Code of Loyalty (A Drift X OC Fanfic)

Chapter 28 - Time Is Running Out

Not too long after Overlord's killing spree, Hina, Drift, and Ultra Magnus were being tended to in the medical bay. It's been two days since the incident, but it feels like it only happened just a few minutes ago.

Ratchet was working on Ultra Magnus while First Aid and Ambulon finished on Hina's repairs to her back. She tried her hardest not to winced and flinch so much from the stinging of the medical tools. When the two medics were done, she vented a sigh of relief. 

"Easy does it now," First Aid helped Hina sit up on the medical berth before she slowly stood herself up. "Nice and easy." the young medic instructed, holding her servos as Hina stood up on her feet. 

"How do you feel?" Ambulon asked her.

"Better. More than better, actually." She smiled a little at the two medics, bowing her head in respect. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Alright Drift, let's get to work on you." First Aid clapped his hands before he and Ambulon went to work on fixing up Drift with some legs.

Once the two medics were gone, Hina leaned back against the side of her berth, giving her arms and back a long awaited stretch before lowering her shoulders, sulking a little bit. She couldn't believe Rewind was dead. Just like that, he was gone. They had talked from time to time, but ever since that time she and the others were telling stories to help Rung's brain function properly again, the two had been distant.

If anything, Hina regretted not spending just a bit more time with him. He really was a nice mech.

The sound of Ratchet raising his voice caught the femmes attention as she looked up towards the Chief Medical Officer. Swerve was playing some music from his wrist communicator. 

"It's hard to reattach someone's leg when all you can hear is the Empyrean Suite."

"It's one of Ultra Magnus' favourites." Swerve spoke up.

"Which is fine, except he can't hear it." Ratchet explained. "He can't hear anything. He can't even move. And Tailgate," Ratchet glanced over at the small blue and white mech who was cleaning Magnus up. "I appreciate what you're... actually, what are you doing?"

"He hates dirt." Tailgate answered.

Hina smiled a little at the sight as she slowly made her way over to Drift's side on his medical berth. The two medics managed to salvage the important gears and parts for the mech's legs, so all they have to do is replace the ones that are missing, then reattach his legs. 

"What's with the red light, Ratchet?" Swerve asked, sticking his hand out to bath in the light that shined down on Ultra Magnus' body. "It tingles."

"It's a death clock." Drift coughed.

"Come on, Drift, knock it off..." Ratchet muttered.

"What's a death clock?" Swerve asked him, looking confused.

"It tells you how much longer you've got to live,"

"Drift, don't scare him like that." Hina cautioned, speaking in Japanese, her old spoken language.

"--and it's obscene." Drift continued. "No one should know exactly when they're going to die. Not like that. Not to the nearest second. At the risk of sparking an ontological argument, certain machines... machines like that... are an affront to nature." 

Drift began to cough violently, Hina placing a comforting hand on his cheek as he calmed down. "Don't talk too much, you're going to choke yourself."

"It's a medical tool, that's all. The red light's a scanning field that measures shrinking sparks. Healthy patients don't register, only the terminally ill, but by tracking the rate of contraction this device can calculate someone's remaining lifespan." Ratchet explained.