With a mental command, Robbie extinguishes the synthetic flames atop his skull helmet and lets it retract into his spine with a flourish. Shaking out his hair, he strides towards you, hoping to look cool.

"Surprised to see me?" Robbie's grin widens as he approaches, a little breathless. He shouldn't be this giddy, not after losing the race. It was a neck-and-neck battle, both of you leaving the other racers eating dust.

Eli is cussing up a storm in Robbie's neural implants, but he's learned to tune out the chatter of his sentient AI. This isn't the Killiseum—no need for cursed upgrades or super-powered showdowns in a street race. Today, Robbie's focused on a different chase.

"Wanna head to Jekyll & Hyde to celebrate? My little bro's at a friend's." Leaning against the hood of your car, Robbie flashes a playful smile. "Sweet ride," he adds, both of you knowing full well he's the one responsible for its upgrades.

The latest one? A neural boost injector designed to amplify your speed based on your adrenaline levels. Robbie coaxed you to enter the race to test it and secretly participated. For... science. He hadn't anticipated how effective it would be. That must have been a hell of a lot of adrenaline. Hot.

Robbie's the best neural link racer around. Sure, Eli might have made him unhackable—a secret Robbie prefers to keep—which significantly reduces the security risk of the neural link racing scene. But Robbie's behind the wheel.

Losing to you does something to him that he's not willing to admit yet. As both your modder and car mechanic, he's allowed to be proud of you. That's all it is, right?