The North PacificBoard

After Nikolaos “Santa” Greatien, the founder of Greatly, escaped Poorly with a small group of refugees, one of Poorly’s neighbors decided that they had had enough. They bought a massive superweapon from the Arnatic Conglomerate; then turned it against them. That is why this cursed place is a sort of artificial island off of the shore of Greatly, why so much of it lies below the water. The weapon was so powerful that it shifted the very tides; sinking Poorly entirely while allowing the island that Greatly was established on to be uncovered from the sea. Everyone - the Conglomerate, the arms dealers, the slaves - drowned. It is said that, if you stand perfectly still and silent, you can hear their chains and manacles, still clamped around their skeletons, being rattled by the tide far below - or perhaps by their ghosts. The metal creaks beneath Haym’s feet as he shifts his footing towards the ledge.

Greatly was founded to prevent anything like Poorly from ever happening again, to prevent Nikolaos Greatien from needing to gain the nickname “Santa”. In fact, do you even know why he gained that nickname? A slight edge of anger has crept into his voice. It was not because of his generosity or caring, no. It was because by age 40, his lungs had been so thoroughly caked and covered with coal dust that he could barely creak out a word. Even worse, his hands were much too cramped and arthritic to even write. Can you believe it? One of the greatest philosophical minds in history, and we may never have known his greatest revelations or philosophies because of the infernal machine of war.

And in order to prevent war, I believe that we must continue going towards peace. If we must become radical to steer others towards moderation, then so be it. We must establish a state of absolute pacifism, free from the worries of war - or at least, that is what I believed. But now? Now... I am not so sure whether I was correct at all.

He finally turns back to the soldiers, and his eyes have dimmed. He looks exhausted. You know, my Canadian friends, I was the one who shifted your nation towards the course of pacifism. I was the one who swayed the vote to attempt to ensure peace. Now, let us see if I have succeeded. He lifts one foot backwards, off of the edge of the dizzying drop behind him, and gestures to one of the soldiers. You, please - convey the principles of pacifism to me as you understand them. I must know whether what I attempted... well, whether it has succeeded or failed.

== 3 Days to the Augsburg Circuit Grand Prix ==

Racing Point ZERO Facilities, 5:52 PM.

============

Again.
Again, and again, and again.
Rounding off the esses at the start of the lap, the front end felt heavy. On acceleration, it suddenly lightened up, and the rear end began to move beyond the traction line. With some gentle pressure on the brake, and a little bit of countersteering, such veering could be corrected, and once again, the vehicle headed towards the apex of the following corner. The front tyres glided, barely scratching the start of the kerbs' raised portion. The steering loosened, and the car continued it's path towards the outside to enter the upcoming set of high-speed esses, which were slightly banked at around 3 to 4 degrees. The car's jet-like acceleration, propelled entirely by the V-12 behind the firewall, ensured that she was 'welded' onto her seat. She took a tight, inside line through the last S-corner, braking early for the coming hairpin curve. The vehicle's cyber system - Asurada - raised the rear wings as though they were airbrakes to aid in downforce and drag, allowing the car to slow down faster.

Coasting onto a late apex, her right foot suddenly became made out of lead, as the accelerator pedal was slammed onto the floor. The rear tyres lost traction for a fraction of a second, pulling the car further towards the outside, and onto the kerbs, as the Asurada AKF-11A rose through 200 kilometers per hour. Sparks flew from under the car, as a small bump made it bottom out against the pavement. The driver looked, for a second, at the cyber system's pod, which cycled it's cameras, as if it were trying to read her eyesight, to get a hint for the next move.

"Aero Mode, Change!" - through the cars' built-in driver-to-AI radio, Victoria's voice resonated within Asurada's code. A generalized response was to be given - "Okay, Aero Mode." - and, in that amount of time, the pods to the sides of the canopy extended and rotated, the front wing unleashing it's length, covering the suspension arms and driveline to the front wheels, as well as the wheels themselves, whilst the sidepods that were amidships to the car extended to the sides, covering the space between the secondary front tyres and the rear tyre. The tall wing at the back of the car rotated 88 degrees, putting itself onto the side of the car, and leaving the downforce generation to the car's duck-tail spoiler that lined the space between the boosters. The rear tyres has a plate expand in front of them, covering them, and securing more drag reduction on the body of the car. Once the Aero Mode transformation was online, Victoria felt the steering get heavier, though only for some seconds, as, on the side of the canopy, the Steering Assist System's power went from 20.6% to 42.2%.

"Keep the accelerator pinned through the next section. I will activate the Effect Fans to generate the downforce necessary to pass through the next set of corners." - A pained nod was able to be formed by the blonde, who due to the continued acceleration of the car and the difficulty to properly steer it due to the bumpiness of the road's surface once over 400 kilometers per hour - no, 500 kilometers per hour now - now faced the cramping of her muscles. Her vision had become a tunnel long ago, driving only on Asurada's words and whatever she was able to memorize of the circuit, which, given the many, many kilometers of mileage she'd given this pavement, was thankfully a fair bit.

Soon, she entered the first of two back-to-back, S-banks. These led to the older part of the circuit, which was built during the SUGO Grand Prix era of ownership, before the 'Fujioka' part of the circuit, and the Tornado Bank, had been even thought of. AKF-11, holding Victoria within it's cockpit, entered the first bank, which steepened sharply to 35 degrees from flat ground, at the lower end of 6th gear - 570 kilometers per hour. Slowly, the blonde saw the gear shift counter begin to light up, the red LED lights that started at the sides of the tachometer beginning to climb as she sank onto her seat, the G-forces of the banked corners at these speeds beginning to strip her of her eyesight.

"I...I can't... I can't see..." - She could barely even speak, as she did her best to grip the steering wheel tighter, barely being able to muster the force to turn in to follow the corner. Her words were met with Asurada's robotic voice simply saying - "Due to the high G-forces we are experiencing, you are suffering from a level of partial blindness that should resolve itself once the G-forces lighten, or, are removed. Please, hold on." - Though she thought of lightening it on the accelerator, she accepted the cyber system's words. It'd been the first time she had trusted in a machine as much as this, though the last time...

The last time...

Her vision clouded, the edges of it beginning to darken, and continuing to do so. She could feel her blood pumping through every inch of her body, carrying with it the adrenaline that fueled her to continue on this forsaken path of speed. Suddenly, as the banking ceased, leading onto a short straight before the next, longer, less steep banked corner that would finally put her onto some semblance of horizontal ground, her vision began to clear, yet, the blurriness of it suddenly began to appear. No... not now... her eyes became glassy, and the world around her began to double. The tachometer seemed to stretch, doubling and crossing over itself. Yet, she continued to follow Asurada's words, and, unaware of the over 630 kilometers per hour she was being driven to, turned in to the banking.

Once again, the forces were immense, even if the banking was much more gentle and less pronounced. She could feel her muscles want to give away, but she knew that if she let go now, she wouldn't see a 'tomorrow'. Through no more than sheer force of will, or perhaps, something else that she didn't know, though she realized was there, she held onto the steering wheel, and even if she was out and unable to participate in the opening race of the championship due to this, held on tight.

And soon, the banking eased, turning into a flat straight that'd merge with the older facilities that were being utilized to track her time around the perimeter lap. The very moment that the banking ceased to be, she felt her arms and hands give way, finding herself unable to grip the steering wheel anymore, much less try to turn with it. The foot that she used to plant the accelerator to the floor of the car found itself moving back, as the control spring for the accelerator outdid the force she could put on the pedal. Asurada quickly took control of the steering of the car, simply stating - "Circuit Mode, changing." - as he did so, the Steering Assist shooting to an impressive 102.5%, though such a percentage began to decline as the higher drag coefficient of the circuit mode made the entire car into a moving airbrake.

Unable to put any pressure on any of the pedals, and too tired, having outdone herself several times over during this driving session to even steer, Victoria soon began to tear up, though it didn't last very long, as the edges of her vision soon darkened, and eventually...

There was nothing.

Nothing but...

NP-1.

As if the nightmare had turned real, she found herself within that cockpit once again. The T-300-type metal that Al-Zard NP-1 was made out of made for both an excellent Cyber Formula car material, as it could be reshaped while driving, creating a 'distortion', or 'transformation' of the car's body shape, and was also an excellent fire hazard. All around her vision, and pouring into the cockpit, the fire created by the slam into the wall she had endured moments ago, that had burst the hydrogen tank for the engine, and broken several fuel lines to the boosters... It began to consume her too.

And there she lay, surrounded by fire, having overexerted herself, she wasn't even able to get out. But a few moments later, some kind of rain began to fall. A white mist clouded her vision, and then, once again...

There was nothing. Nothing except for... A street. In some suburbs she could vaguely recognize were from Augsburg. She stood, the moonlight and a single street lamp iluminating the path for her. And beyond that, a man stood. He began to walk towards her, and soon, she realized just who it was.

"...N-Nagumo..."
"I'm glad you still remember my name. I must say, what happened to your eye is quite unfortunate." - His tone of voice was deep, and he sounded very relaxed, even if he was the man behind Al-Zard. He was a tall man, with dark hair and equally dark eyes. Pale, and wearing a dark grey coat that covered up a white shirt. Some jeans and boots finished up his self-titled 'casual wear'. - "...Why in... Why are you not behind bars?..." - Though she realized there was a lack of tension in the air, she still felt as though she'd just exited Asurada, and every muscle in her body tensed up at the mere sight of Nagumo.
"A man has his ways. But, I won't dwell on that, Empress. I offer you... an opportunity." - She had already heard these words. She had already accepted them before, there was no way she'd accept them again. This 'offer'... Al-Zard, again... She had rejected that, she wouldn't take any more Alpha Neuro, and she wouldn't sit in that damned car again.
"As it stands, Asurada seems... behind the pace of the newer machines, doesn't it? And AKF-11 is just... Just too far away from completion, too. I'm sure you know better than anybody that a car that makes you pass out isn't a safe machine for racing. Which is why I have a proposal for you. You're the only one capable of driving in the Zero Realm, not to mention you have skills to spare for the rest of the grid." - Though he spoke highly of her, in his own way, Victoria was only able to step back from him.
"I have... One last gift. It's your choice if you want it. I'll have it delivered to your doorstep if you don't seek it out yourself. I realized, soon after the whole 'Al-Zard' fiasco, which at this point, even I have to say was a rotund failure, that there was something I just didn't grasp. And I think that I have, now, given it my all. I must go, otherwise, I'll get a blade to the back of my neck and have my head on a plate. A cell awaits me tonight, as you wanted. But for you... I grant you this." - He reached into one of the inner pockets of his coat, which made Victoria step back once more, awaiting a gun to be pulled out and blood to be spilled. Instead, he took out a set of keys. Car keys. Golden, just like Asurada's, though a little longer. He threw the keys in her direction, and, though unwilling to take something Nagumo had made, she found herself unable to resist catching the glimmer of the keys. She took hold of them, and gripped them tightly.
"My last work at Aoi, I call it... the AN-21. Some call it the 'Ogre', and just one person has called it the 'fastest machine that'll get on the grid'. It's your choice, Victoria. One last gift. Don't put it to waste."

"...Don't put it to waste..." - Victoria repeated those words a few times, as everything surrounding her turned into an endless white. She lifted her hand, and analyzed the keys. There was piece of paper that had just appeared on the keychain that they were bound to, which, in Nagumo's writing, because of course it was Nagumo's writing, simply stated:

"For the given driver of the Aoi AN-21 'Project 21', my phoenix Victoria,
I realize I have caused you pain that I will never understand,
much less ever be able to forgive myself for causing.
Though my words won't matter to you, and, I understand that much,
I still reach out to you to give you this.
Project 21 will be your key to glory, the wings you need
to fly like you did two years ago.
This last gift of mine, is my last selfish wish,
to see you crossing that chequered flag in victory, no less.

With love,
The father you won't regret forgetting."