At the Autobot medical facility of Delphi on the planet Messatine, First Aid has begun to write a journal chronicling what he believes will be the last days of the outpost. After granting asylum to two Militant Monoform Movement-aligned Genericons with a branched spark on the run from the Decepticon Justice Division, Delphi has been beset by a terrible plague...a plague that sees its victims cry themselves to death...

Celebrations, meanwhile, are underway aboard the Lost Light, as Autobots gather in Swerve's newly-opened bar to celebrate finding themselves on the map. Ratchet and Swerve talk privately about a strange occurrence the previous night; both former subscribers to Fisitron's "Wreckers: Declassified" datalogs, the pair have just received a new datalog, which should be impossible, given that the author is dead. Although appearing to be only a string of random numbers, Ratchet recognized the data as medical statistics from Delphi, which reveal a bizarre trend: a constantly escalating death rate that has seen precisely half the outpost's patients die every month. Realizing that someone is trying to send him a message and that they are currently close to Messatine, Ratchet gathers up Drift and Pipes for an excursion to the facility, hoping that it is nothing, and—with his own irreplaceable hands growing increasingly worn out—that he will be able to appoint its commanding officer Pharma as new chief medical officer of the Lost Light in his place.

As this goes on, Ultra Magnus brings the news to Rodimus that Tailgate has decided he wants to be a Decepticon. With Magnus growing increasingly frustrated over his inability to enforce wartime laws in peacetime, Rodimus decides to have Rewind give Tailgate a supercompressed history lesson, projecting the key moments of the war directly into his mind. Horrified by what he has seen, Tailgate realizes the foolishness of his choice, and immediately goes to take out his frustrations on Cyclonus, whom he believes gave him a twisted view of history to make him look a fool. Unfortunately, he makes the mistake of punching Cyclonus on the arm, provoking violent retribution from the ancient Cybertronian, who silently smashes him to the ground, kicks him, and leaves.

On Messatine, Ratchet's team arrives at Delphi, discovering its main door marked with a gigantic red X. Pipes—over-impulsive due to the fact that this is his first time on another planet—smashes the door down before Ratchet can explain that the symbol warns of plague, and the little Autobot suddenly finds himself knee-deep in corpses, and in the path of a shambling, infected robot. Drift leaps to the rescue, slicing the plague carrier to pieces, at which point First Aid arrives to explain that, following a mysterious "big bang" five days prior, the facility has been infected by the Red Rust virus which liquefies its victims optics-first. Detailing their suspicion that the plague is the result of a chemical warfare bomb detonated by the D.J.D., First Aid leads them to ward manager Ambulon, who suspects that Delphi's medics have been uniquely resistant to the infection, and further explains that long-term patients are likewise unaffected. First Aid requests Ratchet's input on a new process he has developed, using a healthy spark to jump-start an ailing one, that he hopes to use on one of the outpost's prominent coma patients, but Ratchet is more concerned with consulting with Pharma.

Pharma, unfortunately, was inside the facility's quarantine room when the big bang occurred, and has been automatically sealed inside and unable to communicate through its thick glass. As everyone is regarding his predicament, Pharma burns a message into his own hand, warning the assembled Autobots that, behind them, Pipes has succumbed to the plague. Drift keeps Pipes busy while Ratchet hacks the quarantine room lock and frees Pharma, but the Autobot samurai is splattered with some of Pipe's liquefied innards and he too fa

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