Just a few weeks after his capture, Henry Wu was hauled before the international court. To bring him there, the ard forces had to organize a real ard convoy: the discovery that he was responsible for everything had infuriated the population, which obviously wanted nothing more than soone to bla.
The news had gone around the world in minutes. Every detail, from the Mother Cell to the illegal Reiden experints, had been made public. In less than a day the shares of the Raiding Global had collapsed and the people had attacked all the factories of the multinational, destroying them. The police forces had not been able to stop the fury of the people.
As soon as the Reiden Global executives learned what had happened, they very cunningly took all their belongings, including their unlimited fortune, and fled in their private planes. In all likelihood they already had a new identity by now and despite research by the international community it was unlikely that they would be caught: the money they had brought with them was more than enough to bribe any investigator. Indeed, it was likely that many of them had already made arrangents with many governnts.
And since the Reiden executives were undetectable, people had turned their anger on the only person available: Henry Wu.
The scientist had been locked up in Cagerock prison, the safest in the world. From there it was impossible to escape, but it was not the escape of the doctor that the guards feared, but the assaults of people from outside. In order to keep the population at bay, an entire army had been mobilized to guard the prison.
Although obviously no one had formally stated this, everyone knew that Wu had been tortured in his cell. Governnts had turned a blind eye to the 'human rights' issue because they hoped the scientist would reveal how to stop the Mother Cell. Unfortunately, Wu hadn't spoken, despite the fact that the best torturers had been sent to do the job. In the end, the governnts had to give up: Wu had always said the truth, there was no cure for the Mother Cell.
However, Henry Wu could still be used for sothing. Since he had beco the scapegoat for the whole affair, the international community had decided to drag him to trial to vent people's anger.
Wu had expected it. When they ca to take him away he did not put up the slightest resistance and let the police take him to the international court, where he would et his fate. All the way he had smiled: he didn't care what they would do with him. He knew he had already won, because there was no way to stop what had set in motion.
The building was besieged by the crowd of demonstrators demanding the scientist's head. Many threw sothing at him as he entered. Wu didn't even look at them. He didn't care about them.
Once inside, he finally found himself in front of the NMWA, which had to decide his fate for him. "Gentlen, what a pleasure" Wu greeted there. "The last ti we t was... when? Oh, right, when I tried to warn you about global warming. I note with displeasure that you haven't listened to at all"
"Please, Dr. Wu, be serious. Sit down". Speaking was the person sitting in the center of the room, the High Judge of the NMWA, the highest figure in the judiciary in the world.
"Of course. And anyway I was serious" Wu answered sitting down. The guards beside him seed tempted to shoot him, or at least punch him.
The High Judge wasn't intimidated. "Henry Wu, you are responsible for illegal experints that have led to the creation of a high-risk threat to all of humanity. According to witnesses, you knew very well what you were doing, and the creation of the aforentioned threat was voluntary, which makes you responsible for treason against humanity and cris against the entire population of the planet. Can you tell us your reasons?"
Wu clicked his tongue. "I just wanted to save the planet and I succeeded"
"Your 'saving the planet' sentenced thousands of people to death"
"Why, instead, what did pollution and deforestation do? More than five million people die every year from fine dust alone, not to ntion those who die of hunger and thirst from environntal degradation, and I don't even ntion how many get sick and develop cancers from exhaust fus" Wu said in a harsh voice. "You greedy and ignorant people didn't want to listen to or any of my other colleagues when we warned you of the consequences your reckless behavior would bring. So I decided to take action. I created soone that you would no longer be able to ignore"
The people gathered to listen to him didn't seem to appreciate those words, but Wu ignored them. "This world was already in danger before I gave birth to the Mother Cell. The rich and powerful like you thought only of getting rich and keeping things as they were, hiding behind the na of progress what was nothing more than an infinite desire for possession. Humanity produces more food than it can consu, but due to the greed of individuals around the world, millions of people still suffer from hunger and live in extre poverty, even in the most civilized countries. Most of the evils of this world are not caused by nature or by chance, but by the stupidity of the people in power. Illnesses, hunger, accidents... a high percentage of what causes suffering are the result of acts of deliberate idiocy. You rich people have taken advantage of the fact that ordinary people are too weak to rebel to do as you please. You have filled the water with so much plastic that now so of its fragnts are so small that they enter the capillaries, you have exploited countless products full of carcinogenic substances, because of your economic policy the atmosphere is poisoned every day by factories that they produce items that no one needs, but that people buy because they are unable to resist the intense indoctrination of advertising. You have led millions of people to die from cigarette smoking, or from alcohol and drug addiction, or from depression due to the intense shifts they undergo in order to bring bread to their starving families. All to finance your politics and your idea of the economy, also damaging our freedom, turning us into pathetic slaves of capitalism. People all over the planet have been so brainwashed that they live empty and purposeless lives, foolishly believing that they are free, when in reality they are slaves to a system they cannot even see. When we are born our lives are already preditated, and all we have to do is work and consu to ensure that a tiny elite can get richer and richer"
Wu gritted his teeth and a growl ca out of his mouth. "For years, scientists around the world have warned humanity of the consequences of such nefarious behavior, and we are now on the verge of a point of no return. In a maximum of ten years the amount of pollutants in the atmosphere will be such as to irreversibly change the planet's climate, causing the extinction of more than 90% of all the life forms. I myself have been yelling at people for years to change... but the problem is that those who should change are the first to want everything to stay as it is. It is more convenient for the rich to have people stay good and continue to provide them with money, and because of this they minimize the problem and act as if it does not exist. And so, no one has ever listened to , just as no one has ever listened to everyone else before . But unlike them, I didn't bite the bullet and gave up, I chose to act. I have created sothing powerful enough to even stand up to the crap that is capitalism. A perfect organism, a real monster, capable of continually improving itself, intelligent enough to understand the problem and strong enough to be able to afford to destroy it. A creature capable of modifying the entire fauna of the planet, making it increasingly intelligent and strong, thus systematically eliminating the concept of dominant species in favor of a world where all species are equal. A world where there will be no place for capitalism, because in order for all the creatures of Eden to live healthy and in harmony, all the causes of pollution will be eradicated. That spinosaurus, that Sobek, will force all of you to get off your pedestals and create a new world where everyone, humans, dinosaurs, pterosaurs and so on, can live in peace"
The hostility of the people in the room was palpable, but no one dared to speak. Henry Wu seed to be enveloped in so sort of powerful aura, and just his gaze made anyone awe. The only one who didn't seem touched by his speech was the High Judge. "To get your peace, many people will die; are you aware of it?"
"Of course, but change always leads to deaths. There will surely be people who will oppose the change, who will be able to convince even more people to embrace their ideology, even if they don't even know why" Wu replied. "In the new world there will be no place for those who want to remain anchored to ancient customs. Those who embrace change will live and see the sun rise on a more just and equal society; those who oppose will only give the gravediggers more work. As I have said many tis, there is no way to stop this change, so those who will die in the future can only bla themselves for going against the inevitable"
"Lord Sobek accepted peace. Didn't he know?"
"Yes, but at what price? Try to face reality. Change in society is already underway, with no need for war. With this peace Sobek has cut you off from the other three continents, ergo now you have no more resources than the few stored in your warehouses. This will force you, willy-nilly, to replace your coal-fired power plants with geothermal ones, to demolish oil wells to build massive wind turbines. Even if he hasn't won you over, Sobek is already changing the world, even if few seem to notice. He is too intelligent for you to oppose him"
"Dr. Wu, why are you so convinced that Sobek will win?"
"Because we have now passed the point of no return. By now he has beco too smart for you to develop a weapon against which he cannot fight back, and his army is too large to defeat him. If you wanted to stop him, you had to kill him when you had the opportunity. Now it is no longer possible. You can also try if you want, but you will only go through further suffering. There is no way to stop a creature that continually adapts to adversity. He is already Spinosaurus perfectus... and soon he will also be Spinosaurus divinus"
The judge glared at him, waiting for him to continue. But Henry Wu seed to have nothing more to say.
Those were the only words Henry Wu spoke during the trial. Although the hearing went on for two whole weeks, the doctor said nothing else. He had no reason to do it after all: he had expressed his reasons for him very clearly, it was useless to repeat himself.
He was the only one who didn't worry about anything. The process was long and tiring for everyone; the lawyers fought fiercely and the jury was exhausted amid argunts and squabbles. The sentence was postponed three tis, but the verdict was eventually reached.
Henry Wu knew there was nothing that could save him. What he had done had been illegal, amoral and devoid of all sense, and he was in full possession of his ntal faculties. Plus, people all over the world desperately wanted soone to bla, and he was the perfect scapegoat. So he wasn't even a little surprised when the final verdict was one of absolute guilt.
Since that was an international court, there was no one-size-fits-all law to convict Henry Wu; therefore judges were summoned from all nations and proceeded by voting. Many democracies on Eden had abolished the death penalty for decades, but many more nations still practiced it; therefore, the final vote finally sentenced Henry Wu to the death penalty. The sentence was carried out four days later by lethal injection.
Before the sentence was carried out, Wu didn't say a single word. According to witnesses, he never stopped smiling. When they gave him the lethal injection, he just smiled one last ti and said: "It's not important. In any case, I won"
And finally, after so much effort, Henry Wu died.
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