Ace Attorney Investigations: Virtual Despair

Prolouge: From Hope to Despair - Part 2

July 13 12:10pm

S. P. A. R. X Factory ~ Ultimate Investigator Niamh Wood's POV

It took us a while to get to the factory, but once we did it looked awesome. The building towered over us, even more so than the school!

Mrs. Colton lead us into the first room, where two people were waiting for us. The first was a man with green eyes and a balding head, wearing a black suit. The second was a woman much younger than him. She had blue eyes to match her bright blue hair which cascaded down her back. She had a blue scarf wrapped around her neck. Her long white lab coat nearly touched the ground over her knee-length purple dress. Jordan nudged Kyle with a smirk. "Not too shabby, eh?" he muttered, glancing at the woman.

The man stepped forward with a smile. "It's such a pleasure to welcome all of you here!" He exclaimed. "My name is Eugene Morton, and this is Sapphire Dezpaire." The woman next to him was like a statue: she hadn't moved once, not even blinked. I directed my gaze away from her: I admit, she scared me a little.

Dr. Morton directed us around the factory, showing us a little on what they'd been working on: a virtual reality program. It was a machine designed to send a group of people into a simulated 3D environment. They called it the Neo World Program, NWP for short. "However, the program isn't complete yet," Dr. Morton explained. "So it'll be quite a while before you kids can get your hands on it!"

Glancing around at the group of people around me, it didn't surprise me to learn that Jordan and Kyle had disappeared, most likely to mess around and cause trouble for some of the factory workers. Luckily, Mrs. Colton allowed us an hour to freely explore the factory before meeting back at the entrance for lunch. I took this time to investigate just where those two troublemakers had gone.

"Where are you going?" Zach asked, breaking into a slow jog to catch up to me. "Jordan and Kyle are nowhere to be found." I sighed. "I better go look for them and catch them out on whatever they're planning."

"That's the Ultimate Investigator for you." Zach grinned, ruffling my hair. I smiled; even if he wasn't my real brother, I liked to think of him that way.

We searched in every place that we could for about ten minutes, but knowing them, they were most likely somewhere completely out-of-bounds. Zach didn't want to push the rules too much, but part of being a good investigator is examining everywhere for clues, even if it means taking some kind of risk. I had Zach be on lookout for anyone approaching while I looked in some kind of control room.

Machines, devices and lights of all kinds decorated the room in an almost intimidating fashion. The room hummed with electricity and I swore I heard a crackling noise nearby. It made me gulp; they were the only noises in the otherwise silent room. "Nobody's in here, Zach." I called out to my cousin. I waited for some kind of response, but I didn't get one.

"Zach?" I repeated, beginning to grow nervous. The feeling of paranoia in my stomach increased as an unfamiliar scent reached my nose. It appeared to be coming from the next room over. What worried me was the sudden realization I had about the smell.

Blood. It was blood. That thought kept repeating itself in my mind: blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood blood-

I shook my head rapidly: now's not the time! I needed to check this out! I ran into the room, already dreading what I'd be seeing.

I wasn't wrong to expect the worst.

Three figures lay on the ground in front of me: Dr. Morton, a knife in his chest. Dr. Dezpaire, blood forming around her head. And...