Missing Wit

21: Case

  Kurt and Lina were in front of the building where the hearing was going to take place. All the press was there. Everyone wondered why these two influential people were the subject of a lawsuit. As the two of them walked into the building, many journalists were asking them questions. However, Kurt and Lina went inside without answering any of these questions. Immediately the cameras were turned on and the news began to be made. The purpose of the reporter coming from each channel was to bring the news to that evening's bulletin.

There was a man who watched these events from one corner of the street and knew everything. He was watching the events from a cafe. He had extensive knowledge of all that had happened; but he was not disturbed because no one knew what he knew. The man sitting quietly in the corner cafe drinking his coffee was Paul. He was waiting for the events in front of the building to end.

Seeing that the crowd was slowly dispersing, Paul paid the bill and left the cafe and walked towards the building. His walk took about a minute. Afterwards, he entered the building and found the hall where the hearing would take place by asking the building's employees. The hall was on the second floor. Paul climbed the stairs to the second floor and entered the second hall to his right. He immediately took his place among the audience, sitting on the left side.

Kurt was on the right side of the courtroom and Lina was on the left. Lina had turned her back on Kurt; apparently she didn't want to come face to face with Kurt. Because of what Lina and Kurt had been through at the police station, they had grown apart.

The audience was sitting in the back of the hall. Paul had already took his place. After a while, someone with a tablet sat down next to him. The man was carrying a press pass. "Eric Berger," he introduced himself to Paul. They shook hands.

"Aren't you one of R.M.I.E's partners?" asked Eric the journalist.

"Yes," Paul replied. "I'm really surprised you recognized me."

Eric scratched his head. He was a little excited. "I did some... research."

"So be it. You came from abroad, I suppose?"

" Yes. for this case," he said. Then they turned back. After a while, Eric turned to Paul again and said, "You know these two people very well, don't you? Well..."

Paul gestured for Eric to shut up, "I got it. Yes, I know," he said.

"I was wondering if we could talk to you about this deeply."

"Sure," Paul said, and the two exchanged their phone numbers.

The judge entered the courtroom. As soon as he entered, he started the trial by inviting the people around him to silence.

"Plaintiffs are the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Technology; Defendant Kurt Schütz," he said. Then he looked at the file. What was written in the file seemed strange to him. Then "Hmmm! According to the file, Lina Schütz died a month ago. But you transferred it into the body of a robot, is it true, Mr. Schütz?"

"Partially, sir."

The judge slammed his hand on the table to make a sound. "Mr. Schütz. This hearing is not a good place to say 'partially'. Please answer what you know clearly and unambiguously."

"I have reconstituted my sister Lina's consciousness. Using what is known about Lina and a few simulation techniques."

"Well done!" the judge said in a low voice. He didn't want anyone to hear it, but some people in the hall had heard it; everyone who heard it laughed. Some even said, "Really, well done." The weirdest of the laughs was Lina; even he couldn't help laughing. Afterwards, the judge said in his normal voice, "For the record, the plaintiff will be addressed as 'New Lina Schütz' until a decision is made to avoid confusion. So you made the New Lina Schütz using Lina's memories and what is known about her."

The judge turned to the prosecutor next to him and said, "Maybe you understood something. What is your indictment?"

"The new Lina Schütz claims to be real. And since she is Lina Schütz, she demands that her shares be given to her and that Lina Schütz's death certificate be invalidated. Is it true the new Lina Schütz?"

"Yes sir. This is my claim. Just because I'm silicon-based doesn't mean I'm not human. Carbon and silicon are elements that are very close to each other. 'To be human' is not a carbon-specific feature. I also have all the characteristics of being human, I am a human being like those in this hall."

"The question is not what material you are made of, Miss New Lina Schütz. There is no definition of the word human in our constitution," the judge interrupted. "Laws of law are not like laws with universal validity. Laws are presupposition, unlike scientific laws, they need acceptance."

Meanwhile, Kurt's lawyer stood up. "I object. According to our laws, robots are proprietary. And personal property cannot be sued."

The judge shook his head, "Denied. This case is considered as part of a civil lawsuit. new Lina Schütz's complaint was dismissed, but seen as lawsuits filed by the Ministry of Justice and Technology on behalf of the new Lina Schütz."

Eric's gaze, sitting in the back, had changed. 'I wonder if cleaning robots are treated the same?' he asked himself. 'There is something else.'

The judge continued to speak. "The new Lina Schütz needs to be proven human. For this, it is decided to establish an expert committee consisting of psychologists and biologists and to discuss Kurt Schütz and New Lina Schütz on being human. As the creator of The New Lina Schütz, Kurt Schütz will ask questions (Lina, meanwhile, was obviously blushing and angry), and the board will decide whether she's human or not. If the board decides that the New Lina Schütz is Lina Schütz, her portion of her assets will be returned and her death certificate will not be valid."

"Your Honor, why did you decide to have Kurt ask me questions?"she asked.

"For the moment, Kurt is the owner," the judge said. Of course, this pissed Lina off, but before she could speak, the judge spoke again, "I'm looking at the records, you don't like it (looking at some files in your hand) but legally I have to say it. He has to prove to us that he owns his product."

"However..."

"Sorry New Lina Schütz. The legal framework at my disposal allows for this. Well, that's it for today."

Voices began to rise in the hall. Much of it contained gossip and guesses as to what might happen. Some of them condemned the judge and sometimes even insulted him. Fortunately, these fanatical people were immediately kicked out. Paul stood up to leave the hall. But Eric was still sitting still. At the same time, he was smiling. "Isn't it interesting to be treated differently, even as a robot copy of an influential person?" he said to himself. Then he took his things and left the hall as the last person.

"Now I realize, Mr. Journalist, that you were the same even that day," said Paul.

Eric chose to reply with a laugh at what Paul said. He leaned back on the sofa and took a sip of the coffee that was brought in. Then she continued talking to Paul.

"The case has gathered a lot of attention. It's not every day that powerful corporate executives are sued by robots, after all."

"Indeed, sir. For two weeks, a team of the best biologists, doctors and psychologists in the country was formed. I can say that the next two weeks were the most interesting two weeks of my life. There have been such conversations that our conversations remain zero on the left."

"I know I was there too, remember?"

"It was like watching two ships pass each other on the dark open sea. Throughout the case, we watched to see if the two of them could collide and sink."

"Interesting analogy," Eric said. "So you're saying everything could have been teared apart at any moment."

"Exactly, dear journalist."