There is one societal advantage to being treated as property in Aevum: That law enforcement and news media values property damage above human life. A lifetime of petty injustices, callous remarks, withheld pay and catcalled orders must be balanced against the awesome power of being defended by the most technologically advanced police force in human history, operating under the lax oversight of a Unity government.

The Pinkerton Insurance Agency is infamous amongst insurance groups in being willing to move heaven and earth to avoid paying out a single premium. For them it's a matter of corporate pride. They will unleash their detectives and drag every party into court before you see a dime from them, and that's part of the pitch. They won't pay to replace your house if they can find the arsonist who did it and make [i]them[/i] pay. It's an insurance policy based on the principle of vengeance, the [i]vendetta[/i] system of ancient Italy packaged up and sold to you for a monthly fee. In today's age of individualism and found family, it helps to have a network of bloodthirsty cousins prepared to avenge your death.

So out comes the smartphone in a quickdraw motion as sharp as any cowboy gunslinger, elegant fingers slashing in a one-two-three economy of effort that's even faster than the emergency dial. Half a second to bounce through the wi-fi to the nearest exchange and back, five seconds to pass the anti-spam ICE crystals around Mr. Merkin's phone, and then: bing-bing! You've got mail!

[b]RE: Oops! Looks like one of your cleaning androids has suffered a terminal accident![/b]
We at Headpattr regret, without admitting fault, that one of the androids assigned to clean your property has broadcast a death sequence. We hope that none of your family or guests were inconvenienced or shocked by the event.

[b]If this matter was accidental, the fault of the android, or there were other mitigating factors:[/b] A case file will be opened with Pinkerton Insurance, who will investigate the matter. You may be treated as a suspect or called upon to provide evidence against third parties in the course of the subsequent investigation. Any and all recordings from the android, including the livestream broadcast provided to the Headpattr Partners network, may be used in evidence. Submitting a false or misleading statement is a felony. Please click here to begin the process.

[b]If you would like to select our premium-private dispute resolution system:[/b] Click here. 

Note that the premium-private dispute resolution system does not include crimes with sexual components, as Headpattr is not a licensed escort agency. 

*

While he's thinking, November gathers in the foyer in close formation. The girls are whispering in hushed tones to each other. This is the first time one of them has died since they were girls and they're not sure what it means. Blue is crying; Green is hugging her.

White just feels a strange sense of release. A contingency that's been hanging theoretical in the back of her head for nearly a decade was finally discharged. This is the first field test under live fire conditions, and the data gathered here will help determine if there are any weak points in her shield of threats and obligation. It's been a constant source of agony and tension, not knowing if she was defended or not. When space wants to kill you, you can at least do the math in advance. 

But as to Red herself? This isn't the first time she's lost a drone, not even the first time she's lost Red. It took a lot of time to learn how to operate the Red personality properly, back in the day. Always way too careless with the fusion cutters, placed far too high a sense of urgency on tasks with unpredictable timeframes. An excellent crisis response personality, full of initiative and courage, but during times when construction was on schedule she subconsciously attempted to generate crises she could respond to. 

So of course it made sense that Red would be the one to go rummaging through a set of drawers the moment she saw them unlocked. That was her nature. But unlike the Hydrogen-3 tanks of old, these explosives had been unlabelled and White hadn't anticipated that Red was best kept away from them. Surely there had been signs she had missed? 

She folded her hands in front of her awaited the click of the button.