Beyond The Network

The five set out early in the morning and boarded a skycar for Town 00a. The trip was estimated to take 9 hours – this was farther away than any of them had ever gone.

The skycar ride was uneventful. The group talked about their plans using strong encryption – one could never be too careful in a public skycar. They could see cities beneath them. Large, sprawling cities covering everything. There was barely any empty ground. All was in shades of brown and gray.

As they went on, the cities seemed to get older and more decrepit. Buildings were less packed together. Less cars and transport units could be seen on the streets.

They arrived in Town 00a, Sector 001f, and the skycar landed. The feeling of unusualness was even stronger here. People dressed differently, walked differently. After all, this was almost halfway across the world from where John52fe lived.

"Control: open Atlas. Find boundaries of Town 00a."

Atlas displayed a map of Town 00a in its entirety, with glowing borders. It was nearly semicircular in shape – the straight area was labeled simply as "The Fence".

"Get directions from here to The Fence."

Atlas gave them an approximation of the path by foot, car, and fixed-route transport module. But N3ox had other ideas. "Get directions by free flight." And Atlas did after some concentration on N3ox's part: he was, after all, a hacker.

"Atlas: disconnect. Control: open Ana."

"Ana is online. Please enter your request." Ah, good old Ana.

"Get information about The Fence."

After a pause: "The Fence marks the end of civilized area. Travel beyond The Fence is highly unadvisable. Additionally, you may be prosecuted for trespassing."

Meh. They didn't care if Ana considered it "unadvisable"; after all, she was just a program.

N3ox led the way as the five walked the streets of Town 00a. People, dressed in unusual clothes, bustled about their business. Shops with brightly-colored displays were everywhere. Office buildings intermingled with apartments, unlike the more well-defined building layouts they were accustomed to.

They came to the nearest skycar terminal. N3ox walked up to a door marked "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY" but he did not touch his finger to the access panel. He muttered something under his breath; evidently, he was communicating with The Network in some way, but they could not determine how.

The door opened, and N3ox beckoned for them to follow. He walked stealthily down the corridor, with the rest of the group following closely behind. They came to another door at the end, which was unlocked.

They found themselves in the hangar. About a hundred skycars stood parked in their berths, connected to their power lines. When a skycar was needed, a signal was sent via wireless and the skycar would float down the center aisle of the hangar and out the exit on the other side.

N3ox pointed to the nearest skycar, Car 83b9:2fd0, which was about 150 feet away. "Go for it." They ran stealthily across the open ground. N3ox knew what he was doing.

As with all skycars, authentication was required before the driver could enter, and a driver could not enter while the power line was connected and charging the skycar's fuel cell. N3ox simply walked up to the pilot's door and it opened. "Jeremy1449, cut the power. Hop on in."

"One thing I gotta admit... I can't drive or pilot anything. One of you will have to do it."

"John52fe could do it." Jeremy1449 knew of John52fe's desire of getting a car of his own.

"Sure." John52fe sat in the pilot's seat, and the rest piled into the front four seats reserved for persons of authority and the like. Normal passenger seats were located behind.

Flying these things was easy as heck. All one had to do was place one's hand on the steering globe in front of him and make the slightest motion in the direction he had to go. One could not legally pilot a skycar until he was 30, but John52fe did not care.

Car 83b9:2fd0 rose from its berth and floated down the aisle. As it neared the exit, the gate was automatically lifted, and the skycar rose up into the air. John52fe guided the car on its way out of the terminal, and as soon as they were clear, gunned the engine in the direction of The Fence.

They flew over the city at an astonishing speed; none of them had ever experienced a skycar ride like this. John52fe sure could fly this thing. And he was enjoying every minute of it.

Within 10 minutes, they were outside of the main part of the town. As they floated above the buildings, they noticed that they were in a decrepit state. More than once, a column of smoke could be seen, from where rioters had set fire to one of the older buildings. Chels9b01 cringed.

They flew on. They saw buildings beneath them, but something about the buildings told them that they were not inhabited, had not been inhabited for a long time.

Suddenly, the skycar began to swerve; a red light appeared on the heads-up display and "POWER LOW" flashed across.

"Oh, crap... why..." N3ox looked distressed. He had neglected to check the power level before picking out a skycar. Plus, they had been going at max speed. "You're gonna have to land it."

John52fe lowered the skycar slowly. It was not as easy to control any more. He found a clear space between two buildings and pushed down on the steering globe. "Careful there. Don't hit the building."

The first part of the skycar to go was the back, fortunately for them. It simply broke off the moment it hit the side of the building. The rest of the skycar hit the ground with a thud. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

"Let's get going."

They clambered out through the emergency exits and surveyed their surroundings. They were in a decrepit part of the town. Nobody had lived here in decades. The buildings – or what remained of them – were of an older construction. These had been here long before Town fb2 came into existence. This was a hostile place. The occasional criminal, gangster, or drug addict might find himself here, though these types usually concentrated in the less-inhabited regions of large cities. This was the outskirts of one of the first cities. The outskirts of civilization.

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