Back in the software, he hit "Write."

Lisa drove off, and Marcus’s phone buzzed minutes later: “It’s smooth as silk. Thank you!”

This time, the EEPROM data poured onto his screen—a labyrinth of hexadecimal codes. He located the faulty fuel injection timing map, the likely culprit. He tweaked the values cautiously, optimizing them for Lisa’s stock engine.

He handed her the keys. “Let’s see.”

Need to avoid making it too long, focus on key events: discovering the problem, searching for the patch, applying it, overcoming obstacles, and the outcome. Maybe end with the car running better, but a lingering question about the ethics of using the patch.