Log Title: Medical Hauntings Characters: Goth, Knock Out Location: Goth's Lab - Acropolis - North Altihex Date: November 2nd, 2021 TP: Liege Maximo TP Summary: Knock Out takes a crack at fixing Goth's haunting problem. He finds waay more than he wanted. As logged by Goth
Goth's Lab - Acropolis - North Altihex
Goth is face down in his pillows, ears and claws twitching, as he once more fights to deal with another day of being unable to SLEEP, the hallucinations are getting worse, the dreams as well, and he haates it.. Dark rings have formed under his optics, and one of the lids twitch as he grumbles, laying there.
The door slides open, as someone has entered the code to allow himself in. "Ahh, that was a good sleep. Quite pleasant." The owner of the voice is talking to himself, mostly, but Knock Out stops himself upon spotting the twitching bat over in his pillow pile. "Perhaps that was poor timing," he observes as the door shuts behind him.
Goth is glowering at Knock out. "A bit." Goth says dryly, tiredly.. He's definitely not in a good state, his voice is hushed, twitchy, maybe even a bit paranoid.
"Be that as it may, you would prefer the one treating you to be of sound mind and frame, opposed to the alternative," Knock Out states in a casual, matter-of-fact way, gesturing from himself to Goth to cement the comparison. "I certainly would not trust you to perform any detailed work in your state. Come here, then. Let me see what is ailing you. Describe your current condition, down to every last detail you can think of. We will need to run a full diagnostic scan on you as well."
Goth sighs, he doesn't have the energy to argue, he barely has the energy to push himself up to get himself over to Knock out, before flopping down onto the near berth that was there he would often use for building.
"Right.. Started about a little over a week ago, started as simple nightmares of standard formers who have passed, muttering, but its grown louder and louder, then I started seeing them while awake.. they want something, won't spit it out." He manages to get out. "I've been unable to fully rest at all due to it." he'd grumble. "Can't focus."
A few 'Mmm-hmms' from Knock Out, whose optics narrow as he watches Goth approach and take a seat. "So then, the question becomes, what were you doing before this began? Again, all the details you can recall. Clearly, this is abnormal for any like us to deal with."
Goth squints, thinking hard as it's been a haze the past week. "Working on frames.. didn't really leave my lab much." He murmurs and yawns. "Normally, I am able to ignore such things when they appear but.. This time I fear it's.. getting out of control." He'd murmur.
"Where did you go? Did you see anyone different from usual? I am wondering if you somehow caught a virus of some kind," Knock Out explains, drumming his thin, spindly fingers against his side, at least with one hand. "Perhaps downloaded something corrupt, causing you to see and hear things, preventing you from getting proper rest." As he withdraws a datapad from a slot in his right arm, he unfurls a connector cable. "I will need a port to plug into. For my own safety, I will not interface with you directly."
Goth hms. "Left to go to the rollout once, but that was after this had already started." He explains as he lies there, and then points out a new machine there in his lab, a diagnostic that's been modified.
"Hmm nothing of that sort." Goth states after a bit of thought. "Hmph, I am not one to stick my ports into anything I've not cleared after heavy sanitization." Goth adds with a humph but he was once more not really fighting.
Knock Out's mouth shifts into a thin line, his expression lacking in patience. "I asked about things before it began. I am prepared to check your database for anything out of the ordinary prior to the period you mentioned. If this is as serious as you say, and if you trust me enough to have given me access to this place, then let me take the steps I can think of to see if I can track down a cause for this." He ignores the diagnostics machine Goth indicates, gesturing to his own. "And you know how I am when it comes to cleanliness."
Goth grumbles. "Fair enough.. and then you must forgive me for being.. groggy, memory does not stay with me well due to this." He'd huff.. On the back of his neck though, hidden in his mane, a panel shifts and exposes a number of ports.. He shifts rather uncomfortably as he lies there.
"You are not your usual self," Knock Out states dryly, leaving the meaning behind it unspecified one way or another, though it is not said with any coldness. "I am doing this because I know you likely have nobody else to turn to, and from what I have observed of animals on other worlds, they seek to hide their injuries or problems due to an instinct to avoid showing weakness." The connector is plugged in, and he begins to run a diagnostic of Goth's basic functions first, seeking to compare them to past readouts he'd obtained for Goth. Anomalies and aberrations are checked for first.
It was definitely a statement as to how much Goth wished for this to stop, normally he'd not allow for this sort of thing under any circumstance, but, well, here he was... That and he maybe of feeling a biiiiit called out, as Knock Out wasn't wrong by any means, Goth was... prideful and rather hide his wounds and injuries rather than seek out help as it would mean exposing himself to danger.
Interestingly though all of Knock Out's check everything would come up normal... Well, besides the trouble the week of sleep deprivation was causing, worsening the mental aliments he did have, but rarely spoke of.
There is silence from Knock Out as readings are analyzed and compared to past results, taking into account Goth's current state of mind and body. "Good and not so good," he muses, adding before the question can be raised, "Your primary data is in line with your standard baselines aside from expected degradation consistent with your particular ailments. However, that means we will have to go deeper. I am going to deactivate your ability to use your limbs and wings, for both my safety and yours. It would not do for you to have an adverse reaction to a bad memory dug up." Of course, he has already given Goth the mech equivalent of an 'anesthesia' by the time he's mentioned it. A little trick.
"You have my word I will not take advantage of anything. I am running scans to search for any anomalies, like an implant, along with searching for events before you indicated the problems began. "Goth is notably silent in response to Knock out, minus a huff? Perhaps indicating how on the nose Knock Out maybe been... His ears fall back at the mention of cutting off his control over his limbs which, well, his arms and wings were connected at his wrists so they were one in the same, but that definitely gets a panicked response from the bat.
"Must you?!" Goth asks a bit alarmed, course he flinches feeling it go off, too slow to respond thanks to his tired state, and his fans start running a bit warm in a panicked response, he nates a few vents though, trying to calm himself down. "Right... Right... your word." He trusts Knock Out; he keeps said promises... right?
One might gather that this is not the first time Knock Out has dealt with a potentially unruly patient. "Yes, I must. You would do the same if our positions were reversed. The last thing you want is an accident making matters worse." He notes the fans and the venting acting up, leaving those untouched. How good is his word? Goth is about to find out. The search goes back further, in an effort to find whatever may have caused this change, whether Goth is conscious of the catalyst or not. Someone looking for it? If there is something to find, Knock Out will.
Goth knits his ridges unsure of that, given he's not generally performed such things before, so this was a bit new to him.
Internally, Goth's memory banks were... Hard, to get into, really hard, he kept things guarded heavily... That and things were damaged, corrupted.. Weird, even by cybertronian standards, most sorted by date, some specially marked and then there were those that.. Had no name at all, or file designation.
Fittingly, Knock Out has experience with unwilling subjects, though the circumstances were not always on the up and up. Often, they weren't. If Goth remains quiet, so too does the Velocitronian medic, focused on finding that nugget of weirdness that stands out. However, there are more oddities than he expected to find, making it such that he has to tread carefully to avoid going down paths that might be fruitless, irrelevant. He does ask, as he singles out a few things, "Without going deeper into these details, would you say they were already there?" Files are highlighted, but then the unnamed ones are noted as well.
Goth makes a face. "I am... unsure what those are." He admits. "I've... never really paid them much noticed, but have been aware they were there, likely garbage files." There's a hesitantly in his voice, yes they've been there but there was clearly more to them he wasn't willing to admit, only that he needed to steer Knock Out away from them.
Knock Out's optics narrow at some of what he finds. "I am trying not to pry into things that are not my business, but your file structure is.. anything but organized. You are in need of cleaning up and defragging. I would highly recommend doing that once we've dealt with this." He makes an audible 'tsk' a few times, then he frowns. "If you don't know what they are, shall I pull them out and set them aside? I am checking others around the times you indicated. Give me something to work with here."
Goth mutters. "Make copies at least, that way don't accidently remove things till properly checked." Goth huffs. "And I am quite aware, thank you, but it is chaos I can understand." He'd add indigently.
"...Those marked with dates are video files, however I am /unsure/ if what has been plaguing me will be shown on them." That was the weird thing of the mind, could play tricks on someone and no one could or will ever see it.
"Then let us find out. Fear not, nothing will be deleted, merely backed up before I remove them from your database," Knock Out explains. "If it is this, let us hope it has not found a way to replicate and duplicate itself in other places that may be more difficult to safely access." Shortly after Knock Out works up the commands, Goth may or may not be aware of recent sections of memory beginning to be wiped from him, potentially including anything problematic if it is the root cause. "Let me know if you notice anything change."
"Right.." Goth says as he anxiously waits through the process. Once more nothing honestly changes... but when Goth brings up one of the video files, the visual and auditory hallucinates are visible!
Ghostly figures of the dead, very much dead, killed in varying ways, missing bits and pieces, gruesome displays of violence riddle their bodies. All standard formers though... Strangely, no beasts in sight, all 'standard' formers, those of vehicle design.
Their moaning, and groaning is droning and grows louder and louder with each passing day, they want something, they want him to /do/ something, but what? they get stronger, clearer with each passing day, visually and auditorily.
Knock Out frowns as he comes across info that appears to line up with a bit of what he's been told. "There is something here. It looks like the aftermath of a battle. But these are not beast-formers like you described. This is telling me you have seen something, and it is likely your own guilt has twisted it into something more personal to you." He decides to inspect one of the nameless files, next.
Looking at the background indicates though, it isn't a field but Goth's lab, where he'd been working on a project.
Opening the file-type-less file is... interesting, it opens up a video file and... the GUI glitches, the frames glitch, Goth's on a field during one of the fights, he's hit hard and offline and everything goes black, and cold, very cold, that can somehow be felt, it's like the videos ended and just recorded black noise, but...
More glitching and stuttering, and one-by-one, round, or almond shaped glowing red lights start to appear and open in the blackness as the glitching continues, until many fill that black square, and in one swift, clean movement of coming up or down, despite the glitching, slanted, black irises appear in every one of the red lights, which, are now eyes, that are all staring at Knock Out now.
The file then attempts to violently eject Knock Out from Goth's brain model, after a brief glitching of the video showing Goth looking to have 'woken up' or in this case, revived in the medical bay, and the GUI closes.
GAME: Knock Out PASSES a TECHNICAL roll of Immense difficulty.
GAME: Knock Out PASSES an INTELLIGENCE roll of Very High difficulty.
"Are these.. pre-mades?" Knock Out wonders, referencing some of the vehicle-based transformers. Following the question, the glitches start up while he's going through multiple files, nearly a dozen by the time the bat is struck and a sense of /something/ even seems to cross over as a sensation, followed by the lights that take further shape into eyes that focus directly on him. After that, the file system pushes him.. out, not exactly gentle about it either. In the process, he disconnects the line from that port and Goth's motor functions return. "That was.. unpleasant," he says, touching fingers to the side of his head. "I have reason to believe you died. Or at least, you should have."
"I don't know, they don't say anything I can decrypt." Goth grouses before he feels the forced ejection and the sense of dread that starts to overwhelm him, and then it starts to ease more so when he finds he can move his arms again.
"...Hmph, well, could have learned that from my past medical records." Goth states dryly, perhaps due to being slightly disturbed. "Too much fire." He'd shudder. "That and I am not the most sturdy of bots." He'd add with a shaky huff.
Knock Out remarks, as he crosses his arms, "Given more time, I may be able to decrypt them further. You have files of memories that suggest what I said, but it is as if there is a sentience to them beyond the norm. That, or they are a very specific type of memory unique to you." He looks the beast-former over carefully, an optic narrowing. "Do you feel any different? If not, I ought to be able to program a sleep cycle for you for a designated period. It will be deep enough that nothing will awaken you unless the set amount of time passes, or I bring you out of it due to an emergency." In other words, he would remain to monitor the bat.
"...No." Goth answers honestly and sighs. "Anything I am... more confused by this, than I was before." he grumbled. "Well.. partly, I am relieved to know they actually /show/ on my recordings." That was one good thing that came out of this.
Goth then stared at Knock out for a long moment. "Yes, please." He says, trying to keep from sounding like he was begging, but he honestly just wanted to sleep enough he wasn't a risk to fly or function.
"It means there are undoubtedly answers to be found, but I am afraid we will need more information first as far as the significance of the visions are and what they want," Knock Out explains, then he assists Goth back to a standing position to guide him over to the pillows.
"You set the length of time. I will make it so. Your core functions will still be in operation, but the rest of you will be in a deep idle." While that is going on, he will spend time looking over the files he did take copies of, seeking more clues that might help decipher them. And, he will undoubtedly have another inspection of whatever forms Goth has been working on.
Goth nods, and it was set for at least 8 hours where he was functioning somewhat at a normal level... While in rest, the files were.. definitely odd, the copies seemed to degrade in some way, they didn't have that same forceful sentience that was attached to Goth, more seemed like normal corrupt video files... Then again.. there is another night to come..