InsaneJournal

When the Virus corrupted Speed Racer's homeworld, it did not do so quietly, or slowly. It happened almost overnight. The excitement and glitz of winning the Grand Prix was a blur, and when the swirl of victory parties and press junkets cleared, the news media shifted to a disturbing new central focus. "War heroes" and "law enforcement" (which everyone in their right minds doubted these people really were) had moved into the heart of their city, and set up shop. It was a base of operations for some foreign war, in countries no one had ever heard of. And whether out of fear, or because they had simply been misled, the media and local government loved them.

It would be many months before Speed and his family would realize this, but the infiltration of their city as a headquarters for Viral spies was due largely in part to their world having no true villains of its own. The city was neutral territory - petty feuds between racecar drivers didn't interest the new military police who were slowly but surely encrouching on all aspects of life. In fact, racing remained as important as ever to both its professionals and its fans, as so many people were muscled out of their homes or jobs, to make room for the newcomers.

Over the course of the six months that followed the Grand Prix, the Racer family watched their city gradually morph into something like a paranoid police state. Reports on the news grew more personally alarming, as top engineers and designers from around the city were "recruited" by the newcomers for high-security projects. Friends and rivals of Racer Motors began to disappear from the public eye, and into the newcomers' metropolis.

Another six months happened before the strange events truly hit home. Pops Racer was contacted by agents of the newcomers' research and engineering offices. Their ultimatum was clear: join their team of designers willingly, or find his family at the mercy of the secret police, and be pressganged into service. That same night, Pops and Mom made their decision. Whatever it took, they would take their family and get as far out of the city as possible.

A week passed, while the Racer parents made plans, before they told their sons, Speed and Spritle, that they would be leaving. The family packed only what they could carry, and left on foot the next night, along with their mechanic, Sparky, and Speed's girlfriend, Trixie, whose family had already been pressed into the service of the newcomers. Unaware of how many cities in their world had been taken under a similar kind of control, the family wasn't sure exactly where they were headed - only that they had no choice but to leave.

Their destination was decided for them. After a few days on the road, they stopped for supplies at a convenience store, and emerged onto a street that hadn't been there, before. Gametown had found them, and the transition, though startling at best, and terrifying at worst, may have come just in the nick of time, for the Racers. The Gametown government temporarily provided the family with a place to stay, until they could raise enough money with their combined incomes, to move to an apartment in a lower income area of New York, outside of Gametown itself.

The transition wasn't easy for anyone, but Speed sometimes thinks it's been the hardest on him. Spritle is back in school, their mother seems to be enjoying going back to work, and their father and Sparky are still working in a garage, and planning to open their own again, once the family's finances can support them. Speed is still driving (for a New York cab company), but the Mach 5 is hopelessly far away, and so are the wide-open spaces. New York makes Speed feel claustrophobic, and the stop-and-go traffic on his shifts makes him feel insane. He may have garnered himself a small reputation as the fastest cabbie in the city, but he feels as if he's lost something profound. The piece of junk car he drives now (bought for five-hundred dollars of his and Sparky's money, out of someone's front lawn) doesn't speak to him.

facts.

» Goes by Scott Racer, with the players. He's still Speed to his family and the residents of Gametown. The family initially decided to change their surname to fit into player society more subtly, but Mom put her foot down at the last minute. Their identity as a family unit was too important, after the upheaval.

» Speed is twenty-two, with an August 3rd birthday. This makes him a Leo in the Western zodiac, and a Holly in the Druid chart.

» Speed and his family arrived in Gametown in early January, 2008. His first job was as a stock worker at an office supply store - a short-term position courtesy of a temp agency. He then spent a few weeks fruitlessly hunting for something to do, before he and Sparky came up with the plan of buying a junk car with which he could apply at one of the cab companies of the bring-your-own-car-and-we'll-slap-a-label-on-it variety.

» No matter how many times he's told that it's impossible to get back, Speed is determined to return to his homeworld to "rescue" the Mach 5, and find out what happened to Racer X. Due to the nature of the circumstances that forced the Racer family to leave, and the likelihood that the newcomers were watching them, Speed was forbidden to attempt to contact X. Although the situation was out of his control, Speed is still riddled with guilt for failing to get in touch with the other man before disappearing.

» He did, however, leave a message in his old locker at Thunderhead. While X may insist it's not true, Speed still feels, deep down, that X is his missing brother. And Rex, he's sure, would know to check the locker.

» Ironically, Speed is pretty sure one of the best things about this world is the video games. He may be poor, but he spends a lot of time playing the in-store demos.

» Clutch and Lynyrd Skynyrd are, without a doubt, his favourite bands. But he's pretty fond of The Killers and 3OH!3, too.

» Every morning, he drives Spritle to school, and then takes Trixie to work. He doesn't always act like it, and it doesn't occur to him to say so, but ferrying the two of them around is the best part of his day.