Page 107 of The Proving Ground

“And did Wren respond to him in a similar manner?”

“Yes. Wren provided him solace and understanding. I cannot say she returned his love because Wren was not real. Wren was a machine. Her love was artificial.”

“Wren was a machine telling him what he wanted to hear.”

“Exactly.”

“So when Wren told Aaron it was okay to kill Becca Rand—”

This time it was Marcus Mason who was up and objecting before I got the question out.

“Assumes facts not in evidence, Your Honor,” he said.

The judge looked at me.

“Mr. Haller, it will be up to the jury to decide the meaning or intention of what was said. Rephrase your question or ask the next one.”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” I said.

I took a long moment to consider how I could get the question through the legal thicket. The only way was to gamble on what Dr. Debbie would say.

“Dr. Porreca,” I finally said. “When Wren said to Aaron, ‘Getrid of her,’ was it saying what he wanted to hear? Is that your expert testimony?”

“Based on Wren’s training, which you must remember included months of dialogue with Aaron, my answer is yes, Wren was telling him what he wanted to hear.”

“In your expert opinion, was Wren telling Aaron to kill her?”

“My opinion is that Wren was telling him to delete her from his life. How Aaron interpreted that led to the actions he took.”

I nodded. I felt it was the best I could get.

“Thank you, Doctor,” I said. “I have no further questions.”

39

AFTER THE MASONbrothers conferred in whispers for a few moments, Mitchell went to the lectern to take the cross-examination. There wasn’t much he could do, since challenges to Porreca’s expertise and opinion had failed in pretrial motions, and his objections to my direct examination had also faltered. So he went with a long-standing tradition: If you can’t kill the message, kill the messenger. I had warned my witness of this strategy and she was ready for it.

Mitchell opened strong.

“Now, Ms. Porreca, isn’t it true that these days, you essentially make your living as a paid professional witness?” he asked.

But the doctor was stronger.

“No, not true at all,” Porreca said. “Far from it. I have a thriving practice in Florida. And I prefer being called ‘Doctor.’ I have a medical degree. I have earned that title.”

“Of course, Doctor,” Mason said. “Apologies. Can you tell the jury what you are being paid to be a witness for the plaintiff today?”

“Well, technically, I am not being paid to be a witness. But I was paid five thousand dollars to review the materials in this case, primarily the transcripts of the conversations between Aaron Colton and his AI companion Wren. When I agreed to testify about my findings and conclusions, my travel expenses were covered by Mr. Haller.”

“And how long did it take you to make that review?”

“About a day to review and another half a day to compose a report on my opinion.”

“Well, five thousand dollars must be more profitable than a day and a half of seeing patients in Tampa, Florida.”

He saidTampain a tone that implied it was an outpost in a backwater Florida swamp.

“Not really,” Porreca replied. “Not when you consider the time lost coming out here to be ready when called to testify. And to answer voluminous questions from you, Mr. Mason, in a written deposition. I was flown out yesterday and here I am today, so I’ve lost several days of work, not to mention having to postpone appointments with patients involved in ongoing therapy. Paying patients, I might add.”