The car that Augaley rented was far larger than Oak's small taxi. As they piled into the vehicle, Ivy admired the sleek black exterior accented by neon blue lights. They were on their way to the library, coursing between stately buildings that reminded Ivy of her home. She couldn't help but gasp in admiration as each turn revealed more plants and buildings, harmoniously mingling together.
Other cars bustled by on invisible tracks above and below them, and Ivy even spotted a glass walkway far above them that spanned between two large buildings.
"Wow...," Ivy said, looking at the complex dance of cars large and small as they wound around each other, zipping between buildings and under pathways. Her eyes could barely keep up with the speed of the car's movements. "How do they not crash into each other?" Ivy said, finding herself dizzy from the view.
"The System!" Carbon enthusiastically said, watching the cars. "It ensures that every car can get to and from its destination without colliding with another car."
Ivy frowned. They've been mentioning this whole 'System' thing since I've gotten here. Is it really that big of a deal? "What exactly is The System?" she asked.
The kids paused. "I...don't know how to explain it so that you can understand," Carbon said with a frown.
"How about Kronalia?" Syndria said. "You know the most about history, right?"
Kronalia, who was distractedly staring out of the window, turned to look at the others. "Huh? Explain The System?" she said. "Well, let's see," she continued, tilting her head. "It's similar to what you know as a computer operating system and internet combined—all of our devices connect to The System."
"So... The System keeps the cars and buildings from falling too then, right?" she said. Ivy glanced to the earth far below and swallowed. We're a long way from the ground... she thought, discreetly pinching her arm. I can't believe I'm really here in the future!
"Right!" Kronalia said. "We might send it a simple command, like 'make me a toast', and it'll send the command to both my pantry and toaster to make it. Almost everything is automated nowadays."
That's absurd, Ivy thought. "Do you know how to cook for yourself, then?"
"I mean, of course," she said, shrugging. "But if you don't have to, or if you're too busy, why not have The System do it for you?"
Not too sure if I agree with that line of reasoning, she thought, politely nodding and looking out of the window. I wonder how much time we have before we reach?
The view outside slowed to a stop. Ivy blinked. They were between a gap in the buildings, and there was no platform for them to exit onto.
"Is this the library?" she said, turning to look at the others.
She found herself looking at equally confused faces.
"No," Kronalia finally said.
"Then...why are we here?"
"Augaley," Oak said, "didn't you put in the destination for the library?"
"I...I did," Augaley said, quickly tapping on the holoscreen in the center of the car. "It's saying that our trip is paused."
"What?" Syndria said, scooting next to Ivy. "How is that possible?"
"That's never happened before...," Augaley said, frowning.
"Unless...," Kronalia nervously said. "It's cybervists?"
The five kids stared at her.
"No... there's no way they're attacking us," Oak said, shaking his head.
"Why not?" Kronalia countered. "They attack at random! I've heard of cases like this," she said. "The car stops and they attack, and they leave their victims to be never seen again."
"Wait," Ivy said. "Who are cybervists?"
As if to answer her question, an abrupt boom sounded on the top of their car. Sharp, ponding noises filled the cabin. Footsteps? Ivy thought, leaning away from the windows. The car's doors suddenly creaked and groaned, and she watched sparks fly from the parting panels' growing crack.
In stepped two tall individuals, their faces covered in mirrored helmets and bodies clothed in shapeless garments. "Is this the right car?" one individual said. Ivy frowned. Their voice is so distorted, they sound pixel-y! she thought.
The other person didn't answer and instead slowly scanned the car, their head swiveling as they looked at each kid. Ivy glanced at the others. They were all tensely watching the two individuals and slowly shrinking away. Ivy, who found herself seated the closest to the strangers, nervously eyed them, trying to not attract attention to herself. The person scanning the room paused as they turned to Ivy. "That one," they said. "She'll make a perfect recruit."
Recruit? she thought in alarm as the other person nodded and stepped towards her. "Hey, wait!" she exclaimed, scrambling backward as the person suddenly lunged and grabbed at her arm, sharply yanking her towards them. Think, Ivy! she thought in panic, struggling against their iron grip. "Let go!" she yelled, stomping on their feet. She stared in bewilderment as they continued walking, seemingly unphased by her defense.
"Let her go, that's our friend!" Syndria exclaimed, running after Ivy.
The others were close behind Syndria, all trying their best to block the stranger's path out.
"Move!" the stranger holding onto Ivy said, pushing them away with their free arm.
"Not until you let our friend go!" Syndria said, planting herself in front of the exit.
Kronalia, Carbon, and Augaley all joined her. Oak in the meanwhile was lingering behind Ivy, his eyes darting between the stranger and her. Ivy watched him inquisitively.
"It's a far drop down below," the stranger said, stepping threateningly closer to the three.
"That applies to you too, doesn't it?" Kronalia countered. "Wouldn't be very neon if a couple of us fell out."
"Is that a threat, kid?" they retorted.
Meanwhile, Oak inched towards Ivy, his eyes focused on the person holding her.
"Should we just take them all?" the person said, making a pixelated sound that Ivy could only assume to be a sigh.
Oak positioned himself behind the person, out of view of the other stranger. Raising his leg, he poised for a kick. Ivy's eyes followed where he was looking. Their knee! she thought, her gaze fixating on Oak's target.
Before he could swing, however, the other stranger raised their hand. The person holding Ivy's arm abruptly dropped it.
"It's not worth the trouble," the stranger said, turning their head to look outside. "Let's go before agents catch circuit of us."
"But—."
"That's an order."
The person slowly looked between Ivy and the group of kids, made another pixelated sigh, then joined the stranger. They shoved past the kids, and wordlessly jumped out, dropping below.
"Wait, what?" Kronalia exclaimed as the doors slid shut. Ivy and the group rushed to the door's windows, watching outside.
Below was a hovering panel, with the two strangers standing on it. They watched as the panel slowly raised past their car and above.
"...they were bluffing about the drop?" Kronalia said. "I knew we shouldn't have listened to them."
Ivy craned her neck to catch a glimpse of where they were heading. Above their car was a large, dark vehicle. It looks like a bus! she thought, watching as the two hopped off the panel and into the vehicle. The black car sped away.
"...were those cybervists?" Ivy quietly said, rubbing her arm.
"Y...yeah," Syndria said, shaken.
"I don't get it...what are they trying to do? What did they mean by 'recruit'?"
"Cybervists aren't above kidnapping people and forcing them to join their cause," Oak said. "They think that The System shouldn't exist, and want to drag the rest of us into their idea of a perfect future."
"So they want to take over everything?" Ivy said. She worriedly looked out of the window."...they were trying to kidnap me," she said.
"At least they didn't, right?" Kronalia nervously laughed.
"Right, they let us go!" Augaley quickly agreed.
"We were very fortunate," Carbon gravely said. "I've never known the cybervists to be the type to let their attacked ones go."
Oak said nothing but worriedly watched the window. Quickly, he turned around and retreated to the other side of the car, opening a holopanel.
"Um...thanks, guys," Ivy said, shakily sitting down. "For saving me."
"I'm just glad we're all in one piece," Syndria said, sitting next to Ivy with a sigh. "Who knows what they could have done?"
"Usually they destroy the cars of those who they attack," Carbon said, pacing back and forth. "And yet we're still here. Why aren't we moving yet? Surely we should be continuing to the library?"
"I"m working on it," Oak gruffly said, tapping on the screen. "I don't know how to override their pause."
Suddenly, he straightened, his eyes wide.
"What is it?" Kronalia said, rushing next to him. She leaned back and frowned.
"They didn't do anything because they've already set a timer on the car," Oak said.
Silence filled the car.
"How much time do we have left, then?" Syndria said, breaking the quiet. "Maybe we can figure out how to stop it before it runs out?"
The car's humming stopped. Slowly, Ivy looked out the window.
Outside, the landscape was tilting as it blurred with the car's descent. Ivy could feel herself almost lifting from the seat. We're falling! she thought in panic as the car plummeted. Around her, the others were scrambling around the car, yelling at each other. "Carbon, do you know where the manual controls are in this model?" Oak urgently said, searching the back wall of the car.
"Yes, but I don't see it here!" he responded, joining Oak.
The two searched the back wall. Meanwhile, Syndria, Kronalia, and Augaley were searching the walls on the other end of the car. "I think it's over here," Syndria said, patting the wall.
"Um, guys?" Ivy said, glancing out of the window. It still looked like they had a distance left to fall, although the earth was uncomfortably closer than before. "How can I help?"
"Just stay there," Oak growled, prying at the wall. With a loud click, a panel popped open. "There we go," he said, tossing the panel and kneeling to look within.
"Hey...!" Ivy started to protest as the panel clattered at her feet. She stopped herself and instead took up the panel with a sigh. I guess they got it under control, she thought, trying her best to not look out of the window again.
"You got it!" Carbon cheered, diving closer to the newly-revealed set of buttons as the others rushed to see what the boys opened.
"This is great!" Syndria said.
"But...how do we power the car?" Augaley quietly said.
Oak blankly stared at the panel. "I...I've never actually used one of these things before," he slowly said. "I've only ever watched my uncle work with them."
"Let me try, I think I might've read something on this," Kronalia said, pushing forward to inspect.
Meanwhile, Ivy glanced out of the window. We don't have much time left, she nervously thought, watching as the horizon grew larger. She tore her eyes away and looked at the panel in her hands. On it was a series of pictures of what looked like buttons. Wait...these look like instructions! The final picture showed a button and a knob. An arrow pointed towards the button, and another curved arrow wrapped around the knob illustration. Are you supposed to push and turn those two together...?
She looked to the others.
They were still struggling with the endless dials and knobs.
"Guys?" Ivy said, jumping to her feet and waving the panel. "I think I know how to start it!"
"How could you possibly know?" Oak scoffed.
Ivy didn't get a chance to answer—the car's power suddenly started again, and its low humming sound resumed. Sharply, it jerked upwards, throwing the kids to their feet. "Ow...," Ivy groaned as she pushed herself up. She looked out of the window.
To her relief, the sky was now moving in the opposite direction. We're going up! she thought.
Around her, the other children slowly stood, plopping into seats. "Oh, thank goodness," Augaley sighed.
"How did it just start like that?" Ivy exclaimed, looking between the group of children and the holopanel in the center of the room.
"That must've been a warning," Oak said. "Cybervists don't just let you go."
"That was too close," Kronalia shakily said, her eyes pasted to the window.
"I've always heard of deaths caused by the attacks," Syndria said, more subdued than usual. "...never thought we'd almost be one of them."
"We need to report this," Augaley said, fidgeting.
Oak shook his head. "Remember Ivy?" he said. "She's a time anomaly. We call them, and she's gone for good."
The kids sat in silence as the car slowed its ascent and returned to its previous height from before the incidents. It resumed its journey on the path, silently gliding along as if it hadn't just plummeted seconds earlier.