AJ grimaced. “Not fat, Rena, and I’m not sure muscle-shaming is a thing.”

        The weapon he carried had been named “Deadbolt” by his brother, who, at the time, insisted that all good weapons should have a name. Long and pole-shaped, it housed a blade of heated, single atom–tipped graphene, four feet in length. When fully heated, Deadbolt was capable of splitting concrete. The scabbard, too, was an essential part of the weapon and served two purposes. First, it heated the blade when sheathed, and second, it acted as a gas- powered firing chamber. When the sensors on the hilt detected his grip, a flip of the switch on the hilt would fire the blade from the scabbard. The contained explosion within the pole/scabbard ejected the blade with a trem...

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