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Image source/face claim: Mohamed Hamaki - Header font source: Creattion, on 1001Fonts
Height: 5' 9" / 176cm - Weight: 180lbs / 82kg - Hair Colour: Dark Brown - Eye Colour: Brown
Name: Kais Zenix
Alias: Al-Shihab (The Meteor), @ASZenix (media handle), ZNX-5-01 (wartime serial code)
Team: Al-Saqr Racing - Arabic Union
Gender: Male
Age: 36
Personality: Kais is one of the most grating personalities in the AG racing sphere. His supersoldier genetics and paramilitary past has left him with a more than healthy sprinkling of assertiveness, an unhealthy sprinkling of wartime baggage, and a lack of tolerance for bullshit, specifically yours. Though he has a stoic exterior, he is quick to push back against people whom he feels behave with conceit and hostility, and dislikes a soft touch, preferring to attack problems directly and decisively. It is an open secret that his social media handle is handled by an assistant for damage control, as his guest appearances and fan interactions can sometimes end in interesting exchanges. That said, when you find yourself on his good side (which, disclaimer: isn't the easiest thing to do), he'll go through literal hellfire and back for you.
He himself is plagued by his past and attitude as much as others are, even though he’ll never admit it even to himself. Kais is a man lost in this world at peace, a world of excess, of profilicity and emblazoned vulnerability. It is likely he turned to racing for exactly this reason: to reconnect with those primal parts of him that drive for competence and strength, to find an outlet for those things he buries and hides behind an emotional shield-wall, and to dance with death once more, and this time, to win.
Backstory: Kais Zenix (original serial name classified and unknown to the public) is one of the artificially fast-grown genetically augmented soldiers (colloquially: 'supersoldier') by a mysterious paramilitary group for use by the Masdar al-Nuba, a rebel cell operating in Egypt against the Arabic Union in its formative years. Framed as a conflict over water rights and influence in the region, not much is publicly known about them or their deeper motives to this day, and there wasn’t much post-war interest either, as their fate was the same of most fractured rebel factions in the region at the time: they were defeated and relegated to the ash heap of history, the region unified into the Union, end of story. Until a short time ago, that is, when one of their former supersoldiers entered the Union’s AG racing team of Al-Saqr.
After his time in the rebellion and their defeat, he has been through a thorough incarceration, examination, and rehabilitation regimen, which continues to this day through personal debriefings and psych evals. These included experimental neural stimulation techniques similar to those used in AG simulation training. That said, his training doesn't always take hold as much as his managers would like. Indeed, his nickname 'The Meteor' comes from one of his first races, in which he pushed his ship so far it burst into flames. But is burning out in a short blaze of glory all that is to him?
Racing DNA
Overview: Kais is a ruthless racer owing to his genomod aug-soldier heritage, and you’d easily assume he was bred with a borderline death wish (which may or may not actually be true). He pushes his ship to the absolute brink to compensate for Al-Saqr's comparatively subpar antigrav arrays, and seems to have made it his mission to find every way to skirt the rules. This might yield him a few milliseconds of an advantage, but has also more than once resulted in significant damage to both himself and his ship, alongside an angry pit crew, angry fellow racers, angry team members, angry fans, and angry management. He doesn't care. All's fair in love and war, after all.
Skills: Kais is a fighter, in more ways than one. Sure, he is proficient in piloting, firearms, hand-to-hand, mindset control, but he also enjoys chess and arguing. He has some technical know-how, having repaired gear and mechs during the Middle Eastern Water Wars and during his rehabilitation in their aftermath's rebuild efforts. He enjoys reading and learning things about the countries he visits, and has developed a soft spot for animals after volunteering at an animal shelter - though it was originally a publicity stunt to show his 'soft side', he enjoyed it more than he admits.
Special Trait: being bred as a supersoldier, he has above average complex reflex loops to get him out of a pinch, but that sometimes result in questionable aggressive racing behavior without much conscious input. He was born with about 1.5x of most critical organs and circulatory systems to serve as backup, allowing him to absorb more force and damage without much issue or thought, but at the cost of having a borderline overconfidence, and a slow but sure accumulation of cellular damage.
Controversy: His mysterious and warlike past often raise questions, both from outside of the team and within, about his morality and the lengths to which he might go to attain victory, as well as the reason for the board to have accepted him in the team to begin with, some of which speculations include blackmail, infiltration and conspiracy. Whatever might be the case, it is undeniable his appearances draw viewers and social media engagement for the team, though not always in the most positive light.
MISC
Speech Color: orange, f7941d
Theme Song: Bayek of Siwa, Assassin's Creed Origins OST - Sarah Schachner
Likes: trivia about the countries he visits, animals, worthy opponents, getting apologies, arguing.
Dislikes: inauthenticity, monotonicity, arrogance.
Other Information: he likes collecting old-world items, usually somewhat obscure or otherwise unremarkable to anyone but him, and he owns a modest collection of experimental and upcycled motorcycles. His signature move in Al-Saqr's junior league has become known as the 'meteor strike'. He still has his old serial name marked on the nape of his neck, a constant reminder of his origin and purpose, even to people who might not otherwise recognize him.
Al Saqr Racing Team:
Masdar al-Nuba rebels:
Misc.:
- Layla "Yalla" Al-Nadir: Main racer of Al Saqr. Optimistic and energetic. Transhuman activist, very highly augmented (eyes, limbs, metabolism, neural overclocking). Has worked on the Moon, and is low-key (read: very high-key) in love with it for its (trans)human technical challenge and what it symbolizes. (see also the original post by FourtyTwo in OOC: The Teams > Al-Saqr Racing)
- Nadia Yassine: Electric Engineering Intern. Somewhat timid. Studies at the Paris University, France (with friends Sophie and Alyx). Works with the neural engineering dept for improving Kais' neural interface. Lives with her parents at Abu Dhabi. Father has leg prosthetics from the war.
- Omar Hayawi: Team Principal. To the point, rarely smiles. Shaven head, glasses, rather large beard. Started off as a financial controller at Al-Saqr.
- Hamid Atlassi: Moroccan junior AG racer and loyal Arabic Union test pilot for Al-Saqr.
- Juan Diaz: Head mechanic of electrical engineering, specialized in the AG racers' Energy Systems.
- Remi Tewe: Lead neural engineer.
- Yasif Al-Maadi: Head simulation engineer. Has little to no verbal filter. Likes computationally modeling (and theorizing about) other racers for their simulations. Organizes mezze-and-fun nights with the rest of the sim engineers.
- Dalia Mansour: Head of the propulsion unit developers at Al-Saqr.
- Farouk Al-Najjar: Mechanic and pit crew assigned to Kais' racer. Is learning to play chess. (Not so) Secretly a Bea fan.
- Zeina Salim: Kais' race engineer, providing support and information over the comms during a race.
- Marko Livakovic: Layla's race engineer.
- Salma Nasri: Chief Medical Officer. Very concerned with safety.
Masdar al-Nuba rebels:
- Rami: young rebel (in flashbacks), fiercely disillusioned with the Arabic Union.
- Khaled: older, more experienced rebel (in flashbacks), gruff but cautious.
- Inan (ION-2-02): ex-supersoldier and old teammate of Kais.
Misc.:
- Jackals & Co.: very on-the-nose edgy clothing brand (sponsors Kais).
- Nomad Nutrition: company with the mission to end world hunger, produces long-shelflife foodstuffs like nutri-pastes (sponsors Kais).
- Durrat Glider Celestial: ultra-luxury hover-yacht and cruise company (sponsors Al Saqr in general).
- Silver Line Cybernetics: personalized cybernetics brand with designs that are jewellery as much as functional (sponsors Layla).
- Cryo-Digital: company doing R&D on the digitization of memories, and the creation of 'neuro-vids' (sponsors Layla).
- Lunaspace Engineering Company: lunar mining and extra-planetary colonization corporation (Layla's previous employer).
Recap, The Super-Quick Edition
Kais Zenix is a genetically modified ex-soldier born and bred for a war he lost. Now, decades later, he races for the Arabic League -his former enemy- in the team of Al-Saqr, together with trans-humanist cyborg Layla Al-Nadir, where they are pushed to their mental and technological limits. Kais is motivated by a desire to try and 'make something else of himself', but is still haunted by and struggles with his past, both in terms of trauma and lingering aggressive instincts, and because there seems to be more going on behind the scenes in the Delta Hyper racing tournament - something which seems to connect many of the racers in some strange way.
Episode 1: Finding Their Feet
Race: Auckland, New Zealand
Qualified: 11th
Finished: 9th (2 points)
Summary: Kais Zenix appears as an abrasive personality during his introduction into the Delta Hyper Anti-Gravity Racing Championship. Off-track, a rival racer, Ava Villarosa, approaches him due to their similar military background (her having been a military pilot, and Kais being a lab-bred ex-supersoldier of a defeated rebel faction who fought against the Arabic Union, whom he now, ironically, races for in the Al Saqr Racing Team) and cautions him to 'stay in the light' as there are those who may be interested in 'making a better weapon out of him'. Kais is initially dismissive, and bites back telling her 'they better make him better', because he wants to be 'the light everybody stands in'. After the race, back at Al Saqr's HQ in Abu Dhabi, Kais and Nadia (the electrical engineering intern assigned to him and his craft) push for an unsanctioned upgrade to the 'neural dampeners' to allow for more input/output possibilities on the pilot-ship neural interface, despite the fact that this could trigger unwanted psychological states like seizures due to over-stimulation. Nadia is cautioned by her war-traumatized father about Kais and his past.
Posts: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]
Episode 2: Chasing Apex
Race: Cape Town, South Africa
Qualified: 4th
Finished: 7th (6 points)
Summary: Kais prepares for the race, and remembers a military operation against the Arabic Union during the Middle Eastern Water Wars. During the race, Kais is involved in an entanglement between Silver Apex' Jamie Hart (going for a bad overtake, causing a crash), Carrera Condor's Beatrix Ward (whose craft is wrecked during the crash), and himself (whose craft is only slightly damaged). He manages to claw back some positions, but lost his opportunity to push into the top 3 on a track that otherwise favored his craft. In the post-race press conference Kais manages to push Al Saqr's message of disapproval towards Jamie's bad overtake and their view that racing as a sport should not be too regulated but be a venue for humans to push themselves. He is skeptical towards Han Hyeon-Ae's motivations in her offer to throw a party post-Tokyo race, and gets blind-sided by a question on the racers' past backgrounds, refusing to answer. After the race, back in Al Saqr's HQ in Abu Dhabi, Kais and Layla Al-Nadir (Kais' teammate and Al Saqr's primary racer) simulator-practice the upcoming Tokyo track, and during a teambuilding potluck, Kais flashes back to one of the decisive defeats during his past military career. He opens up to Layla about his motivation: he has gone into racing to try to escape his past and his reputation as an ex-rebel supersoldier, to make something else of himself, and seems resigned and willing to being experimented on by Al Saqr to attain that. Layla opens up to him on her own motivations and her optimistic and hopeful views about the future of (trans-)humanity, and their role in it.
Posts: [1], [2], [3], [collab], [4]
Episode 3: The Neon Bath
Race: Tokyo, Japan
Qualified: 2nd
Finished: 1st (25 points)
Summary: During a sponsorship event, Kais approaches Villarosa again to ask for her thoughts on the Jamie affair during the previous race, and to continue their previous conversation in light of it. Ava thinks Jamie feels immense pressure from racing in the same team as the reigning champion Amy Stirling, and made a bad move because of it. She further says she noticed a link between a lot of racers, being from rough, augmented and defence backgrounds, and speculates there are as-of-yet unknown but very interested parties window-shopping how they develop throughout their careers for motives known only to themselves. In Kais' case specifically, to potentially 'make a better version of him, a better weapon'. She then offers him a data card containing captured data on his creation and birth, which Kais looks into and is angered and saddened by. Kais qualifies 2nd for the race, and eventually wins! He is the first to bump Amy off of 1st place this season. And yet he has mixed feelings about it. He is certainly happy, and feels it could mark a new beginning for him, but he also knows the fight has only just begun, that he will now be a target in more ways than one, and what about those migraines from the neural interface upgrade... the upgrade that Amy seems to know about? Then, at Hyeon-Ae's post-race party, he bonds with Valkyrie's Paul Mulder and MMR's Max Wedgewood, but cuts it off before it gets too deep as he feels it 'never ends well', and leaves.
Posts: [1], [2], [3], [collab]
Episode 4: Azzuro Alpina
Race: Marmolada, Italy
Qualified: 2nd
Finished: 3rd (15 points)
Summary: As Layla and the team prepare the simulator and ships for training-and-testing for the upcoming Luna race, Layla reflects on her time at the moon and her motivation for going trans-human, while Kais visits Khaled, an old rebel comrade in Egypt. Kais tells him he has found important information about the war, and asks who of their old supersoldiers have come to visit him (as he had marked Khaled as trustworthy). After the Luna training sessions, during the Italian AGP race, the problems with the neural dampener's dynamic modulator becomes evident as Kais experiences a past memory bleeding into the present. He finishes 3rd, behind Harrison and Nora Kelly, and before the podium ceremony, he emphasizes they finally bumped reigning champion Amy Sterling off the podium, content, yet wary of what it might hold for them.
Posts: [1], [2]
Episode 5: Trading Paint
Race: Portimão, Portugal
Qualified: 8th
Finished: 8th (4 points)
Summary: Hamid, junior AG league racer and test pilot of Al-Saqr tests their in-development drive setup with success. Kais and Layla keep practicing with the neural modulator but start to feel the squeeze: Layla frequently overheats, and Kais keeps getting memory bleeds. During Al-Saqr's review meeting, Omar is determined to push the limits, now that they're only 9 points behind Silver Apex, but Salma Nasri MD states the current developments are dangerous to the pilots, especially Layla. Layla is determined to keep going, however, as they are very close to breakthrough. Kais secretly rebels against Al-Saqr's plan and sets some guardrails on Layla's setup with Nadia. Layla finds out during practice, however, and the two fight: Layla stating she doesn't want her goals of working towards a trans-human future to be held back by other peoples' fears, and Kais stating he doesn't want to see another squadmate go down, but that he will stand down if she chooses to go through with it. After a disappointing qualification, Layla reverts her setup back to her original, with all the dangers it entails. During the race, Amy's ship stalls during takeoff, Ava's ship burns-out, and Kais is stuck behind Han as he tries to gain way, but is constantly thwarted by her. After the race Layla seems out-of-it, having been plagued by massive headaches, and retreats to rest. Kais and Nadia go over telemetry to figure out what happened. They find out Layla had indeed disabled their guardrails, which allowed a massive spike in Layla's subconscious mind to influence her ship's A.I. systems in such a way where it reached out through the race's digital network, and caused Amy's ship to stall.
Posts: [collab], [1], [2]
Episode 6: The Dark Side of the Moon
Race: Mare Australe, Luna
Qualified: 3rd
Finished: 5th (10 points)
Summary: Layla has had a breakthrough. The team has updated her ship's digital neural networks so they explore their own optimal connection to Layla's mind, and what's more: Layla's brain has changed in response - her brain and the ship's A.I. seem to be so in-sync, they are merging into one. Because of this, Kais and Nadia confront Layla with her subconsciously seemingly having caused Amy's glitch last race, since she might now be in control of that, and thus dangerous. Layla recognizes the potential of their new developments to fields like medicine and space colonization, though, and goes into secretive talks with external stakeholders to further fund their research, but gets told she needs to show more results, adding pressure for the upcoming Luna race. Kais trains at Hamad International Spaceport to prepare for the Luna trip's micro-gravity environments, where the heavy spacesuit reminds him of his wartime power-armor, and he decides to set up a meeting with another ex-supersoldier at a memorial site. There he shares the data he received from Ava, asking him to dig into it and keep it safe, in the event something happened to him. Layla and Kais then attend a pre-launch event, and take-off to Luna. There, they qualify 2nd and 3rd, and before the race, Layla and Kais do some sponsorship endorsements involving lunar basketball. During the race, Nora Kelly and Ava Villarosa are injured in a massive crash, and in the aftermath Layla and Kais struggle to cope, with Kais keeping himself extremely detached, while Layla fears it was her fault again (though inspections later don't seem to have found them culpable, or even found their modification to begin with). Kais goes to visit Nora in the medical center, then tells Layla that he thinks Nora will be alright, and shares his view on humanity's resilience.
Posts: [1], [2], [3]
Episode 7: The Roll of the Dice
Race: Circuit de Monaco, Monaco
Qualified: ???
Finished: ??? (?? points)
Summary: Nadia gets a permanent function at Al Saqr, and is pressured by Omar to push Layla and Kais in the Monaco race to test the pilot-AI-bond to compensate for their subpar ship for the track. Kais and Ava talk at the Casino de Monaco about her crash on Luna. Ava reveals that the data of Kais' origins was discovered in a leftover data cache in the upgrade they got from Apex. Ava speculates that it might have been bait containing a piece of Amy's setup, laced with a cyber-weapon, which they triggered somehow. Kais states that that might have been them accidentally, through their developments in the AI-pilot bond. The two then speculate what might have been the reason for it, and who might have benefitted from this: sabotage from Apex, an intrusive action from Zygon (Amy's previous team), a ship AI malfunction, or perhaps even FIAR to intervene in unsanctioned developments in the neural link.
Posts: [1], [2]
