The FAA's registry office in Oklahoma City was rarely exciting. Rows of cubicles stretched under buzzing lights, the monotony broken only by the hum of servers. Most days, the biggest stir was when an old tail number lapsed into deregistration.
But today was not most days.
At 1:16 p.m., an analyst leaned forward at her monitor, eyes narrowing.
"Uh… Supervisor? You need to see this."
Her boss, a graying man with coffee-stained shirt cuffs, shuffled over reluctantly. The analyst pointed at her screen, where the registration entry for N914LX glowed in black and white.
"Aircraft Type: Airbus A380-800. Configuration: Private."
The supervisor blinked in slight disbelief, "That's not possible."
"It's in the system. Valid registry, all documentation were cleared last week."
"Owner?"
The analyst hesitated before answering. "One individual. Liam Scott. Date of birth: September 2007."
The supervisor froze. Then he muttered the only thing that came to mind: "Jesus Christ."
***
