A thing about buses, bikes, planes, trains and automobiles 200 years in the future: engines were quiet. That rev that everyone loved so much had all but vanished. Machines were more efficient, and mostly not gas-powered, unless they were older. Gas was one of the things that'd made Haddyn look like... well, like a bombed-out ghetto. The lowers were disgusting.
Gas, pollution... that was why.
That roar, and the fact that Mel was sitting on top of it... It did something to the blood in her veins. Stopped it for a second.
Once the bike started moving, Mel did her best not to hang on for deal life like a madwoman. The slow part was worse. It was almost too careful. In a lot of respects, Mel was not a careful girl.
But out of the parking lot, out on the road... Okay. She got it, now. Why people drove things. This was not quite as good as flying out a high window onto a car, then hop-scotching down to the ground with 20-foot drops in between.
But it was good. It was really, really good. Once she decided the bike wasn't going to make her have a stroke, she started to laugh a little.
Mel was silently wondering what'd happen if she stood up on the back of the bike--not something she'd do right now, but still. For now, she just hung on, a ridiculous grin on her face.