Morix: Web of Mistrust

Turnabout Masquerade, Part 2

November 20

Morix Law Offices

11:30 AM

Victoria von Graye

"What do you think this is about?"

Yuri slid into the seat behind me as I pulled away from her home. She buckled her seatbelt and let out a sigh before digging her phone out of her pocket. She pawed at the screen until she had pulled up the agency's group chat, undoubtedly looking at the messages that had been on everyone's minds all morning. I could see out of the corner of my eye that I was right, not that I was particularly desperate for the confirmation. 

I shrugged and shook my head. "If I could tell you, I would," I told her with a light sigh. "All we can do for now is head down to the agency and see what we can find out. It sounds like Deirdre is already there, and she should be able to catch us up when we arrive."

Yuri nodded, but she still didn't put her phone away. "It looks like Lily has been arrested for this unknown crime... It's not even a question that we're going to be defending her," she concluded. "It's good to see that Deirdre is taking control of everything, especially since Mr. Morix still isn't answering... I wonder if he knows about all of this. If he does, why wouldn't he want to respond?"

"Has Chrysalis answered?" I questioned, but I already had the sneaking suspicion that I knew the answer before Yuri could say anything. Chrysalis and Mr. Morix were as good as two peas in a pod, and if there was something going on with one of them, the other one was going to know about it and react accordingly. That was how they functioned, and I knew better than to call it odd simply because it was how the agency worked as a whole. 

Yuri shook her head. "Not yet," she said, but I could tell that she was doubtful that Chrysalis would ever be answering. I couldn't blame her in the slightest; I knew all too well that Chrysalis was a naturally secretive character, not that I could particularly fault her for being that way. Since she was in charge of the Oracle project, she had a lot on her plate at all times, and it was a risk that she simply couldn't engage with to be open about her personal life with the rest of the world. It still made me feel odd, but I didn't say anything about it openly. 

I started to pull away from Yuri's house, surveying the mirrors on my car to make sure that I wasn't going to collide with anything. I started the familiar drive to the agency, and Yuri remained focused on the conversation with everyone else from her seat beside me. I could tell that she was waiting for Mr. Morix or Chrysalis to say something, anything, but it was clear as could be that they weren't going to be doing such. It was simply a sneaking suspicion that I had, but I figured that I would much rather listen to it than ignore it. After all, it certainly wouldn't have been out of character for the two of them to be too busy to answer when life took a turn for the worst. In fact, it seemed perfectly aligned with past behaviors for them. 

The drive to the agency was agonizing and silent. I kept on glancing over at Yuri when we parked at stoplights and waited for them to shift. Her gaze never moved away from the phone, but the hope in her eyes seemed to diminish a tiny bit with each passing stoplight, almost as if she was losing faith that Mr. Morix and Chrysalis were going to answer her questions. I was willing to believe that they were safe and alright given the fact that Deirdre hadn't hurriedly explained that something had happened to them. She would have mentioned it if one of the core players of the agency was deep in trouble of some kind, but she didn't, so I was inclined to think that everything was fine with them. Well, as fine they could be given the circumstances, but I was going to run with it for the time being. 

As soon as the agency came into view, I saw Yuri drop her phone back into her pocket, and her hand braced itself against the handle to open the car door. Once we slid to a stop, Yuri practically threw off her seatbelt and launched herself to her feet. I couldn't help but chuckle as I powered the car down, dropping my keys into my purse before I got out myself. Yuri sure was enthusiastic about this, but it seemed to be fueled more by nervous energy than anything else. I couldn't particularly blame her, and in fact, it filled me with this strange sense of fear that I wasn't sure of how to describe. I wasn't fond of what was happening, but I was going to try and press on regardless.