[h2]Pilots’ Group Chat[/h2] [color=fff200][b]Bea[/b][/color] What the bloody Hell is going on here? I leave my phone out of reach for ONE cardio session… :D [hr][center][h2]Tuesday October 5th, 2094, 13:12 Sobral, Brazil[/h2][/center]The small, two-door SUV skidded to a halt in front of an assembly of Carrera Condor pilots, a few automotive journalists from across South America and Africa and a gaggle of representatives of Tecnologia Automotiva Catarinense, the Brazilian company manufacturing the car. The amount of mud covering it all the way up to the roof left no one guessing which pilot had the first go at it. “Well?” The TAC product manager asked as Bea stepped out of the driver’s seat. [color=#1EFF24]”It’s a shitbox.”[/color] Bea didn’t even look at the group of execs as she stepped aside so Ava could get in the driver’s seat, [color=#1EFF24]”There’s at least five degrees of play in the steering, the wipers are too small so don’t expect to see out much and the shifting pattern mask is a suggestion, not a fact.”[/color] She cautioned the other driver. Murmurs of surprised displeasure rippled through the TAC representatives. [color=#1EFF24]”Oh, you thought I was done?”[/color] Bea stared down the quartet of execs with the air of a petrolhead gremlin with opinions, [color=#1EFF24]”What is that suspension? If someone with dentures hits a pothole, their teeth will end up in their lap. This is a car with 50 klicks on the clock. So why do the interior panels sound like a ten year old mattress when you touch them? And why on God’s green Earth did you put a competent engine in, only to shoot it in the foot with that gearbox? The shifter feels like a ladle stuck in mash, and the ratios are completely…”[/color] She went on like that for another minute. Elise laughed. Alex facepalmed, thinking he should at least try to stop that but at the same time knowing there was nothing he could do. Ava wisely chose to pretend she was too busy adjusting the seat to notice anything. The ad shoot went forward anyway, obligations and all. Bea’s minimum effort, flat delivery of her lines in stark contrast with the ads earlier in the season became memed by both sides of the Carrera civil war, the director of the ad shoot simply unable to coax any enthusiasm for the product out of her.. Replying [color=#1EFF24]”The team’s sponsor agreement prevents me from sharing my true opinion of the thing.”[/color] to someone asking about the car on one of her streams later that week was just the cherry on top. [hr][b][center][h3][code]Thu 07/10 18:11 CASSIE [Batt: 18%][/code][/h3][/center][/b] [center]———— Today ————[/center][color=#1EFF24][Image of Bea’s bedroom at the Carrera Ranch - Queen sized bed, wooden furniture, large windows and an attached terrace with a view of the pampas.][/color] [color=#1EFF24][A close-up of the fully loaded Asado grill during one of the weekly team cookouts.][/color] [color=#1EFF24]> You know they’re calling your name. 😛[/color] [hr][color=gold][center][h1][i][b]DELTΔ HYPER[/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color][color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Episode 15: The Art of Racing[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [hr] Bea briefly considered a condor-shaped phoenix rising from a pile of ashes shaped like the Buenos Aires autodrome, but decided against it. Only in part because the condor was an ugly bird. Christ the Redeemer standing arm in arm with Ayrton Senna overlooking Brazil [i]was[/i] funny, but she could see how it could not be. Instead, she painted an aerial view of a group of racing cars and AG ships on a mixed-grid formation lap. Not abstract, but neither identifiable as any particular car, era or pilot. 19 of them, with a gap in the middle. A missing man formation. [hr] [quote]”Six races to go, Bea, and coming out of a rough weekend in Buenos Aires. The question on everyone's lips is, what do we see Beatrix Ward do from here? We've seen some big lows, big highs, what would you say your feeling is going into Brazil?”[/quote] [color=#1EFF24]”I’ve definitely had some time to calm down. But once again, you’re asking me about the future when I still don’t know what I’ll have for dinner.”[/color] Bea chuckled, the usual tone back once again. [color=#1EFF24]”You’re right: There’s been high highs and low lows. But do you know what you’re describing there? A career in motorports.”[/color] She shrugged. [color=#1EFF24]”Still, the highs are in the lead, at least so far. But I think that, going into the future as a team, we’ll do just fine. Despite Monday’s bollocking certain people can’t seem to shut up about. But we like where we are right now on the technical side. Felix and his people are already pivoting to next year’s ship with only one department working on the last upgrade, that’s how confident we are in the ships. As for the communications side of things, well… Your mum and dad never argued?”[/color] She grinned. [hr] [center][url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TrLdbYUu7LJQf9_6F1zblN3WfwvCU8R3W8Xskd8b3vI/edit?usp=sharing]Carrera Condor NPCs[/url][/center]