About 50m out, the pair noticed a flying drone homing in on them, flashing an ARO with “STOP – BORDERCONTROL”
When their car had come to a stop it moved away from the front of the car and to the side window, indicating it to be rolled down. Al recognized the model as a standard CAS government model – about one generation behind the tech his friends tended to use.
The voice synthesizer on the thing called out: “Please, present, your, identification. Only, authorized, personal, allowed, beyond, this, point.”
That told him that the drone was not piloted by a rigger, but currently operating on a somewhat sophisticated autopilot.
A small laser scanner hummed and send a stream of light first across his face and then that of Becky, followed by the identification card held up by Al. A few moments of terse silence passed before the drone stated: “Authorization, recognized. Please, state, the, purpose, of, your, visit, to, La, Vida, Lopez, farm.”