Dean would have relished this, he decides, in an old Outer Limits. An inventor running from his own creations! He scrambles over a low wall, throws himself flat and tries to breathe quietly.

He liked the sales at first, but soon it was out of his hands. Homo sapiens Segwayns, they call themselves, the next forced step in evolution. Everybody underestimated their advantages, especially once they took Washington, and now it’s a two-prong proposition: ride or die.

The hum of their gyroscopes is like the howl of hunting wolves, tireless, getting closer. Dean doesn’t know how much longer he can run.