Whirlwind (GOTP AU)

The Firehouse felt much too quiet to Boulder- heck, the whole island felt that way.

It had been three days since the Virus' Attack on Sigma Seventeen, and much had remained the same. Heatwave remained in a coma, and there had been no scans or transmissions from Chase or Cody.

It had been a hovering state of silence, a tension as everyone hoped, prayed, for some good news to come and break it; either from Heatwave's awakening, or just a simple phone call from Cody, telling them that they were alright. A metaphorical breath was being held, and everyone wanted to release it in a collective sigh of relief.

There wasn't the sound of Heatwave fighting with his training tree, no sounds of the television as Blades watched his favorite programs, and no sounds of Chase reciting police codes under his breath to himself to keep his knowledge sharp... Only the sound of Boulder's fingers tapping and clicking on the console as he scanned the surrounding areas for what must have been the millionth time in three days. He would adjust the scan just a hint, back and forth, trying to find perhaps the tiniest fragment of a change that would allow them to pick up on Chase's signal... But their scans could only go so far out from the island, they weren't designed to stretch very far inland on the Mainland, and if that was where they were...

...They needed help. They needed a broader scanner, that was all.

The training center's scanners were still being worked on and calibrated now that the building's outer structure was completed-

-save for the hole in the wall that the virus burst through, Blurr was still livid about that. The racer was back up on his pedes within twenty-four hours of his crash, a little achy but otherwise ready to roll out. Slipchain- that is, Quickshadow- had taken over as Chief Burns' patrol partner for the time being, while High Tide and Blurr worked together to cover Heatwave's spot on rescues- which fortunately hadn't been many. All new invention testing and anything with higher risk of disaster had been halted per townsfolk agreement, at least until everything was back to normal...

...and only Primus knew when or even if that would happen.

He stood up straight from his place perched over the controls, rubbing his optics. He really needed to rest, get a cube of energon and just collapse for a few hours. Could he risk it?

No, not yet. He needed to get this problem resolved first... and he had a feeling he might be able to fix another problem in the process... Blades.

It was normal for there to be breezy days on the island, even days at a time, but not inside. While Boulder had been checking the scanners and assisting in the various rescues, Blades hadn't left the medical bay, and there had been a perpetual breeze whirling through the bunker the entire time. The Burnses had noticed it, saying it was like being directly under an air conditioner's vent, but everywhere. Not enough to move items around, not enough to disrupt activity, but enough to be there and make the humans go looking for jackets.

Boulder walked out of the command center, scrubbing his optics a bit more before making his way down the corridor towards the medical bay. The door was open, as usual, and Boulder could hear the soft, slow beeping of the spark monitor attached to his older brother's form.

Boulder peeked into the medical bay, his optics falling on Blades as the copter sat at the desk on the other side of the berths, looking through more data pads. A cube of energon sat to his side, but barely touched. "Blades?"

The copter didn't respond- either he was so engrossed in his studies that he didn't hear, or he was actively trying to ignore everything else. His finger ran over the data pad's screen, skimming through text after text for answers.