"I thought you had a little more ambition, Beeny. Like I said - playing it safe." Rico rolls one shoulder in a shrug, loosening the stiffness and limbering up in preparation. "You'll never improve like that, pitting yourself against a geriatric. Why compare yourself to second-best when you could compare yourself to just the best?"

Rico grins. Five months without really pushing himself to the limits. Nothing like either showing off or competition to motivate him, although six percentage points under perfect is almost contemptuously below his league. Let's see if he still has it, shall we?