Part 29 – Probed Down!

The Ares was fast, and that’s probably the best I could say for it. She apparently was a confused vehicle, not sure of what she was good for. There was nice handling turning left only, and a good bonus to headlight range… yet, it felt incredibly mediocre compared to the nice Taranis down the parking garage.

I turned to look for the vendor, but he had already bolted off with my money, and any more leads to the infamous Titan known as Steve. Hmm. Looking at my vehicle’s features, I noticed an interesting new addition. Something called a ‘Probe Launcher’, a most curious device that threw hooks out to snag upon those damned people who fell asleep at the wheel and swerved off road to a safe spot. From there, I could just follow the line to where they were. I didn’t get why such an elaborate contraption was needed either, but many seemed to swear by such a thing instead of just driving up to a target.

Driving took some time, and I spoke to everyone my localsenses felt were nearby. Somehow, this would nearly always trigger a hostile response with a terrible war cry shouted as they set upon me. ‘N-B-S-I!’ they would cry out, before lunging at me.

There were many brief encounters that turned ugly, but fortunately with my new found ‘drive to zero’ skill, no one could stop me from reaching the highway in each area I passed through.

After a few more hours, there finally was something to do on my search. It was a lone Iteron truck, easily vulnerable to the predations of even my mediocre Ares. He was in a mineral field out here in 0.0, conspicuously made of large rocks obviously full of gold and platinum. It was a good thing few had the guts to try and extract fortunes from these areas. I made sure to confirm their fears by pouncing upon this poor truck.

As I closed in, my guns blazing along with the two headlight mounts on this little compact, he began to drive off in a random direction. No doubt it was to one of those ‘safe spots’. But I had no worry. I would track him down and made sure to use my probes in the process. I waited annoyed for three minutes and rested back. Yes, soon this hauler would be in my grasp, and my boredom would be satisfied with blood.

I followed the line hungrily before pausing. My brow furrowed. He had escaped! Somehow, that truck had vanished out into thin air after safespotting! I didn’t sense him at all on my localsenses and growled angrily. At least before my eyes gazed upon something else.

It was the burning hulk of a gigantic vehicle, a train car that shaped like it would be some kind of Mushroom God. I gawked at the burning carcass and knew I had found what I was looking for. And I realized I never would speak to the driver about what kind of large car I wanted.

Sighing, I knew I had one last thing to do for this deceased titan, a victim of Robert's Wrath...

I was going to salvage it for parts. Perhaps in the hulk of this miles long vehicle I could build a small trinket or ‘rig’ for my car. I began to dig.

Hours later, I had my bounty of twelve fried circuits, a bottle of rancid oil and one whole aluminum bar. This was immensely disappointing.

I stormed off, looking for someone to grief.

(to be continued)