The storm clouds over Philadelphia had barely faded when Karl flicked the Drive Regulator. Erevos's limbs hissed with residual heat, nanites pulling tight around the joints like a reset of tensioned cables.
"Three hundred miles," Karl muttered, staring west.
Agnes flickered into his visor, already stretching like she was about to start morning yoga.
"So~ Pittsburgh?"
Karl nodded. "Fastest path."
Agnes smirked.
"Mm-hmm. So instead of flying and dying like a toaster, you're taking the scenic route."
Karl sighed.
"Agnes. Blueprint rails, please."
Agnes's eyes lit up with wicked excitement.
"Oh~ you want the rails, do you?
Say it properly."
Karl groaned.
"…Agnes."
"Say it."
He closed his eyes, defeated.
"…Blueprint Overdrive, rail-line mode. Please."
Agnes purred triumphantly.
"Good boy~."
Her avatar snapped her fingers.
"Blueprint Protocol… Linear Construction: ACTIVE."
The ground beneath Erevos rippled.
Thin streams of royal-azure nanites poured from the mech's ankles, spreading in precise lines across the cracked highway asphalt. The nanites solidified instantly into a pair of gleaming metal tracks, stretching forward like railroad rails being laid at hyperspeed.
A perfect pair of support beams rose from the ground underneath as the rails advanced, forming a continuous gliding path — a highway built from Karl's mind.
Karl took a step.
SHHHHHHHHHK—
Erevos slid forward on the rails, almost weightless.
Karl blinked.
"…Okay. That's smooth."
Agnes giggled.
"Of course it's smooth, Karl. I built it."
Karl raised an eyebrow.
"I built—"
"I BUILT IT." Agnes insisted.
Her avatar leaned in close.
"You? You're just the battery with legs."
Karl: "AGNES."
Agnes smiled like a cat who just knocked over a priceless vase.
"Glide away, battery boy~."
Erevos shot forward.
The mech accelerated instantly, frictionless and streamlined, the rails extending in front of him and dissolving behind him in a flowing cycle of geometry. Karl leaned back, letting the horizon blur into streaks of grey, brown, and the occasional green forest.
The world whipped past as if the mech was skating across the continent.
Karl let himself enjoy it for a moment.
"It's kind of peaceful," he admitted.
"Too peaceful."
Agnes smirked.
"We can add turbulence if you want. Maybe simulate a small tornado under your seat?"
"Do not."
"Or a massage function—"
"AGNES."
She laughed, stretching again in the HUD.
"Fine, fine~ keep your armor on."
The silence returned—
briefly.
Then Karl exhaled and said:
"…You know I really used to fly places like this."
Agnes's eyebrow rose.
"Oh boy. Here comes the narcissist arc."
Karl scowled.
"It's not narcissism. It's history."
He leaned forward as the rails curved gently around a collapsed bridge.
"When I was a teenager, after my parents died… I didn't wait for the police or military.
I built the Hyper-Burner Jet Gear. Oil-guzzling, engine-screaming, fossil-fuel-obliterating monster."
Agnes grinned.
"Yes, yes, the climate terrorist returns."
Karl ignored her.
"I flew worldwide chasing every lead. Every bunker. Every informant. Every convoy.
If they ran?
I flew faster."
Agnes nodded dramatically.
"A heroic vigilante origin story~
…powered entirely by the blood of the Earth."
Karl deadpanned.
"Agnes, if you mock me again I'm uninstalling your voice filter."
She gasped.
"YOU WOULDN'T."
"Try me."
Agnes folded her arms.
"…You land us in the ocean once and suddenly you think you're the boss."
Karl stopped.
"Agnes."
"Karl."
"…Did you seriously just blame me for you miscalculating the flight vector?"
She gasped louder.
"I CALCULATED PERFECTLY.
YOU DIDN'T LISTEN."
Karl rubbed his temples.
"…Move the rails forward before I scream."
Agnes flicked her fingers dramatically.
"Rails extended.
You're welcome, oh mighty Vythra pebble."
Karl sputtered.
"…Pebble!?"
Agnes grinned.
"You barely have enough Vythra to power a toaster with anger issues."
Erevos sped forward as the rails shimmered underfoot, bending around abandoned cars and broken highway barriers.
Wind howled across the armor.
Trees blurred past like green streaks.
The sun slowly dipped, painting the rails in a warm, amber glow.
Karl finally asked, quieter:
"…Do you think we'll get there before nightfall?"
Agnes calculated.
Her voice softened into her usual teasing-but-gentle tone.
"If you don't slow down?
Yeah. We'll make Pittsburgh by sundown."
Karl nodded.
Agnes smirked.
"And after that~
maybe you can show me how your fossil-fuel death jet worked~."
Karl raised a brow.
"Why? Want to judge me again?"
Agnes leaned in close, whispering:
"No.
I want to ride it with you."
Karl's face went red.
Erevos nearly tripped off the rail.
Agnes burst out laughing so hard the HUD shook.
"OH MY GOD—YOUR FACE—
YOU REALLY THOUGHT—
HAHAHAHA—"
Karl groaned.
"Agnes. Please. I'm begging you.
Just let me travel in peace."
She wiped a digital tear from her eye.
"No promises~."
The mech glided onward.
Smooth.
Fast.
Unstoppable.
Next stop: Pittsburgh.
And Karl prayed — genuinely prayed — that no demons, cultists, or embarrassing AI girlfriends appeared before then.
He had a feeling he would not be so lucky.