“That’s it, girl,” said Elara as she worked on Aurora. Her eyes glowed softly, shifting between green and purple as she moved through Aurora’s matrix, interacting with the AI, smoothing out the troubled areas and refining those that worked. “You’re going to be the best AI on the grid. No one is going to stop you.”

  Ultracar AIs were supposed to be at most semi-sentient. A fully sentient AI could drive any car faster than a human could, but for some reason, the crowds never watched that. They wanted a human in the car and in control. The AIs were there to handle the delicate handling of the car, something that even the fastest humans could not manage on their own. So a semi-sentient AI helping the driver was the answer.

  The problem with Aurora was that it was acting out on its own, almost as if it had its own will. “Don’t worry, baby,” said Elara. “I’ll straighten you out.”

  Elara had been jacked in for hours at this point, focused and calm, when a call request came in and nearly made her jump. The caller was from “Chrome Syndicate,” one of the other Ultracar teams. Elara had no idea why they would be calling her.

  She answered the call out of curiosity. Because of her augmented eyes, which could display video, Elara was virtually transported to Chrome Syndicate’s headquarters.

  “Hello, Elara,” said a woman. Standing in front of her was a woman wearing a sleeveless emerald-green suit, her left arm tattooed with a circuit-board design and a gold mohawk on her head. “My name is Nayla Sythe. I’m the team principal of Chrome Syndicate.”

  “Um, hello,” said Elara. It was a whirlwind to end up here, and Nayla came on strongly.

  “We heard a rumour you’re working for Neon Pulse,” said Nayla. “We’ve also reviewed some of your research. It’s pretty good. You’ve got some serious talent. If you’re serious about a career in Ultracar, we’d like to have you on our team.”

  Elara blinked. “You want me for your team?” she said. “I’m already on a team.”

  “Yes,” said Nayla with a nod, understanding that Elara was still trying to catch up to what was happening. “We think you’d like it better here at Chrome Syndicate.”

  “Why?” said Elara.

  “Lots of reasons,” said Nayla. “Money for one. I’m sure Cass isn’t paying you much.” Elara was about to say that that was true when Nayla continued. “And I’m sure your facilities are, um, cramped. I know Neon Pulse is a new team. They’re poor. They don’t have much to work with. Let me show you around so you can see what you could be doing instead.”

  Nayla walked out of the office. The entire building must have been rigged with a virtual call system because Elara noticed she was following Nayla and getting a virtual tour of Chrome Syndicate’s facilities. To Nayla, Elara would have been a hologram.

  Compared to Neon Pulse, it was night and day. They had a large and well-lit building to work out of, not just a simple garage. There were separate areas for the cars to be fabricated and built, and office space for staff. Elara knew little about Ultracar beyond Neon Pulse and had no idea what these people were doing. Eventually, they got to the AI lab.

  “This is where you would work,” said Nayla, gesturing to the space where half a dozen technicians were working. Some at computers, others directly plugged into the system. “We build our own AIs from scratch.”

  “So I would be working as part of a team?” said Elara.

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  “Oh, yes,” said Nayla. “We have some top-tier talent here. A few former academic types like you. Plus a few, um, self-taught.” Nayla chuckled at that as if it was supposed to mean something.

  “And you actually create your own AIs?” said Elara.

  “Don’t tell me you lot are using something you bought?” said Nayla. Elara was about to respond. “Don’t say anything. It wouldn’t be proper at the moment. All the big teams make their own AIs. The only way to get a good one. Something off the shelf is never quite right. You need a specialized AI.”

  “I see,” said Elara. It was something she had been thinking about since starting work on Aurora: how the other teams managed to get an AI to be effective. If they made their own, however, that was a whole different thing.

  “If you want a career in Ultracar, joining an established team like ours is the way to go,” said Nayla. “Sure, the small ones have a certain romantic appeal, but they rarely produce results. And when they fold, all you’ll have on your résumé are some poor results, and no one will take you seriously.”

  Elara looked at the techs working on AIs. Some older, some younger. If they decided to go somewhere else after this, Nayla was right that it would look good on their résumé.

  “Your career is just getting started,” said Nayla, who had somehow picked up on Elara’s thoughts. “This is the place you want to start. Some stay long-term, but after a few seasons, all the big companies line up to hire our people.”

  The offer did look good to Elara. After years of being a poor student and now hardly much better “working”, the sound of a larger salary at a big organization was appealing.

  A pain shot through her head, and a message flashed across her eyes: “Don’t leave me - Aurora.” “What?” said Elara.

  Nayla looked at her, confused. “I’m sorry?”

  The message flashed again. Elara realized she was still plugged into Aurora and it was sending her messages. “No, I’m sorry,” said Elara, trying to hold her composure. “Can I get back to you?”

  “Of course,” said Nayla. “But don’t take too long. The season is just around the corner.”

  Elara ended the call. She was back in Neon Pulse’s garage. “What was that?” she yelled at a computer monitor showing a graphic representing Aurora. Then the familiar pain came on. “Ouch!”

  * * *

  Vex walked into the garage. Cass had just messaged him saying that Elias Cole had agreed to help with the chassis. Unfortunately, Elias had made a few requirements for his work, and Vex had to prepare for that, which would mean clearing out a significant part of the garage. As he walked in, he saw the lights on at Elara’s station, suggesting she was working, but he did not see her. “You here, Elara?” he said, but got no response.

  Out of curiosity, he walked over to Elara’s station. As he passed a few things which had been blocking his view of the floor, he saw her lying on the ground. “Whoa, what?” he shouted, rushing to her and kneeling beside her. “Again? What is this?” He felt for a pulse. There was one. She was still plugged in, so he pulled the connection off. “Hey, Elara. Are you there?” He held her head gently. Her chest rose and fell as she breathed in and out. “Come on, come on.” He thought about calling for an ambulance or something when Elara suddenly inhaled, and her eyes shot open.

  “Are you okay?” said Vex, but Elara seemed not to hear him as she tried to sit, only getting halfway and resting on her elbows. “What was that?”

  “Sorry,” said Elara. “It happens.”

  “This is the second time,” said Vex. “What is wrong with you?”

  “My implants are not perfect,” said Elara. “Things got damaged when I got them. I can handle it most of the time, see it coming. Sometimes it comes too fast.”

  “Are you going to be okay?” said Vex, not sure what he was supposed to do.

  “Yeah,” said Elara. “It happens. Doctors say it won’t kill me.”

  Vex blinked and shook his head. “This isn’t good.”

  Elara turned to him. “Um, can you keep this a secret?”

  “A secret?” Vex raised his eyebrows.

  “Not a lot of people know,” said Elara. “I’d like to keep it that way. It’s embarrassing.”

  “Fine,” said Vex. He was not sure about this. “Was there anything that caused it this time?”

  Elara was quiet for a moment. “Chrome Syndicate called. They want me to work for them.”

  “Whoa,” said Vex, looking around. Neon Pulse was not a big team by any stretch of the imagination, but even so, he was concerned about what Elara knew and could take to one of their rivals.

  “I’m not going to take the job,” she said.

  “Why not?” said Vex. To be fair, he would be tempted if the offer were made to him.

  “I don’t think they would handle this type of episode very well,” said Elara. “And Aurora needs me.” She looked up at the computer screen.

  “You’re our only AI tech,” said Vex.

  “Exactly,” said Elara, looking up at her workstation where a screen showed a moving graphic representing their AI.