[center][h2]Monday November 1st, 2094, 09:28
Buenos Aires, Argentina[/h2][h3]”The Ranch” (Carrera Condor Formula AG Team headquarters)[/h3][/center]Aurora was making another house call - sort of.

[quote]”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?”[/quote]
[color=#1EFF24]”My back hurts from carrying them.”[/color] Bea said with utmost seriousness in her voice and a grin on her face, [color=#1EFF24]”But back down to Earth, over and above anything it’s really unexpected. I thought I would be fighting to keep my foot in the door, not fighting for… How many points between us and Nordic Call? 70-ish?”[/color]
“110,” Aurora corrected, “42 to your 152”
[color=#1EFF24]”Jesus!”[/color] It slipped out before she could do anything about it, clamping her hand over her mouth. [color=#1EFF24]”Fighting for fifth in constructors’ then, maybe. There is no fight for sixth.”[/color]
She took a breath to recompose from that. [color=#1EFF24]”I suppose with-”[/color] She caught herself before saying ‘with Ava confirmed, I’ll actually be directing.’ [color=#1EFF24]”No, that wouldn’t be fair. Right now there’s no directing to be done, now we just drive like our contracts depend on it even though they don’t, and the trajectory of where we want the ships to go is mostly locked in for the next two years. Directing I think will come in 2096 when it comes to fine-tuning the next regs’ ships, if I’m still in this position, fingers crossed. Or if the 95 or 96 ships are awful out of the gate and we have to prioritize what to fix.
As far as leading… I can sit here and tell you I’m looking forward to the challenge and I know the pressure from WRC all I want, but look at the results and draw your own conclusions. I’ve always been open about my opinion of rating one’s own performance, you cannot get an objective read that way. This is a question for León and the board.”[/color]

[quote]”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?”[/quote]
[color=#1EFF24]”It’s a lot of things I think. Huge injection of funds for this season, engine and flight control tech given by Pridwen Solutions as part of the partnership, some lucky breaks, signing Felix…”[/color] She listed, tactfully keeping her mouth shut about all the Pridwen research and development personnel that were employed and paid by Carrera Condor with the understanding that they would go back to Pridwen Solutions as if they never left the company if the partnership broke up and Carrera Condor’s free use of Pridwen’s UK R&D facilities where the rules allowed using non-team facilities. All legal - just barely.
[color=#1EFF24]”Plus, working at Carrera is still fun. We’re now big enough to not be backmarkers while still not devolving into a cold, corporate laboratory.”[/color] After a pause, she shrugged with a grin. [color=#1EFF24]”And part of it is naivete because I still think loyalty matters. Yes, it took some persuasion,”[/color] She rubbed her fingers together to imply money, [color=#1EFF24]”But they gave me this chance, leaving would be like spitting in the face of the entire team.”[/color]

[hr][h2]Pilots’ Group Chat[/h2][quote][color=fff200][b]Astrid[/b][/color] [A video of Bellatrix not causing the automatic doors to open and having to jump and wave at it]
I present. Princess Tinkerbell.[/quote]
[color=fff200][b]Bea[/b][/color] YES! Finally, someone smaller than me! 😂

[color=fff200][b]Bea[/b][/color] [b]@Astrid[/b] I take back everything negative I said about you after Monaco, you just made my weekend.

[hr][center][h2]Tuesday October 26th, 2094, 09:13
London, GB[/h2][h3]’Stream announcement: Tuesday 26th, 07:00 PM UTC - Community Rally (Dirt Rally 19)’[/h3][/center]Bea was still in the same jeans and blouse she’d worn on the flight home, going by several photos with fans she’d met at the airport and just how wrinkled and disheveled she was, looking and sounding like a very exhausted bouncy ball.
[color=#1EFF24]”So, I’m back from down under. I don’t have the- Ow, shite!”[/color] She tripped over something that fell with a loud clattering sound, [color=#1EFF24]”Tripped over a stack of alu plates, Christ I need a nap. Quantas, we need to have a serious talk about the seats on your planes. Where was I?”[/color] She took two seconds to recalibrate, clearly too tired to re-record it. [color=#1EFF24]”I don’t have the words to describe the restored reef. Whether that says more about the reef or my cognitive abilities is a topic I’d rather not broach, but if you get a chance to go, go. Sell a kidney if you have to, you won’t regret it.”[/color] She sat down on the living room sofa, the camera angled in such a way to capture three sample boxes of Estrella Galicia beer. [color=#1EFF24]”In the meantime, I feel like racing tonight. No prizes this time since it’s on short notice, but it also means it’s drop-in - first come, first serve. As always with these, call me Thor because the banhammer will be swift and merciless if you can’t behave. See you there.”[/color]

[b]Zero:[/b] I see the new sponsorship has come through.
	[b]Xinny:[/b] Lord have mercy, she has a genuine excuse to drink.
		[b]MadBea:[/b] If you make it while there’s still some left, you’re invited.
			[b]Xinny:[/b] [[url=https://media1.tenor.com/m/0ejV_tB8z48AAAAd/running-away.gif]Link[/url]]
[b]NineIron:[/b] [b]@MadBea[/b] every time you win a stage, take a drink.
	[b]MadBea:[/b] I think that counts as suicide.
		[b]GalwayGirl:[/b] Wow. So humble. 😀
			[b]MadBea:[/b] I have artificial lungs and heart, not liver.
				[b]SmolNjol:[/b] And missing the point.
[b]ChesterFromChester:[/b] Any other drivers coming?
	[b]MadBea:[/b] Why do you keep asking me? Ask them.
[b]CLoroxEnjoyer:[/b] Do you only ever play DR19 because that’s the one that has you in it? 😀
	[b]MadBea:[/b] No, because 17 was so broken Codemasters gave up on fixing it, 18 has less content and 20 has NO content.
		[b]CloroxEnjoyer:[/b] Fair.

[color=gold][center][h1][i][b]DELTΔ HYPER[/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color][color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Episode 17: Mustang Alley[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]
[hr]
Bea was loving the vibe. So much so she had to be hounded by members of Flávia’s team to actually make it to her commitments because she kept forgetting herself among the fans - not just of Formula AG, but of [i]speed[/i]. Her blood type.

She was not loving the climate.

Her long-running sponsorship deal with the sunglasses manufacturer Bay-Ran was paying off here, starting with Australia and the ‘hot’ leg continuing until the end of the season, Bea had been wearing a different pair of shades for every appearance since Thursday.

[quote]”Hello, and welcome! Here in Bonneville, how have you found it so far?”[/quote]
Bea did not answer, she simply fanned herself with the cowboy hat she was holding a little harder than before, her hair and the shoulders of the wiphala-patterned team polo - aesthetics be damned, she was not wearing black out here - kept perpetually damp courtesy of the ice water she carried in a thermos in an insulated sling bag..

[quote]”So, with the season coming to an end. We thought to ourselves we'd let you do the talking to the audience, and here in Bonneville, we're in a place stepped in history within AG, and the wider land speed record community. So, what's your favourite part of the legacy of speed? I believe you each had a hand in a few short films and will show us what that relationship is?”[/quote]

[hr]
The scene faded in on a sketchbook laying on a table. A pair of hands - Bea’s hands - opened it on a blank page and started sketching. Within 20 seconds, the page had the rough sketch of a little girl, just the back of the head and shoulders, sitting in front of a TV playing sailing races.

[center]—   —   —   —   —[/center]
Cut. Young Bea, aged nine, clad in a dry suit with wet hair still clinging to her face, getting a noogie from her sister, her protests unintelligible through her laughter and drowned out by Evangeline’s own. Frederick and Akela stood at the edge of the shot looking proud, a first place trophy forgotten at the girls’ feet.

[center]—   —   —   —   —[/center]
Bea’s hands flipped to an empty page, beginning a new sketch. In the next 20 seconds, a rally truck at rest appeared on the page, two people - a man and a woman - sitting on the hood, three mechanics standing on the front bumper, playing cards in hands.

[center]—   —   —   —   —[/center]
The scene switched to an onboard camera between the seats of a rally car, the engine calmly rumbling while the crew was waiting in line at the stage start, three more cars ahead as one just floored it, roaring away in a cloud of dust.

[center][color=#1EFF24]Beatrix Ward[/color] - [color=#46BDC6]Gareth Burns[/color]
#81 - Ariel Raider Rally2
Sahalahti, FI
Saturday 20th August 2089, 15:51 - Mäkipää
Rally Finland[/center]
[color=#46BDC6]“Ah’d really love tae ken what’s leaking back there.”[/color] The co-driver wondered as he fastened his seatbelts.
[color=#1EFF24]”Shocks. Don’t stress it, Gaz, we’ll know soon. If we don’t stop, I guess it was brake fluid.”[/color] Bea replied from the driver’s seat, trying to make light of the situation but clearly frustrated by the damage.
[color=#46BDC6]“Th’ first brake Ah have is… Turn four.”[/color]
[color=#1EFF24]”So we’ll survive the first three.”[/color] She craned her head to the left to read the pace notes, Gareth pointing it out on the notepad. [color=#1EFF24]“That’s a four long, we can stick it there somewhere.”[/color] She waved a hand over it dismissively as she moved the car forward along the queue.
[color=#46BDC6]“Should Ah even read th’ brakes then?”[/color]
[color=#1EFF24]“Mmhhhmm… I’ll let you know if it’s braking or not and we’ll go from there. If it’s brake fluid, just read ‘Shite’ instead.”[/color]
[color=#46BDC6]“‘Kay, so tis: Left one, right one long, one fifty, left three opens, shite, left four long?”[/color]
Both briefly laughed.
[color=#46BDC6]“Hmmm, Ah’ve git th’ ‘shite’ about 19 times on this page alone.”[/color] Gareth noted, flipping through the pages of the stage standing between them and the service area to see just how shite their day could be. [color=#46BDC6]“Ah love this pairt though: Shite, shite, right six rough, don’t cut, hole, shite, trees.”[/color]
Another laughing fit as they finally reached the start line.

[center]—   —   —   —   —[/center]
Another blank page, another 20 second sketch, this time a Formula AG ship. The backdrop was a clear, if simple, representation of Lion’s Head.

[center]—   —   —   —   —[/center]
The scene was a bit of a bait and switch from that, instead cutting to a shaky, phone-shot video of Carrera Condor’s private celebrations after Belgium - just the two drivers, both race engineers and mechanics from both sides of the garage. Rey was sleeping on folded arms on the table, a glass of something still clutched in his hand. Alistair and several of Bea’s mechanics were drunkenly singing Battle Beast’s ‘Last Goodbye’ with Bea and Ava - arm around each others’ shoulders - joining for the chorus, both several glasses too deep and another in their hands.
“35 POINTS, LET’s GOOO!” Someone yelled off-screen when the song ended, a chorus of whoops and hollers answering them.
[color=#1EFF24]”What Zygon? You see Zygon anywhere, Ace?”[/color] Bea theatrically looked over their shoulders, making up for her middling Spanish proficiency and alcohol in her system with enthusiasm and alcohol in her system.

[center]—   —   —   —   —[/center]
The last ten seconds. Another blank page turned.

No image. Just five words in big, simple letters.

[center][b]You make it worth it.[/b][/center]
Bea’s hands set down the pen to underline the word ‘you’ and moved out of frame, leaving the shot to fade out.

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