A Hybrid of Life and Gasoline | 命とガソリンのハイブリッド

Part 1 | Ibaraki

The year's 2024. With the birth rate declining and the economy still stagnating. Japan was facing crises that seemed unavoidable.

Back in the Showa and early Heisei era, the country might have been known for its excesses, that's all but gone now, even juvenile delinquency was only a thing of the past.

The days of young people with high-tech automobiles running amok the numerous road network both on the inner city expressways and in the mountains, participating in the highly dangerous and illegal street racing, was something only uncool uncles get nostalgic for.

There was no chance that aspect of culture could've survived when even the sports car that enabled the culture to exist got culled due to lack of sales.

Only the fringes of society would still be interested.

Technological advancement in the internet network and computer chips had led to mobile phone features that people only 20 years ago would only gasp with bewilderment.

An application package for Android phones suddenly appeared out of nowhere on a certain webpage that couldn't be accessed via search engine. Its name, Geo Timer, was quite cryptic and seems irrelevant, and there's a weird apricot looking icon that seems to have been drawn quickly in Microsoft Paint. But once you've installed and opened it, for a certain group of people, the use and intention of this app was quite clear.

It was early April 2024. Wednesday night. Close to 10PM. Spring was now upon us.

A nondescript looking silver Toyota Yaris was driving slowly up a quiet mountain road in Ibaraki Prefecture. This road was just like any other mountain pass around here. The locals called it the Fruits Line, apparently because historically this road had many fruit stalls. A creative naming that deserved no awards.

The road sign showed the speed limit of 30 km/h, and it would be very wise for any typical driver to stick to this speed, especially at night where visibility was dependent entirely on your own headlights, as everything was in complete darkness.

The curvy uphill South section would seem dangerous to most people during the day, and completely treacherous during the night. There's no street light once you go up the mountain due to lack of electricity, and the road had only been adequately maintained ever since a new bypass tunnel was completed, with disappearing road markings and overgrowth of plants, and the surface that's both rough and slippery.

Once that small compact reached the peak, its young driver slowed down to observe a gravel parking lot on the left side of the road. He's looking for 'Course Marshall' who very rarely would appear there, but today there's nothing that could be seen, as with most days.

The car rolled along for a few hundred meters more and stopped by the side of the road near an intersection, the road started to go downhill around this point. The sign indicated turning left would lead on the Omote Tsukuba Skyline.

The young driver made a voice call to his friend with the Line messaging application.

"Oi! Chikara, the course's clear!"

"Okay, thanks Jiro."

Down the mountain at a FamilyMart convenience store. Once the young man received the message, he gestured to another 3 of his friends to let them know. They stopped whatever they were doing and got in their vehicle. Chikara, being the leader of their group, led the way in an old Orange Toyota 86.

Being only 4 km away, it didn't take long for the convoy of cars to reach where the silver Yaris was parked. Once there, everyone parked their car in line on the side of the road as well. Then they get out to reconvene.

"Are you sure the course marshall isn't here?" Chiraka asked Jiro with a suspicious look on his face.

"Why do you even have to ask? You cannot see them yourself! It's not like we've even ever encountered them!" Jiro replied. There's clear annoyance from his tone.