The couple at the next table looked at each other. The man forgot to chew the burger in his mouth.
The woman muttered, "...Did he say Batman? That Batman?"
Yongye winked at her. "That's right, that Batman. He's in great shape, you know. Eight-pack abs..."
His thumb hovered over the "Send" button on his phone, barely a millimeter away.
That was when it happened.
Without warning, the phone screen flickered from bright white to dark blue, then dissolved into dense static. A faint sizzle came from inside the phone.
The smell of something burning rose from its back, mixed with the acrid stink of melted plastic and metal.
Yongye looked down as his screen went completely black. The casing grew warm, and a thin wisp of smoke curled from its edge. Then a small flame leaped from the charging port and danced across the tabletop, scorching a black hole through the menu's plastic cover.
A short circuit?
The phone caught fire on its own?
Yongye narrowed his eyes but did not move.
He sat there watching the phone burn. After scorching through the plastic cover, the flame slowly died on its own, leaving a charred wreck and a cloud of choking smoke.
A smile slowly spread across his face.
"Just as I thought."
He reached out and nudged the remains with one finger. The screen had cracked into a spiderweb, and a blackened corner of the motherboard showed through the gaps. The phone was beyond repair. Even the SIM card inside had melted into a lump of plastic.
After the flame went out, the fast-food restaurant stayed silent for a full five seconds.
The employee behind the counter finally came to his senses and fumbled for a fire extinguisher. But when he saw the fire was already out, he stood