The Centaur Rides Again

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Job Sign-Up: Page 11, Post Number 272

-Motor City Test Track, early afternoon-

Wearing her Azure Armor over her Steel Matron t-shirt and khaki cargo shorts with white tennis shoes, Victoria arrived at the Motor City Test Track to answer Dr. Hanlon's request to test the improved DH-40 Centaur, that marvel of engineering that she had first tested months ago. The test drive had revealed numerous problems with the Centaur like a problem with the coolant system, an underpowered engine that overheated easily, the air intake system being inadequate, and other problems that combined to make the first test drive something of a failure. Today Dr. Hanlon promised that all the engineering problems had been ironed out and that there would be no repeats of the mishaps that had marred the first test drive.

Victoria entered the test track to find Dr. Hanlon and his new partner Dr. Reid standing around a wooden table with some laptops set up. The laptops displayed all manner of technical data on the Centaur that she did not understand and that she could not even begin to understand. She greeted Dr. Hanlon and Dr. Reid.

"Hi there! Sorry it took so long for me to get here." Victoria apologized for being late. The two doctors turned to face the Sabertooth mage and were taken aback by her new appearance. Victoria knew that she should really start trying to find a way to shift back to her old appearance soon, but before she could even think about that she had to play Whack-A-Cult first in the Haunted Guild and then Silent Cemetery hardly a day later. Stopping demons from being summoned into the world came before solving the mystery of who she really was. The world would thank her for getting her priorities straight.

Dr. Hanlon was the first to speak to the brunette.

"Miss Sheridan, is that really you?" He asked in amazement. Victoria nodded and rolled up her left sleeve to show her Sabertooth guild tattoo.

"Oh my. It really is you! You've grown quite a bit since we last met!" Dr. Hanlon expressed amazement at the brunette's new form. Victoria laughed a bit.

"It's a long story, Dr. Hanlon. I'll have to tell you all about it once I get the story myself." Victoria told him. Dr. Reid spoke up.

"Dr. Hanlon, if she really is Miss Sheridan, do you think her increased weight will affect the reworked Centaur's performance any?" Dr. Reid asked. Victoria frowned and put her hands on her hips before glaring daggers at Dr. Reid. What was the blonde doctor trying to get at? Was she calling "Tall Victoria" fat?

"No, not at all. The Centaur was made with a weight tolerance of up to 500 pounds before performance is affected. That's enough for the rider and one passenger, maybe two passengers in a pinch." Dr. Hanlon answered. Dr. Reid looked at the brunette and finally realized how badly she had messed up.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean anything by it, Miss Sheridan!" Dr. Reid apologized. Victoria could tell from Dr. Reid's body language that the blonde was telling the truth, so she decided to let the matter go so that they could focus on the reason they were all here, which was testing the new and improved DH-40 Centaur.

"Eh, it's no problem, Dr. Reid. I'm ready to test the Centaur whenever you guys are." Victoria said casually, putting the conversation on the implied insult about her weight to rest. Dr. Reid handed Victoria the same blue helmet with the built-in headset and microphone that she had worn last time. She then handed Dr. Hanlon a wireless headset and put her own headset on. Victoria put on the helmet and Dr. Hanlon pointed her towards the waiting DH-40 Centaur.

"The controls are the same as the last time, my dear. Take the Centaur onto the track and we'll begin the test drive." Dr. Hanlon instructed her. Victoria flashed a thumbs-up sign with her right hand and climbed onto the Centaur. Gently twisting the handlebars forward, Victoria eased the hovercycle onto the test track and sat in place to await the command from Dr. Hanlon. She noted how smoothly the throttle controls worked this time and was pleased with that improvement.

-On the test track-

"Now, before we begin the test drive we'll need to do a comms check." Dr. Hanlon informed Victoria. The brunette waited in place and listened to some papers rattle in the background.

"Can you hear me, Miss Sheridan?" Dr. Hanlon asked.

"I can hear you loud and clear, Dr. Hanlon." Victoria answered calmly.

"Can you hear me, Miss Sheridan?" Dr. Reid asked. Victoria had clenched her teeth in anticipation of having her ears blown out by the volume control being set too high, but this time Dr. Reid had adjusted it before speaking.

"I can hear you loud and clear, Dr. Reid." Victoria answered calmly.

"Good. You may commence the test drive when ready." Dr. Hanlon gave Victoria the command she had been waiting for.

"OK. Starting the test drive now." Victoria replied. She gently twisted the handlebars forward and got the Centaur in motion at a modest 5 MPH. She continued to slowly accelerate until the vehicle was moving at 20 MPH, which was a fifth of the Centaur's top speed. However, the new Centaur had presumably received an improved engine as part of the updates to the design, so she had no idea of what the vehicle's new top speed was. She would find out whenever Dr. Hanlon ordered her to go faster.

Victoria rounded the first curve at 25 MPH and noted that the Centaur had kept its responsive steering in turns after being upgraded. That was another feature of the hovercycle that pleased the Sabertooth mage. She kept going at her current speed and listened out for any special instructions from either of the doctors. Victoria rounded the second curve and maintained 25 MPH when she received instructions.

"You may finish the first lap at your current speed. Once you finish it I'd like you to accelerate to 50 MPH and run a lap at that speed." Dr. Hanlon requested.

"Understood." Victoria said as she turned into the third curve. Not too long after that she turned into the fourth curve and passed the entry gate. At the start of the second lap she slowly increased the speed until she was running at 50 MPH. She carefully maintained the new speed as she approached the first turn.

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Victoria maintained the mandated speed of 50 MPH and the Centaur managed the first turn with no trouble at all. She approached the second turn and kept going at 50 MPH with no problems, noting how the hoverbike kept its speed and turning ability without compromises to either. The rest of the lap went smoothly as she rounded the track with no difficulties whatsoever. All the gauges on the HUD were green and the vehicle's temperature was well within safe operating limits. Victoria passed by the two doctors and a new order was given.

"OK, now I'd like for you to increase the speed to 75 MPH and make a full lap." Dr. Hanlon requested.

"Understood. Going to 75 MPH." Victoria replied, gently moving the throttle up until she was running at the requested speed. She maintained it as she approached the first turn and maneuvered the Centaur through it without any difficulties. She glanced down at the temperature gauge and noticed that it had barely even moved when she had accelerated to the new speed. Dr. Hanlon and Dr. Reid had apparently solved the overheating problem, which meant that the brunette would not have to worry about burning her thighs and backside because the engine would not overheat to a dangerous level.

Victoria entered the second turn and navigated it, then did the same for the third and fourth turns. Again the steering remained responsive and she made the lap with ease. Dr. Reid chimed in with a status update.

"So far, so good. Everything is within normal operating parameters." Dr. Reid commented as the brunette started a second lap at 75 MPH while waiting for further instructions. So far none had been given, so Victoria continued to drive at 75 MPH until told to do otherwise. The second and third laps passed without a hitch and the brunette started to pass by the two waiting doctors for a fourth one when Dr. Hanlon gave a new order.

"Now that we've established that the Centaur can handle 75 MPH, let's take the speed up to 100 MPH. That was the old limit of the previous engine, but the new engine can go faster. For now let's try a few laps at 100 MPH." Dr. Hanlon ordered, hinting that the Centaur's powerful new engine could propel the vehicle at a faster speed than the old engine.

"Going to 100 MPH." Victoria reported back, gently increasing the throttle to 100 MPH. She looked at the temperature gauge and it only moved a little, hinting that the old model's cooling problem had been solved. Now all she had to do was focus on maintaining her speed and not running into a wall because she was not paying attention to the track. Victoria went into the first turn and steered into it. The steering was a little less responsive this time but she still navigated the turn by a comfortable margin.

"I noticed that the steering was a little less responsive in that turn. The turning ability of the Centaur at this speed isn't as good as it was at lower speeds." Victoria noted aloud. Dr. Reid chimed in.

"We'll have to try and work on that, but we can't make any guarantees that the Centaur will be able to turn on a dime at 100 MPH and above. We might be miracle workers, but even we can't violate the laws of physics at will." Dr. Reid said to Victoria. The Sabertooth mage agreed.

"Fair enough." She commented laconically while navigating the second turn without much trouble. She flew down the track and turned through the third turn, then the fourth. She passed by the doctors on her first lap and began the second lap. The second lap proceeded to be the same as the first and so was the third lap. Once she completed the third lap Dr. Hanlon called in with a new directive.

"Go to 120 MPH and do three laps for us. I want to see what the Centaur can do at full speed." Dr. Hanlon instructed.

"Going to 120 MPH." Victoria replied as she increased speed to the limit. The Centaur reached its top speed and she approached the first turn at a blistering pace. The part of her ponytail not covered by her helmet was flapping behind her as she made the turn and found herself in the middle of the track due to the increased turning radius at high speed, but she was far enough away from the wall to avoid trouble. She straightened the vehicle out and soon navigated the second turn. After that came the third and fourth turns; once she had gotten through them the first lap at top speed had been completed.

"Everything is looking normal. Aside from an anticipated loss of turning ability at high speed, nothing to report." Dr. Reid gave the Sabertooth mage a status update on the condition of the Centaur. Victoria made the second lap without any issues other than the loss of turning ability and then started on the third. That was when she noticed that the temperature gauge was starting to creep up.

"Um, Doctor Hanlon... the temperature gauge..." Victoria reported as her thighs and backside began to feel the burn in an unwanted way. Dr. Hanlon cursed into the headset as history looked to repeat itself.

"Decrease speed below 100 MPH. That should solve the problem and allow you to drive it safely until you can bring it in." Dr. Hanlon instructed. Victoria wordlessly complied and dropped the speed to 75 MPH. That solution solved the problem... the temperature gauged dropped to its normal level and the heat buildup soon dissipated, allowing the brunette to make the rest of the lap in relative comfort until she could bring it back to Dr. Hanlon and Dr. Reid. She was just glad that her thighs and backside would not get burned for a second time.

Victoria decreased speed to 50 MPH out of the second turn, then lowered it further to 25 MPH as she made the third turn. By the time she approached the entrance she had lowered the speed to 5 MPH and slowly brought the Centaur into the area a short distance from the trailer that had been used to transport the Centaur to the test track. This time Dr. Hanlon approached her calmly.

"I see that some work remains to be done on the cooling system, but we were still able to learn a lot about the upgraded Centaur's performance thanks to you." Dr. Hanlon said to Victoria. Dr. Reid approached and launched into a detailed explanation of what had went wrong that was loaded with technical jargon that remained beyond the brunette's comprehension. Dr. Hanlon waited until his blonde colleague had finished her highly technical explanation before providing a helpful translation to the brunette, who was neither a scientist nor an engineer.

"What my colleague is saying is that the Centaur performs well at speeds up to 75 MPH without any issues, suffers minor turning issues at 100 MPH, and suffers from more turning issues and cooling issues at 120 MPH." Dr. Hanlon translated for Dr. Reid. Victoria nodded. She was glad that the doctor's pet project had not failed so spectacularly like it had during the last test drive.

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-Back at Dr. Hanlon's laboratory, the garage, two hours later-

Victoria had traveled back in Dr. Hanlon's laboratory with Dr. Hanlon and Dr. Reid after the test of the upgraded Centaur. There she stood in the garage with the two scientists and that creepy-ass green robot known as the Entertainer, which stood on Dr. Hanlon's left shoulder like a circular metallic parrot. Victoria hated that thing because it was so damn creepy. Its beady eyes and its smile never changed like they were permanently etched onto its body. It waved at Victoria with a small gloved hand and the brunette waved back at it, if only to be polite.

"I appreciate your hard work in testing the Centaur, Miss Sheridan. While I regret that we experienced cooling issues for the second time, I am pleased to see that we resolved most of the issues with the engine." Dr. Hanlon gave a brief summary of what the biggest problem with the vehicle was this time. When that statement was combined with the translated jargon-filled explanation of Dr. Reid's that he had given her earlier, Victoria gathered that the test drive had been successful. She was glad to be a part of that success. The Centaur was a pretty sweet ride with good speed and good turning ability that should sell like hotcakes once the issues with the engine were resolved.

"It's no problem. I like the Centaur. Just work on the cooling issues and you should have a big hit on your hands." Victoria said to the doctor. He gave a hopeful smile. Dr. Reid spoke up with her appraisal of the market for the Centaur once its problems had been worked out.

"I'm not sure that it's going to be the big hit that you two hope it will. You see, the old-fashioned motorcycle market is deeply entrenched in Motor City. While there are Lacrima-powered motorcycles on the market, the old-fashioned ones are still big sellers. The motorcycle culture's decades old and won't go away any time soon." Dr. Reid gave an honest assessment of the market. Victoria faced the blonde and spoke in Dr. Hanlon's defense.

"Maybe so, but someone in the world's gonna want a ride that can go fast and turn well. Hell, I'll buy one when they hit the market." Victoria gave a polite rebuttal of Dr. Reid's pessimistic view. While the Centaur might not take the world vehicle market by storm, let alone entirely replace old-style motorcycles, she liked it enough that she would gladly buy one when they became available. She could always use a fast ride that could haul herself and one or two passengers wherever they needed to go. Walking everywhere she went got old real fast.

"I appreciate your show of support, Miss Sheridan, but my colleague's right. I need to create a vehicle with mass appeal. This project hasn't been cheap and I need the Centaur to succeed in order to make back what I've spent on it." Dr. Hanlon chimed in with a dose of reality. Victoria did not have anything to say to that truth. She remained silent while the doctor produced a bag of Jewels, walked over to her, and handed them to her as payment for the test drive.

"Thanks for your work, Miss Sheridan. When we finish reworking the cooling system and engine I'll send for your help testing the Centaur. Maybe the third time will be the charm." He said hopefully. Victoria gave a thumbs-up.

"There's much work to be done, Dr. Hanlon. Let's begin right away." Dr. Reid suggested. Dr. Hanlon nodded in agreement and the Entertainer hopped off of his shoulder to escort Victoria out. The brunette saw the creepy robot walk towards her on tiny legs and quickly made her own way out. She really hated that thing. She also hoped that the third version of the DH-40 Centaur would be the big break Dr. Hanlon needed to get back on his feet.

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