A Reasonable World

22

Ross faced the judge. “Your Honor, in the voir dire we determined that five members of the jury panel who were excused from duty are former McNulty’s victims, that is, they have already been hosts of the symbiont. As you know, former hosts can be reinfected without suffering any ill effects. With the court’s permission, I will now seat these five members of the panel in the front of the courtroom near the witness.”

“For what purpose, Mr. Ross?”

“Your Honor, we intend to show that the symbiont can in fact tell what its host is thinking and report this information accurately.”

“Objection, irrelevant.”

“I’m laying a foundation for later testimony which will show relevance, Your Honor.”

“Very well, I’ll allow it.”

Under the bailiff’s direction, courtroom attendants arranged five chairs in the front of the room near the witness stand. Three women and two men took their seats.

“Your Honor, for purposes of identification only, the five people you see here are Ms. Carol Wheeler, Mr. Leonard O’Casey, Mrs. Robert Semple, Mr. Edward Colombiano and Ms. Linda Silverman.”

Ross turned to the witness and handed him the two metal cylinders of the Italiano device. “Just hold these comfortably in your hands, Mr. Burns. Speaking to the symbiont now, I ask if you are willing to go into each of these five people, one at a time, then return to your present host and tell us what they were thinking.”

The cursor went to YES, and the word appeared at the top of the screen.

“Ms. Wheeler, we’ll take you first. I’d like you to concentrate on some thought—anything you wish—it could be a sentence, or a number, or a mental picture of some kind, but whatever it is, it should be specific enough that it can be described in a few words. Do you understand? Tell me when you’re ready.”

“All right. Now.”

Ross said to the witness, “Will you cross over to Miss Wheeler, please, then return and tell us what she was thinking?”

YES.

Ross waited a minute. “Have you done so?”

YES.

“What was she thinking?”

The cursor danced over the chart, spelling out picture OF ORANGES AND APPLES.

Miss Wheeler gasped and put her hand to her mouth.

O’Casey was next. The witness reported that he was thinking of the number 1,000,005.

Then Mrs. Robert Semple. Hers was a sentence: the RAIN IN SPAIN FALLS MAINLY IN THE PLAIN.

Edward Colombiano: PICTURE OF AN OWL EATING A MOUSE.

Linda Silverman: LETTER A IN GOLD WITH RED HEART AROUND IT.

“Your Honor, at this time we would like to excuse the witness temporarily in order to call these five panel members to testify.”

“Very well. You may step down, Mr. Burns.”

One by one, the five jury panelists were called, sworn, and testified that the symbiont had in fact reported what they had been thinking. The previous witness returned to the stand.

“Now,” said Ross, “is it true that at some time prior to September the seventh, twenty ought six, you were present in the mind of Ivan Walter Bolt?”

YES.

“Objection. Your Honor, even if it is granted that the witness can read people’s minds, we have no assurance that what it says is true. I move that this testimony be stricken.”

Van Winkle motioned the two attorneys to approach the bench. “Mr. Ross?”

“Your Honor, we have no assurance that what any witness says is true. We have to rely on the judgment of reasonable persons.”

“Your Honor, if I may, in the case of human witnesses we also rely on the penalties of perjury. Here we have a witness who is allegedly invisible, has no bodily form, cannot be identified, and cannot be brought unwillingly into court, tried, sentenced, fined or imprisoned. Such a witness has no fear of perjury.”

Ross said, “There is no reason to suppose that the witness has any motive for committing perjury, Your Honor.”

“I’ll overrule the objection,” Van Winkle said. “You may proceed.”

Ross asked, “How long did you stay in Ivan Walter Bolt’s mind on that occasion?”

TWO DAYS.

“Is it true that that would be an unusual length of time for you to stay in the mind of one person?”

YES.

“Was there some quality or qualities about Ivan Bolt’s mind that made you want to stay in his mind for an unusual length of time?”

YES.

“Will you describe those qualities?”

GOOD COLORS. SMELLS. SUN AND SHADOW. NOTICED EVERY THING.

“What was Ivan Bolt’s attitude toward animals?”

LOVED THEM.

“How did he feel about people?”

LOVED SOME OF THEM.

“I now ask you, is it true that at some time prior to September the seventh, twenty ought six, you were present in the mind of Leroy Edward Jameson?”

YES.

“How long did you stay in his mind on that occasion?”

TWO MINUTES.

“What was there about Leroy Jameson’s mind that made you leave after only two minutes?”

UGLY.

“By ugly, do you mean that his mind was unpleasant?”

YES.

“Objection, Your Honor. Counsel is leading the witness.”

“Sustained. Strike the last answer.”

“Would you describe Leroy Jameson as a happy person?”

NO.

“What made him unhappy?”

HATED EVERYBODY. WANTED TO MAKE THEM SUFFER. HATED HIMSELF.

“Are you aware of any occasions when LeRoy Edward Jameson tried to make another person suffer?”

YES.

“Please tell us about one of those occasions.”

KILLED DOG.

“Whose dog was it?”

NEIGHBOR.

“How did he kill it?”

RAT POISON.

“Was he ever charged with this crime, if you know?”

NO.

“No further questions, Your Honor.”

“Mr. Llewellyn?”

“One moment, Your Honor.” Llewellyn conferred with his assistant. Presently he stood up. “Is it true,” he asked, “that the symbionts kill people who commit murders before they can come to trial?”

YES.

“Why do you kill those people?”-

SAVE YOU TROUBLE.

“Oh, I see. If we told you we didn’t want you to save us the trouble, would you stop doing it?”

NO.

“Why not?”

UNTRUE.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand the answer. What is untrue?”

THAT YOU DONT WANT TO SAVE TROUBLE.

“Do you mean me personally?”

NO. YOU ALL.

“Do you mean people in general approve of your killing murderers?”

YES. YES.

“And do you consider that a sufficient reason to interfere with and subvert our justice system?”

YES.

Llewellyn rocked back and forth for a moment, frowning at the floor. Then he asked, “Did you have an opportunity to kill Ivan Bolt for the murder of Leroy Jameson?”

YES.

“Why didn’t you do so?”

BETTER OFF DEAD.

“Who is better off dead?”

JAMESON.