Mercury and Athena exchanged nervous looks.

The detective scratched the back of his head. "Well, you're the ones you called me, right? So here I am, pal."

("You can't just call anyone pal, pal.")

Athena was the first to step forward. "Oh, um… we're lawyers for Xeus Thinker."

The scruffy-looking detective didn't seem intimidated. Mercury felt as if the detective's age and experience would make him a formidable opponent if he ever took the stand. "I can see the badges, all right. Yeah, they take me way back. Er, who are you guys?"

Mercury and Athena introduced themselves as the lawyers for Xeus Thinker. They had to exercise caution in their questioning, since this was the same detective responsible for putting Mercury's father under arrest.

"How are you related to the suspect?" asked Detective Gumshoe.

Mercury showed his swagger, not letting the detective get the best of him. "I'm his son. And I'll be representing him in Court."

Detective Gumshoe smirked. "Heh. You're just a rookie, aren't you? I can see that."

("I don't like this guy's smug attitude.")

"Calm down, calm down," Athena told Mercury, whose temper was starting to flare. "Let's be professionals, here." When she told Detective Gumshoe that they were lawyers of Wright and Co., Detective Gumshoe did a double-take.

"W-What's wrong?" Athena asked, concerned.

Detective Gumshoe adjusted his coat. "Y-You work for Mr. Wright?"

Mercury and Athena exchanged nervous looks for the second time.

("Is Mr. Wright's name somewhere in the legendary overused tier among members of the police? Is he worshipped as a god? I need answers to solve this case!")

Detective Gumshoe chuckled. "Your boss is a very close friend, pal. We go way back to the early days."

Mercury blinked. "Wow. I had no idea."

Athena shook her head. "Mr. Wright never told us anything about Detective Gumshoe."

Detective Gumshoe did another double-take. "Th-That's rather insulting."

("At least we know that Detective Gumshoe can get emotional at times. But at least he's pleasant. Maybe I shouldn't be too judgmental on the outset.")

When Detective Gumshoe recovered and fixed his coat again, he turned to the attorneys. "Anyway, I know you're going to ask me anything related to the case. The victim, the circumstances, why the suspect was arrested, a motive, the prosecutor, anything." He chuckled again. "Age and experience are at my side, pal. I'm not going to divulge anything sensitive, so you only have one and only one question."

("Ugh. Talk about not being helpful.")

Mercury turned to Athena. "I think we'll get more details from him come court time. But there is a good question I'd like to ask." He turned to Detective Gumshoe and asked, "Who's the prosecutor for the case?"

Detective Gumshoe did a third double-take, Mercury confirming that he hit the mark. He scratched the back of his head before sighing, as if he did not want to talk about it. "The prosecutor is someone you might know. An international prosecutor."

Athena blinked. "N-Nahyuta?"

The detective shook his head. "Prosecutor Sahdmadhi is in the Kingdom of Khura'in and acting as regent to their head of state, so he can't travel for a while." He sighed. "This prosecutor's just a rookie, but she can put up a decent performance. So much that it can be intimidating."

("I take it that Detective Gumshoe is intimidated of the prosecutor.")

"A female prosecutor?" muttered Athena.

"I said the prosecutor is someone you know, pal," repeated Detective Gumshoe. "But if you like suspense, I guess you'll have to wait until tomorrow."

Athena sighed. "Can't we just know who it is?"

Detective Gumshoe chuckled. "You'll know most of the things come court."

Mercury knew that the conversation of the prosecutor would lead nowhere, so he approached a new question. "Can we investigate the crime scene?"

Detective Gumshoe looked over the attorney's shoulders. "No problem."

("It was that easy?")

"Look, pal. I'm not doing this because you're Mr. Wright's associates," Detective Gumshoe told them somewhat sternly. "Ever since Mr. Edgeworth became chief prosecutor, a lot of prosecutors have expressed disgust of his view of prosecutors collaborating with defense attorneys. Not that it matters, but age and experience tell me that the system works."

("When I grow up to be as aged and experienced as Detective Gumshoe, I will remind my future subordinates to be nice to the detective in charge.")

Detective Gumshoe told the attorneys that they were not to touch anything in the crime scene and that he would be accompanying them in their investigation.


September 19
World Programs Inc.; 12
th Floor, Programmers' Hall

The place was eerily empty when they first visited it five days ago. Due to the incident, the hall was swarming with police officers and forensic investigators, many of them seemingly confused and fascinated by the overly-technological setup of the place. As Detective Gumshoe walked down the hall and led the two defense attorneys to the crime scene, the officers gave him a snappy salute as if the detective were a high-ranking military officer.

The crime scene happened to be inside Xeus's office.

"D-Da… I mean, Mr. Thinker's office?" said Mercury, appalled.

The office remained spotless for most of the area, except for a few drops of blood that stained the otherwise whitewashed floor. The rest remained untouched and pristine as they remembered it.

"What happened?" muttered Athena, staring at the blood.

The victim, Detective Gumshoe explained, was found hunched on the desk. The cause of death was a gunshot wound to the heart, making death instantaneous.

"And his relationship with the suspect?" asked Mercury.

"They didn't really know each other well," answered Detective Gumshoe, corroborating Xeus's claim. "For some reason, one thing led to this, and to that, and the rest is history."

Mercury's first instinct was to check the door sensor. He knew how the door sensor worked. ("If someone is in the room, a blue light will appear. Should someone want to access the room, they will use their thumbprint and a noise will ring in the room. If the occupant doesn't want to be disturbed, then no sound will ring but there will still be a visual cue.") Mercury turned to Detective Gumshoe, still being watchful. "Are there any fingerprints here?"

Detective Gumshoe grinned. "Heh. You know like you've been here a couple of times."

"Yeah, this is his father's office after all," commented Athena.

Detective Gumshoe cleared his throat. "There were only two sets of thumbprints lifted from the sensor: the office's occupant and the victim's."

("Yikes. This is going to be bad.")

Door Sensor added to the Court Record.

"Since the victim was found in this office, and you only lifted two sets of thumbprints, you arrested Mr. Thinker?" asked Athena, deducing.

Detective Gumshoe nodded. "It's the only logical conclusion."

Mercury seemed suspicious. He looked at the office and noticed something strange. ("Is it just me… or is the office too clean? I imagine there should have been some sort of a scuffle.")

"Any witnesses?" asked Athena.

"We're getting statements," answered Detective Gumshoe. "You'll be receiving them during Court tomorrow."

"Wait," Mercury stopped them. "If the cause of death was a gunshot wound, wouldn't it alert other people in the building as well?"

Detective Gumshoe adjusted his coat. "That's easy, pal. You see, whenever this office is in a do-not-disturb mode, the room automatically becomes soundproof."

("Ack! I almost forgot!")

"So you're suggesting it's an open-and-shut case," finished Athena.

Detective Gumshoe nodded. "That's right, pal."

Athena shot a grim look at Mercury, who was lost in thought.

("An open-and-shut case, huh… To prove my father innocent, I would have to prove that the murder happened somewhere else and that the killer brought the body to the office to frame my father for the murder.")

Mercury asked for a look around the office, which Detective Gumshoe complied. Mercury examined every angle of the room closely, keeping in mind that he still had to break his father's secret about a computer program. He searched through his father's bookshelf, for anything that would be of interest. When he approached the end of a line of books, Mercury's fingers stopped treading. ("Wait… this book. I haven't seen this here.")

Mercury pulled out the book carefully from the shelf. There was no title or author. The cover was blue, blank, and hardbound, meaning that the pages in it were compiled. It was too thin and too large to be an ordinary notebook. When Mercury flipped the cover open and skimmed a few pages, he looked aghast.

("It's something that I've never seen or encountered.") The pages contained lines of codes that made absolutely no sense for Mercury, even as he was prominent with the basic programming languages. He could make out some words in some of the pages such as "artificial," "self-work," and "human capacity." There were numerous scribbles, indicating that Xeus was handwriting the program before he wrote it on computer. The book was unfinished.

"Let me look," said Athena, who peered over Mercury's shoulder.

"There's nothing sensible about this," Mercury answered in a hushed voice. Detective Gumshoe was preoccupied looking outside, probably to check on the investigation going on outside the office "But this wasn't here when we last visited."

"Should we take it?" asked Athena.

Unfortunately for her, Detective Gumshoe overheard the question. "Hey, no taking things from the crime scene, pal!"

"Yeah, yeah, we know," said Mercury sheepishly. ("Still I should make a note of this. What does it have to do with the case, I wonder.")

Blue Book added to the Court Record.

"Talk about an unhelpful crime scene," commented Athena. "We expected it to have a little more evidence waiting for us to uncover."

"We confiscated most of the things from this office," said Detective Gumshoe. "All other things not of interest to the case remain here."

("Basically, we'd get out hands on them during court. I would have to think fast by then.")

"I don't smell any Khura'inese tea," said Athena.

("I'm suspecting Detective Gumshoe had them confiscated as well.")

Detective Gumshoe blinked when the attorneys turned to him. "D-Don't look at me, pal. There wasn't anything like that when we inspected the place."

"Maybe your dad is just a tea junkie," remarked Athena.

Mercury shook his head slowly. He had another reason to be suspicious of the area, and he also had information which the detective didn't know. How would he use it to his advantage? ("My father only prepares tea for very special occasions, such as our previous visit. When he prepared the tea, the container was still quite full. If the container's missing, then…") He made a note to share his thoughts with Athena once they left the building.

"In any case," said Detective Gumshoe, "many of the suspect's belongings were confiscated to check for anything related to the case."

"You're really intent to put my father behind bars?" asked Mercury, a voice of intimidation.

Detective Gumshoe scratched his head. "Listen pal, the only reason why I arrested him is because the circumstances led to be an open-and-shut case. If you have a theory otherwise, we'd all be interested to listen during court time."

Mercury stepped forward. "Is that a challenge?"

Athena immediately stepped in. "Calm down, calm down, gentlemen."

Widget chirped, "No fighting, please." Detective Gumshoe jumped in surprise.

After a brief explanation about Widget, Athena turned to Mercury. "Mercury, don't let the nerves get the best of you. In fact, Detective Gumshoe is actually wanting you to suggest an alternative course of events."

"Is this true?" Mercury asked suspiciously.

Detective Gumshoe grunted. "Don't get me wrong, pal. That's how we see it. But if you think otherwise, again, you're gonna have to prove your mettle."

("Yep, that is a writ of challenge.")

"Anyway, pal, are you done with the scene? Don't stay too long or I'll be in the worst receiving end for the prosecutor."

Mercury looked around the office one more time. He didn't spot anything out of the ordinary. "Yeah, I guess we're done here."

Detective Gumshoe escorted Mercury and Athena back to the elevator. However, as they walked behind Detective Gumshoe, Mercury's attention was drawn to the table with the holographic screen. It was only for a few seconds of quick observation, but he could tell that the holograph did not look normal. Something about its corner made Mercury want to investigate. Yet, they arrived at the elevator too soon. Again, Mercury made a mental note to tell Athena on what he observed.


September 19
Detention Center; Visitor's Lobby

When they returned to the detention center, Xeus was still under questioning. As they waited in the cubicle, Mercury took his time to share his observations with Athena. He shared the unnormal holographic screen in the twelfth-floor conference table. He also shared his thoughts regarding the missing tea. While Athena suggested that they were simple mishaps, Mercury couldn't deny the possibility that these small but unusual instances could very well be related to the case.

After roughly ten minutes of waiting, the door at the other side of the glass partition opened. Xeus came in with the same security guard who uncuffed him. For the moment, Xeus remained uncuffed.

"Dad," started Mercury, his voice giving off confidence.

Xeus smiled. "I take it that you already have the answer to my secret?"

Mercury nodded. "Although I am not entirely sure what it means."

"I will let you hazard a guess," proposed Xeus. "If your answer is close enough, then I will tell."

("Well, here it goes.") Mercury prepared his cellphone, unlocked it, and accessed the "Secret Breaker" app. He selected the only topic available and then pressed "attempt to break." Once he pressed it, a 3D image of Xeus Thinker appeared on the screen. One lock materialized over its chest while a few links of chains entwined it and the background.

SECRET BREAKER V1.0.1
ATTEMPT TO BREAK: XEUS'S COMPUTER PROGRAM

Mercury took a deep breath. He knew how the Secret Breaker worked but he never got to put it in practice. "Dad, you were working on a computer program on the night of the incident. I may have an idea on what it is about." He looked down, pondering. "What I don't understand is how it could be connected to the case."

Xeus nodded, understanding his son's predicament. "As I said, my boy, I will let you hazard a guess."

Mercury prepared himself.

"My boy, what do you have to show me that will confirm you having the answer to my secret?" asked Xeus.

Mercury cleared his throat. Take that! He forgot that he didn't have the evidence with him since Detective Gumshoe wouldn't allow Mercury to bring the blue book outside the office. However, Mercury detailed the book's physical attributes. "I'm sorry if it's not with me now. But I remember that the book was not there when I first visited five days ago. And it struck me as odd." Mercury explained that he was able to skim the contents of the book. "The programming language contained is something I've never seen before."

Xeus nodded. "Interesting, a programming language that my son doesn't even know about."

("I take it that he's challenging me again.")

"Very well, what do you believe the program was about?"

While Mercury wasn't well-versed in the programming language, he was able to make out a few words that he could understand. This he said to his father. After Mercury connected the dots, Mercury then realized that there could only be one kind of machine that would fit the program. He already knew the answer.

"Robots," answered Mercury.

Xeus remained silent for a moment and transfixed his gaze on his son's eyes. After what seemed to be an eternity, Xeus laughed softly.

("I… I was wrong?")

"My son, I was right to ask you for your services. You have indeed surpassed my expectations."

Mercury felt elated to pass his father's little challenge. He watched the lock in the phone screen shatter while the chains around the 3D model unwound themselves and vanished off-screen. The words "Secret Broken" in gray and light blue letters appeared on the screen.

XEUS'S COMPUTER PROGRAM: SECRET BROKEN
CLOSING APPLICATION

While Mercury successfully broke his father's little secret, he felt as if he wanted a lot of questions to be answered. He let his father explain his side of the story.

"Yes, it is a computer program," explained Xeus, his eyes shining brightly. "It's a very complicated program, one that I learned during my doctorate studies abroad. You might have noticed numerous scribbles in some of the pages."

"But why take the time to make a program for robots?" asked Athena.

("So they could make Khura'inese tea for him, I guess?")

"Robots are the future," said Xeus passionately. "We can have robots who can manifest human emotions to an almost perfect-level. Maybe in a few years' time, we can have robots stand in to represent lawyers."

Mercury pounded the desk in front of him with his right fist, an action which would become his signature action whenever he wanted to get a point across the court. "Th-That's it? Robots?"

Xeus looked shocked. "Why, my boy?"

Mercury composed himself. In foresight, there was absolutely nothing useful about the robot program to the case. He only learned that his father was very busy on that evening working on his robot program. Yet, Mercury felt compelled and suspicious. "I mean, what's the point of it all? Why even bother hiding such a secret?"

Xeus took a deep breath. "My boy, based on your reaction, I see you haven't figured it out completely."

Mercury blinked. ("I… I haven't?")

Xeus leaned closer. "I suggest you have another look at it while you can."

"What are we supposed to find?" Athena inquired, unsure where the mystery was headed.

"Something that will help you in figuring all out," answered Xeus cryptically.

Mercury sighed. He knew his father wasn't always straightforward and would rather test him. ("Does he mean about this case or that other case?") Rather than ask more questions about the computer program in which he wouldn't get any helpful answers, he said, "All right. I'll have a read at it one more time." He would have to devise a plan of action to sneak the blue book out from the office without being spotted by Detective Gumshoe.

Mercury pursued another line of questioning. To get his father to speak about it, Mercury presented the ID sensor data. "There were two sets of fingerprints lifted from the ID sensor to your office: yours and the victims. Yet, you said that you didn't know the victim very well. Are you sure about it?"

Xeus stared into the wall pensively. "Tell me, who was it that was murdered that evening?"

("I have no idea.")

"Let's look at it this way," said Athena. "The victim was found in your office and you claimed to be working nonstop on your computer program." She was fiddling with her earring. "It would be impossible under normal circumstances that you would have been doing your computer program and not notice the victim next to you."

Athena had a very good point, Mercury thought. ("This is puzzling and troubling. The only logical time the victim could have entered the room is if dad went out for a moment.")

Xeus looked concentrated. "I think I know what you're thinking," he told Mercury. "How could the victim have entered the room if I was busy working on my computer program?"

Mercury almost flinched. ("Dad knows me too well…")

"Did you really leave the room for even a single moment?" Athena asked.

Xeus remained silent.

Mercury had expected this. He knew right away that something else happened that evening. He braced himself and waited for his cellphone to beep, indicating another secret that should be broken.

Xeus sighed. "I was in my room the entire time," he claimed. "I will not retract my statement."

Mercury waited… and waited… but to his surprise, no beep came. ("W-What's going on? Is he really telling the truth? Focus, Mercury. Focus!") He refocused himself, accepting that without a response from the secret breaker, his father's statement was indeed the truth. "Did you use 'do-not-disturb- mode?"

"Yes."

("I see… Maybe dad did not respond when the other person, the victim, tried to access his office. That would make sense.") While it could resolve an issue on the two sets of fingerprints, another thing did not make sense for Mercury. ("So how was it that the victim ended up on dad's office instead?")

After some thinking, Mercury told Athena, "Looks like we have to trace the victim's movements on the night of the murder."

Athena nodded. "However, only a witness can help us out."

Xeus cleared his throat, catching the lawyers' attention. "If I may. There are security cameras stationed on every corridor in the floor," he told them. "There's a possibility that it could have caught the very moment the victim somehow ended up in my office… as you claim."

Mercury nodded, keeping the information in mind. He had one more question: "What time did you leave the office?"

"I have not left the office until I was rudely interrupted by the scruffy detective," answered Xeus calmly.

("If I can cement his alibi, then he's a free man.")

"What time did the arrest occur?" Athena asked.

Xeus closed his eyes for a moment, thinking back to the early morning. "I'm not too sure. It could have been between two-thirty and three in the morning."

Mercury also took note of this. One thing was for sure: his father was working on the robot computer program for the entire evening until he was interrupted by the detective, who arrested him on suspicion of murder. There was one conclusion Mercury could have drawn. "The room the victim was found could not have been your office." Mercury suddenly realized the implications of the statement.

("So that's why! The absence of the scent of tea. The sudden appearance of the blue book. The room where the victim was found… almost looks like dad's office!")

It felt as if Mercury had been roused from a long sleep in searching for the answer. He was certain that the office where the victim was found belonged to another person.

"So why did we think it was dad's office?" Mercury muttered, now that a new mystery appeared. ("And how does dad know about this blue book?") The more the new questions popped up in Mercury's head, the more he felt compelled to return to the crime scene. Mercury believed that the answer to the mix-up was somewhere in that room. He would need his cellphone once again and harness its technology to overcome a new obstacle.


Author's Note: Hi there and thanks for the reviews. Updates will be more frequent until mid-May or early June since it's summer vacation. The investigation segment might be quite long because I plan to allot only one day for the trial, much like in PW:AA SoJ. I already have the murder method figured out, but I do not have the motive yet. Maybe no motive for now... for a very good reason that will be revealed later? Who knows? Anyway, see you again on the next chapters!

PowerZone