Challenge #04456-L072: Arms Race

They played with toy drones, buzzing them through the air. But beware kids with little RC toys, and you're trying to be intimidating. -- Anon Guest

Fun for the whole family! Cosmetic shells sold separately, battery packs and chargers not included. The drones were cheap, easy to use, and could carry weights up to five kilograms as long as they were also aerodynamic. For yet another separate purchase, one could acquire a cargo pod that attached to your unit.

The reason why they were so cheap was because the drone itself was a loss leader. Every additional feature was available for a low, low price.

All those low prices added up, and so did the drones. The sky was literally buzzing with them. Those with VR piloting ability formed networked murmurations, chatting over unified software and either joyriding or performing group tasks for tips.

In disasters, some flocks helped move debris off the roads or delivered supplies to the stranded. One even used telepresence to help a stranded family deliver a baby.

And parallel to those helping others, were those causing harm. Some used drones to run drugs. Some used them to terrorise people. Finding people who wanted to stay lost. Bullying those who would rather be left alone. Finding dirt to use on the relatively clean.

The law, as always, was slow against the advances of technology. Drones stalking people could not be arrested, but they could be shot by the stalkee. Or those people could find and live in communications dead zones, which came with their own risks.

As for the other crimes... There came the Hawk Flocks.

History does not repeat, but it frequently rhymes. In the eras of messenger pigeons, enemies would employ hawks to attack the birds. Thus disrupting the lines of communication.

In the modern era of delivery by drone, the drones made to attack other drones are called Hawks. They learned to decipher the markings of various crime gangs and interrupt the flow of 'merchandise'.

The only way to combat the Hawks was the same method that the ancient messengers did - send more 'pigeons'. They could not attack all of the courier drones. Alas... the expenses for that were more than half a flock of pigeons.

They'd have gone back to their regular, two-legged mules if this wasn't so much fun.

[Photo by Diana Măceşanu on Unsplash]

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