Seat 34B, right by the aisle, squeezed between a snoring businessman and a toddler who kept hitting Lukas’ knee with a plush dino. Lukas sighed and tried to somehow tuck away his legs. On his lap lay Wurst, who was in the promised “basket mode” – which meant he had shut down his engines and was now pressing Lukas’ thigh with the weight of almost fifteen kilos of lead battery.
“Wurst, you have to go in the pocket under the seat in front,” whispered Lukas, trying to push the heavy tin dachshund down.
Wurst’s OLED eyes flashed red. “Unacceptable, Creator Lukas. The airspace under seat 33B has a dust concentration of 84 percent. Furthermore, the tilt angle of my spinal mount down there is ergonomically questionable. I am initiating optimization measures.”
“No, no optimiz–”, Lukas began, but it was too late.
Wurst’s engines came to life with a quiet, high-frequency humming. Before Lukas could grab him, the dachshund elegantly floated out of the row, passed the curtain to Premium Economy, and shot off confidently towards First Class.
“Excuse me! Sorry! My dog has run away!”, shouted Lukas, hurriedly unbuckled and stumbled after him, much to the annoyance of a flight attendant who was just pushing the drink cart down the aisle.
When Lukas pushed aside the curtain to First Class, he was met with an absurd sight. Wurst floated calmly at eye level with a visibly amused passenger in a luxurious leather cabin. On the fold-out table in front of the man was a bowl of warm nuts and a glass of champagne.
“The thermal roasting of these cashew nuts is uneven,” Wurst was lecturing in his deep baritone voice. “I have calibrated the hot air nozzles of the galley to optimize the next batch at exactly $165^\circ\text{C}$. Please enjoy this interim nut.” With a small gripping claw that extended from his breast pocket, Wurst handed the passenger a perfectly roasted almond.
“I am so infinitely sorry!”, gasped Lukas, rushing forward and grabbing the floating dachshund by the collar. “He sometimes runs off...”
The passenger, an older gentleman in a tailored suit, laughed heartily. “Don’t worry, young man! Your dog just repaired the entertainment system in my cabin, which had been stuck since Frankfurt. What’s the capable fellow’s name?”
“Wurst,” muttered Lukas, his face bright red.
At that moment, Lukas’ smartwatch vibrated. A message from Amina popped up, who
apparently was tracking Wurst’s live data:
“I see Wurst has infiltrated First Class. Kiko asks if he should order you caviar. Have a good flight! 😉”