Implied Consent: Act I, Scene III

(Enter TRENT ROBERTS into the Grummond Mansion, where OSWALD and WESLEY are awaiting him.)

WESLEY (to OSWALD): Here is Trent Roberts, at your disposal.

ROBERTS: Good to see you again, Wes. Good to see anyone again who brings me another case. May I remind you that this one trumps them all? (Points at his closed suitcase with a shyster grin.)

OSWALD: Mr. Roberts...

ROBERTS: That's Trent. I get enough of "Mr. Roberts" in court. We're all buddies here. Especially since I will be getting to know some of your darker secret desires. Isn't that right, Wes?

WESLEY: Has to be.

ROBERTS: So, Oswald-is it?-tell me what you really want out of this lawsuit. We will have time to make your desire presentable, soften in up a little, add a little drama here, a touch of sentiment there, spiced with a few old catch phrases and new lingo, or maybe hide it altogether and invent something entirely new and more (grins) politically correct... but now I just want the bare truth, to know what I'm to be working with.

WESLEY: Tell him. He does this to everyone, and it works all the time. This man's a genius.

ROBERTS: Now, now, Wes, I appreciate that, but we all know that genius is relative. What is genius for you might not be genius for me, or for those other guys we'll be facing in court. For them, I might not be a genius, but just some sophist shyster lawyer! (They laugh hysterically) So now, Oswald, the truth. Your truth.

OSWALD: My father is on life support after his heart gave out, and is currently brain dead. I would like... for his... suffering... to end...

ROBERTS: That's what you'll be telling the courts. What do you really want?

OSWALD: I would like the... absurdity... of his every vital function... being artificially maintained... to be remedied.

ROBERTS: A little better, but I need to know what you truly, genuinely want, deep down.

OSWALD: Oh, fine. I won't pretend. I want my father to be officially dead so that I can inherit his money and spend it.

ROBERTS: A lot better, but the case still seems too easy. There remains something you're not telling me.

OSWALD: His will says that all of his fortune, if need be, has to be spent on maintaining his functionality, and that, in the meantime, his company will be run as if he had been conscious- ahem- alive.

ROBERTS: Wait, did you just imply that he is currently not alive? I thought you said you wanted him not to be alive, so that you could take his money. If he's already not alive, then what's the problem?

OSWALD: I don't get where you're headed with this.

ROBERTS: I want to know the truth, your opinion of the truth, that is. Do you think your father, in his present condition, is alive or not?

OSWALD: Well... to make any case for denying him life support, we would have to argue that he is not alive, right?

ROBERTS: Forget about what we would have to argue! That has no relationship whatsoever to what we actually think! The point is, if he weren't alive, we would have no need for changing his state to one of death; he would already be in one. You and I know that the man is alive right now; we can make up any claims to the contrary, of course, and even make them seem very formidable and compelling, but the fact that he is alive is something we cannot deny deep down. You and I know that if we win this case, we will be forcing the death of an innocent human being, killing him essentially.

(OSWALD's mouth progressively opens wider and wider in horror, and his eyes are glaring at ROBERTS in disbelief)

ROBERTS: What I am here to help you with is making it seem to the judge that this is a good thing, and giving you some ammunition so that you can live with yourself afterward. After I'm through with this thing, everyone's feelings will be in just the tip-top shape you desire, and it is those feelings that truly matter, after all. People do not judge based on what actually exists, nor even on what they think or know to be true. All people are, at the core, impulsive, impressionable, superficial, short of attention span, and eager for sensation, scandal, and melodrama. They make decisions on the basis of their emotions, and it is to their emotions that we must appeal. But fear not. This suitcase (points to it) has everything we shall need. Let's get to work, as we have quite a tale to spin!

WESLEY (to OSWALD): Trust me, if this man argued in court that we all had tails and could spin them, he'd be believed!

To read other parts of Implied Consent, go here.