Fix Him While We Can

Log Title: Fix Him While We Can Characters: Dust Devil, Ratchet, Scales Location: Iacon Medical Center Date: August 14, 2019 TP: Nucleosis TP Summary: With Ratchet lying unconscious after a vicious attack, Dust Devil and Scales decide to get all his maintenance done while he's stationary. As logged by  Scales

Log session starting at 13:15:48 on Wednesday, 14 August 2019.

'''Scales is surprisingly not as busy as before. Sure, she has to organize people to get the cures administered, but now that the formula is figured out, other people can do the actual concocting while she sets up schedules and checks on other things. Thus, she is wandering through Iacon Medical, checking on patients.'''

'''Dust Devil is still hanging around the medical bay. Well...he could probably go to the barracks except for the fact that he was completely zoned out and 'sleepwalking' out of Iacon when the guards found him and dragged his aft back in here. So now there's a rather annoyed mech doing his best imitation of a human teen that's grounded. The only good thing is Dusty can't seem to catch the nucleosis and can be of 'some' help around the medical bay.'''

'''Ratchet lays in a small private area right off the main ward. He's been stabilized, but is still missing his left arm, his right hand, and both legs. Since his attack he's remained in a coma; the Autobots have not yet tried to draw him out of it until he was in better shape. With Ratchet out of service, Inferno has been put in charge of the Autobot Medical Division, and Scales has been made head of the Iacon Medical Center.'''

'''Scales peeks in on Ratchet, and can't avoid the itch to do something about it. She's been doing chemistry for *weeks* now. Actual repair work would be nice. So, avoiding the hands because the parts for those are specialized, she begins getting pieces for Ratchet's legs, lining things up carefully between literally climbing the walls for parts.'''

'''Dust Devil inches over and slips into Ratchet's private medical section. A frown appears on his face and he moves to circle around so that he's up by Ratchet's head. He stares at the mech, sighing at the lack of expression on his face. "I'm gonna put in a call ta Backblast ta hunt his hands...if they're recoverable. His legs probably needed replacin anyway. Pretty sure he couldn't sneak up on a deaf human...maybe ya aughta give him a full spa package cause ya know this is probably the ONLY chance anyone is gonna have ta makin sure he's takin care of himself."'''

'''Luckily, aside from his hands, Ratchet is a typical 256-OZU-004 body type, which means his replacement parts are standardized. Dust Devil is right, however - Ratchet hasn't been taking good care of himself. If it wasn't for Inferno's nagging, he'd be in even worse shape. As it is, he's behind on most necessary maintenance, which for a mech of his age could be dangerous. In his current state, however, he is at least getting some rest at last.'''

'''Scales chuckles as she climbs up to get to a drawer with the part she needs. "Yeah, that's true. Prob'ly should give 'im a full tune-up while he's lyin' down anyway." She clings with three feet while pulling open the drawer and rooting around with a paw. Once the part is obtained, she tucks it in her arm, nudges the drawer shut with her tail, then spreads her wings to gently glide back to the floor. It might be a bit awkward looking, but nobody can tell her not to climb things anymore because she's in charge around here now! So there!'''

'''As the little medic starts connecting bits together for foot internals, she nods to Dust Devil. "The hands are the trickiest bit to replace, so if we could get the originals back, that'd be easiest. How're you doing? Still tryin' t'walk off in yer sleep?"'''

'''Dust Devil frowns and glares but then the expression is changed to worry and he nods faintly. "Yeah..." He begins to go through the drawers and with the speed and ease of someone who apparently has gone through the bins and drawers too many times and probably without permission, he begins to extract stuff and filling a cart. It might take a few moments, but it should become clear that Dust Devil is filling it with all the stuff that Scales will need to do the tune-up on Ratchet. He doesn't follow what would be precisely on Ratchet's charts. It seems Dusty is going for slight upgrades in lubrication and some of the wiring. "Ya know....I could rearrange all the supplies to fit someone yer height....could ya imagine what Ratchet would do?:'''

'''Ratchet has a very "idiosyncratic" filing system developed over thousands of vorns. He might not react favorably to anyone rearranging the parts bins. Of course, it's Scales that's in charge of Iacon Medical now...'''

'''Scales snickers. "We -do- have Spike-sized stuff around here that's pretty workable, but the tall stuff is closer." She shrugs. "Really, everything's built for people who walk on two legs." She peeks at the cart and gives Dusty an approving grin, then goes to a terminal to pull up Ratchet's medical records. After a moment of reading, she huffs. "This is -terrible-, Dusty. Sheesh. Yeah, let's get him back up to snuff while he can't run away."'''

'''Dust Devil says, "And if he starts movin we strap him down right!?" Yes...encourage the kids to play with the doctor while he's out. Dust Devil then goes for some of the nanite wax for scratches and scuffs. As well as hitting a few of the machines to start warming them up. He begins also pulling out the pressure gauges and some of the tools. He pulls out two of each size, the smaller human and the larger cybertronian, not sure which would work better for Scales."'''

Dust Devil says, "Used ta do this stuff fer Alpha...well..not the overhaul bit. But just getting the tool carts ready. His would be more of a case cause he'd disappear ta do somethin and then come back. Back then I didn't know where he was goin or what he was doin. Now I know that he'd be off fixin one of Elita's Femmes or gettin info or setting up one of their bases. He'd bring his cases back and I'd fill them or he'd give me a list of stuff to set up. Pretty sure he figured pretty quick that boredom was not my strong suit."

'''Scales ooohs. "That's neat! Though a lot of these tools, I got my own." She holds up a paw, and one of her claws retracts to be replaced temporarily by a screwdriver head that spins back and forth in demonstration. "Field medic, right? Hard to lose 'em this way." She does end up using some of the items Dusty brought though, setting up Ratchet to flush his systems while they have hte opportunity, clear out all that icky buildup.'''

'''Ratchet's systems are old and sludgy. It's obvious that he's in worse off shape than even he looks. He's far behind on maintenance and a steady supply of additive-corrupted engex has done even more damage than time. Rachet's been pushing himself too hard and at this rate is likely to burn himself out.'''

'''Dust Devil moves to grab some of the lines that will hook to Ratchet's. He sets up the recieving bucket for the gunk that will come out as the solutions first revive Ratchet's lines and renew the seals and clean. The next step will actually refill the medic's lines with new clean fluids, whether it's the hydraulic lines, oils or other systems that need done. "Ya know he's gonna SOOOO growl at us when he wakes up. Well you especially. He'll never think that I knew how ta help with this."'''

'''Scales hees. "Yeah, he'll be grumpy, but I doubt he'll complain too much, 'cause we can always guilt him over th'fact he shoulda known better." She gets lines connected to Ratchets and checks to make sure Dusty's end is set, then starts the flow on the first set. "Some of these seals are prob'ly gonna leak, with this abuse."'''

Dust Devil says, "Well I can grab some new seals if it's too bad ta rehab....or a couple basins if we want ta stick it out and see if the seal fixes itself."

'''Scales hmms. "Get some new seals, yeah. We can always rehab or recycle the old ones later. If it were just a flush he needs, it wouldn't matter, but he pretty much needs -all- the maintenance."'''

'''Dust Devil grabs a collection of seals, checking each one to make sure it's perfect before he brings them to Scales. He makes a face and then sighs with a grin. "I...I do know how to run a component and armor wash machines. So...if you got yer hands err claws in Ratchet's innards, feel free to set me ta scrubbin or soakin components that need it." He stares at the still mech and frowns. "I know he complains about me and to me and at me....but I also know he's been there with Sparkplug and Spike and everyone when I've nearly been offlined."'''

'''Scales cools. "Thanks, Dusty. You're bein' a big help." She starts digging in happily, checking hoses and trading seals. "He doesn't take care of himself 'cause he's too busy tryin' t'keep everybody else up an' runnin'. Jus' cause somebody's got medical certs doesn't mean they're all as good at some of the things he ends up workin' on, right? An' it gets t'be a habit." She surfaces momentarily to wipe her paws clean and grab a couple more seals.'''

'''Dust Devil moves to grab a few towels and hangs one of the nearby cart that is hanging by Scales and sticks another two on Ratchet's frame where Scales can quickly grab it if she needs it. "Alpha took care of himself but I think that's because it was habit. It's a few thousand vorns between me and my closest sibs. And they were made FER somethin. I'm like that project someone did cause they were bored."'''

'''Scales mmms, "Gonna hafta replace a couple of these lines, too. Not too bad, but I see a couple pinholes. We'll get 'em after the flush is done." The little dragon grabs some bright tape to mark the ones she's worried about. "I remember the days when it seemed like the only person who had time to spend with me was Discord. I mean, I was built assa medic, but there were lots of medics an' I was the new kid who didn't have any experience, so.." She shrugs. "I hung out with human kids, since they were always learnin' stuff, and I liked learning."'''

Dust Devil frowns, "I'm sorry I wasn't a better friend back then. I know now I was a real aft. And I was always so angry and I took it out on everyone around me. Thanks fer givin me a chance again."

'''Scales grins. "You don't hafta keep apologizing, yanno. You're said it before, an' I believe you. So it's okay, okay?"'''

Dust Devil sighs, "Sorry....it's just knowin the stuff I pulled. I still like ta have fun and all but now I DO try ta think of others....well mostly. Ultra Magnus is a jerk and I do delight in torturin him. But he's a big mech and can handle it."

'''Scales hehs. "Yeah, I getcha." She hums a bit. "Okay, those are done. Now for the -next- set..." A more squeamish mech might find the sight of a little dragon spattered with fluids disturbing, but it's a repair bay. "I was hurt at the time, sure. An' I might be grouchier about it if I didn't have other people who were friends with me. I mean, Grimlock basically named me a Dinobot an' they all adopted me, so I had a place to go any time I felt outta place. That helped. An' Discord's a jerk, but if I ever really need his help, he'll show up no matter what kind of grumbling he does about it." She grabs a couple of human-sized tools that are more accurate than her built in ones for some of the work she has to do. "I mean, it's good to be kind and polite an' all, but what ya do is even more important than that. An' you're here, helpin'."'''

'''Dust Devil grins. "I'm pretty sure Prowl, Red Alert and Ultra Magnus feel I'm the embodiment of chaos...Even when i'm behaving I'm somehow causin trouble." Does have a few nice snapshots of Scales at angles that make it look like she's pretty much dancing in Ratchet's innards as she feasts. He'll have fun with those later. "Grimlock still has my old spoiler...jerk..."'''

'''Scales giggles. "Well, you wouldn't be you if you didn't poke bears. Or T-Rexes." Really, with her size, half this conversation is coming out of Ratchet's chest with only her butt and tail visible while she stretches to reach parts. "Man, once we get people cured, they're gonna hafta deal with the paperwork backlog."'''

'''Dust Devil snerks, "And that will be my cue to find a nice hidey hole until it's caught up. Besides it's entertaining to have somewhere that really no one can get ta without knowing." He laughs, "Luckily no one will think ta ask me about half the stuff anyway.?"'''

'''Scales hehs. "Well, 'cept Optimus. I think he's on t'ya."'''

Dust Devil laughs, "'Course he's on ta me. He's been having spark ta spark talks with me in an attempt ta get through ta me fer nearly as long as I've been on Earth. I think he wanted ta figure somethin before Red Alert suggests a firing squad or Spark removal until the war is over and I can be rehabilitated or reformated and become a proper part of society. Prime's a good guy....even if it annoys me when Alpha asks how he's doing or suggests me helpin him with whatever is going on."

'''Scales is hip deep in Ratchet's internals at the moment, replacing seals and flagging lines that need work. When she does poke up out of her work, she's got a fair covering of fluids and gunk, but seems to be in a chipper mood, grinning with her dragony teeth. "Yeah... I never really talked to him until this whole thing happened? He was jus' busy, like ev'rybody else."'''

Dust Devil says, "Well part of it is yer tiny. And he knows how imposin he can be. He proabably didn't want to scare you if he could help it. Ya know? But now you've really proven yerself with Backblast and all. I think you'll find yer noticed a bit more."

'''Scales hehs. "It can be kinda scary, gettin' involved in some of the stuff like we've been lately, y'know? But I think I'm startin' t'get used to it some."'''

Dust Devil nods, "NOt exactly the most ideal...ummm childhood....huh. But....we at least still know how to smile and stuff. That's the important part right?"

'''Scales hees. "Yeah. Though I don't know when I'm gonna be able to go out flying next. I think I'm gonna be busy here at least until the nucleosis stuff is all administered."'''

Log session ending at 17:17:52 on Wednesday, 14 August 2019.