[center][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/b3RmLjE3OC5mMTk5MGEuUzJGcGN5QmFaVzVwZUEuMA/creattion-demo.regular.webp[/img]
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[b]Kais Zenix @ASZenix[/b]:
[i]"☄️💫 Layla and I are bringing our S-game, ready to hit Cape Town and show you how The Falcons fly! ☄️💫
#AlSaqrRacing #DeltaHyper #FormulaAG #CapeTownAGP #LetsGO"[/i][/center]
[hr][color=gold][center][h1][i][b]DELTΔ HYPER[/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color][color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Episode 2: Hunting Apex[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]
[hr][center][h2]Saturday March 18th, 2094
Cape Town, South Africa[/h2][/center]
The views of Cape Town were something else. Glittering spires of glass and greenery amidst the managed wilderness of the mountain range and the Atlantic coastline. It was a testament to the tenacity of the human spirit. To not dwell on the darker times of history, but to make it [i]grow[/i] instead. And grow it had: even the once-threatened Fynbos had made a comeback to give extra color to the environment, and the holograms in celebration of the race, of the animals extinct-no-more, made the event a true spectacle. If only Kais had the time to appreciate it all through the blur of speed. His qualification lap had just ended, and as he glided into the pit for checkups and took off his helmet, he shared his thoughts with the crew.

[b][color=f7941d]“Bias the glare auto-filters more towards .7 when we get out from under Table Mountain’s shadow. Sun’s killing out there.”[/color][/b]

[b]“Yeah, we hadn’t noticed,”[/b] the young mechanic said as he rolled up the disembarking steps, sweating buckets. And bullets too when Kais shot him a glare against which the mechanic had, so to say, no auto-filters to match. [b]“I mean… Copy that… sir?”[/b]

[b][color=f7941d]“Hmm… Everything else seems okay enough. Speed’s solid, energy system's solid, no signs of overheating. But handling in the vertical is still easier than the horizontal.”[/color][/b]

[b]“Well, the ship [i]is[/i] made to be maximally forward-driving, it’s basically a brick-shaped drive array, and that just lends itself more to vertical handling than horizontal. Should work well enough for this track.”[/b] The mechanic started to turn back to his duties before he seemed to remember something else: [b]“...and ‘okay [i]enough[/i]’? The two of you have ended in P4 and 6!”[/b]

[b][color=f7941d]“You heard me.”[/color][/b]

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[color=gold][center][h3][i][b]At the Interview[/b][/i][/h3][/center][/color]
[quote]Well, that was quite something from both of you, Layla and Kais! You must be excited for the race tomorrow and look to take a solid point haul, what with the huge speed advantage you seem to have on the rest of the midfield?[/quote]
[b][color=f7941d]“Indeed, Aurora, the engineers have worked their [/color][u][[color=ff0000]CENSORED[/color]][/u][color=f7941d] off to make our ships fly fast. Now it’s up to us to do what we do best and make them fly [i]hard[/i].”[/color][/b]

[quote]Well, it sounds like last time out, you both had your sights locked on Nora and Harrison. Have you got any words for the Southern Cross pair?[/quote]
[b][color=f7941d]“Hmm… Southern Cross had a strong run, but so did we. I’d wish them luck, but words are cheap. Let our racing tomorrow do the talking. And if Nora and Harrison get in the way? Well, we’ll make certain they know we’re coming.”[/color][/b]

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[color=gold][center][h3][i][b]Al-Saqr Garage: Strategy Meeting[/b][/i][/h3][/center][/color]
[b][color=7e7778]“Man, this brings back memories…”[/color][/b] Omar said as he watched Yasif, Al-Saqr’s lead simulation analyst, pull up graphs and simulated race visualizations. [b][color=7e7778]“One of my first jobs with Al-Saqr -waaay back when- was in financial analysis, actually. The green lines were my favorite.”[/color][/b]

[b][color=f7941d]“Fascinating…”[/color][/b]

[b][color=bc8dbf]“Hear that? Next thing you know you’ll be Team Principal.”[/color][/b] Layla said. Yasif nearly choked on his coffee. [b]“Oh believe me that’s not my ambition, not even in 15 years I don’t think I’ll be ready. I’ve heard dealing with the military contacts alone is a real hassle.”[/b] [b][color=7e7778]“Oh, you have no idea.”[/color][/b] Omar said as he winked at Kais. He didn’t wink back.

[b]“Ah, there! See this?”[/b] Yasif nearly jumped out of his seat to point at one of the lines that had appeared on-screen. The trio looked over his shoulder. It would’ve been almost uncomfortable, if the guy wasn’t positively giddy about an insight they’d had. Al-Saqr had a team devoted to gathering as much data from races that they could, from drone footage and video feeds to internal metrics, and wrangling it all into a digital representation the best they could. Then they would use it to create profiles on the racers, and extrapolate how they might race future tracks. There was more uncertainty than certainty, of course: they couldn’t predict opposing ships’ upgrades before the fact, and reducing people to a set of model parameters was [i]more[/i] than a fool’s errand, but if the talks during their way-past-9-to-5 ‘fun-and-[i]mezze[/i]-nights’ were any indication, it made for interesting speculations at the very least. [b]“Nora likes racing aggressively. Boom, see there? Dives straight into the apex. And the majority of simulations of the Lion’s Head say she might do the same with the vertical apex there. Fast over, then straight down. [i]*swoosh*[/i] That’s exactly where you might find space for the [i]M-Strike[/i]. Gonna be tricky, though. Pull back too late, and Kais [i]The Meteor[/i] might go down in history as The Meteo[i]rite[/i] instead.”[/b]

[b][color=bc8dbf]“You know she’s going to try to counter us, Kais,”[/color][/b] Layla pitched in, her face betraying a hint of doubt about the whole thing. [b][color=bc8dbf]“Especially when you give the mags some slack in that maneuver. I worry she’s got some tricks from the Underground up her sleeve.”[/color][/b]

[b][color=f7941d]“Well, there’s your problem.”[/color][/b] Kais said. [b][color=f7941d]“I never worry when I’m racing.”[/color][/b]

[b][color=bc8dbf]“I know, that’s why I’m saying it [i]now[/i],”[/color][/b] Layla bit back. [b][color=bc8dbf]“Don’t push your luck too much in the descents. There are plenty of other options for overtakes. And if we work together, we have a real chance to push our way into the top 3 here.”[/color][/b]

[b][color=f7941d]“We, or just you?”[/color][/b] Kais asked. He wasn’t oblivious to the implication hidden in her words: keep Nora engaged as [i]I[/i] fly past you [i]both[/i].

[b][color=7e7778]“Be nice.”[/color][/b] Omar chimed in. [b][color=7e7778]“Anything could happen tomorrow. And a good result for either of you is good for the team. For now, just focus on punching it on the straights and climbs, play to our strengths until the wizards at engineering finish their upgrades. I’ll have the radio guys keep you updated during the race on what the telemetry and behavioral analyses say. We’ll see what we can afford then. Well done, Yasif.”[/color][/b] And with a collegial slap on Yasif’s shoulder, he turned to check-up on the next team.

[b]“Thank you, sir.”[/b] Yasif returned. Hesitantly he looked at Kais, who decided not to slap him [i]quite[/i] yet, before he turned and walked away.

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[color=gold][center][h3][i][b]At the Cafeteria[/b][/i][/h3][/center][/color]
Kais was pacing around the team cafeteria, slurping up his dinner through a straw when Layla spotted him and decided to join him. [b][color=bc8dbf]“You know, you could try eating more than just those nutrition packs every now and then.”[/color][/b]

[b][color=f7941d]“Easier this way.”[/color][/b] Kais shrugged. [b][color=f7941d]“And I like the strawberry ones.”[/color][/b]

[b][color=bc8dbf]“Remind me to organize a team event with some actual cooking someday.”[/color][/b] Layla responded. [b][color=bc8dbf]“Speaking of organization, why’d you leave Nadia back at HQ?”[/color][/b]

[b][color=f7941d]“Not my call. Omar said she asked for more time to work with Tewe and engineering… Besides, she’s been avoiding me lately.”[/color][/b]

[b][color=bc8dbf]“That so?”[/color][/b] Layla raised an eyebrow. [b][color=bc8dbf]“Must’ve been your handsome smile. It can be intimidating, you know.”[/color][/b]

[b][color=f7941d]“Must’ve been your humor. It’s not that funny.”[/color][/b]

[b][color=bc8dbf]“Must’ve been your stellar sense of team-spirit.”[/color][/b]

[b][color=f7941d]“Hmm… You done? Aired everything?”[/color][/b]

[b][color=bc8dbf]“Oh, let me get my list.”[/color][/b]

[b][color=f7941d]“Let’s not. I can already guess what’d be your number 1 anyway: that I don’t just [i]let[/i] you be [i]our[/i] number 1 by default.”[/color][/b]

Layla smiled like she was caught with her hand in the cookie jar. [b][color=bc8dbf]“Alright, alright, fair, fair. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see what strat the boss chooses tomorrow. In the meantime…”[/color][/b]

[b][color=f7941d]“Punch it on the straights and climbs…”[/color][/b] Kais finished the sentence with a small smirk.

As Layla went on to grab her own dinner, Kais turned, but seemed to be in two minds about walking away this time. He turned toward her again. [b][color=f7941d]“One more thing. About Nadia.”[/color][/b]

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[center][b]Message Log: Nadia (Intern)[/b][/center]
[b]Kais[/b]:
[color=f7941d][i]“Be glad you’re not here now. I think I’ve seen some of the crew actually melting out there.”
“The energy systems you worked on with engineering's working a treat. I might very well be the coolest of the bunch during the race.”[/i][/color]
[right][b]Nadia[/b]:
[i][color=7ea7d8]“Thanks. I’ll pass on the compliment. The boys will be happy to hear that :)”[/color][/i][/right]
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[center][b]Message Log: YALLAAAAA[/b][/center]
[b]Nadia[/b]:
[i][color=7ea7d8]“Did you put Kais up to this?”[/color][/i]
[right][b]Layla[/b]:
[color=bc8dbf][i]“I have no idea what you’re talking about[/i] 😇[i]”[/i][/color][/right]
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