by Smokescreen85 » Sat Mar 02, 2013 5:48 pm
- Motto: ""A look can be deceiving; a touch can be lethal.""
- Weapon: Twin Shoulder-Mounted Rocket Launchers
(OOC: Moving Tracer along with Ember's permission.)
Wheeljack’s Lab
Smokescreen hurried through the corridors of the Ark-22 in an effort to beat Wheeljack back to his laboratory. All the while the rallybot held on to Tracer’s hand as he practically dragged her along with him. They passed by several other mechs in the halls but did not stop to chat with any of them. It would have only delayed things even further. Smokey almost felt like a protoform who had stayed out too late after cycle. It wasn’t that he was afraid of the mad scientist. Far from it. The diversion expert just didn’t want to be lectured about going easy in his new body or the dangers of taking a hallucinating femme out of the lab. The rallybot knew the risks and he was willing to take them if it meant helping the blue and white scout.
Before long, Smokescreen and Tracer had reached the lab doors where the rallybot stopped and looked over at Tracer. "Now, if he happens to be in there, let me do all the talking. Okay?" The troubled femme gave him a simple nod of understanding before Smokey's attention returned to the access pad. He quickly typed in the security code that Wheeljack had given him the last time he had to leave the premises. The door slid open and the pair quickly entered into the main lab area. Once the door had closed and locked again, Smokey took a quick look around the vast room, seeing that the replicator was still situated on the workbench where it had been prior to their little trip. Everything else seemed to be where they had left it, as well, and no one else was present. “Looks like we made it back before ‘Jack did,” the red and blue mech said, letting out a deep sigh of relief. He turned to look at Tracer and smiled. “Thank Primus! No lecture! Heh.”
“Ahem,” the sound came from seemingly out of nowhere. Smokescreen spun around, letting go of Tracer’s hand in the process to see the form of Wheeljack standing in the doorway that lead into the back room. The engineer’s arms were crossed and while his faceshield was still in place, Smokey could just imagine that a frown was deeply etched on his friend’s faceplate underneath. “Mind telling me where have you two have been while I was gone?”
“Wheeljack! I didn’t see you over there, buddy. When did you get back?” Smokescreen asked with a slight nervous chuckle in this vocals.
“Oh, I just got back about half a breem ago and you didn’t see me at first because I was in the back room wondering where the frag you were at! I was about to comm you when you ended up walking through the door just now!” Wheeljack replied angrily as he uncrossed his arms and walked over to the love-struck pair. “Do you two realize just how worried I was when I returned to find the place void of one diversion expert and one drug addicted femme? What the frag were you two thinking just leaving without letting me know where you were going or getting my approval? What if something had happened out there, especially considering Tracer’s current hallucinogenic state? What if she mistook someone else for an orderly from the asylum? She could've reacted badly and brought unwanted attention to herself and likewise to all of us!”
“She’s fine now, ‘Jack,” Smokescreen managed to interrupt the scientist’s lecture.
“She’s what? She’s fine?” Wheeljack glanced over Smokescreen’s shoulder and looked the troubled femme up and down before returning his gaze to the rallybot. “I don’t see how that’s possible. She was still in pretty bad shape when I left.”
“I know. I took her over to her quarters on the Guardian in order to help jog her memories. When we got there, Tracer looked through all of her personal belongings and she began remembering more and more of her past along with the present. On the way back here, she told me that she remembered everything. So, what we did worked. She’s back to normal now, or at least normal for her anyway,” Smokescreen explained to Wheeljack as he stepped forward and placed a friendly hand on the engineer's shoulder plating. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about our trip, ‘Jack. You appeared to be preoccupied with whatever Ultra Magnus wanted. I kept a close watch on Tracer and she didn’t interact with anyone else, so everything’s good. Nothing to worry about. Okay?”
Wheeljack looked his long time friend square in the optics as the rallybot told him what they had been doing. The scientist had to admit that it made sense for Tracer to look through her things to help regain her memories and it had apparently worked. Leave it to Smokey, who knew her better than anyone, to find a way to make her memories whole again. Letting out a deep sigh of his own, the white mech ran one hand down the length of his faceshield before looking up at the diversion expert once more. “Okay, Smokes, I understand why you left, but you still took a great risk going out without letting me or even Axle know first. I’m assuming he didn’t know, either. It doesn’t matter now. At least you’re both back safe and sound.”
Smokescreen withdrew his hand from Wheeljack’s shoulder as the mechanical engineer moved away and walked over to the replicator situated on the primary workbench. The scientist make a few additional adjustments before turning back around the face the pair. “Okay, here’s the deal. My meeting with Magnus yielded a new project for me and a group of like-minded mechs to work on. It’s a pretty big assignment that will occupy most of my time for the foreseeable future, I’m afraid. That means that you two will have to fend for yourselves for the most part. Axle will still be around but I’ll be extremely busy. Now, I’ve made the necessary adjustments to the replicator, reducing the hallucinogen element to a more manageable level. Tracer shouldn’t have any more problems with her memory when she doses up again. All you have to do is activate the device when you need another vile of Syk. Got it?”
“Sure thing, ‘Jack. No problem,” Smokescreen responded, intrigued by what his friend had just told him. “So, what kind of big project are you going to be working on?”
“Magnus said that we’re establishing a new Autobot base down on the Earth’s surface and he wants me and some other science bots and engineers to develop new technologies that we will utilize once the settlement is operational. I don’t know much more than that.”
“Wow, a new base with all new tech?!” Smokescreen exclaimed with excitement as he glanced over at Tracer who was equally as intrigued by the news. The rallybot then returned his attention to Wheeljack before continuing. “You think there’s anything the two of us can do to help? I mean, we can’t remain cooped up in your lab forever.”
“Well, you haven’t exactly been cooped up in here lately, now have you?”
“Touché,” the red and blue mech admitted with a slight chuckle.
“Sorry, Smokes, but I think it’s better if you two just stay here for a little while longer. I’ll contact Axle once I leave and let him know what’s going on. Perhaps he’ll have something for you to do. Remember, he’s the one who has to clear both of you for active duty. Until then you guys have to take it easy. Understand?”
“Yeah, yeah, sure thing, ‘Jack. Whatever you say,” Smokey responded with a wave of his hand. “How about we start by cleaning up your lab, put it into some kind of discernible order? Sound fine to you?”
“That’s actually not a bad idea,” Wheeljack said as he peered around the room at the mess of things that were just lying around. It wasn’t quite as bad as Tracer’s quarters had been, but it wasn’t great, either. “All right, I have to get going. If there’s an emergency and you can’t get a hold of Axle, I’ll be down in the science labs. Just comm me.” The engineer’s words trailed off as he went about gathering up a variety of tools and other scientific devices that he would possibly need for the upcoming project. Placing them all into his trusty toolkit, the mad scientist made his way towards the door, stopping to look back at Smokescreen and Tracer. “Again, I’m sorry that I can’t be around to help as much. You should be fine with the replicator, though. Just don’t mess with the settings. Okay?”
“We won’t,” Smokescreen replied with a smile. “Good luck with your project, ‘Jack. I’m sure you’ll come up with some pretty cool stuff like aways. Just don’t blow yourself up please.”
“Heh, yeah, I’ll try to avoid that. Now, stay out of trouble, you two,” Wheeljack warned as the door opened, revealing the corridor beyond.
“Never,” the diversion expert shot back with a wide, mischievous grin. Saying no more, the scientist only shook his cranium before exiting the lab and disappearing from sight. Smokescreen then turned back to look at Tracer. “Well, that went better than expected, don’t you think?”