Tadpoles are the most popular form of ground transportation in the Iridescence. They are hovercraft that consist of a passenger cabin with a long versatile cargo rail attached to the back. Round body, long tail, thus the name. Tadpoles come in many makes and models, yet every modern craft is expected to be very quick. They need to be fast enough to outrun the hostile wildlife that inhabits the desert. An tadpole waits next to the rear cargo bay of The Mare—it's a couple decades outdated, nothing fancy. Sebastian opens the driver’s side door. Delphine climbs into the driver’s seat.

"Uh… I don’t think that’s a good idea." Sebastian lifts up his hand to help Delphine down.

Instead, she buckles her seatbelt.

"Are you good to drive?" He asks nervously.

"That prick wants me to drive? Oh, I’m gonna drive…" Delphine grips the steering wheel.

"Well, he’s sending both of us… so… I can drive?" He lifts his open hand higher towards Delphine.

Delphine looks down at Sebastian’s hand. "You can drive?"

"Yeah, uh, I have my license. I hardly ever use it though."

"Hm. Nah. I’ll drive."

"…alright."

Sebastian begrudgingly climbs into the passenger’s seat. He briefly looks around the cabin to get acquainted with it. The room is almost cramped up front, but there is a decently large walking space behind the front seats. There are open anchor slots that additional seats could be locked into. There is also a door in the back of the cabin that leads to a tiny storage closet.

Delphine starts up the tadpole. Its hover engines thrum to life, gently lifting the craft to driving height—a gentle tone and pulsing light indicate that it’s ready to move. A bulky terminal sits in the center of the dashboard.

"Ugh." She sighs. "Touch controls. What century is this?"

She taps her phone on the dashboard. It syncs with her music streaming app and picks up where she left off. The cabin of the company tadpole fills with the sound of aggressive metal music. Demonic vocals scream over warbled glitch guitars and an astral bassline. Delphine scrambles to quickly change it, looking very embarrassed as she does so.

"Whoops! My bad! That’s uh… a little too much right now!" She laughs as she rapidly taps through her app.

"It’s all good. Honestly, I’d say this fits the mood just right." Sebastian talks over the hellish sounds.

He reads the name of the station displayed on the terminal screen.

"Lichcore?" He asks with a smile on his face.

"Mhm! Rough night!" Her eyes are nervously focused on her phone screen.

She changes it to a pop station. Cheerful house beats back the formulaic rhythm of a trained female vocalist. Delphine slumps in her seat for a second—she seems to have exhausted the inkling of energy she had left.

"You good?" Sebastian asks.

"Mhm. I just need a second." She sits up in her seat.

Delphine presses the accelerator and the vehicle floats forward. She drives the tadpole out of the back lot and onto the streets of downtown.

"I can’t believe he called us in today." Sebastian gripes.

"I can’t believe I didn’t see this coming. The guy’s paranoid as hell. This is what he gets for trying to skirt import fees." Delphine explains.

"Is that why it didn’t come through the port?"

"Yup."

"Cheap bastard."

"To be fair, every restaurant on the strip does the same thing. The import fees on perishable goods are ridiculous, or so I’ve heard." Delphine explains. "But he’s definitely a dumbass. This happens every time we have a lockdown. He never learns."

"Oh really? This is my first time having to deal with this."

"First lockdown or first call in?" She looks over.

"Uh, both."

"Huh. Lucky. You’ll get used to this."

The tadpole traffic in the downtown grid is rough, but better than it was last night. The Market Strip has been reopened for vehicle traffic, so they enter a jam right out of the lot. Miraculously, it only takes twenty minutes to get off the grid and onto the freeway.

"What would you be doing if you weren’t here?" Delphine asks.

"I was going to go to this izakaya near the Capitol building today." Sebastian gripes.

"Kintsugi?"

"Oh. Yeah, actually. Have you been?" He asks, surprised by her knowledge on the subject.

"Yeah, I’ve been on a couple of dates there. It’s pretty good. But I can’t shake the feeling that I’m being looked down on."

"Hm. Why’s that?"

"I mean come on. Kintsugi? It’s in the name. It implies that the food here on Earth is broken or something. They even put gold powder on everything. It’s some bougie Lunar bullshit—no offense. And ugh! The snobs that show up looking for some kind of exclusive experience! It makes the whole thing so intense."

"Huh. It seemed like a pretty quaint establishment to me." Sebastian mumbles introspectively.

Delphine laughs. The tadpole begins to sway so she stops.

"I bet it did. Though—I’ll say this—if you aim to impress a woman, bring her there." She says.

Sebastian smiles. He takes out his journal and jots down a quick note about Kintsugi: ‘Impresses the ladies.’

"So, how late were you out last night?" He asks as he puts his book away.

"Oh man. I didn’t get home until like two this morning."

"I take it was an eventful evening?"

"Not really. At least not that I remember. I mostly just listened to music and sent out an email, I think?"

"A drunk email?" Sebastian asks.

Delphine laughs.

"Yeah, I saw an ad for weekend catering on some film shoot in town. I gotta make rent, you know?"

"Do you know what the movie’s about?" Sebastian asks.

"Dinosaurs. It really piqued my interest at one am. I’m sure I mentioned all my fun prehistoric knowledge in my message."

Sebastian laughs. "I’m really curious to see what that email looks like."

"I’m not. I haven’t looked at it yet, it’s probably a bunch of embarrassing gibberish. Though, after today, if they send an offer I’m taking it no question. I don’t care about any schedule overlap at this point."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Today was my day of rest! How the hell am I going to make up for my deficit now? I’d have to start sleeping full eights—as if that’ll ever happen!" Delphine answers.

"And now you’re driving." Sebastian smiles nervously.

Delphine smiles back with a deflated sway to her head.

…

Oasis’ enormous defensive walls tower above the tadpole as Sebastian and Delphine approach it. The wall isn’t solid, instead it’s a massive ring-shaped structure that houses an active military facility. Along the walls’ exterior, several turrets and cannons face outward towards the Iridescent wildlands that surround the city as far as the eye can see. Further adding to the wall’s height are the air purification towers placed at the very top—their red lights continuing to pulse gently. Upon closer inspection, he notices a pair of peculiar pyramid-like structures next to the tower closest to the entrance gate. They spin around at a steady pace, reflecting the sunlight brightly as it passes across each moving face. He wonders what they’re for. His mind quickly wanders back to the gentle strobe of the towers’ red lights. He thinks about the brief moment of relaxation he had last night, wishing that he had appreciated it more while it lasted.