November 22

Blackgate Hospital

2:45 PM

Yuri Rinko

Our arrival at the hospital was, admittedly, something that bothered me. I felt as if I wasn't going to be able to concentrate no matter how hard I tried, and I spent our entire walk up the stairs to the proper floor fidgeting excessively. I couldn't figure out how to keep myself from getting stressed about the whole situation, so I eventually opted for simply counting the tiles of the floor that I passed over. It didn't do much to help my stress levels, but it at least gave me something else to concentrate on.

This case had thrown us one curve ball after another up to this point, I had to confess. I had no way of seeing this coming in the beginning, though I suppose that none of us would have known that it was going to end this way. We were simply walking towards what we assumed was the truth, and then we uncovered something that changed the way that we had been looking at everything. Mr. Morix had taken the original identification card and created a copy that likely seemed far more realistic and wouldn't be found out as a fake. After all, Eileen Liyle never existed in the first place, and keeping that secret had to be his first priority.

In a way, such a duty had fallen to all of us. We knew that we were being dragged into something large the second that we started to associate with Oracle, and there was no way for us to go back after having come so far. I wasn't entirely sure about how I was supposed to feel about it, if I was being honest. The idea that the victim and witness were the same person, and Oracle's aliases on top of that, was dizzying to me. It certainly wasn't a twist that I had seen coming from the start of the case.

And yet, it made all too much sense. It was why Ms. Liyle was able to get into the agency. She was just another fragment of Oracle's cohesive identity, and that meant that she was able to share all of the perks that the other dimensions had. Getting into the agency was pathetically easy for someone as heavily involved with it as she was. She had been given a method to enter the building from the start, and it seemed blatantly obvious looking back that this was the picture that the situation painted. Chrysalis' notable absence throughout the investigation should have given me a clue, and I couldn't help but wish that I had asked a few more questions about where she had been throughout all of this.

Still, there wasn't anything that we could do about it. We couldn't change the past, so we would just have to press on and do what we could to solve the case with what we already had at our disposal. The victim and witness were the same person, and they had both been aiming to drag the truth out of the culprit. The one responsible for the attack was still unknown, and that duty to discovery fell to both myself and the others on the defense team. We had to figure out who the man with white hair was in truth. I wished that I had more answers for all of this, but I was tragically lacking in it.

"After we talk to her, we need to go and speak with Detective Umber. I don't know where she's going to be, but we have to try and track her down," Deirdre suddenly commented, snapping me out of my trance of counting hospital floor tiles. I figured out pretty quickly that the 'her' she was referring to was obviously Ms. Lesa, Ms. Liyle, and Chrysalis. You know, because they were all the same person. Heaven above, this was getting nauseating to think about. I was used to Oracle and all of the little intricacies that came with it, but some of it still frustrated me from time to time, if I was being perfectly honest.

"We'll have more than enough time for that," Victoria assured me when she saw the panic flicker across my face. "Besides, I doubt that we're going to be able to get much more out of the victim than we already have. She isn't going to be in much of a talking mood, especially given that this is what she specifically wanted to avoid having happen."

When we arrived at the room in question, I could see that Detective Wattson was standing outside. Detective Erikson was beside her. The two waved us over, and I walked over to them as soon as I could get through the busy hallway. It seemed that there were quite a few people either passing through the same area or attempting to speak with Ms. Liyle. I doubted that they would see much success given the circumstances, but I supposed that I couldn't fault them for trying.

"I had a feeling that I would see you two here," Mr. Morix commented, breaking his lengthy streak of silence that had started after we arrived back here. I could tell that all of this was putting significant pressure on him. Of course it was. He had worked so hard with Chrysalis to keep something like this from happening, and yet, there they were, forced to rely on outside parties when they had no choice in the matter.

Detective Erikson nodded. "She was awfully insistent in saying that she wanted the two of us to stand outside her room for at least the first few hours. After a while, we agreed to it. Detective Umber wound up offering to take over for us at the scene of the crime. While I don't know how to respond to something like that, I will say that I'm glad that she did come forward. It certainly gives us an added bit of time so that we can come here and look after the witness," he replied.

"Of course she would want to trust those two," I murmured, closing my eyes in thought. It made all too much sense that Chrysalis would aim for having two familiar figures look after her. She had always been wary of the legal system despite her attempts to change it. She wouldn't trust the system with anything, only ever placing her faith in individuals who had proven themselves worthy of it. Detective Erikson and Detective Wattson were people that she was more than familiar with, so it was natural that she would prefer having them present throughout the remainder of the investigation.

"We're here to speak with the victim, as a matter of fact," Deirdre told the two detectives. I pulled myself out of my musings to see that she had taken a step closer to address them directly. "We have a few questions to ask her about all that has taken place."

"You can go inside," Detective Wattson told us, a light smile appearing on her face. "As far as I know, she's alright with having you four as visitors. She was pretty clear about saying that she didn't want many people to visit her, but when we brought up you all... Well, let's just say that she didn't protest anywhere near as much."

I gave a brief glance over in Victoria's direction, and she returned the favor a few moments later. This was all starting to make so much sense, and I almost hated the fact that we hadn't caught sooner all over again. I told myself to stop focusing on the past a moment later, and I concentrated on the creaking of the hinges as the door to the room was pushed open. A few moments later, I was walking into the room, and I was vaguely aware of Detective Erikson wishing us the best before the door was pulled shut a few moments later.

I glanced over to the bed and saw that Ms. Lesa was stretched out on the mattress at the center of the room. Her tapping fingers made it clear that this was the last place that she wanted to be, but she did her best to shelve her upset when she noticed that she had company. Her expression slipped into something detached and passive, and I realized with growing bitterness that this was a mask that Chrysalis wore often when she was particularly unhappy about something. The light brown hair and glasses made all too much sense too, and I hated that she was a good enough actor to keep us from figuring it out until the moment was right. It would have spared us a lot of work even if it went against her wishes.

"Nice to see you four," Ms. Lesa said simply, her voice monotone and low. She wasn't safe enough to drop the facade, and I could tell that she wasn't going to be removing the mask until well after the case had been resolved and left in the past.

"How are you doing?" Victoria questioned. She retrieved a chair from where it was sitting up against the wall before pushing it over to Ms. Lesa's beside and sitting down.

Ms. Lesa let out a small snort. "As well as I can be," she replied. She wasn't even trying to act like a different person at this point, and even though her vocal patterns were slightly different for the sake of maintaining the illusion for the world at large, pieces of Chrysalis were starting to shine through. She gestured to her leg, and I noticed that it had been propped up on a pair of pillows. The length was covered in white bandages with a few speckles of red. "The damn cut reopened a while ago. Somehow, it hurts even more now than it did before."

"Can you tell us about what happened during the crime?" Deirdre asked, her voice intense but still caring. "We want to do everything that we can to help you, but we're going to need as many details as possible in order to make significant progress."

Ms. Lesa looked away, refusing to meet any of our eyes. "I... I was going to the agency early because I had to pick something up. I was going to be doing work outside of the building for the day developing my skills. The item in question isn't important at this point, so there's no reason to go snooping for it, but if you really want to know, it was a book," she began. "I didn't notice that anybody was behind me until after we were inside the agency, and then he attacked. He slashed at my leg so that I couldn't escape. That was after he cornered me. From there, he put his hands on my throat, and... Well, you can imagine what happened after that."

"But he only knocked you unconscious instead of actually killing you," Victoria concluded. Out of the corner of my vision, I saw Mr. Morix shudder at the implication, and I bit down on my lip anxiously on his behalf.

Ms. Lesa nodded her response. "Yeah. He never bothered to come back and check that I was actually gone, so he just packed up and left. I guess that he didn't want to risk being found. He left me there though, so if you ask me, he was trying to do something with my supposed body. Maybe he was hoping that the one arrested for it would be from the agency. Well, he certainly succeeded on that front," she snorted.

"Do you know of any other details on the matter?" I asked. "You know, other notable features about him such as clothing or small markings. Anything could help at this point. The prosecution is surely doing everything that they can to figure out who did this, but we can use all of the details that we can get, you know?"

Ms. Lesa hesitated before shaking her head. "If I noticed anything, it left my mind the instant that I passed out. I have a few flashing images in my head, but it's kind of hard to retain information when you're trying not to die of strangulation, you know?" she replied. Her voice remained dry and sarcastic, though I knew that it wasn't aimed directly at any of us. Instead, it was frustration targeted at the one who had gone out of their way to attack her in the first place. This was the last thing that any of us could have expected to happen, and it certainly wasn't sitting well with anybody involved with the case.

"At least you'll be able to figure out who did it if you see a picture. I'm willing to call that a benefit for sure," Victoria pointed out. "We might not have any ideas right now, but there has to be a way for the truth to come to light. If the prosecution can find the picture of the man, then that should make everything much easier for us."

"We'll just have to see. Maybe they'll come by later and say that they want me to check out a series of pictures," Ms. Lesa responded with a loose shrug. She looked down to her leg once again. "I swear, I want to get my revenge on him for all that he did to mess up my leg. I've been running on adrenaline for the past few days, but the second that it ran out, everything just started to hurt. It's been hard to walk on... No major muscles or veins were hit, but the pain was still enough to bug me. I mean, the injury is on my calf, so that's kind of necessary in order to move around, you know?"

"I guess that he accomplished his goal on that front," Deirdre murmured. "For now, we're going to trust your judgement when you say that you're going to be able to identify him when push comes to shove. That's all that we really have right now. I just hope that nothing bad happens while we're waiting for the trial to come tomorrow. Now is certainly our most vulnerable period of the case yet."

"And that's exactly why I didn't want this to happen," Ms. Lesa sighed. "There are all sorts of scoundrels both in and out of the police force. If somebody tries to break in here, I'm not going to have anywhere to run. I was hoping to act as bait to get the culprit out here to show their face, but I don't want to be the bait when I have no safety net. I want the man to come out of the shadows, not kill me the second that nobody is looking. I know that this was the only way for you to uncover the truth behind the case because the culprit didn't show himself again, but... Damn it, I just wish that he could have crawled out of his hole. I wanted to be the one to pin him down. I don't know why this happened, but I wanted to at least fix it for my own peace of mind."

"I guess that we're just going to have to beat the culprit at his own game before he can do anything else," I pointed out. "If he's going to be the source of all our issues, then we'll fight back in every way that we know how. Besides, all of this fuss has got to be more than enough to get the culprit's attention, so we're just going to have to use that to our advantage. Let's watch as he comes out of the shadows because of the way that this case has been going."

"The fact that he's been so notably absent is concerning, to say the least," Deirdre murmured. "I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that he holds no true connection to the victim outside of the crime. He didn't have a reason to reach out to her before all of this started, and even with the investigation underway, he's trying to keep his distance as much as possible."

"It certainly wouldn't surprise me, but I don't know why any of this is happening," Ms. Lesa said quietly. "Nobody should have wanted to do anything like this. It just doesn't make sense. If he suspected something of me, then you would have anticipated him to go somewhere larger. There really isn't a reason to attack when there would be other more effective methods to taking me out of the picture of whatever grand design he thought I was going to interfere in."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. When Ms. Lesa turned to me, I frowned and looked down at the ground. Recognition bloomed across my face a few moments later. "Ah, I get it... You mean that if he thought that you were a certain someone, he wouldn't have wasted his time going after you directly. It would have been a lot easier to simply expose you to the media instead of following through with this plot that wouldn't have made it clear to anybody who you were or what you were trying to do." I didn't mention it openly, but the way that I stared pointedly at Ms. Lesa made it clear that 'a certain someone' was Oracle in my predictions. I got the feeling that she was able to tell either way, and her face remained passive all the way through my miniature declaration.

"That's what I'm thinking about too... There has to be another reason for all of this happening. I don't know what it is, but the culprit has to be doing this for another reason that we aren't aware of right now," Ms. Lesa replied with a nod of agreement. She reached one hand up to touch at her throat, and I realized that she was still trying to hide her face to the best of her ability. I had to confess that it certainly made sense given the circumstances. After all, she was trying to keep her true identity a secret while still pulling both Detective Erikson and Detective Wattson in closer so that they could keep an eye on her. To say the least, this was a stressful series of events, and I was glad that it wasn't me at the heart of it. I wouldn't have been able to take all the pressure from various sources.

"If the culprit has a motive outside of what we thought, something involved with Oracle, then what could it possibly be?" Victoria questioned. "We've been operating all this time under the assumption that the culprit was doing this because he managed to figure something out that he shouldn't have. Granted, we didn't know how he would have accomplished such a thing given the circumstances, but we thought about it anyways... I wonder why all of this happened if that wasn't at all a factor in the attack. It doesn't seem to me like it was part of the mindset that went into all of this, so just what was the culprit's reasoning for leading an attack this way?"

"I have no idea," Mr. Morix confessed. "But I can say that there were minimal options in the matter as far as what we could do. The identification card that was left at the scene of the crime at first was a temporary one that we were only using until a better one could be created. It was false, and it was clear at only a first glance that there was something off about it. We had to go into overdrive to make sure that nobody found out about everything that had been taking place behind the scenes of this case. Just trust us when we say that there was a lot more to it than anyone could have expected."

"The culprit is the real person to blame for all of this," I announced boldly. "He definitely needs to be knocked down a few pegs. I just wish that I had any ideas at all about where to start as far as showing him what we're made of is concerned. We don't even know what his name is, and the details that we have on his physical appearance are minimal. I guess that all we can do now is hope with everything we have that the prosecution is able to come through for us and say that they found a lead in their own investigation."

"The fact that the victim and culprit don't know each other has to be important. We know for sure that there's no connection between them, and that feels incredibly significant," Deirdre pointed out. "We simply need to figure out why the culprit would want to go after her in the first place. It's a strange line that we walk here, but we have to see if we can pin down a motive. Even if we find the culprit, we aren't going to be able to get him to confess until we can find proof that he would have wanted to do something this awful to the victim. We need something that ties them together."

"But we can't do that unless we can figure out who the culprit is," I sighed throwing my hands up into the air before slamming them down against my head. I shook my head with a groan of frustration that seemed to echo in the hospital room. "I don't get any of this! It feels like we should have more of a lead than this by now, but instead, all that we really know is the general physical appearance of the culprit!"

"He hasn't returned to the scene of his crime though, so that has to mean that he's confident that none of this is going to blow up in his face," Ms. Lesa commented with a snort. "I don't know how much that really counts for in the grand scheme of things, but it's something to keep in mind at the very least. There are no other witnesses for this case as far as I'm aware. I took up the alias of Razi Lesa in the first place because I knew that nobody else had seen anything related to the crime. It was the only choice that I could see, as much as I hate to say it. Right now, we need either a picture of the culprit for me to identify or a damn miracle. Maybe we'll need both given the fact that we're also going to need a motive to make it clear that the culprit did it at all. My testimony might not be enough to convince everyone since I've been shown as an unreliable witness thanks to the stunt of pretending to be a witness."

"It isn't as if you had much of a choice in the matter," Victoria pointed out. "The fact that you wanted to find the culprit without revealing yourself to the police certainly left you in a bind, and this was the best way to potentially lure out the one responsible for all of this. I just wish that it had worked out better... We've got all the loose ends of this case tied up and sealed away, but it still does make you wonder just how much we really need to figure out. If we don't even know about our questions to begin with, then how can we find answers to them?"

"The only real lead that we have behind this case is that Detective Umber is still acting strangely, but as far as I'm aware, this has been an issue for quite some time now. For all we know, it isn't directly related to this case at all since it could be seen in her demeanor before the attack took place," Mr. Morix commented. "We're going to have to at least try and talk to her. We know where she's going to be, and that's a helpful place to start. From there, we'll hopefully be able to press the truth out of her. If she does know something, we need to hear about it as soon as possible in order to find the culprit before something bad does happen the way that Ms. Lesa feared from the outset of this whole disaster."

"I guess that I should go on and leave you to look for her then," Ms. Lesa commented. I could see something similar to exhaustion creeping over her eyes as her gaze dropped to her leg. "I mean, it's not like you're going to be able to hang out around here forever, and you never know when she's going to take off and leave you clueless for answers again."

"Do you think that you're going to be okay without us?" Victoria asked. "I know that you've been worried about everything, and I don't want to leave if you're just going to wind up stressed about everything that's been happening."

Ms. Lesa hesitated before nodding. "Yeah. Don't worry about it. Just focus on talking to Detective Umber. I wish that I was able to do more to help you, but I'm holed up in here until I'm feeling up to moving around again. The nurse said that I put a bit too much strain on my leg with all my constant activity, so I'm going to need time to relax and wait for it to recover. I hate the fact that I'm stuck here since I want to help, but... I guess that I can't do anything to make it better," she sighed. "Just go out there and do what you can to find the culprit. I'm going to be in the trial tomorrow, and this is going to be our last big chance to find the one responsible for this."

"That's right... Trials have been limited to three days to keep things from going on for too long," I whispered. I had been distantly aware of it for a long time, but it hadn't ever been an issue like this until this case came around. We either had an inkling of what to do going into the third day or had something vague to push us in the right direction. That was more than what we got this time around given the awful circumstances, and we were going to try to figure it out before we wound up behind the bench again. Granted, that was going to be easier said than done, but what other choice did we have?

"Don't worry about this," Mr. Morix cut in. "I'm confident that they'll be able to find the lead that we need. If they can't figure it out, then we're going to have to place our faith in the prosecution. I'm sure that they're going to come by soon enough. For now, I'm going to leave you three to focus on the remainder of the investigation. I want to stay here and make sure that nothing else happens. I don't think I would be able to leave now even if I wanted to."

I nodded my understanding. Mr. Morix had always been a protective older brother, and I wasn't about to pretend otherwise. Of course he would want to stay with Ms. Lesa. He needed to make sure that she was going to be okay even if it kept him from being part of the investigation. I was glad that he was able to trust the rest of us with what was left of the case, and I was determined to not let him down. If he was going to stay behind and leave this to us, then we were simply going to have to uncover something in his stead. He had explained everything that we needed to know, and that was what mattered most.

"We'll get going then," Victoria began. She rose to her feet and gave a gentle smile in Ms. Lesa's direction to make sure that she was feeling at least somewhat better. Ms. Lesa returned the gesture as I moved to the door with Victoria and Deirdre.

"Hold on one more moment," Mr. Morix said next. "I want you to consider one other thing in this case. Did you ever notice how the case seemed to be rushed as far as the arrest was concerned? The blood on the floor might not have been directly indicative of a crime, and that means that there must have been somebody pushing for this to be considered an attack rather than simply an accident. It was hasty and rushed, and somebody must have been pushing it onwards."

I mulled over his words for a moment, and I realized that he had a point. We were going to have to find some proof of the fact that somebody was there for all of this, supporting what was happening from the sidelines. I didn't know where to start as far as finding the truth behind that was concerned. The answers would hopefully come soon enough, and I was going to be sure to follow through with what happened after the truth came to light.

"Thanks for the advice, Mr. Morix," Deirdre told him. Her fingers curled around the doorknob as she waved to him and Ms. Lesa over her shoulder. Victoria and I both followed in her footsteps, and we left behind the hospital room soon afterwards. We bid Detective Erikson and Detective Wattson a brief farewell before starting to walk out.

I didn't know how this was going to end up in all honesty. None of it really made all that much sense to me, but we were going to have to figure something out if we wanted to free Lily from the detention center. The culprit had to be out there, and I was determined to figure out who it was. Everyone was counting on us to uncover the truth, and I knew that this was what we needed above all else. The culprit wouldn't know that they were trapped until it was too late.

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