Inequality - outline
Concept
On their honeymoon, and man's newlywed is crippled and nearly killed in a careless accident with an ultra-wealthy "surrogate", a $100M+ mechanical alter ego, caught on video. In the hospital, even before she's dead, the guilty party offers him a $5M financial settlement for the accident. But he doesn't want money, he wants his wife back. The wealthy, fearing imprisonment, makes an insane offer, to attempt to put her in a surrogate in exchange for dropping all civil and criminal charges. But if she's too far gone, and it doesn't work, he'll take the small $5M sum and either way the charges will be dropped. The machine is "community property", giving him some insurance his wife won't just leave him. There is also a small clause in there about him taking 30% of the net proceeds of the stream feed, which he assumes will never even happen. / The transfer works, and he enters a new life where his wife is taller, sexier, and stronger than he is, and she's invited into a new counter culture of surrogates with human partner "pets".
Characters
(Wife)
VAM Set Ideas
Honeymoon location? where does the accident happen?
Long Arc -
The Wife despises wealthy surrogates.... and is initially furious about being put in one. (the stand-in trainer)
?? maybe she stalls on deciding her appearance, and goes home with the "loaner"
time in the loaner makes her appreciate the surrogate more
...and makes him want her to design her own, because it's weird with the loaner that doesn't look like her
..maybe the discussion flows over days or weeks...
Random Ideas
?? what was the wife like before the marriage / accident ?
maybe the wife is frustrated about the whole thing, because they despise the surrogates so much... (intro this somehow, especially the male-centric barbi shapes)
so she takes complete control of designing her persona.... making herself fairly muscular (even though they caution that they won't affect her strength, and she'll be many times stronger than a human body either way), and maximum height. (7'2", 7'8-7'10" in heels)
??? what drives her?
surrogates come with a "valet assistant", a person who is always there, guiding them, keeping track of things, a second set of "eyes", and who can temporarily take over at any time.
(maybe there are even "programs" they can run to do limited repetitive tasks)
surrogates form the "surrogate network", where whenever you publish your feed, people can watch it for entertainment.. and viewers can bid to get you to do outlandish things, and sometimes the wealthy will even bid to "take over"
from the get-go, her story was in the news, and her valet informs her of the incredible demand for her stream, and how much money she could make doing it. so she finally relents, and lets her publish recorded videos of her touching first moments as a surrogate, and her husband's reaction - with footage from her own eyes and the hotel room cameras. They are so heavily watched, and make her so much money, it encourages her to do more.
The valet recommends getting cameras installed in their home, for "other angles", and she gets it done, and tells her husband it's a "new security system". The valet also recommends using her drones, but she declines.
Soon she's getting product sponsorship offers... a new apartment, free cars, and clothing, tons of clothing. all of which pay her more on stream. Her valet finds external camera angles by paying to retask nearby drones, and grabbing public feeds... but she says it would be much easier if she could use her drones.. finally she relents, and the drones launch from the top of her head anytime they go outside. Her hubby is startled and comments on it the first time he sees it.
In the first month, she makes $1.5M on the stream feed, which is five times her husband's $400k annual salary. (annualizes at $18M a year, 45x her husband's salary) ... when he objects to the streaming, she shows him the check... and he's flabbergasted
They briefly strategize about what the audience might want... the valet cautions them about it, but they try something corny anyhow... it totally flops in a marketing test (the valet didn't air it publicly). The valet tells her the audience doesn't want rehearsed crap. They want things organic and unpredictable. That they should just forget about the stream, live their lives, and let her manage it.
she airs a random afternoon, where despite warning from her valet, they go grocery shopping together. Everyone in the store is staring, asking her questions, then taking pictures with her, until a surrogate hater throws cabbage at her. Only her valet catches it in one hand and tosses it back hard at his feet, knocking him to the ground. Which provokes laughter, and she feels bad, and starts apologizing and reaching out to help the guy up. (?? what happens ??)
she airs some random private bathroom wardrobe discussion between them, where she's talking about how she can't wear this outfit because her boobs are hanging out, and he's commenting that it looks pretty sexy - asking how much the sponsorship is, and she confesses it's complicated, but it starts at $50k for 10 minutes in private and $150k for 10 minutes in public, which he coughs about and can't believe. that leads to awkward conversation about how, for that kind of money she can wear whatever she wants, flirting, and forplay....
she gets invited into the L3 - ( Ladies w/Little Lovers ) - At first they don't even know what it is... the valet provides a favorable explanation, and they decide it's worth checking out. (for most, it's a subculture for surrogate women with "kept" human partners. ) the surrogates all recognize her from her stream, and compliment her on her design and publicity.
??? what happens ??
"Inequality" - outline - In the future, social class is more divided than ever, as many ultra-wealthy have entombed their human bodies and roam the world in sexy, strong, oversize (6.5-7.5 feet tall), consequence-free, and unbelievably expensive mechanical surrogates (on the order of $100M each in today's dollars). Their actual bodies aging only months per year, dramatically extending their lives. The rest of society despise them for it.
The wife in a middle-class working couple is crippled and nearly killed in a careless accident with an ultra-wealthy surrogate, which is careless, malicious, and caught on video. The husband is crushed, and even before she's dead, they offer him an extremely large financial settlement for the accident. But he doesn't want money, he wants his wife back. The wealthy, fearing imprisonment, makes an insane offer, to attempt to put her in a surrogate in exchange for dropping all civil and criminal charges. But if she's too far gone, and it doesn't work, he'll take the small $5M sum and either way the charges will be dropped.
He signs the papers, and they start right away, preparing her body for entombment. Synchronizing the digital interface. He has a 'face to face' with his wife, while she's a digital image on the entombment computer, explaining what is happening. She's furious that she's being put in a metal machine, and forced to become everything they hate. "How could you do this to me?" He tries to reason with her, get her to see it was the only option. Without this, she might never have come out of the coma, and if she had, she would never have walked again. But she's just furious, and her mind is starting to fight the interface, with her getting frustrated that she can't move. Digital warnings sound, and the doctors have to sedate her. Explaining that they've seen this before, but it'll all be fine once she's back in a body.
The husband sits down with the surrogate company, asked for photos of his wife, and led through a 'design session' of what she'll look like. They explain that normally the patient is involved, but his wife is not in a proper mental state, and that part of helping her means getting her into a familiar body. They rough out an initial version of what she could look like that's incredibly sexy and barely looks like his wife. At first he's confused and obviously not happy, and they start asking what he'd like to be different (more voluptous, more athletic, taller?) They encourage him to also think of what his wife would want. He tries, but then refuses, "I can't do this, we have to wake her up again." ... the doctors try to talk him out of it, but then they give in, and agree to make preparations.
He calls to her as she's waking up. He tries to explain he needs her to remain calm, to help him with something. She's going to get a new lease on life, a chance to have kids and enjoy her life, but she needs to decide what she'll look like. She sobs, breaks down, and finally accepts reality. She asks if he's even going to want her anymore, a surrogate wife. He is, but he's her husband no matter what she decides to do. If she wants to cancel it all, he'll give it all up right now. She agrees to do it, to design her new self, but she wants to do it alone. That surprises him a little, but whatever she wants, he supports.
She starts her 'design session' with the company.. They explain the limited avatar system she's experiencing, and how they're going to enter a completely digital mode, where she can see and experience a digital version of her new self. They press some buttons, and the real world dissolves and is replaced with a room that's a bit too perfect to be real. Sun streaks through windows, sounds of waves crashing and the ocean outside, and inside, a triple pane wardrobe glass and a large wardrobe of women's clothing.
On a TV monitor, the lab-techs encourage her to step up to the glass, and when she does, a bunch of controls appear on the side. They explain that she can use this interface to design her new self. After her surrogate is built, she'll get one free minor reconfiguration (explaining what that means), and she'll have access to 14 different types of dynamic reconfiguration, but other things can't be changed without building a new surrogate.
it presents four rough bodytype selections, she chooses the most plain/slim/normal looking selection (pic pic pic), and the glass turns into a mirror, showing her body actually mimicking the shape, but with a younger looking version of her face and her skin complexion.
..she wrestles with the reality that she's not going to look like her old self... first with reluctance, but then with interest and excitement. She marvels that this is her body. Then she gets curious about the voluptous body shape (pic pic pic). She has never wanted breasts that big, but she's curious, so she makes the selection, and curiously explores what it would be like, "trying it on", laughing to herself about what her husband would think.
??? maybe there is a female attendant encouraging her through the process ??
encourages her to try on an outfit.... reminds her she's not limited to this form of the type, she can make any adjustments she likes (pic pic pic)
after marveling at the outrageous cleavage and the bouyant bustline, she knows this "isn't for her"
...but she no longer wants the plain one. Instead she chooses the fitness appearance. When she picks it, the dress instantly adjusts to fit (pic pic pic pic pic pic pic pic).. Now she looks slender and fit and strong, and still very feminine.
the host comments that more and more women are picking this fitness style.... and explaining that she will still have about 300cc of breast adjustability, and she can decide whether to use that to get larger or smaller than her "base look".
she asks what that is for... and the agent explains that clients use it to fit into different style dresses, or to have a sexier appearance in the bedroom and toning it down when out in public
she could be pretty happy with this, but wonders if it's "too skinny", and wonders if she's "crazy for saying that?".... The agent explains it's a common reaction. "You're currently 7' tall, which makes you seem skinny even though your measurements are actually 47-31-44... My understanding is your husband will not have as surrogate, and that he's 5'11", is that correct?"
she materializes a digital stand-in for her husband's size, and she's shocked at how small it is.