Chapter 98 My lawyer the loan shark

Two days later, Luke was sitting in a courtroom in Mega City North America West Coast in a suit made of memory fabric. Luke believed that the city had once been called Los Angeles and that the court was even housed in an old courthouse. At least that's what the plaque at the entrance said. To him, it was a courthouse, nothing more. 

Luke had played around a little with the suit at the command desk, and after what felt like an eternity, he had managed to program the fabric to his liking. In addition to the outfit Bill had given him, he had programmed in a T-shirt cargo pants version, just swimming trunks, T-shirt and jogging pants and a plain suit from the catalog.

He was early and still alone in the plainly furnished room. It zapped next to him. Teheen appeared out of nowhere in her incognito clothes. She looked around in confusion.

"Where are you hanging out?" she asked.

Luke grinned.

" I have a court date about my ex and you?" 

She raised an eyebrow.

" Do you realize she's not getting anything?" 

" Sure. Got a good lawyer. " 

" Hhmm hhmm " She sat down next to him. 

" Then why are you here and not on the throne kicking ass? Thought you had a busy schedule." 

She averted her eyes.

"Gotta get a present, skipped mass." 

He grinned. 

"So instead of listening to the crystal heads, you were with me and you ..." 

" Eating pizza and lassange, already wanted to get me something ... "

Luke grinned wider.

" I'll lead you after this to a paradise with junk, which you can hand out. "

"Hmph," was the only reply. 

Slowly the courtroom filled up, court staff first. Teheen was engrossed in a game, luckily for Luke in silent mode. 

Kia came in, she had dressed up and had four lawyers with her, who followed her like dogs and sat with her. Luke looked at his watch.

He was worried because his lawyer wasn't there and sighed.

The judge came in and looked at Kia skeptically at first.

"You've been here before," she said. She looked at Luke.

"Your lawyer?" She pointed at Teheen. 

" He said he was on time.... "

The door opened and a tall man in a classy suit, whose face looked more like that of a bearded British nobleman, entered. Luke rubbed his nose.

His loan shark and that he tended not to keep his true form.

"I'm sorry, honored judge, the traffic is an ordeal from the airport."

She looked at him as he came closer.

"You are?"

"Sir Lionell Wellington, my client," he pointed at Luke. " Mr. Akim. "

She looked at him silently. Kia looked at him with amusement.

"Good, I can't give you any preparation time."

"Thank you very much, and I don't need it. I prepared myself on the outward flight."

"Good, then have a seat."

"Thank you very much." 

He sat down next to Luke and leaned towards him.

"Didn't you say you'd send someone over?" 

He looked at him.

"Oh, I wanted to have some fun."

Luke grabbed his face.

Teheen looked up, paling when she saw her lawyer. 

The judge, banged her gavel.

"Let's start with what I see here, what's this about?"

"Marital payments, ma'am" came from a lawyer.

"Objection" came directly from Wellington. 

The judge looked at him with irritation.

" Ma'am, this hearing is a waste of time and a pharse. My client has signed a contract with the plaintiff."

" You can't call that a contract! " 

Wellington stood up.

" It's a standard contract under the North Block rules."

"It's out of date because ..." 

Wellington smiled.

" So is the new one your client signed as well."

The judge tapped his gavel.

"Quiet!"

She looked at Wellington.

" Don't interrupt me. "

Wellington looked at her.

"I apologize, I was just told by a fellow lawyer that you have a busy schedule and from my perspective. Can we go through this quickly so they can at least have a break?"

She looked at him angrily.

"Give me an argument why I should do this. "

"Of course." 

Wellington stepped forward and looked at Luke, who had no idea what was about to come.

"In short, the accuser is one."

Luke suspected evil.

"Forgive my language. A money-grubbing bitch who, over 35 years of marriage, has constantly helped herself to my client's capital, destroyed his property, and the proceeds that the plaintiff made from the lawsuit at the time, and I should point out that the files say that the money was not supposed to go to her but to my client. She kept it for herself."

"Hmm," came from the judge. 

Wellington paced back and forth.

"The files here say that the defendant lived separately from her for 15 years?"

"That's correct, he and the accuser had one of the many marital disputes and the accuser will object to my client's frequent absences. But this was due to his occupation and was known to her. "

"The defendant was never there! " came from the lawyer. 

Wellington ignored him.

"Then can you explain to me why your client wasn't present on the day of the trial?"

"Of course. My client was working for the corporation at the time of the trial. Through his military career and his work for the corporation's defense. They should know that, since my client has been publicized so much in the media."

She looked at him, then at Luke.

"Right, and then the documentation. "

"That's right, my client has sacrificed his reputation outside the corporation for the corporation. So much so that a normal life wasn't possible. He also had to do undercover missions or other things that fall into the gray area and don't want to be named according to the rules of the North Block. "

"Okay, then how do you explain the 15 years? "

Wellington nodded. Luke looked at Kia, who was sitting there annoyed.

"Your Honor, 15 years ago, a marital dispute was the catalyst for my client to give up his public role in the corporation and only act as a fighter for the corporation. From corporate warfare to the AI revolution, bioterrorists, animal mutant smugglers, he did his duty to the corporation, even as a prosecutor in her own stakes, which are documented to be very low. My client rushed in and saved her unit and the prosecutor. Did she thank him? No! Still not ready to end the argument".

Wellington paced slowly. Luke watched him, had goose bumps from how he knew.

"My client called her once a month, she didn't pick up or pick up later said nothing and it was 7 years the phone data was stored in the system. Then my client gave up. "

Wellington paced back and forth, Luke rubbed his nose. The shark thought it was all far too funny. Teheen came closer.

"Why is he here?" came quietly.

"He wants to have fun..." came back emotionally at the same volume.

Teheen looked at him worriedly.

"Can you prove what he claims..." the lawyer began. 

Wellington looked at him.

"Of course you can. If you'll allow me a moment?" he looked at the judge, who nodded. Wellington pulled a cell phone out of his jacket, clicked it on, on a television the Justice Department logo disappeared and shaky images appeared, hell on earth, hydras huddled together and periodically shooting back.

"This is from that day," Wellington walked over to the TV. It kept playing, you could see Kia just yelling, shooting sporadically and then being torn to the ground by bullets.

"And where?"

Wellington raised a finger.

There was an impact on the TV, the roar and hush of battle, the image panned to the impact site, which looked like a slaughterhouse, and an armored figure approached, slaughtering. Wellington stopped the recording.

"It is known to the authorities that this is my client, as he directed his combat activity to headquarters after here. 12 Other such jumps were made during the corporation war. Not to mention entire rehashes in comics, and video games. He visited the accuser in the hospital. So I wonder why the accuser didn't return his calls?"

He raised his hand.

"Don't say it little comparison. "

He clicked something. Luke was seen in riot gear as an operator jumping out of a Jethubschraber, next to it appeared the image of Kia, laughing in a club.

"Time in the 15 years."

He clicked on. What had changed about Luke was the equipment and the fatigue on his face. At one point, he wore only the armored suit. With Kia, it looked more like VIP, luxury hotels, etc. etc.

"Let's compare the account movements!"

"Objection!" came from a lawyer.

Wellington looked at the judge.

The judge looked at the pictures, then at Wellington.

"Since this is all a closed hearing, it says here of charges. That your client was active off Earth?"

"Of course, he was operating in the interests of the corporation with their business partners. The profits went to the corporation."

Wellington called up the contract.

"As you can see here, a normal contract. My client has none of it."

"He's swimming in money!" came from another lawyer.

"Silence!" came from the judge.

Wellington looked at her after looking at the lawyer.

" Can you explain that to me? "

Wellington cleared his throat.

"Of course it's true that my client made money externally, but there are other reasons. The business partner didn't pick up my client directly after the assignments. So he was forced to look for work locally to make ends meet. "

"And what about the legal system there?"

Wellington smiled.

" The legal system there is very strict, my client had to apply for an identity card and pay fees and then pay the normal taxes there. "

"Explain that to me."

" Well, it's simple. If my client was working for the partner, then under the legal system he is working for the partner. ID Temporarily assigned to the partner. But if he stays in one place for a longer period of time, then the system there wants to know who he is, does he pay taxes, etc., just like we do here. 

My client was forced to apply for an ID there, the fee is the equivalent of 3.6 M points. Access to the earth account now. As we are new to the partner as it is, it was not assumed that someone from here was traveling externally and the information was not passed on. "

Wellington turned around.

"If your client made money there, what about taxation with us? "

Wellington looked at her.

"Here? It's not taxed here."

The judge wanted to say something. Wellington raised his fingers.

"Don't get me wrong. My client has paid his taxes here for 15 years, paid taxes on purchases, etc. It's just that the power of attorney is only valid on this planet."

"Because?" she asked.

Wellington smiled.

"We are only on Earth, Your Honor, while the Galactic Empire rules over many. So does the Trade Alliance, but since the Galactic Empire is stronger in terms of power, it sets the rules. That means they want taxes from their citizens and visitors."

She looked at him. 

"How exactly does the system there calculate that now?"

"The Ruling Empire respects planetary taxes, my client has paid taxes to the Ruling Empire because he has earned money in their sphere of influence. The expenditures my client has made here were made from what he owns here. You allow?"

She continued to look at him.

"If the system is so dominant, why not here?"

Wellington clicked on his cell phone.

"It's still coming."

"What do you mean, it's still coming?" 

Wellington looked up from his cell phone.

"Well, what I mean is. The complete connection to the galactic system is coming and cannot be stopped. And for several reasons. "

"And what are they?" 

" We are trading, my client has a certain popularity, and not only here. Then apart from the fact that my client reactivated the marker on behalf of the galactic empire and the planet is in the system there. "

The judge looked at Luke.

"Shouldn't they have cleared it with the Council?" 

Luke rubbed his nose, how the hell did he know about this.

Wellington butted in and raised a finger.

"The Council didn't even know there was such a thing, and don't you forget it. This one still has the minimal interaction with alien politics going on."

The judge looked at Wellington for a long moment.

" Proceed with your lineup." 

He called up the account summary.

"As you can see here, these are my client's account transactions over the last 15 years. I've taken the liberty of checking the boxes that my client and the authorities have ticked."

Luke looked at the overview. When he had left back then, he really had had almost three mil. He saw his birthday presents to his family, rent insurance."

The judge looked at the overview.

"Why so little from him?"

"He was in the field, living off the group's rations, then when he was active outside he had to leave without knowing because of the account with the currency on site and my client is a workaholic."

He went to the television.

"As you can see, large sums are very often withdrawn, that was the charge."

"You can't prove that!" came from the lawyer.

Wellington clicked on the cell phone, the first withdrawal was highlighted, a picture of Kia appeared as she was in a spa. He kept going, each time showing a picture of her and a receipt.

"Objection, where did the receipts come from?" the star lawyer interjected.

Wellington looked at him. He clicked on a button and the summary view of the applications appeared.

"I asked the companies, organizers, stores for a receipt and they were very responsive."

The judge looked at the requests and then at Wellington.

"You know this takes a lot of time?"

" Sure, but finances are my specialty, as well as collecting debts, identifying debtors and tracing money laundering. " 

Luke sighed, Teheen stared pale at the shark. 

"Let's move on to day X. My client came to this birthday at the request of his family. My client didn't know until then that the accuser was very generous with his account. Even though she has one of her own. "

The judge was still looking at the overview.

" Do they also have anything to do with the marriage contract?"

" Of course."

He called up two documents showing the prenuptial agreement. He tapped on the field with the contract.

" As you can see, they both signed here, so."

Two more documents appeared, also signed. 

"These are the declarations of consent that both have acknowledged and read the contract. The originals are in the archive and in the Group archive. Then there are the updated ones that were introduced by the Council 20 years ago."

He showed her photos of the documents. 

She looked at them, then at her documents.

"Right, they've both signed and the clerk has confirmed that they've both been questioned about it again. Now what about day X and the divorce."

Wellington clicked on his phone and the TV showed the Ministry logo again.

"Well, as you've all heard, there was a hacker attack on several corporations that day. My client was a victim like many others, where his life and career were destroyed. Not only was he fired from his job as a result of the attack, everything was taken from him. Property, assets, ID, marriage. 

He was deported from the corporate area to the neutral zone." 

He raised his fingers.

"What did the prosecution do after the hacking? When the system said the marriage was dissolved? And by saying there was a correction window where they both just had to show up at the Ministry to correct. "

The judge nodded.

"That's correct, a lot of couples showed up the next day. So tell me now where you want to go."

"Madam, I would like to put it this way. My client was only charged with ..."

He opened the screen showed the account balance on day X from 39k to 400 points.

"400 points shifted to the neutral area, from the initial assets it is down from 39k". 

He clicked further to show that the 400 points were deducted with the reason for the phone call. 2 min later money was deducted" 

Wellington taps on the TV.

" The prosecutor instead of calling my client or finding out what's going on. "

Picture of Kia at the overpriced mall and receipts.

"She was shopping. No one can tell me that's the behavior of someone trying to save a marriage or ask what's going on. No!"

Luke wondered where he'd gotten all the pictures. 

The judge looked at the picture. 

"Then what does your client want? The money back? "

Wellington smiled.

"Well, firstly, that the prosecution can forget about him having to pay her a settlement because of what he earned away from home. That's pulled out of thin air, once from the prenup and from her employment contract. So if you look at it that way, she's taken more than enough money from him and if you look at the prosecution's bank account, it's very hard to say she's impoverished."

"Really? "

Wellington nodded. 

 "Seven and a half million, ma'am."

The judge raised an eyebrow.

"Can you prove that?"

Wellington smiled.

" Of course." 

He pressed the cell phone and Kia's account appeared blacked out from the name field and the sum.

" I took the liberty of blacking it out a little for the dramatic moment." 

" Objection, you can't just do that!" a lawyer began. Wellington looked at him.

" I can show it unredacted, very interesting content, but! Not important to my case. "

"How did you get access to my bank account?" barked Kia. 

"The authorization is in the employment contract."

"Objection!" came from the star lawyer, whose name Luke had never memorized.

"Where does it say that in the employment contract?"