The pod races down the street, over a gray road that gives off its own soft glow, as though bringing attention towards, although that feature is primarily useful for the night when visibility is lacking.
The pod hums softly as it drives down the mostly empty lane, passing by the long rows of houses on both sides, the houses that made up the neighborhood. The many houses don't seem to have too much variety, as most are either gray or peach. They seem to be made of a smooth metal which glistens in the cyan sunlight, and appear to be composed of several stories from its height.
The houses also aren't a single block, but rather seem to have several pieces connected to each other, with variations of light and dimensions. At the top of the houses are smoothly curved dark gray roofs, which rise up towards the center like waves, and while the houses have multiple components, there seems to be a singular roof that connects them all.
The houses don't have any noticeable windows from the outside, as the only potential opening noticeable is one white rectangle in front of each house, which seems to likely be the door. Of course, all of the rectangles are closed, giving no openings, but at least it's clearly meant to become one.
Even though some of the houses have a variation in color, all of them that the silver pod drives past seems to be made with the same structure, having the same components with the same dimensions connected by the same roof. The uniformity gives a simplistic nature to the neighborhood, for it was just that, a simple suburban neighborhood that wasn't too wealthy but not impoverished either. Not the worst, but not the best either.
The silver pod drives to the end of the peaceful lane before taking a turn to the right, and as it does, the pod begins to ascend higher up, creating more distance between it and the ground. The pod continues to rise as it hovers, reaching heights greater than the houses that it had just passed, as it enters a much wider lane, however there seems to be less space than there was previously. For while there is a larger road, the silver pod isn't the only one driving in it, as instead it joins with a flock of many other pods of different sizes, shapes, and colors, all hovering in the air without the necessity of wheels, all flying in the sky.
There are blue larger pods similar to the red one, which resembles what could be a SUV, and there are sleek white pods that appear more similar to the one the new college students are being driven in. Even in the tight neighborhood there seems to be quite the number of pods, for it is a busy morning.
The result is a wired system of flocks that flew in intersecting lines like birds, albeit low to the ground, yet still above the glowing gray road.
Amongst the flock is the silver pod, which gradually accelerates down the road, trying to reach the distant destination in a timely fashion.
Inside the pod, Rohan stares out what seems to be a window beside him, as while there aren't windows visible from the exterior of the pod, they're granted inside. Thus while the network of pods, which all also don't have visible windows from Rohan's perspective, can't see him, he can see their exteriors. The window gives a clear view of the street as his body leans against the door, his eyes gazing out into the open. His expression was still solemn as it was clear he was still having odd feelings towards leaving his home, as he knew the day would come, but he didn't know if he would be ready by then.
He lets out a breath between his softly parted lips, attempting to look ahead through the revisitation of memories surrounding visits to the college, hoping those would cheer him with anticipation.
He had led a rather mediocre life, as while his life wasn't particularly melodramatic, it wasn't particularly exciting nor the source of aspiration. He grew up from a toddler's age, went to school, did some sports, had some friends and enemies, and now here he was.
Dexter was sitting straight next to Rohan, his eyes ahead, looking towards the front windshield that his father was using to guide himself.His hands were on his lap as he seemed to try assuming a more formal posture, as though trying to replicate his father's, as his father was calm and thus an envy.
Their father was completely silent, as he just paid attention to the road ahead, his hands on a holographic projection of a wheel, albeit still capable of haptic feedback and believable weight, with his eyes fluctuating between the windshield and the dashboard.
The dashboard still continues to project holograms of gauges and other menus, and the windshield itself also seems to project its own holograms, as all of the pods in front of him are highlighted. The pods farthest from him seem to be given a green highlight, with the pods closest to him being yellow, with luckily none of them being red, as that would be dangerous.
The windshield also gives a few other widgets to display the time and weather, as well as showing a widget displaying the queue of a podcast he's listening to, however only he can hear it, as he linked it directly to his ears, disregarding his boys from experiencing it. He isn't consciously restricting them, however he's just simply staying in his own world, not putting much effort into keeping a connection with them, and instead letting them reside in their own worlds in the back.
He never spoke unless necessary, even though this was the last day the three would be together, he didn't seem to make much of a large deal out of it, as he seems to treat the ride as any other than he has been giving the boys for the past years.
It was hard to tell if he simply didn't care, or if this was just how he was acting. It was impossible to tell how he was feeling, as sometimes he felt almost like a droid, only acting commands without any sort of emotion if it interfered with the efficiency of the task.
But there was never really any beating desire to breach that shield, at least none that still remained after having been destroyed after years of emotional distance, and so it was simply assumed that he would pass off his children to their next stage of life, and go on his way back to his own.
Dexter sighs to himself, and he turns to Rohan, interested to check on what he was feeling. The both of them felt pressure now that they were driving to the college, for they had gotten into one of the most prestigious in the Superverse as a whole, which they couldn't help but feel weighed down by.
Sure enough, Rohan didn't seem to be so excited, as he was just staring off and away, silent and conserved to his own corner.
Dexter leans back on the bench, and he turns back to look on ahead, deciding to keep the eerie serenity of the ride.
The pod merges onto a much larger lane along with the rest of the flock, making their way down a busier street which seems to have more activity than the previous roads. As the pod enters deeper into the suburban city, the flock only becomes more dense, as more pods join the chains from their own resting sectors.
In the distance from the lanes of racing pods are shopping centers and public facilities, as the smooth buildings are larger than the houses, with most of them having metallic gray and white bodies. The buildings, while too far to get any clear detail, seem to have holographic red signs projecting towards the top, indicating the name of the store.
The metallic and technologically integrated buildings make them feel similar to the components of a computer, although that was almost appropriate, with the roads below acting as the grounded motherboard, with a smooth gray path connecting the suburban city together.
The ride felt eternal, as the monotonous of the silence exaggerated every second, as Rohan stared at the side window and Dexter stared at the windshield, waiting to arrive at their new home that would then act as a transitional phase to a more permanent resolution.
The window passes more buildings, which are relatively low to the ground, as while the buildings are relatively urban compared to the houses, they are still quite small. The buildings are wider than they are tall, with semi-circular centers being the largest construct, fitted with parking lots in the center surrounded by independent stores.
Minutes later, the suburban city under the flock seems to become more urban, as the buildings beside the streets are larger, and the space between them is shorter. The buildings are still below the flock, as the pods are now fairly high above the ground as it seems they moved higher during their journey, but they were steadily getting taller.
The pod is now among a longer train of other pods, with a variety of size and color, as some of the pods resembled more of trucks and vans rather than cars, and a rainbow of different colors balanced the black and white shells.
With the multiple lanes, some of the pods pass others, as the slimmer and smaller pods were generally faster with the exception of some speedy vans. A few pods are so small that they seem to resemble bikes more than cars, as they race among the road, each with an energy shield cast around where the biker would be for protection, for the shields which were mostly dark blue seem to also cover the biker inside. The shields are curved like the bikes, providing a sleek elegance, much like the other pods in the busy street.
The pod holding Rohan and Dexter stayed relatively consistent in its place among the flock, stuck in the middle, not seeming to make much of a valiant effort to pass others.
Instead, other pods either passed theirs, or they happened to pass one or two due to a slowdown of others, but for the most part it felt as though they were one with the flock, almost as if carried by the wind of the flock's flaps.
Inside the pod, Rohan stares at the buildings below, watching as he tries to bury his building anxiety. His head rests on his arm, which was put against the window to give him support. He lets out a soft breath as he tries to remember the schedule he was to follow upon arrival, but the cold fog caused a haze that left him failing to think clearly.
The buildings below seem to all flow the same way as the pod glides past them, as it felt as though the world was moving beneath them. The only consistency was that of the gray road top of the safety road and sidewalk, which follows in intersecting lines, as though neverending as they never vanished as opposed to the buildings.
Rohan's eyes slowly began to close as the soothing view of the city beneath tranquilized him, and his waking consciousness wasn't helped by the soft hum as the only sound inside the pod.
His head presses harder into his sleeved arm, using it more as a pillow, and his eyelids gradually shut closed, allowing him to doze off.