BadApple Software
Another Monday, another shovelware game to localise and port to keep the lights on in the office and keep The Project moving along at its glacial pace. Waiting for the coffee to finish its first brew, Hakusa checked her twii.tur feed. And then let out a sigh.
“Morning, Kitten.” Pigeon, now with her hair bleached platinum blonde and dyed with red streaks, entered the break room and made her way to the fridge.
“Pigeon, who did you piss off this time?”
Pigeon shrugged. “Dunno. Probably nobody important.” Hakusa showed Pigeon her phone. After a moment, “Oh. Him. I guess I double-pissed him off.”
It really didn’t require much detective work to connect the 87 Pigeons that ran the Blue Flag Report to twii.ur user Pigeon_87.
“Guess I should respond.” Lunch secured, Pigeon sat down at one of the public terminals and logged in.
Blue Flag Report
- -@ItsGilArcher69
@BFReport
オ カ ワ イ イ コ ト
#MuchThreat : #ManyScary : #Wow : #HowCute : #MyCock : #SuckIt
As Hakusa transferred the contents of the coffee machine’s pot to one of the two cafetieres, grounds already apportioned, Pigeon switched accounts.
(Ov(Ov(OvO)vO)vO)
- -@ItsGilArcher69
@Pigeon_87
#WGPC : #TheyCrashYouWin : #HapiloppanGrandPrix : #PigeonsAreWonderful : #FiteMe
(Ov(Ov(OvO)vO)vO)
- -@khakusa91
@Pigeon_87
Whose inner goddess is useless now?
#WGPC : #HapiloppanGrandPrix : #SpecialDelivery : #PigeonGoddess : #GoddessOfPigeons
Dashoze, Hodori
Arada HQ
In her desperation to claw her way up the order and into the points, Sayono had made an ill-advised attempt at an outside overtake going into a turn. It had ended with her getting forced into the wall (oh crap, there’s one there). The suspension damage to the right rear left her with a badly crabbing car limping down the straight. Bringing it back to the garage was increasingly becoming unviable as an option, so she found somewhere safe on the approach to Chicken Bone Alley to pull off and park the wounded machine.
Since that day in that Nekonian maid cafe, it had been difficult to look her boss or teammate in the eye. Her recent underperformance in the past two rounds just made it harder and the debrief even more uncomfortable.
On the flight back home, she reread the message on her phone. From Arada, pertaining to the lineup for the upcoming domestic season and requesting her presence for the discussions. Checking the list of other CC’d recipients, it had also been sent to Okumura and some guy named Turakki Mayelli. examining the list more thoroughly, she saw all the other factory pilots, and noticed two more WGPC drivers; Valkyria and Mizushima.
Forgoing the traditional detour to Soeshu, taking the Super-Express high-speed line directly to Dashoze.
Entering Arada HQ’s lobby, the plinth near the entrance that traditionally displayed the most recent racing successes now showcased 208 and 210, hidden under tarps. From her brief forays onto social media, she had run across spy shots of the two prototypes, and once or twice found pictures of 208 and 210 running together. With both cars wearing the Obsidian Black GS paint versus the dazzle camouflage typical of pre-production models during that test, automotive journalists had tried scrutinizing a car they could not physically examine otherwise.
Stopped again at the security turnstile, the elevators on the other side. My badge is at home. In Soeshu. Again waiting for security to issue a new badge, this one a temporary loaner.
A conference room, on one of the upper floors of Arada Motorsports HQ. On a clear day, one could make out the nearby Dashoze Circuit.
At one end of the table, most of Arada leadership and a pair of white boards at the corners. At the other, pilots on Arada’s payroll and those specifically invited by Arada. One of the whiteboards, and the current topic of discussion, was Arada’s HGTC structure. GT600, two factory teams (No.16 Arada Motorsport and No.63 Reitoude Motor Sport) and a branch off the tree for customer teams. Lead pilot for the No.16 was Asao Nadakei, as expected. Second pilot for the No.16, pending confirmation of the offer, Erica Okumura. Lineup for the No.63, unchanged with Hokotai Kazuki as lead and Sayono Souzare as second. Lineups for the customer teams, No.3 Kojidari and No.111 SUPER OPTION, to be decided by themselves.
GT400, Nadakei Sport AYDP’s two cars and another branch for customer teams. No.55, Komuto Sugoni to reserve, Saya Kaseo to lead position and an offer for a Charyseine Valkyria as her copilot. No.56, Kaichiru Seyomaku out, Chiruno Saidema to lead, and an offer for Daryl Mizushima as copilot. Komuto Zabake retains his spot as reserve.
Formula Touring, four factory-backed cars and a number of customer teams. For the lead two-car Arada Motorsports team, the plan was for Okumura in the lead No.16 and Koshimuto Setaki to the No.17. For the two single-car teams, the plan was Sayono to Nadakei’s No.55, with Reitoude’s No.63 presently vacant, pending Mayelli signing an extension to stay in the seat and failing that, the results of Mizushima’s assessment. Displaced pilot Seyomaku was expected to land a spot among one of the customer teams.
Meanwhile, in a design lab in one of the lower floors, Chiruno Reitoude closely examined the compressor blades of a turbocharger unit, its casing carefully set aside. While lineup discussions were going on several floors above, Reitoude was autopsying the latest design candidate for the NVH/E160K 1.6-litre V6 engine.
The testing process was fairly simple: take the candidate, connect it to automated controls and a fuel supply, and simulate running the entire WGPC season up until the candidate failed, with a simulated 45 minutes of practice, 30 minutes of qualifying across four sessions, and then 305 simulated kilometers for every round. Repeat the process until the engine suffered catastrophic failure, and then pull it apart to see what broke and how. For testing input, the design team relied on Nadakei’s senses as a pilot to estimate appropriate engine inputs for most of the tracks. For simulating Dashoze, all the team had to do was put a candidate in a test mule and run a few laps.
As much as old woman Reitoude would like to be part of the discussions upstairs, she was far happier getting her hands dirty with automotive grease and cut and scraped by metal fragments.