Asphalt Knight (Legacy Version)

Session Thirty-Seven: Escape

"It's not safe to be heading out of town right now, according to the scanner, cops have checkpoints blocking the exits to all of Kempton." An unfamiliar female voice said over the communication system.

Michael and Michelle struggled to keep up with the orange Viper and the hulking ZR2 as they ducked through various alleyways.

"What the hell were those things!?" Michelle asked.

"Drones. They are MK1 Tesla Roadsters fitted with modified AutoCab chips, positronic brains and a shit ton of sensors. They aren't very bright- or fast- but they can copy anyone's driving style almost identically, which means they are hard to get rid of." Quinn said as he drifted the Viper gracefully through an intersection. Michael noticed his driving form was almost as good as Michelle's.

"We've got a safe house nearby, as long as we aren't followed, you'll be safe there." said the female voice who Michael assumed belonged to Sharon.

"You'll be just in time for dinner!" Quinn remarked.

"Why are you helping us?" Michael asked.

"We may be rivals out on track, but off it, we are family. Gearheads are a dying breed, we take care of our own."

"It's what the Asphalt Knight would do!" Sharon added.

"Y-yeah, they probably would..." Michael remarked nervously.

They drove together in silence for what seemed like several miles, Quinn calmly drifting every corner lazily ahead of them while Michael pushed his Mustang to the limit to barely keep pace with him. He occasionally caught glimpses of Michelle's BRZ amidst the the blinding glow of the Sharon's ZR2's spotlights. They turns they took seemed almost random to Michael.

"Are we going in circles?" Michael asked.

"Sort of. The erratic patterns of our turns throw off the security camera tracking algorithms, and prevent police AutoCab roadblocks from finding and boxing us in. Generally speaking, we are heading in the correct direction."

"Right."

The convoy snaked their way through various alleyways and intersections, the squeal of their tires and the snarls of their engines echoing across the city, waking sleeping citizens and bathing the asphalt with tire smoke and skid marks.

Michael began to worry. Had the agents managed to get Amelia and Nick home safely? What about Riley? Was she going to be ok? What if they hadn't been able to recover her car?

Dread filled Michael's mind, but he pushed it aside and focused on driving, following the Viper's oblong taillights, trying to mimic Quinn's driving style.

Michael realized that something was off about the way he steered. He could clearly tell that the Viper had far more grip than his Mustang, with its massive rear wing and wide tires, yet he was breaking traction mid corner earlier than the Foxbody would. Michael pushed the Mustang even harder, passing the ZR2 and leaving Michelle in the dust.

As they drifted through the next few corners, Michael noticed that the Quinn was deliberately jerking the steering in such a way that the Viper was being unsettled, like an amateur who had never driven beyond highway speeds before, yet he was in compete control of his car, effortlessly drifting around every corner.

"Why are you driving like that?" Michael blurted out.

"Like what, kid?" Quinn said happily.

"You are deliberately steering to strongly, like you want the car to spin."

"I am trying to get the car to spin, so I know how to counter it. See on the street, especially with unpredictable conditions, it is very easy for the car to do what it wants. By forcing the car to spin, I am always in control."