The next morning…
Barbara expected to see her mother back in the two weeks at Bologna, but here she was, standing next to her, at the dead rails of Subway.
"Hey Barbara! Finally you're here, have you celebrated the win yesterday?" The woman asked with a gentle tone, recalling the weird yet exciting race of yesterday.
"Oh, yeah, an amazing second position for Rente, but Nana deserved that first position more than anyone else after that big scare of two days ago." Barbara replied with a small smile, as to subtly remark why the two of them were here in the first place, of what happened here.
"Yeah." She muttered with a frown casting a dim shadow on her expression, until her eyes met the datapad under her nose and the elegant glass section above the near 180 turn, where the Reserve Pilot almost crashed down. That sight was still ingrained into the minds of many still, and she hoped that they managed to shed some more light into this mystery.
With a small motion of her hand, she becknocked her to come closer and examine with her what she and the crowd of FEISAR and AG-Systems's best engineers found out more about the faulty system of yesterday.
"See how the glass seems nearly transparent now? It's because there's no energy surge powering it through. When activated, the small triangular 'flags' on each side turn on to warn where the section starts and ends. Throughout the entirety of the section, a strong magnetic field is created which binds the ships throughout it, however this come from the expense of more energy. The more you stay there, the more you can drop down, but thankfully the Speed Pads are all there for you to drive safely out."
"That's why there's so many installed..." Barbara muttered out as her thoughts were even confirmed by her and who knows how many more of their equipé.
"Correct. They charge it and at the same time they guide you out of the section as soon as possible, so that you can drive there safely. In fact, I can confirm the words of the CEO of the Federation over the fact that, the more ships there are, the more energy is drained, and it cannot be regenerated in time for more to drive through. However, I think this might explain why some of the races are late in the evening and rarely earlier, they need at least 6/10 hours to charge properly, or that's what our calculations noted down. Jaumé is checking right now at what time they were lit up at the Sprint race, if that was before that time of charging, all we need is to warn about keeping the schedule of charging strict, but we cannot ignore the fact that they could be some potential hazard for everyone. The same systems seem to charge even the 'Energy Barrier Tech'." The warning was clear and grim as she shook her head with a sigh.
"I don't want to imagine what would happen if that repeats on the Mag-Strip sections of Metro Park or even Rockway Stadium."
A cold shiver crept on Barbara's entire body upon hearing the last part of her mother, indeed she hoped that nothing as disastrous as that would happen during a race, when there was a sold out and at the height of a particularly difficult race. None of them would want anything bad to happen.
"We cannot allow that." She declared with her chin up at the structure.
"I know, Barbara, but all we can do is just give all of our data we'll collect this week and hand it to our superiors. The rest will be up to them, whenever they want to listen or now."
When she dreamed of facing more challenges from the second season on, staying alive and unharmed on the track wasn't there in the back of her mind.
A week later, 24th of March 2049
FEISAR HQ, Bologna, Italy
It felt nice to return to the familiar HQ with the next rotation of FEISAR's errant Team halfway through its land orbit. Guess she'll watch the next race week here (regardless of the annoying Time Zones playing not so much in favour of her back in Italy) in between the updates, training and other activities back in the only place she could call home aside from her actual one in Como. From the last time she left this place, it felt like an eternity ago, and yet here she was, feeling like it was just yesterday when she was the final Test Pilot to enter their ranks, smelling the same air of excitement and wonder. A refreshing feeling after an uncertain start of the Season.
A new video call was made with the rest of the Pilots of the other six HQs which remained in their mutual subsection, a ritual they maintained after they resumed their work for the European Team. At least between the European countries the Time Zones were more clement for them to exchange their updates. Hugo was the first to start, followed by Karima, Leah, Yehuda and Damian. Between normal life updates, embarrassing experiences and some laughs shared, they entered into more serious subjects. Voices of corridors warned of the coming of new Prototypes after their own was allowed to be tested and used in some events, things which both excited and intimidated them with equal intensity.
"If we are correct, expect either Auricom or AG-Systems to pull out something from their Hangars pretty quickly." Shrugged Damian.
"I have my bets on Auricom first, have you seen the last number of AG Today? Some leaks from New York could show a chassis on work that looks like nothing we've seen so far on the grid…" Karima bounced back with a more perplexed expression on her face.
Barbara sipped her cappuccino in contemplation, she recalled the article in question vividly, but the photos were too blurry to make out something from the few shots of the Auricom HQ.
"Unless we'll have an actual confirmation through the Socials of Auricom, I doubt we'd be seeing them first, although the guys working there know what they write. I hope it was a yet uncooked craft from their hangars. Despite their high shields, they can still be destroyed."
A sonorous mix of nods and grunts followed after, half were sure of what they saw, while the rest remained neutral over the matter in the end. All they had to do was wait for something official to be declared, who knows when and how. Then the conversation returned casual upon the mention of the Magazine, with Hugo snapping his fingers to call the attention of everyone there with a grin on his face.
"¡Me olvidé! Float Nation still declares Anastasia and Kel to be together! Some days ago it was written that a Race Commission press officer has confirmed that they are 'accompanying and supporting each other on a regular basis, including during private massage sessions of an intimate nature at which no other person is present'..."
"Oh mio Dio, everything but not Float Nation." Groaned loudly Barbara with a small facepalm as she went to cut the conversation there. "They're worse than Chi, Dipiù and Uomini e Donne combined but with our poor faces on."
The call fell into a dead silence, before it was soon followed by a short but explosive boom of laughs and claps by her friends.
Leah almost choked in her snack, before she sniffed through the nervous chuckles. "Oh dear, I guess I will literally seal my doors whenever I'll be back to Nova State City."
A few days later…
The missed incident of the Mag-Strip in Subway subsided a little from the radars of everyone after all the investigations done by the combined commission of the European Team and the one of Belmondo himself. Some accused Pir-hana for their hastiness in production, others about the structural integrity being at risk for the notes collected by Cristina Sant'Elia's team, and lastly the most livid comments came from AG-Systems itself. In response to all of these accusations, the Brazilian group remained silent - an unnerving reaction for most, although it was justified by their need to "look deeper into these errors and repair them as soon as possible".
They only had to hope that this would be respected by the next race week in a few more days.
Even Malina wasn't much responsive to the messages of Barbara, things which made her more preoccupied than anything.
'She has left me in Read again' she thought while she placed down her phone and laid down on the mattress of her minuscule room in the HQ quarters, staring at the ceiling of the already dusk skies. As she closed her eyes, she imagined her, full of paperworks and Pilots to check outside her door, recall her deep gazes as she tries to remain fully focused in her tasks, and the way her sculpted eyebrows remain frozen in her hieratic face that she'd never stop to admire - so simple yet so curated, so direct yet so concealed, a dualism worth of the greatest muses of the Futurism they saw an Autumn ago. It was so vivid that she swore that she could lean in, tap her shoulder and enjoy her jolt under her touch, and then remain there, staring and staring, lost in the turquoise blue of her eyes…
She opened her eyes again as she took a deep breath, patting her own cheeks with self annoyance. Whatever she's doing, she only hopes that she'll be alright at the end of the day. In the meantime, she'll just head for dinner after a new set of testing to calibrate the Speed crafts for the coming race week, she'll have all the time to think about Malina, for now she preferred to hush her stomach and have a walk after in the green area, cloaked with the last fogs of the season.
Race Week - 30 March - 31 March - 1st of April - 2nd of April
Nova State City - Event 1 - Zone - Unity Square
As everyone waited for the final checks on the Mag-Strips, thankfully the coming week was filled with rather "innocuous" events that required nearly no need for the said technology to be immediately available. The Zone event hosted inside Auricom's HQ had the same layer of an E-Sport as the previous one in the past Season, get at least 15 Zones to have the minimum of points required, or aim for 30 for the full golden Elite Pass and more points for their Team.
This time, however, the four Pilots weren't the Reserve ones but their First, so things got far more interesting when the broadcasts of each ship simulation began.
And the results were quick to arrive.
One hour later, it was a strong wrestle between Rente and Dekka, around Mach 1.5 each and giving no signs to give up just yet. But the superior ship of the AG-Systems Pilot proved to have the upper hand at the very last moment, when a perfect zone saved him to last long enough to snatch away one more number from the final leaderboard.
DEKKA: 71
DE LA RENTE: 70
TETSUO: 65
SOLAAR: 63
After the event was broadcasted and the winners were given their rightful points despite almost everyone reaching 30 zones higher than the target score, they had enough time to prepare for the coming qualifications of tomorrow's event and still be physically and mentally fresh from a session that they could barely call an excercise for their skills.
Nova State City - Event 2 - Combat - Rockway Stadium
The Stadium became all in a sudden the perfect amphitheatre for the coming carnage of steel and flames on the grid. With a full three lines of Qirex Fighter on the front, it became clear that the Russian Team refused to let their rivals win at their Home track, as only Arial managed to enter the competition with her Auricom Fighter on the back. FEISAR was positive with both their Pilots at the back, while Dekka and Chang just in front of them would give more spectacle with their own AG-Systems Fighter, which proved to remain quite the deadly choice anywhere they wanted to use it.
Barbara opened a can of soda as she turned on the television just to enjoy the spectacle, ready to cheer on her Team while she'll do her best not to cheer too loudly, as it was already past 11pm in the building. She had seen some of the major events already on the back of the Racebox many times, but a few other times she had the pleasure to enjoy them on a couch after a long day of work. She could get used to it, the temptation was high, but her desire to return back to Nova State City, back to the chaos she found being part of her, in less than another week, burned brighter than any other temporary reliefs.
A flash diverted her attention back to the TV, where one of the two AG-Systems was already gone from the grid.
One more minute to go, Qirex had now the full upper hand, but Arial wasn't showing any sign of giving them an easy win there.
Thirty seconds, a line of rockets eliminated Jackson from the grid, Barbara cursed in her tongue and flipped at Arian, as if that would be visible an ocean away.
Ten seconds, and maybe the evil-eye finger made its magic. Arial eliminated her twin sister and she managed to snatch at the last second the second position, between Solaar and Kurlov, like a painful corn stuck between two teeth for the fans of the purple team. Barbara toasted at the bravery of the Japanese girl, but she looked a little saddened at the fourth and fifth position of her Team marked at the end of the leaderboard.
"We'll get them next time, guys." She muttered under her breath before she sipped the last drops in the can. At least this time there were no signs of anything faulty with the glass sections of the track, a real relief.
Nova State City - Event 3 - Time Trial - Unity Square
The nightly Time Trial at Unity Square became a tiresome long event for most of the Pilots involved to get the top score on the leaderboard, a fight to claw out as many milliseconds as possible from every opponent participating in.
The night skies were illuminated by the flashing flares of the ships' engines zooming past every cranny of the track, every corner and barrel roll at any given bump with the sheer force of continuing on through the encouragements and dictations of their respective Team Mechanics and Engineers, with their tired faces illuminated by the bright screens of data and some dimmer neon lights installed above the scrawny race boxes.
Barbara shook her head and almost laughed, sure that half of the grid, once that hour would be over, will be more than cooked for tomorrow's last event of the week, no matter how much sleep they'll get after. She had to comment that the guy filming behind these scenes deserved a raise for sure for how well they tried to transpire a story through the passing images they captured for the two Announcers to comment about, more energetic than the more muffled atmosphere it portrayed.
In the end, she managed to finish her breakfast and finish watching the event with the joy of seeing Rente and Johnson having their revenge from yesterday with a double win at the final leaderboard, only Arian managed to take the third position with their miraculously working Speed ship.
Another sleepless night also for the Big Apple.
Nova State City - Event 4 - Combat - Empire Climb
"And welcome to everyone who's joined today's Live! Today we're back with a spectacular Combat event at the heart of our beloved Empire Climb! Today, we received the news that, unfortunately, the AG-Systems Team will go down on this event with only one Agility ship as they need to rebuild the chassis of the two Fighters lost two days ago."
"It'll be quite the event for poor Chang since on the grid we have three Qirex Fighters, two Auricom Fighters and two FEISAR Fighters. The situation seems pretty dire today for the Team of Belmondo, we'll have to see how the most agile ship on the grid will adapt."
For once, this wasn't the fault of the Federation itself but the bad alignment of events which led them here, with one of the weakest shields out there, and a sub-optimal arrangement of weapons, except for Quakes. Despite the crossed fingers which Breakwater and Florence gave on Chang out there, Barbara frowned at the sure carnage ahead.
But nothing would prepare her for the next three spectacular minutes of her life.
Chang demonstrated to be a Pilot which no one should underestimate the slightest, even in such dire situations. He adapted beautifully with its agility to outmanoeuvre the Bombs scattered across the track, and skillfully take all the possible shortcuts of the circuit to sneak upon his opponents and give a hit-and-run technique which damaged everyone equally in the end. As cherry on top, a single Quake was fired, and its energy made the ship of Kurlov to blow up, snatching away the third position from Arial much to please further the thundering crowd all around them to cheer the underdog of this day.
A loud wave of red cheered the passage of Chang in his Agility ship when the timer clocked down to zero, circling a bit through the track to savour the fans of his Team some more.
Out at the podium, even Solaar congratulated him by shaking his hand with a rather proud expression on his sharp lineaments, nobody saw it coming the slightest.
"And with this amazing show of talents for today, we salute you all for the next race week! But stay tuned in and keep your Socials updated for the coming Special Event this Sunday, back to Subway after the latest checks on the track. The Federation deemed it stable to be raced on again, so we expect more events to be held there as normal in our calendar. See you all in the next stream, and have a nice rest of the day!"
Four days later…
Thursday, FEISAR HQ, Bologna
Barbara packed everything once more, ready to return to the front line of Nova State City as the HQ shift was imminent and her turn here was done. She wondered if this time it was Athens or Bucarest, or back to Strasbourg, left with barely the Offices of FEISAR and their more commercial arm ready to "rival" AG-Systems with the application of their AG technologies on the first civilian crafts. The Taxi Project were the first applied in the old New York city, enrapturing the heart of fans and normal people alike, from watching the race from the top of the roof of Queens Mall, to move from one road to another when they were mostly blocked in race weeks, to just feel the similar wonders of this technology but with lesser chaos and speed.
Who knows what they'll invent there, mostly in secrecy like the rest of their projects outside their racing one.
Her small thoughtful moment was interrupted abruptly when the name of Malina suddenly appeared on her ringing phone screen, and she immediately picked up with a small relieved gasp.
"Malina! How's it going? Long time no… um… hear, haha!" She started to say clumsily to her friend at the other side, and all she heard back from her at first was an exhausted sigh.
"Hey, Barbara, nice to hear your voice again, too." The Canadian girl said, and the sound of a chair being moved in the room was audible through, but that wasn't the sole concern from Barbara.
"Are you alright? You sound… tired, to say the best. Damn, are the lessons and exams wearing you down already?" She replied back with a teasing tone, hoping to lift her mood which sounded on the floor to say the least.
"Just… the lessons, and a quick sprint to my room, don't worry about that." She replied, followed by another sigh, this time filled with numbness. "The reason why I've called you is that I wanted to apologise for not contacting you enough in return, things have been hectic all around me and I'm trying to balance things better between here and Pir-hana."
That made sense, for sure everyone there was working twice as hard after the humiliation taken from Belmondo. She eventually heard that the problems seem resolved, at least for now.
A soft cough followed, clearing her crystalline voice before she continued.
"Anyway, what about you? Has anything important happened these days?"
Barbara began to chatter about what happened during the week, mostly casual stuff rather than anything significant, as she was just glad to be able to talk with her again. Unfortunately, her quiet absence through the conversation raised some more concerns on the Italian pilot.
"Hang on, are you really really sure that you're alright?"
That sudden recall helped Malina to react immediately after, fully woken up by this strange torpor of hers. "Yes, I am. Again, such days have been quite chaotic for me to handle. Nothing that a good sleep will correct."
Barbara remained perplexed over her statement, but she preferred to not stress her out further. After all, she had nearly two extenuating weeks herself, so she understood well what she meant.
The chatter continued for another minute or two before they bid their farewells for now, with the hope that she'll be meeting her soon directly at Nova.
Malina took out a long breath as she put down her cellphone, she picked it up again just to check the time and then looked over her shoulder, where Jiménez sat quietly in the room to adjust something that was beyond her line of sight there, but that she knew well what it was.
"They don't suspect anything, none of them does." She declared as she slowly stood up again, the torpor fading away from her body as she stood up to pat him on the shoulder. "Keep me updated on the repairings, I want that thing to give no faults whatsoever in the most precarious times when Sunday arrives. These three days will be super intense for sure."
"It shall be, Malina." He proudly declared as he used the other hand to adjust his glasses and resumed with his assigned work.
That's all she wanted to know.
With a relieved smile, she retracted her hand off from him to let him continue undisturbed, knowing that tomorrow they'll have more work to do together.