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Clutch toned the music down, switching stations to something more relaxing and softer for his exhausted passenger. He reclined the seat for her.

"Off-roading? Does a sidewalk count? Actually, it was just a small, er, encounter with the local authority. They were confused and thought I ran a red light. It was yellow," he added smugly, like it made everything better. Surprisingly, he kept his adventure short. Usually he could wax eloquent when given the chance. "They were confused when they discovered I didn't have a driver."

Pulling away from the curb and merging slowly into traffic, he asked: "So how was your day? Do I need to have words with your boss?"

She noticed how he didn't really talk about his little experience. There had to be more to it then that. Running around the city wouldn't have left him all dusty and grody. She smiled and decided to answer him before she asked further about his little adventure. "No, he's just going to give me lots of extra work for awhile I'm sure. No need to have you talk to him." she said also thinking, I wouldn't want him talking to you anyways. He'd probably want to dismantle you and see how you work.

"So elaborate on this little adventure that you had with the cops. Just being chased by them surely wouldn't have left you all dusty and BADLY in need of a washing." she said as she snuggled into his seat awaiting his smart ass answer.

Clutch ground his gears for a moment, giving Tara his opinion about her boss without interrupting her. He should have though--given that she refused to let his ordeal go.

"Are you offering a wash?" Clutch brightened suddenly. "You really want to know all the gritty details? I suppose I could tell you..." He launched into his tale of evading the police cruisers, the spike strips and the tow truck, ending with: "Long story short, I had to disguise myself to keep out of their profile. So I found a nice big dirt pile--excellent for drifting, I might add--and camouflaged myself. The extra plus is that none of the other drivers want to get close to me for fear of getting dirty." Clutch honked his horn for emphasis. "I hate driving with uncivilized drivers--constantly switching lanes and slamming on brakes for no reason; it's even worse when they drive slow! At the very least, other cars should have the decency to move into the right lane when they're going slow! It's called motion sensor and rearview mirror checks! Artificial Intelligence my bumper; more like artificially degenerate is what they are." He paused...apparently surprised by his rant.

"So, um, where am I going?"

She laughed when she heard the car get all excited about the idea of a car wash. She was going to say 'sure, lets get you one' but he continued on with his story rather eagerly. She could tell that he hadn't had too many people to talk to, or at least it seemed so. That or he was just made to be talk-a-tive. As he wrapped up his story, she finally understood why he was so dusty. She smiled as he started insulting other drivers. "Well some other cars don't have motion sensors despite the age. People opt to have them taken off so they can get the cars cheaper." she said before he asked where they were going. She blinked and realized she hadn't ever told him where to actually go.

She leaned over to check his gas gauge, it was still pretty full though she didn't want him running out. She leaned back over into her seat and then huffed. "Well I live in a townhouse over on the east side of town in the suburbs. Before we go back to my place, how about we stop at a gas station, for safe measures. Also, make sure it has a car wash. You badly need it from your grand adventure." she said smiling.

Clutch could count on one gearshift the number of times he'd been rendered speechless. This was the first.

"Y-y-you're letting me get a car wash? AND fuel?" His engine sputtered as he tried to figure out what exactly he had done to earn both. His Artificial Intelligence failed him in the end. "Why?"

But he adjusted his course so that they headed east.

Tara started laughing realizing that she had thoroughly confused and befuddled Cluth. It took her a moment to calm down before she was able to speak again. "Because you need the car wash and you were nice enough not only to take me to work but also pick me up." she said rolling her eyes before looking out the window. "Has no one ever done both for you???" she asked while she tried not to get sick at how fast he was going. She looked back into the car and took in a deep breath waiting for his answer.

Clutch mumbled his reply: "I only get car washes if I'm good. And that's after I've gone to the mechanics." It was obvious by his tone that that didn't happen much.

He brightened though and slowed down, sensing his passenger's unease with his driving. "Whatever I can do, I am at your service," he said fervently.

A few more miles rolled past and finally he pulled into a gas station with a car wash.

"Well, how about we make a deal." she said watching them pull into the gas station. "I'll pay for a weekly gas fill and weekly car wash if you continue to take me too and from work. Also, if you want I have half a garage you could stay in if you like. I'd have to clean it out for you but it would be there if you wanted someplace to stay." she said as he stopped as he pulled up to the pump. "Think about it while I refill you." she purred happily as she climbed out. She walked into the store and paid for the gas and a car wash and then came back out and filled him up before climbing back in. "Whenever you're ready just zip over to the car wash. It's a drive through one and then a hand drying." she said settling back into her seat.

Clutch could hardly believe his luck! Gas, car wash, AND a garage? How could he possibly say no? He thought about it as his gas tank refilled and was prompt with his reply.

"I'll be the perfect car for whatever you need," he proclaimed once Tara climbed back in. The car wash was everything he needed and more. And at last, he came out looking as shiny as the day he'd been manufactured. He purred happily.

"Home, right?" He said. "Or do you have errands?"

She laughed at his eagerness once she was in and she sighed. "Directly home. I need to get it cleaned out for you and I'd like to have it finished before the sun goes completely down. "She said looking at the time. It was already 6:45. The sun would be gone completely in an hour or so. "Oh, I live on 136 Plum Street. It's the only town house on the street so it shouldn't be hard to miss." she said not sure if he had a built in GPS or not.

Clutch backfired his response as he headed for the location. "I'll find it." He drove the speed limit, figuring that would be best. AND he stopped at stop lights and stop signs. If it was as much to show off his sparkling exterior as well as his passenger, three mechanics and a crowbar wouldn't have driven it out of him.

"Ta-da!" he said, pulling up in front of the house.

Tara laughed and patted his dash board. "What a good little car~" she said treating him kinda like a dog. "I am actually rather surprised that you were able to find it so easily, AND not kill me." she laughed. "Go ahead and pull up in the drive way. I'll open the garage when you stop and then start cleaning out the garage. It isn't fancy and the garage needs painted but it'll still keep the harshest weather off of you." she purred as she looked back at it.

Clutch laughed, a bit of static bursting through his speakers. "It doesn't matter what it looks like. But it would be nice to avoid hail. And rain streaks. And bird droppings." He worked his window wipers as though trying to wipe away the memories.

"Most accidents, they say, happen five miles from home. So I thought I'd take it easy. I'll be more careful though." He pulled up into the driveway, stopping as his motion sensors detected the closed door of the garage. "Sorry for making more work for you."

"Honestly, you're giving me a reason to clean it out. I've been meaning to do it since I moved into this place a few months ago. Everything that is in here are basically all designs for robots or shitty small little working models for larger designs that I did in school. I need to move them into my work room so I can sift through them and see if any of them are worth keeping or remodeling." she huffed as she opened the door and then walked up to the chipped and old garage door before opening.

It actually wasn't all that bad. Most of the boxes were tapped shut and there was only about 10 to 15 of them in there. The sizes varied though and they were scattered around the small garage that she had. "It shouldn't take me too long anyways." she said picking up one of the smaller ones and then stacking it on top of a larger box.

"You have prototypes? What kind?" The curious Buick inquired. "Why not let your boss see one? I bet he might be more interested if he saw what you could come up with."

She laughed as she turned and looked back at him. "They are just models. There are still a lot of things I have to work out with them. Where the power would go, how to make them more humanistic, what they would do, etc. I mainly just worked out the outward design of them. I can't show my boss though, he's the head of the financial department not the deign or creation." She picked up the boxes and disappeared inside the back door and came back out a minute later.

"Well, why not show someone in the design department? After all, I would hardly be here if someone hadn't come up with my construct. Although, I suppose creating an AI would be a good bit harder." He brightened suddenly. "If you like music, I've got dozens of radio stations to choose from. Anything in particular you'd like to hear?"

"Much harder." she sighed not elaborating on the topic as she walked out before stacking a few more boxes. She turned towards him when he had asked her about the music thought and she smiled. "I'm pretty diverse. I like a lot of different kinds of music though, I suppose my favorite genres would have to be country, pop and alternative." She thought about it for a moment and then nodded. "Yeah those would probably be my favorite."

Without needing prompting, Clutch tuned his radio to a pop station, letting it play loud enough to hear throughout the garage, but soft enough they could hear each other talk.

"If I had hands for tires, I could help you move things around." Clutch sighed. Of course, if he had hands, or a humanoid body specifically, he wouldn't be assigned to a garage.

"So, just curious, what is it in you that allows you to be a very human like artificial intelligence?? Is it just a really smart computer? That would make sense. Fitting it into your engine somewhere while making sure the car part of you still worked would be amazing. I'm sure if it wasn't too big though someone could make you a human like body around your memory and power." she lifted up a few boxes and then disappeared into the house again coming out a minutes later.

"Hell, I'm sure that someone could even possibly make you an human body to download yourself into or temporarily switch into so the main you would be the car but you could get out and about as a humanoid robot." she said honestly not really thinking about who would design such a thing but more along the lines of who HAS built someone that was similar to what she was saying.