Test Drive

Making sure to not track any of the sawdust into the pristine house, Mr. Biel spends some time checking the cleanliness of his shoes before leaving the garage. Walking down the hallways, his attention was caught by how several of these rooms were actually bedrooms, though they seemed uninhabited. Mr. Biel figured that they were probably the rooms of the Costa children who still kept them in case they ever returned home. Nearing the living room, Mr. Biel stumbled upon Mr. and Mrs. Costa discussing over a cup of tea while the television showcased breaking news of protesters marching down a long street in a city.

“...is it helping dear?” Mrs. Costa says as she grabs Mr. Costa’s hand while he coughs into a cloth.

“Of course not, this tea hasn’t helped at all for the past two years. Though I appreciate its sweetness…” Mr. Costa says before taking another sip.

Mrs. Costa smiles at him as she lets go of his hand; She sighs.

“Both you and Ortz have been worrying me too much these days.” Mrs. Costa says before taking a sip of tea.

“I keep telling you to stop worrying about the boy. I’m certain our letters are reaching him. Either ways we taught him well enough to not get involved with those protests–”

Mr. Biel suddenly clears his throat, catching their attention.

“Sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Costa the modifications are complete, though I would like for you to make a test drive to make sure you’re satisfied.”

“Ahh, my apologies. Of course, let's make sure it works well after all.”

“Dear are you sure? There is already Dream floating about outside already, we really should–”

“Come on now, if we don’t make sure everything is working as intended now we’ll be having even greater issues when we have to depend on it some day.” Mr. Costa says, cutting off Mrs. Costa and her worries.

“So let's get going.” Mr. Costa says before taking the final sip of his tea.

Returning to the garage, Mr. Costa inspects the work done by Mr. Biel.

“So, what exactly did you do here?” He says as he tries rubbing away at the purple tint on the front grill of the car only to find that it is permanently discolored.

“Well, as you may have noticed there is a purplish tint on the exhaust and intakes of the car, this is actually the Dream filter that I was talking about. If you would like a demonstration, here.” Mr. Biel says as he once again reopens his bag and subsequently the Dream jar.

Taking a pinch he shows Mr. Costa the repulsive quality of the filter as he tosses the pinch to the front grill only to be rejected.

“Wow, and you did this with Dream?” Mr. Costa says, covering his face from the Dream that had scattered about.

“I’m sorry. Return the Dream back to the container.” Mr. Biel says into his watch, the few particles of Dream return back.

“And yes. With these modifications the car should run perfectly fine out in the clouds. Though keep in mind to only rely on the air condition for ventilation as I haven’t figured out how to Dream proof a car window as of now. You know, it's too large of an opening.” Mr. Biel says as Mr. Costa is still astonished after seeing his control over the Dream.

“I didn’t know it was possible to command Dream like that.”

“Well it's uncommon for people to work with it nowadays–the Dream in the air is too unstable for use after all–and not everyone is so accepting of it being used with all the problems we’re having now.” Mr. Biel says.

Mr. Costa laughs and coughs.

“I see. Kyra would probably scream knowing that you’re using Dream like this in the house, I’ll keep it a secret.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.”

Taking a look at the car again, Mr. Costa points to it.

“Let’s go have that test drive shall we?” he says.

Entering the car, it was impossible to tell that moments ago the supple red leather interior was surrounded completely by Dream as not one grain could be found. Readying himself, Mr. Costa ties the piece of fabric around his face making a makeshift face covering as he readjusts the rearview mirror, clanking the pair of wooden dice hanging off of it.

“Nice, dice.” Mr. Biel says,

“You like it? They were my fathers. He was a woodcarver and gave these to me as a gift before I left home and moved here. Must have been 40 years by now.”

“Wow. I have something similar to. I didn’t get it from anyone, but I kept it as a memory of my hometown after I left.”

“It's nice to have things to have things to help remember. I hope that some of the stuff I had carved out will be held as memories for other people.”

Turning the ignition key, Mr. Costa starts the car, roaring it into life.

“Sounds the same. Now it’s time to see if it’s going to run the same as well huh?” Mr. Costa says, chuckling.

Taking out a remote from the glove box, Mr. Costa presses a button and the garage door slowly begins to churn its chains as the door raises. From the growing hole in the garage, pieces of Dream glitter in the light as they seeped into the house onto the piles of sawdust that laid about; both men buckled up. Letting go of the brakes, the car rolled smoothly over the sawdust before bouncing slightly once it made contact with the asphalt of the driveway. Looking out the window, Mr. Biel noticed how much more Dream had begun to fall in the sky as Mr. Costa pressed the button for the garage door to close.

“This is definitely level one zone now.” Mr. Biel thought.

As they waited for the automatic door to close properly, Mr. Costa raises the air conditioning and puts his hand on top of the middle vent.

“Nice cool air… and nothing else.” he says, Mr. Biel could see in his eyes his happiness as crow feet formed with his grin under his makeshift mask.

Taking a right out of the driveway, Mr. Costa notices Mr. Biel’s motorcycle parked in front of his house.

“I still can’t believe you would come out here on a bike after all the warnings to stay indoors.”

“It's not too bad, as I said I used the same filter for this covering that I’m wearing. It hasn’t failed me yet so I figured I would help others the same way.”

“Still can’t believe that you’re using the very stuff that has ruined us to help us out now.”

“I’m sad that things turned out this way, but if Dream could still be helpful, then I’ll continue on using it.”

Reaching a long stretch of road, Mr. Costa accelerates the car; the tachometer rises partly. As they drove, they reached a more commercial area where the motionlessness of the surroundings made it seem as if outside was just a picture.

“It's strange to not see a soul outside. And it's a reasonably active part of town as well.” Mr. Costa says.

“Pretty much how every place looks after the clouds start to roll by.” Mr. Biel says.

For the next hour, they tested the car in its various gears and situations to find no issues with the filters or performance. Deciding that the test drive is a success, they return back to the house where Mr. Costa returns the car to the garage. For a while they waited in the car for the stray pieces of Dream floating about to settle.

“I can’t believe how well it's working, I remember when Dream first began to fall, even just a few particles left the engine sputtering for a while.” Mr. Costa says as they wait.

“I’m glad you’re happy with it. Hopefully you won’t have to find yourself testing the limits of the filter, but if you ever do, it should do well.”

“I don’t doubt that. I think this car can really withstand a level three storm now.” Mr. Costa says as he wipes the dashboard.

Checking out the windows and mirrors, Mr. Costa decides that they have waited long enough and opens the car door.

“Let's talk about payment inside.” he says before closing the door.

Returning back to the living room, Mr. Costa has Mr. Biel take a seat on one of the chairs before making a cup of tea with whatever remained from the kettle on the low table.

“Please have a drink while I go get my wallet.” Mr. Costa says before leaving to another part of the house.

With nothing better to do than just wait, Mr. Biel takes a sip of the tea and is surprised to find it still scorching hot. Setting the cup down, he turns his attention to the television which happened to be covering the protests happening in the city. Currently the news is broadcasting footage recorded from last week that was physically transported to neighboring stations because of the city’s surrounding level three zones. In the footage, hundreds of people dressed in both black and neon colors march on the streets with signs on hand.

Down with Mira!

Dreams to Nightmares!

Mira's Coast

At the current moment it seems that the protesters were being held back by the police before reaching city hall. Intrigued, Mr. Biel watches as the station cuts to an interview with one of the masked protesters.

“We won't stand for this oppression anymore. If you’re listening to this Takamuras we are coming after y-”

“Okay, so I have about $100 here,” Mr. Costa says as he walks into the living room with his wallet opened.

Startled, Mr. Biel turns to him and stands up.

“Will that be good enough?” Mr. Costa says.

“Oh. I’m sorry, but the total will be about $120. Business has been pretty rough these days.”

“It's okay. Here. For a job well done.” Mr. Costa says handing Mr. Biel $120.

“Thank you sir, if you have any other issues, please give me a call and I’ll be of service.” Mr. Biel says as he puts away the money.

“I’ll try you first, though who knows about calling anymore with how Dream has been disrupting the signals these days.”

Before leaving, Mr. Biel takes off his face covering.

“Before I go, please have this just in case of an emergency at least.”

“Oh I can’t, how are you going to get home.”

“Don’t worry about that, I have an extra one in my motorcycle.”

“Well then, thank you.”

“Oh and don’t feel pressured about having to pay me for it. Think of it as a gift.”

Mr. Costa chuckles and coughs.

“I hope your cough can get better soon.” Mr. Biel says as he takes off his helmet from the wooden hat rack.

“I hope so too. Take care.” Mr. Costa says before Mr. Biel left out through the door.