There may be a bit of a hiatus from me for next Friday, I have work to finish for my course and I want Part 12 to be the best it can be. But I can upload Part 11!
Hey Jonny, see if you can spot a reference to an awesome series I've snuck in! 
There is a character that also returns, see if you can spot him (Hint: he was a character in Season 1, Part 1.0)
The referenced album title of Part 10.0 was Initiate by an obscure local (Perth) band called LYTS. (Sorry about that, I'm running out of album titles. )
[s2_3.0: Part 11.0] Zonecadet
<22100213>
Tuesday, February 13th, 2210
Angelus R&D HQ
13:13:13
"Alright team," Brandon began his usual start of race pep talk, "Race 2 of the season, and we don't need to go anywhere! This is a Zone event, so we will be using the simulator. So who wants to race?"
Gareth spoke up, "Zone mode is my speciality, I never cared for weapons, and even though I don't do the fastest laps, I can keep my cool even at extremely high speeds. I'll take one for the team."
"Alrighty then, you're up!"
When Gareth was seated, the simulator booted up.
>loading zone... OK
>loading ship <"angelus">... OK
>loading track <"de konstruct">... OK
>loading custom playlist <"ga-zone">... OK
>loading graphic equalizers... OK
Initiating...... GO!
<13:25:00_>
<de konstruct: white run_>
<zone_>
<lap 01 / zone 00: sub-venom_>
<wipeout zone 02 - venom | sacred virgo_>
"Ooh, de Konstruct, this is my track of choice! I have a record on this." Gareth proudly exclaimed
"No you don't." Brandon said. "It was beaten... today in fact."
"WHAT?! By whom?!"
"Viktor Antonov." Brandon said stiffly. "He got up to Zone 158, beating your record by 4 zones."
"Oh, he is gonna get wrecked!"
As he got faster, so did the music, as Gareth specifically made the playlist for zone mode.
<lap 13 / zone 20: phantom_>
So far Gareth had obtained nothing but perfect laps, he was extremely calm, rather than his usual racing state, it seemed like the lack of weapons and other racers kept him at ease.
"Alright, it's out of the main speed classes, let's go... beyond Phantom!" he said, psyching himself up.
<lap 39 / zone 41: zen_>
"Mmphh, no!" Gareth mumbled, he had scraped against the wall, making it his first error in the race. "I can make it to the 70s before making crappy mistakes like that."
He was right, after the 41st lap, and entering Super-Zen, zone 42, he did not make one mistake, until...
<lap 52 / zone 79: supersonic_>
Once again, he invalidated a perfect lap and a perfect zone, but even then, he just scraped against the wall for a fraction of a second.
"Argh... Wow, a new personal perfect best!"
Tuesday, February 13th, 2210
Anti-Gravity Racing Commission HQ
13:45:39
<jungle is on fire | j-stark_>
"Zone Eighty-Five... clear."
<lap 59 / zone 86: fujiwara_>
"Damn. This guy is good," Chris Scarbrough said "I haven't seen anyone get to this zone and be this calm... it's like the faster he gets, the calmer he is... and the better he races! This guy is the next Jonny Bovier!"
"Huh? Who's this?" Natasha Belmondo asked him
"Uhhh... let's see.... Gareth Ardos, racer ID ARDO889.0.1.194. Huh, one-nine-four... that's Angelus' ID."
"Ah, Ardos, the second pilot of Angelus. I never knew he was this good at Zone."
"Well, evidently he is!"
Finally, on the 68th lap, Gareth hit the century...
<lap 68 / zone 100: zeus_>
Due to the high zones being reached, most zone scores being above 100, the AGRC defined new speed classes after Supersonic, Zone 75. In order, the new classes were:
086 - Fujiwara
100 - Zeus
125 - Aether
150 - Erebus
175 - Gaia
200 - Chaos
So far, there was only one person in the world who had beaten Gaia: Jonny Bovier, who had set a world record at Zone 346 on Moa Therma White.
Even at zone 100, Gareth was still obtaining perfect zones, and every few laps or so was a perfect one. To Gareth, time seemed to get slower the faster he went. To someone just watching him, it seemed like he was moving the wheel and airbrakes at a speed that a human should not be able to do. Faster and faster, Gareth's ice cool demeanour started to melt and break, and for good reason...
"EREBUS!"
<lap 112 / zone 150: erebus_>
He was nearly at his limits, or so he thought. Erebus meant that he was getting close to his personal limit of 154, and the record of 158. He had to push on, however, and push on he did...
"Zone 155... clear!"
He beat his record, now for the FX400 record of 158...
"Energy Critical"
His breath became heavy and short, as the music continued to pump through his ears, as he barely kept in control of the speeding craft. Eventually, he became so focused, he had effectively drowned out all sound, all feeling and even his sense of time. This had become extremely dangerous for his health. However, he had now become one with the simulator, as the ship continued to gain speed, as time passed by and as everyone watched, stunned in awe, until...
"GAIA!!"
<lap 137 / zone 175: gaia_>
"DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!" Came the sound of the simulator, as Gareth's ship was at 10% shield. However, thanks to him blocking out the sound, he was not affected by the constant dinging. But even then, even though he was more focused as ever, it was not enough for him.
<SHIP DESTROYED_>
<zone complete_>
>Total Zones: 182_
>Perfect Zones: 97_
>Total Laps: 141_
>Perfect Laps: 74_
>Top speed: 2317.05km/h_
<first place_>
Gareth's arms were visibly shaking after that. Suddenly, he muttered, "Ow.", then winced and collapsed, passing out from what seemed to be the extreme pressure he put his body in trying to beat the record...
Reply With Quote
