astercontrol:

a-kind-of-merry-war:
Me, lying on my stomach kicking my feet in the air and twirling my hair around my finger: ehehehe yeah I’m gonna break him down to the constituent parts of himself and destroy his sense of self worth and when he’s at his lowest point I’m gonna force a life changing event on him which makes him consider everything about his life up to this point leading up to a climax in which he’s forced to decide the sort of person he can live with being
Me: and then I’m gonna make him fuck nasty
saving for reference for when I write the “In Ram Jurisdiction” story

outline for future reference:

Ram (having survived apparent deresolution in the Recognizer) gets settled in all happy with new polycule (Yortram)
getting all ready for his first I/O Tower communication with his true User (who in program culture is basically a fourth, central part of his polycule; this contact is supposed to be the most fulfilling intimacy of a program’s life)
sudden knock on door from security program ported in from Big Insurance
legal demand for destruction of Ram
Big Insurance commissioned Roy to write him. Purchased the rights to him, fair and square… as the intended end-Users, they OWN him.
this is an in rem jurisdiction seizure of stolen property, part of the investigation of Dillinger and his thieving MCP
insurance corp has their own backup… they don’t need him returned, they need him deleted, ASAP before any more illicit copies can be made and any more damage done. Encom doesn’t have the right to this MCP-pirated software
in process of talking with the security program sent to collect him, Ram suffers a total upending of his worldview and his entire ethics system
any notions of insurance companies as places of goodwill and helping people…. gone, crushed.
he is a tool to make money, they don’t need him for that anymore, his purpose is OVER
but his original User, as part of the investigation, is going to be involved in identifying him and making sure they’ve got the only infringing copy
so Ram gets his I/O Tower connection to Roy Kleinberg
it’s a bittersweet communion, where in the midst of the intimate pleasure Ram is desperately trying to communicate how much he wants to live, wants to stay here
and despite all communication barriers… something does get through
on a strange intuitive whim, Roy decides he’ll fix the problem by filing off the serial numbers… i.e. upgrading the program with enough changes that there’s nothing infringing left.
Fair Use, baby
Ram comes out of the experience with the same functionality but better, new skills, more himself than ever
his new role is in Encom’s own benefits department… which is undergoing extensive changes under Flynn’s attempt to run the company in a more ethical and philanthropic way
happily ever after