Chapter Text
DISLIVARITE DISEASE
This is when a bots body rusts and degrades at an extreme rate leading to death. It is most common in minicons.
EARLY SYMPTOMS INCLUDE:
Confusion
Dizziness
Joint pains
Occasional paralysis
Migraines
Random mumbling
Stuttering
Flaky / rusty armor
LATE SYMPTOMS INCLUDE:
Mild schizoid
Occasional seizures
Bloody coughing fits
Discolored eyes
Degrading armour
Due to the disease's severity, it can cause the armour of the bot to degrade, rust off, and a main treatment is to completely remove the armour. But this treatment also has a low survival rate.
Newer studies into the diseases show that general treatment and therapy as soon as the bot is diagnosed, followed by the armour removal surgery, done periodically, increases the lifespan of the infected by a few days and if their lucky, weeks.
HISTORY OF THE DISEASE:
During the Cybertronian civil war, many mini cons were abandoned and/or killed. During these mass killings it was discovered that the armour of certain mini cons was quite resilient and strong, and could be used as extra parts in fixing and repairing machinery, weaponry and upgrading one's own armour.
Due to this new found revolution during the war many minicons were captured not just for slavery anymore but to be brutally stripped of their armour and their remains smelted for extra parts. Throughout this time more and more discoveries were made about minicon armour, such as that the most reliable and resilient mini con armour came from Buzzsaw minicons.
Their armour was thick and sturdy and one Buzzsaw's armour could be enough to build a whole railgun. And from there the massacre focused on the Buzzsaws. Camps and containment and transport ships were built to hold the captured minicons. These vessels, hated by all mini cons, had smelters, anvils and blacksmiths, everything needed for the process of removal.
With the increase in demand for their armour not seen as precious metals rather than cruelty. More and more Buzzsaws were captured.
The overseers of the vessels had no remorse, they would capture young mini cons and keep them in crowded and damp conditions locked away from society and kept away from family and friends.
They would wait till the young minicons have grown to a reasonable size before the extraction process was done, and whether they survive that process or not, they would soon be smelted for extra parts.
As time went on the Buzzsaw population depleted drastically. Minicons young and old watched as their comrades wailed in anguish and pain, many ending themselves the moment they entered the vessels, seeing it a better way to go that being operated on and smelted alive.
The conditions in the vessels were nothing short of horrible. The conditions led multiple suicides by the minicons as well as mental health compromisations.
The mini cons began developing aggressive behaviour towards each other resulting in murders and severe injuries to other surrounding minicons due to the cramped conditions they were in.
Young bots soon began developing cognitive impairments and developmental disorders such as stund growth, blindness, muteness, deafness, locomotive impairments and multiple mental disorders such as, PTSD, BPD, ADHD, Psychotic disorders such as Schizophrenia, Anxiety disorder, Depression and Bipolar disorder.
Dead bodies rusting and rotting away gave way to multiple diseases to spread throughout the vessel, diseases such as rust rot, system corruption and many others were reported amongst the minicons by the overseers.
The concentration of the minicons and the lack of sanitation and medical attention led to the spread of a new disease that infected mainly the minicons being massacred. The disease spread through all the vessels and it was carried by minicons being auctioned and sold to other vessels and slave masters.
After many reported incidents of this disease medics and scientists named it DISLIVARITE DISEASE.
The disease wiped out the already depleting Buzzsaw population reducing their numbers to the dwindling hundreds making them an endangered species. Despite these horrendous statistics the minicons were still being hunted, their value only increasing after their depletion.
And Jetstorm was one of the few that managed to escape AND survive.
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Jetstorm sat in the corner of the quarantine room. His knees were hugged close to his chest. He sat there, alone in the empty room filled with nothing but his rhythmic sobs. Coolant dripping from his optics and pooling by his pedes.
His nanoparticles had been collected for analysis after it was discovered he had also been in contact with the disease. And so he had to be isolated from everyone, with the exception of Denny and Russell.
The malware was extremely deadly to mini cons particularly buzzsaws, and could spread from bot to minicon and minicon to minicon, but the malware cannot be spread by humans as they lack the anatomy.
The humans, particularly Russell would visit him from time to time, but his father was too busy working on Slipstream. Since he fell unconscious the day before, he had been constantly destabilising and nearing close death. Denny had been working tirelessly to stabilise him. Even opting to close the business and staying the ward with Slipstream to monitor his condition.
Russell wasn't allowed inside,for his own good his father would tell him, but he got a small peak inside the ward he saw Slipstream.
His body was so corroded, he looked like a zombie or a corpse rotting.
Until his results came out, Jetstorm was not allowed outside of the quarantine room for any reason whatsoever. Anything he needed would be brought to him by Russell.
Russell walked in with a large energon cube in his hands. Jetstorm barely touched the first one he brought, which worried Russell.
"Jet..." The boy searched for words, but couldn't. So he placed the cube next to Jetstorm, on top of the other one, and sat on the other side resting his head against him.
Russell closed his eyes and listened to the quiet sobs that escaped from the bot. Upon hearing them get more and more intense, Russell repositioned himself hugging the bot and nuzzled against his cold metal exterior.
Jetstorm felt the warm breath from Russell and soon felt small wet droplets. He laid his legs straight and stared up at the bright Florent lights. So bright they were blinding and so he couldn't keep his optics open for long.
He looked down at the child that cuddled next to him. He couldn't see Russell's face but he knew it was a wet slimy disaster.
Why wouldn't it be?
He knew Russell saw him as family. Even giving him the title of cousin. And seeing Slipstream slowly die in the next room really killed him inside.
"Everything was great. Everything was going so well." Russell sobbed "And now everything isn't!"
Jetstorm heard a door close. He looked over to the door of the quarantine room and realised it must have been Denny leaving the ward Slipstream was in. The steps sounding outside confirmed it.
And without thinking twice, Jetstorm stood up, causing Russell to fall over and instead of picking himself up he continued laying there.
Russell watched as Jetstorm walked towards the door. "Where are you going? " He perked up, knowing the bot had to be confined in the room they were in. Jetstorm only glanced at him and walked out.
Russell quickly followed after Jetstorm and watched as he opened the door to Slipstream's ward. Russell had not fully seen Slipstream, but even the first short glance was hard to handle. And the full picture was even harder.
Slipstream layed quiet and unmoving on the medical berth. His face was withered and he had no armour. He was unrecognisable. Just a bear frame laying on its back. Like prey mutilated by a predator.
To think it had only been two days since the disease had begun its siege on him...
Jetstorm and Russell stood by the doorway taking in the view. It hurt to see Slipstream in such agony. Jetstorm steadily walked towards his friend.
Russell tried to stop him, but what was he compared to a tall robust robot. And so Jetstorm marched against the child's efforts and finally collapsed onto his knees next to the berth.
He stared at his friend, his face was grotesque and his eyes were covered with a small black cloth.
"Jetstorm! Get away!" Russell warned the minicon. Jetstorm held Slipstream's flaky, limp hands and pressed them against his face. Coolant streamed down as he proceeded to lay his head on the berth just near his friend's leg, and held his hand above his head.
He knew Slipstream was just a living corpse and he couldn't bear seeing him in such a state.
He adored his friend and would be nothing without him. And so he made sure they would be together.
Even in death...
Russell just stood by both of them and stared at Jetstorm's impulsive decision. Now they were both going to leave him.
And he could do nothing about it...
He saw from his father's condition, as well as Slipstream's, that nothing was getting any better. They sat together, like a final goodbye to each other.
Jetstorm stood up smiling, surprising Russell, but the pain was etched on his face and constricted optics. The pain was more than evident... It was screaming.
"I would like to take a walk around the woods." Jetstorm said, it had been a while since he spoke. "A final walk before..." He paused looking over at his dying friend.
_______________________________
The two 'snuk' out of the scrapyard and into the woods. It wasn't really 'sneaking' out. The entire team was out on a mission. Steeljaw and his pack were reeking havoc as they usually did.
This time they were at the Crown City Natural History Museum. For reasons unbeknownst to the Bee team.
Russell obliged to Jetstorm's request. He knew in no time at all he would be a rusty decaying mess, just like Slipstream.
But something bothered Russell, something nobody thought of so far, is how both Jet and Slip came into contact with the infected minicon, but only Jet was fine, better even, compared to Slipstream. Russell pondered this as they walked deeper into the woods.
The forest floor was getting denser and denser as they kept walking. Jetstorm came to a sudden halt. Russell had not really noticed how far they have walked.
His mind was plagued by the thought of losing part of his only family.
They say time flies by when you're having fun...
But there was nothing fun about this.
"This is where we encountered the infected minicon." Jetstorm looked down at Russell. He had a faint smile.
He didn't want him to feel bad about the decision he took. To die with his friend is the only decision he knew was right. He saw it no other way.
His smile quickly faded and he went into high alert, scaring Russell. "We need 10 of them to reach our quota!" An unknown voice spoke. It was approaching their position.
And before they could react, the source of the voice stood before them. "Well, well, well. This gotta be ma lucky day." The blue and black mech spoke with a grin.
"Commander! RETREAT!" Jetstorm screamed at Russell who promptly took off running. He kept running fast, faster than most children his age. He was used to it. Running is all he ever did when trouble rose.
It's all he ever knew. He wished he could defend himself, but he would be torn from limb to limb by the gigantic robots.
After running, he felt his lungs burn. He looked back and realised Jetstorm wasn't behind him and neither was the con.
Back near the heart of the woods, Jetstorm ran as fast as he could. Avoiding trees and flora, he stumbled upon the infection minicon's remains that painted the forest floor a bright rusty red.
He would have not noticed the remains of he had not felt and heard a metallic crunch beneath his stabilisers. The small distribution allowed the mech to catch up on him, causing him to panic and gat tangled into the long grass.
As he tried to break free he fell forward landing on a hidden bear trap, that clamped shut on his upper leg, trapping him.
"There's ma prize!" The blue mech said looking down at Jetstorm, who was frantically trying to free himself from the trap.
"Ya got some mighty fine armour. It's nice and clean. You're a big catch too. You must be a side piece. Best deal with that." He smirked picking Jetstorm up by his neck and examining him before slashing his com unit, causing the minicon to cry in pain.
"So that's were that one went." He frowned looking at the infected minicons remains.
"Ugh. Looks like they got some dirt on them that won't be a problem. With your armour quality I might even get a bonus." He held Jetstorm up by the bear trap's chain.
The mech transformed into a Cybertronian jet and flew away.
And Jetstorm watch as the ground got less visible and watched in horror as he was taken into a small hauling vessel.