Not Quite Brain Surgery

Log Title: Not Quite Brain Surgery Characters: Backblast, Dust Devil, Scales, Soundwave Location: Harmonex Date: June 8, 2019 TP: Nucleosis TP Summary: Backblast, Scales, and Dust Devil perform a field experiment on Soundwave. As logged by  Scales

Log session starting at 19:21:01 on Saturday, 8 June 2019.

'''Soundwave is very still las he has been for a while. He has no reaction to the newcommers who got in the forcefield. Up close, there is destruction from the two fighting each other. It doesn't look like either combatant were looking out for the crystals or anything. Just senseless violence.'''

'''Backblast made everyone make camp once they got through the shield. When everyone wakes up from recharge, BB is making tea and looking around at the devastation. "Maybe some good can come of this. The stupid brinksmanship over who's keeping here more neutral than the other, it's gotta stop." He muses to himself as he watches the energon come to the boil, adding his secret mix of Cybertronian turboflora.'''

'''Scales stirs and stretches, yawning and flexing her claws as she does. She blinks and looks around, folding her wings back away. Not much changes inside the shield.'''

'''Dust Devil was leaning agains the crystals, enjoying the feel of it. He'd enjoyed a nice rest and glances over at the others, loathe to get up and move yet.'''

'''Backblast looks over at Dust Devil "Hurry up unless you want the grotty stuff at the bottom of the pot, Dusty." he calls out, hinting to anyone else within range that today starts with energon tea. He pours out three mugs and then tosses away said 'grotty stuff' anyway, so it's a moot point.'''

'''Scales shakes herself to settle her joints and trots over, sniffing her cup before lapping at the tea. "so... if this works, Sounders'll likely be pretty disoriented even if he's still all angry, what with being in a totally new environment from his perspective."'''

Backblast nods "Yup it's gonna fuck with him. So... what're we going in there to find out anyway?"

'''Scales hehs. "Well, the first thing we're gonna find out is if it's possible in th'first place. I think so- even with nucleosis shuttin' down his parts, we got our own power supply in th'rig an' all. But this thing has a lot of unknown factors, so.."'''

'''Dust Devil moves over and tilts his head with curiousity. "Whatcha make?" He makes a face at the mess all over. "Almost need a nice acid rain storm to clean things up..."'''

'''Backblast loos at Dust "Tea." He says, handing it over. He sips his own and listens. "I get you. First, see if it's possible, then see what we can learn from them about the nucleosis." He says, sniffing thoughtfully. "So, right. How do we rig the thing up then?"'''

'''Scales nods and hops up on Soundwave, pausing to sniff dubiously at a slow leak of nasty, tainted energon. "If it does work, then the next question is if he'll be his normal self, or still all fighty. That'll tell us a bit about how active and pervasive the nucleosis is in his systems." She pauses, tilting her head. "Also, maybe he'll tell us why he's painted like this."'''

'''Dust Devil stares curiously. He doesn't question too much. Scales took over this idea and has control.'''

'''Backblast nods a bit. "I think that might be post-freeze. Depends on how conscious he's been since..." He says, watching Scales work. "I get you."'''

'''Soundwave 's energon leak is slow and almost a drip. His fuel pump isn't online so it's not pumping energon through his systems. He's still as Scales sniffs him and very cold to the touch.'''

'''Scales nods. "I tried to keep this non-invasive. Even with the vaccine, no point in taking unnecessary risks." She leans out and holds out a paw. "Gimme the end with all the stickers, an' I'll attach 'em."'''

'''Dust Devil is trying to check readings for Backblast and Scales. So far nothing is showing out of the ordinary'''

'''Backblast blinks and nods, listening to Scales. He hands her up the cable "Okay, tell us what to do."'''

'''Soundwave is very still as they prep, his body the froze up tense statue it always has been. Theres no sounds coming from him or anything. Its as if the spymaster is froze in time.'''

'''Scales takes a few moments to get the ends of a sort of multi-headed cable attached to Soundwave. "Initialize th' VR first, an’ once this is set, we'll try t'load him in."'''

'''Backblast watches her, nodding. He flips the switch and watches the machine come alive. "A lot more digital than if I'd made it. How have you dealt with the quantum heuristics involved in interfacing with the cybertronian brain? I have... a hypothesis that a combined digital-analogue pseudoquantum rig might help in that regard."'''

Said VR is set up for the stages from Mortal Kombat, because that's what Dusty asked for.

GAME: Soundwave FAILS an INTELLIGENCE roll of Very High difficulty.

'''Soundwave 's mind doesn't make any responses at first, deep in stasis. There is nothing but darkness and short bursts of static coming from the machine as Soundwave's mind tries to connect. He might be alive but his mind might not be..whole in there. One of those bursts seems to be trying to ping every now and then as if loking for a signal.'''

'''Scales mmms. "It's not really a direct interface right inta his brain. We'd have t'drive a spike in his head for that. It's more like what he does, actually. Readin' what's there, then sending back th'right signals to th'right inputs. I, uh, spent a while figgerin' out how he does it when he messed with Dusty, so we could build a shield against it."'''

GAME: Scales PASSES a TECHNICAL roll of Immense difficulty.

'''Scales mutters a bit under her breath, more technical vocabulary than she uses when she's talking to other people. "Okay.. gonna draw some juice from th'rig, see if I can boost a bit." She tunes some of the connections. A warning light shines a soft greenish yellow.'''

'''Backblast watches and listens. "I get you, don't need to worry about the quantum stuff when you're poking a level or six above it." He says. "Greenish-yellow light just turned on... I guess that means it's draining power from the rig?"'''

'''Scales nods. "Th'warmer th'color, the more it's pullin'."'''

GAME: Soundwave PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Very High difficulty.

'''Soundwave 's body gives a slight jerk as he connects. His own abilities reach out almost blindly, looking to any mind to connect to through the equipment. It gives a high pitched screeching sound for a moment that reaches the minds of anyone nearby, seeming disoriented, and terrified lashing out at anything coming near it. It then calms down to a quiet, steady connection and tries to form a figure in the VR. The figure is a vague dark outline of a smaller mech, still that telltale blue in color. He is unarmed in here and seesms to be a lighter build. Maybe in his mind, it is a younger soundwave before any modifications. "Wh...who..."'''

'''Backblast grins and plugs his radio broadcast mike into the device. It's the one marked "ARSEHOLE DJ" for Suicide Jockey FM. "Good evening, Soundwave, this is SJ-FM coming to you live from... just outside your mind."'''

'''Soundwave seems ...calm. Tired but calm. He pings again. Those pings seem to be searching for something. "Where are they..."'''

GAME: Scales PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of High difficulty.

'''Scales peers at the screen, then noses Backblast. "Th'tapes. He told me once he could feel th'Decepticon ones."'''

'''Backblast nods "Your tapes? I... don't know. You're frozen in mortal combat with Imager, in the middle of Harmonex." He says, with the bedside manner of a shovel to the face. "They're smart. Probably keeping themselves safe. There's that green bitch, right? The one with the tight aft and scary accent? She'll look after them if nobody else does."'''

GAME: Soundwave PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Very High difficulty.

'''Soundwave stays with them. "Harmonex.." his connection wavers as he draws energy trying to reach out to his networks. "How did I get to Harmonex? I do not recall fighting Imager." his voice doesnt sound like his normal voice. sThat synthesized drone is gone becuase hes not using his voice maskers and the like. His voice is deep and gravelly (think like dr claw). "Banshee." he reaches out with all the energy he can muster, trying to make connections desperately.'''

< irc.dal.net>  

[Broadband] Soundwave says, " "

<> Soundwave says, " "

'''Scales has a datapadd out and is taking down notes, but frowns. The light on the rig is yellow now. She hrms. "Not sure I like this result.."'''

'''Backblast watches the machine "Easy, easy, you're gonna suck our rig dry." he says. "Don't draw too much juice, we're still analyysing." He lays out the cold truth. "We... don't know. She broke out of containment, you both came here to fight over what you both love most, I think."'''

'''Soundwave starts to curl in on himself in the environment, holding his head. "Too...quiet. Somethings not right." his voice seems a bit more faint, but he snot struggling as much anymore. "What do you want of me?"'''

'''Scales tilts her head. "Maybe let more ambient sound in? He likes th'crystals. An' if he doesn't remember goin' t'Harmonex, then.."'''

Scales is watching the power like a hawk, though.

'''Backblast looks to Scales, then nods, turning up the gain on the microphone to let the sound of the surviving crystals though. "I want to know how this happened so I can fix it, Soundwave." He says quietly. "Anything you can tell us, the last things you remember."'''

'''Soundwave seems to calm down a bit more but hes struggling, fighting to stay sane enough to hold a conversation. "Backblast. Scales." oh good. Now he knows who he is talking to at least. "Remember..being at base. Tarn." he says. "Put myself in quarantine after smacking Harbinger." he says. "Was meditating then everything went..not red. not black. Yellow." he says. "Its there just beyond. The cloud. Cant you see it. Feel it. Its stifling. Hard to think through it." He seems a bit panicked. "Can't fight it much longer."'''

GAME: Scales PASSES a TECHNICAL roll of Very High difficulty.

'''Backblast nods "I see it. I'm here, concentate on my voice." He says, keeping his tone level. "Take strength from me. You can do it, Soundwave. You're the most powerful mind in the Decepticon empire. You can beat the toxin."'''

Backblast adds "At least for long enough to find out what we need."

'''Scales hmmms, optics slowing their color shift as she thinks, then makes a couple of adjustment. She raises her voice a little, to be heard over the microphone. "Stop tryin' t'push so much. It's not where you are." She grabs her datapadd to make more notes. "I think it isn't, anyway," she mutters.'''

'''Backblast looks to Scales, then tosses her a buddy mike, the kind that can be clipped on. "How can we help you stay calm?"'''

'''Soundwave murmurs. "Been trying to build walls. Mind...mental walls. To block it. Outlier you know. Mind powers. Superior. It gets though sometimes." He syas. "You want information. About the empire. You're going to use this as an opportunity to learn our secrets. Erasing files.." oh dear. Hes going that route.'''

GAME: Scales PASSES a COURAGE roll of Average difficulty.

'''Scales clips the mike to her wing where she can easily move it closer to her mouth as needed. "Look, you don't hafta lobotomize yerself jus' cause we're here."'''

'''Backblast shakes his head "Right now I don't give a toss about the empire, Soundwave. Right now all I care about is curing this plague on my damn species." He says, flatly. "You can keep your secrets, I just want to find out what happened to cause you to come here and risk damaging Harmonex. Because that's not the actions of a smart person."'''

GAME: Soundwave FAILS an INTELLIGENCE roll of Very High difficulty.

'''Soundwave has already started a process of destroying what information he can on his drives. His body actually makes a physical whirr sound as he sends signals to overload what he can. He pauses. "Dont..know. LIke I siad Everything went yellow."'''

Backblast grimaces "Soundwave. I need you to stop destroying your mind. I promise I will not attempt to getany information. Calm down."

GAME: Backblast PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Very High difficulty.

'''Scales nods. "Okay. Well, I'm gonna do another check of yer physical systems, see if there's any residual evidence... other than the ick in yer energon. Might be a threshold thing." She starts very carefully inspecting his systems as best she can with what diagnotics she can use in this situation. Which, hers aren't that bad since she's made to work in field conditions.'''

GAME: Soundwave PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Very High difficulty.

'''Soundwave 's systems stop trying to overload at least. He is just very quiet and still. "Allright." he says, his mind feeling a bit.. numb for him. Hes not tryin to attak anything getting in or out. Hes finally compliant.'''

'''Backblast nods a little and sits down. "Thank you. Now. Calmly. Think things through, ignore the yellow haze, it's not important, if you don't focus on it. Breathe as slowly as you can."'''

'''Scales whews as the indicator gets some green back in it, and continues her methodical check over Soundwave's systems. "To be honest, from a medical standpoint it doesn't matter how much you know. Jus' that it's easier if y'can report symptoms ya notice."'''

'''Soundwave almost seems numb. Its weird seeing him like this. Not mechanical cold and distant like he normally is. Not planning anything. Just numb. "Venting." he says. "Don't know how to stop it. Symptoms. Pain. Unable to move. Very stiff. Cloud. Hard to think through. Fear." he admits finally. "That it may happen again. Did I destroy Harmonex?"'''

'''Backblast nods "It just might help us, from a research and curing standpoint, if you can tell us… well, frankly, anything. I promised to cure this so I could taunt you with it. And I will keep my promise..." He looks around softly. "Destroyed? No. But there's a pretty big area that's fairly devastated. The city can recover, but... well, like every change to the area, the sound will be different."'''

'''Scales finishes her check and makes more notes. "I don't know if it'll help ya feel better," she says. "But unless th'Cons come in and do somethin', there's no chance of ya losin' control again. It's leave ya here or cure ya for us. No halfway."'''

'''Soundwave pauses. "Soundwave does not expect the Decepticons to do anything. Soundwave as a threat has been eliminated." He says, falling back into his normal speech patterns. "But Harmonex.." theres a wave of dispair from the figure. "Soundwave has caused disharmony."'''

'''Backblast nods a little. "But not an irreperable one. And you weren't alone in doing it... Imager's going to be just as devastated and she's a bit of an... emotional one. It's how she makes the beautiful music she does."'''

'''Backblast sniffs, and tries to comfort Soundwave the only way he knows how. "When we finally string up the bastard who caused this, I'll make sure - no matter what state you're in - you get to see it."'''

'''Soundwave pauses. "She does. Soundwave knows her mind is not as strong as his. Soundwave hopes she survives the experience. A few more days and ...might not have been able to be this coherant. Soundwave expects it to be like the Ark. A few days of pain, confusion, energy loss. then nothing for a few million years. Maybe more. Deep stasis is nothing new. Its the incoherancy around it."'''

'''Soundwave then adds "Wake me when you find pharma. I will destroy his mind from the inside." hes done many things. But hes never threatened to, or done that to anyone as of yet. And he probably could.'''

'''Scales hmms. "So ya weren't aware enough t'be bothered? That's... kinda a relief."'''

'''Backblast nods a little, with a sigh. "Scales, anything you need to ask?" He says. "Are you getting the data you need?"'''

'''Soundwave pauses. "Negative. If anyone bothered my body I am unaware of it."'''

Scales nods to Backblast, "Just 'bout everything I c'n get, I've got.” Then she giggles. "Show 'im a picture."

'''Backblast chuckles a little and takes a picture, making sure to try and minimise the amount of devastation in it. "You make an impressive statue. When we've cured you both, this moment needs to be remade, to remind... to remind both of you what anger can do. And that some things are more important than our stupid ideological war." He sends the picture to Soundwave.'''

'''Soundwave pauses. "Trust me. I dont need to be reminded..." He looks at the picture, recoiling a moment. Then quite suddenly, everything around him starts to go yellow. "Imager..."'''

GAME: Scales PASSES a TECHNICAL roll of Very High difficulty.

'''Backblast blinks "Easy, easy!" He says. "You don't want to make things worse, do you? Calm down, think rationally."'''

GAME: Backblast PASSES a TECHNICAL roll of Very High difficulty.

Backblast attempts to help stabilise too

'''Scales whoops and quickly begins the process to dampen the connection safely so it can be cut off without damaging Soundwave. "Backblast.. take over an' kill it if it gets too much, yeah? Got readings to take." And the little medic starts gathering the new data.'''

'''Soundwave 's voice growls out "Destroy...at all costs. Will not threaten Harmonex. This ends now!" he seems to be losing to the nucleosis.'''

Log session ending at 22:05:32 on Saturday, 8 June 2019.