Making a Cure

Log Title: Making a Cure Characters: Backblast, Dust Devil, Scales, Encore, Ultra Magnus, Prowl Location: Valvolux, Temporary Autobot Base Date: July 18, 2018 TP: Valvolux TP, The Fallen TP Summary: Scales works on antidotes with some help, and finally treats Dust Devil with the incomplete cure when time runs out. As logged by  Scales Log session starting at 13:00:51 on Wednesday, 18 July 2018.

Scales is hard at work. There's a few ways to make antidote out of a toxin, all of them finicky and a bit frustrating, but at least they're well-known and documented. She is putting her hyper energy into trying all the methods at once on different samples... with a little help.

Backblast is that help... or so he's been told. After a quick recharge he steps back into the medical bay, looking around. "Scales. What'cha need?"

Scales waves Backblast over. "This one is the right temp'rature," she says. "So it needs to be stirred and kept there until all the steam evaporates and it goes clear." She passes over the stirring rod and goes to check a box whose center is spinning.. maybe a centrifuge.

Backblast blinks and walks over to watch the concoction he's told to, taking the glass stirring rod and keeping it moving. He looks to the temperature sensor and notes its reading. "OK."

Dust Devil has been eyeing the doorway since he woke. The others are busy trying to figure a cure and he's...well really doesn't want to think about what happens if they don't find a cure. Of course getting from the berth to the door is what he's not sure of.

Backblast sighs, quietly. "Dust Devil." He says. "My LMG is loaded with radio-tag rounds. Don't make me use them. Do you -want- to infect half of Valvolux's energon supply with that toxin?"

Scales nudges a button in passing and gets some music going. Some classic rock rather than the modern stuff. //Uptown got its hustlers, the bowery got its bums, 42 street has big Jim a Walker, he's a pool shooting sun of a gun..// "Sit tight, Dust Devil. One of these will work, but not if you're not here."

Dust Devil hates being stuck. Optics dim slightly as he just stares at the door. He doesn't even bother to mouth off or whine or complain. His optics just continue to show his despair that he doesn't voice.

Backblast looks over his shoulder at Dust "I know, it sucks." He says, as he watches the sample. "But it's for your own sake." He sniffs, still stirring the sample he's been told to stir, as it's not gone clear yet

Scales removes a few vials from the centrifuge and looks them over, then takes them to her improvised bench to add and remove things from them.

You say, "I've got one that'll be ready to test in a few minutes."

Dust Devil doesn't respond to either of them. Vitals show the continued degredation of the energon as well as abnormalies in his systems from the contamination. Optics focused on the doorway. He then softly mutters to himself.

Backblast looks over at those vitals for a moment with a frown, before glancing a moment at the samples he's tagged with the venom to see if any of them are capable of slowing it down. Then his attention returns to the one he's stirring. "It's starting to clear up, Scales."

Scales grins over at Backblast. "Good. Make sure all the steam is gone, and then it needs to be cooled to room temperature." She uses her claws to scrape a powdery substance out of one of the vials she'd centrifuged, carefully collecting it on a tray.

Dust Devil mutters to himself, "Wish that... stay... this... close..."

Backblast nods and lifts the tube from he heating mantle, putting it into a lukewarm water bath, once the steam is gone. "OK."

Scales passes Backblast the tray full of powder. "Great! -This- one is ready to be tested. Just mix some of the poison with some energon, give it a minute to act, then add a little of this.." she scrapes away a small measure of the powder off to the side.. "and see if it neutralizes it. Make sure to check for byproducts- it won't help much to break down a toxin into more toxins." She pauses in her scrambling around to reach up onto the bed and pat Dust Devil. "At least you're feeling good enough to be antsy. If you were about to die, you wouldn't be complaining 'bout it."

Backblast nods and carefully applies the toxin to a vial of energon. He watches it react, frowning as the friendly magenta glow turns a deep, nasty purple. "It's almost like it's turning his energon into dark energon." he observes, "This crap looks like some of the stuff that ends up in the bottom of the distilling barrel after a run of engex."

Dust Devil turns his head and lays it face down against the berth. His optics darkening after a few minutes and body relaxing completely.

Scales sighs. "The fact that it makes more of itself out of energon is frustrating, but it does mean that any antidote should propogate the same way," she comments. She gives Dust Devil a look of  concern, but goes back to her bustling. One of her mixes needs adding to, and it reacts by turning orange and foaming, but the little medic doesn't look concerned by that.

Backblast applies the powder to the newly-minted toxic energon, holding it up to watch the results.

At first, the reaction looks promising. The energon begins to clear, its hue slowly fading back towards normal... but some kind of dark contaminant precipitates out of the mix, too.

Scales frowns at the vial. "Give it a swirl?" she says. "I don't like the looks of that."

Backblast swirls it around and shakes his head "Nor do I. It's precipitated the toxin out into some kind of granular matter. Might be useful in some sort of dialisis machine for filtering it out, but not as a direct anti-toxin, this'll clog everything up."

Scales nods. "Set it aside, then. We'll keep it, just in case." She checks on the one in the cooling bath, which has changed color again.

Backblast nods and sets that mixture aside, also peering at the cooling bath. "Hm."

Scales nods to herself. "This one isn't supposed to precipitate into a solid, so, good so far. Not done cooling yet, though." She sighs. "I wish this sort of work didn't take so -long-."

Backblast nods. "It's kind of like watching for a target." He comments. "Lots of quiet periods, doing nothing, and then... sudden activity."

Scales nods. "I know we'll figure it out, but time is.. still pretty important." She looks over at where Dust Devil looks to be sleeping, optics flicking up to check the vitals. "Poisons are the -worst-, chemically. They're these huge, complicated things that break into more complicated stuff. A lot of times, you can just keep a patient healthy until it gets diluted and filtered out naturally, but this one has to be dismantled."

Backblast nods in agreement with a sigh. "Mmmm. I know." He agrees. "I've... got experience with poisons. This one's a doozy, it's acting almost like a virus or prion in organic lifeforms."

Scales nods. "Necrotoxins that directly damage energon usually burn themselves out. Lots of local damage, but doesn't get too far. This one isn't quite in the same category." She goes to the vial that was foaming earlier- it's done, but still orange. "I'm still working that analysis when I can, but trying and failing at normal antidote methods is actually faster than waiting until I figure out the whole composition of the thing."

Backblast nods "Never hurts to try the usual suspects in the meantime while the machine runs." He agrees, checking on his own samples a moment.

Scales adds a little powder to the orange liquid and watches it separate for a moment, then takes it to the centrifuge to give it a nice, long spin.

 Backblast says, "Pause for now? I think I got to run too"

 Scales says, "Works for me."

 Backblast says, "We'll assume testing all day =3 Laters!"

The explosions from the battle rock the makeshift medical area. Already some of the samples have hit the ground clattering and in some cases breaking. Dust Devil has been silent since much earlier in the day. His vitals dropping in a continuous slow march to cessation. The conversion of energon to it's tainted counterpart had also sped up to the point that one bag turned like someone added lemon to milk, it's curdling congealing distortion traveling up the line of the energon bag that Scales had just hung up. Tracker had also went from guarding the pair in the medical bay to a complete lack of activity.

<> Ultra Magnus says, "Well, the bad news is that the trap brought both Shockwave and Overlord. The good news is that Bulwark was here too, so they're retreating."

<> Suicide JOCKEY! Encore says, "I hope he bashed some haids."

<> Ultra Magnus says, "Well, I don't think I've seen Overlord ever beaten that badly, which was refreshing."

Scales is doing what she can, but at this point... there's no more time for a perfect cure. Instead, she gets one of the earlier attempts and swirls it into some energon, then pours it into the feed. "Dusty, this will save ya, but it's gonna stink."

The annoying Autobot doesn't respond or complain to Scales' assessment of her current cure. But the downward spiral that Dust's systems are going through isn't giving her time to perfect anything. It's unfortunately the one that causes the precipitate mixed with another two that had some promise but issues. Of course the trial run couldn't be tried and the oddly glowing mix light's up the energon that she'd attached to him. The rate of flow on the bag had already been increased and as it rapidly disappeared into Dust Devil, his vitals do a massive spike, setting off various alarms. And JUST at that displaced mortar decides to hit close enough to the temporary base that Dust Devil is knocked off the berth and to the ground. The light's go completely out And all activity just seems to cease. There's not even the sound of Dust Devil's internals. Energon runs from the wound and the recycle lines that had been used to refresh Dusty's systems. But there's no light to the energon. All there is is the echoed calls from within the temporary base as they work on getting the backup generators going or fixing the main line to the electrical systems.

Scales startles, but takes a deep breath and lets out a trail of smoke. She flicks to infrared vision and sniffs the bag. Mostly empty. Dust Devil is still warm, too, but he needs power.

Fortunately, Scales comes equipped with her own version of a defibrillator. She normally uses it for combat, but it can be used to save lives. She lays the tip of her tail carefully across Dust Devil's chest, takes another deep breath even though she's a robot, and sparks energy to kickstart that fuel pump.

Dust Devil doesn't respond. His energon looks dead. The electrical inside the base is down. The first and second shocks ripple across his frame ineffectually. Dust Devil looks and appears dead. But then the third shock hits. The light's come on inside the base. At first it's a ripple of light that travels across the outside of edges of the spilled dead energon. Then its as bright as a flare, all the spilled energon lights up across the ground and even into Dust Devil. The medical monitors scream from the change in data and the reset of their sytems. And then Dust's core starts up. A beep, then another, the pulse increasing. All vitals raising while Dust Devil himself lays inert while systems reboot. The readings are all over the place but even just visually the floor is covered with live, though not quite the right color energon with precipitate specks that are left as the bad energon either changes or evaporates before Scale's optics.

Scales takes a moment to flop on Dust Devil's chest and quiver. That was... far too close. But there's -still- work to be done. First, gotta stop the leaking. The little dragon just works on the floor- there's no way she's getting the larger Autobot back UP onto the bed. She begins applying patches, one at a time.

>> Dust Devil fails his generic combat roll against Scales. <<

Dust Devil finishes booting as Scales manages to patch the third hole. Cause suddenly the young autobot is sitting up and with very little warning he goes to grab Scales. His optics are much brighter than usual and he is shaking. It probably helps that Tracker takes just that moment to put himself directly in the path of Dust Devil's grab. And the young mech almost uncomfortably tight squeezes Tracker in a hug. Dust Devil is shaking and looks incredibly frightened as he doesn't move or let go of the robotic dog.

<> Suicide JOCKEY! Encore says, "Bollocks! Tha' was a big blast! Report?"

<> Suicide JOCKEY! Encore sniffs. "...energon fire."

<> Ultra Magnus says, "Overlord is a sore loser, he blew the main energon facility. We need to work on evac now!"

Scales seems to sense the motion coming and ducks before she's even aware of what Dust Devil's doing. She huffs a few times, a bit more smoke leaking before she swallows the flame. She hops back forward and throws her paws around as much of Dusty as she can. "It's okay! It's okay!" she tells him.

<> Suicide JOCKEY! Encore says, "Kinda... in a fight..."

<> Suicide JOCKEY! Encore says, "Want me tae drop oot?"

Dust Devil is absolutely shaking and probably would be hysterically crying if he were human. Instead he just clings onto Tracker AND Scales now. His field hinting at the distress he's feeling. THere's a tingle in the air that is Dust Devil's forcefield working on a fraction of its power level. It's just enough to probably set hairs standing on edge if there were humans about.

<> Suicide JOCKEY! Encore says, "I say 'gain, should I fall back or keep up shootin'?"

<> Prowl says, "Focus on evacuating the city"

Dust Devil winces a bit and just slowly seems to relax, optics finally focusing on Scales and Tracker. His overall biosignature is vastly improved. Energon levels remaining at a higher though not perfect energy level. And while there are fluctuations. Scales and the other's work at least looks to have saved Dust Devil.

As Dust Devil relaxes, Scales relaxes a bit, too. She presses her head against him and hums, the same warbly tune as she used before.

Dust Devil gives Scales a faint grin through the sounds of activity cause him to start. Glancing around and trying to not completely dislodge Scales, he gives her another grin. And....that's when he pretty much 'boops' her nose.

Scales blinks and pulls back, optics whirling brightly. "Okay, let's get the rest of these fixed, then." She grins at him and gets some more material to work with. "Take it easy, still, okay?"

Dust Devil smiles again at Scales but at least behaves. He lets her work on the holes which are at least showing signs of his self repair trying to do it's job. He leans against Tracker in the meantime, Optics slowly dimming to their normal shade.

Scales gets to welding, humming again as she works. As she finishes up the last seam, she says, "It's.. there's still some gunk in your systems, so you're gonna need a little more treatment to get you ready to run around again."

>> You begin repairs on Dust Devil. <<

>> Scales finishes the repairs on Dust Devil. <<

Dust Devil smiles brightly again and rubs at the patches just a touch before looking back at her expectantly. The sounds of battle have been kinda replaced with what sounds like evacuations and  other emergency stuff.

<> Suicide JOCKEY! Encore says, "Aerial fire suppression underway."

<> Suicide JOCKEY! Encore says, "I cannae do much more than force th' flames back temporarily... there's nae way I go' enough Purple fer tha."

Scales tilts her head. "Think you can stand? I can't get you back up to the bed an' machines by myself."

Dust Devil moves to get up. And ends up kinda squishing Tracker who whines and growls at Dust Devil. The young mech's optics narrow at Tracker but he tries again, wobbling before falling backward. His shoulders shake but his expression is definately more mirthful than fearful. He then decides crawling is not beneath his dignity and then uses the berth to pull himself back up on it. His face showing more of the strain that that was despite the slight smile he's giving Scales for accomplishing what she asked.

Scales waves her wings and cheers quietly as Dust Devil makes it back into place. "Yay! Okay, now you don't have to move for a bit." She bounds over to a crate and digs out a few parts. "I've gotta set this up to filter out the extra stuff that got left behind." She returns and hops up onto the bed, please to be using a proper access instead of reaching through a gaping wound.

Dust Devil shows Scales how to remove the panel so that she doesn't have to try and hold it open. He even points out a few spots that have assorted filters. The one he pulls out he stares at a moment before showing Scales the precipate that's already gunking it up. A frown on his face.

Scales gives him a shrug as she sets up the extra filtering. "You're gonna feel kinda crappy until it's all out, but it won't kill ya."

Log session ending at 00:22:50 on Thursday, 19 July 2018.