Nora was not one for competitive talk, and she had no idea what to say. Fortunately, Bit had her covered: letting out a string of Yeses, it whizzed around Cor's head a few times. She couldn't help but smile, a genuine smile, albeit a fleeting one.
Cor chuckled, playfully batting Bit away from his head. “Alright then. I’m ready when you are.” he smiled a little softer at Nora. “We can have Bit give us a “countdown”, tell us when to go.” he suggested.
No, no, no, yes! Bit said, sticking close to Nora as she ran and rezzed in her lightcycle. The tunnels were suddenly alive with the sound of engines and tyres on concrete. Nora didn't dare let her light trail out in this place; here, it was too risky.
Cor was a second behind her, only because he hadn't expected Bit to start counting so soon, laughing excitedly as he jumped onto his bike as soon as it was rezzed. This was just a friendly little race, he wouldn't turn on his light trail for this. In fact, he rarely used it at all except for emergencies like getting the Black Guard off his tail.
Nora zoomed ahead, taking a corner perilously fast; for a moment, the tyres wobbled beneath her, skidding slightly, then they regained traction and all was well.
I'd like to see you do that, she thought, glancing behind her to see if Cor would take the corner in the same way.
Cor managed to keep up with her speed and stayed right behind her even as they took the turn. Though he took it a bit wider than she did without losing speed or balance.
Nice, Nora thought, keeping her speed up. There were many options to get to the other side of the Grid, but one of her favourites was a series of tight, twisting turns, like hairpin bends. Revving it, she sped towards them.
Cor grinned and speed up, staying on the same track Nora had taken. He knew enough of this path that he should be able to do well on it… But he didn't know how well she knew it.
Nora sped ahead at what seemed a dangerous pace, taking the corners so tightly that Bit was barely able to stay with her. The tunnels were alive with the sound of revving, a vast, echoing, silver sound.
Cor smirked and sped up as well, nearly matching her. He couldn't help but want to show off a little even though it probably wouldn't be smart or even necessary but… As he accelerated, he angled his bike slightly so he rode up the side of the tunnel and curved so that he briefly drove on the ceiling and came back down on the other wall.
Nora scowled good-naturedly. Showoff. She, herself, had never been brave enough to try that - and there had never been an appropriate time, as she had most always had an ISO on her bike when she was down here in the past.
Well, she could beat his tricks with speed, she figured. The hairpins were getting ever tighter, and Nora followed the tyre marks of those who had taken these corners just as tightly as her, adding a few of her own.
Cor returned her scowl with a habitual wink, not really thinking about the action as he sped alongside her. Honestly, he could do those kinds of tricks all night if he wanted. He enjoyed the rush but wasn't addicted to it. There were times when he debated if he really was a little reckless but he never thought about it for long.
(Hi! Sorry I went missing, I'm on a trip and have had little to no downtime. But I got to see some Lamborghinis, so that was fun.)
Nora, who was the opposite of reckless, eyed his wink and took it as an acknowledgement: he could do tricks, but she could do speed. She had shown him what she could do. What else was he capable of?
"Let's see what else you have," she yelled, the sound quickly evaporating in the tunnel. She was honestly curious to see what he could do; he seemed very capable.
(It's ok. Though I am a little jealous that you got to see those cars. You're lucky.)
Honestly, Cor hadn't really been thinking of this as an actual race since a few turns after the countdown. This was just a friendly little competition… and her shout confirmed it. He grinned wildly and shot forward before spinning around, beginning to drive in reverse alongside her. “You sure about that? I know these tunnels pretty well.” he called back, taking a corner and using its angle to face forward again.
(carscarscarscarscarscarsC A R S.)
"Better than I know them?" she asked, veering off towards a tunnel with a large CLOSED sign over it. Leaning to the side abruptly, she activated hidden gyros in the sides of the wheels that enabled it to drive while sideways. She slid sideways underneath the sign and righted herself, the lights on her bike being the only things lighting the tunnel up. It was a shortcut, and one she had used many times.
(lol 😆 )
Cor’s eyes widened at her maneuver as he quickly slowed down and turned down the same tunnel, turning his lightcycle back into a baton as he cleared the top of the sign before reactivating it on the other side. “Let’s find out!” he shouted at her, silently admiring her trick. There weren't too many bikes on the Grid that had that feature. I’m definitely going to look up her mechanic…
(Cars.)
Nora sped towards their destination. The main reason this tunnel was closed was because there was a large crack in the floor in its midpoint; there was a somewhat shabbily built ramp that allowed bikes to jump over it, and Nora doubted the Black Guard knew of its existence. Come to think of it, she doubted Cor knew of its existence either. Not many programs ventured down this tunnel.
"Look for the ramp," she called. "Jump over it! There's a fault."
(beautiful!)
Cor nodded and sped up to make up for his lost ground during his stunt to follow her. He hadn't been down this tunnel for a while, but he thought he remembered hearing something about a break in one of these paths. His smile widened as he caught sight of the ramp.
Nora underestimated her speed, but only realised it when she was halfway up the ramp and it was too late. She seemed to hang in the air for a moment, a shining white light figurine in the dark air; then she hit the other side at an awkward angle. Thinking fast, she collapsed her baton and rolled down the ramp, hoping she was safely out of Cor's way, coming to a rest at the bottom. Bit floated away from her neck, where it had been hiding, and bobbed over her head, concerned.
“Nora!” he cried out at her crash before speeding up even more so he would land on the other side of her. As soon as he hit the ground, he pulled really hard on the breaks, his back wheel skidding him into a half-circle before he got off and ran next to her. “Are you ok?” he asked as he kneeled beside her.
Embarrassed, wincing, and more dazed than hurt, Nora sat up and examined herself; she seemed to be fine, except for a few lightly glowing spots on her hands where bruises were forming. Her baton, fortunately, was unscathed, but her helmet - which she had kept on to prevent further injury - had a fine, silvery, finger-length crack on the side.
She looked up at Cor, her helmet derezzing. "Yes, I'm OK."
“Thank goodness.” Cor let out a sigh of relief and derezzed his own riding helmet. “You had me worried. Though your helmet looks like it could use a little repair.” he pointed out, having noticed the crack.
"It should be fine," she said, more to herself than to him; the helmet was the same one she used as Aurora. She started to stand, but a brief wave of dizziness came over her again and she sat back down, frowning frustratedly.
“If you're sure.” he nodded a little before catching her when she tried to stand up. “Whoa! Easy.” Cor said, not quite scolding but definitely concerned. “You must have really bumped your head.”
"I said I'm fine," she said, though she was too proud to admit that she could have genuinely been hurt. There was a bruise forming on the same side of her face as the helmet crack, and she felt a little dazed, but she would be fine, wouldn't she? She had never gotten badly injured as Aurora - she had always avoided the Black Guard - so she had no point of reference, other than a few punches from unwilling programs in her Siren days.