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"Alright, alright, since you're so keen to find out what makes me tick..." Clutch popped his hood for the racer.

"So how long did you drive Hot Red?" Perhaps he had been hasty in drawing conclusions--but he was naturally suspicious of humans and their tendencies to get over-involved in his network. Perhaps the accident had been simply that--although thinking of his luxurious interior being stripped made him wince.

Eric smirked when Clutch popped his hook and Eric wasn't shy about opening up the hood. He made sure he was careful about it though so he didn't scratch any paint or anything. He started looking around, making sure not to touch anything. "Hm...well Hot Red was originally my grandfathers and he had her for about 5 years before he gave her to me when I was 16. I'm now 23...so I had her for 7 years before the accident a few months ago. I'm probably going to go to the junk yard soon and see if I can't find myself an old fixer-upper. I have some friends who do body work and I can do most of the mechanical stuff."

He continued looking around and then smiled underneath the hood pointing to the computer which was up in the middle. "That's where your computer is. Odd place for it really...normally they put it off to the side." he said pursing his lips. "When's the last time you had your oil changed?" he asked not wanting to go too far.

Clutch did the math alongside Eric and relaxed a little. The accident had been just that...and to have a car for 7 years was quite a record.

The computer was simply the interface for the AI and the mechanical inner workings, with the AI chip hidden inconspicuously somewhere between the dash and the engine. "So you do take good care of your cars. What happened at the race then? Is that normal?"

At the mention of oil, his headlights flashed. "What? Are you offering an oil change?" he asked, conveniently forgetting that he hated mechanics--trained or not.

Eric laughed. "That is exactly what I'm asking! That or if you just need more oil. If you want a change though that's easy." he said not talking about the race. He he could avoid it he would. He didn't like thinking about losing his Red Hot. "Would Clutch like an oil change eh?" he asked more clearly not seeing as the AI had seemed excited.

Clutch hesitated and then melted; an oil change was one of his many weaknesses--racing being another. "I would love an oil change," he admitted. "But I don't think there's oil and I doubt Tara would want a mess made of her garage."

"So...for racing, are we talking drifting or speed? Because I can do a mean drift. My engine's not too shabby either. I've won a few races in my past...but that was before I was transferred out of the lemon."

Eric laughed and shook his head. "That's what a garage is for!" he said as he walked over to his side of the garage and got out some tools. "Back up Clutch. Outta the garage so I get set up my ramps." he said as he carried two floor ramps over (). He set them to the side and then brought over a few jugs of good quality oil and then a board of wood that had wheels screwed onto it so he could slid under easier.

"As far as racing, I've never done drift racing I've only done speed racing. I didn't wanna really bash up Red Hot's tires too bad especially at how expensive good drift tires are. I mean you can win with regular tires but good drift tires are about $200 a tire." (I'm making that up completely cause it sounds good xD)

(Clutch is NEVER going to leave at this rate. xD Awesome picture!)

Clutch rolled out of the garage, careful not to hit anything or roll over Eric's foot. "I hope you don't think to buy yourself the driver's seat by offering an oil change," Clutch murmured. Not that there was anything he could do to stop Eric from climbing in. "And yes, good tires are expensive--but a good racer can afford them."

"Was Tara ever coming back? Or did she go to bed?" he asked, waiting for Eric to place the ramps.

(Lawl! That's a bad thing? xD And thanks. Google helped.)

Eric laughed, "Well damn! Not even a little ride behind the wheel? You are a greed little car!" He walked over and placed the ramps at a fairly equal distance. He was just guesstimating with Clutch though seeing as he hadn't ever worked on him before. "Come on in slowly. If I didn't place them right I'll have to put them directly in front of your wheels." he ordered as he stepped back so Clutch could come in.

He turned to the house looking at Tara's half and laughed awkwardly. "Well, you see...there is a funny story to that. She avoids me like the plague whenever she can. I got REALLY drunk one night in the first week she was here..." he said as he made a 'yeah....' sort of face letting that just explain it even though Clutch couldn't see it. "And now she doesn't like being around me."

"I will never understand humans," Clutch said in response to Tara's and Eric's misunderstanding.

He rolled forward slowly towards the ramps. "I'm not that greedy--just like you and Tara need substance to keep you going, I need fuel and oil changes. I also need an upgrade; video cameras would be so much more useful than motion sensors--but only if they're not those dippy little in-the-back-of-the-trunk reversing kind. How much farther? Am I good?"

Driving blind wasn't a problem when everything else was moving. It was when things went stationary that it got to be a problem.

Eric laughed and shrugged. "Lets just say I tried to sleep with her and completely failed and accidentally destroyed some of her stuff in the process." He squatted down and watched carefully. He had placed them just fine so that wasn't a problem for them. "Alright you can stop." he said before he laughed.

"Greedy Greedy Greedy!" he exclaimed. "Good cameras for cars are expensive and I wouldn't know a damn thing about installing them for you." he said as he pulled his make shift roller over before he went back over to his side of the garage and grabbed a bowl to catch the oil in. "Cameras are a luxury for you little brat." he chuckled. "Just imagine if someone came along and put you in an old styled car with no sensors. You really would be driving blind then."

Clutch came to a prompt halt, testing the mechanics of his vehicle as he did so. The incline was easy enough and the tires felt good; his brakes were impeccable. He settled onto the ramps and let his gearshift switch to park.

He backfired at Eric's comment. "I prefer to call it looking ahead; that thing you humans call foresight. And you're probably right. You would mangle all the data and cross wires so that mechanics-know-what any certain action would entail. As for being put in an old car..."

Clutch fell silent, thinking. "I would require a driver, which would make the AI core redundant and thus superfluous to the needs for which I was created." If the words came out stiff, it was because they were a written directive the AI was reading and processing at the same time. "So there would be no need for me and I would be entertaining at best, but downright dangerous on the road at worst."

Eric heard the change in the voice. "Well don't think about it. If you need switched into a different car I have a few friends who may know what to do. You are in a pretty fucking sweet body as is." Eric said as he lightly patted Clutch's hood and then laughed. "Come on perk up. I'll see about the camera as a treat. I have no cash to buy them though, so maybe..." he said hinting towards the racing slightly.

He then quickly got under clutch and found the oil tank and with a wrench he opened it up and quickly moved out of the way putting the bowl where it needed to be as the oil started dripping out. "There we go." he said as he came out from underneath. "How does that feel for right now?"

Clutch heaved a sigh of static-y bliss. "It feels good," he murmured...and then panicked. He wasn't supposed to be alert for this part. If his oil ran out before new oil was added, he would risk burning out his engine. And somehow new oil and a hot engine didn't sound safe to the human involved. "I need to turn off the engine so you don't burn yourself in adding new oil, but...when you finish adding the oil, you can turn the key in my ignition and I'll be alert."

Well, it was one reason he distrusted mechanics--he didn't approve of anyone meddling with his key. But perhaps Eric would be different. He hoped so, as he killed the engine and promptly went silent. Just a normal, everyday Buick in the garage of some commuter; until the key is turned...

Eric smirked as he wiped his hands off on a rag. "You're smart for being cautious Clutch." he said as he waited for the oil to drain. He knew he should probably leave Clutch off for a bit longer than the oil draining. He didn't know how long Clutch had been on the who knows how good the battery was on him. He smiled, "Just a gander won't do any harm." he said as he quickly went to the drivers side and popped the hood. It would be difficult with Clutch's front end being elevated but it wasn't impossible. He smiled as he pulled over a stand and looked down into Clutch's hood at the battery. He pursed his lips, "Only way to check it is to test it..."

No harm in that right? He smiled as he carefully took it out and then went over to his battery testing machine to see how much juice was left in it. Clutch could probably tell him, though it gave Eric something to do. He hooked up the battery and then turned on the machine and waited to see what it said.

Clutch's internal components required a LOT of power to run, particularly the AI core, and it was his battery that supplied the power. Which meant that while his battery looked like any other car battery, it held about ten times the normal charge. That being said, he did require periods of time to recharge--and his battery while low, was not dangerously so.

Eric looked at the place it was and then nodded signing softly. He didn't know that it required much more energy though because there was no labeling on it. He didn't want to mess with it though. Not until he had talked to Clutch and learned more about him.

So he carried it back over to the car and very carefully replaced it hooking it back up just the way it had been. Hopefully Clutch wouldn't know. He was thinking the car wouldn't seeing as he was 'unconscious' in a way.

After the oil had drained. He closed up the hole and then climbed up on his ladder again. He carefully added just enough oil to have Clutch run. It was awkward to try and refill it with the car on such a drastic slant so he wanted Clutch to move back. He closed up the hood and everything before moving to the front seat and turning Clutch on.

There was always a significant delay between the engine turning on and Clutch's AI core waking up. Sometimes it took a few minutes for the AI to start up--and this was one of those of times.

The car idled, oddly silent, waiting for the driver behind the wheel to do what needed to be done.

"Hey Clutch, I need you to back out." he said as he moved away from the car and waited for the AI to respond. Whenever it didn't though, Eric blinked extremely confused. "Uhm...Clutch?" he asked before he moved over to the hood and lightly patted it, "Hey Clutch, you there?"

Clutch came back to himself with a blast of static through the speaker. "What? Wait, where am I? Who are you? Why is my oil so low? Are you a mechanic?"

The last of the barrage of questions implied doom if answered the wrong way. And Clutch's window washing fluid was primed for jettisoning at his window.

"Uhm?" he said backing up. "It's Eric...I offered to refill your oil. I need you to back up though so I can finished refilling out without having to worry about spilling it all over your engine..." he said extremely confused now.

"Do you normally forget everything when you get turned back on? I don't think Tara is going to like this..." he said worried.