- Ooooooh... - Flora looked at Sunny with an overly clueless face. She then looked over the entire engine, step by step as he described it, and stopped at the turbocharger. - In all seriousness, Sunny, I have the entire PTE engine schematics memorised. You don't need to explain to me how a fusion engine works. I have a question, though. How does the turbocharger work? I mean... You can't really re-use the fusion products that leave the engine. They can't be used in the process again. It's like firing a kinetic gun and then trying to fire it again using the shell. Unless there's some magic involved that I never heard about, this thing is more likely to get me killed rather than flying. - she looked back at Sunny, crossing her arms.
"Well you can, actually. If you are using D-T fuel, for instance, then you will get Helium as a bi-product. Setting the turbocharger to the appropriate setting will allow that Helium to be converted into small amounts of Helium 3 you could then use as additional fuel. So in that way, you'd be getting a little bit of your fuel back in another form and when you have enough you can then use it." Sunny explains. "The science is pretty advanced. You wouldn't really expect this to happen a while ago." Sunny explains. "There are also other settings you can use for different types of fuels. Or, you can just turn it off if you wish. But no... it wont get yourself killed." Sunny reassures her.
- I think I'll go for turning this thing off... - she said, giving the turbocharger an unconvinced look. She then yet again looked over the entire engine. - Well. I see no reason to delay installing this beauty. I suppose I can leave you to it. I have to pick up the powerplant, after all. - she looked back at Sunny. - You better pamper this ship better than your own. Or I'll be angry.
"If it's better than my own, then I'll be taking it for myself and not letting you even place a fingerprint on it." He chuckles a little. "Probably not the best thing for you to wish for. I can get pretty territorial with my ships. But yeah, anyway...", he says while working, "your choice if you want to use it or not. The turbocharger does more than distribute the fuel back to the same engine, but can also be used to get fuel to other parts that need it. It's all in the settings and I can leave you with a digital copy of the manual. Just a bit of getting used to, but it's worth it." Sunny says, unscrewing another piece to look inside the ship...
"Go ahead, I'll be here for a while till it is all finished. Once you come back I'll probably be gone off to the bar." He says, smirking to himself.
- Hm. Where else could you be... - Flora looked over her ship again. - I'll hold you accountable for every single missing bolt. Just so you know. - she paused for a few seconds. - Getting the core here shouldn't take too long. Two, three days at worst. - another pause. - I'll see you when I'll get back. - she hesitantly made a few steps backwards before turning around and walking away.
Sunny stepped up into the cockpit of the naked ship; plating gone and reduced to the inner guts. He flipped some switches and started the power and drew a wide grin when he heard the familiar but unique sound of the engine calling him.
'VVvvvvvVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRM....."
'Music to my ears...' He thought, pleasantly happy about the results. The scan had also been updated with the new map of the progress. The wires were all set, the bolts and pieces all perfectly secured, and each part had been nicely cleaned to increase maximum performance. It was almost as if the ship was new.
Happy with his work, Sunny decided he was done here. He got a memory stick of the map of the ship's internal structure and left it in the cockpit's seat. He also wrote a note to leave on the window of the ship:
"All done. She sings beautifully. If you need some tuning, let me know. - Sunny"
He got out of the cockpit and took a last look at the ship he'd worked on for the past few days.
![[Image: zBEqQfl.jpg?1]](https://i.imgur.com/zBEqQfl.jpg?1)