As Doc turned on the equipment for the operation and explained how it worked, the sound of a siren came from far in the background, getting louder by the second.
In less than a minute, we saw the Sheriff approaching through the clinic's door, escorting Mater, who was following behind in a black sedan, to make sure the patient arrived on time.
Seeing that, I felt that this escort here was just a formality, since the roads around Radiator Springs were practically deserted, but considering that the old cop didn't have much to do, I didn't judge him for being diligent and taking the opportunity to put the siren to use.
When he arrived, Sheriff stood in the doorway with his eyes squinted at me. "What's that kid doing here, Doc? We've got a patient."
Doc didn't even look, just continued adjusting the equipment as he spoke. "He's a doctor, he's just forgotten that. If he gets in the way, I'll send him away."
The Sheriff snorted, but didn't insist. With Doc talking like that, it was clear that the decision had already been made.
So Mater wasted no time and unhitched the sedan in the center of the service room.
The car Mater left in the center of the room was a black Ford Crown Victoria in the center of the clinic, completely unconscious.
His eyes were closed, his engine was quiet and he showed no reaction whatsoever.
Doc approached him, calmly assessing him to make sure there was no risk to his life and then looked at me. "These Crown Vics don't usually go out for nothing. Use your head, kid. Tell me, what left this car in this state?"
I swallowed.
Part of me wanted to answer straight away, but I knew that one wrong guess would make Doc lose confidence in me.
So I took a deep breath and started to think.
I wasn't a garage mechanic who fixed any car that showed up with a problem, I only worked on the cars in my personal collection, but as some of my cars were old, as well as learning how to modify the cars, I also had to learn how to repair them, so as not to depend on unskilled or overpriced mechanics.
If the problem with this Crown Vic was a lack of fuel, it wouldn't be running like this, since in the movie even when McQueen's fuel ran out while he was trying to escape the city, he was still able to act normally for a while...
If the problem was something with the engine, it would probably have left some sign, be it an irregular noise, smoke, whatever. But there was none of that here. The Crown Vic was simply off, with no reaction at all, as if something had cut off all its power at once.
At this point, of all the alternatives I could think of, the one most likely to be the cause was the ignition module.
"I think it might be the ignition module..." I said at last, still uncertain. "The ignition module that sends power to the engine isn't working, and without it it won't respond to anything."
Doc didn't reply immediately, just narrowed his eyes and spoke in a neutral tone. "Then see if your theory is correct."
I approached the Crown Vic, extended my claw and touched the area where the module stood.
At first I thought I'd made a mistake, because I didn't see anything different. But when I leaned in closer, I felt the heat build up in my claw, much more than normal, as if the part had been trapped in a state of overheating.
I took a deep breath, repositioned the claw and used it in a different way, spreading the contact to pull out the heat that had built up there, forcing the part to cool down faster than it would on its own.
The ignition module works like a switch; when it gets too hot, it locks up and cuts off all the car's power at once. By dissipating the heat, I release the part from the thermal failure... allowing the part to function normally again, even if I haven't solved the root of the problem.
I kept the pressure on for a few seconds until I heard a dry pop, a sign that the internal connector had relaxed.
It was then that the Crown Vic's body reacted.
His eyes opened slightly, blinking weakly, as if he had just woken up from a long sleep. His engine let out a dragging snore, irregular at first, but soon finding the minimum rhythm to sustain itself.
I let out the air I'd been holding without realizing it.
"So that really was it..." I murmured contentedly.
Fortunately, because my body is a mechanical life, just as I could feel my wheels, I could also feel the temperature through the clutches, otherwise I could only try to disconnect the ignition module from this car.
But since I was messing with a life, I don't know if I'd have the courage to pull the ignition module out of a living car - is that dangerous for the cars of this world?
The class I attended didn't mention anything about that!
Doc snorted, without changing his expression. "Well done. At least you still know something."
Despite the cold tone, that was as close to an acknowledgment as I could have hoped for from him.
"Where am I?" The Crown Vic finally spoke, with a young male voice looking around in confusion.
Doc replied in a calm voice, apparently to reassure the patient. "You're at the Radiator Springs Medical Clinic, after your distress call the city sheriff picked you up with a tow truck and brought you here."
Hearing this, the Crown Vic's eyes widened as he looked down at his own hood before he hit the gas. "It's true! I felt like my body was getting weak and gradually my consciousness faded, the last thing I remember is using the SOS button on my GPS and passing out on the shoulder of the interstate!"
Seeing his excitement, Doc reprimanded him. "Calm down kid, we haven't dealt with your problem yet, Harry just dissipated the heat from your overheated ignition module, but we haven't figured out or solved the cause of it yet."
As soon as the Crown Vic heard this, he immediately stopped accelerating and revving his engine, afraid of doing something wrong and passing out again.
"I'm sorry doctors!" He said in terror.
Doc leaned forward and spoke calmly. "Calm down, kid. We still need to understand what knocked you out. Tell me what you remember."
"Right..." the Crown Vic replied, his voice shaking. "I was on the road driving to my girlfriend's house as I always do, respecting the limit of the road... but suddenly I started to feel as if my body was getting heavy, slow, so I used the SOS command on my GPS while trying to drive to the shoulder until everything went out... and I don't remember anything after that."
I frowned, that kind of symptom sounded like an electrical breakdown, not something mechanical.
Doc turned to me, "So? What do you see?"
I took a deep breath and approached him while reassuring him and slowly pulling my claw out. "I'm going to use a new medical device to examine you, don't worry about it, it's totally safe."
Seeing that claw sticking out from under me, his eyes widened. "Do you have an arm like the forklifts?!"
Smiling at him, I nodded. "Yes, this is new medical technology, you're lucky it can help you solve your problem even better."
This caused his shock to change to excitement, happy to have access to something that would increase his chance of a cure. "Thank you very much doctor!"
But then he remembered something important and got worried again, backing away from me a little. "But will this make the medical bill more expensive?!"
Shaking my head in denial, I explained, "No, the price of the consultation will be the same as it would be if this device wasn't used."
With that confirmation, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
With his permission, I took a deep breath and approached him, running my claw along his body carefully, looking for the possible cause of the overheating.
The main cables didn't show any cracks, the fuel was at the right level... but after we lifted it onto the hydraulic elevator, as I slid the claw along its underside, between the engine block and the chassis spar, I found something strange.
Right at the junction where a thick ground cable attached to the body metal, the contact was rough, covered in a thin crust of rust.
To confirm, I touched it again and felt the residual heat still accumulating there, unlike the rest of his body.
It was as if that point had become a bottleneck for the electric current... all the energy that was supposed to flow freely was trapped, turning into heat.
"Here." I pointed. "The grounding is compromised. It looks like accumulated rust."
Doc narrowed his eyes, assessing. "Um... if the grounding is failing, the electric current can't find a free path and the resistance increases..."
"... that energy caused by the increased resistance turns into heat." I added. "Exactly in the ignition module."
Doc was silent for a few seconds before nodding slowly. "That makes sense."
The Crown Vic's eyes widened. "You mean it wasn't my engine? Or fuel?"
"No." I replied. "You passed out because the energy couldn't circulate properly. The module heated up to the maximum safe temperature and shut down to protect you."
Doc snorted as he looked a little suspiciously at the Crown Vic. "Looks like you weren't so careful in your overhaul."
Hearing this, he was confused. "But I had my routine check-up last month... nobody told me there was anything wrong. They just changed my oil, had a quick look and said everything was fine. I guess they didn't pay attention to the grounding..."
Doc frowned and let out a short sigh. "So they did the job anyway." He shook his head in disappointment. "Lucky you're still in one piece."
Seeing a golden opportunity, I asked the Crown Vic. "Do you live nearby?"
He thought for a moment and replied. "I live about 40 minutes away, why?"
"How much do you pay for routine maintenance there?" I asked.
Seeing where this was going, Doc raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"I usually pay $90 there, why?" The Crown Vic asked, still confused.
Hearing this, I looked at Doc for confirmation, to which he just nodded. "Doc Hudson only charges $80 per appointment here, why don't you come and do your routine maintenance here? You'd only have to come every 6 months, so it wouldn't be so bad, but you'd be guaranteed your safety."
He was surprised by my proposal, but asked me worriedly. "But can you fix my problem?"
"Yeah, I can fix it if you want, it might just hurt a bit." I said, already adjusting the claw.
Looking at my claw with a little fear, he became wary.
"What do you intend to do, Harry?" Doc asked.
"Scrape off the rust." I said as I slowly moved the claw up and down in the air.
Looking at the claw, Doc nodded and said nothing, moving his gaze to the Crown Vic and waiting for his answer.
Seeing that Doc, the older doctor, approved of my method, he nodded at me, so I used the metal tip to scrape off the rust, cleaning the contact until I saw the shine of the metal.
As I felt the rust being scraped away, the Crown Vic twitched a little, but apparently the pain wasn't so great that he complained.
Doc stood next to me and said: "Go carefully... this car is still fragile."
I took a few minutes, scraping and adjusting, until the spot was clean. Then I firmly pressed the connector back into place.
The Crown Vic shuddered, its headlights flashed brightly and its engine roared with renewed life.
Now the sound was no longer a dragging rumble, but a clean sound, full of energy.
"Am I... okay?" he asked, hesitantly.
"You're stable." Said Doc. "To make sure, we'd better do a complete check on you, but for now you're out of danger."
The patient blinked several times with watery eyes and looked at me gratefully. "Thank you... I thought I'd never wake up... You saved me! You can be sure that every 6 months I'll be back here for my routine maintenance!"
I smiled slightly, not knowing exactly how to react. Even in the other world, I wasn't sure how to deal with people's gratitude...
I felt the warmth of rust on my claw, but along with it came an unexpected pride in having helped him.
Looking at this new client who would possibly frequent Radiator Springs, even if only once every 6 months, I felt that I was one step further away from the Bad Ending that would befall this world!
Suddenly a notification popped up in front of me.
[Ding, Congratulations Host on winning a first client in Radiator Springs! Reward: 1 Free Roll!]
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