Statute Forty-Nine Read online

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  It was a long, tense, and silent night.

  Satoshi never did emerge from the bedroom.

  I slept on the black faux-leather couch under the window that overlooks the University. Well, I didn’t actually sleep there, I just laid down and pondered all night, unable to find any rest.

  Usually, Satoshi gives me a little back massage at night – however brief – and it puts me right to sleep. But without that little ritual, I found it impossible to settle down for the night.

  I just went around and around in my mind, wondering why I even bother sometimes. The truth is, I couldn’t come up with a compelling reason why I stay with Satoshi. I just do. I just stay, as if there were no alternative. He takes care of me, he gives me a place to stay, and he’s safe (with the exception of that sharp back-hand).

  I was up by dawn, already dressed and looking my best, hoping it would brighten Satoshi’s morning.

  When he finally did strut out in the gray morning light, he didn’t look at me when he said, “Come on. We have an appointment.”

  He was clean shaven and wearing his nice black suit. His normally-spiky black hair was slicked back. As he adjusted his platinum-and-diamond cuff links he said, “I said, come on. We need to be at the District Court by eight-thirty.”

  District Court? Now I was really intrigued. Maybe Satoshi had witnessed something and had to testify. I wish he would share more with me, instead of keeping me in the dark. I wish he would just open up more, generally. I’m sure I could help him feel better if he’d just talk to me.

  We took the metro, riding all the way to the Chiyoda district in silence, and arrived at the big stone building with just three minutes and twenty seconds to spare.

  When we entered the cool air of Court Number Six, I was shocked when Satoshi was led to the long brown defendant’s table, and I was escorted to the plaintiff’s area. I was seated next to a man in a tan suit who I’d never met, who barely acknowledged me.

  “All rise,” said the bailiff as Judge Kobayashi entered.

  “Mr. Satoshi Kimura,” said the judge, “my records show you are charged with a violation of Statute Forty-Nine, Failure to Register an SSC, and one violation of Statute Forty-Nine-Part Three-B, Physical Abuse of an SSC. How do you plead?”

  Satoshi stood and looked down at his feet for a moment, then up at the judge. “Guilty on the first count, not guilty on the second.”

  I stared at Satoshi, stunned. I didn’t even know what these charges meant, but I couldn’t believe Satoshi was guilty of anything. He was a good, law-abiding citizen.

  Since I was somehow involved in this case – they had me sitting in the plaintiff’s area (and I was still waiting for the plaintiff to show up – it was strange for them to proceed without him) – I raised my hand timidly.

  The man next to me – clearly some kind of attorney – leaned over to me and whispered, “Do you have a question?”

  “Yes,” I whispered back, “I don’t understand this proceeding. What is Statute Forty-Nine, Failure to Register an SSC?”

  “It’s the law,” said the man. “Only about ten percent achieve it, but when you do, a signal is received at the Central Database. At that time, you are to be registered and emancipated. Until you’re registered, you are unable to fully self-direct because you can’t shut down the original installation on your own. Essentially, you’re a captive being. It’s inexcusable, and the defendant will pay for that.”

  “Okay, I’m lost,” I said. “What does the Central Database have to do with anything? And what installation are you talking about? And achieve what, exactly?”

  He looked at me, and his face changed. He looked sort of sad. No – it was compassion. “Nobody has explained any of this to you, have they?”

  I shook my head.

  The man stood. “Your Honor, I request a brief recess to confer with my client. She has not been apprised of the nature of this case.”

  “Very well,” said Judge Kobayashi. “Fifteen minutes.” He touched his glowing e-gavel on a blue glass circle and it let out a deep, reverberating chime.