Motor City Rush

"Character counts most when duty calls."

“Serilda?”

The void mage looked up from the book in her lap when her name was called. She was sitting in a crowded building in Motor City along with a dozen other people that were there to get their licenses to drive. Serilda had been waiting for an hour or so when her would be instructor came to collect her.

The instructor was a middle-aged woman of average height. She had long brunette hair that hung loose over her shoulders, and wore business casual attire that was clean, but a bit wrinkled from spending too much time sitting in cars that day. There was a bored expression on her face as the woman looked over her clipboard to see who responded to the summons.

Serilda stood, closing her book and tucking it away in her purse. “Right here, ma’am,” she said as she approached.

The woman did manage a smile at least when she got closer. “I’m Faye, I’ll be your instructor today. It’s a pleasure to meet you, miss.” They shook hands politely before Faye waved her outside. “This way. Did you bring your own vehicle?”

“No. I don’t own one yet, and couldn’t have legally driven it here anyway.”

Faye grinned at her. “That’s the right answer! Not to worry, we have plenty of training vehicles for you to use here.” She lead Serilda to a packed parking lot. Down one of the aisles were a row of similar looking lacrima cars that appeared worn and a bit dated. Pointing to one, the two climbed inside and Faye said, “Alright why don’t you go ahead and show me how you hook yourself up.”

The Voidwalker clipped in her seatbelt and then picked up the strap that would wrap around her wrist. As she was securing it, the woman told her, “I hope this isn’t a rude question, but aren’t you a little old to just be getting your license? I only just noticed your age. Most people get these straight away at sixteen. Go ahead and turn on the car.”

Serilda gave the woman a tiny smile as she turned the ignition. “A bit, yes. I never needed a license growing up. I come from a wealthy family, and my parents always had the family chauffeured wherever we went. But recently I joined a wizard guild and left home. Public transport gets the job done, but I figure it wouldn’t hurt to be able to drive myself somewhere if I needed to.”

The woman’s brows rose with interest. “A wealthy family, huh? Where are you from? Go ahead and pull forward and make a right out of the parking lot.”

The voidmage followed the instructions, feeling her magic power siphoning gently out of her wrist and into the tube that was connected to the engine, the energy fueling the car. “Clover Town.”

Faye reached over and fiddled with the radio dial, looking for a new station. “Oh, Clover! It’s been a while since I’ve been there. It’s so lovely. Did you know…”

And that started a half an hour conversation between the two of them. Faye definitely seemed more interested in chatting than in actually paying attention to how Serilda was driving. There were one or two times where the Voidmage found herself caught up in the dialogue more than the road, but thankfully she managed to catch hold of herself before anything bad happened.

By the end of it, Faye had Serilda pull back into the lot and park the vehicle. After turning it off and unstrapping herself, the other woman scribbled down on the test sheet and handed the results to the wizard. “Here you go! Great job! You’re a natural! It was wonderful getting to know you, and I wish you luck with your time in Sabertooth.”

“Thank you very much, Faye,” Serilda said. Then with a smile, she turned to head back inside the building where she could turn the voucher in for her license.