Daiyu gasped, and her limbs tightened around me. I could feel every inch of her against my body. My heartbeat raced as we surged upward, and I told myself it was from the speed of flying across the sky, not from the sensation of her clinging to me as close as a lover. I knew I liked Daiyu when I shouldn’t. But I couldn’t afford to like her more. Not for what I needed to do: lie to her and betray her.

Her laughter filled my ears as we soared over the lower buildings and wound between the taller ones, passing a few airpeds and aircars along the way, lit brightly even in the daytime. The curved lines of my own airped shone silver, to ensure that other drivers could see us. But beyond safety, it was obvious that the yous loved to be seen.

It was another cold winter day, and the sun was hidden behind clouds and pollution. The brightest light in Taipei didn’t come from the smothered view of our sun, but from the colorful advertisements projected across the glass panes of skyscrapers. Many lower buildings also had giant projection billboards mounted on their roofs. We flew by a four-story-tall projection of a Taiwanese man and woman, dressed in business attire, enjoying Mr. Brown coffee together. Across the way, flashing on another building, a gorgeous flight attendant from Empress Air was advertising fast and inexpensive flights direct to Beijing.

“This is amazing,” Daiyu breathed.

“Is it worth getting in trouble for?” I asked with a grin.

“Definitely.”

We sped past the towering skyscrapers and soon left the taller buildings behind as we headed toward the district of Datong on the western edge of Taipei. We had maintained a height of about twenty stories, and the air was cold up here. Flying through the brown haze, I enjoyed what we could see of our city, instead of suffering a swollen throat and stinging eyes. The filth didn’t seem as bad at all when you had a suit on.

Daiyu was warm against my back, so close I imagined that I could sense her heartbeat. As with rock climbing, she was fearless and a natural on the airped, leaning into the turns with me effortlessly. I took a few faster than necessary, just to feel her limbs tighten around me, hear the thrilled intake of her breath in helmet.