Nicole won their little warm-up race.

  Trey came in second not far behind Nicole with Neal finishing three ps as the third. However, nobody was under the illusion that Trey gave it his best. He stepped off the pedal during the st p, letting Nicole overtake him.

  Typical for a man who had a heart to win.

  Meanwhile, for Leon, the race developed a little bit differently.

  “I can’t believe you broke the car.” Tara said as she stared at the silver mess that used to be a million united credit maglev race car.

  “I didn’t even think someone could do that without crashing.” Nicole chirped in while standing next to Tara with crossed arms, her eyes gleaming in her prior victory.

  At the side, Leon just scratched the back of his head and ughed bitterly, trying to withstand the awkward stares Neal and the rest of the Tsunami maintenance team gave him while the girls pushed verbal daggers into his back.

  He didn’t actually break the car, is what he would like to say. More like intentionally challenging its capabilities. He just wanted to find out how the magnetic levitation changed its direction based on different control inputs.

  The way he tested it, though, may have been somewhat barbaric. Everytime they would enter a section full of narrow curves, Leon would hastily and abruptly do several control inputs of opposite nature multiple times in quick succession while the security system tried acting against him to correct for his suicidal tendencies.

  As a result, the several electromagnetic fields surrounding the multiple electromagnets keeping the car afloat got caught up in each other, essentially canceling each other out while going hundreds of kilometers per hour. In his mind, a vital technical error that needed to be fixed as soon as possible.

  In the end, the car dropped down on the track and slid hundreds of meters before being stopped by the shock absorbers. Leon got out uninjured but the car was unfortunately totaled.

  He would love to tell them of the fatal design error he just discovered but he was afraid they would ask for reimbursement of the car itself, which is why he hoped Trey would help him out after he finished the actual race.

  “Isn’t it starting soon?” Leon spoke up, desperately trying to avert their attention toward something more important.

  “Yeah, in a few minutes.” Tara answered as they moved away from the wreck, but not without giving him a cheeky smile as if saying that she knew exactly what he was trying to do.

  They were currently in the box pit of the Tsunami Group, being able to be right down at the track instead of staying behind the audience net like most others. At times like this, it was oddly handy to know one of the drivers personally.

  Nicole grabbed a couple of headsets from the radio table and handed them to Leon, Tara and Neal.

  “It listens to the comms between Trey and the Tsunami group manager. With this we don’t have to just listen to what’s being said on the monitors.”

  Leon gratefully accepted the headset and put it on, immediately picking up on Trey’s voice in his car. They were discussing some st strategies before the signal was given that started the race.

  Exactly 48 drivers representing their teams took part in this qualifier which gave the sixteen best the chance to compete further for the champion title throughout the season. Not to forget, each driver was one of the potential heirs to a company, giving them even more prestige and fame if they were lucky enough to win. The publicity would surge their stock by several percent alone.

  A true sport for the rich and powerful.

  ‘Back then they competed in golf…’ Leon thought with a wry smile. Times truly change people, while tragedies do so even more. A world war that brought humanity almost to extinction definitely brings change, whether it’s good or bad.

  It didn’t take long for the signal to be given, starting the race that made 48 cars accelerate in an instant. Lap after p, the changes in the lineup became visible.

  If there is one thing Leon noticed, it was that pces changed much faster than traditional NASCAR races in the 2040s. It was highly intensive, dramatic and fast-paced.

  Leon was standing idly at the side as he observed the race in detail. At the same time, Nicole and Tara stood a bit further away, more engrossed in their private conversation with each other. It was only once that Nicole snatched the headset from the team manager to say something to Trey during the race.

  Though, as time passed, Leon noticed that a certain car gained more and more distance from the rest. It was a pure white race car with two red bolts painted at the side. Even more striking, however, was the neon red light illuminating it brightly on the monitor.

  “Who is that?” Leon asked the girls before even looking at the ranking.

  Tara looked up from the phone screen Nicole was shoving in her face and noticed the white car that was quickly widening the gap.

  “That’s the winner.” She smiled before looking back down at the phone screen Nicole shoved in her face, deeply invested into the newest spring collection her favorite clothing brand was releasing next year.

  Giving up on the girls, Leon looked over at Neal instead who seemed to understand what he was asking.

  “That is GenoTech’s brightest star, Jade Kotova. She’s never lost a race in the two years she’s been competing as a driver and snatched the championship title two seasons in a row. Critics have no doubt she will win this time as well.”

  GenoTech.

  That name was something everybody would know, regardless of their background or interests. If they lived in the United Human Territories, they would have heard of it.

  Among the few mega-corporations that stand untouched in the central territory, the GenoTech Conglomerate is among the most influential and powerful. Not even Alpha Dynamics, his sponsor, is quite on the same level despite being an industry giant.

  “The winner, huh?” Leon muttered under his breath as he looked over at the ranking board on one of the monitors. The current first pce, Jade Kotova, with her profile picture floating next to her name.

  Long, slightly wavy blonde hair with radiating brown eyes and a face forming a smirk that showed undeniable confidence and self-assurance. As if there was no question of her abilities and skill.

  “So, that’s why you're saying that Trey couldn’t win?” Leon asked the tall guy next to him.

  Neal simply shrugged in response. The answer was obvious.

  During the rest of the race, several drivers were able to climb up from the middle, but the top spot remained unchanged.

  GenoTech’s driver, Jade, finished her st p with over thirty seconds of a gap between her and the second pce, a feat practically unheard of in maglev racing. Meanwhile, Trey got fifth pce. It was way more than enough to pass the qualifier but Leon was sure his friend expected more.

  As more time passed, the number of finished drivers increased with one driver representing a small company focusing on clean energy taking the sixteenth pce, thereby finishing the lineup for the season.

  Cheers erupted throughout the audience around the track as the commentators delivered post-race analytics for the viewers. At the same time, Trey’s dark blue race car pulled into the box pit.

  The team manager was the first to move over to him, followed by Leon and the others.

  “It’s unfortunate but I was aiming at least for the podium.” Trey said as he lightly shook his head. “Whatever, I’ll get it during the next race in two weeks.”

  His mood wasn’t as bad as Leon feared, on the opposite, he was quickly all smiles the moment Nicole began asking questions.

  ‘This guy…’ Leon couldn’t help but smile. What Tara said during the ride popped into his mind but he really started to think it wasn’t like Trey had no chance at all. After all, the future was boundless, unexpected in many ways. That is one thing Leon experienced himself.

  They talked amongst themselves for a while until the traditional podium ceremony began. It was projected on a big screen in the box pit, allowing everyone present to see the winners in detail.

  The two guys who received third and second pce respectively weren’t that interesting as they apparently pced simirly in other races.

  The first pce, on the other hand, is what everyone was eagerly paying attention to. That’s when Leon heard a loud sigh next to him.

  “Damn, I can’t help but feel jealous everytime I see her.” Nicole frowned as she spoke with a hint of envy.

  Hearing this, Leon couldn’t help but make a weird face. He hasn’t seen any person in high society so far without good genetics due to their pre-birth genome adjustments but apparently, some people can still find some miniscule differences to compin about. And for some reason, it always comes from the other gender.

  Maybe he should do a case-study about it. Though, for some reason, Leon felt he wouldn’t be very successful in finding an answer despite his genius mind.

  Turns out Trey was right. He was an absolute failure when competing in the social game.

  Looking at the tall, blonde girl standing on the podium while waving to the crowd with a bright smile, Leon didn’t feel bad about the dreaded after-party anymore.

  If his social game was simply not up to par, then he would just go ahead and fix it. After all, Leon never believed there was something he couldn’t do.

  Or was there?

  ……….

  ‘Most inventions are the product of an accident.’

  ~~Dr. Benjamin Harper’s Memoirs~~