Team Tiger Trouble
“Twin Suns, the smell!” Kaylie growled, as she changed the Sinistra’s oil. “Kayden, get Nova to analyze this metal trash, see if she can find out whether it’s mains or rods.”
Nova quickly responded with, “1974 and onward, Sinistra Motors used different metal alloys for the rod, main, and camshaft bearings. It was supposed to allow for easier terminal failure diagnostics. If you would place a small sample of the contaminated oil in my sample tray, I can provide a result in approximately three Earth hours.”
Kayden shrugged, then held out his right arm, where Nova’s main chassis was attached to the armored plating there. “Don’t get any of that on my fur, and try not to get it all over Nova’s gauntlet. I don’t need an irrational and upset AI who can make my life rather difficult.”
Kaylie dripped some of the oil into the extended sample tray, and scraped a bit of the metal sludge in as well. Nova closed the tray, then informed Kayden, “I am going to be busy, so try not to get yourself injured, into a fight, or poisoned while I’m not watching your nanites. They should work at normal rates if any of those things happen, but I can’t actively put them into combat regeneration mode. So, if you have a run-in with Mal or his Hybrid friend, don’t spar with them, and whatever you do, don’t kick the Hybrid’s tail again. Those venomous spines will ruin your day, and I won’t be aware enough to kick up your regeneration to avoid the paralysis this time.”
Jaden, however, was busy with sliding the passenger seat back, the driver’s seat forward, and taking control of the car. Kaylie noticed what Jaden was doing, and warned him, “It’s harder than it looks, Jade. No computer assistance here, at least, nothing like we have back home.”
“It’s just an Earth transport, how hard can it be to control?”
“I’ve flown fighters that were less difficult, and our land-craft are easy to control. This is like trying to drive one of our hovers with the drift compensation turned all the way up, the driver’s assistance computer completely disabled, and three times the forward thrust engine. Oh, and if you hit water on the road, or push the limits of grip, it goes from maximum drift compensation to none at all.” Kayden replied.
“Point taken, but I still want a turn at it.” Jaden said.
The three of them got back into the car, and Jaden left the gas station in a loud squeal of tires, the Traville’s 5.2 liter “L-Series” 60-degree V8 roaring loud enough to, for a short time, drown out the rattle. All three of them were shoved back into their seats hard as they returned to the highway. He backed off once they encountered traffic, and the roaring died down to the muted growl and continuing rattle.
Kayden, however, was feeling better now that someone else was driving, and grabbed the radio with a grin.
(CB) “To our fellow competitors in range, I have a message for you. Catch us if you can!”
Kaylie started laughing the instant that Kayden let go of the button, then said, “Never thought you’d resort to what the humans call ‘trash talk’ over the radio.”
Kayden grinned, then said, “It’s psychological warfare. Part of my training, and it might push others to make a mistake.”
got me confused for a sec
