The Diego Diaries: Requiem In Pace (dd6 273)
-0-Courtroom that next morning
Prime stood in corridor waiting for the trial to pick up again. The previous orn, the two sides had laid out their opening commentary after a brief breakdown of their people's religious and political history. Now, the prosecution would continue his case before he finished and it was Blackstone's turn. A rap on the door called him in, so he entered and the group there stood. They included both legal teams, the doctors of various disciplines, the defendants, Lucien and his companions from the orn before, Ironhide, and numerous guards. In the corridor and side rooms nearby, the witnesses waited. Prowl called everyone to order and they sat after Prime did. He checked with the lawyers, then turned to Prime who nodded. "Prosecutor Coln-2, please continue your case from the orn before."
Coln rose, bowed to Prime, then turned to the bailiff. "I would like the presence of B-42124, please."
Ratchet who glanced at Eleven of Twelve noticed him tighten his posture, then relax again. It was swift but clear. The door opened and a small extremely nondescript bot walked in, his body tight with fear and tension. He kept his optics on the floor as a tech from the Processor Hospital walked with him. He took the stand and the oath. The tech stood between his view of the defendants and the little bot. "Your honor, I have asked for support for the next two witnesses and I beg the court to allow them to stand between the defendants and the witness. It is extremely difficult for them to be here but they want to speak."
"I grant those conditions," Prime said. He glanced at Blackstone who nodded. "Please, B-42124, know that you are safe and your testimony of the utmost importance. You have my solemn oath as Prime that this is so."
The little mech nodded, but he didn't look up. He was small and solid but bore the most basic of format and color. He was a dull silver with no markings but that of his 'numbers', the markings that the Functionalists gave to their 'equipment' which included his designation. His number was his name. Coln stood, then moved in front of the defendants. "Thank you, Bee, for coming. Do you prefer your entire name or is Bee or 24 acceptable?"
"24, sir."
"24, you were born into the Functionalist way of life, correct?" Coln asked.
"Yes, sir."
"Was that the history of your family?"
"Yes, sir."
"What was your function?"
"I was a housekeeper and I made Eleven of Twelve's tea three times an orn. He said that no one could make it like I did."
Coln nodded. "How were you treated by Eleven of Twelve?"
"I was expected to work during the working orn … from before break of light to evening. I had my chores and duties … taking care of him, his house and family. Lesto and I did. We were a pair."
"Were you a bond?" Coln asked gently.
"No, sir."
"Is there a reason or was it your choice?" Coln asked.
"Household weren't allowed to bond. Not those who cared for the Council. We were expected to serve them at their will."
"I see. You worked your whole life for them. Did you get an education?" Coln asked.
"No, sir."
"Why not?"
"It was above my place. I was household help. I didn't need an education. I worked for the family taking care of them. I didn't need to read or write for that."
It was leaden in the room.
"Were you ever struck or abused?" Coln asked gently. He had discussed this with Blackstone and he had accepted this line of questioning with caveats.
"On some occasions, sir."
"Why?" Coln asked.
"I spilled Master Eleven's tea."
"I see. Did you ever see anyone die at the demands of the Council? You do know why we are here, correct?" Coln asked.
"Yes, sir." It was silent a long time, then 24 answered. "I did, sir."
"What happened and why?"
It took a moment for him to speak the words out loud that conveyed his story. "Our first colony. We were going to pick up to leave and there were several elders who weren't capable of working at very much. They were … malfunctioning," he said. It was silent, then he continued. "They gathered us on the ships, then I looked out a window in the hold. I saw them on the tarmac, the elders. The Twelve were with them and after a moment, the elders fell. The elders fell to the ground, the Council walked on board and we left."
"They were left on the ground, the elders," Coln asked.
"They were, sir."
"What do you believe happened to them?"
"They were recalled. The Council does that to be merciful, sir," he said. He stared at the floor, his voice a whisper.
"Merciful?"
"They didn't want to leave them so they recalled them. They went to the Matrix and were greeted by the Guiding Hand and Primus Himself. We know its a glorious reunion, sir. It was," he said. "I believe that it would be. They deserved it."
"Who told you that it would be so?" Coln asked.
"The Council. They say that the recall is part of the plan of The One. Its His way to get back His children. When you can't go on, you go to your reward."
The room was as silent as a tomb.
"The Council told you that The One welcomed the recalls?"
"Yes, sir."
"Do you believe them?"
"Yes, sir."
"Why, 24?"
It was silent a moment. "Because they said so. They speak to the Guiding Hand themselves. They wouldn't lie to us."
"You believe that, 24?" Coln asked gently.
He looked at Coln, then the floor. "They are the Council. They know more than us and they told us that. I … I don't know better than them. They know a lot."
Coln stared at him, then looked at Blackstone. "I think I'm done here, Blackstone."
Blackstone looked at the wan little mech who didn't have a clue how his life had been manipulated and dragooned by his clients. "I don't have anything for this witness. Thank you, 24, for your courage to come here."
The tech took the little mech by his arm and they walked out. He didn't lift his optics from the floor once.
Coln watched him go, then looked at the bailiff. "The next witness please. Her name is Lesto."
Ratchet blinked at that as it ran through his language files but he didn't say a word. The door opened and a small dully finished femme walked in, took the stand and oath, then was blocked in view of the Council by another tech.
"Lesto, thank you for coming. What was your job with the Council?" Coln asked.
She was silent a moment. "I was housekeeping. I worked with 24, sir."
"You were a great housekeeper, I take it. One who could make a cave shine," Coln said gently.
She glanced at him, then the floor again. "I can't brag, sir. It isn't allowed. I was adequate."
"Your religion as the Council teaches doesn't allow bragging or feeling good about what you do. You just do it, what you are told to do. Is that right?" Coln asked.
"Yes, sir."
"You were born into this, right?" Coln asked.
"Yes, sir."
"Did you ever get hurt, slapped or punished?"
"No, sir. I worked hard not to make mistakes."
"Mistakes got punished?"
"Yes, sir."
"Did you see the others who were in your classification? Did you see how they lived?" Coln asked.
"No, sir. I was always in the house."
"You never went out?"
"No, sir."
"24 talked about a recall as they were leaving a colony. Did you see that, too?" Coln asked.
She almost didn't tell, her fear was so powerful, then she spoke. "I saw it. My ada and atar were with them."
"The recall? Your genitors were part of it?" Coln asked.
"They were. They went to the Matrix. The One wanted them back, sir."
"Is that what you were told?"
She looked at him, then the floor. "It's what we believe. The recall is part of what The One expects. When you don't serve a purpose, you go back to Him."
"Even your genitors?" Coln asked.
She shifted, then nodded. "Yes, sir."
Coln stared at her, then Blackstone. "I don't think I need more evidence from you, Lesto. Thank you for your courage. I salute you."
She nodded, then followed the tech as he walked out with her. Coln watched her, then turned to Prowl. "Let the record show that Lesto is a dialect word from Stanix that means 'useless'." He turned to the prisoners. "Let the record show that everyone of the worker class was named when they were born by the Council."
The rage in the room could be felt on armor as the counselors regrouped. Coln turned to Prowl. "I call Jarro of Iacon to the stand."
Jarro came, took the oath, then turned to the courtroom. He considered his findings, what they were from such uncooperative mechs and waited.
"Doctor, you examined and interviewed the defendants, tested them and have come to some conclusions about their mental and moral condition. I would like you to discuss with us what you've found and what you and your colleagues have concluded," Coln said as he sat.
Jarro nodded. "They weren't easy subjects and what we did get is subject to that. Our findings are not fulsome nor especially complete because they didn't cooperate. They also used their 'cultural and religious' practices as their answer to a lot of our questions. That being said, we've come to some firm conclusions about what we believe they are and what we believe they aren't. I've also talked to Dai Atlas who figures prominently in the Guiding Hand mythos. I won't bore you with the tests or their statistical findings but I will tell you that we've scored them and applied the findings against the databases to reach support for our conclusions.
"We've found that they're exhibiting the classic symptoms of sociopathic personalities. Not all of the attributes that fall under the heading of sociopathic behavior apply. There is no firm malignant narcissism, though there are some attributes from that designation. I found a very strange variant of self belief that comes close but doesn't quite match up, something that entwines itself around the religious portion of their practices and self image. A sort of religious mania without the manic features. Narcissists have an enormous need to feel special in every corner of their lives and though this group has that codified in their practices to some degree, it isn't an egoic sort of belief. This is more rooted in bigotry. Their narcissistic tendency revolves around an overpowering idea that some are just less important than others and that they, themselves will be the arbiters of that stratification.
"Their entitlement, willingness to exploit others and a huge, almost catastrophic lack of empathy has been systematized externally in their practices which utilizes religion for justification of what they do and believe. They didn't allow us to get too far inside. They stuck to their belief that they were following the Will of The One. Yet, all three of these issues, classic symptoms of the malignant narcissist are present in them and their business. They have zero interest in nor empathy for anyone who doesn't reach a level of usefulness and uniqueness they require. Nor are they sentimental about those they may have known for eons when they aren't useful anymore.
"The gold standard for this condition is the degree that it impairs their functioning. I would say with a recall that it does to a massive degree. Though we would need more time to fix this characteristic to them with certainty, there's enough evidence to say that they display narcissistic personality disorder to a degree because it affects their functionality in groups. Even if they assign attributes to what they do and did in the framework of this set of beliefs, they still came from the same culture that you and I did. In that culture, this is not acceptable. Therefore, it's a factor but not enough to be mitigating to me. They wouldn't allow better examination so I can't fully exclude it or assign it as mitigation.
"As for sociopathy, we can find traits of that in these individuals. Some of them are failure to conform to social norms in regards to lawful behavior, deceitfulness in relation to chronic lying, reckless disregard for others safety, consistent irresponsibility which I will expand on further, lack of remorse as well as evidence of conduct disorder which includes callous, deceitful, aggressive behavior. These individuals can be and often are sadistic, unempathetic, cruel, devaluing, immoral, callous, predatory, bullying, and dehumanizing. They definitely display many of those regarding antisocial personality disorder or sociopathy but to what degree, we aren't completely clear due to a lack of cooperation. We do believe that the evidence in hand with this will give us the picture that we need. Definitely, the two witnesses demonstrate what happens to others around these types of personalities." Jarro concluded, then waited for the questions that were coming. Rung would speak to the same thing. They had worked independently and reached the same conclusions.
Coln considered his list. "Doctor, which came first, the sociopathy or the practice?"
"I've done historical research on the mainframes here and on Cybertron as well as discussing the past with a number of elders and the exempt mechs and femmes in the colony. It was almost automatic the transfer of power from the Quintessons who fled to the Functionalists who picked up the ball. There was very little time in the chaos of overthrow for anyone to take a breath and consider what should come next. Couching their actions in religion was a smart move. It made the bitter pill taste better. Having their ideas codified in the Taxonomy was also another clever move. If it was written down, to a population conditioned to obey and who couldn't read and therefore notice that the book was new, not old, it was easy to pick up the ball and run."
Tell us about the findings, please," Coln asked.
"We find that an underlying platform for their practice is based on intense bullying that transformed down to even to the design of their frames, the lackluster quality of their paint schemes and their dehumanizing names. The two witnesses weren't necessarily avoiding eye contact with everyone out of fear. They were doing it out of practice. No one in the servant classes is allowed to make eye contact with anyone who isn't. There are many kinds of bullying … physical, verbal, prejudicial, relational, and cyber to name a few. The first four apply here. Prejudicial bullying considers the idea that some are inferior and some are not. I consider their treatment of their victims a hate crime," Jarro said.
"Objection," Blackstone said. "We are not dealing with that charge."
"If you cannot supply evidence beyond conjecture, Jarro, then I agree," Prime said.
"Of course, Prime. They, the Council, exist around the idea that some are less worthy than others. That's prejudicial bullying. They beat and recalled this class in their colonies and settlements. They also convinced them that they were inferior. Verbal abuse is spark killing treatment for someone from the time they were born and that's what we're dealing with here. These individuals, all their servant class victims know nothing else."
"Continue," Coln said as he sat.
Jarro would.
-0-TBC 2-13-18 edited 3-4-18
Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow, my dear ones. :D