#tf delphi

[clawsou]

[Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye JRPG: Visuals]

Credits to the people I have commissioned:

ALL PIXEL ART and ANIMS: @hewwo-tehbing

Char Profile Colours: @klaudia96art

PHARMA VOICE: Tonezone

JRPGs are rich in story and visual as a game genre at a low development cost. I sincerely hope that More Than Meets the Eye can be adapted into my favourite game genre.

[aelyxiae]

Revisiting this now that I know more, because I can’t help wondering about what was really going on at Delphi and whether it was just what it seems or whether there’s more to it than that.

The timeline as far as I understand it:

Delphi is constructed

Pharma is assigned there (I'm assuming this happens first)

First aid joins

Ambulon joins

Sometime later Springer recruits Aid to look for messages from agent 113 in autobot badges (source: Bullets)

LSoTW

Agent 113 discovered

Records of patient deaths increasing begin 2 years prior to start of MTMTE (MTMTE #4)

First Aid demoted (flashback shown in MTMTE #4, but exact timing unclear)

MTMTE #4-5

Everything from here on out is purely speculation on my part based on the information above.

It seems reasonable that to set up an operation like agent 113's infiltration of the DJD is something that would take a considerable amount of time and resources. And it's known that First Aid was later recruited and became directly involved in that operation. Also, Pharma was directly recruited/assigned to Delphi by Prowl (MTMTE #40) who managed covert operations for the autobots. Considering all this, it then seems possible that Delphi's unusual design was indeed because it was never intended to be just a medical base or mining outpost, but to be a station within the DJD's territory that could support agent 113's activities if needed. Further, there is no clear explanation within MTMTE for why exactly Tarn takes an interest in Delphi. However, if the time that Tarn first took an interest in the facility is around the same time as the start of the death logs First Aid broadcasts, then this would be somewhere around the same time that agent 113 is implied to be discovered. And therefore, that Tarn started looking around Delphi at that specific time because an autobot traitor had just been found within the DJD and the autobot base conspicuously on DJD territory would suddenly be a lot more interesting for the potential it had to be connected to the traitor within the DJD.

Other Thoughts:

In addition to First Aid being directly contacted by Springer (and therefore by extension the Wreckers), Pharma is shown in flashbacks to have worked around the Wreckers (SotW) and with the new institute (MTMTE #14). All of which could make sense in relation to a facility that might be used covertly, as opposed to assigning an unknown medic or someone like Ratchet to that position.

There's also a potential explanation for Ambulon's presence in this scenario beyond just hoping that he'd be overlooked. Because why have a Decepticon defector stationed in close proximity to the group infamous for hunting down Decepticon traitors? Maybe for the same reason that Shockwave was travelling around with a ship full of others that were on the list (Lost Light #14). Maybe because the hope was that if Tarn did look at Delphi, he would see Ambulon and not see anything else that might be going on.

I've been reading through MTMTE for the first time and I just went back to issue #5 and it caught my attention that Pharma, after his involvement with the red rust is discovered, disappears into a fake floor below one of the cryogenic regeneration (C.R.) chambers. Initially, I hadn't thought much of this, but really, why would there be a false room (seemingly with rooftop access as well) built into a medical base? And how did it get there?

So far I've thought of the following possible explanations:

Delphi was constructed as more than just a medical station and considering it's strategic positioning within DJD territory, this secret area was constructed to support the possibility of more covert operations.

Pharma created the space or disguised an existing area of the base to be harder to find and access in order to hide his dealings with Tarn. However, if this was the case, why then would he have stated that he "intended to hide in a C.R. chamber, but they were all occupied" when explaining his choice of the quarantine room for soundproofing? Because if he created the secret space under the C.R. chamber surely he could have soundproofed it and hidden there? Unless the point was to be able to be found somewhere more public to increase the plausible deniability that Pharma was in any way involved with the events shutting down Delphi (in which case, the room full of what appears to be t-cogs for the DJD would obviously not be an option).

[ihatebrainstorm]

Scrapped (?) thingy I made back during winter break lol

Concept was sorta based off of how bc Delphi was in a snowy region, it'd probably make sense for First Aid to be able to navigate in the snow? My other idea was redesigning First Aid and giving him a snowmobile altmode- (Might come back to it some day, but looking at my current WIP pile... unlikely ;v;)

[tonikkyn]

For me personally, this

Looks like this

[lord-squiggletits]

Fanfic Pharma: "I'm so proud of my hands, forged doctors are the best of the best and everyone knows it, and honestly Functionism isn't that bad--"

Me:

(Image description: The "Don't make me tap the sign" meme from the Simpsons. The bus driver is pointing at a panel from the MTMTE comics in which Pharma says "At first I wanted to hurt you for ruining things at Delphi, but when you crashed I saw that you'd stolen my hands. That took things to a whole new level. You declared war on my body, Ratchet. I'm retaliating.")

[kairukitsuneo]

💗Happy Valentines Day 2024 💗

💞Multiple ship in bound, proceed with caution💞 Full picture below⬇️⬇️⬇️

[slythereen]

okay like charles and max's cars were GLUED together on that start???

[ultra-phthalo]

Damage

The cyberformed oc Cinnabar has atypical characteristics due to their origin of creation. Going from human to cybertronian after stealing life from the dying alien god of creation, who's also a sentient planet would result in some abnormalities. However, Cinnabar themselves don't know the extent or jargon of these characteristics. With them both require training and examinations in order to know the technicalities of their mechanical abilities. I had put a lot of thought into these abilities, but rather then info dumping. I'm going to write it from the perspective of the doctors from Delphi discovering this strange damaged bot in the snow. That appears cybertronian. But has some concerning details that couldn't be dismissed.

[carelessapples]

drift doods that get sillier as they progress

[transingthoseformers]

Translucent sparklings?

OOOO I'VE THOUGHT OF THIS BEFORE IN CONJUNCTION WITH MY "aquatic/amphibious sparkling" IDEA

YES

[anony-man]

Some Delphi doctor Pharma thoughts because, well… why not? More specifically, a thought-out explanation for successfully hiding the very, very illegal business of organ harvesting (or cog harvesting, if you’re Pharma). Very, very long, and mainly Pharma-centric. Also TW for mild mentions of gore below (near the end):

It would have been a very, very good question to ask how in the world he’d managed to get into the practice of harvesting cogs for the enemy, but that isn’t exactly the focus here. What it came down to, for the most part, was being stationed at Delphi of all areas. It was a rough place to work, and it had quite the reputation of being the worst of the worst when it came to practitioners AND survival rates. The extra factors were probably due to the fact that an ex-Decepticon and a war frame were both in high ranks of the medical staff (not to mention the awful habit Cybertron’s governors had of actually making sure funds went to keeping heat and lights on in the building), but none of this phased Pharma. When the offer—well, not so much offer as it was threat to end his life and career if he didn’t accept—came up, he wasn’t exactly in a place to decline.

It was easy work, really. All he had to do was stay after hours and harvest cogs from dead patients before they left to be cremated, or buried, or recycled, or… well, whatever their loved ones chose to do. He was practically running the hospital at that point, and no one had ever questioned his authority. Besides, no medical staff outside of himself and Ambulon had ever worked at Delphi for more than a few months tops. Delphi’s hospital was severely understaffed with one or two medical drones patrolling the area outside of himself and Ambulon, but that’s the way Pharma would have had it. After all, it’s what made his awful situation possible.

Besides… If push came to shove, and by some miracle someone found out about his forced ties with the DJD, he could always blame Ambulon. It would be easy enough to frame him, after all. No one would believe him, anyway. Not with his past as an ex ‘Con. Pharma wasn’t much better, being built a war frame despite his work in the medical field, but what choice did he have?

Things were going well, at first. Pharma was averaging at about three to four cogs a month, give or take a few. Despite what outsiders said, Delphi was typically the place where those too far gone came to live their last moments in the peace and comfort medical support was able to offer, so the supply was always steady. That is, it was steady, until Pharma got a rather threatening letter in the mail. The DJD had begun to demand four times what he was averaging, and that number was expected every two weeks.

The first time he took a life with his own hands, Pharma had felt physically ill. He spent the rest of the day locked up in his office, ignoring Ambulon’s pestering concerns with the complaint that he was feeling unwell, which was true, but that he didn’t require support, which was… well, sort of true. He’d barely managed to make it through a ration of energon that evening, and he’d spent most of the night forcing down bottle after bottle of cheap alcoholic drinks. The overwhelming guilt didn’t last long, however, since Pharma knew he couldn’t physically keep it up. He’d have to tough it out, take in a few extra cogs from living patients, and maybe—just maybe—his circumstances would change.

As expected, things most certainly did not change. At least, not for the better. Enter First Aid, who soon became a sort of Achilles heel to Pharma’s process. The new doctor was young and inexperienced, practically fresh out of the academy from what Pharma had heard. For the first few weeks, Pharma was absolutely relentless in his blatant dislike of First Aid, and he took every chance he could get to publicly disapprove or humiliate the young doctor when he could. It felt awful, it really did. But given the very dangerous situation he found himself in, he couldn’t risk having more than one other doctor around the hospital floors.

First Aid wasn’t supposed to have lasted as long as he did. One week became two, which became four, which turned into one month, but still, Pharma relented. He chastised the young medic every chance he could get and occasionally gave crude, condescending remarks about question just how long First Aid would last before he, too, dropped out of the Delphi work force. Would he even remain a doctor, Pharma wondered? Would the stress from his experience at Delphi turn him away from any and all future medical endeavors? He’d hoped it might end that way—not for his sake, but for First Aid’s safety. Still, his nagging coworker who still struggled to turn over a new leaf was also relentless, but in the aspect of helping the new recruit. Before Pharma knew it, Ambulon was taking First Aid under his wing, showing him the ropes. It was infuriating, and it posed a very, very great threat to Pharma’s new business.

Primus, he grew so nervous during that time, so very, very nervous. He shouldn’t have been doing it at all. Everything, all of it—the manipulation, the twisted work, the criticism to both First Aid’s character and his career, it was all so fucked up in the worst way. It was unethical. It was awful, it… it was—ohh fuck. Fuck, what choice did he have? He didn’t have one. He had no choice at all, and this was how things would end. A well-known, well respected medic who’d risen above the hierarchy and racism, only to destroy it all after doing such dirty work for the DJD.

Despite his petty and discreet efforts, First Aid relented. It was nearing six months into the young medic’s employment at Delphi when Pharma realized he needed to do something different, and fast. He had already experienced one too many close calls, what with the nosy little doctor running into him after hours on the wrong floor at the wrong time. Sexual innuendos and workplace relationships had only gotten him so far with Ambulon, and after an awkward interface session in the washracks while bodies lay decomposing in locked bathroom stalls mere feet away, Pharma simply couldn’t take it anymore. Drastic measures had to be taken, unfortunately, and despite the medical oaths he’d sworn to observe and the many, many moral boundaries he’d never wanted to cross, Pharma was no longer against twisting the tables in his own favor.

He started out innocently enough. Aid was a smart one, of course, and Pharma caught the skeptical looks the young medic gave him every time he dared to bring up Delphi’s sketchy past. Despite the visor covering his optics and the mask he wore nearly all the time, it wasn’t hard to gauge First Aid’s reaction, and given a few weeks, Pharma knew it was starting to take a toll on the new medic. It was only when Ambulon had begun to scold him behind closed doors for “scaring” First Aid that Pharma realized he needed to push things up a notch.

He wasn’t a terrible person. Truly, he wasn’t. He never meant for any of it to happen, and he had never intended for First Aid to be affected so deeply or for his own reputation to be tarnished. He’d known his fate was sealed the moment he was given over to the DJD as their own personal provider of anything organ-related, but that didn’t make him a bad person, right? He was only doing his job. He was doing what he had been forced to do. He was still a doctor, a good person. Right? He was still him. He still saved lives, he still helped others, he still held the role and responsibility of being a strong, confident medic. He was a good person, right? Right?

He hadn’t been thinking all that clearly when it had happened. Still, the pieces just so happened to fall into place, and Pharma knew that his secret was sealed for at least a few months. He had been in the process of dragging the most recent body into a storage closet for safe keeping while he dealt with other more impending issues when it had occurred. Of course, shoving a dead corpse into an old closet wasn’t the best course of action, but with his mind starting to crack under the pressure and his options starting to slim, Pharma knew he didn’t have much of a choice.

He could hear the sound of quiet pedesteps entering into the washracks. It was First Aid, he knew, stopping to get cleaned up after a long shift. He always came into the washracks at this time, after every shift. Primus, he did it almost daily. How could Pharma have forgotten? How could he have forgotten?

Never mind that, he supposed. Pharma had waited until First Aid was rifling through his belongings and getting everything unneeded placed into a locker (really, with there only being three bots capable of making it to the washracks, what was the need for the locker?) before making a run for the shower stalls. He had thrown the body over one shoulder as he headed there, and as expected, it made quite the sound. Instead of hearing a bout of silence to follow the sudden interruption of First Aid’s prep-work, he was instead met with a small, startled gasp from the young medic. He paused in the middle of pulling the curtain shut and waited, just in case his cover was to be blown. He would hate to do it, but if he needed to take out one of his fellow medics—

“Is someone out there?” First Aid had called out, the anxiety practically dripping from his voice.

If Pharma hadn’t been so busy with not getting caught carrying a corpse around, he would’ve felt a little bad for the poor doctor’s frazzled nerves. Still, a job had to be done, and a job was what he was going to do. Pharma laid the corpse down onto the shower stall and, after quietly drawing the curtains back to hide it, made his way towards the exit. He managed to escape without running into First Aid, which would end up being a blessed accident for him in the next ten minutes.

Pharma was nearly halfway to his office when he heard it. A guttural, blood-curdling scream that sent a chill racing down his spine. He knew what had happened, of course, but the sound—Primus, the sound, the palpable horror and fear in the air as First Aid screamed—it would stick with him for a very, very long time. It didn’t take long before Ambulon was rushing down the hallway, a mixed look of confusion and concern plastered across his face as though First Aid—a disposable, inexperienced waste of space on their hospital’s floor—could have actually meant anything to him.

Pharma turned around quickly enough to see First Aid bursting out of the washracks, his entire frame rattling with choked sobs that even Pharma could see the plating shift and grind from such a long distance. He couldn’t quite make out the words—not that the poor medic was saying anything legible, but still—from where he stood, but from the way First Aid all but collapsed against Ambulon’s front, wailing about a “dead body” and the poor soul he’d just checked on so and so minutes ago and the guilt he felt, oh the guilt. What could have he done differently? Was it his fault? Was he to blame? God, why couldn’t he stop crying? He couldn’t breathe, Ambulon, he couldn’t breathe—

It ended up being too much to bear, too much to witness. Pharma slipped past with a distant pat to Ambulon’s shoulder and muttered something about giving First Aid a little something to take the edge off before he headed in to “take a look.” Of course, Pharma took the chance to properly dispose of the body so that nothing else could be said about the standalone incident, and when Ambulon had come in sometime later and informed him that First Aid was in the medibay sleeping off some heavy sedatives, Pharma was more than willing to show him the now-empty and pristine shower stalls. Every one of them, too, not just the one that had just so happened to inhabit the… the victim.

It didn’t come as much of a surprise when, a week later, there was a new medic among their ranks. First Aid had hardly even gone to the third floor—the floor where the incident had occured—at all during the week, and he had barely managed to keep himself moving throughout the normal shift changes. At first, Pharma expected him to drop out of the hospital staff like all of the other medics before him, but no. Instead, he was treated to a new recruit.

Ratchet was his name, Pharma recalls. Ratchet, Ambulon’s acquaintance, First Aid’s temporary mentor, and Pharma’s mortal enemy. Well, mortal enemy and secret obsession. If there was one thing Pharma had become good at during his many months spent harvesting the cogs of helpless victims, it was casting illusions. Though he had taken a deep, almost toxic, interest in Ratchet, Pharma knew he was more than capable of keeping up the charades.

[gothicjuicebox]

Oh cool I get to make a hospital on animal crossing! Fun! Oh I have to name it ? Oh I got the perfect thing.

I'm going to hell aren't I?

[daughterofyourdarklord]

"Foolish girl."

Her words cut through air like a dagger, despite that she still wears the marks of His infliction - of hers. Bellatrix's skin is marked by her own nails, four lines coming from just below her ear and down the side of her throat from one of her more sudden jolts of pain beneath Delphini's cruciatus curse. It was agony.

"You hesitated."

Still, it's not the worst she's had, for that she should be grateful.

"You didn't try hard enough."

She is not grateful.

"You didn't mean it."

She is disappointed.

"I have taught you better than that, have I not?" she asks, grey irises flitting over amber in silent demand for an answer, usually loving fingers coming to grip her chin almost too hard, "you do not hesitate, not with this curse." Words are hissed between grit teeth. "And most certainly not when your father demands it of you."

Even if it is to hurt her.

". . .Do you understand me?"

“You think I don’t understand!?” 

Delphini screeches, shaking her head violently to yank her jaw out of her mother’s grasp while taking a step backwards. “I understand perfectly!” Her voice is ringing with a resentment she had not intended on taking out on her mother.

“He knowingly put me in an impossible position! What if He demanded you turn your wand on Narcissa? On Draco? On your own father? On me? You think you’d find that so effortless?”

She should never be speaking of Him in such a way; should never be speaking to her mother in such a way. It doesn’t help that half of her anger is directed at herself. She failed him, she let her emotions get in the way of casting a truly effective cruciatus. He knows she can do better. He was testing her. 

“You think I don’t know exactly what game He’s playing at!?” Delphini has to run both her hands through her hair to stop herself, biting her lip so hard it draws blood. 

“There’s just no need… I would lay my life on the line for Him if he asked! Loyal to the point of my own detriment - to both of you! And that’s the issue isn’t it?” 

She has to remind herself to breathe for a moment, her lungs are on fire. Her heart is on fire, a crescendo of rage blooming inside her still. 

Why is He trying to make me choose? 

Delphini can’t bear to ask.  

“You know… I wish I inherited his glorious disposition to be so apathetic. What a gift it must be.” She nearly laughs. “How unfortunate for me I got your temper instead - and everything that comes with it!” She cements her statement with an open palm to her heart. 

Is it so horrible that she loves her mother too much to torture her? 

“You know just how eager I am to prove myself to Him! Give me a mudblood to rip apart, a traitor to push to the brink of insanity. As if I’d ever shy away from the blood and gore of it all. Please.” She scoffs. “I’ll relish in their screams - there is little in this world I look forward to more! I just can’t - It can’t.. Not you.”

[delphi-shield]

why is tagging posts so embarrassing. like yes i wrote something.... yeah, i want people to see it.... omg please don't throw rocks at me 😔

[elfelt-valentine]

The implications of these are insane to me. Was it because he's a flyer. I doubt he was a bad doctor. He's explicitly described as the biggest Decepticon hater. Ratchet what the fuck did you mean by this you haven't seen him in years.

[slythereen]

get to know me: f1 edition (tags) (my tag) (asks tag)