| abstract
| - The Medical bay. In one of the berths at the side of the medical bay, Shred lies deactivated, a number of scanning systems hooked up to her to monitor the condition of her spark. A half dozen gumby medics are present to ensure everything is running as smoothly as possible. They have a standing order to not permit Psykeout near. Psykeout walks into the repair campus, his optic has been quasi-repaired. In other words, he apparently pulled the scalpel straight out of the wound, creating a rather large scar above and below his optic. Covering the wound is a small piece of metal, held in place by what seems to be rivets. His one good optic seems to be blazing, as though he never fully got over the anger of what happened only a cycle before. Shred lays, inactive, surrounded by the gumbies as stated before. through glances between them, her chest is opened, and there is silvery light pouring out from behind the cover to her laser core. Psykeout notices Shred on the table and the gumbies, making his way towards the table. A couple of gumbies step in front of him, ready to keep him away from the lead medic, but Psykeout is determined. Someone needs to feel the wrath of his insanity...it mineaswell be one of the gumbies. Or Shred. He pushes by the gumbies, making his way towards Shred and arching his one good optic ridge, "Well, well, well...what, oh what, do we have here?" Goa changes course, climbing the grades upward, out of Cybertron's tunnel system. Hailed by a gumby, of all mechs -- he wasn't aware they even had radio systems. Much less the inkling to use them. Did that mean it was urgent? Or did it just mean someone was glitching out? Of course ... it involves the med bay, doesn't it. They can't be mutually exclusive. Why was it /always/ the med bay? Some cycles, the car ponders, it seemed like Primus was trying to pull the invisible strings and make Goa a repairmech. Shred lays there, unknowing of Psykeout's presence, while one of the gumbies hit the comms, another rushing to try and push Psykeout away. "Stay away from her! Security is already on its way Psykeout. You are not to come anywhere near Shred!" Psykeout's optic narrows to a slit, a sneer growing on his face. He pushes the gumby out of the way, threatening another with the scalpel he pulled from subspace. His optic is locked on Shred and his voice is low, guttural and shows that any sense of sanity has probably been lost, "Come closer and I will cut out your core myself." A few of them step away, knowing full well what he's capable of. Losing their life by his hand would result in a long and stressful death. Megatron's cannon, on the other hand, would at least be quick. Psykeout leans over and makes the necessary connections to bring Shred online, staring into her optics with a look of insane glee plastered all over his face. Shred's optics flicker as she oh so slowly comes online.. and as she sees Psykeout right in front of her she panics.. "Psykeout?? What the SLAG? Get away from me!" in her hand she suddenly has her Glaive, inactive as she tries to thrust it into Psykeout's gut. Psykeout jumps back, the sneer and all sense of 'evil' gone from his face. He holds up his hands, dropping the scalpel to the floor and staring at her with his one functioning optic, "Shred. What's with the hostility? I...what the frag is going on here?" Shred's face is one of absolute dismay, though she does not reactivate the Glaive and attack. "Why, Psykeout? why'd you put it in my core?" Psykeout's optic narrows ever so slightly and a smirk grows on the side of his face. He takes a step closer, leaning over to make sure that he's on the same level as Shred, "Why do you think, Shred? Why do you /think/ that I did it? You are nothing. You are a shell of a real Decepticon. You are nothing more than a couple of spare parts thrown together to make a functioning combatant." The smile on his face grows slowly, "You strived to prove yourself better than any of the other empties, but all you did was show that you thought you were better. You wouldn't go back, because you were ashamed of what you were. You claimed you forgot, but last cycle, you were all but willing to admit where you came from when you thought I was in danger." He stands up and begins to pace the room again, "So, as I said in my original report, I believe that you are faking your so-called 'memory loss' and that you know full well what happened in the past. I believe that your neural network is failing and I believe, as I said, that you are /nothing/. Nothing more than a empty who thinks that the world owes them something," He turns back around and leans over, his face mere inches away from her own, "So, kill me, Shred. If you want revenge so bad, then drive that glaive right through my core. Do it...FRAGGING DO IT. You claim you're so bad. You're a fighter to the end. But, yet, you can be brought down by a few words. Easy...Too easy, Shred. You should've known better then to trust me." Shred gets to her feet, her chest still wide open, her laser core still exposed. Narrowing her optics, she raises the Glaive.. and stows it back in subspace. "No." A single word. That is all she says. Folding her arms in front of her open chest, she shakes her head, knowing that killing Psykeout would simply be playing into his hands. Psykeout takes a step back, his smile growing larger, "Don't have it in you, Shred? Not quite the bad aft evil femme that you claimed you were in Dead End? Going to be kind of hard to show your face around there when they get word of this. I doubt that they will respect you any longer, when they hear about how you cowered in the face of adversity," He turns on his heel and makes his way towards the door, then pauses as they woosh open. A pistol appears in his hand, pointed towards the open chest plate on Shred and his finger depressing the trigger... Shred simply shakes her head, unfolding her arms, "Then go ahead. You'll never get a cleaner shot. Coward. My laser core is as exposed as it is ever going to be. I’m not afraid of you. Just so very disappointed, Psykeout." This is said as Psykeout takes his step, and lines up to pull the trigger. Goa touches down from the wind shaft. That chat with the neutral had been an interesting diversion, but that radio was going offline, now -- in fiddling with it, it takes him a moment to focus his optics on the scene in front of him. Psykeout with a pistol. In the med bay. He doesn't have to stop himself from acting, no need to suppress way he's been constantly flinching and doubting -- there is no excuse for that. Soundlessly, he blasts forward on his tires and takes hold of the medic's far elbow, pulling it toward the ground with no gentleness whatsoever. Goa's look into Psykeout's functional optic, when they meet, is utterly cold. He doesn't bare his dental plates like he so often does. Psykeout feels his arm twisted in a way that it's not supposed to, ripping the wired connections in his shoulder. A growl of pain as he looks up to Goa, "Stop...this is no longer your concern, Goa," He catches the free hand going towards his neck and Psykeout moves his head to the side, the whiff of air catching the metal of his neck. Psykeout looks up to Shred with his one good optic, which is flickering softly and his face grows solemn. His hand drops easily, falling to the floor with a soft thud. His voice has become low and regretful, "Why don't you let me die, Shred? Why do you continue to let me live? I've been around for it all. I've seen so many die...that I have begun to wonder if that's where I should be. A non-functioning core. Silence. Oh, the silence. How beautiful it would be." His optic rolls up, looking beyond Shred, "Imagine a world where there was no fighting. Imagine a world where Decepticons reigned supreme and Megatron sat atop the helm," He clenches his fist and lets it go, "In a lust for power, I hurt the one that I cared about the most. I cannot ask you to forgive me, Shred...because I know there is no chance of that. All I can ask is that you respect my wishes. End the terror for those that cross my path. Pull Goa off of me and have the courtesy of ending my life yourself. Do not let Megatron do it. Do not let Goa finish what he has started. Finish this...here and now." Shred sighs, reaching to put a hand upon Goa's shoulder gently. "Goa. Enough. He's disarmed. Let him up. I say we turn him loose. Revoke his security clearance, and drop him in Cubicron. Alone." Goa's tunnel vision remains locked on Psykeout for some tics longer. He could've continued, but he did not. He allows himself to be held in place. Energon trails down his face from the shorn optic, dripping from his beard. His hands unlock, and the mech wrests himself away from Psykeout's grip, then to his feet. Shred would be respected. This time was different. He stares initially into the space in front of himself, then his helmet whips over his shoulder like he's looking out for someone. Finally, he turns to Shred. "No." Shred 's chest is still wide open as Goa turns to her, and he just might recognize the distinct, cold glow from her spark. "Very well. But he does not get a quick, or a clean death Goa." she looks at him, "You condemned me to die a slow and terrible death, Psykeout. You deserve no less. Goa. Get me one of your crystals. That's an order." Yes, she is deadly serious. She means to corrupt his spark the way he corrupted hers. Psykeout leans his head back, thudding softly against the floor. He pushes himself up slowly, watching the both of them as well as he can with one functioning optic. Finally getting to his feet, he looks from one to the other and a smile appears on his face, "See? Even he wants me dead, Shred. Do it. Do what I know is deep inside of that pulsating core of yours," He moves a bit closer, reaching his hand out, "Speaking of the core, how's it doing, Shred?" He pulls his hand back before either one of them have a chance to respond, "Never mind. What I have slipped in there will cause more damage than I could ever do to you," He shakes his head, moving towards the door again, "Shred, I can't believe that you fell for something so simple as a psychological trick. Something so over-used, that you let it get to you." He arches his one good optic ridge, as she speaks, "Ahh...you plan to kill me the same way that I have aimed to kill you. How delightfully original. Have you not already forgotten that I have your old core? I can see the progression of the damage. Not to mention that I have contacts in places that you haven't even begun to dream of. The very bowels of Cybertron, where even time refuses to step. So, do what you wish," He rips off his chest plate and lets it fall to the floor with a clatter, "Do your worst, Shred. It cannot be anything worse then what I have already gone through. The slow, painful death will be welcomed. It will help me to realize the pain that I have put others through. It will help me to come to grips with what I have done. So, in the end, you have done exactly as I have asked. Thank you, Shred...I can never repay you for respecting my wish." Goa slowly looks Shred over. His processor switches from mode to mode. The report said she was deactivated. Seeing her online did not surprise him. Seeing the cold cyan tint in her laser core did not surprise him. It was so unsurprising, in fact, it took him a moment to even realize the detail. His functional optic blazes to pure red. The other gushes energon a bit more readily. One orange hand closes into a fist, its motors quietly squealing as he motions like he's squeezing the very life out of something. "Shut the frag up, Psykeout." Goa says, in nearly a whisper over his shoulder. He suddenly seems to regain something like self-consciousness, and wipes at his cheek, then looks at his hand. This was all out of his control ... he was not about to relinquish the only control he had. His optic shutters narrow in response to Shred's order. "You know I can't do that." Shred nods, and she sighs, "Ok. Goa. Stand down. Psykeout. Pick up your damned armor and get up on the Medical berth. I'm going to FIX you, Psykeout. And you as well Goa. Now I know the perfect punishment for you. Psykeout.. " she steps towards him, leaning down to whisper in his audio receptor. "I forgive you." Psykeout hears Goa, but chooses not to respond. Instead, he leans down to pick up his armor, just in time for Shred to tell him to. Always following what the woman wants, all the way to the end. He slides the chest plate underneath his arm and shakes his head, "I refuse, Shred. I will not get on the berth...there is no way that I can trust you to..." He drifts off as he catches what she said. His face falls and his head begins to loll. It's something that he's heard before. But, not from someone that he actually cared about. That just sent it to another level. Caught speechless, he moves towards the door in complete silence. Pausing as they woosh open...again...he looks over his shoulder, "I can't believe...that you forgive me...after all that I have done...I...I don't deserve your forgiveness...It's...difficult to hear from someone that I care about..." He continues out of the med bay, without waiting for a response. Robustus is on the other side of the door, "Good cycle." is offered, then stepping past Psykeout he strides into the medical bay, taking a few moments to observe what exactly is going on. He hmms softly, deciding not to comment but proceed with further prepping for what he'll need to do concerning Shred's spark. Goa sees Psykeout through the door with a noiseless glare, turning around to track him until he's absolutely certain the mech is gone. He does not acknowledge Robustus. Self-repair seems to have finally quelled the loss of energon from his face. In this, he stands, still, in the doorway. "Shred." He isn't certain the femme hasn't wandered off, but he didn't hear anything of the sort. "... standing down." Goa turns on his heel and starts following the newly-arrived mech to whatever task he's initiating. Shred sighs as Psykeout leaves the med bay, and she shakes her head, "Well, Psyke.. I do forgive you. I'm not going to kill you." then she sees Robustus entering, "Come in, Robustus.. You got here just after.. Well, an interesting situation. Psykeout reactivated me, then he was going to try and kill me, before Goa showed up.. " then she looks to Goa, and shakes her head, "Up on the table Goa, let's get you fixed.. " after saying that though, she grimaces, the glow from her spark just as bright as ever, her chest armor still open to allow medics easy access. Robustus of course did notice Psykeout's arm, Goa's optic, the general palpable tension in the med bay. But since Psykeout has left, and his orders are clear, this takes priority over Goa. He spent a better part of the cycle going over every last square centimeter of the containment unit to check for any issues. Nothing to be found, it was a new machine. What he is doing now is sanitizing the exterior thoroughly. Oh he's listening to every word from the head medic's mouth, as is indicated by the frown upon his lips. The mech decides the better part of valor is not to comment further than, "Understood." "You know I can't do that either, Shred." Goa looks over the unit Robustus is fawning over himself, snorting softly. Tapping the mech on the shoulder, he whispers, "If you've got anything that shifts processing entirely to the logic board, I might need it." Before he turns around, he gives Robustus a very serious look through his only glowing optic. Then he hunches over a nearby table, bracing his arms against it and staring down at Shred. "I shouldn't be here, and I don't wanna be here, but I need to get some questions answered, an' that's more important than me." Goa rises slightly on his arms, then dims his optic, quiet in thought, intaking air from his lateral fans. "How long has it been? How much is there? Do you know how it got there? Are you certain?" Shred 's optics dim, and she sighs, "Goa, trust me. By forgiving him, I am giving him the worst punishment I could. Let's get you repaired.. As to exactly how much.. I'm not certain. We're pretty certain he slipped it in when he and Robustus were performing the spark transfer operation. The readings match up exactly, from my spark. " Robustus is fawning over it for a reason. He looks over at Goa, nodding slightly to the whisper from Goa. "I'll look into it, right now though Megatron made it very clear what the priority in this med bay is to be, and that is Shred." he states calmly. He looks back to his work, sanitizing the interior of the unit where it holds the laser core and/or spark. "We are certain Goa." he replies, "Scanned her twice." Goa snarls and slams the side of a hand down on the table. "I don't GIVE a slag about him, Shred," he starts out in a low grumble, but takes the upgrade to a roar. "You put him up in the unmaker's own fragging loft and pamper him with breem-ly oil massages, I don't give a turbo rat’s aft." The mech lowers himself to his elbows. "Decepticons are getting damaged, and it happens to be my own ..." he grates his dental plates. "... weapon that's doing it. That's all I give a slag about, Shred." He considers his thoughts last cycle. Maybe he did know too many people. Have too many friends. "And I don't care where it came from, at this point, do I." Goa runs a hand over his face, feeling at the damage to his optical socket. Flinching. "Robustus, you have to get that stuff out of her, or you've wasted a lot of time here. I don't know that you can. What are you going to do?" Shred lowers her head, and she sighs, "You'll have to help him, at best, Goa. The thing is, I don't know exactly where the crystal IS! If it is in my very spark, where the energy readings are coming from Goa.. What the slag can we do?" she looks.. fragile .. as she says this, the small Decepticon afraid once more. "Goa.. Is it possible that it's just an energy corruption? and if it is.. can that be corrected?" Robustus gives no indication of surprise or any sort of movement at the fist slam and raised tone. His tone is calm and even as he speaks, "I've done some research on it, but since you have had direct contact with it and survived, I wanted to bounce some ideas off of you that may work. If indeed there is a even a tiniest bit of that Goanium in her spark, then you are an answer to the problem." he finishes his sanitation and turns to the grounder. "As to wasted time, I have not wasted a moment since this issue was discovered. I've made sure this containment unit was thoroughly inspected, cleaned, and sanitized." he pauses, looking at Shred, "I will have to visually inspect your spark very carefully. If I do find something in it, I have the tools to retrieve it." Goa looks down at his hands. In jerky movements, he locks them together on the table surface. A very weak, forced smile appears on his faceplate. "I have no idea, Shred." His vocalizer has softened out now. "A vorn or two ago, I would've killed you just in case." He tilts his helmet down as Robustus explains, slowly tilting it to look at him once he finishes talking. "Goanium?" He narrows his optics and smiles wider. "I always wanted to be remembered for a compound that maims and kills machines. Bounce away, Robber." Shred goes quiet now, sitting herself down, "I guess we'd best get my spark examined then, hadn't we?" Robustus only smiles a hint at Goa, "First off, we are not sure if there is indeed a piece of crystal in her spark or if it’s in the old core that Psykeout so conveniently took out of med bay. Second, if there is no piece in her spark, there still is radiation being given off, which means that a piece had just enough contact with her spark to bond the radiation to it." he pauses a moment, "If the latter is the case, I believe it may be possible to bleed the radiation off without doing harm to Shreds' spark. If the former, then the best I can do is stave off the crystal growth with regular treatments." he continues from here, "In either case, from what I read on them from various experiments and studies of them, as well as looking at your own medical file, I deduce that if we use a specific enzyme that would essentially break down the radiation that over time it would no longer exist in her system." Shred hmms, looking at Robustus.. "I hope you're right, Robustus. Goa still has the radiation in his system. At least in small amounts. " Grimacing, she looks towards her chest, "Damn my spark hurts.." Robustus inclines his head to Shred, "There are also a group of isotopes we can try as well. Eventually we'll hit the right one or a combination that will work." he gestures to a medical berth, "Why don't you lay down, I'll get started on the spark extraction so I can visually inspect it for any sign of a piece of crystal." he looks to Goa, "You may stay if you so desire Goa." Goa stares at Robustus, with no droop in his wide smile. He unlaces his fingers and strums them against each other. "You lost me at 'enzyme'. Will consider it a personal best." He stands up straight, his hands falling to partially-balled fists at his sides. "Various experiments and studies, Robustus?" It's like his smile flipped over precisely. The soldier moves much closer to Robustus, his face a hand span from the medic's own. "Shred is the priority. When Shred is no longer the priority, you will tell me /exactly/ what experiments you're talking about. Because," His expression flips over again, and a bit of dental plate is thrown in for good measure, "Unless someone's been very clever with me, or by Primus I hope you're referring to studies on some /similar/ compound," his optic narrows, "Those shouldn't exist." He steps away and starts to pace, hands clawing at the sides of his back plate. Goa shrugs, "I have no idea about the radiation bonding to stuff, however that works. Maybe more crystal can form, maybe it can't." On Shred's complaint, he looks very intensely at her for a moment, then back to Robustus. "But could be the right track. Both Firestorm and I were built with heavy radiation shielding." Shred says, "And I never expected to need it... hell, what Empty do you know has ANY rad shielding? I'm hoping it's not actually a crystal lodged in my spark itself.." Robustus meets the gaze of the single optics that Goa possesses at the moment. "We can talk about it later Goa. Shred is priority." he notes, then pats the medical berth, "Shred?" he says softly. Shred is already sitting on it. Robustus looks her in the optics, "Shred, I want you to relax your body and mind before you go offline. Understand?" he asks her. Goa lets his posture go slack, entering the comfortable hunch he's used to. "I'm hoping ... that I'm wrong, Shred. Like usual." He glances at the door again. "If you need security, I'll stay. If you don't, I'll ... probably stay anyway." He sighs, drooping his head. "Doesn't change the need for a walk." He peers at Robustus. Briefly reminded of Crystal City ... wondering why he would make such a request. "I'm going to need to cover this optic up with something either way." Goa makes his way to another sector of the bay, rummaging through supplies he only knows are present from spending so much time here. Shred nods faintly, "I'll try, Robustus.. easier said than done though, you know?" Robustus inclines his head, "Lay back then, I won't begin until you are fully offline." he glances at Goa. "Security to keep out visitors is crucial with this sort of thing. So it would be appreciated." he then turns to the extractor, making sure it is sanitized as well as his hands and a section of his forearms. Shred nods, laying back, and she lets out a sigh, trying to relax.. it takes a few cycles before she actually goes offline. Goa nods and moves toward the door. This time, not to stand in it, but to close and ... consider locking it, but decide against it. That had gone very badly last time. But he still doesn't trust himself not to jump anyone that peeks in. Robustus is ready to go once he sees Shred is offline and Goa at the door guarding it. He takes a moment to whisper a prayer, then picks up the extractor. His motions are slow, purposeful, steady and sure. The extractor is lowered into the chest, slid oh so carefully and precisely into the laser core. Shred is offline as her core is gripped by the extractor, but it is incredibly bright, far far brighter than sparks normally are.. However, there is nothing physically in it.. it is pure energy, like all sparks.. Robustus waits for the feel of the spark settling into the extractor, then just as slow and steady begins to pull straight up. His visor comes down to keep the glow from damaging his optics. Once the spark is free, and there is no flux of light, he slowly turns to the containment unit. Robustus lowers the spark into the unit carefully, but keeps the extractor on it. Holding it firmly in his hands as he leans over and begins to visually inspect the spark using his 'jewelers magnifier' that comes into place over his optic. The exposed spark shimmers an energon blue, the single biggest clue that there is something definitely not right with its energy, but there are absolutely no foreign bodies formed of physical matter. The very character of the energy that makes the spark up is what has been altered. Goa tries to zoom in for a better look himself, but flinches his shutters closed as destroyed motors try to make the same refocusing motion in his destroyed optic. He looks away to try to right the same with his fingers. Robustus examines every last micron of the exterior of the spark, finding no sigh of a crystal piece in sight. He sighs in relief as he settles the spark in the unit, removing the extractor from it, then stepping over to a prepped area of enzymes and isotopes he wanted to try out to help remove the radiation. He picks the one he believes is the most likely to work and unstoppers the container. Stepping back over to the unit, he adds a small amount of the isotope to the spark directly and observes any changes in light output visually. Free hand picking up the scanner, already programmed to detect the radiation, is set to work. The entire spark is giving off the radiation, at a very low level Robustus adds a bit more of the isotope to see if there's any change in readings. If this doesn't work, on to the next isotope, an exact amount added to the spark itself. no difference.. This is getting worrying however, the readings from the spark seem to be pretty stable, and uniform. This time, the spark flashes wildly in response to the isotope, crackling violently. Robustus frowns at the flashes, he adds a counteragent to take that isotope out. "Spark is stable, uniform, but no decrease of radiation yet." Shred 's spark calms down, seemingly unchanged. The very center of the spark's core though is maybe a little bluer than the rest. Robustus waits for the flashes to cease, looking at the scanner then the spark. "Hm. What's up with that hue." he murmurs. "Oh? Who's that Goa?" he inquires. Turning toward the isotopes as he considers each carefully. Anything like the last one is set back. Anything like the first two also set back since they didn't work. This cuts down the choices to two isotopes to try. Robustus hmms, "If you think it would help to have him here, by all means contact him." he replies, adding one of the isotopes in a measured dose to Shred's spark and observing any changes. The spark continues to glow that eerie blue, with no apparent changes to it. Robustus picks up the last isotope to try and adds it to the spark. "I'm probably on cannon row for what I just did to Psykeout, Robber. I'll do what I can but my hands are tied." Goa pulls out one of his back scythes with a slow scrape of metal ... then starts carving away at a thin sheet of scrap he found. Shred would certainly be disputing that if she could. Goa was perfectly justified.. the one who should be on Cannon row if anyone was Psykeout. Robustus hmms, "So his arm was because of you Goa?" he inquires, still looking for any sign of change, then turning to the enzymes for another battery of 'hope this works.' "Yes." There's no hesitation in Goa's reply, though he turns his nose down again after it. "He was wielding a weapon in the med bay." The spark still shows no sign of change with the isotopes. Robustus frowns a bit to that and the fact the isotopes didn't work. So enzymes are next, using the guide of the isotope reactions as his guide, he can easily test three of them without causing issues by his hypothesis. Nothing seems to be working. the organic enzymes pass through the shimmering energy field that is the spark. Goa mumbles and starts chattering something on his radio. Robustus hms and sighs, "Not good." He had hoped the enzymes would at least attempt to bind to the spark and help leech out the radiation. Goa smiles, whoever it is he's talking to. Robustus puts the next enzyme on the spark, though he's not holding out any hope at this moment. Unfortunately, the enzyme can't seem to bond. it drops straight through the energy field that is the spark, though the spark flares blue as it passes through, crackling for a moment. Robustus shakes his head, "Nothing worked, I hope whoever you are talking to can help." he states calmly to Goa. Goa nods slowly, distractedly. He radios Robustus under light encryption, Robustus smiles a hint to that, "Good." he replies, moving the collection of isotopes and enzymes out of the way as we wait for whomever Goa has been radioing. Robustus radios back to Goa under that same encryption, Goa responds, Depth walks into the medical bay as Firestorm, perfect copy. Even the voice. "You needed to see me?" she glances over at Goa. Robustus cocks his head, this is interesting. He stands by the containment unit, scanner in hand. "Yes." Goa smirks and gives 'Firestorm' a glance-over. Depth must've spent some time memorizing that chassis. He lifts his back off the wall and walks over to Shred, motioning her to follow. "Look familiar?" Shred of course cannot do anything as her spark sits there, glowing. Depth paces Goa, nodding. "Of course I do." she replies, "But why do you need me?" is inquired. Robustus says, "Indeed." Goa puts a hand on Depth's shoulder and gives her a sort of 'you're-a-dumbaft' look. Whether it's to 'be natural' or just for emphasis, unclear. He motions at Shred's core. "I meant her. You know why I need you. This slag will kill," he nearly whispers. Loud enough for Robustus to hear, sure, but quiet enough for it to be clear the mech isn't trying to broadcast it. Depth can of course smell the radiation, but as "Firestorm" this must played this right. A frown developing, hand moving to her chest, "I thought I felt something ..." drifting off there. "I'll do my best." she assures the both of you. Looking toward the spark in the containment unit and approaching it. Robustus says, "That is all we can ask." Shred remains where she is, naturally. Goa bows his head, and takes a couple steps backward. He knew Depth could absorb that stuff, sure. But was there any actual material to absorb? And ... well ... how? Depth sets her hands on either side of the spark, very close without actually touching. Focusing upon the radiation itself and drawing it into her hands slowly, no need to rush it after all. Robustus watches the scanner now, looking for a change. Goa does something with his comm again. As the radiation is drawn out.. well, something's not right. The spark itself, the energy of the whole thing seems to be being leeched away. Depth begins to glow very faintly, but it is there. is radio whispered back. A frown as something unusual happens. He adjusts what he's doing, targeting just the radiation, no other energy. Last thing that was needed was him being blamed for this femme's death.. yeah that'd sure get him in the slag furnace quick. Robustus watches on and looks at the two, "Are you sure you are doing that right? Her spark energy is being drawn out as well." Goa can't read the scanners, but he can see what's going on. He puts a hand on Depth's wing. "Be careful." He wonders if Depth's even done this before. But he doesn't figure it really matters. It's this, or Shred has a short, painful existence before her circuits all fry. No alternatives. The spark flickers a moment as the energy is gradually separated out.. the blue tint fading incredibly slowly. Depth is practically glowering, making minute adjustments. "Stuff is.. being.. difficult." she explains. "Very difficult." Robustus hmms at the scanner, "That's better." Goa glances at the doorway. "Take your time." He releases the wing. It's taking time, and as the radiation is drained, the spark looks pale, almost ghostly. Depth could touch the spark and do it that way, but the xeno isn't sure how it would react. It's taking great effort to absorb it into 'herself' without the assistance of touch. "I am, don't worry." she assures. Robustus continues to monitor the scanner, "It's working. I can already see a drop in the radiation level." he glances over at the spark, "And it's losing that blue coloration." Goa looks over at Robustus and has to stop himself from smirking. This wasn't over yet. "How much more until a normal level?" Depth continues the minute adjustments, focusing every effort into absorbing every little bit of radiation in the spark. It wasn't a lot to begin with, but certainly would have grown if left alone. Eventually, after what seems like cycles, the last of the radiation is removed.. and Shred's spark though is so pale, it's not easy to see it. The radiation had merged pretty completely, but she should recover, given time. Robustus announces. "It's all gone Goa." he smiles in relief. Depth moves her hands away from the spark. Still glowing slightly from the radiation. "I'll need to rest for awhile after that. Took all my effort. Mentally taxing." Goa looks over at Depth. He's still not ready to smile about anything -- he simply nods once. "Thanks." And then all his fans exhale at once. "Don't hurt yourself." Robustus inclines his head to the femme, "Check in if you need anything." he tells her, setting the scanner down. "Hmm her spark is a bit dim but should recover." he notes. Depth inclines her head, "Will do. Later." to both mechs, then turns and heads out. "I noticed that. Can we boot her up? Be sure?" Goa turns back to Robustus, rubbing one hand through the other. "... if anyone asks, Firey can't do that again. It's uh... say magnets." Robustus turns to pick up the extractor, "Have to put her spark back in first." he states to Goa, then a nod of understanding. "Of course." Slipping the extractor over the spark and letting it settle into it. Shred's spark takes a little time to settle into the extractor. Goa wheels backward to resume his post at the door. Robustus is patient, waiting for it to be fully seated and looking stable, then carefully pulling it from the unit and turning toward her body. He lines it up with the laser core precisely, then slowly lowers it straight down. Shred's spark is reinserted into her core, which now barely glows at all. Robustus moves the extractor out of the way, then checks the readings of the spark itself. Just making sure it is safe to reactivate her or if he has to do a spark infusion before doing so. Looking at how weak the readings are, it would likely be wise to give a spark infusion Robustus sets the scanner down, then hooks up a transfer cable to the unit, the other end placed over the center of the core so it can feed the infusion directly into the spark. "Just needs a infusion." he states, tapping on the controls of the unit. It whirrs to life, the cable glowing as the infusion moves down it and into the spark. Robustus checks the scanner again as the infusion progresses. As Shred's spark receives the infusion, it's glow grows to a somewhat more healthy tone, though still not perfect by a long shot. It is however reaching minimum acceptable levels. Robustus smiles, "Ah that's better." he looks toward Goa. "She'll be fine." he assures him, allowing the infusion to go awhile longer so as to insure that the levels are within normal levels. Goa keeps whittling away at that piece of scrap he found earlier, and manages to get it to an acceptable size to snap in over his optic like he would a lens. Goa nods, distracted. "Good." Shred lays there while the infusion proceeds. Robustus says, "I do hope you will clean that mess up Goa." he notes with a soft chuckle, putting down the scanner, then shutting down the infusion transfer. The cable is removed and then he slips the chest panel back into place. Last thing he does is press that reactivation button. "And she should awake momentarily. Maybe a slight lag time, which is normal." "Ehhh." Goa puts the blade back behind his shoulder and kneels to sweep up the steel filings. The gumbies would do it, sure, but no point antagonizing anybody. It takes a couple of cycles, as Shred boots up.. but it seems to be going more smoothly than last time. She slowly sits up, her optics dim as she looks around.. "nngh..." Robustus stands to the side of the table, offering his patient a smile. "Access your diagnostics and let me know if there are any issues." a glance to Goa, "You may allow anyone that needs to enter in now Goa." "Nobody waiting." Goa looks up, staring down his face at a slight angle. He's frozen like he's waiting for something. Shred hmms, her optics shutting off completely.. then a number of cycles later, they return to the dim glow.. "Everything.. seems to be working ok.. but I feel weak. " she turns to look over to Goa, "Goa? Are you alright?" Goa crosses his arms over his chest. Interesting question. "I'm fine." He narrows his optic slightly, but enough to be perceptible from his distance. "What's the last thing you remember?" Robustus inclines his head, "The radiation was being difficult about leeching out, but it was taken care of though it did drain your spark. I ran an infusion to get you stable." he explains to her, "I would recommend you take it easy for at least a couple of solar cycles. Not excessive drinking of hard energon. Also keep the exertions down to a minimum for that period." he glances at Goa, "You onto a table. I'll fix that optic." Shred hmms, "I remember what happened with Psyke earlier, Goa. And you need to get fully repair." Shred 's voice sounds.. a little far away, as if not quite fully awake Goa seemed to be waiting for Shred's reply before fully acknowledging Robustus. With that, he looks over at the repairmech, dimming his optic slightly. Well ... the less evidence that he'd been in a fight, the better. But it seemed a little anticlimactic, since he'd been using tinted lenses for so many vorns ... trying to be something he wasn't. That thought gets the mech smirking as he lifts himself onto a table. Robustus glances at Shred a moment, "I think you would benefit from a full recharge Shred, you can rest here and I can stand vigil." then he reaches around Goa to get those pain receptors shut off. "Hmm let's see what that mech did eh?" he states, taking a look at the damage to the optic that got attacked. The optic is effectively sliced in half. The cables are still intact -- including the power cables. It sparks slightly on agitation. "Why here, and not the clinic, Robustus?" Goa says, out of the blue. Robustus hms softly, tapping on a panel on his forearm and extracting a pair of tongs. He removes the shattered lens out of the area including any slivers. "I signed on as a medic with your army Goa, this is my new home." he explains. "Now then, any issues with the focusing array?" Shred nods faintly, "I think I agree with you Robustus.. Though we also need to arrange when we are going to transfer my core into a body that doesn't have the... problems this one has.. " Though it will be larger and slower in robot mode, not to mention less agile. Of course, there's two layers there -- a red filter over an amber lens and, presumably removed, the shield Goa just now jury-rigged. Goa's faceplate occasionally twitches, but the pain-stripped sensation of someone fiddling with his optic doesn't seem to bother him too much. "Focusing array?" The parts inside the socket move in a sort of jumble. A couple of the motors bump up on each other, misaligned. "That?" At least he's distracted from his train of inquiry. Robustus intones to Shred, "I believe an order was put in for Megatron to sign off on. I'll let you know when the chassis is here so you can look it over for yourself." He peers at the cables and notes to Goa, "Power cable is not damaged, which is good." The glass is completely cleared, the tongs are set aside. He hmms at the motion of the array, "Yes, that's it. Hold it there please." he instructs. The next tool out of his forearm looks like a pick. He slips this carefully into the socket toward the motors and does an adjustment to get them to align correctly. Walking into the repair bay, Bytaboom sits back on her haunches. Her optics look over the three she sees. She remains quiet for a time, just watching. There's the issue of the deep gash in Goa's helmet crest, as well. That area, at least, carries no sensitive equipment. His antennae perk up at the sound of unfamiliar footfalls. "Who is that?" he whispers to Robustus, unable to move one optic without tweaking the other. Shred nods in response to Robustus, and she smiles faintly, "Fair enough." Then she notices Byta entering, and turns to look at her.. "Oh, hello.. Who are you?" Robustus fiddles a little, then gets the gears to cooperate. The pick is pulled out, "Activate your focus again please." he states, not looking at the new arrival. His focus right now is his patient. Goa's auto-focus whirrs back and forth, though it's impossible for it to get a bead on anything without a lens. There's no more slipping. It does seem to have aggravated the severed energon line, which has resumed leaking, however. Turning her head to look at Shred, she replies "I am Bytaboom." Her optics train back to the other two and then again at Shred, since those two apparently are busy, "Who are you?" Robustus frowns a bit, "Hmm, problematic." he murmurs, taking up a couple more tools from his forearm compartment. "Hold your focus there please Goa." Once the focus holds, he works on the leak first. Hands moving slowly, fingers flexing slightly as he shifts the line a bit to get to the leak, then sealing it closed. After that he pushes the line out of the way of the motor so it won't catch again. Completing that task, he pulls the tools free, "Once more with the array please." Goa does as he's told, without further issue. Everything's sealed and working in general order. The mech tilts the optic frame around in a couple directions. "Bytaboom, huh? You got some kind of horrible injury? C'mon, fill me in." Robustus nods, "Good, I'll just get replacement lens into place and you'll be fine." he assures Goa, turning to glance at the newcomer. He nods toward her, then turns toward the medical drawers to find a color match for the mech's two optic lenses. "Red." Goa now has the opportunity to glance around, the skeleton of his left optic following the focus of his right one. "Just one. Red one." Robustus chuckles. "Very well, you are the patient." he replies, pulling out a red lens and returning to Goa's table. He applies some quick dry epoxy to the edge of the lens then pushes it lightly into the socket and holds it there for a count of 10, then pulls his hand away. "How's that look hm?" "I don't have a horrible injury. Why would I?" Bytaboom stretches out onto the floor, tilting her head to look at Goa, "What do they call you?" Goa freezes his optic in place, then glances around. His systems take a moment to color-adjust. His right optic clicks off, then back on again. "Visible." On that note, he turns his head aside. He couldn't see Bytaboom asking the question, but his audials could tell him that was the direction the sound waves were traveling. "Dumb aft, mostly." He props himself up on one elbow and gets a closer look at this Bytaboom character. That's about when his optic ridges raise. "But my name is Goa. And you would, 'cause you're in the med bay," he snickers, "If you don't have one going in, you'll sure as slag have one going out." Robustus nods to Goa. "Excellent." he puts the shutter back, "I can fix the helm damage too while you are here." he offers. Goa blinks a few times. "Leave it. I've taken enough of your time, and there's a friend I think I need to get in touch with about that." He smiles amicably for a moment, then it's gone as soon as he sits up. "Some mechs think it makes them look tougher, huh?" Robustus on Goa's pain receptors, "Very well Goa." he notes, then steps away, "Shred, you really should rest." he tells her. Robustus types up the report about the procedure quickly and sends a copy off to Megatron to read. Narrowing her eyes at Goa she replies, "Dumb aft hmm? I wonder why..." Bytaboom sits back up on her haunches, glaring at him. Goa hops to his feet, patting Robustus on the back of the shoulder. No viciously-strong handshake today. "Don't let her not rest," he whispers, with another serious look. He glares right back at Bytaboom, but he has a toothy grin on -- fangs jut from his dental plates. "Hang around and you might learn somethin'." The mech retracts his boot armor and skates out of the med bay like a bat out of hell. For a long walk? A report? Maybe both.
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