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Diesel 10 woke up with a splitting headache. It was cold. He tried to move, but his head began to ache and spin wildly, so he fell back, then, a minute later, he tried again. Success. He leaned his right hand on the ground, then tried with his left, but something was wrong. He looked at his hand.
It was gone.
"??!!"
This fact instantly almost sobered him up. He finally saw that he was lying in a ditch not far from the Dieselworks building, but the worst thing was something else. His prosthetic arm, Pinchy, was absent. All that remained of the prosthesis was the shoulder attachment. Diesel 10 looked at it blankly for a few seconds before his vision started swirling again and he fell back. Then he heard a voice calling his name.
"Oh, Diesel 10! Finally found ya!"
It was Paxton. He crouched down and wrapped Diesel 10's remaining arm around his shoulder to help him up. The latter couldn't stand without support and leaned all his weight on Paxton. He hated accepting help, but he had a more important matter on his mind right now.
"Paxton."
"Yes?"
"I need you to answer a question."
"Sure, what is it?"
"Paxton," Diesel 10 drawled, "where's Pinchy?"
"Oh, this is kind of a long story. You don't remember anything, do you? I'd better start from the beginning."
"Okay..."
"So, it all started with us celebrating your birthday yesterday. Do you remember that?"
"Maybe..."
"And of course there was alcohol. Lots of it. You know, probably too lots of it. First we drank beer. Then rum. Then someone brought in some watered-down diesel fuel."
"How..?"
"Well, technically it was moonshine, but somehow infused with diesel fuel. I don't know how it happened, but you liked it."
"I drank it?"
"Yes. Well, that's okay. Then Salty said it was all nonsense and that in his youth they brewed a grog on ships that would allow a sailor who accidentally fell overboard to swim across the sea. So you demanded he brew it."
"And what happened next?"
"Well, basically, I have no idea where Salty got the ingredients, but he brewed some grog. Den was the first to try it. You know, we only managed to wake him up an hour ago."
"Well, what about me?"
"You said he was a sucker and then you chugged straight from the pot."
"And...?"
"Salty was shocked and delighted. He said he had never seen someone drink that much and not fall instantly. He said you could be a real sea wolf. You were very proud and spent the next ten minutes telling everyone that you would quit here and start sailing the seas next monday."
"Bullshit."
"Maybe. The twins began to cry, saying they would miss you. But that's a small thing. Then Henry came."
"Henry??!!"
"Yes. He was ordered to deliver something to the Dieselworks, I didn't pay attention to what exactly. He came right at the moment when you jumped onto a crate and began to sing a sea shanty. I didn't even know you knew any."
"What?! Are you saying that I embarrassed myself in front of some steamie?!"
"You said the same thing yesterday. That's why you dragged him over to our place and persuaded him to drink to your health. And then again. And again."
"Hm. Not bad. He's not supposed to remember anything after that."
"That's certainly true... but I'm not sure he made it back to the Tidmouth Sheds successfully."
"I don't care about that. Okay. But that still doesn't answer the question of where my Pinchy is."
"After sending Henry away, you were joyful that your plan had succeeded. Then, to celebrate, you danced with Mavis on the table until she fell from it. You was disappointed. So, in the end, you decided to take your mind off it with a shot of tequila."
"What? Where the hell did we get tequila..?"
"I'm still puzzled by that. So, you took a bottle - it was the only one. You tried to open it... with Pinchy."
"I'm what?"
"Yes, that was a bad idea. Pinchy got jammed, and instead of opening the bottle, you broke it. Well, basically... well..."
"Well?? Continue!"
"Anyway, you got so angry... you unhooked Pinchy and threw it somewhere into a scrap metal pile. And early in the morning, that scrap metal was taken to... to the smelter..."
"What?!"
"Yes, Diesel 10. Your Pinchy is... gone. But I think making another prosthetic manipulator isn't a big deal, right?"
But Diesel 10 wasn't listening to him anymore.
"Noooo! Pinchyyy!"
"Emm..."
"Paxton, how could you understand? We went through a lot together! My Pinchyyy..."
Paxton tilted his head, smiling a bit, then began to lead sobbing Diesel 10 back to the Dieselworks. He was saying something, but the latter wasn't listening.
Diesel 10 had vowed never to drink that much again.