Ace Attorney Investigations: Moonlight

Chapter 2

- November 1st -
- Interpol HQ, Q-Branch -
- Sebastian Walker's POV -

Julia and I arrived at Q-Branch, quickly darting into my office before anyone could interrupt us. Kotoko was sitting in the corner, playing with my two cats.

"Oh, hi, Miss. Kirigiri!" Kotoko grinned at us. "I was wondering when you were coming back!"

"Where's Griffin?" Julia asked her. "I thought I told him to keep an eye on you..."

"Oh, Fee-Fee left after getting a phone call." Kotoko told us. "He said he'd be back, but... he hasn't..."

"I don't know why you rely on him so much." I said with a chuckle, "I thought you would've gone off him entirely after that last case. He nearly killed you-!"

"Y-Yes, but... N told me to give him another chance..." She sighed in annoyance, "... As much as I hate to do it, N is above me. I can't disobey him."

"Right. But despite that, we have work to do. Regarding..." I bit my lip, "... Autumn. We - you - have to attend that Moonlight member's funeral."

"It's the only lead we have... plus, we have the ring." Julia smiled at me, "It should help us quite a bit if we want to sneak in ourselves."

"Yes, but... not if X has anything to do with it." I glanced at the doorway - X was shuffling around outside. "Did you hear? They're spending loads of money on his new plan. Ridiculous, it is... they reckon he's a prodigy."

"Just make sure he doesn't kill me in the process." Julia said with a smirk. "Especially with his plan... there's a conference about it in a few days. If everyone agrees, then he'll have access to every bit of intelligence across the world."

"M and N are keeping an eye on him. You know what they're like." I waved at Kotoko before opening the door to X (who was still shuffling awkwardly outside). "X... excuse the mess, will you? We've just moved into a new building."

"O-Oh, it's okay-!" X chuckled nervously, "I just set up the tracking program. D, I'm ready to, uh... begin... it..."

Julia rolled her eyes at X's awkwardness and followed him into a nearby room. I nervously followed behind them, not particularly liking the fact that X had just barged in and set up his technology in my area.

"D, if you'd just sit on this chair right here..." X gestured to a weird-looking chair with a needle attached to it. "... Oh, um, it might hurt. Just a bit. But nothing you can't handle, right?"

"I hope you've tested this..." Julia sighed as she sat down. She didn't look completely faithful in this new program.

X pressed a button and positioned the needle above Julia's arm. "Okay, I'm doing it!" He half-yelled and covered his eyes. Then he quickly opened them again to press another button, only to shut them again.

The needle pushed into Julia's skin, injecting goodness-knows-what into her. X pushed it away as soon as it was finished - Julia had remained silent the entire time.

"Now, Q, since I'm away a lot, I'll be giving this to you," X said, pointing to the screen in front of us. Julia's location was clearly displayed on it with a red dot. "The microchips in D's bloodstream allow us to track her location... o-of course, only us two will be able to access them."

"I don't remember this being in my contract, you know." Julia chuckled to herself. "But if only you two know of my location, then... I trust you won't misuse it."

"I-I would never misuse it, Ju- D-!" I quickly leapt at the chance to defend myself. "It's purely for your safety... I think."

"If it helps, M ordered me to make sure you were first in line." X told her, "It... might have something to do with your last trip..."

"M also ordered me to cease assisting you, too." I sighed, partially to cover up the fact that I wasn't going to pay any attention to M's orders. "But... I managed to get one thing past his radar, though."

"Oh? What sort of thing is it?" Julia turned to me, intrigued. "It better not be a plush toy for Kotoko... she has enough of those already."

"It's something more practical than that." I gestured for her to follow (and X to stay). "And it may have more hidden features than you'd expect."

I walked up to my 'Tinker Table' as L called it and grabbed a nearby watch, handing it to Julia. "I'd be careful. Inputting the fourth hour on the left hand side makes a... very loud alarm go off."

Julia smiled, catching my drift. "And you managed to slip this past M? Not many people can do that, you know... but I still need you to do something for me."

"I'm already pushing M, D." I told her. "There's not much else I can do, I'm afraid..."

She leaned in close and whispered into my ear. "I need you to let me disappear. Whilst I investigate Moonlight, of course."

"Okay, but may I remind you, this job is what's keeping my cats alive." I said, glancing at Kotoko and my cats. "If I get fired-"

"I'll make it worth your while." Julia interrupted me, "Please, Q... I'm asking this as a favour."

"... D, I forgot to tell you. So did X, considering that this is still in the test phase." I glanced at him, trying my best to come up with a plausible lie. "But for a little while, there may be a... few times where you don't show up on the map. I'm sure you'll just be resting at home with Kotoko, though."

"Yes, that sounds like exactly what I'll be doing." She smiled at me. "Kotoko and I do need some catch-up time, after all."

"Then I'll leave you guys to it." X gave us a wave. "Oh, and do tell Q or myself if you experience any problems, D. There shouldn't be any... I swear they won't harm you or anything!"

"That's... not worrying at all..." Julia shook her head and sighed at X's warning. I didn't blame her; I was just thankful that Kotoko wasn't present during all of this.

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kinda short update but it was too late to begin the next thing oopsie. also I swear I've never updated so quickly,

- hatty