Team Getaway Plan
Skyler entered the workshop, as usual with Discman in hand. This time he’s in a Smash Mouth mood, listening to Walkin’ on the Sun. In his other hand his fingers drum a catalog. He makes his way into the office in the back, where Maria sits, sipping a coffee. “Morning!” She chirps as he pulls off a headphone. He just smiles in response. “So, found anything you like?” He drops the catalog on the desk, and flicks it to a page with six different cars.
“Only this page.” he says.
“That’s it?” she replies in surprise.
“You’re surprised that something called Dan’s Early Special Premium Automobiles and Completely Intelligent Trucks and Off-roaders has no sports cars?”
“…Point taken…” She says defeated as she looks down the list of cars.
As she looks through the list, Skyler says, “You know it kinda seems like they worked backwards from an acronym or something right?”
“…Yeah? What’s Despacito though?”
“No clue.”
“Anyway… Yeah these choices aren’t perfect. Lot of these cars have basically no history for me to find…”
“What’s our budget?”
“Ten thousand dollars…” She pauses for a moment as she stares at the list. “Let’s get rid of some stuff. I think we should go cheaper, have more room for fine tuning ourselves. So…” She pulls out a red marker pen and begins crossing off cars. “That takes out the Caliban, the Epoch and the ZAF. What do you think of the Arai?”
“It looks bigger and heavier. All-wheel drive is nice, but I can do without. I’d prefer something lighter.”
“Glad we agree”, she says as she crosses it off. “Now… two mid engine rear drive sports cars… The Neko is a real looker. Pretty, and 163hp from a turbo I4 isn’t bad. Meanwhile that LLA Comet is… a thing. Pretty plain looking, low power, but hopefully that means low weight. Also that low price means we can do things…”
“You’re the mechanic, so let’s go cheap.”
“Sure then… You should probably stay here while I… Negotiate…” She quickly leaves the room, yelling goodbye as she disappears.
Maria walks into a filled parking lot, home of Dan’s Early Special Premium Automobiles and Completely Intelligent Trucks and Off-roaders, with some weird jazz playing in the background. Her eyes are set on the LLA Comet. It’s parked out the front, with faded paint, but otherwise looks in good shape. After a quick exchange with a salesman, she leaves with the old sports car, but not before asking one important question to the salesman.
“So is the dealership name an acronym or what?” He just nods in response. “So what is Despacito?”
“It’ll make sense in a decade or two. Probably.” is all he says, leaving her confused on the drive back to the workshop.
Back at the workshop, she immediately gets to work. First, some wide fender flares go on, with some wider but smaller wheels under them. Removing the fancy speaker for a basic system would fulfil Skyler’s need for music while saving weight, and some smaller 3 piston vented brakes reduced weight without hurting stopping power.
Next came the engine. A massive turbo and some minor engine tuning for 95 octane fuel gets the power up easily. Opening up the gearbox and swapping ratios came next, then a flat floor under the car and a new wing to improve high speed handling. Adjusting the suspension
After that, she gave the car a new coat of paint, with a black two tone. Then Some totally functional canards were added, along with some rally lights because rally lights are badass. Finally, the number 11 was added on the doors and frunk.
Skyler appeared just as she finished. Without saying a word, he peered into the window. “Just an 8 track then?”
“That’s what you want to know?”
“Well duh. I need some music. Most of my stuff is on CD.”
Maria sighs. “I’ll figure out something…”
“Good. So, is it fast?” She throws the keys at him. He grins in response, then gets in. The engine roars to life and he accelerates out the garage.
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