[h2]Pilots’ Group Chat[/h2][quote][color=fff200][b]Astrid[/b][/color]
Okay boomer, 2060 called and it wants its memes back[/quote][color=fff200][b]Bea[/b][/color]
@Astrid Hey now, he’s not old. He’s 18 with 20 years of experience! 😛

[quote][color=fff200][b]Wedge[/b][/color]
@Bea I’m gonna have to get you to sort out my new ink! Serious talent on you (and on track too….)[/quote][color=fff200][b]Bea[/b][/color]
@Wedge Aww, thanks. I can make time in Monaco, give me a shout.

[quote][color=fff200][b]AStirling[/b][/color]
You are gonna make her blush[/quote][color=fff200][b]Bea[/b][/color]
@AStirling Quiet, you. 😛

Apologies for pinging everyone with late replies, some of us don’t have time to yap all day. 😀

Also, everyone who’s up for the drifting thing (a drift measuring contest, if you will) Paul and I thought up in Tokyo, I’ll need a definitive yes or no for track reservation reasons before this Saturday.
[Link to a shared timesheet to indicate available times of those interested.]

[hr][center][h2]Thursday June 6th, 2094, LA:TE
Principality of Monaco[/h2][h3]The Dinner Party[/h3][/center]Monaco being Monaco, Carrera Condor went all out on the sponsor engagements, meaning Ava, Bea and Felix spent a lot of the evening being paraded around like show ponies for so many suits Bea lost track, having to rely on Felix who was navigating this with surprising ease for cliffnotes. Much better than Ronaldo would have, she caught herself thinking glumly. The Brazilian’s exit from Carrera Condor was swift and explosive after León broke the news internally and offered him a position as the head of the aerodynamics department ‘as a less stressful post for the last few years until his retirement’. Suárez of course called bullshit, took out what vacation time he could and by now was no doubt blowing up the emails of the relevant people in all the nine other teams. A sad end to a long partnership over a perceived betrayal, although Felix’s skills and personality quickly took care of the dour mood around the factory, an effect that would only be exponentiated once he actually started working.

Finally, day had given way to the evening and the corpo representatives retired to their hotel rooms, yachts and casinos, leaving only the people who actually cared about the sport, not just its opportunities, and therefore whom Bea cared to interact with. She made sure to find Nora first thing after arriving at the party to see how the Aussie was doing before swinging by some of the JFA pilots present. She wore a long gown with an asymmetric loose sleeve, the fabric black with green highlights when she stood still, but displaying a colorful, kaleidoscope-like pattern when it moved or stretched thanks to electroreactive luminescent thread and nanometer-scale piezocrystals woven through it. Visible tattoos and body art may still have been a no-no at black tie events, necessitating the use of plain cybernetics, but like any chaos gremlin she decided she would have the last, colorful laugh.

The moment had been interrupted by [i]her[/i]. The Monegasque Minister of Mediocrity, the Cybernetics Contrarian, the Wicked Witch of WRC herself. Princess Caroline, Countess of Carladès.
“Beatrix. How haven’t I seen you since 2090? We must have just missed each other at Amy Stirling’s fundraiser.” Most likely because Bea had been avoiding her for fear of ruining a nice day just as she had when she raced in JFA. “What a shame you changed series’ before we could repeat our contest in a more… [i]dignified[/i] manner.”
One could swear the air between the two had gone notably cold.
[color=#1EFF24]”You put in a respectable performance for a hobbyist.”[/color] Bea maintained a cordial tone through gritted teeth. [color=#1EFF24]”I heard you finally managed to place in the top three in the Monte Carlo rally. Congratulations.”[/color]
Caroline bristled, the hidden true meaning of Bea’s words not lost on her, nor the reminder of getting trashed at her home race by a rookie. “I did not expect an admission of being bested by ‘a hobbyist’.” She countered.
[color=#1EFF24]”After I suffered heat stroke in Kenya part way through Saturday, threw up mid-stage, then finished it and the one after it with my lunch sloshing around in my footwell before we could clean it out in the next service area.”[/color] She shrugged, glaring daggers at the Monegasque heiress.
Judging by the slight smirk Bea failed to hide when the Princess’ face adopted a slightly paler shade, the description of the incident - timed just as Caroline was chewing on a canapé - had the desired effect. [color=#1EFF24]”In my first year of competition to your third and only by seven points, mind you.”[/color]

“What’s going on here?” Harrison appeared beside Max, who was observing the scene from a respectable distance.
“I think the Princess struck a nerve?” Max shrugged with a barely concealed smile, continuing when prompted. “She brought up the 2090 World Rally Cup.”

“...requires a certain degree of finesse that [i]some drivers[/i] sorely lack.” Caroline was looking straight through Bea.
[color=#1EFF24]”I agree. It’s quite sad when reckless enthusiasm meets a severe lack of talent. What a shame Acropolis was reduced into a demolition derby by the aforementioned qualities displayed in droves. It’s meant to be a rally, Your Excellency, is it not?”[/color]
“Unfortunately, there was a driver with a reputation for recklessness across disciplines taking part. A crash this severe in the second race, Beatrix, really?”

“I see…” Harrison trailed off.
“I don’t think I’ve seen Bea with such an expression since Cape Town.”

[color=#1EFF24]”...makes sense you do well in Sweden, the cold prevents anything from melting down.”[/color] If looks could kill, she’d be guilty of regicide by now.
“Is that why you reinforce your body and replace your soul with metal?” Caroline scoffed with a glance at Bea’s exposed cyberarm.
[color=#1EFF24]”For shame, Princess, times have moved on.”[/color] Bea pronounced the title as if it tasted of brussel sprouts, [color=#1EFF24]”Though it would surprise me if a noble was not living in the past.”[/color]

“Alright, let’s cut this short.” Harrison said to Max and set out from their vantage point, the American following close behind.

[quote]“Hey hey, superstar! You are doing numbers on socials right now, you know?”[/quote]
[color=#1EFF24]”Al-Saqr aren’t the only ones who can soar high.”[/color] She called back to the latter half of the Arabic team’s slogan with a cheeky grin. Not being happy to see the Kiwi was practically a physical impossibility. [color=#1EFF24]”I can hardly take all the credit though, I recall having a very charismatic sidekick at Marmolada.”[/color] She continued in good humor, committing Caroline’s expression and the sight of imaginary steam escaping out of her ears at being ignored at the drop of a hat in her peripheral vision to her memory.

[quote]“Italy was amazing. I was going to say, after that, my phone is ringing off the hook, and bloody hell, it even convinced Owen to go easy on me with risky stuff. You seem to be the common denominator for all this thing on the grid, you know…”[/quote]
[color=#1EFF24]”To quote: Well, don't ruin your brain, the rest of you we can rebuild.”[/color] She repeated Carrera Condor head physician’s words verbatim, herself having heard them in her first month with the team.
“Only fair Dorian got a chance to shine this time. I’m a bit surprised Paul didn’t get a part.” Max interjected, “Has me wondering what they’ll have in store for me in Utah.”
“Dorian was a good fit for the gentleman spy thriller theme they were going for.” Harrison shared, nods of agreement all around.
[color=#1EFF24]”Yeah, you and I have more of a superhero vibe.”[/color] Bea gestured between herself and Harrison, earning a fist bump from the Kiwi. His plan worked flawlessly, and the hitherto ignored princess scurried off somewhere else.
“So what was that all about, [i]Beatrix[/i]?” Max asked in a good-natured barb.
[color=#1EFF24]”First off, only old and stuck up people call me that, so don’t.”[/color] She raised an authoritative finger with a smile which froze on her face, [color=#1EFF24]”And Kais. Need to work on that… Next year. This year I’ve got Ava to socialize“[/color] She grinned before turning back to the American Idol, [color=#1EFF24]”. So, you said something about new ink?”[/color]

[hr][color=gold][center][h1][i][b]DELTΔ HYPER[/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color][color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Episode Seven: Roll the Dice[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]
[hr][quote]“Welcome back, Bea. How would you say you’re dealing with the glamour of Monte-Carlo, and how does it compare to the launch of the WRC at Casino Square?”[/quote]
[color=#1EFF24]”Yeah, it’s great to be back on solid ground.”[/color] The jolly rainbow smiled, [color=#1EFF24]”The glamour of Monte-Carlo… I don’t have my silver spoon with me right now, but this isn’t my first rodeo. Plus I had a recent refresher after Auckland with Amy.
Compared to the WRC launch, it’s an entirely different beast. The WRC launch feels more like an actual launch of the weekend, since while Rally3 and Rally4 cars are still at the ceremony, Rally1 are already lining up for the first stage, plus it’s also the season launch which gives it even more gravitas.
Here, to contrast, it’s more of a visibility event. Which is great for us, to be honest. We are already on a steady upwards trajectory, and with a lot happening now with new and current sponsors and staff we’ll put the SSTOs from the last race weekend to shame before season’s end.”[/color]
She leaned forward and knocked on the wooden table. If Ava was right and every time she said something would be bad she does well, it stood to reason it worked the other way too.
[color=#1EFF24]”We’ll see about the afterparty on Sunday, I had to skip that in 2090, missed out on a lot going by the video evidence.”[/color]

[quote]“Do you think you’ll catch up with Daniel Ogier this weekend, who’s popped down to see a race at his home?”[/quote]
[color=#1EFF24]”That’s the plan, but this season seems to have a way of throwing a spanner into those.”[/color]

[hr]
[center][b]Gossip @GOSSIP[/b]: 
[i]Fiery face-off at the Monaco gala!
[Badly-shot video from someone’s phone showing the tail end of the Princess and Bea trading thinly veiled insults about each others’ racecraft before being interrupted by Harrison.]

#WRC #FormulaAG #MonarchMotorsportWRC #CarreraCondorFA #CarolineGrimaldi #BeaWard[/i]
[/center]
[b]MissedApex:[/b] Harrison with the team dad energy coming to break up the fight. 😀
	[b]DadManWalking:[/b] Should’ve made them sit on the ground and hold hands.
[b]Mate0:[/b] It’s a good thing she has a convenient excuse. And then she quickly fled to Junior FA.
[b]Xinny:[/b] Interesting dress. Would love to get a look inside.
	[b]Xinny:[/b] I MEAN LEARN HOW IT WORKS! Like, in a “Take a peek under the hood” way!
	[b]Xinny:[/b] Damn it.
		[b]GalwayGirl:[/b] Good save?
		[b]MadBea:[/b] Never change, Xin. 😂
[b]_PsychoFish_:[/b] Damn, the princess must have really felt the meltdown jab if she dropped that L take as a retort.
[b]DarkStar69:[/b] throw them in a mud pit!
	[b]UrbanMaverick:[/b] Where’s my horny jail gif?!
		[b]LaughNess:[/b] Sod that, get popcorn!

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