Nobody Listens to Kix
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Star Wars: The Clone Wars or any related titles, characters, plots, settings, etc. These rights belong to Dave Filoni, George Lucas, the Walt Disney Company, and their various publishers and distributors. I own only the original elements of this story, the writing and publishing of which earn me no money.
WARNING: This chapter contains descriptions of mistreated cybernetics, infection, and things having to do with eye sockets. The descriptions are not graphic, but they are most certainly there. Please use caution if any of the listed items make you feel gross or ill. If you scroll to the bottom of the page, I will give a short summary of what happened without the icky parts.
Case 00811: Commander Wolffe
"Medic, we need you in the command tent right away," a trooper said from behind Kix.
Kix turned to look at the newcomer, immediately curious and concerned. He was only starting to set up the med gear as the battle hadn't started yet. As far as the Separatists knew, they were alone on the planet. Little did they know that the 501st, the 212th, and the 104th were all ready and waiting to take control.
He didn't recognize the trooper on-sight, but his armor and its gray designs screamed that he belonged to the Wolfpack. "What is it, trooper..?" he asked.
"Boost, sir," the man answered, giving a deep nod. Kix could sympathize: it was tricky to show respect through a helmet without saluting, and removing your bucket in an active warzone could mean an unpleasant death.
"Boost, then. I'm Kix. Can you tell me what the trouble is?"
Even through the heavy tint of the trooper's visor, Kix could see Boost's hesitation. "I- I can't, sir, sorry. I was only sent to bring you to the command tent."
Kix frowned. It was unlikely to be an emergency since he hadn't heard any blaster fire or shouting. The medical supplies still needed to be set up and they were meant to be his priority since the battle would start at first light… but he had to admit that he was intrigued.
"Listen, Boost, I'm a medic. Anything you tell me goes no further," Kix wheedled, trying for logic. "I need to know the basics so I know what kind of supplies I need to bring."
"It's the commander, sir," Boost admitted after a moment's pause to think. "His implant malfunctioned and he's having trouble getting it to reset."
With that information, Kix grabbed the small set of instruments he kept ready for when General Skywalker had trouble with his mechanical arm. In a motion made smooth from constant practice, he picked up his helmet and put it on one-handed, gesturing to the med tent's entrance as soon as the seal had been formed.
"After you, Boost."
Boost nodded and led him through the small camp. He wasn't rushing, exactly, but there was definitely a speed to his clipped steps that spoke of urgency. When he reached a large tent in the middle of the camp, he stopped, obviously willing to wait outside while Kix went to address whatever issue he would find inside.
Amused despite himself, Kix stepped through the tent's entrance with a small smile under his helmet, one that blossomed into a full-blown grin when he caught sight of Commander Wolffe for the first time.
Wolffe was sitting at one end of the room, scowling darkly at the trooper beside him. His natural brown eye was focused intently on the man, but the white-gray of his cybernetic eye was stuck staring up at the ceiling of the tent. Despite the furrowed brows, prominent frown, and stream of unprofessional language pouring from Wolffe's mouth, the overall effect was more comedic than anything. No matter how the rest of his face moved, the cybernetic eye was persistently pointed upward.
Clearly, one of the commander's infamous eye rolls had ended poorly, and Kix fought to keep himself from laughing aloud. Instead, the grin spread so wide that his jaw began to ache.
Even as Kix watched, the unknown brother made a comment about keeping an eye on the weather and Wolffe's frown deepened. From the markings on the trooper's armor, he was a sergeant. If Kix's memory was as reliable as he thought it was, that would make the unknown trooper Sergeant Sinker, a man well-known for his jokes and light-hearted attitude. It was an ongoing source of amusement for the clones that the most serious commander in all of the GAR should be partnered with the most cheerful sergeant.
Halfway through berating Sinker, Wolffe caught sight of Kix. "Karking finally," he said gruffly. "Took you long enough to get here."
Kix gave a perfunctory salute and smoothed his face into a neutral expression before removing his helmet. "Medic Kix, reporting."
"Any experience with cybernetics?" Commander Wolffe asked.
"Yes, sir," Kix affirmed. "General Skywalker has a cybernetic arm that he puts through the wringer on a regular basis. I've gotten quite proficient in repairing the systems."
A grunt was his only answer, so Kix busied himself removing his uniform gloves and wrist gauntlets before putting on a pair of medical gloves. "Is your eye a mounted or removable model?"
"Mounted."
"The eye itself, the socket, or both?"
Wolffe paused a moment. "The socket is mounted. The eye can be removed, but it's… unpleasant."
Kix watched the commander for a moment. "Unpleasant for you or unpleasant for me?"
"Unpleasant for everyone."
It wasn't much of an answer, but it didn't really matter; the eye had to come out if Kix was going to reset it. "Unfortunately, sir, I need it removed so I can fix the problem. Can you remove it yourself, or will you need assistance?"
Wolffe's natural eye moved toward Sinker minutely and Kix nodded to himself. "I apologize, Sergeant, but could we have the tent? The process can be extensive and is best done without onlookers."
"Sir?" Sinker asked, watching his commander.
Wolffe gave a single nod and Sinker left the tent, offering only a salute and a curious glance before he was gone.
"Thanks."
"No need to thank me, Commander," Kix said simply. "Any medical procedure tends to go more smoothly when the patient is comfortable. Now, do you need assistance removing your eye?"
"I- don't know," Wolffe admitted. "I've never taken it out before."
Kix winced at that. Surface-implanted cybernetics were supposed to be removed once a week for cleaning. He had only met Wolffe a few times, but Kix knew that the commander had gotten the prosthetic nearly a year before.
"I'll help you, then," Kix said decisively. "Fortunately, the removal is done by aiming the eye upward, so it's already in the correct position. I'm going to talk you through the process as I work, and next time, you'll be able to perform the cleaning yourself."
Commander Wolffe nodded once, grimacing as he did so. Kix felt the same way, but pressed on regardless.
"Mounted-socket cybernetic eyes have a cover with a lens for information intake. I'll remove the plate first, and it's set up to automatically disconnect the mag-link as we pull it away. We'll also remove the internal machinery, which is connected to the socket with another mag-link. When the internal machinery is out, only the permanently-mounted socket will remain. We won't do anything with that. Are you ready?"
Wolffe nodded, setting his jaw so tightly that muscles stood out in his cheeks. Deciding that the best course of action would be to perform his job as quickly and painlessly as possible, Kix set to work.
He held Wolffe's lower eyelid open and inserted a hooked tool into a small divot in the bottom side of the cover. It pulled off with little effort, though Kix waited to feel the mag-link disconnect before he pulled it away entirely. After setting the cover aside, he used the same hook to remove the machinery, setting it aside as well.
Wolffe grimaced again, and Kix fought not to mirror the motion. Even if the commander hadn't told him, Kix would have known that Wolffe had never removed the cybernetic for cleaning. The entirety of the machinery was coated with a thick layer of sludge. The worst part was the smell: a disconcerting combination of infection and burnt oil.
Thankful for the distraction, Kix turned away to submerge the inner mechanisms in a mild saline solution. He sealed the container and shook it sharply, continuing the action until the solution had turned a stomach-turning gray-brown.
After he had fished the small mass of mechanism from the solution, Kix turned his attention to the cover, scrubbing at it with a soft brush and some fresh saline. He fixed a few impossibly tiny screws he could see had loosened and tightened the base of a wire, but there wasn't a lot that needed repairs. Kix was willing to bet that the malfunction had happened purely due to the length of time since the cybernetic had been cleaned.
Finally, he turned back to Wolffe. "I'm going to use this brush to clean the socket," he warned. "You shouldn't feel much of it, but there may be an odd sensation."
When Wolffe gave another nod, Kix used the soft brush and more saline to gently buff the inside of the metal socket. When every trace of the sludge had been removed and the components had all completely dried, he set about reassembling the cybernetic eye.
Other than a bit of trouble connecting the mag-link between the internal components and the lens, there were no problems during the process. Kix watched closely as Wolffe closed the lid of his eye over the replaced lens and opened it again, flicking his gaze around the room. Both eyes moved together and the men breathed sighs of relief.
"Thank you, trooper," Wolffe said, starting to rise from his chair, but Kix stopped him with a hand pressed to the commander's shoulder.
"One moment, Commander," he said sternly. "I need you to understand that your cybernetic was in the worst shape I've ever seen. If it hadn't malfunctioned and you had gone another few weeks without cleaning it, the implant could have shorted out so badly that you would have had to replace the entire thing, including the mounted socket."
"I understand," Wolffe told him, but his tone made it clear that it was a poor attempt at humoring Kix.
"I don't think you do, sir," Kix argued. "Malfunction of a cybernetic eye can happen in many ways. You've just experienced the best possible scenario."
Wolffe grunted. "Tell that to the men who are joking about me as we speak."
"The other ways it could have malfunctioned are by overheating so rapidly and intensely that the cybernetic burnt its way through your skull before you could claw it from your head," Kix said harshly. "Or it could have actually caught fire from the amount of dead skin cells I just removed from every part of it. Spontaneous fire in your eye socket, Commander. And those are just two of the horrifying possibilities. You need to remove the lens and clean it at least once every standard week, sir. No jokes, no exaggerations, no lies. Once a week or it could very well kill you."
"I understand," Wolffe repeated, more forcefully this time. "Dismissed, Kix. Send Sinker back in as you return to the med tent."
Kix saluted sharply. He set about removing the medical gloves, donning his uniform gloves and wrist gauntlets, and attaching his helmet before gathering the tools he had used and packing them up to be disinfected at the medical tent.
He lifted the tent's flap, indicating with a short nod that Sinker could re-enter. As the sergeant passed by, Kix turned. "Oh, and Commander?"
Wolffe glanced up at him warily. Kix couldn't fight the grin on his face as he said, "You should probably roll your eyes less often. Didn't anyone ever tell you that they could get stuck that way?"
Sinker let out a barking laugh as Wolffe began to curse in Mando'a. Dropping the tent's flap, Kix walked back to the medical tent with a bit of a bounce in his step.
Sanitized Summary - Wolffe's cybernetic eye gets stuck in an up-facing position when he rolls his eyes. Kix helps him remove the eye, cleans out the gunk between the lens and the socket, and puts everything back. The eye works, but Kix gives Wolffe a stern lecture about taking care of a cybernetic since the possible outcomes of mistreating one are horrific.
Author's Note - Okay, I hope we still have everyone! I wrote a lot of this particular chapter with a grossed-out look on my face. (It was obvious enough that my roommates kept asking what was wrong!) I also took some liberties with how cybernetic eyes work, so I hope that wasn't too jarring for anyone. But ahhh... the sass between these two. Some of my favorite dialogue, honestly. This is another chapter that made me increase the total count, just because it was too good to leave behind!
As always, thank you to those who have followed, favorited, and reviewed! Especially this past week - the site has glitched so that I can't see how many people are actually reading the chapter. I just see when they follow, favorite, or leave a review, and I had no idea how much I counted on seeing the view numbers increase! It's been a rough week, but I genuinely depended on the wonderful comments you all left. Thank you to: RyanSquad, Lillie Tano-Syndulla, AJediAndHerClones, LethalJustice94, KarajeJinsta, ayannamichaeli, Falconress, SolarRose29, dieFabuliererin, STARWARZMYLIFE, Swimming Clara, Sued13, Sandriassaber, StoryMaker7, and Ishvallan for the lovely reviews!
Now, let me end this (the longest chapter so far): Thank you for reading, please consider leaving some feedback, and I'll see you next week! If you have any fic requests, I've been filling some of those on Tumblr and it's been so much fun! Find me there under username WanderingInkSplot. Either way, have a great day!