”There were fifty-five people witnessing Dac Forgacs enter the Monomentum. That is fifty-five people who chose to testify to this fact, we all know that the Grand Square is lively even at such an early hour. The defendant could therefore not have been guilty of the murders he now stands charged. Your honor, I would dislike to bore you with facts most of us all know well already, yet reiterating the facts about the defendant is not against protocol. Some may not know of him, or know all the facts.

It is true that he started with a hard life. That is not an excuse; everyone has to take responsibility for their own life, no matter the age, gender or standing. Still, one has to look at all the facts. The only child of a manic-depressive father and an alcoholic mother, he had to fend for himself from early on. This is not said in pity, mind you, it is said as a reminder of his character – where others from the non-citizenry would have given in to drugs, despair and a life with no sense of personal responsibility, Dac Forgacs chose another life. He fought against those that would bully him, he used their weaknesses as his own strength, and he started to amass resources where there were few to gather. By the time he was twenty he had enough wealth to become a probationary citizen, no small feat even in these enlightened times. Instead, he chose to opt for a recall, and reinstate himself as a legal 18-year old, and started over. The credits he had gathered in ten years were, as law demands, forfeit, but in mere two years he managed to double his worth, which put him just over the standard for application to full citizenry. Ha passed the tests with flying colors, there was no doubt that this man was of strong will and ready for any responsibility.

Still, there is no secret in that newly-risen citizens from non-citizen homes are not well received. Again, this is not my attempt to provoke pity, but merely a stating of facts to fully appreciate the world young Dac stepped into. It is also no secret that among the few neo-citizens, even fewer stay in civilised society, many return to the suburbs or, take the final responsibility of their failing strength, and spare society the further costs and problems with their prolonged life. It takes strength to realise one is weak, and moral fibre to take the steps of final responsibility.

Dac, however, stood against them all. Despite being treated a pariah, he used his resources not to enjoy his new life, but to investments in smaller businesses among other enduring neo-cs, and to make friends with the lesser citizens who could not turn away a new resource, even one so new to civilisation. He worked his way up, slowly and with a steady, careful hand and mind. Some found his ways boorish, some would have called him a “gangster” in ancient times, but “success bares no witness of methods” as the saying goes. He managed to grow from a startled neo-citizen to a fully fledged trader and potentate. He spared no time for marriage or reproduction, indeed, he never even changed his looks to standard norms. As you see him today, he has looked all his mature life. A bit shorter than average, but still proportional, his thick, black hair still without any color despite his age of forty-five, same with the boldly out-of-fashion but stylish beard. His nose, as you can see, strong and slightly hawk-like, but despite it being contrary to norm and fashion, it has provoked much admiration in many magazines. Yes, he stands out with his looks, with his boldness for a neo-c, but that is not a crime. To prejudice against him for anything but his accomplishments should be. He may be what once was called “noveu-riche”, but he has none of the decadence of his peers, instead he wears it with a soft eccentricity.

And now here he is, accused by those that envy him rather than take responsibility for their own lacks and failures, his rivals and competitors, who should know better than to steep so low.

We all know the crime. Explosives were set in the offices of the Strage Funding-offices. Thirty five good economists, financial planners, economic predictors and their supporting staff died in the shockwave, the flames, or were thrown out the window to fall to their doom three thousand and six hundred feet below. But we all know already that Dac Forgacs was not there. And, despite the competitions’ claims, he had the least to gain from the destruction of the office in question. I will prove to you, the court, that though his affairs with Strage Funding were sour, and the competition for markets and shares was hard, the disappearance of the same company would open up the market for their stronger rivals, who could then easily pick the markets apart. Some would say that this is a conspiracy, that mister Forgacs knowingly did all this to make the public, you good sirs and madams, look to his competitors for blame. Those who state this fail to realise that we do not live in the past – personal responsibility, ladies and gentlemen, personal responsibility. If they could not foresee such a plan, do they deserve to be right in the court of law? Of law, I remind you, not of pity for the unwilling!

Others claim that he did not do it himself, but that he hired someone to do the deed. Again, in what century do these fellows live? It is no crime to pay another to do something, whatever it might be. It is the paid party who bears the responsibility for his or her own actions. No one else. Am I to be charged because my cleaning lady tripped on my carpet whilst cleaning my house? Are you, sir, a murderer because someone stepped in front of your car, chasing some important paper he needed to deliver? Personal responsibility is the leading phrase of our society, ladies and gentlemen, and according to it, mister Dac Forgacs has done nothing wrong, as I have promised to prove.

I thank you for your time, and for your patience. Your honor, I am finished with my opening statement.”