Loader Drones are Terrifying
A G1 AU fanfic. Chapter 2
Disclaimer: I own naught but the plot and OC. Flames will be ignored.
Max was alone. Again. Wheeljack had to leave the lab to fight the Decepticons with the rest of the Autobots. Which meant he had to stay behind in the Ark for safety. Normally this wasn't really a problem, as he had plenty to do that Wheeljack couldn't really help with anyways, or could be handled with the loader drone he had left behind. Except this time, he didn't have the knowledge or skill to fabricate the next part that needed to be installed, so he had to wait until 'Jack came back.
Speaking of the loader drone. Max had found himself maneuvering it so that its single eye was never looking at him while he worked. He couldn't explain why it felt like it was watching him. But it had slowly inched into his nerves. After triple checking the equipment and making certain nothing was likely to cause a fire by being unattended, Max decided to go see who else was left behind to watch the base.
Max also admitted to himself he had only barely met most of the bots in the few times he had been on walkabout in the Ark. Still, even with only a brief introduction, Optimus Prime made an impression. He could see why so many bots follow him so readily. The sheer force of presence he had in a room was palatable.
As Max stepped out of Wheeljack's lab, he wondered if Spike and or Carly were in the base today. The two were the only ones who seemed to regularly check up on him and Wheeljack while he was around. He was so lost in thought, he didn't even hear Steeljaw's approach.
"Oh good, I found you at the right time!" Steeljaw remarked, smirking when Max jerked in surprise.
"Jeeze! Thats the third time you've snuck up on me! You need to wear a bell or something!" Max grumbled as he tried to will his heart to stop trying to climb out of his throat.
"Carly tried that already." Steeljaw grinned. "Anyways, Spike and Carly are in the Medbay with Ratchet and Windcharger. Ratchet's having some trouble getting the tiny bits of shrapnel out of Windcharger, and Carly browbeat him into accepting help. Unfortunately its a lot, and we could use the additional hands to help get it out."
Max chuckled slightly at the image that conjured up in his mind. "Sure.. I'll help. Can't really do anything more right now until Wheeljack gets back."
"Yeah? Heh, to tell you the truth we were a bit worried about having a human working full time in 'Jack's lab.. but.. there has been a sharp decline in lab accidents. We aren't sure if he's being extra careful.. or your keeping him distracted from the more dangerous stuff. Frankly? Ratchet could hug you.. but don't tell him I said that." Steeljaw chuckled as he led the way to the Medbay.
"It probably helps we're fabricating most of the parts from raw material.. rather than simply re-using junk parts.." Max noted, though he honestly didn't understand how some of Jack's projects explode with as much force as they do. He privately figured it had to do with the use of Energon as a power source. "So... you're quite a bit different from most bots.. I think Wheeljack said you were a cassette? What does that mean exactly?"
"Its.. complicated.. the long and short of it is that we're symbionts of a larger mech... its a pretty rare sort of thing though." Steeljaw trailed off. "Ah here we are.. go ahead and go in.. I'm heading back to the comm room.. Blaster needs me there."
"Not fond of the medbay?" Max asked with a smirk as he approached the door.
"More like the bay isn't fond of bots who don't need fixing!" Steeljaw replied. "You'll understand soon enough!"
Max shook his head and headed on inside as the door whooshed open.. "Hey Ratchet?" He looked up to see Ratchet looming over a medical berth. Presumably with Windcharger, Spike, and Carly on it. "Steeljaw said you needed an extra set of hands?"
Ratchet paused and looked down. "Its about time you got here! And yes.. we do." He spoke as he reached down to pick Max up and bring him onto the table.. where he could see both Spike and Carly shoulder deep in Windcharger's frame. "Windcharger took a messier hit than we thought. He tried to use his magnet to shred a Decepticon device.. which promptly exploded in his face. What we didn't realize until we opened him up was that it was filled with ground shrapnel. Grab some gloves and pair of pliers from the box over there, please." Ratchet grumbled as he set max back down. "If you see something sharp and pointy wedged into something, let me know before you pull it out.."
"Yeah, you don't want to accidentally unplug an Energon leak.. stuff burns skin like nobody's business." Spike stated before looking up and setting another hunk of jagged metal aside. "Good to see you outside 'Jack's lab, Max."
Max didn't waste any time grabbing the gloves and getting to work. Though he had to stop himself from gawking at Windcharger's insides. "Yeah well.. we've been pretty busy building the converter. I think I've learned more in his lab, than in all my hours in college."
"I heard they managed to work a deal so that you're getting college credits while doing it. How's that working out for you?" Carly noted as she spread a few cables for a better look. "Got a wedged one here Ratchet."
Max briefly watched Ratchet move around the berth to get a look at what Carly had found. "Hmm not deep enough to penetrate the casing. Go ahead and yank it and apply sealant. Autorepair will fix the damage." He stated before going back to the spot he was working on.
"Its working out pretty good too, and I'm actually getting paid pretty fairly.. which is nice." Max conceded. "Though getting to work with Wheeljack himself is starting to turn out to be the best part of the whole deal." Max grinned, even as he scooped out a couple of loose fragments that were clinging to the inside of Windcharger's frame.
"Its good for 'Jack too. That bot needs to socialize more." Ratchet noted. "Prowl was stunned when he offered to pick you up himself. I don't think he even actually heard Wheeljack's reasoning before he okayed it."
"Why is that? I mean.. he's about on par with most of the engineering students I've met... the serious ones anyways." Max asked as he poked a chunk that seemed wedged in a cable. "Heres one in one of his cables.. its dripping a little around the edges."
Ratchet leaned over and peered at it carefully before taking a tiny clamp from his box and placing it above the puncture, then placing a pan beside Max. "I'm going to clamp the bottom of the line and unplug it.. once its in the tray I'm going to unclamp it and let it drain. You need to pull that shard out very slowly as the line drains out. Then grab this line patch and press it over the damage. It'll get very warm and turn a bit orange.. when it does you can let go and I'll plug the line back in and unclamp the other end." He instructed.
Max nodded and carefully followed Ratchet's instruction. Being extra careful to not let the Energon get on him as he applied the patch.
"To answer your question." Spike started as he pulled a few shards out himself. "Jack's got a bit of a reputation.. that causes bots to keep their distance more often than not. He hides how it bothers him by throwing himself into his projects. Heck Skids is half convinced thats why he keeps that loader drone in there.. so he has 'company' while he works in his lab."
"That... thing should be melted down for scrap." Ratchet grumbled as he removed the clamp and went back the fragments he was working on. "The mere existence of that model of drone is an embarrassment to Cybertronians everywhere. I know its not a first gen model.. or the third or forth one for that matter. Its the sixth. But it still looks like the first."
Max looked up at about the same time the others did. "Huh? What do you mean?" Max asked.
"Keep working.. I'll explain." Ratchet sighed. "Wheeljack doesn't know this story.. and few do... for good reason. Nova Prime made certain few bots ever knew how the first drone was made. It was shameful even then.. but we needed a workforce capable of upholding the standards of living in our 'golden age' while not forcing bots to work in dull and dirty jobs. A number of attempts were made.. but..as your own people have learned. Programming an AI is extremely difficult." Ratchet began. "Most were dimwitted, easily confounded failures."
"Then.. one day.. something unfortunate happened. A sparkling was born... but he was.. defective.. in many ways. He had no will... no mind of his own.. his protoform was misshapen in a manner very similar to how that drone is built. But he could do any simple task instructed of him." Ratchet grimaced. "He was a medical anomaly that we didn't know what to do with. Nova in his.. wisdom decided that such a life was not worth living.. and thus had him put down. Upon autopsy.. however. A discovery was made. He had no true spark. Instead a strange amalgamation of circuits and wire sat at the core of his spark chamber. It was from that thing... we learned how to make Vehicon cores."
Ratchet paused for a long moment letting the room grow silent before continuing. "The first models were made by dropping duplicates in blank protoforms. That was the second shame.. no bot was ever to be told that protoforms.. that were secretly being grown in labs... were at the base of these things' construction. The truth didn't come out until after the fourth generation was in wide use. There was an outcry.. but it was largely suppressed by Nova's clever manipulations.. and declaration that new models would be constructed without the use of protoforms. And since the easily replicated cores were not true sparks.. it allayed most bots concerns. Even then, they didn't know how the Vehicon cores were invented or being replicated."
"Oh.. jeeze.. I guess that does explain why so many bots don't like them." Max grimaced, having mentally compared it to the issues with stem cell research, and how divided people were over the idea.
"Only Prime and Perceptor also know about the cores. Ironhide remembers the protoform scandal... but he's unaware of the origin of the cores. That's why he's not bothered by the seventh gen model, which looked much different visually. Its generally.. not something we want to remember, however. I suspect even if you told Wheeljack, he wouldn't understand. He's too utilitarian to attach a mental stigma on something's appearance just because it had an unfortunate history. Other bots.. well I can't speak for them. Many have that common disdain for sparkless machines. I don't know why this one inspires so much fear, however. Shame and disdain, I understand.. fear? No. You would have to ask them why they fear the slagging thing."
"So you aren't afraid of it?" Carly asked.
"Did I say that? No. Slagging thing makes my spinal struts twitch. Something about it just feels.. off." Ratchet admitted.
"What about Kup? I thought he was older than everyone here?" Max asked as he delicately pulled a shard that came dangerously close to an Energon line. "You think he might have a better idea?"
Ratchet paused and thought for a moment. "I really can't say for certain. That bot has forgotten more things in this universe than any of us have seen. I do know he was stationed off planet around the time the fourth gens were in heavy use for off world mining. If you're lucky.. he'll remember enough to tell you about it."
"Perhaps we should talk about something other than Wheeljack's creepy loader drone." Spike insisted.
"Right.." Max reluctantly agreed before turning his attention to the rest of the bot in front of him. "So, what am I looking at exactly?"
"Hmm I suppose its as good a time as any for a short anatomy lesson." Ratchet surmised. "The part your working around right now is a secondary Energon pump, one of five linked to his weapon system. This here," Ratchet pointed to Windcharger's chest, "is his spark chamber. You can't see his spark because he's got an extra armor plate covering and protecting it and his degaussing system. Its what saved his life when the bomb exploded."
"Extra? Most bots don't have that armor there?" Max asked.
"Right, its normally built into our outer armor, like the metal plate in human ballistic vests. Windcharger's different because of his magnetic system. His plate has to pull double duty to protect his own spark from getting depolarized, so it was linked up to the degaussing system." Ratchet explained. "It isn't normally done this way because its quite a lot of work to reach his park chamber if we need to do emergency repairs.. or a spark transfer. It will also cause.. erm.. issues.. if he was trying to ah.. create a sparkling.. Suffice to say... if he finds a bot he wants to settle down with.. it will have to be removed..." Ratchet trailed off as he noticed the humans were blushing bright red.
"Right! Anyways.. down here is the T-Cog." Ratchet quickly changed the subject, much to the humans' relief. "This part is pretty standard, most bots only have one.. some have multiple ones.. and there are few that are of a different design entirely."
"Would multiple ones mean they have multiple forms?" Max inquired as he tried reach a particularly hard to get shard. Then Spike reached over and helped move a cable out of the way so he could slide further in and grab it.
"Typically yes. Combiners usually have a special secondary T-cog as well. But they have their own problems that come with that." Ratchet nodded.
"Like how Devastator, Bruticus, and Menasor have varying mental problems?" Spike asked.
"Exactly. Even Superion and Computron suffer from them." Ratchet added. "That secondary T-cog is made to communicate to other T-cogs of its make and network the components together. Its a great idea in theory... but in practice... the minds just don't work well together. Making them at best.. blunt instruments... usually."
"And at worst, raving abominations." Carly supplied. "I've heard about some of Shockwave's experiments."
"But multiple alternate modes work just fine, for the most part. Blitzwing was probably cracked before he got upgraded. Shockwave probably made it worse on purpose." Ratchet noted solemnly.
"I think we've found all the shards we can." Spike announced before Ratchet retrieved his scanner to confirm.
"Alright, stand back while I bolt some of his plating back on, and give him a reboot. He'll have to wait until we can make him a new chest piece, but no sense in having him offline if we don't need him to be offline." Ratchet affirmed as he started collecting the various plates that seemed largely undamaged.
Max quietly noted the pile of badly mangled and twisted parts in the corner. "Yeesh.. I'm surprised the damage wasn't worse."
"Oh it was. I had to replace quite a few parts.. thats when I realized there was too much shrapnel to have come from a normal bomb." Ratchet noted as he bolted the armor back on. "His magnetic system did deflect it away from some of the worse places it could have ended up, however."
"Probably payback from when he shredded the last bomb they threw at him." Spike noted as he took a seat on one of Ratchet's wrenches.
"We'll probably never know for sure." Ratchet stated before plugging a lead into Windcharger's head and pressing a few buttons on his datapad.
It was a few moments before the patient sat up suddenly, exclaiming "I got it! I got-.. oh.." he looked around.. blinking sheepishly. "I guess I did get it."
-Clang!- "You sorry excuse for a rusty lugnut! Don't you ever do anything that stupid again!" Ratchet scolded as he smacked Windcharger with a wrench. "Look at all these pieces of shrapnel I.. WE had to pull out of your sorry frame! You are lucky the humans were able to help me pull out all the tiny shards in your systems!"
"It worked so well last time.. it seemed like a good idea to try again!" Windcharger insisted.
"I expect that from Wheeljack.. but not you!" Ratchet shot back.
"Uhm.. I think we're gonna grab a bite in the rec room while you sort out the patient." Carly insisted, tugging Spike to his feet. "You you should come with us, Max.. give them some space."
"Uh.. sure.." Max paused, realizing he had not ate since dinner last night.
Ratchet blinked, pausing his scolding just long enough to help the humans down from the berth, before returning his attention to Windcharger.
Max, Carly, and Spike wasted no time in escaping the ensuing lecture on common sense, and bots that don't use the sense they were programmed with.
Much later, and after a raid on the mini-fridge. The only three humans currently on the ark were enjoying a very late lunch. Or Spike was, at the very least. Max was busy edging away from Carly who seemed to suddenly be very interested in his face.
"You have no stubble." Carly eventually declared. "A whole day, without shaving, and you don't even have a five o'clock shadow."
Max frowned. "I don't like shaving, and I don't want a beard or any of that. So I spent my first check getting it all lasered off. Its not that unusual." Max insisted.
"No need to get defensive.. though that does explain the thinned eyebrows." She stated as she resumed eating her sandwich.
"Did that hurt at all?" Spike asked. ".. and how much does it cost? I've not heard much about it."
"Don't you dare get rid of your scruff! I like you better with a little bit of stubble than none at all." Carly quickly interjected.
"Relax, I'm just asking!" Spike proclaimed.
"Its a little pricey.. how much varies on the area you're getting removed. And.. it can hurt a little? Its like getting a sunburn at its worst." Max cautiously informed.
"Just don't let Ratchet know you willingly let someone burn out your facial hair with a laser. He's liable to flip.. until he has a better understanding of the process." Spike warned.
"What makes you think he doesn't already know about it?" Steeljaw stated as he entered the break room, grinning slightly as he took in the trio's surprise. "Ratchet might not see much of Max, but he isn't unobservant. Either way, he's heard the advertisements for it already. The resulting conversation was.. interesting to say the least."
"I imagine it had a lot of Ratchet calling us humans crazy for trying something like that." Carly stated between bites.
"He was rather okay with it actually." Steeljaw noted. "Prowl was the one who was confused by it."
"Prowl's confused by anything we humans do that isn't "logical." Spike insisted, throwing up air quotes around the word "logical."
"Hah!" Steeljaw laughed. "Understatement of the month."
"I don't see what isn't logical about it." Max muttered. "If you don't want the.. elsewise useless and purely cosmetic.. hair. You only have certain avenues to remove it. Shaving, waxing and chemicals are temporary at best.. and have some other downsides as well. Electrolysis is slow, arduous, painful and expensive. The laser removal is somewhere in the middle.. and is usually permanent."
"Took the words right outta Ratchet's vocalizer." Steeljaw chuckled. "But I recall that Prowl's main issue was his preconception of what qualifies as a laser. Which is typically a weapon, cutting tool, or aiming device... to name a few. He hadn't realized that they could be so finely turned to target specific types of organic tissue.. such as hair roots... and mostly ignore the remaining tissue.. sans some temporary irritation."
"Which begs the question..." Spike noted. "Why does Ratchet know so much about human hair removal?"
"Carly." Steeljaw simply stated.
"Huh? I never told him anything about that!" Carly insisted, suddenly alarmed.
"You didn't. He just noticed the bottle of Veet that one time you spilled your purse open in a desperate attempt to find you keys." Steeljaw nodded. "He looked it up later when he had a moment of spare time."
"At least he had the tact to not point it out at the time... and keep quiet about it." Max offered to Carly, who had turned slightly red when the subject was brought up.
"Unlike Wheeljack, who the concept is often lost upon." Spike joked.
"Oh he's not that bad." Max frowned. He had grown rather fond of Wheeljack, and had found his quirky personality interesting to say the least.
"I still wont forget the day he asked that one liaison why he was wearing a girdle." Spike snickered.
"In front of a visiting dignitary no less!" Carly laughed, brighting slightly, now that conversation had moved.
"I'm half convinced he did it on purpose." Steeljaw chuckled. "If only because that particular one kept trying to get us to cut back on Wheeljack's lab budget."
"Huh?" Max frowned. "This is the first I heard of this.. I didn't even know you had liaisons."
"Eh. They come and go. The bots try to keep good government relations with the US, and sometimes they appoint some thick headed bureaucrat to the position. Usually they're concerned about our resource consumption and allocation here." Spike explained. "They rarely get along well with the bots, and causing them grief has become a time honored tradition."
"Blaster thinks General Morshower picks them because of that reason." Steeljaw added. "He smiles too slagging much when they declare they quit or retire. Not to mention he never seems to gripe about the damages incurred to the liaison's car.. clothing.. or other equipment."
Max snickered. "That is both amusing and vaguely.. and.. no.. thats just straight up funny."
"Heh, Prowl's noted a marked decline in pranks on other bots by the twins whenever a liaison is around... so he quietly approves of this method of dealing with thick headed politicians." Steeljaw chuckled. "Prime's convinced he and the General have gotten together in secret to continue this trend."
Steeljaw paused and looked off into the distance. "They're back. Minimal injuries, though I'd stay clear of the med bay for a bit longer. Wheeljack's latest sticky bomb worked pretty well. Sadly, Sunny had to touch the stickied Con's. He managed to get free.. only to now have his hand stuck to Hound's aft." Steeljaw snickered. "He's absolutely livid now."
Al three humans snorted in laughed.. Spike crying out between barks of laughter. "Oh god.. I almost snorted a pickle!" Steeljaw just grinned, his work here was done!
End Part 2 R&R please!