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

[Soundwave]

One of the two Vehicons had picked up on it also.

The more intelligent of the two, stopped working with the other a moment to glance over at Soundwave, before the visored faceplate turned to peer at Knock Out. While there were no expressions to really work off of, the posture of the individual seemed a bit shrunken back and uncertain, not entirely sure what to make of the situation. If Soundwave was truly unstable, than... should they consider getting him somewhere where he can't cause additional damage? Was that even something they COULD do? The trooper warily watched another moment, before sending a secure comm to Knock Out to try to speak behind Soundwave's back, which was risky considering the Spymaster may have things hacked into with ease.

::This... m-may be beyond my place, but should Soundwave be freely mobile if he is unwell and liable to cause damage?::

Uncertain, meek, perhaps even a bit terrified to even ask such a thing. They were just a lowly trooper, and Soundwave was a high ranking official that was beyond nearly everyone on the metaphorical food chain. It felt almost treacherous to even ask such a thing, their hands slowly looping down to fold at their lower back while the more... idiotic... of the two, continued to work happily away at alphabetizing the chemicals and compounds.

While Knock Out moved forward to intervene, the trooper who had commed him, quietly moved over to look over at the readout themselves. Trying to be productive, trying to help, and starting to compare what was standard and what was atypical so they were up to speed on current events as well, masking over their previous thoughts.

Meanwhile, Soundwave was transfixed on Starscream.

This individual's level of concern given for the potential risk of the situation was minimal at best, evidently more troubled with solidifying his new position in the hierarchy than any level of real care. It rubbed Soundwave the wrong way, and with the disease and foreign compounds still running rampant? It was a dangerous combination. He was actively trying to piece together a proper response, before Knock Out cut in, his presence felt before it was actively seen.

Soundwave eased back from the red mech as he reached forward, giving him the space needed to end the call without having to have physical contact to push him aside. Even though he had moved voluntarily however, the blank faceplate cut down in response with a certain level of displeasure, though nothing was directly done about it. Despite the tension, despite the glass that was being walked over, nothing explosive seemed to happen, and Soundwave's helm crooked in the direction of the two troopers.

Silence. He simply stared back at them for a brief moment, before the navy mech turned and walked gradually towards an empty corner of the room, turning about face to observe from the inactive point like a vulture.

[Knock Out]

The comment from the Vehicon did not go ignored, it was just... given who they were speaking about, there was an added sense of danger there. While the comm line was secure and private, who even knew what Soundwave was capable of in this unstable frame of mind. All their lines could've been compromised and he was listening in on every word. He probably could at any given time normally, but out of respect chose not to – but who knew what moral lines he was willing to cross now.

The priority had been to get rid of Starscream, though, before he made some offhand comment or remark and sent Soundwave on a downward spiral that he couldn't clamber out of on his own. The only thing that'd pushed him into the action of rushing forward to end the call was that maybe, maybe – somewhere deep in Soundwave's processor should he snap – he realized that Knock Out was truly valuable given his position and Medical Knowledge, and may be able to show some restraint in attacking him, unlike Flatline had.

Or at least, that was the idea he desperately clung to as he slammed the button to hang up the call before Starscream could respond or even realize what was happening.

A moment. A pause. An awkward laugh finally escaped him to fill the silence once the deed had been done – followed by relief. He hadn't been smacked across the room in an instant for daring to do what he had, he wasn't dead. He was still standing here in one piece.

“Honestly, doesn't he know we're trying to work here?”

He looked up at Soundwave with a wavering, nervous smile. He could tell from the Spymaster's change of posture that he wasn't happy with what Knock Out had just done, but he... didn't seem to be doing anything like lashing out in response, so Knock Out would take that as a small, but uneasy win.

The cherry-red mech took a step back and away as Soundwave turned to stare at the two Vehicons. There was a brief glimmer of panic. Had he heard what the Vehicon had said over the comm? Everything seemed to pause then in this moment of uncertainty – and only when Soundwave began walking – and kept walking past the Vehicons to the corner of the room, did Knock Out visibly relax.

Now he dared to reply over the comm.

::No, but I fear suggesting he be restrained or even sedated may trigger an explosive reaction. Just keep working on what you're doing, keep an optic on him. Control your moron of a partner there, one more slip up and I fear it may be what pushes him over.::

That idiot Vehicon was a liability at this point and he'd need to be kept on a very tight leash from this point on. The fact Soundwave was now merely watching was a concern, he couldn't busy himself with anything to keep his processor occupied – and Knock Out couldn't think of anything to have him do in this room to help.

“Now, where was I...” he murmured, looking back to the diagnostics machine before making his way back over to it, feeling somewhat safer now he was closer to his Energon Prod that was nearby.

“I feel like I should get an Energon sample from Flatline, too – just to compare it with Soundwave's, but I assume given the similarities in the object I removed from both, that the readouts will be just the same.” he wasn't sure who he was speaking to, trying to fill the silence, trying to keep Soundwave in the loop of what was going on.

Trying to show he was useful. Needed.

“I have an idea for what we can do to try and fix this, given the lack of equipment or proper tools,” he looked to Soundwave then, trying to include him and be proactive. Keep his processor busy and focused on things that weren't straight up murder.

“While normally I'd simply attempt to either reprogram or override the nanites with medical aid, or run the Energon through a dialysis or filter to completely flush out the broken nanites and replace them with new – not broken – ones? We have no such equipment here capable of such a task – and the ones back on the Nemesis are... well, out of commission I'm sure, meaning we will have to do a complete transfusion as it were, with fresh Energon.”

Was he being too wordy?

“While we have some supplies, I fear we may have to venture back onto the Nemesis for enough Energon to do things properly and completely. We probably have enough here for Flatline alone - I figure given his... ah, current state, that he can be a guinea pig of sorts, to see if this even works the way I hope it will. Soundwave, do you know if any of the supply rooms near my Medical Bay are unscathed? Or, can you think of any that contain Energon that might've survived the impact of the crash?”

This way, Soundwave could pull up schematics of the ship maybe and try to calculate their odds – it'd give him something to do, something to focus on and busy his processor with. And, if they did need to go back to the Nemesis? The idiot Vehicon could probably go alone and get what was needed – thus getting him away from Soundwave for the time being, thus lessening the chances of him doing something idiotic and making the Spymaster snap and kill them all.

It was a long shot, but it was all he could come up with so quickly. He never thought he'd see the day he was essentially playing babysitter – especially to Soundwave – but here he was.

[Soundwave]

::I will do my best::

Frustration seemed to leak into the fearful words, still a bit nervous that they were trying to speak behind Soundwave's back who probably could still hear every word. The second that the navy mech had looked in their direction, clenched his throat, and sent fear shooting through his lines for a flicker, though it seemed the moment passed as he moved across the room, and Knock Out's reply had focused on the other trooper.

It was annoying that they got someone like the other Vehicon. It meant that he would need to work twice as hard to try to pick up the slack. But... deep down, the soldier wondered if the other individual was simply sacrifice to the slaughter, a clean unaffected individual who could have things tested on should Flatline fall and they need a new victim. It was not something that was pleasant to think about, but on the other hand it was also reassuring.

If one of them had to be infected, than it was fairly obvious who would be chosen.

Peering down at the readouts, the Vehicon looked over at Knock Out as he approached, stepping aside from the machine so that the medic could look again should he wish to do so. The trooper's arms were folded loosely down at his lower back still, watching intently, red visor trying to keep tabs on everything going on in the room while still paying proper attention to what was said.

"I can get a sample from Flatline and cross reference it with Soundwave's results if you would like me to."

Professional, straight to the point. The Vehicon was trained in many of these tools, and was a more than capable assistant, effectively making up for the lacking skill of the second individual who still busied himself happily with organizing. If he were to do this task, it could free Knock Out to think on and test other things.

As the second part of things were addressed, Soundwave looked over at the red mech.

A gradual step, a slow ease forward...

Soundwave's position in the corner of the room out of the way, was changed after the new situation was pulled up, slender legs slicing forward with hollow footfalls to land him before the terminal once again. Once before the large screen, he plucked a few keys with narrow fingertips, pulling up a map of the Nemesis with some areas highlighted in blue.

The storage rooms were peppered about, small ones here or there, but the largest one that fueled the warship itself was centralized towards the rear of the ship in an armored section. Water should not have reached that far yet. Only issue was, being tipped upside down such an area with so much raw fuel could now be considered rather dangerous. It could take one spark, one mistake, and there could be a fire, if there was not already one burning and simmering, waiting for the flow of fresh oxygen that would come in from a Space Bridge opening up...

Carefully, a list of best targets flicked up on screen, mapping out some of the smaller ones as potential goals.

[Knock Out]

The frustration and fear laced words from the Vehicon were not lost on Knock Out. He honestly felt the same even though his field and posture betrayed as such, and for a moment there he'd assumed it was game over for all of them – Soundwave could snap in an instant and no doubt easily take out the two Vehicons before he knew what happened, and all that Knock Out had to defend himself with was the Energon Prod. Sure it'd probably be able to stop Soundwave for a moment, but it was a situation that he really didn't want to be in.

At least one of the Vehicons seemed to be normal. The idiot one... Knock Out had silently branded him nothing more than cannon fodder the moment he'd entered the room. His inevitable death would hopefully be the moment of distraction needed for himself and the sane Vehicon to get things – Soundwave - under control. Or at least that was the plan! Knock Out had been formulating ideas to outcomes and situations that might not even happen, but it always helped to be prepared!

He wouldn't respond to the words over the comm. It was risky enough talking over it to begin with, and while Soundwave might not have been listening in at that particular moment, he could probably do so at any time - which would then bring into question what they were talking about and the less attention on them the better. Tiny mental note to only use it in an emergency from now on.

“Ah – uh, if you are able, that would be appreciated, yes.”

He forgot that some Vehicons were actually useful and more than just soldiers to bolster their ranks – they all knew basic first aid and some had rudimentary skills in other areas such as hacking or being useful in medical bays such as this. Where his luck had run out with Mr. Idiot across the way, this Vehicon at his side more than made up for it, it seemed.

“I believe they will be almost identical, but for the sake of being thorough it's probably best we test both samples.”

He watched as Soundwave moved forward, trying not to stare or draw too much attention to the fact he was basically watching his every move. He vented in sharply once the Spymaster was in position and had pulled up the map of the Nemesis, standing up a little straighter as if psyching himself up some, before moving over to the console where Soundwave was now working.

He'd lean in slightly, squinting as he looked over the screen, trying to work out what was what on the map that'd been pulled up.

“Mm, so these ones have the highest chance of having what we need?” an idle comment, a servo resting on his hip, one digit tapping it in thought. He knew the largest storeroom was probably too dangerous given the state of things, and as his plan was to send Idiot McGee over there to do this task, sending him somewhere that didn't have quite so much risk for massive explosion and destruction was probably the best course of action.

“I suppose we can just pick one at random and hope for the best. Ah-”

He'd turn then to look at the Vehicon who seemed to be happy and content in his own little world, sorting and organizing what he could.

“You. I have need of you. Soundwave is going to bridge you back onto the Nemesis – as close as he possibly can to one of these highlighted rooms-” he'd sidestep some and gestured to the screen, hoping the Vehicon was paying attention. “-where you are to gather as much Energon as you can and bring it back here. Obviously, this is dangerous and extreme caution should be taken, but you are absolutely perfect for the job. Questions? None? Good. Okay. Soundwave, if you'd be so kind?” a nervous smile followed his request. He'd already asked so much of the Spymaster who so very-much-outranked-him, but what choice did he have!

[Soundwave]

The Vehicon did not verbally respond, but did dip his helm to show that he understood the direction given to him. He liked to think it was good that he got a task, which meant that his mind could focus on the new goal placed before him and not so much the potential ticking time bomb that was going on to his side. With this now able to be latched down onto, he picked up the needed supplies and moved over to the unconscious mech.

Approaching Flatline with a bit of nervous care, the Vehicon got his first real view of the individual that seemed to have started it all. There wasn’t anything inherently malicious or evil about him from a visual look... ((other than the odd look that the Medic sported naturally)), no growths or freaky discolorations, but he did have a lot of injuries that appeared to be quickly patched up to keep him alive. Torn plates of metal, ripped lines, some sealant and welding lines that etched across injuries... Flatline had not had a very good time, but then again... most of them hadn't these last few days.

Picking up a clean unused syringe, the trooper attached a new canister to the container with a loud snapping click, before moving down to access one of the larger external fuel lines that trailed behind the wheel like bicep the Cybertronian sported. With a bit of caution as to not punch straight through the line to the other side, he pressed the needle in and started to draw out the Energon, casting a sideways glance to the side while Knock Out addressed the other soldier.

They were going to send that thing on a mission?... oh... good luck...

The other trooper seemed a bit startled he was called upon, grasping hold of one of the glass containers while he reeled around to face Knock Out. There seemed to be a brief moment where he considered doing a salute, but trying to accomplish such an action with his hands full would have ended poorly. Either a bit of grace of luck, or perhaps it was a bit of brains showing up, the trooper refrained, looking up at the screen intently.

A sort of 'uhh' sound, the start of a raised hand as if he was going to ask a question... the Vehicon didn't get a chance to follow through with this action however before the Space Bridge tore open at the far side of the room with a roaring boom.

O-oh... seemed debate wasn’t in the equation.

Soundwave stood beside the terminal, staring pointedly out at the trooper that seemed a bit confused with the new directions given to him. The inky black visor of the navy mech, gradually tilted forward into a sort of scowl, the top 'V' like edge appearing to dip a bit lower simply by the optical illusion of its curved shape and the angle in which it was being viewed. This last scowling implication was all that was needed to put a final stamp on the order, and the Vehicon hastily sat the canisters he was holding down, before scuttling through the Bridge quickly that slammed closed in his wake.

Once the trooper was gone, Soundwave looked back at the map that was projected on the terminal. Quickly, one by one, the extra blue markers flicked away, leaving only one to mark exactly where the soldier was sent off to. He would need to find his own means to transport the fuel, but hopefully it should keep him occupied for a bit so they can get some actual progress done.

Speaking of progress...

With a slow turn, Soundwave peered over at the other trooper, just as they were taping off Flatline's fuel line, watching curiously as they went to plug the sample into the machine to analyze its contents in full.

[Knock Out]

Knock Out's gaze fell onto the Vehicon once he'd dipped his helm in response. While getting an Energon sample was such a simple task at the end of the day, he was so used to doing everything mostly by himself that having someone who wasn't Breakdown assisting in such an easy job? It was strange indeed and a nervous energy filled him – and he wasn't sure why. Was it that he was worried the Vehicon would do it wrong? Maybe – a lot of them couldn't tell their aft from their elbow if the other idiot in the room was anything to go by, but it was probably because of who else was here with them.

Well that, and maybe the sample from Flatline would end up being something entirely different to the one pulled from Soundwave. And what then? He was so set on this being the same thing that if it wasn't? It'd put them back at square one. They couldn't afford that. Not with Soundwave the way he was – and who even knew who else had been affected by this and was on the edge of snapping. Primus they'd have to take samples from everyone, he realized – and as this equipment was borderline useless? It would not be a fast or easy task.

He didn't take his attention off the Vehicon, and it was taking everything in him not to dart forward and snatch the syringe to do things himself. He had to learn to trust – they'd been called upon to help, and he should be able to step back and let them assist. He'd be so much faster at it, though – and he'd know then that it was done properly.

Breathe.

A vent inward, his attention was thankfully drawn away by the confused noise by the other Vehicon – he felt a little bad that he'd barked orders at him without really giving him room to ask questions but hey, getting put on the spot like that and forced into a stressful situation would build character, and he could just get on with it and show some gumption! They didn't have time to dilly-dally here, time was of the essence – especially when it involved going back onto the Nemesis.

“If you have any questions once you're there, my comm-line is open.” he spoke confidently, even if there was some worry there as the room illuminated in the familiar green-yellow glow as the bridge was opened. What if Soundwave's mental state sent this poor Vehicon to the wrong place? Or if something went wrong?

Not much he could do about it. Nor could he stand around doing nothing.

There was a chance that the idea of replacing the Energon simply would not work. Well no, there were a lot of things that could go wrong with that idea. The Vehicon could succumb to whatever dangers were present on the Nemesis and simply not make it back, or if he did? The Energon he found could be useless or destroyed completely.

He needed a backup plan.

As the room was plunged into a more neutral light as the bridge closed, and again he found himself silently lamenting the fact Shockwave wasn't here – speaking of getting things done quickly. If the Scientist was around? He'd have this worked out in an instant, he was sure. But alas – there'd been no word from him, so Knock Out would have to make do.

Leaving the Vehicon to his task before he couldn't help but step in and do things himself, he'd move back over to the small slide that he'd put a sample of Soundwave's Energon on only a few moments earlier – peering through the microscope quickly, he'd immediately frown. The small amount of Energon had completely solidified now. Not that he needed this particular sample any longer, but still – that was frustratingly fast.

With a hum of thought, he'd reach over to the syringe that contained the rest of the sample and gave it a quick shake. It seemed that some of it had begun to solidify just a little already, but there was enough here still in a liquid state for what he needed.

Not wanting to waste time, he'd grab a medical datapad and moved over toward Soundwave and the console. The Spymaster had managed to pull a clone of the UI that he was used to – and while the console didn't have quite the same power as the ones he normally worked on, from a medical standpoint it could still do the same tasks.

Including isolating and reprogramming nanites.

Not what he wanted to find himself doing, but if the Vehicon returned with bad news – if he returned at all – he'd need other plans in place to fix this mess.

“Ah, excuse me Soundwave.” muttered words, he shuffled carefully past the much larger navy mech so he was at the helm of the console now – expertly navigating the familiar UI and bringing up the software needed. It took a moment or two to load, but once it had – he would pull a small glass slide from inside the datapad, injecting some of the tainted Energon onto it and pushing it back gently into the side of the pad. It clicked to life, and he'd pull a wire from the console and attached it to the datapad and pressed a few buttons.

: 841X5F0 : 0090V129 : 0X0P0380 : 

S A M P L E   A C C E P T E D 

...

...

...

C O N F I R M 

...

A N A L Y Z I N G

…

C O M P L E T E

...

It was truly fascinating in a way – the main console screen went black, before it shifted to an enhanced view of what was on the slide. Nanites, lots of them – none of them acting how they were supposed to. They were trying to patch injuries that weren't there – working with whatever they could, which was Energon, to fix it – hence the solidification.

“Alright, now if I just...” he murmured to himself as he worked, leaning on the tips of his pedes so he could look better – this needed concentration and precision. Ticking timebomb beside him or not, he had to work and get things done.

…

…

“Ah ha!” the screen would show one of the nanites. A single one out of hundreds, plucked away from the group and pulled into a sort of isolation – glyphs and words began scrolling down one side of the screen and the datapad as well, detailing the ins and outs of this particular nanite's makeup, including somewhere he hoped was the corrupt code that he could try to rewrite and reprogram.

Or at least, that was the plan.

((I winged all this tech stuff, if it doesn't make any sense please let me know and I'll try to fix it up.))

[Soundwave]

The single Nanite flicked idly, not in any conscious attempt to get away from being isolated, oh no... it was not that smart... but it was trying to get back to work, not really understanding the new situation it found itself in. The tiny piece of machinery was overall, a very simple thing, composed of flecks of metal, and a minute amount of code that told it what to do. Is there a small scratch? Try to patch the scratch with metals matching the surrounding injury. If there no mar? Continue through the flow of Energon until one is encountered. Because of its simplicity, the flaw in the coding was found exceptionally fast compared to the scans of the fuels makeup from before.

Rogue code...

Spliced in directives...

It was painfully obvious all things considered. One didn't necessarily need to be a medic to pinpoint where things went wrong, as even the naive could probably see where the routine coding with simple lines of directives suddenly veered off into complex algorithms and exceptions. All things considered, it was probably challenging the capacity of the Nanite's small 'mind' and reaching the full limit of what they could handle. Because of this, the code would practically stand out as a red beacon to Knock Out, what should have been 4 or 5 chunks of information, now stretching to the extent of memory provided to work with.

Clean cut, slicing to the point, longer lines of code manipulated into small shorthand that allowed more information to be snuck in. It was a remarkable amount of work and skill involved to coordinate it onto a single Nanite. While it was impressive however, the shorthand style made it a bit more difficult to discern what was being commanded at any interval. There were a few things apparent though, and that was whoever designed it must have been doing coding like this for some time.

The reflection of the monitor seemed to glint and flick across the inky black abyss of Soundwave's faceplate, his focus absolute. There was no gentle shift of his frame, no movement of adjusting his weight or balance, instead, he simply stared at the information with a razors edge, trying to find connections and what such things could mean. While he could rip into it to try to figure out exactly what the code was accomplishing, Knock Out would likely do that next. Because of this, he stepped metaphorically back, and was focusing instead on WHO could have founded such a thing.

WHO had the skills to write this?

...

It wasn't a small list.

So many transitioned their day jobs to the warfront, twisting even the most placid and commoner lines of work into something deviously 'evil'. The list would be very long even if they were only looking at the Autobots, but there was still the worry of an escaped disease Decepticon side, or an attack from a clever Neutral trying to end the war. Looking at the individuals on the actual planet who were clever enough however, did shorten the list substantially, though it may be a set of blinders when it could be someone unheard of at this point.

Autobot side, it was hard to say exactly. Ratchet and Wheeljack were prime suspects on this world currently, manipulating their knowledge of medicine and reckless endangerment to craft something like this. But when have they, or one of Team Prime, actually gotten in contact with Flatline or himself? Soundwave himself knew that he did not interact directly with ground forces, or fight in direct battles. He had to have gotten it somehow from Flatline aboard the ship, which meant that Flatline's own records of interaction needed to be scrutinized.

He's gone to Earth to run errands for Shockwave on multiple occasions, and had done so on his own accord to scavenge wares and make deals with Pyrotech. There was only one confirmed case in which he and an Autobot crossed paths, and that was with Red Alert some time ago, but even then any number of the other excursions may have been met with cross contamination.

If it was even Autobot.

Flatline, Sparkplug, Shockwave... all three were more than capable of crafting this, as well as Knock Out, though for obvious reasons the latter was excluded or he would have already had a cure in the making. If given enough time, Soundwave himself could probably create devious code to poison another, though it would hold a lot of trial and error since he was not formally trained in medicine. Blackframe was trained in infiltration, and Starscream could have even been making this for ages behind scenes with his resources just to try to take everything down.

How could they 'POSSIBLY' blame Starscream if he lost his command ship in the process?

Slowly, blunted fingertips drummed down in one solid rhythm against his palm, a subtle action before the digits fully curled into a loose fist.

[Knock Out]

A quiet hum of thought.

A single flick of a long, slender digit as he scrolled through the mass of code displayed before him.

He hadn't been expecting this much code – nanites were so simple that this was surprising – and yet not.

Something had gone terribly wrong here, although that didn't take a genius to work out. Hell, even the idiot Vehicon they'd sent away to the Nemesis would be able to pinpoint the errors here with ease. They were as clear as day. Rogue code that was pushing the tiny nanite to extremes – and if all of them had this code? Well, it certainly explained a lot.

Didn't explain what'd happened to get them to this point, but it explained everything else. No wonder Flatline had completely snapped when he'd been injected with the numbing agent. It'd pushed the nanites over the edge – was that because Flatline was numb and they'd completely flipped out trying to fix that? Maybe. He didn't understand the logic or reasoning behind it, but things were starting to piece together in this annoying puzzle.

Who had done this? This rogue code had obviously been written and put into place by someone – and due to the petty hatred between himself and Flatline? He'd probably be blamed first for this mess. At least there was some saving grace in having Soundwave around – the Spymaster tracked and logged everything, and something like this probably wouldn't go unnoticed. Then again that called into the question of how Soundwave had somehow got it too – that's if this was the same thing. The results from the Vehicon running the sample would give the answers to that, but for now Knock Out could only assume.

Was it the Autobots? Were they being sneaky and underhanded despite the truce set in place? Did they even have the RESOURCES to do this? Maybe. They'd done well for themselves so far despite the fact the Decepticons held the majority of the Energon mines here on Earth - the fact they were still alive and functioning was proof of that.

Ghn, no – Optimus probably wouldn't have allowed something like this under his watch. Then again... He might not know.

That was beside the point though. The answer to this question could hopefully come from Flatline once he was awake and coherent – after he'd been woken up last time and had shrieked in pain, Knock Out was wary to wake him up until he was absolutely sure a repeat of that would not happen. Not because it hurt him to see Flatline like that, but because of his inability to give any real answers as to what'd happened.

The first thing was to get to the bottom of this code, to see what it was actually accomplishing here and to get the answers for himself. He could see that they were trying to patch wounds that were not there, but why was what he wanted to know. Did they have an end purpose? A goal? Or were they just stuck in this repeat set of actions until the host was offlined? Either through exhaustion of this no doubt strain, or before they snapped like Flatline and were taken out by others.

Both Flatline and Soundwave had a strange mass removed – had the nanites built that? If so, from what? Excess Energon somehow?

His gaze shifted nervously to Soundwave as he drummed his digits against his palm – after seeing what'd been written here he was even more worried as to the state of the Spymaster standing so close beside him, and could only hope the Vehicon in the room was watching closely.

He'd take a deep vent inward, turning his attention back to the console, leaning in and selecting the code that wasn't supposed to be there – which was sadly the majority, and would begin picking it apart to try and find just what was trying to be accomplished here.

[Soundwave]

The Vehicon was sadly not actively paying attention to what was up on screen, and instead was dutifully working on their task across from the room. While Knock Out and Soundwave were busy looking over the isolated Nanite, the trooper had retrieved a datapad and got the readout from the Third in command's Energon already prepared and ready to compare directly with the new sample once the machine was done calibrating. He stood beside the machine calmly, highlighting key parts of the chemical makeup and labeling them with color blocks so that everything was organized appropriately.

On the other side of the room, the code that Knock Out was looking at was very chunky and chopped up, the shorthand terminology making a lot of statements nearly illegible from its ultimate goal. This made deciphering what was actually being said to be a chore and a half, as a single nonsensical word of three letters, would seem to reference a separate line of code or a longer phrase. However, it was not encrypted in any way, and parts weren't deliberately hidden behind firewalls or other defenses. Everything that was needed to know, was fully bared to the open which meant finding what the shorthand referred to was not impossible, just...time consuming.

And time it would consume.

It would take a fair bit for everything to be translated and expanded out, Soundwave actively working alongside Knock Out to act as a convenience tool to speed things along. At first, the navy mech simply pressed forward to take control of the station, a data cable extending to lock with the machine again and start to work, but that could only go so far. While he did manage to decode a fair amount of the shorthand, tearing it apart by cross referencing other subsections, other portions seemed that they could be one thing or the other, and it would need a medic's eye to know which was the appropriate solution to the equation.

A new window appeared beside the untouched code during all this, a clone of the data that was gradually growing longer and longer as the information was expanded out and filled up. What was once illegible nonsense was starting to fill out and look like normal sane coding once again, its directives and goals starting to become more and more clear as time progressed.

What started to become apparent was that the Nanites were being given three sets of orders to work on, on top of their normal ability to mend small injury and surface damages.

The first one was the most readily visible of the two, and that was the direction to construct the crystalline formations that had been visible since the start of this chaos and adventure. However, this seemed to be an afterthought, code that was only activated once a certain velocity of movement was no longer in play. In short, it only started to build the crystals, when the Energon was no longer being pressed through fuel lines and pumps.

The second directive was far more malicious. It was instructing the Nanites to recognize others without the code as broken or corrupt. This simple directive told them to clone the data over to the uncorrupted Nanite, so that it could resume normal work and not be 'broken' any longer.

The third was more convoluted, and was directions on how to play with the chemicals naturally occurring in Energon. It told them to tear safe chemicals apart and use their elements to make other things. This was much like the crystals, except instead of making solid structures it was making a chemical that was a known irritant among other things that don't tend to play nice with ones internal systems, namely the processor.

There was some nonsense code slapped at the end of all this, but it didn’t seem to do anything but instruct the Nanite to 'reference' what seemed to be a dead end.

It was a maliciously clever little creation someone had put together. While Soundwave did not know the medical impact of the type of compounds that were being made directly in the Energon lines, he could piece together the general outcome since he was experiencing it firsthand. In addition, he could also appreciate the weaponization of something so incredibly mundane and otherwise inert. While bad news would surely fall upon whoever had made this and permitted it to be unleashed, there was an inkling of a thought that they could turn around and use this against the Autobots.

If their beloved Prime was taken down to madness...

Letting that thought trail off, Soundwave shifted his weight back a bit, looking sideways at Knock Out before his visor fully turned to angle down at the shorter mech. With a small blip to get the other Cybertronian's attention, a photo would then pop up of the mangled organ that was ripped out of Flatline. Nowhere in that code, were there directions on how to create that thing... or... as far as he could see.

Meanwhile, the readout from Flatline had concluded, and the trooper had cross referenced both strings to pull out the differences and highlight them for Knock Out should he wish to see. There were differences of course, naturally each of their frames were varied with slightly different metallic fillers and mixtures in their lines, but there wasn’t anything vastly dissimilar of note. Soundwave's had the tranquilizer present, while Flatline's had the Nanite boosters and residual particles of the painkillers still floating about.

The Vehicon stood by quietly, waiting an order.

[Knock Out]

Knock Out was no longer paying attention to anything but the screen in front of him. If Soundwave suddenly snapped beside him? Well it'd be up to the remaining Vehicon to be paying attention and somehow take him out before it became too much of an issue. For now there was harmony, and quiet – he could work. The other Vehicon still hadn't reported back or called in over the comm so he could only assume that things were going well there. If he ran into trouble he'd at least squawk over the comm or something, Knock Out figured.

The code at first was a little overwhelming. He hadn't expected anything like this – not from a single nanite. All the information was there, it was just a matter of picking it apart and finding what each shorthand was referencing.

The mild look of confusion probably didn't go unnoticed, as the Spymaster had soon moved in to help, either that be because it was frustrating him to see how slow the CMO was going or because he genuinely wanted to help remained to be seen, but either way? Knock Out was silently grateful. Not only for the fact that Soundwave could pick apart the coding a lot faster than he ever could, but because it also kept the other Mech busy and focused on something.

He didn't even notice the other Vehicon make his way over and stand silently to one side, having gotten the readouts of the other sample. He was so utterly focused. They both were – even if it was hard to tell from the inky black visor of the mech beside him.

Eventually, things began to make sense.

It still didn't make sense in a 'why was this coding put into place' way, but the directives that'd been given were clear. They'd been told to change Energon into crystals – but only when exposed and not being moved through lines.

Another portion of the code instructed them to corrupt. This meant that if anyone had come into contact with any of this tainted Energon – those broken nanites would quickly overwhelm and overtake the healthy nanites of another. Maybe that would narrow it down a little into how Soundwave had gotten it from Flatline, but also brought into question how Flatline, a scientist, and so-called medic, had let this go unnoticed.

The third portion was a little scarier. The nanites had been instructed to basically use the basic chemical makeup of Energon itself. Breaking it down and turning it into an irritant – did this explain why they eventually snapped? If Knock Out had pushed that irritant to its breaking point with the numbing agent somehow...

The code was honestly terrifying. Clever, very very clever – but wow. This could get out of hand very fast, and who knew how far it'd spread already if all it took was one corrupted nanite to do this much damage.

Whoever had put this together had some skill – and he began to even question the suspects he'd thought about from both sides. If it was Soundwave that'd done this, why was he helping pick apart the code? It couldn't have been him.

The sudden blip from beside him made him flinch, realizing then just how focused he'd been – and he'd turn his attention and gaze up to the Spymaster. Optics squinting some in thought at what was being displayed.

…

He'd forgotten all about the damn silver mass he'd extracted from both Soundwave and Flatline, and nowhere in the code had any portion that highlighted why they'd been there to begin with. Obviously it was a part of this whole mess, but it didn't seem like the nanites had been instructed to build such things.

Unless it was the scrambled nonsense code at the end there? Some form of confusing loop and the only thing they could logically think to solve said loop was to build the useless 'organ' that did nothing? He hadn't worked out what they were trying to reference. Something outdated? It made no sense to him.

He cast a wary glance to the unconscious Flatline. Maybe he'd know.

A vent inward, a brief moment, a precious fraction of a second to gather his thoughts, he'd turn his attention to the Vehicon who'd been waiting ever so patiently.

“The readout is done? Thank you – seems I lost track of time there.” he pulled himself away from the console to take the readout, looking it over with a soft frown. “Appreciate you going through it.” that'd save him a few moments at least – and he was grateful that not all Vehicons were utterly useless.

“Mm, just as I thought – differences seem minimal.” that was good, at least. If it'd been completely different it'd only add more onto his long list of things to do. Didn't help explain things at all, but at least it was without a doubt the same thing as Soundwave.

“I believe the best course of action now is to rouse Flatline. Now we have the basics of the code laid out, maybe he can give some insight into how it came about and help work out what some of the nonsense parts are. Could you check the restraints on him while I get things ready?” this time he planned to give Flatline a painkiller before he was woken, not wanting a repeat of what happened last time.

Maybe they should call the other Vehicon back, he only now becoming aware of how much time had passed since his departure – if Flatline was still screaming and in pain even despite what he planned to do? He didn't want it to somehow trigger Soundwave and.. well, the more help they had, even if it was just himself and two Vehicons? The better.

[Soundwave]

"Of course."

The Vehicon announced simply once he was addressed, dipping down his helm slightly while holding over the datapad so that Knock Out could look it over himself. Everything was nicely organized into columns, with Flatline's readout on the right, and Soundwave's settled on the left. Differences were outlined, and a box containing all the variables was posted at the bottom, where he then pointed.

"I separated the differences here-"

He probably didn't need to point it out, but he was being as helpful as he could to streamline things, arms looping down to rest at his lower back afterwords. He would wait patiently then, watching the Chief Medical Offer intently, though occasionally glancing over to the silent mech that was observing them both like a hawk. It was exceptionally unsettling, but he forced himself to look back when hew directives were being put out.

"Yes sir."

A sharp nod of the helm again, and the trooper moved back over to Flatline, where he started checking, and double checking the restraints. While Flatline wasn't physically the strongest one around, having him unable to potentially hurt others, and even himself, was for the best. Because of this, he tightened the straps until the material creaked, making the limbs completely immobile.

"Is there anything you want me to collect?"

Meanwhile, Soundwave was already trying to process possible cure ideas since the subject matter shifted away from the odd organ. To most, it may have been seemingly flippant the way Knock Out didn't even regard what was said, but Soundwave knew his silent words were heard, and that the reminder was made. There was no need for vocal cues for any of these things, and as such, he moved on to these other thoughts.

Overall, they had a few options here, but very few were even remotely viable.

While it could be easy to assume a complete transfusion could solve the issue, there was a large problem with the fact that all it would take is a single Nanite for things to go south again. One single little straggler that got stuck and left behind, would be able to slowly infect every other one gradually, before everything started all over again. That was simply not an effective method, but it was a means to stave off the effects perhaps. If they needed more time, which... was a possibility, they may need to consider it with Flatline and himself, to try to force clarity of mind. Though, it would flush out the Nanites that were there and compromise healing abilities, but that was an acceptable tradeoff.

Secondly, was an external purge, looping an Energon line through a device that would reprogram and cleanse the corruption. It could act as a sort of 'dialysis' to clean up impurities and fix the damaged Nanites. However, like the first option, this could prove troublesome with any single straggler that was stuck elsewhere in the system. No... they needed a more complex response.

They needed to fight fire with fire.

These things were actively attacking and reprogramming others that did not match, to try to clone themselves effectively. This was unacceptable, and they needed to consider reversing it. Turning Nanites against each other however could be dangerous, and the sway of power could go either way since no one was inherently better than another. Such delicate tools were not made to undergo their own war. Would they need to construct something new? A sort of 'apex predator' to hunt through and fix things? It seemed like a logical solution on first thought, an injection with a new form of Nanite that’s entire purpose is to reprogram with cleansed code.

Or they could just completely nuke their system.

A low sort of 'poison' could be injected into an infected individual. Something that literally kills off any Nanites that were remotely functional. The poison could be permitted to run its course long enough every single line is corrupted, and then a neutralizer could be put into play to make it safe. Any cuts, any small internal tears however, could be left to slowly drip and leak and bleed for some time without these most basic of auto repairs... but... if it purged it all properly? And once things were neutralized? They could introduce new Nanites that were completely free from outside influence.

While the other worked towards rousing Flatline, Soundwave started to jot down some of these options, the final call of course being for the Medic.

[Knock Out]

“I see this, thank you.” The Vehicon hadn't needed to go to all the extra effort of separating and highlighting everything between the two samples, but Knock Out did appreciate it regardless. He'd read countless of these readouts in his time that he could tell the discrepancies quickly, but would never reprimand someone for making his life just a little easier – especially with how stressed he was at present.

He did have to give Vehicons more credit sometimes. He saw them as a majority of idiots for the most part, hardly giving them the time of day, unlike Breakdown, simply because he didn't see them as worthy. They came in to his medical bay to waste time, getting themselves injured in ways that could've been very much avoided if they'd only used some common sense. He didn't think highly of them at all – and yet some, like this one here, were proving their worth. After almost losing everything, including his own spark – maybe he'd make a point of being a little nicer to their cannon fodder. Course this mindset would probably only last a week or so before he became frustrated at their collective idiocy, but it was the thought that counted.

As the Vehicon moved over to check on Flatline, Knock Out would set the datapad down once he'd skimmed it over with his optics. The question asked made him hum quietly in thought, and he'd shake his helm.

“Mm, no - but you should probably call your friend over the comms to see if he's still even with us, once the restraints have been checked, at any rate.”

A long digit would tap idly on the table in thought, he wasn't watching the Vehicon as he worked – simply trusting him to do what was asked.

After seeing the readout of the nanite and the full depth of the coding that'd been put in place, he realized that his original idea of simply draining the tainted Energon from those that'd been infected and doing a transfusion of sorts may not be the best method of going about things. All it took was one stray nanite with this rogue coding to remain somehow, and all the hard work would be undone. Plus, with the loss of their ship they no longer even had the resources to even attempt this – especially on the scale that it'd eventually be needed. He knew without a doubt that others would've been infected with this – if someone as careful as Soundwave had? Well, what hope did that leave the rest of them?

Not much.

His processor had gone down the same routes as Soundwave – thinking up other ways to tackle the problem at hand. A dialysis could probably work, but with the lack of equipment they had at their disposal? Would take far, far too long. If they had to do all the remaining Vehicons and not to mention everyone else – just to be on the safe side, even if they were lucky and not everyone had been infected? It'd take months to complete in full – and that was with the equipment here at the DMZ and what little he had back at Blackridge.

Ah, he missed his med bay so much.

Reprogramming the nanites was an option – the coding was simple and it wasn't like it was hidden behind firewalls or other obstacles. Hacking into them to change the coding probably wouldn't be too much of an issue, especially for someone like Soundwave. If they could get the nanites to seek out infected ones and in turn reverse the rogue coding? Maybe that'd work. But that ran the risk of it looping – stray infected corrupting non-infected... they'd spend their time fighting amongst themselves to reverse the others coding and wouldn't do what they were supposed to.

Killing off the nanites was another thing that came to mind – surely they had enough Energon reserves with healthy nanites to reintroduce to people, but that was a huge, huge risk. Being without nanites meant they'd have to halt any and all Energon mining and production, they'd all have to be effectively smothered in bubble wrap so they didn't injure themselves and bleed out.

All had pros, and all had cons. Maybe it would be as simple as a vaccine – Flatline must know where this had come from, maybe he knew how to fix it. The unidentified organ still needed to be looked at and examined, but if he could get answers from Flatline as to what it even was – it'd save him a lot of work in having to dissect the damn thing.

With a long, vent of a sigh, he resigned himself to the fact he was going to try again at waking the black and red mech that'd got them into this mess, and would take a few steps over toward the berth where he was currently laying. The machine beside him was one from the Nemesis, thankfully, which meant that all it took was a couple of button presses and some re-calibration – and a painblocker would begin to run through Flatline's lines, unlike the last time they'd tried this.

“Here goes nothing, I suppose.” he murmured, typing in a command and giving the machine a moment. 

::Keep an optic on Soundwave, please.:: A quiet word over the private comm to the Vehicon. While he didn't expect Flatline to wake up shrieking in pain like before, the fact Soundwave was currently idle and doing nothing – at least on the outside – worried him.

And with that, the medical stasis was lifted – and he'd take a half step back to observe. Even with the restraints in place, he was wary - not forgetting what those claws had done to his faceplate so effortlessly.

[Flatline]

It all felt like an awful dream.

Chaos, aggression... a consuming hatred that surged through his frame like venom... he had felt so much anger, so much pure unbridled rage that it felt downright surreal. This would have been odd enough for the medic, but the events that followed soon after shifted and blurred together like watercolor, the medical bay blending into the hallways, hallways smearing into water that flowed across his frame with a biting chill that could not hope to cut through the burning rage. Fear, and pain, memories streaking into long swaths to find himself strapped to a medical table.

The agony was blinding, his own screams fading into a numbed buzz in his ears. The surrealism of it all was simply hard to elaborate on, so difficult to piece through. What happened first? What was next? Who had hurt him...? There were no answers to be found in this clouded miasma he floated in, stuck in a stagnant limbo as ghosted feelings nagged at the back of his processor as if his internals were being pulled out of him. Gutted alive... How much of him would remain after all this? What was even real anymore...?

Unlike the first time that Flatline was roused from his slumber, there was no immediate shriek of distress and pain. In fact... things seemed to be going in a completely opposite direction more towards him actually staying asleep rather than being woken up by the commands lifting the medical stasis. His frame was so ragged, so worn down, and frankly so very tired, that his systems weren't really too keen on trying to rouse him to the waking world from the nightmare he drifted through, but it wasn’t really something that could last, and after a few moments the grayed out optics that had previously held no light to them, seemed to flick and flicker with illumination.

Vaguely triangular eyes blearily opened to stare up at the ceiling, the optical crystals seeming to be a pale red color, while the lens plate in the centermost point was a bright white, flared too big at first. This circular disk contracted as it stared up at the light, mechanisms flicking and spiraling to adjust and try to limit the amount of illumination that was actually being taken in.

Flatline was confused, his frame was numbed and didn't really feel like it was under his control at this point, but he was thinking, and he was trying to put together just what was happening here. The silent thought could almost be read on his features, recognizing that the overhead lights weren't familiar, and starting to get a bead on just what was going on. With this settling into place, the black and red mech broke his gaze from the ceiling, carefully looking over to see the figure that was standing beside him.

Oh...

Knock Out...

Blinking slowly, Flatline didn't speak; he merely continued to look disoriented while he slogged through trying to catch up with what was happening here.

Was this still a dream?

Breaking his gaze away slowly, Flatline tried to lift his helm a bit to look down, his secondary's flexing a bit as they pulled away from his frame. The movement was stilted and unnatural, the painkillers making his already hindered mobility that much more so, but it didn’t matter either way, as he noticed that the slender limbs were bound together, his fingertips flaring a bit before everything laid down against his chest once again, and he put his head back, eyes half closed.

"My leg... gone?"

Spoken slowly, uncertain, words almost slurring in their formation, the exhaustion he felt was so prominent his voice was even hoarse and tired. However the simple question betrayed also how disoriented he was, remembering that someone had kicked in his knee and snapped the thin limb backwards. His legs were so precariously built even when not damaged, that he was pretty sure his leg was gone, a worry fueled by the fact he couldn’t even feel it.

[Soundwave]

Across the room, everything had seemed to go on standstill.

Well... that was normal for Soundwave, but not so much the Vehicon.

The trooper had moved to try to contact his comrade from the computer terminal beside Soundwave, which was scary enough as is... but he only got so far as to pull up the proper frequency to begin talking, before things had seemed to go sideways across the room. He didn't know what to expect when Flatline was going to be roused. Would he be savage like the rumors had said he was? Would he be normal? Maybe he simply wouldn't even have woken up to begin with? It was hard to say, especially since this thing that was going around seemed so foreign to them all. Killing the individual who contracted it may have been an eventual end goal if Knock Out hadn't intervened.

This uncertainty and caution, made it so that the Vehicon did not send the request for information from the other soldier, and instead, stood by the computer terminal to warily watch and make sure nothing was going to go amiss. There was some worry he may not have done the restraints properly when the disjointed individual lifted up his second pair of arms to test them, but it soon became apparent that he wasn’t going to be breaking free anytime soon.

Nearby, Soundwave was in a similar inactive state.

Observing exactly how Flatline responded in these few moments may hold some kind of data that could be used later on to understand the disease further. While it appeared they got a moderately acceptable ((though not GOOD)) grasp on how things appeared to work, there was no telling what recordings of such events like this could assist later on. Small tells, small quirks, information that may be missed on first viewing...

Because of this consideration, Soundwave's inky black visor was locked down onto Knock Out and Flatline with absolute focus. He made sure that both where comfortably in his field of vision, to properly record everything that may happen in these next few moments. In a way, he became an inanimate camera, not interacting, not commenting, not looming above either of them...

Simply watching and waiting.

[Knock Out]

Knock Out frowned at how long it seemed to be taking to rouse Flatline this time around.

Was it because that even without looking, he could tell Soundwave was watching him intently - and that alone seemed to drag time to a standstill due to the pressure he felt? Was it because he'd somehow messed things up in inputting the command to wake Flatline? No, that was impossible – he'd checked and double checked, the likelihood of him making a mistake was slim to none! Flatline was still online, his vitals – albeit weak – were still in the range of normal and gave no cause for concern.

Had that idiot Vehicon done something to Flatline in the brief moment of him being over here beside him? Something that'd prevent him from waking?

A lot of thoughts could go through one's processor when nothing was happening except pressure mounting for a good result, and it was here Knock Out found himself as he kept his gaze and attention on the black and red mech before him, with the occasional brief glance at the machine beside him to check that things were still alright.

He was trying to play it cool, and try to disguise the fact that some nervousness had crept into play.

Come on Flatline...

...

A flicker of illumination, small and barely noticeable at first - but after another agonizingly long second, Flatline's optics were open. They weren't completely white like they had been when he'd attacked, and while the red they were now was horribly pale? It was a mild improvement and something to be noted. Had the removal of the unfamiliar organ been the cause of them shifting back?

Something to look into.

After the last time he'd awoken the black and red mech from his sleeping state, he took a cautious step back almost without thinking about it – although not far enough away to be completely out of the other mech's line of sight.

The silence was good. This was good – already leaps and bounds ahead in terms of how it was going compared to last time. Even despite the fact he'd given Flatline a healthy dose of painkillers, he expected him to wake up screaming like last time.

Or at the very least, completely feral like before.

But there was nothing but quiet, and Knock Out would gently take a step closer so he could look over the other mech, namely the vitals on the screen as he roused fully and became more lucid. He watched as a weak attempt at movement was made, silently thankful for the restraints and the fact they held true, even if it seemed that for now, Flatline wasn't about to lash out and lunge in for an attempted attack.

A voice then. Slow words, hoarsely croaked out. A question. Good – that meant that Flatline was aware of things that'd happened. Or at least, some things.

“Glad you could finally join us, Flatline.” he offered a weak smile “No, your leg is still there.” it was taking absolutely everything in him not to boast gleefully over how he'd essentially saved Flatline's life let alone his leg, but there was definitely a time and place – and under the scrutinizing gaze of Soundwave was certainly not it.

“How are you feeling? Are you able to answer some questions for me?”

He was being kind, taking his time. He could just throw question after question like a battering ram at the other mech, but given he seemed a little out of it, he would go at Flatline's pace – at least for now.