[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]The Kofi Corner[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]
[center][h2][i][b]Kofi Mensah[/b][/i][/h2][/center]

Signing hats, t-shirts, merch, the crowd was still going crazy for Kofi. The Delta Hyper crew followed, watching on as Kofi interacted. People yelling out, and well, Kofi more than happy to indulge. Cut back to the sofa.

"Why do you think you have such a big following, even in a country that isn't where you're originally from?"

"I've been in the sport for a while, and I suppose, people follow an African because they love the culture. They want to follow their neighbour. We are all like that. For reasons you can imagine at home. So throughout my career, I have done my best. Gone toe to toe with Dorian, Henry, Harrison, Alexander and had a lot to show."

"Do you think you could have done more?"

"That's a very leading question. But I gave it all I could. And I hope I inspired another generation. This is my last season. And with an African team, I'm very happy."

"You talk a lot about Africa, and what it means to you." Aurora asked, cutting to footage of Kofi's name being chanted, as he put his hand on the SuperCat logo, smiling back at the crowd, happy to just be doing fan service, even after over a decade in this game.

"What do you think it means to them?" Kofi replied, his white teeth parting his lips with a big wide grin.

[hr]

The teams had plenty going on at the factory. Filming behind the scenes, catching none of the conversations, none that the teams would allow to be broadcastble, but anything else that was of note, was getting caught. And it displayed the varying fortunes, but no less, the drama, the trials, the tribulations of getting to the top. And the teams wanted to be at that top.

[hr]

[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Talking Ships with Felix Burkhart[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

Felix sat down, on the sofa as an interlude to that section, of the various teams and their inner workings, from meetings to sim sessions, and well, everything else.

He brought up the teeny holographic model in front of him, gently pulling it into hand, and peeling it apart, the holographic display revealing the makeup of an anti-gravity racing ship. Much like Aurora had already done, following the first bit of the script and looking to the camera, adjusting his glasses, past his fading blonde hair.

"Hello. My name is Felix Burkhart. Chief Engineer and Principal Ship Designer at Valkyrie AGR Sport."

"For those at home who don't know what you do, how would you explain your role?" Aurora asked, the German's response one that seemed very....un-German.

"I fulfilled my childhood dream.....I get to design, then build anti-gravity racing ships." A smile cracked across the German's face, with a cackle of laughter, perhaps media not being a usual for him, but well, he was given an opportunity by Valkyrie, and putting it into terms put him out there. Perhaps put his point across to any engineers watching out there.

"Sounds exciting! So, take us through that process. How do you do it?" Aurora asked with her usual enthusiasm, as Felix shrugged, never one for a camera, but then again, making it what he could.

"Well, if you speak to Simon Calder, there's one way to do this. But I focus on another. The craft is a beautiful, if not fragile thing considering it fights gravity. Finding the perfect ratio, of instability to speed, mechanical grip to aerodynamic performance. Every stroke means upgrades, changes, modifications. We never stop but we push the design to its limits. You may have heard lots about Valkyrie. But rest assured. We know what we are doing." Felix added, pulling it in.

"We start with the basics. Strip back the ship completely." Felix added, peeling apart the bottom of it, where the anti-gravity generator sat,.

"This, this is what you define first. A strong, or a weak rake on your generator? Do you want an aggressive ship that barely bounces on the generator, or one that flows to the ground when it goes through undulation? Then, you decide on how to build your ship around it. Your engine unit needs placement, and the thrusters, or what power it, structured around. That affects weight, position, which in turn, reflects on stability. Your drivetrain must be efficient, but also, cooled. You cannot strap a rocket to zis, because you need to turn, and for that, you need every trick of minimising drag when you don't want it, while making it all in the right places when you do." Felix said, pulling over to the wings.

"You find a way to fight gravity with its own forces. And with no ground friction, find your way to make the ship slide through air like a knife. And within the rules, of course. But, you also have the opportunity to find ways to brake faster. Turn faster. Gain, and lose energy quicker. You find ways to make forces work for you, rather than against. And that is where a designer finds pleasure." Felix smiled, knowing this was layman terms, but of course, quantum physics meets engineering was never an easy sell.

"Is that something Valkyrie is working on?" Aurora teased, Felix shrugging. For a German, he seemed cool as hell.

"Well, that would be telling. Trade secret." Felix tapped his nose, and gave a hearty laugh, knowing well, Aurora got plenty from her. She changed the topic, knowing it wouldn't get much more than that. And, well, the episode needed a closer.

"Well. It was a good race, wasn't it? From a designer perspective, anything to add?"

"Very good race. We have more work to do to keep up. But as a fan of the sport....pretty good." The understatement was dry, but man, was it followed by a smirk from the German. 

The highlight reel begins to play. The crash, the overturn. And most of all, the fans, all of whom were over the moon, carrying digital placards for their favourite drivers, from the #rallybrave for Bea to the #NitroNora crowd that went from a dozen to hundreds, and to the others that were watching at home. The podium, and the credits rolling, of the short, small production crew.

"Thanks for joining us on Delta Hyper. We're off to the Land of the Rising Sun in two weeks time. Don't miss it, our pilots are keen. Till then, I've been Aurora Baxter, and see you next time!"

The reel continues, cutting to Nora's excitement on the podium, Ava's concern, Kais's pure frustration, and Dorian's cheering, his smile back even in spite of the worries beforehand, the footage cutting on that.


[hr]

[color=gold][center][h1][i][b]DELTΔ HYPER[/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color]

[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Episode Three: The Neon Bath[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

[hr]

[color=gold][center][h1][i][b]FUTURE?[/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color]

[b]Soundtrack: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJUO_l7vNx4]Hans Zimmer- Lost but Won[/url]
[/b]

Rain, pouring, pouring, pouring away. It seems to not stop.

The camera peels away from the dark, blue-illuminated window gently, to what looks like an artefact of a VHS player being revealed to shot, and a cassette being pushed in. The fuzzy picture renders, as the VHS starts to play, the tape actually still working. An old Toshiba video recorder, hooked into a gigantic holographic display, via some absolute black-magic fuckery that made a SCART somehow work in a wireless display.

[center][img]https://cdn-1.latimages.com/images/mgl/0epw0V/s4_1/1017351573-SUT-19761024-DP+1976+R16Japan+10.jpg[/img][/center]

[b]1976.[/b]

The scream of a McLaren through Fuji, pouring rain, and a puncture. And a poor repair job, but enough for what was needed. Enough to win, against the odds, the bloodied hand of James Hunt up in the air, given the gearknob came out of the shifter, and he was cutting his hand open every time he changed gear, let alone the fact he was sodden wet, on a circuit that was just simply undrivable to anyone with any sense of sanity, or security. But it was victory. Champion of the World, and a bloom of the moment James Hunt beat Niki Lauda, in a rivalry that echoed, shattered through the ages.

And the screen interfered.
[center][img]https://www.autoracing1.com/wp-content/uploads/historic/1989sennaprostsuzuka.jpg[/img][/center]

[b]1989.[/b]

https://youtu.be/WBForKcFWoA?t=65

It's a strange thing. On one side, a white and red car, in Marlboro colours, a McLaren, and on the right, another one, in the same colours, roaring through the Esses of Suzuka, a creation of an F1 circuit that may as well have been passed down by the Gods. Yet history seemed to also be written by them.

What happens is nothing short of bonkers.

Murray Walker commentating, and the shock all around. Prost, Senna, and two people that are going toe to toe, screaming engines deafening, before an almighty crash, Senna pulling away as Prost climbs out and the two team-mates clatter, and then, controversy. Senna having his win taken away from him, cruelly giving the title to Prost, for right or wrong.

Rivalry wasn't always about defiance. It was just pure anger. And Prost and Senna were that.

[center][img]https://www.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01007/f1pa_1007619c.jpg?imwidth=680[/img][/center]

[b]1990.[/b]

The same Grand Prix, refusing to give his line up and creating an almighty crash, to secure his title this time round. Senna takes it. To cement a legacy of a Brazilian F1 driver that seems to echo through the halls of racing history, and a quote that goes with it that narrates that end.

"If you no longer go for a gap that exists, you are no longer a racing driver."

And the screen seems to interfere, fuzzing, again.

[b]2011.[/b]

Suzuka, again, in the pouring rain. And Jules Bianchi's Marussia against a telehandler truck. A moment almost of harrowing reminder, of the dangers, the risks, the by then standards of racing in 2094, the almost gladiator-like hazard that came with it.

A moment nearly as dark as the clouds, and a reminder, a brutal one, that motorsport was highly, highly dangerous. A reality that anyone in F1 would understand, and feel, and believe. Triumph didn't always come, sometimes, it was very much the opposite.

[b]2048.[/b]

The view of Suzuka comes back with the rain back again, the sight of Helena Starcross, the highly advanced F1 car screaming through the start finish, the crowd screaming, watching what shouldn't have happened, happen, a teal blue and orange coloured McLaren wrapped in an iconic Gulf livery, the kind that was timeless once and timeless again. A comeback from 18th, in the pouring rain, the track so damp it may as well resemble a floodzone, but spray soaring into the heavens, and Helen barely grabbing first, through what some might have said was an all time classic drive, leaving Casper Lindstrom in bits, broken, almost in awe yet of what had happened as the camera brought into view on him. 

The first female to take a third title, and cement her name in history. But in a way that more than luck, represented a driver that seemed to be on the edge in every corner, skidding, nearly drifting, almost completely in a flow state. There are moments you watch the footage back and cannot believe how sketchy the car is, but Helen seemed to make it work. "It's a bit rainy out!" And the Manchester-born voice underplaying the entire situation, as rather daftly as you could. Clambering out and passing out immediately after putting her fist in the air, and it turning out she had a heart rate of about 200bpm, and the car itself barely having any tread left at all on the tyres.

And the flicker continuing, revealing last year. Neon glowing, crowds screaming, and the gentle, hum of the streets. And then, the roar of AG craft roaring through, in an upside down section, before flipping back through the Shuto, and Shibuya streets, and five years ago, in the daylight, at Fuji Speedway once again, roaring past the snow-capped stratovolcano.

It cuts again, weirdly.

[center][img]https://global.yamaha-motor.com/showroom/mt/stage/img/index/img09.jpg[/img][/center]

[b]1999.[/b]

[b]Soundtrack: [url=
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKn8UWvEraE]Ridge Racer Type 04 OST- Naked Glow[/url]
[/b]

And instead, we have a Nissan R33, and a Toyota Supra charging down the Shuto Expressway under Tokyo Bay, inbetween cars, in what looks like VHS quality tape, then out on the highways above the city, bombing through empty roads. The soundtrack feels wrong. The dramatic one stops and instead something different is on.

The cars peel through, the camera panning back, revealing Japan in 1999, the neon light. It's practically like a video game, and that's because the next scene is. Gran Turismo comes into view. And Ridge Racer. This is weird. Why are we looking at this? And then a cut out of that. The car scene, the crazy culture of Japanese modifications, and well, bit by bit, as the years go by, it getting even wilder, and weirder, and more than anything, keeping the love. The passion. The joy of it all. And the unbridled, unmatched, rivalry, as various scenes come through. Of racing, the Tokyo skyline, and well, Anti-Gravity racing in both suddenly emerging.

The tech got here slower than it should have, starting in Korea and Europe first, but, when it got here, people went crazy like they did with cars. And well, anti-gravity racing still has that debt to tuners, many of whom worked at Southern Cross, MMR, SuperCat and Nordic Call now. 

And the screen flickers. And reveals now. 

[b]2094. [/b]

The city seemed as if it was on another planet, Japan of course always being about 10 years ahead of the rest of the world, sometimes maybe 40 years, even if they had only just gotten to terms with credit cards over cash now. The advertising was almost all 3D and holographic, the night sky blanked by light pollution, beaming towers of ads, and absolute excess. The roads all magnetic, and virtually the entire place like something out of Blade Runner. There's no tarmac on the Shuto, it's all magnetic track, given nearly everything is anti-gravity here now, but that means it's even faster, and even more effective to use ELS. The track is practically electrified on the raised elements, while the roads through Shibuya are still tarmac, and plated in supplementary magnetism.

And it is raining in the night sky outside.

Konbanwa, Japan.

[hr]

[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]The Others?[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

Back to the format again.

Questions, and the sofa. This time, the pilots were alone, not with their team-mates, and not without their aides to help. And the format once again, was a little the same, but with a teeny difference.

[hr]

"Welcome back Bea. So, we have something a bit different for you today, now we're in Japan! Right in front of you, I've left a tablet." The glass panelled device sat on the table in front of each of the pilots, that were rotating about the sofa at their various points of filming. Imagine a supercut, where one pilot is there, then the next. You're almost seeing it from the show version, but of course, the pilots are seeing it through their eyes.

The scene cut to Hyeon-Ae. They were all being asked the same question, and the pilot changed, even though Aurora's point was the same. Each and every one was getting this same set.

"So, on that tablet, there's a few questions."

Kais came into view, no doubt confused.

"Now you've gotten to know the grid, let's see what you think about them. We have heard you in the press conferences talking about their activities on the track. What do you think about them off it?"

Lastly, Nora came into view, no doubt getting her confusion on. 

"Any questions?"

There were questions. Aurora would let them ask away. But, they'd be ready to go.

"Alright, go!"

The questions popped up.

[b]"Most likely to eat noodles with a fork?"
"Worst at keeping secrets?"
"Best Christmas gift giver?"
"Most fussy eater?"
"Most likely to climb Mount Fuji?"
"Most likely to get speeding tickets?"
"Best drifter?"
"Biggest classic car fan?"
"First to die in a horror film?"
"Most romantic of the pilots on the grid?"
"Which pilot would you most want to be stuck on a desert island with?"[/b]

Once they all completed, with no doubt some grimaces given this format, and some quips back, Aurora smiled as they put the tablet back down, likely wondering what the meaning of all of this was.

"Well. We'll show the audience at home and the other pilots what you said."

You, the viewer, were getting a look at that. Without them realising until most likely, it went to air.

The other pilots hadn't done that. Why? They were getting interviewed...and you could probably guess their question.

[hr]

"Hmm....Japan.....well, I guess the sushi here. I mean the real stuff. Oh my word, it's unbeatable." Amy seemed human as ever on the interviews, with a beaming look, one that seemed so well rehearsed, it almost bled out of natural. 

"Best thing....I mean, Yotei and Hokkaido are beautiful. And in winter. The shredding potential. Yeah, I love that." Harrison replied with the cool as you like, snowsports angle that was always going to come from someone like him.

"Okay, so.....probably the comics here. Seriously. Robot mecha? That got me started into being such a science fiction lover!" Layla chirped, perhaps to the surprise of a few, who probably were now about to start connecting the dots.

"Ooo.....probably just the racing history. Fuji, Suzuka, I always go and visit. So many memories there of legends, Hunt, Prost, Hamilton, Verstappen, Alonso, Starcross..." Dorian replied, with a certain love of his history, even for the gentleman of the grid.

"Hmm, probably won't be liked by the team for this, but the ramen. Japanese Ramen is so, so good. Cured a lot of hangovers...." Cassie laughed, giggling a little in response, knowing yeah, she was getting chewed out.

"Uh, probably the food. Gotta be the food." Max kept it short and sweet, and had no qualms there going to point.

"Food. Katsu curry is incredible. And my wife, she makes an incredible one!" Kofi replied, a hearty response, and as if it was heaping on board. The food and drink were all bundled, so next up....

"Sake. Final answer." Astrid giggled, to the surprise of literally nobody. And a sigh from Aurora.

"The cherry blossom is very beautiful here. I like that a lot." Ava replied with a cold, yet considered thought, knowing questions like these were scraping the bottom here, but it was to the point.

"Hmmm....has anyone said sushi yet?" Henry asked, as Aurora nodded. "Okay, damn, but I had to!" Henry replied, with laughs coming back.

[hr]

[center]
[h1][b]
Round 3 of Formula Anti-Gravity Racing
Friday March 31st, 2094
Post-Practice
Japanese AGP
Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
2100 JST

Hakone Izakaya Bar
[/b]
[/h1]
[/center]

[center][img]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EbiWwLcUYAA07-x?format=jpg&name=large[/img][/center]

[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]The Liquid Lounge[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

[center][h2][i][b]Cassie Neves.....and others[/b][/i][/h2][/center]

[b]Soundtrack: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XTPrbI6O_Y]KiloWatts- Last Hoorah[/url]
[/b]

The music was decidedly something that wouldn't have been out of place from a 2000s Japanese video game, and partly, because it was.

But at the top of the skyscraper, about 90 storeys up above yet in a nest of concrete and glass among other buildings, here it was. The cocktail bar at the top of the drizzly Tokyo sky, the flying craft, AG ships weaving on glass and concrete paths below, hiding the Shuto right at the bottom, now in full flow. The skyline was a neon glow, lit up and making the rain coming in seem even more dramatic.

The bar itself was lit up with green and white, the tell-tell colours of BioCHO, their logo almost like graffiti, but then again, algal-grown biofuel that produced about ten times the potency of unleaded gasoline was a hell of a thing that needed punks to make. You wouldn't know they were funded by what was once Saudi Aramco....

It was a sponsor event, and Cassie was here, as were a fair majority of the pilots. After food before, mostly a mix of Western options, sushi and real wagyu, they had the rooftop bar to themselves, and of course, photographers were out in force, grabbing pictures via drones. The waiters were all wheeled robots in a cute Japanese attempt to imitate a French waiting team, whilst the cocktail bar actually did have a mixologist behind, with her blue and red hair indicating some individuality even at the very top level of her game.

So that meant each team had at least one person, but most had two. Luckily for us, viewers, that meant the entire crew were out.

The cameras followed on Cassie, walking under the field-generated protection that kept the rain out and meant no umbrellas were even needed, rain harmlessly pattering off the bubble-like roof.

"Welcome to the glitz of Formula AG. More parties. More blood transfusions. Though seriously. Sake cocktails do rock." Cassie giggled, as she headed over towards Han, waving her hand to say "come join me", then walking over to where she saw more of them gathered. Harrison and Nora were there, in pairs as per usual.

"So, you finally got a match?" Cassie teased, Harrison at first having it go over his head.

"Oh, you mean like for dating, racing?" Harrison replied, Cassie spitting the remainder of her drink.

"I meant you're actually up against someone!" She giggled, as Harrison sighed, knowing to be better and make introductions.

"You two haven't spoken. Cassie, this is Nora, Nora, Cass. She's a friend of mine."

"Friend? We're on different teams. I'm just here to kick his wee arse sometimes. But yeah, we're good." Cassie added, putting a hand out to Nora.

"What do you drink by the way? I know they're free, but I'm gonna make a run to the bar!"

Astrid popped her head around, as did Bea, Ava and Paul from an earlier conversation, naturally drawn in given their previous video call.

"Ooooo drinks run, get me one too!" Astrid said, Ava giggling, passing her glass of champagne over, Cassie bitter, but taking the extra glass. The robotic waiters were very, very busy, and it was easier to put glasses back, than it was to bother calling at this point. Tech may have been incredible, but it was clear everyone and their plus ones were here, so the pilots were just going to have to push to a human and get their priority.

Cassie went off with that little mission, as Harrison and Ava looked across to Bea.
"I don't think we've met yet. You did well in Cape Town. Till uhh...yeah." Harrison remarked, with a small chuckle, but shaking his head, indicating he knew just how big that hit was.

"I really liked your art. Got outbid one that Highland Cow though...damn, whoever got that got a good deal!" Astrid smirked, looking over, Cassie hoping Han had taken the hint and came over.

Dorian had joined, looking over, raising his glass of white wine.
"That's because I bought it." Dorian smirked, walking across, looking to the small gathering, taking them in.
"It cost lots of N-Euros. But even if I'm funding another team, I simply couldn't resist." Dorian charmingly adressed, as Cassie put hands on hips as she brought back a tray of drinks for everyone as a top-up of what they had before, using the smart-label on each of the glasses to identify what they needed.

"Never took you for an art collector, Dorian?" Cassie replied, looking to her old team-mate, the wound healing a little, but there still being a little separation between the two.

"Sometimes you need your whitewashed walls to be covered in something. It's pride of place." Dorian replied, as Cassie guffawed at it.

"I bet you're a real wine snob too. But that's okay. Family's originally from Douaro so I could tell you about reds, forever....not this cocktail stuff." She shook it about, as Astrid grabbed a glass, from Cassie's tray, looking to the others.

"Well, cheers to alcohol." Astrid chuckled, looking to the others, actually socialising. She was never as active as this, so she was probably three deep by now?

"And having it pumped out of your blood?" Harrison added, Ava shrugging.

"Something like that." 

In the interim, Layla stuck with Kais, on non-alcholics, whilst Amy chatted away to Max and Henry in another part, a few other media personalities, celebrities, and sponsor officials milling around.

[b]
You really could do whatever you liked here. Talk to any pilot, catch up with anyone in particular. A rooftop bar was a hell of a place to be, especially looking out over the cyberpunk-like towering skyline that made up central Tokyo....[/b]