[ WP ] Prison terms of `` life plus '' take on new meaning after transfer of consciousness to computer databanks leads to functional immortality . A moral and ethical outcry erupts after the first case in which an individual is sentenced to prison for one hundred thousand years .

The vast courtroom silenced itself as soon as the little girl came up from the prisoner's tunnel and into view. Her blonde hair hung limp past her elbows, the pink electric bows popular with children in the streets tangled in with bits of tar and torn paper. 
 
 Her lawyer leaned away from her stench as he flipped through her file, hesitation in his every step as he matched her fast, confident stride. The reporters twitched furiously from the gallery, their eye-cameras blinking furiously as live data streamed worldwide: The Most Important Trial of the Century. 
 
 Every Bill-Wall in every Marketplace had carried the same headline for weeks, and tonight every household held its attention to the screen, surrounded by fragrant colorful snacks of every variety, for The Most Important Trial of the Century. 
 
 On screen, Twin Imperial guards straddling the marble throne engulfing the front of the maple-lined room slammed their rifle butts to the ground. 
 
 `` All rise!,'' the demand came in robotic unison. 
 
 The scare-crow thin lawyer scratched at his Beacon nervously as he rose. The red blinking light at the base of his neck revealed that he was downloading from Database, and the reporters giggled at his obvious lack of preparation. 
 
 A high-toned timbre filled the room, and all fell silent immediately, every Beacon in the room glowing a painful red, every face twisted in silent agony. 
 
 `` If I want laughter in my court, I'll hire a comedian,'' a low voice boomed from the front of the room. 
 
 Only the little girl smiled. 
 
 To be continued... ( if interested )
