Donatello, The Genius

Don’s eyes move to the wall, biting their cheek and standing up straighter, shifting their cloak more over their arm.] …Nnnnno, my arm is-

Listen, which I know you're great at doing, less so following through but still. If you continue to not listen to the very strict guidelines of-you know- medicine, you will lose your arm.

[Their expression becomes very tight. They don’t respond, going still.

Amputation? Sure, they’d considered the possibility. Actually, as soon as Bishop had broken it the panicked thought had crossed their mind, fearing the lack of medical attention in his captivity. But his mind had amputated the worry itself, forcing the thought out of his mind long past when he had gotten back to the base.

Now, bringing it up again, forcing that distant thought back to the forefront of his mind, he thinks of the dozens of amputations he’s performed, of the piles of prosthetics he’s designed, and the burning pain in his arm, and furrows his brow, unhurt shoulder tensing. It should be easier. Why isn’t it easier?

They look away from Retro, pinching their eyes and sighing.]

Fine, fine, Retro, whatever. What, pray tell, do you insist on? I’ll do it, fine.

Is there anything else you wanted to talk to me about, then?

Don’s eyes move to the wall, biting their cheek and standing up straighter, shifting their cloak more over their arm.] …Nnnnno, my arm is-

Listen, which I know you're great at doing, less so following through but still. If you continue to not listen to the very strict guidelines of-you know- medicine, you will lose your arm.

[Their expression becomes very tight. They don’t respond, going still.

Amputation? Sure, they’d considered the possibility. Actually, as soon as Bishop had broken it the panicked thought had crossed their mind, fearing the lack of medical attention in his captivity. But his mind had amputated the worry itself, forcing the thought out of his mind long past when he had gotten back to the base.

Now, bringing it up again, forcing that distant thought back to the forefront of his mind, he thinks of the dozens of amputations he’s performed, of the piles of prosthetics he’s designed, and the burning pain in his arm, and furrows his brow, unhurt shoulder tensing. It should be easier. Why isn’t it easier?

They look away from Retro, pinching their eyes and sighing.]

Fine, fine, Retro, whatever. What, pray tell, do you insist on? I’ll do it, fine.

Don’s eyes move to the wall, biting their cheek and standing up straighter, shifting their cloak more over their arm.] …Nnnnno, my arm is-

Listen, which I know you're great at doing, less so following through but still. If you continue to not listen to the very strict guidelines of-you know- medicine, you will lose your arm.

[Their expression becomes very tight. They don’t respond, going still.

Amputation? Sure, they’d considered the possibility. Actually, as soon as Bishop had broken it the panicked thought had crossed their mind, fearing the lack of medical attention in his captivity. But his mind had amputated the worry itself, forcing the thought out of his mind long past when he had gotten back to the base.

Now, bringing it up again, forcing that distant thought back to the forefront of his mind, he thinks of the dozens of amputations he’s performed, of the piles of prosthetics he’s designed, and the burning pain in his arm, and furrows his brow, unhurt shoulder tensing. It should be easier. Why isn’t it easier?

They look away from Retro, pinching their eyes and sighing.]

Fine, fine, Retro, whatever. What, pray tell, do you insist on? I’ll do it, fine.

Stop it. My sensors don’t lie, you do.

Don..? what do you mean? why would i lie to you about this?

There he is..! What could possibly be-?

One moment, they were the only two there, and the next, the lead scout was landing right beside Donatello and holding their pulse rifle up as they flared their wings around the tech expert.

“Don, talk to me. What’s going on? Are you hurt?”

Tentatively, they held their arm out to pathetically shield Don as they aimed their rifle using their other arm in Nova’s general direction.

Their visor is still screaming at them. They try their best to translate the warning, but their voice isn’t cooperating.]

dont shoot!!

[she backs away slightly, confused on why Don had to call for *backup*. suddenly Brutus climbs out of the rock and hops over to her and she quickly scoops him up, turning around in case Donnie or Acie wanted to hurt him]

She’s got both of them saying don’t shoot, but Donnie is busy mumbling on about Kraang. They- these two LOOK like Kraang- but they haven’t attacked yet.

…she can’t trust Kraang without good reason. Using children to lure survivors in for slaughter isn’t new, she can’t risk it.

But looking over Acie’s wing to see Nova and Brutus cowering under the threat of the gun- Shit-]

No- No, nonono, they’re not, waitwaitwait, please, that’s my daughter, uh-

“Your-??” She cut her voice off with a bite on her tongue, and sighed. Even with Donnie’s reassurance, she had a right to worry.

But, inevitably, she lowered her gun and allowed the pulsar ammo to cool, the weapon whirring lowly as it disengaged. There was still uncertainty in her eyes, but she trusted Don more than she trusted her nerves. “…my apologies, kids. I won’t hurt you, now that I know you’re friendlies.” She set a careful hand on Donnie’s armored shoulder and gave it a little shake to try to take his attention.

Dad..?

The second he’s standing again he turns off his visor, shaking his head, and looks around. It takes a bit of effort to recognise where he is.]

…We’re fine. We’re fine. Finefinefine. What the hell, Donatello?

[And also his arm is killing him and he thinks if he flies he’ll collapse not even twelve feet into the air, but. They’re trying to ignore their shaking. And Acie’s right, their anxiety about being out in the open has not evaded them.]

Stop it. My sensors don’t lie, you do.

Don..? what do you mean? why would i lie to you about this?

There he is..! What could possibly be-?

One moment, they were the only two there, and the next, the lead scout was landing right beside Donatello and holding their pulse rifle up as they flared their wings around the tech expert.

“Don, talk to me. What’s going on? Are you hurt?”

Tentatively, they held their arm out to pathetically shield Don as they aimed their rifle using their other arm in Nova’s general direction.

Their visor is still screaming at them. They try their best to translate the warning, but their voice isn’t cooperating.]

dont shoot!!

[she backs away slightly, confused on why Don had to call for *backup*. suddenly Brutus climbs out of the rock and hops over to her and she quickly scoops him up, turning around in case Donnie or Acie wanted to hurt him]

She’s got both of them saying don’t shoot, but Donnie is busy mumbling on about Kraang. They- these two LOOK like Kraang- but they haven’t attacked yet.

…she can’t trust Kraang without good reason. Using children to lure survivors in for slaughter isn’t new, she can’t risk it.

But looking over Acie’s wing to see Nova and Brutus cowering under the threat of the gun- Shit-]

No- No, nonono, they’re not, waitwaitwait, please, that’s my daughter, uh-

“Your-??” She cut her voice off with a bite on her tongue, and sighed. Even with Donnie’s reassurance, she had a right to worry.

But, inevitably, she lowered her gun and allowed the pulsar ammo to cool, the weapon whirring lowly as it disengaged. There was still uncertainty in her eyes, but she trusted Don more than she trusted her nerves. “…my apologies, kids. I won’t hurt you, now that I know you’re friendlies.” She set a careful hand on Donnie’s armored shoulder and gave it a little shake to try to take his attention.

Dad..?

The second he’s standing again he turns off his visor, shaking his head, and looks around. It takes a bit of effort to recognise where he is.]

…We’re fine. We’re fine. Finefinefine. What the hell, Donatello?

Stop it. My sensors don’t lie, you do.

Don..? what do you mean? why would i lie to you about this?

There he is..! What could possibly be-?

One moment, they were the only two there, and the next, the lead scout was landing right beside Donatello and holding their pulse rifle up as they flared their wings around the tech expert.

“Don, talk to me. What’s going on? Are you hurt?”

Tentatively, they held their arm out to pathetically shield Don as they aimed their rifle using their other arm in Nova’s general direction.

Their visor is still screaming at them. They try their best to translate the warning, but their voice isn’t cooperating.]

dont shoot!!

[she backs away slightly, confused on why Don had to call for *backup*. suddenly Brutus climbs out of the rock and hops over to her and she quickly scoops him up, turning around in case Donnie or Acie wanted to hurt him]

She’s got both of them saying don’t shoot, but Donnie is busy mumbling on about Kraang. They- these two LOOK like Kraang- but they haven’t attacked yet.

…she can’t trust Kraang without good reason. Using children to lure survivors in for slaughter isn’t new, she can’t risk it.

But looking over Acie’s wing to see Nova and Brutus cowering under the threat of the gun- Shit-]

No- No, nonono, they’re not, waitwaitwait, please, that’s my daughter, uh-

Stop it. My sensors don’t lie, you do.

Don..? what do you mean? why would i lie to you about this?

There he is..! What could possibly be-?

One moment, they were the only two there, and the next, the lead scout was landing right beside Donatello and holding their pulse rifle up as they flared their wings around the tech expert.

“Don, talk to me. What’s going on? Are you hurt?”

Tentatively, they held their arm out to pathetically shield Don as they aimed their rifle using their other arm in Nova’s general direction.

Their visor is still screaming at them. They try their best to translate the warning, but their voice isn’t cooperating.]

He closes a drawer with a little too much force and moves to a computer, checking the signal impatiently.

He scowls when the result comes up. Right, right, right right right because of course his robots can’t do the one thing that AIs are supposed to do and learn from their mistakes. But it’s fine, it’s fine, it really really really will be fine he can resolve this so easily and patiently and not freak out and not hurt anyone or anything and everyone will be fine.

And he assures himself of that over and over while he grabs his surface gear, opens the ceiling exit and flies through to the cave where Nova is once again, hand clasped around the bō in his pocket.]

[He doesn’t take his good hand out of his pocket, loose around his bō. Their eyes are scanning around the cave, but they don’t need to look much. Their visor tells them there’s krang activity nearby. But what do they say? The last time-]

what? who said i was here with Brutus? im only here because i miss him.

[He sidesteps to give her space to move away from the rock while keeping eye contact, eyes flicking between her and the rock, that his visor is now definitely picking up activity from. They briefly contemplate getting it over with, but starting a fight with Nova in this enclosed space is probably the worst situation one could get oneself into. And he’s down an arm.]

...dont hurt him.

[What?]

[Me hurting him- Her saying don’t hurt me- He wasn’t going to hurt anyone. He said he wouldn’t. That wasn’t the… plan. Was it? He can’t remember now. He blinks again at her eyes.]

[Why did he install that feature? Did he install that feature? Did she learn that from Shelldon?]

…I was- I was going to take him into my lab? I think. I have… animals there? For a cure. For working on a… cure.

..dad?..are you okay?

Yes. Yes. Let’s go. Now.

uhm..if you promise i can still see him and talk to him..i can carry him back to the vault

I’ll- Hang on, I’ll get him, sorry, wait-

[They stop for a second, looking up at the ceiling and then around and taking a deep breath, which in itself is still painful. Their visor is still pinging with alerts and alarms, but they can’t hear their own warnings clearly. All they can decipher is that there are two threats in the cave with them.]

[One is-]

[One is the dog, the other-]

[Nova’s reading is-]

[There must be some mistake.]

[All attempts to relax get shut down as Don’s body braces itself, grasping the bō tightly and backing towards the exit, towards open ground, where he can fight Nova’s infestation-]

[There’s a krang reading from Nova.]

he didn't do anything to me..dad- calm down

[she stops moving, looking confused]

why..would i do that?

[she drops her arms and shifts slightly. her tail wraps around her leg as she forces a smile]

[They need to call backup.]

He closes a drawer with a little too much force and moves to a computer, checking the signal impatiently.

He scowls when the result comes up. Right, right, right right right because of course his robots can’t do the one thing that AIs are supposed to do and learn from their mistakes. But it’s fine, it’s fine, it really really really will be fine he can resolve this so easily and patiently and not freak out and not hurt anyone or anything and everyone will be fine.

And he assures himself of that over and over while he grabs his surface gear, opens the ceiling exit and flies through to the cave where Nova is once again, hand clasped around the bō in his pocket.]

[He doesn’t take his good hand out of his pocket, loose around his bō. Their eyes are scanning around the cave, but they don’t need to look much. Their visor tells them there’s krang activity nearby. But what do they say? The last time-]

what? who said i was here with Brutus? im only here because i miss him.

[He sidesteps to give her space to move away from the rock while keeping eye contact, eyes flicking between her and the rock, that his visor is now definitely picking up activity from. They briefly contemplate getting it over with, but starting a fight with Nova in this enclosed space is probably the worst situation one could get oneself into. And he’s down an arm.]

...dont hurt him.

[What?]

[Me hurting him- Her saying don’t hurt me- He wasn’t going to hurt anyone. He said he wouldn’t. That wasn’t the… plan. Was it? He can’t remember now. He blinks again at her eyes.]

[Why did he install that feature? Did he install that feature? Did she learn that from Shelldon?]

…I was- I was going to take him into my lab? I think. I have… animals there? For a cure. For working on a… cure.

..dad?..are you okay?

Yes. Yes. Let’s go. Now.

uhm..if you promise i can still see him and talk to him..i can carry him back to the vault

I’ll- Hang on, I’ll get him, sorry, wait-

[They stop for a second, looking up at the ceiling and then around and taking a deep breath, which in itself is still painful. Their visor is still pinging with alerts and alarms, but they can’t hear their own warnings clearly. All they can decipher is that there are two threats in the cave with them.]

[One is-]

[One is the dog, the other-]

[Nova’s reading is-]

[There must be some mistake.]

[All attempts to relax get shut down as Don’s body braces itself, grasping the bō tightly and backing towards the exit, towards open ground, where he can fight Nova’s infestation-]

[There’s a krang reading from Nova.]

he didn't do anything to me..dad- calm down

He closes a drawer with a little too much force and moves to a computer, checking the signal impatiently.

He scowls when the result comes up. Right, right, right right right because of course his robots can’t do the one thing that AIs are supposed to do and learn from their mistakes. But it’s fine, it’s fine, it really really really will be fine he can resolve this so easily and patiently and not freak out and not hurt anyone or anything and everyone will be fine.

And he assures himself of that over and over while he grabs his surface gear, opens the ceiling exit and flies through to the cave where Nova is once again, hand clasped around the bō in his pocket.]

[He doesn’t take his good hand out of his pocket, loose around his bō. Their eyes are scanning around the cave, but they don’t need to look much. Their visor tells them there’s krang activity nearby. But what do they say? The last time-]

what? who said i was here with Brutus? im only here because i miss him.

[He sidesteps to give her space to move away from the rock while keeping eye contact, eyes flicking between her and the rock, that his visor is now definitely picking up activity from. They briefly contemplate getting it over with, but starting a fight with Nova in this enclosed space is probably the worst situation one could get oneself into. And he’s down an arm.]

...dont hurt him.

[What?]

[Me hurting him- Her saying don’t hurt me- He wasn’t going to hurt anyone. He said he wouldn’t. That wasn’t the… plan. Was it? He can’t remember now. He blinks again at her eyes.]

[Why did he install that feature? Did he install that feature? Did she learn that from Shelldon?]

…I was- I was going to take him into my lab? I think. I have… animals there? For a cure. For working on a… cure.

..dad?..are you okay?

Yes. Yes. Let’s go. Now.

uhm..if you promise i can still see him and talk to him..i can carry him back to the vault

I’ll- Hang on, I’ll get him, sorry, wait-

[They stop for a second, looking up at the ceiling and then around and taking a deep breath, which in itself is still painful. Their visor is still pinging with alerts and alarms, but they can’t hear their own warnings clearly. All they can decipher is that there are two threats in the cave with them.]

[One is-]

[One is the dog, the other-]

[Nova’s reading is-]

[There must be some mistake.]

[All attempts to relax get shut down as Don’s body braces itself, grasping the bō tightly and backing towards the exit, towards open ground, where he can fight Nova’s infestation-]

[There’s a krang reading from Nova.]

He closes a drawer with a little too much force and moves to a computer, checking the signal impatiently.

He scowls when the result comes up. Right, right, right right right because of course his robots can’t do the one thing that AIs are supposed to do and learn from their mistakes. But it’s fine, it’s fine, it really really really will be fine he can resolve this so easily and patiently and not freak out and not hurt anyone or anything and everyone will be fine.

And he assures himself of that over and over while he grabs his surface gear, opens the ceiling exit and flies through to the cave where Nova is once again, hand clasped around the bō in his pocket.]

[He doesn’t take his good hand out of his pocket, loose around his bō. Their eyes are scanning around the cave, but they don’t need to look much. Their visor tells them there’s krang activity nearby. But what do they say? The last time-]

what? who said i was here with Brutus? im only here because i miss him.

[He sidesteps to give her space to move away from the rock while keeping eye contact, eyes flicking between her and the rock, that his visor is now definitely picking up activity from. They briefly contemplate getting it over with, but starting a fight with Nova in this enclosed space is probably the worst situation one could get oneself into. And he’s down an arm.]

...dont hurt him.

[What?]

[Me hurting him- Her saying don’t hurt me- He wasn’t going to hurt anyone. He said he wouldn’t. That wasn’t the… plan. Was it? He can’t remember now. He blinks again at her eyes.]

[Why did he install that feature? Did he install that feature? Did she learn that from Shelldon?]

…I was- I was going to take him into my lab? I think. I have… animals there? For a cure. For working on a… cure.

..dad?..are you okay?

Yes. Yes. Let’s go. Now.

He closes a drawer with a little too much force and moves to a computer, checking the signal impatiently.

He scowls when the result comes up. Right, right, right right right because of course his robots can’t do the one thing that AIs are supposed to do and learn from their mistakes. But it’s fine, it’s fine, it really really really will be fine he can resolve this so easily and patiently and not freak out and not hurt anyone or anything and everyone will be fine.

And he assures himself of that over and over while he grabs his surface gear, opens the ceiling exit and flies through to the cave where Nova is once again, hand clasped around the bō in his pocket.]

[He doesn’t take his good hand out of his pocket, loose around his bō. Their eyes are scanning around the cave, but they don’t need to look much. Their visor tells them there’s krang activity nearby. But what do they say? The last time-]

what? who said i was here with Brutus? im only here because i miss him.

[He sidesteps to give her space to move away from the rock while keeping eye contact, eyes flicking between her and the rock, that his visor is now definitely picking up activity from. They briefly contemplate getting it over with, but starting a fight with Nova in this enclosed space is probably the worst situation one could get oneself into. And he’s down an arm.]

...dont hurt him.

[What?]

[Me hurting him- Her saying don’t hurt me- He wasn’t going to hurt anyone. He said he wouldn’t. That wasn’t the… plan. Was it? He can’t remember now. He blinks again at her eyes.]

[Why did he install that feature? Did he install that feature? Did she learn that from Shelldon?]

…I was- I was going to take him into my lab? I think. I have… animals there? For a cure. For working on a… cure.

He closes a drawer with a little too much force and moves to a computer, checking the signal impatiently.

He scowls when the result comes up. Right, right, right right right because of course his robots can’t do the one thing that AIs are supposed to do and learn from their mistakes. But it’s fine, it’s fine, it really really really will be fine he can resolve this so easily and patiently and not freak out and not hurt anyone or anything and everyone will be fine.

And he assures himself of that over and over while he grabs his surface gear, opens the ceiling exit and flies through to the cave where Nova is once again, hand clasped around the bō in his pocket.]

[He doesn’t take his good hand out of his pocket, loose around his bō. Their eyes are scanning around the cave, but they don’t need to look much. Their visor tells them there’s krang activity nearby. But what do they say? The last time-]

what? who said i was here with Brutus? im only here because i miss him.

[He sidesteps to give her space to move away from the rock while keeping eye contact, eyes flicking between her and the rock, that his visor is now definitely picking up activity from. They briefly contemplate getting it over with, but starting a fight with Nova in this enclosed space is probably the worst situation one could get oneself into. And he’s down an arm.]

He closes a drawer with a little too much force and moves to a computer, checking the signal impatiently.

He scowls when the result comes up. Right, right, right right right because of course his robots can’t do the one thing that AIs are supposed to do and learn from their mistakes. But it’s fine, it’s fine, it really really really will be fine he can resolve this so easily and patiently and not freak out and not hurt anyone or anything and everyone will be fine.

And he assures himself of that over and over while he grabs his surface gear, opens the ceiling exit and flies through to the cave where Nova is once again, hand clasped around the bō in his pocket.]

[He doesn’t take his good hand out of his pocket, loose around his bō. Their eyes are scanning around the cave, but they don’t need to look much. Their visor tells them there’s krang activity nearby. But what do they say? The last time-]