Chapter 11: Court
Three days had passed since my re-enactment lesson at school. I’d had an unexpected burst of popularity since then; my classmates felt I was cool because I tried to subvert history. I had mixed emotions. I hadn’t been trying to disruptive. I didn’t have an agenda to teach the system a lesson. I was just angry and confused. I was tired of reliving a screwed-up history. Considering current events, I wasn’t sure if history was even accurate.
Mr. Stewart’s reaction was over the top. When we came out the simulation, his eyes looked like they could have drilled into my brain. If I had ever needed to give him a reason to dislike me, this time was a winner. He was even more rigid and cold with me, if that was even possible. Who knows what he told the principal and other teachers? I didn’t dare tell Dad that I thought I was going to fail history.
Lacey thought the popularity was hilarious. She had pestered Mr. Stewart for her to try the simulation again, saying she didn’t get enough time. Everyone thought she was planning to be more disruptive as a way to curry more popularity. I hadn’t confided in her that I’d seen my mother. She hadn’t known my mom, and we had so few pictures of her around my house that Lacey wouldn’t have recognized her anyway.
I put the whole episode behind me. School had no interest for me; it was place to spend my day. Where I was going today made school look like a joke. Dad still wasn’t talking to me very much but we had come to an agreement. I would stay away from the Marks, and in return I could skip school this morning and see Lou’s trial. He still didn’t believe me, but he must have felt I would calm down if I saw justice served. The fact was, seeing the trial would do just the opposite.
I arrived at the Justice Department at 10 a.m., thirty minutes before the trail. Crimes were usually punished within ten days since lengthy trial dates were a thing of the past. Yet it was a trial in name only. There was no jury, no cross-examination, and no testimony. Just video footage and a verdict. Unless the camera was in a bad location, the verdict was always ‘guilty.’ Unlike the court cases of old, there was no public viewing; it was by invitation only.
The main doors slid open for me and I was immediately greeted by a security guard. He looked young and seemed interested in his job. He looked at my papers, signed by Dad.
“Watching your father in action? It’s not that exciting but I’m sure he’ll appreciate the audience.” I smiled pleasantly but said nothing. He waved me on and I passed through three more security gates before I was ushered into a stairwell. I climbed the stairs and entered a small room. I stepped to the far end and looked down through a glass window. Typically, court cases no longer had the public watching the trial. Because the verdict was basically predetermined and took no time to process, trials were no crowd-pleasers.
My vantage point was about twelve feet above the proceedings. A glass window separated us so you couldn’t yell or interrupt. However, speakers were fed into the wall so you could hear everything that was said. A huge monitor on the wall played back the footage captured at the scene of the crime. I was the only one in the room and I sat down on a chair by the window. The judge swivelled in his chair, and I shivered at the sight of Lord Morall. He was barking orders to the two security officers, a man and a woman. They stood at attention. Seconds later, the male officer marched out a door to the right of the room.
Lord Morall was alone in the room and pressed a few buttons on a touchscreen on his bench. His red eye sparkled as he scanned some documents. If he had noticed my presence, he made no acknowledgement. He looked introspective, as if his thought process had to be sharp to hand down his sentence. I studied his face. There was no malice but I still sensed a menace about him, amplified by his red eye. My thoughts were interrupted as the door on the right opened. The male security guard entered and Lou walked beside him. He had no cuffs on his hands and his eyes looked blankly ahead. He was either drugged or had given up.
Behind them my dad entered as the prosecution and another man, heavyset, a bit older than Dad, stepped beside him. I assumed it was the lawyer for the defense, although that was in name only. Both my dad and the other lawyer stood in front of Lord Morall as Lou tottered for a moment before sitting down. The male officer left as the female officer walked forward.
“Case 39X-45C, Lou Reigns vs. the Crown. Charge of theft and resisting arrest.” She stepped back and I waited for Morall to ask Lou if he plead ‘not guilty.’ The question was never asked.
“Please roll the footage,” Morall commanded and the video screen beside him and the one in my room came to life. The familiar scene cut in with Lou and the theft of the cash. Its fakery appeared even more obvious to me but the others in the courtroom watched with muted interest. Lou tilted his head with puzzled bewilderment, as if this was the first time he had seen the footage. Once it was finished, Morall asked the defense lawyer to approach the bench.
“Any comments on the footage shown?”
“None, Your Honor.” I doubted he ever answered differently than that. The whole process was a farce. With that comment, Lou seemed to wake up from his daze.
“But that wasn’t me. I didn’t take any cash!” he pleaded. Morall seemed nonplussed by the outburst. He didn’t even look at Lou.
“Counsellor, have you explained to your client the proper protocols for addressing this court?”
“Yes, your Honor.”
Morall turned to Lou. “I will make this one exception to explain the court procedures. All questions are to be asked through your counsel. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Lou answered, “but my counsel is not asking any questions. He didn’t even show me this footage.”
“That is because the footage is evidence and cannot be refuted. Do you have any other questions?”
“Yes,” Lou stood up. “I did not steal. This footage is wrong!” Morall looked like he had heard the excuse many times before. His expression remained neutral.
“Besides the footage, the prosecution has many verbal witness confirmations that you tried to escape the drones. Do you disagree?” His eye flashed as if it was trying to trap Lou.
“No. That part of the footage is correct. I did try to escape, I was scared and confused. Accused of a crime I didn’t commit.”
“Are you trying to say that some footage is correct while part of it is false?” my dad interjected. Morall gave Dad a look. Maybe it wasn’t his turn to speak.
“The footage is straight from camera, or drone surveillance. Disputing the truth will only lengthen your sentence.” The words came smoothly out of Morall’s mouth, as if he had recited them many times before.
“So I’m punished if I try to prove my innocence? I used to think that our city was safe from crime. That I was protected. But it’s just the opposite — someone is using the system to make me look guilty!” Lou pounded his handcuffed palms on the table.
“Counsellor! If you don’t get control of your client, you will find yourself relieved of your duties.” The other lawyer sat next to Lou. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but it looked like he was trying to console Lou. Whatever fire Lou had a moment ago had burned out. His shoulders were slumped as if he had accepted his fate.
“I suggest we recess, give us a chance to review the claims,” my dad said to Lord Morall.
“The last time I looked, you were the prosecution, not the defense!” Lord Morall bellowed, his face becoming as red as his eye. “We have heard these statements of innocence many times before. The claims are baseless. Unless there is more evidence to view, there will be no delays.”
“No, your Honor,” the defense lawyer replied.
“No, your Honor,” answered my dad.
“Mr. Lou Reigns, you will stand before the court.” Lou staggered a bit and then stood up, his eyes blazing. Lord Morall looked down at his tablet as if reading a recipe. “The drone footage confirms that you have committed theft. Despite the evidence, you have failed to admit your guilt or provide remorse for your crime. As a result, I am forced to sentence to the full extent of the law. You will lose ten years of your life in the age accelerator. Your sentence is to be carried out immediately!”
“No!” I shrieked. All heads in the courtroom turned up to me. I slammed the glass window with my fist. Although the sound against the glass was muffled, my anguish was not. The security guards and defense attorney looked at me with bewilderment. Lou gaped at me with surprise and admiration. My dad looked at me with concern. Morall looked at me with anger.
“Remove her from the building,” he commanded the female security guard. “And she is not to return.” He looked straight at my father.
Finally I had a realization. The city wasn’t safe. It never had been. Its safety had been compromised. And I had to leave. Now.