The WyvernII drones skipped across the sanguine water like electric scarabs skittering over rippling wine. They wove between jets of silver and mist, trailing silk kites and banners and emitting blinding bursts of magnesic fire. Far above the aqueous light show was a second, celestial show of otherworldly pyrotechnics. The lights of these explosions reflected across the vast expanse of water below, melding horizon with sky.

Flynn tried to ignore the pain of being squished against the promenade railing as he watched the spectacle with the awestruck crowd bustling above the waterfront. The show culminated as the lights on the water and the lights in the sky merged spontaneously to form a blinding canvas across which was written “Sable Techtronics” in inky black. As the world began to fade back into the industrial darkness of a society beneath a polluted heaven, the blue LEDs lining the walkways and streets of the city reilluminated and the crowd began to disperse, young children now tugging at the sleeves of their parents, fingers jabbing excitedly at tablet screens. These rich families would be heading to the waterfront to return home via electric gondola. Flynn would be phoning a driverless cab.

He remained leaning against the railing, rubbing his eyes until the ad was no longer burned into his retinas. Across the rolling smoke of the starless sky, delivery drones were distantly visible—pinpoints of black against deepening grays. Hundreds were rising from the resplendent skyscraper of Sable Techtronics, itself encircled by the winding, concrete highways which roofed the decrepit slums of the city. The drones would be flying far from these parts. Flynn pulled out his glistening, red tablet and admired the new WyvernII iteration of Sable Techtronics devices, the dimming ChimeraI screen of his tablet having already illuminated with a sleek display of the new selection. He heard Zayn and Axton laughing as they approached.

“Flynn, you gotta check this out!” Zayn said as Flynn looked up from the tablet.

Steal barbs impaled Flynn's left thigh through his jeans, and he froze in pain before a quick jolt of electricity ripped through his muscles and forced him, spasming, to the concrete. His dark, curly hair pooled across his face.

“You fucking asshole,” Flynn managed to say through gritted teeth. “Oh my god. Is that a taser?” He spat out his hair.

“Oh, fuck,” Axton said. “I didn't know it was the kind that shot out barbs.” Zayn started laughing harder.

“Jesus, dude. Where'd you guys get a taser?” Flynn asked. He rolled over and massaged his buzzing fingers before gingerly picking the prongs from his leg. “Fuck me, that hurts so bad.”

“Axton managed to steal—” Zayn broke back into a fit of laughter. “He managed—”