The New Model

Chapter 3

Searching the roof I was on, there were multiple vehicles lining the edges. In between two of them, I found the perfect one. A motorcycle with magnet-suspended wheels. Sitting on top of it, it shifted under my weight. I searched for a spot to plug in the digital key, until finding it under a lid on the main compartment. Plugging it in, the motorcycle seemed to light up. The engine whirred magnificently. Backing out of the spot, I turned towards a dip in the center of the roof. The visor in my helmet changed suddenly, outlining the ground, and a map of the building appeared in the corner. Text began at the top, reading "Vehicle Mode. Battery at 93 percent capacity. 9.3 hours of straight travel available. Maximum speed 300 miles per hour. Battery use at ten percent per 230 miles." I began twisting the handle, and the motorcycle accelerated forwards slightly. Leaning forwards, I twisted the handle fully, and it accelerated towards the dip. The ride felt as smooth as butter. The ground twisted towards the right as I moved downwards through the building, the light flashing as I passed each floor.

The exit approached rapidly. Multiple people jumped out of the way as I emerged into the street. The vehicles above me sped by, all seeming to go in different directions with no regard to the streets. Scanning for a map as I moved through the street, I parked on the side of a booth. Examining the map, the city was roughly three hundred thousand square miles wide. The edge of what the man earlier had called the dome, was closest at a distance of 52,900 square miles east. There sat a free cable next to the map, presumably used to download it directly. Searching along the helmet and chest of the suit, I found the correct port on the underside of the helmet. Taking it off, the people passing by gave me a disgusted look. The same as those back at the lab. "I guess robots aren't very popular here," I thought. I disregarded this, plugging the cable into the slot on the helmet. Putting it back on and getting back onto the motorcycle, the map appeared in the corner of the visor, with directions to the outskirts of the city. Alongside it was text, "One hour to destination at 230 MPH speed limit. Battery will drain by 10% to 82%. Autopilot available. Note that speeds above 100 MPH will require personal dome activation." I paused for a moment. Autopilot? "Let's try it," I thought. Pressing the corresponding button on the control panel, more text appeared on the visor. "Accelerating in 3... 2... 1. Acceleration started. You will arrive in one hour."

The vehicle hummed elegantly, zooming through the dirty streets. Multitudes of other vehicles passed above, seemingly without a speed limit. The streets grew dirtier as time went on, the people in them increasingly dirty as well. Most seemed to have shabbled together, cheap looking prosthetic limbs, and metal in their heads. Some slouched in alleyways with an odd-looking headset on, drool leaking out. The people on the street level seemed shabby, and almost nonexistent compared to those passing above in the meticulous and elegant vehicles. The buildings seemed to reflect the same. Compared to those closer to the center of the city, these were old, broken down, and built with stone. They seemed to be centuries old, while the others were constructed of shimmering glass and white metal.

The top of the visor seemed to light up once more. "Current map insufficient. Please connect to a map access point to update." The bike slowed down, approaching a dirty looking booth on the side of the street. The same cable dangled from it as those from the others, but was more worn down. I took my helmet off to plug the cable in. I felt something shatter against the back of my head, as someone behind me shouted. "Get out of here, you damn crat!" they said. Turning around to face them, it was a man, with a wooden prosthetic leg, shabby looking clothes, and a long, grey beard. "Crat?" I responded. His face suddenly flushed, sweat dripping down. I began to approach him, while he backed away, tripping over a stray bottle. "What do you mean?" I said, looking down at him.

He stood back up suddenly, starting to run away, all the while shouting "A bot is here!" Many others came out of various nooks and crannies in the abandoned building and alleyway, sprinting in the same direction as him, all looking as shabby. Turning back to the map, I unplugged the cable, and put my helmet back on. "Map updated. You will arrive at your destination in 20 minutes," it said along the top of the visor. The bike lit up once more, speeding again through the dark streets.