RANKED 2nd BY VOTERS IN CHARACTER CREATION CONTEST #65!

Larsen Police Departmental Drug Memo 001: XLR8R (aka Light-Speed; In-A-Blur)

XLR8R (“accelerator”) is a drug that gives the user superspeed, and was developed by the criminal XL, who is also a user of the drug. It makes the user think faster which is its chief allure, often being bought by college students. Students often refer to it as In-A-Blur, because it’s an “enabler,” allowing them to think and do things “in a blur.” You may also hear it referred to as Light-Speed, because it makes ordinary speed seem like a downer. Designed to be addictive, addicts will often use their speed to commit crimes. Many addicts committing robberies have accidentally killed their victims by striking them at superspeed while running. If caught, they are charged with manslaughter on the first offense (rather than involuntary manslaughter, since they voluntarily took the drug) and murder on subsequent offenses.

Not working the same as superspeed gained through other means, XLR8R accelerates the body’s metabolism, burning away fat at first, which is another reason that people get into the drug. Unfortunately, with its addictive properties, most go too far, and the drug starts metabolizing muscle too. Many addicts die from this, overusing the drug to the point of their bodies metabolizing everything it can until they die from massive cardiac failure; their bodies shriveled to the bones. Addicts who die like this, or who are clearly headed that way, are commonly referred to as a “jerky,” rather than “junkie,” and are said to be “overR8ed” (“overrated”). They are also called Suicide Runners, since the super speed most often leads to their death.

“OverR8,” “overR8ting” and “overR8ed” have become slang terms associated with the use of XLR8R. Also, in association with “jerky,” users are also vulgarly referred to as “jerking off.” i.e. “Man, that guy jerked himself off a long time ago.” A more accepted way of saying this is, “He overR8ed a long time ago.” When dealing with the public, please use the “overR8ed” version.

XLR8R, although often fatal, is not as terminal as LMN8 which causes most users to spontaneously combust. Users with the strength of will to use the drug in moderation are often perceived as very smart as they tend to use the drug to enhance their brainpower. However, they tend to not be able to sit still, and often talk rapidly like a person with too much caffeine in their system. Talking at superspeed is a dead giveaway, and people trying to do an intervention for a user often have to shoot them with several tranquilizers to slow them down enough to talk to them. Some users can find the right balance of using the drug and not, to give themselves superspeed for a purpose. One of these is the drug’s designer, XL, but it’s likely that he’ll overR8 at some point.

In conjunction with Fast Company, super speed harnesses are being developed for first responders to help combat this problem. Known as F.R.E.S.H., short for the First Responder Emergency Speed Harness, it will allow first responders to match speed with those under the influence of XLR8R. The harness has been tested in the field for some time now by the Fast Company sponsored superheroine Redline. For this reason, F.R.E.S.H. is also known as the Redline System. When we have a release date for this harness, an announcement will be made via press conference.

Story and characters owned by Chris Bishop, copyright 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.

Thanks for stopping in! :^D

The Origins Behind the Origins (or how some of these characters got their names):

I thought of this based on "redlining" a car when you speed; going into the red area on the fast side of the speedometer. I wanted this character to be a speedster, but since I was basing the name on something mechanical, I decided to make them a speedster via an armored suit. They're called "Redline" because the red helmet of the suit leaves a red line in the speed blur left behind when they run. The rest of the armor is black.

Not very long after coming up with this character, there was a Dark Horse card series released called Creators Universe. Although I've never seen the characters in comics, they were supposed to eventually show up, and it's completely possible I missed them. One of the characters in the card series was named "Redline," and the look I had in mind for my Redline kind of showed up on "The Silencer," with maybe a little mix of a third character named "Maxim." For this reason, I had the second name "RPM" held aside for this character. It doesn't quite work for me, but it's something.

I once gave a coworker permission to use Redline for a college film. He freakin' nailed the look I had in mind, and I got a cameo in the film. I played a cop that had to point a gun and yell, "Freeze! Police!" I couldn't stop laughing, and it took thirty-some takes. I moved out of state soon after, and I never got to see the finished film. I also have been unable to find the former coworker, so it may remain unviewed. Ah, well. At least I can say one of my characters was brought to life on film. :)

EDIT: I found the former coworker- Bobby Mease, AKA Bobbi Firestix (that's his self-portrait above). Firepix, his movie brand, did put out the college film in 2004, and I finally got a copy! Check out Redline if you are so inclined. :^D

Thanks for reading. :^D

How fast are we talking, roughly? Speed of sound, Mach 3, actual light speed?

@batkevin74 said:

You know, I hadn't really given that much thought. I've given it some, but not much. On the one hand, I'd kind of like to tone it down from Flash levels, and just say something like 20 times the average human running speed. Google says that's 28mph max, so that'd be 560mph (or 901.233kph [thanks again, Google]). That seems more than fast enough, and it's a couple hundred below Mach 1, so characters aren't blowing out windows and stuff.

On the other hand, eventually you want your speedster to run on water, up a building, or to use a lightning bolt as a staircase or whatever. So why put a limit on it?

However, for the pill there should probably be a limit, so the 560 seems good. Not all of my speedsters are on XLR8R. Some of them were born with their power. Those rules can be substantially different. :)

Y'know, actually, with first responders having speed armor that allows them to run as fast as XLR8R users, it should probably be cut to just over 200mph. 200mph is around the upper limit of NASCAR racecars, so 10 times the average human speed- 280mph- would probably be fine. That way the suits could keep up, and we know that humans can function in machines moving that fast. I'm probably going to have to work something into the FRESH armors that allow the wearers to run without metabolizing their muscles to nothing. Something like a non-addictive form of XLR8R (which XL probably has for himself) and a protein/saline solution fed to the body while using the suit. I don't know- something science-y (or...y'know...comic book science-y) to explain why the suits don't kill them. :)