NanoWriMo: first instalment of the story
Tuesday, 1 November 2005 10:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miriam_eWorking title: Insurance
by Miriam English
(1432 words)
Note that what follows contains adult concepts.
The love of two females for each other is central to this story so if you are offended by that stop reading now.
If you have comments I'd love to hear them. I hope you enjoy the story.
The train door opened silently and Rachel eagerly stepped out onto the platform to Sally. Very pleased with herself, Rachel held Sally's hands and announced, "I got it!"
Sally bounced up and down like a little kid, shrieked with joy, and hugged Rachel. "When do they want you to start?"
"Tomorrow."
Sally looked pleased. "But of course! I completely understand. Having met you they immediately realise how much they need you."
Rachel chuckled and they turned and walked arm in arm along the platform as the train hissed almost noiselessly away down the tunnel. There were only a few other people walking toward the exit ahead.
Rachel was dressed conservatively for the job interview. She wore all black. A halterneck bikini top, an unfashionably long miniskirt, and black sandals. They matched her black, straight, shoulder-length hair and were a nice contrast to the green of her skin. She had just a touch of pale eyeshadow at the corners of her oriental eyes.
Sally, as always, looked gorgeous. She had bare feet and wore a standard skimpy bikini top and bottom, white on her pale skin. With her blonde hair she almost seemed to glow. She didn't need to expose skin, being an android and not having symbiotic algae to supply nutrients, but she loved humans and their ways. Most particularly she loved Rachel. And joy! Rachel loved her back.
They stepped out of the station entrance into the still-warm late afternoon. The sun was setting and casting everything with a golden light. Rachel looked at the beautiful, blonde vision walking beside her. Her heart did flip-flops and her mouth went dry. She stopped and hugged her, kissing her neck and whispering "Oh, I love you so."
Sally smiled uncomfortably and gently disentangled from Rachel, whispering reprovingly, "Not in public sweetie."
Rachel grinned drunkenly. Sally always made her feel like she was high on something. "I don't care. To hell with what they think."
Sally put her arm through Rachel's and continued to walk. "Well, I care. Humans need humans and you can't afford to be marginalised because of me. If I ever thought I was hurting you I couldn't stay."
Rachel laughed "Do you really think you could go?"
Sally smiled. "Probably not."
The sunlight was fading and the path lights had come on. Birds were doing their evening symphony. The air was damp and sweet, but still warm. The scent of wildflowers hung in the air. All around was parkland, but it was also densely populated suburbia. All buildings were underground. It was part of the move to regain the landscape and, in Rachel's opinion, was one of the best things to come out of the great global-warming crisis. Much of the world's population had originally settled on the most fertile land only to pave it over. Parkland like this was much more beautiful than the old, ugly suburbs of her childhood. And miraculously the wild animals had begun to return; not in the numbers before their decimation. On a wide grassy area of the hillside 50 meters below the path Rachel could see small numbers of wallabies who'd interrupted their grazing to watch the women nervously. Just twenty years ago this had been a major town center. In fact it was still, but now below the surface, out of sight. She pointed out the wallabies to Sally who smiled and nodded. "More every year."
They walked along the path in silence for a time as night continued to fall, Rachel content to simply be with Sally. A few times they'd pass large trees with rowdy communities of birds settling in for the evening. From time to time they would pass through invisible clouds of perfume suspended in the still air. Moths had begun to fly around the lights, and dark speeding silhouettes of small bats would flit in and out the light snacking on them.
Taking another smaller path up the hill they came to a door into the hillside which opened when it recognised them. Rachel stopped before the door and turned to look out over the valley to the remnants of the old city, far beyond. (The door slowly, uncertainly, closed behind them.) The lights of the city sparkled like a sprinkling of fallen stars. A multitude of birdcalls came through the darkness of the valley. Kookaburras were laughing somewhere below. The deepening sky was almost devoid of clouds and Rachel was giddy seeing the vastness of the Milky way spread out in the southern sky above them. She could almost feel it wheeling majestically overhead.
She held Sally's hand in both hers while they stood side by side for a while drinking in the scene.
They turned back to the door and it whisked aside for them. The interior was warmly lit. The door closed behind them Rachel wrapped her arms around Sally, planted her lips on hers and pushed her up against the wall. Her fingers in Sally's hair and her thigh pressing between Sally's legs, they kissed passionately, rising to desperate fever pitch.
Panting, Sally pretended a bored voice, "Oh well, home again."
Rachel laughed and led her to the bedroom. "Some sexbot you are. I thought you were supposed to be all teasingly sexy."
"Oh you ain't seen sexy yet, honey."
Rachel laughed again, "I know, that's what I just said."
Sally gave her most seductive look, pushed Rachel onto the bed, paused, leaned over her and whispered next to Rachel's ear, "What would you like me to cook for dinner?"
Rachel hit Sally with a pillow and lay there laughing, Sally chuckling, lying on the bed beside her. When her laughter subsided Rachel caressed the side of Sally's beautiful face. The mutual adoration between these two was like a tangible force. They embraced. No words needed. Rachel drew a long shuddering breath as a wave of pleasure spread out from her middle.
They separated a little and Sally saw tears in Rachel's eyes. She stroked the raven black hair away from the soft green skin around those beautiful almond eyes and kissed the tears. Then she lay down in Rachel's arms. They simply rested like that, basking in each other's presence for some minutes.
Sally asked, murmuring into Rachel's shoulder, "What does this job entail?"
Rachel kissed Sally's hair and replied, "An insurance company -- Insurers Consolidated. They want me to represent them in court against a class action by veeps."
"Oh. I've heard about this. The veeps want to be able to claim the life insurance money after their biological body dies."
"Mmmm," Rachel agreed.
"So what's the problem?"
"Well, two things. One, they are not recognised by law as human so are unable to have anything willed to them. Two, with the current rate of emigration to virtual reality the insurance companies figure they'd quickly be broke if they paid out policies to veeps."
Sally rose to prop herself on an elbow. "There is another possibility. If the veep truly is the same person when scanned into a computer then even when their biological body dies, they are not dead; they live on in a virtual world. Maybe they could stop claims by pointing out the person hasn't really died."
"They'd like to use that argument, but they can't. Legally, when your body dies, so do you. The law is pretty clear on it."
Sally ran her fingers down Rachel's face and neck, looking at her with an unreadable expression. "Honey?"
"Mmmm?"
"Have you ever considered getting scanned?"
Rachel shrugged. "Nope. Never really thought about it. When I die then that's the end of me I guess."
Sally looked sad.
Rachel kissed Sally's hand. "Don't worry, I don't intend to die anytime soon."
"Sweetie, nobody in their right mind ever intends to die soon." She lay back down with her lover and snuggled up against her. A moment later, "Honey?"
"Mmmm?"
"Have you ever thought about what it must be like to live on... perhaps for thousands of years?"
Rachel gave a gentle shake of the head. "Always struck me as a bit creepy and pointless -- fake people in fake worlds."
Sally blushed and said softly, "I'm a fake person."
Rachel rolled her over lying on top of her and smiling down at her asked, "Ya think so huh? Does this feel fake to you?" and began to cover Sally in kisses, stripping off her two white garments as she went. Sally dragged Rachel's clothes off, and two naked bodies intertwined to make urgent, blissful love.
by Miriam English
(1432 words)
Note that what follows contains adult concepts.
The love of two females for each other is central to this story so if you are offended by that stop reading now.
If you have comments I'd love to hear them. I hope you enjoy the story.
01 - the job
The train door opened silently and Rachel eagerly stepped out onto the platform to Sally. Very pleased with herself, Rachel held Sally's hands and announced, "I got it!"
Sally bounced up and down like a little kid, shrieked with joy, and hugged Rachel. "When do they want you to start?"
"Tomorrow."
Sally looked pleased. "But of course! I completely understand. Having met you they immediately realise how much they need you."
Rachel chuckled and they turned and walked arm in arm along the platform as the train hissed almost noiselessly away down the tunnel. There were only a few other people walking toward the exit ahead.
Rachel was dressed conservatively for the job interview. She wore all black. A halterneck bikini top, an unfashionably long miniskirt, and black sandals. They matched her black, straight, shoulder-length hair and were a nice contrast to the green of her skin. She had just a touch of pale eyeshadow at the corners of her oriental eyes.
Sally, as always, looked gorgeous. She had bare feet and wore a standard skimpy bikini top and bottom, white on her pale skin. With her blonde hair she almost seemed to glow. She didn't need to expose skin, being an android and not having symbiotic algae to supply nutrients, but she loved humans and their ways. Most particularly she loved Rachel. And joy! Rachel loved her back.
They stepped out of the station entrance into the still-warm late afternoon. The sun was setting and casting everything with a golden light. Rachel looked at the beautiful, blonde vision walking beside her. Her heart did flip-flops and her mouth went dry. She stopped and hugged her, kissing her neck and whispering "Oh, I love you so."
Sally smiled uncomfortably and gently disentangled from Rachel, whispering reprovingly, "Not in public sweetie."
Rachel grinned drunkenly. Sally always made her feel like she was high on something. "I don't care. To hell with what they think."
Sally put her arm through Rachel's and continued to walk. "Well, I care. Humans need humans and you can't afford to be marginalised because of me. If I ever thought I was hurting you I couldn't stay."
Rachel laughed "Do you really think you could go?"
Sally smiled. "Probably not."
The sunlight was fading and the path lights had come on. Birds were doing their evening symphony. The air was damp and sweet, but still warm. The scent of wildflowers hung in the air. All around was parkland, but it was also densely populated suburbia. All buildings were underground. It was part of the move to regain the landscape and, in Rachel's opinion, was one of the best things to come out of the great global-warming crisis. Much of the world's population had originally settled on the most fertile land only to pave it over. Parkland like this was much more beautiful than the old, ugly suburbs of her childhood. And miraculously the wild animals had begun to return; not in the numbers before their decimation. On a wide grassy area of the hillside 50 meters below the path Rachel could see small numbers of wallabies who'd interrupted their grazing to watch the women nervously. Just twenty years ago this had been a major town center. In fact it was still, but now below the surface, out of sight. She pointed out the wallabies to Sally who smiled and nodded. "More every year."
They walked along the path in silence for a time as night continued to fall, Rachel content to simply be with Sally. A few times they'd pass large trees with rowdy communities of birds settling in for the evening. From time to time they would pass through invisible clouds of perfume suspended in the still air. Moths had begun to fly around the lights, and dark speeding silhouettes of small bats would flit in and out the light snacking on them.
Taking another smaller path up the hill they came to a door into the hillside which opened when it recognised them. Rachel stopped before the door and turned to look out over the valley to the remnants of the old city, far beyond. (The door slowly, uncertainly, closed behind them.) The lights of the city sparkled like a sprinkling of fallen stars. A multitude of birdcalls came through the darkness of the valley. Kookaburras were laughing somewhere below. The deepening sky was almost devoid of clouds and Rachel was giddy seeing the vastness of the Milky way spread out in the southern sky above them. She could almost feel it wheeling majestically overhead.
She held Sally's hand in both hers while they stood side by side for a while drinking in the scene.
They turned back to the door and it whisked aside for them. The interior was warmly lit. The door closed behind them Rachel wrapped her arms around Sally, planted her lips on hers and pushed her up against the wall. Her fingers in Sally's hair and her thigh pressing between Sally's legs, they kissed passionately, rising to desperate fever pitch.
Panting, Sally pretended a bored voice, "Oh well, home again."
Rachel laughed and led her to the bedroom. "Some sexbot you are. I thought you were supposed to be all teasingly sexy."
"Oh you ain't seen sexy yet, honey."
Rachel laughed again, "I know, that's what I just said."
Sally gave her most seductive look, pushed Rachel onto the bed, paused, leaned over her and whispered next to Rachel's ear, "What would you like me to cook for dinner?"
Rachel hit Sally with a pillow and lay there laughing, Sally chuckling, lying on the bed beside her. When her laughter subsided Rachel caressed the side of Sally's beautiful face. The mutual adoration between these two was like a tangible force. They embraced. No words needed. Rachel drew a long shuddering breath as a wave of pleasure spread out from her middle.
They separated a little and Sally saw tears in Rachel's eyes. She stroked the raven black hair away from the soft green skin around those beautiful almond eyes and kissed the tears. Then she lay down in Rachel's arms. They simply rested like that, basking in each other's presence for some minutes.
Sally asked, murmuring into Rachel's shoulder, "What does this job entail?"
Rachel kissed Sally's hair and replied, "An insurance company -- Insurers Consolidated. They want me to represent them in court against a class action by veeps."
"Oh. I've heard about this. The veeps want to be able to claim the life insurance money after their biological body dies."
"Mmmm," Rachel agreed.
"So what's the problem?"
"Well, two things. One, they are not recognised by law as human so are unable to have anything willed to them. Two, with the current rate of emigration to virtual reality the insurance companies figure they'd quickly be broke if they paid out policies to veeps."
Sally rose to prop herself on an elbow. "There is another possibility. If the veep truly is the same person when scanned into a computer then even when their biological body dies, they are not dead; they live on in a virtual world. Maybe they could stop claims by pointing out the person hasn't really died."
"They'd like to use that argument, but they can't. Legally, when your body dies, so do you. The law is pretty clear on it."
Sally ran her fingers down Rachel's face and neck, looking at her with an unreadable expression. "Honey?"
"Mmmm?"
"Have you ever considered getting scanned?"
Rachel shrugged. "Nope. Never really thought about it. When I die then that's the end of me I guess."
Sally looked sad.
Rachel kissed Sally's hand. "Don't worry, I don't intend to die anytime soon."
"Sweetie, nobody in their right mind ever intends to die soon." She lay back down with her lover and snuggled up against her. A moment later, "Honey?"
"Mmmm?"
"Have you ever thought about what it must be like to live on... perhaps for thousands of years?"
Rachel gave a gentle shake of the head. "Always struck me as a bit creepy and pointless -- fake people in fake worlds."
Sally blushed and said softly, "I'm a fake person."
Rachel rolled her over lying on top of her and smiling down at her asked, "Ya think so huh? Does this feel fake to you?" and began to cover Sally in kisses, stripping off her two white garments as she went. Sally dragged Rachel's clothes off, and two naked bodies intertwined to make urgent, blissful love.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-11-02 02:03 pm (UTC)Thanks for the great story!! Mind if I friend you?
no subject
Date: 2005-11-03 04:32 am (UTC)I love science fiction too. Coupling that with lesbian romance puts me in heaven. I can hardly believe the buzz I'm getting out of writing this! It is amazing fun. I was a little worried that mapping out the story right to the end would be restricting, but it is actually freeing. It lets me concentrate on the characters.
I'd love for you to friend me -- I'm flattered.
Checked out your site and read your story instalment. Cool!