Foreign Dominion

Chapter 23 - Face Down

Amy had never wanted to be out of a room more than she did right now. Yelena had gathered several students from the Tankery team into the classroom section of the garage. According to her, she'd wanted a "quick conversation on some of the stuff from the match."

These sorts of things were never quick, and as much as Amy valued and understood the importance of feedback, she would much rather be out in the garage helping Eiko. Out there, the STI was being prepped for Amy's race with Sayuki. Things hadn't really gotten started yet, so Amy took the chance to remove herself from the room.

"Do you really need me here, Yelena?" She blurted out.

Yelena looked at Amy from the far end of the room. "Not really, do you have something to do?"

"Yeah, Eiko's out there working on her car that I'm driving tomorrow night. I'd feel bad if I didn't at least help her since she's letting me use it."

"Okay, you're fine then."

Yelena gave a thumbs-up as Amy excitedly jumped from her chair and left the room. She walked to where Eiko had set up her work area. Underneath the front end of the Subaru were jack stands, and Eiko slid out from under her car.

"What's up?" Eiko asked.

"It appears that the answer is your car."

"Amy, that was a terrible joke."

"I'm aware."

Eiko stood up and mumbled to herself while she rummaged around inside a rolling toolbox. "Seventeen-millimeter, seventeen-millimeter. Seventeen, seventeen, seventeen... Ah!" She plucked a socket from a tray and closed the drawer.

Immediately, Amy had a guess as to what Eiko was doing. "Changing the oil?"

Eiko looked at Amy in surprise. "How'd you know?"

"Remember, I drive a Forester XT back home. It's got the same EJ engine block as your STI. I happen to remember that the oil drain plug is a seventeen-millimeter bolt. In addition, the jack stands are set up so that the car is tilted slightly to the left. I do the same thing since the drain opens that way and you can get a better flow with that kind of angle."

"Y'know, I really shouldn't be surprised. Want to help? Find a screwdriver and pop the skirt clips in the front wheel wells. Just let it drop, it's a plastic part."

"I know how they work, Fozzy's got chassis cladding too."

Eiko rolled her eyes as she put the socket on a ratchet. "Yeah, yeah. Keep talking and I'll make you take off the oil filter."

Easily enough, the clips came undone and the cladding dropped to the floor. Eiko moved it from under the car and slid a catch pan underneath the drain.

"Watch this," she said as she turned the ratchet.

"What?" Amy looked under the car to see what Eiko was talking about.

"I'm not gonna spill a single drop."

"Bullshit."

"Wanna bet?"

"...No."

True to her word, Eiko unfastened the plug without dropping it into the pan, spilling any oil on the concrete, or getting any on the car itself.

Now it was Amy's turn to be impressed. "Okay, but can you do that with the oil filter too?"

"Hell yeah I can! What do you think I am, an amateur?"

After all the oil had drained from the engine, Eiko moved the pan underneath the filter. She swapped out the 17mm socket for an oil filter socket and broke the filter loose with a single turn. Afterward, she set the wrench aside and reached her bare hand around the oil filter. Now was the tough part.