Day 192

[from Street Racer]

As Lien and Tristan raced back towards the latter's apartment, weaving frantically in and out of the traffic, Lien couldn't help recalling the first time that she had met Tristan…

SIX MONTHS AGO

DISUSED TRAIN DEPOT

Lien couldn't help being curious about the street races. Here in Jade City, they were everywhere. Every other day, you would hear about another race that had taken place. People would discuss how they'd seen the brightly-coloured racers fly past them on the street, or heard their windows rattle as the turbocharged engines roared past their houses. Lien herself had seen them from time to time: a Sileighty drifting through the suburbs, pursued by a Mazda MX-5; three cars that had roared past her on the freeway, going too fast for her to see what they were; a yellow-and-black Camaro cruising the streets, looking for action.

Tonight, she was finally going to see the street racers up close for herself. Her friend, Charlotte, had gotten word of a drag race going down at an abandoned train depot on the outskirts of the industrial district. A mile-long section of abandoned railway had been torn up and turned into an impromptu drag strip, perfect for racing away from the eyes of the police. Charlotte had invited Lien to come with her, and the two girls were soon approaching the track.

"Now, let me go over a few things with you again," said Charlotte. "First off, these guys are high on testosterone, and most of 'em are sexed-up jerks. If one on 'em tries touching you or something, you have to assert yourself-"

"Geez, I don't need you to tell me that," said Lien. "I know how to handle myself around guys, don't worry about that."

"Well, just don't try kicking them in the balls," Charlotte remarked. "These guys have cajones made of steel. Which brings me on to the second thing: keeping safe during the race. Basically… don't worry about it. Doesn't matter how far back you stand, if one of those things loses control at the kinda speeds they'll be going at, you won't be able to get out of the way. Don't worry about earplugs either; by the time you've put 'em in, the race will be over."

"You know, you're not exactly making this sound like the hottest ticket in town right now," said Lien.

"Yeah, but you're still coming anyway, right?" said Charlotte. "You've been bitten by the street racing bug. You're not gonna turn back now no matter what I tell you."

Lien nodded. "You're not wrong," she admitted. "I know it's dangerous, not to mention highly illegal, but…"

"-you still wanna check it out." Charlotte finished the sentence for Lien. "I understand. It was the same for me when I first got into this. It's not just the racing itself, it's the thrill of it all: the illegality, the secrecy. It gives me a rush. I'm sure you'll feel it too."

"I'm sure I will," said Lien.

Before long, the two girls had reached the abandoned depot, and the makeshift start line. Already there were five cars present, their drivers milling with the spectators and with each other. The race order had not been sorted out yet, and with little chance of the police turning up, there would likely be multiple races to look forward to. As they approached, Charlotte nudged Lien and pointed out an orange-and-black Nissan 370Z. "See that?" she said. "That's the guy everyone wants to beat: Jason Diaz. He owns the scene around here."

"What about the rest of these guys?" asked Lien.

Charlotte pointed at a yellow-and-blue Ford Mustang. "That's Bouncer," she said. "He's Jason's number two. Try and get in his way and you'll have him to answer to." Next, she pointed at a dark green Pontiac GTO. "That's Vincent. I've seen him around a couple of times, he's nothing special." Then, she pointed at a blue-and-white Nissan Skyline GT-R. "That," she said, "is Tristan Starr. He's a new guy, from outta town, but he's really damn good."

"What about the fifth car?" asked Lien.

"Dunno who that is," said Charlotte with a shrug.

"I think there's another car coming in," said Lien, as a distant roar signalled another approaching racer.

"I see 'em," said Charlotte. "That's a… not sure. Impreza, maybe? Yeah, that's definitely an Impreza. No idea who's driving it, though. Sorry."

Lien shrugged. "How many more do you think are gonna turn up?"

"Not sure," said Charlotte. "There's not long until the racing's scheduled to start, so this might be it."

Sure enough, no more racers arrived, and as the drivers began to discuss the race format amongst themselves, Lien wandered off by herself to take a closer look at the cars. The Mustang looked to her like it would be the fastest car, but if it belonged to Jason's "number two", then she suspected he might try and throw the race in Jason's favour. She hoped this wouldn't be the case, as she'd been looking forward to a good race for days, but she knew that a lot of street racers had bad reputations, and Jason and Bouncer were certainly no exceptions.

In terms of appearances, Lien wasn't entirely sure if she liked the loud, ostentatious looks of the cars, now that she was up close to them. All six cars had flashy body kits, large rear spoilers, and bright neon strips on the underside. Most of them also had spinners, tinted windows, and unnecessarily loud stereo systems; the sole exception was Tristan's Skyline, which had none of these things. While the other drivers seemed to have built their cars for show, Tristan seemed to have built his for racing. The only question was whether it would be fast enough to beat the Mustang.

"Nice car, isn't it?"

Lien jumped at the sudden voice. She hadn't heard Tristan Starr approaching. Looking at him, she couldn't help noticing that he was rather handsome. "Uhh… yes. Yes, it is," she said.

"I gotta get racing now, though, so, uhh… if you don't mind…"

"Oh, yes, of course." Lien started to head towards the finish line, then turned back and waved to Tristan. "Good luck," she called out.

"Thanks," said Tristan, before getting into his car.

Since six racers had shown up, the drivers had agreed on an elimination format. There would be two heats of three cars each, and the winners of each heat would face off in a winner-takes-all duel. The first heat was about to begin, and consisted of Tristan, Bouncer, and the Impreza driver. This all but confirmed Lien's suspicions: Bouncer would try and knock Tristan out in the heats, then let Jason win the final head-to-head and take the spoils. Despite having only known him for five minutes, Lien found herself hoping that Tristan would crash the party and win the race.

By the time Lien reached the finish line, the racers had already started revving their engines. She was now a little tired from having walked so much, but nonetheless she eagerly anticipated the start of the race. From this distance, she could barely see the cars at the start line, but she knew they were there, ready to start.

In the distance, a loud rumble signalled that the race had begun. The tiny dots on the horizon swiftly grew larger and larger, and Lien leaned forward expectantly, waiting to see who would emerge from the darkness in the lead…