Destiny: Quantic Dreams Book 3 by Elizabeth McLaughlin (dark books to read txt) 📕

“What my client means to say is that he is certain of his version of events. He is well aware that perjury in this room would undermine his wishes to return to his home.” Eliza kept her gaze forward but I could see her muscles coiled from where I sat. There were no more comments from Dad.

“Jesus Mom. Why are we even bothering with this? You know what they’re going to say,” Marcus whispered to me.

“We’re bothering with it while your mother and I make a plan to get us the hell out of here. I’ve been watching the security here, as has she. They have sophisticated locks but they’re not much different from the fingerprint encoded locks we have back at the shelter. Have you seen how the androids touch the pads briefly before they’re allowed to pass through the doors? They must be working with a kind of encrypted near field chip. If I could get my hands on one of those, it’ll be easy to free your grandfather and make a break for it tonight.”

“Tonight?” Marcus tried to keep his voice even but his outburst was noticed. I flicked my fingers nonchalantly towards Eliza, informing her that I had it under control. She resumed speaking. I was only listening with half an ear but it was something about the right to a life free from threat.

“Yes, tonight. You’re a smart man, son. You’ve studied history enough to know that they’re not going to keep a prisoner bound for the death penalty around for long. The verdict of this sham trial was decided the minute we crossed into the machine city. They’re only putting this on to give the impression of fairness. We’ve got to get out of here tonight or we will not get out of here at all.” My sweet boy. Loyal to a fault and a fantastic leader, he sometimes lacked the foresight to plan ahead. Everyone has their strengths.

“And how do you expect us to not get riddled with bullets on our way to Dad’s cell?” That was the problem. In letting the rest of our group return home, we had agreed to hand Dad over to the androids-that meant actual custody of his person. He would be taken to a cell for the night, if they didn’t outright execute him today. That cell would no doubt be guarded. Even if he was only kept under lock and key, we were going to have one hell of a time getting to him. I turned my attention back to the trial, where Zohei was speaking.

“If we demand the complete truth from this human, it is only fair that he and his family are given the same courtesy. We have known about Gabriel’s deviancy for a long time. He had expressed distaste for your species from the earliest days of his assignment. The program responsible for our allocation and maintenance has long since become defunct, but at the time, he made a special point of watching Gabriel. His efforts are likely the reason that your shelter remained stable for as long as it did.”

“Why weren’t Gabriel’s actions more strictly enforced?” Against Eliza’s advice, Dad stood up from his chair to speak. “If you knew he was a danger to his human charges, why let his existence continue at all? Is human suffering meaningless to you?”

“Quiet,” Eliza hissed at him.

“The defendant has the right to ask a question. The answer is more complex than we have time for today so I’ll give you an abbreviated one. We, like you, believe that life and consciousness is sacred. Until it was clear that Gabriel had real intent to harm, there was no recourse we could take. Innocent until proven guilty, as it were.” Tenzen answered the question without the slightest hint of annoyance. Something within him genuinely felt sympathy for us; I made a mental note of it. If things really got rough later, we would need any assistance we could get.

“And once you did have proof he intended to harm human life? I take it Asimov’s Laws aren’t applicable to A.I., so it makes sense that you would have stepped in—yes?” Ouch. That one hit right on the mark, as reflected in the frowns and flinches of the androids sitting in front of us. The fact that these A.I. had morality was a small consolation; it didn’t change the fact that my father was going to be executed. In order to keep the peace, an example had to be made of him. The same way things had to be run in the early days of the shelter.

“At that point, our attentions were focused elsewhere.” That was the extent of it. We planned to not get any answers from the androids. The fact that they provided one at all was advantageous. If we played our cards right, we might be able to get more.

“May I be allowed to speak on my own behalf?” Dad asked the question of the A.I. and Eliza alike. Eliza glanced back at me and I shrugged. It’s not as if he was going to make things much worse by speaking. “Gabriel was my sole companion for most of my adult life. You must understand that I lost my family and everyone I know to the virtual world quite early. Gabriel and I may not have seen eye to eye very often, but I was content to humor him and keep him company. In a very strange way, I had love for him. Ending his life was one of the most painful experiences I have ever endured. It brought me no joy.” He paused momentarily. “When Gabriel took over the body of a man named George, I searched for weeks for a way to get him out of the man’s mind. It was after he threatened the lives of my family and my people that things escalated.”

“So you thought it was the appropriate thing to kill him along with the man?”

“No.” The word came