*Looks about sheepishly and waves* Hi. Well this has been a long time coming I know. Unfortunately the chaos that I wrote about 4 or is it 5? Months ago descended into absolute madness. I'm still dealing with things, but I figured now that my computer was working again and I'm all caught up with homework for the first time since the new school semester started that I would try to get another chapter done and voila! Here it is.
As always special thanks goes out to Yami-Yugi3, PrancingTiger86, AotA, sockets, Lambor Terror Lep, iNsAnE nO bAkA, Glass lady, and bbfan7410 for all the kind reviews.
I hope this chapter answers some questions everyone must be wondering about. I have to admit that this was fun to write.
Possession-Chapter Two
"Yes, Jazz." Ratchet confirmed for Prowl as he put the mirror back into his subspace.
"But how?" Prowl asked weakly, still overcome by the shock of the revelation.
"I don't know if you'll remember this little detail but the Decepticons unveiled a new weapon at the last battle. It was an energy weapon of some kind." Ratchet started explaining, shaking his head in absolute exasperation at the Decepticon's antics.
"As far as we can tell the new weapon was designed to transfer all the systems from one mech's frame into another mech's frame. We assume that the ultimate goal for the machine was to transfer Megatron into Prime's body."
"Prime!" Prowl straightened up in alarm.
Ratchet put a hand on Prowl's shoulder to prevent him from rising up any further.
"Calm down" Ratchet said to the SIC firmly "he didn't succeed."
"The machine malfunctioned somehow?" Prowl inquired, anxious to know more about how he had ended up in Jazz's body.
Ratchet snorted and threw Prowl a sardonic look. "The machine worked fine. It's you and Jazz that bungled things up." Ratchet paused for a click to order his thoughts before continuing the explanation.
"We think that the weapon targeted you and Jazz instead of Megatron and Prime when you both tried to shove Prime out of the way of the beam that the machine produced. The simplest explanation that we can come up with is that you both touched Optimus just as the beam hit him and threw the weapons targeting system and setting calculations off." Ratchet said while leveling the tactician with a glare that expressed just how stupid he thought Prowl was for jumping into the path of an unknown weapon. Prowl scooted back unconsciously, having been on the receiving end of the lecture that accompanied that particular look on more than one occasion.
"The results of which, of course, you have seen for yourself." Ratchet gestured at the SIC who was in the wrong body before standing up.
"Now then" Ratchet pushed firmly on Prowl's shoulder and forced him back to a laying position. "I'm going to call Prime and let him know that you've rejoined the land of the functional. Don't get up." Ratchet warned the tactician sternly before picking up Prowl's empty energon cube and heading for his office.
Prowl for his part was silently absorbing all the information he had been given. After a few moments he finally asked the most obvious and important question that he kept coming back to.
"Ratchet if I'm in Jazz's body then where is Jazz?"
Ratchet paused in mid stride, halfway across the medbay.
Turning around slowly, Ratchet gazed at the recovering mech with serious blue optics, apparently debating with himself about whether or not he should answer Prowl's question.
With a relenting shoulder slump the medic turned around again and strode back over to Prowl's bedside.
"After running some tests we determined that all of your systems were completely downloaded into Jazz's body." Ratchet said, not immediately answering Prowl.
"And Jazz?" Prowl prompted, wanting to know what had happened to the saboteur.
"All of his systems are still intact and functional as far as we can tell."
"So he's still present?" Prowl was clearly astonished at this newest information.
"Yes." Ratchet admitted. "Essentially what it all comes down to is that you are both sharing his body at the moment."
Prowl looked down at Jazz's body, clearly disturbed at that notion.
"We're sharing his body?" Prowl asked for clarification.
"Yes." Ratchet reaffirmed, giving Prowl time to sort through what he had just been told.
Armed with this knowledge Prowl shut-down his optics and conducted an in-depth diagnostic and system search. Despite a few anomalies' pinging back at him which he could only attribute to Jazz's operating system, he couldn't get any other readings from Jazz at all.
"I can't sense him." Prowl stated after the diagnostic was complete. "Is that normal?"
Ratchet let out a shudder of air through his vents and met Prowl's optics.
"We don't know. All we have right now are suppositions. We know that Jazz's systems are still present and functioning, but despite extensive efforts we've been unable to awaken him or bring him back in control of his body. We think he went into systems lock due to the violence of having your systems downloaded into his frame so suddenly. He should come out of it, but we don't know when. It could be tomorrow or it could be next week. There's just no way to tell for sure."
Prowl considered this newest information before asking the next most obvious question that flashed into his processor.
"If my systems are suppressing Jazz's and preventing him from regaining consciousness then downloading me back into my frame would solve the problem. Why don't you just put me back into my body?"
Ratchet shifted on his feet, looking distinctly uncomfortable.
"I would Prowl, except that we don't have your body at the moment."
Prowl gazed almost uncomprehendingly at the medic.
"Then where…?" Prowl managed to get out of his vocalizer.
"I'm sorry Prowl, but the Decepticon's took it." Ratchet explained with tones of deep sympathy lacing his voice.
*Cue evil music* Dun Dun Dun. I almost fell sorry for what I'm doing to Jazz and Prowl. Almost. But what fun would it be if I didn't? In any case I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. See you next chapter (whenerver that will be). KG.