CH 209

An in-court review was a procedure in the alliance law courts, often used when the trustworthiness of the prosecution was called into question. Usually, the disputed evidence would be taken through the tests on the spot so the judge and jury could witness the result with their own eyes, dispelling all doubts.

Generally, the prosecution would actually be delighted to go through the process. After all, if they could turn the evidence bulletproof, then whyever not? 

It would not get this far in the majority of cases, though.

But with the countless eyes across the alliance watching this court case at this very moment, it was wise to be circumspect.

“We had previously submitted the body fluid sample acquired from the victim’s clothes, and Defendant Lee should also have done a medical examination before the trial. We can just compare them in court.”

The judge considered it briefly before granting it with a nod. 

With that, the genetic equipment gifted by Spring Ivy Group to the Supreme Court of De Carma came into play three minutes later.

The machine was booted up by the bailiff, and the controls were connected to the prosecution and defence tables.

In full sight of everyone, Investigator Hunter took the body fluid sample submitted in advance from the courthouse evidence storage and inserted it into the machine. He also took Horace Lee’s sample from the pre-trial medical examination and inserted it into the analyser.

This machine was truly a marvel of present-day technology. A one-to-one comparison like this was a piece of cake for it; the progress bar moved swiftly.

All it took was a blink and the match result was displayed on the holographic screen.

The body fluid sample data was on the left and Horace Lee’s data was on the right.

The first two rows comprised some other data, such as the blood cell count. Differences in these rows were normal; after all, there would be slight discrepancy in the data when the same person was measured across a length of time.

The following lines pertained to drug interactions. 

In the body fluids submitted by the prosecution, there were few residual drugs; only two—trace amounts of BHd3 and small amounts of JT14.

Whereas in Horace Lee’s report, there were many residual drugs as he had come straight from the hospital, where he had been administered a lot of medication. JT14 was named in the two rows but not BHd3.

Xe Tjc rkfqa j uijcmf bnfg atfrf, yea cb bcf firf vlv, obg atfrf kfgf eclwqbgajca.

Snfgsbcf’r jaafcalbc ugjnlajafv ab atf ijra ilcf, ktlmt rtbkfv atf ufcfalm mbwqjglrbc vjaj. 

Ktf oluegfr bc ybat rlvfr kfgf wjgxfv bea lc gfv, jcv atf gfreia kjr vlrqijsfv klat akb ijguf kbgvr:

Exact match.

Vfflcu atlr gfreia, atf lcnfralujabg gjlrfv tlr mtlc, rkffqlcu tlr jgwr bqfc. “Ktf gfreiar jgf bea. Qtja lr atfgf ab yf rerqlmlber jybea? Rbatlcu.”

Lawyer Gaunt was also glowing. 

He was just about to get up and conclude when he saw Gu Yan avert his gaze from the holographic screen, saying to the witness stand. “The result shows that it’s an exact match.”

Investigator Hunter, “Yeah, an exact match! This means that the genetic data on both sides all match, without a single discrepancy. It’s a 100% confirmation that the body fluid sample is Horace Lee’s, no problems whatsoever.”

But Gu Yan said, “You’re wrong. It’s because it’s a precise match that there’s a problem.”

Hunter was unable to keep up. “How is that problematic?” 

“This body fluid sample that you submitted was taken from the clothes of the victim, Avery Brown.”

Hunter’s brows furrowed. “Yes, wasn’t that already mentioned?”

“Avery Brown was found at Crime Scene 3, an abandoned warehouse on the eastern outskirts of the Wood Antelope District of Planet Redstone. The abuse at this crime scene occurred on September 26, specifically presumed to be between 8 and 9 p.m. A few minutes ago you stressed that there were no signs of a second trespass on the crime scene in the evidence, so this body fluid should have been deposited on the clothing on the day of the crime, am I correct?” said Gu Yan.

Hunter nodded. “Yes, that’s correct.” 

“As you know, my client, Horace Lee, had been hospitalised in Spring Ivy Hospital HQ prior to the trial due to the RK13 virus, an infection that originated from an unauthorised genetic modification surgery. After the incubation period ends, all positive cases would start to have varying degrees of genetic damage.”

“On December 15, my client tested positive for the virus on a space shuttle and was admitted to Spring Ivy Hospital HQ. According to the examination report issued by the hospital, the RK13 virus in Horace Lee’s body was in the latent phase from September to November, and September 26, when the abuse occurred, is clearly within that period. So, that begs the question—”

Gu Yan looked at Hunter and said in a deep voice, “How is it possible that the unaffected genetic data during the latent phase show a 100% match to the genetic data taken after symptom onset?”

Hunter, “……………………………………” 

The courtroom was blanketed by silence once more.

The investigator on the witness stand was startled. He stared blankly at the holographic screen for a long while, then turned an almost pleading look to Prosecutor Gaunt.

Gaunt looked even more lost than him.

Fortunately, lawyers were more adaptable to developments in the courtroom. Gaunt forcibly composed himself and said to Gu Yan, “You admitted yourself that patients show varying degrees of genetic damage after symptom onset. What exactly is the range of damage? Is it possible to approach zero damage, with genetic data unaffected?” 

Gaunt thought that these questions cut deep enough to require Gu Yan to explain further.

Little did he expect that the other lawyer would stay calm on his feet, as though he had anticipated these questions, also as though the chaos of the courtroom could never impact him.

Merely to hear Gu Yan say, “There’s no separate action necessary to verify the effect on the data you mentioned; the genetic machine has a retracing function. As you have already inputted Horace Lee’s genetic data into the machine, we only have to enable the function to retrieve the genetic data from days, months, even years ago.”

With that, he reached out to press a key. 

Ding. The holographic screen refreshed. At the bottom right corner, the timestamp rapidly ticked back by the day.

The genetic data representing Horace Lee and the generated portrait of his facial features remained unchanged for some time.

It wasn’t until the date flipped back to November that one of the lines of genetic data suddenly jumped.

In actuality, it was just a numerical change. It might have seemed small, but on this otherwise static page, this difference was exceptionally glaring. 

The time continued to fly backwards, swiftly reaching September, and the genetic data jumped at several points in quick succession.

Anyone with eyes could tell which was true and which was false.

When the genetic data went from the latent to the active phase, it was impossible for the genetic data to remain completely unchanged.

“There you have the answer.” Gu Yan looked at Gaunt. “I have reason to believe that your evidence has been tampered with. Someone faked this evidence with Horace Lee’s body fluids, but neglected to account for the time. I will not make wild guesses as to what the other party’s motive was, but I can offer a clue.” 

With an electronic pen in hand, he stopped on the residual drug column of the body fluid sample and circled the trace BHd3 drug. “If I’m not mistaken, there is only one thing that contains BHd3—the initial serum alleged to be the most effective medicine for the infection, and the research institution is under… the Manson Group.”

His tone was even, perfused with icy composure.

As if calculated, at the very moment that he finished speaking, time rewound on the huge holographic screen standing behind him as a backdrop. The retracing process was not paused and continued to run over several years. Large swaths of genetic data began to mutate, and Horace Lee’s features began to elongate and distort.

Inside and outside the courtroom, billions of people in the alliance watched as Horace Lee’s genetic retracing results filled page after page: 

On August 4, 1256, the 13th genetic modification surgery; the portrait was of Horace Lee.

On December 26, 1255, the 12th genetic modification surgery; the portrait was of Marcus Budd.

On July 18, 1250, the 11th genetic modification surgery; Connor Li.

On March 6, 1248, the 10th genetic modification surgery; Bill Lu. 

In 1237, the 9th genetic modification surgery; Anderson Wu.

…

In 1227, the first genetic modification surgery; Dwayne.