Chapter 3: Road

Dan is a cyborg pilot, not a space one, but within the atmosphere he can drive almost anything that runs, flies, or swims. But mostly he drives a variety of cars. He has lightning fast reactions, can maintain concentration for days without sleep, and can take apart and repair almost any engine with his bare hands. Almost all cars have augmentation interfaces, so Dan usually connects and feels the car as his own body - literally, with all his senses - and drives it as his body.

On this day, Dan is driving a heavy truck on a federal highway from the eastern end of the continent to the western end. The highway is almost empty, it’s off-season. Around noon, he spots a van on the side of the road ahead, its hazard lights flashing. Dan stops next to it.

The van’s hood is cranked all the way up, steam and smoke pouring out from underneath. The driver, halfway into the engine compartment, is slamming something inside.

“Can I help you?” asks Dan, also looking under the hood.

The driver grunts, crawls out, and straightens up. It is a female cyborg, covered in oil and very unhappy.

“I don’t think so,” she sighs, “It’s just too old. My transport company said so: ‘Well, sometimes shit happens. The tractor’s already gone, we’ll take your scrap to be melted down, and you can get a new one at our nearest location... ‘. And I’ve been driving this van for twenty years, you know?” She sobs.

“What a shit...” Dan goes dark. He’s never been tied to a car for more than a few years, but he can imagine. Twenty years ... losing that connection is like losing half of yourself. “I don’t know ... stay with you?”

“There’s no point,” she sighs, slamming the hood shut. “I don’t want to see it. Take me into town...”

She hugs the fender of the van, pressing her face and chest against it, arms spread wide, and stands there for several minutes. Then she pulls away. “Goodbye, my friend...” and to Dan, “Let’s go, what...”

Dan starts the car and pulls onto the highway. The woman sits next to him in the cab, sobbing occasionally.

“What’s your name?”

“Sana.”

“I’m Dan.”

He doesn’t need his arms or legs to drive, so he walks over to Sana and gently puts his arm around her shoulders. “I’m so sorry.” She sobs into his shoulder and he strokes her hair lightly.

After a while, Sana stops sobbing, hugs him back, and they begin to kiss. It’s a two-hour drive to the city, and they stop three times because driving and having sex at the same time is too much. In the city, he drops her off at the bus station and continues his route. They exchange contacts.

For the next three years, they travel all over the continent, transporting everything that needs to be transported. They are in constant contact, exchanging thoughts, feelings and views from the cabs. Many times their routes intersect (they adjust and synchronize them whenever they can), and they spend hours or nights together, as close in body and soul as is physically possible (and for cyborgs, it is possible to be very, very close). They consider switching to pair piloting, but decide they prefer to meet like this and share their travel stories.

Their bond is not unique among cyborgs, but it is probably the closest and longest among pilots of their time. Twenty years with one machine is understandable, but this, with each other ... Their friends are genuinely jealous.