Fanfiction
Epilogue to “The Man in the High Castle”
"Nothing
is forgotten," said he; and then:
"Nothing I have forgotten is worth
the remembering."
The trial
The vastness of the courtroom made Frank Fink uneasy.
As a matter of fact, in his mind a room entailed walls and ceilings and most importantly
a floor, none of which were present in the space he found himself in. For some
reason it was still perfectly clear to him that he was in a courtroom though. The faces occupying the field of his vision
were unknown to him, but he was fully aware of their functions in the course of
unfolding events. He realized with increasing shock, that he even knew their names
despite their unfamiliarity: the presiding judge was Deus, on his right sat
Christopher Vogler and Joseph Campbell; the scribes were the Herrs Carl Jung
and Wolfgang Pauli and the prosecutor Monsieur Louis Cypher. He somehow knew
also that the defendant was Philip Kindred Dick. He turned around and noticed
that the crowd of the audience contained Captain Wegener, General Tedeki, Mr
Tagomi and to his deepest alarm, Mr Robert Childan.
He also caught a glimpse of Benito Mussolini, General
Eisenhower, Dr Joseph Goebbels, Emperor Constantinus, Hernando Cortez, The Red Baron,
General Douglas McArthur and Admiral Yamamoto scattered in the sea of unfamiliar
faces. The jury consisted of Simon Peter and his brother Andrew; James and John
Zebedee; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James de
Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot. He realised then, that if he looked at anyone,
he knew their names. He tried to adjust the neck of his shirt to feel more
comfortable, but he had to realize that his hands could not feel or touch
anything. He was not sure anymore if he could feel the shirt on his body
either.
The voice of prosecutor Louis Cypher echoed inside his
head:
“Your Honour, the People accuse the defendant of
dangerously weakening the walls between reality domains 1559B888Q4545ZTQM and 1559B888WWDWRZTQQ
in the dimension “Cognition and Memory” by careless use of the Campbell-Vogler
protocol in one count, the inclusion of multiple protagonists causing confusion
in one count, and committing heresy by abandoning the recommended denouement in
one count, and perverting the flow of yin and yang by faking oracle readings,
all of these crimes committed in his book The
Man in the High Castle. The people ask for appropriate punishment, a
minimum of 1 million years in prison without parole and the repeated losing of
his spectacles at least 47 times daily.”
Judge Deus called the representative of the defence. The
leader of the defence team, Gautama started speaking:
“Your Honour, first of all the defence wishes to
express their deepest concern about the superficial method of inquiry of the
prosecution. The prosecution finds themselves in error by not studying the
versions of the book in reality domains 15511888Q4145ZTQF, 1559B888Q4VVVZTQM
and 1559B888Q4545ZTQZ, which clearly demonstrate the balanced handling of
synchronicity.”
The comforting baritone carried on:
“The Defence wishes to call the venerable Celestial
Dragon I Ching.”
A voice, - whose deepness was beyond Frank’s
imagination - replied. Frank tried to look at the face he was associating with
the voice, but he could not decide if he “saw” an old man or a dragon.
“I am at your service, Your Honour. Thank you for your
call, Enlightened One. How can I help?”
Gautama continued:
“Can you please tell the jury about your dealings with
the defendant?”
“Most certainly. I have allowed him to study the Tao by
letting him find me in the books of Dr Jung. He showed remarkable diligence in
obtaining my physical manifestation in the language he understands, honouring
me by choosing an illustrated hardcover copy and casting hexagrams whenever I
chose to make him doubt himself. An excellent disciple indeed.”
“In your expert opinion, did he pervert the flow of
events by picking and choosing hexagrams according to his predetermined
storyline?”
“My wisdom has not evolved from policing every single
coin tossed and yarrow stalk cast and I do not concern myself with the doings
of every single storyteller. If he cheated, that was also caused by the
unstoppable forces of synchronicity and possibly influenced by the awakening Fourth
Replicator. The walls between reality domains are unbreakable, even if they are
not completely impenetrable.”
“Thank you, Venerable One. We wish to ask the court to
allow our client to enter a plea.”
Judge Deus’ voice caused tremors along Frank’s spine:
“How do you plead, Mr Dick?”
“Not guilty, Your Honour” said Dick, causing Frank to
jump. Dick’s voice was that of Frank’s own.
“Does the prosecution wish to ask anything else from
the witness or the defendant?” said the judge.
“Yes, Your Honour. Does the venerable Celestial Dragon
intend to support the defendant in his decisions further? If so, what
precautions does he recommend for the rest of us?” said Louis Cypher.
The I Ching paused for a while before answering, but
then spoke before the restlessness could overtake the public:
“That choice is not mine to make. If he asks, I shall
answer, and every time I answer a different path shall be chosen. His
understandings of the readings will be his, and so will be yours, should you
choose to consult me, Counsellor. No other precaution than always paying for
your train ride is advisable.” Frank was quite sure, that he saw some fire in
the air around the dragon’s nostrils. Judge Deus turned to the Jury:
“The court wishes to ask the jury to withdraw and upon
consideration return with a verdict as soon as they can. The defendant shall
remain at large. This trial is adjourned until the second of this month.”
An invisible gavel knocked Frank out of consciousness.
The verdict
The
chairman of the jury, Simon Peter reminded Juliana of the concierge of the
hotel where she slit Jack’s throat. This made her rather uncomfortable. The judge’s
voice boomed over the crowd:
“Has
the jury reached a verdict?”
“Yes,
Your Honour.” - said Simon Peter. A scroll seemed to manifest in front of Deus.
He read the verdict out loud:
“On
the charge of careless use of the Campbell-Vogler protocol: not guilty, on the
inclusion of multiple protagonists causing confusion: guilty, committing heresy
by abandoning the recommended denouement: not guilty, and perverting the flow
of yin and yang by faking oracle readings: guilty as charged.” He carried on:
“Because
of the lesser gravity of the charges of which the defendant was found guilty, I
order the defendant to write a sequel where Juliana finds her way back to Frank
and the Internet gets invented. As secondary punishment I also order the
defendant to Hundred Years of Solitude on Cruso’s island, without manga books or
cable cars, in the company of Richard Dawkins. Court dismissed.”
Juliana’s heart filled with joy. She could feel
a Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit bubble gum appearing in her mouth.
