As Stewart returned his Agent badge to hiding, as Phoenix searched for words, slender hands fell on his and Maya's shoulders.
"Come on," Stella said. "We've got a lot to show you."

They left the detention center, following Stella's dark fall of hair into shaded alleys full of piled garbage mazes. And then, when they reached a dusty-quiet back road, Stella stopped suddenly. She dug in her purse and pressed something that made a dull electronic chirp. The space in front of her responded, shimmering, reforming - and there was suddenly a chrome-gleaming car sitting in plain sight.
"Just like in the movies," Maya hissed, tapping excitedly at Phoenix's elbow.
Circling to the driver's side, Stella shot a smirk at them. "You wouldn't believe what a little ion technology can do."
The car's seats creaked soft, and the engine growled to life. The star insignia at the center of the steering wheel drew Phoenix's gaze, magnetic.
"So, Stella-"
"Agent Starr, here," she corrected, and produced a badge case to flip open, showing her own code number and flash of gold. She glanced warm to him. "Just call me Starr."
"I told you, Nick," Maya chirped from the back seat, "She's an Agent!"
"So ... Starr," Phoenix tried, "Can you tell us what's going on, now?"
She nodded, and turned the car onto a side street. "We're going to the nearest Agency base, Mr. Wright. There's plenty you'll need to know if you're going to help us. As for J's story? He was on patrol duty this morning and he helped a lady being mugged, most likely the same lady who was killed. Moments later, he sensed someone else lacking rhythm - don't worry, we'll explain all that."
He hadn't thought his bafflement was that obvious; Phoenix tried smoothing his face into something a little more studious.
"-And that was when he threw off the shades and his microphone. Oh, did you find a microphone?"
They should have searched more carefully. Any other evidence hidden near that forest path would surely be in police custody now, the opportunity lost. "No," Phoenix said, "We didn't. I'm sorry."
A grimace washing brief over her face, Starr went on, "Anyway, that was when he ran from the park, into the alley. Whoever he was chasing disappeared and that was when the police caught him."
"Disappeared?" Maya leaned in between them.
"I'll let the Commander explain our theory on that." Starr sighed, and flicked dark hair out of her eyes. "You've got a challenge on your hands, Mr. Wright. We'll help you any way we can, but ... It's still going to be a trick to pull off."

Phoenix wasn't sure what he was expecting - a large compound building, maybe, something glass-and-steel sleek - but the car purred to a stop outside the worn grey of an ordinary office building. The car doors' thump resounded in the empty lot. Soot-dark alley walls surrounded them, and Phoenix looked up to the shard of blue sky. It made sense, he supposed. Agents were obviously good at staying out of sight, and who would bother to look closely at a place like this? He rounded the car's gleaming hood and let his female friends take the lead.
"So, is there a cool secret agent entrance?" Maya followed close at Starr's side. "Maybe a DNA test? Or a retina scanner? Do we get to backflip through laser beams?"
Coming to a door, one with a number pad in its dingy surface, Starr smiled warm at Maya. "Sorry, nothing that interesting."
"Oh." She watched Starr's fingers flurry over the digits, a clicking tune. "That's not very dramatic."
Opening the creaking door, Starr ushered them in with a waved hand. "Well, technology is all about picking your battles."
And Maya's free time seemed to be all about renting her movies. Phoenix paused in the dim hallway - Starr waited to follow them, looking around, breeze stirring her blouse's ruffles. Secrets always forced people to watch their backs. After a few duty-wary seconds, she came in and let the door groan-click closed.
"Welcome to Elite Beat Agency base Alto," Starr said, passing Phoenix and Maya to lead them again.. "I know, it doesn't look like much right now. Wait 'til we get to the lower levels."
Fluorescent lights flickered overhead, and Starr's heels clacked harsh on the off-brown laminate. The frosted glass doors and dull plaster looked a lot like the Wright and Co. Offices's entrance, years away in a future without sympathetic janitors. If this place's aim was to look unimpressive, it was doing a marvellous job.
"Are these Agent offices?" Maya wondered. "Don't tell me you have to do paperwork!"
Starr laughed, a sunny ringing in the stark hallway. "Only if we're bad."
Phoenix, in all honesty with himself, couldn't tell if she was serious.
She stopped at a set of silver elevator doors and turned to Maya, regret drawing her brows. "I'd give you a full tour, but everything in here is need-to-know basis, sorry. There are no lasers or anything else fun, I promise. Not on this floor, anyway."
The elevator slid open with a mellow chime, and they stepped in: Phoenix kept careful watch over Maya, nightmare visions of her disappearing to borrow secret agent equipment lurking in his imagination. As the doors closed - and as the elevator rumbled downward, with no pressed buttons to guide it - Starr leaned on the wall to regarded them, her head canted. It was a look of confidence, Phoenix could see that now in the gentle calculation dancing behind those tinted glasses.
"You'll be briefed on arrival." Thought laced her Agent jargon - she was trying out the words in a new context. "Arrival on the next floor, that is. I think my role here is done. So ... I'm glad you're the ones on the mission, Mr. Wright, Ms. Fey. Best of luck to you."
A sudden sharp urge inside Phoenix hated the formality, the Misters and Misses and the distance they created. He bit back call me Phoenix and nodded, shifting grip on his briefcase handle.
"Starr," Maya murmured, and twisted her robe's hem between her fingers, "Will we ever see you again?"
She smirked broad at that. "When you wonder if you'll ever see someone again, the answer is maybe. No matter what."
And however odd it sounded, Phoenix realized, glancing to his Fey companion, it was very, very true.

With another chime, the elevator doors opened and Phoenix followed Maya out, eyeing the surroundings over her topknotted head. The walls shone cleanly white, and that was all he noticed before movement caught his eye, someone brown-haired and dressed in vivid scarlet jerking to a stop in front of them.
"Mr. Wright, Ms. Fey?" This girl clearly already knew the answer, excitement shining in her wide eyes.
"Yes," Phoenix said, at the same time Maya chirped, "That's us!"
And with a flick of gold Agent's badge, the newcomer squeaked, "Agent Missy, here! You're really doing it! Wow, this is great!"
She put away the badge - where, Phoenix wasn't sure, and examining her revealing cheerleader's outfit for pockets would be all sorts of inappropriate. Missy offered a hand, beaming. And after a baffled moment, Phoenix took it to shake.
"Welcome to base Alto," Missy said, enfolding Phoenix's hand in her smaller ones. "And thanks so much for coming, you're the perfect team for the mission, I just know it!"
The word mission began to itch: what did the Agents have in mind? A full-scale courtroom invasion?
A eternity passed while Missy gazed up at him - radiating delight with a bonfire-like intensity - before she moved on to Maya, taking her hand for a much briefer moment.
"Okay, so I'm supposed to take you to the Commander." Missy turned, twin braids whipping, and beckoned. "He's right this way. Let's go, please!"
And the trek resumed, and Phoenix took in as much as he could - the blinding white all around, the computer-panelled security station Missy must have come running from, steel doors evenly spaced in the corridor. He thought he would have noticed Starr slipping away.
"Well, the Commander's's not really this way, but his satellite uplink is." Missy peered over her shoulder at them, braids bouncing with her stride, tinted glasses flashing. "Everybody's on tenterhooks over poor J. We're all behind you on this one, Mr. Wright!"
Faintness fluttered in him, the nerves that ushered in every case he had ever defended. Phoenix raised a hand to his neck. "E-Everybody?"
"Oh yeah, the whole Agency!" She banked sharp around a corner, heading deeper into the bright-lit warren. "You're taking care of one of our own, Mr. Wright, and we know you're good! Go get 'em!"
He swallowed, and hoped hard that wasn't a wink Missy shot back at him.
"You really are famous, Nick!" Maya's ever-subtle elbow jabbed at his side. "You'd better sign some autographs before we go!"
"I'm just a defense lawyer."
"A great defense lawyer," Missy chirped.
"Who helps innocent people," Maya added.
"When they need the help!"
Maya balled determined fists. "And when they have nowhere else to turn!"
"When the odds are stacked a mile high-" Missy turned a circle, walking momentarily backward, sweeping a dramatic red-clad arm. "-And it's down to the wire and only the very exceptional best will do!"
"Yeah, that's him, all right!"
A shared grin flashed between the girls. Phoenix tried, and couldn't stop the smile tugging at his own face.

Their path wound, more featureless white until Missy stopped sharp. Phoenix heaved against his own momentum and hoped for a panic-blinding instant not to step on her.
"Right here," Missy said, and her grin held mischief, "Ready?"
Maya nodded, too quickly. And nothing in the world could have prepared Phoenix, but unfortunately, that had never stopped him before.
Faint sketches of boardrooms fled Phoenix's imagination as soon as he walked in. The uplink room looked more like an office break room - open and café-sleek, all white and black and chrome.
"What a high-tech coffee machine," Maya remarked - apparently about one of the silver appliances gleaming on a far countertop. "I'll bet you discuss Agent business over fancy cappuccinos, don't you, Missy? Shaken, not stirred!"
Phoenix shifted on his feet. "I don't think anyone shakes coffee ..."
"Caffeine," Missy said, dolloping sarcasm thick and rolling her eyes, "Is bad for you. That thing's a juicer and I never want to see a carrot ever again." She perched on a tall black chair, draping one leg over the other. "Everything's a go, Commander!"
Phoenix hadn't noticed the video screen until it hummed to life - it was a full wall lighting up. And there, behind a desk, sat a grey-haired man wearing a military uniform. His hands were laid together; thought lining his face.
"Thank you, Agent," his voice rumbled from speakers. "And welcome, Mr. Wright, Ms. Fey, to base Alto. I am Commander Kahn, head of the task force we call the Elite Beat Agents. Thank you for joining us."
His authority wasn't a look, wasn't a sound so much an instinct: Commander Kahn was to be obeyed. Phoenix straightened, gripped his briefcase handle tight and nodded. Maya's salute caught his edge of vision and he winced inside.
"You have questions, I'm sure, so I'll begin from the beginning." Kahn adjusted his sunglasses - they flashed jade - and he leaned forward. "Our world is one driven by music. Every living thing exists to a rhythm and a beat, even one as simple as a heartbeat. And in the right hands, music can be a powerful force."
"Music power," Missy agreed, maybe to herself.
Kahn let a pause linger brief, and continued, "When a person is scared and overwhelmed, their rhythm falters. It's a difference as clear as day to those able to sense it."
"Sense it?" Phoenix wondered.
"Like hearing a string played and recognizing that it's out of tune. Or recognizing that a band is playing out of synch. Music sense is a rare gift. With enough practice, a person with this gift can hear the innate rhythm in the world around them. They can make their body an instrument, and channel the very essence of life. That's what my Agents do when a person needs help."
"Music sense," Maya murmured. "It sounds almost like spirit channelling."
A smile came to Kahn, pulling crows' feet under the frames of his sunglasses. "Spirit mediums and Elite Beat Agents are a lot alike, Ms. Fey. Our training protocols drew inspiration from the the Kurain Technique."
"Oh, you know about that?" She clapped her hands together, delighted.
Nodding, his face hardening once more to business, Kahn said, "And that's why this murder accusation is so serious. I'm sure you're familiar with Misty Fey, and the way her channelling was used in an attempt to solve a murder case."
Quiet hung thick - they both knew. The worn edges of case files stirred in Phoenix's memory, sorrow-heavy.
"That seance had an unfortunate result, because ..." Kahn paused, maybe looking for tactful words. "Such uncommon abilities are difficult for the public to grasp. It can't be rationalized. They become suspicious. So mediums keep their talents within their traditional villages, and the Elite Beat Agency doesn't technically exist. Not on any records, and not as far as any government official knows or will state." His jaw tightened. "Mr. Wright, Ms. Fey. Agent J cannot be tried for murder. That would expose our operations, that could confirm the existence of the Elite Beat Agents, and that would defy our investors' trust."
"Then," Phoenix tried, "We're ...?"
"You'll be defending a Mr. Stewart Julian Lowe. And as far as any and all records show, he is not a member of any agency."
Realization widened his eyes; dread gathered. "But that's-"
Kahn folded his hands on the desktop. "To be frank, yes. We're asking you to lie, Mr. Wright. But it's for the good of everyone involved. This team does good work, I have the utmost faith in every member and I wouldn't compromise this Agency for anything." He paused. "Maybe someday ... the world will understand. Maybe Agents will be loved and cheered for. But that day isn't today, and it won't be anytime soon if Agent J is accused of murder."
It felt suddenly tragic: Maya pouring over tabloids' murmurs of Agents, Stewart sitting nerve-strung in a cell. The miracle was real, but at what price? How hard did the Elite Beat Agents work to guard their existence from the very people they helped? Phoenix nodded slow. He couldn't argue with any of that. "All right."
"And I'm sure you realize that everything you know of the Agency must be kept confidential. Strictly confidential."
"O-of course." He didn't want to imagine the trouble brewed from spreading secret agents' information around. He looked sharply to Maya, and she added, "Right!"
"Excellent," Kahn said. "As you know, we don't have much time. You'll have all the information our network can provide, and every Agent who can be spared will come to your aid. This is our highest priority, Mr. Wright, Ms. Fey."
"Part of our team." Missy stood by Phoenix, shooting a smile sideways at him - he hadn't even heard her move. "So, are we all set, Commander?"
Kahn nodded once. "In the interest of time, you'll be briefed separately: Mr. Wright on the case's known details, and Ms. Fey on the nature of music sense. Individual specialties make for a stronger team. Good luck," and a proud smile pulled across his face as he said, "We're counting on you."

The bright-lit hallways felt nearly familiar now, even though each turn was still foreign.
"It's a lot to take in, huh?" Missy glanced back at them with a whip of braids. "My first briefing wasn't that long ago. It'll all make sense soon, don't worry!"
"If music sense is like spirit channelling," Maya thought aloud, "Then it's not that complicated. It's got rules just like everything else. This won't be so hard, Nick!"
Maya definitely needed to start speaking for herself.
"Nick?" A flash of smirk from Missy, the look he was already starting to dread. "That's the cutest nickname! But yeah, when you're with the Elite Beat Agency, the first thing you learn is that you're never alone. You've always got teammates to help you! Even if you can't see them, they're there." Her back straightened, and the bounce of her stride evened - dignity, it seemed, wasn't just a word to the Agents. "So if you're confused or worried about anything, just ask us! It wouldn't be the first time we've helped you!"
"You," Phoenix forced from his mouth, "You mean you've-"
Missy waved a hand. "We haven't completely bailed either of you out, no! But the rhythm you stir up when you're in a trial? Especially you, Mr. Wright?" She walked backward, clasping her hands together, shining adoration widening her eyes once more. "Wow. It's ... it's this huge rainbow of feelings, you're so desperate and scared but you're not going to give up, either, not for anything! The Commander finally decided we didn't need to worry about anything Mr. Phoenix Wright was involved in. Things always turn out okay when you're around!"
His mouth worked and he couldn't speak. Agents could tell exactly how panicked and lost he got, and they thought he was a capable teammate anyway? Phoenix had no words for the shivering pride, no way to express the sensation of standing strong. But he had gotten through his bar test just by trying to be good enough. He knew his objections could stop terrible things from happening; he just had to believe that.
Maya caught his eye and smiled - just for a moment - before saying to Missy, "So the spectator stands at Nick's trials were full of Agents cheering him on, right?"
She giggled, and turned to watch where she led. "Best mission ever! No, he just kept distracting the heck out of Agents on patrol. Nobody actually made an assist. Well ..." And with a sly look thrown back at Phoenix, "Except me."
"You?!" he spluttered. "Really?" Intense as trials could be, Phoenix was fairly sure a dancing girl in bright red chaps would catch his attention.
"I wasn't dancing!" Missy flailed both hands. "I just watched a few trials, and there was one where Ms. F- I'm going to call you Maya, okay? Good. Where Maya wasn't there and there was something about a detective and a thunderstorm ... I don't remember the details. I just remember you at that defense stand, pounding on it like you could hear yourself off-tempo and you knew but you just couldn't fix it. And you felt so alone, Mr. Wright." Her voice was soft now. "I thought if you didn't have teammates that day, I'd just have to help you instead. So I channelled for you. Just a bit of finger-tapping while I was sitting there in the gallery, I hope it helped!"
Case details swarmed back to Phoenix. Yes, he had fought alone on that court day - with Lana tight-lipped, Ema oblivious, and Gant a cold-eyed predator across the courtroom. No Feys stood by him and he had somehow heard Mia's murmur of encouragement, anyway. Maybe music had played a role then. Maybe his new allies weren't so new after all.
"Anyway," Missy chirped, "Oh, hey, Starr!"
They rounded a corner and there leaned a familiar figure. She wore cheerleader's scarlet, and her tumbling hair was blonde now, but she gave the same considering gaze through tinted shades.
"Hello again," Starr said. "I'm on call until this is over, no missions. Can I help with the briefing?"
"Sure!" Missy turned, jerking a thumb at Starr. "Our master of disguise here, she gets all the cool undercover stuff. So, Maya, we'll be briefing you all about music sense, right this way, please!"
"Mr. Wright," Starr said, gesturing to the open doorway she stood beside, "You're right through here. Agent Foxx will go over the case details with you."
He nodded. Time to get down to more business.
"I don't know if I'm much good at dancing, but I'll try my best!" Maya turned eager-bright eyes to Phoenix. "See you later, Nick!"
"Yeah," Missy chimed, grinning mischievous, "Later, Nick!"

He managed to close his mouth as the three of them left: clacking shoes, vivid colours and Maya and Missy's bright voices. Rubbing his neck, Phoenix faced the open doorway, and hoped for the energy to keep up.