A long ride

"I think McPhearson's right," you said, glancing over at the Angel 800 components that hung from the wall when not in use. "A long ride might be a good way to connect again, we haven't done that in a while. I could take us up to that Italian place by the river? The one with the good breadsticks."

Angel Five grinned. "Ooh, is this a date then? Gonna fill me up with pasta and wine and then see where the night goes?"

With a goofy smile and shrug, you nodded, but didn't say much else. Each Angel unit essentially behaved like a close couple anyway, partly because of the demands job and partly because Yabusa Motors wanted to ensure Riders and Angels would be constantly watching each others' backs, even off-duty, to minimize attempts for others to gain information about the tech. So Yabusa essentially played matchmaker on top of everything else, making sure your chemistry with Angel Five was strong and that your personalities would mesh well. They put you in the same apartment and took care of the rent, and insisted that every Angel unit use their callsign rather than their real names at all times during the program. It was strange, but typically when out and about with each other nobody said anything about a girl named Angel and a guy named Rider. It's only when all the Angel units would go out to a bar would names get confusing.

Angel Five grinned wider, slipping into her skintight civilian riding suit before stepping over to the far wall where the Angel 800 cowlings hung. Each Angel was assigned standard-issue police cowlings, but each also chose their own sportier looks for civilian use. Without needing so much armor, the signature shiny black Yabusa cowlings Angel Five had picked out always looked nimble and light--not to mention, easier to fit through doors.

"Ready to ride?" Angel asked, turning toward the garage door in the storeroom.

Wordlessly, you touched a control panel on your gauntlet, engaging Angel Five's transformation into motorcycle mode. She grunted lightly as the internal mechanisms of the Angel unit inside Angel Five took over control, causing her to kneel down and put her hands on the ground. The 'wings' came in on either side, encasing her from her head to her hips, sealing around her shoulders. The wheels dropped near their final position before the rest of the body had sealed up in the cowling, and Angel Five gripped the axle with her gloved hands as the rear tire's axle hooked into her ankles. Once the final bits had positioned themselves, namely the handlebars affixing to Angel Five's back, you did a walkaround to ensure everything had secured to Angel Five's body.

"Looks good to go to me," you said. To the untrained eye, Angel Five looked pretty much just like any other sportbike. The arms substituting for forks and the lower legs appearing like swingarms were the only real obvious giveaways, everything else remained tucked under plastics or padding, with a spine protector looking like a traditional sportbike's gas tank. Satisfied with the outcome of your sleek riding partner's transformation, you put on your helmet and swung a leg over.

As you sat on Angel Five, right at the small of her back where seat cushioning had been affixed, you could hear her squeak and grunt a little in the headset. You wriggled yourself in the seat a little, getting comfortable, causing Angel Five to chuckle a little. "Alright, opening door, coast is clear," she said. That was one nice thing about this setup--Angel Five had a screen to monitor traffic conditions and various remote controls, using the neural link that Yabusa provided, when she wasn't looking out the viewport provided for her below the headlight. In theory, that neural link is what you should have been using to control Angel Five in the warehouse simulation, but you typically kept your unit turned off and used the voice comms instead.

With a rev of the throttle, you were off!

Most of the riding you'd done with Angel Five so far was short trips, lots of stop-and-go traffic as well as parking lot drills. It took a while for Angel to get comfortable with the idea of being steered around, being so low to the ground while going fast head-first, but at least after weeks of practice she didn't seem to mind. If anything, on some of the bumpier terrain, it almost sounded like her groans were enjoyable--like being moved around in such a strange way and having to deal with her environment in a new light was exciting to her. Fine with you! You just enjoyed the ride.

"You think if we nail this case quick, Yabusa will give us some upgrade options?" you asked as you leaned into a corner, hearing Angel Five's breathing quicken at the thrill of being in a situation that felt so counter-intuitive for a human to endure.

It took her a moment to catch her breath as you slowed down and entered a patch of straight road, able to see the river in the distance, just down the hill. "I hope so," Angel Five replied, "I mean, it's twofold for me. Some of those Endo modules they designed look so good. Using those Endo frames to be super strong or fast? Or one of their specialty frames like for swimming or climbing? Those all look good to me, hell even the one that takes over control to do things like play a piano concerto seems interesting. But also... so, okay. I'll admit I thought I would hate being a motorcycle. It seemed like it would be degrading to be a glorified horse, being driven around by someone else, plus it just sounded so bizarre. But now I'm thinking, like... they had that Offroad design with the bigger tires, that could be pretty fun! Or the Touring model, that one looks like I'd practically be cushioned on a cloud while we rode around. Heck, even those 'naked' stylings seemed like they could be fun."

You snorted a little, reaching the bottom of the hill. "Well, they might be 'naked' by motorcycle standards, but you're still fully clothed in the riding suits in those options."

A long pause ensued as you turned onto the road following the river. "...I mean, I wouldn't have to be. The riding suit is technically optional... as are the side cowlings and such. Get rid of those, and what do I really need? Wheels and the handlebars, yeah?"

That statement piqued your interest. You glanced around, almost as if checking to see if anyone else might be listening in, which was silly because you were still cruising along the road at a decent clip.

"I mean, that's all true, I guess," you said, "but no wind protection would make things pretty chilly. Lots of rocks and debris in the road."

Angel Five snort-laughed. "Well then I guess you'd just have to ride me slow and hug me tight with your legs for warmth, right? If we were in a place with no traffic, they wouldn't be kicking anything up at least."

"What are you saying? You would actually want to give this a go?"

"...get some wine in me first. Like I said, we'll see where the night goes."

You don't know what was stranger: the idea of a naked woman motorcycle that you could ride, or the fact that it was technically your motorcycle that suggested it.