Hyeon-Ae breezed through the office landscape with an air of untouchable superiority, clearing out suits and menial workers from her path by her indomitable stride. A more self-conscious or guilty pilot might have been inundated under the nosy gazes of countless murmuring middle-managers, but Hyeon-Ae returned to headquarters with her chin held high. Her armor was an unbreakable - recharged - confidence, and an air of contempt that made her hard to challenge unless you were ready to lose something in return. She dominated the halls of Zygon by sheer presence, and beelined for the boardroom to which she had been summoned with a soundless fury - or at least that's what her expression suggested. In truth, Hyeon-Ae was calm as ever, but recognized the importance of shielding her emotional state, or sparking rumors by appearing relaxed after Tokyo´s defeat. No doubt upper management would find idle acceptance just as aggravating as failure.

She paused outside the occluded glass of the boardroom, and checked the time on her smart-watch. Two minutes early. Too eager? No, it was within parameters. Steeling herself with a subtle shrug of her shoulders, she swiped her hand in front of the door and it swished open elegantly. As soon as the tempered glass parted, the voices inside grew audible, notifying her that Jinwoo and Yijin were already present. Arguing. Fortunate for them that the glass panes were built to contain this noise, or the culture here would eat them up for this. Cassie had declined to be present yesterday by sending Han a response to her invitation with a silly cat picture that said .

Whatever senseless argument the lead engineer and team principal Jinwoo had had ended when Hyeon-Ae made her presence known by entering. Jinwoo immediately put on a brisk, forced smile. The clumsiness of his attempt to pretend like everything was fine was irritating at best. “Hyeon-Ae ssi! You made it. We were worried you´d be stuck in the simulator and medical adjustment until this afternoon.” He gave quickly, an offering to appease her feigned fury. Zhou Yijin merely looked her way before going back to the tech-pad in his hands. Hyeon-Ae gave a brief, thin smile in recognition of her alleged boss´ greeting, and moved to sit down with the same imperious force as she´d used to travel to the meeting. Her interruption was enough to leave Jinwoo bemused, and neither of the two other present parties saw fit to restart whatever they'd been discussing.

It took only a few minutes for the last involved parties to arrive. Sanbeng, ever stressed, ever sweating, hurried inside and sat down beside Hyeon-Ae after loudly greeting everyone and apologizing for his (thirty second) tardiness. He exchanged a glance with Hyeon-Ae as he sat down, and that seemed to be enough for him to register what mood and combativeness the two should have today. Having been with her for this long, one thing he was good at was understanding her cues, after all. About two minutes later, the doors swished open again, giving way to the aides that had flanked Park Iseul last time, though the princess heir herself had apparently decided not to make an appearance - presumably either finding one visit enough to make her presence known, or suitably pleased with last time´s meeting to have gotten what information she needed. Now they were back to getting their marching orders from above from this snooty and haughty man, who wasted no time in smiling obsequiously at everyone as he entered and sat down. Flanked by a mousy notary who didn't dare look at anyone, everyone was finally assembled and sitting.

“Thank you all for coming today,” the aide began, thoroughly undercutting the Team Principal by taking charge of the meeting.

The early assault did not go unnoticed. Jinwoo smiled hurriedly and swiveled in his seat. “Yes, thank you for attending. Since we are all fighting with tight scheduling this week, how about we hear from Lead Engineer Zhou regarding last meetings´ discussion?”

The engineer glanced up from his techpad, frowning as he swiftly realized he´d have to go first. “Yes, well. We´ve been getting the datasets and initial integration specs for the upgrades to the engine. Hanwha has been sending over geeks to make sure we sift the data properly. It's looking real good. CTO gave the go-ahead Monday, and we´re due final integration with time for proper tests before Italy. No issues so far. Whatever you guys cooked up with their dealmakers, Hanwha is really keen on helping get the engine in tip-top shape.”

“That is wonderful to hear,” Jinwoo offered as if to install a cushion for whatever would follow in this conversation. Zhou nodded in turn and turned back to his techpad.

The aide, however, did not match their eagerness to be pleased. The smile he exhibited was more like that of a hyena circling prey. “Ah, yes. We should be thankful to Ms. Park and her father for managing to put together such a brilliant deal on such short notice. Now, I believe that Ms. Park signaled clearly last time that these upgrades were contingent on the certainty of a positive result in Tokyo.”

“Now hold on-” Jinwoo attempted, but was immediately cut off by the confident aide continuing on without pause.

“In their wisdom the Parks have seen fit to go ahead with the deal with Hanwha now that other alternatives are delayed beyond possibility. However, everyone in this room seemed to appeal to Ms. Park that the initially proposed alterations would not be necessary - that Tokyo was doable without them. Believing this conviction in the team appears to have been a miscalculation on our part.” He spoke with practiced venom, staring down Jinwoo, and briefly scanning over Hyeon-Ae as well. Hyeon-Ae knew this would happen. Tokyo was a defeat in more ways than one. She had exerted authority and the powers that be were not impressed.
Jinwoo was stopping short of wringing the documents in his hands into a fine paste, doing his best to keep his old face neutral and appearing humble in the face of criticism. It wasn´t going well. “We are working with what we have,” he explained with contained fury. “Given the high variance in results in that race, and the dueling that took place on the track, it´s a small wonder we got points at all.”

“Oh, are you saying you do not have confidence in our machine and pilots?” the aide retorted smugly, pushing up his glasses where they rested on his nose. The high-powered lights in the room shone ominously in the lenses.

“I do not think it´s a secret that there are clear issues to work on with the craft. That´s why we are here, no?” Jinwoo blustered with growing anger. Hyeon-Ae sighed ever so slightly, drawing Sanbeng´s attention beside her as the only one who heard it. It was a little frustrating to watch her Team Principal walk so clearly into every landmine.

“Well then, since you are certain of what our issues are going forward, I yield the floor to you for proposals, Jinwoo nim.” the aide proffered politely.

The words caught Jinwoo a little off-guard, and he cleared his throat and began rustling through his papers to look for his notes. “Well-... I´ve been studying our performance both in Tokyo and long-term, and handling for the craft remains one of the chief concerns. Given that, I forwarded a proposal on Sunday for a solution that would definitely improve handling for our pilots. Given the time to alter the machine, I think it would be much more responsive to the pilots.”

Eyes turned to Lead Engineer Zhou, and from Zhou´s expression alone it rapidly became clear to Hyeon-Ae that this proposal must have been what they were animatedly talking about when she entered previously. “The proposal itself will do what the Team Principal says,” Zhou admitted with curt tone. “The issue is that the Team Principal came up with this solution by tinkering with datapoints on machine performance. He did not consider the stresses it would put on the already frail joints, nor the sheer amount of work it would take to strip two separate polarity casings and tinker with the solder-work on the drive-system. We´re looking at sometime in June, at best, unless we want to send them out on the track with risks of not starting, or coming apart at the seams.”

Brutal. The silence that followed said it all. By the aides´ expression, he knew all this already. And Zhou had been trying to talk Jinwoo out of even suggesting it. That was the conclusion Hyeon-Ae drew from the faces of all assembled.

“...Perhaps another way has a more positive roadmap for development?” Sanbeng piped up, no doubt just uncomfortable sitting in this room of stuffy, prideful people staring at eachother. Jinwoo looked furious, defeated, and sad, all in one.

“Naturally,” the aide cut in sharply, as if he had just been waiting for someone to raise that very question. “Please take a look at this-” he offered with a theatrically magnanimous tone as his assistant hurried to deliver a binder to each person assembled around the table. Even giving one to Sanbeng, she ended up with several binders left. Seems they didn´t tell her the attendance numbers. “As you can see, summarized on page four, analysis shows that the downward trend in Tokyo began in earnest after the german´s -... what was his name…” he trailed off, until his assistant hurried back to whisper something. “Ulrich Faulkner, until he outcompeted both pilots in a straight energy exchange battle. The outcome of this event is deplorable when you delve into the statistics. As such, we´re putting a plan forward to boost this area of the machine´s capability - an innovative calibration of current energy output by adding a redundancy system to ensure minimal waste power.”

Everyone was busy flipping through papers while the aide sat satisfied. Hyeon-Ae barely looked at the binder - paper meant they couldn´t see engineering-flagged notes in real-time, nor any projections they elected not to show. Deciding on a suggestion presented like this was like shaking hands with her uncle - only do it if you have no other options. Speaking up for the first time, Hyeon-Ae offered a simple; “Yijin nim?”

The engineer took a few moments of thoughtful reading, flipping through the bound document with more respect than Hyeon-Ae felt they deserved. Not looking up, he eventually spoke. “...Yeah. I'm seeing the viability at the base of the suggestion. Would have liked not being blindsided with it during the meeting. Anyway, it's got some of the same issues as the Team Principal’s proposal. Without the actual data and test runs, I'm not one hundred this will even run on our configuration. If it does, it's a clear upgrade. Ultimately, I can't support it.”

The last statement seemed to catch the bespectacled aide off-guard, and it was his turn to offendedly harrumph in response. “And why is that?”

Hyeon-Ae tensed up ever so slightly, restraining herself from smiling. She wasn't expecting this today, but just like with Cassie, a pressure had been building. It seems another cork was popping. Zhou Yijin closed the binder and sighed. “Because, all due respect, neither of you are actually thinking with your heads. Dropping dossiers with ramshackle changes without warning, putting together proposals based on solitary performance metrics without even looking at the whole machine as a whole. Not to mention this constant nit-picking is crushing us down in the pits. My guys and gals are terrified of doing maintenance half the week, worried that you folks are gonna come up with a new brilliant idea and we have to tear out half the machinery and start over.” Zhou took a breath, frowning. “Not to mention you're overcrowding us with low-skill interns while hammering my full-timers with minutiae and analytics crap that any third-rate data entry tech could do. With all respect, just let us do the damn work. Sirs. May as well fire me and put in your nephews if we’re gonna keep up this short-term, directionless nitpicking.”

If it could be even more quiet than painful silence, then that would still not entirely describe the agonizing chill in the room. Both Jinwoo and the two suits looked absolutely stunned, and Sanbeng was watching with a worried stare. Hyeon-Ae enjoyed the silence. Someone other than her was taking the reins, stirring the pot. Zhou Yijin was, as far as she was concerned, impossible to control, but a worthwhile person to have on your side. And he knew what he was talking about more often than not. If this would blow back on him, she’d make sure he knew she was on his side.

Jinwoo was the first to speak. “Well… I won’t argue that there is a certain sense to your words, even if they are deeply problematic.”

“I should say,” the aide cut in, regaining some semblance of his garrulous posturing. “What are you even proposing with such a tirade?”

That question was one the lead engineer seemed ready for at least. “Let us do our work. Give us some space to finish these installations, and then take the actual time to check the metrics properly and innovate. Give us some room to actually make something, rather than forcing us to make reactionary changes based on last week’s boardroom meeting.”

Jinwoo and the aide exchanged a glance, and the Team Principal shrugged his shoulders briefly. For once, they were equals in how dumbstruck by this they were. Hyeon-Ae chose her moment. ”What do we have to lose? We have talented people on the ground, putting their hands in the machine. Let them come up with some real suggestions. If they disappoint on that end, we’ve proven the old method is better.”

Eyes were briefly on her, and she got a mild nod from Jinwoo. He was so easily pushed along. The aide looked frustrated but eventually yielded as he adjusted his glasses. “I’ll… push this up the chain. We’ll table the proposals for now.”

With that, it was done. After some stiff discussions regarding other points, everyone was happy to leave and make themselves scarce. The last person out of them was the mousy assistant, who apologetically collected the binders from Hyeon-Ae and Sanbeng before fleeing the scene. Left alone with her own aide in the meeting room, she breathed out slowly and pondered the last few days. Perhaps it was foolish, but she felt invigorated. Perhaps a hope that someone else than her was also fighting for better results. For real.

“I think that went well.” Sanbeng mumbled from his seat as he collected his things.

Hyeon-Ae just gave him a pointed look, and he smiled back sheepishly.

---

Han was up late in the getup, or at least that’s how she felt it. Others seemed to find this entertaining, but she was fully masked today. The polite, infallible racer queen was out in force, politely chuckling and smiling humbly when she felt necessary. But it was just another stunt to survive.

She finally got summoned to the spotlight.

"Han, welcome back to Delta Hyper! How are you finding the circuit today, as a rookie, is there anything you like the most?"

”Thank you very much, you two.” she opened, placing both hands on her chest and smiling as though she was actually touched by being part of this. ”I just love the sights of this whole country. And the track - wow. Spending this short a time here seems so wrong, perhaps I will have to visit more often. As for the track itself, I’m pleased with it after what we’ve been thinking up in our workshop. Watch out, is all I’ll say!” she warned with a soft, inviting chuckle.

Kais sipped his drink. The fizzy bitter-sweet always did him good. He turned back towards the scene and decided he was lucky he hadn’t worn anything fancy this time. Just the good-old biker jacket, no team logo or anything resembling his usual track-suit. That meant minimal attention from the unknowns in this place, and more attention for the more well-knowns, he supposed. And of those, both of those, there were surprisingly many. In a way it didn’t surprise him that Hyeon-Ae would decide to show off even for a cooling down party. Seated herself in the center of the room, even. Perfect stakeout spot for sure, though he was still not entirely sure what her game was here. It gave him a weird, uncanny feeling. No matter when he saw her, his senses went on high alert. He sighed. Why had he decided to come, again? And why had he decided to come without a plus-one, again?

Luckily, that’s when Paul Mulder came walking up to the bar. Even despite the bodyguard, Paul had to wrestle past some celebrities, actresses and models to get there, but he managed, And then, a goblet of reddish brown beer in hand smelling of caramel and a not-insignificant alcohol percentage, he turned to Kais.

“Hello Kais. Congratulations again on your win. What are you drinking to celebrate?”

“Well, well, if it isn’t Mr. Popular.” Kais said as he returned a smile. “Thanks again.” As for what he had in his glass, he answered the question with the barest of shrugs. “Tonic, the usual.”

Paul enjoyed the spicy fruity beer. He chuckled a little at Kais’ answer even as he looked a little embarrassed. He was starting to get a complex with the number of teen girls and young women he had for fans. He should be grateful, fans are what sponsors were looking for. He sighed and gave Kais a rueful shrug. “I can’t help it that I am popular.” He winced a little as he said it. “How about I trade you some of those streaming girls for the macho guys who follow you?” Paul gave Kais a mischievous grin and a wink as he replied. “I am pretty sure your own popularity is about to take off after that win.” He looked at Kais’ glass suspiciously but sighed and gave him a pitying look. “Well I can respect that. I didn’t want to drink before the race either. Tonight I will indulge a little. Really just tonic water? Don’t you want to relax a little?”

Kais smiled at his proposal for an audience swap. It would definitely be interesting to see how Paul’d handle it. Maybe at a future fan event he’d set something up. One thing he did know: such a shift in Kais’ fan demographics would make his PR strategy meetings more nightmarish than they already were, though he supposed he could let Layla and Nadia handle that side of the aisle. “We'll see about that, we'll see about that… Never had much success there, I’m afraid. Let me know when you figure out your secret.” Then, after Paul had asked him about relaxing. “This isn’t my kind of winding down. I like my motorbike: drive off to where no one else is around, enjoy the stillness.” He took another sip. “And no, I don't drink. I don’t have much trust in it. Let’s just say, last time I got roped into drinking, years ago, I wasn't the only one who woke up with a headache, if you get me.” He left it open how many others were involved in his little U-day altercation close to a decade ago now, though to be fair, he couldn’t quite remember it himself, blurry vision and all. “More importantly,” he continued in a hushed tone of voice, almost as if talking to himself, “I don't trust them with it very much either.” Ava’s words still haunted his mind. The grid isn’t all clean. Then, in almost a whisper, he added. “I’d urge you to have caution, Paul.” He left it open who he was talking about there as well, but the idea was hopefully clear: relaxing in the dragon’s den may not be the smartest thing to do.

Walking across, Max caught sight of the two, a whiskey in hand, the American perhaps a little more low-fi than usual. He’d been the light of other parties, but not this one, chatting to Jenny, the pale-skinned, almost androgynous black-haired, blue eyed pilot over at Fitzroy. But here he was, perhaps a little out of his depth, and chatting to Kais, and Paul, who had come over.

Max: “Mind if I join you?” His American drawl carried, but it was yet a refined one, the blonde haired American of course cutting through the more European or Latin taste of the grid, even now, showing Americans were slower to AG than perhaps other countries had been.

Hailing from Breckenridge, Colorado, where his father had been a ski and then mountain biking resort magnate, his mother a lawyer that had fallen for him, Max had been lucky to avoid the chaos of 20 years prior, and the absolute anarchy that had seemed to rain down around in the United States and Mexico. Food shortages, water stress, population movement and the near collapse of the American economy. It still held up as the world standard, but barely as a shadow of itself, and well, faced its road to recovery. Of course, producing automobiles, and now hyper fast racing craft was an art it was slowly learning, like a craft brewery, it was learning to perfect and get it right back to the world. Here though, on the far side of the Pacific from home, he hadn’t exactly performed. There was more to come, yet for now, he had the night to enjoy.

Paul had just responded to Kais’ questions when Max joined them. “Hello Max. How are you tonight?”

“Living the dream!” Max smiled, sitting across from Paul, clinking his whisky glass against his beer hearing the commentary about the entourage. He’d had that. Outside of Bea, and maybe Max now, or the legacy fans around Amy, Dorian and Kofi, he had his own little following. Less from streaming, but he had an extensive social media presence. Mostly in the mountains, but then again, racing anything that moved was the prodigy’s way.

Paul laughed at Max who claimed he was living his dream. Hell what did he know? He might very well be living his dream. It was not his place to question the dreams of others. “I hear that.” He clinked his glass with Max’s in a toast and took another sip of his beer.

“You seem to be taking to fame well? Hell yeah, brother.” With a wiry grin, he sipped down a bit more whisky, clearing his throat, looking over to the Belgian.

Paul almost choked as Max told him was taking to fame well already. He laughed and wiped his mouth on a bar napkin before replying. “I have had to deal with some fame all my life. People approach me because of who my parents are. It is a little weird to get approached for who I am. I am dealing with alright.”

“Gotta say it Paul, I heard the various rumors. You told Amy back in Cape Town. Lotta nerve on ya, but….man if I gotta say we enjoyed it! Her crown’s gonna be for the taking!” Max commented, knowing Paul would probably put two and two together that well, nothing in the paddock stayed secret for long.

Then Max mentioned rumors about him telling Amy in Cape Town. Cape Town had been tense because of the crash that Jamie Hart had caused. Paul had just told Amy that he wasn’t going to sugarcoat his opinion for the press for Apex. Paul looked confused about what Max was talking about. Were there other rumors out there? Was that Max alluding to? “I don’t understand what rumors are you talking about? I agree that I was happy to see Amy knocked off her win pedestal but there is no denying that she is a talented racer.”

“Good to hear that.” Max replied to his first comment, sipping down a little, hearing his comment about which comment Paul had made.

“You know, the one about…..ah, it was better third hand I guess. Well, fame is a thing. And here we are, mingling with the elite. I still pinch myself sometimes!” Max chuckled, the Colorado native still high on this, the second season having pilot knowing that whilst Paul was a rival, well, he could at least be half amicable.

On the circuit, that would change quick.

Kais sat back and smirked a little as Max and Paul back-and-forthed. Conversations like these always did feel a bit foreign to him. Paul had been born into this world of fame, Max seemed to be lavishing in it, and then there was him, wrestling with it all. He may have gotten a win in, with no intention of stopping, but even amidst roaring crowds, there was no telling what the noise and the fallout of it was going to be, and he could already imagine the headlines focusing on exactly those things he didn't want them to. He glanced around the room, musing they all surely struggled with it in their own way: people thinking they know you, when they don't, not truly… Still, one could dream. “Then, here’s to living the dream,” Kais offered as a toast.

Still, there was something about Paul’s answer that Kais was struck by. “So how do you deal with it, Paul? Being known for… who you are not?”

Paul took another sip of his beer with a sigh. There was something about Max’s answers that rubbed Paul the wrong way. Theoretically you would think he and Max had a lot in common. They were both some of the younger pilots on the circuit. He seemed to be reveling in the attention he was receiving as a Formula AG pilot. Paul really thought about how to answer Kais’ question about how he dealt with the fame.

“Fame is a mixed bag of treats. There will be some things in the mix you like and others you detest. It does go with the job though. I don’t race for the money or fame. For me it is more personal than that.” He paused and looked from Kais to Max. “When I was growing up, it wasn’t too bad. Kids at school would hear my name and inevitably ask about my father. My mother is a famous photographer so anyone familiar with the art scene recognizes her name. When I was growing up it was all about the money. I grew up in wealth and privilege. I attended private boarding schools and traveled with my mother in the summers. I always had those people who wanted to befriend me because of what they thought I could give them. It was never about me but what they perceived that they could get from being associated with me.” He paused and looked thoughtful as he pondered the rich color of his beer as if it would offer up the answers he seeks. “Making real friends was always hard.” Paul smiled and his face softened as he thought about his mother. “However, I had a great mother who understood what I was going through. I had public relations training from a very early age. She taught me to appreciate what I had but also to remember that my money and things had nothing to do with the type of person I wanted to be. She always grounded me with the reality that money shouldn’t define my character or be a factor in those I sought to surround myself with.”

Paul took another sip of his drink. He probably should have kept his answer lighter but it was something he was struggling with. He had a feeling that it was something Kais was new to. He was struggling with all the attention he was receiving from teen girls. It bothered him that so many threw themselves at him. It was not that he was not flattered by the attention but more uncomfortable that they would show any man that kind of attention before getting to know him. None of them really knew him. Some of them acted entitled to his time and attention simply because they were fans and he was a public figure. That bothered Paul.

Kais let out a breath, long and controlled. Here he was, surrounded by the kinds of people he had been taught to fight against in his old life. And yet, in that almost understated manner, Paul had somehow managed to tread it all in ways Kais hadn't expected. The recognition that his value didn’t necessarily lay in his wealth and fame. His mother's grounding. Kais had no anchor like that. He was bred, trained, given purpose through orders, missions, winning. Emotions, attachments? They almost vexed him in a way. And yet… “Your mother sounds like a great woman. You should be very proud of her.” Kais said, and nodded as if to let the moment settle and conclude. He felt the atmosphere had become heavier, and there was something in Paul’s face to suggest he had intended his night to have gone somewhat differently, but Kais had to know. And now he knew…

Kais quickly pivoted to Max. Better to lighten the mood a bit, this was a party, after all. “By the way, I was wondering, Max…” Kais said to the blond American. “You into vintage cars by any chance?”

Kais was nothing short of intimidating to Max, but well, he could only face up to the supersoldier turned racer that was Kais Zenix, one time race winner, all time dry rival.

“Recently acquired a vintage. 2023 Corvette Stingray, barely 40,000 miles on it. Or what is you guys say, “Hey, what the fuck is a kilometer!”, am I right?” Max jived, sipping more whisky down, wondering where Kais’s question had come from.

“Well, I know Paul’s got a collection. And would tell us all day. And how about you, Kais? I know what it used to be like, everyone in the Emirates must have something mouth watering, am I right?” Max chuckled, the happy go lucky nature of him more youthful than that of Harrison, who just seemed to have matured yet kept that positive vibe about him- Max looked more like he was hunting now, trying to make his fit, one season after the newcomers had.

"Oh, nah.” Kais waved away Max’ speculation on his garage size. “Just checking up on some quiz question Aurora hit us with.” The Emirates may have been shielded from most of the Middle Eastern Water Wars due to its central power and importance to the budding Union, but the majority of people that ended up there still came there as refugees more than anything. The extreme power base would definitely have had possessions Kais didn’t even want to guess at for the risk of still being a factor of a thousand off -some things never did change- but no, definitely not all of them had. “Just some motorbikes for me.” Kais said as the smells of the mechanical repair shop came back to him, way back when he was deployed to aid the Union’s rebuilding effort after his rehabilitation. Where he stayed to tinker at the old machines under the flickering lights of midnight for reasons he didn’t quite understand back then, but did now a bit better, perhaps. “Got a BMW, early 50s. Magnetic suspension, hubless wheels, like what some of the old racers had for a while too, before they went full-antigrav. Fixed it up in the shop myself. Nothing too special, beat up little thing. But she’s special to me…”

Paul laughed and his eyes lit up with a genuine smile. “I can talk about vintage cars all day. I inherited my father’s cars. My favorite is a 2024 Bugatti. The rarest one in my collection is a 1958 Porsche 356 Speedstar. I had my favorites converted over to run on biofuels so I can still drive them. Finding tires for them and a knowledgeable mechanic is harder though.” Paul continued to sip at the beer. He was in no hurry to get drunk. He was taking his time to enjoy the fruity spicy beer.

And so it went. And after a while, after the boys had talked about their toys and other such things, Kais felt his attention loosen into a sense of camaraderie that -as it suddenly hit him- he hadn't let himself give into for a long time. And that's when the pangs of guilt and the panic started again. And he realized he shouldn't have. This never did end well.

Kais excused himself, then went up to Hyeon-Ae, thanked her for the party with what courtesy he could muster, bade the Zygon duo a good prep for Italy, and left. Then, led out by one of the venue's door crew, trying to minimize any attention in the rainy outsides, he quickly stepped into the automated car that had pulled up. There he asked his VI assistant to plan a route to someone he hadn't spoken to in a long, long time, and was off. Yes… He had a plane to catch.

Delta Hyper Post Race Interviews: Sponsored by the Anti-Social Social Club

---

"Wow, sounds like an exciting night and we'll let you get on with that- Beatrix Ward everyone!" And with that, the crowd cheered, Aurora returning Bea's smile, moving onto the next.

With Aurora’s setup and the crowd’s reaction, Bea’s inner showman - or inner child, could be one and the same - couldn’t resist. ”Thank you!” She turned to the loudest part of the crowd and called out with a curtsy.

---

“Good morning, Bea!” Harry Moss was as chipper as ever despite the early hour.
”Debatable.” Bea yawned in response to the Arbor marketing representative as she sat down at the mountain cabin restaurant table, not at all pleased about being woken up at fuck off o’clock because Harry wanted a shot with her mid-jump, silhouetted against the sunrise. People sometimes said her chipper nature was infectious. If that was the case she had no idea what was wrong with her or Harry, because in eight years of working with him she never managed to contract his ‘Early bird gets the stone.’ attitude. Gazza’s ‘Early bird gets stoned fur disturbing the peace.’ mindset was much more her speed.
“Come oooon. Crips morning mountain air, it’s good for your lungs!”
”Even the internet doesn’t work this early and I can still taste the toothpaste.”
Without a word, Harry slid a mug of cranberry tea with honey over to her across the table.
”Saints are real after all.” She eagerly accepted the steaming beverage.

---

The ad opened with Harry’s voiceover. “Who drives progress? Erudite thinkers and visionaries?” Pictures of Plato, Aristotle, Isaac Newton and James Watt flashed on the screen before a record scratch. “Nope, it’s lazy people.” The scene smash cut to close ups of an unknown figure taking a boring-looking snowboard - carefully scrubbed of any branding to avoid stepping on anyone’s toes - and stepping into the bindings before the next scene showed the person - Bea - give a half-hearted attempt at bending down to close the bindings before giving up, kicking the boring board down the mountain and grabbing another - bearing a stylized image of an SSTO craft atmospheric reentry, complete with vibrant orange of the reentry plasma done in fluorescent paint - out of the back of the car and stepping onto it, the bindings automatically closing around her boots. “Ride into the future with the Smart Bindings, the latest product of the laziest minds of the Arbor Collective.”

”More than just automatic closing, the Smart Bindings also adapt to your stance and weight distribution as you ride!” Multiple close-ups of the bindings making small adjustments to their stance and position on the board in real time were shown as she spoke, ”And you can even link it to your phone and HUD or AR-enabled goggles with the free Arbor app to see exactly what they’re doing and even disable functions you don’t want.” Bea came to a halt in front of a line of boards stuck in the snow, walking along it with one boot out of the bindings as she continued. ”And you can ride in style with over one hundred designs by more than thirty artists from around the world. All built out of clean and sustainable materials, all the while funding nature restoration projects since 2013 so you can also ride with a clear conscience!” She gestured to the line of snowboards before riding off-screen. Eagle eyed viewers would have noticed that in no two shots in the ad was she riding the same board nor had the same Arbor jacket.

The ad was closed off by a quickfire montage, including the desired slow motion silhouetted jump and an authentic fall because one, the bindings released both of Bea’s boots as advertised for the safety side of things and two, because it was unanimously agreed the shot of Bea wiping away the snow the fall had compacted into her open-face helmet with one hand while giving the camera drone a thumbs up was funny.

---

DELTΔ HYPER

A Couch in the Sky

---

Bea preferred cold to heat, but there were limits as clearly shown by her team branded winter jacket and woolen beanie and skiing pants in her trademark neon lime color. Despite cybernetics, she still needed gloves in conditions like this though, as she found out the hard way the same year she got hers. Skin could get stuck to cold metal even if that cold metal was part of you, who knew? She pulled down the scarf covering the lower half of her face and took off her shades as the camera started rolling, wincing at the Sun reflecting from every snow-covered surface for miles. ”Ow, that’s bright.”

"Bea, I'd say welcome to the Dolomites but it looks like you introduced us! What was it like filming with Harrison, and how did you find practice today afterwards on the circuit?"

”I am convinced it’s impossible to not have fun when that man is involved, and that’s before you factor in the location and the script. If you told me two days ago I’d get to drive the SCG double-oh-seven - a hypercar as old as my dad - I wouldn’t have believed you. You press the pedal and it’s like that scene in The Predator when Arnie screams into the night to call it to him. You can feel the power.” She glanced at Paul at the mention of an old race car, doing a visible double-take as she just now noticed him munching on a bag of popcorn.
”The circuit is amazing, no other word for it. For one it’s long so we don’t run it as many times in the race, short tracks get stale and as you fall into a routine it’s easy to stop focusing and make a stupid mistake.” No, of course she wasn’t easily distrac- ooooh, shiny! ”Then the circuit itself. It’s like a huge rally stage, I can practically hear the pace notes going through it, and then you have the glacier and the mountaintop sections, just... Whoever came up with this layout, top job. Someone get a time machine and drag Hermann Tilke here to spare generations of motorsport fans and drivers the horrors of Yas Marina and Sochi.” She said with conviction. Shit race tracks were no laughing matter!
Maybe some of the weight of her opinion was lost as she was starting to seriously crack up at the sight of Paul munching on popcorn in the corner of her eye. ”Leave it in, we’re not professionals around here.” She dismissed Rory’s raised eyebrow when he turned around to see what was going on. ”As for practice itself, it was pretty much what we expected. Personally, I’m really happy with the handling upgrade. The instability is still there in the hairpins and the big crests, but now we’re at risk of ruining our lap, not our ship. But we do expect great things here.”

---

Fortunately, the drivers were told in advance the post-practice interview would be done in the way it was, meaning there had been time to prepare. When her section of the interview was over, Bea hung around on the terrace outside, waiting for Paul’s interview to get underway before launching her plan partway through:

Standing behind Aurora and Rory, she turned away, pulling something out of a pocket: a t-shirt several sizes too large, large enough to put on over the winter jacket, doing so before turning back to face the interview couch to reveal the image on the front. Two images, one from Paul’s post-race Tokyo bet post with the background removed, leaving just the man and his t-shirt, the other a zoomed in view of Paul’s peacock eye makeup from their fashion ads, accompanied by a dictionary definition of a word.

suffering
/ˈsʌf(ə)rɪŋ/
noun
the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship.

She leaned back against the platform’s railing like nothing was amiss, her mirrored aviators and scarf hiding her face as the image was displayed plainly for Paul to see. Because growing old was mandatory, but growing up? Very much optional.

---

---

---

@LadyAmber

"There are plenty of red Ferrari coats out there on the grandstands even in Practice so I imagine they'll be cheering for you in full force, whatever the weather! How have you found Dorian's support with getting used to the circuit?"

---

@Enzayne

"That sounds like a certain shout out! How have you found settling into Zygon, Han- your branding has come everywhere with the team, so what's it like with the fame and visibility you're getting?"

---

@Starlance

"Well, it sounds like a dream for an ex-rally driver such as yourself. It seems like Carrera in particular will enjoy this circuit- with the upgrades brought to the ship, it seems like the team seems to be more well oiled this year than in previous years. What do you think has been the main factor?"

---

The interviews played out, the pranks in the background not masked entirely.

And with it, the interviews would be over as soon as they began- the pilots having an opportunity to enjoy the views on the mountaintop, and in the hut. This was a hell of a place to hold it, and whilst a cloud rolled in and killed some of the view, it was gone as soon as it had arrived, revealing the glorious, golden sunset in a white sheet landscape.

Either way, no matter how cold it was here, there was this understated feeling of rivalry kicking in. They may have been joking now, but soon, they'd be going toe to toe, and they'd be putting it on the line on a circuit that rewarded those willing to push a little bit further.

---

La Forza

Soundtrack: UNKLE- Keys to the Kingdom



The spectators had certainly enjoyed the session, the timesheets getting rocked with each pass. The circuit being so long led to some wide degree of variation- and whilst the circuit massively rewarded fast craft, it could be said that due to the tighter corners requiring an almost 180 degree run of the ship without any MAG-backed walls and just snowbanks and grass run-off, as well as pure pilot skill. Like Cape Town, Italy rewarded patience under highly undulating bits of circuit, especially the kinks and high speed turns and carves that were almost mind-bending to most. But, incredibly cool to an ultra-high megapixel camera that could catch the ships in action.



The conclusion was a surprise to many, however. Jamie Hart had crashed in Sector 1, pushing too hard up to Rifugio Padon, unlucky enough to cut the corner and wipe the ship out with a tumble that even the ship's AI couldn't really fix at all. Amy not being able to set a fastest time, surprisingly low in the standings reflected that it might have been a bad setup here for Silver Apex- perhaps the ship being twitchy had finally come back to Amy, but even so, it was a surprise to most to see her get knocked off the top spot.

"And that is qualifying complete, and what a session!"

"Absolutely, and take a look at Kelly and Zenix on the top two spots. Two pilots with something to prove, for two top teams and what a showdown this is looking like. Nora Kelly seems to be an absolute fiend in setting lap times, but Kais Zenix is a hard racer, and the two will be going hull to hull through every Sector if they can't help themselves."

"Well, we will be in for a treat tomorrow, folks. Makara, Al-Nadir, and nobody can write off Stirling, not from any position. This track punishes mistakes, but you need to be so, so confident with the ship at top speed for almost a third of a lap here, even in spite of the corners and massive undulations that seem their best to slow down each ship. Rory, what do you think of the other Silver Apex ship, down in 20th for tomorrow's grid?"

"It seems like the pressure is certainly mounting on Jamie Hart, and whilst nobody wants to say it yet, this performance simply can't be acceptable to the team at Silver Apex. It's hard to know what's going on there, but we'll have to see how things play out."

"Well, from me and the rest of the commentary crew, thank you for joining us today- and we'll see you tomorrow afternoon, for the stunning views and speed of the Italian AGP."

---

The teams had much to address. A lot to prepare, and the day after, with the race, was certainly going to have some tension, prepping the ships, setting up strategy for tomorrow, and more importantly, debriefing it all.

Nora lining next to Kais, two rookies in hyper-fast, hyper sketchy craft on a circuit that required complete bravery rather than tactics.

Beatrix in another top 6 must have felt like a dream, but again, she had Amy Stirling and Cassie Neves wedged between her, and that was going to certainly fuel a little tension on the start.

And well, Paul and Han had each other again to fight, the two craft less suited to the higher speed and this particular circuit, the latter having the slight performance gain.

The tension felt palpable. But, as the sun set on another Dolomites night, the crews, the teams and the pilots had an opportunity to plug in, arrange, rest up, and most importantly, come back tomorrow fighting.

---

"That sounds like a certain shout out! How have you found settling into Zygon, Han- your branding has come everywhere with the team, so what's it like with the fame and visibility you're getting?"

Hyeon-Ae had been doing a bang-up job so far of ignoring the shenanigans that may or may not have been going on in the background, either out of sheer obliviousness of the spectators, or simply playing into her straight-shooter phenotype with full passion. She instead smiled warmly at the question. ”Well! I am happy to connect with all of you from outside of Korea, yes? In Korea, it is almost reverse, sometime, you know? I am a little known for what I did before, and now I have an opportunity to meet and share my passion with more people. I love meeting people and learning about how different everyone is, and still love the same sport.”

---

“Maybe a psychopath?” the mildly corpulent man asked thoughtlessly, dabbing at his forehead with a synthetic napkin before stuffing it back into the chest pocket of his off-white orderly uniform. On the other side of the one-way glass, a set of children played with toys of various quality, engaging each other. Most were Korean, Japanese, or Chinese, but a few were of nationalities exotic to Greater Korea. In the corner sat a solitary dark-haired girl, not quite glowering at the others, but seemingly watching them without moving a muscle.

“Nope. Genetic markers and private emotional reactions don´t support it.” the mustachioed man beside him replied, lifting a mug to sip at his coffee-like drink.

“Indeed,” the woman next to the two men chimed in, pushing up her glasses briefly. “The test screening for these kids weeds out anything substandard. Genetic social deficiencies were ruled substandard after the Hongkong gene-edit debacle. Anything that slips through the cracks or develops is caught by the daycare folks, or by our machines.”

“Then, she's just creepy?” The overweight man asked with a little less guile, frowning to himself. “The other kids are doing just fine.” His comment earned him a snicker from the other man, and the woman exhaled a little sharply that may have been something reminiscent of amusement. The jab at the girl´s expense was shortlived, when a fourth, older voice piped up from the back.

“Not quite. That is what high compatibility looks like, my good friend.” his crotchety voice resounded in the enclosed lab space, turning heads immediately.

“Director! Welcome, I didn´t hear you enter-..” the woman shot back as she turned, clearing her throat quickly and once more adjusting her glasses, this time with nervous energy.

The old man, a balding man with sinewy, mottled skin that made him look at least one-hundred and fifty, raised his hand as he steadied the other on his cane. Despite bulky, primitive cybernetics owing to a different decade, and a metric ton of anti-aging measurements owing to the rumors around the lab - the director still looked like he had one foot in the grave. According to some, that's how he'd looked for the best part of thirty years. Hard to know if he was getting older, or just refusing to die. He lifted a crooked hand to gesture towards the glass, and the three gave the room another glance. “They are children, of course, and children will play. It is in their nature to be selfish and pursue levity,” he crooned with an unstable voice. “But she is different. Why not ask her?”

The chubbier man glanced between the group of children on the other side of the glass, happily indulging in flying toy rocket ships and outfitting dolls, testing puzzle pieces, or wearing buckets as hats, save for the lonely girl in the corner. He glanced back to his immediate superior, and the mustachioed man gave him a light shrug and gestured for the console. Frowning, confused, the man leaned forwards to push the loudspeaker button. “Nine-Four-Alpha. Why do you not play? This is reward time.”

There was a brief pause in the room, briefly highlighting the collective creepiness as they observed every child turning still and listening, some staring straight at the mirror-glass as though they could actually see them on the other side. The obese man shuddered involuntarily and let go of the button for the intercom, reminded briefly of whatever hackles he´d had to throw away when he took this employment. The moment subsided as swiftly as it had come - as soon as the children identified that the question was not for them, they returned to what they were doing, as eager to ignore adults as any other child. The girl in the corner looked up and at the glass still. “I’m resting so I can do better on the next evaluation. Thank you for taking an interest in me, sir.” she responded in perfect nouveau-Korean.

The mustachioed man sighed to himself and had another sip of his drink. “Creepy, like you said.” he intoned in full earshot of the director. The woman in the room in turn scoffed a little, looking both dumbstruck and proud at the same time. The larger man still looked confused, and lifted his napkin to dab at his forehead again before he got a scolding for looking sweaty. The old man just chuckled raspily, moving towards one of the few seats in the room, upon which the mustache-bearing foreman hurried to help him sit down.

“Perhaps little Hyeon-Ae is to you and to me, Mr Laoxing. Creepy,” the old man grumbled jovially as he spoke to and at the man helping him sit, before facing the room properly. “But she is better than both of us. She has recognized the futility of this, this-...” he continued, waving his hand in the air as he trailed off, trying to find a word.

“...Frivolity, sir?” The woman cut in.

“Frivolity, yes, frivolity. Good. This group is a little younger. They still need external motivation to perform above average. But that one there - she has recognized reward time for what it is.” The old man continued, gesturing towards the girl on the other side of the glass. “What did we tell them about the other children?”

“They are competing…?” the larger man replied a little uncertainly, only bolstered when the old man craned his neck in what could only be called a nod to someone who was blind.

“Yes, quite right.” he crowed back imperiously. “And they are being taught managerial skills, and resource logistics. I assume she has figured out that they are rivals in more ways than one, and there are more important things than having fun.”

“But, she´s a kid.” the portly man shot back a little incredulously.

“Is she? Developmentally, yes. But every child in there is already meeting-... urhh… Laoxing, where are they in metrics now?”

The mustachioed man stepped in with a quick clearing of his throat. “They´re performing to averages of the human population at age 16 physically. Age 13 mentally, on average. Seven-Eight-Beta, and Nine-Four-Alpha are performing higher due to increased editing procedures.”

“Mmh,” the old man crooned thoughtfully. “Not bad for nine-year olds, wouldn´t you say, old boy?” He chuckled, apparently talking to either himself or one of the two other men in the room. As none of the others knew which of it it was, they shared in the chuckle with a short, unsteady snicker. “When the exodus is ready, they will reliably outperform the average citizen on every level. A whole new class of people, not just in mind and body - but in soul.” He nodded to himself, and the woman nodded with him, clearly inspired. “They will be like our distant ancestors, unconcerned with the lackadaisy and debauchery of modernity, only interested in looking forward. To a utopia that we cannot imagine.”

The mustachioed foreman smiled faintly and sipped from his mug, looking mostly like he'd heard the speech a million times. The woman, ever the researcher, managed to look pleased with herself. The overweight orderly, in turn, scratched the back of his head, trying to wrap his head around the concept. He looked over at the playing children before looking back. “...If we cannot imagine it, how will they?”

As if expected such a question, the old man launched into a cackle that his throat could not support. “They are children of the new world, my good man. Predators among prey. A step toward divinity.” The mustache-man helped his elder superior back up at his nonverbal demand, and the crotchety old man wandered towards. No more questions were allowed - the spectre of infirmity loomed over the old director as he limped out through the door, followed closely by the foreman. The overweight man scratched at his neck, struggling with both the conversation and the implications.

He was jolted out of it by the sudden intake of breath and silent cursing from the woman beside her. Turning, he was presented with the same scene beyond the glass - two nine-year olds pushing and mumbling, hair being pulled, shirts being tugged. Fighting brewing. Before he could react, they were shouting, and the other kids were cheering and shouting and pushing in equal measure. Chaos, as kids are wont to engage in. The lady scientist beside him threw herself on the intercom to bark orders. But not to the fighters. “Hyeon-Ae, Leighton, Seo-Yeon! Break them up!”

Three children - the blond American boy, the dark haired girl from the corner - ‘Nine-Four-Alpha’ - and another Korean girl jumped in immediately. In seconds they'd separated the two kids who had been waving in the air towards each other with ineffective violence. They got them kneeling, and before long the two girls were more or less interrogating the two troublemakers on who started, what happened, and why, while the boy stood guard and defused others, who seemed to still the moment control was being asserted.

“They get punished as a group if they act out,” the woman explained beside him as she noted his staring at the situation. “Bit different from whatever rehabilitation division you came down from, huh?”

“Is this… okay? I mean… They're just kids.” He muttered uncertainly, wiping at his neck with his open hand. In the little playroom, things were returning to normal. The two kids had been separated, and the toys they had fought over had been distributed to other children. They were otherwise not being punished, it seemed; one of them talking to the two girls who broke up the fight, and the other already deep in a card game with the American boy. The situation may as well have never happened.

“We're building a better people.” She replied confidently, no small amount of pride bristling beneath the surface. We'll work for them soon, if we're lucky. Don't worry, Sanbeng. I'll put in a good word for you with our new masters.”

The portly Sanbeng smiled a little uncertainly as she laughed, unable to tell if she was serious or not.

---

“Sanbeng. You know I hate it when you stare into space like that. You look like a fool.” Hyeon-Ae barked curtly, stood as she was with her arms out in the paddock, two fussy Zygon engineering interns slowly but surely undoing the bulky exterior of her racing kit to free her of the last of her Qualifier run.

The overweight aide jolted out of whatever distant memory had him frozen, and he smiled apologetically at the racing pilot. “My bad, Hyeon-Ae nim. Great driving today!” He offered back in a manner most would classify as sycophantic. The praise earned him a glower and a murmur of consternation from the Korean pilot. “Right. So,” he rapidly continued. “You have a meeting with Marketing Manager Baek this afternoon. They took a chunk out of simulation time.”

“...Baek? I don't want to talk to him. I work better with Nayeun.” Han offered with a sharp frown.

“I know that-” Sanbeng offered with half-worried, half-explanatory tone, cut off abruptly as Hyeon-Ae started walking away the moment she was out of the racing suit, moving to take something to drink and say something to a passing engineer. Undeterred, Sanbeng followed and continued as if nothing had changed. “...but Manager Baek is here in Italy, and is planning a photographic campaign with the sights and such. It's greenlit already.”

“Ugh,” Hyeon-Ae responded firmly, sending him a halfward glance of dismissive disgust.

The aide briefly withered under her look before steeling himself to proceed. “While you're meeting the manager, I suggest bringing up the launch idea we discussed Wednesday… even if he is not your preferred partner, it is better if marketing gets on it straight away.”

“Mmh,” Han gave non-committally back. She was listening, of course, just considering other things at the same time. Mainly moving over to the big screens to see more closely how her time matched up with others.

“And after-” Sanbeng started, but paused when she glared at him.

“Are you going to be present?”

“Of course.” He nodded firmly in response.

Hyeon-Ae turned back to the screen, lifting a hand to touch her nail with her lips. Cassie beat her time. Handily too. Where did she go wrong? Why now? Another vector to worry about. And Baek, she needed a new attack vector for that smug snake. Not to mention whatever management was cooking up for this engineering meet she'd been alerted to right before the qualifier. So many variables. “Then just come get me when it's time, and brief me when it's relevant. I need to focus on this.”

Wordlessly, her rotund aide bowed his head and dipped away, both undeterred by her demeanour and knowing not to fight such a battle. Hyeon-Ae remained in front of the board. She turned to the nearest technician instead; ”When do we get Valkyrie’s data?”

“I believe they're on right after us.”

Frowning to herself, the Korean pilot slipped away further towards the lodges in search of Cassie. Time to have a small watch party, and a strategy talk.

DELTΔ HYPER

Soundtrack: Sneaky Snitch - Kevin MacLeod

---

Paul was pleased with how well his prank was going so far. He did offer to share his popcorn and scorecards with the other drivers. Paul’s prank was mostly being used as a way to poke fun at their interviewers who always seemed artificially perky to Paul. What did Aurora do, mainline coffee and hot chocolate?

He had distracted Bea a little in her interview. He had given her a big cheesy smile at the end of her interview. He waited until the cameras had stopped rolling before he clapped and whistled and held up a scorecard with an 8 on it. “Great form and focus from Mad Bea! Excellent work!”

He waited till Hyeon-Ae was finished and held up a scorecard with a 9 on it. Paul: “Solid concentration Hyeon-Ae! Superior Focus.”

---

Paul’s interview continued. He did a double take as he caught sight of Bea’s shirt. He couldn’t help stopping to laugh and clap delightedly. He turned to Aurora and Rory. “I see Bea has been following my endorsements.” He grinned like a madman before he managed to turn his attention back to the work at hand. Rory and Aurora had asked him a follow up question.

"There are plenty of red Ferrari coats out there on the grandstands even in Practice so I imagine they'll be cheering for you in full force, whatever the weather! How have you found Dorian's support with getting used to the circuit?"

Paul’s smile was genuine. “I am very grateful to have the support of the Tofosi! They are an amazing group of fans. The Tofosi reward any driver with enthusiasm and appreciation if they are giving them a good show. It is one of the reasons I love racing in Italy. Dorian has been focused on his own performance but Alexander Knight has made sure I was focused on the training for this course. They are working on some ship upgrades but I know we only got a few of them done in time for this race. I will be utilizing Valkyrie’s superior handling and stability to help get the most speed out of the turns, corners, and chicanes of this track. I am hoping I can make up for the lack of speed on the straights. I have worked hard to improve my ELS strategies. We will have to see if that hard work pays off here in the Dolomites.”

---

La Forza

Soundtrack: Funk Rock & Roll - Lo Fi Hikari

Paul was sitting in his ship finishing his pre race rituals. Qualifying meant he needed to push hard enough to get a decent starting place in the line up. He didn’t want to push too hard and be out of the race by pushing too hard either. This was his last chance to have the crew change any of the ship’s set up. He needed to nail the corners and curves on this track to have any chance of a decent showing especially with the long straits. He massaged the leather gloves until they were worked all the way down his fingers leaving him with maximum flexibility and sensitivity. He pulled on his fire proof cowl and straightened it out and tucked it into his race suit. He then rezipped his dark gray and gold tone race suit all the way back up. He clipped his safety restraints and tugged them tight. He pulled on the helmet and carefully secured the chin strap. He then plugged in his neural drive to the ship. He pulled the neck and head restraint around his helmet and neck and made sure it was locked into place. It would help protect his neck and head from injury during a crash. He took some deep breaths to build his oxygen up for the race. He took a moment to process all the new input from the ship. He allowed his training with the neural interface to take over. His brain sorted all the new incoming data into what he needed to know. He paid close attention to the temperatures that might change quite rapidly with the setting sun and the altitude. Paul was feeling good. He loved the track, it was challenging and the views were gorgeous. Not that he could enjoy them during the race, since he was moving too fast for that.

Paul had a good start. He nailed that first hard turn. He was off and did well. He was still not happy with the new balance of the ship. He was losing a little time each time the ship left the track. It seemed to bounce a little off line when it came back down and reconnected to the mag track. He managed a respectful finish. He knew he could do better and go faster. He waved to the fans as he slowed his ship and pulled it back into the pit lane so he could return to the paddock. He of course wouldn’t know his final pole position until Qualifying runs were over.

Carmella was there waiting for him as he disconnected from the ship. He unfastened his safety restraints. He popped the canopy and quickly climbed down. He pulled off his helmet and cowl. He shook his head and told her what he needed. “The ship is still acting like the nose cone is light. It is still bouncing slightly off center and race line when it leaves the track. It takes me a few moments to recover the line each time. It's costing me time. See if there is anything else you can do before the ship has to be locked up for tomorrow’s race.” Carmella just nodded and made note of his feedback and they split up. She headed back into the paddock’s mechanical bay. Paul headed for the showers. He had post qualifying interviews to do. Then he was supposed to spend some time in the Valkyrie Fan Zone. Hopefully by then he would know where he stood.

---

Paul had showered and done his round of post qualifying interviews in the press box at the Valkyrie Paddock. There were always some sponsorship endorsements to do. Delta Hyper interviews were required on top of mainstream media work. He had some of those to do too. Luckily for him Katherine did a great job of weeding out the riff raff media who would skew anything they said for ratings.

Paul had been introduced to a potential new sponsor for Valkyrie, a computer company called Quantinium. They provided quantum computers and Valkyrie was thinking about partnering with the firm on the new ships. The current company being used was being used by other teams and while there were no indicators of impropriety and it was a very common practice, instead of reinventing the wheel, multiple teams used one company. Alexander felt it was safer to use a company that others were not using. Their computers were also due for an upgrade and Quantinium were experimenting with a new crystalline matrix chip that ran cooler and could perform faster. They had a very cool pyramid logo and their representatives here for the Italian race were big fans.

Paul spent some time in the Valkyrie fan zone signing shirts, hats, and pictures. Some of the new fan gear by Enigma Lux was on sale and display in the Valkyrie Fan area. A hot seller was the new leather racing jacket by Artie. Paul had to admit that it was stylish and cool. He would have to buy one. The new t-shirt designs were very popular. He was pleased to note some long sleeved versions for sale here in the winter wonderland that was the Dolomites in Italy. He was grateful for a cup of coffee. Zap always had their banners flying and were attempting to hand out drinks but it was so cold no one wanted the sports drink in this cooler weather. The “I Cant Believe Its Meat” food truck vendor was doing a brisk business. People were appreciating a hot treat.

---

---

---

DELTΔ HYPER

Monday April 3rd, 2094

Meeting between Han Hyeon-Ae and Paul Mulder

---

Paul smiled as he showered after his morning workout. He was preparing for his meeting with Hyeon-Ae. He wondered if she had forgiven him yet for teasing her at the BioCHO party and then beating her in the race. He had seen her at the party she had hosted at the nightclub. Nightclubs are notoriously loud though and it is hard to hold a conversation. Not to mention she was busy being a good hostess. She was polite at the party but he didn’t really get to know her any better. He could tell she had her “on face” on. He had one himself. It was that neutral pleasant face he used when he needed to deal with the media or people he didn’t know very well. Everyone has some version of social mask they use when in uncertain social situations. It was hard to tell Hyeon-Ae’s from her normal. He wondered if that was why they gave her so much grief. He grinned as he was determined to make her at least laugh once during the meeting. He wanted to take her somewhere fun and unexpected. He had given it a lot of thought. He had settled on a cat cafe. It sounded innocent enough. It would be interesting to see how Hyeon-Ae dealt with animals. She was always so fussy and formal. He loved seeing her come out of her shell a little. Sanberg had agreed as he had given him the name of the cafe and the address. He was meeting her at a cafe called Cafe Mocha.

Paul finished getting ready. He chose to wear navy blue slacks, and a gray button down. He paired it with a black leather jacket, boots, and a belt. He made sure he had his tablet, phone, and wallet. Then he and his security guard took off for the cafe. He arrived and paid the entry fee for him, his security guard, and Hyeon-Ae. He wanted to arrive first so he could pick out a good table for them. Cat cafes were popular here in Japan. He hoped their timing an hour before the lunch rush would be quieter. He hoped she enjoyed the surprise. He grinned anticipating her arrival. He found a couch towards the back wall with a recliner next to it. There was a tall cat tree next to the couch. There was a low coffee table in front of the couch. This would do nicely. He made sure his guard was happy with the place before he took one side of the couch. He ordered a cappuccino.

Paul looked around the charming cafe that almost felt like a child’s play place but was set up to cater to the cats who lived here. The true stars who made this cafe home. The interior of the cafe was set up as a pretend cat home. There were colorful shelves and cat perches across the walls with paintings surrounding the perches like colorful birds. There was what looked like a large dollhouse but had multiple compartments with cat beds in them. There were cats everywhere you looked, all colors, short hair, no hair, long hair. Paul had always been fascinated with cats but his mother had refused to let him have a pet when he had lived at home. Now he was gone too much. How had he not visited a cat cafe sooner? This was a fabulous decision. He would have to start seeking them out as he traveled with the team. A white haired Persian jumped up into his lap pushing her head under his hand demanding attention. Paul laughed in delight as he began to pet the cat. She collapsed into his lap and purred as she kneaded his leg. Paul found himself talking to the cat.

Paul: “And what is your name, M’Lady?” Paul looked at the name tag on the cat’s collar. He smiled as he laughed a little. “Why of course you would be named something aristocratic. My apologies you grace. I will endeavor to give you a good petting, Duchess.” Paul sat playing and petting Duchess as he waited for Hyeon-Ae to show up.

And show up she did. Fashionably late, approximately the time it would take to arrive exactly when asked and then walk from the car. Entering through the door with an implacable stride that suggested she owned the ground she walked on, Hyeon-Ae made her presence known without speaking a word. Dressed in trendy, fine-cut pants and a matching blazer and expensive-looking, she drew attention simply by looking like she walked out of a fashion magazine. The two broad-shouldered people in dark suits behind her didn't help - though they kept their distance so long as she stayed in view it seemed. The Korean woman surveyed the café with a searching gaze full of intent. It was only when she spotted Paul that her expression softened, and she made her way over with rapid steps.

”I hope I did not keep you waiting long,” Hyeon-Ae apologized softly as she moved to sit down opposite him, taking off her sunglasses. Her eyes fell to the cat. ”Though perhaps you would have managed without me for a while yet.”

Paul continued to pet Duchess as he smiled at Hyeon-Ae. ”Hello Hyeon-Ae. I haven’t been here long. Thank you for agreeing to meet me here.” He smiled at her witty remark. “How rude of me. Allow me to introduce you to Duchess here.” He held up the fluffy white cat as he continued to scratch behind her ears. He smiled as a playful tiger striped cat jumped up next to Hyeon-Ae. ”It looks like you have your own lap warmer.”

“I see your habit of making unpredictable plays extends beyond the track - most choose a restaurant or a tea parlor.” Hyeon-Ae chided with a mild smile, entirely good-natured as far as anyone could tell. She seemed to mostly ignore the cat cozying close to her for now, which in cat logic only meant that the cat grew more interested in this calm new person. “A lesser woman might think you're making light of her, after this weekend.”

Paul gave Hyeon-Ae a charming smile. “I felt a more relaxed setting might be good for our discussion and you. You don’t mind meeting here do you? They do serve beverages and food. I ordered a cappuccino for myself. What can I get for you?” Paul allowed Duchess to continue her kneading as he chatted with Hyeon-Ae. He shook his head in the negative. “I have always respected your skill on the track. That doesn’t mean that I don’t want to win though. I will always fight hard to win a race. I don’t think Tokyo was very good for either of us this weekend.” Paul winced remembering that he did beat her but his teammate had landed in 16th position. Alexander hadn’t said anything to him about the race in Tokyo but he suspected he would be forced to address issues with Dorian. Sometimes it was nice to be the rookie. You can blame it on inexperience. He sighed a little and returned his attention back to Hyeon-Ae. “I tried to say hello at the party but you were surrounded and busy playing hostess. I hope you forgive me for not offering up a dance or two?”

Hyeon-Ae chuckled softly in turn, a placating smile dressed over her expression. ”Perhaps not the optimal environment for the dances I prefer, so it may have been for the best.” she commented conspiratorially as the cat took bolder interest, and she relented, reaching out to pet the striped monster that assailed her. It bonked her arm with its head in an attempt to garner more affection and sidle up against her. But Hyeon-Ae’s attention was on Paul. ”This is a lot calmer, and a lot less stressful, by comparison. Perhaps something to import into the boardrooms in Zygon.”

Paul continued to pet Duchess with one hand as he turned his attention to Hyeon-Ae. He gave her a slow smile as he remarked on her comment. ”What kind of dances do you prefer?” He couldn’t help wanting to know more about her. “I was surprised that you seemed so at home in the nightclub. I admit I was not very good company last night.” He gave her a rueful grin thinking it was probably a good thing for him that he had not found time for a conversation last night. He probably would have said something that pissed her off. He gave her a mischievous grin at her comment. He watched her lips for signs of amusement. “Maybe Zygon would benefit from an introduction of cat culture. Can you picture your team principal petting a cat like Duchess through a board meeting?”

Hyeon-Ae took the time to tap at her chin in theatrical thoughtfulness, indulging and matching Paul's mischief with unbridled emphatic charisma. Her own smile was equally mischievous, even if only to entertain her partner in crime. ”Surprisingly, yes. I think after Cassie Neves, Mr. Jinwoo would be the first to be pleased with such a change. Stroking his chin or a cat in thought - it would be the same to him, I think. The others, perhaps not so much.”

Paul’s smile grew warmer as she shared his thoughts with Hyeon-Ae. “Well I can’t picture Alexander Knight sitting at a meeting petting a cat. I think he would break out in hives. Every time I see him he is moving. I think he is allergic to sitting still.”

She gave the striped monster a good scritch behind the ear as she spoke. ”As for dancing, I am not trained in any specifics, but I always enjoyed the smooth movements of ballet. And some archaic forms of dancing from the west. I've only seen them in netvids, though. Are you an avid dancer, Paul?” Hyeon-Ae smiled and offered back in polite response, shifting briefly as she silenced her phone from buzzing with a fluid motion into her pocket.

He looked thoughtful as he pondered her question about dancing. “My mother didn’t want me to embarrass her at formal events. She attends a lot of them for the foundation and for her interests in the art world. She made me take ballroom dance lessons when I was younger.” He winked at Hyeon-Ae. “I like dancing and it was good exercise for cardio. So I took Salsa and Hip Hop lessons too.” He leaned forward and grabbed his mug while taking a sip. Duchess decided that was not allowed and abandoned him the moment he stopped petting. It amused Paul that she stalked over to his bodyguard and began rubbing against the man’s leg. He smiled in amusement as the man tried to shoo the cat away. He was obviously not a cat lover. Paul set the mug down once more. “Well you have had time to research the Mulder Foundation and me. Not that there is much about me that couldn’t be discovered with an internet search. What are your thoughts about my proposal?”

Hyeon-Ae chuckled softly in turn, hiding her lips behind a smoothly lifted hand. ”I would not trust the internet to deliver anything but the most extreme views. But, neither that nor my independent query brought me any reason to be worried. I hope I did not insult you by prolonging an answer.” The Korean pilot was being beset by a mild assault; two new cats had grown bored in the distance and taken an interest in her by mere happenstance. It didn't seem to vex her much. ”Would you briefly remind me what will be required of me? I'm happy to be of assistance.”

Paul couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head at her dry sincere delivery. “Honestly, I would expect no less from you. You come across as someone very driven, smart, and detail oriented. You seem like the type of person who always does their homework and has it done ahead of time, with citations, correlations, graphs, and charts.” He gave her a wry smile. “I am not insulted that you wanted to check it out first. I understand that our image is just as important as our performance on the track.” He gives her a long searching look. “Can I be honest with you about something?” He pauses waiting for her reaction.

Hyeon-Ae looked momentarily surprised, though it was difficult to tell if that apparent naivete was just a front. She leaned forward as if to touch his arm, but stopped at the mere gesture. ”Of course…” she intoned gently.

Paul waits for her response before continuing. He leans closer to her and lowers his voice so only she can hear him. “I don’t understand why the press seems to pick on you. If anything, you often sound scripted. You never look less than perfect. A little more spontaneity and a little mess might help you seem more friendly and approachable to fans and the media. It is one of the reasons I approached you about this offer. I figured some humanitarian press would benefit your image.” He leaned back just a little and looked her in the eyes. “It also gave me an excuse to talk to you.” He shrugged just a little and gave her a shy smile. “You looked like you could use a friend. I grew up in the shadow of my father in the media’s eye. I know how lonely that can be.”

The Korean pilot looked down at the cats briefly, the small smile going through phases all on their own, a wealth of emotions playing out on her masterfully held expression when studied closer. Eventually she deigned to respond with a simple ”That’s very kind of you, Paul.”, before letting the silence hang for a while between them. For some reason the woman was suddenly more interested in cuddling with the cats.

Paul finally got around to answering her original question. “How would you like to be involved? Bea is designing a t-shirt for the foundation. She is going to get part of the proceeds. She is also painting an original piece that will be auctioned to the highest bidder and she will receive half of the money. The charity auction will take place at a charity gala for the foundation that will be held after the summer break in Brussels where the foundation is headquartered. I assumed that you would want some good publicity out of the event and would like to attend the gala. I was thinking you could donate something for the auction. Maybe a photo collage of you, your ship, and a signed helmet or something like, something Formula AG collectors would bid on. Do you have any hidden talents like Bea? Do you paint or write poetry?”

”Hidden talents… I’m afraid beyond my old activism, and some sporting, I am not much good at anything.” she bowed her head apologetically as if to underscore some professed humility. ”I am happy to offer team- and personal bidding material. I’m happy to reach out to some predecessors as well, if you would like some more Zygon talents to pitch in. I hear we have some aspiring talents in the youth ranks as well.”

Paul’s smile fell and he frowned a little at her wording. He once more kept his voice intentionally low as he knew neither of them really wanted to attract the public’s attention. “That is a very generous offer but Hyeon-Ae, we both know that is not true. You are a very good racer. You have beaten me often enough. There are only a handful of people in the world that rise to our level of competition. I did not tell you that to critique. You simply come across as very formal and stiff. I thought you could use a little fun in your life.” He gave her a wry grin. “That is partially why I chose the cat cafe. I want a pet cat but it would not be fair to the poor thing with how much I am away from home.” He paused and gave her a worried look.

She dipped her head aside briefly and offered an embarrassed smile, brief and flitting. ”I do not wish to brag. Most of my talents are, ah, how do you say it. Personal? I am doing so many hobbies. I like to work out and work on myself. Cassie also asked me to be less stiff. I am offending.” Despite her phrasing, she did not seem that upset, rather a mixture between coy and talkative. ”I am good with, you know, chess, and a little piano, and fencing, but not much to give away. Only my money.”

Paul reached across the table and took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Now that I can believe. I will let you decide what you would like to put up at auction. Would you be willing to attend the Charity Gala to present it to bidders?” He gave her a warm slow smile before letting her have her hand back. “There will be ballroom dancing at the gala. I am hoping the attendance of other racers will draw people in for the gala and sell tickets. I appreciate that thought as well. I could have simply made a donation but there is more for the foundation to gain by me setting it up this way. Exposure and bringing more public awareness to their work. I appreciate your willingness to be a part of it.” Paul sat back and a new cat jumped up next to him. This one was a ginger tabby. He laughed a little and scratched the cat behind the ears. “Well Hello Mr.” He looked at the name tag “Mr. O’Malley.” He continued to scratch the ginger furred cat who had settled into his lap like a warm fur blanket. The cat was large and heavy.

Hyeon-Ae smiled yet again, this time perhaps a more genuine than her past playful smiles. Taking a few moments to consider the situation as Paul busied himself with the new cat-attack. ”I think it is a good thing you are doing. A lot of people simply sit still and hope change will come. I have read that it was even worse in the past. You are doing an admirable thing, and I am happy to be a part of it.” she offered after a while, before her own attention was stolen by indignant meowing from below. ”I will come up with something exciting to add to your auction, and I don't mind making an appearance. I know quite a few activists, perhaps they will be curious as well.”

Paul played with the tangerine colored tabby who while appreciating pets seemed fascinated by the movement of his hand. Paul looked up at Hyeon-Ae with a grateful smile. “Please feel free to give my contact information to anyone you think might be interested. I appreciate your willingness to get involved and Zygon’s. Cassie is welcome to join in as well. I didn’t approach her because I know she left Valkyrie and there are some hard feelings there. I wasn’t sure how comfortable she would be with that. I appreciate all the help you can give me.” Paul tilted his head to one side in contemplation. “Is there anything you need in return? Do you want a portion of the donation in compensation? There will of course be media about the event and Zygon or you personally can be listed as the donor.”

”I'm willing to ask her, Cassie that is, but I am not fully sure about what transpired. She is not too open about that time.” she proffered in turn with a mild sigh, then tapped at her chin. ”Anything I need… Well, Paul, I am happy to know I am helping something good in society.” Hyeon-Ae smiled, fooling no-one. She was looking a little too mischievous to cling to humility. ”But perhaps we do not need to be so material? Just don't hang up next time, when it is me who is pitching an idea, yes?”

Paul smiled at Hyeon-Ae and it grew bigger as she talked. “So does this mean we are texting buddies now? You know I would be happy to be of assistance if I can. I can’t give away team secrets or anything like that. But I have been told I clean up nice if you need an escort to a party. Or we could meet up again so you have an excuse to explore more fun options. We can always just chat and talk.” The mischievous glint in Paul’s eyes back. “We could try skiing in Italy or hot cocoa by a fire.” Paul looked thoughtful for a moment and then excited.”Or we could make plans for Disneyland in Paris?”

Hyeon-Ae chuckled quietly, remaining modestly entertained before the other pilot. Her own mischief was not gone, however, merely hidden beneath a veneer of polite demureness. ”How about a standing challenge, then? The winner between us decides the next activity? Within reason, of course.”

Paul was surprised by Hyeon-Ae’s suggestion. He didn’t mind the bet. He just wondered if he would end up dressed in a banana suit on some crazy Korean game show. Or asked to guest star on a Korean soap opera. He had heard that they take their stories pretty seriously. He was not sure how far he could trust Hyeon-Ae but then nothing ventured, nothing gained. Paul gave her a warm genuine smile. “Okay. I assume when you say winner, you mean who places higher at a race? He paused for a moment and tilted his head to the side. “I guess this means you want to see me again then?”

About that time the ginger tabby playfully attacked his hand. Paul laughed as he protected his hand from the ginger menace. He plucked the tabby up and held it as he began to pet it while the cat purred. Paul continued to pet the ginger cat to keep his hand from being scratched up. He watched Hyeon-Ae for her response.

”Yes, although of course I intend to win the race fully as well. I am not opposed to seeing you more, no. Out of my rivals, you seem very approachable, you know?” she shot back with a mysterious and guarded smile, beset by her own thoughts no doubt. Not to mention the small assault of attentive cats. ”I think I read that you like cars…?”

Paul gave her a guarded smile back. “Yes I love classic cars. I love the speed in antigravity racing but there is something about controlling a machine on wheels. The friction, the hum of the motor, the sound of the wheels on the road. It is just different. I also inherited my father’s collection.” He shrugged and then asked her about hobbies in Korea. The two of them spent time just hanging out. They stayed to chat for the whole hour that Paul had booked at the Cat Cafe before going their separate ways.

---

---

---

---

Layla leaned back in her chair, tossed a stress ball against the walls of the rec room with exquisitely measured force, then waited… One-mississippi, two-mississippi, two-and-a-half… for it to get back to her. One more earth-week of mining downtime still to go. Yes, the nights were long here on the moon.

The lunar harvester was a marvel of technology and intelligence. A combination between a mobile refinery and robotics base, it slowly crawled the lunar surface, vacuuming up lunar regolith for concrete production, filtering out heavy metals and helium-3 for fusion energy production back on earth, sending automated rovers to central storage, building and transport nodes, and sending out demolition drones to loosen the mineral veins along the lunar surface. A skeleton crew monitored, maintained and provided oversight over the operation. But now it was nighttime, and that meant half a lunar cycle -14 regular earth-days’- worth of energy rations, unrelenting dark, and temperatures plunging to -173C. Actual mining work was reduced to the bare minimum until the risk of their robots freezing in mid-operation, equipment failures, and those all-too-human psychological strains were over and done with, more or less (they were selected and trained for this of course, but still). Then, the long, long shifts would start again. And so, for now, maintenance, research, and training were their main activities, along with bouncing holographic stress balls, and listening to the same old stories over and over again, of course.

Turre, their Norwegian robotics engineer (the company had a surprising number of far-nordic people, Layla had noticed), was just in the middle of telling story #6 to the newbie: the one where he tried smuggling the contents of his grandma’s spice cabinet into Luna Central Station -truly they were living on the edge here, and you weren’t going to find those stories in future history books, Layla mused with a smile. “Small particulate hazard, they said, ‘as if the regolith dust isn’t enough’. But you try eating those flavorless rations all the time!” And he was right: Layla had lost weight again herself. With reduced gravity, smells and flavors became muffled, and their carefully regimented feeding and workout schedule was an absolute chore. So annoying… First thing she’d replace when she got the money for it would be that.

“Told you you should’ve applied for the metabolism enhancement trials.” Layla told Ferris, their newest rotation into the crew. She shrugged and sipped her cold brew mushrooms as Turre asked Layla “You’re still wanting to become a robot yourself?”

“You’d like that wouldn’t you?” Layla said with a wink. The ‘standby-switch’ jokes wrote themselves. “Nah, I’ll still be me, just better.” She posited, “Think about it: how easy would it be to just be able to plug into the rovers remotely? Would make for way less unnecessary checkups.” Turre just snickered. “Ah, yes, I can’t wait to be a walking talking error message log. I swear, Layla, if only you knew the programming in these things. The only thing I’d trust to plug into my brain would be a damn record player, and even then it’d depend on the album. Literally anything else before any” *quote-unquote* “‘smart equipment’.” Layla rolled her eyes, then replied. “You laugh now, wait till I’m blasting off at light speed, mate, then we’ll talk.”

“I can see it.” Ferris offered with a smile. “In fifty years: Layla Al-Nadir, brave captain of the Enterprise.”

Layla laughed. “Fifty years? Give me ten! And I’ll be the Enterprise!”


Layla woke up with a sudden jolt. It always went like that now. As soon as her brainwaves went into the green, the prosthetics, the augmented systems, the various automation interfaces and fog computing hubs, all would snap back from standby in a split second. She never truly ‘rested’ anymore, not in the conventional sense at least, and it wasn’t just due to her polyphasic sleep schedule: even in her dreams she could often feel the whitelisted status updates of her VI assistant, the filtered news articles streaming in, the replies to her arguments on messages boards. Still, in that moment of waking up, the organics still lagged behind. She felt electric, wanted to jump up, her cybernetic parts told her to, but she knew those other parts of her wouldn’t be able to keep up, not yet anyway. It was a shame she couldn’t offload the breakdown of melatonin to the cloud yet. So, the start of each sub-day cycle was usually a careful preparation to hold back what she knew she could be. So annoying… She opened the blinds and looked out on the city, the tiny lights in the apartment windows in the distance flicking on and off, the people rubbing their eyes through their car windows. The start of the daily grind. In the distance, the crescent shaped test-island that was Al Saqr HQ beckoned. She made her way to the kitchen machine that her subconscious had already willed into action and ran its prepared caffeine extract straight into her metabolism port. Yes. Today was a big day.

---

Layla was a pilot study in more ways than one. She may not always come in at the top, but it didn’t matter. There was another finish line she was racing towards.

“I see you’re taking on the modifications to the neural limiters well,” Dr. Nasri said. And Layla thought: of course. If you’ve routinely load your brain with more, you just reflexively come to know which data can be outsourced to the AI systems, and the strangeness of the data gets easier to parse as well. “Thanks, doc. Told you I’m made for this.”

“No one’s denying you’re gifted, Layla. There’s a reason Al Saqr wanted you on board.” She paused a little before continuing, clacking her fingers on her terminal’s user interface. “But I am tasked with caring for your health and wellness, no matter how much you roll your eyes at me.” Dr. Nasri smiled a little, though Layla swore it turned a little wry as the holographic scans popped up. The borderline-hollow shell that was her body, with some greens and green-yellows highlighting whatever metrics they were tracking. “Physically, you’re top of the shelf, of course. But I am more curious if your new augmentations and setup has any psychological effects. I’d like to go over a few questions with you.” Layla shrugged. “Shoot, doc.”

“How did you feel after the Tokyo race?” “Oh, it was intense. We really pushed our limits out there, did things we weren’t sure we could pull off if I’m perfectly honest about it. But I feel that we could’ve gone further. The win was good, don’t get me wrong… but it's nowhere near the end of the story as far as I'm concerned.”

“How have you been sleeping? Any odd dreams?” Layla shrugged. “I’m sleeping OK. A bit less than what I used to, but it doesn’t really bother me. Neither does the lack of dreams. I used to have nightmares every now and then, but that’s mostly over now too, luckily.”

“I see.” The doctor said as she jotted down some notes. “Would you say you’ve been feeling sharper or more energetic lately?” “Definitely. It takes a while after waking, but sometimes it’s like time slows down, like I’m thinking two steps ahead, you know? It can make routine things a bit boring sometimes, though. Then I just think about other things, play some low-level training programs.”

“Have you noticed a difference in how you connect with people?” “Well, yes. With expanded mental processing I can easily study peoples' micro-expressions, simulate responses and such… So in a way, I do understand people better, faster, deeper, but they become more distant at the same time, hesitant, alien. I try to keep things light, but all the neural and computational mods just make things, well, different.”

“Tell me about these extra sensory details you’ve been picking up on, anything you didn’t notice before?" “Yes. Slight vibrations, the humming of machines. It’s subtle, but it’s like I can see a whole new world now. And sometimes, ” her voice reduced to a whisper. “I can hear whispers, little voices in the background, in the binary data streams. Do you think the machine god's talking to me?” Nasri looked up from her tablet, then said “Are you serious, Layla?” Layla seemed to hesitate a little, then burst a smile. “Sorry Doc. Couldn’t resist.” “At least the humor’s still intact, huh?”

“Who would your parents say you are without your enhancements?” Layla was taken aback. For the soft and wooly, fluffy voice of their doctor, she threw the question out there like a grenade. “Huh. That’s… that’s certainly a question.” Then she thought for a while, and answered “I know what you’re getting at, Doc. I’m fine, don’t worry.”

The doctor smiled, knowing perfectly well she had avoided the question. But it was fine. Getting the answer wasn’t the point. “Good to hear that, Layla. Then, unless you’ve got anything else, you’re free to go.”

“Thanks, Doc…” Layla replied, and packed her things to leave in silence.

And as Layla stepped outside of the room and the automated door slid closed, Salma Nasri MD sat back in her chair, opened Layla’s profile once more, created a new report, flagged it to management-only, and noted ‘Progress on Al-Nadir all-green. Advice: proceed as outlined in the strategic development plan.’

---

“Have you heard anything from Kais yet? I’m getting a bit worried.”

“You’re too sweet for your own good, Nadia. It’s Kais we’re talking about, he’s been through worse than an AGP win. I don’t think there’s any need to worry, even if he was vague about it.”

“It’s just so unlike him. Usually he pretty much lives here.”

“He won and yes, he worked hard for it, he has every excuse to take some time off. He still has plenty of hours of leave, and it’s better if he takes some now while they’re recalibrating the sims and trialing the ship setups for the Luna training sessions rather than in the middle of them. He’ll be back soon enough, you know him: when he has something on his mind, he goes for it ‘with more than 100%’.” Layla said, trying his best to imitate Kais’ accent.

“So what’s on his mind now, then?”

“You wouldn't understand." Kais had said, but Layla kept that to herself.

Layla smiled an empty smile as she touched Nadia with the lightest touch of reassurance. Layla had shocked herself somewhat at the Tokyo race when she hugged their one-time star pilot (ad-interim, she emphasized to herself). She had let some of her oh-all-too-human emotions get the better of her. It had been a while since she let herself do that, with… well, more or less natural humans. Touch amongst bio’s tended to become distant if not outright foreign with such sustained use of industrial-grade cybernetic implants as Layla had: for all their advancements, with the level of experimental and extreme augmentation she had, one wrong cross-system setup, one mismatch when the firmware updated, one wrong intent signal in the heat of the moment, one wrong force calibration, one wrong safety check, and, well, good thing it had been Kais there, then…

But, judging by the expression on Nadia’s face, she disbelieved her gesture of reassurance. Layla had erred the pressure too much on the side of caution again, it seemed. She looked in Nadia’s eyes with a slight mix of concern and pity, though even she was unsure if it was for her, or for the person she saw in her eyes' reflections. “Speaking of vacation hours, you need to take some time off as well, you know… Do you have any plans later? There’s this new VR arcade down the road from me, wanna join?”

---

“Where can I get a cup of coffee around here?” Kais called out. He had rented an electro-cycle at the most rickety shop he could find, and gave something extra to make sure there would be no location-tracking on the thing. After that, he had raced straight here, parked nearby and walked down the road between the waving, wafting coffea trees. The farmhouse was small, but enough, dug down halfway into the earth, and was made of natural stone for insulation. Kais felt it almost quaint, as if he had gone back in time after the neon bath that was Tokyo, a nostalgia to a time he had never even known.

A man came wandering around the corner of the house calling “No! No, I don’t want any more visitors, I’ve had more than enough of those.” Then he took a good look at the one standing on his doorstep, pointed at him, and said, “And especially not you!”

“Really grown into the grumpy old man you always were.” Kais answered, arms crossed. “You’ve gotten old, Khaled.”

“You too… more or less…” the old former-rebel replied, with a tone in his voice that bordered on surprise and spite. Kais just shrugged. “Good genetics, I suppose.”

Khaled seemed almost bewildered to see Kais here, and it took him a few seconds to continue his line of questioning. “What are you doing here? Why bother me now?”

“I… Something happened in Tokyo. I’ve acquired something.”

“Really?” Khaled replied. “Came all the way over here to show off your little trophy?”

“I’m not talking about that.” But he did know, huh? “I’ve gotten to know something about… us. From back in the war.”

“After all these years, you dare come to me for the war? After what you did during the final--…?”

“Don’t put that on me, Khaled.” Kais snapped, a knot filling his stomach he hadn’t felt in a long time. He knew exactly what he was talking about. The Final Storm. “Don’t dare forget that I lost then too.”

“For goodness sake. Just let me be.” He said, turning around and started walking away. “We’re at peace. The wars are over.”

“Not for me!” echoed across the fields.

And Khaled sighed. “Heard that a lot over the years.” He looked out over his coffee fields. The road in between. The road had seen others walk before him. “Why did you tell the others about me?” He turned back to Kais. “Because I had to.” Kais said. “After one of the S-VET support meetings, when another one of us… Well, you didn’t know him anyway, and you wouldn’t care, would you?” He hesitated a little before continuing. “I told them that you were…” A friend? “That you could be trusted, if things were not fine, if anything were to happen.”

A silence. Then Kais turned to face Khaled, and said. “I need to know who came to see you.”

Khaled sighed and thought for a long time. A very long time. Then he spoke, his voice a reconciled whisper. “What happened, Kais?”

Kais rubbed the back of his neck as he looked around, searching where to even begin. Then he nodded. “Got any coffee?” And, on the inside, Kais couldn’t help but feel a wry tinge of a smile: he hadn’t called him by his number, at least…

---

“Did you have a nice trip?” Layla asked.

“Yes.” Kais said, though his mind seemed to be everywhere but the present. He went through the motions well enough: hung up his coat, loosened his collar, cleaned his neural link, then went straight through diagnostics, and then on to the sims. Business as usual, except that it wasn't. “Good.” Layla said. A silence. “Anything else?”

“Got sniffed out by airport security again… What did I miss?” Kais quickly added, clearly trying to avoid talking about whatever he was dealing with.

“Well, people are happy for our win.”

“Good.” Kais said. A silence. “Anything else?”

“Doc wants to speak to you. And we’re all set to begin training for Luna.”

---

“Lead, you won’t believe this, it's huge!” Ferriss said as she went over the monitoring data. The lunar satellite train had been scouting the lunar surface for promising mining sites, which robotic scouting rovers double-checked. And sometimes, they made for golden discoveries. “We’ve got a massive deposit a few clicks from here, right under the surface!”

---

“Mining team, check-in.” Crackled through the static. “Status on drill 7?”

“All systems functioning, Lead.” Layla replied. “We’re about 10 meters down, soil’s getting denser.”

“Understood. Keep it steady. Don’t push it too far. Can’t afford another cave-in.”

---

Kais and Layla were discussing driving techniques in reduced gravity. Over the past few days Layla had schooled Kais on the finer points of gravitic and magnetic manipulation as well as how the pulse drive would function differently in an environment more frictionless than even earthbound maglev due to the lack of atmosphere. It was interesting to see the two do their thing: Layla knew Luna quite intimately, the subtle but alien shifts in how to handle herself, and stayed within her personal safety margins. Kais, however, had decided to take the complete opposite route: try to see where the edges of handling were. And Yasif, head of simulations, decided to alter the scenario a little more. He turned to Nadia beside her as she was going over the telemetry and whispered “Watch how Layla adjusts the neural dampeners in the middle of maneuvering. I think she’s doing it to alter her time perception: more processing to compensate for the relatively ‘slower’, more careful pace of the lunar environment.”

“It’s really cool,” Nadia nodded, but there seemed to be a note of tension in her voice. “Do you think it’s safe the way she's using it? With the risk of hyper-stimulation?”

“I get the concern, but she outsources most of it to her computation cores anyway. I don’t even think she’s thinking about it anymore, it’s all reflexive at this point. And they both seems to manage it well. Layla with her mods, Kais with his sheer stubbornness, his instincts, his... experience. Makes them quite the match, even though they seem completely different.” Layla laughed in cheer as she overtook Kais. “It’s fascinating, like you’re watching two species evolve in real-time.” Yasif said under his breath, offering Nadia some snacks. “Biscuit?”

“Does it ever worry you?” Nadia asked, taking one of the cookies, her eyes firmly fixated on the data streams -chocolate pistachio, nice. “That Layla’s… more machine than woman now, I guess?”

“It’s something we struggle with a lot, actually. At Layla’s amount of mods, the distinction between what she actually feels and what all her systems tell her to feel gets tricky: feedback loops, over-stimulation, noise, phantom sensations, glitches; so, what do you filter out, what do you let through? It’s one reason why I think our work on the neural dampener is so important.”

“It’s worrying me.” Nadia replied. “The CMO came to talk to us about it recently. If something goes wrong with it during the race…” She didn't even dare finish the sentence.

“Yes, and that’s precisely why we put them through the wringer here.”

“That’s the stuff.” Layla cheered as she finished the race. “Nadia, see that? That's how you do a moon race!”

Kais smirked as he came back out of the simulation, glancing towards the two of them. “Stop coddling her, chief.”

And they sure didn’t. Yasif, ever the obliging sims engineer, instructed Nadia to select the lunar dust blowout option. And the crash was hard.

---

Layla woke up with a sudden jolt. She felt heavy, and her mind was slow. Had the years with the moon’s low gravity slowed down even her mind now? She breathed and shifted, and felt… something. It took a few seconds, but she finally figured out what the sensations were under her head. They were pillows, soft, somewhat luxurious, even. There was a smell of sterility in the room, and she noticed how high-resolution the smells were here. How the white walls were… too bright. And too far away. Why was there so much space here? Where in the world…?

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep. The heart monitor said as the realization hit her.

She was back. She leaned back into her bed, her throat closed up and the pit of her stomach churned with those all-too-human emotions. Damnit. Yes, of course. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep. The alarms had said before it all went dark. An unexpected disruption in a critical mining system as they were working on them. Then: paralysis, panic. “Get them off of me!” she remembered shouting at her legs.

She lifted up her blankets, and saw the prosthetics sticking out from under her. Standard procedure for heavy-duty accidents, according to the corp’s health insurance policies. Return to Earth on the first helium-3 shipment possible in a state of controlled low-consciousness and metabolism, then medical aid, apparently with the highest grade of prosthetics they could get their hands on.

It must’ve been one hell of an accident, according to the reports and news articles… Layla’s parents were borderline-hysterical about the whole thing, of course, but when weren’t they worried about her? Over the days, a parade of nurses and doctors came rushing in to check up on her.

Then: a lady dressed for business. Damnit, Layla thought. It never bode well when the suits decided they would have to interfere. She kept her eyes firmly locked on her legs and prepared for something even worse.

“Layla Al-Nadir, my name’s Ashari. It’s good to see you’re doing better. I hope you’ve been comfortable?”

“As comfortable as one can be after waking from a coma with their legs replaced.” Layla offered dryly. “What’s this about? You’re not really here to check in on me, are you?”

Ashari put on a smile, but the eyes stayed as businesslike as they always were. “Straight to the point, very well. I’m here to talk about your future with our company. We’ve gone over your recent… incident, and while we’re overjoyed to see you’ve taken well to the prosthetics and rehabilitation, the company has decided it would be best for you not to return to lunar operations.”

“Excuse me?” Layla’s face paled. “You think I’m just going to give this up? I've got years more experience than half the techs there! And you gave me a contract. You can’t just pull me!”

“We’re truly, very thankful for your service, and your experience. However, our assessments have concluded that, considering the physical and psychological demands on-site, your current conditions may not be compatible.”

Layla scoffed. “You think I can’t handle a few more upgrades if it comes down to it?”

The suit seemed taken aback by the suggestion. Layla hadn’t even hesitated in suggesting more augmentations. “Miss Al-Nadir, I appreciate your spirit. Let me make it absolutely clear that we don’t doubt your personal abilities, nor your character. There have simply been… concerns within the board, about liability and sustainability. Even with augmentations, we must consider your sustained well-being and operational efficien--”

“So I’m a liability, then?” Laya almost spit back at her. “You’re more worried about the cost and image of it all than about what I want and what I can actually do. It’s all just PR, isn’t it, Miss Ashari?”

“Layla,” Ashari continued, as if she hadn’t even heard Layla’s response, “the company is willing to offer you a severance package, more than enough to support whatever you decide to do from here. Furthermore…” She played with her pen, as if hesitating to even bring it up, “if you’re interested, we have opportunities -on Earth-” she emphasized “in our training division.”

“Training division?” Layla almost laughed, then shook her head, though her feelings about it were as much desperation as it was anger. “No, no. You’re not going to stick me behind a desk to watch others take my place, and tell me it’s a ‘glorious new opportunity.’”

Ashari paused, but kept her expression cool and collected. “Layla, this is the best offer we can make. We respect all you’ve done for the company, and hope to see you back, else we wish you well. And that’s final.” She turned to Layla and emphasized. “You’re not going back.”

A silence. A long silence. Then, Layla whispered. “We’ll see about that…”

The woman in the suit stood up, took her sweet time to pack her tablet into her bag, and left with an eye-less smile, halfway between concern and pity. Then the nurses came, supplied Layla with water and food. Took readings. And in time, the Beep-Beep of the heart monitor slowed down again. Slowly.

Too slowly.

And Layla thought: No. That would be the first thing she would replace.

And then? Everything else.

---

“By the way…?” Layla asked over the soft humming of the skilift as the duo made their way up the mountain. “What did the doc tell you?”

“To take it easy…” Kais said.

The two shared a pause, then chuckled.

When they arrived, the Delta Hyper crew had already been well busy setting up The couch. Out in the open, and Kais internally sighed a little. Though he was made with hostile environment resistance in mind, that didn’t necessarily mean he liked the frigid cold, the thin air. Luckily, instead of the usual too-bright lamps, he felt infrared lamps heat him as he took his place in the spotlights once more. Some last minute brushings of makeup later -you’d think they’d be able to do that with AI nowadays-, ‘a little bit more to the left’ for the view, and the crew thumbs upped each other and the red recording light turned on.

“Kais Zenix, one time race winner, and now here with us on the couch for Delta Hyper! This might be a bit different to Egypt, but do you think with your fast ship you can repeat your achievement in Tokyo on the slopes here in Italy?”

“A bit frosty here.” Kais said as he looked around the snowy mountain top, the cabin framed behind him undoubtedly a Delta Hyper sponsor. “But I’ve been told that the piatto del montanaro is good here.” Kais said, echoing something their pilot manager had said as they were scrolling through the cabin’s reviews on the flight over. “As for the race, there is strong competition for the top spots.” He looked out onto the players queueing up behind the camera crew. “Nora, Beatrix…” her “...and Amy, of course.” Kais saw Paul munching on some popcorn in the background as Layla gestured in faux-alarm, mouthing the words 'what about me?'.

Kais continued. “But I’ll manage. In this weather the energy systems won’t have to cool as much as in Cape Town, and the track isn’t as wild as Tokyo, so I can dump most of the power straight into the pulse drive. And with all the long straights to battle for positions?” He shrugged. “I wish them the best of luck.”

---

The two looked out on the holographic leaderboard as the qualifying rounds came in, and in, and in. And then: the shift. Layla to fourth. And Kais: to second place. Second. Kais gritted his teeth, and the name of this race’s target came over his lips. “Nora Kelly, huh…”

---

---

DELTΔ HYPER

A Couch in the Sky

---

"Well, it sounds like a dream for an ex-rally driver such as yourself. It seems like Carrera in particular will enjoy this circuit- with the upgrades brought to the ship, it seems like the team seems to be more well oiled this year than in previous years. What do you think has been the main factor?"

”Yes, this place really has everything. We’ll see how the moon measures up for the views, but so far it’s not looking great for Lady Luna.” Bea nodded, gesturing to the mountains around them.
”That’s a question better asked of León than me honestly, he’ll have the numbers as well as a better reference of the previous years. I could say Pridwen money and tech or that we now have two drivers with different mindsets and thus two approaches to problems,“ As opposed to the 2093 Carrera Condor lineup of ‘Ava’ and ‘Budget Ava’, ”But I don’t want to sound like I’m tooting my own horn. I think it’s largely incremental improvement, trimming the fat and building on what works over the years. That, and Alex has practically been living in the sim hall to get all the upgrades dialled in before we even put our hands on them. Watch out for the future, slow and steady we’re coming for that crown.” She smiled confidently.

---

Bea nearly dropped her shades from laughter when Paul revealed his scorecards, having been too wrapped up with the last-minute prepwork of the first interview to notice them. ”Finally, some half-decent points!”

Bea stifled a laugh when Paul spoke glowingly about Italian fans, being the partial instigator of her own not as positive experience with them. As the saying went: ‘Talk shit, get hit.’ At least figuratively speaking.

---

”Provisional pole. Good drive.”
”It’s not telling us much, is it?” Bea lamented, ”I get it for the fans, but I really wish we ran this top to bottom instead.”
”It keeps the masses on the edge of their seats and we can make educated guesses. Subjective feeling?”
”Very good. Sectors one and three are mostly free time for us. Tweety Birds might kick our arse though.”
And she would continue to sit on provisional pole until Jamie’s masterpiece, one she laughed a lot harder at than she would’ve liked once the Canuck climbed out of the wreck, after which the top five of the season handily beat her. Ava’s position was a disappointment all things considered, but points were scored on Sunday.

---

”This corner is your problem. I think.” Bea appeared out of nowhere, setting down a tablet on the table and pointing out the 90 degree right-hander coming onto the dam in sector three.
Ava flinched a little at the unexpected bubbly Briton, too deep in thought over her telemetry to notice Bea’s approach. ”Don’t take this the wrong way, but do you mean this one that you lost time on me at?” Ava asked.
”Because I sacrificed it in favour of the next one. Look ahead. It took you until this slot right to stop falling behind again and you’ve not made up any time until the end of the lap.” Bea pointed some six corners ahead.
”Go on.” Ava nodded, still not getting anywhere with it herself and it would explain how Bea could shoot out of the following corner that much faster.
”Brake early to get onto the dam and you can take the corner off it under ten percent power to reduce throttle lag before the straight.“ She explained, considering the small left kink part of the straight as that was also taken at full throttle. Another point to piston engines over turbines: Instant throttle response, even from idle. ”Don’t fight our stability, use our acceleration. I did this and I’m level on pace with Southern Cross from there all the way until this double apex bastard by the museum.”
Ava looked over the overlaid charts for a few seconds. ”Thanks for the tip.”
”Just returning a favour, Ace.” Bea smiled back, ”We have to get you into points tomorrow. I smell a constructors’ position in the air, the Yankees are struggling something fierce here.”
”Oh, did you get the memo that circulated when you were in the shower?”
”No?” She said surprised, intending to have a chat about not being in the loop with the team member responsible. ”What memo?”
”Someone at merch got a ‘wild hair,’ as you say. They’re launching Condor plushies with removable racing helmets at three o’clock, they want us manning the stand.” Ava almost rolled her eyes at the responsibility, actually rolling her eyes at Bea’s excited reaction.

---

[Liked by Bea Ward]

ChesterFromChester: Sounds more like a Hart thing to do.
Zero: [A screencap from the same movie, with Bea’s face added over the original actress.]
MadBea: I guess that’s the Halloween costume settled. :D
Cats4Life: Big “Oof!” Villarosa.
AndesAG: shell catch up over the long distance
Xinny: Someone finally got fed up and stuffed a rag into the air intake of Stirling’s ship before the session.
GalwayGirl: Shush! They’ll find it now. :p
Laugh_Ness: mate, argies been mighty silent since tokyo. think they’re maybe finally realising the last good driver they produced was colapinto 70 years ago?
NineIron: Guy’s rolling in his grave so hard he could power Buenos Aires alone if they hooked him up to a genny every time Ibanez is on track anywhere.
_PsychoFish_: Nordic Call looking at their past and present rookies like “Frying pan and fire…”
Cookiesaurus: right in 1st sector too #washed
ForzaGl0ria: What you expect from a pineapple bandit?
TruckerTim: Canada committing war crimes against the barrier.
UrbanMaverick: I know you joked he looked suicidal after Tokyo but you might’ve been onto something there.
TruckerTim: I’ll take that job at Delphi now, thanks.
NeptuneQueen: As a lifelong Ambrogi fan I’m required to dislike Ward since 2091 but even I have to say that was one mother and fucker of a qualifying run.

---

”Oh, and regarding that: You’re on.” She jabbed a finger in his direction, referring to the drifting challenge he proposed. ”Manager at the Brooklands Mercedes World in London owes me a favor, I could get us a few hours on the attached test track.”

Paul: “Bea why would we go to England? You do know that Japan is the birthplace of drifting, right? Drifting tracks are still very popular here in Japan. I am sure we could rent a track for an hour or two to have some fun while we are here in Tokyo. If you have the time? I will be here after the race for a few days taking care of some sponsorship commitments.”

Paul threw the challenge out to the rest of the group.

Paul: “Would anyone else be interested in some time racing at a drifting track? Nora would you be interested? I know you are skilled if you were a street racer.”

“Reckon I could make that work. Just don’t whinge too hard when you lose, eh?” Nora’s smile split her face ear to ear, belying the cool tone she had replied in. In truth, drifting was only part of what she did, it wasn’t her specialty like road control and raw speed were, but like hell was she going to reveal that. Or lose, if she had anything to say about it.

“Bea why would we go to England? You do know that Japan is the birthplace of drifting, right? Drifting tracks are still very popular here in Japan. I am sure we could rent a track for an hour or two to have some fun while we are here in Tokyo. If you have the time? I will be here after the race for a few days taking care of some sponsorship commitments.”

”Because just because it’s from here doesn’t mean it’s special. Hamburgers are from Germany, yet it’s the Yanks you think of when you hear the word.” She shrugged, ”And if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right, with enough time, proper car for the occasion and everything.” She was also working a bit of an angle with it, because living with an older sister taught her it wasn’t a friendly competition if you weren’t tilting the field a little.

Paul laughed and tsked at her, shaking his finger. “Now Bea, there is something to be said for tradition. I know for a fact the track I have in mind has cars specifically set up for drifting. It is also a neutral track where neither one of us could call foul play or find unfavorable advantage. There is something to be said for neutral territory.” Paul sighed and smiled at Bea. “My calendar is pretty full for a bit. I don’t know when I can get to England. Maybe we can arrange that when I am in England for the English Grand Prix in June?”

“Much as I’d love to do it while we’re here in Japan I think we’ve all got commitments, but keep me in mind for this in England, right? We can hit it one arvo, or make a day of it.” Nora put in as she listened to the negotiations between the two rookies.

---

Qualifiers

“Just run it like a sim run, Nora.” The voice of Southern Cross's team principal came in over her headset as she was settling into the crafts systems. “Keep an eye on your energy levels and it’ll be a piece of piss.”

“Yes, Owen…” Nora said, internally rolling her eyes. She wasn’t as ready for the ELS-heavy track as she wanted to be, but she was as ready as she was going to be at this point. The rest of the track didn’t look to cause additional problems, and she was experienced flying by instruments from the sand-covered wastes the Interior made their homes on and the hash the sandstorms made of both visual sightlines and radar signals.

That said, her strategy going in was simple, take the corners as best she could and eke out as much speed as possible where she could, and it showed in her results. P6, her worst qualifying position so far and a difficult spot to come back from if she wanted a shot at the podium. It was the stability going into turns, she told herself, but she knew just as well it was her inexperience with the ELS system that was holding her back, and it stuck in her craw. It might not help in tomorrow's race, but she was going to put as much time into familiarizing herself with the systems intricacies as she could before they came back with a vengeance in the Lunar AGP.

---

Post Qualifying Interviews

After the qualifying session, the pilots were back again at the Delta Hyper booth within the paddock after various interviews and catch-ups with their teams, Rory back in presence, full body rather than just a head in the distance. The British commentator kept his mic set, catching each of the pilots as they came in.

"Nora, a shame about not making podium today, but it seems you're still getting to grips with the Formula AG energy system after making the switch from the Interior Circuit. How does Tokyo stack up as a street circuit for a former underground racer?"

Nora was still in her racing suit, excitement evident in her stance and expression. She may have only qualified P6, but this was Tokyo. “It’s… I don’t want to call it a religious experience, but Tokyo is a historic part of the sport, and one of the most publicized at that. I know I wasn’t the only one riding the Interior who dreamed of racing on the streets of Tokyo. It’s a shame I won’t be starting in a podium position, but I knew going into this one that my inexperience with the ELS system would cause problems. I’ve been practicing since South Africa, but two weeks will only go so far against some of the other racers on the grid. That said, Southern Cross makes the fastest ship on the course and it's a long race tomorrow, so we’ll see what happens on the track.”

---

---

An Underground Racers Day Out

It was race day once again, and once again rain had chosen to fill the skies. On one hand at least the AGs wouldn’t slide in the rain, but it also meant visibility was shit and she’d have to rely on her instruments. Not that it was a problem, but she’d hoped to have as few issues as possible with what she was already working with. She’d just have to make the best of it in the high-speed knife fight to come, and hope she’d come out on top. As the countdown began, she patted the Pounamu stone, held in a special pocket in her suit, and dove deep into her sled.

Into the race, and immediately Nora poured on the speed, trying to put early pressure on Layla and take the position before the other driver was ready to counter her. Just as she was pulling ahead she felt something grab her ship, and the ELS system started screaming about a lock. Layla snagged the lead again, and Nora just had to smile. This wouldn’t be her first win, not with her ELS experience holding her back, but it was on. The knife fight had begun in earnest.

Throughout the race Nora and Layla traded P5 and P6 back and forth, but Nora had Layla beat on pace, and each lap saw her grabbing just a little more space each time, until the final overtake, during the turning coming into the last straight and the final meters of the race. Here, Nora's speed and aggression won the day, and she pulled ahead one final time, crossing the finish line mere moments before Layla and grabbing a P5 finish for herself. It might not be a podium finish, but with the setup going into the race, and the fierce competition from Layla, she was proud of how she had raced that day.

---

Nora found Kais during the podium ceremony, after they had all gotten off the podium. After Beatrix had left, she walked up to Kais. “That was damn good racing, Kais, and congratulations on your win. I hope you can keep it up in Italy though, or winning against you won’t be nearly so satisfying.” Nora smiled as she said this, but there was a hard edge to it. He had taken something she had, perhaps wrongly, already thought of as her own. Both the first rookie this season to beat Amy, and the first rookie to finish in pole position. While she was genuinely happy for him, her pride also wouldn’t let a challenge like that go unanswered.

---

---

Delta Hyper Post Race Interviews: Sponsored by the Anti-Social Social Club

"Nelly, you and Layla were fighting the entire way, it looks like you certainly have your way with ! Even though you didn't have your ELS down, how did you feel about keeping Layla behind you and taking the P5?

Nora was smiling as she sat down for her interview, and leaned forwards before she answered the question. “It was a hard fought battle the whole way, Aurora. Layla kept me on my toes the whole time, can’t knock her racing or her skill. What I’m getting at is, it felt good. Very good, to beat someone of her caliber where she should have an advantage. And speaking of advantages… Kais Zenix, I’m coming for you in Italy.”

[Insert follow-up here]

---

Nora arrived a bit later than intended to the promised party and started at the bar. After, beer in hand, she spent most of the party watching others and thinking, occasionally chatting with anyone who drifted over.

---

The Ecstasy of Gold

Pulling out of it, Harrison grabbed his reusable cup, filling it with water from a nearby tap, looking across to Nora, also sharing a break.
"You feeling good for this? It's a difficult circuit to learn, no amount of neural training will truly prepare you, but, trust me. I adore it. Genuinely the most amount of fun you're ever gonna have in an AG ship." Harrison seemed pensive, but well, he had to be. There was a lot on the line. P1. And they were going to have to take it. He knew Nora was perhaps not as used to long, long tracks like these with this much undulation, but, if she could fly fast and handle well, she'd hold her own.

"I gotta admit though, I hope we break the duck here. Silver Apex feels so close in reach. And we should dominate this. But, I gotta say. We have a lot to prove."

“Bloody hell it’s a pretty course, and I’m feeling good about it.” After losing out on a spot on the podium in Tokyo, Nora had been training like a woman possessed. While she had been careful to get enough food and sleep, she had been spending most of her waking hours strategizing or in the simulators, trying to study past the trap of preparing for the last race, not the next one. “You’re right, we should dominate here. We have the speed and the handling, and even with my inexperience our energy systems are aces. We’ve shown them we can hang with the big dogs, so let’s see how they like it when they’re nipping at our heels for a change.” Nora's regular aggression had an extra edge to it, but it wasn’t directed at Harrison today. She knew the stakes, if they won here they’d take the lead in the Constructors, and they’d both make big strides toward dethroning Amy in the Pilots ranking.

None of that changed the cause of her excess aggression, though. Not that she had told anyone just yet. When they had gotten back from Tokyo, Nora had entered her apartment to find an envelope on her desk, made of fine paper and unmarked except for an old-fashioned wax seal made of swirled blue and green wax with gold flakes suspended within, and impressed with the symbol of a steering wheel. She’d opened the envelope, unable to deny what it meant even though she had grown to hate what it represented. As she cracked the seal and opened the envelope, the scent of very expensive cigars mixed with petrol hit her nose, shoving her violently back in time for a moment as she vividly remembered her first time smelling that exact combination. The head of Australia's largest mining syndicate and one of the owners of Australia's underground racing scene, and her former sponsor, Harold Keene.

Hello Nora,

I am glad to see you well after leaving our humble family. We were worried when you left unannounced, and without even leaving a forwarding address… But, it seems you have found a place of your own, racing among the stars. We are cheering for you from the sidelines.

But I do hope that you haven’t forgotten what you owe the family, yes? I expect you already know, especially with the money you cost the family by disappearing just before an important race.

We hope to see you again soon, Nora Kelly.

Until Then,

H. Keene

Nora wasn’t sure why he was reaching out now of all times, but the way he had reached out left no room for interpretation. I can reach you anywhere, it said. And it scared her.

---

Amongst the panic and the training regimes, one thing remained at pace throughout the chaos, suffering a remarkably small amount of overruns and delays. That is, the construction and finalization of Southern Crosses facility upgrades, which looked to be mere weeks from completion. The newly upgraded facilities were slated to bring in the best the team had been able to get their hands on, with up-to-date workspaces and equipment for each department and more, all within a carbon neutral footprint and designed and decorated by a team of local artists and architects to blend in with the natural beauty of the area. And who knows, perhaps with even more funding, especially with new sponsors pulled in by taking the lead from Silver Apex, it could be improved even further!

---

Nora had been looking forward to this race ever since Principle Keating had gone over the schedule pre-season during her initial onboarding with the team. Part of it was for the utterly amazing natural beauty on display, true, but the biggest excitement? This was the kind of track that was practically made for her! It had been race footage from the Marmolada AG Race Circuit in Italy and the Tokyo Expressway Circuit that had originally sparked her interest in racing as a young girl after all. And with her performance in Tokyo, she desperately wanted to win here of all places.

---

A Couch in the Sky

"Nelly, a pleasure for you to join us! Whilst a little different to Tokyo, do you think the pundits have got it right that Southern Apex are the hot favorites for Italy?"

“It’s a pleasure to be here Aurora, Rory!” Nora replied, her entire body practically radiating excitement. Her usual punk attire was, this time, covered by a large, fluffy coat in the Southern Cross colors, the young woman clearly being unused to the penetrating, bone-chilling cold of a glacial mountain range, even with the off-screen heater. “This is one of the circuits that inspired me to become a racer in the first place, and it feels like it was designed for our sleds! The speeds we can get up to with the straights, it's just… it’s bloody ace is what it is! I think the pundits are right, we’re the team to beat here!” As she finished waxing enthusiastically, she caught sight of Paul, and his shenanigan with the signs, and almost managed to control her snort. Almost.

---

La Forza

It was almost time to put her mettle to the test. One lap, one push to see where she would start. Once again Nora sank into her sleds systems and settled into the vibrating heartbeat of her waka, the electrical impulses of its circuitry like the blood pumping through her veins, barely contained and ready to fly.

And fly she did, running one of the best laps of her life, not just her career so far with Formula AG. Sector one flashed by as Nora threw herself into the series of hairpins and curves that made up the early portion of the sector before absolutely sending it down the slope and then up and off the ramp that was the track along Rifugio Forcella Pordoi.

As she landed and entered sector two, her landing jarring even through the special dampening that had been put into place. Leaning into the Southern Cross wakas superior handling, she worked to keep as much speed as she could during the hairpins and switchbacks that made up much of the sector, but only so much speed could be kept through those sections.

Sector three then, starting with a perfect alpine road. Passo Fedaia let her take her beast of a rocketship up to full throttle, and the roaring this created was nothing short of spectacular, driving her to even greater heights of speed and daring as she came around the left hander and out onto the Terazza Marmolada itself. The single best part of this race, the feeling of racing along the roof, the very peak of the Dolomites themselves! And a perfect place to overtake any who dared take this from her.

---

“Bring ‘er in for cooldown Nelly, damn good run!”

“Got it Long, thanks for the tips on the energy collection systems during practice, felt like they paid dividends!”

“Bloody oath they did, Nelly. Your time puts you at Provisional Pole with that, and only Al-Saqr and Apex are left to run.”

“Fuckin’ ace!”

---

“I told you there wouldn’t be issues, even with her… inconsiderate departure.” a gravelly voice said, almost purring with how pleased its owner was.

“Mm. You were right, Keene. Like always.” A younger voice, this one cold and emotionless, spoke in reply. The two men returned to silence, watching the coverage as a historic rookie took pole position in the qualifiers and the three time running champion didn’t even start on the podium. A faint clink came from the glasses as the two toasted, the details known to them alone.

---

Sylvans Characters

A Couch in the Sky

The interviews got all manner of chuckles from the pilots and the pundits alike, including Paul and Bea's various antics. But, as the main batch finished up with thank yous and goodnights, the next batch came in. The other pilots had been trickling into the rifugio, Max rubbing shoulders with Astrid, Amy with Harrison, and all of them passed by the other pilots. Perhaps they weren't talking to our crew of pilots, the cameras following various conversations and interviews, but, they'd be in direct contact, and would see it, there and then. Cue the hypercut.

"Strada Alpina? Yeah, it's an absolute menace of a circuit. So, so unrelentingly fast. It's a pilot's favourite for a good reason." Harrison replied, a smile on his face, the next interview cutting in from Ava.

"Thoughts on the team's growth? Sure, we have got more to do in the R&D department, we know we haven't got the resources. But like Valkyrie and Zygon are showing this year, sometimes you need small. We're a tight knit bunch, not sure I'd call us a family, much more a bit more a dysfunctional set of siblings but uhh....yes, it works!" Ava replied, a smile forming on her face- perhaps even her iron cold heart warming to Bea's approach of being more open. Like Lando Norris being opened up by Carlos Sainz, she was actually growing even beyond her history.

"For the race? Hmm...I would say we maximise the ship. As Paul says, we have an incredible handling ship, but we need to make the most. People underestimate those hairpins!" Dorian spoke in near perfectly fluent Italian- the European of the grid showing his mastery, no Earworm needed to verbalise what he wanted to say, he just said it in a near impeccable tone.

"Well, Tokyo proves our ship can make it work when we have to. We'll just attack in the race. And I expect if some mistakes happen, we can take advantage." Astrid seemed actually more upbeat than usual. Like for some reason, getting a podium had lit a fire under her normally stoic demeanour, yet she still seemed very matter of fact.

"I mean, we can't say what'll happen. Our ship is a good balance, so here we might not dominate, but, I've done well on the grid and I think I can take us higher. Forza Zygon!" Cassie smirked, candid to camera, her qualy result actually quite positive considering everything.

Kofi seemed to be shivering. "I always get cold here! Why do we come here, I say, it's too snowy and wintery up here! Haha, I joke, but yes, I do have the heater on in the ship, even with all of the systems connected, nothing really prepares you for it!"

Then the American, in his teal blue puffy jacket and his cool blonde hair, manicured like he was out here shooting an advert of his own. And cool as Max would like to be. "Yeah, I guess we were not sure either, I mean our pace in practice so far isn't great but we can make that up in the race. We have some ideas to counter pure speed, and here, it rewards talent a hell of a lot. So better make that work, am I right?"

"It's a lot of nasty rumours, and look, I want to dispel now, we're still hiring, we are still functioning as always, and I wouldn't believe everything you read, Aurora." Henry's reply seemed drilled, and once again, absolutely none of the pilots on the veranda believed it.

"Losing my streak? Nah. I think we just hit upon a bad tune at the end of practice, but that's just from trying to make up positions that would fit us both. We risked and failed. It happens. You only get points on Sunday, and we'll need to qualify well tomorrow. We'll see what happens then." Amy's smile was almost a threat, like a "we are coming", sort of look, one that never faded with how competitive she was.

---

Episode Four: Azzuro Alpina

Soundtrack: EOB- Shangri-La (Spike Stent Edit)

Sitting in his teal-blue suit inside the MMR cabin, Max was going through his telemetry, pouring over data on the lap with Carl, his engineer, sitting inside the start-finish adjacent pit box, parked on top of a mountain. The heating was on full blast, warming up the cabin to a degree that would feel toasty compared to the polar-like cold outside.

"Right, so we haven't got the power here. Or handling. What have we got?" Max asked, Carl nodding, looking at the same glass tablet and wall of AR-enabled data as he was, but seeing something else.

"There's going to be a lot of gain you can make here. Deployment is good here too. And, Sector 3 is where you can make it up. You are posting good times in the glacier section, and overtakes can happen there. So let's target that." Carl added, running the footage back again. He was supportive, that much Max could say about Carl- like an adoptive dad almost, and if Max knew he got any offers from anywhere, he was going to follow him. Carl continued, going through the next bit.
"See, here you can tailor your line in a bit tighter. The ship can give. Think you can do that tomorrow?"

"Sure."

With it, Max once again ran through the numbers, and with it, made his tweaks, using the other pilots data to find their weaknesses, and like a game of chess, unpick them.

Cue the montage, and running it back, and then paired that up with some physio, and some light augment review, MMR's doctor checking his heart, vessels and neural link, all of which were green light and good to go.

It was repetitive, but soon, he had what he wanted. And walking outside, all finished for the day as the sunset came in, he took in the view once more.

Racing was beautiful, but in a place like this, it was cinematic. Stunning, if not even more like a drama than usual, then here, it felt like it. Sometimes, he reminded himself just how lucky he was.

Staring into the horizon, the sight of Dorian coming in between the cabins up to the snowbank caught him by surprise, the esteemed gent of the grid standing by Max's side, wearing the team's grey with yellow, featuring pink-stitches puffy jacket. A whiteout had hit on one side of the mountain, creating an empty void of absolute grey nothing- with features barely visible beyond it.

"Enjoying the view? Or what is left of it?" Dorian asked, Max shirking a smile, shaking his head, seeing Dorian come to join

"Yeah. And with what we did....what do you want me to say. Future isn't now, old man?" Max chuckled, shoving his shoulder gently in response to the qualy results, Dorian shrugging in return.

"Well, I did speak to you and Ulrich a lot back when you were in the Junior AG leagues, so yeah, I knew you guys were coming after my position. Now look at you both. How's he doing?" There was an element there that may not have been as visible, but well, it was clear Dorian at one point had been involved in their development. A mentor of sorts, even if that meant things had changed now, and he couldn't talk direct, he was always interested in them. Now he had to go toe to toe with them.

"Ulrich? Yeah, he's....he's okay. Got a lot of issues with debt. But, he worked out a payment plan. Poor guy told me back in Tokyo, broke down to me completely. Shit, it was bad, Dorian." The American's usually chirpy demeanour seemed to bare all, Dorian shaking his head in response. He knew, deep down, something wasn't right. Even from that first chat in Auckland.

"Dammit. I knew he had something going on. He never told me. Explains a lot, actually. His father was the most stressed looking man I have ever seen." Dorian added, leaning against the cabin, looking across to Max.

"Yeah, well, it's not looking like such a problem now. Ulrich is doing what he has to, he's got enough money in this contract of his to pay it back, but he's crashing in Montreal in a place I helped him find until it tides over, far as the people he owes money know, he's under contract and it's being paid out. You know, doing the right thing and all that, keeps his head down. So, tell me. What's it like being under Alexander? Like, really. Come on. Don't give me a media response." Max's American drawl curled, the Colorado-bound native not really cold up here on top of a mountain in the early spring.

"It is uhh....different. He wants different things. He's read a lot of books on marginal gains, I can tell you that much. Forgets sometimes you know, pilots are still human. And it's weird given we raced together, it's hard to listen to a boss who was on the other side of the grid you know, it's a strange voice and I still can't get used to it. But he is a breath of fresh air. Good even compared to last year's shitshow. Cassie and the Principal made it a mess. No idea how Felix bailed our asses out then." Dorian mused, thinking that year over. It was still a solid constructors finish, but not exactly amazing.

"And Paul? He was a machine in the Junior AG league. Dude was relentless." Max joked, Dorian again, shrugging.

"He's like you. A lot like you. A talent, but, he has a lot to learn. I think you picked it up faster, but we'll see. And between me and Paul, we can wrap up a podium on the constructors for the next few races, and...yeah, we'll make it work." Dorian cooly replied, Max chuckling in reply.

"Yeah, well, this retirement tour you can enjoy old man, but after, we'll be coming after you. MMR has big plans. Serious money being thrown in. And, turns out that engineers are just running from Fitzroy are coming in."

"Really?"

"Yeah, a lot of them are leaving. You heard the rumours, right?"

"I thought their engineering department was terrible?"

"Yes, but not the ones that kept them afloat. I think there's going to be some serious changes in the grid. Lot of people want to go join other teams. And there's gonna be some changes."

"You took to paddock rumours like a duck to water, Max. Careful."

"Well, you gave me some juicy ones on your boss. But I respect you too much to tell anyone else. That stays with us. But...you know. Gossip is fun."

"Always is." Dorian smirked, as Max let there be a break in conversation, before asking what next.

"So, when you retire this season, then what? You aren't exactly going to go have a family. What are you gonna do?" Max asked, Dorian shrugging.

"Not this. I've done this for at least 20 years. It's all I know. Maybe I'll try endurance. Or classics racing. Or something else. Find someone permanent. I mean, there's a guy I'm talking to at the moment. Really cool. Laurent."

"You're actually going to settle down? Woah, Playboy 2080, you're gonna stop?"

"Maybe." Dorian mused, Max shaking his head in return.

"Nah, you're addicted. I bet you'll sign for another team again. Maybe go ask Silver Apex if they want to kick Hart out?" Max replied, the two laughing as Dorian's lips turned to a curling smile.

"Well....who knows really. Or perhaps someone else will. I don't see him staying long." Dorian seemed to speak what every pilot was thinking, as he looked into the horizon. "You know what they do to their pilots. Amy is harder to work with than any pilot I know, and that ship is even more tricky. This time though....maybe they'll rethink their approach. Right now, it's their championship to still win. If they want to take it, Amy alone will not win that for them. Not with the other teams hunting them the way they are. Even if Southern Cross slip, Al-Saqr have their cyberwoman and their supersoldier to keep the heat on them." Dorian added sighing, as he went somewhere with this.

"So you don't know but....Cassie wanted that seat at Silver Apex badly this year. That's why she was so difficult. They picked Jamie over her early in last season, because he was like Bea, a talent that just consistently scored points and followed orders even when Astrid didn't get it quite right. So, Cassie got mad. She was under the belief the team biased the ship to me. They didn't, it just prioritised a high level of grip and corner stability over speed. Cassie is just impatient. Talented, but she wants the top spot now. And no amount of PR hides it." Dorian commented, tapping his feet into the snow, Max looking even shocked to hear that from his mentor.

"Shit. Didn't realise it went that badly between you two. I thought it was all just hype?"

"Nope. She decided she wanted out. Nobody stopped her. And she picked Zygon of all places. Literally the worst call she could have made for who she is as a person. She's not a corpo, she's a free-wheeling environmentalist who'd be out as much as Harrison is. I mean, is she gonna modify herself like Layla is to do what's gonna get her the top spot? She's placed well in that ship in qualifying. But in the race, I know how to pick her lock, she goes for flashy, not for smooth. I think I'm not alone." Dorian was open, almost as if in retirement, he didn't care he was telling a rival this, given that was how deep the rift was between them. Deep like the crevasse in the glacier ahead.

"You two not even going to talk it out? Man, I've never seen you like this. Thought you were Mister Cool, you know." Max commented, Dorian shrugging like he did not care a bit.

"What is there to discuss? She could have made something more of herself at Valkyrie. And instead, she wanted the glory. This is not about just you as the person, Max. Learn that from me. It's about the team you are in, that takes you places. The bigger whole. A lot of people at the factory rely on you to do well not because they want some extra money after their Universal Basics (a modified version of UBI that includes food, water, most housing, as well as a small volume of relevant currency for goods/services based upon small, contract-like piecemeal fixing works now present in most sectors), but because they believe in you, they tell their kids about you, and they want to be part of that story of you taking the top spot. Least you can do is take the big paycheck and make sure their hard hours of paid off, because they are the reason you go anywhere. Even if I don't agree sometimes with how management may do that." Dorian wisely mused, as Max looked into the abyss again, at the closing in whiteout.

"I know. You told me before....yet what's the point if you don't make something of yourself on talent? You don't become champion by being selfless. Not like you know. No offense." Max replied, Dorian shrugging. A lot of P2s would be a stain on his career, but, the sheer amount suggested Dorian was once the very top level, even if a tiny bit shy of it.

"None taken. But you can't become a champion without a team that will make sure your team-mate helps you. Or will give you upgrades, and most of all, believes you will do it and will work 80 hours in a week to rush an upgrade to make you gain half a second in a lap. And belief is more powerful than an engine we can make. You'll find out soon when MMR upgrade. People leave. Things change. And belief, belief that you're not a committee but a cohesive unit of people willing to do what is necessary to win, that changes more than you ever know. I still want Valkyrie to be like that, but, changing all the time is going to stop that. So don't listen what they have to say. Come on, let's get out of this cold. And away, before cameras catch us."

With that, the two headed out of freezing cold whiteout that hit the top of the mountain, and back to their huts, as if the conversation never happened.

---

The Overtakes You Don't Make

Soundtrack: Koven- Chase the Sun

"Are we going to try our launch strategy, see if we can run the ELS heavy?" Astrid asked, merely wanting confirmation.

"Go for it, Astrid. Let's snatch some positions, hold to the end. You know what to do. Go get them, Asti." The reply from Magnus Vagurson, her Race Engineer was a definitive one.

Sitting inside the cockpit, the canopy shutting in, Astrid looked across to her side, more regular programming than Tokyo, given that she was 12th on the grid, and behind an ascendant Carrera Condor that now seemed to be hogging the share of points Nordic Call usually took. This far back, she had to take some risks. And as the red came on, the ice queen zoned into what she had as a strategy. Same as what Max did. Push hard in the first lap, and take risks in the glacier section.

The sky was lightly clouded, the tempurature at 3000m was -4, and down in the valley below, a balmy 4C. The ship hummed, and the neural link gently burned into Astrid's mind, her literal psyche as if she was a sprinter in the blocks, about to accelerate like a bullet from a gun. Quite literally, AG ships accelerated close to that.

And the lights in sequence, went out one by one.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Rushing through Sector 1, they were accelerating fast- Dorian and Cassie arguing over position after the latter's poor start letting by Paul and Ava, and the former now tangled up. Astrid took it for all of what it was, flying past the two in the Rifugio Padon section, using a nice ELS leech to latch onto Han who had escaped that, with an even better overtake, nailing down the overtake in Sector 3, almost carting the ship upside down through the most recurved bit of the glacier run, the whine echoing even inside the cabin of the AG ship.

This was some incredible flying from Astrid, but she was flying the ship with an incredibly volatile setup, the usual stability of the ship traded for what looked like a more unstable, shaky setup that was making every corner horrible to run out of and demanding everything of the ship's ELS system. No other pilot was going to bare something like this, but Astrid knew it was her only way of keeping ahead. Another lap passed, and the toll of that was showing, because she had nothing left to steal, and nothing left to defend in Sector Two.

The speed was closing. It was neck and neck. And Han was going to take that position back, dogfighting with the Faroese the entire way through, the two close together in such a way that they were merely feet apart. If Han took it back, the others would stream through, because once that fight was lost, Astrid may as well have not bothered. Astrid put the ship in a place knowing at the best, she could leech Han on the way past, and at the bottom of the jump, slingshot at Rifugio Pordoi. A risky move, but one that had to be made, and she'd have to repeat, a lot, to keep her very inferior ship in position. The ship was not going to go faster than hers, and if she wanted even a vague chance of points, she had to master her ELS here, to the full. And as they crested, and went into the sky, Astrid made her move to leap back forwards from their side by side position, Han on the brink of overtaking before but Astrid in front.

It should have been a nice move, if on landing, the two were split and Astrid would hold the rest of the lap on ELS alone, ready to repeat a difficult move one more time.

But that was not how it played out. It was a bad error, but Han attacked in a way that Astrid wouldn't have expected over the crest. This would be a massive point of contention. Had Han just made a rookie error of overtaking at an exceptionally risky spot, with nowhere to go? Or should Astrid have realised in a slower ship, she was going to get gapped here?

At the jump, the contact with the circuit again had an larger effect towards the ships already just too close to each other and playing too hard, correction just not enough when the two ships hit the MAG tracking, instead actually flinging them into each other given Astrid was looking to shut the door into the long hairpin and force Han on a bad line, not to make her crash, but to at least maximise her own attempts, as any racer might have done- but in this instance, led to them closing on each other. The repulsor field couldn't do anything to stop the two closing speeds from interacting. Astrid's eyes turned to horror, realising what was next.

The impact may not have been like Bea's in Cape Town, but at this speed, nearly flat out completely, shielding wasn't going to do enough but merely act like a magnet getting thrown at another magnet, just slowing it down before the inevitable happened. The repulsors at the side of the track were not in place here given the open layout and the fact the mountainside was just too exposed and was devoid of spectators, so the crash was actually more spread out, paint being rubbed and the impact sandwiching them into each other. That meant that instead, the clatter sent the two ships into each other, and rubbed along off circuit, spraying snow and ice everywhere and beaching the ships as they separated apart from their sandwich like crash.

"Fuck!" Astrid yelped, the nausea building as the AI tried to correct, but the ship feeling weakened, the engines nearly totally dead, as the anti-gravity unit at least held firm, keeping the ship level, but the side of the ship taking a massive gash, ripping out nearly a good chunk of the hull in the process, ripping one of the airbrakes to pieces. Power was dying, fast, and the ship went from top speed to nothing, a crawl, instantly, buffered by the internal safety systems of the ship. The AI disconnected her neural link nearly instantly, but the feeling right in the end, as the ships rubbed was like getting a really bad cut in your finger.

The ship did not have a soul, but the soul inside certainly felt that one.

"Astrid, are you okay?" Comms chatter replied back in turn from Magus, Astrid shaking her head, pulling her ship to the side of the track, the immediate sight of a recovery drone rushing over, alongside a camera.

"Yeah, I'm fine. All power loss, lot of the chassis is broken, so is Hyeon-Ae's. Do we try and make it to the pit and recover power?"

"Negative, stop immediately. Hull integrity is compromised, stop immediately, repeat, stop immediately, ship is not suitable on circuit. That was a big one, thrusters are dead and the AG matrix and power output is in Code 12, backups. Shut it down and let it cool, or else you'll trash the ship."

With it, Astrid sighed, huffing, but realising that it was time to get the hell out. With a pull of the oxygen supply from her throat and a pop of the canopy, she pulled herself out, and threw herself down the steps, the extent of the damage now visible as the ship barely sat a millimetre off deck, the anti-gravity unit in a emergency function, a parked stasis as the heat dissipated and sizzled the snow below it, the energy shielding of the ship's cockpit barely holding the structure together, given how much in the way of Gs had gone through the thing. Unlike Bea's crash, where it took a lot more work to put it together and it had nearly been reduced to a safety cell, this was a chassis that was in damage, but if not for her deactivating it, the ship would have burnt up its composite shell and ruined it to a similar level.

But they were right. Astrid's ship was half ruined. Han's looked even worse, and it had clattered her down the hillside in the snowfield that made up the Rifguio Pordoi sector, barely 20m away from Astrid's. She looked across from her own purple-like aurora ship to Han's, across at the red and blue of Zygon, the cockpit opening at least indicating that Han was mobile, and not injured. Astrid had a certain death stare on her. Like she just couldn't believe Han.

Helmet off, the drone checked on Astrid's state as she walked and confirmed yes, she wasn't concussed or injured, as she walked over towards Han's ship, a scowl on her face, the cold not really stopping her. Seeing she was okay, Astrid didn't stop. She kept going towards Han's ship. Not running. Just a slow, pissed off, angry, walk through the deep snow up to her thighs. She was okay in snow. And she was cleverer than this. Normally the Icewoman did not react to things like this, but that was stupid, and at that speed, even more insanely dumb in her view. Astrid felt she could have easily had a much, much worse accident there if it wasn't for a lot of luck and the ships rubbing off track- and in her view, Han should have been more careful.

It was a rare moment from Astrid, as she saw Han get out, and with no regard, just emptied her adrenaline filled, immediate thoughts, right there and then.

"Next time, are you going to push in the worst part of the track and take us both out again?! Or are you going to fly thinking nobody defends because you're spoilt generally? Unbelievable!" Astrid barked, disdain as she walked back, a recovery ship coming along and offering a lift, with an actual medic riding aboard. She took the ride and stayed silent, and hoped that Han would take hers coming out towards her and go a separate way.

"Astrid, calm down. We need to be careful on optics. Don't do anything too silly like that, keep it to a minimum. Please." Her radio called in her ear, of her race engineer begging for a bit of calm right now. This was not looking good from a PR perspective. Cameras had followed all of it. Astrid was known for not giving a shit, she had a cult following for that after all. And she'd said something aggressive in a presser sure, but like that? That was new.

"When she learns to race properly, we can talk optics because she needs them to see where she is going. Forget it. Get me out of here. This is bullshit." Astrid said, sighing, the truck bringing the ship safely into tow, the energy systems deactivated wholly as it was levitated up onto another lift, making the ship inert and the volatile AG system inside.

With it, Astrid sat inside and waited for the automated truck to leave and take the safety road back down the mountain track and to where it could be hauled back to the pits, knowing that fuck it, all of Korea could be angry right now. She lost points because of Han's stupidity, in her mind. The cameras however, would portray precisely how it happened, for what happened. Penalties? Probably. Astrid would probably regret it later regarding that. But not what she felt right there and then, the metaphorical Faroese's ice snapping like a glacial outburst.

---

Italian AGP

Soundtrack: The Qemists- Crevasse

The race was yellow flagged, given the ships were off the racing line almost 200m in the snowfield, and were recovered fairly quickly- ships ordered to slow to a relative crawl of 80kph over the jump until all the shrapnel, parts and ships were collected, before it went green again, completing a lap under a Virtual Safety Ship as a hologram on their AR displays that quite literally, bunched the field up and vanished the moment the incident had been completed. Astrid and Han's incident had been flagged as a racing incident, albeit Astrid's remarks were under investigation.

And what a shake up it had made, the yellow locking in the advances and losses made.

Max's strategy to push some riskier overtakes early in the race had now paid off, putting him higher in the chain, and his ELS management and talent in the corners meant he could hold off Dorian and Cassie, the latter of whom having an awful start again had absolutely pushed her out of contention. The two rivals nearly looked like they were about to detonate each other on every other corner, but it seemed that rivalry had paid off massively from Ava, Max and Paul- all of whom now were building gaps and out of ELS distance, able to sit comfortably and in a rare moment for an AG race, actually build good lap times on pure pace alone without any hull to hull racing.

Jenny Lowry had somehow taken the utter trap of a Fitzroy ship through the order into 13th, capitalising on mistakes from Ulrich and Kofi, and Jamie Hart had barely made any progress himself either- he had the pace to just roar past most ships but in a photo for the ages, got stuck behind Jenny who defended like a lion, over 13th. That just about surmised the back half of the grid, and the photo there would probably be iconic for Jamie Hart's career in general at Silver Apex.

The front remained remarkably unchanged. Kais had lost a position to Harrison after a very, very long duel, Harrison finally getting him in the glaciers where the Australian's comfort in flying upside down got him the jump, whilst further down, Amy got Layla back in the lakeside road on Lago Fedaia, pushing a risky overtake of her own, but having the ELS to make Layla almost look like she was going backwards. Nora had pulled away. If anything, it was possibly one of the most uneventful races of Nora's career, apart from the track itself.

In amidst all of this, Bea had somehow actually managed to benefit from Amy fighting Layla, and stayed within a few seconds of Layla, but given the extent of the track, gaps built massively. It was easy for it to become a time attack, and focus was crucial. Nobody wanted to follow Astrid and for that reason, the racing became a bit less overtake driven, a little more simple....safe even. A few changes had happened, of course, like the leap of Ava and Max, Cassie falling out of the points making a bad day for Zygon truly awful after losing her fight with Dorian, and the remainder of the field picking up what they could. The sight of craft pacing through the tunnels, the glacier walls, the tops of the ridges and over the Forcella jump were always a sight to see, and even if it didn't produce the best race, it had produced a really good spectacle.

And in the final lap, the chequered flag dropped down on the racing in Italy, waved by Valentina Amara, five-time Gold medal winning Italian Winter Olympic ski racer.

It was a victory for the pole sitter, Nora Kelly, followed by Harrison and Kais on the podium in 2nd and 3rd. Amy was off it for the first time in two years in 4th, a shock to many, but then again, a bad tune and just the sheer dominance of Al-Saqr and Southern Apex here had set the marker down. Layla in 5th, followed by Beatrix, a record high for her, was followed by Paul Mulder, Ava Villarosa, Max Wedgewood scoring important points for MMR, and lastly in the top ten, Dorian.

The Pilots all had gone through a race that whilst not dramatic, had seen a big order shake in the first few laps, had mostly died down with a couple of overtakes and catch ups in the last sectors. What did they see? That's left to them...

The final results are below:

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qF6cn…

---

Post Race, Italy: Warm Room and Podium

Soundtrack: Linkin Park- Heavy is the Crown

The "Cooldown" room had been replaced with a pop-up ski lodge like room, that was covered in heaters. More like a Warm Room.

Of the three podium finishers, Harrison was happy to keep his streak going.

Two rookies were here, and Harrison, even though he was a little repelled by Kais's rumoured past, not exactly hidden by his sheer capability, was still bubbly as usual, watching back the footage of the crash, and overtakes throughout. He was a bit concerned about some of Kais's flying it looked....well, that must be a hell of a neural connector, because that looked almost too twitchy, even to his trainer eye.

"Ooo, that is a nasty crash for them. Yeah, Han pushed in an area Astrid wasn't looking, but not like Astrid was going to hold her back.....I mean that's a dirty move, but they probably both didn't help each other." Harrison's take was balanced, playing back the rest of the race, smirking at his overtake on Kais, and hoping he didn't get decked for it. Instead, he turned to Nora, happy to be joining her team-mate up here. This was it. They were clear of Silver Apex by 28 points. Championship lead.

"This is your moment, Nora. Enjoy this, you deserved it with that pace. Now you've got your win though, don't forget I'm gonna get you next time, yeah?" Harrison smirked, giving her a gentle bump on the shoulder, looking to Kais, who was probably still stoked for his third place

Stepping outside, the podium looked down on the major grandstand up here at the Strada Alpina, and the swathes of glacier on the mountain beyond, the cheers ringing out for a new race winner, Nora Kelly, flanked by Harrison and Kais. The latter could hold his head high that he'd fought well, and Al-Saqr because of his efforts were clambering up the points leader board against Silver Apex and Southern Cross at a much faster rate than before. They were merely 9 points away from P2. That was one more Jamie Hart level windowlicking incident from dethroning a team most people considered the holy grail of the sport.

Heavy is the Crown? The trophy definitely was for Nora, but for a moment, doubt was put to rest if Nora was streaky in her first two races, here, she'd proven herself in the gauntlet. But Kais on the third step had now stepped very much into the light. If their initial fight in the beginning of the race had anything to say about it, it was that they would be fighting for some time to come.

---

Post Race, Italy: Interviews

Back to the booth. The pilots knew the drill, you knew the drill, but inside the cable car station out of the cold, in the glass-fronted building with the snow behind, an opportunity to interview each pilot came up.

---

@Enzayne

[b]"Han, that must have been a gutting result for Zygon after both you and Cassie qualified so well. How are you feeling after that crash, and anything to salvage from this weekend?"[/]

---

@LadyAmber

"Paul, congratulations today on your result, it seems like another reliable points haul for Valkyrie. Do you think you got lucky with Cassie dropping back and the crash playing into your favour?"

---

@MrSkimobile

"Kais, what a race it was from you and Nora! How did it feel going toe to toe with another rookie?"

---

@Starlance

"Bea, an outstanding result today! It seems like you managed to put down some impressive bankers- and are putting Carrera firmly into the midfield. How do you feel that this projects for the rest of the season?"

---

@Sylvan

"Nora Kelly, what a win! You must be over the moon after so many close attempts, and pundits are now labelling you as a new wonderkid in the sport. Many are talking about this more and more- do think you have what it takes to go all the way and challenge Amy Stirling this season for the title?"

---

The others trickled on through. To say the reactions were mixed would be an understatment, but AG racing never let people down when it came to drama.

Amy was up first.
"No, not happy at all with that. We compromised the ship too heavily and Jamie didn't really make any inroads. Not a great weekend. We move onto Portugal. We have more in the pipeline and I think we'll be back to where we need to be then, because we need to shut down Southern Cross, and Al-Saqr."

Harrison followed.
"Well, Amy seems pissed! Amazing weekend. Genuinely in disbelief about that. We did an amazing job start to finish, and the icing on the....uhh, icing, was overtaking Kais."

Layla had a smile once again, the Jordanian upbeat about the outcome.
"Well, a shame to lose a spot to Amy, but no shock considering her talent. We did well today. We are 9 points off Silver Apex. We are close in their mirrors now!" Layla's response was more chirpy than her usual self would be, actually upbeat rather than gravel. Beating Silver Apex would be satisfying as all hell on that chart.

"Yes, this is a great result. Really, really happy with how far the team has come. When I joined Carrera two years ago, we were still fighting for points, and now we have managed to get into joint P5 this early in the season! I am hoping that we can continue this, but yeah, we'll have to see." Ava seemed chirpy too, a comment not really followed next.

"Seriously awesome, yeah we did amazing- a few mistakes by ships ahead and I just cut through, I love that tunnel and glacier run so much, honestly it's the coolest part of any track....hahah, no pun intended! But yeah, great fun and good to get points on the board." Max's two points may not have been much, but for a team with poor speed, this was a hell of a result.

"I know you are trying to ask that question about us two, but no comment. Cassie and I raced well, absolutely fair, in rules. That is all." Dorian's comment was cryptic- but you could probably read into it and realise he wasn't happy to talk about his dogfight with Cassie, not that it would have any impact on him getting to anyone else, but right now, after the show with Astrid blowing off some steam, it was best to keep shut.

Astrid had vetoed an interview. This was considered, by pretty much everyone, a very smart call. Remember, this bit is televised, so damage limitation was considered best by the Nordic Call, and even FIAR's own brand. Probably best not to have someone who just verbally abused another pilot on.

Cassie was, however on to at least defend Zygon and she was under strict orders to not do anything stupid herself. Controversy made clicks, but controversy also got you cancelled, or your sponsors in an incredibly upset mood. This included the Formula AG sponsors themselves, who did not take kindly to childish behaviour.
"Yeah, really disappointed this weekend. We started off promising in qualy but honestly, it just didn't happen just due to bad luck- my start was compromised and I had nowhere to go, got stuck and that was it, nothing I could do. Did what I could but Dorian got me, and I'm sure I'll get him back for the next. And uhh yeah, really sad to hear about Han, she's alright from what we can tell, no injuries but we'll bounce back for next race. Portugal is home so I know that circuit, and I'm sure we can improve!" Cassie tried to strike a positive tone, but even her usually fiery attitude had a lump in its throat.

Like she was getting taken down a peg by the racing gods, or perhaps, just really, really bad luck.

Jenny was up, instead of Henry for this interview, the now pink pixie-short haired Yorkshire lass having a smile on her face. Quietly, she was impressing even in an utter shitbox that was the Fitzroy ship- she was averaging a slightly higher rating than Henry, and she had only been there for a second year.
"Yeah, nowt wrong with 13th and really happy. Beat a Silver Apex ship too, and yeah, that picture is doing the rounds on social media right now, me mam was over the moon with it!"

Kofi seemed a little more like he wanted to chuckle at the situation, 12th being so close yet so far to points this season. SuperCat were not developing well, but, he never stopped with his optimism.
"Not our day, but we are closer, we are closer. More corners please, that's where we thrive, so we will see you in Portugal. Ciao Regazzie!"

---

Analysis with Rory Andrews

"So, thoughts this far into the season on the teams?"

Rory shook his head, shrugging, looking to Aurora's off camera presence.

"I guess it's the commentator's curse, isn't it? We all expect Amy to just sweep things. Yet something's stalled at Silver Apex. All a lot of talk, but they must have a pipeline of upgrades fit for later in the European leg, because they have been caught up by Al-Saqr, who, let's not forget, have proven an incredibly capable team. And Southern Cross. What a demonstration. We thought they were a one hit wonder, but they have taken P1 in the constructors, and I bet that Silver Apex are feeling that now."

"And what about the other midfield teams? And Zygon's woes at the moment?"

"Zygon are doing terribly this season. Nobody's going to be feeling more bitter today than Jinwoo, he had an opportunity to get the team clear into P4 and both of his drivers have let him down there, Cassie's performance in particular being absolutely shocking. That top midfield fight is incredibly tight, Nordic Call's shock result in Tokyo suddenly puts Valkyrie, Zygon, and even Carrera Condor are in contention at most races and Zygon are hurting because of it. I think Cassie looks unsettled, she was not flying today in a way that showed confidence, Dorian seems to just be hunting her because of it. I think she's just not a fit at that team right now, and Han must feel annoyed not to bring home points today either. Whatever will be said of that crash, I think Han had the opportunity to wait out Astrid because she was eventually going to lose that position, but sometimes, rookies make errors."

"As for Miller Motor and Nordic Call? The former seems to be consistently stealing points, really well run, compared to Nordic Call, who just can't find anything beyond Astrid's seemingly magical ELS capabilities and Bjorn Waldgard is not developing at all. And Carrera? Blimey. That is a success story. Beatrix Ward was not hyped at all in any of our estimations, but, her and Ava seem to be making quite the team, and they are clearly getting the upgrades done after a lackluster season last year, and off-season recently. We knew Ava Villarosa was a late bloomer too, but the two of them seem to be an unlikely partnership that seems to balance risk and reward."

"What about the pilots in general that stand out to you right now?"

"Hmm, that would be harder to say. Some standouts now, like Beatrix Ward, who people are now beginning to notice after her crash and weaker start in Auckland, she seems to be finding her home with the craft and making the most out of it. Nora Kelly seems to have her demons, if you listen to all the paddock gossip there is a lot of baggage with her old self, but she seems to fly faster than anyone right now and act as if it doesn't exist. We've never seen a rookie this good since....maybe Helen Starcross, for sheer impact, she's just racing without any fear, any restrictions, her style is so ragged it's like she's almost drifting the ship in hairpins and that style is immensely fun to watch. And Kais Zenix, from starting the season slow to now doing what he's doing, he has found his feet. He's monstrous when he wants to push on people, just relentless and watching him behind Nora, you can tell he just doesn't let go and with refinement, he'll be an incredible pilot. Paul Mulder too- not a lot of people talk about him outside of his family link, but he is doing a very serviceable job in that Valkyrie ship, very collected, calm, but ultimately, fast. He is contemplative, you can tell, he just seems to have that patience about him his father did. Lastly, Jenny Lowry. She put an incredibly uncompetitive ship into 13th today. Holding back Jamie Hart in his Silver Apex ship, now that takes some doing."

"And the pilots that don't stand out?"

"On the other hand, Cassie Neves is really not proving herself at the moment. And neither is Jamie Hart. What an utterly terrible finish. I can't imagine he lasts till the end of the season like this, watching him fly that ship is utterly difficult, it's like watching a stag on ice. Literally! And of course....Astrid did not do herself any favours. What an opposite race for her, to go from a podium to a FIAR mandated penalty for the next race, due to her behaviour, and they are still reviewing severity. Not the smartest move from a pilot we sometimes think is one of the geniuses of ELS on the grid."

"A broad insight there! What do you think about the next races? Do you think that order will change?"

"I think Amy seemed bitter in her post race interview. She seemed to want to get back at the rookies, and her compromised setup for Jamie did absolutely nothing to help him- I wonder if it was hubris thinking they'd sweep Southern Cross and Al-Saqr here. And whilst she hasn't had the strongest start, Silver Apex must be looking to now target Portugal, Luna and the European leg with upgrades, because they need to win again. Valkyrie look to have made slow progress so far this season, but that ship handled incredibly through Sector 1 and 3- posting some very impressive times. I wouldn't be shocked to see them climb, and given the team's stability, even at tracks that don't suit them, they seem to be consistent, even if it's quiet. Carrera will likely struggle unless they begin targeting those tracks too, and that might take some time- and Southern Cross might need to work out how they keep their momentum going. It's a difficult call- but right now, the Constructors looks fluid among the top three, and I wouldn't be shocked if we see even more movement soon."

---

Soundtrack: On Top of the World - Imagine Dragons

Arianna had not wanted to get stuck with one of the older guards who would report every move she made during the day to her father. She knew he meant well but he was overly cautious of every step she took. She knew he probably had the right to worry about her but she really wanted to see the alpine forest. Damian’s reasons for not being her assigned guard didn’t really make sense to her. She understood that her father was not going to give her any space on this particular issue. She had almost suggested that Damian could be trained on the job for this duty as well but it would take up another guard’s time. Not to mention her father would probably get suspicious of her motives at this point. She did not get her wish. She was assigned one of the older guards, a tall black man named Winslow. Arianna was pleasantly surprised as Winslow reminded her of her father. He was fun to hang out with and let her set the pace and what they did. He only stepped in if he felt it was necessary. She had picked up some warm winter clothing that would look good, was comfortable, and would hold up for a prolonged outdoor outing.

Arianna intended to get her cable car tour, but she also really wanted to see the forest. She intended to make the most of her time in Italy. She had spent Friday afternoon shopping. She had needed the right winter clothes if she was going to be traipsing into the forest here. It was very cold here in the Dolomites. She also needed the right kind of footwear. She had arranged for tickets for the cable car tours. She had confirmed that one of them had a walking tour into the forest that talked about the conservation efforts in the area. Arianna was confident of her ability to keep up with the tour. The tour guide had said it was easy walking on this tour to accommodate the most people. She was confident she could do it and it fit the parameters her father had given her technically. It was part of the cable car tour. Her father had insisted a guard go with her even though not many had recognized her the day before. She still did not quite understand his worry. She had been stopped by a few fans who had recognized her. Most of them had simply asked her how she was doing or wished her a speedy recovery. A few had asked for a photo. She had not been mobbed though which is what her father seemed to worry about. None of the press had approached her.

After a hearty breakfast at the hotel, she had dressed for a day of adventure. She had dressed warmly with thermal lined chocolate brown leggings tucked into black mid calf fur lined snow boots. She had a long cream colored sweater tunic with a v neckline. She had a long heavy thermal lined tan coat over the top of it all with a faux fur trimmed hood. A blue scarf was around her neck in case she needed it. She had pulled a black beanie with a poof on top down over her blonde hair to keep her ears warm. She had pulled on soft supple black leather gloves that were lined with a reflective fabric that turned body heat back towards your hands to help keep them warm. She met Winslow in the lobby of the hotel they were staying in.

Arianna greeted Winslow warmly and they were off to start the first tour. The first cable car tour met and the cable car took you halfway up the mountain to a plateau about a third of the way up the mountain to one of the smaller mountain passes. There was a restaurant and gift shops there. You could board the cable car for the next section of the mountain that would take you over part of the glacier and crevasse in the valley below. It had a nice view of the alpine forest. The cable car ended at another mountain plateau that was wedged on a valley floor among the trees. There was a small village at this stop with all kinds of shops and restaurants. This was the beginning of the short walking tour into the forest. Arianna was having a great time. The tour into the forest was not very crowded. She didn’t feel rushed. The tour guide answered as many of her questions as they could. Arianna had obviously studied for this kind of thing. The tour guide couldn’t answer any of the more technical questions she had. Arianna had been recognized by a few people on the tour. A few had wished her well. A few had asked if they could take her photo. Several took photos without asking. She was in public and it was not like she could prevent it. She did notice Winslow stepping in front of her to block cameras at times. She just gave him a warm smile of acknowledgement.

Arianna and Winslow had lunch at a charming Italian Bistro with traditional red and white checkered tablecloths. They both had a warm Italian soup with fresh baked bread for lunch. They had chocolate tiramisu with espresso before starting on the final cable car tour that would take them to the pass at the Forcella Pordoi. The views on the ride up were absolutely stunning. The cable car was full but not overly crowded. Arianna sat on one of the benches in the cable car in front of the window. Arianna’s passion for conservation and appreciation for nature had been engaged all day. It was mid afternoon when the cable car arrived at the station. This route was popular as it overlooked the race track. Many fans had booked the cable car tours to catch some of the ships in practice today on the track. The qualifying race was happening today. The cable cars offered a different view of the fast antigravity ships as they raced down the mountain roads and left the track in jumps from one section to the other. This was a great vantage point to watch the racers from.

There was a little excitement as the doors opened as fans pushed to get out and pick out spots to watch the qualifying runs. There was an energy to the crowd that seemed to surge as the doors opened. Arianna stepped out with Wilson offering a steadying hand.

It seemed the Italian AG had set up a fanzone space up here at the cable car stop. There was site security around. There were food and drink vendors around. There of course was merchandise tables. If teams wanted to sell their merchandise here they were responsible for setting up their own little area. The beautiful views of the area along with the qualifying races happening made for a lovely way to pass some time. This option seemed popular with the locals. Who seemed to be enjoying a nice day outside.

She made her way over to the outlook viewing area. She found a decent seat that gave a good vantage point of the mag track. Excitement among the crowd rose as qualifying started. The crowd seemed happy and cheerful. Every ship was being cheered as it passed by. Arianna added her voice to the mix as one of the now familiar dark gray and gold Valkyrie ships roared past. She lifted an arm and waved even though she was pretty sure whoever was piloting was too busy to notice where she was sitting so far away. Winslow teased her a little as the two enjoyed the late afternoon sunshine as the racing was going on.

She looked down at the track spotting what she thought was a Nordic Call ship going by. Its rainbow colors flashing in the sunlight. It was moving so fast it was a colorful blur to the naked eye. Not far behind it was the turquoise ship of one of the smaller teams. Arianna smiled a little. She could almost see what had drawn her father to racing. There was an edge of danger and speed to it that caused your heart to speed up and race even just watching it. It was a rush all its own. It was no wonder that Formula AG was so popular. She had to admit being here and seeing the ships go by in person was a very different experience to watching it on television or online. Here when the ship went by you could hear the roar of the engines, smell the biofuel in the air, and feel the pressure wave from the ship passing. It was a physical experience.

She watched the remainder of the qualifying race. She had a lovely view of the mountainside and valley below. Qualifiers were over but the crowd had not dispersed. She asked what was going on. Evidently there was some big sponsored fan event happening after qualifiers. Arianna conferred with Winslow as the heaters in the area kicked in as the sun was setting. The fan event would be starting in a few hours. They opted to get dinner from one of the food trucks present. Arianna was curious what happened at a sponsor event. She was unsure which team or even what sponsor was hosting the event. But it sounded like a fun thing to check out. They had a fun dinner as they tried something from every food truck. They jokingly critiqued and scored what they tried from each truck. It ate it up the time before the event started. It has been a fun and pleasant evening so far.

---

Soundtrack: Bad Day - R.E.M.

They still had a little time before the event was set to kick off. If anything the crowds had grown heavier since qualifying. Arianna was standing at the rail looking up at the stars. The air was so clear here. The view of the stars was magnificent. She could see so many! The outdoor patio area had heaters on and spaced around the area for people’s comfort. There was also light from lamp posts around the area lighting up the night. Winslow was at her side. Arianna was tapped on the arm by someone. She turned around with an inquisitive look on her face.

Arianna: “Can I help you?”
A short blonde woman with a press pass swinging around her neck thrust a microphone into her face. A man with a shoulder mounted video camera stood at an angle recording them. Winslow stepped in front of her and pushed the camera away.

Winslow scowled at the man. “Turn it off! You need to at least ask first. Poor manners.”

The cameraman turned the camera off and let it drop from his shoulder. He just looked expectantly at the reporter.

The woman gave Arianna an excited smile. “Hello, You are Arianna Knight aren’t you?”

Arianna frowned a little, caught off guard. “Yes I am Arianna Knight. Who are you?”

The woman pasted on that serene look all reporters seemed to have before she continued in an excited voice.

Lauri: “Hello Arianna, I am Lauri Ivan with Victory Laps Racing News. Would you mind doing a short interview with me?”

Arianna turned to Winslow who indicated it was her choice. That was one of the reasons she had appreciated him earlier. Now if she said no it would make her look like she had something to hide. Arianna was a little annoyed to be ambushed but she had been through training with Katherine and knew enough to play nice with the pushy reporter. Arianna gave Winslow a nod.

Arianna: “A short interview and I reserve the right to not answer any questions and to stop at any time.”

Winslow moved aside and allowed the cameraman to lift the camera again.

Lauri once more lifted the microphone and stood facing Arianna at an angle. The picturesque views behind them. Not that you could see much other than a faint starlight reflected off the snow and ice.

Lauri looked right at the camera: “Hello race fans. This is Lauri Ivan with Victory Laps Racing News. I am here in Italy at the qualifying races. Look who I found! Arianna Knight.”

Arianna put on a smile and waved at the camera. “Hello everyone!”

Lauri kept the fake smile on her face. “Can you tell us why you are here in Italy Arianna?”

Arianna: “I came with my father to cheer on the team. They have all been very supportive and helpful during my recovery. I still have a ways to go but as you can see. I am getting around on my own now. I am doing much better. I would like to thank everyone who has sent me warm wishes for a speedy recovery. I did receive them. Your messages of support were appreciated and helped me push through a dark time.”

Lauri’s expression softened somewhat but then hardened into a serious one.

Lauri: “Are you aware that there are those who believe that your father misappropriated team resources to help you? What do you have to say about that?”

Arianna looked startled. She had heard the rumors of course but to be so bluntly asked about them while being interviewed by a member of the press was a little daunting. Winslow tensed next to her. She also noticed that she was beginning to draw a small crowd who wondered why she was being interviewed. People in the crowd were taking pictures and began to record video on their cell phones.

Arianna’s jaw clenched because she knew that her father had faced some setbacks for helping her. She had not realized how far reaching the consequences had been for him till this moment.

Arianna: “My father is one of the most honorable men I know. He did the best he could to support me when I needed him. He would never jeopardize the people he works with. Everything he has done has been above reproach and carefully documented. He has paid for my treatment out of his own pocket. Others may be throwing out accusations to tarnish his reputation but there's nothing to these allegations. My father knew how his decision would look and how others would try to use it to their advantage. To try and tarnish his name and Team Valkyrie’s. Yet he did it anyway and with as much transparency as possible for just this reason. He does not deserve to be tried and hung in the court of public opinion. He is a wonderful father and a great team leader.” Arianna put as much conviction and passion in her voice as possible.

A male reporter with a press pass swinging around his neck followed by a cameraman pushed in front of Arianna.

“Arianna, I am Hans Keller with Gossip. Did you know there are rumors going around that your father doesn’t want you to talk to the press. That you are a prisoner at the Team Valkyrie Headquarters. What do you say to those accusations?”

Arianna started to feel uncomfortable and targeted. She blinked a little as the intrusive question. “My father would prefer the press leave me alone. He has not stopped me from talking to the press. I am standing here in Italy. I am not a prisoner at Headquarters.” Arianna shook her head in disbelief.

Before either reporter could ask a follow up question an older man speaking a language she could not place was ranting at her angrily. The older man spat at her. Winslow stepped in front of her and blocked the older man from her sight. Winslow began to move her along the rail away from the reporters and back towards the vehicle park. Winslow told the reporters, “Interviews are over.” The crowd was looking confused. You could hear them asking what was going on. They were making slow progress as their way was impeded by the crowd. More people were attracted by the noise and trying to get a sense of why a crowd had gathered. The people in the back by the railings were trying to follow her while those still coming in from the landing were pushing towards the railing. They were pushed and jostled back and forth.

At the edge of the crowd the energy in the crowd began to shift to one of excitement. A tall dark haired man with piercing green eyes was moving through the crowd. The crowd’s excitement followed him as he pushed towards them. The crowd parted before him easily. Just as Harrison was breaking through the crowd a space was opening up in front of Arianna. She was jostled from behind. Her balance wasn’t capable of correcting itself and she started to fall forward. Harrison stepped forward and caught her before she hit the ground. The crowd was calling his name behind him. It was Harrison from the Southern Cross team.

Harrison: “What’s the crack?”

There was a surge of noise as everyone tried to talk to the man at once. The crowd had backed up and left a small space around Winslow and Arianna. Arianna found herself falling forward unable to fight gravity. Her body was still building those neural pathways and what would have been an instinctual adjustment to posture with muscles moving reflexively turned in a slow tumble right into Harrison’s open arms. Arianna met Harrison’s piercing green eyes in shock. She recognized him instantly. The noise of the crowd seemed to fade into the background. Harrison was someone she really admired. She followed him on social media. She blurted out the first thing that came to mind which was his name. “Harrison?” It came as a question because she had not expected to see him here.

Harrison looked amused as he looked down in a beautiful face. He couldn’t put a name to that face but he knew he had seen it before. “Are you alright?”

Winslow pushed to Arianna’s side. He asked her in a worried voice.

Winslow: “Arianna, are you hurt?”

Arianna was feeling like reality had tilted a little. She found herself blushing crimson as she realized she was in Harrison arms. She tried to catch her balance and straighten up. Her body was feeling shaky and clumsy. Her concentration was not where it should be. She should be focusing on her body and her cybernetic connection to it. Instead she was focusing on the feeling of strong arms around her. She had no right to think about those arms because he was just being gallant. They were not dating and this was the first time she had met him. Her blush intensified. She once more tried to disentangle herself. She almost did it but lost her balance again. She wobbled and Harrison tightened his arms once more.

Harrison looked concerned now. “Are you okay?”

Harrison was still struggling to figure out what was going on here. He had heard the older black man ask her if she was injured. He turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

Harrison: “Why would you ask her if she was injured?”

Winslow tilted his head respectfully. He knew who Harrison was too. “Mr. Makara I appreciate you helping Miss Knight out. She is still recovering from injuries and is still a little unsteady on her feet at times. She was being jostled in the crowd. We were moving away from reporters who were hounding her with disrespectful questions. I was worried she may have reinjured herself from the jostling.”

Harrison made the connection finally. Arianna Knight. He loosened his hold on her. He looked down into a pair of amazing hazel colored eyes that looked almost like a soft teal with golden flecks in them. Harrison gave her a lazy smile. “Can you stand on your own now?”

Arianna hastily nodded as her face got even redder if that was possible. She finally got her body to corporate. Arianna muttered a hasty, “Thank you for your help Harrison.”

Harrison was just about to let her go when flashes almost blinded him. He heard questions coming from the crowd and there were obviously some reporters in the crowd.

“Harrison, are you dating Arianna Knight?” “How do you two know each other?” “Is Arianna attending your promotional event?”

Arianna heard the questions and pulled away from Harrison completely. “Can you help us get out of this crowd?”

Harrison offered her his arm. He wrapped her hand around it and placed his other hand on top of hers. He began to walk towards the vehicle park. Harrison simply ignored the crowd reporters and all. “So why are you here Arianna?”

Arianna was trying to untie her tongue. She was starstruck bad. Harrison was talking to her and guiding her out of a crowd. Her hand was wrapped around his arm.

Arianna: “Well I am a big fan. I follow you on social media. I am studying botany with a specialization in ecosystem revitalization. I came on the cable car tour because I wanted to see the alpine forest. I am not up to a full blown hike yet. I am still struggling over uneven ground.”

Arianna blushed as she rambled on at Harrison.

Winslow looked amused and followed, blocking the crowd from Arianna’s other side.

Harrison grinned to hear that she was a fan. Alexander Knight’s daughter was a fan of his. “Why are you a fan?”

Arianna blushed again. She couldn’t tell him that he was handsome. That was too much of an admission from her. “I follow you for all the work you do to promote environmental restoration projects. I like that you use your fame to help change the world.”

Harrison looked surprised by her answer. The crowd kept moving out of their way. They were helped by two of Harrison’s security guards who moved anyone who tried to impede his path.

They stopped at the edge of the vehicle park. The crowd was still following them but the way into the vehicle park was clear.

Harrison gave Arianna a warm smile even as he removed her hand gently from his arm. “It was nice to meet you, Arianna. I am sure I will be seeing you around the paddock more often. I have to go back to work now. This is one of my sponsor’s events.”

Winslow moved in and took Arianna’s other arm.

Arianna: “Thank you for your help Harrison. I would love to chat with you when you have more time.” She gave him a big beautiful smile.

Harrison gave her a lazy wave and turned and walked back into the crowd.

Winslow pulled Arianna into the vehicle park. There was supposed to be a vehicle and driver waiting on them. He spotted the Valkyrie rental and hustled Arianna into it and away back down the mountain.



Soundtrack: Danger Zone - Kenny Loggins

---

Paul had gotten a great start. He managed to shoot past Cassie and charged hard towards Bea. Ava Villarosa was right on his tail; she had managed to get past Dorian and Hyeon-Ae.

Carmella: “Great start Paul. You have Villarosa one second behind you. She is gonna catch up to you in the straight. Be thinking about ELS defense. It helped her in Tokyo. Cassie has Hyeon-Ae behind her. Keep up the good work so far.”

Paul: “Got it. I will be ready to deploy ELS defense on the strait.”

Paul’s practice with the ELS was paying off. He was able to successfully defend on the strait as Ava closed the gap between them. He kept working the turns hoping to reduce the gap between him and Bea. He managed to get close to her in the turns and chicanes but she would pull away from him in the straits. He couldn’t get close enough to deploy his ELS. Ava on the other hand kept on his toes and defending. He would lose her in the turns and then she would regain her lost distance in the straits.

They were on lap four when Paul saw the yellow flag indicator light come on as the limiter kicked in, slowing his ship to what felt like a crawl.

Paul: “What’s happened Carmella?”

Carmella: “Astrid and Han collided. Their ships are damaged and having to be removed from the race. The caution is for the jump at Rifugio Pordoi. They are clearing it as fast as they can.”

Paul: “Are the pilots a'ight?’

Carmella: “Camera footage shows Astrid out of her ship on her feet. Movement has been seen from Han as well. They appear to be alive.”

Paul felt relief knowing that they were at least alive. They might be his competitors but he didn’t wish any of them dead. He turned his attention back to the race. He knew that they would all bunch up and be held in position until the wreckage was cleared. When the race restarted he barely managed to keep his lead on Ava. She almost made it around him.

Carmella: “Paul, be aware that Max made it past Dorian. He is now behind Ava. Dorian and Cassie duking it out behind Max. Max may take some of Ava’s attention off you. But he is even better with ELS.”

Paul: “Got it.”

Paul was more driven than before. He punched the speed and managed to make up even more time on the hairpin turns and the undulating sections. He was slowly widening the gap between him and Ava. Her attention must be now on defending against Max who was making her work hard for it. Ava had slowed down some. Paul took advantage and charged as hard as he could through the next set of turns. He was hoping to catch up to Bea.

Before he knew it, the race was over. He had landed in a respectable P7 and was informed Dorian had finished P10. That was good for their team. At least they both picked up some points.

---

Aurora: "Paul, congratulations today on your result, it seems like another reliable points haul for Valkyrie. Do you think you got lucky with Cassie dropping back and the crash playing into your favour?"

Paul was still in his racing suit. He had his helmet tucked under his arm. “Thanks for having me again Aurora. I would argue I did a better job with ELS defense here in Italy. I can’t deny the restart did work somewhat in my favor. When Max overtook Dorian and Cassie. He was then focused on getting past Ava. Ava was better at the ELS than Cassie. It certainly helped me build a bigger gap once Max was focused on trying to get past Villarosa. Max certainly slowed Villarosa down which helped me build and maintain that gap between us. I have been training hard on ELS defense and I believe that showed here in Italy.”

---

“Hello this is Lauri Ivan with Victory Laps Racing News with a hot exclusive! Arianna Knight was attending the race in Italy. She had stopped at the fan zone at the cable car stop that was set up for a Southern Cross sponsorship event. I asked her for an interview. The interview had just started when another reporter pushed in to ask a question. Then an older man stepped from the crowd and verbally berated the stunned woman. Her bodyguard then declared the interview over and tried to remove Miss Knight from the area. The crowd was making that difficult. Miss Knight tripped and literally fell into the arms of Harrison Makara of Southern Cross. Makara helped a stunned Arianna Knight out of the crowd. Is there something going on between Harrison Makara and Arianna Knight? Take a look at our exclusive video! Let us know what you think in the comments.”

[Video of reporter with an edited version of the interview with Arianna and Harrison helping Arianna move through the crowd.]

---

“This is Hans Keller with Gossip. I ran into Arianna Knight at the Italian Grand Prix. I confronted her with the rumors that her father was keeping her prisoner at Team Valkyrie Headquarters and had forbidden her to talk to the press. Arianna Knight confirmed that her father Alexander Knight doesn’t want the press talking to her. She was vehemently denying those accusations and defending her father when an older fan spat on her. Her bodyguard declared the interview over and began to pull her through the crowd. She seemed to trip and fell right into the arms of Harrison Makara of Southern Cross. Harrison escorted Arianna away from the scene. Is Arianna Knight hoping to date Harrison Makara? Take a look at the video and let us know what you think. This is a Gossip Exclusive!”

[Gossip’s video from the fan zone event edited to support their version of events of course.]

---

Social Media

---

---

Fan reaction on social media to the events that happened at the Italian AG.

OfficeDrone#12: Wow, lucky girl!
SuperfanAGR54: Once again family drama trumps how the team did. #disappointed
DantheMan:Well they had a solid performance and both of the pilots made the top 10.
BatDave: I am Batman!
Superfan2075: What about that crash between Han and Astrid? Astrid was fined but is there a nugget of truth in what she said?
DadBod89: Well I hope to see even better results in Portugal.
Hater101: Wow agrees to an interview, fans spit on her in ITALY. Italy is considered a home team race for Valkyrie. What does this say about Alexander Knight’s relationship with the fans?
Papabear34: WTF? I am so confused. Paul performed well.
Nana2050: Spitting is disgusting! @ValkyriePaul Nice job P7!
GeorgeFly: The views from the mountain were amazing. Valkyrie did a good job in Italy. P7 for Paul! He is slowly making progress.
ValkyrieFan56: Glad to see the pilots do alright in Italy after the disappointment in Tokyo.
Weedhead81: @Arianna I have the green magic waiting.
SexyM@m@5: @ValkyrieDorian DM me!
Paulmulder4eva: Paul looked dashing as always. @ValkyriePaul
Britball12: I don’t know where to begin. Valkyrie is quickly becoming the laughing stock of the paddock for all the drama that came with Alexander.
!YouSlow!: Paul performed well. Disappointed by Dorian though.
xImFasterthanUx: Dorian was outperformed by the rookie, again.
AGInthusiast: Formula AG has turned into a three ring circus.
micheal650004: The pilots did okay. Looking forward to Portugal
aglover4life: Wow! That crash could totally have been avoided. Han could have waited her out. She would eventually have passed her with her superior speed.
ieatAGR: Is this racing or a dating game show. Good grief! Can we just keep it to the racing? Come on!
Bertha: I feel discriminated against! Arianna got to have hot Harrison’s arm around her. Why can’t I get that kind of treatment?

---

By all rights - and Alistair’s recommendation - Bea should’ve been taking an experienced racer like Cassie sitting behind her more seriously than she was. The Zygon ship was only marginally worse where it mattered on this track and every corner they’d spend fighting would be playing right into the frontrunners’ hands, but race drivers moved in the direction they looked, so she let Cassie be Cassie and looked to the ship directly ahead.

Well, it was a nice thought, shame it only lasted about twenty seconds before the frontrunners started building a notable gap. And then Cassie… well, was Cassie and before long Paul was the ship behind her.
”Gap?” Bea asked.
”Point oh-two-six.” Alistair replied immediately.
”Gap ahead, you muppet.” She snarked with a hint of a smile.
”Right,“ He chuckled, ”Point eight-six-six”
A deep sigh in response. Maybe she had big eyes before the race.

Or maybe she’d get another chance.

”Yellow yellow, sector one. I think that’s gonna be a safety ship.”
”Who and where?”
”Astrid and Han, past the jump.”
”Shite, no barriers there. How does it look?”
”Tumbled off the track, but there’s debris. Astrid is out and walking… The woman looks on a mission.”
”And Hyeon-Ae?”
”Definitely moving… And out.”
”Good, good. Alright, back to work.”

And then Layla and Amy walked away from her the second time. Paul also tried it again at the restart, but the temperatures being what they were meant she could push the engine as hard as she wanted to without worrying about overheating. ’Not today, mate.’ She thought with a grin, continuing to focus on hitting her marks to minimise time loss in corners, sneaking the occasional envy-filled glance back at Paul’s rock-solid ship and leaving the Belgian in her wake on the straights only for that dance to repeat corner after corner, lap after lap. But Bea was content with Alistair’s calm voice reporting the gap behind more or less the same every lap, even though the gap ahead wasn’t changing either, but in P6 in a ship like theirs, not falling back was still a win and before she knew it, 45 minutes came and went and the chequered flag flew.
”That’s P6 for you and P8 for Ava, fantastic drive today.” Behind Alistari’s voice, she could hear the cheers from the garage.
”Oh, you’re still awake there?“ Bea laughed, ” Top job to you as well, mate. Where did Cassie go?”
”P11. Want the whole roster?”
”The nerve of that woman.” Bea grinned inside her fishbowl, ”To fumble that bad and make this race feel boring.”
”Look who’s getting cocky? Maybe she hasn’t settled into her new team yet.” Alistair offered with a chuckle.
”True. Not everyone can be as welcoming as you merry band.”
”Our driver takes us to expensive restaurants when we exceed expectations in races, we have good reason to be.” He chuckled.
”All according to plan. I’m wrapping all of you around my fingers.” She joined in on the fun, slowing down and letting Paul pass to line up side-by-side with Ava, giving her teammate a few excited fist pumps and a thumbs up.

---

DELTΔ HYPER

Episode Four: Azzuro Alpina

---

"Bea, an outstanding result today! It seems like you managed to put down some impressive bankers- and are putting Carrera firmly into the midfield. How do you feel that this projects for the rest of the season?"

”I don’t know. Someone smarter does the thinking, I’m just the stick-and-throttle linkage.” Bea shrugged with a mischievous grin, ”Not sure about me putting the team into the midfield either, admittedly I’m not great at math but eight was just one point short of half of 18 last I checked.
On a more serious note about going forward, we’ll be hitting tracks that require different ship characteristics soon so we will have to adjust in time if we want to keep this going, but since León hasn’t put a foot wrong since I’ve been with the team and the engineers have likewise been doing an incredible job turning us around, I have no reason to doubt either.
But as you said, today was an outstanding result.” Bea nodded agreement at Aurora’s opening statement of the question, ”I told you the whole team will have a reason to celebrate here.” She finished her segment with a smile.

Ava was smiling before the mid season and both Condors did well in Italy. Let it never be said she wasn’t a woman of her word.

---

A fortunate combination of León being busy with something, a very good finish and the team’s off-track pace since the start of the season led to a free day for the whole away team as the usual debriefing was held remotely, with Suárez taking point in the team principal’s absence.

”Everyone on the engineering team is delighted with Sunday’s performance. Integrating the upgrades into the ship hasn’t always been smooth sailing, but we’ve made it work and you and everyone on the ground delivered.” Ronaldo started after the usual good-mornings and other pleasantries, both pilots addressed looking at least a little bit smug. ”Unfortunately, the pace of upgrades as well as the intensive work on developing the Alicorn engine is unsustainable…”

“I am this close to laying down and never getting back up again.” Jesus, one of the propulsion engineers, collapsed onto the break room’s sofa before the door could even close behind him.
“It did it again?” Naomi, his colleague on loan from Pridwen Solutions, asked in an exasperated tone, the first “it” a well-known boogie man in the factory by now.
“Fucker did it again.” Jesus replied to a round of groans.
“Is it too soon for another asado? When Alonso is found again?” Rosario, an Argentinian machinist, spoke up from the vending machines.
“Yeah, we can roast the food on the damn engine. Grill quick, before the fucking thing melts.” Jesus grumbled.

”...and therefore, after discussing this with León and Alejandra, the factory gets the rest of the week off. León and Juan are going to be out for a few more days as well, so given the time lost, the specific characteristics of the track, the marketing exposure of it and the need to give the engineers a rest, León, Flávia and I have decided to focus on the Lunar AGP at the cost of Portugal. So, if you have anything that needs to be settled with anyone at the factory you have until two in the afternoon, Argentina Standard, to do it.
Flávia will call both of you on Thursday with details about the promotion we discussed last week. Ava, since you have been to the Moon before, we’ll see you on Monday. Beatrix, we’ll need you to come in on the weekend so we can start you on the gravity sim.” He finished the important part of the truncated debrief before moving onto some housekeeping.

With the meeting concluded, Bea logged off the remote app and started noting down reminders and buying tickets when she heard snickering behind her, turning around to see Eva in the doorway. ”No weekend for you, you’re learning to walk!”
”Still get to go to the Moon and get paid for it.” Bea shrugged in response.

---

11:20 JEN LOWRY [Battery: 89%]

> Did I hear right, your qualifying time got deleted because your GPS transponder wasn’t working?
> Yeah. In a single-ship session.
> It’s not even in the MEL for crying out loud.
> We also said that in the protest.
> They need to get Argyris out of the stewards’ room, this is embarrassing.
> Did you fall asleep on the start or wot? Good recovery though.
> No, I confused your hair for the start lights and thought we were still red.
> I can set you up if you ever want to replace those blonde highlights you’ve been wearing since you were 15.
> Hey, not everyone can pull off your hair.
> And at least the screamsheets can’t date my photos by my hairdo.
^{[“Jen Lowry” reacted with 😆]}
> Touché.
> Heard someone landed a main series seat? Congratulations! You can add that to the list of things you’ve beaten me at.
> Hah, thanks! Mam actually cried when I told ‘er. Shoot, I almost did.
> I’d say “understandable”.
> Hard to even describe it.
> You still waiting on word?
> Valkyrie is no-go, but plenty more fish.
> Mind explaining what you were doing in turn 10 on lap 21?
> Yeah, sorry about that. The photosensor on my helmet failed and for safety it turns the visor transparent.
> There’s a “but” coming
> Safety my left foot, I was driving T9 to T14 half by memory because I saw nothing but glare until I had time to adjust it manually on the striaght. I had no idea you were there until the proximity alert.
> Just read about MMR. Still waiting on Condor, right?
> Nope. They pulled the plug yesterday.
> Sorry to hear.
> So what’s next?
> Don’t know. Thought to drown my sorrows, but wiser heads overruled that.
> I’ll sleep on it.
> What’s this paddock talk about a reshuffle at Carrera?
> Not under an NDA, that’s what! You weren’t joking about it being hard to describe.
> Not how I wanted it to happen and already getting hatemail, but something, something, gift horse’s mouth!
> Nice! See you at the back of the pack.
> See you there.
> Maybe feel a bit bad that you got in on talent alone and still ended up in a worse team.
> Maybe you age like wine?
^{[You reacted with 😆]}
> That hit must’ve been big, how are you holding up?
^{[You reacted with ❤️]}
> Cleared on neurals and physicals, just cybernetics left. Thanks for asking.
^{[“Jen Lowry” reacted with: 👍]}
> Hey. Didn’t catch you after the race, think I was too busy picking up my jaw off the ground after seeing a Fitzroy AG ship in P13. Beautiful drive yesterday, glad you weren’t bringing this game to races back in the Junior league.
> And on behalf of the Jamie Hart Headache Club: Welcome.
^{[“Jen Lowry” reacted with: 😆]}
> Hey! Appreciate it! It was a solid race for sure.
> You’re catching on quick.
> One more thing: Sometime around the British AGP, don’t yet know the specifics, Paul, Nora and I (more may join later, don’t know) are renting track time and some drift cars for a few hours in London, want in?
> Thanks for the offer. I don’t know what me schedule will look like then, but it does sound great. Can I let you know when I know?
> Of course, two months is a long time.
^{[“Jen Lowry” reacted with: 👍]}

---

GalwayGirl: Call it “the first supper” because there will be many more!
MadBea: And unlike Judas, the amateur, we’re not settling for silver. :P
CarreraCarmen: Wonder how many teams are looking at Bea like “Fuck, we could’ve had her last year…”
UrbanMaverick: Now imagine those who looked at the second offer with the Pridwen funding and still went “Nah.” :D
AndesAG: AVA FUCK YEEEEES!
Hotstuff: so much enthusiasm for P9
AndesAG: its not about the destination, its the journey! the potential! Its not a shitbox anymore!
Crossfit_Crusader: Actually, fair.
TruckerTim: Lowry showing up with different coloured hair every weekend: Taking the term “clowning on Hart” to its peak. For real, someone help him or put him out of his misery, but this is just cruel.
GaryFromIndiana: Poor Cassie can be his +1 on suicide watch.
MrSmooth: Gotta be some fuckery going on at Zygon. This is NOT Cassie.
DohnJoe: zygon can’t have an outsider beating their golden child. Simple as
NineIron: This is what I call a season. God, let it never end.
Sol_de_Mayo: OK, I’m starting to see a pattern emerging here that I still don’t really like but can’t deny at this point.
ForzaGl0ria: No clue what the shit Haenae was doing.
Xinny: Passing. Kinda the point of the sport. What I wonder is how Astrid didn’t see that coming.
CloroxEnjoyer: Probably dipped into her own supply before the race, that’s how.
MissedApex: And it’s “Hyeon-Ae”

---

---

Soundtrack: You Were Good to Me - Jeremy Zucker & Chelsea Cutler

Alexander had a rough weekend. His nerves had been stretched to their limits. He had garnered some interest from Quantumnium Computer Systems for a potential sponsorship deal. The sponsors had attended the race in Italy. Alexander had spent quite a bit of time with their senior leadership in Valkyrie’s Hospitality suite at the races. He had been stressed out about Arianna being seen in public for the first time since the press conferences since she left the hospital. All his worst fears had been realized in that department when she had to be bailed out of a potential volatile situation in public by Harrison Makara the lead pilot for Southern Cross. Alexander had been more than grateful to the man. Alexander knew that Harrison was a nice guy. He would have to find a way to thank the man.

Alexander had been helping the crew and overseeing the packing and load out in the paddock on Sunday after the races when Alexander had been approached by Isabella Rossi, the team’s engine and propulsion specialist. She had pulled Alexander aside and told him that she had been in the bathroom of the team’s mobile command center. She happened to overhear Felix’s side of a conversation on a phone call. He obviously didn’t know she was in there as everyone was working on loading up the gear and ships to head back to HQ. She explained what she had heard. Felix had been approached with an offer from another team. Felix had said that he had agreed to take a new position and would be able to start after the Luna Race. She had asked Alexander if it was true? Was Valkyrie losing Felix? Alexander was stunned and shocked. He thought everything was great with Felix. Felix had not mentioned being unhappy. Alexander had discussed pay raises with him after he had assessed everything going on with the team. Felix didn’t mention being unhappy so he was completely blindsided by this information. Alexander asked Isabella to keep it to herself for now. He needed an opportunity to verify the information with Felix. It was not that Alexander didn’t trust Isabella. He did. He was hoping she had misinterpreted what she had heard.

Alexander didn't sleep a wink that night. He knew this was bad news. Felix was the glue holding the engineers and mechanics together. He had flown back to Germany earlier than the team on a private shuttle. He had called Mabel once he was in the air and had her talking to legal to review Felix’s contracts. He was surprised that Felix would consider a move after the season had started. Typically if they were going to move to another team it happened in the off season. Most engineers had a form of noncompete or at least a clause that stated that they couldn’t reveal proprietary information or take any intellectual property with them to competitors. Some had a period of time where they couldn't work for a competitor to render any current knowledge useless so it couldn’t be used against them. Alexander needed to know what kind of stuff was in Felix’s contract so he knew if this was a genuine threat to Valkyrie. Losing Felix Burkhart, their head engineer, would be a huge blow to the morale of the engineering staff and team. Alexander had worked late into the night with their legal team.

He found out from Wulfric that some of the corruption they uncovered inside Valkyrie when they investigated Maier was suspicious since it implied that the CEO had knowledge of it. There were also those implied ties to some of the board members. He explained that was why the investigation was taking so long. Wulfric was being blocked by the CEO in the investigation. Wulfric informed him that the Valkyrie CEO was trying to save his job by blaming people in key positions for last season's results, in particular Felix Burkhart. The Board was considering replacing the CEO as more evidence came to light. Valkyrie AGR Sport’s operating structure was built along the lines of a multinational corporation. The various companies and corporations that had a stake in Valkyrie AGR Sport had a board member that represented their interests. The voting members of the board of directives were from the companies and government interests that held the most controlling interest in the company. The board president was elected from the pool of all company representatives giving some of the smaller controlling interests in the corporation a voice. Leopold had been voted in as board president during the pre-season. Leopold’s appointment uprooted a long standing Board President who retired after not being re-elected. Leopold had been a voting board member for five years with Valkyrie.

Valkyrie AGR Sport had a CEO who ran the business side of operations. They dealt with business and corporate filings and day to day business. Valkyrie AGR Sport had so much more involved than just racing and endorsements. There was also a research and development branch to what they did. The racing team was the marketing and public outreach branch since Formula AG was so popular worldwide. There was a lot of overlap between the necessary requirements to run a Formula AG and other services and products produced by the company. The Crew Chief made all the decisions and guided the decisions regarding the Valkyrie AGR Sport racing team. They didn’t answer to the CEO but worked in tandem with them. The two shared corporate resources such as office space, human resources, research and development labs, and infrastructure.

Alexander had called Leopold after he investigated what was going on. He confronted Leopold with what they had uncovered so far. Leopold had not seemed surprised to hear the revelations about Felix’s contract, the failure of the previous legal team in that area, and the connections to the CEO. Alexander was angry because once again he was having trouble trusting the board. He had thought he could trust Leopold but Alexander read his reaction to the current situation as expected. That made Alexander wonder how much more of this corruption he would uncover that Leopold seemed to have previous knowledge of. Alexander knew that the fault did not lie with Felix but in the decisions their former Team Principal had made in the prior season. Alexander had a bad feeling about this and it certainly explained the rampant corruption he had uncovered on his first day in the office. There was even more money on the line since Alexander had brought in several new very lucrative sponsorships. The team had wrapped things up around midnight. The legal team explained the ramifications in Felix’s contract. He was clear to move to another team. If Felix walked, the current ship designs were dead. They would have to go back to the drawing board. It would also mean setbacks with the current upgrades and who knew how much disruption to the team.

Alexander had texted Felix and asked him to meet him in his office first thing this morning. Alexander was a nervous wreck. He saw all his hard work so far going up in flames because a lazy greedy asshole who didn’t do his job properly was blaming others for his mistakes. Alexander knew engineers; he was worried that half the engineering department would leave with Felix. He had already lost a few. He didn’t really have anyone with the right experience and leadership skills that he could promote to take over the department if Felix did leave. He could do it but it would be like trying to do two full time jobs at once and it would be a temporary measure at best. That was not a solution to this potential problem. He knew his first step was to find out from Felix what was going on. Alexander had dark circles under his eyes. His hair was sticking up everywhere since he had run his hands through it repeatedly in frustration. He had tried to get some sleep but worry about this had kept him up all night.

Alexander was sitting at his desk staring off into space when Mabel walked in carrying a tray from the cafeteria. It had a plate of eggs, breakfast sausage, and toast with a glass of orange juice on it. She set it down in front of him.

Mabel: “Alexander, you need to eat something. I am willing to bet you never ate dinner last night and you have a long day ahead of you. You will think better with some fuel. You look exhausted. Did you sleep at all last night?”

Alexander blinked as Mabel sat the tray down in front of him. He looked up at her and frowned. “I had dinner before I got the news. I couldn’t sleep last night. I would rather just have some coffee.”

Mabel frowned at Alexander and put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

Mabel: “Alexander Knight! You will eat the breakfast that I was nice enough to fetch you. You will finish it and the orange juice before you can have coffee. You will thank me for it later. You cannot exist on coffee alone. Besides I have it on good authority that you already have had two cups this morning.”

Mabel turned on her heel and strode angrily for the door.

Alexander blinked in surprise at Mabel’s waspish tone. “Mabel wait.”

Mabel just kept marching for the door which slammed behind her. He sighed and picked up the fork. He knew she was right. He would apologize as soon as he was finished. He knew if he didn’t show up with an empty tray, she might actually throw something at him.

---

The time for the meeting had come. Alexander had since apologized to Mabel. He had contemplated having the meeting in a conference with HR present, but he respected Felix and wanted to give him an opportunity to speak privately. He rose to his feet to greet Felix as Mabel showed him through the door. He smiled and greeted Felix warmly.

Mabel asked Felix: “Can I get you anything to drink?”

Felix gave Mabel a warm smile and shook his head no. “No, I’m good Mabel. Thank you for offering.”

Mabel gave him a warm smile back. “Anytime Felix.” She then left the room, closing the door behind her.

Alexander waved Felix to the conversational seating area in his office.

Alexander took a seat in the comfortable chair across from Felix.

Felix looked at Alexander curiously.

Alexander sighed and looked Felix right in the eye. He laid out what was going on in a pragmatic neutral tone.

Alexander: “A rumor has reached my ear that you have been approached by another team and plan to leave Valkyrie after the Luna race. Is it true?”

Felix looked a little surprised but then his expression morphed into a neutral one but Alexander could see the anger in his eyes.

Felix: “Yes it’s true. I have the right to do so.”

Alexander nodded: “I understand that. I reviewed your contract to check out the clauses in it. Can I ask why? I would like to think that I have supported you and treated you right.”

Felix looked wary and a little guilt and pain flashed across his face to be replaced with anger.

Felix: “Alexander, you have treated me well since your arrival. I have no issues with you personally. Others have not been supportive. I am being blamed for the mistakes of others and that tarnishes my reputation as an engineer and my integrity. I can’t stay at Valkyrie. The offer is an excellent one and its time for me to make a change. It is as simple as that.”

Alexander sighed, understanding where Felix was coming from. He understood personal integrity and what it meant to an engineer who got blacklisted over gossip and backroom chatter from jealous or angry colleagues and bosses.

Alexander: “There is nothing I can do to convince you to stay? I understand it's not about the money. Can you tell me who is behind this decision of yours?”

Felix looked at Alexander like he was contemplating his answer.

Felix: “You are right it is not about the money. It is not something you can fix. I won’t stay where I don’t feel respected and a valued engineer. My answer about who is, go ask your CEO.”

Alexander swore up a blue streak. Alexander looked pained when he nodded respectfully to Felix.

Alexander: “I understand your decision and I won’t stand in your way. If you plan to leave and go to a competitor though, I hope you understand if I ask you to leave now instead of later. I would rather begin making the changes I am going to need to make. It has truly been a pleasure working with you Felix. I am sadder than you know that you are leaving. I do hope you find what you are seeking whether that is a new challenge or validation. You are a fantastic engineer and a great guy. I am very sad to lose you. You have been a crucial member of this team. I want you to know that.”

Felix looked surprised by what Alexander had to say. He gave Alexander a polite smile. He looked a little sad also though.

Felix: “I understand your reasoning behind it. It has been a pleasure to work with you as well Alexander. I hope you understand that you are not why I am leaving.”

Alexander nodded. “I do and I understand why you feel you need to go. Will you come with me to address the engineering team? Would you be willing to tell them that you are leaving?”

Felix nodded and rose to his feet. “Yes I will come with you. I want a chance to say goodbye.”

Alexander pulled a sealed envelope out of his pocket. He handed it to Felix.

Alexander pointed to the envelope. “I wrote you a letter of recommendation. You will need to stop by HR to process your separation paperwork. I also included some severance pay for you. I truly wish you the best of luck wherever you are going.”

He shook Felix’s hand. He gave Felix a moment to process everything.

Felix’s hand shook a little as he accepted the envelope. His voice shook a little and he sounded confused. “You wrote me a letter of recommendation?”

Alexander again met Felix’s eyes unflinchingly. “Others may not have treated you well or appreciated you Felix. But I did. I saw your dedication and hard work. I understand your brilliance. You are going to be almost impossible to replace. I hope you know that. I don’t want you to leave thinking I agreed with those people.”

Felix pocketed the envelope and nodded. “Well no time like the present. Let’s go address the team.”

---

On the way out of his office Alexander asked Mabel to inform Valerie in HR that Felix would be seeing her after they went to engineering. He also asked her to ring Wulfric and let him know to change Felix’s security status. Felix and Alexander walked through the headquarters to Engineering in companionable silence. They had said all they needed to each other in private. They entered the engineering department and everyone stopped what they were doing. There had already been a tension in the air and they seemed to sense that something momentous was happening.

Alexander smiled and gave a little nod of greeting to those present.

Alexander raised his voice to be heard over tools and equipment that were still being used. “Can I have everyone’s attention please?”

The chatter and noise in the space died down as people moved closer to them and stopped using their tools and machinery. There was still machinery in the background but it was much softer and easier to hear over now.

Alexander nodded and smiled in appreciation. “Thank you. Is everyone here?”

Alexander looked around as others did so and once he had a confirmation nod he continued.

Alexander: “I have an announcement to make that will impact this department. Felix Burkhart is leaving Valkyrie. He goes with our respect and well wishes. He is leaving for his own reasons. I wanted you to hear it from me first. I will not tolerate any backlash or gossip about him leaving. He will be moving to one of our competitors. That doesn’t matter because we know that Felix is the same upright honorable guy that he was here with us. We still wish him all the best for the future. I asked him to accompany me so you can discuss whatever you like with him and hear it from him. I am not hiding his departure or shading over the reasons for it. He has done nothing wrong here at Valkyrie. The choice to leave is his. Before I turn it over to Felix, I have one more thing to add. I know we have lost some engineers recently and now Felix is leaving. If you want to leave, then do so. Don’t drag it out. If you don’t want to be here. That is okay. I am happy to write you a letter of recommendation. If you want to leave when Felix does, just say the word. This is your opportunity for a clean break, if you want one.”

Alexander paused as he looked across the faces of the staff. Dismay, shock, anger, worry, and fear. There was a whole gambit of emotions and was about what he expected when he dropped this bombshell on the department.

Alexander nodded to Felix. “Felix will be cleaning out his office after this. This is his last day. Sorry to spring this on you all. I am going to leave now. Felix the floor is yours.”

Alexander turned and left the room. He would leave them to talk to Felix and ask their questions without him standing there looking like an overprotective father. He knew the damage to the engineering department had already happened because he was losing Felix. He was going to be impossible to replace. Alexander sighed and went back to his office. He had some details to attend to.

---

Alexander’s first call was to Leopold. He waited for the call to connect. Leopold’s face showed up on his screen as the call connected.

Alexander gave Leopold a frustrated angry look. “Leopold am I going to run into any more nasty surprises? You know you didn’t seem all that surprised when I told you that Felix’s contract was poorly written and he was free to move to a competitor.”

Leopold sighed and gave Alexander a weary look. “I am just as surprised as you are that Felix Burkhart is leaving. I am not surprised to hear that his contract was sloppily written and missing important clauses. That is why the previous legal team was let go”

Alexander was frustrated and angry and it showed as he once more raked a hand through his hair. “Well can you explain why the new legal team didn’t review all the existing contracts? We might have had an opportunity to offer a better contract to Felix before this shitshow happened.”

Alexander paused for a breath before he continued. “Felix confirmed that he was leaving. I didn’t ask him which competitor he is leaving us for. He confirmed that it was not about the money although he implied it was better than he gets here. I point blank asked him if there was anything I could do to get him to stay. The answer was an emphatic no. I asked him why he was leaving and he said he had a better offer. I told him I knew it was not about the money. He confirmed that someone from Valkyrie was blaming him for last year’s results. When I asked him who. His response was ‘Go ask the CEO.’ Now I find that very interesting when I just got a report from Wulfric that he was being blocked in his investigation into Maier’s activities by the CEO’s office. Now would you know anything about that?” Alexander watched Leopold’s reaction closely.

Leopold sighed and looked at Alexander for a moment or two before answering. “Alexander, one of the reasons I supported your contract was because I knew you wouldn’t put up with or enable the corruption I suspect lurked at the heart of this racing team. I have suspected there were highly placed factions inside Valkyrie that were siphoning off money and resources. I have been a board member for five years.Things kept happening that shouldn’t be. They started happening more frequently. I suspected that the CEO was working with the previous Board President. The previous Board President had been Board President for the last eight years. He retired after I won the vote against him. He could have just stepped back into the role of a board member but he chose to retire. I thought that was an odd choice.”

Alexander looked stunned and then angry. “You hired me to be your god damn stalking horse?!” He was so angry he couldn’t talk.

Leopold looked tired but amused. “Alexander in my position as Board President, I can’t interfere with the day to day running of Valkyrie. I needed to put some distance between the office of the Board President and whatever corruption was uncovered. I needed whoever uncovered that corruption to have enough power to make those accusations stick. Your first day you uncovered Maier, who I suspect was a key person helping to support this corruption that was happening from the CEO and the former board president. I am in a position to support your findings and take action on them. Something the Crew Chief can’t do. You were not my first choice but Alicia Mulder’s but I agreed with her that you would do what was right.”

Alexander glared at Leopold through the computer screen. Alexander took a moment to calm down and think. He was on the verge of smashing his computer screen and it had done nothing to him. Alexander spoke in a decisive tone as he continued.

Alexander: “Leopold you need to bring Wulfric in on this and support his behind the scenes investigation. We have to know how far the rot goes. The team can not afford to have any more surprises like this one. This one cost us our lead engineer. The new ship plans will have to be trashed. We will have to go completely back to concept. I have no clue yet how many engineers we are going to lose over this. Losing Burkhart is… Catastrophic doesn’t feel like a strong enough word. Especially this way. We need to get our house in order, Leopold. The optics over Burkhart leaving and going to a competitor so soon in the season are going to be bad. No matter how we spin it. People are going to wonder why. We are going to be under a microscope and scrutiny over new ship designs. We need to be seen as being proactive and taking action to fix the crap we find going wrong. I am surprised we have seen more investigations sparked by government oversight over the issues I found with Zimmerman. We need to investigate the CEO’s activities without his knowledge and we need to see how his activities tie in with those of the former board president.”

Leopold nodded. “I agree with you and I will work with Wulfric on it. Let’s keep that knowledge to the three of us. Need to know. We will only read others in, when and if it becomes necessary. What else do you need from me?”

Alexander blew out a deep breath. He shook his head and pondered the massive hurdle he would need to leap and quickly. “I need a fucking miracle! Please no more surprises. If you know anything else, now is the time to tell me about it, Leopold.”

Leopold laughed and shook his head sadly. “You know what I know. The rest we will have to uncover together.”

Alexander sighed and dropped his head to his desk. He banged it gently against the desktop a few times before raising up to look at the screen once more. He sounded tired and resigned as he spoke. “Well next I find out how many of the engineering and mechanic team I am going to lose. Then I have to pull a real miracle and find someone to replace our irreplaceable lead engineer! Like I said, I need a …. Miracle!” Alexander had almost cursed there but he was trying to be better about his language. Mabel had been on his case again.

Leopold: “When you get an idea of how many, call me and we will discuss what we can offer to attract the right people.”

Alexander nodded and hung up the call. Alexander decided he had earned that third cup of coffee now. He got up and brewed a fresh cup. He sipped at it and sent an email to Wulfric asking for a meeting this afternoon. He knew he would be busy for a bit. Alexander thought about what his plan of attack was. He had no clue. He was staring off into space deep in thought when Mabel came strolling in with three file folders. She sat down across the desk from Alexander and raised a brow at him.

Alexander’s focus was redirected to Mabel as she sat down across from him. He gave her a tired sad smile.

Alexander: “I have no idea how I am going to replace Felix.”

Mabel crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Alexander.

Mabel: “Alex, is that resignation and quitting I hear in your voice?”

Alexander was warned by her tone that something was up. “I am tired Mabel. I didn’t sleep a wink last night. All I can think about is we just lost an amazing lead engineer because some douchebag was handed too much power. Was too lazy to do his job and is blaming it on better people.”

Mabel: “When have you ever given up and not risen to a challenge? So we lost Felix. We still have other engineers. We are already in the process of hiring new ones. Yes Felix was amazing but you know what. He is not alone. You are not a half bad engineer yourself. You know there are other candidates out there. Will they have the same skill set? Probably not. Will they be just as good? Maybe not. What have you always told me when it came to hiring engineers?”

Alexander rolled his eyes. He knew where she was going now. Alexander’s tone was flat and he sounded like he was reciting something from memory. “Even though engineers might study the same field and even be given the same materials, the design to get there might be radically different. Engineers are practical artists. They all have hidden expertise and talent.”

Mabel just glared at him and raised her eyebrow at him. “Alexander, are you going to go to work and stop moping? Or are you going to sit here stating the task is impossible again? Are you giving up on me?”

Alexander sighed and rubbed his face and leaned forward. “I am going to work because I know you are close to kicking me in the ass.”

Mabel finally smiled at him with a nod. “You damn right I will. You never give up when it gets tough. We can do this.”

Alexander couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm and tough love kick in the ass he needed. “Mabel don’t ever change on me.”

Mabel smiled and relaxed back into her chair. She gave him a wink. “That’s better. Well now that you are done with your pout session. Can we discuss potential candidates to replace Felix?”

Alexander looked floored. “You have identified candidates already?”

Mabel just tilted her head to one side. “You told me on Sunday that this might be an issue. Have I ever let you down?” Mabel hands Alexander a file folder.

Alexander just laughed and shook his head. He reached for the file she was handing him. Inside was a dossier for an engineer that works for Al-Saqr. Alexander began to read. There was a headshot of a brown haired man in his late 30’s. Marko Livaković, was a Croatian. He got his start at Valkyrie working with their junior AG team. He moved on to Al-Saqr to get progression in his career. On the plus side he is familiar with Valkyrie and their protocols. The negative side was he was here before Alexander. That made Alexander wary about hiring him. He had uncovered so much corruption already. Marko sounded like a solid engineer but he didn’t see anything in his resume that really spoke to team leadership. Alexander needed someone who could lead the engineering team not be a shining star among the team. Marko seemed like a team player but he wasn’t convinced he could be a team leader. He looked at Mabel and raised an eyebrow.

Mabel just smiled. She knew what he wanted to know. “He is my number 2 choice.” She simply handed him another file.

Alexander accepted the file and began to read. This one had a headshot as well of a woman with a punk hairstyle dyed blue. She had tattoos on her face. She was an engineer with Southern Cross. She is not a chief engineer either. Her speciality seems to be in the speed department with a lot of experimenting with new techniques and designs. Again she was strong in an area where Valkyrie was struggling but her methods were time consuming and costly. She had the same issue as the previous candidate. She had no leadership experience and her resume made her out to be more of a maverick.Alexander closed the folder and held out his hand.

Alexander smiled at Mabel: “That was your third choice. Now show me the one you want to call.”

Mabel just grinned looking like the cat that got the canary. She handed Alexander the folder.



Alexander opened it and it too had a headshot. It showed a man in a tweed flat cap with a big smile, blue eyes, and brown beard. The dossier said he was 39 years old. He was married and had two children still in elementary school. He has a masters degree in mechanical engineering. He got his start at Silver Apex and worked his way up to a senior engineer before taking the job as the lead engineer for Fitzroy. He left Fitzroy because he wanted his children to grow up in Sheffield where he did. He quit after telling Fitzroy off in person heatedly about firing people and underfunding the team and blaming the staff for the issues with the ship. He was passionate about his community as well. There were articles included where he had done what he could to help his community.

Alexander sighed and looked up at Mabel. “I see why he is your top choice. But how do we convince him to move to Germany?”

Mabel smiled at Alexander. “You did read why he quit right?”

Alexander nodded. “He has the leadership experience I want. He was angry Fitzroy fired some of the engineers and mechanics.”

Mabel smiled at Alexander: “Alexander you have been looking for the engineers you need to get new ship designs off the ground. We might lose more engineers than just Felix today right? So offer to bring over his people. As many as we have room for. Or even just one or two. We have room in the department right now even if no one leaves.”

Alexander shook his head and smiled at Mabel. “Well, call him and see if you can get him to come for an in person interview in the next few days. We don’t have any time to wait. Offer to send the private shuttle. Extend it to an overnight stay offer for his whole family. Make sure there is a family apartment available for them to stay in. If he is going to do this, his wife will have to be on board as well.”

Mabel smiled and rose to her feet collecting the folders. “I will get right on it.”

Mabel bustled out of his office as Alexander picked up his phone and was informed that in addition to Felix he had lost Chistoph Ziegler, Colton Mathews, and Anneleise Schubert from the engineering team. He lost Zane Kovacs from the mechanics. Alexander quickly wrote letters of recommendations for the other engineers that were leaving. He printed and signed them and sealed them in envelopes with their names on them. He took the stack and headed towards HR. He needed to stretch and this would give him a chance to talk to Valerie the head of HR about the current staffing crisis. He would leave the letters with Valerie. She could give them the letters as they stopped to process their separation paperwork.

---

Mabel sat down at her desk and checked the time difference between Germany and England before dialing the number on file she had for Cavan Mitchell. Mabel was unsure if she was dialing a mobile number or a residence number. She sighed it was what she had. The phone rang several times before someone picked up.

Mabel in her sweetest feminine voice said hello. Her American Southern accent was thick as honey. “Hello. May I speak with Cavan Mitchell please?”

There was a childish giggle followed by a young voice. “You talk funny!”

Mabel smiled as she recognized a child had picked up the phone. “Well I guess I might sound funny to you. Did I call the right number? Is Mr. Mitchell your father?”

There was another snicker. “Yes, that's my da.” Mabel heard a click like the headset had been set down. Then she heard that same childish voice hollering. “Da there is a funny sounding lady on the phone for you!”

Mabel just chuckled to herself. She waited patiently for the man to come to the phone. Mabel wondered why the children were not in school. She looked at a calendar and noticed that Easter was last weekend. They must get a long break for Easter.

The phone was finally picked up and a gruff masculine voice said. “This is Cavan Mitchell. Can I help you?”

Mabel smiled and began to try and convince this man to at least come in for an interview. “Hello Mr. Mitchell. My name is Miss Mabel Brown. I am Mr. Alexander Knight’s executive assistant. Would you and your family be available to come to Valkyrie AGR Sport headquarters for a job interview in the next day or two?”

Mr. Mitchell sounded shocked and confused. “I want to make sure I understand you. You work for Valkyrie AGR Sport. Alexander Knight, their Crew Chief, wants me and MY family to come to Germany for a JOB interview in the next day or so?”

Mabel’s voice radiated sunshine, excitement, and warmth. “Yes Mr. Mitchell. You let me know the date. I will arrange to have one of Valkyrie’s private shuttles pick you up in Sheffield and bring you and your family here to Valkyrie AGR headquarters. We will arrange for your family to stay overnight here on campus in our apartment building. We are asking you to bring your family because we understand how important they are to you. We understand that any decision you make will need to include their input too. So let me be perfectly clear Mr. Mitchell. We are wooing your whole family, not just you.” Mabel waited patiently. She smiled knowing she had just thrown a spanner wrench into Mr. Mitchell’s day. There was silence on the phone.

Cavan Mitchell looked at the almost antique handset on his home telephone like it was malfunctioning. He looked over at his son who was grinning from ear to ear. “Doesn’t she talk funny da?”

Cavan looked at Harry his nine year old son and just nodded. He realized he had left the woman hanging. “Miss Brown was it? Can you give me a phone number where I can call you back? I will need to talk to my wife about this. Wait a minute… I thought Felix Burkhart was the Head Engineer for Valkyrie. He is a nice guy and smart too.”

Mabel smiled as she wholeheartedly agreed with him. “He was Mr. Mitchell. He quit this morning. He said he got a better offer. I agree with you though. Felix Burkhart is a great engineer and a very good man. I can hold for a few minutes if you want to discuss this quickly with your wife.”

Cavan couldn’t believe he was getting this call. He felt like he was stuck in some weird movie where he had switched lives with someone else. “Just clarifying again. Valkyrie wants me to come and interview for the job of lead engineer? And you want me to bring my entire family?”

Mabel just grinned. She wished she had thought to try a video call so she could see his face. “Yes Mr. Mitchell.”

Cavan just shook his head. This was the strangest phone call he had ever received. “Hold please.” Cavan set the headset down and went in search of his wife.

Mabel could hear some talking in the distance. She heard Mr. Mitchell’s voice. “Honey! Where are you?” A feminine voice replied “In the kitchen dear.” Mr. Mitchell again. “Honey, you won’t believe the phone call I just got. Team Valkyrie is holding. They want to interview me for the head engineer position. In Germany. Tomorrow. They want the whole family to come. They said bring you and the kids. They will put us up overnight in their campus apartment.” A feminine voice squealed in excitement. “Cavan this is what you wanted right? It's what you love.” Mr. Mitchell. “But Germany honey.” the feminine voice again. “It can't hurt to talk to them right? The kids are out of school for the Easter Break. It would make their holiday even better with a free trip. So why not. You can always turn them down.” Mr. Mitchell sounded grumpy. “Are you sure?” feminine laughter got closer to the phone.

A feminine voice came over the phone this time. “Hello. Who am I talking to?”

Mabel just grinned her southern accent oozing through the phone. “My name is Miss Mabel Brown Mrs. Mitchell. I am Mr. Knight’s executive assistant. As I was explaining to your husband. Valkyrie would like to interview him for the job as Lead Engineer. We understand how important family is to Mr. Mitchell. So we want all of you to come with him. Valkyrie will send a private shuttle to pick up your family at Sheffield. We will bring you to Aachen Germany where the team is headquartered. We will arrange for your family to stay in one of your family suites in our on campus housing overnight while you are here. We will then arrange transportation back home for your family after your visit. All I need is a time and the airport you wish to depart from.”

Mrs. Mitchell just chuckled. “You are a smooth one Miss Brown. Tomorrow, ten am, Leeds Airport. Make sure the room has three bedrooms or one with twin beds.”

Mabel just smiled from ear to ear. “I can do that. Any other special requests Mrs. Mitchell?”

Mrs. Mitchell just chuckled and picked up the notepad next to the telephone. “Can I get your mobile number in case I have any issues while we are traveling?”

Mabel rattled off her phone number. “There shouldn’t be any issues. I will arrange to have a company driver meet you at the airport and bring you and your family to the Valkyrie AGR Campus. Is there anything you would like for me to arrange?”

Miss Mitchell chuckled softly. “Actually yes there is. Our children are on Easter Break. Can you arrange a fun outing for them? I want them to think of this trip as part of their vacation.”

Mabel sounded confident. “Leave it to me Miss Mitchell. I look forward to meeting you and your family.”

Miss Mitchell smiled and looked very pleased with herself. “I look forward to meeting you too Miss Mabel. See you tomorrow.”

Mabel looked smug and satisfied as she hung up the phone.

---

Worldwide Sports

---

“This is Jabari Biko with Worldwide Sports. Rumors are coming in from all over the Anti gravity racing scene that Felix Burkhart has left Valkyrie AGR Sport. There is a great deal of talk and chatter but we have been unable to substantiate whether these are just rumors or if there is something going on inside Team Valkyrie AGR Sport. There is enough chatter that we believe there is something going on but so far there has been no response either way from Team Valkyrie. Remember you heard it from us first! This has been Jabari Biko with Worldwide Sports.

---

NBC Sports

---

“Hello AG Fans. This is Angela Ramirez with NBC Sports. There is a lot of backroom chatter and water cooler talk that Felix Burkhart has left Team Valkyrie AGR Sport. If this rumor is true, it could ruin any progress that Valkyrie has made to return this season. The team is performing better than last season but it is no where close to where they should be performing. This could cripple the team’s chances for redemption this year. We reached out to Team Valkyrie asking them to comment on the rumors. The only response back was No Comment at this time. This has been Angela Ramirez with NBC Sports.”

---

Social Media

---

OfficeDrone#12: Insiders at Valkyrie confirm that Burrkhart quit today!
SuperfanAGR54: WTF! What is going on over there?
DantheMan: Burkhart is top notch. They can’t afford to lose him!
BatDave: I am Batman!
Superfan2075: [shocked face emoji followed by bleeding heart emoji]
DadBod89: Nope not believing it till we hear confirmation from Team Valkyrie.
Hater101: Burkhart should be considered a national treasure and he quit? It makes you wonder why!
Papabear34: WTF? I am goin with @DadBod89. I am not going to believe it till it is confirmed by the team.
Nana2050: These are just rumors so far. We have not been told for sure he quit.
GeorgeFly: Burkhart leaving could really set the team back.
ValkyrieFan56: If Burkhart leaves will they be ready for Portugal?
Weedhead81: Wow maybe Burkhart could use a toke?
SexyM@m@5: Wow how does this affect the team?
Paulmulder4eva: Will Paul be racing in Portugal if Burkhart quit?
Britball12: WTF is happening with Valkyrie now. I swear its been a drama fest since Alexander Knight took over.
!YouSlow!: Burkhart is a great engineer. Sucks to lose him.
xImFasterthanUx: Knight is in trouble if he lost Burkhart.
AGInthusiast: Knight screws the pooch again.
micheal650004: Fake news it has not been confirmed yet.
KingKofiFan: I wonder where Burkhart is going if he is leaving?
$erwa: Any rumors about where Burkhart is going yet?
Jan2084: WOW! Sucks for Valkyrie.
Bertha: Knight screwed up again. That is a major hit though. Losing your head engineer at the beginning of the season!

---

Soundtrack: High Hopes - Panic at the Disco

---

Alexander had finally gotten some sleep last night. He was still not sure what karma he had accrued in another life to deserve Mabel Brown in his life. He was grateful that he had her in his corner though. Alexander was struggling to see a way out of this crisis. Especially as they had less than 2 weeks till the Portugal Grand Prix. Somehow Mabel had managed to give him a potential miracle. Now it was up to him to seal the deal. He was dressed in his typical working uniform of jeans, a button up shirt with the Valkyrie logo on it and his favorite work boots. He and Mabel were waiting in the lobby for the Mitchell family.

Alexander shook his head with a rueful smile. “Mabel, I don't know how you do it. Hiring you is still one of the best decisions I ever made. You are still pulling my ass out of the fire.”

Mabel just laughed and winked at him before responding. “Well Alex, it is a special skill learned from dealing with hard headed males like you.”

Alexander chuckled and looked up as one of the company vehicles pulled up. Alexander walked forward to greet the Mitchell family. “Well it looks like they are here. Let’s get this show on the road.”

Mabel followed at Alexander’s side and waited as he got the door. They stepped out into the sunshine as people began to climb out of the vehicle. Mr. Mitchell was seated up front with the driver. He had hopped out and was opening the door behind him and helping his wife out to her feet. Clambering excitedly out of the vehicle behind them came bounding a strapping young lad and a sweet looking girl. Pete was the driver who had been dispatched to get them.

Mabel stepped forward and greeted Pete. “Good Morning Pete. I hope the airport was not too bad of a drive.”

Pete gave Mabel a warm smile and shook his head. “Good Morning Miss Mabel. It was no trouble at all.”

Mabel smiled at the handsome polite boy. “Can you please take their luggage and drop it off with security? They will take it to their room.”

Pete nodded and moved to the rear of the vehicle. “Anything for you Miss Mabel.”

Mabel got a winked look on her face and a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “So have you worked up the courage to ask Valerie out yet?”

Pete looked embarrassed and scuffed his shoe against the ground nervously. “Aw shucks Miss Mabel.” He sighed with a wistful and sad look on his face. “She is so far out of my league. I lost my nerve.”

Mabel smiled encouragingly at him. “Remember Pete, nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

Pete blushed and nodded as he pulled a large suitcase from the rear of the vehicle, two kids backpacks, and a briefcase.

Mabel turned to the Mitchells. “Hello! You must be the Mitchells. I am Miss Mabel Brown. Please call me Miss Mabel. Pete is going to take your bags to security. They will be in your room waiting on you for later. Does everyone have what they need?”

Cavan was standing with his arm around his wife. His wife was holding the hand of their little girl while their son stood next to his father. Cavan blinked at Mabel and turned his head to look questioningly at his wife before turning his head back to Mabel.

Mabel laughed. “Maybe I went a little fast. We are going to take you on a tour of the facility. We didn’t think you would want to carry your luggage everywhere you go. Our security staff will take it to your room for you. It will be waiting for you there. Do you need anything out of it before we get started?”

Mrs. Mitchell smiled at Mabel. “The children will need their backpacks. The rest can go to our room.” The kids bounced over to pick up their backpacks and slung them on.

Almost in unison they told their mother. “We are ready Ma.”

Cavan sighed and stroked his beard. He was still not sure how he got railroaded into this. He had never been on a job interview where they asked him to bring his family with him. He felt uncomfortable and out of his depth and that made him irritable and grumpy.

Cavan just gave a nod to Mabel. “It appears we are ready now.”

Mabel pulled out a visitor security pass for each of them on a lanyard.

Mabel: “Before we get started a few things of note. The campus has tight security. You will need these to access your room, the building, the gym, and the cafeteria. Please keep it with you at all times.”

The Mitchells just nodded as they hung them around their necks. The kids looked at their passes with curiosity.

Mabel: "We are going to tour the facility. Then we will have lunch in the cafeteria. Then we have arranged a trip to the zoo for the kids. Mrs. Mitchell if you would like to stay with your husband we can arrange for one of our childcare workers to go with the kids. We do have an onsite childcare facility if you would rather the children stayed here. We can also wait and send you all to the zoo tomorrow if you prefer. You had asked me to arrange something for them. Will that do?”

Mrs. Mitchell beamed at Mabel. “That’s perfect! Thank you Mabel.”

Mabel smiled at Mrs. Mitchell. “Allow me to introduce you to my boss, Alexander Knight.” Mabel waved Alexander forward.

Mabel: “Alexander this is Cavan Mitchell, his wife Mary, their son Harry, and their daughter Abigail.”

Abigail blinked and looked awed. She tugged on her mother’s hand. “She knows my name!” She then giggled a little. “And she talks funny.”

Harry beamed at his sister. “That’s what I said!”

Mabel just chuckled as she knelt in front of the children.

She held her hand out to Harry. “It is nice to meet you in person, Harry.”

Harry looked at her confused for a minute and then shook her hand with a smile.
Harry: “Nice to meetcha Miss Mabel.”

Mabel turned on her heel and held her hand out to Abigail. “It is a pleasure to meet you as well Miss Abigail.”

The little girl shyly took her hand and gave her an awkward hand pump.

Mabel just smiled and rose back to her feet.

Alexander stood by as he watched Mabel work her own brand of charm on the family as she greeted them. Alexander smiled and stepped forward and offered a hand to Cavan Mitchell.

Alexander: “Mr. Mitchell, thank you for coming to at least hear our offer. I hope you and your family will at least have a nice time while you are here.” Alexander shook Mr. Mitchell’s hand before turning to address his wife. “And Mrs. Mitchell thank you for being available and willing to come with him. I know this is unorthodox but I am not the typical team principal. I know how much my family means to me. I know that any decisions made impact you all. Which is why I wanted all of you to come.”

Cavan regarded Alexander with a raised eyebrow. He was suspicious and was withholding judgment until after he heard what the man had to say. He couldn’t help but wonder if this was some kind of slick recruiting tactic. He had a hard time taking Alexander at face value after his experiences with Fitzroy.

Cavan nodded his head in acknowledgement of Alexander’s greeting. “I have to admit I was very surprised by the phone call. It was the strangest request for an interview that I have ever received.”

Alexander just smiled. “Mabel has a way of leaving an impression.” Alexander chuckled and waved his arm towards the door.

Mabel:“Shall we begin the tour?”

The tour began as Alexander and Mabel escorted the family around the campus. They showed them every department. They walked past the apartment building and showed them the playground outside. They explained that apartments were used by key staff that needed to be onsite. The pilots who traveled a lot but trained at HQ for instance stayed here. Harry was enamored of the research and development labs. He was awed by all the equipment and gadgets. He bubbled with excitement over the training simulator as he asked if he could try it. Alexander explained that this simulator was set up for pilots and that Harry didn’t have the right augmentations to use it. He smiled and promised that there would be something for him in the suite. Abigail loved the gardens on the grounds. The tour had taken about an hour. They ended the tour in the cafeteria. Everyone ordered off the menu of the day and sat down. The Mitchells were surprised when there was a special short menu for children.

Alexander smiled. “Well we ended our tour here on purpose. Across the hall is our onsite Childcare Center for our staff. This cafeteria is open to all staff. We encourage work life balance here. We encourage our employees to eat lunch here with their children, especially if their children are enrolled in the onsite daycare center. Meals are prepared from scratch by the team’s chef Jaques Auclair. Employees may bring their own meals and eat them in this space or they can charge meals to an employee account and they are deducted from their paycheck. When we are done eating, we will show you the childcare center and leave the kids for some playtime. Is that okay with you all?”

Mrs. Mitchell looked surprised and contemplative. Mr. Mitchell still looked guarded. The kids looked excited. Everyone enjoyed a pleasant and deliciously leisurely lunch. Once everyone was done. Alexander led the way out of the cafeteria to the childcare center. The childcare center was state of the art and decorated with children in mind. The lounge entry area had a lot of seating. Couches lined the area with an interactive colorful play area in the middle. There was a pedestrian gate in the half wall next to a large receptionist desk. The center had separate rooms that were split along age and care needs lines.

A red headed woman with a bright smile welcomed them. “Hello! Welcome to Valkyrie AGR Sport’s child care center. My name is Susie. How may I help you today?”

Alexander stepped forward and shook Susie’s hand. “Hello Susie. I don’t believe we have met. I am… “

Alexander was cut off by a laughing Susie. “Alexander Knight. I know who you are sir. What can I do for you?”

Alexander blushed because he should have come in here and introduced himself to the staff a long time ago. Because he didn't have school age children didn’t mean he didn’t appreciate all the work these people did to take care of the children of the staff.

Alexander stumbled a little but then recovered his composure. “Right. Of course you would know who I am. I must apologize for not having been by to introduce myself sooner. I want you to know that I appreciate all your hard work in taking care of the children of our staff members. I have a family of VIPs with me today. We would like to leave Harry and Abigail here for a few hours in your care. Would that be okay?”

Susie just giggled and nodded. “Of course Mr. Knight.” Susie turned to the Mitchells. “You must be the anxious parents. Can I get you to fill out a visitor form for me? It is so I can reach in case of any accidents or issues. I need some basic information like allergies and any health conditions we need to be aware of such as asthma or diabetes. We want to be sure we take excellent care of your children.”

Mrs. Knight stepped forward and took the tablet and began to quickly fill out the information required and sign it with a thumb print scan.

Susie looked it over and nodded. “Everything seems to be in order.” Susie opened up the gate and moved into the doorway. She knelt down to be on the same level as the children. She held out a hand to each of them. “Hello Harry, Abigail. Would you like to stay here with me and explore some of the fun things you can do here?”

Harry and Abigail both stepped forward with some excitement and a little trepidation.

Susie just waited patiently. “Harry I bet you would like our Lego room. You can build anything you want! We have motor so you can make them move!” She turned to Abigail with a tilt to her head. “Abigail we have a doll room or we have an arts and crafts center that might be to your liking. If at anytime you start to feel uncomfortable and want to leave, I will call your mom to come and get you. Does that sound good?”

Susie again waited patiently for the children to nod in agreement. She then stood up and opened the gate wide so they could walk by her. “Then in you come. Let’s go have some fun.”

The children each allowed her to take them by the hand and lead them into the hallway behind the desk. The children asking all kinds of questions without once looking back at their parents.

Mrs. Mitchell was amused. “Well that makes me feel not needed.”

Alexander chuckled. “Nah, they will go and have a great time. They are excited to explore a new place. But then they will be excited to tell you all about their adventures today.” Alexander’s face became unreadable for a moment before he added. “Good mothers can never be replaced Mrs. Mitchell.”

Mrs. Mitchell regarded Alexander with a startled look. Mr. Mitchell wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hugged his wife. “Mary, you are an amazing mother. Never doubt how important you are to me or the children. We would fall apart without you.”

Mrs. Mitchell gave her husband a quick peck on the lips in gratitude. “Thanks darling.”

Alexander waited until they felt comfortable leaving their children. “Let’s go to my office to talk.”

The Mitchells nodded and Alexander led the way to his office with Mabel bringing up the rear. Alexander opened the door to his office and motioned for them to make themselves comfortable in the small seating area in his office. They took a seat together on the sofa. Alexander and Mabel took the chairs across from the sofa.

Alexander took the lead in the discussion. “Mr. Mitchell you know I asked you to come to discuss the possibility of you taking over Valkyrie AGR Sport’s engineering department. You have had a tour of the facility. As you have seen for yourself it is top notch. You also know I lost my head engineer, Felix Burkhart yesterday. I am in a serious time crunch and bind. You are the only person who has the skills I need to turn what could be a catastrophic season for Valkyrie around.”

Mr. Mitchell shrugged. “I don’t see how that is my problem. I am very flattered by the offer. But I don’t see what you can offer me that would entice me to come to Germany.”

Mrs. Mitchell’s body language stiffened next to her husband on the couch.

Alexander’s sharp eyes noticed it. He leaned back in his chair with a thoughtful look. “Mr. Mitchell can I call you Cavan?”

Cavan nodded. “I would prefer it. I am not a very formal man. I prefer plain speaking than flowery words.”

Alexander smiled and nodded. “Then call me Alexander. I feel the same way. Let me ask you a question then. Forget that Valkyrie is in Germany for a moment. What would cause you to hesitate to take the position? Is it the money? Do you have a bad history with Team Valkyrie or some of its people? What’s stopping you?”

Cavan leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “Bluntly Alexander, I don’t know if I can trust you. I just spent two years working without adequate funding, parts, personnel. My staff bore the brunt of it with salary cuts and layoffs. They had to work in the same difficult conditions that I did. Always on edge wondering what the next work week would be like. We would rob parts off one ship to keep the other going. It wasn’t pretty. It was exhausting. Now you are asking me to save Valkyrie’s sinking ship. I don’t know if I have that kind of energy left. I love being an engineer in Formula AG. I loved leading my team and seeing things done correctly. I refuse to go through that kind of humiliation and stress again. I won’t subject my staff to it either. What guarantees do I have that my salary won’t start being cut or the resources I need to do my job? How do I know things would be any different here at Valkyrie?”

Mrs. Mitchell was frozen in place, her eyes flicking between Alexander and Cavan.

Alexander nodded. “That’s fair. I may have gotten my start as a racer but after I left racing. I became an engineer. I understand your job. The only guarantee I can make you is that I am not Fitzroy. If things get that bad, we will both be out of a job. I know you don’t know me. I get that. The only thing I can offer is my word to treat you with respect. That doesn’t mean that I won’t take you to task if you screw up. It won’t be because you don’t have what you need to do your job. I believe in a team environment Cavan. Are you an engineer that likes to take the credit for the whole team? Or are you the type that leads the others and lifts them so that they can all fly?”

Cavan looked at Alexander contemplatively and shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I took the job at Fitzroy so that I could raise my family where I grew up in Sheffield. Germany is not Sheffield. I love where I grew up. I love my community. I don’t see how this can possibly work.”

Alexander nodded at him. “The only way it could work is with some compromise on your part. I can’t move the team to England. What I can do is offer some solutions. It is a 40 minute shuttle flight from Aachen to Leeds. You could commute home every night but that is a long commute. You would have to consider the drive after you landed too. You could move your family to Germany. We can offer your family an apartment here on campus. It comes with a daycare center on site. You could have lunch with your wife and children every day. Aachen has culture and history. It might do your kids some good to be exposed to it. You could have your wife and kids live in Sheffield and you go home on weekends and stay in an apartment here on campus during the week. You could keep your house in Sheffield to return to while you are working here in Germany. You could all go home to Sheffield on weekends. Or you could do a combination of all of those.”

Cavan looked thoughtful. “I just don’t know.”

Alexander: “I can’t give you long to think about it. But I can offer you something no one else can.”

Cavan looked at Alexander: “What?”

Alexander looked Cavan in the eye. “Valkyrie lost three other engineers yesterday who walked out with Burkhart and a mechanic. I can bring over your staff that Fitzroy fired. I also understand how important family is to you. I have taken hell in the media for just trying to do right for my daughter after her accident. I understand that your family will always come first. Your devotion to your team and your leadership skills is why you are my top choice to replace Felix Burkhart. I believe only you will be able to turn this clusterfuck around. My apologies ladies for my language.”

Cavan’s eyes widened. He had no idea what to say to that. Cavan would be able to help those still looking for jobs. He could keep the ones who had deserved a chance at a future in this sport. He was torn between duty to his team and his family. He turned to look at his wife who was looking at him with questions in her eyes.

Cavan sighed before giving his answer. “I need at least a day to think about it. I need to talk to my family about it.”

Mabel interjected. “Mrs. Mitchell I understand the children are out of school till next Monday. Is that correct?”

Mrs. Mitchell was startled to be addressed and turned to Mabel. It took her a moment to process her question. “Yes they are out on Easter Break.”

Mabel smiled at Mrs. Mitchell who clapped. “That’s splendid! Why don’t you stay for another day. Take tonight to discuss things and think about them. Tomorrow you can get up and all go to the zoo here together. Have a nice day for their holiday break. Then on Thursday we can meet for breakfast to get your answer. How does that sound?”

Ever the practical mother Mrs. Mitchell protested weakly. “Well I only packed for an overnight trip.”

Mabel waved a hand to indicate that was not a problem. “There is a washer and dryer in your room. You can wash what your not wearing. It is only one more day.”

Mary looked at Cavan who shrugged. “Well the kids are having a great time. It would give us some time to discuss it as a family.” Cavan’s eyes narrowed as he turned his head to regard Mabel and then Alexander. “You two are sneaky! This is why you had me bring my family with me.” Cavan swore. “I have to admit damn it, that it is working!” He frowned at Alexander and gave Mabel a dirty look.

Mabel just grinned unrepentantly as she winked at Mrs. Mitchell. “I told you on the phone Mr. Mitchell. We are wooing your whole family.”

Cavan’s deep startled laughter boomed out across the office. “So you did!”

Mrs. Mitchell just chuckled. “I think now would be a good time to fetch the children and go check out our room. What do we do for dinner tonight?”

Mabel grinned. “You can ask Chef Jaques to have something delivered to your suite. Or come over and eat in the cafeteria. If you would prefer to go out. We can make a car and driver available to you. The choice is yours?”

Mrs. Mitchell smiled and winked at Mabel. “I can get used to being waited on hand and foot.”

Mr. Mitchell sighed. He had a suspicion which way his wife was leaning. “I agree with Mary. I think it's time we have a private chat. I want to check in on the kids as well.”

---

Mary and Cavan left Alexander’s office. They followed the directions on the tablet Mabel had given. They could use it for the duration of their stay. It was set up for visitors to use. It had a campus map on it. It had links for calling security, Mabel, and the car service. They stopped by the Child Care center to get their children. Who were full of excitement and tales of what they had done while away from their parents. They walked with the children to the apartment building and found their suite. Mabel had made sure to give them a three bedroom suite set up for families. The Mitchells began to explore their family suite. The little boy was awed by the entertainment system and games in the living room of the suite. There was a gift basket of homemade cookies in the middle of the dining room table. It had a small welcome note from Mabel informing them she had baked the cookies. There was a wine bucket with a bottle of wine in it for the adults in the room. The large open concept living room and dining room were decorated in the latest appliances with a sleek modern esthetic. The refrigerator and kitchen had some snacks, juice, milk, and snacks in them. The kitchen was fully appointed with everything you would need to cook with. The master bedroom had a king size bed and an en suite bathroom and large walk in closet. The other two rooms had queen size beds. There was a guest bath off the living room. There was a utility room with a full size washer and dryer unit. Cavan and Mary left the children playing a video game and sat down in the kitchen to talk.

Cavan sighed and looked at Mary torn and troubled. “I don’t know Mary. It is a generous offer. I have a good feeling about Knight. I can see myself working with him. But to give up Sheffield…”

Mary: “Cavan, would we really be giving up Sheffield? We barely see you now because you are commuting to work in a larger city. When you worked for Fitzroy, yes we were in Sheffield but you were so stressed and trying to keep things afloat short handed that we hardly saw you. You left before the kids and were home after they were in bed most nights. Like Alexander said though, we could keep the house in Sheffield. I kind of love the idea of you being able to have lunch with us every day. I love that they have good quality on site child care services as well. You know I love you Cavan. I love being a mother. I miss doing my own thing though. I miss my photography.”

Cavan: “It would mean uprooting the children. They would miss their friends. Is that fair to them?”

Mary: “Why don’t we ask them how they feel about it? We could try having you commuting every day but I am not fond of that. You would be back to the same hours you were pulling at Fitzroy. I am not a fan of being away from you all week. I like having my man with me every night.”

Cavan smiled and squeezed his wife’s hand. “Oh yeah? And why is that?”

Mary just gave him a soft chuckle. “Behave! The children are right there.”

Cavan sighed and looked over at his children. “Abigail! Harry! Can you join us please?”

There was some grumbling as the game was paused. The children came running over to the table where their parents were sitting across from one another. They both took a seat with Abigail struggling to move her chair in. Cavan gave her a helpful push.

Abigail: “What’s up da?”

Cavan explained the job offer to the children and the ramifications.

Cavan: “Kids I have been given a very nice job offer. However it would mean we would have to move here to Germany. I would be traveling again with a racing team. Your ma and I discussed it and we wanted to know how you would feel about that?”

Harry looked thoughtful. “Well I could still see my friends when we went home right? I could make new friends here. I liked the Childcare Center. It was fun. School is school dad. I am not going to like school no matter where we live.” He shrugged.

Abigail looked at her father. “Would this job make you happy again Da?” Cavan could feel the tears in his eyes. They say out of the mouths of babes.

Mary looked surprised. “Abigail what do you mean by that?”

Abigail sighed and looked at her dad. “Well you have seemed sad lately and worried. I won’t miss my teacher. I don’t like Miss.Taylor. I will miss my friends but we can video chat and like Harry said. I can make new friends. I already made a new friend! Miss Arianna came and played with me in the doll room. She is Mr. Knight’s daughter. And she is way older than me. But she was very nice and lots of fun!”

Cavan had to look away from his daughter or he was gonna cry a river of tears. He had no idea that she had been watching him so closely.

Harry looked nervous before he looked over at his mother. “Da has woken me a few times. I hear him pacing in the hallway late at night.” He looked down at the table afraid he was going to get in trouble. He knew he was not supposed to be up late.

Cavan gave up and put a hand over his face as tears leaked out of his eyes. He wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. “Are you guys sure? You would be willing to do that for me? There are options. I could stay here during the week and see you on weekends.”

Mary was the one who quietly reminded him. “We would only see you every other weekend because you would be away at the races. Cavan the best option is for all of us to move to Germany. It is the only practical option. That doesn’t mean we have to give up our house in Sheffield. We can still go back for visits and holidays. It is not like we would never be there again.”

Cavan sighed and nodded. “I will think about it. Now who wants a cookie?”

Mary got up and poured them all glasses of milk to go with the classic chocolate chip cookies.

Mary almost cursed. “That is one of the best cookies I have ever eaten!”

Harry giggled and patted his tummy. “Yummy yummy to my tummy.”

Abigail giggled at her brother’s antics. “Miss Mabel bakes good cookies.”

---

Cavan had gone to the zoo with his family the next day. They all had an amazing time. The children had been excited and run from exhibit to exhibit. Cavan and Mary had come back exhausted. They had all slept well that night. They had come back to more cookies on the table. The family was due to meet Alexander in the cafeteria for breakfast at 8am.

Alexander was waiting in the cafeteria with pancakes and sausage. He was sipping a black cup of coffee. He smiled at the Mitchell family as they all trooped in. Everyone helped themselves to something from the buffet.

Alexander smiled as Abigail ran across the cafeteria to Arianna and gave her a big hug and was chatting excitedly to her. Telling her all about the zoo. Arianna was sitting next to him.

Arianna: “Wow that sounds like it was so much fun! You know we need to get you some food.” She rose to her feet and took Abigail by the hand and led her back over to the buffer where her parents were helping Harry. Arianna helped Abigail with some country potatoes, a piece of bacon, and a biscuit. She poured her a glass of milk and helped her carry it over to the table.

Everyone said hello to one another and began to eat. The conversation was kept light and all about the family’s day at the zoo. Once breakfast plates had been cleared away the negotiating began.

Alexander: “Well it sounds like you all enjoyed the zoo. I am glad you had a nice break.”

Cavan and Mary held hands under the table. Mary: “It was a nice break. It was nice to see more of the area. Aachen is a pretty place.”

Cavan: “I will take the job. I want a contract. I want to bring my people from Fitzroy. I want the salary. I want the apartment we are staying in, access to the child care center for Harry and Abigail. I also want access to one of the company’s shuttles so we can visit Sheffield when we want too.”

Alexander had been expecting something along these lines. He nodded and looked thoughtful. He turned to Mary. “Do you have anything you want added for you?”

Mary blushed a little but nodded to Alexander. “I want him here. I don’t want him to travel with the team unless you really need him too. I want to point out that it is a great place to start training other engineers on how to lead a team.”

Alexander was a little surprised but nodded. “Okay.” He turned his attention to Harry next. “What about you Harry? Any requests?”

Harry’s eyes were wide and he had a gleeful expression. “I want to keep the games and entertainment system while we are living here.”

Alexander nodded thoughtfully and winked at Harry. “I think that one can be arranged.” He then turned his attention to Abigail. “What about you Abigail? What do you want to get out of this?”

Abigail gave him a very sweet smile. “I want my daddy to be happy again.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Oh I want doll play dates with Arianna.”

Alexander threw back his head and laughed. He turned to Arianna and smiled at her. “Well I bet you didn’t see that coming when you decided to drop in and play dolls yesterday.” He smiled at Abigail and whispered loudly to her as if he was sharing a secret. “She always wanted a sister growing up. You give her an excuse to play with dolls at her age.”

Arianna blushed and nudged her father in the side. “Hush you. Or I won’t agree to your terms and your negotiations will fail over the request of the seven year old.”

Alexander chuckled and shook his head. “Well I think most of that is doable.” He turned to Abigail. “I can’t promise that Arianna will always be available for playdates. I am pretty sure that she would be happy to do it occasionally with you though. Would that be okay?” Abigail nodded and looked quite pleased with herself.

Alexander turned to Cavan. “You can have access to a shuttle if one is available. Is that fair? We might have to limit the number of trips to no more than 3 a month. Would that be fair?”

Cavan looked around at his family members. He got nods from everyone. He held his hand out and shook Alexander’s hand. “I will take the job. I want to see the contracts first. I want my own legal counsel to read it over.”

Alexander smiled at Cavan. “Welcome to Team Valkyrie Mitchells.” The kids cheered and Mary smiled.

---

Social Media

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OfficeDrone#12: Burkhart has been seen in the building!
SuperfanAGR54: OMG! Knight moved fast!
DantheMan: I did not see that coming. Welcome to Valkyrie Mitchell!
BatDave: I am Batman!
Superfan2075: I am not sure how I feel about this.
DadBod89: I am weeping over here! No…. Felix don’t go!
Hater101: Mitchell is not on Burkhart’s level.
Papabear34: Hmmm I am unsure if I feel happy or sad.
Nana2050: #knightwins
GeorgeFly: I will have to wait and see.
ValkyrieFan56: But will it be enough?
Weedhead81: Woah! Did someone lace my joint with shrooms again? Burkhart really left? And Cavan Mitchell is replacing him?
SexyM@m@5: The sun is shining again.
Paulmulder4eva: @valkyriepaul Call me!
Britball12: I am speechless. Burkhart left.
!YouSlow!: Mitchell is a good choice.
xImFasterthanUx: Mitchell is a talented engineer. He has been hamstrung at Fitzroy. I can’t wait to see what he does at Valkyrie.
AGInthusiast: Mitchell is no Burkhart.
micheal650004: It could be worse. Mitchell is not necessarily a bad thing.
KingKofiFan: Whiplash! Mitchell is moving to Valkyrie!
$erwa: Any rumors about where Burkhart is going yet?
Jan2084: They didn’t say where Burkhart was going.
Bertha: Mitchell is not as talented as Burkhart.

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Countdown. And with each light Kais’ mind ached in anticipation. Then the machines around him erupted, snow sublimated around them as they went, and the fight was on, for a while…

“Yellow flag. Repeat: yellow flag.” Kais’ race engineer Zeina’s voice came over the comms.
“Copy that. Yellow flag. Lining up in the shame parade.” Kais said as he decelerated the ship and the ship’s AI controls gently but resolutely guided the ship over onto the virtual safety track. “What’s the incident?”
“Collision, Han and Astrid. They’re scanning the area now.” Zeina replied.
“Astrid?” That was a name Kais hadn’t expected, not after her performance last race, and especially not at the position she found herself in at the start. “What happened?”
“Looks like a bad overtake from Han at the Pordoi jump.”
“At Pordoi? Risky.” So Han pulled a Jamie, huh... “Damage report.”
“Debris all over the place, power’s down, they’re out. Pilots look OK. Scratch that, they’re more than fine: Astrid’s giving Han a stern talking to.”
“Heh,” Kais couldn't help but snicker a little. Good luck with that... “Give me the highlights.”
Zeina was quiet for a moment, then came back on the comms. “Called her spoilt, apparently.”
“Tame.”

A few moments of silence passed. Moments that felt like a drag at 80kph.
“How’s Layla doing?”
“Fighting hard. Amy’s right on her back.”
And Kais winced and thought: better prep the ice, then. Layla may have that resolute brightness about her, but when pushed, she was a force to be reckoned with. Knowing her, with the long stretches that characterized this track, she’d overclock her mods in equally long stretches - and that was a peril not just to her opponent. “Tell her to keep her cool.”
“Will do.”

Some time later.
“Back to business, Kais. Cleanup’s nearly done. Flag’s getting lifted soon.”
“Copy that. Accelerator’s aching.”

And when the yellow notification disappeared from his mind, Kais released the brakes, and through the neural overlay of the ship's sensors, he could still feel the actual seat’s material shaping around his form as close to 5Gs of acceleration pushed him back. The fight was on again. But Nora was gone before he could punch it well and good. Damnit. He pushed the accelerator, but the difference in speed was too great, and the gap grew and grew.

That didn’t mean he was out of the danger zone, though. In the remaining rounds, Harrison behind him crept closer, then drifted back, then crept closer again. And Kais kept him behind, his adrenaline-fueled reflexes jerking the ship around with precision, though just barely in the margin of controlled and acceptable racing tactics. He couldn’t let him pass. No way. His mind asked the neural modulator for more control over the pilot-ship interface, and he felt his mind fill once more. Jaw clenched. Eyes tight.

“Keep defending, Kais!” Zeina came over the comms.
“What does it look like I’m doing!”
“This is our final stand! Execute! Execute!” Zeina cried. Or…?
“What… What did you just say?” Kais’ voice reduced to a whisper.
“Oh god, we’re lost!” The panicked voice crackled over the comms.
“...Command, repeat!”
“It’s all lost, we’re done for!”
“Control yourself!”
“Kais? Can you hear me?” Zeina’s familiar voice returned. “Looks like you lost comms for a second there.”
“Yeah.” Kais blinked, shook his head as if to try to awaken from a nightmare. “Let’s... Let’s keep the chatter to a minimum from now on.”

Some rounds later, as Harrison and Kais reached the glacier section, Harrison suddenly rolled around one of its tunnels and took him over from above. A beautiful maneuver, but it was one Kais’ mind would only truly appreciate in the post-race rewatch. Makara disappeared into the distance as Nora had, and for the rest of the race Kais kept Amy at bay, and that was enough to have on his mind. The chequered flag flew, and he rushed out for fresh air. In the distance, Layla steamed as the team's medics checked up on her and took her towards her own cooldown. And back home, juniors Hamid Atlassi and Malik Ashott traded messages of concern.

---

---

Kais felt the cooldown room was surprisingly hot despite the frigid environment. Even now sweat pearled on Kais’ forehead in the aftermath of the race, and he could still feel the rush in his veins as the replay showed Astrid and Han’s crash, NitroNora honoring her nickname as she launched off after the flag was lifted, and the gap growing and growing. “Well. You got me there.” He said, as close to a compliment as he managed.

But the race had already passed into the background for him. Al Saqr’s team was starting to push the limits with their neural link, but the limits seemed to have started pushing back, and it made him annoyed. Layla had been plunging into ice more and more lately due to sheer processing overexhaustion, and though Kais himself was lucky his own circulatory system was more optimized for high stress and temperature survival than hers, he too had migraines and cold sweats more frequently now, even with his sedatives. The more the team tinkered with the guardrails and mappings of his neural connector, the more things became… well… Kais’ face twitched in a pained expression. The cracked voice of his race engineer flashed into his mind again as he saw Harrison gloat when the replay showed his literally over-the-top overtake. Kais sat up, took a deep breath, and swore he saw concern flash over Harrison face for a fraction of a second. As they always did...

Then the recaps showed Amy lagging, stuck behind him in P4, and a small sense of achievement came over Kais. “We did it.” Kais said under his breath with a smirk of his own as his eyes glanced at the two sitting to his left, the subtext hopefully clear: no Amy on the big stage today…

And finally, as they were led on towards the podium, a brief respite from the cameras, he spoke to Nora. “Hey, killer race today. But you better be on your guard: and not just for me.” He paused, Amy so confidently commenting about his neural mods after last race still ominously ringing in his ears. “P1 makes you quite the target, after all. And payback is sweet… isn’t it?” He said as he looked her in the eyes. A warning? A challenge? A callback to her comments last race? A message to her that he knew she had been involved with transnational gangs as Ava had told him... and understood? All of it? Who knew... “Now let’s get out there.” And as the ceremony neared its end, the defiant forefinger went into the air again, and then aimed towards Nora. But was it the Number One, or was it, once again, the Bang? Who knew...

---

"Kais, what a race it was from you and Nora! How did it feel going toe to toe with another rookie?"

Kais blew some air out of his nose in amusement. ‘Toe to toe’, she said, and he couldn’t help but feel a tinge of defeat, the sight of Nora’s ship blasting off of Pordoi like an Olympic ski jumper still fresh in his mind. “She’s damn fast, that one. I’m going to have some words with the team about our drive core, else we’ll never properly get to duke it out.”

---

Fast Ten Your Seatbelts

Soundtrack: Hans Zimmer- The Mole

The race had come to a close, with the feeling of ecstasy for the pilots, gaining their applause, as were even those further down the grid, and the ships being brought in for inspection. Spectators still in the stands, still watching as craft came into bear, and well, the podium celebrations were going. It was all good fun, but something else was going on down at the bottom of the mountain, right at the base in the tunnel. Something someone wasn't entirely expecting. Out of the tunnel, there were still vehicles on track.

The supercar skated through the circuit, chased by what looked like another one, both skating across the surface of the circuit merely minutes ago raced on, the sight of it very certain. The camera peeled in, watching it all unfold, the two ships slower than a normal AG racing ship, but still, no slouch at all, given they were Southern Cross make-supercars, and being piloted by two very mean drivers.

This was a car chase, with the way one was trying to ram the other, and they were going through corners like a superheated knife in room temperature butter. Not enough to make say, any of the pilots blush, but if they were taking out other people for a ride in a supercar like this on the sections of non-MAG tracking it could race on, then well, they'd be raising a hell of a pulse.

But this didn't look like some excursion on track. One was hunting the other down, fast, and that was confirmed as they came out of the tunnel, the sudden look of a missile roaring out of a hidden compartment on the black one chasing it down, as the defence on the orange supercar in front barely caught it, but immediately leached out all of the power out of the drive with the secondary payload, the driver bailing out as it seemed to just go dead straight.

Straight towards a cliff-face, and the driver knew better than to sit tight, yanking the door open and diving out, their tactical getup barely stopping them from being shredded on the deactivated MAG stripping as the ship hurtled towards a cliff-face now with a deactivated repulson field, and detonated.

They coughed as they stood up, thrown into the snow from how far they'd slid by the gleaming white and blue cover on the icy lake, the mountain in the background, the race well and truly still a factor here, albeit one that had just passed. Their rifle far away and nothing in her hands bar the gloves of her slick tactical suit, like something Sam Fisher might be found wearing, her hat still on, her fierce look in her eyes giving off the look of someone who wasn't going to give up fighting. She'd earned this, after all, was the expression she gave.

The redhead stepped out of the black car as it came to a half next to her, dressed up in what looked like a tactical getup with an exoskeleton, the other pilot not wanting to run over, but merely coming to a halt, getting out with a gentle hop onto the snowy terrain.
"You never give up, do you! Time to end this!" The redhead yelled, not even going for her advanced carbine-like gauss rifle, but instead, a tactical knife that was basically like a very short shortsword, serrated and all. She had her reasons. Deep seated. This was personal.

With it, scattered on the ice, the redhead charged and the other one, dressed significantly less ready for this fight, yet no less trained. The two clashed as she countered with her own Kukri, bullets or missiles forgotten, but back to what almost looked like a medieval fight. The armoured up redhead looked to be winning, given she had an exoskeleton and could literally hurl the other girl into ice or floor, but the other one seemed to hold her own using an optical cloak to dodge the biggest hits, unarmoured redhead's hat getting knocked off as the more tactical looking one swung her around, revealing her own darkened red hair, a look that revealed her to be near identical to the pursuer that she was next to.

With another move, the other swung her tactical sword and was countered even in site of the force with the other's Kukuri, yet the armoured up redhead throwing the other one into the ice on that counter, a gentle crack audible in the ice as she was pushed hard into it, before drawing it to her throat, pushing her into the floor.

"Nowhere to run, Skye. Got you where I wanted. Give up what's in your brain, or I'll cut through you till I get it." The redhead in armour seemed to be definitely the villain here of the two, even if the victor. Even if identical looking to Skye, on the floor, well and truly screwed and outmatched here.

But, a characteristic grin always came back.

"Come on Rose, I got you where you wanted too. See you later."

And with it, the sound of what must have been a loud sniper crack whistled, the armoured redhead's body falling limp as the shot rang out, the woman on the floor clambering up, pushing her over, pulling a set of keys off her tactical rig, as well as the rifle, peeling a few mags of ammo.

"I did always say you needed to be more open minded." Skye gave a wry smirk to maybe nobody but the hole-in-head having copy of her on the floor, finishing up, hearing the audio flitter through her nanite-infused earpiece.

"We have more of them, incoming. Get your ass out of there, Queen." The voice was a male one, a concerned tone, as the main protagonist of this story, it seemed, shrugged. Like another day.

"Good. Gotta say, she really has a flair for the dramatic today. Don't know where she gets that from." The reaction was to a faceless audience, her smile growing as she walked across the ice, towards the beckoning supercar.

"CUT!"

Rory looked incredibly sheepish, 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!"

---

Emptied the Popcorn

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.

---

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.

---

La Dolce Vita

"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.

Soundtrack: Ludovico Einaudi- Nuvole Bianche

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.

---

The Interview

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.

---

The Exhale Before Sprint

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.

The heavy cacophony of engines firing on all cylinders filled her senses. Han, like the others, shot off the starting line like a literal rocket, the sleek Zygon vessel no longer as slow in acceleration as it used to be. The test drives and qualifying had been promising. The truth is: it felt even better with the new adjustments. Asking more of the machine in pure speed was no longer just a distant dream - and as landscapes zoomed past her she delighted internally in this new rush of power, however minute it may seem to outside observers.

This joy did not last long - the radio flared with a warning, and soon enough the cause was upon her. Astrid, the trite party-girl of Nordic Call, came from behind and tried to put the pressure on. Han was not impressed, and batted away attempt after attempt. It became more than a nuisance, less than a duel. Every statistic that filled her head said these burns, sharp overtakes, and greedy pushes that Astrid was doing could not last forever. That Hyeon-Ae would dominate her if all she did was keep her pattern and razor-thin management of energy diversions. The bimbo was overplaying her hand, trying to put herself in a position she didn´t belong. Getting stuck behind her when her machine started properly flagging would be a death sentence to any attempt to catch up with the people ahead. What's worse, she fought tooth and nail for a position against Hyeon-Ae, who Astrid must have realized by now was clearly outperforming her each time she had to stabilize.

Her radio was blaring in her head, parroting tactics straight from Jinwoo´s binder about when to overtake and narrowing gaps. She muffled the sound with a thought, condemning her operator to the recesses of barely audible noise that fell outside acceptable noise levels. She saw an opening. The upcoming jump tracking forward at lightning speed ahead. She´d beat her on the lead-up, then put pure performance and a non-negligible amount of power into speeding off hard. It was the chance to put Astrid on the backburner for the rest of the race; if Hyeon-Ae was taking it all in properly, Astrid´s own ship would start fighting her soon enough to never try again. Just don´t get caught behind her when she starts slowing down. So she put full power in the engine. Rocketed towards the jump. Astrid would see it coming, would have to divert and let the pass happen. Would get left behind on the landing.

That´s not what happened. Though there weren´t pain receptors in the vessel, the sudden and immediate loss of control inflicted a similar feeling of breathless panic. Astrid was on her side, and their ships screeched as they tore gashes in each other. Warning signs covered near half of her vision - the left side of the machine disintegrating under the pressure of Nordic Call´s ship grinding against it, and scraping the protective plating below. A stuck piece of Han´s ship came loose and went with the wing that had caught on her, as her vision spun and controls died. Left without functioning stabilizers on one side, she watched helplessly as she tumbled sideways mid-leap.

Sudden dark stripes and strobing rainbow-patterns of light invaded her vision as plastics, glass and cameras rotated and spun and cracked. The world spun around her impossibly fast; streaks of light jumbled around her as the craft careened hard off-course with all steering dead. The right fin nudged the ground and disintegrated on impact, putting all grav-pressure on the damaged side. The ship spun wildly, eventually vaulting at an odd angle forwards and to the right, clear of the track and smashing into the thick snow. At that point, all but a single camera was blocked or broken, leaving Han’s stimuli buzzing with crazed flickering, warnings, and darkness.

“...ll right?!” the radio blared in her ear after it´s time out, crackling through static caused by broken machinery and snow. Or maybe just her splitting headache. It wasn´t real so much as it was a mixture of emptiness, and being connected to dead systems, but it was enough to make her feel ill. It took a few seconds to get her bearings and check that she wasn´t about to go up in flames.

”Machine is dead. Powering down.” she intoned coolly back, a little shell-shocked from the experience. In her head, vivid images of broken detritus and warning screens replayed, a nasty cocktail of after-sting burned on her retinas long enough to be disorienting. Still, she disconnected and powered down before it got any worse. Popped the hatch manually and crawled into the cool Italian air with a heavy breath, trying to get her mind to settle on one thing. Anything. But it was noise. Noise and chaos and frustration. She trampled a few steps in the snow to get a look at her machine from the outside. It was more than dead; it was murdered. Trudging a few more inches in heavy snow, she caught wind of a furious pilot tromping her way.

"Next time, are you going to push in the worst part of the track and take us both out again?! Or are you going to fly thinking nobody defends because you're spoilt generally? Unbelievable!"

Hyeon-Ae tuned out the verbal assault somewhere in the middle, watching the tics and tugs of muscle twitching as Astrid shouted at her. Deep inside, a rumble of frustration, fury, and indignation slowly condensed into an unholy, temporary clarity. She imagined pouncing on the shrieking blonde, putting her fingers down her throat to make breathing hard - impossible if she threw up - and beat her with her own helmet until she begged to apologize or bled out in the snow. Nosebleeds, pain, beatings, lectures, competitions. Images and urges welled up unbidden from her memory, urging her to follow the rules. Establish authority. Win or serve. Win or serve. She exhaled slowly and clenching and rapidly released a grip of her hand. Astrid had given up and wandered off. The irritation waned slowly as she stared at the other pilots’ back.

A few moments later, she was collected from the track.

---

“Is this all a big joke to you, Hyeon-Ae?” Team Principal Jinwoo all but growled at her as he paced around the room. He had been fighting to keep his voice under control, remaining respectable was important after all, but today was straining all his last nerves. His hands wringed the soft synth-paper in his grip, and he looked at her with the fury of a man looking for reasons to continue being angry. Hyeon-Ae in turn looked anywhere but at her supposed leader, instead mainly gluing her eyes to the screen transmitting the race in real time. She pressed a few buttons to set focus on the drone footage following Cassie. “FIAR are already debating whether or not you're liable for this. This was not the race to get reckless! We have to get out ahead of this.”

”She drove right into me.” Hyeon-Ae argued with a distant, emotionless tone. Compartmentalized, uncaring. The moment was over, what need was there to be upset anymore? Being angry would just turn more people against her. No, she'd save her anger for her own time.

“Don't even try. I watched it in real-time, damnit! When you said you'd work on your relationship with Cassie, I didn't think you'd learn from her recklessness!” Jinwoo shouted angrily.

Reckless? Hyeon-Ae tracked her teammate who was still racing, frowning to herself. How she wobbled and hesitated and failed to seize opportunities time and again against Dorian. That was not reckless, it was cowardice. She took her eyes off of the screen to peer at the pacing Team Principal. Refocusing her mind to the incident. “The westerner is at fault. She is blind and slow to react. Unpleasant manners, too.”

“Blaming others is a bad look for you, Hyeon-Ae. Watch yourself… but you are not wrong, there. I need to make a call. We should underline her behaviour after the crash. You need to play the victim without being aggressive.” Jinwoo nodded to himself, putting the binder down to reach for his phone. “I'll be right back, we'll go over your talking points when the medics finish in here.”

“They scanned me twice already.”

“Don't argue.” the Team Principal barked, and left the room pressing buttons on his phone. Hyeon-Ae sat back and watched the rest of the race.

Disappointing.

---

"Han, that must have been a gutting result for Zygon after both you and Cassie qualified so well. How are you feeling after that crash, and anything to salvage from this weekend?"

Hyeon-Ae offered a half-hearted smile, well practiced over the last hour to bring the maximum appeal while still appearing deeply disappointed. She was dressed down compared to others, clearly ‘retired’ for the day. She looked towards the camera briefly as she spoke. ”Of course it is disappointing when a race is interrupted like this - it is, how do you say, important to remember sportsmanship in times like this. I recognize my own fault here - I will bring with me the knowledge that my opponent is not always good enough to properly react to what is happening, I will perhaps have to take that into account in the future.” she offered an explanation, turning to fix her interviewer with her imperious gaze. ”As for the result - it is unfortunate, but we are prepared to turn it around and dominate next time.”

---

The room was quiet as the recording replayed, Astrid tromping through the snow and shouting at Hyeon-Ae. The footage had been edited to add Korean subtitles, and paused as Astrid walked away, replaced instead with extensive footage of Astrid in general, statistics of the incident, the intended FIAR conclusion on the crash, and general statistics and news headlines about both pilots. A raised hand paused the footage on a headshot of Astrid taken from ‘Norsk Motorflysport’ and their article following the race. The silence lingered in the air for a little longer before one man at the side of the table dared to break it.

“Han Hyeon-Ae’s statements have been needling Nordic Call and the pilot - but not enough to garner backlash. The pilot responded in an Italian magazine - we think she was cornered leaving the race - and it's pretty incendiary. Like all westerners she has no shame or elegance.” He prattled on as long as he could, fixing his glasses on the bridge of his nose as he did.

The broad-shouldered and somewhat plump man at the head of the table frowned and flicked his cigar on the little cup on the table. A 2050 Sicilian, one of the last of its kind; anti-rot measures didn't matter much when half the stock burned up in the wars. “You make it sound like everyone is on our side.” He rumbled eventually, sniffing a few times before taking another drag. With his other hand he lifted a remote to backpedal the footage to the shouting match.

“Well - many sporting professionals and experts are saying that ultimately ah, the mistake was made by your niece, sir. But the accident is not the main point of contention - both are ultimately culpable in this instance.” A woman cut in from the side of the table. Before anyone could protest she leaned forward to half-skid, half-place a folder in front of the smoking man. “The initial punishment is a fine and possible community service for unsportsmanlike behavior - Hyeon-Ae is written off from the incident as having been part of the accident, her exemplary behavior after the crash has leaned FIAR to come down on the westerner instead.”

The cigar rolled in his mouth as big hands opened the folder and casually flipped through the pages. Not much could be gleaned from such a flippant study, but perhaps enough for a general picture. “It's not enough.”

“Sir?” the woman questioned in brief confusion.

The man chewed on the end of the cigar and flipped back to the first page of the folder; another photo of Astrid included. “This Norwegian bitch thinks she can smash my niece out of the sky and get away with a slap on the wrist?”

“I think she's actually from the Faro--” the first man with glasses began, but was shushed by his seating partner.

“Who do we know in FIAR?” the smoking man rumbled as he knocked his cigar free of ashes again. “Lean on them a little, motivate these tools to up her punishment.”

“Hanming Nim,” another woman cut in. Park Iseul, CFO in control of the conglomerate in control of Zygon, leaned forward on the table and closed her own folder. Her frown was palpable. “We brought this to your attention out of courtesy. Not to ask you to meddle. We are already making proper adjustments internally-”

“Don't fuck with me, Iseul.” Hanming growled back, immediately silencing the room. “You don't think I know your beloved daddy sent you as a peace offering? Internal adjustments? What, gonna try to push some shitty untested tech on my girl again? Every time something goes wrong, you try to course-correct. That's the problem with you new-biz types.”

“With all due respect-” Iseul began, but was immediately cut off again by the broad man.

“No, to hell with your respect. I didn't get this far by meekly kowtowing to pretty faces and lame-duck officials.” He barked with a strange mixture of mirth and fury. “The right way to handle business is and always will be to make others do as you want. And I'm pretty sure I put in the contract I don't want you sticking your shitty prototypes in my property.”

“...Yes.. We gave your niece the right to veto installations.. But-”

“Exactly!” Hanming barked as he shoved the cigar back in his mouth. “So what's the problem? Besides, way I hear you're having trouble enough keeping investors on side without upsetting your pilots. And you gave the engineering team breathing room. Gonna up-end all that?”

Iseul looked increasingly frustrated, almost certain she was gonna get interrupted again. Still, she tried. “No, but-”

“There you go, sweetheart! So don't worry your pretty forehead, it's bad to get wrinkles at your age.” He launched back smugly, earning him a few looks of gleeful mischief from his compatriots. The Zygon team was outnumbered here. “Run back to your daddy and your board and tell them it's all in hand. We're a major investor in the sport and a supplier of detail-parts - these commission fuckers will roll over to whatever we say. I want this pilot properly punished. Send a message that you don't fuck with a Han and get away with it. I didn't get involved in this shitty sport for her to burn out like a flash in the pan.”

Iseul looked gravely upset but knew better than to start something again, and Hanming’s executives were already talking possible strategies, and which officials to take it to. Deep inside, Iseul felt something slip. When her grandfather called this alliance a deal with the devil, was this what he meant? Why would her father ever get in the graces of this… brute? She glared at the broad-shouldered man and got a leer back that sent a shiver rippling through her spine.

Could you even call this a win for Zygon, or was it just a win for the Han family?

---

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