We've Got an Epidemic

Log Title: We've Got an Epidemic Characters: Imager, Scales, Spike Location: Iacon Medical Center Date: April 21, 2019 TP: Nucleosis TP Summary: Imager comes into Medical with some personal issues that are much bigger than she thinks. As logged by  Scales

Log session starting at 19:57:45 on Sunday, 21 April 2019.

<> Imager says, "I uh....I think I need a medic"

<> Scales says, "I got some time! Whatcha need?"

<> Imager says, "Its....personal."

<> Scales says, "Oh. Um. Where c'n I meetcha, then?"

<> Imager says, "I just got off shift"

<> Imager says, "so I'll be at Iacon shortly"

<> Scales says, "Okay! I'll be in medical, then."

Iacon Medical Center - Iacon

'''The first floor of the facility is a masterwork of elegant precision of movement; dozens of medical droids carrying tools and materials rushing in between medics and gurneys rapidly, Autobot medics moving from room to room while reading datapads or discussing matters in low, hushed tones, and automated medical equipment moving slowly from floor to floor make the entrance floor of the medical center seem like the production stage of a choreographed waltz. Two elevators on either side of the floor allow access to other areas of the facility, which include patient rooms, testing labs, and rehabilitation facilities. '''

'''Scales finds a spare medical station and begins to look over the equipment, in preparation for whatever Imager might need. She fidgets by sorting tools.'''

'''When Scales arrives, Imager's seated in that little waiting room outside the 'consultation' office, and she's looking a little antsy/terrified. Her hands keep fidgiting on her knees as she rocks back and forth.'''

'''Scales pokes her head out to check and see if Imager is here, yet. Normally people just tend to either waltz on in (unless it's a private room). Or they dramatically enter by being carried by another bot. But there Imager is, waiting. "Hey. You c'n come in."'''

'''Imager nods stiffly, stands up and follows. The door shuts behind her, and she double checks the locking code. "Do uh..do I need to take off my armor, and put on one of those benzene things?" She looks at the repair slab hesitantly, and tries to casually lean against it, but it just comes off as her looking like she's hiding something or utterly embarassed.'''

'''Scales tilts her head. "Not for just a check-up. Most panels and ports can be accessed pretty easily." The little dragon sits, fanning her wings briefly and stirring up some cool air. "So.. what is the problem?"'''

'''She hems a bit, "Ahhmm.. Its...'personal'." She had already said that, and of course right now its as personal as it gets. She leans against the repair slab as if she's afraid she'll break it. The slab, of course, is made especially for big bots like her. "Uhhh...." She tries to compose herself, "I'm having...issues...you know." She looks around again, then leans over discretely, "...with my cog?"'''

'''Scales tilts her head the other way, then blinks. "Nucleon?" she guesses.'''

'''Imager 's optics open up. "I don't know! I was...I was just doing my standard work, you know that new overpass out southwest of Retoris? And I went to go bring up the holo-blueprints, and..." Her joints creak as she stiffly raises her shoulders, "Nothin..." She turns to Scales, "Its never happened to me before! I swear, I could always change! Every time!" She pokes at the slab for emphasis. "I don't know if its stress or metal fatigue or what....I uh.." She pauses, "I kinda thought transformitile disfunction was a myth, really..." Her look changes to concern, as she awaits Scales' prognosis.'''

'''Scales does not laugh. Out loud, anyway. She hops up on the slab and gives it a pat. "Well, let's give your systems a quick once over and see if there's anything easily ruled out before we start worryin'."'''

'''Her trust is not that apparent, obviously the situation has vexed her. She shifts forward, her back groaning as she does. After some evaluation, it becomes obvious to Scales that Nucleon is in deed the issue, but none of the secondary effects of it, such as frame power increase, and heightened coordination are not apparent. In fact, her joints are starting to lock up on her.'''

'''Scales puts on her best professional manners. Calm voice, gentle paws. She double-checks her observations, then frowns, optic colors slowing their shifts as she thinks. "So, this looks like a Nucleon exposure, but normally you'd be the first to notice if that happened. It'll heat up yer systems- not subtle stuff. Mind if I take an energon sample?"'''

'''Imager looks warily down at Scales, "Nucleon? I don't drink Nucleon, that stuff's dangerous...I mean, I did sample" She raises a finger to her mouthplate, "Some of Encore's new stuff, but he wouldn't work with that at least without letting you know." She glances around, nervously, and opens up her front panels, "Uh, yeah samples, okay. I've got my refueling tank here if that's alright."'''

'''Scales grins at Imager. "Y'don't seem th'type t'try that sorta thing for -fun-. But there's always a chance y'got into something by accident. An' with all the extra filters an' energon you carry, it might've taken a while to concentrate enough t'bother ya." She takes a couple of samples and carefully sets them aside. "Yer joints look a bit stiff. Are ya havin' any trouble with 'em?"'''

'''Imager raises an eyeridge at Scales, " Yeah, but I've been pulling triple duty for the last sixteen astroweeks. No real time for oil baths or point lubes." She sighs, "Been ages since I had a moment to treat....hey wait." She looks over at Scales, and horror starts to cross her faceplate, "Soundwave! Soundwave, that son of a hitch!" She smacks at the table, denting it, before she stands up. "That binary aftplate, he tells me he's 'dying', and he's all stiff and stuff. He gave me somethin!" Her optics open up wide, in fury, "I'mma beat his no face face in!"'''

'''Scales does her best not to laugh at this, either, but her optics do turn hot pink in amusement at the thought of Imager beating Soundwave into the ground before cycling back to their normal swirl. "Okay, so. There's a chance this is contagious, then. So I'm gonna hafta pull you off duty for a bit while we isolate what the contaminant is." She makes a face. "And we'll both need to go through the decontamination protocols, just in case. An' I'll need a list of people you've been in contact with lately."'''

'''Imager points weakly at Scales, "Okay, yeah, Lemme go beat his face in, that lyin no good scrap plate, and then I'll go do de-com. Sure. Maybe I can give it back to him, first!" She starts just fuming as she walks around the room in something of a limping gait. "Ugh, I can't believe it. I'm contaminated." She puts a hand to her head dramatically. "I've refueled so many people of late. Cripes. This could be an epidemic. I..I think I need to make a few dozen phone calls." Imager puts her arm up against the wall and slumps.'''

'''Scales nods sympathetically. "I'm gonna have to report this to Ratchet.. an' probably Elita. Though I c'n have your name left out of anythin' public." Her tailtip jumps back and forth. "I think.. this is gonna need to be handled from the top down. At least, the quarantine part." Her tail thrashes a bit more violently, thumping against the side of the slab. "There's always a chance we're jumpin' at nothin, but... gotta be sure."'''

'''She goes from anger to concern, as she looks back to Scales. "Scales..I..I'm a refueler. Half my job is ensuring the troops are surviving. This could be really bad, like...lose a half-division or something bad." She looks around without a point of focus, "Yeah, uhm...we gotta get on top of this before someone gets hurt."'''

'''Scales takes a deep breath in spite of being a robot, holding back her nervousness because she needs to be the professional right now. "An' that's what we're doin'. We're gonna de-con -first-, then you make a list of everybody you c'n remember bein' around since talking to Soundwave, an' then you c'n write down what you remember about what he said and was doin' while I make reports." The little dragon hops down and motions Imager in the direction of the decontamination rooms. "C'mon, up and at 'em."'''

'''Imager gives a slow somber nod and tries to pull herself together. "Uh Scales..." She pauses before moving to the decon room. Slowly she turns her head again, "Soundwave said he was dying....I didn't get all the specifics, but he was freezing up." She raises an arm that has some trouble extending. "Soundwave's one of their top guys." She turns slowly to face the medical dragon, and weakly raises her hands, "Makes me think that there's nothing they can do for him..."'''

'''Scales sits down with a solid thump. "Yer -not- gonna die. We all saved Dust Devil from bein' eaten by dark energon poison. We'll figure this one out, too. Soundwave's a butt who's prob'ly gonna try to do all the research himself so he c'n turn it into a weapon or somethin'."'''

'''Imager doesn't look too mollified by Scales words. " well...I think maybe he /did/ make it a weapon. and he slid it into someone who could spread the problem pretty good." She shakes her head slowly, "I knew he was a liar, but...I didn't see this coming." She puts a foot into the decontamination room, "Remember my chart. I can't have dioxyhydroxide or ionic cleansing." She moves into the room and sits on the bench, her hands on her knees, as she prepares for a very long decon process...'''

'''Scales hovers a bit as Imager gets settled in, then bounds over to a smaller room. It's a lot easier for her to run through decon, since she's more water resistant, but it's still going to be a moment before Scales comes back out.'''

Meanwhile, her station is logged in still, and the two samples are where she left them, forgotten for the moment in the tape's haste to limit infection.

'''Spike walks in. He's been putting the finishing touches on the secret project that he's been on. He's waiting for a shuttle to return him to Earth. But he decides to check in to the repair bay to see if he can help out before he leaves.'''

'''Scales comes out of a decontamination room and shakes off a bit of foam. She's sparkling clean, now. She heads straight for the room where she's been working with Imager, and nearly runs into Spike along the way.'''

GAME: Spike PASSES a DEXTERITY roll of Above Average difficulty.

'''Spike nimbly avoids a collision with Scales. He's used to this - almost getting stepped on and bumped around. But it still causes him to call out carelessness if he sees it, just to protect other humans if they're in the area. They don't tend to bounce back like Autobots. "Woah! Careful!"'''

'''Scales skids to a stop. "Oh! Spike! Great! Just who we need. C'mon!" And she resumes her dash for her station.'''

'''Spike frowns and trots behind Scales. "Woah, what? What is it? What's going on?!"'''

Scales explains in a rush, "Imager's got some kinda infection from Soundwave, but it's not somethin' that would transfer t'humans so you're prob'ly the best person t'handle the energon samples I got from her- I threw m'self through decon jus' in case 'cause we don't know how contagious it is yet an' I'm really really hopin' that's enough..."

'''Spike frowns and holds his hand up. "Woah, woah. What type of infection?" He frowns even deeper. "And just curious - have you done like a radiation check on it? It may not be contagious, but it may still be harmful to humans."'''

'''Scales slews to a stop again. "I haven't had a chance t'check anything yet, really. I jus' got Imager inta quarantine. But it looks like Nucleon, jus' without the good parts."'''

GAME: Spike PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of High difficulty.

GAME: Spike PASSES a COURAGE roll of Above Average difficulty.

'''Spike looks at Scales and says evenly "If it's cool... I don't want to be a coward, but the margin of error for humans is a helluva lot slimmer than for Autobots. Do you mind just doing a few preliminary checks for like radiation and seeing if it's cool for an organic to help check Imager out?" He adds "What 'looks like' and what 'actually is' may be two different things."'''

'''Scales wilts, wings, crest, and tail drooping dramatically. "Right.. yeah." She straightens up a bit. "Yeah, jus'.. hold on." She goes to get some material for a barrier between herself and the two energon samples and heads to her desk, picking them up carefully through the plasticy cloth and awkwardly shuffling towards her lab bench to check them over. There are times when a four-footed build is really inconvenient. Now is one of them.'''

'''Spike folds his arms and looks in on the contamination room. "So...while we're waiting, what happened? What's the infection?"'''

'''Scales carefully gets the samples into the testing array and starts a scan, then grabs a can of foam cleaner to go after where Imager was. "Okay, Imager's feeling a bit self-conscious about it, so try to not spread her name around outta medical, okay? She's got stiffness and an inability to transform, an' some other markers of Nucleon exposure, but none of the boost parts. Said she spoke with Soundwave, an' Soundwave was having trouble moving at all an' sayin' he was dyin'. Best hypothesis is that Soundwave's the vector. Problem with that is that if that's the initial point of infection, then everybody Imager's refueled since would likely have picked it up even if it's only a little contagious."'''

GAME: Spike PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Immense difficulty.

'''Spike squints at Scales, 'getting' pretty much all of what she's saying. "Okay..." He adds "So, Imager came in contact, and now has infected others...possibly...by refueling them, is that correct?" He adds "Do we have a list of Autobots who have been fueled by Imager so far?"'''

'''Scales shakes her head. "I don't, yet. Imager was gonna send that information on to Command while I get to work on these." She waves a paw at the samples in their testing chamber.'''

'''Spike nods. He looks on as the monitors track Imager's vitals. He looks over at Scales. "Any readings since Imager has been quarantined? Has she gotten worse?"'''

'''Scales looks over at the monitor. "Well, nothing much has changed so far. But it's not been long." She gets a ping and checks the results of the radiation test. "Oh, good.. nothing dangerous to you so far." She steps aside so Spike can see.'''

'''Spike looks up at Scales and raises a brow. "Mind if I wait just a bit longer for the final results to come in?" he adds "Sorry, I just saw this documentary about Chernobyl - and it's just given me a huge pause before diving head first into stuff."'''

'''Scales nods and fidgets with her paws, rubbing the claw tips together. "Yeah, I get it... I'm.. I'm jus' a little worried though."'''

Log session ending at 22:38:33 on Sunday, 21 April 2019.