Stylus' internal hydraulics shivered as he hoisted the side of the tractor over the height of his knees.
"Alright, now!" Stylus called. The three citizens of Chester placed a few cinder blocks under the lifted tractor.
"Blocks set, Stylus."
Stylus' internal systems groaned as he lowered the tractor onto the cinder blocks- forming a makeshift jack.
"Thanks, man," said one of the citizens- a fox farmer named Eugene. The fox was taller and slightly bulkier, but he didn't have the reliable machine strength Stylus had.
The fox patted Stylus on the back. Strong hand too. Stylus nodded with a smile and side-stepped to the back wheel
The immense tire had finally blown after (according to Eugene) a good few years. Surprisingly, it lasted longer than expected.
"You need to remind Stella to get that jack fixed up, eh?" another citizen, another fox named Irwin, commented. Stylus and Eugene were on either side of the tire, keeping it steady for Irwin to detach.
Stylus responded "She's been working on the hunting jeep. Seems like for every problem she solves, another one pops up."
"That jeep seriously needs to get replaced." Irwin said as he unscrewed the bolts that held the massive tractor wheel in place. "It's been working hard for us for over three decades now."
Silence lingered between the three of them and the other two citizens who came to help. Irwin was concentrating on getting the wheel off.
The last bolt was pulled out, and the other two citizens got ready to carry the massive tire. The four of them hoisted the tire and slid it off of the axle. One kept the tire standing while everyone else lifted up the new tire.
The same process happened, only in reverse. It wasn't an eventful tire replacement.
"Hell of a job lifting that thing, Stylus." Irwin commented.
"Hydraulics do that," the robot replied, "It really wasn't much."
"Well, time to do it again."
Stylus nodded, then readied a stance and grip. With a hup, he hoisted the side of the enormous tractor about an inch above the cinder blocks. The others reached under and pulled the blocks out. Stylus then slowly lowered the tractor to the ground.
"Thanks again, Stylus. See you later." Eugene said as he climbed back onto the tractor. The other two citizens started rolling the bad tire away toward the garage where the tractor was usually stored when not in use. Irwin walked alongside the tractor, making sure the wheel was tight.
Stylus returned to Stella's workshop. The robot on the table had been removed for six months now.
"How was the tractor problem?" Stella asked. It was hard to tell with the welding mask on, but she sounded like she was in a good mood.
"Blown tire, but we got a few people together to replace it."
"That's good," she replied.
"Something happen?" Stylus asked, "You seem in a better mood than usual."
"Nah. It's just good to be through with winter. All snow removal, ice-chipping, and guarding food supplies from predators. Although this jeep really isn't helping much."
Stylus smirked. The hunting jeep was an annoying piece of crap car. It had a good engine, and it generally ran exceptionally. Unfortunately, the parts used were mostly trite.
Which is why every time there was a faulty part, Stella replaced it with a superior custom-welded variant.
"I really should just tear this thing apart and replace it all with pieces I know would work," Stella commented as she kicked a hub cap with her snow boots. "Would be too much work at once, and there's so much to do."
"Eugene and the others mentioned the jack."
"I know, I know." Stella walked to her project shelf. She scanned through all of the assorted damaged tools that filled the shelves. "I could definitely use some help."
At the moment, Stylus basically helped around the community, flowing like water, as the town sage Patriarch Lorem would sometimes say.
Then again, dedicating more time to help Stella would get tools back to the community faster. Stylus had no reason to say no. Then again, he never considered saying no. His response was an immediate "I've got smaller fish to fry."
Stella lifted her welding mask. Underneath was a warm smile. It was a visual thanks.
Stylus remained at the workshop. First things first was fixing the jack.
"Do these things break often?" Stylus asked as sparks flew from his welding of the jack.
"Not as often as that piece of junk jeep, but yeah," Stella replied as she claimed a different workbench and started fixing up another replacement piece for the jeep. "Sometimes a tool is FUBAR, and those give us no choice."
Stylus paused. He recalled feeling the tractor push the hydraulics nearly beyond the limit. He fortunately didn't break, but... what if it did happen?
What if I break, Thought Stylus, What if I become FUBAR?
"Tools don't last forever, but we can make them last as long as possible," Stella added.
Stylus thought for a moment as he smoothed out the jack repair, then tested it. He then said "You knew that my supposed immortality wasn't real, didn't you?"
Stella huffed amusedly. "Like a dictatorship, nothing lasts forever."
What was this Stylus started to feel, was it fear? paranoia? No, he must be immortal, ageless.
"Don't take it too bad," Stella said, almost as if she could sense the paranoia. "After all, doesn't life feel more worth it when it's short? You try new things? Live like you'll die the next day?"
A hedonistic view on life, yes. It appeared to be the only way to calm down this paranoia. "Yeah... I want to try something new." Stylus finally muttered.
