The Diego Diaries: Shadow Box 53 Edited for boo-boos :D
-0-In a courtroom at the University, Autobot City, Mars
"Could you please explain your actions on the night in question," Endar asked.
Florus nodded. "I was at home with my bond. I was working on some documents I had brought home from the office when I received an impression that my son was in some kind of difficulty. I told my bond to stay at home as I was going to handle it.
"I hurried from our apartment in Tower 19 in the Mare Tranquilitatis toward the park at Metroplex. My impressions from my son were that he was in deep difficulty. When I arrived at the park there was a brawl in progress. The first thought I had was that my son would be imprisoned for a long time if he were swept up in some kind of security raid.
"I hurried to my son and grabbed his arm. I tried to drag him out of the mess but the others kept attacking and grabbing at him."
Talin and Julon shifted slightly, frowns forming on their faces. It was clear that they disagreed. So did a number of others in the audience who shifted slightly. Prime noted that, but kept his focus on Florus who would be the biggest part of this problem to resolve.
"What happened then, Florus?" Endar asked.
"I found myself dodging fists and at that point I began to defend myself. I pushed some off and kept tugging on my son. Then the Night Watch arrived with tazers and their own fists."
"Did any of them strike you?" Endar asked.
"None of them did at that moment. I had my son and was backing away. That is when the two commanders arrived, Drift and Springer. The entire thing began to fall apart when they arrived."
"What happened?" Endar asked.
"We were apart and more genitors were there, some of them standing behind me calling to their younglings. Drift and Springer were pacing in the middle barking orders. Then one of the -." He paused but the words he would have said hung in the air. 'Low caste'. He gathered himself a moment. "One of the other younglings struck out at my son and it began again."
"It was calmed, then somehow it began again when the commanders arrived." Endar looked at his notes, then his client.
"Yes. It began again. That is when the one, Drift, turned and came at my son. He struck me and I was down on the ground cuffed. We all were carted off to the jail."
"Did you provoke Commander Drift in any manner?" Endar asked.
"No."
"Did you interfere in the restraining of anyone including your son?" Endar asked.
"No. I did not," he said expressly.
Endar checked his list of questions and points. Then he nodded. "I reserve future questioning at this moment." He sat as Prime and Semi nodded.
Coln-2 who was working hard on his own list arose. "Sir, you are a former Governor-General of a city-state on Cybertron, correct?"
"Yes. Altihex," Florus replied, his tone slightly wary.
"Then its safe to say that you understand security, the actions and general focus of policing forces and the law."
Florus nodded. "That would be correct."
"Then you understand the need to speak the truth and to do so when placed under oath in a court of law."
Endar leaned back in his chair. "Sir, the question is demeaning. Florus understands the need to speak the truth."
"Continue, Coln-2. I am sure all of us are aware of our obligations to tell the truth," Prime said staring pointedly at Florus.
Coln-2 nodded, a slight smile on his face. "Sir, you came to the melee to retrieve your son in fear of consequences to him as a double offender of this set of laws."
"I came to take my son home. I was aware of the possibility of him being rounded up and charged for this incident. I am also aware that it would be very difficult for him if he was."
"You state that Commander Drift struck you apparently without cause. Is that your position?" Coln-2 asked calmly.
"Yes," Florus said with equal calm.
"Did you do anything in your opinion to provoke a response from the Commander and I am asking you with a clear understanding that you are aware of your obligation to the truth."
He looked at Coln-2 with slight irritation which he masked almost immediately. "It is my clear impression that I did nothing to provoke being punched to the ground."
Coln-2 considered the artful response. "You stated that the other younglings involved here were the offenders, the aggressors. When did you arrive at the fight scene? At the beginning, the middle or the end?"
"I believe I arrived in the middle of the event," Florus said.
"Then you didn't see how this started nor can you make an informed statement about what might have caused this event to happen."
Florus considered that. "No."
"You did not see that the younglings," he said turning and nodding to Talin and Julon, "were peacefully playing a ball game with three other younglings when your son and his friends arrived at the park.":
"No," Florus said coldly. "I do have my son's word that he was not part of the group that began this event."
"Your son's word," Coln-2 said coldly. "You didn't see how this started. You have heard eyewitnesses explain what happened but you are relying on your son's word which eyewitness testimony contradicts severely."
"I trust my son," Florus said equally coldly.
"I am sure you do but you weren't there and didn't see what happened. The eyewitnesses say that your son threw the first punch. They say that he was the instigator of an attack on a group of younglings who were peacefully playing ball in a public park. Are you still going to hold to your contention that your son is a victim of aggression?"
"I believe that I have made my position clear, sir," Florus said.
"Then you are making a statement rather than stating facts," Coln-2 replied calmly.
Florus considered that remark, then shifted slightly. "I have stated what I believe to be the truth."
"We have a number of witnesses that state otherwise, Florus."
"I can only tell you what I know. I don't care what the others say. I was there in the middle of this and that is what I saw," he replied firmly.
"What is your position regarding the Caste System as practiced on Cybertron?" Coln-2 asked.
"Why do you ask about that?" Florus asked warily.
"Because I can. Please answer the question."
"Objection," Highrode said. "I am questioning the relevance myself."
Coln-2 looked at Semi and Prime. "I believe at the bottom of this story is the specter of the System. I believe it motivates the defendants and is a danger to the peace of our society. Therefore, it is relevant."
Prime glanced at Semi who nodded. He looked at Barron who nodded as well. "The three of us are in agreement. It is relevant. Please answer, Florus."
The older mech stared at Prime, then Coln-2. "The System had its place. It provided stability to the population, a framework for our society to achieve greatness and the rise of the Golden Age. We were once a great people. When the challenges came to the system, we fell."
"You derived great personal benefit from the System. You and your family never wanted for a thing. Were you aware of the mass of suffering that befell the greater population as a result of this system?"
"I was the Governor-General of Altihex. I was aware of everything. You might be aware that I did my best to make the quality of life good for all in my city-state," he replied with an edgy tone.
"I am aware of many things. I am also aware that only high castes were admitted to schools, had decent housing and food at hand. I remember that the slums of Altihex were as putrid as the slums everywhere else. What did you teach your son about his obligations to society?"
Florus looked at him with a cold expression. "I taught him what I was taught, that we have a burden to carry to lift up everyone as best we could, that not everyone was equipped or willing to do better. But we were to try."
"Then you hold the opinion that people are poor by choice? That there is a margin of individuals that aren't worth your effort?" Coln-2 asked quietly.
Florus looked at him. "We are on a criminal matter. Why are you making this about politics?"
"Answer the question please," Coln-2 requested.
Florus looked at Prime. "What does that question have to do with this hearing?"
Prime considered that a moment. "Everything," he said quietly.
Florus looked at Prime, then Coln-2. He looked at the high castes in the audience, some who looked uneasy and others something deeper. "Very well. I am aware that there are types who cannot be helped no matter what you do. They are what they are. It is easier for them to be a sponge than to contribute to society. You can only do as much for them as you can, then you cut your loses."
"Then you subscribe to the notion that the poor choose to be poor," Coln-2 persisted.
"I might not be so brazen, but I sometimes think they do. You cannot lift people out of the mud who enjoy it," Florus said.
"I have compiled statistics for the city-state of Altihex from databases that have been retrieved from ships over the many migrations. It states that among the 4.5 million citizens of the city-state of Altihex, 4 million of them lived at or well below the poverty line. They worked in the mills and industrial parks for minor shanix and lived in housing that was substandard. There were no schools for their children. There was only private charitable clinics for their hurts.
"The amount of public assistance delegated by the government in the last year of Sentinel Prime's Primeship stood at 98 million shanix. That wasn't enough to keep feeding programs for children and support for the elderly going for a full Cybertronian year. Yet, Altihex's output of industrial products stood at 2 trillion shanix. The discrepancy is interesting and I ask you as a self proclaimed industrialist of Altihex, how much did you pay your workers to produce the wealth that you so obviously enjoyed so lavishly?"
Florus looked at Coln-2, then the audience, many of whom were either seething with anger or wishing they were some place else. "I can't remember."
"I do. You had a grand house in Altihex, a lavish apartment in Iacon and an estate in Capital City. You sent your family on vacations off world that ended up in the news cycle and you never had a hungry orn. This was done on the backs of the workers whose salaries you can't seem to remember. I am assuming that you felt the justice of this?"
Florus looked at Coln-2 and knew what he was doing. He considered that, then decided to stand up for himself and the life he had lived since his separation. "You seem to miss the point. That was the way we lived. I enjoyed the fruits of my labor and my education. You seem to think that is something to be ashamed of."
"What fruits? You inherited your businesses and never worked in one of them an orn of your life. The workers did the labor and you reaped the benefit without a thought to them or their lives. Some of them worked their entire life in one of your companies only to be kicked to the curb when their condition and health didn't meet the intensity of your expectations. In what manner did you contribute to your own success in any meaningful manner?"
"Objection," Highrode said rising. "This whole line of questioning is prejudicial. The defendant is high caste. We admit it. He came from wealth. What does this do but poison the possibility of getting a reasonable judgment on an issue of a skirmish in the park?"
"This is the underpinning of the problem, sir," Coln-2 countered. "This is the motive by which this problem is re-occurring. We need to explore it to find out the truth. The issues are bigger here than the fight. We are working out motives for this continuation of violence by the defendants against not only these mechs," he said turning and nodding to Talin and Julon, "but also to the peace of our city and colony."
Prime thought a moment, then leaned toward Semi who leaned also. They paused a moment going over an internal decision, then sat back. "We overrule the objection. The effort to ascertain motive is essential to this hearing. Continue, Coln-2 and reach your point," Semi said. Prime nodded.
"I really object to this line of questioning, your honor," Highrode said.
"And it is noted. I will address this concern at the end of the trial," Prime said nodding. "Coln-2, continue please."
Coln-2 nodded and looked at Florus. "Shall I repeat the question?"
Florus glared at him. "I contributed to my success by being a great manager. I became Governor-General of Altihex because I was a good manager. You seem to think that because you have a high caste designation that you aren't worth much."
"I was thinking that you have that problem, sir," Coln-2 shot back. He paused and looked at Prowl. "Please strike that comment, Prowl. It is unworthy." He looked at Florus. "Your life and actions were predicated on the Caste System were they not?"
Florus shrugged. "I lived the life I was raised to have. All of us did."
"You felt no compunction to raise the quality of living for the poor which were manifest? You did after all live about a kilometer from the slums of your own city."
"I did what I could. I donated to charity, I worked in government to lift the poor up but that is hard to do when they don't want to stand."
"The poor are lazy," Coln-2 said.
"Objection," Highrode said.
"Overruled," Semi said glancing at Prime who nodded.
"Some of them are. Most of them. I can't help that they can't see a better path."
"How many would you say are incorrigible? 25%? 35%? All of them?"
"Now you just want me to look like a villain." Florus glanced at Prime. "You're trying the System, not me."
"We are seeking the root cause of this continual disturbance," Prime said. "The System appears to be a reasonable focuse of questioning."
"I have no more questions for this witness," Coln-2 said.
Florus looked at Highrode who was in consultation with Endar. Then Highrode looked at Prime. "We wish to hold our questioning of this witness in abeyance until later, sir."
Prime nodded. "Very well."
Florus walked off the stage and sat beside his son in a state of barely controlled agitation. Coln-2 turned. "I wish to speak with Talin."
The mech flinched and glanced at his stricken genitors. They nodded encouragingly and he rose. He took the oath and turned to face the room. He looked terrified.
"You are Talin of Altihex?"
"Yes sir," he said fearfully.
"Tell me about your life here at Autobot City," Coln-2 said.
He looked at his genitors, then Coln-2. "It's great. I live in a nice apartment with my genitors. I'm in an apprenticeship with Rampage. I want to cook."
Coln-2 nodded. "Tell me about your genitors. I am aware that they lived on Cybertron in the city of Altihex."
He nodded. "They worked for a smelter and lived in the Hole."
"The Hole. Please explain what that means," Coln-2 asked.
"The Hole," he said pausing to gather his anxiety, "the hole is a slum where all of the low caste mechs lived. It was pretty bad."
"Tell us more," Coln-2 asked.
"The apartments were tiny and unheated. They didn't have water, most of them and everyone used public faucets. The streets were narrow and the fire danger was high. It was a dead end."
"How does that compare here?" Coln-2 asked.
Talin's face brightened. "It doesn't. This place is beautiful and the opportunity is unlimited. I got a good apprenticeship and I didn't have to bribe anyone. My Atar is disabled but he still gets a great apartment with a wash rack. My Ada is going to school. He saw the ads for teachers wanted and finally asked to speak to Herling. He doesn't know all he should yet. He didn't know how to read but he's going to school to be a teacher. Right now, he's an aide in the school and a student himself," he said proudly.
His genitors watched him, their expressions filled with agony and concern. They didn't know what this might mean for him or their present situation. So far, they hadn't been evicted but they had no idea what this would do to them and their better life when it was concluded.
"We eat good food, go to restaurants and have things that we need. My atar is really good at making practical things. I'm trying to get him to make things for the shops. He can do it. He just doesn't know he can," Talin said. His expression shifted into something harder and defiant. "My atar and ada are good mechs. They deserve the best and they have it here. They should have had this all along. They are as good as anyone." He paused, then turned to look at Prime. "If I have to go to jail, will they be evicted from their apartment? I don't want them to be in trouble because of me."
Prime shook his helm. "No. We don't work that way here."
"They did in Altihex. If someone got in trouble, the whole family suffered." He looked at Coln-2. "This is the best most fair place I've ever been. I love it here."
Coln-2 nodded. "Tell me about this 'football' rivalry and what happened when you were playing ball in the park."
Talin looked at his genitors who looked back encouragingly. He looked at Coln-2 and nodded. "We were in the same colony. There was no system there because the conditions were so bad. Everyone had to work. Those mechs," he said nodding to the five sitting beside Florus, "didn't like it but the Circle ran it and they had to. They were never happy and they liked to jump on us. We always had a hard time with them. We used to fight together, then the Circle told us enough. We tried to follow them. I admire the Circle. But they never did. When we came here I hoped that the huge population would make it easier to avoid them. My friends and I, we hang together after work and school. But they always seem to find us."
"You didn't throw the first punch according to the witnesses. Who did and what happened?"
"We were playing ball when we heard them coming. We were talking about leaving when they turned and started toward us. They stopped in front of us and then he," Talin said pointing to Mako, "punched me in the face. After that, the whole thing went crazy." He stood staring at Mako who glared back. "We didn't do a thing and they started a fight. Everyone of us were defending ourselves when the Night Watch came. Then the genitors showed up. Commander Drift and Commander Springer came and arrested all of them and took us in too, Julon and me because it was all still unclear."
Coln-2 nodded. "Thank you." He sat and Highrode rose. "Mr. Talin, you have had a number of interactions with my clients since the first altercation. One of them was at the grocery store in the Mall and the other was at the theater. It would appear that you are aggressive when it suits your moment."
Talin looked at him, then his genitors. "I was getting something my ada needed in the store when Mako saw me. He followed me around taunting me. Then he and his friends cornered me and Julon in the theater. A Night Watch officer walked in and they backed off. I didn't start either thing."
Highrode looked at him. "Did you have a record in the colony?"
"No, sir," Talin said defiantly.
They sparred a moment, then Highrode sat making little headway in limiting the damage the youngling caused to his case.
Coln-2 rose. "I would like to call Mako to the stand with the permission of his attorney." He turned to watch Endar and Highrode in consultation. Then Highrode stood. "I would not agree to allow Mako to testify at this juncture."
Florus looked at them, then his son. "I would disagree with you, Highrode," he said to Highrode's everlasting angst.
-0-TBC For Pip
2013 (2)