Forums » General Roleplay » Sands of Time (1x1)

Bill wasn't sure he should ask the next question of 54, but he had to know. And he doubted she would take kindly to him rummaging around without asking first. "So you were able to take on all these MOTHs were you? What were you, ah, are you equipped with?"

Chris frowned, a little concerned by CD's sluggishness. But it made him work all the harder. The engine, he knew, would take the most time to put in. But it would be well worth it. "Is your AI core functioning properly, CD? Can you tell if it isn't?"

''It's driting off and interrupting me.'' CD replied.

54 growls. ''I have several missiles and a nuclear bomb, too.''

Chris scowled. "Maybe its from moving it too much after freezing the liquid again." He ran to get the engine...the painting and surface work could wait until later.

Bill jumped back a step. "I really hope you're kidding about that, 54," but he didn't think she was the type to make a joke. Not about that, at least. "I don't have permits for something like that...and I have no way of disposing that. I guess...just try not to detonate it."

''I'm not kidding. It's still active and ready to be exploded. If anyone tried to make me give up my secrets and threatened to take me to jail, all I have to do is press the button in my engine that makes the bomb destroy my core. That way no one can get me working again. It can easily level thing.'' She hissed in replied harshly. ''So far no ones removed my core to get the bomb and remove it. It's a tiny nuclear bomb in my undercarrrige. But I don't wwant anyone to remove my core..'' She grumbled.

''Maybe, but everytime it drifts off I see an explosion in my memory, like missile..'' CD replied.

Chris returned soon, wheeling an engine closer to CD's shell. "Is it a memory or something?" Chris wondered. "You said yourself you remember firing a missile--maybe it's from that."

He looked over at his father's pale face. "Uh, dad, wanna help me with this engine here?"

Bill nodded and then scratched his face. "54, I don't think you have to worry about anyone messing with you. At least, not without your permission. Sure, Chris. Let me get the other so we can winch the current engine out."

''I think it's a memory, but it's so faint I can't really tell. It's back from when my cameras were still working, a recorded video. But it's so staticy and skippy, that I can't ge t what it is. What did 54 say?'' CD asked.

54 just grumbles, shooting an electrical discharge from her core again in annoyance.

"Eh, that she doesn't like being messed with," Bill replied, cutting off Chris' more exacting words of 'nuclear bomb'. "But if she wants an upgrade, she'll have to consent eventually to something of a tune up. Nuclear bomb or not." He clapped a hand to his mouth--realizing the words spilled out anyway.

Chris snickered. "Nice one, dad."

Bill just shook his head as they winched the current engine out of the car and then dropped in the new one. Chris grabbed one of the creepers to slide under the car on his back as well as the Auto Wrench and began to work from underneath to fix the engine in place.

''.....NUCLEAR BOMB?!''

(ooc: )

"Calm down, CD. It'll be fine." Chris replied. "I really doubt that 54 wants to blow herself up along with the entire county." He glanced sidelong at the renegade car. "It'd be hard to find a repairman when leaking radiation anyway."

54 grumbles.

''But she has a nuclear bomb! Sge could kill us all!!'' CD exclaimed, upset.

Had she been in her old shell with her old engine, Chris would have been tempted to tell her to calm down. Instead he let her work it out of her system. She had been pretty docile up until now--and every car needed to let off some steam now and again.

"Just because she could, doesn't mean she will," replied Bill. "And if she did, I doubt any of us would be able to complain about it. So. Your new engine is installed, CD. You have new tires. With a fresh coat of paint, no one will ever suspect you were ever retired.

Chris rolled his eyes and went over to 54. "We can do the same for you, as well." He said. "We'll just clean you up and get you shiny and road worthy again. Whatcha think?"

54 flinches, grumbling. ''Just don't mess with my hood.'' She snapped, glaring at the two in annoyance. The crystal highlights pulsing dimly, staticy. A jolt of electricity scattered from inside. One loosely hit CD and her speakers crackled in a fit before returning to normal, and she yelled at 54. Only her speakers shut off quickly and left her core beeping fit. 54 rolls her eyes. ''Fine.''

"You and Clutch both; sheesh!" Chris rolled his eyes. "You think all I want to do is mess with your AI interface. I've got better things than tweaking your impertinent, sour, rust-bucket personalities."

He took a short walk around her, checking for abnormalities and damage. "You seem to be in pretty good shape though. And would you two stop trying to pick fights? 54--that's not even CD's actual body; she's just borrowing that one until I can re-install her. So please, don't short out any more systems."

''Not a rust bucket.'' 54 hissed. ''I'm not that rusty.'' She grumped, engine puttering in protest to the rust statement. The speakers turn back on, CD grumbling about still hating water, moving her front tires a bit. ''If I was rusty I'd be brown, not dark purple!'' 54 sneered, annoyed again. CD chuckled, amused.

Bill finished up the last of the tweaks on CD's shell, and then stepped back to look at it. With a fresh coat of paint, it would practically be a new car. Well, they still needed the new cameras--but otherwise, it was as good as they got.

Chris just grinned at 54's obstinate reaction. "Dark purple just hides the rust better," he pointed out. "But you don't have much on you anyway, so that's kind of a moot point. Umm, tire rotation, alignment and an oil change, at the very least, and you'll be good to go. A new coat of paint as well, unless--" Chris looked over at his father, "my dad would prefer to keep the original paint."

Bill shrugged. "It's up to 54. New paint or original? It won't bother me."

54 grumbles. ''Oringional.'' She hissed, flinching. Her crystal siding sparked a bit, and turns dark red.

Chris kept an eye on 54, given she was the least predictable of the current AIs. And given the current AIs they had, that was saying something. "Do you normally spark and change color?" he asked warily. "Or is that a...uh...new development?"

Bill seemed satisfied, however, with 54's answer. "Original is best," he murmured, casting a glance at CD's exterior. But for her, the decades in sea water had not been kind to her, and a new coat of paint was necessary.

''....Base!'' 54 said, but her core shut down mid-sentence and left her silence.

''Base?'' CD whined. ''What happened? Why did she fall silent?''

Chris frowned. "I don't know, CD.54? Can you respond? Flash your headlights if you can..." A pause and then he went to pull on rubber gloves to avoid electrocution.

He had an idea of what might have caused the initial sparking, but he wouldn't know until he ran a diagnostic--and that would entail hooking his laptop up, once again, to 54's core.

"She was sparking and changing color, CD; does that sound familiar in terms of, oh, some sort of mechanical failure?"

54 didn't reply, deathly silent. CD ran through her system memory a bit. ''The crystals on her sides are connected wirelessly to our base. If someone turns off our power there, the core loses it's charge and shuts down after turning dark red. This essential has her shut down unless the mechanism is bypassed and the connection is altered. It's a complicated process that was mastered over the decades. Since most AIs were able to bypass it themselves.''