"Did you pinch me?" Glancing over, he sees her hands, white knuckled, still gripping the arm rests. His mouth opens, and then closes. He resets the inertial dampers and mutters, "Look."

As far as the eye can see, a patchwork of cities and towns cover the planet below. Her breath catches and she sees the beauty of it for the first time. A bigger picture she has been missing with her head buried in the sand of her pathetic life. It's been there all along, she just hasn't been paying attention. Her eyes roam the country side, but urban sprawl has consumed every square mile of land. It's subtle at first, like acquiring a new taste for exotic food, or listening to your friend's music, though you hate it. Her chest tightens, and she wipes at her face, masking the solitary tear with a sniffle. What is she feeling? Arii realizes there is something wrong inside. Is she feeling empathy? Is she hormonal because of the magic? She just cast her first spell and used no incantations or potions, a type of magic puberty. She realizes there is an overpopulation problem, more than the crowded press of students at school, or the long yet efficient lines at every store and restaurant, the planet is like an overstuffed laundry basket in need of some attention.

"This is what I do for a living, honey," her dad's words penetrate the ringing in her ears. "I ferry people between Earth and the new colonies beyond the Crescent." She isn't impressed by his noble efforts to save the planet a thousand people at a time, but there is a side to her father she doesn't know. He noses the air car back towards space and laughs, "You should see the look on your face."

She punches him hard in the arm, "Did you feel that?" A euphoric smile creeps across her face from the blood rushing back to her head, adrenalin pumping through her system. This is what it feels like to do drugs. Boys at school go in for this thing, but she likes her feet planted on solid ground. Glancing back towards home it's apparent the world is a big place and she is humbled if only a little.

"How come you never punish me for the crazy things I do?" The neural net adapter implanted at birth tracks her every move. No wires, unlimited access, perfect control with unused portions of the brain. She is well versed on the horror stories of constant monitoring until the age of accountability. At seventeen, she has four more years until she accepts full control of her own network adapter, but she feels like her dad only takes an occasional glance into her personal life.

"I want you to be powerful enough to make good choices later by letting you learn from your mistakes. It's ok to fail once in a while."

"Thanks, dad." She really is getting soft.

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