The green and red Civic stood in the driveway, engine off and the three passengers that had been crammed in the back seats already outside, but the driver and front seat passenger yet remained.
Last minute contemplation. Outcome one, clear up muddy water. Outcome two, a very awkward two hours. Look at her, thinking about stuff before doing something. ”Before we go in: I know your teammate is always your first opponent. But you and me, we’re good, right?” Bea started uncharacteristically seriously.
”Yes?” Ava tilted her head in mild confusion, ”Why?”
”I talked to Jen at our drifting thing. Someone wants to rescue her from the mire she’s in at the moment. And if this is anything like JAGF in ‘91, this will get the dominoes going.” She called back to the shakeup that saw her shifted from Nordic Call to MMR’s junior team, ”Jamie’s most likely done, the rumors about Cassie hating life at Zygon are fairly loud, Max is overdriving the MMR ship week after week-”
”And if someone like Cassie or Max get that second Silver Apex seat, Ben Hale might be gone from their junior programme. I get it.”
”As might be Amber Beck from Nordic Call’s the way she’s driving if they keep Bjorn… Well, the way he’s driving.”
”Think Ousamane for Vladimir?”
”Hmm. Nah, can’t see that.” Bea shook her head.
”Me neither. Kofi can’t develop that ship by himself and I hear Vladimir’s feedback is actually good.”
”Unlike his racecraft.”
”Anyway, where are you going with this and is it related to me not signing an extension yet?”
”If it comes down to it, you know that for whatever it’s worth, I’ve got your back, right?”
Ava mulled over Bea’s words. ”Thank you.” The women shook hands, a smile on both of their faces, one better hidden than the other. ”I’ll start to worry if they’re still deliberating after the summer break.” Ava seemingly brushed the concerns off.
”Anything I should know before we go in?” Ava gestured to the main door.
”You know my dad already. My sister’s a lot like him, without the racing enthusiasm, but I expect her to ask about the team from a sponsorship perspective. Please don’t get our funding pulled.“ Bea spoke in jest, but on the other hand that chance was there. Eva would one day have that financial responsibility to the company and even if Bea would never hold it against her, it would still suck. ”There will be four big dogs.”
”Nice!”
”My mum will ask you questions about safety. Be honest, she’s a lawyer, she always gets to the truth. I couldn’t get away with shite as a kid.” Bea groused.
Ava laughed. ”For whatever it’s worth, I’ve got your back.”

---

The 60 foot yacht gently bobbed up and down as it lay anchored off the Flamborough Outer Headlands Nature Reserve on a sunny day, offering her passenger and singular crew member great view of the open North Sea to the East and the white cliffs of East Yorkshire to the West.
“I’m telling you: The fish came right at me.” Jenny spoke from one of the deck saloon’s couches.
”Maybe it liked your hair?” Bea suggested to Jenny, sporting the sky blue and white of Yorkshire’s flag on her pixie cut that day, while stowing away their diving gear. ”Vibrant colors and all?”
Having previously pulled into Breil Nook to scale the more kindly cliffs, taking advantage of the water just below to cushion falls - mainly for Bea’s benefit - and get up close to the Atlantic Puffins that had been reintroduced to the coastline, devoid of fear of humans due to many of them being raised in captivity before release, they then sailed out a hundred-odd meters to slightly deeper water where the HMS Seriema rested at 18 meters deep to dive to the small warship, the shallowest of 12 that had been intentionally sunk to form artificial reefs around the coastline. The outing was organized a bit hastily, but what the Hell, they both had a day off and the Vernal Gale happened to still be in Hull at the time from Bea’s parents’ trip to Scotland.
"I could get used to this." Jenny gestured around herself with one hand, a bottle of cider in the other one, "A yacht’s going on the wishlist for when I start making the big bucks."
”Let me know if you want help cramming for the captain’s exam.”
"Nah. I’ll be rich, I’ll just hire a crew. Create jobs and catch more bronze."
”I see you’ve got life all figured out.”
"You bet. I should start practicing though. Bosun," She pointed at Bea with a smile, "Reef the anchor and set course for the… port side!"
”Stop it, or you’ll walk the plank.” Bea laughed through the facepalm. ”You reef the sails and the port side is just ‘left.’ But yeah, it’s a great way to get away from the circus.”
"Get away? I thought you thrive in the media hubbub."
”The sport fans, yes. Art fans, kids and dogs. I had to sit through a ten minute Gossip interview yesterday.” She groaned, ”No, I don’t have an opinion on Knight’s new relationship, nor the hat the wife of the Earl of Harewood wore to Silverstone’s opening. Sleep with whoever you like and wear what you think looks good but leave me out of it, I don’t care.” She banged the back of her head against the side of the superstructure she was leaning against as she spoke, drowned out by Jenny's laughter.
"Aww, poor you. I get where you’re coming from though. I’m about ready to walk out every time someone asks about the team’s sale."
”I have to admit, willing that tub into points is an amazing way to distract people from that, Miss points scorer.” Bea reached up and behind her with her own bottle for a toast, ”Am I assuming correctly that ‘something big’ you wanted to talk through is related?”
"Yep. Just want to bounce some ideas off you."
”Well, go on! Spill the tea!” Bea left the diving gear be and leaned over the edge of the the deck saloon, ”And do you want an ear or an opinion?”
“If I ask for the former, would I be spared of the latter?” Jenny asked half-heartedly, Bea miming zipping her mouth closed in response. "I’ve got several offers in my inbox for next season-"
”You do remember that I had the exact opposite problem, right?" Bea interrupted her, ”Not sure how much help I’ll-"
"Silver Apex!" Jenny excitedly blurted out an interruption of her own, followed by two seconds of silence from both women.
”Woah…” Bea’s brain finally got enough traction, too late to continue.
"Yes, I know it’s a poisoned chalice, but chances like this are one in a million! I don’t want to be overly cautious and end up in SuperCat, or rot in- In Fitzroy Orbital AG forever." Jenny caught herself before she breached and NDA by accident.
Before Bea could take a breath to speak, Jen was back in gear, pacing back and forth on the stern deck.
"But Andy’s telling me Valkyrie are also interested in giving me Dorian’s seat." Bea silently moved a loose line from the spot on the floor where Jenny turned on one end of her trajectory, "But I’m not sure about that. I’m leaving one disorganized mess, I fear if I go there I might be stepping into another."
”Valkyrie seems to be on the uptick.” Bea tried to offer a counterpoint.
"When they’re not haemorrhaging critical staff and millions in fines if the news is anything to go by." Jenny paused mid-stride to look at Bea at the ‘haemorrhaging critical staff’ bit before resuming her journey from port side to starboard and back, "And weird as it is I almost feel like the pressure would be less at Silver Apex because they’ve got Amy and the other driver just has to keep pace and not be…"
”Hart?”
"That. But on the flip side I’d need to keep pace with Amy-bloody-Stirling and, yeah, I’m good, but that thought would give anyone pause, right? Well, maybe not Kais."
”Nothing gives Kais pause.” Bea shook her head.
"Plus going to Silver Apex means a lot of chrome, Valkyrie seem more lenient with that. And at Valkyrie I’d stand a much better chance of becoming the number one, even if I only have a year’s experience over Paul and didn’t come up through their junior programme." Jenny stopped pacing, finished the rest of her drink and turned to Bea. "So what would you do?"
”Honestly, I’d choose life over Silver Apex.” Bea answered without thinking, somehow managing to keep a straight face through Jenny’s rant. That was a side of the Yorkshire lass Bea never knew existed and had frankly taken her aback almost as much as the offer to go from the absolute bottom of the ladder to the very top. ”But what works for me doesn’t have to work for you. I’m not being helpful, I know, but I really don’t think I can help. This is your decision, no one else can make that for you. Just, whatever you do, set up a safety net first. I didn’t and sat a year out on the sidelines.”
"Yeah, of course." Jenny mused as she re-upped both their drinks, "Good talk. Rubber ducking helps, thanks."
”Well, whichever way you go,” Bea raised hers with a smile, ”Here’s to the world returning to the way it used to be: Me chasing down your tail lights.”
Jenny returned the smile and sat back down - Bea imagined to catch up on oxygen debt - while she went back to stowing away the rest of the diving gear. ”One last work thing.” Bea looked up from the air tanks, ”I’m thinking of trying to talk León into letting me try Le Mans next year, performance and scheduling gods willing. It’s three drivers to a car, would you if you could?”

---

The video opened with a view of the Sun setting behind Pikes Peak, slowly zooming out and interspersed with quick shots of both a modified 4x4 KrAZ 1055 Rally1 truck and the 2093 Carrera Condor AG ship being thrown around the iconic hillclimb course, the zoom out slowly bringing two helmets and two carved glass crystal trophies placed on the windowsill into view. The crystal beside Bea’s rally helmet - a red and white design inspired by Colin McRae’s Rally of the Lakes 2005 helmet - declared her first place in the Open category while the one next to Bea’s ‘dry’ AG helmet - a neon green European dragon with red details crawling over a coal black helmet she used to run in JAGF - claimed third place in the Unlimited category. The camera drone then whipped around to bring Bea into the frame, sitting inside a log cabin, feet on the table and looking more smug than a cat that got away with eating a canary. ”Still got it.” The smug smirk gave up the stage to a broad grin, ”I’m not going to pretend there wasn’t an element of luck involved, buuuuut… Luck’s part of the gig.” She shrugged, swinging her feet off the table and sat up straight.
”I was still riding the high of Silverstone when I arrived here, and then the truck, the ship, the weather and the crowd all came together. This of course wouldn’t have been possible without Maślanka Motorsport who allowed me the honour of being the first to drive their latest hillclimb special, so go check them out, they look like strong contenders for WRC when they debut next year. The onboard and a look at the heart of that beast will go live tomorrow as usual. It wouldn’t have happened without León signing off on it either, so if you want to see me here next year be sure to let our media team know this was great PR, thank you. Big thanks to Dan Ogier for blowing his tyre.” She giggled, ”I owe you a rematch, and congratulations on keeping it out of the trees and right side up. Soft suspension on those Ivecos, reflexes of a time-travelling cat to keep a hold of that. And thanks to everyone who showed up and stopped to chat. What a weekend.” Definitely one to remember.
”And, with Montreal looking promising from what data we have right now, the ride might continue!” She knocked on the hardwood table immediately afterward, ”We’ll see for sure in…” She checked her watch, ”Six hours.” She paused, leaning forward to the drone with a conspiratorial whisper. ”Seven if I stick to the speed limit.” Cut to a few frames of both the truck and ship crossing the finish line before the video ended.

IronBeer: ‘Seven if I stick to the speed limit’ Please! Fat chance of that.
MadBea: Baseless. Accusations. 😀
IronBeer: Look me in the eye and say that. 😛
MadBea: I think I left the stove on.
_PsychoFish_: Well if Walther ‘I don't wear a helmet for anything over 8 minutes on the Nordschleife.’ Röhrl and Colin ‘If in doubt, flat out.’ McRae are her big role models, it’s a small wonder she hasn’t taken off yet.
AndesAG: thats more Ava’s thing
MaciejMaslanka: Pleasure was ours. See you next year?
MadBea: Deal!
Sol_de_Mayo: I don’t know if they knew exactly what they were doing giving her that truck or if they were holding their breath the entire run.
MaciejMaslanka: It was a great stress test.
NineIron: Imagine racing a spaceship and basically a monster truck on the same day and nailing both.
Briat77: Shame she can’t bring that game in FA. Maybe she should stick to what she’s good at.
Crossfit_Crusader: You’re still being a sore bitch, really?
MissedApex: Riding the Silverstone high? I hardly had time to recover from Silverstone.
UrbanMaverick: In hindsight I agree that second bottle of calvados may have been a mistake.
DohnJoe: get fucked, Caroline!
Xinny: I was there. I saw that KrAZ with the top off. Supercharged opposed-piston six cylinder engine mated to a 12/3 sequential gearbox. Low center of mass, high compression ratio, three reverse gears to get out of ditches quick. This thing will dominate, can’t wait for the detailed breakdown!
hotstuff: too bad they stopped giving out custom watches to category winners, you missed that by what, seven years?
MadBea: Eh, Carrera signed a Breitling sponsorship in Monaco, I’ll live.

---

Outro to Silverstone

As the teams wrapped up, and the festival calmed down, Aurora stood with mic at ear, beaming to the audience.

"Thank you for joining us in Silverstone, as I'm sure you saw, we had one hell of a race. Canada always provides a treat, and with Al-Saqr hunting down Southern Cross and Silver Apex, are we in for a three way title fight? Let's see, but for now, thank you for joining us, and have a lovely evening. Bye for now, and enjoy our outro!"

Soundtrack: London Grammar- Lose Your Head

The race picks up with the bars opening, as the ships rattle off, and the fight comes into play. The crash between Cassie and Paul, the swearing, the bravery on show from Bea and the absolute pace of Kais darting through, making plays nobody else could dream of, dominating. His reaction, his joy cracking through all the pain, all of it, the dejection of Amy on finish and the grin from Han, up on podium for the first time. Lose your head? Not if you had something to give, because in the rain, the beaming sunshine, in everything Great Britain had to offer, this was what it was like to play at the finest margins, the montage cutting on the crowd screaming as Bea cut through Layla, Dorian and Cassie on the last lap, the crowd on their feet, individuals in it screaming, and the camera peeling back out, drawing back away from it all.

---

And back to the factory the teams all went. For some, it was the shortest journey of the year when it came to the British pilots and teams, for others, plenty more distance needed covering. The vibes felt more tense than before, because it felt like marginal gains were coming into effect, and the teams were getting closer and closer behind Silver Apex. It felt like the pressure was climbing, and for each team, they were at the end of a sprint that lead into the summer break after Canada- an opportunity for non-critical staff and pilots alike to take a well deserved holiday, extremely rare outside of the week they got off at Christmas. Racing would calm down as other sporting events took the stage, like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Women's World Cup and 2094 Olympics in Nairobi, which were filling the sports void of many racing enthusiasts.

One more race to get through, and the majority of the teams were now in full completion mode, trying to get final upgrades out before Canada, like a deadline at work, so they could enjoy their leave. While few substantial ones were left as a result, and sponsors themselves were pivoting to the summer of sport that was opening up in July, the teams certainly would be occupied. PR activities, like drifting at Brooklands for Bea and Paul, the further media invitations that Layla got talking about her changes on the Arabic Union's primetime evening television show, to Ava even being featured in an advert for a Chilean sports nutrition company were in full effect before those commitments would likely break away for their rest. The second half of the season was yet another marathon, and plenty was on the line.

From the white rooms of Zygon's ship, where Cassie watched on as the team fiddled with the chassis more, to the forested greenery of Valkyrie's campus where Dorian took in the chirping of birdsong after a long session of the sim, each team geared up for a trip to the Maple Leaf having flag of Canada.

---

BLOOD//BONE//BORN

Black screen. The slow, mechanical pulse of a child's heartbeat begins. A soft hum of AG engines begins to rise, the whine following each.

Florence narrates, a different voice to Aurora's but born from experience.
"It begins at the first pulse. Before you take your first breath."

An amber pulse glows on a medical monitor. A 3D ultrascan twists into focus — a rotating image of a foetal form curled in utero, ripples of biometric data and coloured vitals dancing along the edges. The sound of a distant crowd swell fades in like a memory.

"Talent isn’t made. It’s encoded. Somewhere, in here… a pilot is born."

Cut to sitting in a cot, staring up, looking at the wooden rotating carousel, a baby crying. It spins slowly — instead of animals, it holds tiny wooden AG ships and classic race cars. On a screen in the next room, the glow of a Formula AG race. The roar of the crowd seeps into the nursery.

"Sometimes, it starts with a sound. A blur. A dream."

A lifetime's obsession with one thing and one thing only begins right here.

Soundtrack: Fatboy Slim- Right Here, Right Now

And then getting into a kart, barely old enough to walk, but wanting nothing more than to try. First time, not so good. Second time, absolutely on it. The buzz dominates the sound, the feeling of your ribs, shoulders, arms, body being thrown around and shook so violently, yet wanting to go faster on every corner, apex, kerb and straight.

"It’s pain, precision, persistence. A thousand tiny failures carved into muscle memory. Synapses that no machine can replicate."

Signing a rookie kart contract. Dad claps your back, trying to smile. You're already looking at the kart outside the window. Late nights at the kart tent. The sting of protein shakes and lactic acid. The first crash. The first win. The bruises. The screaming joy. The loneliness.

"You get knocked down. And you come back harder. Hungrier. You chase milliseconds. Inches. The perfect line. Your gauntlet to throw."

The years pass by. And you're still there. Still addicted. Still obsessed, with your race suit, helmet and gear sitting there, unwashed, but always used, the computer still on from where you were on the latest version of Codemasters' AG racing sim.

Coming home and messing around with the kart after hours in a marquee, dad looking across, even he looks bored.

Going out in the rain and spinning, and going again, and again, finding the way to go faster and faster, dominating and lapping the field. And dad's smile seems to be ecstatic, picking you up with joy.

The signing of a bit of paperwork, with a lot of adults around. Junior Formula next. Adolescence hitting hard. Schoolwork becoming irrelevant versus doodles of anti-gravity ships, cars, team gear. Reality hits when you realise quantum physics is still quite important in racing.

"The world narrows. School fades. Relationships blur. The goal sharpens. This is more than sport. It's everything you breathe. It's marginal gains, data points, honing your instincts, finding your perfection."

And the work starts.

Running, cycling on a rainy track, endless sim sessions, running more, throwing up, downing lots more electrolytes, and going further than you'd ever go. School starts to fade. This is the future. Everything you were hunting. Going from just a normal human being into an athlete.

The scream of Formula cars, overtaking, getting overtaken nastily at the Hockenheimring, spinning out, and the feeling of gravel, sand, and the call in your ear right as you feel the car die. "You alright?"

"But you're not alone. They want it just as bad as you. Just as much."

The return to the gym. Pumping iron, on the treadmill with a VO2 monitor in your throat, and a whole set of watching physiotherapists, who are looking at tablets and data.

A doctor putting more paperwork in front of you. A gulp, and a signature.

"Your body can only go so far. So you made it better."

Mum and dad are so proud. They saw you grow up, happy for your successes so far, but they sit with you at the table over food....and are in shock, dropping knives and forks when you tell them what you have planned.

Looking in at the light above, and the light fading to black.

Waking up in a hospital, blinking and realising.....you're more than human when you roll off the bed, and put what are a metallic clack to the tiled floor. You have eyes that can spot a Silver Apex logo in the crowd from half a mile away, because when you look outside the window you're able to focus and then back better than anyone. Carbon legs and arms on your bare body, fused in, a heart that feels like it's able to make you run like nothing, muscles in your core that are fused with biochemical stimulant, and a new prescription to ease you in. You look in the mirror, and what you see is far more than what you were before. This was what you were lacking. This is what you needed.

"You push yourself beyond your limits. Become superhuman."

Inside the canopy, helmet on with your increasingly sponsored race suit, you touch your neck, and you have a soft pad, where your brainstem interfaced with a neural link that when hooked into the ship, makes you feel like it wraps you inside when you do it for the first time. It feels like you dive into a portal, and come out the other end transformed. You FEEL the sidepods sucking air, the weight, the control up close. This is a bond like blood, pulsing faster and faster in you.

"And when you link into that ship... it’s like coming home. Every vibration, every lift, every gust of air— you feel it. The ship isn’t a machine. It’s a bloodstream, and it screams as much as you do."

In a Junior Formula AG ship, roaring through Montreal, finding that extra something through the Wall of Champions, holding pace past your team-mate. Feeling alive. No wheels, or tyres. This is anti-gravity racing, and the corners come faster and faster, fading into a blur...

And repeating. Again, and again. From sparks from contact at Spa, to media appearances, this is the life. Dominance, beating your championship rival, drinking beers with the team in hospitality in a small pit, finding romance with a model who caught your eye back in Monaco, holding a hand out and leading them up onto the balcony of the small Junior AG team's stairwell, sharing a kiss before being pulled into yet another meeting. The fight with your team-mate, arguing over qualifying, getting a telling off from the Principal, and still, going out there again, winning, and spending another late night with the analysts before getting thrown into a pool.

"This is the rhythm of life at 500 kilometers an hour. Where the seconds are endless, and history waits at every apex."

And back to reality. More gym work, this time, you're basically running faster than most people could cycle. And cycling faster than most people could drive in town. Your heart echoes in your head, the rain, the wind, anything, none of it stops you, because despite dealing with technical mishaps, you're looking in the mirror at someone who just seems to be superpowered. In the simulator, you find you are destroying whatever you were before, lap times falling, new strategies forming, new bits coming through. The small pits give way to big ones. The small time engagements in school are gone. You're an adult now. Barely legal to drink, but a prodigy.

Another late flight. A check into a hotel, on your own, and passing out on the bed because no amount of caffeine is keeping you awake. And waking up, in the pit, sitting with analysts, going through data, standing in front of cameras, constantly in the view of the media, the fans that want autographs, the press conferences, the meetings, the evenings with mechanics and pit crews, the feeling that this is all coming to a head. Dealing with young love, the relationship always getting questions, and struggling to make the time because it's all coming to this. The pressure, your blood pulsing through you, your brain unable to handle it, and resetting the sim once again. And then it turning to reality. Everything you've done has led you here. The breathing, the grip, the touch, it all feels like it was made for now. And you remember how long this road has been. And how you're going to end this, on the track.

"History that's yours to make."

Heart-pounding, mind altering, synapse pulsing, aggression, flow, G-forces, and finding a way through.

And taking the title, coming out of the corridor onto the podium. The glory, the victory, trophy held high, champagne spraying, fist pumping, and hand raised high, as you feel alive.

And then seeing the sight of a nod in the crowd.

"But there's always another step. You climb the foodchain, and you want to grow."

Cut to what looks like a white-room, and a ship cradled against a metal frame, what looks like a Fitzroy Orbital ship, of all things. Maybe not the start you were looking for. But oddly, and given all the rumours, it seems hilariously fitting.

"Ready?" The voice asks as the technician points to the ship, and you realise this is a bit more space age than even what you believed before. This is something even more incredible.

The feeling as the canopy opens, and as the ship unlatches from the metal rack, clambering up the step on the side, sitting in, and exhaling hard.

Garage doors hiss open. A roar explodes from outside — fans scream. The camera detaches from your view, soaring skyward as it reveals the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve nestled against the St. Lawrence River, towers rising into the clouds.

"This is Formula AG."

"Radio check?" The voice in your ear crackles, as you barely think it and the ship goes out, to the screaming voices of Montreal, the view picking up the ship, and the team in the background, drawing back and peeling away, nestling one of the best racing circuits in the world.

Welcome to the life.

---

---

DELTΔ HYPER

Episode Nine: The Wall of Champions

---

La Sauce

The intro felt a little bit flat compared to maybe the history gush of Japan and Britain, the beauty of Italy, the sheer wonder of Luna, the Bond-esque feeling of Monaco, or the absolute onslaught that was New Zealand. But, after that, an overview of the circuit followed, and cut back into the main paddock building, and the teams preparing for the weekend.

As usual, a shift to the Delta Hyper couch being on a rooftop of the paddock building of the circuit, normally exposed to sunlight but this time around, covered with a white marquee, the view in the background left open of Montreal's skyscrapers, the city booming given the migration north out of the dustbowls of the Great Plains and Mid-West twenty years ago. Ramshackle neighborhoods had turned into highly dense, urban neighbourhoods, that added a technological feel to the historic core that felt distinctly French.

"Beatrix, Ava welcome to Canada!" Aurora beamed, as the sofa felt a little bit odd, given the location was right by a kitchen. Bit strange, why on earth were they in a catering tent on top of the paddock? And also, why on earth did it look like someone had been in here before?

"Kais, Layla, would you like to open the envelope and show it to the audience?"

And with it, Aurora covered off the question that they would likely be having internally as they read, skimming to Paul and Dorian, in their version of the edit.

"Paul, Dorian, we did check your dietary requirements, and we hope this hasn't come up before!" Aurora beamed, as the edit cut to the Carrera couple.

Ava looked to Bea, shaking her head, giggling. "They want us to make poutine! Okay, I knew it was going to be Canadian themed, but come on!" Ava chuckled, showing the card to the camera, the scene cutting.

*Make a bowl of delicious poutine, and use the ingredients in front of you to put your own spin on it.*

Layla had the same, licking her lips.

"Yum! Okay....I mean, this is why I don't have an artificial stomach, though I know Dorian is going to be so pissed....."

Dorian was read correctly by Layla. As in, his stomach growled at the very concept of putting gravy onto chips and curded cheese.

"****ing Canadians! They put gravy and lumps of cheese on frites? Okay, Paul, you're Belgian so you're weird when it comes to frites, so I know this will be fine for you but....come on! My mother would be screaming! You cannot make Frites pour Francais and just.....argh!" Dorian made even Aurora laugh, as it was clear Dorian had a firm view on this from what was an extremely biased French culinary palette, giving Paul a shove in a joking manner.

"Well, we've got you here. We've got the fries all cut up for you, but it's up to you to make the gravy and the cheese curds from what we've provided, and add anything else you think tastes good from the ingredients on the table. Though don't look at that maple syrup....that is for another interview. And just to add to the spice....check the text at the bottom." Aurora left that there, knowing it was almost certain that one of the pilots would be insane enough to pour it in.

She had an internal bet with the production staff on who that would be, and sat there, almost as if she was entertained by this whole process, but a whole range of other ingredients were left there too. After all, it wasn't just a normal Poutine, but a chance to make something a little more....weird.

"Wait, other teams are trying our food? Are you actually insane? Putain de merde!" Dorian asked, as Aurora giggled, nodding.

"Carrera's is trying Al-Saqr's, Al Saqr's is giving Valkyrie's a go, and Valkyrie's trying Carrera's....you have 30 minutes, best of luck!"

And well, what was likely to be one of the stickiest situations in Delta Hyper's interviews so far began. As the cameras were left to roll, and cut between the groups of pilots, who no doubt, were about to make free content in how they worked, or didn't work together, it would reveal how they were under the pressure of not driving, but making something that was about to either be an affront to God (and basically the entire province of Quebec), or mastery.

Layla's tech focus was actually challenged here, Dorian was just having to deal with the concept of fries coming with what was treacle-like beef stock, and Ava, used to the more typically Latino style of cooking, was now making something that looked like it belonged in a hipster food truck.

For a moment, the tense constructors fight began to go, because the two pilots, used to rigorous amounts of media training, answering questions on pace and speed, were now thrown into something that no amount of their upbringing would likely elicit. And of course, every viewer at home was here for it.

---

Post-Practice: Canada

Soundtrack: Metrik (feat GUNSHIP)- Electric Echo

Practice was a simple affair, as ships came back in, after a session in what was heatwave weather. It was absolutely boiling in Montreal- the middle of summer bringing temps up to 39C, making it feel searing, making air con in the paddock, and cooling systems in the ships work overtime, shade, sunscreen and water a necessity to avoid getting burnt. The smell of Junior AG ships qualifying, right before a massive rainstorm was on the horizon occupied the circuit visitors, because as soon as it was done, they were running for cover.

Speaking of being under a cover, inside the Delta Hyper booth, the various pilots filtered in...

"Not where we want to be. The ship is good, but we just lack the absolute stability I was hoping for." Harrison noted, the circuit incredibly tight and fast, benefitting the ship's pace and superior handling, but being low in stability, making it an absolute bronco to manage.

"Well, the ship is on rails. I want to smash the lap record this weekend, and I think I've got the tool for the job." Amy beamed, shrugging off other comments.

"Top level racing is harder as you get older....but nothing replaces the experience and I love Montreal. A demanding circuit, it has speed, corners that push and it's a joy to get right." Dorian replied, feeling good here, the Valkyrie ship back to its strength on a circuit like this.

"Yeah, well it's our home race! And the fans are right behind us, so I'm so proud to represent MMR here!" Wedge called out with the crowd whooping in response, giving the home team the vibes they wanted.

"Honestly, a poor session from me and Vlad, but we'll come back in qualifying. We're still learning the ship, but it is what it is!" Kofi shrugged, a little down more than usual, but, he had to speak his mind on this one.

"I wish you'd stop asking questions like that! Right now I am contracted to race for Fitzroy Orbital AG, so I guess that is where all my energy is, though it's always nice to be recognised!" Jenny blushed, brushing the question off, but handling it diplomatically as she could.

Alexander sat at his desk reviewing the plans submitted by the various departments for the revised Junior AG team. Alexander was changing up the supports for the team’s junior league team. If he had to shop for new pilots from the team, then he wanted them to get better training and rise up. He had hopes of taking the Junior League and making Scarlett the Junior League champion this year. His competitors were focused on the primary league. If he begins building a better academy then he will attract better junior league drivers in the future. Alexander was planning for Team Valkyrie’s long term rise and maintaining that lead. His goal was to structure the team in a way to usher in an era of high quality and consistency. He wanted to build a team and program that supported the individual pilots and their growth. He knew from his own experience that it takes more than skill to make a champion. A pilot has to have that drive to be able to push through the pain of training, and push themselves well beyond what they thought they were capable of. It also took resources and education. You can have a very talented pilot but if they can’t talk to the press and handle sponsors they will be a liability. Alexander wanted to build a program that prepared pilots for success at all levels.

Scarlett had talent but she didn’t have the same resources even other pilots in the program had. She had been relying on sponsorships. There was a lot she needed to learn before she could step up into the main league. In Alexander’s opinion, she would not be ready next season. He believed she needed another season in the Junior League before she would truly be ready for the main league. She needed some experience and seasoning. She had potential but if she was moved up too fast, he believed she would fold under the pressure. Alexander didn’t believe that Scarlett was ready for the level of public scrutiny she would get as she stepped into the spotlight in the main league. She had fans and was recognized in public now but she was still mostly anonymous. She didn’t require security at home yet. She could still go to the grocery store and not be mobbed. Alexander considered what had happened in Tokyo at the harbor. Scarlett needed to be prepared for that level of public adoration. She needed some seasoning in handling the public and media. She needed education on contracts and endorsement deals. Scarlett had been lucky that she had been helped by the Mulder Foundation which had solicited some good endorsements for her. She was included in the Junior League’s team endorsements and sponsors. Scarlett still didn’t have an agent or even know she needed one. Alexander knew it was simply a case of she didn’t know what she didn’t know. She didn’t really have anyone to step in and be that mentor for her. Alexander planned to fill that role. He was going to begin working with the training team when the Junior League team was on campus.

Alexander reviewed the various reports from the different departments. He grinned like a shark as he planned to build new ships for the main team and take this year’s ship designs and hand them down to next year’s Junior League team. He began putting together a revised training schedule for the Junior League Team. He planned some on-campus training camps during the major team’s break periods so he could join them. He built in some down time for the rest of the team but week-long training camps where the Junior League pilots were brought to campus were necessary. They needed to be pushed by the team’s trainers. They needed to use the simulators and the track here to get more hands-on experience. He would pull in his test pilots and offer them a bonus to act as mentors and trainers to the Junior League team in their off time. It would be a win-win for Alexander. His test pilots would get a more active role and more pay. They would be happier and he would get excellent trainers with experience for his Junior League team.

Alexander’s plans for the Junior League Team was to rebrand the academy as the best place to train future champions. Alexander reviewed his calendar for the day. He had several important meetings today. He would be meeting with Jenny Lowry and giving her a tour of the campus and her pitch to join them next year. He was realistic on what he could offer her. He knew Silver Apex’s offer would be the only other competitive offer. He knew they could throw more money at her and they had a reputation for winning. They also had a reputation for being hard to work with and hard on their pilots. He was hoping the camaraderie and wholesome team atmosphere of the team now that he had cleared out the rot at its center would appeal to her. He knew that Cavan was looking forward to meeting her and showing her around. Paul was due back this morning. Paul would be answering any questions Jenny had before he and Dorian met with the medical team.

Alexander had heard back from Lipusv after examining the preliminary data from Shinichi Bionics on their new neural interface and nanite technology. The data had been collected from Arianna’s trial of the new technology. Lipusv’s influence had pushed through the permission for trial implantation of Paul and Dorian. The information gathered by how the technology was used by the pilots might lead to Shinichi Bionics partnering with the European Union Space Agency on applications for humans living and working in space. The preliminary contract for research and development between Team Valkyrie and Shinichi Bionics was blessed and signed off on by Lipusv and Leopold Koch. It went active before the new transparency mandate on sponsorship and endorsements. Though technically this contract was for research and development. It would fall outside of that mandate anyway. The research and development contracts included extensive security measures to prevent the theft of data and the design. A team from Shinichi Bionics would have a secure lab and office space at headquarters.

Alexander liked Shinichi’s new technology as it could lead to long term improvements with very little down time for the pilots. The only surgery would be to replace their current neural interfaces and an injection of nanites. The rest would take place internally as nanites took the building blocks for the body’s enhancement from the food eaten by the pilots. The nanities did the internal building, restructuring, augmenting, and communication. The neural interface introduced the programming and acted as the communication hub for the nanites. The nanites would build a bio-cybernetic interface that followed the body’s own neural network to interface with the technology and upgrades that the nanites introduced. The nanites would work on a cellular level to repair and augment Team Valkyrie’s pilots. The augmentations would happen organically over time. They would respond to programming but the team would take the augmentations for the pilots one system at a time. The technology was more reliable and less invasive than other types of cybernetics. The new neural interfaces were more powerful, faster, and were more intuitive to use. They had hardened encrypted security to ensure the interfaces would stand up to cyberattacks and EMP, they were virtually unhackable. They would track the changes and collect data during training and piloting to see how well the bio-cybernetics compared to traditional cybernetics.

A notification reminder beeps on his computer. Alexander checked the time and closed the extra files he had been working on. He locked his computer terminal. He cleared off his desk and went to the front of the building to meet Jenny Lowry.

---

Mabel and he walked to the front entrance together. He had already collected Jenny’s visitor badge from security. He made sure there would be no issues for her visit to the best of his ability. He had asked Chef Jacques to plan on her joining them for lunch. He would be sure to have something suitably healthy but delicious for the pilot. Alexander expected his pilots to follow a strict diet but he also didn’t expect them to eat cardboard or rely on pasty nasty protein rich nutrition shakes either. He had a nutritionist on the team and a renowned chef for that reason. Between them they managed to keep the pilots and the rest of the employees to healthy delicious food on a daily basis. Alexander rarely cooked for himself now. He had too much to do and he freely admitted that eating Chef Jacques food was not a burden. There were perks to living at headquarters. Jenny would be given a guest apartment on campus for her stay. Team Valkyrie had sent one of their private shuttles for her. They had sent a small security team uncertain if she had a team that traveled with her. They wanted her to feel welcome and secure.

Mabel was waiting with her tablet in hand. She was dressed in an ivory colored pants suit that contrasted with her dark skin. Her gold jewelry added warmth and brought out the copper undertones in her skin. Mabel’s gray hair was tucked under an African inspired turban like hat. She always had a warm regal air about her. The older woman was spry and energetic for her age. Her brown eyes danced merrily.

Mabel: “Cavan has been fussing like an old mother hen over this visit. He put the finishing touches on Paul’s new ship yesterday. Daniel has it on the test track putting it through its paces. Once he gives his feedback to Cavan he will make adjustments. Then he just needs Paul to do a test drive so that he can do some last minute adjustments before getting it loaded for the trip to Canada. He assured me he would have everything done before Wednesday.”

Alexander was dressed in a pair of dark gray dress slacks from Enigma Lux that was paired with a stylish button down with the team logo on the pocket. He was wearing the comfy dress boots that Enigma Lux had given him. He was very fond of the fit of the clothes they had made for him. His long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail to keep it off his neck. His beard was trimmed. They were waiting in the lobby. The driver reported that she had been picked up at the airport and they were on the way. Alexander turned to Mabel with a smile.

Alexander: “That matches what I would expect from Cavan. He was so excited when I told him I was going to give her an offer. I don’t want Paul back in the ship until after he has recovered from the latest surgery. Montgomery needs to clear him first. Dorian as well. I know it’s supposed to be a fairly routine surgery but I want to be sure they have both recovered and are adjusting to the new interface before they climb into the cockpit. That is why we have Daniel on retainer.”

Mabel just rolled her eyes at Alexander. “The contracts with Shinichi Bionics have been signed, sealed, and copies delivered to the relevant parties and the legal team. Their team has moved into the secured lab space and offices on campus that we provided to them. They are happy with their accommodations. Their small team is sharing an apartment on campus. Legal has finished reviewing the proposed contract with Banshee Microsystems. They said they would have an update for us by Monday.”

Alexander nodded as he knew the legal team had a great deal on its plate. He kept adding to their job duties. They grumbled at him but he just pointed out that was why they were on staff. They had gotten used to only being called upon to review team contracts.

Alexander: “That is acceptable. I will need to get Leopold’s and Lipusv involved in that one too. The sooner the better.”

Alexander smiled at Mabel. “Arianna called last night. She said to tell you that her plant is doing well. She said to tell you she would call later tonight.” Alexander’s eyes narrowed in displeasure as he continued in a disapproving voice. “Evidently there is something she feels she needs to discuss with you. She wouldn’t talk to me about it.”

Mabel just grinned at Alexander. “Don’t take it that way Alex. She just needs to talk about something with a woman. It's not like she can talk to her mother about anything. Maybe she is finally going to attempt dating again.”

Alexander growled softly. “No dating! She doesn’t need to date to graduate.”

Mabel just chuckled and winked at Alexander. “And that attitude is why she is calling me and not you.”

Alexander looked worried. “You will fill me in on the details later right?”

Mabel didn’t answer him as she turned to face the entrance. “No. She is entitled to her privacy. Jenny is here.”

Alexander wanted to be frustrated and demand Mabel give him the answers to his questions but he knew better. Mabel was one of the few people who knew exactly how to make Alexander squirm.

Jenny Lowry came in the entrance to headquarters and walked across the lobby to where Alexander and Mabel were waiting next to the security gate.

Alexander stepped forward with a smile and offered Jenny a handshake.

Alexander: “Hello Miss Lowry. Welcome to Team Valkyrie’s headquarters. I want to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come and visit us here. I hope you will enjoy your visit.”

Alexander shook hands with Jenny. Jenny was shorter than Alexander but she was toned and fit just like all pilots were.

Jenny gave Alexander a cautious smile as she shook his hand. She noted that his hand had an artificial feel. He had older cybernetic hands. She couldn’t see how far up they went since he was wearing long sleeves. He was not quite what she expected.

Alexander turned to Mabel and waved a hand towards her.

Alexander: “I want to introduce you to my Executive Assistant, Mabel Brown. If you need anything while you are here, just contact Mabel and she will make sure to take care of that for you.”

Mabel smiled warmly at Jenny and offered her a handshake. “It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Lowry. Please call me Mabel.”

Jenny instantly liked the older black woman who had a regal bearing. She shook her hand warmly with a gentle touch. “Please call me Jenny, Mabel.”

Mabel smiled and nodded at the permission. She passed Jenny a name badge on a clip.

Mabel: “This is your security badge while you are here with us. You will need to wear this while you are here on campus. It will give you access to the areas you are allowed to visit and your apartment for the evening. It will also allow you to access our team cafeteria. There is food available there throughout most of the day. Your apartment also has a kitchen. If you need anything, just send me a list. It is already stocked with some staples.”

Jenny looked a little surprised. Their headquarters was much larger than what she was used to and obviously had more amenities. Jenny clipped the badge to her shirt.

Jenny: “Thank you Mabel.”

Alexander smiled at Jenny. “Now that we have that out of the way. Your bags will be taken to your room. Are you ready for the tour?”

Jenny nodded and motioned for Alexander to lead the way. Jenny was curious. She looked around and was impressed with the facilities so far.

Jenny followed Alexander as he started the tour with the main floor areas, the onsite daycare center, cafeteria, and gym. The tour continued through the training and medical areas where Paul and Dorian met and spoke with Jenny for a bit. Then he led her into the engineering department where she was greeted by Cavan and a few fellow engineers that had followed him from Fitzroy. Cavan extended an invitation to meet them at their favorite pub for a drink later. They finally ended the tour in Alexander’s office. Jenny took a seat in Alexander’s seating area on the couch. Alexander took one of the plush chairs there.

Alexander waited till Jenny had settled. “Well you know why you are here. So let me talk frankly.”

Jenny just nodded and waved for him to continue. “I would appreciate straight talk. I don’t hear it often.”

Alexander laughed a little and gave her a rueful smile. “There is truth to that.” He paused and looked Jenny in the eyes before continuing.

Alexander: “I have an offer for you. I would like you to replace Dorian when he retires at the end of the season. You have met Paul. His contract will be renewed. So you know who your teammate will be if you sign on with us. I know there has been a great deal of drama and negativity surrounding the team since I started. I am sure it makes you nervous. I don’t regret my decisions. I believe in safety first and supporting the individual needs of the pilots. Instead of trying to force pilots to fit the mold the team wants them too, I believe in building a ship and providing them support to build on their talents. There were a lot of things happening behind the scenes that had to be fixed before I could move the team forward. The team will stabilize now that Brendel, Maier, and Zimmerman have been removed. I will be frank, that offer is the best I can do. I am pretty sure that Silver Apex can and will beat it. If you decide to join us, you will be joining old friends. You will have access to all the support the team can give you. You have seen the facilities. There are long term plans at play. I can’t give you very many details because you may go to our competitors.”

Jenny listened to Alexander’s very direct and straightforward speech. She kept a neutral expression as he touched on the challenges Valkyrie had faced this year. Jenny had enjoyed the tour of the campus. The facilities were top notch and far exceeded what she was used to. The food was excellent. She had been impressed with the training facilities and the simulator. Paul and Dorian had been frank and relaxed when she saw them. Paul looked as if he had already recovered from last week’s crash. She managed to focus on what Alexander shared.

Alexander paused before he stressed the next point. “Team Valkyrie will be competitive next season. If you feel you have to take the best offer, I understand. You have to do what you feel is right for you. I hope you consider our offer carefully. What we lack in pay we make up for in other ways. Valkyrie is being rebuilt into the supportive team structure that it was always meant to be. It will take some time for the team to recover from the bad publicity at the start of the season. The team is already breaking free and stabilizing. Don’t take my word for it. Feel free to talk to your friends about the changes that I have made here. You have seen our facilities and know what kind of support you will receive. I can give you some time to consider and think about it. I will need an answer by the end of summer break though. I have sent you the offer. I am available if you want to talk about it. Otherwise, please enjoy your stay. Feel free to wander around and please hang out with Cavan.”

Alexander rolled his eyes and gave her a put upon expression as if he was in pain.
Alexander: “Otherwise I will never hear the end of his whining.”

Jenny burst out laughing at Alexander’s expression. “I will think about it.”

Jenny rose to her feet and left Alexander’s office. Her security escort led her back towards Cavan’s domain. He had been so eager and happy to show off his new digs here at Team Valkyrie. His workshop was much better than the one he had at Fitzroy.

Jenny reviewed the contract that Alexander had sent her. It was a good contract. It was a nice offer. The pay was better than she had been offered at Fitzroy. The facilities were top notch and she trusted Cavan to be honest with her over the state of the team. It came down to whether she wanted more money and a spot on a winning team but a team notorious for being hard on their pilots or did she want to take a chance on Valkyrie’s future plans without knowing what they were. Valkyrie would have some friendly faces and the food was excellent! Jenny had a lot to think about and discuss with her agent.

---

Paul and Dorian both underwent extensive testing and medical assessments by Dr. Montgomery. Both men’s baseline test results and medical information was shared with the Shinichi Bionics team. The two men had undergone the surgery to update their neural interfaces. Their old interfaces were removed and they were fitted with the new bigger interfaces from Shinichi. The surgery, while delicate, did not take very long. The new interfaces had been installed and synthetic skin sealed the edges while the surgery healed. They had also received an injection of nanites. Both men had been woken up after surgery and baseline calibrations had been completed on the interfaces. They were both sent off to eat. Dr. Jacques and the nutritionist had worked with the Shinichi team to include foods that would have the building blocks they would need for their first updates. They were going to be eating a diet rich in iron and trace minerals for a few weeks. They would start working with the specialists tomorrow to help integrate their interfaces faster and guide the adaptations for the pilots. By Monday, both men should be ready to test the changes in the ships on the track.

---

Initial testing on Monday showed that both Paul and Dorian were showing faster processing speeds between the neural interface and the ship.Paul and Dorian showed faster reflexes and better control of the ship in corners on the test track. It was an obvious improvement. Controlling the ship and processing the masses of data that came through the interface with the ship was so much faster and easier. The difference for Paul was massive. His previous interface felt slow and clunky compared to the fluidity and speed of his new interface. He was eating all the time and felt hungry all the time right now. It was like he couldn’t eat enough. So far that was the one downside that Paul had experienced. Paul hoped this almost flu-like fatigue and lethargic feeling didn’t last long. Other than some minor discomfort the day of surgery, he had experienced very little pain. The Shinichi team said that while the nanites were building they were pulling energy and materials from his body and directing it via the nanites. That it was to be expected. Dorian and Paul felt like they were living in a fish bowl as everything they ate and drank was monitored and measured. Paul sighed as this was the price of progress, a lack of dignity as he marked his urine output on a chart next to the toilet in his apartment. Paul was grateful that these restrictions would be lifted once they left for Canada. He did not want the entire world to know when he had to take a piss.

---

DELTΔ HYPER

Episode Nine: The Wall of Champions

---

La Sauce

Paul and Dorian arrived at the Delta Hyper interview station together but the stage held a… catering tent?

Paul gave Dorian a confused look. “Do you have any idea what the hell is going on?”
Dorian looked just as confused as Paul. “I have no idea, mon amis..”

They took their seats next to each other on the white couch. They had just missed someone going into the catering tent as a flap was moving. Paul shrugged as Aurora gave them that false cheerful greeting of a journalist.

Aurora: “Welcome to Canada Paul and Dorian!”

Paul smiled into the camera. He was in jeans, sneakers, and a team t-shirt for this interview while Dorian was in jeans and a team polo.

Paul greeted Aurora: “It is great to be here in Canada. Thank you for having us Aurora.” Paul knew how to work the media.

Dorian nodded. “Always a pleasure to be back.”

Paul and Dorian were handed an envelope. They opened it and read the instructions together. They wanted them to make their own version of Poutine. Paul laughed and smiled. He didn’t think this was much of a challenge whereas Dorian acted like he had been offended by the suggestion.

Aurora:"Paul, Dorian, we did check your dietary requirements, and we hope this hasn't come up before!"

Paul showed the card to the camera as Dorian began to have a temper tantrum trying to defend all French cuisine.

*Make a bowl of delicious poutine, and use the ingredients in front of you to put your own spin on it.*

Paul smiled at the camera laughing. “I got this!” He looked very confident and happy with the challenge.

Dorian was spitting in rapid French about how sacrilegious it was to put gravy on frittes. That the excellent cheese selection from France should not be buried beneath something as mundane as gravy.

Dorian continued his rant: "****ing Canadians! They put gravy and lumps of cheese on frites? Okay, Paul, you're Belgian so you're weird when it comes to frites, so I know this will be fine for you but....come on! My mother would be screaming! You cannot make Frites pour Francais and just.....argh!"

Dorian’s rant made even Aurora laugh, as it was clear Dorian had a firm view on this from what was an extremely biased French culinary palette, giving Paul a shove in a joking manner.

Paul was laughing as Dorian shoved him, turning this project over to him. “It’s okay Dorian. Belgian Frittes are the way to go here. They are superior to anything Canada has to offer.”

They had been led into the catering tent. They began to inspect what they had available. Paul laughed as an assistant was pulling a white lacy maid-like apron over his head. Paul tied the apron watching as the assistant tried to get Dorian to wear one too. He laughed as Dorian batted the assistant away refusing to put the French Maid apron on. Dorian grabbed a standard apron in a black color and knotted it around his waist.

Aurora continued her instructions to them as they looked over the available ingredients.

Aurora: "Well, we've got you here. We've got the fries all cut up for you, but it's up to you to make the gravy and the cheese curds from what we've provided, and add anything else you think tastes good from the ingredients on the table. Though don't look at that maple syrup....that is for another interview. And just to add to the spice....check the text at the bottom." Aurora left that there, knowing it was almost certain that one of the pilots would be insane enough to pour it in.

Dorian read the fine print while Paul began to gather ingredients.
Dorian: "Wait, other teams are trying our food? Are you actually insane? Putain de merde!" Dorian asked, as Aurora giggled, nodding.

Aurora:"Carrera's is trying Al-Saqr's, Al Saqr's is giving Valkyrie's a go, and Valkyrie's trying Carrera's....you have 30 minutes, best of luck!"

Paul laughed as he tried to get Dorian on board with his plan.

Paul: “Hey get those frites in the fryer. They have to be twice fried to be good frites. How about we make beer based beef stock French Onion soup consommé instead of gravy. We can use Swiss cheese curds if they have them or gruyere. The frites can take the place of the toasted baguette.”

Dorian was still muttering angrily in French but nodded once to Paul and began to drop the frites in the fryer while Paul began building a fragrant beef stock. He chopped up three whole sweet onions as the pan was heating with a little olive oil. He seared a nice thick steak in a pan with some garlic and rosemary. He then pulled the steak off and put it into a warm oven to finish cooking. He then threw in all the onions and began to caramelize them. He then deglazed the pan with a nice Belgian beer. Paul took a sip from the bottle of Belgian beer he had found to use. Dorian was muttering about heathens and that he should have used a good French wine. Dorian had the frites out of the oil and draining in the basket waiting for their second fry. He poured himself a glass of red wine and leaned against the counter watching Paul cook.

Dorian: “I didn’t know you knew how to cook.”

Paul laughed and smiled at Dorian. “We are going to win this competition. My grandma taught me how to cook. She told me all gentlemen should be able to cook at least one meal for the women in their lives.”

Dorian finally smiled at Paul over that comment but he still looked cranky and like he wanted to shove Aurora off the paddock roof. Dorian lifted his wine glass in salute and drank to Paul’s comment.

Dorian followed Paul’s lead and instructions on how to make the frites the way he wanted them.

At the end Paul had three plates filled with Belgian double fried frites that looked perfectly crunchy and golden. They had been covered with sliced perfectly medium steak slices and gruyere curds. He ladled thick beefy caramelized beer flavored onions over the top of it all.

Paul nudged Dorian who was looking less grumpy.

Paul: “Well what do you think?”

Dorian looked it over with a disgusted look on his face. “I am glad you cooked and not me. That looks disgusting! This dish is an insult to French Cuisine. At least I can say it was Belgian instead. What do you call it?”

Paul laughed at Dorian’s grumpy demeanor. His teammate was usually so upbeat and jovial.

Paul: “Cheer up Dorian. I think I will call it Belgian Frites with Steak. We only have to try one of the other teams' offers. I hope they can cook. Is there a medic on standby for food poisoning?”

Dorian took his suggestion seriously and began to look around for a medic. Paul just laughed and shook his head.

---

Post-Practice: Canada

---

Paul: “Obviously I have recovered from the crash at Silverstone. My thanks to all the fans who sent well wishes. I am happy to be here in Montreal. Montreal is a fun circuit. The practice went well. I have a few notes for the engineers. They did a great job getting the ship rebuilt and ready for Montreal. My lap times were good. I think I can do better though. The track is fun, fast, and full of turns. It is a joy to race on. We should do well here.”

DELTΔ HYPER

Episode Nine: The Wall of Champions

---

Ava seemed to be enjoying the weather, Chilean Air Force wraparound aviators all she needed. Bea for her part looked to be halfway to misery, with a t-shirt one size too big to help with ventilation and having doused her baseball cap with cold water just prior to the cameras rolling, chinos on both counts leaving the artistry of their cyberlegs on display.
“Beatrix, Ava welcome to Canada!”
”Hey, look, they’re changing the format.” Bea pointed to the kitchen as both Carrera Condor pilots waved hello to Aurora, ”We’re getting snacks during the interview.”
“Hmm, yes, but not quite.” Aurora nodded, handing them an envelope.
Ava read the card inside and looked to Bea, shaking her head and giggling. ”They want us to make poutine! Okay, I knew it was going to be Canadian themed, but come on!” Ava chuckled, showing the card to the camera.
”Aw, shite.”
”What?”
”Cooking and I… it doesn’t mix.” Bea laughed uneasily.
The camera panned to show a pair of fire extinguishers just out of the shot.
“We've got the fries all cut up for you, but it's up to you to make the gravy and the cheese curds from what we've provided, and add anything else you think tastes good from the ingredients on the table.” Aurora continued, smirking. “Though don't look at that maple syrup....that is for another interview. And just to add to the spice… check the text at the bottom.”
”Oh!” Ava’s face lit up, ”Well that’s interesting.”
”What?”
”We’re trying Al-Saqr’s, Valkyrie get ours.”
”If Harrison and Nora get sick, we know whose they had.” Bea snickered.
”Kais, Layla,” Ava whispered loud enough for the camera to hear with a smile, ”Spicy. Make it spicy.” She pointed to Bea behind her back as they moved over to the kitchen, the Briton’s intolerance of capsaicin fairly well known.
”Anyway, how bad can it be?” She addressed Bea again when they made it to the kitchen and started going over the assembled ingredients.
”Six years ago, I went to a friend’s house to watch a movie and we decided to make bread pudding. We ended up burying the baking dish in the garden to cover that up.”
”How? How did you manage that?”
”Grew up in a household with a private chef, that’s how. Archaeologists excavating Highgate will get a surprise one day.”

What followed was a quick series of cuts.

”Nonono,” Bea stepped away from the assistant handing her an apron like he was sick, ”No more layers, I’m boiling in my own sauce as is, I’ll take the splash risk.”
”Man the fryer then, the oil won’t hurt your arms.”
”Fits the spirit of why I got them, actually.”
”Cutting board’s yours too, then.”

”Wuust-uh-shuh.”
”No, that can’t be right. You’re pulling my leg.” Ava shook her head as she stirred the gravy in the saucepan.
”That’s how it¨s pronounced! Swear!” Bea stopped dicing a sausage and raised her right hand.
”How is it that your people invented English and yet can’t speak it right?”
”Because it’s three languages in a trench coat, taking other languages into a back alley and mugging them for spare words.”

”It’s a Canadian dish, hand me the Molson will you?”
”Were you really going to put Canadian beer into something a Frenchman and a Belgian will eat? Do you hate them or something?” She sneered dismissively, opening a bottle of Duvel between her thumb and index finger before handing it over.
”What’s wrong with Canadian beer?”
”Where do I start?”

”Small batches!” Ava yelled over the sizzling of the fryer.
”What?” Bea leaned over to hear better.
”Fry them in small batches or the oil will cool down too much.”
”Riiiiight. That does make sense in hindsight.”

The result wasn’t terrible looking, though Dorian would probably disagree on principle: Golden-brown fries topped with garlicky beef stock gravy, toasted cheese and diced stir fried sausage and a sprinkling of spring onions.
”See, it wasn’t so bad.”
“And you didn’t even need to bury any evidence.”
”Et tu, Aurora?”

Mist on the Water

Sitting inside of the quiet cafe, Cassie sipped away at her latte, wearing a black tech-hoodie and a beanie hat, earbuds in, the look of the racer that had been in the points at the British GP masked up versus her usual team gear and her typical appearance. She knew how to hide, or at least, how to keep a low profile. But Kais knew where to go. What table to turn up to. And she wasn’t quite sure what the fuck she was doing. Rage against the machine? Or just rage against her own? She recognised that much at least, as she checked her phone, sipping down more coffee, looking outside at the rainy morning by the River Thames.

A hefty thud crashed down upon the chair opposite her. “Bad idea to leave your earbuds in when waiting on an enemy.” Kais said. He turned down his jacket’s hood, and ran his hand through his hair - wet, of course. “I hate the rain. At least it isn’t as bad as in Tokyo.” He flipped the switch on the table for an order and simply said “Coffee, black.” Then he turned to her and greeted her with a nod. “Neves…”

Cassie tsk’d, peeling them out, popping them onto the table.
“Welcome to England.. And I suppose that’s an astute observation….for someone who used to kill people for a living. They have a really good passthrough.” Cassie barbed, sighing, leaning across the table.
“Some part of me can’t believe I agreed to this. For what it’s worth, Kais, this isn’t something I like the idea of. This is….well, because we both aren’t comfortable with where we are, are we?” Cassie muttered, keeping her voice down, the quiet cafe checked over by her agent’s team for any cameras, or anyone that could easily listen in.
“So what’s troubled you then?” Cassie spat it out, to the point, even by her standards, not mincing words.

“Wouldn’t be too quick to call me a ‘someone’ back then.” Kais snorted, though he still wasn’t quite sure if he believed it as much. Still, it might serve as much of a hook to get through to her. “Though I’m sure you’ve never felt like someone you’re not… Made to feel.” He sat back, looking for any response, a pang of recognition. Anything to get her on his side, if only for a moment. Because he needed info. “Look, I’m not here to be liked. I know you care about what is happening within the sport, and that you don’t like it. And though you may not believe it…” He let the words die out, thinking about Nora, Ava. Who would be next in the chain? He turned back to Cassie. “You said I was just as bad as Amy. I want to know what you meant. You know just as well as I that there’s weird things going on with her. I want to find out what. And why. You’ve been with Zygon, same as Amy. You know what it’s like on the inside. And you’re not an idiot. So you’re the only one I can go to on this.”

Cassie folded her arms, sighing, keeping her voice down but wanting to externalise.
“Well, you are very shit out of luck if I’m the last one left.” Cassie poked back with about the appropriate amount of sarcasm, sipping down more coffee, clanking the cup down with her synthetic arm and pushing it out of side.
“Amy doesn’t stop, she is completely, totally relentless in what she wants. So are you, from how you race. And maybe what’s in your blood….wait. Oh, you mean….shit.” Cassie stopped herself, realising mid sentence, sighing.
“You think she had something to do with Luna? They did something to her while they were in the team, here she is, carrying it forward?” Cassie asked, almost as if she was now chipping away at him. “I mean, it’s bold, but….she isn’t like that.”

“Your words.” Kais sat back again. “Wouldn’t be above Zygon, looking at it from the outside. How’s the pressure there, huh? Nice and comfy, with that teammate of yours?” Kais barbed back. “Don’t play me, telling me there isn’t weird stuff going on. You can call me a freak and walk away. Fine by me. But don’t call me an idiot, Neves. I can see it in your eyes.”

Cassie scowled, before sighing, knowing it wasn’t worth this. She’d been through this bullshit too many times with Dorian, but then again, he wasn’t wrong. And he had called her bluff out, looking into those X+Y optics.
“Well, Zenix….yeah, of course. Of course it’s fucking weird. And yeah, you wouldn’t be wrong. Of course shit’s weird.” Cassie sulked, quietly sitting in her chair, shaking her head.

“I wouldn’t even want to guess what goes on within Zygon’s top level but of course they do stuff. Nothing I’m partial to, mind. They are relentless, and it’s corporate to the bone, to a point where my image is being used in a way that would breach so many rules in the west. It’s a system made to make you a celebrity, then flush away when you don’t fit. You'd hate yourself too. It’s all smoke and mirrors. Oh, and my team-mate is frankly perfection, a genetic slate, factory made for manufacturing PR. And that’s why I looked into her….because well, I couldn’t keep myself.” The Luso-Scot leaned into the table, sizing up Kais, knowing that you didn’t get abs, muscles, complexion like that quite like that if you wanted to be in AG from birth.

“There’s a programme within the Republic of Korea that Zygon partnered on, that about thirty years ago, looked at making soldiers for their own army, given all the population decline, defending the newly integrated DPRK into it, you know, that thing. They scrapped it because of ethical concerns, because….well, you know, but I think they didn’t forget what was inside it. And at some point, someone I think sold the technology behind it to someone else. I wouldn’t be surprised if Amy’s parents, a rich family, were lucky enough to enjoy something a bit beyond gene editing, more like a designer child. Han is the same. Interestingly enough, they sent a shipment to Egypt. Sold it to an unknown buyer…which must have been incredibly expensive, and well, requires geneticists, and a serious commitment given you can’t just grow bodies in a bag like you would a koi fish. Mixed the phenotypes in from local genetic profiles, changed a few bits, but….that’s how far they go. That’s how I guess it confirmed…well, what I said for me were my feelings, because they got their perfection in time with Han. Guess it went full circle when it comes to you.” Cassie looked back, barbing back hard at Kais, her opinion unchanged. If anything, she’d almost felt like she saw confirmation from that.
Why was it she wanted him to know? She wasn’t sure herself, but perhaps almost as if to get it out of her system, because there wasn’t a soul she could tell.

“So anything is possible, Kais. What they did to Amy last year, nobody knows. But if they’re willing to do that, then what did you think they did to their star pilot that put a lot of executives into an incredibly successful position? They’ll push like anyone does, but maybe Amy’s got a little bit more.” Cassie asked back, knowing it wasn’t answering his question, but no doubt, would present why she had that slight undertone.

Kais was taken aback. He stayed silent for a while. The amount of information she was willing to give was surprising, it must have been weighing on her. Did she expect this information to get out somehow? Was it bait, given how she looked at him? Who knew, but it would definitely clear up a few things. The strange feeling he got around her. And… Shaqiq, she called him. “No…” He shook his head. “That’s not true. That’s impossible.”

Cassie’s eyes perked up, knowing she had gotten right back under his skin.
“Maybe it isn’t. But up until now, it had me thinking…..not exactly hard to draw the lines out, is it? Around the paddock, it’s not exactly small news that Amy’s got a bit more under her skin. Same as Layla has through picking herself apart. And now, I noticed….same as you. Look at the size of you. You’re bigger than a rugby player. It isn’t surprising.” Cassie flatly noted, finishing the brew in its entirety.

“Anyway, what are you trying to figure out? You’re maybe an ex-subject of that, and now you’re basically the second biggest face of the Arabic Union to the wider world, shy of Bionic Layla. Locked in a title fight with the big Silver Apex and Southern Cross, so you want me to tell you how to get under Peter Thatcher’s skin? Is it that?” Cassie replied, sighing as she finished a Biscoff that was next to her cup, sat back in her chair, trying not to let him bear too much on her mind, looking at him deep in thought.

“I’m trying to work out that answer as well. Makes two of us.”

---

La Sauce Deux

After thirty chaos-filled minutes, the teams, through the magic of editing, were back again, this time with a plate of questionable looking poutine in front of them, on a sharer plate.

It frankly wrote itself this stuff, because when you had a loose bunch of pilots, and maybe Kais and Ava in that mix, it all ended up playing out in a predictable fashion.

"Bon appetit, both of you!" Aurora called to the pair that were on the couch, and with it, let them get a taste of something truly Canadian that had been bastardised in its own way.

---

Rain Dance

The rain was consistent, but gentler than the massive storm that had hit Montreal overnight, soaking the circuit and creating plumes of spray when AG ships rolled over them, but it made this feeling even more satisfying. Even more incredible, because in a shootout, one lap was all that mattered. Getting it right,

The circuit in the hands of Cassie was an absolute riot, the circuit highly modified from its original setting. With an extensive use of MAG-banked walls, handling was critical in the tighter bits, but stability had a role to play, while the wide open straights felt like a ship was pushed when on the casino straight and start-finish line, able to high scream up to top speed. In the rain, it was even more satisfying, because despite grip not being affected, it made visibility slightly challenging, and it became a game of the pilot mods coming into the fore, making the difference between the elite pilots and the good ones. That, and good fashioned pilot skill to use the LIDAR, RADAR and augmented system that could see through the pouring stuff, but more than anything, pure, total instinct and bravery. No safety rails, this was truly as close as it came to going blind and the ship's interaction came to everything in making it count.

Through Turns 1 and then Turn 2 of Virage, the ship screamed, Cassie smirking at the feeling of the handling, just coming to exactly where it needed to, turn 2's enormous bank being hit high and exited low to exert the force through the ship, feeling the magnets glue and then throw the ship out, like hitting a rail on a skateboard with significantly more wobble. This was more like it. Maybe it felt a little illicit, the chassis now tailored for circuits rather than street circuits, but here, it was exactly on the money. At 3 and 4, the ship wove, and at 6 the long turn had been turned into another banked section, making the change of direction violent but faster, spitting into 7's gentle bank that went over the St Lawrence River, before the next chicane at 8 and 9, requiring the ship to actually slow as the banking had been put up to avoid overruns and bunch up ships, but allowed for a fast exit. And then Turn 10. The famous Montreal hairpin had been modified with a crossover section, a massive super-structure mounted where it felt like a fast right turn, hitting a bank that turned hard left, the magnets pulling ships upside down right in front of spectators, over the circuit with a long gradient, holding upside down before coiling over and dropping ships back onto the straight, in which the Zygon-powered ship roared, ELS at full discharge, the whine screaming before the final test the circuit had. Turns 13 and 14 were untouched, and required a hard right and left pull of the ship through the yoke and mind, carrying as much speed as humanly possible because the circuit went all the way to a wall. No spectators were now here, because crashing was incredibly easy- you just had to carry too much speed at the exit of the chicane and you would be greeted by "The Wall of Champions"- so named because it was covered in paint, debris marks and racing drivers and pilots who were on flying laps, and binned it at the very last second. Not Cassie, though, she carried on and the ship's handling with a snap in her mind allowed her to weave just within the holographic track markers without so much as even contacting, blasting it down the main straight with everything else she had left. It felt like sprinting for the line, every part of her willing the ship forward.
"P1, Cassie, damn that was incredible!" The voice of her race engineer

And exhaling hard, she brought it around, watching the deltas over other ships on their one and only out lap give it a go. Cassie's time didn't change. Han posted a good one, but her own stayed top of the leaderboard.

Was it broken?

But in the pits, pulling in, the rain intensifying if anything, Cassie popped the canopy and heard the roar of the team, and her radio chirp.

"Cassie, that is one two, one two! What a lap, outstanding work from you and Han today, let's go!" Cassie heard over the comms, not from her usual, but Jinwoo, the team principal.

This whole thing was looking pretty insane, as she barely could find the mind to react, clambering out of the harness and down the steps, leaping into a soaking wet group of crew, cheering.
"Let's f**cking go!" Cassie yelled, leaping forward into a crowd of the team, who promptly posed for a picture with the still helmet-wearing Cassie Neves, polesitter at Canada. And Han had come into second too, making this a hell of a display from Zygon. Doubts would linger about just how on earth that chassis was legal here, but it had clearly punched through and made short work on track here today. And Cassie was loving all of this, taking her helmet off, getting under cover, and escaping the incoming media, a beam back on her face.

This was what everything she had been working towards had finally yielded, and it felt like a vindication. A chance to get one back at Valkyrie, even after forgiving Dorian, just to make a dent back at them.

---

The End Of The Contender

Sighing, Jamie sat looking at the analytics, as Peter shook his head. It was a clear incitement. He walked on past and patted him on the shoulder, as the team seemed to leave him and he was left to his own, this bit of the debrief over inside the pit box, in front of all the smart systems and holographic screens the team had to bear. Only Cal was left.

"Chin up, mate. They kept you to Canada. That was a promise he made." Callum noted, taking a seat on a plastic chair next to him, Jamie with face in hands, trying to keep his mind at bay with what was going on in there. Almost a stream of tears seemed to pour,

"I know, but.....yeah, this hurts. It's difficult...getting made to look like this. Fuck man, how the hell could I have done better! I mean, it's....it's not exactly like we can put what's in her head into mine." He almost harped out, feeling completely dejected, broken by this one. He knew it wouldn't last, but ninth? Ninth at his home circuit, in the best ship on the grid? It felt like an embarrassment, like he was in a gully, a ditch, a feeling of his own misery.

Nothing could fill his mind more. No amount of sports psychology, no amount of personal training, wellbeing, just about anything. High level sport was competitive, to the nth degree. And yet no matter what he had given, he felt like this hadn't been it. Silver Apex hadn't greenlit his next phase of augments, the ones they were willing to spend a fortune on, given the results just hadn't come through. And that was it. End of the road after this race.

His agent had told him the optics were bad, but a blind pilot could even see it wasn't exactly looking good. And even in spite of a shining career at Nordic Call the year prior, surprising critics, this had been the most significant setback of his entire career. The kind that right now, he was struggling to see if he could get past. It felt horrid, tense inside of him, knowing that nobody here had his back. Peter had given up races ago, hoping for the right setup, the right configuration of his mind to click. But nothing. Not even Amy offered. She'd ghosted him, always off on her own tours, own setups, and being fiercely protective, held back from helping.

So Callum considered his response, passing across a water bottle to him, nodding in agreement. He'd be moving onto another pilot soon. Another that would take a swing at the other half of the garage. And any chance of saving Silver Apex's title fight against not just Southern Cross at this rate, but even Al-Saqr.
"It happens, calm down mate and let's not go that far. This is a difficult seat to fill. Best you can do is go out and be remembered at your home GP. They're paying for the rest of the year, and your augments will get support for the next five. We've talked this through, that's pretty decent as offers go, and another team will want to take a punt on you when they know the ship's this difficult to tame. Half a bad year isn't going to destroy five years of good racing." Callum knew it wouldn't be much, as Jamie wiped the tears, sighing hard, leaning back.

"And I'd trade it all for a seat. I don't get it man....I mean what chance have I got. It's....fuck, sorry." Jamie uttered as Callum wrapped an arm around him, unable to find the words, Jamie near unconsolable.
"You'll be alright. We had a few good races here and there, let's forget the bad ones and let's make this one good. Come on, Jamie, let's have one last run at it tomorrow, after that, I'm sure you'll find something. There's plenty of opportunities out there." Cal replied, letting his assigned pilot rest his head on his shoulder, knowing he'd done this years ago with another pilot, and the conversation never got easier.

But winning was a necessity. And those who didn't have what it took went out. Cal hoped that Peter had learned his lesson, but part of him knew he hadn't, because so long as Amy didn't complain about the ship, so long as she had whatever the fuck it was that sat in her head, she'd always deliver. Even if Zygon did well today, Amy's season last year had proved that even with the team having a blip, she still found a way to put it on pole when the other teams fought. If only Jamie had done that too, Cal thought to himself.

The Canadian stood up, and dusting himself off, took his water bottle and nodded, looking to the Silver Apex ship, looking back to Cal with a glimmer still in his eyes.
"I'm gonna head to the Doctors for a bit. Get the mods checked for tomorrow. I'm with you, Cal. Let's....well, do what we can. I really hope whoever gets that seat next is ready for this." Jamie collected himself in words, as Callum took both chairs aside, nodding back.

"Good shout. And I'm sure they will know what they're in for, you know how this business is. This isn't easy, Jamie. But they'll get my backing. All the way. Same we've had, yeah? And you don't forget, I'm a call away." Callum added, as Jamie nodded, a smile coming back.

As if despite all of this, all his friends that he'd lost, all the positions, all of it, for a moment, at least he'd have something positive to remember. Cal had drilled him, gotten frustrated, celebrated that hollow podium on Luna, and pushed Jamie through what was arguably the worst four months of his life. Nothing prepared anyone mentally for it. But he'd stayed by his side, all the time, and even despite how he felt, he knew he had that at least to look back on.

"Thanks, Cal. Appreciate it." Jamie's voice returned a little, as with it, he left the pits and headed to the trailer, for what was likely a final checkup before tomorrow morning, and the race to come.

---

Rivalry

Looking through the data in the Southern Cross pit box, Harrison sighed, shrugging.
"It's fucking like this again, biases are off. Honestly, what are we doing with the ship?" Harrison asked, Harriet pulling up the data feed on the holographic display, shrugging. The Kiwi was short, wearing a flowy tech-tee in the team's navy and yellow, the design for Canada covered in a semi-luminescent beaver pattern. Southern Cross were experts at the subtler bits of marketing, and always had an easter egg in design here or there as a nod to their local track.

"Just a bit too much aggression, Harrison. The ship wants to brake late, I know, but we are cooking far too hard into Turn 1 and 2, and that burnt us time. No matter what you did, Zygon and Amy are on fire, and then the others too figured out how to make a ship turn. They figured out our tricks. Only a matter of time, so the margins are tight. You know that. Can't just make it up on the rest of the lap, we just need consistency." Harriet replied, the blue and white haired Kiwi absolutely a punk- to a point where it almost was a comical sight, she seemed more on Nora's level yet had been with Harrison for years now. She was a prodigy, to say the least, an expert in her field in anti-gravity engines and increasingly, now as his race engineer, at dealing with the instabilities of the Southern Cross ship. While that had been the main focus Owen had wanted the team to work on, it was now at the detriment of many other things that just hadn't put them where Silver Cross were.

"Maybe. But the ship just doesn't have the same point as it did in Italy. Something's not right with our upgrades. I can't tell what though. Nora can't either, but she is pushing through it. We'll have the summer to sort it." Harrison sighed, a little annoyed at the situation- every race that went like this, he lost ground on Amy.....and Nora.

The Aussie sighed, noticing Nora had completed her debrief, looking back to Harriet.
"I feel like she's trying to prove me up or something. I get she wants this badly, and she's a fighter. But since Luna, she's changed. Like she doesn't want to talk, I think...she's struggling with it all, and doesn't want to show her feelings." Harrison was honest in how cutting he was, and well, with Harriet he could divulge that side. The Kiwi engineer nodded, diplomatic, but knowing she was always going to be a way of stopping any stupid shit coming out of his brain to management.

"I get it....but that did nearly kill her, Harrison. She's had a rough run of things, so she's probably putting all her energy into not thinking about it. And I know that management are trying to manage the media off her too. So she's just getting on with what she knows best. And what's good for us points wise, is good for the team. Don't worry about her. Even if you think your yardstick is measured against her, let's focus on getting back to wins, if she's there or not." Harriet replied, the Kiwi keeping her analytical streak going, the virtual overlay playing out of the lap, Harrison looking through at not just hers, but Amy's, and Cassie's.

"Cassie finally got a ship that finally plays ball. Where the hell did that come from." Harrison muttered in distracted notice, as he looked back, taking his coffee back into hand, sipping down a bit more.
"That she has. I guess I'm frustrated. I tried giving Amy a run to the line last year, and didn't make it work. It feels like we'll get the constructors, but I guess I want to get that top step back again. Especially if the rumours are true and Jamie's getting booted out. We might get ourselves pushed back, so anything she can do, I want to know." The Australian added, as Harriet stood up, on her own prosthetics, walking over to the ship, realising she'd have to explain this differently than she had before.

"So, up here, you know how you yank on the airbrake with your neural link? Pull the ship into the final chicane?" Harriet started, letting it play out.

"Yeah, I get it, I snap it to then slam throttle on again. She doesn't." Harrison had spotted it, but not the same way his race engineer had, coming back to the hologram on the floor tracking ships, the circuit and the deltas via the quantum-powered analytics software the tea used.

"Nora's basically just letting off throttle and forcing the nose to dip, then applying countersteer and pushing through with the ship set at total loose. Even Amy would consider that insane, Nora's using lift-off oversteer, but more than that, she's not even hitting the brakes. Analysts are going to think they know what they're talking about, just say it's a style choice because our ship still has issues on stability. Carrera do it a lot, after all. But it's not that. She is thinking that move through, every time she does it, in her neural link, it's like she is pressing her face into the floor and then peeling off it, she's basically riding through the forces and carrying the speed out when she exits to throw the ship where the AG generator is and sucker it tighter without burning speed. It's only possible because whatever it is she has in her racing past, she knows how to tame a ship that wants to throw her around and she's fighting back." Harriet started, letting it play out from her feed on the projected floor, the four projection points of the hologram showing it up. Harriet cut to him, looking across.

"She doesn't think like me or you, and that is why Amy's even looking back. And I know you're aggressive, half the reason this ship was such a wild bastard is because you didn't care so long as it got you into corners deeper. Only reason she didn't get Paul is because that Valkyrie ship sticks through Sector 2 and Zygon are running something fucking illegal in my opinion with that chassis, but in those corners, I think something clicked. Like the augments just gave her the confidence to do something else. Maybe she's more comfortable not being in her skin than she is in it." Harriet noted, as Harrison chuckled, finishing his coffee, looking outside at the rainy pit, and back at Harriet.

"You think she's taking it personally?" He asked, as Harriet put hand to chin, thinking sarcastically for a moment before pointing a finger.
"Best sportspeople do. They get told they're falling off. They decide to fight back. They thought Nora was out, and yet..."
"Here she is."
"Here she is. When the fuck's your comeback?" Harriet poked, as Harrison chuckled, Harriet shutting the hologram down, sitting back down and going through the remaining systems, shutting them off.

"When I get a race engineer that tells me not to brake going into chicanes so I can find a few tenths and try not to paste the ship into the Wall of Champions." Harrison bit back, as Harriet giggled, knowing she could throw this level of crap at him, and he'd always be back.
"Hey, your call Harrison. Don't go writing off ships now. There's already one silly bastard who is getting fired this weekend. And who the fuck's stupid enough to come here?" Harriet asked, Harrison chuckling, cleaning up his own gear, shrugging.

"Someone who thought that the Outback didn't have enough shit weather. I mean, look at it, it's hurling cats and dogs!" Harrison pointed the rain out, as Harriet joined him in looking out at that rain, looking up to the Southern Cross talisman.

"Yeah. Well, we'll get them tomorrow. Team's grabbing Poutine in town. Unless you're not embarrassed about what we traded with MMR..."

"Look, they went overkill on that, and we made a really good one. Even though Nora insisted on sweet potato fries because she's become more Polynesian than me. Well, they put pineapple in it. Are they actually high? I mean, I like Hawaiian but..."

"Jesus, that's gross, Harrison, all this time we worked together and you like Hawaiian pizza? I am going to have to reconsider all the shit we've said...that's..."

"A taste? Come on. You copied Jen Lowry's hair implants last year?" Harrison bit back, as Harriet took no shit, sarcasm flowing back.

"I still think she copied me. She saw it, and bam. Can't a lady get the chance to fly her flag?" Harriet noted, as Harrison shrugged, not going as far as that himself, even with his biolumiecent tattoos.

"It's nearly the fackin' same as ours...."

"That's true! You spending time with TetraColour?" Harriet asked, as she finished packing away her bits, getting her day bag ready with her technical kit, her tablet and her other bits and pieces.

"The big paint firm? They were talking about doing stuff with Carrera and Beatrix, but somehow they went with us. Not quite sure, but then again, they probably want to harp on about how their new range of house paints have thermal magic in them and that's somehow sustainable. I mean....it is? Ish? But I'm not totally keen." Harrison's skepticism came in, as Harriet shrugged, glad she didn't have that issue.

"What it is, keeps us all gainfully employed. And you have to admit, the livery looks absolutely sick for Australia because of them. Their logo just fits. You know, that big isohedron thing...." Harriet was a racing nerd deep down, and well, Tetra's logo was a cool one to get. The half Malay, half Indian paint company had come to the fore through older sponsorships back in the day with Zygon, but now, were one of the bigger ones on the Southern Apex ship.
"Fair dinkum, it's not bad. But anyway. Shall we get going?"

---

Delta Hyper: Canada Commentary

Back inside the studio, the last interviews were taking place on the evening before the crews all went home for rest, and it followed after the teams had debriefed and gone through qualifying. While the standard questions had been asked, the more traditional Delta Hyper format was followed again.

"Kais, how would you say you've found your new found challenge at the top of the table, and how are you feeling about taking on Southern Cross?

"Bea, how are you feeling about the rumours that Jen is being considered by other teams? Do you feel she deserves it after a long stint in Fitzroy, or do you think she could wait out to see what is coming in Fitzroy's new future?

"Paul, how are you feeling about the recent string of successful qualifying stints? You seem to be able extract a few more tenths in the ship over the last few races compared to Dorian, what do you think it is you're finding with the ship this year, or are the team tailoring it more to your liking more than Dorian's feedback?

Soundtrack: The Score - Unstoppable

Alexander was in for a long day. He was in the Valkyrie paddock for the practice runs for the Team Valkyrie Junior League Pilots, Scarlett Collins and Anna Hausmann and his Formula AG pilots, Paul Mulder and Dorian Hornfleur. Alexander had met with their Zap Sports Drink representative about extending and expanding their Team Sponsorship to include their Junior Academy pilots. Alexander had introduced Scarlett and Anna to the representative. Alexander could tell that both pilots were nervous. Scarlett did alright but Anna was going to need some training and coaching. She was so nervous she babbled and sounded like a squirrel hyped up on caffeine. The Zap Sports Drink representative was interested in the idea but was not sold on the amount that Alexander was requesting to put their name on the junior team. It was a starting point. Alexander expected that he would probably have to work harder and find more sponsors to come near the funding the major league team received. He wanted to make things easier for their Junior League Pilots and help them get more training and support. It made sense to start with existing sponsors who were already working with the team. The team already had the logos and a relationship with them.

Alexander stayed in the paddock and paid special attention to Scarlett and Anna’s practice laps. Scarlett was currently ranked 5th in the Junior League while Anna was in 10th. Alexander hoped to help coach both women and help them improve their skills. Alexander had reviewed the reports by the team trainers, their ship data, and video of their races so far this season. He carefully reviewed all their data to find key skills they could work on that would help propel their careers forward. He had a plan in place to teach them the marketing, public relations, and business side of formula antigravity racing. As a former pilot, he was well qualified to identify where their skills were lacking on the track. His focus had been on long term planning and had to be on Paul and Dorian.

The long term health and sustainability of the team required him to look closer at the junior league academy pilots as well. Alexander had reviewed the program and found it lacking. Currently potential junior academy pilots applied for a spot in the program and only ten were chosen to attend a four week Team Valkyrie summer boot camp. Those ten pilots competed all the way through boot camp with two winners receiving support for that year of competition in the junior league representing Team Valkyrie. Junior Pilots were given older equipment, some basic support with travel and lodgings, and a much smaller support team. The junior pilots shared one dedicated engineer and one mechanic. When the ships were at headquarters, the entire engineering and mechanic team would support them but the priority was always on the primary team pilots. There was no push to update the older machines for the junior league. They also didn’t currently support any kind of pilot modifications for the junior team. Often junior pilots used their endorsements to purchase and pay for treatments and augmentations. Racing was an expensive sport and most candidates came from wealthy families that could afford to help their pilots pay for augmentations and the things that the team didn’t support. That unfortunately often left talented pilots such as Scarlett Collins who came from humble means without a way to obtain those augmentations that allowed a pilot to up their game into the top tier. Scarlett had lucked into a nonprofit endorsement with the Mulder Foundation that had helped her with a few basic pilot augmentations after she was picked up by Team Valkyrie’s junior league.

Team Valkyrie’s Junior League Academy was good and known for producing future champions and good pilots. It was one of the academy’s that everyone fought to get into. The boot camp training was extremely competitive but the potential pilots chosen for the summer boot camp program almost always excelled after attending, if the boot camp doesn’t break them. The boot camp was nonstop action where the pilots lived at headquarters for 4 weeks and were pushed to their mental and physical limits. The pilots went through classes on theory, tactics, and technology. They had daily physical training, simulator training, and track time. There were no days off. The pilots were scored on physical fitness, mental fitness, performance, and piloting skill.

Alexander knew that most of the team had their hands full with the primary pilots. He was asking them to take on more work temporarily while he found the funding to make the permanent changes to the program that he wanted to see. He wanted them to have more dedicated support team members including a physical trainer or physical therapist that could travel to them and a skilled experienced mentor and teacher to lead the academy. Alexander was going to look for a retired pilot that came from Valkyrie’s Academy or drove for them that would be interested in mentoring and teaching younger pilots. He would begin looking for those who would be interested in the position and vetting them for compatibility. He didn’t want to hire someone who was a great pilot but that sucked at teaching and mentoring. It would require the right personality. He was tempted to ask Florence if she might be interested in the position. He expected that there would be some push back in the beginning but that the team would trust him and work with him till funding and hiring was complete.

Alexander felt this would be an excellent use of interns. Yes, interns had to be supervised but it would be easy to have the interns do the bulk of the work and then have one of the full time team members review it and provide guidance to them. The interns would then be more able to take some of the grunt work off the full time team members’ hands freeing them up to do so. It would also bring more future talent to the team in terms of promising interns in marketing, public relations, physical trainers, nutritionists, physical therapists, medical interns, engineers, and mechanics. He knew he could make this work but it would take a lot of extra work on his part to get it up and moving and pay for the extra people. Interns typically worked cheaper than a full time professional but a paid internship with a letter of recommendation from the team could give them the break they wanted into their dream job. They might discover some amazing talent to bring on board and add to their team as well.

Alexander had managed to get a large endorsement commitment from I Can’t Believe It’s Not Meat for the junior league team. They jumped at the chance to endorse the Junior Academy as well. Alexander was working with a high tech sportswear company called Hood Tech Sportswear that had come to him about sponsoring this year’s Summer Academy Boot Camp. Alexander had been approached by a new sports supplements company that was a start up, Rocket Sports Nutrition. They wanted to sponsor the main team but Alexander was not sure it was a good fit for the main team. The company was just starting out and very successful but he was not ready to tie the Team’s name to the major league team. He compromised and suggested a one year trial as a sponsor for the Junior League Team and they jumped at the chance. Alexander felt that they were a better fit there for now. His plans for the Junior League team were coming together.

He sipped on his third cup of coffee as he gave up trying to peer through the rain to watch the junior pilots on their practice laps. They were slated to run through this morning with the primary antigravity league doing their practice laps this afternoon. Alexander managed to carve out a few hours of his time to meet with the new Junior League Sponsors, introduce them to the junior league pilots and set up some endorsement filming with them for this afternoon. He was grateful that Katherina had loaned a few members of the marketing team to oversee that project. He had smiled when Katherine told him they had been excited to be tapped for the project.

He leaned over the junior team engineer’s shoulder to watch their screen as Scarlett put her ship through its paces. He watched the monitor since he couldn’t see the ship but as a blur in the rain. He followed the action on the cameras around the track and reviewed the data stream as the engineer watched in real time coming from the ship.

Scarlett had some raw talent but she needed more track experience. She was making some very rookie mistakes. Mistakes that only experience taught you from racing on different types of tracks in different types of weather. She struggled in the rain. She was struggling to trust her ship’s optics and equipment and was slower and more cautious because of it. She was slowing too much in the corners and hairpin turns and it was costing her speed and time to regain that speed. Anna was even worse. Anna lacked Scarlett’s focus and was failing to commit to the speed and racing lines in the corner. She backed off every time and Alexander worried that it would be worse if there was another pilot challenging her space. It was subtle and not very obvious but someone who had been racing would spot it. He didn’t want to see her panic and crash because she wasn’t used to trusting her instruments as much. She challenged and defended great in the straight ways but Alexander saw the pattern in the tighter corners. Here in Montreal it was very evident at the Wall of Champions hairpin curve.

The mistakes the pilots were making were common ones that experience would solve as they either got it as their confidence grew or they would never get past this point. Some pilots never managed to push past that final commitment barrier that took them from potential to amazing and top tier talent. The Junior League is where the cream of the crop rose to the top and got the experience to leap this final hurdle. It was where pilots learned to be able to handle the ludicrous speeds and make the daring overtakes that kept fans on the edge of their seats. It was where future champions demonstrated the level necessary to make it in the major league.

He gave both pilots his feedback and told them to review the curves and their choices through the recorded video. He told them to review and practice the racing line they wanted. He told them they needed to spend more time practicing on utilizing their HUD and the ship’s instruments for navigation when they needed to pilot in bad weather conditions. They had to learn to trust their instruments. He told Anna to commit, to pick a racing line and stick it. He told Scarlett to work on her timing. She was committing but a little too late which was costing her like a half second which could let off the throttle and slow a little and then hit it again. For Scarlett it was a timing issue. Alexander left them with his advice as he went on to check on his primary league pilots and check in with other sponsors.

---

DELTΔ HYPER

Episode Nine: The Wall of Champions
La Sauce

---

Paul had taken off the lacy white apron that the producers had pranked him with. He had gone along with it and hoped he pulled off cool and collected instead of the butt of the joke by owning it. Dorian had flat out refused and had been grumpy and indignant since he saw the food. He had no idea that his teammate was such a food snob but then the chef that made most of their meals at headquarters was a French master chef. Paul had to say that they ate well even with their diets being very restricted and regimented to give them the best nutrition. That included having food prepared to get the most out of the nutrition it provided. They had the best of both worlds with great tasting and nutritious food. Paul didn’t bother to hide his amusement over Dorian’s over the top reaction to the poutine challenge. Paul had enjoyed cooking. He had a great time and Dorian’s antics were amusing to him since his reputation was that of being a gentleman.

Paul glanced over at his teammate and noted he had taken the apron off. Dorian stood with his arms crossed and still looked grumpy.

Aurora brought them over to a table set with a white table cloth. On it was a plate of poutine that was supposedly cooked by the Carrera Condor team of Bea and Ava. The plate of poutine had golden-brown fries topped with garlicky beef stock gravy, toasted cheese and diced stir fried sausage and a sprinkling of spring onions.

Aurora waved to the plate of poutine. “Bon Appetit Paul and Dorian. You get to try the poutine created by Ava and Bea of Team Carrera Condor. Please give their poutine a try and let us know how they did.”

Dorian looked horrified and disgusted. He looked down at the plate on the table and back up to Aurora shaking his head in horror. “Non! Les saints m'aident!” Dorian picked up the fork like it was a spider going to bite him. He took a deep breath and stabbed one piece of potato. He closed his eyes and wrinkled his nose as took the smallest nibble. He chewed and acted like he was dying. He swallowed and grabbed a glass of water. He had tears in his eyes as he walked away mumbling under his breath in French about the fine print in contracts and the sanctity of French cuisine. Paul watched his teammate with amusement and then concern. He hoped he would be okay. He had never seen this side of him before.

Aurora looked at Paul expectantly. He gave her an amused grin.

Paul: “He’s sensitive. He is very serious about his food. I am game.”

He took a big forkful of fries, steak and gravy. He made sure to get a little bit of everything in the bite. He put it in his mouth and began to chew. It was not bad. His eyes watered a little at the amount of garlic in the dish. He picked up the glass of water next to the plate and took a drink. Sadly the overwhelming taste of garlic didn’t go away.

Paul: “It was not bad. Just a little overwhelming with the garlic. I bet the extra garlic was Ava’s idea huh? I don’t mind spice but holy garlic Batman! Hey Bea! I guess this proves I am not a vampire. I didn’t go up in flames! I passed the test! The spring onions were a nice finish.”

He laughed as he wiped his tearing eyes once more. His sinuses were clearing up nicely. He gave a thumbs up to the camera with a cheeky grin.

---

---

Dorian’s qualifying run started out great. He had a great start. He was feeling it. The ship was responding well. The new neural link was faster than his old one. He was not adjusting to his as fast as Paul did. He loved the speed and responsiveness though. It gave him a fresh edge. He was flying and nailing the turns, laying down what felt like a perfect lap. Then he over steered into a hairpin turn. He had then over corrected as he got the ship back on the track. It cost him time as he had to slow significantly to get the situation under control. He had almost binned the ship into the wall. Dorian cursed in fluid French as he got back on the track and completed his qualifying lap. He knew that mistake cost him dearly. The only thing he could do was make it up during the race. He had the skills. He had the right ship for overtaking here in Montreal. He just needed to focus and trust his new interface instead of questioning what it was telling him. It was a rookie mistake.

---

Paul breathed out as the countdown to start happened. He was off with a great start. He was loving his new neural interface. He felt like he was one with the ship. Between the new interface and the cognitive training that they had him working on, he was able to use it more effectively. He felt like the ship was more responsive. It responded to his demands faster. With the neural interface support, the rain was a nuisance but he was able to utilize the ship’s cameras, sensors, radar, and lidar to see just fine. The new interface made racing in the rain easier than the last time Paul had to do it. He felt as if it was seeing more and further this time. He was able to keep up with all the data coming in from the sensors this time and his eyes didn’t matter as much. The ship left huge rooster trails of water in his wake as the ship seemed to pierce the rain causing eddies in the ship’s wake.

Paul leaned into the ship’s systems to make sure he put the ship where he wanted it to go. He didn’t let the rain cost him any speed. He chose his racing line and pushed the ship. He feathered the throttle letting off the speed to skate around the corners without hitting the air brakes unless he had to. He loved the higher walls which allowed him to use the antigravity to slingshot the ship around the hairpin taking the ship into a barrel roll to use the speed to sling the ship around the corner. He laughed and let out a squeal of delight as adrenaline and the ship gave him the best roller coaster experience ever. Paul shot over the finish line and almost kept going. He was in a zen-like space when Carmella’s happy and excited voice broke the spell with her excitement.

Carmella: “Congratulations Paul, that was P4 and a new personal best for you in the rain.”

Paul responded as he pulled the ship into the paddock and parked it.

Paul: “Thanks Carmella. Now if I can only hang onto it. We will see after everyone is done.”

Paul unplugged from the ship after shutting it down. He popped the canopy and waited for the stairs to be pushed over before he climbed down. He smiled as he was surrounded by a happy and excited crew.

Paul looked over the mechanics, engineers, and everyone else that helped to put him in the ship. Paul looked out over them from the top step. Paul gave them an excited and grateful smile.

Paul: “Thanks everyone. I wouldn’t be here today without your help. I appreciate you all getting the ship rebuilt in time for Montreal. Thanks for all your hard work. This one's for you!”

They cheered him and pandemonium reigned momentarily in the paddock. He laughed and shook his head as he finished climbing down the stairs. He shook hands and greeted the team that allowed him to be successful on the track. They were professionals though and quickly went back to doing what they did. He walked off towards the pilot’s area with a smile. He had enough time for a quick shower and change before he had to face the press.

---

DELTΔ HYPER

Canada Commentary

Paul had taken a quick shower and changed before facing the press pack and his mandatory interview with Delta Hyper. Paul was wearing shorts in a special tech material that wicked away heat and moisture. The fabrics were designed for the heat. He was also in a team racing polo in the same material that had tech that created the team symbol and flashed various sponsor logos on it.

Aurora: "Paul, how are you feeling about the recent string of successful qualifying stints? You seem to be able to extract a few more tenths in the ship over the last few races compared to Dorian, what do you think it is you're finding with the ship this year, or are the team tailoring it more to your liking more than Dorian's feedback?"

Paul threw back his head and laughed but then looked contemplative. He shrugged since it was part of Alexander’s strategy but he didn’t think it was necessarily a big secret. He looked at ease and gave Aurora a mischievous smile as he answered the question.

Paul: “Well Aurora, it sounds as if you have not heard or figured out Alexander Knight’s strategy for the team this year. Knight is having the engineers tune our ship’s to the individual pilot and their racing style. The engineers and mechanics do their best to make the changes we request and Knight is doing his best to support our requests. I have to give our new head engineer, Cavan Mitchell credit for managing to get those changes done. My thanks to him and the team for getting my ship rebuilt and ready for racing here in Montreal. With that said, some of those requests are easier than others to implement. As to why I have been performing better than Dorian, I can’t say. I wouldn’t want to presume to answer that for him. My guess would be that I am younger and more flexible and adjust to the changes faster than Dorian. Or that I can explain what changes I want to the engineers in a way they understand better. Which would result in my ship getting dialed in faster resulting in more practice time. I would argue we get equal attention and support from Alexander and the team.”

Paul shrugged as he honestly didn’t know why he would be performing better than Dorian. It was not his job to answer for his teammate but he certainly wasn’t stupid enough to throw his teammate under the bus or give the screamsheets any kind of fodder. They would try to make Dorian his primary rival and blow it up into a story where he hated the man. Simply put he didn’t. Paul felt Dorian was responsible for his own performance. He had not seen any bad or sloppy habits he had that affected his performance. Dorian was still performing very consistently.

---

Hello race fans! I promised you details on the Mulder Foundation Gala. It will be held on Friday July 26th in Brussels at the Art and History Museum in Belgium. The gala will be attended by myself and fellow rookie pilots, Hyeon-Ae Han, Kais Zenix, and Bea Ward. The formal catered event will include a silent auction. My fellow rookie pilots have donated some time and talent to include things in the silent auction. It will be a great evening of food, dancing, and entertainment. All for a great cause, to help underprivileged children in Europe chase their dreams of being an athlete or an artist. You can help support the work the Mulder Foundation does by purchasing a limited edition t-shirt with Bea Ward’s art on it, buying a ticket to attend the event, bidding on the silent auction items, or donating directly. Check out the amazing things lined up for auction. I hope to see you there!

[Link to the Mulder Foundation Website which has a special event page set up for the event. There are pictures of all the silent auction items and descriptions. There is a video of Kais Zenix painting the motorcycle he donated with a group of young excited children. The finished motorcycle is a colorful collage and mix of talents finished with Kais Zenix’s signature in paint on the tank. There is a picture of Kais posing with the bike looking serious with his arms crossed next to it. There is a mix of signed items from team Zygon by Hyeon-Ae, there is a picture of the artwork Bea created for auction. There is a picture of the t-shirts being produced for sale with Bea’s artwork on it and a link to order one. Paul had donated one of his helmet’s for the season that he had signed with documentation of authenticity and accompanying information on the race and a picture of him wearing it. He had also donated a private trip around the race track in one of the team’s dual seat ship’s as a VIP experience. There are other things that have been donated for the auction that include other pieces of art by famous artists, framed photographs from photographers, cruises, a weekend stay in a famous actress’ mountain cabin, a meet and greet with a few different famous singers, tickets to the Russian Ballet, the Vienna PhilHarmonic Orchestra, and a few different musicals around Europe. Most of the silent auction items were very high end collectibles, experiences, tickets, and art. There were some more affordable items. Smaller items had been bundled together into gift baskets. There was something for everyone to bid on in a variety of price ranges. Tickets to attend the gala were limited to 500 and $500 Euro each.]

Paul reviewed his social media post and smiled. He just knew it was going to be a success. The Mulder Foundation had appreciated his additional support in the planning. It was amazing how many businesses were willing to donate their services to charity when asked by a celebrity. Paul had no trouble doing the asking. It was for his mother after all. Paul had managed to get the art museum to host the event, he had put up the event insurance. The caters, decor, event staff, and party supplies had all been donated. Paul had even gotten some advertising by doing some personal recording at local news stations talking about the event.

---

OfficeDrone#12: Wow! Thos tickets are pricey.
SuperfanAGR54: Yikes out of my price range. Nice that there are low income options to support too. I ordered my t-shirt!
DantheMan: Well not my bag of tea. No monkey suits for me please.
BatDave: Batman sends his approval.
Superfan2075: I wish he put as much effort into his racing.
DadBod89: It is nice to see him doing something for other people.
Hater101: That thing will only be attended by the wealthy. It is a way to look for new sponsors and build his personal brand. Hard pass.
Papabear34: Nice to see a young man give back.
Nana2050: I have bought my ticket!
GeorgeFly: Hmm I want to bid on some of the signed stuff. No idea if I will win though. That bike is sweet!
ValkyrieFan56: Oh the silent auction list is amazing! Too bad most of it is out of my price range.
Weedhead81: Hey Paul I don’t see any primo weed on the auction list. Dude what gives?
SexyM@m@5: I wonder if Dorian will be there?
Paulmulder4eva: I bought my shirt Paul! I would be happy to model it for you!
Britball12: Meh. I am with @DanTheMan. It is not my bag of tea. A night in a tuxedo or suit. That sounds more like torture.
!YouSlow!: Now if you were having this outside at a park with grilling at the race track and free rides, I would be there. This is not the typical race fan scene.
Bertha: No wonder he has been doing poorly. He has been spending all his time on this instead of practicing.

DELTΔ HYPER

Episode Nine: The Wall of Champions

---

The plate of poutine sat in front of the Carrera Condor pair. ”Oh!” Ava perked up, looking from the paddock roof toward Turn One where one of the support series’ racers had just passed through, making Bea look as well.
”What?”
”You missed it. Someone nearly dropped it into turn one.”
The camera could see that was a lie. It could also see Ava swapping the water glasses - her sparkling water for Bea’s plain - while the Brit was distracted, hoping the Al-Saqr pair answered her prayers. Then she got a little worried when Bea stabbed the pile of fries with her fork like she was putting the sword into the stone, ending up with a sizable bundle of them with a heavy gravy covering.
“I wouldn’t want to fall into your grasp if you were a cannibal.” Aurora noted drily.
”Why?”
”Because you’d start chewing before she stopped breathing.” Ava explained, looking at the camera and pointing at Bea, ”She overslept and missed breakfast again.”
”What do you mean ‘again,’ it only happened once before.”
”That’s exactly what ‘again’ means.” Ava replied flatly without a millisecond’s pause.
”You talk too much.” Be grinned as she moved Ava’s hand holding the fork closer to her mouth as if she could silence her with it.

---

”Projected P10. Feedback on the lap?”
”That was one of the qualifying sessions ever.” Bea verbally shrugged. The straights and faster corners were working out well, making up time for the chicanes where the ship was bouncing all over like a mountain goat on meth and turn six, where Bea needed to be extremely persuasive to convince the ship it wasn’t a 45 degree corner and they do, in fact, need to turn the other 45 degrees as well. Ava fared worse, stringing together a comparable lap with wiser use of ELS only to drift wide in the last corner and tap the Wall of Champions.
”About what we expected from the sim runs. Still ploughing hard, but Turns 2 and 10 are manageable due to the banking. Where did we lose to Max?”
”Turns three, four, thirteen and fourteen.” Alistair read out the two chicanes.
”Stability?”
”Yes.”
”Figures.”
”It’s the rapid direction change.”
”I know, the AG unit can’t keep up and it unsettles the ship.”
”Upgrades are coming over summer. Just a bit more patience.”
”You do realize who you’re asking for patience, right?”
”Yes. I need a raise.”

---

DELTΔ HYPER

Episode Nine: The Wall of Champions

---

”Bea, how are you feeling about the rumours that Jen is being considered by other teams? Do you feel she deserves it after a long stint in Fitzroy, or do you think she could wait out to see what is coming in Fitzroy's new future?”

”She’s definitely earned some recognition. As to what she could or should do you’ll have to ask her, why should my opinion matter?” Bea simply shrugged.

---

Sat 03/06 16:06 JEN [Batt: 21%]

> Hiya, when are you flying out to the factory?
> Monday morning, why?
> Would you have time to meet for lunch sometime this week? I’ve got something big on my mind I’d like to talk through.
> Throw enough shit at me and see what sticks? 😛
[“Jen” reacted with 😀]
> Eww!
> But sort of.
[You reacted with 😀]
> Thursday work for you?
> Not unless you consider a croissant at Heathrow breakfast.
> I thought you were leaving next Monday?
> For the factory, yes. I’m leaving for Pikes Peak on Thursday.
> Well, lead with that!
> You asked about the factory. I’m free Tuesday whole day and Wednesday until maybe 1600.
> Tuesday works actually. I’ve got the whole day off.
> Whole day you say?
> Yep.
> I’ve got an idea.
> [Image of the Vernal Gale docked in a marina in Hull]
> I’m in!
> Forecast looks favourable. At 12 on the dock?
> I’m there.
> What should I bring besides a swimsuit?
> Lunch?
[“Jen” reacted with 👍]
> Boat has two fridges so go nuts.
> You ever dived before?
> In a swimming pool as a kid. Why?
> Bring some climbing gear and send me measurements for a wetsuit.

> [A photo of sunrise behind the Rockies.]
> [A photo of the original 2018 VolksWagen I.D. R.]
> [A photo of Bea, Daniel Ogier and Max Wedgewood standing in front of Bea’s KrAZ 1055, arms around each others’ shoulders.]
> [A 360° panorama from the top of Pikes Peak.]
> [A drone’s view video of the hairpins near the top of Pikes Peak, a car too far away to be identified racing up the mountain.]
> I thought they installed guardrails?
> They were going to.
> Buuut?
> The fans nearly lynched them over it.
> Jesus Christ…
> It takes away from the track’s character.
> Your nickname really checks out, doesn’t it?
[You reacted with 👍]

> Idea for tomorrow: We don’t want Dorian right behind us. Truce to get a ship or two between us and the French charge? I think a candidate is right up the road.
[Seen]

---

Hockey Fight

---

Soundtrack: Zikali- Serious Stuff

With the sunshine out in Montreal, the heat was on, the mercury pushing to 37C, and making air cooling in the ships critical. Lined up, there was a palpitation, a feeling of everything this first half of the season, coming to a head. The lights turned red. And….

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

The race started with a bang. Amy did not waste time, quickly making mincemeat of Han within the first lap with a clean getaway, and then Cassie the lap after, the Zygon ships in qualifying trim not able to adapt to the bleaching sun of Montreal, but falling backwards. They were holding their own, but Amy was a different class when she wanted it. Further back, the grid got chaotic- positions changing frequently in the lap, ELS being used a lot more than was anticipated, and things getting chaotic in the midfield.

Paul and Nora had been battling but had gotten smart enough to realise that the Zygon ship, as balanced as it was, had weaknesses. Paul found openings on Han, then Cassie. Only Amy Stirling left, and his moves had made a room for Nora to follow him, and she was fighting hard with Paul, the speed and handling of the ship neutered by Paul’s absolutely world-class handling and reflexes, his new neural link unleashing a ship that was previously seen as glued to just be even better. Nora was on reflexes, but on the straights, closed him up, even in spite of her lesser ELS experience.

And whatever Paul was clearly on, that gap to Amy fell each lap, as the girl that normally carved out a lead was not able to make one anymore. And now, Amy’s usual gambit of ELS hadn’t worked, because two mistakes in Sector 1, and Paul was able to start leaching.
“Paul Mulder, on a track where his team-mate just can’t make it work today, is hunting down Amy Sterling, he is two-tenths up in the last sector, he is snatching ELS out of her, can Stirling hold on and shake him off?” Rory’s excitement was building.

“We’ll have to see, on the straights that Valkyrie ship just hasn’t got the muscle, but in the corners, whatever Paul is feeling, he seems to be finding something even Amy can’t today!” Rosie’s followed.

Paul was closing. One massive dump of ELS, Valkyrie’s ability to harvest energy particularly strong here, and lap by lap, he was smart enough to know how and when to leech Amy’s power. It was the only thing keeping her ahead.

And down the final straight, the white ship was getting tailed closer and closer by the one in grey and yellow.

“Mulder is holding back, he’s just waiting his turn, he knows this is a good points haul for Valkyrie, and Stirling must know it too, what is she going to do?”

“Well, she’ll be looking to reclaim that ELS back again, baiting him close, on that straight that is getting tighter and tighter…”

“They’re heading into the final chicane, and…..oh my word, she’s gone wide, and….oh no, oh my that is a huge crash! Big hit for Amy Stirling, that ship is out of the race, that is a rare mistake from the world champion!”

Disaster for Amy. It was a huge hit as she took the line too wide to throw Paul into a false sense of security to snatch back some power, the ship recoiling off and skidding barely to the side of Paul, slumped into the side wall and with her immediately pulling the cockpit open and clambering out. She was fine, externally, internally, she was fuming, the crash no doubt visceral from Paul’s point of view. She’d smacked the Wall of Champions hard, and left more than a dent in the wall.

A Virtual Safety Ship instantly came out. And once it was cleared, racing began again, yet it was messy given the differentials were tiny as they were going into it. So at Turn 1, making a stupid move, Harrison traded paint with Layla and Max in Turn One, the damage to all enough to hurt them all rather than make any meaningful difference, the three bickering so much it opened a door for Beatrix to make a move on Max and Layla. And amazingly, Layla’s ship, sloppier out of corners for some reason since the hit, and Max’s ship being down on power, was now getting passed by Jen Lowry, who was somehow making her ability to hurl herself up the grid known.

Yet all eyes were on Jamie Hart, who was trying to recover, now the only Silver Apex ship in the running, following Kais’s 6th place. And coming into Turn 13, Jamie tried to stab a late lunge where the Al-Saqr ship shook around on exit. It was a bad call.

“Oh my, Hart has misjudged that, what a hit! That’s them both out, Hart was just trying to go around the outside and misjudged that exit, but what was Zenix doing covering that aggressively? Surely the stewards will look at that!” Rory’s commentary was reactive, as the camera hadn’t been on him there and then, because that was an insane place to make a move.

Another Virtual Safety Ship. And no further action. Perhaps the racing gods decided to go easy on the Canadian’s final, woeful race with that lack of penalty, because he was sobbing when he clambered out, perhaps hoping Kais would come over and punch his head off his neck. But in time, he was back inside the safety zone. The entirety of Quebec exhaled a last, frustrated annoyance that their local hero had once again, bottled it.

Both ships were in bits, the crash nowhere near as big in kinetic energy as Amy’s but writing off both fully. That safety period ended, and Dorian’s race, already poor with him trying to climb the ranks, ended with him clattering into Ulrich Falkner, able to keep going but forced to retire the ship due to damage, an entire section of the side ripped apart and so painful in his neural link he had to simply sever it in the last sector of the circuit, and limp home like he had sprained an ankle. Ulrich realised the same when the ship’s shielding had decided to die, the electrical system forcing him to pull over and get to safety as it was now rendered unsafe. That all meant more carbon, metal and mess needed cleaning, with a short Virtual Safety Ship, that ended as fast as it was all swept out by the trackside drones.

It was getting tedious, because the amount of carbon on track was turning this into a farce, with how many pilots were losing their head in the Canadian sunshine. It had done a number and made the original grid extremely messy. ELS strategies were messed up, but that meant things shifted fast. Like an ice hockey fight, this had gotten messy, but no fan would say they weren’t enjoying how tight, close and competitive the grid was. This was sticky, in all the best ways.

When the yellows turned green, the order was rearranged again.

And ending, Jen pushed hard, knowing Harrison was down on energy from the impact, and she had a massive bank of ELS saved up. Lap after lap, her ship should have never been here, but she made it count in the straights, even if in the corners the ship felt like it had an anti-gravity generator that was soaked in butter.

And then she feinted, and with a final, massive dump of it, unleashed the ship on the final lap, pulling out an overtake and leaving no room for Harrison to respond, his ability to try and overtake not possible.
Beatrix fought with Harrison, unable to get past the wounded, yet extremely capable ship that Harrison piloted, but holding a respectable 7th place.

Paul Mulder, by contrast, had actually won a race any nobody had realised just how much of a lead he had built up over Nora right at the end- seamlessly finding his flow on the tight circuit and holding a late attack that Nora couldn’t complete right at the death. It was his first win, and Valkyrie, despite seeing Dorian retire, had claimed another big victory to add onto their tally post Monaco. This was one hell of a scene for them, as he took first, followed by Nora, Cassie in 3rd, then Han in 4th, Jen Lowry in 5th, Harrison in 6th, Bea in 7th, Layla in 8th, Max in 9th on home soil, and Ava in 10th.

There was no doubt as everyone exhaled, they’d watched one of the best races in modern AG sport, a future classic perhaps with the impact on the grid, but nobody had expected Paul Mulder to rope in Amy that fast and make her crack, and nobody at all anticipated Jenny Lowry.

But things were about to take an even bigger twist.

---

As the pilots all pulled in, scrutineering got to work.

And the shock was seismic. Cassie yelled at an official, as she was pulled aside, and a small legion of FIAR techs headed out. And with it, running 3D scanning and specialist tools, had a look underneath the Zygon ship.

And there it was. An illegal modulator and aero function connected to the anti-gravity unit, that made this chassis one of a kind. It had been a grip demon for a reason, but of course, was outside of the tight spec that FIAR ran. And it hadn’t been seen for this long, but the obvious qualifying result had tipped people off. Almost too good, and even despite losing positions in the race, Cassie watched in horror as the officials uttered the words.

Before even making it to the podium room, it was over. Zygon’s ships were disqualified with immediate effect. For ships before 3rd, that meant automatically, two places gained for the pilots behind the Zygon ships.

That meant only one thing.

To what was an absolute legion of screaming engineers, frankly carrying Jenny Lowry off her feet, her confusion evident as she looked across and realised what had happened.

“Jenny, you’re P3!”

This was a fever dream. Because for the first time in forever, the crowd had seen a true underdog, a story that almost couldn’t be written, be committed to ink. The team that nobody expected to win, had nothing of note, was about to disappear forever, had left one last mark in the sport. And with British flags waving, even the rest of the grid had to stop for a moment and just watch in pure awe at what was perhaps not an earned podium, but a deserved one for Jennifer Lowry. The last race of Fitzroy Orbital, their last podium, and perhaps, the last race their pilot would ever make there and then.

---

Canada: Cooldown and Podium

The cooldown room had possibly one of the weirder vibes of the season, as Jen looked across at Paul, with his first win in Formula AG, and Nora, who cooly enjoyed watching her fight with Amy, and forcing her to make an incredibly rare, if not unprecedented error through the Wall of Champions, creating the absolute glitterbomb of a crash. This was an enormous boon for her- a massive haul of points that closed the gap between her and Amy. And while bombastic, Nora seemed resolved, almost locked in, even in the cooldown room.

Jen however, was even more enthused, because it was her first time on a podium in a very, very long time, maybe since the Junior series. And in a ship that was on its final outing, before the sale of Fitzroy Orbital, she had given them the ultimate send off. Going from fifth place, to third, given the disqualification of both Han-Ae-Han and Cassie Neves had been instant. Perhaps lucky for them, it only extended to this race only despite its use in Silverstone. The part had to be removed, and well, the scandal and press would talk later. What had nearly given Zygon glory, had sent them crashing into the ground. And from the earth, Jen Lowry was here now, in what was a lot of history made.

“This is incredible. You guys are regulars, right? I mean, I got lucky but….wow! And to think that Bea hasn’t even got up here yet….oh she is gonna be so jealous!” Jen smirked, chuckling, as she watched her move on Harrison right in the last lap, grinning ear to ear.

“Nicely done, Paul! Well deserved win, it’s been a while coming! That fight with Amy looked fun….you two really tangled!” Jen chirped, the British pilot beaming at him, hugging him as he came through and took a look at his highlights. How strange it felt. Valkyrie had sent her an offer. He was a lovely guy, someone she almost fawned over a little, her head said Silver Apex yet her heart said Valkyrie. It seemed genuine from her, almost as if from a place of humility and a love of the sport had found its odd shining through into this position.

Yet she'd made her choice.

Jen Lowry smiled as she was the first to lead out when ushered, moving out to a sea of cheers, because everyone loved, adored an underdog. And in her black and white, with a red tinge of crimson, Jen took her hat off and put her hands wide, her eyes wild, her mind completely lost in how the actual hell this had happened. As the others followed, Nora getting cheers, and Paul getting plenty for his first win in Formula AG, the trophies, medals and national anthems felt like a haze. And of course, the champagne bottles, smacked against the base of the trophy, and sprayed into the faces of everyone, including Owen Keating of Southern Cross. It was a time to be wild. Jen loved every second. And no doubt, as she looked up at Paul, he would be as well. What a drive from him- putting Amy under pressure, learning from his past mistakes and being patient, he’d put a quality race together, never losing control, being always on top. In a sea of chaos, a beacon of calm, that finally got what he deserved, persevering even against cheating teams, and coming out smelling of roses into the summer break.

And looking out, Peter Thatcher, as pissed off as he was, looked up at that podium, bitter about the results, resolutely angry, and unable to believe how stupid his pilots were. Jen had gone and achieved that in a ship that was never going to do what it did. In a place that shouldn’t have. This was beyond a fever dream. This was cinema, plain and simple.

He gave a thumbs up to her, and a wink, and with it, caught a glance from her, smirking back.

Peter Thatcher had got it wrong before. But something told him he had his pilot.

---

Delta Hyper: Post Race Interviews

The Delta Hyper interviews followed, once the podium ceremony was complete, bringing all the pilots together behind the paddock building, spectators still about to watch on the screens and their devices.

“Kais, a race to forget. With reports widely going around that Jamie Hart is out of a seat for the season, are you disappointed he couldn’t keep it clean for his home race?”

The next pilot got a round of cheers, the crowd electric with what had been an insane race, topped by the cream of the crop in Paul Mulder's performance. This was a statement- an announcement he wasn't just an understudy to Dorian, but gaining his position.

“Paul, congratulations on your maiden win, the crowd have gone absolutely wild! What a result for you and the team, talk us through your fight with Amy, and your dominant display despite all the virtual safety ships?"

Bea was up next, with plenty of cheers from the crowd, the momentum that she was keeping up certainly catching many eyes on the grid.
"Bea, what a statement to wrap up 5th place, though some would argue you were very lucky with the Zygon penalties and crashes ahead of you. Would you say you are finding the fine balance between patience and aggression in your ship to ship racing?"

---

Amy looked dejected, but nonetheless, knew she had to face the music.

“Just a really bad mistake from me, super weird, just didn’t have any traction on exit and played it too loose, and the wall smacked back. Really bad, and it’s gutting to lose so many points in a championship fight. But we’ve got the summer break to regroup, and lots of changes, so it’s still a long way to go.” Her response was dry, uncharacteristically so, as she moved out of the way, the scene filled with the Aussie.

Harrison smirked, pissed he hadn’t gotten back at Jen on the last lap or caught Nora, but still aware that his new friend had gotten him good, and deserved that position shift.

“Well, it’s good for me, P1 for Southern Cross in the Constructors is looking more and more likely! We’ve been such an amazing team, not sure how Nora pulled away so much today as I was struggling, but sometimes when life gives you lemons, you gotta make lemonade and carbonate it, and we got that for sure.”

He shifted out of the way for Layla, who stepped up, with a coolpack around her neck.

“Not great to contact with Harrison and Max, but when the racing is this tense, it’s difficult to know. It’s so hard in the midfield, a shame what happened to Kais, but yeah, we’re doing what we can. The margins are so tight, and it was a shame not to capitalise on our efforts, but we're producing a rocketship this season and I can't wait to see what happens. Yalla!”

Max beamed, the crowd screaming, mic in face.

“Yeah, super, super stoked to get points at home, and we’re definitely going into the season break with a lot of momentum! Shame that Jamie couldn’t get any points today, but we’re glad to score some for you today, and hopefully we’ll keep it going!”

Kofi followed, grinning ear to ear.
“Another points haul! Of course! It is great, and while we lost our position to Fitzroy, may I just say a massive congratulations is in order to Jen!”

Henry followed in the same vein, smiling, knowing his crap result was contrasted by his team mate’s incredible achievement.
“Just amazing, what an incredible result for us and I think….well, the news will be out soon, but that is our last race as Fitzroy as you know us. Thank you ever so much, and please, please give a massive cheer for Jen Lowry, as she is incredible, a pleasure to have as my team-mate and I think you'll see her at a big team soon!"

Astrid also grinned, keeping it simple.
"Well, sh*t happens to other people, I get a point, what's not to like?"

Dorian was less impressed, shrugging, but keeping a positive spin on things.
"Just went from bad to worse. Had a really bad time getting through traffic, and just couldn't do what Paul did. Amazing to see him take his first victory, a shame I couldn't help but non, it is his day and he deserves all the credit!"

---

Decision Time

Jen looked through the notes, looking across to Andy, who sat in his jeans and plain white shirt, the soundproofed meeting room reserved under a different name, the doors locked to stop any prying ears or eyes in.

“You’ll be with Callum Wallace given they don’t want to take any more Fitzroy staff, and they are starting on mods, on Tuesday. It’s extensive. You understand what’s involved. This goes further than anything Jamie had, from all reports. They don’t want to make the same mistake they made before.”

Jen gulped, looking through the list, already half aware, but now, fully cognizant of just how serious this was about to be.

“That is a hell of a list. Cerebra‑NX implants, nanolacing at the C3–C5 and in my existing neural link, and then in the rest of my major bones with a bone marrow transfusion, SilverLabs limbs with KinetiQ actuators including shoulders and upper legs which means they’ll….well, that’s limbs lost next week. Mason and Fuller spec full cochlear replacement, X&Y optics, and the rest they’ve put in NDA until I’m within the team that they’ve got full rights to do…..with limited refusal. Fuck me. That’s millions of n-Euros. Now I get it.” Jen was outspoken, going through it, the contract poured through after the race had completed. It had been a long week, and they had toyed with both teams offering a contract. But now, the message was clear from Peter. Now or never.

Looking across, Andy nodded to that thought, knowing it was heavy stuff.

“You put the worst ship on the grid on a podium finish. Let alone points. That’s a miracle. This is going to be transformative. Irrespective, they’re going to look after you. Look, that might be wrong or not, but either way, Jenny, this is going to be a big change for you. You deserve this. It’s a good call, and we know that Peter’s got reason to trust you. Especially after today, any team would scream to sign you.” Andy replied, the stubble having Brit looking across, sliding the tablet over the table.

“Sign here, and you’ll be in Silver Apex.” Andy smiled, as Jenny took a moment to compose herself, taking the tablet.

“Remind me why I’m doing this, Andy? Just for, you know, a bit of peace of mind.” Jenny asked, as Andy shrugged, looking back at his client, knowing she was just going over it one last time in her mind, even if the choice was made.

“Your choice, Jen. But this is about you. Amy’s a fierce talent, but Peter Thatcher needs to get back at Southern Cross this season one way or another. He won’t let you fail after he lost that chance with Jamie. And yeah, Alexander is a good guy, he’ll give you everything, and he promised you the world, Cavan, a lot of what you had at Fitzroy. But what’s the next scandal that comes out? His daughter got a load of mods, that they can’t even give their own pilots. You’ll be fighting Paul, and you saw how good he was. When will they ditch you for one of their own if he’s got designs on growing the team internally? Sure, Cavan might help but….you said you wanted change? This is as good as it gets. And this chance will never happen again, not if you turn them down now. No more dramas, and a new slate if you struggled in Fitzroy. Just you getting more podiums, like today, because you're proving to be a little more grounded than Jamie is.” Andy replied, as Jen nodded. It was in those words she was putting fingerprint into glass tablet, pulling her finger across, then skidding it over the glass table.

“Thank you.” Jenny smiled, as Andy took the tablet, tapping away.

“Your sponsors will need to be informed. I’ll sort that out. And a bunch of new ones will come with Silver Apex. I’m told all of Jamie’s want to continue where they left off with you, pick what commitments you want and it is yours. The news will come out in two days, so it doesn’t overshadow this podium. Optics and all. Welcome to the big stage, Jen.” With it, he put a hand out, and Jen took his hand, smiling, in reply beaming.

“This wasn’t how I expected it. But let’s do this, yeah? We got some races to win.” Her smirk broke wide open, because in spite of everything, her gut reminded herself that opportunities like this came one in a generation for a pilot like her. And after that podium, perhaps her mind had been convinced that way. Spend time chasing behind Paul? Or dominate Valkyrie, who would put her as second best for later? She was ready to spin the wheel.

---

Braking Zone

The Southern Cross garage was a strange place to be, because on the one hand, Nora had snatched an amazing result and the gap into summer now against ‘Apex had widened significantly- and yet, the result from one particular side was nowhere near as good as one Australian had hoped. The opportunity to widen the gap had been compromised by a poor race that got messy in the midfield. Once again. Perhaps he overfocussed on that, because compared to Nora, who was pulling out points, he wasn’t today, and that gap was not one he had any right to be pleased with. Pulling 2nd, 4th as a team, sure, but this? This wasn’t acceptable.

Harrison beckoned to Nora, looking across, arms folded, after his debrief, still not sure how she was doing this. He didn’t want perfect to be the enemy of good. He’d celebrated. But he knew that in moments like this, marginal gains were the difference. Especially when Amy would come back swinging after a rare, rare mistake like that. Nothing could be let go of. The gloves were off.

“Right, so how the hell are you doing this? Because that’s insane what you did. Those Zygon ships were cracked, and you still pull through?” Harrison added, as before Nora replied, Owen put a hand to his shoulder.

“Harrison. With me.” Harrison stared her down, head over shoulder looking to Nora.

“We had a deal. Come on, mate.” It felt like that deal was gone, as Owen pulled him through, into a backroom of the garage.

“The fuck is wrong with you?” Owen asked, Harrison aiming to push, but Owen pushing back.

“You know what’s up. I trusted her, every setup, every experience, the stone, the….”

“You gave her the stone?” Owen’s mood immediately changed, as Harrison nodded, silent at first, but finding a response.

“Yeah, because it’s the bit that he wanted the team to keep, and a pilot to have. A good luck charm. Kept us together. I hoped it would.” Owen looked on blankly, hearing that response and letting it go past, as he wanted to be back on point. Not wanting to address that now.

“Right. Your call. Anyway, we need to be united in front of the press, and everyone else, and you having a slump is not going to be helped if you get pissy. Alright? You’re gonna be that perfectionist, make us look like we’re fighting? That kind of asshole….now? Right, we’re gonna go back out there, back to fucking normal. You’re gonna take the summer to do whatever you need to do so you can get centred. But I need you to get your shit together, or else fucking hell, we will gift this first place position back to Silver Apex, and you will give it back to Amy once she gets back on track. You believed in this team when we went toe to toe with Amy last year. So I need to trust you that you’ll be sensible. Understood?” Owen replied with a dressing down, Harrison sighing, old enough to understand, but gritting his teeth anyway.

“Understood. Sorry. This means a lot to me, it’s…..” Harrison said blankly, like a schoolchild being told off, as Owen shook his head.

“It means a lot to all of us, you flippin’ cunt. Now come on, stop being a melt and let’s go enjoy some champagne. Amy Stirling just crashed so anything can happen, so no more debriefs, let’s enjoy widening our 1st place in the standings, because you fucking beat Amy today no matter how you look at it, we did, so let’s crack on!”

With it, they walked back into the main garage area, but some had heard that. What had been a fruitful relationship, hell, even what felt like success beyond any wild dream, was now becoming more competitive by the day.

---

Cheater’s Lament

The mood in Zygon’s camp was dour, as Cassie sighed, sitting at the pit wall, looking into the horizon as she was doing a lot more of lately. This wasn’t depression. This was existential bullshit.

“We gave it all we could. Come on.” The engineer’s voice was not music to her ears, as she put hands to wall and turned.
“We pissed away everything. Because we chose too much risk.” Cassie’s words were like granite on granite, scraping, as her race engineer didn’t exactly hold back.

“You wanted risks? You want a ship that actually gives you results? Come on. You knew the team had to roll the dice.” Accusatory. Cassie didn’t like that.

Cassie nodded in polite response anyway, as the engineer sighed, looking over at the space of the ships that were not in the pit box here, but with FIAR now, being examined.

“Carrera fucking Condor are going to take fifth from us if we’re not careful because the universe has been giving us shit dice rolls and all of us are paying the price. At what point do we just can this season and prep for next year? Come on, this is bullshit. Let’s just face facts, we have the setup to do better next year, right now, we’re going to burn everything to survive if that’s what we’re doing.” Cassie was blunt, as the race engineer, staggered by her outspokenness, knew he couldn’t speak out of turn. Not without offending someone back in Seoul, back in the chaebol, who would flip a table hearing this. His voice was timid.

“That’s unacceptable to the team. We still have to….we still have to fight. Hold our ground. The team at home will figure….” He started, as Cassie sipped down more drink from her metal water bottle, shaking her head, staring him down, cutting him off.

“Then get fucking better at hiding risky ship mods, maybe? They got us because we made it so fucking obvious. Even I could feel that. Maybe they’ll find that out at Al-Saqr, Silver Apex, and whatever the fuck they’re smoking at Carrera soon? If you’re gonna cook, maybe do it smarter next time before we all end up getting binned.” Cassie bitterly replied, exhaling, and walking away. She wasn’t even angry at any of them anymore, but this team, management could eat a thousand dicks right now if they had no response.

---

Post Human

Sitting inside of the Al-Saqr Paddock, Salma Nasri, MD, was attending to Layla’s post race complaints of a headache. A small one, nothing quite like before, but the hit with Harrison and Max had tripped something that hadn’t gone away. So in the diagnostics she went. A routine checkup.

“Okay. Seems like the standard, just interference between your limbs and your neural link. Give it a few hours.” A discharge of drugs into her thorax, right below her neck, and the pulse changed slightly inside of Layla, her feeling her brain cool as the neural drugs centred her a little more.

“Thank you. This has been getting better. Bad race from me Doc, but…..I am getting the hang of this. Ship just feels on rails when I get corners right. I need a few months and I’ll put that ship on first. I know it.” She added, as Salma wryly smiled ,focussing on her patient first.

“Perhaps. Let’s take it steady and monitor. You got through scrutineering, let's not push any harder today, no more sim work until later this week.” Salma added, as Layla stayed in the chair, letting Salma do her checks, running a regular diagnostic on the rest of her body, a standard post race procedure.

Soundtrack: Bogatyri- We Lost The Sea

And halfway through, as Salma went over Layla’s legs, the Jordanian looked across to the wall on the opposite side of the room with a slight convulsion. She stopped, feeling her neck heat pulse a little. That was strange. But it spread fast. Like a migraine but way worse. Like she was stopping her brain falling out of her skull.

Layla looked drowsy, not from drugs, but something else tripped. Staring into Salma, Layla put her hand into the Doctor’s. She felt something else inside of her own mind. Something always that had been there. And that decided there and then, to pour out. Like a dam being broken. Her head felt like it was fighting itself.

"Salma.... I.....I don't.....I'm not sure what's going on......this is.....oh.....this is really weird, I....I would miss Jordan......

.......this would….no……no, no, no, it’s, it’s feeling fuzzy." Layla croaked, tightening her fingers, then loosening, as she composed herself.
She frothed almost at the mouth, pushing forward into Salma, forwards from the chair. For what felt like the last time she’d feel a human touch. The last of her humanity in her, realising exactly what was coming in. Even for an experience neurologist, she was seeing im

“Layla, let’s calm you down...”

Even in metal hands, Salma felt like Layla was holding her like the last person she’d ever say anything to. Because every part of Layla was feeling like it was stripping away. Faster than even Salma had realised, as the ECG and neural link spiked, screaming in pitch on the monitors, going beyond any acceptable threshold. Layla felt her vision in her eyes burn, as if the static on the CRT-like interference had increased.

"Tell him I forgive him. Please tell my mother….father, this…..this was my choice. I love them, forever.....thi....." Layla cut off mid sentence, and with it, let go, and slumped in the chair, head back, eyes rolled into black, convulsing completely with her hands and legs, in what looked like seizure like behaviour. Salma instantly disconnected the neural line using any safeties, but to no measure, as the seizure stopped after half a minute, but Layla was rolled back and still not there.

"Layla! Layla, come on, don't drop out on us...." The neurologist screamed, barely being able to catch her, Salma putting her back up against the chair again, her mind pulsing with what to do. Layla had come close before to this. But even the drugs weren’t working, the neural stabiliser doing absolutely nothing at all in this situation, not even bringing her back to consciousness.

"Come on Layla, come back!" Salma rested her up, vitals still pulsing as the massive bank of monitors displayed her condition. Her heart was all over the place, but then settled back into position, but her eyes remained blank. The display linked to the neural monitor had crashed and had a green screen error. It was like the thing had just gone haywire, as it pulsed black, and rebooted. And when it did, nothing displayed, as Salma yelled for other medics to come in, flooding the room. They tried everything. The drugs did nothing, not even a shot of a complicated neural cocktail even did an ounce.

Al-Saqr needed their edge. But Salma had always been against this. Always wanted to protect Layla. Always wanted to sit on caution.

And the display still read nothing in ECG. Her heart pulsed back to normal, the synthetic actuators doing their job as Salma realised whatever had just happened, she just watched Layla go braindead. A body alive, a mind gone.

She put a hand to a friend, not just her patient, exhaling hard, trying to find the words. But none were coming out of her. As far as everything pointed to, the last thing she saw on Layla's data was a massive flood of data sweeping in and out like the tide, and now she was looking at her body go dead. Her augments keeping whatever of a body there was breathing, heart pumping, blood going, but nothing inside left that didn’t keep her cardiovascular function going. No response from her neural link. No ping did anything, the error code was like it was reading no activity at all. There was nobody inside. No neural link ever did that to someone, ever. The server was sealed too, so not like it was some external interference. Not unless some AGI had found its way into her skull and rooted about. Not unless this was the enhanced link taking control of its own. And deciding to take her back to the ship, or she’d flicked whatever sub-routines she could elsewhere. That was the only thing she could think of. But even then, what the actual fuck was going on?

Even a neurologist of her degree was now guessing, but for anyone normal, the symptoms were something like what she’d seen in her youth- a patient suffering a stroke, yet it seemed almost like a complete collapse of her brain function. No amount of ice, coolant, synthetic repairer or link was working. It was like the light had been snatched out of her right there and then.

And looking at her, metallic Jordanian hand still on her soft, fleshy own, Salma didn’t agree with Layla’s words. She had been complicit in this, it was her fault. Whatever Layla’s dreams were, she had a duty of care to her. And not letting her die was her only one. She was a believer in a higher power, and in miracles of some kind, even in spite of the evil she'd seen, the horrors, but not even brain reconstruction had anything, there was no light inside of her to even start again. She was down to those hopes now, because nothing looked good, and she’d watched Layla Al-Nadir, previous race winner, AG pilot, face of the Arabic Union, co-worker and friend, fade to dark. Omar entered the room, at the far end, as Salma looked at him, with the fire of a thousand suns behind her, and his head shaking.

“Not a word leaves this room. I’ll call the Emir and arrange a diplomatic transfer.”

---

“Homo sapiens, the first truly free species, is about to decommission natural selection, the force that made us...Soon we must look deep within ourselves and decide what we wish to become.” — Edward O. Wilson, from "Consilience, The Unity of Knowledge"

Soundtrack: How to Train Your Dragon Soundtrack - The Flying Scene

Paul was grateful for the tech in his suit because the muggy heat of Montreal combined with the heat inside the race ship would have been unbearable then. They had to keep the ship’s engines cool enough without the extra weight of an extensive air conditioning system for the pilot. Paul’s racing suit was more like an insulated space suit with cooling built into the suit and made to withstand heat. Paul made sure his gloves were fitting well. He massaged them down into place and made sure he had full dexterity. It was one of those small rituals he did habitually before a race. He sat in the cockpit and looked towards the stands full of fans. There were banners in all the teams colors waving as the fans showed their excitement for the race to begin. Paul was sitting in the P4 pole position. The ships were staggered and Paul was in the outside track in the second row of ships with Amy Stirling next to him and Han in front of him. He bowed his head and cleared his mind. He mentally went through the race again, where all the corners, chicanes, and straits were. He remembered the tactics that had worked in the simulator for overtakes here in Montreal. He opened his eyes and began his pre-race check. Everything checked out fine.

Paul: “Radio check.”

Carmella: “We are reading your fine Paul. All systems show ready from here. Reading your telemetry.”

Paul: “Systems check complete. All systems showing green.”

Carmella: “Race start in t-minus ten minutes.”

Paul: “Confirmed time to start t-minus ten minutes.”

There was a countdown clock on his HUD in the ship. Which was set up to his preference to show what telemetry he felt he would need in this race. He received it all back from the ship through his neural link but kept the most important ones on his HUD. Because of the heat, he had the engine temperature on the dash this time next to his collision alarm. Paul’s right hand hovered over the throttle with the left resting on the steering yoke. Paul watched the countdown in a state of anticipation and zen. Just another day at the office…

The lights turned red. And….

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Paul had watched tons of videos on his competitors. Amy was an aggressive racer and she seemed amped up after losing the pole position to Carrera Condor. He would catch her later in the race. He didn’t want to get in her way and be mowed down. He would like to finish this race. Amy quickly flew past Han. She had a fabulous start and was quicker off the start. Amy’s ship screamed past Han with an almost dominating roar. Paul maintained his position even as he was battling Nora who was trying to overtake him from behind and lock him up for ELS drain. Paul defended in a cool tactical manner as he figured out the best strategy. The tactics and overtake simulation training with Alexander was paying off.

Paul was now chasing Han as they went into round two. Paul had an edge in handling and stability. His ship seemed to be coping with the heat better than the Zygon ships as well. Paul used that to his advantage as he gained ground and speed in the corners. Paul smiled as he defended against Nora. She was an excellent racer and he had learned a lot about overtaking and defending by watching videos of her races. She had good instincts and Paul respected her as a racer. She almost got a lock on him in the third corner. He barely managed to defend by slipping sideways, changing his racing line to hug the inner corner a little tighter. The move put him in position to overtake Han whose ship was to the outside in the corner. He pushed his speed up and smiled as he slid past Han and came out of the corner like a cork out of a bottle. Nora slipped past Cassie behind him. He pushed his speed up with Cassie now in his sights.

Paul was slowly gaining on Cassie as he made up speed and time in the chicanes and corners. He continued to have to defend against Nora behind him. Cassie tried to hog the corner as a defensive move as they moved into a tight corner. It sucked for Cassie because Paul noted the curved wall that looked almost like a half pipe wall and grinned. He loved using these unconventional spaces for overtakes. This was antigravity racing after all. He felt like others forgot that at times. Paul simply poured on the speed and went up the curved wall and around and down in front of Cassie. His ship was just past Cassie as the curved wall ended with a lip which caused his ship to flip over and land back on the mag track in front of Cassie’s ship. He grinned and charged after Amy.

Paul felt all the distractions falling away. The roar of the engine fell away, the cheering fans, his focus narrowed to the ship and track. It was as if the rest of the world fell away and he was one with the ship. He felt as if he and the ship had merged and it was so responsive to his every need. Paul’s focus was absolute as the barest nudge here avoided the ELS attack from Nora behind him. He remained calm and focused on catching Amy. Slowly but surely the gap between them was closing. Paul’s focus became the ship in front of him and the ship behind him. The battle with Nora was fierce as he tried to close the gap between him and Amy. Paul waited for the opportune moment as he cached his ELS. The new resistors and capacitors that the engineering team had modified were able to store that little bit more energy just a bit faster. Paul watched for his moment as the distance between him and Amy fell each lap. The moment came as Paul caught up to Amy in a corner. He fired his ELS system and began to leech the energy from Amy’s ship. Paul grinned as Amy’s ship pulled away from him but was unable to pull away very far as she was helping his ship by giving it energy and dragging it partly speeding him up.

Paul kept his focus as he smoothly moved with Amy countering her attempts to shake him off. He was behind her but staying with her. Paul continued to bide his time harvesting and banking the ELS energy from Amy’s ship as he stayed with her. Paul used the banked ELS to keep close to Amy in the straits while he used skill to harvest it in the corners. The ELS dump gave his ship a boost of speed. Paul’s training with the ELS system and Cavan’s overhaul of the system working in his favor today. Paul remained patient and made tactical decisions. Time was on his side in this race. He was slowly closing that gap between him and Amy and reeling her in.

Paul was inching closer to Amy each round. They turned into a chicane after the last straight and Paul saw an opening as Amy banked wide into the turn. Paul didn’t trust Amy but she had left him a wide opening. He closed on her as her ship slowed for the chicane. Paul’s ship was on pace behind her. Paul hugged the inside wall not wanting Amy to accuse him of an illegal move. He wanted plenty of room if she slowed too much to get around her clean. Paul saw it before it happened as Amy swung too wide and her ship hit the wall. The speed of the ships had Paul around the corner before the automatic shut down from the crash occurred. Paul had seen her slam into the wall and skid along it beside him as he moved his ship around the corner.

Paul: “Talk to me Carmella. Is she okay?”

Carmella: “She is fine already out of her ship Paul. Her ship is out though. You will restart in P1. Now you need to hold off Nora to win. You got this.”

Paul smiled: “Hell yes I have this.”

Paul had an open track in front of him and only needed to worry about Nora behind him. He would drop into a flow state, one with the ship only to have it interrupted by yet another crash alert and emergency stop as the track was cleaned up.The race was stopped a few more times due to crashes. Paul managed to push the frustration and worry away once he knew the pilots were okay. He was surprised when Carmella told him that Dorian had to leave the race. He wondered idly what the hell was going on in the midfield.

Paul and Nora were dueling to the end. He managed to defend his position with Nora challenging him the entire way. He slowly managed to put some space between him and Nora between all the restarts and a clean racing line in each corner where he showed the ship’s handling and stability as he got through the chicanes and corners with more speed than others could pull. His handling of the ship was masterful and his timing impeccable. Paul instinctively moved the ship to the outside as Nora closed in behind him on the final straight. He managed to defend against her last ELS attempt. Paul was in a state of disbelief as it registered he had crossed the finish line first. He had won the race. He pulled the ship into parc ferme. He closed his eyes and let his helmet rest against the seat behind him as he thought about his father. A sense of accomplishment washing over him. He had finally won his first Formula AG race.

He grinned as a sense of victory and joy had him unfastening his harness and unplugging his neural interface from the ship. Before he climbed out of his ship, he heard Alexander’s voice on the coms.

Alexander: “Congratulations Paul. Your father would be proud and cheering for you. Enjoy your win.”

Paul: “Thanks Alexander.”

Alexander Knight’s words were almost soothing, a benediction and blessing from a father he had grown up without. Paul smiled as he finally felt he no longer had anything to prove. He felt as if a weight had lifted off his shoulders. He smiled, taking a moment to mentally thank his long dead father.

He then popped the canopy and stood in his ship waving to the roaring fans. He soaked in the moment before his team was surrounding his ship and cheering for him. He looked down at his ecstatic teammates. He yelled to be heard over all the cheering and yelling. “Thanks Everyone! I wouldn’t be here without you!”

Paul finally climbed down out of the cockpit and was promptly mobbed by members of the Valkyrie team. He was hugged, had his back slapped, and pushed around before laughing. His team led him to the cooldown room for the winners before letting him go.

---

Paul entered the cooldown room. He finally had a moment to pull off his helmet. He slugged down a bottle of water and a Zap drink. Even with the cooling suit, he was sweating like a pig. He was grateful for the air conditioning in the cooldown room. There was a strange vibe in the room without Amy’s domineering presence. Paul smiled and his excitement shone as big as his smile.

Paul approached Nora and gave her a huge grin as he shook her hand. He would have hugged her but he thought she would kick him if he tried.

Paul: “Nora you were just as tough to beat as I knew you would be. It is nice to see you back in fighting form at the top where you belong.”

Jen: “This is incredible. You guys are regulars, right? I mean, I got lucky but….wow! And to think that Bea hasn’t even got up here yet….oh she is gonna be so jealous!”

Paul was exasperated and a little embarrassed at Jen’s comment. Was he a regular? The thought stopped him cold in his tracks.

Jen smirked, chuckling, as she watched her move on Harrison right in the last lap, grinning ear to ear. The highlights moved to show Paul overtaking Amy.

Jen: “Nicely done, Paul! Well deserved win, it’s been a while coming! That fight with Amy looked fun….you two really tangled!”

Paul then went to Jenny Lowry and picked her up in a huge hug with a big dopey grin on his face.

Paul: “Congratulations Jen! You deserve to be here. Enjoy it!”

Paul whispered in her ear. “Even if you don’t come to Valkyrie, I hope we can be friends. You deserve to be here. Don’t ever let anyone tell you differently.”

Paul let her go and grinned at her. He felt while different that his and Jen’s journeys were similar in that they had set out to prove they could do it.

Paul grinned as he followed Jen Lowry as she led them out to the podium. Paul felt it was only appropriate. Jen deserved this moment in the sun after struggling for so long. He was happy to share the moment with two women he admired. Paul still felt that Nora was his biggest competitor amongst the rookie pilots besides Kais. Jen was always upbeat with a friendly smile. He hoped she chose to come to Valkyrie but as a career move he could understand if she chose to go to Silver Apex. He just hoped that she remained as friendly and warm a person as she was now. Apex seemed to chew up pilots. Apex might win but he had to agree with Alexander, at what cost? Paul was perfectly content and happy where he was at Valkyrie.

Paul followed along in Jen’s wake wearing Valkyrie’s dark grey and yellow. He waved and smiled to the crowd as he followed her up onto the podium. As the national anthems played, it gave him a moment to pause and reflect on where he was and what he had accomplished. He kept a neutral look even while inside that feeling of joy and sense of accomplishment didn’t dwindle one bit. He laughed and cheered and hosed Jen down with his own huge bottle of champagne before nailing Nora as well. He sprayed the last of the champagne out over the crowd in front of the podium as he laughed celebrating his first win. Paul was even happier to be celebrating this podium with two friendly competitors. Paul knew it was only a matter of time before Nora took the win again. She was already on a comeback streak.

---

Paul had time for a shower and change before his Delta Hyper interview. The heat was oppressive here in Montreal. Paul had chosen sneakers, shorts, and a team polo shirt for the interview. The polo shirt was made out of a high tech fabric that wicked moisture away and had a cooling effect. The sponsor logos were in strategic places and flashed like he was a walking billboard from one to another.

Paul stopped in the middle of the stage and waved with both hands to the crowd as he was announced. He smiled and laughed as they got louder.

Paul: “Thank you Montreal! I wouldn’t be here without fans. My thanks to you all!”

He gave them another moment before he made his way to his seat on the couch.

Aurora: “Paul, congratulations on your maiden win, the crowd have gone absolutely wild! What a result for you and the team, talk us through your fight with Amy, and your dominant display despite all the virtual safety ships?"

Paul smiled at Aurora and shrugged, not sure what to say.

Paul: “Thank you Aurora. My thanks to all the lovely people who came out to watch the race. We wouldn’t be here without them.”

He let the crowd cheer and go on for a moment.

Paul: “Before I answer I just want to say a few things. Let’s hear it for Jenny Lowry! She deserved to be on that podium today! It’s been a long time coming, yeah?”

Paul waited while the crowd cheered and chanted Jen’s name. He smiled when he heard it.

Paul: “I also want to say welcome back to Nora Kelly! It is nice to see her back on the podium this season.”

He waved to the crowd before continuing. They were lapping up any attention he gave them. He waited for them to calm down once more. Paul gave her a smile as he continued with his answer.

Paul: “Well Aurora, I think today was simply the cumulation of training and improvements that the team has been working on for a while. Team Valkyrie works as a team. I wouldn’t have been able to win today without the support of Team Valkyrie and everyone who works there. I simply showed up and did my job. My trainers and the medical team helped me recover from my injuries from the last race. Cavan Mitchell and his team have been working to improve our ELS for some time. The team also had to rebuild my ship in time for me to compete here. Alexander Knight and our training team have been working with me on some new training that is finally paying off. He has had me focusing on working on ELS where I was weak at the beginning of the season. Today was one of those days where everything went right. We made the right decisions and had the right ship at the right time. I have been focusing on tactics and overtakes. I believe that was what carried me to victory today.”

He hoped that answered Aurora’s question.

---

Alexander couldn't be happier with Paul’s performance at the Montreal Grand Prix. He had performed well. It felt as if all the training, new neural interfaces, the work on the ELS system had all come together at the perfect moment. As happy as he was with Paul, he was just as frustrated and disappointed with Dorian. He had given Dorian everything he had asked for but his performance and consistency was lacking. It was like he was either on or off. He frowned, not happy with Dorian. Since his win at Monaco had he checked out for the rest of the season? He needed to address it with Dorian. He had some ideas but he needed to put some things in place first. He had some inquiries to make.

---

I want to say thank you to all the fans for their support. Here is the view from the top. I wouldn’t be here without you.

[picture from Paul’s point of view on the podium]

”VSS, Stirling out and walking.” Alistair answered her question before she even had time to ask.
”Look at that, she blinked.“ Bea chuckled, ”She’s a mortal after all.”
”Safety ship will be a few laps, the wall’s in a bad shape.”
”Another shot at Jamie. Tips into turn one?”
”He’s pretty solid there, but you might compromise him for turn two, he sticks low.”
That was a nice idea, unfortunately Harrison happened. In the end it was a net positive as Jamie, Bea and Jenny passed the stricken ships of Max and Layla in quick succession.

It lasted an entire five laps. Almost. And then it happened again, right in front of her.
”Fuck me.” She yelped as she gunned the throttle and threaded the needle between Kais’ ship on the right and Jamie’s that came across the track much like his teammate 15 laps ago, slipping through across the runoff on the inside of turn 13 and looking back to see how others have fared.
”You alright?”
”Yea, are they? And check for debris damage, I felt a hit on the right side.” It was like getting flicked on the arm with a finger, except somewhere on the side of the ship.
”Hart looks ready to lay down and wait for it to end.” Joking, means they were both OK.
”And let me know what car he drove to the circuit so I can be on the lookout on the way to the airport. What is this now, crash four if we count qualifying? Bloke’s a missile.”
”Damage looks minimal, are you getting any warnings?”
”Nope, we’re fine on my end.”
”Makara up next then, he may have picked up some damage on the first restart. The ships are comparable, but he’ll have more control. If you can’t take him off the line, don’t rush, wait for an opportunity.”
And then she bungled the restart, Jenny slipping past her with a clever move through the hairpin.

”Crash behind you, Falkner and Hornfleur, both continuing.”
”Copy.”
”Uhh, disregard my last, it’s a VSS for debris.”
”Fuck’s sake!”
Jenny got a good launch, slipping away from Bea when the latter had to explain to Layla behind her that the door was closed and she’d have to settle for P8. At least she had a front row seat to Jenny’s pass on Harrison, making an attempt to capitalize but he shut her out, forcing her to back off lest she spear right in the back of him.

For Bea, it had been an uneventful race, though fans would obviously disagree. P7 and P10 were much in the spirit of the entire weekend - not great, not terrible. Although a freelance photographer positioned just in the right place at the right time took a picture of Bea, Ava and Astrid laughing about something right after the Zygon disqualification was formalized. P5 and P8 were better by a small but notable margin.

---

DELTΔ HYPER

Episode Nine: The Wall of Champions

---

”Bea, what a statement to wrap up 5th place, though some would argue you were very lucky with the Zygon penalties and conflicts ahead. Would you say you are finding the fine balance between patience and aggression in your ship to ship racing?”

”I think it’s less finding balance and more that I’ve had nine races to figure out how the ship will behave in certain situations and anticipate. Watch me get worse when the summer upgrades change that.” She grinned, some much-needed stability and pilot mods upgrades in the final stages of computer simulation testing.
”As for the finish, of course it was lucky, but that’s racing. It’s still money for the team at the end of the season. The next one will be earned. Maybe so will Zygon’s.” She shrugged, a mischievous smile replacing the previous one. ”Hypothetically - and I’m of course asking for a friend - think FIAR will be extra careful scrutinizing everyone for the next few races, or just them? Because when I got caught cheating on a math test, it wasn’t the entire class that got checked before every test for the rest of that year.”
“Bea!”
”Hey, what’s the last time you needed… The thing where you have X over Y like a fraction, but without the line and in big brackets?” She intentionally glossed over Aurora’s actual point of complaint.
“Combinations?”
”Yes, that.”

---

As the first-time P3 driver made her way to the media pen, someone snuck up on her. It was a vicious assault: sudden, fueled by manic energy and very much called for. One of the tightest hugs of Jenny’s life, a top ten for certain, possibly top five.
”Sooooo, what’s it like?” Bea took advantage of Jenny being taken by surprise to throw her arm around her shoulder and start leading the confused Yorkshire lass in the direction she’d been going before, ”Spill the tea and leave no details out. Where are you putting your new silverware? Mantle piece? Right by the front door, so everyone who comes over sees?” Yes, the trophy went to the team and Jenny could order a copy, but why let that detail spoil the occasion?

---

Xinny: I think that’s the Alicorn behind Ava’s ship. If you look on the top part of the engine, those ‘bumps’ spaced evenly around it look a lot like the combustors on the Pegasus-II. And if you compare any on track pictures of the nozzle, it looks different to this one.
Hotstuff: blud shows up 2 mins after posting and drops CIA level image analysis like its a normal sunday
CloroxEnjoyer: What’s the hump on the underside of the ship?
Xinny: No clue. Best guess, something to do with cooling or air intake.
MadBea: That’s where the snacks go.
NorthWest: So how many points from previous races is Zygon losing, because what are the odds of this being discovered on the race they deployed it? At least Silverstone, right?
CarreraCarmen: Absolutely shameful from Zygon.
DarkStar69: Inferior culture can’t hack it fair and square.
_PsychoFish_: I’m very sorry you never had a father to raise you properly.
UrbanMaverick: I mean a not insignificant chunk of the Zygon fanbase run on that Korean Ubermensch mindset so still dumb but it balances out.
Shel1: Zygon fans been real quiet since this dropped.
Cylonking183: LMAO, you think other teams don’t cheat?
User420: At least they don’t suck at it.
IronBeer: We should all look up to Fitzroy Orbital AG, they failed on their own merit. Mostly Henry’s though.
Zero: Speaking of, pretty excited about seeing who took that over. My money’s on Russians. Ural is developing like crazy through Dakar, Kamaz through Rally and related divisions, meanwhile UAZ have been talking about ‘finding new avenues of innovation’ for three years and there’s even talk of the Marussia brand coming back.
HotStuff: rush P1, cyka blyat
DohnJoe: @TruckerTim had enough and is finna show them how shits done
TruckerTim: I’d rather enter the race with my ute than touch that mess.

---

Alexander had sent out a memo to the team that everyone had two days to put everything in order for the summer break. Equipment had to be catalogued and stored for the break. Any parts needed by the engineers needed to be ordered so they could go right back to work when they came back. Any paperwork that needed to be done, should be cleared up and caught up. Everyone would need to get paid. The team working on the Junior Summer Bootcamp would only get one week off and then would receive another week after the bootcamp instead. The rest of the team was going to get two weeks off. Then it would be back to work to get ready for the next part of the season and the summer Junior Academy Bootcamp. Alexander himself would be working for the whole week. He planned to work remotely the second week and take a little time to go visit Arianna.

Alexander was pleased to see that sponsors and endorsements were slowly returning to normal after the CEO indictment and Dorian’s win at Monaco and Paul’s win at Montreal. While larger corporations were still leery of approaching Valkyrie, smaller businesses seemed more open to approaching the company. The endorsements and sponsorships were not worth as much but they didn’t ask for as much either in return. Alexander ran the idea of limited time or one race endorsement from smaller businesses. It was more affordable for them and they would be hosted in the team’s fan zone for that race. Instead of international marketing agreements that went with larger endorsement deals, it was more print or web based advertising and endorsements for the smaller companies. Alexander was choosing who they worked with carefully. He was choosing companies with good reputations whose products have rave reviews. The potential sponsors were being vetted by Wulfric’s security team. The team certainly didn’t need any new scandals. Many of the smaller businesses were more creative in their sponsorships as well. They were offering to supply their goods and services for the race in question.

This made Valkyrie’s upcoming races and fan zone more interesting. Some food and drinks would vary by race. He was careful to court businesses that didn’t conflict with his bigger food and drink sponsors such as I Can’t Believe It's Not Meat and Zap Sports Drinks. There was an organic lemonade company and a flavored water company. They were smaller distributors focused on organic and unique flavors. There was a smaller mom and pop franchise local to Singapore that was a local favorite that was offering food for the Singapore race. They were offering team catering for the opportunity to sell food in their fan zone and advertise their local franchise. There was a Belgian Beer Company that wanted to serve beer at the Fan Zone in Belgium. There was a fleet of Belgian Waffle Food trucks that wanted to sell and advertise in the fan zone that specialized in a chocolate waffle. In Germany a local soft pretzel company and bratwurst vendor were interested in advertising and working the fan zone at the German Grand Prix. An American BBQ Franchise had approached them for the US Grand Prix. Alexander just laughed and shrugged. Why not? The smaller endorsement packages were stacking up. Alexander felt it was a way to diversify their sponsorships and it gave them a way to include smaller businesses.

Alexander looked over the gear designs that were being supplied by Hood Tech Sportswear for this year’s bootcamp. Alexander was surprised at the variety that were going to offer the junior pilots. He smiled and signed off on the designs noting that Katherine’s team from the Marketing Department had already reviewed them and just wanted his final approval. They were providing all the candidates a variety of workout gear for training and a racing suit in Team Valkyrie colors and logos. One of their subsidiaries was athletic footwear. So all the pilots would be getting branded running shoes as well.

This year the bootcamp would be videotaped and a highlight reel would be released with sponsors mentioned. They had signed a contract with the producers of Delta Hyper for a reality documentary series following the Junior Pilots going through the bootcamp. Every junior league pilot attending had to sign a strict NDA policy about the documentary. They would also receive a modest stipend for appearing in the documentary. It was being billed as an inside look at what it takes for a pilot to make it to the Delta Hyper couch. Alexander had okayed the contract with a clause that prior to release to the public, the team had the option to review the documentary and had to approve the final cut prior to distribution. It would again provide the junior pilots with training on how to handle interviews as well.

Rocket Sports Nutrition had jumped at the chance to sponsor the Junior League Team. Their team had been so excited that they offered to do a workshop on their nutritional products for the pilots during the bootcamp. They would be supplying all the pilots that attended the bootcamp with nutritional products for one year. In return they would be advertised as a sponsor for the Junior Team at the bootcamp. Katherine’s team had worked up an online marketing campaign that included endorsement interviews for the pilots talking about which products they had tried and were using. The junior pilots attending the bootcamp would receive a modest stipend endorsement for their interview. It was a win for the Junior Pilots as they got a little money out of it, and they got to use the opportunity for training on media and endorsement responsibilities. It was another useful thing pilots would take away from the bootcamp.

The research and development contract with Banshee Microsystems was signed. They would be moving into one of the current unused labs in the engineering department. There was some minor construction work happening to install special equipment needed for building and testing the new microchip and computer systems they would be building for Valkyrie. They would be in the same area as Shinochi Bionics.

Shinochi Bionics would be integrating another pilot mod update over the summer break when the pilots were back from vacation. The pilots would get the software update and another injection of nanites. This time the target was on strengthening their bones. The nanites and integrated neural interface would be layering a graphene covering along their bones and strengthening the bone density. While their bodies were working on this, they would be required to eat a special diet and their trainers would be pushing them to ensure proper muscle density and tensile strength of tendons as they were also reinforced to ensure no loss of flexibility and strength.

After reviewing the plans for the bootcamp, Alexander sighed. He knew he had to hire someone to take over the Junior Team. He didn’t think he could get who he wanted to handle it. Dorian was still racing but he might see if Dorian was interested in taking it over after he retired. Alexander would have loved to get Florence to take it over but she was still actively racing. Paul would ask Helena Starcross but she was retired and only took on short term part time projects that interested her. Alexander might approach Jamie Hart about a second chance but he wanted to see what happened with the pilot first. Alexander was frustrated and perplexed. He really wanted a former racer to take over the Junior Academy Team. He would like to get them in place for this year’s bootcamp. At least most of the planning was done for the bootcamp. They would have more say in the next one and would be able to work with the Junior Team that they sponsored. They would have more input to the changes coming to the Junior Team. It was finding someone who was good enough and had the reputation that currently didn’t have a ride or recently retired. Alexander’s eyes lit up as he thought about someone. Sami Lipponen was a former AG racer from about 10 years ago. He was an ex-McLaren driver without a ride. Maybe he would be interested.

Alexander had Mabel track down his contact details. He sent off a message to Sami.

Alexander: “Sami Lipponen, this is Alexander Knight. I have a proposition for you. I am looking to hire someone to act as a crew chief for the Valkyrie Junior Team. I am looking for someone to mentor them and oversee the program. There would be support staff of course. I am looking at making changes to the academy and I simply don’t have the time to oversee both teams. I am looking for an interested party that would be available to start in two weeks. Get back to me right away if you are interested. The Junior Academy Bootcamp is in three weeks.” Alexander signed off and hoped he heard back from him.

---

Alexander called Dorian. He had not come back to campus since the pilots were technically on summer break. Dorian didn’t pick up his call. He was not surprised since he was technically already on vacation. Alexander left him a message.

Alexander: “Dorian I wanted to check in with you and see how you were doing. I don’t think I have to tell you I was disappointed in your performance in Montreal. What’s going on? I know sometimes you just have a bad race. You are known for consistently placing during the season but this season you are all over the place. Do you need more support? I also wanted to run a future job opportunity past you. How would you like to take over the Junior Team Academy as the Crew Chief. You would oversee their training and act as a mentor with support staff. It is a potential possibility for after you retire. Let me know if you are interested at all.”

---

Alexander was back to the conundrum of who would replace Dorian. Scarlett was coming along but his gut still said she wouldn’t be ready for the majors for another year. Alexander liked what he was seeing with Ben Hale and sent him an invitation to the Valkyrie Bootcamp. He would like a closer look at the young racer. He also sent out a feeler to Miller Motor Racing’s test pilot Tocho Lister. Alexander had caught some footage of his previous racing before he became MMR’s test pilot. He was interested in untapped talent. Jenny Lowry was not the only pilot out there with talent looking for the right team. Maybe Lister would be a good fit for Valkyrie. Alexander had a few places he could use him. He smiled as he sent the email.

Alexander: “Hello Tocho Lister. This is Alexander Knight with Team Valkyrie AGR Sport. I would like to extend an invitation to come to Team Valkyrie’s campus for a meeting. I have a job proposal I would like to discuss with you. You have my contact information. I hope to hear from you soon.”

Alexander smiled and leaned back in his chair. That cleared most of his must get done list. He would just have to interview folks and wait and see if he would have to keep searching. Mabel came in and caught him deep in thought as his back was to the door. He was staring out his window looking out over the campus. She looked amused as she took a seat in front of his desk and waited for him to notice her.

Mable laughed as Alexander startled as he turned his chair around from looking out the window to see her sitting at his desk. He gave a girlish yeep. It took Mabel a moment to compose her and even then the giggles kept breaking through. Alexander blushed in embarrassment.

Alexander gave Mabel a wry expression as he put his face into the palm of his hand.

Alexander: “Laugh it up, chuckles.”

Mabel smiled at him as her eyes twinkled in a look of mischief he knew all too well.

Mabel: “Don’t forget to eat lunch today before it becomes dinner like you did yesterday!”

Alexander rolled his eyes and nodded. Mabel was always trying to take care of him and mother him. It annoyed him even as he found it endearing.

Alexander smirked as he replied. “Yes Grandma.”

Mabel just nodded and gave him an approving look. Alexander’s eyes narrowed a little as he realized she was using positive reinforcement to get him to pay attention to his personal needs. Was she? He couldn’t quite tell but he was suspicious.

Mabel smiled at him. “I have already booked the team’s shuttle for your visit to Los Angeles to see Arianna. I have already notified Wulfric that he will need to notify your security team about the travel.”

Alexander hated the necessity of having a security team but he had to admit he needed one these days. He was once more recognizable and a target for the press hounds and opportunists. He nodded at Mabel.

Alexander: “Thanks Mabel. Be on the lookout to make travel arrangements for Ben Hale, Sami Lipponen, and Tocho Lister. I will let you know the details when I hear back from them.”

Mabel nodded with a smile. “I will have it ready in case. Now take yourself off to lunch or have Chef Jacques send a waitress with a tray.”

Alexander laughed and nodded. He rose to his feet and followed her out.

Friendship

Jen hugged back, screaming with joy, happy to see her old friend come by. Bea was always a ball of energy, and the day they'd talked about for years had finally happened. Nobody expected Jen to be the first of the two up there, but here she was.

"Amazing! Oh my god, it's the best thing! I mean, wasn't expecting it but yeah, this is surreal!" Jen replied back, giggling with the energy back, letting Bea lead her on, towards where the cameras were, the two captured together.

"Oh, I don't even know where I'll put it.....definitely over the fireplace, me mam and dad would be so proud!" Her honesty bled through, as she grinned, playing back with Bea.

"Soon you'll get one too, eh?" She beamed, grinning, before breaking away, the cameras beckoning her, and in for her interview, going ahead and off in front.

---

Halfway Point

Back in the studio, the three hosts of Delta Hyper sat around the table, the background of the circuit and the fans slowly peeling away, as the trophy lift was made.

"Wow, what amazing scenes we're seeing today. Rosie, how did you find that?"

"Yeah, what a rollercoaster. Zygon's disqualification, a last minute dash from Jen Lowry into what we thought was fifth, Amy's crack under pressure. You just can't predict it, can you?" Rosie replied, as

"No doubt, and well, Paul Mulder getting his first that way, even in spite of it will feel earned. What a result, and he is beaming." Rory added, the other pundit picking this up.

"Certainly, and no doubt, we are likely to see plenty more from him in the future, as Valkyrie begin to stabilise. With the crash of both Silver Apex ships, Owen Keating at Southern Cross must be gleeful too?" Rory asked Rosie, as the chirpy presenter took a moment to think, in pundit terms.

"Of course, but it still could be anyone's season, and halfway, the gap is more than closable. There is a lot to play for, and Silver Apex seeing their success must have decided enough is enough. A rare crash from Amy is one thing, but Jamie was definitely at fault there. It has to be said, his crash was silly, but he was making good moves to go up the grid. What a shame, because somewhere in there is a good AG racer, but is it just that second seat at Silver Apex, Rory?"

"Perhaps, but we shall see what comes of the rumours. Aurora, what did you think about Jen Lowry's progress up the grid?"

"Outstanding! Just wow, and well, with all that talk, I do wonder if the rumours are true...."

"Ah, you know how these things go! I'm signing for Apex next!" Rory quipped, the crew laughing, a rare break in the ice, as Aurora turned to the camera, knowing it was about time to wrap this up.

"Well, sadly for our audience at home, and perhaps thankfully for the pilots, crews, and the engineering staff, Formula AG enjoys a summer break, but don't be gone too long as we'll host a summer special. Thank you for watching, and we'll see you in Belgium for some more high-octane, incredible AG racing!"

Soundtrack: NOISY- Young Dumb

The ending sequence played, and with it, from rainy qualifying to the race, the smash between Amy and the wall, Harrison, Max and Layla, Kais and Jamie, Dorian and Ulrich merging into one, followed by some of the more ballsy overtakes Jen was making, the agony, the ecstasy, the feeling of coming out on top, and the feeling of clambering out of a damaged, broken ship. Canada had it all.

---

The media was abuzz with the news of what was going down.

Because at Silver Apex, Jenny was announced, and within a few days, getting operated on. And what you knew as Jenny Lowry was being changed for something compeletely different. Ready for the top level, not the bottom. In the test tube went, and out of the end came someone who was not going a half measure. She'd want to catch up with Bea at some point, that was what the summer was for after all, but the team had kept her in and away from the media to hype anything up. She'd want to do her talking on the track, and she knew the challenge ahead was monumental.

But with new arms, legs, a reinforced spine, a neural link that blew her old ones out of the water and eyes, even going for a run felt like she just had more spring to her than she'd ever had. All AG pilots were top level specimens, but now, she was beginning to get it. And between the physical work, recovery, training and briefings behind the scenes, the feeling was clear. They had to take back the title from Southern Cross.

At Southern Cross, more media in the Southern Hemisphere winter, Harrison getting to shred down the slopes in The Remarkables outside of Queenstown, New Zealand on what was effectively, the team's winter bash at a privately hired ski resort. Apres-ski courtesy of drinks from End of the World Brewing, and the media was let in to enjoy it all. A breather after what was an explosive season. And while developing the ship was important, thanking the team that had worked their asses off to get them here was seen as a rather valuable thing. It made Southern Cross a good place to work, and the snow-filled mountains outside of Queenstown were blowing any corporate event out of the water. Because beyond that, the team was on schedule, and the next upgrades were still on track to keep them where they wanted to be. The team thrived on that attention, it brought in the sponsor money, and it kept them afloat. At the cost of maybe their original intent? Sure, but winning came with compromise.

Zygon had kept a lot of people in, and it was virtually a polar opposite. The quiet hum of techs working overtime, and the advances that Zygon had committed to earlier in the season leaping forward. A mandatory break felt like a let off, because the air was that they had to have something now that would at least give them an edge, right?

Fitzroy were sadly taking down most of their signage, the internals left as they were, but it was the end of an era. Maxwell even visited the factory, shook hands with Sally Morrigan, Team Principal, and in an almost dead silence, left it behind. Despite the success of Fitzroy Orbital, he wanted distance between this, and his son's hobby was just not going to be affordable. Henry knew that as well as anyone, and there was no love lost between him and the team, because in the end, they now had nothing left. A strange feeling to go on holiday, knowing you'd come back working for someone else, and something else.

As for Carrera, Valkyrie, Al-Saqr? Well, that's best left to their direction.

---

DELTΔ HYPER

Summer Break Special Episode

Aurora stood by the AR-enabled backdrop, this episode of Delta Hyper a little different to others. The typically chirpy Irish presenter was alone on this one, as most of the footage was archive, or at least, of current events.

"Hi all, and welcome to our Summer Break Special, and while we wait for some racing, plenty has been on the horizon in the background. Shall we see how we got here?"

And with it, a review of the season so far played out.

Soundtrack: Queens of the Stone Age- No One Knows

The initial race in Auckland, inclusive of Ulrich's crash, tight fighting between rookies and old racers respectively, and the group photo of all the pilots, in one place, at the start of it all.

The massive hit by Bea and Kais, and what ensued in the dramatic race in Cape Town with the rookies fighting it out and going toe to toe on the high-speed, high volume of scenery Lion's Head and Table Mountain.

Kais coming back to take victory in Japan, in the pouring rain with the backdrop of the evening sky of Tokyo beyond, and ships skirting around the tunnels and harbourside vistas of Tokyo.

Nora taking victory in Italy, roaring through the ice, fist pumped.

Cassie's 2nd place finish in Portugal, clashed against the fight between Paul and Amy, and the fiery mess of Ava's Carrera ship.

The crash on Luna, and the picture of Ava by Nora's side in their respective pilot suits, by their two stricken ships, with the Earth in the background.

Dorian getting carried by his Valkyrie team after a decisive victory in Monaco.

The slice through the grid Bea on the final lap at Silverstone and the big hit between Cassie and Paul.

And last but not least, the massive clatter of Amy Stirling into the wall in Canada, smacking an end to the montage with a cut to black, with Paul on the podium and Jenny Lowry enjoying her podium finish too, and Fitzroy Orbital enjoying ending on an absolute high.

If you didn't believe in Formula AG producing absolute cinema, you probably did now. All generated from the rolls of the dice, the dreams of the engineers, pilots and technical staff that made it all possible.

---

Season Review: The Teams

Aurora sat by the sofa again, footage running back over the season. Every highlight, but this time, tailored to each team.

The reels played, running through highlights of each team. A nice time to recap, if ever there was one.

"Southern Cross are in the lead of the championship, and well, what a season they've had. The plucky underdogs from New Zealand are no underdogs anymore, they seem a bona-fide force in Formula AG, and with a refurbished factory, a fan-favourite heritage and a ship that seems to flicker between untameable and unbeatable, we're seeing a team look like they will finish what they started last year. And what about Nora Kelly, the rookie who has come from nowhere, literally from the underground scene of the Outback to become a genuine world-title contender, in her very first season! The team of Kelly and the established Harrison Makara seem to be making that ship work, but with changes elsewhere on the grid, will they keep their reach on top of the championship?. Rumours abound that the partnership between the two is strained under their pressure. Chasing Stirling down for the pilots' title, one has to ask- when will tensions boil over?"

"Silver Apex have undergone lots of change, and with a ship struggling for control, they turn to Jenny Lowry, who with a Fitzroy Orbital ship has put the backmarker in places it never could have gone. Clearly the ship has potential, but with such a thin operating window, many are wondering what it takes to get the most out of it and in the right hands, put the Silverstone-based team back to the top. Many are asking- will Lowry break the curse of the second seat, or is she doomed to repeat the mistakes of her predecessor?"

"Al-Saqr are living up to their reputation as a dark horse this season, and haven't shaken that reputation as willing to cause an upset. The ship looks even more untamed than Southern Cross's, and many are wondering how on earth they are making it controllable, but many are assuming that the Arabian Union's willingness for biotechnology has provided a much needed edge. Either way, Kais Zenix has come out swinging this season despite his rookie position, and while the Egyptian may not be the most media friendly, no pilot underestimates him on the grid, despite his inconsistent results. Will we see him and Layla challenge the top two, and even make a dash for the Constructors title this year?"

"Valkyrie have been mired in scandals, and the appointment of Alexander Knight has revealed just how deep the rot has gone at the famous European superteam. Yet in spite of all the setbacks, Valkyrie have won two races this season, both in Monaco and Canada, and Paul Mulder is showing he has his father's talent. The feel good is back at Valkyrie after an incredibly rough start to the season, not helped by losing their Chief Engineer, and renowned ship designer, Felix Burkhart. Many are asking- what happens when Dorian Hornfleur retires, and what does the future hold for the Aachen-based outfit, who certainly know they will be put under pressure by the rest of the midfield?"

"Zygon hasn't had the best start to their season, after last year's difficulties in ship development, they seem to have failed to find their feet. Illegal parts in Canada took the shine off what was an up to then, high level of performance from the Seoul-base team, and it hasn't been much better behind the scenes. Cassie Neves has clearly shown sparks of talent, but the fit seems to not be there for the Scottish-Portguese pilot. Han-Hyeon Ae seems to flicker with similar consistency, and one has to ask- how long can Zygon accept such results, while avoiding scandals such as the illegal chassis modifications found in Canada? It seems like their pilots are delivering, but when will their ship and team?"

"What a journey it has been for Carrera Condor. The team's rise has been meteoric, and many put that down to Beatrix Ward and Pridwen's sponsorship of the team, capitalising on a ship platform that seems rooted on a turbulent, shaky platform that she seems to relish. Ava Villarosa, who many thought would put the ship in points-paying positions has struggled in recent races, perhaps her conservative approach contrasting against the ship's increasingly volatile feeling. Yet internal expectations are increasing for the Buenos Aires-based outfit as they take on a new lead designer, and the ultra-competitive midfield will be a tough fight against bigger, established teams that are seeking to bounce back. With major upgrades planned, Carrera seek to put it all on the line and cement their place out of the bottom of the grid- but will their pilots be able to keep putting it there, and deliver against the odds?

"Nordic Call have sadly underperformed this season, after what Erin Becker called "a bad development platform" just didn't yield any results this year. A typically high-grip, high ELS-designed ship just hasn't found either mark, and their retention of Bjorn Waldgard seems to be hurting them when they have the performance to deliver. Despite promise with Astrid Thorsdottir's podium in Japan, nearly repeating it again in Monaco before an unfortunate crash, the team's been in a slump, unable to match the upgrades from their competitors, and one has to wonder if they are looking to next year to make a resurgence, and get back on track.

"SuperCat, currently with points only scored by their Kofi Mensah trail the pack, but many are wondering where the team is going given Kofi is retiring this year. Despite being a new team, is there any fresh energy that will come in to give them a boost into the season? Even with a tech-sharing agreement with Al-Saqr, rumours abound that SuperCat's new addition to the grid is already in trouble, and they seek investment to revive what was a promising programme into a force in the midfield."

"Fitzroy Orbital seemed to be dead last. Yet Jen Lowry, who has stunned us after a rather bland first season in AG has come out swinging, in spite of her second pilot position in Fitzroy. However, we'll return to them later this programme, as they have an exciting announcement to make in collaboration with Delta Hyper."

---

FIAR and Season Event Updates

"At the most recent FIAR meeting in Nagoya, Japan a series of regulatory changes have been proposed. To streamline the ladder of anti-gravity racing ships, Formula AG and its affiliates are set to use the same platform that the FIA's WRC and Raid series have taken on, with the use of class systems. Formula AG would be designated as AG1 Class, whilst Junior AG, and the regional series below it would be designated as AG2 and AG3 respectively. Discussions are ongoing for such a designation to launch next year, creating a new category of ship that will replace conventional Formula series, creating a group of budget friendly regional series."

"Other discussions also surround the proposed ship designs for 2096, where rumours abound surrounding a more advanced version of ELS, the reintroduction of nanite self-healing repair systems on the ships, a redesigned chassis permitting dual-hulled and more exotic designs, and enhanced agility through more complex aerodynamic feedbacks. Of note, there are leaks outlining the use of energy-based weaponry, making ELS systems able to disable entire ships forthright. Senior figures within Formula AG have denied this, but many expect FIAR will not be keen to advance any proposals to enhance the competitiveness of pilots, many of whom are ardently against such systems."

"On event news, the recent eruption at Moa Therma in Rwanda has ruled out the possibility of the event taking place next month, with critical infrastructure being wiped out and the facility being evacuated in the light of safety concerns. A proposed replacement at Coalescence Geothermal's circuit at the inactive Moa Tempest facility in Hawaii has been tabled, and FIAR are looking at the technical specification of the track. The use of the circuit used between 2081 and 2087 would be a departure from our usual trip to Africa, and would represent a third visit to Oceania this season.

"The track is a pilot favourite, and rumours suggest the circuit is being reactivated using the same technology as we saw in Italy earlier this year, albeit the location on the densely forested Hualālai Volcano will make it difficult to say how far we'll have the fast, flowing sectors of the Marmolada circuit. An announcement is due on the weekend of the Belgian AGP."

"Similar concerns have been raised over the United States AGP, with rumours swirling that the race will be relocated due to a clash with the Classic Anti-Gravity racing festival, though discussions are uncertain on where, or when a replacement would come in. Discussions have been made around a race in Las Vegas, akin to the tumultuous 2085 Vegas AGP, or the historic Olympic Mountain Racecourse near Seattle, which hosted races between 2079 and 2084 as the second AG race in the United States. No confirmation has been made yet, but watch this space."

"For the 2095 season, more discussions are taking place around where the Formula AG series will head. One of note is the German AGP being dropped, in favour of a new street race in Reykjavik, Iceland, using the old airport and inner city highways. The addition of another event, in Yucatan Rainforest of Mexico has also been proposed by the FAS as an additional nature-focussed race, but doubts exist of where it might fit in the calendar that is already pushing pilots, teams and crews all across the globe and beyond. While rumours abound of a second extra-Sol trip to Mars, FIAR event organisation has hinted that currently, no spot on the calendar exists that could manage the logistical challenge." Aurora's V/O carried over the footage, covering historic races there, and feeling like a blur through the past, as well as the stories in view.

---

The New Team on the Block

"Lastly, we have one particular feature to show you."

And with a cut to black, the pre-recorded VO started.

"James Horton, Sally Morrigan welcome to Delta Hyper. So, now we're finally ready to talk the much-talked about replacement to Fitzroy Orbital AG Racing, and as the former COO on the Fitzroy board and current Team Principal, you both know this so well." Aurora asked, sitting on the couch, with a black quilt behind, covering something up.

"Thank you Aurora. I've come from a background at working at Silver Apex, McLaren, and Valkyrie, so the core of our team is excited for the next step. And I think I speak for everyone that it has been quite a while under wraps." Sally started, nodding to James, who took over from there.

"It's so hard these days when there's so much going on, and we know that at home we've been unable to talk much about it. But we have a ship to introduce. And new team name."

"Shall we get to it? James, Sally, we have the ship behind you. A little different than the start of season introduction, would you like to show us what you've been up to?" The keen Irish presenter asked, as James nodded back.

"With pleasure, Aurora."

And with it, played in the montage. One that felt a little cut and filler, from pilot training, digital renders, racing highlights, and the history of the Fitzroy team, up to now.

But at the end, one name popped up.

NOVA.

=====================

NOVA

Back in the studio, Sally and James looked like proud parents, if ever they had anything to show, it was about now as James stood by the curtain, looking with a beam to camera.

"We're proud to introduce NOVA Racing to you at last. And here is our NVR-94, our love letter to British Racing Green, and our next chapter as Nova Racing."

And with it, James stood up, the lighting in the studio shifting a little, the blackened out patch turning into a bloom of yellow, green and white light.

The ship was a very different canvas to the old Fitzroy white, black and red, this time adorned with a colour pallet of a deep, nanorefractive pearlescent green tinged with a tiny amount of rose-gold in the reflection, with a secondary flair of fluorescent yellow, bordering on green to create a high contrast. A ship with plenty of minimalist-maximalist art in the digital-like barcode and symbolistic-style art and triangles that adorned it outside of sponsor logos, and every part of it screamed attention. This wasn't a just a classy Aston Martin style livery hailing back to British Racing Green, it felt bold, with triangular-like connections in the yellow secondary paint, and a feeling of it being glaring and designed to pop with the yellow. Some might say it almost ripped off the 2022 Aston Martin, but the yellow seemed to be much more prominent, and glaring in the design, with grey used for trim and carbon on the ship.

The sponsors reflected that outlandish approach- the largest being Polynetix, with smaller ones including Sakura, ALPHAR, VIXN and Orchard Capital. From a British neural link firm, a Japanese supercapacitor company, a Dutch land remediation firm, a Spanish techwear clothing firm (with the most outlandish looking logo of them all), and lastly, a large British financial firm (whose logo seemed the most ordinary, even if it was a SoftBank affiliate) in the respective order, this was a ship that bled a different identity to the Fitzroy one that had been an advertising banner in seasons past. Fitzroy Orbtial had a small advertising space, but by every intent, this was a different team, a different mindset, not a complete break, but a new start. Toyota snuck in their logo on the ship's nose, reminding everyone this was right now a team in transition, but no less, a team that was backed by a factory.

Aurora looked over it, the ship a clear reskin of Fitzroy's old ship, but when you had a new brand to launch, all eyes were drawn.
"Wow, quite a different look! A different colour, and yes, very green! So, James, where would you say your plans lie with the team?"

"Hah, well, we want to win, Aurora! This year we're staying put in Sheffield, but next year, we're relocating the majority of operations to Sapporo in Hokkaido, Japan. Working with the talented team at Toyota, who have kindly helped us put together a new programme, we're using both our bases to build the best crew possible to compete for titles. We'll be bringing our British heritage forward into a Japanese environment that will bring their passion for motorsport into everything we do and build. We'll disrupt the field this year, but next year, we'll be gunning for the top of midfield."

"And what about your replacement pilot for the recently departed Jen Lowry?" Aurora asked, as if on script, James giving a grin in return.

"Well, we thought you may ask that. Our magnificent ships are only as good as our pilots flying them! Shall we introduce her, Sally?" James asked, as Sally grinned, nodding in return, both looking to Aurora who eyed up the shift of the set behind. The whizz of the motor could be heard of the stage moving, And with a wave, even Aurora was blown away, in shock.

The orchestrally mixed electronic music built, the crescendo hitting, as the smoke broke away, and blasted aside to reveal a pilot in the brand new dark green pilot's suit, helmet in hand.

And more to the point, how in the hell had they got her? Aurora jumped in on that first.

========

Return of the Mack

"Florence Mason, wow, welcome to Formula AG again! Wow, what a comeback for the ages!" James and Sally couldn't stop smiling, as they nodded, looking across, all standing in front of their new ship, in the new green hue of the lights. The brown-haired, lightly Scots pilot was not someone anyone would have put bets on. Max Wedgewood, Kofi Mensah, even Jamie Hart, but this? This was actually bonkers.

"Thank you, Aurora! Well, I keep getting involved, don't I? Well, when I heard about the opportunity, one last dance in Formula AG....well, let's just say never say never! I guess I heard about the project and once they took me through it, I thought wouldn't it be fun to try and rise through the ranks again with a team that's got so much spark?" Florence replied, grinning ear to ear, as Sally nodded, looking across, a beam on her face too.

"Yeah, we're super proud to have Florence on board, she has championship-winning experience, and while many bigger teams than us were looking at her, our project at NOVA is to get to the front of the grid. That starts with a champion mentality, and Florence is with us until the end of next season to get us a ship that will perform over the odds. It will be a challenge, but Florence is super keen on us, and is already a foundation member of our team's board." Sally added, as Aurora looked in awe, simply in shock that NOVA had pulled this off.

This was possibly one of the best concealed rumours on the grid- something to which nobody would have ever seen coming. Some would have said Silver Apex would have gone for their technical advisor back in the seat next to Amy- it felt so obvious, even Valkyrie's second seat would have been obvious as a pick, and Florence had quit AG to raise her child a couple years back. Something had clearly changed. Some discussion to get back a recent legend in the sport, and there was no doubt now as to what NOVA's aims were, and given she had a board position, this was clearly one that had her pegged in to invest into the team's success.

Florence must have received a hell of a lot of money too, but then again, having a massive hedge fund backing your team made writing a cheque that could make a big signing was a way to go. After all, setting up an AG team required a lot of money, and the mid-season pick of pilots was either pinching from other teams, the Junior leagues, or well, something braver. And this was a brave choice.

"Wow, what a statement signing. But that isn't all, is it?" Aurora asked, knowing that the other pilot was missing. Henry wasn't here.

"Well....we do have another pilot to introduce. Shall we, James?" Sally smiled, as James nodded, and the stage directors replied in turn.

And as the wall peeled back again, the smoke revealed another pilot that popped out, hand raised to virtual audience.

===========================

Ben Hale.

If there was ever a time as another team boss, or pilot in AG to be staring at your screen, it might be now. This was the sort of move that transfer legend was made of. How in the actual fuck had they managed to do this? The worst team on the grid, going through a total rebrand, the kind of thing that took a long time to get right, had gone and gotten two of Silver Apex's best supporting talent? This wasn't a lineup that was just good, this was a lineup you could win championships with if the ship could give enough.

"Ben Hale, welcome to Formula AG as a NOVA Racing pilot! After a statement of dominance in the season earlier this season, wow, how are you feeling?"

"Yeah, thanks Aurora, yeah same, it's just mad ennit? It's all happened so fast, but when I heard the movement on the grid, and the plans here, it all just made sense. While I'm gutted I won't be able to go for the championship title in Junior AG, seats on the grid come up so rare, and with Florence always backing me back at Silver Apex, yeah, it made sense to follow my mentor here and join her. I'm super excited for what's to come, and well, looking forward to getting started." Ben's voice was one of confidence, the half-Welsh, half-London accent now the youngest pilot on the grid.

"What a pair of signings! Sally, did it all come together easy?"

"Well, with movement in the season, and our good connections at Silver Apex, a lot of things changed and we weren't sure until yesterday! Ben is here on his merits, and we decided with a change in management, we'd make a change in the team too, so with Florence coming over, Ben was a natural fit to provide a young prodigy and a storied champion with the best environment to settle in. We're brave, and we're not just thinking about the experience in our team, but the new generation of talent. We're here to make that statement." Sally spoke with words that didn't sound affiliated with the worst team on the grid, by far, but given she'd been in AG long enough to know her way around, it seemed like she was speaking in spite of everything Fitzroy had been through.

The terrible facility, the outdated infrastructure, poor morale, results, everything, it seemed like a fairy tale come true that a team like this had a revival.

"And what a statement. What do we expect to see this season, Sally?" Aurora asked, as Sally nodded in turn, the 50-something Team Principal aware she had the pragmatism of racing down a little more than James did, the hype-man who had got all the money in for this.

"Well as we said earlier, we want to be competitive. And we have upgrades already planned, some from our time as Fitzroy, but our new backers, particularly Toyota and Orchard Capital have been massively supportive at getting us up and running, the former's junior AG involvement making a perfect platform to leap into what we do. So many smaller teams have punched above their weight, and with our amazing team, support, personnel, and most of all, our brilliant pilots, we hope we'll find an edge of our own."

Aurora looked to the camera, astonished even herself, finding words.

"Well, what a launch this has been. A new team in Formula AG, with a bona-fide legend of the grid and one of its most promising juniors in years joining, with a striking new livery and a new partnership we can't wait to see what Nova Racing acomplishes. Sally and James, Florence and Ben, thank you for joining me!" The four-piece Nova team smiled, nodding in return.

"Thanks Aurora, and yeah, keep it NOVA, we'll see you in Belgium!"

===================================

With that, the cut finished, going back to the studio where Aurora stood among the displays, playing out the season up until now.

"Wow, what a launch that has been. We hope you've enjoyed our Summer Special, We'll see you at Spa-Francochamps, where I am sure the headlines will run riot as we see NOVA Racing join us, Florence Mason return to the grid and Ben Hale join the grid as the newest rookie. We are in for a treat. See you then!"

And with that, the programme ended, just like that, Formula AG went back to enjoying a break that it wouldn't be getting again until December.

---

In the season break, activities ended in the factories to give the staff and teams a well-earned break, and while NOVA had an exemption for staff reallocation and media activities, the others would be off. This meant for most, this was an actual bit of spare time to spend with family, friends, a chance to catch up on other ventures, and a chance to get recentred before heading to the Ardennes.

---

---

Double Stint

---

”Good morning, evening, afternoon or whatever it is wherever you’re joining us from for episode 179.” A tall blonde woman spoke in Irish-accented English, adjusting the old-fashioned studio mic hanging from the ceiling in front of her.
”We’re back, even if the racing isn’t yet!” What looked like her male version from a mirror dimension piped up with a heavy German accent.
”And we’ve got some big updates to cover here. As always, I’m joined by my lovely brother Gerhard.” She pointed to him, her hand disappearing from her camera window and appearing from off screen in Gerhard’s.
”And I by my amazing twin sister Ingrid,” He mimicked the same gesture, ”And welcome to the Double Stint.” They both said at once.
”Like Ingrid said, we have a lot to cover on today’s episode, but even before we get to that, we gotta introduce our guests, don’t we?”
”Absolutely! We’ve had big names on here before. We had Max Wedgewood, Ben Hale and even Felix Burkhart, and today the list is joined by Bea Ward and her race engineer, Alistair Vale!”
The guest cameras appeared on screen. Alistair’s backdrop was the Buenos Aires skyline, but he was clearly still off duty if his ‘House of the Dying Sun’ TV Show t-shirt was anything to go by. ”Greetings.”
Bea was recovering at home, a strip of gauze infused with a regenerative gel taped over where she’d been cut open sticking up from underneath her t-shirt. ”Helooo!” She waved, trying to remain her usual self despite the fatigue, painkillers and the fact that despite them, breathing still hurt where the ribs had been split to give Ivan room to work.
”Thank you both so much for making time to join us today. How are you spending your last days of the mandatory off time? Must be nice to switch off properly for the first time since…”
”Between Italy and Portugal?” Gerhard quickly filled in.
”Yeah, it’s been great. Finally had time to go back to Greece with my wife again. It’s absolutely amazing this time of year.”
”Enjoying the food?”
”Aye, I’m overfished like the North Sea.”
”Plus he’s glad to be rid of me for four weeks straight. Enjoying the quiet.” Bea giggled.
”That too.” Alistair smiled in response.
”And what about you, Bea? You’re obviously not vacationing, I trust you’re coming along well?”
”i knew what I was getting into, but yea, it’s a process.” She shrugged, trying to play it off. ”It’s better than last time, there were some advancements in painkillers since, these ones I can drink with and they don’t taste like the North end of a Southbound goat.”
The three sets of laughter coming out of disgusted faces were a mark of success.
”I saw your art contest stream last Saturday, you already look so much better than then.”
”Thank you. Did you send anything in? I know you draw.”
Ingrid’s brain momentarily stalled when a racing driver casually dropped being aware of her hobbies. ”I- I did, but didn’t win anything.”
”Really? Tell you what: Since I still can’t do most of my hobbies, you’re pretty much saving me from going stir-crazy, which calls for something given in return. Why don’t you two pick whatever you like from the gallery and I’ll bring them to Nürburgring.” Bea offered as casually as if she was suggesting she pay for your bus ticket, ”You’re both going, right?”
”I- ja, we are. Wow, danke shön!” Ingrid briefly slipped into her native German, Gerhard looking absolutely ecstatic over his sister’s joy.
”Don’t mention it.”

”Shall we move on to the news?”
”Yes, we’ve got a lot from FIAR as well as from some teams.” Ingrid recovered some traction.
”Including yours. You teased some upgrades after Canada, what can you tell us?”
”Yes! All we got from Carrera Condor was the Cerro Fitzroy outing with you, Ava and some press.”
”Yeah, Ava definitely would have preferred no press,” Alistair said, himself having been in the same boat while he was racing. ”But then it wouldn’t have been worth much as a PR activity for the team’s sponsors.”
”It’s fine, we kept their presence to a minimum and I have a deal with her since Monaco: Every time the PR attention is starting to annoy her too much, all she has to do is work ‘orange juice’ into a sentence so I know to pull them away.”
”You’ll have to change your code word now.” Alistair noted.
”Maybe now no one will ever be sure if Ava isn’t speaking in code and will not brother her in the first place?” Gerhard suggested, earning laughs from around the figurative table, Bea having to cut herself off when her ribs protested.
”Oh yeah, that would be her ideal world.”
”I’m working on her. Socializing introverts is difficult.” Bea chuckled. ”She’ll be here the next time you send an invitation over.
But back to the upgrades, you’ll have to wait until Monday 26th.” Bea shook her head.
”Alright, we can wait a little longer.” Gerhard nodded, not looking too happy about it.

”Moving on, I think the biggest announcement made by FIAR was the mention of possibly adding ship-disabling weaponry-”
”If that goes through, I’m out the door.” Bea interrupted Gerhard, pointing behind herself with her thumb, ”I hear Rallycross is fun this time of the century, hillclimb is also up my street, I got a taste at Pikes Peak in June and I’m hoping to get a shot at the 24 hours of Le Mans next year, so that could be an option. If you want a contest of screwing each other over regardless of actual performance or talent, have fun, but I’m here to race.”
”The other changes are a double-edged sword, as any loosening of regulations gives more room for varied designs, but inevitably one or two teams will find what works significantly better than the rest, and they will dominate until the other teams change their ships to catch up and we end once again with no variety.” Alistair offered a more measured opinion, ”Great if we’re the ones who got it right, awful otherwise.”
”But points for the onboard nanite repair system.” Bea piped up with an unquestionable positive.
”Agreed.” Alistair nodded, ”It’s a proven system that salvaged several of my races in the past, I still don’t know why FIAR ever got rid of it beyond cost.”

”On the topic of races you took part in, Alistair,” Ingrid moved on to the next point, ”I think it’s safe to say we’re all relieved no one was injured, but devastated to hear Moa Therma got cancelled.”
Nodding all around.
”But the replacement circuit I seem to recall being one of your all time favorites, right?”
”Aye, Coalescence is an amazing track, with characteristics that could benefit us if they keep the same layout.”
”I will take a trip to Hawaii instead. That’s my mum’s home, and since I’ve never been despite that, I’m looking forward to that. Diving gear’s already packed.” Bea added her own bit, having been looking forward to Rwanda. ”And a possible race in Iceland? Yes please! But I would replace Monaco, not Nürburgring. And don’t give me the ‘tradition’ excuse, Nürburgring has just as much history, is an actual race track and any history people ever talk about in relation to Monaco is F1, not FA.” She went on, earning a roughly 70-30 split of approving and disapproving emojis in the stream’s chat and cheers and applause from both Germans present. ”One of us. One. Of. us.” They both chanted, a decent amount of the approving chatters joining in.
”And while still on the topic of schedule changes, your thoughts on the FAS AGP change?”
”I would love the replacement to be Sebring. I know it’s not set up for AG racing, but neither is Marmolada for 50 weeks in the year, right?” Bea asked rhetorically.
”As for Mexico, sounds great. Replace Singapore and it even fits the schedule as part of the South American leg.” She added, shrugging. It would also get rid of a track Carrera weren’t expecting to do well at.
”If it were up to me, I’d go to Laguna Seca instead. Also not AG rated unfortunately.” Alistair shared his two cents.

”Alright, I think we can’t put this off any longer,” Gerhard changed the topic again,”Because half the chat is screaming ‘NOVA’ in all caps.”
”I love the livery.” bea simply shrugged, green featuring in either her livery or helmet at any point in her motorsports career.
”Two of their prominent sponsors were connected to Carrera Condor after Monaco, weren¨t they?”
”Orchard and VIXN were working with us after Monaco, yes. Ultimately it fell through, unfortunately. They had some demands we couldn’t or didn’t want to meet.” Alistair shrugged.
”Yep, have you seen some of VIXN’s clothing?” Gerhard and Ingrid nodded, ”They’re not big enough, and there’s not enough of them to get me to wear that in public.” She grinned.
”Shame.” Gerhard shrugged, leading to Ingrid facepalming and Bea trying to give him a nasty look but breaking down laughing halfway. ”Ah, suppose a compliment’s a compliment. I’ll allow it.”
”Spekaing of sponsors seemingly changing sides, Tetracolor is being linked with Harrison now. Why did you turn them down, I expected that to be more up your alley?”
”Because their product is shite.” Bea fired off without a heartbeat’s pause, ”And I guess they knew they’re not getting me to endorse something I wouldn’t use if they paid me to do it when it’s a thing I know a thing or two about.”
”You ditched a sponsor over that?” Gerhard raised an eyebrow.
”What’s so wrong with their products?”
”The artist’s paints they offer take forever to dry compared to competing products and they seep into soft supports like paper or canvas so they’re unnecessarily hard to work with, their model paints also dry for a long time and cost almost twice what you can buy equivalent products for and the house paints I guess could be okay if they work as advertised.” Be counted on her fingers.
”How do you feel about Florence Mason coming back to race for NOVA?”
”Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso also came back after a hiatus, and neither won a thing. We’re not worried, not yet.” Alistair shook his head.
”What does worry me is a Silver Apex advisor and a Silver Apex junior now driving the biggest shitebox on the grid. Is this another VCARB situation, Silver Apex fielding four cars now? Is that what’s happening? Because that better not be what’s happening.” Bea suggested.

”Let’s hope not. That covers the AG news. Now, with apologies to Alistair, we also have a few questions for Bea about her ‘extracurricular activities’ at Pikes Peak and possibly elsewhere…” Ingrid closed that segment before moving on to the next…

---

The French waves lapped quietly against the hull of the Vernal Gale, like the sea singing a lullaby to the setting sun. Having fallen asleep on deck earlier that day and gotten sunburnt and a mild heatstroke as a result, Mrs. Ward had retired to the master cabin early and the elder of the Ward sisters wasn’t a night owl on the best of days, leaving just Bea and Frederick on the deck, gazing across the water at the old commune lit up in dozens of colored lights against the Eastern night sky.
”If I may, what got you so up in arms during that last round of meetings?” Fred asked. Since Bea was still technically in recovery from her surgery, she got dispensation to attend said meetings remotely much like the Monday debriefs, which allowed the Wards to extend their holiday and Frederick to see Bea looking like she wanted to punch something firsthand.
”They’re shifting the goalposts.” Bea took a sip of her brandy, bigger than usual. ”They’re now aiming for P5 in constructors’” She shook her head.
”You have doubts?”
”The only reason we’re even this close is because Cassie’s ship died in South Africa, Hyeon-Ae got punted in Italy and now the DSQ. If they hadn’t cheated and been shite, the idiots probably still would have gained on us.”
”Your ship also died in South Africa.”
”From P7 to nowhere, Cassie had trouble in qualy too so we got fucked. Next?”
”We also lost a big haul at Luna.”
”And they in Monaco.”
”Look on the bright side: Even with illegal ships, they still lost positions. Yes, we had a slow start, and it has been messy, but that is simply a fact of multinational collaborations. Zygon, on the other hand, can’t even cheat properly and one of their drivers looks ready to walk.”
”Hmm. Real bright.” Bea shifted on the deck couch, leaning back against her father and resting her head on his shoulder, ignoring the fact that on the back of her comatose revelation, she was tethering on the edge of walking out on the sport as a whole as well. ”Ava and I also sat in on the latest financial meeting. I don’t know how you and Eva deal with this. None of them have a damn clue! Investors this, CEO that,” Bea ranted on while subconsciously strangling an invisible chicken with her hands, having been stewing over this for over 12 hours now. ”Two hours before that, it was the engineering meeting. Reality check, know what Felix said? ‘Five plus years behind, on the level of civilian industries.’ His words! And I’m sitting there, essentially hearing ‘Do the improbable now so we can do the impossible tomorrow and make the investors happy,’ not a word or clue about how, just do it, who cares we’re a hundred years behind monkeys, and forcing myself to sit still and not throw a chair at them, because I’m halfway across the globe and for some reason, it’s illegal to throw chairs at stupid people!” She finally took a breath, ”At least I have the painkillers to fall back on as an excuse this time around, but Christ!”
”What do you mean ‘hundred years behind monkeys’?” The Ward patriarch aksed, surprised. ”Was the budget that small?”
”No. Apparently Ronaldo had been coasting on his past achievements and fell asleep on the laurels.” She spat more than said the previous Chief Technical Director’s name, ”No wonder he blew up like he did when León told him about Felix, I’d be mad too if someone just took away my free money trough...”
”I’ll speak to Alonso and Burkhart. If they have a handle on what the team’s missing the most, maybe we can help bridge that gap between seasons.”
She reached up and hugged his shoulders, whispering with a giggle. ”Best. Dad. Ever!”

---

The scene opened with Bea in a team polo, a pair of jeans and aviators from her sponsored line walking down a path in the Carrera Condor compound, a wide open pampa as the backdrop. ”Fair ladies and handsome gentlemen, welcome to the ranch again. As those of you who have seen last Saturday’s art stream have no doubt noticed, I no longer look and sound like I‘m dying.“ She pulled down on her collar slightly. Where seven days ago there had been a noticeable scar, now only unbroken skin remained. ”Now, what was the purpose of that medical procedure, you ask? Two things:
One, I now have fully artificial lungs that are designed to contract more than meat lungs can, including the alveoli. No, I definitely didn’t have to look up that word five minutes ago, why do you ask? Anyway, now I can get the damn breathing fluid out of my lungs in under a minute with no outside assistance, and the tiny bit that remains anyway is inconsequential because synthetic tissue doesn’t get inflamed. Yay for comfort! Side note, I am now also immune to pneumonia. Neat!
The second part is a series of ports around my torso for filling and draining body cavities with that same immersion liquid. In effect, I can now pull several hundred sustained Gs and feel like I’m sitting in my living room. What’s that?“ She held her hand up to her ear, ”Ah, just the centrifuge cursing my name. I’m not immune to crashes, it helps if the seat belts and survial cell do their job but if an object hits me going at mach fuck it’s still curtains, but forces don’t really bother me anymore. This is the final stage of liquid immersion, this is the stuff aerospace pilots were getting before being replaced by drones, the only thing that could pull more Gs than them were missiles.
But that’s not all that’s new!” She gave the camera finger guns before the scene cut away…

…and back to Bea, sitting inside the ship, the drone hovering over the open cockpit, looking down. ”The alert among you have noticed some buttons missing, most notably on the throttle stick.” She pointed out the redesigned ‘engine power controller,’ ”We’re no longer using seven buttons to manage the ELS system! It’s all in here now.” The drone turned to center her in the frame as she pointed to her head with both hands, an ancient meme briefly flashing over the screen before the shot cut once again, this time to Bea walking through a hallway.
”And it’s thanks to Sarif Industries that not only does our neural link now work faster, it does so without any modifications of our implants or the ship’s hardware. Progress!” She made a wide gesture with both hands mimicking another old meme, the rainbow and the word ‘progress’ actually appearing between her hands.
”Now, my education ends at F equals M times A, and on a good day I might remember what a Newton is.” She pulled out a piece of paper out of her pocket to read, the side facing the camera reading ‘In case of a not good day.’ ”Kilogram meter over second squared, so I have no idea how that is possible. It would be amazing if I had access to someone who knew how it works and could explain it in a clear and concise manner. Someone like Mike Howe, the head of Sarif Industries’ neurocontrol division.”
She reached a table and leaned against it, the camera panning to the other side to reveal - to the surprise of everyone whose IQ rivaled their shoe size - Mike Howe himself: A short, pale man one coat of bodypaint away from cosplaying a skeleton with a wrinkled shirt only tucked in on one side and a frosted tips haircut straight out of 1995 completing the look. ”Hi, Mike! Howe’s it going?”
“It’s goin’ great, thanks for askin’.” Mike replied with a notable Texan drawl.
”So, can you explain the magic?”
“To be as clear and concise as possible, the encodin’ algorithm - how the data is stored in the system - was really inefficient by today’s standards. Really, you guys were 15, 20 years behind the curve. Just by changin’ how it handles the data, we were able to up efficiency by almost 35%. More data in the same space, like goin’ from writin’ plain English to Shorthand. Speeds up information exchange between your head and the ship.”
”And that’s it, you did only that and the difference is night and day?”
“See, thing is, if your startin’ point is this low, a small hop can feel like the world high jump record.” He shrugged, “Next season, we’ll have Zygon and and Southern Cross green with envy from the word ‘go’ with what we’ll have time and budget for.”

Another cut, this time in the ship bay wearing a disposable cleansuit over her clothes. ”But wait! There’s more!” Bea turned around, the drone following to bring an engine on a stand into frame behind her. ”The Alicorn lives!” She shouted with excitement, gesturing toward the engine with both arms. ”Yes it took half a season, we, uhhh… We cooked a little too hard - literally - and it needed some time to simmer down. But it’s live now, thanks to the legend himself, the man with the plan, Felix Burkhart.” The German, much more put together under his cleansuit than the previous featured specialist, entered stage right.
”Hello.”
”This thing isn’t the only one you took one look at and went ‘How have none of you figured this out yet?’ What else have you done?”
”While I appreciate the compliment, I wish it were that easy.” Felix chuckled, ”Let’s start with the engine, I see you’re excited about that. To recapitulate, the problems with that lay in cooling it sufficiently during the race. In the state it was in when I joined the team, there would have been a 40% chance of a minor failure and a 15% chance of something like what happened to Ava in Portugal, every race. The engineers have done all they could with active cooling, but since the races are run on a set time, we put a thermal capacitor in the ship. You’ll notice a small hump on the bottom, under the engine. We added a tank containing wax, specifically polyethylene-based wax sourced from a nearby sugar cane farm.”
”Well now I’m definitely not escaping the sugar rush jokes.”
”Haha, probably not. Wax has high latent heat - the amount of energy required to change it from one state of matter to another, in our case melt it. Since we can’t dissipate the heat produced by the engine fast enough, we’ll store some of it in the wax and cool the ship down after the session is finished. It has added some weight, but the Alicorn will be more than enough to compensate.” Felix explained, pointing out key parts on a simplified diagram of the ship projected onto the wall behind him. ”The mounts are an intentional weak point, so in the event of a crash, the wax tank will break off. If it were to rupture while containing a liquid phase, it will do so away from the ship.
With increased funding given the team’s successes this season, we were finally able to transition from copper to silver wiring. In doing so, we have increased the efficiency of the energy system and saved some weight. Silver also offers less electrical resistance and higher thermal conductivity, meaning less heating, easier cooling and a more reliable system. This isn’t anything groundbreaking, we simply caught up. I’m honestly stunned by what the energy department has managed to do with what they were working with.” Technically speaking there was an issue with silver tarnishing, but that was something regular inspections could keep them well ahead of.
”No more budget builds?” Bea asked in jest.
”In a manner of speaking.” Felix nodded with a smile, ”Our last improvement concerns the AG unit. You’re looking at a complete overhaul of the flight control software handling it. No more just something that makes the ship float and protects you from g-forces and impacts, directional inputs will now make it pull the ship to one side or the other. This should eliminate the understeer drift, but we haven’t had time to implement the changes meant to make the ship more stable over uneven surface or through quick changes in direction.”
”All of that in this short time span?” Bea asked, genuinely giddy with the news. They fixed the problem she was struggling while retaining the one she could easily deal with. Ava was a lot less pleased by the order of things. ”What’s that you’re planning for the future?”
”In essence, rather than simply reacting to external stimuli, We plan to make it predict how the ship will be affected by turns or the surface under it and adjust accordingly, preempting the manual corrections you’re doing now.”

Last cut, Bea walking toward the simulator wearing her new racing limbs - A fullerene nanotube biopolymer composite, bright green wireframe shell with circular openings for maximum weight saving while retaining the toughness required to punch through the canopy if necessary - another benefit of the Sarif Industries partnership. ”And there you have it. A boatload of upgrades, right up my alley. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” She pointed over her shoulder to the simulator with the biggest, most dopey grin imaginable before turning around and running off toward it like a kid after an ice cream truck as the video faded to the outro screen.

---

A knock on the door heralded a rare visit at such an hour. His colleagues wouldn’t have knocked, so this was someone from outside the office. That made Lúcio Gallegos, the #18 team’s neural link specialist, swing his feet off the desk and silence the music - currently on a Brazilian rap rock track about brotherhood and working toward a common goal - blasting in his ears, removing his left ear bud to comply with the company policy.
”Hey, Lucho.” Bea greeted him as she poked her head around the door, a bit less chipper than she usually carried herself, but he chalked it up to it being late and after a cardio session. There was one area Ava had the younger driver beat with no sign of a change. ”Got a minute?”

Truth be told, Lúcio had been among those who bucked at Ward’s signing. He damn nearly quit over seeing homegrown talent get sidelined in such a way for an externist - not even someone from their own junior team - because of money after not even a year. Her being English was just icing on the carrot cake. He hated carrot cakes. But he soon had to admit the powers that be made the right choice. Japan and Italy would’ve been hard to argue against.

Alright, it also helped that she treated her whole side of the garage to a fancy dinner if they did well, and ‘doing well’ relative to what had been expected of them until this point was a frequent occurrence. In the last three months, that made five trips to a type establishment he’d only ever been to on his wedding and he didn’t even have to pay for the cab.

“Sure, what’s up?”
”I need a favor.” The rest of Bea appeared from behind the door, shutting it behind her. ”How far back do you keep neural link activity logs?”
“Still have Joaquin’s saved, why?”
”Are they in a format understandable by mortals, or do I need to go through you to know what I’m looking at?”
“You’ll get the gist of it, but you’d need either me or Nicol and Ivan to understand it fully. Why?” He demanded again.
”Could you get me copies of mine? Starting with Auckland.”
“I can, but what is this about?”
”Just an idea. Probably wrong, but I want to try to look at it myself before I take up anyone else’s time with it.” She explained, taking her hand out of her pocket for the first time since she entered the office and placing three pieces of wax paper on Lúcio’s desk. VIP tickets to the BattleTech World Cup finals in Vegas, one adult and two children’s. Of course she of all people would’ve clocked that he and his kids wanted to go off of social media.
“Done.” He nodded immediately, “Just races?”
”All of it.” She stressed, ”Race, qualy, practice, photo ops, any time it activated for even a fraction of a second.”
“O…kaaaay. Thorough, whatever it is you’re doing. Got a server you want it on?”
”Porton Dawn.”
“Done by breakfast.”
”Thank you.” She turned to leave, pausing in the door. ”Don’t stay up for too long, we’ll need you all sharp for Belgium. They won’t know what hit them.” She gave him a smile and a thumbs up before leaving.

---

---

---

"Wait. Our little thing is good....but word to the wise though.....if you are looking for answers to your past, and your questions, just ask who you're getting them for. Is it for Aswan, shaqīq? Finish what you started on the inside, what they stole from you? Or is it for her? Find what you can while they poke inside? Let's see, shall we....you'll need to be more than a fighter."

It went quick then, after that race. Amy, with that veiled threat, a whispered message over his neural link no-one else would hear, with that toothy grin of hers. Shaqiq, she called him. Brother. "Whatever it takes, huh?" Kais had said back, and he couldn't help but feel the whole thing be ominous more than anything. There they were, him and the two people he distrusted most on the podium, as if their ranking was fated. And with his victory came the defiant forefinger, up in the air, number one... But who was he kidding, thinking back, after that talk with Cassie. It had come as a shock. Not only had he been an expendable utility, he had been just a test number too. Number one? More like number minus-one.

After the champagne and confetti settled down, the three shared a very awkward photo moment. And as the flashes of the holography drones died down and their arms came off each others' shoulders, Kais turned to Han and offered her a hand. A proper one this time. Eyes only slightly more than slits, his mistrust would still have been clear on his face to anyone, especially to someone as tuned in as her. That, he didn't doubt.

"So... I always wanted to know: does Zygon own a patent for that smile for the cameras there too?" But there was also something else in his eyes, his voice. A scouting out of things. To see if this 'Han' was indeed a mask, or a shield, or a cage? Or perhaps, something more...? And Kais, surprising even himself, found himself curious. "For what it's worth, I was born with psychological control three cortical layers deep. Turns out living like that's just a way to go without anyone ever really seeing you." And as always the same echo went through his mind, of him, just prior to defeat at Final Storm. Tell me you're still in there... Swear to me... He noticed his eyes had drifted from hers, and he snapped back, tightening his grip. "Anyway, you held your ground today. And not just for the money shots, you did it where it counts. Good on you, P3. See you on the track..." It may not have been the highest of praise, that would be out of character, but it should do the job. Hopefully.

More than a fighter...

The Al-Saqr garage was abuzz with celebration. His race engineer Zeina actually spoke to him in person this time, Yasif bet half his salary on who would last longest in the dabke line (spoiler: it wasn't Kais, no matter how much Layla tried to push him into it). Bulk amounts of olive oil smothered rotating plates of hastily ordered mezze -no one quite expected this ending, no matter how much post-hoc parameter tuning Nadia did on her "what if" simulations. And Omar had once again started a speech with the usual flying and soaring, but it was cut off when their once-more star flier came on the holos. Farouk started a whoop, which soon died down as Aurora started her question.

"Kais Zenix, wow, truly a stunning win from you today! You and the ship look like you're in harmony, tell us more about how you led that race from the red flag? Yet the critics will ask- is this the Kais Zenix bringing the fire going to last, as Al-Saqr challenge Southern Cross and Silver Apex for the constructors?"

"Harmony's a nice word. But you'd be wrong. We have firepower. But our handling and stability aren't quite up to the level of other big-names here. And the only thing that trumps that is daring, sheer force of will. A ship like ours has to be made to listen, to perform, to soar." (this time it was Omar who whooped) "Luckily Al-Saqr has two pilots and a team who don't take it easy. That's what's going to give us a run for the constructors. And that's exactly what happened after the red flag. As for what the critics say?" He scoffed. "Who cares. At the end of the day, critics will be talking, and we will be racing. Whether we'll last? Stay tuned..."

Another cheer erupted, and unlike in Tokyo when she had spent most of her time in ice and check-ups, Layla was right there beside him, slapping his shoulders in celebration. And for the first time this season, the meteor actually seemed to light up a little.

Hours later, in the deep of night, overlooking the now-quiet racetrack. Kais leaned on the spectators' balcony rail. Around him, all was quiet save for the lone cleaner drone handler making his rounds. "Good job, son." Kais nodded. The Tokyo win felt like it was proof that he could amount to something. Silverstone was about crushing his opposition in no uncertain terms. And he did. And it felt good. Better than Tokyo, even. But he thought back to Luna, to every revelation up till now. And there was a tension lingering. and he wondered what was still to come.

---

A 'fun challenge' they said. It was a crash waiting to happen, Kais thought, though some of the crew there seemed happy with it. Then, a certain someone mouthed the words "Make it spicy." to him. And Kais had to agree. This may not have been his kind of fight. But fine. If they were going to play chef, he'd win that too. On his terms. The maid apron went on, and a sneaky smile crept over his face.

"Alright, divide and conquer. Layla, you're on curds, I'll handle the sauce. Let's get a move on."
"Ya Allah, yes chef! Such motivation"
Then he took something from his tray, turned to the camera and said, almost a whisper. "Secret ingredient. Nomad Nutrition Faux-Beef Stock Pot. 'When good isn't good enough'. All the great restaurants use it."
"Careful Kais, if you keep joking like that people are going to think you've got a heart after all."
"That's rich, coming from you. And who said I was joking?"
"I don't think you'd make a good beef sauce out of protein paste, Kais."
"I'm used to making rations taste good. You'll see. Now less talking, more cooking, what, you got something better to do?"
The cameraman zooms in on Kais smiling hesitantly. A moment that survives exactly 1.76 seconds before a barking "And where's the szechuan pepper, quickly!?" And half of their set helpers scramble.
"We've already got the frittes cut for you." Aurora interjected.
"Layla, what are... frittes?"
"The potato bars."
"Ah, now we're talking."

Some thirty minutes later, and their aprons were a metaphorical bloodbath.

"It's not that bad, actually. It's got taste, and texture."
"What are those lumps, and why is it tingling? Doc, if you're watching, remind me to put an artificial stomach on my wishlist after all... You know the one, with the poison filter."

"What about Valkyrie's?" Aurora asked, almost giddy with whatever would inevitably come next.
And Kais gave his tactical appraisal. "Presentation: overcompensation. Flavor profile: timid. You can really taste the French influence."
Layla put an arm around Paul. "Don't worry, with taste buds like his everything seems mild... You get used to it. Was that Chimay Blue 0.0 you used? The sweetness really accents the onions."
"Hmm..." Kais nodded. "I do like the beef strips, nice and rare... Still prefer mine, though..." He licked his finger.
"Delicious."

---

Qualy had gone decent. 6 and 8. So, back in the garage, the team had gone over tactics. This was a race they couldn't miss. Montreal had a circuit that fit their ship somewhat: speed, decent enough handling and stability, but importantly: they had momentum again, so they had to keep it going. Omar looked over his spreadsheet with constructor rankings, then pulled up the map of the circuit, his eyes lingering over the Wall of Champions. "It's going to be tight on this one. Montreal isn't our kind of track, but we can manage to gain on the others if we play them right. The Wall of Champions is a brutal beast..."

"We push, then." Kais said. "Don't let Amy get too much of a lead. We need to keep as close as we can on her six. Run interference on her." Layla nodded. "Force her into tight spots with others and she might be pushed in a tough spot." Her gaze went to the Wall. "One wrong move, Amy DNFs here, and things might flip into our favor." She more than anyone wanted to see Silver Apex taken down a peg, never forgetting her and Amy's little race together, in more ways than one. And she wanted to be the one who came out on top.

Minutiae were discussed. Projected ELS deployment sites for other teams, breaking points, how they could rebound. But the general gist was enough: put pressure on Amy. Thus, Omar sealed the deal: "Time to cook, everyone."

And so...



...said the distance sensors. Kais had launched well, and he pushed for all he was worth into the midfield. Then Amy was taken out of the running, exactly what they aimed for. But now, on lap 13, Jamie Hart came in twitchy, a panic move, like he had lost control. Kais defended, but the Silver Apex ship stabbed into his back once again. And for a microsecond, all sensors went to noise. The two of them skidded across the track, the AG drives trying to stabilize and steer and brake their momentum into the safety lane with a slight wobble that made sparks fly when they scratched across the ground. Red warnings blared as he kicked open the canopy, undid his seatbelts, and dropped out of his racer amid the roar of the others flying by.

"Hart, you...!" Kais growled. With one hand he reached for Jamie's collar and pushed him back into his racer's chassis. Not quite choking, but close enough to get the message across. Jamie raised his hands, starting a simpering "I didn't...", but Kais cut him off. "Do what? Didn't mean to? Bullshit!" His voice turned low, intimate in his intimidation. "Once is a mistake, twice is a coincidence, three times is enemy action, Hart! I should punch your head clean off for this, you pathetic piece of sh..." He smacked a dent in Jamie's racer's chassis. "So this is how Apex does things, huh? Hire incompetent lapdogs to do Amy's dirty work, taking out her competition?"

Security intervened, and Kais stepped back. "Tell her next time, she can come finish the job herself." Adrenaline coursing through his body, his ears a buzz. Before long their racers had found themselves back in the pits, and there they watched the race go by.

Layla came in 8th, in the points, and ahead of Amy, and that was reason enough for elation. "Held your ground, Yalla, well done." Kais squeezed her upper arm, though she didn't seem to notice. "Beat... Amy..." Layla huffed, then was taken away by the medical team for checkups.

---

"Kais, a race to forget. With reports widely going around that Jamie Hart is out of a seat for the season, are you disappointed he couldn’t keep it clean for his home race?"

"Good. Get him out. And no, I'm not disappointed. I'm furious. Again. Three times, Aurora. Three times. Like this was accidental. Again. Apex, fix. your. house. Fire him, or else don't be surprised when others will." Media training be damned when this was the so-manieth crash. He stood up and walked.

Minutes later, and minutes calmer, he found Paul Mulder surrounded by Valkyrie crew. Kais elbowed his way past and offered Paul a firm hand. "Hell of a drive, Mulder. Kept the demolition derby in your rear-view sensors and straight into P1. Ace moves."

Then, in the distance, unnoticed by many, but not to him, Nadia was stumbling through the paddock, clutching her datapad to her chest like a comfort animal, glancing around in a daze, until she found his eyes. He noticed her paleness first, even in the paddock's bright lighting. Something was wrong.

"Kais?"

"Nadia."

"You have to come. They can't stabilize her." She almost whispered.

Eyes went wide. Veins pulsated. And he marched straight towards the Al-Saqr area where the ping of Layla's link went...



The room dissolved. And she was home. Comfort. Mom and dad, or the ones she'd come to call that. Before long she had made her first blowtorch sculpture. Secretly sneaking out of the academy lecture halls with friends. Swearing she'd never do that again (and actually never doing it again. Boom, ace student). The walls of the moon base. Mars simulators. Her first kiss. Her first pair of prosthetic limbs. Then the second, modeled after her childhood sculptures. It all went so fast then. The first neural tuning. the ice baths -what a time, huh?- Nadia's laughs. Salma's frowns. Kais' lone stares, ever-distant, ever-pained, no matter how much he told himself the opposite. Amy's face after beating her. Finally, one last message.

"Hi binti, we saw the race,"
"...and the crash."
"Yea, gave us quite the scare there, but we saw you climb out alright, so that's another heart attack averted, haha!"
"Darling, you know I don't like you joking about those things! Don't listen to your dad, binti."
"...Listen to your dad, binti."
"Anyway, don't worry about it toǒ̦ muc̀ͅh̫̿, yȅͅs?̐͢ We k͕̔n̫̽oẁ̱ hò̞w you͇̿ ĥ̞a̲͠v͙́e͓̅ a̼͌ ẖ͑à̙b͎͞i̞͋t̙́ of p̠͡ush͎̏in̺̈́g̺̐ yò̱ursel͓̀f̘̀ whĕ̟n̹̾ these t̙̏h͉̎ï̞ṇ́g̐͢ș̅ ha̠͗p̹͆p̙͑eǹ̫.̞̂ Wê̩'́͟rẻ͓ sure ỹ̲o͖͐u̝͝'l̯̐ḷ͆ d͔̕o bet̖̋t̎ͅer n͑͟ex̖͌t̩̀ tim̮̉e̮̒.̗͞ Eĺ̘s̲͕̚͘e̜̊ you c͒͘͟͟ȃ̱̥͠n a̟͓͆͝l̡͓̀̽w͉͕̍́a̫̿ys̪͖̾̀ c̙̾om͉͆e̤͆ ẅ͎͚́̐o̙̯͡͠rk w̘̳͑͂i̭̾tḧ̙́̚ͅ ü̫s̛͟ i̝̤͂͠n̳͑ the̹̊ ṡ͔ho͙̒p̗̲͐̌,̫̌ w̛͉e̦͗ c̪̺̽͝o̘̤̓͞ṵ̢̃̍l̞͝d us̛͔e a g̨͚͐͋ŏ͚̀͟od͉͔͉̆̔͠ m͚̗͆͂͜͝ą̭̾̿̕͜s̨̪͈͆̒͑ç͈̪̾͌̕ȏ̭͓̦̆̀ț̨̙̔̌͠"̳͉̞̾͗͡
"̘͉̳͐̐̌D̡̯̭̋̌͝a͓̗̥̅͂̕r̖̤͙̅͆̔l͔̞̪̚͝͞ï͍͗͘͢͢n̏̋̍͟͢͜g̢͔͉͛̉̿!̼͓̪̒̇̕"̥̤̯́̚͠
"̡̫͇̒̃͡A̮͇͌̃̾͢n͍̭̆̓̌͜y̫̙͈͒̀̑w̥̱̰̿̚̕a͓̮͋̍̕͢ỹ̛̤̰̬̊,̢̫̮͑̒͝ c̭̮͚̑̊͞ą̛͓̬̋̀ḷ̡̜͆̓͘l̥̟͚̽͐̐ ù͕̭̝͌͌ṡ̝̪̳͂͞ w̪̹͍̓̿̍h̝̩͊̒̽ͅe̬͔̍̔͛ͅņ̛̫̂̈́ͅ y̞̥̑͒̀͟ǫ̻̣̌̉͌ü̼͚̺̆͠'͙̩̝͋̎͊v̧̙̟̇̋͞ë̪͎̟́̾̕ g͔̱̟͂͘̕o̖̻̼͆͗̉t̢͉̙̐̊̍ t̖͕͕̅̂͝i̩̣̻̔̐̽m̰̬̠͂̈́͘ḙ̩̥̿͞͞.͕̯͎̽̔͡ P̢̜̖̒͒͡r̙͕̤͂̋̄ǫ̘̪̀̑͂u͓͍̜͒̓͡d̩͙̣̆̉͘ o̟̠̘̔͆͌f̗̮͖̌̇́ y̮͖̩̅̽͝ő̗͈̪͌̚ű̩̄̈́͜͜ a̜̻͔͋͗̐l̛̤̰̺̎̊w̬̖̞̿̒͂á͙̱̽̐͢y̧̖͗͊̕ͅs̛͇̘̺̉̉!̤̱̰͆͛͑"
"M̨̢̥̀̓̚&̘͙̲̔̌̋D̨̩͉̃͋̚"͇̣̄̒͛͜

Her life flashed before her eyes... Her life, and more... Euphoria flooded her systems. Blinding data. Comfort. Home. Then, her visual feed collapsed into pixels, and faded to

Night. The moon was waning.

Debriefing that day was a haze. "What do you need me to do?" Kais had asked Omar, who had promptly replied: "Nothing" and told them in bureaucratically tender, but no uncertain terms, to keep the whole thing quiet -very quiet, the or-else kind of quiet- until they figured out a strategy forward. Until then, their PR team would say Layla had retired for "personal reasons".

Their doctor had put them through a blitz of a psychological check-up, which came up with the expected: Nadia was sad, Kais was angry. Support each other. Use calm breathing techniques. 'We understand if you are scared,' 'We're here if you need us,' 'Avoid self-destructive behavior like substance abuse and doom-scrolling,' 'We keep it safe here,' and other affirmations pinged up on his neural link at frequent intervals. And the doc had promised she would check up on them more rigorously later with a personalized action plan. And so, now, Kais simply sat at the bedside of Layla, waiting for them to be separated. Nadia sat beside and leaned against him, on a chair that creaked so much every time she shifted his heart jumped into action-mode, instantly teleported back to then. Every now and again he heard her breath slow and she nodded off, before her smartwatch showed a spike in her heart rate again and she woke up in sleepy sobs. Ping: 'Nightmares and jumpiness can be normal short-term.'

No words were said between them. All those would come later also. It were many hours before she was finally carted away in the middle of the night, when traffic out on the paddock -and with it any potential interest and attention- was as minimal as possible. What a joke.

"What do you want?" Cassie had asked... But wanting was a privilege. Doing was all he knew. Thousands of possibilities went through his mind, troubleshooting, fixing, pleading even, but... One doesn't come back from this.

What did he want? To tear the whole damn house of cards down, of course. To beat them all. To beat her. And her too... Is what he thought...

He pulled up Ava's files, and visualized the chain: Masdar al-Nuba, Zygon, Apex, FIAR?

He sent a message to Inan: "Open the cache. Careful: sweep well, then sweep some more, might be rigged. Spread it round. Find out what you can." Another to Cassie: "Down once. Back up twice." One to Paul: "Keep an eye on Han." He hesitated over Nadia's name, then typed: "Stay with her."

The world kept spinning. He would get over it. As he always did. Is what he wanted to tell himself.

Words from his past came to him. "Swear to me you'll make it worth something..." But the one that actually seemed to put those words into actions was gone now... And doing right by them now? That, seemed further away than anything.

What did he want?

What else...

Alexander heard back from Sami Lipponen and Tocho Lister before the end of the day. Mabel arranged for both men to come in for interviews the following day. Alexander had interviewed Sami. He was perfect for the job. He was not the warmest, most social guy but that is not what Alexander needed. He needed someone to organize and run the training for the junior academy. Sami had the experience and Alexander appreciated his straight talking no bullshit attitude. He knew Sami wouldn’t cater to egos and would tell the egotistical hot headed upcoming pilots exactly what they needed to hear. He would be the perfect guy to run roughshod over a group of adrenaline pumped egos in a competitive setting. He had the experience that they would respect him and listen to what he had to say. Sami had accepted the job and jumped right to work. He and Alexander had reviewed all the plans for the bootcamp coming up. He had introduced Sami to the support team that was already working on putting the bootcamp together. He turned it all over to Sami happily. They had worked out that Sami would be given a budget and could make his own plans. He would answer to Alexander and they would meet once a month to review what was happening with the Junior team.

Alexander was relieved and felt that the junior team was in good hands. The junior program had not been neglected per say but it had stagnated. Alexander’s changes would improve the program and bring it back to being a model for others. The smaller endorsement deals with more local businesses was even more popular for the junior team. The new endorsement and sponsorship deals were funding the changes to the junior program. The funds for the bootcamp documentary alone gave the junior team a great start and budget for the rest of the season. The endorsement and sponsorship deals for the pilots attending the junior academy would make it a sought after experience next year. Alexander was pleased with how things were coming together.

Alexander had interviewed Tocho Lister. He had liked the energetic man who embraced his culture. Hopi Indians culture centered around harmony and peace with all things. They were called “the Peaceful People”. Tocho was a good pilot but didn’t quite have the same competitive edge that you saw with most racers. He reminded Alexander of a rabbit on a sugar rush. He seemed to vibrate with energy standing in place. He came across almost like an overeager teenager ready to please someone. He was likable but his excitable nature left you smiling at him and wanting to laugh along with him. Alexander offered him a position working at Valkyrie as a test pilot for the research and development team and a pilot instructor and mentor to help out with the Junior team. Both positions only needed someone part time but this would allow Alexander to employ Tocho full time. He saw potential in Tocho that he felt he could develop. He felt that Tocho had untapped potential as a pilot. This would allow Alexander to groom him and evaluate how far he could push him as a pilot. He suspected that Tocho had never really had the training and opportunity to fully hone his skills as a pilot. He might be a possible replacement for Dorian or a good fit as a back up replacement pilot in the future.

This wouldn’t replace Daniel Ogier, their current test pilot. If they were going to build an all new ship design, they needed a pilot on hand to be able to run tests as the engineering and development team began building and testing new designs. Daniel simply didn’t have the time to do that full time. Daniel had his own career going in the other circuit. Alexander wanted to hire a few more test pilots for the research and development team. It would be better for the team if they could test their ship against different piloting styles. Daniel could certainly help out there when he had time. Alexander was waiting to see how things shook out with Jamie Hart. He was interested in Jamie but he wanted to see if anyone else took the pilot in. Jamie’s attitude put Alexander off. He wanted to see him receive an attitude adjustment first. He was still on the fence about the pilot.

Alexander heard back from Ben Hale almost immediately. He had declined the offer to join the bootcamp. Alexander understood why when he saw the press release and interview of the new team Nova. That was quite an accomplishment. Nova would be the dark horse team for the rest of the season. The new team would come out swinging with top tier talent. No one knew what to expect from the new team. Alexander was back to trying to decide who could replace Dorian when he retired at the end of the season. There were some promising junior pilots. Alexander decided to invite all three of them to the bootcamp so he could get a closer look at them. Alexander knew skill was only part of the equation. He wanted to make sure whoever replaced Dorian was a good fit for the team as well. It was one reason he had not jumped on the chance to talk to Max Wedgewood. Max had a larger than life personality and ego to match. He was worried Max would come in and act like the team was supposed to revolve around him as the pilot. Paul understood and got that it took a team to win and that he was only one part of that team. He treated his colleagues with respect and gave credit where it was due. Alexander knew it was a problem he could work on with the cocky pilot. But he waited and wanted to review all his choices so that when he made the decision. He had all the information he needed to make the best choice possible. It was not a decision to run into lightly.

Alexander smiled as he looked into the drone camera as he recorded a message for each of the junior pilots as he recorded an invitation to the bootcamp.

“Hello ,
I am pretty sure you know who I am but just in case you don’t. My name is Alexander Knight. I am the crew chief and team principal for Team Valkyrie AGR Sport. I would like to invite you to come and join us at our annual summer junior academy bootcamp. The details, non disclosure agreement, and contracts are attached to this message. The bootcamp is in a few weeks. If you plan to join us, I will need to know as soon as possible. This was a last minute decision on my part. We usually only take the top ten applicants for the summer bootcamp. I am extending the program to invite one pilot from each of the junior teams to join us. This is a special invitation for you to join us this year. This year’s camp has been revised and offers some special things to those attending. I hope to see you there, Phoebe Costas, Olivia Lau, Amber Beck, Liam Hunter, Ousamane Harana, Hamid Atlassi, Alice Thovex, and Elise Vogel. I look forward to hearing from you.”

Alexander sent the emails out to all the junior pilots. He grinned as it would allow him to see what these junior pilots were like with competitors. He would get a closer look at most of the field. It would give him a leg up if he decided to bring in a junior pilot to take Dorian’s seat next year. It would be interesting to see which ones accepted his invitation and which ones declined. He knew that some of them were not ranked very well but was it due to a lack of resources? Putting them all through Valkyrie’s junior academy bootcamp put them all on an even playing field. It would allow Alexander to compare their skills in the same ship with the same training. It would give him a look at their personalities and character as well. It would also make for a very interesting documentary for Delta Hyper. They wouldn’t know about that until after they had agreed to the contracts and non disclosure agreements though. They wouldn’t find out how much more they would get by attending this year’s camp. All they would know was that housing, transportation, and food was paid for while they attended the camp. Alexander smiled as the bootcamp would become more competitive than ever with one pilot from every team being invited. He knew Ben Hale had already declined but Silver Apex couldn’t complain they had received an invite. He hoped after the special aired and the pilots could talk about their experience that next year’s bootcamp would be the one all junior pilots wanted to attend. Alexander was hoping to build a legacy of excellence based on merit and hard work. Only time would tell if he managed it.

A Greek Holiday

Sitting inside the quiet taberna in the hill overlooking the town, Dorian looked across to his partner, drinking the gin-infused scallop before peeling out the edible bit inside, Marcel framed by the dying of the light and the distant ships on the sea beyond.

"So, have you paid any thought to what happens after you leave?" Marcel asked, his hair short and a piercing in his right ear. Marcel had a taste for metal, just not the same as anyone on the grid, Dorian noted.

"No, not really."

"I thought you'd be somewhat interested? Given how long you've been at Valkyrie, right?"

"Well, sure, but...Sami's been hired as the new head of junior development. That's his job, not mine. I have a lot of time for Sami, so I don't see why I should interfere. They had a lot of time to pick and asked me plenty, and they're still deciding. And Alexander got played a bad hand, so what can I say? I mean, there's plenty of options and all of them are good."

"That's blunt of you. What's gotten into you lately?" Marcel asked, as Dorian put down his fork, sighing.

"I'm getting too old for this shit. The politics, the drama, the bullshit. I just....you know, want to enjoy what is left of this season. I love racing, but...."

"And yet you mentored Paul, right? He found you to be helpful?" Marcel asked, as Dorian nodded, finishing up some of the rice that came with the platter, shrugging.

"Sure, I spent a lot of time with him, but he knows most of it. I mean, it's hard to teach someone who knows the tricks you never learned. He's so fast, Marcel. So so capable. With a better ship, he's as good as Auldrick. Could be as good as Amy. If we had the bullshit that she has." Dorian remarked, as Marcel put his wine glass down.

"That's good. Just, you shouldn't beat yourself up, or compare yourself to her. You've got a lot of time in the game. Have you thought about what you do next if that's not happening?" Marcel asked, as Dorian smiled.

"I got a few offers. Media work, but Aurora mentioned that Delta Hyper might be spinning off next year for the Junior series.....and yours truly might have gotten an offer." Dorian smiled pointing to his chest, his partner grinning in response.

Marcel put his hand out, into Dorian's and nearly spilled a glass of wine in the process.
"That is awesome. Here's to that, hey? And us." Marcel smiled, Dorian beaming back.

It had been rare he'd found someone like Marcel, busy on weekends racing, always in one affair or another, never tied down. But in the smaller Frenchman, he'd found someone who in this part of life, mattered everything to him. And he wanted to be with him in that phase.

---

Playback

Looking out at the still ash-like burnt hillside, the phone rang. A hard day's graft, helping out at a local conservation centre before going to a local school and talking to kids about the importance of physics in being a fighter and AG pilot, as well as studying hard to do that. It had been an end to a holiday that felt far too short, because she was going straight back into the deep end. While Bea had gotten operated on, Ava had at least had the chance to read what was going to happen to her next, and sans the liquid breathing, which just wasn't set up for her already aerospace-grade respiratory system, was soon to happen to her.

Ava answered, connecting through.

"Hey, I finished compiling. Nothing is in there." Nicol's voice was reassuring, the Neural Link Specialist part of Ivan's team, and responsible for Ava's complex.

"Nothing at all?"

"It had to remove itself. Or we're both paranoid. This is risky, Ava. Why are you putting your head on the line? This whole thing with Kais, I don't fully grasp..."

"You know why."

"Well, okay, it's weird, because it isn't there. Any trace of anything we got in the ECU upgrade clearly self-managed itself, because after sweeping you, everything in our internal archives, and the ships, shows nothing of Apex's work beyond limited firmware. But look, between us, I think Bea knows. Lucio has spent a lot more time in the office than usual, because he started doing something he couldn't talk about. And I'm not talking his fan-fiction. He seems twitchy. Something's got him weird."

"Oh, shit. Okay. Well, she doesn't know what happened. Specifics at least. And between us, best it stays that way. I don't want her getting tangled up in any of it."

"Why not?"

"Because....well, it isn't fair on her. This isn't her fight. She deserves to be....you know, care-free, focussed on racing, not caught up in the past." Ava strained those words, her usual stoic self finding a reason, no matter how tangible, to get that out of her system on this one.

"Right. If you say so, then I'll stop poking about her. Then again, neither should you, given you've gone through a fair mess lately. Why are we keeping all this to ourselves? It won't end well. I regret even..."

"Because you can't look a gift horse in the mouth. And something just tells me we got used as a messenger when we took this ECU from Apex. Giving Kais, and Layla what Amy wanted without directly laying a finger because they knew what we found. What we did. Fuck, it was so stupid.....or whoever is behind Amy's fucking wizard bullshit. And someone.....someone, they know I wanted answers for when those mercs ripped through the mines at the end of the war in Peru....you don't need a predictive algorithm to get that, now I look back on all of this. The crash on Luna, Layla pulling back, Kais getting more paranoid. Something is up. If I fucked this up, then I may as well try and figure out how bad."

"Did you think Kais was involved?"

"His friends were back then. They turned it upside down. So there's a truth I'm owed and he's the only person with the capability to get it. I gave him what he needed, now, I think he might need to pull us out of this."

"Shit."

"Yeah, I didn't want to make it too clear. I mean, look, Kais is a good guy. But....yeah, I had a feeling him being here might point to something else. Something messier."

"Well, whatever it is, we're both tied. I have my interest too because this whole source code scares the shit out of me. Let's just focus on the season ahead. You heard anything from Alonso yet?" Nicol's voice was not the most reassuring in that moment, Ava dryly laughing.

"Nothing yet. Seems to want to see how we do when we return in Belgium. He's good at keeping his options close to his chest."

"Yeah, that he does. Fired Ronaldo when he had the evidence, and a German telling him his department is full of shit, all these facilities, and yet he couldn't make an engine work, let alone a ship that didn't stick around corners. He doesn't make rash decisions."

"Thanks, makes me feel really good about all of this."

"No worries. You'll be fine, Ava, if Bea trusts you, and the ship's good, you have a good chance. Speak to you later."

---

Tapped Up

The phone buzzed, as Cassie tapped it in, the non-Zygon branded phone coming to answer on the encrypted network.
"Heyo." The Lusitanian-toned Scot replied, this coming in from Joao Vitor, a long-term friend, agent and face to a name.

"You in a clean room?" Cassie looked around, that never being a good start. It was her last morning of chilling out, before a late night flight to Seoul to get a check-over, and then start the.

"I'm off the coast. Sunbathing. Chilling out. Enjoying my holiday, Jo..."

"Ah, shit, sorry Cass, no I'll call later..."

"No, it's good, Joao. What's up?"

"Right, so you've seen the recent pilot market. It's all gone crazy."

"And what are you trying to say? Upgrades are due soon. Much as I may not enjoy it, time to see if Zygon keep their end of the bargain, no?"

"Understandable, but from our chat before, I have gotten something more than that. And Apex obviously didn't fancy the risk, not without Zygon kicking up shit mid season. So I might have another team making enquiries." Cassie's eyebrows raised, as she looked to the horizon.

"Oh, interesting. I assume anything will come with a knock in pay. But go on." She noted, sighing as she put her feet over the edge of the chair, waving to the Captain, who headed back to the wheelhouse.

"How would you feel with Carrera?" Joao asked, as Cassie shrugged, looking into the horizon.

"Ava is a good pilot. I know I'd replace her, Bea is far too good unless someone's done something mental like offering her and Pridwen a contract they couldn't refuse. But she's in a slump in form, on a good day, I'm shocked they want to let her go. They really thinking of bringing more ex-Valkyrie into that team? What is this, the Europeans all going on a holiday to Argentina?"

"They're thinking about it. And by putting feelers out, because right now, it represents the best option I see. Would be rude not to check in with my favourite cl...."

"You also manage half the Junior AG grid, Joao, but I appreciate the attempt. What are you thinking?"

"Well, they seem to be the same opinion as you are, they want to see what they'll do before committing to contract talks. Let's keep an eye on this." Joao's voice was reassuring, as Cassie chuckled, sitting up, adjusting her tint on her eyes.

"Hah, how the world turns. Okay, I'll have a think."

---

The phone went to voicemail, the ID of Pablo Asturia flickering on Bea's phone.

"Hello Beatrix, Pablo here. Sorry to call you while you're away, but, listen, I wanted to talk a little bit of business through with you. Normally I would have gone to Frederick, or Leon first, but I thought to go to you directly. I believe in our chances this season, and I think you are the key to that. I'll be at Spa. See you there."

---

TEMPLE//ARDENNES//RAIN

Rain. It comes down, dribs and drabs.

And the flashbacks to racing here. In 1960s F1 cars around a circuit that was basically roads. The massive crash in the rain in 1997 with half the grid wiping out. Endless amounts of it, yet delivering the best racing of Formula One, thanks to a circuit that tested everything, speed, handling, bravery, skill, strategy, and sheer will.

The races at Spa, even in the late July heat always seem to be punctuated by drizzle, rain and poor weather.

And in it, a montage of change. The pits changing from nothing to the high-tech garages that lined it. Valkyrie's most local race, was dominated by local fans, and Paul had no end of them entering the circuit.

And back to archive footage. This time, of 2072. The AG racing taking place in the pouring rain, a near monsoon.

"There are circuits that test a ship. There are circuits that test a pilot. And then... there is Spa." Auldrick Mulder is quoted in his post-qualifying interview, in 2072, wiping his sweat off his brow as he looks to the camera.

Cutting to now.

Low mist curls through pine forests like smoke from a tired engine, clinging to the elevation changes of a circuit that feels less like a racetrack and more like a living thing—etched into the land long before AG propulsion was ever dreamed of.

This year, Spa is different. The 2094 grid arrives amid a volatile championship fight, with teams chasing marginal gains in one of the most technical updates of the season. Rain threatens. Winds swirl unpredictably in the high sectors. And behind the scenes, murmurs of late-season upgrades and team tensions make the paddock crackle with anticipation.

Spa rewards the brave, punishes the overconfident, and elevates the sublime. The footage shows that on display, finding order in the absolute rollercoaster of chaos the circuit inhabits.

And ending by cutting to Paul Mulder by his ship, the Belgian's gaze is an echo of Auldrick, the Valkyrie ship behind him, the Belgian the home hero in the country of his birth. The introduction's ending left to him.

@LadyAmber

---

DELTΔ HYPER

Episode Ten: Changing Conditions

---

Memory

Soundtrack: Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson - Colours

Dorian put down the bouquet of flowers at Radillon, exhaling hard, the pile already massive from Belgian fans who had been before. It was horrid to remember, but every year, he was back here. Back at this spot. And thinking about his rival, in the pouring rain.

He remembered that at the time, they were locked in that fight. Talking less. Involved less in each others affairs. The racing heating up in a series that bloomed.

And then it happened. One moment, he was walking, talking, there, next, he was dead, in a fireball.

It was a reality check. A moment that he stopped being a mere boy and started being a man. Even with the death of his own father from a rare cancer, Dorian hadn't been the same since Auldrick. That one stung, it stayed around and burned. Watching the ship in pieces, there wasn't even a part that could believe he was alive. Not after what he saw. It was a moment that was blacker than night, and keeping going afterwards, well, it had been knowing that he'd want him to keep racing. Even some of the big crashes, that kept him going.

Looking to Paul and Alex, he let the Belgian put down his flowers, and before any words were traded, hugged Paul, and sobbed. Even the rain didn't hide his feeling.

It felt sobering, as he looked back, without words, and reflected on it all. This was the last time he'd be here as a pilot. And he hoped Auldrick would trust that he'd looked after his son good this season. Safety may have changed, especially with the gigantic super-structure of field generators and protection that now sat at Radillon, catching ships at the most dangerous corner of one of the most dangerous circuits of the year, but the risks were always there.

---

Delta Hyper Interviews

Inside the Delta Hyper trailer, the pilots were under interview again- the busy as hell schedule never relenting. After technical debriefings, it was time to catch up with them after their summer holidays.

Except, unlike before, three pilots in particular were picked out. Kais, Bea, and Paul all shared the same couch, after others had been interviewed.

"Beatrix, Kais, Paul, welcome back to Delta Hyper. How were your Summer Holidays?"

---

Changing of the Guard

Practice had shown that some teams had changed, drizzle making no difference to the stark changes that had now come about.

NOVA's new look caught the eye, and while not much had changed, and they were still the second worst team, clearly had thrown a lot at fixing what was broken and getting the ship back to where it needed to go. Polishing a turd of a ship was not exactly easy, but with an enhanced powerplant, and a significant aerodynamic overhaul, the ship actually could do something decent on corners now, without being skittish. That was some improvement, at least.

Zygon, despite cheating, had somehow pulled out of the bag an enormous upgrade all around the ship. Gone was the sluggish, messy additions, in came a brand new engine, ELS and aero module that was FIAR-compliant and the work of months in the making.

Yet of all of them, Carrera Condor was the one that had the most dramatic change. The pilot mods, the engine upgrade, and the small fix to stability had taken this ship from a skittish backmarker to a dark horse. In a rainbow livery now adorned with PolarVault's Nordic-style text on the side, as well as a Tomorrowland sponsorship on the tail, this was now a ship built under Felix's oversight and made perhaps fittingly, for Spa.

And sitting inside of their garage, Ava looked through the telemetry, looking through the data at the holographic panels.

"This real, Rey? I mean, it feels good, but are we.....actually doing this?" She asked, Rey nodding.

"Told you. Upgrades like this are not insignificant. Felix brought in what he knew about setups for Spa, so that's why it works especially well." Looking across the other side of the garage, where Bea's team were hard at work, she smiled, her husky voice still drilling through her glee.

"Holy fuck. It's like an SR-71 out there, but if it had the agility of a wolf on crack. So, are we fighting for podiums then?"

"If you're good enough, Ava. Right?" Rey smirked, as Ava grinned back, running across the other side of the garage, unusually excited.
"Bea, no funny business into Turn One, yeah? We have a hell of a ship on our hands..." Ava beamed, unusual for her, running over and hugging her team mate. She was unusually animated, but then again, they had reason to be.

The ship looked like it might have the golden combo of setup, and performance traits for Spa. For the first time in the season, Carrera might have a shot of a podium, a feat so rare for the Argentinean team that it had to be seized. Normally, the ship's sub-par stability would be a detriment, but having handling that rivalled that of Valkyrie and Silver Apex, as well as the new engine had done bits to the ship. It might have been skittish, like Southern Cross's ships typically were, but this was why the team believed in getting 5th.

Even though it was clear that Zygon's upgrades were going toe to toe with them, Spa was their chance to make that gap. And at the back of the garage, the older-looking, grey haired Spaniard, flanked by two security guards looked on in sunglasses, Pablo enjoying the look of this. No more excuses. This was an opportunity not to waste. He knew, from what he'd gleaned from the Operations Board, that this was the one opportunity they had at this point to get what he'd demanded of them, and he looked at two pilots capable of putting Carrera somewhere it had never been before.

Full Send

Soundtrack: Paul Thomas & Jerome Isma - Ae - Tomorrow (Luke Chable Remix)



The lap at Spa-Francorchamps was an incredible one in an AG ship. Speed and handling in harmony, requiring a ship that could bolt down straights requiring a ton of ELS management, and then corners that threw. Eau Rouge at 450kph was not taken flat, but was rivalling Italy and South Africa for sheer "holy fuck" levels of speed that required a pilot to be brave, and willing not. The track mostly lacked MAG strips, and instead, was raced on the historic tarmac- a trait that many loved because it rewarded those more accustomed to old-school handling rather than the snap-like MAG tracking. Well, at least in most of sector one and two....

Onboard with Ben, he was saying those swear words for the first time peeling out of Radillon, slower than he'd like but not wanting to bin it in the wall. The rain had stopped, but the circuit was still covered in mist and water. La Source, Eau Rouge and Radillon were monstrous in an AG ship- and were critical in setting up a lap and the overtakes that came with it.

And then into the Kemmel Straight that went on not as long as anticipated, the chicane-like turn at Les Combes, fast hairpin followed by a sweeping left at Bruxelles, and Pouhon, taken near flat, or at least, as brave as you humanly could hold down.

At the old Turn 13, the circuit corked, in front of a Tomorrowland-inspired festival like stage and platform, an enormous construct of MAG tracking sending the ships around in what looked like a massive banking, corking right into Turn 14, before a massive construct extended the circuit out to a turn into the dense woods past Stavelot at Turn 15, a full-blown 90-degree bank that was effectively flat, before spitting into a fiendishly difficult chicane complex called Neuville (named after a nearby village)- an incredibly tight left hand chicane high above the trees that spat into a completely corked 270 degree hairpin going underneath the MAG-tracked, raised circuit and back towards the circuit at the old Turn 16, into a wall of fans on each side.

Blanchimont from there was taken flat and with zero MAG tracking, again testing just how brave pilots were to hold their nerve. Rather than stability being looked after, as many would associate such a high speed circuit, handling was particularly critical as the historically high speed corners in an formula car were considered to be more low to medium speed in an AG ship, compared to some of the more undulating corners at the Nürburgring or Muller Cay.

The Bus Stop Chicane, a tight right left that slowed the ship to a relative crawl spat the thing back out onto the main straight, and the lap was complete. Ben exhaled, just letting this sink in. This was insane. Just beyond whatever even the simulations had shown, because in the heat of a moment, this ship had so much more to give than the Junior one.

It wasn't a great lap. But Ben had survived it, and he broke a sigh of relief, tapping the cockpit as he led it into the exit road, off the lap, and taking a breather.

The rest of the session played out, and mouths were agape. This really felt like a moving doors moment. And Practice had gotten proven right. The fight between Zygon and Carrera would be getting spicy, and all eyes were on a circuit that should have been Carrera's best of the year on current metrics.

"Well, whatever Carrera Condor have done over the off season, they seem to have nailed it!" Rosie called out, as Rory nodded, in full agreement, looking out at the now sunny Spa pit wall and environs.

"Wow, what a result for both of them, I think Beatrix Ward is going to explode with energy after that. Simply outstanding, and to put herself behind Amy Stirling's heroic lap, even with her mistake at the final chicane, I mean, talk about arrival. We thought it was all eyes NOVA, but Carrera have arrived."

"Absolutely. And well, Jenny Lowry seems to be a fit for Silver Apex, immediately settling into 3rd?"

"Certainly, I imagine Southern Cross must be kicking themselves now that they couldn't get more points, because Silver Apex looks like they have a wingman back for Amy Stirling. It seems like a circuit they love just not clicking for either pilot, but it seems Nora Kelly has got the measure of Harrison here. But with such tightly matched ships, who knows what can happen. Spa can produce anything, and with Sunday anticipated to be dry, with a storm expected at the end of the race, anything can happen."

"NOVA seem to be improving on Fitzroy's position too, after a hotly anticipated debut from the Sheffield team. And Florence Mason seems to be right on the pace, even if Ben Hale looked like he struggled in his first outing in Formula AG. Are we seeing a revival for them?"

"Absolutely, I think we're seeing a team that seems to have its energy back, and those changes will come into play. But let's see tomorrow, because wow, I think we are in for an exciting second half of the season. Aurora, over to you!"

---

Delta Hyper Interviews

Another set of interviews followed, back at the booth with raincoats on for most of the teams.

"Beatrix, the upgrades look incredibly impressive. Take us through what you're feeling, with a podium position today in qualifying? Do you think you have what it takes to win? What would you say to your past self about the journey you've been on?"

"Kais, we won't go into the change that Layla has been replaced by Hamid, but how are you working with a fellow rookie in Al-Saqr, at such a critical point in the season? Do you think that position he took reflects him learning the ship in qualifying today?"

"Paul, welcome to Spa! This is of course, a deeply emotional circuit for you. Take us through what it's like being here, and your relationship to the fans, who are out in force. How does it feel being a local piloting an AG ship at Spa, and what are your aspirations tomorrow?"

---

Amy was next up on the couch, the format a bit different to what had happened before.

"Incredible qualy lap. I mean, me and the ship are just in such harmony right now, it's effortless, especially in Neuville, what an amazing addition that has been. Super keen to keep it on Pole, and massive shout out to Bea Ward, wow, what an incredible achievement. I'm sure she'll be trying to gun after me in turn one, make the most of the slipstream but there's plenty of tricks she might not have seen yet!"

"Yeah, not the best Qualy but we'll make it back. There's a lot of Southern Cross fans in Belgium, not quite sure why but we'll make ya proud!" Harrison smiled his way through his pain of not even podiuming, let alone being ahead of Nora, again.

"It's strange being so new to Delta Hyper, so once again, thank you! Yes, tough session, but the ship takes a lot to learn. It is a huge honour and I have been dreaming of this, so I will make this up in the race. Lot of fans here in Belgium for me too, which was a shock!" Hamid's naive, yet youthful feeling was totally, if not completely the opposite to Kais, and even Layla in some regard. The Moroccan's hair was shaven, and with only arms and legs augmented, seemed significantly less modified than his predecessor, of whom Al-Saqr almost seemed to never talk of.

"Good lap, and yeah, we just don't have the straight line speed, but the handling is immense. I love Spa a lot, and this is a Valkyrie home track, so yeah, crazy fan turnout in spite of all the rain. We'll make the most of it!" Dorian replied, keeping it candid, and touching that yes, every other grandstand had a Valkyrie flag or tifo up. One that had plenty wanting to marry Paul, weirdly...

Cassie was up next, and kept her new navy-red threads on, a new design launched by Zygon she was advertising.
"Sure, pretty good and the upgrades on the ship are amazing, after FIAR decided that....well, what we had we couldn't have but it is what it is. Now these ones are all good, and we are super happy with the balance. Carrera have us here, but we knew they'd be good after Practice, but we've got a ship that sticks on rails and I think we'll be able to bring it back in Germany, as well as give it a college try here." Cassie remarked, followed by Astrid, who took a moment to think her question over.

"Bwoah, I mean, it's a circuit requiring speed, we don't really have much so......what can we do?" Astrid remarked, chuckling, not able to really give any better an answer for why they were again, off pace. Florence followed, in the brand new green, black and rose gold coloured garb of NOVA.

"Yeah, I guess welcome back to Formula AG! The ship has a lot to do, and I appreciate expectations aren't high, but it's amazing to be in Spa and really gunning for it. I think it reminds me of the start of my career, but with any luck, we'll clamber up as the season goes by and next year!" Florence replied, optimistic, yet still keeping it grounded, as per her near decade of media training had ensured.

Alexander had left for his trip to Los Angeles with a lighter heart. He was relieved to know that the Junior Academy Bootcamp was in good hands. Sami had taken over the process of overseeing the team. It had been his idea to invite one member from each of the junior teams to the bootcamp. Alexander had been surprised that he had not thought about that himself. It had been a clever way to get to see and evaluate upcoming talent all at once on a level playing field. It would give Alexander a way to review their personalities and compare their skills. His invitation had only been accepted by five of the other team pilots Phoebe Kostas, Olivia Lau, Amber Beck, Elise Vogel, and Liam Hunter.

Alexander was pleased to see his top candidates from among the junior league had decided to join him. He couldn’t wait to see how the bootcamp went. Alexander arranged travel for the additional attendees and arranged to have a few of the empty apartments converted into dormitory style spaces. He had the queen beds removed and replaced with loft beds with desks under them. Each two bedroom apartment had 4 pilots assigned to them. There were two bedrooms with two people per room and the standard kitchen area and common living space with a sectional sofa and entertainment system. There were two bathrooms one attached to what was normally the master suite and the other the guest bathroom with a tub/shower combination. He had put in a call to Max Wedgewood’s agent to set up a meeting at the Valkyrie campus after the bootcamp towards the end of the summer break. Alexander was gathering as much information as possible before sending out an offer to who he felt would be the best candidate to take Dorian’s seat. He had wanted Jen Lowry but she had chosen to go to Apex. He didn’t blame her for her choice. He hoped she got what she was looking for with their team.

---

Alexander had filtered his messages and phone so he would only be disturbed if it was really important. He would be checking his email messages since he had work he wanted to complete over the summer break. Work would take a back seat to spending some quality time with his daughter. He was looking forward to spending time with her. Mabel had flown with him. He had stopped on the east coast to drop her off to spend time with her family. He had taken the time to have dinner with his father and catch up with him. He had then continued the next morning to Los Angeles. He was grateful he had taken one of the team’s private planes. He couldn’t imagine the media circus his landing in LA would have caused if he had been on a commercial flight. Security was much easier to handle for a smaller private plane which could land at a smaller airport. Van Nuys airport had a reputation for privacy and security which was used by many celebrities. Alexander’s plane landed and he was whisked away in a large SUV with tinted windows. The vehicle had room for him and his security and their luggage.

Alexander’s team had arranged for him to stay in a penthouse suite of a high rise hotel. His security would be in the suite’s other bedrooms. The hotel had excellent security options and the penthouse was only accessible by a private elevator and the stairway had a security door with an electronic lock. The hotel was working with his team to provide camera surveillance and provide him with as much privacy as they could during his stay. The media vultures would figure out where he was staying but with private and alternative exits to the hotel, they would be kept at a distance.

Alexander had arranged to meet Arianna for Lunch. He had chosen a small Mexican restaurant that had excellent customer reviews that was family owned and run. Alexander had missed great Mexican food. You could get Mexican food in Europe but it was just not as good. There was just something lacking. Alexander’s security team ate at a table nearby as he and Arianna laughed over tacos and chile relleno. There had been a few people surprised to see him in the quaint little restaurant. They had asked for pictures and then left him to eat in peace with his daughter. He had taken a picture with the owners with his permission to hang it later. He had enjoyed the meal and complimented them on the excellent food. He had left their stunned and star eyed waiter with a generous tip for ensuring their privacy for the rest of the meal. Alexander got along well with his security guards who were grateful to enjoy excellent food even as they kept a watch over their charge.

Arianna had come back to the hotel with Alexander so they could talk in private. Arianna laughed as she followed her father into the fancy hotel suite. She looked around and couldn’t help being amused as the hotel was so far out of her father’s comfort zone. He would be happy with a Holiday Inn and yet here he was in the lap of luxury. Arianna looked out over the Los Angeles skyline through the wall of glass that led out to a private terrace patio. The view was stunning with the ocean visible in the distance. The soundproof glass left the suite an oasis of privacy and calm even as heavy traffic passed the hotel below.

Arianna snickered as she commented to her father.

Arianna: “Wow! This is swanky. I am surprised you sprung for such an expensive hotel. Penthouse. Private elevator. Security downstairs like you’re royalty. Should I curtsy now or after dessert?”

Alexander sighed as he replied. “I had to for security reasons. If I had tried to stay at a moderate hotel, I would have been inundated with reporters knocking on my door at all hours of the day. It’s standard protocol. I’m not royalty. I just manage maniacs who fly at Mach 2 sideways.”

Arianna: “Don’t be modest. You’re basically the Celestina (a popular singer) of anti-grav racing. With less dancing.”

Alexander looked confused and raised his eyebrows at his daughter. “Who is Celestina?”

Arianna paused and gave her father a trademark grin. Her voice oozed curiosity as she continued.

Arianna: “So... Lena.”

Alexander raised an eyebrow at his daughter: “That’s a sudden change in topic.”

Arianna smiled and took a seat on the replica antique couch which looked lovely but was not very comfortable.

Ariamma: “Not really. You’ve only mentioned her seventeen times since you landed. And you got noticeably cagey when I asked if she’s staying here.”

Alexander joined his daughter on the hard couch facing her. “She’s in Tokyo this week. Runway show. And no, she hasn’t stayed here. Yet.”

Arianna’s eyes widened in surprise as she mock gasped in horror.

Arianna: “Yet! He says yet! We are dangerously close to “leave a toothbrush at my place” territory.”

Alexander rolled his eyes at his daughter’s antics even as his voice dripped with exasperation with her.

Alexander: “Ari…”

Arianna: “No no. I support it. Just didn’t expect you to fall for someone who knows how to smize on command.”

Alexander chuckled as he never expected to fall for a model either. Elena was not the stereotypical model though. She was much more than beautiful. She challenged him and appealed to him on many levels.

Alexander: “She’s more than that. Smart, grounded. Has this dry humor that sneaks up on you. She called my racing helmet "a very aggressive salad bowl."

Arianna looked like she was considering that answer as her head wavered from side to side in thought.

Arianna: “That is a pretty accurate description.”

Arianna’s eyes narrowed as she focused on her father’s face. After a short pause she continued.

Arianna: “So, how serious are we talking here? “We text every night” serious? “She knows your coffee order” serious? “She has your garage access code” serious?”

Alexander gave his daughter a stern look but any idiot could tell he didn’t really mean it.

Alexander: “What is this, an interrogation or are you interviewing me for some documentary?”

Arianna: “I’m just trying to assess the vibe, Dad. It's not every day my father, the reclusive racing mastermind, starts dating a literal fashion icon. I have a right to know if I should start practicing my red carpet wave.”

Alexander’s shoulders shake lightly as his laughter rings out into the room. He shakes his head back and forth before leaning back against the back of the couch. He sighs lightly before continuing.

Alexander: “I don’t know exactly what we are yet. We are taking it slow and one step at a time. It’s hard when I live in Germany and she is traveling for work all over the world. But it feels... real. It’s been months. She knows the mess I’ve been through. She knows the damage your mother caused. She has patience with me. She is not afraid to call on me on my shit. Then tell me what I need to do to fix it. Still shows up. She doesn’t treat me like a brand or a trophy. Just... me.”

Arianna is quiet as she nods with a contemplative look.

Arianna: “That’s good. You deserve that.”

She scooted closer and gave her father a big hug. She tightened her arms around him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She then let go of him and gave him a mischievous smirk.

Arianna: “But I do reserve the right to grill her when we meet. Maybe casually drop a few embarrassing stories. Like “the Great Hoverbike Crash of Tallinn.”

Alexander’s eyes widened at her words. His tone was worried.

Alexander: “That was classified.”

Arianna: “Not from me. I’m family. I have diplomatic immunity.”

Alexander laughs as he knew his daughter wouldn’t spare embarrassing him as he had embarrassed her in front of her friends in the past.

Alexander: “If you traumatize her, you’re paying for my therapy.”

Arianna: “Deal. But only if I can take her shopping. I’ve never had a model almost-stepmom. Think of the wardrobe upgrades.”

Alexander groaned at the damage to his pocketbook the two of them together on a shopping spree could do.

Alexander: “You just want free access to Paris Fashion Week.”

Arianna: “Obviously.”

Alexander rolled his eyes. It was good to see his daughter. He had been ready to discuss Elena with her yet.

---

There were fifteen junior pilots that had been invited to take part in the Team Valkyrie Bootcamp this year over the summer break. The bootcamp would last three full weeks. The bootcamp took place at the team headquarters. The attendees would be staying in the apartment complex on campus. There had been five apartments set up dormitory style with two loft beds in each bedroom with a common kitchen and living space and two bathrooms. There were eight younger pilots who had not yet entered the Junior Formula league that were hoping to get into one of the junior academies. They were all promising racers from the Formula 3 division. They were all too young to race in the Formula AG division. They were barely old enough to race in the junior division with most of them being 14 and 15 years old. Then there were the seven Junior Formula AG pilots that had accepted Alexander’s invitation to join the bootcamp: Scarlett, Anna, Olivia, Phoebe, Liam, Amber, and Elise.

The cadet pilots arrived in shuttles from the airport. Some had tried to bring their own entourages with them and they were turned away at the door. It was explained that the campus had security and that everything they needed would be available to them. They didn’t need their own personal masseuse or butler. They were not going to be pampered prima donnas. They were here to put in the hard work and to see what they were made of. Some of them were shocked to find out they would be living dormitory style and sharing a room with one of their competitors. The campus was secure and there would be no media leaks if it could be helped. There were ten women and five men attending the bootcamp this year.

DELTΔ HYPER SPECIAL

A narrator's voice began could be heard over exciting background music.

Narrator: “The mood among the cadets was tense, curious, and caffeinated.”

A drone image taken from up high showed Sami Lipponen walk casually back and forth in front of the cadets assembled before him. They were lined up in rows in the grassy space in the middle of the campus between the apartment building and the administration building. They stood in three rows of five in front of him. All the pilots’ attention was on him as they each stood wearing matching workout gear in Team Valkyrie colors of dark gray and golden yellow.

Sami began to speak in a no nonsense tone.

“Welcome, cadets.

This is not a fan zone photo op. This is not an influencer’s playground. This is where the suits stop smiling and the helmets go on.

For the next three weeks, you are not influencers. You are not idols. You are not even pilots — not yet. You're candidates.

The Junior Academy Bootcamp is Valkyrie AGR Sport’s most intensive physical, psychological, and technical development program. What happens here will either forge you into the next generation of AG pilots — or reveal why you never will be.

Each of you was handpicked — from league contenders, regional champions, academy referrals, and wildcard entries. Some of you arrived with an entourage. Some of you arrived alone. None of that matters now.

You all start equal.
You all start at zero.
And the countdown has begun.”

Sami looked out at the young faces before him. He stood with his arms behind his back as he addressed them.

Sami: “Some of you believe you have nothing left to learn. Some of you believe you already know it all. Some of you believe that because you have a seat and are competing in the junior league that this academy is only an audition. An audition for the seat with Team Valkyrie when Dorian Hornfleur retires. I can not confirm this rumor. You are here by Alexander Knight’s invitation that is true. What I can tell you is that if you put in the work and effort, you will leave this bootcamp a better pilot. You will be better prepared for the next step in your professional racing career.”

Sami deliberately paused and looked each of the fifteen in the eyes. He shrugged and pointed to the exit.

Sami: “If you are not prepared to work hard and give it your all, I invite you to exit now. Before you make your decision let me tell you what the next three weeks has in store for you.”

Sami gave an evil grin as he began to lay out the structure of the bootcamp and what they would be doing.

Sami: “During the first week we will be working on your foundation and breaking bad habits. We will begin with baseline physical testing: oxygen efficiency, anaerobic output, and reaction drills. This will be followed by Neural sync calibration and implant latency diagnostics. Then you will attend technical workshops with Valkyrie engineers which will include flight model simulations, and shield/boost tuning. There will be Daily briefings with me and I will be blunt, brutal, and unfiltered. I will tell you the ugly and bare truth of where you stand and what your performance is. There will be nightly recovery, monitored nutrition protocols via Rocket Sports Nutrition.”

Sami paused and began to pace back and forth and walk up and down the lines so he could look each cadet in the eye as he told them what they would endure in their training and what it consisted of.

Sami: “That was just the first week. The second week will be working on your control and other skills that professional pilots need. You will go through multi-axis gravity training. Then you will get a taste of AG ship prototype testing in confined track simulation. Next up on the menu is stress interviews: media coaching, brand alignment, fan etiquette, where you will be filmed by Delta Hyper crews. Do you see these drone cameras? Get used to them as they will be following you around during your training. Next you will be trained in tactical energy trials in advanced sim pods. Then you will navigate various terrains in multiple conditions to assess your GPS and navigation training including night races.”

Sami smiled as he continued to pace up and down the aisles and smiled as he saw some nervous faces and a few beads of sweat on brows.

Sami: “The last week will be about competition and solidifying and clarifying what you have learned. There will be a timed race series in Valkyrie’s old A-Class prototypes. Followed by head-to-head battles in simulated track conflicts - energy leech/boost scenarios. There will be team challenges — telemetry-based coordination exercises. Your final evaluation will be given by Alexander Knight with feedback from myself, Tocho Lister, one of your trainers, and the Delta Hyper producers. The Delta Hyper special will reveal the rankings with a bonus for the top 5 cadets which will include media commitments.”

Sami lips twitched but he refrained from smiling as he looked out over the stunned cadets. Evidently they thought they would come and use the Valkyrie ships on the track and then go home. Or some sad unfocused bootcamp structure of the past. Sami was here to test them and see what they were made of. Sami was here to find the ones with the drive and will to learn and apply it. Sami was looking for those pilots driven to do all they can to succeed. He believed this program would help him do that.

Sami looked out over all of them once more front and center of the group.

Sami: “Allow me to introduce your instructors. For those who do not know who I am, My name is Sami Lipponen and I am your Bootcamp Director. I am a former McLaren AGP pilot. Known for quitting a live race mid-season due to ethics disagreements. I have Zero tolerance for ego, and a high tolerance for discipline. If I don’t remember your name… well you probably haven’t earned it yet.”

He paused and waited while Tocho Lister joined him at the front of the group. He motioned to the dark tanned skinned man with a mane of black hair so dark it had blue highlights. His hair was pulled back in a complex braid. He had kind dark brown eyes. Tocho seemed to vibrate with energy even when he was standing still even as he had a peaceful air about him.

Sami waved to Tocho who in turn waved hello to the cadets.

Sami: “This is Tocho Lister. Tocho works for as a test pilot here at Valkyrie and is new to the team. We stole him from Miller Motor Racing.” Sami smiled as he stated that. He continued. “He will be your mentor. Tocho is from the Hopi nation. He is an AG pilot, and a recreational flyer. He is known for being calm in a crisis, kinetic at rest. Rumor has it you might get a story before you get instructions or feedback.”

Tocho nodded like that summed him up well. Sami then turned to a well dressed and elegant woman with brunette hair and brown eyes. She was dressed in black ballet flats and a black pencil skirt with a soft lavender colored blouse that billowed softly in the wind. Sami motioned to Katherine Dubois who stepped forward holding a clip board and waved with her free hand to the cadets with a big smile.

Sami: “This is Katherine Dubois. She is head of the team’s marketing department. She will be teaching you about how to handle the press and endorsement commitments. You’ll meet her when the cameras are rolling. She’ll smile. She’ll take notes. If you make her job harder, you’ll know.”

Katherine stepped back to stand next to Tocho. Agnes Poulsen arrived dressed like the cadets in workout gear with a whistle around her neck. She grinned like a shark at the shiny young eager faces in front of her. Sami stepped forward once more and motioned Agnes to step forward. Agnes stepped forward but she didn’t wave. She gave a slight nod of her head.

Sami: “This is Agnes Poulsen. She is the primary physical trainer for the team. She will be in charge of ensuring you are in the best physical shape you can be. If she tells you to run till you puke, then you run till you puke. If she tells you to lift it 5 more times, you lift it five more times. You will hate her first before you decide you like her.”

As Agnes stepped back, there was a stir as Alexander walked out of the administration building and joined Sami in front of the cadets. Sami gave a slight nod to Alexander and stepped back to join Katherine.

Alexander was wearing jeans, his work boots, and a Team Valkyrie uniform shirt. He stood large and proud in front of the cadets with a smile. His blonde hair catching the sunlight, his green eyes appraising.

Alexander: “Hello cadets and welcome to the Team Valkyrie Junior Academy Bootcamp. We have invited Junior League members from other teams to join us this year. We hope you find your time here well spent. This will give you a chance to see how we operate and to evaluate your skill level. For the younger group, make the most of this opportunity. We are expanding our Junior Academy team and opportunities. We are looking not for those who are the best at this moment but those who have the most potential. We will be ranking you all based on your performance over the next few weeks. As you know after signing your contracts and nondisclosure agreements, you have agreed to have your experience filmed and shared on syndicated television. You are also under a binding contract not to talk about your experience here until the special has aired. You are being fairly compensated for this. I do not have the time to oversee the academy personally but I will be checking in with your instructors and my team. We have a Team Focus here at Valkyrie. Every member of the team is just as important. Treat everyone with respect. I hope you get a lot of your experience. See you for your evaluations. Listen to Mr. Lipponen. He is here to guide you. Sami.”

He motioned for Sami to take back over before he turned and walked back into the administration building where his office was.

Sami looked out over the nervous and excited faces.

Sami: "Next I am going to tell you what you should expect. You should expect Pain. Sim crashes aren’t just visual. Neural-linked training means your body feels the mistake. You will receive Exposure. Delta Hyper is watching. Your sweat is the story. Your breakdown is the cutscene. Some of you will experience Silence. Some of you won’t be here in a week. Because some of you will think this is too hard. We won’t say your name when you're gone.”

Sami looked from face to face before he gave a final warning.

Sami: “ A final reminder that your NDA Enforcement is Active. All footage is under Valkyrie AGR and Delta Hyper control. Breach of confidentiality will result in immediate expulsion and permanent disqualification from AG development programs. And one last thing.”

He paused, looking serious as he continued.

Sami: “You were invited here because someone believed you could fly. Not because you deserved it — not yet. The world doesn’t need another racer who’s fast. It needs one who can survive the gravity, the fame, the feedback loop, and the fire.This is Bootcamp. This is the gate. Prove you belong on the other side.”

The scene broke up as Sami Lipponen, Tocho Lister, and Katherine Dubois all walked away leaving the cadets with Agnes. Agnes immediately started yelling at them that they were going to run. She blew her whistle and the cadets began to jog in a double line following Agnes as they ran off screen.

The narrator took up the story line again.

Delta Hyper Narrator: “Team Valkyrie AGR Sport is Rebuilding the Future One Race at a Time.”

There was a montage of media headlines and news stories along with Valkyrie ships crossing the finish lines to accompany the narration.

“The fallout from Valkyrie’s CEO scandal may have left a scorched earth across their sponsorship base, but Alexander Knight, ever the strategist, knew how to grow from the ashes. With Paul’s triumphant charge in Montreal and Dorian’s near-flawless victory in Monaco, the team’s reputation had begun its slow, deliberate resurrection.”

There was another montage showing new sponsors and endorsements and what they would look like in the Valkyrie Fan Zones at upcoming races. The CGI holographic technology showing the future Alexander saw for the team.

“Where large corporations remained hesitant, smaller businesses saw opportunity — and Alexander saw something better: flexibility, authenticity, and community. The new model of short-term, race-specific sponsorships brought a patchwork of color and local flavor to Valkyrie’s fan zone — from Belgian waffle trucks and bratwurst in Germany to organic lemonade in Singapore and soul-deep American BBQ at the US Grand Prix. The trade-off? Smaller returns, but lower demands, and greater fan engagement. But the real pivot wasn’t just financial. It was generational.”

The rest of the special followed the pilots as they were evaluated and put their paces and competed. The coverage showed their results and what the pilots saw in the simulator pods and on the track.

Sami Lipponen was portrayed as a hard-edged, no-nonsense veteran of the AG circuit, Lipponen didn’t smile much — but he didn’t need to. What he brought was discipline, structure, and a respect the juniors could feel just by the way he entered a room. He wasted no time tearing them down and rebuilding them stronger.

Tocho Lister was portrayed as a test pilot with more raw passion than polish. His boundless energy, cultural grounding, and technical background made him the ideal emotional counterweight to Sami’s pragmatism. Together, they formed an unlikely yet potent pair: one to build the steel, the other to forge the spirit.

In a masterstroke of PR and media synergy, Valkyrie secured a mini-series deal with Delta Hyper to chronicle the Junior Bootcamp. With strict NDAs, pilot stipends, and full control over final edits, the team ensured the content would promote strength, resilience, and marketability. Katherine’s marketing crew spun gold — pairing Rocket Sports Nutrition with pilot interviews, highlighting gear from Hood Tech Sportswear, and showing the hard road from Junior hopeful to AG pilot. Thanks to Katherine’s team Valkyrie sponsors were no longer logos. They were characters, stakeholders, and stories that made up part of the team.

The final rankings showed a picture of the pilot and a montage of their time at bootcamp.
1- Phoebe Kostas came out in the number 1 spot. She had the edge in technical skill and speed.
2- Olivia Lau earned the number 2 spot. She was weaker in ELS systems and struggled with the media portion.
3- Scarlett earned the number 3 spot. Scarlett held her own but Phoebe and Olivia were more polished and had faster times.
4- Lukas Ravn was a wildcard dark horse lower division rookie who swooped into the number 4 spot. He seemed to get better every day. He absorbed everything he was taught and began implementing immediately. He showed amazing potential. Alexander offered him a spot on the Junior Academy Team.
5- Liam took the number five spot. Liam just got very lucky in some of the races and did well with the media spotlight.
6- Amber Beck took the number six spot. Amber seemed to struggle with getting used to the Valkyrie ship compared to what she normally piloted. She was making up ground in the final week but didn’t manage to recover in overall points.
7- Elise Annabelle Vogel struggled similarly to Amber. She was not as physically fit and struggled until the third week.
8- Anna Hausman continued to struggle with the media portion. She has good piloting skills but continues to struggle with public speaking.
9- Bruno Jović has potential but was behind the older racers in skill level.
10 - Rozalia Nicolescu had potential but lacked the experience and skill of the older racers. Struggled with night simulations.
11- Naimi Sundqvist has potential but struggles with physical fitness demands and was overwhelmed with working with the engineers.
12- Fernando Bolívar didn’t take the camp seriously. He finished but didn’t push himself in the physical fitness portion or the media portion.
13- Luiza Kobak injured during the third week and left unable to continue.
14- Barta Martina dropped out the second week.
15-Markus Thorkelson dropped out the first week.

The special would air at the end of the summer break. The Delta Hyper crew were filming and editing daily to meet the deadlines. They wanted to get the special aired to get fans ramped up for the next race.

---

Alexander reviewed how everything had gone. He was pleased with his results. With the R&D partnership with Banshee Microsystems greenlit and Shinochi Bionics preparing a new wave of bone-reinforcing nanites over the summer break, Valkyrie’s edge isn’t just speed — it’s evolution. The new Shinichi Bionics continued to help their pilots evolve.

Alexander knows he has work to do. He still needed to make a final decision on who would replace Dorian. He was getting closer to that decision. The elite ranks of AG are ruthless, and redemption doesn’t come easy. But with a rejuvenated Junior Team, fresh sponsors, and a new generation of talent in development, Valkyrie AGR Sport is no longer on the defensive.

They’re preparing their next charge.

Paul was enjoying the moment as he celebrated his first Formula AG win with his crew as they were leading him to the cooldown room. He had been pushed, hugged, and congratulated and spun around like a top from crew member to crew member. He suddenly found himself facing Kais Zenix who had shouldered his way past some of the crew. Kais had the same serious look he always wore as he held out a hand for Paul to shake. Paul gave Kais a triumphant smile as he shook his hand.

Kais: "Hell of a drive, Mulder. Kept the demolition derby in your rear-view sensors and straight into P1. Ace moves."

Paul nodded as he shook Kais’ hand. “Thanks Kais. I appreciate that. My sympathies that you got nailed by Hart again. I would watch your tail. I think he has a thing for you.”

Before Paul could say much more Kais had disappeared back into the crowd.





Paul had taken a private chartered jet home from Montreal. He had gone straight home to Brussels. He wanted to celebrate his win with his mother. He was officially on vacation for the next two weeks. Technically FIAR had all pilots off for the summer break but there was work to do during the break to get ready for the next race. It was a time to implement improvements and test them. Which meant as a pilot, he didn’t get the whole summer break off. But he did get some time. Paul had slept in the following day and woke up to an overflowing inbox of interview requests. He had put off getting an agent as long as he could. He was paying the price for that now. He got up and put on his running shoes and workout clothes. He would keep his workout low key but he knew he would regret it if he slacked off his physical fitness during the break. Agnes would make him pay for it when he got back to campus if he did.

Paul put his earbuds in and cued up some music before he jogged down the stone stairs off the west entrance and onto the cobblestone path. He always loved coming home. He could run outside in the sunshine. He took a long meandering route that wove through the estates' grounds and gardens. It was peaceful and private. The scenery was a delight to his senses. He smiled as he felt the tension melting away. He occasionally checked the fitness tracker on his arm to see what his heart rate was and how far he had run. He made four complete circuits of the property and changed his route through the gardens each time. By the time he was done, he felt at peace and relaxed after a 5 kilometer run. He jogged back up the same steps he came out of earlier. He went back to his room and took a hot shower allowing the hot water to massage sore muscles. He then went in search of breakfast.

After breakfast he met with his mother’s head of security. He had asked the man to vet some potential new agents. He had a really hard time trusting an agent but he simply didn’t have the time to sort through and manage all his endorsements, public appearances, and media engagements without some help. His last agent had tried to push Paul into some deals that he was not happy with. After investigating it appeared that he had taken bribes to push the companies deals on him. He had withheld better offers from more reputable companies for the bribe money that far exceeded what he would have gotten from his commission. Paul thanked his mother’s head of security who was an older man. Gregory Vandecasteele had been with his mother for a long time. He had been a quiet fatherly presence in Paul’s life. He had always had time for him as he was growing up. Gregory had gray hair. He had younger staff that did the hard work now and he oversaw them. Paul trusted Gregory and reviewed the files he had handed him.

The first file contained a dossier on a Belgian woman, Diana Desreumaux. She was an established agent with a good success record. She has several high profile clients but none of her clients were athletes. Her clients were mostly musicians and artists. She had a good reputation though. The next file was a man named Christophe Kerger from Luxembourg. Christophe had several high profile athletes in rugby and football in his portfolio. He too had a good reputation among his clients. Paul was surprised when he opened the last folder. He laughed and looked at Gregory with a raised eyebrow. Gregory had included a dossier on his daughter, Chelsey Vandecasteele. She had a degree in public relations and marketing with a minor in business. She had a more modest portfolio than the others. Chelsy had worked for a large agency before starting her own company. She had been in business for herself for a few years. She was established but didn’t have any really high profile clients yet, at least not on his level of fame. Paul was intrigued by the idea of taking on a lesser known agent. He liked the idea that she would have more time for him. He also knew her as she and her father lived on the estate as he was growing up. She was older than Paul by ten years. He had not seen her since she had gone off to college and pursued her own life away from her father. Gregory grinned at Paul.

Paul: “I had no idea that Chelsey had gone into public relations.”

Gregory: “I have another file if you feel this is inappropriate Paul.” He shrugged and pointed to Chelsey’s file. “She is still building her client base. You know her and she knows you. I believe you could trust her to have your best interests in mind. I can’t think of anyone better than a family member you can trust to have your interests in mind.” He smiled at Paul.

Paul smiled back at Gregory. “I won’t promise anything but I will set up an appointment to see her. I have a few reservations about it. She hasn’t handled a client of my caliber yet. We will meet and see what her ideas are.”

Gregory gave him a slight bow. “As you wish sir.” Gregory looked like the cat that got the canary. Paul laughed as he walked away carrying the three files with him.

Paul interviewed Diana Desreumaux. She had plenty of experience with endorsement contracts but not with sponsorship contracts or sports contracts. Christophe Kerger had plenty of experience with endorsement, sponsorship, and sports contracts. Diana was nice but her ideas for endorsement ads made him cringe. She simply didn’t have a clue about Formula AG Racing. She confessed that she was not a fan and never watched it. He was already handling several high profile celebrity athletes which he bragged about it. He shared details about endorsement deals for his other clients which Paul found distasteful and a breach of confidentiality. Paul didn’t believe he would have enough time for him. Paul didn’t get a good feeling about him.

Paul had interviewed Chelsey and had found that she had been following his career. Her portfolio was much smaller and Paul could tell that his mother had referred a few artists her way. Most of her clients were locals and in need of her marketing skills. Chelsey seemed happy to hear from you and thought it was a personal call. She was surprised when I brought up the idea that she could become my agent. Chelsey instantly began spouting how she had no experience in that way. She was trained for it but had no current clients in that capacity. She was surprised that I would ask her about it. She had laughed and shook her head when Paul told her that her father had recommended her to me. Chelsey shrugged it off and apologized for wasting his time while being happy to hear how he was doing. Paul grinned as he turned serious with Chelsey. He explained the issues he had with some of his previous agents. He told her he was dead serious about taking her on as his agent. He asked if she would be willing to make him her only sports client. She confessed that she didn’t feel up to the job but was surprised and appalled by the lack of ethics he had experienced with other agents. She was concerned about taking the job but if it would help Paul out she would do it. Chelsey felt completely inadequate for the job. Paul was convinced she would be perfect! Paul grinned at her and told her he would have a contract for her to look over by the following day.

Paul had smiled and checked that off his to do list. He went to get ready for his lunch date with his mother with a grin.

---

Paul spent some time reviewing the videos from the Montreal race. He was surprised to see that Kais didn’t hit Jamie Hart. He was surprised when it came out that Zygon had been using illegal modifications. They had been cheating. He wondered if that was why he had not heard from Hyeon-Ae in some time. He watched what had happened to Dorian and frowned. He was familiar with Dorian’s racing style and he was lacking his typical consistency this season. He knew there had been a lot of drama since Alexander started at Valkyrie but it seemed like there was something more going on with Dorian. Maybe it was his impending retirement. Knowing that each one of these races would be the last of his career had to take an emotional and mental toil. He made a point to send Dorian a nice bottle of wine and reach out to his teammate. He learned everything he could from rewatching the video and reviewing his ship’s data telemetry from the Montreal race. He then turned his attention to other things while he was at home.

---

Paul had enjoyed his time at home. He had run everyday. He had done the circuit of local news stations to do interviews about his win in Montreal and to plug the upcoming fundraising gala for the Mulder Foundation. The marketing surrounding the gala was gaining steam with the free press from his win and the interviews. The extra press had helped elevate his endorsement profile as well. Chelsey had jumped right in and he had sent her copies of all of his contracts which included his endorsement and sponsorship deals. She had been in contact quite a bit as she got up to speed on his information. Once he felt she had at least familiarised herself with his information he dumped her into the deep end. He added Chelsey’s contact information as his agent to his professional page. He had already contacted Katherine and let her know who his new agent was. Katherine would end up working closely with Chelsey to coordinate endorsement and sponsorship contracts and clauses to ensure he didn’t accidentally breach a contract by accepting work from a competitor. Katherine would also forward any personal endorsement requests to Chelsey for her to review and share with Paul. He appreciated that Chelsey would set up a set weekly meeting where they would discuss any pending business on endorsement contracts. Anyone wanting urgent contracts would be held off. His previous agents had only thought about their commissions and would contact him all the time even when they knew he was busy. He already felt like this was going to work out.

Paul was back at the headquarters. He was suffering through another grueling session with Agnes, Sasha, and Mitsuko tender graces. Paul kept his complaining to a minimum. Shininichi’s system was amazing but it was not all rainbows and goodness. Paul was required to drink a protein and supplement shake three times a day to help get the building blocks for the changes into his system. The shakes had a nasty aftertaste and a consistency like liquid chalk. Then he was being put through a special workout routine to strengthen the muscles, tendons, and ligaments around his joints. It was painful as he had to keep pushing and breaking tissue down so it could be rebuilt. It was painful and exhausting. Then there was the odd sensation of growing pains like he suffered as a boy and the feeling that his bones itched. Mitsuko assured him that the process was coming along great as she was monitoring the process. It was not the most comfortable process in the world. Once the process was done, Paul had gained about 5 pounds in weight from the process with much denser bones and the graphene latticing along his skeletal structure. Agnes and Sasha put Paul through another series of tests to ensure he had fully adapted to the changes. The final scans and tests revealed the process had worked extremely well. On the test track, the changes made to his body helped him with the g forces he was subjected to inside the cockpit.

Paul was pleased that he got to take part in the summer bootcamp. He raced anonymously in the older ships against the junior academy cadets. He enjoyed the hell out of himself. He enjoyed cutting down a few egos even more. He knew his identity as Racer X was never revealed to the cadets or Delta Hyper. Alexander had him test the cadets ability against an experienced opponent with ELS and overtakes. He wanted to see if they understood how to defend and use those systems. Plus with Valkyrie’s set up it required a racer that could get the most of the ship’s handling and stability. It was a very telling experience as some of the racers were obviously used to relying on better ships and speed over their opponents ships to win. It also gave Paul an opportunity to test out his mods in real life conditions on the track. Overall while the upgrade process was not the most enjoyable in the world, he appreciated the new stability his upgrade gave him in the cockpit.

Paul knew that Cavan Mitchell and his team of engineers were trying to get more speed out of the Valkyrie ship. He hoped that with the extra time over summer break that they managed to come up with some minor tweaks to help. Paul would need that extra speed at Spa. Every little bit helped. Tocho Lister while helping with the Junior Academy Bootcamp was available to run tests on any improvements the engineers needed tested. Daniel Ogier would have some time to help with that as well. Having one pilot on campus and available would help out the engineers significantly. Having two test pilots with different flying styles would help them test the ship for multiple pilots as well. More data was always better than no data.

---

Media Over Summer Break

“This is Lilly Stryker from TMZ. We come to you today with some news hot off the presses. Paul Mulder has fired his agent and replaced them with a childhood friend. His new agent is Chelsey Vandecasteele. Miss Vandecasteele has a degree in public relations and marketing with a minor in business. She comes from obscurity into the spotlight with such top tier talent. Critics feel that this was a poor move on Mulder’s part. Paul has not commented on our inquiries into the matter. Other agents ponder if she was given the job for other reasons. She doesn’t seem to have the experience that you would expect for such a high profile athlete. We will be keeping our eye on this so we can update you in the future. Remember to follow us, this has been Lilly Stryker with TMZ.”

---

“This is Lauri Ivan with Victory Laps Racing News. We are hearing rumors that Alexander Knight had invited one member from each of the Junior Formula AG teams to attend the Team Valkyrie Summer Bootcamp. The rumors have gone unconfirmed but there seems to be a kernel of truth to them. Olivia Lau, Phoebe Kostas, Liam Hunter, Amber Beck, and Elise Vogel are mysteriously away from their teams when summer breaks tend to be when junior teams get some attention in the paddock. Is Alexander Knight secretly interviewing pilots in an effort to see who will fill Dorian Hornfleur’s shoes next season? We have had confirmation from some of the other junior league teams that their junior members received an invitation and they declined. I guess we will just have to wait to see what Alexander Knight has up his sleeve next. This has been Lauri Ivan from Victory Laps Racing News.”

---

"This is Hans Keller with Gossip. There is hot news from Team Valkyrie today. The team has confirmed the rumors that Alexander Knight was seen in Los Angeles visiting his daughter Arianna. The two were reportedly seen at a small Mexican Restaurant in Santa Monica. The team confirmed rumors that Tocho Lister has been wooed away from Miller Motor Racing and will be joining Team Valkyrie AGR Sport. Will Tocho Lister replace Dorian Hornfleur? Team Valkyrie has confirmed he has been offered a contract and accepted it but not what his role will be. Remember to follow us on Gossip as we keep you updated on the latest gossip! This has been Hans Keller.

---

Help us celebrate Team Valkyrie pilot Paul Mulder’s first win in the Formula AG league at Montreal. Don’t forget that you can buy fangear at our team store [link to team store]. Team Valkyrie is announcing a change to their Fan Zone for upcoming races. Expect Valkyrie Fan Zones to be more interactive than ever with smaller local businesses joining us for upcoming races. They will add local culture and flair to upcoming fan zones with new food and drink options and experiences changing every race. The Team couldn’t be more pleased to be able to engage smaller businesses as we redefine what the Formula AG racing community looks like. Check out the new interactive race calendar to see what will be available in upcoming fan zones! [link to calendar]

Team Valkyrie AGR Sport is proud to announce that the Mulder Foundation Fundraising Gala is sold out! Team Valkyrie AGR Sport will be giving away one pair of tickets to the Mulder Foundation Gala at the upcoming Spa Grand Prix. Visit the Team Valkyrie Fan Zone for opportunities to win the tickets. You can still submit bids to the silent auction items. [link to the silent auction page] You can also still buy the special t-shirt promotion designed by Mad Bea. You can purchase your t-shirt in support from the Team Valkyrie Store or from the Mulder Foundation. [link to buy the t-shirt] Proceeds go to support the Mulder Foundation. [link to the Mulder Foundation]


Wow! Thanks for the support for the Mulder Foundation. I appreciate it! I have seen the plans for the new fan zone experiences. They are gonna be different for each race! It’s gonna be fun! I am looking forward to it.

OfficeDrone#12: The new fan zone remake is amaze balls! Never heard of his new agent before though.
SuperfanAGR54: Tocho Lister? Please tell me Alexander is not going to replace Dorian with Tocho. That is not a good replacement.
DantheMan:Congrats to Paul on his first win! May there be many more in his future.
BatDave: I am Batman I should have thought of this...
Superfan2075: I am skeptical but will go check out the new fan zone. What is Knight up to now? Why would he invite the junior academy pilots from other teams to Valkyrie’s bootcamp? Doesn’t that invite the enemy to check you out behind the scenes.
DadBod89: Hmm that’s an interesting concept. Very different. Not sure what Knight is up to now.
Hater101: Big Whoop! It is only their second win this season. *rolls eyes* Bad move on Knight’s part. You don’t invite the enemy within.
Papabear34: It’s nice they plugged his fundraiser. I bought one of Bea’s shirts. I can’t think of a more meaningful souvenir for this season.
Nana2050: It’s nice to see Paul doing well. I like the changes to the fan zone. I bought my t-shirt!
GeorgeFly:Hmmm I am reserving judgement till the press covers the first one. It was time Paul won one. Not sure what Knight is up to now.
ValkyrieFan56: Ohhh I like the new calendar. It has holographic pop ups showing the vendors and their set up with interactive menus too! That’s nice for planning ahead. The rumors about what Knight is up to is concerning.
Weedhead81: I am bummed. There was no weed on the silent auction. I checked. That’s just sad man.
SexyM@m@5: I would like to hear about Dorian. It’s like they stopped supporting him now that Paul is winning. BOO!
Paulmulder4eva: YES! They detail when the pilots will be in the fan zone for meet and greets.
Britball12: I am happy to see Paul finally win a race. Not sure about the changes to the fan zone. I do like the new interactive calendar though.
!YouSlow!: Meh. I feel Paul should have won one before now and don’t get me started on Dorian’s performance at Montreal. Is he phoning in his last season?
xImFasterthanUx: @!YouSlow! I completely agree. For a racer known for consistently delivering, he has been all over the place this season.
AGInthusiast: Meh! I agree that Dorian’s performance has been all over the place. Is it just rumors or is Knight up to something?
micheal650004: It’s nice to see the team supporting Paul’s interest outside of racing. Nice to see him on the podium.
Bertha: Bah Humbug! Dorian didn’t finish in Montreal. Paul finished in first big whoop. We have heard about this fundraiser a lot lately. Can we get some real racing news? New fan zone experiences? Not really. Just new sponsors.

---

Tues July 26 Formula AG Pilot Group Chat

Paul:Since we are going to be close to my hometown, I will be hosting the dinner party for the pilot group on Thursday before the race at Spa at Villa De Fleurs. I have rented out the entire hotel. Come stay for the race and join me for dinner on Thursday. World Renown Chef Greyson Angelotti will be cooking just for our group.

---

So far her inquiry into the neural link logs yielded no results. Well, it told her that it either wasn’t triggering on its own when it wasn’t supposed to, or it was and wasn’t leaving any trace. Normally she’d go with the former because it was the simpler solution, but she knew for a fact there was no trace of her VR chat with Amy except a text message on her phone, that was the first date and time she checked.

Slowly she was coming to terms with the fact that she’d have to tell Lucho at least something to get his help directly. She’d need an excuse to have him look into anything that might be bypassing the neural blockers without sounding like some kind of conspiracy nut, paranoid schizophrenic or some other kind of nutter, unaware that he’d already been doing so on his own time, spurred by her cryptic visit. And interruptions were not helping her think. She let the phone ring once it told her who was calling, not really caring for what some suit from the board had to say. Call during business hours.

”Hello Beatrix, Pablo here. Sorry to call you while you're away, but, listen, I wanted to talk a little bit of business through with you. Normally I would have gone to Frederick, or Leon first, but I thought to go to you directly. I believe in our chances this season, and I think you are the key to that. I'll be at Spa. See you there.”

Well, that wasn’t ominous at all.

She waited a few minutes before sending a message back so it would look like she was busy as opposed to not paying attention to her phone.
> We’ll speak after the race, then.
She didn’t need any more distractions than she already had on her plate. ”Bloody neural mods…” She cursed to no one in particular as she poured herself another cup of cranberry tea with a horse’s dose of Brandy.

---

DELTΔ HYPER

Episode 10: Changing Conditions

---

”Beatrix, Kais, Paul, welcome back to Delta Hyper. How were your Summer Holidays?”

Bea let the other two go first - Paul because he was at home here and Kais… Look, you don’t step on someone like that in conversation.
”It’s great to be back at the track. Did you miss us?” Bea poked Aurora a bit before answering the question.
”No wake up alarm.” She shook her head with a blissful smile, ”For three weeks I didn’t roll out of bed until eleven.” In fact, she’d messed up her biological clock so much that Bridget had to wake her up by throwing rocks at her window at seven in the morning the first two days of going back to in-season timetables.

---

Practice had been looking promising that weekend. Bea loved Spa on the worst days, but the timing tower might as well have been a wizard’s tower because what was on top of it was conjuring smiles all over the Carrera Condor garage.

”Bea, no funny business into Turn One, yeah? We have a hell of a ship on our hands...”

”Temper expectations.” Bea returned the hug a little more coldly than usual. ”The next race will have the next set of problems. Let’s make it count while we know we can. We won’t have it this easy until the home race.”
”Who are you and where is Bea?” Ava poked, ”Did Ivan install a sense of self preservation along with your lungs?”
No, but Amy did remove something during that surgery. ”I always underpromise and overdeliver. I’m not here telling everyone I’ll win the championship in my rookie year, just that I’m here to prove I belong.” She shrugged, ”But if you want bravado: Rounds 17 through 19 will be knockouts.” She alluded to the speed-heavy, stability-ignoring circuits.

---

Due to what Spa demanded, Carrera Condor might as well have turned up with an actual Antares-B aerospace interceptor as opposed to a racing ship with an engine from that bolted on the back. Careful through La Source, she shot out from it and up the two-Eau Rouge-Radillon combination, the ship dipping so low through two that it kicked up spray with the wake turbulence. Absolutely screaming down Kemmel, braking hard enough for Les Combes that vapor trails started forming around the various air brakes as moisture condensed in the low-pressure air around them.

Then came the masterstroke, drilled strenuously in sims and practiced to perfection on Friday. Tilting the ship in two axes, the air brakes angling to produce lift and pull the ship to the left and the AG unit likewise pulling into the corner, Bea took Pouhon flat with just a lift on entry, engine screaming like a beast possessed the entire way through.

The ship was like nailed down through the MAG section, only coming close to struggling through the Neuville chicane before getting spat out between the grandstands in front of turn 16. The ships couldn’t break the sound barrier, but the fans almost made up for the sonic boom as she kept it pinned through 16 and Blanchimont, all the way until the bus stop. She ran out of courage there, braking a bit too early and losing a tenth of a second in that one corner alone.

”THAT’S PROVISIONAL POLE BEA! GUARANTEED P2!”
”YEEEEES!” She whooped so loud the mics actually picked up the sound of the breathing liquid rushing through her throat, ”That was almost good.” She laughed.
”Oh, get out of here! I haven’t seen Alonso smile this much since Burkhart said ‘yes’.” Alistair laughed with her, ”Even Asturia is smiling, actually. It’s a bit unnerving.”


”FUCK! How many times have I been through that chicane?” She punched the canopy frame, untangling herself from the crash harness ”Everything came together and then I brake like I’m in a kart for the first bloody time!”
”It’s P2 to Ava’s P4. You have 45 minutes to make up one position tomorrow. It’s halfway in the bag already.” Alistair rallied pretty quick in the face of the unexpected outburst, race engineers being many things including part-time psychologists.
”I know, but that could have been pole, damn it.” She lamented her error, ”It’s a great result, but it stings. Such a dumb mistake at one of my favorite tracks…”
”Don’t let it get to you. No-”
”No heroics into T1, I know.” She cut him off, ”Sell La Source, lock in through two through four and then we get her with the slipstream down Kemmel.” She shrugged, rattling off pretty much the exact words Alistair was about to say.
”If that fails, stay on her through the MAG section and you’ll have the speed advantage past Blanchimont.” He nodded.
”As long as I hit the braking point for the Bus Stop.”
”Unless she gets you on brakes, that will also compromise her and you’ll once again have the advantage accelerating on corner exit.”

---

DELTΔ HYPER

Episode 10: Changing Conditions

---

Back to the interview couch, under a gazebo to keep the rain away, still with her racing limbs on except with Sarif Industries, PolarVault and other sponsor logos 3D printed and attached to the circular openings with snap-fits.

“Beatrix, the upgrades look incredibly impressive. Take us through what you're feeling, with a podium position today in qualifying? Do you think you have what it takes to win?”

”What I’m feeling… What I said in the garage right after the qualy lap is unpublishable I guess, so… ” Bea chuckled. ”A stupid mistake on my part. Still, an absolutely amazing result despite that, one we didn’t even dare dream of two months ago. I’m completely blown away by the work Felix and the whole engineering team have done over the summer. She’s even faster than before, like glued to the road at high speeds and even more responsive to inputs now.
Do I think we can win?“ She let the question hang in the air for a second, ”Of course I think we can. All racing drivers do, otherwise we wouldn’t be here, would we?” She asked like it was an obvious thing.

“What would you say to your past self about the journey you've been on?”

She thought about it briefly. Jamie’s stunt in Cape Town. Astrid’s bullshit penalty in the wake of Italy. Layla laying in that recovery room, lights on but no one home. Amy’s desperate plea and the server rack now in her garage.
”That’s for my past self to hear.” She smiled with a shrug.

---

Paul Since we are going to be close to my hometown, I will be hosting the dinner party for the pilot group on Thursday before the race at Spa at Villa De Fleurs. I have rented out the entire hotel. Come stay for the race and join me for dinner on Thursday. World Renown Chef Greyson Angelotti will be cooking just for our group.

Bea I’m there.

Ava Likewise.

---

Formula AG Pilot Group Chat

Paul Since we are going to be close to my hometown, I will be hosting the dinner party for the pilot group on before the race at Spa at Villa De Fleurs. I have rented out the entire hotel. Come stay for the race and join me for dinner on Thursday. World Renown Chef Greyson Angelotti will be cooking just for our group.

Bea I’m there.

Ava Likewise.

----

AStirling
I'm keen!

Hamid Atlassi was added
Flo Mason was added
Benji Hale was added

Hamid Atlassi changed his name to Hamid
Benji Hale changed his name to Ben Hale

AStirling
Welcome to the chat!

Hamid
Yallahhhh

*drops a GIF of a guy in a Keffeh with his hands aloft*

Flo Mason
Thanks Amy!

Ben Hale
Heyo! Yeah @Paul I'm keen but need to be on site that evening

Cassie Neves
@Paul how much money did that cost you? Holy shit that's fucking mental, very kind offer but we can't come!

Astrid
Said like someone who hasn't ever hired a yacht for a Monaco boat party

Cassie Neves
I haven't

Astrid
Paul has discovered the benefit of being a paid anti-gravity pilot with few hobbies

Harrison
Don't worry he'll change soon! @AStirling never does anything like this

AStirling
Yeah because I always pay for the Christmas meal, and you guys decided last time to spend too much money on 2025 vintages back when we were in Dubai, and my accountant is still angry with you all

Dorian
Worth it though, but yes this is a treat, I'm there and Paul did get a good deal with the hotel, it's stunning in there too- quaint little establishment

Kofi
Cash moves everything around me, CREAM get the money....

Dorian
Holy fuck that is a throwback, you from 1994?

Kofi
I know my vintages :)
And you're as old as me lol

Harrison
That is an eyewatering amount of money, mate, me and Nora are coming and we will pay something to that, you really didn't have to!

Also go check out Hilltop Hoods, stuck on repeat for me

Jen Lowry
Turns out you're all old-school hip hop heads, holy shit

Wedge
@Paul I'm in! And paying for my end, holy shit that is a lot. Can't stay though.

Ava Villarosa
The garage has ROSALIA blaring and we are enjoying ourselves :)

Flo Mason
@Paul count me in too, why not!

Cassie Neves
@Kais how's Layla getting on? Really shocked to hear she quit the group and the sport. Tried to send her a text but got her AI twin instead, honestly missing her a fair chunk.

Dorian
Yeah, really gutting but I know she had a lot of other priorities beyond AG, crazy she's dropped off.

Astrid
Now we just need to give Amy shit about when she's gonna quit to upload her mind or some shit and let the rest of us fight over a title ;)

AStiring
Hey I wouldn't give you the satisfaction, also Astrid, be less shit ;)

Harrison
Fucking hell that's diabolical

Hamid
@Cassie Neves Us too, its a sensitive one but she didn't want to be disturbed at all

Astrid
You guys are flinging so much shit at me, look, it's just not our year

Jen Lowry
When's it gonna be?

Astrid
Soon TM

Flo Mason
Like five years ago it was lol

Kofi
How is the family Florence?

Flo Mason
Better than it was before. The old chat was like dealing with kids anyway, so it set me up ;) Thanks Kofi, sending lots of love to your family, we need to get some play dates arranged now I'm back in :)

Jen Lowry
Aww, Bella was super cute when you came to Silverstone! She must be loving her new NOVA merch :)

Flo Mason
*picture of a very confused looking toddler in a olive green and yellow NOVA bib sitting in a pram*
*Many, many, many hearts in chat*

Cassie Neves
Aww she is so cute! Does she like racing too?

Flo Mason
She is already obsessed! Though annoyingly, she is following all of Bea's streams right now so she has turned the spare room upside down with art of Carrera and the old Silver Apex ship, which is not ideal...

Ava Villarosa
One of us, one of us, one of us....

AStirling
Like mother like daughter! So cute Flo, even if you left us I'm hoping I still get to see my favourite goddaughter :)

Flo Mason
Anytime!

Dorian
This children chat is getting scary given you're all asking when me and Marcel are talking surrogacy

Kofi
Holy shit actually? The serial magnet on the grid is finally going to settle down?

Dorian
I am thinking about it :)

Harrison
Actual scenes, never thought I'd see the day, but then again, 20 years+ of this is also mad too

Astrid
I want to be like you when I grow up @Dorian

Cassie Neves
Astrid womanising is terrifying, but with enough of her gin, anything is possible

Jen Lowry
Holy fuck Cassie

Astrid
....

Harrison
How many pints deep are you?

Cassie Neves
Two actually, Duvels are great, I might say on TV Sagres is the best but whisper it quietly, Belgians have their beer on lock

Okay sorry yeah that was a bit much lol

Astrid
Doesn't filter out as nicely though, and hey, I don't need any gin :)

Hamid
This chat is everything and more I hoped it would be

Ben Hale
Yeah this is awesome, you guys are all dysfunctional adults

Wedge
Yeah this is normal around here, welcome to the sandbox

Jen Lowry
You get used to it. On a more serious note- Hawaii actually happening?

Kofi
Hawaii confirmed. Lot of work into safety, similar to Italy but with more skeleton and verticality to manage the fact the rainforest is very overgrown

AStirling
Hell to the yes. I loved watching it but they stopped it before I joined AG

Dorian
It is an awesome circuit, no fans but a real classic, the flow of the circuit is addictive, it's like a rollercoaster meets Jurassic Park. @Harrison you are going to adore this

Harrison
Yeah my socials went crazy for it!

Jen Lowry
Sounds good though! Creepie-crawlies might not be my thing but the diving around there is awesome, and also, @Bea is half Hawaiian so she'll be our guide :)

Ben Hale
what via the London Borough of Maui? How is she Hawaiian?

Wedge
@Ben Hale there we go, now you're getting this chat's vibe

Ava Villarosa
Puta I spat out my entire electrolyte to that

Astrid
That's wild. She's too angry to be Hawaiian

Jen Lowry
True but she has actual roots from there via her mum, so you know, for pure vibes she's bringing the Moana

Ava Villarosa
You're too angry to be able to make this much gin

AStirling
@Jen Lowry absolute tease ;) I can see her turning pink

Dorian
Gonna be good racing. Spa is fun as well. I forgot to say- go see the motorsport museum in Stavelot, it is very good, bring a sponsor if you want free content :)

Hamid
Thanks for the shout Dorian!

Harrison
Such an old man @Dorian

Dorian
Ey I'm not the one listening to a century's old hip hop

Wedge
I heard French grime coming out of your trailer once and did not ask questions

Cassie Neves
Yeah he do be like that

Dorian
got me

AStirling
You ever tried just working on analytics in peace?

Hamid
This chat is making this difficult

Cassie Neves
@Hamid yeah that happens

Ava Villarosa
What happened to Henry by the way @Jen? Don't mean to intrude but just seemed like he left really quick when the whole thing got sold

Jen Lowry
Do you want the version they'll broadcast on Delta Hyper's Season Review, or the version that actually happened?

Cassie Neves
"Massive arguments, talking about speed, him crashing into me back in Singapore last year with lots of swearing, then him looking sad when it gets announced he sucked"

Astrid
hey hey hey I liked him

Harrison
you were chatting a lot of shit about him literally four weeks ago, and Cassie isn't wrong, they did me and Amy so dirty last year

AStirling
me calling you a pain in the ass was in context but repeated a lot, agreed

Dorian
I think we all supported Henry, but when I reached out he was quite private about it

Flo Mason
His stuff's still here, he had some seriously designer stuff, guy was stacked but wanted to keep none of it- it's gonna go to reuse because he hasn't come back for it and it sold with the centre

Jen Lowry
Basically- his dad tried to make it work, Henry genuinely loved it but I think his dad's got some sort of degenerative disease and looks like he wants to spend a lot more time with him. It messed up a lot of his judgement especially because Maxwell couldn't ever let go of it and ended up obsessed with running every bit of his businesses- literally cannot delegate any of the financials to anyone else. Didn't work and Henry just couldn't step up to run the team, not when he was in the pilot's seat and had to try and manage him from lashing out on the team despite pulling funding year by year. Maxwell tried to fund it anyway and do it all but they didn't need the advertising given that was all the team was- plus with Henry's performances they weren't helping the brand and he was the boss's son, so nobody could speak out. Genuinely insane, but the staff and everyone in tech was amazing, so at NOVA they'll love it but it will take time to heal

Ben Hale
Shiiiiit

Ava Villarosa
Damn, that is wild! Shit, no wonder he didn't look wired straight in interviews, or on circuit.

Jen Lowry
Yeah pretty wild. I'd have stayed but the offer of Apex was just once in a lifetime! You guys have an amazing team, can't think of a better pair to come in and Sally is absolutely amazing. She truly is, I do not know how she dealt with Maxwell because while he had his good moments, he's definitely got a lot worse on, Henry's going to struggle to take on the Fitzroy businesses when he passes. Whatever he has, it's way worse than any thing any neurologist in AG could fix, like I'd say without half the time the team's neurologist spent on him alone they say he'd be dead five years ago, let alone functioning. Real tragedy, Henry wasn't going to admit that to anyone for obvious reasons, and he couldn't focus on Business Admin and piloting a ship at this level at the same time

Wedge
You sound like a documentary voiceover in my head in ten years time ngl

Flo Mason
Holy crap! Did not know that at all- knew Maxwell wasn't well but didn't realise Henry was caught in it and how bad. Yeah, Sally is lovely- we talked a bit about it and when invested but this is not in. The facility needs a lot of love, cannot believe you worked in these conditions

Ben Hale
Yeah it's a bit different to Apex's!

Ava Villarosa
Our factory has Asado every Wednesday lunchtime, I would say ours is better than Apex's

Jen Lowry
@Ben Hale yeah it was a bit run down but it was home

Cassie Neves
holy shit this is an Anglo-Argentine conflict

Kofi
*Falklands intensifies*

Wedge
Speaking of other people, how's Jamie @AStirling? Dude did not look good leaving Canada, guessed it might happen

Harrison
He nearly got slugged by Kais, how the fuck would you feel? (@Kais, if you're reading this, we agree it was a dumb crash, please don't spark my lights out)

Hamid
You should see Kais with the cattery we have here, he's chill (sorta). Jamie is a thing of the past to him, and yes, dumb crash, FIAR issued a fair few penalty points to him for it and internals dealt with it given it looks like Jamie overdrove deliberately

Astrid
I swear a bit, after a really nasty crash in snow, and get a ten place penalty, come on, what is this, 2030s FIA?

Kofi
Guys not now, this has been dealt with already

AStirling
@Wedge he was okay, taking half the year out to chill out. Just not for us, he needed a break and the step was a bit much. @Jen Lowry is already settling in here well- she is pushing me in the sim already! This next half of the season is gonna be interesting, I think we're in for a treat :)

Harrison
Bring it on, Amy, big gap in the constructors to clear :)

Ben Hale
@Jen Lowry btw looking around the factory there's a massive dick someone's drawn under Henry's desk

AStirling
Fucking hell you absolute rascal!

Flo Mason
None under mine!

Cassie Neves
Was there one under Jamie's? @Jen Lowry

Ava Villarosa
Cassie. Stop consuming beer, pls

Kofi
media.tenor.com/KG8VslP9asgAAAAM/meme…

Flo Mason
Some things never change in this group chat :)