Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi buzzed to the rhythm of the year 2026. Everywhere holographic advertising banners for solar drives and mobile banking apps flickered, while the warm evening air, smelling of earth and adventure, flowed through the open terminals. Lukas stepped out of baggage claim with weak knees. Wurst obediently floated on a real, analog dog leash beside him – a security measure Lukas had rigorously enforced after the first-class incident.
“Activate search mode, Wurst,” Lukas murmured, nervously running his hand through his hair. “Can you find Amina?”
Wurst’s lenses scanned the waiting crowd in the arrival hall. “Biometric matching in progress... 42 matches for curl structure. Applying symmetry-aesthetic filter... Detection successful. 12 o’clock direction, distance 25 meters. Note: Your heart rate has just exceeded the $110\text{-BPM}$ mark, creator Lukas. Please breathe deeply into your belly.”
Lukas looked up. And there she was.
Amina was even more stunning in real life than through the pixelated webcam lens. She wore a
colorful, modern bomber jacket with traditional patterns and held not a cardboard sign in her
hand, but her tablet. Above her floated Kiko, the holographic little monkey, projecting a large,
neon-orange glowing inscription into the air: WELCOME TO KENYA, LUKAS &
WURST! 🇰🇪
When Amina spotted him, her face lit up. She waved excitedly and came toward him. “Lukas! You actually made it! Unharmed and without your dog making an emergency landing!”
“Amina... hey,” Lukas managed, noticing his voice sounded an octave higher than usual. The transition from the flat pixels of his monitor to this vivid, warm reality completely overwhelmed his brain. He spread his arms for a cautious, slightly stiff Hamburg greeting, but Amina simply laughed and pulled him into a warm, firm hug. She smelled of jasmine and fresh coffee.
While the two people forgot the world around them for a moment, the AI pets started the official welcoming ceremony. Kiko jumped with a virtual somersault from Amina’s shoulder and landed directly on Wurst’s matte black metal back.
Wurst froze, and his OLED eyes shifted to a deep, analytical violet. “Foreign object detected on torso. Light interface registered. Loading welcome protocol...” A soft mechanical clicking sounded, and from Wurst’s internal speaker came not a Bavarian march, but – surprisingly rhythmic – the first bars of a well-known Kenyan pop song, which Kiko had apparently sent him as a data packet beforehand.
Amina broke away from the hug and stared incredulously at the floating dachshund. “Your dog plays Afro-pop?”
“I guess our pets decided we don’t even need to break the ice,” Lukas laughed, and the last tension fell away from him. He looked deeply into Amina’s eyes. “It’s incredibly beautiful to finally see you in 3D.”