[center] [h1][b] Round 16 of Formula AG Sunday 22nd October, 2094 Race Day Ballycastle Complex, Muller Cay, nr Australia Great Barrier Reef AGP 1500 AEST [/b] [/h1] [/center] As the celebrations faded, the teams would wrap up, ships away, and getting ready to leave. Another successful weekend for some, another soul-searching session for others. Great Barrier Reef was always a showpiece, but up next, was the salt flats. From the salty ocean, to the salted earth. [hr] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Sunset at Sea[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [center][h2][i][b]Dorian Hornfleur[/b][/i][/h2][/center] Dorian sat looking at the state of the ship, beyond the glass of Valkyrie hospitality, emptied now on Sunday after the race. "Another fucking engine. Putain de merde." Dorian simply commented to Anais, as she walked in, sitting on the beanbag next to him in Valkyrie's hospitality. "It isn't the ending you thought it would be?" "No. Feels like losing places." Dorian sighed, looking over at Paul's ship, wondering why his couldn't work. "20 fucking years and it's always an engine failure...." [hr] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]The Final Fifth[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] Sitting down in the sofa, Rory looked to Aurora, the familiar two staying professional in this late-season review. "So, tell us, what did you think? Amy Stirling, dropping points?" "I think we all were surprised. She's been so imperious in previous seasons. So unstoppable. But it's like she lost something. I can't even tell. It was like when Hamilton came away in 2022, or 2023. Just this spark seemed to fade. She could find seconds, but then she would lose all of them. It was hard to say." "And what about the title race? Is it all to play for?" He was giving a wry smile with a chuckle, as the approaching mid-age commentator didn't want to be baited. "If it's mathematically possible, anything can happen. Nora came back from the brink. People react differently to adversity. Pilots are incredibly resilient. The most mentally tough, physically capable, superhuman people alive. Take their augments, implants, everything away, and you're still left with someone who'll give everything for that feeling." Cutting to Nora, as she walked through her garage, looking at data, looking at where she'd lost out to Bea. Wanting to never make that mistake. "And what about the constructors battle for third and fifth? It seems like things are turning fast, who can say for sure where that will be?" "Well, we all know Al-Saqr and Carerra prefer fast tracks. Their pilots are making the most out of ships that while fragile, are incredibly potent. It will be a showdown." Ava helped the crew pack up alongside a biped that was helping carrying crates, looking to Leon, smiling, before looking across the box, looking to Bea, unsure if they'd ever fully mend the bridge. But when times were good, times were good. "And while the constructors may be set, everyone has a point to prove." [hr] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Outro to Australia[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] "Well, that's all we have time for. We've had an amazing weekend here at Muller Cay, in the Great Barrier Reef, and we'll see you in Utah, for the FAS round of the Formula AGP season!" And with it, the ending montage played out. From the outside, as fish flew by, ships went through the tunnels, the sound a hollow, quiet turn, as the underwater camera drone followed one through a corner, before surfacing, catching ships exiting at the start straight, before pivoting back up to sky, sun, and a white-fade. [hr] The teams would all head home. There were dilemmas to fix. Decisions. From the first snow in Lulea, to the beginnings of the Southern Hemisphere summer in Buenos Aires, the chilly autumn vibes in Aachen, across to the usual sunshine of Abu Dhabi, all teams were getting ready for the last four races. Engineers were busy. Designers hard at work. Liveries being reprinted. The circus getting ready. [hr] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Post Humans[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] Being plugged in again. Feeling it. Seeing all of it. Touching into the void. She exhaled, looking through the clouded sandstorm, as it lifted, the rocks revealing an infinite red and yellow. "The mortal coil holds us back. It has been a while." She said, the haircover revealing her almost polycolour locks, Layla looking beyond at the enormous horizon. Wadi Rum. The desert of home. A place she wished she could race again. But not like this. "Why are you here?" Layla asked, as the other figure sat, looking on at the sands. "Because it takes everything. The perfect lap means sacrificing everything. And I thought you looked bored while they poked at you." Amy sarked back, brushing her white hair out of the way, inviting Layla to sit. "It wasn't for the sake of humanity? For any of it?" Layla asked, as Amy shook her head. A resounding no. "It's when you feel you are one with everything. It takes you away. It's the most human you can be. To find out what your limits are. And.....it's terrifying." She said, looking at sand, trickling with a feint sheen to it in the render. "And yet, infinite. You feel like you can touch the stars. You're scared but....able to go beyond anything." "And you failed to think of anything larger. And lost points in races anyway for someone who's literally thinking you're playing transhumanism. You risk everything and deny it all. Why?" "You are here, aren't you?" Amy asked, as Layla shook her head, looking at the sands, then back. Realising. "You mean, you're here. I'm not in your head. This is my render. And you’re not a glitch." Layla replied, as Amy chuckled, shaking her head. "How do you think this all happened?" Amy retorted, waving her hand at it all as Layla could see it all. "The entire pathing to here." For Layla, it was unfurling. Unravelling, as she replied back. Seeing it clearly. "You used them. Knowing it would end up coming to me. A social engineering trick.....because you needed them to do it, knowing everything about them. Knowing how they'd act. Knowing Ava's weakness. Knowing Bea would find you. Knowing Kais wouldn't help himself. Knowing you'd get to me. But you didn't expect the bump in Canada to force it to work faster." She replied, as Amy nodded. "I didn't expect it to start killing me either." "It's……neural remapping. Like when...." "A neural link is damaged and strained, it creates new bonds to anything, like how a bird nests with anything it can capture. With no limits..." "It replaces the mind with machine and extrapolates, turns generative. Until the mind starts to defeat itself because it can’t manage artificial." Layla replied, finishing her sentence. "We're not a hive mind. I know it because I sat on it for a while. It’s why I’m here. But you have a body to return to." "Not quite. Well. You want one thing. I want another, but once you start interfacing, you know a machine usually gets to the same answers in a quantum computer, two places at once, yet the same. The machine is creeping inside you too now, isn't it, Layla? To be transhuman, you need to let it in." Amy stated what Layla knew to be plainly obvious, as the Jordanian replied. "Sure. Yet I want to help humanity. I want to go to the stars, turn off, turn on, and save our species from the cradle we can escape. You want to win more races in a stupid series in which actual people don't deserve cheaters like you….like us. Like Jen. She shouldn't play with it….or are they wondering how they replace you?" Layla cut hard, knowing in this sense, sometimes it wasn’t the literal, maybe the physical too. “Perhaps.” Amy remarked, knowing it was a valid point. But Amy had her own. “You say you want to be like sand down there. Yet you're trapped on this rock…..and here. You’re imaginative, but you’re stuck." Amy came back, as Layla looked on, even wondering what the fuck they meant. "They've....respected my wishes. More than they can say for you. How many copies of you are there? Is that it, or are you just here trying to get me to find you a way home? Which are you, Amy? Or is it even Amy anymore?" Amy had a rare crack, as she shook her head. "Enough to know that we’re both matter. We’re so much more the same." Amy took her hand, and well, Layla felt the cold. And her wash away. And as she looked out into the horizon, Layla started to understand more and more of how reality wasn't exactly a construct that mattered too much anymore. Not like this. [hr] "Kais." The voice called. "Kais." The voice called again. When Kais would wake up, he would see it in his vision. Layla was there. And the feel against his shoulder would have felt real. But Layla was nothing but a hallucination. Dressed in an racing undersuit, augments all on display, like the last time Layla and Kais saw each other. She was back. From a holographic projector on one of Kais's devices, at least, trying to play at some physical presence. "Not quite alive. But getting there. You look like you aren't sleeping as much lately." She replied, her voice garbling a little, before restoring. [hr] The interviews took place at each HQ, a hologram of Aurora opposite the locally set up camera, set in an environment of the pilots choosing. They had creative control, but Aurora still led on questions. First up, Bea, back in Buenos Aires. "So a breakout first season for you, and it seems like you've become the number one pilot at Carrera. What does it feel like to have that responsibility, to lead and direct the team? You seem to back yourself to stay with the team when many other teams would have been interested, what do you think it is about Carrera that has made it so effective since you came in?" Next, Bellatrix, in Lulea. "An impressive start from you Trix! Many people would have not expected you to come into Formula AG, especially with the competitive field you were in, so what do you think it was that made it work so well for you? Aachen, next, with Paul. "Paul, it feels like you've hit your stride! With such consistency, how does it feel to be putting a team like Valkyrie so high up the grid? How do you feel about the future of the team, and in particular, the next steps with the 2095 chassis?" Lastly, Kais, at Al-Saqr's HQ. "Kais, it seems like watching you on track is always entertaining, and your honest, direct approach is gaining lots of fans, as a breath of fresh air in the sport. Hamid seems to take a different approach, and seems rather playful with crews and teams from what we can tell. Do you think there's a way for both styles in Formula AG?"