abstract
| - 1/1/2013 07:15 PM Jackknife enters the repair bay, part of her chest on the left side and the entire left lower arm plus the left hand are looking a bit.. toasty, blackened.. scorched... She's just barely holding back the tears of pain. "Ratchet." she calls out. Ratchet looks over from the paperwork he's currently doing, sees the burning and scorching on her arm with one glance. "Oh My " he breathes, before making his way over hastily, escorting her to an empty berth. He finds the access panel in her shoulder, and reaches inside to turn on the pain dampeners, hopefully numbing her a bit. "what happened?" Jackknife vents a sigh of relief as the pain ebbs away as the dampers kick on. "Thank you." she says as she sits on a berth, "I was working on some welding on my current project and let's just say the loud Eureka! from Wheeljack's lab scared me enough to lose my grip, the welding flame got triggered to its highest setting when it hit the work bench. Hence this extensive burn. I had to snatch at it while the flame was still pointing up or it would have turned into the project and totally ruined it." Ratchet shakes his head, amused. "So Wheeljack claims yet another victim with his experiments...even if he didn't technically do it." he takes a good luck at what can be fixed and what will have to be replaced. "You did a good number on it" he acknowledges "looks like the project isnt' the only thing you risked ruining, this paintjob is ..." He t urns it over, looking at the joints and trying to decide if the arm is salvageable or not. Jackknife's arm is fine internally, its the armor that took the brunt of the damage, especially near her hand where she grabbed for the welder. Even touching where you are has small bits of burned armor fall off. "Paint can be replaced." she notes softly, "My dignity, maybe not so much. But I'll cope." Ratchet looks up at her. "well the good news is, its better than it looks. Its just some plating that needs replacing, and maybe a little wiring. " He looks over "I dont' see how your dignity is tarnished, you were a scientist, keeping an experiment safe. You as well as everone else here knows that Eureka's are dangerous thing and you were wise to be on your guard." He smiles over at her, taking out a set of tools from from the cart and rumaging around for new plating, spreading a liner under her arm to catch anthing he takes off, and starts to work, undoing pieces. He's hoping noting is welded together too badly from teh short exposure. Jackknife smiles a bit, "I'm actually a weapons expert. But I help Wheeljack and Perceptor on occasions when they team up on a weapons project." she tells you, doing her best to hold still so you can work without too much disruption. "But you are right that word is dangerous.. especially when he yells it." a soft smile. Ratchet shrugs "then as a weapons expert you knew what you were doing, how much damage it was going to do and you chose to do it anyway to preserve science. That still has my respect." he's taking off the main plates before using a soft brush to brush away most of the dust and onto the liner, then taking off the tiny plates around the digits. "Other than the arm, are you hurt anywhere else?" Jackknife nods, "I thank you for that vote of confidence. So many don't get that. The project is nearing completion and losing it now would ruin a good number of cycles of work. Restarting just.." she shakes her head, ".. not in the scope of things." a pause at the question, "Just my arm and the small section of my chest armor." Ratchet looks up, looking at her chest..in a purely medical eval type way. "Hold on, let me dampen that for you before i carry on." He leans over to her side, working his fingers under the plating under the arm and getting the pain dampeners to kick in there too. "we'll get you fixed up in no time." he reassures her, tweezering out tiny fragments of flaking armor before going over the entire arm with an airspray to get rid of the finer grit. Jackknife smiles a bit, lifting her arm so you can access the right area. "Take your time, I needed the break anyway." she notes softly. Ratchet grins "all that getting to you? I'm not going to ask what you're working on but I imagine sometimes its like banging your head against a brick wall" He sets back to work with the tweezers, wanting every fragment out of the wiring on the underside too before putting new plating back on. he checks with a loop to see if he can spot any more fragments "Move your digits please, and let me know if you feel any resistance anywhere?" Jackknife nods a little, "I get a bit absorbed in my work at times, especially when I'm in the groove of it and so close to completion. I blame myself for not getting some recharge in, but its for science." she moves her fingers slowly, trying to feel for any issues with the damper on. "They seem to be moving with no snags." flexing fingers into a fist then unfurling slowly. Ratchet says, "And when is the last time you got a full recharge in?" Ratchet asks mildly, knowing full well he's not one to talk on that subject. He watches her elbow and wrist and digits move, then goes over them one last time with a loop, looking for any singed or scorched bits that need replacing. "Well you're one lucky femme, I'd say teh armor took all of the damage." he smiles at her. "We'll just get a few new parts measured out and then take a look at your chest."" Jackknife has to think on that question awhile, "Hmm, at least a couple cycles ago, maybe more. I do tend to lose track of time when I'm elbow deep in my work, sometimes literally." a little smile, "All right, thank you Ratchet." Cloudlight makes her way down to the ground, transforming only a few feet above it and landing carefully. Ratchet hums as he works, reaching up to the shelf for bags of arm and digit plates and starting to fit them for size, checking to see what works, in terms of size before adding them and working from teh fingertips to the elbow. "Tell me if anything doesn't quite move flexibly and i'll file it down. " he adds quietly, as he lays out more parts. Jackknife nods to the medic, holding as still as she can as he works on measurements and fitting in the new plating for her arm. "I certainly don't want to lose any in my line of work." Cloudlight , having had a very strange experience with someone she suspects was a Decepticon, though she never found out for sure, steps into the repair bay. Ratchet is one of the few Autobots she has met, after all, and so she feels safer here. But, Jackknife would likely recognize her form as that of a Decepticon seeker, and seeing Jackknife there, Cloudlight freezes just inside the door. Ratchet is starting to work on Jackknife's index digit, concentrating on trying to get it in place. It pops over readily and he starts on the next joint, screwing in tiny screws and getting it to work Jackknife is focusing upon what the medic is doing so doesn't see the femme in the doorway, "Been at this awhile haven't you Rachet... being a medic that is.." Ratchet looks up and smiles "A while. Thing is.." he hesitates, putting another plate into place and fastening it. "some medics out there have..more intensive education. But I've been workign in the field for a while. I've been learnign a lot. Robustus has show me a number of tricks. Jackknife nods to that, "You'll only get better as you practice, take it from me. I was totally clueless until I went to specialized classes with several weapons experts plus a few explosive experts to get anywhere near good enough to start my own business." Cloudlight , having not been noticed, makes her way quietly into the medical bay. She stops a few feet away from the pair, then clears her throat quietly. "H-hello." Ratchet looks over at Cloudlight, smiling slowly "Hey Cloudlight" he greets her, then looks over at Jackknife and back to Cloudlight "not squeamish are you?" He turns to Jackknife" do you now each ohter?" Jackknife looks over to the young femme, studies her a few quiet moments, "Hello." she offers, "I don't believe we have met." Cloudlight offers a shy, uncertain smile. "N-no...I only just applied to join the Autobots' military. I have still not heard back from Lord Prime." she says, her voice barely audible. Ratchet looks over, and clears his throat at Cloudlight at the 'lord Prime'. "Optimus Prime'll get back to you" he reassures her. he screws on a few more joints, then the palm "give it a try to see if you can move your hand properly?" he asks Jackknife. Jackknife notes, "These things take time, they have to do background checks and reference checks and who knows what all else." she tells the young femme, "Though in your case, they may just talk to your creators and anyone you can point them to that would speak for you." she does as asked, moving her fingers first slowly to allow for any issues to show, then moving her wrist around to check for any fit issues there. Cloudlight gasps as she realizes she said Lord Prime again, then sighs as she hears Jackknife. "...somehow...I don't think my past aquaintances would say anything kind about me..." she says, looking down and to the side, an unhappy expression on her face. Ratchet smiles at Cloudlight "You'll get it. And not saying anything kind about you is to be expected if tehy're 'Cons. Its actually in your favour. " He looks over at Jackknife "if they can track down her creator." He watches her hand intently, watching for any rubbing or snags "How's that working?" Jackknife hmms thoughtfully at the slightly crestfallen femme, "Then you will have to stand up for yourself if it comes down to it. Answer all questions truthfully. Remember you are gaining the trust of a Prime, not to mention his army once you are part of it. He'll know if you are lying." then to Ratchet, "Seems fine to me." Cloudlight seems surprise at Jackknife. So far, she has not met an Autobot who was hostile at all, and Cloudlight is not sure if she is happy, or unnerved. She smiles, though, and nods to them. "Stand up for myself...I can do that. I think..." Cloudlight watches the hand moving as well, then asks. "What happened?" Ratchet looks over at Cloudlight "i'm inclined to agree - if nobody else can stand up for you you'll have to do it for yourself" he adds gently. "Otherwise, if you won't do it for you, if you don't appreciate yourself to that extent, how can anyone else? " He adds some arm plates. Jackknife answers the question, "Oh I had a welding accident. It happens." she smiles a little as she watches the medic work. Cloudlight moves closer, watching curiously now. "Oh my. I am sorry to hear that." she says to Jackknife before nodding to Ratchet. "And...I suppose you are right. If I don't stand up for me, who will?" she says, though the thought that no one else would stand up for her seems to depress her a bit. Ratchet looks over "We're almost done here. I'm going to pull a curtain to give Jackknife a measure of privacy for a few moments but we can still hear you and talk to you" he notes, as he starts taking out pieces of breastplate to match them to what she needs. He turns to Jackknife "why don't you test that arm while I get working on your chest?" he offers, pulling a curtain Jackknife incilnes her head and starts slowly checking her movement in the elbow, the wrist, the fingers, just making sure she has full range of motion. "Ratchet, I doubt she hasn't seen the internals of another femme.. or mech for that matter." she notes, chuckling softly, "Nothing much special under this armor." Cloudlight blinks as Ratchet pulls the curtain, but she doesn't protest until Jackknife speaks up. "...I...I do have medical experience..." she adds, though she doesn't move toward the curtain. This is Ratchet's med bay, after all. Ratchet "Don't worry, I've got this covered. he takes a look, spreading a new liner out and looks at the plate "Just scorched" he reassures Jackknife. Jackknife stays still as the medic works, "Didn't know they trained seekers to be medics." she says, "But then only seekers I ever dealt with wanted big guns to cover for their inadequate..." she pauses and makes a soft sound, ".. nevermind. Young femmes shouldn't hear such things." Cloudlight , being the young femme she is, misses what Jackknife was probably going to say. "Why not?" she asks, confused, then ponders a moment. "Megatron has a very big gun..." Ratchet grins over at Jackknife and replies to Cloudlight "Yes he has. Which says a lot about him" he adds cheekily. then he handily unscrews jackknife's chestplate, double checks the wiring and finds it isnt' even in need of dusting, before he starts sizing up the new one. Jackknife has to hold back the laugh with some success, well only so much as she sort of has to bite on her lip to stop it from coming out. Cloudlight still doesn't see what the Decepticons would need to compensate for. She thinks about it for a long while as Ratchet works and Jackknife snickers. "...brains...?" she wonders aloud. Jackknife tries to not laugh as she releases her lip from the grip of her teeth, "Well that too, but it's something else and I didn't want to sully your young mind with such images." Ratchet looks over "To be fair, he /did/ make leader of the 'cons." he points out in all reasonableness. "he's got something over some of the younger, less exerienced cons. Old age and treachery, and a lot of menace." he files off one edge before trying it on for size, and grins over at Jackknife "and you're being wicked and confusing poor Cloudlight. " he points out. Cloudlight 's mind is so unsullied that she can't even imagine what images would sully her mind. "..um...okay." she says to Jackknife before listening to Ratchet. "That is true." she says about his Megatron comment, then smiles. "And, it's alright. She isn't nearly as confusing as someone I met today named Bit." Jackknife smiles at the medic, "I do suppose you are right on both points. I'm sorry if I am confusing you Cloudlight." then lower that maybe only the medic is hear, "Besides its not the size that counts, its how it's used." Ratchet talks through teh curtain for a moment "Ah...Bit...Bit...tiny little 'Con if I recall? Wicked aim." he observs. "Bit of a braggart too?" He screws down teh chest plate, reaches around and turns the pain dampners off, observing her for any sign of discomfort. Then he turns the ones in her shoulder off "any pain? discomfort?" He reaches over for her hand "squeeze my digits please?" he asks and he nods at that, wryly "So I've been told. " Ratchet then he realises what he's implied with that and looks away for a second before deciding its still true. Cloudlight blinks. "Braggart?" she says, then thinks a moment. "...she didn't brag so much as ramble nonsense. I asked her to identify herself, and she said that she didn't need to identify herself because she knew who she was..." The seeker femme shakes her head a bit. "And from there, it just got frustrating." she adds, then smiles. "It is alright." she says to Jackknife. "Like I said, you aren't confusing me nearly as badly as Bit." Jackknife waits for her systems to reaccess her left arm, hand, and fingers. She gives it all another slow check of rotation. "No pain." she decides, "Thank you Ratchet. I'll have to buy you a drink for such good work." she notes, then takes his fingers in her hand and squeezes down. Ratchet smiles at jackknife and pats her hand "I'll take you up on that one." he offers "As soon as I run one last test by you. Dim your optics?" He keeps one hand on hers, using it to turn over her palm. "tell me where you feel a puff of air" he instructs, using his air puffer to puff over her hand, and then up her arm Jackknife dims her optics as instructed, waiting for sensation and telling him when she feels the movement of the air. Cloudlight waits patiently outside the curtain, wondering just what use a puff of air is to a doctor. She only has medical experience, not formal medical training. Ratchet looks over at Jackknife and smiles "You're good to go. That said, i'm prescribing you with one cycle of downtime and one complete cycle of recharge. Mandatory. " He continues quieter "I know your experiment is of utmost importance, but you need to be able to run it. " he opens the curtain for you. " Now, I think we've all spent too much time here." Jackknife inclines her head to the medic and gets off the berth, "I assure you I will do so Ratchet, unlike some of the rascals around here I know better than to go against doctors orders." Cloudlight smiles as the curtain opens. "Is everything repaired?" she asks, then adds. "And...why do you think we've spent too much time here? It has only been an hour or so." Ratchet looks over at Jackknife "then you're one of the blessed few, and thank you.". He turns to Cloudlight "you've only been here an hour or so." he points out. "I'm about ready to be done here, and if you're not medically unwell, any time in a hospital is too long. As to Jackknife, .." He tilts his head "She's been here about the right time, I'll grant you." Jackknife nods to the medic, "So shall I get you that drink now or later?" Ratchet nods "I'm sure we could both use one" he agrees. He looks over at Cloudlight "would you like to join us?" Cloudlight smiles, but headshakes. "I don't need any drink, but thank you." she says, then looks up at the sky. "I think I will go for a flight. See you two later!" The young femme transforms, then takes off, likely startling a few nearby civilians. Ratchet watches her go, shaking his head gently in amusement
|