A wide flat area spanned across the edge of the Algoria district.

Many Striders flew back and forth through the loopholes and metal beams that were strung up.

It was one of the few that were present in the district sector.

"Strider Training Grounds? This must be it."

Vixella walked towards the meeting spot written on the note.

The western quarter's grounds were elevated, seeing how she was able to see the western mechanical port in the distant horizon.

After a while of walking past some people, her shifting feet came to a subtle stop.

"So... Why am I the only one here...?"

The man with the waistcoat and noticeable leg limp swung an arm over her shoulder.

"Well, you see here girl..."

"Yes?"

Vixella turned to face the man who was, by all means, intruding into her personal space.

"They all fucking failed and left!", he whiffed his walking stick at the training Strider beside, "Now go and make me proud!!"

"Yessir!"

Feeling somewhat nostalgic from her military days in the former world, Vixella immediately sprung into action.

"I was there when you beat the shit out of that instructor yesterday! Let's hope that your flying skills aren't as crude!"

The man took a step back as the air that flushed out from Vixella's Strider finally became stable.

He then gestured at Vixella to set off as the Strider ascended a few meters into the air above him.

"I just have to pass the course under a limited time?"

"Yeah, girl... For fuck sake! Go! The clock's ticking!"

The man wailed out as he swung his pocket watch into the air.

"Roger!"

Vixella grasped the handles and slammed down the two pedals with her feet.

The side-thrusters titled accordingly to her handle movements.

The Strider dashed steadily towards the nearest obstacle course.

Vixella quickly analyzed the path she would take and drove on forth.

Lobbing her Strider through a small hole in a set-up building, she lifted to avoid a metal beam inside it.

Coming out of the hole, she would be met with a large flag that extended out sideways in a sudden manner.

This was probably to simulate the air traffic in the districts if another Strider was also crossing the intersection.

Releasing her feet from the pedals, the Strider jerked unsteadily, losing its altitude to avoid the flag that extended out.

A second or two later, she stepped harder onto the left pedal to ascend the Strider sideways, avoiding a triangular extension.

She then glanced down to check the path that she was supposed to follow according to the obstacle course's red striped outlines.

To the side was a giant propeller which blew out harsh gusts of wind.

Another personal Strider that was training in front of her was blown out of the course.

Disqualified.

The Strider then came back to line up behind her.

She was now the next person to go through it.

Vixella knew there was no time to waste.

She slammed both her feet into the pedals.

Her Strider jerked awkwardly as it tilted forward and accelerated at a death-wish speed.

Releasing the left pedal, Vixella's Strider spun laterally, slicing like a buzzsaw through the winds.

The momentum was enough to fling her craft through the harsh windy currents as she came out on the other side.

She released the right pedal and slammed the left one to countersteer and stop the Strider from spinning anti-clockwise.

Vixella then quickly grabbed onto her hat that flew off from the sudden counter-momentum.

She quickly decided to lob it underneath the pilot seat to prevent any future fly-offs.

Steadily piloting her Strider onto the next obstacle course, Vixella noticed that the next one was supposed to simulate traffic. 

The set-up blimps had cable wires with bells to indicate a crash... And they were tangling down everywhere.

There were also buildings to the side that you were forced to scrape by according to the course's outlines.

Vixella made her way skillfully up, down, left, and right to avoid the blimps and their wires.

When she came near the buildings, pieces of cardboard boxes were suddenly shot out.

This was, once again, probably to simulate some Striders appearing around corners.

Instead of jerking her Strider to a stop and wait for the crossing, she elevated above and flew over in a matter of seconds.

After getting through, she took note of how she wasted a few seconds at each building.

Why? Well, it was relatively harder to notice the presence of cardboard boxes.

On the other hand, if it was a Strider coming around, she would've probably heard and noticed it beforehand.

She was now making her way towards the last obstacle course.

By this point, Vixella was hoping that she was still within the time limit.

The last course was to simulate latching onto a train and quickly detaching off upon coming out of a tunnel.

One must quickly fly down to and latch onto a train that was about to depart.

Missing the train would cause one to wait for about a minute.

Vixella knew that she just couldn't let this chance slip.

This surely was the decisive factor in passing the test.

The train which sat still behind the set-up tunnel board chugged out air accelerated itself forward.

Vixella's Strider flew against the ground alongside the many the others that were also training.

For the majority, it was just another day of failing.

For the minority, it was just another day of succeeding.

The Striders that were unable to latch on were disqualified as they went past the mark where the tunnel was supposed to be.

Vixella, on the other hand, was a part of the minority.

She latched on perfectly without any problems.

Swishing through the finishing line, Vixella did an Immelmann the instructor who stood somewhere near the starting line.

[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/404059426413084672/588346008505810995/rc-immelmann-turn.gif] (Basic Immelmann Maneuver)

Touching down without warning, the winds that flushed about stumbled the crippled walking-stick man over.

"Fuck! Take it easy, girl!"

Vixella leaped out of the training Strider and quickly assisted him back up.

"How did I do?"

The limp man snickered.

"Two minutes and thirty-seven fucking seconds."

"Is that... Bad?

"Was your dad a pilot during the war? I can see from your erratic maneuvers."

"No... This is like... Aah... The third time I've seriously flown a Strider...?"

"I'll. Be. Damned."

"Aah? So I..."

"Yup, you're hired! My name's Kasper but you'll call me 'Boss' from now on! Got it, girl?"

He raised his arms slightly as if to celebrate but stumbled down from the loss of the walking cane's support.

Catching him by the shoulders just in time before her work boss hit the ground, Vixella sighed out of relief.

"Be careful, boss."

"Right... And welcome aboard the Special Delivery Branch... You are now designated... Courier Six!"

((Not Fallout NV reference, trust me.))

Kasper then took off his top hat and firmly placed it onto Vixella's head.

"I'll be sure to try my best and not disappoint the company!"

"Enthusiasm is good! Okay, let's go to HQ... Wait, where did your cute little hat go?"

"Aah, I must've forgotten it in the cockpit."

"You fucking bimbo! Go grab the damn thing from that training Strider before someone else takes off with it!"

"Yessir!"

A CENTURY LATER

(Whoosh Transition Music)

Algoria District Town Square.

Strider-Mail Head Quarters.

Vixella took a slight step back to take in the scenery.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

With big eyes, she began turning her view here and there.

The sun that loomed directly above glinted upon the old building that looked like a courthouse from the front.

Large windows were being cleaned by men strapped onto the ropes rappelling down from the rooftops.

What ruined the majestic feeling was the logo they had present above the main entryway.

A Strider that was strung up against the archway had a metallic envelope carved and welded onto the front.

The big letters that stuck out from the rooftop saying Strider-Mail also ruined it even more.

"How lame can this place be?"

"What the fuck did you just say?"

"Aah? Nothing, boss..."

"Better not go around saying that to the others... The people around here can be little... Patriotic."

Kasper pointed out quietly as he gestured at the other workers in the background.

The workplace and the area around it were quite a sight to behold otherwise.

Situated near the heart of town, they were just a few blocks from the town square.

Kasper told her that the large building right beside was an old warehouse that had been converted into a maintenance hangar.

Vixella who saw her Strider being towed into the warehouse by a larger forklift Strider nodded as she followed Kasper on.

"Girl, why does your Strider look so familiar? Isn't that just Sir Wolfe's Strider?

Kasper who also glanced at Vixella's Strider being towed in turned to face her.

"Yeah... He kinda lent me the thing and left... I haven't met him for about a month now..."

Vixella seemed a bit worried about it as she fumbled around with her thumbs.

"Sir Wolfe... That fuckboy..."

"Fuckboy? I don't think he's into that kind of stuff..."

"What the fuck do you mean?"

"Well... He likes dogs, right? Isn't he more like a Dogboy...?"

Kasper sighed to change the topic.

"Fuck... What's with the stupid modifications on your Strider anyway?"

"An enclosed cockpit and a single control-stick aren't stupid."

"Yeah, I wonder why no one here ever thought of that... But that float underneath? Out hunting sea monsters, are we?"

"They're annoying."

"Shit-!? You were seriously doing that-!?"

"Well, I wasn't hunting them but... It would've been easier if they didn't remove the guns from the float..."

"Civilians can't have turrets... Although after seeing how you fly... It might be better with turrets."

"Aah? Was that a compliment?"

"What's the ram thing on the front... It's not practical and throws the craft off balance... I'll tell the mechanics to remove it-"

"No! You better keep the ram!", she clung onto his arm, not realizing how her bust was squeezing him, "It's my only weapon!"

Kasper snickered as he glanced down at his enveloped arm.

"I don't think that's your only weapon."

She looked downwards and mistook his gaze for Ivan's Pistol by her hip.

"You're not wrong."

"Fuck... Don't tell me you've used that to ram other Striders..."

Kasper squeezed his nose bridge softly before untangling his arm away.

She backed off to knock her head before winking mischievously.

"I occasionally wham into enemy Striders now and then... Tehehe..."

"Guess old habits die hard, huh."

"So boss... What are we doing here again?"

"I'm going to run you through the basic workload when you're not out delivering packages."

"Alright, boss... But you'll keep the ram, right?"

Vixella looked back at him with puppy eyes.

"Fine... Just don't go ramming into stuff to reach your destination faster..."

"But what if no one sees or even know that it was me-"

He took a step forward before glancing firmly over his shoulder.

"Like I said... The company won't tolerate that--- BY ALL MEANS!!!"

Vixella meekly nodded before skipping up to walk alongside him.

The view then shifted up towards the bright skies as the two walked on towards the main entrance.

"Come on, let's show you around."

"Whatever you say, boss."

"Bend over."

"Nah."

"You're fired."

"Ouch."

The day went on without much incident as Vixella learned how to fulfill her role as the special delivery branch's Courier Six.

"Nice! Looks like you can handle our work internally just fine! You're pretty much good at everything!"

For what Kasper complimented, Vixella took it as natural because this was no different than working at a postal office.

In her former life, she had to take on normal jobs to lay low before commencing an undercover mission, after all.

"Thanks, boss."

"And here's the down payment for signing the work contract!"

Kasper gestured at a lady sitting by the reception at the far.

"Aah, there was advance payment...?"

"You're a hundred percent fucking hired after what I saw of you today... And shit... Still gotta pay that guy's medical expenses..."

The receptionist then tossed over a bundle of Algoria currency, in which Vixella caught before abruptly throwing them back at her.

"Can you convert them into demo currency?"

She shouted across the reception in the bustling lobby.

"Are you fucking stupid...? The value will be less-!?"

"I'm going to travel a lot... So it doesn't matter, boss."

She firmly looked up at him which caused Kasper to nod slowly.

"Covert that shit and stop tossing cash across the halls!"

Vixella paced towards the counter and took the converted money before nodding thanks.

She then slid it into the inner pouches of the usual sturdy messenger bag.

"So if you're my boss... Then who's your boss, boss?"

"That'll be Sir Wolfe's Uncle! He's the fucking owner of this kickass place!"

"Kickass place, so you say."

Vixella glanced around to see the many postal workers do their boring jobs of managing paperwork.

Kasper then abruptly gestured at the double door situated on the upper walkway.

"He usually keeps his fat ass inside that room if you ever need to suck him off for money like the other women here-"

"Aah, I'll keep that in mind."

"The hell-!? Don't keep that in mind!"

"I mean the fact that he's Sir Wolfe's uncle."

"So that's what you mean... Thank fucking god..."

"What do you mean by that's what I mean..."

"Well, to be honest... I think you're pretty fucking retarded but I guess you're not THAT retarded..."

"Is that a compliment? Will I be getting a promotion?"

"Shut the fuck up."

"Aah, but when do I get to go out and deliver a parcel...?"

Vixella compelled her hands and smiled contently.

"Take it easy! Today's just your first fucking day! Shit... Know what? Just go home for the day."

"But-"

"You've already done more than enough work for ten people today... You must be tired."

Kasper groaned out as he explained to Vixella who was overly indulgent of working.

"What...? I'm not tired...? And you're sending me home-!? Already-!? Boss, I'm used to working around the clock-"

"I don't know what fucking slave camp you worked at before but you've already done more than enough work for today!"

"Aah...!? But I want to work more-"

"I'll promote you if you continue to work like this within the following month... But no overtimes so just fuck off now, okay-!?"

Kasper pointed angrily out of the main entrance.

"Okay... If you say so, boss..."

She nodded a few times before sadly pacing towards the main entrance.

"Hmmm... You're still as rough to the new ones as usual..."

The same receptionist who tossed the money earlier whispered out from behind him.

"Yeah... But this company needs people like that alive so we shouldn't overwork her... Especially not during times like these..."

Kasper sighed as he watched Vixella disappear out through the front entrance.