Later watching more of the broadcast Leona's lawyer spoke.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, your decision here will effect not only this lawsuit, but also this country, our society, and possibly all of
humanity for the western world. Simply because we CAN do something does not mean we SHOULD or ALLOW that something. We stand
before Pandora's box.
If we open it. We'll be opening the door for customized human beings, making DNA testing and tracking effectively useless. And people's DNA
will become just another commodity. Our very existence as a species will become in passing. What is keep the army, human traffickers,
mobsters, and dictators from using this technology to create slaves who can not fight back or super human monsters?
"Wouldn't we be creating ANOTHER LINE that the haves can use to separate themselves from the have nots? Or legal binding contracts that say
someone MUST agree to have their DNA violated if they wish to have a certain job? And those who could not afford such a procedure? How
could normal humans compete against those whose DNA had been specialized for their given task?
And IMAGINE THE COST to public services!!! So many different species and so many different physiologies and body chemistries! Doctors who
before only needed to know the biology of one type of species, humans, would suddenly need to know several! Bed sizes, breathing masks,
medical tools, iron lungs, medication, all would need to be made where they'd be ready to accommodate ANY of any number of warm blooded
species. Assuming it even stops there! And as these groups get larger, we'll be creating NEW lines for people to draw in the sand among
themselves.
And please please please remember this technology is frightening and overwhelmingly new and exists purely by sheer accident! We don't know
what side effects it could have that we have not seen yet and will not make themselves known yet for decades! You can not allow a creature we
do not even know yet the full true nature of loose into the world. Or it could end in devouring us all."
That was when the persecution chose to have it's say.
"What precisely IS humanity?" The persecution began, "Through out history many criminals and maniacs were consider in the public mind too
horrid in their actions to possibly be human. And in centuries past, Europeans scientifically believes that Africans were a completely separate
species from themselves. IS humanity just DNA? If you stripped a person of their emotions and freedom of will, could you call that persons till
human? Is humanity a species, or is it our ability to function as a group, and for -most- of us to tolerate each other's difference just enough to
work as a community? If you were to put a machine in the body of a human being, and the mind of a person into a machine, which one would
you say is human, which one would you say has humanity?
Every last one of or nearly every last of the victims of the Fun House did not intend to become what they are, nor did they have time to prepare
for it. And we have yet to have a criminal report on any of those victims harming a human being or acting like feral animals. In fact, a humanoid
tiger is currently a respected and effective police officer and has proven to be a very useful asset among his fellow officers."
I started hearing this, noting how the persecution had been careful not to actually call me a victim.
"Can this technology be abused? That's a completely absurd question. OF COURSE it can be abused! All technology can be abused and has been
abused through out all of history! The very first weapons human being used to kill each other were developed originally as hunting and farming
tools! Are nuclear weapons a blight upon humanity? Yes they are. But nuclear power in countries like France is a fact of life and in fact HAS
improved lives. All technologies have proven dangerous in one form or another and will continue to prove dangerous in one form or another.
The fact none of the victims have devolved into puddles of slime, or turned fully into animals or grown a second head on their bellies speaks
volumes already of this technology. Does it pose a threat maybe to the continued existence of humans? MAYBE. But does it pose a threat to
the continued existence of HUMANITY? No more than any other technology. Even if two hundred years from now everyone chose of their own
free will to become humanoid donkeys, we would still want to get up, go to work, get paid, and come home to bed.
Humanity is NOT a species, humanity is the part of us that enables us to work together and function as a culture. And the Fun House victims
which have been trusted to and proven to be able to function in society in spite of them something overwhelming physical differences and
sometimes handicaps has proven that they STILL HAVE humanity even if they are no longer human as Miss Leona has repeatedly pointed out.
"Would this bring another difference to humanity? YES. But we are creating new differences among humanity ever day! Cultures upon sub-
cultures upon sub-cultures. Would this completely change culture given enough time? YES! But so did the printing press, the industrial
revolution, and then the changes brought on by the micronization of computers is STILL being felt. But it can just as easily encourage
economic -growth!- As custom clothing, tools, and what not rise in demand! Now that this technology exists, it'll continue to exist, and we
simply can not ignore it or pretend that we can put it back in the box and imagine we never saw it. That is a fantasy. Pandora's box is already
opened."
Watching the TV broadcast, on an off chance I took a careful look at the persecution and the people at his table.
Molly guessed what I was doing and took a look as well.
"What do you think?"
"No. It isn't him. Doesn't even look remotely like him! None of those on the persecution table do! And the worst part is that this is a civil case,
not a criminal case!"
Molly tilted her head, "That makes a difference?"
"YES! In a criminal case the persecution needs to provide proof beyond any reasonable doubt. In a civil case you weight which party has
presented the most convincing evidence." 'And I wouldn't admit for the world, but the physical evidence was stacking in the persecution's
favor.'
Molly's ears tilted, "Oh. I see." I could guess she thought that Leona was going to win default if it came to a stalemate.
"I've also been checking pictures of people on the persecution's team and employees of some of the companies having verbally given support to
the grass roots group behind the persecution given if they hadn't given direct funding to it. And of course the grass roots movement itself."
"And?"
"And nothing. None of their faces matched our mystery man at all."
"Whoever he was. He sure seemed determined to make sure we didn't find out who he was . . . "
"I'm starting to think that we're only so fixated on finding out who he was BECAUSE it's a mystery . . . " I sighed, "And it doesn't change a damn
thing about how this civil suit is going to go."