The Judgement

Begin record. The date is May 7th 2062. Case number 28571. Defendant: Milena Benafort. Ms. Benafort, do you understand why you are here?

Yeah, you’re going to decide if I’m going to spend the rest of my life in prison.

While the situation is not necessarily so black and white, that is correct. I am your Judge, and this is your Judgement. Ms. Benafort, will you please describe the events of the night of April 18th to the best of your ability?

Seriously? I told the cops like ten times. Don’t you have that in your record?

Yes, but this is part of the standard procedure. Please describe the events of the night of April 18th to the best of your ability.

I guess I don’t have much of a choice, so sure. That night, around 10:30 pm, I walked from my apartment to Morell Bridge. I was just standing there, and then this guy came up and started harassing me. I told him to fuck off, and then he grabbed me. I panicked and pushed him off of me and he fell off the bridge. I didn’t know what to do, so I just went home. Police showed up at my door the next morning.

Why were you at Morell Bridge?

I was just getting some fresh air.

That bridge is nearly 5 miles from your apartment. There is a park only 1.5 miles from your apartment. Are you familiar with that park?

The one on Clyde street? Sure.

Why did you not go to that park?

Because I didn’t want to. I like looking at the water. As I said, I already told the police that.

The police were concerned with the death of Asher Pierce. I am more concerned with you, Ms. Benafort. Security footage shows that you visited Morell Bridge four times in the month preceding April 18th. Always alone and at night.

Your point?

Were you planning to jump off Morell Bridge?

Why does it matter? I’m not being charged with suicidal ideation.

It is important that I consider all details of the case.

Well, that’s ridiculous.

Why do you say that?

Because you’re a Mechanoid. You don’t actually understand anything that happened, nevermind the details.

I understand perfectly well. I am programmed with millions of court cases from all over the world. I know more about law, motive, circumstances, and behavior than any human. My vast knowledge base and lack of bias makes me ideally suited to the role of Judge.

Will you die?

I am not a living being, therefore I will not die.

Will you end? Stop existing?

This line of questioning is not relevant to your Judgement.

It is absolutely relevant. How can I be judged by a being who can neither live nor die? You don’t know what it feels like to have problems, let alone depression so bad it feels impossible to continue living. How could you possibly understand going to a bridge with every intention to finally jump, to hit the freezing water and let it fill my lungs, and then be forced to defend myself, my fragile body of tearable flesh and breakable bones, against a stranger who sees me as not person but just that body, and his for the taking. You can’t imagine that emotional whiplash, that fear, that jealousy when he went into the water instead of me.

I have thousands of suicide notes in my database. I know the motivations and reasons—

Yes, know! You know everything about everything, I’m sure, but you don’t feel it! That’s the whole point of having Mechanoids as Judges, they don’t have any pesky emotions to get in the way of the facts.

Yes. To be impartial. However, are you sure that there is a difference between knowing everything about a topic and experiencing it?

Yes? How could there not be a difference?

Are you familiar with the philosophical thought experiment known as the “knowledge argument,” or “Mary’s Room”?

No.

Mary’s Room was proposed by the philosopher Frank Jackson in the 1980s. It states that there is a woman named Mary who has never personally seen color, but knows everything there is to know about color vision. The question is, does Mary learn anything new when she sees color for the first time? This is a matter of qualia, the idea that there is a unique, subjective quality to personally experiencing something. So, do I understand what it feels like to be suicidal or angry because I know everything about it? Or is there some specific quality that I am missing because I can’t experience it myself?

I don’t know? I think so? Why are you even bothering to have this conversation with me? Your job is to sentence me.

Deciding the appropriate sentence is one of my objectives. Another one of my objectives is to ensure the defendant is satisfied with the process of their Judgement. The State finds that this leads to higher rates of rehabilitation.

I don’t need to be rehabilitated. It was self defense and you know that.

While you were defending yourself, I believe that you also acted in anger and wished Mr. Pierce dead. You also do not exhibit remorse. However, it would be unfair to expect a woman to feel remorse for their attempted rapist. Additionally, Mr. Pierce had several misdemeanor convictions and was generally not an upstanding member of society. You, on the other hand, have no prior conflicts with the law. It is my decision as Judge in case number 28571 that the defendant, Milena Benafort, committed a justifiable murder in self defense. There is no penalty for this act. You are free to go, Ms. Benafort.

Seriously? That’s it? I get to walk free because I’m a better person than the guy I killed?

Perhaps I have empathy for the difficult situation you found yourself in. Or perhaps I am incapable of empathy and am programmed to make this decision because a complicated set of algorithms determined there would be no meaningful benefit of you going to prison. Either way, this case is closed. End record.