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[center][b]@MeisterEdgyBoy[/b]
[Perfect looping Holo-GIF of Kais' ship wobbling after Astrid's collision]
[i]"Lololol 'You just take aim and...'"[/i]
[/center]
[hr][center][h2][color=gold]...Bang![/color][/h2][/center]
[color=ed1c24]"Collision! Collision!"[/color] Kais' ship helpfully alerted him.
[color=f7941d]"You think I didn't feel that? Come [i]on[/i], you brick!"[/color] Kais growled at his ship as he wobbled his way back to stability, like a damn [i]rookie[/i].
"Damage is significant but minimal, Kais. Race continues. Looks like a bad defense from Astrid." His race engineer Zeina's voice crackled.
[color=f7941d]"[i]Defense[/i]?"[/color] Kais borderline shouted as Beatrix blasted past him - that was the [i]second[/i] time this season where a collision crashed their fight! [color=orange]"Astrid didn’t even brake, came in like a damn missile! Private channel, Zeina! Now!"[/color] 
"...That's not how it works, Kai--..."

The visual feed for the audience would show wild gesturing and the impromptu addition of three stylish new dents in the cockpit internals.

[color=f7941d]"Fucking. Nordic. Call...! If it's not Jamie, it's [i]them[/i]! Marmolada, the Luna crash. Now me? يخرب بيتك! And they call [i]me[/i] the Meteor! I want the stewards to review the entire damn sector for intent, [i]and[/i] Astrid's blood composition! And if they try to pin it on me, I swear..."[/color]
"We're already filing the complaint, Kais. Just keep it cool, OK? Don't give them any ammo."
Kais was annoyed at her trying to steal his metaphors, then he pushed down on the virtual accelerator, and dropped down to P14.

[hr]
[quote]"Kais, a disappointing race for Al-Saqr, it looked like you were fighting the ship throughout the circuit. Is that something from your upgrades, or just from learning the track?"[/quote]
Kais stepped in towards the ΔH crew, a move that would have definitely been too close for comfort, though it would have given them a good shot of the angrily pulsing vein on his forehead. [color=f7941d]"You ever try running with a knife between your ribs?"[/color] His eyes opened wide as he stabbed his finger towards them. [color=f7941d]"You [i]can't[/i] be serious. [i]I[/i] didn't fight my ship. Fucking [i]Astrid[/i] did."[/color] He started pacing, shaking his head. [color=f7941d]"Like this absolute ego-inflated relic of a place wasn't enough, yeah why not let the drunk driver out on the road as well, bet you liked the champagne here, huh? What a joke."[/color] He threw his gloves out of frame, and  with one last look at the camera, shaking his head, he walked off towards his team's area, bumping into some people that were in his way. 

[hr]
Out of the ice, standing in front of the dressing room's mirror, Kais looked at his hands where they had impacted the cockpit frame. It'd been a while since he had some bruises on his knuckles. He quickly put it out of his mind, and finished doing up his dress shirt's clips when his teammate's mental ping and eventual voice came around the corner. 

[quote][color=plum]"Kais, you next door? Actually, what am I saying, I can see you're there...."[/color][/quote]
[color=f7941d]"If you're here to talk about my 'temper' too, spare my ears, I don't want to hear it."[/color]  

[quote][color=plum]"Hey. You weren't at fault for Astrid crashing into you, just so you know. But you get a lot into these things. You sure you haven't got some neodymium inside of you that seems to attract idiots on circuit?"[/color][/quote]
[color=f7941d]"Don't flatter me, Layla."[/color] 

[quote][color=plum]"It was shit. Let's be honest. But this is a joke of a circuit. And hardly a place for AG ships to really show what they can do.[/color][/quote] 
[color=f7941d]"AG ships, and its pilots both."[/color] Kais murmured, then quickly realized he started to sound like Layla. She must've heard the same thing, because the pause was longer than her usual quippy nature she used when coping with uncertainty. Kais could only speculate what ways beyond him she was interpreting his comment as.

[quote][color=plum]"I might be delayed coming back to home. I have some bits to sort out first. Nothing serious, just....you know. I need a bit of time for some personal stuff."[/color][/quote] 
Kais' pause was even longer. [color=f7941d]"Do what you have to do. I'll check out some things on my end. You know what. Be safe, Layla."[/color]

[hr]
In a darkened room, Cassie's new eyes widened as the notification hit the projected screen on her wall. 

[color=orange]Kais: I want to talk. About Zygon.[/color]

[hr]
Team Principal Omar's windows were blinded again. Beside him, Dr. Salma Nasri scrolled through Layla's data on the holo-tablet. The notes were flagged red, but only to management. To everyone else, she was just 'taking a break'.  

"Is she a danger to herself?"
"Depends on how you define 'danger'," Salma muttered. "Vitals are stable, but her personality markers drift while plugged-in. Did you see last race's feed? Close to zero communication with the race engineer. Just that strange humming. Look at how she describes the visual hallucinations, Omar. A flickering. It's like her neurons are randomly firing at times. And she’s reporting cravings. Not for food, for 'Shannon bits', who talks like that?" 
"An addict for information content, huh?"
The doctor sat back, somewhat surprised. 
"What? I used to be a financial controller. I know my maths."
She sighed, shook her head. Whatever. "And we haven't even talked Kais yet. You think he's fired up from his interviews? I've only ever seen the adrenaline-cortisol spikes like in last race from his medical record, from [i]before us[/i], from night terror monitoring sessions. Something over that neural link is hitting resistance, and it's making his old combat loops act up. As for Layla, I can only guess what's going on, with those sync issues."
"Her parents called me again." Omar nodded. "They want her benched. Can't say I blame them."
"What did you tell them?"
"The usual, that it's her informed choice. Free will and all that."
"Can we be sure about that, though?"

Omar went silent for a few seconds, introspective. Then responded. "You don't have children don't you?"
"I grew up in a dying world, Omar. I chose not to have them back then."
"Do you regret it? When you look at the world [i]now[/i]?"
"Sometimes."
"Is that why you're so protective of Layla? I mean, you knew what you got yourself into when you applied here, that it was more... [i]performance optimization[/i] than your usual GP gig."
Salma shrugged. "Perhaps..."
 
"Then let me tell you a story." Omar stood up, walked to the window spanning his office that overlooked the garage. A few taps turned down the opacity in the area of his visual field, and Omar felt proud of what he saw. "One of my boys, Malik, he's just about thirteen now. [i]Obsessed[/i] with what I do here. He watches every race, even practice. And I usually skip those myself. A month or so ago he told me he wants to be like Layla when he grows up. So I gave him one of my old drones to play with. For 'practice'. Thought nothing much would come from it, but he's stayed up tinkering with this old thing the entire month now. He's added a better camera, swapped the rotors for micro-airjets, and before I knew I saw him controlling it like he was playing piano." He threw out his arms. "All on a damn [i]toy[/i]. When [i]I[/i] was thirteen I could barely tie my shoelaces together." Omar sighed. "That's when I really wondered if I could even understand this little world of ours, speeding ahead of us. Remember the days when we used to nearly [i]boil[/i] Layla alive every other race? A part of me used to think we were insane back then too. But... We got through it, didn't we? Sometimes I think the only people who [i]truly[/i] know how fast to fly, how high they [i]can[/i] soar, are they themselves."

"Then I'll raise you one," Salma said, her eyes downcast on the ground. "Back during the Water Wars, I worked in this emergency hospital. There was this boy once. Smashed up by debris, collapsed building. We tried the lot. Tissue reconstruction. Neural regenerative drugs. It was all primitive stuff, back then. But let me tell you, I'll never forget the look on his face when we were done with him. Vacant. Didn't even remember his own name. I sometimes still go over our graphs as I did with him: with my heart up in my throat." Salma swallowed. "So I also like to believe something, that I'm principled about my care, Omar, and [i]thorough[/i]. Our Falcons can only fly while they still [i]have[/i] wings, and we're flying too close to the sun."

Omar sat back, rubbed his eyes, conflicted. Principles, huh? 

He breathed in hard. "The [i]Amir[/i]'s watching us close this season, he's a big fan, very invested. You know just as well as I that if we bench both of them, they'll start pulling funding. These developments we're making? They can put the Union, put [i]us[/i], on the map for decades, [i]centuries[/i]. I [i]can't[/i] ground them. Not unless there's immediate danger." 

Omar stared at the floor, then slowly nodded. "But I'll compromise. Layla got us an offer from a partner of hers, personalized stability system, should allow us to offload the most fine-grained processing more. That means we can tune down the neural sync a bit. And I'll plan in mandatory counseling with a therapist for Kais. I'll call it something like 'Stability Testing Session'. Maybe he won't avoid it anymore, then."
Salma smiled at his joke. "Thanks, Omar."

[hr]
[center][b]Soundtrack[/b]: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkX1NXQ8tlw][b]Melodysheep - Into the Night[/b][/url][/center]
Meanwhile, many kilometers away, Layla laid back on a monitoring chair. Little of her was left to the imagination. Very little, in fact. Most of her gold frame laid opened up, and every single port she had was jacked with some kind of interface or monitor. Her headscarf removed, even her head now seemed to consist mostly of wiring. And as her mind and tech were prodded, moving an errant finger now and then, or making her stutter through her humming like an old dial up router, Layla thought back to the Luna crash. To Kais' almost-crash during last race. To the footage of Auldrick Mulder's crash she had reviewed before Monaco. Again. And again. And again. The human mind was such a fragile thing. One wrong move, and you were superheated plasma streaked across the safety lane... She wondered what it would be like, you know... [i]After[/i]. Her stomach tied itself into a knot, and she sat up. No. Another 'After' was possible. [i]Creatable[/i]! 

Across the cramped tech-room the representative of the Lunaspace Engineering Company leaned against the wall, taking in the sights. Or rather, the representative of the newly minted 'Cryo-Digital Intelligent Systems'. It was a nice enough name, for a generic, though promising, scale-up. So generic that there would -hopefully- be fewer questions as to what kind of 'intelligent systems' they were working on - [i]everything[/i] was intelligent nowadays, after all. Yet [i]so promising[/i], that both Lunaspace and Al-Saqr were interested in it as a partner. How fortuitous! 

"Listen Layla, what we're doing here is [i]very[/i] untested." The rep spoke up. "Maybe they've got something in an Area-51 basement somewhere, but [i]we[/i]'ve never really gone beyond simple neuro-vids for training or stress test purposes before. Re-sleeving, full mental backup? It's uncharted territory. The regulations on it are... just as vague, let's say. The AU has the most broadly interpretable rules, hence why we've setup this shell corp here." He opened up a file on his PDA. "We've been working on what you suggested: we've let the system learn a 'copy' of the neural patterns you use for maneuvering. That way you won't have to consciously control them as much. The system will be able to trigger faster, acting [i]as if[/i] it were a part of your brain nonetheless. Combine that with your neural interlink system, and it'll function a bit like muscle memory, or how an octopus' arm-brain-centers work. Al-Saqr should've already gotten the prototype. But don't get ahead of yourself. The sub-AIs are tiny for now, and mostly copies of your subconscious processes. But in time..." The rep shrugged. "Well, [i]who knows, huh...?[/i]" He smiled at Layla. Who knew, indeed. 

[color=plum]"So Kais is going to have some copies of my code flying his ship as well?"[/color] Layla said to herself. [color=plum]"Guess there's hope that maybe he will be able to understand me someday. I should ask for a raise if I'm going to be pulling this much work."[/color] 

Layla then thought about what Kais had told her the night after the Casino, about the possibility that there were parts of Amy's setup lying dormant in his, and chuckled internally. [i]Took one to know one[/i], huh...? Maybe she was good at hiding it. Or maybe Amy had already bought off the stewards so they wouldn't sound the alarm on it. Maybe that's the reason why [i]Al-Saqr[/i] had been able to get so deeply into the neural interlink developments to begin with. And [i]that[/i], thought Layla, made for quite the conundrum: whistleblowing her suspicions on what Amy's setup leaks truly were would definitely and very definitively put an end to her own project, after all. On the flipside: if she was right, the opposite would be true as well. A gridlock, for now. 

Layla had encouraged Kais to investigate Zygon for this exact reason as well. Not that they wouldn't have plenty of secrets that would be interesting to know regardless. 

"There's one more thing we need to talk about, Layla, something legal." The rep spoke, dead serious. "Have you thought about the risk at all? Fragmentation? Feedback loops? Overwrites? What if your person-hood becomes... disputed?" 

Fragmentation? Feedback loops? Overwrites? More like redundancies, protections, backups... If they had to contend with Amy's code snippets floating around their system, or whatever weirdness was going on, then... Well, Kais would say the best defense is a good offense. And if her person-hood was disputed? [color=plum]"That, director,"[/color] Layla smiled, [color=plum]"is what I call the [i]victory[/i] lap."[/color]

[hr]
In the Al-Saqr garage, behind the mangroves and the test track, mechanic Farouk Al-Najjar and lead electrician Juan Diaz worked round the clock to install a trial version of the new stabilization module. It was Kais' ship's turn now. It hung mid-air, suspended in its AG field, with engineering drones swarming around it. Stripped bare, battered, but still breathing, as Layla put it. 

"Any news on our pilots yet?" Farouk asked.
"Layla's taking a break. As for Kais? Well, you know him... Sometimes he just packs up and disappears for a few days. We've learnt not to ask questions." Juan answered.
"Too bad. Big day today." Farouk looked at the specs of their newest upgrade. "Predictive Neuro-Aligned Anti-Graviton Counterweight Grid Controller. Sounds borderline scifi. Shit's getting crazier by the race, huh?"
"Fitting, isn't it?" Juan took a drag of his flavor-stick. "You ever look at the way Kais steers? Turns are tiny, snappy, twitchy. Still dodging bullets out there, the madlad. But the instability in those turns is where we're bleeding ms. This baby here should give us a better recovery from them. Should make it all a bit smoother, less strenuous. Give it to Hamid and Nadia for testing when we're done, if it has any limits they'll find them. Let's have it stamped for approval by Belgium. Would be nice to start off the Europe-leg with a banger."
"What about the next long-term upgrade?" Farouk asked.
"I take it you weren't at the last team meeting?"
"No, why?"
"You would've known if you were. Kais had some thoughts about it. I think his exact words were something like 'I want my pulse engine to guzzle so much bio-fuel they need to start thinking about reinstating the old refueling pit stop rules.'"
"That many words? He must've been serious, then."
"He was pointing a lot too. I think Monaco got under his skin, with the stunt Astrid pulled."
"Heh... 'Can't hit me if I've already blasted off into the sunset', huh? Speed it is, then... Man, Wadi Rum's going to be insane."
"You love to see it." Juan took another drag. "By the way, how's Nadia?"
"Busy, as always. Promotions, huh..." Farouk answered.
"Everybody knows that. I was talking [i]that other[/i] way," 
"It's... nice." Farouk's ears turned red slightly. "But don't imagine too much, alright, we're just trying things out."
"Ha! I knew it, you dirty dog!" Then Juan turned and yelled. "Yo Remi, guess who was right about our neuro/mech couple? You owe me 50 Ɖ's!"

[hr]
[center][h2][color=orange]Mensah's Pride[/color][/h2][/center]
[center][b]Soundtrack[/b]: [b][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7IR0hHY92w]Baaba Maal - One Day[/url][/b][/center]
[color=orange]"Kofi..."[/color] "Yeah?" [color=orange]"When you said you wanted to show me some cats... I did not imagine [i]this[/i]."[/color]

The two sat topside of a ranger vehicle that had made its way through the open grasslands of the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park. Chirping songbirds filled [i]some[/i] of the silence after the car's drive shut down. There weren't many places Kais had experienced this much silent and bare nature without being on the lookout for ambushes at least a little bit. But not this time. In close distance, a group of cats laid gazing around with a lazy curiosity. [i]Very[/i] big cats, and one of them sported a majestic black-haired mane. 

"I thought you'd like it." The Ghanaian nudged Kais with his elbow. "I know you did that animal shelter gig from your socials. The cat posts got you the most likes out of pretty much everything else, except for Tokyo, maybe." 

[color=orange]"And they were photo ops, more than anything."[/color] Kais waved away the comment. "You went for a photo op 21 times in a couple of weeks?" [color=orange]"Can't remember."[/color] "Oh but I do, I counted." Kais sighed a [color=orange]"[i]khalas[/i]..."[/color] And Kofi laughed. "Can't hide it forever, man." 

[color=orange]"They were [i]stray[/i] shelters, though, not... [i]This[/i]."[/color] He gestured out. [color=orange]"This is big league stuff."[/color] "Big league stuff for a big league man, ey?" Kofi put a friendly slap to Kais' back, then turned his smile-lined eyes back onto the distant sights, the sight Kais' eyes hadn't even wandered from.

"There, look." Kofi pointed at one of the lions. "See her, second on the left? I remember it like it was yesterday, when our first viable embryo was actually born. They invited me for it, you know. I was there, cried like a baby too. The Cape Lion, brought back from extinction. And look at them now... Like they never even left..."

The first Cape Lioness rolled over in the sand. Kais couldn't help being entranced.

"The love of life is strong here, at [i]Prides of Africa[/i]. We have many sanctuaries and restoration sites, so I normally don't have to travel as much all the time, but I wanted to show you this. It's one of our proudest projects. I started volunteering for them myself the moment I heard about it. It's been an off-and-on thing for some time, and I'm mostly just an ambassador now, you know how it is with our schedule. But me and the wife are planning on spending most of our time here after retiring from the races this season, for a couple years at least. A nice experience for the kids, don't you think?"

And Kais thought that that sounded very nice indeed.

"De-extinction and re-population work isn't easy." Kofi continued. "It takes a lot, years and years of research, engineering and crossing eco-genetic populations, sheltering, monitoring and keeping the territory safe. But it takes love, above all." He set his bright eyes on Kais. "And we love all the help we get. Sponsors, endorsements, ambassadors, hands-on workers." 

Kais leaned back into his seat and dragged his hand through his hair, then, as his unconscious always made him, down over his neck, where the lines of his old serial markings could still be felt. [color=orange]"I appreciate the gesture."[/color] he said, thinking back to Monaco, to Luna, to... well... [color=orange]"But I'm not made for [i]getting along[/i] with people. For endorsements, even to those that tolerate me, even less, and [i]above[/i] all..."[/color] He shook his head.

Then, Kofi hit the nail on its head. "What happened back there, in Monaco? You seemed out of it, more... [i]agitated[/i] than usual. I could tell. Everyone could tell, I think."

Kais was silent for a while, and Kofi stayed silent as well, like he knew Kais never felt very comfortable sharing these things. Eventually, even now he kept himself hesitant at best.  [color=orange]"When I first started racing things felt simple. Go fast. Be precise. Go straight for the target. Then go a bunch rounds more. But everything feels like a trap nowadays. I'm being pushed. And... Look, I deal with problems by... getting [i]rid[/i] of them."[/color] Another pause. [color=orange]"I'm going to do something one day..."[/color] [i]Going to have to, maybe...[/i] Kais thought, but he kept that to himself. [color=orange]"I don't know what, when or how. But it won't end well."[/color] He breathed in. [color=orange]"Maybe I really [i]am[/i] unfit for this."[/color] 

"You know I don't believe that." Kofi said. He paused to look at Kais, who simply stood, looking out over his pride. And Kofi just smiled.

"We're thinking of doing the Barbary Lion next." He nudged Kais once again. "Give it a thought, yeah?"

Then they let the silence return for a while.

"By the way, Kais." [color=orange]"Hmm..?"[/color] "You really flew all the way here just to see some cats?" 

Kais shrugged, a small smile on his face.

[hr]
[center][b]Kofi Mensah (Mensah@PridesOfAfrica)[/b]:

[Picture slideshow of Kofi and Kais looking out on the grasslands in the ranger vehicle, then having a bite at a [i]skottelbraai[/i], then posing in front of the [i]Prides of Africa[/i] logo, and finally, of course, carefully petting one of the shelter lion cubs]

"[i]Today I had the opportunity to show my dear friend [b]@ASZenix[/b] around one of our rewilding sites. He liked the Cape Lions so much I thought he'd scoop one up back home with him. We will have big news coming up in the months ahead. Stay tuned! Love and Peace!"[/i][/center]
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