[center][h2]Sunday October 10th, 2094, 14:00
São Paulo, Brazil[/h2][h3]The Race[/h3][/center]Uncharacteristically, and contrary to what she said in the interview, Bea actually kept it patient. She spent the first few laps just probing the defenses. She made her move through Descida do Lago, her brand of deep lunge driven more by guts than conscious thought, unfortunately lasting just two corners until Amy came back. The weather turned foul, a tap of a programmable button on the control stick switching her HUD to the LIDAR-based wireframes that had worked so well in Japan.

[color=#129914]”We’re gaining on the straights.”[/color]
[color=#1EFF24]”Overtake between Junção to Senna?”[/color]
[color=#129914]”Seems best. Right now, focus on closing the gap, you’ll need to be close to keep her back through Senna.”[/color]
[color=#1EFF24]”I’ll be wide. Just need to get ahead.”[/color]
[color=#129914]”And mind the visibility, please.”[/color]
[color=#1EFF24]”I can see that I can’t see, yes.”[/color] She chuckled.
[color=#129914]”What is this, ‘I know that I know nothing?’ ”[/color] Alistair joked back.

Bea tried to keep the fight going, but she kept her charge in reserve for the long straight coming up just a few corners away, hopefully passing and using it there to put some distance between herself and Amy.
Of course Amy came back, powered by God knew what space magic.
[color=#1EFF24]”Gah. Fell for that.”[/color]

And just like planned, coming into Junção, Bea struck. And it didn’t work. Going wide, Bea felt the repulsors’ tug on the ship and as she tried to get out of it, the ship tore off from under her, suddenly facing the wrong way.

[color=#129914]”Hold! Hold…”[/color] Alistair raised his voice preemptively to get through the red haze he’d learned to anticipate.
[color=#1EFF24]”FUCK!”[/color] She smacked the side of the canopy.
[color=#129914]”Clear, go.”[/color] Alistair finally gave the all clear by the time 12 ships had gone past.
[color=#1EFF24]”Oh come on! She pushed me off.”[/color] Bea groaned.
[color=#129914]”Copy, we’re pushing it to the stewards.”[/color]
[color=#1EFF24]”Don’t bother.”[/color] She snapped back, [color=#1EFF24]”They did nothing in Africa, what makes you think this will be different? Steward’s room needs to grow a bloody spine fir-.”[/color]
[color=#129914]”Red flag, red flag, turn nine.”[/color]
[color=#1EFF24]”Oh, come ooooon…”[/color]
[color=#129914]”Kelly is in the repulsors, keep to the inside. Pull into the garage, we’ll check for damage while we have the chance.”[/color]
[color=#1EFF24]”Fans must be loving this part of the season.”[/color] She sighed, [color=#1EFF24]”Not our fans, but everyone else, oh my. I don’t think there’s any damage, I have no warnings and the handling feels alright.”[/color]

The rest of the race passed without any excitement in the Carrera garage. No, that would likely come after.
[color=#1EFF24]”Damn it.”[/color] She sighed as she passed the finish line just outside fo points, [color=#1EFF24]”Sorry, lads. Today was free points.”[/color]
[color=#129914]”It is what it is. Ship’s in one piece at least, we’ll talk more during the debrief.”[/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]
[quote]”Bea, two from two races to forget, that move looked like such a close call in the stewards.”[/quote]
[color=#1EFF24]“Yeah, we had a failure in the throttle-stick linkage.”[/color] Bea sighed. [color=#1EFF24]”This one’s all on me. From the cockpit, it looked doable in the moment, but after seeing the replays…”[/color] She shook her head, [color=#1EFF24]”It wasn’t, this one’s inexcusable. I owe a bunch of apologies to people this time around, Amy and stewards included.
Big props to Ava for trying to pick up what I dropped, good recovery drive, and passing Jen is nothing to sneeze at either.”[/color]

[quote]”Your recovery from 14th was admirable, it looks like the mid-table of the grid are putting up more and more competitive performances. Do you still think Zygon can be caught in the constructors?”[/quote]
[color=#1EFF24]”Well, Flo would eat any one of us for breakfast in a competitive ship and I wouldn’t call Jen in a Silver Apex ship ‘mid-table’ either.”[/color] Bea shook her head, [color=#1EFF24]”But honestly, that ‘Zygon fight’ ship sailed, wrecked and sank to the bottom of the ocean when I fucked it at Hawaii. Not that you can convince the suits, they don’t see the sport, they just smell money and have a meltdown when reality disagrees with them. But that’s life.”[/color] She shrugged with a tired smile after a brief pause.
[color=#1EFF24]”Now, if you’ll excuse me,”[/color] She pointed over her shoulder, the usual pep returning. [color=#1EFF24]”I have a well-deserved bollocking to attend.”[/color]

[hr]
[center][b]Bea Ward @MadBea[/b]: 
[i]"The past two races were not something anyone deserved. Not the lads and lasses at the factory, not the fans and certainly not the mechanics who had to piece the ships back together over the week and who’ll spend two days going over every square millimeter of mine. Today was a Hawaii-level cockup on my part that should not have happened. No bad luck, no external factors, just an idiot moment.

My apologies to everyone who showed up or got up early on a Sunday to watch. You did not come for this. But words don’t mean shit, so if this persists, per South American tradition, I will not press charges for getting sandals thrown at me unless an injury occurs.”

#CarreraCondorFA #FormulaAG #AGRacing SaoPauloAGP[/i]
[/center]
[b]Mate0:[/b] I’m tired, boss. Finally admitting it doesn’t score points.
[b]ForzaGl0ria:[/b] [[url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Pastor_Maldonado_2011_Malaysia.jpg/250px-Pastor_Maldonado_2011_Malaysia.jpg]link[/url]]
	[b]DohnJoe:[/b] yo, dude, chill
		[b]TruckerTim:[/b] What do you expect from Italians, they have pasta water for cerebrospinal fluid.
[b]Sol_de_Mayo:[/b] Sandals at the ready, don’t make us throw.
	[b]Briat77:[/b] Shoes flying through the air at the next race like: [[url=https://i.imgur.com/zz4lhAA.gif]link[/url]]
[b]MissedApex:[/b] Not Bea not breaking the ship because she still hasn’t figured out the name of the next one.
	[b]GalwayGirl:[/b] Our scatterbrained bean willing a crash out of existence with indecision.
		[b]MadBea:[/b] I don’t care how hard you throw a shoe just as long as you never use those words in my vicinity ever again.
[b]IronBeer:[/b] Sandals are cheaper than composites, maybe threats by ballistic footwear is the economical answer.
	[b]GaryFromIndiana:[/b] Don’t aim for the limbs to make sure the message gets across.
[b]NorthWest:[/b] WALDGAARD GONE FUCK YEEEEEEES!
	[b]SmolNjol:[/b] Who hurt you?
		[b]NorthWest:[/b] He did. Me and my sanity.

[hr]
Beatrix. Bellatrix. Wanna see commentators do this one.
	[b]Zero:[/b] I guess she uses the shorthand for a reason. What did she say, “Only boring people call her ‘Beatrix’ ” ?
		[b]MadBea:[/b] And Kais.
			[b]GalwayGirl:[/b] i love the implication of you being too scared to call Kais boring.
				[b]MadBea:[/b] Yes 😛

[hr][h2]Pilots’ Group Chat[/h2]
[color=fff200][b]Bea[/b][/color] Welcome to the madhouse, Bella.

[color=fff200][b]Bea[/b][/color] @Astrid Do we get told why switch now or are you sticking up for Bjorn like a good teammate?

[hr][center][h2]Sunday October 10th, 2094, 23:20
London, GB[/h2][h3]Richmond, Lauderdale Drive[/h3][/center]Bea sat in her living room, race replay playing on the TV for the last five hours. External shots, internal shots, helmet cam, telemetry…

She should have seen that.

She [i]would[/i] have seen it if she used the neural link like it was meant to be.

But she didn’t.

She toned it down to barebones, driving the ship like the AG equivalent of regional rally and relying on her eyes when the ship could have told her there wasn’t enough space there. León had been right to be furious this time, and unlike Pablo’s tantrum, this one came from someone who actually understood what he was talking about.

She almost picked up the phone to call Lúcio to expect changing of link parameters on Wednesday morning twice that evening. She’d just picked it up again when she received a message. From Kais…

What?

She read the messages several times, her argument with Ava replaying in her mind before replying.
[color=#1EFF24]> No, even went through the logs in depth with my neural link specialist. But I never trusted a lot of this tech in the first place, it’s hard to get burnt when you hardly turn the stove on.[/color]
[color=#1EFF24]> Let me know the time and place.[/color]

Technically she wasn’t lying. Her problem wasn’t experienced with the ship, which is what Kais asked about. Hers was more of a ’pilot issue,’ in a way. She felt like she had a lot to say to Kais, but at the same time didn’t know if she trusted him with it.

But that was a problem for future Bea to deal with. Present Bea just closed the messaging app instead of messaging Lúcio.

She’d rather race shopping trolleys than end up like Amy or Layla.

[hr]
[center][url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TrLdbYUu7LJQf9_6F1zblN3WfwvCU8R3W8Xskd8b3vI/edit?usp=sharing]Carrera Condor NPCs[/url][/center]