a mentor.

      She'd nod quickly and start to walk along side Ratchet. "<<...I've been giving /everything/ I have to Prime, and started giving it to Jazz and Hound as well..>>"

**Pharma has posed:**
    Triage actually doesn't appear to be intimidated by Ratchet's diatribe at all. It seems, now that he's already admitted things haven't exactly gone as they should, he isn't nervous any more. He just gives the CMO a smug look, not trying to escape from his grasp at all. "Whatever you say," he says, shrugging. "Literally. It's whatever you say--until you -actually- find some real evidence, it's your word against Pharma's. Oh, and the board's."

    When he finally lets go, Triage hurries off toward the gravlift.