Location: Nürburg Skytrack – Race Day
Round 5 – FIA Formula Grand Circuit Wildcard Series
The fog was thicker than fear.
Sector 3 visibility? Barely six meters.
FIA officials delayed the start twice.
Sky marshals argued. Pit walls buzzed.
But the green flag eventually rose — because this was Wildcard racing.
And ghosts don't wait for safety.
—
Inside the Ghost Line garage, Luka clicked the visor down on Rai's helmet.
"Telemetry's synced. Fuel level maxed. No tire gamble today, just pure skill."
Rai nodded.
Then Sierra appeared, pulling a second comms jack onto his line.
He blinked. "You're patching in?"
"You're racing against a system that was never meant to be stable. Someone needs to watch your brain."
Pause.
"And your ego."
He laughed. "Keep the second channel open, then."
—
Lights out.
The grid exploded.
Rai launched clean — his Ghost Line GL-P1X howling as it ate through first gear, grip digging into soaked tarmac.
Adrik was beside him instantly — no wheelspin, no drag.
Two monsters, no hesitation.
By Turn 3, the pack behind them was already losing touch.
—
[SYSTEM STATUS – ACTIVE]
Burn Sequence: 46.1%
Echo Line Stability: Green
Foreign Sync Detected: ASHLINE / Driver: Adrik Solace
WARNING: System Overlap May Trigger Instability
Rai's teeth clenched.
"Don't care. Let it trigger."
He pushed harder.
—
Lap 3 – Sector 2 Descent
The track narrowed into a trench of fog and moss-wrapped concrete.
Adrik went wide. Deliberate.
He clipped the curb, destabilized his own rear, and then slungshot out of the turn using drift-correction vectoring.
Illegal in 19 countries.
Legal here.
Rai stayed inside.
He didn't need a trick.
Just grip. Line. Vision.
He exited the sector with a 0.04s advantage.
—
Lap 5 – System Surge
Rai's HUD went red.
Trait Conflict Detected
Veilfire Echo Line Colliding with Ashline Phantom Path
System Autocorrect: [Y/N]
Sierra's voice hit his comms.
"Rai, don't follow the shadow trace. That's not your path."
"I know."
He blinked away the phantom line.
And trusted his.
Turn 9.
Hairpin.
Uphill torque slide.
He nailed it.
—
Meanwhile – FIA Mobile Command Center
Victor Kross watched the live telemetry from Adrik's car.
He wasn't smiling.
Because he was losing control of the Ashline sync.
"It's adapting too quickly. Solace won't be able to contain it if it fully integrates."
Behind him, a second agent looked up.
"Should we deploy the Protocol?"
Kross didn't blink.
"We don't stop fire, Agent. We isolate it."
—
Lap 7 – Final Lap
Rai was 0.3 seconds behind.
One shot.
One corner.
And then—
[VEILFIRE TRIGGER UNLOCKED – FIREWALL PROTOCOL AVAILABLE]
Do you wish to activate Firewall?
Y/N
"What the hell is 'Firewall'?"
Sierra's voice cut through.
"It's your override."
Pause.
"It's Elias's final signature."
Rai didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
—
The system pulsed.
The ghost lines vanished.
Everything cleared.
Not just the fog —
The whole track.
For a split second, Rai saw the entire path from above.
Like Elias had drawn it with fire.
Every apex.
Every danger.
Every gap in Adrik's defense.
It was his.
—
He didn't overtake in the straight.
He didn't divebomb in the turn.
He waited.
Then, at the blind exit of Cloudfall…
He slingshotted out of Adrik's dirty air.
Drifted the rear just enough to slip outside.
And crossed the line—first.
By 0.003 seconds.
—
RESULT: P1 – Rai Tanaka
Fastest Lap: 1:30.902 (New Track Record)
System Update: Firewall Protocol Active
Burn Sync: 51.4%
—
Post-Race
Rai pulled his helmet off slowly.
The rain was gone now.
Just steam rising from his suit.
Adrik stood across the pit lane.
He didn't look angry.
Just… tired.
"You don't know what you're carrying, Tanaka."
Rai stepped closer.
"Neither did Elias. But I'll figure it out. Without destroying what he built."
Adrik didn't respond.
He just looked to the clouds.
And walked away.
—
Back in the trailer, Sierra sat beside Rai.
Silence between them.
Then—
She leaned her head against his shoulder.
"That… was insane."
"That's racing."
Pause.
Then she said quietly—
"I'm glad you're still here."
Rai didn't speak.
He just stayed still.
For once… he let the moment win.
Location: Nürburg Post-Race – FIA Scrutineering Bay
Time: 20 Minutes After Finish
The GL-P1X sat in silence, still dripping rainwater, steam coiling from the radiators like breath from a beast.
Engineers in black gloves combed over the car.
Sensors. Cooling lines. System injectors.
They weren't looking for cheating.
They were looking for anomaly.
"Ghost Line P1X scan complete — irregular sync patterns present."
"Confirmed—unauthorized protocol triggered on-lap 7."
"Cross-reference with System Directive 49–X: Firewall mechanisms forbidden in Wildcard sync tiers."
Victor Kross didn't blink as the verdict came through.
"Initiate Dispute Protocol 12."
And just like that—
Rai's win was placed under review.
—
Ghost Line Trailer – 23:17 PM
Luka was halfway through screaming.
"They're calling it 'external assistance'?! The kid beat the lap record in the middle of a damn typhoon!"
Kiera calmly pushed his shoulder down.
"They're targeting the system. Not the driver."
Imani folded her arms.
"Same thing. And they know it."
Rai leaned against the counter, sweat still dried into his collar.
"Let them review it."
Sierra turned to him.
"That system saved your life today. But the more it grows, the more they'll fear it."
Rai looked at her.
"Then they should be very afraid."
—
FIA Administrative Chamber – Two Days Later
Sierra Clarke stood in a glass-walled hearing room.
Outside, the media was already running the story:
"Wildchild Driver or Weaponized AI?"
"Tanaka's System Breaks Regulation Firewall – Should He Be Disqualified?"
"Ghost Line Under Investigation for Rogue Sync Development"
Across from her sat four council members.
She wore black.
Sharp. Unshaken.
A member leaned forward.
"Miss Clarke. You were a senior engineer at Seraph Aether before your transfer. Were you aware of the existence of a parallel sync project — codenamed Veilfire?"
Sierra answered instantly.
"Yes."
"And you knew it was connected to Elias Tanaka?"
"Yes."
"And now it's active in his younger brother's system?"
Pause.
"That's what they want you to believe."
The room stiffened.
She leaned forward.
"But here's the truth. Rai Tanaka isn't using a weapon. He is the firewall. Your system broke Elias. He rebuilt it in his brother. You just don't like the results."
Silence.
The kind that echoed like judgement.
—
That Night – System Internal
[SYSTEM EVOLUTION INITIATED]
Firewall Sequence Synchronized: Phase 1 Complete
New Trait Available: BURN TRACE
– Leaves a residual heat signature during lap cycles, increasing tire adaptability and predictive corner mapping
SYSTEM WARNING: Your presence has triggered an independent observer.
Observer ID: UNKNOWN
Origin: Inconclusive
Behavior: Passive… for now.
—
Meanwhile – FIA Archives, Geneva
A vault door clicked open.
Inside: a sealed system core.
Buried for years.
Codename:
ASHLINE PRIME
And on the console, one line blinked.
[RE-ACTIVATION GRANTED]
Far away, Adrik Solace opened his eyes in the dark.
And whispered,
"Let's end this, Elias."