Brian pressed the key fob to unlock the vehicle, and the two of them climbed inside, each taking their seat. He turned the key on the left side of the steering column. The engine sputtered, making his heart sink a little. "Oh, come on…" Brian tried several more times until the engine finally caught and rumbled to life.
"Your battery's dying? It sounds a little off," Adeline leaned toward him, questioning.
"Ah—no, no. Just the alternator getting old. I bought this car from a used shop in L.A. about five years ago… Old cars like this are hard to service now, so I just do everything myself. And finding parts? That's a nightmare."He backed out of the parking lot, the deep growl of the diesel engine echoing inside the cabin. The sound actually amused her.
"Wow! It's loud," Adeline remarked.
"That's the power of diesel. Nine hundred RPM at idle. Slower than modern hovercars, but it handles well enough for me."The red car rolled toward downtown Phoenix, where traffic was thin at this hour.
"If you ever run into piston trouble, tell me. I've got tons of aluminum scrap at home. I usually melt it down and make household tools with it… Ooh! You've even got a GPS! Nice~" She tapped the map on the dashboard screen to set the coordinates of her mansion, while Brian grew even more cautious behind the wheel.
"So why'd you move to Phoenix? Something wrong with L.A.?" She questioned.
"It's quieter here and, well… easier to live in. Even if the heat's a bit much." He didn't hesitate answering her.
They drove through a line of red lights. Asian restaurants glowed along the roadside. A seven-floor mall operated twenty-four hours a day. Above them, hovercraft drifted past the rooftops. Brian reached forward to switch on the radio, tuning to an oldies station.
"The Stray Cat? Seriously? Your taste is pretty ancient," Adeline teased, glancing at him.
He smiled awkwardly. "I grew up with this stuff. I'm not used to modern music. My dad downloaded all these tracks when I was a kid." He lowered the volume to something gentler, better for talking.
"I didn't say it was bad. I like classical music myself. There's nothing strange about that. Music evolves with time—just like people's way of life."
She began nodding to the rhythm of the guitar and drums.
"That's… surprisingly poetic," Brian murmured, tilting his head as he thought. His eyes drifted outside the window, left and right. "But for me, nothing's ever really changed."
"How so?" Adeline leaned in, eyebrows raised with curiosity.
"Rich, poor, well-off—people still end up in separate worlds. Sorry, I didn't mean to rant… It's just that everything still feels so…" He trailed off. Adeline finished the thought for him.
"Yeah, I get it. I'm not gonna argue that. So I guess we're even. Oh, and—you were a soldier, right?"
"You knew!? Uh—yeah, it was a long time ago. I was stationed in the Arabian Desert for two full weeks. First day nearly killed me. I swear, it was like seeing a real monster—lasers shooting everywhere. And I, uh… blew them to bits like scrambled eggs."He tried telling it in a joking way, as if to make the memory less heavy.
Adelle slowly shook her head. "Exaggerating much~? Tch. War is war. It's the twenty-second century and we're still fighting. And terrorists with high-tech weapons, tanks, planes....seriously, where do they even get all that? Why hasn't anyone handled this properly yet? Why not just send robots to fight instead? How many lives do we have to throw into that desert?"
Brian nodded. "Machines replacing humans does make work easier, sure. But then you get all the human-rights debates—how can machines be 'better' than people? Tons of workers lose their jobs the moment machines step in. And trust me… you really don't want machines wandering around a battlefield. I guarantee it'd be horrifying~."