Although Rema's passion is strong, Mevalo appeared unphased. She found an unlikely ally in Claudia however, but she simply didn't understand this was a matter of honor as well and not just racing skill.

"Why would you not consider style valid? Do you really want boring, uninteresting racers who take their time and carefully scoot by their betters? Nonsense. You want to see the best and for them to perform the best, that is if you are a real race with real prestige. Aren't you?"

Rema challenged right back with crossed arms, and would then nod over to Claudia.

"I like your fighting spirit. You seem to be the only one here with one who wants to actually win. These losers don't even know how to win, even when it's handed over to them."

Another hard glare to Aurora. Romans were not famous for their respect and sportsmanship it appeared.

"Don't call me Remy. Or you will eat my blade and I will rip it out your stomach with my bare hands. Nice to meet you."

Violence and friendliness are hand in hand with Rema. Speaking of hands she gave Claudia a hard handshake that felt it would tear her arm off with her brute android strength.

It was important to show she'd be willing to cooperate for her preferred type of racer. A move all the crowd would appreciate all the more. Gladiators too, often worked in teams.

Caught between implicit and explicit threats of violence, Claudia perked up as the familiarity of her situation put her at ease. Mavelo may not be law enforement, but they were the only authority that meant a damn when it came to their own races, which put the Pirate and the Gladiator in the role of barely tolerated outlaws.

"Really, Wave, do we need to spell it out for you? You need to award points for style because it'll make the races that much more dangerous. Look at what that bonehead did, blowing up the track, yet in doing so he forced everyone to react in shocking ways. If crossing the line was our only care, we'd be boringly practical, but the racer going for style will be a reckless hellion risking life and limb for glory."

"And I think Rema can tell you a gladiator's glory reflects upon the house of their sponsor and the arena they grace." Claudia flipped her hair back over her shoulder carelessly, her saucy smirk favoring the drone before a harsh handshake threatened to disarm the non-augmented pilot. "Hey there, don't go breaking anything before the race starts! We aren't gonna get a trophy from hobbling each other off the track!"

She laughed, forcing good humor into her voice as she ignored their corporate overlord and endured the wrenching pain of Rema trying to pry her arm free of her body. It passed with a few shakes and Claudia rested her hand on her holstered pistol to hide it's lingering pains. "Come on, we're gonna be taking home the crown regardless of Mavelo growing a brain, so let's unwind till they've gotten their track ready for our afterburners to smoke it."

Gin Silti

The young Slizorian was head deep into the engine of his Ark Gear, Stinger-Six. The green skinned alien was covered in black gunk as he flushed out of the vehicle’s engine. Like he had made clear, he wanted to fully go over his Ark Rider before his debut race. Fortunately, besides the backup of engine gunk, Stinger-Six was in good working condition. That made Gin feel good as he pulled his head out of the engine.

The lizard boy grabbed a nearby rag and began to wipe the gunk off his face. Unfortunately, the gunk was extra thick, the rag doing little to pick it up. Frustrated, Gin threw the cloth away. He figured he probably needed a shower. But before he could see if there was a shower near the stadium, a camera drone entered the garage, flying directly in front of Gin.

On top of the drone was a hologram of a man, who began to speak, “Gin Silti. The young Slizorian underdog. We missed you in the last race, what happened?”

“Well,” Gin paused, deciding to not talk trash about Gaelok Industries, “We had some issues with my Ark Gear. But every-”

He was cut off by the hologram, “So you’re saying there is something wrong with your Ark Gear? Will you be able to do the next race, or will you blow up in the middle?”

“Ummm, what? Is that a real question? Of course I won’t blow up. Stinger-Six is fine,” Gin said while being a little flustered.

“Then why are you covered in engine fluid? Is there something wrong with your engine? Can the public expect to see Stinger-Six to go up in flames?”

“Are you serious? Are you even a real reporter? What station are you with?”

“Of course I’m a real reporter. I’m Chester Klines with Mevalo True News Now, or MTNN to our fans. Number one in Mevalo city.”

“Well I haven’t heard of you guys,” Gin stated, “Now if you would please let me get ready for the race.”

Gin pushed the drone away as he began to exit the garage. The machine tried to follow him as Chester began to ask another question, but they were blocked by a small group of Gaelok Industries technicians. Gin was glad for that as he left the garage.

“Damn reporters,” Gin hissed.

Pulling out his comm pad, he messaged his manager Jim Valerian if there was anyway to have a shower at the stadium. While Gin was very excited about the race, he was less excited at the prospect of doing it while covered in engine fluid.

“Oh, yes, right, sorry for taking your time away!”, Aurora awkwardly smiled and scratched the back of her head in a clumsy attempt to apologize after realizing that in fact instead of talking at this current moment of time they should instead be ready for the next race - and that included Aurora herself.

She looked over her bolide - damages brought to Spike were not crucial to put it out of commission, but Skull Rider’s mines and other obstacles on the first track brought some damages to the machine that needed to be fixed as soon as possible in order to perform in the next race. Though, that aside, the cheerful android was quite happy with how her bolide performed in this race. The engine worked stunningly fitting for the race course, but on the other hand, it made Aurora to ponder over other possible ways to put it into use - she felt that the future race tracks might prove the bolide’s main gimmick too limited.

But it was no time to think about it right now. Making a mental note to think about it later, when the bigger break is to to be had after the first day of the races, Aurora climbed up Spike once again and giving one more wave to Lidia she took off to settle down for the fixes she needed to apply to her machine.

“See ya all again on the traaaaack-!”, she yelled to every single person indulged in the race a she drove past them - that included Rema and Clauida of course, no matter how they felt about the energetic android.

“Hmm….” It was rare for Ark Riders to actually talk sense and make equal more of it too. But on those rare such occasions they were known to sway the billing boards in their favor, and not all the time in fairness of sportsmanship. Wave nodded to herself in this rumination, though it was doubtful either Claudia or Rema saw the action; she forgot if her screen was on or not. The prospect of more entertaining stunts and displays in the race piqued her interest.

But it wasn’t until Claudia made her piece that truly got Wave to thinking. More danger inevitably created more convoluted situations for the Ark Riders to work through and that resulted in bigger booms for the crowd. Sure, this was a blatant attempt to gain more points in what Wave would usually find as unworthing of her time to negotiate, but the duo did make valuable points that saw her overlook this groveling. “Wait here,” she flatly told them both.

The sound of her mic cutting off echoed in the drone and for a minute or so the two were given radio silence. More than likely, Wave was negotiating with the Mevalo higher ups themselves and perhaps even the mysterious new sponsor for this year’s grand prix. Either way they wouldn’t have to wait long before Wave’s voice cut back in. “Alright, you two make some good points so we’re changing the templates of how races work from here on out,” said Wave. There was a clear sneer in her voice and a curl in her lips as if she was smirking.

“You’ll be given the same number of points as Aurora for displaying exceptional racing prowess, Rema, making you tied for first. As for you redhead, you’ll get a pity point for being this Roman’s wingman. Figure out where that places you in the ranking. We’ll be keeping an eye on the races more thoroughly from now on. Good luck you two~” Wave’s voice was ominous and the feed snapped away with that lasting remark. The drone circled one more time around the newfound “friends” before floating off to catch other footage. Unbeknownst to them, Wave was just informed of Gin’s happy interactions with the Mevalo media and found it no less amusing.

Oh, there would be more of that to come but for now she heeded off the drone hounds to leave Gin be. After all, the next race was about to begin. Murmurs and whispers of what the next track could be passed through the audience like an electric buzz. Some thought it’d be a frigid ice track meant to test the Ark Rider’s stability and handling of their machines while others insisted it’d be a dense, humid jungle of undergrowth filled with twists and turns. No shortage of the imagination was impossible under Mevalo’s banner and it wouldn’t be long before Wave’s voice announced, “Ark Riders, you have ten minutes to head back to the tracks and prepare for the next race!”

---

Time for entertainment was short. Lydia didn't care if Wave's drones followed her to the place she was going, but they would have to pay extra to broadcast a slice of her private affairs to the general public.

However, what kinds of entertainment Lydia enjoyed while not racing was a matter for another time. Right now, it seemed the hour was about to run by, and the next race about to begin.

When she came back to the course, Lydia had a confident grin on her lips. She waved at the public as she got into her ship, filling her fans with confidence that this time, the result would be different. An ace racer like Lydia wouldn't fail to score a good position twice in a row.

---

Time passed by much faster than it should’ve been; but it was surely no surprise as Aurora for that whole hour was quite invested and busy into fixing her bolide back in shape, making sure to repair the most crucial damages done to Spike, while more cosmetic and less important pieces like the body of paint (which frankly was a mix of paint and dirt at this point), she quickly patched up with some quick plasters of adhesive tape.

“Blue electric tape! Always a winner!”, she said to herself, not paying much attention at the moment to the fact that bright sea blue color on the dusty yellow looked rather alien, but it did bring some hand-made and post-apocalyptic feel to how Spike looked; which in a sum of everything probably gave Aurora some bonuses in terms of how she appeared before the crowd and how her potential fans would perceive her: a road warrior. No matter the fact that she was in fact an ex-coffee machine.

“Speaking of coffee..!”, she cheered to herself as she approached a coffee machine in the repair shop and ordered herself a cup. An AI and the android made a little chat about the coffee and ingredients, before Aurora heard the announcement.

“Don’t get too stuck with the coffee only! You too can become a racer one day! You just have to belieeeveeee!”, she said to the coffee AI as she went back to Spike. It was not clear if the coffee machine was ready to follow her advice just yet. Aurora though had enough faith in herself and Spike; but more than anything else she had most of her faith put into speed itself.