"So now you're going to work with Doc?" Mater asked happily.
"I think so, as I remembered that I was also studying medicine and I have no way of earning money, Doc offered me to be his assistant in his clinic." I said as I drove alongside him.
As I had nothing to do, I was just driving around town when Mater found me and invited me to join him during one of his routine trips in search of lost clients.
"That's great! If you're going to work with him, that means you'll be staying in town longer, right?" he asked as he swung his tow cable from side to side excitedly.
"Yeah, I think even if I didn't get a job with him, I'd still try to make a living in the city, Radiator Springs seems like a really nice place to live." I said with a smile.
"If you think the town is nice now, it's because you haven't seen what it was like in its heyday... thousands of cars passed through town every day, since to cross to the other side of the state you had to pass through here, but since they built the interstate, no one else has come..." He said a little sadly.
"Crap..." I said, not really knowing how to react to this news that I already knew. "If I have the opportunity to attract other cars to the city, I'll do my best to do it, Mater."
Mater's eyes widened as he looked at me excitedly, smiling and swaying from side to side. "Do you think you can bring more cars to the city, Harry?"
"Of course, as long as the city has something that makes people want to come here and that it doesn't have anywhere else, it's possible to make the city lively again." I said.
Mater looked ahead with a smile, as if he saw the road in front of us getting full of cars coming into town again, just like when he was young.
For the next hour he kept telling me about what the city was like, and asking me what it was like to work in medicine.
What I could analogize to this world, I explained, while what I couldn't compare to an equivalent I could explain, I just pretended I didn't remember.
It was bad to lie to someone who treated me with such sincerity, but for what I was holding in, the best choice was to hide it, at least for a while.
After an hour and a half of talking, and not having found any broken-down cars on the way, we headed back to town and I went to Doc's clinic.
Beep
I honked at the entrance to call him.
In a few seconds he opened the clinic gate. "Come in, kid. I'm going to show you how things work around here and, if you don't get in the way, maybe we can test whether your memory is any good."
"Right!" I said excitedly as I walked in and looked around the place trying to find a book.
Until I remembered that there probably wouldn't be any books in this world, since cars wouldn't be able to pass the pages, right?
Doc took me in front of a TV and pressed a big button on the control on the floor, turning on the old tape and explained. "This is material from when I was a medical student at USC, the University of Southern Carburetors. The knowledge has changed since then, but the basis remains the same. If you've really studied what you say you've studied, you should be able to keep up without getting lost."
"University of Southern Carburetors..." I said in surprise, having also studied at USC in my other world for two of my PHDs, although there it was called the University of Southern California.
On the screen, the black and white video showed a seemingly beige Cadillac Series 60 in front of a board full of diagrams, with a deep, paused voice conveying the authority that older professors liked to pass on.
"Every car, just like any organism, depends on the balance between three main systems: the combustion system, which provides vital energy; the circulatory system of oil and fluids, which keeps the parts lubricated and cooled; and the structural system of suspension and chassis, which supports the body and allows movement. If any one of these fails, the whole car suffers."
He pointed to a drawing of an engine spread out, where dark lines represented oil channels and light lines represented cooling flows. "A good doctor should know how to recognize early signs, such as an irregular noise in the piston, the abnormal vibration that denotes wear in bearings, or even a smell of burnt fluid that indicates circulation failure. Diagnostic machines are correct 99% of the time, but it's the job of a good doctor not to let the remaining 1% turn into a tragedy."
The images changed to footage of a 1950s car pulling into a clinic with smoke coming out of the hood, then the professor continued. "Look at the overheating... The patient arrives with a high fever, but immediate treatment should not be to change parts, but first try to stabilize his situation by reducing temperature, relieving pressure and only then intervene with replacement of damaged components. Always remember to stabilize before repairing, a mistake here could cost the patient his life..."
The camera went back to him and he continued his explanation.
Listening to this old professor talk about the medicine of this world was fascinating!
This was literally a mixture of Medicine and Mechanics from my other world, the two areas I most enjoyed studying, so even though this explanation might seem boring to anyone else, to me it was much more interesting than a Hollywood movie!
As I focused on the footage and memorized everything the teacher explained, Doc looked at me in surprise.
Perhaps because of my appearance and my passion for speed, I don't think he believed that I liked medicine as much as I let on, but seeing me hooked on this "boring" explanation, a small smile that I couldn't see appeared at the corner of his mouth.
The filming of this lesson lasted an hour, but when it was over, it seemed to me that only 10 minutes had passed.
Honestly, I learned very little new knowledge, but this class was incredible for helping me to merge my knowledge in the two areas I already mastered.
So much so that after the screen turned off, I closed my eyes for a few minutes and by comparison I began to analyze and merge my knowledge based on what I saw.
Of everything this professor explained, what fascinated me most was how the 'life' of these cars was treated.
Technically, the medical procedures he taught should be considered just mechanics in the other world, but according to his examples, if an important part was damaged, the life of the car really could be in danger!
Unfortunately, this was a basic lesson, not delving into the 'life' of the cars, not telling me how a soul could emerge and control this structure that should theoretically be only mechanical.
None of my conjectures about the biological structure of cars were answered in this video, but despite this, I still felt that this class was fascinating!
Doc remained silent, giving me time to absorb what I saw, without knowing what I was thinking.
When I finally opened my eyes, Doc was on the other side of the clinic, controlling an external robotic arm with wheels, with astonishing precision.
'So that's how they do operations even without hands...' I thought in surprise.
Hearing the noise of my motor as I moved towards it, Doc looked at me and asked. "Finished the trance, kid? Did you manage to catch anything useful or just admire the images?"
I nodded, confidently. "Yes... a lot. I'm still confused in some areas, but I think I've remembered enough to be your assistant."
Doc stared at me in silence for a few seconds before replying in a calm voice. "We'll see. The Sheriff called me while you were glued to the screen. A car called for help and Mater has already gone to get it, so they'll be there soon. If you really remember something, this will be your chance to show them."
Hearing this made me as excited as the first time I took part in an otherworldly medical operation.
If all goes well, this will be the perfect moment for me to confirm whether or not my knowledge and skills will be useful in this world.