Chapter 5: The Great Race, Track 1

“Readjust the emitter by point five degrees,” Neo instructed Vala’rein as she was using the simple wrench to pull the device on her vehicle a little bit gently.

“Working on it,” she said with some slight aggravation. She was giving a quick inspection as Neo was giving a nod of affirmation.

“Good, that is the second one, two more to go.”

It had been one week later. The workshop tent was busy with the inclusion of another vehicle. Both Vala’rein and Neo dressed appropriately for the upcoming race. Vala’rein was dressed in her purple and green racing jacket with a set of black pants. On her neck was the spikey collar that she enjoyed wearing in public. On the other hand, Neo was dressed in his black, red, and blue jacket and jeans.

Located in the same track where he didn’t finish, it would become his second chance. However, the largest difference was that this was going to become a night drive event with the addition of the three racers from the T’rintar clan. Set to begin at 2100, Neo didn’t have much time to ensure that Vala’rein and Serrein would have their vehicles fully prepped to race. The pressure was on, and everyone was feeling the stress of getting things ready to go. The distant sounds of music outside the tent had been a suitable entertainment to the crowds but had become mere background noise.

Neo briefly looked at the digital clock. They had thirty minutes left. Thankfully, everything was in running shape, but there was one last thing that they needed to do. He looked at his motorcycle. He had been long prepared for the aspect of night driving on Oshun. Any racer would know the thrill and glory of why the street races were done at night. However, the T’rintar clan racers would have other things to worry about.

Vala’rein had picked up the next neon light emitter. She walked over and placed it near the rear engine drive assembly of her wheel bike. She took a high-powered screwdriver and held it in place. Even Neo got next to her as he had the emitter correctly before she used the tool to screw it in.

“Ehh...” Vala’rein remarked with some annoyance. “Is this really necessary?”

“Trust me. The fans can’t get enough of the night races. I’m surprised that you guys don’t use these.”

“We prefer to race in the daylight.”

“Why is that?” Neo asked as the Shal’rein took the wrench and began to make subtle adjustments to the emitter.

She paused for a moment as she pointed to her shark-like eye. “The Itrean eye...” she remarked. “You humans have poor eyesight at night, but you can see the different colors at night better than we can. You’ve taken a disadvantage and turned it into an advantage.”

“I don’t understand.”

“At night, the Itrean eyes adjust so that we can see everything just as well as the day, but it is harder to see the different colors.”

“So you basically see black and white?”

She gave a quick nod as she inspected the emitter. “Yes. Not completely, but to me, nighttime is just daylight with fewer colors.”

“I imagine that it gets weird when you look at pictures of nighttime driving during the day.”

“Ugh ... it is.”

“Well, don’t worry too much if it isn’t properly set. Just make sure that they don’t fall off.”

Vala’rein shook her head. “So much is riding on me to get this right.”

“I know,” Neo commented. He understood well the pressure that was in place. For Neo, he felt that he had reached the top of the chain. Even if he lost at the UWALVR, he had become part of the champions. The only thing to get now was first, second, or third place, and with six racers in total, that would be an easy accomplishment. The one catch was that everything was different this year. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of another woman that was having a fit.

“You need to help her,” Vala’rein told Neo.

Neo had turned his attention to the outside of the workshop tent’s entrance. Unfortunately, there weren’t many lights that could be seen outside beside the flooding lights of the city. This had caused the beach to appear dark, although the distant lights of cruise ships at least provided some company. He proceeded to the entrance, reluctant in having to speak with Vala’rein’s sister.

“Ugh ... stupid piece of shit!” Serrein yelled out. She practically threw her screwdriver onto the dirt.

As Neo exited the entrance, he saw the green and purple colored hoverbike. Only one of the three emitters could be seen. The mohawked Shal’rein had gritted her teeth as she remained focused on her work. She wore the same exact clothing as Vala’rein, with only her hair being a determining difference. He had to take a deep breath. He had seen Vala’rein angry once or twice by now, but Serrein was a different problem. She was a bitter individual and known for her bouts of rage. The last week had been a difficult one. No progress was made to get through to her, and she purposely tried to avoid Neo despite how strong of a relationship had developed between him and Vala’rein. Regardless, he had made it a goal to try to be open with her.

“It’s challenging to have those things put on hoverbikes,” Neo commented to her. His voice had disturbed her.

“Leave me alone,” she said with some aggravation in her voice. She didn’t even bother to look in his direction.

“You’re trying to drive the screws into the hardest section of the hoverbike’s framework. I can show you how to...”

Serrein turned and showed anger from her face. Neo remained firm and held his ground. He even crossed his arms as he stood with a stern look at her.

“Argh...,” Serrein exclaimed. She practically tossed both of the items on the beach sand. “I told you to back off!”

Neo felt a surge of adrenaline hit him. He could already see a few of the audience members in the distance that were looking at him. He had to be careful in creating a scene, but Serrein was becoming irate.

“If you don’t get these emitters on, then you’ll get disqualified,” Neo remarked as he pointed his finger at her. “Is that what you want, or do you want me to fucking help you?”

“Human Tio’kek,” Serrein replied as she hissed and picked up the emitter from the sand. She then picked up the screwdriver as she gave an annoyed look.

“Cussing at me isn’t going to get the job done. Now...” he pointed at the framework near the cockpit of the hoverbike. “Two emitters are needed at the very least. Put one right there.”

“And how do you know about hoverbikes so much?” Serrein practically hissed at him. She slapped the emitter into place and pressed the tip of the screwdriver in place.

“I’ve worked on a couple of them.”

“You humans always avoid hover technology. I don’t believe you.”

“That isn’t true. Oluchi that races in this have a hoverbike hybrid. I just prefer something that touches the ground.”

“You are so much like my sister. You can’t embrace a repulsor engine. Afraid ... cowards.”

“Says the person who avoids talking to her ‘mate-in-law.’ Who’s the coward again?”

The term was something that didn’t technically exist in either language, but one that still had made some sort of point. The screwdriver had screwed in the emitter perfectly. She almost drove the tool into her frame. Instead, she simply huffed when she turned one eye to look at him.

“That’s one,” he said. “Let’s get the other one.”

He went and pulled out one of the emitters from his jacket pocket. She momentarily looked at him as she walked around the other side of her vehicle.

“Give me another one,” she commanded to him.

“Please,” he corrected her.

She opened her jaws towards his direction in an attempt to scare him, but he knew better. “Fucking give it to me!” she yelled at him. He relented and tossed the emitter in her direction.

“Why did you bother to be a part of the dating program if you won’t even talk to me?” he asked her.

“It was a mistake,” she replied with a couple of clicks in her voice.

“One that could get you in a lot of trouble.”

She began to put the emitter on the other side of her cockpit portion of the frame. “What’s it to you, Neo,” she replied. “You want to fuck me after all? Pump one of your babies into me? Can’t get enough from my sister?”

“Not with that attitude. Look ... I just want to get to know you. You’re the sister of my wife.”

“Mate,” she corrected him as she tried to screw in the bolt. It refused to go into her frame as she adjusted the bolt again.

“You know what I mean. If you’re not interested, then you can tell me. I don’t care either way. I just figure that you could use a friend.”

His words seemed to have a little bit of an impact on her but only by so much. She readjusted the emitter a little bit as she took a deep breath. She pressed the tip as the bolt screwed into place.

“I had to be a part of the program,” she told him. “Had to be the good T’rintar citizen. Had to serve as a ... positive example to my kind. Have to make my sister happy.”

There was much resentment in how she said this to him. He was still trying to figure out her personality. At times, he wondered if she was going to swipe at him or simply grumble and walk away from him. There was something that was seriously bothering her, but he didn’t know what it was.

“What do you want, though?” he asked her.

She took a deep breath as she looked at her hoverbike while she briefly considered it. “Things that are beyond your control,” she simply answered. “Now, leave me the fuck alone. Go fuck my sister or something, just leave me be.”

He decided to back away. Anything more, and it would risk having her become really irate. This was not the place to do this, and he felt it was best to let things go for now.

“Fine,” he said as he walked away from her. “You know ... when I first met you, I thought you were going to be really something. But, now...” he shook his head and sighed. “Good luck with the races.”

“Dargh...,” she remarked as she looked at him with one of her shark-like eyes. He walked away from her as he proceeded back towards the workshop tent.

He made it back into the tent to see that Vala’rein had finished up the last of her work. She gave a brief but acknowledging smile towards him.

“She still won’t engage with you, isn’t she?” Vala’rein said with a sigh.

“No. I was lucky to get five sentences from her. Isn’t there a way that you can tell her to talk to me?”

The Shal’rein woman shook her head with a mild form of aggravation. “I can’t tell her to do that. I might be the older sister, but she still rules herself.”

“Why is she like this? Why get involved with the dating program if she was going to keep distancing herself from me?”

Vala’rein hesitated in answering him. “You will have to get it from her. I know the reason, but she must tell you. Do you still wish to be her mate?”

Neo seemed to be reluctant. “I don’t like that question,” he answered. “It feels ... wrong.”

“Don’t,” she told him as she pointed her finger at him. “I pushed her to do this. I want my sister to move forward. She must ... she needs to forget the past.”

Neo honestly wondered what she meant by that when she gave one final look at her wheel bike. He turned to look at his motorcycle.

“There is one thing to keep in mind, Neo,” she said.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Just because you’re my mate doesn’t mean that I will be easy on you. That includes the opposite. A race is a race.”

“I understand. I wouldn’t have it any other way out there ... You feel ready?”

“Yes,” she replied with a little bit of assurance.

“I feel ready ... let’s get our vehicles put into position.”

Vala’rein felt inclined to agree. Time was ticking, and they both knew that the eyes of the UWA and the T’rintar were going to bear down on them.

“Everyone, we want to welcome our contenders for the 2350 UWALVR championships!” the announcer called out with much enthusiasm. Many of the racers had been gathering on the starting line. Flocks of individuals were roaring and cheering at the top of their lungs.

The great city was magnificent at night. Neo had been all too used to it. Every light bulb, LED, and display board had switched over to the neon color spectrum. Buildings had layers of colors for their lights that would radiate and switch to different alternate colors. Everything on Oshun had been lit to the point that the streets were as clear as day. The vehicles had already been put into place. Two hoverbikes, two motorcycles, a hybrid motorcycle, and a wheeled bike dominated the scene. Emitting from their frames were the bright light emitter bulbs. The music was just like it was not long ago, with only a slight variation in the rhythm.

Neo walked out to the trailing edge of the fenced area. He wanted to enjoy this moment as he felt that he had earned it. Countless races had brought him here, and it felt glorious. Despite what had happened earlier in the last race, it seemed to have only a marginal effect on the audience. Win or lose, everyone would get a chance to see the champions fight it out in the racetracks.

He turned his head to look at the other racers as he tuned out the overhead announcer’s voice. He knew everyone, but one and his attention was to be focused on her. Even Vala’rein could only provide so much information on this racer. He looked at the hoverbike that she raced. The Malery 3500 bike was a smaller version of the hoverbike that Serrein used. It was designed for the occupancy of the Yutilian that drove it. Curiosity had caused him to look upon this other mysterious racer from the T’rintar clan, and finally, he saw her.

The Yutilian was Gip’grenda. Supposedly, she was the best of the best that even Vala’rein had been nervous about. The small reptilian woman was one that came out in a green and yellow racing jacket. She had green scales with orange and blue patterns. The jacket, however, allowed her green and yellow feathers to be fully displayed to the public. She was somewhat perky-like. She would hop around on her digitigrade legs as she would wave to everyone. On the top right portion of her head was a headpin that dangled from near her right earhole. The golden chain from the pin would dangle around as she moved about.

There was something oddly frightening about this Gip’grenda. She was so small and dainty. If anything, she seemed so innocent, but even Vala’rein had been warning him about the Yutilians and their behavior. If anything, it only seemed to confirm the suspicions. They would act coquettishly and innocent but sometimes be the other way around. Humanity had to tread carefully when it came to the T’rintar clan alliance. While the Shal’rein didn’t pretend to act innocent, the Yutilians could easily fool the wayward human if they weren’t careful.

Regardless, this cheery little racer was the grand champion of the last fifteen races of the T’rintar clan races. She was even more experienced than Oluchi and possibly a match against Meifen.

Neo knew that he might have the odds strictly stacked against him. Except for Vala’rein and Serrein, the other racers were long-term champions. Even the two Shal’rein could threaten to leave him behind. He did have to admit that he didn’t feel alone. Even if it was every person for themselves, he at least saw an ally with Vala’rein. Serrein, however, was still a major problem, but he could be thankful that he was in this race at all.

“Neo!” one of the fans called out to him. It pulled him out of his thoughts as he turned to look at the adoring crowd. He could see a few women and young girls that had been near the fenced area. He relented as he walked over to them with a big smile on his face.

“He’s walking to me!” one of the unknown girls screamed. “I feel like I’m going to faint!”

“And what can I do for you fine ladies today?” Neo happily asked them.

“Neo, can I get your autograph? Please, please!”

“Sure thing, and who do I make this out to?” he said as he could see the girl pull out her tablet. She handed it to him, including a stylus pen.

“Aberash Makena,” she replied.

With that, Neo treated his fan as he signed his name on it. His signature was clearly seen on the display as he handed it back to her. He even patted her head as another woman called out to him.

“Oh, I got to get your autograph too!” another woman said with a non Oshunian accent. This one was a little bit different than the other. There was something unique with the woman’s face that he almost didn’t recognize. The woman almost had the facial features of a Native American from former Earth. This alone caused him to look at the woman a little bit more closely. She was holding hands with an Oshunian woman. He saw what looked like a unique pendant that she wore. It depicted that of a black silhouetted figure that was in the center of a maze. For a few seconds, he was transfixed on it. She then pulled out her tablet and handed it to him.

“Sure thing,” Neo happily said. “I don’t recognize that accent.” He began to sign his name using the stylus that it came with.

“New Olympian,” she replied. “This is for me and my wife. Have the name go to Theo Smith and Ada Adore.”

He happily added the line “To my fans, Theo Smith and Ada Adore, signed Neo,” before handing it to her.

“Here you go and nice pendant that you have,” Neo told her.

“Thank you, and don’t give up, Neo!” Theo replied.

A large hand came from behind Neo that touched his shoulder. Vala’rein was watching the spectacle unfold, and she was getting curious as to the event.

“Oh, are you one of the racers?” another fan called out with glee.

“What are you doing?” Vala’rein asked Neo.

“Autographs. Everyone, welcome the new racer, Vala’rein.”

“A Shal’rein, that’s so cool,” Theo called out. “Looks like we need your autograph too.”

Vala’rein seemed to get the hint rather quickly as she took the tablet that she was handed with and started to write her name on it. She used the Itrean alphabet to spell out her name with an English written equivalent underneath it before she handed it back to the fans.

“Here,” Vala’rein replied as she handed the tablet back to the woman.

“Attention, all racers!” the announcer called out. “Get yourselves ready! Head towards your vehicles.”

“Dah! I wanted to get Neo’s autograph!” another fan said as Neo waved to the crowd. Vala’rein started to proceed back to her vehicle.

Six vehicles were in three pairs stacked behind the other. Neo had already heard of the coin toss that had established who would be in the front and who would be in the back, and it felt fair. By random chance, his motorcycle was in the front row. Serrein’s hoverbike was adjacent to his. Behind him were Oluchi and Vala’rein. In the rearmost row, it consisted of Gip’grenda and Meifen. At least with being upfront, did he know that he had at least some form of chance, but everything was possible.

“Hey, Neo!” Meifen called out to him, causing him to look at her. “Don’t be a crybaby out in the racetrack this time!”

Neo gave a mean look at the racer as she was laughing by her motorcycle. He almost expected the snide comment from the Martian racer but was still taken by surprise. A few of the audience heard her and even booed her.

“Boo me now, but I’ll still win!” she pridefully said. She held her arms out as she boasted to the crowd. “And you know what!? Those Itreans don’t stand a chance with me and my skills!”

“The only thing that you will know, Meifen, is the rear engine of my vehicle,” Vala’rein replied to her.

“Big talk from a towering dumb shark as yourself,” Meifen continued her onslaught of words. “You will only eat my dust when I win this!”

“You think that you’ll win?” Serrein jumped in. “I’ll beat all of you, and when I’m done, I’ll rip those tires off your motorcycle myself!”

Meifen only seemed to laugh at the enjoyment of the scene. She leaned onto her motorcycle as her arms were crossed. Vala’rein bared her teeth at her knowing who her opponent was, but Neo knew better. Meifen was known for doing this. Some described her as a bit of a bully on the racetrack. However, she mostly did this for the ratings and put people on tilt. Neo simply rolled his eyes as he opened up the pod of his motorcycle.

For a few seconds, Neo closed his eyes as his hand ran across the metallic frame of his motorcycle. He focused on everything. Nothing mattered but crossing the finish line. Any trepidation that he had wasn’t there. He felt that there was nothing to lose now but to simply do it. He imagined the most essential thing in why he went racing, and that was to have fun. Now, there was purpose more so than anything else. Having Vala’rein had fulfilled a part of his life even it had only been a week. He nodded his head as he knew that he was going to win. Just as it was the last fifty races, this would be no different.

He nodded his head in affirmation. Even some of the crowd members could see that he had a new form of self-confidence. He climbed into the pod and tapped the canopy button to close. Neo didn’t even bother to look upon the other racers.

With a couple of button presses, the motorcycle was ready to be powered up. He could see the camera views from his vehicle. A smile appeared on his face as he could see each of the racers getting themselves ready. Vala’rein had climbed into the centerfold of the giant wheel of her wheel bike. Oluchi had slipped on his helmet as he laid on the stomach of the hovering frame of his hybrid bike. Serrein climbed into the cockpit of her large hoverbike. She took a small set of goggles and slipped them over her eyes. Unlike last time, Neo would keep the announcer’s voice to hear upon everything but choose what to hear and what to discard.

“For all of the crowds, we welcome you again to the UWALVR 2350!” the announcer called out as the audience cheered. “For our Itrean allies, we welcome you and thank you for your contribution to this great race. This year will be the trial to make all future races work together in harmony, but we assure you that we look forward to having your racers come here! For the spirit of the UWA and the T’rintar clan, everyone knows the rules that have been established. Each track will be two laps. The championships will call to race on six different locations on four different worlds. Oshun takes the pride that it will host the first two tracks in accordance with its long racing history. Everyone give our final UWA citizens and T’rintar racers a hand for making it this far!”

Neo could see the audience clapping their hands in applause together. It was a wonderous sight to behold—six racers for six different tracks.

“Too bad things will be short for this tour of races,” Neo said to himself. “At least they are still keeping things running for these races. I agree it’s going to be a big experiment...”

Never could he imagine that there would be aliens that would be racing in this sport event in the course of several months. Only rumors persisted to the other sports that the Itreans wanted to participate in for the UWA, including a few contenders that the humans wanted to serve in return. The UWALVR felt like it was just the beginning of this new trend. Even the long-lasting peace in place had been brought forth all in thanks to this alliance. There had been no further supposed attacks from the Aksren and Shal’rein clans. The T’rintar had stunted the invasions or at least discouraged the other clans from attacking.

The music changed as the flooding lights of the track began to dance and swerve around, their beams focused into the night sky. A piece of new music had kicked in as the lights would change colors. The melody was that of a jazz piano mixed with drumbeats, trumpets, and a small number of synthesized strings. Each second beat of the drums would cause the flooding lights to turn and readjust around. A small number of fireworks had been launched into the sky. There, short blasts added further illumination to the hundreds of thousands that would witness the events.

“In the spirit of the great race!” the announcer said. “Racers, start your engines!”

Neo pressed the activation switch on the motorcycle as the electric motor started up. Just as before, the small hum could be heard as he looked forward on his display. The only significant difference was the neon light emitters were immediately powered up. The purpose of these emitters being there would be seen in their full fruition. Everything was green on his status display. He could hear the distant vehicles around him. Outside, the various machines each had their unique audio cue to them. Serrein and Gip’grenda’s had a high-pitched whirring sound, a modified audio noise of their own choosing. Vala’rein’s, however, would generate a resounding reverberating echo that bounced around the building’s walls.

Meifen would roar her engines up just to hear Vala’rein respond in kind. Technically, Vala’rein’s was more profound, but Meifen had a more harmonic feel to it. Neo tuned out the noises as his full attention was focused on the racetrack’s starting lights.

The lights began from red as they began their color descent to green. Neo took a deep breath as he tapped his leg. It was functioning perfectly, which only caused him to smile a little bit.

Suddenly, the light changed green, and all the vehicles punched forward. Neo had his foot pressed into the throttle port. His motorcycle darted forward as Serrein’s hoverbike began to pick up to a faster and faster speed. The music of the racetrack switched over to a deep synth with a dance beat in the background.

It would be the same as it was before when it came to the track layout. Neo felt so confident of this that he shut off the map display of the track on his display in quick succession. He would let the feel of everything proceed as it naturally intended.

Each of the racers started off slowly at first but was gaining speed rapidly. Serrein seemed to have the upper hand almost right at the start. The hoverbikes had advantages, but only in specific categories.

The roaring of the engines was prevalent. Neo would get a chance to see if Serrein had properly placed her emitters correctly, and they were. As all the vehicles moved forward, the neon light emitters were fully engaged. Colors of blue, green, and radiant pink would glow from them. From a standstill, they were really nothing extraordinary to look at until it was in motion. It formed an optical illusion on human eyesight. This caused the vehicles to look like they were leaving a trail in combination with the motion blur. Serrein left a natural shade of green and pink behind her as the turn was coming up.

Neo slowed down his motorcycle as he could hear Oluchi’s hybrid bike begin to make the turn around him. The left-hand turn was one in which Neo almost cut the corner. His motorcycle tire had even clipped the edge of the pavement but did nothing else. It wasn’t easy to track, but he could hear the various engines that were working around him. The most prominent site was that of Vala’rein’s wheel bike. It was such a large machine, but it seemed to be at the same speed as the other vehicles. One single turning apparatus was moving the entire frame with her along with it. He could see the great trail of green and purple that flowed from behind her. It was difficult to track his, but he could see the blue and pinkish red that he left behind. The race scenery proved to be quite pretty as the blur of the buildings would leave behind a hue for the eyes to follow. The crowds of individuals would cheer as the racing vehicles would drive past them.

“We are off to a good start so far with Serrein in the lead!” the announcer said. “Looks like Oluchi is coming up to pass Neo as we reach the straightaway! Looks like Gip’grenda is coming up close behind!”

Neo was inundated by the sudden changes in volume around his motorcycle. Even with his foot glued to the alcove and speeding up as fast as he could, the small Yutilian’s hoverbike was darting through. Her small size and frame made her perfect for slipping on through the larger vehicles. Even Oluchi almost didn’t even notice her. Within a few seconds, she had punched on through and leaped to second place. Neo was simply not accelerating fast enough, but he did know enough about the hoverbike weakness. Despite having a high acceleration curve, the power of the non-vehicles could threaten to beat them. The darting hover vehicles did encourage the rear racers a little bit, preferably the one that had the most to lose.

Neo tried to swerve a little bit as he could hear Meifen’s motorcycle starting to accelerate rapidly. He tried to get in the way, but she was just faster. Much as it was in the past, the only difference now was that Meifen didn’t have as much time to show off as she did before. Two laps could mean the difference between first place or third place, and the beginning portion of the race could be the determining factor. Even Oluchi was no different. He sped up and was gaining ground in the straightaway. Neo could see that he was at about 400 kilometers an hour and continuing to gain speed after fifteen seconds had elapsed.

Despite the effort to stay in front of Meifen, she was swerving her motorcycle back and forth. Neo wouldn’t have much more room to continue this before he would have to slow down. The big turn was coming up, and he began to let the accelerator pedal go. The tires of his bandigara began to let up as he could feel the big turn coming up. He pulled the steering wheel to the left as he could feel the hard turn coming up.