“It’s starting,” Zoe said as the drivers broke the line, moving over to their respective pit boxes to get their cars that had finished the last pre-race inspection.

  Trey soon arrived, receiving his helmet from a Tsunami Foods team member before entering the car.

  “Be easy on the power for the first few laps. The sudden change might throw you out of turns if you’re not careful.” Leon walked up and reminded his friend.

  “Easy, buddy. I know what to do.” Trey replied, raising his hand to give him a thumbs-up at the end.

  Then, he quickly left the pit box, joining the other drivers on the first warmup lap. It was less than three minutes later that all drivers were lined up at the start, taking the positions they fought half the season for.

  “All drivers are in position! Turn on the lights!”

  The loud voice of the commentator could be heard in the background but Leon was too focused on the camera pointing at Trey’s position to care. He had his laptop with the maglev car systems open to keep track of their status and be able to recognize a problem before it happened.

  A short moment later, all five green lights extinguished, signaling the start of the race.

  Immediately, all driver sprung into action, accelerating their respective cars to the limit.

  The first five laps, everybody is trying to get a feel for the track. In the following sixty-five laps, it was mayhem.

  By the time they were ten minutes into the race, three drivers were out of the race.

  One system malfunction caused the previous number eight to disengage its magnetic levitation, dropping it do the ground before it slid severala hundred meters into the borders where it got softened by the shock-absorbing resistance plates.

  The other two, number eleven and twelve, collided as the latter tried to overtake beyond the long overpass on a set of narrow curves, which ended up in failure. Both cars similarly crashed into the resistance plates at the edge of the track.

  Luckily, Trey reamined unaffected by the situation. He stuck close to number three, who he continued to chase for tens of laps. Number two was not far off either as the three cars remained close together. Only a second distance separated each car, making Leon tap the edge of his arm nervously.

  “Come on, buddy. That car has more juice in it. You just gotta let it.” He mumbled quietly under his breath.

  At the same time, Tara broke off from Nicole for a second, stopping next to him as she listened on her headset to the radios of the Tsunami Foods team.

  “What is he waiting for. He should have the opportunity to pass, no?” She asked with narrowed eyebrows.

  Leon nodded slightly. “Yeah, but he’s waiting. Probably waiting to do this in one go?”

  “Why?” Tara was confused.

  “If he passes third place, second place will be overly cautious and trying to purposefully block his track. Now, they’re still both leaving holes open because they don’t think he’s fast enough.”

  “Neither of them knows Trey’s car is much faster than theirs.” Zoe interjected from the side. Tara nodded blankly.

  “When is it going to happen?”

  “Soon.” Leon answered.

  “A few more laps and they should get a little too comfortable.” Zoe added before turning back to the team monitor after another staff member pulled her away.

  The majority of Tsunami Foods team members are constantly evaluating the progression of the race, staying in contact with Trey to follow a strategy. Every team is going through the same process, showing how essential it is to stay ahead. After all, a few planned strategic moves could decide the course of the race from the beginning until the end.

  It was then, when it happened.

  Lap 54.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  After tailgating the third place for over twenty laps, they finally reached the long overpass while all three cars had less than three meters of distance of each other.

  Suddenly, Trey swerved out to the outside of the overpass, pushing full power on his forward electromagents to accelerate. Right there, within less than a few seconds, he took off, overtaking both the third and second place before they could react.

  The Tsunami Foods pit box immediately erupted into loud cheering. The commentators were livid, replaying clips of Trey’s unprecedented maneuver.

  “Second place, Harper.” Zoe yelled over from the team monitor to which he nodded in return. He didn’t celebrate like the others but there was a small smile forming on his face.

  Tara, on the other hand, was not that self-controlled. She couldn’t help but squeal in excitement, hugging in neck.

  Leon hesitated for a second, still not used to this sudden contact despite having gone on several dates with Tara. However, he soon smiled and hugged her back, feeling like his work over the past months was not in vain.

  It took them a few minutes to calm down, enough for a few laps to pass by when Leon’s attention returned to the screen.

  Trey was gaining valuable seconds past the new third place, solidifying his position in the race. The first place, through, was nowhere in sight.

  “What do you have for me, Zoe?” Trey’s voice was heard over the radios, making Leon look up at the time of the race lead Trey was trying to catch up to.

  What he say, however, made him frown. This sentiment was soon shared by Zoe whose response couldn’t betray a click of her tongue.

  “Eighteen seconds, Trey.”

  Eighteen?” He asked again.

  “Yes, damn, Jade Kotova has eighteen seconds on you.” Zoe clarified as Leon moved his headset’s mouthpiece closer to his face. He was watching the broadcast that has zoomed in on Jade’s position for several laps.

  “She started tightening her turns ever since you passed the other two, Trey.” Leon said over the radio, shaking his head. “Her team most likely told her, so she stopped taking it easy.”

  “... You.. You’re saying she is going even faster than before?” Trey’s voice was baffled.

  Leon scratched the back of his neck while Tara looked a bit hesitant, not knowing what to say.

  “You got second place, Trey.” Leon said decisively. “You’re getting her in the Final Grand Prix.”

  The race was done. At least from this point, there wouldn’t be any changes to the podium. Jade Kotova was simply too fast.

  Leon felt naive, having underestimated her too much.

  She must be pulling insane Gs in these tight turns, giving her valuable time that offset Trey’s faster car.

  The better car in this race was easily beaten by the sole skills of the blonde driver who defended the first place form beginning to end.

  ……….

  Several days later.

  It was the night of the Alpha Dynamics techshowcase. In other words, the night where Vulcan’s launch was announced and executed within the same event. Coincidentally, it lined up perfeclty with GenoTech’s showcase which happened at the same time but a different place.

  A clear intent of Alpha Dynamics to compete with GenoTech’s revolutionary new androids which have sparked rumors for months.

  At this time, Leon was standing in the big event hall where rows of seats have been placed to accommodate as many people of high society as possible. It was where he would be called up and introduced as the founder of Vulcan.

  He never really thought about this moment before but now that it happened, he was slightly nervous. He was wearing his most expensive suit, his only suit, actually.

  Luckily, Tara soon popped out of a crowd with two drinks in her hand. She was wearing a high-ponytail with a white dress this time as her face beamed with a smile.

  “Guess what I got?” She asked rethorically, giving him a slightly orange glass. “A softdrink for you, so you don’t get tipsy on stage later.”

  Then, she took a sip of the other glass which had a clear, slightly bubbly liquid. “... And a cocktail drink for me.”

  Seeing this Leon raised an eyebrow. “You get the cocktail.”

  Tara raised an eyebrow as she elongated her sip unnecessarily. “Of course. I told you why, no?”

  He looked at her for a moment with skepticism, thinking back to the first race after-party at Jade Kotova’s mansion. Back then, she couldn’t hold her liquor at all.

  “How about we thin this out before you get back into party mode.” Leon said, pouring half of his soft drink into her glass. Tara frowned, pouting.

  “Shitty boyfriend police.” She said, turning around to walk to their designated seats. Leon could only shake his head, following her.

  A few minutes later, both of them were seated, talking about several things until the hall filled with more and more people. It wasn’t until half an hour later that most people were seated and the lights slowly dimmed until only the stage remained brightly visible.

  Looking up at the stage, a tall beautiful woman walked up to the front podium, smiling gently. The talking quickly stopped as everybody had their attention on the stage.

  “Good evening and thank you. I sincerely welcome you all to Alpha Dynamics 43rd Techshowcase!”

  ……….

  ‘Technology only allows humans to take the first step.’

  ~~Dr. Benjamin Harper’s Memoirs~~