Championship: FIA Formula Grand Circuit Wildcard Series
Current Standings:
1st – Rai Tanaka (Ghost Line)
2nd – Noor Veleno (Avaris)
3rd – Adrik Solace (Independent)
4th – Leo Yuen (Vortex Motorsport)
Upcoming Circuit: Montevedra Street Prix, Spain – Urban Circuit, Twilight Start
Days Until Race: 4
—
Location: Córdoba, Spain
The hotel lobby gleamed in white marble and glass.
Rai stepped out of the elevator wearing a black fitted Henley, slate-gray joggers, and white sneakers — minimal, effortless. A silver chain peeked from beneath the collar, catching the warm Mediterranean sun through the windows.
He didn't wear a cap today.
Didn't need one.
Every few steps, heads turned.
Some recognized him. Others just stared.
The aura was enough.
—
"Wait. You actually dressed up."
Sierra stood by the concierge table, arms crossed.
She wore high-rise sand-colored slacks and a cropped indigo blouse with off-shoulder sleeves. Her dark curly hair was tied loosely behind with a tortoiseshell clip, gold hoops glittering beneath.
Her beauty wasn't loud.
It was undeniable.
And the moment she smiled at him, Rai knew the entire lobby felt it.
He smirked.
"Well, if I'm walking next to you, I figured I had to try."
—
Downtown Córdoba – Later That Day
The crew scattered into a rare free day.
Imani and Luka were off arguing over which tapas bar was "peak Spanish authenticity."
Kiera was buried in a tech expo across the plaza, muttering about "modular telemetry converters" like they were life forms.
Rai and Sierra wandered the pedestrian streets.
Boutique storefronts. Spanish guitars echoing from street corners. Orange trees blooming along the walkways.
And for a brief moment — it felt normal.
No fire.
No systems.
No Ashline.
Just… life.
—
They stopped outside a sunglasses shop.
Sierra picked up a pair and held them to Rai's face.
"Try these."
"What, so I can look like a celebrity avoiding the press?"
"No. So you stop staring at my reflection in every window."
He blinked.
Then laughed. "Caught."
She handed him the glasses anyway. "Put them on."
Rai slipped them on, tilted his chin down a little.
Sierra tilted her head.
"Okay… not bad. Brooding superstar vibes. Slightly tragic. But still hot."
"Thanks. I think."
—
Meanwhile – Inside a dark FIA data node
"Subject Tanaka now exhibits Firewall stabilization at 62%."
"Adrik Solace's trace patterns show mirroring behavior."
"Prediction: Merge is inevitable if contact occurs at Montevedra."
A third voice echoed from a deeper terminal.
"Then make sure contact happens."
—
Back in Córdoba – A Rooftop Café
Golden hour soaked the skyline in orange.
Rai and Sierra leaned over a table with a pair of iced coffees, their jackets hung on the backs of their chairs.
For once, Sierra wasn't talking tactics or systems.
She was talking about her.
"I left Seraph Aether two weeks before Elias died. Not because of the project. Because I didn't like who I was becoming in it."
Rai looked at her carefully.
"You think he blamed you?"
"No." She looked up. "But sometimes… I do."
He didn't speak.
He just reached forward — and gently slid his hand over hers.
"He trusted you. I do too."
—
Later – Boutique fitting room
They were supposed to be picking casual clothes for Montevedra's street parade.
Instead…
Sierra stood in a scarlet satin slip dress that clung to her silhouette like liquid. Her shoulders bare, her frame long and poised.
She turned slowly toward him.
"Well?"
Rai, who had just finished adjusting the cuff on his charcoal blazer, froze.
"Yeah. That's illegal."
She raised a brow. "Speechless?"
He shrugged.
"Just running simulations on how many guys I'll have to elbow out of the way next race."
She smirked. "You sound jealous."
"Nope. Strategic."
—
Later that Night – Rooftop Balcony, Hotel
Rai stood alone for a moment, the city lights humming below.
The system pinged silently in his mind.
[BURN SEQUENCE – PASSIVE MODE]
New Trait Pending Approval: TRACE SHADOW
Auto-activated only under pursuit or surveillance conditions.
He frowned.
Pursuit?
A flicker of static buzzed in the back of his mind.
Not pain.
Presence.
Then it was gone.
—
Sierra joined him on the balcony, now in a Ghost Line hoodie and cotton shorts, barefoot, holding two mugs.
"Couldn't sleep?"
"Something felt off."
"Still thinking about Elias?"
"Always."
She handed him a mug.
They stood side by side in silence, looking out at the lights.
"I think he'd be proud of you."
Pause.
Rai turned to her, eyes sharp.
"You mean for winning?"
Sierra met his gaze softly.
"No. For surviving it without losing who you are."
And with that — she leaned forward.
Pressed her lips to his cheek.
Then walked back inside, leaving Rai on the balcony with nothing but fire in his chest and a racing heart.
Location: Montevedra Street Prix, Spain
Race Start: 36 Hours
The city glowed violet beneath a sky turning navy-blue.
Tall sandstone buildings framed the temporary circuit, tight with barricades and LED ads flickering over the cobblestone grid.
The Montevedra Prix wasn't just a race.
It was a spectacle.
Twilight start.
Urban heat.
No margin for error.
And one dangerous curve named "El Ruido" — a high-speed S-bend known for claiming careers.
Rai stood on the edge of Turn 7 during track inspection, arms folded. Sierra stood beside him, arms crossed too — mimicking him with deliberate sass.
"You're trying to intimidate the corner?"
"Trying to listen to it."
She raised a brow. "You talk to corners now?"
"Only the deadly ones."
—
Ghost Line HQ Garage – Race Prep
The car was stripped open.
The Ghost Line GL-P1X, now dressed in a gleaming black-and-copper livery, shimmered under the overhead LEDs like an obsidian blade mid-forge.
Luka hunched over the rear telemetry mount. "New cooling veins installed. Front wing's rebalanced. And the adaptive brake response?"
Kiera flicked her tablet.
"Linked directly to the new system trait. It's aggressive, but it'll hold."
Sierra stepped forward. "We also rebuilt the sync dampeners."
Rai looked up.
"Why?"
She held his gaze.
"Because your system's starting to pulse even when you're idle. That's not normal, Rai."
He didn't answer.
Because he knew.
It had started back in Córdoba.
The pulses.
The flickers.
The phantom heat.
—
[SYSTEM WARNING: TRACE SIGNATURE DETECTED NEARBY]
Source: Unknown
Identity Tag: [CLASSIFIED – ASHLINE (Residual)]
Rai blinked.
The lights in the garage flickered once.
Only he noticed.
—
The Night Before Race Day – Montevedra Rooftop Bar
The Ghost Line team took a rare break — Imani sipping from a citrus mocktail, Luka arguing with a bartender over ice cubes being "too soft," and Kiera watching the skyline with surgical stillness.
Rai and Sierra stood on a balcony just off the bar's edge.
Below them, the city breathed.
"It's different here," Rai said.
Sierra nodded. "You can feel the road hum beneath your shoes."
"And the pressure?"
She looked at him, a small smile forming.
"Still easier than trusting a sync system that wants to evolve mid-race."
Pause.
Then her tone softened.
"But I trust the driver."
Rai turned toward her.
"You've never said that before."
Sierra's eyes held his.
"Didn't need to. You already knew."
He stepped closer.
The wind picked up her curls just slightly.
For a moment — their hands brushed.
And it lingered.
Longer than either admitted.
Then Luka called from behind them, ruining it.
"Tanaka! You're banned from flirting before a street circuit! It's in the Ghost Line handbook!"
Sierra grinned.
Rai didn't stop smiling for the rest of the night.
—
Race Morning – FIA Briefing Room
Rai stepped into the driver's lounge to find an envelope on his chair.
No name. No logo.
Inside: a single sheet.
"The Ashline isn't done with you."
— Solace
He folded the note slowly.
Didn't react.
Didn't speak.
Just felt the pulse of the system in the back of his mind.
Growing louder.
Like an engine warming in silence.
—
Later – Final System Sync Check
[SYSTEM UPDATE: TRACE SHADOW ACTIVATED]
New Trait: Trace Shadow
Description: Passive defensive layer. Creates a false telemetry echo visible to hostile syncs, confusing predictive algorithms.
Note: Trait origin traced to Firewall Signature – ELIAS.T
Sierra read the line as it popped on her console.
"Elias coded a shadow to protect you?"
Rai responded quietly.
"He always drove ahead. Even now."
She looked over at him.
Eyes soft.
A little glassy.
But she didn't cry.
She reached out, fixed the clasp on his gloves, and whispered:
"Then don't let the shadow be faster than you."
—
Final Scene – Pre-Race Grid, Montevedra
Engines screamed through the walls.
Fans roared from the rooftops and balconies above.
Rai climbed into the cockpit.
But just before the hatch locked, Sierra leaned in.
She didn't say good luck.
Didn't say win.
She just said,
"Burn clean."
And tapped two fingers against his chestplate.
Right over the place the system pulsed the loudest.