Free The Great Symmetry by James R Wells

many years after they should have expired.
    Kate’s parents had taken it as a personal mission not to contract with any of the majors. The fine print was not the only reason. Kate remembered it well from when she was a kid. Products everyone else had, but which were denied to her due to their origin. But in at least one instance, Kate’s mother had slipped up.
    “Specifically in the case of DelMonaco Trading,” the judge continued, “it was demonstrated that in 2269, M s. Anna DelMonaco agreed to extend all glome royalty periods by a further forty-nine years as part of the terms of use for her grocery rewards card, and that this extension would also be binding on her child Kate DelMonaco, who was twelve years old at the time. Therefore all CoreValue glome royalties are still in effect and binding on DelMonaco Trading.”
    A grocery card. The stupidest, lowest value item a person could have. And CoreValue had inserted their tentacles into the terms.
    “One question before the court is whether a minor child can be bound by an agreement made by a parent. The defendants assert that a child should not be so bound. The plaintiffs assert that the defendant received benefits from the agreement and therefore should be bound by it.
    “The court finds that the defendant did substantially benefit from her parent’s ability to acquire discounted groceries. For instance, some of the food purchased by Anna was provided to her daughter Kate, and the discounts would allow for more or higher quality food to be provided. In consideration for that benefit, the court finds that all of the obligations in the card agreement are still applicable, for a term of forty-nine years since the date of the transaction. Therefore, the court rules for the plaintiff.”
    Defeat. Disappointing, but not unexpected. It was a flier, worth a try. She could try again in another twenty-four years, when she was sixty-one – thus forty-nine years after the purchase in question.
    “The next question before the court is of the amount of damages. First, DelMonaco Trading owes the original amount of the royalty, which is 11,400 credits.
    “Second, DelMonaco Trading is ordered to pay the legal costs incurred by the plaintiff. Pending a final invoice, the estimated amount of legal fees is 2.9 million credits.”
    Also expected, in light of the ruling. And as much as it burned her butt to pay the inflated legal fees, it was not a problem. DelMonaco Trading was still generating healthy margins, if less with each passing year. And a huge benefit of having no stockholders, no outside investors at all, was that there would be no squawking. She would simply pay.
    Kate prepared to get up. But the judge was not finished.
    “Finally, the court finds that CoreValue Family has suffered substantial damage to its reputation, due to the defendant’s efforts to cast doubt on whether CoreValue was rightfully enforcing its extended royalty period. Such damages have been determined to be a minimum of four hundred million credits. The exact amount of damages will be finalized by an arbitrator who will provide a report within six hours, in time for publication of the ruling in twenty-four hours. CoreValue is entitled to create and enforce liens on any and all property of DelMonaco Shipping, effective immediately. This court stands adjourned.”
    As the attendees streamed out, Kate just sat, holding onto the retention bar in front of her. 400 million credits. Or more. Her family was destroyed. It was all going to be taken away, due to the terms on an agreement that her mother had unthinkingly clicked decades before.
    “Hey Kate, we’re not done.” Her lawyer Steven Colditz. “As I was telling you, now that we have a ruling, we go to final settlement talks. We have twenty-four hours to settle before the ruling is filed. The judge threw out some big numbers there, but nothing is set in stone.”
    Kate refused to look at him. “Oh come on! We’ve been a thorn in their side, and