May 31
Morix Law Offices
3:30 PM
Chrysalis Starr
When we arrived at the agency, I looked up at the building from outside with a heavy sigh. There were many ways that this could go, and I wasn't sure how I felt about any of them. I looked over to Cotoli, my hands clenched tightly into fists. "So, are we sure that this is a good idea?" I asked nervously.
"You know Victoria. You trust her. You were the one who came up with the idea to tell her about all of this in the first place," Cotoli reminded me gently. "It's okay to be nervous. I'm sure it's just your anxiety coming out of nowhere to pester you as it usually does."
"You know my anxiety way too well," I said with a laugh tinged in bitterness. "I don't know how I should feel about that, but I'm not exactly surprised. We're both anxious messes, but at least we can be anxious messes together. That's what family is all about, right?"
Cotoli let out a chuckle at that comment before leading me over towards the door to the agency. He took hold of the handle and opened it for me. I murmured thanks to him before walking inside and approaching the elevator. I pressed the button for it and waited. A few seconds later, the silvery doors slid open, and we both stepped inside. I poked the appropriate button once again, and the doors gently shut with a light whirring sound. With that, the elevator began to ascend.
"You know, it's been so long since I actually told somebody of my own accord," I muttered. "I mean, Neptune kind of dragged it out of me because that's just how she is. Mr. Blocker figured it out and forced me to tell him. The rest of the people I told were involved from the very start. This is truly uncharted territory for me, huh?"
"Yeah. It is," Cotoli said simply. "But that doesn't mean that you should be scared of it. After all, we're telling her about this because we trust her and want to understand why she's part of our team in the first place. This is a sign of good faith. Victoria isn't going to betray us like Cormous did."
"I know deep down that you're right, but you know how intrusive thoughts work. 'Everything is going to go wrong, and then the world will end in a plume of fire that says you should have made better life choices!' You know, the whole shebang," I told him, unable to tell myself if I was kidding or not. It really could have gone either way, and I wasn't sure what to think of it.
"That's not going to happen. Deep breaths," Cotoli said, taking my hand and squeezing it gently. "We trust each other here. We're here to support one another. Support means not stabbing people in the back. Nothing bad is going to happen. Victoria is going to understand, and everything will be okay. I promise."
I did my best to internalize his words as I walked into the room and out of the elevator. My hands were still clenched tightly into fists, and if not for my gloves, my nails probably would have made indents in my skin. I had to practically force myself to pry my hands out of their tightened state, putting on an expression of neutrality when I saw my coworkers standing in the room.
Lily, Deirdre, Yuri, and Victoria all got to their feet after hearing us enter, and they smiled brightly in our direction. "I'm glad to see that you got here okay," Lily commented, gesturing for us to come closer. "How did your meeting with Prosecutor Burke go?"
Cotoli answered this question for me. "I'd say that it went rather well. She took the information well, and nothing went horribly wrong, so I'm going to call that a victory. Perhaps that's a bold thing to say, but I believe that it fits in this situation," he explained.
"I'm glad to hear it," Yuri grinned. "So, what's the plan now? Do we have something important to discuss?"
"Judging by the solemn look on Chrysalis' face, I would say yes," Deirdre said. I jolted out of my thoughts at being referenced, turning pink when I realized all eyes were on me. I hated being the center of attention, though that was fitting for a spy, so I suppose it all came together full circle in the end.
"She always looks like that," Yuri pointed out. "She has what I like to call resting sad face, and it makes her look serious all the time. If anything, we should be impressed when she doesn't have that expression on her face. Maybe it deserves applause or something."
"Now really isn't the time to be speaking like that," I sighed, though I knew that I was just proving her point. Judging by the smirk that appeared on her face when I said it, she knew I was doing that too. I decided to ignore it, shaking my head and walking over to the couch before plopping down on it. Cotoli sat down next to me, and we watched as the other four took their seats as well.
"What is it you wanted to talk about?" Victoria asked. She glanced around the room, fiddling with her thumbs nervously. "It sounded rather serious when you brought it up after the trial came to an end. Am I the only one worried about this?"
"We're all concerned in our own ways," I murmured. That was true. Victoria was worried about what we were hiding, but the rest of us were more concerned with how she was going to react hearing that she was hired to join a spy group trying to get rid of legal corruption. That's not something you hear everyday. "But that's not the point right now. We have something to tell you, and we need you to listen up, because it's really important."
Victoria only seemed to grow more tense at this, and she swallowed nervously before speaking. "Alright... If it's really so important, go on and tell me... What's going on?" she asked.
"There's another reason you were brought into this agency aside from your skills as a lawyer. We wish to discuss this reason with you now," Cotoli began. "We personally believe this is vital to your future performance as a member of the agency, so we want to get it out of the way sooner rather than later. You have proven that you're trustworthy, so you're more than entitled to this information now. Now that all of our other business has been taken care of, we have time to sit down and discuss it in full."
"It sounds like this is a big deal, whatever it is... Why else would you wait until we had nothing else to do to bring it up?" Victoria asked. I could hear her voice shaking slightly from fear, and I felt my fingers clench into fists again. This was not going to be easy. I had been doing this work for ages now, but I still couldn't figure out how to tell somebody about it? I really needed to fix that in case we ever hired any future employees.
"Because it's something that highly involves something dangerous maybe," I murmured, relief washing through me when I realized that nobody had heard me. There was no point in scaring her further when she seemed freaked out enough as it was.
"First off, I have to ask... Do you know anything about the Oracle of the Law?" Cotoli questioned, somehow keeping a cool front despite how serious the subject matter was. I had no idea how he was pulling this off. He was prone to panicking, but he was somehow holding himself together. Was this character development?
"I've heard a little bit," Victoria frowned. "They're a spy in this city focused on exposing corruption. Nobody knows who their true identity is. I haven't really thought too much about them though. I know some people are really curious about it, but I don't think it matters all that much to me. They aren't going to have a huge impact on me, right?"
"You would be surprised," Deirdre remarked with a small chuckle. "But I don't think it's my place to say something like that."
"What do you mean?" Victoria asked, panic seeping into her tone once again. "You guys are speaking in riddles, and to be perfectly honest, it's starting to freak me out."
"You don't need to be scared. Take a deep breath," Cotoli told her, repeating the same advice he had given me when we were in the elevator. "We're going to tell you all that we know about the Oracle of the Law because we think it's important that you hear all of this information. After all, you have plans to work here at the agency well into the future, right?"
"Alright," Victoria said. She leaned back, placing her hands on her lap as she examined us carefully. However, I could see the tension in her shoulders, and I felt bad for freaking her out so much. It was necessary if she was going to be part of our team, and she deserved to know why Cormous had wanted to infiltrate the agency to begin with. Besides, she had been wrapped up with that mess just as much as the rest of us, so she was justified in hearing the truth. It would be wrong of us to hide it from her any longer than we already had.
"The Oracle of the Law is a spy who sneaks around the legal system to expose corruption to the public. They drag dark dealings into the light, and when the media catches wind of it, the corruption is forced to be acknowledged. Many people responsible for illegal activities have been caught up in this whirlwind along the way, and for the most part, they lost their jobs due to their negative influences," Cotoli began to explain. "Cormous wanted to get into the agency to know more about what we know regarding Oracle."
"That information must be pretty important then," Victoria murmured. "How much do you guys know exactly? It sounds like there's a lot that you're aware of."
"We know everything there is to know about Oracle," I said, forcing myself to release the tension in my fists. "That's why we want to talk to you about it. If you're going to work here, you need to know what we're aware of."
"Alright... In that case, go right ahead," Victoria told us, though I could still sense her uncertainty.
"For starters, we are fully aware of the identity of the Oracle of the Law," Cotoli started.
"What?!" Victoria yelped. "I don't know much about them, but... I do know for sure that their identity isn't public. How could you possibly have such information at your disposal? It would make sense why Cormous would want to sneak in here if you know that..."
"We know because we're involved with them," Lily explained. "We're all part of the Oracle's group that exposes corruption in the legal world, and you were brought into the agency to join as well."
Victoria's face held an expression that I didn't know how to decipher. It was a blend of confusion, shock, and hurt that we hadn't told her about it sooner. She didn't say anything, and I took her silence as a cue that she wanted us to continue.
"The Oracle of the Law is not exactly one person. There's a sole person leading the group, sure, but they're not alone. A lot of others are gathered behind them with hopes to aid them in exposing all of this corruption. We all stand behind the founder of the project to find the truth," Deirdre told Victoria next. "We were invited to join the agency for this reason."
"Oracle needed some help with working out how to expose corruption well into the future. The original group only had eight members, and while that's all fine and dandy, eight people can't expose all the corruption in the legal world. We were hired to join the agency to help expose that corruption as sidebar members of the group," Yuri continued.
"We were seen as trustworthy to know the truth behind Oracle. At first, our integrity was being assessed, but once we were seen as ready to hear the truth, we were told. We hadn't brought it up until now because you were being tested from afar," Lily said. "So, that means that you get to hear the truth since you've been seen as trustworthy. You've passed the little test of sorts."
"I'm glad that I passed the test, but... Wow," Victoria murmured. "If you were hired to join in the project and help to expose corruption, then that means that the agency was involved when you first showed up. The agency must have a connection to the original eight members of the Oracle project, right?"
"You're correct," Cotoli nodded. "Two members of the agency were part of the original eight who founded the Oracle project years ago. Everyone else here was dragged in later on to help to expose corruption when other assistance was required. You will fall into the latter group after this conversation ends. Consider this a small ceremony to swear you in as a member of the Oracle group and as an official member of the agency."
Victoria nodded slowly, and I could tell she was taking a while to process all this. "Okay... I get it... I think," she said softly. "If you don't mind my assumption... Were these people Mr. Morix and Chrysalis? As far as I can tell, those two were around from the very start."
"Right again," I told her, speaking up for the first time since this revealing conversation began. "We were the ones who established this place years ago, so it had to be us. We were also two of the founding members of the Oracle of the Law project. Cotoli got the idea to reach out to get more people in on it to aid us in reaching our goals, and after he got it cleared with the leader, he went for it."
"Who gave him that clearance then?" Victoria asked quickly. "Who is the leader of the Oracle project? That's what this whole conversation seems to be building up to."
"You're bright," I remarked. "That is what it's all coming up to."
Victoria glanced back and forth between everyone in the room, biting her lip nervously. "Then... Who is it?" she inquired, her gaze eventually falling on Deirdre and Yuri.
"I don't think we have a right to say," Deirdre suddenly cut in. "After all, the leader herself should be the one to tell you. When we found out, we discovered the truth against her wishes. She should explain her motivations to you herself since she was deprived of that power in the past."
Victoria didn't seem to get it yet, so while she was trying to figure it out, she glanced around the room in confusion. "Then... Who is it? Don't hold out on me," she said, panic starting to seep into her voice once again.
"It's great to have you on board. Welcome to the Oracle project. I'm your leader, the aforementioned Oracle. It's a pleasure to have someone new join in on the chaos," I said with a small smirk, extending my hand out towards Victoria.
The shock on her face was incredible. I wish I had a camera to capture the exact moment that it hit her, because it was exactly the sort of dramatic reaction I expected. Victoria stared at me, her eyes wide as her gaze flickered back and forth between my eyes and extended hand. In the end, she decided to look at my face as she spoke. "It's... It's you?! No way!" she exclaimed.
"It is me. Yes way," I answered with a small shrug. "If you think about it, it's easy to put the pieces together based on what Deirdre said a moment ago. We already mentioned that there were two people at this agency who were founding members of the Oracle project. It was also stated that those two people are me and my brother. Deirdre started to use feminine pronouns when referring to Oracle, and I believe I'm the only one out of us two founding members from the agency who fits the bill there."
"I-I get that much, but... This is crazy! You can't actually mean that you were involved in all that stuff. I don't know what I expected when I thought about the truth behind Oracle, but... I suppose I suspected it would be somebody a bit older. After all, you lead a spy group centered on getting rid of corruption, and that's not exactly the sort of burden that you would expect to be found on the shoulders of a teenager," Victoria said, her words coming out so quickly that they began to blur together.
"I suppose I see where you're coming from there, but... Regardless, you've got the truth now. You were hired at the agency because my brother thought that you would be a good fit for our group. You don't seem to value corrupted processes at all, and I doubt that will change anytime soon. A lot has happened recently, and if you're still with us... I figured that you deserved to know the truth," I told her.
"I still can't believe it... This is crazy. I know that you wouldn't lie about something like this, but... Wow. I think I'm going to be in shock for a while until this actually settles in, and when it does... I just have a lot to think about. I'm glad I'm sitting down, because I would probably need to if I wasn't already sitting," Victoria remarked, letting out a nervous laugh as she rubbed at the back of her neck.
"I'm glad that you didn't lose your mind fully when we told you," I commented with a small snort. "I haven't ever told anybody this of my own free will, so I didn't know what I was supposed to expect. Luckily, you seemed to have been able to keep your cool, though I can't really tell for sure. I mean, you look really pale, and I get the feeling you're going to be thinking about this and everything that it means for quite some time after this conversation ends."
"That's putting it lightly," Victoria laughed. "I can't tell anybody about this, right? I've heard enough about Oracle from the general media and here today to know that this has to be a secret, so... I'm going to have to make sure this stays quiet, right?"
"Exactly. You can't tell anybody unless we give you clearance to tell them. If too many people find out, it will cause problems. If you want to tell somebody, we have to know them first, and we need to trust them too. We can't go handing this information out willy-nilly, because it will cause problems down the line. It will put somebody in danger," Cotoli told her sternly. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, placing it on the headrest of the couch we were sitting on together. Judging by the way he looked at me out of the corner of his eye every few seconds, it was easy to see who he was talking about, not that I needed confirmation anyways. I knew how protective he could get in times like these.
"I'm going to feel bad I can't tell my boyfriend about this, but if it's really so crucial that I not say anything, then I'll figure out a way to not feel guilty over it. After all, it isn't worth putting somebody in danger just to feel comfortable, you know?" Victoria prompted. Her fingers rubbed up against each other, and she didn't seem to be able to sit still. Her nerves were clear as day, and while part of me felt bad for putting her in this situation in the first place, I knew this had to be done sooner or later. The sooner it was taken care of, the better. The sooner she was told, the sooner she could get out there and help us fix this broken system.
"Maybe you could introduce us to him. We would have to get to know him really well and be sure that he would be okay to tell, but it could happen," Cotoli said, trying to give her some hope. "It isn't that we don't trust you, but we need to double check and be absolutely sure that telling somebody is a good idea. After all, it would be incredibly bad if somebody found out when they shouldn't have access to this information. It's caused issues in the past, and it would cause issues in the future too."
"I'll think about it, but I don't know how comfortable he would be here. He's not exactly the best at dealing with most people, and he's rather shy," Victoria began to explain. "I don't want to force him out of his shell only to shove him into this not long afterwards. I feel like it would all move a bit too fast for him, so I believe that keeping him in the dark is the best option. I'm sure I won't feel like I'm lying to him after I get used to keeping this secret... I'll just need some time to adjust."
"Everyone needed time to adjust when they first heard about it, so don't feel bad," Lily assured her. "I know that I had a lot of thinking to do when I heard the full explanation. Leading up to that point, Yuri, Deirdre, and I had been investigating Oracle and wondering who could possibly be behind it all. When we finally got the truth, it was surprising, to say the least. Chrysalis really is the type of person that you wouldn't suspect for being a spy, you know?"
"That's me. I'm the least suspicious person to ever exist. In fact, finding me suspicious is a crime, so I'm going to have to arrest you if you think I'm up to something," I muttered, a small smirk appearing on my face at the snarky comment. "I'm as innocent as they come, you know."
Victoria let out a laugh, the tension in her shoulders disappearing at the joke. "I'm glad to know that you're still the same person. I feel like I knew it deep down, but I was still worried. I mean, this is a pretty large departure from what I'm used to, and I suppose I was concerned," she said. "I'm sure everything will go back to normal soon, and when it does, I'll feel a lot better about everything that I've learned here today."
"You get used to it after a while. I'm sure that it won't bother you as much after you've been exposed to it for quite some time," Yuri told her with a shrug. "I know it shook me up when I first found out, but I got used to it after being in this environment all the time."
"For the most part, the work that you'll be doing will be the same. You've already been helping to get rid of people who have been causing problems just by being part of the agency. Now, you have an official name to what you'll be doing. There's not that much of a difference, so I'm sure that you'll get used to it soon enough," Lily said next. "In all honesty, we really don't talk about the project in detail while we're here, but it's probably for the best that you're aware of it in case we do need to have a talk about it in between cases."
"I'm glad to hear that we won't be focusing on this too much... As cool as it is to hear about, I feel like it would probably freak me out if we discussed it all the time. After all, I don't know much about the Oracle project from my prior experiences, but I do know that it can be incredibly dangerous, and I don't want us to be at risk," Victoria sighed in relief.
"You don't need to worry. Everything is going to be fine. If you're careful and keep discussion regarding it minimal, you'll be okay. We have everything under control, and I doubt that's going to change anytime soon," Yuri assured her. "Now, do you have any other questions? Now would be the time to ask them."
Victoria paused for a moment, fiddling her hands together as she considered the question. In the end, she spoke a few seconds later. "Why did you create the Oracle project in the first place? I'm sure that there's a reason why you would go to such lengths to eliminate corruption in the legal system," she said.
"There was a reason. It's a rather basic concept, but it got us started on the path to change, and that's all that we really needed here," I began. "Basically, a few key cases from the past were left unsolved, and they were never picked up again to find the full truth. Corrupted figures allowed cases to be dropped, leaving many people wanting justice with no way to reach it. We didn't like that, so we decided to do something about it."
"An important case to us both was never solved. We tried to push for it to be picked up once again, but it never was. We decided to jump into action to stop that from happening in the future. We wanted justice, and we knew that others valued it in similar situations. We decided to stand up for the people who don't have a voice in the current system to get rid of those in power who are abusing their abilities to reach their own ends," Cotoli continued. "They were blocking the truth from coming to light and focusing on their own goals without thinking of how it could negatively impact other people."
"I see... I have to say, I never thought about it like that. I mean, I knew that the legal system wasn't perfect, but I haven't been here very long to study it in detail. After all, I lived in Germany up until recently, so I haven't had very long to examine the legal system over here to recognize its assets and flaws," Victoria remarked.
"The short version is that we couldn't trust the legal system to fix itself on its own. Over the years, the corruption was only growing deeper, and nothing was being done to fix it thanks to those in power abusing the power that was bestowed upon them by their positions. We decided to act to fix it since nobody else was going to step up," I paraphrased.
"That makes sense. If you lost faith in the legal system to that degree, then it's understandable that you would go to such ends," Victoria nodded. "Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me all about this. I really do appreciate it."
"Thank you for being so receptive to what we had to say. I know that it's probably jarring to hear so much information like this at once," Cotoli commented, letting out a small laugh. "If you have any other questions, feel free to ask them tomorrow. It's getting a bit late, so we should probably head our separate ways. A lot has happened in the past few days, and I feel like we could all use some rest after this mess."
"Oh, I could certainly use some extra sleep! I wasn't even part of the main defense team on this case, and I'm already sick of dealing with it. I don't know if I would have been able to get through this case with my sanity intact if I was on the main team," Yuri declared. She got to her feet and stretched her arms over her head. "I'm sure Lily and Deirdre feel the same."
"I know I'm exhausted after all this," Victoria laughed, rising to her feet. "Thank you again for telling me all of this. I really do appreciate it. I promise not to let you down. You trusted me enough to bring me into this, so I can't disappoint you now!"
"I'm glad to see you're so enthusiastic, but don't tire yourself out. You've been up to a lot as of late," Chrysalis smirked. "We've got other work to take care of later on, and I don't want you exhausted when the time comes to finish that off."
"Understood," Victoria nodded. "I'm sure that you two have some discussion points to go over after all this too, so everybody needs their own space. Until we meet again, I hope that you all have a nice day. I can't wait to see where the future leads us. I'm glad to be part of this agency family, and I have no intentions of leaving it anytime soon. That much you can rely on for sure!"
Before I knew what was happening, I found myself in a group hug with the rest of the members of the agency. I enjoyed it a lot more than I would have expected. Maybe I didn't hate human contact as much as I once thought.
After we pulled away, we bid each other a good evening and headed our separate ways. Well, everybody else headed their separate ways. I stayed where I was alongside Cotoli, and we watched as the elevator doors slid shut, causing our companions to disappear from sight as a result.
"You did good today," Cotoli commented once we were in silence, nudging me gently with his shoulder.
"I know," I murmured, a small smile on his face. "And I'm glad I did."
I typed this while ignoring my English homework oops
-Digital
