Karyn followed Jon's mother out the back door, through the patio gate and out to the driveway where the Winters' SUV was waiting. Mrs. Winters walked directly to the front passenger-side door and got in. Karyn paused, and looked around, but didn't see Mr. Winters or anyone else who she might expect to drive them.
Mrs. Winters lowered her window and called out, "Come around; you can sit in the front."
Karyn asked, "Do you want me to drive?"
This earned Karyn a puzzled look from Mrs. Winters. "Drive? Don't be silly. Just get in."
Karyn shrugged, and walked around the front of the vehicle to the driver's side door, and opened it. Then she discovered why Mrs. Winters didn't care where she sat: This car, outwardly familiar as the Winters' SUV, was very different inside. To start, it had no steering wheel.
Karyn grinned at this new exhibition of future tech. Cool, she thought. It's really automatic. She stopped hesitating and climbed in, closing the door behind her.
Karyn fumbled for the seatbelt, but her fingers weren't finding it where she expected. She started to twist around in her seat to look for the belt when Mrs. Winters asked her, "Ready?" She didn't wait for a response because there was a sudden shlooomp! sound and Karyn found herself quite securely bound into her seat by a four-point restraint system.
Karyn was grateful for yet another improvement: The multi-segmented belt attached from behind her shoulders on both sides, and joined together above her breasts, with a single padded segment passing between them down to where it attached to the lap portion. A standard shoulder harness from back 'Home' would have pinched her recently enlarged breasts uncomfortably. That was something she hadn't been looking forward to, and she made a mental note to tell Jon about these new seatbelts so he might use the stone and wish that they exist in their 'home' reality upon their return.
The car started backing down the driveway without any apparent command from Mrs. Winters. Karyn realized that she hadn't heard the engine start, and the only noise she could hear through Mrs. Winters' still-open window was the sound of the car's tires on the pavement. She idly wondered whether the car's engine was electric, or some more exotic technology.
