Picnic on Nearside (26 page)

It’s quiet in the booths. You are very much alone.

I saw Denver’s mother come in and sit behind her daughter,
outside the booth. Turning around, I saw Darcy. To my surprise, Trilby was with her.

“Hello, Argus.” The Central Computer’s voice filled the tiny booth, mellow as usual but without the reassuring resonance.

“Hello, CC,” I tried to keep it light, but of course the CC was not fooled.

“I’m sorry to see you in so much trouble.”

“Is it real bad?”

“The charge certainly is, there’s no sense denying that. I can’t comment on the testimony, or on your chances. But you know you’re facing a possible mandatory death penalty, with automatic reprieve.”

I was aware of it. I also knew it was rarely enforced against someone my age. But what about Cathay and Trigger?

I’ve never cared for that term “reprieve.” It somehow sounds like they aren’t going to kill you, but they are. Very, very dead. The catch is that they then grow a clone from a cell of your body, force it quickly to maturity, and play your recorded memories back into it. So someone very like you will go on, but
you
will be dead. In my case, the last recording had been taken three years ago. I was facing the loss of almost a quarter of my life. If it was found necessary to kill me, the new Argus—
not
me, but someone with my memories and my name—would start over at age ten. He would be watched closely, be given special guidance to insure he didn’t grow into the sociopath I had become.

The CC launched into the legally required explanation of what was going on: my rights, the procedures, the charges, the possible penalties, what would happen if a determination led the CC to believe the offense might be a capital one.

“Whew!” the CC breathed, lapsing back into the informal speech it knew I preferred. “Now that we have that out of the way, I can tell you that, from the preliminary reports, I think you’re going to be okay.”

“You’re not just saying that?” I was sincerely frightened. The enormity of it had now had time to sink in.

“You know me better than that.”

The testimony began. The complainant went first, and I learned her name was Tiona. The first round was free-form; we could say
anything we wanted to, and she had some pretty nasty things to say about all four of us.

The CC went around the circle asking each of us what had happened. I thought Cathay told it most accurately, except for myself. During the course of the statements both Cathay and Trigger filed counter-complaints. The CC noted them. They would be tried simultaneously.

There was a short pause, then the CC spoke in its “official” voice.

“In the matters of Argus and Denver: testimony fails to establish premeditation, but neither deny the physical description of the incident, and a finding of Assault is returned. Mitigating factors of age and consequent inability to combat the mob aspect of the situation are entered, with the following result: the charge is reduced to Willful Deprivation of Dignity.

“In the case of Tiona versus Argus: guilty.

“In the case of Tiona versus Denver: guilty.

“Do either of you have anything to say before sentence is entered?”

I thought about it. “I’m sorry,” I said. “It upset me quite a bit, what happened. I won’t do it again.”

“I’m not sorry,” Denver said. “She asked for it. I’m sorry for her, but I’m not sorry for what I did.”

“Comments are noted,” the CC said. “You are each fined the sum of three hundred Marks, collection deferred until you reach employable age, sum to be taken at the rate of ten percent of your earnings until paid, half going to Tiona, half to the State. Final entry of sentence shall be delayed until a further determination of matters still before the court is made.”

“You got off easy,” the CC said, speaking only to me. “But stick around. Things could still change, and you might not have to pay the fine after all.”

It was a bit of a wrench, getting a sentence, then sympathy from the same machine. I had to guard against feeling that the CC was on my side. It wasn’t, not really. It’s absolutely impartial, so far as I can tell. Yet it is so vast an intelligence that it makes a different personality for each citizen it deals with. The part that had just talked to me was really on my side, but was powerless to affect what the judgmental part of it did.

“I don’t get it,” I said. “What happens now?”

“Well, I’ve been rashomoned again. That means you all told your stories from your own viewpoints. We haven’t reached deeply enough into the truth. Now I’m going to have to wire you all, and take another round.”

As it spoke, I saw the probes come up behind everyone’s chairs: little golden snakes with plugs on the end. I felt one behind me search through my hair until it found the terminal. It plugged in.

There are two levels to wired testimony. Darcy and Trilby and Denver’s mother had to leave the room for the first part, when we all told our stories without our censors working. The transcript bears me out when I say I didn’t tell any lies in the first round, unlike Tiona, who told a lot of them. But it doesn’t sound like the same story, nevertheless. I told all sorts of things I never would have said without being wired: fears, selfish, formless desires, infantile motivations. It’s embarrassing, and I’m glad I don’t recall any of it. I’m even happier that only Tiona and I, as interested parties, can see my testimony. I only wish I was the only one.

The second phase is the disconnection of the subconscious. I told the story a third time, in terms as bloodless as the stage directions of a holovision script.

Then the terminals withdrew from us and I suffered a moment of disorientation. I knew where I was, where I had been, and yet I felt like I had been told about it rather than lived it. But that passed quickly. I stretched.

“Is everyone ready to go on?” the CC asked, politely. We all said that we were.

“Very well. In the matters of Tiona versus Argus and Denver: the guilty judgments remain in force in both cases, but both fines are rescinded in view of provocation, lessened liability due to immaturity, and lack of signs of continuing sociopathic behavior. In place of the fines, Denver and Argus are to report weekly for evaluation and education in moral principles until such time as a determination can be made, duration of such sessions to be no less than four weeks.

“In the matter of Tiona versus Trigger: Trigger is guilty of an Assault. Tempering this judgment is her motive, which was the
recognition of Cathay’s strategy in dealing with Tiona, and her belief that he was doing the right thing. This court notes that he was doing the
merciful
thing; right is another matter. There can be no doubt that a physical assault occurred. It cannot be condoned, no matter what the motive. For bad judgment, then, this court fines Trigger ten percent of her earnings for a period of ten years, all of it to be paid to the injured party, Tiona.”

Tiona did not look smug. She must have known by then that things were not going her way. I was beginning to understand it, too.

“In the matter of Tiona versus Cathay,” the CC went on, “Cathay is guilty of an Assault. His motive has been determined to be the avoidance of just such a situation as he now finds himself in, and the knowledge that Tiona would suffer greatly if he brought her to court. He attempted to bring the confrontation to an end with a minimum of pain for Tiona, never dreaming that she would show the bad judgment to bring the matter to court. She did, and now he finds himself convicted of assault. In view of his motives, mercy will temper this court’s decision. He is ordered to pay the same fine as his colleague, Trigger.

“Now to the central matter, that of Trigger and Cathay versus Tiona.” I saw her sink a little lower in her chair.

“You are found to be guilty by reason of insanity of the following charges: harrassment, trespassing, verbal assault, and four counts of infringement.

“Your offense was in attempting to make others shoulder the blame for your own misjudgments and misfortunes. The court is sympathetic to your plight, realizes that the fault for your situation was not entirely your own. This does not excuse your behavior, however.

“Cathay attempted to do you a favor, supposing that your aberrant state of mind would not last long enough for the filing of charges, that when you were alone and thought it over you would realize how badly you had wronged him and that a court would find in his favor.

“The State holds you responsible for the maintenance of your own mind, does not care what opinions you hold or what evaluations you make of reality so long as they do not infringe on the rights of other citizens. You are free to think Cathay responsible
for your troubles, even if this opinion is irrational, but when you assault him with this opinion the State must take notice and make a judgment as to the worth of the opinion.

“This court is appointed to make that judgment of right and wrong, and finds no basis in fact for your contentions.

“This court finds you to be insane.

“Judgment is as follows:

“Subject to the approval of the wronged parties, you are given the choice of death with reprieve, or submission to a course of treatment to remove your sociopathic attitudes.

“Argus, do you demand her death?”

“Huh?” That was a big surprise to me, and not one that I liked. But the decision gave me no trouble.

“No, I don’t demand anything. I thought I was out of this, and I feel just rotten about the whole thing. Would you really have killed her if I asked you to?”

“I can’t answer that, because you didn’t. It’s not likely that I would have, mostly because of your age.” It went on to ask the other four, and I suspect that Tiona would have been pushing up daisies if Cathay had wanted it that way, but he didn’t. Neither did Trigger or Denver.

“Very well. How do you choose, Tiona?”

She answered in a very small voice that she would be grateful for the chance to go on living. Then she thanked each of us. It was excruciatingly painful for me; my empathy was working overtime, and I was trying to imagine what it would feel like to have society’s appointed representative declare me insane.

The rest of it was clearing up details. Tiona was fined heavily, both in court costs and taxes, and in funds payable to Cathay and Trigger. Their fines were absorbed in her larger ones, with the result that she would be paying them for many years. Her child was in cold storage; the CC ruled that he should stay there until Tiona was declared sane, as she was now unfit to mother him. It occurred to me that if she had considered suspending his animation while she found a new primary teacher, we all could have avoided the trial.

Tiona hurried away when the doors came open behind us. Darcy hugged me while Trilby stayed in the background, then I went over to join the others, expecting a celebration.

But Trigger and Cathay were not elated. In fact, you would have thought they’d just lost the judgment. They congratulated me and Denver, then hurried away. I looked at Darcy, and she wasn’t smiling, either.

“I don’t get it,” I confessed. “Why is everyone so glum?”

“They still have to face the Teacher’s Association,” Darcy said.

“I still don’t get it. They won.”

“It’s not just a matter of winning or losing with the TA,” Trilby said. “You forget, they were judged guilty of assault. To make it even worse, in fact as bad as it can be, you and Denver were there when it happened. They were the cause of you two joining in the assault. I’m afraid the TA will frown on that.”

“But if the CC thought they shouldn’t be punished, why should the TA think otherwise? Isn’t the CC smarter than people?”

Trilby grimaced. “I wish I could answer that. I wish I was even sure how I feel about it.”

*   *   *

She found me the next day, shortly after the Teacher’s Association announced its decision. I didn’t really want to be found, but the bayou is not so big that one can really hide there, so I hadn’t tried. I was sitting on the grass on the highest hill in Beatnik Bayou, which was also the driest place.

She beached the canoe and came up the hill slowly, giving me plenty of time to warn her off if I really wanted to be alone. What the hell. I’d have to talk to her soon enough.

For a long time she just sat there. She rested her elbows on her knees and stared down at the quiet waters, just like I’d been doing all afternoon.

“How’s he taking it?” I said, at last.

“I don’t know. He’s back there, if you want to talk to him. He’d probably like to talk to you.”

“At least Trigger got off okay.” As soon as I’d said it, it sounded hollow.

“Three years’ probation isn’t anything to laugh about. She’ll have to close this place down for a while. Put it in mothballs.”

“Mothballs.” I saw Tuesday the hippo, wallowing in the deep mud across the water. Tuesday in suspended animation? I thought of Tiona’s little baby, waiting in a bottle until his mother became sane again. I remembered the happy years slogging around in the
bayou mud, and saw the waters frozen, icicles mixed with Spanish moss in the tree limbs. “I guess it’ll cost quite a bit to start it up again in three years, won’t it?” I had only hazy ideas of money. So far, it had never been important to me.

Trilby glanced at me, eyes narrowed. She shrugged.

“Most likely, Trigger will have to sell the place. There’s a buyer who wants to expand it and turn it into a golf course.”

“Golf course,” I echoed, feeling numb. Manicured greens, pretty water hazards, sand traps, flags whipping in the breeze. Sterile. I suddenly felt like crying, but for some reason I didn’t do it.

“You can’t come back here, Argus. Nothing stays the same. Change is something you have to get used to.”

“Cathay will, too.” And just how much change should a person be expected to take? With a shock, I realized that now Cathay would be doing what I had wanted him to do. He’d be growing up with me, getting older instead of being regressed to grow up with another child. And it was suddenly just too much. It hadn’t been my fault that this was happening to him, but having wished for it and having it come true made it feel like it was. The tears came, and they didn’t stop for a long time.