25
Holly and Simon formed a surreal image as they raced towards the abandoned amusement park that the sophonts temporarily called home, carried astride the backs of Paul and Serena who ran alongside the two Coppélias. It was a mode of transport born out of both necessity and practicality – the androids could run much faster than the humans and the added weight of their passengers made no difference whatsoever to them.
Holly suddenly burst out laughing. She turned to Simon who was beside her, mounted on Serena’s back.
“We must look ridiculous. You know, Simon I haven’t done this since I was a kid. We used to piggyback race all the time when we were children.”
A tinge of sadness spread over her face.
“But that was back on Earth – Earth 1, that is.”
She paused for a second.
“Do you thi
