A quick lunar bus ride brought me back to Sea of Tranquility City. Captain Theru was positively grim as I boarded his shuttle for the return flight to Earth. No one said a word the entire trip home.
Back in Nova Tokyo, I was immediately sequestered, kept under protective custody until arrangements could be made for the trial. News vids were disconnected in my quarters, but I didn't need them to know that powerful waves of disbelief would be sweeping through every nook and cranny of the city.
The day of the trial, as I was led to the Counsel chambers where the trial would be held, I could not help overhearing the whispers nor avoid seeing the furtive glances the citizens of Nova Tokyo aimed my way. Tears were my only answer.
Once everyone was gathered in the main chamber, the trial began. Evidence was presented, testimony was heard. Through it all, Icaru remained as silent as stone, a serene expression on his face. He honestly seemed convinced that nothing was wrong; that there was no way he would be convicted of the crimes.
His legal counsel presented opposing arguments, seeking to prove the evidence had been deliberately manipulated in a vain attempt to discredit his client.
The prosecution team brought in their own experts; nearly all of them esteemed and well respected in their individual fields of expertise.
As the two opposing legal teams began to present their closing arguments, I started to sift through everything I had witnessed and heard. It was clear there was no refuting the evidence either my grandfather or my teen friends had uncovered. Why, then, did Icaru continue to just sit there, grinning about like the Cheshire Cat?
As the last of the closing arguments drew to an end, I got up from my seat.
"Counselors…" I called out.
"Yes, citizen, what do you want?" one of them responded.
"I wish to ask Icaru a question," I quietly answered, looking directly at him.
"Proceed," the lead Counselor directed.
I walked up to Icaru, the room around me silent as a tomb. When I stopped, I looked straight at him.
"Why?"
Icaru burst out laughing. "That's it? That's the best you can do?"
"Why?" I repeated, tears running down my cheeks. "Why have you thrown your life away like this?"
"My life?!" he guffawed, slapping the table in front of him. "Foolish child, I have thrown nothing away! It is you who have wasted a golden opportunity, a priceless jewel you have squandered with your ignorance and lack of foresight."
"Nay, citizen," I argued, shaking my head, "it is you who has lost several very precious, nigh irreplaceable things."
"The only thing I'm losing is my patience with you, fool of a child," Icaru growled, pounding his fist on the table.
"Look around you, citizen," I quietly enjoined, my tears continuing to fall. "Gaze upon the faces of those gathered here. Search their eyes. You were a person they all looked up to and admired. But now, look in their eyes and see one of the things you've lost."
"And what am I supposed to see, fool?" he snorted.
"You have lost their respect," I insisted, my tears running unchecked. "Look carefully and tell me I'm wrong."
Icaru did look around, his jaw working, but he said nothing.
"Along with their respect," I continued, "you have lost their trust. Meet their eyes and tell me I'm wrong."
This time, Icaru didn't look around. Instead, he glared straight at me.
"It takes a lot of time to build up trust and respect," I said, not looking away. "It can be lost very quickly and, once gone, it can be almost impossible to rebuild."
The assembly hall was silent for several long seconds before I continued.
"Did you love me?" I asked into the silence.
"What?!" Icaru spluttered.
"You wanted me as your daughter," I explained. "Did you love me? Or was it something else you sought?"
"Nature follows a very simple precept," Icaru replied, smirking. "Survival of the fittest. Your pitiful family line didn't even last into the 30th century."
"Actually, it didn't survive past the 25th century," I corrected him. "I rechecked your findings."
"I can trace my family's lineage all the way back to a fiefdom in the late 13th century!" Icaru proudly declared. "It has remained unbroken to this very day! I offered you an opportunity to become a part of that lineage, but you foolishly squandered it."
"I think what you were really after was the prestige I could bring you," I told him.
"Prestige?!" Icaru guffawed. "Truly, child, you are delusional!"
"Am I? Only one family can claim having a child who survived more than two millennia in coldsleep. How much prestige would that have brought to your family name, citizen?"
Icaru simmered, his eyes full of rage.
"I kept asking myself, why would you do all this," I quietly remarked, pacing back and forth. "And I think I finally understand."
"Please…" Icaru snickered, lifting his hands to the heavens, "enlighten us!"
"You are proud of your lineage," I responded, looking around at the crowd in the hall. "By itself, that's not a bad thing. But the only reason you would be looking to adopt a child was if you had none of your own. But not just any child would do. You needed one that would bring prestige to your family name. Who better than the coldsleep survivor?"
"What of it?" Icaru shrugged.
"You really don't get it, do you?" I asked, honestly dumbfounded. "You still can't see what your actions will ultimately lead to?!"
All I could do was stare at Icaru, shaking my head in disbelief.
"Citizen Jayden," the head Counselor cut in. "Could you please explain to the rest of this assembly what you mean?"
"Through his actions," I spoke, trying to keep my voice clear and steady, "Icaru has lost the trust and respect of everyone in the city. He might not be able to overcome that in his lifetime. And without an heir to carry on his family name, when he dies, so does his family line."
"Foolish child," Icaru responded, chuckling. "All I need to do is transfer my memories to a new body."
"You can't," I argued, turning to face him, rivers of tears flowing down my cheeks. "The laws of this time do not permit life extension through reimplantation."
In that moment, Icaru looked as if I'd slapped him in the face. He stared at me, his eyes growing suddenly large, the look in them transforming from arrogance to actual fear.
"Citizen Jayden is correct, Icaru," the lead Counselor added. "Life extension is expressly forbidden!"
"Such practices very nearly caused a planetwide mass extinction event!" a second Counselor chimed in. "Near the dawn of the 30th century!"
"Our world and its people need the creative fire a limited life produces," a third Counselor added. "We would not survive without it!"
"If you had only accepted my decision and moved on, Icaru," I wept, "you would still possess the things you have now lost."
"NO!" he howled, collapsing to his knees, real tears pouring down his face.
As my eyes swept the assembly, I spotted a woman with tears in her eyes. She kept looking at the now weeping Icaru but then turning away.
Stars above, I hope I'm right, I silently remarked, responding to my instincts as I ran up the steps to where she sat.
"Citizen Jayden, what are you…" one of the Counselors called out, but I waved him off.
Even with me standing next to her, the woman kept glancing over at the pitifully sobbing Icaru before turning away.
"Go to him," I ordered, pointing.
"What?!" she gasped, now looking up at me.
"You love him, don't you?" I asked, meeting her gaze.
"No! I… that is, I…"
I knelt beside her.
"I could see it in your eyes," I calmly told her, taking one of her hands. "Even across the hall, I could see it. Please, go to him. He needs you."
At first, the woman hesitated. When I stepped back, she got to her feet. When I nodded in Icaru's direction, she slowly made her way past me. Once reaching the floor, however, she ran to the huddled Icaru, sobbing the whole way.
"Icaru!" she wept, dropping to her knees, laying her arm over his shoulders.
Startled by the contact, Icaru looked up, meeting her eyes.
"Polla?" he stammered, blinking away tears.
"I'm here," she wept, taking his tear-stained face in her hands.
"Ancestors, what have I done?" he moaned, trying to turn away from her.
She turned him back. "It's over now. You'll be alright."
I stood nearby, watching events unfold, happy tears replacing sad ones.
Icaru and Polla hugged each other, both weeping. For several minutes, no one moved, not a sound was made, until…
"How can you look at me?" Icaru whispered, pulling back to gaze at Polla's face. "I turned you away… thought you unworthy." Shaking his head, he added, "Now I realize I was the one who was unworthy. I do not deserve such a jewel as you."
"I have always been yours, my love," she confessed, clasping his hands with hers and kissing them. "I was certain one day you would find the truth, and I prayed I would be there to help you through it."
With trembling hands, Icaru took Polla's face and kissed her, gently, tenderly, tears pouring down his face. When he pulled back, he turned and looked at me.
"I don't understand," Icaru whimpered, tears continuing to fall.
"Understand what?" I asked, kneeling next to them.
"What I did," he muttered. "I nearly killed you and everyone on that shuttle."
"True," I responded.
"Yet, in spite of that," he sobbed, "you were still worried about me!"
"Also true."
"Why?"
Chuckling, I took his hand, saying, "There was an ancient race of people on this world, back before even I was born. They were called the Lakota. They lived in what was North America."
"I don't understand."
"They were a proud people," I explained. "Warriors, hunters. They lived in harmony with the land, taking only what they needed to survive."
"I still don't…"
"When choosing a leader," I went on, "they always kept in mind that humility provides clarity where arrogance makes a cloud. The last thing they wanted was to be led by someone whose judgment and actions were clouded by arrogance."
"Like mine was," Icaru wept, nodding understanding. "But why help me?"
"No particular reason," I told him, patting his hand. "It's just who I am."
For a very long moment, Icaru looked at me, searching my eyes. Then, he smiled, nodding to me.
"Thank you," he whispered.
"Counselors," I spoke as I stood. "What happens now?"
"We will deliberate to determine a course of action in this matter," the lead Counsel spoke, rising along with the others.
I couldn't help wondering how they would punish Icaru. Money was obsolete, so they couldn't hit him in his wallet. And, as far as I knew, they didn't have things like jails in this century. So how would Icaru face justice?
It took the Counsel nearly two days to reach a decision… one aided, surprisingly, by Icaru himself. At his own request, he was removed from his position as one of the Counselors of Nova Tokyo. But when the Counsel began discussing Icaru's treatment options, that's when I got my first inkling of how criminals in the 43rd century were dealt with.
"Counselors," I spoke after Icaru had been led away, "what is memory conditioning?"
"We do not have facilities in which to house criminals like your time, citizen," the lead Counselor replied. "In order to rehabilitate such individuals, we use psych scans to pinpoint specific memories that contributed to the individual's criminal deviance. Those memories are then reconditioned in order to restore the individual as a productive member of society again."
"You mean, like brainwashing?" I asked.
Every Counselor looked down at their individual computer terminals, no doubt accessing the definition of what must be an archaic word to them.
"In a manner of speaking, yes," the lead Counselor replied, once more looking at me.
"Has the conditioning ever failed?"
"In its infancy, yes," another Counselor admitted. "But that was over 500 years ago. Nowadays, the process is 100% effective."
"I see," I sighed, glancing about the chamber. "I assume, then, that there are laws in place governing its application and use?"
"Why would you ask such a question?" one Counselor furiously demanded.
"Forgive me, Counselors," I said, bowing to them. "Perhaps it is due to the less than optimistic time that I came from, but I can foresee how such memory conditioning could be misused."
For nearly a full minute, the Counsel chamber was as silent as a tomb, the Counsel members glancing from one to the other.
"Saru was right about you, Jayden," the lead Counselor finally responded. "You do possess a keen insight. And you are right. It could… and sadly, has… been misused."
"How long ago?" I asked.
Another long pause as the Counsel members glanced from one to another.
"Just after the technique was perfected," a second Counsel member reported. "It took nearly 100 years to uncover the misuse and put in safeguards and laws to prevent it from ever happening again."
"I see," I sighed, glancing over to where my family sat, their worried eyes only on me. "As the prime victim in this case, do I have a say in its application?"
"And what would your choice be?" the lead Counselor asked.
"That you forego memory conditioning on Citizen Icaru."
This caused a loud round of exclamations and expressions of disbelief from the assembled crowd.
"Why?" the lead Counsel inquired when the crowd finally quieted down.
"You all saw his reactions at the end," I explained, glancing around the chamber. "I doubt there is a single person here who did not share his pain when he realized the truth."
That sent a ripple of murmurs through everyone in the chamber.
"He knows he did wrong," I went on, glancing at each of the Counselors. "I did what I could to help him realize that. And now, he has someone who loves him and will look after him. And, perhaps, more importantly, to help him continue the family lineage he is so proud of."
More murmurs from the crowd… and nods of agreement from the Counselors.
"If some sort of punishment is to be applied," I said, speaking directly to the lead Counselor, "then I recommend a period of community service for Citizen Icaru where he is given duties that will benefit not only himself but also the greater good of the community. In that way, he can begin to rebuild the trust and respect that he has lost."
Briefly, I looked over at my family. They were all smiling and nodding. Murmurs could be heard all around me as the crowd digested what I had said. Meanwhile, the Counsel members conferred amongst themselves before turning back to me.
"Agreed," the lead Counsel spoke, nodding to me.
Hushed murmurs swept the chamber as I bowed to the leaders of Nova Tokyo.
"My thanks, Counsel," I said, glancing at each of them, "for your wisdom and understanding."
"When you first appeared among us, Jayden," the lead Counsel spoke, smiling at me, "we weren't certain what to expect of someone from such a barbaric time period."
This caused a modest round of outbursts from the crowd, including my friends, but I quickly silenced it by raising my hand.
"And I would be the first to agree that the 21st century was a barbaric time," I replied, smiling around at the assembly. "But now, here in the 43rd century, I am pleased to see that Mankind has grown past its adolescence and matured as a species. And I count myself so very fortunate to be here to share it with you!"
That caused a rather loud and long round of cheers and applause from everyone in the chamber, including the Counselors.
"And we are grateful for the services you have thus far rendered to the people of this community," the lead Counsel remarked, nodding his appreciation. "But we are still left with one final problem to address."
"Explain," I requested.
"With the removal of Icaru from the Counselors of Nova Tokyo," the lead Counsel replied, looking directly at me, "we have a vacancy that needs to be filled." He glanced briefly around at the other Counselors, who nodded, before saying, "If you are willing, we would like you to assume that post."
"Me?!" I stammered, taking a step back even as the crowd broke into spontaneous cheers and applause at the idea.
Within seconds, I was surrounded by my family and friends, all offering their congratulations.
"Onee-san!" Claru gleefully shouted, leaping up and throwing his arms around my neck. "This is supernova interstellar!"
"Way to go, Jayden!" Dara declared, hugging Claru and me together.
"Sweetheart, we are so proud of you!" Mama declared, tears pouring down her smiling face.
It came at me from every direction, from every face I looked at. This is what everyone wanted!
"Claru, wait!" I stammered, peeling him off my neck. "Wait, please!"
Hands up before me, I slowly backed away, staring at all the faces around me.
"Honey, what's wrong?" Papa wondered. "I think they made a great choice!"
"Great?!" Marcu chimed in, pumping his fist in the air. "It's transstellar incredible!"
I turned to the Counselors.
"Why me?" I begged them answer. "I mean… surely there are others who are more experienced… more deserving…"
"Perhaps," the lead Counsel replied with a smile. "But you alone, Jayden, possess a unique view of the world… of how it used to be… and how it is now."
"And, while you may not believe it, Jayden," a second Counselor chimed in, "you are actually older than any of us here on the Counsel."
"But that's just because of the cold sleep," I argued. "And this body's physical age is only sixteen!"
"Valid points," a third Counselor spoke, smiling at me. "What we refer to is your accumulated wisdom." Gesturing about her, she added, "Even the oldest of us cannot match the nearly six decades of knowledge and experience you have accumulated in your earlier lifetime."
"What?!" I gasped, searching all their faces.
To a one, they all smiled and nodded at me.
"You have repeatedly demonstrated the qualities of leadership the ancient Lakota you mentioned aspired to," the lead Counsel said, rising to his feet, the other Counselors joining him. "For the greater good of the community, Jayden, we would be honored for you to join us."
That said, every Counselor bowed deeply to me.
I stared at them, my whole body trembling, my throat so dry I could barely swallow.
A hand took mine, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. When I turned to see who it was, Claru was standing there, smiling up at me.
"You'll make a great Counselor, Onee-san!" he told me, grinning from ear-to-ear.
Sobbing, I hugged my little brother, the rest of my family and friends joining us. They were all smiling, nodding for me to accept.
Blinking back tears, I turned to the Counselors, and, after clearing my throat, told them, "Then, for the greater good of Nova Tokyo, my new home… and with the blessings of my family and friends… I accept!"
Deafening cheers and applause rang throughout the assembly hall even as my family and friends nearly crushed me in a heartfelt embrace!
But then,…
"Onee-san!" Claru exclaimed, staring up at me. "What about your shuttle pilot training?"
"Oh, I intend to complete my pilot training, little brother!" I replied, hugging him tightly.
"But, Jayden, your duties…" Dara argued.
"I seriously doubt my new duties as a Nova Tokyo Counselor will require my presence on a daily basis," I responded, receiving an affirmative nod from the lead Counselor. "If I am needed, they will surely know where to find me."
"Besides," I added, giving my family a group hug, "earning a position as a shuttle pilot will give me one more way to serve the community that has so generously welcomed me among you… who have made this time and place feel like home to me!"
"Onee-san!" Claru wept, throwing his arms around my neck in a fierce embrace.
Soon, the rest of my family and my friends joined in, turning our little group into one big hugfest! And around us, the other citizens of Nova Tokyo cheered and applauded. Cold sleep had taken my family and my past from me. That pain would always remain. But here, now, in this amazing future world, I had found a new family, new friends, and a new way of life. Hugging my little brother tightly, I finally felt at home once more!