World Grand Prix Championship 20 [RP/Results Thread]

[Auruna]

Viska Factory
Sterlennau, Auruna
During the race weekend

Improvement. Change. Revival.

Hori's technical department at Viska has always been busy, never going quiet throughout the days with the aim of improving upon their works. While several of the staff has been assigned to the Re:Genesis workshop, many remained working on VIska's core strength: the handling. From the aero works to the chassis, it is one of the most developed aspects of Viska's WGPC fighters used to offset their top speed disadvantages. This time though, something felt lacking as Hori noticed. Something's not right here. She thought as she looked at the technical data. This added more things to worry about as the Re:Genesis engines' issues aren't completely resolved yet. A really stressful situation to say the least.

Working with Viska designer Alik Kaariluki, they sought to improve upon their current design. It proved capable, it has the potential but it couldn't reach that point, their desired performance. Combined with the engine, it wasn't an ideal situation for both, especially for Hori who was overloaded by this point but she is still determined to find a way to fix all of Viska's technical problems. It would take a while but upgrades are expected to come around the mid-season, just in time for their home race at Akresna, a place where they really want to make a good impression.

Meanwhile, the team is currently at Togonistan and Hori hopes to get some valuable data about the car's performance on aggressive high-speed circuits, something which the Viska car would struggle in as evident by their qualifying. It wasn't the end of their run though as they are still in the race and Hori could only hope that the new engine on Sara Luna's car would last this time.

Hwoarang Racing Circuit, Togonistan
Grand Prix of Togonistan
Race

Wolf of Twilight. Eagles of Time.

It's race time in Togonistan and for Viska, they have a lot of ground to cover with Sara Luna starting in P25 and Aaron Deering at P16. They could only hope for their fortunes to favour them this time as competition is fierce. Over the radio, a Viska tradition returns with Jöna motivating both drivers just before the formation lap. This should help out a lot. He thought after finishing then he turns to the two race engineers and just says to them. "Take good care of them."

Artur puts on his headphones and starts doing his strategy talk about what to do. Aiming for points this time, Artur tries to come up with something that could benefit both drivers but could also be fluid when certain events unravel during the race. He talks to both Jan and Esko and just before they line up for the race start, Artur looks at Jöna who gives him a nod and over the radio, Artur utters. "Näi etteremät!" ("Let's go!")

For the race start, Aaron clearly blundered it a bit but managed to recover after some coaching from Esko although he lost a few places. Meanwhile, further back, Sara managed to get an incredible start as she passes the drivers ahead of her to the anxious cheers of the mechanics in the garage. For the first couple of laps, it went on as Artur expected and by this point, Sara was clearly ahead of Aaron. Artur had to adjust his strategy to allow Sara to slingshot ahead of her competition by the time the first wave of pit stops occur. And for Aaron, he would like to make sure he gets some points but his concern about him was his tyre wear. He had to make his brain work harder.

After 20 running laps, Sara was close to the top 10 and Viska had to time her stop right for her to get a chance inside the points finishing positions. Aaron was first to pit after being informed by Esko that his tyres were done and he had to pit before he crashes out. And now it's the mechanics' time to shine. Upon reaching the Viska pits, Aaron's car was immediately serviced - the tyres were changed as well as some adjustments to his front wing. Thanks to several practice sessions back at the factory, the stop was flawless this time. They cheer for themselves as they return to their seats with Artur giving them a thumbs up from the pit wall without even looking back.

"Alright, that was a clean one by the team! Come on Aaron, we can do this! Mode 6, get those temps up and let's keep going!" Esko said to Aaron over the radio after the pit stop.

Later on, with Sara Luna's pitstop done, she was well on her way to claw back into the top 10 for points with Aaron falling behind after a bout of oversteer at the final two corners, he was soon relegated to a supporting role for the second half of the race but he still managed to keep up as he was a few places behind his teammate in P11. At the final few laps, Artur gives a call for one final push after Sara overtook Bryce Yannec for P10 with Aaron close behind.

As the final lap ends, both VIskas finished P10 and P12 respectively, the team's first points finish for this season. While Sara ran out of laps to reach PB's Laura Haukanna ahead of her, the team was more than happy to settle with one point for this race. From near the bottom to within the top 10, it was something to celebrate. It certainly boosted the team's morale as they celebrated like a backmarker getting whatever they could. Even if it's just one point.

The journey to get it is what makes it special.

---

Hwoarang Racing Circuit, Togonistan
Grand Prix of Togonistan
Post-Race

For Laura, her race went on as she expected, finishing 9th way ahead of her teammate. It wasn't too notable yet she remained consistent. As the celebrations died down, Laura remained at the garage for a while, giving herself some time to rest before debriefing with her mind still filled with certain specific moments of the race. She just wants things to calm down for a moment.

Enjoying a cup of coffee at the back as everyone else minds their own business post-race. It was quite soothing for Laura as she takes a sip of her coffee. With Lauri taking up Erik's time, she has some time for herself and after finishing her coffee, she stands up and looks around, looking for something to do or someone to disturb. Eventually, Laura thought of checking in on Sam so she makes her way to the other side of the garage and starts searching for her, even asking the mechanics about her whereabouts. After a bit, she calls it off after realising that Sam might not be in the mood to mess around. It could wait for a while. Laura thought as she heads back to her seat.

Several minutes pass while Laura was just checking her phone, she was told by Erik that debriefing is about to start with Lauri heading off to a nearby restaurant for his own leisure. Laura nods, telling Erik to go ahead of her as she needs to finish something first. "Well then, make it quick." Erik says before heading to the team's briefing room.

Laura reverts her attention back to her phone and opens her messaging app, coming up with something that should make her free time back home interesting. Just a short, straight to the point message could work.

Täre Sam!
Could we, by any chance, hang out by the time we get to Auruna?

And... send.

[Lisander]

<< Previously | Next >>

XIII. Immigration

Tuesday
Lisander Embassy, Lemieux, Saint Ianina.

"So you will need a declaration of residence to open the account? Yes, Mr Vetinari told me that would be necessary. But why do you need so urgently to open a bank account?" - the ambassador was a gentleman in his 50s, whose hair was beginning to thin on top of his head, and he answered her in a concerned tone, knowing her recent exploits. Anneliese, for her part, seemed a little nervous but responded to questions calmly and without stammering. She knew that she was in contravention there, but she needed to be blunt at that moment.

"I have a bonus from my sponsors to receive, but if I were to receive it in Lisander, I would have to pay some kind of hefty fees. It's just a matter of not allowing the money to go through there. In Lisander, our lives are controlled even too much by the government, with LSiD. If my friend has offered me the chance to escape some of that, I make it a point to use it."

A grave expression appeared on the ambassador's face as he heard the woman's words. He was aware that that act was not exactly a legal action before the laws of the Principality. Still, he went on speaking diplomatically (no pun intended).

"Listen, you know that it is not mandatory to add all the information in your LSiD, right? Non-LSiD transfers have much lower fees, even."

Anneliese, on the other hand, kept talking in a conscious manner:

"I know, but anyway, you know how it is... You exchange freedom for comfort every time. I mean, it's great to have access to everything that easily, without even having to take your card out of your bag. Just allow the scanner to read your wristband or pendant. Plus, there's always the "herd behaviour" factor. Did you know that young people do TikToks showing off their stylish and customised LSiD wristbands? The government releases a new technology that aims to make everyone's life easier, what will you do? Stay oblivious to it and be branded as a backward person? Remember that crazy conspiracy theory about the "mark of the beast" that said the government wanted to implant LSiD under people's skin? It's gaining traction as a real possibility, even. Some people want to sort of robotize themselves. Crazy, right? My objective is much less heroic. I decided to move to Saint Ianina precisely to avoid taxes, but of course, I don't want to change my digital footprint."

The man's expression became even more surprised as if he could not believe what she said. She was openly talking about tax evasion to a government official (although outside Lisander, as a diplomat he was a government official).

"Miss Devereux, you do have some idea that this thing you're doing could be considered a crime, don't you? What Mr Vetinari told me is that you were going to use this account as a retirement fund, not to swindle the principality's financial system."

Anneliese's expression became more serious. Confronted with an alleged illegality, she was emphatic in defending herself.

"There is no crime in opening an account in a bank in another country. You may question my motives and even my methods, but at least in this, there is no crime at all. I believe I contribute enough to the nation in my current job. You may have seen the flag of the Lises on the topmost podium at the Liventia Grand Prix a few days ago. Last Sunday in Togonistan we had a problem with the tyre strategy, and I just stayed on track until the end so they could collect more data from the car. As I was saying: my friend, who is not Mr Vetinari, and has a small position in the government, offered me this possibility, so I will graciously accept it. - Saying that, Anneliese took from her purse an LSiD card and a handwritten letter. The envelope was addressed to the ambassador himself.

The ambassador took the envelope and opened it. His expression went from surprised to curious, and finally to nervous as he read the contents of the letter. Next, he picked up the card Anneliese had deposited on the table and placed it on the terminal. His viewing options were limited, but he could see a woman's information on the screen, which he couldn't say for sure was the woman sitting in front of him, and that made him startle once more.

LSID: WRNR8236
previously LAURAWERNER*0823600
LAURA ROSE WERNER
DOB: 12041996 G: FEM
BPL: MONTFERRAND_072
MAIL:laurawerner@qmail.ls
RES:BRAX_016; moving to OVERSEAS_09X
View more

"Miss Devereux. The right thing to do, in the spirit of the law, would be to report this LSiD as a forgery, arrest you immediately for forgery of documents, using a fake identity, association to money laundering and active corruption, and ask for your immediate deportation to Lisander. However, from the level of perfection of this card, the notes added to this LSiD and the contents of this letter, I would say that your friend does not have a small position in the government. On the contrary, I would say he is the government itself." - the man said, stretching his hands upwards as if to stretch, while a long sigh escaped his nostrils. His fingers outstretched and briefly pointed at the photograph of a couple on the wall to his right. A man in gala military attire, and beside him a woman in an elegant green dress, with a gemstone tiara. Between the two, on a velvet cushion placed on a marble pedestal decorated with fleur de lis motifs, a royal crown of gold studded with precious stones. Below the picture, on a small gilded metal plate, it was possible to read: Their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Lisander.

"Sorry, Ambassador, but that card is not a forgery, it was obtained legally, at the Town Hall in Brax. Mr Vetinari told me that I would need to do that, so as not to generate any suspicion." - Anneliese retorted, robbing the man of any further counterargument.

He could not go against the Crown. Lisander was a contemporary parliamentary monarchy where the crown held many reserve powers, which it did not formally use. Still, "autocratic" measures were seen here and there, almost always on a scale too small to be noticed. If Their Highnesses want the Monday after Easter to be a holiday, so it shall be. If Their Highnesses want parliament not to enter into a consensus and the country to spend six months in an interregnum, so shall it be. If Their Highnesses want Anneliese to be called Laura, well... so it shall be.

"Well, I get it. In fact, all right here. Laura Rose Werner is for all intents and purposes a normal citizen of Lisander. In the system, there is not the slightest trace of irregularity. If you have a friend at this level of proximity to the palaces, not only would the complaint probably be dismissed, but I'd still get in trouble, for messing with important people. You are at the level of a secret agent 00, like the one in the movies. I should treat you like a VIP, I presume. Just one thing... There might be a problem with the bank if you show up with different coloured eyes. Are those blue eyes really yours? You look like a completely different person."

Anneliese let a half smile slip, and replied in an amused tone of voice:

"Of course the eyes are mine. If I bought them and paid for them properly, no one can say they're not mine. Well, the hair dye came out after I washed it. Although in Togonistan I still had blonde locks. The rest is just makeup and contact lenses. A good beauty salon will do the job, don't worry."

"Well... your friend's letter is enough for me to issue that statement to Laura Werner, and to hire her as a file clerk at the embassy. Since the files are practically all digital, there is no need for her to come to the embassy every day. She will receive by e-mail all the passwords for filing systems, but of course, we will need Laura to drop by from time to time, to be seen sorting out official embassy business. The declaration of residence will also need an address, albeit a temporary one. When you buy the house you have decided on, it will need to be updated. Do you have a house in mind?" - the Ambassador asked, assuring her of the success of her endeavours in the country.

"Well, I am in a hotel currently, I am going to the bank and see a realtor. As you well remembered, I will need to dye my hair one more time before that. but tomorrow night I'll be back in Lisander, I have to travel to my next work appointment, in Atlantian Oceania. This week is pretty busy." - she answered, before asking "So that's all okay, can I count on you with sending the declaration to my hotel? I'm in Hotel Sauvigny, Rue de la Plage, 26."

[Chromatika]

Cocoabo Park Circuit
Tropicorp

For the twentieth time in the last hour, Ji So-Yeong hit the "DELETE" button at the top of the new email window. "Are you sure?" asked the computer for the twentieth time. As she clicked "Yes", she sighed at her inability to construct a basic email from scratch, before correcting herself. There was nothing basic about the situation that she was trying to write over an email... Perhaps that was the problem in itself. Did she really want a written electronic transcript of the level of detail that she wanted to convey in the message to be sent?

No, she admitted to herself, absolutely not.

Stripping it down to the bare minimum, she wrote the following:

To: ted_pressley@kaylan.tgn
From: JSY@TBRT.cr
Subject: Anola Melani

Hello Ted,

My name is Ji So-Yeong, and I currently race for Tropicorp-Colourworks - it's my first year.

I'm not very good at this communicating thing, so I'll be brief.

You may have noticed that Anola Melani did not enter the WGPC circuit this year. In fact, you've probably noticed that she hasn't been reachable since the last WGPC circuit ended. There is a reason for that, and I would like for you to hear about it from me before you read or hear anything over the media. (Currently, there's only speculations, but facts are coming, and I want you to hear about those facts from me before a news outlet posts them).

Would it be possible to meet, preferably before the mid-season test? I imagine that by then, more details will be hitting the general public.

I wish I was contacting you under better circumstances. I know that she regarded you as a friend, and that she'd like for me to tell you myself than for you to pick it up elsewhere.

Please let me know.

Sincerely,

Ji So-Yeong

P.S.: Could you keep this a secret from Kaylan until the news hits the general media? I'm not keen on the idea of another team knowing all the details - even mine doesn't know them yet.

Hoping that conveyed the message across without putting Ted Pressley into a bind, she pressed the "SEND" button.

---

Three Hours Later

Ji So-Yeong was flipping through the pages in her handwritten notebook about the peculiarities of the course at hand when there was a series of knocks at her room door.

Muttering to herself, she put her well-used bookmark to mark the spot, set the notebook down on the table, and tussled her clothes to make sure that she was presentable.

"Just a minute!" she called out as she went to the door. As this was a hotel used for this event, she knew that she could be at least relatively sure of its safety. Still, old habits died hard, and she looked through the peephole on the door to see a rather diminutive, fit woman clad in casual attire. She had a Tropicorp-Colourworks cap on her head, and carried a clipboard.

"Who are you?" Ji asked through the door, being wary.

"I'm your new personal assistant," answered Lily McCloud, remembering the cover that Tropicorp-Colourworks had provided for her. She'd landed in Tropicorp and met with the personnel department at Tropicorp-Colourworks. Though they didn't know all the details about what was happening, they had been accommodating enough to provide her with a uniform and other such attire that marked her as one of their own. She was entered into Tropicorp-Colourworks's personnel records as Rachel Stevenson, new Personal Assistant to Ji So-Yeong.

At the mention of a personal assistant, Ji remembered the conversation that she had had with Jaylan Beckmeier, and opened the door hurriedly.

"Hello," Lily stated, offering her hand to Ji, "My name is Rachel, and I'm so happy to be working with you. I'll be helping you with your styling, your scheduling, and oh, almost anything else you need."

Ji allowed "Rachel" to come in. The two made small talk as Lily held up a finger at Ji, then held up a small handheld device, walking around the entire room. Then, Lily flicked a button at the side of the device.

"There," she explained, dropping the high pitch she had been using, "We should be safe from both being heard now. I didn't find any bugs, but one can never be too certain."

Ji nodded. She couldn't feel a bit underwhelmed by "Rachel", who was a good few inches shorter than her and looked like she was more of a service worker than a bodyguard. Lily noticed Ji's look, and rolled her eyes.

"My name is Lily McCloud," she reintroduced herself, "And I've been sent to make sure that you're protected. Yes, I'm not the biggest person you'll see - but that's the point. I've had more than thirty missions of guarding people since I've joined the Protection Branch of the Chromatik Secret Service, and I've never failed. I know how to defend myself, I know how to defend my charge, and I know how to blend in."

"I didn't mean to offend you," Ji answered, "You just weren't what I was expecting."

"That is the point," countered McCloud, "If I can fit in in plain sight, nobody will expect that you have one extra layer of protection. Now, I actually do know how to be a personal assistant. I am pretty good with styling, I love scheduling, and I can definitely help with any other ways that a personal assistant does. I just... Also know how to take care of armed assailants, make sure that you won't get bombed, etc."

Ji nodded slowly in understanding.

"Let's go over your everyday routines with your team," Lily began, "And then we'll talk about Practice, Qualifying, and Race day, all right?"

With that, Ji So-Yeong and her new bodyguard started to go over security details, threats, and just how they were going to make it all look like Tropicorp-Colourworks just hiring their new rookie driver a personal assistant so that she could focus on her driving.

[Mlima Kijani]

Náttmörðsdóttir claims victory in Grand Prix of Togonistan!

Sivaleinen driver Lillý Náttmörðsdóttir beat Liventian Grand Prix winner Anneliese Devereux at the Hwoarang Grand Prix, crossing the line comfortably ahead of the Eminent driver “and therefore,” according to Náttmörðsdóttir, “by the transitive property, I must be the overall winner.”

The other 24 drivers who finished ahead of Náttmörðsdóttir in Togonistan were not available for comment.

Náttmörðsdóttir said of her drive: “I think it shows real consistency,” noting that she was the only driver to have finished in the exact same position in both races to doubt. “There’s no one else on the grid who’s doing what I’m doing in terms of finishing,” she said, demonstrating a newfound confidence and shrugging off media rumors about disquiet in the team. “That’s nonsense,” she said, pointing out that Kingston Walcott had finished close behind her at Hwoarang. She said that demonstrated “that Sivaleinen are really working together in harmony as a team”.

For Náttmörðsdóttir, after trips to distant Liventia (Rushmore) and Togonistan (Novapax), the next race will be on more familiar ground, taking place in Tropicorp (Atlantian Oceania). “Yes, it’ll be nice to get back to AO,” said Náttmörðsdóttir, though she said the relative geographic proximity was “probably not a factor” because “we haven’t actually got around to specifying where Mlima Kijani is on the regional map”, adding, “somewhere near Banija? I think?”.

Racing analysts have mostly written off Náttmörðsdóttir’s season already, but fans of advanced analytics have noted she is “by far” the saltiest driver on the paddock. “We’re seeing levels of bitchiness that put her among the all time greats in terms of withering passive-aggressiveness,” said one fan on the #balloffoot sports channel. “She seems to be getting levels of snark out of the Sivaleinen racing frame that just shouldn’t be possible.”

Also in the news:

• Happy Pride month! Náttmörðsdóttir to wear rainbow patch
• Homosexuality still illegal, punishable by death, confirms Kijani Interior Ministry
• “OK just checking,” adds Náttmörðsdóttir

[Vilita and Turori]

:: Race Eelandii

Race Eelandii is a high-speed driving experience based in the purpose built city of Eelandii, Turori located midway between Turori's capital, Almintora, and its most populous city, Cednia. Race Eelandii is based at the Eelandii Grand Prix Course and operates on select weekends when there is no other Grand Prix or major internationstatal sporting event being held at the Grand Prix course or the nearby Eels Park footsport stadium.

Race Eelandii offers multiple packages to professional drivers and thrill seekers alike from simply renting track time on the full Grand Prix course or one of the smaller sub-courses, all the way down to companion experiences where a professional driver is in control and the thrill-seeker rides along in a passenger seat as the race car is brought up to full speed around the high-G inducing race course.

The Race Eelandii facilities serve as the home of the Grand Prix team which originated as the WGPC Eelandii Team with driver iBen Toralmintii during WGPC Season 15. The team picked up latent assets from Vilita & Turori Motorsports in holding while the technology and staff made the switch to Lintulahti during the formation of Tropicorp Racing Aelund. Their association with the successful Race Eelandii VTGP team has bolstered the Race Eelandii driving side of the business which has also resulted in expansion of the facilities in Eelandii with a number of new track configurations throughout the Sportropolis including the Eelandii Stadium Course that was utilized for the Atlantian Oceania Motorsports Championships as part of the AOlympic Games. The updated livery for World Grand Prix Season 20 reflects the updated branding for Race Eelandii featuring a deep slate grey base.

:: The Dart Group

The Dart is the best selling personal vehicle transportation in the Tropics of Vilita with options including fully electric, fuel injected and self-piloting available. The Vilitan Dart is also the vehicle of choice for Vilita & Turori Motorsports in the Nationstates Stock Car Racing Association.

The Dart has finally caught up to its initial pre-order numbers and is now being sold for the first time on-demand at special Dart Dealers throughout the Tropics. Electric Darts can be charged free at any Arcticala branded Charging Station through a special agreement between Arcticala Electric and the Dart group.

The Dart Group served as a major associate sponsor for Race Eelandii VTGP during WGPC Season 18 and increased their support during WGPC Season 19 starting the relationship as the primary sponsor for Lane Carter and the #11 Team. The relationship continues into WGPC Season 20, helping to bolster The Dart Group's holdings within TJUN-ia - one of the companies largest markets outside of Atlantian Oceania. The Dart Group also have a long history collaborating on TJUN-ia motorsports scene as the supplier for Jaguar Racing on the NSSCRA Circuit.

:: twii.tur

twii.tur is a short message communication service based in Turori allowing users to exchange content of 140 characters or less. The service originated as a way to allow officials to receive alerts and key information such as incoming weather notifications, major events and the ability to stay coordinated during a time of crisis but was under-utilized and doubts were raised as to whether the overhead of the infrastructure was worthwhile to maintain. As capabilities of interconnected and handheld communication devices improved, the Turorian Weather & Information Interchange (Twii) was adapted into a public facing service where users could sign up to create their own twii nodes where users would sign up to a twii group to receive all the twii messages delivered by members of that group. Ultimately, as demand grew, a fully public release of twii came at the connected location twii.tur where all users can participate in the public twii, selecting which messages to receive by adding individual users, groups or topics to their twii.tur feed.

Twii.tur is one of the most well recognized names both on an off the track and return as a major sponsor for the Race Eelandii VTGP team. After being the primary sponsor for Lane Carter during WGPC Season 18 and for Gregori Kupin during WGPC Season 19, twii.tur will now shift its marketing focus to new driver Fast Cocoabo with the @CocoaboPark Marketing Campaign that had previously sponsored Jixaka Motorai on the NSSCRA Circuit while remaining an associate sponsor on Lane Carter's #11. It is believed to be both a business-to-business deal between twii.tur and Cocoabo Park, as well as a charitable write off for the Turorian Company through a special Cocoabo Preservation Society eligible spending category in the Island Emirate.

:: @CocoaboParkCocoabo Park is a joint venture between the Cocoabo Preservation Society, Tropicorp and the Island Emirate of Turori to Preserve, Study, Highlight and in some cases improve the existence and appreciation of Turori's Native Cocoabo. At Cocoabo Park visitors from around the multiverse are treated to intimate tours, close encounters and educational experiences all with the Cocoabo at the center. With limited on site lodging and a fully equipped village at the entrance area to the Park, visitors could spend days at Cocoabo Park without even venturing on one of the Park's tours into its different Cocoabo training enclosures or even further into the Cocoabo Forest.

In addition to the commercially driven aspect of the Park, and as a critical part of the relationship with the Cocoabo Preservation Society, the Park also serves as a hub for the team of Scientists and Researchers from both the Cocoabo Preservation Society and Tropicorp many of whom reside full time at the park. While the Cocoabo Preservation Society led efforts are more focused on passive studying and preservation, the Tropicorp team lead the CEEP - the Cocoabo Enrichment & Enhancement Project out of the Park. Beyond just researching and understanding the Cocoabo Genome, the CEEP team are tasked with focused training and enrichment activities to hyper-focus Cocoabo to hone their talents and skills and bring them to the forefront. One of the most popular enclosures on a tour of Cocoabo Park is the CEEP's sporting enclosure where Cocoabo can be found participating in activities such as Footsport and even on a lucky day, Motorsport.

:: NGADM

The Notts Guild of Art, Design and Messages is a creative hub based in Notts, NAU Zone. They create commissioned art installations and design logos and merchandise all across TJUN-ia, but are more famous for providing the infinite amount of armbands used by Jaguar Racing in NSSCRA. The "NGADM" has served as the title sponsor of the NGADM 500 Everlong Contenders series race on the NSSCRA circuit.

The NGADM initially provided Lane Carter financial support as he attempted to enter the WGPC, helping to fund Lane's entry into the Cocoabo Exhibition and World Grand Prix Trials prior to the 18th World Grand Prix Championship season and have now increased their support of the driver and the Race Eelandii VTGP team as they’ve entered the realm of sponsorship to further expand their horizons to the Vilitan Cove and beyond

:: CoCoCo Entities

Stood up after the fall of the reign of Lord Gregory, Turorian company CoCoCo established a footprint inside South Covello and established itself as a primary supplier of core goods and services. Internally the goods were used to provide essential raw materials and goods to Turorian shops such as Cocoa-bo that had opened a presence in country. Soon after, however, central public distribution locations were also established.

One of the most prominent is Coco-mart, the big box store primarily found in South Covello. Coco-marts were sood up throughout South Covello to serve as an interface between CoCoCo and the public offering excess goods to the citizens of South Covello and somewhat reasonable prices compared with what it would have taken for a citizen to acquire similar goods during the reign of Lord Gregory.

The CoCoCo have established themselves on a collection of Islands off the coast of South Covello where raw goods are imported, sorted and redistributed to the mainland. Other major public-facing CoCoCo entities stood up in South Covello include Cocogas and CoCoLectric.

:: Tropicorp Sports

Tropicorp is a quasi-governmental corporation created to conduct Research, Development and Production activities primarily on behalf of the Tropics of Vilita. Located in a remote location on the Calanian mainland a ferry ride from Turoki Island, the Tropicorp campus has grown into a small city-state with a full capacity capital city in Tropicoast.

One example of Tropicorp development has been the extraction and development of special rubber to create high performance racing tyres for testing purposes. After the tests proved successful, It wasn't long before the tooling was done and Racing Tyres were popping out on an hourly basis from the workshop, spinning off a new brand, Tropicorp Racing Supply. Tropicorp Engineers, Scientists and Researchers have repeated this success many times over in various fields of research.

Tropicorp Sports was one of the first new divisions created at the quasi-governmental entity of Tropicorp. With the acquisition of templates and production equipment from 3WD, Tropicorp Sports began producing special edition kits for the Turori National Team. From there the scientists, researchers and engineers at Tropicorp Sports began focusing on improving sporting equipment, ultimately developing the Tcp-X1, one of the most scientifically advanced footsport balls ever developed and a regularly used match ball in domestic and internationstatal sporting events throughout the multiverse. Tropicorp Sports have since developed into a leading supplier of cutting edge sportswear, sporting equipment and even sporting technologies used in the betterment of the experience for players, officials and fans alike. Tropicorp Sports will also be the official supplier of both uniforms and official merchandise supplier. Tropicorp is a long time sponsor and supporter of Cocoabo #23 and the Tropicorp Logo appears on the rear wing of the #23 car visible to cars trailing the #23 to remind them who is powering the car they are behind.

:: Charitable Organizations :: Charitable Organization Logos may be used on any livery without pre-coordination

:: Cocoabo Preservation Society

The Cocoabo Preservation Society is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to spreading awareness about Turori's native and endangered Cocoabo species, as well as collecting donations and raising funds to help protect, care for and breed Turorian Cocoabo. The Cocoabo Preservation Society has partnered with Tropicorp to develop to Cocoabo Forest just north of Turori.

The CPS does not pay to put its logo on Grand Prix vehicles. Typical sporting arrangements surrounding the use of the CPS logo on Grand Prix Vehicles include special CPS merchandise will made available to be produced and sold with a portion of the proceeds going towards Cocoabo Conservation; the ability of the Cocoabo Preservation Society to use the image and likeness of WGPC cars carrying their logo for promotional purposes as well as special "Go Go Cocoabo!" donation packages and corporate tours of Cocoabo Park and the Preservation Society headquarters.

--- Cocoabo Preservation Society Logo Neutral Color Logo Template ---

[Former Citizens of the Nimbus System]

In Motion Workshop, Celina Community, the First City, the Nexus Wardship of Former Citizens of the Nimbus System
23rd of May

Celia Speck stands in front of her keyboard and monitor. Feels the stillness of the moment, quietness broken only by the whirring of fans and the soft clunking of mechanical components. The weight of it.

Then she turns away, heading for the door in the see-through partition that marked the edge of her office, her socks padding softly on the varnished wood.

She and Grace made sure that they each had their space when they were first setting up the workshop. Attempts to study together at university had made it clear that their styles worked best with a healthy distance between them most of the time. That didn’t mean that either ever disliked the knowledge and comfort of the other’s presence, of course, or the occasional visit to share ideas, and so Celia now opens the door to her wife’s office.

Grace sits, stylus gliding rapidly across her screen. Celia pauses for a moment, taking her in in all of her beauty. Her wife’s effortless efficiency and practicality had needled her at university, her thoughts biting at her that she must be cutting corners, that her way could not be the right way, that she must not be being rigorous or considered or something… That was, until she ended up working with her and saw none of that. Just a total, complete and pure focus. It was enough to leave her in awe – awe which mostly banished her jealousy (for that’s what she realised it had been).

Awe which quickly engendered a significant crush (one that was, frankly, terrifying in quite how significant it was), which gave way to love.

“Darling?”

Celia blinks, realising quite how long she’s been staring. Grace stares back, with a slight smile on her face. “I don’t mind but I suspect you wanted to discuss something?”

“Right! Right.” Celia commends herself that she doesn’t feel quite so hot in the face as she has the past few times this occurred. She pulls up the office’s second chair. “I just posted the latest blog post. The tyre championships.”

“Good to hear.” Another smile, one that quickly falls. “You don’t seem entirely happy about that.”

“No, no – I’m glad to have got it sorted after… Everything.” Celia rests in the seat. “It just had me thinking about us and Phoenician. I worry. Viska… I don’t want to go back to just being a component of Nexus Racing’s operation, Grace. Working with their needs as well as Gertrude’s was good for us – good for our flexibility, good for awareness…”

Grace hums. “We went into the partnership with our eyes open, certainly knew that it was unlikely that any of the other teams would adopt our tyres. Viska switching to the Blackbirds does sting, though, I agree.”

“Why would they?” Celia shakes her head, flinging her hands upwards. “I understand that their chassis is adaptable, we learned that as soon as they entered WGP2, but surely the reasons they wanted to take us on back then, so much so that they called on us with essentially no prior notice – they haven’t just gone away!”

“Perhaps they have, at least from their perspective.” Grace bows her head. “They were still an up-and-coming project at that point, vulnerable to the risks that any first-time team faces. Opting for something unconventional but with the promise of significant advantages didn’t make that perceived risk too much greater. Now that they have a place in motorsport’s most prestigious category to defend, their calculus may have shifted.” She grips the table. Hard. “It infuriates me. Why do we do this if not to take risks, to push things forward? To…” She sighs.

Celia wraps her arms around her. Grace leans into the embrace. “I’m sorry, Celia. You know that this is a bugbear of mine.”

She squeezes. “I’m sorry for bringing it up, too. Should have realised.”

Grace sighs again. Shakes her head. “It may not be that, anyway. You know that they let go of Olivia Stone.”

Celia frowns, letting go. Then her eyes widen. “You think they would really… Imagination.”

“I hope not but it may be that they are simply attempting to get away from the fallout of the Sleep as much as they can. Given what our Phoenician techs have been telling us…”

“Imagination,” Celia repeats, staring into space. A moment passes. “I hope she’s alright.”

(OOC: With thanks again to Hapilopper for collaboration on the narrative of this scene!)

Hwoarang Racing Circuit, Hwoarang, Togonistan
ZX-Flow Energy Grand Prix of Togonistan; Pre-Practice

Olivia Stone weaves between the Hwoarang motorhomes, purpose in her gait and eyes on the horizon, the fire behind them dancing. Getting here wasn’t so hard – being one of the two holders of a Nimban WGPC superlicence and an active racer just last season was persuasive enough to the WGPO to let her in behind the season even without a team affiliation – but hard enough, according to Baxen, that they couldn’t count on it again. As he impressed upon her before she left, today’s visit needs to be decisive.

Hence why she is near-barrelling her way towards Cygnus’ garage. He’s let them know I’m coming. They’ll admit me. It’ll be fine. It’ll all be just fine… She takes in a breath, pulling up her hood. Shouldn’t draw attention – can’t afford being…

A shout catches her attention; her intuition has her head swivelling, though her pace doesn’t slow. A woman holding a microphone, fortunately not looking at her… Still, Olivia follows her gaze. She isn’t the only one hurrying away, it seems; she almost doesn’t recognise the driver, his own cap pulled down over his head, but the Kaylan cap and the shock of brown hair give away a retreating Rudy Edwards. Olivia grits her teeth. The time she’d been afforded by her lack of seat and the need to keep up with potential openings among the paddock also afforded her a prime view of his dragging across the grater that is the Hapiloppian media. Seemingly, the only reason it wasn’t worse was because they were already occupied with another driver in NASCAR and his relationship troubles.

Olivia purses her lips; carries on walking. He’s fine. He’ll be out to practice soon and –

The woman with the microphone sets off in pursuit.

Olivia changes direction, striking out into the morning sunlight, stride lengthening, hands balling into fists, anger running through her. Nope. Nope. Not happening. Not on my watch. Not standing by. She sets herself on slightly more than a collision course with the woman, placing herself in her path and standing firm.

She barely notices Olivia’s slightly shorter, hooded form, at first; tries to step around her.

She draws a touch more awareness from her when she moves to block her path. “Why –”

“No.”

A frustrated huff; she tugs at her lanyard, waving it in Olivia’s face. “Sorry, but I’m an officially sanctioned reporter here – let me by.”

“I told you no. You’re not bothering him.”

The woman recoils, something of both confusion and disgust in her visage. By now, her cameraman has caught up. “You have no right to –”

“You have no right.” Olivia raises her head, eyes flaring with defiance. The people around them seem to slow, to quiet.

The woman lets out an affronted laugh. “Excuse me, I have every…” She pauses, only now taking in that she recognises the person standing ahead of her.

Olivia takes the opportunity. “Listen. Rudy’s been interviewed, analysed and thrown through the Maelstrom dozens of times already this week. I know a bit of what that’s like. You’re not going to get anything out of him that hasn’t been squeezed from him already, and he’s clearly not in the mood for anything like this – which I’d say is fair, given that he’s going to be piloting a carbon fibre construct around a track at hundreds of kilometres an hour in a few minutes’ time. It’d be courteous to give him the space to prepare for that. If people don’t seem to want to give him that courtesy and I happen to be in the right place to make sure of it… Well.” Her eyes narrow.

The woman hesitates. Then she glances past Olivia’s shoulder, and something desperate flashes across her visage – before it turns positively venomous. “Well, thank you for that highly informative interview, Olivia Stone, but we need to be going – have other important people to cover.”

Thank Imagination she took Baxen’s advice for keeping just a little power in the chamber. Strictly for emergencies.

Olivia nods, feigned courtesy on her face, as she walks past her. The woman doesn’t. Rather hard when her shoes have suddenly gained an incredible capacity to adhere to both her feet and the ground.

It’s only when Olivia clears the small crowd and weaves between another pair of motorhomes towards her destination that part of her mind helpfully points out the red, flashing light on the camera’s upper section.

Maelstrom. So much for not drawing attention… That’s going to really persuade the organisers to let you in again, isn’t it?

The thought doesn’t quite dampen her twin senses of clarity and satisfaction.

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

Optimism was in short supply after the return from Togonistan, where a weekend to forget harkened back to the first season of WGP2. Cocoabo 23 had put on a master class in running away from the field, lapping all but three other runners. But doing so from as far back on the grid as it started was probably more demoralizing for teams like Scuderia Orange Cow that had cars qualified higher in the order.

Both drivers complained of lack of mechanical grip during the race, an issue that hadn't come up during practice, so back to the data the engineers went to pinpoint whether it was the cars, the setup or the track itself that brought on the oversteer at the back of the machine.

The usual laundry list of things to be checked and measured started with tire wear, which was a no; according to the Tropicorp duo both cars didn't show any excessive lateral wear on the rears. Suspension and differential didn't seem to be the culprit, although it wasn't ruled out completely; downforce wasn't the problem as they'd used the same settings that had been tested at the race venue; weight distribution was also checked off, which left the engine as other suspect.
All three iterations of the PRL chassis were designed and developed to be as neutral on turn-in as possible—point the nose where you wanted the car to go and the rest of the car should follow—which allowed the driver to get back on the throttle out of the apex that much quicker.

The engine team from Tropicorp Engineering was asked to check the mapping software to see if there was anything that kept the powerplant from responding to the throttle engagement as the mass of the car was mid-apex.
___________________________________________________________________

Jordan and Batu's regular Monday evening dinner had resumed from the start of the season, with Sammi Carter and Nick Ungar joining them after Lisander, but both absent on this second week as they were at Drummond Vale with AOGP testing.

“Donny's looking really racy right now. I always thought he had more potential that he was showing last season.” The two were comparing notes on the other rookies in the series, having already discussed Angela Tan Fang Ling and Skiia Vialiv. Before he responded to Crowe's observation, Batu posed a question.
“Does it bother you that no other team offered you a test during the off season? Mike had Donny and the others in to run for potentially your seat but no one else give you any thought whatsoever?”

“Not really, no. As much as Mike has told me that I am a fundamental part of the team, he's always said that he never intended for me to be defined as just being an Orange Cow guy. Now, that is probably still the perception among the rest of the teams, that I'm his protégé. I've driven for years but it's all been in BP and that probably doesn't translate as enough experience. Nick and Sammi will have two seasons of a higher profile series that I didn't get so you would think that come next WGP2 season they will both draw interest if they do as well as they did last time. As a number two driver, which other teams would think that I'm a better choice to be a teammate with a more experienced number one?”

“You're not a number two to me. You are the leader of this team, regardless of last season.”

“I think of us as 1 and 1A, but I'm really touched that you think of me that way, Bat. At 25 I'm already an old man in the sport, so my future is going be largely dependent on can I win races or get podiums? There are worse things than being me right now.”
“Back to the original point, yes Donny has done really well so far. I hope that we can re-establish being mates with one another without any awkwardness. Archer has invited me along to a meet-up with some of the 'young guns' in the series to discuss how we can challenge the vets. Should I mention your name as maybe joining the group?”

“You don't have to do that. If they ask you of their own accord if I'd come along, tell them you'll ask. But you really don't need to shoehorn me into someone's gathering. I'm fine. I've got the missus to fill in the downtime at weekends.” Jordan smiled mischievously.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Orange Cow Racing

The Orange Cow Racing Organization announces the entries into the AOGP series for a second year.
The Team will return the driver paring that helped OCR to a fourth place finish in the Constructors standings, Samantha "Sammi" Carter (9th in the drivers championship with 57 points) in car #25 and Nick Ungar (8th in the drivers table with 60 points) in car #26.

OCR will once again be sponsored by BCEL Beverage of Baker Park, the Commonwealth's largest producer and distributor of non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, as well being a licensed agent for foreign drink brands, most notably Cocoa-bo the Chocolatey Delectable available only in Baker Park in retail packaged bottles.
OCR is also continuing its support of the Cocoabo Preservation Society, with the organization's logo prominently displayed on both cars.
Other major sponsors of the team are CommOil, Lite Speed Mobile, CCB Corporation, JSB Heavy Equipment, Wells Robotics and Automation, Commonwealth Auto Corporation, McDonald & Muir, Laur's Dairy and Tropicorp Racing Supply as well as Tropicorp Engineering.

[Tumbra]

CUTOFF

for Practice and Qualifying at Cocoabo Park Circuit

[Tumbra]

Week 5: Practice

Conditions:      	Light Showers
Lap Record:      	00:01:41.000
Session Length:	75 minutes
Nation:         	TRP
Circuit:        	Cocoabo Park Circuit

Drivers have 75 minutes to complete as many laps of the track as they like

POS # ▍DRIVER                           	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER
 1 11 ▍Lane Carter                      	00:01:59.100	00:00:00.000
 2 51 ▍R.L. Cruisin                     	00:01:59.104	00:00:00.003
 3 23 ▍Cocoabo #23                      	00:01:59.105	00:00:00.005
 4 40 ▍Adriana Kowalski Lilian          	00:01:59.106	00:00:00.005
 5 50 ▍Sara Luna                        	00:01:59.108	00:00:00.008
 6  9 ▍Batu Tüvshinbayar                	00:01:59.108	00:00:00.008
 7 19 ▍Dom Falepeau                     	00:01:59.115	00:00:00.015
 8 12 ▍Darian Vilau                     	00:01:59.115	00:00:00.015
 9  5 ▍Rudy Edwards                     	00:01:59.122	00:00:00.022
10 94 ▍Ryker Lane                       	00:01:59.127	00:00:00.027
11 33 ▍Sam Blaatschappen                	00:01:59.130	00:00:00.030
12  7 ▍Anneliese Devereux               	00:01:59.131	00:00:00.031
13 74 ▍Adonis Fitzpatrick               	00:01:59.138	00:00:00.038
14 17 ▍Janne Laukkanen                  	00:01:59.139	00:00:00.038
15 10 ▍Lillý Náttmörðsdóttir            	00:01:59.160	00:00:00.060
16 37 ▍Laura Haukanna                   	00:01:59.160	00:00:00.060
17 71 ▍Brendan Faloe                    	00:01:59.164	00:00:00.064
18 14 ▍Skiia Vialiv                     	00:01:59.165	00:00:00.065
19 87 ▍Bryce Yannec                     	00:01:59.167	00:00:00.067
20 24 ▍Jordan Crowe                     	00:01:59.185	00:00:00.084
21 91 ▍Kingston Walcott                 	00:01:59.200	00:00:00.100
22 28 ▍Aaron Deering                    	00:01:59.200	00:00:00.100
23 96 ▍William Archer                   	00:01:59.258	00:00:00.157
24 84 ▍Angela Tan Fang Ling             	00:01:59.420	00:00:00.320
25 13 ▍Ji So-Yeong                      	00:01:59.433	00:00:00.333
26 88 ▍Ted Pressley                     	00:01:59.435	00:00:00.335
27 42 ▍Sophie McCreary                  	00:01:59.530	00:00:00.430
28  1 ▍iBen Toralmintii                 	00:01:59.539	00:00:00.439

Week 5: Qualifying

Conditions:      	Dry
Lap Record:      	00:01:41.000
Qualifying Type:	One Shot
Nation:         	TRP
Circuit:        	Cocoabo Park Circuit

POS # ▍DRIVER                           	FASTEST LAP	GAP TO LEADER
 1 87 ▍Bryce Yannec                     	00:01:43.066	00:00:00.000
 2 51 ▍R.L. Cruisin                     	00:01:43.086	00:00:00.020
 3 96 ▍William Archer                   	00:01:43.447	00:00:00.381
 4 33 ▍Sam Blaatschappen                	00:01:43.549	00:00:00.483
 5 14 ▍Skiia Vialiv                     	00:01:43.757	00:00:00.692
 6 94 ▍Ryker Lane                       	00:01:43.827	00:00:00.762
 7 37 ▍Laura Haukanna                   	00:01:43.927	00:00:00.861
 8 84 ▍Angela Tan Fang Ling             	00:01:44.393	00:00:01.328
 9 13 ▍Ji So-Yeong                      	00:01:44.477	00:00:01.411
10  5 ▍Rudy Edwards                     	00:01:44.487	00:00:01.422
11 10 ▍Lillý Náttmörðsdóttir            	00:01:44.560	00:00:01.494
12  9 ▍Batu Tüvshinbayar                	00:01:44.694	00:00:01.628
13 12 ▍Darian Vilau                     	00:01:44.710	00:00:01.644
14 74 ▍Adonis Fitzpatrick               	00:01:44.779	00:00:01.713
15 91 ▍Kingston Walcott                 	00:01:45.271	00:00:02.205
16 42 ▍Sophie McCreary                  	00:01:45.298	00:00:02.232
17 23 ▍Cocoabo #23                      	00:01:45.468	00:00:02.402
18 88 ▍Ted Pressley                     	00:01:45.695	00:00:02.629
19  1 ▍iBen Toralmintii                 	00:01:45.796	00:00:02.730
20 40 ▍Adriana Kowalski Lilian          	00:01:46.046	00:00:02.980
21 28 ▍Aaron Deering                    	00:01:46.135	00:00:03.069
22 50 ▍Sara Luna                        	00:01:46.349	00:00:03.283
23  7 ▍Anneliese Devereux               	00:01:46.396	00:00:03.330
24 71 ▍Brendan Faloe                    	00:01:46.517	00:00:03.451
25 17 ▍Janne Laukkanen                  	00:01:47.651	00:00:04.585
26 11 ▍Lane Carter                      	00:01:47.709	00:00:04.643
27 24 ▍Jordan Crowe                     	00:01:47.917	00:00:04.852
28 19 ▍Dom Falepeau                     	00:01:47.957	00:00:04.891

[Trans-Dniesters]

Yakov Leonidovich Yurievsky entered the main conference room of the Urotovsky-Gatutin Motorsports Division mobile headquarters with a very smug look on his face. He took his sweet time getting to his seat right in the middle of the table, and once he sat down, he swung the seat around 360 degrees. Meanwhile, at the head of the table, UrGa team principal Vasily Semyonovich Gatutin looked much sterner than usual, his mouth a taut and grim line. He knew the exact reason why Yurievsky was looking so smug, and he was not yet prepared to deal with that particular problem just yet.

“Don’t you say it, Yakov Leonidovich,” Gatutin muttered. “Don’t you dare say it!”

“What did I tell you, Vasily Semyonovich?” Yurievsky said once his chair stopped moving and he turned himself so that he was facing the team principal. “Your obsession with Skiia Vialiv is going to damage the reputation of our team in our very first season of WGPC! We had our pick of the best of the best that the multiverse has to offer, and yet you remain insistent on having this driver from Tropicorp drive for our team. I’ve asked you time and time again, Vasily Semyonovich, and yet you refuse to give me an answer that satisfies me. Why, why, why do you insist on having Vialiv in one of our seats? It can’t just be the tires. Tropicorp Racing Supply doesn’t require us to have her in our team to give us tires. So why do you want us to have her?”

“Yakov Leonidovich, what part of ‘Vialiv’s profile is a great fit for the team’ don’t you understand?” Gatutin replied. “There is nothing deeper than that. It’s just that simple. You are the one who refuses to understand that it’s always been that simple. I should be asking you the question that you’ve been asking me, but with a small change. Why do you keep hating on Skiia Vialiv? Why are you so determined to not have her in our team?”

“I don’t need to explain myself to you about this,” Yurievsky replied quickly. “The results will tell you everything you need to know about why I think signing Vialiv was a mistake.”

“That was just one race, Yakov!” Gatutin replied. “If you look beyond that, if you look at Vialiv’s record in WGP2 then you’ll see what I see in her. Third place in the drivers’ championship, and two wins under her belt. Any other team, any other person involved in picking personnel would be tripping all over themselves trying to get her signature. Anyone except you, apparently.”

“WGP2 results are not relevant to WGPC at all,” Yurievsky countered. “How many drivers that had come from WGP2 went up to WGPC and failed to replicate any of their results in the lower series?”

“By that logic then we shouldn’t even keep Adonis Fitzpatrick in the team as well!” Gatutin shot back. “His WGP2 results are not as good as Vialiv’s. One win compared to two, and two podiums compared to three. And yet you have no problems letting Fitzpatrick stay with the team when we were finally allowed to join WGPC!”

“Fitzpatrick has a podium in his very first WGPC race!” Yurievsky said. “Meanwhile, Vialiv got lapped! By her own teammate! You are the one who refuses to see reason, to look at the evidence before your eyes. Any one of the other drivers that we invited here for the preseason test would have done a much better job at not getting themselves lapped by Adonis!”

“Oh, really? Like who? Your golden girl Nattmordsdottir?” Gatutin sneered. “For someone so focused on the results of the last race, you seem to have conveniently overlooked the fact that Lilly Nattmordsdottir was the last classified driver to actually finish the grand prix!”

“This is no longer about Nattmor–whatever her name was,” Yurievsky said back almost immediately. “This is about the fact that someone like Olivia Stone or Kinu Luminna would not have been lapped by Fitzpatrick. But instead of having one of them drive our second car, you’ve decided to put Skiia bloody Vialiv in it instead! You tell me how that all makes sense in your head, Vasily!”

Gatutin sighed and closed his eyes. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said after taking a few deep breaths, when he could finally trust himself not to scream at anyone else, “it would appear as if we are not going to be able to carry out a proper debrief at the moment. Emotions are currently running high in this team, and it looks like a cooling off period will suit us all well. We will reconvene in an hour. Hopefully our emotions will have settled down by then.”

The team debrief never ended up happening, or at least it didn’t happen in front of the whole team. Given the state of the team at the moment, Vasily Gatutin made the executive decision to hold a smaller briefing only for himself. The only other people attending this briefing would be Taras Matviyenko, chief driver relations officer of Urotovsky-Gatutin Motorsports, and the team’s two race engineers, Vladimir Kripchak and Illarion Osipov. It was a similar setup to the meeting when they decided to sign Nepö Kinder as the team’s reserve driver, and for Gatutin, it had the added benefit of not having Yakov Yurievsky throw a classic snide remark about the driver who was currently not performing to his impossibly high standards.

“All right, finally we can get our debrief going in peace,” Gatutin said after he had welcomed the other gentlemen into his office. “I think we can all agree that this is the best way for us to take a look at how the previous grand prix panned out for both of our drivers without any unnecessary interruptions coming our way. Now, not all future debriefs will be like this, but given what happened earlier, I believe that this is the best way for us to tackle our situation without wasting time on anything else.”

“As you wish, sir,” Taras Matviyenko replied, while both Kripchak and Osipov simply nodded their heads.

“Very well. Let’s get started then, shall we?” Gatutin asked. “The Liventian Grand Prix, our very first WGPC-level grand prix as a constructor, and the fates of our two drivers could not have been any more different. We got a debut podium for a debuting rookie driver in our debut grand prix, but our driver fell off and even got lapped by her teammate. Now, gentlemen, I have to ask you all the question: what happened? Our drivers started this grand prix close together. How did they end up so far apart from each other?”

“I believe I have the answer to this question, Vasily Semyonovich,” Illarion Osipov replied. As the race engineer assigned to Skiia Vialiv, the Tropicorp driver who was currently the target of the ire of a certain “financial advisor,” it was almost expected that he would be the one to flag any issues that Vialiv might have had during the grand prix in order to bring it to the attention of the rest of the team during the debrief. “It’s tires, sir. Skiia needed to stop twice during the grand prix while Adonis only had to stop once.”

“Was this supposed to be her strategy in the first place?” Gatutin asked. “Or was this the result of factors that we failed to adequately account for despite the practice sessions?”

“Yes, her strategy was indeed a more aggressive one than what Donny had, sir,” Osipov nodded. “Both Donny and Skiia started on the softest compound that TRS had brought to Liventia, and it could be argued that Rudy Edwards bringing out the safety car on lap 14 was well-timed for both of our drivers. However, it was in this first pit stop that our two drivers diverged. Donny went straight for the hard compound tires while Skiia chose mediums for herself. This was all part of the strategy that she chose for herself; there was no mix-up in the garages, if that was what you wanted to ask, sir.”

“A two-stop strategy isn’t enough by itself to explain the drop-off in Skiia’s performance though,” Gatutin said. “Some of the other drivers managed to pull off the two-stop, while other drivers couldn’t make the one-stop work, like our protege William Archer. He went on a one-stop too, although based on the data, it’s the complete opposite of what Adonis did. So what was it, Illarion? Was the tire deg on the mediums worse than expected?”

“I’m not really sure if that’s the best way to describe it, sir,” Osipov shook his head. “I saw plenty of other drivers doing just fine on Tropicorp mediums. Skiia was managing to hold station on her medium stint. She was making it hard for others to get by her, but those battles were also costing her time from the driver in front of her. And then, of course, we get to her second pit stop. Without any problems, Skiia would have been in and out in 2.5 seconds. However, there was a problem with her right front tire, and that cost us more than twice the time that she should have spent being stationary. A 2.5 second pit stop ended up becoming 8.2 seconds long because of one tire. We timed her second pit stop as best as we could, but it all comes back to that tire that just wouldn’t come off.”

“Sir, if I may,” Vladimir Kripchak, Donny Fitzpatrick’s engineer, chimed in. “I would just like to add that Adonis did not report any problems with regards to tire degradation on any of his two stints. He didn’t report hitting any cliffs in performance or grip. In fact, the data from his hard tire stint in the grand prix itself almost matches exactly his stint on the same compound during practice.”

Gatutin leaned back into his chair and let out a long sigh. “So it would appear that the problem currently lies with Skiia Vialiv,” he finally said after a few moments. “However, what is it that’s set her apart from Adonis this early? Is it her setup? Is it her driving style? Is it the tires? Who knows at this point?”

Taras Matviyenko, the former UrGa driver turned chief driver relations officer of the team, had been keeping quiet for the duration of the debriefing, but now he decided that it was time to add his voice to the discussion. “Sir, Vasily Semyonovich,” he called out, “I think we should all remember the recruiting strategy that we had been doing ever since we became part of the open-wheeler scene in the Coalition. Our recruitment strategy has always been about finding one driver who suits our car’s design philosophy like a glove, and someone who is as antithetical to it as possible. One could argue that this is a stupid strategy to take, and I can honestly see why some people would think this. But it has reaped us rewards in the past. But it’s not always plain sailing for the whole team, and I believe that we are going through one such rough patch at the moment. Skiia Vialiv is not currently gelling with the team to the extent that we believe that she can, but on the other hand, it’s only the first race of the season. There is more than enough time for her to finally get going. Besides, the sooner that she shuts up Yakov Leonidovich’s fat mouth, the better.”

“Taras Gavrilovich, we are already friends,” Gatutin said. “You don’t have to kiss my ass like that anymore.”

“I’m just letting you know that there’s at least one other person in this team who is honestly getting a little tired of Old Man Yurievsky’s antics, Vasily Semyonovich,” Matviyenko shrugged. “On some days, it’s fun, almost endearing, but this unfortunately is not one of those days.”

“Well, you said it yourself, Taras,” Gatutin muttered. “Yakov Leonidovich is an old man at the end of the day, and he will eventually get tired of constantly talking shit on Skiia. But I also hope for her sake that she starts picking up her performances in the next few weekends or else she could end up proving him right. And we all know what Yakov is like when he’s proven right.”

[Hapilopper]

Cocoabo Park Circuit, Tropicorp
Qualifying for the Cocoabo Preservation Grand Prix

While it seemed that some teams were lamenting their lack of performance, trying to figure out who or what was to blame for their car not operating the way they hoped it would, and while some were just trying not to embarrass themselves in front of a multiversal-wide audience, Preston Autos appeared to be doing just fine, thank you for asking. And on top of that, it seemed like the team’s administration knew it.

Sitting on the gantry on pit wall, Marty Lewis turned his chair to look at cars 5 and 96 – the cars of Rudy Edwards and William Archer – as they prepared to go out for qualifying. The start of race weekend had already been good. Rudy had proven during the practice session that he understood Cocoabo Park perfectly, and it seemed that, in Marty’s eyes, that Archer, in spite of being 23rd quick, understood it just as well. Marty knew that, and he wasn’t worried about Archer. In fact, for whatever reason, it seemed like Marty was confident about Archer’s chances during qualifying – more so than he was about Rudy.

It just seemed like this was the race where Archer could turn it all around.

So, too, were others on the Preston crew sitting on the gantry next to Marty. To Marty’s left was Shawn Hammer, who was responsible for Preston’s Skychief V6 program and the personnel for the manufacturer’s six cars competing at every Grand Prix. Shawn’s personnel could be seen all over the WGPC paddock; they were easily recognized by the flashy red-and-white Preston Performance Products crew jackets running in and out of the Sivaleinen and UrGa garages, as well as the Preston works garages. Shawn, rather than looking at any individual car, was staring intently at some of the monitors in front of him – monitors that showed off detail about the engine health of his six cars.

To Marty’s right was Todd Stroud, chief designer for Preston Grand Prix. Stroud, that week, had started work on the PGP-04 while delegating aerodynamics updates to his associates. As part of his job at the race tracks, Stroud was responsible for making sure the car was doing exactly the job that he had designed it to do – which was, go around a race track very fast – faster than anyone else. As time drew near for qualifying, Stroud’s concentration was focused on how the new upgrades to the PGP-03 had impacted the car’s handling around the circuit, looking at pictures from the last practice session, where the team had put a liberal amount of what was called “Flow-Viz” paint all over both Rudy’s and Archer’s cars.

Stroud, specifically, was looking at the sidepods of the car, to see how the air flowed over them, compared to how they had flowed over the last iteration of them. More specifically: Did the air flow play more to Preston’s advantage, or their disadvantage? Stroud appeared to be pleased with what he had seen and figured it would provide the team with a little extra speed when they needed it.

On either side of Marty, Stroud and Hammer were the individual strategy teams for both Rudy and Archer – all of whom were waiting for their cars to go out. For qualifying – especially one-shot qualifying, the job was out of the hands of the strategists, and in the hands of the drivers. Put the softest tires you could on the cars, put some tire soaking solution on them to give them some extra one-lap grip, tell the drivers to put the boost and engine maps to full power – mode eight, “balls out” mode – and run like hell.

In the Hapiloppian racing parlance, these sort of one-shot maximum attack qualifying runs were called “beer runs.” A driver would be encouraged to run the quickest he could around the track and then he’d have a cold one waiting for him at the end of the lap – after all, he was done on the track for the day, he had done his job.

Rudy had a love-hate relationship with these beer runs. He loved running as fast as he possibly could around a race track, showing exactly what both he and his car were capable of – but he absolutely hated the idea that one mistake, one slip-up, one error, and he would find himself further and further back from the start-finish line at the start of the race, with more and more of his rivals between him and the lead. But he had no other choice but to mentally prepare himself for the task ahead. To shut out the rest of the world around him. To remove any and all distractions from his mind.

He was finding that much easier as his career progressed. By now, he could calm himself almost into a trance as he sat in his car, watching the monitors placed next to the halo device on his car. As a way to help calm himself, the VERA – Voice-Enhanced Racing Assistant – was playing some soft ambient music as a way to help calm him down. There were no loud voices screaming in his ear, no rude reporters prodding him for answers, no fans poking him for autographs or selfies, just him and his soft ambient music. He watched as other cars went out to take their runs and watched the times go up on the board.

Finally, when it was his turn, the music faded out, and VERA spoke to Rudy in that soft, relaxing voice.

“It’s your turn, Rudy,” VERA said to him. “Let’s do something great here. Let’s turn a good lap.”

Damn right.

A good lap – how about a great lap.

You are Rudy Fucking Edwards.

You can do this.

The team pulled off the tire warmers, moved the monitors out of the way, released the car from the jack and Rudy pulled himself out of pit road – getting himself and the car ready for the quickest lap he could turn around the Cocoabo Park circuit. He felt he was more than capable of putting the car on pole position, then running away and hiding from everyone the next day to take victory. Eventually, when it was time to go, when it was his time for his beer run to start, Rudy slid his car out of turn 14 – leaving a couple of black marks coming out of the corner – and firewalled the throttle.

GO! GO! GO! HARD ON THE GAS!

With the exception of the layout of the circuit, nothing else existed in Rudy’s mind at the moment. The hours upon hours he had spent on the simulator back in Hapilopper City – and the right way around the circuit – was the only thing on his mind as he hauled ass through the interestingly-shaped racing circuit. Every single move he made was perfect. Every turn-in point. Every braking point. Every point where he gassed it coming out of the corner – it was perfect. It seemed like he was going to be a shoo-in for the pole, a shoo-in for the favorite to win on race day.

But as he made his way through turn eight, he was reminded of that little error he made coming out of the last corner to start the lap – sliding his tires. He overcooked it going into that corner. He probably would have been fine had he not slid his tires through the last corner. Rudy could feel himself getting about as loose as possible, and took the entire eighth turn sideways. It was a left-hand corner, but Rudy had to jerk the wheel hard right to keep the car from spinning on him. It was a fantastic sight – but cost him so much time, and cost him the pole. But he still had a few more turns to go.

Through turns 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13, Rudy handled the car about as perfectly as he could, trying to claw back some of the time he had just blown by taking turn eight sideways. But then it was time for turn 14.

BRAKE! HARD! HARD ON THE BRAKES! HARD LEFT! HARD HARD LEFT! DON’T SLIDE!

After making it through the last corner, Rudy was hard on the gas, flipped the double-DRS on and was as hard as he could to the line.

“That’s a forty four four eight with a seven,” said Michael Petree, Rudy’s strategist, over the radio. “Probably got some time back but holy highball, Rudy, can’t dirt track it like that.”

“I know,” Rudy said. “I think I fucked it coming out of the last corner.”

“Yeah, be more careful next time,” Michael said. “We’ll be up there though. You’ve still got a good shot at this.”

[Diarcesia]

TT's Peculiar Experience: Imagination Rootseekers

...Théotime nods, frowning. “Me too.”

The driver of the stopped test car in front of the Phoenician technician disembarks, who asks: “So… How did your meeting with Celia go?”

Théotime frowns even further. “I think I made the wrong impression. I'm afraid of sending the message that they are unreliable partners, and I can hardly blame her – she asked if there was anything else she could do but it felt like being put out to pasture… Oh god, this sounds so much worse in person than it does in my head! It wasn’t bad at all!” He takes a breath. “Look – you know how hard-headed Celia can be sometimes when people are trying to help her with something serious; they don't want to appear looking for some pity or whatever." Théotime shakes his head again and continues before Theodora, the test driver, has a chance to reply; "Anyway, yeah," he finishes lamely, "I'll send her another email later."

Theodora nods. “Don't worry. The Sleep, as they call it; it surely weighs heavily on her, at least. It must be difficult for her now that…” She pauses and raises a gloved hand to Théotime's face, gently patting his cheek; “Don't you get it? That's what they need!”

"Uh... huh?"

Theodora continues to quickly and lightly pat Théotime's cheek.

"A smack in the face? Are you mental!?"

"No, it's just your Imagination."

Théotime and Theodora both look down, confused.

“Oops! Sorry about that,” says one of the In Motion technicians, whose presence both Théotime and Theodora fail to take into account until just now.Théotime's face goes pink. “I didn't mean to pry but it's so hard not to when you're feeling something like I am right now… Anyway – what help do we need? You both seem to be quite serious."

"It's complicated," says Theodora, "but how are you? Anything unusual happening?"

“I don't know that you're part of the team that looks into…” Theodora scowls. “Whatever. You must have seen it." Her conversation partner turns to the technician. "Like what Theodora says, do you notice if there's something peculiar, or off?"

The technician scratches his head. “You mean if there's a ghost around?”

"Not exactly. More about yourself while you do your normal things."

"I'm fine," says the technician, who rubs his chin before continuing. "But it's not just that - I don't get how I found myself in this room with..." He looks at Théotime and Theodora. “...both of you, really. That got me a little cautious.”

“You're right to be cautious, but yes - that is what I mean exactly," replies Theodora with a nod towards Théotime. “You’re not alone."

"I'm not?" The technician looks at his surroundings. "But I haven't seen any other techs talking about it today, or the day before, for that matter."

Theodora frowns and tilts her head to one side. “See? You should have been aware of your surroundings!" She turns to Théotime. "See? Something's off and you can't tell me it isn't! I'm not stupid, you know."

"I didn't say that," says Théotime. "Have you seen anything unusual while working on any of your machines?"

“No, not really; I mean – the Bluebirds are awesome! There's also rumours of Pryfors Bilar using the Bluebirds in the mid-season test and..." Theodora abruptly stops. “Seriously though - what is going on here?" She points at the technician, who walks towards the room exit without warning. "Watch this," she indicates Théotime to witness what's about to unfold.

Theodora runs up to the walking technician. She tries to block his view, but the latter does not budge. She tries poking on both sides of the shoulder. Still nothing. Finally, she pulls off her trump card: a wake-up slap across the technician's face.

"Theodora! What the –", Théotime bellows.

Sara Luna and the Cocoabo Forest Spirits

Although definitely seen as a foreigner in the context of Viska, Sara gradually was able to acculturate herself with the Aurun ways of the team. Learning the language and structure was definitely challenging, but she only felt appreciation from the staff over her attempts to use it. She was also able to bond with Jan over the language, although she still felt a sense of displacement when in larger conversations.

"Sara Luna, can you come here for a moment?" asked Nils Karvanta, her chief engineer and mentor within the team. Sara made her way to him as she put on her earpiece and listened in as he continued speaking: "Sara, we've been working hard to fine-tune Pleiades for this circuit." He showed her what was exactly changed via a tablet. Her eyes bulged instantly. "I know it's sudden," Nils added before continuing by explaining the thinking behind this decision: "We've made some adjustments to the aerodynamics based on our analysis of the track. I'm confident that you'll have a great car out there; I think that fits your profile perfectly." While Sara had some experience with spur-of-the-moment alterations due budget concerns (though not always doing very well), she never really got accustomed herself of Nils doing this one trick in a WGPC-tier event. She appreciated the lengths Nils would dive into his technical know-how. "Näi etteremät." "Perfect," Nils said with a chuckle as he handed her the tablet. "Go out there, give it a try and make sure to let us know what you think."

Sara put on her helmet and made her way towards the garage, where she saw Jan fixated at his phone. She hollered at him that she'll get inside the car - no time for small talk this time around! As soon as they rolled out of their pit stall, Sara felt confident that she had found something special... but not quite yet perfect. That will have to wait until later in practice before finalizing anything about it or herself.

For now, she knew what Nils was trying to do: create a masterpiece.

The forest canopy provided shade, casting dappled sunlight onto the circuit. Amid the serene atmosphere, Sara and Pleiades navigated the twists and turns of the Cocoabo Park Circuit, getting a feel for the track. However, she encountered some challenges in finding the right rhythm.

Message from Jan: "Hey Sara, box. We're going to start enhancing the setup of Pleiades now."

"Thanks for letting me know," she replied as she continued making laps. She rummaged her brain to see if there were any updates about what exactly they were doing with Pleiades yet. Perhaps a few more laps would be required before anything could be changed? She had no idea how long it took them to modify something on their car or why they needed so much time in general; maybe there was some sort of magic involved that only Nils knew about... like a certain paintbrush-wielding beagle who loved to mark its territory! But regardless, even with all that time put into modifying things based on data analysis and feedback from drivers during tests, one thing was clear: whatever changes made worked well enough for her. If Sara had anything else done beyond what Jan did based off his own inputs too over the course of testing sessions and practice runs thus far this weekend, it'd have been just gravy anyway. She would trust Nils's process today.

"Okay, we're ready. Let's start by driving around the track a couple times." Jan summarized the info he received from Nils. "Now, I'll tell you what we did with the setup of Pleiades first." He went on explaining how they've adjusted tire pressures and springs based on temperature readings taken recently. "The team thinks that might be enough for now. We'll continue monitoring data and if needed, we can always make further adjustments later."

At the conclusion of the 75 minutes of practice, Sara made her way to the garage and got inside Pleiades. She felt a difference almost immediately after starting driving around the track again, but she couldn't quite tell what it was yet or if that was even what they wanted in the first place initially! In any case, if Nils had decided this change is worth trying, then why not try? Perhaps she'd have gotten used to whatever last-minute modifications done by Jan & co. later on during practice anyway - maybe not though... either way, no need to rush things anymore! The qualifying is tomorrow after all.

Cocoabo Preservation Grand Prix - WGPC 20 Qualifying: Cocoabo Park Circuit
Sara Luna (DCS)

On that day, Sara pushed herself to the limit, aiming to deliver a stellar performance and secure a favorable starting position for the Cocoabo Preservation Grand Prix.

Driving around the track, she felt confident. She navigated the corners with precision and handled g-forces when cornering effectively. Something about her driving was different from before... yet similar at the same time? A few minor mistakes hindered her ability to set a blazing lap time. Nevertheless, she was happy with her efforts and confident that the lap time she had set in practice would be enough to carry her in the race.

The team reviewed its data after qualifying, concluding that Sara's practice laps were good enough; if anything, perhaps they could have settled in the front three rows if not for those uncharacteristic mistakes of Sara's. Nevertheless, it was clear: Sara Luna needs to repeat her performance in the Grand Prix of Togonistan! Is she trying to be Driver of the Day or what?

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

To say Jordan Crowe was not a fan of the Cocoabo Park Circuit was being generous.

He'd never particularly been keen on anti-clockwise tracks, and this one checked off another one of his pet peeves--the 'moving road'. After the first 20 minutes of practice on Friday, he'd said to Sunil Choudhary, "they should call this a hill climb. How are you supposed to follow another car?"

The fact that it was also raining along with the affect of the camber in some of the corners brought JC to remark later to Sammi Carter that this should be a dream track for her.
"I imagine this is how roads in St Leon are. Olympic slalom skiers follow a straighter line."

Jordan had always dealt with the pressure of racing throughout his career by reminding himself that it was what he loved to do; he was able to make a living off something that he would gladly do for free and that he'd survived two serious accidents coming through the ranks--as a 16 year old in Class C sprint cars he walked away from a barrel roll into a gravel trap with only contusions and a sprained wrist, while 3 years later he suffered a complete brake failure at 133 mph in a P-Type Touring Car race at Lake Lothian in Endover that sidelined him for a month with a concussion.

Crowe had never expressed unhappiness or frustration about the circumstances around particular race weekends since he'd been with Scuderia Orange Cow except in private with his engineer or his now "other wife", Ben Smith aka Smitty who was his media liaison, personal assistant, and best mate.

He knew that there was only one person to blame for his starting position on the grid after qualifying and that was Jordan Daniel Crowe; he'd made one small error in the first turn that led to another error on the brakes at turn 6, going too wide at the exit of the second part of turn 8, and missing the apex completely at 14.
He made a specific effort to go around the paddock to congratulate Angela, Skiia, Bryce Yannec, Darian Vilau and back in the SOC garage, Batu--five rookies that made the top 12--on their qualifying, while also commiserating with Donny and Aaron Deering.
___________________________________________________________________________

Scuderia Orange Cow wasn't a paparazzi magnet as there were usually no celebs hanging around the team and Steph Crowe was the only non-team member that might qualify as a 'WAG' (and rightly so); but in Tropicorp there was certainly more than a passing interest in the special VIP that was a guest through the first two days.

Christa Vuckovic, the retired Baker Park National Team star who is a familiar presence in Tropicorp as a star for the club representing the nation in the Viltan Cove League as well as making a surprise run into the step ladder finals of recently completed Bowl AO tournament held alongside the AOCAF Championship, was seen at the back of the garage during practice & qualifying for the WGPC event.

Asked about her appearance, Vuckovic was quick to show support for the Commonwealth based team.
"Well of course I'm thrilled that the nation (Tropicorp) is getting its deserved opportunity to welcome the WGPC series to Cocoabo Park along with the pride of the Commonwealth being a part of the event. I hope everyone understands if I'm a bit partial to Batu and Jordan this weekend because the team have come so far so fast. Techies represent!, but I'm always BP til I die!"
_________________________________________________________________________________

Batu was taking the performance of the car in practice versus quali in stride.
He'd made it into the top six rows for the race after the practice session was a waste in terms of data, his time that was eight one thousandths off the top sport notwithstanding.

At his most basic level, he was a man who had grown so much in his social development and self-belief since being enveloped by the Orange Cow/Baker Park experience of 'you're with us, that makes you family' ethos, something that had never really been a part of his upbringing.

A good run in the wet was followed by a decent run for the grid. But Batu was still wondering about the issues from the last race that affected both cars.

[Tumbra]

Tropicorp

Ted didn't know what to feel about Cocoabo Forest. The humidity hung heavy in the air, and his Kaylan polo tee clung to his damp skin; even in the middle of the night, with activity on the circuit wrapping up for the day, it didn't feel much colder than in the afternoon. Flies gathered around a lamp; and despite him standing on tarmac, he got the feeling that after the WGPC and AOGP circus left the circuit, the place would become barren until the charging mules of the NSSCRA circuit clattered around the circuit. There was a feeling of transience around this circuit that felt rather liminal; perhaps it was the wires running all over the place, or the fact that the circuit was running through an actual forest. It felt like the whole place was built around the circuit; he'd heard of seasonal ski resorts in Caduke or Turvenal, but a seasonal race track was quite something else altogether.

But that wasn't the main point of why he was here. He'd slipped out of the hotel that Kaylan were put up in, and made his way back to the track. Perhaps surprisingly, there wasn't much in the way of security; and there were still engineers from various teams working late peering curiously at why the #88 driver was back at the circuit this late in the day. No such thing at the Kaylan garage; everything had been securely locked up. The team were mostly satisfied with where the car was for the race; and while Ted was now 3-0 down to Darian in qualifying, his race pace meant that Ted was still decently in with a chance of points on the track that was relatively forgiving.

But that wasn't why he was here. A certain nineteen year-old Tumbran, taking advantage of the fact that Ted's domineering dad wasn't at the circuit, wanted to finally meet. It'd been a long time since Ted Pressley had last met Sophie McCreary; the two hadn't really met since Ted's first season on the WGP2 circuit. Now that he was a three-cycle veteran, he felt slightly more comfortable in his skin, even if he still felt sometimes like he didn't really deserve to be here.

While waiting for the brown-haired, doe-eyed Tumbran, he looked at the packet of Desert Rose cigarettes he held in his hand. The cream packaging, with streaks of green and red and a stylised rose, was one of Tumbra's oldest cigarette brands; Tumbra Tobacco's constant propaganda back when that sort of thing was still allowed on the circuits of Tumbra had always led to a burning curiosity within him to try a puff. It was, in a sense, the first tobacco brand to truly make advertising a thing in Tumbran motorsport; alongside the Silverleaf and Talbott's brands, which had ingrained themselves in many children's brains through their striking liveries. Cigarette smoking was something that was cool.

He'd found the packet of Desert Rose in a Tumbran tobacconists; the packaging was apparently custom, and thus omitted the "Smoking Kills" warnings that were commonplace on cigarettes these days. He fingered the packaging; he didn't know why he'd brought it to the circuit. He didn't smoke, not regularly; but this felt like a good opportunity to smoke. Except that lighters were probably banned at the circuit. Oh well, he ruminated. There was always just outside the circuit.

He'd only just kept the box back in his pocket when the hoodie-clad, cap-wearing figure of Sophie McCreary arrived. Immediately, she broke into a run and hugged him tight; so tight that Ted thought he might pop. But he let her do it anyway; after all, she was Sophie; the woman who was basically his little sister, who'd hung around when he started in karts and slowly ascended up the open-wheeler ladder, always one or two steps behind.

"Ted," she said softly. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, Sophie. But you might miss me more if you squeeze me to death."

"Sorry!" Sophie released Ted from the hug. "It's just — it's just been so long —"

"Yeah, I get it." Ted laughed. "It's been forever."

"I know...so much has happened. You're not on speaking terms with Uncle Charlie anymore."

"Long story," Ted said grimly. "And you're a WGPC driver now. And you've got a podium."

"Long story," Sophie replied cheekily. "It's not all it's cracked up to be..."

"Yeah, I wish I'd been around to tell you that," he laughed. "But I guess Dad wouldn't have me talking to you. So...he rushed you in, I suppose. I tried to keep up with your career. You had, what, two seasons in Super Formula? And then you're here. Eighth first season, fourth the second. Obviously he thought that was a good enough CV."

"Not as good as yours, though," she said, giving him a small punch on the arm.

"Oh, you." He smiled softly. "But...do you feel ready?"

Sophie's face fell, and she shook her head.

"That's why you wanted to meet, wasn't it? I get the feeling."

The girl said nothing, and hugged Ted again. A soft sniffle escaped from her jacket.

"Yeah...I've felt really alone. I...I don't know. It's so different from Super Formula. There, everyone was a family, even if you were from Hunter or Ryder. Here? Nothing like that."

"Even within the team?"

"Jack doesn't like me. He thinks I'm too inexperienced. Too crashy. And Uncle Charlie's not...been the most cordial."

"Yeah, I know that much. He was already mouthing off at the Cygnuses and the Nexuses in Liventia. He did that whenever the team did shit."

"Have you talked to Stuart? Jeremy? Elisabeth, Getter, Paulie even?" The Tumbran Super Formula grid was well-known for being extremely close to each other most of the time; they were always on hand to provide advice to newbies, fling banter around, and so on. Ted missed that cordiality; he'd hoped that meeting William Archer would go some way to bringing that kind of thing back, but his complicated relationship with Janne Laukkanen and him feeling like he didn't really meld with the rest of the group, particularly the Tjunish people, meant that he'd cooled on that possibility for now.

"Stuart and Paulie have been cool, but...they don't really get it. You do."

"I don't know how we're going to meet more like this, though, Sophie. We can text, but it feels like you need physical support more than anything. And...I don't know how much I'll be around. I've got so much on my plate; there's Janne —"

"What about him?"

"Long story. There's Janne, there's you, which I suppose is getting resolved soon...there's Anola, who dropped off the face of the earth, and suddenly the Colourworks rookie, Ji, wants to talk to me about what happened to her. I already said yes, of course, but it feels like this season's got a whole lot interesting..."

"You sound like you need a hug."

"Yeah, probably." Ted chuckled. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too."

"You expected back at the hotel any time soon?"

"It's raceday tomorrow, so I suppose we shouldn't be back too late, but eh. In the grand scheme of things, what are a few points anyway?"

"It seems you learned the most important bit of racing from me. And I always thought you'd never learned that lesson."

"I guess things change..."

"Yeah. Things have certainly changed."

The two hugged, before they sat down on some steps, ready for a real heart-to-heart.

"Oh, and..." Sophie chuckled. "I don't know how old that box of cigarettes in your pocket is, but you probably want to finish smoking the whole pack within two days."

[Mertagne]

Cocoabo Park seemed like a solid circuit for Bryce Yannec. The twists and turns between the circuit presented to him reminded him strongly of the roads he used to drive along during his youth as an organ courier, however instead of being behind the wheel of a private emergency services vehicle, here he was at the pinnacle of motorsport.

Free Practice passed without too much issue for the Mertagnian driver - the Pressley team had him on Race Simulation runs as the tropical rain dribbled onto the circuit, to analyse the Pressley car’s race pace, which had proved good in the last race after a strategy call from the team had paid dividends, but unfortunately didn’t quite get Bryce into the points. A 19th position in the practice was not telling of performance from the car in the end.

Yannec, increasingly popular, found himself summoned by name by regional media in the time between practice and qualifying.

“Bryce, are you looking to continue your climb up the order this weekend? You’ve gone from strength to strength in recent weeks but it hasn’t paid off so far. Why do you think that is?” said the journalist, throwing a microphone towards him as he walked around the paddock.

“Erm, yes. Yeah, I’ll be working hard, working with the team, the engineers, looking to get the best out of the Pressley car this weekend. First week, as you know, didn’t go well. Last week, we did okay, but Sara Luna just managed to hang onto the points in the end. This week… well, hopefully I can show you where on the grid I belong.”

“And how do you find the one-shot qualifying format? Does the pressure get to you or are you the type to play it cool?”

“I always play it cool, you know me by now. People need to warm up sometimes on the track, but I’ll be able to give it my all right out of the gate.” Bryce ran a hand through his hair.

“Thanks Bryce, best of luck in the qualifying.”

---

Mertagnian Television Commentary
presented by Roger Bunn* and Andrew Streit

”And after a disappointing lap for Jordan Crowe†, next up is our hometown hero, Bryce Yannec. Andrew, a tricky start to Bryce’s season has meant that he’ll be looking to prove himself here, as he continues on his out lap. What do you think the Mertagnian will be able to achieve this time around?”

“Well Roger, I think he’ll put in a strong midfield performance. The track seems good, and the Pressley car is performing decently in the points recently. His teammate, McCreary, had a podium last time around. If you were in his shoes, how would you be feeling?”

“Well, I think Bryce knows that he’s not the focus of this Pressley outfit, but they’ve given him a good opportunity in a competitive car. I’d be looking to maybe show the team what I’m capable of here, with all eyes on me.”

“And here he goes, across the line to start the lap! Yannec clearly understanding the camber of the track here, good twitch of steering into Turn 1 there, running into the hills. A good line on the corner, into Turn 2 and Turn 3, and good traction there into Turn 4. What’s his line going to be there? Around the right handers, and crossing the river as he pushes that Pressley car into the start of the twisty section beginning with Turn 7.”

”Yannec on pace to get provisional pole here, he’s flying around this track. One of the hardest parts of the circuit to come, however, as he brings that car around the slower speed Turn 8. Hear the sound of that Kaylan engine! Is that a small snap of understeer on the way out of that turn? He’s corrected well and carries the momentum into the esses.”

“Yannec is making that car look like it’s been glued to the track, here. The concentration from that young man is incredible - he’s getting the absolute maximum out of that Pressley.”

”There’s no way anyone would be able to hold on to this pace for a whole race - Cocoabo Park really takes it out of you, you’re always making those micro-movements, as we see from the onboard there. He’s come out of 11, and now begins those sweeping turns. This will be crucial for the lap, here - he needs a good set up before the hairpin.”

“He’s done well in that middle sector, it’s looking like a very hot lap indeed. He’s up on Archer! Now this is the make or break moment here, down into the hairpin - we’ve seen some nasty lock-ups from drivers here today… and it’s a CLEAN move around the hairpin, and brilliant traction from Yannec as he comes off and heads full sprint towards the line, this time looks amazing… AND IT’S PROVISIONAL POLE FOR BRYCE YANNEC AS HE CROSSES THE LINE!”

”A brilliant time there from Yannec, a 01:43.066. That’ll be hard to top.”

---

“And after a thrilling qualifying session, it’s Bryce Yannec on pole. The young Mertagnian has broken through the pack to sit on pole by two hundredths of a second. An amazing result for Yannec there, one he’ll certainly be pleased with.”

”They’ll be happy with him down in the Pressley paddock, Andrew. He’ll be making up for McCreary’s middling performance. She was two seconds off the pace, down with the Sivaleinens. Good news for the silver and lime, as they’ll be looking to race hard against the Tumbran in the Pressley on race day.”

“A strong performance from Náttmörðsdóttir as well there, really pushing that Sivaleinen car forward into the top half of the grid. Rumours have been flying this week that she could be the target of a driver swap at the halfway point of the season - clearly that sort of talk has put a bit of a fire in the belly of the Kijani driver.”

“Clearly a high amount of pressure is working well for Yannec and the Sivaleinen drivers, there.”

“I would guess so. I’m looking forward to the race now - will Yannec be able to maintain his pole position, or will R.L. Cruisin managed to pass him on Turn 1 and ride off into the Sunset on a Cocoabo?”

*Obviously using a “normal” calendar, Bunn would be long passed. But WGPC in my own headcanon operates on a separate floating timeline to the rest of the multiverse, so he’s alive and well. And doing punditry.
†I’ve made the assumption that the drivers will be going out in reverse order of practice time, as I feel it lends a bit more weight to the practice. However, as Jordan Crowe also has 0 championship points, like Bryce, a reasonable assumption can be made for reverse championship order.

[Auruna]

Viska Factory
Sterlennau, Auruna

Another week of difficult work for the team back at the technical department, while the car's current performance was deemed "okay", their search for more never stops in line with their competitive nature. They just didn't like falling behind. Even though this was the case, Hori never overloaded herself and her team even once, employing the help of friends from VSK for the aero works and AHI-Livanen for the Re:Genesis engines and other mechanical components and even receiving a morale boost from a new partner, Studio Mikuren. So far, the development on the car is going smoothly as well as the ironing of the teething issues discovered a few weeks prior. All this work plus a large planned upgrade package in the mid-season, the team back home is a busy bunch.

Joining them is Eino Lirekov, former Viska Rally team principal who pursued a more technical role within the WGPC team, his role being more or less a substitute to Hori for whenever she's unavailable. This time, he is here to help everyone, easing the load on some of them with his added leadership, directing the work on the experimental systems like the Talon suspension system, the Mäki AWD system, and the dual hybrid. Hori felt relieved with the reinforcements coming in as it's never a quiet day at the factory, even without Jöna and Artur who were more into the general management roles.

After speaking to the head of the AHI-Livanen team, Hori managed to gather that the engine issues should be completely resolved sometime around the mid-season alongside the major upgrade package. Thank goodness. She breathed a sigh of relief afterwards, knowing that one of her worries would be gone. While she liked to figure it out for herself, she was grateful for their help and invited them for a brief coffee break as thanks. Following that, Eino brought her good news that there are no issues with the experimental systems but they would continue to check just in case. Then the head of the VSK team assured her that they would help Viska with the critical aero parts, collaborating with Viska designer Alik Kaariluki to iron out the faults.

Overwhelmed with good news, Hori could just sit back and she couldn't help but smile at what's happening in the factory. A high morale environment that she dreamt of since the beginning of the season. Pushing through from the depths.

They could only hope that it translates well on track.

Or maybe they could go for a miracle?

Täitä etteremät...

Technical Details
Viska Talon Suspension System - Originally made for optimal use of In Motion's unique tyre design during the early stages of their partnership. It automatically adjusts the suspension and tyres for consistent grip throughout a corner maximising the grip capabilities of whatever tyre compound equipped although it can be prone to overheating the tyres especially the softest ones. It can be manually adjusted as desired by the drivers.

Mäki Pseudo-AWD System - First introduced at the Nekoni Grand Prix in WGPC 18, it uses electric motors powering the front wheels during low-RPM or during the "Burst" mode in the engine mapping. It briefly makes the car AWD, adding to the already great handling of the Viska. It can be tuned to the driver's personal preference or can be turned off using a specific engine map.

Viska Garage
Cocoabo Park Circuit
Practice and Qualifying
A Kuyonnen Look into WGPC Pt.2

We are back with Viska at Cocoabo Park Circuit for the Cocoabo Preservation Grand Prix to witness team operations during all sessions first-hand with an exclusive inside look into WGPC. Once again, I am Johan Räveller, a journalist of the Kuyonnen Motorsport Association accompanying rising Kuyonnen racing talent August Maast attending his first WGPC race weekend from within the Viska garage. With our special access, we were allowed to have a look around the garage, take a closer one on the cars although there were some restrictions on the latter one.

From what I've heard, Viska had a sudden engine failure during the first race of the season on Sara Luna's car where it apparently died around the 47th lap. Viska is still wary of the issues with their unproven engine but so far, three out of four engines lasted an entire race. News from the inside says that the engines are cleared for use with improvements coming around the mid-season. Good news probably. It should help with Viska's recovery in the championship as they are showing terrible qualifying performances. We are unsure of what the underlying issues are but they really need to work on their performance as it is embarrassing to see their downfall.

Now for practice, there were light showers but it was manageable with the drivers' fastest times are all within half a second which showed promising times but it isn't necessarily the "actual" performance for some as it wasn't in optimal conditions. Viska's Sara Luna posted the fifth fastest time, after a lot of tuning of the setup, which is the point of practice. Meanwhile, Aaron Deering was 22nd fastest being his first time in mildly wet conditions with the VK-03H. Sometime after practice, with the assistance of Viska test driver Kinu Luminna, they allowed August to sit inside one of the Viska cars to have a feel of what it's like being inside a WGPC car. It certainly made him excited to race for the upper echelons of motorsport but he needs to go through WGP3 and WGP2 for him to have a chance unless his father manages to bribe pay a team for a spot.

Then came qualifying, which is Viska's worst enemy by this point. It is the first one-shot qualifying which means each driver only gets one shot, clear as day. Everything had to go right for a driver to take pole and every single mistake will cost a lot as there is no trying again. Viska was certainly placing low in qualifying with Aaron Deering and Sara Luna qualifying P21 and P22 respectively. Being the team that represents Auruna and the MNA, it isn't ideal and if Krazivaran was in the same situation, the KMA would not be happy and would replace them as a representative - a perfect case of trying to improve the Kuyonnen image. But the Auruns do stuff differently than us as they have the concept of *"suikatta", sheer determination against all odds. Meaning they will make it work whatever qualifying position they are in. And adding to that is Viska Racing's idea of "täitä etteremät", fighting / pushing through together and doing one's best. It's a weird concept to us Kuyonnens as we don't have any equivalent to it but they managed to make it work several times. Let's see if they manage it again.

For tomorrow is the race, where results matter.

Väl... ti vellan lykke Viskaa. (Well... good luck Viska.)

*Aurun version of 'sisu' | 'suikatta' can be shortened to 'suitta'

---

Sterlennau, Auruna

Sometime after the Togonistan Grand Prix, Laura, along with Haru ended up at Sterlennau. It was a convenient one as Krazivaran's Aurun HQ was at Sterlennau and Laura wanted to meet with some Viska friends at the factory there. After they finished with their respective activities, the two agreed to meet up at a cafe just near Sterlennau Airport, a popular place that they have frequented before when they were competing in the Sterlennau Rally in the ARC. It was something nostalgic for the two and they took the chance to visit that place once more.

After they met up and exchanged greetings outside, they entered the cafe which was filled with customers. Unexpected but manageable. After they made their to through the crowd then at am open table, the pair immediately sat down, mildly exhausted. Then the two just takes their time to regain their energy after a long walk and an intense struggle inside the cafe.

A bit of awkward silence later and Haru decided to speak up.

"Now, er... any news?"

"Nothing too notable for now. I was 9th in the last race but I think I have a good chance in the next one."

"Where's the next race?"

"Cocoabo Park."

"Ah, that place. I remember. I think it's going to be one of your best tracks."

"I'm not too sure about that... my only experience with it are in pre-season tests and no actual races."

"Doesn't matter that much."

"I'm not too sure, but if it rains, I think I can make something work."

"I know you can do it there, you're shaping up to be a top Aurun driver."

"Eheh~ enough with the flattery. I can't handle it well."

"Heh."

"O-oh right! This was just a recent idea--"

"What is it?"

"Want to come with me in the next race?"

"O-oh, I'm not sure if I can."

"Don't worry about it, Lauri went with me last time. I know you'll be present in Akresna but I kinda need some motivation in the next race. Some lucky charm of some sorts."

"Some motivation?" It seemed to be familiar to Haru. I feel like I've done something like that before.

"Yeah!"

"You're too excited for this."

"Come on, we rarely get to hang out nowadays."

"Fine... I'll go. I'm sure Ivan wouldn't mind if I have a few days off."

"Heh~ great! I can't wait!"

[Valentine Z]

Part 6 – A very Tireing Matter.

1st Cpt. Angela Stella Trista Josephine Natalie Rv. E. Tps. “The Eternal Explorer” Bethany Alyssa Valeska Payton. Mikayla Gosling Josie Rowan Serenity Chelsea Lynette Hannah Tan Fang Ling had a pretty large breakfast on that morning, anticipating the race that is to come. The other day, the practice was a bit shabby, but she pulled through, she thought to herself. Being able to place 10th on the qualifications was a pretty good start, and she wanted to make sure that she was performing her very best on that actual race. She ate a hearty breakfast, though not enough to make sure that she doesn’t give her Cygnus car an additional paint scheme in the form of sickly combination of yellow and green. She also have had enough sleep, instead of perhaps spending too much on the simulation to the point that it would hinder her rather than help; “Do not over study or look at the notes 15 minutes before exam starts,” she remarked, finishing up her final checks while also talking to a few of the Cygnus staff and engineers. It was a pretty nice day, if a little dry, but it was nothing that she couldn’t handle. She and Carol also have had small talk amongst themselves, a mix of the race itself along with topics about Angela’s space missions. “Are you ready for this one, Angela?” he asked first, to which Angela nodded with a hint of confidence in her, “As ready as I will ever be, I suppose! I don’t want to get too confident, but at the same time, I hope that I can do this, you know what I mean?” Carol mulled over that thought, but he offered a lot of reassuring words and Angela was naturally more than grateful for that. She wanted to remark a little about Cole, but she thought it might have been impolite, and that it was still too early to talk about someone like that, especially with them being twin brothers and all. “When I am done with this race, I think I want to give you and the rest of the guys a little bit of a tour, hehe. Don’t worry, there’s nothing malicious, nor am I going to throw people into a black hole. I will do that, maybe it will lighten things.”

Hopping into her car, Angela did her usual sequence of pressing buttons, along with checking the steering wheel, the throttles, and of course, the buttons themselves. The gear shifting is good, the levers are firm yet easy to step on for her, and the steering wheel seemed to have been made a little tighter for her, as per her request that she filed in yesterday. “Fate bless these people!” she remarked softly to herself with a smile, waiting patiently at the grid for the race to start as she recalled the shape of the race track – from her understanding, it looked relatively simple, so there is not a lot of technicalities that are going to be happening. The turns looked rather easy for her, though she noticed from her studies and her practice that it would be turns 10 to 12 that would be giving her a lot of trouble, along with Turn 7 which she learned to dislike from her practice. Still, all things considered, she thought it was going to be a typical run-of-the-mill run, and besides, with this just being the second race of the season, along with the unpredictable nature of the races themselves, Angela was not discouraged, not even in the slightest of bits.

The first problem began as soon as she finished 15 laps. With both herself and – as she assumed – Brendan, falling behind the pack, she noticed that she was called back into the pits. “Angela, we will have to change the tires. They are not working on this abrasive course.” Angela had a bit of disappointment on her face, but she was not the one to fault them; these kinds of things happen, after all. “Okay, acknowledged! Over,” she said with her cheerful tone, in a bit of an attempt to show that she is not angry about the whole thing, because she understood that mistakes are a thing, and especially when everyone was stressed in this dry and presumably hot environment, all of it coupled by the hot and especially abrasive road. With the tire change (even if the medium tires themselves were struggling), Angela tried her best to make sure that she is not going to end up at the bottom. The opportunity to get even a single point might have been gone for this particular race, but anything would beat being at the bottom. On top of that, the message that she got from the team was more than enough to lift her spirits up. “Angela, we might have been caught out by the conditions, but you’re doing a good job. Keep the power low and I’m sure we can still salvage something to mend our spirits. You’re doing great,” was their message. She smiled to herself, followed by replying back to them, “Hey, thank you! I really appreciate it. I’m sorry it didn’t work out so well. I will see what I can do, maybe I can team up with Brendan if I see him there.” There was a bit of acknowledgement from herself, but there was something happening in the background that she couldn’t catch quite well. “Excuse m-” was all she could hear, but it didn’t seem like Carol was talking to her, so she simply shrugged. Carol’s been nice to her, after all.

The finish wasn’t that spectacular, but she was not going to be too upset about it. After all, she and Brendan were together. “I do hope that we will be able to stick together like this, but maybe a bit more forward on the positions,” Angela remarked to Brendan, the two of them having a bit of a conversation, “But don’t worry, please don’t take this as me saying anything bad about you, or the team, or anyone. We did what we could, and I am happy that neither of us got a DNF or anything like that.” She offered to shake Brendan’s hand, and perhaps maybe a bit more of a talk, but for that particular moment, he looked a little tired and so wanted to leave the guy alone with his thoughts for a little bit. “We will catch up again later, I hope! And hey – good luck to the both of us. We got this.” With that reassurance, she then made her way to talk to Carol. Angela was still so far oblivious to what is happening within the team but for the time being, it was not something that she did not want to occupy herself with. For that moment, all she wanted to do was to get some rest, and browse around on her tablet on noteworthy news all over the worlds.

Astronomy news all over the world and the multiverse (procured from Valentine Z’s content prospectors going all over the worlds and extracting parts of the internet) were the ones that she started looking at first. The Valentian news were more or less an everyday thing for her – a mission whereby Valentian Space Agency is going to their world’s Andromeda Galaxy for the 282nd time, looking back into a nuclear-propulsion rocket after it was shelved by the Pre-Valentians in the 1970s, and of course, more missions to go to countless other universes with the supervision of one Gwen Tracer Allison Oxton; after all, there are an unfathomable number of universes in the multiverse, and there is a lot even for Gwen. The other worlds and countries – at least those with a space program – are the ones that the Valentians have to be careful with, to make sure that they are not going to be detected by satellites. With the news on astronomy done, she then looked over to the racing news, particularly one that attracted her attention from a Tumbran news source. It said the following: “Cygnus, Nexus cars "unfit to be called open-wheelers"; Cygnus car "particularly dangerous" with ambitious closed-cockpit concept: Pressley Racing CEO.” She read through the rest of the article with interest, wondering as to if she should talk about the controversy with the others. She eventually decided to keep it to herself for the time being, since she just got into the team for one, and that she should not be addressing it when there is the potential to cause frictions with the team, or their higher-ups. All she wanted to do was to race and do her best, and perhaps give her own output only if they asked. With a few more hours passed and her being rested well enough, it was time for her to show the team about her space adventures.

With the Cygnus crew (may or may not include Dr. Emerson, Lianna, Cole, Carol, Brendan, and a lot of others) present and accounted for, Angela was seen strolling in, pushing in a strongbox that looked way too heavy, and yet she was able to push it effortlessly. “Well, as I have promised, these are a few things that I have took, earn, or gotten along the way during my decades of exploration. For those who might have seen my CV, I am not lying when I said that I am currently indeed way older than I look. I am physically 33, but as of right now, I am more than a hundred years old, all thanks to the Valentian science and a little bit of magic, but that topic is perhaps for another time, if you would like to know. For now, please do enjoy these little trinkets that I have collected.” Walking over to her strongbox, and making sure that everyone around her is at a considerably good distance away, Angela opened the box and began a showcase of items. “First and foremost, is a jar containing the dust of the Solar System! At least, “dust” as much as possible, any solids that I can find, really. Mercury and Venus were the most difficult, because I have to take pieces of hot rocks, AND ground them into dust. That’s not a big deal, for the most parts. I just had to take them quickly into the strongbox, cool them quickly, then comes the grinding. Earth is easy, obviously! Mars isn’t too bad… Jupiter and Saturn were a little tricky, but again, not something the Valentians couldn’t handle! Uranus and Neptune, the latter of which has raining diamonds sideways! As part of the Valentian expedition, I collected a lot of the diamonds for use back on Earth. Sure, it collapsed the diamond market, but that was the intent – we don’t want blood diamonds, even though that has not been a problem with Valentine Z to begin with. Oh and yeah, Pluto. Very cold planet, I would not recommend setting foot on it. It played havoc with the suit’s systems even as soon as I stepped onto the ground. Nice and lonely though, just too cold, hehe. Anyway, moving on for around the worlds.”

The next items that Angela showed were from across the multiverse. “Just as a disclaimer: If you do have something against the existence of the multiverse – and I didn’t mean this in a condescending manner – but like if you think that you might develop a form of existential crisis over it, please do leave before I start showing any of you the items.” The first one was a piece of fruit that she gathered, kept securely in a strong bulletproof glass, is a piece of fruit, along with a couple of leaves, kept in stasis. “From a planet in another system, as in another universe. It’s a little unstable and well, I would not want to eat it, that is for sure. A noteworthy find, and of course, proof that life exists on other worlds and planets!” Then she went to the next one, a foldable chair that has a rather series of foreign symbols, at least foreign to the people in Valentine Z and does not seem to be congruent with any writings, cultures, and the like. “This one is from another world as well! I made contact with the civilization there – looks human, actually, I don’t know if they are just humans from another universe. So yeah, this is a chair that I got from them as a gift – it functions like a normal chair, but the material it was made it is very, VERY comfortable. It’s like sleeping on the best memory foam bed, and at a size of a folding chair. Here, give it a try, I will set it up. It won’t snap and hurt you, don’t worry about it!” Then she went on to another item from another world. It was a decorated and ornate sword that is adorned with “precious” stones – consisting of granite, quartz, topaz, a block of carbon. “Yeah, those seemed to be pretty rare on that planet. Not exactly carbon-based organisms, from my interactions with them. Had to be careful with these things, lest you blew up, or you blew them up. Then comes the problems!”

In a non-threatening manner, Angela then took out an alien-looking pistol, similar to those “alien blaster toys” that were a rage in the 1960s to 1970s with the popularity of the sci-fi movies. “First and foremost, don’t worry, this is unloaded and won’t fire! Secondly, I have good trigger discipline, and I will NOT be using this. Uses batteries made out of depleted radioactive materials, but the gun itself now is NOT radioactive, so that’s why I am showing you right now. I picked it up from a robber – yeah, I nearly got robbed in an alleyway on another planet. Of course, I punched the lights out of that being, grabbed his gun and extra ammo – which is how I knew about the ammo it uses. After replicating its functions, it has been with me for years and it’s a good piece. I am still using it as self-defense when I need it. Shoots low-energy lasers that disorient you, but if you use it enough on someone, it’ll surely kill!”

Angela went on to show like this for a couple more minutes, eventually spending 30 minutes as the Cygnus personnel were seemingly impressed and fascinated by her collection, along with her stories of her travels. If Dr. Emerson was around at that moment, it would have definitely made him all the more captivated. “That will be all for now, and yeah, thank you! I thought this would be a nice little opportunity to relax from the hectic race we had yesterday!”

[Valentine Z]

Part 7 – Vast Networks.

Zastępca Strażnika Adriana Krystal Desiree “Cudowny Manipulacja Światłem” Venus Kowalski Faith Stanisława Engelse I. Cherise Krystyna Zaborowska Sztormowska Pamela Alina Re. T. Lillian’s original system is technological (and perhaps even magical) wonder and beauty. Apart from the networks of data drives and traditional components that made up her just like with her big sister Clarissa Alanis Star Samantha, Adriana has an additional system in the form of a safe and isolated dimension that houses a lot more data, more than what any one person or even a group of organic folks can comprehend. The dimension, a large and massive space, houses enough data drives and many various forms of non-conventional storage systems and devices that adds up to 10^200,000,000,000 bytes. Of course, not all of that has been filled yet, and perhaps not in any foreseeable future even for the Valentians, but that is the kind of redundancy and massive amounts of data that Adriana has access to. The clone Adriana, however, has a relatively limited access whereby she can add more data into the isolated databases that were meant for her, as well as being able to read all of the data that was in there. The clone and her original do not have any problem with it (as expected for a Valentian), and that both Adrianas feel comfortable filling up for NSSCRA and WGPC.

Still, even this amount of data is not enough for Adriana to secure a point, let alone a podium finish, unlike the previous race. Perhaps it was due to the fact that she was not as aggressive with the driving, letting the other cars pass her especially during the DRS sections. The track wasn’t as technical, with the exception of a few sharp turns where Adriana’s driving skills shone. Other than that, she was performing less than ideally, and the crew definitely picked up on that. “Do your best for now, Adriana!” they radioed to her, “We will see what we can do later on when you come back for a debrief.” And that was what she did, doing her best. She was able to take over a few cars here and there, but the fact that she was the very last driver at “1 lap down” was a bit disheartening; everyone else behind her were 2 laps down. With the checkered flag waving in the air, she finished 21st, 7 drivers behind her, with one DNF from William Archer. She was a little disappointed, but at the same time, at the very least, Adriana wasn’t Anneliese on that day. To be clear, it was not that she was mocking her. Rather, Adriana felt her plight and was all the more sympathetic. Adriana would be then seen offering Anneliese a hug or some form of consoling). “After all, I know how that feels; to be at the bottom of the results, or worse, getting into a DNF,” Adriana remarked, consoling her teammate and to reassure her as well. “Hey, if it is any consolidation, you did amazing on the previous race. We did amazing then! This is a setback, I know, but I am sure that there will be more races to come for our taking!”

Adriana then made her way back to the garage for the briefing, whereby the Eminent staff were waiting for her. The briefing was, well, brief for the most parts. There were a slew of discussions that have happened, from the car’s specifications, to the drivers themselves, to the engines and tires, to the pit crew. As far as Adriana was concerned, it was everyone’s responsibility, and that for this blunder, there was not a single fault; after all, both of the drivers were able to pull it off for the previous season and thus it was not the fault of Adriana or Anneliese. Perhaps the car was just not ready for the track on the day, but at the same time, the engineers have definitely been bending over backwards for the best of tuning to happen, and Adriana certainly did not fault them. Still, she felt more responsible, because at the end of the day, even a best car can only do as good as its driver. The opposite can apply, but for the sake of humility, Adriana did not think of herself as the best; experienced and had her streaks of winning, yes, but the title of being the best is dubious at best. She simply wanted to be better than her previous performances.

Still, there was a good surprise at the end of the day. With the sponsorships being finalized, including that of the Valentian companies, Adriana (and presumably Anneliese) were presented with their new firesuits. “With the recent changes to the list of sponsorships, along with a change of style, even, we would like to present to you this new firesuit. Tailored to your size too, of course,” one of the staff described to Adriana as she gently took the firesuit and looked at it with delight and glee, wanting to try it out. It was the same exact size for her, though she could not help but feel that it was a little tight on the arms. “Oh, yeah, err, we made the arms a little too small, sorry about that!” one of the staff voiced out while Adriana commented on it as she was wearing it in a dressing room. “Ahh, it’s okay, I think it is fine! Maybe it will expand a little as I am wearing!” And then, there she is, Adriana in a black firesuit, complemented by the colourful logo of Harumi Robotics, along with the Eminent logo emblazoned on the torso. “It is amazing, thank you!” Adriana remarked, “Yeah, the arms are fine, don’t worry! The black is a welcome change.”

Thanks to Lisander for the firesuit!

[Chromatika]

Tropicorp
Post-Qualifying

"Ninth, Ji! Ninth! That is progress," explained Terho as the Tropicorp-Colourworks team sat in the meeting room after Qualifying, "Need to make sure to be a little more aggressive this time - I know that isn't how you usually race, but if we are going to make a run at the podium, you need to take your chances."

Ji nodded in agreement. "I think I've recognized a few turns where I can make my move, and I am always willing to take suggestions as they come along," she responded, "It would be nice to get some points for once."

It was only two races in, but she was already getting used to the lifestyle. There was a comfort in how Terho ran things, a method to the madness of Practice followed by Qualifying, and all that mattered was making sure that it would all translate to the race to come.

"We don't want you to think about the points, all right?" Terho added, "You do you, take the chances, and trust that things will turn out in our favor."

"I have a feeling about this one," she admitted to the team, "The comfort is starting to set in."

"I mean, we can't be any worse, right?" laughed Terho. The team wasn't used to being this low in the team standings, but they had managed to keep the negativity away from the drivers - which Ji appreciated wholeheartedly.

A huge part of her stability was the presence of one Lily McCloud - or "Rachel Stevenson", as was her cover. Her bodyguard was rarely more than fifty feet away from her, except on the track - that had been the one place where they'd admitted to Ji being vulnerable. They would simply had to lean on the fact that if anyone were to attack Ji on the track, they would risk an international incident involving all the other drivers on the circuit - which Lily admitted would be a bit out of the ordinary.

She'd even set up a potential meeting with Ted Pressley, to be scheduled before the mid-season tests. The latest from the Death Templar Law Firms was that her testimony would likely be around the same time as well. With all distractions aside, she could fully commit to the races at hand - and hope that for the first time this season, the results would reflect the effort being put into it by her team and herself.

"Let's go over the plan again," she stated, and Terho, being used to the bookish nature of Ji by now, went back a few slides on the powerpoint.

They had some daylight to burn still.

---

Somewhere
Chromia, Capital District, Chromatika

"Is it ready?"

In a dark underground room somewhere in the cesspool of the not-so-great districts of Chromia, a group of ten individuals were meeting in dim lighting. All of them wore nondescript clothing, wearing masks to disguise their prominent features and muffle their voices. Secrecy was of the foremost importance here, and anyone not treating it as such would be handled appropriately. This was how they had remained undetected for so long - even if the Chromatik government had an inkling of their existence - and as such, they adhered to such high secrecy.

"It is," responded one of the ten, "And the Betrayers do not know, as far as we can tell."

"The Betrayers have become fattened by the promise of power," stated the first speaker, "They believe that because they had a say in getting the current Premier elected, they have taken over the country, and that their whims will be carried out by their puppet. No, what's become very clear is that their puppet has become severely obstructed by the political morass of this country, and we remain as committed as ever to be the ones to carry out the action that they will not."

'Yes!" shouted one of the others excitedly, "We will jar them back to their senses and they will realize just how much they've strayed away from the truth."

"She must not be allowed to speak," continued the first speaker, "The hit carried out against the target must not be identified as our actions. It is a testament to our failure that she was allowed to live at all. There were not supposed to be any witnesses!"

"The failure has already been punished," answered a more sinister voice, "They have been chastised and will never mess up again."

"We will correct the wrong, we will put pressure on the Betrayers, and we will continue to prune the branches of the vine."

With that, the gathered ten dispersed - three minutes after they had gathered.

Operation Shockwave was a go.

[TJUN-ia]

WGPC20
Cocoabo Preservation Grand Prix
Cocoabo Park Circuit
Cocoabo Forest, Tropicorp

WGPC20 has started off in an interesting way for all 28 drivers - and especially for the TJUN-ian drivers that populate this grid. Race 1 saw gains made without points scored while Race 2 saw one driver take home consolation points as his teammate won the whole thing while the other struggled with the pace and effectively fell off the face of the earth. As everyone approached the quarter mark of this season, a celebration with the Fleftic gang was held at a nearby bar but while that was certainly fun, there were more pressing matters that had to be dealt with. Lane Carter was happy to finally be on the board but while they were happy for Fast Cocoabo's win, the fact that Lane couldn't do that from P5 and the Cocoabo did from P21 did sting a little bit. Batu meanwhile simply wanted to simply be on the board, to get his team on that board for the 1st time, and while last time out was heartbreaking, they kept hope that they could get his name on the board sooner rather than later.

The Cocoabo Park Circuit is a track the TJUN-ian race fan will know very well. NSSCRA has raced here, Batu has raced here in WGP2 and it was here at this circuit that Lane managed to grab the attention of VTGP and get the seat he now occupies. This track certainly holds a lot of memories and certainly a lot of interest, especially in the Cocoabo Park next door, and considering what was to come tomorrow, everyone knew they needed to study this track from the ground up if they were to maximise potential success. This session was seen by many as one of the more important of the early season and it would be here that the local teams/drivers thrived as Lane actually managed to top the session over old teammate R.L. Cruisin and current teammate Fast Cocaobo in a very cool Top 3. Batu wasn't too far behind, only 0.008 down in P6, while Jordan Crowe (Batu's 1A, if you will) was only 0.084 down in P20 in another tight session. But you could certainly feel that the times didn't really matter as much as they would normally...and for good reason.

Qualifying would go down with the wacky and ridiculous One-Shot format, where every driver would go out in reverse championship order and get one shot to put in a pole time. In this case, the session wouldn't just be about who made the fastest time - but also about who made the fewest mistakes in doing so. Crowe would be up first, setting a time only good enough for P27, and then Batu would be a little bit later on. Batu was caught up a bit at turn 8 but other than that, it was a respectable performance that would end up placing them in P12 for Sunday. Lane would be one of the first of the points-scorers to go and he did not have a good time at all, going through some of the same pitfalls that Crowe went through to end up down in P26 while Fast Cocoabo was 2 seconds quicker and still could only manage P17. In the end, it would be Sohpie McCreary's unfancied teammate, Bryce Yannec, would end up storming to pole over Cruisin and Will Archer in a grid that seemed a bit mixed up, but also guaranteed a wacky race for tomorrow.

Considering the first two winners started below the Top 10, no one knew exactly who was going to claim victory tomorrow. Both drivers would go to sleep hopeful that they could bring home something tomorrow...but not after Lane sent an email to someone who wasn't at that bar...someone he didn't want to feel left out.

---

To: Ted Pressley
From: Lane Carter
Subject: Absence

Dear Ted,

Hello. This is Lane Carter calling, the TJUN-ian from Will's group. I know it might be weird for me to be emailing you out of the blue, even more so considering you and I haven't really talked to each other much, but there was something that was on my chest and I felt like I needed to say it, one way or the other. I hope this doesn't come out the wrong way because while I am a kind person at heart, the stuff I've been through in my life has made my words harder to come out.

I was saddened that you couldn't be at the bar in Togonistan. I knew you had your reasons and, while I don't know what they are, I fully respect that fact...but I guess I just wanted to know if you were OK? Like I know I'm invading your privacy and I get that this question is coming out of the blue, but I guess I...wanted to make sure everything was OK on your end and that something didn't force your absence from our meeting.

I know I'm poking my nose into a place where it most likely shouldn't be, but...I guess I just really wanted to actually get to know you, you know? Across the break, I've become great friends with Will and his friend Donny and Batu as well...so I guess I was hoping that when this group started meeting up again, I hoped that I would be able to...talk to you and get to know you better as well. I didn't want you to feel left out by the overall dynamic, you know?

I'm sorry if I'm just acting creepily or just making myself seem like an absolute lunatic...but you are a member of this group and I...just wanted to make sure that you weren't going to some sort of 5th wheel, you know. I hope you're doing OK and...I hope I get to speak to you soon.

Kind regards,
Lane

[Delaclava]

"Man, it's good to see you!" Kingston said to Sandro as they walked alongside the track in Tropicorp. "Congrats to you, you've had quite a good few weeks." Perez had won the season opener of Prix del Á, the Corcorran GP; he had also made the front page of the tabloids for his new fling with A-list actress Kate duMont.

"Congrats yourself!" Sandro replied. "You made it out of Novavax alive, and you had a good drive today. The way things have been going, I know you have a shot to move up the grid and get some points."

"Thanks." Kingston glanced at Sandro. "So," he said slightly jokingly, "what's your lesson for today?"

"Well, it sounds like you've been able to string sentences together when you talk to women. That's a good start. But, this is very important... you don't have to just go for anyone who shows interest in you. It's time to start thinking about who you like. Who you want to make a move on. When you're confident enough, when you know what you like, and when you have it in front of you, then you can go for it." Sandro stared piercingly at Kingston. "Does that make sense?"

"Uh-huh," Kingston got out in a throttled voice. He recovered himself, before shooting back jokingly, "Well, aren't you interested in everyone, then?"

Sandro laughed. "Well, I am a loving, adventurous soul, I'll give you that. But some people I'll kick out of bed. Not a lot. But some. But anyway, tell me," Sandro paused. "What's your type? Who do you like?"

"Um..." Kingston tried to think. "Honestly? Don't laugh."

Sandro waved his hand. "Go on."

"I've never really even thought about having a type. Like that was a possibility."

"No, no, I get it. Let's start simpler, then." He pointed to a fan that was around the paddock, about five-foot-six, with an average build and a pretty face. "How about her? You fancy her?"

Kingston stared at Sandro. "Uh..."

"No, no, it's okay. This is just window-shopping. Look, you don't have to ignore what people look like. Some women are going to be more attractive to you than others. It doesn't make you an asshole to admit that! Now, you like her?"

Kingston nodded. "Yeah. She's cute."

"Okay, great. How about..." Sandro chuckled. "Oh, how about her?" He pointed back across the paddock to Lilly.

Kingston's face turned beet red.

"Got it," Sandro laughed. "Okay, how about...her?" He pointed to a particularly tall woman wearing a black Eminent jersey.

Kingston shook his head instinctively. "Nah."

"Okay, good! Now, why not?"

Kingston shrugged. "I'm...not sure. There's just... I guess I'm looking for something...more?"

"Yes! Good!" Sandro said enthusiastically. "See, this is good. There are beautiful women and men out there of all kinds and shapes. Don't just go for the skinniest chick you can find. You see..."

Suddenly, flames erupted around Sandro, and he was holding a guitar, standing in front of a microphone, with a band surrounding him.

"Um...what is happening?" Kingston said quizzically.

Sandro and his teleported bandmates leaned into the microphones and delivered the first lines of the song:

Are you gonna take me home tonight?
Aah, down beside that red fire light
Are you gonna let it all hang out?
Fat bottomed girls
You make the rocking world go 'round
Hey!
I was just a skinny lad
Never knew no good from bad
But I knew life before I left my nursery
Left alone with big fat Fanny
She was such a naughty nanny
Heap big woman, you made a bad boy out of me
Hey, hey!
I've been singing with my band
Across the wire, across the land
I seen every blue eyed floozy on the way, hey
But their beauty and their style
Went kind of smooth after a while
Take me to them dirty ladies every time
C'mon
Oh, won't you take me home tonight?
Oh, down beside your red fire light
Oh, and you give it all you got
Fat bottomed girls
You make the rocking world go 'round
Fat bottomed girls
You make the rocking world go 'round
Hey, listen here
Now I got mortgages on homes
I got stiffness in my bones
Ain't no beauty queens in this locality, I tell you
Oh, but I still get my pleasure
Still got my greatest treasure
Heap big woman, you done made a big man out of me
Now get this
Are (I know) you gonna take me home tonight? (Please)
Oh, down beside that red fire light
Are you gonna let it all hang out?
Fat bottomed girls
You make the rocking world go 'round (yeah)
Fat bottomed girls
You make the rocking world go 'round
Get on your bikes and ride
Oh yeah, oh yeah, them fat bottomed girls
Fat bottomed girls
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Alright, ride 'em cowboy
Fat bottomed girls
Yes, yes

And as Sandro delivered the final verses of the song, shouting "Get on your bikes and ride!", thick, curvy women emerged from all directions and began to dance around Sandro, one of them pulling Kingston into the center of it all. Kingston was awestruck but let the primal groove, the physical charisma of his dance partners take him away...

[Vilita and Turori]

Grand Prix of Togonistan, Hwoarang Racing Circuit, Togonistan :: After a strong showing at the season opening Grand Prix of Liventia, the World Grand Prix Championship's Rookie Drivers were sent back a peg in Togonistan on a day when a number of World Grand Prix Veterans began the process of righting the ship after a slow start. In a race won by Cocoabo #23 who is competing in their third full-time campaign at the World Grand Prix Championship Level, fellow veterans Rudy Edwards, Dom Falepeau, Ryker Lane, Lane Carter and Sara Luna broke into the Top 10. There were still two Rookie drivers who managed to make it two-for-two in finishing in the points for their World Grand Prix Championship career, and it would be the two drivers who had been first and second in the Toys '4' All Rookie Standings heading into Togonistan.

Rookie Points leader Adonis Fitzpatrick of Urotovsky-Gatutin would have the worst drive of their World Grand Prix Championship career placing 6th in Togonistan, finishing right behind home track driver Dom Falepeau of Portland-Carvenlo Racing. While Fitzpatrick's second consecutive points finish was more than enough to keep the UrGa driver atop the Toys '4' All Rookie Point Standings, the gap from Fitzpatrick back to second placed driver Sophie McCreary of Pressley Racing would close significantly as Sophie would pick up her first career podium finish coming home in third place behind Fast Cocoabo and Rudy Edwards.

While only Fitzpatrick and McCreary would make it into the points among rookie drivers in Togonistan, a number of additional competitors in their debut season were knocking on the door with Bryce Yannec, Aaron Deering, Darian Vilau and Skiia Vialiv all placing just outside of the points in the Top 15 and each of them will be looking forward to the Cocoabo Park Circuit in hopes of making their mark and scoring World Grand Prix Championship Points for the first time.

Pos # ▍DRV Name                      Team [Engine]                                        Tyres                    Pts
 1 74 ▍FTZ Adonis Fitzpatrick        Urotovsky-Gatutin [Preston]                          Tropicorp                24
 2 42 ▍MCR Sophie McCreary           Pressley Racing [Kaylan]                             Brústeinn                18
 3 91 ▍WAL Kingston Walcott          Sivaleinen [Preston]                                 Tropicorp                3
 4 33 ▍BLA Sam Blaatschappen         GPA Pryfors Bilar [Sidus]                            Phoenician-In Motion     2

---

Cocoabo Preservation Grand Prix, Cocoabo Park Circuit, Cocoabo Park :: All eyes were on Cocoabo #23 when the cars unloaded at the Cocoabo Park Circuit. Race Eelandii! Vilita and Turori World Grand Prix Motorworks and the #23 team naturally had the Cocoabo Preservation Grand Prix circled on their calendars at the start of the season - looking at that as the race that would potentially be able to kick start their fortunes if they weren't able to find success in the opening two rounds. Of course, things have thus far gone O-K for Race Eelandii VTGP with Cocoabo #23 in the points for each of the first two events of the season including a first career World Grand Prix Championship victory in the Grand Prix of Togonistan, becoming the first Cocoabo driver to win in the multiverse's premier open wheel series. Now, of course, the discussions are whether the Fastest Driver on the circuit at the Hwoarang Racing Circuit would be able to repeat that success at their home circuit, the very track they learned how to drive on to begin with.

Things were looking great for Fast Cocoabo and Race Eelandii VTGP in the first practice session. Though Light Showers were falling on the circuit, Lane Carter topped the speed charts with Cocoabo #23 not far behind in third place just 0.005 seconds back.

Unfortunately for the Race Eelandii VTGP Duo, however, the One Shot qualifying format would not work in their favor - nor in the favor of many of the drivers who had to make their qualifying run on a damp race track. A few drivers were able to make the adjustment to find the dryest part of the circuit to run fast lap times on and it opened the door for another first time World Grand Prix Championship pole winner, Bryce Yennec of Pressley Racing. Bryce will have some steep competition in search of a victory, however, with Veteran R.L. Cruisin, the driver with the most Grand Prix starts of all time in the World Grand Prix Championship series starting right beside them, and William Archer the winner of the final two Grands Prix of the previous season starting just behind them. There will be three additional rookie drivers starting Inside the Top 10, Sam Blaatschappen in 4th, UrGa's Skiia Vialiv just behind in 5th and Tropicorp Colourworks driver Ji So-Yeong debuting the teams brand new Jungle Themed livery as the former Constructors Champions return to a prior model chassis in hopes of securing their first points of the season.

It was a tale of two stories and two weeks for Portland-Carvenlo driver Dom Falepeau. After winning the fifth pole of their career one week ago at their home race in Togonistan, Falepeau was slowest to the grid nearly 5 seconds off the pace not only of the Pole Sitter Bryce Yannec but also of their own teammate, R.L. Cruisin, who starts in second position. There will be nowhere to go but forward for Falepeau who, along with Race Eelandii VTGP's Lane Carter, will be looking to march through the field in a hurry at the Cocoabo Park Circuit.

---

VILITA & TURORI RACER ✓

@VTRacer

Incredible scenes in Togonistan as #Cocoabo23 dominates the day on track to secure a first career World Grand Prix victory. Now Fast Cocoabo returns home to @CocoaboPark with their eyes set on back-to-back victories and a spot atop the World Grand Prix Drivers Standings.

#WGPC :: #GPTogonistan :: #CocoaboWins

[Mlima Kijani]

“…and then she lifts up her big foot and squashes it right down on me until I squeeze into…”

“Stop,” said Dr. Alyssa Hall. “Stop talking, forever, please.”

The young man shot her an inquisitive look: it wasn’t what he expected from the most renowned talk therapist in Hannasea. Then again she was barely 5’ tall, he snorted, not like…

“We’re going to try a different technique next time. Silent therapy.”

“So instead of talking about my fantasies, I should show you them?”

Alyssa hesitated. “We’re going to try something different anyway.”

She ushered him out, shuddered, and returned his file to the cabinet; Hannasea’s medical records system was entirely electronic, so instead of opening the cabinet to place a paper file inside, she just swiped the data wafer over the reader. Then she cleaned away the coffee mug – no electronic replacement for that, not yet. There was a knock, and the door opened. It was her receptionist, Elizabeth.

“You have a call. Lillý, um, Nátt...murderer?”

Alyssa nodded; she was expecting this. “Thank you, Liz. No calls for the next hour, please?”

She took a seat at her desk, and opened the call screen. “Lillý, hi.”

On screen was Lillý Náttmörðsdóttir, the Sivaleinen racing driver, sitting in what Alyssa assumed was Tropicorp. Lillý had been seeing Alyssa as a performance coach-cum-therapist for around two years, but given the nature of her career, many of their appointments ended up being conducted by video messaging rather than in person.

“Hi Dr. Hall.”

“How are you?”

“Good. Got some down time so I hoped you could squeeze me in. Doc?”

Alyssa overcame her nausea. “Please… please don’t say squeeze.”

“OK?” Lillý blinked, confused.

“Anyway, of course I can talk. I’m afraid I haven’t been following your season.” That was a lie; Alyssa had been following the races. They weren’t popular in Hannasea, understandably given cars were banned in the Guild Federation so auto racing was not really a boom sport, but GS SuperSport+ carried them all the same. She knew Lillý had not been doing terribly well.

“That’s OK. You haven’t missed much.”

“Lillý, remember we talked about a positive attitude…”

“I know. It’s not so much the bad results. I wasn’t expecting to set the world alight. It’s more that there’s an opportunity cost to me being here. Me taking the seat means some other talented driver doesn’t. It’s not like football, with millions of teams. There’s a very fixed number of seats, and I’m taking one, and not doing a lot with it. I’m worried I’m letting everyone down.” The blonde was on the verge of tears.

Alyssa nodded sympathetically. “Lillý, that’s a very serious situation and I think it’s important we process these emotions productively. So I’m going to begin by asking you a question, if that’s OK.”

Lillý nodded.

“OK, my question is: why are you surrounded by women with enormous posteriors?”

“Ah, well that takes some explaining…”

[Lisander]

<< Previously | Next >>

XIV. New Logos

Cocoabo Forest Circuit
1 hour before the race

"So, Eminent is getting new sponsors?" Anneliese was talking to Carolina Lasseps, the engineer of the #7 car. Lasseps was pointing to a place where a mechanic was applying new stickers in the purple car.

"Yes, the WGPC is blooming with new, special, different liveries. Almost every week, teams are modifying something, adding or removing a new sponsor". For today, we welcome two brands from Ethane in the livery. Falconer is a Technology company, and Treaters is a fast-food chain. Maybe we could get an entirely new livery for the next race, with that much money entering. Our visual package is getting updated with this livery and the new firesuits. Well... Seems the firesuits are outdated already..."

"Do they think the livery is too clean? They're even finding space for some pinkwashing? What's with the rainbow detail? It's a little bent also." - she pointed the rainbow flags in the sides.

"Corporate wants us to be embracing positive values. Come on, you should be happy about this. Isn't you gay?" Lasseps tried to make the matter light.

"Does it really matter? For my racing, I mean." - Anneliese wasn't exactly straight. In fact, she was barely interested in relationships, since racing had entered her life. Yet, all of her relationships had been with other women.

"No, but it's good to show some support."

"We could think in better ways..." - she grunted.

"Come on, not every nation is Lisander. Baby steps, baby steps." Lasseps escaped.

"Okay. But I think this Falconer logo should be bigger, there's a lot of purple space in the engine cover." she said in a smirky tone.



"Does it really matter? For your racing, I mean." Lasseps returned the smirky comment.

[Tropicorp]

Fast Cocoabo Takes Maiden Victory in Togonistan

WGPC20 Supplier Performance Standings (After Week #2)
[1] - 43 :: Tropicorp Racing Supply
[2] - 35 :: Phoenician/InMotion
[3] - 19 :: Brústeinn
[4] - 18 :: Tabtac

Grand Prix of Togonistan, Hwoarang Racing Circuit, Togonistan :: Despite a less than desirable starting position for the Grand Prix of Togonistan, Cocoabo #23 and the Race Eelandii VTGP team were not too concerned as it approached lights out and the start of the race. For whatever reason, the Race Eelandii cars of Fast Cocoabo and Lane Carter have shown speed in Practice and Race Trim but so far the team haven't quite figured out how to keep the pressure up in the added pace of qualifying trim. During the first race of the season in Liventia, Cocoabo #23 was the third slowest qualifier in the field and would start in the back along with Grand Prix Champion iBen Toralmintii and multi-race winner William Archer. Of the three of them, only Fast Cocoabo was able to drive through the field and find their way into the points with an incredible drive through the field that might have been a Driver of the Day candidate if not for the stunning performance of the two Eminent Grand Prix drivers finishing on the podium.

Yet Fast Cocaobo's run at the Grand Prix of Togonistan was far more impressive. The pace that the Race Eelandii VTGP car had in race trim was impressive enough on its own. However when deployed onto the Hwoarang Racing Circuit, the RE:VTGP Chassis was able to demonstrate something it hadn't been able to do in full in Liventia: Demonstrating not only Race Pace, but the consistency of that pace over the Long Run. While many of the other drivers saw seconds being chopped off their lap times as they got deeper into a run that was not the case at all for Cocoabo #23. Fast Cocoabo was running qualifying lap after qualifying lap - at a pace that wasn't really all that good to earn a decent spot on the starting grid - but a pace that was outstanding in race trim and one that would eventually take the Cocoabo to the top of the board. Then, once Fast Cocoabo got to first place they just kep going, driving off into the distance to easily come away with their first career World Grand Prix victory, instantly silencing those who questioned whether the Cocoabo had earned the right to be in the World Grand Prix Championship circuit after a season with the WGPC Motorworks Team.

After 3 seasons without a win, it would actually be Fast Cocoabo's second win of the week after earning a major confidence boosting victory in The Sherpa Empire by winning the IRACT Sanctioned Rumble in the Rice Fields stock car race at the Li River Speedway - a race which a handful of World Grand Prix Championship drivers had made the detour to attend en route from Togonistan to Cocoabo Park.

Now, with all the confidence in the world, Cocoabo #23 and the Race Eelandii Vilita and Turori World Grand Prix Motorworks team will be heading home to the first ever Cocoabo Preservation Grand Prix at the WGPC level. If Cocoabo #23 is to be on the podium at their home track they will have to once again come from deep in the field to do it after being caught in adverse conditions during their lone one-shot qualifying lap. Of course, despite the poor qualifying position Cocoabo #23 will remain confident about not only finishing in the points, but even winning at their home Grand Prix. No driver has passed more drivers on track over the first two weeks of World Grand Prix action than Cocoabo #23 has. The next closest driver in improving their position from the start would come as no surprise as it is Team Blue's Fleftic driver William Archer who is the only other driver to average 10+ Positions Improvement from Qualifying after two races.

Of course, with both drivers being Tropicorp Racing Supply drivers, it is also pertinent that Cocoabo #23's victory in Togonistan helped move Tropicorp Racing Supply back to the top of the Supplier Performance Standings after two events as Phoenician/InMotion slipped back to second place. Regardless of that minor motion atop the standings, however, the real story was just behind as both Brústeinn and Tabtac have now earned double digit points just two races in - earning points at a pace that far exceeds that of the challenging brands from one season prior during World Grand Prix Championship Season 19 - meaning that it is possible that Tyre Wars in WGPC Season 19 may be fought between not just two but four manufacturers on a weekly basis.

SKIIA VIALIV ✓

@Skiia

Congrats to #Cocoabo23 and the entire @TropicorpRS family on the victory in Togonistan. Will be working hard @CocoaboPark looking to score my first WGPC Points!