Robin tried to ignore the disturbingly direct and energetic woman to his side and continued to walk over to the Nova. This was his first time boarding an interplanetary ship and he would be lying if he said he wasn't excited.

‘With this ship I could reach other systems and visit different planets.’ Robin began to marvel in thoughts. How long would it take him to get his hands on his own vessel? Would he gain enough leverage to get one, after discovering the hidden Drel outpost?

“Hey, Mildly Overwhelmed, are you coming or what?” Happy shouted and tore him back to reality. She was already a few meters ahead up the gangway and waited for him.

“It’s Robin…” He grumbled and followed her into the Nova.

“Are you sure? I’m positive that it fits you quite well right now.” She questioned and he could see that she honestly thought about that topic.

Once more, he tried to ignore her and instead observed the inside of the massive ship after they entered a huge, wide open lobby. He could see the two floors that were above and had stairs and elevating platforms to connect them. Everything was decorated in Apex’s colors, red and silver, and had a luxurious touch. The few windows to the side let in some natural light, the rest was provided by many little drop-lights littering the ceiling.

“Feels like standing in the reception hall of a hotel”, Robin mumbled as he looked around. Many people had gathered already and he overheard a lot of conversations, some hushed, others loudly laughing. Everyone was excited that the Apex Cup finally began.

Happy was already walking to a line of desks at the other side of the lobby. Signs informed him that he had to finalize his registration there.

When he reached the small woman, she was already discussing with the Apex official.

“...we want to conclude our registration for the Cup.” She said, her hands gripping the high desk.

Robin had to suppress a chuckle seeing her in front of the big counter. If the desk was only a little bit taller, he would have to lift her up or get her a stool.

“I’m Niu Alaris, he is Robin. I've brought my Speedy, a Jolt V2. He came with…uhm?” She turned around and looked at Robin.

“Hey, what did you name your scrap pile? By the way, are you sure it won’t fall apart all of a sudden?” she asked with an innocent face.

Robin facepalmed and gave the official an apologetic look.

“Robin Tulward, I came with a custom built under the callsign Melody…Melody II.” he became quiet to the end and hesitated momentarily. He handed it to her on a plate - he knew it the moment the words left his mouth.

“2? Like a second iteration? Do tell, what happened to the Melody I then?” Happy immediately caught on and laughed loudly. Robin was a bit irritated, but he could feel no ill will in her antics. He could tell she was just really lively and liked to face the world with a grain of fun.

He was saved by the professionalism of the registration dude, who somehow managed to suppress a chuckle.

*Cough…*

“You are both already in the system, great. You have to sign here and here, these are entry tokens for your tents and you still have to pay the participation fee of 2.500 cr each.” he explained.

“Nice, I hope there will be sweets!” Happy grabbed the datapad with her name and picture, pressed her thumb on it and looked absent-minded at the wall behind the counter for a moment.

“Uhm, I don’t think so, Ms. Alaris. But if you wish, I would be happy to ask…” a notification on his screen distracted him and he took a look.

“Nah, it’s fine.” Happy waved him off and turned to Robin before leaving “Come on, let’s go. I want to see more of this ship!”

Robin also signed and closed his eyes to start his Interface and pay the fee.

“That won’t be necessary,” the office guy interrupted him, “Ms. Alaris has already paid for the both of you. Please remember to take part in the briefing at 1900, it's mandatory!”

Robin looked to the young woman, who was on her way to a big display showing small models of Apex ships at the other side of the room.

“Thanks for handling the papers.” he said to the staff member still sitting behind his desk, “You seemed to know who she is. Should I know her?”

The guy looked at him as if he was an idiot and shook his head.

“Yes. Yes, you should! Now please make space for other people.”

Being the only one around this counter, with no one else waiting, Robin got the message and left the man alone. He caught up with Happy and also inspected the many different ships.

“Thanks for the invitation…I guess?”

“Sure, you’re welcome.” She said, “What brought you here, Scrappy? You are not one to take part in such tournaments and you are definitely no racing enthusiast.”

Robin didn’t need long to think about it. There was no need to hide it, he obviously had outed himself as a newbie the moment he didn’t know who that Hopewing guy was.

“I’m looking for some variety in life, something fun!” he finally answered.

She threw him a glance, “Try again.”

“I really need the money, there is an awesome ship I want to buy!”

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“Again…”

“Argh, come on.” he scowled, turned away from the display and followed to the stairs that led to the first floor. A big sign showing visitors the way to the Apex Engine Exhibition.

Happy followed him, looking around with gleaming eyes.

They walked through the exhibition for some time without talking. Robin even activated his mutation every now and then to feel for faint energies and get more used to his skill.

When they left the showroom, they came to a small elevating platform that took them to the top-deck, where they stood before a big window and could overlook the many ships outside.

“I have a chance to achieve…something big. To grasp that chance however, I have to get into the finals.” he finally said.

“And?”

“What and?, don’t you think your questions are a bit too personal?”

“I mean, and will you be able to reach the finals?” she clarified.

“Oh…Of course I will! There are just, what…63 participants?” he shot back and was a little surprised by his instant answer - he really believed it and even felt offended for a moment when she questioned it.

Where did that confidence come from?

To change the topic, Robin quickly addressed something else.

“What’s with all the nicknames? Happy, Scrappy, Speedy and so on. You like to provoke the people around you?”

“Nah, that’s not it. I’m an advocate of descriptive naming. Call the things not by the names given, but by the names that describe them…and maybe a bit of deliberate provocation. You learn a lot about a person that feels offended.” Niu explained.

“So Happy is the best description of you and your mental state? You’re sure?” Robin skeptically questioned.

To Robin's surprise, all the happy mood vanished as if wiped from her face.

“Let’s say half and half. Most of the time I’m really just in a good mood, the rest of the time I wish for it.” She said, her voice distant and her thoughts definitely somewhere else. Robin knew not to ask any further.

They talked a bit longer, mostly about the pros and cons of different ships. Happy, or Niu, was really into ships and Robin had a hard time keeping up with her knowledge.

The topic never switched back to personal stuff and before long, they had to go to the briefing on the first floor.

Many people came into the richly decorated meeting room. Tables and chairs were removed to make place for all the participants. In the front stood a small lectern and soon an Apex official stepped up.

“Ladies and Gentleman, I’m Bart Nelson and warmly welcome you to the 53rd Apex Highspeed Cup! This year 63 pilots take part in this magnificent race for glory and riches.”

He began to explain a lot about the event’s history and Robin tuned out a bit. Only when Nelson’s speech arrived at the actual race did he pay attention again.

“This is the first of three races. Only the 25 fastest pilots will continue on to the second event and will be transferred to Ruca II.

As always, in this first round you take turns and don’t fly all at once. Tomorrow, we will guide you all together through the track once, then one after another you are to fly a total of four laps. The first will be to familiarize yourselves with the track. The remaining three will be your official evaluation.

Your fastest lap of those will be used to define your ranking.” The man looked over the collection of pilots, “Are there any questions?”

There weren’t and silence fell over the room.

“Great, before we close this briefing, I want to give the floor to the champion of last year. Many call him The Fastest Man On Rucasur, others gave him the name The Endless Winner, you all know who I’m talking about. So please give a warm welcome to HOPEWING!!!” Nelson stepped back and handed the man Robin spotted before the microphone.

Hopewing still wore an aloof face that told everyone ‘Leave me alone!’ but walked up brimming with pride.

“Yeah, great to be here again, thank you so much! You’ve probably heard already, this will be my last race on this planet as I’m leaving for bigger tournaments to race against the real talents of the Mereus Cluster. This will be your last chance to challenge me, so make sure to give it your all tomorrow, I hope to see some surprises!”

Seeing the prick gracing the people in the room with his presence, Robin had a hard time understanding the many pilots that hung on his every word.

“To lessen the pressure on you, I’ve asked the organizers to assign me for the last slot tomorrow, so you won’t know the time you’ll have to race against.” he continued with a friendly smile and Robin was relieved to see this farce coming to an end.

“So give it your best and good luck - you will need it!”

The people were ecstatic, clapping and shouting hoorays.

Hopewing immediately left the room, giving his fans no chance for a talk.

Everyone else also hurried out of the Nova and went to their ships or tents. Robin was among them and even lost sight of Niu at some point. She was just too damn short…

His accommodation was roomy and had everything he needed for these two nights. A bed stood to one side, a small fridge with food and drinks and a low table with two seats on the other.

Robin made one last check with his mutation on the Melody which stood directly outside of his tent and finally fell asleep.

It had been a long day and tomorrow he had to fight for his future.

When morning came, Robin was long awake. He had bad dreams and a restless sleep as the tension on his mind was too great.

He met Happy at breakfast again and they chatted a bit. Niu didn’t seem to be nervous at all and was the same happy and energetic woman as the day before. When they returned to the lobby, Robin saw the list with the order of their time slots.

“Ugh, damn…” he sighed.

“Wow, you go first? That’s a lot of pressure, everyone will watch you and then you will have to wait until all others are done, before you know if you hit top 25. It must really suck to be you right now!” Niu happily chattered.

“Just…shut up!” Robin groaned and walked back to his ship, her giggling still reaching in his ears for some time.

“How can someone have so much energy? And positive energy at that.” he shook his head, slightly smiling. After reaching the Melody II, he started a final check-up and scanned her from top to bottom. An Apex service team had fueled it overnight and everything else also seemed fine.

Twenty minutes later Robin could be seen sitting in the cockpit of his ship at the front of a long line of vessels. He hovered a few meters away from a red and silver colored round gate that was stuck in the rocky ground of Rucasur, the first of many he had to pass to complete one lap of the track.

After some time a Jolt V3, the new Apex ship, flew over and took the leading position. Robin got a message over the comm and began to follow the ship.

It was time to show them what his scrap pile was made of!