A Video Gamer’s Trial
A Lesson in Responsibility and Empathy
Once upon a time, a young boy named Ezra lived next door to his friendly neighbor, Finley.
One night, when Ezra’s parents were away, he decided to spend the night at Finley’s house. Ezra had a big box in his hand, so he opened the door with his elbow and entered the house.
Finley closed the book he was reading and welcomed his young guest. “Oh, the video game!” Finley said, seeing the box in Ezra’s hand.
“Yes, will you play, big brother? It has a set of two players.”
“No, no. I have a law exam next week.”
“Law? What is law?”
“Have you seen courtroom scenes in movies, Ezra?” Finley asked.
“I think I have. I once sat with my dad while he watched an old movie called 12 Angry Men. I vaguely remember it having some scenes showing the courtroom. But I found it so boring, Big Brother! The whole movie was just people talking and talking. I think I fell asleep as soon as it started.”
Finley smiled.
“Never mind, Ezra. Do you remember seeing some people there in black coats?”
“Yes, I think I do.”
“Well, they are the people called lawyers; they become lawyers after passing the ‘law’ examination.”
Ezra looked puzzled and curious. He wondered about what lawyers in black coats do in courtrooms.
“But Big Brother, what exactly do lawyers do in court?” He asked, staring at the thick book on Finley’s knees.
Finley explained.
“Well, Ezra, lawyers play a vital role in the court. They are like legal warriors who fight for justice and protect the rights of their clients.”
“You mean like the warriors in my video games?” Ezra asked, looking eager.
“No, Ezra,” Finley said, unable to contain a laugh. “These court warriors don’t fight with swords or daggers like your video game warriors.”
“Then?”
“They fight with arguments. You see, Ezra, when a dispute or problem needs to be resolved, people go to court to present their cases. Lawyers are the ones who represent them in front of the judge and fight their case.”
“How many lawyers fight a case?” asked Ezra.
“They can be as many as a client can afford. But generally, there are two lawyers in a straightforward case.”
“Why two?” the boy asked.
"Because a case, also known as a lawsuit, typically involves two or more parties, They are the ones who are involved directly. One party is called the plaintiffs. Their lawyer sues or prosecutes in the civil case. The opposite party is called the defendant. Their lawyer fights their cases as defendants or those accused in criminal cases.”
“Oh!” Ezra seemed interested. “Are the parties allowed in the courtroom?”
“Yes, plaintiffs and defendants have the right to be present during a case.”
“So, both the lawyers speak on behalf of their clients?” Ezra asked, now looking interested.
“Yes, exactly!” Finley nodded. “Both lawyers first gather all the important information about their client’s case. Then they study the laws related to it. Finally, they present strong arguments in court to defend their client’s position. They use their knowledge, skills, and persuasive abilities to convince the judge that their client is right.”
Ezra was intrigued.
“But if both sides have lawyers fighting the case, who decides who is right?”
“Good question!” Finley explained. “That’s where the judge comes in, Ezra. The judge carefully listens to both sides. He is the one who examines all the evidence presented and listens to witnesses. He then considers the arguments made by the lawyers and examines the facts of the case and the applicable laws. Based on this, the judge makes a fair and impartial decision. And that is final. The case is either won or lost.”
Ezra nodded, absorbing the information. “So, lawyers help people seek justice and ensure everyone gets a fair chance, right?”
“Absolutely,” Finley affirmed. “Lawyers are like guardians of justice. They work hard to protect the rights of their clients and ensure that court proceedings are conducted fairly.”
“That means lawyers are important people,” Ezra said.
“The legal profession is noble and requires a deep understanding of the law. It also needs strong analytical skills and the ability to communicate effectively.”
Ezra smiled, feeling a sense of admiration for lawyers.
“I never realized how important their role is. They have a big responsibility!”
Finley patted Ezra’s shoulder. “Indeed, they do! It’s always good to have a fair and just system where lawyers play a central role. And who knows, maybe one day you’ll become a great lawyer too!”
Ezra’s eyes sparkled with excitement as he imagined himself standing in a courtroom, defending the rights of others. The conversation sparked in him a newfound interest in law and justice.
“Oh! So, Big Brother, you will become a lawyer soon and catch the criminals?”
“Yes, Ezra. I will always fight against criminals…
Ezra suddenly looked worried.
“But why do you ask, Ezra? Are you afraid? Have you committed any crime?”
“No, no…” Ezra spoke reluctantly. “I just play my video games. Some of them are what my parents call violent video games. Some of the characters in them are bad. But, big brother, the characters in the games are fake, aren’t they?”
“Well, it depends on how you interpret it!” Finley said, smiling. “Here you have a court case of nature!”
Ezra didn’t understand anything. But he was so interested in playing video games that he did not ask anything further.
He turned on the game as Finley resumed his reading.
While playing, he fell asleep and dozed off on the living room sofa.
In the middle of the night, a voice woke Ezra from his deep sleep.
‘Ezra! Ezra!’
Some noise was emanating from the portrait hanging on the wall. Ezra looked up. It was an old picture of Finley’s uncle, a well-known lawyer. Tonight, the lawyer in the photograph was replaced by a terrifying figure donning a black coat. He was calling out Ezra’s name loudly from the photo frame.
Fear gripped Ezra as he stared at the scary figure.
"Ezra, you are ordered to appear in Nature's Court," the strange man said from the picture frame.
“Nature’s Court?” Ezra said, protesting. “But I have not committed any crime!”
“I don’t know all this. I've got an order to bring you.”
The man stuck his hand out of the photo frame and pulled Ezra in forcefully.
Inside the photo frame was a new kind of bizarre world.
A door opened in front of Ezra, and he saw the stairs. As Ezra stepped up the stairs, the round stairs led him down.
On every floor, he saw people whose faces were like monsters. Hearing the screams of those people, Ezra got frightened. The staircase stopped in front of a large hall. The inspector standing outside the hall signaled Ezra to come in.
To Ezra’s horror, the strange-looking inspector had two horns on his head!
The hall looked like the courtroom described earlier by Finley. The Judge sat on stage, and a lawyer in a black coat stood below. The noise in the hall increased as Ezra stepped in.
“Order! Order!” The Judge hit the table with a big hammer and ordered the proceedings to begin.
The two-horned inspector called from the audience in a booming voice and walked out himself.
A dark, hefty man stood up in the audience.
The lawyer stood up and addressed the Judge.
“This is the butcher, my Lord. Butchers kill animals every day.”
“This butcher gets fifteen years in prison,” the judge said, giving the verdict by hitting a hammer on the table.
The ground slipped from below, and the butcher went down swiftly.
A second man stood up in the audience, and the lawyer said:
“This man eats non-veg, my lord,” the lawyer said.
“This is also a kind of violence,” the Judge said, hitting the hammer on the table.
Wham! This man also went plummeting and disappeared somewhere underneath.
Ezra’s heart was beating so fast that he felt it would stop.
“Mr. Ezra’s turn!” the lawyer said.
“I didn’t kill anyone!” Ezra said as he stood trembling. “Please. Let me go!
“Are you sure you never killed anyone in anger?”
“Euu..N…No…Yes!” Ezra stammered. “That was in my video games…I have killed only video game characters, but they are fake, Sir!”
“But you have killed!” the lawyer said.
Mr. Ezra, do you have a defense lawyer who can fight on your behalf?” the Judge asked.
“What? No, no…” Ezra had a faint idea of what a defense lawyer meant.
“All right,” the Judge said. “You are given one day. I’ll find someone by tomorrow.”
When Ezra reached the courtroom the next day, he had no lawyer. He looked around. Today there were also children of his age sitting among the audience in the courtroom. But his attention was caught by a stunning man sitting outside the courtroom. Ezra thought the man’s face was familiar.
‘Hey, this is the two-horned inspector!’ Ezra thought as he recognized the man. But the man’s features looked different.
“Sir, where did your horns disappear?” Ezra went up to him and asked hesitantly.
The inspector laughed.
“From today, young man, I must shift to heaven. So, I don’t have horns on my head anymore.”
“In heaven? How did this happen?” wondered Ezra.
“This is the result of my changed emotions. When the mood changes inside, the face changes too. Mr. Ezra, I have learned that if our wrongdoing is regretted, we can be absolved of the penalty of the crime. But no one can save us if we are happy after doing the wrong things and keep on doing them.”
Ezra looked at the inspector, his mind full of thoughts.
“Have you ever been happy to kill someone?” the inspector asked Ezra.
The young boy wondered.
“No, of course not!” He spoke softly. “I’ve never killed anyone in my life. But… Yes, if I consider my video games, I have been happy killing the characters in them. But they were all fake, weren’t they?”
“They were fake, yes, but your feelings were real, weren’t they?” the inspector asked.
Ezra tried to understand his words.
At that moment, a voice called, “Mr. Ezra, be present!”
Ezra was in trouble again.
“‘All the best,” the inspector said, and he left.
Ezra’s heartbeat increased as he stood in front of the judge.
“Sir, I couldn’t find any defense lawyers,” Ezra spoke uneasily. But I’ve found my mistake.”
“And what did you find?” asked the Judge.
“I have often found that my emotions deteriorate while playing violent video games. I get carried away and kill many characters in my games without feeling. But now, I am feeling sorry for that.”
“So, what have you decided?” the judge asked, looking at the boy through his rimmed glasses.
“I have decided, sir, that I will never play violent video games from now on,” Ezra said. “They involve too much violence, Sir.”
The judge was about to deliver his verdict with a hammer when the lawyer stopped him.
“My Lord, if the offender admits his mistake and regrets it, doesn’t the punishment change?”
The judge opened Nature’s Law Book and checked something.
“Oh yes, you’re right,” he told the lawyer. “It is written here that after making a mistake if there is heartfelt regret and an apology, the punishment is relieved.”
Ezra waited anxiously for the judge to speak again.
“Mr. Ezra, you can go,” the Judge finally gave his verdict, hitting his hammer on the table.
Suddenly, Ezra returned to reality and found himself lying on Finley’s sofa. He wiped away his sweat and looked at the clock — it was seven o’clock in the morning.
“Good morning, little friend!” Finley asked, seeing Ezra lying in a pool of sweat. “What happened? Did you have a bad dream?”
Ezra kept quiet.
Whether it was a dream or reality, Ezra did not know. But one thing he knew for sure was that, from that moment on, he would never play violent video games again. He understood the importance of his emotions and their impact on others.
