Scientific Method.
Chapter Five.
A Testing Time.
A/N: Dr Syn is the intellectual property of author MeowthTwo and is used here with her permission. One joor equals about six human hours.
Sam was in the cell for another two days before Starscream send Barricade to get him. It seemed that Barricade was his regular gaoler now, having changed Sam's buckets and brought him food in the intervening period. Sam had done his very best to keep clean, but with only one set of clothes and cold water to hand, he was sure he was a little too fragrant for Cybertronian senses, a perception confirmed when Barricade threw open the door and stepped inside.
"You stink, fleshling!" Barricade said, his voice conveying disgust as Sam shrank back from the light streaming through the open door. Sam didn't bother to try justifying himself, or suggesting ways to help him smell less, having discovered with Starscream that it would likely be taken as impertinence. With a sound of disgust, Barricade stooped to pick Sam up, giving him a shake that made his teeth rattle. "Come on, Starscream wants you. He has something to test on you." The frontliner grinned as he felt Sam tense in his hand, and stepped out of the cell into the open air.
Sam closed his eyes almost fully so not as to be blinded by the light as Barricade strode towards some buildings, entering one of the larger ones. When the frontliner dropped Sam in a heap on the floor, Sam's eyes had adjusted enough so he could see the Seeker in front of him. Deciding that he couldn't be too polite, and hoping that he would not be hurt too badly, Sam scrambled to his feet and bowed to Starscream.
"Hmm, it seems he is learning respect," Starscream said approvingly. "That is good, Sam, I expect such behaviour of you any time I send for you. For now, just stand up and look at me."
Sam obeyed, and only had time to notice that Starscream had something in his hand that looked very like a weapon, pointing straight at him, before his sight whited out and he lost consciousness.
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He woke to find himself being carried by Starscream towards another building, cradled in both of the Seeker's hands in a tarpaulin. The awareness of wetness between his legs made him also aware that he had wet himself, and his face burned with shame. No wonder Starscream had used a tarpaulin to carry him.
His body ached and he was dizzy, disorientated, and he couldn't help but let out a groan as he opened his eyes. "Lie still, I want the doctor to check you over. How are you feeling?" the Seeker asked. Sam groaned again, then realised Starscream wanted an answer in words. "Sore, sick and dizzy. What was that thing?" he asked. "Sir," he added belatedly. If Starscream had noticed the near-omission of the honorific, he didn't show it. "An electric weapon. I don't think we'll be using that one on you, you black out too fast. I'm looking for something that will cause pain without damage, not put you out of action and make you soil yourself."
Sam was trying to work out how to reply politely when Starscream took him into what looked like a bizarre garage, and put him on a jury-rigged surface in front of a large brown mech, who peered at him intently.
"A human?" he asked. "Is he broken?" A green scanning beam sprang from the mech's optics and ran over Sam. "His systems are showing signs of stress, his brain patterns are disorganised and chaotoic. Is this normal for this species, or have you done something to him?"
"I used an electric weapon on him, this weapon," Starscream said, handing the weapon he'd used on Sam to the medic, who examined it, paused for a moment, his optics dimming and then brightening again, and then handed it back. He then picked up Sam and looked at him closely.
"The human nervous system is itself a bioelectrical system. Your weapon disrupted it severely. You could have killed him, or was that your intention?"
"No, Doctor Syn, I am trying to find a non-lethal, non-disabling method of punishment for him." Starscream said.
"Well, I suggest in that case that you steer clear of anything electrical that could interfere with his nervous system to the extent that his heart may stop beating," the medic said. "It seems to me that you want to design something that stimulates the pain receptors in his skin. Concentrate on that." He paused then said "Is there something else?"
Starscream reached his hands out. "The human boy, Doctor Syn, I'll take him back."
"Leader Starscream, electrical disruption can have effects some time after the initial shock. I will be keeping him in for four joors to make sure there are no further ill effects. How long will you be keeping him here at the Base?" "
For the rest of his natural life," Starscream said. "Surely you have heard about the trial?"
"Not the details, like length of sentence," the medic replied. "In which case, may I suggest that you send somebody out to get him some new clothes, something to wash his current ones in, and some food to support his still-growing body. Unless you plan to leave him coated in his own waste products, creating an unpleasant odour, and growing thin and malnourished, which would, in time, kill him?"
"I'll send Barricade, or Dropkick." Starscream said. "It would be less distressing if next time I see him, he did not smell so offensive."
"Humans secrete and excrete waste matter through their skin and orifices. It is a conseqence of their inefficient organic method of processing their food. To keep these secretions from being digested by bacteria and putrefying, he must be permitted to wash himself, and his clothing must also be washed, plus provision made for the large volume of solid and liquid waste that he will produce," the medic explained. Sam grimaced: it sounded disgusting, but was probably accurate.
"Can you create a list of his anticipated needs and com it to me in a joor's time?" Starscream asked. The medic agreed, and with that, Starscream turned and left the garage, and the medic put Sam down on the table.
"Are you well enough to take off your dirty clothing?" he asked. Sam nodded, climbing to his feet, and beginning to strip off his filthy clothes. "I will prepare you a bath, you can test it before stepping into it," the doctor said, moving off. Sam shakily took off all of his clothes, and wrapped himself in the tarpaulin until the brown mech returned. When he did, he picked up Sam and put him by a large metal container which looked the worst for wear but was more than big enough to take a bath in, and once he had confirmed that the water was not too hot or too cold, he gently lowered Sam into it, using what looked to Sam like sheets to sluice him with water.
"I will add soap to the list, but for now if you rub yourself with the cloth, you will be cleaner." As he noticed the scratches Starscream had inflicted, he said "I will also suggest antiseptic cream. If you tell me things you will need, I will add them to the list."
Half an hour later, Sam was wrapped in another two sheets to dry, and the list had grown to substantial size. Soap, shampoo, socks, underwear and toilet paper had joined T-shirts, trousers towels and hot food (and something to cook it in) on the list. They were still working on it when Sam found himself having problems stating awake. The medic noticed too.
"Sam, I'll put you together some sleeping materials –which I shall also add to the list – and you get some sleep. You are here for some time, the list can be finished when you are rested." Sam nodded gratefully, and only vaguely recalled later being carried to another pile of sheets the medic had put out for him. He pulled one over himself, rolled over, and sank into a dreamless but uneasy sleep.
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When Starscream returned for Sam the next day, Sam was glad of the respite but was not looking forward to returning to the conditions he had been in. However he had something of a surprise.
"It would seem, human, that putting you back in the cell Barricade gave you would be counter-productive to keeping you clean," Starscream told him. "In addition, having you picked up by Barricade or myself every time I want to test something on you is wasteful of time. I will have your necessary items brought to my lab. I will construct an enclosure there for you, where you can live and be available whenever I need you. I may even be able to find a use for you other than a subject for my experiments. Barricade and Dropkick have obtained the first half of your list of items and are currently obtaining the rest. You will be given the basics you need, but will need to earn what I consider are luxuries, by co-operating, behaving, obeying."
"Yes Sir," Sam said, now wearing a new T-shirt and pair of drawstring waist shorts. This was an unexpected turn for the better, and he desperately wanted not to lose it. Sam bowed, then straightened up.
"Very good," the Seeker said approvingly. He reached down to pick Sam up, not cradling him like last time but holding him around the body with both hands and, mercifully, keeping him the right way up. It was a definite improvement on Barricade's one-handed sideways-dangling approach.
He moved out of the medical bay –which is where, Dr Syn had informed Sam that he was – and through to the bigger hangar that composed the general reception area, the Seeker quarters, and Starscream's lab. Once there, Starscream set about erecting a chain link fence in an empty corner of his lab, getting Sam to help. He then put in some sheets, a child's inflatable pool as a bath, a bar of soap, a set of clothes, a toilet roll, and a metal box with chemicals as a toilet.
"I will bring you nutrition and fluids when I deem you have earned it. I will give you water to wash yourself. Again, it will be warmed if I think you deserve it. Now, I need you out of my way. Be quiet, and I will come for you when I need you. You can help me set up the lab for experiments that I need dexterity for, and will be present when I have a prototype to test on you." He picked Sam up, put him in the enclosure, and then fashioned a ceiling from chain link and wood, fastening it securely.
Sam looked up, realising he had exchanged a cell for a cage, and began to wonder if being Starscream's lab assistant - cum - lab rat was really that much better than being Barricade's prisoner.