At Scott's garage, Jay and Geoff were putting finishing touches on the blue speeder as Kai and Cole were tuning the red one before Cole notices something while in the driver's seat as Kai came onto the back. "What do you think that does?" Cole asked, pointing to it.

Kai looks at it curiously. "Maybe some kind of turbo boost?" Kai asked.

"Or a weapon?"

Kai groans in annoyance and scratches the back of his head with the wrench he was holding. "There's a lot of weird wiring in this thing. Let's just worry about the engine."

Suddenly, an explosion erupts nearby, making them flinch. They look to see the girls on the ground as the engine on Hayden's car was now on fire. "Nya!" Jay said, coming over to his wife while Geoff went over to his sister.

"Are you two okay?" He asked as he helped Gewuji up.

Nya gets up, groaning at the burning. "Stupid, stubborn, piece of shit!" She yelled before kicking it. "Why did Mantis have to wreck it?"

Digital smoke soon hits the flames, making them turn to see Scott, holding a fire extinguisher. The flames soon go out, but the engine falls over. "Damn!" Gewuji said, coming up to it. "The engine's had it."

"Can we fix it?" Kai asked.

"Didn't you hear me? It blew."

"Yeah, it's toast." Scott said. "Mantis is not going to like this."

"Well, we gotta do something." Cole replied. "We need five vehicles to enter the Speedway and we've only got four now. Unless one of us goes to buy a new engine."

"The race starts tomorrow at dawn." Jay said. "Where are we gonna get another car, or an engine in 12 hours?"

The doors soon open. "We might have an idea." Lloyd replied as he and Hayden come in. Lloyd still had Racer Seven's helmet.

They all turn to see them as the doors close, and were surprised at Lloyd's avatar. "Whoa!"

"What's up with the fresh new duds?" Geoff asked.

"It's a disguise." Lloyd replied.

"Awe, dragon's turd." Hayden said, coming up to his car. "Who blew up my engine?"

"It was me." Nya replied, feeling ashamed.

"Don't worry about it. I still have 3,095 credits. I'm sure there'll be a machinery shop at the market."

"Go to Aldridge's." Scott said. "His store has a red logo on the top. His engines may cost 2,500 credits, but they're apparently the best in Prime Empire."

"I'll be right back." Hayden soon took off, the doors briefly opening before closing once he went through.

"Mantis and I were at the Speedway Racetrack, we saw a driver there, she was good." Lloyd explained to them. "Really good."

"Oh, Racer Seven?" Scott asked. "Don't bother. She's an NPC. She's part of the game."

"So?" Gewuji asked.

"So she's programmed to lose. Every race, she wipes out at the fourth mile marker. She's just there to provide a challenge to the other racers. She can't win."

"You mean Unagami programmed her to lose?" Jay asked.

"As long as I've been here, she's been racing. Every single race, every one, she wipes out. It's part of her programming." He walks away.

"That's terrible." Nya said.

"Yeah." Jay replied, agreeing with her. "Nobody should be programmed to lose."

"Okino broke his programming." Lloyd said, looking at the helmet.

"You think she can, too?" Geoff asked.

"It's worth a shot." He hands the helmet to him and turns to Scott. "Do you know where I can find her?"

"Uh, she eats at a noodle stand in the marketplace after every race." He said. "But I'm telling you, you're wasting your time. Best to wait for Mantis to come back with a new engine."

"Well, I'm not waiting. I'm going to speak to her." He takes off.


In the marketplace, Hayden peeks out an alleyway to search for any Red Visors, only to find none. He then looked up a nearby board to see the bounty for his capture was now at 350,000 credits. He then noticed a stall with many components and a brown haired man by the stall with the word 'Aldridge's' in red lettering over it before heading towards it. "Good day, Aldridge." He said as he came up to the counter while opening his display to show his credits. "One engine, please."

"I'm sorry, sir, we're sold out." Aldridge replied with reluctance.

"Sold out? Really?"

"Yes. Sold the last one to a player, not long ago."

"Okay, I understand." He closes his display. "I apologise for wasting your time." He turns to the left to see the Red Visors about to turn before he quickly takes off.


As he rushes along the street to avoid the Red Visors, Hayden unintentionally bumps into someone, knocking them over. "Oh, sorry." He said, helping them up. It was Racer Seven.

"It's alright, I wasn't looking where I was going, anyway." She replied as Hayden quickly took off again before she turned to his direction to see him gone. "Huh. He looked like one of the guys that took my helmet." She resumed walking ahead, lowering her head to resume sulking about her loss.

"Good try, Seven!" An NPC called out, but she ignores him.

"Better luck next time!" Another NPC said, but she ignores him as well.

She passes by Aldridge's. "Hey, need me to look at the vehicle again, Seven?" Aldridge asked.

"It's in the back." She simply replied, waving him off. "Put it on my tab."

"Certainly."


She passes by a stall selling all kinds of hats as the owner held a fedora. "Those turns are mighty tricky." He said before putting the hat on.


She comes up to a noodle stand where she sits down on one of the seats, sighs harshly. "Give me four." She said.

"Two!" The owner harshly replied.

She becomes annoyed at his attitude. "No. Four! Two plus two! Four!"

"Hm." The owner just drops a plate with two piece of sushi on it. "Two!" Rather than continue arguing, Seven eventually gave up and grabs some chopsticks before sighing and prepared to eat.

"Have you ever noticed you always wipe out in the exact same spot?" Lloyd's voice surprised her and she notices him sitting next to her.

"Hey." She said. "You're one of the guys from the race track. Then, the guy I bumped into back there, he was the other one. Cloaked Character!" She slams the counter in anger. "Where's my helmet? Is it with Cloaked Character?"

"You always wipe out at the fourth mile marker." Lloyd ignores her question and goes back to his previous topic. "Why is that do you think?"

"What? Who the hell are you?"

"A friend. So is Cloaked Character. And I don't have long." He notices a Red Visor passing by, failing to notice him. "So if you want a chance at winning, a real chance, you have to listen to me."

Seven becomes a little suspicious. "Okay."

"You're not gonna like it, but this is the truth." He grabs a nearby bottle of soy sauce. "Everything around you, all of this, everything you think is real, it's not." He puts it back as two drones pass by. "Prime Empire, the Speedway Five Billion, Terra Technica, all of it. It's part of an incredibly complex video game. And you're part of that game, too."

Seven scoffs and chuckles out of disbelief. "Right." She sarcastically spoke before grabbing a sushi with her chopsticks and eats it.

"No, listen. Every race you've even run, you always crash in the same place. It's because you were programmed to. You were programmed by the game to lose." But you don't have to. You can break the cycle. I've seen it done."

"Okay, listen, pal. In about two seconds, I'm gonna call the Red Visors. So back off."

She grabs Lloyd by his bandanna and forces him back. "Just think about it." He gets up. "When you're ready to listen, I'll be at the empty lot in the market district. Nobody should be programmed to lose, Seven. You deserve a chance to cross that finish line." He turns to walk away before sprinting upon noticing some nearby drones and puts his bandanna over his mouth while running. Seven watches him as he left before thinking about what he said.

She starts to remember all the times she wrecked at the fourth mile marker, from being rammed, crashing into wreckage, wheels coming off, landing on top of wrecked cars and unable to move, and all the temper tantrums she had before she suddenly found herself in her buggy, gasping out of shock. As she breathed heavily a little, Aldridge comes up to her. "Alright, the suspension and shock absorbers are replaced, fixed up the dents, and the paint job has been redone, so you should be right to go." He said to her. "I've put your repair bill on your tab." He then noticed her shocked face. "Seven, are you okay?"

"He's right." She said to herself.

"Uh, who's right?"

Seven then turned to Aldridge. "Um, no one." She lied, confusing him. "Thanks for the repairs." She soon drove off. As she drove along the marketplace, Seven kept thinking about what Lloyd said. "It... It's real. Everything he said." She soon started to move a little faster.