Unforgettable

[Deleted]

Characters: Pharma, Peripheral
Location: Monu Island, Fiji
Content Warnings: N/A
Plot Summary: Not being able to remember familiar territory is bad enough. Crash landing on a strange planet with few memories and poor health? Exponentially worse.

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<< Attention! Mech stranded / Requires medical aid / Coordinates -17.6000, 177.0500. Help! >>


Peripheral had been broadcasting the same distress call as far as he could for what honestly felt like ages. He knew he was likely out of range of... pretty much everyone, but he wasn't about to give up. He couldn't-- the salt air felt awful, the heat and humidity were oppressive, he wasn't well, and now he was badly damaged from his rather clumsy landing. There had to be SOMEONE on this planet who could receive the signal!


Really, the crash wasn't even his fault. He had just been minding his own business, heading... where had he been heading, anyway? Not that it even mattered-- he clearly wasn't about to get there anytime soon. Unless he meant to be here, but somehow, he highly doubted it. No, in fact, he distinctly remembered being somewhere snowy a relatively short time ago. Out of the freezer and into the frying pan, he supposed.


Of course, that wasn't to say that he wasn't wary, despite being unable to do much-- quite the contrary, in fact. He was more on his guard now than he was when he'd first crashed. After all, he knew that signal could have easily been picked up by anyone. It wasn't like he could escape, either; his wings were wrapped around trees in the dense forest of the jungle.

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The signal had been weak when Pharma first intercepted it. Weak much like Pharma's own state at times, his frame sometimes seeming to shudder and shiver. He half-believed it was just because of what the Decepticon Justice Division had done while he was on the Nemesis. Only half-believed, because the other half of him wanted to believe it was just that he was pathetic and weak as it was. That was why he had gone into medicine. He wasn't a strong fighter by any means.

He had deployed the groundbridge quickly, his right hand having shaken while typing in the coordinates. He almost felt like anything he did was probably going to be watched like he was some sort of traitor even though that wasn't true.

When he got to the source, the signal was stronger as he got into the jungle. Finding a bot tangled in the jungle, however, was the last thing he expected.

"Hello. Medic Pharma here." His voice sounded soft, though he had tried to hide the shake in his voice. He had to be strong here, had to be calm. "I'm here to help."

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It took Peripheral a moment to register a voice that wasn't his own, his antennae flicking in that direction. He stood stock-still otherwise, mainly because he had to-- moving too much would damage his frame even further. That was assuming he still had the energy to move, anyway.

Pharma...? Why did Peripheral know that name? His optics narrowed behind his cracked glasses as he tried to recall something, anything. As it always had been in the past, it was a fruitless endeavor now too.

When Peripheral spoke, his own voice wavered with his exhaustion, and his optics were dull as he turned his helm slightly to look at Pharma. "So glad someone's finally here to help... Peripheral. Neophyte medic Peripheral of Iacon. Can't--" He cut himself off with a quiet grunt. "Can't really move too well..."

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Pharma drew a nervous vent. He could use laser scalpels on the vines but it would leave the trees, which were more difficult to extract. However, there was another option, an option that even now he was starting to be afraid to use.

"Please don't be startled when I bring out my chainsaws. I'll...I'll do my best to not damage your wings but it'd be difficult to extract you with laser scalpels." Instead of transforming both servos into chainsaws, he would transform the right servo into one. He needed his left servo to brace. "Pharma of Vos. I know there's another Pharma out there...Pharma of Crystal City I think? But that one's an optic specialist and I'm a surgeon and pathologist. S-sorry for talking about myself so much. I...I guess I'm just trying to keep calm as much as I'm trying to calm you down. It must be terrifying to be on an unfamiliar planet and trapped in its natural flora."

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When Pharma's right servo became a chainsaw, it took all of Peripheral's willpower to remain perfectly still. He certainly hadn't been expecting that.

"Interesting choice... It doesn't exactly seem like a precision tool, but then again, what do I know? I'm just a student." He drew in a vent of his own, steeling himself, in a manner of speaking. "No, n-no, please keep talking. I'd much rather your hands be steady. Wings can be repaired but if I don't get out of here... well... Let's just say I won't be too miffed if you hurt 'em."

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"The branches themselves are hardly a precision job." Pharma quipped. "Now, I know this one might shake you half to Messatine and back..." It seemed that instead of "hell" or "the Pit", he chose to use Messatine.

Soon, the branch would start shaking as Pharma sawed into it, taking care to try to avoid nicking the wings if he possibly could. He knew how frustrating and painful wing injuries could be. After all, he'd shattered a wing at one point, and Kaon had tried to rip that same wing off Pharma.

"I hope it isn't shaking too much!" He called to Peripheral.

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If Peripheral found the branch to be shaking excessively, he didn't seem to be paying it much mind. No, he seemed faraway, his optics-- though dull-- narrowed and his expression distant. "It's alright, you're fine... No wing nicks as of yet."

Messatine...?

"Messatine... That name sounds so familiar..." His optics shut tight as he tried to recall why exactly he vaguely recognized it, why he vaguely recognized Pharma's name.

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Pharma vented softly. No wing-nicks so far sounded good. He could do this without hurting the mech. He could do this without hurting anyone. He didn't have to do what he used to at Delphi. "Of course. Be sure to let me know if anything ever hurts."

He paused for a moment. "The location of Delphi Medical Center." He didn't like saying the words--they hung in the air with a bitter taste to him and kept him sick deep down.

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Peripheral nodded, but otherwise held still. He could tell that something was really bothering Pharma and he didn't want to make it worse by getting more hurt than he already was. "Truthfully... I just can't wait to finally get out of this mess. I've been here for ages now, you're the only one who showed up. I don't know how or why I got here, I don't even know if anyone knows who I am. Or where I am." He looked aside, embarrassed. "To be fair, I barely know who I am."

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Those words crashed a wave of sadness over Pharma. This young mech didn't even know who he was all that well. "We may not know but..." Soon he had the branches cleared away and vented softly.

"You're going to feel a slight pressure when I try to lift. If you're able to push off a little, try to. I'm not feeling as strong as I normally do." He shivered and swallowed, trying not to judge himself in the moment. He wasn't weak. It was just that he was focusing more of his energy on his newspark...

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With a soft grunt of assent, Peripheral waited for Pharma to start lifting and pushed himself up as with as much strength as he could muster.

It still wasn't much. He had been stuck like this for a while, and he was clearly weakened by the ordeal. He looked to Pharma, his teal optics wide and desperately searching behind his cracked and broken glasses-- his right one even looked to be damaged from the shrapnel from them. All he wanted was to know a little bit more about himself. A little bit more about why this mech seemed so familiar.

"You... don't know either, huh...? It's okay. For some reason I can't recall having many connections..." He held himself up with Pharma's assistance as long as he could. "I just feel like I was supposed to be somewhere. Like I was... assigned...? By someone, for some reason."

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For a moment, Pharma seemed almost to tense at the optic. It was like something in him had stirred for a moment, flashes of memories where he had gripped a laser scalpel and tried to slice an optic open. He flexed his digits and swallowed hard.

"We'll find out soon enough. We'll find out soon." He tried to speak calmly. "Perhaps assigned somewhere to learn or to observe. You seem to be almost...student-like..."

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Peripheral closed his left optic, the right one seeming almost non-functional. It was hard to tell whether he was lost in thought or had just lost consciousness, but eventually-- slowly-- he spoke.

"You're right. I think right now it's a better idea for me to just go along with what you say, Doctor Pharma." With a gentle grunt, he hoisted himself up to try to help himself a little. "Student... Yeah. Yeah, that actually sounds right.
The last place I remember being before here was... It was snowy and cold, and it hurt to be there." A slight frown crossed his face as he furrowed his optical ridges as best as he could.

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Pharma's spark clenched at hearing where he was last. Cold. Snowy. Hurt to be there. "...that sounds exactly like Messatine. Messatine and Delphi. It was awful. Awful, cold, isolated..."

He felt something seeming to nudge him to try to cheer him up. It seemed the sparklet inside wasn't quite so eager to see its carrier in pain. Pharma paused for a faint moment,reaching to rub his chestplating softly.

"Sorry. Had a little...spark spasm there. D-don't worry though. It's not a dangerous one, promise."