James slowly eased Ella towards the on-ramp, looking for an opening in traffic. The Arc causeways were the main arteries of an extensive system designed for autonomous transport. He felt like a fraud trying to do this, but he had no choice. Ella's comms were down, so he couldn't call for help.
The lower storage garage was still under construction. Empty holes marking where future communication relays would be mounted. James tapped his earpiece, but still couldn't raise a signal. He had to forge ahead, get Ella to the maintenance bay on the far side of the Arc.
Vehicles whizzed by at top speed, large trucks loaded with cargo, smaller pods with darkened windows. James tapped the pedal, and waited for his chance. He wondered what those kids had done to Ella. Her console status lights were green, but the output on screen didn't make sense.
Two oversized cargo carriers rumbled past, loaded with exterior panels gleaming brightly in the tunnel lights. There should be two more, they always were in grouped pairs to minimize transit disruption due to their slower speeds. James waited for the second to clear the intersection, stomping on the accelerator.
A sharp squeal as Ella's wheels gained traction, lurching forward at speed. Ella's motors whined with effort, drawing power from high-density batteries. He had done it, success! James carefully maintained distance, counting ramps marked with cryptic letter-number designations.
The causeway wasn't human-friendly. The signs were small and only intended to help maintenance teams isolate a given section for repair. James worked with routing construction equipment, which luckily included the segment he was hurtling down.
"AB23, 23, twenty-three", James repeated the off-ramp code to himself, trying his best to spot the quarter-meter signs before they whipped by. Even though this was strange and new, James found driving rather liberating, if not stressful.
"JjjjJjaaaames.", Ella's voice cracked and fizzled, consonants and vowels distorted.
"Yes Ella? I'm here, I'm taking you to safety", three multi-segmented carriers zoomed by, backwash pushing Ella sideways. James corrected, gripping the wheel tightly.
"Reeebooot Jjjaaaames."
A reboot? That would take Ella's systems offline, and he wasn't certain if that would stop power going to the motors spinning Ella's wheels. A front port opened on Ella's hood, launching a magnetic disk trailing a cable. The disk latched on to the lumbering transport ahead, as Ella wound the cable taut.
So that was it then. James and Ella were now tiny tadpoles, attached to a lumbering whale. James reached down to the center console, flipping open the protective covering revealing a red switch. It was meant to initialize a new system before it was connected to the grid.
James grimaced and pushed the button.
Interior cabin lights dimmed and brightened. The only sounds were the rushing air past the windscreen, rolling wheels on grooved pavement humming in low tones. James swallowed, wondering if he had wiped Ella by mistake. A dark ball of fear grew in the pit of his stomach at the thought of it.
PING
Ella's speakers clicked and went silent. The console display lit up with the UniCar logo.
"Thank you James, I can speak to you normally now."
"Oh Ella, I thought you were gone!", James voice cracked, welling emotions misting his eyes.
"I am here, James. My validation checks indicate a process running that I can't identify."
"What process?", James wondered what the Jaxxers had done to her.
"Not known at this time. I'm attempting to analyze. Incoming message on screen."
They had comms? James was about to tap the button to call for help, when two angry faces filled the display.
"Yo pod, you jacked our ride. Things gonna get scrunch you don't reverse, quick-like."
"You stole my car and tampered with her brain!", James hands shook with anger.
"Dats touching, your wheeled girlfriend.", laughter rang through the speaker, as the two Jaxxers flashed rude gestures.
"Gets back, or we blank your girlie, gots it?"
James flicked through the diagnostics, looking at the functions display. The Jaxxers didn't have full remote, so they couldn't force him to drive back. He wasn't sure if they had any other tricks up their sleeves.
"Get stuffed.", James punched the disconnect, clenching his jaw.
A tone sounded, indicating loss of comms. The Jaxxers had scrambled the system again. Ella and James were cut off from the comms grid, hurtling down the causeway. Bright lights glared from behind, illuminating the entire cabin. James blinked, looking back to see what was behind them.
Five cranes, booms folded, were advancing behind them in a single row. The lead crane crashed into a passenger pod, sending it reeling across traffic, impacting the tunnel wall. That wasn't supposed to happen. Collisions were rare, and only a few incidents were logged a year.
The Jaxxers must be behind this. James pushed on the pedal, slackening the tether to the truck ahead.
"Ella, we need to detach, now!"
"Yes James, please be careful."
The tether released and spooled in, sparks dancing off of the magnetic disk as it impacted the roadway. The hood port closed and latched shut.
"Try to re-enable comms. Things are going to get swervy.", James braced his shoulders and edged out of the lane, ahead of the looming phalanx of cranes. They couldn't call for help until the comms were back, no doubt blocked by the Jaxxer's remote hack. He hoped Ella could bypass it somehow.
Pressing on the pedal, James brought Ella up to top speed, wheels thrumming in rising tones.
(To be continued.)
This is a multi-part story. Confused? Start at the beginning - Part One
