Car pulls up. Nobody waves. Okay. Blue light crawling down the curb, little screen says that’s my ride. Door clicks open by itself, nobody sitting on the driver side. Guy on the corner checks his phone, thumb keeps dragging through the map. Used to know every street out here. Now the street knows him back. Traffic light changes. Car moves. No hands. No small talk. Kind of nice. Kind of strange. City keeps learning little tricks. Nobody asks what disappears with it. Empty front seat, still gets me home. Turn left, slow down, already knows. No radio talk. No name to forget. Just me in the back and a screen on the dash. Empty front seat. Green light. Go. Whole thing works. That’s the weird part though. Diner window, delivery bot waiting politely at the door. Kid takes a picture, laughs, then doesn’t look anymore. Office upstairs stays lit late, half the floor went dark last spring. New badge scanner knows my face. Guess somebody taught it everything. Phone buzzes: “Your trip is complete.” Five stars. For who? Empty front seat, still gets me home. Turn left, slow down, already knows. No radio talk. No name to forget. Just me in the back and a screen on the dash. Empty front seat. Green light. Go. Whole thing works. That’s the weird part though. Maybe nothing changed. Maybe everything did. Hard to tell when it still arrives on time. Somebody built it. Somebody trained it. Somebody used to sit right there. Empty front seat, city rolls on. One less voice asking where I’m from. No goodbye. No shift to end. Just another little thing that stopped needing a friend. Empty front seat. Green light. Go. Whole thing works. That’s the weird part though. Door unlocks. Car pulls away. Nobody waves. Again.
