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"Do it!" Gurathin pushed the words out with force. His strained voice the result of the excruciating pain emitting from his injured knee. He was laying on the chair in the middle of the MedBay, keeping his eyes focused on a spot on the ceiling.
"I need a hardwire", SecUnit responded in an instant, recalling the episode of MedCenter Argala, where he had gotten the idea from in the first place.
With a weak, unsteady hand, Gurathin had already reached for his right breast pocket as he forced out his words, chest heaving, "Use mine."
SecUnit noticed him failing to open the zipper and quickly decided to move closer to speed up the process himself, pulling out the neatly rolled hardwire cable with a skilled hand. Seeing Mensah concerned about the whole ordeal, made Gurathin give her a few nods of reassurance, when he noticed the cable that was still held up in the air right next to him. Wondering why SecUnit was just staring at it with a deadpan expression on its face, he tried to inspect the object in hope of finding the answer.
"Wait. That isn't the right one." A wave of pain hit him unexpectedly and he tried to focus on the ceiling once more, inhaling sharply.
No shit. It was a USP-Z11 but we needed a USP-Z211. I'll remind him. "Correct. We need a USP-Z2-", Gurathin's head snapped in its direction, annoyance showing all over his face.
"I know damn well which one we need!" His anger turning into newfound energy, he reached up for his other breast pocket and produced a second black cable. "Surely this one is- fuck!"
It was a USP-Z311. What would he even need that for? The survey did not use any port you would be able to connect this one with. It is absolutely useless on this planet. Good job. Probably not the best moment to praise him though. Before SecUnit was able to englighten the PresAux crew, and especially Gurathin, once more about the exact model they needed for the hardwiring, it got interrupted.
"If you say one word, SecUnit, I swear I will-", the searing hot pain radiating from his knee made him gasp. He closed his eyes for a little moment, until the room around him stopped spinning, cable in his hand forgotten.
"Dr. Gurathin."
"What is it now?" He sounds even more irritated than usual and that says something.
Where the fuck is the goddamn cable? "Where have you placed the USP-Z211 hardwire cable?" You idiot.
Denying himself the urge to roll his eyes, Gurathin took a deep breath and tried to focus. The fever making it sheer impossible to get his thoughts in order. His mind an absolute mess as his body was trying to fight off the infection, but that wouldn't stop him. For a while his eyes were moving left and right behind his eyelids as he was grasping desperately at every single memory, that had involved the needed item, until they snapped open. "It must be in the sitting area! No doubt about it."
"I am on it!" Without missing a beat, Ratthi flew out the door on his mission to save Gurathin, who looked paler than ever - damp, dark hair sticking to his forehead, temperature reaching a critical point. The silence of the room defeaning with the sole exception of Gurathin's uneven breathing, reminding everyone that a life was at stake. The tension palpable. Arada caught Pin-Lee's wandering eyes and intertwined her hand with theirs, trying to ground them both, while Mensah faced the door awaiting Ratthi's return. Bharadwaj met Gurathin's eyes and offered him a small smile. "It will be fine."
Maybe.
He answered with a slight nod in an attempt to convince himself too, the prospect of living slowly escaping his grasp, feeling more out of reach with every new cable that was not compatible.
"I've got it!" Ratthi announced out of breath when he stormed into the room. "It was hiding under the cushion, that sneaky little thing." A smile on his lips as he dangled the cable in front of Gurathin's face, which slowly twisted into disgust and disbelief after a quiet moment of inspecting the 'sneaky little thing'. "What the hell is this??"
It's a "USP-547 wired into a SCART4-M2 adapter. This version was discontinued due to its poor insulation. A very uncommon one, therefore able to reach high prices when sold." Gurathin shot it another look, which it pretended not to see. Well, you did ask what it was. I just shared my valuable information with you, Dr. Gurathin.
"This is not.. what we need. I can't even begin to comprehend where you got this from." he said frowning, forgetting his alarming situtation for a small moment until the bewilderment had faded away.
Ratthi blinked a few times in confusion. "Uh, under the cushion? I just told you."
"Not what I meant. Anyway, would you please check the console in the common area. Since we were in a rush, someone might have forgotten to disconnect it."
You can just admit that it was you. No one else plugs any cables into themselves around here. Well, me, but that is not the point right now.
"On my way!" Before Ratthi was able to turn towards the door, Gurathin stopped him, speaking through gritted teeth. "No, wait, I think it is more likely, that you will find it in my room. I must've switched it out for the wrong one, when I was in a hurry." Ratthi ran out of the room a second time, heading straight for the stairs, after he dropped the supposedly rare cable onto Gurathin's chest, who was writhing in the chair trying to contain his groans of agony, as the fever was threatening to burn him up from the inside; doing its best to numb his other senses.
Mensah's brows furrowed in worry and she took his hands in hers. "He will find it, Gura. Just hold on a little bit longer, yea?" Gurathin was doing anything in his power to keep conscious, when he heard something, or rather someone tumble down the stairs, followed by a wide array of curses. Arada gasped and let go of Pin-Lee, "I will check if he is alright." She made her way past SecUnit, but as she reached the door, Ratthi crashed into her, sending her stumbling backwards. After a very loud 'sorry' that echoed painfully in Gurathin's ears, he rushed over to SecUnit, holding up the cable triumphantly.
"This is it! This is the one, right?" he said without having a single clue if it really was the desired piece, but believing from the bottom of his heart that: Third time's the charm. Well, fourth in this case.
Gurathin struggled to keep his eyes open but the moment the cable came into his view, he let out a relieved sigh, a breath he wasn't even aware he had been holding. "That is the correct one...thanks, Ratthi."
Humans should be more aware where they put their stuff. Perhaps they should keep all the cables ín one place instead of having them scattered around. Maybe a drawer? SecUnit grabbed it from his hands and plugged the fitting end into himself. The last time this was used on it was right after the DeltFall incident, to track for faulty code and that didn't turn out too well for it.
"Yes! It fits!" Ratthi's face lit up in glee and he clapped his hands together.
Of course it fits, why wouldn't it fit. It's the correct model. It used its fingers to follow the cable to the other end and Gurathin, who tried to ignore the sound of his blood rushing in his ears, mentally prepared himself for the connection.
Which never came.
"Uh, SecUnit? Could you hurry up?", his voice laced with exasperation, feeling himself getting weaker by the minute.
"I..." Why doesnt it fit?! "It does not fit." Its voice faltering in disbelief.
"Just press harder, Seccy!" was Ratthi's suggestion. I could press it through his fucking skull and it still wouldn't fit! Big help, thanks.
"Just turn it! Like 180 degrees!", Pin-Lee sounded like they knew exactly what they were talking about.
Turn it? There is no reason for it to work differently at a certain angle, it is a circl- What the fuck?? It had indeed turned it an exact 180 degrees compared to its previous position, just to prove how absurd the recommendation was, but the connector had slid smoothly into the port. Like it was made for it. Which it was.
The relief washed over the whole team.
"So, can we start?", Bharadwaj was ready to go, orange goggles on her head, the fingers of her right hand ghosting over the input control of the machine.
Something wasn't right. Why didn't it work? No, that's not right. It DID work. For 0,5 seconds and then it just stopped. Before it could speak up, Gurathin scrunched up his face in pain and let out another shakey sigh; the shadows beneath his eyes had significantly darknened since the cable odyssey had begun.
"Of course, it isn't working.." he muttered to himself, then started to paw at the swinging cable that connected him and SecUnit, searching for the middle of it, with his thumb and his index finger, and squeezing it slightly together to form a little 'V'.
"The wires...", he had a hard time getting out the words, "..there is a loose contact. You have to hold it like this, but press harder than that.", he slurred, demonstrating the angle the cable has had to be held in, in order to function properly.
Another angle. What is it with these humans and their angles. Reluctantly SecUnit imitated the same hand motion Gurathin had showed him after he had let go of it, and immediately the connection was accessible. Do I have to hold it like this the whole time while taking care of blocking his central nervous system? Unbelievable. Couldn't he have gotten a new one? And wh-. Even tho Gurathin was on the edge of losing conciousness, too weakened to keep his eyes open or talk in full sentences, he was still able to clear his throat urging SecUnit to do its job. At once.
Fine, fine. "Wasn't so long ago you plugged into me.", and with that it made sure no pain was experienced, while Bharadwaj was able to remove the piece of fabric from the infected wound successfully.
Gurathin let his hands rest on top of his thighs, when he noticed a bump in his pocket. The curiousity won and he slowly reached into it. His mind still hazy, making him unable to access the memory of what it could've been he was about to find. Feeling around in it, his eyebrows raised up in horror, when he realised what it was, that he now held in his hand. The memory suddenly clear as day, hitting him like a ton of bricks. It was a new USP-Z211 hardwire cable, that he had placed there before being shot by Leebeebee, after being sick of the broken one that was in use this very moment.
Mensah mistook his sudden change of expression for pain and held onto his shoulder, "Are you alright? Does it hurt?"
"I'm fine. It's nothing." A hushed whisper.
Not convincing.
He was clearly in pain.
Just not the physical one.
His ego had taken a severe hit.
Gurathin, are you fucking kidding me.