Apologies in advance for the length. Quite a bit in this one as there’s a bit of set-up for future events, and so that others know what Luke looks like, in a round-about way. Plus, the mention of one of the many problems the Truckling has, in the form of an oil leak they can’t find.
CLANG!
“That’s not good.” Amy said, seeing Luke staggering back from the assembly line and promptly falling over.
“I’ll be fine. Not the first time I’ve been hit by the automated assembly robots.” Luke responded, getting back to his feet.
“True, but it is the first time you’ve been hit by a truck door traveling at high speed. You’re sure you’re fine?”
“Yeah. Probably ruined the mask, but it’s not the first time I’ve gone out without it.” Luke said, before carefully removing the latex mask from his head, revealing his usual Twilight Blue paint.
“Ooh. You’ve got a bit of a dent up there.” Amy said, handing Luke a nearby truck mirror, who grabbed it and took a look.
“Well, that’s… unpleasant, but far from critical.”
Jake and Cody arrived a few hours later, wanting to help get their Truckling in the best shape they could manage. Jake had gotten the text from his mother, warning him to notify Cody that the ‘kind old man’ from yesterday was actually Luke Light, and a robot.
“So, Cody, remember when I told you Luke wasn’t exactly what he seemed?” Jake asked, giving a light grin.
“Yeah, you did. Not often you see an old guy interested in junk runs, let alone one who runs his own car company. But then again, when the old man’s not quite, you know, human, that helps.” Cody replied, chuckling.
“You knew?”
“Dude, everyone knows. The amount of times he’s been on TV without that mask of his, you think I wouldn’t know what to look for? I knew the instant he had that magnetic clipboard stick to his hand. Doesn’t take long to realize that there’s very few people in this world who have all five fingers on their hand and can still stick magnets to it. Takes even less time to realize it’s Luke when you consider he’s still wearing that wrist-mounted computer thing.”
“I don’t wear it, it’s part of me.” Luke said. “It’s a diagnostic terminal and an Input/Output breakout box, with a 640 by 480 pixel resistive touch-screen and a slide-out keyboard. Only the finest of early 2000’s tech.”
Cody snapped around to look at Luke, who had managed by that time to replace the dented panel on his head with a spare, and apparently had spent the rest of that time… decorating it.
“Nice hair. Very metal, dude.” Cody said, admiring Luke’s new rock-star mane of thin brass chains. “Any practical purpose?”
“Besides covering up paint scratches and a dent? No. Mostly decoration. Something different because I don’t have a week to let more latex cure.”
Amy stuck her head around the corner, then sighed. “Damn it. I was hoping the two of you would discourage him from going out there like this. It’s bad enough that he looks like an Iron Man suit wearing a Pip-Boy, now he’s welded a ton of brass chains to his head.”
“Nah, it’s cool, Mom. Think about it, he’s 18. Consider it a late-stage of teenage rebellion.” Jake said, grinning. “Anyway, how’s the car-truck-thing doing?”
“It’s got an oil leak I can’t find. And it blows smoke.” Amy replied.
“And neither of those are problems we haven’t dealt with before.” Luke said. “Oil leak is like a transmission fluid leak, you keep topping it up and keep an eye on it. And smoke is just oil burning in the cylinders. It’s not a problem until it gets bad.”
“How is Luke at driving stick?” Cody asked.
“I can double-clutch faster than you can shift.” Luke replied. “And that’s not bragging, merely a fact.”
“Good, because I still have a lot to learn.” Jake said. “I mean, I’ve gotten better since the lime-green-shit-machine, but, well, I’m still not good at it.”
“Perhaps, Amy, we should give Jake the keys to one of the Mambas and let him loose on the test track?” Luke asked.
“No! God, no, that’s way too much car for him to handle. If you’re going to do something stupid like that, give him the keys to a '96 Knight, at least he won’t wreck a high-priced hyper-car.” Amy replied.
The day before they had to leave, the team was busy loading up the little Ishu Truckling’s bed.
“Checklist, please?” Amy asked.
Luke nodded, then said, “We have oil, spark plugs, throttle body gaskets, a set of throttle bodies, a spare ECU, a pair of full size spare tires, transmission fluid, coolant, and an entire box of brake parts. We also have a cooler full of dry ice and burgers, a hot-plate, assorted pots and pans, a case of soda, three cans of energy drinks, and… This is curious. Why are there four packs of Kosher hot-dogs?”
“Well…” Jake started, only for Cody to finish the sentence with, “Let’s just say that we’re making amends for the two members of our team that aren’t coming with us. Trevor, brilliant as he is at finding cars to sell, is a bit of a klepto. Stole a lot of food from the other teams, and, well, we’re at least repaying the Outriders. Only ones we could think of that’d have those.”
“So, expect trouble?” Luke asked.
“Probably. Just, um… Please don’t do anything too bad back to them, Luke.” Jake said.
“I don’t have much of a sense of humor, but, as long as their revenge doesn’t damage our car, I’ll get through it.” Luke said.
“So, how’s most of this going to go down?” Cody asked.
“Luke will do most of the driving, though I’ll step in when needed. The two of you have experience in other matters, and will know when to step in and help. Which means Luke gets the driver’s seat and I’m calling shotgun, so you two are stuck with the rear bench seat.” Amy said.
“Aw, man. I’m gonna be hitting my head on the window the whole time.” Cody whined.
“Don’t break it, or I’ll make you ride as a hood ornament.” Luke said.
“Please tell me he’s joking. He’s joking, right?”
