02/25/20

I streamed for four hours this morning and finally cleared the KH3 Secret Episode. What a brutal nightmare XD

With that done, here is a gift for everyone to be happy about! I'll def do a Reading Reviews on The Investigation when its done.

File 04: Agent Lyla Copeland

Lyla sat in her room, a warm smile on her face as she thought of her wife. Jaynix had finally come to after three months of lying in that bed.

Once she was able to pull herself off of Jaynix, she called Tai, Eren, Sagis and Alto to let them know. They were all ecstatic to hear and were eager to come down for a visit as soon as they could.

Once this whole investigation was over, Lyla would be returning to Jaynix's side.

"Actually...I should stop by our place and…"

Lyla tapped her chin as she once again thought of the cookbook that she and Jaynix had discussed shortly after the Lawless incursion of the ECP complex. Heading home and cooking up a few things to bring to Jaynix in the hospital would be great.

Something easy but something delicious. Just the kind of stuff Jaynix loved. The woman was eager to get to bulking up already but the first thing she needed to do was regain some control of her legs.

Thinking of Jaynix's legs brought a frown to Lyla's face. Lyla blamed herself for Jaynix's spinal injury having spent the majority of the final battle against Lao on the ground. If only she had helped her out sooner.

Shaking her head, she pushed those thoughts aside before focusing once more on Jaynix's legs and the lag that the woman now faced. While she knew without a doubt in her mind that Jaynix would dedicate herself to overcoming it, Lyla couldn't help but think that maybe now was the time to go through with the Mimeosome procedure. The Reapers would all go together, as the family that they were.

Door opening, Lyla was pulled from her thoughts as Ivan Birtwhistle entered the room. After placing his supplies on the table, he took off his glasses and began wiping them clean as the transcriber took their place.

Satisfied, Ivan put his glasses back on and sat in his place, across from Lyla.

"Hello, Mrs. Copeland."

"Detective."

Ivan smiled.

"Let's start this off with your general information."

Lyla nodded.

"Lyla Copeland. 33. Special Agent in the Coalition's Armed Forces and member of the 3rd Soldier Unit, the Reapers."

"What does your position as Special Agent entail?"

Lyla smiled.

"Intelligence. I recon, scout and the like...I'm always the first to move into the enemy zone with another Reaper acting as security, watching my blindspots."

"Torture?"

"Interrogation. If need be. I'll admit it is not a skill I've used a lot given our kill on sight orders."

Birtwhistle crossed his arms.

"But you have interrogated before?"

"I have. Why?"

"Nothing. Though you may be the only one who can see through my questions. Might make my job harder."

Lyla laughed.

"I'm afraid all of us saw through this ruse of an 'internal investigation' the moment we were told about it."

"Indeed…"

Opening his binder, Birtwhistle began to write before asking.

"When did you first meet Lao Huang?"

"September 2041, when he and the rest of the Devoted came to Rhadamanthus Academy for their weeklong session with our officers. I'd heard of the man in the halls of the Academy because of how well known he was but I wasn't personally interested."

Birtwhistle chuckled.

"Why?"

"Nothing to do with him. I admit his service record as a sharpshooter is impressive...I'm more into knives myself, like my comrade, Eren."

The investigator wrote something down.

"Anything else? Did you actually speak to him?"

Lyla thought back before shaking her head.

"No. No personal interaction. I heard more about him than I spoke to him. Mostly through Jaynix as she aspired to be a protector like he was."

"It may have been brief but I have to ask...did anything about him that day seem off? Anything at all?"

Lyla shook her head.

"He seemed tired but really, all of us serving feel that way. A lot. We have a heavy burden to bear. I will say, after everything happened...after the Massacre, I couldn't understand why a man celebrated like he was would turn on everyone and everything he once believed…"

Birtwhistle nodded as Lyla continued.

"I'm sure things would have been different if we were all made aware of his loss."

"You mean the accident?"

"I mean everything...he wasn't well but a man with his pride would never admit that."

Birtwhistle leaned in.

"You believe his actions were caused by an unsound state of mind?"

"No. It had a role to play for sure but at the end of the day, he chose to do the things he did. At that point...what could be done?"

Birtwhistle whispered something to himself before moving on.

"When did you meet Jaynix?"

With a smile, Lyla spoke.

"March 2038. It was a few months after she and I enrolled into the Rhadamanthus Academy. I was sparring with the members of my squad when a proctor from a different squad came to offer me a special spar with their best fighter. That fighter was Jaynix and that's how we met."

"Quite a meeting."

"It was...that one fight. The look in her eyes. The way she moved. The force in her blows. I learned more about her in that one encounter than any conversation."

Lyla watched as Birtwhistle leaned back.

"What did you learn about her?"

"The most obvious was that she was strong. Her physique isn't just for show, there is power in every movement and every strike that she makes. Beyond that, while one could surprise her, she never let it get the better of her. She adapted, she was determined...she's the kind of person who will fight on no matter what. For the things she wants to protect, she'll do anything."

Birtwhistle tapped his pen along the paper, thinking. Lyla watched him as he looked back up at her.

"I understand your bond with Jaynix is...personal."

"She's my wife. Don't dance around it, Detective. I love her with all my heart."

"I can see that…"

Clearing his throat, he continued.

"What state was your relationship in when the massacre occurred in 2041? How involved were you in Jaynix's...rehabilitation."

Lyla sighed.

"Jaynix and I were dating at the time...then she moved in with the General. I visited her and Flame as often as I could...too much I'll admit. There was a time when my grades suffered because of it but I couldn't help it. I saw the pain they were dealing with and I did my best for them alongside the General."

Lyla waited a few more moments, staring at the detective.

"If you want to know about the time she spent with the General, you should ask him."

Birtwhistle chuckled.

"I'll admit that I may have forgotten to get into that with him."

"Pardon me but aren't you the best there is at this? How could you forget?"

The detective shrugged.

"I simply had other answers I wished to pursue from him. Once I realized I didn't touch on the time Jaynix and Flame spent at his home, it was too late to get back to it…"

Lyla remained silent as Birtwhistle flipped through his pages.

"You knew Jaynix was in a state following the massacre, yes? Did you think her continued desire to join the military and serve was a good one?"

Lyla sighed.

"I asked her the same thing and Jaynix told me that there was something her mother would always say to her. It was that Flame would always be safe if she was there. When Jaynix decided to serve, Sonja began to tell her that everyone would be safe as long as she was there...Jaynix refused to let her mother down. She had to complete her training, graduate and join the armed forces. She had to protect everyone, she had to see her mother's words through. No matter the difficulty. When she told me that...I knew that I couldn't and shouldn't stop her. So I helped her."

"Admirable...do you look at the things she's done since then and think that...maybe that was a mistake?"

Lyla laughed at that, Birtwhistle raising an eyebrow as she apologized.

"I'm sorry. Was that not a joke?"

"I'm not joking about anything here Mrs. Copeland."

"It sure sounded like a joke to me…"

The pair stared at one another in silence. Ivan noticed Lyla's gaze move from him to the transcriber. She raised an eyebrow before looking back at Ivan.

There was something in her eyes he wasn't fond of.

"Mrs. Copeland. I asked you a question, I require an answer."

"So it really wasn't a joke?"

"Mrs. Copeland."

The smile on Lyla's face was not genuine, Ivan could tell. As much as it annoyed him, anything he could say was cut off by Lyla's answer.

"Jaynix has not made a single mistake in her life. The people she's killed deserved it and she's protected everyone who lives within these walls. Including you, Detective. She's a hero."

"And Lao?"

"A monster who got what he deserved."

Birtwhistle leaned in.

"Be honest with me, Lyla. You truly didn't see anything wrong at all with any of the decisions made? Not even the decision to allow Jaynix on the final Lawless mission?"

Lyla looked to the detective.

"I knew what it meant to her...when she was first sidelined she told me that she wanted me to see the struggle through for her. I saw then in her eyes that she wanted to be there...but decided against it. When Lao came for her and Elma anyway…"

Lyla waited a few moments.

"Jaynix attaches herself to people...maybe a little too quickly. I see it as a result of her losing her parents. She's formed a powerful bond with Elma, Lao attacking her put her on this road. Nothing could stop her then."

Ivan nodded.

"What if you told her to stop? What then?"

Lyla shook her head.

"She had doubts about being involved with the mission during the briefing but there was no reality where she could sit on her hands while we all went to fight. The only way she could put all of her conflicting emotions to rest was to do away with them herself."

Birtwhistle nodded.

"Yet no one thought to bring Flame into the operation? Why?"

"You would have to ask Flame that. What I will say is that Flame dealt with the pain differently...she had no illusions about her military might. She knew exactly how skilled she was and that the shot wasn't hers to take...but like all of us, she's glad it was taken."

Birtwhistle adjusted his tie, Lyla watched the man deliver some sort of signal to the transcriber before facing Lyla once more.

"The purpose of this investigation is to find a truth we cannot find. I acknowledge that. But decisions were made and there are consequences. There has to be."

"I understand that. I only ask if it's truly worth it to pursue all of this because a monster was killed. We lost many lives in that battle yet all our superiors seem to care about is Lao, the man who took those lives. We killed Torrez too in case you weren't aware. I myself was directly involved with that. It was my shot that allowed the General to decapitate him. Yet no one cares about that. Why is the only issue Jaynix shooting Lao? Is it because Lao was Lao? Or because Jaynix is Jaynix? Why does it matter so much?"

Gathering his supplies, Birtwhistle got to his feet.

"I'm not the one who can answer that question Mrs. Copeland. An order was given. An order was disobeyed. That's all."

Lyla sighed.

"You may want to shape up on that end before you go to your last interview, Ivan. That kind of answer won't stand."

"I have no reason to answer anything from anyone. The ones being questioned are all of you."

Lyla watched Birtwhistle turn and open the door, allowing the transcriber through who paused briefly to whisper to the man. He shook his head quickly, lips barely moving as the person left the room.

"Detective."

Looking to Lyla, he waited.

"Flame is going to eat you alive."

He kept his eyes on her for a few more moments before departing. Letting out a long breath, Lyla got to her feet.

"That went well…"

Leaving the room she spotted Elma, Nagi and Kumon sitting together. The General's face was pale and both Elma and Nagi were concerned.

Quickly she made her way over to them.

"Sir! Are you alright?"

He shook his head causing Lyla to address the other two.

"What happened?"

Elma and Nagi shared a look before the Colonel spoke up.

"It seems Kumon...tampered with evidence from 2041. From the Massacre."

Lyla looked to the General.

"Sir?"

"If they found out...Jaynix never...her career. Her story. It all would've ended there...I couldn't let that happen. I just lost Sonja and Maxwell...I wasn't about to lose her too."

Lyla got onto her knees, reaching out to place a hand on Kumon's face and gently move him so he was facing her.

Nagi spoke, quietly.

"Ivan already knows. It seems he had an interview with Steven Harper before we even came here."

Lyla kept her eyes on Kumon as she spoke.

"You think he needed to verify the information? If the proof is gone he can't very well rely only on the Archer's words..."

Kumon watched something form in Lyla's eyes.

"Wait...if Steven told him that earlier...that means he must have known."

Elma and Nagi nodded.

"...if he did know why say something now? He-"

Realization dawning in Lyla's eyes, she leaned closer to Kumon.

"Because of Jaynix. He's doing this to get to her, isn't he?"

Kumon nodded, finally allowing himself to speak and say something else he never truly accepted.

"He hates her."

Nagi raised an eyebrow.

"What? Why?"

Elma put a hand on the General's shoulder.

"That doesn't make any sense. The two of them are accomplished soldiers, serving the Coalition. Steven is a hero just-"

Elma recalled her first official meeting with the Archer shortly before the Lawless operation. The man asked her something about Jaynix. At the time she admitted to not liking the idea of talking about the woman behind her back. But something about Steven as he asked the question and waited for an answer was...different to how he presented himself in other situations.

"Kumon. What does he want?"

The General took Lyla's hand into his own and moved it from his face.

"Would you believe revenge?"

"It can't be. Revenge for what? Why now?"

Nagi asked. Kumon took a deep breath before looking up, his eyes finding the door that Birtwhistle went into not long ago.

"Let's wait for Flame...she needs to hear this too."

Closing his eyes, Kumon thought.

"Unless he tells her first."

Lyla stood up, looking to Nagi, she saw confusion in his eyes which gave way to determination as he whispered some support to the General.

Then she looked to Elma, silent and stoic, her eyes however, were anything but.

Elma slowly met Lyla's gaze.

The women stared at one another for a few moments before nodding.