July 27

Gather Law Headquarters

12:15 PM

Pieter Fury

The first thing that struck me once we entered Gather Law was just how absolutely massive the headquarters were. The building was all fancy high ceilings and polished white floors. I couldn't stop staring at everything and marveling at just how huge it all was. I didn't know what I had expected when I heard about how big the headquarters were, but I certainly hadn't been anticipating this. All of this was well beyond anything I could have ever expected.

I had heard of Gather Law before this, at least in passing. The people there were known for gathering information and distributing it to those who they thought had a reason to use it. Their business was a strange one, but it seemed that they had earned enough over the years from their gathering within the legal world. I didn't want to ask too many questions about it though, knowing that there were some things that were best kept as secrets, and the last thing I wanted was to wind up poking an unknown bear and revealing something that had been meant to stay hidden.

"Wow," was all Sky could bring himself to say once we had found a place inside. "I... I... Wow."

"That was what I was going to say," Lily agreed softly. "I can't believe that Buddy really works here sometimes. I feel like this place is larger than even the biggest apartment complexes I've seen. I never would have thought it would be quite this... Huge."

"Who are you three supposed to be?"

I glanced up at the sound of an unfamiliar voice, and I was met with the sight of a young man who couldn't have been too much older than Chrysalis. He had glasses with silvery wire frames and blonde hair that was cut perfectly to frame his face. His blue eyes glittered like sapphires in an almost defensive way, like he was trying to keep all of us out before we could even try to get close at all.

"We're the defense team for the murder case!" Lily explained, trying to hide the way her voice shook ever so slightly with the words. "My name is Lily Shield, and these two are Sky Amaya and Pieter Fury."

"Amaya... Fury..." the young man murmured as he looked down to the floor below. Something in his eyes seemed to shift to recognition, but he said nothing about the sudden revelation he had. Instead, he simply nodded. "I suppose you're here to clean up the mess, then."

"That's a rather... Blunt way of putting it," Sky remarked as he let one hand come up to rub at the back of his head. "But we are here to help and make sure that Buddy isn't found guilty of murder. He sent us here to investigate."

"I see. You must be the lot that Neptune talks about so much," the young man commented. "I can't say I'm particularly surprise. You certainly seem like her types."

"What is that supposed to-" Lily started to say, confusion and worry starting to overcome her gaze.

"Hey there, you three!"

As if on cue, Neptune came walking into the room, waving one hand above her head. She looked oddly casual given the circumstances, a smile on her features despite the pressing knowledge that a murder had taken place here. "I was hoping that you would come by here," she continued to say. "You're probably going to want somebody to show you around, right? I would be more than happy to help out with that."

"First, I think we would like to be properly introduced to your friend here," Lily said as she gestured to the young man. "I don't believe we've met before now, and we're probably going to need to know about one another as we get ready for the trial."

"Ah, I guess so," Neptune hummed. "This is Harvey Wood. He's one of the two children of the owners of this place. He's a bit of a stick in the mud, but he's not that bad when you get to know him. He's slow to warm up and quick to burn."

Harvey offered her a brief glare before simply groaning and rolling his eyes. "You're always such a pain in my side," he muttered under his breath. "You can't ever just leave things be, can you?"

"Absolutely not," Neptune assured him with a bright grin. Once again, Harvey groaned, and Neptune looked back to the rest of us. "You're probably going to want to meet up with the rest of the family soon, huh? I would be happy to introduce you to them."

"I guess you would know a lot about them, huh?" I asked. "Buddy told us that you were pretty close with the owners of this company... You even live with some of the founders, right?"

Neptune nodded. "With Harvey's family, as a matter of fact," she replied. "They're all great people, and they're currently the ones giving me, Buddy, and Clarith housing. They've been helping us out for quite a while, and I don't think I could ever quite thank them enough."

"I think it's time for us to go and meet these incredible people then," Lily smiled. "We would be more than happy to talk to them about the case. I'm sure that they'll be able to offer us at least something important in terms of wisdom about the case."

Neptune nodded once again as she turned on her heel. Harvey shook his head and followed her, and I could tell that he had gotten used to Neptune dominating just about every conversation that she stepped into the instant she arrived. "Thanks for coming, by the way," Neptune told us. "I know for a fact that Buddy didn't do this, so we're going to need a great defense team to get him out of it, especially given the circumstances."

"Of course. We're more than happy to help," I told her. "We want to do everything we can to pitch in... So, on that note, what can you tell us about the crime that took place here today?"

"It was the murder of one of the back workers in the organization," Neptune started. "I don't remember his name though."

"Artorious Bagge," Harvey replied. "It would do for you to keep up to date on the latest updates regarding the case in which you are testifying for, Neptune."

Neptune, used to hearing this from him, just rolled her eyes and made a mock talking motion with one hand to silence him. Harvey groaned, pinching at the bridge of his nose with one hand. "Yeah, him. He was found dead in one of our file rooms. We have a few massive file rooms around here, and they help out a lot when it comes to keeping everything as organized as possible," Neptune went on. "He was supposed to keep everything organized as well as deliver information when it was called upon by those who came to us for business. I don't know what happened, but it seems like he was killed in the midst of work."

"And Buddy was unconscious nearby and just so happened to find the corpse. That was why he came to be suspected for the murder," Lily finished for her.

"You're sharp. I'm glad that you've already caught up on that," Neptune grinned. She shot Harvey a look that told him to shut up before he could even say anything to her in the first place, and he shook his head dismissively. "Clarith and I were the first ones to come and see what was going on. The two of us work in reception around here, so when the information was taking longer than usual to file away and grab, we decided to come and investigate. That was when we found Buddy, the open closet door, and the body on the floor."

"Where exactly is this file room?" I questioned. "On that note, why would there be a closet in such an important room as that?"

"The closet is where we keep our most important information, though you need a key in order to get in. Only those highest up on the ladder around here are able to actually get inside," Neptune explained. "In other words, the only people who are allowed to look around in there are the establishing family, me, Clarith, and Buddy. Everybody else is strictly kept out for the sake of keeping our most important secrets... Well, secret."

"I suppose we should head by the scene of the crime once we've managed to hear all we can from the family," Sky remarked. "I bet the prosecution is already there looking around now..."

"That they are. That's where Clarith is right now too. She was excited to greet them when she heard they were coming in," Neptune told us. She didn't bother to explain Clarith's anticipation, instead simply shrugging and looking ahead once again. "Anyway, the rest of Harvey's family should be in the reception area just outside the big file room where the murder took place. If I recall correctly, the police told them to stay there until they were finished with questioning." She shot a pointed look at Harvey, silently asking him just why he had strayed so far from his position after being told to stay put.

Harvey once again rolled his eyes, and I could only assume that banter between the two of them was regular at best. "You wound up wandering off, and I couldn't help wanting to see what you were up to... Though it seems I found your targets before you did," he commented.

Neptune opened her mouth to retort, but she was cut off by the sight of the rest of the Wood family coming into view. Just as we had heard previously, there were three others, two of them blonde just like Harvey. The only woman among them had a gentle cascade of blonde hair that I could only assume had been passed down to both of her sons, easily surpassing the gentle ginger that the man had. He was all jubilant smiles as he spoke with his family, somehow managing to make the aftermath of a murder a cheerful affair. I supposed that keeping the front up was important when it came to anything like this, and since he was in business, he would know how to keep everyone as calm as possible.

"You're finally back!" the third member of the family cried out. He was another young man, a little bit shorter than Harvey and matching with him in terms of blonde hair and bright blue eyes. "I was about to send out a search party or just start tracking you down myself!"

"I brought the defense team," Harvey said in the place of a proper response. "They're determined to ensure that Buddy is found not guilty when the trial begins tomorrow morning."

"Perfect! I see that Neptune's little plan worked out perfectly," the older man smiled, and I was left to wonder just how much Neptune had told them about us already. Did I even want to ask?

"Allow me to introduce all of you to the Wood family," Neptune declared as she stepped forward and gestured one arm out to the people at her side. She pointed first to the man before gesturing to the woman and the younger teen. "Conrad Wood, Melinda Wood, and Everett Wood. Mr. Wood established this company years ago, and they've all been helping to run it in the time since then."

Mr. Wood smiled as he reached one hand out to shake it, and Sky accepted. Sky was immediately caught off guard by just how strong Mr. Wood's grip was, and he yelped as he stumbled a bit from the force. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you. I have no doubt that you'll be more than capable of showing that Buddy is not the culprit," Mr. Wood smiled. "I've heard quite a bit about you over the course of the last few years, and I'm certain that you won't disappoint us."

"How much have you heard about us?" Sky asked as he adjusted his shoulder and rolled it backward. "I suppose you would know at least something given that you work here at an information gathering company, but..."

"Oh, I keep up to date on most things that happen in the legal system," Mr. Wood replied with a smile. "That includes the escapades of your entire agency. You've gotten into quite a bit of trouble over the course of the last half a decade, but I suppose it can't be helped. At least you've been able to weather the storm and come out stronger on the other side, hm?"

"Also, Neptune talks about you all the time," Harvey interjected, and Neptune rolled her eyes as she nudged him in the side. Harvey was completely unbothered, instead staring straight ahead without even blinking. I could tell that these two had been acting like this ever since Neptune had moved in, as even if they were constantly bickering, they still seemed to care about one another int heir own special way.

"It's a pleasure to finally be able to meet all of you," Mrs. Wood smiled. Everything about her was much softer and more gentle than either of her sons or her husband, and I could only imagine that she was the contrast to the strange characters found within her household.

"Yeah. Neptune's said quite a bit," Everett confirmed. His hands were shoved into his pockets with a smile, and I got the feeling that he and Harvey were complete opposites. Harvey was meticulous and refused to let any cracks show in his facade, but Everett was much more casual, instead falling on the other end of the spectrum. Once again, I mused inwardly about how strange this family really was.

"But we're not here to talk about the things that I like to talk about," Neptune interjected, no doubt trying to keep Harvey from taking any other digs in her direction. "Instead, we should talk about the murder."

"Before that, I have a quick question," Sky piped in, raising his hand above his head like he was a child in a classroom. Everybody looked in his direction, and he began to fiddle with the hem of his shirt.

"Of course," Mr. Wood smiled, trying his best to ease Sky's fears. "What is it you want to know?"

It seemed to work, and Sky nodded to himself. "Well, I was wondering... Do you have any blood relation to Niamh Wood?" he asked even though he already knew where the answer was headed.

"As a matter of fact, yes!" Mr. Wood confirmed with a bright grin. "Niamh is my niece. I haven't seen her since she was a young child. I believe the last time I saw her was when she was about three... Though if I recall correctly, she's part of the prosecution for this case. That was what Neptune mentioned earlier, yes?"

"That's right," Neptune said. "She's working as an assistant to the prosecution. We haven't run into her at all though. Clarith is the one who helped the prosecution to get settled in here, so we haven't seen her yet."

"I suppose this is going to be a family reunion for the ages then, huh?" Lily asked. "After all that time, Prosecutor Wood is finally back with her family... I bet you're going to have a lot to talk about."

"But we're going to have to wait until after this case to talk about all of that, I'm afraid," Mrs. Wood smiled sadly. "I don't want to distract her when there's so much to be done over the course of the next few days."

"In that case, we should get right down to business and talk about the case at hand so that you can approach her as soon as possible," Lily nodded. "Is there anything else you think we should know about the crime? Were any of you witnesses?"

"We didn't see anything out of the ordinary, if that's what you're asking," Everett replied. "I didn't realize anything had gone wrong at all until I heard Neptune and Clarith cry out upon finding the body. From there, I slid in with Harvey, and we called the police. I feel like you've already heard the rest."

"The victim of this case, Artorious Bagge, was an employee here," Mr. Wood said. "He had been working in the building for about the last two years. He's the reliable sort, and I've known for quite some time that I can count on him... I never thought that he would meet his end in such a sudden, gruesome way though. He was alive and well just a few short days ago, and now, all of that is over."

"That's another reason for us to figure out the truth behind the crime," Sky told him with a firm nod. "We're going to do everything we can to discover who was really behind this. I'm confident that Buddy isn't the one who did it."

"He couldn't even hurt a fly no matter how hard he tried," Harvey snorted. "I don't know what happened for Artorious to end up dead, but I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Buddy wasn't the one responsible. It wouldn't be like him to bite the hand that feeds on top of all that."

"The hand that feeds?" I echoed, my expression twisting with confusion.

"Oh, don't mind him," Mrs. Wood cut in with a loose wave of one hand. "Harvey is stressed because of everything that's happened over the course of the last few hours. The short version of it is that... Well, we took in Buddy along with Neptune and Clarith due to... Extenuating circumstances, to put it simply. It wouldn't be right for us to talk about it without his permission though, and I don't think he wants to refer to it at all either."

"I can tell you with utmost certainty that he's not going to want to talk about it," Neptune nodded. "It doesn't matter much right now either. The point is that he's living here now, and so are me and Clarith. He was found to be suspicious in matters related to the murder, but we have no idea why he would have wanted to do this. As per usual, it seems the police didn't think through a motive before they went out and decided to say that somebody was guilty of murder in their eyes."

"That's hardly surprising," Sky sighed and shook his head. "I suppose that we should head off to the scene of the crime to see what else we can find around here... I don't want to shuffle our feet when there's work to be done."

"Hold on a moment," Mr. Wood interjected. "You said before that your name was Sky Amaya, yes?"

Sky faltered for a moment, his eyes going wide. "Y-Yes... That is right," he said slowly. "Is there something the matter? I don't think that should... I don't know why you would..."

"I would like to speak to you for a short while, if that's alright," Mr. Wood said, his gaze growing more serious than I had ever seen it. "I simply have a few questions for you. It's nothing you need to concern yourself with, I promise."

"Y-You're not going to use what I say against me or anything, right?" Sky asked, barely able to push the words out around his stammering anxiety. "I really don't want to wind up on the bad side of your information collecting business or anything..."

"I can promise you that there's nothing here for you to fear," Mr. Wood told him with a smile, though I could tell it was a strained effort for him. There was something to worry about, and his attempts to convince Sky otherwise were already going absolutely terribly.

"Well... Okay," Sky finally made himself say when he was able to bring words to his lips again. "If you really want to talk, then... Okay. You've got a deal." He looked over to me and Lily, trying to seem braver than he felt. "I'll catch up with the two of you in a little while. You can go and talk to Clarith and the prosecution about everything that's happened with the case."

"Okay," Lily agreed, though I could tell that she wasn't entirely sure where this was going. "We'll see you then." She offered a small wave in Sky's direction as Mr. Wood walked away, his wife watching knowingly and worriedly. She did not follow after her husband though, instead simply staring at his retreating back until he rounded the corner with Sky.

"I can take you in to see Clarith if you want," Neptune offered to fill the silence left behind by Mr. Wood and Sky's departure. "The main file room is a bit hard to navigate, so you're going to want a guide. If you wind up needing to talk to the rest of these guys, then we can just come out and talk to them later on. For now, we've got a lot to take care of, so let's get to it."

I could tell that Neptune wasn't going to be taking no for an answer, so I simply sighed and shook my head. "Thank you again for talking to us," I told Mrs. Wood, Harvey, and Everett.

"Of course. If you need anything, you know where to find us," Mrs. Wood smiled. She placed one hand on each of her son's shoulders as the three watched us enter the nearby room. "Good luck with your investigation."

Neptune pushed the door to the file room open rather easily, and I could only assume that it had been left unlocked on account of the crime and its corresponding investigation. It wouldn't do if there was a crime scene inside that nobody could get to because of the lock. I couldn't tell if that made me more or less nervous as we followed Neptune inside.

My jaw just about dropped to the floor when I looked up at the rest of the room. The file room was absolutely massive, even larger than the entryway. There were so many massive stacks of paperwork lining the shelves that it felt almost impossible this was a real building at all. The best way I could have ever described this room was like a library for case files, though I didn't even know if libraries could match up to something like this. The Wood family had certainly been working hard over the course of the last few years since establishing the company. There was no other explanation for a place quite this nice.

Neptune easily helped us through the stacks as we reached toward the back lining area of the room. There were shelves all around the perimeter of the room as well with the one exception being the place where the closet door broke the streak, and the victim's body was trapped in between the outer wall and the last row of shelves that stretched out horizontally. Sora, Clarith, and Prosecutor Kalles were standing near the body while Prosecutor Wood faced away, her hands pressed over her face. At first, I couldn't quite figure out why she was hiding her eyes, but when I looked down at the victim's body, it all made sense.

Artorious Bagge was a scrawny young man, thin and wiry in every sense of the words. He was tall and lanky as well, but those were far from being his most striking features in this moment. Instead, I noticed the many stab wounds that lined the surface of his chest. It looked as if he had been stabbed over a dozen times by a bloodthirsty criminal who didn't quite know how to calm their temper. No wonder Prosecutor Wood was trying to hide her eyes; she was no doubt attempting to keep Nevada from rearing her head and causing chaos. Nevada wasn't quite as destructive as much of the world believed her to be, but it probably wouldn't be a good idea for her to run wild while they were supposed to be working on a case.

When Prosecutor Wood realized that we had arrived, she allowed herself to peek out from behind her hands before darting over to me, Lily, and Neptune. "H-Hey!" she greeted with a false grin. "I'm glad to see you're here!" She was trying to find just about anything she could to distract herself from the body on the ground beside her. That was the reason for all of this. I couldn't fault her for it at all though, and if she needed a distraction, then I was more than happy to offer it.

"You bet we are," Lily confirmed with a nod. "Sky is helping us out too, but he's... Um... A bit preoccupied at the moment." She let out an uneasy laugh at that, her worry clear even though she didn't want it to be.

"He's off speaking with the owner of the company," Neptune explained. "But I can promise you that he's in good hands. Mr. Wood is a kind man, and he's not going to do anything overly antagonistic. If he was cruel like that, then Clarith and I wouldn't still be doing so much by working for him."

Clarith nodded her agreement, though she seemed incredibly nervous all of a sudden. She had been tense but still somewhat relaxed before I arrived with the rest of the defense team, but now, she couldn't seem to keep her eyes off me, flickering her gaze between me, Sora, and Prosecutor Kalles. Perhaps she just wasn't used to being around this many familiar people. That would have made a lot of sense.

That was what I was choosing to tell myself, at the very least. There was probably something else that would completely change the way we looked at her anxiety, but I didn't want to push it. We didn't really have time to investigate this too deeply right now anyway; we had a trial the following day, and I wasn't about to waste all our time when there was still so much for us to focus on.

"Anyway, what can you tell us about the crime scene?" Neptune asked, easily looking over to Prosecutor Kalles. Chrysalis had told me once that Neptune was perhaps the fastest person to ever figure out the truth behind Oracle's identity, not that she had any idea how Neptune had pulled it off. Even now, I could see a strange sense of familiarity between the two, not that I could quite put a finger on why it was happening this way. It was a question for another time, I supposed.

"The victim is a man by the name of Artorious Bagge, and he was..." Prosecutor Kalles paused, looking over at Prosecutor Wood carefully so that she could cover her ears. "Stabbed to death. No knife was found in the area, but the wounds across his chest all seem to be consistent with one another. The culprit must have taken the weapon with them when they fled from the scene of the crime."

"We're still trying to narrow down exactly when the victim was killed," Sora frowned with a shake of her head. "The forensics team isn't sure of it yet, and it'll be a short while longer before they know what time he died. We're just kind of playing it by ear at this point, especially since we can't really put together an accurate picture with witness testimony either."

"Buddy said that he was locked in the closet unconscious for over an hour, though we have no idea when the victim came inside the file room. We don't know if the culprit was waiting here for him, if they were trying to look around the file room and just killed him when he arrived, or what other reasoning they could have had. We barely know the general timeframe he died in," Clarith explained. "We'll try to put together a more complete picture soon enough though. There has to be someone else who killed him... Buddy would never do anything like this."

"We believe you," Lily assured her. "No matter what, we're going to find a way to uncover who was really behind this. The real killer isn't going to like it, but the picture always finds a way to put itself together."

"There's a lot of valuable stuff a person could want from a place like this," Prosecutor Wood commented as she took a few more steps away from the body. "If a case took place over the course of the last thirty years or so, chances are that it has records in here. There's no hard evidence found here since that's something for the police to handle, but if you were hoping to get your hands on information, then this is the perfect place to look... I can certainly see why this became such a successful business."

"And a business run by your uncle and his family," I remarked. "You're going to have to talk to him and the rest of his family about all that has happened over the last fifteen years after the case is over."

"That sounds like a lot of stress as well as a problem for future Niamh," Prosecutor Wood replied. "For now, we have a crime scene to investigate."

"The file stacks are a massive concern for us right now, but we're not entirely sure what to do about them," Clarith frowned. "If the killer took anything, it'll take us a long time to comb through al the information stored here and find out what isn't here. Forensics is going to come in here to dust for fingerprints and see if they can find anything out of the ordinary, but if the killer wore gloves... That's going to make this a lot harder."

"We should start with looking at the body then. If there's no other clear path forward, that seems to be our easiest avenue of progress," Lily announced as she looked over to me. "Are you ready, Pieter?"

I nodded in return regardless of how true my response actually was. "I always am."

i hate being busy

-Digital