thisavrou | audio;

[No video this time, and Ratchet's voice sounds a little ragged over the feed.]

Public service announcement--if anyone knows, or knows of, the Cybertronian called Tarn, you might have heard about his ability to damage or even kill others with his voice. This is no longer an issue.

[He declines to give anything even vaguely resembling a detailed explanation as to why. He's also well aware that Tarn might be listening, but does not appear to care in the slightest.]

I don't know if it ever worked on organics, mostly because testing it might have involved the subjects being very dead even if Tarn had agreed, but I'd ask any engineers to kindly refrain from repairing his damaged vocalizer in the meantime. He can still communicate, it's not completely busted. If you feel like fixing any of his other injuries, fine, it's your funeral, but he's already committed murder once on this ship and the fewer weapons he has, the better.

...just wanted to let people know there's one less thing to worry about. It's not news we hear often around here, I'm finding.

Ratchet out.

(OOC: posted shortly after this)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[...]

Extent (damage)?

Several short lacerations of medium depth, severed minor fuel lines, and a few damaged or missing components. I had my hand at his throat when he punched me in the chest hard enough to shatter my windscreen and send me to the floor, to make a long story marginally shorter.

Vocal damage: accidental?

Yeah, for the most part. I mean, I'm not exactly broken up about it, but I didn't rip his throat out on purpose. Why the curiosity?

[There's... a long pause. What comes after it is oddly coherent, for Rinzler—not that Ratchet has much reason to know.

It's also not an answer. Not exactly.]

You don't want him fixed.

He's a narcissistic borderline-delusional serial torturer who hates me and all of my friends and wants me dead and, until a little while ago, could literally kill me at any time just by talking to me. So, no, it's not super high on my wish list. I won't begrudge anybody else if they really want to patch him up, but I'm not doing it myself, for the reasons mentioned above and then some.

Acknowledged.

[Not even arguing. There's no delay in the response. Tarn's acted as a system threat before, no matter how closely some of their circumstances match.]

I notice you didn't answer my question.

No.

Why not?

Your ship-function: repair, editing (inorganic crew)?

[Ratchet considers this for a long moment before he taps out a response with careful clawtips.]

I'm a combat surgeon. A doctor. That means that my job is keeping as many people on this ship, organic and inorganic, as safe and as healthy as possible.

[...irritated rumbling. Whether he edits users too is Not The Point.]

Restatement.

Confirm/deny: repair function?

Yeah. Sure.

[There's. A longer pause.]

Voice removal: ~~frequent~~ [delete] ~~necess~~ [delete] used in system of origin.

As a punishment? Not like that. Honestly for someone like Tarn, whatever traditional punishment or form of imprisonment he'd be subjected to would be much, much worse, and I'd rather not get into all the graphic details.

[For attacking someone edit-capable? Or for failing to win?

The enforcer's fingers hover over the keys a few beats before he decides it doesn't matter. Whatever understanding they've had doesn't make Tarn an ally, and Rinzler's both asked and answered what he needs to know.]

Acknowledged.

Data appreciated.

Sure. I'll try this again, then. Why are you interested?

[...

It's complicated. It's personal. Rinzler forfeited much more than just his voice, including the memory of exactly what he'd done to deserve it. He wanted to know if their systems were the same. The fact that it was accidental might come as a suprise, but it's no shock at all to hear that more and worse might have been done, given the option.

But that's too big to say, too much to fit in terse, essential terms, even if he wanted to. He doesn't.

Communication isn't his function.]

Know Tarn.

[That's simpler. Also true.]

I see. Please understand. I've been doing this job for five million years and I have never, ever, not once refused to treat a patient before this. Tarn hurts people for a living, and he enjoys it. I've had people on my operating table beg me to let them die rather than risk him getting hold of them to torture them. I don't know what anyone else thinks of him, especially if you only know him here, and I'm not exactly proud of my decision in any case but I at least want you to know it's not something I do lightly.

Responding to threat.

Don't need to excuse it.

Yeah. Doesn't mean I'm happy about it, though.

Why?

Edited 2016-11-14 02:37 (UTC)

[There's a long pause as Ratchet struggles to formulate an answer--a proper one, an honest one. It feels important, somehow, if only to him.]

Because fixing people is my job. Because I'm worried that refusing to treat him is the wrong thing to do and I'm just choosing to do so because I'm angry. Because I've spent my whole career trying to keep people alive and it's still hard for me to wrap my head around the idea of someone taking genuine joy in torturing people to death. I don't know. It's not something I ever thought I'd do, but I can't help thinking it's the best course of action right now. That doesn't mean I have to like it.

Restricted potential threat.
Didn't delete him.

[Not on purpose, apparently. Did that make it worse or better? Or does it matter at all, when the edit function's taking steps to keep his modifications in place?

...]

Fixed.

text; encrypted

asafepairofhands - 2016-11-14 03:52 (UTC) - Expand

notglitching - 2016-11-14 04:30 (UTC) - Expand

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