I race through the city, every turn sending a wave of adrenaline through my veins. 

On my hoverbike zooming through the streets is the only place that I really feel at peace anymore. The constant encasement of the crowds, the stores filled to capacity, the buildings shooting into the sky... it's impossible to keep track of anything... Yet, the city is my home. I love every one of these buildings, I love the people, I love the lights, the cars, and the rush.

My favorite song blasting into my headphones, I speed up, maneuvering past the self-driving cars and other bikes stuck in the endless traffic. It's slightly illegal, but it's not like the police really pay attention anymore.

Eventually, I switch into Soar Mode, an application I'd built myself, and pull up over the streets into the air. I am flooded with happiness, and the hundred-foot-tall hologram advertisements smile back at me. all of the lights in the city below are rose and violet, and they turn blue as I rise higher.

I soar up to the clouds that block the sky. It had formed centuries ago with the usage of fossil fuels and power plants, which I've only read about in books. I lower the visor on my helmet and switch on the oxygen, then I enter the thick layer of gas, following a path that I know all too well. I burst through the clouds, flying almost straight upwards. I'm still surrounded on all sides by buildings, and I have a way to go before I get past them. I spot my favorite building in the city up ahead and race toward it.  Only the third tallest, but I still love it for one reason: it has a flat roof.

I fly above it and orbit around it thrice before setting down, switching my bike off. I climb off of it, walking away from it to the edge. I sit down, swinging my legs over the edge. I've never been bothered by the height of it; I love the feeling of holding my life in my hands. 

Then, my favorite part. the ultimate risk of being up here, among the sky. I unclip my helmet strap and pull it off of my head. I only have a couple of seconds, so I savor it. I shake my hair out, letting the wind flow through it. 

and then, I look up to the sky.

Here is the only place that anyone can see the stars at night. That's why it's my favorite place. A reminder that we're not the biggest part of this universe; that we're part of something much bigger than ourselves. We're  tiny, and yet we think we're the largest part of the universe.

My throat begins to close, but I pull at every last second. I wonder what it's like out there. in space, on other planets, in other solar systems. there are only mining colonies out there, but I wonder what it would feel like to move to a city that's among the stars. where we can observe the beauty in everything instead of just ignoring it.I am soon forced by human biology to slide my helmet back on. I sit back on my bike, soaring into the air again.

and then, I return to life in Cybercity.