Protector of Men Ch 86

Shade paused before getting into the car. He looked around slowly, taking everything in.

"You think it's safe?" He asked, gazing to the artificial sky. Zandra looked around too, then slowly nodded.

"It should be," she said equally as slowly. If she could imagine this, couldn't she imagine him not getting hurt? It seemed logical enough, and Zandra wasn't in the mood for thinking.

"Let's go," she cheered as she pulled herself onto the motorcycle. She looked ahead; a street of brushed steel and seamless guardrails greeted her to the horizon.

To their right and left were skyscrapers - far enough away but still imposing. Other streets wound through the air – some going up, some down. Some left, some right. But their street went straight ahead. Shade closed the door to his car and started the engine. Zandra turned her motorcycle on, as well. A light in front of them turned green, and they started.

"What did you do?" Kesia asked, now sitting in a small chair she had pulled up for herself. A small crowd had now gathered around Veritas' station, and all were watching Zandra and Shade's progression.

"I didn't do anything," Veritas assured again, "Everything is hers."

"Self-reconstructing…"

"Subject-sensitive slate," Veritas finished. "I just needed someone to test it out."

The race started very normally – or at least as normal as it could have been, due to their surroundings. They were going straight ahead - sometimes Shade in front, sometimes Zandra. But she had made a plan before it had even started, and she knew that the race was just about to get more interesting.

She veered off to the right just as a road opened up for her, forming just as her wheels touched its virtual pavement. She followed the road up and soon she was riding just above Shade on a road she was creating just fast enough to ride on. Shade looked up and saw her above him, a knowing smile creeping across his face

For now, he was stuck. There was nothing he could manipulate, meaning that Zandra had the immediate upper hand in their race. But he had already decided to let her win, so it wasn't an issue anyway.

She knew where the finish was, and knew she would be coming up on it in a minute or so. The road in front of her veered down again so that it was right above Shade's car and playfully swerved left to right. Below her Shade was keeping his car steady, suddenly hoping that she knew what she was doing.

But again, Zandra had a feeling that he was worried, and therefore felt even more the urge to play around. Soon Shade would be taking a left, but she would go straight ahead. She'd take a detour to the exit and beat him to it, even without her motorcycle.

He slowed down as his road departed from hers, but kept steadily moving forward. Though he was uncertain, he trusted Zandra enough to keep going. And he wasn't going to let her win by much, he had decided.

She ditched her motorcycle as the bar loomed ahead of her. As her mind moved places so did her simultaneous renovations, and the road ahead of her stopped forming. Her motorcycle skidded off the side as she flew, falling hundreds – maybe thousands of feet before hitting another street below. She grabbed the pole with nimble dexterity and swung around twice before letting herself fly free again. A few feet above and further forward was another bar which she grabbed onto and swung again.

"This isn't safe," Kesia said, the concern obvious in her tone, "She's gonna crash it."

Veritas was quickly pounding keys on her keyboard while Alias kept tabs on vitals. The stability of the system was diminishing slowly – and if she didn't slow down, there would be a serious problem within a matter of minutes.

"Their vitals are fine," Alias growled from behind them. She had previously assured Veritas of her disapproval of the whole debacle, but there was nothing much she could do at that point. With their vitals intact, Alias commenced to sit and wait until something happened.

"Can't you call them?" Kesia asked again.

"No," Veritas repeated, "I can't put a phone in."

"You'd think she'd put in a line, at least…" Alias said darkly.

"It's subject-sensitive!" Veritas said a little loud, "Only they can do it."

Zandra was getting tired of swinging, and the finish line was quick approaching. Instantly a road materialized below her, heading towards the looming finish. As she fell to the ground, a board zoomed up to hover under her, and she landed softly onto the speeding craft. She held out her arms for balance, and got ready for the finale.

Shade was getting nervous in his car. Certainly Zandra was alright – or else the world would disintegrate, right? He hadn't seen her in a few minutes, and his anxiety was building. A lot of things were happening in the construct that had him worried; most of all being the changing skyline. Thankfully the road was constant, but everything else seemed to be changing rapidly. Buildings appeared and vanished; some roads twisted or ended abruptly, leaving Shade to hope that the road he drove on wouldn't lead him to a spiraling death. Ahead he could see what looked like a courtyard, and he felt better. Certainly that would be their finish…

Zandra watched Shade approach from a street below, getting closer to the finish. With a quick spurt of speed she veered more to the right so that she was almost on top of the courtyard. Shade was coming towards her, but he wouldn't be able to see her. She abandoned her board and jumped off the street, the timing perfect.

Shade was perfectly startled when she landed on the hood of his car with a wave. She reveled in his reaction – a mixture of shock, surprise, and excitement. Zandra knew the courtyard was coming up behind her, which meant she only had a few seconds to beat him to the punch. She turned around and jumped off the car as a pole materialized above them. She grabbed onto the pole with its waiting handle and skidded downwards towards the courtyard, leaving Shade gaping in awe. Nimbly she leapt onto the ground and planted a flag into the metal ground while Shade entered the courtyard, coming to a stop. She had won.

"Ho-ly," Shade commented as he pulled himself out of the car. The road behind him disintegrated. Zandra laughed. They were now on a square platform in the sky, surrounded by an amorphous horizon.

"That was fun," Zandra said, catching her breath. "I'd do that every day."

Shade laughed and smiled, then shook his head slowly.

"What?" Zandra asked, but he merely smiled and shook his head again.

"Nothing."

Tell her!

"It looks like they stopped," Kesia said. Veritas secretly rolled her eyes and nodded.

"They'll come out when they're ready," she replied. Alias sighed.

"They'd better."

They both laughed, and quieted down a moment later. Zandra sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"It's nice having it all back," she said, examining her hair. Shade smiled but said nothing, silently admiring.

"Hm," she continued, "I guess we'll have to get out then."

"Yeah."

Zandra pulled a phone out of her pocket and dialed Veritas.

"That's her!" Kesia said in almost a shriek. Alias rolled herself over to the screens and watched intently.

"Operator?" Veritas asked. Alias could detect a shake in her voice.

"Hi Veritas," Zandra said, "This upload is amazing."

"Thanks," she replied, with a glance to Alias, "But I think it's time to get out."

"I agree…" Zandra replied a bit reluctantly, "Take us up, then."

A/N Herm. This chap seemed to be a little different style than the others. Ah, I'll get my beta to figure it out when she gets to it.

I would put review replies here… but it looks like I have no reviews. Boo-hoo to me.