It was already almost eight o'clock when my phone rang, abruptly shattering the cocoon-like interior of the visiting room. I sighed in annoyance. "Give me a second: it's got to be important at this hour." Armando mutely inclined his head, and I slipped a hand into my pocket, getting up.

"Wright speaking."

"Nick, it's me. Can I come in with you?" Maya's voice was so high and breathless that I almost didn't recognize it for a moment. Not only that… I paused. She sounded nervous.

"Um… sure? I think so," I answered, bewildered. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, I'm just fine," was the unhesitating reply. Still, something felt off. I'd left her with Pearls, making dinner while watching reruns on television: it had seemed safe enough, but I wondered for a moment if they were in trouble.

"Okay. I'll have to tell Officer Meekins to let you in, but… are you sure you're all right, Maya?" I asked again.

I had expected her to sound annoyed—normally at this point she would at least be exasperated, calling me an old lady—but she sounded distracted, more than anything else. "Yes! I'm okay, Nick. Pearls is still working on the noodles, but I thought of something I need to ask you."

"Well, ask away," I said, trying to sound patient. "You sound nervous. Is something wrong?"

"No, no!" This time her voice was hurried, as if she wanted this conversation to be over, so she could get to the station. My eyes strayed across the room; Armando had tilted his chair back on two legs, and I had the feeling that if I could see his eyebrows, one would be cocked, eyes only half-interestedly fixed on me as he sipped black coffee. Another image popped into my head, of him casually blowing bubble gum—and it was so absurd that as I blinked back laughter, I heard Maya say, "…just need to come in for a minute. I'll see you soon, Nick, I'm already leaving."

"Okay," I said automatically, then realized it. "Wait, Maya—!" But she'd already hung up on the other end. I swore and thrust the phone back into my pocket. I felt an urge to punch something, but settled for saying, "I'll be back in a minute," trying unsuccessfully to hide my self-disgust.

"I'll just wait here," was the nonchalant response, paired alongside a coffee mug salute. I felt my shoulders slump as I moved towards the door; the temptation was very strong to call Maya back and demand what she needed… but Armando and I were already terribly far behind in preparations for the trial tomorrow, and moreover I simply didn't feel like yelling. I wasn't really mad so much as bewildered. The sensation, of course, wasn't entirely foreign, but it still irked me, mostly since it was because of Maya.

Walking out the door, I immediately winced as Mike Meekins absolutely leapt to his feet with a snappy salute. "Sir, Mr. Phoenix Wright, sir! What do you need, sir!" He'd finally put away his bullhorn since being transferred from evidence, but still had a tendency to scream everything at the top of his lungs.

"Uh, I just needed to let you know that my assistant will be coming in soon, Officer—Maya Fey. Do you remember her?"

His jaw dropped, eyes going blank as he assumed what was apparently supposed to be a thoughtful position. Belatedly I remembered that Maya had gone back to Kurain just before I'd defended Meekins, and decided that a description might be helpful. "She's got long black hair, with a topknot…"

Before I could add anything else, however, Meekins snapped another ferocious salute. "Yes, sir! I'll inform you at once when she arrives, sir!"

I sighed. Well, at least with Meekins I wouldn't have to go through the rigmarole of violating late visiting hours for non-attorneys. "Thanks, Officer," I said, and hastily ducked back into the room under a barrage of formal courtesies. Dear God, he was worse than Gumshoe was with Edgeworth.

Head now throbbing along with my wrist, I collapsed back into the chair opposite Armando. "Maya's coming in a few minutes—said she had something to tell me."

He'd been grinning at Meekins, but the expression faded somewhat at my words. "Tell you something, or tell me something, do you think?"

I threw my good hand in the air; I'd been wondering the exact same thing, and said so, adding, "Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe better, given that my ears are still ringing." Rubbing my temples with one hand, I asked, "So getting back to where we were… do you think we're set for a cross on Gumshoe? I mean, obviously he's going to have to take Ms. von Karma's side for evidence, but he'll probably be our key player for… well, for the damsel-in-distress aspect."

"Ha! …That he will be," Armando mused. Now dangerously tilting the chair back onto a single leg and rotating it in half-circles, he was making me absolutely dizzy. "I suppose we'll be all right. You usually fly by the seat of your pants, anyway, don't you? Just press him when you get to anything that mentions Maya, and he'll crack like a whip."

"Oh, God. Don't remind me," I muttered, making him laugh again. "I suppose Franziska's going to have press-ganged Iris into testifying, too."

"She might have even made Iris a few offers, too."

I stared at him. "What do you mean by that?"

He lifted one shoulder, let it drop, half-smile impenetrable as usual. "At this point in the trial she's considered an accomplice. If she deliberately says what the prosecution wants during her testimony they may cut her some slack, either in jail time or fines. Whatever she ends up with after her hearing."

I had no answer for that, merely goggled at him. Franziska wouldn't stoop that low… would she? "Isn't that bribery!?"

"Nope, that's perfectly legal court dealings. Been happening for years. Your pal Edgeworth has done it a dozen times before, I'm sure."

I felt my face reddening in fury, and was for a moment spitefully glad that he couldn't see my flush. Edgeworth? Cut deals with criminals so they would testify for him? No! That was shades of Manfred von Karma, doing whatever it took to win! "Whatever. Even if Franziska offered a… a reduced jail time, or whatever, I don't think Iris would do it."

"Maybe not," was the answer, almost sounding like he would be disappointed in her intelligence if she didn't accept an offer. Thank God, he'd set the chair back on all four legs once more, casually throwing one leg over another; but my slight dizziness was being overtaken by a rising fury. Of all my cases, this was going to be the one that broke all of my past histories, and we both knew it: why was he being so damned unhelpful?

I felt a sudden urge to throw everything back into my briefcase and stomp out without saying another word. Every single moment of our interview tonight, Armando had made it totally clear that he still didn't give a damn how his own trial turned out. It was as if he had nothing to lose: which, in my opinion, was a complete lie. I'd already thought over it myself: certainly I couldn't expect him to value my opinion, but what about Pearls? And what about Maya?

Abruptly the door clanged open, and as I fought off the suspicion that I actually was going to have a coronary, Mike Meekins shouted, "Ms. Fey for you, sir! I had her sign into the book, sir!"

Still clutching my chest, heart hammering away, I got up as Meekins beat a speedy retreat, and turned to Maya. "Hi, Maya. What was it you needed to ask me?" Then I looked up at her face, and froze.

It was Mia. Not Maya channeling her sister. Mia.

Half a heartbeat later, she cocked an eyebrow at me. "Phoenix, Maya left a note that said you needed to ask me something, and that I should come here as quickly as possible. Is something the matter?"

Suddenly I realized that it was Mia in her sister's body… still, I gaped at her; a thought began to grow at the back of my mind, a vague suspicion that I could absolutely be ready to murder Maya when she stopped channeling her sister. "Uhm," was all I managed. Mia, contrary to the usual, had donned one of her old outfits that Maya had kept after the funeral, a classy black number that she'd worn assisting me in court; yet her hair was black, with Maya's topknot, and her Magatama was bright like her sister's. Still, the effect was completely unnerving. It was as if she were back from the dead.

Mia continued to eye me, and sighed. "Evidently this is my sister's doing." She glanced around me; her mouth tightened somewhat, and her eyes might have grown darker, but otherwise she maintained her composure perfectly. "And I've no doubt why." From her expression, I half expected her to greet Armando, but she merely added, "Can I be of any use to you, Phoenix?"

My heart was clearly trying to beat its way straight out of my chest and onto the floor; either that, or it was furiously attempting a coronary. Either way, I could barely breathe. Two thoughts flashed through my mind: the first was She thinks I want her here to give a perspective on Armando's personality, or something. Mia's expression didn't seem to incline against that idea, and as I swallowed, the second thought quite took over. My God, what must Armando be thinking?

As I turned to look at him, any reactions I might have expected out of him fled into the distant recesses of my imagination. I hadn't heard the chair overturn as he stood, but it certainly had; one hand gripped the edge of the table, his lips so white and his body so still that it was clear he was seeing a ghost.

Well, that was fair, I reflected. Something had subtly changed since I'd first faced him across the court, when he was still using the name of Godot, though until this moment I hadn't been able to put a finger on it. Beyond that, I myself was thrown off balance, simply because Mia was wearing clothes that fit her. The woman standing in front of me could have been Mia, five years ago, with slightly different hair. Knowing what I now did about these two and their past history, I was staggered that neither of them were saying more.

Finally it occurred to me that if I didn't say something, things might progress beyond the point of saving. In another colorful flash of inspiration, I also realized just what it was that I had to do. "Yes," I said firmly. "Yes, you can help me, Mia. But could you first come outside with me for just a second?"