Chapter 82: System Shutdown

Henry Calder blinked against the early morning light streaming through his hotel window, his body still heavy with exhaustion from yesterday's Spanish Grand Prix. Every muscle ached, a dull reminder of the battle on the track, but something else gnawed at the edges of his mind.

The notification.

Sitting up, he reached for his phone, unlocking the screen and pulling up the F1 system interface. The message from last night flashed again.

"Quest Completed: The Podium Promise."

Objective: Place in the top 3 during the Spanish Grand Prix. ✅Reward: System upgrade, unlocking advanced features.

A new prompt appeared.

"Would you like to begin the upgrade now?"

Henry hesitated, rubbing his jaw as he considered the implications.

"Is there a cooldown period?" he muttered aloud.

The system responded."System upgrade will take 24 hours. During this period, all system functionalities will be temporarily unavailable."

That meant no real-time racecraft analysis, no strategic insights, nothing. He'd be flying blind for a full day.

Henry exhaled, rolling his shoulders. "Screw it. Do it."

"Upgrade initiated. System shutting down… See you on the other side, Calder."

The usual hum of the system, the subtle background presence he'd come to rely on, faded into absolute silence. For the first time since he'd acquired it, the system was truly… gone.

Without the system feeding him reminders, Henry moved slower, dragging himself out of bed and into the shower. The hot water eased his sore muscles, but the quiet in his mind felt strange. Usually, the system would be analyzing something, feeding him tidbits of data. Now, it was just him.

By the time he finished packing his bags, he checked his phone and found a message from Taryn:

Taryn: I'll be landing in France tonight. You sure you want to pick me up?

Henry: Wouldn't miss it. See you at 9.

A small smile tugged at his lips. At least one thing felt normal.

Henry strolled into the lobby, spotting Laurent sitting at a table with his morning coffee. He was unfazed as ever, scrolling through his tablet, but there was one notable absence.

Henry raised an eyebrow. "Lemme guess… Luca's still in the shower?"

Laurent took a slow sip before nodding. "Obviously."

Henry chuckled, plopping onto the couch across from him. Moments later, Taryn walked in, her travel bag slung over her shoulder. She looked fresh despite the long race weekend, her eyes lighting up when she saw Henry.

"Good morning, race boy."

Henry smirked. "Race boy? That's what we're going with now?"

She laughed, sitting next to him. "Until I come up with something better."

They chatted while waiting for Luca, mostly about her upcoming flight. Laurent, still scrolling, muttered, "Ten minutes until we leave."

Right on cue, Luca stumbled into the lobby, his hair a mess and his race duffel barely slung over one shoulder.

Henry grinned. "You look like you just rolled out of bed."

Luca shot him a sleepy smirk. "You're just mad I still look better than you."

Laurent, unimpressed, closed his tablet. "If you two are done flirting, we have a plane to catch."

The team car hummed along the road, the weight of the weekend finally settling in. Henry, Luca, Laurent, and Luca's race engineer, Marco De Santis, rode together, talking about the race.

Luca leaned back, sighing. "Gotta admit, that was one of the most fun races we've had."

Henry smirked. "You just liked it because you won."

Laurent shot them both a look. "Next time, let's secure P1 and P2 without the unnecessary dramatics."

Luca grinned. "Hey, I defended fairly!"

Henry scoffed. "Says the guy who nearly put me in the gravel at Turn 4 at the beginning of the race."

Marco laughed. "You two are like an old married couple."

Laurent muttered, "Don't encourage them."

The ART private jet soared above the clouds, a much quieter space than the paddock had been. Most of the team either napped or scrolled through their phones. Henry found himself staring out the window, feeling oddly restless.

Laurent, sitting across from him, didn't miss it. "Something on your mind?"

Henry shook his head. "Nah, just thinking about what's next."

His fingers hovered over his phone screen. There are no new notifications. The system wasn't there to give him updates, and the silence was unsettling.

He sighed and leaned back, closing his eyes. Just one more day.

After landing in France, the team dispersed, heading off to their own lives until the next race weekend. Henry walked toward the private terminal's exit, already spotting Olivia leaning against a new Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, courtesy of his sponsor.

She smirked as he approached. "Figured you'd rather ride in style than take a taxi."

Henry let out a low whistle, circling the car. "Lambo treatment, huh?"

Olivia tossed him the keys. "Perks of being a rising star. Try not to wreck it."

Henry slid into the driver's seat, the car's engine purring as he pulled out of the airport parking lot.

As he drove toward his mansion, he checked his watch. Just a few more hours until Taryn's flight landed. He could deal with the system's absence a little longer. Right now, he had other things to focus on.