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

Chris had noticed the lack of bumper. He ran a hand over the metal and sighed. "Gears can be cleaned up easily enough and the bumper replaced. Stock parts we should have around anyway, and they're cheaper than special order. But it's the rest of you I'm concerned about. If you're rusted through..." he shook his head and bent to pull up a bit of the lining on the interior.

"Somehow, though, it looks like the rust is all surface stuff. We can buff that off and recoat you in non-rusting solution." Chris leaned back and wiped his arm over his forehead. "Gonna be work, but I live for that." He did move back to the cameras in the windshield.

"So, could you see then? Actual images and stuff with these cameras? Because Clutch has sensors instead of cameras."

''Yes, actual images. Sound, and motion detectors. These cameras were the high-tech ones, and the two I have are brown. Which were my eyes. Theyy won't work though, so I couldn't see anything after Clutch fished me out. DO you think the seawater messed them up? Their crystal clear something 899k models..?''

Chris climbed into the car to get a better look at the cameras. They were state of the art--about fifty years ago. "You know, they don't make them like they did. I think I know why they lasted so long." He opened the cameras up to unleash a torrent of water and a couple of fish, which he tossed out the window.

"I think I found the problem," he said, leaving the camera cases open so that they could air dry. "I'll give 'em a clean wash so the salt doesn't eat away everything else...but you might need an upgrade. It'll be more expensive to replace than to purchase new. And I think the clarity of new cameras will surprise you. Maybe I'll see if I can get Clutch hooked up with a set--though that'll require more jury-rigging in his AI core."

The interior was drying out though, and Chris pulled out a small hose. He began to wash down the car's exterior, making sure to get all the salt and rust he could find. "You have a preferred color for interior?" he asked.

''Eh, any colors fine. I have a racing number too. 45.'' She replied. ''Max speed of 250, though I don;t recall ever doing any real races of any sorts.''

Chris grinned and couldn't resist a jab at the crotchety AI. "Careful, Clutch, you have competition now."

Clutch backfired his retort. "I could take her," he muttered. "Especially as rusted as she is."

Chris laughed. "She's in the WRX, Clutch; it has probably twice the horsepower you have, even if it has the same max speed. And if she knows how to use it..."

He turned back to CD. "We have a race track around here if you're interested. You can probably go for a spin if Clutch will take you. I'll be working on your shell for a while. It'll probably take a couple of days before it's up to moving order. Can you access the controls for the vehicle? Also, you'll be driving blind but for the sensors in the front and rear bumpers. They'll let you know if you come close to hitting anything by giving you a six-inch warning beep."

''I managed to barely get around without cameras or a voice.'' She retorted, but fiddled around for a bit until the engine revs up. ''I think so....'' She said. ''But Clutch might have to stay aroun--....'' She started to say. ''I might be rusty, but I avoided getting blown to smithereens from a bomb before I landed in the ocean while escap............'' Then she fell silent.

It wasn't so much what she said, though that was part of it, but that she cut off suddenly that worried Chris.

"What is it?" he asked, glancing over at the WRX. The speakers should have been fine; the only thing it was in for was a tire rotation and an oil change--but the owner wouldn't be back for another week.

"Oh wait...so you do remember how you got in the ocean after all. If you're a spy though, aren't bombs and stuff kind of normal?" His voice was gentle, not wanting to make the car upset or anything.

''...What bomb..?'' CD asked, seeming that her memory has yet to get straightened out. ''I don't know how I ended up in the ocean. I am a spy though...Bombs were average, but I don't see what that has to do with an ocean.''

Chris shrugged. "Maybe I misunderstood? You're in remarkable shape though for doing what you've done." He began pulling out the interior lining on the car to help it air out.

"Man, my dad is gonna flip when he sees this mess." He hosed down the floor a bit, finding sand and the occasional crab or fish. "Hey look a sand dollar." He grinned. "So, what do you remember? Or is it something you wiped out? Maybe someone else wiped out?"

''All I can remember is hitting the water hard, and the water rushed in...My body rattled violently, then I blacked out..'' She replied, then sighed. ''Maybe someone did. But my memory is damaged, with my core cracked. 56 years under the water ate away at me, too..''

Chris grimaced at her description of the memory. "Well I know for a fact I won't be touching, let alone fixing, your AI crystal. We don't have any to spare. Clutch's AI is a computer chip which has crystal in it, but isn't a pure crystal. So unless I can find part of an old AI...it's still rudimentary at best and at worst it'll corrupt your old systems. Not worth the risk, if you ask me."

He sat back and connected his laptop to where CD's AI crystal had been. It beeped and flashed for a moment, before pulling up schematics and diagrams. "At least you're in one piece though."

''What was that beeping sound?'' She asked. ''Yea, my core is weird...No human could have made a perfevtly round crystal.''

Chris snorted. "Yeah, it took me a few minutes to figure out how to wire it to the engine... And that beeping noise was my laptop pulling up information on your car." He looked at the mileage and whistled. "Wow, you're right on par with Clutch's mileage. Goodness. Did you travel the world a dozen times or what? And that's not even counting being on the bottom of the sea for half a century."

Chris perused the schematics further. "Well, with some major elbow grease, I might be able to salvage everything. Engine, transmission, a few pistons need to be replaced, but otherwise, not too terribly bad--although it's easily the worst I've seen."

''Well, outrunning gunshots isn't easy. Espiclly if your tires do't have good holding, and you slide everywhere before you can do a turn with a tire getting shot off...'' Which notioned that the front right tire on the rusted car was newer than the others, though it still looked old. ''Then you'd have to slam on the brakes...'' Obviosly the cause of the stuck brakes. ''While being sure your hood wouldn't get torn off if you flipped several times..Also being sure you had gas. Running ouy of gas is horrible in the worst fights.''

"Damn," Chris said, then clapped a hand over his mouth. "I mean, wow. I can't imagine. Sounds like things I watch in the movies. I don't think I'd like getting shot at though."

He did check the tires--all flat or filled with water and corroded anyway. The rims were rusted of course. "I guess that explains all the, er, stuff in the trunk. What exactly do you have back there again? And is any of it likely to go off?" Though given how saturated the car had been it was unlikely.

''Theres machine guns,nukes,submachie guns,missiles..'' As she list almost every known type of weapon from 56 years ago. Her core, though, also held a secret weapon..But alas, that secret weapon needed one jolt to activate, sadly.

Chris backpedaled from the trunk. "Good grief--and that's all in there?! You're a walking, er driving arsenal."

"I guess as long as nothing happens, and given your state of repair--or disrepair--no one's going to think of looking for anything salvagable. What kind of spying were you doing? And Clutch don't go getting any ideas. You get into enough trouble on your own."

''I was built with a secret weapon to go into human territory, but that weapon is apparrently in my core and won't activate unless the core's full power is established. But with that crack, I don't think theres a way to fully power it up again.''

(ooc: Oooh, I just realized what that "secret weapon" is... Chris will flip when he finds out.)

Chris made a face. "Secret weapon, huh? Care to elaborate? Can you elaborate?" he asked when he realized his question might pertain to classified information. Granted fifty years ago, classified, but classified nonetheless.

"Hmm, fully powered might be a two way street. Do you know how you got it chipped in the first place?" Chris asked.

(hehe 'secret')

''Yes, a secret weapon designed to fool human so they wouldn't notice anything amiss while I obtained basic info and secretive weapons. The core cracked when my engine stalled. Or...At least I think so..I just know it's been cracked. It can't stay fully powered, the charge just leaks out from the crack.'' She inquired. ''Clutch heard it crack, I think.''