Aug 24 18:37:38 109 PA - Old Soldier Drives Around Town

From Chronicles

Aug 24 18:37:38 109 PA.

THE STREETS OF KINGSDALE

Sometimes, after hours are the only time to squeeze in some learning. Though it's not after hours yet - by a decent amount - at the O.S.S., Gabriel is already down on the street, going over bits and pieces of his Diplodicus. It's parked on Main Street, close to the exit of the building where his business is housed. Even the hood is up, with him doing a couple of measurements of fluids and wiggling wires.

Fizzlesnoot comes waddling up Main St. from deep in the Dregs. Usually on his way to the market, but not today, today he stops at Strategic Services, well out front at least. "Hey Gabriel," he calls out in a cheerful tone as he approaches the man under the hood of his six wheeled vehicle.

Gabriel looks up and spots his friend-cum-instructor, slamming the hood down hard and making sure that he hears the three solid *CLICKS* of the safety hooks engaging. "Fizz! Thanks for coming up, I think I've got the basics down. Even drove it into town," he says, waving to the car like a trophy, as if its presence weren't already obvious.

Fizzlesnoot grins with pride to see the old man braving in-town driving, "Good to hear. Can't be afraid of the traffic. Is she all gassed up and ready to go?"

Gabriel pats the beast of a car. "All ready. Oil, gas, lube - everything that you could possibly say out loud that sounds mildly like a sexual innuendo, including having pumped her tires real well and made sure the shaft is hard. You ready for that five-point harness?" He politely opens the passenger-side door for his teacher.

Fizzlesnoot chuckles happily as he climbs up into the passenger seat, "Thank you. Sounds perfect." With the door closing he waits 'till Gabriel walks around the vehicle and climbs up into the pilot seat.

The old soldier attempts a Dukes of Hazard style slide across the hood, and fails miserably. But to be fair, that show wouldn't air for at least two decades as far as he's concerned. He does at least land on his feet and laugh as he slips into the driver's seat and fires the engine up without hesitation. The harness is buckled on securely. "Okay! Where to?"

Fizzlesnoot gives a shrug and shake of his head, "Don't matter to me, let's take a tour of the city, how 'bout that? Could head up to the Merchant Plaza and then take a left down the River Walk, circle back around to Main Street and then head on over to the Magic District." Buckling up himself before the vehicle gets rolling.

Gabriel nods, and slips slowly into first gear - no grinding or anything. Then the wheel is yanked left and he nearly plows over a passing hover truck. "Eh, I'm still learning the traffic laws," he says. The gears go up to second, then third, into the groove of steady traffic, hanging in the slow lane. "So, just tooling around? That's it?" The Merchant's Plaza starts to come into view around the other vehicles.

Fizzlesnoot gives a simple nod, kicking back and enjoying the ride, "Sure, why not? Unless you have something better to do? My market days are about to be over, at least when it comes to food and such that my employees require day to day. The singer, Rubidia, is setting up a vending machine at the club that will enable people to throw in ten credits and be fed for a week. Well that’s the concept anyways. The whole thing sounded great when she explained it."

"Wow. Where the hell'd she get that kind of money?" Gabriel wonders. "Besides, must be what, either magic or science fiction food in pill form. I'd rather not have either." The wheel is turned, and he brakes gently upon entering the Plaza itself - nearly to a crawl, the place is so full. "I guess I made the wrong choice, you're really rolling in the money, Fizz. Heard from your bosses lately? After the whole business with the refugees leaving town?" He does take his eyes off of where he's going just long enough to gaze and Fizzlesnoot, truly interested.

Fizzlesnoot gives another shake of his head, "Nope. I make my payments on time so no need to really. What's going on with the refugees by the way. Is it true? They left the compound and now it's cursed? Sounds like some pretty dark magic is at work over all this. I hope no one's soul is in jeopardy," the little guy watching traffic to help Gabe navigate through the congested market by pointing out when it's clear to shift over when necessary.

Gabriel shrugs, having nothing to say, or saying nothing; one can't know. "Well," he says, swerving slightly to avoid a large Frankenstein-looking 'Borg, "I was hoping you might keep an eye out. I'd love to know if your bosses get sick. Be kind of important for the whole city, wouldn't it?" He brakes again, nearly to a stop, turning left before getting to the gates. "You still want me to just drive?"

Fizzlesnoot nods to the driving part, "I don't really see too many of the important members. A few of the low level thugs hang out at the club now and then, but that’s about it. Even when I drop off my payment, I only see that secretary. I hope whatever it is don't spread to my club, it might be Family property, but it is my club and I wouldn't be happy if anything happened to it. Should I be worrying?" Giving that look like he knows Gabe does business with Marcel and the refugees from time to time.

"Beats me. I'm not planning on stepping inside to take a look," Gabriel answers. "Just watch out for disease, I guess. Don't fuck any transitory dimensional beings without a rubber." He turns the wheel gently and steps on the gas just enough to get around a large and slow-moving wagon. The man lets out a little sigh and looks at his harness, tapping the midpoint quick-release. "This isn't nearly as interesting as out last lesson."

Fizzlesnoot chuckles with a nod, "Driving isn't really all that exciting, unless you're being shot at I guess. I prefer a quiet boring drive. Just take it slow and watch your blind spots, the pedestrians are a pain around here, shooting out of nowhere, right in front of you. As for the other, I'll keep my eyes open."

Gabriel surely believes that a pair of D-Bee bulbous eyes will help, but settles back in his chair, confident enough to put a single hand at the twelve o'clock position and drive with one the one hand, the other arm resting on the window's edge. Most of the necessary turns would be left turns, bringing up memories of races long past, except for the ones he'd enjoyed at the Gran Prix where they occasionally turned right. More minutes pass with the Diplodicus crawling along barely faster than someone can walk - because going faster would mean mowing down people walking in the Plaza.

Fizzlesnoot keeps an eye wide open at the surroundings outside the vehicle, keeping alert for that little old lady in a wheelchair that might find herself under one or more of the six tires that allows the vehicle to roll down the road. "Any word of new refugees incoming?"

"Nope, nobody," Gabriel says blandly as they tool along. "Who knows if anyone even survived?" The engine is revved a few times beyond what first gear really needs; even the clutch is let out so that it can rev without affecting the actual transfer of energy to the drivetrain. They finally turn south, heading parallel to the west edge of the Merchant's Plaza. "This thing has six wheels and an engine that would make a P-51 call it a younger brother, certainly it does more than idle like this."

Fizzlesnoot gives a subtle shrug, unsure what a P-51 is, but he does seem to get the rest, "Yeah, this thing can do a whole lot more than just idle here, but taking this baby off road is easy compared to driving around the city. You'll learn more in traffic than out in the wilderness in the hills. Just keep trying not to hit anyone or anything."

"You're the boss," Gabriel says, accelerating just slightly to get out of the Merchant's Plaza. He yanks the wheel unnecessarily sharply to the right when the large vehicle finally makes it to the intersection with the northern River Walk. A lesser car would have fishtailed a little. Six wheels prevented that from happening. "At least I can speed up a little," he comments before doing just that. Still, it's only second gear - people walk on the Walk, after all. Besides, ground near a graveyard is sacred ground.

Fizzlesnoot gets thrown a bit into his door as the sharp turn is made, no real harm done though, "Gotta watch out for those squirrels," he chuckles joking it off. "Why is it sacred?" Curious to the reference.

Gabriel's brow arches upward. "Hmm? A cemetery? You've got to be kidding me, right?" The accelerator is pressed slightly harder, perhaps for no other reason than to get out of the area faster. "Where souls rest?" He moves around a couple of pedestrians who are none to happy to have a huge ten-cylinder engine go rumbling past as they pay their respects.

Fizzlesnoot shrugs as if the concept isn't common to him, "If you say so," leaving it at that for now. "You missed a great concert the other day, I thought you'd at least make an appearance at the Grand Opening. Too busy to enjoy some relaxation time?"

Gabriel keeps his eye on the road for now, as they're traveling just a bit faster. "Sorry, Fizzlesnoot. Nothing against you, but I'm not going to send a dime that'd make its way back to organized crime." He sighs and beeps the horn twice, hoping for something to do. "Coming up on the river. You want me to just turn like this again?" This time he glances sideways, but only long enough for confirmation of the plan.

Fizzlesnoot nods, "Yeah, sounds good," in answer to turning. "Ya know, there is nothing criminal about the club. I might have some shady landlords, but nothing going on in the club is a crime around here. You should've made an appearance, it was a great show, and you still prolly wouldn't have had to spend anything. Thinkin about it, you really gotta do something horrible to be charged with a crime around here, like kill someone indiscriminately, and even then you might only get banished."

Gabriel turns lightly to parallel the river as it heads south. "I didn't say the club. I said money getting back to organized crime, which is what happens every time you pay rent, or whatever you call it. It's not going to the Boy Scouts, as they say." He makes a put-put-put noise with his lips, weaving slightly to the left and right as they have a big of a stretch of open road passing Coventry Place. Perhaps out of sheer boredom, he causes the Diplodicus to surge forward, then back, then forward, then back a few times, alternatively pumping the accelerator and brakes. "So what're we going to do when we're done touring the nice part of town?"

Fizzlesnoot grins, "We could tour the bad part of town after that?" letting that sink in before saying anything else right off. "Or, do it all over again. Up to you, you're the driver, I'm just along for the ride so you got another set of eyes on the road so you don't kill anyone."

The old soldier frowns, "There's nothing else to learn right now? Just drive around in circles?" Gabriel looks out the window as they drive past Sage Alternatives. "Gonna be back where we started in a few minutes. I really could have just done this on myself," he comments about Driving Miss Fizzlesnoot.

Fizzlesnoot nods with a big ol' grin, "Up until a few days ago, you were too scared to bring her out on the city roads, and in all actuality, that's all there is to driving. Right now you need traffic, and lots of it, so you get used to maneuvering this big ole thing. We'll start on parking and backing maneuvers after I see you can handle forward. So make another round through the market, and this time be smooth about it."

Gabriel makes a brief comment about having been practicing... but makes another circuit of the nice part of the city without comment. Slow and steady, clearly not having any problem with this part of driving. They eventually end up near his own office building again. "That do it?"

Fizzlesnoot gives a so so nod, "You're still a bit green when it comes to the thick traffic, but you're not doing too bad. No one's dead yet. Hmmm. You know of an empty lot? Could try parallel parking and turning around in a tight space."

"Sure thing," Gabriel nods, slowly pulling forward and making a right down a rather narrow alley. Turns out there's a small but empty lot behind his building, and many of the buildings that front on Main. The Diplodicus is driven toward the center, and then the handbrake pulled, engine left to idle. He looks brightly to Fizzlesnoot. "Okay, only a few cars to destroy and no pedestrians!"

Fizzlesnoot chuckles, "Alright then," looking out the window to survey the area, "Ok, pull up over there," pointing to one side of the lot, "I'm gonna hop out and mark out a box, I want you to pull around up alongside the box so the passenger side is next to it. Ok?"

"Okay," Gabriel says, waiting for his friend to exit before taking off for the other side of the lot. He lets the engine idle, waiting to see what kind of implement is used to draw said box, before slowly pulling around the area to the indicated location. Not a bad job, really, and after some rough touches on the shifting mechanism, fairly well centered. With the engine roaring loudly, he calls, "Okay, now what?"

Fizzlesnoot draws the box with a piece of chalk on the paved ground just slightly bigger than the vehicle itself. Once Gabriel has pulled around and is lined up next to the newly drawn box he calls the old man out of the truck to better see him. Once out of the vehicle, "Ok, you're going to park in this box, but, you going to pretend there is a vehicle here," moving to the front of the box that matches with the front of the vehicle, "And a vehicle here," moving to the back of the box. "And over here," moving to the far side of the box from the car, "This side is a wall. For pretend right now. So what I want you to do, is put this vehicle in the box without crossing any lines, 'cause that means you hit something. Understand what I want you to do?"

Gabriel nods in understanding, but points out, "I can't see the box that I'm trying to hit. Are there crates or something that we can stack up?" He looks out his own windows, searching for some helpful props.

Fizzlesnoot considers that problem giving a look see for himself across the lot, "Hmmm, I have nothing special on me, and it don't look like nothing around," pausing because he may have spotted something. He waddles over to where the back of the buildings are, a couple of rubbish cans outside that he heads over to grab. Dragging two of the cans over, "These should help a bit," setting them up on the two corners of the box closest to the truck. "Well that'll mark the front corners. Oh!" spotting something else, a few larger pieces of broken concrete. This he lines up strategically on the wall-side of the box. "If you feel your tire go over those, you hit the curb. If you can pull this off, you'll be good to go on parking. Any questions before you try?"

Nodding approvingly now that he has some targets to go off of, Gabriel thinks for a moment before asking as a joke, "Yeah, how expensive are the cars that I'm trying not to destroy?" With a little laugh on his lips, he takes off for another gentle loop of the lot, slowing down to come alongside the box before turning outward, stopping, and throwing it into reverse. He backs in and stops perfectly, as long as perfectly is the aft end of a car stuck into a parking space at a forty-five degree angle.

Fizzlesnoot chuckles, "Each vehicle is ten-million credits and are owned by a Dragon and Cranky Burster." That should be enough of a picture. Staying outside the vehicle to have a good view of his technique and enables him to offer pointers, "Pull forward just a hair, then back up again while cutting the wheel so the front end drifts into the space, your a little too far back right now, you'll hit the wall any further back."

Gabriel nods silently, pulling slowly forward before cutting the wheel sharply to the right. The nose of the NTI vehicle does indeed slide closer to the box, but he needs to stop before it takes out the rear end of the theoretical dragon's car. He tries to just back into the space, but there's still a good part of the Diplodicus sticking out. Being courageous, he does his best to rock it a little before yanking the handbrake and calling out, "I think I'm stuck!"

Fizzlesnoot chuckles, "Well traffic is going to take you out soon as you climb out, but so far no damage. Here, hop out a sec, watch me do it and try and mimic what I do. Pay attention to how I position the vehicle from beginning to end. It may help, always easier if you see it first."

With another nod, Gabriel punches the center of his quick-release harness and exits the vehicle, holding the door open politely as a chauffeur might do for Fizzlesnoot to get into the driver's seat. After that, he fades back, trying to decide which end to stand on. Eventually, he squirts behind the car that he'd stuck and ends up where Fizzlesnoot had been watching. Rather than try to yell over the engine, he just waves his hands as expertly as an LSO, indicating that he's ready.

Fizzlesnoot climbs on up after a quick look to how he has the vehicle already in there. A touch forward with a turn of the wheel, a touch backward with a turn to the opposite, then forward again and he's out of the spot. Circling the lot he pulls along side to where the back tire is at the front corner of the box. Cutting the wheel sharply he slowly eases the vehicle at an angle into the spot. As the back end gets into the box he begins cutting the wheel the opposite way which allows the front end to gently drift into the spot. Another short pull forward with another turn of the wheel and he is in there, snug as a bug in a rug. Throwing it in neutral and pulling the parking brake, he climbs back out with a grin. "There, did ya catch that? Simple huh? Now you try it. When pulling out, back up a hair, cut your wheel and pull out. Circle around and set up and execute."

Gabriel nods to the parking job, taking mental notes but suggesting, "Why don't you pull it out for me. Bet you hear that all the time!" Hmm, a little innuendo humor. When the car is available, he dutifully circles the lot, slowing and pulling in rearward. This time, too shallow, and when he moves forward to cut in, the car's ass is almost sticking out in the wind, it's nose buried. "Missed it again," is all he says. At least this time he can get himself out of the situation without assistance. "How far ahead of the spot do you go before cutting back?" he yells out the window as he does another circle.

Fizzlesnoot shouts to the old driver, "Put your back tire on the front corner, that will set you up to start backing in. Once your other back tire gets in the spot start turning the front end in."

His lips swish side-to-side a few times as he tries to decide which back tire is supposed to be on the front corner, but only for a moment as he got back and front switched in his mind. This time, the six-wheeled vehicle scoots up, but beyond the right point by a few feet. Nobody said that the damn thing was designed for good all-around vision. Still, he does his best to slide backwards, and manages to do it without nailing the car behind him. A few cutbacks and turns forward leave him hanging nicely parallel, but only half inside the block. The negative shake of Gabriel's head given to Fizzlesnoot needs no words to say that he missed again.

Fizzlesnoot circles a finger over his shaking head to signal to do it again and with a smile he awaits another try. This time he stands where he can guide Gabriel into the correct starting position. Maybe this time he'll get it.

Do it again, okay! Gabriel guns the Diplodicus probably a bit too fast, but manages to circle the lot again without problem. This time he heads in nose first, perhaps attempting a different strategy that no one else in history had considered. It doesn't work out too well, and he gives a similar circle that he'll take it again. After Fizzlesnoot unsticks the car again.

Fizzlesnoot simply moves the trash can to unstick the car from its predicament and once Gabe circles the can is placed back into position. Again, the little creepy guy guides the driver into the proper starting position then lets him take control of the maneuver.

"It would help if you pretended I was an aircraft being guided into a spot!" Gabriel calls out. Almost as if he's flown planes before. Maybe? He manages to follow instructions fairly well this time. Surprisingly well. Shockingly and almost successfully well! He's in the box, he's more-or-less parallel, and he didn't hit anyone - hard enough for them to notice. Though he's not entirely tucked in, with a good quarter of the car still outside, it's by far his best effort yet.

Fizzlesnoot walks around so it's easier to talk, "That try was pretty good. You still need a lot more practice though, you're gonna get clipped when you step out of the car if you're not all the way in. Try it one more time and I will try and guide you all the way in, then you can practice on your own. There is not much more I can tell you that will help, you just have to get used to the size of the vehicle," winding his hand over his head again, time to do it again. Though this time he tries the airliner guidance to help him get it.

Gabriel nods, but before he takes off - and a little wiggling to get out of the space - he asks, "Is there anything more this time around? I mean, the basic driving I have pretty much down. Up and down the streets, y'know, not a big problem." The accelerator takes him away and around for another loop giving Fizzlesnoot time to think about the question. One zip around, and he moves carefully into the spot - foot slipping off and ending up mashing the accelerator, completely destroying the front of whatever theoretical car was behind him. "I hope that was the burster, I killed one of those," he mumbles under his breath.

Fizzlesnoot can't help but laugh as the trash can is knocked over and crushed. Garbage goes everywhere and even leaves a slime trail on the back of the car as whatever it was that was juicy inside sprayed upwards and all over. "That was not it," he calls out as he walks around to the driver's side, "Keep practicing this, and keep driving through the market and the city on a daily basis. The next time we get together we'll go out and see what this bad boy can do on the rough terrain. Other than that, I can't think of anything else I need to go over so far. You have to get used to the size of this thing and the parking will let you get the feel for that. And it was the Dragon whose car you totaled. The burster is laughing as the Dragon eats you."

Gabriel grins, "St. George slew a dragon, so I can too." He manages to pull out of the box - pretty easy once one end is smashed, and waits for Fizzlesnoot to hop in, ready to take him wherever he needs to go before returning to this hidden lot to practice.