Page 74 of The Proving Ground

Marcus Mason stood and objected.

“Your Honor, the criminal case is still being litigated,” he said. “There can be no final determination until the prosecution of Aaron Colton is concluded.”

“I’m going to sustain that,” the judge said.

I could have argued the ruling but I knew Mason’s objection could not stop me from getting what I wanted from Clarke.

“Detective,” I said. “Why was it important for you to determine what exactly happened and why?”

“Well, the suspect was a juvenile,” Clarke said. “I knew from working juvenile cases in the past that the district attorney’s office was going to need all the physical and psychological evidence available in order to decide how to proceed with the case.”

From the lectern I looked down at Marcus Mason, waiting for him to object. He remained still and quiet.

“What was the key piece of evidence you recovered in your effort to understand what had happened and why?” I then asked.

“Without a doubt,” Clarke said, “it was—”

“Objection,” Mason said. “What Detective Clarke thinks was the key piece of evidence is irrelevant, Judge.”

“Overruled,” Ruhlin said. “You may answer, Detective Clarke.”

When a judge does not explain why an objection is overruled, it is usually because the objection is so specious as to be unworthy of further discussion.

“I considered Aaron Colton’s laptop computer to be very significant in terms of understanding what had happened,” Clarke said.

“What did you find on the laptop, Detective?” I asked.

“That Aaron Colton spent several hours a day on an app that contained an AI companion.”

“Just for the record, when you say ‘AI’in your testimony, you mean artificial intelligence, correct?”

“Yes, correct.”

“What was the name of the app he was spending so much time on?”

“The app was called Clair two-point-two. But he customized the AI companion and named it Wren. There’s an option that allows you to build your own avatar and name it.”

“And this was the avatar you saw on Aaron’s laptop screen when you broke into his room and arrested him?”

“Yes, it was.”

“When you say he spent several hours a day on this app, do you mean he was talking with Wren?”

“Yes, they conversed throughout the time he was online. We also learned that he and Wren had communicated by text on his cell phone.”

“A moment, Your Honor.”

I opened a folder I had taken to the lectern with me. It was thick with paper-clipped sections of printed pages. I took the first four andasked the judge if I could approach the witness with a document. Ruhlin approved and I gave one copy to the clerk to give to the judge, one copy to the Masons, and one copy to the detective. I returned to the lectern, holding the last copy.

“Detective, take a moment to review those three pages to see if you recognize the conversation that is transcribed,” I said.

Marcus Mason immediately stood and objected, holding the paper-clipped packet out to his side with two fingers as if he were holding a rat by its tail.

“Your Honor, what is the foundation for this?” he asked. “This was not in any discovery materials submitted by the plaintiffs.”

“Mr. Haller?” Ruhlin asked, one eyebrow raised above her glasses. “Was this included in plaintiffs’ discovery material?”

“No, Your Honor, it was not,” I said. “This is a transcript of the last conversation Aaron Colton had with Wren, his AI companion. And perhaps the greater question for the court is why it was not in the defendant’s discovery material, since the transcript came from their digital archives and the court was very clear in approving the discovery request from the plaintiffs for all materials related to Aaron Colton.”