[ti]Ep 2.5[/ti]From the Wreckage [Closed]

[Soundwave]

Knock Out putting the still liquefied Energon on a slide was very smart.

At a cursory glance the fuel did not appear too terribly different from normal fuel. It had particles of minute metals floating in it, volatile compounds, and repair nanites, as well as a few other traditional mechanical 'biological' properties to it that helped differentiate fuel line Energon from consumable Energon. However, tucked on the outer edges, the odd crystalline patters were starting to form.

Watching in real time, the red medic would be able to see that it was the Repair Nanites that were doing the damage. They worked diligently, applying metal particulates and other materials together; acting as if they were trying to patch an injury or fill in thinned metals on an individual's frame. The only issue was, there was no injury there to fix, and they were using anything they could get hold of in order to do so. There was very little rhyme or reason to it, other than the fact that once they all seemed to pick a direction, they all started to work in that way, giving the crystalline appearance, and making the edges sharp as their efforts tapered.

It was the outer edges of the drop of Energon that seemed to be reacting the fastest, collecting and solidifying into the odd formation readily. Evaporation seemed to be playing a role, for while the centermost point was slowly working to build the crystals, it did not seem to be fully hardened yet.

While this was happening, Soundwave was just finishing up the upload.

The progress bar settled near the end for a minute, the last few files being thrown over that the navy mech managed to find that may be of use, before the bar vanished entirely, and they would all be gifted with a somewhat familiar screen that looked like it belonged at the Nemesis. With this now in place, Soundwave began adding some security protocols so that any one of them that chose to try to use it, would be required to log in to do so. While much of the data was medical, it held records that were not going to get into Haven's hands as far as he was concerned, adding a lockout process and other key features that could help keep them safe on the enclosed system.

Adding security, honestly... did not take long for him. It was such a familiar program, such a familiar process, that the amount of time it would take Knock Out to take a few notes if he chose to do so, the actions would already be done, and the medic's login credentials applied appropriately. There was only one hesitation however, and that was the rather foolish Vehicon that seemed to be a problem.

Turning subtly, a slick black visor angled itself in the trooper's direction, watching as the Vehicon was looking down at his foot this way and that to see if it was clean, before walking over to look at Flatline and see what was going on. He placed his clawed hands lightly on the edge of the medical berth, leaning slightly to try to see the injuries, and see the crystals... He knew better than to touch, but it still seemed rather juvenile, playing off the action as peeking at the vitals to make sure that the black and red mech was ok and didn't need any attention at the moment.

Soundwave stared flatly at this, before quietly deciding to block the individual from entering the program on his own. If Knock Out wished for him to make notes, access could be granted, but... trust for him was rather slim at the moment. With that thought, Soundwave clicked enter once, and the system was fully established.

Now he could work for himself.

Opening up a simple blank document, text started to flow readily across the screen at a fast pace. Logs, blocks of information, a subsection on experiences and possible conclusions... It was a tangible and physical record of Soundwave's thought process, the writing cursors flicking and lurching around, while text scrawled out in concise and clear statements. It started off disjointed, but chunks would move and snap together as links or possible correlations were found, trying to get down a full log on events.

He considered doing this just in his processor, turning to watch the others and think to himself, but... they did not know if he could fall to this again, whatever it was, and this record outside of his own frame, could give Knock Out something to actually look at and pick apart. While this was going on, the useful Vehicon was making good progress.

The individual seemed dead set to get as much done as possible in as short a time reasonable. He did not linger on any one particular object for long, choosing to seek out the easy solutions first, so that he could approach more challenging ones later on. This meant that much of the supplies were already unboxed, sitting out on a nearby table, while objects that were still safely sealed could be sat down on the floor out of the way in a staging area. While he did this, he found a gray box that seemed it would be of interest.

Lifting his helm, the trooper peered over at Knock Out who seemed to be trying to work the microscope, before looking back at the container, thinking carefully on the value of possibly interrupting him. Softly closing it, the individual started to make his way over, trying to walk cautiously so that he did not make a lot of noise. He refused to walk like it was a cliché spy movie, but the care he did take helped him to not clunk and clomp as loudly as one traditionally would against the metal flooring.

Setting the box lightly down on the table within reach of Knock Out on a clear patch, the Vehicon turned it around, and opened its lid so that its contents could be accessed with ease. Within were some basic tools and supplies traditionally accompanying a Microscope. There was a foam base, with slots cut into it to hold extra flat and concave glass slides, some dyes to stain clear materials, a couple pipettes, an exceptionally thin blade, and then a couple bottles of chemicals that were used to clean them between uses as well as a brush and wipe.

The trooper would take a step back, waiting to know if he should take it away, or if Knock Out wished to keep it there.

[Knock Out]

Once the slide was in place under the lens of the microscope, Knock Out would pull his servo away from the edge of it. While with the crystallized Energon he had carefully moved the slide around to view different sections better and close up, this particular sample was still in liquid form - and so he didn't want to jostle it any and risk ruining things.

It didn't take long for things to start happening, and with a careful, steady servo he'd zoom in a little closer just to get a better look at what was going on.

Huh. He hadn't expected this...

Repair Nanites? While they were a part of everyones systems and were a normal sight, what they were currently doing was not. They moved in uniform and with purpose it seemed, even if their actions looked to be completely random. He'd seen these behaviors when there were injuries to patch and repair, but... there was no injury here to fix.

That can't be right? It couldn't be. Yet here it was before him, the Energon solidifying in real time under a lens. He hadn't touched it or tampered with it to make it do this, just... simply, hundreds of nanites working away in confusion, slowly crystallizing the Energon at the edges. Broken repair nanites.

And both Soundwave and Flatline were filled with thousands of them.

They all were.

It took everything in him not to shudder.

Sadly, before he could get too deep into these thoughts of horror and what it could possibly mean, or how to even go about fixing this mess - there was movement infront of him that pulled his attention away. While his optic was trained on the lens, the footfalls of the Vehicon – as quiet as they were – were still heard, and he'd open his other optic and glanced up and across to see what was going on.

Slowly he'd then stand up straight. If it was one thing he'd learned in his time as a medic, it was to keep your emotions in check when working. The ultimate poker face – after all you didn't want your patients to catch on that you were worried about something, even if internally you were screaming.

Which he was.

Straight face, field level – his gaze would then shift to the box of things that'd been left nearby.

“Thank you. Just leave that there, I'll get to it in a moment. How is your... frien-- Hey! Get away from there!” the calm vanishing for a moment, annoyance in his tone as his gaze shifted across the room and over to the dumber of the two Vehicons and he noticed what he was doing – which was looming frustratingly close over Flatline.

The very infected Flatline.

“For Primus sake! Did you touch anything?!” he snapped, pulling away from the table fully and marched over to the Vehicon in question. “Hold up your servos I need to see if you got anything on you.”

Of all the Vehicons at their disposal, he would get stuck with the village idiot...

[Soundwave]

The 'Good' Vehicon seemed a bit confused when Knock Out stood up once the box of microscope supplies had been dropped off on the table. He did not intend to disturb the other Cybertronian, he didn't want or need him to be looking away from his work... Did this mean he was about to get in trouble...?

Some relief was felt when Knock Out thanked him for the supplies rather than started to chew him out, a thanks that enacted a soft dip of the helm in a sort of subservient movement. The trooper knew how to play the game, knew how to behave, and knew what to do to keep out of high command's scopes all things considered. He has witnessed his fair share of Megatron 'rage outs' and avoided target, and he wasn’t about to fail and get shrieked at by the Chief Medical Officer.

Lifting his helm, he focused down on the smaller individual as he seemed to have a question for him, ready to act or reply in accordance to what was going to be asked of him. This was all derailed however, as it seemed his counterpart, was making a fool out of himself again, the 'good' Vehicons helm snapping upright to turn and look over as the other trooper spoke.

"I didn't touch him!"

Frustrated, confused on why he was being yelled at, the other Vehicon held up his clawed hands, showing that there was nothing to be found. No bits of Energon or other fluids, no residues of metal shavings or other dirt, he had only touched the edge of the table, and nothing more before he was caught. These hands would remain airborne for Knock Out to see, while he continued to speak.

"I was looking at his vitals; to make sure things got hooked up ok here in the rush."

Part true, part fib. While he did check at the display screen and compare it to what he did know of medicine, he really just wanted to look over the injuries. Not that he would admit as much.

The 'Good' Vehicon of the two let out a snorted huff in reply, not believing him worth crap, but wasn't going to get directly involved. Now that he was no longer the focus, he would move and get back to work sorting through the salvaged supplies.

Soundwave however was not amused.

Gradually, the dark toned Cybertronian stopped what he was doing, and turned somewhat to look over at the small confrontation. The action was calm, controlled, and if it were anyone else it would be a non issue. It simply would be the actions of someone trying to be nosey. The issue however was the fact that it WAS Soundwave, who typically drowned out any distractions to keep to task. He has flat out ignored countless conflicts in his wake, but now... now he was staring them down.

"What would you command of me?"

Hands lowering, the trooper's fingertips laced together, held in front of him and low so that it was obvious he wasn't going to touch anything.

A pair of clicks, a swift 'vrrrr', Soundwave's data cables disconnected from the front of the terminal, smoothly reeling back into his torso to vanish behind his armor and Laserbeak's wing plates. Now that he was fully freed from the shackle of the stationary systems, he turned fully and walked with a slow stride towards the microscope, passing Knock Out and the trooper in the process.

A reminder he was there, and that they needed to behave.

While he was interested to see what Knock Out had saw in the Microscope, sensing the curiosity, confusion, and concern that had radiated off of him, he also needed to remind, namely the trooper, that he was not only in the presence of the CMO, but of the Third in Command. Would he still act so foolishly if Megatron were around? Starscream? While Soundwave blended into the backdrop more often than not, he expected people to hold some level of professionalism when working around him, and it was frankly ticking him off.

Or was that the disease?

Whatever the case, he moved up before the microscope, dipping his helm enough to peer through the lenses and see just what was happening that had perplexed the medic so. It was... well, it was a good thing to be confused over. While Soundwave was no medic, and he did not know the finer details of medicine and the processes that followed it, he knew enough to know what he saw was not natural in any way. It somewhat made his plating itch in a way, knowing that the Energon that was doing such an abnormal thing, was currently running through his lines.

[Knock Out]

“I should hope not!” came the annoyed, snapped response from the cherry-red Mech as he marched closer to the Vehicon to inspect his servos. He reached out to snatch at his wrists – firmly, but also gentle enough not to cause any real harm or pain – to twist and turn the Vehicon's servos just so he could inspect them better. Thankfully, he was clean; no Energon crystals to be seen, and at seeing this Knock Out would give a small huff of annoyance before letting go and allowing the Vehicon to step back should he wish.

“Looking at his vitals?” he quirked a brow at that. “Really now? And what would your professional medical opinion be of his 'vitals' since you are so concerned with him?” honestly half the Vehicons on their forces didn't know their aft from their elbow it seemed, so he was calling this idiot out in his lie – it would all just be random graphs and glyphs that wouldn't make much sense to him, Knock Out was sure.

The snorted huff from the other Vehicon drew his attention briefly away, and it was then he noticed that Soundwave had seemingly stopped what he was previously working on – no doubt due to the small commotion that'd occurred, and was looking right at them.

He tensed up, frame stiffening some as the Spymaster stared them down. It was obvious he was on edge in regards to Soundwave and his actions, but thankfully the idiot Vehicon asked a question that turned his gaze back and away.

Gently, he'd clear his throat and vented inwards, trying to calm himself from the annoyance he'd felt. The Vehicon didn't know any better, that's all. He'd at least know now not to touch or go near Flatline, at least.

“Just... Go help your companion. There's plenty to do, many things to put away and organize. Let me handle Flatline, it is my job after all – I'll call on you if I need you for anything else,” he tapered off, seemingly losing track of his thought process as Soundwave made his way past them, mouth snapping shut as he watched the Spymaster slowly make his way to the microscope. “..Thank you.” he muttered, waving a servo to shoo the Vehicon away, before following Soundwave.

He was quiet, letting Soundwave observe through the lens. He hoped the Energon was still doing the weird-and-not-normal thing so that the Spymaster could see just what they were dealing with here.

“As you can no doubt tell, we're dealing with something a little odd.” a nervous chuckle followed. “It should be easily treatable, although I am waiting for the diagnostics machine to finish before I look further into remedies – I'm hoping a more thorough readout gives a hint as to how this even happened, so that I can reverse it most effectively.”

Honestly he wasn't sure how to fix it, there were several ways that he could think of that might possibly work – and depending on the readouts of the machine he might just have to resort to trial and error – it wasn't like Flatline could say no to being experimented on, at any rate.

“Although, now you've seen what's going on for yourself, can you think of anything that you've done or encountered that could cause such a thing?”

He might as well ask – given it was Soundwave's Energon sample under the lens, maybe seeing the nanites going crazy would trigger a memory of something happening.

[Soundwave]

The Vehicon allowed his hands to be manipulated and moved around without a fuss or any resistance. Then again, it wasn’t like he had much choice in the matter... The digits themselves were simple and clean, with a few dings and scuffs around the edges, showing that he has probably had his fair share of labor, but not as much as others around the warship. When Knock Out let him go, he didn't have the foresight to move away, instead letting out a sort of amused scoff at the next words that were thrown his way.

"Ahha oh you..."

He brushed his hand out a bit as if Knock Out's words were a joke.

"I don’t know what things mean, but I can see if something is detached because it'd have that little flatline-"

His words cut off a bit abruptly then, as he seemed to realize the possible pun opportunities with the injured mech's name and the situation he was in. He didn't get to really say much more regarding this however, as he was given a new task, peering over at the other Trooper who seemed distressed to suddenly have help thrown his way, though he didn’t say anything in protest. The troublemaker in turn lifted his hand, and abruptly snapped it up to a proper salute, only to then see Soundwave maneuver past.

Without another sound, he seemed to back down upon seeing the navy mech, and moved over to work with the other Vehicon, some mutterings and hushed words thrown back and forth while they pointed at varied supplies and where they were expected to go.

Once he was finished looking at the abnormalities, Soundwave's frame eased upright and away from the microscope while Knock Out approached, his weight rolling down into place, and arms looping to rest at his sides. There was a brief moment in which he didn't seem to initially respond to the red medic, staring ahead blankly, before the inky black visor angled down, its slick surface reflecting the other mech's presence back at him from the lighting angle above.

A subtle shake of the helm, a wordless reply.

He had no recollection of anything that could have affected his internal systems in such a way. If it was a data leak of some kind, he could go back through the records and try to find any moment of weakness that could snitch when information was spread out when it wasn’t meant to be... but this was within the field of medicine, and he seldom needed to see medical help other than his routine checks as one of high command. He didn’t go out and fight like the Vehicons did, he didn’t do strenuous labor of any kind. He was a rather stationary individual confined in the ship... which means he had to have gotten it from Flatline at some point, but when...?

The black screen angled down at Knock Out, illuminated then, a Cybertronian calendar showing up that marked different cycles and landmarks of note. Upon it, small notes started to fill in the gaps, marking points of notable frustration and anger, as well as the dates in which he went to the Medical Bay to retrieve something for it on his own. It became a repeat of the data he already put down on the main console, but now it was right in front of the medic to address and see clearly.

[Knock Out]

The Vehicon was very, very lucky that Soundwave had begun moving when he had. The response given to Knock Out was not what he'd expected to hear, and if the Spymaster had moved even a fraction of a moment later? He would've interrupted a one-sided screaming match rather than a few words that'd tapered off into an awkward silence.

He wasn't sure what the designation of this particular Vehicon was, but once he found out when they were safely back at Blackridge? He wouldn't forget it.

Thankfully, Soundwave had seemingly scared the Vehicon in question back into line, and Knock Out watched with an unimpressed glare as he quickly scurried off to the other side of the room to continue what'd been asked of him.

Not that Knock Out was paying him much mind anymore once he started on his work, his attention on Soundwave now as he gave the most subtle of helm shakes in response to his question.

“Unfortunate.” he vented out a sigh, “But not the end of the world.”

Of course, it would've made things so much easier if Soundwave could recall just what he'd been around that might've caused this – then they could possibly narrow it down further as to how it'd happened to begin with. But alas, the cause was still very much a mystery, the only thing that was probably certain at this point was that Soundwave and Flatline had both either done something, or been around something they shouldn't. Or maybe this was simply an accident, or something that'd gotten out of hand. Shockwave worked with who even knew what back on the Nemesis, and there were rumors he experimented on those beneath him – that could possibly explain Flatline, but... how did Soundwave...?

Hopefully the answer to that would come once they found the source. A problem for later though, the first order of business was to go about treating it with the minimal supplies and equipment here at Haven.

While he was mulling over his thoughts of the thousands of possibilities as to what this was and where it'd come from, the illumination of Soundwave's visor drew his attention quickly back. He'd lean up on the tips of his pedes some, if only to get a better look at what was being displayed without needing Soundwave to lean down too much into his personal space.

Huh.

The dates marked were random. There was no rhyme nor reason, no real pattern that he could discern – just periodic moments of frustration and anger. Some days there were no instances, others there were a few. His optics read quickly over the notes, seeming to linger for a moment on the note made where Soundwave had gone to the Medical Bay. He remembered that well – Soundwave having the worst timing and arriving while Skywarp had been messing around with paint and almost melting off his damn arm. Narrowing his optics in the most subtle of frowns, he realized he never actually did follow up on that evening – Soundwave had come in unannounced and taken a tranquilizer of all things. When he'd gone to do reports and inventory checks later that evening, he found it'd been marked accounted for, with Soundwave signing off on it. That was probably part of why he hadn't followed up – it'd all been so official and above board, proper protocol had been followed and Soundwave hadn't been to him with any complaints.

They all needed help recharging sometimes, he figured it was just that.

“The, ah, the tranquilizer that you took – do you remember if that made things better or worse in the moments after you used it?” it was almost a week ago to the day that the Spymaster had taken it, and Knock Out could only assume that it'd been used that night. If it was used at all. “The reason I ask is shortly before Flatline snapped-” he lowered his voice some so the Vehicons across the room couldn't listen in on the gossip, “-is I administered a pain suppressant as is protocol - and almost instantaneously he seemed to snap into, well...” he tapered off, casting a nervous glance to Flatline. Ugh he couldn't get that image out of his processor – Flatline had been fine one moment and then his optics had shifted to that eerie white in an instant – and then he'd attacked. Human horror movies had absolutely nothing on that moment.

Of course the tranquilizer hadn't made things worse to the point of Soundwave attacking people, he knew that, but what if that had something to do with the thought process that led to him crashing the ship? Again he'd squint up and look at Soundwave's visor, noting the frequency of the moments of anger in the days leading up to just a couple of days earlier when the Nemesis had been downed, trying to work out a pattern – if any.

“Was it the only thing you took?”

Primus could the diagnostics machine go any slower? The sooner he could fix this whole mess the better.

[Soundwave]

At Knock Out's question, the calendar like map of dates quickly zoomed in and made the time following the tranquilizer acquisition larger and more legible, though not instantly. For a brief moment all the text and details of the screen seemed pixilated, before things snapped and the resolution kicked in to smooth out once again, a few new icons popping up and into place to further clarify and try to show any notes that may stand out to Knock Out. On the top corner of each box that represented a day, there would be an icon of a syringe that marked out the days he used the drug, it filled with an orange color for the days it was used, while was a thin gray outline for the days nothing was administered.

As to be expected, the medicine was used the night he acquired the compound, the following day aggression not returning until later that evening. The day after that one had a few instances of anger noted, heightened irritation, before there was another dosage used and things evened out. However, no matter when the tranquilizer was used, the aggression still returned, and productivity plummeted, a small white marker of the percentage of work accomplished for that cycle noted at the bottom of the field. Also included on the display was the amount of fuel intake, the amount of recharge taken ((which could skip some days as he wordlessly walked the halls)), and other physiological notes of value which weren't really many at all.

With how carefully everything was planned out, and how accurately all the notes were taken, it betrayed just how closely Soundwave watched over his actions, and how well he tried to set himself to plan. He had benchmarks he needed to achieve every day, and things that were going to get done unless something unforeseen intervened and set his path in a new direction. While he could be broken from course if needed, and was not bound and shackled to his routine and jobs, he did take them seriously so the productivity loss seemed to coincide with quicker aggression relapse.

Anger rises and impairs work functionality...

Tranquilizer dampens anger, but plummets productivity...

Productivity rises, but then anger returns shortly after...

It was a vicious cycle that looped a few times, the aggression markedly getting worse and worse on every return, until... well... until the day everything went upside down, literally. The day the Nemesis went into the sea, was able to be seen building on the calendar, it a situation of hindsight being twenty twenty that something was going to go wrong. The most concerning part, was that if Soundwave was on a downswing right now, than that meant that another upswing of aggression could return, and if he had snapped so soundly he lashed out and tried to harm everyone around him in one fell swoop the last time? Well, the next round could be a bit more directionally pointed to make sure the job was finished when it came to harming others around him.

The navy mech did not move while the information was put up and into place, keeping steady so that the smaller medic could clearly read everything without too much trouble. Their height difference made things a bit awkward for sure, but he was taking that into account with a subtle crook at his hip and waist. That said, he did move subtly once the question was asked, a small shake of the helm to notify that no, he has not taken anything else to try to self medicate what has plagued him. There were no notes about a pain suppressant of any type.

Off on the other side of the lab, muttered hissing could be heard back and forth, the Vehicons chattering about something. If either of the mech were to turn and look at the troopers, they would be able to see the more intelligent of the two pointing out where things were meant to go, and trying to guide the idiot around. Despite the annoyed buzzing of sound coming from the direction however, some progress was being made, a large portion of the boxes already neatly stacked in a corner to be disposed of properly.

[Knock Out]

Knock Out gave a quiet hum of thought as the calendar zoomed in on a smaller, more specific portion of dates. The brief moment of fuzziness and pixelation on the display wasn't lost on him, but it was to be expected really – although he couldn't tell if that was because it was taking a moment to refresh at the zoomed in resolution, or due to the fact Soundwave was very sick.

Best not to ask.

The new icons helped a lot, though. While he could discern and make sense of the calendar without them, having the icons displayed meant he could tell at a glance rather than having to think too hard about it. It helped show the patterns correlating to irritation and tranquilizer use.

So the tranquilizer did help.

Obviously, it wasn't a permanent solution, but unlike the days prior to taking the medicine – the anger and irritation hadn't returned until later that evening. Same for the second time it'd been used. Only another pattern emerged now more details were shown – productivity from the Spymaster had plummeted, which was unavoidable given the nature of the medication. There were other details that didn't really need to be logged, but every little detail and note made would probably help in working this all out.

He was thankful that Soundwave had bothered to log it at all, rather than just brush it off.

He couldn't help but wonder if Flatline had been making similar notes. Not that they could look through any records as they probably weren't salvaged as personal logs weren't that important in the grand scheme of things – but... if he'd been having moments of aggression and irritation and made notes of it? It would help immensely. If they'd both started feeling angry around the same time, they could then go back to try and recall what happened around that particular day or week – maybe finding the source of all of this.

Another hum of thought, his gaze traveled along the days until just a couple of days prior to when the Nemesis had crashed. The aggression, he noticed, was getting worse after every usage of the tranquilizer. Were the repair nanites building a resistance to it, somehow? Or was that just the natural progression of the illness until they snapped completely like Flatline had?

One thing was for sure, and that was that Soundwave had been having these symptoms for a while now – and not once had he sought any kind of medical aid from Knock Out, save for the self-medicating he'd been doing with the stolen tranquilizer.

But Knock Out wasn't about to call him out on that – the calendar and marked dates also revealing that Soundwave was... ah. Probably due for an aggressive upswing – given it'd been a day or so of relative calm now. Although it remained to be seen if that would indeed happen, given Knock Out had removed the strange growth like thing from his frame.

Something else he'd remain quiet about.

Soundwave was, essentially, a ticking time bomb.

Then again he already knew that.

“Interesting...” he nodded. “Thank you, Soundwave – mm, do you know if Flatline had any similar records? Not sure if there's an archive we can access that may help link the timeframes for this.”

It was merely a suggestion, but if he could keep Soundwave busy and productive even if it was trying to salvage logs and records from the downed ship somehow? He'd take it.

[Starscream]

Should Soundwave take Knock Out up on his suggestion to find records from Flatline, he'd quickly notice that a new window had opened on the small console screen that he'd been working on moments earlier.

Communication from Starscream, it seemed. Rather than screech at them over the comm-line and risk disrupting any careful medical processes that were being carried out, a simple relay that'd been digitally signed by him had been made over the network to be looked at whenever they had a spare moment. Fully encrypted, of course, not wanting the Neutrals at the DMZ to learn the location of the Decepticons new base of operations...

It was short and to the point, a simple question – the new leader of the Decepticons obviously having more to worry about than the goings on here in the Quarantine area, but obviously it piquing his interest just enough to the point he felt need to check in, due to the fact that it'd been the reason they'd lost their Flagship.

'Status Report?'

[Soundwave]

Soundwave actually seemed to pull away some in thought when Knock Out presented the next question.

He had been so quick to throw blame upon Shockwave all things considered, that he had not considered tearing and ripping into Flatline's scientific files like he had done the single eyed Cybertronian. Out of anyone upon the ship, he believed it would be Shockwave that would have the ability to create such a disease or illness, and it would make sense he could test it upon his most loyal and obnoxiously complacent of followers. It made SENSE to him that Shockwave would try such a thing, only for it to go out of control somehow if things took a less than expected twist along its path.

The noxiously poisoned side of his psyche, also wanted to blame Shockwave, because the two of them did not always get along very well, and the idea that he had 'retaliated' by making sure Soundwave was poisoned fed into an irrational state of being at the moment. Logically it made no sense, Soundwave could back up enough from the moment to see that that train of thought was not his own, and was a concoction of the disease eating away at him, but that did not stop him from still wanting to blame the other scientist.

Though now they had another target to look into.

Soundwave kept duplicates; he kept a LOT of files, records that were stored away to keep track of mistakes and failures, as well as victories to try to look for patterns. He did have some of Flatline's files, but they were more correlating with his primary projects, none of which were related to anything disease or chemical in nature. That did not mean that there were NO records of a downward spiral, it simply meant that what else lies beyond in the personal data that was not touched, truly lies beneath the depths, locked on the black and red mech's database.

Three graphics of a file popped up on the top edge of Soundwave's visor then, indicating a bundle of data, before an arrow pointed down to the remaining void. With a curl of white linework etching across the screen, the image of the Nemesis appeared in its upside down state. A room deep in its bowls lit up red, showing the laboratory and attached small living quarters where Flatline's domain would be.

There would be their eventual goal.

"Hey, you got a letter!"

"Shhh! They are busy!"

Soundwave's helm snapped away from Knock Out then, glaring pointedly over at the two Vehicons.

The 'good' one of the two was upon the other near instantly, one arm looping around his throat to pull him away from the computer system, where the idiot had deposited a box nearby a moment prior. He seemed to squawk out a quiet 'I was just helping!' while the other trooper pulled him back to the far side of the room, trying to get him to work on mopping or something else productively quiet.

Not turning back to Knock Out, Soundwave started to move seamlessly over towards the console, a slender arm rising to click and enable the feed should Starscream still be there.

[Knock Out]

As Soundwave pulled away, Knock Out would tense ever-so-slightly at the movement – wondering if this would be the fatal moment that Soundwave would finally snap. Ever since he'd been taken practically hostage by the Spymaster to fix Flatline and work out this mess, he'd been walking a fine line of trying to keep things calm, be it through shutting up and getting on at the task at hand, or being careful (for the most part) with his word choices when addressing Soundwave or asking him to assist.

He wasn't sure what it was exactly set off the aggression with whatever this thing was, and the spikes of annoyance in Soundwave's field had been loud and clear while they'd been on the Nemesis – making the cherry-red Mech overcautious and probably a little too jumpy. Would it be as simple as asking the wrong thing, wording something slightly odd that'd push Soundwave's next wave of annoyance into full-blown anger – snapping and attacking like Flatline had?

He didn't really want to find out.

If he could just keep Soundwave busy with things – which was what he'd been trying to do, an action that was now going to be enforced after seeing the displayed calendar on Soundwave's visor moments earlier – it may help stave off any feelings of restlessness that could mutate into something far more sinister.

Or at least, that was the plan.

It'd been such a simple question. While his processor had also immediately gone to the only one he knew capable of making such a disease, the fact that Shockwave had not been heard from made him think that it... probably wasn't him. Surely if it was, there would've been some backup protocol to stop it in its tracks before it'd gotten to this point – or at the very least he would've stepped forward and admitted that it was his fault – whether this was all going to plan or not remained to be seen, though.

No, he didn't think this was Shockwave. Megatron had also been strangely absent as of late, and so his processor had wandered – briefly - to Starscream – who'd been quick to put himself in control and it all seemed a little convenient. But if it were Starscream, Knock Out would've known. The Seeker wasn't exactly quiet with his plans, and as far as Knock Out was aware he didn't have the tools or equipment to make something such as this. Attacking Soundwave with it, he could probably see – but Flatline?

No, it probably wasn't Starscream either.

Part of him hoped that maybe it was Flatline – an experiment gone wrong, maybe something to do with that severed arm he had almost on display in his lab? If this'd been all his fault, the consequences would be absolutely dire – and he would relish in suggesting ways to punish him.

These thoughts would have to wait though, as Soundwave's visor blipped to life once more – another graphic on display. His optics would trace along, taking in what was being displayed – and his shoulders would sag some in dismay.

Soundwave had a point. Any files – personal ones, like data logs and journals – would no doubt be in Flatline's personal quarters.

“Something to look into later, then-” he started, before the idiot Vehicon piped up from behind them, only to be quickly reprimanded by the other and dragged away.

Mental note made to do a complete reformat on that one, later.

With a worried glance, he'd look back up to Soundwave – as if expecting this to be what pushed him over the edge. He didn't move as the Spymaster made his way back to the console, gaze lingering on him. Soundwave could deal with whatever or whoever it was, he decided – if Knock Out was needed, he would surely be called over to assist.

A loud clunk sounded then that pulled his attention away from the Spymaster and what he was doing, a whir that tapered down into a soft hum as the Diagnostics machine finally stopped spinning – a low hiss of hydraulics as the machine came to a complete standstill. A click, another whir – before glyphs and words began scrolling down the screen. Readouts, detailed ones – with hopefully enough information gathered from the sample for Knock Out to start filling in the missing pieces of this puzzle.

Quietly, the cherry-red Mech would make his way over to the machine to see what it'd revealed.

[Starscream]

The feed would click to life, and Soundwave would be met with the sight of Starscream on the other end. He seemed a little caught off guard by his feed clicking to life, and would scowl slightly. Behind him was nothing of note, seemed he'd claimed a room for himself at Blackridge already. Chatter could be heard in the background though, Vehicons finding their place, adjusting to their new home and busying themselves to try and work through the confusion.

“Ah- Soundwave. I wasn't expecting a verbal reply-”

Or as verbal as it could be, given who'd answered.

He'd lean in closer to the screen on his end, as if trying to see what was going on behind Soundwave to clue him in better to their situation – the link between the two locations wasn't the best, but he could just see enough. Flatline was laying down, the two Vehicons seemed busy, and Knock Out seemed preoccupied with some piece of equipment.

“A simple report would've been fine, I am, after all very busy... But since you're here – have any developments with this situation been made?”

He wasn't entirely sure why he was asking Soundwave, given he was the one who'd had a major role in this entire thing and crashed their flagship into the Ocean, but he assumed that given Knock Out was across the room that he was busy – no doubt working on things still.

The leader of the Decepticons was being civil, all things considered. There was a time and place for gloating, and over a static-laced feed was not it. He had questions, he wanted to punish and hold this over Soundwave and make an example of him - but while the Spymaster was in Quarantine, Starscream would simply stick to the point – wanting those all-important answers before anything else.

[Soundwave]

The medical readout was very enlightening, and showed a complete and part itemized list of all of the compounds and chemicals that were currently running through Soundwave's Energon.

There was all of the normal things that were to be expected, the chemical makeup of Energon that was combined with a few extra minerals and metals that varied from user to user and one's personal diet. There were the metals that made up repair Nanites, and the loose fillers they utilized to build and patch injuries that were typical. There was even a small readout on the trace elements of the tranquilizer that was in the system, though it was in too far low levels for it to actually play a role any longer, more a ghostly reminder it had been there.

However, then there was the atypical readouts.

There were new chemicals and some elements that stood out to the side. Some of the Energon was being broken down and repurposed into a new compound, creating three new elements that were evidently not playing nice with a Cybertronian's biology. One appeared to be a sort of stimulant, while the other two were more difficult to discern. In producing it, it left the excess 'waste' to float around in the Energon, clumping and more likely than not aiding in the production of the crystalline abnormalities.

It gave a very powerful lead.

While Knock Out undoubtedly poked at these results, Soundwave was focused on Starscream.

The navy mech stared flatly out at the Air Commander, or more... as flatly as the emotionless plate of a face could muster. His helm was ever so slightly canted down, taking into account the other Cybertronian's viewing angle so that the topmost border of his visor could be crooked in a way to further convey the level of displeasure that he was experiencing. It was a subtle motion, easily lost if one were not paying close attention, but it was there, and it was one of the near invisible clues that could tell the other mech just what he was feeling at the moment.

Beyond the slender mech, Starscream would indeed be able to see much of the small laboratory. It was frankly, too confined to be able to hide much of anything from the screens view. The two workers in the backdrop were hissing soft words at one another, one pointing at a nearby display of bottles and jars that had been just unloaded, trying to instruct them on what to do next. Soundwave didn't seem to pay them any heed, but his shoulders shifted back slightly in their sockets, the broad fanned plates tilting angles some as the silver mech asked for developments.

Without moving, Soundwave began to swiftly relay a list of what has been accomplished thus far. As much as the other individual annoyed him, and as much as the two did clash and slam against one another, Soundwave did know how to play nice, relaying everything that has come to surface as of yet. While more detail was provided under the main bulletins, the three main topics that were touched were-

-Extraction of foreign device from Flatline and Soundwave
-Relocation of Medical Supplies to Haven
-Discovery of Corrupted Nanites

While Soundwave could not convey much in regards to the actual scientific findings of the Nanites, he knew enough to get the point across, without flooding Starscream with senseless information that was over the top on the specifics. It wasn’t like the Second in Command was going to actively help concoct a cure, even if he was fully capable of dipping his hand into this experiment due to his scientific background. Chances were he was already quite busy trying to root his pointed heels down in some pathetic grab for power.

That sideways thought caused a surge of anger to suddenly bubble up. An unthrottled heft that made Soundwave's posture shift visibly. It was not subtle, it was not the small tweaks and idle movements he made that were painfully robotic and cold, no... instead this was a full roll of his weight while helm rose up in indignation, and the thorny spines along his back went ridged and angled up slightly. The angled push of his shoulders from before moved that much more, fanning out his posture in a near aggressive stance as if he was seriously squaring off with the other Cybertronian, despite them being thousands upon thousands of miles apart from one another.

He could change that in an instant...

A single bridge...

No, he knew better, logic told him not to. Despite how much he wanted Starscream to stay in line and stop being so selfish, there was nothing he could do without further crippling the Decepticons and hurting them all in the process. Despite this, rage bled away from his frame with a crackle like an open electrical conduit.

[Starscream]

Once satisfied that he really couldn't see much of what was going on, at least not to the point of giving him visual answers to his questions – Starscream would lean back and await the report from Soundwave.

It came quickly, then again he expected nothing less from the other mech, and he'd glance down as if reading the report that'd been conveyed on another monitor – meaning his attention was down and away at the posture shift of the Spymaster.

“Foreign devices?” he mumbled to himself, that was... interesting but not entirely surprising. Starscream's background in science meant he had been naturally curious as to what it was that'd plagued them seemingly from nowhere – namely someone as careful as Soundwave, but due to his present occupation of, well... leader of the Decepticons? It meant he couldn't give it the care or attention that he might've done back in the day.

Still, Knock Out had it handled, he was sure, and the relocation of medical supplies was a boon – he hadn't even gotten to the thought process of how to go about gathering things from the downed ship, so busy he was in trying to get things and everyone set up in the cramped new base. The supplies he'd personally managed to snag in his short return to the Nemesis with Skywarp would be put to good use here at Blackridge, and he was glad they'd managed to retrieve more equipment to help aid with this process.

“I assume it's easily fixed?”

Corrupted Nanites didn't sound like too big a problem, and he'd glance back up and across to the screen then where Soundwave was on the other side. His own posture relaxed, and he'd quirk a brow at the Spymasters new pose – but unfortunately, the sheer aggression of the stance was lost on him, due to the tiny screen of which he was viewing things.

“Regardless, thank you for the update. I will check in again soon when I am able – I trust you will let me know if more information is found?”

[Knock Out]

There was a quiet hum of thought from the cherry-red Mech as he began looking over the all-important readout. This was what he was after! Details of the makeup of Soundwave's Energon, and hopefully somewhere in here was the missing clue or link as to just what'd happened to get to this point.

A lot of it looked normal – his optics scanned the words and glyphs quickly, having read over things like this many a time he knew what to look for, and knew what was important or atypical. The trace amounts of tranquilizer were noted, but given he knew Soundwave had been taking them up until recently, it was nothing to be concerned over – sometimes they lingered, and it was nothing to worry about.

It didn't take him long to find what he was after. Three new elements that really weren't supposed to be there were listed, and he gave another, more interested hum as he looked them over in detail.

Okay, so it seemed the Energon was being broken down – probably by the Nanites, and the three new elements were a result of this. Was this because of some foreign contaminate here on Earth? If so, why were only Soundwave and Flatline displaying outward symptoms of this? Wouldn't everyone be going feral and attacking if it were something common?

Still, though, this was what he'd been looking for. Seeing the corrupted nanites was one thing, but here was a chemical makeup of what was actually going on. He was no scientist, alas, so he couldn't think of any way to counter it the way someone like Shockwave might've, but from a Medical standpoint it should be easily reversed.

Or would be, if they had the Nemesis with its fully stocked supply rooms.

He hadn't been paying too much attention to the 'conversation' between Starscream and Soundwave, assuming he'd be called over to the monitors should he need to address or clarify anything, but the posture shift from the tall Navy mech made him glance over with an eek of worry. That was sudden, and certainly not subtle. Unlike Starscream, he could see the full aggressive pose of the Spymaster, and internal alarm bells were ringing loud and clear.
Not good.

The rage from the other mechs field was felt and he shot a nervous glance to the two Vehicons to see if they'd picked up on it.

What had Starscream done – or said – to get Soundwave riled up?

Ugh.

With a quick step before he could change his mind on the matter, he pulled himself away from the machine with the readouts and would make his way over to the small console that Soundwave was in front of – catching the last of Starscream's words as he did.

“Aha.. Yes, yes we will – I'll update when I can! Very busy right now!” a nervous, hurried tone – followed by a nervous laugh as he attempted to reach across and hang up the call. A stupid moment of bravery? Maybe. He knew where his Energon Prod was, and could duck back and across to it in an instant should this be what sent Soundwave over the edge, but the last thing he wanted – or needed – right now was for Starscream to make Soundwave snap, especially now he had the information he needed to actually make some progress!