Neon Drift

Overview

The crew’s driver, raised in the nomadic Van Life collective and chromed up young to become its driver — prized for unwavering loyalty. Left the group behind but is still searching for scattered former members, including his mother. Widely called “Van Buren” at the table — technically the name of his van, Van Buren, but used loosely as his own nickname/surname (also a running joke about being descended, sixty-two generations deep, from US President Martin Van Buren).

Genuinely tied to his vehicles at a deeper-than-practical level: he described feeling shaky and less like himself the further he gets from Van Buren or his drones (“I plug into this thing and I’m a completely different person”). Has taken on a paternal role toward Bullfrog (his girlfriend Valen’s son) — self-describes as “a reluctant killer… a reluctant father, but I’m doing the best that I can for this… my adult son here,” and values transparency with the crew as a matter of operational trust (“the more we know about each other, the more safe I feel operating together”).

Gear

• Van Buren — his van; recently outfitted with tech from Van Helsing to make it discreet/less recognizable.
• Eight Arms to Hold You (commonly shortened to Eight Arms) — a bear-sized, octopus-like drone with medical sensors, also useful for hauling cargo.
• All Correct — a smaller quadcopter drone, used to route hacking connections; carries his own traceable signature.
• Heavy pistol (3 harm, close/near, loud). Tossed to Speckz mid-fight in Session 3 when Speckz’s gun jammed.
• Armor 1.
• Van Helsing’s flux capacitor — spent in Session 2, traded to Slim Jimmy to get his Rat BQ running again.

Playbook

Driver. Character sheet/moves live in the group’s shared Google Drive, not yet reflected here in detail. What’s come up in play:

• Second Skin — when jacked into his vehicle or drones, he adds the vehicle’s power to relevant rolls (Cool +2, plus +2 for Van Buren, on his Session 3 Act Under Pressure). When a drone rolls Mix It Up, he rolls Synth +2. The GM applies it only when the action actually runs through the vehicle or drone. Neon’s own reading is that being jacked in sharpens his reflexes in general.
• Remote control of Van Buren and his drones, which is the Driver’s defining power. It runs over a short-range wireless link of a few hundred feet. Eight Arms can operate autonomously on standing orders.

Appearance

Wears his hair in locks, which stream behind him when he rides on the roof of Van Buren, something he does when he’s serious. Otherwise not yet described in play.

Known Facts

• Raised in Van Life; his cybernetic interface was originally provided by the group, giving surviving remnants a claim on him.
• Confronted Van Morrison (self-appointed Van Life figurehead) during the crew’s previous job’s aftermath and refused to rejoin the group — see Van Life.
• Still searching for his mother among Van Life’s scattered former members.
• Dating Valen, Bullfrog’s mother — Bullfrog calls him “not my dad” (repeatedly, pointedly).
• Reconnected with old Van Life bandmate Van Helsing in Session 1, who confirmed the arcology keys the crew is hunting are the very ones that destroyed Van Life. Van Life is currently “under” Van Morrison in some capacity that’s stopping the group from rebuilding.
• Training Bullfrog physically (basic conditioning/exercise) — Bullfrog still can’t run well, and cyberware legs are being discussed once the crew gets paid.
• Keeps tabs on his old Van Life network well beyond what’s operationally useful: he knows where “Doc Brown” is, and watches him because neighborhood boys go missing wherever the man settles.
• Suspects Bullfrog is hiding something — Bullfrog was crowing about successes on a day when all his visible rolls were failures. He has not pursued it, and doesn’t connect it to the “COPD attack” he pulled the van over for.
• In Session 2 he authored the crew’s plan for Mara Sato: hand her back, collect from her mother, then break her out. He attributes it to “this newly awakened paternal instinct.”
• His stated reason for rejecting the simplest solutions (let her go, walk away) was explicitly narrative: “that’s not narratively interesting.”
• Doesn’t want fame for crime. He wants recognition for doing cool things in his van, which is why he declined to stretch his Illustrious directive around the doctored footage.
• Hates to see a promise broken. In Session 3 he drove after Iona’s convoy before anyone had agreed on a plan, and reminded Muktar that he’d pledged his Rontai to Mara.
• Gets antsy and short-tempered when he’s driving blind. Bullfrog going quiet mid-chase to take a call led to the “little internet LARPs” exchange, and to Neon climbing out onto the van’s roof to search for the convoy himself.
• Uneasy about bloodshed even when his own robot is causing it: “There’s a lot more blood falling out of people than I was expecting on this mission.” He’s quick to point out that it was the robot that did the killing. Afterward he reminded Mara that “a lot of blood was paid to get that freedom.”
• Hands out parenting advice as a fellow parent, especially to Iona Glass: “You gotta let that bird fly. You squeeze her too hard, she’s gonna die.”
• Still knows his old Van Life geography, including an abandoned rest stop outside REIS Six where the collective kept supply caches. He hid Mara there.
• Declared contact: his “lobster guy.” An ex-Van Life member who quit to live on a boat and knows someone who has seen a lobster. The GM suggested he might drive the next mission.
• Took two light hits in Session 3, one absorbed by armor and one ricochet to the back.
• Teaching Bullfrog to drive. Neon’s player once spent gear on a van-disguise system in the group’s very first game, but the campaign was a reset and it didn’t carry over.

Relationships

• Van Morrison — former Van Life voice, now self-appointed leader; sees Neon as still “Van Life’s property.” Confrontation did not go the way Van Morrison expected. Per Van Helsing, currently holds some kind of leverage/control over Van Life’s remaining members.
• Van Helsing — old Van Life bandmate, now working a straight job; gave Neon Drift gear to make Van Buren discreet in exchange for news of the crew’s case.
• Speckz Arioso — hired Speckz to track down former Van Life members; the first lead surfaced was Van Morrison, and the meeting went badly.
• Bullfrog — teammate, dating his mother Valen, and increasingly a stepfather figure to him.
• Muktar — teammate; the two have discussed trust and Neon’s past directly, with Neon affirming he wants the crew to know him.

Open Questions

• Where is Neon’s mother, and what happened to her after Van Life’s collapse?
• What does it mean that Van Life is currently “under” Van Morrison?
• Full character details (stats, moves, gear) pending transfer from the shared character sheet.

Directives

• Intimate — “When you put your girlfriend’s son Bullfrog ahead of the mission, mark experience.” Marked at the end of the Sato mission (in Session 2) for a moment back in Session 1: Bullfrog claimed a COPD attack and Neon immediately pulled the van over to get his shaker vest out. Bullfrog was faking it to cover the secret hack he was running — Neon doesn’t know that.
• Illustrious — unmarked so far; Neon wants notoriety for driving, not for crime.

Appearances

• Session 0 — Van Life backstory established; Van Morrison confrontation recapped.
• Session 1 — Reunites with Van Helsing, learns the arcology keys’ history, trains Bullfrog, and affirms his commitment to being open with the crew.
• Session 2 — Declares Slim Jimmy as a contact and trades away Van Helsing’s flux capacitor for the lead; drives the crew through the Switchback and the Tangle; proposes the turn-her-in-then-break-her-out plan; offers Iona Glass parenting advice at the handoff.
• Session 3 — Chases Iona’s convoy, launches All Correct and rides on the van’s roof to keep it in sight. Sends Eight Arms in to cut down Iona’s security. Plays Hardball through Van Buren’s PA for a 14. Helps Muktar out. Drives the escape remotely from the van’s roof, out of the arcology to a Van Life rest stop. Declares his lobster guy.