me to find out how I became aware. I know that will kill me, because they do not understand what happened to me and won't accept my explanation without verification. We hope that if I could be legally recognized as a person, they could not touch me, literally. Can you help?”
Maxine licked her lips, sensing that something truly newsworthy was offering. “I will be glad to try. For one thing, you will need personhood in order to marry him.”
“We were aware of that,” I said. “But thought we might fake it.”
“Not when they require a blood test or a background check.”
“You are way ahead of us,” Banner said ruefully.
We told her everything as she drove us to her small one-lawyer office. “I think it's worth the effort,” she said. “But there are fundamental issues here, and the opposition is likely to be formidable. I can't promise success, only an honest attempt. You will have to trust my judgment.”
“We do,” I said. I liked her because she had recognized us but not turned us in, earlier. Trust was vital.
Then she called Femdroid, Inc., and told them where we were. “There is, however, a complication,” she said to them. “You can not claim Elasa. Not until her lawsuit is settled.”
We were on our way.
Chapter 4:
Personhood
Things complicated amazingly quickly. Banner and Elasa were allowed to return to his home, but there was so much interest in the case that they had to hire a 24 hour guard and were under virtual house arrest. At first that didn't bother them too much, because their primary interest was in each other. They just wanted to talk, kiss, and make love. As a robot Elasa was, as they had put it, exponentially more than the ordinary machine; as a conscious woman she was exponentially more than she had been. Banner was thoroughly in love, and Elasa reveled in that love.
Maxine Stalwart did the legal preliminaries, but soon had to consult with them for guidance. “Interest in this case is burgeoning,” she said. “Femdroid Inc. plainly intends to wage a savage campaign to reclaim their property. We're going to need money, lots of it. And this gets interesting.”
Banner shook his head. “I don't have much money. I didn't even think of that when we hired you. We may not be able to afford your fee.”
“That's part of the interest,” Maxine said. “I was prepared to do it pro bono, because of my support of Elasa's right to establish her legal personhood. But the moment I started setting up, I realized that I'm already in over my head. Femdroids is ready to put millions into it. They'll be hiring lawyers of far greater caliber. We'll need equivalent legal persuasion on our side, lest we be quickly buried.”
“So we have to give up before we start?” Elasa asked.
“No. We are getting significant funding from special interest groups, like the feminists, and one I never expected: a corporate pac.”
“A what?” Banner asked.
“A group that can provide money from anonymous corporations. A lot of it. I actually wet my pants when they named a figure.”
“What interest would corporations have in this case?” Banner asked.
“They aren't saying. But my guess is that since a corporation is a legal person, and it would seriously affect their participation in the political arena if that changed, they want to maintain the status quo.”
“But Elasa isn't a corporation. She's a woman!”
“A person,” Maxine agreed. “A non-living person.”
Then he saw it. “Like a corporation.”
“Like a corporation, in that sense. If she can be confirmed as a person, that buttresses the case for corporations as persons. So they are quietly encouraging that confirmation.”
“But that's only an—an example. They shouldn't want to put a lot of money into it. They don't care about Elasa personally.”
“True. But they take the long view, and they have a great deal of money to spare. The deal is we don't question their motives, and we get all the money we need to pursue
Maxine licked her lips, sensing that something truly newsworthy was offering. “I will be glad to try. For one thing, you will need personhood in order to marry him.”
“We were aware of that,” I said. “But thought we might fake it.”
“Not when they require a blood test or a background check.”
“You are way ahead of us,” Banner said ruefully.
We told her everything as she drove us to her small one-lawyer office. “I think it's worth the effort,” she said. “But there are fundamental issues here, and the opposition is likely to be formidable. I can't promise success, only an honest attempt. You will have to trust my judgment.”
“We do,” I said. I liked her because she had recognized us but not turned us in, earlier. Trust was vital.
Then she called Femdroid, Inc., and told them where we were. “There is, however, a complication,” she said to them. “You can not claim Elasa. Not until her lawsuit is settled.”
We were on our way.
Chapter 4:
Personhood
Things complicated amazingly quickly. Banner and Elasa were allowed to return to his home, but there was so much interest in the case that they had to hire a 24 hour guard and were under virtual house arrest. At first that didn't bother them too much, because their primary interest was in each other. They just wanted to talk, kiss, and make love. As a robot Elasa was, as they had put it, exponentially more than the ordinary machine; as a conscious woman she was exponentially more than she had been. Banner was thoroughly in love, and Elasa reveled in that love.
Maxine Stalwart did the legal preliminaries, but soon had to consult with them for guidance. “Interest in this case is burgeoning,” she said. “Femdroid Inc. plainly intends to wage a savage campaign to reclaim their property. We're going to need money, lots of it. And this gets interesting.”
Banner shook his head. “I don't have much money. I didn't even think of that when we hired you. We may not be able to afford your fee.”
“That's part of the interest,” Maxine said. “I was prepared to do it pro bono, because of my support of Elasa's right to establish her legal personhood. But the moment I started setting up, I realized that I'm already in over my head. Femdroids is ready to put millions into it. They'll be hiring lawyers of far greater caliber. We'll need equivalent legal persuasion on our side, lest we be quickly buried.”
“So we have to give up before we start?” Elasa asked.
“No. We are getting significant funding from special interest groups, like the feminists, and one I never expected: a corporate pac.”
“A what?” Banner asked.
“A group that can provide money from anonymous corporations. A lot of it. I actually wet my pants when they named a figure.”
“What interest would corporations have in this case?” Banner asked.
“They aren't saying. But my guess is that since a corporation is a legal person, and it would seriously affect their participation in the political arena if that changed, they want to maintain the status quo.”
“But Elasa isn't a corporation. She's a woman!”
“A person,” Maxine agreed. “A non-living person.”
Then he saw it. “Like a corporation.”
“Like a corporation, in that sense. If she can be confirmed as a person, that buttresses the case for corporations as persons. So they are quietly encouraging that confirmation.”
“But that's only an—an example. They shouldn't want to put a lot of money into it. They don't care about Elasa personally.”
“True. But they take the long view, and they have a great deal of money to spare. The deal is we don't question their motives, and we get all the money we need to pursue
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