[center][h2]Friday March 26th, 2094, 17:20[/h2][h3]Q&A stream, post-Cape Town[/h3][/center]
[code]Cookiesaurus: what goes through a racers mind when your about to crash?[/code]
[color=#1EFF24]”Our Father, who art in Heaven…”[/color] Bea started seriously before the mask slipped and she cracked up, [color=#1EFF24]”At that point you clench your teeth, pray - if that’s your thing, I just curse like a sailor - and hope for the best.“[/color] She shrugged, [color=#1EFF24]”If you’re driving a wheeled vehicle that has a mechanical link between the wheels and the steering wheel you also let go of the steering wheel so it doesn’t break your hands, that’s why you see drivers cross their arms on their chest in onboards.”[/color] She mimicked the gesture, the same one she did in Cape Town. [color=#1EFF24]”That’s about everything you can do. After a certain point you’re just a passenger.”[/color]

[code]_PsychoFish_: Speaking of praying, are you superstitious/religious at all? Do you have ado you have any pre-race rituals?[/code]
[color=#1EFF24]”No, no rituals, no faith in the almighty.”[/color] Bea shook her head, switching to a more serious tone for this question. [color=#1EFF24]”You see, I think of how things used to be 30, 40 years ago - well within living memory - and then look at how much better things are now, and the thought that regular, average people, maybe people like you, got together around a problem, threw ideas around until they found one they all thought was sound and then put it into practice and solved the problem - or maybe they failed, but they learned something new that allowed someone else to succeed later - is so much more inspiring to me than handwaving it away as the work of some higher power. I believe in myself and people around me, because when we, as humanity, set our minds onto something and all pull in one direction, there is [i]nothing[/i] in this universe we either can’t do or find a viable workaround for.”[/color]

[code]GalwayGirl: Regular or double stuffed Oreos?[/code]
[color=#1EFF24]”Double-stuffed Oreos are [i]mid[/i]. You just like them because you’re addicted to sugar. I’m surprised anyone lets you run a bakery.“[/color] She jabbed her finger at the camera with a wide grin, all trace of seriousness gone again. [color=#1EFF24]”There is a perfect balance between filling and biscuit and regular Oreos are already that, any change is just making them worse and you know this already.”[/color]
[code]GalwayGirl: I am addicted? Who was it who listed a cake as her favourite dish?[/code]
[color=#1EFF24]”That’s something else because…”[/color] Bea held up a finger but stopped mid-sentence, [color=#1EFF24]”That’s a valid point, actually, but look on the bright side: We can be roommates in sugar rehab.”[/color]
[code]GalwayGirl: Bitching! I’ve got bottom bunk.[/code]
[code]Xinny (mod): No way they’d let you two bunk up, that much chaos energy in one room can’t be safe. :D[/code]
[color=#1EFF24]”What are you on about, Xin? Galway and I met three times and nothing exploded.”[/color] Bea asked, chuckling.
[code]GalwayGirl: Nothing they can connect us to. :P[/code]
[code]IronBeer (mod): Careful, your Crossmaglen is showing.[/code]
[center][h3]To be continued…[/h3][/center][hr][center][h2]Sunday April 4th, 2094, 21:28 local
Tokyo, Japan[/h2][h3]The promised party[/h3][/center]
The instructions to get to the party were a bit cryptic, prompting Fred to joke that if she wasn’t at the airport tomorrow, he’d assume she was being held at a Zygon blacksite along with everyone who passed Han in the race. Bea wore a green and black patterned t-shirt, knee high laced boots and a sleeveless cropped jacket. Great thing about prosthetics - they didn’t feel warm or cold if you didn’t want them to.

Although it was suggested as an event to get the drivers together, Bea - unsurprisingly - had a talent for getting distracted. Like at the 2089 County Galway Rally, where she found a baker’s stand staffed by a fan of her age and proceeded to spend the entire service interval chatting with her about food-safe paints and decorating cakes. And what the Hell, they were invited for a reason, right? Which was how she found herself talking to Merlin-fucking-Potter after some time, chatting about what’s new in the snowboarding world, politely dodging sneaky questions about some new product the Arbor Collective was supposed to be debuting next week and answering Merlin’s questions about AG ships by likening their features and their impact on a ship’s handling to snowboard construction.

But there was someone she wanted to speak to, even if it was just a small thing, stupid even, bidding Merlin farewell for now when she noticed Han joining the crowds. [color=#1EFF24]”Done keeping the sofa warm?”[/color] Bea appeared out of the woodwork beside the Korean pilot, close enough for private-ish conversation given the setting. [color=#1EFF24]”Have a few seconds to spare?”[/color] She asked, not waiting for a reply before continuing. That was some damn good Kijoshu they were serving here. [color=#1EFF24]”Our little exchange between the interviews reminded me: Hyeon-Ae.”[/color] She pronounced the name slowly - which with Bea pretty much meant just normal human speed - and still with a slight mistake, whether it was from a genuine struggle with the language or the number of glasses of sweet sake in her shortened system being anyone’s guess. [color=#1EFF24]”Now that I have finally figured out how to pronounce your name without completely butchering it, how about we stop calling each other by our surnames?”[/color]

[hr][center][h2]Monday April 5th, 2094, 10:21 local
Buenos Aires, Argentina[/h2][h3]”The Ranch” (Carrera Condor Formula AG Team headquarters)[/h3][/center]The mood in the meeting room was better than Cape Town. Just like Cape Town, one driver did well, one did not, but at least nobody was in the hospital and neither ship had been turned to carbon confetti, making the mechanics, therefore engineers and therefore Suárez happy.

Bea was trying to temper her outward mood out of respect for Ava, but it was clear to anyone who looked that the British Husky was still riding the high of her first points of the series mixed with high expectations and frankly simply looking forward to the next race for the track alone.

Alonso was also in high spirits, having first seen the driver he was banking on that weekend plummet before the one he wasn’t hoping for much surprised. According to the IT department, a decent percentage of Argentina-based email accounts regularly getting flagged as spam had been silent after Sunday, however briefly.

[color=#D81A1A]”The handling upgrade package is finally ready.”[/color] Ronaldo Suárez started his segment.
[color=#1EFF24]”Great, we won’t have to take Fairmont as a three-point turn.”[/color]
[color=#D81A1A]”You both should find the ship more precise and reactive irrespective of your speed or dirty air.”[/color] Aerodynamic control was a bit finicky. Too slow and greater inputs were required, too turbulent air and it wouldn’t flow over the control surfaces properly. [color=#D81A1A]”Do note that while braking action will remain slightly diminished in turbulent air, slowing down while turning will be easier now since all of your control surfaces are functioning as air brakes, and you will need to get used to applying the same control inputs regardless of your speed.“[/color] He continued, [color=#D81A1A]”Ava, you might find the new controls similar to transorbital flight.”[/color] The old engineer remembered.
[color=#7AFFAD]”It’s been a minute since I’ve last done that.”[/color]
[color=#FFAA00]”And the other projects?”[/color] Alonso inquired.
[color=#D81A1A]”The Alicorn is still running too hot. Although the engine itself fits on the ship’s frame, the Antares interceptor its parent engine was installed on had more room and weight allowance for larger radiators, coolant reservoir and also ran a different coolant FIAR regulations do not allow. This is all further exacerbated with Beatrix’ ship which needs to cool not only the engine, electronics and cockpit, but also the immersion liquid. I cannot give you an estimate at this time.”[/color] He explained, [color=#D81A1A]”Not that I am suggesting blame or fault.”[/color] He quickly added when he noticed a guilty look on the Briton’s face.
[color=#FFAA00]”Moving on, I’d like your opinion on the possible Driver Augment Department partners outlined at the previous board meeting.”[/color] Alonso switched to another topic, one that had been on the forefront of the team for the past few weeks.
[color=#D81A1A]”Out of all the companies presented, Sarif Industries looks like the best option to me. They have experience with military augments so performance shouldn’t be an issue and their R&D division is among the top ten in the industry.”[/color] He explained.
[color=#7AFFAD]”Aren’t they in the shits since Miller started working with Tai Yong Medical?”[/color] Ava asked.
[color=#FFAA00]”Precisely. We would be their life ring.”[/color] León saw where Ronaldo was going. [color=#FFAA00]”In the meantime, we are looking at some prospective candidates to head the department. Several interviews are scheduled for this week, I will need you there as well, Ronaldo.”[/color] Suaréz nodded to Alonso’s words.
[color=#FFAA00]”Flávia, anything from you?”[/color]
[color=#FFD800]”Not in the short term except Bea’s Arbor contract the Wednesday before the race.”[/color] The head of communications reiterated last week’s debriefing.
[color=#D81A1A]”Tecnologia Automotiva Catarinense will most likely want something before the race in Argentina,”[/color] Ronaldo interjected, [color=#D81A1A]”They’re releasing the new generation Forte model the weekend of Brazilian AGP.”[/color]
[color=#FFD800]”I did have an idea. Ronaldo, we have a two-seater version of our earlier ships, don’t we?”[/color] She asked, Suárez nodding. [color=#FFD800]”Italy is too long to do it, but we could bring that chassis with us to Portugal and offer rides to the fans between the support race and the main event.”[/color] She suggested.

[center][h3]León Alonso’s office.[/h3][/center]
With the meetings concluded for the day, León returned to his office to resume actual work. An email from Flávia caught his eye, as she rarely sent him anything, much less with the ‘critical’ label. For a brief moment he thought one of the pilots - Bea likely - may have had too much to drink and said something she shouldn’t have at the pilots’ party, but banished the thought just as quickly as that would’ve been brought up during the debriefing. His eyes widened as he read the words in front of him before grabbing his work phone and dialing Flávia as he almost ran out of the office. The Driver Augment Department would have to wait, no way he was passing up an opportunity like this.

[hr][center][h2]Tuesday April 6th, 2094, 13:09
London, United Kingdom[/h2][h3]207 Old Street, Serata Hall[/h3][/center]The restaurant’s windows were keeping the spring rain in sight but out of mind, the pitter-patter of droplets on glass mixing with the clinking of silverware and conversation. At a corner table for two, deep in the restaurant sat Bea with what looked like an alternate version of her meant for the Pacific market sitting across the table, Evangeline Ward getting some of their mother’s Native Hawaiian genes compared to her younger sister’s straight-laced Britishness. Minus the stereotypical bad teeth.

[color=#1EFF24]”So how are you settling in the company, now that dad got you started on the big stuff?”[/color] Bea looked up from her plate of salad, enviously eying her sister’s pulled pork in honey sauce. Using up cheat days when she knew they were going here was a bad call.
[color=#E100DB]”It’s a lot of work, but it’s exciting, honestly. I’ve been diving into the history on the side, and I’m just reaching the peak of granddad’s era. Dad wasn’t joking when he called him ‘the last British cowboy’.”[/color] Evangeline snickered.
[color=#1EFF24]”Something spicy?”[/color]
[color=#E100DB]”If Maxwell Fitzroy doesn’t like us because dad beat them to plugging a few holes in the market and sometimes steals a good contract from them, I can’t imagine what some of granddad’s competitors must have been feeling. Sure, most companies were trying to sabotage their competition in some ways back then and industrial espionage was your average Tuesday, but the lengths and craftiness granddad went to.”[/color] She shook her head in awe.
[color=#1EFF24]”Should I expect trouble?”[/color] Bea asked in a rare moment of seriousness.
[color=#E100DB]”Oh, no. I haven’t found anything that bad, no assassinations or anything of the sort. As I said, everyone was doing it and it was barely an open secret.”[/color]
[color=#1EFF24]”Glad I’m staying out of that world. Look after yourself, yeah?”[/color]
[color=#E100DB]”Don’t worry, I still have training wheels on, so to speak. It’s you who’s braving an unbeaten path.”[/color] Eva shrugged, the cutthroat methods of Arthur Ward II’s time largely in the past. [color=#E100DB]”But I hear you’re managing well at the top level.”[/color]
[color=#1EFF24]”It’s still early in the season, but it’s working so far and only getting better.”[/color] Bea beamed.
[color=#E100DB]”Well, you have a good slice of the best Aerospace Engineering division in Britain behind you, of course it is.”[/color] Eva smiled back.
[color=#1EFF24]”Oh, speaking of the aerospace division, when do we finally get to meet mister mystery man from dual-mode engine R&D?”[/color] Bea leaned in with a conspirative whisper.
[color=#E100DB]”As soon as you tell me about your Belgian colleague and your definitely-a-work-call.”[/color] Eva played coy.
Bea sighed in resignation. [color=#1EFF24]”Alright…”[/color] She beckoned her sister to lean over, Eva doing so in anticipation of counterblackmail material.
[color=#1EFF24]”There is nothing to talk about.”[/color] The younger Ward said out at normal volume, causing Eva to flinch. [color=#1EFF24]”He wanted my help raising money and awareness for a foundation his mum runs. Making professional sports accessible to people who don’t have a pile of money. It's for her birthday.”[/color]
[color=#E100DB]”I see. Gift for his mum. And then he'll introduce you two at the fundraiser.”[/color] Eva continued to tease as soon as she recovered from the surprise, not at all discouraged by the look she was getting from across the table. [color=#E100DB]”Of course, I don't blame you. Charming, handsome blondie who also likes road cars-”[/color]
[color=#1EFF24]”Apage, Satanas.”[/color] The now slightly red in the face younger Ward commanded in vain.
[color=#E100DB]”And I have seen the Enigma Lux advertisements around the city. Those were some trous-”[/color] She continued until she was interrupted mid-sentence by Bea’s snickering. [color=#E100DB]”What? You saw them too, didn’t you?”[/color]
A nod.
[color=#E100DB]”The eye makeup?”[/color] Evangeline was starting to lose her composure.
Across the table, snickering transitioned into laughing into her hands, soon also joined by the older Ward sister. [color=#1EFF24]”That poor bastard.”[/color]
[color=#E100DB]”If I hadn’t been cured of my childhood dream of being a model already, that would have done it.”[/color]

[hr][center][h2]Friday April 9th, 2094, 14:32
Buenos Aires, Argentina[/h2][h3]”The Ranch” (Carrera Condor Formula AG Team headquarters)[/h3][/center]
[quote][color=#7AFFAD]”Another great afternoon. Sigh. Where's Bea?”[/color] Ava asked, with Rey shrugging his shoulders as they walked through the hyper-modern walkway, heading away from the older historic buildings towards the modern core, including the medical area.
[color=#D474B4]”"We're just trying to figure that out. Ready for your appointment?”[/color]
[/quote]
[center][h3]132 meters South, two floors down.[/h3][/center]
The video opened with Bea’s ship in frame inside the hangar they were stored and maintained in, resting on specially designed struts. [color=#1EFF24]”Welcome to The Ranch, lads and lasses!”[/color] Bea began as she climbed out of the cockpit with practiced ease, clad head to toe in a cleanroom suit and rubber gloves. [color=#1EFF24]”And welcome to another technical breakdown, brought to you by the Carrera Condor Formula AG Team. Today on the slab,”[/color] She leaned against one of the canards, careful to not actually put any weight on it. [color=#1EFF24]”Our new handling upgrades. Yes, they are finally out of the oven and ready for Italy. So let’s get stuck in.
The immediately visible changes are to the control surfaces, and you may wonder why we’ve made them [i]smaller[/i].”[/color] Bea circled slowly around the ship as she spoke, the camera drone following to give the viewer a good view of the external changes, the various control surfaces long and narrow in contrast to the previous design. [color=#1EFF24]”Ideally you want their surface area as large and their front to back profile as small as possible, that way it minimises drag while having a large surface area for the air to act on, but this is just the icing, not the cake itself. We don’t need large control surfaces anymore, so we’ve downsized them as much as we could, FIAR of course mandating a minimum surface area of control surfaces for safety reasons, and since we can’t get rid of them completely we’re using them as airbrakes and as backups if something fails.
So, [i]how[/i] do we steer then, or have we become a drag racing team?”[/color]
She snapped her fingers, the video cutting to Bea now standing in a room with a window into the previous room and with two halves of a spherical casing containing multiple short cylinders on a table next to her, cleanroom suit replaced by a team-branded short sleeved t-shirt and dark blue jeans. She stood in the same pose, finishing the snap.

[color=#1EFF24]”Meet the cake. The Control Moment Gyroscope, or CMG for short. This little gizmo contains several gyroscope pairs mounted coaxially on gimballed mounts and spinning in opposite directions.“[/color] The camera drone panned to one side to bring a touchscreen set up like a whiteboard into view, with two boxes representing a pair of gyroscopes with horizontal arrows - left arrow from the left gyroscope, right arrow from the right one - representing the angular momentum vectors. [color=#1EFF24]”Normally, each pair’s angular momentum vectors cancel each other out, but when we rotate the gyroscopes, we’ll get a new resulting vector.“[/color] She turned both gyroscopes 45 degrees up and used graphical vector addition to create the new one, [color=#1EFF24]”And because the total angular momentum of the craft must remain constant, this action from the gyroscopes creates a reaction - a momentum vector of equal magnitude, but opposite direction.”[/color] She drew the reaction vector. It was a carefully rehearsed part of the video that had to be explained to her by a mechanic beforehand. Despite only having a high school diploma to her name, she even understood most of it as long as the accompanying math wasn’t involved. [color=#1EFF24]”’Uh, Bea? You’re talking about rotation, but this entire time you’re drawing straight arrows.’ Very good point, hypothetical viewer, for this we follow the right-hand rule. Hold your right hand as if you were giving someone a thumbs up…”[/color] She paused for about two seconds, staring directly into the camera. [color=#1EFF24]”...you were expecting a segue here, weren’t you? Well shame on you, you should know better.”[/color] She grinned before continuing, [color=#1EFF24]”Your thumb is the direction of the angular momentum vector, that’s our arrow, while your curled fingers tell you which way it’s rotating.
Now of course this isn’t unique to us, all the ships have this, at least I think nobody uses reaction wheels, but I dare say ours just happens to be the best in the field now. The most common setup is a combination of control surfaces and a small CMG because the CMG is heavy, and our bigger CMG with more gyroscope pairs more so, but doing this our way allows us to steer more quickly and more precisely irrespective of how fast or how much dirty air we’re in. and we have the engine and overall low weight to be able to do this without notable loss of pace.
And that’s it for this breakdown. I’m off to the sim to see how she handles, you have a good day, hug your mother and I’ll see you some other time.”[/color] She blew the camera a kiss before the video cut to the outro screen.

[hr]
[center][url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TrLdbYUu7LJQf9_6F1zblN3WfwvCU8R3W8Xskd8b3vI/edit?usp=sharing]Carrera Condor NPCs[/url][/center]