Chapter 3 #2
"I know we will. They've had wolf packs to help them get through everything. We've been on our own, fending for ourselves. No worries." He shrugged. "Besides, it's kind of an honor for some of our kind to prove our worth."
She frowned at him. "I would rather be back in the glen."
“Truth be told, I would too. But I do love my sword.”
She smiled. “I love mine too. "Hey, let's check out the simulator room."
"I'm all for it." When they went inside the simulator room, it was empty. Perfect.
Music played overhead, the recorded sounds of birds and bugs filling the air.
Twelve vehicle simulators lined the room, each facing a wall with a mural of a road and forest. Both got into their own simulator next to each other, hers a little red sports car, his a big black pickup truck, and turned the key in the ignition just like in a real car.
Their individual vehicles were enclosed, not open, so the trainer teaching her to drive wouldn't interfere with anyone else's simulator.
Rune had to type her name in on a keyboard. She guessed it was a way to allow her to train on things she didn't know, and once she'd achieved a goal, she could move forward.
A light flashed on, and she moved the "handle" to see what it did.
"You are signaling that you are turning to the right." She did it the other way. "You are signaling that you are turning to the left."
"It's dark out. You need to turn your headlights on."
She finally found the switch for that, and her headlights shone on the mural in front of her.
She smiled. This was fun.
"Honk your horn!"
She honked her horn and glanced at Stone, who honked his horn. They both laughed.
"Press down on your brake." A picture came up on the screen showing where it was.
She did.
"Press down on the accelerator."
She did again. This time, her screen showed her driving down the road. Her heart was racing, and she was so afraid she would crash, even though it was a simulator.
A deer darted across the road in front of her on the screen, and she hit the brake.
When it was gone, she started driving again, though her skin prickled with unease after nearly hitting the deer.
"Take the right road up ahead."
She slowed down, turned right, and drove toward a town. This was nerve-wracking. Other cars began to enter the road, some nearly cutting her off. She hit her horn.
Then her trainer said, "Turn right on 1st Street."
She saw 1st Street up ahead, and then the voice said, "Put in the coordinates for the Maine Lobster House. Go there and park."
She said, “Go to the Maine Lobster House.” She realized she needed to do that before she actually got on the road. But she had to do this in whatever order the trainer wanted.
Simulated rain hit the windshield, and she could barely see out. "Use the windshield wipers."
She saw it light up, and she pulled the handle up to use the windshield wipers. The GPS narrator said, "Take a right at the stop sign."
She turned right.
"Go straight ahead 300 feet and turn left, then you will have arrived at your destination."
She did what she was told and found a space to park in. But her view screen showed she was way over the line. She sighed and backed out, nearly running into another car that was driving into the parking lot, and it honked at her.
Whoops. She figured it would take some time to get used to driving and parking.
She tried three more times before she was in between the lines.
Then a new GPS narrator notified her that she was driving home. Not to her glen, surely.
She waited to make sure no one was behind her or driving back there, then slowly backed out. Then drove out of the parking lot.
"Take a left on 1st Street. In half a mile, you'll take Rallying Road and drive on it for ten miles."
She headed out of the parking area, glad she was no longer there. Cars came and went, and it was scary. Then she saw a traffic light, and the trainer said, "Red means stop. Yellow means slow down. Green means go. But watch for traffic running a red light."
The light turned red, and she stopped. Then it turned green, and she drove off. Ahead, there was a four-way stop sign.
The narrator explained that. Then she came to a strange circle in the road, and the narrator told her how to navigate the circle and who had the right of way. Here, she thought she was going to drive straight to the "home." She didn't expect to have tons of new learning experiences.
"Watch your speed limit. Speed limit signs are posted, and you can check your speedometer or the GPS to see if you are going over the posted speed."
She glanced down at it and was surprised she was going ten miles per hour faster than she was supposed to.
"An emergency vehicle is coming. Pull off on the shoulder of the road to let it safely pass."
She did what she was supposed to do, and a black car passed her, traveling lots faster than she'd been driving. Then three police cars chased after him.
"That's why you want to pull over when emergency sirens and lights are going off. In this case, they are in pursuit of a fleeing felon."
Wow, she didn't realize just how dangerous driving could be.
She finally reached home, though it said it would take her half an hour. It only took her ten minutes. She figured it was because they didn't need her to drive for that long, only to show her new things to do.
"Do you want to continue? Or come back for another session at a later time?"
"I'll continue later."
"See you later then. Please turn off the ignition and exit the car."
She did, and checked to see if Stone was going to continue driving. He glanced at her and smiled. Then he shut off his engine and left the truck.
"That was an experience and a half," he said.
"I know. I nearly hit someone in the parking lot. I missed a deer too."
"I'll have to do a few more lessons before I feel comfortable driving a real car on a real road," Stone admitted.
"For sure. I hope that's not one of the challenges. If the others have been driving vehicles for a while, they'll be better than us."
"Yeah. I hope we won't have to do a race!" Stone said.
"They can't be doing that." At least she sure hoped not.