On a frigid morning in January, onlookers watched from bumper-to-bumper traffic as a pedestrian pulled out a flamethrower. Instead of waddling and sliding along like everyone else, the man reached into his huge backpack and extracted a metal tube, which began to spew fire onto the ground beneath him. The people stuck in traffic, with not much better to do, shouted various opinions from their windows. Some cheered, some told him to stop, and some called the police.

The police were also stuck in the gridlock, and flashing their sirens gave no response from the adjacent cars or the man. The two officers climbed out into the freezing air and began to move toward him, shouting demands. Further up the street, a news truck was likewise stalled, and soon took out their equipment. While the police slid about on the freshly re-frozen sidewalk, the news team recorded a short interview.

Reporter: Sir! Can we talk to you for a minute?
Man, barely audible over the roar of the flamethrower: whaddayawant?
Reporter: Why are you doing this? What events led up to this point?
Man: The sidewalk is always icy, so I handled it myself.
Reporter: Yes, but, why would you think a flamethrower is the appropriate solution?
Man: Why not? It works doesn’t it? I’ll make it to work early at this pace.
Reporter: It’s illegal! Can’t you see the police are coming to arrest you?
[The camera pans to show two police officers, one is waving handcuffs at the camera, and the other is trying to stand on the slippery sidewalk]
Man: Arrest me for what? For what?! For taking my life into my own hands? For doing everyone a service that my extorted tax dollars are failing to provide? I am a son of man – homo sapiens – and fire is my birthright! Did Promethius steal it from the gods just so we can forget it exists? Not I!

Eventually, the police caught up to the man, and arrested him. He was charged with reckless endangerment and illegal use of a weapon. During his stay in jail, the interview gained huge traction online, and soon enough spawned a movement calling themselves “the children of Promethius”. They gathered in groups outside of the city hall, yelling slogans and waving signs. These included statements such as “Free him!”, “No more ice!”, and approximate quotations: “Never forget fire!” and “Take back our lives!”

The movement created a deluge of news articles and reports, online commentary, and strong opinions. The city issued canned public statements, but did not take further initiative. As the weeks passed, the weather began to warm, and the crowds melted away. Heated feelings dispersed by the spring rain. The man was in jail for ten months, and when he was finally released, he found his freedom again on the jailhouse steps in the biting air of a bright new day, standing above an icy sidewalk.