He felt pain. He felt tired but it was wearing off. He felt something strange sticking out of his body, he could hear a machine clicking and whirring, people rushing about and talking in a foreign language. He remembered being in a crash, seeing Clank, seeing Talwyn, but not much else. He felt sick, his back and head hurt.

Was he in a lab? Was he being tested on? Ratchets heart leaped in fear. Was he going to have to fight his way out? There were pipes in him and he felt very tired...

Someone was coming near. He turned his head slightly to see. It was not a doctor bot, it was Angela. How could that be? He hadn't seen or heard from her in years.

"Try to sleep longer." She instructed him. "You need to rest and this is going to take a while."

Ratchet tried to look around him, to move. He had to find out what was going on, he couldn't do it. He must be dreaming... He closed his heavy eyelids and slept once more.

-------------------------------------

Clank and Talwyn sat up expectantly as Angela came out of the BPP room looking quite exhausted.

Angela ignored them and walked out into the hall and through another door, and Clank and Tal waited patiently for her to come back. Shortly, she returned with two cups of drink and she handed one to Talwyn who nodded in thanks.

Angela dragged a chair around so she could sit and face her and Clank as she spoke to them.

"How is everything going?" Clank inquired.

"The BPP is going alright..." She started slowly. "It's going to take a long time but it's working. We've extracted almost five hundred millilitres of foreign substance from his blood so far, the only worry is that includes the tonics Sleep and Cleanse as well. When we started he was asleep but the more we get done the more of the sleep inducing liquid is cleared away and the more alert he becomes. He's woken up once already but I think he's genuinely tired as well, hopefully it's enough to keep him out of it."

"Why can't he be awake? Isn't there anything else you can give him to make him sleep?" Talwyn asked.

"It's not that he can't be awake, but purifying the blood is a very delicate operation and he needs to stay very still. I'm worried that might be hard for him because it's also quite painful... On any other planet the hospitals might use gasses or tablets to send people to sleep, but we only have liquids and machines serving in this hospital. There's nothing that can help."

Clank nodded in understanding. "He can be fidgety at the best of times. Just tell him to keep still, and assure him we are here waiting for him."

"I will." Angela nodded.

"How are you feeling Miss Cross?" Clank asked. "Are you doing alright?"

"...I'm a little frightened..." She admitted. "Because his blood's slowly being filtered through a big machine, it takes a while to get done because the machine needs to correctly separate the blood from any other kind of liquid, which... As you know it's dangerous and scary. If the machine isn't set properly, if someone makes any kind of mistake, it could leave too much poison in or take to much blood out."

Talwyn sat there looking a little pale faced, but Clank asked for a reason.

"We truly appreciate all you and the other physicians are doing for Ratchet. I am confident that you are doing your best and that he will pull through as he always does." Clank smiled putting aside his own worried feelings.

"Thanks Clank. I'm sure he'll be alright too. He's holding strong." Angela smiled back at Clank and sipped at the rest of her drink.

-------------------------------------

When was it going to stop? It felt like he was being drained of something and filled at the same time. His heart was pumping like a jackhammer, his blood was rushing, he could feel it. It felt like he had been awake for ages and he was still in that dark room, just laying there listening to the beeping and clicking and loud obnoxious whirring of the big machine. Lights of all different colours shone off of everything.

There were still people rushing around, messing with the buttons and switches and dials, one was sitting at a desk with a pen and another was running back and forth keeping an eye on everything, reporting all things back to the one at the desk.

Ratchet's cuts stung, his back ached, he had a migraine... He wasn't allowed to move. He could feel something happening to him and he didn't know what. He was becoming more and more awake, feeling and seeing and hearing more. Everything was getting worse. Tears were sliding down either side of his face in a constant flow and he couldn't do anything about it. He still didn't know what was happening or where he was. He only had an idea based off a memory and he really hated to think of it. If he seriously was in a lab being tested on, there was nothing he could do about it. It really scared him.

The only thing keeping him sane right now was Angela: she would come and talk to him every time he started thinking he couldn't take any more. But maybe that was just an affirmation that he had gone insane.

"-This isn't working-."

"-Is there too much tonic left in his blood or too much blood being taken out with it?-."

"-There's still tonic in there and the machine has been set wrong. It's starting to take blood out and leave tonic in, we need to stop right now.-"

They were shouting in that language again. They were acting more frantic than usual. Lights flicked off and sounds changed from whirring to beeping.

'Just don't move, wait a little longer, it would be over soon, he would get to see Clank and Talwyn when it was done, they were waiting for him, he was going to be alright, just trust her... Trust Angela...'

-------------------------------------

Talwyn sighed in relief as she saw them moving Ratchet back into the other room. She couldn't really tell if he was looking better or not but she was sure he would be alright soon. This was Ratchet after all.

Suddenly Angela and Tine came bursting out of the room. They appeared to be aggressively debating something but Talwyn could not understand.

"What are they saying Clank?" She whispered to the robot.

"I do not know. They are going too fast for my level of experience."

Talwyn was getting fed up with this language, not knowing what was going on. She was fed up with waiting too, and not being able to talk to anyone but Clank and Angela. She was supposed to be looking for (and finding) her dad right now, not waiting for someone to come and let her know if Ratchet was going to live or not! Maybe she shouldn't have let them come... Or just given them a better ship! Called a mechanic and waited to see if it was still functioning properly at least. Even if she had just asked Ratchet to check it properly, given him some tools and some time and not been so impatient that would've been better. Maybe-

"Are you alright Miss Apogee?" Clank's calm caring voice interrupted her corruptive thoughts.

"Um- yeah I'm just thinking Clank."

"Thinking about what?" Clank stood up on his chair and studied her face. "Your facial features were contorted in an abnormally tight fashion indicating negative thoughts?"

"Yeah I'm worried." Tal smiled a bit.

"Me too." Clank sighed as he dropped back into a slightly hunched sitting position on the edge of his chair. "I should not have let him out of his seat. I should have known he would not be able to make it back to the cockpit before we needed to land, and I should have calculated that there was not enough fuel in the tank for us to land safely." The little robot said as he hung his head.

"No Clank, don't you think for one second that it was your fault. I should have given you guys a better ship or at least checked if it needed repairs. This whole thing was my idea."

Clank was silent as he thought for a minute, and Talwyn put her head in her hands thinking he had nothing reassuring left to say. "You could never have predicted any of this." He suddenly said. "None of us could have. The important thing is that we have faith that he will be okay."

Talwyn looked up and smiled again. "Thanks Clank. You're right, we just need to-

"Guys!" Angela interrupted as she ran over to them. "If you're not busy we need your help."

"Why do you need our help?" Talwyn asked unsure.

"Because the BPP didn't work... We failed to extract the poison. Ratchet is dying..."

Clank and Tal were speechless.

"We need someone who knows how Lombax anatomy works. Tine is going into the room to inspect him now but we really don't know enough, and we can't figure out what to do by looking at him from the outside."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what?! He's still sick?!" Talwyn yelled.

Angela nodded. "I really hate saying this to you guys, but we don't know what to do. We can't get the poison out of him and he can't fight it on his own. We need a Cure."

Talwyn breathed hard in shock and Clank's optics appeared to widen as his little metallic hands lifted up to cover his mouth.

The three sat in silence, just taking the information to heart. Waiting for more news or an idea of what to do.

After a while the door opened again and Time came out of the room holding a clipboard and looking defeated. "We did everything we could. There's nothing more we can do..." He said slowly. "I'm sorry... You can go in now." With that he turned and walked away silently vowing that he would not let anything like this happen again.

Talwyn and Clank got up off their chairs feeling like they had been sat down all day. With Angela following closely behind them they entered Ratchet's room.

Ratchet lay on the bed, finally free from cords and pipes and medical equipment. He was awake. He turned his head slowly and smiled to greet Clank and Tal.

"Hello Ratchet." Clank said walking up to his bed and climbing up on a chair so he could see. "How are you feeling?"

"Nice to see you Clank." The Lombax replied.

Talwyn stepped a little closer to the bed surprised at how fragile he looked. "How are you feeling Ratchet?"

"Uh Tal, it's not a pretty word. You don't wanna hear it and I don't wanna say it."

He looked really tired and slightly pained but fairly relieved and calm, but... so fragile... It was breaking Talwyn's heart. "You look tired..."

"I am tired."

"You should go back to sleep Ratchet." Clank said.

"Are you kidding? After all that, waiting to get out of that room to come see you guys... You think I would-" Ratchet was cut off by his own yawn. "I would go to sleep so soon?" He was fighting it.

"I hope you understand Ratchet, but I will not stand for this kind of behaviour when you are this sick. Go to sleep." Clank commanded.

Ratchet looked to Tal and she nodded in agreement as much as she had wanted to see him, but the Lombax remained stubborn.

"I can't sleep anyway... You know, no ones really told me what was happening in that room I was in..." Ratchet somewhat groaned, and Talwyn was surprised at the look on his face as he said that. He looked almost worried and scared.

"It is alright Ratchet, these people are trained doctors here to help you." Clank assured knowing full and well what he was worried about. His friend had had a very bad experience similar to this once a long time ago but hospitals and doctors wielding sharp objects still freaked him out.

"Is there something you guys aren't telling me?" Talwyn asked a little upset and very worried.

"I am afraid that subject is too sensitive to tell of for the moment Miss Talwyn, please just try to help sooth him."

"I don't need soothing Clank, I just want to know what's- what's going on..." Ratchet stuttered a bit.

"I can answer that, he needs to know." Angela offered stepping forward so Ratchet could see her.

"Angela?" He questioned sounding confused.

"Yes Ratchet, don't you remember I was in the room with you??" Angela asked shocked.

"No I remember I just, I thought maybe... I was going mad? I don't know, I haven't seen you in ages."

"I'm sorry you felt like that and that we had to meet again under these circumstances. What you just went through is called a BPP or a Blood Purification Process. When the doctors hooked you up to the IV tonics in the ambulance one of them poisoned you but they didn't know. That was an attempt to get the poison out but we failed..."

"I heard that it failed, I just didn't know what is was that failed. At least now I know I'm not gonna die."

Angela looked at Clank, Clank looked at Talwyn and Talwyn looked at Angela. They exchanged uncomfortable looks trying to decide whether or not they should tell him yet or who should be the one to do it, but by the time they looked back at Ratchet, he was asleep. They had some time to think.

-------------------------------------

"What do we do, we can't let him die!" Talwyn was starting to panic as the predicament sunk in.

"You must not panic Miss Talwyn, if we wish to save him we must keep level heads."

"He doesn't even know yet... When he wakes up we have to tell him..."

"Talwyn would you just stop?!" Angela shouted. "We just need to think. We don't know where to start looking for a Cure, so maybe we need to find someone who does. I'm having Tine call all the other experts he knows."

"Don't yell at me. I'm not panicking." Talwyn defended.

The door to the room creaked open and Tine stepped into the room. "Has he woken up since?" He asked.

"No he hasn't." Angela replied. "How's the research going?"

"None of them know what a Lombax is... My suggestion is that you take him back to Polaris, there could be someone there who knows more than us in the Nyyla Galaxy."

"Gee that's a foolproof plan..." Tal muttered sarcastically.

"What was that Talwyn?" Angela asked.

"There were only two Lombax experts in Polaris, one was me, the other was the reason we were out here in the first place."

"You're a Lombax expert?"

"Yeah I'm better with history than anatomy in case you couldn't tell."

"Please miss Talwyn, try to stay calm. Is there anything else we need to know Mr Tine?" Clank asked turning to the SSAE.

"I'm afraid not. I am very sorry to say that there is nothing more I can do for you. I have no access to vital information and know no one else who could help..." He stood there looking very guilty and unsure of what to say.

"Thank you for all you have done Mr Tine. Even if it did not go well we appreciate the assistance greatly." Clank reassured him with a heavy heart. He knew that he couldn't lose Ratchet and he was very very worried. He wouldn't know what to do if the Lombax died and it looked like that's where things were headed... But he needed to stay positive and logical. It was important the doctor knew it wasn't his fault.

Tine smiled a little nodding his thanks, before reluctantly exiting the room.

"Now what..?" Tal asked.

"I don't... If only..." Angela trailed off.

"If only what?" Clank asked her.

"If only we could find the rest of our race... The Lombaxes would know how to help."

Talwyn stared at her with a little confusion and shock.

Clank thought for a minute. There was something he could do... He wasn't quite sure of it but maybe it was worth a shot. "...Perhaps I have something that could help." Clank said slowly and he opened up his front compartment and pulled out a broken mess of a Dimensionator.

Talwyn gasped. "Where!?" Was all she was able to get out.

"Where did you get that!?" Angela finished for her.

"I picked it up after Miss Prog used it to summon the Nethers. Ratchet gave up on trying to fix it, but something told me that it still had a use..."

"That's incredible! But if Ratchet couldn't fix it then... Wait, my dad. He could fix it, he was an expert on Lombax technology! We just need to find him."

"Your dad?! How do you guys even know what this is?" Angela asked a little shocked.

"Yes my dad, Max Apogee. He disappeared a long time ago but we're searching for him, and now he may be our only chance to find a cure. And I know what this is because I'm a Lombax expert remember."

"Your dad was Max Apogee?! I know where to find him!" Angela just about shouted.

"You do?! How could you know?"

"Yes I do I- but we need that to find him..." She pointed, down heartedly at the device in Clank's hands.

"He's in another dimension!?"

"Yes, all this has given me an idea though, I think I know someone else who might be able to help."

"Someone else? Okay I don't know about Clank but this is way too many unanswered questions for me. You need to tell us what's going on right now!"

Their voices almost woke Ratchet, he groaned and stirred in his bed.

Angela walked over to him and scratched his ears very gently, trying to get him to go back into a deeper sleep. "...He feels hot." She said.

"Is he getting worse already?" Clank asked concerned.

Angela nodded. "He'll never get better on his own. We need to make a decision."

"We should go and see this person you were talking about." Clank said.

"Alright what do you reckon Tal, is it best of we take him with us or leave him here?"

Talwyn took a moment to process the information and the question. "He would be more comfortable here but I don't think it will do him any real good if we leave without him... Can this person you know really help?"

"I don't know for sure but he's our only lead." Angela replied.

"Alright then, we'll take him. If he's only going to get worse here..."

"Good point. I'll prepare him for the trip. Talwyn, you go get the ship ready and Clank, you can download the coordinates to the planet Lecorm. We'll set out as soon as he's ready."