Chapter Text
“Now, was it a smart idea to stand over Wheeljack while he was fixing the processing unit?” Ratchet said as he shined a flashlight in Orion’s chest casing. He used his pede to move the trash can over. After Ratchet located the air filter, he put the flashlight onto the nearby tabletop and unlocked the casing. Little bits of energon fell into the trash bin.
As Ratchet pulled the filter out, he could already tell that it was going to be a bigger issue. Energon glittered in the almost black filter, the woes of being a miner, but the major concern was the condensation on the filter.
“Ratchet, please, it wasn’t a big deal! Just a puff of smoke and a whack of filter fluid! It’s nothing!” Orion tried to soothe the agitated medic. He knew that deep, deep down the medic was just a worrywart for both him and his sparkmate.
“A ‘puff’ and a ‘whack’? Are you serious, right now?” Ratchet snorted as he dropped the air filter into the bin and grabbed a microfiber cloth to wipe down the casing, “Well, I have some bad and good news for you. Which one do you want to hear first?”
“Uh, the good would be great?” Orion shifted in the medical berth. He was starting to get a little worried from Ratchet’s seriousness.
“The air filter comes free from the worker's comp.” Ratchet waved the new air filter in front of Orion before popping it into the casing.
“Okay, great! Hahaha, guess I won’t have to borrow any money from D!” Orion tried to joke, but he schooled his face when he saw Ratchet’s somber look. “Okay, what’s the bad news?”
Ratchet sighed as he looked at Orion in the optics, “Based on the air filter, you probably vented in too much of the Energon and the filter fluid. Usually, a miner is able to handle both, but not at the same time with this amount. Have you heard of rust lung before? There’s a more medical term for it, but the common name for it is rust lung.”
After a shake of Orion’s helm, Ratchet continued, “It’s, like, when someone who hasn’t polished and buffed in a while goes into the solvent shower or a humid area more often than not. They start to rust, right? Well, because of the possible scratches from the Energon bits and the immediate filter fluid, your internals are probably going to experience rusting.”
Orion took a second to digest that information. He started to tap his digits on the medical berth. Was he freaking out? He wasn’t sure, or at least he wasn’t freaking out just yet. He really, really shouldn’t have been nosey when Wheeljack of all mechs was working on a very sensitive piece of equipment. “What… what are we going to do?”
“That’s the big question, huh? Well, we can overhaul your internal ventilation system, but that’s gonna cost you a… I think a couple hundred grand at the very least if we can even find the parts. No worker’s comp here. At least, you’ll be up and working in no time.”
“A COUPLE HUNDRED GRAND?!” Orion said calmly because he was so calm about this situation. D was so gonna offline him. OH MY PRIMUS!
“Okay, don’t panic, yet. We have another, work compensated option. I can give you some nanites to help polish out your ventilation system, however, it is gonna get a lot worse before it gets a lot better.” Ratchet starts writing the prescription in his data pad as he talks. “You’re gonna need to take them at the same time everyday until you finish them, and come back for a follow-up. You’re probably gonna need at least a week off as the nanites work to rid you of rust. Don’t need you making more internal scratches from working. You’ll exvent or tear up some excess polishing fluids and some rust dust might be expelled out from your facial vents.” Ratchet looked up from the data pad to observe Orion’s vents before getting back to writing.
“Oh, and you can’t use the overhead solvent showers or else it would defeat the purpose of the nanites if any more humidity gets into your internals. Luckily, the miners’ barracks have a mediocre dehumidifier system, so just use a cleaning cloth and a sponge.”
Orion nodded his head, but he was trying to keep his venting in control. Okay, so rust . Rust, okay. He can handle it. It’s not a big deal. He’s handled worse! He’ll be back working with his sector in no time!
It couldn’t be that bad!