Van Life

A nomadic collective that Neon Drift grew up in — no sharp leadership structure, more a loose community of people living out of vehicles (including Neon’s van, Van Buren) to avoid the cost and control of settled, corp-owned housing and roads.

Overview

Van Life’s downfall came when a former leader sold the group’s services to Rest Easy Interstate Services as enforcers, then tried to parlay that access into free reign across Rest Easy’s whole toll network. Once caught, Rest Easy destroyed the group “with extreme prejudice,” scattering its members in what’s referred to as the group’s diaspora. The exploit at the center of it all — the arcology keys, granting access to maintenance lanes, ramps, and toll controllers across the whole network — was thought to have been shut down for good. It wasn’t. Mara Sato surfaced with a working set (or a copy) of them during Session 1, apparently given to her by a VYRAL insider — reopening the exact wound that ended Van Life.

Neon Drift was raised in the group and chromed up to become its driver at a young age, prized for unwavering loyalty to the collective — a loyalty they no longer share. Neon’s interface hardware was originally provided by Van Life, meaning surviving remnants of the group believe Neon still owes them.

Van Morrison, one of the most listened-to voices in the old collective (and likely complicit in its collapse), has appointed himself its current figurehead and believes former members — including Neon — are still “Van Life’s property.” As of Session 1, Van Life’s remaining members are described as being “under” Van Morrison in some way that’s preventing them from pooling resources and rebuilding.

Not everyone in the collective was a driver. Slim Jimmy, encountered in Session 2, rode copilot for Van Helsing and never earned a van of his own — he describes himself, a little shamefaced, as never having been a full member. Muktar’s framing for him, “a lesser Van Life,” was accurate enough that Jimmy didn’t argue with it. Membership appears to have been tiered on whether you had wheels under you.

Surviving members have scattered into different lives: some hung onto their vans, others (like Van Helsing) took straight jobs; Slim Jimmy sold his cyberware and now sells rat barbecue in the Switchback; Camper Van Beethoven reportedly “made it” independently and split off, and is now suspected by Van Helsing of secretly working with Rest Easy to keep the arcology-key exploit unpatched.

Known Facts

• Collapsed after a former leader’s failed attempt to exploit a Rest Easy enforcement contract.
• Members are scattered post-collapse (“the diaspora”); some communicate via a nearly-dead message board.
• Neon Drift’s cybernetic interface was provided by Van Life, giving remnants of the group a claim on him.
• The arcology keys behind their downfall resurfaced in Session 1 — apparently supplied to Mara Sato by VYRAL, not recovered by any Van Life remnant.
• Currently “under” Van Morrison in some capacity, per Van Helsing.
• Vans were named, and driver and vehicle names were treated as interchangeable — the convention Neon Drift’s own “Van Buren” nickname follows. Private pet names for one’s own van existed but weren’t shared around: Van Helsing privately called his “Bessie,” which only a few members knew.
• Membership was effectively tiered by vehicle ownership; copilots like Slim Jimmy never counted as full members.
• Kept supply caches at highway rest stops. One of them is an abandoned rest stop a few miles outside REIS Six, which Neon Drift used to hide Mara Sato in Session 3.
• Not everyone left for a straight job. One ex-member, Neon’s “lobster guy,” quit Van Life to live on a boat, and reportedly knows someone who has seen a lobster. Neon declared him as a contact at the end of Session 3.

Relationships

• Rest Easy Interstate Services — destroyed the group after the failed exploitation attempt.
• Neon Drift — raised in the group, formerly its driver; refuses to rejoin.
• Van Morrison — self-appointed current figurehead; holds some form of ongoing leverage over the group.
• Van Helsing — former member, now in a straight job; still in contact with Neon Drift.
• Slim Jimmy — Van Helsing’s former copilot, now in the Switchback; the two haven’t spoken in years. Neon Drift wants to reunite them as a food-truck operation if he can get Van Helsing back on wheels.
• Camper Van Beethoven — former member, suspected of colluding with Rest Easy.
• VYRAL — apparently the actual source of Mara Sato’s arcology keys, not Van Life itself.

Open Questions

• What happened to Neon Drift’s mother, who Neon is still searching for among Van Life’s scattered former members?
• How did VYRAL get hold of the arcology keys in the first place, if not through Van Life?
• Is Camper Van Beethoven actually working with Rest Easy?
• What does it mean, concretely, for Van Life to be “under” Van Morrison?

Appearances

• Session 0 — Backstory established during links/relationships discussion; Neon Drift’s confrontation with Van Morrison recapped.
• Session 1 — The arcology keys behind Van Life’s collapse resurface in Mara Sato’s hands; Van Helsing and Camper Van Beethoven introduced.
• Session 2 — Slim Jimmy introduced; the collective’s membership tiers and van-naming conventions detailed. Neon trades Van Helsing’s flux capacitor for Jimmy’s help.
• Session 3 — An old Van Life rest-stop cache becomes Mara Sato’s safe house. Neon declares an ex-member, his lobster guy, as a contact.