[center][h1][b]Thursday 1st September, 2094 Marina Bay, Singapore 2030 SGT [/b][/h1][/center] [@LadyAmber] Dorian shook his head, hearing his comments about emotions, knowing no answer would be easy. He put his hand out, putting fingers into heart. "Whether it's synthetic or not, they haven't made a cure for how you feel. Nanites won't fix it. Working out doesn't either. What's in here, you need to make that happen. So don't worry about those things fixing you. Remember why you do this." Dorian replied, breaking a smile, knowing he had doubts. He was barely 20, and Dorian had to remind himself he was his age when Paul's father died. That was harrowing, and something he didn't want to outpour now, but he could at least cheer up his son. That much he owed the man. "It's fine. Every team-mate wants to rip each other out. Be lucky I don't care and want to retire, so I'll take my victory lap and just try and do the best a 40 year old can with a ship made for fucking teenagers. Like you're barely old enough to....ah, forget it. You got this." Dorian added, slotting the champagne, shaking his head, thinking about his earlier comment. "Please don't tell me this is because you're worried about not keeping a girl? Paul, putain, don't you fucking think......and ahh, I am taken, so don't worry. I'm not into Belgians anyway, last guy had a thing for waf....ahh, forget it. Anyway, when I came out as bi, do you know how much fan mail they sent in my prime? I had so many relationships, so much empty sex.....probably when I felt at my loneliest." Dorian paused, sipping more bubbly. "Then I found Marcel. Someone who loves me for who I am. And you'll find someone too, because you're a Formula AG pilot, and that is the sexiest thing in the world. But being decent counts for a lot too. All that pressure, but in it, a diamond can be found when you're a version of you that doesn't worry too much." Dorian spoke with true French class, well, the kind that came with being bisexual, multilingual and two decades in the game of keeping his head straight. And trying to get a laugh out of Paul. With the AV coming to a stop, Dorian put the glass back, stepping out into the 50th storey entrance to their hotel. "Maybe not tonight though? If you get eyes for any other pilot though, especially Beatrix Ward, I am going to rip the shit out of you if I get into commentary." Dorian tried to at least get him cheered up, stepping out into the faux marble, and off to bed. [hr] [center][h1][b] Practice Friday 2nd September, 2094 Singapore Marina Bay, Singapore 1700 SGT [/b][/h1][/center] [center][h2][i][b]Cassie Neves[/b][/i][/h2][/center] She spat out her red electrolyte, watching Beatrix nearly slam into her through the corner on the footage playback. "That fucking close? Bea, what the...." The sight of the rainbow, with black/white colouring at the mouth of the garage stopped her fully completing her swear word, looking meek and rather apologetic. Cassie sighed, nodding to that apology. "Suppose you came to apologise at least. Better than most. And probably not worth penalty points, let's not be children in karts. Unless you try it again. Anyway, back to it, yeah? Go destroy your teammate and don't drown? You seem like one of the nice ones." Cassie chuckled, her sarky quip well intentioned, as with it, she turned back to the team, helmet back in hand, and Zygon seemed to shoo her away after that. [hr] [center][h1][b] Qualifying Saturday 3rd September, 2094 Singapore Marina Bay, Singapore 2200 SGT [/b][/h1][/center] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]More Than Machine[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [img]https://sfcriga.com/images/others/sfcriga_singapore-the-first-night-time-event-in-f1-history_photo02.jpg[/img] [img]https://images.ctfassets.net/1fvlg6xqnm65/5ANId7W3311L6KLlFxdO3P/6cabaa078ea0f9c12dc66148d37c1ced/Image_2.jpg?w=1920&q=75&fm=webp[/img] [b]Soundtrack: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-CGPQCdXvI]Metrik - Ex Machina[/url] [/b] Breathing in, Amy took half a moment. A spotlight lit, LED-light filled skyscraper, hologram pulsing filled cityscape around a city. That in night, had unbearable humidity that at least didn't combine with sunshine. It felt at least cooler, yet sweaty. Even after a rainstorm, Singapore felt hostile. The track was strewn in puddles, the regular afternoon to evening rainstorm that Singapore received having bucketed it onto the circuit, and waited out before qualy started. It was serious rain, the kind that seemed to almost hail this time around- leaving the circuit slick in the glistening lights. Not that AG cared, as it instantly vaporised the tarmac and MAG-tracking. "Got this. Come on. Let's have it." And from slow pace, the ship jolted. Through the knife-edge like Turn 1 and 2, past the massive wall of fans that made up the bridge area at 4 and 5, with the enormous camber that allowed her to basically keep the ship going, albeit spilling a tiny bit of speed on the overrun, throttle pinned through ELS. The ship screamed. The headache faded. She felt herself meld, bond, closer. The reaction felt superhuman. The new upgrade did too. Fuck me, this was on rails, she thought to herself! 7, 8, 9 blasted, all with a slight camber making the 90 degree turns more palpable, and not quite like Monaco on the highly lit-up streets of Singapore. This place was an absolute maze, the tall skyscrapers of 70 years ago even taller, and dense, like a forest of glass, metal and composite that blended with the ground level heritage of Singapore's multi-faceted past. But no time to think on that. 10 was now an inverted chicane, in that a brake was required to avoid poor camber, a parody of the old Singapore Sling and made sure speeds didn't get too insane in 11 and 12, with a massive camber at the hairpin making it a passing place for anyone suicidal enough. Because the straight was silly again, the ship's lovely setup not too aggressive, but tuned finely to Amy's hyperreactive feel. In 14, that 90 degree was about to get boring, but it was the end of it. Because by 16, the track cambered upside down and corked straight to 18, at a massive wall of MAG tracking, making for an excellent finale. And well, what a time it was. Jen hadn't delivered, having issues with the new upgrade, by Amy, she was back. The promise finally delivered. And she was taking top spot tomorrow. Time to widen a gap she'd kept too close to Nora lately. "P1, Amy! What a lap that was!" The call came through, as Amy smiled behind her visor, that everlasting confidence back on her. It was always in her. Believe and you receive. The ship felt like it was crawling in her at this point, it was so much beyond a bond now, it seemed to exist in a future she hadn't gotten into yet. Finding the millionths in air oscillations nobody could even spot. And punching through regardless. Cooldown on, she pulled in, and canopy open, put her fist up, clambering out, looking at the stunned Nora, who was certain she'd had in a bag with what was her own, insanely capable lap. Paul and Bea would feel a bit hard done by, but then again, nothing they could do when two pilots decided they were making Singapore a fight. Amy didn't really talk. The noise was too much, her head hurt, but she was back where she wanted to be. Keira looked up at her, as Amy smiled, as best as she could through the cutting decibels. [hider=Qualifying Results for Singapore]https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qF6cn-eA0G0sumgf79TvEnPjOHyQP-vZSFV6LNrn_OY/edit?usp=sharing[/hider] [hr] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Rookies in Frame[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] The pressers cornered Bea right as she was finishing up, Nora and Paul in the queue behind as all three were now in the booth, the usual ushering of them away stopped by a cameraman. "Nora, Beatrix, Paul, you three have been rookies all this season and now that you're all here, how do you feel about taking the rest of the places by storm? What a dominant qualifying, do you think you can take on Amy, without taking each other out?" Nora looked to the others with a grin, the Aussie no less relenting in what could be a charge to the title in her first season. If she could get past Amy, that was. "Well, they'll have to keep up first. Sure I can get her. Tomorrow, and for the title." Nora smiled to the others, the crowd cheering, the local Bogans getting their local supersonic to here and in force, #NitroNora Army here for the series's last major visit to this corner of the globe (given Great Barrier Reef was not attended in force). Nora had clearly gone from strength to strength, the synthetic arm and leg having pilot seemingly repeating Auckland once again, despite Southern Cross recently being embroiled in scandals around Australian mining firms, still coming out of it with a pilot that seemed virtually like she couldn't quit. [hr] [@Starlance] [center][h2][i][b]Ava Villarosa[/b][/i][/h2][/center] With qualifying completed, press over, the team at Carrera were headed back to the hotel, locking up for the rest of the night. The team generally were out and about, shutting all systems off, and locking up. "Bea!" Ava yelled out, as she chased over, running in front, past the trailers at the back of Carrera Condor's paddock. "You okay? Like, we're on top of it all, P4 in that standing....and you seem all out of it?" She asked genuinely, before realising the few hours she'd spent thinking about this, wanting to check and get an answer, was getting a scowl from Bea. The others walked on by, still some team members left, but soon, they'd be out of sight. "Look, if it's about Amy....and the op and everything, look, don't be worried about it. I'm sure it isn't anything serious. She's doing this to wind you up. Even if she is a freak of nature sometimes. Like in qualy." She seemed to tried empathy, but the look she was getting, did not appear to be it.