MargenFlash fiction · From the Margen catalogue
Rosa zooms in on frame 41,207 in front of the adjuster
«The car braked hard a hundred metres from junction 12, with nothing in front of it,» said Óscar Peiró, insurance adjuster. «That's a system fault.»
«Frame 41,207.» Rosa Alcaraz, autonomous systems mechanic, turned the screen and zoomed in. «Look at the side of the bus.»
«It's a poster.»
«It's a two-metre girl holding a biscuit. That's what the camera saw, a hundred metres away, at night.»
«So it braked for an advert.»
«It braked for a girl crossing. You would have braked too.»
«Rosa, it broke two ribs of the woman in the back seat.»
«And it ran nobody over, which is what that woman paid for the car to do.»
«I need to close the report today. If I write 'system fault', the insurer pays, the car goes to the scrapyard and Amelia has no round to drive on Monday.»
«Then write what happened.»
«And what happened?»
«That at 5:14 in the morning a car weighing a tonne and a half decided a girl was worth two ribs. Put it like that, Óscar. And put the frame number in.»