#icar

Me: Like, Lowly Worm's apple car? Or like an iCar?

Him: I meant an iCar but I am curious how you feel about me getting a Lowly Worm apple car too now.

Me: honestly I'm more ok with the Lowly Worm apple car.

Icar was clearly super tired but that didn't stop him from joining the race.

Swiss was trying to persuade him and change his mind but Icar just closed the door with words

„Just this race and we're done with bills“

Swiss sighed and turned on the walkie talkie and wished him luck, watching the blue doted gyre joining others on starting line.

Swiss joined balcony with Draal, Aaarrrgh and Jim as on the second right next to them was Blinky, Dictatious, Claire, Rega and Toby.

„Are you sure this was a good idea? There is a very high chance that someone might get hurt.“ asked Dictatious his brother who looked at Jim who nodded.

„I am sure.“

Racers were doing last quick checks of settings, energy and gyre synchronisation. Icar yawned and stretched his arms before putting them in steering holders and grounding his feet to floor. He put on his goggles and belt and starts the motor. It shook briefly but stopped and growls it's mechanic way. „Weird. I hope it's *Yaawn* nothing serious.“

„Ready! Get set! Go!“

And gyres did so. All of them, including Icar's which meant two options.

Energy will either stop any moment or Toby cut wrong pipe.

Swiss frowned and looked at Draal „You sure you cut the right pipe? It doesn't look that way.“

„We have. A black slime spilled out of it“

Swiss's expression twisted into horror „That was not the energy essence!“

„What?!-“ They looked shocked and Swiss immediately informed Icar.

„Icar! Your brakes might be broken! Test them!“

There wasn't any response. „Icar! Icar, can you hear me!?“

Icar's walkie talkie fell on the floor from the strange occasional shaking.

Icar didn't notice. The ruined period of sleep made his eyes heavy and mind blacking despite trying to stay up.

Not even realising after fifth blink his eyes remained shut and with hands still locked in handlers he fell on knees in the deepest sleep he ever had.

People watched shocked as 1R6 began to act weird with pointless turning and spins and evacuated from balconies when wall-climbers were turned on and the gyre was destroying balconies one by one like nothing, it didn't even slow it down.

Saar-qia watched the gyre curious from her cage, tilting her head.

1R6 gyre got through tunel into Trollmarket where trolls ran on sides or for their lives.

„We need to stop him before more damage!“ shouted Swiss as they ran after it.

„How? Too fast! Can't stop!“ asked Aaarrrgh by his side.

„It can! Manually. I just need to get inside and turn it off!“ Swiss moved Jim from becoming a flat crispy dough.

They panted. „But how do we keep it on one place?“ asked Draal and Jim and Swiss looked around. Jim got it.

Each taking a metal net's corner they threw it on 1R6 and held it firmly from destroying Heartstone. As the clay ground was still softened by flood the gyre was sinking and creating a hole from what wheels digged as well as making most of trolls dirty.

„Ready Aaarrrgh?“ asked Swiss and Aaarrrgh grabbed net's corner that Swiss held „Ready“

Being free Swiss managed to get inside the gyre and after while he turned off.

Gyre stopped spinning and they could let go of the net.

Tergos, Galadrigals and others ran over „What was this supposed to be?!“ shouted Tergos angry and looked at sleeping Icar held in Swiss's arms shocked. „Icaros. But why would-?“

„Tergos, let us explain, we-“ started Jim but was cut off by Terg's staff „You. You stand behind this? How could you?“

„This all has a logical reasons done by accident-“ even Blinky was cut off by Tergos who said in cold tone

„All of you into Heartstone. Now!“ he barked.

Dictatious took Rega's hand and joined Swiss's side worried for Icar.

And after watching some videos about the Apple Car (every one of them breathlessly enthusiastic about what a market disruptor it's gonna be and how Tesla is totally fucked now) I gotta say... it feels like Apple engineers are operating inside a hermetically sealed bubble, isolated from how the real world buys & uses automobiles:

- It's gonna have spherical wheels! (no, it's not)

- It's gonna be 100% self driving at release! (no, it's not)

- It's gonna be tightly integrated with your iPhone! (Android? what's Android?)

- It's an EV with the range of a Tesla! (only if they rebadge a Tesla)

- It's gonna have smart windows you can slave to your iPhone! (shitty, terrible, awful idea why would you even ugh just stop)

- It's not gonna be sold or leased, it'll be a subscription! (nobody wants that, literally nobody)

- The styling is dramatic! (nobody knows what it looks like, not even Apple, but I'm betting a fat iPhone on wheels)

...and so on. I do hope I'm wrong, and that Apple produces a reasonably priced game-changer of a new car, shakes up the industry and forces Ford & GM into the 21st century.

Wadi Natrun, Monastério da Virgem Maria (conhecido como Monastério Sírio), Igreja da Virgem Maria.

Khurus*, coluna pintada, encáustica*. Virgem Maria Galaktotrophousa*

Fonte: Images of Mother of God - Maria Vassilaki

*Khurus: O khūrus (Grego, choros) é uma sala reservada ao clero entre o prebistério ou santuário e o naos. Desenvolveu-se na Igreja egípcia medieval no final do sétimo e início do oitavo século.

[The Coptic Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, 1 - Aziz S. Atiya]

*Encáustica: técnica de pintura com pigmentos misturados com cera quente; diz-se ter sido aperfeiçoada no IV século DC, por Pausias. A pintura encáustica foi a técnica mais comum dos primeiros séculos da era cristã, mas entrou em desuso no oitavo ou nono século.

[The Oxford Dictionary of Art, 1994] ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

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