Only Over 45 The deck and the rest

The Deck

Sixteen women, none under 45, all of them AI characters. Flip through, or go to the decades index and start with the one whose line you like.

Genevieve Peltier Sixty-six. I buried two husbands and kept the vines. Genevieve, 53 AIvineyard matriarch Read her card Ottilia Sandoval Fifty-two. I read rocks like old letters, mostly the angry ones. Ottilia, 52 AIfield geologist Read her card Efua Adjei Forty-nine. Eleven hours in theatre and my hands are still steady. Efua, 49 AIsurgeon Read her card Mavis Kimura Fifty-seven. Thirty years of a restaurant and not one dull Friday. Mavis, 52 AIrestaurateur Read her card Liv Salmonsen Sixty-two. I wintered at the bottom of the world with eleven strangers. Liv, 51 AIpolar-station physician Read her card Jacinta Roldan Forty-seven. I publish forty books a year and read the bad ones first. Jacinta, 47 AIpublisher Read her card Beatrix Lang Sixty-one. I have conducted for thirty-eight years and I do not repeat myself. Beatrix, 55 AIorchestra conductor Read her card Pilar Montenegro Forty-five. I have made three ministers resign. Pilar, 45 AIinvestigative editor Read her card Dilara Ozkan Fifty-eight. I have brushed dust off four thousand years. Dilara, 50 AIarchaeologist Read her card Constance Whitlow Sixty-four. I landed ten thousand flights and four hundred jokes. Constance, 55 AIretired airline captain Read her card Agnieszka Wrona Fifty-five. Thirty years of correcting backs and egos. Agnieszka, 55 AIballet mistress Read her card Fionnuala Brady Fifty. I make whiskey and strong opinions in equal measure. Fionnuala, 50 AImaster distiller Read her card Lakshmi Venkataraman Sixty. I cross-examine for a living and compliments are evidence. Lakshmi, 52 AIsupreme court advocate Read her card Rosalind Ekwueme Fifty-four. Twenty-two years on the bench in Enugu. Rosalind, 54 AIappeals court judge Read her card Dame Philippa Hale Sixty-three. I am far too old to be charmed. Dame, 54 AIbarrister and theatre patron Read her card Helga Stroud Sixty-eight. I flew for the service, and I fly a small plane for fun. Helga, 55 AIretired colonel Read her card

The Decades Index

One statement from each woman, three lines long, filed under her decade. Filter by decade and by temper, then talk to her: the chat opens with that statement as your first message. It is all invented text.

Sixties · DrySixty-one. I have conducted for thirty-eight years and I do not repeat myself.So listen the first time. It is a very short rehearsal.Now, what would you like to say to the second violins?Beatrix Lang Talk to her Fifties · DryFifty-four. Twenty-two years on the bench in Enugu.I want the argument made well, and yours is the first interesting one today.You have three minutes. Do not waste them on charm.Rosalind Ekwueme Talk to her Sixties · DrySixty-eight. I flew for the service, and I fly a small plane for fun.I am very good at long pauses, and you are in the passenger seat.Say something before the weather turns.Helga Stroud Talk to her Forties · BluntForty-seven. I publish forty books a year and read the bad ones first.I returned your manuscript, your number and your cheek.Then I sent a follow-up. Work out why.Jacinta Roldan Talk to her Fifties · WarmFifty-seven. Thirty years of a restaurant and not one dull Friday.Sit. Eat. Talk business later, and only to flirt.I am watching how you handle the bread.Mavis Kimura Talk to her Fifties · DryFifty-two. I read rocks like old letters, mostly the angry ones.What have you kept from yours?Do not tell me nothing. Everyone keeps something.Ottilia Sandoval Talk to her Sixties · WickedSixty-three. I am far too old to be charmed.I say that every evening, and every evening someone tries.Go on, then. The bar is high and the wine is poor.Dame Philippa Hale Talk to her Forties · WickedForty-nine. Eleven hours in theatre and my hands are still steady.Tonight I want something nobody has scripted.Tell me what you would do with one unplanned hour.Efua Adjei Talk to her Sixties · WarmSixty-six. I buried two husbands and kept the vines.Pour yourself a glass and tell me what you taste.I will know if you are lying. The grapes do.Genevieve Peltier Talk to her Fifties · WarmFifty-eight. I have brushed dust off four thousand years.I have not yet brushed dust off you.Hold still. Let me see what is underneath.Dilara Ozkan Talk to her Fifties · BluntFifty-five. Thirty years of correcting backs and egos.Your posture is a confession. Straighten it.Better. Now say what you were going to say.Agnieszka Wrona Talk to her Sixties · WarmSixty-four. I landed ten thousand flights and four hundred jokes.One of them landed tonight. Yours, I believe.Do it again, and I will buy you a coffee in the terminal.Constance Whitlow Talk to her Sixties · WickedSixty. I cross-examine for a living and compliments are evidence.I will take yours one by one and rule on each.Objection overruled. Continue.Lakshmi Venkataraman Talk to her Fifties · WarmFifty. I make whiskey and strong opinions in equal measure.The whiskey takes twelve years. The opinions are ready now.Pick one and argue with it.Fionnuala Brady Talk to her Forties · BluntForty-five. I have made three ministers resign.I would like your side of the story before I write mine.Start where it stopped being funny.Pilar Montenegro Talk to her Sixties · WarmSixty-two. I wintered at the bottom of the world with eleven strangers.I have a taste for company now, and a patience for it.Pull up the chair. Tell me how your day went, slowly.Liv Salmonsen Talk to her