Upgrades

Posted on Sat Jul 27th, 2024 @ 13:16 by Mhairi McIntyre & Alastair Temple

Chapter: Besieged
Location: Graeme's Garage - New Cresthill
Timeline: Saturday, 23rd of January, 1993
1731 words - 3.5 OF Standard Post Measure

The snarl of the two-liter inline six announced the arrival of Avalon's music teacher. The pearl white Skyline 2000 GT-R pulled in to the parking area in front of Graeme's Garage, the teacher giving a quick beep beep of his horn as if to announce his arrival. He was hoping for one particular person to be present, hoping to make her day with his zany plans. The engine shut off, the door opened and out the tall man stepped.

It didn't take long for the McIntyre mechanic that still had a full head of hear to make her way out of the office and into the lot in front of the garage. The Nissan Skyline didn't grace the lot often, but every time it did she still wanted to take it all in. "If you're here for an update on the Morris Marina, I'm still waiting on a couple of parts for that specific year and make." She broke eyecontact with the Japanese import and turned to face the lanky goth. "Turns out, a lot of that stuff is hard to come by. Also the being laughed at delays matters."

"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me," Al glanced over at what once was a - ... moderately proud Marina, now considerable less so. "But I'm actually here for you, about Omen," he smiled his winningest smile, as he stepped around towards the trunk. "She needs a service. Valve checks, fluids, wear parts, the works. And I bought some upgrades - " as the music teacher swung the trunk open Mhairi could see that it - along with the rear seats - was filled to the brim with boxes. New, bigger brakes. Calipers. Master cylinder. Suspension parts. Carburetors. Air filter. Tie rods.

"I was hoping you'd have the time to do the service and install the parts for me, because with everything going on, I don't."

There was a moment of hesitation, or more accurately there were two. One, because the car was probably worth more than the house she lived in so even though the man seemed confident in her abilities, she didn't. Two, because it almost felt like this was something to keep her occupied for the next couple of days so she wouldn't worry about Cameron and his friends and colleagues, which made her wonder if Alastair had perhaps been influenced by the speedster mechanic from Avalon. "Eh. I mean. We are a garage after all." She walked closer to the car to take a look at the parts he had brought along. "Not gonna lie, looks more like a complete revision than a service." She picked up the small box with air filters and waved it about, "This I can do while you wait, the rest of it. Will probably take all week. Four days if you're in a hurry." She'd always learned to overestimate the time required, due to the fact that for this kind of work you'd always come across unforeseen obstacles and challenges. It was probably a three day job, all in all, but it was better to have the extra margin. "You planning on participating in Le Mans or something?" she commented as she looked closer at the rest of the upgrades he had bought.

"Heh," Al chuckled. "No, the time where eccentrics with a modicum of money could just soup up a regular streetcar and compete are long behind us," beat. "Unfortunately," He sighed softly, though still carrying that rogueish smile. "A week's fine. If it takes a bit longer that's fine too. If you run in to any issues, your dad can help, I'm sure. You have the castle's phone number? Just give me a call when you're done."

"Just central admin, or do you have a private extension?" Mhairi was more familiar with the castle's internal phone network than many would suspect. Not that it had helped her any, the only person she really wanted to reach had a knack for just ignoring her voicemails anyway. "I just want to say, I'm not a specialist on this type of car, and from what I can tell I'll basically be revising the engine." She could tell it would result in a significant power boost, "this is all after-market stuff, but I'm sure you've made sure it won't affect the chassis." She'd seen younger kids wanting to boost their cars, and the rich ones doing so to such an extent that it distended the undercarriage.

"I don't have my own extension, but central admin will do fine. Claire can let me know you called," Al replied. He folded his arms over each other, leaning against Omen's quarterpanel. "Chassis will be fine. It's based on a purpose built racing chassis, they just put a downtuned engine, street suspension and a normal saloon body on. There's suspension parts in there," he thumbed to the open boot and the rear seats of the car, "as well as bigger, better brakes and a chassis brace for the engine compartment. All in all when you're done she should handle like a race car and have a bit more pepper in her arse."

Mhairi was glad that she had given the disclaimer of not being familiar with the make and model of the car as well as guesstimating a week of work time. She'd still be able to finish the work in three, maybe four, days, but it was good to have the extra margin. "Would you need a replacement car during the time it takes to upgrade?" There was a bit of a giddiness in her voice as she asked, because she knew exactly what car they had for these situations.

That caused Al a moment's pause. He'd figured he'd just fly back to the castle. He was done for the day and it wouldn't have been a bother at all. "Well, normally I'd decline and say I could get back home just fine, but something in your tone of voice tells me I should at least let you show me what you're trying to inflict upon me."

The mechanic made her way around the corner and motioned for a British racing green Reliant Robin parked in the corner of the lot. "It's a beautiful specimen, regardless of the ironic name." While she didn't know if it was generally true, this particular specimen had been far from reliant. They'd fixed it up properly now, but it had taken a complete revision of the entire drive-train to get there. Something that was made extra difficult by the fact that everything was engineered to be compact and in a weird three wheel configuration. "Although, I must say that having seen you drive I don't know if you'd make it back to Avalon without tipping over."

"Uhm, yeah. I'ma have to pass on that one," Al offered, his expression a cross between amused and horrified. "Wouldn't want to claim your loaner car in case someone else needs one. Plus, I can get back to the castle just fine on me own," A glance and a smile at Mhairi, his tone a little bit more hushed. He knew the girl knew about mutants and was sympathetic. "I can change into a large bird and fly. It'd do me good to spread my wings a bit."

"Are you sure? It's BRG and everything." The devious smile turned into a warm one from Mhairi as she heard him explain exactly what he could do. It spoke to a certain comfort and trust when an X-gene abled person confided in her about their particular set of talents. "I always wondered what I'd like my powers to be. Flying has a permanent spot in the top three." She said in awe.

Al hesitated a moment. Part of him wanted to tell her that, yes, it was all she thought it would be and more. But then, another part told him that telling her that would just make her sad. So, instead, he simply smiled a soft smile. "The change takes a lot out of me. Just - shifting to and back once basically wipes me out. So I can't just do it at will. Sometimes, when I look around at how people treat each other, I feel more akin to the bird than I do to - ... well, this," he offered quietly, sadness in his voice, as he motioned at himself.

There was a solemn sense of defeat in his voice which made Mhairi inch closer, "but then, can birds do this?" She wrapped her arms around the large gothic man dressed in way too elaborate Victorian clothing, holding on to the hug in the hopes that it would convey a sense of kinship.

Al flinched slightly in surprise, but quickly fell into the hug. He smiled softly, then closed his eyes, and - concentrating a moment - there was a poof of feathers as he shifted, and large wings, almost two meters in span, folded around Mhairi as she found herself holding on to a large, 10 pound raven. Black feathers with a subtle, iridescent shimmer, and an intelligence in deep black eyes. "Hug. Yes," croaked the bird in a mockery of a human voice, though the words clear and discernible.

That was an experience and a half for the uninitiated. Mhairi startled and was just too flabberghasted to pull out of the embrace, even when said embrace turned out to be with a massive black bird. "You are one gorgeous bird, you know that?" She stepped back to admire the man that had just turned into a raven.

When the hug relaxed enough he'd jump off of her arms and flap his wings to hop back and land on the ground in front of her, looking up. A nod and what passed for a bow from the large raven with the intelligent eyes as he let out a caw in greet, before taking to the skies in the direction of the castle.

Mhairi's gaze followed the bird almost until he had disappeared out of sight, before she quickly looked around to make sure nobody else saw what had just transpired. She then walked up to the imported sports car. "Now then, let's get ya all spruced up." She slid into the driver's seat and very carefully rolled it into the garage so she could start to sort out all the work that needed doing and get started.