Alice knew Syntheol from the NYPD riot squad. It was a powerful airborne tranquilizer. No wonder everyone looks so happy , she thought, they’re doped to the gills on smile gas . With a jolt, she thought of the red drink left in her pod, the one she’d guzzled so fast. Made sense it was loaded as well, to keep people docile while they waited. Was that why the suburbs were so quiet? Everyone knocked out? Her stimulant patch had to be fighting it, for now at least.