Symphonic Catharsis

**Harpalos-mxo**

((Hello. I haven't posted a rp story since a good while, and I wanted to break the sleep with something which I put quite some efforts building it. I suggest you to read it twice however to get it correctly. I hope you'll appreciate it.))

Harpalos was sitting into an 70s-era black dragster car. Last time he drove a car was years ago, back at his hometown. To make sure he would be able to control such a wild car, he loaded a driving program before jacking in. Caillech joined him, astonished to see the car he had found. He invited her inside the car. After a rough turn of the key, the loud motor was humming. Caillech smiled at the idea to do this. She hadn't been in a car since a long time, but it was more the idea of seeing her lover drive that surprised her. He had been very silent to her all the day aboard their ship. She concluded that it was because he was preparing himself mentally for this surprise. He looked at her and both exchanged smiles. He reached in the inside pocket of his Machello suit and pulled out an 8-track cartridge. Caillech read on it "In The Hall Of The Mountain King, Edvard Grieg." He pushed it firmly inside the radio's slot, and waited for the first notes to start.

((What's better than a little audio support to continue reading this story... Continue reading while playing the song at http://files.kendormusic.com/str200.../mp3/stra01.mp3))

The car was slowly advancing out of its parking place, in Tabor Park. It was the night, so the interior parking lot was quite empty. He drove cautiously, still uneasy to do this after all these years. He made great caution to not push the pedal too much, because everytime he did, the motor roared in a burst of noise. The music was all calm, the timid strings contrasting highly with the purr of the motor. The car went down the 4 levels of the parking, to the exit. A quick look around at the Tabor Park East hardline showed some machinist operatives, unaware of what was going on. The car was now out, rolling up to the street next to the water. Caillech was smiling, finding this little nocturnal escapade quite romantic. At her right, she could see the aqueduct plunged in darkness, with the lights of Downtown behind. Harpalos navigated through the Richland streets quite easily. He was an operative in Megacity for so long, he knew the various districts extremely well. He approched the freeway entrance near Uriah, with still no words said to Caillech. She just enjoyed the moment, seeing how focused he was while driving. They've been together since a few months, but almost every day he managed to find ways to suprise her. This was one of these days.

He engaged on the freeway toward Downtown with more confidence. The circulation was not dense, with most citizens quietly sleeping at home. But Megacity never sleeps. Harpalos wasn't alone on the streets. He picked up the speed slowly, and turned to Caillech. In the depth of his pitch black Gigaflop glasses, his gaze pierced deep into her eyes and he made her a nod. He was ready. He reached for her hand, kissed it and asked her to fasten her seatbelt. He went to the volume knob of the old radio and turned it. The bad quality speakers of the car were now playing the classical piece loudly, making every drivers around wonder what was this. Suprised to see it wasn't some kid with upbeat urban music, but a middle-aged man, driving a vintage car while listening to classical music at an unusually high volume.

A few minutes after, he was driving at breakneck speed on the freeway, criss-crossing between lanes. Caillech was sitting next to him, wondering what was happening with him. She knew him as a calm force, a man driven purely by reason. But for a reason that she ignored, he was now acting recklessly, nearly causing accidents with every car they met. But despite all, he wasn't mad. His face wasn't displaying any emotion apart from his usual focused attitude. The start of the run was exstatic to Caillech, always loving to see her lover do unusual things. The speed was a good cleansing therapy, but she quickly started to panic, unable to understand what Harpalos was doing. She shouted at him, asking him to slow down, telling him she wasn't finding this funny anymore. He didn't even flinch. A quick turn of the steering wheel made the car avoid by a few inches a motorcycle rolling to the side. Her senses were becoming all dizzy, with the colors of the various cars becoming blurred and the sound of the motor pushed to the limit dampened by the high volume of the song. He then engaged the car on the line leading to the Edgewater's bridge. The toll booths to access the bridge were coming soon, and the speed of the car betrayed Harpalos' lack of interrest in halting his drive to pay the toll. The car crossed 4 lines to go into an unused lane. The crash of the car in the barrier created an explosion of shattering wood.

Police cars could be seen. The chase was launched. Harpalos didn't feel for dragging this too long however. In a move that made Caillech's heart to stop, Harpalos suddenly turned the steering wheel, which brought the car directly into the bridge's side barrier. Caillech screamed at the top of her lungs, knowing she wouldn't survive this. At the same time, Harpalos unbuckled both seatbelts and grabbed Caillech by the shoulders. A fraction of seconds after, he was hyperjumping with her in his arms, landing not far away on the bank. Caillech was paralyzed in his arms, and the last thing she saw was him, smiling, taking the phone from the nearby hardline to have them return to the ship. As her code was dissolving, it was possible to hear the last notes of the song, absorbed by the water as the car was going underwater. Harpalos was satisfied of his stunt, and returned to the ship to continue reading, back to his usual self.

**ShiXinFeng**

Awesome, Harp! The mixture of story with live music was inspired, and the pace of the story invoked just the right mixture of speed and excitement.

SMILEY SMILEY

**caillech**

Harpalos' depth of character constantly surprises me and man am I glad we survived that wild ride!

**GoDGiVeR**

((An Rp story with music background. That's what I always wanted. Ingenious. Nice music, good short story. :thumbup SMILEY

)

Danger_Frog1471

((:O how the...but it was....just perfect! It finnished just as i did. Quite impressive i must say, nice work SMILEY

))