September 18

Sparx Factory

1:15 PM

Cotoli Morix

"The crime took place sometime this morning, likely less than three hours ago. It's difficult to say exactly when it was since the autopsy still isn't finished yet, but that's the general impression we're getting so far," Detective Erikson began to explain. "I believe that all of the assault victims were attacked around the same time as the victim's murder. I'm not sure about that, but... It seems like there were multiple people here who were trying to do something of note."

"Wait... A group of people were responsible for the murder?" Venus echoed, her eyes going wide.

"That's just my guess. I can't say for sure, but I somehow doubt that a single person would have been able to cause all that chaos. There were five assault victims on top of the murder, and if one person did that... I just don't think it would have been easily possible. Of course, we're not going to know for sure what's going on until after the assault victims wake up and tell us about what they saw. I was told that I would be contacted as soon as there was news regarding them regaining consciousness, but for now, all we can do is wait and hope this doesn't spiral too far out of control."

"Damn it," Venus muttered with a shake of her head. "I don't know how any of this could have happened... It shouldn't be like this. They should still be alright, and..." She glanced over to me, and I could tell that she was about to say that my mother should still be alive. I nodded vaguely at her words, but I wasn't sure if there was anything that could be said on the matter.

"For now, all we can do is look around and see if there's anything we can find of value. The search of the factory hasn't been going well so far though, I'm afraid. No matter how much we search, it seems like we always come up search. We haven't been able to pin down anything of note after all this time. We've been searching ever since arriving here, and there's still so much that we have yet to understand," Detective Erikson sighed. "We don't know what weapons were used in the assaults. Hell, it's hard to even say how some of them were knocked unconscious. Mr. Morix... Your youngest sister is still a mystery to us. We know that she lost consciousness at some point or another, but nobody's been able to say how yet."

I let out a heavy sigh as I frowned, resisting the urge mounting deep inside of me to run to the hospital to see her, Sora, Yuri, and everyone else right away. I knew that wasn't going to do much good in terms of solving the case though, so the best thing I could do was stay here and try to find the truth. They all deserved that much. "I don't know what's going on with her either," I admitted softly. I didn't want to linger on this subject for too much longer than I already had. I didn't want to admit that I hadn't seen her since we split up to search the factory. I didn't know how Ghastly had found her, but it seemed like he was probably the best person to talk to until Chrysalis woke up and was able to explain the situation herself.

"The search of the factory hasn't turned up much for results thus far on any level. We don't know what the motive could have been, how the culprits got inside, what they were doing here to begin with... None of it. There's just a giant question mark that comes up each time we try to learn more about this case, and it's getting frustrating," Detective Erikson told me. "The one thing we do know for sure is that the defendant was seen carrying the victim through the building. The camera footage was specific in showing only that and nothing else, and that's the basis for his arrest."

"Doesn't that seem odd to you?" Venus inquired. "I mean, if there are really as many cameras around the factory as people make it seem, then that means that there are other ways that he could have been caught on film. On top of that, the true culprits could have been seen as well, but if the cameras only show Ghastly carrying the victim, then... That's weird. There should be more footage out there."

"You're thinking the culprits are trying to set us up somehow, don't you?" I asked carefully.

"How could I not? If you think about the circumstances behind this case at all, it seems pretty obvious that something weird is going on here. I don't know what it is yet specifically, but I think that there has to be something out of the ordinary going on behind the scenes here, and if there's something we can do to figure it out, then I think we should go for it," Venus said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't know who's actually responsible for all of this, but I'm going to make sure that they pay for what they've done."

"It's difficult to say what was going on at the factory at the time of the crime. For some reason, most of the factory workers were completely absent even though they had no reason to not be here. I'm not sure what the results are of that yet, but we're still looking into it," Detective Erikson said next. "It's something that's taking longer than we would have liked, but we're doing what we can to make this part of the search for information as thorough as possible."

"Speaking of the time of the crime... What was your daughter doing here, Detective Erikson?" Venus questioned. "I didn't realize there were going to be other visitors around here at the time of the murder."

"We were here as part of a greater defensive team," Detective Erikson began to explain. "Well, it was a patrol team, to be more accurate. There's something here at the factory that has been looked after as of late. I was here to make sure that nothing happened to it. It's going to be a while before we're able to say for sure what's going on, but there's a lot that we have to factor in when consider what could have happened with the specific item of interest at the time of the crime."

"What are you talking about specifically?" I asked, though I already had the sneaking suspicion I knew the vague idea of what it was going to be.

"It was a virtual reality program that the factory has been developing. Its original purposes were to help people through therapy in the aftermath of traumatizing events, though we still have a lot left to do in terms of research before it can be used by anyone. I was here to make sure nothing happened to it. A few officers have been on rotation for a while to make sure that nothing of note takes place that could damage the program or the place where it's stored, though I suppose only time will be able to tell what comes of this," Detective Erikson told us.

"I see..." I murmured. My mother had wanted us to come to the factory in part because she wanted to show us something and in part because there was someone she wanted us to meet, and I could only assume that this was the item of note that she was hoping to show us. I wasn't sure of any other details beyond that since she had kept a lot of the details on the down-low to keep this a surprise, and I supposed now that I was going to have to get my information from the investigators on the case. After all, I couldn't just talk to her about everything that was going on...

Well, no. That wasn't exactly true.

Spirit channeling was something that we could try, though that wasn't going to be an option until after Chrysalis or Sora woke up. Sora was better at it, but it seemed as if Sora had suffered more damages in the aftermath of the crime. That wasn't optimal, and I wasn't sure if channeling was going to even come close to working in the first place. If we were able to have my mother's spirit channeled, then it would certainly help us in the investigation, though I doubted it would help with revealing that Ghastly didn't do it in court directly. After all, spirit channeling wasn't exactly accepted in the court as a form of evidence because of how few people believed in it. That meant talking to my mother was just going to be a springboard to put us in a better place for investigating the crime.

"Is something on your mind, Cotoli?" Venus asked, and I realized when she tapped my shoulder that I had been spacing out as I got lost in thought.

I snapped back to reality at her touch and shook my head. "It's nothing important. We can talk about it later," I told her. Venus raised an eyebrow in my direction but didn't do anything to push it.

"I guess we should focus on the next step of the investigation," Detective Erikson frowned. "We've got a lot to handle before this case is ready to go to court, so we should begin to look around the factory in more detail. If you two are up for it, I think it would be best if we started to search the building."

I nodded at that. "I think we're going to start off by trying to find the prosecutor. Cassidy left us a short while ago because she decided that she was going to meet with the prosecutor and see if she could help out when the case went to court. We still haven't been able to find her anywhere though..."

"You can go down that hallway and see her, I believe," Detective Erikson said, pointing one finger at a nearby corridor. "That was where I last saw her, at the very least. I can't say for sure if she's still going to be there, but it's worth a shot if you really want to talk to her about the details of the case."

Venus smiled at that. "Thanks, Detective Erikson. We appreciate it. We're going to see what we can get out of the prosecutor for now, so... I guess we'll talk to you a bit later," she told him.

Detective Erikson nodded. "Alright... Just... Do what you can to be careful. I don't know what's going on behind the scenes of this case, but I get the feeling there's a lot more to this situation than meets the eye. I'm not entirely sure nor do I have evidence, but... Something is going on here, and we're going to have to do everything we can to figure out what it is."

I shared a quick glance with Venus, feeling my stomach start to twist and do flips at those words already. I wasn't sure what could even be said about that, but I knew that he was right. Something was going on behind the scenes of this case, and we were going to have to figure it out as soon as possible if we wanted to find the truth behind what happened to my mother and everyone who was attacked. I hated the idea of getting involved with something so large so soon after all that had happened, but it was the only choice I had as far as I was concerned. The victims were counting on us to find the truth, and the last thing I was going to do was abandon the cause and somehow let them down.

After that, Venus and I retreated down the hallway that Detective Erikson had pointed out to us. I wasn't sure what we were going to be looking for in terms of the prosecutor, but I could only hope we would recognize this Prosecutor Burke character when we saw her. It was a small hope, yes, but at the very least, it would be one thing going in our favor when it felt like the world was falling apart with us at the center. That had to count for something, right?

Venus continued to walk at my side before we came across a woman who was speaking with Cassidy. Much to my surprise, it was the woman with the bow on her headband from when the crime scene was discovered. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she was talking in a low yet solemn tone with Cassidy. I glanced over to Venus at that before we decided to approach the duo.

I wasn't able to catch any details of their conversation before the pair noticed that we were coming, and Cassidy turned to face us with a weary smile on her face. "It's nice to see you two again," she greeted with a small bow of her head. "I think we already have a lot to talk about."

The woman with the headband seemed shocked to see me, and her eyes went wide. "Hang on... What are you doing here?" she questioned carefully. "I would have thought you would be a witness for this case."

"I could say the same about you," I told her with a loose smile. "I was sure you weren't going to be involved with this case beyond being a witness... Are you a witness?"

"No," the woman replied, squaring her shoulders and pulling herself to her full height. "I'm the prosecutor on this case. Polly Burke. Nice to meet you." She stuck one hand out for me to shake it, and I slowly but surely accepted the gesture.

"The same to you," I told her carefully, admittedly shocked that the woman I had discovered the crime scene with was going to be my rival in court. I wasn't sure how I was supposed to handle any of this, but at least Prosecutor Burke turned out to be a somewhat familiar face. Given the fact that Ghastly was in the detention center for the murder, I could only assume that this was going to be the best I got in terms of an alliance for the rest of this case.

"I think we all have a lot to talk about," Cassidy declared from her place between us. "Prosecutor Burke, allow me to introduce you to Cotoli Morix and Venus Rinko. They're going to be on the defense team for this case."

"I've heard quite a bit about you already... You haven't lost a single case thus far," Prosecutor Burke commented. I nodded at that, and she crossed her arms before looking down to the ground. "And your record is going to remain intact even after this case is over."

I blinked at that, surprise flooding my body. "What?" I questioned vaguely. I didn't know what I had been expecting her to say, but that certainly wasn't it.

"You heard me. I'm saying that you're still going to have a perfect win record after this case has been solved. I can say with certainty that Ghastly wasn't the one who committed this crime. Ghastly is many things, but he isn't a murderer. I don't think he would have even been able to muster the energy to kill someone even if he wanted to. That's just the kind of man he is. He's lazy and kind of a fool, but he's not the type to raise a weapon to anyone and mean to strike them," Prosecutor Burke continued.

"Do you two... Know each other?" Venus asked after giving me a brief ghost of a glance. "You seem to have strong opinions about him, and I don't think anyone has ever been so merciless when ripping into him."

Prosecutor Burke sighed before nodding. "We do know each other," she replied. "We've been friends for a long time, since long before either one of us came to live here or work at the Prosecutor's Office. I've come to learn a lot about his habits as of late, and I can say that you've been a weird one. You're the lawyer he's been going up against all this time, right? The infamous Cotoli Morix?"

I nodded slowly. "Yes... That would be me."

"He used to be so lazy with his work, never able to summon the energy to do anything... I had to do a lot to push him in order to make sure he actually did what he had to. And then you came along, and now, he's so... Weird. He wants to impress you a lot, I think. I mean, he's still pretty lazy when something doesn't involve you or a case that you're on, but... I guess it's something," Prosecutor Burke sighed with a shake of her head. "I suppose I should thank you for managing to make at least a little bit of progress with the world's laziest prosecutor."

Venus looked over at me for a moment before she crossed her arms and examined Prosecutor Burke carefully. "You know, for someone who seems to be his friend, you don't seem to like him much," she remarked offhandedly.

"My relationship with Ghastly is complicated and too long of a story for us to get into right now," Prosecutor Burke cut in, her eyes narrowing. "Just trust me when I say that much. For now, we have a case to take care of, and the best way for us to do that is to stop talking about Ghastly and focus on everything that happened at the time of the crime. How does that sound?"

I nodded carefully at that. "Alright... That sounds like as good a plan as any," I agreed cautiously, though I would have been lying if I said that I was at all sure about how to handle this odd woman. I glanced over to Venus and saw that she was just as on edge as I was, even if she was doing a slightly better job of hiding it. I didn't know what was going on with Prosecutor Burke, but I could already tell that she was going to make this case a lot more interesting than I would have ever expected. I couldn't tell if that was a good thing or not quite yet, but I supposed that only time would be able to tell where this dynamic went next.

September 18

Blackgate Hospital

1:45 PM

Chrysalis Starr

It took an ungodly amount of effort for me to tear my eyes open, and it felt like my entire body was made of lead. I didn't know where I was or what was happening, but I did know that the light buzzing overhead was obnoxious in its subtle hissing. I slowly fluttered my eyes open and found that I was staring up at the ceiling of a room that appeared to be almost entirely white. I don't know what told me this was a hospital room, but I had an awful feeling that my instincts were correct.

My memory was still fuzzy as I glanced around the room, and eventually, my gaze found another person. If I had any more energy, I would have jumped on pure instinct because I didn't know who this man was. He was tall and had dark hair. A red piece of cloth covered one eye, and it fell onto his back after being tied at the base of his neck. I hadn't ever seen him before, and I could already feel my heart starting to pound from anxiety. If I was in the hospital, where was my brother? Why wasn't he or Sora here?

The man seemed to realize that I was awake, and a gentle smile appeared on his face as he started to move closer to me. "I'm glad to see that you're awake," he murmured. Despite his terrifying appearance (which was probably so scary because of the katana at his hip), he appeared to be rather refined and kind. I couldn't say where this instinct of mine was coming from, but I found that he didn't seem to be as terrifying as I would have expected at a first glance. I blinked at him for a few moments, trying to gather myself in the face of my peculiar memory, but I still wasn't able to grasp onto anything that would explain what was going on.

The man frowned when he saw me, and I wondered what sort of sheen he saw to my gaze. Could he tell that I was afraid and confused? I didn't know for sure, but either way, he reached his fingers out to curl his hands around mine. I stared down at the place where our hands locked, confusion continuing to thrive in my mind as I desperately fumbled for the words to ask what had happened.

"I understand that you're probably confused," the man began to say. "Right now, you're in the hospital. You were knocked unconscious while you were visiting Sparx Factory, and you were brought here to recover after you were found. I'm here to do what I can to look after you and make sure that nothing happens to you."

I stared at him for another long moment, my stomach starting to twist into a ball of nerves that vibrated at the center of my body. "Who... Who are you?" I finally managed to ask, though I wasn't sure if this was the question I was supposed to be asking. My mind was too hazy for me to register much of anything about what I should have been doing or not though. I could barely even remember what had happened to get me in the hospital in the first place, and I could only imagine that was an awful sign. I was admittedly afraid of what was going to happen when the haziness wore off and I was able to reclaim my memories again, so for the time being, I just chose to focus on the man sitting in front of me.

The man let out a careful breath, almost as if he was readying himself for the next thing he had to say. He squeezed at my hand gently, and my body went rigid with tension. "My name is Pieter Fury, and... I'm your brother."

The world could have stopped then and there and I wouldn't have even noticed. "Excuse me?" I asked, the daze over my mind starting to clear as I pushed through the water of my own uncertainty to reach the surface.

He nodded. "You came to the factory because you were requested to do so by your mother figure, Natasha Morix. Well... She said that she wanted you to meet someone, didn't she?" he asked.

I nodded at that. "Y-Yes... But how would you...?" I could already tell that he was going to say that he was the one who had been invited to the factory to meet with us, but that didn't change my endless confusion. What did he mean when he said that he was my brother? I didn't understand any of this.

"I'm the one you were supposed to meet," Pieter said. "Something... Happened recently. I was invited to meet with you and your family members today. Natasha... She took me in after I fell victim to a tragedy, and she brought me back to health after everything I had been through. I decided that I was going to meet with all of you today after waiting for all this time, but... That didn't end as well as we would have liked..." He paused, looking down at the ground before he shifted his attention back to me. "Do you remember anything about what happened before you lost consciousness?"

I hesitated, opening my mouth before my lips were pressed shut as the memory slammed into me with enough force to knock me over. I was glad that I had been put on a bed where I was laying down so that I didn't outright collapse at the revelation. "I... She's..." I murmured, unable to force myself to specify who I was talking about. Ms. Morix was... Dead. That was what he was trying to say, and... I had seen her body.

One hand came up to cradle at the side of my head. To be more specific, it was the hand that wasn't gripping tightly to Pieter's fingers. I touched my temple, trying to pry the memories away from my mind while also trying to figure out what was happening in the first place. I hated the sensation that had hit me so suddenly, and I was desperate to make it stop. I felt like I was going to be sick, so I pressed my eyes closed firmly, not wanting to acknowledge the world that was raging around me with sudden brutality.

"It's alright. You're safe now," Pieter assured me, his voice soft and soothing. I didn't know how he knew what was going through my head, but he seemed to understand it immediately, and he gripped my hand tightly yet gently. I didn't know how he was able to do all of this so effortlessly, but I could only imagine that he had been given at least some experience with this in the past.

"What's... What's going on?" I questioned carefully. I wasn't sure about what response I wanted, but I could say firmly that I had an awful feeling about all of this. How could I not? If what Pieter said was to be believed-and I knew it was since I had seen it myself-then everything had fallen apart. As for him being my brother... I didn't know how to handle that either, and I was choosing to not acknowledge it for the time being because of how much the world seemed to be spinning around me.

"You were attacked," Pieter murmured. He squeezed gently at my hand once again. "Do you remember anything about what happened? Assuming you want to talk about it, that is... I don't want to force you to recall anything that you don't want to remember."

I opened my mouth at that before my lips pressed together once again. It took a moment for me to push my mind back to the time when I saw Ms. Morix's body, and it took every ounce of energy I had to make sure that I didn't start shaking immediately. When I thought about it though, I was confident that there had been hands on me somehow... Further refining of the memory told me that the fingers had been in the area of my face and neck, though it was difficult for me to pull any details out beyond that.

Pieter seemed to realize what was happening, and he tapped my shoulder gently to snap me out of it. I glanced over to him, and he shook his head. "Take your time, please... I don't want you to get hurt because of this," he whispered soothingly.

I was silent at those words, not quite sure about how I should respond to any of this. I felt deeply jittery all of a sudden, like I wanted to get up and run somewhere until all of this was over, but I knew that wasn't going to be an option. My legs were hurting for some reason, and my chest felt tight. I didn't know what had happened for me to lose consciousness, but I could only assume that it was something bad, and given what had happened today... It wasn't even surprising.

"You should focus on getting as much rest as possible," Pieter continued to say. "I don't want you to push yourself too hard. You're still in a delicate position, and... You need all the time to recover that you can get. We can talk more later about everything that's going on. I want you to be careful with yourself, alright?"

I stared at him in the silence, not quite sure about how I was supposed to take any of this. My mind was still racing at the thought of him being my brother, but I didn't think I was going to make much progress, if any, if I thought about it much more than I already had. Pieter seemed intent on forcing me down for a nap for the time being, and I didn't think I was going to be able to push through. I had no idea what was going on, but it made me feel sick to my stomach.

"Alright," I eventually murmured, silently realizing that I wasn't going to be able to win this fight no matter how hard I tried. I had to be careful if he was going to talk to me later on about everything that was going on, and I didn't want to accidentally rub him the wrong way. I curled in on myself, pulling my hand away from his at long last. I didn't know what was going on nor did I really want to ask for the details right now, but at least he was going to be there when I woke up. I couldn't tell what told me that, but I knew it was true regardless.

My eyes shut soon afterward, and it only took a few moments before my consciousness to flow away. I didn't bother fighting back against it, hoping silently that when I woke up, all of this would prove itself to just be a massive nightmare that I thought was real. I think I already knew better than to believe that, but that didn't change the fact that I wanted to ignore this reality for as long as possible. I didn't know how to handle this, and... I was scared. As much as I hated to admit it, I was terrified.

But I couldn't be scared if I was asleep, so I let the darkness claim me without protest.

Mmm I'm hungry

-Digital