Day 63: Monkey Wrench Auto Repairs (Noon)

[nobleman]

Any conversation with Edgar was bound to put Guy in the sort of mood that most of his friends resented: a fontech mood. Of course, the machines he came across here weren't technically fontech at all, but even making that sort of correction would have likely caused Luke or Anise to roll their eyes.

Still, that wasn't going to stop Guy from doing as he pleased. There had never been a chance to really stop and get down to his elbows with fontech during their journeys, seeing as they had always been in a rush to get somewhere. And while the gadgets in the electronics store were interesting enough that he could have tinkered with them for days, he was looking for some a little different this time around.

The buses, of course, were off limits, but Guy had definitely noticed the other, smaller vehicles parked around the town. Cars, they were called. But those things were used by everyday people, which probably meant that every now and then, they broke down and had to be fixed. And logic dictated that there had to be someplace where those repairs were done.

It had been a long shot, and Guy had known that, but some wandering away from the main road had actually caused him to luck out. There it was, the sign only barely readable: Monkey Wrench Auto Repairs.

The area where the actual work was done was open for viewing, and there were two men inside who were working on a car. Guy paused for a moment to watch from the outside, and he couldn't help wondering if he could get them to talk to him about all this. If he could just learn a thing or two about how this all worked, it might even turn out to be useful at some point.

[For Claude.]

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[earthling]

Even though he and Tolten weren't the closest of friends, Claude always enjoyed getting a chance to talk to him. Not only that, but he was genuinely happy to get a chance to help him out. He could tell Tolten was a good guy, and he knew the man would put a blade to good use. It was enough to take the edge off of the dizzy spells that continued to plague him -- for now, at least.

Speaking of swordsmen, though, Claude managed to catch sight of Guy as he wandered through the streets of Doyleton. For a moment, he wondered if maybe he intended to go to Twin Pines for a bite to eat, and he considered asking to join him for lunch. But when his friend passed over the restaurant completely, his true destination became obvious.

Monkey Wrench Auto Repairs. Of course. Claude's eyes brightened, and he couldn't wipe the smile off his face as he finally approached Guy.

"Hey!" he greeted, and for once Claude didn't need to force himself into sounding cheerful. "Find something interesting?"

[nobleman]

Guy was intrigued by how they had managed to make some sort of mechanism to lift the car up into the air so that they could get to its underside and work on it there. It made sense, though he wondered why all of the important components were put on the bottom in the first place. There had to be a reason for it, though. That was how machines worked. They always had a logic to them, and each part was meant to fit into another. If he could just get close enough to look at it himself, he was sure he'd start to get an idea of why it was constructed that way.

He was about to take the plunge and go walk over to start up a conversation with the two men, but it was at that point that Guy heard someone's voice from over his shoulder. He turned around to see Claude there -- and really, if there was anyone he'd want to have around for this, it was him. Guy smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, looks like this is where they do repairs on those cars," he said, jabbing a thumb in the direction of the shop. "I kind of want to get a closer look, but they also look like they're pretty busy right now."

It was usually routine for him and Claude to meet up while in town, so Guy wasn't too shocked to see his friend. Still, it was kind of surprising that he'd found him all the way over here. "What brings you here?" he asked.

[earthling]

"O-oh, um, well..." Rubbing the back of his head, Claude gave a half shrug. "I've seen a lot of the other stuff here before, but I've never stopped by the car shop before. And since the restaurant's right next door, I was thinking of grabbing a bite to eat at some point."

Maybe he could have manned up and admitted he'd basically stalked his friend here, but at least what he'd said was half true.

He suddenly looked over at the men working on the car. "I might have asked you this before, but I guess they don't have things like this on Auldrant?"

[nobleman]

Getting some food wasn't a bad idea by any means, and Guy certainly wouldn't mind chatting with Claude while they had a bite. He was hoping that his friend wouldn't mind if he poked around the auto shop for a little longer before they got some lunch, though.

The question was expected, but Guy certainly didn't mind answering. He realized he could never give Claude a perfect image of Auldrant, but the more that he talked about it the clearer that mental picture would be.

"No, not exactly. We have carriages, but those are usually drawn by animals, and we have airships and landships, but they're manned by a crew and meant to carry lots of people. A personal vehicle to drive around like this is new to me!" Guy thought it would be pretty nice, though, since they went faster than carriages and could be used by the everyday person to get around. With all the monsters that wandered the areas between cities on Auldrant, people would probably be a lot safer if they traveled in something like a car.

Just another idea to take home, if he ever got back there. No, when he did.

[earthling]

"Oh!" So, Auldrantians mostly used animal-drawn carriages, landships and maybe a few airship to get around. "Wait, so it's possible to fly on your planet, but smaller groups mostly rely on carriages to get around? That's pretty interesting!"

He didn't think this was the first time Guy had seen a car like this. One had nearly mowed them over during that awful night they'd spent here, after all. But Claude didn't see any good reason to bring that up. Besides, running for your life and observing a couple of repairmen were obviously two different experiences.

"Too bad we can't show you how to drive," he thought out loud, scratching his cheek as he looked at the car lift. "It's actually pretty easy if you know what everything does."

[nobleman]

When Claude put it that way, Guy could understand how it sounded strange. Carriages were so old-fashioned compared to something like the Tartarus, for instance. And while he couldn't remember much about the Albiore, he was sure that had to have been impressive too. "We're kind of in a transition phase," he explained, crossing his arms over his chest as his attention was slowly pulled away from the car shop and focused on Claude instead. "The whole idea of an airship is still really new."

What really shocked him was when Claude implied that he actually knew how to work one of these cars. Guy glanced at the closest one that was parked on the side of the street, imagining what Claude might look like behind the steering wheel of one.

"You can drive a car? Wow, I hadn't realized. I figured that in the future you used something else to get around. That's so cool!" As excited as he was, Guy also wished that he could have had the chance to learn at some point. There was that one girl who had apparently known how to get one of these going and had driven it back all the way from town. Imagine what they could do if they pulled something like that off!

[earthling]

Claude was about to bring up the fact that Guy had gone into more detail about airships during their talk in the library weeks ago, but stopped short when he remembered that his friend could no longer recount his experience with flying. The thought made his heart ache, especially since it was one of the few things that would make Guy's blue eyes shine and come alive with excitement.

Focusing on cars sounded like a better bet for now. "Yeah, we still use 'em," he confirmed with a grin. "I mean, the models are different where I come from, I guess, but the basic concept is still the same. I don't think it'd be hard to figure it out."

Growing thoughtful for a moment, he rubbed his chin. "I wish I knew how to start one without a key." Which was technically stealing, but he didn't want to use that word for obvious reasons. Besides, it was all just talk for now!

[nobleman]

Different models, Claude said. Guy tilted his head, wondering what the cars of the future -- of Claude's time -- looked like. Maybe he could try to get his friend to draw him a picture sometime, although that wouldn't work now since there was no pen or paper on hand.

It turned out that Claude was having ideas similar to his own. While it might be wrong of them to think about stealing someone's car, especially if it was just an oblivious townsperson, they also had to consider the fact that they couldn't really hesitate when it came to searching for a way to escape.

The caverns was still the top of their list, but there was no problem with considering other options, right?

"I know there are some patients who have an idea of how to do it. If you come up with a decent code, you might be able to ask around on the board." Guy glanced at Claude, wanting to make it clear that he wasn't suggesting it lightly. This could turn out to be a big help. Although his expression lightened up soon after. "Not to mention I wouldn't mind taking a spin in one, if we got it to work."

[earthling]

He hadn't expected Guy to jump on board the idea so readily, and Claude couldn't keep his face from lighting up at his suggestion. "You think so?" Well, maybe that wasn't so surprising. Captives here came from different times, backgrounds and walks of life. When he thought about it, the idea that one of them would know how to hijack (borrow, borrow) a car didn't seem so far-fetched.

"If I could find someone who knew how to do it, I could probably catch on pretty quick," he thought out loud. Not that he was bragging, of course. But technology was one of Claude's strong points, and his experience on a star cruiser allowed him to grasp onto complex ideas pretty fast.

"That's a good idea, though," he added. "Maybe I should ask on the bulletin board tomorrow. I'm...pretty sure I've got a ring that leads here, actually, so..."

Maybe they could put that kind of knowledge to use.

[nobleman]

This idea was becoming more and more feasible, and it wasn't the sort of thing that Guy wanted to be left out of, either. Once again, he reminded himself that the caverns was their number one priority, and yet a change of pace didn't seem so bad. If it meant not having to deal with that skeleton for one night, and if it was an easier chance at possible escape, then maybe...

"I don't see why you shouldn't at least ask around and see what happens," he said with a shrug, keeping his voice low even though they were already a safe distance from the two mechanics.

"I'd be interested in learning how it works too, and if we have someone who will teach us and an easy way to get here, then..." He couldn't hold back the smile that spread across his face. Guy realized he shouldn't be so thrilled at the idea of taking someone's car, but desperate times called for desperate measures, right?

He got the feeling that Anise wouldn't mind tagging along too, if it came to that. Then again, it might be better if he and Claude kept this as their little secret for now.