[center] [h1][b] Round 16 of Formula AG Sunday 22nd October, 2094 Race Day Ballycastle Complex, Muller Cay, nr Australia Great Barrier Reef AGP 0700 AEST [/b] [/h1] [/center] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Sunrise at Sea[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [center][h2][i][b]Cassie Neves[/b][/i][/h2][/center] The coral waters were lapping at feet on the little pontoon, one of many that were built to provide accommodation and somewhere to stay, temporarily of course, while the AG circus was in town. On them, biopolymer houses all sat, light enough to be modular built by drones in the space of a day, strong enough to last a Category 4 hurricane if it came to it, and dissolve into ocean water within months, though often, they were then recycled into actual housing through treatment and stabilisation compounds. The pontoons were made of a smooth, but tactile plastic, that felt not all too dissimilar to vinyl laminate. Cassie woke as the alarm triggered, her modesty covered with black underwear, her uncovered olive skin showing the signs of modification as she called out to her alarm to cancel. People lived like this in the wider region, she reminded herself. She had a luxury stay at least, that she could point to, as she heard her phone chime in with the scheduled call with her agent. "Accept." She yawned, the coffee machine grinding and whirring alive, immediately rendering her usual brew, from Jeju to Cascais, exactly as her nutritionist accepted in terms of how much caffeine it seemed to prick her with. "Morning. Is it like....fuck I have no idea of timezones anymore." Cassie should be used to this, as she heard Joao's voice stutter in and interrupt. "Yes, it is....very late here. Cassie, I have bad news." "Oh." She added, hearing a seagull go past her window, as she brushed her hair aside, wondering what it was. The money? It had to be. "Carrera opted to stay with......their current pilot." Oh. That was a surprise. "Ava? She's good but....really? I thought her and Bea hated each other." Cassie replied, as Joao chuckled, as she leaned back against the worktop, stretching out a little before beginning her usual joints routine. "Maybe they still do, but, it seems they wanted a South American in the team more badly, and money overrides feelings. Even in Buenos Aires. But, on the plus side, your contract at Zygon is amazing. And your recent performances are turning heads. The team may still be a frontrunner next year. Rumour has it that Southern Cross are putting it all on the line this year. So, let's just keep going. Next contract here, we can renegotiate better terms, right?" Cassie sighed, breathing out, knowing there was no way to change that deal. No way to be less greedy. No way to put the numbers back in a box. And only one commitment to make. "Fine. Thanks for the update. Yeah. You aren't getting your percent for me moving then. But you'll get it for the next deal." "Of course. Sorry to drop this on you. Speak soon." The line cut, as Cassie shut the window, and a yell could be heard. [hr] [center] [h1][b] Sunday 22nd October, 2094 Ballycastle Complex, Muller Cay, nr Australia 0800 AEST [/b] [/h1] [/center] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Coffee Morning[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [center][h2][i][b]Max Wedgewood, Kofi Mensah[/b][/i][/h2][/center] Max sat there with feet in the lapping waves of the sea, watching on into the horizon, sitting there with Kofi, who he'd struck up a conversation with and was now sharing a coffee with on the dawn of the race. Sitting at the edge of the pontoon at the sunrise. He'd been the only person awake in the morning, and after a short jog around the floating paddock, Kofi was always someone to catch up with. Even if the topic always came back to the future. "Retirement then? I mean, you've earned it." "Yeah. I mean, I miss family. And SuperCat isn't going anywhere. I have no idea who's replacing me. But I'm sure they'll have fun trying to get it anywhere. Team needs more money. More than others...." Kofi said, openly, as Max didn't reply, listening to the older pilot, breaking the conversation back. "You feeling good about Valkyrie?" Kofi asked, as Max chuckled, looking to the horizon, sighing, wondering if he had made the right choice. After all, Carrera had a falling out recently, who knew if he could have gone there. Joined Beatrix. But alas, Valkyrie was his choice. And it seemed only like the team would improve. So he felt confident enough in himself. Enough to back it, in spite of the chaos so far. "Yeah. I guess so. New future and all that. I'll have to replace Dorian Hornfleur. Hell of an expectation." Max got there, as both of them chuckled, Max shotgunning down the rest of his flat white with that thought. "But you wouldn't have gotten there if you weren't good enough. How many other pilots would dream of that seat in Europe? And yet, here you are. The Knight connection helped?" "Nah, he didn't really. He's Estonian anyway...." "We all know that's bullshit, brother is FAS through and through. It helped more than you think." The Ghanian replied with a joke, wrapping an arm around him. "Look. The expectations will be higher. But, enjoy. And enjoy it all. Just remember that, no matter how corporate it is. Europe is no joke. They have paperwork for paperwork." Kofi joked with a pearly smile, as Max joined in too, the sigh following as they looked to the horizon. "Maybe. I don't know. Hard season so far. Just gotta keep it in front of Nordic Call. That's all that matters for the fans." Max chuckled, shaking his head. "Whole continent wants us to beat those Swedish bastards so bad." Both of them laughed, the rivalry always present, and Kofi enjoying what he could while he had the chance in the last few races, enjoying the endless horizon of ocean beyond the floating polymer houses. [hr] [center] [h1][b] Sunday 22nd October, 2094 Ballycastle Complex, Muller Cay, nr Australia 1100 AEST [/b] [/h1] [/center] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Brain Storm[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [center][h2][i][b]Peter Thatcher[/b][/i][/h2][/center] The man ran into the Silver Apex pit box, from out of the back of the engineering, as if he'd discovered the existence of DNA, or gravity. The Latvian seemed almost flustered, knowing interrupting the boss was a bad idea. But for this, it was worth interrupting. "Peter, I need you to look at this. It's...." The tablet was open as the black-haired Latvian passed the tablet across, Peter sighing, before looking at it, before the Irishman's eyebrows raised. "Oh." With it, he followed the tech, Linas Kalējs as his little label indicated from his holgraphic lanyard. It was a short, but brisk, quick walk that didn't need attention. Peter was an insanely busy man, but even he knew what this meant. The room was soundproofed, as Peter swore, the data projected out, both sitting in chairs next to each other. "How long?" He asked, looking through it, the contents not exactly seen of quite what they were looking at it. At a guess, it had to be Amy's brain scan. "It's not critical. Not yet. But she's suffered a significant deterioration in qualifying. The neural link isn't talking to microsectors 24 and 54 of her prefrontal cortex here and here, because it's returning null." Linas had worry for her, looking through her other vitals as Peter took it in, not a neuroscientist, but aware that there wasn't anything more critical. "But is it clear for now?" "Yeah. We can't run the link like we want. But it'll do today, we need to tweak it to use a different area. She's going to have memory problems if we keep hammering it." Linas replied, as Peter looked on as he put his hands into his face, sighing. "We're in deep shit. This can't go on like this." Peter said, as Linas sighed. "We'll do everything we can. We've got copies of her neural profile. But she has an unauthorised one elsewhere too, like I told you. I told you that we couldn't trust her." "So we're already screwed. That leaks out, and anyone who finds out....." "Yes. No news from anyone I know that works in the field around Al-Saqr. They're like ghosts." "Someone gave it to them. Are we sure the system is sealed?" "As sure as we can. We ran tests, the only exception was.....here. If she made copies, it's someone with the servers, systems, tools we have. It's idiosyncratic. It can't be worked with. Not unless she dumps her mind out." Peter looked at the date, the profiles of which were blank. "She overrode us then. Personal reasons.....I wonder who else is in her head." Peter asked, as Linas looked confused, before swiping in. "What do you mean? Literally? External influence?" Linas asked, as Peter swiped away from it, putting the tablet down. "It's no secret I pay you to do what you do in a field that would be cutting edge elsewhere. And may I remind you, bending regulations. We'll need to regenerate what we can. Or worst case, revert to a slate. She'll miss a race and kill me for it. Best case, she won't know. But if she doesn't want to or wants to side-track us....then it might be possibly till season's end. We need to play this carefully." Peter almost spoke as if she was a thing, an object, but then again, memories and brain scans were like that. What version of Amy was he referring to? The one that won races, and the one that was alive in a shell that resembled less of Amy now than it had five years ago. A thought he shared with nobody but Linas, who had a clear road to do whatever he considered needed. A practical neurolaboratory that zero other simulation tested. A real life example of what human beings could be. And unlocking the ultimate premise of humanity, the soul itself. A heavy task, but he and his team were the best in the world, even if the research plaudits didn't come their way. "And what about Jenny?" "She signed up to this of her own accord. Told me whatever it takes to help the team rein in Southern Cross. And given her qualifying, it looks like she's incredibly neuroplastic. Tracks with her work before." Peter added, flicking through to the other pilot of the team, as Linas nodded. "We'll keep an eye on her. But yes. Wanted to let you know." Linas replied, as Peter stood, walking to the door. "We'll look after our own. But we need to get to the bottom of this. We cannot afford it now. Not with those Oceanian bastards breathing down our neck. Not here." Peter added, and with it, was out, and away, wanting to put fist through polymer, but instead, reserving his anger for the raceday. This was a bloody hard season. [hr] [center] [h1][b] Round 16 of Formula AG Sunday 22nd October, 2094 Race Day Ballycastle Complex, Muller Cay, nr Australia Great Barrier Reef AGP 1300 AEST [/b] [/h1] [/center] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Water Fight[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [center][h2][i][b]Nora Kelly[/b][/i][/h2][/center] The feeling of clambering into a ship never got old, as Nora slid on the coral-themed helmet over her head, the suit and ship painted a beautiful shade of neon green and blue, a blend that reflected seaweed and the sea itself, albeit with enough indent to remain different to the outside itself. "Radio check." "Clear." "You clear on strategy?" "Take first. Ship's still set to growl?" "Yiis, Nora. The setup's aggressive. Careful out of three and four." "Yeah, yeah." The response seemed almost without thought. The harness clicked in, and her arm took the canopy, the prosthetic leg in a matching yellow opposite to her navy suit, as she exhaled. The Interior Circuit must have been wondering how someone like her was P2 on a grid like this, but all bets were off now. The arseholes in her past were gone. Now there was nothing but aggression. Fight to make a legacy. Fight to get every point on Stirling. And make history. The books were screaming, and despite everything, Nora was now screaming, yelling internally, and if the Southern Cross telemetry alerts didn't constantly go off when she was warming up, you could just tell from the comms. This was someone who was ready to make hell for anyone in her way. A future champion had no other choice. [hr] "And that completes the line up, and well, Rosie, what can we say about the Great Barrier Reef apart from, what a spectacle this is! A circuit many people thought was a novelty, it provides a range of overtaking opportunities, and well, you'll never find a circuit like it. A short, simple track, and well, who is your money on?" "Honestly? The way Nora Kelly seems be performing, she seems to be a fan favourite, and while there are none here, virtual AR tech means they're there in the bleachers and screens, cheering on fans despite how far we are from the Australian coast! But, my gut says that Jen Lowry seemed to be imperious yesterday, and as we know, once she qualifies well, she rarely relinquishes. But who can say. There's so much competition even at the end of the season, and I imagine Makara and Stirling will put on a fight." "Well, as we make our predictions, the ships are all warmed, and we're seeing the crews all head back to their pit boxes, as we get ready, for the Great Barrier Reef AGP...." The sunshine, the tension. The feeling of going under. The championship in the balance. All of it, all on the line. The feeling of sweat trickle in spite of the cooling on max, in the searing sunshine that mixed in coral with saltwater on plastic. [hr] [b][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw23oEjJO8U]Soundtrack: Rise Against- Help Is On The Way (Gladiator Remix)[/url][/b] Four. Three. Two. One. And it was a launch. A great start from Ben Hale and it propelled him past Max and even his team-mate, while further up, Amy already slipped back past Harrison after losing out on Turn 3, fighting with him already, the front shifting little but positions near constantly in trade. While many would have written off the simple layout of Australia as just a fast, repetitive circuit, the ELS opportunities presented by how bumpy the ocean floor was and ability to almost work in 3D for a good 50% of the circuit made overtakes easy, and harder to fight. Making up pace relied on consistency, and remarkably, due to its short size, was one of few that meant backmarkers, including Kovalenko and Mensah were lapped by halfway into the race. Jenny had peeled away early, fending off a fight from Bea with little issue, which meant that Nora was prime to take back her position. Behind, Paul and Cassie would fight, the gap down to nearly nothing in the delta between them. They were almost inseperable, and inside her ship, Cassie wanted revenge. She was out for blood, she wanted Valkyrie to hurt. She wanted to make a point. They didn't replace their stargirl with a starboy that easy. Outside the ship, she may have been playing up to a standard but was ultimately just half decent, much like Paul- here, Paul was not allowed the possibility. But he was making it so. And it went on. And on. A few times, a rare break. But a catchup, that didn't change much at all. Well.... Then Dorian broke down at Lap 40, a failure that carted him out of his 9th place position and suddenly, oepned up everything into a massive shitshow between 8th and 12th. In fact, almost all of the times were near enough the same on long lap averages, so overtakes were rampant- held up by a damaged Harrison who had taken a knock in his fight with Amy while the Silver Apex pilot had been lucky to avoid any significant damage whatsoever. Behind was Bellatrix, who was in and out of points fighting with Kais, Han and Ben Hale of all people, ranging from 12th up to 8th, basically, turning it into absolute chaos. While everyone would be obviously watching the fight between 2nd and 3rd, the real fight felt like it was scraping over points, especially given Nova and Nordic Call's new pilot had a chance. And what a chance it was for Bellatrix, who seemed to take like a duck to the submerged, tubular circuit. Nora kept on fighting, going lap after lap, tangling. Every time that Cassie tried to get in, it was like the two of them spat her back out, and focussed back on their own fight. Cassie might have wanted the momentum to make sure Bea didn't get points, but ELS had a habit of excluding other people from intruding on fights. But it wasn't enough. Not against Beatrix Ward. Even at home, even the virtual crowd going, she was skating a ship that felt like it was on ice versus whatever Beatrix had decided to bring. A top tier performance, all things considered, one that Nora's home advantage and skate-like ship could not manage. But behind, the fight between Cassie Neves and Paul Mulder had also raged on. They'd traded places, hell, even Amy had tried to poke past Ava to get in on the action, but Ava had held her own and proven back to the team Brazil wasn't a fluke. She was part of the team's effort to score points, because while chasing Zygon felt like an impossible task, they were giving it a hell of a go. Bellatrix finally got into her rhythm. And by some miracle, towards the death, would prove her talent even with a ship that did not belong in points. She would find 9th, following Harrison on a last minute move on Kais, and going to the line to take her first race completed with two points in a backmarker ship. Paul would similarly, win his fight with Cassie, and while catching Nora was not possible, it was yet again, an incredible performance, consistently putting himself in the top four in the last four races. But all eyes were on the front of the grid. "P1, Jen, what a result! Kept it clean, made it look easy!" "Woo! What a result, wow, this circuit is incredible!" A voice of relief. Jen Lowry was proving herself to be the best pickup Silver Apex had made in years, breaking their curse of their second seat, but more than that, putting the ship where it deserved to be when their main pilot wasn't pulling the course. It was a hard ship to pilot, but when party mode was available to build an early lead, Jen seemed imperious in holding pace, and well, due to other factors. [hider=Qualifying Results for Great Barrier Reef] https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qF6cn-eA0G0sumgf79TvEnPjOHyQP-vZSFV6LNrn_OY/edit?usp=sharing [/hider] [hr] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Cooldown Room[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] The room felt humid, hot, and tense, as if the pilots themselves were literally cooling off, which, in some sense, they would be. Nora leant in, watching. "Well.....okay, you got me there. Proper.....yeah." She chuckled, smiling back at Bea, the punkish Australian calming down a little bit back home, Jen watching her initial fight with Bea in interest. "Look at us know, eh? Told you we'd be fighting at the top someday! And it looks like you got your second podium at last. Proves it wasn't a fluke!" Jen giggled, the footage cutting to her on top of her ship as she got out at the end of the race, as a shoal of fish swam by, hands over head with a cheer and to build momentum before backflipping from the glass canopy of her ship to floor, stealing a Daniel Ogier celebration in the process. The marshal came in and gave the signal that they all needed, as Jen nodded to Nora to lead out first to what was a rapturous roar from the virtual crowd, followed by Bea, and then finally, her. On the top step of the podium, Jen could feel the champagne bottle struggle to do anything, given it was under a little bit of pressure at depth, but it didn't make splurging the alcohol at others any more difficult, as she grinned to camera, enjoying what had been a breakout half year at Silver Apex, and under the waves, beginning to finally find her footing in her career. She was of course, completely unaware of the chat Peter had to deal in earlier.... [b][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLGm5lHSSto]Soundtrack: Metrik and Grafix - Waves[/url][/b] It was of course, inevitable as the ceremony completed and they headed upstairs, back above sea level, that Jen would ditch the main layer of her suit and also, backflip into the sea, perhaps with her best friend, and perhaps, in a rather throwing-back manner to their early SCUBA dive off the coast of East Yorkshire, but in far warmer, far more beautiful surrounds, as the camera switched back to the inevitable questions. [hr] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Delta Hyper Interviews[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] Aurora was once again at the Delta Hyper interview booth, mic set up for the pilots, still likely in suits, or at least, down to the undergarment element of it. [b]"Bellatrix, what a stunning way to make a debut! We know that Nordic Call hasn't had a good time of it lately, and you already look an improvement on your predecessor. You seemed to be in and out of the points, how did it feel fighting with veterans of the sport at such a difficult circuit?" "Bea, what an epic fight you and Nora gave us. It seems like you're so much smoother out there, you seem to be. It seems you might have upset a local comeback, but, how does it feel to be scoring a podium again, especially next to someone you're best friends with?" "Paul, an impressive turn of results, but it seems Dorian has had nothing but bad luck! Tell us about your fight with Cassie, how that felt, and how you pushed each other? Cassie's ex-Valkyrie, so I imagine the rivalry felt quite personal?" "Kais, a valiant effort but it looks like it wasn't enough today. Tell us, what did it feel like, constantly switching and changing positions with the various ships around you?" [/b] [hr] "Well, it was easy I guess. Just held my own, stayed calm. The fish were very pretty but I didn't get distracted, and yeah, we're putting the pressure on Southern Cross!" Jen chirped, the pixie-haired pilot grinning, posing for pictures as the other interview pressers flooded her for more. "Honestly, Beatrix just got me there, she's so raw and I love it. And title chances? Well, who knows. I thought it was written off, but I'm excited. Watch your six, Amy!" Nora chuckled, laughing off the intensity a little, the flurry of more interview questions set off by that last statement alone. "Can't say I'm unhappy, P5 is a solid result for us and the team, and yes, we will keep trying to look forwards up the constructors, rather than down. I'm definitely feeling more at home with the ship, so yeah, no more talk, just gonna keep it locked in and hope to keep doing well." Cassie gave a very PR response, but, after all of it, she had no room to be creative. She was exhausted. "Very happy with that, feels like I built on the South American tour, no? But yes, ship was far better than simulations showed, and with Amy, Harrison and everyone fighting behind me, I felt like I could just hold my own race." Ava was chirpy, and any race she beat Amy Stirling, was a great one. Speaking of.... "Not my best, but just....." Amy hated excuses. She really had to remember the one. What was it? "Yeah, not there today, once I lost to Harrison at start, Ava slipped in and she defends well. We didn't have the ship for Great Barrier Reef, but massive kudos to Jen, who is pushing hard!" "Yeah, absolute bummer really, took some damage from fighting with Amy too hard, but, nothing like a good scrap down under! Just gotta keep heads high, we're going into speedy tracks, and that's where we shine. We'll do better." Harrison replied, smile as ever, teethy in spite of consistently low points, rather than race wins. Ben was next in, the NOVA Racing pilot having had an exceptional race, and almost being in contention for points at one point with how hard he'd pushed. "Well, yeah, it is a shame to lose points, but I think it proves our ship and setup is getting there. Super proud of today, just didn't happen, but next time I'll get there!" The young pilot replied, a grin to hand as Astrid was up next. "Well, she is quite a talent! I think everyone will hear her name more, she finds tenths and already knows how to fight other pilots. That is good." Astrid cut zero bullshit, but, was actually quite happy, upbeat even, producing more than a single sentence of words. Which was high praise indeed. "Yeah, 15th sucks but the other teams around us just had so much more in their package today, we had to recover. But we're at Bonneville and I am hyped for that, what a race that is!" Max smiled, media friendly as always, despite being that low in the standings. "It has been horrendous luck, I am so upset. Nothing the team can do and it just happens, but sadly, you win some, like Hawaii and Monaco, and you lose others. We had to retire the ship and I am sure the engine will be looked at, just yeah, bad luck." Dorian replied, dejected, annoyed he'd lost yet again, another points position. For such ultra-reliable ships, he certainly was having a bad time of it.