The Turnip

Autobot City - Repair Bay

This is the main repair bay for the Autobots. Several operating tables lie in a row here, and a long bench lines one wall. On the bench are assorted tools used in repairing damaged Transformers. Scattered throughout the room are various repair bots, awaiting the arrival of more wounded to repair. The room gives you the perception of being immaculately clean, not a tool out of place.

On the left side of the operating arena are wide sliding doors that open into the recovery ward. Less frantic than the busy repair bay, it consists of two rows of immaculate beds on opposite walls for those needing peace and quiet to rest and recover from their repairs. The sounds of quiet conversations between medic and patient, or between visitor and patient, are about all that disturb the quiet.

Contents:

Bitbucket

Medical Barracks 

Supply Closet

Gumby Medic 

Obvious exits:

Doors  leads to Main Lobby - First Floor.

Doors  leads to Lounge/Observation Room.

Shaft Downward  leads to AC Training Chamber.

(Dee-Kal is in the repair bay awaiting upgrades, among them a hologram tweak so she can create holograms in either mode. Other characters come and go, and shenanigans ensue as they always do. After a while, things settle down. Gears shows up complaining of squeaky joints and a problem with his short-range radio. Bitbucket, the resident gumby-bot, tends to him, while Monstereo, Dee-Kal's guardian, upgrades his ward...)

"You heard the lady. She's got an itching for Omens, feels the need for speed, and wants to sit on top of the world..." He sticks out his tongue thoughtfully. "Alright, this calls for a fuel injector type J... size.... X-5. In the supply room... and type O thrusters, size X-5 again... annnnnd... I can add some routers and improvise a Barbie mode holo emitter node steming from your holo-com, Dee-Dee. It'll be fun. Now, I'll need ... 4 feet of holo-optic cable, one crystalic lens... and joy."

Silverbolt has arrived.

Monstereo directs that over to Retork, the gumby nurse.

Silverbolt leaves to the Main Lobby - First Floor to the north.

Silverbolt has left.

Retork grumbles. "Whaddya think I am, a shopping service..?" Staggers off and starts make loud clanging sounds in the Supply Closet...

Monstereo stands around whistling awkwardly as the sounds from the closet continue.

Bitbucket sighs at Retork's attitude. "Sorry, sir," he apologizes to Monstereo, still testing Gears' audios. Turning back to his work, he speaks to the minibot patiently. "Tell me when you hear static, sir."

Apocryphacius has arrived.

Retork sounds like he's having an argument in the Supply Cabinet... the banging and clattering continues...

Monstereo mimes like he's glancing at his wristwatch. "So... how about that Manchester United?"

Finally the grumbly gumby returns, arms full of the required componentry. "You want me to spend an hour a piece tellin' ya how wonderful it is and how to order..?" he mutters...

Dee-Kal cringes and looks decidedly uncomfortable. "Oh, my stars..." It isn't, however, at the newest arrival to the Repair Bay... it's at Retork!

Grimlock has arrived.

Grimlock has left.

Grimlock enters the Exo-Armor Talon .

Smokescreen enters from the Main Lobby - First Floor to the north.

Smokescreen has arrived.

Smokescreen asks the Gumby Medic for refueling. The medic complies.

Apocryphacius hovers in the area, looking extremely twitchy and nervous, tentacles nearly twisted into a knot. Cadet Dea Kalle wanted him here... or Dee-Kal wanted him here. They're the same person, but she seems to be touchy about which name she is called which. So he is really isn't sure which name to use. He peeks into the medical ward, as if ready to flee.

Gumby Medic  refuels Smokescreen.

Dee-Kal uncringes, and sits up. Then she looks to the doorway. A security bot is standing there... with a curious sight in Autobot City... a Quintesson. A very reticent one... She brightens. "Ahoy..! Aloha! Apocry..? You came..!"

Smokescreen has left.

Dee-Kal tilts her head to Monstereo, and stage whispers. "(Mom... he is scary and frightens me... do we have to have him here..?)"

Monstereo gives an awkward smile as Retork returns. He finally says, "You're doing a good job today. Thank you." He spreads everything out on the work table preparing for the procedure and looks to Dee-Kal's pet... er friend Quintesson. "Lovely to meet you. Care for some tea?"

Of course he came. Dee-Kal asked, and while she baffles the Quintesson sorely, he thinks she is a good person, deep down. Apocryphacius blinks several times as she whispers to Monstereo - he is quite naïve, and deception, ironically, does not come easily to him. Then, he moves to zip away, nearly knocking his security guard over. Well! If Dee-Kal does not want him here..

Dee-Kal waves Apocryphacius Quintesson in, eagerly. "It is fine, sir," she tells the security bot. "He is human-EDC, and I requested him specifically. Hai, I know, I know. It is fine, I promise."

She hops off the med table and hurries over to Apoc. "(Shh, do not tell him, but that Retork scares the smurf out of me... he is so rude..!)" the little Junkion confides.

Bitbucket is so busy checking Gears' audios that he misses Apoc's arrival. But Dee's reaction gets his attention and THEN he reacts most impressively. His optics go wide and the tools in his hands clatter to the floor, and he's back against the nearest wall in the time that it took for Dee to head over toward the Quintesson. He looks like he thinks he's about to be Galv-cannoned, or something.

The security bot looks at Dee-Kal severely, but consents, mutters to himself about his pension and what Red Alert will say. He gives Apoc a look as if to say "Don't you dare try anything - we're watching you" and moves out.

Monstereo eyes Bitbucket. "You know, other than their massively impressive brains, Quintessons are the most harmless cybernetic creatures in all the galaxy."

Dee-Kal returns to her med table and her Junkion guardian-mentor, Monstereo, dubbed Mom, for some reason best known to Deek herself. She hops back up... then hears the clatter in Bits direction. The little Junkion looks at Bits 'innocently'. "What..? Never seen a member of the EDC before..?"

Apocryphacius is used to people being afraid of him, unfortunately. However, what Dee-Kal says reassures him - oh, she was not talking about him? Looking abashed, he rubs his chin and replies, "Greetings. I am Apocryphacius, a Private in the EDC. Cadet Kalle requested my presence?"

Bitbucket makes a visible effort to calm down, stepping away from the wall a bit unsteadily. "Ahem, um, right, sir. I was just, um, a bit startled."

Monstereo doesn't mention all the ridiculously horrible and evil things he could do with his own massive brain if he were so inclined... Moving on. The Junk-Doc finishes spreading out the various parts and tools necessary for the extensive work to be done on Dee-Kal. He steps over to the hygiene-basin and sterilizes his hands.

Dee-Kal chuckles. "Do not worry, Bits, you are *invaluable*. In spite of so many hands and faces on one person, your job is secure..!" She smiles at Monstereo. "When I EDC, I try to take it seriously, Mama... to learn to be part of that world..? So I smurf with my hologram avatar, Dea Kalle."

Retork grumbles and swears various obscenities under his breath at the presence of the Quint in the repair bay. Fortunately, the insults are somewhat 'lost in translation' as they refer to the wrong sorts of anatomy to be of any real relevance.

Monstereo pulls out a KNUJ t-shirt and throws it over Retork's head before looking to Apocryphacius, and thank goodness his name is visible in the room contents because that is quite the obstacle course of a name. :p "How's it hanging? Listen, if you wanna lend a tendril that's groovy. But be careful, she's ticklish. You can tell, she's pink."

Apocryphacius steeples a pair of tentacles and explains, "I am not authorised to operate on living machines. However, ah, Dee-Kal seems to think that I could learn. Certainly, if I may be of assistance in any way, do let me know." wide-optic'd, he pulls out a datapad and jots down a note: 'pink Junkions are ticklish'.

Gears' short-range antenna is still being worked on, and he holds still, but still manages to beak away. "So Junkions are scrubbing down like human doctors, huh? Is there a nanite outbreak I should know about?"

Retork is an Autobot, thank Primus. (Not because he would hate to be a Junkion, but because the Junkions would hate to be like him).

Dee-Kal giggles at t he joke. "Oh, Mo-o-om!"

Monstereo points at Gears. "No, and this is how we keep it from happening. An ounce of prevention. You're not fully clean unless you're Zest-fully clean." Monstereo is out to prove through shining example that just because Junkions are composed of 'junk', that does not make them grubby. And just because they're Earth-culture regurgatators, that doesn't make them clowns. And just because he's got spikes all over, doesn't make him a punk-rocker. Though he is. "Oi." He smiles to the Quintesson. "The holo-emitter secondary routing procedure. She's already got the holo-projector matrix working in her vehicle mode. We just need to add some cables, patch in an interface, and install a crystalic lens for the secondary projection node. Alright, we begin with removing the armor in the way." And off he goes. The A-Team work music starts to play.

Dee-Kal says nothing, but somewhere under a t-shirt, a lot *can* be heard, indistinctly. Retork has one redeeming feature. He can't reach his own face to lift the T-shirt off...

Apocryphacius watches what Monstereo is doing very closely, often jotting down frantic notes on his data pad with a pair of tentacles. With another pair, he tries to hand Monstereo tools, as needed. He inquires of Monstereo, completely guileless, "So, you are Dee-Kal's maternal creator?"

Bitbucket finishes 'repairing' Gears' short-range radio antenna (which means he just re verified the calibration). He's still uneasy about Apoc's presence, but he tries to not let it show. As he walks around to start checking Gears for any other imaginary ailments, he reaches out and pulls the shirt off of Retork's head.

Oh, dear.

Monstereo shakes his head. "Negatory. I am Oz, the great and terrible." He smiles. "Now... when you're linking cables to ports, its very important that you A: make sure the energy flow is cut off on what you're working on, and B: everything is secure for regular movement before you move on and close up otherwise the patient will run around popping connections in the field and end up bouncing through a bank lobby singing Copacabana."

Dee-Kal says nothing, although the thought of being in a field distracts her pleasantly enough. A field of flowers, maybe? Or the plains of Junk with that cute Little House on the Prairie... or maybe the scrap field behind Maw and Pa's shack in the Backlands...

Apocryphacius actually looks suitably impressed when Monstereo claims to be Oz. Someday, someone will show the Quintesson the movie, and perhaps he will engage in a little chuckle then, but right now, the Quintesson has basically fallen off the back of a turnip truck. He murmurs, "Oh, yes. Permanent neural damage due to static would be most unfortunate." More notes. More tool-passing. More worried looks at Bitbucket and Gears.

Monstereo hmms pausing. "Dee-Dee... where you want your projection from... shoulder or forearm maybe?" He's already laid about two of the four feet of holo-optic cable.

Dee-Kal ponders. She still says nothing, but glances to her shoulder, then looks up at her 'mom' with a hopeful smile.

Gears sighs and lays back on the medtable. "I feel like I've come down with a case of Nanites," he complains. "I think I'm going to need a full purge."

Monstereo has no answers. "Well?" He pauses as Gears charms them all. "Not in here. Ick."

Bitbucket somehow manages to refrain from sighing. "Sir, there are no nanites in the repair bay."

Dee-Kal looks to her shoulder gain. "Kata, onegai Mama. My shoulder, please?"

Apocryphacius could make there be nanites in the repair bay! However, that would be counterproductive. The Quintesson does point out, "If there was a grey goo outbreak, you would have much a larger problem. I suspect you would not have long to worry." Then, he turns his attention back to learning from what Monstereo is doing.

Monstereo grins. "That'll save us big bucks on cable bills." He snips a cable length and puts down the surplus. He runs it along Dee-Kal's internals leaving it slightly slack for unforeseen contortions sake and ends it up at her shoulder. He then picks up the crystalic lens and raises it for inspection. "Take a gander, Paco. Now that's quality workmanship. Kudos to the Auto-buddies."

Apocryphacius takes a minute to get that Paco might be him. Oh! The letters are rearranged. How clever. He looks at the lens and agrees, "It would appear to be perfect."

Dee-Kal is amused at the nickname Monstereo gives Apocryphacius. "Anata no namae wa Paco da yo, ne?" she chuckles.

Dee-Kal looks up as her mom does his work, and admires the lens. "Ooh.. pretty...!"

Monstereo holds up a picket sign to the camera that reads: I don't speak freaky Deeky Dutch. The sign disappears and he attaches the lens to the cable end, and then turns and puts a cut in the removed armor, fastens on some hinges and a simple motorized lift attachment for the lens to be housed in under the armor so Dee-Kal can stow it away or pop it out for projection use. "Simple is always best. I could have used hydraulics and micro tick-tockery but that would have been unnecessarily fancy and slower to make. He carefully sets the armor partially back in place and then does some alignment fine tuning. Finally, he returns power flow to the holo-matrix unit. "Give it a go, Dee."

Gears decides he's bored enough to watch Monstereo work on Dee-Kal. Maybe it will take his mind off complaining? He grabs his chest momentarily. "Pump timing's still off." Ok, so maybe it won't.

Dee-Kal powers up. Her computers discover new hardware, create drivers and interface with her sentience. A HUGE image of Sam EDC is suddenly blasted upwards and looms, suspended above everyone.

Monstereo looks up. "Uh huh... Rerun."

Retork is startled out of his wits by the sudden appearance of the giant hologram of the EDC technician, staggers backwards, and trips over his own feet, falling backwards.

Apocryphacius tilts to the side and suggests, "Perhaps the mechanism is tapping her subconscious?" Sam is a good friend of her, after all.

Retork says, "BLOODY HELL!"

Dee-Kal shuts her optics and giggles at the bad-mannered gumby and his reaction to the hologram. Hee, well, she couldn't help it - she's thinking about her friend out on duty. She had no idea that her 'thoughts' would come out quite so vividly...

Monstereo meets the awkward silence with a moment of silence himself, and then says, "Alright, moving on."

Bitbucket is busy doing all kinds of little pointless adjustments to Gears' systems, having long since learned that just brushing him off doesn't work. But PRETENDING to effect repairs does. "There you go, sir. That should be be..." He also startles at the sudden holo image, but doesn't react quite as strongly as Retonk.

Gears doesn't know what the pit he's looking at. And he never wishes to know. He cannot unsee that which he has seen. The poor stricken minibot sits there agape, not believing what sight his optics have witnessed.

and after the awkward silence..."Anyone got some processor bleach?"

You say, "Arigato, Mama... I will try not to smurf such a large imagination..."

Dee-Kal holds up her fingers and, while the projector is not in her fingertips, manifests a little glass sphere hologram - as if it were generated by magic in her fingers.


 * Retork* grumbles, mutters and swears fruitily under his breath about ghosts and how he should be paid more, and tries to right himself.

Monstereo nods. "Bravo. Satisfactory guaranteed or your money back."

Dee-Kal looks 'up' to take in Retork, and then Gears. "Gomen nasai," she apologises cheerfully. "That is Sam-u-el, a human clo-... native of Usurbia, who is very new to the ways of the West, but is settling in well. He is independent, now, but was quite naïve on his arrival - I am happy to be among those who have helped him to adjust. Heh is on a mission... I worry."

Dee-Kal de rezzes the hologram of both Sam and the paperweight.

Apocryphacius's optics narrow thoughtfully as Dee-Kal slips up just a bit. There is no Usurbia on Earth and none in any galactic atlas he has ever seen. A human clo... clown? Well, clowns are terrifying. Perhaps Sam does not want people to know his other occupy. Or maybe he is not a clown. He asks Monstereo, "Now that the parts are in and operational, what now?"

Monstereo nudges Dee-Kal down so he can close her up. To Apocryphacius he replies, "Now, we wrap it up, put a bow on it, and seal the deal." He turns to Dee-Kal. "Any problems, do not wait to get them fixed... remember last time."

Dee-Kal nodnods, attentive to her Mom's words.

Monstereo says, "And as for the rest of the work, well, we'll leave all this here ready for our next exciting episode of Cosmic Surgery!"

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