| abstract | - 7/17/2011 11:51 PM Image:Doac jpg.JPG Venture's new, bulky, mini-guardian form is laying supine and inanimate on one of the large berths. She's wired to some equipment that's monitoring how her spark is doing in her new laser core. Meanwhile, she's unconscious, experiencing a dream-like state as her consciousness adjusts to its new 'home'. First Aid finishes wiping down the berth that Chromia had recently occupied and returned the unused parts from the repair to the cabinets, keeping one eye on the monitors for Venture and the other on Caducia, who he's still a little uncertain about. Caducia should have returned to her medical reading, at the very least to finish it and distress a little after that little impromptu trial by fire that Ratchet pulled on her in order to evaluate if she was worthy of being in his medical bay. The irony. Oh the bad tasting irony. However she pauses to check on the silent form that the younger medic, First Aid, had already checked upon earlier. Her critical optics studying her neural net read out, looking for signs or issues that should be dealt with now while the warrior slumbers. Venture's mind's status appears active but stable on the monitors. "Ratchet is tough," First Aid says quietly, when it's obvious that the senior medic has no intention of talking to him. "But he's an excellent medic." He offers a sympathetic smile. Caducia nods her head to the readings, a hint of a smile upon her lips. She brings out her data pad to tap at it, looking for the medical file of this particular individual so she can read up on what was done and why. She vents softly, scrolling through until she finds what she's looking for and studies the notations. "First Aid?" comes her inquiry, tone just a hint strained and still trying to be friendly. "Yes?" First Aid walks over. "Is there something I can help you with?" Venture can subconsciously sense that something's different, but for now she has no idea what it is. Caducia looks up from the data pad to look at the youth, expression guarded with a hint of reservation. "We got off on a bad track and I apologize if I said or did anything to upset you. I did not intend to get you on your guard.. but.." she ex vents and then continues, "I just hope we can work together without issues." The data pad is put back into subspace, switching subjects totally, "How long has this patient been under?" First Aid smiles. "Of course- I apologize if I offended you as well." He glances over at Venture. "Her name is Venture, and she's been under since Ratchet performed an emergency reformat- spark transplant and laser core replacement- 6 joors ago. She should probably remain offline for another quarter joor, but a lot depends on how well her systems integrate with the new frame, according to what I've read about the procedure. I can bring up her medical record if you like." Caducia nods to the young medics reply, lips going neutral now. "Hurt feelings heal just as well as a body does when properly treated, First Aid." she says softly, then a pause as she considers the information given as well as what she saw on that read out. "It appears to me as her transfer has been accepted by her neural net and that things have nearly been fully aligned." she indicates the read out now, "She's in a dream state, which is a very good sign." First Aid nods. "Ratchet had been keeping her sedated via the drip," he indicates the energon drip transfusing energy into the large frame. "But I'm not qualified to make any decisions about her care, just to monitor and notify one of the senior medics if something changes from the nominal profile." Caducia inclines her head to that, "She is his patient, I certainly would not call his assessment into question." even if she may disagree with it, "We can leave her on the drip until something changes, like an obvious spike in her neural activity that would indicate she's trying to come out of sedation." First Aid nods agreeably. "Do you have much experience with spark transplants, then?" He asks, mildly curious. Ratchet's specialty is traumatic injury, of course, and Lifeline's general repair, and his chances to speak with other professionals are generally pretty limited. You say, "Mmm yes, you could say I have had such experience." her answer a bit vague there, "I specialize in neural net surgery, so I have had to deal with transplants." First Aid ohs. "That's an interesting specialty to have ended up here," he notes, examining the readouts on Venture's monitors again before resuming his seat by the workbench. Venture's neural feed out indicates her cognitive activity is increasing. Caducia pauses to look over at the feed out and hmms. "You may want to check her again." she suggests, to see if he catches what she is seeing. First Aid stands up and walks back over to the berth, examining the monitor. "Is that what you meant by increased activity?" He points to the line that just jumped on the monitor. Caducia inclines her head, "Watch it and see if it continues or not. I may just be temporary." First Aid nods, picking up the data pad at the end of the berth and making a note on it of the increased activity. "What can cause temporary neural activity to increase like that, though? You said she was dreaming?" Venture's mind is more alert, and trying to pull up her HUD to check her systems status. You say, "If she's trying to control the dream, then the conscious mind is alert and explains the..." she stops as there's another spike, "That's not a dream state anymore, she's trying to access her system status. Amazing." "Is it unusual for someone who's undergone a transplant to come back online so quickly? I read that moving from a smaller casing to a larger was easier, but thought it was still more likely to have complications than a same-class reformat?" First Aid asks. Caducia watches the read out closely as she answers his question, "It depends upon the individual that underwent the transplant as well as the skill of the medic who did it. Considering Ratchet's level of skill, I can safely say it’s certainly possible for this individual to come back so quickly. Do you know anything about the patient personally? Like personality?" Venture gets frustrated as she can't seem to access her HUD. She wonder's what's wrong. "Not really," First Aid shakes his head. "I don't know her personally. I know Ratchet was kind of exasperated when she came in and I got the feeling she was here a lot, but she hadn't been in the decaorn I've been working here. Um, I think her personnel file might be linked to her medical record? I don't read those, though." Caducia nods a bit to the reply, "Well then, in my medical opinion, we can take her off the drip and monitor her readings. If she truly is ready to be conscious, then we should not make her wait." "Do you taper the sedative dosage, or just shut it off?" First Aid asks. "I'm not familiar with any of the reformatting protocols beyond what I've read in the last three shifts." He admits. Caducia says, "Taper it off, if her signs keep increasing, then cut it off." First Aid nods, obviously making a note for his own future reference. He lifts the energon drip off the tree where it's been hung and messes with it for a moment, altering the rate of flow from the yellowy-green sedative bag attached to the pale pink low-grade energon feed. "Decreasing by 50," he says, hanging the bag back up and picking up the data pad to make a note on it. The monitors show little change at first, since it'll take a bit for the sedative in Venture's energon stream to thin out. Caducia keeps an optic on the read out now to see what happens. First Aid watches the read out too. Venture's blue optics begin to glow dimly. As her visual-processing system comes online, she stares at the ceiling, and recognizes it. Unfortunately for her, the repair bay ceiling is quite familiar. Caducia glances over at the form and notes the optic glow, "Cut it off, she's going to come to ahead of schedule." First Aid nods and reaches up to snap the flow to zero on the sedative drip. "Done." Caducia stands off to the form's right and signals First Aid to take the left. "She may want to get up right away, but we have to assess how well integrated she is first. Did you know what that entails First Aid?" First Aid shakes his head. "No ma'am. The protocols say she should refrain from activity until equilibrium and sensory inputs have been verified for accuracy." After a few moments, Venture's optics brighten. She doesn't try to move, but parts her lips, then intones: "Ratchet?" Her voice is different. VERY different. Instead of a cheerful femmebot voice, it's a deep masculine one. "Testing?", she says, only to hear the same odd voice. Her vocalizer must've been replaced, and is still set to weird default settings! Of course! Caducia inclines her head, "That is part of it." she notes. Then a pause, "Hmm seems we need to adjust that vocorder." she states, "Would you like to give that a try First Aid?" First Aid pauses uncertainly. "Vocalizers are awfully delicate, but if you think I'm capable..." He shrugs. He'd like to try, but he doesn't want to damage a patient by being overconfident. Caducia looks at him evenly, then steps close so Venture can see her, "What say you, would you trust this fine young medic to adjust your vocalizer?" Venture turns her head toward the medics. She frowns. Something's not right! "Of course. But I think my optics need calibrating as well," she says. "Everything appears at about 15% scale." First Aid nods, and carefully extends a tool from one finger, undoing the latch to remove the plating at the base of Venture's throat, exposing the vocalizer components. "I imagine I just adjust the pitch and gain rate? The standard settings for her previous frame should be in her file, correct?" Caducia informs the awake femme, "That is because you are about 15% larger than before. I scanned your file, apparently the SIC put in for a tank chassis for you. Whatever possessed him for such a form, however, is for him to address to you personally should you wish to ask him." She turns her gaze to First Aid's work now to see how he deals with the vocalizer settings. "Yes." First Aid pauses in the work to pick up the data pad containing Venture's medical records and flips through until he locates the previous vocalizer settings, then tunes the new vocalizer to match. "How's that?" He asks. "What? Seven times larger?! A tank form?" Venture's voice has been corrected to sound like it did in her original form, which now sounds really odd for a 'Bot of her size. It lacks bass. "I had put in some upgrade requests, and I agreed to have my spark transplanted into any available chassis should it be recoverable and my chassis not, but I can't say I ever expected this...?" She's quick to add, "Not that I'm complaining, mind you!" Caducia listens to the voice and hmms, "Maybe just a hint more up on this side First Aid." she indicates the side and general area, then tells Venture, "It will take time to adjust to your new size, so I suggest you take it slow and easy, allow your neural net to fully understand it's in a different situation." First Aid leans forward to make another minute adjustment to the vocalizer and then reinstalls the plating again. Venture says, "All right," Venture replies to Caducia, "How does my voice sound to you now?", she asks the medics after First Aid makes his adjustment." Venture says, "All right," Venture replies to Caducia, "How does my voice sound to you now?", she asks the medics after First Aid makes his adjustment." "All right," Venture replies to Caducia, "How does my voice sound to you now?", she asks the medics after First Aid makes his adjustment. First Aid shrugs. "It sounds fine to me, but I'm not quite sure what it sounded like before, so I'm probably not the mech to ask." You say, "Much better, now then. We will begin with basic movements. Clasp your right hand into a fist, then rotate the fingers out like so." she demonstrates. "Then reverse order back into a fist." showing that movement. "Switch hands and repeat." "Thanks," Venture says to the medics. "I'm Venture. What are your names?" Then, turning her attention to Caducia. Her right hand begins moving sluggishly, but she manages to duplicate the movements. "I'm First Aid- I helped Hammerstrike and Metro-X bring you in. Hammerstrike's the one who found you." First Aid says. Caducia watches the movements carefully, "I am Caducia. First Aid would you note her movements please as I run her through them. We will look for improvement in a cycle before having Ratchet do a final check up to be sure she is medically releasable." then stating to Venture, "Now bend your elbows forward, then back." she demonstrates. First Aid picks up the data pad and begins adding to the record. Venture frowns at the mention of being brought in. "I don't remember anything happening that would land me in here," she confesses. She complies with Caducia's request. Her forearms move as directed, albeit not too smoothly. Caducia considers the movements. "Turn your head to the right, then the left please." then glances at her data pad a moment, "You were badly damaged, according to the file. First Aid? Perhaps you can enlighten her?" First Aid shrugs. "I'm not exactly sure, to be honest. Hammerstrike said you said something about Decepticons- it was up near the scrapyard, though." Venture rolls her head to the right, then to the left. Her neck movements are smoother than her other joints. "The scrapyard? I don't remember going there recently. Could I have short-term memory loss? Was I hit on the head or anything?" Caducia says, "You were transferred from one body to another, it is possible you are just experiencing a little temporary recall glitch that will clear itself up eventually. Just give yourself time." she pauses to take her hands, "Squeeze my fingers, not too tightly." First Aid adds, "You weren't very coherent when Hammerstrike found you, and you were pretty much a wreck." "Oh, how embarrassing," Venture replies to First Aid. Then, looking down to her hands, she slowly squeezes. "I'm afraid of crushing your fingers." She hesitates. "I don't know how firm my grip is now." Caducia stands her ground, waiting for the pressure, then nods, "That’s good there." she states, "Release your grip." Caducia moves to the side, "I would like to see you bring your knees back so your feet are planted flat to the surface of the berth. After you are steady, rotate the left leg up at the knee then set it down, switch legs and repeat." Venture releases her grip on the medic's fingers, and brings her knees up, then alternately raises her lower legs. "My legs look somewhat bulky," she observes. "Am I bulky all over?" First Aid says lightly. "It's a standard tank frame- mech build- and pretty generic. I think Jackknife had some customization in mind for you when you were ready." Caducia inclines her head as she observes the movements. "Alteration should not be difficult in the right hands. We can certainly do such customizations, but Ratchet will have to okay them for go ahead and of course you would have to know what those alterations would entail." she looks to First Aid. "Stand ready to steady if necessary." then looks to Venture, "I would like to see if you can sit up." stepping close to be on hand as well. First Aid takes a few steps to the side to be in a better place to steady Venture if she needs it. "Fair enough," Venture says before she moves to sit up, and swings her legs over the side of the berth, and grips the edge thereof with her hands on either side of her knees. Then she tilts her head down to look at herself, and the medics from this new perspective. "Whoa. I'm...huge," she realizes. Probably twice Optimus' height, or a bit over. She doesn't look like she needs too much steadying, but she checks First Aid's proximity just in case. "Fair enough," Venture says before she moves to sit up, and swings her legs over the side of the berth, and grips the edge thereof with her hands on either side of her knees. Then she tilts her head down to look at herself, and the medics from this new perspective. "Whoa. I'm...huge," she realizes. Probably half again Optimus' height. She doesn't look like she needs too much steadying, but she checks First Aid's proximity just in case. Caducia moves with both patient and fellow medic, "Very good. A good sign." She smiles up at the larger femme, "Feel brave enough to stand?" she asks, "You can lean up against the table to steady yourself as I'm afraid both of us are a size too small to be of further help." "If you think it's safe, then sure, I'll try," Venture says. Leaning forward so her center of gravity is above her feet, she stands up fully, then tilts her head up, trying to gauge whether she can reach the ceiling or not. Then she looks down. "This will take getting used to," she says. She reaches toward the top of a cabinet to hold, and she seems stable enough. "Be careful, that cabinet isn't fastened down-" First Aid cautions. Caducia watches on and says, "All right, sit back down. No need to rush things." she says. She looks to First Aid, "Really? Hm, will have to fix that." First Aid says, "It needs to be mobile, there's a duct behind there with the filter for the decontamination unit." First Aid explains." Venture eases herself back down into her berth once more. "I assume my face looks masculine as well?", she asks while looking down at her hands. Caducia smiles, "Oh I see." she looks up at Venture, "I am afraid so, but we will adjust things so you are as feminine as is allowable with this build frame." she assures her. "Fair enough," Venture replies. "I think it'll work out. I was never particularly feminine," she admits. "I was more the adventurous type. Always the first to volunteer for anything risky, though usually turned down because I wasn't exactly combat-ready." Caducia chuckles, "Well you just got transferred right into a combat ready chassis." then a pause, "I think perhaps you should go into a full recharge so your neural net has a bit more time to integrate the new systems. We can run the basic motor relay tests again when you come out of it so we can note improvement." First Aid nods, recording Caducia's treatment plan on the data pad linked to Venture's medical records. Venture nods. "A recharge sounds good right now," she admits before lying back down upon her berth. "It's a lot to take in all at once. I'll sleep on it." Caducia pats the femme on the shoulder, "It is a lot indeed." she agrees, then to First Aid she says, "Let us leave her to her rest. You can forward your notations to Ratchet for his review. I'll send mine once I type them up." a little smile given. First Aid nods again. "Of course. Good recharge, Venture." He pats the femme on the shoulder and sets the pad down- his notes are automatically forwarded to Ratchet by general design. "My shift is over in 5 breems-" He says. "I need to do the end of shift inventory before I go, though." Venture's optics dim as she relaxes and falls into a rest cycle. Caducia inclines her head to the young medic. "Don't overwork yourself First Aid." she notes. Then goes to do her notes.
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