hyper-velocity chickens.GM chickens with an extended wing-span. maybe an accidental release of unfinished protein-molding or a bio-pharm alchemical spill, nobody knows. they gyre, spiralling up and up until they can't be seen unaided, then hover, stoop, and dive. predatory screaming but they never pull out. feathery cannonballs of malignant force smacking through windshields, through roofs, taking out the family dog, the neighbor's kid, the bougainvilla, whatever's there at the end of their line of descent. the protectorate's so distracted with human agencies of sabotage they can't afford the manpower to search out the roosts, where they come from. the latest rumor is it's a guerrilla cross-breed of osprey and leghorn, some hippy commune's last act of defiance, working with the Man's own demonic tools...