[color=fff200][b]Group Message from:[/b][/color] Kais Fenix [color=fff200][b]Group Message to:[/b][/color] Paul Mulder (Valkyrie), Beatrix Ward (Carrera) [color=fff200]Kais:[/color] This isn't a social call. I need to know if either of you have experienced anything strange with your ships. Glitches. Memory bleeds. Unexplained system behavior. Data leaks. [color=fff200]Kais:[/color] I'm asking because I think someone is using our augmentations against us. Feeding us information designed to turn us against each other. [color=fff200]Kais:[/color] Amy knows something. About all of us. And I don't think she's the only one. [color=fff200]Kais:[/color] If we're going to figure out what's happening, we need to stop being isolated targets. [color=fff200]Kais:[/color] I think we're all in more danger than we realize. And I'd rather face it together. [color=fff200]Kais:[/color] Let me know if you're willing to talk. I'll make sure it's somewhere secure. Paul reread the message and wondered what was going on. He remembered Amy’s comments at the dinner in Singapore. The other veiled questions and hints about neural interface issues. He remembered Dorian had answered for them. Paul knew that it was out of character for Kais to send him a private message at all. Paul knew that for Kais to send a warning and ask for a meeting was unprecedented. He couldn’t help but be curious. Valkyrie might have had a stroke of luck with their neural interface upgrades. They had not really revealed that information to the public. It was not a secret per say but they didn’t feel the need to warn their competitors about upgrades either. They might have unknowingly dodged a bullet. But it made Paul wonder what might have happened if Alexander had not taken the security breach by the former CEO so seriously. Paul didn’t have to think very long before he was texting Kais back. [color=fff200]Paul:[/color] I am not sure what kind of help I can be. I am willing to meet with you. Name the time and place. [hr] [h2] Team Valkyrie Headquarters, Aachen Germany [/h2] Alexander was grateful to be back in Germany. The ships were being taken completely apart and being inspected, repaired, and put back together. The new engineers from the research and development team were lending a hand and making some minor tweaks and adjustments since they needed to strip the chassis and rebuild from the frame up to ensure they found all the damage from the riots. Dorian’s ship revealed some damage to the frame which is why they struggled to get it repaired well enough to handle. Bullets had hit and warped a section that helped calibrate the antigravity skirting. They had to completely replace that section of the chassis on Dorian’s ship. Paul’s was in better shape but the engineers and mechanics were worried about hidden damage which was why both ships were being stripped down to the frames and carefully inspected and rebuilt. Alexander got out of the way of the engineers and mechanics and simply ensured that they had everything they needed. It was quickly becoming apparent to Alexander that their engineering needs were just going to increase. Cavan had been keeping him updated on the design team’s progress. It had quickly become apparent after assigning some of the interns to study the changes coming to Formula AG in the next season that his engineering and research and development needs were quickly outgrowing their existing space. He had to revise the existing engineering facilities to include dedicated sections to their research and development partners, Shinichi Bionics, Banshee Microsystems, Radian Security Systems, and Meridian Aerospace. They needed the research and development teams on hand working collaboratively on the ships but they were quickly running out of space to house the various projects happening. He had gotten a call from Lipusv about a shortage in funding as some funds had to be reallocated to other projects due to government oversight and priorities. Now Alexander was in a quandary as he faced yet another impossible decision to make. What would be the best way forward for his team? Did he go after more money to hire more people, expand their research and development space, or a new materials development space? The research and development happening on the new ship design was quickly reaching a bottleneck where projects were having to be scheduled for time in the materials lab. Alexander hated choices like this when he needed all three. So he decided to work on all three. Alexander pulled Katherine and Mabel into a meeting with him. Alexander: [color=00aeef]“The team will be facing setbacks unless we can solve some of these issues that they are facing. Progress on the ship is slowing because we are lacking design personnel, a special lab designed for testing new materials as they are developed, and research and development space. The research and development teams need more space, more specialized labs, and more people. Thanks to new budget cuts through government regulations reallocating some of our European Union funding, we will need to make up that shortfall. I want to craft a plan to address all three needs.” [/color] Mabel was taking notes on her tablet as she listened to Alexander and gave him her full attention. Mabel nodded along as Alexander listed the problem. Katherine was sitting with her tablet in her lab like Mabel as they met with him in his office. Katherine was listening to Alexander and was surprised that he had called her to help him with what she thought of as a logistics issue. She was confused as to why she was here. That had nothing to do with her. Her job was managing the team’s image and the marketing associated with the team. Her job was public relations and marketing. Katherine’s brow wrinkled as her confusion was mirrored on her face. [color=bc8dbf]“Why am I here? I am not part of the logistics department. I handle the media and marketing for the team.” [/color] Alexander turned his focus to Katherine and gave her a knowing smile. Katherine saw his Grinch-like smile and got worried. What kind of insane project was he about to throw her way. Mabel saw that smile and knew what it meant. She laughed, grateful it was aimed at Katherine and not her. [color=f6989d]“Bless your heart, you had to ask didn’t you.” [/color] Katherine was surprised at Mabel’s response and her worry deepened. Alexander looked very pleased with himself. [color=00aeef]“Well Katherine, I am so glad you asked! I am so grateful that we have such amazing employees like yourself. Our employees are always going above and beyond the call of duty. They get out of their comfort zone and do whatever it takes to help the team. Which is why I want you to head up a team dedicated to raising funds to build a new collaborative research and development space with extensive and speciality testing labs necessary for developing new antigravity technology. Some of our funding got pulled. We need to focus our funding and be strategic about our current problem while you and your team work on finding us some new marketing revenue streams to bolster our available research and development department. We need to work on this now or we will be behind with the new FIAR regulations go into effect.” [/color] Katherine looked as gob smacked as she felt. “But Alexander! I am not in the sales department. I work with advertising and media for the team!” Alexander looked smug and very pleased with himself. [color=00aeef]“Yes, which is why I believe you need some more help. You need to promote someone to help you. Or you need to expand your executive assistant’s role.” Alexander gave her a warm look. “Katherine, I know you understand sales. I need some help with this. I can’t think of anyone I trust more to help with this. I need you to bring me some new leads for sponsors or interested research and development partners. We need to find some way to fix this funding shortage while we begin breaking ground on a new research and development center with expanded materials development and testing labs. Our team has quickly outgrown our existing space. The development team is needing more engineering personnel. Progress is going to slow down and halt unless we can fix this issue. It will take some time to build the new labs even with today’s technology. We have to find an appropriate site here at headquarters with enough space and then cut through all the red tape and permits to begin building. In the meantime, we can try to secure more funding while the project gets started.” [/color] Alexander turned his focus to Mabel. His elderly assistant simply smiled at him and nodded. Alexander could only laugh and smile. Katherine was watching with her jaw hanging open. She was still reeling from the bombshell that he wanted to drop such a big task in her lap. She was confused as it seems Mabel already understood whatever it was Alexander wanted from her but he had not said anything. Mabel caught Katherine’s confusion and gave her a warm smile and an encouraging pat on the shoulder. [color=f6989d]“It’s okay Katherine. You lead a team for a reason. Delegate! That is what good leaders do. You have a team member who likes the outside business sales stuff. Turn them loose with orders on what to look for. You got this.” [/color] Katherine was calming down as she realized Mabel was right. She did have a great team. She knew exactly who she was going to assign this part of the project. Her Vice President of Marketing was the perfect guy for this task. It would be a good opportunity for him to show off his skills and see if he had the potential to step into her shoes one day. Mabel gave Katherine one of her mysterious trademarked smiles. [color=f6989d]“You are still wondering what Alexander wants me to do. That’s easy, what I have been doing. He wants to start headhunting more talent to staff the development team once the new facilities are built and we can expand the team. My job is to research potential new talent and get him dossiers on them and the best way to recruit them.” [/color] Katherine blinked and looked over at a smug looking Alexander. [color=bc8dbf]“But you didn’t tell her anything!”[/color] Katherine protested, sounding a little like a little girl. Alexander gave Katherine a smug but warm smile. [color=00aeef]“That is why I fought so hard to keep her as my Executive Assistant. Mabel always knows what I need before I do. She is exceptional at her job and anticipating what I need.” [/color] Katherine was reeling and still needed some time to process this request. [color=bc8dbf]“I will get to work on it. I need some time to process how to tackle this latest insanity. Why can’t I tackle stuff I am trained for like Dorian flirting with the Prince of Monaco or Paul getting caught with his pants down in public.”[/color] Katherine rose to her feet and left the office shaking her head. Alexander watched her go and waited for the door to close before he burst out into laughter. [color=00aeef]“I love giving my staff the room they need to grow.” [/color] Mabel just rose to her feet with a secret smile on her face. She knew he had no clue that her thoughts were along the same lines. Alexander had come a long way from the grumpy closed off distrustful man she had met when she had been tasked to him all those years ago. She couldn’t help thinking about how far he had come as a leader and manager. [hr] [hr][h2]Pilots’ Group Chat[/h2] [color=fff200][b]Bea[/b][/color] Welcome to the madhouse, Bella. [color=fff200][b]Paul[/b][/color] Hello Bella! Welcome to the group pilots chat! So tell us, what is it like working with Astrid? [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? [color=fff200][b]Paul[/b][/color] @Bea It does make you wonder if they call her Astrid the crank or something behind her back. [hr] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Diving In[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] Paul found himself in a wetsuit and diving on the Great Barrier Reef. The world beneath the waves was like being in a whole new world. Color exploded around him as he dove and swam with a cloud of colorful fish. He followed the brief instructions and training they were given on how to dive protectively and safely. They had been given instructions on how to dive and view the coral without harming it. Paul was fascinated by the colors and textures of the underwater environment. He was absolutely enthralled and was grateful he had been given the opportunity to dive in such a special place. It was remarkable to see how much the reef had healed and recovered. It was hard to think they had almost destroyed and lost this amazing environment forever. Paul had a new goal in his life. He would take formal diving lessons and begin diving in locations where he traveled. He couldn’t wait for practice to get a glimpse of the amazing colors from a new perspective. [center] [h1][b] Round 16 of Formula AG Friday 20th October, 2094 Practice Ballycastle Complex, Muller Cay, nr Australia Great Barrier Reef AGP 1100 AEST [/b] [/h1] [/center] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Leave A Trace[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] Paul walked up to the table. There was a glass bottle with a sticky note on it. The note read: [color=ed1c24]“Leave a message in this bottle you'd like for future generations." [/color] Paul knew exactly what message he wanted to leave. He quickly took the pen and began writing. Paul’s message read: [color=fff200]“Don’t forget the lessons of the past. We almost destroyed our planet. See the beauty in our world and protect it.” [/color] Paul smiled at Aurora as he shared with her what advice he had passed on. [color=fff200]“I was inspired by my experiences here and in Hawaii. I told them not to forget the lessons of the past. We almost destroyed our planet. I think they should look for the beauty in our world and protect it. We need to remember that humans are part of the natural world and we depend on it. We do not stand above it or apart from it.” [/color] [hr] Paul, Alexander, and the team spent their practice time dialing in the repairs and adjustment to the ships. They made sure any environmental factors that affected the ship were tweaked as they worked on getting the ship ready for qualifiers. 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