'06 Prius: normal startup process... until I try to shift into D or R

Display looks like ready to drive but can't shift into D or R. Indicator goes back to N.
(Every "trouble" symbol/icon is lit but I was able to drive it like this while waiting for rebuilt hybrid/traction battery)

Day before, with a lot to unload, I accidentally let my car idle for "awhile" (maybe 15 minutes).

My "plan": (1) back up near door, (2) get out, (3) back closer, if necessary (4) get back in, (5) back closer, (6) shut off engine...
Step 3 said "close enough", so good--no need for steps 4 and 5 and ... uh ... oops. There's yer problem.

So, after "awhile" I did step 6--shut it off. Left it setting in same place. Had no idea of any problem, until ...
... next morning, when I found it wouldn't shift into D or R.

I have a horrible feeling that excessive idling killed the traction battery.
Any (lifetime) warranty claim requires codes from a repair shop.

I bought a $40 Innova 5010 ODB2 reader (the "user manual" was the card it was packaged with). It had two buttons:

(1) black, showed no codes. Okay, try red.
(2) red, with a pencil eraser etched into it. I pushed it. Nothing. I held it. Heard a beep. What did I erase?
Every "trouble" symbol is still lit, except big red ! so I hadn't erased the codes. I returned the device. Crap.

Only hope seems to be to tow to repair shop and
(a) they'll definitely find some codes still stored, whether in my favor or not.
(b) they definitely won't find any codes, which could be to my favor, but I doubt it.
(c) if it needs new/rebuilt traction battery and isn't covered by lifetime warranty, junk it.
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I just charged 12-volt battery with Schumacher SC 1280 set at AGM.
It says 100%, "charged",13.2 volts.
Multimeter says 13.1 volts.
Try to start.... Still no go. OK. I'm finished. Any advice will be welcome.

P.S. Yesterday, charged to 12.1v. Rapid beepbeepbeepbeep-ing with door open. After 100% charge, no beeps, except for the 5 that I always(?) hear.

 

I had to have the car towed to Beechmont Toyota Thursday night.

Next morning, Service Guy (SG) found DTC P0A0D—HIGH VOLTAGE SYSTEM INTERLOCK ("high voltage service plug") CIRCUIT HIGH.

"Hybrid battery issue," said SG's brain.

(Now, I had removed the top cover and spare cover from the hatch many days ago and might have even noticed a conspicuous orange object but had no idea that I should maybe mess with it.)

Next thing SG did was mess with the bright orange HV service plug (see attached). It was not quite seated. SG pushed it down.

SG pressed the Power button and shifted into D, where it stayed, instead of moving to N. Moments later….

"Vroomm Vrroommm," the gas engine tried to say, but it sounded more like a lawn mower engine.

"That'll be $170, Mr. Dave," said Service Dept.

Hey, I said to no one in particular, I'm thankful it didn't cost 10 times that much! but nobody in particular responded. Maybe I had just said it to myself.

No matter. I drove home Friday morning a pretty happy fella.

P.S. Note that neither of the cheap-*ss OBD-II readers I bought and returned told me ANY DTC. Had I seen P0A0D, I might have come back here with that info and very possibly someone would have gotten me through this for $0, but $170 was indeed truly cheap for the stress it relieved, especially that caused by my wife's intent-to-kill look that seemed to be moving closer to becoming reality with each passing day that the car just sat there.

 

EDIT (8pm?): I posted this just after midnight but since I didn't see it in this thread today, I posted it again after I saw two posts that were definitely referring to my yesterday's post, which at the time wasn't in my computer's local version of the thread.

At some point, I noticed that the post #numbering had a gap between two posts (I think it was #4 and #7. Let's say it was.). Post #7 was the first of two posts referring to what you see below/yesterday. I still don't see my yesterday's post. Maybe it's actually #5 or #6.

CONTINUATION OF EDIT (10 pm?): I now see both of my posts. This is what's left of my second post. I've made it look nothing like a duplicate but left enough to explain why the duplication. I don't know what happened between midnight at 11am, but all seems as it should with no gaps in post numbers. I've left the P.P.S. in place to explain what I think caused the "orange thingy" to "loosen itself"!

P.P.S. It just so happened that I had filled the hatch area with the last load of stuff from our previous home. I can imagine that a piece of the stuff bumped or hooked the HV service plug and when I removed "that piece", doing so dislodged the plug. But why did the car keep running? Well, when I finally powered down, I still had stuff to remove. I think this is when I moved "that piece" and unseated the plug, causing next day's first start (and several more) to fail.

 

I basically deleted the second--I edited the heck out of it, trying to leave enough to explain why the duplication. I'm not sure I was successful. But it's behind us now.