John Wright - The Golden Age

Phaethon said, "So, during that hour, the Helion who stayed behind on the station did something which the Helion here on Earth now cannot understand or appreciate?"

"That is the claim you have put before this Court. You claim that, during that hour of emergency, Helion underwent a major epiphany or permanent change in personality. You have claimed that he is not the same man."

"But how would I, in any case, claim to own Helion's property and estate?"

"There are even older laws, laws dated from the time when death was a commonplace occurrence. Under these laws, if a man dies without a properly executed last will and testament, his estate passes to his heirs. Helion Prime held the copyright on your gene sequence, and major sections of your personality and mind were constructed out of templates of his personality. The ancient law would regard you as his son, and therefore as his heir. Those laws have never been revoked; they still have force and effect."

Only at this point did Phaethon begin to realize the amount of wealth and property at stake. Helion owned the Solar Array. It was perhaps the single greatest engineering effort ever undertaken. Every person who benefited from the extension of the useful lifespan of the sun, or whose electronic or electromagnetic properties were saved from sunspot or solar flare damage, would owe Helion a debt of gratitude. And that included everyone in the entire Golden Oecumene. If everyone

saved a few seconds or minutes of time-currency from their insurance premiums because of Helion's actions, that money saved was owed to him. Spread over the billions who lived in the solar system, those few seconds per person equaled not just years but decades of computer time.

It would be perhaps more wealth than anyone (except Orpheus Myriad Avernus) had ever controlled.

Phaethon said, "I will submit to the examination."

"It is done. We hold the mental records open on our private channel for inspection by the Court. Do the counselors have any closing arguments to make before we rule on the legal sufficiency of Phaethon's identity?"

"Certainly!" said Gannis with some relish. "We notice the wide difference in behavior between Phaethon before and after the Lakshmi memory redactions. The way he lives and acts now is nothing like the way he lived and acted before. He goes to frivolous parties; he pursues no dangerous or socially unacceptable hobbies. Your Lordships! Observe how much time the old Phaethon spent on his one obsession! Years and centuries! He is different now. He is hardly the same person. Because (and here is the telling point) Your Lordships, the society of the Golden Oecumene would not accept him if they thought him the same as he was. He does not consider himself to be the same person."

Phaethon said: "I am the same person."

"Oh?" said Gannis. "And how do you know?"

Phaethon could think of no answer.

The central cube said: "Phaethon is not on cross-examination. You are making closing arguments. Address your remarks to the bench."

Gannis said, "Your Lordships, we are eager to hear Phaethon answer to an important question which may be dispositive of this case. Does he consider himself to be the same person who created such furor and terror throughout the Golden Oecumene? If he is that person, is he willing to face the penalties for his actions? Those penalties include that he be expelled and ostracized. Your Lordships! I submit that as a matter of public policy the wealth of Helion should not go

to serve Phaethon's mad schemes; that the wealth would be wasted; that Phaethon—if he is the real prime Phaethon— will come to a messy and lonely death. And if he is not the prime Phaethon, the money is not his. I ask Your Lordships to require Phaethon's testimony on this matter! Surely his opinion is crucial; surely he cannot be considered the prime Phaethon if he does not think he is!" Phaethon turned to Gannis: "This is ridiculous. I am who

I am."

Gannis said: "I beg the Court's indulgence. May I have a word aside with Phaethon? We may be able to negotiate a settlement."

The Curia signaled its assent. The impalpable sense of pressure and tension issuing from the cubes vanished, as if they slept, or turned their minds to distant things.

Gannis stepped closer to Phaethon and spoke in a soft voice: "It is ridiculous indeed! You are all set to use the law to steal Helion's money. You know Helion is still Helion; one hour of lost memory does not make such a difference. Come now! Put the past behind you; forget this foolish lawsuit you have begun! You don't even recall why you started it. And even if the Curia sustains your claim, public opinion will condemn you. Now is your last chance for a normal and happy life. Think! Do you really think Helion is dead? Do you really think your friends and family will not hate you if you proceed with this farce?! Now is your last chance to back out with grace."

Gannis stepped closer, put his hand on Phaethon's shoulder: "Come! Though you do not now recall it, we were friends and partners once. I built that armor you are wearing. I do not seek your ill; I oppose you for your own good. Yes, your good! You have forgotten where your own best interests lie. This Court may or may not rule in your favor. If it rules against you, then you are Phaethon Relic, and your life continues in its present happy state. If it rules for you, then, in the eyes of the law, you are the same man who created such havoc in our paradise; this may trigger our rights, under the Lakshmi agreement, to exile and ostracize you. Is that what

you really want? Think carefully, Phaethon. Because, if you think, you will realize that you do not truly know what you really want, eh?"

Was Gannis correct? Phaethon truly did not know and did not remember why he was doing any of this.

But Phaethon recalled how the Earthmind herself asked him to be true to himself. Perhaps he did not know what she meant. But if he—his past and forgotten self—had started this law case, it was not Phaethon's place to end it. If only Rhadamanthus were here to advise him!

Phaethon turned toward the Court. "Your Lordships!"

A sense of austere awareness, like a subtle pressure in the air, radiated from the cubes. "Speak."

"I demand my lawyer be present."

"Rhadamanthus cannot represent you in this matter."

"My lawyer is Monomarchos of the Westmind Law-division."

"Ah, yes. Wait a moment while we open more channels and make arrangements: Monomarchos has a very high intellectual capacity, and we must reconfigure to permit that much active thought-space to enter this area."

Part of the wall behind Phaethon shimmered with heat. Na-nomachines were constructing something with blinding speed. A silver cube, less than a yard across, slid out from the wall, glowing white hot. Phaethon's armor protected him; Gannis had to step backward, his elbow up before his face.

A new voice spoke: "I am here."

THE VERDICT

The white-hot cube spoke: "Phaethon, you may be unaware that you have already spent all ten thousand hours of computer time which you paid into my account. The accumulated interest on the time account has produced another forty-five seconds of thought time, which I am obligated to devote to your affairs; thereafter I shall be a free agent, and will take no further contracts from you. I have already deduced a method of allowing you to prevail, but I will use a different method, and achieve a different result, depending on whether you wish merely to prevail on this case, or to achieve those goals which the older version of you, the version whom you forget, the version who actually made me, preferred. Choose. You have thirty seconds left."

Phaethon did not hesitate. "His goals. I want to achieve the dream they forced me to forget."

"Gannis! My client is prepared to allow this matter to be postponed for the space of ninety days, but only on two conditions. First, you personally must agree that the debts my client owes your metallurgical effort are forgiven; you are no longer one of his creditors. Second, you must stipulate that your client presently is the relic and not the second of Helion, and does not presently share continuity of memory with the Helion who died at the Solar Array. In return we shall stip-