Zoey Is Too Drunk for This Dystopia (Zoey Ashe #3)

by Jason Pargin

“Somebody with implants,” said Will. “We knew that was inevitable.” Someday, Zoey thought, there would surely be a book written about the augmentation-implant subculture as it grew up around the city. So far, the overwhelming majority of the augmented were men and fit a particular profile. Virtually all relentlessly promoted their abilities on Blink in an effort to parlay them into some kind of notoriety and, as a group, there seemed to be a shared belief that they were destined to be the true power in society, if they weren’t already. In their videos, they ranted about what needed to happen with taxes, and crime, and abortion. They’d melt iron bars with their hands while they talked, as if to say, “See? My opinions matter now. Please listen to me.” They would make vague threats to politicians, even the president, acting as if possessing the physical strength to tear their way through the fence around the White House meant they had a proverbial seat at the table, as if that had been the only thing holding them back before. That first wave of implants had, it seemed to Zoey, attracted those who had a child’s idea of what power was and how it worked. The second wave of customers would, she thought, be people like DeeDee who sensed an arms race coming, those who didn’t want to be left behind in a world in which this first group of crazies had become common. There were still only a few hundred augmented vigilantes in the city, but knowing that the next man who grabbed your arm...