Insurance - part 4

[miriam_e]

(1613 words)

total so far:

7,831 / 50,000

I am enjoying writing this sooo much!
It means I'm ignoring all the other things in my life, but that is the spirit of NaNoWriMo, isn't it. :)

Let me know what you think.

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.

04 - day in court

Rachel awoke. For the briefest moment she was puzzled by her luxurious surroundings then she remembered. She was alone in the bed, which was a relief to her. She didn't know if the maternal feeling would continue in the morning while her body was stirring, relatively uncontrolled by a mind rousing from sleep. Still feeling groggy, curled up in bed and placed a call to Sally, who answered almost instantly.

Rachel! I'm so glad you called. I've missed you. Rachel didn't actually hear the words. Sally sent those thoughts and feelings. Her AI brain was arranged so that thoughts, sensations, concepts -- anything she experienced -- could easily be tapped. In the early days of AIs it made it easy to copy years of learning from one AI mind into another, avoiding the expense of training. Now that humans had the cap communication became simple and effortless. Of course humans were not as good at it as androids were. The androids' AI brain had been built for it.

Rachel replied silently, I love you sweetheart. I miss you too, and sent a fuzzy feeling of longing.

Sally sent a strong, sharp feeling of sexual arousal that made Rachel convulse with desire, then drenched her mind in lust. A gasp escaped her lips as she sent a frantic, No sweetie, no! I'm not alone. Or rather I'm not sure yet if I'm alone. I don't want to be...

Just then the door opened and in came Savannah, dressed in a conservative, wide, black bikini top and black miniskirt. She was carrying a tray of delicious smelling food.

Sally switched off the erotic torrent and asked, You spent the night with someone? I'm so relieved. I was worried you'd be feeling all alone down there. I considered sneaking down there to be with you.

Rachel's cheeks burned, Well yes, but we just slept. There wasn't any sex.

The tinkling of Sally's laughter seemed to shower through her mind. Oh Rachel, you're so sweet. Is it any wonder I love you so? Show me what she looks like.

Rachel sent what she saw now. Savannah standing by the bed with the tray. She also sent her name and that she was her assistant for the case.

Oh my... She's gorgeous! Have hot sex with her, you sweet, silly possum, then mischievously sent a big, hungry, wet kiss on Rachel's lips, the feeling of kisses down the side of the neck, a phantom hand cupping and pressing on her crotch while another brushed her nipple. Rachel frantically cut the connection.

She lay there for a moment, breathing heavily, gulping.

Savannah just stood there patiently, one eyebrow arched and an amused smile on her lips. "I can return when you're not busy."

Rachel sat up, "No, no. Just my practical joker wife," all too aware that her traitorous body was wet between the legs already and her nipples were hard.

Savannah's expression softened at the word "wife", then explained the tray as she set it on Rachel's lap. "In the city your algae don't receive enough sunlight to make all the nutrients you need, so you must eat more carefully. This will supply most of what you need for the day. I know your digestive tract is not used to rich food, but I was careful to replicate easily digested things."

"It smells wonderful." Rachel hadn't smelled eggs on toast since she was a child. Her mouth watered.

"If you are not up for all that protein first thing, then the milk and cereal may suit you better."

Savannah started to turn to leave. Rachel asked, "Do you need to go? Can you stay?"

Savannah smiled, glad of the invitation. "I'd like that."

While Rachel ate they discussed the case some more. Building upon yesterday's work, they settled upon several possible defenses, depending on exactly what direction the veep challenge took. As far as she could see, Rachel felt they'd covered all the possibilities, but she had a gnawing feeling that there was something else they'd missed.


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The court was a large dome-shaped room, perhaps 20 meters across. In the center of the room was a large round table, big enough to seat about 30 people. At present there were just 7. Rachel and Savannah, and the 5 judges. The floor was covered with a grey long pile carpet. Lighting was diffuse. All the panels in the domed ceiling were softly luminous. The acoustics let each of those seated around the table hear the slightest whisper from any of the others. Rachel hoped her belly didn't gurgle from all the unaccustomed food.

On the way here Savannah had explained to Rachel the details of how this worked. Of the 5 judges only 2 were human; one male and one female. Both wore green smocks, matching their green skin. The rest were androgynous androids. Two of the android judges wore purple smocks. The other wore blue. The judges would hear both sides of the argument. The android in the blue smock would give a softly spoken, running commentary on false statements, appeals to emotion, circular logic, during each address. The other judges were free to interrupt at any time to ask questions. Each side would be able to make 2 presentations: their initial address, and a summing up.

The representative for the veeps would speak first because they were prosecuting the case. The representative for Insurers Consolidated (Rachel) would speak second because they were defending.

Shortly after Rachel and Savannah had seated themselves a thin grey-haired woman walked in. It was hard to tell her age. She wore a formal grey knitted tube top over her small breasts and grey, knee-length skirt. Her shortish grey hair was wild, an unruly tangle. When Savannah saw her she gasped.

What? Rachel asked, via the cap.

Savannah turned to look, wide eyed at Rachel. That's Zoe!

Zoe? You mean the Zoe? Are you sure? I thought she had cerebral palsy.

She sent a picture of the legendary Zoe from some file. It was younger than she appeared now, and the face a little distorted by palsy, but was clearly the same person who walked easily to the table and seated herself. If it was Zoe she had to be in her 60s, but this woman had the body of someone in their 30s.

The grey-haired woman smiled gently to all around the table. She was perfectly at ease as if she was the host and they were all in her livingroom. She said in a soft voice, "Shall we start then?"

She continued nodding to each in turn, "Rachel, Savannah, judges. I'm sure you all know of me." She favored Savannah with a particularly warm smile. "I'm Zoe and I'm here to represent the veep side of this case."

Savannah looked almost terrified. Rachel had the uncanny feeling of being in a vehicle careering out of control. She reached out and stroked Savannah's upper arm. Are you alright? Try to relax, dear. Savannah looked gratefully at Rachel and succeeded in pulling herself together.

Zoe began. "I must first apologise. Those who launched this suit were hasty in the wording of their proposal"

The blue android murmured "It was a suit, not a proposal."

Zoe nodded. "It should have been a proposal. The veeps wish to make allies of the insurance industry not enemies."

Rachel thought, what the hell was this?

Zoe continued. "If Insurers Consolidated will recognise veeps as rightful recipients of the death benefit from their own life insurance..."

The blue android commented softly, "rightfulness to receive is not yet established... veeps are separate entities under the law, and not human, so it's incorrect to assert ownership of the insurance..."

"...then veeps will invest in the insurance industry in return and turn around its failing fortunes."

"unsupported claim of future investment... appeal to emotion bordering on bribery..."

Zoe paused to look at the blue android and smiled as one would if indulging a child.

"Veeps are now the wealthiest members of the population. They have the wherewithal to bring the insurance industry back from the edge."

"...implication of veeps being human is incorrect under legal definition... appeal to emotion..."

"You will naturally be wondering what veeps have to gain. Humanity. They want to be recognised as human."

The blue android was silent. Zoe smiled benevolently then sat again.

Rachel blinked. That was quick. She was expecting a long, drawn out speech.

The judges turned to face Rachel. She stood uncertainly, gathering her thoughts.

"I can't speak for the rest of the insurance industry, but Insurers Consolidated can not afford massive payments of billions of dollars to veeps in death benefit. They would need proof of net benefit to them to do so." She paused for a moment. "Even if Insurers Consolidated chose to make the payments it would not constitute a legal redefinition of veeps as human, so I'm still wondering what veeps hope to gain by their suit."

The blue android was silent throughout Rachel's reply. She sat again.

Zoe applauded and laughed lightly. "Well done, my dear."

The two human judges were frowning at Zoe. She stood again. "Precedent. Legal precedent. That is what they hope to gain. I believe we can come to an out-of-court agreement." And then she sat.

Rachel stood. "We will talk then." She turned to the judges and nodded to them. "Thanks to the court."

The judges all nodded to Rachel and stood. The blue android spoke, "Court is adjourned and will reconvene in 4 hours from now."

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Comments

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Heheheh :) Thank you for the encouragement.

I wish I'd included more description of their surroundings. Oh well, that's what rewrites are for.

I'm quite proud of the opening sequence. Yes, a cap like that with a sexy woman at the other end would be heaven for me too. :)