Nexus, Near the Sign, A Meeting of Medics...
Ratchet: *Looks up from his clipboard as he realizes he's no longer in the store room* ...
Blackout: *rumbles a laugh from her place by the sign*
Ratchet: ... *slight scowl* Here again... *sighs and makes his way to where he can get a PINpoint, intending to head straight back home once the darn thing's programmed*
Rachel: *tumbles into sight as she falls out of bed. Rubs her eyes and looks around with puzzled blinkings that change to a groan* Slag, not now.
Blackout: *laughs more, and then draws back into the shadows to watch*
Ratchet: *Pauses, tucking his clipboard away for now, and moves to help the newcomer* Are you alright, miss?
Rachel: *startles and looks up at the massive yellow mech* Uh. Yeah, I'm fine, thanks. *eyes scan over him quickly, and then she relaxes nearly imperceptibly at sight of his badge*
Ratchet: *raised brow ridge at the woman's reaction* I take it you're familiar with Cybertronians....
Rachel: I've had some dealing with them here and there. *smiles a bit as she gets to her feet. As soon as she's up she wobbles sideways a few steps*
Ratchet: *small frown, moves to offer his hand to the woman as a means of support, will also scan her to make sure she's not injured* Are you certain you're alright?
Rachel: *hand on his finger to steady herself* Other than falling out of a very comfortable bed and landing someplace I didn't want to be? Yeah, buddy. I'm alright.
Ratchet: *and there goes his other brow ridge as the results of his scan come back*
Rachel: *sees his expression and raises her own brows* What?
Ratchet: You're a Cybertronian as well?
Rachel: *>_>* And you're probably a medic.
Ratchet: *nods* I am... Autobot Chief Medical Officer, Ratchet... May I ask your designation, miss?
Rachel: *blink. Blink. ...snerk* Mrs. Rachel Ruteger.
Ratchet: *blink blink* Alright then....
Rachel: Is what they call me in this form. *looks around and gives Blackout a look as the big 'Con laughs again*
Ratchet: *raised brow ridges go even higher* Oh?
Rachel: *still doesn't like talking in front of Blackout, but says quietly* Back on Cybertron they called me the Chief Medical Officer.
Ratchet: ... o_o *Coming to the realization of exactly who he's talking to*
Rachel: *quirks a slight grin* I make a really ugly guy.
Ratchet: *snort* Vanity is overrated... Especially when function should take precedence.
Rachel: How many times have you tried telling that to the Twins?
Ratchet: Which twin?
Rachel: *remembers herself* Do you know a pair named Sunstreaker and Sideswipe?
Ratchet: Yes... unfortunately.
Blackout: *wanders off*
Rachel: Your Sunstreaker's not obsessed with his looks? *though her own seems to have toned down on that, now that she thinks of it*
Ratchet: He's mellowed some since becoming a bonded mech... though he raises absolute Pit if someone other than Showtime scratches his finish.
Rachel: *turning toward a nearby couch which is the right size for her* Showtime?
Ratchet: *nodding* His mate. She's the only one I know of who can get away with scratching Sunstreaker's finish without being harmed... though she doesn't actually try to scratch his finish.
Rachel: *flops onto the couch, her expression bemused and amused* Your Sunstreaker is bonded to Showtime. I hadn't realized that the realities were that different.
Ratchet: *moves to sit nearby* I take it your Sunstreaker is bonded to someone else?
Rachel: *nods* A former Decepticon named Skywarp. She and he have a three month old son.
Ratchet: ... Our Skywarp is bonded to a femme named Nightwish...
Rachel: *surprised* A femme? *then remembers who she's talking to and looks thoughtful* I've never heard of Nightwish.
Ratchet: She's Lord High Protector Shockwave's creation...
Rachel: ...Your Decepticons actually have and admit to sparklets?
Ratchet: Well, it's only been a recent thing... since the truce.
Rachel: *frowning now* Another reality with a truce.
Ratchet: *raised brow ridge* There's another reality where there's a truce?
Rachel: *nodding* I know about two others.
Ratchet: Really now... that's interesting... *intrigued by this*
Rachel: From what I've been able to make out with the one, both sides got sick of fighting and wound up electing the same mech as their leader. In both of them Megatron's offline.
Ratchet: Huh... so it's not just our Megatron who went offline....
Rachel: *brows lift* I'm starting to feel a little left out here.
Ratchet: *thinking, and musing out loud* Sunstreaker, Skywarp... *glances to Rachel* Who else are you familiar with in your reality?
Rachel: Well, where you have Sunstreaker you have Sideswipe. Optimus, Elita One, Ironhide, Chromia, Jazz, Prowl, Blaster, Bumblebee, Red Alert, Bluestreak, Hot Rod, Perceptor, Skyfire, Starscream, Thundercracker, Arcee, Rewind, Eject, Ramhorn, Steeljaw... *bit of an absent smile* Wheeljack. *darkening eyes* Huffer, Brawn, Windcharger, and.... And First Aid are the Autobots that I know of who made it to Earth alive.
Ratchet: *soft snerk at some of the names, doesn't miss her absent smile when she says Wheeljack's name. He nods* We have those mechs and femmes back home... As well as Shockwave, Soundwave, Wisp, Hound, Sharpshot, Foxtrot, Trailbreaker, Powerglide, Kia... *small smile* Clarion, Cragbuster... *back to business* WakeJumper, Eclipse, Solar Flare, Lumen, Carina, Diehard, Orion Pax, Ariel, Dion, Airwolf, Sunhalo, Ridgeback, Aria, Waltz, Backwing, Silverbolt, Fireflight, Air Raid, Skydive, and Slingshot... *trying to remember if he's missed anyone*
Rachel: Wait. You have both Optimus and Orion Pax? *confused brow arch*
Ratchet: *nods* Though I'm still uncertain how a fragment of Optimus' spark found its way into the body of a young human woman... He is very much alive and well, however.
Rachel: *eyes a little wide* They're all on Earth? All survivors?
Ratchet: Some of them were born on Earth... *optics widen slightly* I almost forgot about Ultra Magnus and Denver...
Rachel: Ohh. I hadn't included our sparklets.
Ratchet: There's one more that I forgot to mention as well... Sweep. He's a miniature Dinobot.
Rachel: *brightens* Dinobot. Mine and Wheeljack's three sparklets go by that name.
Ratchet: ...You and Wheeljack?
Rachel: *nods* We got married yesterday afternoon.
Ratchet: ...A word-bond, I presume?
Rachel: Yeah. It's all we can do for now. Our sparks are both slagged up from making the kids.
Ratchet: ... *raised brow, scans Rachel again, this time with the intention of verifying the femme's condition*
Rachel: *shows spark damage, as well as a smashed set of lenses in her optics and extensive burn damage from her waist to her knees* *raises brow right back at him*
Ratchet: *frowns, concerned* I see... and your Wheeljack has similar damage to his spark?
Rachel: *bit wryly* He's no surgeon, and he made Swoop without my help. *absently scanning his spark*
Ratchet: *has the spark frequency of a bonded mech...and is showing traces of a sparklet's presence*
Rachel: *brows both up as she scans again* Hello.... No, you are a mech. Huh.
Ratchet: *soft snerk, understanding the other medic's confusion, but won't say anything about the circumstances until asked*
Rachel: *gives him one of her quiet Looks for the snerk* Let me guess, in your reality nearly everyone's male.
Ratchet: *unfazed by the Look, snerks again* Hardly. My mate isn't able to carry a sparklet to term in her spark chamber.
Rachel: *sobers* Oh. Sorry.
Ratchet: It's alright... You didn't know.... but it worked out alright... even if Cragbuster did give me a good scare just before he was put in his protoform.
Rachel: How'd he do that? *tucks her stockinged feet up and wishes for chocolate mint instant coffee*
Ratchet: When he was letting me know it was time for him to come out of my spark chamber, I couldn't hear his voice any longer...
Rachel: *wince* Well that wasn't his fault. That's natural. It's only when you get older that you tend to hear someone else's thoughts if your sparks wind up close.
Ratchet: Well, at the time, I was afraid that something had happened.... He wasn't firmly attached....
Rachel: He must be a persistent little booger to have been attached at all.
Ratchet: *chuckles* Understatement of the year... Though I suspect it helped that I was on berth restriction the moment it was discovered that I was carrying.
Rachel: *nods* Who took care of you?
Ratchet: My mate, Clarion... Ironhide, Perceptor, and First Aid.
Rachel: *face darkens again* Yeah, if your 'Aid is anything like ours was he'd have been a good doc for the job. The one I knew was the best delivery bot on Cybertron.
Ratchet: *Knows that look all too well* *Gently* I'm sorry... *reaches and carefully rubs Rachel's back*
Rachel: *starts to protest the touch. Winds up crying*
Ratchet: *removes his hand and transforms, before activating his holoform and moving it to offer a hug to Rachel*
Rachel: *takes hug as she tries and fails to get herself under control. First Aid's eager young face rises before her mind's eye, accompanied by the last words she ever heard him and the other members of her crew say*
Ratchet: *clicks and rubs Rachel's back, but doesn't say a word*
Rachel: *finally manages to get her vocalizer working* He never backed down. Even though he didn't want anything to do with the war.
Ratchet: *nods, continuing to gently rub Rachel's back* The war always claims the innocent first and foremost... *sigh*
Rachel: *head bowed* We were in the medical shuttle on the first approach to Earth. 'Aid, Huffer, Windcharger, Brawn, and me. We trusted the repair symbol to keep us safe. *snort*
Ratchet: *quietly* Where I'm from... it would have.
Rachel: I think it depends on the Decepticon, where I come from. We just ran into a bad one.
Ratchet: *small nod* If Sharpshot heard that a Decepticon had shot a clearly marked medical shuttle... The mech or femme in question would be lucky if they survived an encounter with her.
Rachel: We have no idea who did it. *closes her eyes as the tears start again* Slag. Sorry.
Ratchet: It's alright... *quietly* You've been through a lot, I'm guessing...
Rachel: *small, watery snerk* Survivor's guilt.
Ratchet: *nods* And would I be wrong in guessing that there's no counselor-bot you could talk to?
Rachel: I'm it, right now. Though Red's a pretty good listener if you give him an Irish dark ale.
Ratchet: *raised brow ridge* You can process what the humans can?
Rachel: *nods* Some of us would have offlined if we couldn't. *wearily scratches her nose* Perceptor came up with the mod.
Ratchet: ... Somehow, that doesn't surprise me... The Perceptor I know is convinced there's a way to make it so we can process alternative fuel sources... and Shockwave agrees with him.
Rachel: Is energon hard to come by in your reality, too? *looks up at him, her eyes still dark and sad*
Ratchet: Not since we built a small refinery, but it's made of human-made materials, so it's not as durable as I'd like it to be... thankfully, it's simple to maintain.
Rachel: *small mouth twitch* Have you seen the cookies that dead guy sells?
Ratchet: ...The ones shaped like the strangely-proportioned mechs? Showtime and Sharpshot frequent the Nexus, and often bring back boxes.
Rachel: It's good stuff. *absently pushes her hair behind her ear, her thoughts going back to the friends who passed and the friend who refuses to pass*
Ratchet: *nods* For a short period while I was carrying Cragbuster, that was about all I could keep in my tank...
Rachel: *absently* That must've been weird.
Ratchet: *deadpans* You have no idea....
Rachel: What are sparklets like, in your reality?
Ratchet: Generally, we start them off in small protoforms... and up until several months back, we would put them in a full protoform once they were mature enough.... we used to do sparklet protoforms, then first youngling protoforms, second youngling protoforms, and full protoforms... but the war changed that...
Rachel: *looks up, distracted from her ghosts* And now that the war's over?
Ratchet: We'll start building youngling protoforms... There are a few sparklets who will be needing them before the year's over.
Rachel: So you'll have actual babies.
Ratchet: *nods* And toddlers, and teenagers...
Rachel: *smiles* Baby robots. Wow.
Ratchet: *nods, chuckling a bit* The base will be even more chaotic than it used to be...
Rachel: Ours are more independent when they start out. Though we used to put them in smaller protoforms at first.
Ratchet: How independent?
Rachel: They can talk and take care of themselves. But they don't process as well as an adult mech, so they either stayed with their creators for awhile, or were grouped together in creches with other sparklets.
Ratchet: Sounds a lot like how we used to do things... only it was the orphans, and those whose creators couldn't care for them, who would be in creches...
Rachel: Most of ours used to come from Vector Sigma.
Ratchet: Vector Sigma?
Rachel: The creation computer. *slight sad smile* Some people used to say it was Primus' spark.
Ratchet: .... I see.... *intrigued*
Rachel: The 'Cons have it now. Though they don't have the key.
Ratchet: *small nod, frowning*
Rachel: One of their scientists figured out how to make new sparks without it. I'm not sure if the know-how died with him or what.
Ratchet: They must have been getting desperate...
Rachel: Skywarp says he wanted a young spark to experiment on. *lips thin*
Ratchet: ... *expression darkens*
Rachel: TC got him.
Ratchet: *guessing* Protecting a family member?
Rachel: He and Skywarp have been fric and frac since the creche. They see one another and Starscream as siblings.
Ratchet: *chuckles* Guess things aren't so different in some cases... the Thundercracker I know is protective of his remaining family... and of the femme he's showing interest in...
Rachel: 0_0 TC is actually showing an interest in a member of the opposite sex?
Ratchet: *chuckles* Yes... She's technically from a different, but similar, reality to the one I'm from... and Eclipse considers her to be her half-sister...
Rachel: Eclipse?
Ratchet: The Wheeljack of my reality has a set of twins... Solar Flare, and his sister, Eclipse.
Rachel: *brows arch* And the half sister? Is she Wheeljack's too?
Ratchet: She's the daughter of the Wheeljack in our sibling reality.
Rachel: *curious/nosy* Does that Jack know about Thundercracker?
Ratchet: I'm not sure, and if he doesn't, I'm not going to be the one to tell that Wheeljack.
Rachel: *scandalized expression*
Ratchet: Thundercracker is a Seeker... But he's also a decent mech.
Rachel: If he's so decent why are you keeping his interest away from the girl's... is he her father?
Ratchet: *nods* Because it's not my place to inform that Wheeljack of the business of his offspring.... and because if I know Thundercracker as well as I'd like to think I do, he'll be asking that Wheeljack for permission to court Keepsake properly.
Rachel: *not sure about that. All she's ever seen of TC is a thug other than his ferocity in watching the backs of his trine siblings. And Skylar hasn't told her differently yet.* *doubtful expression is go* I suppose if she's got enough vorns under her belt to be old enough to court then it's up to her to watch her back in things like that. *very small smirk* Keepsake? Who pasted that on her?
Ratchet: From what I've been told, her father did.
Rachel: *quietly* Thought so. That's pure Jack.
Ratchet: *quietly* According to Eclipse... Keepsake's femme-creator, Pacer, returned from the Well...due to a shard of the Allspark.
Rachel: Whutnow?
Ratchet: I wasn't there to see it... but apparently, my alternate in that reality was able to bring a femme who had been offline back online using a shard of the Allspark... The Allspark was similar to your Vector Sigma...
Rachel: *knuckles go white* That Ratchet repaired the dead??
Ratchet: He used a fragment of the very thing that brought our people to life countless millenia ago....
Rachel: *bites her finger, her expression showing how furiously her mind is racing*
Ratchet: *Raised brow ridge*
Rachel: *eyes taking on a hopeful, rather desperate gleam*
Ratchet: *concerned expression* Rachel?
Rachel: *blinks and looks at him* Do you know if he still has the fragment?
Ratchet: I'm not sure... The Perceptor of his reality apparently used it to bring their Jazz and that Jazz's mate back from the Well...
Rachel: *sucks in her breath at the thought of cheery Jazz dead. And then blinks and bows her head as more tears start* Slag.
Ratchet: *clicks and gently rubs Rachel's back again*
Rachel: I couldn't do it anyway. It wouldn't be fair to bring them back when so many other people have died in the war. And they're done with it now. 'Aid's got his world of peace. *rubs her face and leans against her alt's holoform and grumbles under her breath about Brawn being a misfire*
Ratchet: ... *raised brow*
Rachel: *muttering about stubborn mechs who won't lay down even after they've been spread across a field, smashed into a few trees, and set on fire*
Ratchet: *Snerks* That... describes Ironhide to a "T"...
Rachel: *sighs* Yeah, it does. But I'm talking about Brawn. He died in the crash, but somehow his spark is still kicking around on this side of things.
Ratchet: ... That's... *and now he's looking a bit brain-broken*
Rachel: I know. *sits up and looks at him with a long-suffering and bemused expression* I always thought ghost stories were a crock.
Ratchet: I've seen sparks that refuse to go out, but only in the living... and in one mech who was brought back by Primus's grace... Though I have seen what I've been told is a "Free Spark"... a femme by the name of Jabez...
Rachel: *wonders if her own return was due to Primus' grace, or just Jack's stubbornness* ...Free spark? What's that mean?
Ratchet: According to Sharpshot and Showtime, a free spark is someone who has passed on, but has come back due to either unfinished business, or for another purpose...
Rachel: Yeah, that sounds like Brawn, the stubborn old glitch.
Ratchet: *soft snerk as he thinks of the mech he knew*
Rachel: He keeps insisting he can't leave us. *rubs her face and wonders why her hearing is ringing slightly, then frowns and puts her hand to her cheek as she realizes she's warmer than she should be*
Ratchet: *gently* Then maybe he should be the one you fix...
Rachel: *looks up at him quickly*
Ratchet: If he's refusing to return to the Well, then it may be for the best if he's brought back fully... *will attempt to scan Rachel without appearing to do so*
Rachel: *systems stressed from lack of recharge and the old damage she's carrying. She's overheating slightly as they struggle to keep up their usual operating level* I'd have to talk to that Perceptor and Ratchet.
Ratchet: The reality I'm from has a shard of the Allspark... I believe it's currently in the possession of Optimus Prime... I think... it may be possible for me to borrow the shard... however, I also think it would be best if you were to return to your reality of origin, and get some rest... You're stressing systems...
Rachel: But.... *stops and runs a self diagnostic and then sighs* Right. *gets to her feet and does her usual few steps sideways as her balancing system kicks in, then starts toward the bowl of PINpoints under the sign*
Ratchet: *Gently* Would you like some assistance?
Rachel: I know how to use these things. *gives him a bit of a tired grin, but then stops and sighs* Do you happen to have six dollars on you? These aren't the kind with the built in coordinate reader.
Ratchet: ... *checking compartments to see if he's got any money*
Rachel: *perches her butt on the edge of the table and idly presses buttons on the PINpoint as she waits*
Ratchet: *extracts several neatly folded bills, mostly tens and ones. He then offers Rachel one of the tens and two of the ones* If there are PINpoints with built in coordinate readers, I'd like to get one as well, in order to save myself a bit of trouble.
Rachel: *pitches the free PIN back into the bowl and goes over to the machine that sells the fancier ones, where she buys two of the wristwatch style devices* These are only human size, though.
Ratchet: *putting the PINpoint he got from the bowl back, and holding his hand out* That's alright. I've got a wifi connection, and from what I've seen when Showtime and Sharpshot have used their PINpoints, that's all one really needs...
Rachel: *brows lift as she gives him one of the PINpoints* You guys have a lot of bells and whistles.
Ratchet: *chuckles* I suppose that's one way to describe it...
Rachel: *bit of a grin, and then* So where are we going to meet? And when?
Ratchet: Would meeting in your reality be out of the question? As for when... Three days, local time?
Rachel: *shakes her head* Maybe after we've got things arranged. But I don't want to bring anyone to our reality without talking to the chief first. Have you ever heard of a place called the Black Dog? It's some kind of eating place for Cybertronians or something. They sell energon candy there.
Ratchet: *nods* That's where Sharpshot and Showtime buy cookies.
Rachel: *eyebrow* Reaaaally? Then there's two reasons for me to go there.
Ratchet: *Chuckles* If the cookies didn't have essential minerals in them, I'd be suggesting restrictions on the number of boxes brought home... it helps that they taste good.
Rachel: *grins* They keep sparklets quiet and happy, too. My kids will do nearly anything to earn some. Even Grimlock, and he's usually walking misery.
Ratchet: *Snerks* Add that to the list of similarities between our realities...
Rachel: I thought you didn't have a Grimlock? Oh! You meant the keeping kids quiet. *rubs her face again* Yeah, I better go home while I still remember the way.
Ratchet: *nods* It was nice meeting you, Rachel.... take care.
Rachel: Sure it was. Your processor probably hurts. *snerks and grins at him, then PINpoints away*
Ratchet: *Quietly* You have no idea... *PINpoints home*
((co-written with random_xtras))