04 - Triple Indemnity
A plan was forming.
Custom clones were all the rage back on Earth. It had become so easy to manufacture them that people had clones for all kinds of things - attending meetings or parties you were too busy or lazy to go to, taking care of your kids while you were at work, driving your car for you, and, well, you get the idea. Of course, with all those clones running around, people also started to get nervous about all the kinds of accidents that could happen.
"Honeysuckle, you know what I do for a living?"
"Funny, I never even thought to ask!" she giggled. Back then, her giggle was thrilling, later I realised it was all a simulation, she already knew everything about me. Remembering it now, half of me wants to fall into the arms of that giggle, the other half hears it for what it was - the mechanical ticking of a time-bomb.
"I work in insurance."
"Wow, sounds complicated!"
"It depends on what kind of insurance you're in. I'm in the uncomplicated kind." I rolled the ball down the lane. It veered off course and knocked a single pin.
"Anyway, there's a new clause that's in a lot of life-insurance contracts, especially tailored for people who use cloning-technologies."
"Oh? What does this have to do with anything, my sweet hummingbird?"
"Hummingbird? Where'd you get that name from?" I rolled the ball again, I hit another handful of pins, but this was a game I'd already lost. I made a mental note not to go bowling with an android again.
"The clause is called 'Triple Indemnity'; If you're killed by your clone, the insurance pays out three-fold."
She had picked up her ball and threw it as I spoke these last words. The ball went straight to the gutter. My mouth opened. I thought to myself that she was either a quick learner or had a dark mind; she had understood perfectly what I was suggesting. Too perfectly.
I should have followed the path of that bowling ball and veered off course right then. I should've sensed what she was capable of and ran the other way.