01x03 - Grip

[bunniefuu]

[electronic bleeping]

[lively rock music playing]

[alarm beeping]

[tires screech]

[commentator] Look at them jump!

This really is the race of all races!

Welcome to the Warp Grand Prix!

SUMA GARAGE

What could be more beautiful

than dozens of high-speed machines

TEMPORARILY CLOSED

testing their limits?

Autumn has traded flurries of leaves

for soaring machines!

Contests between AI and humans are always

intense, but this year's Tokyo Warp

- Here you go.

- may set some new records.

Wow! You're starting to blend in already.

She just hooked us up

with a nice tech upgrade.

We can cross Walls more reliably now.

[Hugo] So we can ride as recklessly

as we want without getting flagged now.

- What? No!

- [chuckles]

Kai, thank you.

Have we figured out anything

about the kid yet?

Well, I managed to find some

of the kid's movement history.

I traced him to the eastern outskirts

before I was blocked.

Nobody really goes to that region anymore,

so data's limited.

Mind sharing the data you do have with me?

Hmm? Here.

If we wanna find out more,

we'll have to go to the scene

and poke around,

but right now,

this garage has bills to pay.

We need to get back to work.

[sighs]

- So, Hugo, what are you trying to

- [engine revs]

Hugo!

[huffs]

Ugh! Seriously! It's like he's never

thought anything through in his life.

[Kai] Huh?

Did he come back?

[mysterious rock music playing]

You think you can do

what my pit crew can't?

We'll try. Hugo's out right now.

[biker] It's fine.

Sorry for barging in like this.

Hey. Is she a racer?

[Spoke] Didn't realize

Hugo had famous customers.

Not sure I should care.

Racing's just a hobby for the rich, right?

The results are pre-simulated.

It comes down to differences

in processing power.

[biker] That's not all there is to it.

Tokyo Warp's themed around

the fusion of technology and humans.

It's open to everyone.

This is a place where financial

and physical limitations don't matter,

and that human element

can screw up even the best simulation.

[commentator] Ooh!

We've got yet another crash!

Whoa, what?

Accidents have been optimized

out of this world.

Races are the exception,

with bikes pushed to the brink

and lives balanced on a knife's edge.

Chaos is always close at hand.

So you're just hoping you'll be lucky?

Mm Luck's too fickle to rely on.

- When the wind turns, I'm ready.

- Hmm?

[commentator] Leading the pack,

we have the S1 model

equipped with

the newest simulation engine!

Amarin Lu is the only racer

who opted for manual operation this year,

and her placing is dropping

as most analysts predicted.

Get that spring as tight as you can.

I need snappier handling.

I've already torqued it to spec.

Any more and you'll have issues.

Please just do it.

I'll be damned if I'm gonna lose

to some mindless machine!

Huh?

[sighs] I just ran out!

Hugo gave me these.

The candies are supposed

to be my good-luck charm!

So much for not relying on luck.

You're full of it, huh?

[Amarin chuckles]

Why don't you come watch?

- [ratchet clicking]

- You like motorbikes, right?

Uh, kind of.

[Amarin chuckles]

Well, this should get you off the fence.

There's nothing like seeing it live.

[commentator] The highlight

of this year's Tokyo Warp,

sponsored by the Digital Ministry,

has to be this course!

To make use

of our urban infrastructure's efficiency

and to keep you, our viewers, entertained,

we've created a track

that reroutes itself in real time.

[Ieuji] Not only does this entertain

while testing roadway efficiency,

it also checks the measures

we might employ

during a disaster or terror attack.

k*lling three birds with one stone, eh?

[commentator] All of Tokyo

has been transformed into a racecourse

so that automated models driven by AI,

hybrid models driven by humans

with AI-assistance,

and one brave rider who's operating

her vehicle entirely on her own

can fight it out for the ultimate prize!

[gasps] Whoa.

- What's your deal?

- It's nothin'.

Her good-luck charm.

- [beeping]

- Hmm?

[Watari] Okay, guys,

you are on your way, right?

The delivery! You're picking it up

in East District, right?

You better not tell me you forgot about it

'cause of that stupid race!

Spoke!

Your lunch break is

officially over, got it?

If we start ghosting our clients,

the garage will go bankrupt!

[Spoke] Can't work without Hugo,

and it's not like this brat

can take his place.

- [Kai] "This brat?"

- I'm sure you two can figure it out!

Come on. Ugh!

[Spoke tuts] The second

we run into trouble, I'm canceling.

[Kai] So you gonna start us off

with a pun?

[Spoke] Don't lump me in with Hugo.

- All I care about is freedom and my bike.

- Okay.

What should we do?

We can take the expressway

once the race ends.

No. If we do that, we'll be too late.

Got a better idea?

The Tokyo Warp's final round

is now about to begin!

I'll prove that I'm the fastest racer

in this city.

We've gotta reach the expressway

before the race cuts off traffic.

Huh?!

But that would mean we'd be racing

against the entire race, right?

[commentator] Three, two

- To do this, we need Hugo on our side!

- [commentator] one!

- [Kai] Let's cancel!

- [commentator] Go!

[energetic rock music playing]

[commentator] The final round of

the Tokyo Warp Grand Prix has just begun!

This is friggin' insane!

Spoke! What are you trying to do?!

[screaming] Ah!

Head straight from here.

We can still make it using this route.

No! You can't go this way! Ah!

What the heck?!

- You scream funny.

- Huh?

I said not this way!

Hey! Look ahead!

You're gonna drive us over the rail!

Ah! Ah!

[Kai screams]

That was a good roar, partner!

Bit quiet though.

[Kai screams]

[Hugo grunts, sighs]

TAGLESS

Hmm?

[softly] Hmm.

'Scuse me?

If you're home, come out and say hi.

Hmm.

Hmm?

[grunts]

[grunts]

Hmm.

[mysterious music playing]

Uh

[tense music builds, fades]

[both straining]

[attacker] Why are you here?

- [energetic music playing]

- [Kai screaming]

[Kai] We're going so fast!

[screams] Ah!

Ah! Ah!

[panting] Huh?

The racecourse is changing again.

We won't make it at this rate!

Damn it. The course is too unpredictable.

Huh? What are you doing?

Whoa.

I just need to find the code

for the racecourse.

Ya ♪

Ya-ah-ah ♪

Ya, ya ♪

That's it. You should turn left.

Ya, ya ♪

Ya-ah-ah ♪

Every point on the road's grid

has a marker assigned to it.

They're using those

to alter the shape of the road.

Turn right this time.

Now left!

Right again!

Here comes the expressway.

[Spoke] It's a dead end.

We're fine. Just keep driving!

As you wish.

[Kai] Come on.

Open, open, open, open, open!

[both yell]

[Kai screams]

Again?

Look at that.

You really did beat the racers.

[music fades out]

The detour's landed us

at the edge of East.

It's like a pretty important area

of Tokyo.

Hey, uh, can we take this next turn?

- We're running behind as it is.

- Please, Spoke?

[tuts] All right, fine.

[Spoke] About earlier,

did you hack the system?

Yeah, well,

I found some stuff in the garage

that let me upgrade my device.

I don't know

if I could pull that off again,

but, you know, I was desperate.

You rewrote the rules that bound you.

The system was built to constrain us.

Break past it and you're free.

- I don't really get it.

- [Spoke] You could pretend.

Who the hell sent you, huh? Was it Lizard?

No! I'm here because Lizard

has his sights set on me and my friends.

So I guess you know him?

Yeah.

[narc] This is the worst. That brat

just isn't walking into our traps.

[Lizard] As the system grows

more precise and complex,

more gaps emerge in the code.

More weaknesses to exploit.

To catch a hacker this skilled,

we've got no choice

but to hunt her on foot and flush her out.

Feels like a recipe

for a wild-goose chase.

Uh

[commentator] We're already halfway

through the Tokyo Warp final round!

- [robot] Thank you for waiting.

- [commentator] get shaken up!

- Amarin Lu

- [Lizard] Huh.

About the duplicate tags

that got flagged by the Wall Vehicle?

Don't know.

I don't have access to that data.

- What if motorcycles?

- [narc] That's impossible.

The second a motorcycle

gets flagged by the Wall,

its engine shuts down,

then it's game over.

[Lizard] That's if it relies

on electronics,

but what if it has a combustion engine?

[chuckles] Thank you for this food!

- Time to go.

- Huh?

To where?

To the gap I just found in our system.

[narc slurps and gulps hurriedly]

Man! Ah!

[knocking]

[man] Mmm.

Here for a pickup.

Took your time!

At this rate, you'll miss the auction.

- What is this thing?

- It's an old traffic control device.

- A traffic light.

- Huh?

[Spoke] Tokyo ditched them

a long time ago.

Now, it's an eccentric collector's item.

ill*gal at that.

[auctioneer] Today's highlight item

has finally arrived.

In its time, this object was a symbol

of order and restriction.

We rank it first place among

countless relics we're better off without.

This is the traffic light.

[Spoke] Can't believe that people used to

sit and wait for that thing to turn green.

[bidder] Three hundred thirty!

[Spoke] Seeing this, I feel like

we must live in a much freer world now.

[auctioneer] Five hundred thousand.

- [auctioneer] Are there any further bids?

- Huh. I wonder.

[commentator] Half the riders that have

made it to this round have crashed!

Those that remain are just one mistake

from colliding

Oh! I jinxed it!

Another one bites the road!

The racers coming up on the crash

are getting tripped up by the wreckage

one after another!

- Amarin weaves through the carnage.

- You have to hold on!

[commentator] Oh! But she falters

after she corners her next turn!

Amarin Lu seems to be struggling!

[scoffs]

Bet she regrets that over-tightened spring

now, doesn't she?

- [Kai] Hey.

- Hmm?

I heard these are lucky.

It'd be a shame if she lost

when we had one lying around.

[action music playing]

[commentator] This is

Amarin Lu's final pit stop.

Is it too late for her

to stage a comeback?

Is it too late for you to shut up?

[Kai] Hey!

You can't make any excuses now!

Who needs excuses when you're a winner?

[tires screech]

[Spoke] Riding a motorcycle

is a lot like breathing.

You're best at both

when you move without thinking.

Once you're conscious of your actions,

they become stilted.

When the wind turns, I'm ready.

[Spoke] You'll get it

once you learn to ride.

Bingo.

[commentator] Here she comes!

Amarin is rocketing her way

up through the ranks!

Tokyo Warp has the most intricate course

in the world,

and she is carving it up

like a roasted turkey!

But will she manage

to catch the leading pack?

[music fades]

[chuckles lightly]

[Spoke] Motorcycles set people free.

- [engine starts]

- [gasps]

And, kid, the meaning of that freedom

is up to you.

[revs]

[upbeat music playing]

[breathing heavily]

[exhales]

There's a rhythm to the engine's motion.

Feel it out. Get lost in it.

[upbeat music continues]

[Kai breathing deeply]

- [gasps]

- [gasps]

[commentator] It's happening!

Amarin is finally sinking her teeth

into the leading pack!

- [music builds, fades]

- [Kai exhales]

Well done.

Seems that good-luck charm did the trick.

Huh.

- [Kai] Candy.

- Hmm?

I suppose we could describe her comeback

as "sweet victory."

I'm not engaging, Kai. I'm too tired.

Your bike is too tired.

[Kai chuckles]

[commentator] And the winner is Amarin Lu!

And the crowd goes wild!

Amarin Lu, this year's

[Watari] I hear the delivery went

about as well as Amarin's race.

- Yeah, it did. Everybody won.

- [Watari] Today, at least.

- Sorry, but I need to bring the mood down.

- [ominous music playing]

I read some accidental-death cases just

like the case of the kid we delivered.

Managed to trace

each victim's final movements.

All these cases had one thing in common.

Evidence of drugs or drug deals.

Then this was more than a simple accident.

There's one more concerning fact

that these cases have in common.

The man in charge of each investigation

was Lizard.

[Spoke] So either his cases

are riddled with tragic accidents

[Watari] Or they're being disguised

as accidents.

[Kai] No way. Did he

[Lizard] You're next.

♪ Ooh, ooh ♪

♪ Mm-mm-mm-mmm ♪

["Cryptogram" playing]

♪ Cryptogram, ooh ♪

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ We'll never solve it ♪

-We try to fight it ♪

- Fight it ♪

[lyrics in Japanese]

- I decided ♪

- Decided ♪

♪ Everything is in between ♪

[lyrics in Japanese]

♪ It's not the same, I know that ♪

[lyrics in Japanese]

♪ Cryptogram ♪

[lyrics in Japanese]

♪ Cryptogram ♪

[lyrics in Japanese]

♪ Beside your cryptogram ♪

[lyrics in Japanese]

♪ Cryptogram ♪