"Judy! You don't stop this right now, I'm calling the cops!"
"The cops?!"
Judy let out a cold laugh, grinning wider than before.
"Dustin, get it through your head! This is Meridian City, not Crown City! This is Henson territory! God himself could walk in here and he'd still have to bow and scrape!"
I forced a thin, cold smile, slowly reaching into my pocket for the encrypted phone. I dialed the only number stored inside.
"Send every industrial water-cannon truck in Meridian City to Starhaven Plaza. Immediately. And seal the area."
……
The moment the words left my mouth, the crowd erupted in deafening laughter.
Judy lunged forward, snatched the encrypted phone right out of my hand, and laughed even louder.
"Dustin, is your brain waterlogged?! You whip out some ancient phone and make a scary little call—who's that supposed to fool?!"
She held the screen up and turned it in a slow circle for the crowd.
"Hey, look at this! A four-digit phone number!"
"Tell me, has anyone here ever seen a four-digit phone number in their entire life?!"
Another wave of piercing laughter rose around us.
The amusement in Judy's eyes deepened. She seized my chin in her grip.