Legends Of The Multiverse #13 - Shortcut
By the time sunlight navigated the thick veil of L.A. smog and reached Gerard's white knuckles, clenched around the steering wheel of his 2034 baby blue Acura, it had been robbed of all heat.
That's just what L.A. did nowadays, sapped you dry.
Traffic was awful, but at least there was no duststorm to contend with. It would take Gerard another hour to get to work at this rate. But in a duststorm all bets were off. Total standstill for the duration, and then another half hour once it ended for folks to clear their exhausts and intakes.
Sometimes the storms could last for half a day, or longer. After a real rager, it was not uncommon to find people dead in their cars from dehydration or heat stroke. Still better than trying to walk away, debrided, lungs filled to the brim with dust.
Today the air was, relatively speaking, clear. In the distance the perpetual smog-induced sunset effect was actually quite beautiful.
But Gerard could not focus. The day had only just begun and it was already getting away from him. A sensation had been building for some time, one which Gerard could hardly put into words.
Dissatisfaction? Yes, of course.
Depression? Water cost $3 a gallon - sure.
Disillusionment? This implied a prior illusion from which Gerard might be liberated, and though he felt the first part was true, liberation was proving difficult.
In truth, it all felt like an illusion, as though there was a deeper reality underlying it all that Gerard could channel in his dreams, but never bring back to waking life.
The car's GPS chimed in apropos of nothing.
"You are in traffic. This will add 46 minutes to your travel time. This is still the fastest route."
Something about the announcement caused a fury to rise in Gerard's chest. Of course I know I'm in traffic! Something about it drove him to rage. "I know I'm in fucking traffic! I'm always in fucking traffic! My entire fucking life is fucking traffic!"
Without thinking Gerard began slamming the base of his fists onto the dashboard, onto the speaker through which the gps spoke. He slammed it more and more angrily, until his hands began to redden and swell. A desperate sadness welled up inside him and his arms smashed the dashboard again and again, until he was flailing around the inside of his car like a rabid ape in heat.
"Debug mode activated."
The female GPS voice was slightly garbled, but clearly audible. The strangeness of the announcement caught Gerard off guard, stifling frenzy with curiousity.
"Huh?"
"User in debug mode. Administrative commands available."
Gerard looked at his hands. They were red, swollen, and bleeding a little. The speaker cover was indented. The car in front of him moved forward 20 yards or so. Gerard followed mechanically and came to a stop again.
"Debug mode. Great. Find me a shortcut." The sarcasm in Gerards's voice implied an unspoken addendum, off the nearest cliff.
But, to his surprise, the command seemed to work. "Calculating shortcut. In 400 yards, turn right."
Gerard looked ahead and saw an exit he'd not noticed before about 400 yards ahead. He spoke to the GPS. "How much time does this save me?"
"Approximately 37 minutes. It is the fastest route."
"Debug mode? OK." Gerard inched toward the exit, through traffic. He needed to get across four lanes at a snails pace. It took almost ten minutes. But then he was in the shoulder facing the off ramp.
"Why is no one else taking the exit?" Gerard asked. The GPS was probably on the fritz after the beating he administered.
The dulcet tones of the voice answered with programmed confidence. "The route is not considered in normal mode. It is only factored in with administrative privileges enabled."
"Son of a bitch." This must one of those Silicon Valley loopholes everyone was always talking about - insider information witholding. There was talk of this kind of functionality being hidden in nearly every application imaginable. Why not GPS?
Gerard took the exit.
The ramp winded around almost 360 degrees, and connected to a small well paved road. Gerard felt a certain exhilaration at the sudden freedom of movement, and so he stepped down on the gas and felt the g-force of the turn in his belly.
Once he was on the sideroad, he looked down its length. A beautiful perfect straight line for miles, away from the city. As far as the eye could see there was not another car in sight. In the far distance the road seemed to pass between two verdant mountaintops, their peaks covered, impossibly, with white snow, the sun peaking through the perfectly clean air between them.
Gerard pulled down the sun visor and put on a pair of old sunglasses he'd forgotten he owned. When he spoke, he heard in his voice, for the first time in years, excitement. Hope.
"You know what, cancel navigation. I'm taking the day off."
The GPS responded. "Navigation canceled."
Gerard floored it and set off toward the distant horizon in search of freedom.
Breaking now, a blue Acura sedan has driven through the protective barrier of the elevated highway on route 34 this morning, to the horror and astonishment of dozens of nearby commuters. Witnesses say the vehicle aggressively pushed it's way through traffic before plummeting off of the 50 foot high span onto the southbound lanes below. Authorities say the driver has died, and it is not yet clear whether this was an intentional suicide or a bizarre accident. Thankfully there are no reports of any other injuries. If you have video of the event contact us at the number below. If you're headed Northbound this morning, municipal authorities suggest taking an alternate route, as lane closures as a result of the accident are causing extensive delays.
Photo by Silver Spoon (Own work) [CC0 - Public Domain], via Wikimedia Commons
good story, narration and placement of words easy to digest, this storyline is suitable for the present time. most think shortcuts are the best. whereas full of risk. other awaited connection @dber
This post has received gratitude of 0.78 % from @appreciator thanks to: @dber.
is this a fictional story or based on personal experience @dber ? the story is interesting. shortcuts are considered appropriate