The last few days have been boring. Like 8 year old at grandma's house that only knits, and doesn't let you go outside, boring. Ask me how I know.
The slow march to a straight frame is annoying, but my back doesn't itch as much. I think this thing started the corrections in the back, I can actually see out the back window now, the headliner is still falling down, and blocks some of the view, but I can see the ground.
I did manage to figure out how I was able to talk. It was still making me mad that it used all of my energy, so I started looking through the lists displayed in my dome-camera. It had nothing to do with how boring sitting here watching educational TV shows is. Okay, it has a lot to do with how boring the shows are. Basically, when I accidentally installed the speaker, I also had to install everything that was missing that went to the speaker, and had to pay for it all. The screws, nuts, the speaker itself, repairing the dash so the speaker could actually mount, the cheapest possible radio head-unit that was apparently an AM receiver only, all the wires that went to that, and the fuse box needed to have a new fuse, bus bar, and all that went with that, as well.
I did spend the extra points yesterday to change the glass fuse panel out with a blade-fuse one. I like thinking of the multiple colored fuses rather than all of them being glass tubes under the dash. I also discovered that I am basically always on accessory mode, and about 2400 points are spent a day on keeping the battery charged. That's it, I loose that much every day, just to keep the battery charged, and stay 'alive' I can shut the key off, but then I can't see or hear anything. It's basically me in sleep mode, but I am wide awake, just not actually aware of anything; and there isn't a physical key, there is a metal disc with a tiny blue light on it that I can see from the dome-camera where an ignition key would go, and it does turn when I want it to. but it doesn't come out, I had Maggie check. Matthew has been coming over every day this week. He said I was his first car-type that he has had to help out, so he had to look up some old records. According to him, my survival doesn't look good, statistically speaking. About six hundred car type Magic lifeforms are reported each year, and most don't make it to their 3 month anniversaries. Not only will they not tell me why, they keep saying they can't, because they don't know why.
Maggie and Anne aren't the only people who work here, but they are the only ones allowed in the little area that I am in. The gate that lets me see Maggie's house has been closed since that first day. They say that its because they don't fully trust some of the guys working here, and they have told them that Anne is working on a car for herself, so they don't come back here. Maggie took out the video camera, and let me see under the hood. She looked disappointed when I asked to know what was there, but showed me anyway. The completely empty engine bay. no wonder it said I would need to buy a transmission case, I don't have one. I don't have an engine block, or mounts, the battery that is sitting behind the two right-side headlight sockets looks brand new, but, there is no clamp to hold it in place, and I keep dumping points into it every day to stay alive. The firewall is dented just as much as the rest of me, with a big hole in the passenger side where I was told the heater-core and Air-conditioner evaporator core were supposed to go, I was kind of surprised to see that I didn't even have brake lines, or fuel lines anymore. And my fuel tank is just a small plastic bottle in the trunk, and a hose comes out of the top, and is molded into the body back there. It looks weird, and the bottle has a purple glow, I can see in the camera that feels like a center mirror, when I feel full. I know I won't be able to see it once I get a rear-seat, but right now I can see all the way to the back of the car through the hole where the back seat goes with that camera.
Anne says she thinks its being used as the physical storage for my Mana, and that I should try to upgrade it when I can. I've looked, fuel tank, mana tank, mana reserve, fuel reserve, none of those are on my list of things I can do, they aren't even blacked out. I can't change that. There is a 'Fuel Sending Unit' that is greyed out, and I can't select it, or see how much it will cost me, but that's the closest thing I can find on my lists.
The little door opens on the side of the lot I am in, and Anne walks through. Her coveralls covered in grease and dirt, a red shop rag hanging out of each back pocket, also covered in grease, her short bob frames her dirty face in a way that makes me feel jealous, she pats the top of my fender as she walks into the little ramshackle hut next to me that I know she rents from Maggie. So legally this space I am in, is hers. She seems to like the company, even though I am not paying rent.
When her last break of the day is over, she comes out of her hut, still dirty from the day's work and stops next to me.
"Karla, stop fixing yourself for now. You are going to need all the Mana you can hold for the next few hours, in the morning. Don't do anything else, alright?" she says with worry in her voice.
"Alright. see you in a couple of hours?" I ask.
"No. not tonight. I am staying up at Maggie's, I can't be around you tonight, nobody can. We might get hurt. Tonight is your seventh night. We can't help you, we don't know how to help you, we only know that you have to do this on your own." she pauses for a bit, seeming to want to say more. "I hope we can still talk tomorrow at lunch." she said somberly.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
I get it, I might not make it through tonight. I have been warned a few times, but I didn't take it that seriously. Anne is.
I watched the shows on magic education, as I had for most of the week, but now without the distraction of trying to straighten myself out anymore. knowing that something was going to happen at some point in the morning got me stressed out, and worried. I knew there was nothing I could do about it, but the worry was still there.
Sunrise came and went, and nothing seemed to change; there was a moment that I didn't feel completely full, but it passed quickly so I thought nothing of it. The morning came and went, Anne then came in for lunch; but Matthew and Maggie were with her.
"Karla, are you still with us?" Anne asked.
"Yeah, I am here. I don't think anything happened." I answer back.
"Something happened, we felt it at my house, even as much of a dullard as I am, I could tell something happened." Maggie said.
"You said you could see lists of things in one of your cameras," Matthew started, "can you look through them and see if anything changed?"
I do as he asked, but didn't have to take long. The lists had gone from purely text, to diagrams and drop-down menus like I was playing some car-modification video game. There was even a 'help' tab, and opening it revealed a notice.
"Matthew, I have found a change, all of my lists have changed, and now look like old computer menus. And I have a notice on a help tab."
"What does the notice say?" Maggie asked quickly.
"Congratulations on surviving seven days, your capacity has been doubled, and refilled for you; you are being given a voucher for one group add-on, at no energy cost to you, and have been given access to the help menu to learn what to expect in the coming weeks. Good luck!"
"What is the group add-on that it mentioned?" Matthew asked.
"Full Interior repair, and fitting; full frame repair, and fitting; full engine bay repair, and fitting; full suspension repair, and fitting." I named off the groups that were present, "There are nine different ones for the engine bay, listing different combinations of engines and transmissions, there are six for the interior, listing different audio options, fabric options, and one called 'Eurosport' that says I get to choose a color, there is twelve suspension groups, each listing different ride-heights, tire, and wheel sizes, with six being 'four lug' and the other six being 'five lug'. there are two frame options, and both list 'custom color scheme'."
"What does the help thing tell you?" Anne asks.
"How to make things cheaper, by getting the items piecemeal instead of the groups; and it says that my next automatic upgrade has the potential to be painful, and I will have three options given to me afterward."
"well, I think we now know why car-types are so hard to survive, they have too many ways they can mess themselves up." Matthew says, sitting in the stool next to the TV.
"Would you mind talking to us about these group upgrades? I mean, if we can help you choose one that will actually help you, I think its worth it." Anne asks.
we sit and talk the rest of the afternoon, and find a few things out. The help window seems to really come in handy, and I have caught myself a few times trying to delve into it while we talked. I think I am too distracted at the moment.
"I think your best bet would be the engine package. If the current trend continues, the engine package should repair most of your frame, and you won't have to spend all of your energy for each part of the engine and transmission. But the interior packages sound nice too, as they would help with straightening yourself out, and the parts list includes all the glass." Anne finally says.
"I was thinking the suspension or engine packages, as well, pretty much for the same reasons. but an enclosed interior might get her more secure, and less likely to be stolen." Matthew interjects.
They both make sound arguments, but ultimately its my decision. "I think I am going to go with Anne's suggestion, with an engine package, I was thinking the 4spd, and inline six." I tell them.
"Could you explain your thought on why that engine and transmission?" Maggie asks, seeming to want to make sure I am not making a snap decision.
"Well, the nine options are each of the three engines: 1.3 liter inline four cylinder; 3.3 liter inline six, and a 4.6 liter V8. I think the V8 would be too much for me right now, although it would be fun, once I can get moving, until then, its a lot of moving parts that are just going to sit there doing nothing. The four-cylinder would then seem like the most economical engine with that argument, but that displacement seems kind of sparse for a car, and once I can move, doesn't seem like it would be a good idea. That leaves the inline six. The transmission options are the three speed Automatic, three speed automatic, with overdrive module, and a four speed manual. I have never liked automatic transmissions, and when I learned to drive, my dad made me learn to drive a stick. Even the car I drove my last two years of high-school was a five-speed. so its the closest to what I am familiar with."
"Alright, so explain to us why you don't think the other group options would take priority." Matthew asks.
"Well, if we follow precedent, then installing an engine and transmission will fix any chassis deviations where it would need to mount, and that would reduce the overall chassis repair costs, and honestly between a full chassis repair, and an engine and transmission, that will most likely do an 80% repair, the latter seems more cost effective. Having an interior sounds all fine and good, but then that would leave me with an empty engine bay, and 100% of the front end chassis repair to do over the next week, and the suspension group doesn't give me any guarantee of fixing the obvious dog-tracking issue even my side cameras tell me still exist." I finish.
"I can't argue with that." Anne said. "And, if its the 3.3 liter six that would have come in this car, there are some flaws, but they can be worked around without much trouble."
"Alright, so we are in agreement with you, that its currently your best option." Maggie said with a smile. The sun setting seemed to be their cue to go get a meal; leaving me alone.
I selected the engine group voucher that I had talked about, and then felt a sharp pain stab into my chest. I shut my key off, then started screaming.