Chapter 1

My biological parents dragged me to the defendant's stand of the MRI Memory Court.

They requested my kidney be forcibly extracted to save their adopted daughter from uremia.

If I lost the case, I wouldn't just lose my organs; I'd face life imprisonment.

Under the glaring lenses of a global broadcast and the scorn of a hundred-person jury, my parents played the part of the heart-stricken elders, while their adopted daughter wept a river of tears.

They were absolutely certain I would be condemned by the entire world.

But when the holographic screens flickered to life and the truth shattered their lies, the entire narrative of the trial violently flipped on its head.

......

The metal electrodes were fixed to my temples.

Hovering directly above me was the pinnacle of federal technology, a billion-dollar marvel: the MRI Holographic Memory Extractor.

"Defendant Fallon, are you clear on the rules of this court? Do you confirm your consent to stand trial?" The presiding judge's authoritative voice echoed beneath the domed ceiling.

I looked across at the three people in the plaintiff's seats.

My biological father, Arthur, had his brow deeply furrowed, playing the role of a man torn apart by grief. My biological mother, Eleanor, her eyes red-rimmed, was leaning against his shoulder, sobbing softly.

And right between them sat my "sister"—their adopted daughter, Camilla.

Fifteen years ago, Camilla's biological parents supposedly died saving mine in a car crash.

Ever since they took in this "hero's orphan," they showered her with unconditional love and boundless indulgence.

It left me, their actual flesh and blood, constantly agonizing over why I was the one always treated like a worthless outsider.

"Your Honor," Arthur stood up. "As a father, dragging my own flesh and blood to court is the cruelest thing in the world. But we have no choice."

He turned to face the hundred jurors seated in the gallery above, and the floating holographic screens projecting the live global feed and rolling comments.

"My daughter, Fallon, used to be the pride of our family. But three years ago, she threw it all away. She developed a severe drug addiction and devolved into a bottomless, irrational lunatic. She didn't just destroy herself; she nearly tore our family apart!"

"And Camilla—this sweet, kind-hearted child—in order to pull Fallon out of the drug dens, in order to shield her from those ruthless dealers, was forced to ingest toxic chemicals! That is what caused her total renal failure! Without a kidney transplant, she won't live to see the end of the month!"

Arthur pointed a sharp finger directly at me, his eyes practically gleaming with undisguised disgust. "Your Honor, Fallon's kidney is a perfect match for Camilla. Yet this selfish, cold-blooded addict actually refuses to save her sister's life!"

An uproar erupted in the courtroom.

Up in the jury box, several members were already glaring at me with sheer hostility.

The holographic comment screens went completely insane, scrolling at lightning speed.

A dense barrage of text, dripping with bone-chilling malice, smashed into me:

"My god, how can a sister be this cold-blooded? That's a living human being!"

"Since when do junkies' lives matter? She did drugs, ruined her sister's body, and now won't even give up a kidney? She deserves to die!"

"The adopted sister is so pitiful. She's so sweet, and now she's going to die because of this drug-addict sister."

"I support mandatory extraction! Keeping organs in a piece of social trash like her is a waste. Give them to a good person who actually needs them!"

Watching those rabid comments roll by, the corner of Arthur's mouth twitched upward in a covert, triumphant smirk.

He turned back to the judge, dropping the ultimate objective of today's trial.

"I request the court to initiate the MRI Memory Extraction to prove her addiction and depravity. Should the charges stand, I demand the court strip Fallon of her bodily autonomy, mandate the forced extraction of her kidney for Camilla, and sentence her to life imprisonment!"

Stripping bodily autonomy. Forced organ removal. Life imprisonment.

These were nearly the harshest penalties in federal law, reserved only for the most heinous serial criminals.

Under the newly enacted Federal Bio-Restitution Act, causing irreversible organ damage through illicit actions is classified as "biological murder," requiring the perpetrator to pay a "flesh debt" and rot in prison forever.

And now, my own biological parents were weaponizing this very law against me—just to save their adopted daughter.

The judge banged his gavel.

"Defendant Fallon, the plaintiff's demands are clear. Once the MRI Memory Trial is initiated, the machine will directly harvest the deepest, truest memories from your hippocampus and broadcast them to the world via holographic projection. No lie can hide from this machine. If you lose, you will lose your kidney and the rest of your freedom. Do you accept the trial?"

"I accept," I said.

My eyes were bloodshot, and my voice was hoarse but razor-sharp. "But I have one condition. If it is proven that the plaintiffs are lying... then, according to the Anti-Perjury Act, they must bear the exact same legal consequences."

Arthur froze for a second. But a cold, mocking laugh quickly followed. "Of course. If you are truly innocent, we are willing to face any consequences. But you... you couldn't possibly be innocent."

"Then, the trial begins."

The judge pressed the red button on his console.

The MRI extractor suspended overhead emitted a low, rumbling hum. A heartbeat later, a faint current of electricity pierced through the electrodes and drove straight into my brain.

"First count of the indictment: Defendant Fallon's illegal narcotic abuse, resulting in the total renal failure of the victim, Camilla. Memory regression, commencing now."

The holographic projection slowly fanned out in the center of the great hall, violently tearing my past wide open for the entire world to see.