[Commentlog]

[heavyweaponsbot]

[It's the end of the week. Do you know where your Autobot is?

If you said digging around on Deck 12 looking for more bits of metal, you'd be right. He doesn't particularly need it, without the ammunition to replenish, but the gaping hole in his chest takes more than a little effort for this auto-repair systems. And they do need the extra material.

He's currently got a set of metal sporks in hand, and is fiddling with the lock on a steamer trunk, wondering if he can get it off.]




((ooc: For medicalofficer but others are welcome to run into him as well!))

Comments

[medicalofficer.livejournal.com]

[Ratchet himself was not looking for metal so much as anything that he found particularly intriguing. His former quarters had been vacated to house his growing collection of oddities, and without the need to actually stay there anymore, there was even more space.

He sat atop a particularly stuffed suitcase, a tiny gold frog perched sleepily on the top of his head.

At the moment, he's looking through a small, travel sewing kit. Holding up a spool of thread, he begins to unwind it - likely tangling himself in it in the process.]

[heavyweaponsbot]

[He succeeds in prying the lock off the trunk, but it comes away with a good bit of trunk as well as metal. With a grunt, he tosses it away before turning around.]

Found these. Guess they will work--

[Seeing what his friend has gotten himself into, he trails off, staring. He trudges toward him through the luggage.]

What are you doing?

[medicalofficer.livejournal.com]

This is most fascinating. It appears to be a 'repair kit,' if the title on the box is to be trusted...

[There's a moment of confusion as he realizes he's managed to knot the thread around his fingers, looking almost like a game of cat's cradle gone awry. A grumble as he tugs, snapping the string.]

I am not sure what sort of repairs they would manage with these materials. They are hardly durable.

[heavyweaponsbot]

There are no metals in there. Nor tools. What could that repair?

[His stolen sporks still in hand, he folds his arms, waiting for the other to get himself out of the tangle. Ratchet's hands are more dexterous than Ironhide's, and if he tried to help, he'd make it worse.]

Maybe they repair humans, not us.

[medicalofficer.livejournal.com]

There are small slivers in here. They don't seem to have any sort of charge, however...

[Shaking off the torn strangs of thread, he lifts the case to optic level, turning up the magnification to better examine the instruments.]

I have heard of humans attempting to close their damages using a form of 'thread.' It seems so... barbaric.

[heavyweaponsbot]

Are they metal?

[Unspoken is the query as to whether or not they can use these slivers. Metal is metal, as far as he's concerned, and he doesn't have any interest in their scientific value.]

I thought they lacked the ability to dampen pain receptors... why would they do that?

[medicalofficer.livejournal.com]

Yes - But likely too small to be of any real use.

[That is his excuse as he tucks the contents back into their housing, prepared to take them back to his quarters for later experimentation. If they were truly meant for repairs, he would need to see them in action. The idea was absolutely intriguing.]

They are incapable of dampening their pain receptors naturally. They can to a small extent through the use of specific chemical compounds...

The majority of their repair methods do seem somewhat... primitive.

[heavyweaponsbot]

... So why are you taking them with you?

[The thought of more stuff piling up in their room isn't one he's particularly enamoured of. He doesn't say anything, though. See how much he cares?]

I hope you do not intend to experiment with those the next time we are forced to be human.

[medicalofficer.livejournal.com]

I intend to ask Mikaela about the nature of their use, particularly in the medical field. I had thought it would be far easier for her to explain, when given a visual and tactile reference.

[heavyweaponsbot]

... And then use me for practice?

[He shifts his arms, superstitiously covering the hole in his armor.]

[medicalofficer.livejournal.com]

You are a weapons specialist, not a test subject.

Have I ever used untested methods of treatment on you before?

[heavyweaponsbot]

Just saying.

... What about that time after Kaiba-5?

[He may or may not be making this up.]

[medicalofficer.livejournal.com]

... That was not untested, it was in the experimental stages. And might I point out, Ironhide, that you had also just returned from the single-handed destruction of an entire planet.

That is hardly a typical situation.

[heavyweaponsbot]

And I was part of the experimental stages. Therefore... I was a test subject.

[He grumbles something.]

Told you that pile of rock was going to blow up anyway. Just hurried it along.

[medicalofficer.livejournal.com]

It wasn't a dangerous treatment.

[heavyweaponsbot]

I turned white.

[medicalofficer.livejournal.com]

I repaired it, didn't I?

[heavyweaponsbot]

Not fast enough. The others saw it.

[medicalofficer.livejournal.com]

[He frowns, indignant.]

There are worse colours you could have turned.

[heavyweaponsbot]

[He stares for a second, then smirks slightly.]

Like what? Neon?

[medicalofficer.livejournal.com]

My choice in vehicle fit our mission - Far better than yours, I might add.

As an emergency vehicle, I could pass as aiding the military in clean-up.

[heavyweaponsbot]

Black blends in better. No one notices.

[He gives his shoulder a shove, before holding out the metal bits he's collected.]

Here. Need these.

[medicalofficer.livejournal.com]

Except that your engine is louder than Prime's, and you chose a truck larger than some tanks. It is a civilian vehicle, and certain not suited for military use.

[He leans into the shove, taking the metal.]

Do you plan to create a new stockpile in our quarters? Perhaps if we found enough scrap, you could create even a small scale weapon...

[heavyweaponsbot]

There were no other vehicles in the area that fit me. What was I supposed to do? Take the van? [Snort.] And if I am larger than tanks, maybe I am a military-issue truck. Hmn?

[He shrugs, watching him to see that he makes good use of the metals.]

Been thinking about charging some energon. Little bit, not enough to cause great damage...

[medicalofficer.livejournal.com]

It might have better disguised your cannons. Along with your shoulders, you barely fit that form... [chuckle]

[He did nothing with the scraps for a moment, more distracted by thoughts of how they could make proper use of them.

True, he could ingest them to attempt to bolster his internal heating systems. But even at his 'top' condition on this vessel, that was barely enough to melt wiring, let alone weld armor like what Ironhide possessed.

But if the Weapons Master could put them to better use and possibly get them off this ship...]

I would not suggest it, unless you can be sure that no crew member would learn the source of the explosive.

If they discover the dangerous potential of energon, they may restrict access to it - not only as a weapon, but sustenance as well.

[heavyweaponsbot]

[He draws his shoulders in closer, frowning, as if to make them look less ridiculously broad than they are.]

I fit my form just fine. Hmnf.

[His good optic narrows slightly, when the proffered scraps just sit there, and nudges his friend.]

They would not. You can make a napalm substitute from common ingredients, and yet we are not restricted with those.