It was 8:15 AM. In exactly 45 minutes, the presentation in the glass tower of Vanguard Media was supposed to begin. Lukas and Amina, both hastily slipped into their most elegant business-casual attire, stood at the e-bike charging station in front of the apartment complex. Wurst hovered neatly at shoulder height, his casing polished to a high gloss, while Kiko sat as a subtle, golden shimmering hologram on Amina's handbag.
“This can't be true!”, Amina cried desperately, staring at the display of the
rental e-bike. A red exclamation mark blinked mockingly: Battery charging error – 0%. “The
storm yesterday must have knocked out the local charging network. We can't get away from here, and at
this time the main road to Tech City is completely jammed. Every taxi will be stuck in traffic!”
Lukas looked at his smartwatch. The minutes slipped away relentlessly. “Isn't there a shortcut over the gravel paths?”
“Yes, behind the hill there is a path,” Amina said breathlessly. “But with an uncharged e-bike, I will never make the climb in the mud on time. And pushing takes too long.”
Wurst’s lenses narrowed to two precise slits. He slowly hovered to the e-bike’s power socket and then back to Lukas. “Urgency analysis: Maximum,” the dachshund reported. “My internal fusion battery still has $64$ percent capacity after last night’s rendering session. That is sufficient to initiate a kinetic bridging scenario.”
“Wurst, what are you planning?” Lukas asked skeptically. “You can’t pull the bike, you only weigh fifteen kilos yourself!”
“I will not pull, Creator Lukas. I will push.” Wurst lowered his flight altitude, extended two sturdy, rubberized stabilization mounts from his underside, and pressed them directly against the rear hub of Amina’s e-bike. “Kiko, coordinate the torque transfer via the bike’s Bluetooth interface. We simulate a virtual all-wheel drive system.”
Kiko emitted an enthusiastic screech, jumped onto the handlebar, and projected a virtual race display onto Amina’s glasses.
“Mount up, Amina!” Lukas shouted. “This is our only chance!”
Amina swung onto the saddle, Lukas jumped onto the second, functioning wheel. With a high-frequency, powerful hum, Wurst ignited his engines. The rubberized mounts gripped, and the heavy e-bike shot forward with Amina as if catapulted by an invisible launch ramp.
“Aaaand liftoff!” Amina cheered as she raced up the muddy hill at breakneck speed, closely followed by Lukas and driven by a wildly determined tin dachshund, who pushed the rear wheel with maximum rotor power.