How It All Began:

Nuclear Plant, IO, September 2097.

I've been hired by Kiroshi BioLabs GmbH to plant a terrorist fibrillotech logical bomb into the computer network of IO's nuclear facility. However, something evil, something alive has got there before I did. The POD. Damn that Nuke incident caused me some pain, physical and mental. Now I have been grafted BioTek(tm) limbs, with neuralware directfeed to the jacks plugged at the stem of my head. I lost some humanity, but damn my reflexes are GOOOD, a few femtosecs between the time that I see something and the time that I react. Man, I have respawned as a high-octane pod pilot. And this is only the beginning. My name is Atomic. Kiroshi Atomic. I have a licence to drive.

Yeah, I wish.

It all began when I came across the shareware POD that allowed online racing. Back then my puter was all but a game machine: no 3dfx, no sound, no gaming devices. I tried out the game and immediately loved it. Lake on Fuego without being able to change the settings, that was kinda funny. So I went out and bought the game. And then I played some more, avidly, very late into the night. On one of my very first sessions, I was embarked on a wild run of all 16 original tracks in reverse mode, with the likes of BadBoy", Ricocht" and a few other -to the humble rookie that I was- household names. I could break 1700 on a good day. Then I met Phaz, who gave me a sh*tload of tips for Lake, Sky, Gall and whatnot. I improved somehow, managed to break 1800 and STAY there!! Wow!! Then I really began to wonder about those funny signs after some people's names ("What about these ++ dudes? Are they all programmers or what? And what about these > people? What do they think they are? Prompts?"). I was stupidity made man, your average bozo newbie. So I went on a hunt for POD websites. Found out about QBall's, Mother Team POD, the POD Forum, etc.. And then I started getting really serious about POD. One day I went out on a gamer's shopping frenzy and bought a soundcard, boosters, a 3dfx card, and a GP1 wheel. Of course I also started practicing like a maniac. Soon I was able to reap hefty benefits. 4 seconds there, 5 seconds here.. I started looking for a team, and the first guy I came across was Kruel. We hit it off nicely, and soon enough he set up a trial race where I would be racing against him and the team leader, Demon. Man, my palms were sweaty, and I had the shakes pretty bad. A tryout!!! Oh boy. I did manage to finish 2nd by running what was then the best Galleria of my life. And there I was, the newest member of the IFK.

I'm still an IFK, and we are the defending World Champs now.

A little about me:

I'm still single, though I have a steady girlfriend. I'm still crazy (after all these years). Right now I'm in the middle of setting up a company along with my younger brother, who's 25 (and who will shortly make his debut in the world of POD). This company will do Multimedia, Site design, Graphic design, Programming and anything remotely connected to that (yeah it's pretty vague & vast). A la RedLine, I've been immersed in computers since the age of 10 or so. My first machine was a huge HP system that dad brought home from work now and then, where you could program in basic, though only text. Then I moved on to the PC, then the PC-XT, with a luxurious 512 kb RAM and no HD. I booted DOS from disk. I learned assembly language on that baby, and it got me going.

Ahhhhh, music. Well, pretty much anything has my approval. I mostly stay away from the charts, and I'm not a big fan of G-Funk or "New School" rap either. These sound pretty much always the same to me. I like new "technoïd" music, especially Jungle. Roni Size, the Freestylers, David Holmes got me trippin'. I'm also a BIG fan of jazz, although only post-WWII (with the exception of Cole Porter), and most preferably "Rare Groove" jazz, personified by great hammond organists like Jimmy Smith or Jimmy McGriff, guitar players like Grant Green, Sax players like Lou Donaldson and batters like Idris Muhammad. I also love Operas, esp. Verdi's for the great choir pieces. Add an healthy dose of R&B, Motown, Punk, Rob Zombie and Beastie Boys... Shake.. Mix.. Stir.. Play at very high volume in a residential area *grin*.

What else is there to say? I smoke. I drink. I have sex. I like to go clubbing with some friends until dawn. I sail whenever I can, mostly on holidays. But I can also play the lizard part on the beach for several days and just get a tan and sleep. I love to snow ski, but who doesn't ? I also am an avid reader. Novels, plays, history, short stories. Classics, cyberpunk, humour. You name it. Computer hacking, but I already said that, and gaming. Starcraft remains a very heavy favorite. Rainbow 6 is very good too. I'm also an avid TV sports fan: Soccer comes numero uno, with the French world champions of course (that most recent win at Wembley was esp. sweet!!), and the always-disappointing Paris-SG in club. I like Am. Football too, been an Oilers' fan since '86 when I started following the NFL. Letdowns again, esp. the '93 playoff game vs. the Bills that I listened to live on the Armed Forces Radio, where the Oilers lost 41-38 in OT after leading 35-3 at intermission, away at Rich Stadium. I've been supporting the Bills and Broncos (always the rooting for AFC except Pitt vs Dallas) in losing SB efforts, until the Broncos won the last two back-to-back, which had me thrilled. Favorite Basketball player is Gary Payton, team, of course, the Sonics. And of course the Red Wings in the NHL for their fabulous russian players. Always been a big fan of russian-style hockey (style, speed & technical ability) as opposed to north-american (power & puck dumping).

POD Stuff:

POD is first and foremost a community. I've made some great friends there, and had a whole lot of laughs and exciting races and enticing chats on the GS. Man, the meets were always exciting stuff, made you feel like a real pro, like you actually were to step into a car and RACE. I love the feeling of POD competition. I've never achieved much on a personal basis. Never took part in the various contests excepted for POD Rally One where I placed, if I remember correctly, 14th. Never been too much of a ghoster (I have one single ghost on QBall's, cannot even remember the track it's on). But I've taken great pride in Team Racing. From the time I got aboard, the IFKs first went to the Cookie League sudden death playoffs, which we lost 2-1 to the BKs. TP2 was outrageously dominated by the PodBoq, but we managed to finished tied for 2nd after losing only to PB and the NastyBoys. TP3 was short-lived for us, as we quit at about the same time that the Pod Freaks quit. TP4 proved to be a glorious season as we managed to beat the Scorps in the semis and the ExPoders in the finals, despite suffering our lone regular-season loss to the BKs. I I was also a member of the Pod Freaks, probably the best team ever assembled on paper. Alas, the team was never able to come out in full force, and eventually succumbed to the assault of external pressure. Too bad, the concept was awesome, and its leader, Whip, one of the nicest POD people around. I also was a member of Team France 1, which lost the PWC '98 finals to a very strong Team Canada for a meager 0'00"32. We also managed to beat the favorite Team GerBeNe team in the semis, although I'm afraid that the Germans are coming back in full force and with a vengeance for PWC '99. I make them my favorites for the title.

Aaaah.. Favorite tracks and cars.. Cars are easy.. The Fuego and Shark come tied for first in my world, with the Stinger and Arakn close behind. I found the Shark undrivable on some tracks where other people enjoy success with. Like HQ, or Loon, or Can. Never managed to get the Fin going on any of these. Plus I like the Fuego's sticky grip on Pomp, HQ, Can, etc.. Two very different cars, but both very fun to drive. Favorite tracks?? A whole bunch. Actually, there are the tracks I love and those I loathe. Or, put another way, the tracks where I look like an ace, and those where I look like an ass. Roc, Loon, City, DT, Coke, HQ, Aldy, The Sludge (Fac), Pomp, Veit, Nuke, Bank, Hellway are the tracks I love. R70, Spin, Babel, Mine, Azthec, Beltane, Skyrace are the tracks I dislike to the max.