Shane Summers didn't know when he'd fallen asleep the previous night, his mind preoccupied with training races and modules. But in the morning, he was awakened by sunlight streaming through the window.
Strange—how was there sunlight? Wasn't he in the car?
Shane opened his eyes, about to sit up, when he felt sweet, warm breath on his face, accompanied by soft breathing sounds.
Turning his head, he saw a youthful, delicate face inches from his. Stella's long eyelashes fluttered as she slept soundly. She was curled up, lying close to Shane but not quite touching, her proximity making the once-upstanding 21st-century youth feel an inexplicable pang of guilt.
How was a machine girl's age determined, anyway?
They were considered adults once they left Cyber Island, right?
To quell the stirring impulse, he tried to roll over.
But his shirt was caught by a small hand—Stella had been clutching his hem while sleeping, as if afraid he'd slip away.
"Master… don't… don't go… sniff~ I can definitely make this turn…"
Shane: "…"
Good grief, Stella was so dedicated she was cornering in her dreams!
As the heat source moved away, Stella stirred, rubbing her eyes groggily. She stared at Shane for a moment before realization hit, her face flushing red at a visible rate, her half-closed eyes snapping wide.
"M-Master! I'm sorry!"
Bang! Bright and early, Stella enthusiastically kowtowed, cracking the warehouse's floor tiles.
Shane gaped. Stella's forehead was unscathed after colliding with the ground, and she followed up with two more kowtows.
It wasn't until the warehouse shook that he snapped out of it.
"You didn't do anything wrong! S-Stop that!"
"I… I made my most respected Master sleep on the floor!" Stella covered her face, filled with regret. "I'm a failure as a machine girl!"
"Uh, well… I remember you were still in car form when I fell asleep."
Shane held his hands out, ready to stop her from headbutting the floor again.
"S-Sorry!" Stella kept her head down, fidgeting with her fingers, stammering. "I-I got too relaxed, and my endurance was low since I hadn't refueled with nutrient fluid, so… I must've shifted back to human form while sleeping…"
"Master, don't worry—it won't happen again!"
Stella sprang up, standing tall and saluting. "I'll become a qualified machine girl!"
Shane: "…I believe you, but let's eat breakfast first."
After a night to cool off, Uncle Leon was back to his usual gentle self. Shane ate steamed buns with the leftover fish soup from last night, while Stella refueled with food and high-energy nutrient fluid. Over breakfast, Shane learned from chatting with Stella that a machine girl's endurance referred to how long they could maintain their car form. Those with high endurance were better suited for rallies, as collisions, steep slopes, or sandstorms increased endurance drain. Unless needed, machine girls stayed in human form to conserve energy.
"Your endurance should be pretty strong, right?"
Shane eyed Stella's 85-point endurance stat, puzzled. Jade-786, with only 60 endurance, was confident she could complete the Nosk Rally, so a race like Nosk should be a breeze for Stella.
"I haven't eaten in days," Stella said, stuffing buns in her mouth and gulping nutrient fluid, mumbling. "I figured, since I was going to be scrapped, eating was a waste of food and resources, so I stopped. This is the first meal I've had since I was created."
Shane: "…"
What a tragic kid!
Stella hadn't eaten, and yet Shane had dragged her through cornering practice and made her sleep in car form.
A wave of guilt washed over him. He was the worst!
"You don't even know machine girls need to eat, and you're going to race Nosk?!"
Uncle Leon peeked over his newspaper, his eyes glinting with a mix of sarcasm and pointed jabs.
Shane knew Uncle Leon had a sharp tongue but a soft heart. Grinning shamelessly, he sidled over. "Uncle Leon, any training races around with few turns or wide, gentle ones?"
"Few turns and wide? Keep dreaming—you'll find those in your sleep!"
"Meeting just one of those conditions would do…"
"There are plenty of training races. Nosk's coming up, so everyone's holding practice," Uncle Leon huffed. "What, planning to take XC-99 to a training race?"
"Just thought I'd sync up with Stella a bit."
Uncle Leon glared at Shane's cheeky grin, exasperated. "You brat, even if it's just a training race, XC-99 will struggle. Training races are simpler than official ones, but there's no such thing as a track without turns, and any turn will be a problem for XC-99."
Stella, head buried in her food, looked like she wanted to dunk her face in the fish soup.
"Uncle Leon, a race takes both the driver and the machine girl working together. I—"
"Enough! I know you won't give up." Uncle Leon waved him off. "Go try a training race. Maybe you'll give up sooner."
He slapped the newspaper on the table, snatching Stella's empty bowl and stomping into the kitchen.
Shane noticed the newspaper featured details on three training races.
Two of them seemed suitable for Stella.
"Uncle Leon's all bark and no bite," Shane sighed, glancing at the busy figure in the kitchen.
"Stella, let's go to Triumph Club!"
…
Triumph Club was located in a valley north of Jiang City, surrounded by training tracks.
When Shane first joined Apex Club, he'd often heard about Triumph Club's filthy-rich boss, who loved hosting training races with decent rewards.
Triumph Club welcomed racers from other clubs or private drivers to compete for prizes, though their motives weren't purely altruistic. They aimed to flex their team's strength, poach talent, and recruit skilled private racers.
By the time Shane and Stella arrived, the training race was about to start.
The track was packed with racers and machine girls, most of whom didn't qualify for the Nosk Rally. But that didn't mean they'd given up. Training races offered prize money for placing, which could be saved to buy high-end modules to upgrade machine girls, potentially leading to official races one day. The atmosphere was electric.
Shane and Stella completed a simple registration.
With so many racers and machine girls, the training race used a time-trial start system, ranking based on finish times.
Shane and Stella arrived late, slotted to start last.
The announcer was already reading the race's rules.
This Triumph Club training race featured a track shaped like a backward "J," 25 kilometers long with three turns, each around 90 degrees. The catch was that the track narrowed sharply at each turn, a challenge for racers and machine girls with limited cornering experience.
Like Stella.
Chatter, chatter, chatter…
A strange sound came from beside Shane.
He turned to see Stella staring at the track, her face pale, body trembling, and—somehow—steam rising from her head.
The chattering was her teeth clacking together.
Shane: "…"
Was she that nervous? It was just a training race.
Shane patted Stella's head. "Relax. 25 kilometers is nothing for you."
"B-But, Master, there are three turns!" Stella held up four fingers, shaking. "A-And no barriers! Without barriers, I can't correct my path by crashing…"
"Ahem, with me here, you think you'll need to crash to correct?"
"Kid, first time taking a machine girl on a track, huh? Don't talk so big."
The voice belonged to a middle-aged racer lined up ahead of Shane.
"Look at your machine girl—barely developed, legs shaking… Uncle's advice: train another year. Races, even training ones, are dangerous."
At the words "barely developed," Stella snapped her head up, ready to argue, but then saw the man's machine girl—a towering 1.8-meter-tall, curvaceous woman. Stella's bravado wilted instantly, outclassed in stature and presence, though not in looks.
"Come on, Warhammer, show 'em your explosive body!"
The man grinned smugly, and the muscular woman beside him transformed, assembling into a massive vehicle before Shane and Stella.
It looked like an off-road truck, but Shane had never seen one clad entirely in armor plating.
This thing was practically a tank.
As Shane focused, the machine girl's stats appeared:
[Drift: 17 points]
[Acceleration: 34 points]
[Cornering: 41 points]
[Boost: 15 points]
[Stability: 88 points]
[Collision Resistance: 97 points]
[Endurance: 30 points]
[Evaluation: You don't want to collide with a low-endurance meat grinder on the track, do you?!]
"Isn't my Warhammer awesome?" The man poked his head out the window. "Kid, racing's no game. Me and Warhammer will show you what it's like to eat dust!"
Shane: "…"
As he spoke, it was the man's turn to start.
He ducked back inside, let out a wolf howl, and Warhammer roared off, lurching forward.
The man's antics actually calmed Stella down a bit. She noticed Warhammer's starting speed was sluggish compared to Shane's catapult start.
30-second countdown.
Shane patted his machine girl's head. "Stella, transform."
Stella nodded, and a glossy silver supercar unfolded before him.
Sadly, the other racers were already on the track, missing Stella's stunning form.
In a way, the most powerful machine girls often had the most luxurious appearances.
Shane settled into the driver's seat, gripping the yoke. Stella's voice came through, brimming with determination.
"Master, I'll give it my all!"
"Relax." Shane's lips curled into a grin as he released the handbrake and floored it. "First, let's overtake that Warhammer!!"