Astrosecond: .498 seconds

Breem: ~8.2 minutes

Joor: ~1 hour

Deca-cycle: ~3 weeks

Nano-klik: ~1 second

Orn: 13 days

Solar-cycle: 93 hours (Cybertronian day)

Orbital-cycle: 24 solar-cycles/93 days (Cybertronian month)

Stellar-cycle: 20 orbital-cycles/480 days(Cybertronian year)

Chapter 3:

A Doctor's Visit

Resonate came out of recharge slowly and quite possibly the most relaxed she'd ever felt in her ten stellar-cycles; so relaxed that she couldn't stop, didn't want to stop, the soft purr as she snuggled into the warmth, wanting to return to recharge like never before. But with heavily optic she blinked, only to grimace as she buried her face back against the warm walls of her creator's sparkling hold. The light of her creator's spark peaked through from above and was just a bit too bright for her liking.

~Resonate: have a nice recharge?~

Resonate purred again, wiggling towards the door which slid open, and she rolled onto the waiting servo.

~nice-nice-happy-sleepy~

Her creator lets her know he's happy she slept so well with the swell of ~good-good-happy~.

She giggled, churring as she nestled close to her creator's chassis. Resonate felt a pulse of adoration filter over and returned it.

"Inquiry: Resonate hungry?" Soundwave asked. She blinked and nodded, a hungry mewl followed.

Soundwave turned away from his workstation and made for the door. When it opened Resonate hissed lowly, the hallway light far brighter than the previous. She dimmed her visor in response to the change in brightness and she used the chance to watch their surroundings as they manoeuvred through the base.

The Decepticons they passed didn't even bother trying to be subtle about their gawking at the sight of them. Soundwave ignored them—if her creator didn't deem them important enough for acknowledgement, then she shouldn't worry herself either.

The journey to wherever it was they were going lasted roughly a breem and, during that time, Resonate drifted back into the edges of recharge. Recharge had always been an issue for the sparkling after her carrier's offlining—some part at the back of her processor feared that Hexen would vanish when she'd awaken…

But that had happened now, though—it confused Resonate for a nano-klik because Hexen wasn't here, and she couldn't feel her…

Resonate vented.

The sparkling lifted her helm, her digits tightening their grip on Soundwave's armour as she glanced up at him. He returned the glance.

~inquiry-sparkling-confusion? ~

Resonate responded by sending the mental image of her carer to her creator.

"Hexen: has offlined."

Resonate vented again, resting her helm back onto her creator's shoulder. He sent a pulse of reassurance and peace to his sparkling at her twang of sadness.

"She is one with the All-Spark and—" his grip tightened, "Has been reunited with your carrier."

Resonate whirled in acceptance.

Conversation from there was stagnant until they reached their destination and Resonate lifted her helm once more in confusion as they entered a lab—she'd never seen such a place before and it piped her curiosity. The purple mech that stood at a computer at the far back turned at their entrance.

Resonate blinked at the purple mech—he only had one optic.

"Soundwave," The single-optic mech greeted.

"Shockwave," Her creator returned.

Shockwave turned his attention to the femmeling within the communications commander's arms, "And you must be Resonate, correct?"

The sparkling's visor flashed with her curiosity, and she chirped.

Soundwave moved again and Resonate was set down on a berth. She blinked up at her creator in confusion but at Shockwave's approach, turned her attention to him. The scientist held out a cube of low-grade energon for Resonate to take and she did just that, cheeping in thanks as she slid back her mouth guard.

She probably shouldn't have started downing the liquid, albeit she couldn't help herself—she hadn't had anything her tanks could take for half an orn!

Resonate hadn't even gotten halfway through the energon before she was forced to stop, pulling the cube away just in time to purge what she had drank back up. It spilt from her mouth and her tank gave that familiar tight squeezing feeling. Just as she brought up another round of energon, she was lifted to her pedes and out of the splash of the liquid.

She whined at the uncomfortable feeling, squirming in her creator's hold as she vented harshly in an attempt to ease the feeling.

A bucket was placed under her chin just as the third and finally spew of vomit came. Shockwave held the bucket there even after she'd stopped purging.

(The purging wasn't something he'd calculated, and it took him astrosecond to long to act in time to catch the second purge of energon. He'd be frowning if he could—what was the cause?)

Shockwave tilted his helm as he removed the bucket and set it on the berth to instead grab a cloth to give to Soundwave so he could clean his sparkling. Before Shockwave could speak, Resonate beat him to it, peeping rapidly and optics welling.

~sorry-sorry-bad-bad~

~calm-calm-no bad-easy~ Soundwave responded, smothering her to help soothe the guilt and panic.

"No apologies necessary," Shockwave rebutted. The sparkling's red visor was almost clear, revealing the teary orange optics she had inherited from her carrier.

"Do you have any idea when she last had low-grade or even just energon?" Shockwave asked.

"Negative," Soundwave confirmed.

Shockwave vented heavily, turning his gaze onto Resaonte, "I would like to do an in-depth scan to see if she has any internal damage."

Soundwave nodded stiffly—Shockwave had known Soundwave long enough to know he was put on edge at the information—and set Resonate back onto the berth, pushing her onto her back with light pressure and she went willingly as the indigo and white mech stepped back.

The scan took several nano-kliks and once it was done, Resonate was back within her creator's arms and she curled into the warmth his frame provided. The heat that radiated from him helped ease that after-purge feeling in her tank.

Shockwave hummed, and Soundwave stiffly turned his helm towards the scientist at the touch of concern that lit the sound.

"There seems to be no severe problems regarding her tanks, just some light issues regarding having to take normal-grade. It should resolve itself over time with the bonus of not having to take the grade anymore," Shockwave voiced. Soundwave's frame lost a bit of its tension, "However, because she has been ingesting normal grade, there is some almost superficial scarring, not enough to cause problems later down the line but for others who do more in-depth scans to know something happened."

~good-good?~ Resonate questioned.

~Good-good-healing-good~

Shockwave continued, "She likely purged from the shock of it and speed in which she drank."

Resonate cheeped, ducking her helm in embarrassment—her fans kicked in and she further tried to hide herself. She felt her creator's amusement wave over and, no—this isn't funny!

~Resonate: amusing~