randomplaces | Nexus. Arcee's apartment. Boosterfix

The Junker medic follows Arcee into her home, careful to step over the aforementioned box. After glancing around at his surroundings a moment, he turns his attention back to his patient. "How long have you required the use of a booster?"

"About twenty cycles." She settles onto the metal surface with a sigh from her intakes. "There's a concrete block by the counter, if you want something to sit on."

Ratchet moves the concrete block up closer and takes a seat on it. Extending an extra, visor-like lens over his optics, he passes his scanners over Arcee's torso to get an idea of what he's getting into before reaching to open her chest plate. "I can administer a local 'pain killer' to make this more pleasant, but that will run the risk of interfering with the booster and your spark, given the close proximity. The problems you appear to be having are probably either a result of further degradation in your condition, some level of mechanical wear in the booster itself or possibly both."

"I don't need a pain override." Her fingers go to her leg. "I've got a high tolerance."

She doesn't try to look. Moving only aggravates the medic, and besides, she's tired. "Would stress cause degradation?"

He might notice that all her systems are on high alert.

"Stress? It's possible. Elevated levels can aggravate your condition, which will then in turn cause the booster to work harder in order to compensate." Trust her to her word about high tolerance, Ratchet settles in to work, using the smaller tools at his disposal to check connections before making necessary adjustments and setting the booster a notch up to compensate. "Judging from how you are now, you're really taxing yourself and your booster. I know you're worried about my alternate, but if you don't get a hold on yourself, you'll be asking for more trouble. You don't want to send yourself into a full blown spark attack."

Arcee's silent for several moments as he works, her optics frowning at the ceiling.

Then she stirs. "I know they say there 'is no try', but I am. My boss has got me on the phones now instead of delivery, so there's less physical stress."

She turns her head so as to hide the frustration and concern on her face. "I'm used to doing things, not just sitting around and watching."

"The connections look fine. I'm going to amp the booster a notch, so you might feel at a least a twinge of discomfort just due to fluctuation before it settles." Ratchet makes the necessary adjustments, careful to continually monitor the femme's condition as he does so. "Judging from how this is connected, it seems similar to booster designs I've worked with before... As it's drawing off your own energy reserves, you might feel like you need to intake a bit more fuel than usual to stay up to speed."

As he finishes up, he considers her situation once more. "Unfortunately, your job is likely a necessary evil. You expect a little stress from it no matter what, but relations with others as a cause of stress aren't something anyone should have to deal with on a regular basis. Decide what you need to do in order to alleviate those complications and follow through. I would highly recommend that if you can PINpoint to my alternate's current location, you do so and not only see if you can help him, but let him know what's on your mind. I'm not a certified shrink, however it seems to me you'll both be better off if you just have an honest spark to spark and lay a few things out on the table. If he's got a stubborn streak as I tend to, it might not be a great experience, but it's better than leaving things as they are."

She frowns as her spark fluctuates, but makes no other sign of discomfort. "Having an appetite again will be nice. Lately I've just felt like purging my tank every time I fuel up." Her mouth twists with wry humor. "For some reason the smell of pizza doesn't help."

Then she turns her head to look at him as he finishes, unconciously giving him the same honest attention that she gives her own Ratchet and the few other people that she trusts fully. At his words though she frowns as a thrill of dismay goes through her circuits. "...What's on my mind?"

"Hm." The sound is one of genuine concern. "If you do not notice improvement in both your energy levels and your ability to keep your fuel down over the next few days, I'd suggest either seeking me out again or finding someone else who can help you. This isn't the kind of condition you want to let slide and there's always the slim possibility it's not the only thing out of sorts."

Ratchet runs a final scan to be sure the increased output of the booster isn't causing a negative effect, then closes her chest plate. "I meant that maybe it's time to sort out those issues you mentioned by the sign. And if there's anything else on your processors, it might be a good time to let him know. I've found that usually dealing with one issue gets you thinking about others. And honestly? If he really doesn't know about this spark booster business, I'd tell him."

"Alright," she says as he closes her up. But then her faceplate heats in a blush that thankfully doesn't show much at his later words. "I... can't do that. He blames himself for the loss of my memory, and... he'll probably think the only reason I care is because he was there through the time I was rehabilitating."

She's afraid to even think of Ratchet's reaction if she told him about the booster.

Ratchet sighs a little and gets up, retracting his tools. "Ultimately, what you do is entirely up to you. I can only offer advice, obviously. Just don't miss out on chances when you have them; take it from someone who was killed in the line of duty with only a few astroseconds worth of warning. Sometimes when chances are gone, they're just gone."

Arcee starts and freezes in the act of sitting up, her optics widening. "Killed?"

Ratchet nods once, expression solemn. "Optimus Prime ordered an energon supply run from Cybertron to Earth. We were nearly to the jump point when the Decepticons attacked and tore their way in through the hull. They shot everyone full of holes and left us to die on the deck. Forces beyond our understanding saw fit to give us a second chance later on an alien world, but our deaths reminded us of everything we failed to do before that happened. I think we all had it in our heads that we might not survive the war, but that still wasn't enough to prepare us for the end when it came."

Nexus. Arcee's apartment. Boosterfix

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