Ace Attorney: Secrets beneath Secrets

Turnabout Below, Part 14

May 31

Defendant Lobby No. 6

9:10 AM

Cotoli Morix

The next morning, I arrived at the courthouse bright and early alongside Chrysalis. She sat down on the bench in the lobby as soon as she had the chance to, and she let out a heavy sigh as I did the same. "I don't know if I'm looking forward to this. I know we don't really have a choice in the matter when it comes to solving this case, but... I'm just feeling bad. I have a major headache just thinking about all of this. It would be a delight if everyone in the gallery would keep it quiet for once, though I highly doubt they're ever going to give me such luck. I am exhausted, and I'm sick of everyone right now. Maybe I'm just feeling awful since the truth about Cormous came out fully, but... Ugh. Why is life such a chore sometimes?" she asked.

"I wish I could tell you," I said with a loose shrug. I tried to seem nonchalant, but I was sick of dealing with the universe as well. It seemed like everything was moving so fast, and I wanted it all to stop for a brief while. I didn't know what we were going to dospecifically. After the investigation, I had been so tired that I went right to bed and fell asleep after dinner. I didn't have the chance to think over strategies at all. However, if we could just keep a firm grasp on what had been discussed the day before, hopefully victory wouldn't be too hard to achieve.

"So, you're going to need to figure out how you're going to prove this. The primary piece of evidence that you have is that Cormous had the key to the cellar when he really shouldn't have. From there, you'll hopefully be able to connect Cormous to Marcus Moore. It's an easy connection to make, but it won't be easy to prove. However, you're a good lawyer, and I know that you know what you're doing. You wouldn't have such an amazing reputation if you didn't have a clue what to do," Chrysalis told me. She leaned her head over, resting it on my upper arm. She was too short to reach my shoulder unless I heavily slouched over, something I couldn't bring myself to do fully.

"I'm so glad that Ghastly is the prosecutor on this case," I admitted. "After all, he doesn't hate me, and he would be happy to help me figure out the truth. It all has to do with how he isn't corrupted, and I can't believe that's a relief. However, the legal system isn't exactly kind, and this is a small blessing I wouldn't exactly call common. We've been lucky as of late, but... I really can't wait for this broken system to be snapped back into order. It's been crooked and twisted for far too long, and I think it's high time that this dark period finally drew to a close."

"That's what we're supposed to do. It's been our job as long as I can remember. If the law isn't going to fix itself, if the law is going to rely on other people, then we're going to have to be the ones to snap it back to normal. It's upsetting that others aren't going to help us out at all, but... Not everyone can be trusted to aid us in a way. It's dangerous to place trust in people who don't deserve it. I hate to say that since it sounds so harsh and rude, but... It's unfortunately true. Not everyone deserves what we can provide to them," Chrysalis murmured. She reached out her hand to take mine in hers, squeezing it gently.

It didn't take a genius to be able to see what she was talking about. She was thinking about Cormous. I couldn't blame her. Even now, the betrayal hit hard. Cormous was Marcus Moore in all truth, and he had been all along. He came to our agency to deceive us. He was sent there by the Emsthorpe crime ring to find out more about the Oracle project, and there was nothing we could do about it. His intentions had been clear and harmful from the start, and even now, after we had accepted this fact and understood it for quite some time, it still stung a little bit. We believed that people were good despite our wish to change the broken system caused by the corruption of humanity. However, it was hard to hold that belief strong and firm when this was what our actions got us in return.