Chapter 3
Elliot's teeth chattered as he stepped into the frozen garage, his numb fingers clutching the flashlight. Its shaky beam lit up the futuristic car, waiting for him like it knew he'd be back, its sleek body pulsing in the dark.
"Goddamn cold…"
His breath formed white clouds that drifted lazily over the smooth hood. The watch on his wrist glowed faintly:
-52°C | Thermal Insulation: 78% | Endurance: 43 minutes
He was weirdly amused that even he had an endurance rating, like the watch saw him as a battery-powered machine. But it was tracking his ability to withstand the cold.
He reached out a trembling hand, brushing the icy surface. It hummed under his fingers, like a dog recognizing its owner. The car responded instantly—its doors dissolved silently.
The dashboard flickered to life, and after a moment, the jumbled symbols resolved into readable text.
"Welcome, User. I am AV24, your driving assistant."
The AI's voice was unnervingly clear, too human to be comforting. The dashboard blazed fully to life, projecting holograms onto the windshield before his wide eyes.
System Status:
Propulsion: 100%
Navigation: Online
Main Battery: 3%
Flight Mode: Locked (Recharge Required)
Elliot sank into the seat, made of some unrecognizable material that was shockingly soft. It molded to his body instantly.
"Flight mode?" he choked out.
"Correct. This vehicle is equipped with reduced-field gravitational thrusters. Functionality available, but current charge is insufficient."
A nervous laugh escaped him. He was sitting in a damn flying car abandoned in this giant freezer—a car that'd make Tesla engineers faint. The AI piped up again: "How should I address you, User?"
"Uh… Elliot."
"Eueliott registered. Would you like to open the manual charging hatch?"
If I tell it it's just Elliot, how's it gonna butcher my name next? he thought. Screw it.
"Yeah, go ahead, open the hatch."
Opening Charging Hatch
At the rear, a hidden panel slid open, revealing a set of folded solar panels no bigger than a sheet of paper. Elliot pulled them out carefully, floored by how impossibly light they were. "Light restitution efficiency: 99.8%. Near-perfect photonic conversion," the AI said, sounding like it was pitching a sales ad.
"Near-perfect?" he echoed, running a finger over the iridescent surface that drank in even the faint glow of his flashlight.
"This technology employs quantum tunneling nanorceptors to—"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll trust the science," Elliot cut in, shaking his head.
"But it needs sunlight, and that's not happening here. What the hell happened to this place, anyway?"
"I do not have an answer to your query."
Elliot's shoulders slumped, but his mind was already on the next step: getting the car to the main house so he could hook it up to the panels and charge it back at his apartment. He'd already nicknamed it "Ava."
After some back-and-forth with Ava, she confirmed she could limp to the house up the road on her remaining juice. Getting the car out of the garage was a nightmare—Elliot shoveled snow like a man possessed. After an hour of grueling work, he cleared a path, and the car glided to its destination.
Then came two hours of rigging a makeshift charging setup. The cables—thin as hairs but stupidly strong—snaked through the icy house, across the dimensional doorway, and out to his grimy balcony. The panels, balanced precariously on the rusty railing, started soaking up sunlight immediately. Charge Rate: 12.2% per hour. Estimated Full Charge: 8 hours.
Elliot collapsed onto his bed, exhausted but too wired to sleep. His fingers tapped nervously on the holographic watch, now showing hybrid data from both worlds. Ashwood: 18°C | Aetherion: -49°C | Synchronization: Active
The rest of the day blurred by in a feverish haze. Elliot darted between worlds, jotting notes in a torn-up notebook:
The car seemed to self-repair—tiny cracks in the body were slowly vanishing. The solar panels worked even under the weak glow of his bedside lamp.
At sunset, he slipped back to Aetherion for one last check. The car gleamed brighter now, its systems reading:
Charge: 84%
The AI spoke calmly: "A system update is available. Would you like to proceed with installation?"
Elliot hesitated. Updating an AI? Either the best or worst idea he'd ever had.
"What's it gonna do?"
"Enhanced navigation algorithms, propulsion optimization, updated territorial data."
"Do it."
The process took a few minutes. The car hummed softly, its lights flickering in a complex pattern. Elliot sat on the frozen floor, bundled in his black coat, watching every change like a hawk.
Update Complete.
New Data Available: Aetherion Navigation Maps – 17% Restored.
The dashboard suddenly displayed strange coordinates and a partial holographic map, showing what looked like a massive ring-shaped structure somewhere northeast.
"What's that?"
"Velythra Primary Transit Station. Distance: 342 kilometers. Status: Unknown."
After a quick calculation, the AI added: "We can reach the station in 47 minutes."
Elliot's knees went weak. He wasn't just poking around abandoned houses anymore—he had coordinates to a major hub of this lost civilization.
Back in his apartment, despite the adrenaline, he crashed hard.
He woke up multiple times during the night—the portal door was still open, and his apartment was freezing. He slept in all his gear, balaclava included, cursing its itch the whole time.
At dawn, as the first rays hit his makeshift solar panels, the car hit 100% charge.
Elliot scrambled to unplug it.
Full Systems Activated
Range: 12,000 km (4,600 km in Flight)
Flight Mode: Available
Warning: Initial Flight Requires Calibration
Hands sweaty, Elliot settled into the driver's seat, which hugged his body perfectly.
"Let's take it slow, alright?"
"Proposal: Initial hover at 5 meters for system verification."
Elliot took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's do this."
A harmonic hum rose from the vehicle as soft yellow energy lines traced across its body. Then, with surreal grace, the car lifted off, floating like a leaf in a breeze.
"Holy…"
The frozen house shrank below as the car rose with impossible elegance. For the first time, Elliot saw Aetherion's true scale—miles of snow-draped ruins stretching to the horizon.
His heart pounded, but for the first time in years, it was from excitement, not fear.
"Ready to go?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
The car responded with a confident hum, its systems locking in for the trip.
"Optimal trajectory to Velythra Station calculated. Estimated time: 46 minutes."
As the car climbed higher, Elliot glanced out the window at the world he was leaving behind—his shitty apartment, his dead-end life—and grinned.