Safety

Welcome back! If you haven’t heard the news, I mentioned that yesterday, March 2, is the day I’ve envisioned being Martin’s chosen birthday. I insisted that we got cake yesterday to celebrate.

Enough of Martin. It’s Amy’s turn to take the stage. Last time, Roadster joined the long list of the Circuit’s dead Racers. Our Racer needs some comfort. To the story!
***********
Amy drove home. She didn’t even have to ask Jay if it were alright if she just went home. He told her to go after she had calmed down enough to listen again. She didn’t wait for a second command. Getting into Maxx, she drove back to the RCC, grabbed her stuff that was already packed for her trip home, and started driving back.

The next two hours were a blur to her. Maxx didn’t even try to entice her into a conversation. Instead, he played calming music, something she was grateful for. At that moment, she didn’t feel much like talking to anyone. All she wanted was to be home, safe in her own bed, her mother nearby. That was all she wanted.

To be safe again.

Maxx didn’t need directions to Mom’s house. She had given him those directions long before the Race. He even took over driving for her for a few times as she needed to cry.

Someone else had died in the Circuit.

While she wasn’t particularly close to Roadster, she did like the man. He was always kind to the newbies, with a smile on his face and a joke up his sleeve. And while he loved Racing, he could understand her desire to go to school. He had once expressed that he also once desired a different life than the Races, but he had grown to love it.

And now he was gone. Those same Races having taken his life.

As Maxx drove into her hometown, she started tearing up again. This place was all so familiar but so different at the same time. It seemed like a lifetime ago when she was last here. Back to when she was just a normal kid, a new college student. Not a Racer, not someone marked for death.

Maxx turned onto her street. She could barely keep the tears back.

She was home…

He pulled into her driveway. Mom was already home, judging from the lights that were on inside. Then the door opened, spilling the light inside out. Though she was back lit, Amy knew exactly who it was.

“MOM!”

She bolted out of Maxx, running into Mom’s opening arms, crying. Her Mom also cried, holding onto her tight.

“Oh, Mom,” she sobbed, sagging into her. Somehow, Mom was able to bare her weight, providing her with a strength she did not have. “I’ve missed you so much!”

“I’ve missed you too,” Mom cried, kissing the top of her head. “I love you.”

Amy continued to ball and she never wanted to let go.
*********
When Amy woke up next, she was in her own bed at home, the smell of Mom’s cooking drifting through to her. For a long moment, Amy stayed in the bed, seeking its comforting warmth and familiarity. Glancing around her room, she picked up details that she had once dismissed. Her cluttered desk, her over filled bookcase, the dirty clothes on the floor. Mom hadn’t bothered to clean out her room after she had left.

The separation had been hard on her too. It had been evident in her letters to her and now that she was home, the small details that used to drive her Mom nuts were still there, as if she were afraid to move least that she would loose something precious of her daughter.

Eventually, the smell of the breakfast finally lured her out of her bed. Amy immediately grabbed her sweater and pulled it on over her head. It felt good to be home, back to where no one was trying to kill her, where no one was testing her, watching her, judging her. Home was where she really felt as if she belonged.

Wandering out of her room, she came to the table. Mom was already setting out her breakfast down at her place.

“Oh,” Mom said, looking up in surprise. “I didn’t think you’d be awake. Did I wake you up?”

“Only the smell of your delicious cooking,” Amy said, smiling. “I’d wake up a million times to eat that and to visit you.”

Mom smiled. “Then sit down and eat it before it gets too cold.”

Amy didn’t need more prompting. She sat down, excited that Mom had made her favorite breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries and whipped topping. Her stomach growled in anticipation and she dug in with gusto. Chuckling, her Mom also sat, eating at her own food.

Glancing around the room, Amy noticed something that hadn’t been there before. A couple food bowls on the floor.

“Did you get a pet?” she asked, surprised. Mom had never shown interest in getting a pet.

“Yes,” Mom said, smiling a bit. “After you left, I felt real lonely and a friend suggested that I get a pet to keep me company. I got a couple siamine cats. They’re somewhere in the house; don’t ask me where. They’ll show up soon though. They seem to know when I’m eating.”

Sure enough, a few minutes later, two thin siamie cats came into the room, slinking for their own food bowls. They purred as they ate.

“I would have never pegged you as a cat person,” Amy remarked.

“Neither would I have,” Mom admitted. “But… It’s been really lonely here without you. I needed some sort of company and I’m allergic to dogs.”

“Why not a fish or bird?” she asked.

“Well,” Mom mused, “probably because it seems that a cat can take more care of itself than a bird or fish. I mean, the cat has the whole house to explore while a bird and fish have to stay in their cage or tank. I couldn’t do that to an animal.”

“An animal lover too,” Amy said, shaking her head. “You must be lonely.”

Mom smiled sadly. “When they took you away…” She sighed deeply, poking at her pancakes. “I’m afraid every race that something is going to happen to you. I started watching those again… I couldn’t bare the thought that you’d die at the Races and I’d learn it through the neighbors. It just…” She sighed again. “I don’t think that I’d be able to stand it.”

“I won’t die, Mom,” Amy tried to assure her, but the falling pit in her stomach made her stop. The Circuit had a line of code in Maxx that could have killed her if Hacker hadn’t broken it. But there were other methods that they could easily kill her. It didn’t just have to be through Maxx.

“I’ll do my best,” Amy then promised. “I have a Sponsor who wants to make sure that I survive and retire in five years. And he has a team helping as well.” Amy knew she couldn’t tell her Mom about the code or the meeting that she had listened in to. That information would kill her. That was something Amy would never do to her.

It was better if she just didn’t know.

“The best people can still fail,” Mom sighed. “It happened to your Dad.”

The Circuit killed Dad, Amy silently said. We know that now. Jay promised that I won’t end up that way.

Suddenly, having an Oath Maker on her side was very comforting.

“Just don’t try too hard,” Mom cautioned. “I couldn’t stand another funeral. I loved your Dad. We had plans to marry even before we knew I was pregnant. But then they took him away. I lost him to the Circuit. I don’t want to loose you too.”

“You won’t have to,” Amy promised her. “I’ll do everything I can to come back home safe.”
*******
Her stay at home wasn’t nearly long enough. After the death of Roadster, it was nice to get away from Arco City and the Circuit that controlled her. Mom and her enjoyed the two weeks they had with each other. Other than that conversation that first morning, neither of them talked about the Circuit, Races, Sponsors, or anything like that. That was a life beyond them and they refused to let those aspects destroy the little time that they had together.

However, the time came that Amy had to go back to the RCC. Jay had emailed her and told her to get back quickly. She needed to start training for the extra Race that was coming up. And no one, not even the Sponsors, knew what the Circuit had planned for that Race. So, reluctantly, Amy left home again. It was the same tearful farewell, with tears on both sides. Even Maxx seemed subdued by their departure.

“I liked your Mom,” Maxx said. It was very interesting to introduce Maxx to Mom. It surprised her a bit when they got along very well together. Maxx was a product of the Circuit. She would have thought that Mom would have hated him.

“She’s a wonderful woman,” Amy agreed, wishing she wasn’t driving back to Arco City. If she could, she would have stayed home and never returned. However, she knew that the Talent Seekers wouldn’t let her stay. They would do anything to drag her back to the Circuit, including poisoning her into a coma to bring her back quietly.

She defiantly wouldn’t put it past them to stoop to something that low.

“I wonder what Jay wants us to train in,” Amy said. She had to get her mind off Mom. That would only make her homesick. If she got too homesick, she would turn Maxx around and go home. Then the Circuit would have to poison her to get her back.

“Who knows,” Maxx sighed, catching the change of subject. “We’ve already trained in all the different kind of vehicles that are legally possible.”

“Perhaps they’ll turn to illegal vehicles instead,” she suggested.

Maxx snorted. “I doubt it. They have those rules up for a reason. Its to protect the Racers.”

Amy outright laughed. “Protect the Racers?” she repeated. “Maxx, they wrote a line of code in your program to kill me. I don’t think that they have the best interest of the Racers in their hearts.”

Maxx didn’t have anything to argue about that.

The city came all too quickly and before Amy knew it, she was driving back into the RCC garage. Leaving Maxx there, she took her things back to her small room. As she looked around the campus, she noticed the subdued looks, heard the soft tones. Two weeks wasn’t nearly long enough for these Racers to overcome their grief at the loss of one of them. While Racers died all the time, Roadster didn’t have an enemy among them. He was friendly with everyone, offering kind words and easy smiles. He was a bright spot that would be greatly missed.

They’re going to pay, Amy found herself thinking bitterly. I’m going to make them pay.

She caught what she was thinking. How could she think that? She was a freshman in college, a Racer with a bitter attitude. How could she possibly think of going against powerful businessmen who had their technology implanted into their brains? Jay might seem to think that he could do something about it, but she had no power to do it. There was nothing that she could do.

Sighing, she got to her room. It was a bit different than when she first arrived. Jay had seen to it that she got more in her room than just a dresser and bed. Even then, those things were also different. She had a new bed, new dresser, a bookcase, a desk, and even shelves for whatever. It was quite messy, what one might expect from a normal college student. Amy had little time to clean her room, what between training and classes. Who would have time to do that sort of task?

Throwing her dirty clothes into a hamper, she plopped down on the bed. The only thing that she didn’t need to clean were her clothes. There were other people who did that for her. After all, a Racer had a tendency to get very dirty and the stains were sometimes very hard to get out.

Since it was still early in the day, she thought that a short nap might be in order. Thinking nothing of it, she started to close her eyes, enjoying the feel of sleep as it took over her.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Amy glared at the cell phone she had left on her desk. Who could possibly be calling her? Grumbling, she got up and checked. The number was instantly recognized.

“What, Jay?” she said answering it.

“Cheerful as always,” Jay laughed. “You back?”

“Obviously,” she grumbled. “You know that I never answer the phone when I’m driving.”

“True,” he agreed. “How was your trip?”

“Much needed,” she said. “I wish it was longer. How was your break from me?”

“Lonesome,” he sighed dramatically. “I wished you would get here sooner. How long have you been home?”

“A few minutes,” she answered.

“Great! How about going out with me tonight?”

She shook. “What?” she nearly yelled into the phone. “Go out with you?”

“Just a friendly thing,” he clarified. “Just something to get your mind off of things.”

She frowned at the phone, wishing so much that he could be right there so she could slap him. “What sort of things?”

“Dancing.”

The word froze her.

“How did you know?” she breathed softly.

“Maxx told me,” Jay said. “He told me that you liked to go to dance clubs. You’ve been to several in the city already. I was just thinking that you might enjoy going with me.”

“Are you stalking me?” Amy wanted to know. “When would Maxx have the time to tell you? He’s with me most of the time.”

Jay chuckled. “He’s a computer, isn’t he? I sent him an email.”

“Maxx gets emails?” she asked, confused. Why would her program get emails?

“It’s not known very well,” he admitted. “The program email accounts were set up so that Sponsors could remind the Racer about things, like events and training. Maxx handles all of it and reminds you of those things. We’ve become emailing buddies in the last couple of months.”

Amy groaned. It figured that Maxx and Jay would do something like that. Maxx had way too much personality for a computer some times.

“But dancing,” Jay said, changing subject. “Do you want to go?”

She really wanted to say no. While she was on friendly terms with Jay, she didn’t want to get closer. She had enough troubles on her mind without adding a complication such as seemingly dating her Sponsor. She could just imagine the tabloids pouncing on that juicy story in moments.

“It’s nice that you asked…” she started to say when he cut in.

“And you won’t have to worry about publicity,” he promised. “We’ll both just sort of end up at the same club and then leave at different times. No one will think anything about it.”

“I don’t partially feel like being recognized right now,” she tried to say.

“Well, I was thinking about going tomorrow night.” He paused. “And do people ever recognize others at dance clubs? I mean, with all the dim flashing lights, loud music, and everyone moving, it seems to me that you can only find a person if you’re actually looking for them.”

Jay did have a point.

“Come on,” he said, sounding a bit pouty. “Please?”

She sighed. “Fine,” she caved in. “Where? And when?”

“Tomorrow at eight, at the Thirty-Eight.”

She was familiar with the dance club, having been there a few times. She wondered if Maxx had told Jay that it was the one she seemed to have liked the most.

“I’ll meet you inside then,” she said, holding in a sigh. She really didn’t want to meet up with Jay but she hadn’t been dancing since before that last race. She needed something to take her minds off things.

“Great!” he said, actually sounding excited. “Until tomorrow then! Bye.”

“Bye,” she sighed, hanging up. Dropping the phone back onto the desk, she flopped down on her bed to return to that nap that Jay had rudely interrupted.
********
In all honesty, Jay had never been to a dance club before and he found the whole first impression a bit overwhelming. Between the dim flashing lights, the packed room filled with moving people, the loud music, and the heat, he could suddenly understand why Amy knew that it would be hard to find someone in this mass of movement. He pulled out his phone, quickly emailing Maxx.

You are coming, right?

Putting his phone away, he kept close to the entrance, though that too was filled with a number of people. The bouncers at the door making sure that no one came in that couldn’t afford it. It surprised him a bit on how expensive it was to get in. Why people thought this was a fun thing to do, he’d never know.

Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.

Jay had his phone on vibrate so he could feel it go off, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to hear it above the din. He took it out, brining up the message Maxx sent him.

We’re here. She’s going in.

Jay smiled. While Amy may rebuff his advances, Maxx was more than willing to help him get on the Racer’s good side. While Maxx was a reflection of Amy’s personality, he was programed to show some difference from her. It was something the first Racers with the chips asked for, so that the program would act like it had a personality and acted more life like. Having gotten to know Amy better, Jay knew now why the Racers asked for that specific program change. It gave them something that they had been missing in the Races.

A friend in the midst of the Circuit.

He put his phone away, keeping an eye on the door. He wanted to catch Amy when she first came in, before she could disappear into the dancing crowd. He doubted that he would be able to find her in that mess.

Then she came in.

Jay couldn’t help but stare. She wasn’t dressed like she normally would. Gone were the baggy sweaters, plain t-shirts, bland appearance. The outfit she wore was very flattering on her slim form. The glittery dark red shirt clung to her figure, only to flair out at her hips with black pants underneath. Her blond hair, which was usually in a pony tail or bun wasn’t tied, but rather allowed to fan around her face. And it wasn’t curled either; it was kept straight.

And she wore makeup. Perhaps it wasn’t thickly applied as some girls liked to, but she wore just enough to accent her pretty face.

“Wow,” he whispered, unable to tear his eyes away. He had always been interested about Amy because that she was a brave courageous woman who spoke her mind. And she was attractive in her own unfinished way, but seeing her dolled up as she was, Jay then knew that he was hopelessly in love with her.

His feet starting moving before he could even think about it. He had never been afraid of approaching a pretty woman, even when he was speechless. Amy was looking around, other people bumbling behind her to get into the club. Jay hoped that she was looking for him instead of seeing where to avoid him.

“Amy!” he called out as he got near. “You’re a bit early!”

She quickly spotted him and made her way through the knot of people between them to get to him. “Early?” she asked, flipping her phone out to check the time. “It’s eight on the dot.”

He smiled. “That’s early for you. You look great.” He mentally froze. Why did he say that? Why did he blurt that out? She was going to hit him for that remark!

However, she rolled her eyes. “Whatever,” she said, her usual remark about her appearance. “I’m just ready to go dancing.” She started for the dance floor, not showing any interest if he were going to follow her or not. Jay shook his head with a smile and followed after her.

Amy didn’t bother staying at the edge of the dance floor, heading straight for the middle of the dance floor, right into the throng of people. Jay had trouble following her, unable to slip through the moving paths that often weren’t there. The loud music made it impossible for him to call her back. Gritting his teeth, he ploughed forward, determined to be by her side to dance.

Only once she found a somewhat clear space in the group did she stop and started to nod her head to the music.

“Do you really like dancing?” he asked, finally managing to get close to her again.

Amy smiled. Jay stared at her again. It was one of her rare smiles, one that she used whenever she was doing or talking about something she really liked. He had seen it before and was surprised to see it now.

“I love dancing!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands up. Suddenly, she was one of the many dancers, moving her body to the music. For a long moment, Jay could only watch her, memorized. Everything about her was fluid and graceful, the way she moved her hips, her arms pulling in and out, her feet moving to dance steps that he didn’t know… It was easy to see that she lost herself in the music. The other people around her were just background, objects that meant little to her. The flashing lights sparkled off her shirt, causing her to light up in his eyes.

“Wow,” he breathed, watching her dance. He was hopelessly in love with this woman. He suddenly wanted to know what it was like to dance like that, without cares for the world. There were no politics here, no business deals to make, no motives to try to figure out, no next Race to train for. Just the music that ripped through you. He then started dancing beside her, loosing himself in the music as well, perhaps enjoying for the first time the free abandonment that dancing gave her.
***********
I always imagined that it would be fun to go to a dance club. The closest I ever got was church dances… (Awkward pause..)

Anyway, a brief break from the dangers that await in the next post. Enjoy the journey!