“You can’t carry him all the way,” Sasha growled from the driver’s seat. She had the audacity to smile while I fumbled around Sergei, trying to drag him off the car.
Sergei was a bit overweight for his age with all the extra care that grew on him. Carrying him from the car was definitely a three-man job. Dragging him all the way to the lab was still an option.
I clambered out the back and shut the door quickly, preventing the happy kid from getting a glimpse of the lifeless Sergei.
“What if we cut him into pieces and take him in?” I asked Sasha who was watching me burn in the rear view mirror.
She cocked her head with a sly smile. “Dad just washed the covers.”
“Alright then, pay the extra credits for the—” I took out my phone flicked to the company’s website bookmark. “—ITS … Instant Transport Service.”
“Extra credits? Are you serious? The lab is like fifty meters from here.”
“Have a look at it yourself.” I showed her the phone.
It was at the centre of the page. ‘Transport services will be offered for an extra credit of 2000ts.’ And right at the bottom of the page, a tiny footnote, so subtle and almost white, read ‘Any transport from the parking space will be charged under ITS too.’
Sasha got down the car, almost stomping on my feet. “Alright.” She threw my phone onto my seat, knowing it will anger me. “I’ll get the arms, you carry the rest.”
“Oh, Princess. Hey. You are the one who pushed him off the roof. I don’t even need to carry any of it. You are so lucky I didn’t tell mom and dad.”
“I didn’t push him that hard. He was about to step on Mujo’s nest.” Her face lit up slowly. She grinned.
And she found her alibi! Enough to melt mom.
“He was off balance right from the start. Dad knew it. You knew it.”
Now that is good enough for everyone.
“Okay. Got the point.” I stopped her from thinking any more. “I will pay the extra credits.”
All were settled in a few minutes. As soon as I received the payment receipt, Sergei was carefully transported to the main lab.
A bald man inspected Sergei from top to bottom. He frowned at us when he tried to move the contorted legs.
“It was an accident,” I tried to explain.
He sighed and went around Sergei. He tried lifting his arms, but it wouldn’t move even a millimetre. His right leg had absorbed all that force from the impact. He couldn’t stop sighing enough or scratching that bald spot clear.
“Everything is gone here,” He cringed. “It’s the shock.”
“Yeah. We get it. How long will it take?” Sasha nudged in.
“I will have to remove everything first.” He paused a while and inspected Sergei’s head. “His cortex needs to be removed too. Three hours.”
“I’ll watch,” I said.
Her eyes rolled. “Come on. We could go eat something.”
“Nah, you go. I want to watch. I want to learn about Sergei’s internals. Could help later don’t you think?”
She left.
I stayed, watching the technician cut open Sergei, one screw at a time.