Chapter 7 - The Twenty-Dollar Car
Mason needed objects with stronger intent.
The trash room had quantity.
He needed quality.
So naturally, he went to a police impound auction with two hundred and eleven dollars in cash.
The auctioneer looked at Mason’s coat, then at the serious buyers with tablets and dealer licenses, and mentally filed him under entertainment.
Rows of wrecked and seized vehicles filled the lot.
The Reclaimer Interface went insane.
[2012 CROWN SEDAN — PURSUIT INTENT]
[2004 DELIVERY VAN — ENDURANCE / ROUTE MEMORY]
[1998 PICKUP — LOAD BEARING / WINTER START]
[2019 LUXURY SUV — ENTITLEMENT: EXTREME]
Mason stopped at the SUV.
“Can I salvage entitlement?”
[WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO?]
“Good point.”
Then he saw the red hatchback.
It looked terrible.
Crushed rear quarter.
Missing bumper.
Windshield cracked.
One tire flat.
The panel above it was gold.
[2008 ROOK HATCHBACK]
[CONDITION: 19%]
[HISTORY: 312,441 MILES]
[RESIDUAL INTENT: REFUSED TO STOP]
[RARE TRAIT AVAILABLE: SECOND WIND]
Mason’s heart jumped.
He checked the auction sheet.
No keys.
Unknown engine condition.
Water damage.
Opening bid: twenty dollars.
Nobody else raised a hand.
“Twenty,” Mason said.
A dealer behind him laughed.
“Kid, they charge fifty to tow it out.”
“Then I’m already investing aggressively.”
He won for twenty dollars.
The dealer laughed harder.
Two hours later, Mason had the hood open in the auction lot.
The engine was ugly but intact.
He repaired a corroded ignition ground, cleaned the flooded fuse box, borrowed a jump pack, and turned the key.
The Rook coughed.
Stopped.
Coughed again.
Then started.
The dealer stopped laughing.
Mason selected SECOND WIND.
The trait entered his lungs like cold fire.
[RARE TRAIT ACQUIRED: SECOND WIND I]
[WHEN ENDURANCE FALLS BELOW 20%, RECOVER 15% ONCE PER HOUR.]
[ENDURANCE +2]
The system opened a cultivation panel.
[TIN SKIN FOUNDATION STABLE]
[PERSONAL PATH DESIGN: 28%]
Mason frowned.
“What did I design?”
[YOU CHOSE GRIP, TIMING, ENDURANCE, AND SECOND WIND.]
[YOUR ACTIONS SUGGEST A PATH BASED ON MAINTENANCE, PERSISTENCE, AND REFUSAL TO FAIL.]
“That sounds like a motivational poster in a mechanic’s shop.”
[IT MAY BECOME ONE.]
Mason drove the Rook out of the auction lot.
It pulled hard to the left.
The heater smelled like mice.
The radio only played one station.
He loved it immediately.
At the exit, a woman in coveralls waved him down.
She had black hair tied back, welding burns on both gloves, and an expression suggesting the universe routinely disappointed her.
“You bought Lot 614?”
“Regrettably.”
“I wanted the alternator.”
“Car came with it.”
She looked under the hood.
Then at Mason.
“You got this running?”
“Eventually.”
“That fuse box was underwater.”
“I asked it nicely.”
She stared at him.
Then her eyes narrowed.
A faint silver light moved behind them.
The system opened a panel.
[TESSA PARK]
REALM: STEEL MERIDIAN — FIRST VEIN
PATH: UNREGISTERED
THREAT: MODERATE
Tessa looked directly at the floating interface only Mason should have been able to see.
Then she said, “You’re a Reclaimer.”
Mason gripped the steering wheel.
“I’m starting to hate when people know things before I do.”
---
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