| abstract
| - Starscream has found a faint radioactive residue on the armor of the dismantled mech that he's been studying. He runs the radioactive signature through the analyzers, attempting to pinpoint what exactly the source is. Robustus walks in from the repair bay, noting that Starscream is still busy at work. "Good cycle Starscream, find anything of interest on the mysterious Yoketron?" he inquires curiously. "Indeed," Starscream says, "A faint, as yet unknown radioactive signature. I'm not sure what it is from." Robustus moves over to look at what he's studying. "Radioactive? Interesting. May I take a look?" "By all means," Starscream says, "See if it is anything you may recognize." He stands back, letting Robustus access to the scanning and magnifying equipment. Megatron has arrived. Robustus peers into the magnifier, taking his time to observe the radiation trace and how it's structured. He hmms thoughtfully, stepping back from it to look at the scans that were taken. "Well it's certainly not of our planet from what I can tell." he states. Goa wheels through the wide halls in search of someone and, upon seeing Robustus occupied, resigns himself to a space leaning back against the wall. The mech's in expectable condition, but the paint on his nosecone is starting to flake, probably from excessive fidgeting at the scar. His red-orange optics scan, keenly waiting. It would almost seem he's spending more time examining Starscream's mannerisms than waiting on Robustus. "I know, it is definitely alien radiation," Starscream replies, "It would be interesting to find out where exactly it comes from." Robustus glances over to the sound of Goa wheeling in, he offers a pleasant smile to the mech, "Good cycle Goa." he looks back to Starscream, "It's possible that creature that inhabited this individual just absorbed random radiation as it traveled through space. We may not be able to track down the exact origin." Megatron has disconnected. Goa tilts his nose upward, spastic optics suddenly stilling and focusing on Robustus. "Cycle. You found a better cure yet?" Robustus shifts his silver hued gaze to Goa, "A better cure for the creatures? Hard to say. The radiation may be a hint though. But that's for the scientists to figure out, I'm just a repaireon." he notes, then adds, "Hopefully we won't need a cure if they are gone for good, but always a good idea to be prepared." Goa eventually replies with a simple "Hm." Lot on his mind. A whole lot, now that he really knew what was being dealt with ... that he knew what they could do firsthand. What happened to the Autobots wreckage? Why didn't the Shambleau attack Megatron? "Really think they left?" And where did courageous Starscream conveniently disappear to? Didn't matter ... quite yet ... nor could any of the questions have merit quite yet. Better to stick to the basics. Robustus is studying the condition of Goa's helm as he asks that particular question, "Without a means to reliably scan for their presence it is difficult to say with high probability, however I haven't heard or seen any reports stating that there have been newly infected individuals." Goa lowers his gaze away like he's picked up on Robustus' focus. "Then they're off-world or layin' low. Same thing for us." He motions at the wreck under scrutiny, and wedges one of his heels up against the wall. "Don't lemme keep you." Robustus moves his hand up to stroke at his own beard, hmming softly. "Not keeping me, Goa. I'm quite free at the moment." using his free hand to gesture to his helm, "You still need to get that taken care of Goa. Do I really need to drag you physically into med bay to get it done?" "If they're off world, that means they can return," Starscream says, "We must find a way to prevent that." "Yes, Commander." The stressed "you got the point" isn't spoken, only mouthed toward the floor. Can the Shambleau exist in open space? Who knows, at this rate! He jerks his optics back to Robustus, antennae snapping backward. "That'd be somethin' to see," he smirks, "But you've got better things to do." Goa crosses his arms. "While I'm here, what's the verdict on these slaggers? This going to get pushed out of sight, out of processor 'til some new infection crops up?" His tone grows acrid, and his expression tightens as his dental plates grind out of sight. Robustus nods to Starscream, "I agree, hence why it is important I not take any more of your time sir." he gives Goa a look that involves his optics narrowing slightly and gaining a bit of a glow to them. "My verdict is they don't need to be on this world infecting whomever they choose. But I am no scientist and thusly there is little I can do other than offer what I already told Starscream." a hint of a frown forming upon the mech's lips, "I'm going to give you one last chance to come into med bay willingly Goa." his tone a warning. Goa throws his hands up. "Fine, fine," he starts wheeling towards the repair bay, "Not like I got a reputation or anything to keep, Primus." Or like his presence in med bay was /always/ the spark to the proverbial leaky fuel line of Polyhex's drama troupe. No, nothing like that at all. Robustus paces behind Goa, "Not your reputation I'm worried about Goa, it’s your consistent state of getting injured and not dealing with it." he points out acidly, "Is med bay /that/ bad?" Goa starts shaking his head, and develops a snicker. "Yes." Scratches at his helmet again. That explains that. Speeding ahead, he hops onto one of the repair tables, always a bit tall for him. He starts chuckling to himself again, but ... it sounds nostalgic? Like he's remembering something. It's gone as soon as Robustus catches up though. Robustus sighs softly to that answer, "Is there any way I can make it a better experience so you don't avoid repairs as if something bad was going to happen to you Goa?" he asks, moving behind the grounder to depress the pain receptors then getting out a few tools he'll need to fix that helm issue. Goa hunches, his arms laced affront his knees. "Not you I'm avoidin'." Dimming his optics, and smiling to himself, he clarifies, "No." This just happened to be where Slag Goes Down, no fault of anybody. Well. Some anybodies. But Robustus was alright. "I ask for a cosmetic fix, does it go on the record?" Robustus nods to Goa, figuring it wasn't him in specific the mech was avoiding. "So it's either Psykeout or Shred. My creds would be on the mental case." he states, deciding to put the tools down in favor of the welding torch. Lighting up a welder and getting a soldering rod, he steps over to Goa. "It doesn't have to, no." he replies, "Move your head forward and down please, then hold." Starscream continues his investigation of the carcass of Yoketron. There's plenty to be learned, and he's so far only scratched the surface. No... not quite. Goa cooperates without incident, then snorts. "Which one?" he just-barely whispers. "You throw a bunch of caustic slag into a vat, same thing as up here in Poly, just a bunch of mechs that all wanna throttle each other and you get somethin' that looks like the grease pits half the decacycle. No'ffense to your cleaning." He grates his teeth again. Sure, just let yourself run your mouth off, Goa, knock yourself out. Robustus holds the rod against the edge of the gash and light places the welder to the tip of the rod, the solder melts into the gash, filling it in. He listens to Goa quietly as he works forward along the gash. "I was referring to Psykeout." then a pause as he considers what to say a few moments, the gash continues to fill with melted solder. It's a patch job really, nothing fancy or pretty about it. "None taken." he finally states to the grounder. And the medic has sensitive audials, of course. So he has to catch Shred one of these cycles. Probably in the med bay. Proving his entire point. "They still let him in Polyhex?" he grumbles. "Cosmetic request. Match the other lens." Goa points into the cheek below his right optic. "Jarring as the pit." Robustus finishes filling in the gap with the solder, the rod is set down and then he extinguishes the welder. He visually checks to make sure he got it completely filled in. He steps back a moment to look Goa in those mismatched optics. "He hasn't entered med bay since I've been here Goa, as for Polyhex itself, I am not sure if he has or not." then a nod, "Right." he smiles a hint, heading over to the optic lens storage to find the match. Goa traces over the fill with a finger and hums. It's the focal point of his face, it'd be a slagging mess if it wasn't polished over ... but of course he'd worry about that, wouldn't he? Vanity was always distracting. He returns the stare all the while. "Course. There's logs for that." The mech stares off to one side, grinning slyly, as Robustus steps away. "Whaddyou hope to accomplish while you're here, Robber?" Robustus takes out several lenses just to be sure he has a correct match and brings them over, "Let's try each one until you are satisfied with the color match." First though he has to slide out the old lens out, which is easy enough to do. Then one of the new lenses is slide in. He hmms as he peers at the coloration between the optics. "Agreed." he notes about the logs, "Accomplish with you or just in general?" he asks. Goa tilts one antenna aside ... then smirks, looking perplexed. "How many reds can you have?" He holds that look for a few moments, adjusting and refocusing his optic many times, then stops and weakly frowns. "As a Decepticon." Robustus chuckles to the first question, "Many shades, from dark red to shades of dark pink. Never know who'll want a different color." he pauses then at the next comment and ahs softly, "What I accomplished before joining Goa, attending to the medical needs of the injured." Goa is silent for a long time. His optics seem to be focusing on some distant point one or two rooms over, barring the presence of, well, walls. "The organics' fuel was red, not violet." He snaps back to and shrugs, suddenly beaming. Not the place for a flashback. "Need a shade darker to match." A finger pulls down at his cheek again. "Color equalizer is going nuts." Robustus was waiting for that judgment, he nods, removing the lens he put in first and replacing it with a shade darker lens. He looks between them and hmms, "That should be the match. What do you think?" Goa goes through the usual gauntlet of adjustment processes; dim one optic, the other, fiddle with the shutters a bit. "Looks like it should've vorns ago." He hops to his feet. "Was there anything else from the hive site you needed salvaged?" He's referring to Beta ... but curious if the medic will catch that. Robustus nods, "Good." he reaches to the grounders' pain receptors and switches them back on. "That solder will have to sit for a cycle so it fully adheres to the metal of your helmet, then it can be buffed down and painted to match the surrounding color." then he hmms, "Well I suppose the lair itself may provide some interesting insights plus any other bodies." "And how d'you know they didn't go back as soon as we left?" Good enough explanation. Doesn't stop him from continuing to prod at the repair like an idiot. "I'd go back out there, get you anything you could make use of, but we're completely in the dark here. We don' know if they're even on-world. They hit us anywhere. Or don't." Goa rubs at his chest a moment, then locks his blood-red optics on Robustus'. "I'm no science type, but I'll be slagged if this... 'Shambleau' thing just gets put aside 'till it's a here-and-now issue again. Like everything else. I'll keep hunting it. Alright?" If the roller's uncharacteristically growling tone is any indication, this is personal for him. Robustus replies, "I don't know, that's for sure. I'm here all the time. Certainly cannot go down here myself without climbing all the way down there then all the way back up." which reminds him to talk to Shred about those anti-gravs, that'll make getting around easier. He nods to Goa, "I'm sure Starscream and the other scientists would appreciate the additional items to study." Goa raises one optic ridge. "You mean you don't ... ohhhh." Remembered. He snorts with a grin. "Better off than me. E'rry time I use my antigrav I manage to flip myself upside down somehow." As Goa rises onto his heel tires again, his smile quickly sours. He knows where he's going to be scouting the next few cycles. And probably where he's going to be getting his sorry aft into more trouble. "Thanks, Robber. Prob'ly be seeing you soon."
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