Dr. Metcalf
First appears in Book 8: A Parade of Horribles, chapter 19 ([ 17 ])
Appearances
What you know
Book 8: A Parade of Horribles
- Ch 19The truck's GPS is named Dr. Metcalf, speaks aloud, hates being touched and insults the team; Donut says it isn't Bea's therapist.
- Ch 24Dr. Metcalf announces the next race: a 30 km steep downhill road shared with waves of generated mobs, 20-minute limit.
- Ch 32Dr. Metcalf, the van's AI, resents Dorota and complains that Carl hasn't upgraded him.
- Ch 43Dr. Metcalf, the race vehicle's navigation system, plots a route to the pit stop at Upano that avoids bosses and quests.
- Ch 43Dr. Metcalf repeatedly nags Carl to upgrade it and accuses him of being unable to commit to decisions.
- Ch 50Dr. Metcalf, who holds the track map, is horrified that Carl chose a headless corpse to drive.
- Ch 65Dr. Metcalf, the truck's unupgraded GPS, resents being outclassed by the Lady Dominators' fully upgraded GPS, Janice.
- Ch 76The fan-voted upgrade gives Dr. Metcalf a hologram resembling Bea's therapist and control over the truck's nonessential systems.
- Ch 76Dr. Metcalf puts Dorota into diagnostics mode, then restores her seat-belt function but keeps her speech switched off.
- Ch 83Dr. Metcalf, Carl's GPS, received upgrades including Golden-tier cloaking and weapons control, which changed her acerbic attitude.
Connections
Key moments
- Book 8 · Ch 19Preparing the truck for the race
Minutes before the race, Carl and Donut prepare their truck with nervous new driver Bucket Boy and the rude GPS Dr. Metcalf, which reveals a 10 km left-path course in a hailstorm with a gatekeeper monster midway.
- Book 8 · Ch 20Hail starts the race
As the light is about to turn green, house-sized hail destroys the awning over the starting grid; Carl shatters his own windshield with a banger sphere as planned.
- Book 8 · Ch 24Next race revealed
Dr. Metcalf reveals the next race is a 20-minute, 30 km downhill run against waves of generated mobs, starting in 8 hours.
- Book 8 · Ch 32Heat three begins with a drugged driver
Back from the studio, Carl lines up for heat three with Gluteus Maxx driving, then discovers Gluteus is high on outworlder uppers just before the start.
- Book 8 · Ch 35Aftermath of heat three
Carl and Donut limp back to the garage, learn the next race is a deadly jungle trail in seven hours, and begin rebuilding the truck with Hedy.
- Book 8 · Ch 43Route planned for the race
Before the race begins, Dr. Metcalf plots a route through the jungle to the pit stop at Upano, skirting the Temple of the Exploding Snake Goddess and a cannibal village.
- Book 8 · Ch 45Mandatory quest triggered
Great Rusty's death triggers Pasty Inferno, requiring Carl's group to kill the northern chieftain Maurice to finish the race.
- Book 8 · Ch 50Corpse driver at the starting line
Carl and Donut line up at Satan's Water Park with the resurrected, headless Olga at the wheel, planning to catch up via the River of Sloth.
- Book 8 · Ch 65The factory race begins
Carl drives the truck to the factory starting line with Donut, Dong, Porky and Grigori, plans to tail the Lady Dominators, and the race starts.
- Book 8 · Ch 76Heat six starting line
Shrunk to Lego size, the racers start inside apartment 712 of the L'Engle Building; a last-minute rule requires seven rings, one per floor.
- Book 8 · Ch 85Crawlers slaughter the NPC racers
When the light turns green, Dr. Metcalf's hole punch and potions kill Dwight's vine and GPS, and Donut decapitates Dwight, eliminating Team Sparkles. Across the lobby other crawlers kill their NPC opponents.