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

Chris started down the stairs and then blinked as his father turned the lights on. Sure enough, liquid was pooling alarmingly quickly around CD's undercarriage.

Chris grabbed a bucket to catch whatever else was dripping and then used a hose to try to filter back whatever was on the floor back into the bucket.

"What happened?" Chris asked. "Why is she leaking?"

''Her core is cracked! Why else would it leak?!'' 54 snapped still hurting a bit. ''Is she going to be ok?''

"How should I know?" Chris hollered back and then winced as a headache flared up. He paused and reached to feel his forehead where a bandage covered his wound. It hadn't been deep and it hadn't bled all that much, but it still hurt. He sighed, took a deep breath, and then sat down with his head buried in his hands.

"I have to wait until hose sucks up all the liquid. And then I have to freeze it. And then..." He trailed off. "54, can you help again with that?"

''I can hep with whatever you have to do to get CD working again. She took more damage than me and Clutch...But she was in front of us, also. Like she knew what was about to happen.''

Chris nodded. "Alright then, we'll do that. Umm..." he looked down at the bucket and then at Clutch. "We're gonna have to prop up your hood--"

Bill stepped in and did that for Chris, locating 54's core rather easily. Between the two of them and 54's guidance they managed to reconstruct CD's core. At least, Chris hoped so. He wasn't entirely sure this was going to work because he wasn't entirely able to see straight.

He set down CD's core back in her hood and then took a few steps back. He stumbled slightly and pitched up against the clear desk, where he set his bare hand, for balance, on top of none other than the AI core they had picked up.

The FFs core sparked violently as soon as Chris touched it, shortin out a lamp close by.

CD remained silent, but the core flickered back to life meakly, pulsing and relerasing a weak signal.

Chris forgot all about his headache as pain jolted through the rest of his body--and the lamp next to him went dark.

"Ow," he complained, shaking his hand.

Bill was already checking CD over. "Well, she's been drained of a lot of power, but I think once she's recharged she'll be good."

CD's core remains pulsing weakly, the signal still weak. But CD did start stirring awake, cringing.

FF's core sparks still, but doesn't move. The sparks came from spots where the data inside had got destroyed.

''So when the FF kersploded, CD's core must have took a beating..Right?'' 54 asked.

"I would say," murmured Bill. "Leaking her AI fluid all over the floor was not good. Which means that if something stuck a hole in her, there must be some sort of shrapnel lingering around..."

Chris approached warily. "If that's the case, then the new AI core we have is pretty unstable; I think it probably lost a lot of energy in the explosion. Which means it lost a lot of its internal data too." He sighed and sat down.

Clutch listened intently. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

''Urrgh....'' CD groaned, wincin and stirring in her car form as her white eyees open. She couldn't see anything. ''Where..?'' She asked, wincing again.

''If the FF lost a lot of data, then what it remembers could be limited...'' 54 inquired. ''It's signal is strong, but theres very little data inside it seems.''

Chris almost brightened. "Very little data? Does that mean it's practically a clean slate? I could... I should check first before I try to mess with it too much." Forgetting the hour of the night it was in the excitement of the moment, Chris grabbed his laptop and proceeded to try to hook it up to the AI.

Clutch sighed. Apparently his help wasn't needed after all. "We're back in the garage, CD. You okay? You took the full brunt of that explosion earlier. Want me to run a diagnostic on you?"

The hook up was sucessful, though the cores aincent power would surge violently.

''I can't see...Anything...'' CD said.

"Your cameras are probably out of commission," Chris said overhearing her comment. "I'll fix 'em as soon as you charge up enough that turning on your headlights won't fry your battery."

He carefully turned on his computer, watched as it dinged with the connected AI cable, and then started up a diagnostics run. "Alright, how much data did you lose?"

A window popped up, indicating a power surge and Chris scowled and went to plug in a capacitor that would absorb the extra energy.

The screens pulled up showing that only about %34 of the data was still intact. A basic amount that usually was the starting point for fresh out of the factory. Mostly data pertaining to the operation of the wing flaps and the systemic basic planning of the propellers and jet engines. And a stray note that stated that Bill was supposed to clean out the FF's air filter before noon long ago.

CD cringed, but barely awake she didn't budge anywhere. Her headlights were shattered already, only the bulbs and water gun visible within.

"Air filters? Really, dad?"

Bill looked up, surprised. "What about them?"

"You were supposed to change them before noon, apparently."

"Oh." Bill frowned and then shrugged. "I think we ended up getting backlogged due to issues with the engine."

"Well, either way, it's almost a clean slate. I'm not sure though if the personality is going to remain the same so... Clutch, can you plug into my laptop too? I need to copy-paste your code into this AI."

''What would that do?'' 54 inquired lightly. ''Funny how all the data went away besides a useless note, huh?''

CD shut off again, her power still weak. FFs core surged vioently again, but remained pretty peaceful.

Chris shrugged. "Sometimes coded bits get...estranged, for lack of a better word, from each other, so that random notes and stuff get left behind. It is weird that a note would be encoded into the core though..."

Clutch extended his AI cable to the laptop and waited for Chris to hook him in. A solid Beep later and Chris had done exactly that.

"I'll run a diagnostic if that helps," Clutch suggested.

The core surges violently again, and the coding flares up into overdrive. Coding that hinted that the surges were the oringal problem. A backfired effort that was allow the FF to short out fences. There was also another note telling Bill that he needed a bath from long ago too. Scrambled in with the massive surge.

"Why can't anything be easy?" Chris began to type furiously into the computer, trying to locate and isolate the power surges as he worked.

Clutch began his own diagnostic into the new AI and the capacitor began to heat up as it absorbed the raw energy collecting in it.

The coding would get more complicated until it ultimely caused Chris' computer to freeze up with only one note visible.

'Fear Flyer Version version 2.9 is a prototype of a an plane that is needed to find the enemies hideout places. This craft is very sensitive and beleives it has to find it's true purpose for existing. Altering it's preset orders is risky, and several viruses have left it almost uncontrollable. We warn you that this craft has a mind of its own, and does not follow orders. More research is needed before we can find out where it came from.-FF Inc.'