Judgement Day Glitch
Dryden is relishing his closing arguments. He looks like a dog who hasn’t eaten in days, but who spots an unattended pork chop on the table.
“And so the jury will see that Nemo, due to his infatuation with Ms. Banks, decided that he would steal my client’s intellectual property at all costs,” he says, licking his lips. “This is how he would get his revenge and win back the love that is so obviously absent from his life, because he is a schemer, a master manipulator. I ask you then: Do you want someone like THIS running free in Zeitville? Look at him now, already scheming on how to reduce his sentence!”
“Motion for mistrial, your honor,” says Frey, the lawyer behind Nemo’s defense. He’s sitting cross-legged, one hand on cheek, as if he’s already watching the evening news.
“Mistrial?” Dryden says with a bit of a mad laugh. “Frey, must we take you back to law school? It’s now your turn for closing arguments.”
“Your honor, the prosecutor’s summation has introduced fundamental prejudice against the defendant, which cannot be cured by instructions to the jury, therefore I file motion for mistrial. . .” Frey continues.
“Motion granted,” the judge declares, drawing an apoplectic stare from Dryden and OriginalSyn. “Trial is hereby terminated and declared void.”
“Your honor, if I may. . .” Dryden pipes up, looking beside himself.
“Mr. Dryden,” the judge intervenes, “I highly recommend you take your own advice and consider a review of your profession. At this stage, it would be imprudent to waste further resources on this case, if not outright futile.”
The gavel is dropped, sending an echo throughout the hushed chamber.
Gathering his papers, Frey looks over to an equally shocked Nemo. “Pride comes before the fall,” he says, with a slight grin.
“So that’s it?”
“You were doing so well and you didn’t even know it,” Frey replies. “That’s how big exams go sometimes. All that preparation, all that worry, all that grinding come test time. You’re so busy focusing on getting to the end, that you ignore how well you’re doing in the moment. You gotta learn to trust your accumulated abilities. There are some procedural things to clear up, but we’re at the end of the line here, yeah. Come on, let’s go grab a bite. . .”
Walking down the marble steps, Frey and Nemo catch sight of Casey, who’s alone—she wanders over.
“There’s a lot to catch up on,” she says to Nemo.
“After that? I feel like my whole life was aired back there. Not to mention I’m all over the Zeitville news.”
“Already famous,” she darkly jokes. “Look, I’ve got a fashion show in a couple weeks at the Sun Spot. You should come. We could catch up then. But take some time to unwind.”
Nemo looks over to Frey, almost as if for permission.
“What are you looking at me for? Don’t you know you’re a free man? If you’ve learned one thing from this, Nemo, it’s that you can’t sleep on freedom—because someone will try and take it, if you stop valuing it.”