Part 23: The Calm and the Storm
Faster Than Angels | Part 12.0
Well, here we go, Part 12.
The referenced album title of Part 11.0 was the Basscadet EP by Autechre.
The title for Part 12 is a bit weird. Sorry.
[s2_4.1: Part 12.X] <EVERYTHING//CHANGES>
<01nihil_/>
<22100213>
Tuesday, February 13th, 2210
Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, Australia
17:05:38
The events that transpired after Gareth passing out had enraged Brandon, and for good reason.
"POISONED?! ARE YOU F**KING KIDDING ME?!" He yelled at the doctor, kicking over a chair on his way out.
When he returned several minutes later, it was clear he used that time to calm down.
"Look, I'm sorry I yelled, I'm usually a very calm person, but... It was just an extreme shock to me."
"It's fine, I understand completely." The doctor said.
"I thought he just had a heart attack or something, he was doing a Zone race not too long before he passed out. Anyway, how long will he have to be here for?"
"We're not sure at this point, it's too early to determine."
"Fair enough, I doubt we can see him at this point in time, right?"
"Correct, it's only been a few hours. However, we will be able to contact you when you are."
"That would be great, thanks. In any case, I have nothing productive left to do here, so I shall make my leave. Once again, thank you."
"Not a problem, Brandon. You're quite famous here, being the leader of a successful racing team. You take care."
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<22100226>
Monday, February 26th, 2210
Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, Australia
12:48:50
Brandon got the call to see Gareth. At once, he raced over to the hospital
"Gareth, how are you feeling, mate?" He asked Gareth once he walked to his bed, seeing that he was up.
"Not too bad, but still not completely 100%." Gareth replied.
"Apparently, you were poisoned, any idea how that could have happened?"
"Honestly, if it was a slow-acting poison, which the doctor told me it was, then I can think of countless ways. In my food, in my drink, you name it."
"OK, maybe I should re-think the question. Do you know who it could have been?"
"No." he said firmly, "Everyone likes me, that's a fact and you know it. No-one would have the motive to poison me."
"Yeah, true."
Brandon stayed a while longer, but...
"Look, I have to go, I have a lot of stuff to do."
"I understand, the prototype race." Gareth said assuringly. "Wish Tarah luck for me, I know she's been practising a lot recently, maybe a little too much."
"I will, don't worry."
On his way out, Brandon saw a familiar face walking towards him.
"Chris? Chris Scarbrough? Hey! What are you doing here?"
"Huh? Oh, Brandon, it's you, how did I not recognise you? Ah, not important. To answer your question, I am here to see Gareth." Chris replied, initially not seeing Brandon.
"Gareth? Why Gareth? I mean, I know he's in hospital, but why are you visiting him?"
"Is it not obvious? We think the incident may have to do with Crinale."
"Cr-... Right, of course. I'll see you later." He left, quickly. He had to get back to the office.
As soon as he got back, Brandon ran to his office, then locked the door. He needed to think. Why exactly was Chris visiting Gareth? He was careful to not let the information of the incident leak. In fact, to the public, an incident did not occur at all. Not even the AGRC knew about it. So why did Chris know about it, and how did he come across that information?
'Bah, never mind,' He thought, 'Someone must not have been as careful, and the information leaked, it happens.'
He didn't want to waste time thinking about trivial things, he had to prepare for the first Prototype race...
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<22100302>
Friday, March 2nd, 2210
Orcus, Alaska, USA
19:20:46
"Hi-Whaa?" Brandon was astounded when he saw what had happened...
"What do you think? I decided to change it for the very first Prototype race!" Tarah responded. She had changed her hair, instead of her hair being shoulder-length and bright red-orange, it was now very long and very cyan.
Due to the massive advancements in technology over the 2 centuries between the 21st and the 23rd, people could dye their hair in any colour without it mixing in with their current colour. another advancement was that no matter the colour, subtle or bright, the hair would always look as if the colour was natural. Tarah's bright red-orange was a natural colour, but the bright cyan colour of her hair now still looked as if she was born with bright cyan hair.
"It looks awesome, but you know who you look like? That 21st century anime Vocaloid character, Hatsune Miku. See?" He brought up an image of the character on his smartphone, showing it to Tarah.
"Hahaha! Yeah, I guess I do! That's awesome." She laughed.
"Your racing suit doesn't really help the fact, either." He said, noticing her suit, which had light strips running all around it.
"That too is true! Anyway, I think I need to get to the grid."
"Ok, but listen first:" He turned serious all of a sudden, "I want you to have fun, but I also want you to be safe. Please, promise me that."
"Brandon, you know me, I will always be safe. The race restrictions being different changes nothing at all."
"Thank you." He then kissed her, "Now go, stay safe, have fun and win for us!"
"You know I will!" She then ran off to the grid, where the bright, almost laboratory white ship lay waiting.
<juke joint jezebel | kmfdm_>
The Xygen-R25 looked different to the standard Xygen4, as it used a heavily modified chassis to cope with the mechanical changes. In standard Angelus fashion, the body still looked amazing, even though most of the design choices were for aerodynamic purposes.
As soon as she jumped in and started the ship up, azure neon light strips lit up, running around the ship like Tarah's racing suit.
The start line of the Orcus race track then started up...
3, 2, 1... GO!
