[center] [h1][b] Friday 29th September, 2094 Autodromo de Buenos Aires, Argentina 1900 ART [/b] [/h1] [/center] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]The Shop Window[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [center][h2][i][b]Cassie Neves[/b][/i][/h2][/center] Cassie's phone rang as she left Zygon hospitality post-practice, the voice of Joao Vitor, her agent, deciding to make a phone call that connected as she was headed to her personal trailer. Click to receive, Cassie put hand to ear, the Zygon-branded merch jacket clashing against her pilots inner-suit that she kept on for the time being. "Joao?" "We have an update. Carrera." "You want to talk about it, while I'm in the middle of all of this?" "Well, get yourself clear." Cassie heard, as she walked across to a quieter part of the cloudy, now-springtime paddock, finding a quiet spot behind another trailer, checking for drones and making sure her implants weren't listening in. If Zygon decided they were, well, they weren't total monsters to their star pilots. At least, she hoped. "Team is going well. What if Carrera piss up next year's ship?" "That's up to you." "Well, things are getting better here." "Contract is sizable. I would think about it. Zygon's got positive trajectory, but the optics, culture, fit at Carrera are perfect, and they are gonna need it. Match made in heaven." "I'm guessing by that you mean I'd replace Ava, not Bea. How she hasn't been tapped up is beyond me....so yeah. I get it. The Iberian link." Cassie replied, as the agent chuckled. "Well, she almost was, and yes, that was what they liked. Point is, their management has started making some big moves, and they made enquires through an intermediary. But they need you to meet. Zygon will keep you as their star if you want them to. You're outscoring Han, so Carrera will pay a pretty penny to get you out of that contract. And given Valkyrie sowed up shop with Max, options for the rest of the grid don't exist. So it's your choice. Terms are similar, and they'll even buyout Zygon's share. The flexibility is greater. I'll send you it on the encrypted box what they're proposing. We haven't got long to decide." Joao added, as Cassie sighed, looking to the overcast heaven, the Scot currently dying her hair with a weird blue-red to match the team's livery this weekend, brushing a strand of it from her face. "I need an inside view. Big decision." Cassie almost spat back, to the point, the decision beginning to click. "Would you like me to talk to someone?" "No, the person I'm thinking of nearly smacked into me a few weeks ago. Then apologised rather politely. Funny how it works." Cassie's lips turned to smile, shaking her head. "Call you back." Cassie muttered, hanging up the phone. Back in Zygon world, she checked back in with the team, as always, pretending nothing happened. [hr] [center] [h1][b] Friday 29th September, 2094 Autodromo de Buenos Aires, Argentina 2000 ART [/b] [/h1] [/center] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Extrapolations[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [center][h2][i][b]Harrison Makara[/b][/i][/h2][/center] Sitting there and looking out at the practice results, Harrison and Nora sat looking at the display, inside the pit box, Owen wanting to talk through it with both of them, together. Being held back after hours felt difficult, but their practice results were without a lack of a word, horrendous. "We're not doing what we should be. I get it, the track's difficult. But we need to kill the bleeding. Stay on the attack. Get after Amy. We don't do that by sitting back. Or deciding we're not sharing data." Owen simply retorted, looking at them both, simply done with their bullshit. Looking to Nora, the yellow and silver polymer armed and legged pilot looking back with a grimace, Harrison sighed. Hoping it wouldn't come to this. It looked like Bea and Ava weren't the only ones who'd argued. "All due respect." He commented, the look of animosity coming out from strain in the season. "Well, since you two won't have that respect, we've already made that call. Your engineers will talk and share your setups, we're one garage, not two units fighting. For the sake of the team. So don't be nearly pilots. Be the ones that take this intuitive. We've got a chance here to keep that top spot as ours. Let's not fuck this up." Owen added, looking to the delta in the map, a reminder to them both, looking back. "Any chance we get to stop Amy, is a chance one of you two will get to take top spot. But that gap is growing, and if you don't work together, you can forget about any chance we have of holding a candle to them this season. Lowry is hunting us in the Constructors. And remember what happens to us if we lose that top spot. Are we understood?" Both pilots nodded, as with it, the team boss, Owen Keating, suddenly was in the sofa, with the background behind him. "Was it hard having that talk with them both?" "Yeah, well, it isn't exactly a fun choice. It isn't what I'd prefer to do. But, you have to set it out." "Would you say that's a nice problem to have?" "Well, have you ever had two people who want the same thing, fight it out? It's understandable from their point of view. But from mine, I see two pilots willing to give it their all for the Whanau and so many Polynesians that would love to be in those ships. Best we deliver without arguments." [hr] [center] [h1][b] Saturday 30th September, 2094 Autodromo de Buenos Aires, Argentina 1000 ART [/b] [/h1] [/center] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Fame[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [center][h2][i][b]Hamid Atlassi[/b][/i][/h2][/center] The Moroccan's white-bleached hair stuck out as he signed away at fans that had come to Al-Saqr's fanzone, the growing fanbase all shifting from Layla to him. He was a hell of a lot more outgoing, and for the Arabic Union based Al-Saqr, suddenly a growing star. Kais Zenix may have had his marketing, his ventures and his own way of doing things, but Hamid had grown in popularity once he hit the points. So signing autographs on posters, tablets, arms, and all sorts of places, as well as being at the fore.....made him an obvious target in the interview room for Aurora's questioning. A kid ran over, with a hand drawn picture of the Al-Saqr ship, and Hamid gleefully signed it away, a pentagonal star at the end of his name that always came with heritage of where he came from. Things were going on in the background. Things he didn't want to dwell on. Or wasn't exposed to. "You and Kais seem very different when it comes to marketing. Why is that?" Aurora asked in the cabin, Hamid sitting there with his legs crossed, white and green faux-leather jacket on, sunglasses in hand from whenever this element had been filmed. "Habibi, I'm open! I remember being a kid and being excited. So I put myself in the right place. Kais focuses on the race. I'm extraverted. People person. I feed off that." "Would you collaborate with another team's initiative, if asked?" "Well, officially....I can't answer that! But, I think we have to share the love. We forget so easy. It's so hard to become a pilot. So difficult to do. So I pay back my child, my young self by giving others the same hope. #FansFirst is a great initiative. I would love to do something like it." Hamid smiled, beaming at footage. That cut easily into a 6-year old Hamid on what was old home-video like footage, with a composite framed cart, framed on an old F1 design, smiling and standing by it with a bicycle helmet, absolutely glowing with pride with the thing he absolutely loved. [hr] [center] [h1][b] Saturday 30th September, 2094 Autodromo de Buenos Aires, Argentina 1000 ART [/b] [/h1] [/center] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Infamy[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [center][h2][i][b]Ava Villarosa[/b][/i][/h2][/center] The fans at the Carrera Condor fanzone were also out in droves, crowding the place. This was a flagship event, absolutely as big as it could be. And while Bea had her adoring fans, almost in the hundreds, like having an entire Silverstone crowd to herself in the same way the Europeans loved Paul came to see the Chilean. She was not Argentine, that was 100% different to having Bea's predecessor in, but, she was Latina, she was of the area, and given Chilean and Argentine relations had cooled, despite history, she was still seen as the region's best racer in a generation. Ava towered over most, even on her prosthetics, her posture and pre-amputation height maintained by this in particular. Ava enjoyed this. She was getting over the pain of the split with Bea by at least reaching out to people, replacing the hole in her heart from thinking she actually had a friend, to swallowing the adoration of her fans and the distraction it gave. Something about not being liked, but being loved. It tugged at her, but Rey encouraged her to keep her mind off it and engage with fans. Signing away, Ava kept close to the forefront, before one fan decided to pipe up. Probably not Argentine, given the English accent bringing him here to the relatively cheap tickets and epic views at the packed out Autodromo. Which was brave. In Argentina, English was not maybe the best voice to have. "You're full of shit! You're holding back Bea!" The voice called, clearly at the wrong fan meet. Very clearly, in negative IQ, but passion was one thing. Response was immediate. "Puta, you won't support our own, English bastard!" Another yelled back in Argentine-tinted Spanish, and Ava backed away, realising quite what was about to happen. And suddenly, shit absolutely hit the fan. One man punched another, and Ava was quickly extracted away, as security immediately lept in and contained someone else throwing a flare. It felt like even in trying to hold back, the flames stoked, but the feeling of violence never too far. Ava had never seen obsession like this. Some fans had gotten angry in spite of Carrera's rise, not at management, but at the divide that had leaked, and then been encouraged by Leon in the press. "Was it hard dealing with the fallout between you and Bea? The rumours, I mean..." "I would rather not talk about it. Next question." Ava cut Aurora off, there and then, arms folded, looking dead to camera. "And the rivalry between the team in Argentina and Britain?" "Next." Ava burnt a hole in the viewer. [hr] [center] [h1][b] Saturday 30th September, 2094 Autodromo de Buenos Aires, Argentina 1020 ART [/b] [/h1] [/center] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Relations[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [center][h2][i][b]Ben Hale[/b][/i][/h2][/center] The phone rang inside his trailer, as Ben finished up with the VIP meet and mingle session, NOVA making its most of the morning and letting local celebrities in where they couldn't into the now packed out Carrera Condor sector. Orchard Capital, in particular had brought some hot shots in, so Ben was wheeled out to chat all things racing, while Florence did the last minute work in the sim, wanting to extract a bit more from the ship. In his black and green-lined undersuit, the barely 19 year old pilot was readied to go, leaning against the wall with phone in hand, with Amber's face on it. A pinch of finger, and Amber's voice animated. "Hey." "Hey." Ben tried to play it cool, the Swiss on the other end of the phone almost certainly calling about something Ben had wanted to get back to her on. More than the fast message last night. "Sorry I couldn't make the date. Look, you know how it is." Ben spluttered, feeling the silence needed filling. "Okay, okay. I get it. Big shot AG pilot now. You don't mingle with us juniors." It was becoming a little clearer who this was. Amber Beck, Nordic Call, JAGF pilot. Two young lovers, for sure, and even in spite of being in two different teams, had barely been reported on in the field of Ben's youth and his high performance in the Junior AG league. It was some melodramatic bullshit to pick, but, from the moment Ben met Amber in the lower leagues, they'd chatted, their families in similar circles, and well, one thing led to another. Dating another racer was silly, beyond stupid, even management told him that. But 18 year olds made decisions that weren't always fuelled by the right thing. "No, it's....well, okay, it was a really serious dinner. Florence introduced me to....well, I can't say." "You, and your ego are just blowing up like a balloon. Can't say? Look at you now." "Well, you just weren't as fast as me. You'd be here too." "Cheeky." Amber replied, as they both laughed, Ben looking out of the window, seeing the crowds thin, as the VIPs left and were headed for their next engagement. Meaning he'd be joining Florence in the sim for more work soon. "I'll make it up to you. Nova Cadiz Asado. Tonight. After your race. I'll watch it once I'm done in the sim." Ben replied, Amber leaving a silence, with a contemplation. "I will just have to clear my heaving schedule. So much to think about, so many events to reschedule..." "Oh, funny...." "Yeah, yeah. This is why pilots don't date." Ben added, cutting it off hearing the sound of footsteps up the stairs to his trailer. "Really sorry, but I need to run. Love you lots." "You too. Good luck." Ben put down the phone, seeing one of the engineers come past the window and knock, and with that, phone was thrown back, and pilot Ben was back in the building. [hr] [center] [h1][b] Round 14 of Formula AG Saturday 30th September, 2094 Qualifying Autodromo de Buenos Aires, Argentina Argentine AGP 1300 ART [/b] [/h1] [/center] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Magnetised[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [center][h2][i][b]Jen Lowry[/b][/i][/h2][/center] [img]https://www.teamvvv.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/screen_wipeoutomegacollection_psx_2016_announce_1_hd_1480799124-900x443.jpg[/img] [img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Aut%C3%B3dromo_Oscar_y_Juan_G%C3%A1lvez_Circuito_N%C2%B0_6_por_Senna.svg/1280px-Aut%C3%B3dromo_Oscar_y_Juan_G%C3%A1lvez_Circuito_N%C2%B0_6_por_Senna.svg.png[/img] [b]Soundtrack: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkpqjQYIdTk]KOAN Sound- Spirals Unfold[/url] [/b] "Clear, Jen. Let's get after it." The voice from Cal put her in her mind back in the zone. The track itself may have started and ended at the old Oscar y Juan Gálvez Circuit start-straight, but it quickly ended up being nothing like it- from tarmac onto complete MAG tracking, that made grip basically vice-like through most corners, making ships go from slip to stick. The camber was basically 70 degrees on the hardest of hairpins, making them come across as much shallower turns than they were given how hard the ships were planted into the corner through the seat- but thanks to their positioning, making it safe for spectators to actually watch ships go toe to toe through them, watching them as if they were seeing them come in top-down given perspective. Most of the MAG tracking was built on a specialist glass or seethrough surface, making it possible to see at Turns 3 and 12/13 the ships literally fly towards each other yet opposite to each other, on different panels of glass. The feeling of modernity bled through the stands, with the spectators right against the track, with enormous field generators allowing for ships to come incredibly close to watching spectators- while offering them an outlet if they collided or crashed. It blended safety with spectator views, in a way few circuits really did- while it may not have been to a traditionalists liking that the original circuit was butchered, it created a spectacle and good racing, rarely two things that blended. Curva 1 leading to a massive ramp that led into a massive banked turn that had a view onto the rest of the circuit and the towers of Buenos Aires, before coming down at Turns 3 and 4, before slamming out at 6 into a hard, long bank. A long straight allowed for a lovely burst of speed, allowing for a massive burst of speed into 7, at 8 using a similar banking to keep speeds high, and make up for the original circuit's deficit of breaking up flow- with MAG tracking, the circuit felt a lot faster than its layout appeared to give, MAG tracking in corners also making it easier to pick lines for overtakes and dump ELS. Here, it felt like every overtake really relied on ELS, and just making brave, hard moves through the corners at any given moment. At Turn 12, the circuit went underneath its own banking, literally going upside down onto the other part of the circuit before coming back down into where Turn 13 and 14 at the Senna S restored itself back to the only part of the circuit maintained- a tarmac section that led to the Turn 16 transparent-glass bank (in front of lots of roaring fans), and the chicane at 17/18 that used a fun inverted camber to force ships to slow down, ratchet hard right and left, before slamming on the gas without hitting the wall. The lap was short, barely over a minute, but it had this "one more time" feeling to it. Unlike other circuits earlier in the season which were lengthy, long affairs of super fast, long corners, this felt like a challenge to A thrilling lap, given most of it was taken near full throttle, and the pilot inside. "Jen, that is P1! P1 Jen, stellar lap, where did you get that from! Your Q3 looked absolutely dialled in, that's close to a lap record!" "Woo! That's what I'm talking about!" Jen chirped back, backing up Cal's confidence from earlier, and proving that in spite of spotty performance, she still had what it took. The ship was of course, still a cut of the field, but today, she put the time in. It seemed strange. Jamie had completely missed the mark, lost his way despite a promising season, but Jen, she seemed to have something else up her sleeve. Like Amy? Or was it the ship finally being tamed and set to her feeling? The speculation was uncertain, but Silver Apex seemed to be back, and to take back 1st in the constructors was a worthy gambit. [hider=Qualifying Results for Italy:] https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qF6cn-eA0G0sumgf79TvEnPjOHyQP-vZSFV6LNrn_OY/edit?usp=sharing [/hider] The others experienced varying laps. Paul had clearly gotten an optimal ELS tune, finding a ship that absolutely sang thanks to a rested, focussed team, able to make the most out of each corner and in theory, on a circuit that demanded an incredibly potent ELS system given the amount of MAG tracking, had just lost out to Jen being on one. While Beatrix had done well, it was almost out of stubbornness- the team wanted to do well at their home race, and despite Ava being away, it was a home race for Carrera. She wasn't letting the fans down, and almost as if fuelled by a want to prove Bea wrong, was holding pace. As if a fuck you, look at me now. It was a statement to get ahead of Amy, who was struggling, but showing promise on certain sectors, never a threat to rule out. Hamid had absolutely gotten his ship places it shouldn't have, and the sparks of promise were beginning to show. Even if Florence Mason had fried her power unit in Sector 3, and caused a red flag right at the start of the season, poor luck dampening an initially promising start for NOVA. [hr] [center] [h1][b] Saturday 30th September, 2094 Autodromo de Buenos Aires, Argentina 1745 ART [/b] [/h1] [/center] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Post Qualifying Interview- Argentina[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] Post qualifying, the sunset came in on the elevated MAG track, and at the main office building, almost marble-white and surrounded by greenery was a rooftop where Aurora had a chance to catch up with each of the pilots. [b]"Bea, third place in Argentina, and it puts you next to Paul Mulder. Tell us, how are you looking forward to battling with him again, after your previous fight in Singapore, and who could forget your massive duel in Belgium!" And inversely.... "Paul, second on the grid, showing that whatever it seems to be that you're doing! How are you feeling about fighting with Beatrix tomorrow, and making the best of your grid position, and what looks like a breakthrough ELS system?" On the other hand.... "Kais, not the best performance from you, but it looks like your ship seems to still be breaking all the records at the speedtraps. Tell us more about Al-Saqr's speed focussed strategy, and how you're getting on with taming it?"[/b]