Episode description
Pit Lane Light-Pulse: Reappraising the Choi Method: Part 2
An interview with Niran Saengkaew, Khlong Toei Automotive
“No. I didn’t see much need for the Choi Method at first. I mean, we mostly worked on scooters. Very different situation than the grav-racers. No pit lane, no need for those spur of the moment changes to tires or hydraulic pressure or whatever they had going on. I was quite happy to get a scooter in. Chat to the man. Get out my tools, figure out what needed to be done over an hour or so. And the clients liked that too! I got to know a lot of good people that way. There’s a woman who used to bring her scooter in every six weeks for a tune-up and while I was checking the bike, she’d get out a little paint pot, put some new detail on the body of the thing. It was good.
But then Dtào saw Liana Choi talking about her method at some conference. I think the racers had come through that week, and so they were making a big thing of it. Maybe a year before she went. He came in to the workshop, almost glowing with excitement, and made the case, and I’ve always stuck by him so I thought: What’s the harm.
And there was something funny about it too, at first. You see the pit crews at the races perform the Method and the crowd roars and it’s all so… sincere! And here we are, seeing maybe 10 scooters a day in our workshop next to the outdoor pool. It was like a joke, like a good joke. What does the Choi Method even LOOK like in a place like that?
We weren’t as fast as the pros. Never got as fast as the pros. But the difference didn’t really matter. The first time we tried it, got all the tools together, we managed to do the works in about forty eight seconds. The first time! The day before, I’d done the same job without the Method and it had taken me an hour and ten minutes.
So that was that. If you can cut down the time by that much, why would you look back? That’s what Dtáo said. We worked on 350 scooters that second day. Why would you look back? I know why. But I can’t answer “how.”
The lady with the paint pot? Oh, I’d need to check the books. I don’t know. Let me see here. Yes, last week. She came in last week. Appointment time twelve seconds.”
Contents
Plot
Taking place directly after episode 1, Ronny Lee Highsmith Jr is revealed to be the man in the doorway, his clothing showing to the viewer that he is part of Blossom Investigations. Wrench asks if he is a reporter, and Ronny has that he’s a private eye, showing them his badge. Froggy says that they don’t want to be involved in any investigations, but Ronny insists that he come in and at least explain his offer to them. He and Wrench both bond briefly over their love of their classic cars.
Ronny has that he believes that the three of them have “great integrity” and he wants them to help him investigate some “bad business” that’s happening in town, as they can get into spaces he cannot. He also says that Absolute is involved in some kind of corruption in the city, and also offers to pay them for helping him.
The team agrees, and Ronny shows them images of Absolute’s father (Red Frame Pluperfect) and bank transfers, which show money being transferred between the Pluperfect’s various accounts and business to the Atlantic City Redevelopment Fund. This is unusual, as the Pluperfects don’t own any of the casinos, and the Fund is supposed to be based around helping boost the various casinos of Atlantic City, so it seems like it’s being shuffled into some other development. Ronny does not offer clarity on what that thing could be, but it’s unclear if that’s because he is deliberately not sharing that information or if he doesn’t know.
He needs their help as he believes Absolute has spotted him following them, and also as a member of the public he is not allowed to access the racetrack or garages where information about what the Pluperfects are planning could be hidden. He believes this information would be contained in Absolute or their father’s palm pilot (specifically the file ‘JackpotSupreme.gif’).
Froggy is still hesitant, but Ronny pushes back, bringing up Froggy’s history of crime and their ties to the local community, which convinces them. Ronny thanks them, and they agree to meet up with him at the Blossom Investigations offices the next evening.
Trip believes they should kill Absolute, but Wrench pushes for them to mess with Absolute’s highly rigid post-race routine instead. Trip agrees, and the three head towards Absolute’s garage, a three-story garage which is separate to the rest of the racers' garages and is surrounded by armed guards and camera drones. They make their way through the crowd of fans and reporters, including a teen fan cosplaying as Absolute who is being waved away by the guards as they arrive.
Froggy suggests that Trip could lie and say he’s there to apologise to Absolute, which Trip says isn’t believable but agrees to do. He approaches the guard, who is dismissive to him. Trip tells the guard he’s there to make amends with Absolute, but the guard says that doing so will disrupt Absolute’s routine and that Trip should return tomorrow. Trip is outraged, and the two get into a loud argument, with several other guards drawn to the commotion.
Froggy and Wrench attempt to sneak in using the argument as cover, making it into Pluperfect’s garage. Froggy texts Trip to tell him to come to another entrance, and he leaves, followed by one of Pluperfect’s surveillance drones though he manages to lose it before he enters.
Wrench hacks into a computer, accessing the information about Absolute’s schedule. As Absolute is currently at their mayonnaise bath, Wrench says they could change the ingredients of the bath, adding sour cream to their bath. Absolute stomps out of their bathroom, giving the team a window to sneak upstairs.
On entering, they discover Absolute’s collection of old Bluff City memorabilia, including a 300 year old piece of saltwater taffy. Froggy asks Wrench if she will dare them to eat it - she does, and they eat it. They think it tastes fine, but unremarkable.
The tv is playing, showing a panel discussing Trip’s outburst (which they view highly unfavourably). They spot the palm pilot floating in a hovercharge station by the bed. Froggy takes the phone and texts random contacts trying to get information, with help from Trip (“then say this, then say this!”). ESPN beings to call, trying to confirm the weird messages people have been receiving, and Froggy decides they should just steal the phone. They sneak out, as ESPN announces that the messages from Absolute have been confirmed as true (“Pluperfect: Absolute Cheater?” appears on the news chyron). Though Absolute’s people later try to put the blame for these messages onto Trip, the media does not believe this as all footage shows him walking away back to the ABB garage.
During the night, Wrench receives a text from Ronny (“was that y’all???”, later in a smaller font, as though whispering “ESPN?”), and she response with an ‘oopsy’ image. She receives back an automated text with lyrics from Chattahoochee and an away message, and then another message apologising for having his away message on.
The next day the team meets up with Ronny at the breakfast buffet at a casino, and the team remarks at the fanciness of the buffet. Ronny asks for the file, and Froggy puts Absolute’s phone on the table. Ronny seems excited by this, immediately picking up the phone and scrolling through. He can’t find all the information he was looking for, other than whatever the JackpotSupreme is, it’s being made at the Bluffington Beach Coin and Slot, one of Absolute’s companies. Ronny tells the team how his little group of friends used to have a treehouse fort out in that same area, asking if the team will take the job in investigating the area as it’s too risky for him to go in.
Froggy asks to speak to the team in private, and so Ronny puts headphones on so he can’t hear them. Froggy says they’re worried that Ronny is working for Pluperfect in some way, and that they should be prepared for the TriCity Classic race. Froggy tells Ronny the same, demanding that he tell her the truth. Ronny says that he’s a robot and that he’s Pluperfect’s brother, which they can immediately is a lie.
Ronny agrees to tell them the real truth - he’s part of a group that investigates strange happenings across all three cities (Bluffington, Blough City, Bluff City), and that the reality they know, where the three cities are connected and always have been, used to be different. People involved in the connections know that he investigates such things and so he will be noticed. The team agrees to help.
As the sky grows overcast they make their way to the site of the old Bluff City Studios, currently the site of the Bluffington Beach Coin and Slot, parking away from the parking lot so they won’t be seen. They have decided that their cover will be that they’re there to discuss a collaboration between their ABB Racing Team and the Bluffington Beach Coin and Slot. They walk into the welcome centre and are greeted by a hologram receptionist/guide in the style of a humanoid slot machine, and Trip asks to speak to a sales associate. The hologram says it will alert Mr Perkins, and gives them all toy slot machines.
Twenty minutes later, Perkins arrives. He compliments them each on their racing the previous day before moving onto the business of selling them slot machines. Trip tells him that they’re there to buy a few dozen slot machines in order to open a small casino (Froggy’s Place). Perkins seems pleased by the idea of selling them so many slot machines at once, taking them towards the showroom. It begins to rain.
Perkins takes them through the various slot machines in the casino. Trip’s idea is to look bored enough that Perkins will take him to see next year’s model so that they can get into the next area or a backstage area. Convinced by their argument and getting them to sign NDAs, Perkins takes them to the manufacturing floor which is guarded by large robots. He takes them to see next year’s slot machine models (“very experimental” “bad”). Froggy expresses that they’re looking for something “more impressive, more… supreme”.
On hearing the word ‘supreme’, Perkins tells them to wait there because he needs to get clearance from “The Big Man” and tells them to wait there, and mentions “the supreme project”. The team immediately begins poking around. Froggy discovers that there is an uneven number of slot machines in one of the isles which seems much more used than the others. They grab the arm and pull it, revealing stairs going down into a basement level.
Trip and Wrench head down, leaving Froggy behind to provide cover for them. They follow muddy footprints into a vast tunnel (previously seen in The Moving Pictures), adjacent to the Tunnel Project. They reach the other side and find a soundstage that has been converted into a manufacturing area, where a heavily armoured tank truck is being constructed. As they watch, a strange sort of computer server made of long magnetic tape is being lowered into the vehicle. As evidence for Ronny, Wrench takes a photo of it, remarking that the vehicle is race-certified, odd for such a unique vehicle. Getting closer, Wrench messes with the internals of the car to make it harder to drive (it will take longer to accelerate).
Perkins returns with The Big Man, who is revealed to be Red Frame Pluperfect, Absolute’s father. Perkins notices Wrench and Trip aren’t there, and Froggy says that they went over to craft services. Perkins seems suspicious, and Red Frame asks if they really went to craft services, attempting some kind of lie detector on them. Froggy passes the test, but Red Frame sends a robot to check anyway, asking what their connection to the Supreme Project is. Using their extremely limited knowledge of the project, Froggy says they have “a friend” who told them that there was more happening there than casinos and something that might be connection to racing, and wanted in.
Red Frame turns to Perkins, the only other person who works in manufacturing, and asks if he told them. As Froggy quickly tries to say that they read it on a forum so as to not get Perkins in trouble, Wrench and Trip emerge and rejoin the group. They all exchange business cards.
As they leave, they note that there are many camera drones in the sky, following them as they get in their car and drive away. Froggy, in the driver’s seat, manages to evade the drones using their knowledge of the streets. They take the information back to Ronny, who pays them for the information and offers them another job for even more money: destroy the Jackpot Supreme in the TriCity Classic (or lap it so that it is disqualified and removed from the race).