Faster Than Angels | Part 39.6
The referenced album title of Part 39.5 was Overkill by Savant.
[s2_31.6: Part 39.6] Fighting the Juggernaut: Omega
<22121122>
Sunday, November 22th, 2212
10:58:21
Lucia looked back at the body and pulled out the knife embedded into the recently deceased's skull. It was then that she had seen it. She had realised what was so very, horribly wrong with the situation, and the evidence was right on the weapon.
Although, a more accurate description would be that it wasn't. There was a very noticeable lack of blood. It wasn't that there were only a few specks, the blade was actually just as clean as it was before Lucia's attack.
"...wh... what the f*ck?!"
Her gaze moved quickly from the weapon in her hands to the 'corpse' she was still sitting on. The helmet was cracked from her stabbing, but there was an eerie darkness through the splits the knife caused. The curiosity must have gotten the better of him, because Brandon walked over to them, and held the helmet in his hands, looking into the cracks.
"...I'll need to open this, thankfully your knife weakened it, so I can just..."
He tried to pry it open, then pull it off, both to no avail.
"Give me the knife?"
The knife was handed to him, by a rather scared Lucia. Now in his possession, he used the knife to make more cracks in the helmet, effectively breaking it enough that he could pry it open into two halves, using the knife as a lever. Once he did that, it snapped in half, leaving the truth open for them all to see.
"...Well, then. I believe that's a rather... interesting explanation." He looked up at them, wanting to find some kind of answer. "Where is the real Viktor Antonov?"
CO-04, 05, 08 and 11 all looked at each other, then started comparing data and other relevant information, before ringing up the pits at Vohl Square II. CO-11 was the one to tell Brandon their findings.
"The real Viktor Antonov is lying right under Lucia. There is no other 'real' one. It appears that he is, and always has been... an android."
Brandon looked from the man talking to him, down at the very non-human, mechanical innards of the destroyed android, then stood back up, looking back at him.
"...Argh... how the hell did we fail to notice this?! I swear he had a face, the face of Chris Scarborough!"
"It doesn't matter anymore, Russia and Crinale are now without a leader. The only thing left is to-"
"But Scarborough is Viktor! He's the head of the Racing Commission. What th--..."
Suddenly, Brandon stopped. He could see a grand total of thirteen people... not including himself. The man facing away from him... he looked familiar, that was why he didn't notice at first... Suddenly, his demeanour changed, his eyes widened, and it looked like he was about to explode.
"...WAIT... YOU. STOP!"
Upon hearing the man's bellow, the other, unknown individual began running, making his escape. Brandon set off after him, running just as fast, ignoring all of the guards that saw him and tried to stop him. Naturally, that gave the 12 remaining people to make their own escape... or an attempt to catch up to Brandon.
Through the now meaningless fortress, Brandon ran after the other man with all of his energy. He had to catch him under any circumstances. Down stairs, through hallways, down more stairs, and both had soon found themselves in the underground carpark. Weaving through cars, Brandon had lost sight of the man for a split second, before finding him entering a black and white, old-looking limousine, which looked like it had been modified to some extent. Running towards it, he found himself in a spot of deja vu.
The car had taken off, made a turn out of the parking bay onto the stretch of the road Brandon found himself on... and heading right at the man himself.
"WHAAAAAA-?!" Was the only thing he could physically say. Internally, he was thinking something more akin to 'Ah, crap. Not this again.'
Knowing his failure at clearing a jump over a vastly smaller car earlier that year, Brandon made the smart choice to not attempt the same thing again, and instead leaped to the side, out of the way of the speeding car. When he looked back, he saw the car making odd fishtailing movements as if it had made an attempt to dodge him, before its brake lights lit up briefly and it rounded the corner, never to be seen again.
------------
<11:12:42_>
<vohl square ii: short fwd_>
<race: lap 88 of 88_>
01. TUR847.1.13.329 (#13 | Leon Turner | F0-RA8/00191)
02. ARD889.0.19.194 (#19 | Gareth Ardos | AX2.0_r3)
Gareth was caught by surprise from seeing the black and orange Crinale pull back, slowing down to let him pass. Unbeknownst to Leon, however, he was wary of the tricks one would pull from such a tactic, having experienced it first hand. Thus, he was not as confused as Leon thought.
"EMP Railgun."
"Missile."
They had both fired their weapons, one after the other. Leon had fired his missiles mere milliseconds before Gareth's Railgun temporarily shut off his weapon systems. The aftermath left both craft slowing down, with no clear way of knowing who would win out of the two.
"Quake."
That answer was, "none of them". The Jennter, racing a good distance behind Gareth, had fired their quake, having only seen the Crinale craft initially. The further damage and slowing effect the weapon caused to both craft gave them the edge needed to pull the victory right from under the rivals' noses. Both pilots had failed, losing from their attempts to make the other lose.
Angelus, however, was the one to take second, and Crinale very closely followed in third. With the race over, Gareth returned to the pits to see Brandon had returned.
"Hey! You've returned. Sorry about the loss."
Brandon replied "Ehh, it's fine. 2nd is good enough."
"So, what were you doing?"
"...I think it's a good idea to not mention what I was doing right this moment. Soon, though, soon."
The man, however, was still deep in thought, to what had happened that day...
Faster Than Angels | Part 39.7
The referenced album title of Part 39.6 was Juggernaut: Omega, the second half of the double album by Periphery.
[s2_31.7: Part 39.7] The Fall
<22121122>
Sunday, November 22th, 2212
11:07:39
As Brandon watched the large limousine speed around the corner and out of sight, the majority of the group arrived, seeing the man rise to his feet and brush himself off.
"What happened?" Alex asked.
"Bastard tried to run me over, I think." Came the reply. "Where's the rest?"
"They're speaking with the rest of the Russian government. We should be able to assign a new Ts.. No, let's not have another Tsar. I think it's time we got a Prime Minister. We need a new type of government."
"Fair enough. The guy that almost ran me over though, he's gone, there's nothing we can do about that. Let's just head back."
<my spirit | lacuna coil_>
"I would love to head back. I need to get out of this hell-hole." Lucia agreed. "You know, doing that felt really cathartic, I feel like my spirit is finally free."
"We have no further use for this place." Alex replied. "Let's go."
At the entrance, all 13 people related to the mission exited the building. No-one would ever know that they were the cause of the soon to emerge chaos that would ensue at the top floor of the fortress. 12 of those individuals placed hidden weapons in a storage area of a small bus before boarding the bus themselves, the 13th one entered a red compact. Starting the engines, they both made the long, worthwhile journey back.
The bus followed the rather nimble red car from the main road, all the way back to Vohl Square II. The rather long drive back took enough time so that they would be back in time to see the final few minutes of the race, or at the very least, the results. Everyone was still rather confused by the identity of Viktor, however they were all in high spirits due to the success of the mission, especially Lucia, who was actually smiling happily the entire way there.
Once they arrived at the racing venue, Brandon took his leave, returning to his team's pit room, while the rest made their way back to Crinale's. A sudden hushed silence filled the air, not just because of the COs making their unusual appearance at the race venue, but also from the appearance of a woman that was not seen being affiliated with the team since early 2210.
Despite that, she acted as if she was always the Director, not paying attention to the whispers and turning to Lucia, speaking to her.
"It is time. You have waited long enough, now it is time for you to hear me out before leaving this team. Are you still willing to uphold your end of the promise?"
The smaller girl nodded. She noticed the older, taller woman had gained an aura, a sense of leadership upon entering the specific partition. "Yes, I'll hear you out."
A warm smile filled Alex's face, letting her know it was going to seem like a friendly chat. "Great, if you would follow me to the control room, we may speak in there."
The entire group followed Alex up the stairs, not just Lucia. In fact, CO-02 spoke 7 words that made Alex feel much more than welcome back at her old team.
"It's great to have you back, CO-01."
That remark made her grin, and look extremely happy indeed... until they reached the top of the stairs. A single guard looked over at them, taking note of their new compatriot.
"Stop right there." He said simply.
Alex's expression changed from a happy grin to a deep scowl almost instantly, replying to the guard with, "My name is Alexandra Gelorum, CO-01. You will let me in."
"No. You are not permitted to enter."
"Let us handle this," CO-02 told her, stepping in front of her, then facing the guard, preparing to speak an imperative order.
"It is the unanimous opinion of the Crinale Originals that Alexandra Gelorum is reappointed the designation CO-01, the true Director of Crinale. Because of the defeat and death of Viktor Antonov, we are effectively the Overseers of this team. What we agree on must not be denied, lest you wish to be fired from the team."
"Forgive me if I do not believe you." The guard replied.
"Believe this," Lucia spoke up, "I stabbed that f*cker 23 times in the head. He. Is. Dead."
"Unfortunately for you, I can get into direct contact with Viktor."
The guard fished a phone from his pocket and pressed a single button. He waited... and waited... and...
"...What is the meaning of this?"
"I told you, he's dead. Not that he was a-"
"Lucia. That's enough." CO-02 cut her off, "The less people know, the better."
"O-okay."
"Now, as for you..."
CO-02 walked up to the highly confused guard, and shoved him out of the way, opening the control room's door and allowing all 12 people to enter and the others who were already in there to leave, before closing it back up.
Alex faced Lucia, looking down upon her smaller statue.
"Now, if I may begin. I know you have had intentions of leaving the team due to your... lack of freedom. However, I intend to open that freedom up. As the Director of this team once more, I really do wish for you to stay with us. In return... I will let you race however you see fit. I know of your talent, your prodigal status, and I wish to only nurture it. No more unnecessary violence, you may use whatever strategy you come up with for any race you enter. This is my promise, as CO-01, and as the new Director."
Lucia was shocked. She never thought that a person intending to regain their Director status for such a team would be so kind... so thoughtful. She looked down, as she blinked back tears.
"Are... are you serious? You... you'll really let me race however I want?"
"Of course, just so long as you stay with Crinale. There will definitely be more changes than just that, believe me."
"...what about Leon?"
"The COs have also told me about him, I don't think he will have a problem with the changes, he is also free to stay with us if he so wishes."
"...I-I... I..."
Lucia looked back up at Alex, the happiest look on her face in years.
"Thank you! Thank you so much! I... yes, I will give this a second chance... I-I just cannot thank you enough, Alex!"
"It is nothing. Nothing at all, I am just trying to help someone be the best they can be."
For the first time in 2 years, Lucia finally felt like she was home. She was accepted, not just for her talent, but for how she wanted to put that talent to use. To them, she was an actual person, not a machine set to win races in one single particular way. She could not wait for the next season to start up, so she could finally be free, and fly in her own way.
Faster Than Angels | Part 40
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Jonny
[...] as it did not strictly oppose the F12000, nor its formation.
...that's just what they think, having not seen them do anything by means of opposing them... but there's a reason for that.
- - - Updated - - -
Screw it, I'm posting the final part now. Enjoy!
The referenced album title of Part 39.7 was The Fall by Gorillaz.
[s2_32.0: Part 40.0] F:/2212FINALE/
<22121123-22121231>
Monday, November 23rd, 2212
That day started with even more confusion between Alex, Brandon and the COs. Chris Scarborough had made an appearance to close off the 2212 season of the F12000 and announce the 2213 season, despite having been 'killed' by Lucia. And yet hours, even days after, there was no attempt to return to Crinale, or for that matter, the Russian government. The latter was up in arms over the mass confusion, and the fact that their former Tsar had been an android. It would be some time before a new Tsar, or any form of leader, would be appointed to office.
Alex, however, was tasked with dealing with the mess Viktor had made. The space station that served as the team's primary base of operations was brought back down to Earth and disassembled, many of its parts being sold off to pay off the 'debts' collected by the team, using some of their surplus to buy up a new headquarters, keeping it's location unknown, in traditional Crinale fashion. Almost every other piece of Viktor-era machinery was also decommissioned, some even destroyed. Although, that was not their main issue.
Their main issue was in regards to the remaining tech in their hands, the F12000 craft they were left with. Alex made a promise to not have any remnants of Viktor's rule of the company upon her reacquisition of it. However, they had just not enough money, and very little time to develop a new one. Thus, she was forced to break her promise for that one piece of technology. The F0-RA8 would have to stay as part of Alex's new Crinale.
The technologies weren't the only thing she changed. A vast amount of people hired by Viktor that still adhered to his views were promptly fired from the team. Leon, naturally, decided to stay with the team when asked, purely for his love of racing.
Alex had also reached out to Brandon, after a lot of the prior events had died down.
"I've been making a lot of promises recently, so here's mine to you."
"Uh, okay..." Brandon replied, having been caught off-guard.
"Working with your team again opened up a lot of things for me, and I finally realised that I was initially wrong. So, I promise that as of now, we're friendly rivals."
"Friendly rivals? ...Interesting."
"Right, the only time I'll ever be violent towards you will be on the track, to keep that form of entertainment going. But I won't resort to anything illegal or unfair."
"Well, that's very good to know. I shall reciprocate that and act on the track as if you're still a threat to us... because you are, in the sense that you're still a rival." He smiled warmly upon making that remark.
Alex laughed. "Thank you. Thanks for giving me a second chance."
"Not a problem. Take care."
Because of her continued alliance with Brandon, she had accessed her own servers and pulled a certain piece of data. Once she found that it contained the relative information in it, she sent copies of the document detailing the chemical make-up of Tigron's experimental drug to both Angelus and Syncline, so the three teams were able to progress with their research to rid the world of The Condition.
------------
Angelus, after continued searches throughout the end of the year, and the beginning of the next, still had not found a new pilot to replace Tarah in time for the 2213 season. Many Angelus employees had considered Gareth's performance in the last two races to be quite optimal. Some of those people put two and two together and came up with the theory that he raced better on his own, without any other pilots racing alongside him. Either way, Angelus was still stuck with one pilot for the following season.
The instant they were back in Australia after the Vohl Square II race, Brandon decided to use the secret information network he had to lift more Viktor-related data from Preispodnyaya. Among other, seemingly unrelated data, he had also received data on something he had been quite interested in since he saw it back in February of that year.
Although no data on its actual performance and setup was written out, there were very detailed descriptions on the mechanics, systems and related specifications on the first of the mysterious Shinigami project's products: The RXK. Among the various other systems detailed that made up most of the car's systems, there were two in particular that caught his attention. The first was unheard of for production cars, having been fitted with a COFFIN-type system. However, the second system was so much more unbelievable, that it gained Brandon's attention more than the flight control system.
"...Elec... what?!"
Brandon recalled the final moments of his battle with that car, and how the explosion looked like it was hit with a Plasma. The reason why was simple; the engine was not anything that could be considered 'traditional' or 'normal'. It was referred to as an Electro-Plasma Kinetic Generator, a system that seemed to directly produce over 1500hp of thrust. That explained to him why the car seemed to be so fast, even though he didn't know the true output the car made.
Along with that, he had also found some data pertaining to the F12000, although it was far from enough to bring the league down. Nevertheless, he decided to keep every piece of data he obtained from that place, as it all contributed to his plan to undermine the corrupt league.
Between the start of December and the end of January, the teams were allowed to continue upgrading their craft for the following season. Angelus, naturally, focused their efforts on further upgrading their engine's power output and also the overall handling of the craft. They submitted their upgraded craft as the KA-AX2.0_r4, the AGR:Xff engine being registered as Type 3167.
------------
On one day in particular, Brandon received a phone call on his personal phone.
"Yeah? Brandon speaking... what?!"
The call was from an employee from Syncline. A few days after receiving the documents for The Condition's source, Nikole had, unfortunately, passed away. After making sure Alex knew, he set off to Mars, travelling to Syncline's headquarters. Once there, he found Johann Webber, the founder and lead technician of the team.
"Hey, mind if we talk?"
The man looked at him. "Brandon Smith, right?"
"Yeah. I think you might know why I'm here."
He closed his eyes and put his hand to his chin. "Mhh, Nikole? I'd rather not answer any questions pertaining to her. Call it a sign of respect."
Brandon nodded. "Alright, I can respect that. How about the Condition? Can you talk about that?"
"To you, yes. We've received the data on the chemical thanks to Miss Kotova, so we, along with Crinale, may proceed with developing the cure. I guess I can say one thing about Nikole, that she would want us to continue with this, no matter what."
Brandon nodded, "I can understand, it is a rather serious situation that needs immediate and consistent attention. Rest assured that I will continue to help you in any I can."
"That is appreciated, thank you."
"How is Kat taking the news?"
For some reason, Johann did not answer immediately. Instead, it looked as if he was thinking, as if he wasn't sure how exactly he should tell Brandon, if at all. But, he could not deny Nikole and Kat's trust in him.
"She... she's in a coma."
Brandon needed a moment to let that information sink in.
"I... what? She's... in a coma? How did that happen?"
The man shook his head, "I'm sorry, I hope you'll forgive me for not willing to disclose that information."
Brandon held up his hand. "No, no. It's completely fine. I definitely understand."
------------
Faster Than Angels | Part 40.Epilogue
[s2_E: Part 40.E] F:/2212FINALE/EPILOGUE
<00000000>
Unknown Date.
Unknown Location.
Unknown Time.
Two men had met up, to converse about an aspect of the Preispodnyaya Mission.
"We need to talk. The truth must come out."
"What? What truth?"
"That information, how did you get it?"
The other man sighed, placing a couple fingers to his temple.
"Why is that so damn important? What matters is that I provided that information, nothing more."
"But that's the thing, you obtained information that just wasn't possible to obtain."
"Through legal means." He finished the other man's sentence.
"...what?"
As the man in the black suit looked shocked, the one in the black coat smiled. It was a very cold-looking smile, one that looked like it was detached from the rest of his face's expression.
"Fine, I admit it. I used an information network."
"An information network?"
"Yes. I paid an information broker to give me that useful piece of data. And I don't regret it. I will do whatever is necessary to prevent corruption from existing in the league. I mean, sure, I had only intended to use them once, but now... I will not hold back, not after the chains bounding me have been broken by the very thing I wished to destroy. None of my strategies could have predicted that happening!"
"Strategies? As in, more than one?"
"Yes! My strategy skills are in fact quite strong, even stronger than my racing capabilities, though I hardly call myself the best racer. Honestly, though, with my ability to think multiple steps ahead and plan a course of action, I could play a strong game of chess... that is, if I had any interest in the game in the first place."
"So, this strategy... did it start with the F12000?"
"Hahahaha!" He laughed, before adopting a very serious expression on his face. "Whatever gave you that idea?"
The other man shivered. "Woah, you're giving off some legitimately scary vibes now."
The man explained, "See, the F12000 strategy is just a small part of a grander plan, it's a smaller strategy inside a larger one, a... 'matryoshka' strategy, if you will. The larger, grander strategy, however? That started more than a decade ago, back when we just made cars. My strategy... started with Katana, with the conception of the Angelus Project."
>>INITIATE: Beta_Angels_
>>MAY_22