2 The Hardships of a Sparrow Driver

Gen flew towards the Imperial Gardens, a floating district near the northern side of the city. The Imperial Gardens contained the city's most important buildings and facilities such as government offices, the town hall, and the imperial school for aura knights.

The app marked a spot a little ways outside the floating district's boundary. Gen docked Sexy at the location and waited for her rider.

Many minutes passed; she grabbed her phone and fiddled with her various apps—designing weapons and vehicles and completing quizzes pertaining to their specs.

Bang, bang, bang!

Someone disrespected Sexy. Was this her rider? Some rude jerk?

She flipped open the loading door. Her eyes were glaring, ready to give him the stink eye for touching her baby.

When he stepped in, however, Gen's eyes sparkled.

He was the hottest hottie among handsome men. He wore a black suit and tie. A tie, Gen might add, she wanted to tug and play with and pull him close so that his broad shoulders eclipsed hers as his strong arms caged her against a wall.

His eyes beckoned her to do so. They were the most amazing and bewitching orange, like a Nightingale's underside when one gazed at it and the stars.

Gen gulped, imagining the contrast his luscious, dark skin would have against hers. And the smoothness of it as he claimed her with his touch. She smiled, revealing none of her indecent thoughts.

She said, "Sorry about that. I suppose you're Aether?"

He nodded then sat, closing his eyes to signal he didn't want to talk. Gen was fine with that. She wouldn't want him to destroy his own image by saying something stupid.

She started up Sexy and began driving to his destination. It was an hour away! She smiled. An hour in the same vehicle as Mr. Handsome would complete her life and let her die in content.

A phone rang. It wasn't hers.

"Yes?" the man said. His voice strummed all the romantic chords within Gen's body. She struggled to stop herself from imagining him asking, "Will you marry me?"

Aether wrinkled his brows. "Grandmother, I'm not interested."

A family man!

"Look, I didn't come here to get married and settle down. I've explained this to you."

The man nodded his head as if the other person could see his response. Gen wondered what his grandmother told him.

"Alright Grandmother. I promise." Then he hung up. Gen was a little disappointed; she didn't get to hear an "I love you."

Aether dialed a number and again placed the phone to his ears.

The first thing he said was this: "I need a date."

Gen's heart wildly thumped, but she had perfected the art of acting like a suave, young man. Not once did her expression crack.

Aether furrowed his brows. His face grew increasingly dark. Soon it was completely black and the temperatures within Sexy had dropped by at least ten degrees.

The man hung up the phone.

He crossed his legs. Aura, which one might call a type of supernatural energy, seeped from his body. It contained an odd gloominess and a tinge of killing intent hidden under a strong force of icy dominance.

Oh, how she wanted him to pounce her.

"Hey driver," he said.

"Yeah?" Gen replied. He was talking to her!

Then there was an awkward pause, as if he regretted doing so. Her heart sank, but she didn't know why.

She was a tough lady, she scolded herself. Others had shown her far more disgust than this man. Why should she be hurt? It was nonsensical.

He asked, "Know any single women?"

"Do I look like a man unpopular with the women?" Gen said, but then she yelled at herself. Of all things to say, why had she said something as stupid as that?!

"How many?"

"Uhh, does that matter?" Gen asked, her opinion of him taking a drastic turn. She could forgive the awkward silence, but not this.

He was a playboy who wanted to meet many single women.

She hated playboys as much as she loved manly men, and hating the former took precedence over loving the latter.

Aether said, "I have particular criteria."

"Oh, and what would that be?" she asked, hiding her disgust. Did he think of women as droids at the market?

"It's simple but hard to find: she can't like me."

Gen gripped the central console. "Why don't you go be some queer woman's beard?"

"Tried. No matter what I do, women fall in love with me. So do men."

Gen thought he couldn't say anything to make her opinion of him drop lower, but he had proved her wrong. Playboy AND narcissist.

Being a Sparrow driver owning a Nightingale, she had flown around many of the rich. They were all obnoxious, but Gen also had a theory. Only the obnoxious would be grounded, and only the grounded would have their vehicles confiscated, and only the rich without vehicles would pay for her services.

It was a stressful job, but Gen loved it. There was a certain satisfaction that came with teaching them a lesson.

She looked at Aether with increased curiosity and dislike. He was, what, late twenties? How did he not have a vehicle? It was a mystery to her.

But, he had met her criteria of an obnoxious jerk. A jerk who needed a spanking.

She said, "Problem solved! I'll introduce you to my sister, but she's gonna want some pay."

It was a lie. She didn't have a sister, but she had her own female body.

"Your sister?" Aether wrinkled his brows. "How would you stop her from falling for me?"

Gen laughed. "It's simple! You're nothing like her type. In fact, I'm afraid she'll eat you alive then toss you aside like some unsavory chicken bones. You'll fall for her and beg her to marry you."

The man didn't react to her provocation. His face remained handsomely indifferent. "What's her number? I'll give her a call."

"Pfft. You think I'll give some random man my sister's number? Give me yours, and I'll pass it on."

Aether narrowed his eyes; the temperatures within Sexy dropped.

Gen grinned at him through the mirror. As he exerted pressure on her, she deflected it. She thought: think you're all tough? No one has ever squashed her with their aura. This sister eats people like you.

Their auras clashed, pushing and tugging and smothering each other.

Eventually, Aether reeled in his aura and retrieved a business card from his inner suit pocket. He passed it to her, and she shoved it into her jeans. A smug smile surfaced on her lips as they traveled in silence.

Gen checked her mirrors then pulled up a full view of their surroundings. Frowning, she abruptly turned Sexy.

"We'll be taking a shortcut." She lied. No, it wasn't a lie. All shortcuts no matter how long were quicker than taking a detour to the afterlife.

Someone was following them. Three vehicles. Not a good sign.

She switched gears then dropped their altitude. Gen peeked at the man. He was frowning and gazing through Sexy's panoramic sunroof.

"We're being followed," he said.

"You're quicker than most." She rotated Sexy onto its side and flew between two different floored docks. Neither Gen nor Aether shifted in their seats.

"Gravity stabilizer?" he mumbled, bringing a small smile to Gen's face.

Of course, she wanted to tell him, her vehicle had the whole package of...of everything. Gravity stabilizer, camo system, radar, dual core, things like that. She could prattle for an eternity with what her Sexy packed.

Were all of them legal?

No, but a Puresoul prince had assassinated her eldest brother. That was over a decade ago, yet the prince still wanted to kill her and her other sibling. It therefore made no difference to Gen whether or not she broke the law, as long as she lived.

She decelerated Sexy then shifted the drive to reverse. They traveled past the people following them. With a click she activated the camo system, and Sexy transformed into an ugly, mundane ride—black and perfectly indistinguishable from the other vehicles.

She flung Sexy into a heavily-trafficked, auto-drive airway. Surrounded by cars controlled by AI systems, she entered an air tunnel giving passage through large buildings. She glanced at the mirror; the cars were still following her.

One's top began opening, revealing a turret. The AI vehicles quickly shifted to the side, opening a path for the aggressor and its target.

"Turrets." Gen frowned. Usually her assassins didn't bring out such big guns. She had thought she had secured a good identity. Barely a year had passed. How had they found her so soon?

Aether whipped out a small plasma pistol from who knows where.

"What are you doing with that?" She shifted in her seat. "You better not get plasma on my beautiful baby."

"Keep calm. Drive above them and rotate the vehicle."

"Hell no! You're not blasting through my window with that cheap gun! What if it splashes and wrecks my paint?" Gen revved Sexy. Its speed sharply increased.

The man smacked into the back of the car with a grunt. The change in velocity had been too great for the inertia stabilizer to bind him with the vehicle's movement.

Gen turned left and spiraled between various buildings and alleys, not letting any of their foe's AI systems lock onto them. As an afterthought, she said, "Hey man, I recommend putting on your seatbelt."

Looking back at Aether, she was startled to find that he had already found the harness and had strapped himself.

"Watch the airways," he said, his eyes narrowed.

Gen shrugged. It wasn't the first time she'd been chased in a planet's capital. She knew these backstreets like the back of her...hmm...head, since she'd never seen them before.

She jerked the car, dodging the sudden emergence of a car dock and an oncoming mail delivery droid.

Four vehicles blocked the end of the alley. Each of their roofs were opening, readying turrets. Five more cars ambushed them from both above and below. The bystander vehicles provided no cover. Their AI's were programmed to evade all third-party aggression, so they had fled.

"Oh crap. How have I offended so many people?" Frowning, she asked Aether, "You didn't see anyone stick a tracking device to my car, did you?"

He glared at her, but then his expression broke into a frown. He retrieved a cigarette lighter from his pocket. Upon opening its casing, he found a small, black device.

"Holy crap," Gen cursed. It wasn't her they were after, it was this handsome jerk of a man. First he abused her Sexy by banging the window, and now he attracted a swarm of flying turrets. Her opinion of Aether dropped so low that it became deeper than a plasmatic mine pit.

She glared at him, wishing she could drill holes through his handsome body.

"Why aren't you watching the airways?" he asked.

"I know what I'm doing," Gen said, still glaring. She slammed her hand against the dashboard, causing a second control console to rise up next to her. This orb was much smaller than the main console, and it was orange in color.

The turrets emitted light, any second and they would shoot.

Gen gripped the console with her palm then closed her eyes. She channeled her energy into it. Sexy lit up and began pulsing. A barrier formed around them, and the plasma shots struck, quaking it but leaving no marks.

Gen revved their speed and slammed into the flying vehicles blocking the end of the alley. They exploded, cloaking them in blue flame and smoke. Gen gasped; sweat dripped down her temples.

Aether said, "You're a—"

"Shut up." She poured more energy into the barrier. "What the hell did you do?"

The man didn't reply.

More cars flooded towards them. There were so many. Where were the police? Could it be true that there was such a thing as a beauty who could cause the fall of nations?

Twisting in her seat, she glared at the man as if he was a jinx.

He blinked. "Do you always drive without looking?"

"You," she hesitated, but she couldn't maintain her aura barrier indefinitely. "Can you...guh...I can't believe I'm asking this. Are you good with weapons?"

"I have a plasma pistol," he said, as if that meant yes.

Gen took it as a no, but out of options, she pressed a few more buttons on the main central console then twisted the top half of the orb so that it rotated and slid.

In the backseat, there was a soft click and the flooring moved to the side, revealing a plethora of weapons ranging from firmament swords to magma rifles.

"Choose one and shoot. I knew I should have had a turret installed, of all things Sexy isn't packing."

"Sexy?"

"My car!" Gen yelled, flustered and tired. Sweat drenched her collar. She dropped her barriers and gulped in air in an effort to restore her energy.

Crack! Her window burst.

"Guh, dang it! Man, couldn't you have waited for me to open the windows!"

Aether was a bonafide jerk for hurting Sexy.

He held the Million Joule sniper rifle—Million Joule was only its maker's name, it fired implosion shots—and struck one of the chasing vehicles. The man then tossed the tracking device out the window.

His actions seemed habitual, as if he had hunted vehicles ever since he had learned to walk. His eyes were calm, hands graceful as he reached for another implosion shot. His fingers slid naturally over metal, tantalizing Gen with their finesse. He loaded it. Click.

She drooled; he was her type of man.

He fired again, breaching the opponent's shields. Crunch! The vehicle imploded, leaving little shrapnel to harm the surrounding buildings.

Gen snorted. She approved of his chosen weaponry but couldn't forgive him for hurting her baby. She descended Sexy, spiraling them between two skyscrapers. She heard a grunt; Aether must have hit his head.

Good. She smirked.

As their speed increased and altitude dropped, Gen watched the ground approach. They entered the city's shadowline where the sun's light never reached the lower buildings and levels.

Their chasers slowed; some pulled away.

Poor AI settings, Gen snickered.

Three, two, one... She flipped the car upside-down and flew parallel to the ancient street. Performing a half-helix spin, they turned into another alley and righted themselves.

Gen increased their altitude; one never knew what type of rubble and debris one could find at the city root. She preferred not to scratch Sexy's paint with some foul substance.

And it wasn't common to find a man who could stomach her reckless yet gorgeous driving—it was wild like her. Aether earned a few brownie points and restored a portion of his tarnished name.

He said, "Take us westward, towards these coordinates." He sent them through the Sparrow app.

"You know they can track that," Gen commented. Jerk and an idiot.

Aether crawled up next to her. His hot breath was at her neck. His presence tantalized her with both his scent and his daring to stand in a vehicle moving at 600km/hr. If it weren't for her wind stabilizers, he would have flung out the window.

He whispered into her ear, "Listen carefully. The coords are in the south (37.235, 115.8111)."

Oh, he was kinda smart.

"What about the altitude?" she asked, her heart pounding and mind struggling. He was so distracting; what if she crashed Sexy due to the man's hotness?

"Just get there."

Gen smiled, ascending the vehicle to above the shadowline. "Hold tight, I'm taking out the boosters."

She smacked the left side of Sexy's dashboard.

I'm sorry, she whispered to her vehicle. This would be the last time she rode her Sexy.

A third console appeared, and she clenched it. She glanced at Aether; he had returned to his seat and was properly buckled. She channeled her power, but unlike her barrier, this channeling was only to act as a key to start the vehicle's second plasma core. Using a second plasma core was illegal. And dangerous.

The core activated; the primary one ignited.

The vehicle jerked, and she heard a clink. The jerk had dropped her sniper rifle and let it clip the wall...bye bye Cutie Tootie.

Wrapping herself in her aura, Gen stressed her reaction speeds to the maximum and focused on the path before her. The slightest mistake would lead to their deaths.

Adrenaline surged through her. She zoomed into an air tunnel, and their wake shook the neighboring docks. People grabbed onto rails and handholds, laying themselves flat.

Gen dove left and right, up and down—anything to dodge vehicles, delivery drones, and buildings. Eventually, they neared the outskirts of the city. Their followers had long been lost.

Gen smiled to herself. Success, no one had ruined Sexy's paint. He would die in glory.

She decreased their altitude as they approached the destination. She unstrapped herself and climbed into the backseat.

Aether's brows wrinkled; there was no hint of his previous cold demeanor. He must have thought her crazy for leaving the driver seat without activating Sexy's AI.

She grabbed onto his harness. His body stiffened.

"Sexy is gonna explode," she said and pressed a button on her wrist bracelet. It popped the back of the vehicle and deactivated the windbreaker shields. Wind gushed at them, and she held him to steady herself.

His harness unbuckled and she leapt, hugging him tightly.

A bit of his smell wafted into her nose: an earthly musk mixed with the faint smell of melted metal. It ignited a fire deep within her, but she restrained it.

She exerted her mental strength and formed a force field. It pulsed around them, contracting and expanding before repeating the process. It protected them as they skidded across the ground, digging a deep, long trench.

They stopped, and she dropped the barrier.

Blood seeped from her mouth; her body lay on Aether. She checked her vitals through her wrist bracelet. No permanent damage, a good sign.

She lowered her head and rested her chin on the man's chest. He didn't say a word and her courage grew. She snuggled her cheek against his chest. A girl like her deserved a treat after so much hard work. She felt and listened for his heartbeat.

Ba dum, ba dum, ba dum.

It was calm and steady as if everything that had happened was as mundane as buying groceries.

Oh, how she wanted to tease and excite him so that his heartbeat turned frantic.

The back of her ears blushed in shame for her thoughts. She was a pure lady. It was both her lack of skill in romancing the right man and her fairy-tale innocence that had left her an intact first kiss.

This was despite her lustful mind.

Gen smiled. It was the type of smile she gave girls when she wanted to cause trouble. She said, to hide her fluster, "You're welcome. Got you pretty close to your destination, huh?"

He nodded, but his following words were far outside her expectations: "Is your sister like you?"

"Not at all," Gen said because, hey, most men fled to another planet when they discovered her eccentricities. How was she to torture this man if he ran before she made him fall for her feminine alter ego? She had to pay him back for causing the death of her Sexy.

"Oh," Aether said. For a moment Gen thought he sounded disappointed.