Dr. Hanlon's New Project

-Motor City, early afternoon-

Wearing her Azure Armor with a green t-shirt and khaki shortss with white tennis shoes, Victoria walked back into Motor City for the first time since the robot uprising incident that she had shut down with the help of Dr. Hanlon himself. Motor Town looked as good as new; all of the streets and buildings had been repaired and the local police were driving brand new cruisers. He had called her here to show her a new project that he had been working on ever since voluntarily giving up robotics research because of his creations going rogue and threatening to destroy the city. Victoria was curious as to what new research he had been undertaking. She hoped that he had not made any improvements to those creepy green Entertainer robots... even though they were about as much threat to her as a gnat, she hated their robotic laughter.

Victoria arrived in front of Dr. Hanlon's laboratory and paused because she thought that she had spotted one of those Entertainer bots floating inside. She did not want to go in there if that was the case. It paused in the doorway and looked at her with those little beady red eyes, those soulless red eyes and fake "smile" carved into its spherical chassis. Why did Dr. Hanlon make those things again?

Suddenly the man himself appeared to rescue her. He walked past the floating spherical bot and the sliding glass doors opened. He was wearing the same clothes that he had been wearing all those months ago and his mustache was still pointy enough to poke someone's eye out.

"Welcome, Victoria! Welcome to my lab!" He greeted her with open arms. He had a wide smile on his face and blueprints in his hand. The Entertainer followed his creator's example and floated over to embrace the Sabertooth mage. Little telescoping arms popped out of it and they wrapped around her stomach as it hugged her. The brunette gave a pained smile to Dr. Hanlon as she felt its cold metallic embrace.

The Entertainer released her and floated back to its owner's side, leaving the brunette shivering despite it being early afternoon.

"What's going on, Dr. Hanlon?" Victoria asked the doctor.

"I've been developing a new vehicle for the mage market. I can't tell you about it outside. You'll just have to see it for yourself." Dr. Hanlon told her. The Entertainer used its left hand to motion her to enter. Victoria ignored it and followed the doctor's lead into the lab.

-Inside Dr. Hanlon's laboratory-

Victoria saw that the lab was still as orderly as ever. Machine parts and electronics were stored in neatly labeled bins and the screens all showed blueprints of a motor bike labeled "Centaur." Unlike other motor bikes it did not have wheels to roll on; where wheels were supposed to go there was nothing at all, nothing except flat surfaces. Just what was Dr. Hanlon making?

Dr. Hanlon guided her through the lab and into a two-car garage, where the motor bike from the blueprints was waiting in front of her. Spare parts were neatly arranged on metal shelves and the shelves themselves bore neat paper labels taped to the bottom of each shelf that named what exactly each part was. Dr. Hanlon was a certified neat freak, but no one could say that he was disorganized.

The motorcycle had a white body with a long brown seat and a green glass cover over what looked to be a front-mounted gun. Victoria was liking the look of this already. She wondered how it would perform on a test track.

The scientist walked over to the bike and proudly laid his left hand on the handlebar.

"This is the DH-40 Centaur. It's a special motorcycle I made that hovers instead of relying on wheels. It's called a hoverbike. It took me many months and forty attempts to get it working, but it's finally finished." He explained with pride. Victoria was puzzled as to why it was called the Centaur. The doctor noticed this and was quick to explain.

"I had to use the name Centaur since the first name I wanted to use was already trademarked by a large car company. if you didn't know, a centaur's a mythological creature that had the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse. Since motorcycles are fast becoming the new steed of choice, I decided to name my creation the Centaur." Dr. Hanlon explained to her. After hearing the explanation the name made a lot more sense to the brunette. She was no mythology expert, but she thought that such a name was kind of clever considering how most riders leaned forward on motorcycles and gave the appearance of the motorcycle being the rider's lower body.

DH-40 Centaur:

[Word Count: 825]
[Total Word Count: 825/1,500]

"That's a nice hoverbike you made, Dr. Hanlon." Victoria complimented the scientist on his work. It had a sleek futuristic look that had a certain appeal despite her not being a gearhead by any stretch of the imagination. He appeared pleased with himself and patted the handlebar of the Centaur again. He had clearly put a lot of time and effort into making it a lot more than a fancy showpiece for wealthy collectors. He had poured his heart and soul into making it a viable vehicle.

"I appreciate the compliment, Miss Sheridan. However, I will need to continue working on the Centaur design to make it even better. It is good enough for a prototype, but I want to make it even better so that one day I can make a mass-production model for everyone." Dr. Hanlon explained the scale of his ambition. Victoria was visibly surprised by his response. The Centaur in front of her was just a prototype? She thought that he had made a mass-produced model and she was looking at the end product, not just a prototype.

"So the Centaur model I'm looking at is a prototype?" Victoria asked Dr. Hanlon so that she understood exactly what she was hearing. The scientist nodded in response.

"Yes. It is only a prototype, but I have ambitions of making a mass-produced version after more testing. Much work remains to be done before that ambition becomes a reality." He explained to her. He thought hard for a moment and twirled the end of his pointy mustache. He then got a hopeful look on his face and raised a finger. It seemed like the man wanted to ask something of her but was struggling to voice the question.

"Miss Sheridan, there is something... something I would like to ask of you." He said to her. Victoria gave him her full attention. He took a shallow breath and raised the subject he wanted to talk to her about.

"I have been unable to find a... a test driver for the Centaur. My usual collaborator Miss Barnsworth is unable to assist me in this endeavor since she is busy with a project of my own. Some of my colleagues have distanced themselves from me ever since the mishap with the robots. Regaining their trust and respect will take some time." Dr. Hanlon began to explain the details behind his situation. Victoria nodded and urged him to continue. After a little bit of encouragement the reluctant doctor finally finished his thought.

"Since I know no one else, I would... like to ask you to test the Centaur." He finally said to her. Victoria was surprised that he would even make the offer to her. There had to be better people to test the Centaur than her, people who had a better knowledge of vehicle handling and characteristics than she did.

"I owe you a lot for saving my life, my career, and this city. I owe you more than I can ever hope to repay. Therefore, I would like you to have the honor of testing the Centaur for me. However, I will not pressure you into it. The choice is yours and yours alone." He explained to the brunette his reasons for choosing her and put the choice to accept or refuse the offer squarely in her lap. She appreciated the gesture, but she was not sure if she would be the best choice for the job. However, he had expressly stated that he had no one else to turn to, so someone needed to help Dr. Hanlon make his dream a reality. Victoria figured that she might as well help the scientist kept his dream alive.

"OK. I'll do it. Just tell me when and where." Victoria agreed to help him. The scientist smiled and clapped his hands together.

"Splendid! It'll take a few days, but I can reserve us a place at the local test track. I'll send you a letter when the arrangements have been made." Dr. Hanlon said to her. It would take a few days to make everything happen, so the brunette would have to find a way to stay busy in the meantime.

"I'll be waiting for your call. Is there anything else you need from me?" Victoria asked him. Dr. Hanlon shook his head. That would be her cue to go.

"All right then. I'll be going and let you get everything ready. Good luck!" Victoria said to him before turning to leave.

"Thanks, Miss Sheridan. I'll see you then!" He replied before covering the bike with a tarp and jogging past her to get back to his lab. The man looked happier than he had been in a long time. Hopefully the test of the Centaur would bring the scientist even more good cheer. Victoria left him to his work and walked out the front door, ignoring the waving Entertainer standing on the wooden counter in the front of his lab. That thing was seriously creepy and no amount of cosmetic work could change that.

[Word Count: 853]
[Total Word Count: 1,728/1,500]