(July 12th 11am)
I was used to parts on demand, anything I needed within a few hours. In the Isles it was merely a question of price: legal, illegal, common, uncommon, it didn't matter. There were people willing to fetch things for the proper compensation. Back home was even better, the people of Mechanicsburg were happy to find this, or fetch that. As long as it made the town stronger or kept Agatha happy, it got done.
Here, I had neither the minions, nor the connections. So I kept having to put the construction on hold while I went out and fetched something myself. In hindsight this is a good thing. It kept the generator design simple and minimalistic. But there were some things that I couldn't fabricate or order from amazon (at least not without breaking the bank).
A high quality flywheel was one of those things, and a generator to drive it was another.
I had spent the previous two nights raiding the local Pick-n-Pull for used car parts. It felt strange doing a potentially hostile parts acquisition for such basic things, but I couldn't afford them new, and walking in to buy them used wasn't an option. Finding the Prius had been a stroke a serendipity, even if the back half was gutted and caved in.
The hybrid looked like it had been rear-ended by a much bigger, and sturdier, vehicle at decent speed. The entire back half of the car wasn't even worth looking at. Which was sad, because they had some high quality batteries in there. The engine compartment was perfectly fine though, which made a small part of me go 'squee!' and dance in happy circles in the back of my mind. A quick glance inside the cabin while I was popping the hood confirmed that all the interior electronics had long since been scavenged. Those would have been nice, but they were small change compared to what, I hoped, was in the engine compartment. I couldn't quite suppress the spring in my step as scampered to the front of the vehicle and looked under the hood.
"Score!" I said quietly to myself while gazing at most of the solution to my energy needs. A fully developed hybrid electric engine, including a motor-generator and an integrated flywheel. Well not all of it, it looked like someone had pulled the oil tank and a few hoses. But that was hardly an issue considering what was still there. A week ago it would have taken me four hours, a toolbox, and a winch to take apart the engine of a car like this. Now it took me slightly less than an hour with just my hands. It is times like these when trading in sensitive and delicate flesh for metal and ceramics has it upsides. Being able to loosen engine bolts by twisting my wrist made short work of it.
As parts came off I stuffed them into my pocketspace. I would never have been able to fit a traditional car engine block inside, at least not whole. But the much smaller 1.5 liter engine wasn't a problem, especially since the physical motor, the flywheel assembly, and the electronic control system were separate units. Once the engine compartment was gutted I closed the hood and ported inside the small building onsite.
Part of me was ranting that I should just take the parts and leave, that this was an unnecessary risk. But between the clothing I had on, the dim lighting inside, and my stealth, any cameras that were here wouldn't get a clear enough picture of me. I also doubted they would report the break-in, it's not every day someone breaks in to leave cash behind.
Paying 20% over the asking price might have been a little much, but I had an abundance of cash and little way to spend it. Besides I might want to go back there some time, and maintaining a good relationship (or at least establishing a pattern of bribes) always made things easier.
As much as I would have liked to get straight into construction I knew there were appearances to keep up. And until I had an alternate stream of income I wasn't about to abandon the current one. So when monday rolled around I sequestered myself in the houses attic. Plugged into the wall and leaching wifi from next door wasn't quite the work environment I was used to, but it would have to do. I figured that I could 'work from home' for a week or two before serious questions about my health were raised. And I fully intended to be up and running (if not self sufficient) by that time.
My monomaniac tendencies where my biggest enemy at this point, and limiting the amount of time I had to work on my 'projects' was the simplest way I knew of to do damage control.
Besides, with my newfound wealth (admittedly a little hard to spend wealth, but wealth non the less) I could afford to spend a little more freely. I was expecting some more shipments from amazon over the next few days. If I had to be cooped up in the house all day waiting for packages to arrive, I might as well put that time to good use, rather than obsess about things I couldn't change.
------
well it's not a whole lot, but it's something, and it lays some needed foundation in place. I would hate to see this iteration of Viior die the same lingering death it's predecessor did.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy
I was used to parts on demand, anything I needed within a few hours. In the Isles it was merely a question of price: legal, illegal, common, uncommon, it didn't matter. There were people willing to fetch things for the proper compensation. Back home was even better, the people of Mechanicsburg were happy to find this, or fetch that. As long as it made the town stronger or kept Agatha happy, it got done.
Here, I had neither the minions, nor the connections. So I kept having to put the construction on hold while I went out and fetched something myself. In hindsight this is a good thing. It kept the generator design simple and minimalistic. But there were some things that I couldn't fabricate or order from amazon (at least not without breaking the bank).
A high quality flywheel was one of those things, and a generator to drive it was another.
I had spent the previous two nights raiding the local Pick-n-Pull for used car parts. It felt strange doing a potentially hostile parts acquisition for such basic things, but I couldn't afford them new, and walking in to buy them used wasn't an option. Finding the Prius had been a stroke a serendipity, even if the back half was gutted and caved in.
The hybrid looked like it had been rear-ended by a much bigger, and sturdier, vehicle at decent speed. The entire back half of the car wasn't even worth looking at. Which was sad, because they had some high quality batteries in there. The engine compartment was perfectly fine though, which made a small part of me go 'squee!' and dance in happy circles in the back of my mind. A quick glance inside the cabin while I was popping the hood confirmed that all the interior electronics had long since been scavenged. Those would have been nice, but they were small change compared to what, I hoped, was in the engine compartment. I couldn't quite suppress the spring in my step as scampered to the front of the vehicle and looked under the hood.
"Score!" I said quietly to myself while gazing at most of the solution to my energy needs. A fully developed hybrid electric engine, including a motor-generator and an integrated flywheel. Well not all of it, it looked like someone had pulled the oil tank and a few hoses. But that was hardly an issue considering what was still there. A week ago it would have taken me four hours, a toolbox, and a winch to take apart the engine of a car like this. Now it took me slightly less than an hour with just my hands. It is times like these when trading in sensitive and delicate flesh for metal and ceramics has it upsides. Being able to loosen engine bolts by twisting my wrist made short work of it.
As parts came off I stuffed them into my pocketspace. I would never have been able to fit a traditional car engine block inside, at least not whole. But the much smaller 1.5 liter engine wasn't a problem, especially since the physical motor, the flywheel assembly, and the electronic control system were separate units. Once the engine compartment was gutted I closed the hood and ported inside the small building onsite.
Part of me was ranting that I should just take the parts and leave, that this was an unnecessary risk. But between the clothing I had on, the dim lighting inside, and my stealth, any cameras that were here wouldn't get a clear enough picture of me. I also doubted they would report the break-in, it's not every day someone breaks in to leave cash behind.
Paying 20% over the asking price might have been a little much, but I had an abundance of cash and little way to spend it. Besides I might want to go back there some time, and maintaining a good relationship (or at least establishing a pattern of bribes) always made things easier.
As much as I would have liked to get straight into construction I knew there were appearances to keep up. And until I had an alternate stream of income I wasn't about to abandon the current one. So when monday rolled around I sequestered myself in the houses attic. Plugged into the wall and leaching wifi from next door wasn't quite the work environment I was used to, but it would have to do. I figured that I could 'work from home' for a week or two before serious questions about my health were raised. And I fully intended to be up and running (if not self sufficient) by that time.
My monomaniac tendencies where my biggest enemy at this point, and limiting the amount of time I had to work on my 'projects' was the simplest way I knew of to do damage control.
Besides, with my newfound wealth (admittedly a little hard to spend wealth, but wealth non the less) I could afford to spend a little more freely. I was expecting some more shipments from amazon over the next few days. If I had to be cooped up in the house all day waiting for packages to arrive, I might as well put that time to good use, rather than obsess about things I couldn't change.
------
well it's not a whole lot, but it's something, and it lays some needed foundation in place. I would hate to see this iteration of Viior die the same lingering death it's predecessor did.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy