2 Weeks Later. August 28th, 2023. Cascade Terrace, Seacrest Park, Night Elston Region, 3:24PM. It Has Been Two Weeks Since That Harrowing Encounter That Quinn Had With The EASE, She Is Nearing Recovery From The Torture That She Was Put Through, And With The EASE Still On The Lookout For Her, Especially After Escaping Their "Custody", She Can't Go Back To Oryanthia Now, As They Would Definitely Spot Her, And There's A Very Low Chance Of Her Escaping Them Again, The Way She Did, Quinn Is Currently Inside Of Her Room, Laying On The Bed, Still With The Wyndams, Her Friend Group Has Long Been Sent Back To Oryanthia For They're Own Safety, Quinn Has Been Brainstorming For Awhile As To What She Could Do Now, And The Wyndams Open The Door And Peer Inside Before Stepping In.
Mr. Wyndam: Hey Kid.
Quinn: Hey...
Ms. Wyndam: You Doing Okay?.
Quinn: I Don't Know What To Do Now, My Life Is Screwed Up At This Point, The EASE Tried To Kill Me, And I Escaped, So They're Probably On The Lookout For Me, And I Can't Go Back Home, As They'll Probably Find Me Again, And I Can't Be Sure That I'll Escape Them Again If That Happens. Quinn Covers Her Face With Her Hands And Crawls Into The Fetal Position, And After A Few Minutes Of Silence, Quinn Feels A Hand On Her Shoulder And Looks Over To See Ms. Wyndam Sitting On The Bed Next To Her, With Mr. Wyndam Sitting On The Opposite Side.
Ms. Wyndam: Quinn..., It's About Time We Were Honest With You, About The Way This Country Really Works.
Quinn: What Do You Mean?.
Mr. Wyndam: East Apollo Isn't Exactly As "Free" As It Makes Itself Out To Be, Just Not In The Way That Most Would Expect In Today's World.
Ms. Wyndam: The Reason That The EASE Operates The Way It Does, Is Because Of The Way Our Society Is Built, Those That Adhere To Society's Norms And Rules Are Celebrated And Live Comfortably, While Those That Don't Are Kicked To Curb, Criminalized, They Become Outcasts.
Quinn: Like..., Speedhunters?.
Ms. Wyndam: Yes, The People That Run Our Government Doesn't Want Anyone Disrupting The "Perfect" Society That It Built Up Over The Years, While It Has Made Significant Strides Compared To The Rest Of The World.
Mr. Wyndam: Yes, Complete Gender Equality, Civil Rights Of Race, Full LGBTQ Rights, All Before The 1800s Went Through, Which Was Marked By The Countries Lack Of Participation In The Atlantic Slave Trade, And Also Being Past The "Still" Mostly Uninhabitable Alaska Owned By The United States, Preventing A Full Majority Of The Fleeing Slaves That Didn't Opt To Travel To The US Western Frontier, From Arriving Here, No Wonder The Black Population In The Entire Tempesta Territory Is So Small, Full Eradication Of Disease And Sickness Before The 1930s, Completely Clean Air And Energy By The 1960s, And Since The 1970s Began To Arguably Become A Silent Powerhouse, Bigger Than Even The United States..., Anyway, Can't Really Blame Them Completely, Who Wouldn't Want To Protect That?.
Quinn: So..., Why Are You Suddenly Telling Me All This?.
Mr. Wyndam: Because, It's Key To The Whole Rivalry Between The EASS And The Speedhunters, The Group Of People That Adhere To Society Is Often Dubbed As The "World Of Broad Daylight", And Those That Were Kicked To The Curb Is Often Dubbed The "World Of Voided Outcasts", The EASE Being From The Former, And The Speedhunters Being From The Latter, Most Of The Outcasts Are Either To Afraid Or To Incapable To Fight Against The System, Believe It Or Not, There Are Also A Bunch Of People From The "World Of Broad Daylight" That Harbor Displeasure Towards The System, But They Also Lack The Bravery Or Capability, It's Why People Admire The Speedhunters, They Are More Than Capable, And They Aren't Afraid, They're A Representation Of The Life That Most Are To Scared To Live. Quinn Is Trying Hard To Not Start Fangirling Over The Speedhunters Again.
Quinn: I Agree..., But Your Point Is?.
Ms. Wyndam: The "World Of Voided Outcasts" Is Looked After By A Mysterious Group Of Fixers Known As The "Overwatch". Quinn Is A Bit Unnerved By The Mention Of The "Overwatch", She Thought That It Was Just Some Anonymous Community App To Watch Forbidden Video Feeds On, But Now, She's Hearing That It's Actually A Group Of Fixers.
Quinn: I Used To Think That The Name "Overwatch" Was Kinda Cool, But Now You Make It Sound..., Ominous...
Mr. Wyndam: The Overwatch Are The Providers Of The Outcasts, Specifically, For The Outcasts That Live Off The Grid, Like The Speedhunters, They Provide Resources, Housing And Money, But Naturally..., Everything Comes With A Price.
Quinn: Of Course...
Ms. Wyndam: If You Want Them To Provide For You, They Will If Your A Minor, But Once You Hit Your Teens, You Have To Start Pulling Your Weight For Them, Bring Something Of Your Own To The Table, Which May Or May Not Contain Illegal Activities, But Eight Out Of Ten Things In This Country Are Crimes Anyway, So As Far As Outcasts Are Concerned, It's Just Doing What They Gotta Do.
Quinn: The Speedhunters Do That Aswell?.
Mr. Wyndam: Yes, Those Videos, Stream Feeds, Clips, And Photos That You See Of The Speedhunters On The Overwatch App, All Of Those Are Taken By The Speedhunters Themselves In Case You Didn't Know Already, And All That Camera Work Is What Overwatch Pays Them For, They Even Pay Them More For The Higher Risks They Take, Like Staying Out There For A Longer Time, Competing In More Races, Pulling Stunts, And Antagonizing The EASE Out On The Road, All In One Single Night, And As Mentioned Earlier, It's Their Life, So The Speedhunters Pull Their Activities Every Single Night, Whether It's Raining Or Snowing, It's Why They're All Such Good Drivers, And Drive The Cars That They Do.
Ms. Wyndam: And Obviously, We Can See That You Have The Drive And Skill To Be A Speedhunter. Quinn Was Beginning To Catch On, Being A Speedhunter Had Always Been Her Dream, But At The Same Time, She Was A Bit Hesitant.
Quinn: So..., Are You Saying That..., I Should Become A Speedhunter?.
Mr. Wyndam: Yes, As Long As You Can Keep That Drive, The Overwatch Will Look After You, We Would Know.
Quinn: ...
Ms. Wyndam: Plus, The Money Is Good, We Would Know That Aswell, If Can Set You Up For Life If Your Good Enough. Quinn Was Silent, She Seemed To Be Deep In Thought.
Mr. Wyndam: Don't Answer Us Now Kid, Just Think About It. And The Wyndams Both Stand Up From The Bed And Begin Walking Towards The Door When Quinn Suddenly Speaks Up.
Quinn: I Don't Need To Think About It..., I'll Do It.
Mr. Wyndam: We'll See To The Overwatch About Recruiting You. And The Wyndams Finally Step Out And Close The Door, Leaving Quinn Alone With Her Thoughts.
10 Hours Later..., 1:39AM. Quinn Was Inside The Garage, To Which The Garage Door Was Open, And She Was Sat In The Driver's Seat Of The Aston Martin DB11 Volante, Trying To Process What She's Doing Right Now, She's About To Go And Be Inducted Into The "World Of Voided Outcasts", About To Leave The Grid, About To Leave Her "Normal" Life Behind, She Wonders How Many Others "Somewhat" Involuntarily Forced Into This Situation, But She Can't Dwell On That, She Needs To Do This For Herself, And Then, The Wyndams Walk Into The Garage And Step Beside Quinn.
Mr. Wyndam: You Okay Kid?.
Quinn: Yeah..., Just..., Sweating Bullets...
Mr. Wyndam: Don't Let That Nervousness Deter You, Choosing To Go Down This Path In The First Place Shows How Much Tranquility You Have Inside You. Quinn After A Few Seconds Is Finally Able To Catch Her Breath, And She Finally Looks Up Towards The Wyndams.
Quinn: Thank You For Everything, You've Done Plenty For Me, I Won't Forget. Quinn Stretches Her Arms Out To Hug Both The Wyndams, And Once That's Out Of The Way, Ms. Wyndam Hands Quinn The Key, To Which Quinn Inserts It Into The Center Dash Ignition.
Ms. Wyndam: Remember, Head Straight For Spirit Ridge And Once Your There, Go To The Highlander Club In The Midnight Commune Area, An Overwatch Fixer Will Meet You There, Look For A Pin, Necklace, Ring Or Anything With The Overwatch Logo, They'll Talk Terms With You, And Remember, When With Them, Make Sure Refer To Them As "Glyn".
Quinn: Got It.
Mr. Wyndam: Remember Quinn, Always Be Strong, It's Time For You To Make Your Own Choices Now, To Navigate This Broken World On Your Own, You Need To Carve Your Own Path From Now On. Quinn Stared Downwards, Seemingly Taking The Advice In, And Then, She Promptly Looked Up And Put Her Foot On The Brake And Pressed The Ignition Button And Hearing The Engine Starting To Hum And Rumble, She Then Turns The Key In The Center Dash Ignition And The Twin-Charged Engine Roars To Life, And She Looked Up At The Wyndams With A Smile.
Quinn: I'm Gonna Miss You Two.
Ms. Wyndam: We Will Too, Now Go.
Mr. Wyndam: Good Luck Kid. And Quinn Immediately Pulls Out Of The Garage, And She Looks In The Mirror And Sees The Wyndams Waving At Her As The Gate Opens, And She Finally Pulls Out The Residence And As She Drives Through The Intersection And Starts Traveling Down Boulder Road, Quinn Feels Her Emotions Rising, But She Quickly Pushes Them Back And Floors It As Her DB11 Surges Foward With Great Acceleration Towards Spirit Ridge.
3 Hours Later..., Midnight Commune, Spirit Ridge, 4:47AM. Quinn Had Finally Arrived In Spirit Ridge And Was Now Driving Through The Midnight Commune Area, Quinn Has Quite A Bit Of Memories Here, But Now, Those Memories Would Have To Be Forgotten For A Little Time, As She Now Had To Find The Highlander Club, If She Remembered Right, It Was Supposed To Be In Taira Hollow, And Once Quinn Arrives At Taira Hollow, She Begins To Drive Around, But Doesn't Find It On Any Of The Main Streets, And So, She Begins To Search Down The Alleys, And Sure, Enough While Driving Through One Of Them, She Finally Finds The Building, With An Age Old Mural On The Wall Of The Clubs Founder, Juri Taira, The Club Was Opened Way Back In 1958, Exactly 65 Years Ago, But Then, In 1968, It Mysteriously Burned Down While It Was Vacant, And Juri Died, Witnesses Reported A Series Of Gunshots And A Group Of Three Masked Individuals Leaving The Club Shortly Before It Burned Down, This Led To The Suspection Of Foul Play, An Intentional Act, But Due To All Of The Evidence Being Destroyed, No One Could Be Connected And The Case Remained Unsolved, But Luckily, Members Of Juri's Family Were Able To Restore The Club And Return To It's Former Glory, And Even Carried Out Certain Improvements And Expansions That Juri Wanted To Do To The Club Before She Died, And To This Day, It Still Stands, Quinn Stops In Front Of The Club, And Knowing That She Can't Leave Her DB11 Out In The Open, She Looks Around And Spots A Side Alley Beside The Club, And She Immediately Pulls Up And Reverses Into The Side Alley, Before Killing The Engine, And Getting Out, And Once She Walks In Front Of The Club, She Looks Over The Building, It's Still Beautiful For It's Age In Quinn's Opinion, That's Just The Standard That Tempesta Places On Retaining Good Quality On All Of Its Structures That Are Still Being Used For Some Certain Reason, And Quinn Proceeds To Step Under The Entrance Cover And Is About To Open The Door, Before She Remembers The Club Having A Guard At The Door, To Which She Knocks Instead, And To Which The Peek Hole In The Door Opens And The Guards Eyes Immediately Land On Quinn, Clearly Recognizing Her, He Immediately Opens The Door And Looks Her Up And Down.
Guard: Quinn..., What Made You Suddenly Want To Pay A Visit?.
Quinn: I'm Supposed To Meet Someone Here. The Guard Smacks His Lips, Before Stepping Out Of Quinns Way, Letting Her In, And Quinn Opts To Shake His Hand As She Walks By, To Which He Accepts, And Quinn Looks Over The Front Area Of The Club, Looking Over The Serving Ground At The Very Front, The Bar Area Further To The Back, Where Some Nice Curtains Blocked The Back Area, Which Was Still Open To The Public, As The Stairs Leading To The Upstairs Area Was Back There, But Quinn Realized That She Was Getting Distracted, And Started Looking Among The People For Her Contact, And After Glancing Around For A Little Bit, Her Eyes Landed On A Red-Haired Woman Wearing A Black Suit And A Silver Eagle Collared Necklace Sat At One Of The Tables With A Briefcase At Her Feet, Quinn Found Her Hormonic Lesbian Self Staring Starry-Eyed At The Woman, Until Her Gaze Landed On A Ring On The Woman's Finger Of The Overwatch Logo, To Which The Woman Seemed To Sense Quinn's Gaze And Looked Over At Her With A Smirk, To Which Quinn Immediately Snapped Out Of Her Daze, Realizing That The Woman Is The "Glyn" She's Looking For.
Quinn: (Thoughts) Damnit Quinn, This Is Not The Time!. After Taking A Quick Breather, Quinn Finally Makes Her Way To The "Sexy" Woman's Table And Takes A Seat, And It's Only Now That She Notices The Cup Of Tea On Her Side, To Which The "Glyn" Gestures For Her To Take A Sip, To Which Quinn Is A Bit Reluctant At First, But Does Anyway, The Warmth Of The Tea Down Her Throat Envelopes A Sense Of Calm Over The Blonde, And After A Few Seconds, Quinn Looks Up To Meet The Smirking Glyn's Gaze.
Glyn: Word Is You Made A Wrong Turn Quinn. Quinn Takes A Second To Look Around Before Looking Back At Glyn.
Quinn: No One Ever Got Ahead Sitting On Their Hands, Now Did They Glyn?.
Glyn: "Sigh" Nobody From Our World At Least. And A Silence Comes Between Them, To Which Quinn Adverts Her Gaze From Glyn's, Upon Starting To Feel Her Heart Race Again, And Glyn Consciously Adverts Her Gaze Aswell, And Waits For Quinn To Calm Herself Down, And Once She Does.
Glyn: "Sigh" You Know, Overwatch Can Help You Straighten That Out. Quinn Immediately Perks Up At Those Words, And Meets Glyn's Gaze Again.
Quinn: And My End?.
Glyn: What You Do Best, What Your Kind Of People Do Better Than Anyone. And The Two Of Them Watch As A Man With Dark Hair And Wearing A White Knitted Sweater And Black Sweat Pants Comes Through The Curtains From The Back Area, And Looks Over At Them Before Exiting The Club, Quinn Could Have Sworn That She Caught A Glimpse Of A SpeedPad In His Back Pocket, And The Two Women Look Back At Each Other Once Again.
Glyn: Right Now, Yes Or No?. Quinn Stares Into Glyns Eyes For A Few Seconds Before Leaning Towards Her.
Quinn: You Knew The Answer Before I Even Walked Through The Door. And Glyn Stands Up From The Table, Grabbing The Briefcase And Gestures For Quinn To Follow Her, And So, Quinn Stands Up Aswell And They Both Walk Through The Curtains And Into The Back Area, And Instead Of Walking Towards The Upstairs, They Head Towards A Set Of Doors That Lead Downstairs Into The Basement.
Glyn: There Are Over 20 Million Outcasts Across The Tempesta Territory, About 20% Of Them.., The Best Racers In The World. And Once They Reach The Basement, A Kitchen Employee Comes Out From The Storage Area Holding A Tray Of Dishes And Barges Between The Two Women, Quinn Sighs, A Bit Annoyed, But Glyn Appears Unbothered And They Continue Walking Deeper Into The Basement.
Glyn: The Racers, They're Business With Us, Is Media, We Organize Events For Them, They Do The Action, And Get It All On Camera, You Do The Same, We'll Keep You Off The Active Radar And Give You A 10% Cut. Quinn Immediately Looks Over At Glyn And Stops Her By Grabbing Her Arm, To Which Glyn Looks Back At Her, And Quinn Let's Go Of Her.
Quinn: Hold Up.., 10%?. And Then, Another Woman With Brunette Hair And Wearing A Black Tact Top With Black Pants Walks Past The Two, To Which Glyn Looks At The Woman And Smirks At Her (Seems She Just Smirks At Everyone) To Which The Woman Simply Smiles Back Before Continuing To Walk Out Of The Basement, And Quinn Notices A SpeedPad In The Woman's Hand, Before Turning Her Attention Back To Glyn.
Glyn: You Know The Saying, "Big Risk, Big Reward"?, The Long-Haulers Among Racers Grant Footage That On The Global Stage Is Worth 25 Million On Average, Do The Math. Glyn Continues Walking As Quinn Takes A Moment To Do The Math In Her Head, To Which She Completely Changes Her Mind And Continues Following Glyn.
Quinn: After You. (Note: 10% Of 25 Million Is 2.5 Million) And The Two Proceed To Walk Through Another Door With A Sign On It Saying "Off Limits", Which Leads To What Appears To Be Some Sort Of Recreation Room, And Walk Over To A Small Elevator At The End Of The Room, And Upon Stopping In Front Of The Elevator, Glyn Nods Towards A Camera Overhead And The Elevator Door Opens And Glyn Places The Briefcase Inside Before Opening It Slightly, Quinn Could Just About See That Inside The Briefcase Was Actually A Large File With Her Picture And Name On It And Also Noticed The Second Camera At The Top Of Elevator's Inside, And Once Glyn Closes The Briefcase Again, The Elevator Suddenly Closes And Quinn Can Hear The Elevator Going Up Behind The Door, And Then, After About 30 Seconds, She Hears The Elevator Again, Coming Back Down, And It Opens Again, But Now, The Briefcase Is Gone, And In It's Place, Is A Small Box, To Which Glyn Takes The Box Out Of The Elevator And Walks Over To The Desk On The Other Side Of The Room And Sets The Box Down Before Opening It To Reveal A SpeedPad, A Phone, And An Earpiece, Glyn Takes Out The SpeedPad First And Turns It On Before Handing It To Quinn, To Which A Map Of East Apollo's Entire Grid Pops Up On Screen And A Bunch Of Different Blips Appear, And Along With A Menu To The Side.
Glyn: I'm Sure You Already Know How SpeedPad's Work?, As You Already Raced Once Before, Either Way, There's A Bunch Of Different Functions On This Thing, You Saw The Radar And Scanner, And Also The Linkups For During Events, But Have You Wondered About How These Work Exactly?.
Quinn: Uh, Can't Say That I Have..
Glyn: Well, Almost Every Country In The World, Has It's Own Satellites, East Apollo Is No Different, One Of It's Satellites Are Programmed To Specifically Monitor The Nation's Grid, It Creates A Closed Network For Security Forces To Monitor All Entries And Departures From East Apollo, And Another Thing, It Scans The Entire Grid Every 10 Minutes, And Highlights Every Entity In The System On It's Radar, So Speedhunters Use It To Avoid The EASE On The Road, Find The Locations They Need To Go, And Also, To Find Open Events, If You Want A Better View, There's A Function That Allows Use To View The Map In Fullscreen, But Remember, The EASE Have Access To The Radar Aswell, Which Means, If You Can See Them, They Can See You, So Speedhunters Always Stay On The Move. Glyn Then Picks Up The Phone And Turns It On, To Which A Bunch Of Shapes Flash On The Screen In A Boot Sequence, And Then A Series Of Apps Glitch Onto The Screen, A Speedlist App, Accolades Tree App, Statistics App, Overwatch Field Guide App, Open Events App, Online Session App, Leaderboards App, Car On Demand App, Overwatch Contracts App And Lastly, A National Hotspots App.
Glyn: This Overwatch Issue Smartphone Allows You About A Fraction Of Access To The Network As You Would Have From Home, The Speedlist App Is Where You Can Set A List Of Goals For You To Hit While Out On The Road Called..., Uh, "Speedlists"..., You Can Either Create Your Own, Or The App Will Recommend Some For You, They Can Either Be "Race", "Drive", Or "Pursuit" Speedlists, "Race" Speedlists Being Based Around Competing In Events, "Drive" Speedlists Being Based Around Action Driving And Completing Community Challenges, And "Pursuit" Speedlists Being Based Around Kicking The Hornets Nest, Getting Chased By The EASE, Blasting Past Speed Cameras, Driving In Restricted Areas, And Even Smashing Through Billboards, The Accolades Tree Measures Your Notable Achievements Throughout Your Career As A Speedhunter, Such As, If You've Won A Certain Number Of High Stakes Events, Went On A Dominant Streak, Or Something Else Memorable, The Statistics App Measures Everything That You've Done Throughout Your Career, How Many Events You've Won, How Many Pursuits You Escaped, Etc, The Overwatch Field Guide Just Acts As A Manual For How To Use The Phone, The Open Events App, Allows You To Sign Up For Events On The Fly, As Long As They Are Still Open To More Competitors, The Limit Is 16 Speedhunters Per Event, And Some Events Even Have Buy-Ins And Some Even Require You To Have A Certain High Heat Level, So Beware Of That. Quinn Grew A Bit Confused At The Mention Of A "Heat Level".
Quinn: Wait, Heat Level?, What Does That Mean?.
Glyn: Oh, Well, The Heat Level Is Our Take On The EASE's "Condition" Policy, There Are 10 Heat Levels To Be Exact, And As Your Heat Level Rises, The EASE Will Ratchet Up Their Efforts To Stop You, Taking Controlled Methods To Adapt To The Situation, But Push It To Far, They Won't Hold Back, It Also Serves A Multiplier For How Much We Can Charge To Put Up A Speedhunters Footage Worldwide, That Also Means That The Earnings Your Given For The Footage Multiplys Aswell. Quinn Whistles At Those Words, So That's What Awards The Big Money That Speedhunters Get Paid.
Quinn: Well, I Can't Complain About That.
Glyn: No One Can, Anyway, Continuing On, The Online Session App Is What Opens Up The Community Among Speedhunters, You Can Team-Up With Friends And Also Compete Against Another Group Of Speedhunters That Has Teamed-Up, Or You Can Just Do All Of That Solo Against Just One Other Speedhunter, Either Way, The Online Session App Opens The Notion Among The Speedhunters Of Community And Rivalry, The Leaderboards App Allows You To Compare Your Statistics Among Other Speedhunters And Even Target Whatever Records That They Have In Events Or Challenges, And They Can Do The Same, Just Go And Challenge Them Or Wait For Them To Challenge You In The Online Sessions App If You Really Want To Settle The Score, The Car On Demand App Is Basically The Online Shop For All Of Our Underground Car Dealers And Tuners Around The Country, Now, You May Be Ordering Cars From The Dealers In Here, But You Need To Actually Go See Them To Confirm It, No Matter How Rare Or Expensive A Car Is, For A Price They'll Get It For You, Before You Ask, No, They Don't Smuggle The Cars, They Get The Blueprints In For The Car That You Ordered, And Construct In An Exactly Identical Manner, Well, Minus The Speed Limters, Optimizing The Gearboxes, And Actually Putting Competent Tyres On, But That's Beside The Point, This Means They Can't Be Traced, Just Don't Ask How They Get The Blueprints, And As For Tuners, Well, Speedhunter Events As You Probably Know Are Separated Into Performance Grades, In Order To Keep The Cars Equal In Events, Your DB11 Volante Is An Exotic Grade Car, That's The Fourth Highest, There Are Six Grades, Sports, Performance, Super, Exotic, Hyper, And Runner, These Tuners Fabricate Their Own Custom Parts For Speedhunter Cars, So The Upgrades Can't Be Traced Either, If You Want To Progress Your Car Into Another Grade, You Need To Purchase A Grading Package, And Also, If You Want To Seriously Improve Your Car's Performance In A Certain Area, There Are Spec Conversions, There Are Five Types, Power, Lightweight, Terrain, Speed, And Tech, Should Be Pretty Explanatory By The Names, Anyway, There's Also The Overwatch Contracts App.
Quinn: And What's That Supposed To Be?.
Glyn: Overwatch Will Sometimes Ask Of The Speedhunters Assistance On Certain Jobs, They Can Be Dirty, For Sure, But They Also Pay For Their Services, So, With That, And Us Being Able To Continue Business Cleanly, Everyone's Happy, And Then, The National Hotspots App, That's Just A App That Highlights Certain Points Around The Country That You May Wanna Visit While On The Road. And Finally, Glyn Picks Up The Earpiece And Hands It To Quinn Before Pressing A Button On It, And A Blue Light Turns On.
Glyn: And This, Will Keep Us In Touch. Quinn Looks Over All Three Devices, To Which, She Sticks The SpeedPad In Her Waistband And Puts The Phone And Earpiece In Her Pocket.
Quinn: So, What Now?.
Glyn: Now, We Need To "Truly" Get Your Car Ready For Action. Glyn Then Walks Past Quinn And Starts Walking Towards The Stairs As Quinn Watches, Until She Suddenly Stops And Turns Back To Quinn With A Smirk.
Glyn: I Know You Have The Keys, You Gonna Give Me A Ride Or What?. Quinn Finds Herself Caught In A Daze Once Again At Glyn Again Smirking At Her, To Which Glyn Sighs And Continues Walking Out Of The Basement, To Which Quinn Snaps Out Of Her Daze With A Red Face And Quickly Follows.
15 Minutes Later..., Quinn And Glyn Are Riding To The Outskirts Of The Midnight Commune Area In Quinn's Aston Martin, To Which Glyn Suddenly Speaks Up.
Glyn: Pull In There. Quinn Looks Over To Where Glyn Pointed To, At A Big Fiberglass Gated Hole Entrance In The Side Of A Big Building With A Large Fan Ventilator Fan Behind It.
Quinn: That Ventilator Tunnel?.
Glyn: Yes.
Quinn: Why?, How Would We Even Get In There?.
Glyn: You Should Get A Notification On Your SpeedPad Once We Pull Up, Just Do It. And Quinn Sighs Reluctantly And Pulls Up Right In Front Of The Ventilator Entrance, And Pulls Out Her SpeedPad And Turns It On, And Sure Enough, There Is A Notification.
SpeedPad: (Display) "Enter Ventilator Tunnel - Yes/No". And Quinn Presses The "Yes" Option And The Ventilator Gate Opens And Once They Pull Into The Tunnel That As Far As Quinn Can Tell, Is Probably Constructed From Thousands Of Tons Of Reinforced Concrete, The Gate Slowly Closes Behind Them, And After Driving About A Mile Into The Tunnel, Quinn Can See Something In The Darkness In Front Of Her And Glyn.
Quinn: Is That A Gate?.
Glyn: Don't Worry About It, Just Keep Going. And Sure Enough, As They Are Nearing The Gate, A Camera Flashes Going By And The Gate Opens, And After A Few More Minutes Of Driving, The Light Begins To Pick Up And Once They Finally Reached The Light, They Were Greeted By A Bunch Of People Walking Along The Sides Of The Tunnel Driveway And Also Some More Entrances To What Appear To Be Home Flats And Also There Were Some Very Nice Cars Around, Specifically Speedhunter Cars, Which Quinn Could Identify Easily, An Orange And Grey Multi-Colored BMW I8 Coupe With A Widebody Kit, A Silver McLaren F1 With A Widebody Kit, A Purple Ferrari 458 Spider With A Widebody Kit, And More, This Made It Clear To Quinn, She Had Always Wondered Where The Speedhunters Hide Out From The EASE And Rest Whenever They Aren't On The Road, This Is The Answer.
Quinn: Damn...
Glyn: Nice Huh?.
Quinn: I Didn't Know This Was In Here.
Glyn: Yes, The Speedhunters All Reside In These Ventilator Tunnels, Being Underground Prevents Them From Being Picked Up By The Satellite, Which In Turn, Prevents Them From Being Tracked Actively By The EASE, Plus, They're Far Enough Into The Tunnels That Maintance Workers Don't Care, As For These Modern Underground Flats Here, Well, As You Know, East Apollo Loves To Build Structures Directly Into It's Landscape, Such As That One Residential And Business Center That Is Built Into That Big Rock Structure In Night Elston, On The Outland Ground, So, Despite Actually Having Balconies, These Flats Don't Stick Out At All.
Quinn: Sounds Like A Sanctuary.
Glyn: You Could Call It That, A Sanctuary Away From The Action Above.
Quinn: Anyway, You Said That We Were Going To Get My Car Prepped For Action, Where Are We Going?.
Glyn: Ah, Yes, Keep Going Until We Reach An Intersection In The Tunnels, There Will Be A Tuner There. And After A Few More Minutes, They Finally Reach An Intersection, And Sure Enough, There Is A Door In The Wall With An LED Sign Above That Says "Tuner Shoppe" And Once They Pull Up In Front Of The Door, The Camera Overhead Flashes And The Door Opens Revealing A Very Professional Looking Workshop Behind, With A Bunch Of Other Cars Already Inside, And Quinn Parks The DB11 In One Of The Bays Around The Garage Space, And Kills The Engine, Before Both Women Step Out, And One Of The Employees Walk Up To Them, A Woman On The Shorter Side In Height With Messy Multi-Colored Hair.
Female Employee: Hello, Ms. Glyn.
Glyn: Hello. The Woman Looks Over At Quinn.
Female Employee: This Is Jailey Right?. Quinn Raised Her Eyebrow In Confusion At The Woman Calling Her By The Codename She Used In That Race She Completed In Weeks Ago And Looked Over At Glyn.
Glyn: Oh, Right, Once You Enter This Life, You Leave Your Past One Behind, Including Your Past Identity, Once Your In, You Only Go By Your Codename, It's No Longer Who You Were, Your Just Jailey Now, Remember That. Quinn Is A Little Conflicted On Having To Leave Her Past Identity Behind Completely, But At The Same Time, She Knows That It's Too Stay Undetected, Something To Accept.
Jailey: Right..., Okay.
Glyn: Good, Now, We Need To Get This Beauty Up To Spec For Action. The Woman Immediately Begins To Look Over The DB11 Volante With A Keen Eye, And Does So For A Few Minutes.
Female Employee: Hmm, Missing Our Traditional Harnesses, Appears To Be Some Untreated Wear On The Tyres And Brakes, I Can't See Anything For Thermal Boost Activation, No Mounts For A SpeedPad, No Connectors For Comms, No Cameras, That's All I Can See, It's Possible That A Lot More Work Needs To Be Done Aswell, It's Probably Gonna Take Us A Few Days To Fully Diagnose And Complete All Of The Service Work.
Jailey: How Much Will That Cost Exactly?.
Female Employee: About 22,500 Tempes. Jailey Was Caught Off Guard By That Answer, And She Almost Wanted To Burst, But Glyn Spoke Up.
Glyn: It's Fine, You Can Afford It, You Already Made Over A Million Tempes From That Race You Competed In, Along With All The EASE Units You Disabled During And Afterwards, Along With Escaping A Heat Level 8 Pursuit And The Heat Multiplier, You Didn't Send Any Footage, But Seeing As You Didn't Have Any Of The Equipment To Begin With And You're Just Getting Started, I'll Let It Slide. Jailey Was A Bit Taken Aback By Glyn's Generosity, But She Wasn't Complaining, And She Didn't Want To Take Advantage Of It Either.
Jailey: Thank You Glyn, I Will Start Pulling Just Like The Others, I Promise You. Glyn Smirks At Jailey Again At Those Sincere Words.
Glyn: Good.
Female Employee: By The Way, I'm Gonna Need The Keys For Test Purposes. Jailey Stares As The Woman Holds Her Hand Out Waiting For The Key, And After Debating For A Few Seconds, Jailey Takes The Key From Her Pocket And Hands It To The Woman.
Female Employee: Come Back In About Two Days, We Should Be Done By Them As Long As Things Go Smoothly.
Jailey: Thank You.
Glyn: Now, I Should Take You Over To Your Flat.
Jailey: Oh!, Of Course. Glyn Chuckled Abit At Jailey's Attitude And Walked Out Of The Tuner As Jailey Followed Her, And She Immediately Walked Over To A Big Platform That Appeared To Be Connected To This Motorailing Overhead The Driveway Along The Wall.
Jailey: What Is This?.
Glyn: A Carrier, It's To Carry Cars And People When They Got To Get To A Place Down Here That Is Ways Away, Come On. Glyn And Jailey Both Step Onto The Platform, And Glyn Taps A Bit On The Touchscreen At The Side Of Platform, And The Platform Rises From The Ground And Immediately Begins Moving Along The Wall On The Railing At A Comfortable Speed, And It Takes Roughly About 10 Minutes Until The Platform Finally Stops And Lowers Back Down To The Ground, And The Two Women Step Off And Start Walking Alongside The Tunnel Driveway Until They Reach An Entrance To One Flat That Is Labeled As "SR-O23" On The Door, And Glyn Walked Over To The Little Mail Box Mounted On The Wall Next To The Door, And Opened It Before Taking A Remote Key Out Of It And Closing It, Glyn Then Proceeded To Press A Button On The Remote Key And A Small "Regular" Doors Worth Of A Hole Opened Up At The Center Of The Big Fiberglass Door, And The Two Walk In, Jailey Is Shocked At The Vast Space Of The Flat, It Still Maintains The Concrete Look And Industrial Feel Of The Ventilator Tunnels, There's A Car Bay Right At The Front, And Beyond That, There's A Living Area That Sorta Resembles An At-Home Theater In Some Ways, Such As The Pack Of Seats On A Sinking Ground And Also The Theater Monitor, A Kitchen, A Library, A Door That Presumably Leads To A Bathroom, And There's Also A Wall Of Glass Blocking Off The Rest Of The Space From The Bedroom, Apart From The Door, Which Is Where The Balcony Is Located, And There's Also Another Door Across From The Bathroom, Maybe An Office?.
Jailey: What The Fuck...
Glyn: What Do You Think?.
Jailey: Whoever The Hell Did All This Needs A Raise For Even Getting It Done Down Here In The First Place.
Glyn: Agreed, Anyway, As You Can See, There Is A Car Bay To Park Your Car Whenever You're Here, There's A Theater Where You Can View Past Highlights Of Your Own, You Can Even Watch Other Speedhunters Feeds, Or You Can Just Watch Random Movies, Whatever You Want, And Other Than, Pretty Much Just Resembles A Normal Home..., Resembles, It's Actually The Office That I Want To Show You. And The Two Women Walk Towards The Unknown Door Across The Bathroom, It's Indeed An Office, The Real Eye-Catcher For Jailey Is The Big PC At The End Of The Room, With Three Main Monitors And Then, Two More Secondary Monitors Above, And That Big PC Box.
Glyn: This PC Is Where You Have Full Access To The Network, Not Just A Fraction Like On Your Phone, You Can Spy On The EASE And Also Pick Up On Challenges, Events, And Contracts As You Please From Here.
Jailey: Fine Software You Got Here, I Don't Know Where You Got It, But I Won't Question It.
Glyn: Well, For Now, Enjoy The Place, But Make Sure To Get Back On The Road As Soon As You Can.
Jailey: Oh, I Will Glyn, You Don't Have To Worry About Me. Glyn Smirks And Proceeds To Peck Jailey On The Cheek And Walk Off.
Glyn: See Ya Jailey. Jailey Is Left In A Daze As Glyn Leaves, But She Soon Snaps Out Of It With A Blush And Holds Her Cheek Where The Kiss Was, But She Quickly Shook It Off.
Jailey: (Thoughts) That Lady!, How Dare She Bring Out My Hormones!. Jailey Continues To Fume For A Few Minutes, Before Finally Cooling Down, And She Sits Down On The Couch, And Looks Around Her New Flat And Spots The Clock Reading 6:02AM, And She Decides That For Now, She Should Just Focus On Getting Settled In, And Maybe Get Some Clothes To Start Looking The Part, She Saw The Different Fashion Choices Of The Speedhunters Out There, And With A Yawn, She Gets Up From The Couch And Walks Into The Bedroom, And She Remembers That She Somehow Didn't Bother To Bring Any Sleepwear With Her, But She Was To Tired To Care Right Now, She Had Been Awake For Over 12 Hours, And So, She Stripped Off All Her Clothes Except For Her Underwear And Collapsed On The Bed And Looked Out The Window At The City Lights, Before Closing Her Eyes And Quickly Falling Asleep.