2022 Shitbox Rally - Out of This World! (Results Out!)

Team Shift Happens

Previous Chapters:

Making Donuts / Speed Demon / Arrival in Camp - Stage 10 Drive and Camp
“A Pinch of Glass, a Dash of Magic” - Stage 10 Camp (Written with permission from Knugcab)
“The Clear Mind” - Written in collaboration with TheYugo45GV
“Demons and Dragons Bullshit” - Written by Knugcab
“Power Failure” - Written in collaboration with Elizipeazie
Preparations for Tomorrow / OUCH! / A Favor - Stage 10 Camp Final
Stage 11 Details
“Beginning the Day” - Stage 11 Start (Collab with Elizipeazie)



Garda Winn Campsite, 1 Sun


With Nova looking excited to drive and sitting behind the wheel, the team packed up their camp supplies into the Bricksley’s bed. Kivenaal, however, looked less-than-thrilled to allow an AI to drive the truck today.

“Great, an AI driving a car. This day is going to be an exceptional pile of suck,” Kivenaal grumbled.

There was a brief moment of chaos as everyone piled into the truck with Nova behind the wheel. Rukari sat in the front middle seat, with Kivenaal to his right, Malavera sat in the rear bench window seat, Jayde in the middle as usual, and Kayden took the radio seat.


On the Road


“Here we go!” Nova said cheerfully, mashing the clutch, engaging first gear, and managing to simultaneously dump the clutch and mat the gas pedal. The Bricksley’s 427 cubic-inch V8 roared enthusiastically as they chased down those who had gotten a slight lead on the way out of the camp.

“Do I even want to know where Nova learned to drive?” Kivenaal asked.

“Apparently, a few thousand hours of racing games,” Kayden replied. “She’s borrowed my armor and Malavera’s sim rig on more than a few occasions.”

After a while of driving, Nova encountered a certain olive-drab wagon lumbering down the road in the middle of the lane.

“Look, up ahead, that’s team Oil Crisis,” Kayden said, grabbing the radio and calling out to them. “Hey, Oil Crisis, we’re on your left!” he taunted. Nova changed down a gear and mashed the accelerator, the V8 screaming in rage once more as the truck charged for the gap in front of the wagon… Right up until they swerved to block.

“Oh, a rolling chess match, then,” Nova said, lifting slightly, swerving to the right, and stomping the throttle again. Again, the Magistrate swung in front and blocked Nova’s attempted pass. Just behind the two dueling vehicles, the Yamada approached, seeking a way past the two rolling road-blocks. Nova swerved and again stomped the throttle, the Magistrate again cut in front, but this time, Nova didn’t lift. The push bar on the Bricksley’s bumper made contact with the Magistrate’s bumper with a dull thud. She lifted, then did it again, before calling out over the CB, “Payback’s a bitch! Remember the bumper tag in the Rift? I do!”

Malavera groaned. “Nova, back off before you get us all killed.”

The Yamada took that opportunity to sneak past with a muted growl, while both the Bricksley and the Magistrate were locked in a mild duel of “you shall not pass” on the road. This continued until the Magistrate had to pull off to the side for a refueling stop, while Nova was able to keep going for a while longer. After a quick pit-stop where Kayden fueled up the Bricksley, they were back on the road again, leaving the Magistrate in their dust.

This left the Bricksley chasing down the more agile Yamada, with only Nova’s wired reflexes and the Bricksley’s oversize V8 giving them any advantage in closing the distance. “You know, that vehicle of theirs is unusual. I swear, I keep getting a life-sign reading from it. I’m fairly sure it’s a faulty sensor, or some critter has invaded the vehicle, though. Probably a critter,” Nova said.

“I’m not so sure,” Jayde admitted. “I get a sense of it being more than just a car. It wants something, or needs something, but I’m not sure what.”

The tires squealed as Nova tried to match the Yamada’s pace in the few turns leading into what used to be the planned campsite, though the red crossover eventually ran away from them. They arrived at Trugarde not long afterward, and Nova had to slow way down.

“A tip for you,” Malavera said to Nova. “Put it in 2-low and just idle it through here.”


Trugarde Camp, the Queen’s Garden / Queen’s Station, 4-and-5 Sun


Nova slowly made her way through traffic, already starting to regret taking over driving duties now that she realized why no one else wanted it on this stage. “Must they really… HEY! Don’t stop right in front of the truck!” Nova yelled, shaking a black-metal fist out of the window as someone stopped to tie their boot right in front of the Bricksley.

Jayde groaned as another person ran up and pointed a pistol into the cab. “Your money, all of it!” the man demanded. Nova, on the other hand, responded instantly and violently, grabbing the gun out of the man’s hand with a sudden twist, grabbing his wrist with her other hand, and threatening to smash the would-be robber’s already wounded hand between the Bricksley’s heavy metal door and the butt of his own handgun. Jayde then spoke up, “I’d give up if I were you. Not just did you pick the wrong day to rob carriages, you couldn’t have picked a worse one to rob.”

“Fuck! I just tried to rob Jayde Malradi,” the man said, shaking his head in a mix of pain and disbelief. “So, she’s some sort of conjured spirit in a suit of armor?”

“To a degree of truth, perhaps,” Nova said. “Now, give me one good reason not to mangle every bone in your hand for threatening me with this pitiful weapon of yours.”

“We don’t have time for that, Nova,” Jayde said. “Plus, we’re not here to start a fight. I have this feeling,” he added, “that these robbers would much rather turn themselves in to the city guards than face your wrath.”

“We’ll all go and pay our bounties, just, please, let me go?”

“Very well. But I am keeping your gun. Run toward the guardhouse, and do not look back, or I will use this weapon against you,” Nova said. As the men disappeared into the distance, Nova snapped the weapon in half and tossed the parts out of the truck window.

As they pulled up to the Queen’s Garden, Nova parked the truck and everyone climbed out. Kaylie rejoined them after stepping off of a tram near the station.

Unfortunately, Kivenaal’s disguise very quickly gathered a lot of unwanted attention. Whispers soon began to spread from those who knew Valraadi mythology that Xelth was here, using one of his favored pelt colors for ‘blending in.’ Worse, Kivenaal could barely walk without people running up to him and asking for blessings, or worse, inquiring about whether he was interested in going to their bedroom. After a few of these moments, it was Jayde who realized he’d created this problem, and he could help fix it. When the next person asked about sharing a bed, Jayde said, “You are aware that he has a mate, yes?”

The look of shock on her face was exactly the response that Jayde was hoping for, followed by her running off begging Yawli for forgiveness.

“Sorry, Kivenaal,” Jayde admitted.

“You didn’t know. Not your fault. But today is going down the shitter in a hurry,” Kivenaal said.

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TEAM HILLBILLY ROLLERS

Earlier parts

PART 0.1 - A prologue to the prologue
PART 0.2 - Another piece of the prologue puzzle
PART 0.3 - Viva la IP 4Z!
PART 0.4 - Robotman
PART 0.5 - Interference problems
PART 0.6 - Can I play Tetris?
PART 0.7 - Tangerine and familiar
PART 1.0 - Now things got serious!
PART 1.1 - Hello, Thibault and friends!
PART 1.2 - Poor kitty
PART 1.3 - Curse you, Team Oil Crisis!
PART 1.4 - Interlude
PART 2.0 - Bird bird bird, bird is the word!
PART 2.1 - D. Head
PART 2.2 - Good night!
PART 3.0 - Freeway Rockstar
PART 3.1 - DISCO TJO DISCO HEJ
PART 3.2 - Van-Werewolf 1-0
PART 4.0 - Calm after the storm
PART 5.0 - Mirror mirror on the…oh, crap!
PART 5.1 - Hello, little puppies!
PART 6.0 - Speed
PART 6.1 - GIMME OXYGEN! (feat. Madrias)
PART 6.2 - Steamin’ hot! (feat. Elizipeazie)
PART 7.0 - The Kayak
PART 7.1 - Marie the valkyrie?
PART 7.2 - Vegetables
PART 7.3 - Time to tie things up.
PART 8.0 - The hangover
PART 8.1 - The new team member
PART 9.0 - From pink to brown
PART 9.1 - Co-op with Madrias and Elizipeazie
PART 9.2 - Where is Sonic?
PART 10.0 - First at last!
PART 10.1 - Co-op with Variationofvariables
PART 11.0 - Why is this van so damn fast?
PART 11.1 - Co-op with Madrias
PART 11.2 - Demons and dragons bullshit
PART 11.3 - Oops, thank you, Kaylie!

PART 12.0 - Snap, crackle and pop!

In the morning, Marie was still sleeping in the back of the van, which didn’t seem to bother Janne or Andreas a lot, they closed the (stiff) sliding door and went away.

“She will wake up sooner or later”, Janne said.
“Yeah, and we don’t have the time to wait for her!”, Andreas answered, while the raspy little four banger woke up to life again. And once again, they were quite far forward in the pack, something made this van go just better and better for every kilometer, but one that would never have admitted that strange behaviour was Andreas.

“Hey, no doubt that Fireball Roberts is one of your heroes”, Janne laughed.
“Sometimes I do wish I was a NASCAR driver in the 60s instead of doing stupid shit like this”, Andreas answered a bit annoyed.

Something that was less happy about the pace, though, was the fuel gauge. The needle was pointing towards “E”, and Andreas was steering the van to the side of the road, opening the rear doors to reach the jerry cans.

“Hyuuurggghhhh…”
“Did you have a good nights sleep, Marie?”, Andreas laughed.
“What the fuck happened and where are we?”, she asked.
“You got drunk for probably the first time in your life, and you are i a pink van in Crugandr”, Andreas sighed. “Now, get into the van while I fill this damn thing up.”

Marie entered the van through the driver’s door and slid over to the mid bench position.
“Uhhhh…Janne…is there any beer left?”, she asked.
“No, you drank it all yesterday”, Janne answered.
“FUCK!”, Marie said and banged the dashboard hard enough to scare Sonic that was sleeping peacefully and quiet there, making him jump into her face that just had started to heal from the headbutting incident.
“NO…STOP SCRATCHING ME YOU LITTLE BEAST…YAAARGH!”, she was screaming until he jumped down on the floor again.
“MAYDAY, MAYDAY, SOS, AND ALL THAT KINDS OF BULLSHIT, WE ARE STRANDED WITHOUT BEER!”, she was yelling into the CB until Janne switched that thing off.
“That thing is no fucking toy, it is meant for important stuff!”, Janne said.
“What is more important than beer anyway?”, Marie asked, while Andreas jumped into the drivers seat and started the thing up. He put the column shifter into “D”, took his foot off the brake pedal and…
“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

He was staring at Marie with an angry look to his face. “ONE MORE TIME, AND I WILL THROW YOUR GODDAMNED PORCUPINE TO THE DYRE!”

“Just don’t listen to him, my little friend!”, she said to Sonic.

Coming closer to the finish line, all of a sudden strange noises were coming from under the front seat, then everything went dead quiet and both oil pressure and charging warning lights were lit up on the dash.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?”, Andreas said, and tried to crank the engine. Obviously it was still turning around, but something sounded really strange.

“Absolutely no compression, it sounds like”, Andreas said.
“Yeah. Hopefully it is just the timing belt”, Janne answered.
"The 4Z is a non-interference engine, right?, he asked.
“Yup!”, Janne said and went out to get a new belt and some tools from the back of the van. “Get out so I can remove the front bench, it has to be done to reach the timing cover easily”.

With the cover removed, he could absolutely see that he was indeed right, there was nothing left of the old cam belt. Strange, since it was still well inside the interval, and it was of course a genuine IP spare part, but oh well.

“What is the odds for this?”, Janne said. “The camshaft stopped when it was exactly on the marking! Oh, well, now I just have to put the crank in the right position I guess, swap the belt and then we are good to go.”

He turned on the CB again. “Team Hillbilly Rollers here, we are far from stranded, just some minor repairs needed that should be finished very soon”, and indeed team after team was passing the pink van with its hazard flashers turned on at the side of the road, while Janne was swapping out the old timing belt.

"Should be good to go now I guess, let’s do a startup attempt before we put everything back in place!, he said, and cranked the starter again.

SNAP CRACK KAPOW!

He observed that the gear for the camshaft was indeed not moving at all, which seemed to have killed the new belt, too.

“CRAP!”, Janne was shouting and threw the tools out of the door, barely missing Team Mravolinski-Chitco’s Kontir while it passed by. “The camshaft is jammed and we have no spare belt left either. We could as well end the race here and now…”

TO BE CONTINUED


@MrdjaNikolen

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Team Mravolinski-Chitco

Enlightening plan put into action, flying tools and Trugarde party camp

You will excuse the fact that this is still going to start in same day as previous post (this being reply to said post, like always)

There was little bit of something we needed to get to support that plan

Klimentol: Hmm, do we want single-piece or multi-piece?
Mrdja: I vote for single, we are doing custom work anyway and its likely going to be better protection against likely cold she might experience

Aydar: Its useless protection of cold if it gets wet…which it will, knowing how both she and weather generally work.
Mrdja: Problem im seeing here is that she is going to be very limited in her ability to change clothing…and there is going to be shortage of ppl ready to assist her with that.
Pi: Im not going alone tho.
Mrdja: True, but neither Tatica(1) or Andrea would be much of use at first. Andrea will when/if she adapts, which takes some fair bit of time most likely.
Maybe some water-proof material?

Klimentol: Thats rather doubtful. Even if we do manage to find such thing, still stands that it would be out of place and likely very hard to maintain.
Not really convinced that we would put that amount of care ourselves.

Mrdja: True.
We do have some more breathing space to go and refine everything.
Better we here than them there.
Beauty of this place is that we can send Pi to deal with it.
Pi: Do you really want me to do something that requires thinking?
Mrdja: Only one here getting taste of your mistake would be you…so yes.

Aydar: We should gather some basic material, worthy of our beloved creature.
Pi: :face_with_raised_eyebrow: Ok? I have a feeling that material would not be that easy to identify as clothing material.
Aydar: Maaybe, but we shall get it cheap.

(1) Tatica (said as Tha-tee-tza) is denoting certain imaginary character of mine.
“Tatica” can be translated as “small dad” or “daddy”; it literally IS diminutive version of “dad”

Party?

Chicota: I intercepted some message when noone else seemed to be concerned about it

In case you have forgotten, message would be transmitted by Nova:
(Below is version for our team)

Attention Team Mravolinski-Chitco. We have all been invited to a party in Trugarde. As a result, our camp has been moved to the Queen’s Garden, next to the Queen’s Station, in the center of Trugarde. Thank you for listening.

K: Can you repeat that message again?
C: (Repeats)
K: Perfect. Why tho?
C: Like i would know. I just hope there would be some local booze to be…evaluated.
K: Ofc you do.
Aydar: Seems that these were particularly impressed for our Dyre fight
Klimentol: You know celebrating that makes no sense.
Aydar: True. Wait…remember that dude from previous town, worker on station that filled us up?
Klimentol: Oh my…they did it

(In previous part of story, we were filling up when on other part of station, Railway Robert prepared to get that record. We were informed about this by that guy.)

Aydar: Yes…so they are throwing party in that name.
Chicota: I like how that sounds…
Someone should congratulate them and maybe ask about speed they did.
Mrdja: Ok.
Klimentol: With that sorted out, we are ready to return our thoughts towards more pressing issues…even tho these affect total of one member

Great progress in that regard was achieved when certain local got contents of “beer” tank in place of some old rags he had around
(One of tanks intended for Chicota’s beer was filled by sweaty water by accident; VerBanka was also helping him back then)

With this great success, it was time to get back into camp and prepare for next day and stage.

Driving car, flying tools

Morning came and with it, new stage.
This is one of those stages where Mrdja took the hot seat…which was mechanically cleaned from goat residue beforehand.
Not bothering too much, after obtaining comfortable pace, cruise control was set.
VerBanka took middle front and Pi filled that row.


Klimentol, Aydar and Chicota were busy in unlikely scenario of clothing designers.
All three of them had proven time and time again that they are experts in vast amount of fields (especially applying to first two) but this is one of those areas where…its not so great.
Klimentol had experience in choosing clothes for some other character, which was made using very precise specs to achieve utmost similarity with reference person.
Resulting clothes were sweatpants and shirts that can best be described as

50 shades of grey with questionable quality

Where first part refers to color of them, going from white to unmistakably grey.


Not dissimilar to said color choice, drive was almost as boring

Well, apart from that part where we were joined by very special locals, driving “Little Monster” if hood lettering is to be believed.
Occupants were quite unusual as well, but that hardly comes as surprize.

There was some inconclusive racing to be had with them, inconclusive refering to results of said racing which was of kind “You see that thing there? Lets race to it. Winner gets bragging rights and nothing else.”
They needed to step down on their pace at some point, making us pass them by quite the margin.

Its now as good time as ever to mention @Knugcab and seeing that his post is directly above this one, i find no need to further explain.

“MAYDAY, MAYDAY, SOS, AND ALL THAT KINDS OF BULLSHIT, WE ARE STRANDED WITHOUT BEER!” , Marie was yelling into the CB until Janne switched that thing off.

Chicota released heavy sigh at this. He related to Marie’s struggles quite deeply and for same reason, being without beer for quite some time.
-This reminds me, i should definitely fill up those two tanks for my beer in this next town. I kinda dont care about cost, i will find way to do it.
Klimentol: Thats very ambitious plan, considering we are talking about lot of space in those…and i have feeling you would want to fill them to the brim.
Considering rest of us will prob also use them very occasionally, we might allow you to bring some money to fill them, but dont expect much: Marie would be more consistent company in that regard anyway.
Chicota: Yes, would invite her to hang out occassionally or something, but to serve her plain water is…not exactly sign of good host, knowing her as i kinda do.
We could even get into beer hunting together, could be fun.

Aydar: Probably, but either she or her teammates might have plans for later

Turns out, they would get kinda busy on road

Team Hillbilly Rollers here, we are far from stranded, just some minor repairs needed that should be finished very soon

(Pi had clicked some button on radio)
Klimentol: Very well, we have chance to overtake them on this stage.
VerBanka: Kinda heartless claim, isnt it?
Klimentol:

We want to be first by all reasonable means neccessary,

one that has no such desire cant grasp about what this is partially all about.
But we all do, pushing as much as we can to better the rest and maybe overcome our own expectations.

I have no doubt that they will fix that up, but even if not, someone (maybe even us) can help

Pi: I kinda clicked on this button few moments earlier…what does it do?
VerBanka: Thats CB radio, means of communication between teams on the move.
Now its in “off” position, meaning that what we are talking isnt transmitted to rest of them.

Now concerned Klimentol: When exactly you clicked on that?
Pi: First i wanted to turn it off after their message, only to notice it was turned on while you were talking.
-See, thats what concerns me, seeing that cutting off what i said can give very different view on matter, DEPENDING ON WHEN YOU CLICKED THAT BUTTON.

PI: (Gulping)

(I used Details capability: title of it reveals what could have been heard through CB radio and opening it up reveals rest of what he said.
That part was AFTER ending the transmission)

Klimentol: Nevermind, i will clear that up with them when we arrive in camp
WATCH OUT

(Thrown tool was barely missed)

Look at what you have done by being finger-happy!

-Sorry…

Arrival and spread

Journey through town itself provided no significant news or anything else worth mentioning.
After fair bit of asking around, team had established themselves in adequate place.
Ofc this also means they have arranged themselves accordingly:
-Mrdja plans to congratulate RK Series Racing on record and ask what speed they achieved. @Elizipeazie
-Klimentol and Chicota are visiting Hillbilly Rollers when those potentially arrive: Klimentol to clarify and potentially apologise and Chicota planned to invite Marie on trying to get themselves some beer
-Pi and VerBanka are trying to sort out clothing for Pi
-Aydar will manage accomodation, food and drinks of non-alcoholic kind

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noted:
i shall contact you through discord once the team is in camp and forward you the relevant information regarding availability of the team (and more importantly Valentin) and what they are doing at that point in time

3 Likes

RK Series Racing; Stage 11 Drive; Part 2

once again, in collab with @Madrias


On the way to the transition, changes to the schedule are in order, given that Kaylie has to be dropped off early to not be thrown head-first into the party as part of the big attraction.
As such, the team stopped at Garda Winn station to communicate the change of plans to the station master.

“Erm… i need to talk to the local station master to coordinate your trip and it’s destination with the local staff. Connor will remain here to maintain the boiler. Everyone else, please get out. Otherwise i’m stuck in here.”, Valentin explained to the second row, who only heard all this over again because Kaylie had her first ride along with Robert.
“Sure, not a problem.”, Kaylie replied quickly, making her way back out of the car once Constantin freed up the way, followed afterwards by Tim, thus vacating the entire rear bench.

Afterwards, the usual procedure of getting Valentin out of the Dione followed without issue, resulting in Val being back on his crutches. Seeing his left ankle still unladen made Kaylie a little uneasy, though.
“I’ll speak to my brother once I make it to camp. He should take another look at that ankle.”, she said, glancing at the affected foot, most of which was ever so slightly off the ground.
“Yeah it still feels like absolute dogshit… That pain cream did help a bit while it lasted… in masking the underlying issue, whatever that may be.” Valentin answered, also looking down at his feet.

A moment of silence ensued, followed by Valentin simply turning around, heading into the station to arrange the change of plans.
About 10 minutes later, he slowly returned, hobbling up to the car.
Connor immediately got out, freeing up the entry path for Valentin, who got back in with great care to not bump any of the fireman controls.

“All aboard!”, he said once in his seat and they were back moving shortly afterwards.
“I have arranged a 6 minute layover at that station you mentioned. Should be plenty enough for you to get out, i think.”, Valentin said as the Dione rumbled through traffic towards the actual transition point this time.

Not much happened for some time and even the transition itself wasn’t anything of note.
“So that’s how you get on and off the rails…” Kaylie commented once Constantin was back inside.
“Changing a set of wheels twice a day would be more work than a few hundred crank turns.” Constantin added.

And with that, the Redneck Railcar embarked onto the Longitude Mainline, quickly gaining speed to eventually match the customary 100 miles per hour line speed. Once there, things calmed down substantially, the smooth rails soundly beating any road in terms of comfort, even with the archaic leaf suspension of Robert.

After a good hour of silence, Kaylie decided to break the ice and start a conversation:
“I’m curious, what do the four of you think about the event so far? I have to plan ahead for the next one, so I’ll take any complaints, compliments, or suggestions equally into consideration.”
While Valentin and Constantin started thinking about their answer, Tim already had made up his mind.

“I love it. New people, new places, new problems to solve, it’s great!”, he said, smiling in excitement.
“Cannot complain.” Constantin followed “It’s a military operation without the seriousness of it all, which is a nice change of pace, i think… Reminds me of basic training. The field exercise at the end of it, specifically.”

Afterwards, silence followed as Valentin tried to compose a set of sentences that accurately conveyed his thoughts without risk of insulting anyone.
Eventually, Valentin spoke up: “I don’t know how exactly to say this… The event itself is fine and all. I just didn’t expect… all of this.”
The insecurity and doubt in his voice was tangible as he spoke, occasionally glancing into the interior mirror to make sure he hadn’t hurt Kaylie’s feelings.
“Considering what you’ve been through, Valentin, I’m not surprised,” Kaylie replied with a light smile. “You’ve had a tough time out here. The breakdown and rebuild of this car. The upgrade to get it off of the roads. The, well… That mishap with the window. Now the unexpected fame from breaking a speed record when you were testing equipment. I’m not sure I’d handle it half as well as you have, to be honest,” she added.
“Very uplifting…” Valentin muttered with obvious irony, leaning forwards to rest his chin onto the currently useless steering wheel.
“How many people could snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat? You’re among that number, Valentin. When this car broke down, you were the one who came up with the idea to convert it to steam. When the roads got rough, you were the one who thought to put the car on the rails. You’re a problem-solver, Valentin. When something goes wrong, you’ll eventually come up with a solution.”, Kayden explained, trying her best to improve Valentin’s poor morale.
“In exchange i’m sat in a rail-car on some foreign planet, with a useless ankle, having broken a speed record that i didn’t intend on breaking in the first place and now i’m apparently known by literally everyone i come across.”, Valentin added, mentally stomping the brakes against Kaylie’s words of support.

Kaylie thought for a couple of seconds, then replied, “Records are meant to be broken, Valentin. Someone will come along eventually and break that record. It might not happen in the time left in this rally, but, fame doesn’t last. I’ll make sure Kayden knows to take a look at that ankle, there might be something more he could do, get you walking again. I’d offer to fix it myself,” she said with a light smile, “but it’s flesh and blood, so I’d have no clue what to do. As for it being a different planet,” Kaylie said with a slight sigh, “I didn’t consider that, to be honest, as a potential issue. See, where I’m from, visiting different planets is… Well, as common as going to a theme park, I suppose. But I can understand the fear, the uncertainty. Worrying about being able to go home. I know that one, too. We ended up at Earth because my brother got us stranded there. We’re stuck until we can refuel our ship, and, damn it, I can’t figure out how we’re going to fuel it to get home. So we’re stuck in a world that is not our own, just trying to get by, day-by-day, until we make it work. It sounds cliché, because it is, but I get by on hope. Hope that one day, we’ll figure it out and I’ll see home again.”

Valentin took a while to process the seemingly endless rambling Kaylie served this time around.
“I’m already a lighthouse. Easily spotted and impossible to hide. Now i’m a famous lighthouse hunted by everyone…”, he began in reference to his appearance.
“Yes, fame won’t last, but it’s there now and i didn’t ask for it. At least very little of that fame will carry over to earth, i guess… Being stranded is one thing. Being stranded far away from any place that is familiar is another.” he continued, falling back into his seat again, taking a deep breath, followed by an exhaustive sigh.

Kaylie nodded as she heard Valentin’s response. “I understand that. Not personally, but… Well, you’ve seen Kivenaal. Even met him. Big guy, four arms, kinda stands out in a crowd, even around here. He might not be famous, but for some reason, he wanted a disguise going into this party. Something about “not wanting to be worshipped” and “not being who they think I am.” He’s… I hope for his sake that the disguise works, because he really needs to unwind a bit,” Kaylie said.

“We are approaching our scheduled refueling stop. In two sections, speed will be restricted to 25 mph.” Connor remarked, seemingly completely oblivious to the mental battle Val is fighting at the moment.
After Connor broke the news of them approaching their refueling stop, Kaylie smiled lightly. “As for being stranded far away from any place you can see as familiar, I do understand that one personally. For me, Earth is as strange as Crugandr is for you, and with the technology Earth has, it would take me 2,000 years to go home. And I won’t live that long. None of us do.”
Kaylie smirked, “Hell, three years ago, we went on a road trip for the first time, and our older brother managed to accidentally turn the air conditioning on. It took us ten minutes to figure out that there was a light on over the snowflake button.”

“Wait… your… race? Civilization? People? Aren’t terminally car-brained to the point of having standardized AC controls?”, Valentin asked in disbelief. After all, AC controls to him generally weren’t much more than three knobs and a button.

Kaylie smiled. “We have something similar to your cars, but they’re relatively rare. Most of our cities are actually optimized for cycling. It’s inexpensive, convenient, a fast way to get around. People who have cars tend to use them when they need to travel outside of the city. But most people just use the trains and bring their bicycle along,” Kaylie replied. “We have an elevated high-speed rail system between major cities. 350 kilometers per hour in relative comfort.” After a moment, she sighed lightly and said, “Sadly, I’ll have to get used to driving, because the United States is terrible for bicycle riding in the first place, and sadly, Jayde’s leg causes him a bit too much pain for him to want to ride everywhere, so he walks. And it’s not like they really make motorcycles big enough for him, so that means getting a truck, and I really don’t want to have to do that.”

In the meantime, Valentin reached over to the fireman half to adjust a lever, altering the throttle behavior. Soon after, Robert begins to slow down as they approach the lower speed limit caused by the turnout to the refueling yard.
“That… certainly sounds more developed than most of the western world i am aware of. Except maybe the Netherlands, but their trains don’t go that fast as far as i know.” Valentin said, wondering what their world might look like in terms of city planning, architecture and traffic management.
“Wasn’t Jayde that robe-wearing… ‘guy’? Having leg issues because of cycling sound like poor bike fit to me… I am on a bike to fix my knees and keep them going. Lower impact than walking or running and all…” Valentin pondered, half aloud but still perfectly audible for Kaylie in the back.
“Yes, Jayde is the one in the robe,” Kaylie said with a light smile, “with the mechanical leg. As for poor bike fit, it’s possible. From what he’s said to me, the person who sold him his bike was more excited to meet Jayde than he was to do his job properly.”
“Classic chain-store bike retailer. Sell the bike and don’t care about customer support. That thing probably is at least ten centimeters too small…” Valentin grumbled, shaking his head a little while maintaining forward visibility. “Not in a million years would he fit onto a mass-market frame.”
“I’ll forward the info to Jayde. Maybe you could give him a helping hand regarding bicycles.” Kaylie replied, which wasn’t met with an answer on Valentin’s part because they had arrived at the refuelling spot.

There, Constantin got out and took care of the kerosene in the back while local staff topped up the engine’s water supply. Evidently, they were excited about meeting the Railcar, but they performed their work well and within less than ten minutes, the pit stop was completed and the trip continued.

Kaylie smiled as she watched the refueling process taking place, seeing the speed at which everyone worked to top up the water and fill the fuel tank. Once they were back on the road again, Kaylie looked around at everyone, then asked, “So, this is probably going to seem like it’s coming out of absolutely nowhere, but… Does Anhultz make any large vehicles? Trucks or vans, or what do they call them again? Minivans, I think. Though I’ve also heard them called MPV’s. Just… I know I can’t escape having to drive in the United States, and I’ve gotten a bit tired of having to constantly fix ridiculous problems with the usual cars I find. I know two things. One, I’m never buying another used Ishu again because every single one of them leaks oil. Two, Bricksley may make decent old cars, but anything they’ve made past 2000 has been absolute crap. I swear, I replace more Bricksley automatic gearboxes in my shop than anything else.”

“Well they do have a big van of sorts. The Ganymede or what’s it called… Think of it like the huge soccer mom vans with sliding doors and all.” Tim quipped, not really thinking before talking.
“There’s Moover and Moover Heavy Industries. They make light-duty trucks, large panel vans and the like. They share engines and likely a whole lot else with Anhultz, so parts are laughably cheap and plentiful. Said to be equally, if not more bulletproof than mainline Anhultz cars. The Heavy division is more semis and trains and such. My father absolutely swears by them for his haulage business, with good reason.” Valentin added as Robert gained speed.

“Interesting,” Kaylie said, listening to both Tim and Valentin. “It makes sense that if there’s an industrial company sharing parts with them, that explains why Anhultz is so reliable.” After a moment, she smiled. “I know vans are capable vehicles. Good for cargo, equally good for passengers if set up for that. Everyone thinks they need a truck, but most people would be better off with a van anyway. And don’t even get me started on the SUV thing. I hate the damn things. I get why some of the crew own them, it’s one of the easiest vehicles to find that they’ll fit in, but… Vans are just better.”

“SUV’s are the embodiment of car-brained evil!” Valentin exclaimed. “I agree, panel vans and MPVs are better at being SUVs than SUVs are.”
Valentin took a few deep breaths to not talk himself into a rage against cars and their drivers.
“Anyway… where were we?”
“Agreeing on how much we both dislike SUV’s,” Kaylie quipped with a smile. “But, yeah, vans just make a lot of sense. They’ll haul plywood and furniture, tow trailers, some can handle rough roads and not bust up the cargo. And MPV’s make just as much sense, because underneath the nice seats is still the soul of a van.”
“Yeah they’re horrible cars by every metric…” Valentin replied, failing to come up with a suitable way to continue the conversation. In the silence that followed, Valentin starts to absentmindedly tap on the rim of the steering wheel. Tim returns to watching the landscape out of his window, something Constantin has been doing since they departed from the refueling stop.

Kaylie smiled, just enjoying the ride at this point. She could certainly see why they’d taken the time to put the Dione on the rails, as this was far smoother than any of the roads had been. In a way, she really didn’t envy what the others in her team were going through, knowing the road was going to be far rougher than this, in a truck far louder than the Dione, even with the Dione breezing down the rails at a decent pace. Her ear twitched and she looked toward Constantin’s side of the car as she thought she heard a hint of the Bricksley’s roaring V8. Then, for the briefest of moments, she heard it for sure, a great roaring rasping bellow of 8 cylinders working hard . “What the fuck is she doing to that poor truck?” Kaylie grumbled. Just as soon as she’d heard the sound, it faded into the distance.

“Huh?” Tim turned around to face Kaylie, unsure on if he was being spoken to directly.
“What?” Constantin muttered as well, in unison with Tim, equally unaware of any sound Kaylie seemingly heard. Valentin up front, peeked into the interior mirror to see what was happening in the back, but didn’t say anything at the moment.
“May I borrow the CB handle for a moment?” Kaylie asked, looking in the general direction of where she’d heard the sound.
“Sure? Don’t expect anyone to be in range, though…” Valentin answered, as he grabbed the handle with his right hand. Said handle was then passed on towards the rear across his shoulder and to Kaylie, who gladly accepted the device.

Kaylie nodded. “Thank you.” She keyed the microphone, then spoke, “Kaylie here, can I get a situation report from you, Kayden?”
After a brief second, Kayden responded, “Hello, sis!” In the background, the roar of the V8 could still be heard alongside the sound of all-terrain tires clinging desperately to the ragged edge of grip. “You know, Nova’s not doing too bad over here. We got past the damned Magistrate, now she’s determined to catch the Yamada. How is it over there?”
Kaylie chuckled. “Fast and smooth. A little bit warm for my taste, but I am sitting inside a steam locomotive. Good to hear from you.”
“Good to hear you’re okay, too, sis. Stay safe out there,” Kayden said. By then, the signal was getting weak, introducing static into the last of Kayden’s statement, but Kaylie still smiled, then handed the radio back to Valentin.
“Thank you, Valentin,” she said.
“Nothing to be thankful about. It’s your radio…” Valentin protested. “You have the choice of heat or lots of noise… had to get rid of the AC compressor as i couldn’t find a feasible way to drive it other than the engine directly, which has no idle speed…” he added, as Tim jumped the gun a bit by rolling down his window juust far enough to let some air in. That ‘little bit’ was a sizeable draft, creating copious amounts of wind noise to go along with it.

Kaylie went to reply to Valentin that it was okay and she understood, but at that time, Tim opened the window and filled the cabin with a roaring draft of air. Kaylie folded her ears flat against the noise, then motioned to Tim to roll it back up as the noise was far worse in her opinion than the heat.
Kaylie looked to Tim. “Thank you,” she said, before looking toward the rear-view mirror where Valentin was visible. “I completely understand, Valentin. Air conditioning compressors are a pain no matter what. And as you said, leaving it coupled to the engine when the engine no longer idles, it’s either turning because the car is moving, or it’s off because the car is sitting still, well, it’s not exactly sensible,” Kaylie replied. “And I did have to thank you, because you did hand me the microphone. You didn’t have to do that.”
“Nobody forced me to, but i also didn’t have a reason to not do it.” Valentin countered, looking back at Kaylie through that same mirror before returning to an angle that has his gaze slightly miss Kaylie, instead focusing in what is ahead of the train. “Maybe i can modernize that thing some time to electrify that kind of stuff…” he added, not exactly filled with confidence as he had zero demand for such a vehicle at home.
Kaylie smiled. “I’d think it’d be easier to improve the comfort by separating the boiler room from the rest of the cab. I’m far from an expert, but… A bit of metal, some insulation material, and another bit of metal to trap it all might help. I know, you’ve probably thought of that already, but, sometimes hearing another person having the same idea can help.”
“As if that fixes the 100 degree heat this place always has” Tim snarked back, being the person the most ‘affected’ by the tropical climate of Crugandr.
Valentin also chuckled ever so slightly, nodding in agreement to both of them.
“It’s a way, but something active would be nice eventually…”, he added.

They kept chatting for a little while longer until the interior eventually went silent, save for ambient noises of the engine, rails and such. A while later, Robert is slowed down in approach to Kaylie’s drop-off station. Though having announced the change of plans had a caveat: The other station knew about Record-Runner-Robert coming through and even stopping, which promptly was announced via the local PA system. As such, the platform was absolutely jam-packed with curious people wanting to have a look.
The Dione comes to a halt, surrounded by loads of locals on the platform, some of which simple commuters waiting for following trains, others having joined from other parts of the station.
“Well there we are…” Valentin said, already anxious about what is to come at the main station.
Constantin already opened the door to everyone cheering, making way for Kaylie to leave.
Kaylie smiled, thanked Valentin for the ride, then stepped out of the Dione, taking care to not bump into anyone. She watched as Constantin returned to the car, then watched the Dione breeze away down the rails, and after seeing them disappear from view, she wandered outside the station, following the crowd of people. Not long afterward, she saw a small train shuffle up to the equally small ground-level platform outside the station, with an older 0-4-0 tank engine at the front and two coaches just behind it, the stairs just lining up with the edge of the platform to make boarding a little easier. The conductor called out for all people heading to the party to board the train, Kaylie stepped aboard, and a few long minutes later, once everyone was seated, she was on the move again. Compared to the Dione, the party train was far from luxurious, and nowhere near as quick, but she understood that this was far better than hiking the last mile or two.

Back at the Dione, the last mile to the actual main station wasn’t all that exciting, courtesy of low speed limits, lots of other trains also milling about and the uncertainty of what is to come once they arrive at their designated platform. Once there, the initial anxiety proved justified. What feels like half the city was present and at the end of the bay platform where it joins the connecting walkways. The platform itself was remarkably empty, thanks to work being put in by crowd control guards. Robert slowly rolls up to the very end of the rail up to the buffer, coming to a stop a few feet shy of it.
Constantin and Tim already got out of the car, while Connor put in the work in de-steaming Robert, making sure that enough clearance was available surrounding the car.
Valentin took a few deep breaths in preparation before starting the usual procedure of getting out of the car, made more difficult by the platform edge blocking the door from opening all the way.

to be continued

3 Likes

Team Shift Happens

(Thank you to @Elizipeazie for writing this with me.)

RK Series Racing; Stage 11 Camp


The process of getting out took quite a bit longer than usual, thanks to space restrictions on the way out and the coarse railroad ballast making it hard for his crutches to get good grip for stabilization. While everyone else simply climbed up onto the platform, Valentin had to resort to a n intermediary step of taking a seat on the edge, shuffling backwards a bit and then getting back up. It worked, but was less-than-elegant at best.

Immediately after they were swarmed by press, wanting to take quick pictures for various print media throughout Crugandr. The immediate rush of photographers and associated personnel startled the crew. Though soon after, pictures were made, followed by a few minutes of waiting as the press said something about “some official arriving soon who also needed to be in frame”.

Lo and behold, that official arrived soon, approaching the group and professionally introducing himself to the team. Some awkward, but friendly exchanges later the press once again inquired about having their pictures taken. As such, the official handed a big sheet of cardboard-like material to the crew, which looked similar to a prize money check that can be seen at various events.

After that, they grouped up, Robert semi-visible in the background, being absolutely bombarded by about 15 people and their camera flashes while holding up that check of sorts.

Once that was done, the official procured another object, which in effect was a miniature suitcase.
“That board is used for promotional work and has no monetary value. The actual cash payout for having broken the speed record is in here and is valued at 550 Silver Syrkals.” the railway official said.

Instinctively, Valentin takes a look into the slightly-larger-than-a-lunchbox-sized container, finding 1100 bills, neatly bound to stacks of 100 bills, each valued at half a Silver Syrkal. The other team members also took a peek into there, but the container was closed up rather quickly to avoid unnecessary attention from less-than-lawful people.

With that, the official part of the party was sorted out, another set of congratulations spoken and both the official and the members of press left the scene, making way for the painter.
She also made herself known as she approached the group.
“Hello there… Name’s Karen Keegan. I was sent to have a painting of you done, if that’s okay with you.”, she said as she already started setting up her equipment on the platform.
As the crew didn’t really react in confusion about an unprompted painting request, she immediately kept rambling onwards:
“Good. Mind getting two of those benches over here for you to sit on? Cannot have you stood still there for an hour, especially with those crutches…”, she continued, completely oblivious to the team and their (lack of) reaction. Still, Constantin got to work dragging over one bench, followed soon after by the other.
“Erm… i guess we are doing this now?” Valentin asked, up until now completely unaware of this being planned.
“Looks like it… I’m not complaining, though.” Tim replied, taking a seat as instructed by Karen.
“This is a historical moment that needs historical documentation!” Karen exclaimed eagerly as she motioned around trying to get the benches and their occupants aligned as best as possible.

Once the scene was set, she started her work, as individual lucky members of the public were sent forward for their glory moment of questioning and chit-chatting with the now-famous railroad crew and engineers.
Most of them asked the same few questions, but it quickly became apparent that the record run was more accidental than intentional, which made the crowd much more cautious and respectful than they were previously.
The next hour (local time) wasn’t exactly eventful, with questions answered, paintings being painted, and movement being avoided.

After that, Karen thanked the group and packed her equipment back up, disappearing into the crowd soon after. The team took a little break, having a good sip of water, and a visit to the station’s bathroom facilities.
As they returned, they went back to the usual stuff of tending to local curiosity as a sort-of familiar face showed up, belonging to team Mravolinski-Chitco.
Some, arguably rather pleasant chit-chat followed, for once not wholly centered about Robert and the record run.
What is good must come to an end, though, as they parted ways again for the time being and the platform work returned to the ordinary FAQ-reciting.


It had been a while since Shift Happens had arrived in ‘camp’ and regrouped. Kaylie had let Jayde know that Valentin believed that his pain while riding a bicycle might be a result of a poorly set-up bicycle, and that if he had one set up for his form, he might actually prefer riding instead of walking. As a result, Jayde left Kaylie to check over the truck, intending on finding Valentin.

He knew Valentin was likely to be in the station, but when he walked in, he wasn’t quite expecting the number of people standing there. Thankfully, most people were willing to move enough to let Jayde through. As he got closer, Jayde noticed that Valentin looked more than just a little uncomfortable. “Hello, Valentin,” Jayde said, trying to be polite. “Kaylie mentioned to me that, well, you know quite a bit about cycling, and bicycles in general, but more specifically, that you’re thinking my pain might be caused by a bad set-up, and not by cycling in general. I know Trugarde well enough to find a cycling shop, if you think you might be able to help out. Plus, I think you might feel a bit better after a little fresh air.”


As Jayde approached, Valentin initially didn’t think too much of him, mentally preparing for another round of the usual questions of “how did it feel?” or “what motivated you to do it?”. But as Jayde began talking about how he was in need of a bicycle, Valentin’s face initially read confusion.

“Uhm… sure, i guess… though there’s like…” Valentin pauses for a moment, looking past Jayde into the crowd of unknown people behind him. “…a good few thousand people that are here because i ‘made history’.” He continued, torn between his duty at the party and this prime chance to get some change of pace from the continuous same-ness of the past few days.
A moment of silence followed as Valentin pondered about taking up the chance of fleeing the attention of the party visitors, which was broken by one of them brave enough to speak to him from across the platform.

“If you want a break, take it! Nobody here’s forcing you!” The unknown person amongst the ranks said, followed by a crescendo of cheers coming from the surrounding people indicating their support for the statement.
Valentin leant over a bit to once again look past Jayde, respectfully nodded into the crowd, vaguely towards the direction where the voice was coming from before returning to Jayde himself with his attention.
“Seems like the public is fine with it… So where exactly is that shop?” Valentin said to Jayde, still unsure on if what he did was right.

“Some of the people here have long memories,” Jayde said, before thinking for a moment on where the shop was in relation to the station. “It’s in the market district. Maybe a 10 minute walk from the station here. Might be a little longer because of the amount of people around, but we’ll manage.”

Valentin turned around to the other team members.
“Well i’ll get going for now… Not sure as to when i’ll return, but it won’t be too long, i think…” he said.
“No worries. I’d say you certainly earned the break with what you did for us and… all of them…” Tim countered as he finished his reply motioning to the crowd again, who once again cheered in support.
After making sure that he had all the things he needed, the remainder of the group was okay with it and the public support had calmed down in volume, he returned to face Jayde.
An exchange of nods confirmed the readiness of either party and they filtered through the jam-packed station, the locals going to great length to make sure that the pairing has enough space to maneuver.


The pair made their way out of the station, with Jayde leading the way toward the market district, checking every so often to make sure he wasn’t going too fast for Valentin. As they walked past the Queen’s Garden where all of the cars were parked, Kivenaal called out from his perch on the roof of the train station, “Hi, Valentin!” Jayde turned to look for the somewhat familiar voice, spotting Kivenaal, back in his usual black fur with red stripes, sitting on the roof of the train station like a living gargoyle.

While Jayde apparently expected Kivenaal’s call-out to them, Valentin certainly did not expect being called by first name, even with how famous he already was amongst the locals.
In an attempt to locate the source, he looks around, but loses focus on his crutches in doing so.
As a result, the right one loses traction, slipping on the rough cobblestone surface. While Valentin does manage to sort-of break the fall with his right foot, he could not regain balance, thus stumbling straight into Jayde’s left side.

Jayde gave a slight grunt as Valentin collided with him, though quickly reached out with his left hand, keeping Valentin upright, if leaning against him, without a risk of falling. Once Valentin was able to get the crutches back underneath him, Jayde shot a withering glare in Kivenaal’s direction.

“Sorry, Val. Also, sorry to you as well, Jayde,” Kivenaal said. “Picked this spot because most people don’t look up, wasn’t thinking-” Kivenaal paused as he yawned, shaking his head soon after, “Wasn’t thinking clearly when I said hello.”

Valentin hastily scrambled to get his crutches into position again, this time being extra cautious in getting them to grip well on the uneven surface.
This was followed by a quick glance at Jayde, then another attempt at locating Kivenaal up on the rooftops, which took a while, but ended up succesful.

Failing to grasp how Kivenaal got onto the roof in the first place, Valentin just looks at him, dumbfounded and not really doing anything.

Kivenaal looked at Valentin staring up at him with a look that, to him, clearly said ‘How the fuck did you get up there?’ He chuckled, then said, “There’s a bit of rough brick on the far side of the station, and I’ve always been a decent climber. Easy enough for me to maintain three points of contact at all times. Then it was just a matter of picking a good spot where I could watch the people without the people watching me.”

Once Jayde was sure that Valentin was okay and following him again, Jayde said to Valentin, “Kivenaal is quite good at reading facial expressions and body language. Kaylie said it best, I think. “Just think of your question around Kivenaal, he’ll answer it.” He does better with a bit of context, like you staring up at him, than he does if someone just looks confused in general, though.”

While Valentin clearly understood what Kivenaal said and the notion of “three contact points” made sense, scaling an unknown brick building with zero safety measures in place wasn’t a thing Valentin would even think of attempting.
He simply looked at Kivenaal for a bit longer, nodded a little, and, without saying anything, returned to Jayde to continue his journey to that bicycle shop he was talking about earlier.

“Some people do that well, i know… That guy is borderline uncanny, though…” Valentin replied.
“It’s as if he can read minds or something from a good 15 meters away.”

Jayde chuckled. “Think of it in context: You’re staring up at him with a look of confusion on your face. There’s two questions that anyone would ask in that moment: either “how did you get up there” or “why are you up there.” He answered both. And none of us really understand how much training he might have had in that skill. He might be a natural at it, or he may have spent a decade learning the art of reading expressions. He won’t talk about his past, so, we’re all left guessing,” Jayde replied.

Soon, however, they arrived at a somewhat large brick building with large, old plate glass windows somewhat distorting the view of what was inside, though as Jayde opened the door, it became crystal clear that Trugarde had a decent cycling shop for taller people. At the far end of the room, there were two people behind the counter, clearly twin brothers, though telling the two blond-haired, green-eyed men apart was made easy as one of them had a scar on his face. Both of them stood a little over 6 feet tall, were both a little on the thin side, but not quite as thin as Valentin was, and looked toward Jayde and Valentin as they recognized they had customers.

“Huh…” Valentin muttered as they round a corner to enter the bicycle shop.
Once in, he was greeted by the pair of employees and a sizeable array of bicycles line up in neat rows, sorted by type and price. Sport oriented bicycles, beach cruisers, utilitarian bicycles and the occasional oddball build were all present. Little placards detailed the price, sizing and specs of each bicycle being offered. To Valentin’s surprise, almost all offerings were using standards which on first glance seemed to equal those known on earth. On top, they all looked to be suited for far bigger riders than what the usual bike would accommodate on earthen bike stores. His initial curiosity and amazement at the plus-size offerings was interrupted by him remembering that he was there because of Jayde.
As such, he stops investigating the portfolio and turns back towards Jayde.

“Okay… so… uhm… what exactly is it that you’d be using that bike for?” Valentin asked, cautiously. While he did know a fair bit about bicycles and cycling as a whole, he never went about the process of getting the right bike for a rider covered in fur and more than a foot taller than the human lighthouse was already.

Jayde smiled, then said, “Ideally, I’d want to be able to ride around towns and cities, but I also have to keep in mind that sometimes I need to be able to travel a good bit of distance.” He thought for a moment, then added, “Sometimes, I need to carry goods with me as well, and where I normally live is in Miravall.” Jayde reached into the front flap of his bag, producing a map from the pocket, for once looking like something that would fit reasonably in the pocket it came out of. He unfolded the map and then carefully re-folded it to show just Trugarde and Miravall, connected by a winding forest road. “That road is well maintained cobblestone,” he said, “but it’s quite hilly, and there are a lot of turns. The last time I tried to ride between the two cities, well… I got here in the end and I was miserable.”

Jayde looked around, then said, “Was a bicycle about that size, similar style,” while motioning to a beach cruiser that was definitely not the right size for Jayde’s form.

Valentin listened intently and also took a look at that map that Jayde showed him.
“Well… no surprises there… i wouldn’t be riding a bike that is both to small and not fit for the trip i’m doing. I’d like to keep my knees intact and i guess you do too.”, Valentin answered in annoyance, looking at the beach cruiser in question. “Not having gears doesn’t help either.” he added, taking another, more precise look around the lot, stopping at what looked a mildly modified dutch-style bicycle.
He took a step towards that bike to read the placard attached to it, which detailed that it had a three-speed internal hub in the back, a front rim and rear coaster brake as well as some other niceties such as basic oil-based lights, a sturdy rear rack, a kickstand which kept the rear wheel off the ground, among other things.

“This could work… not 100% sure on the gearing in that hub, as i don’t know your capabilities at all, but some gears beats none.” Valentin said with cautious optimism. “Sure, aerodynamics are gonna be dogshit due to the upright position, but it’ll be less straining on the back and generally more comfy.” he added.

“Yeah, it caused pain in my good knee and was even less pleasant on my left thigh,” Jayde admitted. “Could barely walk after I got here and was dreading the trip back home.”

Once Valentin had spotted a bicycle, however, and mentioned to Jayde what he thought about it, Jayde smiled. “That already seems better than what I had. As you said, gears can make a big difference. Plus, that cargo rack looks big enough to handle just about anything I’d want to tie down and bring home.”

Soon, they were approached by one of the two salesmen in the shop. “Hello! My name is Adrian, my brother over there is Alex. Is there anything we can help the two of you with?” he asked.

“People always say that going up hills is hard, but they ignore gearing. It’s just as easy as on the flats, just slower.” Valentin chuckled as he was approached by the salesman, who politely offered assistance.

“Erm… it sounds specific, but do you know the gear ratios in that hub?” Valentin asked, as a low enough ratio makes hilly routes much easier.
The salesman takes a little look at the spec-sheet and then pulls a little cheat-sheet out of his pocket, onto which obscure data was written to avoid having to memorize it all.
“Uhhh… 1st is 1.33:1, second is 1:1 or direct drive, if you will and third is 0.75:1.”, Adrian reads aloud from his little slip of paper.
Valentin thinks a little, recalling how Crugandr was technologically behind Earth and truly wide-ratio gearing was either expensive or non-existant.
“Not the biggest gear reduction in history, but every bit helps, i guess… With an appropriate sprocket ratio, this could be a good hill-climber for that forest road of yours.” Valentin explains, taking another look at the drivetrain, which didn’t reveal much due to it being encased in a steel chain guard.

Jayde nodded. “At least I have a choice of speeds with this one,” he said. “My other bicycle, well… It doesn’t have this,” he added, lightly tapping the hub with a finger. “And there are times it felt like I was almost better off walking up the hill than to try riding up the hill.”

As he looked at the steel chain guard, he smiled. “And I’m glad to see one of those. Getting grease off of the inside of my leg was never a fun time. Nor was it fun to get a bit of fur pinched between the chain and the sprocket.”

“It sure does help. I have my methods, but this is also a way of doing it. Though getting the rear wheel out in case of a flat tyre will be a pain. That i can say.” Valentin explained, remembering that he forgot to apply his usual grease-prevention method on the new suit he bought. Though with the lack of seating in the shop and him being in crutches, he couldn’t rectify that either.

Adrian went ahead and pulled out the bike from the row of others it was parked in, allowing a better visual presentation of it.
The bike itself featured a typical dutch-style “opafiets” frame, bright turquoise in color. A brand name was written onto it with black, elaborate cursive letters backed by a strip of white going all the way around the down-tube, just a bit longer than the lettering itself is. The steampunk-looking oil lamps on either end completed the look which obviously was loosely inspired by the locomotives in use in Crugandr.
“If you want, you can have a go at testing it.” Adrian said as Alex went into the back, grabbing a basic selection of tools for quick adjustments if deemed necessary.

Jayde nodded, then said, “I do have to admit, I like the color.” After Adrian mentioned they could test it, and Alex grabbed a basic tool kit, Jayde gave a polite nod of understanding and acknowledgment, then added, “We will probably do that.”

He studied the bicycle now that it was out in the open, realizing it looked a lot closer to something he felt was his size. It also had a few extra little features, like the oil lamps, which already gave him a little more confidence in the idea of actually riding for distance instead of just around town, less worried about getting caught out in the dark. Sure, he could see well in the night, but other people sharing the road might not be able to, and the last thing he wanted was to come face-to-face with a carriage driver who never saw him there until after the accident.

Adrian led the two customers out in front of the shop, where he handed the bicycle to Jayde. He felt like the seat height was already very close to right for Jayde and so did Valentin, who couldn’t really work off of his usual checklist for bike adjustments as Jayde very obviously wasn’t human. As such, he simply waited for Jayde to do his first few laps to see how his pedaling technique panned out.

Jayde carefully got settled on the seat, getting off to a decent start compared to what he was used to. After a couple of quick laps, however, it was becoming obvious that he was having some slight difficulties, leaving him slightly unsettled at anything above a walking pace thanks to the added distance between ankle and toe. He pulled up next to Valentin and said, “It’s a lot better than my previous experience, but it feels like I’m nearly throwing myself out of the seat at the bottom of the pedal.”

As Jayde took the prospected vehicle around the area for a short while, Valentin carefully watched his motions on the bike. In doing so, he couldn’t ignore the impressive range of motion he was using in his angles. For a species based on lions, this isn’t all that surprising, but Valentin simply didn’t knew any better than “furry humanoid thing”. Still, as Jayde returned and gave his initial impression, he was certain that it needed some altering.

“Seats needs to go up. How far? Not sure, so we have to test it a few millimeters at a time until it feels right to you.” Valentin explained before the salesman had any chance to say anything. Not that they had much to say, as to them it looked about right.
“Looks fine to me, but i can raise it a bit if you want.” Alex said, as he instructed Jayde to dismount in order to make the necessary-but-to-him-unnecessary changes.

About a minute later, the bicycle is handed back to Jayde.

Jayde nodded, then tried again, each time bringing the bicycle back and having a small adjustment made. After a few small adjustments, however, it was quite apparent that Jayde was no longer struggling to stay settled in the seat at the bottom of the pedal stroke, instead able to apply the full power of his legs in the moment without lifting himself involuntarily out of the seat.

“That’s feeling a lot better,” Jayde admitted. “I feel like I could ride for hours like that, not just a matter of minutes.”

“We’ll have to see on longer rides if it actually works for you, especially on the other contact points that are your hands and… rear end.” Valentin explained, briefly pausing to find his words halfway through his sentence.
“Huh… if that bit of a change makes that big of a difference… i should try that on my bike.”, Adrian said enthusiastically, instantly getting Alex to nod in approval.
“One technique to get in the right ballpark is to take a seat on the bike and put the rider’s heel onto the pedal at the point in which it is the furthest from the saddle. If you can just about reach the pedal with your heel, then you are close already. Though make sure you are not shuffling over your bum on the seat to gain a bit of extra length. If you do that, it’s too high.” Valentin continued to satiate the curiosity of the salesmen. “Though i cannot say how well that will work with people of different… uhm… biological composition?”, he added, looking at Jayde in hopes of not having offended him.

The salesmen, however, took great interest and added the info onto their respective ‘cheat sheets’.
“I don’t know why, but it evidently seems to have worked, thank you!” Alex spoke, motioning towards Jayde as a subject of evidence.

Jayde chuckled. “Valentin, even among my own kind, I’m a little different. And I guarantee you, there’s nothing you could say to me that would be worse than what my own father said to me when I left my home in Altherys,” Jayde said, understanding at least Valentin’s intent when he looked his way.

“As for things you might be able to help me with, you said this bicycle has multiple speeds, but, I’m not entirely sure how to change them, or even how to know which one I’m using now,” Jayde admitted.

As Jayde inquired about the use of gearing, Valentin mentally face-palmed, having forgotten that the vast majority of the bikes here were single speed for financial reasons.

“Oh yeah… right. So in it’s very basic principle, it works the same as in a car, except that there aren’t any pedals and your legs are the clutch. So if you look at the handlebars, there’s a little steel lever with little numbers on there, corresponding to the three gears this bike has. Like in that truck of yours, 1 is the slowest gear, but easier to get going in and 3 is the other way around, with 2 being a middle ground. Basically, as soon as you start to put force into the pedals, you are ‘in gear’. Not pedaling is the equivalent of ‘neutral’, regardless of if it is rolling or not. Just be in ‘neutral’ if you want to change gears and you’ll be fine.”, Valentin took great care in showing the process to the best oh his abilities while also relating to what was already known to Jayde.
The twins were absolutely lost in confusion as neither of them had an idea what a car, let alone a clutch was, but they sure took great interest in how Valentin worked cooperatively with Jayde as the customer, despite him not having any obvious incentive to do so.

Jayde nodded, then said, “So, from what you’ve said, I’m in third gear, then.” He carefully moved the lever, changing from 3 down to 2, then started off with another lap, noticing it was a lot easier to get going, but he was pedaling faster to maintain the same easy-going slow speed he’d been doing before. Cautiously, he stopped pedaling, changed down from 2 to 1, and tried another lap, realizing that this gear would probably do really well for going up a hill while letting him keep relaxed instead of struggling for every bit of momentum. He pulled up next to Valentin again and smiled.

“That will make it a lot easier to deal with hills,” Jayde said with a smile.

“The sweet joys of proper-ish gearing.” Valentin chuckled, smiling at the thought of one more person now inclined just that bit away from cars.
“So what do you think?” Adrian asked in anticipation.
“Cannot say… cannot really ride anything other than a handbike like this.” Valentin said semi-jokingly in reference to his busted ankle. “He’s the one looking for a steed.”

“I think I’ll go for it,” Jayde said. “It’s nice having my own way to get around again, especially to get off of my left leg and let it rest for a while.” He got off of the bike and put the kick-stand down, before asking, “So, how much will it be?”

Adrian smiled, looked at the spec sheet again, then replied, “That’ll be 45 silver Syrkals.”

Jayde nodded and opened up his bag, grabbing a pouch of coins and, with a slight grimace on his face, counted out 45 of the silver coins. He showed a bit of relief as he handed the coins over, watching as Adrian counted them once more to be certain.

Adrian smiled and shook Jayde’s hand. “Thank you for doing business with us,” Adrian said.

Jayde responded with a respectful nod of his head, then looked to Valentin as Adrian and Alex returned to the store. “Thank you for helping me, Valentin,” Jayde said.

“Certainly beats repeating the same four answers a few hundred times…” Valentin replied once the payment was sorted and the employees back inside.
“Since you now have a very fashionable mechanical steed, you may want to prepare for eventualities out on the road. Namely… flat tires. Do you know how to patch an inner tube? Or at least replace one?”, he added, speaking from experience as a flat tire will end one’s fun all the time, but also end the trip as a whole if not properly prepared for.
“I… Have never had to do that, actually. My old bicycle had solid rubber tires,” Jayde admitted.
“Ah okay. Give me a moment.”, Valentin excused himself and headed back into the store, returning shortly after with a pouch that is attached to the bike via a few leather straps. Contained within was a simple pump, two spare inner tubes, some crude, stamped steel tyre levers as well as a few patches and the tools necessary to remove the wheels from the bike in the first place.

After that, Valentin first showed the process of changing out the inner tube, explaining each step as he went along from getting the wheel out, changing the tube itself to putting the wheel back in place. Jayde got to try his hand as well, managing to get the change done with only minor hiccups and a few additional “quality of life” tips.

With the bike back complete and the emergency equipment in place, they started heading back for the station on foot, with Jayde walking his new purchase along through the shopping area.

Jayde felt a lot better now that he had a way to get around without just having to rely on walking, and felt a lot better as well that he’d had at least some chance to bond with Valentin over something he could tell Valentin truly, deeply enjoyed. “Thank you again, Valentin, for helping me out. You ever need anything, just let me know, I’ll try to help,” Jayde said.

He looked up at the sky, making a rough guess on time by the position of the sun, and nodded. “Make sure you get something to eat, by the way. It’s easy to lose track of time and not pay attention to your own needs when in a crowd,” Jayde said. “I know, I’ve been there before. Tired, sore, hungry, dealing with too many people who didn’t give me enough space when I needed it. I ended up leaving Trugarde during a party that was held in my honor after the Queen heard that I’d helped defend Tapari against the invasion during the war. Ran halfway to Keepitz before I made camp. First time in… A while that I’ve been back here, since that moment.”

“Huh okay… glad to help.” Valentin replied, not sure what to do with the truckload of info he just had been given, though some good food did sound enticing to him.

As they walked past the row of parked cars of the other teams, they parted ways with Valentin heading back into the station to join up with his companions.


Jayde watched as Valentin headed back into the station, then made his own way back over to the Bricksley, where Kaylie and Malavera were already hard at work maintaining the truck. Specifically, Malavera was doing all the work while Kaylie stood there giving orders and instructions on how to properly change out a water pump. The puddle of water around the front of the truck told Jayde all he needed to know, that Malavera hadn’t done things in the right order to start with.

Kaylie looked up and smiled as she saw Jayde. “I see you got yourself a new bicycle. Val help you out with that?” she asked.

“Yes, he did. We’ll have to figure out a way to carry it safely on the truck, but at least I can get around town easier,” Jayde replied.

“Good. Have you seen Kivenaal anywhere?” Kaylie asked.

“Check the roof of the station. He nearly killed Val by saying hello,” Jayde replied.

“Yeah, that sounds like Kiva. Climb up out of sight to get some peace and quiet, end up forgetting that you’ll startle people like that. Rukari’s off getting us a hotel room for the night, and Kayden’s, well, I don’t know where he’s gone,” Kaylie said.

“There. Water pump is installed,” Malavera grumbled. “Are we done with this yet? I’d like to wring out my shirt instead of soaking in this mess.”

“Belt has to go back on first, then you have to fill the radiator and bleed all the air out of the loop,” Kaylie said. “After that, you get to help me find a way to carry Jayde’s bicycle on the truck.”

3 Likes

Kinda thought the challenge ended, but it gets better and better

Nope, still more stages to go. Just because we’re on a two-week schedule doesn’t mean it’s over.

2 Likes

Ah alright. Just sitting here playing the waiting game till late 2022 or 2023 to make a comeback (though the 2 week schedule does it’s effect of making the rounds more detailed)

Machinas Con Passione’s Shitbox Adventures Episode 9 - Storytime.

It’s been a long time on the road thus far for our heroes at Machinas Con Passione, but the morale booster of becoming a walking, talking van-band, along with said band’s ability to change songs depending on who sped past them on the fly, led to an all around enjoyable stage for the MCP members, who were glad to at least be able to focus on something other than the driving for once. It was business as usual for the hastily assembled crew, who, upon touching base in Trugarde, quickly got into their now established routine. Chad would do some disgustingly ridiculous feat of strength, Benjamin either began hunting or scribbling away at his log, Maria would go to sleep, and Giacomo would likely bother a team or two, while Thibault was generally pretty chill and had actually found himself on good terms with at least a good amount of the garage. Bill often found himself tagging along with Maria, because the alternative of being benched thousands of times or being stuck in an enclosed space with Giacomo for too long made the choice of staying inside an easy one.

Giacomo, being Giacomo, would take the first opportunity to get a painting of himself done he could, leading to the untimely interruption of Chad’s “daily grind”, which usually involved helping locals using his previously mentioned freakish power. The team would gather around and get their painting done, when Giacomo put on the smooth talk, loudly telling a “great story” of his to anyone within earshot, including various teams fortunate? or maybe unfortunate enough to listen to Giacomo go on. “Well.” Giacomo started. “I’m sure some of you are familiar with my team’s NASCAR program, right?” By this point, the vast majority of camp had become familiar with Machinas Con Passione’s history, more than likely without asking to hear any of it first. “Well, of course, our driver is one Ryouchi Katou. Son of a legend, Hikiko Katou.” Some of the more dedicated F1 fans in the crowd were at least familiar with Hikiko, to varying degrees. She’d spent 13 seasons in the sport, from 1988 to 2001, taking the 2000 season off on a sabbatical. Boasting 21 podiums in that time, she made Thibault, who had his own brush with Formula One, look like an absolute chump, with his paltry 2 point haul from his stints in 2015-2017, and substitute races in 2020. Thibault visibly shifted in his seat recalling his own experience in the sport. He at least found himself faring better than Ryouchi, who ended up being an F2 washout, and needed MCP to bail him out and take him to the United States, for reasons which remain foggy to this day. Giacomo couldn’t keep the grin off his face. “Let me tell you all, about my first brush with greatness!”

Naples, 1988.

image

Twenty.

Twenty-One.

Twenty-Two.
The analog numbers steadily increased on the elevator’s floor indicator, each number inducing another pang of anxiety in Hikiko Katou’s chest, each floor change scrambled her thoughts further and further. She knew the importance of meeting him today, but never that he was so tightly interconnected to her own past.
ding dong
The elevator doors opened, revealing an office space packed to the brim with extravagantly dressed, yet professional all the same workers, feverishly crunching numbers and making an assortment of phone calls. The back of the room held a set of booming doors, embroidered with wine red felt leather, and a sharply dressed woman of dark skin complexion answering two phone calls at once. Hikiko struggled to read the equally loud sign above the doors, needing her glasses to make sense of what was written. “Ufficio di Alessio Scarfiotti”. Fine gold print and everything. Hikiko approached the door, and, upon making eye contact with the secretary, was quickly buzzed in.

“Come in.” A voice boomed over the loudspeaker, which Hikiko had neglected to notice previously. Hikiko let herself in, being greeted by a surprisingly quaint room, not at all as extravagant as the office preceding it. It wasn’t bare bones, but it was a carefully curated balance between practicality and comfort, one seemingly befitting a particular person’s tastes. There were the basics, a bookshelf, filled with a large array of deeply complex technological engineering books relating to cars dating back to the Grand Prix era of the 30s, a fireplace, stoked with trees Hikiko recognized from the flight as being local to the area, and a middle aged Italian man, sat next to a boy who couldn’t have been older than Hikiko herself, quietly advising him over a sheet of paper. Upon Hikiko’s entrance, he immediately looked up to her, and the two made eye contact. In an instant, it was clear to Hikiko that she was staring at a man who’d become more than familiar with heartbreak. A man who seemed closed off, from just his eyes alone. She opened her mouth to speak, but he beat her to the punch. “Ah. it’s you. I expected this, but not so soon. you can’t be older than…” Hikiko filled in the gap for him.

“Seventeen.” The old man’s face changed from one of detached hardness to one of what almost seemed to be genuine pride. “Incredible. simply incredible. to progress so quickly at your age. You were no older than Giacomo here when you started.” Giacomo, too, was surprised by this information, but an exchange of eye contact between father and son communicated more than enough, and Giacomo went back to drawing. Hikiko maintained eye contact. “What do you know? About my career?” “Well, the long and short of it. you’re one of the best drivers Japan has to offer, but you’re so… inexperienced.” Hikiko held back a smile, pride swelling up within her. “Tyrrell signed me. if Julian doesn’t perform, I’ll get his seat.” Alessio’s expression hardened yet again. “Hm. I get a strange feeling you wanted to talk about something else.” Hikiko’s face hardened as well, the youth’s face lacking the wrinkles and experience to make as much of an impact with facial features alone compared to the older man, who’s face changed yet again. One of remorse, this time. Geniune sadness. “I… I’m sorry.” It was then another change happened, Hikiko’s pride quickly wallowed into despair and rage. She scoffed. “Sorry? Sorry doesn’t cut it! I’ve had to leave everything behind! My entire life! My family hates me, or thinks I’m dead! I… I haven’t seen my friends in 3 years… things would have been different if he was still alive, and you know it. You let him die, and made my life hell!”

Alessio faltered at the youth’s accusation. Those words were the same things he’d been telling himself for nearly 20 years now. He was still young then, deciding to start a Sports car team in the dawn of the 1970s, the team, which bore his name, designed a car from the ground up. Despite handling issues, the car found itself competitive, leading to the issues being overlooked. That is, of course, until Le Mans. Yasuhiro “Joe” Katou was in the cockpit then, but even a driver of his caliber couldn’t catch snap oversteer that violent. The car was in the trees before anyone back home even knew it. Alessio’s eyes began to well up, reliving the memory in his head once more, though he wasn’t ready to give in yet, ceding only sightly. “You didn’t deserve that. You made the ultimate sacrifice for your dream, but you know there’s another reason why you weren’t allowed to grow up around racing. There’s a reason why it was taken away from you.” Alessio had a knack for reading people, but he also had common sense. In racing, death is accepted. To an extent. There’s always a tolerance, an upper limit. One that would cause even the most die-hard fan to turn his TV off in disgust. He knew this, and Hikiko did as well. She sighed deeply. “1977… South Africa…” Alessio knew the race well. Who wouldn’t? To see the cycle continue, though, he was a bit surprised. “Why? Why do you want to join a sport where that happens?” Hikiko’s answer was about as simple as Alessio had expected from someone her age. “I have to do it.” Alessio scoffed. Does she really think it’s that easy? That simple? “For some people, racing is life. What they don’t realize is, like life itself, death permeates racing. More so than any sport on the planet. You can not separate the two. Most will live, but some must die. Always.” Hikiko knew as much, she’d seen it firsthand. “I know. but I’m not just living this “racing life” for myself. I want to honor his memory.”

Alessio patted Giacomo on the back, and with careful, practiced motions, sat down in his chair, cut a Cuban, and lit it, taking a long drag before responding. “Your uncle once said that the state racing reflects the times. The 60s? The age of the action hero. People who lived to be near death every week. Buff machismo. Selfishness. The 70s. The age of excess. Too much power. Too much downforce. Your uncle died to this very excess. The 80s? the age of complacency. The excess has gone unchecked. I’m not superstitious myself, unlike Giacomo here, but the numbers are not in your favor. Are you really ready to enter Formula One? With the stakes higher than ever?” Hikiko was a racing fan as much as a driver. She’d seen it herself. Ground effects. Turbochargers. Rocket fuel. Broken legs. Decapitations. Drivers being launched from their car. Being burned alive. But Hikiko also knew these weren’t just being overlooked, as they had been. At first, a process to analyze these crashes was put into place, and now regulation changes were being implemented to make the sport safer. To make sure no more young flames are snuffed out early. “Things are changing. I wont need to worry about “death” or “excess” anymore. Only about racing. It’s what my uncle would have wanted me to do. I know it.” Alessio, at the very least, admired this kid’s resolve. He took another long drag. “I have no doubts that what you say is true. but remember. Death follows life, like a miasma, penetrating its very fiber. especially this “racing life” of yours. People have been saying “It won’t happen to me” for decades. Don’t make their mistake.” It was then that a shocking pain, like a condensed lightning bolt, coursed through Hikiko’s left leg, no doubt caused by her practice crash a few days ago.” Alessio simply stared at her leg, and they stood facing each other in silence. “That limp. You’ve had a brush with death. You’re brave, but watch yourself.” Hikiko’s blood began to boil. How can the man who’s car killed her uncle tell her to ‘watch herself’? That’s rich. “He died in your car. you can’t tell me to be careful.” Alessio sighed.

Mentally admitting defeat, he took another drag of his cigar. “I won’t preach to you, but I will do this.” Alessio reached into his drawer and pulled out a contract, pre-filled with Hikiko’s details. He handed the youth a pen. “I offer you my financial backing. I’ve supported you in an unofficial capacity so far, but I want us to be on the same page.” Hikiko was incredulous. Of course, her progression was rapid, but to her knowledge, she’d only had major backing from Panasonic, and that was after dominating every karting championship she could get her hands on. “You’ve… supported me?” Alessio nodded. Yes. I wish to continue to do so. I wish to sponsor you.” Hikiko raised an eyebrow. “what’s the catch?” Alessio smiled. Maybe this kid was smarter then she put off. “Well, there is only one. My son. Giacomo. he’s only two years younger than you. Would you help him, when he needs you?” Hikiko only stared, unfaltering and silent. Giacomo looked up, parting his long and flowing, meticulously maintained hair from his face, looking up at Hikiko and smiling. “Ms. Katou, right? I hear you’re almost as good as father was! Very impressive, I must say!" Giacomo excitedly grabbed his paper and ran up to Hikiko, stopping short of outright shoving the sheet into Hikiko’s face. "Hey! Hey! Check out this design I’ve been working on!” On his paper was a rather detailed blueprint for a v8 engine, intended for formula one competition, sans turbo. “They say naturally aspirated engines are the future!” Alessio turned to Giacomo, smiling a bit, as he further elaborated on his request. “Giacomo is nearly rabid for motor racing. Who am I to hold him back on his dream? If I cannot stop him, I would prefer to at least secure him a friend. Someone who can watch his back.”

Hikiko stared blankly at Giacomo and his drawing, then at Alessio. “I don’t have any reason to help you. Nor do I understand your spiel about death, only for you to offer to support my career.” Alessio nodded. “To die is a terrible, yet inevitable thing. To die with regrets is even worse. You can prevent one, but not the other. And, I understand your refusal. I won’t hold a grudge against you.” “I… Don’t know if I can return the favor, but… it’s complicated. I understand what you mean, what you’re trying to say, but I miss my uncle.” Alessio took another, much longer drag of his Cuban, and leaned forward in his desk, making direct eye contact with the aspiring driver. “You were born the same year he died, less than a month later.” Hikiko stared at her feet for a minute. The knot in her stomach twisting as tight as it ever had. She sighed. “I know, but… I miss him. It hurts knowing I’ll never get to see him. I feel… almost connected to him.” Yes. Those were the right words. She knew what to say to him now. Hikiko stared into Alessio’s eyes. Right into the eyes of the man who knew what it felt like firsthand to lose your drive. Your purpose. Behind his eyes stood a shell, behind hers, a fire. A deep, burning determination. The blinders were on. “I’m going to do what I feel is right. I’m going to make it to Formula One… alone.”

Trugarde Camp, Crugandr, 2022.

Among Machinas con Passione, there was a stunned silence, which was soon broken by Maria, looking mildly incredulous to say the least. “Yeah, right, didn’t you hire this bozo over here to design the engine for you? I doubt that story’s all true, to say the least.” Giacomo opened his mouth to speak, but Chad interrupted. “Giacomo is… Well, himself. But he’s very thorough with certain details, even if they dont always make sense. MCP is more than just a name, he’s very much a ‘Man’ Con Passione, if anything else.” Chad’s words, though maybe true, didn’t necessarily strike true with everyone, but seemed to quell any doubts about the story being made up, for now at least. “Oh, the painting, is it done?” Giacomo asked, hurriedly rushing over to see the finished result of the painting, only to find that, well, all things considered, it was quite phenomenal. However, it seems that Giacomo had gotten overly excited in his explanation, and the painter wound up painting him with multiple sets of arms, each gesturing in a different way.

Oh Giacomo, never change.

Part 9 - Fin

we do a little stretching of the old writing chops. AND I wrote a side story. I’m on fire, boo yah.
anyway, yeah, uh, anyone feel free to pitch in with collabs lul. eggspac out.

4 Likes

Machinas Con Passione Side Stories: Doctor’s Log, part 1.

Doctor’s Log, Crugandr.
Stage 1: Here goes nothing.
I knew we were in for a treat when, upon Giacomo taking us to the van, he revealed the provisions that he’d packed were noticeably frivolous. Why this is, I don’t know. I genuinely wonder if this is a human, or an AI designed to be as idiotic as possible.

For dinner, we actually didn’t get to kill anything, unfortunately. Instead, we had some of the stew prepared by Team Shift Happens. As much as I do enjoy the idea of poking around the anatomy of giant wolf? people? l know better then to bite the hand that feeds you. Especially when the hand belongs to someone who’s multiple feet taller than you. The stew was pretty good. can’t complain. I have a bad feeling about this.

Maria looked over my shoulder and saw the part about poking around the anatomy of giant wolf people, I don’t remember the last time she’s hit me that hard. I mean. LOOK, I’M JUST SAYING, IT WOULD BE PRETTY COOL TO DISSECT THEM, OKAY? Jesus. You try to be the morally bankrupt doctor ONE TIME, and everyone has a problem with it.

Not like I would get within 30 feet of any of them with an intent to kill without being instantly killed myself.

Machinas Con Passione Side Stories - Fin
in this side story: the “good” doctor decides to not play a game where the only choice is to lose.
So much for being morally bankrupt when a short italian woman seems to be able to stop you with just one punch.

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Team Mravolinski-Chitco

Trugarde activities

Congrats

(Note about Congrats: It was written in cooperation with @Elizipeazie.)
Upon parking the vehicle (which will likely be used by Chicota in his part) Mrdja decided to head over to RK Series Racing.

Crowd has gathered in very big numbers and lot of speculations were thrown around…
“Excuse me, do you know where the railway car that set the speed record is parked?”
“All of us had gathered to see it, ofc we know.”
“Great, im part of big group of non-locals that had decided to visit this world.
Group also covers four of them as well.
I would like to congratulate them on success and maybe get an update on how they are doing.”

Some woman from crowd heard this
"I would advise you to weigh the questions carefully.
My cousin that was there when they arrived is known to “read” people’s mood by observing them.
She is known to be very accurate in that, and so she told me that these fellas werent that excited about record.

Someone with face being neat combo of shit-eating grin and smugness had confirmed
As well as some kid
And that old guy with walking stick
…ye, i got the point

Never too excited going through thick crowd, Mrdja nevertheless plowed through there to encounter them

"Hello there, im Mrdja from team Mravolinski-Chitco.

I heard that you set new railroad record and decided to congratulate on behalf of entire team.
Is it true?
What kind of speed you achieved?

“217.26 kilometers per hour.” Connor calmly stated before Valentin had a chance to speak.
“Uhm… yeah. Thanks… Didn’t do it on purpose, but apparently it did happen…” Valentin muttered, mildly annoyed given that he did not deliberately break it.

“Thats quite some speed, i dont recall travelling that fast on land
How was it?”
“Wait (turns to Valentin)…what happened to you? Last time i saw you, you werent using crutches.”

Connor didn’t really answer Mrdja’s question, seeing as he simply was at work in his eyes.

Valentin, however, did have something to say:
“Cannot open the driver door. Tried it through the window and ruined my ankle in the process…”, he explained, looking down at the injured foot in doing so.
“For the speed, remarkably smooth. At 100 and 200 kph, it kind of… hopped back and forth across the railhead. Apart from that, they did a good job laying rail it seems…”

Mrdja:
Ouch, hopefully it will get better.
Although i imagine there would be…more elegant ways to get inside.
And its nice to hear it was smooth journey, although to be honest i dont exactly have much experience with travel via train.
Partially because almost all of them are slow in Serbia

Valentin, refering to ways to get inside: “Such as?”

Mrdja: Maybe through the other side of car.
Ok, even i must admit its not really greatest way, but allows entry without falling off.

“Not exactly easy if one is half a meter taller than everyone else in existence while also having to finaggle past everything on the passenger side…” Valentin muttered, still in annoyance. Though someone mentioning something other than the record was a welcome change of pace.

"Oh well, yes, you are tallest human i ever met, so such struggle is understandable…

What are your impressions on rally so far?

Mine are that:
-Its very hot and our car isnt exactly blessed with adequate climate control
This requires some other way of dealing with it:
Sweating so much and so often is very annoying.

(Pulls out 2 liter bottle from backpack and takes few sips)

-I may or may not get used to beauty of technology we usually have back on Earth

On other hand, i do like adventure and this is wonderful chance to indeed meet new people and see new places.
Not to mention im familiar with going to places without Internet."


“We weren’t exactly blessed with good luck… or the advantage of having AC”, Valentin said, once again in reference to his foot as an example.

“Well we HAD climate until you ripped it out…” Tim contested, turning around to get his own container of water out of the Redneck Railcar

“You have an idea on how we could continuously drive that thing? Hint. It’s not the engine that has zero idle speed, nor is it one of them turbines because of insufficient torque.” Valentin snarked back.
(While he himself had little issue with the heat, he does understand that not everyone took that lucky a draw out of the gene-pool-lottery.)


"Ah, thats understandable.

So we arent in that different of situation…

Either way, i do have feeling you would be very busy today (thinking for a bit) due to several reasons.
Good luck and see you next time

Hopefully that leg of yours would be in tad bit better shape, Valentin."

Answer was swiftly delivered:
“Don’t think so… at least up until we’re done with this… See you… sometime, i guess…”

Mrdja left, still under impression due to talk
.
.
.
Now that i put another thought into it, that conversation could have ended up much better
Oh well

(This happens oh so often with ones i have IRL. We arent gonna poke around at all questions that could have been asked tho, bcos that may inflate convo way above time that was truly avaiable…and likely wouldnt contribute much to plot.
All things considered, RK does utilise most logical solutions to their problems.)

SHopping for unexpected

Mrdja also noticed two figures moving around, one of which is very specific…
Decided to follow them


Girls had entered the shop and decided to take a look…
“Wow all of these clothes seem nice…although im prob not the one to talk…VerBanka?
Heeey, where tf are you?”
“Im coming, just wait a minute…”
Mrdja had also entered. Considering this was small store, he quickly found Pi, but surprizingly, no VerBanka.

VerBanka had appeared

“What do you think?” showing dress that was now on her.
“Thats not…what you wore when entering the store…” was Pi’s burst of logic and reason
“You look wonderful, but that wasnt reason for you two to get here”
“MRDJA!!! Werent you going to talk with those steam car guys?”
"I in fact did, its just that said conversation wasnt particularly long…and then i noticed you two, so decided to join.

Yeah, right…

Look, if you dont believe me, feel free to ask them if i was there.
They have no reason to lie to you.
Speaking about reason: I know how it is.
I appreciate good-looking girls in nice outfits and im aware women tend to take care on that.
However, we are on tight budget and organised this to give Pi a clothing.

Hmmm…can i

Let two of us speak, Pi…
Plan means she will go and people there wouldnt be prepared on her appearance.

Im aware, however i dont think we would spend much on that.
I may decide to get something else for better blending in

…such efforts are negated anyway in presense of this (kinda points at Pi).
Such creatures are rather unusual even here.

After Mrdja and VerBanka stopped argument, owner of shop had appeared
Along with:

-Lemme see if im still the coolest one around
(Checks out trio)
Ye, def coolest. Better than you
You,
And…whatever is that supposed to be.
You have been served

(He left)

You were about as useful as my compliment on girl’s clothing.

Tbh, he is 12 - store owner finally speaking up, after observing his son dissing his potential customers.-
Before you ask, yes, he is mistake.

-Makes two of us, then- Pi shot back, catching everyone by surprize.
-It really is quite impressive that plan about clothing me had turned into…this
And dont ask what “this” is…mainly bcos i have no idea either.-

DAAAD, SAAAVEE MEEEE-earlier kid passed again.
Store owner got chance to familiarize himself with offerings, bcos Karen-but-Crugandr type of women had pushed him on hunt for boy.
She was angry and willing to rediscipline the kid and so they went.

-Uhh, wait a little.- VerBanka again dissapeared in changing area

Mrdja: She decided to try several clothing options?

Owner: Seems like it.

Pi: We came for…

Owner: I figured. Maybe you could get shirt…rest of body is kinda tricky.


Sorta-Karen was back and true to herself, demanded a manager

-Yes?
-You…you are the manager?
-Yes. (Actually, this was NOT the manager)
-I want to file complaint on that kid. He ruined my day…inside your shop.
-Way earlier, i was fighting against Dyre
Almost cant recall the night when i wasnt using bicycle as blanket
3 out of my 4 feet had atleast twice stepped into goat poo (You can prob guess who this is now btw)
I was shat on by one goat while other screamed in my ear.
Then i appeared here, giving zero care to everything and anything that can happen.
-YOU ARE USELESS
-Yes, still better than you tho.
-I DEMAND YOUR SUPERIOR
-No problem…uhh he tends to behave like goat ass…(leaves)
uhm boss, some customer demanded your presence…lemme introduce you to her.

That prankster kid was now reintroduced to woman both of whom were equally confused.
-This is my boss.
-HE IS THE PROBLEM. HE dropped water on my new dress
How could either of you be employed in here?
-I was introduced as stand-in for regular manager here, usually handling goats.
However, this kid IS my boss…being owner’s son.
-THAT DOESNT ANSWER MY QUESTION.

Mrdja chimed in
-Four-leg was serving us here, so kid may came with mischief to keep himself occupied

-That doesnt help with my dress. Its wet.
-Must agree that thats a problem…summer is damn tough to handle with wet clothes

Seeing that there is no discussion with these, Karen-like left.
Owner soon went same way to try to get that customer…which didnt lasted long.


-I want to get these- VerBanka exclaimed after she tried and confirmed few things.
Pi: -And i want…hmm how is it called…shirt?-
Owner: -Tell you what, you are definitely picked from field of goats…not much of “manager” if you dont even know what is what.
Pi: Im not picked on such positions for reason.
Even tho tad bit stupid, im vastly better customer than some.
Shirt should cover my upper body and be cheap.
Looks dont matter.
And yes, i kinda improvised there; assumed you arent willing to deal with her straight away.
Mrdja: Actually…would be good if we get more than one shirt.
Boring part with money came around, but good news is that it wasnt that expensive
Having good laugh def helped there

Before you ask, yes, VerBanka also bought stuff for herself.

Accomodating

Aydar was dealt with job of finding place to sleep and tasked with getting some food and water.

He sufficiently did all of these activities, but was also tasked by local to take care of his daughter bcos local himself was busy
Good thing Aydar is very strong, bcos “taking care of girl” was mostly in shape of carrying her everywhere she wanted, upholding a duty that is usually served by lizards of this universe (and mostly by horses in universe most of participants came from).

He took great care on arranging sleeping and explaining where is everyone supposed to be, only to be ignored by one of members powered by their own view on matter.

3 Likes

TEAM HILLBILLY ROLLERS

Earlier parts

PART 0.1 - A prologue to the prologue
PART 0.2 - Another piece of the prologue puzzle
PART 0.3 - Viva la IP 4Z!
PART 0.4 - Robotman
PART 0.5 - Interference problems
PART 0.6 - Can I play Tetris?
PART 0.7 - Tangerine and familiar
PART 1.0 - Now things got serious!
PART 1.1 - Hello, Thibault and friends!
PART 1.2 - Poor kitty
PART 1.3 - Curse you, Team Oil Crisis!
PART 1.4 - Interlude
PART 2.0 - Bird bird bird, bird is the word!
PART 2.1 - D. Head
PART 2.2 - Good night!
PART 3.0 - Freeway Rockstar
PART 3.1 - DISCO TJO DISCO HEJ
PART 3.2 - Van-Werewolf 1-0
PART 4.0 - Calm after the storm
PART 5.0 - Mirror mirror on the…oh, crap!
PART 5.1 - Hello, little puppies!
PART 6.0 - Speed
PART 6.1 - GIMME OXYGEN! (feat. Madrias)
PART 6.2 - Steamin’ hot! (feat. Elizipeazie)
PART 7.0 - The Kayak
PART 7.1 - Marie the valkyrie?
PART 7.2 - Vegetables
PART 7.3 - Time to tie things up.
PART 8.0 - The hangover
PART 8.1 - The new team member
PART 9.0 - From pink to brown
PART 9.1 - Co-op with Madrias and Elizipeazie
PART 9.2 - Where is Sonic?
PART 10.0 - First at last!
PART 10.1 - Co-op with Variationofvariables
PART 11.0 - Why is this van so damn fast?
PART 11.1 - Co-op with Madrias
PART 11.2 - Demons and dragons bullshit
PART 11.3 - Oops, thank you, Kaylie!
PART 12.0 - Snap, crackle and pop!

PART 12.1 - The fire breathing jalopy

When Janne was starting to totally lose his hope, he saw something strange coming. A primitive motorized vehicle that was nothing like the steamers or lizard drawn carriages they had seen this far. If it should be compared to anything, it was maybe to a 1920s roadster bodied car, pulling a trailer. Honestly speaking, with the people actually riding on it, it could as well have been the Munster Koach. There was a lady with snakes for hair, someone that looked as if he could have been a werewolf, as well as a half-tiger, half-man creature and his lion pal. The driver? Well, he was maybe the most normal of them all since he reminded them a bit of Rukari - something that probably did speak volumes. Immediately, Janne ran out on the road and stopped them.

“Why are you stopping that circus wagon?”, Andreas said, a little bit frightened. “Do you really think they will help us? This is probably some kind of tr…”

“ANDREAS! ONCE AND FOR ALL, I AM GETTING TIRED OF YOU NOW!”, Janne said. It is like the calm, relaxed, philosophical Janne we all knew, now was gone. He was actually upset for real, and it did show. “Can you try to grasp the concept that we are actually not on earth now?”

“Not on earth? Where the fuck are we supposed to be then? You are getting more and more weird for every day!”, Andreas answered, equally upset.

“Seriously?”, Janne answered. “I took you here with a teleporting unit built from some old electronic junk lying around and…”

“THE REMOTE FOR MY VCR IS NOT JUNK, AND I WANT IT BACK WHEN WE COME HOME!”, Marie said.

“FINE, YOU WILL, BUT STOP INTERRUPTING ME ALL THE TIME”, Janne said. “Fuck, we went through something that looked like fucking Solaris for the Atari 2600 just to get here, you should have reacted by then! And then we went through a sheet of Gladpack * into a world with six legged cats, dyre, steam powered everything, and you haven’t even understood a single thing about this yet, even though the hosts looks like if they are straight from a LARP event!”
(*= Swedish brand of food plastic foil.)

Janne saw how the people on the primitive lizardless carriage was wondering what this was all about. “I just have to deal with the other two idiots sitting with me just now, just give me five minutes.”

Once again he looked at Andreas, and continued on. “You have seen magic repair our oil pan, our windshield… And you know what? You don’t even dare to admit that to yourself, because you’re scared. All of a sudden you aren’t the tough, grown up man that is running up mooses and wrestling them down to have them for breakfast anymore. No. You’re dead scared, you’re the kid that sleeps with the light on at night because there are monsters under the bed. And don’t try to hide that from me, because believe me, you will never succeed!”, Janne said, and did not do anything to try to say this gently to Andreas.

The people, or whatever it was, on the lizardless carriage looked at the pink van a bit sceptical. “We need a tow”, Janne said. “To Trugarde”.

“Hrmf…yeah, I guess.”, the driver said. “I understand that you are part of that rally thing with strange looking motorized chariots that Rukari is involved in, so sure, we can help you, I guess”.

Janne was checking out the primitive vehicle with great enthusiasm.

“An internal combustion engine, huh? Not very common around here. Four cylinder I see, and with a conventional gearbox, and I presume clutch too. We had a quite similar vehicle where I come from, called the Ford Model T, though it had planetary gears. Easy to just change the gears by pressing on a pedal and…”

“Yes. How about towing this…pink…thing instead of lots of blabbering?”, the driver said. “Some kind of cargo chariot I see. But honestly speaking it looks like an egg.”

“Ah, yeah, it….has less resistance against the wind that way. But vehicles like yours are clearly more stylish”, Janne answered.

“So, should we tow it now and stop this blabbering”, the driver said with not too large amounts of enthusiasm.

“Yeah, I need to unbolt the propshafts first, to not ruin the gearbox”, Janne said.

“Can’t you just put it in neutral?”, the driver asked.

“No, it doesn’t work that way, you know, this is an automatic gearbox…”, Janne tried to explain.

“Automatic? You mean it works with magic? Ain’t that kind of a waste to use magic on such an easy thing as changing gears?”, the driver asked him and scratched his head. Janne was almost close to explain how an automatic gearbox worked, but after some thinking he came to the conclusion that the driver probably was closer to the truth than he ever might know.

“Yes, it is a waste”, Janne said and started to unbolt the propshafts.

“By the way, propshaftS, why does it have more than one?”, the driver asked again.

“Oh, it has four wheel drive.”, Janne answered.

“Hey, that sounds like a great idea considering how the roads can look during some seasons. I guess it needs some joints on the front axle to be able to steer then, though?”, the driver asked curiously.

“You’re right. Obviously you have some knowledge in this!”, Janne nodded.

“Well, I have some great ideas now to take with me”, the driver answered, looking a bit less annoyed than when Janne first had stopped him. Janne hooked a chain between the lizardless carriage and the pink van, and off they went.

“I’ve had enough of beer for a while”, Marie said.

“I don’t believe what I heard now”, Andreas answered.

“I think that I am hallucinating, I see such strange things”, Marie continued.

“Believe me, they are for real, we are seeing them too”, Janne said, trying to calm her down.

“WELL OF COURSE YOU ARE SEEING THEM TOO, YOU ARE WITH ME!”, Marie answered angrily, while Janne and Andreas just sighed.

“Their vehicle is spitting fireballs like crazy, I would like to take a look at their carb…”, Janne started to say.

“NO WAY”, Andreas said as they were rolling closer towards the campsite. “You are going to take a look at our broken down van, and not their goddamned carb!”

When arriving at camp, the guards unhooked the van from the fireball spitting monster, and Andreas noticed that many people were staring when the Freeway Star was rolling in, towed behind the lizard the guards had hooked it up behind.

“OK!”, Janne said after lifting the valve cover. “As I suspected, the cam is seized. The 4Z has no cam bearings, the surfaces are machined directly in the alloy cylinder head and…this one is shot. Probably something happened when we lost the oil pressure when driving over a rock.”

“Is the race over now?”, Andreas said.

“Maybe. But if there is one thing we have lots of, it is old, empty beer cans. I have seen Jaydes work earlier. My plan now is to find him, and see if he can make the two broken timing belt into one, and also, if repairing the bearing surfaces using some of the old aluminium cans and magic is a possibility. If not, we are shot”, Janne answered.

TO BE CONTINUED…

4 Likes

RK Series Racing; Stage 11 Camp; Part 3

After the little trip to the bike shop, Valentin returns to the other three team members, who apparently have been putting in their share of work on keeping the crowd at bay and satisfied, which with their newfound understanding of the record being accidental, was a surprisingly pleasant task to deal with.
They even managed to free up enough of a gap to source some local street food, which ended up being similar to a hot dog, but instead of the hot dog bun a pretzel-strick-thing was used instead.

“Oh you’re back! Want one?”, Tim said, holding up one of those Pretzel-Hot-Dog-Hybrids. “It’s cold by now, but should still be good.”
“Uhm… sure.” Valentin answered, initially hesitating a bit at the strange combination. Though it didn’t take all that long for him to realize that what he had was not all that bad, even cold.
With little in the way of conversation, the snack was had, followed by the team largely returning to the usual business, which by that time had at least the most eager visitors taken care of, making the following ones much more casual in nature.
Only a few minutes pass until the railway official from earlier returned, approaching the team with a friendly wave.

“Greetings again. How have you been liking the party so far?”, he inquired.
“We’ve been sitting here for the better part of… like what…” Tim started, struggling to pinpoint how long exactly they have been here.
“… three hours according to this watch.”, Constantin added while looking down at the gifted watch displaying around 7 sun.
“Huh. Felt longer than that. Yeah. Three hours of us dealing with random people and that overly energetic painter.” Tim continued.
Valentin fell back into the bench he was sat on and crossed his arms, which made it obvious that he wasn’t exactly enjoying the experience here.
“We really need to do a better job at making important people feel welcome here.”, the official muttered, half aloud and sunk into his thought process for a bit. At some point, he pulls out a booklet titled ‘Scheduling of the southern Longitude and Silver Line Special.’, flips through it a bit before closing it up again.
“Uhm… i heard that you are on a… pilgrimage eastward. May i ask where you plan to stay tomorrow evening?”, the official asked politely, pocketing the booklet again.
“Our next scheduled overnight stay is in the city of Keepitz.” Connor stated, calm and stoic as always.
The official though for a bit, straightened up his posture and then spoke: “I am deeply sorry for the unpleasant experience at this here event. I am hereby offering you first-class access to tomorrow’s Silver Line Special, departing at 1-03 sun tomorrow morning, complete with peace and quiet, freshly prepared meals and other amenities.”

Immediately, Tim’s eyes lit up in excitement, but Valentin wasn’t all that impressed initially, which was painfully obvious.
“Damn this is too good to not pass up. We don’t have to pile up into the hottest Dione in the history of ever, we’ll be getting food, nobody’s bothering us and you get a break from ten hours a day of watching random signage go by.”, Tim rambled in excitement.
Valentin thought about it a little while longer, eventually agreeing to the trip aboard the train as well.
“Great. I very much hope that the trip will be more pleasant than whatever this turned out to be…”, the official explained, followed by a detailed plan on how Robert would be taken care of.
“You are free to vacate the event whenever you wish. Have a nice evening.”, the official added before silently disappearing into the crowd.

The team itself didn’t wait long to set the plan into motion, folding themselves into the car one by one before raising steam, which naturally attracted great attention from the public.
Not even ten minutes later, the Redneck Railcar slowly reversed out of the station at a wee bit above walking pace, hundreds of people walking along the platform to see the vehicle in motion.
The signal happened to be showing “clear” already and they reversed out of the station at what could not be more than 10MPH, going back and back until arriving at the sheds where Robert was to be laden into the streamlined box car.

The process itself went without issue as it has been done once before, but now that their own ride was stored in a box car, they had no idea on how they could get back to the station for accommodation.
That issue effectively solved itself as a small consist with an 0-4-0 shunter and a singular twin-axle coach rolled up to the group, backing up towards the parked box car Robert was in. The engineer got out and handed the group a small slip explaining that he was appointed by the official from earlier to get the team back to the station. “All aboard, lads.”, he chucked as he climbed back into the cab, followed by the group of four entering the coach. The interior wasn’t exciting by any means, consisting of simple cloth covered seats in 2+3 open arrangement with wood paneling on almost every surface.
A little later, they arrived back at the platform where Robert once was, being greeted by another person in formal attire which obviously belonged to some form of hotel.

“Greetings. Kevin McMahon from hospitality of the End of the Line Inn. As a reward for your achievements, you will be staying in the Queen’s Suite for tonight.”, he speaks in a polite and clear voice, similar to Connor, but with more sincerity to it.
The group gets off the train which almost immediately heads back out of the station to return to it’s work at the yard.
“Why exactly are you here?”, Constantin asked in distrust.
“I am responsible for making your stay as pleasant as possible. If you follow me, i shall lead you to the place you will be staying in.”, Kevin replied before showing the way to the Inn near the parked cars.
On the way out and across Queen’s Garden, they walked past a few of the competitor cars, among which was the Bricksley.


Kivenaal watched as Valentin, Connor, Tim, and Constantin followed a man out of the station, wandering right by several cars including the Bricksley. Kaylie was still making Malavera work on the truck, watching as Malavera struggled with the wing-nuts on top of the air cleaner housing. Jayde had gone on a small cycling ride around Trugarde and was coming back toward the truck at that moment. He knew Rukari was getting all of them a room in the Second Guardhouse Tavern and Inn. Nova had already voluntarily given up use of the armor, which now laid in the usual pile of pieces in the bed, and was with Kayden at that point. Then he spotted Kayden making his way back from the market, carrying food in his hands.


Kayden had to admit, the pretzel-wrapped hot dogs were pretty damn good, because he’d already eaten five of them, and was contemplating eating the sixth one he had in his hand. He shrugged, decided it was worth it, and took a hungry bite as he wandered back over to the truck. His sister was still ordering Malavera around, guiding him through changing an air filter, the third or fourth thing she’d had him fix on the truck already. Jayde parked his bicycle next to the truck, and after looking around, spotted Kivenaal still sitting on the roof of the station. Rukari had gone to the tavern already. Then he spotted Valentin and remembered his sister had told him to take a better look at that ankle.

He picked up his pace a little, to a light jog, and made it back to the truck just after RK Series Racing had passed it.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Kaylie asked, staring at her brother.

“In the market, having some food,” Kayden replied defensively. “Seriously, you of all people know-”

“Yeah, I know. I still hate it, but I know,” Kaylie responded. “If you grab your med-kit and hurry, you’ll catch up to Valentin.”

“I’d prefer to wait until he gets settled in, honestly. I’d rather have a certain expectation of privacy, not have Valentin feeling like he’s being worked on by a half-wit, washed-up doctor in some back-alley pub,” Kayden said.

“How long did that one take for you to come up with?” Kivenaal quipped from the roof.

Kayden’s response was to flip Kivenaal the middle finger. Kivenaal’s response in kind was to spit the wad of peppermint chewing gum he had in his mouth at Kayden’s hand, missing by a few inches and landing a gum splat on the sidewalk. “Really, Kivenaal?” Kayden asked, staring at the gum wad. “You know someone’s going to step on that at some point, and they’ll hate the person who put it there.”

“I’ll gladly take the credit for that, then,” Kivenaal replied. “Better than getting asked a dozen different ways whether I want to go share a bed.”

Kayden sighed, grabbed his medical kit out of the truck, and headed toward the End of the Line Inn, only to groan as he stepped in Kivenaal’s wad of used chewing gum. “Thanks a lot, Kiva,” he grumbled.

“You’re welcome!” Kivenaal quipped as Kayden wandered toward the inn.


While the three humans (and Connor) approached the Inn with Kevin the concierge leading the way, they overheard some semi-intelligible mumbling coming from the Bricksley. Connor naturally had what amounts to a transcript of the entire conversation that happened there, but Constantin was only to make out a few snippets.

“Hold on a second. Shift Happens want’s something from us.” Constantin said, already having stopped and turned around to face Kayden.
The others followed suit a step or two later, all eventually facing Kayden.
Kevin, aware of Valentin’s innate caution around shapeshifters, even in half-form, made a somewhat panicked attempt at protecting Valentin from more discomfort by physically dragging him by the waist to face away from Kayden again.
Valentin, not having expected this at all, had to try very hard to not be knocked prone by the sudden movement.
" :sweden: Holy mother of…", he exclaims as he is being swung around. " :uk: What was that for!?"
“I was made aware that you were afraid of shapeshifters.” Kevin replied, somewhat shocked.
“Bloody hell does that warrant dragging people across the plaza!? He’s the reason i am here to ‘write history’ in the first place!”, Valentin blared back while making finger quotes, thus dropping both crutches.
“I’m very sorry. So sorry…”, Kevin tried to reason with him, scrambling about the floor to get the crutches back into Valentin’s hands.


As Valentin started yelling, there was a loud, heavy ka-thump against the hood of the Bricksley, done with enough force to make the front suspension creak, before Malavera’s half-growl of pain could be heard. Kaylie tried not to laugh as Malavera bonked both heads on the underside of the hood, though looked in Valentin’s general direction and called out, “Do I need to apply a torque wrench to someone’s lug nuts, Valentin, or are you okay over there?”

Jayde grabbed his staff out of the bed of the Bricksley, misinterpreting the grab as a hostile action until he heard Kevin explaining that he’d been told that Val was afraid of shapeshifters.

Kayden, on the other hand, saw the whole thing and sighed. Some people were just ridiculous in how they handled things. “You do realize,” Kayden said, crouching down, grabbing one of the crutches, and handing it to Valentin so he wouldn’t be as unsteady in the moment, “that Valentin has an injured ankle, and that little move might have just made things worse?” He then motioned over to Jayde, still visible over the crowd. “Jayde over there was the one who gave him those crutches. Yes, he’s concerned about shapeshifters, especially ones he hasn’t met.” Kayden was trying hard not to lose his temper in front of Valentin, though it was also a little obvious that Kayden was struggling, as even though he was trying to remain looking relaxed, his hands were tense enough that his claws were out.

Kevin continued to apologize profusely, over and over again as the other crutch was handed back to Valentin. After that, he kept going with apology after apology, even going as far as dropping to knees in an attempt to make peace with his group of guests and Kayden.
Valentin, while still obviously agitated and mentally furious at Kevin, didn’t exactly know how to deal with the situation, nor did any of the other members present.

Kevin himself just stayed at the floor, repeating “I’m sorry.” like a broken record.

Kayden sighed, managing to let his anger go, his claws sheathing once again. “Listen,” Kayden said, not knowing the man’s name, but hoping to get his attention regardless, “I understand why you did that. In some certain circumstances, picking someone up to move them is the right call.”

By that point in time, Jayde had made his way over as well, in his usual slow, limping progress, every left step punctuated by the thump of his walking staff on the cobblestone path. “Everyone makes mistakes, Kevin. The most important thing is to learn from them,” Jayde said, leaning on his staff as he spoke. He looked over to Valentin, then asked, “Are you okay, Valentin?”

Kevin remained on the floor a little while longer, though silent as he mentally recovered and collected himself to return to his work as a member of hospitality. Eventually, Kevin rises back up again just to end up directly in front of Jayde, who had slowly made his way over to the group.

“Yes… right… learn from mistakes.”, Kevin replied, still a little shaken from the self-inflicted incident.
Jayde then turned for Valentin, asking if he was okay.
“As okay as one can be, i think… Managed to stay upright, at least…” Valentin muttered, checking if he still had all of his belongings as well as if he was physically affected by the sudden jerk.
“Nah, i’m good.”, he confirmed, moving the right crutch over to the left to free up a hand with which he neatened himself up again as best he could.

A moment of silence was broken by Kevin, trying to get back to work and redeem himself.
“Shall we continue to the Suite?”, he asked, followed by approving nods of the members of RK-Series Racing.

Jayde nodded and then said, “Then I shall return to the truck. Watching Malavera fight with the air cleaner has been mildly amusing.” He turned and made his way back over to the Bricksley, weaving expertly through the crowd as he walked.

Kayden, on the other hand, was left in the awkward position of not quite being part of the group, but needing to talk with one of the members of that group, and trying to decide whether it was better to follow them now, or go back to the truck, wait a few minutes, and try again later. He looked back at the truck, then with a sigh and a shake of his head, decided to follow the group to the hotel.

to be continued in the post immediately below. 32k limit does that…

2 Likes

RK Series Racing; Stage 11 Camp; Part 4

Kevin led them into the End of the Line Inn, which presented itself as a very historical-looking (even for the era) main area with predominantly victorian styling. To the left was a lounge area, with small groups of armchairs surrounding small tables. The other side was an evening pub-styled corner, with a counter, a row of stools in front and a near-limitless choice of beverages behind the bartender.
Directly in front of them was the receptionist desk, behind which a rather short and stout blonde-haired lady was sat. On top of that desk was a small name placard reading “R. Wardell”, a desk lamp and not much else, with a massive array of little shelves for the various room keys behind her.
“Oh hello, Kevin! Showing the guests around, i see? Didn’t know a shapeshifter was among them, though.”, she said, friendly, but confused.
“Uhm yes, they apparently know each other or som…”, Kevin started before being interrupted by Constantin.
“Approved visitor. He’s helping one of us in need.”, Constantin explained, trying to cover Kevin in hopes of keeping the situation calm.
“Ah alright. On you go! The Queen’s Suite is waiting for you.”, she replied before returning to shuflling paperwork around.

They walk past the receptionist and into a hallway, which splits into a staircase on one side and a pair of elevators on the other. An elevator is called and arrives shortly after, staffed by an elevator operator stood next to the controls.
Kevin motioned for the group to enter before entering himself.
“Top floor. Queen’s Suite.” Kevin then ordered, followed by the elevator operator moving over a lever, setting the contraption into motion.

They find themselves in a small pre-room connected to the staircase on the other side and are led through a massive double-door into the actual suite. Within, a large common area presented itself, lined with large, comfortable sofas and armchairs facing a large window which offered a nice view across Queen’s Garden and all the competitor cars (sans Robert) neatly lined up below.
A fireplace was also present near the entry door on the opposite side where the window is, a pair of armchairs allowing a cozy evening atmosphere to read or relax in.
In three of the four corners, hull-height curtains sectioned off individual sleeping rooms, each with a slightly different color pattern, but fundamentally laid out the same. They all consisted of an almost laughably oversized ornamental bed, small bedside tables and a massive wardrobe on the opposing side. A sliding, wooden door led into small, individual washrooms with a sink able to have both hot and cold water, a high-tank toilet and a vertically tall, but otherwise small mirror above the sink for freshening oneself up.
The fourth corner was also of the sliding type and led into the main bathroom, complete with a large bathtub, another toilet and a giant mirror covering most of an entire wall’s surface.
Flooring was generally wooden parquet, covered in thick carpeting in some places, while the bath and washrooms were glazed in contrasting, bright tiles.
All of this was a continuation of the victorian-styled lobby, largely using dark shades of brown and green, sprinkled with golden or red accents in places.

“Welcome to Queen’s Suite.” Kevin proudly declared, as he briefly toured the team around the place to point out the important features.
Eventually, they find themselves in the common room.
“If you need me, you can call me via this here button near the entryway.”, Kevin remarked, pointing at what amounts to a telegraph line sender acting as a primitive bell system for the employees.

With the group (and Kayden) now alone in the Suite, Tim and Constantin called dibs for the far-corner sleeping rooms, leaving Valentin for the room directly opposing the bathroom.
As the other two humans disappeared into their respective rooms, Connor simply parked himself in a corner next to Tim’s curtain-based door substitute.
Valentin took a bit of a look around, but eventually decided to simply plop down onto the massive sofa in the middle of the common room to calm down a bit.
A few moments later and a deep sigh followed, before Valentin turned around to look over his shoulder to Kayden.

“You wanted something?”, he asked the tiger-shifter, who apparently was completely awestruck by the suite and it’s features.

Kayden stopped studying the room, looking over at Valentin and nodding. “Kaylie mentioned to me that your ankle still hasn’t improved. So, I’ve brought a few supplies along to try and help out. However…” Kayden paused for a moment, and Nova took the opportunity to make her presence known as Kayden settled into a chair, appearing in her smaller form on the table, the same size as she’d been when she was ‘squished’ by a deck of cards.

“Kayden has an idea, but we have to give you fair warning,” Nova said, “that it is experimental and comes with some risks. Now, to be fair, I’ve been running simulations based on known data, and I’m confident it will work, especially given what we know already. However, it might help if we’re on the same wavelength, so to speak. I know roughly your people’s level of technology, but I’m going to ask what you know about nanotechnology.”

Valentin pondered for quite a while about what he knew about technology on the microscopic scale.
“Uhm… the smallest piece of tech i am aware of is like individual transistors about 10 nanometers in size. And those amount to little more than electronic switches…” Valentin admitted, not entirely sure if works of science fiction were valid answers.
After that, Valentin more or less went silent, thinking about what kind of risks Nova was talking about.

Nova nodded. “Logical. Computer hardware has gone a long way, hasn’t it? To think that computers went from taking up a room to fitting in your pocket, all while massively increasing in capability, it’s impressive.”

Kayden looked over at Valentin, then said, “The reason Nova asked what you knew about nanotechnology is because the two of us believe the best way to mend your ankle is through the use of medical nanites.”

Nova then took over again with, “Our people tried genetic engineering a long time ago, and it was quite helpful, but the best thing we did to increase the quality of life in the end was to create medical nanites. Tiny, microscopic machines built to do small repairs on the body, precisely where and when that repair is needed.”

Kayden, being the physical one of the pair, said, “For us, it offers increased healing, a general resistance to disease, a better overall quality of life.”

“Admittedly, using these to fix your ankle is a little bit like shooting a fly with a plasma cannon,” Nova said. “However, as I said before, there are some risks. I’ve run simulations on what could happen, and while I’d like to say with confidence that this is risk free, well, that would be a lie. The odds, though, are greatly in your favor. Of the 32 million simulations I’ve run, 95% of the time, the nanites adapt to the new host and operate as expected. 4.9% of the time, the nanites fail to adapt and will just be flushed from your body. 0.1% of the time, the result was unexpected in that they adapted to the host and then failed to function. Now, to be fair, I was running with archived and fairly generic human genetic data, but given that the nanites are designed to adapt, and if failing to adapt, fail gracefully, and that out of the millions of real-world tests, there has never been a death caused by infusion, adaptation, or even the first repair stage, the data certainly says that you should be fine.”

Kayden looked over at Nova, and once she’d finished dumping data into the air, Kayden smirked and said, “The short version is, Nova has done a lot of simulations, compared it to real world data and known adaptations to hosts, and verified that the worst case scenario is that you’re pretty much no worse off than you already are.”

“However, we’re also aware that, because this is a technology that is new to you, and that it may cause some slight changes over time, we’ve programmed these nanites with a shutdown command. You call me up, any time you want,” Nova said, “and I’ll bounce a shutdown signal off of some satellites for you. The nanites go dormant and your body does the rest. Three days later, you’ll be completely nanite-free again. As long as you have cell reception, you have the option to say that, “you know what, these are not right for me,” and have them removed.”

“As for things you might need to know before making this decision,” Kayden said, “you’re probably going to be more hungry. When they’re making repairs, the nanites have to get resources to work with, and, let’s be perfectly honest, they’re always making repairs. Also, some people get a mild fever after infusion, which can last a few hours, maybe a day. I went through it. Malavera went through it. Kaylie didn’t, though. And, out of a squad of 15, I was the only one who got the fever. Also, they do have limits. You won’t be immortal, but you might live longer. They won’t keep you from dying, either, but you might find that wounds and injuries heal a bit quicker. And while they’ll keep you in your prime, age will eventually catch up with you.”

“On the other hand,” Nova said, “just think, no more food poisoning, a lot less illness, faster recovery from day-to-day injuries, no more infections. Granted, you will have to eat more. And it might move your temperature preferences a little colder in general, or make you sweat a little more.”

Valentin carefully listened to both Kayden and Nova explain how the nanites worked, the chances of them working and the ‘risks’ associated with them. In doing so, he slumped a bit further down into the couch, looking, almost staring out the big window at the station roof on the opposite side of the plaza.
Though the amount of information he was bombarded with at once was a bit much even for him, leading to him eventually lose track of their explanation, thus sinking into an increasing state of confusion.

“Uhm… you gotta slow this down a bit…”, Valentin said, gears turning in his mind trying to process the supplied information on top of the decision itself.
“So you’re suggesting using millions of tiny little Factorio construction robots to fix my ankle and whatever else might be fucked?”. Valentin continued, nervous about the chance to use ‘epic-420-space-age-meme-tech-bro stuff’.

Kayden looked over to Nova, who immediately picked up on what Valentin had said and gave an answer. “Something similar to that, yes,” Nova replied. “They gather resources and make repairs to anything that was damaged.”

Kayden then added, “Our people’s first trials with the nanites were used to see if they could cure cancer. When the people who were months from the end of their lives not only won the war against cancer, but managed to out-live the researchers who had performed the experiment, we started considering what else they could be used for. At first, it was treating hard to cure diseases and preventing death after illnesses or accidents put people in those positions. Then, it became part of preventing those diseases. It was only fairly recently in our people’s history that we started using them in the military, alongside an AI that can control their base programming.”

“Huh okay…”, Valentin mumbled, sinking back into his thoughts of weighing pros and cons regarding the nanites. A good 10 minutes must’ve passed before Constantin suddenly appears from his room, derailing Valentin’s train of thought.
Constantin took note of this, sped up his pace a bit and disappeared into the bathroom a few moments later.
“Sorry…”, he said, quietly as he went past the three others in the common room.
With Constantin now in the bathroom, the thinking continued until Constantin was set for the return trip.
In an attempt to not disturb Valentin again, he went round the back of the seating arrangement, taking great care to not make too much noise on the way back into his room. While it wasn’t hard to hear his every step on the hard wood floor, it still was enough to have Valentin remain unphased by his presence.
Eventually, Valentin has come to a conclusion, but one question remained…

“How will they be administered?”, he asked, looking over at Kayden and moving back into a more upright position in preparation for some kind of needle.

Kayden nodded as Valentin asked how they’d be administered, then opened the case and removed a slim metal cylinder. “Military standard field administration kit,” Kayden said, removing the safety cap. “Press this end to skin and push slightly, there will be a brief sting, and it’ll be done.”

Nova piped up, “It’s a bit like an EpiPen, just for injuries on the battlefield instead of allergic reactions.”

“Sounds sensible enough…”, Valentin replied, looking at the device. He knew what an Epi-Pen was and why it was used, though he never had to use one himself as his immediate circle of known people wasn’t in need of carrying them.
The room once again went silent, save for a big bravery-breath from Val.

“Let’s get this done then, shall we…”, Valentin mustered, still obviously cautious and hesitating, but also with an element of courage to it.

“If you’re ready,” Kayden said, gently grabbing Valentin’s left arm and carefully rolling up his sleeves. Once he was done with that, he placed the device up against Valentin’s arm, then pressed the button. Other than a quiet click, there wasn’t much of an indication that much of anything had happened on Kayden’s end, but Kayden understood that for Valentin, he was potentially running an emotional roller coaster at that point. Another quiet click announced the procedure was complete, and Kayden put the safety cap on the device again, twisted it into the lock position, and put it in the case in the “used” section. Afterward, he pulled out a small roll of sterile gauze from another pouch, then made a quick wrap of it around Valentin’s arm, just in case there was any bleeding.

With that done, Kayden looked over to Valentin and said, “I would advise having a large meal if you can. It’ll help with the process.”

Valentin simply let the procedure happen, though couldn’t prevent himself from tensing up in anticipation of the needle piercing his skin. However, once the device did it’s work, the actual pain that came along with it was rather underwhelming.
In that moment, his mind went ‘That was it?’, accompanied by his face reading the same with how he looked at the tiny little poke the device made.
Not long after, the device was packed up again.

“Anything specific or just whatever the house has?”, Valentin inquired, still intently looking at the now wrapped up, but otherwise exposed forearm.
“Protein, anything that’ll give you some energy, but whatever you want, realistically,” Kayden said.
Nova smiled. “That, and just take things easy for a few hours.”

“Well… whatever i want… or am used to ain’t easy if you are at the mercy of some cook in the kitchen a few floors below.” Valentin replied, half jokingly.
“Still, thank you for helping, even if we aren’t 100% sure on if it actually works…”, he added before cautiously making his way over to the telegraph-based calling button.

Once there, he simply held that line down for a second as if ringing a door bell and started waiting.
“Well, at least the cooks down below are guaranteed to be better than Kayden. If it weren’t for MRE’s, I think he’d have starved to death by now,” Nova quipped.

Kayden sighed. “Really, Nova? Really? I’m not that bad.”
“You set fire to a pan full of scrambled eggs,” Nova replied.
“I wouldn’t be much better, i guess…” Valentin replied from across the room. “My cooking skills don’t go much beyond a pot of bare pasta, so a burnt pot of scrambled eggs is a win in my book.”

At this point, someone knocked at the door shortly before carfeully opening it. In stepped Kevin, familiar form the panic-induced incident from earlier.
“How can i be of help?”, Kevin asked, his body language clearly indicating that he was afraid of disappointing his guests again.
“Uhm… how does dinner work at this place?”, Valentin inquired, taking a quick look back into the room.
“Did someone say dinner?”, Tim said as he rounded the corner to enter the common room. Meanwhile, Kevin procured a menu card from the inside pocket of his uniform, handing it over to Valentin.
The menu was laid out like any restaurant menu card, sorted by starters, main courses and desserts, albeit with a rather limited selection of all of them. On the back, a very extensive list of local beverages, sorted roughly by alcohol content, presented itself.
“Take all the time you need, i’ll wait outside for your choice. And that of your colleagues, if they wish to order as well.”, Kevin said, slipping back out of the room and closing the door.

With the menu card in hand, Valentin made his way over to the seating arrangement, followed shortly by Constantin and Tim, both interested in a nice and filling dinner.

“Well,” Kayden said, closing up his medical kit and getting up from the chair he was in, “I’m going to go find where the rest of my team has gone.”

“Hey, Kayden, you’re forgetting something,” Nova said. “Get my handheld out of your pocket so that I can print something out for Valentin.”

Kayden pulled the slim rectangle of sleek metal and glass out of his pocket, just moments before Nova printed out her own contact information onto a business card. Kayden retrieved it and handed it to Valentin as Nova added, “Those are the two ways you can easily get in touch with me. First one’s my phone number, second one’s my email address. I’d have handed you the card myself, but, well, Kayden was sitting on my chassis and, well… You remember the deck of cards.”

Shortly after, Nova’s holographic projection on the table vanished, and Kayden smiled. “If you need anything else, just let me know,” Kayden said. “I’ll see you in the next camp.” He put Nova’s handheld unit back into his pocket, then headed toward the elevator.


As Valentin got handed a slip of paper, he pulled out his own phone to copy the data into the contacts list.
“Was gonna say… Thanks again for maybe helping and have a good evening.”, Valentin said, watching Kayden disappear through the massive double-door.
Before Valentin could grab the menu card, Tim already snatched it out of his pocket. The ensuing distraction allowed Valentin to discretely roll his left sleeves back down
“I’m going first!”, he proclaimed, eagerly skimming the available dishes. Just the sight of a low-quality, monochrome print of what looked like a massive burger was enough for him to go for that.
Next up was Constantin, who didn’t fancy downing loads of greasy meat this time around went for something akin to to a plate of rice-based chili.
Valentin went rather cautious, choosing what looked most familiar to him, ending in what effectively was a local variant of grilled sandwiches.

With the order sorted, Constantin offered himself up in telling Kevin about the results.
He went over to the door, handing the menu back to Kevin, then showing what the three ordered.
“No beverages?”, he inquired, his head semi-poking into the room.
“Uhm… i guess water will do.”, Valentin started
“I’ll have some beer, if you have that.”, Tim added, followed by Constantin turning the menu card around to check.
“They do.”, he replied to Tim, before turning back to Kevin. “I’ll stick to water as well.”, he said to Kevin.
“Alright. I’ll get that sorted as quickly as i can.”, Kevin said and briskly turned around, heading down the stairs.
Constantin returned to the group, taking a seat with the others.

“So now we wait… Wanna play some cards?”, Tim suggested, plonking down the Rummy set onto the table in the center.
“Sure.”, Valentin replied, taking the stack of cars and shuffling them to prepare a game. Constantin didn’t really contest the suggestion either.
About an hour of pleasant, but not exactly eventful playing followed, until a knocking at the door was heard.

“I’ll go get that.”, Tim eagerly exclaimed, practically jumping out of his armchair to open the door, spotting Kevin on the other side.
“Your meal is ready in the restaurant area downstairs.”, Kevin replied as soon as he saw Tim, who turned around to face the others afterwards.
“Yo guys! Dinner’s ready!”, he said, prompting the other two to drop their respective cards and make their way over to the door as well.
Kevin led the way once more, where they took the elevator back to ground floor.
Once there, they were led through a doorway into what effectively was a small restaurant, once again a continuation of the victorian era styling from elsewhere in the Inn.
They were sat at a rather small table, with extensive arrays of cutlery and their desired beverages already present.
As soon as they were sat down, Kevin went off for a bit, before returning with what looked like an umbrella holder quietly nicked from the reception area. That holder was sat down next to Valentin for him to store his crutches.

“Have a nice meal.”, Kevin said, before leaving proper this time, which was met with a collective respectful nod.
Not even a minute later, three kitchen staff came around, each holding the meal that they chose from the available list, taking great care in the process of serving the meals.
“Thank you”, all three said, more or less well-mannered as the kitchen staff left the group to it.
Without much of a fuss, save for some friendly neighborhood chit-chat, dinner was had, followed by the kitchen staff meticulously clearing out the table again.

“I have to say, they know how to cook.”, Valentin said.
“It was absolutely delicious.”, Tim added, smiling ear-to-ear.
“If the veggie stuff is that good already, i kind of regret not having taken the meaty options…”, Constantin admitted, regretting his thought on minimizing chance of stomach problems due to improper preparation.

Nevertheless, they soon made their was back up again, this time without Kevin, being accompanied solely by the elevator employee on the way up to the top floor.
The remaining evening was very pleasant, with them continuing to play their card games for a while before they decide to take turns in the shared bathroom for a much needed bath.

After that, they spent the remaining evening in their respective rooms, resting, pondering about whatever before eventually falling asleep.

to be continued

3 Likes

Team Shift Happens

Previous Chapters:

Making Donuts / Speed Demon / Arrival in Camp - Stage 10 Drive and Camp
“A Pinch of Glass, a Dash of Magic” - Stage 10 Camp (Written with permission from Knugcab)
“The Clear Mind” - Written in collaboration with TheYugo45GV
“Demons and Dragons Bullshit” - Written by Knugcab
“Power Failure” - Written in collaboration with Elizipeazie
Preparations for Tomorrow / OUCH! / A Favor - Stage 10 Camp Final
Stage 11 Details
“Beginning the Day” - Stage 11 Start (Collab with Elizipeazie)
Automatic Pilot / A Minor Hold-Up / A Bad Day Begins - Stage 11 Drive and Camp
“A Little Ride-Along with Team RK Series Racing” - Collab, Written by Elizipeazie
The Party / A New Steed / Some Minor Repairs - Collab with Elizipeazie
Helping Out A Friend / The High-Tech Solution - Collab with Elizipeazie



Trugarde ‘Camp’, Queen’s Garden, Around 9 Sun

(Thank you to @Knugcab for letting me borrow his team)


Jayde had been paying attention to the chaos going on near the pink van regarding something to do with the engine. Specifically, they had the little top cover off, showing a metal stick covered in bumps, and the front cover removed, showing a set of pulleys kept concealed inside the engine. This fascinated him, seeing the inner workings of an internal combustion engine, though he couldn’t quite bring himself to go over and be in the way.

Janne looked over and saw that Jayde was watching, then asked, “Jayde, mind coming over here? I could use your help with some things.”

Jayde nodded, then got up and walked over to the van. “Sure. What will you need me to do?”

“Well, the camshaft seized up in the cylinder head,” Janne said, pointing to each item as he mentioned it so that Jayde stood a chance of understanding the parts, “and broke both the timing belt it had on it and the one I put on the van at the side of the road. I’ll need the good belt repaired, but I might need a little help with some other bits of this process.”

Jayde nodded, then watched as Janne removed several bolts from the camshaft caps, followed by an attempt at removing the camshaft - rather forcefully by a few whacks with a rubber mallet - from the top of the engine, only for Janne to shake his head and sigh. “It’s a little bit stuck,” Janne admitted. “Think you can get it out?” He handed the mallet to Jayde, who studied the stuck camshaft and the mallet for a couple of seconds, before giving the camshaft one good whack right on the camshaft pulley bolt, causing the camshaft to almost leap out of the engine, caught by Jayde a moment later.

“You know, I was going to try that next,” Janne said sheepishly.

“I did hit it fairly hard, to be fair,” Jayde replied.

“Can you just do your ‘Demons and Dragons’ bullshit and be done with it, please?” Andreas grumbled.

“I could, but I don’t think Janne wants to pull the cylinder head off just so I can make an attempt at it,” Jayde admitted.

“Well… I do have a spare head gasket. But I’d rather save that for if we blow a head gasket instead of using it now,” Janne said. “Plus, I’ve always wanted to see how long beer-can bearings can hold up.”

“What!? You’re experimenting on- Why!?” Andreas yelled.

“Because you’re scared of magic,” Janne replied with a smirk. “You told Rukari “No fucking finger paint on the engine block,” and then this happens. So, it’s time to see if a little backyard engineering makes you feel better.”

Jayde chuckled, though as Janne handed him a broken timing belt, he understood some magic would be needed. “Can you stick that back together?” Janne asked.

“Sure,” Jayde replied, putting the two pieces back together and using a silent spell. Afterward, Jayde set the belt where Janne could find it, then watched as Janne started cutting pieces out of the many beer cans in the back of the van.

“HAS ANYONE SEEN SONIC?!” Marie yelled.

“NO, AND I DON’T WANT TO!” Andreas shouted back.

Jayde crouched down to watch Janne doing his work on the engine, spotting Sonic the Porcupine hiding down around the pedals. “Looks like he’s by the gas pedal, Marie,” Jayde replied.

“Get that little shit out of there!” Andreas yelled. “I’ve stepped on him once already!”

Jayde nodded, then used his magic, or perhaps it was the Force, to float Sonic up over his hand, then settled him into the back of the van where Marie was resting.

“Fucking show-off,” Andreas muttered.

Janne finished cutting the new cam bearings, then used a variety of interesting tools that Jayde was less-than-familiar with to grind down the cam journals on the cylinder head and the camshaft bearing caps, before reassembling the engine with copious amounts of grease and oil. Jayde, meanwhile, looked around the van, spotted something poking out of the front bumper, and pulled a large shard of Dyre bone out of it.

“You three are aware that Dyre bones bring bad luck, right?” Jayde asked. “I can give you a charm to hang around your mirror to ward off bad luck.”

“No! No more Demons and Dragons bullshit in my van!” Andreas roared. “I hate Dyre more than anything else in this world, I hate their bones more than I hate them, and I hate magic more than I hate Dyre bones!”

Janne looked to Jayde and said, “He’s just scared because he found out that monsters under the bed are real.”

Jayde nodded. “As is to be expected,” Jayde admitted.


Trugarde, Following Kivenaal, 1 Moon


Kivenaal sighed after rejecting an “offer” for the fifteenth time in the last half-hour to go up to bed, then got up and left the Second Guardhouse Tavern and Inn. He was exhausted, worn down from dealing with people, just wanted to get some rest, but he just couldn’t get any peace with the number of people who were interested in him.

Kivenaal soon found himself in a chair in the lobby of the End of the Line Inn, barely aware of how he’d even gotten there. It was there where he stayed for the night, a silent guardian over the whole inn, occasionally getting up and pacing in the lobby as he waited out another very long day. For him, today really couldn’t have gone any worse. His disguise had drawn more attention to him, he’d had easily more than 100 different people ask him for a “good night in bed,” he’d spent most of the day hiding out on various rooftops, and now he was hiding out in the lobby of a classy hotel instead of getting any sleep.


Trugarde, Second Guardhouse, 4 Moon


Kaylie laid there in their shared room, just trying to make sense of this day. She’d gotten a great ride in the Dione and had made an effort to learn more about how the trip was for them, and even gotten some results out of it. Jayde now had a bicycle sitting in the truck bed with both wheels dismounted to save space. Kayden had helped Valentin with his ankle. Kivenaal had gotten up hours ago and left the building, and she had no idea where they would find him in the morning. Malavera was typing something up in his laptop in the corner, the light of his laptop illuminating him like some ancient spellcaster, the harsh white glow reflecting off of his reading glasses telling her that it was probably just a text document. Rukari, of course, slept like the dead, half slumped onto the floor and half still in the bed after a few too many pints of beer.

She looked to the future and smiled. Would there be another trip? Perhaps. But she knew that everyone who had gone to Crugandr would have a shared experience like no other, and all of them were changed as a result.

4 Likes

TEAM HILLBILLY ROLLERS

Earlier parts

PART 0.1 - A prologue to the prologue
PART 0.2 - Another piece of the prologue puzzle
PART 0.3 - Viva la IP 4Z!
PART 0.4 - Robotman
PART 0.5 - Interference problems
PART 0.6 - Can I play Tetris?
PART 0.7 - Tangerine and familiar
PART 1.0 - Now things got serious!
PART 1.1 - Hello, Thibault and friends!
PART 1.2 - Poor kitty
PART 1.3 - Curse you, Team Oil Crisis!
PART 1.4 - Interlude
PART 2.0 - Bird bird bird, bird is the word!
PART 2.1 - D. Head
PART 2.2 - Good night!
PART 3.0 - Freeway Rockstar
PART 3.1 - DISCO TJO DISCO HEJ
PART 3.2 - Van-Werewolf 1-0
PART 4.0 - Calm after the storm
PART 5.0 - Mirror mirror on the…oh, crap!
PART 5.1 - Hello, little puppies!
PART 6.0 - Speed
PART 6.1 - GIMME OXYGEN! (feat. Madrias)
PART 6.2 - Steamin’ hot! (feat. Elizipeazie)
PART 7.0 - The Kayak
PART 7.1 - Marie the valkyrie?
PART 7.2 - Vegetables
PART 7.3 - Time to tie things up.
PART 8.0 - The hangover
PART 8.1 - The new team member
PART 9.0 - From pink to brown
PART 9.1 - Co-op with Madrias and Elizipeazie
PART 9.2 - Where is Sonic?
PART 10.0 - First at last!
PART 10.1 - Co-op with Variationofvariables
PART 11.0 - Why is this van so damn fast?
PART 11.1 - Co-op with Madrias
PART 11.2 - Demons and dragons bullshit
PART 11.3 - Oops, thank you, Kaylie!
PART 12.0 - Snap, crackle and pop!
PART 12.1 - The fire breathing jalopy
PART 12.2 - Written by Madrias

PART 12.3 - Bumpin’ the bumper

When the night was coming close, Janne assembled the last parts of the engine back together. Even himself was skeptical about the backyard-engineered cam bearings, but it was at least worth a try. He started up the engine, which of course was spewing a bit of smoke in the beginning, but at least there was no strange noises, and yeah, the oil pressure light was flickering a little on idle, but at least not at higher RPM. He took a turn around camp with the van, everything seemed to work flawlessly, which made him a bit suspicious actually. “This would never have worked on earth…”, he thought. “And I would not even have tried it. Yet…I knew that it was exactly what was needed at the moment. Weird. Very weird”. He knew that most likely he would not get too much sleep this night, because his mind would be occupied with those thoughts. He went back to where they had parked earlier, and assembled the engine covers back together, and then the interior…

Actually, the van might have been parked too close to the tent, at least according to Andreas, coming out of the tent, bumping with his knees into the front bumper.

"OUCH!", he shouted, kicking the front bumper of the van hard in anger.

"HEY! DON’T KICK THE FRONT BUMPER, IT IS BROKEN ENOUGH ALREADY!", Janne shouted from the inside of the van.

"I WILL KICK THIS GODDAMNED FRONT BUMPER AS MUCH AS I WANT TO!", Andreas replied, kicking it again, and again, and again. “IT IS PROBABLY FULL OF DYRE BONE SPLINTERS, THAT’S WHY EVERYTHING GOES STRAIGHT TO HELL IN THIS RALLY, AND MY WHOLE LIFE SUCKS, AND I STOMP ON A FOUR LEGGED SPIKE BALL AS SOON AS I PUT MY FOOT DOWN!”, he said, kicking it again, hard enough to start to sag.

"CALM DOWN!, Janne said. "Jesus, you are really scared of your own shadow right now! Didn’t you say that dyre bones were just demons and dragons bullshit?"

"I don’t care", Andreas said, going to empty his bladder behind a tree. “Fine, I will move the van so you don’t have to bump into it again, because obviously you are too blind to see a huge pink brick!”, Janne answered.

Turning the ignition on, Janne got some chills down his spine though. A red light was glowing from the dashboard, spreading into the dark passenger area of the van.

“W A I T”

Janne knew very well what it was. The glow plug indicator light, the old school type that IP used in the 70s and 80s, that stuck with the second gen Freeway Star, a model that was released already in 1989, only getting small updates to cope with the regulations and the taste of the buyers for the 20+ years it was in production. The only trouble was…this was not a diesel. And normally, he would have seen this as an electrical gremlin, but now…he didn’t even dare to start it. He felt that he really had to do what the light was telling him, without questioning it. And…the light was slow for some reason.

“W A I T”

Suddenly, the red light was turned into a much friendlier green one.

“S T A R T”

When Janne did like the indicator lamp told him, and started up the van, he got even worse chills. Because he could SWEAR that he saw a text flashing in orange at the same spot in the dashboard. Very rapidly flickering but…he SAW it.

“O B E Y”

His eyeballs had the size of golf balls when it appeared. It was just not POSSIBLE. The glow plug indicator, that might have looked high tech when it appeared on the Icarus diesels in the mid 70s, was a very simple construction. It simply said “SWTAAIRTT”, with a red filter under “W A I T” and a green filter under “S T A R T”, and the glow plug relay switching between the bulbs when turned off. It could not display any other letters, and not in any other colour. He moved the van further from the tent, turned off the ignition, and now he saw a blue light flickering from the same spot instead.

G O O D B O I

Janne walked into the tent, with a face that was whiter than a polar bear. But one thing was for sure, he was NOT going to tell this to the rest of the team.

TO BE CONTINUED…

2 Likes

Shitbox Rally

Stage 12: Trugarde to Keepitz

Stage Start: 1 Sun, 30/7/3251, Trugarde, Queen’s Garden Campsite

Weather at Stage Start: Hot (33C), a cloudless sky, with the only saving grace being relatively strong winds.
Weather at mid-stage: Hotter (35C), still no clouds in sight, though the wind speed has increased.
Weather at Stage End (First Car): About the same (35C), still a cloudless sky, the wind is fading.
Weather at 5 Sun (mid-day): Hot (34C), wispy clouds appear on the horizon, wind is calm with occasional strong gusts.
Weather at Stage End (Last Car): Warm (30C), wispy clouds cover the camp and provide occasional respite from the heat, wind is strong again.

Stage End (First Car): 4-and-1 Sun, 30/7/3251, Keepitz Campsite

Stage End (Last Car): 6-and-68 Sun, 30/7/3251, Keepitz Campsite

Weather at 10 Sun: Warm (27C), heavy clouds appear in the distance, creating a beautiful sunset, wind remains comfortably strong.


Trugarde is still a busy city, and getting out of the city is just as difficult as any winding dirt-trail through the forest, made worse by the number of large shape-shifters everyone has to dodge, some being as large as Dyre. However, as everyone leaves the city and turns out onto the road to Keepitz, speeds increase from barely walking pace to a full on race. There’s a gradual uphill trend to the road, but not enough to cause anyone to lose traction or speed. On the other hand, there are a lot of curves that seemingly appear out of nowhere, forcing everyone to slow down or otherwise fly off of the road.

However, as you near the small city of Keepitz, home to roughly 100,000 people, give or take 10,000, a few buildings stand out even from the road. One is the large number of watch-towers nearby, and the other is a large, red-brick building that Rukari labeled on the map as the “Tombstone,” a place for the local band of assassins to live in relative peace. Our camp, thankfully, is on the other side of the road from the city of Keepitz, in a large field of grass that could really do with being mowed properly. Further behind our camp is the train station, far enough from the city to not create a lot of noise pollution for them, though we’ll be dealing with the sound of trains all night long.


Notes: Randomization is active. Breakdowns are active. Time is in Earth Time.


@Madrias

Team Shift Happens

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 08:41:14
Average MPH: 40.8
Randomizer: 7
Refueling Stops: 1
Breakdown: 4 (Team Caused)
Total Distance Traveled: 3907.2

Kayden takes the wheel today, though after the debacle that was just getting out of the city, everyone is left wondering why they left him behind the wheel. Between stalling the truck twice before leaving Trugarde, requiring a push start each time, and gear-changes getting sloppy under pressure as Kayden made more and more mistakes, it’s safe to say that Shift Happens might have only been a little slower if they walked the stage instead.


@Caligari

Team Wayfarers

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 08:06:19
Average MPH: 43.8
Randomizer: 8
Refueling Stops: 1
Breakdown: 2 (Chassis)
Total Distance Traveled: 3907.2

An ill-timed sneeze sent Chernobog off of the road. A large rock was waiting for them, which slammed into the passenger-side front wheel hard enough to dent the rim and break the spring. Jill was able to repair the spring, and some carefully applied violence to the rim with a large hammer, plus an air-spell, repaired the wheel.


@Executive

Team Gearknobs

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 05:28:40
Average MPH: 64.8
Randomizer: 11
Refueling Stops: 0
Breakdown: 0
Total Distance Traveled: 3907.2

The little AWD hatch sprints along the somewhat-rough cobblestone road, passing a lot of other vehicles on the way. Including a Bricksley being shoved along for the umpteenth time.


@BannedbyAndroid

Team Fallen Angels of the Past

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 07:38:39
Average MPH: 46.4
Randomizer: 9
Refueling Stops: 0
Breakdown: 2 (Chassis)
Total Distance Traveled: 3907.2

Things were going well until the Claussient started popping out of gear at random. It took a while for the driver to learn to keep her hand on the stick while in third gear to prevent it from happening again.


@TheYugo45GV

Team Oil Crisis

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 04:28:32
Average MPH: 79.3
Randomizer: 13
Refueling Stops: 2
Breakdown: 0
Total Distance Traveled: 3907.2

The olive green Magistrate hurtles along the road this time. The only slight difficulty encountered along the way is someone having their ear sneezed in by one of the Dyre pups.


@Knugcab

Team Hillbilly Rollers

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 05:16:25
Average MPH: 67.3
Randomizer: 11
Refueling Stops: 1
Breakdown: 0
Total Distance Traveled: 3907.2

With the engine patched up thanks to Janne and Jayde, Andreas promptly puts the van through a shakedown run. It holds up quite well after the field repair.


@Fayeding_Spray

Team Witchlight

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 04:51:38
Average MPH: 73.0
Randomizer: 12
Refueling Stops: 1
Breakdown: 0
Total Distance Traveled: 3907.2

“See, it runs just like magic on roads like this!” Finne mentioned. Elist and Kira tried to explain how magic worked to their Dwarven counterpart, but he just wasn’t getting it. Ambay accidentally broke the center console when he reached for a canteen of water.


@MrdjaNikolen

Team Mravolinski-Chitco

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 07:07:35
Average MPH: 49.8
Randomizer: 9
Refueling Stops: 0
Breakdown: 3 (Tires)
Total Distance Traveled: 3907.2

Tires really prefer having air in them to start with. Setting off with two slow-leaks in the rear tires really wasn’t helpful to your time today.


@variationofvariables

Team Blazers

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 05:51:26
Average MPH: 60.6
Randomizer: 9
Refueling Stops: 1
Breakdown: 2 (Chassis)
Total Distance Traveled: 3907.2

It’s a battle of wills between the Yamada and Watson today. Watson tries to restrain the wild beast, the Yamada wants to run. The result is one angry car and one exhausted driver.


@SurrealCereal

Team Machinas Con Passiones

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 07:49:17
Average MPH: 45.4
Randomizer: 9
Refueling Stops: 4
Breakdown: 3 (Tires)
Total Distance Traveled: 3907.2

This time, when they got a flat tire, Giacomo attempted to get Chad with the jackswing, only for Chad to jump over the jack with a smirk. The result was the jack slamming into the other tire, popping it as well. Now having to repair two burst tires instead of one, and still fill up the fuel tank, team MCP makes a decision, 4-to-1, that Giacomo should get a chance to replace the tire he popped.


@AndiD

Team Quick Rally 47

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 06:01:16
Average MPH: 58.9
Randomizer: 8
Refueling Stops: 1
Breakdown: 1 (Powertrain)
Total Distance Traveled: 3907.2

Good news: It’s not oil pressure this time. Bad news: It’s a really annoying misfire.


@BG004130

Team Mrezhari

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 08:22:39
Average MPH: 42.3
Randomizer: 7
Refueling Stops: 0
Breakdown: 1 (Powertrain)
Total Distance Traveled: 3907.2

All tanked up with energy drinks and granola bars, team Mrezhari hit the roads hard. Too hard, it seems, as the engine decided to boil the coolant and puked everywhere. Luckily, all those energy drinks had to go somewhere, so the radiator was, eventually, refilled. The drive was a lot slower into camp afterward because no one wanted to smell like boiled piss in the campsite.


@NoahC

Team Jockey

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 06:30:46
Average MPH: 54.5
Randomizer: 10
Refueling Stops: 2
Breakdown: 0
Total Distance Traveled: 3907.2

All was going well until someone farted in the shoebox and everyone found out just how little air you really have in that car. No one owned up to it.


@elizipeazie

Team RK Series Racing

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 06:16:47
Average MPH: 56.5
Randomizer: 11
Refueling Stops: 1
Breakdown: 0
Total Distance Traveled: 3907.2

A smooth cruise down the rails gives the team plenty of time to consider the future. With Robert safely stowed away in a box car, and riding onboard the Silver Line Special at speed, the team was comfortable.


@Tzuyu_main

Team Black Rabbit

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 08:40:04
Average MPH: 40.9
Randomizer: 10
Refueling Stops: 1
Breakdown: 0
Total Distance Traveled: 3907.2

Today’s drive was almost peaceful. While Tanuki was excited about being in a town known for having a building full of legal assassins, Melanie was understandably nervous.


@SheikhMansour

Team Spy Kids

Distance Traveled: 355.2
Time (HH:MM:SS): 06:35:01
Average MPH: 53.9
Randomizer: 8
Refueling Stops: 1
Breakdown: 3 (Tires)
Total Distance Traveled: 3907.2

“Why are all four tires flat!?” Apparently someone took offense to your parking job in the Queen’s Garden, because you start the stage having to air up all four tires.



Stage Finishing Order:

04:28:32 – 3h and 01m – 4 and 01 Sun – Team Oil Crisis
04:51:38 – 3h and 22m – 4 and 22 Sun – Team Witchlight
05:16:25 – 3h and 44m – 4 and 44 Sun – Team Hillbilly Rollers
05:28:40 – 3h and 56m – 4 and 56 Sun – Team Gearknobs
05:51:26 – 3h and 76m – 4 and 76 Sun – Team Blazers
06:01:16 – 4h and 04m – 5 and 04 Sun – Team Quick Rally 47
06:16:47 – 4h and 19m – 5 and 19 Sun – Team RK Series Racing
06:30:46 – 4h and 32m – 5 and 32 Sun – Team Jockey
06:35:01 – 4h and 35m – 5 and 35 Sun – Team Spy Kids
07:07:35 – 4h and 64m – 5 and 64 Sun – Team Mravolinski-Chitco
07:38:39 – 5h and 12m – 6 and 12 Sun – Team Fallen Angels
07:49:17 – 5h and 22m – 6 and 22 Sun – Team Machinas Con Passiones
08:06:19 – 5h and 37m – 6 and 37 Sun – Team Wayfarers
08:22:39 – 5h and 52m – 6 and 52 Sun – Team Mrezhari
08:40:04 – 5h and 68m – 6 and 68 Sun – Team Black Rabbit
08:41:14 – 5h and 68m – 6 and 68 Sun – Team Shift Happens




Team Shift Happens

Previous Chapters:

Making Donuts / Speed Demon / Arrival in Camp - Stage 10 Drive and Camp
“A Pinch of Glass, a Dash of Magic” - Stage 10 Camp (Written with permission from Knugcab)
“The Clear Mind” - Written in collaboration with TheYugo45GV
“Demons and Dragons Bullshit” - Written by Knugcab
“Power Failure” - Written in collaboration with Elizipeazie
Preparations for Tomorrow / OUCH! / A Favor - Stage 10 Camp Final
Stage 11 Details
“Beginning the Day” - Stage 11 Start (Collab with Elizipeazie)
Automatic Pilot / A Minor Hold-Up / A Bad Day Begins - Stage 11 Drive and Camp
“A Little Ride-Along with Team RK Series Racing” - Collab, Written by Elizipeazie
The Party / A New Steed / Some Minor Repairs - Collab with Elizipeazie
Helping Out A Friend / The High-Tech Solution - Collab with Elizipeazie
End of the Day - Stage 11 Camp Final



Trugarde Campsite, Queen’s Garden, 10-and-40 Moon


The team quietly left their hotel room and made their way down to the truck in relative silence. It was amazing, for a city of 750,000 people, it was quiet at that time of the morning, with only the occasional other team in sight, or the occasional local out and about getting things done before dawn.

Jayde and Kayden were responsible for keeping Kivenaal on his feet and moving after finding out that he’d spent most of the night guarding the Queen’s Suite of the End of the Line Inn instead of getting any sleep. Of course, moving someone who was 8’3”, weighed 500 pounds or so without any of the shit he was wearing, and had no energy of his own to spare was rather difficult to say the least. The decision was made to put him in the driver’s side rear seat next to Jayde, giving him a chance to rest, even though he kept swearing he’d be fine to drive after “a cup of breakfast and a plate of coffee.”

Rukari and Malavera had been briefed on their duties. Rukari would sit front-mid-bench and Malavera would take the front passenger seat, letting Kayden take the wheel. Nova, albeit begrudgingly, had agreed to give up the armor for now, leaving it in the truck bed under the tents. Added to the chaos in the bed was a certain turquoise bicycle belonging to Jayde, now securely strapped into place to keep it from falling out or getting dinged up by any of the bed-trash back there.

Breakfast in the truck was simple toast with strawberry jam, something easy to make and surprisingly messy in the hands of someone who was, finally, realizing he was too tired to drive after managing to fail at eating a toasted jam sandwich properly, and then nodding off and smashing his jam-smeared face up against the window. Jayde sighed and helped clean up Kivenaal’s fur, and wiped the mess off of the window, watching as Kivenaal drifted in and out of sleep. “Come on, Kivenaal. Just get some rest,” Jayde said. Sure enough, within a couple of minutes, Kivenaal was out like a light, his head resting on Jayde’s shoulder as a result.

“Well, he definitely needs it,” Kaylie said, looking over at Kivenaal and Jayde.


1 Sun


Malavera and Rukari groaned as they had to get out of the truck and give it a little push. Kayden dumped the clutch and the engine roared to life soon after, coming down to an idle as Kayden waited for the two of them to get back into the truck. A glance in the rear view mirror told him that Kivenaal hadn’t even responded, instead just continuing to sleep while leaning on Jayde.

As they followed the rest of the teams out of Trugarde, however, problems started happening almost immediately. First was Kayden stalling the truck when someone in a primitive motor vehicle honked their horn at him, requiring the first bail-out of Malavera and Rukari in order to get the truck going again. This was made far worse when Kayden managed to kill it just before the main gate, claiming, “I don’t think we’ll fit through that.”

“Kayden, Nova fit the truck through that gate yesterday without a problem,” Kaylie said.

“Can’t believe I have to push the truck again,” Malavera grumbled, getting out and giving the truck another shove to get the engine going again, sparing Rukari from having to untangle himself from around the center console.


On the Road


Things didn’t really improve much out on the open road. Not just was Kayden terrible at dealing with low-speed situations, but his gear changes were worse than what Jayde had done before Valentin had taught him how to drive. This was made even worse by a certain reluctance to change gears, choosing instead to rev the ever-loving hell out of the V8 to crawl along at 55 MPH.

Then came the debacle of the fuel stop when Kayden completely forgot to keep an eye on the fuel gauge, running the engine out of gas and not even getting the clutch in before the truck lumbered to a stop in the middle of the road. Team Black Rabbit darted around them with ease while Kaylie looked at her brother and said, “You really are driving like an idiot today.”

“I hate this truck,” Kayden grumbled. “And I think it hates me, too.”

Malavera looked behind, then ahead of the truck and gave a frustrated growl of annoyance. “Of course. Kayden, you jack-ass. You’ve stalled it in the valley between two hills.”

“Would be easier at this point to modify it for a crank start,” Rukari said.

“Can we stop making fun of my driving, please?” Kayden grumbled.

The truck was nudged along until the engine started, and Kayden tried his best to get it up the little hill without stalling the engine again, each gear change making everyone who was awake wince at all the crunches and grinding going on.

“We’re going to have half a gearbox at this rate,” Malavera said.

“Not sure why he’s allowed to drive and I’m not,” Rukari added. “Yes, I overheated the truck, but I’m not the one who is murdering the gearbox.”


Keepitz Campsite, 6 and 68 Sun


With a final crunch of gears as Kayden failed another downshift, the Bricksley rolled into the long grass of their new campsite, where Kayden shut the engine down and the team unpacked the tents from the bed. Well, everyone except for Kivenaal, who had slumped over and occupied the entire rear bench as soon as Kaylie and Jayde had left it. Rukari looked at his worn-out, sleeping brother, then sighed. “Some days, I wish you didn’t feel it was so hard to get through a day,” Rukari said quietly. “That you would find peace with who you are.” He closed the truck door carefully, though made sure the dome light had turned off before joining the others.

“How is he?” Kaylie asked.

“Still asleep,” Rukari said.

“Think he’ll be fine?” Kayden inquired.

“He’s been through a lot, but he is strong. His strength in body, mind, and spirit will get him through this,” Rukari mentioned.

“Never seen him crash this bad,” Malavera admitted. “I’ve seen him have trouble sleeping before, but, usually he pulls himself out of this. Here, he’s spiraled down.”

Jayde nodded. “I’ve seen this before. Nightmares so strong they rip you right out of sleep and leave you with only a few precious minutes or if you’re lucky, hours of rest. Do that for a few weeks, you get something like this. I don’t think he has nightmares nightly, but I do believe he’s been deliberately avoiding sleep. Just now, that strategy has caught up to him.”

2 Likes

TEAM HILLBILLY ROLLERS

Earlier parts

PART 0.1 - A prologue to the prologue
PART 0.2 - Another piece of the prologue puzzle
PART 0.3 - Viva la IP 4Z!
PART 0.4 - Robotman
PART 0.5 - Interference problems
PART 0.6 - Can I play Tetris?
PART 0.7 - Tangerine and familiar
PART 1.0 - Now things got serious!
PART 1.1 - Hello, Thibault and friends!
PART 1.2 - Poor kitty
PART 1.3 - Curse you, Team Oil Crisis!
PART 1.4 - Interlude
PART 2.0 - Bird bird bird, bird is the word!
PART 2.1 - D. Head
PART 2.2 - Good night!
PART 3.0 - Freeway Rockstar
PART 3.1 - DISCO TJO DISCO HEJ
PART 3.2 - Van-Werewolf 1-0
PART 4.0 - Calm after the storm
PART 5.0 - Mirror mirror on the…oh, crap!
PART 5.1 - Hello, little puppies!
PART 6.0 - Speed
PART 6.1 - GIMME OXYGEN! (feat. Madrias)
PART 6.2 - Steamin’ hot! (feat. Elizipeazie)
PART 7.0 - The Kayak
PART 7.1 - Marie the valkyrie?
PART 7.2 - Vegetables
PART 7.3 - Time to tie things up.
PART 8.0 - The hangover
PART 8.1 - The new team member
PART 9.0 - From pink to brown
PART 9.1 - Co-op with Madrias and Elizipeazie
PART 9.2 - Where is Sonic?
PART 10.0 - First at last!
PART 10.1 - Co-op with Variationofvariables
PART 11.0 - Why is this van so damn fast?
PART 11.1 - Co-op with Madrias
PART 11.2 - Demons and dragons bullshit
PART 11.3 - Oops, thank you, Kaylie!
PART 12.0 - Snap, crackle and pop!
PART 12.1 - The fire breathing jalopy
PART 12.2 - Written by Madrias
PART 12.3 - Bumpin’ the bumper

PART 13.0 - A jawdroppin’ ride

Janne went out early in the morning, to see if things had calmed down. Was it only an electrical gremlin that he saw, or…? He climbed into the van, turned on the ignition, and still the same warning was lit.

“W A I T”

He tried to ignore what he hoped should just be the glow plug indicator from the diesel version all of a sudden getting some gremlins, lighting up for no reason at all, so he tried to crank the starter, with no success at all. The starter was dead, while the “W A I T” - message was shining brighter than ever. He put his hand on the glow plug indicator, and it was…hot. Burning hot. Turning off the ignition and turning it on again, once again showed the message he saw the day before, briefly flickering in front of his eyes.

“O B E Y”

Quickly followed by

“W A I T”

The thing was, the “W A I T”-light was lit for a very long time. Longer than it would have been when starting up a diesel in the coldest of temperatures, which he was very used to. After waiting for a really long time, the light changed from a red “W A I T” to a green “S T A R T”, he tried to crank the starter, it worked but he quickly turned it off again to not wake up the rest of the team.

“Oh, crap…”, he thought. “How will I even explain this to Andreas? He will go nuts over this shit…”

With the rest of the team waking up, Janne tried to explain the whole thing to Andreas.

"Well, you know, there is some small electrical gremlins with the van, it can be hard to start…", Janne tried to explain to Andreas.

"The whole van is turning into a gremlin more or less, so what could possibly be different?", Andreas said.

"Ehm, the glow plug indicator…", Janne tried to explain, without really knowing how he should say it.

"Which glow plug indicator? This is not a diesel!", Andreas said, scratching his head.

With everyone seated inside the van, and the stuff put into the cargo area, Andreas started up the engine like if nothing had happened, Janne once again being white in his face.

"B…but…how did you do that?", Janne said.

"I don’t know? Seems like the electrical gremlins you’re talking about has gone away. Bad grounding? Maybe you should check that out?"

After driving not very far, they passed the Yamada being driven by Team Blazers, once again Janne noticed a flickering in the glow plug indicator.

“K I L L”

“T H A T”

“C A R”

“J U S T”

“D O”

“I T !”

"YAAAARGHHHH!", Janne was screaming, once again white in his face.

"MARIE!", Andreas said angrily. "Is Sonic on the floor again?"

"No", Marie said, "He is sleeping on the dashboard."

"Sounds like if Janne was stepping on him, though.", Andreas said.

"Bb…b…a…h…bb…l…eh… I probably fell asleep and had a nightmare., Janne said.

Not long after this, they heard a rattle coming from the front of the van, just getting worse and worse. At the same time, they saw how the Union Magistrate belonging to team Oil Crisis was trying to pass them. When the Magistrate had started to overtake the van, something pink taped together with duct tape was flying away. The front bumper. Already being broken, the bumper being run over first with the front and then with the rear wheels of the Magistrate, there was nothing left of it, just pink plastic smithereens spread all over the road. Though, it seems like the Magistrate took no damage, probably since the bumper already was broken.

"You should not have kicked the bumper so hard yesterday!", Janne told Andreas. "Look what happened now!"

"GOOD! Now we got rid of all the fucking dyre bones, and I am not going to pick any of the parts up!, Andreas said.

"I doubt that it is even possible", Janne said, seeing the few remains of the bumper being completely crushed by the Carica driven by Team Gearknobs driving over them.

Not long after that, Janne once again noticed some flickering from the glow plug indicator, even if he TRIED to ignore it, it was simply impossible, his eyes was looking over there and he could not stop them, while Marie and Andreas seemed to be totally unaffected.

“P I N K”

“Y O U R”

“F A U L T”

“O B E Y”

“O R”

“P A Y”

The fact that the light now had EXACTLY the same shade of bubblegum pink as the van, made Janne even more uncomfortable than earlier. But he was keeping quiet. At the next fuel stop he was looking at the front of the van. There was some stuff hanging there quite unprotected with the bumper gone, which he didn’t really like. He saw something interesting, though. Some pieces of scrapwood not very far from the road. Loading them into the van, he had a plan to build a new front bumper out of them, as soon as they arrived at the camp. Not that the bumper seemed to be the biggest problem they had…

TO BE CONTINUED…


@TheYugo45GV @variationofvariables @Executive

4 Likes


ORCH.....................DAS....FINALE......................................YOU..................ARE................(NOT)..............HATED.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

croing woairning: actually just horror no vehicle ok maybe slightly vehicle but mostly eldritch




BLAZERS

FINALE:

Goodbye, this kiss is for the world.



The desolate campsite winds rushed over the tops of the trees, eventually falling down upon the racers in a cooling wind that shivered the people standing about in preparation for the next stage, and whilst the rest of the team had gathered a rest, there was one man who seemed to be missing from the tent. Charlotte quickly glanced around as she left the tent, her heterochromic eyes scanning the area as she looked for any sign of the team’s main driver. She seemed relatively calm, but a memory continued to lapse inside of her head as she recalled the events of the night before.

“I’ll join you guys… in a bit.”

The feline remained awake for a few hours until midnight, and in that long dreadful time period, she never once felt the presence of someone entering the tent. The remembrance continued to play in her head as her gaze looked across their area, and found herself taken aback by what she saw before him. Romulo sat there hunched over the steering wheel, appearing to have fallen asleep in the car the night before. Charlotte was very much alarmed, quickly running over and attempting to open the door, only to find – much to her dismay – that the locks on the car were shut, and he was simply sitting in there with no way for air to circulate from the outside, for the windows remained retracted all the way up.

She thought quickly, and began to bang on the window, calling out to the man inside the vehicle with a look of worry in her eyes. “Ray!” She yelled out, which caught the attention of Watson and the others, and perhaps other teams who were nearby and gathering their belongings together to prepare for the coming day. Watson rushed over, but as he did, Romulo began to rise from where he was once leaning atop, and looked back at a distressed feline currently looking back at him, with tears seemingly about to form in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Watson could see his lips move. Romulo’s eyes seemed normal, like they always were. Slightly eye-bagged, sure, but no signs that anything might have been wrong with him. Yet still, the blonde detective remained suspicious.

Romulo unlocked the doors to allow the rest of the team to enter, but as Charlotte swung the passenger-side door open, a foul stench began to quickly seep into her nostrils, activating her gag reflexes as she quickly backed away from the car.

Watson saw this, and the alarm in his eyes grew quickly as he rushed over to the feline’s side, but Romulo remained indifferent to the situation, as though nothing important seemed to be happening, even going so far as to ask if anything was wrong. Watson looked at the cabin with a face of disgust and repulsiveness, even though it looked perfectly normal to him. What wasn’t normal however, was Romulo. His skin looked distorted, almost melted, and it seemed like he was about to bind into the seat as one. Watson took a whiff of the interior once more, and the smell was one incredibly familiar to him.

“Romulo, you‘re not normal.” He said plainly with a disapproving gaze.

From across the vehicle, Ga’araiya stared back into it. She could feel the imminent piercing gaze of the machine as it shot back into her eyes, and she felt ready to bring her trident out, but a quick glare from Watson forced her to retract her hand back. Instead, the silver haired girl approached the bodywork of the vehicle, resting her hand upon the silver-polished Yamada badge that rested upon the plastic grille. While it looked as though nothing was happening, once she retracted her hand, she would nearly collapse onto the warm soil beneath her, if not for Watson’s quick actions to have her land atop his arms.

Charlotte noticed that the smell was now gone following whatever Ga’araiya had done to the car, but still she seemed hesitant to enter. She lifted her head from the seat in front of her and her eyes landed upon the driver, who to an intense trepidation, left her shocked as she saw him now collapsed atop the steering wheel, his skin now seemingly having returned to normal.

In a quick set of scenarios, Watson called for Emily to hold Ga’araiya, as he rushed towards the driver’s side to pull Romulo away from the wheel. The driver seemed perfectly fine now, with no signs of melting or whatever he first saw initially, but Watson was now doubtful of his abilities to drive, and quickly unbuckled his seatbelt to pull the unconscious man away from the driver’s seat.

“Watson…” Emily’s face was clouded with a disapproving look.

“This is the only choice we have. I will pilot the Yamada.” Watson said as he lifted Romulo up towards his shoulder. “We’re not going to be left behind in a foreign place all alone, and I don’t trust that ring enough to transport us somewhere we would know. It’s more dangerous than me trying to drive this machine, even with Charlotte here.”

Watson shoved the man into the rear seat row, behind the driver, locking him into the seatbelt and slamming the door shut. As he was just about to enter the car, he heard the bell ring out in town, and once more the ear-piercing symphony of internal combustion engines sang its song of mechanical combustion. Not wanting to be left behind, the detective cranked the key in the ignition to awaken the Japanese-built beast that lay underneath the blood red bodywork, and it started up with a roar that shook the vehicle’s metal chassis.

Not wasting any time, Charlotte hopped into the seat next to him, and Emily assisted the immobile Ga’araiya into the backseat, and before long Watson moved the shifter into first, launching the car in a flurry of kicked up gravel from beneath its tyres.

The vehicle’s steering wheel felt heavy, but the throttle and clutch were unusually light, almost as though it wanted to move itself. The battle of wits was on, to play it safe, or to heed to the machine’s call. The slower cars were all passed one by one, mere centimetres from each body panel. Emily watched in horror as the familiar blue-and-yellow Dauer began to approach the Yamada, before closing her eyes until she no longer heard the revving of the flat-four engine as the blood red crossover passed it with seemingly no issue.
“W-Wat-!” She opened her eyes and called out to the driver, but stopped halfway through as she saw the struggle of the blonde man in the pilot’s seat. Sweat beading up on the side of his head, his arms visibly struggling to maintain control of the wheel as it moved on its own. She freezed, and promptly remained silent, like the man she was about to scold for nearly hitting someone dear to her.

As the struggle only continued as the hour passed, Watson was beginning to lose his focus, and the car was getting dangerously close to the edges of the corners he was taking. The fastest line, sure, but the safest line? He couldn’t bring himself to trust the vehicle with it. Not after all it had been doing all this time. The driver persevered through the drive up the hill, not allowing the thrill of driving to get to him like Romulo yesterday.

Just as he’d thought he’d found a middle ground, a pair of headlights began to glow in the rear view mirror, and the pink dot began to grow in size as he witnessed before, only from in front. He prepared to yield, but the steering wheel began to heave on him. The signal stock locked itself in its position, and the pedal suddenly got lighter, causing the throttle to jolt into a more open position which allowed more air and fuel to get into the cylinder.

The TEVR system kicked in as the revs climbed and his foot leaned further on the pedal, and the vehicle lunged forward, pushing the car a bit further away from the pink van. This would only last for a moment as Watson lifted his foot off the pedal where the car wouldn’t be able to take over, and the pink van quickly passed by without a fuss. Watson decided to keep his feet off the pedals for now, and the red crossover slowly began to lose speed. He placed his foot back on the accelerator, which took very little effort to press down, and caused the car to lunge back to the speed they were initially going at.

“We’re playing that game, huh?”

A new game of negotiation began as Watson felt the steering wheel respond in a non-mechanical fashion, as though it was pricking at his own hands, even though the circumference remained as smooth as ever. The struggle was constant and he felt his leg straining as he carefully balanced the throttle. This contrast between his lower body and his upper was something he was familiar with, but not in a way like this, with the wrestling of the wheel and the meticulous movements of his footwork in ways he was not planning.

The movement of the car was jerky, everyone in the cabin, despite being almost locked into place by the seatbelts, still tightly held onto whatever they could. Charlotte had let go of her pacenotes, and the papers were now strewn across the muddy carpet floor. But the endeavour would bear fruit eventually, as they began to see the town fill their view more and more. Watson found the gathering of automobiles on the end of one road beside the town, and with a bit of struggling, he brought the car to a skidding halt in the low field of grass where the other vehicles had just arrived.

Looking down at the Yamada badge, he once more looked at his reflection in the chrome polish of the large “Y” that sat upon the vehicle’s horn. He turned his head towards the other people in the car as he caught his breath, everyone seemed fine, but Ga’araiya and Romulo were still very much out cold.

“How much more of this will we go through…?” Charlotte sighed as she let go of the handle on the vehicle’s A-pillar. She unbuckled her seatbelt and quickly unlocked the door to get out, her legs felt weak and her mind was constantly racing as she landed on the grass beneath her feet.

Watson shut the engine down, and removed his own seatbelt so he could exit the vehicle too.

“Emily, get out of the car. It’s not safe anymore.” He said sternly as he unlocked all the doors and quickly climbed out, leaving the door open. Emily nodded at him, pushing the door open and carrying the unconscious silver-haired girl out onto the field. Watson meanwhile pulled the handle on the door to unlock it, and was met with the sight he’d just seen earlier in the day. Romulo lay in the seat, his skin looking as though partially melted into the seat. The displeasing stench of a decomposing corpse began to seep through Watson’s nostrils, and he quickly placed his hand on Romulo’s neck. He felt the pulse resonate through his fingertips, and was quick to confirm that he was indeed still alive. Lifting his finger away from the man’s carotid, he felt a slime string from Romulo’s skin, and he quickly shook his hand to get the substance off.

“Intriguing…”

Watson tried moving Romulo, but the man felt heavy, and he looked down to see exposed skin stretching towards the seat as he attempted to move him, which promptly caused Watson to quickly retract himself from the vehicle and rush towards the rear to grab the tent, which was laid out upon the grassy field in a short amount of time.

“Get Ga’araiya in here!” He called out to Emily, who responded quickly with a nod, and after lifting the girl over into the tent, settled her down into a comfortable position to allow her to rest. With her now settled, Watson moved his hand over her temple, and a familiar blue glow began to illuminate the girl’s forehead.

Upon doing this, a loud shut was heard from behind them, and Emily and Watson turned their heads to see the Yamada’s doors having all closed. A visibly startled Charlotte tripped down nearby the red vehicle, watching in horror as she saw Romulo through the clear windows of the crossover, and lost sight of him in less than a second when a crimson liquid splattered itself across the car’s glass. She lifted her hands to cover her mouth as she turned her head away in trepidation upon the gore she had witnessed.

As blood trickled down the interior of the vehicle and seeped through the door seams, one with a keen eye would immediately be able to notice the shaking of the machine on its own. The wheels began to shift about their position, and the front and rear height began to move as though it was lifting itself up from the ground. In the headlights, a faint glow gave way to bright flashes that sent two beams of light searching across the campsite, before finally landing on a rusted wagon, and a pink van that sat idly on the other end of the field.

The suspension of the Yamada collapsed for a moment, but the deathly stare of its headlights locked itself firmly to the two vehicles in its path, and finally the car’s rear door opened itself to vomit out the team’s other belongings, including a familiar but now bloodstained blue Hawaiian shirt that landed on the ground next to a horrified Charlotte, who upon seeing it, scrambled away on the floor but still making eye contact with the being before her, which was now slowly rising from the ground with its fleshy appendages that extended from within its wheel arches. The front end lifted off the ground, leaving the bumper on the flat plain where it rested, covered in a dark and dull liquid that slowly leaked from between the pairs of incisors that now revealed themselves to the other teams. An eerie and audience screeching of metal would ring throughout people’s ears as the body of the crossover stretched itself to reveal more blood-covered protuberances that remained hidden underneath its steel body panels. The headlights began to slide downwards from where its sockets were, but still remained illuminating as it began to unravel more and more of its true form, and now pairs of eyes emerged from beneath the beast’s armour, staring at all the beings that stared back at it.

A smile slowly crept upon the monster’s face as it reached its full height, and showed all its limbs to the disgust and dismay of those who would now witness its wrath.

”I…i Am TiRed.tiRED oF wAitiNG…”

The metallic red body panels of what used to be a Yamada ASR-4 unfolded and multiplied at rapid pace, forming vulgar shapes that stretched out into sharp steel fragments, arranged in manners that resembled an unearthly being bent into shapes that repulsed everything in its path.

From beneath Watson’s hand, the girl who was once lying dormant now opened her eyes, and a bright red glow began to emanate from her irises which were once the soft blue of the oceans. Silvery streaks on her hair fell out, and were replaced with glowing red elements as she rose from within the tent. A turquoise trident manifested itself from the floor beneath her, but began to twist upon itself and shift towards a maroon hue that could only be compared to ferrite-lined blood.

“Ga’araiya!” Watson called out as she took a step towards the monster that was digging its claws into the ground beneath. But still, she stood her ground as the trident completed its form, and she grasped it firmly in her hand as she pointed it right at the monster.

“I knew I should have pacified that vile thing when I had the chance.”

“That’s not the point, princess! We are in no position to be dealing with a being such as that! Fate guaranteed it was meant to happen-”

“Yet you still agreed to take us along for the ride, did you not?” She looked at him with a cold deathly stare that seemed to pierce through the usual mental armour he would don, and go straight into his soul where he simply remained silent. The silence seemed unusual, however, as his eyes were wide with tremor, and he remained unmoving. “Rest assured, if you still manage to bring me back to Atlantis, I will leave this out of my report to mother. Allow me to finish this.”

Ga’araiya prepared to strike at the behemoth that stood before them, but as she turned her head around, she found herself face to face with the beast right there and then. The pairs of teeth that lined its smug visage were now innumerous sharp fangs that skirted around its jaw and were dripping with a rusty-coloured liquid that smelled strongly of iron.




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