Inside the stolen sanctuary of Suite 1A, Julian and Beatrice were settling in to enjoy their victory. Julian tapped the massive touchscreen interface to select a sophisticated Italian film. Suddenly, the screen blinked, emitted a loud electronic chime, and completely overrode his selection, launching instead into the airline’s unskippable, fifteen-minute corporate welcome and safety video. He frantically stabbed the back button, but the monitor completely ignored his touch.
The safety video played on relentlessly, narrated by a cheerful woman who seemed personally delighted to explain the location of the emergency exits. At the exact same moment, a loud mechanical whir filled the pod. The luxury lie-flat bed, which Julian had been trying to recline, slowly flattened itself out, and then, with absolute serenity, folded itself back upright into a rigid, stiff-backed taxi position. Julian reached for his armrest controls, but they were dead.
Beatrice gasped as her own seat gave a mechanical shudder and forced her into an uncomfortably straight posture. Through the narrow gap in the privacy door—which Sarah had remotely locked into a half-open position—Leo and Sarah watched from the aisle. Julian was pressing buttons in the frantic, escalating manner of a wealthy man who cannot accept that a machine is refusing his commands. The safety video immediately finished its loop and cheerfully started over from the beginning.