The Drivers

In a near‑future where highways have become skyways for massive jet‑propelled cars, obtaining a driver’s license is a matter of life and death. The Department of Land‑Jet Vehicles looms like a sterile cathedral, its corridors humming with robotic assistants and endless streams of data. Tom Rogers, a nervous journalism student on the brink of his twenty‑first birthday, steps inside hoping to avoid the fate that awaits those who fail the tests.

There he meets Harry Hayden, a grizzled human examiner whose scarred badge tells a story of countless accidents and replacements. Hayden’s interrogation is less about skill and more about conformity, probing Tom’s past, his fears, and the strict age limits that govern who may ever take the wheel. As the interview unfolds, the pressure mounts, revealing a society that prizes obedience over talent and leaves little room for doubt.