Plague

Plague-chapter 8

Starscream starred at the Lightning Bug that took up a corner in the repair bay. Of course, since it could have the Cosmic Rust germs on it, they kept it enclosed with them and no one touched it since the four arrived back from Antilla. That piece of scrap was the reason they travelled to that faraway world, and that was the reason for their suffering now. Next time, they had to be more careful about their missions–

Next time? Starscream almost laughed out loud, I don't think there will be "next time"...

Starscream took a deep vent. His leader could be impossibly impatient and reckless sometimes, especially when it came to his obsession with destroying the Autobots, but if only it hadn't blinded him to everything else, maybe it would have occured to him just why that world seemed so abandoned. Though, he thought, none of them thought about precautions before leaving to that unknown planet to retrieve that weapon, the weapon they would never have the chance to unleash. They had already seen - a demonstration by their gloriously stupid leader that started it all - the powerful heat ray, the destructive radiation it could produce.

The Seeker frowned when he thought about that. He completely forgot about it.

He got a feeling that he did overlook something important...

The air commander coughed hard and spat the rusted bits into the waste bin he had placed between his legs by his chair when he felt the first wave of nausea. He grimaced at the foul metallic taste. Those were bits of his vocoder, Hook told him and he felt it himself - the burning sensation and the feeling like he was being stabbed repeatedly in the throat were proof enough, and the fact that it seemed harder and harder for him to make sounds. Whenever he spoke - or tried to, at best - it hurt like hell and was laden with static, and the constant itching and coughing did not help his processor ache either.

"I have finished the enzyme tests, Starscream." Shockwave came up next to him in his makeshift laboratory, "The rusticyanin and cytochromes do not seem to change from generation to generation more than normal, though otherwise they seem to be another species–... Starscream? Should I call Hook?"

The Seeker nodded quickly before he leant down to the waste bin. He hadn't purged in ages and it was nothing better now; he soon felt a hand rest on his lower back and Hook offered him a cube of low-grade which he took with shaking hands. He couldn't drink much, his tank was still swirling and glancing down at the bin he found that it was a mixture of processed and unprocessed energon. It had got him, too. There was no going back.

"And the glucan synthases?" he asked hoarsely and put down the cube. He closed his optics and sighed gratefully when Hook pressed an ice pack to his neck, he tried to focus on what Shockwave said. Even though he allowed him to read the datapads and work now, Starscream ordered him around the lab and made him report everything he did to him - at least to feel that he was still in control.

"The synthase enzymes are altered." Shockwave answered, "According to the gene sequencing you did, I think these microbes have reached the point where we can call them a different species from when you were infected with them."

"I will decide that." Starscream muttered and looked over at the Lightning Bug again, "Though seeing their... mutation rate, it is quite possible. Maybe these are... already the fourth or fifth species now."

Starscream took a deep vent and buried his face in his palms. His whole body hurt and trembled with weakness and a moment later Hook grabbed his arm gently and tried to pull him up, "Come on, Starscream, let's go back to your berth. You have been up all cycle, you need to rest."

"Wait," the Seeker looked up at him with deeply burning optics, "I want to try... one more thing." he coughed and glanced at the Lightning Bug before he continued, "If it doesn't work... then... I don't know what more I can do."