Rory looked incredibly [url=https://images.ps-aws.com/c?url=https%3A%2F%2Fd3cm515ijfiu6w.cloudfront.net%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2023%2F07%2F03161554%2Fmclaren-oscar-piastri-austrian-grand-prix-planet-f1.jpg]sheepish[/url], the look one that had been cut to, sitting by the booth, watching it all unfold on the cameras. He was VERY quickly given a note to explain what was going on, as he had remained silent the entire time. "Uhhh...FIAR forgot to tell them they were shooting Raven 2: Double Vision. We uhhh.....we also forgot. That.....that happened. Yeah. Sorry folks!" [hr] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Emptied the Popcorn[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] The crowd looked on in horror, as the notification popped up on their viewing devices, more than a heavy sigh of relief coming out, as the two actresses clambered back up, one completely deactivating the nanite-enfused mask she'd worn, looking over with a sigh as she got back up, cold as all hell, hoping it was right, and now, her face completely different to the redhead on the other side, not a literal copy but someone back to her own self. They all cheered, as the drones filming also peeled away, the Delta Hyper cam actually realising that well, this was a film. It had happened so damn fast that no real focus had been made, but yes, somebody had fucked up big time. Someone hadn't told someone, and even in an age of VI and monumental piles of scheduling, someone had forgotten to tell someone that this was to be cancelled due to the crash, and reshot later. Instead, it had gone ahead, and well, the kerfuffle had now played out. The director came on in a ship following not too far behind, open-topped, more like a jeep of some sort. "Perfect! Y'all did amazing! We'll fix that last hit in post, but you all hit your marks, and we got what we wanted Perfect work from you there Maddy, and you too, Silvie. Now, we should probably git the hell out of here before we get shouted at. All in one take, that's what we love to see!" The Director's look was one of awkwardness, but well, when you were making art, you were making art. [hr] The director seemed to cooly sit in the chair, the Delta Hyper one of all of them, given how this segment had just played out. Marvin Ellis, two time Oscar award winner, going from writing epic coming of ag stories of growing up in the Sahel during the Water Wars, to the documentary covering the first landings on Phobos, a crime-thriller related to a killer who merged into his victims, and then, what was an adoption of an old Sebastian Klonowski novel from decades ago, the film that lit up two years ago as one of the most action-packed indulgent movies he'd ever shot with a blockbuster budget. The Liberian-born, American raised, superstar producing film-maker aware he was probably gonna get yelled at beyond just the people who saw him recoil genres, but any publicity was GOOD publicity. "Yeah, so we filmed the sequel y'all are begging me for at the Italian AGP. See, in this day and age, you can get an AI generated film, create an entire scratch from just your thoughts and live in it, viscerally. But I'm a fan of the old movies, and doing things...you know, properly. Yeah, I get it, some people want to view it from first person, but I'm a big fan of a classic experience. The emotion, the feeling, sure, you can't be immersed in but you can see it, and it brings the story of them to life." "Wow, and....well, that was unexpected! Marvin, you think you changed the tone of Skye from the original novel, on your second film? And what happens in that scene?" "Well, you know how it is. Authors have one view, but I think I got the spirit right. She's tougher. Done with Rose's....can I swear on this?" Marvin asked, as Aurora shook her head off camera. "Bullcrap, you know what I mean? So, we needed a big action sequence to show she's still got it. Like, she gets hurt, she's outgunned now, but still has her team. Keira is also playing Sam incredibly, I know some people weren't sure about her casting but like you get to see what I mean, she's got this range, she brings her to life." "Amazing. How does this relate to the story generally?" "Well while those who watched got a little spoiler, we'll be releasing the full thing, ready to go, in two months time. Can't say any more. Stay tuned!" "Thanks Marvin. And well, we'll let you see the FIAR on your own terms...." Marvin was very fast off camera, and almost running away, as if to add to the whole drama of the thing. [hr] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]La Dolce Vita[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] "Well, that was an explosive, if not even more intense end to the AGP! What a race. And well, we hope you enjoyed this. From us here at Delta Hyper, thank you ever so much for tuning in, and we'll see you again in Portugal, where we are headed to the first circuit based round of the Formula AGP. Will we see a resurgent Valkyrie or Zygon come back, or are we in for more domination from Silver Apex, Al-Saqr and Southern Cross? We'll see you then!" And with that, Aurora's cut was completed, the footage playing back. [b]Soundtrack: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR2W2scFS4Y]Ludovico Einaudi- Nuvole Bianche[/url] [/b] And from an explosive end, a soft, gentle piano starts to play in, as the edit plays. It's soft, going from ship to ship, following the best scenes of the race. A highlights reel, rolling through the limited crew that made Delta Hyper, but most importantly, each pilot. Each of their looks, in ship, out of ship, the highs, the lows, the fierce look on Astrid's face, the gaze of Kais, the youthful, drilled eyes of Paul, and the cheering of Bea, pulled away from her liquid breathing getup, struggling yet on top of that world, and then, the triumph of Nora. It's a beautiful cut, interspersed with racing footage, and some might say, even if artificially, it feels more cinematic than the actual film that had happened. Harrison's near barelling overtake upside down on MAG stripping inside the glacier past Kais, the leap at Forcella and the crash of Astrid and Han, the vying ships on the hairpins and corners of Dorian and Ava, and well, then everything else that came with watching this type of racing. The music slowly came to a halt, as the scene faded to black. One more scene left though. You could tell there was still runtime left, so no point tuning out yet. [hr] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]The Interview[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] Sitting down, wearing a blank white polo shirt, the German engineer knew there were a million and one questions, and he had barely any to answers to freely give away now. Aurora was getting one hell of a scoop, and behind the camera, her voice asked the one that even he couldn't entirely explain. No Valkyrie affiliation anymore, nothing at all, an engineer that after the race, a few days now past, he could speak a bit more openly. "Felix, thank you for your time. Can we ask, publicly, why did you leave Valkyrie?" "There is not much I can say. Alexander is one of the most stand-up, principled Principals there is. But I wanted something more. And that happened. I want to make it clear, this was a decision made by me, not the team, and I am excited for the next opportunity." "Can you give any flavour as to where you're going?" "I've signed an NDA, so I can't. But, I know that some people would suggest I would be working with Silver Apex, with Simon Calder. That is nonsense. I have a lot of respect for him, but once I reveal where I am going, I hope all will come well. I have said this before, and I say it again. This is an art form, it is to be respected, and I think my next steps will give me something new that I have wanted to try." "That sounds cryptic. Any last words for your team-mates, engineers, and crew?" Aurora's words seemed to hold forever, as Felix looked into camera. "Thank you. I wanted to say it has been an incredible journey. And this was one of the hardest decisions of my life. Harder than dealing with personal, great loss in my life so far. I....I wish them all the best, and whilst we may be rivals, I owe them a great deal. Whoever comes into the role, I hope they understand that too. This is not a job of just numbers. This is a job for those who love it. AG is that. No more, no less. Champions may be made on circuit, but they exist off it, too." On that, the questions stopped, and the scene cut to black. [hr] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]The Exhale Before Sprint[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] In the post race, most teams had packed up. Figured out their game plan for Portugal, and beyond it, Luna. There were some teams that had suffered badly. Some that had lost a ship chassis, others that had lost something even bigger. But no matter what, the wheels kept turning, or rather, the ships kept on flying off the surface of the dirt. It was time to debrief, get ready for the next race, get shipped out to home, and then, in three weeks time, hit the circuit once more. A lot of prep was going into the work to head to Luna during the additional week's break, so this wasn't like most- and most teams had gotten that, thinking through what was to come next. But that would come around even quicker. The weekend was beckoning. And the next story of this championship would unfold then, as Southern Cross returned to Christchurch and to a slowly revamping facility, Valkyrie grappled with a new Chief Engineer, Carrera exhaled hard after a sprint for the ages from the lower midfield, and Zygon licked wounds that the corp had certainly never wanted to feel again. Four races in, and whilst some had made the mistake of thinking Amy Stirling was invincible, the midfield, and others in the pack had made it clear it was nothing predictable.