Jet fuel stained the snow in acid yellow stripes. Arcade games glittered under the emergency lights. Bright blue poker chips lay on the snow blanks like tears. NTSB investigators encircled Flight 808, the first and possibly last flying casino.

Ramsey reached for his vape, remembered he’d quit, and then angrily popped a stick of gum in his mouth. Jaw chomping, the chief examiner scrutinized the brand-new Boeing CX broken in three pieces like a child’s toy.

1013 souls—politicians and celebrities, executives and press—had flown on Flight 808’s maiden voyage. That the pilots got her down at all was a miracle. Ramsey thought of the injured and the dead and reached for his vape. Under the lights, the technicians looked like ants on a carcass.

“Ramsay, the CX is a solid aircraft. I’ve seen the specs. Flown in them. How did this big bird fall from the sky?” Glenda, senior tech, said.

Suddenly, there was a scream of static. Ramsay jumped back. Every screen, video games, one armed bandits, electric pinball machines, flashed on at the same time. An animated smiley face appeared and winked. On and off, the words “Game Over” blinked.