Suzanne looked back and forth between the scattering passengers below and the immobilized man next to her. She approached him, peering at the strange white lines covering his skin.

“Does it hurt?” she asked. He strained as if to lift a huge weight, but all he managed to do was to gently turn his head. He paused for a moment, then screwed up his face again in another bout of fruitless straining. “Calm down, you’re going to give yourself a heart attack! Don’t fight it, just try to let go! What’s your name, Mister? Talk to me!” she said standing in front of him, looking up into his wide, ruddy-complexioned face. Fine, evenly spaced apart white lines covered his skin, as if a very orderly spider had spun its net all over his body. They reminded Suzanne of the contour lines that showed the shape of mountains on maps.

“I’m Barney Wezniak, and I’m going to-” he got out, with the last word trailing off into a strained grunt. Suzanne found herself impressed by how long the big man had managed to keep his rage going. She shook her head.

“Barney, I know it sounds crazy, but I think these guys really want to help us live here,” she said, pointing at Mike. “They just can’t let anyone get injured, even if it’s through our own actions. As long as you’re thinking about fighting, that restraining thing is going to keep you locked down. You’ve got to think about something else. Dammit, can you stop being so aggressive for five minutes?” The big man seemed to ignore her pleas and continued struggling. Suzanne looked to Mike.

“The restraint will not let him move freely until he controls his desire for violence,” Mike answered her unspoken question.

“You can’t hold me forever!” Barney uttered with a strangled scream. Suzanne couldn’t stop an impulse to roll her eyes at the man’s stubbornness.

“Sure, be like that! You’re going to be stuck out here all night if you don’t calm down!” she yelled at him. He didn’t acknowledge her. She turned around when she heard someone approach, and noticed it was Cecil. “He’s stuck. It won’t let him move until he stops thinking about fighting!” Suzanne told him. Cecil approached Barney, peering at the white lines. Barney wasn’t squirming as much, but he looked ready to erupt again any moment.

“Can you feel your body at all, Barney?” Cecil said.

“You a doctor or something?” Barney replied, sounding irritated.

“No, I work in IT.”

“Get lost, kid!” Barney growled at him. Suzanne bit back an angry rebuke and fought the urge to just walk away. Cecil seemed taken aback by the big man’s aggressive attitude too but didn’t relent.

”Look, I think I got an idea how to get you moving again, but you’ll need to trust me. You’re so riled up right now that this thing considers every move you make as aggressive, so it freezes you completely. We need to get you into a state of mind where you perform a simple movement that’s not about punching something. Like, can you try to shake my hand?” Cecil stepped back slightly and extended his right hand towards Barney, who looked down at it suspiciously. “Try to concentrate on nothing but extending your hand for now,” Cecil said. Barney started straining and exerting himself, but nothing happened. “Don’t force it, maybe close your eyes. Picture in your mind where your arms are. Try to feel your shoulder joint turning to bring one arm forward.” Suzanne was surprised to see Barney actually going along with this. He stood entirely still for a while, eyes closed and with only his large chest moving slightly. Barney’s right arm started moving, only twitching a bit first, then rotating forward from the shoulder.

“It’s working!” Suzanne said under her breath. Barney opened his eyes and looked at his own arm with surprise.

“Keep calm, don’t try to think about it. Concentrate on bringing your hand forward to shake mine,” Cecil encouraged him when Barney’s arm stopped in place for a moment. His large, calloused hand slowly extended and grasped Cecil’s slowly. Their fingers squeezed and managed a slow, unsteady handshake. Barney’s body changed stance almost imperceptibly as the restraint mesh released him from its influence. The white lines started fading slowly and then disappeared off the big man’s skin. “Hi Barney, I’m Cecil. Pleased to meet you,” Cecil said.