May 30

Detention Center

3:45 PM

Cotoli Morix

When we got to the detention center, Polly unfortunately wasn't there waiting for us. I let out a small sigh and shook my head, sitting down in the chair in front of the glass after pushing a second seat over for Victoria. "Looks like we have a moment to breathe before getting into the next big thing," I remarked.

"Yeah... I'm glad that we have at least one chance to pause before getting into the thick of things. So much has happened already, and I don't want us to get overwhelmed," Victoria told me next. "I wonder what we'll do after we finish talking to our client. Do you think the others will be finished with trying to find out more about that picture by that point?"

"I hope so, because I can't think of anything else that we would be able to do at that point. You know, unless a random witness comes out of nowhere," I replied. "It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to see if we could talk to Ms. Quell again. I don't know if she'll have anything else to tell us, but it wouldn't hurt to see just to be sure."

"I agree," Victoria nodded. "For now, all we can do is wait for Prosecutor Burke... I hope nothing happened to her since the trial. I mean, I doubt anything could given that she's in here under lock and key, but... You know, the thought is there."

"I almost wish something had happened to cure my boredom of this damn place."

I looked up upon hearing that familiar voice. Polly appeared in the doorway and started to walk our direction. She sat down in the seat on the other side of the glass, crossing her arms firmly over her chest. The frown on her face was unmistakable, and I didn't think I had ever seen her so upset in the three years that I had known her.

"How have you been doing?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer was something along the lines of 'miserable'. It was impossible to be in a setting like this without feeling upset, dreary, or overall fuzzy. Everything blended together in a matter of minutes, and it was exhausting to barely see any color for so long.

"I could be worse," Polly replied bluntly, though I knew that was her way of deflecting away from talking about her feelings. I had learned a lot about her over the years we had worked together, and one of the main things I had discovered was that she hated talking about her emotions more than most things that crossed her path.

"We wanted to ask you if you had any ideas for us after what happened in the trial today. We still have a lot to do in our investigation, and we thought you might be the best source of new discussion points," Victoria told her. "With that said, can you think of anything we should keep in mind?"

Polly paused for a moment, clearly thinking over Victoria's words. It took a moment, but she eventually let out a sigh. "I can't think of anything off the top of my head... However, I can say one thing. That picture of Marcus Moore... I hadn't seen it before the trial. I didn't even know there was a picture of him out there to be accessed in the first place, but Ghastly managed to find one and pull off a miracle. Imagine my surprise when he showed up with something like that," she said.

"I see... Well, is there anything about the picture that struck you as odd or strange? We're trying to learn more about it as well, and any details would help us out a lot," Victoria explained.

"I feel like I've seen the man in that picture before. I don't know where, but he's familiar to me somehow. Ever since I got back from the trial, I've been trying to figure it out, and it's frustrating how close I am to realizing the truth. It's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't seem to grasp it fully," Polly frowned. "I don't get it. I just wish there was something out there that could point to who this man is. I mean, I know he's Marcus Moore, but I don't think I know him by that name. There has to be something more to it, but I have no idea what it could be."

"Everybody we talk to seems to say the same thing... The picture is familiar, but it's hard to describe how. Nobody can figure it out. I get the feeling it's somebody all of us have met before, but It's been a while since we've seen them," Victoria told her. "As for who would fit that description... I'm actually not sure. I mean, I wish I could figure it out, but every time I try to figure it out, I just come up short... It's frustrating."

"If it's somebody all of us have seen, then that narrows down the list of potential suspects greatly," Polly murmured. "Who exactly have you asked about the picture?"

"Everybody at the agency, you, Detective Erikson, Detective Hayes, Ghastly, Anton, and Prosecutor Wood," I replied. "When I mentioned the picture or showed it to them, they all said they felt like they had met the person in it before."

"You know, for someone who avoided the light of day for over twelve years, he sure isn't very good at hiding himself if so many people have seen him before," Victoria murmured. "Unless he did this on purpose, in which case I would say he actually did pretty well... I don't know what the circumstances are behind all of us meeting him, but it has to be important."

"It had to have been after you arrived here as well. How would you know him if not?" I asked, turning to Victoria. "That gives us a strong timeframe of when it could have happened, but narrowing it down further... If you ask me, that's where we're having problems."

"Narrowing it down... Yeah, I wish I could help you. I've been racking my brain to try and find an answer, but I've got nothing. I don't think the environment is helping at all. I mean, I'm so damn bored that I can hardly breathe without hating this situation immensely. It doesn't exactly inspire random ideas either, so I just have to wait until my brain decides to cooperate, which is frustrating and makes me want to throw my body into a brick wall," Polly said. Her voice was deadpan, and I was glad she had no ways of throwing herself into a brick wall, something I never expected to think about.

"I suppose all we can do is wait until the others figure something out," Victoria shrugged simply. "We don't hold it against you or anything... I just wanted you to know that, though I figured you probably weren't thinking about that in the first place, so..."

"The gesture is appreciated," Polly told her. "Anyways, what's your plan after you finish up here? I'm sure there's at least one thing that you want to take care of before moving onto giving up all hope that you'll ever find out about the man who's in that picture." I knew she was being sarcastic, but I wouldn't blame anybody for giving up at this point. It was starting to become frustrating how close yet far the answer was.

"We have to go and talk to everybody back at the agency for one. Aside from that, we can see if Ms. Quell has anything else to say, but I'm not sure if she'll have any new information for us. Chances are she said everything she was aware of during the trial today, but it wouldn't hurt to check in with her again just to make sure, you know?" I told her. "If you have any ideas as to what we could do afterwards, feel free to throw them out."

"Hm... I can't really think of anything off the top of my head. If I had any ideas in mind, I would have mentioned them already," Polly frowned. "I mean, maybe somebody random will pop up and say they want to talk to you. Investigations don't always go as planned, and perhaps something will appear that you didn't expect. It wouldn't hurt to leave some wiggle room for everything to go against your expectations."

"You make a good point there... We'll just have to be careful with our time then. I mean, we're already getting short on investigative chances, and it feels to me like we just barely started," Victoria remarked with a small sigh. "I guess time flies when you're having fun... Well, I don't know if it counts as having fun, but... Oh, you know what I mean. I trust that I'm not just speaking in gibberish to you both."

"Oh, don't worry. We get it," I assured her with a small, humored chuckle. "I wonder what the rest of the investigation will hold... Not to be rude to you, Polly, but if you don't have anything else to talk to us about, perhaps we should get going... I mean, I want to stay here and talk to you longer, but we don't have much time to look around, and we have quite a bit to do."

"It's fine. I know that you're ditching me for my own good," Polly said, her tone sarcastic but still good-natured. I should have known she would understand. She's a reasonable person, and she wouldn't hold it against me if I had to leave her for a while.

"Your banter is incredibly sweet, you know," Victoria cut in, a small smile on her face. "Really. I can tell that you've been friends for quite a while, and I think It's rather refreshing given how bleak the rest of the case has seemed. I can't believe I didn't hear about this sooner."

Polly let out a small snort. "He insists on keeping our relationship professional for the most part. He's a lot more affectionate than he would originally have you believe, but it's not like anybody at the agency would see that aside from Chrysalis given how private he is about it. Underneath that cool exterior, he's just a shy sweetheart," she smirked, changing her tone to be mocking yet still kind.

"Polly, I would greatly appreciate it if you kept the teasing to a minimum... I don't want to talk about this when we have more important things to discuss," I murmured, looking away. It took all the restraint in my body to keep me from burying my face in my hands to hide the pink that had risen in my cheeks. I didn't want Victoria to see me this way, but it was becoming clear that this was something I could not avoid no matter how hard I tried. When we were finished with the conversation, I would just have to tell Victoria not to bring it up to anyone else. Yuri would never let me hear the end of it if she got ahold of this information to tease me over.

"Oh, okay," Polly said, rolling her eyes playfully. "You sure do get flustered easily. Playing with you is so simple since it takes you less than thirty seconds to get embarrassed."

"At least I'm not Chrysalis. She gets embarrassed if somebody even looks at her wrong during a conversation about love... I'm the happy medium between my sisters. Chrysalis hates attention of the romantic sort while Sora eats it up. Would you rather deal with one of them? I somehow doubt your answer will be an affirmative one," I told her, smirking myself. The pink from my cheeks had disappeared by now, and I thanked my body for its mercy in keeping the signs of my embarrassment to a minimum.

"That's true... I can't even imagine how odd our relationship would be if you acted like Chrysalis does most of the time... I don't even think I want to imagine it, now that I dwell on it more," Polly remarked, her tone slightly teasing even if my youngest sister wasn't present to witness it.

"Be happy she's not here to hear you say that, Polly. I mean, I don't think she'd get openly upset, but I feel like she would have a few snarky remarks on hand in case you crossed any lines," I reminded her. If there was one thing I knew my youngest sister to be, it was sarcastic when provoked. This wasn't her starting stage or anything, and it takes a while to rile her up, but she can be brutally sarcastic when she wants to be. Perhaps her not being there was more of a blessing than I thought.

Polly chuckled in response. "What's she going to do? Take out my kneecaps? I seem to recall that she's too short to really do much aside from talk big," she told me. I have to admit, it was nicer than I expected to see her smile after she had just been talking about how much she hated being in the detention center. I couldn't blame her for hating the environment, but I wanted her to be happy at least once or twice despite the overall bitter experience. That would make the whole thing at least a tad more bearable.

I couldn't help the laugh that forced its way out of my lips. "Perhaps. You never know what's going on in that head of hers," I told her.

"I've been working with her for a while, and I still think she's impossible to read... She's constantly analyzing people, like she's finding weaknesses or something... I have to wonder if she can poke holes in my defenses as well... I mean, I say that acting as if I have concrete defenses, which I really don't, but... Oh, whatever. Once again, you know what I mean," Victoria said, rambling on briefly before turning her attention downwards.

I couldn't help but think about how correct Victoria was in Chrysalis being hard to read. Victoria was the only member of the agency at that point who didn't know the truth about how tied in all of us were with the Oracle project. Victoria didn't have the slightest clue what Chrysalis was thinking about since she had never been told the reason Chrysalis is so quiet and isolated. One of these days, we would have to tell her, but until then, I was content to keep her out of it. I didn't want to drag her in prematurely, especially when she didn't understand the legal system much quite yet anyways. She was getting better, don't get me wrong, but it would put unnecessary strain on her when she was already trying to adapt to a different country as it was.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when my phone suddenly rang. The sharp beeping made me jump in surprise, and I pulled the small device responsible from my pocket. It was a number I didn't recognize, pulling a frown out of me. "Who could this be?" I asked quietly.

"Show the number," Polly instructed, back to serious mode quickly as could be. At her direction, I turned around my phone to give her a view of who it was, but she shrugged and shook her head. "I don't know who it is. Sorry."

"I'm afraid I don't either," Victoria frowned. "Do you think you're going to pick it up? I wouldn't blame you for ignoring it given how many spam calls we get."

I hesitated before looking at my phone. The ringing had echoed three times now, and I knew the number was going to do disconnect automatically in a few seconds if I didn't make up my mind. My head spun for a few seconds before I tapped the area of the screen that would have me picking up the call. I held the device up to my ear, hiding my nervous swallow to the best of my ability. "Um... Hello? Who is this?" I asked, though the answer from the other side wasn't immediate.

When the person on the other end did realize I had picked up, they let out a gasp. "I'm glad you picked up... Greetings, Mr. Morix. It's been a while since we last spoke," the person on the other end said.

It didn't take me long to recognize the voice after hearing the first few words. I was immediately happy I had picked up. "Prosecutor Daegana!" I exclaimed. Of all the people I could have expected, he was far from being at the top of the list. I didn't even know how he could have gotten my number. I decided to start there in my questions. "I don't understand. How did you get my phone number?"

"Prosecutor Lin was nice enough to give it to me when I said I wanted to get into contact with you," Prosecutor Daegana replied. "I was wondering... Are you doing anything pressing at the moment? I heard you were in the middle of an investigation, but I still figured I would ask."

I looked around the room, thinking over what we had to do later in the day as part of our investigation. We had to find Ms. Quell to ask her if she knew anything else about the case and then go back to the agency to see if the others had figured anything else out. We didn't have too much to do aside from that. I wouldn't have said we weren't busy by any stretch of the imagination, but we probably had a little bit of time to spare if he thought the issue was pressing. Why would he find a way to call me if it wasn't important somehow? I couldn't think of an explanation for it.

"Um... We could probably find a way to talk to you if you really needed to see us," I finally answered. "What makes you ask? Did something happen?"

"Nothing in particular happened... I simply have to ask you if you could drop by the Prosecutor's Office to talk to me. I have discovered something important that I think you might want to hear about, and I think it would be best if we went over it sooner rather than later," Prosecutor Daegana replied. "If you would be available to come and see me today, I could tell you about something new that I discovered. I get the feeling you will find it interesting. However, if you don't think you can come to visit, I suppose it could wait..."

Now my curiosity was starting to get the better of me. I knew the others couldn't hear what he was saying, but I shot them curious glances, which earned me a few strange looks. I ignored the odd gazes I received and focused on talking to Prosecutor Daegana. "No, don't worry about it. If you think it's important, then it must be. I trust your judgement fully. We'll head your way as soon as we get the chance to do so. Sorry we made you go through all the hoops and such to call me. I didn't realize you had any will to contact me again after the last time we spoke a few months ago," I told him, cringing at the realization that this must have been vital outside of the case if he asked Sora for help to find my number. He wasn't involved with the case, so it had to be something else, and in a way, that made his reaching out even scarier.

"It's alright. You don't need to worry," Prosecutor Daegana assured me. "If you don't mind, I would prefer it if you came alone with the people you are currently investigating with... I don't think now is the time to tell Anton about what I have learned in particular. I wish not to upset him given that he has enough on his plate as it is with the arrest of Prosecutor Burke. I'm sure you understand where I am coming from in saying this, yes?"

I nodded despite knowing Prosecutor Daegana could not see such a gesture. Anton got overwhelmed easily, and I didn't want to bother him when he was struggling enough as it was without Polly around. Adding in something else on top of that could very easily upset the delicate balance he had struck since she was taken in by the police, and I didn't want to see that fall apart. "Yes, of course," I told Prosecutor Daegana. "As soon as we get the chance to do so, we'll gladly come your way. If what you have to say is really this important, then I want to hear it as soon as possible. Give us an hour at most to come by. It shouldn't take us long to arrive."

"I appreciate your taking time to come and speak with me. I'll be looking forward to your arrival," Prosecutor Daegana said next. I could tell he was somewhat nervous, and I frowned to myself. What could have him so nervous? He hadn't ever been the best at talking to people as far as I was aware, but it still bothered me. "Until we meet again, Mr. Morix."

The other line went dead as Prosecutor Daegana hung up. I did the same before dropping my phone back into my pocket. I crossed my arms and sighed. "Well, Victoria, it seems like we have one more thing to add to our to-do list for today's investigation," I told her.

"What happened?" Victoria asked, curiosity showed clearly in her eyes. "What's going on?"

"Prosecutor Daegana was the one who called. He said that he found something that we should know about, and as far as I can tell, it's incredibly important. He seemed to think we should drop our previous investigations to go and see what was going on with him. I don't know what could have him so concerned with talking to us, but I do want to find out as soon as possible. I'm curious, to say the least," I explained. "As soon as we're finished here, we should go and talk to him. The sooner we can hear about this, the better, regardless of if it will openly benefit our case or not."

"He isn't involved with the case at hand or the investigation into the victim's disappearance at all. Whatever this is about, it has to be something else... Granted, I have no idea what it could be, but I don't think any of us have a clue," Polly frowned. "I mean, he's always been a bit of a weird character, something I'm sure you're fully aware of."

"Yeah, I know that for sure... I have to wonder what this is about, but I somehow doubt we'll get an easy answer until we go to see him," I remarked, shrugging gently. "I guess it's time for us to get ready to head out then. I would like to stay for longer, but... You know. Things to do, people to see."

"I get it," Polly assured me. "When we meet up again tomorrow to talk before the trial starts, you have to catch me up on what he tells you. I don't want to be kept in the dark for too long, but I somehow doubt you'll have the time to come back and talk to me about what you've learned because of the restrictive hours of the detention center. With that said, keep notes, because I'm going to be asking about it as soon as I get the chance to do so tomorrow."

I let out a small laugh. "Of course. I would never dream of keeping the full story from you," I told her. "I hope you'll be alright for the rest of the day. I know it can get incredibly lonely around here, and as much as I don't want to ditch you, we do have to take care of other things for the time being... Do forgive me, fair one."

"Keep the theatrics to a minimum, Cotoli," Polly scoffed, shaking her head. "As funny as it is to see you speak dramatically when it's so against your nature, it can get kind of freaky. Don't take that as an insult though, not that I expected you to. You're a smart one, and you know what I'm talking about."

"I do, as a matter of fact," I said, chuckling to myself again. "Well, if there are no further objections, I think it's time for us to get going. Is there anything else you want to tell us before we go to the Prosecutor's Office to see what Prosecutor Daegana wants to say?"

Polly paused for a moment, thinking through what we had discussed up to that point. Eventually, she finished pondering, and she shook her head. "No, there's nothing I can think of. I wish you luck for the rest of your investigation. You had better give me all the spicy details tomorrow. I have to look forward to the simple things when there's next to nothing for me to do around here," she said. "If you think I'm kidding about you taking notes, you will find out tomorrow that you're sorely mistaken."

I couldn't tell if she was joking about that, but I didn't want to ask her about it. Even if I didn't take notes, I would be able to tell her everything we learned, and she didn't care how she got her hands on the information so long as she heard about it. Instead of asking if she was kidding, I let out a laugh. "Don't worry about it, Polly. We'll tell you everything that we hear about," I assured her.

"You had better," Polly scoffed. It was becoming blatantly clear that she was joking around, trying to make her own entertainment since there was next to nothing else for her to do given her bleary surroundings. "I'll be counting on you to give me all the information possible, you know. Ghastly and Anton aren't going with you, and even if they were, I would want you to explain your findings instead of them. Anton gets overwhelmed easily, and Ghastly would probably find a way to fall asleep while talking. You know how he gets. I swear, I have no idea how he gets anything done given how much he sleeps."

"You aren't wrong there. At least he takes care of business at the end of the day. That's what matters most, right?" I asked.

Polly shook her head. "I mean, I guess... Whatever. That doesn't matter. We don't need to focus on Ghastly right now. You have other things to do, and I have to get back to my boring cell," she said, her sarcasm cutting and clear. "I'm counting on you to talk to me again tomorrow, alright? Until then, good luck."

Polly was escorted away soon after, and I waved as she left the room. I saw Victoria do the same out of the corner of my eye. Once Polly was gone, we turned to each other. I waited for Victoria to speak first, and lucky for me, she did. "Your dynamic is incredibly sweet," she started off.

I felt my cheeks flush at the unexpected comment. "I... Thank you, Victoria," I murmured, unsure of what else to do. She hadn't said much in the later stages of that conversation, but I didn't realize she was holding out because she was busy focusing on how Polly and I were interacting.

"No problem," Victoria grinned. The light in her eyes was clear, and I could tell she was excited. I must admit, I was not expecting that overwhelmingly positive reaction. "I didn't know you two were even together before, but now, I can see why you're a couple. You play off each other so well, and I can't help but wish I got to see you together more. I understand wanting to uphold a professional relationship and such, but I don't think you need to hold back if you want to be open with your affection. After all, everyone in the agency is so nice, and we're like one big, happy family. None of us would mind if you got lovey-dovey, especially since it's so sweet to watch."

I stammered wordlessly for much longer than I would have liked before sighing and shaking my head. "We can talk about that after we've found a clear culprit for this case. We have more important things to focus on before then. For one, we need to see Prosecutor Daegana, and after that, we still have to find Ms. Quell and hope our coworkers have figured out the truth behind that picture," I told her. I was using the case as an excuse to deflect the attention away from me, and I hoped Victoria didn't see it.

Even if she did notice it, Victoria conceded that I was right. "Okay, you have a point there... We don't need to stick around here any longer," she agreed. "We don't want to let down Prosecutor Burke, after all. Plus, if this is really so important, it will likely benefit us as well."

I thanked the universe internally for being merciful enough to shift Victoria's attention away from my love life. I nodded to her. "Of course. We have no reason to remain here, so I think it's time we headed out," I said.

I rose to my feet, and she did the same. We headed for the door of the detention center next, and not long after, we made our way outside fully. I let out a small sigh before starting towards the car. I couldn't help but wonder what Prosecutor Daegana had found, but even if I didn't know what it was yet, part of me knew it was going to change what I thought I knew forever.


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