randomplaces | Nexus. Safe house behind Blue's. Needing a boost.

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Nexus. Safe house behind Blue's. Needing a boost.

((continued from here))

Arcee grimaces as her spark gives another flare. //I'll... never... be up to speed... again. ...Worn out. Worn out.//

The outside door opens, followed by heavy footsteps and an exclamation of surprise in the voice of the big yellow Ratchet. "Columbia, what did you do to this place?"

"Um... it didn't look like this when we left it, Dad. I don't know what happened... here. Somebody's hurt."

"Hrrrm, I see that. Stay here." The footsteps approach the room.

And Kia crawls under her berth.

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At this rate, she's going to wear me out... Ratchet's thought process is cut short as he hears someone come in through the main door.

"Who's out there?" Sari whispers nervously.

Listening a moment, Ratchet frowns. "One of my alternates and his daughter. From the sounds of it, they don't know what went on here any more than we do."

"You guys don't have kids!" comes the surprised, low response from the little girl.

"In other realities, some Cybertroians do, just not the way organics do. We'll discuss it later, Sari."

"Ratchet?" The Hummer-bot pauses in front of the partially open door, frowning as he sees what's going on. "I should have come sooner. Rap told me she wasn't feeling well."

Arcee frowns, but then her faceplate smooths as she slips into recharge.

Ratchet looks to his alternate, mirroring his concern. "Kia caught Sari and I out by the sign and told us she was 'broken'... I've just installed a custom built spark booster and given her an infusion, but her vitals are still low."

"Even my key didn't seem to help much," Sari adds, disappointed that her usual fix-all didn't quite work.

"No idea at all why this place is so empty?" Ratchet asks. "Arcee was running a scrambler in here and I have no clue as to why."

"..Spark booster?" Ratchet's voice is low as he scans the ailing femme. "I see... why didn't I think of that for Elita?"

Then he glances at the little human girl and goes automatically to a knee so as to not tower so much. "There usually aren't too many people here. Another Ratchet and his crew use it as one of their temporary bases, and then Arcee moved in a little while ago...." He turns his head, noticing the little femme under the berth and realizes that this must be Kia. "I don't know why she'd be using the scrambler. But we haven't been able to keep up with things as well as usual, because Bumblebee's been LOL'd human and subsequently injured."

And then he registers the energy from the key and blinks. "That's Allspark energy."

"Arcee's old one was starting to fail," Ratchet explains. "With her in her current state, however, I'm a little worried about leaving her here unattended. She's been sending me secure comm messages about contact with an All Spark and somehow, she's regained a good chunk of her lost memories."

The alternate's attention to the present All Spark energy causes Sari to automatically reach up with one hand and grab at her key, holding it close to her chest. "Yeah...it's my key. Our All Spark gave it to me."

"Forged it for her out of a regular security key card for reasons we still don't quite get, but it's been useful." The red and white offers his human friend a small smile of reassurance.

"But neither Allspark healed her spark." Ratchet also offers Sari a reassuring smile, but then frowns as he turns back to his alt. "How soon do you have to be back?"

Behind him Columbia begins to busily tidy up, a quiet little bustle without comment.

Edited 2008-07-07 03:55 (UTC)

Ratchet consults his internal chronometer. "Within the hour. My time here is almost up and I have a femme in stasis lock in my own med bay, currently. Prowl has been monitoring her until I return."

Still fingering her key, Sari decides to elaborate. "An escape shuttle crashed into the river a few days ago. There were two Autobots on board, but that one was the only survivor."

"I don't understand how any All Spark could fail to heal Arcee. I realize Sari's key may not be as strong here in the Nexus, but still... If Arcee had direct contact with a different All Spark, it should have done more for her. Her condition may be chronic, but she should at least be in far better shape." Ratchet places one hand on Arcee's helm, frustrated with the situation on the whole.

"My key didn't bring Communiqué out of her coma, Ratchet," Sari reminds her companion, tone one of sudden anxiety. "You don't think it's starting to run out of power or something, do you?"

"We'll test your key when we get home, Sari, but I doubt it." It's not much reassurance, but it's about all he can offer the young human at the moment.

"Why should being in the Nexus affect it?" asks Ratchet. "Is bringing Arcee to your med bay unfeasible?" He thinks. "How does the key work? Maybe if you tried a different angle with it?"

"This is the first time she's used her key outside of our reality, so we don't know if that kind of gap affects its power or not. I assume the key is independent of our All Spark, but I can't be completely sure of that," the red and white explains as he takes his hand from Arcee's helm. "As for my medbay... I've already been worried about having just one stasis locked Autobot in there around the clock, which is why she's never left unattended for longer than a few minutes at a time. Decepticons have been showing up in Detroit and causing problems, destroying property and making attempts to steal our All Spark. Things aren't as safe as they used to be."

Sari glances from the femme on the berth to her own Ratchet. "Is Arcee's condition the reason Optimus didn't let her stay before?"

Ratchet nods and frowns. "That would be the other problem... Prime didn't want Arcee in our reality because of her chronic condition and because of the danger the Decepticons present. The rest of us are able-bodied and he didn't want to place a weakened Autobot in the line of fire. He's not that pleased we're saddled with Communiqué right now, as is, but we currently have no where else to keep her. I'll have to contact Prime when I get back to let him know what's happened here."

The hummer-bot listens, his frown deepening, then tilts his head and communicates with his own Prime and his mate before focusing again on his alternate. "I could take them both to my medbay."

"If you can keep Arcee safe...I would appreciate it. I failed her once, I will not fail her again if I can help it by placing her life in jeopardy. Our group is only five, six counting Sari... If something happens, we cannot afford the bot power to guard Arcee and keep Kia out of trouble," Ratchet admits, dropping his gaze to the ground. Frowning, he shutters his optics a moment. No matter how he phrases the truth to himself, there's no real way to make the long and short of it sound any better. "We... We're not botsitters. We're the All Spark and Detroit's protectors. If...if the needs of one Autobot continue to..."

He trails off. Shaking his head, he forces himself to finish. "If Prime finds out that the needs of one Autobot are keeping me from my sworn duty and endangering the crew, the All Spark and the city, he will likely order me to start distancing myself from Arcee unless her situation is dire. He'll take the guilt onto his own shoulders. ...and I can't let him do that."

Down on the berth, Sari places one hand on Ratchet's where it rests on the edge. She wonders if this is right...but she knows better than to speak up right now. Ratchet has faced enough spark ache recently.

Ratchet absently notes that there's no mention of the other femme being transfered as he turns his attention back to the one on the berth. "In time of war sacrifices are sometimes necessary. But the war seems to finally be over for the Autobots of my reality." He frowns as he thinks. "How did you try applying the key? Do you think if you tried it another way it would work any differently?"

"It was supposed to be over in my reality as well. Didn't turn out that way." Ratchet's optics narrow in frustration. His focus remains largely on Arcee, but in his mind, "not botsitters" covers Kia as well. It would difficult enough to have Communiqué unable to defend themselves inside headquarters, but to have an active femme running about who really only seems to have the current mental capacities of a child? ...at least Sari can be sent home to her father if things with the Decepticons get too heated.

Sari shrugs, not sure exactly what the Ratchet alternate means. "It's a key. I just, you know, plug it into whatever port opens up on an Autobot when I hold the key out out to them."

"The only other time it's failed to work was on a former Autobot who had taken on organic aspects," Ratchet adds. "Always seemed to me the All Spark has some will of its own. Wouldn't surprise me too much if the key was somehow the same."

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Nexus. Safe house behind Blue's. Needing a boost.

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