Location: Riyadh Street Circuit
Championship: FIA Formula Grand Circuit Wildcard Series
Round 4 of 12 – Urban Sprint Format – Double Points Weekend
Welcome to the real proving ground.
Unlike the lush hills of Catalis or the clinical turns of Zurich, Riyadh's circuit was alive.
Snaking through skyscraper shadows and blistering desert heat, the track was a nightmare of 90-degree corners, unpredictable surface shifts, and zero runoff space.
It was built to test sanity.
And Rai Tanaka was walking it in silence.
Until—
"What're you doing, emo hero?"
He turned.
Imani stood there with her usual impossible energy — oversized team hoodie, tablet under one arm, and a bag of hot dates in her hand.
"Walking the loop."
"You've walked it four times. Kiera says if you do it again she's putting you on a leash."
Rai ignored her.
She popped a date in her mouth. "You always this weird before street races?"
"No. Only when I almost die in my sleep and wake up mid-data seizure."
"Touche."
Imani walked beside him for a few seconds in silence.
Then said, "Hey. You good?"
Rai stopped.
For once, the jokes paused.
"Honestly… no. I saw something. In the system. I think it was Elias."
Imani didn't joke this time.
She just nodded.
"Then let's make sure whatever's inside you doesn't kill you before the championship does."
—
Back at the paddock – Ghost Line HQ
Kiera was already plugged into the latest FIA bulletin.
Rai Tanaka – Current Standings: P2 Overall
Driver Above: Axel Duren (P1, +12 pts)
Drivers Below: Noor Veleno, Raheem Kaddar, Leo Yuen
Next Scored Session: Riyadh Urban Sprint – Sector-Split Format
Special Rule: Top 3 in final sector gain 2x points
She frowned.
"Double points in the final sector? That's a trap."
Luka looked up from tire compound logs. "It's not a trap. It's FIA clickbait."
"Which is a trap."
Rai walked in just as they finished arguing.
"I'm going to need a new setup," he said. "Low downforce, adaptive grip, and max cooling on the rear axle."
Kiera raised an eyebrow.
"That's suicide."
"It's also how I win."
—
Meanwhile – across the paddock
Sierra Clarke stood under the awning of the Seraph Aether team tent.
She wasn't suited up.
Not for a race.
But she was working.
Tablet glowing. Code flowing like poetry.
Behind her, the Aether team principal, Elara Rousseau, leaned in quietly.
"You're still digging?"
Sierra didn't stop typing.
"It's not about Rai anymore. It's about what's inside his system."
"You're falling in."
"Maybe."
Elara stepped closer.
"He's not like the others, you know."
"That's the problem."
—
Later that night, Sierra showed up at the Ghost Line trailer.
Alone.
No crew. No badge.
Just a USB drive and eyes that didn't blink.
Imani opened the door.
"You lost?"
"No. I'm here to talk to Rai."
Kiera stepped forward. "Why?"
"Because I've seen the burn maps inside his system. And because I think… I think I've seen them before."
Rai appeared behind them.
"Let her in."
—
Inside, the lights were low.
Sierra slid the USB into the terminal.
The screen lit up with Veilfire data.
"This is from a system code called Project: Veilfire. It was blacklisted five years ago after Elias died. FIA wiped it. Or thought they did."
She turned to Rai.
"Yours shouldn't exist. But it does. And it's waking up."
Rai leaned forward.
"What does it want?"
Sierra's voice was barely a whisper.
"It wants to finish what Elias started. Whatever that was."
—
[SYSTEM ALERT – VEILFIRE LOOP INITIALIZED]
Special Track Condition Detected: Riyadh Urban Final Sector
Phantom Trait Recoil Risk: Medium
Ghost Memory Detected: Elias Tanaka / Last Known Loop Recorded Here
Rai stood.
"Then I guess I'll drive through his memory."
Sierra touched his wrist.
Just lightly.
No words.
But something changed.
He didn't pull away.
Race Day – Riyadh Urban Sprint
The loop is alive.
From the driver's seat, Rai could already feel it. Not the car. Not the crowd. The memory.
Elias's final race had ended on this track.
Right here.
In the last sector.
Now, as the formation lap began, Rai watched the line markers flicker. Not with paint. But with code.
—
[SYSTEM MODULE LOADED – VEILFIRE LOOP]
Lap Trace Detected: "Elias_Tanaka_Last"
Difficulty: Absolute
Completion Reward: Ghost Trait [Unknown]
Warning: Deviation may result in synaptic disruption
He smirked.
"Sounds fun."
—
Grid was tight.
Rai P3.
Axel P1.
Noor P2.
The moment the lights dropped, chaos unfolded.
Turn 1 was a wall of elbows and sparks. Noor clipped the apex too hard and scraped the barrier. Axel dove late, forcing Rai into an outside angle—
But he didn't panic.
Because the loop had begun.
And now, instead of looking at the track—Rai was seeing through Elias's ghost.
The lines.
The timing.
Even the smallest micro-movements.
He followed it.
Perfectly.
—
On the pit wall – Ghost Line
Imani leaned over Kiera's shoulder.
"Is he… driving blind?"
Kiera zoomed in on the data stream. "No. Worse. He's driving inside someone else's shadow."
Luka snapped up from the tire screen. "That's psychotic."
"So's being a Tanaka."
—
Sector Two – Tight Hairpin into Underpass
Rai followed Elias's line exactly.
Brake.
Downshift.
Rotate.
Throttle at 72.4%.
Every millisecond echoed with ghosts.
But the system flared:
Cognitive Threshold: 91%
Retinal Burn Detected
Abort: [Y/N]
No.
He kept pushing.
Then—
Elias's memory glitched.
Suddenly, there was no line.
No visual.
Just black.
"What—"
Then it hit him.
This was where Elias had crashed.
This wasn't a loop.
It was a trap.
—
Meanwhile – Sierra in the Seraph Aether HQ
Elara stood behind her.
Tablet in hand.
Eyes cold.
"I have a file. FIA classified. Project Veilfire's full blueprint."
Sierra turned.
"Why show me this now?"
"Because they know. And they're watching him. You can either help Rai survive… or stay silent and let them tear him down."
"You're asking me to betray them."
Elara paused.
"No. I'm asking you to choose your side before the fire gets real."
—
Back in the race
Rai didn't brake.
Didn't lift.
The track disappeared—but the memory in his blood didn't.
He saw it.
The right rotation.
The drift entry.
The missing link in Elias's crash.
And he corrected it.
Perfectly.
Veilfire Loop Completed – 100%
New Trait Acquired: Echo Line [Lv.1]
– Allows driver to trace and adjust ghost paths live mid-race
Burn Sequence: 35.6% ➝ 41.3%
Performance Boost: +4.2% sector time average
And with one last turn…
Rai passed Axel on the inside.
No DRS.
No ERS.
Just the loop.
And the name on his back.
—
Final Sector – Riyadh
Crowds screaming.
Tires biting dust and heat.
System glowing at max.
Rai flew over the line—
P1.
By less than 0.04 seconds.
Axel slammed the wheel.
Noor shook her head in disbelief.
And Sierra…
She turned off her comms.
Looked down at Elara's tablet.
And deleted the FIA file.
"I've chosen."
—
POST-RACE UPDATE
Rai Tanaka – Wildcard Championship Position: TIED P1
New Ghost Trait: Echo Line [Lv.1]
Burn Sync Evolution: Stable
SYSTEM TRUST: 82%
And yet—
[UNAUTHORIZED SYSTEM OBSERVER DETECTED]
Unknown user has accessed Veilfire memory archive
Alert Level: BLACK
Far away… inside an unnamed FIA server room…
A voice whispered over comms.
"He's almost ready."