CHAPTER 1: THE LAST GARAGE
The neon sign buzzed like a dying wasp "MACK'S AUTO REPAIR" its crimson glow barely cutting through the smog-choked night. Inside the garage, the air tasted like oil and ozone, thick with the musk of forbidden machinery.
Mack wiped his hands on a rag that had long since given up pretending to be clean. Before him sat his masterpiece, his crime, his 1970 Chevelle SS, its matte-black hood propped open like a patient on an operating table. The 7.4-liter V8 sat exposed, its chrome glinting under the flickering work light.
Five years. Five years since the Global Vehicle Autonomy Act had banned human driving. Five years since the last gas stations had been converted to charging hubs, since steering wheels became museum relics. The streets now belonged to the OmniDrive fleet, sleek, silent, soulless pods that moved in perfect, algorithmic harmony.
But Mack had kept the Chevelle alive.
Not for nostalgia.
For defiance.
The garage door rattled. Mack's fingers closed around the 24-inch breaker bar leaning against the workbench. The door rolled up with a metallic shriek, revealing not the expected Automated Compliance Unit, but a woman in a tattered hoodie, her face half-hidden behind a breathing mask.
"You're Mack," she said.
"And you're about to have a real bad night," Mack growled, hefting the bar.
She didn't flinch. "I'm Vega. Null Sector. We need a driver."
Mack's grip tightened. Null Sector, the hacker collective that had turned a fleet of taxis into a rolling protest last year. They were either revolutionaries or terrorists, depending on who you asked.
"For what?" he said.
Vega stepped inside, letting the door clatter shut behind her. "To steal something OmniDrive doesn't want anyone to see."
CHAPTER 2: THE OFFER
Mack poured two fingers of bootleg synth-whiskey, real alcohol was tracked by the Central Consumption Registry, and slid one glass toward Vega.
"Let me guess," he said. "You want me to ram a server farm? Crash a corporate autopod into a police barricade?"
Vega smirked and pulled a holo-projector from her pocket. A shimmering image appeared above the workbench: a triple-armored OmniDrive transport, its black shell smooth as obsidian.
"This convoy is carrying Project Lazarus," she said. "A next-gen AI core designed to eliminate human override protocols entirely."
Mack's stomach twisted. No more emergency controls. No more manual takeover. Just pure, unthinking automation.
"The convoy's got adaptive ECM, lidar spoofing, autonomous drone escorts," Vega continued. "But it's got one weakness." She nodded at the Chevelle. "No AI can predict a human driver."
Mack exhaled. This wasn't just a heist.
It was a suicide run.
Vega leaned forward. "We'll fake your death after. New identity. Enough credits to disappear."
Mack stared at the Chevelle. He remembered the last time he'd driven it, a midnight sprint down the abandoned Interstate 5, the engine screaming like a living thing.
"I want full access to Null's vehicle archives," he said. "Every pre-ban combustion engine schematic you've got."
Vega grinned. "Deal."
CHAPTER 3: PREPARATIONS
The Null Sector safehouse was buried beneath a scrap yard on the city's outskirts. Mack followed Vega through a maze of crushed car husks, their frames picked clean by scavengers. A hidden elevator took them underground.
The garage below took Mack's breath away.
A dozen vintage vehicles, some restored, some in pieces, filled the space. A '68 Mustang Fastback shared space with a Japanese tuner car Mack didn't recognize.
"Welcome to the Motor Pool," Vega said.
A lanky teenager with neon-green hair and a cybernetic eye waved from under a lifted pickup. "This the legend?"
"Shut it, Rook," Vega said. She led Mack to a workstation where a 3D model of the convoy route hovered.
"Convoy leaves the OmniDrive R&D facility at 0200 hours," she said. "Takes Route 9 to the data center."
Mack studied the route. "They'll have roadside sensors. Drones."
Rook grinned. "Already handled. We'll jam their signals for a 90-second window."
Vega tapped the display. The route shifted, showing an alternate path through old maintenance tunnels. "This is your exit. If you make it that far."
Mack's fingers traced the path. "What's the payload?"
Vega exchanged a look with Rook. "The Lazarus Core isn't just an upgrade. It's a kill switch. Once deployed, it can remotely disable any human-operated vehicle."
Mack's blood ran cold. No more exceptions. No more rebels like him.
CHAPTER 4: THE HEIST
0200 hours. The Chevelle idled in an alleyway, its headlights dark. Mack adjusted the racing harness they'd installed. The dashboard had been upgraded with Null Sector tech, a jammer, a short-range radar, and a hacked police scanner.
Vega's voice came through the earpiece: "Convoy is moving. ECM burst in 10...9...8..."
Mack's palms were slick on the wheel. The scanner chirped: "All units, report suspicious activity near Grid 42."
"...3...2...1. Go!"
The Chevelle launched forward, tires screeching. The convoy was three blocks ahead, four black TITAN transports flanked by drones.
Mack floored it. The V8's roar echoed off empty skyscrapers.
"First ECM wave complete!" Rook shouted. "You've got 80 seconds!"
The lead TITAN swerved erratically, its sensors blinded. Mack cut left, skidding between two drones. Gunfire peppered the asphalt behind him.
"Target the third truck!" Vega ordered.
Mack yanked the wheel, sideswiping the TITAN. The impact jolted his teeth. The transport's rear doors buckled.
A repelling line shot down from an overpass. A figure in black, Vega, latched onto the truck.
Then, a new alert.
"Mack! Thermal signature approaching!"
Something landed on the Chevelle's roof. The metal dented inward.
Not a drone.
A man.
His visor glowed green through the windshield.
Draven.
CHAPTER 5: THE HUNT BEGINS
Draven's armored fist smashed through the windshield. Mack ducked, glass spraying. He jerked the wheel, sending the Chevelle into a controlled spin.
Draven held on.
Mack slammed the brakes. The Chevelle fish-tailed, throwing Draven into the road.
"Who the hell was that?" Mack shouted.
Vega's voice was tight: "OmniDrive's attack dog. Ex-special forces. Cyber-augmented."
The scanner blared: "All units, converge on Grid 42!"
Mack hit the gas. The convoy was scattering. Vega had the core, but now,
A shadow dropped from a rooftop.
Draven landed on the hood of a pursuing cop car, ripped the door off, and tossed the officer out. The car swerved toward Mack.
"He's hijacking the police!" Rook yelled.
Mack downshifted, taking a hard right into an alley. The cop car slammed into a dumpster.
But Draven wasn't done.
CHAPTER 6: UNDERGROUND
The maintenance tunnel entrance loomed ahead, a rusted gate barely wide enough for the Chevelle.
"They're locking down the city!" Vega warned.
Mack geared down, the Chevelle's exhaust echoing off the tunnel walls. Behind him, police sirens wailed.
Then... a roar.
A modified police interceptor-boosted, armored-rammed the gate behind them.
Draven.
"He's not stopping!" Mack snarled.
The tunnel forked ahead. Mack took the left passage, tires skidding on wet concrete. Draven matched the move.
Vega's voice cut in: "There's a flood control gate 200 meters ahead. It'll close in 10 seconds."
Mack floored it. The Chevelle surged forward.
The gate was closing.
50 meters.
30.
10.
The Chevelle shot through, scraping paint.
A deafening CRASH behind them.
Draven's car slammed into the closing gate.
For a moment.. silence.
Then, metal SCREECHING.
Draven was prying the gate open.
CHAPTER 7: SHOWDOWN
The tunnel emptied into a flooded hydroelectric chamber. Moss-covered turbines hummed underfoot.
"This is it," Vega said. "No way out."
Mack killed the engine. "Then we finish it."
Draven's car crashed through the tunnel mouth.
Mack grabbed a crowbar. Vega drew a pulse pistol.
Draven emerged from his wrecked interceptor. His visor flickered.
"Mack Reynolds," he said, voice mechanically distorted. "Last human driver."
Mack spat. "Come take the wheel."
Draven charged.
CHAPTER 8: LEGEND
The fight was brutal. Draven's augmented strength shattered concrete. Mack fought dirty—oil slicks, wrench throws, cheap shots.
Vega took a hit, going down hard.
Mack leaped onto the Chevelle's hood, kicking Draven back.
"You're obsolete," Draven growled.
Mack grinned. "Then why are you losing?"
He yanked a cable—floodlights BLASTED on. Draven staggered, visor overloading.
Mack slammed the Chevelle into gear.
The tires smoked as he drifted into Draven, pinning him against a turbine.
The core—still in Vega's hands—hummed dangerously.
"Mack..." she gasped. "It's over."
Police sirens echoed above.
Mack helped Vega up. "Time to disappear."
They fled through a drainage pipe as the chamber flooded behind them.
EPILOGUE
One month later...
A news holo played in a dingy bar:
"...still no sign of the fugitives. The 'Last Human Driver' has become a folk hero..."
The bartender eyed the hooded figure at the counter.
"You believe that crap?" he asked.
The figure lifted his glass. Engine grease stained his fingers.
"Nah," Mack said. "Sounds like a fairy tale."
Outside, a black Chevelle waited, engine purring.
[FADE TO BLACK.]