The track for the qualifying race was just a straight path bordered by two bright red lines. It was wide enough for all sixteen pods to line up next to each other with little space to spare. Other than the lines, there was just darkness—the most basic of basic tracks.
The pods were smooth and sleek. They looked like cars except that every edge had been rounded off, leaving them without any corners. All of them were identical, each glowing in the color of its team. They hovered just slightly off the ground with two engines on the back. The tops of the pods opened up for the drivers to get inside.
“Just try to stay out of our way,” ECHO said, climbing into her pod.
“I’m going to win the race. That’s what I do,” A11_4_ON3 snapped as he climbed into his own. “If you’re in my way, I’m going to plow right through you.” His pod closed around him. Through the clear glass top, he could still see ECHO glaring.
Inside there were several control features. The dashboard glowed with meters displaying the pod’s speed as well as engine heat and distance traveled. A monitor off to the right served as a rearview mirror and there was a map screen next to it. The steering wheel looked exactly like one from a car, but there were no foot pedals. Instead, on the right-hand side was a lever that functioned as a throttle. The farther the driver pushed it forward, the faster the pod would go. Next to the throttle was a hand brake for quick turns. There was also a button labeled “weapon,” but it wasn’t illuminated like everything else inside.
“We’re on the same team! Don’t try to shove us out of the way,” ECHO’s voice sounded in his pod.
Great, thought A11_4_ON3. There’s a comm link.
He looked around for some button or switch to turn off the radio communicator so he wouldn’t have to listen to his so-called teammates, but he couldn’t find one. “Don’t get in my way,” he said. “Then I won’t have to get you out of my way.”
“Wait!” STR33T_WIZE shouted through the comm. “I’ve got an idea. What if we all acted like friends for just a few races? Wouldn’t that be crazy? Let’s do it! Gooooo team!”
“No,” ECHO said. “If he’s going to treat us like any other racer, we do the same to him.”
“Let me hear you say Red! Team!” STR33T_WIZE ignored her. No one took part in his cheerleading chant. “Give me an R,” he tried again, but once again no one responded.
A11_4_ON3 shook his head. That guy hasn’t changed at all. He used to like STR33T_WIZE’s unending positivity, but now it was just irritating.
The track boundaries turned yellow, signaling the race was about to begin.
A11_4_ON3 put his hand on the throttle, waiting for the lines to turn to green. He pictured himself crossing the finish line ahead of everyone else. He didn’t care about ECHO, Z1P_ZAP, or STR33T_WIZE. They were the ones who told him to stop racing with them. Now was his opportunity to show them how much of a mistake that had been. He’d leave them all in his virtual dust.
“You guys ready?” ECHO asked.
A11_4_ON3 rolled his eyes. He knew what they were about to say. He’d said it himself more times than he could count. It was a ritual—a team motto they would say just before the start of each race.
“In it to win it!” ECHO, Z1P_ZAP, and STR33T_WIZE all said in unison, while A11_4_ON3 remained silent. The phrase used to get him excited to start a race, but now it was just annoying to hear.
The lines turned green. A11_4_ON3 slammed the throttle forward, and the pod took off. The vehicle was faster than he expected, but he adjusted quickly—just like he always did in a new racing game. The first part of the race was a straight line. Most of the players had fast reflexes and had managed to push the throttle down the moment the lines had turned green. So the majority of the pods were temporarily tied for first, with a few trailing slightly. A11_4_ON3 could see in his rearview monitor that one of the blue and two of the yellow racers had hesitated for just a moment before they’d accelerated.
The red team was perfectly in sync—all of them had managed to hit the throttle at the exact right moment. To his left, A11_4_ON3 could see ECHO through her pod’s windshield. She kept her eyes locked on the track, ready for the first turn. He didn’t bother to look at STR33T_WIZE on his other side. The only racer that might have a chance at beating him was ECHO. The other two were good, but they were also sloppy—not as precise as either ECHO or himself in their turns or use of the hand brake. She was the threat.
Here we go, thought A11_4_ON3 as the track ahead curved to the left. Now they get to see what I’m made of.
He eased up on his throttle, dropping back from the group one pod length and moving into position behind ECHO. If he could eliminate her from being a serious contender, he could easily walk away with this race.
Z1P_ZAP’s voice came over the comm. “What’s he doing?”
“Don’t worry about him,” ECHO said. “Focus on the race. Treat him like any other racer.”
They reached the curve. A11_4_ON3 slid into place so that he was just to the left, behind ECHO. She did exactly what he thought she would do: followed the track’s curve and stuck close to her team. She slowed slightly to keep control of her turn.
A11_4_ON3 didn’t slow down. He slammed the throttle as hard as he could and continued going straight rather than following the turn. He smashed into the back left corner of ECHO’s pod. The impact spun her so that she was facing the wrong way. She should have braked, but instead she tried to correct her position. Obviously she hadn’t been expecting the hit.
“What are you doing?” she shouted at him.
“Winning,” he replied, smiling as he saw her hit the broadside of STR33T_WIZE’s pod on the rearview monitor. In his efforts to avoid the crash, STR33T_WIZE bumped Z1P_ZAP, pushing her into the edge of the track. She bounced back but at an angle that forced her to cross the track sideways. She lost a lot of ground to the other racers.
Hitting ECHO had worked better than A11_4_ON3 had expected. He thought she would have driven straight off the track. There was no visible wall keeping them in, just the red line on the ground, but her bounce had actually worked better. Not only had he bumped himself into perfect position to accelerate and get the inside track, but she had accidentally taken out her whole team—perfect.
The map screen displayed the positions of all the players in the race. ECHO was now dead last. STR33T_WIZE and Z1P_ZAP were barely ahead of her. A11_4_ON3 was in eighth place, but that wouldn’t be a problem. Without having to deal with the others, he could easily maneuver his way into first. Besides, even if he didn’t win, this was just a qualifying race. What was important was that he had made a statement to ECHO—he refused to work with her.
He relaxed in his seat as he listened to the other racers on his team scramble to regain a decent position in the race.
“If we focus, we can get ahead of some of those yellow racers,” ECHO advised.
“That was a nasty trick,” Z1P_ZAP muttered. “We could be winning right now.”
A11_4_ON3 didn’t bother responding, focusing entirely on the race now. He swerved and accelerated his way into fifth place, then fourth, third, second, and, after some back and forth with a green racer, managed to pull into first place. Now all he had to do was maintain his position.
The track was basic, but not altogether easy. Some of the turns were quite sharp, requiring use of the hand brake to make the inside of the curve. About halfway through, the course formed a spiral, forcing the racers to make a right turn for nearly a full minute.
Once he made it past the spiral, A11_4_ON3 checked on the other racers’ positions. He had a comfortable lead. His teammates were still lagging behind in the bottom three positions. He smiled to himself again. That’ll show them.
After a few more turns and curves, he saw the finish line. He pushed the throttle all the way down, bringing his pod to max speed for the big finish. When he crossed the line, the pod slowed to a stop. The rest of his team had not improved their position despite their best efforts, coming in fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth place. They’d made up some of the ground they had lost after the crash, but not enough to get a respectable finishing position.
As ECHO crossed the finish line in last place, the teams’ standings appeared on the dashboards of the pods. A11_4_ON3 frowned at the standings, though they didn’t exactly surprise him.
The red team was in last place.
Even though he’d come in first, the other three coming in last meant their team’s overall score was significantly worse than any of the other teams’.
“I hope you’re happy,” ECHO snapped over the radio. Their four pods had been brought together when the race ended, and now they could all glare at each other through their windshields. “See what happens when you don’t work with the rest of your team?”
“I told you to stay out of my way!” he shouted back at her.
“We weren’t in your way,” Z1P_ZAP chimed in. “You could have left us alone.”
A11_4_ON3 rolled his eyes. “It’s just a qualifying race. It doesn’t matter.”
“Well,” ECHO said, “now we know where you stand.” She paused for a moment, then looked to the other two. “We’ll have to win this in spite of him.”
“Gooooo team,” STR33T_WIZE said sadly.