Pretty sure he's dreaming, this /can't/ be real...

[memorial_wing]

Who: Thundercracker and OPEN
What: Come meet the newbie?
Where: The main hospital
When: Following this
Warnings: TC being a wounded, distrustful grouch

Wing, Bulkhead, and Jadewing have managed to get their not!trinemate to come in out of the cold, having dragged his busted-up carcass to the nearest Gate, and from there to the hospital. First thread is reserved for Knock Out to come do the actual repair work. After that, he's open for encountering as he sits in the exam room contemplating his life or maybe as he's tottering for the exit, or anywhere in between. The former guard dog gladiator is more lost puppy than trained Doberman right now.

Comments

Close to Knock Out

[memorial_wing]

Thundercracker looked around the room, taking in every detail as he waited for the medic. It was all so surreal, from the creature (human…it, she, whatever, had called herself a human) telling him that slavery didn't exist here to a big burly grounder who didn't talk to him with palpable contempt to the sight of a Seeker without a collar, and the other two who'd been nothing but gentle and concerned for him. And something else, though he couldn't pinpoint what exactly, except that it had felt . . . familiar in a sense. Not that he felt any familiarity, but that it seemed that he was perhaps familiar to them. Somehow.

And now here he was, about to be seen by a medic, with no master to pay for the work or decide how much the medic would be allowed to do. He wondered if the medic would care or if he'd be brushed off like the worthless scrap he was, given minimal attention and pushed back out the door to make room for a "real patient".

The Seeker growled softly to himself and determinedly went back to studying everything around the room in an effort to distract himself as he waited.

oh baby

[automobileenthusiast]

Poor weenie Thundercracker won't have to wait too long for the medic. Knock Out strolled his butt in looking maybe a little too cheerful, all things considered. Look he was just happy to have something to do, okay. He glanced up from a datapad after entering the room and looked a little surprised at the state this guy was in. Damn boy you got pummeled.

"Well, looks like I've got my work cut out for me today. Aaaanyway, my name is Knock Out, I'll be taking care of you... Thundercracker, right?"

He glanced down at his datapad again to make sure he got the name right YEP LOOKS GOOD.

[memorial_wing]

Thundercracker gave the medic a wary, bemused look before pulling his gaze down as he knew he should. His tone was neutral and respectful…if exhausted. "Yes, sir, I am. I'm afraid I don’t know where my master is." That would have been the next question, might as well get it out of the way now.

[automobileenthusiast]

WOW Knock Out can't remember the last time anyone was polite enough to give him a "yes sir", he likes this dude already. Still, he's a little puzzled by his next statement.

"Yeaaaah, becoming separated from people seems to be a common trend around here. I don't know how much you've been told about this place yet, but there's a chance you won't be seeing them again."

Give him a moment, he's going to set that datapad down and start gathering some equipment.

[memorial_wing]

He's been told that, yes. But frag, if something sounds too good to be true…

"Do you still need his permission before doing any repairs, sir?"

[automobileenthusiast]

"The only person I need permission from to do repairs on you is yours, and I strongly suggest you let me do my job. You're not in horrible shape, but you'll feel a lot better once I'm done with you."

[memorial_wing]

He's actually in worse shape than Knock Out thinks - his damage isn't just all the surface injuries from looking like someone took six megavorns of frustration out on him. There's also all the deeper internal slag from past abuses, half-assed repairs, and plain-old neglect. Truth is, the weary old slave is a wreck. It's the fact that he's still functioning and able to (make himself look like he can) move with little to no problem that makes him seem not as badly off as he really is.

Thundercracker studied the medic for a moment, one hand tugging unconsciously at the collar at his throat. If Knock Out looked closer, he'd see that it was etched with "Property Of", a name, and contact info for that mech. Finally, he nodded. "I won't hold you from anything you feel needs doing, sir." He frowned at a thought, glancing over his right shoulder. "Except my wing. I will not allow it to be altered. Sir."

Said wing probably DEEPLY offends Knock Out's sense of aesthetics, actually, being as it looks like it was tacked onto this mech from another Seeker entirely. Its purple and white stripes on a black background clash badly with Thundercracker's red-trimmed blue color scheme.


((ooc: The wing is Skywarp's, so it's in his colors.))

[automobileenthusiast]

As much as Knock Out really wants to give this guy's entire paint job an overhaul, he's going to respect his wishes and not push for it. Well, mostly.

"I won't alter it, but I'm probably going to insist on a rust prevention treatment."

But before he starts spraying Thundercracker down with stuff, he's going to grab a medical scanner and start doing a proper scan. Needless to say, Knock Out isn't too pleased with the scanner results, and now that he's all up in Thundercracker's personal space taking scans, he gets a good look at that collar. He'll address the scans in a moment, BUT FIRST,

"If that's bothering you, I can remove it. It'll just take a second."

[memorial_wing]

"Rust prevention…" Thundercracker glances over his shoulder again at the precious wing behind it. "Yeah . . . yeah, that'd be a good idea." Repairs and probably new paint job, too, if he's honest, but that'd probably get it painted to match his wing. And it's not his wing, that's the whole point. So he won't bring it up.

He holds still for the scanning, idling wondering what all the medic will pick up. He can at least guess at most of it, but even he doesn't know what all is wrong with him anymore. He frowns a bit at the offer, wondering what "it" is. Then it hits him, and his optics brighten.

Should he? Can he? He knows it's not supposed to be removed except to be replaced with a new one - he can't ever actually be free of the damned thing - but . . . as unbelievable as it is, he's not really seen or heard reason not to believe this place is real and what everyone's told him is true . . . which means his master - the entire fragged society that condemned him and his whole race - isn't here. They can't tell him no. They can't keep him locked up and cast down here.

Straightening, wings flicking and twitching, he nods. "Yes. Please. Get this cursed thing off me."

[automobileenthusiast]

"It would be my pleasure. Thing clashes with your paint anyway."

He fishes a pair of cutters from his pile of doctor goodies, and is careful of Thundercracker's neck as he snips the offending collar off. He tosses it in Thundercracker's lap so he can like set is on fire later or something, and turns back to his scans.

"Aaaand there we go. Now for the not-so-fun part. Your scan results are kind of... not good. I mean, you're not on the verge of dropping dead right here in my office, but if I don't take care of a few things soon, you're going to be in really bad shape."

[memorial_wing]

"Among other things…"

Thundercracker holds still as Knock Out works the collar off - snipping the metal, disabling the wiring and circuits underneath that have buried themselves deep into the Seeker's systems. He shudders as the last bits of the hated thing slide free and it's dropped in his lap. He picks it up in one hand, looks at it . . . and /crushes/ it in both hands into a small of a wad of twisted metal as he can manage before throwing it across the room. (Sorry, doc…he'll go retrieve it later if you want him to. He just really needed to do that.)

He listens to the next comments, snorting at the last. "Par for normal for a slave, doc. I've lived like this I can't tell you how long. But . . . " He huffed a heavy vent of air. "If you'll take care of at least some of it, I'll be grateful, sir."

Super late to the party. >.>

[the_other_green_seeker]

Jadewing had been standing outside Thundercracker's door as an unofficial guard during his session with Knockout. Unnecessary? Probably. But Thundercracker's physical and mental states had put him on edge and made him protective.

Thus, he waited impatiently until Knockout was finished and had told him he could enter before doing so. When he did, I was relieved to see that Thundercracker looked much better. And that he was no longer wearing that fragging collar. He still had no arm weapons, but they could search the warehouse for replacements later, or, failing that, have replacements specially built.

"Well, looks like Knockout's work is up to his usual standards," Jadewing commented. By which he meant 'Glad you're OK.'

Super late to replying so NBD <3

[memorial_wing]

Thundercracker had had to be put out for . . . probably several hours to do all of the work that was required on him. It might almost have been more economical to just transfer his spark into a new body altogether. But what was done, was done.

Thundercracker came back around, sitting up quickly with a hitch of fans. Where was he? Oh . . . right . . . His first thought was to check his right wing. Yes, still black with purple, though the damage had been repaired, the paint freshened up. He remembered discussing his collar with Knock Out, and his hand went to his throat. A soft choked buzz escaped him just as the bounty hunter's Seeker stepped in. His first instinct was to try to hide that his collar was gone, but . . . he let his hand drop, nodding. "Even when seeing to a Seeker. Good to know there's at least one decent medic."

His demeanor's not as stiff or carefully…respectful as it was with Knock Out. With only another Seeker around, he could afford to let his guard down.