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Hotshot wasn’t feeling too hot. That is to say that he was feeling a bit rundown. But that didn’t matter, not today, not this week. This week, Heatwave was running a simulation spree, with the promise that if completed, it would result in the field trip of a lifetime. Even Medix was excited. Nothing and nobody would keep his team from this trip, certainly not Hotshot. He was already questioning his spot on the team, as he hadn’t been performing as well as he would like to for the past couple of days. His frame had been sore, and no matter how much he recharged, he still felt tired. But that didn’t matter! Nothing matters except the trip!
“ SIMULATION PASSED!” A voice from the ceiling rang out, breaking him out of his thoughts. Cheers arose from teammates, and he celebrated weakly. It was hard to yell along with them as his throat had become a bit sore. He’d also begun to get a small helmache. Maybe I should sit out the next mission.“If we keep on like this, we’re going on that trip for sure!” Whirl squealed. Medix nodded. “According to my calculations, we are 80.1% percent done with this ‘sim spree’ and should be finished some time in the next two days!” Another round of cheers erupted from his team. Hotshot cheered too, but then started coughing. He cleared his throat and managed to stop. But it’s only two more days! Surely I’ll feel better by then. He coughed again. When he looked up, he saw Professor Chase look at him with furrowed upper optics. The recruits began to leave Hero Hall when Chase put a hand on his shoulder. Scrap. “Hotshot, are you functioning properly?” Hotshot nodded furiously as if that act alone could shake off suspicion. It only succeeded in making his helm ache even worse. “ Of course! You didn’t even have to ask!” Professor Chase nodded slowly, a suspicious squint in his optics. “ Of course, I have to ask Hotshot. I’m your teacher; it’s part of my job to be concerned for your well-being. Your performance today was non-standard to your usual aptitude, so naturally, I was a bit concerned. “ “Non-standard?” Hotshot questioned. “ Well, yes. You seemed quite sluggish, as the humans say, today, and made a fair deal of errors.” Hotshot gulped silently. “ I know how much the trip means to you and your team. It’s ok to take breaks! I would hate for an avoidable error to spoil it for you all-” “ And it won’t! I swear!” Hotshot interrupted. Chase looked at the recruit and then out the window, seemingly searching the clouds for his next words. “All right. Although I would feel if you paid a visit to Blades and-”
“ Bye, Professor Chase!” Hotshot shouted, already out of the door, running in hopes of catching up to his friends. Chase sighed fondly. ‘He’s truly one of a kind. I’ll have to keep an eye on him, though.’
Hotshot slowed his pace once he realized that his friends were much too far ahead and might have already dispersed around the academy. He felt tired, no, worse, drained. Was what Professor Chase said true? Am I really dragging down my team? (Author's note: Chase did NOT say all that. Hotshot is in fact, putting words in his mouth) I really don’t want to ruin this for them! Hotshot’s optics lit up as he got an idea. He turned back to Hero Hall and began walking back over to it. ‘So I won’t! I’ll just go practice some more and ace tomorrow's simulation.’ He shook his helm in disgust and then chuckled. ‘Ugh, I sound just like Medix. He’s a terrible influence on me.’ He reached the door and began to start setting the settings.
“ Hotshot?”
Hotshot jumped away from the panel, hands behind his back, and tried to appear innocent.
“What are you doing?” Wedge questioned, “You know we’re banned from doing non-preset of approved solo Sims since Whirl hurt herself.” Hotshot shuddered in remembrance of the heavily dented armor she managed to accrue. She had set her own settings, and as it turns out, as cool as a sharknado is, it made for a very painful experience.
“ I wasn’t doing a non-preset sim!” Wedge eyed him suspiciously and raised an upper optic. “ Really? Because it looks like you have the control panel out.”
“ Well, I don’t. You can go away now!”
Wedge rolled his optics. “ Don’t get your circuits in a twist! I just came back to get something I left.” He turned to walk away, but then turned back. “ Even then, we are supposed to have a teammate spotting us!”
“ You’re not going to snitch, are you?”
“ Do I look like Medix to you?”
Silence for about two seconds before they burst out laughing.
“I wouldn’t mind sticking around for a bit…” “Thanks, Wedge!”
Hotshot had just finished sim when he felt his vents clench. He sneezed. On Wedge. Oops. Wedge looked disgusted. “Sorry.” “It’s whatever,” He wiped a servo on the sullied area. “ Anyways, don’t think it's time to call it a day? Aren't you tired?”
“ No way, I don’t get tired!”
“Most normal bots do. You’ve been practicing for a while, don’t you think you should take a break?” Hotshot considered this for a moment. After all, his body had started aching much worse, and now his tanks began to hurt. But I don’t want to stop! I have to be perfect!
“ No, I’m good.” Hotshot decided. “It’s no plating off my back,” Wedge shrugged and went back to his datapad.
Wedge looked at the time, and his optics widened in surprise. “ He called out to Hotshot, who was panting and coughing after his latest sim. “Hotshot, it’s time to go! Curfew’s soon!”
“ Is it your bedtime, Wedge?” Hotshot asked jokingly. “That’s the point I’m making. Unless you want Heatwave to give us a bedtime, we’d better get going.” “ Ok,” Hotshot agreed. Let me grab something from my locker; you go ahead.” Wedge nodded and left. One more sim couldn’t hurt, could it?”
He got back to their quarters two hours later and was very sore. He only achieved about 4 hrs of recharge before being rudely awoken by his alarm and then Hoist. On to training then.
Because of all of his extra practice, they absolutely aced most of their first bisection. All but the last part because Hotshot had had a sneezing fit at a crucial moment. The simulation faded into pixels, and Hotshot found himself being interrogated by Medix. “Is there a blockage in your vents? Perhaps you are experiencing a glitch? Maybe a- “ “ I’m fine, Medix.” Hotshot cut him off. “Hey, come on, Hotshot, you know he means well.” Hoist interjected, “ I’m sorry, you’re right.”
He turned to Medix, “ I’m sorry, Medix.” Medix just waved. “It is alright, Hotshot, I understand how hard it can be to control your tone, especially when you are tired.” “ I appreciate it, but I’m not tired.” Medix shook his head. “ But you must be! Your under optic area is quite dark, and you are excreting an excessive amount of coolant. Not to mention you-” Hoist put a servo over Medix’s intake. “What he’s trying to say is you look kinda tired, Hotshot. “ Whirl and Wedge nodded, concern seeping onto all of their faceplates. Hotshot dismissed them with a grin. “ Please, guys, I’m fine! And besides, what’s being a little tired when we get to help explore a whole new planet!” That certainly worked as his team dissolved into chatter about all they would do there. Medix couldn’t wait to collect data on the local wildlife. Hoist and Whirl hoped the natives were friendly so they could interview them. Wedge hoped he would find a new type of rock. Hotshot simply nodded along, his throat much too sore to do a lot of talking.
Whirl tapped him on the shoulder. “ Uh, Hotshot, your olfactory is dripping.” Hotshot blushed, slightly embarrassed as Medix handed him a rag from his arms subcomparment. He sneezed out a thank you.
“Hrggh!” Lubricant streamed down from his optics as he purged his tanks. He felt so terrible. His entire frame ached like pits, his throat had gone from sore to painful, and all his coughing and sneezing had made his chest hurt. I can now add nausea to the list. Great. I don’t understand what’s happening to me. I didn’t know any better, I’d say I was getting si- He shook his helm fiercely, which left him a bit dizzy. No! I can’t be! Not right before the trip! He wiped his faceplate and smiled in denial, and walked out of the locker room to join his friends for another round. It’s fine, I don’t need a break, he thought while he was coughing.
If he had been feeling rundown a couple of days ago, then today he felt positively awful. He stepped out of his room to find a note at his entrance. It read ‘You needed the rest. Come and meet us at Hero Hall, after you refuel!” It was etched in Whirl’s swirly servowriting, and next to the note was an energon bar, likely from Hoist. He appreciated the gesture, but he had purged far too often in the last couple of days to even consider eating. He scratched his arm.
He walked into Hero Hall, probably looking as exhausted as he felt. He coughed, his throat once again bothering him. Hotshot scratched his arm again. He heard his teammates gasp as he entered the room. He looked at them. “What?” Hotshot asked, vocal modulator glitching. He was handed a mirror and gasped when he saw himself. From helm to pedes, he was covered in itchy greenish rust spots. So far, he had done an excellent job hiding his symptoms, even from the likes of Medix, but there was no way on Cybertron he could hide this. Not by myself. “Guys, I need your help hiding this from our teachers!” Sounds of disapproval and disagreement echoed around him. “ No Hotshot! We shouldn’t hide this from our teachers, we should tell them!” exclaimed Whirl. “Tell me what?” came a voice from behind them. ‘Eek!” shrieked Whirl, jumping back. Professor Boulder cleared his throat. “ Are you feeling alright, Hotshot?” “Fine, why do you ask?” Professor Boulder gave him an unimpressed look. “ Do you want to try again with the truth this time?” Hotshot at least had the decency to look guilty. Professor Boulder smiled at him warmly. “Come on, let's go pay Blades a visit,” He gestures at the rest of the team. “You guys come along as well. It seems as if you all are due for an inspection.” Boulder turned back to Hotshot. “ Are you ok to walk?” Hotshot nodded, cheeks turning blue partially due to embarrassment and partially due to him overheating. “It's alright if you can't…” Hotshot shook his head furiously, “ No, it’s really ok!” He tried to take a step forward, but a wave of dizziness overtook him. Hotshot pitched forward, luckily being caught by Wedge and Hoist. Boulder looked at Hotshot seriously. “ I understand that this situation is not ideal, but you're going to need to be honest with me from now on. I’ll carry you.” Boulder scooped him up, and Hotshot’s face turned entirely blue. This is so embarrassing!
They made it down to med-bay and were greeted by the rest of their professor in med-bay, having a conversation. “ Hello-” Blades caught sight of Hotshot. “ Oh, dear! Sit him down right here,” he motioned towards the medical slab. Boulder did as instructed. Blades held an infrared thermometer a couple of inches away from Hotshot’s faceplate. It beeped red. “ Yep, looks like you're definitely overheating. Any other symptoms I should know about?” “ Nope,” he barely got out as his vocal modulator started fritzing again. Boulder and Heatwave, who seemed to have a supernatural sense for when Hotshot was up to no good, gave him a look. He opened his intake to respond, this time with the truth, but found nothing but pain. Scrap. I’m losing my voice. “ Perhaps, I can be of assistance.” Medix sounded, walking over to Blades, and handing him a datapad. “These are all the symptoms I’ve recorded.” “Thank you, Medix.”
Blades began to read them out loud. “ Fatigue, Frame pain, sore throat, coughing, sneezing, nausea, vomiting, overheating, and lastly a rash. Is this true, Hotshot?” he nodded. “ When was the last time you refueled?” He shrugged, not really wanting to tell them. Blades swabbed one of his spots and put it in a machine. It dinged and confirmed Blades' suspicion. “ Well, kiddo, it looks like you’ve got a rather nasty case of the Rustbug-Pox.” Hotshot looked very displeased. “ Can’t you just give me some antivirus and I’ll feel all better?” Blades looked at him a bit sadly. “I'm afraid not, Hotshot. I will be giving you an antivirus, but a lot of the work of getting better is up to your frame. Your frame needs rest, and according to my scanners, you haven’t been getting a lot of it. Looks like you’ll be seeing a lot of me for the next week, recruit.” “But that means-” “ I’m afraid so, Hotshot.” Hotshot was trying very hard not to cry. I ruined it. I ruined it for everyone. “ Hotshot, I am very disappointed in you.” “ I know, ok?!? I’m so sorry I ruined this for everyone!” “ Ruined?-” Heatwave murmured. “Hotshot, no! That’s not what I mean at all! You didn’t ‘ruin’ anything! We will still go on the trip, just another time! I’m disappointed because you didn’t tell anyone you were feeling this bad! Not only did you not tell us, but you also lied about it when asked! And you disobeyed Chase’s directions to visit Blades earlier this week!” Heatwave softened when looking at the ill mechling. He let out a sigh. “ I understand that kids lie sometimes, and we expect you guys to get up to mischief. But you need to understand that it is never ok to lie about something serious. If you see a teammate doing something dangerous or hiding an ailment, then tell us! If you feel bad or sick, tell us! Always be honest about your health.” The recruits nodded. “ Make sure to engage in proper self-maintenance as well. Hotshot, if you had listened to your frame when it needed a break, your condition likely wouldn’t be as bad. It’s important to work hard, but it’s also important to take breaks when you need to! Hotshot nodded.
“I’m still really sorry, guys…” “Don’t be,” said Wedge, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Yeah, it’s alright!” said Whirl. Medix nodded, “ It is fine. We can always get data from elsewhere. We can not get another Hotshot.” Hoist nodded along. “ It is imperative that you take better care of yourself,” Medix stated. Hotshot nodded, and they all came in for a hug.
“Should they be doing that?” questioned Heatwave. “Yeah, I thought RBP was super contagious between young bots?” asked Boulder. “Oh, it is!” chuckled Blades. “That’s why I’m letting them have this. With how close in proximity they spend most of their time, the others have probably been infected for days.” “ It’s going to be a long week taking care of them, isn’t it?” Heatwave asked with mirth. “ Most likely,” said Chase as they watched Wedge begin to cough into his elbow.