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Chris smirks, and before the judge could reply, he says, “My apologies. Let’s get to know you better. Where are you from?”

“California.”

“Did you have a family?”

“Yes. A husband and a beautiful daughter. All she has is her father now.”

“What did you do for work in California?”

“I was a general surgeon,” she states. I know exactly where he is going with this, and it is not a place I want to go.

Chris cocks his head. “You saved lives?”

“Yes, I did,” she replies proudly.

“Your honor. Because of the actions of Mr. Kim, Ms. Cole lost time with her family. His actions affected not only her life, but the potential lives she was supposed to save. Ms. Cole was not supposed to die that day. She was to make a recovery and continue her valuable work as a surgeon. A domino effect may have begun. People who may have lived, will die. People who could’ve gone on to do great things themselves or have a child who would have cured cancer.”

Yeah, he is aiming straight for the heart strings.

Chris finishes, “That is all my questions for the witness, your honor.”

He takes a seat, and I stand to begin my questioning.

“How many general surgeons work in the hospital?”

“I do not know the exact number. But there is a big group of us.”

“But there is enough that with your absence, lives will still be saved, correct?”

She pauses. “Yes.”

“When you have done a surgery, do you follow a specific…method to complete it?”

“Yes. I do.”

“Using this system, has an unforeseeable mistake ever occurred that made you rethink the system in place?”

She nods. “Yes.”

“Did that mistake result in the loss of a life?”

Her eyes get sad as she answers, “Yes.”

“Do you regret it?”

“Everyday.”

“Did you modify the way in which you did your procedures to avoid repeating the mistake again?”

“Yes. I did.”

I turn to face the judge. “Your honor. Mistakes are natural. It’s the way of the world. I have made mistakes. Ms. Cole has made mistakes. Aiden has made a mistake. However, should Aiden be the only one at fault? Or do we need to take a deeper look into the actual system in place?”

I pause as something clicks in my head. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this until now. “Take for example, the souls who went missing. Never in Eden’s history have souls from tier three Hell been released. Yet, it happened…isn’t it possible that the same error could’ve happened to Aiden? Opposing counsel has a burden, your honor. A burden to prove that Aiden is solely responsible for what occurred. As we have seen, that is not the case. Thank you.” I take my seat and mentally pat myself on the back.

That was good. I’m getting my footing a little bit.

Chris goes on to call the director of the Soul Directory department, and the woman who sent Alex Cole's Information to Aiden. They both testify to the system being effective the way it is. I’ll just need to provide more evidence to prove my point.