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The white, luminous vehicle lurched from the Pythagoras area of the campus and onto the adjoining road amid roaring shouts and cheers from Joram's fellow students. Professor Scelestus sat in the passenger seat guiding him, explaining the controls as he drove. It was amazingly simple to drive.
“It's just like a standard jetaircar,” he said. “Speed throttle is the pedal on the right, brake is on the left, and joysticks in the middle.”
Joram raced down a highway at speeds he had never known before.
“You've got enough speed, now pull back gently on the joystick,” he instructed.
Joram felt the car lift gently into the air as if he was riding a feather. “This is protonic!” He pulled back further and soared high above Atraville, watching as the houses became tiny specks. Maneuvering the joystick, he circled back and felt the vehicle shoot downwards towards the Atraville campus. This vehicle wanted to go.
He shifted his foot to the brake pedal, and felt the vehicle responsively slow just above the Student Center, hovering and circling just above the crowd of students waving and cheering. Then he pulled back on the stick and punched the gas at the same time. The vehicle shot up into the air smoothly and effortlessly. But he suddenly pulled back, worried the angle of ascent might be too steep, or that he might shoot out into space.
“You can go straight up,” Dr. Scelestus said. “Remember that it doesn't have any mass in the real dimensions, so there's not a problem with having a mass-to-thrust ratio greater than one. Sanctus energy doesn't require air, so it's also no problem if the atmosphere becomes too thin.”
“Then if this thing is composed of sanctus material, why are we able to sit in it like this? I mean, if sanctus material doesn't have mass in the real world, shouldn't we just pass right through it?”
The professor smiled, “We aren't only composed of real matter.”
Joram looked confused, adjusting the stick so that he was shooting through a bank of heavy clouds.
“We aren't just matter; we're sanctus beings also. There's enough sanctus material in us to keep us in this vehicle.”
“What's this button on the joystick?” Joram asked, feeling a protruding red button at the end of the stick with his thumb.
“That's the sanctus thrusters. If you press that button, it will propel you through the sanctus realm to where you want to go instantly. Go ahead and try it.”
Joram did, but wasn't at all ready for what happened next. It wasn't a thrust. Actually, he didn't feel anything, but suddenly he was somewhere else. Brilliant while light flashed around him so luminous that he couldn't keep his eyes opened. But then it was gone, and they were flying through thick clouds again.
“Drop it down some,” the professor commanded.
Joram eased the joystick and the vehicle eagerly sped towards the earth, revealing a beautiful landscape of trees and mountains he didn't recognize. “Where are we?”
“New Zealand. I punched in the coordinates beforehand. We actually got here before we left Atraville.”
Joram flew the car down across white- capped peaks and through deep, treacherous mountain valleys. He skimmed lakes, seeing how close he could come to the water before rising and threaded through openings in trees along the shores. It was so easy and responded so well to his touch that he felt like he'd been flying all his life.
“I asked you to fly this for a reason,” the professor said at long last, looking pensive.
“What is it, professor?” Joram asked curiously.
“I've started an organization I've called 'The Styrande', and I'd like you and this car to be an important part of it.”
Narration by Howard Douglas; based on discussions with Tomma Torstig.
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