MrSkimobile

Around The World In 80 Days - Aetherpunk AU Roadtrip (CLOSED)

@Dragonfly 9 @Tortoise That's great! Then I'll eagerly await your first character sheets. If you have any other players you'd like to join, feel free to forward this RP to them. :)

The Pirates of Miss Fortune

“Hmmm, it’s a fast one, Captain. Sloop, about 70 feet, and I think I see spells on the mast. I don’t think we’ll make it back to port in time with this one.” Phazmun said to his captain, a burly man with a moustache any sailor would be jealous of, curled up and down in an almost S-like shape. It was only most fitting for the captain of the Sea Serpent, as he himself said. “I wasn’t planning on it, Chief. We have no man-at-arms, there’s no way we’d fare well in a full-frontal attack. And even if we'd make it back to port, the harbor’s defenses haven’t been the best since the last time pirates got to her.”

“So what is your plan? Make a break for it, safety in numbers?” The captain shook his head. “No, we meet them headlong. We draw them away, give 'em the biggest challenge we can, and the others a chance to get away...”

Phazmun snickered. “Never saw you for a hero.”

“... then we give ourselves up for ransom.”

“Grand.”

“No arguing, Chief Mate Phazmun. And look alive, we’ve got some pirates to outsmart!”

“Fine,” the Dragonborn grumbled as the captain ordered the alarm bells to be tolled in a pattern coding a message to the other boats. Turning to the rest of the crew, Phazmun started barking orders. “Crew! Offload our valuables to the rowboats and head for the other ships! Helm! Make sail and turn to starboard, hard! We’ll meet them headlong, and give the others a chance to escape!” He paused for a moment, and stroked the graying scales on the underside of his maw. “And shave some of the mahogany into tinder and stuff them with the rum! If the Serpent's gonna be captured, the least we can do is give them a fiery surprise…”

The captain smiled. “Now we’re talking.”

Neon Noir - Cyberpunk Crime Thriller (CLOSED)

To any and all who still dwell here: I unfortunately have decided to pull the plug on the game.

DELTΔ HYPER (An F1 Drive to Survive inspired Anti-Gravity, Slice of Life, Cyberpunkish/Solarpunkish RP)

---

Kais Zenix @ASZenix:
"I'm excited about the season and looking forward to work with Layla and show our fans and opponents what The Falcons can do.
#AlSaqrRacing #DeltaHyper #FormulaAG #LetsGO"

---

Hello Kais, welcome to Delta Hyper! how are you feeling about the season, and what's your thoughts on working with Layla?

Kais squinted his eyes when the spotlight shifted over to him. The lights were always too bright. You’d almost think they did it on purpose just to make him look even more annoyed than he already was with this whole circus. Every time… “Hello…” he quickly glanced over at the holographic title-card next to his interviewer. “... Aurora.” He wondered if she even was a real person or if they just cranked up the happy-go-lucky AI settings since last time.

“The season is shaping up to be a damn interesting one. I’m happy to see some of my favorites back in the lineup. Wadi Rum, Istanbul, Dubai Sky, Mare Austral on Luna. Veeerrry challenging tracks, just as I like them. And with Luna, we have the home-field advantage. I swear, if I hear Layla brag one more time about how many times she’s already looped that thing I’m gonna…" Kais stopped his train of thought just in time. That was close. Come to think of it, what was he supposed to say again? Whatever…

"Layla and I, we're two different kinds of beasts. She’s a strong racer, I don't think anyone can deny that. Impossible not to be when you’ve got mods all the way up your [CENSORED - To view, turn off PG13 settings]. But the heart and soul of racing isn’t about how much of your body shines gold when you stand in the spotlight."

Kais paused to wait at Aurora's nodding animation to stop, a tiny hint of a smirk curling his lips. "Tech means nothing when you cap your energy management at just 100%, and let me tell you, I will fight at least twice as hard as that for every single millisecond. That’s how I'm going to win." He said as he glanced off-camera slightly. "And sure, some are gonna feel stepped on their toes about that, so be it. Reaction time in antigrav’s too short to take each others’ feelings into account. It's a battlefield, after all." He shrugged. It was as cut and clear as that.

Then he leant forward with a glint in his eye. His gaze locked tight with the camera. "Layla brings the shine. I bring the fire. And together, we're gonna make something very special happen. It’s gonna be one hell of a ride."

---

“Did you have to go so hard again, Kais? Manager’s not gonna be too happy about it.” Layla said as the two met up off-stage, somehow managing to look elegant even with her feet propped up on the table, her striking gold bionic eyes following Kais as he walked by. “Ach, when is he ever?” Kais answered. “You reckon he’s gonna last longer than the last one? I don’t think I’ve ever seen Omar smile even once.” Layla laughed. “I know, right? Is that why the two of you get along so well?” “Very funny, Layla. Why don’t you tell me about the moon again?”

---

Group chat: Al-Saqr PR

Omar (Manager):
“Damnit Kais.”
“Is this how you treat all our interns? Making them clean up the messaging after your mess?”

Kais:
“The audience loves a good show. Who am I to keep it from them?"
"Besides, gotta give Nadia something to do, how else is she gonna learn things?”

Omar (Manager):
“She’s studying *electrical engineering*, Kais.”

Kais:
“Yeah, and my job’s driving in circles. Welcome to the real world, Nadia! :)”

Nadia (Intern):
“The vacancy didn’t say anything about this lol.”
“But will do my best.” (Kais Liked this)

Omar (Manager):
“Thanks, Nadia. Let’s try to keep our messaging at least semi-professional.”
“Gotta admit though, Fire and Shine has a nice ring to it…”

---

DELTΔ HYPER

Episode One: Finding their Feet

---

Team Radio: Al-Saqr Racing

“Kais, look out on the bay. Layla reports wind and water turbulence.”

“Then we better get through that part fast.”

“Wouldn’t advise it.”

“Tell her I’ll wait for her at the finish.”

(some time later)

“This thing steers like a drunk cow.”

“Told you to be careful.”

“What pos we in tomorrow?”

“You’re on P11. Layla's on 5.”

“*tsk* Damn. Ah well. Nice run. Rematch tomorrow.”

“Rematch tomorrow.”

---

Around The World In 80 Days - Aetherpunk AU Roadtrip (CLOSED)

---

---

"You're stark barking mad, sir!" "Oh please, miss, I know you read The Aetherial just as well as I do. With the latest innovations in travel, it's entirely feasible. Airships, steam trains, the occasional skimobile, submarine and aether jumper. Why, it's practically a stroll through the park. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to discourage me so you could take all the credit for yourself."

"And if I didn't know any better, I would say you were challenging me. And what, pray tell, would be the purpose of such a journey? Beyond the sheer thrill of it, of course." "To prove it can be done! To push the boundaries of human ingenuity and showcase the marvels of modern science. Imagine the headlines! Intrepid Duo Travels Around The World In 80 Days!"

"It is an absolutely ludicrous proposal, sir, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say you knew me too well." "Then we have an accord?"
"Indeed we have. Cheers, Mister Wellington. To 80 days of adventure, wonder, and discovery!" "To making history!"

"To trains that run on time!" "To meeting all manner of fascinating characters!"
"To impeccable fashion, even in the jungle!" "To never running out of tea!"
"To not encountering rogue automatons!" "To always remembering where we parked our airship!"

"To keeping our wits about us during whirlwind romances!" "Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, Miss Hawthorne..."
"Oh alright, then; to always finding our way home, no matter how far we go!"

^{Image source: Tesla City, by Eddie Mendoza on DeviantArt | Header source: Coventry Garden Regular, on 1001Fonts}

---

Welcome to Around the World in 80 Days. This RPG is inspired by the video game 80 Days (which, in turn is inspired by the classic Jules Verne adventure novel from which I stole the title, cough), but with a twist, namely that it is set in an pseudo-Victorian-era Aetherpunk fantasy world, and that it will feature 2 teams competing to travel the globe... within 80 days, of course

This will be a very loosely GM-ed RPG. It will rely on the players' imagination to get themselves into interesting situations and make up just as much of the worldbuilding and story, especially as this will be very much a slice of life and character- and interactions-driven RPG. GMing will mostly be done through setting up a region travel guide-style (defining feel, culture, landmarks, interesting events, and transportation methods), and by loosely keeping track of each team's progress with a semi-random system that I won't bore you with (distance travelled, money, challenges, etc.). There will be a discord group in which to discuss about what fun and interesting things could happen. And yes, there will be a world map that will be updated as the journey progresses.

The code of conduct:

• Standard board rules apply.
• Don’t be a d*ck (but don't be too easily slighted either).
• We will post at least once every 2 weeks.
• Though roleplay may involve mature themes, there will be no explicit 18+ roleplay.
• Anything else can be discussed and determined by the group in OOC.
• The GM decides on matters that can’t be resolved by the group, and can always be consulted.
• Keep real-life politics, religion, and drama 'off the table'.
• Most importantly: Have fun!

If you are interested, let me know! See below for the Character Sheet template. Feel free to format and prettify it. I imagine the game to be more of a jump aboard kind of deal, in which characters can weave in and out of the story and be as short lived as you'd like, but do please post in OOC/PM for approval first. If you wish to play as Miss Hawthorne or Mister Wellington (the 'team leads', if you will), please contact me.

And, as always, feel free to give suggestions and ideas. :)

Character Sheet - COPYABLE TEMPLATE

[b]Name[/b]:
[b]Gender[/b]:
[b]Age[/b]:
[b]Team[/b]: Miss Hawthorne or Mister Wellington

[b]Appearance[/b]:
[b]Personality[/b]:
[b]Background[/b]:

[b]Personal Qualities[/b]: list 5 personal qualities, from best to worst. Can be skills, but also generic things such as ‘curious’
[b]Special[/b]: list up to 3 things that make you special in some way (could be skills, qualities, items)
[b]Goal[/b]: what is the personal reason for going on this trip? Is there something you’d like to see, gain or achieve, that you are running from?

[b]Misc[/b]: list any other things that are nice to know, but not necessarily essential. Like speech color, theme song, face claim, etc.

The Pirates of Miss Fortune

On a ship not too far away, there stood a grayish-blue Dragonborn on watch with his looking glass, billowing a puff of smoke from the pipe leisurely hanging from his mouth. Around Phazmun was the usual bustle of their ship’s operation - deck being cleaned and tarred after their loading at port, some were eating some of the fresh apples, can’t let those go to waste, and then there were those few brave but unlucky new souls turning their stomachs inside out at the edge of the ship in between curses and pleas to whatever deity they fancied most at the moment.

The morning had a favorable breeze in store for them, and they had set off well on schedule to the next port of trade. And a good trade it would be - cacao and tobacco, mahogany and pelts, salted pork, and peas and plums in excess, even some silver. And of course the rum, can't forget the rum. Yes, they’d get more than enough profits from it that he’d be able to send some back to his family. That'd be a good day.

And there, in the distance, coming out of the morning dew, he saw a flag. It was one he knew well from all his time at sea. The black flag never bode anything but misfortune, and this one would bode even less judging by the ship's mangled figurehead. He bared his teeth as a grimace came over his face. "Captain! Two points off the starboard bow, in the fogbank, pirates!"

The Pirates of Miss Fortune

Phazmun - Azure Dragonborn

^{Header source: Midnightman, by omaikraf on 1001Fonts | Image source: Sketch CM - Nuwisha by Fjorgael on DeviantArt}

Name: Phazmun

Race: Azure Dragonborn

Physical Description: Phazmun stands well over 8 feet tall, maw to tail. His sturdy build is accustomed to life on the sea, and is beset by scales that the centuries may have dulled, but swirling throughout one can still see the deep blue patterns of his people. His white slitted eyes may seem intimidating considering his tendency to barely blink, but usually he is just thinking about food, the stars, or the latest tune - it takes a lot to get under someone's skin when they've looked an angry seagod in the eye, after all.

General Backstory: Phazmun is a skilled but gruff navigator. His most valued possessions ever since he was a little hatchling were maps and journals and compasses, a result of a lifetime of travel. First with his merchant parents, then in various sailing crews, and now, captured by pirates. Throughout it all, his heart was aimed stoically at the greatest prize of his people: the Azure Heart. The Azure Dragonborn are a people from the sunken island of Drokkaris. Once a magical volcano-island that freely travelled the seven seas, Drokkaris was powered by a collossal magical flame known as the Azure Heart. It gifted its people long and healthy lives, and the power to forge magical artifacts that were renowned the world over. But it was also a beacon, attracting terrible forces from the abyss. One fateful night a massive leviathan creature attacked, a vengeful seagod that doomed Drokkaris to the deep dark locker, and the Azure Heart was extinguished. What few Dragonborn survived have built up a new life in the centuries since, roaming the oceans and isles and harbors as artisans, guards, merchants, labor hands, and, occasionally, as pirates. A scattered and wistful people, but never aimless. For the whispers of their Azure Heart can yet be heard...

Special Abilities: Heightened strength, amphibious, navigation, sparkly mist breath attack, knowledge of recent history.

Personal Goal: Phazmun wants to uncover the truth behind the Sinking of Drokkaris and the Azure Heart. He eagerly awaits the coming Remembrance Festival, held each century at the last remembered location of Drokkaris at sea.

Speech color: 7FFFD4

Theme song: Echoes (Sunken Treasures DLC) | Anno 1800 (OST) | Steffen Brinkmann, Orchestra: HSSO (Ubisoft Music, YouTube)

DELTΔ HYPER (An F1 Drive to Survive inspired Anti-Gravity, Slice of Life, Cyberpunkish/Solarpunkish RP)

Kais "The Meteor" Zenix - Al Saqr's Supersoldier-turned-AGRacer

---

---

^{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 genetically modified supersoldiers fast-grown by the Masdar al-Nuba, or the ‘Nubian Source’, a rebel cell with mysterious paramilitary support operating in Egypt against the Arabic Union and its allies 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 some of the 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 supersoldier 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 likes chess, arguing, and reads a lot to form an understanding of this strange new world he finds himself in. He enjoys learning things about the countries he visits, and has developed a soft spot for animals after volunteering at a shelter once - originally a publicity stunt to show his 'soft side', he has started to enjoy 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 spark 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: 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.
Dislikes: inauthenticity, monotonicity, arrogance from those he thinks are undeserving.
Other Information: he collects obscure old-world memorabilia. His signature move has become known as the 'meteor strike'. He has tattooed his body's collection of scars with otherwise invisible UV-ink, including the dates, causes and significance of each, chronicling his supersoldier-to-racer journey.

Named Secondary Characters

Al Saqr Racing Team:

• 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. Very concerned with safety.
• 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.
• Salma Nasri: Chief Medical Officer

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.

Misc. characters:

• ...

Recaps

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: 8nd
Finished: ?? (?? points)
Summary: Hamid, junior AG league racer and test pilot of Al-Saqr tests their in-development drive setup with great 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.
Posts: [collab], [1]

DELTΔ HYPER (An F1 Drive to Survive inspired Anti-Gravity, Slice of Life, Cyberpunkish/Solarpunkish RP)

Revised draft of my character ready for approval.

Kaïs "The Meteor" Zenix - Al Saqr's Supersoldier-turned-AGRacer

---

^{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: Kaïs Zenix
Alias: Al-Shihab (The Meteor), @ASZenix (media handle)
Team: Al-Saqr Racing - Arabic League
Gender: Male
Age: 36

Personality: Kaïs 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 undeserved 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. Kaïs 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: Kaïs Zenix (original serial name classified and unknown to the public) is one of the genetic test-tube supersoldiers bred by the Masdar al-Nuba, or the ‘Nubian Source’, a paramilitary group operating in Egypt against the Arabic League and its allies 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 true 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 world at the time: they were defeated and relegated to the ash heap of history. Until a short time ago, that is, when one of their former supersoldiers entered the League’s AG racing team of Al-Saqr.

After his time in the paramilitary group and their defeat, he has been through a thorough rehabilitation and therapy regimen, which continues to this day through personal debriefings and psych evals. These included some of the experimental neural stimulation techniques that led to none other than the very ones AG pilots now use to train. These racing-themed stress-response simulations were actually his first forays into the world of AG racing, one he has since entered for real. 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: Kaïs is a ruthless racer owing to his supersoldier 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: Kaïs is a fighter, in more ways than one. Sure, he is proficient in piloting, firearms, hand-to-hand, mindset control, but he also likes debating, and reads a lot to form an understanding of this strange new world he finds himself in. He enjoys learning new languages, especially of those countries he visits, and he volunteers at a cat shelter - originally a publicity stunt to show his 'soft side', he has started to enjoy 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 (and alcohol) 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 spark 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 management to have included him in the team to begin with, some of which 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: f7941d
Theme Song: Bayek of Siwa, Assassin's Creed Origins OST - Sarah Schachner
Likes: learning languages, cats, cool new gadgets, worthy opponents, getting apologies.
Dislikes: corpo-speak, monotonicity, arrogance from those he thinks are undeserving.
Other Information: he collects obscure old-world memorabilia including paintings, books and cassette tapes. His signature move has become known as the 'meteor strike'. He has tattooed his body's collection of scars with otherwise invisible UV-ink, including the dates, causes and significance of each, chronicling his supersoldier-to-racer journey.

Neon Noir - Cyberpunk Crime Thriller (CLOSED)

@Izurich @Eviledd1984 @AwesomeZero5 @KazAlkemi @Expendable OK, so this seems like a good point to end the session and start a new one. Everyone has either gone through some action, or are in the middle of a bit of a cliffhanger. So imagine the dramatic music swelling, all your scenes cut to black, credits roll with a ‘next time on Neon Noir’, and all that jazz.

With each new session, your fate points (the points you use to invoke aspects to influence rolls, or to use your stunts/abilities) are refreshed to at least your character sheet’s refresh rate. If you have more, you keep them all.

Furthermore, I think that we’ve hit a minor milestone here - everyone has had a significant enough event or choice in their story to develop in some way -, so for the next session you may CHOOSE from the following as a reward:

• RENAME a character aspect
• SWITCH the bonuses of 2 approaches
• REPLACE an existing Stunt
• GAIN a new Stunt

@KazAlkemi I changed Varis Hark's name because I liked the 'Harm' typo (?), makes him more ominous.