Overhead, a clock ticks down bright-red numbers. When it hits zero, the auctions will end and the interview will begin. Only the back row’s not subject to the grappling of public hands. You promised yourself you wouldn’t look there before the interview, that it’s the grown-up thing to do this all on your own, but you can’t help it. You’ve always needed them.

Father and Mother sit in their customary seats, back left. Father’s hair is swept into a traditional topknot. So old-fashioned, but he makes it look classic somehow. You know most men who’ve won the Races put on weight as the years pass. Fifteen years of endless training lead to fifteen years of banquets and parades. But not for your father. In the same way his haircut and uniform are timeless, so is he. A mark of something better, something the years can’t wash away.

Beside him, your mother. That famously pointed chin, those famously watchful eyes. After her victory in the Races, women actually purchased illegal surgeries, hoping to look a little more like the famous Prama. The government agencies had so much trouble regulating the industry that they just changed the law instead. For three years in a row, your mother was Going Girl magazine’s “Most Desirable Bachelorette in Furia”!

Until she married your father.

The perfect couple.

Which left you with only one choice: to follow in their perfect footsteps.

The red numbers vanish. You lift your chin and turn as the crystal mannequin in the opposite seat animates, filling with color. A blue suit and pink buttons. The famous showman, Maxim, sweeps a robotic hand through his perfectly combed hair and smiles for the cameras.

“We’re back and live with our coverage of this year’s Races. But there are some people who would argue that our coverage is only beginning as we arrive at the interview that everyone in Furia has been waiting for. Gods be good, Pippa, you look astonishing.”

Smile once at the audience, once at Maxim, prepared answer.

“All thanks to the designers at Press Emporium and the unbelievable makeup artists that Flight Forever sends over before every interview. Where would I be without those girls? They’re the ones who inspired my catchphrase, after all. You remember it, Maxim?”

The showman smiles. “I’m really not sure I’ve heard anything about a catchphrase.”

Incredulous look, wink at the audience, wide smile.

“Really? And I thought you were the kind of guy who knew things.” Second wide smile. “Let’s see if my real fans know it: I totally believe in luck. In fact, the harder I work…”

Raise an eyebrow to cue the audience.

Everyone shouts, “The more I have of it!”