Insurer Rules Being Eaten Is Unapproved Asset Transfer

I am standing in the dust-vaults of Ostraka Crater, watching Lira Sen try to collect her late husband’s life insurance payout. Bram was swallowed three weeks ago by a silt-strider while mending a water pipe in the ridge.

Orbit Mutual rejected her claim yesterday. The denial notice on her light-pad defines Bram’s digestion as an unauthorised asset transfer. Because the silt-strider lacked accreditation, his absorption falls outside approved care pathways.

"They advised me to appeal," Lira says, wiping grey dust from her sleeve. "If I can coax the strider to submit a formal discharge summary, they will reconsider."

The strider currently weighs twelve tonnes and rests six kilometres north in the salt-flats.

I watch an adjuster, Soren Tan, check his breathing filter behind a sealed desk while reviewing the file. He insists the math is clear.

"We cover metabolic cessation, but we do not cover the distribution of assets to unregistered fauna," Soren says.

Bram did not volunteer. The wild beast simply hit him from behind without warning while he worked alone.

"He entered the digestive system without authorisation, which constitutes a co-pay violation," Soren adds.

Lira must now pay Orbit Mutual a penalty for storing Bram's mass inside a wild organism.