"I thought you'd never asked." Jin shoved his smaller body into the spot she'd been occupying, forcing her away.
The tools she held levitated out of her hand as Jin took over.
"Don't forget to account for the fluctuations in atmospheric pressure," she instructed.
"Yeah, yeah. I got it. Why don't you go review the stats of your opponents?" Jin grumbled.
Kira lingered long enough to thoroughly irritate Jin before making her way toward one of the tables.
Much as she hated to admit it, Jin was probably better at reconfiguring the drive chain.
"Nervous?" Finn asked as she hopped onto the table behind him.
Kira lay down, stretching out and closing her eyes. "Why would I be nervous?"
Finn didn't look up as he continued to check over his weapons. He was methodical, examining every inch of them before moving on to the next.
"The stakes are high and from the sound of things, it's been awhile since you've raced. Such things would be considered normal."
Kira let out a small scoff. "There's not a whole lot that is normal about me."
Finn hummed softly, finishing with the en-dagger he held, storing it in his synth armor, before picking up another.
"That Dragon Circuit—those humans and Haldeel seemed to find it impressive."
Kira gazed unseeing at the bare bones of the ceiling above her. The bays were temporary constructs for the quorum. There was little need for frills, and the architects had left the structure of the building exposed.
"That race is little more than suicide to those who decide to compete," she finally said after several moments.
Finn paused in his actions.
Kira waited, but no questions came.
Finn resumed polishing his dagger as if she hadn't said anything.
Her lips quirked. Smart. If he'd pressed, she'd likely have clammed up. Since he didn't, he left it up to her whether to continue or not.
Her first instinct was to suppress the memories, but something stopped her. Perhaps it was being here again in an unfamiliar place that still managed to feel familiar.
"The Curs were the first to pair waveboards and racing." Kira made herself more comfortable on the table. "That's not to say someone somewhere wouldn't have eventually come up with the idea."
It was a given that any new mode of transport would eventually give way to the act of then racing it. The mentality was as natural to humans as breathing.
The Curs couldn’t help but pit themselves against each other to see who was the best.
"They always were competitive little shits,” Kira murmured.
Eventually, the races became a morale booster for the rest of the military and the populations of the planets they raced on. It helped that it also provided a way to give the Curs a mental break from the rigors of war while also further sharpening their skills.
Quiet fell again as Kira closed her eyes.
"The Dragon Circuit isn't a race you undertake lightly. It has a mortality rate of sixty percent."
Some of that was the difficulty of the race itself. The rest was the competitive nature of the sport. It wasn't unheard of for teams to sabotage each other. Even during the race, it was considered acceptable to dethrone a rider—which was a fancy way of saying you knocked them off their board.
Only in that race the surroundings were highly dangerous, making it difficult for the safeties to react in time. Lose your board and chances were you wouldn't survive.
"I was a different person then." One who didn't care if she lived or died. "The me of today wouldn't be so reckless."
