Was this really happening? Michael thought as he stepped out of the car in shock. The crowd, which had been madly dashing towards the car abruptly, stopped their advances.

"He's... just a kid..." Michael heard several people whisper.

Slowly the crowd parted, and the woman in the black dress emerged, holding a small gold trophy and a credits voucher.

"I, Kalinda, President of this Racing Authority chapter, officially declare you the winner of this race." Her voice was clear, with a slight British accent to it. She had dark brown eyes, long black hair and dark skin.

Michael had assumed she was some model the organizers had hired for photographs at the event, but chapter president meant she was in charge of organizing races across the entire city.

Michael remained frozen, transfixed by her beauty and the way she moved. Deliberate, calculated and smooth, like a dancer. Then she simply turned around and walked away.

Michael looked down at his hands. He hadn't even realized she'd handed him the prizes. There was a transparent plastic key card, with intricate, glowing, green circuitry running through it. A credits voucher, for 8 thousand credits. Almost enough for the month's rent. Then there was the trophy, which in itself held some value. Its base was made of real wood, its cup made of some sort of gold plated metal. Engraved on its plaque was a simple inscription.

AceRacer_2097

1st Place

Open International B Class Racing

Velo City

Michael put the credits voucher in his pocket and leaned against the car. He still felt shaky and nervous, he had to remind himself he wasn't in a dream.

Michael placed the trophy in the passenger's seat of the Mustang, and looked down at his hands once more. The were red and calloused, with a few torn bits of dead skin from wrestling the steering wheel.

"Alright everyone, clear the way, the A class race is starting!"

Michael jumped, then realized the crowd had begun to part once more. He noticed Jeff push his way through the crowd.

"Hey kid, move the car, and meet me by the security van."

**********

Michael moved his car back to the original parking spot, where he found Michelle's S13 parked already.

He found Michelle sitting alone next to the car sobbing, hiding her face in her hands.

"Michelle?" He carefully asked as he approached her.

Michelle's voice was suffocated by hardly suppressed tears. "It's all my fault... we lost the cars and it's all my fault..."

"Michelle... I managed to stay ahead... we won..." To Michael, It felt strange saying that out loud.

"What!? You better not be joking!" Michelle said, immediately jumping to her feet and wiping tears from her eyes.

"Yeah, we did... I've got the credits voucher to prove it..." Michael reached into his pocket and flashed the little card.

Michelle smiled, the tears now wiped away.

"Jeff wanted to see us." Michael added.

*********

Michael and Michelle headed to the armored security van.

"Shit man. I thought you were two idiot kids who had no idea what you were getting into. But damn, I gotta admit you two can drive. Alright, I need to explain how shit works around here, since believe me, the organizers are gonna want you back."

Jeff threw open the van's rear doors, climbed in and typed some stuff into the computers, and a giant map of the city popped up, taking up all the screens. The only things the map showed were the ground level roads, and outlines of the four main sectors of the city. Star shaped icons appeared wherever there were certain intersections or parking lots. There were about thirty in each of the four sectors.

"So basically, race crews are ranked based on who they beat in races. The highest ranked team gets a seat in the Racing Authority Chapter senate, meaning they represent their given sector of the city, affecting race routes, car preferences, payouts, betting and more. If you can beat every member of that team, you can challenge their leader, and take the sector for yourself. "

"Ok? But why would we want to do that?" Michael asked.

"Controlling areas will get you noticed, you'll earn sponsorship deals and a cut of all the profits in the area, and it can majorly increase your ranking in the global RA driver standings, which can get you noticed for professional leagues, AND it will allow you to choose what kind of cars and races we run. Believe me, that means big money..."

"Has anyone ever taken the whole city?" Michelle asked eagerly.

"Once, and they became RA Chapter President for this city... many have tried, but right now there's a stalemate. Currently the Flaming Angels controls Kempton, Project Driftmasters leads in Cultura, Autobahn Kids hold Fortuna, and if you can somehow get into Argenti, there is this stupid rich team, Exotica Racing."

Michael nodded. If tonight was anything to go by, the teams controlling each sector had to be rich enough to afford top tier vehicles, and had consistently good drivers too.

"Now you guys are gonna be the talk of the town, because that orange Camaro you beat? That was Big Tony, the number 5 driver for the Flaming Angels. They don't like losing, their cars are serious American muscle, dialed in with big power, and they dominate the long straights here. If you want, you can challenge the rest of their team and take control of the whole area, but trust me, it won't be easy."

"I don't think we're gonna try anything like that any time soon, we're still in school." Michael said quickly.

"Anyways, I've got to fly the drones for the A class race coming up, you might wanna watch the live stream from your watch. Oh and that reminds me, the S13 took a pretty nasty dent back there, you might want to get it fixed."

Jeff fumbled around in his hoodie pocket and handed Michael a business card.

"This is my buddy Ed, he's a master mechanic and he owns a shop not too far from here. Visit him during the day and you can get your cars repaired, buy parts, do big modifications, resprays, all that jazz."

"Thanks..." Michael said.

"Oh and if you're worried about major on track collisions like that, Racing Authority has a policy where you pay for your own car, no insurance or who's at fault kind of stuff, so keep it safe and clean out there."

"I understand."

Jeff suddenly put a finger to his ear.

"Shit... SHIT! Hold the race then! What the fuck are you doing!"

He reached in the van and grabbed a megaphone.

"EVERYONE REMAIN CALM, POLICE ARE COMING, EXIT THE MEET IN AN ORDERLY FASHION AS FAST AS YOU CAN. SPLIT YOUR ROUTES, AND STAY SAFE OUT THERE!!!"

************