Iacon Wasteland

Ratchet stayed down as a bunch of people either shot up and started ranting at Siren or was withdrawn and blanked out. Ratchet's table was thankfully the sanest, as their group had already expected something off. That didn't stop the shock look on their faces, but they didn't immediately go into a breakdown or rant at Siren. The only one was wasn't looking very stable was Pyrobyte clutching his head and nearing his breaking point, although Ratchet guessed that he was worrying about his twin, who was still out there….

"EVERYONE CALM DOWN!" Siren shouted to all of them. "FIGHTS ARE THE LAST THING WE NEED!" That wasn't working very well as people were yelling louder and at least a couple were giving threatening looks. Siren, who knew that this probably wasn't going to end well unless he found a way to end their riot, did the only sensible thing that could calm a bunch of unarmed people. He pulled something out of subspace and pointed it at the ceiling.

*Crack!*

All noises in the room stopped as Siren fired off a shot from a pistol. "ENOUGH! THE WORLD IS GETTING THERMONUCLEARLY ANNIHILATED AND YOU ARE WILLING TO RIOT AND MAKE THIS SAFE FACILITY UNSAFE! SO SIT BACK DOWN!" The mob stared at the overseer, some in fear, some in waiting, and some in respect. Slowly, the ones who had got ready to riot sat back down in their seats, and the ones who were about to have a breakdown concentrated again due to the gunshot and Siren's in control yelling. When everyone was back to their seat, Siren began to speak again. "LISTEN, I KNOW THIS IS UNEXEPECTED, BUT IT'S THE FACTS! I'M SORRY THAT YOU LEFT A LOT OF PEOPLE BEHIND! MAYBE IF THEY WERE LUCKY, THEY GOT INVITED TO ANOTHER VAULT AS WELL AND ARE STILL ALIVE!"

"Wait! There are… more vaults?" a timid voice from the back asked, although Ratchet couldn't see the person.

"YES! THERE ARE MANY VAULTS AVAILABLE, THIS ONE BEING VAULT 17! THEY SPREAD ALL OVER CYBERTRON! FROM IACON TO KAON, THERE IS SAFETY AVAILABLE, ALBIET AT A LIMITED AMOUNT! YOU WERE SOME OF THE CHOSEN FEW!"

"How many?" a voiced asked from the front and Ratchet turned to see someone all the way at the other end, a large person with an orange-green-and-purple color scheme.

"TO BE HONEST, I DON'T KNOW! THEY NEVER INFORMED ME OF IT! ONLY THE HIGHER-UPS KNOW!" Siren answered him 'calmly.'

"Well, better question. Who the frag is nuking us to nuclear oblivion?" Swindle asked him.

"WELL, AS YOU KNOW, THINGS UP TOP AREN'T DOING VERY WELL! I PRESUME THAT THE WARRING NATIONS ALL AGREED TO GO TO NUCLEAR WAR WITH EACH OTHER, THUS THE REASON FOR HAVING TO BUILD AND USE THE SHELTER!"

"Wait, wait, hold on. I know how resources work and to build multiple vaults ahead of time would take a long time. You must've known about this way ahead of time," he argued.

"IN CASE YOU DON'T REMEMBER, I'M NOT WITH THE HIGHER UPS! I WAS JUST A SECURITY OFFICER WHEN THEY TOLD ME WHAT TO DO! THEY MIGHT'VE KNOWN, BUT I CERTAINLY DIDN'T," Siren told him.

"What exactly is in this facility?" another gruff voice asked that Ratchet couldn't see.

"LABS, GENERATOR ROOMS, STORAGE ROOMS, ARMORY, CELLS, LIVING QUARTERS, AND ENTERTAINMENT ROOMS, OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD! TO GO ALONG WITH THAT, VAULT-TEC BUILT THIS FACILITY OVER AN ENERGON SPRING WHICH WILL ALLOW US TO SURVIVE HERE FOR A LONG TIME! WE HAVE A ROOM WHERE THE ENERGON IS!" Siren added to his explanation.

"Would that be contaminated by the radiation outside?" Ratchet had to ask.

"MAYBE! WE'LL CHECK IT DAILY TO SEE IF IT INCREASES IN RADIATION! IT WOULD BE VERY HARMFUL FOR US TO INGEST IT!" he told them.

"Why couldn't we just… take a ship and fly off this planet?" First Aid asked, which visibly took Siren off balanced before he answered.

"I DON'T KNOW! THEY NEVER MENTIONED THIS! MAYBE THAT WAS HOW SOME OF THE OTHER PEOPLE WERE TAKEN TO SAFETY! I HONESTLY DON'T KNOW!" Siren answered at his best impression of melancholy. The group quietly got a little excited at that before Siren spoke again. "ANYMORE QUESTIONS?!" he asked.

"Uh, I got one," an orange femme not too far from Ratchet raised her hand up. "Considering everything, what's the estimates for when we can leave this place safely?"

"UH, WELL, THE RECOMMENDED TIME FOR ALL THE RADIATION TO GO AWAY COMPLETELY IS… UNKNOWN!" he gave the entirely unhelpful answered to them.

"Great…," the femme murmured, the other people sharing similar sentiments.

"APOLGIES, BUT IF THERE ISN'T ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, I WILL BE IN MY OFFICE," he turned and pointed up above the atrium to an oculus. "IF YOU WANT TO FIND ME, LOOK INTO YOU'RE PIPBOT'S MAP AND FIND THE WAY TO IT! MY PLACE IS ALMOST ALWAYS OPEN SO COME SEE ME ANYTIME! PLEASE, LET'S STAY PEACEFUL AND WORK TOGETHER TO FORM A GOOD SOCIETY!" With those last words of encouragement, Siren walked out, leaving the group to themselves. All of them ruminate on it slightly before exhaustion settle in and they all decided to call it a day to charge up and think about what happened.

Ratchet arrived at his room, weary of the coming future and lay down on his bed to recharge the night away.

XXX

*Knock Knock*

"Guah," Ratchet mumbled as he woke up. The knocking of the door startled him and he crawl himself out of the recharge slab. He looked around at his surrounding, wondering where the sun was to shine through the window, before he realized where he was, what was on his wrist, and what happened. Depressed, he got up and walked over to the door, wondering why someone would bother him this early after what happen. He pressed a button on the wall and the door opened, revealing a completely green guard with green optics and Vault-Tec on his chest. He was bulky, larger and wider than Ratchet, and had a rifle holster on his back. He was looking at a datapad in one hand and carrying a box in the other.

"Ratchet?" he asked in a burly voice.

"Yeah," he answered.

"You were late to wake up and missed the meeting this morning at 9:00," he told him.

"What? No one told me about it," he argued.

"Siren told everyone over the intercoms about it at 8:00. They are all over the facility and in your rooms. That and Siren is loud," he shot his argument down.

"What, but… I didn't hear it," Ratchet murmured.

"You didn't?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Correct. You might want to get a repairmech to check on my intercoms to see if it is broken," Ratchet told him. The guard stared him down, causing Ratchet to pinch his fingers together, before the guard relaxed his glare.

"Alright, I'll go see if I can get anyone to look at it. Until then," he clipped his datapad to the leg ad use his free hand to open it and bring out a card and gave it to him, "here." Ratchet grabbed it and looked at it. It was a white, plastic card with 'MEDICAL BAY' printed on the sides and black coding on it. "This is for the Medical Bay. Use it to unlock and lock the medical bay. You, as well as First Aid and Ambulon, are the only ones here with advanced medical training so you will have these cards as well as Siren, Swindle, and Tacklebolt."

"Wait, why does Swindle, Tacklebolt and Siren get access to the area?" Ratchet asked, confused.

"Siren, as the Overseer, has access to all area with the Universal Card, Swindle is the head of supplies in the area and restocks the areas that needs them, including the Medical Bay, and Tacklebolt is the janitor of the place," he answered.

"Alright," Ratchet murmured, looking at the card. "What time is it?"

"It's-" he looked at his wrist, "-11:00 A.M."

"I've been asleep that long?" Ratchet asked in disbelief.

"It would appear that way. Go find your way to the med-bay and check it out. It's everybody's objective to go check their workplace out," the guard ordered.

"Alright, uh, what's your name?" Ratchet asked him.

"Derve. Now go."

"Alright. Thanks, Derve," Ratchet thanked him and walked past him. He pulled his Pipbot up and looked up how to get there with the map function. A quick look through the map revealed the location of the place and he saw a marker function. He clicked it and asked for where to put it. He clicked it on the Med-Bay and the marker appeared there with a line extending from it past the borders of the screen. He followed it along until he reached his location again, the line reaching his location. The line led through the hallway and Ratchet looked up to see the door heading out of the hallway and followed it to the door and pressed a button, opening the door to a downward staircase.

Ratchet descended down the staircase and reached the next hall, which had a door and windows on the left side, showing off an empty cybergarden, and a door on the right. The only thing in the cybergarden was a couple of scientists talking to each other, probably about what type of plants they will grow in there. The door on the left showed off the sign 'CONSERVATORY.' Ratchet walked passed them and made his way to the next door, heading up the stair case, taking a right up it, and made his way into the hall. Inside, he could see two doors on each side, a sign on the left door saying 'MEDICAL BAY.' He instinctively head into the room to check it out.

Inside, he could see Ambulon and First Aid exploring the place. It was a large, white room with operating tables in the center, medical cabinets on the left and right wall, and a door to the back room. Ambulon was exploring the operating tables and the tools next to them while First Aid was looking over a vial of yellow liquid at the left wall. As this was going on, the back door opened, showing Swindle, looking over a datapad of information. He looked up as he exited and saw Ratchet. "Well, hello there, sleepyhead," he greeted him and the two others turned to look at him.

"Hey, Ratchet. We were worried about you," First Aid said, putting the vial up and rushing on over to him.

"He was. I was wanting to skip ahead to here," Ambulon muttered, walking on over to Ratchet as well as Swindle.

"Nice to see that everyone cares for me," Ratchet murmured.

"Apologies," he muttered unapologetically.

"So," Swindle butted in, "welcome to the Med-Bay. The place where you'll work in this place. Is everything you need here?" Ratchet took a cursory look around. A bunch of medicals phials that would take a while to properly examine to make sure that they were all good, the medical tools looked high-quality, and the place was clean.

"I believe that everything is here, yes," Ratchet agreed.

"That's what I thought as well. High-quality medical tools and medicine that costs a pretty shanix and it looks pretty clean," Swindle agreed. "It should be an alright place to work in for you guys."

"Indeed, it does," Ambulon agreed, looking around. "The surgical instruments are better than what the hospital provides and the medicine are of high-quality."

"Good to hear. Now, I have to go make sure everyone is settling in fine, so I'll go take care of those. Tell me if you need anything else," Swindle told everyone, moving past Ratchet and into the hallway.

"Well, considering the situation we're in, I doubt we'll be using this much anyway," Ambulon said, examining the surgical instruments. "Low population plus high safety maintenance means not many injuries and sickness."

"Yeah… that's good," First Aid agreed, hefting himself up onto a surgery table to sit on it. "We were always so busy at the hospital, dealing with all the people of Iacon. Me and Ambulon usually dealt with emergency situations, so we should do fine here. I imagine all the injuries here will be sudden."

"Yeah, hopefully, along with annual check-up for people," Ambulon agreed. "You're a clinic doctor, correct?" he asked Ratchet.

"I was when they called me over her. I oscillate between the two," Ratchet told them.

"Good to know you have experience with both," he noted. "I doubt anyone who isn't already dead that ends up on our table will die."

"I sure hope so," First Aid agreed. "So, what do you guys want to do?"

"Well, I recommend that we should organize a check-up on everyone," Ratchet recommended. "We don't know any of these people, bar a few of them, and this would be a good way to introduce ourselves to everyone and to make sure no one brought a life-threatening disease with them into the fallout shelter."

"Seems fair. I don't specialize in it, but I can do that and I'm sure my assistant can do that by himself," Ambulon agreed to it.

"Yeah, I can. It's the basics. If I didn't know that, I wouldn't be your assistant," First Aid agreed.

"Great. Ratchet, you can go find Siren and arrange for this to happen. A clinic doctor would be best at arranging it," Ambulon told him.

"Sure thing. I'll go find him. Go make sure all the equipment is working fine while I go arrange it," Ratchet told them, heading for the door.

"Will do," First Aid agreed as he and Ambulon went to work checking the equipment and Ratchet went out into the hallway. Ratchet looked at his Pipbot and at his map, looking for the Overseer's office. Once Ratchet charted a path to get there, set out for it, backtracking through the hallway with the cybergarden and took the door that he didn't use to go up a set of stairs. This led him to another hallway and followed it to an intersection with kept going forward. He could see a door with "Overseer's Office" on a sign above it. The door opened and Tacklebolt walked out frustrated.

"Tacklebolt, are you alright," Ratchet asked as the door closed behind him.

"I'm a fragging janitor! There is so much wrong with that!" Tacklebolt complained to Ratchet stopping in front of him with Ratchet doing so as well. "Do you know how much that sucks?"

"Well, aren't you a window washer? It's not much of a difference," Ratchet told him. "I even saw windows here for you."

"I feel like they put those there just to spite me," he grumbled.

"Well, when are your hours?" Ratchet asked.

"Siren, when he wasn't busy destroying my auditory sensors, said I should do it at night when most people were asleep. So the night shift, basically," he answered, crossing his arm.

"Well, you have the day to yourself," Ratchet told him.

"Yeah, but I don't know how long my sanity can last," he told him, rubbing his arm nervously. "There's a limited amount of things to do in here."

"Well, than get creative. It's not like we can go outside anytime soon," the doctor told him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Radiation will infect our systems and cause systemic shut down of our systems until our sparks extinguish. Siren gave a whole spiel about it this morning that you miss, by the way," Tacklebolt replied. "What caused you to miss that?"

"Overslept. I think the intercom in my room is broken, so someone is going to have to fix that," Ratchet informed him.

"Oh, perfect. You are the lucky one with a broken intercom, you slagger," the window wiper complained, rubbing the side of his head. "My auditory sensors are still aching from having to talk to him twice."

"Well, I'm going to go talk to him, so I'll be suffering with you soon," the doctor said, trying to comfort him.

"Well, that makes me feel slightly better," he admitted. "Be warned, it's worse in his office because it's smaller."

"Thanks for the tip," Ratchet thanked him.

"You're welcome. Now, I'm going to go relax or something. Whatever," Tacklebolt complained, walking off. Ratchet watched him go briefly before heading to the Overseer's office. He opened it with the press of a button to a brown, square room. Inside, he could see a locker on the right and left side, a bunch of screens at the wall on the end, and a circular desk in the center with a computer on it. Siren was sitting there, typing into the computer.

"Hello, Siren. I-"

"RATCHET!" Siren 'yelled,' standing up and walking over to him. "WHAT WERE YOU DOING THIS MORNING AT 9:00 AM!?" he questioned, getting up in his face.

"I was in my room! I think my intercom was broken," Ratchet explained to him hastily, putting his hands at the side of his head. "Sorry for not making the meeting."

"…FINE!" Siren agreed, backing off. "I'LL SEND SOMEONE OVER TO FIX THAT!"

"Thank you," Ratchet thanked him, not taking his hand away from his head in pain.

"NOW, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU CAME TO SEE ME FOR?!" Siren asked, stepping back and resting his hands on the desk.

"Well, me and the other doctors were thinking of having a check-up for everyone here," Ratchet informed him. "We need to see if any of them brought any transmissible disease here and it would be a good way of introducing us to everyone here." Siren listened quietly, thinking things through, before he answered.

"IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA! IT WOUD BE TERRIBLE IF WE ALL SUFFER FROM A DISEASE THAT SOMEONE UNKNOWINGLY BROUGHT IN!" Siren agreed. "I'LL ARRANGE FOR IT THIS AFTERNOON!"

"Great…," Ratchet said, heading out. "Thank you, Siren."

"YOU'RE WELCOME, RATCHET! I'LL BE HERE IF YOU NEED ANYTHING ELSE!" Siren told him, walking back behind his desk. Ratchet walked out of the room, his audio receptors feeling comforted at getting out of the room. He needed to get out of there to keep them working. He backtracked down the stairs to the cybergarden and to the Medical Bay. Inside, Ambulon and First Aid were finishing off looking things over and Ambulon notice Ratchet come in.

"How did it go?" he asked him.

"It went well and we should expect people to come for check-ups this afternoon," Ratchet told them. "Is everything here ready for us?"

"It should be," First Aid told him, walking on over to him with Ambulon trailing behind him. "So, we're going to be handling 47 people tonight."

"We should be, so get ready. This is going to be quick and clean."

XXX

"Here they come," Ambulon muttered, watching as three individuals enter the room. One familiar face and two unfamiliar. The familiar face went to Ratchet.

"Hey, Ratchet. How are you doing?" Swindle asked, taking a seat on the operating table.

"Just fine, Swindle," Ratchet replied, slightly annoyed at who he would have to deal with.

"Hey, no need to sound like that," the merchant said, slightly offended.

"Right," Ratchet muttered, grabbing a syringe and a bowl with a clear liquid and brush in it. "Let me see your wrist. Should be a good energon line there."

"Sure. Got it," Swindle agreed, showing the underside of his right wrist. Ratchet grabbed the brush with the liquid on it and rubbed it across Swindle's wrist. With that, a blue line showed up on it, going up it and slightly off center.

"Alright, there it is," Ratchet murmured, getting the syringe and uncapping it. "Hold that still," he warned him, grabbing it with his free hand and lowered it down to his wrist slowly. Swindle grabbed a hold of his elbow with his free hand to keep it still as well. Ratchet kept his hand stead as it enter the wrist and into the energon line. Swindle gave a few quiet grunts at that, the loudest at the initial entry. "Did you lessen your pain sensors?"

"Nah, I'm just a bit more used to pain than a lot of people," Swindle told him as Ratchet started extracting energon from him.

"Ah, so when do salesmech have problems involving getting hurt?" Ratchet asked him.

"Not much, really. I just get into a few problems every now and then with gangbangers and their ilk. I treated one of them like a normal customer and he didn't like that, so they decided to beat me up a few times," Swindle explained to him.

"Really? Why didn't you get police protection?" Ratchet asked.

"Because I knew that at least a few of them were corrupt in some way. You won't find any of the news talking about it, but a few customers explain a few of their run-ins with the police and how a few of them seem to completely ignore them whenever the gangs got involve," he explained as the syringe was a quarter full and stopped, pulling the syringe out of his wrist. He put it to the side and wrapped some gauze around his wrist to keep any more energon from leaking out.

"That should prevent any more energon from leaking out and that sample should be enough to see if any diseases enter you energonstream," he told him, getting a tape and putting it on the syringe. He retrieved a pen and wrote Swindle's name on it before placing it at the back away from everyone. "Alright, now just some questions. How are you feeling?" he asked, retrieving a datapad and approaching him. As he did that, he could see Ambulon putting the syringe up as well and First Aid just got done putting the syringe in the person's wrist.

"Well, physically, I'm fine. I'm just a bit… freaked out about what's going on above us as is everyone else, I assume," Swindle told him.

"Not surprising in the least. Tell me, have you visited any places you could get diseases like Thunderbird Forest," Ratchet asked, showing off a list of places.

"Yeah. I was there just last week. It was beautiful. I also visited Proteus Forest and Lateral Shore," he told him.

"How wonderful and far away," Ratchet murmured. "Have you ever been to places with a high disease rate like Kaon?" He showed him the list.

"Yes, I've been to a few of these on business trips. I certainly wouldn't visit them otherwise," Swindle told him, sounding a little disgusted. "I've visited Kaon, Helex, Telos, Vos, and Scalene."

"Purely business?" Ratchet confirmed.

"Yes. While I could've gotten a lot of pleasure there, I wasn't up for risking my life for a high or other things there," Swindle told him.

"How long did you usually stay there?"

"Depends. Some, I was there for a few hours, a couple of days, nothing too long, but sometimes I was there for weeks, sometimes months, just to get a deal going with the jackoffs there. I'll give Iacon credit, people are easier to deal with here. Or were, until the bombs destroyed them," Swindle shrugged, uneasily. "They were more complex, but generally, what they wanted were easier to obtain."

"When was the last one?"

"Thirteen months ago, I went to Vos. Not as bad as the others."

"Have you ever been sick before?"

"Small ones like Flangers. Nothing serious," he answered nonchalantly.

"Any serious injuries you experience recently?"

"I got shot in a drive-by in the shoulder," he responded, showing off a scar at the left shoulder. "I wasn't the intended target. He got several bullets and died on the way to the hospital."

"Lucky you. Have you done any drugs?" Ratchet asked.

"Look, I've… tried most drugs, but that's all I've done. I'm not had extended use with any of them," he explained.

"When was the last time?"

"Roughly… 200 years. Tried out some syk to close a deal with an executive. Didn't like it," Swindle told him.

"Alright," Ratchet murmured. "We are done. Thank you for all the info."

"No problem. Public safety is an important thing to have," Swindle agreed before he started speaking in lower tones. "Look, I probably said some morally disagreeable things here, but I'm being honest with everything I said here. We're trapped here until the radiation goes away and I need someone I can trust unquestionably here."

"Unquestionably?" Ratchet murmured suspiciously.

"Yeah… look, Iacon isn't a place where you can trust anybody. Most people will stab anyone to get ahead. You look like the rare individual who will do the right thing, even if it's not advantageous to you. You're better than me in that regard," Swindle told him bluntly.

"Why should I trust you?" he asked.

"You shouldn't, but I'm the only one who's willing to admit that. Ask anybody else, they'll say yes and won't mean it. All of those diseases places were refreshing in their honesty with how much they despised outsiders like me," he answered him.

"So, you expect an honest person like me to trust a dishonest person like you," Ratchet asked.

"Yes. Find the honest people here, like these other medics if you can trust them, and that orange, green, and purple monstrosity walking around," Swindle told him.

"Monstrosity?" Ratchet asked.

"He's a guy named Bludgeon. He is brutally honest with all of his opinions and assumingly brutal with how he fights as well," Swindle told him.

"What is he?" Ratchet asked.

"He's working now as a guard and as a cybergarden caretaker at this place, but he was invited here with the rest of us. He doesn't work for Vault-Tec, which is a good thing. I wouldn't trust any of them here," Swindle told him.

"What was he before he came here?"

"From what little he told me and from what little I remember of him before I came here, he's a Metallikato master. I remember him because I made deals with him and the rest of the people there for blades from a blacksmith. They needed them very detailed on the handle, handguard, and blade with symbols that I never heard of in gold. It was too retired the old swords they had for a little over two thousand years. They lived at a temple just outside of Eastside, but just in the perimeter of Iacon to get benefits of living in the city," Swindle told him

"He sounds… interesting," Ratchet murmured.

"Yeah. They don't leave the temple often. It's shocking that he did come here, although I can tell he feels guilty of leaving them behind," Swindle told him. "Beware of his temperament when you talk to him. He's honest and honorable, but he isn't very stable. I knew that when I went over there that he was easily the most unstable one there."

"You seriously expect me to make friends with him?" he asked in disbelief.

"Like I said, he's honest and an open book. Just make sure you don't tick him off," the merchant reaffirmed.

"Why, oh, why am I making friends with the crazies?" Ratchet muttered before saying, "Get out. I'll try to get him."

"Sure thing," Swindle said, getting up and heading off.

XXX

"And you are?" Ratchet asked as the fifth person for Ratchet came to him. He was slightly familiar, being the black-and-white motorcycle with orange and yellow highlights on him, although he couldn't quite remember him.

"Lugnutz, dude," he replied with a drawl, taking a seat with a smile. Ratchet saw Ambulon introducing himself to Sunspot and First Aid dealing with a red individual that Ratchet didn't remember seeing, although judging by the Vault-Tec symbol on his chest, he was one of the guards placed here. "How you hanging?" he asked.

"Uh, fine," Ratchet murmured. "Second person to ask me that."

"Cool, cool," he replied with a shaking of his head. Ratchet couldn't quite tell where, but that accent was definitely not from Iacon, even in the most underground of places.

"Wrist." Lugnutz did so with his right hand and Ratchet rubbed the brush on it, but didn't show anything. "What the?"

"Oh, tried the side," the motorcycle recommended and Ratchet did so, revealing a blue line.

"That's unusual," Ratchet muttered, getting the needle.

"Yeah. They said it was defect of some sort. I don't get it. Doesn't make me different from anyone on the outside," he complained.

"Well, correct, but it's still affects you. You're emphasizing that side instead of an equal balance. That greatly affects how much you can lift with your hands," the doctor explained to him.

"Well good thing I'm a courier. That doesn't require much heavy lifting," Lugnutz told him.

"Courier?" Ratchet asked, plunging the needle into the line, causing a small yip to erupt from him.

"Yeah… I'm a drifter at my core, so a courier is the perfect job for me," Lugnutz told him.

"Not many of those," he murmured.

"Yeah, well, people still need to bring physical objects from one place to another. Not everyone has a 3D-printer and some people need it there stat and not in the many days it takes to process it at the mail, and some people simply trust no one in the government," Lugnutz explained as Ratchet withdraw the energon from him.

"Well, good to know. The more jobs, the better," Ratchet murmured as he finished getting it and took out the syringe. He wrapped it in gauze and labeled the syringe before putting it up. "Alright, time for questions," Ratchet said as he got the datapad out.

"If you need info on where I've been, you best let me do it myself. I've been everywhere," he told him.

"We'll see," Ratchet muttered as he showed him a list of natural habitats. "How many?" Lugnutz leaned forward and mark all the ones he been to. Ratchet looked at it and a surprised look came on his face. "Wow, you haven't been to two of these places."

"I travel a lot."

"How about these cities," he said, showing them off and Lugnutz did it again. He looked at it and marked all the ones he been to. Ratchet looked at them and guffawed. "Primus, all of them?"

"Yeah. Part of the reason I took a job was if it took me to someplace new. I haven't visited many places more than thrice. I actually made my first visit to Iacon a month ago and what an introduction," Lugnutz chuckled. "I check into a motel for a day before I would leave to Kaon the following day when I got a note asking me to come here in a month. I'm always up for something new, so while I left the next day, I made a note to come back here when it was time. As it turned out, that was a good idea."

"You're taking being trapped in a fallout shelter extremely well," Ratchet murmured, looking at him suspiciously.

"I'm a drifter. I don't know many people for long. I had no personal connection to anyone out there. The toughest thing for me is staying in one place, which this place is really going to test. I actually have to get to know people here and that worries me," Lugnutz nervously said. "I'm good at acting like I'm okay being around people and I'm good for a short time, but an extended amount of time and I get really nervous. Hopefully, I won't go insane here."

"Right," Ratchet murmured, feeling sorry about him. "Alright, when have you been sick?"

XXX

"Pyrobyte. Are you okay?" Ratchet asked him as slumped over and took a seat on the table as the eighth one. He wasn't looking very happy.

"No. I'm worried. I can't feel Cryobyte. I-I don't know what's happened to him," he muttered.

"I'm sorry," Ratchet muttered, taking the wrist and brushing it, revealing a line directly in the center. He grabbed the syringe and plunged it in him, eliciting no response to him.

"I just want to feel him. We spent our whole life together until recently," Pyrobyte told him.

"Once again, I'm sorry," Ratchet apologize. "We had no idea what was going on except for the Vault-Tec people."

"It can't be just them. Other people had to know, in order to plan all of this out," the smelter replied.

"Well," Ratchet murmured, removing the needle and wrapping the gauze around him, "tell me about Cryobyte."

"Well, he's nice and funny and I miss him," Pyrobyte muttered.

"You said you separated recently. What for?" Ratchet asked.

"He got arrested for mechslaughter," he answered.

"Come again?" Ratchet paused, staring up at him.

"He… messed up at work and one of the people who was in cryostasis died because of it. He was slightly intoxicated and arrested him for it, saying that he was criminally negligent and guilty of mechslaughter," he told him.

"Uh… that's tragic," Ratchet murmured, trying his best to sound sincere.

"Yeah… didn't help that the guy was related to a senator and made sure he got the maximum sentence for it," he told him.

"Ouch, tough break," Ratchet murmured.

"Yeah… I doubt with him in prison, he got to go to a vault," Pyrobyte told him, depressed.

"Yeah…I'll skip how you're feeling and just skip to locations. Where have you been?"

XXX

"You again," Derve muttered as he took a seat in front of him. Ambulon was working on Barricade and First Aid was talking to the orange femme from yesterday… and it looked like they were flirting a bit

"Ah, Derve. Thanks for earlier," Ratchet thanked him as he got his right wrist and started brushing it, revealing a line curving from the right to the center.

"It's my job," he replied as Ratchet put up the brush.

"Still, you were quite helpful in informing me and setting me on the right track," Ratchet told him.

"Once again, it's my job. I'm more professional than the other guards here," Derve told him.

"Why is that?" he asked as uncapped the syringe and prepared to plunge it in.

"I got honorably discharged from the military after completing my tour. I decided to settle down and have a calm life as a security officer. Nothing much happens to them. Didn't think I would be hiding in a fallout shelter to protect me from a nuclear bomb," Derve explained to him.

"Well, I thank you for your service," Ratchet told him as he plunged the syringe in the wrist, making no noise from Derve, and started extracting energon.

"I was just doing what I thought was best, just like you decided to be a doctor. We both do what we think is best to do," he explained. "At least, I assume that's why you did it."

"I have good hands and I like helping people. Certainly helps that it pays well," Ratchet told him.

"Yes, it certainly helps," the guard agreed as Ratchet was done and removed the syringe.

"How many guards here have had any training?" Ratchet asked as he set aside the syringe and got the gauze.

"Aside from me, the only ones I recognize as having military training is Siren and Joor, the red guard," he told him as Ratchet wrapped the gauze around him.

"I saw Joor here earlier being checked-up on by First Aid," he mentioned.

"He should be fine," he muttered. "Other than those two, I have no idea. Siren was a high-ranking officer when I was discharged and Joor always talks about the military like a true patriot. Haven't really talk to the others."

"Well, thanks for that," Ratchet thanked him as he got the datapad and began asking questions. "How are you feeling?"

"Glad I'm in here. Sad for everyone else who isn't in one," the guard replied.

"How about physically?"

"Perfectly fine. Can't think of anything wrong."

"Alright… which of these locations have you been?" Ratchet asked showing him the datapad.

"Rusted Sea and the Chrome Deserts. My tour took me there," he replied.

"Alright, and the cities?" he asked, showing them off.

"Kaon. Created and raised there. Spent some time as a gladiator in the lightweight circuit until the military recruiter let any of us join them," he answered.

"Gladiator? Never been there, so I don't know how it works," Ratchet answered.

"It's not what popular opinion is. A lot of people have got it in their head that one lost and you're dead. It's not. Replacing gladiators are expensive so they take great care to make sure that we don't die and fights to the death are generally for special occasions or if a rivalry has gotten so much buzz and attention that they have to settle it for good," he answered for him.

"So, did you ever get in life or death situations?" Ratchet asked.

"Yes. It was a special. Eight person battle royal with only two coming out alive. I got the first and last kill in that fight decapitating the first and ripping the last one's spark out with a knife," he told Ratchet.

"Wow. Impressive," he muttered.

"Not as impressive as the other one. Killed three of the competitors. I didn't concentrate on how he killed them, but I was informed that he got those kills. Glad I didn't have to fight him. He was legitimately creepy. Some guy named Soundwave," he answered.

"What happened to him?"

"Never saw nor heard from him again after I got into the military, so I obviously don't know," Derve answered. "Frankly, I'm fine with that."

"Well, since you were a gladiator and a military mech, I imagine you've had a few diseases," Ratchet asked him.

"Yes, I did. Major ones were a rusting disease I had in the Chrome Deserts, and T-Cog's Bane," Derve answered.

"T-Cog's Bane?" he asked, confused.

"Oh, sorry. Gladiatorial slang for a special technophage that infects the T-cog and spreads to the other area. If it isn't treated, it could spread to the spark and extinguish it, although it has around a 3% fatality rate," Derve replied.

"Thanks for that. Doesn't mentioned that in the list," Ratchet muttered.

"It's because it a disease mostly around Kaon, due to the technophage living solely there," he replied. "Some of the docs in the arena told me that."

"Interesting. Almost makes me wish I was a traveling doctor so I can see this for myself," he muttered.

"Trust me, Kaon is a sinkhole," Derve growled.

"I'm guessing your last visit to these sick places was a long time ago," the medic guessed.

"Yeah. I'm not good with time, so just put a long time ago."

"Sure thing. Now, have you taken any drugs?" Ratchet inquired.

"Nothing except whatever the doctor ordered," he replied.

"Alright. That's it," Ratchet told him, backing away. "Thanks for coming in."

"No problem," he replied, getting up. "Have a good day."

XXX

"You… must be Bludgeon," Ratchet greeted the eleventh person, the large green-orange-and-purple mech who look a little like a samurai with a skeletal face. Ratchet hesitated before moving over to him while Ambulon was asking Treads questions and First Aid was dealing with his conjunx endura. "Let me see your wrist." Bludgeon gave him a death glare before doing so and allowing Ratchet to rub his right wrist with the brush, showing off a near perfectly-centered line, causing Bludgeon to look at it with interest.

"What is that?" he asked, confused.

"Huh. That's your energon line," Ratchet informed him, pausing. "Have you ever had a check-up before?"

"No."

"Oh, well, I'll be extracting energon from there," he informed him, getting the syringe. "You've never had a check-up before?"

"No. We don't allow many outsiders inside at the temple," Bludgeon answered.

"Okay…," Ratchet muttered as he lowered the syringe to the wrist. "Don't move. You'll feel a slight sting."

"Understood," he muttered. Ratchet lowered the syringe into the wrist and Bludgeon didn't give any sign that he felt it. Ratchet started extracting his energon as Bludgeon waited silently.

"So, how is the temple?" Ratchet asked.

"Why do you ask?" he replied.

"Uh, well, I want to get to know everyone," Ratchet answered.

"I doubt that…." he threaten.

"Well, I heard good things about you," Ratchet told him.

"Who…."

"Uh, Swindle," he answered.

"Hmph, the merchant," Bludgeon muttered, his tone lightening. "Greedy and dishonest, but he got my sword."

"He said I could trust you," Ratchet told him, taking the syringe out and getting the gauze.

"Did he now?" he questioned to which Ratchet gave a shake of his head yes. "Hmph, I don't trust him."

"Same, but at least he's honest about his dishonesty," Ratchet told him.

"That's true. He was always blunt around the master, mostly because the master would know if he was lying or not. Still, it's more than can be said for the others around here. They're always keeping secrets," Bludgeon muttered.

"Understandable," Ratchet muttered, finished with the gauze and moving on to get the datapad. "How are you feeling?"

"I am physically and mentally fine," Bludgeon replied. "I am… unnerved about the nuke that has fallen on us, but everyone is. No one expected that and we're all worried about what is going on up top, especially to the ones we care about."

"Most people," Ratchet silently muttered. "I'm guessing you haven't explored much or taken any drugs."

"I don't travel and we take plants from the cybergarden for any ailments," Bludgeon told him.

"Alright, you're done," Ratchet told him, turning away to place everything away.

"Alright, I will take my leave," Bludgeon replied, getting up. "And if you wish to talk to me, come by at any time I'm not working."

"Huh?" Ratchet asked and turned to see Bludgeon's back as he exited the room. Well, he wasn't expecting that.

XXX

"Alright, that takes care of everyone except the Overseer," Ambulon muttered as the three of them got rid of their three previous patients. "Which of you two want to do that? I'm not doing it because I was actually pretty fast and not wasting my time chatting it up with the patients or in some cases, flirting with them," he directed that comment to First Aid, who flinched, "and actually did one extra."

"Uh, well, me and Lightstep agreed to meet up after I was done and I would like to see her right now…," First Aid told them.

"Fine, I'll do it," Ratchet muttered. "You two go and we'll examine the syringes tonight at nine."

"I was going to recommend First Aid to do it as punishment, but I guess that works," Ambulon agreed, causing First Aid to give a shock look before looking relieved.

"Thanks Ratchet. I'm going to go," First Aid announced, rushing off, much to Ambulon's discontent.

"That love-struck moron, flirting with a patient… alright Ratchet, have fun with the walking megaphone. I'm going to explore the facility a bit more," Ambulon informed him, walking out of the room and letting Siren in as well. "Ratchet will be treating you, Overseer," Ambulon told him as he walked on out. Siren looked back briefly before turning back to Ratchet.

"Hello, Siren. Let's make this as painless as possible, for both of us," Ratchet told him as he got ready. "Please talk as little as possible. I don't want my audials to be destroyed."

"ALRIGHT!" Siren answered as he walked on over and took a seat on the table and showed off the left wrist.

"Thanks," Ratchet grumbled as he moved forward and brushed his wrist, revealing a straight, centered line. "Perfect," Ratchet muttered, as he got the syringe and began plunging it in.

"OW!"

*Snap!*

Ratchet arm moved in pain at the loud noise, covering his audials briefly before looking back at the wrist, showing the needle embedded in the wrist and Siren biting his mouth to keep from shouting out loud.

"Oh, frag," Ratchet muttered, looking at it. "Hold on, I'll get it out," he tried to keep him calm, snatching the forceps and carefully lowering it into the wound. "Don't yell," he ordered as he lowered the forceps into the wound and got the deeply embedded needle.

"HMMM!" Siren yelled not quite silently into his mouth as Ratchet extracted it. Ratchet moved quickly and grabbed another needle and uncapped it. He quickly jabbed it in and got a quick simple as Siren continued to scream not quite silently. He filled it up as quickly as he could and took it out, grabbing the gauze and quickly wrapping it around the wound.

"There. Sorry about that, Siren. I really am. Quiet to loud noises doesn't usually happen when you're doing something like this," Ratchet apologized to him. Siren breath in and out that would be exaggerated for almost everyone else.

"ERRRRRG…. I'M SORRY! IT'S MY FAULT!" he told Ratchet, shocking him.

"But, I was the one who-"

"NO, I'M THE ONE THAT SHOCKED YOU WITH MY GASP WHEN I SHOULD'VE BEEN ABLE TO HANDLE IT! I'M SORRY!" he told Ratchet looking regretful.

"What, that's ridiculous. I'm the doctor. It's my-"

"NO, I CAUSED THIS AND I'M THE LEADER HERE! ALL THE BLAME IS ON ME!" he told him, rubbing his wrist sorely.

"That doesn't make sense!" Ratchet yelled.

"VERY LITTLE DO!" he told him. "YOU REQUEST ANYTHING ELSE FOR THE EXAMINATION?!"

"Uh, just a few questions," Ratchet told him, grabbing the syringe, writing Siren's name down, putting it with the other syringes and grabbing the datapad. "Okay, first question. How are you feeling? I imagine not so well," he questioned.

"ASIDE FROM THE WRIST?! JUST FINE!" Siren answered.

"Okay, to make this quick and quiet, use your good hand to tell which of these places you've been to," he requested, showing off the list. Siren did so quickly, marking the natural locations and diseased cities he's been to before handing it back. "Alright, what drugs have you taken?" he asked him.

"CURRENTLY, ANTI-DEPRESSANTS AND ANTI-STRESS MEDICINE!" he replied and Ratchet put that down.

"Not the first one to say that," he noticed. "And that's it."

"THANK YOU, RATCHET, AND I'M SORRY ABOUT CAUSING YOU STRESS!" Siren apologized, getting up and heading out.

"It wasn't your fault!" he shouted to him as Siren exited the room, leaving Ratchet by himself. He wondered silently about how odd the overseer was momentarily before he went ahead to clean the room.

"Alright, the last sample is in place," First Aid told everyone as he pushed the samples into a machine, including the three medics. "Now we just let them scan, right?"

"Yes, and they will point out any anomalies in the energon," Ambulon told him, sitting in a chair, in front of the machine, "adjusting for anything that would affect their energon when they were created, as a few samples have."

"Yes. It should be quick and easy," Ratchet agreed, also sitting in the chair at the machine. "Come take a seat."

"Thanks," First Aid said, taking a seat next to Ratchet.

"So, how did the meeting between you and Lightstep go?" Ratchet asked and he could practically feel Ambulon shifting in his seat in annoyance.

"It went well. We both enjoy each other's company. She works in the reactor room, making sure the air reactor runs well and technophages start forming and kill us all," he told them.

"Huh?" Ambulon asked, interested and well as Ratchet.

"Yeah, the reactor makes its own air that destroys technopathogens that could form or come in through cracks in the structure. We use the air in here and nothing else," he told them.

"Wow. Impressive," Ambulon muttered. "She sounds far too good for you."

"Yeah… she's pretty amazing and smart," First Aid said dreamily. "I think I love her."

"Which form of love?" Ratchet asked.

"With that longing look in his optics, I think we both know what he wants," Ambulon muttered disgusted.

"Hey, why are you so against it?" First Aid asked.

"There's a line between patients and doctors for a reason, you simmering moron," Ambulon growled. "Try to keep it platonic, although I doubt you can."

"Oh, dear," Ratchet muttered, wishing he was in the middle of these two.

"Look, there's something between us and you can't stop it," First Aid rebuked.

"After one day of talking? Wow, you naive idiot. If you weren't so good at being a doctor and if we weren't stuck in this scrapyard, I would get rid of you for someone who knows the rules, like Ratchet over here," Ambulon complimented him.

"Ratchet is nice enough that he would be totally alright this, am I right Ratchet?" First Aid asked, wanting an answer.

"No, he would encourage the rules, like any sane person, correct Ratchet?" Ambulon asked him, looking for support. Ratchet glanced at the two, realizing that the two wanted an answer from him and he hated it. He knew that agreeing with one would alienate the other one slightly, which was something he didn't need. He hated having to make a choice.

"Well… I guess if it isn't hurting anyone, you should be allow a relationship with a patient," Ratchet answered, siding with First Aid.

"What?!" Ambulon yelled, not liking this.

"Yes, I knew you would understand!" First Aid shouted, excited.

"Hey, look, while I'm alright with it, I recommend you let either me or Ambulon be her physician, just so the doctor-patient line isn't crossed," Ratchet intervene, trying to stay on both of their good sides.

"Oh, sure, I guess we can do that. Can you do that, Ratchet?" First Aid asked.

"Over your superior?" Ambulon asked, insulted.

"What? I like him more," First Aid told him.

*Ding!*

"Results are in!" Ratchet shouted, thankful for it, clicking on it for the results. He examined each one quickly, reading each of them with a sense of relief until he reached the end.

"Good news: no one is infected with a life-threatening disease," Ratchet told the two medics.

"Good," Ambulon grumbled, getting up. "I'll be heading to my room for the night," he informed them, heading out grumbling.

"Well, thanks for the support Ratchet," First Aid said, getting up. "I'm going to go see Lightstep and tell her about seeing you as her physician." He exited the room, a spring in his step.

"Bye," Ratchet said, watching him go before burying his head in his hands. He really didn't want to engage in any conflict in the shelter and those two dragged him into one against his will. He got his head out and got up. He wanted to avoid any more conflict for the night and headed back to his room.