Chapter Text
"Thank you for calling the Internal Revenue Service hotline. How may we help you?"
"Hello. My name's Robert Horn; I'm a California taxpayer, and I've just learned that my eldest daughter has been a Controller since 1993."
"Oh, yes, isn't that awful? My own grandmother..."
"Yes, yes. But what I'm thinking is, if there were two people living in Sara's body all that time, then I listed 3 dependents for years when I actually had 4, didn't I?"
"..."
"In which case, I should be expecting some sort of government reimbursement, yes?"
"Um... let me connect you to the Appeals office."
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"Well? Do we have a case?"
"Difficult to say, Mr. Horn. You see, the category of 'dependent' generally doesn't extend to enemy belligerents..."
"Well, Kilith was a member of our household, wasn't she? We didn't know it, of course, but she was, all the same."
"True. But, you see, since she was receiving support from the Imperial invasion forces..."
"What support? They let her dose herself with Kandrona every so often. We fed, clothed, and sheltered her on a daily basis. Surely we gave her more material support than Visser One did."
"Well... I'll speak to Judge Thiebert about it."
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"60%? What do you mean, 60%?"
"It seemed the logical compromise, Mr. Horn. Since Sara was not a 'free person' during the relevant years, an accurate census would have identified 5.6 members in your household, rather than the 6 you were claiming."
"So American law regards Controllers as corporate persons-and-three-fifths?"
"For this purpose, evidently. Which you must admit is reasonable, since taking a Yeerk into your home generally involves far less expense than adopting a human. Since the host's maintenance serves for both of them..."
"How much would a 60% refund come to?"
"Oh, about $6,000."
"All right, take it."
Chapter Text
«Your father's quite the financier, isn't he, Sara?»
«I know. It sounds horrible, the way he's talking: Mr. Brace and the IRS lady probably think he's some kind of goblin, trying to get rich off his daughter's misery.»
«Well, if he establishes precedent, several people just might do that. And, really, you did spend most of fiscal 1993 pretty miserable yourself.»
«Oh, that's ancient history.»
«You're very generous.»
«Mm. So how will you be spending your share of the money?»
«Oh, probably a diversified portfolio of blue-chip stocks, medium-risk securities, and my host's favorite Mallomars.»
«I love you, too, Kilith.»
Shenmue654 (Guest) on Chapter 3 Sat 02 Sep 2023 07:33PM UTC
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Waffle Sorter (Kd7sov) on Chapter 3 Fri 16 Aug 2024 08:43PM UTC
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