[part removed]
Printable View
[part removed]
FTA: Curse of the Devil - Crinale 2210-12
Critical Error retrieving log number.
>loghttp://scp-wiki.wdfiles.com/local--f...8/numerals.gif.2: 22160924
Tuesday, September 24th, 2216
Yokohama, Japan
12:09:38
The JTW Neko appeared at the start of the ending straight, its modified inline-4 screaming past the stock rev limit of 8000rpm, which had been increased to 10,500. When the engine hit 9,900rpm, the driver shifted up, causing the engine's scream to die down.
"9th gear, here we go." Brandon said, reaching into his jacket pocket. He pulled out his sunglasses and put them on, then reached behind him and flicked his hood over his head. "312 before the start line, great. Nico, get ready to start the timer."
"What do you mean, I don't have it on me." Nico replied
<futureland | ace_>
"Fine, I'll have to resort to that one thing I never thought I'd have to use again... oh, who am I kidding, I still love this thing."
As soon as Brandon crossed the start line, he began the stopwatch. The first corner was a long, sloping corner that transitioned into a sharp bend. He used the momentum to cut through the sharp end and carry him to the other end of the track. An S-bend followed a short straight, which he slid through with some finesse and altering the power so the car slid the opposite way effortlessly.
The next corner was a very sharp one, so Brandon compensated by turning wide into the corner and pushing the car toward the apex as closely as possible as well as sacrificing a lot of speed. The corner did transition directly into a high speed corner, so he gained his speed through it.
Still gaining speed down the straight, he arrived at the final corner series, a left-right-left bend. He swerved into the first part, mashed the brakes briefly while shifting down to 8th, and slid mostly through whole distance of the right handed semi-circle, only straightening out before the entrance to the final left hand corner. He cut through it, onto the final straight and across the line where he stopped the clock.
"Huh, about 28 seconds, alright... but I know of a way where I can get a better time."
"How?" Nico asked.
"Heh, how about a tuned Angelus hypercar."
"What do you me-... no. Oh no, not that crazy thing?!"
"Yep. And it's even crazier with this fool behind the wheel." Brandon pointed at himself.
"Naturally. You've tuned it to your liking and have had about a year of experience with it."
"Yeah, exactly. Come on, I haven't really had a passenger sit with me when I push her to the limits."
Brandon parked the JTW Neko on the platform that was still sticking out from the truck. They got out and entered Brandon's tuned Iridium
"This feels very... odd." Nico mentioned as he got in.
"The car? Yeah, you can sense that this thing can do magical things. Let's go!"
<scapecoat (dub mix) | hsp_>
As usual, when Brandon pulled out of the pits, he started with a flying lap, progressively getting faster.
"What?! This feels so much faster! And yet you aren't even trying!"
"Well, I do know this car back-to-front, I can handle it really well."
As they neared the final straight to begin the lap proper, Brandon prepared to use all of the car's power. He opened a hidden panel in the center console next to the shifter. He flicked a switch and pressed two of the 3 buttons, which pulsed azure for a moment before changing to a steady green light. The instant they were on the straight, Brandon pushed the last button, which turned the buttons red, as well as the dashboard. As soon as that happened...
<1:01_>
BOOM.
"Ugh! Whaa--?" Was all Nico could manage.
The hypercar gained a very noticeable boost in speed and acceleration.
"This is similar to the tandem-electric system I used in my old Razer.X, before... [ahem], never mind. The only different thing is that this has a different, but new type of manual transmission. Also..."
Suddenly, the car shifted violently, but smoothly askew, initiating a drift.
"UGH!"
"Heh, sorry about that. This system allows me to initiate a drift and change directions much quicker than I could ever hope to."
When holding the drift, Brandon was much more composed, and didn't seem to fight with the controls. Already, they were travelling more than the JTW's top speed of 312km/h. When Brandon reached the S-turn, he used the unique system to snap his car to the right, using the momentum to slide into the first corner.
Instead of manually maneuvering the car to the left into the second corner, he used the system once more to push the car's rear out and the front into the bend. Altering the angle of his steering once, he navigated out of the corner series without lifting the throttle.
Up next was the sharp corner. Brandon had to drop some of his high speed in order to clear it. He shifted the car's angle and turned hard into the corner. He activated custom airbrakes fitted to the car, helping it navigate the turn. Once he was out of the sharp half, he accelerated hard and countersteered out the rest of the corner.
Up next was the final corner series. Keeping the accelerator pedal down, Brandon cleared the first corner, then activated the right airbrake and skewed the car's direction to the right. The car navigated around the corner at a rather high speed, with help from occasional taps of the airbrake. He stopped turning at a certain point, cutting through the final corner and onto the final straight, speeding across the line at an even more incredible speed than the Neko.
After spinning 180° and driving back to the pits, Nico stumbled out of the car.
"What the hell was that?!" He exclaimed.
"Interesting machine, that Iridium. Let's just say it used to be owned by someone in Japan, a legendary tōge racer who called himself 'Archangel'."
"Ah... I got it. I knew of the Archangel legend, and I can understand why you brought it up. If I recall correctly, he raced through most, if not, all of the Kanto region without a single loss, except for his final race, maybe. We know it against someone independent to any team, but we don't know who exactly, or the result of that race."
"Yeah, but that legend's over. I own their car now, and I'm getting quite used to it!"
[part removed]
Like Viktor, I cannot wait any longer. This is the final part of the Curse of the Devil. The following part will be the first part of the 2nd half of Season 2.
EDIT: Maybe I'll have one small final part explaining some things that happened between August 2210 and January 2212.
FTA: Curse of the Devil - Crinale 2210-12
>log26: 22101113
Tuesday, November 13th, 2210
<midnight runner | pendulum_>
"I cannot wait any longer." Viktor announced. "The 13th... The number of Crinale... IT IS TIME!"
He took control of the communication systems that the CEAF1 were using.
"Crinale, This is it, the big one. Silver Spear has been engaged, I repeat, Silver Spear has been engaged. Order 13 is to be carried out. Leave no-one alive. In addition, a fifth Squadron, Αιθέρας2, will be deployed to aid in Order 13, to carry out Order 13.2. That is all."
He then ran off to Sektor 1 hangar, which, at that moment, housed a single aircraft, which was unique in design, and a technician, inspecting it. As soon as Viktor entered, he spoke.
"The X10/P Kop'ye, our prototype multirole fighter. This is our trump card, the one thing that has some chance of defeating every single one of Pawel's forces. In order for it to be used up to its ultimate potential, you must use the best pilot we have. Do you know someone who fits?"
Viktor replied with just two words. "Yes. Me."
He jumped on top of the craft, opened the hatch, slipped inside and powered it up, the COFFIN system activating. As soon as he applied the thrust, the jet then accelerated at an incredible rate, flying out of the hanger and down to Earth. As soon as it had entered the atmosphere and was low enough, he engaged the afterburners and flew in the direction of Pawel's parliament.
When he reached the Parliament, he aimed at the building and activated one missile, which flew towards the palace, however...
VZZZ
"HAHAHAHAHA! Did you really think it would be that easy?! WRONG." Pawel taunted over the comms
"Pfft, I just wanted to test my intels credibility. I know that the whole complex is covered in what is basically a more powerful ECS cage, which is powered by 4 nuclear power stations located not far from here. In fact, I'm right by one of them now."
"You do know what happens if you destroy them? A massive nuclear explosion will happen, destroying you in the process."
"I know that, which is why I'm going to disable them, like this!" Upon saying that, Viktor fired a missile at a box beside the reactors. It blew up, but did not destroy the reactors. He then said, "There goes your generators, hahahaha!"
Pawel muttered under his breath, "I knew I should have placed cages over the power stations." He then opened the communications system, yelling at one particular squadron of the Russian Air Force, "Волк3 Squadron, get to Nuke 3 immediately! I want you to intercept, and destroy that предатель4! GO!"
Viktor suddenly made an irregular movement, before grinning and speaking in a very low pitch. "I can still hear you. Nothing you say or do is private to me anymore. I am not just going to take your position, I'M GOING TO TAKE YOUR LIFE. That lame squadron will NEVER BE ABLE TO HIT ME! HYAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Viktor's yell was unlike any other. In stark contrast to the pitch he was using prior, the yell was unnaturally high pitched.
"[gasp] Л-Лиса5 Squadron! Help them!"
BOOM
"2 down, 2 to go," Viktor noted, before adding "Oh, look. I see your failures. Time to use my special weapon... hh..hha...hahahahaHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!"
A loud, angry, unnatural noise filled the air as a glowing beam of energy shot out of the ship, directly hitting one of the oncoming aircraft, which immediately blew up. The beam moved from craft to craft, each one blowing up as soon as the beam hit it.
"The ZTR7440 Quantum Destabiliser. In all honesty, it's really just a prototype for our F12000 Super-Weapon, but it's working so WELL!"
With 3 destroyed, the final Волк Squadron fighter remaining, Волк 2, decided to take evasive manoeuvres. Pitching up, they flew over Viktor, who followed him up. No matter what he did, he could not shake the superior prototype, which, apart from the flash of bright light from the weapons beam, was the last thing they saw.
Finished with the 4 fighters, Viktor them made for the 3rd power station, but he was not the only one in the area. Ahead of him were another 4 craft. Лиса Squadron. They saw what had happened to their fellow squadron, and made an accurate deduction. They could not defeat him. Immediately, they flew out of the way of the craft.
"This is Лиса Squadron! We surrender! We know we are unable to defeat you, but please! Just spare us!" Лиса 1 pleaded to Viktor.
"Hmph, whatever." Viktor responded. "You aren't my main target. You would have been destroyed only if you had gotten in my way. Since you aren't, I see no reason to destroy you."
"FOOLS! I order you to attack him!" Pawel yelled back at the fleeing Squadron. "FIGHT! DECIMATE HI.... wait... no... hahaha.... BAHAHAHAHA!"
"What's so funny?" Viktor asked.
"The cage was designed to be powered by 4 power stations. Since you destroyed 2, the other 2 cannot compensate. They're losing power! Soon... heh.... HAHAHAHA! BOOM! NUCLEAR DISASTER!"
"Great."
"The best thing is, you can't stop them in time! Ahh... All hope is gone! Now, DIE! DIE IN YOUR OWN DE...spair? Huh?"
"Imbecile. I'm not one person. I have 16 more fighters out there, all I had to do was get two that were the closest to the nuke stations. Problem solved. Now, how about you die in your own despair?" Viktor echoed, aiming his craft at the building that was previously shielded.
"You... You... I... I DESPISE YOU!" Were the last words to come out of Pawel's mouth.
Viktor locked on to a particular part of the building, the area where Pawel was situated. Viktor then replied to Pawel, the last thing he heard was Chris Scarbroughs British accent.
"Oh, Mr. Bovier, I reciprocate your feelings."
BOOM
1 Crinale Elite Air Forces
2 Aithéras, translates to Aether.
3 Volk, translates to Wolf. Initially unintentional, but I then realised what I did. Be glad I kept it, Snake. :D
4 Predatel', translates to traitor
5 Lisa, translates to Fox. Purely intentional. Once again, you're welcome Snake. :D
Friday, February 5th, 2016: The F12000 begins.
The following is a list of events that were not in Curse of the Devil, occurring between August 12th, 2210 and January 1st, 2212.
FTA: Curse of the Devil - Crinale 2210-12
>log27: 22100812-22111231
August 28th, 2210: Viktor Antonov publically announces Crinale's involvement in the European Continental War, also deploys Вулкан Squadron, a team of 5 Grav-Tanks to fight in strategic locations around the continent. Viktor also makes a mention of a Silver Spear plan.
September 1st, 2210: Viktor sends Земля1, Вода2 and Воздух3 Squadrons of the Crinale Elite Air Forces on their maiden voyage and first battle in the newly developed I4-XA2 Fighter craft. 4 craft were on each team for a total of 12 craft.
September 17th, 2210: The fourth and final Squadron, Огонь4, were sent out into battle, as the 16th and final I4-XA2 craft was not completed until the 15th.
November 13th, 2210: After killing Pawel, Viktor took over him as the new Tsar of Russia.
November 19th, 2210: Viktor makes plans to re-develop the Tsar's Parliament into a large, inpenetrable fortress, referred to as "Преисподняя5".
March 29th, 2211: Russia's flag is changed. New colours reflect Crinale's effective takeover: Black, Orange, Black.
August 15th, 2211: The F0-RA8/00015 is unveiled, showing that the new Crinale is even more violence-oriented than when the team was lead by Alexandra Gelorum. Also unveiled is the F12000 Super-Weapon, the ZTR7620 Quantum Destabiliser.
November 30th, 2211: Crinale, under the guise of a military company, attempt to blackmail FEISAR into pulling out of the 2212 F12000 season. The plan, however, ultimately fails when a third party catches wind of the blackmail attempt and contacts the armed forces of a certain European country, who proceeded to decimate an integral part of one of Crinale's main ground bases.
December 4th, 2211: Преисподняя is completed. The fortress builds upon the ECS Cage tech used in Pawel's Parliament, however uses newer, nore secure and more stable technology to power it, as opposed to using the primitive nuclear power option.
Translations
1Zemlya, Earth
2Voda, Water
3Vozdukh, Air
4Ogon', Fire
5Preispodnyaya, Hell
Oops, I intended for this to go up on Friday, as it was in my usual schedule. Oh well, what is one day late?
The referenced album title of FTA: Season 2, Part 14 was 18 Months by Calvin Harris. That was a loooong time ago, Not gonna let it go that long without an FTA part again. I mean, yeah, there was the Curse of the Devil, but ehhh.
[s2_7.0: Part 15.0] Her Time Will Come
<22120126>
Sunday, January 26th, 2212
Angelus R&D HQ, Perth, Australia
06:25:43
Brandon arrived at Angelus HQ earlier than usual, but that was only the first thing that was wrong.
"Wait, where's security?" He spoke out loud, noticing the place was barren, no security guards to be seen. "They're supposed to always be here... ehh, whatever."
He walked into his office, where he saw a familiar person sitting on his desk.
"Ah, crap. What are you doing here? Whenever you come here, it's never good news. I assume you took out my security? Again?"
"Hello to you too." Nikole replied "We have been investigating and looking over a... certain individual for a while now, and we have evidence to believe they are in danger. Also, yes, I took care of your security. Again."
"[sigh], remind me to get better security. Anyway, what do you mean by 'a certain individual'? You're talking to me, so it must be someone affiliated with Angelus. In that case, I can assure you no-one will be in danger as far as I'm leading this team."
"No, you don't understand. She's not in danger from a third party, she's in danger from herself."
"Herse- oh, god damn it, no, not this again. Not her again! WHY IS IT ALWAYS TARAH?! As soon as we started dating all hell broke loose! Stop using her to get at me!"
Nikole took a deep breath, as to keep herself calm. "Look, I wouldn't do something like that. She's had this problem since 2209, before you were dating. I want to help you, Brandon. She's in danger."
"Haven't you noticed all the time you've been coming here? Tarah's not here, she hasn't been here since mid-2210. She quit, she's moved on and I will never find her again!"
"What?! You should have kept her in your care! So, if she's gone, then do you only have the one pilot?"
"No, I found a replacement."
"Right. Either way, once again, you don't understand. We will locate her, and we will take her. This is for the safety of everyone."
"Pfft, 'safety of everyone'. You just wanted to remove our best pilot, to give yourselves a chance. Yeah, I know about Syncline. Too bad you were one step behind, though."
"I told you, I wouldn't do something like that."
"Hahahaha, don't make me laugh!" Brandon thought for a second before asking, "If you want to retain my trust, then tell me this: What was wrong with her, why was she in danger, and what were you going to do to help her?"
"I'm afraid I can't willingly give that information for free. I'd need some sort of payment, not money."
"What about all that stuff I did for you? That doesn't count?"
"That was in the past, some minor odd jobs, they aren't enough."
"They aren't enough?! What, are you trying to get us to do something that will cripple Angelus' racing division, to make sure we aren't so much of a threat for your stupid victory?!" Brandon's frustration had peaked. He made one step toward her, grabbed her by her coat, and physically lifted her up. "You are exactly the kind of team I'd expect from the F12000! As a team leader that is completely against such ideals, I have no choice but to terminate our partnership here and now. I will no longer help you. You will vacate the premises immediately, or I will forcibly remove you myself. It doesn't matter that you took out my security, it will be done."
As soon as he said that, Brandon regained his composure, dropped her back onto her feet and stepped back. Nikole just stood where she was, dumbfounded, before changing her expression to one of suspicion. After several moments in silence, she started stuttering and mumbling something about paranoia. Finally, she regained her composure, and spoke, "Very well, then. Don't say we didn't warn you. We will take Tarah Andrews by force, it is for the safety of everyone." After making that declaration, she turned to leave.
"Fine, see if I care, I don't know where she is, I wasn't able to find her, and I doubt you'll be able to. As I said, you're too late, she's gone... and she's not coming back."
------------
<22120129>
Wednesday, January 29th, 2212
10:12:57
"Okay, team. I have a small, yet major update." Brandon told the team, "Don't worry, though, it shouldn't interfere with your work or your lives. In light of... recent personal events, I have decided to increase and strengthen our security, it seems my worries about the F12000 were spot on: There are new teams that will go out of their way to stop us, even outside of races, even before the damn thing has even begun! We need to keep up the purity of the race, this corruption and violence will help no-one, and we shall do our best to stop this cancer that is the F12000 Anti-Gravity Racing League. You are all doing very well. Now please, continue on with your day."
"Smith-san, if you do not like the new league, why participate in it?" Kyoko asked.
"Ah, a very good question!" He replied, "The answer is very simple. We will race for one very good reason: To prove a point, to send a message. I believe that the F12000 will be as violent, if not, more so than the F9000. We'll race to prove that violent combat-oriented racing is a very ugly thing indeed. We will show them purity! We will show them a beautiful race, one without ugly violence!"
"Very well, I see that I have come to the right team. Thank you." She replied, bowing as she thanked him.
"Fantastic! Now, we all need to get ready for the first race of the season, we need to fly out tomorrow night, but we will be ready. Let's go!"
The referenced album title of Part 15 was Our Time Will Come by KMFDM.
[s2_8.1: Part 16.1] A Weekend in Canada
<22120131>
Friday, January 31st, 2212
Toronto, Canada
06:32:48
The moment Brandon entered Canada, he took a deep breath, then said "Ah, it's been forever since I have been in this wonderful country, and even then, I was in the old, abandoned Nova Scotia. It's nice to be somewhere that's still... alive. Still, let's hurry up. The sooner we get to Altima, the sooner we can try out our new craft!"
------------
Altima VIII, Toronto, Canada
<08:00:00_>
<altima viii: short fwd_>
<practice_>
01. FUJ616.0.43.194 (#43 | Kyoko Fujisaki | AX2.0_r1)
02. ARD889.1.19.194 (#19 | Gareth Ardos | AX2.0_r1)
With a space of 15 seconds between the two, Kyoko and Gareth took off from the pits to their practice. Altima VIII was a slightly different course than its 2052 predecessor. Most of the historic 5.5k track was changed to comply with the F12000 regulations, and as such, was split up into 3 different courses, with each one using different parts of the full course and sharing main sections with the other courses.
Since it was the first race of the season, it was to take place on the shorter, easier course 1. Laps estimated to take 30 seconds to complete at the level of speed the craft were currently at. Angelus, on the other hand...
"New lap record!"
<lap_time: 0:27.211_>
Their fastest lap for the practice ensured that Angelus would get a high position in the qualifier.
------------
<22120201>
Saturday, February 1st, 2212
Altima VIII, Toronto, Canada
<09:12:37_>
<altima viii: short fwd_>
<qualifier_>
01. FUJ616.0.43.194 (#43 | Kyoko Fujisaki | AX2.0_r1)
02. ARD889.1.19.194 (#19 | Gareth Ardos | AX2.0_r1)
The time was close to the start of Angelus' qualifying laps: one for Gareth, and one for Kyoko. Since she got the faster lap of the pre-qualifier of the two racers, Kyoko went first. She started on a flying lap, then passed the start line for the real thing... which was over before it began. The Speed Lap gave Angelus a final position of 2nd for Kyoko, and 5th for Gareth.
01. SCA308.0.7.329 (#7 | Lucia Scarlatti | F0-RA8/00015)
02. TUR847.1.13.329 (#13 | Leon Turner | F0-RA8/00095)
Meanwhile, at Crinale, the prodigy, as was her primary racing style, ran a perfect qualifying round, somehow maneuvering the heavy F0-RA8 around the track ever so slower than Kyoko Fujisaki in the much lighter Xygen V, putting Lucia Scarlatti at 3rd place. Leon, on the other hand, even though he had upgraded his craft, ran a more predictable run, obtaining the 14th position on the start line.
------------
<22120202>
Sunday, February 2nd, 2212
Altima VIII, Toronto, Canada
09:12:37
The investigation into the failure of Triakis Industries' F12000 craft on the day of their qualification continues. The two craft, seemingly shutting down moments after crossing the line to start their qualifying lap, were discovered to have been tampered with, implying sabotage has occurred. Updates will be given as they come to light.
"Mr. Smith, I hope you will do your best to win this race, for Australia! Also, we believe you may know something about the identity of the saboteur." The head of the racing division of Triakis told Brandon.
"Yeah, I wi- wait... please tell me I am wrong in assuming this, but... you don't suspect Angelus, right?"
"HAHAHA! 'Course not. I'm just saying that 'cause of your affiliation with the AGRC since '09, you might know who could have done it. Maybe it could be Crinale, you know?"
"[sigh], at least I assumed wrong, thanks for that. Crinale may be a possibility, but I honestly have no idea who could have done it. Did you see anyone suspicious in your pits at any point from Friday to yesterday?"
"If we did, we'd know who would have done it. Unfortunately, we saw no-one that we would call suspicious. And believe me, we are a weapons manufacturer."
Well, the only thing I can say now is that we will try our very best to win. Good luck in finding the culprit."
Suddenly, their conversation was cut short by the announcer: "WARNING. 5 minutes remain until race begins. All pilots please move to the start line in your relative positions."
That prompted Brandon to make his depart. "Oop, better get going, I need to direct my team. I'll see you around."
All 26 craft were at their starting positions, as Brandon ran to his control room in the pits, just in time for the race to start...
3, 2, 1... GO!
The referenced album title of Part 16.1 was A Weekend in the City by Bloc Party.
[s2_8.2: Part 16.2] Tomorrow's Modern Competition
<22120202>
Sunday, February 2nd, 2212
Altima VIII, Toronto, Canada
3, 2, 1... GO!
<09:30:00_>
<altima viii: short fwd_>
<race: lap 01 of 79_>
02. FUJ616.0.43.194 (#43 | Kyoko Fujisaki | AX2.0_r1)
03. SCA308.0.7.329 (#7 | Lucia Scarlatti | F0-RA8/00015)
05. ARD889.1.19.194 (#19 | Gareth Ardos | AX2.0_r1)
14. TUR847.1.13.329 (#13 | Leon Turner | F0-RA8/00095)
All the craft took off at an incredible rate, some craft seemed just naturally fast, where most seemed just aggressive in their starts. As expected, the faster, more thrusty craft took the early lead. These included Angelus and Crinale, so the crowd seemed happy to see yet another dogfight between the two rival teams.
In Angelus' control room above their pits, Brandon attempted to search for a few things, but ultimately failed. He typed out a list on a holo-bar, then called Alex up.
"Alex," Brandon asked, "If you wouldn't mind, could you go and grab me some things?"
"Sure, what do you need?" She asked back.
"I have a list." He replied, handing her the holo-bar. She activated it and looked at the list.
"Yeah, I can get those for you." She said, closing it up and slipping it in her inner jacket pocket. As she walked out, she nearly collided with an overly enthusiastic girl on AG skates
"WOAH SH*T!" The girl exclaimed, nearly falling over trying to avoid smacking into Alex.
"Agh! WATCH WHERE YOU ARE... going." Alex yelled, but her fury died down as she caught a glimpse of the girl. She wasn't sure what it was about her that caused her to lose her brazenness, but maybe the fact that she was still smiling had something to do with it.
Suddenly, the girls bright expression changed to one of surprise. "W-wait, are you... it can't be... you're that Crinale girl, right? The original owner!"
"Uh, well... I'm not really with Crinale anymore, my job got..."
A flashback to the events of March 2nd, 2210 flashed through Alex's mind. The Apollyon prototype craft, Viktor's modifications and his annnouncements of taking over the AGRC and Crinale. She finished her sentence with "Uhhh, taken... from me."
"Ah... but you are her, right? You're Gelorum?"
"G... Ggghhh!?" Alex stuttered, before replying, "I... I only use that name when I'm with Crinale. Since I'm not, I'd prefer to go by my real name, Kotova. My name is Alexandra Kotova."
"Kotova... Well, I'm still able to call you Alexandra... oh, right! Where's my manners?" She stuck out her hand "My name is Catherine Evans, I work for the Racing Commission."
Alex's face twitched at the mention of the AGRC, but Catherine didn't notice, as Alex grabbed her hand and shook it. Suddenly, she spoke up once more with just as much enthusiasm as she did before. "Oh, wait, I must be keeping you from doing whatever you were gonna do! I know that I need to get back to work." She started to leave, starting up her AG skates. "See ya!" She waved behind her as she skated away.
"Yeah, later." Alex said, slightly confused, walking off in the opposite direction to get Brandon's items.
<toys in the hood | re-volt_>
Altima VIII's short course was a pretty standard, simple course. It wasn't catered to one style, instead being somewhere between the straight-heavy high speed courses and the more twisty technical circuits. Thus for this race, it was really anyone's game. The agile, high-handling craft could navigate the simple corners with ease, where the heavier high-thrust, high-speed craft caught up in the straights.
The rules stated that any one pilot would have to complete a series of challenges in order to obtain a Super-Weapon license for that pilot only. Naturally, the only one to have done that before the start of the season was Crinale, both of their pilots completed the challenges and so their craft were fitted with Crinale's superweapon.
Whenever they would obtain it from the weapon pick-up, they did not hesitate to fire it at anyone ahead of them. This gave them a high placing for the middle third of the race, going back and forth between 1st and at least, 4th. Angelus knew this and strategised, holding off from overtaking and keeping behind them. It didn't really work as well as they anticipated, as another team would hit Crinale with a weapon, making them fall back and placing Angelus and other craft ahead of theirs at risk of being hit with the superweapon.
"Quantum Destabiliser!"
"Quantum Destabiliser!"
Suddenly, Angelus' plan fell apart. Both Lucia and Leon had activated their superweapon at the same time, aiming them at the two Angelus craft. It was impossible for them to avoid them, they were on a straight, and any attempts to move out of the way of one bright blue beam would land them in the firing line of the other. They decided to slow down and fall back behind them, but the heavy Crinales made short work of the Angelus' remaining shield energy.
<contender eliminated_>
<contender eliminated_>
Brandon could do nothing but sigh and place his palm on his face. He knew that it would only get even more difficult from here on out. He hoped that next time, they would be able to actually complete a race.
------------
<22120204>
Monday, February 3rd, 2212
Angelus HQ, Perth, Australia.
Brandon's post-race talk was as expected.
"I knew it. I knew that the F12000 was going to be way more difficult, way more ruthless... I... just didn't know by how much. You need to be prepared for the new races, the new rules, but I'm sure our pilots know this, having experienced Crinale's wrath first hand. It is because of this that we need to complete our Super-Weapon as soon as possible, apply for the Super-Weapon challenges and then get our pilots to, along with some extra training to correct my prior underestimations, complete said challenges to obtain the license for use in the races."
"Why was this not the primary concern?" Kyoko asked. "We could have done so much better had you done this earlier."
"As I said," Brandon replied, "I underestimated how ruthless the league, especially Crinale, would be. Also, I didn't put the Super-Weapon first because of our team's ideals: light, fast craft over powerful weapons and violence. That being said, even though we are stooping to use a Super-Weapon, it still follows our ideals. I will explain the weapon in detail once it is complete.
"Now, everyone not directly connected to the pilots, you can go back to work. For the rest of us, I need to discuss and revise our pilots' testing and practice programs..."
New part today! Thanks to BardicSMG for proofreading and telling me I'm writing his characters wrong! I'd much prefer he tell me that than for me to write his characters wrong and actually post it, so thanks, I appreciate it!
The referenced album title of Part 16.2 was Tomorrow's Modern Boxes by Thom Yorke.
[s2_9.0: Part 17.0] Peaceful Technology
<22120210>
Monday, February 10th, 2212
Angelus HQ, Perth, Australia
13:17:40
The pilots had completed the challenges, and the weapon had been finalised. Angelus were able to use it for all races, starting with the next one.
Brandon had set up the simulator for a final test for the pilots. Most of the Racing Developments team members were in the conference room, which was set up to display a live feed of both simulators.
Before the test begun, however, Brandon spoke to the team members, including the pilots, about the super-weapon itself.
"This is it, the ge22B... that's our internal code. Our weapon, which, if Angelus had to have a special personal weapon, then I couldn't think of anything more fitting, is an EMP Railgun. This fires a charged energy pulse at an extremely high speed. The energy pulse, upon impact with any craft, will short out any and all electronic systems for a short period of time. Why I believe it is a fitting weapon for Angelus is that it causes no direct damage, it's a disruptive weapon, not a destructive one. The only damage caused by the weapon would be indirect. For instance, the affected craft hitting a wall or another craft.
"Now, I will now allow our two fantastic pilots to begin the 8th and final test. This one is not required for your Super-Weapon license, you all have completed the prerequisites for that, however, this final challenge is to allow you to learn and master the new weapon."
On his command, the test started.
<13:30:00_>
<omega harbour: azure fwd*_>
<test: ge22b_>
<1997 | savant_>
The craft took off at full power, accelerating to their top speeds in seemingly no time at all. 24 other craft were loaded in, a patch was made to the simulator to make the aggression of the AI more accurate to the Altima VIII race. What Kyoko and Gareth were to do was to come in the top two positions.
All the weapon pickups were either green or the EMP Railgun, as the team didn't place primary focus on the other weapons. With practice, they were able to master the weapon by accounting for the small delay of the weapon caused by it charging and the sheer speed of the pulse, so they were able to time the shot and hit the opponent craft easily, eventually bringing their miss rate down extremely low.
"Ardos-san, I believe we have sufficient training necessary to use the railgun effectively." Kyoko told her teammate.
"Mm, I agree. Still, though, more practice would benefit us." Gareth replied.
"Naturally. Let us begin again, and maybe bring our time down. We will be able to surpass all 24 craft in a much faster time than before."
"Sure thing. I'm always up for more practice, especially if it means sp-" He trailed off into mumbles at that point.
"E-eh?! What? 'spend more time with me'? Is that what you said?"
Gareth became quite flustered. "Wh-? How?! How are you able to hear me even when I mumble to myself?! What, d'you have some sort of super-hearing?"
"No. I-I am just able to hear you. You are not that quiet, you know."
"And yet no-one else can hear what I say when I mumble to myself."
"I'm sure they can. But something that perplexes me, why do you not just have an inner monologue?"
"I dunno, that's just how I am, take it or leave it."
"T-... Ardos-san, it is not that big of a deal, why are you making it so?"
Gareth was stunned for a few seconds, then muttered, "It is to me... K-Kyoko."
------------
<22120211>
Tuesday, February 11th, 2212.
Syncline HQ, unknown location.
Unknown time.
A head researcher knocked on the door to the office, a voice granting him entry shortly after.
"Nikole, we bring some good and bad news." He said upon entering.
The voice behind the door, Nikole Carole, replied. "Well? Spill it."
He continued, "Well, the good news first: We have obtained, through great difficulty, some information on the other new team that debuted this year, Berlin Design Racing. Because of its difficulty in obtaining, we believe that the info is of some importance, also because of their public secrecy."
"Very good, thank you. That will definitely prove useful. What about any other teams? And also the bad news."
"Well, the bad news has to do with another team. Angelus, specifically."
"Oh... them. What's the info?"
"The info we obtained regarding Angelus is that... there is a spy that has infiltrated them. They're gathering sensitive info on them and distributing it to a certain correspondant. As of yet, we are unsure as to the identity of said correspondant, however, we will definitely have it soon."
"Argh, that is a huge problem, for them and me."
"Wait, why you?"
"Well... let's just say that I am no longer on good terms with them, Smith especially. He seemed to be unnaturally paranoid about me and Syncline."
The researcher thought for a moment, then made a proposition. "...Could it be... that he is under the influence of 'The Condition'?"
Nikole pondered about the researcher's guess before replying, "I don't think so. He hasn't shown any other symptoms yet. Until he does, only then can I be sure that he has been affected. Just focus on Tarah Andrews regarding that, she's our main concern."
*Azure is an internal Angelus designation, which they gave to the different courses of Omega Harbour. The Azure course is never run in an official F12000 race, it is used by Angelus as their testing course. It is a full course that runs the first half of the long course combined with most of the medium course. In other words, it is pretty much like the full FX400 course, sans the Omega Complex.
The internal course designations for Omega Harbour are:
- Yellow: Short/easy course
- Red: Medium/hard course
- Green: Long/intermediate course
- Azure: Full/test course
The referenced album title of Part 17 was Emotional Technology by BT.
[s2_10.1: Part 18.1] Chiastic Slide! 4 Consecutive Hairpin Drift!
<22120214>
Friday, February 14th, 2212
Shibukawa, Gunma, Kantō, Japan.
09:10:26
The Angelus team landed in Japan at the early time of 7am, arriving at Shibukawa at 9. At 10am, they begun their practice at the second course in the roster, Sidewinder. Like the name suggested, the course was very technical, being based upon the various mountain passes the country was known for. It was a course that would favour light, high-handling craft, but would also put the airbrakes to it's limits.
By the time they had finished the practice runs. They travelled to at the hotel the team was staying at, by which time it was late at night. Brandon was relaxing in his room, albeit bored, so he got up and walked out to his car.
"I could do with a touge run." He thought, looking at his on-board map. "Let's see... the closest mountain pass is... Haruna. Great!"
He set off, driving towards the mountain, then stopped at the base, where the pass started. He accessed the computer that controlled his car's settings, then adjusted them to suit the touge run. He then floored the pedal, going for a light run up the mountain. Suddenly, halfway up...
SSSSCRRRREEEEEEE- BANG BANG BANG!
The sound of tyres sliding across the road, the whine of a turbo, the sound of the wastegate from the turbo and a series of loud banging noises filled the air. Then, he saw it, drifting around the corner...
"Huh?" He said out loud.
Even though it was fast as lightning, he saw something he never expected. An old, white Mazda RX-7.
"It... can't be? It can't be Jonathan, he's not around anymore. Ah, never mind."
He continued up to the peak of the pass, turning around and preparing for the downhill run.
"Okay, let's get serious. Music... okay"
<gave | vinter in vegas_>
"Stopwatch... okay. Right, let's... 2, 1, GO!"
He set off at max speed down the straight, towards the first corner. He turned sharply while tapping the brakes. That put him into a slide. He navigated the corner at an extremely high speed. As he exited the corner, he mashed the accelerator, straightening out.
As he passed corner after corner, his reaction time was always the same speed: brake, engage the airbrakes, disengage one side and hit the accelerator at the same time, putting the car into a slide. Continue through the corner, while feathering the throttle. As soon as he saw the corner straighten out, he went full throttle, straightening out of the corner. Soon, he was at the 4 consecutive hairpin turns*.
"I hope to see some people drift down here!" A local said, sitting by the guardrails of the second hairpin.
"Yeah, the hairpins are a great place to see their technique." His friend said.
"Oh, I hear someone coming down, let's hope it's a local, they're the best!"
The black Angelus Razer.X drifted into view, it's sleek, shiny body looking absolutely beautiful in the dark, and was only accentuated by its azure blue lighting around the body. It then attacked the corner the two locals were standing by at an incredible pace
"Wh-WHAAAA~?!" The first local yelled. "That was so fast!"
"Hold on," The second one said, being more observant, "I have never seen that car on the pass before. Also, it didn't have Japanese plates, meaning that it was not driven by a local."
"Touge fan?"
"Possibly, but that technique was incredible! I don't think I've ever seen someone race down here at that speed, apart from the top-tier locals!"
Brandon started out by slowing down just enough that he would be able to clear the corners at the highest speed possible, then he pulled the car into a slide through the corner, hitting the apex almost perfectly. However, once he was out of the corner, he kept the slide, going to the outside of the road. Once he sensed that he was moving to the other side, he twisted the wheel and engaged the opposite airbrake so that he engaged an inertia drift, moving the car so that it faced the entry of the second hairpin, still sliding. He reached the outside as he entered the corner, turning more inward so he could hit the apex of that corner. He did so, and used the same technique for the rest of the hairpins.
In near-record time, he reached the end of the pass, but as he drifted around the final corner, he saw it again. That exact same white RX-7. He kept the slide going, moving to the far end of the road, then turned sharply, sliding so that he was facing the opposite way, settling about 10-20 meters from the stopped car.
"N-no, it can't be. He's not alive..."
He put the handbrake off and set the car into a crawl, slowly moving up to the pure white car. Then he got close enough that he could read the license plate. It was the same as Jonathan's. German plates, same sequence of letters and numbers, everything. Suddenly he recalled the day he saw Jonathan's beloved machine...
------------
Wednesday, March 28th, 2210
"So, what do you think?" Jonathan asked proudly
It was incredible. The sleek white body looked like it was a work of art. Brandon just kneeled by it, moving his hand over the various curves the body sported.
"It's beautiful." Brandon muttered, before looking up and asking, "And this car was from 20...?"
"17. The FG4 was originally built in 2017."
"FG4... That's the model code?" Brandon butted in
"Precisely, like your Raxer.X is a HS20."
Ah, ok. So why show me a 2017 car now? You could have shown me anytime?"
"It was a rebuilt model, I only bought it this month. I love classic cars like this."
"I bet. I'd love to drive this, see how it handles. But you'd probably not let me drive, even though you know how good of a driver I am, hahaha! But it's okay, I feel the same about my Razer.X."
------------
Brandon closed his car's door and walked over to the other sleek car. For a moment, due to its colour, he thought it was the ghost of the dear friend that had left him. However, it was a real car, that became more apparent the closer he got to it.
"Well, maybe he just... hmmm" He thought.
Finally, he reached it, extending an arm out and knocking on the window. The person inside looked up, saw who it was and smiled, opening the door.
"Huh, I really did not know you were a fan of drifting down a mountain pass, Brandon." He said.
"Well, I never brought it up." Brandon replied, before thinking 'Hah! Called it! Jonathan gave Nico the car, of course it would be him driving!'
"So," Nico cut into his thoughts, "Since we're both here, and we both love touge runs, how about we have a friendly race? Your HS20, tuned by you, and Jonathan's tuned FG4?"
"Sure, let's do it. I still have time."
Brandon ran back to his car, as Nico started his up. They then both drove up the hill, to see who was the fastest.
Brandon Smith, the owner and leader of Angelus R&D, in his black Angelus Razer.X HS20, tuned and modified by himself?
Or Nico von Bovier, the president of Jennter Enterprises, in his white Mazda RX-7 FG4, tuned by Jonathan Bovier?
* The real Mt. Haruna only contains 4 consecutive hairpin turns, not 5 as is in Initial D
[part removed]
The referenced album title of Part 18.1 was Chiastic Slide by Autechre. (A chiastic phrase has 4 parts.)
[s2_10.2: Part 18.2] Down to the Earth! Hyper Downhill Battle!
<22120214>
Friday, February 14th, 2212
Mt. Haruna, Gunma, Kantō, Japan.
Brandon and Nico lined their cars up at the start, ready to go. Brandon then took the time to make minute changes to his car's settings, as he noticed the car wasn't at its optimal setting.
<night of fire | niko_>
"Okay! I'm ready" Brandon signalled.
"Alright! Starting the countdown!" A local said, who somehow managed to get pulled into the race. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO!"
<21:25:00>
<mt. haruna pass_>
<touge race_>
The two cars took off at an incredible pace, the black Angelus starting to pull in front. Brandon decided to hold off, keeping pace with the white RX-7.
"I want this battle to be fair, but when we hit the first corner, I won't hold back." Brandon said.
True enough, at the first corner, Brandon entered the corner in a slide at an amazing rate, his tuning allowing him to do so. However, Nico's RX-7 was not slow at all, he had also been holding off. When he reached the first corner, he entered the corner in an even more outrageous slide, and nearly overtook Brandon at the end of the corner. However, he was on the outside lane of the second corner, giving him a disadvantage.
Brandon, having helped build the car from the ground up, and having tuned the car himself with help from Angelus' engineers, had known every single detail of the Razer.X's performance, and could handle it in his sleep. Nico had the experience of racing down mountain passes, and knew about the techniques and skills needed for touge battles. These two different skills had cancelled each other out, so neither one had the major advantage over the other.
Then it happened. Brandon's method of taking the corners, even though he was drifting, consisted of the "Outside-Inside-Outside" approach when racing. Nico took this approach, and weaponized it. He kept to the inside during the latter part of the corner, somehow keeping his speed up and overtaking him. He then used his techniques to prevent Brandon from overtaking him.
This, however, gave Brandon to look for a weakness in Nico's driving style, or even the car itself. "Hmm, Nico seems to be in relatively good control of that car, considering how much of a monster it is." He thought. "That 16X rotary is light and powerful enough, but it's been tuned to extreme amounts. There is no turbo lag, the anti-lag system takes care of that nicely, even though it makes a racket. It shows that it has been tuned properly, by someone who knows the strengths and weaknesses of different engines and different tuning types. It just so happens that the one who tuned that is one of, if not, the greatest racers in the world! Geez, Jonathan! That thing's mental!"
He found no faults with the car being driven, so maybe there was some small weakness in the driving techniques being used by Nico? Well, none that would allow him to overtake him. his drift blocked the road perfectly, unless...
"That's it! The car actually has an unintentional fault that no amount of tuning can fix!" He yelled in surprise. He decided to take action.
They were coming up to a long, straight enough piece of road. After the corner, he made his move, getting faster and closer to the white rocket. Then...
"OH, YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Nico yelled as the black car slowly accelerated past him.
"Sorry, Nico. Your car actually can't use all its power effectively." Brandon thought "You see, the wheels are the problem. It creates friction with the road, resistance. The car needs extra power to overcome the force, but an AG car doesn't have contact with the ground, hence, it can use its power more efficiently."
However, the race wasn't over yet, they were about 2/3 through, coming closer and closer to the 4 consecutive hairpins, still relatively neck-and neck. However, on the last corner before the hairpins, the FG4 was nowhere in sight. Suddenly, Brandon heard something odd just as he entered the hairpins.
<mandragora | medicine drum_>
"Huh? I... what the? Has that fool turned his lights off?! He has, that engine sounds familiar... no, wait a minute. That doesn't sound like a rotary..."
A car was drifting extremely close to Brandon, with it's lights off. Just as Brandon came round hairpin #2, it made its move, turning on its lights.
"WHAT?!"
The tiny purple car was now side to side with him, then cut in front of him at the entrance of hairpin #3. It took the corner at a fast pace and was drifting at a wide angle.
"Obake? Finally, we meet again... LET'S DO THIS!"
As he yelled, he grabbed the power adjuster and cranked it to full. Brandon now had 720hp at his disposal. He was able to keep up for a few reasons. He had gained experience racing on mountain passes since 2 years ago, he had driven on Haruna before, and his car was running at 100%. Just keeping up with the mysterious car made Brandon lose his sense of speed, and was travelling faster than he ever was, but was leaving less and less of a margin for error. Not that he needed the margin, the race was nearly over.
Brandon moved to the side of Obake on a longer straight near the end of the course. There were only a few corners left, and it seemed that Obake was going to win. However, they were still side to side at the final straight. It was there that it happened. Due to the higher power, Brandon slipped ahead at the final possible second, taking the inside of the finishing corner.
Brandon pulled over and waited for Nico. He saw Obake pull into the parking lot. After a few seconds, the car started to move again, this time towards Brandon. It stopped next to his car, the driver got out and walked over to him.
"Well, I never thought the fastest downhiller was female. Then again, one of the fastest F12000 racers is female." Brandon commented, finally seeing the driver of the purple car.
Obake spoke, introducing herself. "My name is Katsuo Tsukiko. We will meet again for one final race. Next Saturday, 10pm. We race at Hakone's Tsubaki Line."
"...wait..." Brandon squinted in the dark, trying to see, "Katsuo?! It was you?! It's me, Brandon Smith!"
"E-Eh?! Smith?! I... never knew you were into touge racing!"
"It's a recent thing I've picked up."
At that point, another car entered the parking lot. Jonathan's FG4.
"D-Did you see th- Wait, what?! You know the driver of that purple car?!" Was the first words to come from Niko's mouth after getting out.
Before Brandon could answer him, Katsuo introduced herself.
"Oh, hey! I remember passing that car! So you're a friend of Brandon's? I'm Katsuo Tsukiko, I know Brandon too! I'm sure you know me too, though, I race for Syncline."
"Ah... Syncline. Well, it's nice to meet you." Nico greeted himself, "I'm Nico von Bovier, leader of Jennter Enterprises."
"It's nice meeting you too."
He then turned to Brandon, "So, how do you know her, considering she's with Syncline?"
"Ah, yes." Brandon replied, "I knew Katsuo through some odd jobs I did for her boss, Nikole Carole."
"Nikole?"
"Yes. Unfortunately, through... recent events that had occurred, it seems that Syncline are actually the kind of team I would expect from this league."
"What do you mean... they're...?"
"Excuse me, I'm right here..." Katsuo interrupted.
Brandon turned around and faced her, a cold expression on his face. "Do I look like I care?"
Katsuo stepped back, alarmed. "Ngh... p-point taken." She said.
He turned back to Nico, "I saw... no, I was involved an attempt by Syncline to cripple our team and, to me, that's not on at all. Some stupid racing team should not stoop to that in order to get the victory they so damn care about."
"What are you talking about?" Katsuo asked, trying her best to play dumb.
Brandon was almost amused by her attempt to look innocent. "I guess I don't know what to expect from a thief who races on the side"
"I... Don't know where this is coming from, I'm pretty sure last we met was for that thing with Rameala."
"Whatever, I don't want to deal with this right now, I need to sleep. Nico, I'll see y-... oh."
Nico had left, not wanting to deal with their argument.
"Fine." Brandon said simply, getting back in his car.
"If you're leaving, then don't forget our-"
"Yeah, yeah, the race, I'll be there. Goodbye."
After leaving those cold words, he drove off, leaving Katsuo where she was.
Screw this, have an early part. The next one will be up this Friday.
The referenced album title of Part 18.2 was Down to Earth by Flight Facilities, quite an amazing album if I do say so myself. Works perfectly as driving music.
[s2_11.1: Part 19.1] Do You Know Sidewinder
<22120216>
Sunday, February 16th, 2212
Sidewinder, Kantō, Japan
"Alright, guys... Race time. I have faith that your new training will provide fruitful results. I am sure that this time, we won't be eliminated. You guys can do this.... alright, let's rock!"
The two pilots went to their respective rooms to prepare for the race. When Gareth stepped inside, he started psyching himself up.
"Yeah... you can do this... you can do this... HAHAHAHA! I can do this!"
He immediately strode out of his room to Kyoko's. Somehow she had forgotten to close her door, leaving it wide open. When Gareth stepped in, and saw the scene laid out in front of him, he gasped loudly. Kyoko was, naturally, in her room, but her helmet was open, which would give anyone a clear view of her face... had she been facing the doorway. She had her back to the door, drinking from a can. When she heard Gareth's gasp, she started choking on her drink in surprise. After coughing a few times, she reached up and pulled her helmet closed.
"何だ一体！？1 Ugh, why would you just walk in here?!"
"Th-the door was open... Wh... wait! Is... that... drink what I think it is?" He asked.
She held up her can. "This? It is beer. I will not lend you any."
"Oh, I thought it was a soft drink someone liked. Sorry. Anyway, good luck with the race." He started to walk out, but turned on the spot. "Wait, can I ask you something?"
"No. We have no time." She said, mere seconds before the 5 minute warning announcement sounded.
"Crap. Alright, let's go then."
They got to their craft and navigated to their positions on the grid...
3, 2, 1... GO!
<10:00:00_>
<sidewinder: short fwd_>
<race: lap 01 of 72_>
01. FUJ616.0.43.194 (#43 | Kyoko Fujisaki | AX2.0_r1)
04. ARD889.1.19.194 (#19 | Gareth Ardos | AX2.0_r1)
22. SCA308.0.7.329 (#7 | Lucia Scarlatti | F0-RA8/00015)[/B]
As expected, the course greatly favoured the high-handling craft, as the course featured many tight hairpins like the mountain passes it was inspired by. As such, Leon Turner, obtained a final qualifying position of 27th, due to the craft's extremely low handling stat, putting him out of the race.
Naturally, Angelus was competing for the lead against many of the teams that focused on handling than all else. However, two people were not focusing on the race...
"Ah! We meet again! Hi Alexandra!" Came the voice of the now green haired girl.
"Oh... it's you, Catherine. What do you want?" Alex replied.
"Ooh, as cold as always! I just wanted to say hi!"
"You said hi already... Pfftaahahaha! I'm kidding, please, let's talk!"
Catherine breathed a sigh of relief as they begun to converse.
<quoth | polygon window_>
Angelus were having a great race, getting into non-violent battles with the likes of Jennter, FEISAR and Wyvern, under new leadership by David Mendel's son, Alex.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Crinale was having a miserable time, with second pilot Leon turner out of the running and lead pilot Lucia Scarlatti barely trying to so much as keep up with the other teams. Even Syncline, whose V.ult-2X1024 craft was heavier than the F0-RA8, was able to beat them in terms of handling due to their unique craft design, called a Semi-triple hull by their technicians.
Lucia was able to get a quake, immediately firing it just as she got to a small but significantly faster section of the track, which was laced with less hairpins, which allowed her to make use of the craft's high acceleration and speed to catch up.
"Quantum Destabiliser!"
<contender eliminated_>
Slowly, she had started to climb up in the ranks the only way she would be praised for: violence.
<11:29:39_>
<sidewinder: short fwd_>
<race: lap 43 of 72_>
Suddenly, Brandon got a call from the guards outside the pits.
"Hey, Smith. We have Carole outside wanting to speak with you."
"Ugh, Sh*t. Fine, I'll get down there now." He replied, placing a few trusted employees in charge.
"Brandon, this is urgent, we need to talk." Nicole spoke as soon as she saw him.
"Do you now? A tactic to impede our race maybe? I thought I told you I terminated our partnership?"
"I don't have time to deal with your distrust." She retorted "I'm just going to get right to it: There is a spy amidst your team. We have obtained sufficient evidence to support our claims, including intercepted documents from the spy themselves. It is the irrefutable truth."
1Nanda ittai?!, What the f*ck?!
I forgot to put up a new part yesterday, ugh! >.<
The referenced album title of Part 19.1 was Do You Know Squarepusher by... Squarepusher.
[s2_11.2: Part 19.2] The Path of Total Truth
<22120216>
Sunday, February 16th, 2212
Sidewinder, Kantō, Japan
11:34:42
"I'm just going to get right to it: There is a spy amidst your team. We have obtained sufficient evidence to support our claims, including intercepted documents from the spy themselves. It is the irrefutable truth."
"'The irrefutable truth'?" He thought for several moments before replying. "Fine, I'll play along. Who is the spy?"
"We don't know, they have assumed the identity of one of your team members."
Brandon chuckled softly at the absurdity of her words. "There it is. There's your tactic. You are attempting to place distrust on my team?! NOT. GOING. TO HAPPEN. They are my family."
"I'm not saying that. Just... think! Is there anything that has been odd about any of your members? Anything at all? It doesn't matter how insignificant."
"I assure you, there is literally noth..." Brandon stopped mid-sentence, his eyes suddenly growing wide. "It... can't... be." He muttured under his breath. Before she could speak however, he spoke up. "This... does not mean I trust you again... not completely at least."
"Better than nothing, I guess. I'll be off then, I did what I came for."
"Right... bye."
<indignation | desimal_>
Brandon ran back up to the control room. When he entered, he searched around frantically for something.
"What? What is it?" One of the employees asked.
"There's some kind of device here, I need it for a thing.... ha HA! Here it is!" He proclaimed, holding up a white device about the size of his hand. He turned it on and started typing away at a fast speed, then after tapping the screen a few more times, set it down on the desk beside him, letting the files download to the device.
"I need to send off an email too." He thought out loud, doing just that. When Brandon sent off the email, he checked up on the device, which was gathering the files he specified at a consistent pace. At that moment, Alex walked in the room.
"Hi, sorry I'm late, I got caught up talking to a friend." She apologised.
"It's fine, just check up on those readings there, see if they're normal." He pointed in a general direction to the opposite end of the room, as he examined other readouts from the ongoing race.
"What's that?" She asked, moving towards the odd device.
"It's nothing," He said, snatching it up and putting it in his pocket. "Just some stuff I'm working on."
"Stuff?"
"Plans, they have little to do with Angelus, though, so you don't have to know."
"Oh..."
"[sigh], I guess I could tell you a bit about it, though. It's a two phase plan. Phase 1... is getting Crinale in the hands of someone trustworthy. The top priority is you, though. I have been testing you to see if you can, or have, become trustworthy enought to take Crinale back."
"...R-Really?! You're helping me get Crinale back in my hands?! I... don't know what to say, I thought you hated the thought of me returning there out of fear of me doing the same things I did back then!" She seemed extremely happy to get Crinale back in her hands.
"It depends on if I think you're trustworthy enough, but yeah." He replied, though an odd look filled his face when he looked at her.
"Hey, Brandon, you there?" Gareth's voice came through the comms. Immediately, Brandon moved over to the front of the room and turned on his headset.
"Yeah, what's up?"
"Is... Is this it?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean... it seems too easy, we haven't had to deal with any team being excessively violent towards us."
"Well, the track is littered with sharp hairpins, that's why Crinale can't touch you, you are outmaneuvering them."
"Fantastic!"
Unfortunately, he spoke too soon, he was bombarded by all sorts of weapons, dropping his position by several places. He was surprised to find that it wasn't Crinale, but quite a few other teams that did the damage. Thankfully, he was able to restore the damage done.
However, his nightmare soon turned into a reality. Somehow, the racing prodigy had found her way up to 7th place, right behind Angelus' second pilot. The race was, however, nearly over, with only one lap remaining after the current one. Gareth slowed down, allowing Lucia to pass him.
"Hahahaha, not this time! Sayonara!" Gareth taunted, firing the EMP Railgun he had held on to. It was a direct hit, the craft had lost control, slamming into the wall of one of the tight hairpins. This gave Gareth the edge to prevent Crinale from catching up to him again.
<race: complete_>
<fifth place_>
While Kyoko had no problems placing first, Gareth had to make do with a reasonable 5th. Even though, it was considered a success for Angelus.
The referenced album title of Part 19.2 was The Path of Totality by KoЯn.
[s2_12.1: Part 20.1] Enter: The Devil
<22120222>
Saturday, February 22nd, 2212
Hakone, Kanagawa, Kantō, Japan.
21:50:28
>>TARGET ACQUIRED
>>ENGAGING SG_R-000
The young girl was waiting at the meeting point, a parking lot. Soon, she saw a familiar car pull into it, the driver getting out.
"Brandon, hi." Tsukiko Katsuo greeted him.
"Hello." He greeted back, "Interesting place you picked."
"Well, I've never raced here yet, that's the only reason. Now, have you had any practice?"
"Going down there?" He pointed towards the Tsubaki Line, "Yeah, I got a few runs in."
"Good, that's where we're the course is." She started to explain the course. "Further up the road there's a parking lot, that's where we start. The end of the road is the finish point."
"Okay, let's get on with it."
The two of them got into their cars. Brandon in his Angelus Razer.X, and Tsukiko in her Icaras-Lotus Elise, both were modified to some degree. They set off uphill to the starting point. When they reached it, they both spun their cars 180°, stopping by the starting point.
"How are we going to start? There's no-one to count us down." Brandon asked, the two speaking through comms systems.
"How much power does your car have?" Katsuo asked after thinking for a second.
"720 horsepower max, but I've set it to 300. Though I can give you my word that I won't, I do have the ability to adjust it on the fly."
"Okay, either way, yours is more powerful than my Elise. May I suggest a handicap start? Since I have less power, I can start the race whenever I want, as soon as you see my car move, you can go."
Brandon thought about it for a moment, before voicing his opinion, "Sounds fair. Well, whenever you're ready, you can go ahead and st-ugh!"
<crazy on emotion | ace_>
He was cut off by Katsuo dropping the clutch and taking off as he was talking. The instant he realised that, he set off after her. He nearly caught up to her when the first corner came up. A right hander meant that she had a better line into the turn, but Brandon was close enough that she couldn't move on the inside of the next turn, a left hander. The sharpness of the turn gave Brandon the lead for the initial part of the course.
The next right hand corner was even sharper, but they hadn't hit the hairpins yet. Even then, that corner was sharp enough that Brandon lost sight of Katsuo. He expected to see her once he was out of the corner, but the headlights of the purple Icaras-Lotus were not right behind him, and had disappeared out of sight.
"Really? Isn't it a little early to be doing your little trick? The race has only just begun."
Suddenly, a set of headlights turned on, but they weren't from Katsuo's Elise. They were 3 purple dots arranged in a triangle on each side.
"Huh?" Brandon uttered in surprise.
While the mysterious car kept behind him for a couple of seconds after its lights came on, it suddenly lurched forward with incredible acceleration. It rushed past him as he entered one of the last corners before the rest of the course, which contained hairpins. As it got ahead of him, it broke hard, sliding so it was perpendicular to the road. Brandon had no choice but to slam on his brakes.
Illuminated by the Razer.X's lights, the new car could now be seen in full view. While it had flowing edges, the dark matte grey machine primarily looked like a jet fighter, having two large thrust ports at the rear of the car where a rear window would generally have been. The most interesting thing, however, was that the car had no windshield or other windows.
The car was positioned in a way where it blocked the road to the Tsubaki Line, but left the Hakone Turnpike free to enter. Brandon had noticed, and went to drive onto the unblocked road, but Katsuo called him.
"Brandon! Did you see it? That stupid car spun me out. Thankfully, I avoided any damage, you have no idea how much this car means to me. However, I am probably unable to continue the race, since I bet you're racing them now."
"Actually, it blocked off the pass we were going to race on, I've stopped by the fork. I... think it might want me to go onto the other fork."
"Be careful, that other fork is an extremely high-speed pass with a toll booth at the end. Please, be careful but... I want you to take. Them. Down!"
"Yeah," He replied, "I'll do that." He hung up, then looked up at the car, still stationary. "Fine, I'll take you on, if that's what you want."
He turned onto the Turnpike and floored the accelerator, racing up the split in the road, onto the high-speed piece of road. When he looked back, he saw the car following him. As soon as he entered the Turnpike itself, however...
THUD
Posting this a day early, hence there will be no new part tomorrow.
The referenced album title of Part 20.1 was The Devil by Blue Stahli.
[s2_12.2: Part 20.2] Shinigami One: The Demon of Racing
<22120222>
Saturday, February 22nd, 2212
Hakone, Kanagawa, Kantō, Japan.
22:02:38
"Brandon! Did you see it? That stupid car spun me out. Thankfully, I avoided any damage, you have no idea how much this car means to me. However, I am probably unable to continue the race, since I bet you're racing them now."
"Actually, it blocked off the pass we were going to race on, I've stopped by the fork. I... think it might want me to go onto the other fork."
"Be careful, that other fork is an extremely high-speed pass with a toll booth at the end. Please, be careful but... I want you to take. Them. Down!"
<on your wings | rich hard_>
"Yeah," He replied, "I'll do that." He hung up, then looked up at the car, still stationary. "Fine, I'll take you on, if that's what you want."
He turned onto the Turnpike and floored the accelerator, racing up the split in the road, onto the high-speed piece of road. When he looked back, he saw the car following him. As soon as he entered the Turnpike itself, however...
THUD
The matte grey car made it's move, smashing into the rear quarter of Brandon's car, making it spin out of control. Brandon, however, had known how to control his car as if it were part of his body, and had kept the car spinning, until it had spun all the way around, where Brandon stopped spinning, and mashed the accelerator as far down as it would go.
"Heh, I see your dirty tactics... DON'T THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY NOW!"
The rate of acceleration the car produced made it seem like Brandon would have a very difficult time catching up to him, however, he saw the distinctive rear lights and glowing blue exhaust system of the car.
"Huh?... oh, I see how it is. You just wanted to show your speed, how you could defeat me in a fair race. But this was never supposed to be one, wasn't it?!"
The two cars battled at high speed down the Turnpike, and it didn't take long for Brandon's opponent to start its tricks again. It moved to the side of the Razer.X and rammed, hard, into the side of it. The car lightly tapped the guardrail, due to Brandon locking the wheel all the way to the right. That also allowed him to enter the corner sideways, in a large, but controllable drift.
The grey car continued it's attack on Brandon. Eventually, it had enough. It sandwiched Brandon between it and the guardrail. He had no escape. Sparks flew fron his left side as the car ground against the guardrail. The matte grey car then stopped pushing Brandon into the guardrail, moved to the far right, then slammed into the rear side of the car, spinning it once more as it took off at high speed.
As Brandon rounded two more corners, he saw that the machine had once again stopped for him, seemingly taunting him. Like last time, it took off with such a high acceleration, it had caught up to him in mere seconds and passed him, the exhaust spitting out blue flames.
This time, Brandon fought back, pushing his car into the back corner of the grey machine. he was able to push it's rear out, but it simply swung back, colliding with the Razer.X. Brandon had attempted to slow down to avoid the counter, but the other vehicle slowed down as well. The force of the heavy car colliding with the lighter one caused it to bump against the guardrail again.
"YOU... CANNOT WIN." A synthesized voice called out from Brandon's on-board comms system as the grey car once again accelerated ahead. Even through the distortion, Brandon heard the unmistakeable voice of Chris Scarbrough.
"...YOU! What are you up to now?!"
THUD
"Me? Eliminating you. Oh, you mean the car. A little experiment I call... Shinigami. This is just one part of my experiment, it's called the RXK. If you survive this, you will see a LOT more of my experiment. Oh, and don't bother, I'm not the one driving. It is an experiment, after all."
"Don't worry, I intend to survive our deathmatch." Brandon replied simply, "Your 'experiment' will fail when I emerge victorious." He floored the pedal unleashing his racing technique that he called the '01-X Technique'. It was designed to best work with Brandon's custom Razer.X. This time around, the RXK did not stop at the side of the road to catch up, it merely slowed down, waiting for the moment when the Razer.X's headlights filled the rear vision.
Finally Brandon exited a corner onto the same straight the RXK was on, so Chris had the engine turned off, the rear losing it's glow. As Brandon careened down the straight, closer to it, it's engine re-ignited, the same blue flames appearing. He drifted into the next, relatively sharp corner, which was where the RXK finally made its move. It turned in the corner at a speed far greater that was needed to clear it, and forcefully used Brandon's car as a battering ram, being able to clear the corner and pushing the Razer.X uncontrollably into the guardrail with a loud, sickening 'CRUNCH'.
Brandon's control hasd been severely compromised. 'Sh*t... did that break the stabiliser?' He thought. At that point, he had decided that it would end. He used 2/3 of his accelerating power on the straight, fighting the controls of his wounded car.
>CALCULATING TRAJECTORY...
>COLLISION AVOIDABLE
"HAH... had enough yet?" the RXK taunted.
Brandon flipped open a hidden panel, flipping a switch and pressing 2 of the 3 buttons in it as he spoke. "I have... one final trick up my sleeve." He pressed the final button, and mashed the accelerator down. He had activated 'Fury' mode, which powered 4 electric motors to give the Razer.X a boost of power from 720 to 984hp. A panel in the rear of the car between the taillights opened up, revealing two thrusters which promptly switched on, giving the car even more boost as it rocketed down the straight, right at the RXK.
>FATAL ERROR: TRAJECTORY INCALCULABLE
>COLLISION POSSI-
At that point, Brandon had turned hard into the corner, not drifting with help from the broken stabiliser. He made impact with the matte grey car, which collided with the guardrail and flipped over it. It crashed somehwere beyond the road, off the cliff. The Razer.X, due to the angle of the collision and the stabiliser, had flipped around, facing the opposite way at the end of the corner. He was moving to the outside, so instead of fighting it, he let it happen, but used the guardrail to absorb his momentum by tapping it a few times before pushing away on the final tap, engaging the brakes as he did so to bring the broken car to a halt.
Relieved that it was finally over, Brandon took his hands off the wheel and laid back in his seat. A few minutes later, when he had calmed down, he called Katsuo.
"It's done." He spoke.
"Wait, what is?" She asked.
"Shinigami – that grey car – is gone... I destroyed it."
"Shinigami?" Katsuo was confused, as she wasn't in the conversation where the name was brought up.
"A-Ah, I didn't name it that, that's what Ch-..."
The air was filled with a massive, cracking explosion, which somehow looked familiar.
"...P-plasma...?!" He thought out loud.
"What?! What happened?!"
"It... it exploded like a plasma."
"A plasma? Like, massive purple blast?"
"Yes."
"Huh, that's odd."
"You're telling me. Anyway, I'm not going to bother with it, it's over... if you don't mind, I'm heading back, I'm too tired and exhausted to race you. Also, they wrecked my car a bit, I have no idea how bad the damage is, but I can barely keep it in control."
"Do you need a lift? I can drive you back." She offered.
"Nah, it's fine, I'm near the hotel anyway. I can make it."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'll be fine."
"Okay then... well, you take care." Katsuo said, ending the call, leaving Brandon to make his way back to his hotel.
------------
Sunday, February 23rd, 2212
Kantō, Japan.
09:42:48
The next day, Brandon decided to see what last night's battle had done to his car, now that it was bright. An Angelus technician was there with him.
"Most of the damage is cosmetic, like the dented front bumper, and these scratches all over the car." He explained, "The main thing that's concerning is this." He pointed to the rear of the car. "The rear left stabiliser has shattered, which takes considerable force to do."
"That explains why it was hard to control. Only one rear stabiliser isn't good at all for control."
"Yeah. Once we take her and everything else back to HQ, I'll get the team to replace the stabiliser and fix up the rest of the damage for you."
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
It's April 14th, so a very happy birthday to Gareth Ardos! (Which means you should also listen to this) Anyway, here's a new part!... which doesn't feature Gareth at all. Whoops.
The referenced album title of Part 20.2 was Shobaleader One: d'Demonstrator by Squarepusher.
[s2_13.0: Part 21.0] How I Learned to Stop Caring About Revenge and Love My Enemies
<22120303>
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2212
Angelus R&D HQ, Perth, Australia
09:15:53
The next F12000 race was set to be in a month's time from the last race, due to the Geneva Motor Show that took place every year in early March. Angelus had taken part in the show since 2205 with the introduction of their critically acclaimed R205 GT supercar. They were taking part in the 2212 show to show off their new Neko compact.
For the first time, Brandon was not at the show. Instead, he was helping to complete their project for the 2213 show, a full working concept with a unique design. The design was even smaller than the Neko, similar in design to an enclosed motorcycle, yet retaining design elements from cars. The front stabiliser pods were situated on either side of a large front wing. There was only one rear stabiliser, which was situated on board the main body.
That was just the Design Specification, though; the vehicle itself was incomplete.
"The main body, front AG stabilisers and the Gen 2 prototype engine are now completed." Brandon explained, giving one of the many weekly updates to the development team. "The electrics, external parts like the front wing, the wiring and... pretty much everything else are left. As always, the most important components take priority. For now, attaching the front wing and installing the electrics are what we shall do next."
Despite the main concept being Brandon's idea, several design elements were actually Alex's suggestions. In the original concept design by Brandon, given the design code KA-D219, most of the entire front end was completely different. The front wing was shorter and more angled, but Alex's first revision made it longer and less angled, which gave the vehicle more stability. She made more revisions to the design along with Brandon, finally culminating in the final design which was being constructed, design 273.
"Why don't we call it the Tsunami?" Alex asked Brandon.
"Huh? Why 'Tsunami'?" Brandon asked back
"I was speaking to Kyoko about the project, I just happened to mention the code number 273, and she just mentioned something about some Japanese thing, saying that 273 meant Tsunami."
"Ah, she might've been referring to a Goroawase num-"
"That's it! That's what Kyoko said. It was a Go...ro...w... ah, forget it." She looked over at the vehicle, or more, the large pieces of it laying about, ready to be put together. "I don't know how, but I feel like the name somehow fits."
Brandon stared at it for a few seconds, tilting his head. Finally, he said, "Tsunami... Sure, we can give it that model name."
The front wing was being attached to the vehicle's backbone and also on the main body via a hydraulic system that would allow the body to lean in when turning. The rear end of the vehicle also had hydraulics attached to a rear section, which housed the engine and rear stabiliser. The front stabilisers were installed on the edges of the wing and connected up to the body.
After connecting the stabilisers, they started installing the wiring, before the components went in. The engine side of the wiring was completed beforehand, so they simply worked on feeding the wires throughout the vehicle, only connecting up the components that were already on the vehicle itself, which at that point, only consisted of the stabilisers.
Despite the vehicle being far from finished, they had done a lot of work on it, the wiring had taken most of the day to be put together and installed on the car.
"Brandon, I'd like to ask you something." Alex said.
"What's up?" Brandon asked.
"Would you mind telling me more of your plan?"
Brandon just stared at her with a smile on his face that yielded no information. It was like a poker face, a mask.
"More... information?" He queried.
"Y-yeah, like, what are you going to do after you get Crinale out of Viktor's hands?"
Brandon kept his piercing, unyielding, smiling stare for several seconds, before answering. "Well, you see, t-"
<phone call:_rez/area 5: fear | adam freeland1_>
Brandon fished his phone out of his pocket and answered it. "Hello?.... yeah, speaking... yeah, I know him...."
At that moment, his smile disappeared from his face, but his mask still remained.
"...WHAT?!"
------------
Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth, Australia
15:05:34
Brandon ran through the building, entering one of the hospital rooms, his long lab coat flapping behind him. Finally, he reached the bed of the one who called for him, Ramaela De Rosa sitting by his side.
"Matt, I came as soon as I heard! What the hell!?... O-oh... hi Ramaela."
"B-Buona giornata.2" She greeted.
"Brandon... please, relax" The older man spoke calmly, "My time has simply come, nothing can change it... well, actually, I got them to prolong it for a while longer, just until I tell you what I need to. However, I am just an old man, at least I get to go from natural causes."
"Matt... Anyway, I won't stall for time, what do you need to tell me."
"This whole time, I was testing you. Seeing if you were the man you said you were. See, I need someone who is like me, who sees the purity through all the corruption, and can bring it out. You have that talent, I can see it in you. Therefore, I shall impart to you my most valuable piece of information..."
The two men talked for a while longer, however, Matt's time had finally come.
"Please, you may leave now. I have faith that you will use that to good use. I will see you around... someday."
"Very well. Goodbye for now... Matthew O'Reilly."
The man gave a weak smile, as Brandon left, leaving the doctor to come in and grant Matt's final wish. His life support systems were shut down. The old man could finally rest in peace.
His final words were but a weak whisper, but was very powerful im emotion as he departed from the world.
"Ramaela... ti voglio molto bene.3"
1 This is actually my ringtone, I love it.
2 "Good day!"
3 "I love you very much"
Looking at her gourmet dish in a five star restaurant wearing a gown worth more then a house, Nic Carlo only now came to see how far she'd gone. She never lacked appreciation of her current lifestyle, as a matter of fact, it fed into how she'd always acted for most of her life. For once Nikole was free from the times of her late childhood; shoplifting to survive, and her early piloting career betraying those she respected, to finally focusing on a nobler cause, only to stay on the run without a place to call home. At last the opportunity to take a breath seemed to present itself, but Nikole chose to stick to her nasty habit of paranoia. How much does she have, how much does she need, and how much could she lose at this moment, she could barely grasp the concept before it was whisked away by her company.
“Good evening, time to wakey,” greeted Natasha, though they had spent a few minutes together already.
“Sorry about that,” Nikole said as she scrambled back to reality, “I was just trying to work something out.”
“You mean, some sort of riddle.” The youngest Belmondo leaned forward to listen, seeing as her friend has sprung back to life.
“Well, no, its just that...” Nikole paused to find some other subject to ponder, and rushed to the first subject she could find “when do you think I should retire?”
“You're already thinking about leaving the league?”
“I, guess... I think I'm getting a bit worn out, and I don't really need that much.”
“Why not just take a season off and relax, or coach others to pilot? You can't retire yet, you'll make me fell old!” Natasha jested.
“I guess I could do something like that. I just kinda wanna live a simpler life, or something.” If only Nic could find the courage to spill her worries, she realized among her thoughts, as she did bothered to ask for some sort of advise.
“Are you ok,” Natasha saw Nic grow a bit more timid, “with everything?”
“Ehh, I think I'll just sleep on it.” Nikole responded, as she finally started on her dinner.
The two stumbled upon other subjects to ramble on about, leaving Nikole distracted from her worries for a time. Natasha got a call from work after a few minutes, taking her out of her evening long vacation, and Nikole promptly returned to questioning what her own reality is. Even the check that was suddenly her responsibility tonight was a relief to her, if only because it set her free from her five-star confinement and allowed her to have a panic attack in the privacy of her home.
Along her walk to the car, Nikole just wanted to pass out and sleep at the parking lot instead. Her rekindled anxiety resulted in her looking past every corner she could see, as though it were still the 2170's, as though she were still hated by the most powerful people of all the inhabited planets. Even entering her car, her eyeballs kept darting in every which way, until finally spotting a flashing, yellow light highlighting an alley in the distance.
Now her attention was fixated on the anomaly. She tried to focus on the road and drive away, but resisting her worry was futile. She made the decision to drive along the road perpendicular, get a quick peek at what it could be, and put it behind her. She kept half an eye on the light, nighttime traffic and peered inside. She confirmed that the source of the flashing was the rear end of a car, hazard lights switched on.
The car was the one Natasha arrived in.
There was no more uncertainty on whether Nikole was over thinking. She pulled over immediately and removed her heels. She didn't have any fear for her own self, as her worries were of the well-being of her mentor turned friend. She made haste to the alley, picking up faint banging from the trunk. She went right to the drivers side, the door still being unlocked, and released the hood in the back.
Nic went back to the trunk to make sure Natasha was alright, already assuming she was the in the back. Natasha jumped out at the sight of Nic Carlo, barely able to stand after being trapped for so long. Nikole opened her mouth to ask Natasha what happened, just as a migraine took over head, and Nikole fell to the pavement. She saw Natasha take the keys to Nikole's car out of her hand, but seemed too hesitant to run.
Nic caught herself on the the car next to her and tried to get herself together. Her sight readjusted to reality, allowing her to spot a tire iron inside. Natasha was being grasped by someone in a lightweight armor, originally a prototype for a more mobile firefighters suit, now being used as a weapon.
Nikole had lost her wit after getting knocked in the head. The only immediate action she could think was to swing away at the back of the capture. With one solid hit, sparks flew out the side of the panel, and Natasha ran to the outside in a panic. Nikole took one step forward before the damage in her head came back to bring her back to her knees.
Nikole was forced awake by a breath machine shoved to her face. She tried her best to keep her mouth forced closed, but her nostrils helpless to the fowl gas blowing down her throat. Her lungs did what it could to reject the expansion of toxic air. Nikole tried to at least make out the room around her, instead being blinded by a light with brightness only rivaled by the sun.
Her face was at last free from the mask. Nikole could finally take in oxygen and try to use her sore brain. She wasn't alone in the room, a fact only made apparent by the fist pulling her hair. She wouldn't dare open her eyes to the light again, hardly being blocked by her eyelids, but her head was kept still by the grip behind her head. She heard muttering in the background of a language she didn't understand.
“Tell me where she is.”
The voice directed at her didn't specify who 'she' was, it seemed self explanatory. As bleak as the situation was, there was a bit of hope in Natasha getting away in the end. If Nikole were close to the alley, it would just be a matter of waiting. But then, if that where the case, they should have been here before she came to. It didn't seem likely that her torturers wouldn't leave the scene of the crime. There was know way she could make a break for it, even if she managed to get her hair free, there were possibly a dozen people around to stop her.
The machine was pushed back to her face. She made an attempt to push the mask off, something she had no hope of doing while holding her breath. Even when she managed to break the seal, the pressure was too strong to let any breathable air in. Nikole was going weaker at the second, and she turned just desperate enough to try to stop her panicking. Her chest felt as though it was going to burst open. She did her best to blow the gas out of her throat, even though being deprived of oxygen confused her into nearly thinking there wasn't and air keeping her diaphragm stretched.
She had to have had the machine to her face for longer then last time by now. She tried to count in her head, if only to keep her from another panic. It was never made a point for her to hold her breath for longer then a few seconds. She twitched her fingers to each number she reached. Even spacing out every number with a “1000”, she reached the end of both her hands and started over. Taking into account the time before she started counting, she must have gone 40 seconds without breathing. She wondered if they even intended to let her breath again. It nearly impossible to keep from rushing her counting, at least that's what she hoped when she reached 10 seconds another 3 times. Her lips numbed and would no longer stay closed. Counting was brought to a halt, as though that would be enough to stop all of time.
The mask was finally lifted, and Nikole was forced to cough from the change in air. Her dry throat collected as much air as it could gasp. It occurred to her she couldn't tell where Natasha had gone if she wanted. What would happen if no one else comes? There's no way she could survive longer and longer intervals without air. They may just let that happen if it becomes clear she is without use. Nikole was almost disturbed to see that the sign of acceptance, that her entire experience among the living had shown itself for a single instant. Among all of the poverty, starvation, disease, conspiracy, and war she triumphed over, it wasn't until she became among the highest social classes she could imagine when they would finally get her.
It was rather amusing to, for once, let go of her instinct for survival. Whoever it was keeping her in one place, how cute of them to have found a way to break her for good. A mild chuckle started to manifest in Nikole. Her eyes popped open and embraced the fire they contacted. Every little facet of her predicament, from the hairs slowly snapping of her head, to her ruined evening dress, added to the comedy of her new found mortality.
She made one big breath in preparation of a storm of laughter, only to have the machine shoved back at her. Again, she grabbed it, only this time to force it shut on her head. Her eyes stayed fixated on the light as she maintained an inhumanly gaping smile. It was no longer a matter of being unable to give in, it was all to damn those who thought she would betray her past after all this time. Overtel could not touch Nic Carlo, so why believe for a second that anyone else could.
The grip on her head was released, Nic dropped on her back, her eyes still effected by the light. Releasing her hands from the mask was out of the question. In fact, her attempt to do so only farther locked them in front of her face. Her conscience began to fade again, despite her feeling wide awake. She succumb to her own autopilot and drifted off at about the same time she stood completely.
After feeling time go by without memory, her chronology caught up to her. The first thing she saw was a window with daylight seeping threw. She gathered that the bed wasn't hers by the beeping on her right side. She saw her heart rate next to an iv, and a desk calender to her left, displaying the date to be three days ahead of what she last remembered. Her instinct was to grab it, as though she hadn't seen the date right. After several attempts to reach it, she realized that her wrists were strapped to the frame of the bed.
The realization of being other than herself for days left an island of humiliation among a sea of depression. She waited desperately for a nurse to come, especially to be interviewed, to find out what happened while she was away. Acting calm and rational would hopefully lead to freedom from the bed, and then a day or two to prove that she regained her sanity would mean she would be able to walk outside again. Her placement in a traditional hospital implied that she never did anything unspeakable, nothing that would charge her of a crime. As much as she wanted to believe that no one else was hurt from whatever happened to, she felt suspicious that she was so fortunate. That she would have any bit of comfort outside of simply not getting caught.
Probably going to get back to writing present day things, but until then I might as well finish some back story. But for now, imma go get burgs.
:burger:burger:burger:burger:burger:burger:burger: burger:burger ok thats enough
[part removed]
[part removed]
For the third time this month, Halvred had sat quiet at the laundromat and listened to the yelling and banging of someone who thinks he's a big crime kingpin. That scrub with the big boy gun was a Korean immigrant named Kyung, who would pay common thugs cheap to keep watch while he went through the classic 'It'd be a shame for something to happen to this establishment' scheme in a few different towns, having just enough wit to distance himself from any prosecution. Hal's anger had been suppressed for long enough that it might as well be him that takes care of the matter.
Hal had found out that Kyung liked to street race along the E6 near the Oppland/Hedmark border, a two lane road along the river. It was almost completely free of tight corners, but was extremely narrow, even for a two-lane road. Hal had already been an established racer of the area, but had been focusing more on training in the simulator after finding out he'd be a pilot for Syncline.
His hobby of racing had started with a G-Tech zone-class craft, which Sterling had had him pilot it as part of his training. It might have seemed odd to give Hal a vehicle to improve his combat abilities, but it was one of the most important things he'd ever done. Fear, experienced in both a fight and a race, inhibits the ability of a fighter to rationalize when one should focus on the offense or defense. Pushing one of the most dangerous types of craft there is in a way where one slip up would be lethal in an uncontrolled environment trained Hal to think past horror.
Piloting the fastest class of physical craft gave Hal an appreciation of racing. It wasn't so much the adrenalin that the high speeds gave, but the need to know the vehicle you ride and the track you're on well enough to travel among the fastest possible route, while still reacting to immediate obstacles. The car he got to follow his new passion was a 2144 Koenigsegg CCGT, known for being a bit more 'pointy' in design then what would be typical of the make.
The black Koenigsegg arrived to a group of people partying around several high performance cars, a few recognizing it from before its hiatus. Halvred stepped out to greet himself to his old friends, keeping his eyes peeled for his target. Stopping not to far down the road was a Zonda released just a year earlier, with a driver drawing Hal's attention like a bull to red cloth. The engine was revved loud enough to challenge those from Sweden had they listened hard enough.
Hal walked towards the call to confront the owner. He did not recognizing Hal from when he was spotted doing his daytime rounds.
“Don't feel ashamed, you're far from the first.” Kyong boasted from the inside, thinking Hal was a newbie.
“Lemme see the engine, it sound's like you tuned it a bit.” Hal requested calmly.
Kyung pupped the back hood to reveal the engine, eager too show off his work. Hal pretended to care about the inner-workings for a bit, and walked back to the driver.
“This thing up for wager?” Hal asked.
Kyung almost busted out laughing before seriously considering the challenge. “What you got in return?”
Hal motioned Kyung out of the Zonda to show his CCGT. The interior was not made for weight reduction, having speakers surrounding the cabin and fire red cushioned seats. Hal always thought that his best car should have a bit of luxury to drive, a concept Kyung seemed to agree with. The Engine was custom built from the ground up by a friend of Hal's that normally works on war vehicles. The friend ended up charging, but it was worth the heavy payment.
It didn't take to long for Kyung to accept, as he called to attention the new race about to be held. The two cars sat next to each other as someone walked to the middle with a starting gun. The cars were considered equal performance, and so when the shot is fired, they would drive at will. The starting man check each driver to make sure they were ready. After making one last check to make sure the road was clear, he aimed up, and shot his gun, and the bang was followed by the squeal of tires leaving the starting line.
Hal let himself get edged out before being fully overtook, where in he kept close behind. Kyung didn't let himself get to cocky, as he was just now catching up to his wager. Hal was able to stay close enough to make Kyung just that little bit less confident, but didn't attempt a pass on the narrow streets. Kyung had drove the streets enough to drive the racing line by instinct. Hal, in full concentration to the race, read the leaders movements and followed flawlessly. They kept they're positions up to the bridge crossing from the left side of the river to the right.
Kyung made a perfect corner and landed his turn on the left side of the road. Hal turned a bit tighter onto the right lane, and accelerated faster then he'd been driving before. He meet side by side with Kyung and turned left into him. The speeds they were going meant Kyung had no hope to recover. His car broke throw the guard and slammed nose first into the river.
Halvred pulled to inspect his car, which didn't take a scratch. Kyung floundered out of his wreck slightly injured. Hal walked to the side of the river and bent down closer to Kyung's level. He had reach out to a hand that Hal didn't offer, getting instead a cold stare.
“Get out of my town...” Hal's command barely exceeded a whisper, but was loud and clear to Kyung, whose panic fueled new anger toward Hal. He had turned around and was walking back to his, Kyung lifted himself up. He reach behind his back to grab his revolver, but the water had damaged it to the point where the trigger wouldn't move. Hal's story was that Kyung lost control, which everyone else believed. Kyung didn't risk staying in town, but knew how to get more money while he waits for his chance to strike back.
rip in pizza zonda
Well, looks like my schedule has gone up in smoke, only because I don't follow it. Have a new part today.
The referenced album title of Part 21 was 'How I Learned to Stop Giving A Sh*t and Love Mindless Self Indulgence' [takes a breath] by Mindless Self Indulgence
[s2_14.1: Part 22.1] The Eliminator Brings Rivalry
<22120531>
Sunday, May 31st, 2212
Angelus HQ, Perth, Australia
20:50:17
The team were preparing for an otherwise ordinary eliminator event of the season, taking place on Sol 3. The simulators were warming up, as the one pilot that qualified got ready.
Gareth walked up to Kyoko, opening his mouth to speak to her. She instantly held her hand up.
"Stop. You always attempt to speak to me at the most inconvenient times. Why?"
"Isn't it obvious? You are never here unless there's a race! You disappear for days, then turn up when a race is on. These are the only times I can speak to you!"
"Hmph... thank you."
"A-... what? 'Thank you'?"
"Yes, thank you. You have gotten me angry enough to actually do well in this event. I am now in the right mood for an eliminator event. I thank you!" She bowed at him.
Gareth had a surprised expression on his face, which turned into a frown. He opened his mouth one more time, then walked off. Kyoko then turned around, entering her simulator, ready to race...
3, 2, 1... GO!
<21:00:00_>
<sol 3: short fwd_>
<eliminator: lap 01_>
<system error | andy hunter°_>
All 26 craft set off, all aiming for destruction. Despite qualifying, Kyoko was at the rear of the pack, only just being able to qualify for the 26th position. This event was not going to be gentle on the team known for pure racing due to their somewhat weak shields. Somehow, though, Kyoko wasn't eliminated as much as Brandon had anticipated, as her racing skill allowed her to avoid a lot of her opponent's attacks.
The event went as planned, but every so often, Kyoko had to flip around and slow down so she didn't go too far ahead of the pack. Once she got a feel of the rhythm, though, her racing style changed, now focusing on attacking the competition, venting her anger at Gareth into her opponents.
"HAADADADADADA!" She yelled as she fired weapon after weapon into the various craft.
Brandon's constant smile wavered a bit, his eyes widened slightly.
"This... does not seem good." He muttered, looking closer and observing her actions more carefully.
<contender eliminated_>
It wasn't the first elimination in the match, but it was Kyoko's first kill.
<contender eliminated_>
Instantly, though, she was eliminated by Crinale.
"Hah... of course. Where were you this whole time?! I had to wreck someone else!"
Finally, the rivalry began, the race splitting into two: Angelus vs. Crinale, and the rest of the teams against each other. With that, the eliminations suddenly started to rise tremendously. Despite that, however, the two teams had more or less equal points with each other.
"Give up, Angelus! You can never defeat us in battle!" Lucia taunted.
"Our similar scores say otherwise." Kyoko retorted.
"Pure coincidence!..."
<contender eliminated_>
"...you are nothing but our plaything, a mere toy we can destroy over and over again! UGH!"
<contender eliminated_>
"Rethink your strategy, prodigy. Your current one is getting you nowhere."
"I need to rethink nothing! Everything is perfect!"
"Perfect? Allow me to show you why it really is not!"
The female racers continued their battle; the perfectionist prodigy, hell bent on destruction of the one team in particular; and the helmeted purist, shrouded in mystery, being forced to play to the tune of the race's rules. They continued their battle, getting even more forceful as they progressed, all culminating in the inevitable, a final attack by both teams that would bring the entire race – and much more – to a grinding halt.
Crinale were ahead of Angelus by a fair amount, speeding over a weapons pad and getting their super-weapon. Kyoko already had Angelus' super-weapon at the ready, knowing that she'd be able to attack them with the high speed of the railgun charge. What she wasn't counting on was Crinale using their weapon.
The instant they picked it up, they flipped their craft around, firing the Quantum Destabiliser the instant the white craft came into view. However, Kyoko saw the black craft and had fired her EMP Railgun at the exact same time. The instant the charged pulse hit the energy beam, the simulator stuttered, then all visuals began to warp as the physics engine broke from attempting to process the attacks' collision. Finally, it gave up, and the entire ser///__
<FATAL SYSTEM ERROR: STOP command at 0x00000080_>
*** WPNCOLLS.OPD - Address 16AD874F base at FC7F0000, DateStamp 0001C7F70564
The final line has some data that isn't just random hexadecimal, even though it looks like it. Running the DateStamp through a hex to decimal converter, it gives a value of 7649822052, which is Unix time for Sunday, 31 May 2212 14:34:12 GMT, or 22:34 in Perth. The other numbers? Random typings that make it look like hexadecimal, so only 0-9 and A-F are used.
The file that caused the error is in a short filename, or 8.3 format (8 characters for the name, and 3 for the extension, or file type). The name is just Weapon Collisions. The extension, however, gives a little insight into a certain thing to do with the F12000. The PD means Physics Data, but the O? I'll let you try and figure that out, shouldn't be too hard
o my god, crinale are octopi confirmed!Quote:
Originally Posted by ace3000
[part removed]
Johann rushed into the bathroom to get a break from the crisis outside. The stress that had been caused had seemingly set his face ablaze. He washed his face with cold water and tried to breath slowly. He raised his head from his hunched figure at his reflection in the mirror. The doppelganger on the other side stared back in perfect poster, showing a clear superiority in his blank expression. The image behind the glass lifted his arm, with his fingers making a barrel of a firearm.
Palm Gardens, 2203
Drag racing, of all things, has grown immensely since the days of the measly quarter mile on pavement. Garcia inspected the sand she knelt on, which she always saw as the hand that feeds, or the one that could starve her in an instant. It was always everyday before the race when she would get second thoughts, then instantly find focus the morning she needed it. She couldn't find her focus on this day.
South-western American drag racing in this era was populated by the muscle cars of the centuries previous. A few Euro-cars that shared the spirit of barely driving in a straight line slipped by every now and again, TVR's and a few models of Jaguar weren't to hard to find in the area, but Garcia always more concerned with style. Of all the shapes that she could have gone with, she had already stumbled upon a 1962 Shelby Cobra. Most people would keep it under a tarp except for that one time every decade where they would drive it to a party, giving it an entire hour of sunlight, but Garcia doesn't have that kind of occasional passion.
Johann has made double and triple checks of every part of his little sisters car. He made one last test of the airshield; easily the most important asset, as it worked as its own aerodynamic shape to allow the car to reach the speeds its engine demanded, as well as letting Garcia drive the convertible with an open top. The abandoned hanger the car was stored at had the added benefit of a fully functional jet engine, which was repurposed as a wind machine for testing resistance.
The sound of the jet startled Garcia, something that hadn't happened to her sense the first time it was demonstrated to her. Johann saw the unusual behavior, and was made rather perplexed by her nervousness. He turned off the jet after confirming that the shield worked properly. Garcia rose has the sound of the artificial wind died down.
“Are you feeling alright?” Johann asked.
Garcia scanned through the stretch of sand in front of her. “This Jerold guy... I've never raced him before.”
“Yeah, that once applied to everyone you've raced.”
Garcia turned back for a look at the Cobra. “I've never even met the guy. I guess it's late for this kinda thing, but...”
“It wouldn't hurt to back out now...”
Garcia made eye contact with her brother, just about to open her mouth and call it off. She instead looked back at her vessel, and walked back to its left side. She stepped behind the wheel, feeling the familiarities of the inside.
“Did you check everything by now?” she asked.
Johann simply gave a nod, and waited for a response.
Garcia looked back to the field of desert, and her feelings started to drift into sheer determination. With a firm grip on the wheel with her right hand, she turned to give her answer.
“Let's do this...”
This is a multi-parter, so I'll be sure to follow up on the post after my next post. F*** the police comin straight outta Iowa... imean Mars. :D
It's Friday, have a thing.
The referenced album title of Part 22.1 was The Sea Brings Rivalry by MOOG... Tell me you guys have seen Mighty Car Mods.
[s2_14.2: Part 22.2] Never Trust the Racing Commission
<22120531>
Sunday, May 31st, 2212
22:34:10
The screens had shut off, then filled with text, scrolling through lines and lines of code, showing various processes that were running. Finally, in red text, the last two lines of code appeared.
<FATAL SYSTEM ERROR: STOP command at 0x00000080_>
*** WPNCOLLS.OPD - Address 16AD874F base at FC7F0000, DateStamp 0001C7F70564
Naturally, all over the world, every team other than Angelus and Crinale were confused, wondering what it was exactly that cause the whole system to crash and die.
Meanwhile, in the cockpit of one Angelus simulator, Kyoko was just sitting back, staring at the crash error, twiddling her fingers.
'Nnngh... was that my fault?' She thought, 'No, it was probably both our faults. Anyway, sitting around here won't help, might as well head to the lounge.'
She got out and went to the lounge, where she presumed everyone else was. She was right, as soon as she entered, she saw several employees, including Gareth, conversing with Brandon. When he saw Kyoko, he stood up, and slid his hands in his coat's pockets.
"Kyoko, we need to talk about something." He said, his constant smile unwavering.
When they entered his office, she opened her helmet for some fresh air. She did that only when she was alone, or with Brandon, the only one who knew her true identity. When he was sure they were alone, he dropped his act, his smile instantly snapping down into a look of discontent.
"What was that all about?" He asked. "Your racing has become more violent than usual."
"I-" She began.
Brandon raised a hand to stop her, "I know what you're going to say, and I am willing to overlook this incident, considering what type of race it was. However, if you display that kind of behaviour in an actual race, I will be forced to take necessary action. Your status, your identity... doesn't matter."
"...fine. If all you wanted was to berate me for my performance, then I shall just take me leave for the night." She said, closing down her helmet and walking out, before turning back. "You know, I think you're the one that's changed."
Brandon blinked. "Me?"
"Yes, even though you never looked it, you've grown very cold recently."
"So what if I have? My views still remain the same. I still want the F12000 dead, I still want a pure league."
"I don't like it... I-I mean, I do agree with your views, I just don't like the way you're going about it."
Brandon closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Maybe I'm going about it wrong... maybe I'm not. I don't know what's right or wrong anymore. I've lived for 53 years and I'm not even halfway through my lifespan. You know... sometimes this extended life is a gift... and sometimes it's a curse."
Kyoko stepped back, realising that she had entered a sensitive part of Brandon's past. However, she continued. "Do... do you regret it? Extending your life."
"That decision was not my own, my parents did it when I was born."
"Did you berate them for it when you found out?"
"No, I just accepted it. It's not an easy thing to fix, if not impossible." He looked at the clock on his computer. "Anyway, don't worry about me though, we need to go see what the Commission has to say about the incident. Let's go."
They walked out of his office, into the main lounge, where several people were sitting there.
"Have they said anything yet?" He asked Gareth.
"Not yet, no. I think they may be still trying to clean up this mess."
"Great. I want to see what they have to say about it, do we send the pilots back out, or will it just end like that?"
Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long, the Racing Commission had made their decision.
"As you are no doubt aware, a systems error was the cause of our event suddenly being halted. We have discussed the action that is to be taken, and we have decided to end the event. The scores were as such before the event ended."
The screen showed the pilots' positions and scores, listed in order.
"As you can see, Crinale has obtained 1st place, with Angelus surprisingly taking second! Maybe they aren't as against weapons as they made out to be!"
"ASSHOLE!" Brandon called out, and walked out the room, back to his office. As he entered, he got on his computer, and continued his private research into the spy Nikole told him about. However, without a lead, Brandon could find nothing. The data he obtained at the Sidewinder race only got him so far.
The data... he obtained?
"I'm just going to get right to it: There is a spy amidst your team. We have obtained sufficient evidence to support our claims, including intercepted documents from the spy themselves. It is the irrefutable truth."...
...
..."We don't know, they have assumed the identity of one of your team members."
'My... team members?' He thought. 'No, it can't be!... can it?' Finally, he made his decision. '[sigh], fine... Sorry to do this, but it's because I trust in you all.'
He started to search though Angelus' own database and logs, searching through the emails of all of the team members. Nothing. He went deeper, searching through the logs of the data sent through the team's internet.
[22120227 15:50:38]angelus plan to overthrow current crinale leadership, part of greater plan to destroy f12000. -ΣΣ17
"Sigma Sigma 17? Finally, I have a lead... two, even. That information doesn't add up to when I first revealed it... [gasp]! The 'Loose Thread'!"
Brandon finally had the info he was looking for, he knew that with that, any and all further information would be easier to obtain. Like pulling a loose thread, the entire fabric would eventually fall apart, hence why he called it such. He went all in, searching high and low for the codename ΣΣ17, along with the one person he told the plan to recently...
Alexandra Kotova.
After proof-reading this, I realised it may be considered filler. Maybe. I dunno.
The referenced album title of Part 22.2 was Never Trust the Chinese by Mr. Meeble.
[s2_15.0: Part 23.0] Recognition
<22120601>
Monday, June 1st, 2212
Angelus R&D HQ, Perth, Australia.
23:03:27
"... how? How did I allow this to happen right under my nose?!"
Brandon was at his desk, scrolling thorugh the data he had obtained, staying up late to obtain the information he needed.
"Pfft, that's right, she's an international spy apparently, I doubt anyone would notice if they were infiltrated like that."
He reached into his pocket and took out a small USB drive.
"... Ugh, I don't want to use that... not for this."
Suddenly, his phone rang, making him drop the drive in surprise.
"Sh*t, no! That's still important to me though!"
He picked up the drive, slipped it back into his pocket, then took out his phone and answered it, without looking at the caller ID.
"Yeah?
...
"I'm at HQ, why?
...
"O...kay? I- huh? The hell, why did you just hang up? Whatever..." He slipped his phone back in his pocket, kept his hand in there for a few moments as he thought, then pulled out the thumb drive.
"Screw this, I'm desperate. I need this info." He said, plugging it in and running the control program inside it, to collect even more data.
About 20 minutes later, he heard someone enter.
"You are an idiot. Get some sleep, now."
------------
At the dead of night, the black car screamed up the gravel driveway, the red body lights activated as the driver entered. As it raced up to the top of the driveway to the house, it skidded to a halt, the helmeted driver leaping out before it had even stopped. Kyoko ran up to the door and knocked on it several times, before trying the doorbell.
"Come on, damnit, answer!"
It was then she realised the lights were off. Brandon was not home.
"What?! It's 10pm! Are you're sleeping?" She took out her phone and phoned him.
"Of course you are not answering the door when I need your assistance the most, argh!"
"Yeah?" The voice came from the other end of the line.
"Where the hell are you?!"
"I'm at HQ, why?"
"... Ugh, no reason. じゃあね1."
She hung up at that point. Not wasting any more time, she re-entered her car and raced to Angelus HQ, switching off the red lights the moment she got back on the roads... but nearly lost it in the process, her AG racing skills bringing the car back in control. However, she was getting more and more emotional.
"Ngh! Damnit, I hate this car... it handles like sh*t, it's always handled like sh*t and it will forever handle like sh*t, no matter what I do to it."
------------
After being waved through by security, the modified R210 GT flew up the levels of the multi-story carpark, only stopping when Kyoko had reached her reserved parking space. She got out and ran towards Brandon's office.
"Idiot, idiot, idiot! Why is that idiot still here?! He should be home, not pushing himself with whatever work he's doing! Argh!"
Finally, she reached Brandon's office. Opening the door, she said, "You are an idiot. Get some sleep, now."
"No, why should I? You don't know what I have to deal with."
"No, of course I don't, but you still need sleep to function properly!"
Brandon tool a large drink from the energy drink sitting on his desk, smiling unemotionally as he put up his mask. "No, I don't. And time is of the essence here, this is some rather... unorthodox work I'm doing here, and the sooner I find the solution to this massive problem on my hands, the better off everyone will be."
"Sure, I may be just a damn pilot, but that doesn't mean you have to deal with problems on your own. Now, tell me just what the f*ck is going on with you?!"
"You want to know? Really? Okay. I'll tell you then. Basically..." he stressed every word after, just to drive the point home, "I'm being forced to doubt my team members, to distrust them, all because of a single possibility that has become a reality. But I need to find some physical, definitive evidence, not circumstantial possibilities."
"Who and what?" She asked, not backing down. In response, Brandon dropped his head onto his desk with a resounding thud.
"You're assuming I have no leads to collect evidence, but I do, I'm collecting massive amounts of evidence at an equally massive rate. In fact, it's going so fast, I have no time to look it over, until the program I'm running finishes collecting it. Then, I'll investigate, examining every piece carefully, collating the most relevant and most incriminating of the files I have... and confronting the culprit with it."
SLAP
"IDIOT!" Kyoko screamed. "I'm trying to help you, and you just push me away! I can help you examine the evidence, but you're being too damn idiotic! LET ME HELP, YOU IDIOT!"
Brandon turned his head slowly back to face Kyoko after being slapped, "You really love slapping people when things don't go your way, do you? That's... rather unbecoming of you. Fine, I'll let you in on it, but this must be kept secret."
"Do you know who you're talking to right now, Brandon?"
"...of course... I understand. Well, here goes...
"I'm suspecting the one you know as Alexandra Kotova of being an international spy."
1Jā ne, See ya
For more then three days now, Katsuo stayed on the overgrown yard of her home. She leaned her back on a stone slab with a name crudely etched on the other side. Natsuki was filled with guilt just from not being able to coax her daughter into shelter.
“Katsuo... it's time to eat.” She knelt to Katsuo's eye level to try to negotiate, but got no response. “You can't stay out hear forever. It's going to rain soon, you'll get sick.”
“Are you sure he's not coming back?” Katsuo asked.
Natsuki simply didn't have the will to explain what happened, and hoped she had just forced herself to lie. She sighed and walked back inside to bring the food back inside. From the kitchen, she saw the door to the garage cracked open. She had found an old Icaras craft the week before that was going to be turned into a playpen to surprise Kat. She remembered seeing something else among the pile of scrap it was dragged from.
She grabbed it from the old craft and brought it to the living room. It was a plush doll based off of Curly, the F7200 mascot. The head was actually a screen, the batteries just needed to be replaced, and it still worked.
Natsuki took the doll out to the yard and sat next to her daughter. Katsuo recognized the doll, as though it were a living pet. The eyes made by the screen let her young mind remember what she still had left in the world, giving back at least some of the comfort she had lost. She reached up to the plush, and her mother stood up, still holding it herself. Without having another exchange, Katsuo agreed to follow her mother back inside to shelter.
Outskirts of Nagasaki, 2210
Katsuo meet Ryouta right after she had broke Halvred out of the interrogation room. Hal was taken to a hospital, ready to call a lawyer in case Hideki was desperate enough to press charges after beating a bystander. He loaned Kat his hotel room as a token of gratitude, as she wasn't willing to risk going back to her childhood home after finding out it had been raided.
In an adjacent hotel, leaving his parents before he was ready to care for his younger sibling, Irisu, was about where Katsuo meet Ryouta for the first time. His sister was kicked out of the home when their highly religious parents found out she was dating another girl. She had rented a room from her girlfriend's family at first, but Irisu had later found out that her partner had been stealing money from her. Between the two, Irisu and Ryouta were able to work up enough money to pay for a room, but Irisu's deteriorating mental health caused her to get fired from her job as a store clerk.
Ryouta started out as Katsuo's mechanic, only because Kat took pitty on his situation, and thought that since Ryo was already a full-time mechanic, he could do a better job of maintaining her car then she could ever manage. When they got the money to purchase a beat up house out of town, which ended up being cheaper then the hotel room, their feelings had grown to where they ended up sharing. Just to at least try to make it a bit more official, the went on a date not long afterward, but they were too cheap to go on another one after already living together.
Irisu had been getting very ill over the last few days. Since the winter chill wasn't helping any, the heater that's usually used for the living room was put in her room while she was at rest. Kat and Ryo shared a blanket in front of the TV playing anime. Kat was never interested with any movies or shows, just the AG races which had already ended the week before, but she had no desire to step outside in the ice and snow. Just as she was about to dose of, there was a knock on the door.
“Just ignore it,” Kat said before Ryo had paused the TV. “It's probably just a solicitor, or something.”
The knocking continued. “I don't think their going to leave until someone opens the door.” Ryo said.
“You think they'll just stay outside for that long?”
“Do you really want to test them...” The knocking got louder and more persistent.
“Alright, I'm coming!” Kat proclaimed to the door. She got up with a sigh and throw her coat on among the banging. After a brisk pace, the door was opened, with the view of a metal barrel fixated to her face.
Katsuo backed away slowly with her hands up, clenching her jaw to insure she didn't say the wrong thing. The gunman grabbed her shoulder and pushed her into a kneeling position, while another one from behind grabbed Ryouta and dragged him to face Katsuo, then pulled a shotgun to the both of them.
The first man holstered his gun and strolled upstairs to Irisu's bedroom. He reached for the first doorknob he saw, but found that it wouldn't rotate past a couple millimeters. He then went back down to where he came from, grinding his teeth the whole way.
Katsuo kept her head down and hoped that the two gunmen hadn't arrived for the reason she suspected. Ryouta saw right into Katsuo's fears, only deciding against to ask her what she thought was happening because of the double-barrels next to them. Ryouta had know clue why they where being invaded, and seeing the helplessness and regret in Katsuo troubled him more then he cared to think.
The man with the shotgun looked up at the man arriving from upstairs. “Is she not here?” he asked without getting a response. “Zakhar, did you find her or not?”
With the gunman next to him distracted, Ryouta ran into him and struggled to disarm him. Zakhar pulled out his revolver to retaliate, but Katsuo ran into his line of fire. She had her eyes forced closed and expanded her stomach muscles, but Zakhar didn't fire a shot. Behind her, Ryouta was thrown back to the ground, with the gun pointed right to his face.
“What a brave, young, stupid soul,” Zakhar said. “Why don't come a bit closer, I've got something to show you.”
Katsuo stayed put, now hoping to get a bullet and get it over with.
“Little girl, as disappointing as it is, you're not going to die a hero. The best you can do is make this easy for all of us.”
She refused to listen, and continued to test Zakhar's patiance.
Ryouta looked up at Katsuo, afraid for her life. “For gods sake, just do what he says!” He pleaded in a hyper-ventilated state that forced more tears out of his eyes than he's ever had before.
Katsuo finally gave up her front, and made her way forward. When he got the chance, Zakhar pulled her shoulder and spun her around. “Now, be a darling. Take me to where you keep the keys to the doors.” he demanded with his gun to her temple.
Katsuo couldn't bring herself to move, and with a deep breath, did the only thing she had left to do.
“Find them yourself, or get out...”
Zakhar managed a straight face from what he found an amusing response. “Do you mind running that by me again?”
“FIND THE DAMN KEYS YOUSELF, YOU GIANT PEICE OF S**T!”
She got hit in the head immediately by the barrel of Zakhar's gun. With a cold new look in his face, he gazed a thousand yards before him, and gave a simple command to his follower.
“Show her reason...”
The gunman ahead of him pushed his boot to Ryouta's chest, and spun his gun to point upwards. When Ryouta looked up at the gun, the blunt end smash into his nose. His cry of pain coincided with Katsuo turning her head to look away, only to have forced to face forward again.
Ryouta rolled to his side, and found the blood spilling out of his nostrils. The dented backside of the gun was now raised to the ceiling, then swung into Ryouta's chest. Instead of a scream, there was only the shatter of his rib cage, with more blood being thrown out of his mouth. The gunman walked down Ryouta's curled body. He pointed the shotgun down, poking at different parts of him. He eventually settled on his knees. The gunman stood up tall, and readied his gun to fire both rounds.
“ENOUGH, PLEASE!” Katsuo cried out in defeat, “I'll do what you say, just leave him alone.”
The gunman held his gun away from Ryouta, and walk up to Katsuo, waiting for her to lead the way. She reached into her coat pocket, bringing out a bundle of keys, and hand them over with one sticking out. The gunman grabbed the keys and walked up to Irisu's room leaving Katsuo where she was.
After the door opened, there was a loud glass shatter, which Zakhar instantly turned his head to. Not long after was the sound of flesh tearing, with the man screaming in horror. Another sound of stabbing, this time with more glass breaking. One more puncture, and the screams grew weaker and weaker, inevitably turning to silence.
Zakhar didn't stay for much longer. He opted to cut his loses and leave the scene while he could still do it without trouble. Katsuo stood in a petrified state, instead focusing on Ryouta. He had fallen unconscious during the mess, and layed draped on the floor. Katsuo reached as carefully as she could to check if he was still able to breathe. She put her hand before his mouth, and felt a slight gust come out. Katsuo then held head, relieved to find he was still alive, and trying to find a way to allow air into him more easily.
“R-Ryouta...” Irisu muttered in concern for her brother.
Katsuo jumped away from the voice behind her, completely forgetting that Irisu was her friend.
“Kat... are they gone?”
Katsuo tried to push herself farther back from Irisu then the wall would allow. She found a new fear for Irisu that she couldn't bring herself to explain, and was at a lose when Irisu stepped closer to her.
“Katsuo, you're scaring me,” Irisu started to fear that she would never get a response. “Please just tell me, is Ryouta going to be okay?”
Katsuo started to familiarize herself with the Irisu she's always known, and finally let herself calm down. “Their all gone,” Katsuo finally answered, “everything is going to be okay.”
Irisu dropped down to hug Katsuo, hoping to get them both out of shock. “Doesn't he need to go to a hospital?” Irisu asked.
“A hospital can't do anything right now.”
“But Katsuo, he's bleeding out of the mouth.”
“Their won't be a hospital safe enough to call.”
Irisu tightened her body, starting to weep uncontrollably.
“He'll be okay,” Katsuo promised, “We're just going to need some help.”
“Help? From... from who?”
Katsuo finally reached her arms to Irisu's back. “Irisu...” she started to whisper as softly and calmly as she could manage, “We can't live in Japan anymore.”
For some reason I had a hard time writing this part out. :|
Thanks to Bardic for writing out half of both this and the next part!
The referenced album title of Part 23 was RE:COGNITION by [ cell 7 ].
[s2_16.1: Part 24.1] Australian Noir
<22120527>
Wednesday, May 27th, 2212
Perth, Australia.
11:32:40
Nikole had instructed Katsuo to meet with her, but ended up visiting the grave where Matt had been buried. Nikole had tried to contact her old friend yesterday, if only to apologize for how she had treated him two years before. She understood why she had to find out herself, and it filled her with guilt. Katsuo ended up finding Nikole on her own, only to find out about Matt's fate herself. Nikole acknowledged Kat's presence on arrival, but stayed silent.
"Did he go peacefully?" Kat asked, trying to be comforting.
"He saw Ramaela, then Brandon, then asked to be cut-off. That's all I found out."
"You can still redeem yourself." Katsuo said. "Even if Matt isn't here to see it, it's never too late."
Nikole had grabbed a handkerchief out of her coat pocket. "Meet me in my car," she said in an attempt to divert her emotions, "We need to make sure no one eavesdrops on us."
"I understand." Kat said, as though she were simply asked to give Nikole her own moment.
------------
20 minutes later...
Nikole stepped into the driver's seat of her car along side Katsuo. "One of our colleges had intercepted a signal headed to Angelus HQ sometime in early to mid 2211. It was a hack into their security systems, allowing the fob panels to accept another code that had previously been unsupported."
"So there's a spy in Angelus?"
"It could be that they haven't been infiltrated yet, but it would be to their benefit to strike as soon as there transmission is set. I was going stay out of this, since Brandon has no faith in me being honest, but I can't let this happen... I need to makes things right."
"You're not taking this personally, are you?"
"I've had time to think about it... and what I'm going to ask of you might be uncomfortable, but it's ultimately the right thing."
"Anything that needs to be done..."
"I need you to keep an eye on the four most important members of Angelus: Brandon Smith, Alexandra Kotova, Gareth Ardos, and Kyoko Fujisaki. If they seem at all suspicious, keep a note of it and tell me when we meet again. If you find out one of them is missing or an imposter, pull out and contact me as soon as you can."
"Yeah, I can do that." Kat said, about to open the door.
"One more thing," Nikole said to stop Katsuo. "Stay in public areas, and don't go anywhere you're not supposed to."
"What? Why, how am I supp-"
"Katsuo, there's been enough done-"
"This is serious. Why should we sit by and let these people-"
"Please... for the sake of my peace... don't intrude into their personal lives."
Katsuo thought about Nikole reasoning and took a deep breathe to keep from getting frustrated. "Okay," she said reluctantly, "I'll stay in public areas then." then stepped out of the car.
------------
<22120528>
Thursday, May 28th, 2212
Angelus R&D HQ, Perth, Australia.
15:07:39
Kat was able to sneak into Angelus HQ without being noticed by the tighter security, she thought that maybe the beanie she was wearing might have had something to do with it. She made her way to the lounge, where she saw Brandon, Gareth and Alex conversing. Hiding herself behind the door, she listened in.
"...don't have the info we need, so it will be some time before we are able to attack." She heard Brandon explain.
"How difficult is it to get the info we need?" Gareth asked
"Is that a rhetorical question? This is Crinale we're talking about, they'd be hiding pretty much any and all sensitive information really well. It'd be almost impossible to obtain the info we need through legal means."
"... Are you insinuating what I think you are?"
"Maybe. Not really. I will definitely try to get everything legally, don't worry. However, sometimes you need to fight fire with fire... wait. How did I not notice that before?"
"Huh?" Alex spoke up for the first time.
"Your hair, it's different."
"...sh*t, I'll be back." Alex ran out of the room, right past Kat. Thankfully, she didn't notice her. She decided to follow her to see where she was going. Alex entered a storeroom, took out her bag, and rushed to her next location: one of the bathrooms. As she walked in, she looked at her reflection in the mirror.
"Wh-? Damn it." She exclaimed, staring at her hair, which was a very dark, almost unnoticeable brown. She reached into her bag and took out an object. Kat noticed it immediately as a device used to change the hair colour of the user. Alex used it on her hair, changing it to her usual black. She then stuffed the device back into her bag and walked out, replacing her bag in the storeroom and returning to the lounge. Brandon, upon seeing her, had a slight suspicious look on his face, but made no comment on her hair changing again.
The referenced album title of Part 24.1 was California Noir by Julien-K.
[s2_16.2: Part 24.2] That Crooked Vulture
<22120601>
Monday, June 1st, 2212
Brandon's house, Perth, Australia.
23:09:31
"Come on, damnit, answer!"
Kat had had enough, she wasn't going to play by Nikole's rules, she was going to find out about the spy by any means necessary. She had followed Kyoko to Brandon's house, and was seeing her bang on his door.
"What?! It's 10pm! Are you're sleeping?" She took out her phone and phoned him. "Of course you are not answering the door when I need your assistance the most, argh!"
"Where the hell are you?!
"...
"... Ugh, no reason. じゃあね."
She hung up at that point. Not wasting any more time, she re-entered her car and set off, switching off the red lights the moment she got back on the roads... but nearly lost it in the process, her AG racing skills bringing the car back in control. Kat continued following her, all the way to Angelus HQ.
Donning her beanie again, she snuck into the building, following Kyoko right up to Brandon's office. Cracking the door open slightly, she listened in.
"-ow what I have to deal with."
"No, of course I don't, but you still need sleep to function properly!"
Kat listened in to their entire conversation, complete with Kyoko slapping Brandon in the face. The conversation suddenly changed when they finished discussing the spy.
"How are you holding up?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean. Your identity. How are you holding up keeping it covered?"
"Oh, that... well, once I got used to it, it's pretty easy."
"Good, good."
"Although, I won't say that it wasn't tiring, because it was."
Kyoko removed her helmet to cool off and sat down, continuing their conversation. Katsuo was about to leave, but there was one thing she couldn't let go of.
She had to see her face.
Katsuo cracked the door just enough to get an eye into the door. She used the window behind the desk to catch a reflection of her head. There was a slight chill from the sight she had beheld, but not enough to make her look away. She kept her eye on the face for a solid minute just to make sure she knew exactly what it was. After this realization, Katsuo couldn't help herself from staying to listen to the conversation they had, learning what should never leave the office, up until the last possible moment she could stay.
------------
<22120602>
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2212
Public underground carpark, Perth, Australia.
08:59:19
There was no way to know how much longer there was until any effort to find the spy became moot. Nikole was anxiously waiting in her car for Katsuo as a result of the issue. She showed up to the meeting point 15 minutes early just to fool herself into thinking she would get her information earlier, and now she has sat alone for another 15 minutes before Katsuo had arrived with the news.
“They're attacking Crinale.” Katsuo started.
“Attacking? What do you mean attacking?”
“Couldn't tell you much more then that, just that they might not be playing fair for a while.”
Nikole spaced out from realizing the complications of a company with those intentions being infiltrated, or even manipulated from the inside.
"Any other requests?"
Nikole snapped out of her trance. "Brandon Smith, anything about him?"
"I heard him say he was trying to find the spy, in a roundabout way. He's in the clear."
"Alright, at least we avoided a worst case scenario."
"If you thought he was the spy, then why did you tell him about it?"
"I had to tell someone, and Brandon was the least likely. He's the one that everyone would see everyday. Did you spot Kyoko at all?"
"If she ever leaves her home, she wasn't in her favourite anonymous racing suit of secretness. Still, though, she and Brandon are too close for a spy to not get caught as her. She apparently only shows her helmet on a raceday anyway, which would make for the world's laziest informant."
"Gareth Ardos?"
"It could be him, he was a bit sociable, though. It'd be hard for him to stay undetected with how he acts, but it could be done, I suppose."
"And Alexandra Kotova?"
"Something was off about her... I almost didn't even see it. Apparently her hair had looked different or something. I though maybe she just changed it's colour overnight, but that would mean that whenever someone notices, she changes it back."
"You saw her change her hair colour after someone saw it was different?"
"Yeah, she went to the bathroom just to do it. That's all the weird stuff I saw her do, though."
"Right... anything else I should know?"
Katsuo looked up, as though she was debating with herself on what to say.
"What is it... If it's that important, just tell me."
After taking a large breath, Katsuo opened her mouth. "I know where Tarah Andrews is."
"...How do you know this." Nikole said sternly, already knowing the answer.
"Did you think I was going to find her grocery shopping? I had to, I couldn't get to her any other way?"
Nikole laid her head on the steering wheel in frustration, then sat up in a slightly calmer state. "Maybe you were right. Just... don't tell me what you heard."
"But she-"
"If Tarah's been under the radar for this long, she hasn't been making any problems. We'll deal with the spy first, then we'll see what happens. You can go now."
"Nikole-"
"I don't want to hear it. Enjoy the rest of your day however you like, your job is done for now."
Katsuo still felt she had more to say, but knew she couldn't convince Nikole to hear her out. After a bit of hesitation, she eventually exited Nikole's car, which promptly left the carpark, and went back into her own. It wasn't until she had managed to fully distract herself from the subject with whatever she had on hand before she went back to the outside world herself.
And just because I feel like it, another part on day after the one I just posted.
The referenced album title of Part 24.2 was the self-titled album by Them Crooked Vultures.
[s2_17.1: Part 25.1] Before The Incident... [Pt.1]
<22120611>
Thursday, June 11th, 2212
Omega Harbour, Perth, Australia.
11:06:54
Nikole had decided to take action against the spy working against Angelus, not realising that a certain someone had the same idea.
"Katsuo, come here. This is improtant." She told her.
Katsuo followed Nikole into the latter's car, as they set off for their destination.
"So what's going on?" Katsuo asked.
"I have obtained data that points to the spy masquerading as Alexandra Kotova. I need you and Halvred to investigate her residence, then meet me in front of Angules HQ, I want to inform Brandon what we can as soon as possible. And make sure Halvred is armed."
"Armed?!" Katsuo asked, slightly caught off guard.
"It's a precaution, we still don't fully understand what forces are at work."
"Oh, ok, I feel much better." Katsuo muttered to herself as she grabbed her phone.
They arrived at the house in no time, getting out of the car and walking up to the door. Katsuo held Halvred back as she inspected the door and it's surroundings.
"How do you think we're going to get in?" Halvred asked.
"Well, maybe this will work" She said, knocking on the door.
...
Nothing. She tried again.
"Hello?!" She yelled.
... "MMMPH! MMMPH!"
"Worth a shot, I g-" Katsuo started
"SHHH!" Halvred shushed her "Hear that?"
... "MMMPH! MMMPH!"
"Is that..." Katsuo whispered, "ohh... oh no..."
"We should check the back." Halvred suggested, reaching for his pistol.
The two walked around to the gate leading to the rear, and jumped over it.
"MMMPH! MMMPH!"
The muffled screams grew louder, more noticeable.
"...HERE! It's coming from here!" Katsuo stopped by a window.
Halvred knelt under the window and knocked a few times.
"Is that Alexandra Kotova?! One for yes, two for no."
"MMMMMPH!"
"Right." Halvred reholstered his gun, assuming that any potential ambush would've taken place by now. "In that case, hold on, we're breaking in."
He signalled Katsuo to go back. They returned to the front of the house.
"Kat, you know what to do..."
"Of course!" Katsuo said enthusiastically, unlocking the doors in no time at all. The two rushed in, seeing a bound and gagged Alex. Katsuo knelt down by her, removing the gag from her mouth.
"Yo, what's the security code?" Katsuo asked immediately.
"Huh? U-uh, 6852."
Halvred knew what Katsuo would ask of him, and ran up to the front of the house. He opened the control panel of the security system and input the numbers on the keypad, deactivating the alarm before it had a chance to go off. While he did that, Katsuo made work of freeing Alex.
"Th-Thanks. Really, I mean it. How did you know I was here?"
"Brandon, he found out about the spy. Are you able to walk on your own? Cause we need to get going now."
"Y-Yeah, I can manage. I am quite hungry, though."
"Okay, good. Grab a snack if you have any here, you can eat in the car."
Alex went directly to the fridge, grabbed a snack, and reset the security alarm, leaving her prison with her two saviours.
"Wait, you mentioned Brandon, does that mean-?"
"Yes," Katsuo cut her off. "We're heading to Angelus HQ."
The referenced album title of Part 25.1 was... well, the same as this part. Find out next time!
[s2_17.2: Part 25.2] ...The Stoica Incident... [Pt.2]
<22120611>
Thursday, June 11th, 2212
Angelus R&D HQ, Perth, Australia
11:13:39
Text Message: we will be at angelus hq soon, we have something of interest to you.
Satisfied with all the evidence he had finally collated, Brandon headed out of his office, towards the spy.
"Alex, I need to talk with you."
"Of course! I need to talk to you too." She said with a smile.
"You do?"
"Yes, but I'll let you speak first."
"Okay... Snežana Stoica, you have been found out."
"Wh-What?! Who's that?"
Naturally, everyone was confused.
"The hell? What are you talking about, that's Alex!"
"It is nothing more than a very clever disguise. The person you thought was Alex is actually an international spy, working for a certain organisation to gather information on Angelus. I have proof on this, don't bother arguing with me."
"B-but... I am Alex!" She said, getting rather frustrated.
Brandon just laughed at that, "Wow, you really didn't do your research properly! Even I know of Alex's secret ability."
"Secret ability? Of course I know about it!" She said
"No, you don't. See, this ability is involuntary, it happens under certain circumstances. One such circumstance just happened, yet her ability did not present itself."
"Brandon, just chill!" An employee said, still not understanding.
"It seems that no-one understands me. Fortunately, I do have the evidence that proves who she really is."
"So do we." A familiar voice spoke out. 4 people walked into the R&D room they were in: Nikole Carole, Halvred Erikson, Katsuo Tsukiko and... another Alexandra Kotova.
"Huh?!" The Alex that Brandon was speaking to squealed in surprise and fear. Her eyes however, did not change.
"I'd stand still if I were you," Halvred said, pulling out his gun, "or else I might have to add one hell of a marking to keep track of you two."
"Yes." Alex said, keeping still. She then turned to the other Alex at the opposite end of the room. "Hello, my doppelgänger. Guess the tables have turned!"
"Do you see now?" Brandon explained "I realised that Alex had somehow lost the involuntary ability to change her eye colour based on her emotions. Then Nikole came to me talking about a spy. That was when it finally clicked for me. You were not Alex to begin with.
"As for you, Nikole..." He turned around, stepping beside the other Alex.
"Wait!" The Alex with the two Syncline personnel stopped him, "Nikole is a trustworthy person, she saved me from Stoica."
"I know, I can see that. I was going to thank her." He directed his attention to Nikole, "Really, you have my full gratitude... and my trust."
While he wasn't looking, though, Snežana had disappeared, leaving Halvred perplexed as to why he was down one gun.
"Ack!"
<second scout | autechre_>
"Anyone move, and the bitch dies." A female spoke in a disturbing voice, void of any emotion. Snežana had grabbed Alex from behind and pressed her automatic knife to her throat. "Except for you three, get back now." She gestured at Katsuo, Halvred and Nikole. They all stepped back, but Halvred then rushed up at her. Snežana swung her knife in his direction, causing him to grab her wrist. The opening Halvred created allowed Snežana to kick him square in the diaphragm, causing him to drop to the ground.
"Hal!" Alex called out.
Brandon just smiled wider. "Ahh, now your true colours show. Hello, Snežana. Now, that is a really neat weapon, as is this." He held up a gun of his own, which Snežana would never think to make accounted for. "This is rather interesting! It doesn't take any bullets, but has the potential to take a person's life, like a traditional firearm."
She then realised that he was holding her gun. "Oh. That's why you stood beside me. You are very deceptive. You would do well as a spy."
"Unfortunately, I'd rather not stoop that low. Drop the weapon," He pointed the gun at her. "Or I will be forced to use violence. You know me, I don't like violence. However, if I feel that me or my team are threatened, I will have no choice." His face was as stoic as the spy standing at the opposite end of the room, yet there seemed to be some anger behind it.
"You cannot negotiate with me. You will have to kill me. Let's see if you can do it, Angelus... KKGUUAAUH."
What happened next was so fast, it was over in a second. While Snežana was talking, Alex had slowly raised her leg, then swung backwards, kicking her leg. Wile she swung her leg backwards, she raised her arm and grabbed the spy's wrist, twisting and pulling it in such a way that when she kicked her leg, Alex was able to drop her to the ground, disabling her. Finally, she stomped hard on her wrist, breaking it and making her lose her grip on her knife. She picked it up and pointed it at her.
"Don't... you DARE DO THAT AGAIN." Her eyes changed, a fiery angry red glow lighting up in her unique eyes. "What was it you said, 'move and the bitch dies'? Yeah, how's that?!"
"Hmph."
Snežana acted just as quickly as Alex, however, the latter was prepared. Just as Snežana sweeped her leg at her, she attempted to leap out of the way. She unfortunately got caught, but she closed up and threw the knife away in one fluid motion. Brandon stopped the skidding weapon and picked it up.
At the same time, she leaped up, dashed over to Katsuo and grabbed her by the throat, strangling her. She was becoming more desperate, and more careless, as she didn't notice Hal was starting to stand up again. When he went for a sleeper hold, she dropped Katsuo, who collapsed to the ground, coughing. Immediately, Nikole rushed to her side. Snežana had swung around to strike Hal, but only swung at air while he ducked down. Hal made a point with his three longest fingers, and executed her abdomen with surgical precision, and grabbed his gun back on her way down.
Meanwhile, Brandon made his move. "Give up, now." He advised coldly, flicking the automatic knife open. Halvred backed away from the open blade, with its owner walking up to her and pointing it directly at her face.
Snežana looked up at the seething man... and shivered. For the first time in her life, she felt fear. Fear for what would happen, what lengths he would go through to get what he wanted. His unsmiling face was blank, showing not one emotion, but it was clear that there was extreme fury behind his mask.
In the same cold, calm, yet anger-filled voice, Brandon continued, unblinking. "You- no... no-one has ever seen me when I am down right furious, when I am pushed off the edge. Right now, however, I am dangling precariously on that very edge." His voice had reached it's coldest as he gave out his final warning: "I have killed people before, I will not hesitate to end you... Run."
[lmfao wtf]
The referenced album title of Part 25.2 was... again, the same as this part. I'm sorry.
[s2_17.3: Part 25.3] ...The Incident's Conclusion [Pt.3]
<22120611>
Thursday, June 11th, 2212
Angelus R&D HQ, Perth, Australia
11:19:58
"I have killed people before, I will not hesitate to end you... Run."
Filled with an intense fear, Snežana became paralyzed for a few moments, finally leaping up, and just began running. She ran for her life through the complex. Brandon signalled to Alex, Katsuo and Halvred, beginning to give chase, but the escapee grabbed a key fob from a rack. She continued running, madly pressing the unlock button. Finally, at the end of the room, a vehicle responded, opening it's canopy.
She jumped over the door into the open cockpit of the Tsunami prototype and shut it once she had settled in. She jammed the key in the slot and turned it, starting the unique vehicle. She set off at top speed through the R&D department, straight at her pursuers.
"NO!" Brandon yelled.
Almost all of them jumped out of the way of the speeding vehicle, except for Brandon. He jumped at the low car in an attempt to leap over it. He landed on the car, still running, which tripped him up by it's higher velocity. He landed on his back on the floor.
"Ow." He said after a few seconds, "Maybe I should not have tried that." Slowly, he got up and spun around. "Not on my watch." he shook his head slowly, then ran off in the direction of the car.
The slim, sleek vehicle raced through the building, driving down the ramp leading to the multi-story parking garage. Brandon followed, taking the elevator to the ground floor of the garage, where his Razer.X hypercar was parked. He entered the car and started it up as quick as possible, flooring it out of the garage.
<massacre | savant_>
The small unpainted vehicle shot out of the garage, tilted as it turned out onto the road, maintaining a sort of elegance to it. The much more normal-designed Razer.X, while not as elegant, was smooth in its exit out of the garage.
Both cars seemed to be equally matched. The Razer.X had the sheer power, and the Tsunami had the light weight, so both had a rather high acceleration. However, as the hypercar increased in RPM, the more power it gained, until it started to catch up to the tiny vehicle. Suddenly, the cockpit shifted to the left and the tiny machine darted in that direction.
"Ngh!"
Brandon had a hard time pulling his car around the corner at that speed, but it wasn't an overly heavy machine, so he was able to manage it. Along that straight, he pulled out his smartphone, opening an app that allowed him to control certain Angelus cars, the Tsunami being one of them.
As his speed allowed him to be beside the tiny racer, he tapped a portion of the screen.
Click.
"Huh?!"
The door and canopy was locked, as Brandon tapped other areas of the controls, causing other things to happen to the car as he slowly disabled it. First came a high-pitched whine as the engine revved to max, the gear being set to neutral. As the car slowly lost speed due to the lack of a drive gear engaged, Snežana looked back as Brandon hit the brakes of his Razer.X, as he tapped the screen again.
The lightweight car jerked with the force of it's own braking power, Brandon's heavier car shooting past it. To compensate, Brandon turned sharply, spinning his car around, stopping in a parking bay to the side of the road. When he came to a complete halt, he pushed the final button and swiped the top, which powered down the car, and locked the settings, so Snežana could not turn it back on and drive off.
He exited the car slowly, locking it, then walked over to the runaway concept. He looked down at his phone, then casually tapped two buttons.
Click.
The canopy unlocked, then swung open.
"GH-!"
Immediately as it did, Brandon grabbed her by the top she was wearing.
"Now, if y-..." He was cut off by Snežana thrusting a fist at where his head was moments before he dodged out of the way, pushing her to one side as he did so. The first moment he got, he held her arms down, continuing to speak as coldly as he did a while ago.
"... as I was saying... If you are done with your little joyride, we can go back to HQ."
"Y-you told me to run!"
"I said 'Run', not 'Steal a valuable car and race off with it'. You wasted your last chance, both you and the Tsunami are going back.... what?"
Brandon was cut off once again, this time by Snežana laughng loudly.
"I...I just remembered something! If I get caught by them... whatever you do to me... will be nothing compared to what my organisation will do."
Brandon's cold, serious face slowly grew to a wide smile
"H...Hahaha... Is that so! Well, then! In that case... I will let you go. You can flee then, at the cost of fear of being caught by your organisation!"
"...w-wait. What?"
"You can go. You will no longer be able to use Angelus as a shelter any longer. You can flee, but don't ever think of returning. You will live a life of fear, fear of getting caught by the organisation, of being tortured within a centimeter, nay, a millimeter of your life. This is the path you chose, I hope you're happy."
Snežana just stuttered and spluttered, her voice unable to come out. Finally, she was able to get 4 words out.
"Let... me... keep... Tsunami!"
"...You want the Tsunami? ......fine. I feel merciful today."
Brandon then tapped his phone a few times, unlocking the Tsunami completely.
"There, now leave, and never return."
"Y-you have my word!" She said, speeding off, leaving Brandon to get back in his car and return to Angelus HQ.
------------
As Brandon walked back to the R&D room, where he saw Nikole taking off her coat and giving it to Kat, along with a bottle of water, while Hal looked deep in thought.
"Hey, are you okay?" Brandon asked Kat.
"Of course I am, I'm invincible." She replied.
Brandon laughed, then turned to Alex.
"How about you? Nothing broken?"
"Well, I did get cut when I disabled the spy, but it's minor, I'll be fine. What about Snežana?"
"I have faith that she'll never return."
"You... mean?"
"We came to an agreement, she might regret the decision she chose, but that is not my problem."
Halvred snapped out of his trance, not at all looking as relieved as the others, and signaled Brandon to meet him around the hall.
"Is there anything else I need to worry about, you look troubled." Brandon asked.
"Mind telling what you planned on doing just now?"
"Pardon?"
"What in the hell were you doing? Brandon Smith, pure as can be, waving a gun, laughing and-"
"Just when do you have any ground to judge me? You step in, a gun's the first thing that comes out. Good god, you look like the reincarnation of Gandhi, you really do."
"My gun wasn't loaded." Hal chimed in the first chance he got. "See, I've not been around many lovers, but I know the fighters like a professor knows arithmetic, and I have a bit more of an idea of who the most dangerous are."
"Oh, you think I'm dangerous?" Brandon felt just enough shock to hold back his laughter, "Okay, Sun Zsu, you've got my attention, just what is so important that you just have to tell me now."
"There's a saying that's been going around among private military workers, usually when one get's called a crazed gunman. 'To be an assassin is to have a job; to be a crazed gunman is to have a mental illness'. And as it would turn out, I've never met someone who was both hired as a mercenary on top of being a psychopath."
"So because I've just now picked up a gun, that makes me a psycho... that's some grade A scrutiny you got there."
"You've already admitted to killing people, and you sounded damn proud of it! When I see a trained and seasoned military spy shivering at the sight of someone who has a weapon and couldn't care less about how to use it, what so you expect me to think of that person."
"Are you threatening me? If so you picked a hell of a time and place-"
"This situation is beyond me. I could not do anything to you, even in defense, so I can only warn you. Pay close attention to yourself, and seriously think about what you do. The sooner you learn this, the more likely you are to be lucky to not have to pay attention to everyone else."
Halvred went back to the crowd before Brandon had a chance to retort, who brushed of Halvred's words and acted as though they never spoke.
"Let us recuperate, and find out how to fix this mess. However, we also need to continue preparing for the first F12000 Omega Harbour race."
[part removed]
[part removed]
The referenced album title of Part 25 was The Incident by Porcupine Tree.
[s2_18.1: Part 26.1] Stoica's Great Reward
<22120623>
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2212
Angelus R&D HQ, Perth, Australia
"Hi! Sorry to just drop in on you guys!" Catherine had entered Angelus' HQ to see the team, and speak with her new best friend.
"It's fine, how are you doing?" Brandon spoke.
"I'm alright. You guys know the next race is at-"
"Nilokeras Fossa, Syncline's home course. Doesn't seem like anything we can't handle."
"Great! I'll see you there then!... Ah! Is Alex here? I also wanted to catch up with her some more."
"Uhh, yes... but... well, you see..."
At that point, Alex walked past.
"Alex! Hi!" Catherine said in her usual energetic tone.
Alex just stared at her, blushing profusely and her mouth opening slightly. "Huh? Wh-who are you?"
"Haha, very funny. How're you doing?"
"I... No, really... who are you?"
Catherine's face turned to shock, she looked back at Brandon.
"There has been a little... incident, shall we say. The Alex you have been interacting with was not really Alex."
"What? Th... This.... This is just some horrible, cruel joke, isn't it? I know how you feel about the AGRC!"
"I would not joke with a kind hearted person such as yourself. Please, allow me to explain."
Brandon sat her down and explained everything to do with the spy. Naturally, Alex sat with her.
"...wow. That... really happened?" Catherine asked.
"Yes. I... truly am sorry for what happened." Alex said, looking away from her.
The shock that remained on Catherine's face soon turned into a large smile.
"It's fine! We can start again!"
"You can, I'm starting for the first time." Alex laughed.
Seeing that they were getting along well, Brandon left them to catch up, walking to his office. As he entered, he found a small package that one of the guards told him about, after scanning it for anomalous and hazardous materials. He opened it up, pulling out a holo-bar and a key fob. Holding the key in his right hand, he opened the holo-bar with his left.
"Brandon Smith.
"This past time I spent with you was a lie. I doubt anyone would know your true colours. So that day, I fled. I fled because for the first time as a professional spy, I was scared... and I usually have complete control of my emotions.
"In any case, I shall not be returning, not even to pick up my belongings... that's where the key comes into play."
At that point, Brandon stared at the key in his hand, then back at the letter.
"All the things I left at Angelus is now yours. My knife, my gun, and my old car are yours to keep. Do whatever you want with them; keep them, destroy them, whatever. They're yours now. The 4th floor of the parking garage should be where the car is.
"Speaking of cars... I'm treating the Tsunami well. I made changes to your design for a reason: I loved the initial design, and I wanted it. You just gave me the perfect time to steal it.
"In any case, I leave you with this final piece of information:
4F 45 45 4C 54
56 4C 20 4C 49
45 20 53 20 56
52 41 54 41 45
54 52 49 43 2E
"-Snežana Stoica"
Brandon scratched his head at the last part, then thought 'Screw it, I'll figure it out later. First order of business is the car.'
He made his way to the parking garage, going up to the 4th floor like the letter advised. There, he found the car 'Alex' drove, a 2210 Aston Martin. Brandon pressed a button on the key fob and the car responded to it. He opened the door and looked in it, then looked in the boot and engine bay. Satisfied there wasn't any anomalies attached to the car, he walked back to the main building, finding Alex.
"Alex, c-... wait, where's Catherine? I expected her to still be here talking with you."
"Ehh, we spoke for a while, but she had to return to work."
"Alright. Anyway, could you come with me for a moment."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I have something to give to you."
"Uhhhh, okay."
She got up and walked with Brandon, who escorted her to the 4th level of the building's multistory carpark.
Brandon dangled the key fob by placing the keyring around his finger. "I have this key. Can you guess which car it belongs to?"
Alex looked around, then her eyes snapped wide open in shock.
"I... I recognise that car... I've seen it before. It's that... devil woman's car." She said, pointing at the Aston Martin.
Brandon pressed two buttons on the key fob. Once again, the car responded, unlocking and opening the doors.
"Get in, I've wanted to experience these cars."
"Uh... you sure?"
"Relax, I checked it out earlier. It's clean."
"Right, but why do you want me to ride with you?"
"I'll explain later, just get in."
With a sigh, Alex sat in the passenger's seat of the car, as Brandon got in the driver's seat. He plugged the key in the slot and started the car, driving off to Omega Harbour for a test run.
[part deleted]
[parts removed]
The referenced album title of Part 26.1 was Some Great Reward by Depeche Mode.
[s2_18.2: Part 26.2] Human After All
<22120623>
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2212
Angelus R&D HQ, Perth, Australia
The Aston Martin flew out of the garage, heading towards Omega Harbour.
"This feels... unique. Very solid. Then again, it's a proper GT, not a supercar like most of Angelus' cars."
"I agree, but it feels kinda... boring."
"Really? Huh, I agree it's not as fun as an Angelus or a Katana, but it's still quite fun."
When they entered Omega Harbour, Brandon was able to plant his foot down, the car responding well to it, accelerating to it's top speed of 325km/h before the first corner. It took the wide, banked corner at top speed, but Brandon had to slow down for the tighter U-turn. He turned into it, hard, shifting down and stomping on the brake a few times.
"What are you trying to do?" Alex asked.
"Trying to get it sideways." Brandon explained, looking down at the centre console and pushing a few buttons, before holding one down and saying, "Ah, found the traction control. You're off, great."
Brandon then broke into the following right hander, planting his foot down as he was in the corner. The car slipped, entering a beautiful slide, which Brandon kept under control. Racing the rest of the way around the course, Brandon exited through the fork halfway down that the short and medium courses used.
"Okay, that was fun. Let's get back now, I have things to discuss with you."
------------
When they returned, Brandon told her his intentions.
"This car, I'm giving to you. Keep it, sell it, crush it, it's up to you."
"I'd love to have a car... but not this one. Too many bad memories. I'd rather crush it."
"Not even sell it? You could get a decent amount for this."
"Maybe. Whatever. I just don't want to see this thing again. Besides, I have my own ideas for a car I want."
"Fair enough, then. I'll sell it and give you the cash I get for it, I won't accept no for an answer to the money thing."
"[sigh], sure... listen. I... just want to thank you for all you've done for me. Really, I didn't think I deserved all this, especially from you of all people... but I am grateful to you."
"Heh... um, thanks."
"Right, let's get out of here." She said, getting out of the car.
Brandon followed, getting out of the car, locking it up and throwing the key to Alex. She fumbled for a second before dropping it.
"Sh*t... I'm such a mess today... [sigh], I guess I'll just come out with it... I-I've been... thinking about... dating."
"Dating? Wait... you don't-?"
"Don't what?" She asked, before getting what Brandon meant, "Oh... no, I'm a lesbian."
"Ah, alright then. I was going to say, I still have feelings for Tarah."
"But she's gone now... you should let go."
"I have my reasons as to why I can't... you have feelings for Catherine, don't you?"
"The moment I saw her... I just... wow. A-And the more I knew about her, the more I fell for her." She smiled, as an image of her crush filled her mind.
"Okay... and you're telling me... why? Is it because I know her through... the other's interactions with her?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
"Well, there's nothing I can tell you that will help you any further, you guys just seem to naturally get together, so I'd say... just keep doing what you're doing."
"I know that!" She snapped back, "I... I just want to know... like... when should I ask her?"
Brandon just stared at her, "... whenever you feel the time is right. Have you not been in a relationship before?"
"I have, once before... but it was definitely not like this."
"No?"
"No. My first relationship was so meaningless, so horrid, I kinda got put off relationships, until now."
"Hmmm... well, I do think you should give it another shot. You two get along so well, you have good chemistry."
"Okay... I'll try."