Virus - chapter 2
This is almost painfully short, but I'm still mulling over how to do the next bit, so I posty a scrap. :P
Chapter Title: Slim Chance
Series Title: Virus
Rating: PG-13
Warning: angst by the bucket
Pairing: none yet
Summary: Jazz refuses to give up on his old friend, no matter what...
Chapter 1 - Dreams
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“Jazz!” Sam raced up the hallway to the medbay, Bumblebee right behind. “You got Barricade?!”
“Caught him on the turnpike this mornin’,” Jazz called back. “We managed to get him tied down and dragged him back on Prime’s trailer. Ratchet’s running a few scans - viruses and the like.”
“… like computer viruses?” The idea that the super-sophisticated alien robots could get something so mundane as a computer virus hadn’t occurred to him.
“Yeah, like. One in particular, really.”
“Robosmasher?” Bumblebee guessed. Jazz nodded.
Sam looked from one to the other. “Robo-wha?”
“It’s one of Megatron’s pet weapons, created by a particularly nasty mech called Shockwave. It infects the personality cortex, slowly twisting a person’s thoughts and actions.”
“Basically, it turns them into Decepticons,” Bee put in.
“It provokes blind rages, extreme violence - Megatron would capture an Autobot, infect them, and then let them go. Most of the time they just went berserk. He liked the turmoil it caused when we were forced to kill one of our own to stop them.”
“Wait, Barricade was an Autobot?” Sam had a stunned expression.
“The very best of us. He wasn’t Barricade then; his name was Prowl. Second-in-command of the entire faction, actually…” Jazz trailed off as the medbay doors opened.
Ratchet shot Jazz a serious look. “Let’s go see Optimus. I don’t want to have to explain this twice.”
x-x-x
“Well?” Jazz demanded impatiently. Optimus leaned forward attentively.
“He was infected,” Ratchet said heavily, settling into a chair.
“Can you fix it?” asked Jazz.
Ratchet glared. “It’s not that simple! I can stop the virus from corrupting his system any farther, but it’s hard to tell how much damage has already been done. The virus has had a very long time to work - in fact, I’m surprised he’s even this stable after so long.”
Optimus sighed. “Is there any hope?”
“Maybe. It all depends on how much of Prowl is left in there. There’s a chance - a very small chance, Jazz - that without the virus’ surpressing effect, Prowl’s original personality will re-assert itself. He could eventually act almost like his old self - or he might be Barricade forever.”
Jazz rubbed a hand across his visor. “It’s a better chance than we had before.”
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A/N - Of course, nothing's quite that simple...
Chapter Title: Slim Chance
Series Title: Virus
Rating: PG-13
Warning: angst by the bucket
Pairing: none yet
Summary: Jazz refuses to give up on his old friend, no matter what...
Chapter 1 - Dreams
------------------------------------
“Jazz!” Sam raced up the hallway to the medbay, Bumblebee right behind. “You got Barricade?!”
“Caught him on the turnpike this mornin’,” Jazz called back. “We managed to get him tied down and dragged him back on Prime’s trailer. Ratchet’s running a few scans - viruses and the like.”
“… like computer viruses?” The idea that the super-sophisticated alien robots could get something so mundane as a computer virus hadn’t occurred to him.
“Yeah, like. One in particular, really.”
“Robosmasher?” Bumblebee guessed. Jazz nodded.
Sam looked from one to the other. “Robo-wha?”
“It’s one of Megatron’s pet weapons, created by a particularly nasty mech called Shockwave. It infects the personality cortex, slowly twisting a person’s thoughts and actions.”
“Basically, it turns them into Decepticons,” Bee put in.
“It provokes blind rages, extreme violence - Megatron would capture an Autobot, infect them, and then let them go. Most of the time they just went berserk. He liked the turmoil it caused when we were forced to kill one of our own to stop them.”
“Wait, Barricade was an Autobot?” Sam had a stunned expression.
“The very best of us. He wasn’t Barricade then; his name was Prowl. Second-in-command of the entire faction, actually…” Jazz trailed off as the medbay doors opened.
Ratchet shot Jazz a serious look. “Let’s go see Optimus. I don’t want to have to explain this twice.”
x-x-x
“Well?” Jazz demanded impatiently. Optimus leaned forward attentively.
“He was infected,” Ratchet said heavily, settling into a chair.
“Can you fix it?” asked Jazz.
Ratchet glared. “It’s not that simple! I can stop the virus from corrupting his system any farther, but it’s hard to tell how much damage has already been done. The virus has had a very long time to work - in fact, I’m surprised he’s even this stable after so long.”
Optimus sighed. “Is there any hope?”
“Maybe. It all depends on how much of Prowl is left in there. There’s a chance - a very small chance, Jazz - that without the virus’ surpressing effect, Prowl’s original personality will re-assert itself. He could eventually act almost like his old self - or he might be Barricade forever.”
Jazz rubbed a hand across his visor. “It’s a better chance than we had before.”
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A/N - Of course, nothing's quite that simple...