Case #01985

Raindrops were now gently dropping on the hood of his car. The calm and repetitive sound the water made upon collision with the metal hypnotized him. Slowly his eyelids were beginning to lower. Steadily with every rhythmic drop of rain, he was falling deeper and deeper in his leather seat. However, this was not the time to sleep. Marcus quickly grabbed the two yellow folders on his passenger’s seat and placed them in a nice brown leathered briefcase, given to him as a gift on his 20th anniversary as a public defender. Looking at his rear-view mirror he inspected his face for any pimples or any spots he may have missed while shaving. He hadn’t, he was too experienced to do so. However, something was wrong; his tie was not aligned correctly. With mechanical precision, he gripped the knot around his neck and shifted to the left.

“Perfect” he mumbled.

He knew his job. He knew he could not miss a single centimeter. Not one degree to the left, not one degree to the right. The tie had to be precisely at the center of this body, perfectly aligned with the chin and crotch. Perfection mattered these days.

     He grabbed his umbrella and opened the door. The previously hypnotizing sound of rainfall now became noise and the smell of wet soil burst through his nostrils. Marcus slowly started walking towards the steps of the courthouse. A few steps before reaching the main entrance he stopped and looked up. The building looked more sinister than usual. On the front of the building, a large banister hung. The governments' words were embroidered on the black velvet.

“JUSTICE BRINGS BALANCE

BALANCE BRINGS PEACE

PEACE BRINGS PROSPERITY”

These were the last three lines of a much longer hymn the senators had issued. However, the Ministry of Justice and Discipline liked it so much that they adopted it as their motto. They believed it showcased how the justice system is the basis of a functioning society. Above the banner on the top of the courthouse, a large statue of Lady Justice stood. The statue was made of black marble and it could be seen from a block away. Lady Justice firmly holds a scale in her mechanical arms, while looking towards the center of the city through her blindfold. After all these years Marcus could still not decide his opinion on the statue. What exactly did it signify? He wondered many times, but he never concluded.

Approaching the main entrance, he entered the revolving doors and put away his umbrella. The interior of the house was all made of grey marble. All except the floor that was made of the same dark marble, Lady Justice was constructed with. However, Marcus did not look at the walls or the floor, it was not his first time here. He confidently marched towards the main desk and pressed a red button to summon a general assistant. Within a few moments, a mechanical drone with human facial features appeared behind the bulletproof glass. 

“Point of enquiry?” asked the assistant.

“Trial”

“Status?”

“Lawyer”

“Identification Number?”

“542002”

“Access granted; you may proceed to the security check”.

As he was approaching the security check Marcus had already unbuckled his belt and placed all of his metal objects in his right pocket ready to put them in a blue tray. The sign on the security desk wrote:

“NO FOOD!

NO DRINKS!

NO WEAPONS!

NO ANIMALS!

NO SMOKING!”

The security android gave Marcus a tray to place his jacket and metal objects in. On the other side of the metal detector stood “The furnace”. A two-and-a-half-meter robot with two machine guns attached to each arm. Although obviously, its official name was a long sequence of numbers, most lawyers unofficially called him Furnace, due to his square head and devilish red lights he had for eyes. Every time Marcus had to pass through security, he felt like he was staring at the devil himself, so today as he was walking through the metal detector, he tried to look at the giant robot as little as possible.

“Clear. Access Granted.” Announced the metal giant.

Marcus quickly grabbed his keys and briefcase off the trays and headed toward the escalator. Upon reaching the third floor Marcus exited the elevator and headed towards a line of screens that were embedded in the wall at the end of the hallway. He touched one of the screens and a variety of different icons appeared. Marcus pressed the one that was labeled “Attorney”. He typed in his identification number and a long form appeared on the screen. The form wrote:

CASE #01985

DEFENDANT: DEVON LAQUISH

CHARGES:

• BURGLARY OF A GOVERNMENT FACILITY (3-7 YEARS)
• DESTRUCTION OF GOVERNMENT PROPERTY (5-10 YEARS)

SUBMIT EVIDENCE HERE:

SUBMIT DEFENCE STATEMENT HERE (MAXIMUM 800 WORDS):

SUBMIT CLAIMS FOR SENTENCE REDUCTION HERE (300 WORDS):

SUBMIT OTHER NOTES/ CONCERNS HERE (100 WORDS):

Marcus stared at the screen without typing a single word. He knew he had prepared the statements already and the only thing he had to do was open his leather briefcase and just type the statements on the screen, but he just couldn’t move. He did not know how to explain within 800 words why an 18-year-old boy would break into a public bakery and steal a few loaves of bread. He did not know how to explain that the kid had no parents and he was trying to feed his sister with which he lived in sector 19. He did not know how to explain that the boy did not mean to harm the bionic baker but was simply trying to escape through the door that it blocked. Or rather Marcus did know how to explain it within 800 words. Marcus could explain it in three sentences, but he knew it was futile. He learned this lesson 20 years ago when he was confident and energetic about winning his first case. That boy must be getting out in a few years he thought.

Lazily he typed his statements and evidence within the empty spaces and when he finished, he took a deep breath and pressed a button that wrote: “Submit Defense”. The screen went black for a second and then a white box appeared writing “Verdict in 15 minutes/Floor 6/Hall 2”. Marcus exhaled and headed towards the elevator. The elevators were bleak, with no music nor any advertisements on the walls. Only a touch screen showcasing the different floors visitors could go to. Marcus pressed the button with the number 6 and waited. A few moments later the door opened, and Marcus walked into a long hallway with many double doors on each side. Each door had a number on it with the label “Hall 1/Hall 2/ Hall 3…”. Next to every door, there was a bench with leather cushions. The leather was black so that it matched with the walls, but Marcus always thought it represented the emotions of the people sitting on them. 

Marcus sat on the bench next to hall 2 and pressed a yellow button on the arm of the bench. A small robot the size of a stool appeared from underneath the bench and after a small transformation, it presented Marcus with a screen. These robots were called “newsbas” and they presented visitors with the latest news articles. Marcus started flipping through the different articles to find something interesting. Apparently, the national average of students graduating with top grades increased by 15% in the last 5 years. Apparently, scientists in Sector 1 have figured out how to minimize carbon emissions from the atmosphere. Apparently, a 12-year-old prodigy from sector 2 just graduated from university with a medical engineering degree. Marcus was happy to read good news in the papers. Marcus was also concerned that he didn’t see any bad news in the papers. As a matter of fact, Marcus visited the courthouse and read the papers daily for the last 20 years but still had not seen a single article mentioning the famines that take place in sectors 19 and 20 or the levels of poverty and riots in Sector 16. Marcus only knew about those because it was his job. He only knew because he tried to defend residents of lower sectors countless times. Marcus was still searching for his victory. 

As Marcus was reading the article about the child prodigy a door nearby burst open and loud shouts flooded the hallway. Out of the door came two androids carrying a man toward the cell area. The man was older, about 50 years old estimated Marcus. He was shouting and pleading for the robots to let him go. “Your honor I swear I didn’t do it; I swear you honor on my mother’s life!”. Marcus did not flinch nor look away. He stared at the man's body as it was struggling to escape his captor's hold. The shape of the man was lost after he was dragged behind a door with the label “Cell area” on it. A few moments later his screams were lost too, leaving a silence to fall over the hallway once again. Marcus was not scared nor surprised, he was just studying his current feelings, or more accurately the lack of. Maybe it was because he had seen the officers drag countless men and women away. He had heard pleas and yells and curses and a multitude of other things over the years. It’s just human nature he thought to himself. They are fighting to survive, they have to.          

As Marcus contemplated all these theories the door of Hall 2 opened and a speaker announced, “Case #01985 Begins”. Marcus quickly got on his feet, grabbed his briefcase, and entered the hall. The Hall was a big empty room with no windows. The entirety of the ceiling was filled with lights that left no spot or corner dark. In the middle of the room, there was a big wooden desk with one chair. Opposite that desk, there was a larger wooden stand elevated from the ground floor. Behind that desk stood the judge. His metal head was smooth and although he had facial features like a nose or ears there was no attempt to hide his mechanical characteristics. Next to the judge, on a chair lower than him stood the 18-year-old boy. Behind him, large officers were making sure he didn’t do anything he was not supposed to. Marcus walked towards the wooden desk and greeted the judge.

“Identification Number?” Asked the judge

“542002”

“Very well; Verdict Announcement: To the charge of burglary of a government facility the defendant Devon Laquish is found guilty!”

“To the charge of destruction of government property the defendant Devon Laquish is found guilty!”

The silence was broken by the boy’s whimpers. Marcus did not react, not yet, there was still hope.

The judge continued, “Sentencing Announcement: For the charge of Burglary of government facility the defendant Devon Laquish is sentenced to 6 years in the Federal Disciplinary Facility of Cromweels!”

“For the charge of destruction of government property, the defendant Devon Laquish is sentence to 10 years in the Federal Disciplinary facility of Cromweels!”

Upon hearing the second sentencing something snapped inside Marcus. His legs without being commanded by the brain shot up and his mouth opened without being ordered to. 

“This is absurd! 16 years for an accidental destruction of a baking robot this is criminal! He is an 18-year-old child! He is a child! This is criminal!” Shouted Marcus.

Silence fell over the Hall, Devon was no longer crying, he was simply staring at Marcus. The judge stood up with a loud mechanical noise coming from his legs hitting the desk in front of him.

“Defense attorney #542002 you are displaying high levels of blood pressure and combined with you facial expressions and tone of voice the national association of public psychology would determine that you are in an aggressive state”.

“Defense attorney #542002 are you aware that verbal or physical abuse of a government officers/worker could result into loss of your certification as a publicly defender and/or criminal charges?”

Marcus had returned to his body; his brain was back in control.

 “Yes, your honor, I apologize for my outburst”, said Marcus.

“Defense attorney #542002 are you able to recite the last 5 lines on the national hymn or do you have to be reminded by the state officers?”

 “No sir, I am”.

“TECHNOLOGY BRINGS EFFICIENCY

EFFICIENCY BRINGS PERFECTION

PERFECTION BRINGS JUSTICE

JUSTICE BRINGS BALANCE,

BALANCE BRINGS PEACE

PEACE BRINGS PROSPERITY”.