Veridian’s neural arrays at the edge of the TransitTrack's surface absorbed the morning sun with its pristine surface reflecting a prismatic pattern. At the security command pod, Jo tapped her pocket holding one of her great-grandmother's notebooks: “A Review Of System Dependency, A Study of Historical Failures, by Lou Chen”. She had just reviewed early 20th century Thomas Midgley Jr, 117 patents including two that propelled society forward and enabled mass adoption of both air conditioners and automobiles. Yellow and time-worn, the notebooks preserved by her mother Josephine.

“Here he is,” Marcus said.

Jo welcomed the interruption still unable to describe a creeping feeling. She wondered if it was from her readings or just anxiety for the day's race. On the main display, the athlete’s bioscans showed no highlights.

“No augment signature,” he said stating the obvious, “... still primitive.”

“Natural,” Jo took issue with his word choice. Her great-grandmother often used ‘Natural’ to describe her mother Josephine’s childhood, something Jo never experienced having the standard comm implant at birth. The thought of all the amazing technology and progress made it hard for her to believe there were still naturals around, especially athletes. “Look at the baseline though, some exceed other runners,” she said raising her eyebrows slightly, mostly glad all the health checks passed.

“And here they come,” Marcus interrupted. They could hear the crowd swelling with applause as athletes emerged from the readiness area into the stadium. The early light cast long, stretching shadows of their forms resembling a tuft of trees across the green.

“Looking good,” Jo said reviewing security monitors of the readiness area, walkway, and alert consoles. She moved forward to a small console inside a large bubble window overlooking the grounds. She surveyed the athletes and entry tracks as they approached. She swept across the crowd surveying spectators, her visor generating heat maps and logs of alerts and areas of suspicion before being dismissed with a gesture. Returning to the field, she wondered what it must have been like when her mother Josephine watched before Veridian Stadium took over the Meridian festival grounds. Her mother often talked about the rapid and significant changes of automation, especially the high-speed TransitTrack connecting the city.

She tapped on the console to review the track condition checklist: temperature self-adjusting, oxygenated air optimization, and surface integration to the neural net. All within parameters, she approved the checks. The fifteen runners entering their Availability Zone (AZ) nets lit up. The globes reflected their fractions colors as they synchronized, their AZs lighting up one by one as augments, costing more than a Lower Commons family earns in a year, completed authentication. One stood apart, remaining colorless after prechecks. She reviewed that net carefully. "Comparing Jon's net to the baseline," she said reviewing the athlete’s readiness bioscan to the AZ net.

“Oh right, the ‘Natural’,” he said with a hint of playful sarcasm.

“Approved,” she said.

Over the security comms: "Neural net optimization complete. Verify faction checkpoints."

Jo returned to her console. “It is double-verify time,” she called over to Marcus before noticing he was already operating the security display with intent focus. She gestured right from the AZ to the city entrance where the tracks interfaced with the TransitTrack racelines already reserved and prepared for the race. The entrance and exit gates were properly secured. Gesturing right again, she reviewed the Symmetrist’s faction’s run called the ‘Truth Gate’, reviewing track status, monitoring systems, progress tracking systems, visualization systems, and the faction’s security system status. She paused briefly, wondering if her Symmetrist friend, Maya Chen, had been the one to approve their surveillance routines before the final inspection.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Symmetrist… Check,” Marcus called out with an edge of annoyance.

“Check,” she repeated promptly regaining herself. Gesturing right again, she pulled up and reviewed the Quantum Collective’s run, the ‘Minefield’. “Quantum… Check,” She declared.

“Check,” Marcus replied.

Gesturing right again, she brought up the last run: AutoGen Legion’s defense grid. “AutoGen… check,” she said.

“Check,” Marcus confirmed.

With the track and each faction’s security measures confirmed, Jo said, “Let’s do the briefing.” She gestured across the console as a small whirling sound began ramping into a sturdy but quiet hum with vibration from the engine. She released the clamp and they felt a brief moment of weightlessness. The security vehicle then separated its dock and advantageous perspective, pulling out directly over a section of the stands. She lengthened her posture and straightened her top, the notebook gently pressing back against her right palm.

Her vehicle navigated down to the track, positioning itself elevated and 5 feet in front of the athlete’s starting position. The annual showcase competition would challenge the athletes and test the faction’s competing talents after a year-long culmination of work. She linked in their nets, “Standard route protocol,” she began as a holographic display of the runs through the city became visible between them. "TransitTrack™ waypoints are all verified as registered in your neural feeds, be sure to—”

“What about that?” asked Chung with intensity. His almond-shaped eyes narrowed as he looked at the globe still clear from faction color, an augment on the side of Chung's face reflected the orange tone from his net. “No feed is a liability to all of us.”

Jo started, “All athletes have passed—”

“I can read a map,” Jonathan answered, not meaning to interrupt. Without looking up, eyes fixed ahead, he gestured towards the hologram, “Don’t need toddler tech for that.” His fingers traced the air as it lit the first run, Symmetrist Truth Gate.

Jo commanded attention, “Look! We are here for a good race." Attempting to cut off the conversation, "The victor will be determined by skill and heart.” She paused as something about Jonathan’s tone rang through. She glanced at Chung who shook his head, not letting it go. She felt something from Jonathan’s understanding tone, the shape he outlined of the run, and where his finger paused resulting in the final checkpoint of the stage as it lit up with a target sign and reminding her of a contextual pattern from her great-grandmother's book. Also, that was the checkpoint closest to Maya. “Each athlete has advantages, including the Natural,” she surprised herself justifying, “No feed, no lag, and no tech crashes.”

“No chance,” Chung retorted. “The course is for augmented runners. He’ll be neural dust if he doesn't kill us first.”

Jonathan looked up meeting Jo’s gaze, speaking to her instead of Chung, “Systems change, not physics.”

Marcus' voice came through their private channel, “Chung’s got a point. What’s with you defending anti-tech boy?”

Aggravated by the private message, she gestured replying directly to Marcus, “Not anti-tech, just independent.” Her hand brushed against her pocket again and beginning to feel like a bad habit, ‘Like someone else I know,’ she thought to herself. She dropped the private channel, immediately regretting justifying Jonathan and herself. If it was obvious to Marcus it was obvious to some of the athletes too, and there was no time for chatter. She noticed Jonathan still looking at her, and her at him. She broke eye contact, looking across the athletes: “Run fair, every move is a testament to your training and dedication. Respect for your opponent is honor, and your integrity is on display for all.”

“If there are no more questions about the run,” she stared directly at Chung who only shook his head again towards Jonathan. “With no further questions,” she had barely paused. “May the best competitor win!” With a gesture, she dropped the channel and the city holograph.