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TODAY’S TRENDING ARTICLES
Off-Grid Motorsport • System Seven • Keith Hawkins • Romelle Anderson • Takeshi Shirogane • Voltcom • Bayard • Luxite • Bradley Baker-Trayling
OFF GRID MOTORSPORT
Off-Grid Motorsport is a Form of Hoverbike motorsport in which drivers use natural surface magnetics in the earth’s crust to maintain high-speed travel; unlike Grid-Based travel , which allows for stable but standardised speeds and uses automated controls, Off-Grid Driving requires high dexterity and skill, fitness and intelligence due to the quick and dangerous routes and unpredictability of natural magnetic pulls, as well as often rapid seasonal and atmospheric changes.
It is performed worldwide, through varying different sports, with ameteur competitions, cross-country racing, and high speed sports such as System Seven enjoying global popularity.
SYSTEM SEVEN
System Seven (also known as System 7 or S7) is the highest class of international Off-Grid racing for single-seater formula racing bikes sanctioned by the Caidreachas na Eadar-nàiseanail an Gluaisteán (CENG). The International Hoverbiking League, which became the CENG System7 World Championship in 4317, has been one of the premier forms of racing around the world since its inaugural season in 4287.
The word ‘ System ’ in the name refers to the guiding technology used to read the earth’s natural magnetics, and origin of grid-based driving at the beginning of the Reclamation Era . All participants’ hoverbikes must conform to these systems. A System Seven season consists of a series of races, known as MòrDuais (or MDs), which take place worldwide on both purpose-built circuits and public roads, or in natural environments.
The results of each race are evaluated using a points system to determine three annual World Championships: one for drivers, another for system Programmers, and finally another for Constructors. Each driver must hold a valid System Licence, the highest class of racing licence issued by the CENG. Programmers and Construction teams must have some form of Nanomechanical and Microtech System Analysis certification.
S7 race courses are always a minimum of 250 miles in length, and competitors must compete at a total of ten tracks. At least 5 should be urban tracks, and 5 organic tracks. Riders may also double up and maximise their number of race slots by choosing up to 4 combined tracks in a season, and 6 more individual tracks of each type, or a similar configuration. Combined tracks are considered more difficult, and worth more points towards a season total, and most senior drivers compete in at least two per season.
Organic tracks occur in rural locations where Bikes must be altered to avoid unnatural environmental damage, and be able to maintain speed with reduced magnetics, or counter unusual magnetic activity in unstable environments. Urban tracks take place on city streets, with sections of urban grid networks temporarily removed for the duration of the event, with buildings and city features utilised for blocks and turns.
Bikes need to be able to handle tight, small corners at fast speeds, and navigate conflicting signals from metal deposits, tectonic pressure and movement, ground blockages and other substances such as water, and magnetic densities. Combination tracks require a combination of all these features, and all tracks will have a particular challenge added, which varies by season (for example, finishing in a certain number of laps or nightdriving).
Many professional or big name off-grid racing groups such as Voltcom, Bayard, or Nexus often encourage drivers and programmers to construct bikes for each of these courses to high specification, though multiple cars are not required by CENG regulations. Due to the expense, many smaller teams such as Luxite Motors or GamoraGrid may produce one or two cars to team or driver preferences, and make adjustments each season until a replacement is required.
According to current regulations and scoring, points are awarded to the first ten finishers as follows: 100pts for 1st, 72pts for 2nd, 60pts for 3rd, 48pts for 4th, 40pts for 5th, 32pts for 6th, 24pts for 7th, 16pts for 8th, 8pts for 9th, and 4pts for 10th.
Additional points can also be awarded for particular feats that have evolved in the Hoverbiking community. The Toiseach (T1), the driver whose qualifying time grants the best Thoron starting booster, for any race is awarded 50 points. If a driver in the top ten scores the fastest lap, they earn an additional 100 points. A Three-Fly race, Three successive race wins, the same event three times in a row, or securing T1 position, flying the fastest lap and taking race victory in one event, is worth 150 points. A Moon Salute triples the driver’s current season score.
Depending on the grade of the track, competitors can also increase their potential point margin through careful selection of tracks within a chosen season. Tracks graded A are worth +100 points in addition to base points from race completion, grade B tracks +75 points, grade C tracks +50 points, grade D tracks +25 points, grade E tracks +20 points, grade F tracks +15 points, grade G tracks +10 points, grade H tracks +5 points, grade I tracks +3 points, and grade J +1 point.
The total score of the season is taken from the base score of finishing standings, track grading, and race bonuses to determine the winner. While podium finishes generally contribute to a championship title, they are not necessary, and many of the most successful teams have won championships without maximum race position points.
Constructors are graded on the stability, speed, aerodynamics, and efficiency of the bike chassis, general design, and safety, and PPE, of S7 Hoverbikes submitted by the same standard. Programmers are evaluated on the effectiveness of atmospheric telemetry systems, Faunatonium balance, nitrate production, communications between bike and the regulation driving suit, helmet readouts, and team management. A bike which wins any race bonuses also grants the constructors and programmers the same bonuses as the drivers.
System Seven bikes are the fastest regulated road-course hoverbikes in the world, owing to very high aero-acceleration and climb capacity speeds; the bikes are very dependent on electronics, aerodynamics, weight, HoverGs, faunatonium balance, launch control, and manual control adjustments by drivers mid-race.
They are powered by Komar-Tech engines, in which small amounts of Xanthorium are used to put pressure on Heximite , and produce Red Syntian Nitrate , a volatile gas which is steadily burned to generate the bikes’ high propulsion rates. Due to the danger of these engines, bikes are fitted with ejection units for safety purposes and jetpacks are a mandatory safety requirement for drivers in case of molecular destabilisation.
While the Karthullian Continent is the sport’s historical base, the championship operates globally, with 7 of the 13 races in the 4357 season taking place outside Karthullia. With the annual cost of running a mid-tier team—designing, building and construction of software and bikes, bike maintenance, driver and programmer and coaching wages, transportation, and urban and organic track training fees—being ₲70 million Oriandean, its financial and political battles were widely reported until the developments of the Reclamation Era allowed the sport to evolve new sustainable energy technology in the mid-2000s to early 3000s. Its high profile and popularity eventually evolved it to a global cultural phenomenon, which continues to this day.
Most S7 drivers start in GridBike competition leagues using lower powered Zorlar-Vox 95 engines, and then come up through traditional Altean Polluxia-Mass Engine series like System Voltcom and System Bayard, or System Komar (which introduces drivers to racing in urban settings as well as significantly more powerful engines).
These series are often sponsored by major S7 teams or engine manufacturers, and used as field testing for future S7 drivers. Many of these teams also have young driver programmes associated with these leagues. These leagues usually cover a shorter distance, with only 3 urban and 3 organic course passes required in a season to protect young drivers from the effects of HoverGs. Combination circuits are not present in Junior level competitions.
Finally the MD6 Series acts as the last major stepping-stone into S7. Most drivers from this level graduate into S7 through MD6, but drivers are not required to have competed at this level before entering System Seven. Altean S5 has produced many S7 drivers, with champions, including Tavo DiMaggio , Romelle Anderson and Lance Serrano having moved straight from the league to System Seven. Rarely, drivers may be picked from lower levels.
4347 Marmoran champion Keith Hawkins became the first contestant to win the S7 Driver's title upon graduation from System Voltcom, and the first Marmoran S7 driver. He won his first and only season in System Voltcom in three races, a feat which broke records. His main rival Nadia Rizaavi made her debut for two seasons with System Bayard, before moving to System Seven.
The current Driver’s, Constructor’s and Programmer’s champions, as of the 4356 season, are Keith Hawkins and Hunk Galuvao , and Regris Keaton .
KEITH HAWKINS
Keith Hawkins, (born Wednesday 23 Oct 4330) (♂ ⍺) is a Professional Hoverbiker in System Seven Off-Grid Hoverbiking . He is the 9-Time World Driver's Champion, and the first Marmoran to compete in S7. He currently competes in S7 for Luxite Motors , having driven for most of his early career for Voltcom from 4343 to 4358 before moving to the Indie Team.
Born and raised in Naczella, Marmora, Hawkins was signed to the Voltcom Cadet Driver’s League in 4343, leading to his S7 debut with Voltcom in 4346, achieving his first title in 4347 and becoming the youngest racer to win the S7 Driver's Championship in history, just one month after his 17th birthday.
Following one more year with Voltcom, and another championship win, Hawkins signed with then-unknown team Luxite after the 4348 season, along with his Head Constructor , Hunk Galuvao , though due to presentation sickness he didn’t compete for the team until 4350 It was considered by many to be a setback for the talented, but stubborn and impulsive young driver. Regris Keaton became his Head Programmer, and he switched coach from Adam Harris to Luxite team founder and former champion, Kolivan Rolstron .
The beginning of the 4350 season came with his switch to Luxite’s Zaiforge engines from Voltcom’s Greiayes , and marked a chain of successes, winning consecutive titles in 4350, 4351, 4352, and developing a friendly rivalry with former Voltcom teammate, Nadia Rizaavi, and Nexus’ James Griffin . He defended his titles in 4353 and 4354 from early season low scores, scoring his first S7 Moonsalute in 4355, and claimed consecutive wins again in the 4355 and 4356 seasons thanks to multiple ThreeFlys, overtaking Takeshi Shirogane’s record of 5 consecutive titles, which he has currently held for a total of 9 seasons (7 consecutively).
Hawkins has broken the record for most T1 placements, and the most ThreeFly races in a single season. He has had over 100 podium finishes, and flown 5 Moonsalutes.
EARLY EDUCATION & CAREER
Keith was born to parents Krolia Gastayer (♀β), a former Galran Air Force Pilot, who following honourable discharge, became a pilot for the island’s single airport, and Heath Hawkins ( ♂ Ω ), a former Firebiker. Following his wife’s discharge, retirement and Keith’s birth, Heath and Krolia wanted a more stable income besides Krolia’s piloting job; the family moved to a larger home, and began a free-range Weblum farm on the outskirts of Naczella. Hawkins has a younger sister, Acxa , who entered Bayard’s junior programme in 4349, graduating to System Bayard in 4352, reaching S7 in 4356.
Hawkins had talent in local amateur GridBike competitions, unofficial cross-country races, and Off-Grid Drag sprints, which were all common in Marmora, where GridNet is unable to be implemented due to the area’s severe geographical landscape and unusual magnetics. Despite his talent, Hawkins originally planned on other career prospects, as there were very few qualification competitions that led to the professional racing ladder on the island, and his parents couldn’t afford the travel costs required to go to competitions in Mainland Drulia.
He was scouted by Takeshi Shirogane later into his adolescence than most young drivers, aged 14, during a local GridBike tournament attended by the Voltcom driver. Shirogane was visiting family and planning to watch his nephew in the tournament during his own off-season. He witnessed Hawkins win, and learned that he had been the local junior champion for several years by that point.
After looking up old footage of the event, Shirogane was convinced that Hawkins had potential in the professional Hoverbiking circuit, and sought him out a week after the competition to ask if he had ever given thought to joining any young drivers programmes, or been scouted previously.
Upon hearing of the financial issues Shirogane offered to arrange a meeting with Cadet Coach at Voltcom’s main headquarters after hearing of the family’s financial barriers at his own expense. Hawkins’ parents were initially resistant to the idea, but agreed to let him take some tests at the Voltcom Cadet training circuit in Pollux, Wozblay.
He was first educated at Naczella Primary & Secondary Schools, before later being homeschooled during his early driving career in Pollux. He entered the Brodar University of Technology in 4348, beginning studies in Aeromechanics & Physics, and Hoverscience. He was awarded a BaAEng and BaHoSc in 4352 and 4355 respectively.
EARLY RACING CAREER
Following his initial scouting, Hawkins made the journey to Pollux with his father and local OffGrid instructor, Mitch Iverson. Voltcom’s junior coaches gave him initial training tests by himself and with other cadet drivers before calling the senior team (who were responsible for cadets approaching adult class events). He immediately impressed both coaches despite his lack of formal training.
His father was given an offer of support towards training fees and board in Pollux. In an interview, Hawkins revealed that he’d spent two days begging with his parents to let him take the offer. After their approval, he moved to Pollux in February 4343, with trips home every three months to begin training.
Most of his team training was focused on cutting out what Voltcom considered bad habits common to younger drivers and learning the rules and regulations of the professional circuit at the Voltcom Garrison . The Cadet team coach, Ellen Sanda , believed that Keith’s ability, reflexes, sensory awareness, and track intelligence were already well beyond others his age, but felt that his lack of formal training meant he was not well adjusted to professional competition.
Most of his Cadet career was used to prepare him for entry to higher leagues, with the hope that he would be a suitable S7 driver to replace Shirogane against Tavo DiMaggio and Haxus Atkins-Downes . On the 26 th March 4345, he officially signed a contract, with parental permission, with the Voltcom professional team and entered the System Voltcom league.
Despite the contract, Hawkins never officially participated in any competitions, as the senior team coach, Neil Sablan , believed his formal training had advanced enough to meet the standards and that his personal ability was already above the league standards. Instead, he entered Hawkins into the System Seven team line-up as a second driver alongside Shirogane for two years, and Hawkins began training with the professional team Programmer , Adam Harris .
Hawkins found himself in friction with most of the Programmers in Voltcom’s team, and the Coaches (especially Harris), none of whom meshed well with his instinctual approach to driving; Voltcom’s strength as a team came from their strict rules between first and second drivers, and creating blocks to other racers to prime the main driver for podium positions during races.
Hawkins often contested team positioning decisions and requests from programmers, so many asked to be paired with other trainees or drivers because of his high number of manual control requests, field-based decisions and unwillingness to trust their guidance over his own readings, especially in the judgment of atmospheric conditions. Hawkins found that the strict structure of the Voltcom training system didn’t lend well to his own driving style, which many attribute to his unique education in Naczella as a child.
He was given a warning by Sablan and Sanda, but began to perform poorly in training trying to follow stricter protocols which didn’t take advantage of his own natural ability, and the inflexible lead style of Voltcom’s Programmers. The frustration made Sablan and Sanda seriously consider removing him from the programme, or trying to arrange a swap with Bayard’s upcoming young driver, Lance Serrano (who was scoring mediocre points, but showed more willingness to learn a team style than Hawkins, who already had his own, and was hampered by Voltcom’s training, resulting in poor performances). They recognised that Hawkins had vast potential, but had absolutely no idea how to help him achieve stable race results.
Hunk Galuvao , a talented member of Voltcom’s Programming Cadet Programme , was later paired with Hawkins after his own admission to the Cadet team as part of Voltcom’s training. Voltcom had hoped being paired with someone closer in age than Harris would help Hawkins with adjusting to Voltcom’s driving style. Initially, they got along well, and performed a test run together at the Arus-International Baker-Trayling Circuit in 4644.
The two instantly meshed well together, Hawkins’ performance immediately improved, throwing him to the top of the junior leagues thanks to Galuvao’s more flexible, but steady approach to teamwork. Harris requested Galuvao be moved to the System Seven team, and he was appointed as Hawkins official Programmer/Constructor (which is typical with younger trackside team candidates).
The combination proved fruitful, with Hawkins’ flight scores taking much bigger leaps in training. He and Galuvao were then officially signed to the professional team ahead of the 4645 season, though contention still existed with the team lead, and main programmer, Adam Harris, and team coaches Sablan and Sanda.
Despite being granted a license for driving in the S7 league, the coaches and team leader refused to give Hawkins a voice in his start out seasons on his circuit choices, insisting he fly the introductory level circuits like all their other drivers had in his debut 4345 season. Hawkins did fly the courses, but his conflicts with his programmers were obvious over the team radios throughout the season.
In the Everall MD, at the Baltuff Street Ring, the contention off-track came to a head when Hawkins flew against Harris’s commands, overtaking his teammate, Nadia Rizaavi, against team plans, and claiming 2nd place down from T13 position on the third to last lap (breaking Shirogane’s Record of 3rd for youngest driver to take podium on their debut) after two crashes set him back from his qualifying position of T5.
Instead of celebrating the feat (which had been a legal move despite Voltcom’s protests), it was reprimanded over the team radio by the coaches and Harris; Hawkins responded: ‘ The fuck it was ‘Illegal’; she was sitting on Janka’s arse for three laps and was too scared to inject over him. If you didn’t want me to race, you shouldn’t have stuck me on a fucking J-Grade; I’m not going to slow down for everyone else because you’re all cowards. ’
Following the dispute, and the public reception of the rookie’s performance versus Voltcom’s decisions and hesitance, Voltcom relented, and Hawkins entered his 4347 season with higher track selections and a combined track placement, at the Rebulon MD Senfama Park Circuit. Galuvao had also been given more precedence over Harris as a Programmer, and the pair performed extremely well, with Hawkins taking a podium place on his first S7 competition, in another 2nd place podium finish.
Galuvao has been Hawkin’s Programmer ever since, and at the end of the season, the pair took the joint titles for Drivers and Programmers in the Maura Hoverdrome during the 4347 Paglium MD. Both were 17. Galuvao’s design points for Hawkins’ MK4-Red Lion lifted Voltcom into second place behind Bayard from 5th, before the Luxite’s Curtis Blake took 1 st place for constructor teams with his Kerberos-ShuttleK design.
Galuvao also made history as the youngest Constructor & Programmer to have a car take a driver to a podium finish.
{ Video Inset: Keith Hawkins and Hunk Galuvao celebrate their first joint Programmer/Driver podium win in 4347 at the Davdabha Street Circuit, Gregakan; Galuvao is lifting Hawking up in the air, and Hawkins is standing up on his hands instead of sitting on his shoulders. Adam Harris can be seen, arms crossed in the background before yelling at them to calm them down; Takeshi Shirogane and Curtis Blake then take over, with driver and programmer mimicking the celebration with their younger counterparts. }
Following his first System Seven win, Hawkins became more prominent on the professional circuit, and following his retirement, replaced Takeshi Shirogane as Voltcom’s lead-driver in 4347.
LATER CAREER & LUXITE SWITCH
Hawkins found continued success following the 4347 season, defending his win. He and Galuvao continued to work together in tweaking the on-board systems of his hoverbikes and his driving style. Keith did not typically restrict himself to Voltcom’s traditional racing style, and friction continued behind race track cameras between Hawkins and Adam Harris.
Galuvao, who also found himself restricted by Voltcom’s bike design bases when it came to maintaining bike performance and adjusting for Keith's quick feld decisions, also began to feel stifled by the team. After talking with Blake, with whom Galuvao was acquainted through his courtmate (their teammate, Shirogane), Blake approached Kolivan Rolstron about offering the pair a contract, confident they would be interested in a change from Voltcom.
As they approached the end of the 4347 season, Luxite Motors approached the pair, offering them both contracts; Galuvao was immediately interested due to Luxite's recent contract with Zaiforge and the potential of their new engines in terms of driver customisation, as well as the ideas behind Curtis Blake’s recent bike designs.
Keith was less convinced, but agreed to a test drive with Kolivan Rolstron . The pair spent two hours discussing the bike before even gearing up for a blank run, and after the test, two more runs with system adjustments to trial it in a more customised manner.
Hawkins and Galuvao signed with Luxite later that day, and he and Galuvao moved to Daibazaal. While Hawkins meshed much more easily with Luxite’s training and team strategy, he did not get the chance to drive in competition again until 4349, as his driving was severely affected by Presentation Sickness after moving back to the Drulian continent.
Hawkins had been experiencing flares of sensory overload since his first season, and Rolstron caused further controversy between Luxite and Voltcom when he claimed that the push for Hawkins to replace Shirogane had not taken Hawkins' best interests in mind; he claimed that his early signs of presentation sickness had caused the crashes in the 4645, one of which he had retired from due to nasal and auditory hypersensitivity.
The beginning of the 4351 season came with Hawkins recovered, and ready to represent his new team; the year out marked a chain of successes, with Hawkins winning consecutive titles in 4351, 4352, developing a friendly rivalry with former Voltcom teammate, Nadia Rizaavi, and his replacement Lance Serrano (switched form Bayard). His Main challengers were Haggarium’s Sendak Eberle, and his new teammate Romelle Anderson. He defended his titles in 4353 and 4355 from early season low scores, and claimed consecutive ones again in the 4355 and 4356 seasons, overtaking Takeshi Shirogane’s record of 5 consecutive titles.
PERSONAL LIFE
Hawkins took a year out of professional racing in the 4348-49 season due to severe Presentation Sickness , when sudden growth spurts affected his balance, and sensory adjustment and regulator immunity caused him to lose control of his L-Blade S7 Djalg-X14 during a training session at the Oriande Valley International Hovertrack .
The disorientation began when he was testing new aeromagnetic curve reading software at a height of 1,450 feet against the canyon cliff faces, and began to black out from sensory overload. He was uninjured in the accident, as his jet pack and engine fail-safe systems kicked in, but was blacked out during the fall, and shaken from the landing.
On the advice of Rolstron, he stepped out of the competitive season to give his body time to readjust to its new hormone levels. He returned for the 4350-51 season, reclaiming the championship title from James Griffin.
Later that same year, Keith confirmed rumours that during his temporary leave, he had been courting fellow Luxite racer, Romelle Anderson, a ♀Ω. The couple separated two years later due to the pressure of their individual careers, but still remain platonically bonded.
Anderson later signed a contract with an Olkarian Indie team GamaraGrid , but maintained that their relationship remained congenial, and that the decision to change team was made due to family circumstances, and travelling issues. He courted Bluvian cross-country Hover-racer Rolo Rhedus, a ♂β, for approximately eight months in 4354, before they also separated.
He is close to his sister, Acxa, who entered S7 under a contract for Bayard Racing in 4355. Keith has been present at most of her System Bayard races (during one of which she matched his junior record, winning a season off the points of three race totals) and her first S7 race. The two siblings have yet to race head to head in an official competition.
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Monday, 4th of March, 4357
Marmora’s Off-Grid Racing Champion Faces Turbulent New Season With Team Programmer & Packmate’s Temporary Departure
Article Written By Malocoti Wolff, Gridsport Correspondent.
Keith Hawkins, Marmora’s Off-Grid racing golden boy, is facing a serious dilemma on the cusp of his tenth season, with long-term Programmer, Regris Keaton announced his official retirement 3 months ahead of the new season start.
The departure was not unexpected, as Keaton was diagnosed with Hoktrill Disease (a severe muscular condition which causes nerves to die in either the limbs or directly within the organs) several years previously, regarding which the team made an announcement citing his plans to finish his professional career within the next two seasons.
Keaton was diagnosed after sudden paralysis in his right leg during a pack barbecue at his home in Thayserix, which also spread to his left hand before doctors were able to isolate the disease in a cryosurgery. Initially optimistic, Keaton remained on the main team for two years.
Last season, an incorrect reading, leading to internal engine oxidisation, forced Hawkins’ to send his bike into a safety detonation for the first time in his career during the Burgamel MD. During Post-race interviews, Keaton admitted that he was struggling to maintain control of the faunatonium balance and nitrate production, and claimed full responsibility for the incident. He remained with the team, but gave more control to Hunk Galuvao in Programming capacity to spread the load and avoid a Programmer switch mid season.
Following the official announcement, Keaton, Hawkins, Galuvao, and Luxite all released social media statements supporting the decision, and expressing their confidence in the upcoming season.
{ ⟣RegrisKeaton/Luxite: The time has come. After an astoundingly successful season alongside my packmates, I can confirm that I will be taking a temporary absence from the professional circuit. I know this next season will be hard for my pack but I know Keith, Hunk, and the rest of our packmates at Luxite have everything they need to manage without me, and promise you that being down a Programmer won’t stop them from reaching for the stars next season. I know this team and Pack will keep on shining, and I look forward to watching 4357 from the audience. Thank you to everyone for all their support and understanding for myself, and my mate and kits, over the past few years. Keep my testing helmet safe for me until I get back guys, because I will be. }
{ ⟣KeithHawkins/Luxite: I want to take a moment aside from the festivities to wish Regris Keaton good luck for his upcoming rehab, and for everything he has done for me over the years; I couldn’t have asked for anyone better to be our Programmer, and it’s going to hurt walking into the Skydome and not seeing his coffee-high energy bouncing around the test track every morning but we’ll keep your seat on the Trackside hub ready for when you come back. }
{ ⟣HunkGaluvao/Luxite: I’m going to miss my development buddy, but if anyone deserves this, it’s you regris. We all knew this had to happen, and it’s going to be hard without you, but the pack won’t let you down next season. }
{ ⟣LuxiteMotorsOfficial: Within the success of yet another championship trifecta, today we say a temporary goodbye to one of the core members of our trackside team; Regris Keaton has been one of our best Programmers since Luxite first entered the S7 world, and we look forward to welcoming him next year as a Programming coach in the NeophiteL Programme; while we all await his return to our Trackside team, Regris’ expertise will be crucial for the next generation of programmers, constructors and drivers, as well as the start of our Junior League, System Luxite. }
Quotes via Confrimed Contacts, ©Chatter, Inc
While the message of optimism is in no doubt heartfelt from the small team that has come to dominate alongside the greats in Off-Grid racing, Luxite faces an uphill struggle in the next three months to find a Programmer to work alongside frontier flier Hawkins and Chief Constructor Hunk Galuvao before the new season begins.
Unlike historical teams such as Bayard or Voltcom, Luxite is still a relatively new body in Off-Grid racing; with the first year of junior training programme due begin next year alongside their CENG recognition in the new junior league, they may have their pick of drivers following their successes, but trackside staff have always been harder team members to come by.
Luxite presumably wasn’t expecting this blow to their incredibly strong, if small, precision team, to come so soon. Until a replacement can be found, Hunk Galuvao confirmed hw would be taking on the responsibility temporarily, but this divide of expertise can be race changing at the S7 level. While Programmers are not mandatory, and cars can be designed with manual driver system management, or Constructors step into the role (as is often the case at the junior level, with later specialisation), neither of these is preferable in S7.
Even greats such as Bradley Baker-Trayling (who retains the record for most laps driven on manual control), Kolivan Rolstron, Takeshi Shirogane, and Hawkins himself (who is very individual rider with the most recorded instances of manual control requests mid-race) rely heavily on Programmer support.
With a new season just around the corner, six new tracks (3 in Marmora) open for a fight, with some of the CENG’s highest track ratings, and this blow to the so-far unshakeable team, the next few months will be crucial in terms of planning; only time will tell if Keaton’s early departure will be the blow to end the Indie team’s unparalleled success.
The worst part about coming back to work after accidentally stinking out the entire development lab was all the attempts her coworkers made not to stare, with varying levels of obstinate and absolute failure.
Katie tried not to let the feeling of being stared at creep over the back of her neck and elicit a snarl at the poor new student, Tammy (who she was pretty sure she’d growled at during her hormone-deprived feral madness) as she left her things at her desk in the computer lab.
She had a bunch of analytics to send back up to the Chief Programmer, and really didn’t want to be dealing with the effects of causing an office incident, but there was very little option about it. The Programming Division manager had asked to see her, and so, after making the last minute check on the analytics that she had been running overnight, made her way down the hall.
Coran was waiting outside his office with his secretary, and smiled at her. It didn’t make her feel any better, but she kind of deserved all the guilt. If the course test driver, Tavo, had been the one stinking the place up with his pheromones, she’d have wanted someone to give him a clap on the wrists too.
The worst part was, she knew why it had happened. She’d missed one day of her regulating tablets. One day . She didn’t even have an excuse for why. She’d just rolled over, looked at the packet of tablet sitting beside her phone on her bedside table, hissed at them, and promptly rolled back under the covers, thinking one day without feeling like someone had stuffed cotton wool up her nose wouldn’t be so bad.
Honestly, after two other near misses that had only been saved from disaster by Tavo’s emergency respressors, the hissing should have been her first clue that her hormones were getting used to the regulators, that maybe it was time to switch brands for a while and get a heat out of her system.
But no, she’d ignored the warning signs, and had to be handed off to a Heat Hotel by security. Some intermediary research had also revealed she’d made it onto local news live-streams after her own hormones set off a chain reaction throughout the office, and a bunch of other people either went into heat or rut and the building had to be closed for deodourisation.
Coran gestured for her to sit down, chattering away, and she took a breath. Looking up at the desk, she realised she wasn’t the only visitor; a woman with short pink hair in a smart suit and a small datapad gave her what Katie presumed was supposed to be an encouraging smile.
“Katie, this is Hira Madsen,” Coran said, introducing them both. “She’s from the GHRR. She’s just here to observe me, so don’t worry about her; you haven’t done anything wrong.”
The Gender Health Regulation & Registration Board? Fuck. Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck . That wasn’t good. That was the opposite of good. Coran had always been a fair manager, and she believed him when he said she had nothing to worry about, but the fact that the woman was here in the first place was enough.
“It’s very routine,” the woman added. “We just like to make sure that your employer is following the regulations in regards to gender health provision following incidents like yours.”
They were actually referring to her singular instance of stupidity as an incident? Great. Fantastic. Her hopes of getting out of Coran’s office within half an hour had dropped by half in the mere seconds it had taken for the woman to speak. She was probably just doing her job, and it was good that someone was mediating all this stuff, but it put Katie on edge.
“So, first things first,” he said, sitting down. “I want you to know that you aren’t in any trouble Katie; this kind of thing happens more often than you think. I’ve dealt with quite a few in my years around the block, and it’s really not as bad as you think!”
“Have you ever had someone go feral, trigger a hormone domino, and cause the building to shut down all in one day?” she couldn’t help asking, because (obviously) she enjoyed making her own life more difficult.
“Well, uh, not really,” Coran admitted, twirling the ends of his very well groomed moustache nervously. “But look on the bright side; Rolo and the others were clearly in the same situation, so having it happen all at once actually saves us time in the long run!”
Hira looked at him, with a look that said ‘ Please-stop-wasting-both-our-time-and-get-to-the-point ’ and he coughed uncomfortably. “Anyway!” he continued. “It’s not something to be concerned about; everyone becomes somewhat intolerant of their regulators at one point or another, and honestly, there’s nothing shameful about having hormones…”
Said the man who hadn’t had his sexual frustration passed around the building aircon like a ‘ somebody fucking knot me ’ ping on the interdepartmental group chat; katie was pretty sure they’d been able to smell her out on the testing track. Coran still sounded like he was on her side though, so Katie didn’t really want to argue with him in front of the GHRR lady.
“...I’ve gone through it too. I was taking R-Beast. Woke up one morning about twenty years ago and started screaming all over my salad when my reminder pinged, then threw my phone out the window and started crying to my Yalmors in the gard—”
The woman coughed the second time, with that ‘ You’re-discussing-inappropriate-topics-and-going-off-track ’ cough all people who feared laws and legal confrontation mastered on their first day of university.
“—what I'm trying to say is… It just means that you’re entitled to Gender Health Leave; it’s unavoidable really, and lots of people need it at one point or another in their lives.”
He wasn’t going to take no for an answer, was he?
“Sorry, I really can’t do that,” Katie said immediately, forming a big ‘ X ’ with her arms. “I’m kind of an acquired taste, and frankly, I’m not going to go to all the effort of finding someone who can palette this rare vintage just to satisfy some red tape when I’m working on the Xai-Inject algorithms.”
Xai-Inject was a new system for monitoring the xanthorium and heximite balance in S7 bike engines; most of the big name teams had hoped that it would include the baseline readouts for the new tracks in Marmora, but the CENG had made it clear that the navigation of the islands unique magnetic poles was entirely down to the individual teams, specifically the programmers and drivers.
There were minimum safety requirements laid down, but that was it. To get round the new tracks, all the big names and indie start-ups would have to find their own way to navigate what looked to be, going by the track previews, some absolutely horrendous wavelengths.
Initially, Xai-Inject had been planned as an open resource, but Voltcom, who were still kicking themselves for letting Hawkins get away from their nasty little clutches had offered GamaraGrid the one thing they couldn't refuse for the technology rights; money. Now, it was locked up in all their red tape, leaving the other teams high and dry.
It was, in Katie’s opinion, obnoxious, but then again, OffGrid racing was cutthroat in that way. It was why she’d completely changed track and gone into the Programming career after a chance meeting with Romelle at their university instead of the course in general nanotech she’d initially planned on.
Still, the other teams had been scrambling with the appearance of all new tracks, three of which were completely unsuited to the magnetic baseline standards in the current bike models. It just added to Voltcom’s shitty reputation in her opinion.
One of her other friends from the pro-circuit, who assisted trackside, had told her that even Luxite were nervous about the new routes, and had already booked half their track practice time into the new circuits. If they were nervous about the new tracks when their chief driver had been born in Marmora, then the courses were likely to be downright terrifying.
Of course all the drivers were frothing at the mouth in excitement at the thought of flying over some of the most unstable and unnavigable magnetics on the planet, but they were drivers ; as soon as the track points values had been announced, nearly every single one had signed up for at least one of them, then hounded the CENG for track footage. Romelle hadn’t left her team office for a week.
The programmers were all panicking at the thought of what havoc would be done to the engines, and the Constructors were pretty much expecting multiple safety detonations, ejections, and mid-air crashes. Romelle had chosen the course in Reiphod, and while it looked gentle, Katie had already seen Ina wandering around with what could only be described as fear written across her face.
All because Voltcom, in their bid to regain former glory, had bought the rights to software and equipment that would have been available in free access. Other teams would no doubt have their own developers working on new systems anyway, but new tech and software normally arrived between two or three seasons. It wasn’t a lot of time to adapt the current bikes.
There was a lot going on, and now she had to take time off because of her damned hormones? Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. Was this the government’s way of… telling her to get laid? Were they even allowed to tell her this? She’d have to look up Gender Health Leave again when she got home. She supposed that wasn’t actually what they were saying, but if the GHRR was involved… well, she might actually have to give a damn for once.
“Miss Holt, if I may?” Hira interrupted. “There’s absolutely no demand on how you spend the time; anyone taking GHL would be encouraged to spend it however they found most comfortable until safe to return to regulating medication, or find other alternatives,” she said, kindly (meaning that while it wasn’t law, the government wished it was).
“Then why do I have to take time off?” Katie asked, crossing one leg over the other and leaning back in the chair, wondering if she was supposed to find Hira’s assurances convincing. “If I don’t need the time, it should be fine to just take a couple of weeks to get some new regulators lined up, shouldn’t it? I’ll just avoid the testing track.”
Hira’s face pinched. “It’s not required,” she repeated; she spoke the word like she was verbalising the disgust Katie often saw on her mother’s face every time she caught her (grown adult) children swearing. “However, we do have to advise you to take the leave; feral heats are a very extreme reaction to regulator immunity. Looking at your records, you haven’t taken any voluntary leave for hormonal health since you started working for Gamara Grid; going for over three years without any reprieve from regulators is not medically recommended.”
Which was another way of saying ‘ going for over three years without any reprieve from regulators is what caused this incident, we’re just not allowed to blame you directly because the chance of going feral from regulator immunity is less than 0.2 percent ’. Katie knew there was a reason she didn’t like Hira when she first saw her.
“This is also the third time you’ve had problems with your regulators whilst working here; as such, we are legally required to assess how the company can better help you maintain hormonal health. GHL is the best solution.”
In other words ‘ we aren’t allowed to fire you because hormonal regulation is too varied to turn into a real percentage, so we would prefer you keep your lack of decorum and breeding scent out of the office until you get your shit together. ’ Katie really had been hoping they wouldn’t remember the other two episodes.
“You can’t be serious!” she said. “I’ve got better things to do than camp out at home waiting for my breeding season to hit! I’m happy to take some time off and get one out of the way—even I can’t turn around and say I don’t need it after the other day—but I don’t need to take any leave!” she tried. “I don’t have the time! Voltcom have been screaming about the deadline on the Xai-Injection since the end of last season. What about three weeks?” she asked her manager, hopefully. “Can’t I do that and work from home instead?”
“Katie, you know I can’t agree to that; my hands are tied here,” he said, at least sounding apologetic. “You won’t lose any pay if that’s what you’re worried about, and it will be full rate, not even sick pay!” he said. “You only take your normal holidays when your supervisor reminds you as it is! Think of it as a fully paid extended self-care trip, to do wherever you want!”
“Provided you maintain records to show continued hormonal recuperation,” Hira added as a caveat. “Your GP can speak with you about that though.”
There really didn’t seem to be any way out of it. Katie withheld the whine of frustration that threatened to escape her, and not for the first time, mourned evolution’s decision to deprive her of any claws.
“Okay, fine,” she relented. “How long does this... GHL thing have to be?” she asked, running a hand through her hair, trying to push away the itch of worry and anxiety that was beginning to crawl over her, along with the growing smell of Coran’s cologne; the doctor had forbidden her from taking anymore regulators, so while her nose didn’t feel like it had been stuffed with cotton wool, she also had to deal with the fact that she could smell everything again. Like the GRHH woman’s confusing Beta scent, or Coran’s more reassuring Omega one.
It couldn’t be that bad if it was law; she was pretty sure it sounded familiar. Had her parents taken time off for it? Maybe. It would be fine, just a couple of weeks respite to get a heat out, get on some new regulators and she’d be back on her normal routine. Hell, she could probably work from home if—
“The GRHH and Government health regulations advise at least six months before primary assessment for going back to regulators from your regular GP.”
—Fuck. That.
Keith stared at the holoscreen in front of him despondently, watching the video of the track path recorded by the team flight path cameras, watching the wavelength emitters on the scream measuring the insane fluctuations of the Tsingy Canyon.
As a child, his parents had warned him about practicing his karting there; it had practically been on their back door on the farm, and of course, as soon as his parents had told his 10-year-old self not to do something, Keith presumed that meant it was something fun, especially if it involved hoverbiking.
He’d snuck out one morning before his parents got up with Acxa’s baby screaming, dragged his kart out of the shed, and taken off, determined to find out why they made such a big deal about it. At first it had taken a while to find a path over the spiky rock formations, but he’d managed to fly a couple of miles before the weird jumping in the bike’s magnetic balance had thrown him from the handle bars. His bike had exploded, but Keith had saved himself from that danger.
The cause of the accident was his own naïvety; he’d been in too much of a rush to get out before his parents woke up, and without checking his jetpack battery, confident that he had prepared everything properly. Keith had learned his lesson bitterly when the battery failed, about ten metres before he made it past the edge of the rocks.
Luckily, Acxa had been a baby who woke up at stupid hours of the morning screaming, and his dad hadn’t been as easy to fool as Keith had hoped, so when he broke a stupid number of bones and nearly cut himself to pieces on the razor sharp rocks, he hadn’t bled to death. His dad had seen him zipping around while he was shushing her, and gone for his own bike ready to rip him a new one, so found him quickly.
Keith had been airlifted to hospital on the mainland, where he’d been in casts and braces and a medically-induced coma inside a cryopod for 32 weeks. To this day, he had never gone out to Tsingy canyon without someone else. It remained the worst crash he’d ever experienced, and looking at the videos on the holoscreen made him feel a little sick. Even now, the canyon was difficult, and he was a much more experienced and competent driver than he had been at 10-years-old.
Now it was the longest stretch of one of the new Marmoran tracks. He was probably the only driver not jumping up and down at the thought of flying over it. Logically, he knew that he had handled worse magnetics and that it was far from the struggle he was making it out to be in his head. He also looked at the videos and could practically see himself falling and spinning through the air towards the blades of limestone below.
He didn’t remember anything else up till the point he woke up in hospital, by which point his sister had learned her first word, which Keith guessed was from people talking about him all the time. He’d kind of softened to the idea of having a baby sister after watching her point to him, laughing through a terrible mispronunciation of his name.
“Home!” a familiar voice called out from the hallway; Keith didn’t even blink as Hunk let himself into the flat.
“Any luck?” Keith asked as Hunk sat down, adjusting his seat with the slight sofa-sinkage; Hunk had been visiting one of the junior driver programmes to scout out for a potential Programmer in Taujeeria. He’d gone several start-ups and larger groups in Tragoch, Balmera, and Si’vim. Hunk snorted, which more or less gave a satisfactory answer.
“All the good programmers are taken,” he sighed. “There are some amazing kids that we left information for NeophiteL, but they aren’t ready to deal with you and your bullshit; you’d scare them out of Hoverbiking for good.”
“What makes you think they wouldn’t be scared of you?”
“You’re a driver,” Hunk said instantly, which explained nothing, but the subject was dropped as his roommate glanced at the holoscreen. “Wait, are you still watching this? What gives? It’s been like two weeks.”
“This is for Naczella,” Keith reminded him. “It’s a new track.”
“And you grew up there,” Hunk pointed out. “I know that the route is probably going to take a bit of getting used to—”
Actually, the CENG had picked most of the parts of the island that keith had predicted they would when they announced the construction of the Marmoran tracks; the Saairung mountains, Gluua plains, the marble caves, Igneous coast, the pinnacles, and Feyiv were all part of the combination course.
Naczella itself had been made one of the Urban tracks, and the Organic track, of course, included Tsingy Canyon. Having heard the track challenges too, Keith was surprised the CENG hadn’t just straight up graded it ‘ whatever the fuck we can think of to try and make a course Keith Hawkins can’t fly in less than 15 hours. ’
“—but you know the landscape don’t you?”
“It’s not the course that’s the problem,” Keith said, rewinding the video to the start of the canyon.
Hunk narrowed his eyes at him, then looked at the screen, then back at him. “Then what is the problem?” he asked, his voice suspicious.
Keith waited until the edges of the valley came into view, and the crater in the rocks where his bike had blown up upon destabilising came into view. “See that crater?”
“Yeah?”
“It wasn’t always there; after my bike exploded, the kids at my school used to call it Hawkins Crater; take three guesses why.”
Hunk stared at the image on the screen, then at Keith with more alarm on the screen. “Wait, wait, wait, you’re saying that’s a crash crater?” he asked. “I didn’t think you’d ever lost control of your bike before 46?”
“I did, once, about twenty metres from that crater. I was in a medically induced cryocoma for 32 weeks, and that was only because my dad was trying to bust my hide for sneaking out to try and fly over a magnetic hellscape and saw me crash. If he hadn’t been up, I’d have bled out before anyone noticed I’d even left.”
Hunk looked much less cheery. “32 weeks? Mate, that’s not a crash, that’s a catastrophe! How come? Weren’t you flying around over water by then?” he asked.
“I was,” Keith nodded—waterflight had always been the hardest type of course, or had been until now, for him to deal with. The difference however, was that the magnetic fluctuations that came with tide changes and a moving surface were nowhere near as intense as the ones he remembered fighting against. “But that canyon is ten times harder than flying over water is. I could probably do better now but… I’ve never flown over that canyon any further than that crater. It’s about two miles in.”
Hunk now looked at the screen with a horror stricken face as Keith told it to play again. “The fluctuations are kinda scary, even for Marmora,” he grunted, looking at the readouts on the footage of the atmospherics and magnetism; then he noticed the steady rising levels of the engine temperature and stabilisation rate of the engine. “Fuuuuck, this was a shit time for Regris to go,” he groaned. “Have you submitted your course choices yet?” he asked.
“No, I was actually hoping we’d have time to go to Naczella for a practice session on this one before I decided whether or not to include it,” Keith said; he wasn’t sure how much wider Hunk’s eyes could get at this point.
“Practice session, before choosing the course, in your own back garden?” Hunk checked.
Keith nodded. “I’ve never flown the whole thing, and it’s only its 70 miles long; long enough to fuck up a race.”
“Kolivan is going to absolutely shit his pants when he hears you say that, but if you think it really that bad—”
“I don’t think Hunk, I know; I can’t remember much about that canyon besides being thrown over the handlebars, and hearing the explosion before my jetpack ran out of battery, but the fluctuations get worse the further in you go, and the canyon walls make a wind funnel that just screws up the wing balance.
Hunk inhaled. “Well I guess that explains why you’re so anal about your jetpack,” he said, a little wry humour in his voice. “I’ll talk to Kolivan. Don’t worry about it okay? You’re on the off season anyway, so until we hear about booking something, maybe actually relax? Take up a hobby?”
“Keith frowned at him. “Hey, I have hobbies,” he pointed out.
“Walking your dog doesn’t count.”
“I cook.”
“Okay I can’t argue that one,” Hunk corrected. “You make a mean bandrillo steak burger, but you know what I mean. When was the last time you went somewhere? Or met someone? I mean, since you and Romelle were courting.”
“It’s not like I’m lonely,” Keith shrugged. “And that’s a low blow. You know we wanted that to work out.”
“I know, and I’m sorry, but that’s not what I mean,” Hunk relented, holding up his hands in surrender. “I’m just saying, maybe you should keep your head out of the biking drama for a while? You’ve got to admit, you’ve never really taken a break since then, and don’t you have a rut coming up? We could get you out somewhere you can go sight seeing or whatever, and you could sign up on a cycle service, blow off some steam, so to speak?”
“You’re making me sound like some kind of knothead,” Keith grumbled.
“Hardly,” Hunk scoffed. “But it would be easier than waiting to adjust to new regulators; that might take more than half the off season if you have to go through a rut too. You’ll still be feeling twitchy when your first race hits otherwise.”
That was true, he did have to come off his regulators soon; he’d nearly cried taking them the other week when for a moment, his nose had picked up the scent of their neighbours cologne, and it had felt like breathing with a new set of lungs. It couldn’t hurt to take some time off and get a health check up out of the way; he could take a couple of extra weeks off around it before the next season started and kill two birds with one stone.
He wasn’t optimistic about finding a partner for his rut—not many people had a taste for his brand of alpha, and most of the people who did weren’t the ones he found good partners—but it was worth a try, and it would be better than going alone. He and Romelle hadn’t been compatible in the end, but sharing their cycles had been miles and miles above better than just suffering through them.
“It’s not a bad idea, but I don’t want to leave you guys with all the chaos of finding a new programmer,” he countered. “That’s hardly fair.”
The only reason he hadn’t joined Hunk on the search was because he wasn’t allowed to travel for a week after the race. Medical precaution with licence loss consequences, and that wasn’t including what would happen if Kolivan caught him doing anything but sitting, eating, sleeping, or breathing.
“Let’s be realistic, unless someone’s planning a mutiny on one of the other teams, I’m just going to have to juggle,” Hunk said. “It’ll be like old times. We can keep our options open, but I was on the phone with Kolivan on the drive back, and I think he feels like the best idea is just to plan for that outcome.”
Keith flopped out on the sofa and closed his eyes; he didn’t want to think about it, but the media had already guessed as much, and he knew Hunk was right. It just wasn’t perfect. Regris needed to focus on himself though, and they’d be terrible packmates if they made him worried now that he’d finally taken that step. He could get his mobility back, but the window of opportunity was closing for him, and he’d already given them too much to ask any more of him now.
Keith would be damned down from the sky if he didn’t keep the promise he’d made Regris not to let his absence undermine them. He’d looked at Keith’s course selections for the new season, one last time, and cried because he’d wanted to take back his public statement and help them do the impossible.
Keith and Hunk had promised him they’d have the championship ready and waiting for him when he was ready to come back to the team.
“Honestly, the more I think about it the more I think it might be a good idea; we can call you in and you can keep in the loop, but I’m feeling the pressure without Regris already, and I’m not the one on the bike slowly getting my spine compressed,” Hunk added. “I can cope with managing the Programming, but it’ll be weird enough for you to have me back again, so if you rest up, and make yourself in the best condition you can be, I think we’ll both be better for it.”
Keith thought about it, trying to think of any objections; his main concern was being too far away if Hunk and Kolivan needed help, but Hunk had already said he would be kept in the loop, and he imagined that if they needed him to be at the Skydome for anything, or they found a programmer, they would tell him. More to the point, if he was stuck in the middle of a rut, he wouldn’t be able to do much anyway, so he might as well be more comfortable.
He’d never tried the cycle services, but Regris had met his bondmate that way, as well as several people he maintained a platonic bond with, and he was pretty sure Lance used them too, with very little issue in terms of recognition or media attention.
Maybe it would be a good change of pace; he’d have a decent rut, and actually be able to go see some of those famous buildings he’d wanted to go see since moving he and Hunk made the trip to Daibazaal; at the very least, it would get his mind off of the Tsingy Canyon.
‘ Well, what on earth were you expecting? ’
Katie scowled. “I don’t know, a little more sympathy or understanding? It’s not like I planned this! I just wanted to know if this shit is legit or not.”
Katie watched her mother sigh on the holoscreen above her kitchen countertop, before she turned back to the tomatoes she was chopping. ‘ Yes, it is as you so eloquently put it, ‘legit’ Katie. You’re entitled to it three times over a four year period, or for emergencies like this. I believe the law in Daibazaal counts it up with statutory sick pay too. ’
“That’s something I guess,” she sighed. “I just thought I had a little longer before I hit the danger zone!”
‘ And now you’ve been put on GHL. It’s just a heat, you’ll survive. ’ Said every alpha ever. Katie knew she should have phoned her dad instead. He would absolutely have been more sympathetic. ‘ Did you put the garlic in the pan? ’
“Uh…” Katie frowned, and glanced at the pan of onions she was browning off. “With the onions?”
‘ Do you have another pan? ’
“…was I supposed to?”
‘ Yes! ’
“Okay, okay, I’m chopping it now!” Katie said, doing her best to do just that with as much speed as possible. “I thought you said this was simple!”
‘ You’re chopping garlic, Katie, it’s not rocket science, or even nanotech, ’ her mother said, sounding tired. There was silence as she watched her slowly chop the garlic into a few cubes that were probably supposed to be smaller. ‘ Are you sure you want to wait your heat out at home? ’ she asked. ‘ You’d be better off booking a cycle service. At least then you wouldn’t have to worry about food. I know you can get vitamin and hydration packets, but… ’
They stunk. They were nourishing and were good to have alongside normal food, but trying to trick a body going through a cycle into thinking it was being sustained on nutrient packs, water and protein bars was as healthy as living off of instant noodles and microwave pizza was.
“I guess I could; I’m surprised you’re suggesting it though,” she said, finally adding her garlic and frowning at the onions, which looked a little… crispy.
‘ Oh I still think they’re dodgy, but if you can find a good service at least you won’t have to worry about feeding yourself, ’ her mother sighed. ‘ I’m genuinely more concerned that you’ll give yourself food poisoning at this point. ’
Katie stared at her onions; she really, really hated cooking. Washing up? No problem, but her mother was fond of telling her that she was the only person she knew who managed to burn water. Kate agreed with her.
The thought of making enough edible meals to get her through her two to six days of wanton misery did not inspire her with any joy, confidence or positivity. Mostly it was just loathing. Pure unadulterated loathing, and two types of frustration that should never, ever be mixed together.
“I think you might have a point,” she sighed. “I know a guy who uses a good hotel for his ruts; he’s one of the drivers so it should be pretty reputable,” she said.
Her mother’s face tensed at the mention of the word ‘rut’. ‘ And is this driver an alpha or a beta? If some testosterone-driven knothead is going to recommend his little love nest— ’
“Mum, calm down,” Katie sighed as the replicated scent of her mother’s unease wafted through the room. “Lance is a chill guy; besides, he’s too busy chasing track titles to have the time to have a secret harem.”
Her mother bristled, but huffed, the scent settling. Replicated scent was never going to be the same as in-person, organic scent, but the technology still helped convey an impression of it, and Katie felt much more settled as her mother’s more familiar, firm but caring scent returned. ‘ Alright, alright, I’m sorry, ’ her mother smiled. ‘ I’m still not settled on the idea of a heat hotel, but I suppose he would have to maintain some decorum, ’ she sighed. ‘ Just make sure you send me the link to whatever he sends you before you arrange anything. ’
“Mum!”
‘ Katie. ’
Katie couldn’t help whining; her mother’s authority as pack leader wasn’t as obvious as a slap in the face might be, but she was still her pack-leader and arguing with her was always exhausting. She wasn’t even that annoyed, just on edge with her nose already starting to kick back into gear; the synthetic scent in the air had made her remember just how far away from home she was, and Katie wasn’t fond of the feeling.
‘ Honey, listen to me, ’ her mother said over the screen, her voice more soothing, concerned. ‘ I know I’m probably overreacting, but this is your first heat in a while, and you aren’t at home; it’ll be overwhelming until your senses kick back in, and while I can’t come out there to keep watch over your nest for you, I will make sure that if you decide to go for a service, it will be safe. Please sweetheart, I just want to keep you out of trouble. Especially your kitchen. ’
Katie took a breath, laughing a little then turned off her hob. “Okay,” she nodded. “If… if the hotel doesn’t work out, could you…”
‘ I’ll find a couple of tea towels and one of your old blankets and scent them tonight. Do you want me to ask dad if he’ll scent them too? ’
Katie nodded, deflating a little and hiding her head in her arms on the kitchen counter. “Sorry for snapping,” she mumbled.
‘ You’re always snappy when you start nesting sweetheart .’
Katie looked over the top of her arm at her mother in mock hurt until she looked at the mess she’s made of her kitchen. The sharp bite of burning onions and pungent smell of garlic was lingering uncomfortably in the air, but still. She had been cooking, and that was a rare enough event that she should have noticed.
“Oh, that would explain it I guess,” she groaned. “You didn’t say anything.”
‘ Your dad always says that he likes to get it out of his system, ’ her mother shrugged; a soothing scent began to lace over the horrible smell of the onions and garlic, and Katie took a breath, enjoying the calming effect, but wishing it was the real thing. ‘ Do you feel better? ’
Katie scowled at her poor attempt at making sustenance. “Sort of. I keep picturing that beta lady’s face in the onions. Does that count?”
‘ If it works it works. Don’t worry too much about your heat, okay? If you want to stay home, I’ll phone around and arrange a food delivery for you. I’ll send the package out once your dad gets home. It’s less than ideal, especially with everything you’ve been telling me about the way your work has been going, but we’ll help you work something out. ’
“Thanks mum.” Katie looked around her kitchen at the disaster she’d managed to make from tomatoes, garlic, and onions.
‘ Alright, I’ll get dad to call you later. Love you! ’ her mother waved over the holoscreen and blew kisses. ‘ Make sure you get enough rest! And lock your door! And if you go out to the shops or to eat make sure you put neutralising spray on! ’
Katie rolled her eyes as the call ended, and the holoscreen disappeared; of course she would put neutralising spray on. She might not be able to cook, but she was familiar with heats after twenty one years of them, and she wasn't that stupid. Last thing she wanted was to give someone a whiff of her breeding season scent by accident.
After reluctantly getting to her feet and cleaning everything up, she flopped down on her sofa, flicking on a nature documentary for background noise as she looked up hotels with a Cycle Service; it didn’t sound too bad, and she knew that Lance had always done well with them. Romelle had sent her links to a few places too, which might be more appropriate, considering she would have more perspective on what an omega might prefer to Lance.
Katie skimmed through the links on her phone, opening each one in a holoscreen for further examination, and reading their different reviews. Some, like her mother feared, just sounded like the sort of place that knotheads frequented. They were just voluntary sign-ups, not the kind organised by legitimate sex workers, or the kind that tried to paint themselves more glamorously and ‘ Bondmatching services ’.
Eventually she found one; it provided rooms, an optional partnering service either with a licensed sex worker, or another of the hotel’s clients based on a matching system. It provided meals, free before and after health check-ups, and required mandatory birth control shots for both parties. There was a steep fee—₡1,750, to be precise, which had given her momentary pause and an indignant whine of ‘ that’s more than the rent ’—but going by Romelle and Lance’s assessment, it was priced high for quality, not pure profit, and she had an emergency expenses savings account for a reason.
Katie considered not sending her mother the information link, but ultimately, she ended up sending it after a message from her dad, full of worry and concern and pleading for her to be careful and promising to have the package sent out to her before the end of the week—if only to keep him happy.
Her mother sent an approval when Katie was halfway through the application process, and about an hour later, she had a holoscreen appointment with one of the hotel’s representatives.
There wasn’t really much else to do until the call, which had been scheduled for later the next day, so Katie turned to her next task of the night; ordering takeout. Weblum noodle stew was and always would be the best cure for pre-heat anxiety Katie had ever discovered.
Order made, there was nothing else to do, so Katie indulged her instincts, and started piling all her blankets on the sofa, burrowing into the pile after her food had been delivered, and turning her interest to the Yalmor documentary instead.
She couldn’t say she enjoyed her heats—they were usually just inconvenient, if temporarily satisfying—but she’d take the medically approved excuse to curl up in a pile of fuzzy blankets any day.
As she settled, slurping her noodle broth, she decided that the hotel had been the right choice. She wouldn't have to deal with the mess, the panic of getting supplies in, or the fact that her neighbours (thanks to the stupid non-lined wall of her flat) would be able to smell her breeding season for the next three floors up when her heat finally hit.
Maybe she would even be able to find someone with the right brand of alpha for once; that was probably less likely, but for the price of the service, she might as well give the ‘ Bondmatching service’ a try.
Katie had not expected to reject her regulators earlier than expected, or to be on forced health leave, but she was stuck in the situation now, so better to make the best of it.
Worst case scenario she either ended up without a partner, and just had a nice, comfortable, relaxed heat, and best case scenario, she got to scratch a few itches, with none of the prep or clean-up.
What did she have to lose?
What can I say, the plot bunnies came to me. First I just wanted a smutty oneshot. Then I wanted a dirty, filthy, smutty BDSM oneshot. Then I remembered vanilla smut gives me writers performance anxiety, and that after writing a scene for Love Somebody, BDSM probably wasn't the place I wanted my headspace to be after coming out of that AU. So, then I thought I'd go back to an old faithful for smuts—ABO never fails. Then a throwaway background comment about Keith being a racing driver developed words and a semi-useable plot. (Yes, I know I have another unfinished ABO fic but we're not going to talk about that one okay?)
I looked up F1 for some throwaway line of reference for a made up sport, and now I have a subscription on YouTube to the actual F1 channel, and a spreadsheet to calculate the points for all the rules in S7 Hoverbiking. I HATE CODING SPREADSHEETS, but I suffered for the sake of the plot.
Hope you enjoyed the opening chapter!