RK Series Racing; Pre-Race Preparations
The Team
Connor(NaN)
Role: Navigator; Instructional Mechanic
Age: just under two if you disregard the 30-odd year jump into the past
Interests: dogs, i guess?
Appearance: Aggresively average and generic. Short brown hair and brown eyes put onto a round, almost baby-face. 6ft in height. Has a visible white spot on his right forearm with a crack in the middle.
Just google Connor from Detroit: Become Human. Don’t like it but am stuck with him lol.
Clothing: Just a pair of jeans, a black leather belt and some cheap sneakers.
Personal vehicles: none
Not exactly human… (see GAR2 thread for more info on that one). Very calm and attentive nature. Intelligence faaaaar above average. Only use when fixing cars is a talking instruction manual. Has difficulties interacting with others on a casual basis (i.e. small talk). Has no real opinion of the other two.
Right forearm and hand currently not useable due to damage after a “friendly fire” attack by a past team member.
Lost most of his clothing in shipping from US to Sweden (2020 clunker run).
Tim Redwood (United States)
Role: Driver; Mechanic; Cook
Age: 20
Appearance: Slightly taller than Connor and substantially more athletic-looking. “Paintbrush” Haircut of light brown, near blonde hue with deep blue eyes.
Clothing: A local (to him) Basketball jersey from some 3rd league group of mediocricy. An accompanying set of trainers. A black pair of loosely-fitting sweatpants.
Personal Vehicles: 1985 Anhultz Dione IX C (totaled); 1979 Anhultz Dione VIII B (see below)
Interests: tanks old cars that keep on going; sports (namely basketball)
The reason they race in the first place. 20 year old kiddo wants some fun 
. Highly energetic and joyful. Doesn’t want anyone to be hurt during this. Good with tools but a complete dumbfuck when doing stuff himself. Admires Connor for intelligence and capablity to stay calm under stress.
Generally healthy.
Valentin Schrant (Sweden)
Role: Driver; Mechanic; Lighthouse xD
Age: 24
Appearance: 7’3" in height. Generally a skin-and-bones build but with commendable calves and thighs due to his cycling-heavy nature. Excessively long, bright blonde, near white hair makes its way in waves all the way to belly-button height, sometimes covering his very thin, elongated face with light blue eyes. (basically an elf, but without the pointy ears. the correlation is entirely coincidental)
Clothing: A set of what look like ordinary skate-shoes, but “Shimomo” branded and making an awkward clacking noise when walking on hard surfaces (such as tiles or smooth concrete). A Pair of slim-fit stretchy jeans of which the right leg is rolled up to just below the knee. A very loosely fitting tanktop and a long-sleeve button-up shirt layered on top with none of the buttons done up.
Interests: Cycling; Engineering;
Personal vehicles: An extensive fleet of about 5 bicycles, all of which are named and extensively modified.
Son of a fairly successful business couple running a transportation business.
Freakishly tall at 7’3" (2.21m), but very slim for his size.
Early days of teenage years were spent delivering Newspapers all around the town, leading to him being the polar opposite of Connor socially. Also decent-ish with cars despite not being formally trained. Desperately wants to avoid beef with and between others.
Mostly tags along to not be a disappointment to the remainder of the team for bailing.
His long (all the way to belly button), wavy haircut frequently gets in the way, limiting sight.
Has knee/ leg issues if standing/ walking for extended periods.
Constantin Schrant (Sweden)
Role: Varies
Age: 29
Appearance: 7’ in height. Hair and eye color matches Valentin closely, but is much shorter, sporting a few inches of a ponytail and a short trimmed sidecut. Impressive physique and rather angular face makes a more intimidating character to look at relative to other team members.
Clothing: Constantin is sporting what essentially is a full set of military attire, comprising of a basic T-Shirt covered in a field jacket, complete with Patches for name and nationality (Sweden) and LCDR (Lieutenant Commander) rank insignia. Matching pants in forest camouflage pattern and black, heavy military boots complement the outfit itself. On his back, a military backpack together with what essentially is a single-man campsite can be seen. Strapped to said backpack is a highly custom longbow to one side and a quiver of 16 equally custom arrows on the other.
Interests: Archery; Anything Military; Sailing/ Seafaring
Personal vehicles: 2018 Sisten Calero LE 2.0
Note: Constantin is Valentin’s older brother, but neither party is aware that they are related to the respective other. As such, they will treat each other as strangers.
The Car
Anhultz Dione VIII B
Well it’s the car you probably all know and love… or hate… whatever. The Anhultz Dione VIII was released in 1978 in an attempt to consolidate the Brand in the upmarket brand of bigger (by EU standards) cars. The vehicle went on to become massively popular, mostly due to it’s near unkillable construction and decent ride, albeit at a steeper price than competitor offerings.
This car, manufactured for the domestic market features a strangled-down 2.0 four cylinder engine with a whole 81 metric horsepower. Coupled to a 4 speed radio, the thing isn’t exactly an exciting vehicle performance-wise. At least it’ll surely make the trip.
More details can be read within the following RP transcript.
March 3rd 2022; just before noon; somewhere in Nevada
The group of Connor (driving), Redwood (rear) and Schrant (copilot; assisting in shifting) mysteriously end up somewhere in the desert of Nevada after having to more or less wait out an entire season of GT racing in the 1990s. Connor has been aware of this first, as his GPS equipment started returning the signal again. The other two don’t seem to remember much of that even happening, save for a sizeable salary check on the dash credited to Valentin for his duties at FlexBus Keika GT. Redwoods phone goess off with an E-Mail notification from a team he knows from the Once More event
Redwood: “Yo, take a look at this!” [holds up phone to Valentin in front of him]
Schrant: “What? Are you sure this is a good idea, given that we somehow DROVE this car from Sweden all the way to Nevada of all places?”
Redwood: “Gimme a minute…”
Redwood proceeds to use Googol Maps to triangulate their position and see how far their hypothetical start line would be away. It turns out that they are a mere 45 miles away, albeit the latter 43 of which are behind the last major settlement. Before Redwood can finish his navigational studies, some intense crashing and crumbling can be heard from below the car. Connor instinctively attempts to slow down, just to discover the brakes being waaay softer and less effective than anticipated.
Connor: “Neutral, please. I also need the emergency indicators enabled.”
Schrant: [confused] “What was that?” [he pulls the gar to neutral and turns the hazard lights on]
Redwood: “Dunno. Hope it didn’t die on us…”
The cars rolls to a stop after numerous instructions regarding the use of engine braking to slow the car down. The team then heads out and inspects the damage done to it. They discover that their makeshift brake cooling has been torn off, ripping the associated brake line into a million pieces. With the team sitting by the side of the road, they ponder as to what to do now.
Schrant: “So the brake line went bust, nobody in sight and no parts to speak of. What now?”
Redwood: [looking a few hundred yards down the road] “Amazing how you are in the stratosphere yet still blind enough to not see that village over there.”
Schrant: [visibly annoyed at the low-effort height joke]
Connor: “Somethingsville, 420 inhabitants as of December 2019.”
Redwood: “How far is it? Like half a mile? We could roll the car over there and see if anyone has stuff we can work with.”
Schrant: “Sounds like a plan.”
The team go ahead in pushing the car the last 900-or-so yards to a very rural gas station. Connor was made responsible for steering and parking-braking and opts to do that from the passenger side for easier brake access. The other two are behind pushing the car and it’s contents. Some time later, the car rolls onto the lot and stops, at which point all three asses the situation surrounding them. The gas station lot itself is nothing remarkable, with all of two pumps and a small snack shop building next to them. On the opposing side of the road seems to be a local scrapyard/ used dealer, with something that is blatantly obvious to the entire party.
Redwood: “Does that lot have a brick in there?”
Connor: [still seated, with the door open] “69 of them in direct line of sight.”
Redwood: “Goddamnit i meant another Dione!”
Redwood practically sprints over to the other side and confirms his spotting of another Anhultz Dione just sitting there on the lot, unused. The other two follow soon after and immediately scan the vehicle from afar. Some gruffy-looking old man walks up to them:
Man: [cliché old man voice] “Helloo. What do you want?”
Connor: “Gree…”
Schrant: [interrupting Connor] “So… our brake line went bust and we need parts. Do you have any by chance?”
Connor: [awww.wav]
Man: “If you find one, you can have it. Haven’t seen one in months, though…”
The three head off in search for brake lines, but to no avail. In the meantime, the scrapyard owner hastily places a “for sale; 850$” sign written with pink marker onto a sheet of paper below the wipers of the Dione. Upon returning, said sign is discovered by the group.
Redwood: [to man] “Since when are you selling it.”
Man: [having to think hard about the time] “About two minutes? I heard you need something to get you outta here.”
Schrant: “What are you gonna do, then?”
Man: [chuckles] “Take the reward i got for this one joining the million mile club.”
Connor: “Do you mind if i inspect the vehicle?”
Man: “Do as you please.”
The Dione is then thoroughly looked at. The documents, as well as service history, recent inspection results and a slip containing insurance info are discovered in the glovebox. Those reveal a slew of minor issues:
Inspection Results
- trunk lid gas struts failure
- nearside high beam headlight broken (others foggy)
- offside power window failure
- offside rear door handle does not open from inside
- offside rear door handle does not open from outside
- rear window defroster failure
- rear window wiper coverage insufficient (i.e. it moves, but only like two inches)
- air conditioning fan failure
- radio missing
- rear springs worn but not excessively so
(Disambugation: Nearside = right side of the car; Offside = left side of the car)
Adding to this, general wear and tear can be seen on stuff like seats being worn, paintwork fading or outright flaking off in places, numerous plastic surfaces on the inside being either warped or cracked, among other things. However, rust seems to be superficial at worst and the critical componentry such as the engine, transmission, brakes and such seem to be in good working order. The team agree with the owner to trade in their old car for the “new” one, paying 300 quid on top to account for the former not being driveable. They subsequently start work on moving supplies and all over to the other car. Much to their surprise, they have few issues in fitting all of their gear into the new purchase. They soon roll off the lot with, leaving an old man grinning ear-to-ear behind, just to stop two blocks over in a parking lot:
Redwood: “So. This race is being started by team Shift Happens. They also were part of the Clunker run last year!”
Schrant: “You mean those weird-ass Tiger people on the other end of the pit lane?”
Redwood: “Exactly! Race is set to start on March 4th and the start line is only 40 or so miles away! And that old punk Tonsom wants Connor away anyway.”
Connor: “If we are to participate, we have three days and 4 hours to prepare.”
Schrant: [cautiously] “I mean… guess we should start packing, then.”
The three meet back up with the seller and go about planning their trip. The email claims very poor fuel availability, resulting in them making changes to the engine to accomodate the poor fuel. A dual-layered head gasket (reducing compression), generous jetting of the stock carb and substantial retardation of the distributor allows the car to run on Kerosene generously supplied by the old man. It absolutely ruined fuel economy, but performance was about on-par with what it made stock on regular pump gas.
A simple Steel-Plate was also bolted to the subframe mounts to protect the underside from the announced poor quality roads. They then thank the newly made friend by paying up some 200 quid for his services and head off to some small grocery store in which they stock up food for a week, a spare cartridge for their cooker and some DeadHose™ water filters to avoid having to lug around gallons of water. With the “mods” done and cautious confidence, they head to the start line and await the start.
OOC:
Whatever happens at the start line, we’ll see once i catch up on reading the walls of text you made
EDIT:
added some visual descriptions of my characters