CHAPTER II

Slade was tired of sitting down. He had been sitting for about two hours and began to think of time estimates before he got to his destination. He also began to think of other reasons why vehicles were no longer moving asides from those of the substandard nature of the road. It could have been due to several reasons: an accident, some vehicle malfunction, the number of vehicles on the road at the time…

The character "…" is called an ellipsis. It helps get right to the point without delay or distraction. Many people in Slade's world wished they could quickly eliminate distractions in their daily lives by saying, "Dot, dot, dot." At that moment, Slade wished he or the vehicle he was in could fly, but if wishes were horses…

It is raining, not in Slade's world, but in mine. This could be a source of distraction. The rain is hitting the roof of the building, giving off a rumbling sound as though there is a tremor, but the building is not shaking. As it turns out, I also cannot say “Dot, dot, dot” to eliminate my problems, but I have other methods.

Slade could get out of the vehicle to stretch his body if he wanted. But he would not. He hated any attention. He was very good at being “invisible.” He thought it was his nature, but there was another reason: he was afraid people did not give a shit about him. It was some sort of mind game, and he played it this way: "I do not give a shit about you, so I do not give a shit that you do not give a shit about me!"

Not giving a shit, in this instance, means not caring. Many people in that world used the word a lot.

Slade thought about ridiculous things whenever he was sad or bored. The present predicament of his country made him sad all the time, and now, he was bored.

He began to think about flying cars. That shouldn’t be a surprise since such a vehicle would solve his present transportation predicament. Flying cars in Slade's time was still a "work in progress.” That meant that there were no flying cars at the time. They were still being developed.

How hard would it be to create a flying car? He thought to himself. I just might be able to do something about it when I am rich...

He never became rich.

In Slade's world, there were things called "movies.” Many people were deceived by those movies’ contents, especially those termed "science fiction.” The truth was that there was nothing scientific about some of the ridiculous ideas that were portrayed in them. What the producers of such movies wanted was something that would excite the viewers. Sometimes, they added a bit of actual science, and sometimes...

Flying cars were ordinary in science fiction movies, making Slade wonder why they were unavailable. Isn't it just science? How hard could it be! We have planes! It should be a walk in the park!

A walk in the park means something easy to do. Creating flying cars was not one of those things.

Using flying cars in Slade's country might have been challenging, at least until the electrical wires hanging haphazardly all over the place were passed underground. That was something else the government could not give a shit about. Those hanging wires were dangerous and could cause harm if they fell, but…

To his credit, Slade then considered something that was unpopular in science fiction movies. The idea was that of making the body of every vehicle possess similar poles of a magnet. According to him, a reduction in vehicle collisions would reduce accidents considerably. In movies, accidents made things interesting and exciting, so you can imagine why such an idea was never exploited.

Slade would have made a good living as a science fiction movie director or writer. Such an idea could only be effective in movies and would probably intrigue many people. But in reality, it would be disastrous. Why? Vehicles would no longer need to hit themselves for accidents, but they would still occur.

I would like to give you the science behind that, but you will have to take my word for it. Slowly, vehicles began to move, and Slade was tired. He thought about taking a quick nap. He hoped he would be closer to his destination when he woke up.

He was right this time, but not how he imagined it. Thirty metres forward would undoubtedly get him closer to his destination, and the vehicle moved way more than that. But by the time he woke up, he still had not gotten halfway through the journey!