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"Because you've got no one else to fix you!" Chris all but yelled at the core. "I don't know why I'm even bothering. My dad told me not to fix you. And if you're this much trouble, there's no way I could do anything." He scowled and turned to stomp away.

Bill crossed his arms. "I didn't order anyone to do anything. I was a happy mechanic at FearFlyer's Inc, content to do what they told me. You were the one who came in beat up, blown up and sparking like a sparkler."

Clutch began to inch away from the core. His remaining power going into reverse.

With an earth shaking boom the FF kersploded violently, sending out a shockwave of raw energy and electricity. CD yelped and got blown back far off, tumbling about. 54 could feel her core pressing aginst Clutches as the wave passed through, flattening the grass.

Clutch, even though he'd been in reverse, was blown back another several meters, and then came to a halt. His power already shot, he stayed silent for another few minutes.

Chris hadn't expected the explosion at all. He'd been thrown forward and if the hole hadn't been sealed up already, he surely would have fallen through it again. Instead he was knocked unconscious, lying face down in the dirt.

It was Bill who managed to take cover in the tow truck, who managed to avoid too much of the damage. Though the tow truck had rattled, it's weight prevented it from being thrown or tossed about. Bill scrambled down to go to Chris.

"Chris? Chris! Wake up!"

CD groaned, changing to her human form and crawling back to the group before she collapsed with a thunk. Her core shut down, damage too critical to stay on. 54 stirs awake and tries awakening Clutch again, her cores power trying to awaken him weakly.

The FF's core was still intact, but all the data that was on it had been instantly erased by the explosion.

Chris moaned and rolled over. A slight wound over his left eye bled, and his knees were scuffed, but otherwise he was okay. "What happened?"

"The AI core exploded," said Bill. "I told you not to mess with it." He helped Chris to his feet and then led him to the tow truck. "Stay here, I'll round up everyone else." He sighed and corrected himself: "Everthing else."

Clutch slowly responded to 54. "Huh? What...NO! I've got...I've got metal shrapnel embedded in my paint job!"

CD was out cold, her core leaking fluid.

''Forget that, Clutch....CD shut off and Chris is hurt!'' 54 exclaimed.

Clutch forgot everything else at the mention of Chris. "What? Chris got hurt? Chris? Chris! Don't die on me!"

Chris heard and chuckled a little."I'm not dying, Clutch. I just got a little banged up."

"Oh. Don't scare me like that again. What's with CD? Is she broken?"

Chris shrugged and winced. "No idea. I hope not. Dad's checking her out now."

Bill had the tow cable reeling her in and up the ramp to the tow truck. "She'll be fine as soon as we get back to the garage. Let's go."

CD stayed deathly silent to the world, body in ruins from all the action.

''What if someone finds the FF's core?'' 54 whined.

"Then it's their problem," Bill muttered, but he stopped and sighed and grabbed a glove and fitted it over his hand and went over to pick up the core. "I'm giving you one last chance," he muttered, picking it up.

CD was strapped onto the tow truck and Clutch was hooked up for good measure as well, though his sensors pinged, indicating he was "about" to hit something. He sighed softly and resigned to being pulled along.

The core was cracked badly, and all the data lines inside were missing.

CD stayed unconcious until they arrived at the garage, where she cringed in great agony, her sensors going wacko. 54 was nearly offline, dazed.

Bill only paused long enough to hoist the cars off the tow truck and then plopped the AI core he'd picked up onto an empty surface where it couldn't possibly get into trouble. And then turned to Chris.

"No more work tonight. I'd ban you from it tomorrow as well, except that I won't be here tomorrow...I've got a job on the track. If you must toy around with the new AI core, please, for the love of machines, don't hook it up to any of the preexisting AIs."

Chris nodded, too tired to argue. "Sure thing, Dad. I'll get CD and Clutch fixed up first before I even mess with the new AI."

CD groaned, trying to turn back on but failingly doing so as her core was still leaking. ''Urrrrgh.....Can't....''

Chris went to bed, but in the garage Clutch idled. He could still feel the AI core's presence.

"CD? Everything okay?"

''Can't...Stay awake...Core...Cracked....'' She gagged, the liquid inside still dripping to the floor. ''Losing..Conciousnes....Shut down imminent..''

Clutch panicked. "Should I wake up Chris? CD? What should I do? Hey! Stay with me here."

CD fell silent, her core offline from the life fluid pouring out of a nasty crack. When her core went offline, Clutch couldn't detect her cores signal.

"CD? CD!" Clutch honked his horn twice, trying to get CD's response...but his AI sensor was all over the place between the new AI receptor and CDs and 54's. "54, can you sense CD at all?"

''I'm not picking up a signal from her core. Shes offline!'' 54 exclaimed, panicked.

Not for the first time, did Chris wake to the sound of Clutch's complete and utterly fantastic--if obnoxious--alarm system.

"Darn it, Clutch, I'm trying to sleep!" He stuffed a pillow over his head and when that didn't help, he stomped down the stairs to get to the garage. His father wasn't far behind him.

"What is going on down here?" Chris demanded, in tandem with his father.

Clutch's alarm died suddenly. "CD is dead!"

''Her core went offline and the liquid inside of is leaking out!'' 54 added.

CD indeed did seem dead. She was moving, and her core was dimmed with the large crack visible throough the center. Big ennough that the life force she had was pouring out under her feverishly.

''She was trying to wake up, but then her core went off and hasn't came on. Is she..D..d...dead..?'' 54 stammered. No, it couldn't be...CD had to be alive, just unconcious.