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Eve started off to work hu, her mind rested She took it as an omen when her vehicle purred to life on the first atte at a pleasant seventy-two degrees
She felt ready to face her commander and convince him she had a case to pursue
Then she got to Fifth and Forty-seventh and hit the ja like vultures, and no one was paying any heed to the noise pollution laws The horns, shouts, curses, catcalls screamed out and echoed The leefully pumped up to ninety-five
Eve slammed out of her car and joined the melee
The glide-cart hawkers were taking advantage of thea monster business on frozen fruit sticks and coffee She didn’t bother to flash her badge and remind any of them they weren’t allowed the vend off the curbs Instead, she snagged a vendor, bought a tube of Pepsi, and asked what the hell was going on
“Free-Agers” Eyes shifting for more customers, he slid her credits into his safe slot “Protest on conspicuous consumption Hundreds of ’e Want a wheat o with that? Fresh”
“No”
“Gonna be here awhile,” he warned and stepped onto his cart to glide through standing traffic
“Son of a bitch” Eve scanned the scene She was blocked in on all sides by furious co out of her car like a furnace
She slammed back in, beat on the control panel with her fist, and ed to knock the temperature down to a brisk sixty Overhead, a tourist bliawkers
With no faith whatsoever in her vehicle, Eve ra siren The siren wheezed on, no ed a shaky lift Her wheels missed the roof of the car in front of her by at least an inch as her vehicle coughed and choked its way into the air
“Next stop, recycling heap I swear it,” she muttered and she punched at her co on here?”
“Sir” Peabody popped on screen, eyes bland, mouth sober “I believe you’ve encountered the jam incited by the protest on Fifth”
“That wasn’t scheduled I know da They can’t have a permit”
“Free-Agers don’t believe in permits, sir” She cleared her throat when Eve snarled “I believe if you head west, you’ll have better luck on Seventh Traffic is heavy there, but it’sIf you check your dash monitor—”