Sunday October 3rd, 2094, 17:30
Buenos Aires, Argentina
The Race
Ava’s start took Bea by surprise, the Briton privately wondering if the Chilean was powered by spite and got second wind a few weeks ago.
”Mulder now .034 behind.””Spa 2.0, here we go!” She called out, actually grinning through the corner, switching her ELS to leech off of Ava to build up a reserve.
”Gaps and deltas?””Gap ahead .03, losing in turns 1 and 2. Gap behind .04 and losing to both on the straights”This went on for a few laps, neither gaining nor losing, Bea’s battery slightly positive.
”Beatrix, we need you to hold off ELS leech from Ava and go into neural, build up charge, let's build a full battery before we do anything. We can talk about overtakes, but you need to be patient and we need to time this, priority is holding back Mulder. Let's play fair, we'll make a switch when needed. We need to protect this advantage, confirm?”
”I am trying to build up charge, but copy?”Bea did as ordered despite thinking unpublishable thoughts. Not even a lap later:
”Bea, we’ll switch in two laps if you can keep up.””Why did you order me not to attack and then tell her to improve the gap?” A sharp edge started appearing in Bea’s voice,
”That’s bullshite, Al. I thought we left that at the ranch.””I’ll get back to you on that, for now keep Mulder behind. Gap .019-””If you need ELS defense, swap us and use her. Why is this even a discussion?” Bea stepped on him to protest, hiding a ‘get her out of my way’ behind a ‘use our strong points better.’
”Reminder: You’ll need to close up to get the swap.””I can’t close up now, I’ve got a bloody Belgian Malinois nipping at my heels because Ava’s out for herself and you can’t keep a hold of her fucking leash!“ Bea snapped angrily,
”Both ships together and instead she leaves my arse hanging in the wind for the blokes behind me again like back at Auckland. Way to ‘protect the advantage’ team, great job, why did you think I was leeching in the first place?” She was
absolutely calling out the team orders and disorganized chaos - politely keeping quiet about the fact that the energy buildup would have also been really useful in getting past Ava - over the radio to wash her hands of this mess and as her own version of rebellion. If this was going to be a shitshow, the audience would know in real time.
”Beatrix, there’s still a lot of time to-””No one but Al on the radio for the rest of the race.” Bea clapped back in a tone one should not be using with their boss,
”And you answer questions and provide data when requested, nothing else, confirm?””Bea, you both need to wor-””Not what I asked. Confirm.”It was at that point two things happened.
The first thing was Bea going rogue, setting ELS to boost and trying to slip away from Paul through the first few corners.
The second thing was Ava making a mistake in turn 6.
Suddenly, Bea was right on the back of her teammate. Close enough to use her teammate as a barricade to block Paul completely from passing, though unable to pass herself due to her battery running low. She’d have to make it stick soon, or she’d be in the weeds again, and this time of her own making.
She was about to ask Alistair where Ava was losing the most when she saw it. The opportunity.
Neuron activation. The monkey brain took over.
Bea sent it down the inside. A move that characterized her racing style.
Ava twitched back to the racing line, trying to recover from her error and minimize time loss.
León was just chuckling at Bea’s radio message, echoing his grandfather’s own ‘No more radio for the rest of the race.’ when the chuckle died in his throat.
The ships pushed off of one another. Bea’s neural link disconnected. Her ship slammed into a barrier, overheat warnings immediately flaring up in the cockpit as the wax tank broke off before being drowned out by the grinding sound of the ship skidding to a stop along the track.
”Bea, you alright?””She ran out of talent again, un-fucking-believable!” Bea thundered as she jettisoned the canopy, clearly physically well enough to boil over.
”Ship’s fucked, I’m out. Why am I wasting my bloody time in a series where people can’t be arsed to pay attention?!” She pulled the radio connection before anyone else could say anything.
After the other ships went past, she undid her safety harness and carefully let herself down from the angled ship magnetically stuck to the bottom part of the banking. Seeing Ava already out, Bea shrugged widely with her arms in her direction - a nonverbal ‘What the fuck?’ before turning to the medic who jogged up, waving him off with a thumbs up. She absolutely would have thrown a helmet if she could take it off at that moment, instead having to resort to punting a stray piece of Ava’s ship with her heel like a football.
Episode 14: The Tango Swing
”Bea, an awful result for you and the team, possibly your worst nightmare. We'll keep it brief- any words for the crowd?”
Bea almost,
almost said something about it not being the worst nightmare because Ava didn’t cost anyone an arm and a leg this time around.
”Nice weather today. Don’t set anything on fire.” She simply said before walking away unprompted.
Villarosa Defends Herself After Incident: “I Was Following Orders”
A visibly tense Ava Villarosa addressed the media following her collision with teammate Beatrix Ward, emphasizing that she had been “following the instructions given at the time.” Villarosa, typically measured and analytical in press settings, appeared guarded as she reiterated that her pace and energy deployment were dictated by real-time calls from her engineer. She stopped short of assigning blame but made it clear she felt her actions had been justified and consistent with the guidance she received.
Ward Furious After Team Mix-Up: “Why Am I Wasting My Time Here?”
Beatrix Ward did not mince words after exiting her wrecked ship in Buenos Aires, venting palpable fury. Her radio outburst “Why am I wasting my bloody time in a series where people can’t be arsed to pay attention?” Was followed by her ripping out her comms connection and dismissing medical staff as she stormed away from the crash site. Ward’s frustration appeared to stem from being caught between obeying a set of shifting team orders that ultimately left her exposed and perceived lack of awareness on her teammate’s part.
That was not the only spicy message between Beatrix and her team. While it’s not uncommon for drivers to express frustration mid-race, Ward’s instruction effectively shut down communication from senior team personnel during a critical phase of the race strategy. Analysts are questioning whether this was an impulsive flare-up from the fiery rookie or a symptom of deeper communication breakdown within the team.
Buenos Aires Police Deployed to the Antigravity Circuit as Fan Protests Escalate
The Buenos Aires Metropolitan Police confirmed late Sunday evening that officers were deployed to the Antigravity Circuit at the request of the Carrera Condor team following escalating tensions between fans and team personnel. While no arrests were made and there were no reported injuries, police used tear gas to disperse a crowd gathered at the main paddock gate after Condor began their post-race pack-down. Witnesses say approximately 200 fans were chanting for an explanation of the intra-team crash that robbed hometown favorite Ava Villarosa of a potential podium.
Police sources indicated that the crowd became agitated when security attempted to move Condor’s transport vehicles through the gate, though videos taken by the protestors seem to indicate the officers acted first. Although the situation was brought under control within minutes, the incident marks one of the most dramatic public reactions to a motorsport team’s performance in recent memory. Local organizers have stated they will review security protocols ahead of next year’s event, while neither Condor nor the AG series have issued formal statements as of press time.
CarreraCarmen: A possible 1-2 at the home race and THIS IS WHAT WE GET??
Sol_de_Mayo: Everybody sucked today.
Mate0: Can’t be friends at the top. Childish to think you can.
UrbanMaverick: Can’t have nice things in fucking Argentina.
TruckerTim: That’s because Argies have the hardware of Italians with the software of Spaniards, the psychopathy of Serbs and the straight up malaka anger of Greeks.
Laugh_Ness: Bloody partsbin humans lmao.
DohnJoe: if I see any of y'all Villainrosa fans out in the wild imma make what Paul's folk did in Congo look like a fuckin' picnic
HotStuff: Chile managed to make a right-wing dictatorship likable and yet can't produce a supposed test pilot who knows what's going around her craft.
TheDawg417: [Picture of Bea getting out of her wrecked ship] Can’t park there, mate!
MissedApex: Bea fucking hanging up on her team, what a queen! 😂
NorthWest: Put in a position of fame and stress at too young an age to be mature enough to do it and causing problems when she buckles? Yep, historical monarch behavior.
User420: Argies with Bea Derangement Syndrome bout to be wild
TruckerTim: Bea
Derangement
Syndro
Me, because these nutters need to be tied up for public safety and then have some sense slapped into them.
Paulmulder4eva: Paul watching both Condors bin it in front of him like: [
link]
Briat77: Lmao, Ward having a meltdown like a child.
Zero: [Link to video of Ava smashing a monitor with her helmet in the garage]
Javi: thing goes not smooth -> ward loses her shit -> meltdown. tale as old as time
Cylonking183: Success’s gone into her head.
SmolNjol: Lmao, Alonso basically ordering the fans to get gassed but can’t wrangle his own employees. Sad.
Xinny: You know it’s bad when Bea - who stood up for Ava several times during the year when she was being shit - doesn’t even look at her once during the press conference.
GalwayGirl: I think that’s the first time I’ve seen her walk out of an interview.
TruckerTrim: Valkyrie and Fitzroy about to have competition in the Disaster Team Championship.
Sun 03/10 20:32 JEN [Batt: 74%]
———— Today ————
> Sending you lots of love. I can't imagine how you feel right now. Recommend you don't look at any media or news for a while. Press is going mental. Call me if you can.> They’re always mental, but it’s fun to laugh at the delusions. I don’t seriously concern myself with what gossip rag writers think, most of them don’t do it very often anyway.> P1 is incredible though. I get why you went crazy. Tell you what. Want to grab Rodízio in Rio before the race in Brazil? Give you something else to focus on.[You reacted with 👍]
Monday October 4th, 2094, 09:58
Buenos Aires, Argentina
The Debriefing
The debriefing hadn’t even started when Pablo made his entrance. If Ava thought the Chilean fires years ago were bad before, he was about to go scorched earth.
Bea simply sat there, hands clasped together on the table, letting Pablo vent. Nothing she could say could make anything any better, but she could make things a lot worse. So she sat there and took it on the chin, thinking about blueberry pies and nodding once when he demanded an answer.
She only spoke up a few seconds after Hurricane Pablo had left the room, muttering under her breath.
”Show up, yell at everything, fix nothing, leave. Average CEO behavior.”It was, indeed, not a great time for Cassie to call, Bea’s phone on silent mode nevertheless vibrating loudly against the metal of her leg in her pocket before she declined the call without even pulling the phone out of the pocket.
”Alright.” León steepled his fingers, visibly trying not to throw something.
”I’ll deal with him later. Now we focus on taking whatever this was and doing the exact fucking opposite next week.””Maybe we can start by you not talking on the radio and letting the race engineers do their job.””Especially through corners with two peer ships right behind. You used to race, you should know that.””You trying to shut us down is extreme in the other direction.””What was there to talk about even? I swear the entire strategy got thrown out the window by lap two.” Rey summarized, unfortunately, very accurately.
”Oh, there was a strategy?” Bea mocked unhelpfully,
”Would have been nice to tell me. All I got was ‘Go neutral, build charge and we’ll swap if we need to.’ and then you running off on your own, dumping power like you’re shorting Fitzroy stocks for five laps.” She pointed at Ava.
”I was told to stay in attack and build a gap.” Ava defended herself.
”That is the instruction I was told to pass, and then the swap order didn’t come.””But we weren’t told not to swap either. Just left in an info void.”Bea turned to Alonso.
”So what was the plan? Because from where I was sitting, that doesn’t read ‘We said we’d swap if we need to and we didn’t need to,’ that’s a ‘We like this running order but don’t want to order you to hold over broadcasted comms.’ If you wanted Ava to win at home, sure, I can live with being a pawn once in a while if I know what the game is. It’s still bullshite, but at least tell me ‘Fuck your pace, we want the optics.” before the race, that’s what the pre-race briefings are for.The meeting went on. Not particularly productive, but no one died which at this point was a victory.
No one was aware of a nearby janitor recording all of that through the wall on his phone until it got leaked a few days ago.
As Bea left the meeting, she pulled up her phone again and dialed the last incoming number.
”Sorry, was in a meeting.” She said in a tone like she expected that to be a bulletproof explanation on the back of what happened on track,
”What’s up, Cass?”
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