three city blocks, heading for downtown. Brake lights shone bright ahead, traffic queued through an intersection guarded by flashing amber lights.
“Stop!” Dax yelled.
“Let her drive,” Troy said.
“It’s the AGI.”
Enda ignored him, pushed the accelerator further toward the floor, and veered left into the turning lane, shot past one car, two, three. An auto-car jolted into the lane and Enda slammed on the brakes, feeling the shudder of the anti-lock. She yanked the wheel left and they slid in the wet—all-wheel drive losing traction on the rain-drenched asphalt. The WRX stopped, inches from the auto-car, and the engine stalled. The intersection around them filled with traffic from all sides. Enda hammered the horn with her fist, joining the chorus of confused auto-cars failing to comprehend the chaos of flooded streets.
“Fuck,” Enda screamed. She glared into the rearview mirror, daring Dax to say “I told you so.” He didn’t. He wasn’t even looking at her; he and Troy stared out the side window.
“Dogs,” Dax said.
Enda saw a small pack of four-legged drones walking through gaps in the traffic.
“They’ve been hacked,” Dax said.
“How do you know?”
“Just trust me.”
Enda gritted her teeth and keyed the ignition. It whined, and the engine started with a rumble like a dinner bell to the dogs. They began to run, powerful legs throwing plumes of water with each bounding step.
Enda jammed her foot down and veered left into the empty oncoming lane. Revs spiked, quick step over the clutch and gas, climbing through the gears. Passengers stuck in law-abiding auto-cars watched them shoot past with a mix of irritation and jealousy.
“Stop!” Dax yelled again.
Enda hit the brake—the car shuddered, slowed, and a police dog bounded out of an alleyway with legs extended. The gold NSPD badge on its side had been scoured away—visible only as a darker shade of blue on the dog’s torso plate. It hit the ground and skidded, then turned to face them, headlights reflected in its wide black visual sensor.
It leaped onto the car with a clunk. The dog’s heavy steel paws dented the bonnet and the car rocked forward on its suspension with the weight of the machine.
“Fuck,” Enda yelled.
She stomped the accelerator, leaning left to see past the dog. The robot raised one paw and a small steel stud clicked out from between its claws. Its arm snapped forward and the windscreen cracked, but didn’t shatter.
“Fuck.” Enda fumbled the car into second. The dog pulled its arm back for another strike. Enda slammed the brake and the dog was catapulted off the bonnet by inertia.
It stood shakily, metal hip mangled in its collision with the road. Enda hit the accelerator again, winced at the crunch of her grill slamming into the dog, and grimaced as first the front wheels, then the rear rolled over the drone.
She checked her rearview mirror, saw the damaged mass of metal and silicon pick itself up from the asphalt, and cursed the machine for the guilt she felt at hitting it.
* * *
Soo-hyun’s palms itched, and a manic grin stretched across their mouth. Rain fell across the monitor like static, the dog’s-eye view distorted by the film of water over the lens.
They pushed the throttle forward and the dog began to run, the camera jolting with every stride of its mechanical legs. As it rushed past cars stopped and stalled in the rising floodwaters, tags appeared in the air, digital tails connected to the vehicles, dialogue boxes listing registration information for each vehicle and outstanding warrants for delinquent drivers.
On the other battle chair’s screen the pale yellow WRX rushed forward, water spraying from its wheels in wide arcs. It collided with the dog drone, and the screen froze, edges dancing with glitched squares of green and pink.
“Oh!” the crowd uttered in sympathy for the dead dog.
Then Red’s voice rose above the din: “It’s my turn.”
He took the other pilot by the shoulder, grabbed a handful of T-shirt, and pulled them from the seat. He sat down and stretched his back left then right, hands on the VR controls, fingers tapping buttons impatiently as the system connected to another dog in the nearby semiautonomous pack.
His screen came to life with a flash of static. The view through the dog’s camera was blurry in the wet, but Red drove the machine forward, chasing down the WRX with a wolfish grin and a gleam in his eye.
The workshop was thick with the smell of bodies, air damp with the torrential rain. Behind Soo-hyun voices chattered, people shifting and shuffling closer