RiCharlie

Several weeks ago I posted a story under "What Did You Do with Your Z" today... i re-posted that just a few days ago..and a number of people said they liked it..and wanted more..

I wrote it because I really wanted to present something entertaining to the group..seriously this site is great and i wanted to give something back in return...

Well now I have written another Z story this one very VERY different from the other.. A bit on the dark side....Hope you like...Please enjoy...and dont hesitate to leave your opinion as I want to improve my writing skills..



It all happened so quickly it seems a blur. My wife and I were coming back from a visit to the Old Time Auto Museum in Boston and I lost track of my speed. I was rounding the “S” curve heading south on Route 95 through the city of Pawtucket, in northern Rhode Island enjoying my new “Z” car when suddenly my laser detector blared! Brrrrrrr!!! A panic gripped my throat! Damn it!! I glanced at the speedometer. It read 125!! My wife screamed, “I told you you were driving too fast!”

I felt a sickening knot in my stomach looking in the rear view mirror as a police car with flashing lights rapidly approached. I frantically began to think of how I would plead my case. “Sorry, officer, I didn't realize I was going so fast!” Or, “Yes, I know I was exceeding the speed limit, officer, but can't you just let me off with a warning? I have a good driving record!”

My car moved to the side and he pulled up behind me. A large six foot plus officer got out and walked to the side of my vehicle. I put down the window looking like a kid caught with the candy jar. He had a stern face that told me he was none too happy. Neither was I. Before I could speak he demanded, “License and registration, please!” I handed them over. I started to say something in the way of pleading but he cut me off curtly snapping, “Save it, Buddy!” He went back to his vehicle. I could see he was checking something. A moment later he returned and handed me my license and registration. "This is a strictly enforced speed zone,” he said, “You were tagged at one hundred and twenty-three miles per hour. That's nearly 15 mph over the legal speed limit! I could give you a ticket for this but I see you have a good driving record so I'll let you go this time but don't let me catch you doing this again!”

Phew!! What a relief! He let me off!!! I thanked the officer and waited until he drove away and then I started home again. Not surprisingly, my wife started up again voicing all her old objections to my owning this very special car. “It's another midlife crisis! Why do you have to have a sports car? We can't really afford it! When will you ever grow up!” On and on, endlessly. This time I had had enough!

“Yes, I know it's not the most practical thing in the world,” I snapped, “not like that diamond ring on your finger or that crap you wear on your face to make yourself presentable!” Silence followed. Dead silence.

My new 590 Z is very special car released just a few years ago back in 2075. In many respects it's just like all the others. It has the usual full-time “Auto Control” as steering and braking are things of the past found only in cars like the ones in the museum. The only real control nowadays is a lever where the old shift used to be. Push the lever forward and the car accelerates, pull it back and the car slows down or even stops. But in an emergency, not to worry, the car will stop itself.

To get from one point to another, you simply speak into a microphone and tell the car your destination then you push forward on the lever and off you go! The computer selects the route automatically. It's all pretty standard stuff.

And there is nothing unusual either about the various cabin sim-scents either ranging from “Spring Floral” to “Indian Restaurant”.

But this new Z has some very special features which every true sports car enthusiast can really appreciate.

With a simple turn of a selector knob, I can choose from any number of simulated engine sounds from “Traditional Z” to “Mercedes Sedan” or anything in between! The sound automatically rises in pitch and volume in exact accordance with the movements of the car, even duplicating the sound of the changing rpms due to sim-shifting! It's all faithfully reproduced by a fourteen hundred micro-speaker system imbedded throughout the cabin! The result is sound exactly like there was a real gasoline engine under the hood instead of the dead-silent electro-solar motor! Altogether there are over 250 different auto motor sim-sounds to choose from, plus several specialties including motorcycles, various jet engines and even galloping horses!

And there's more! I can also adjust another knob which makes it sound like actual wheels touching the road just like in the old days before mag lev! I can simulate either asphalt, concrete or gravel! And, most exciting of all, there is another control which physically rocks the car simulating the old-fashioned vibrations and movements associated with a car traveling over actual pavement! The three settings are Smooth, Average and Potholed.

I can chose “Auto” which selects a predetermined blend of all three settings or I can select the “Manual” version which allows me to dial in any combination I choose. Of course, “Manual vs Auto Sim” has been a constant source of friendly yet spirited debate among sports car buffs for years.

And yes, I make no apologies. I am very proud of my new Z! It's a real head-turner especially when I dial-in, Luna White, as the body color.

The entire package is an unabashed adrenalin rush!

By the time we arrived home, my wife's anger had subsided. I had apologized for my snappy remark and we were back on speaking terms again. She's a good wife and understands that sometimes a man needs a little escape in life, what with work and the world being the way it is.....

That night, as I lay in bed, I thought about all great fun I had had driving my brand new “Z” and I began to doze off smiling and feeling grateful for the charity shown to me by that unnamed policeman. Perhaps he understood. It's a guy thing.

As my sleep deepened, my mind drifted back to a time earlier in the day.....

Suddenly, I found myself back in the old days when people actually steered their own cars like the ones in that museum.

In my dream I was actually driving one of those antiques! It had an open top and I could feel the wind, completely unfiltered, blowing on my face and I could feel the warmth of the sun shining down! I could smell grass and trees and wild flowers! I could even hear the real sounds of a real motor and hear genuine rubber tires rolling over a genuine paved road! I could even feel honest-to-goodness road bumps! And most incredible of all, it was me, not the computer, choosing what roads to use! And I was the one actually steering to the left and right, taking corners and rounding curves all by myself! I was in charge, not the computer! I was a real “Driver” in full control in the old-fashioned sense of the word! It was all so real!! It was all so very.....

I awoke terrified, shaking with fear and covered with perspiration...


(Well that's it....my vision of the future..)Hope you had as much fun reading this as I did writing it..