[In this scene we find Howard, groaning as he turns in his bed. The hotel room that his host had booked him was small and cramped, but adequate for one. As he turns to his side the door to his room sighs open and shut with the smooth efficiency that only a machine would make. The droid stretches over Howard and taps him lightly on the shoulder.
Howard was dreaming...]
The judge was just about half way reading through the 20 page list of my allotted pardon. At the end of page 10 he stopped and looked apologetically up at me over his glasses.
"Now once again Mister Photographer, please don't get up now."
In my mind I shut all senses down to ignore him tell me that I know he is legally required and legally obliged to read out the full length of the sheet, only in this case, as in almost every one of the pardons he'd been to before. I have often thought if 'sheet' wasn't one of those inside jokes that mysteriously triggers a spark of twitters through the officers of the bar.
"Ah good, you're back!"
I shut up the blabbering fool to wait through the obligatory reading of the "sheet". There was a draft blowing in and as I turned over to my side, I pull the sheet over my shoulder to snooze underneath it's cover.
"Please try to focus to allow me to record your attention, thank you."
"Good morning Howard. Please note that I am obliged to remind you that any being awake is considered "aware" under the legal system in force of the Tribunate of Nevada. Your legal entity is currently active. Your last evaluation record was confirmed "acceptable", your rights have been registered as legally protected, and your verified level of perception will remain on record until such time that you cancel your contract. Any failure to meet with the contractual obligations that you include for verification will result in termination of any of the aforementioned rights and privilege"
Please note that your habitation agreement will be allotted after we have recorded your conscious acknowledgement of allegiance to the Tribunate and all it's affiliates. Failure to meet with any of the mandated deadlines, failure to submit your allegiance, or failing to meet with any of the legal obligations as stipulated in your contract will activate the last legal and binding suspension clause you choose. As specified during your last verification, please note that your right to due cause will remain in force until such time that your legal entity ends. When it does, you do. Any and all additional rights you may have purchased under the protection of the law as an aware legal entity will be cancelled unconditionally should you fail to submit a verified level of awareness before 12pm. We retain the right at any time to measure any pledge to the Tri-alliance code and..."
My awareness slipped back into the welcoming arms of oblivion as the host droid continued to obligate the latest updates to the terms and conditions of my habitation contract with Tri while I drifted back to the shade by the brook that I choose to abide while I wait for the conscious shift denoted by sensory shutdown, and then wait for conscious feedback that my legal status will suspended in 60 seconds and counting 30, 20, 19 Howard wake up!
