'playful' beatings with sticks?

That was the only way I could reconcile 'beating random people with a stick' and 'tricksters'; 16th century vagabonds in London, for instance, may have found it an amusing pastime.

What puzzles me is why you care about this particular type of assault, since other types seem much more likely.

EMP assaults come (or came, if it indeed would not prove problematic) across as the largest obstacle in ensuring augmentation's safety from malicious attacks, as it would be difficult to identify a guilty party in a crowd, and attacks might, if the technology develops to allow for it, be relatively easy to carry out.

What types of assaults do you consider having a higher probability?

• Ah, I think I may understand you now. You mean why do I care about how augmented humans may be attacked, when similar technology could be used to much more nefarious ends? To that I say I do not have the requisite knowledge base for grounding any such speculations in reality.