IC Inbox [Cerealia]

[bewrightback]

"If you're looking for Phoenix Wright, you've called the Wright number! Leave a message after the beep, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!"

Comments

[pollygrapher]

The Blackquills. [No matter how hard he thinks about it, the name just doesn't sound familiar.] She didn't mention them, and you haven't either.

[And that? That makes him stop immediately.]

Just like--you mean I was here before?

[bewrightback]

I guess I haven't. You'll meet them someday, don't you worry.

[Then he frowns.]

I didn't mention that? [Now that I think about, I think I focused more on him not remembering a year's worth of time back home instead...] Sorry, Apollo. But... it's the truth. You were here for a month or so, from the same time as Athena and me. Then one day... you disappeared, just like that. Until you showed up here.

[pollygrapher]

Wait. [Though Apollo's a little miffed that both Trucy and Phoenix didn't tell him this, he's somewhat appeased by Phoenix's apology. There's also something else more important to focus on.]

You're telling me I was from the same point in time as you before? And then when I came back, I...wasn't. [Like someone hit a rewind button.]

[bewrightback]

That's exactly right, Apollo. [He nods.]

Not only did you lose out on a year's worth of memories back home, but you lost some of this world as well.

[He nestles his hands in his pockets.]

The same could happen to Maya one day. Or Pearls, or any of the others who have come and gone from this place.

[pollygrapher]

[Apollo sighs, rubbing at his forehead tiredly.]

Let me guess. CERES doesn't have a solution for this either?

[bewrightback]

I doubt it. They just blame everything on that so-called 'Nexus Code'.

[pollygrapher]

I've heard that term thrown around before. What exactly is it?

[bewrightback]

That's part of CERES's pitch. You know how they say that they restored us from some kind of back-up code of the universe? That's what's called the Nexus Code. So it's at the heart of this whole matter, if it's real.

[He pauses for a moment as he thinks over something he can disclose.]

...Some of us might have visited it once, a few months back. But as with most things related to CERES, it's hard to tell if it was the real deal or not.

[pollygrapher]

[Apollo looks at him sharply.]

You did? What was it like?

[He's beyond the point of lingering on how far fetched this all sounds.]

[bewrightback]

It was this... really weird place. It felt like being in some kind of incomplete computer game?

And... a lot of the people who had disappeared from the colony seemed to be there. But they were all in some sort of stasis, and there was nothing we can do to affect their condition.

[A shadow falls over his face.]

It... it was like you all weren't even alive.

[pollygrapher]

[Apollo isn't sure if Phoenix meant for that to slip out, but he grimaces all the same.]

You said "you all"--I guess it'd make sense that I'd be there if I had disappeared already.

[His pointer finger presses against his forehead as he thinks.] Those people in the Nexus Code...did you see anyone else from home or just the ones who had been here before?

[bewrightback]

[It was a slip alright, and Phoenix frowns at it.]

Only people who had been here before. ...Yes, Apollo. You were there. As was Klavier Gavin, whom I heard had been in this world for a while before I came here.

[He strokes at his chin.]

But there was one odd thing I noticed. Pearls had disappeared from this world shortly before that all unfolded, but... There was no sign of her at all in that space.

[pollygrapher]

Pearls? [While Apollo recognizes the name, it's only because Phoenix has dropped it a few times.]

Is she someone I'm supposed to be meeting in the future, too?

[bewrightback]

Of course you will, Apollo.

[He gives Apollo the most serious poker face.]

She's your daughter.

1/3

[pollygrapher]

[Apollo freezes up immediately, expression twisted.]

2/3

[pollygrapher]

[Okay, okay, wait. There's no way he heard that correctly.]

3/3

[pollygrapher]

[At least, he hopes not.]

Come again?

[bewrightback]

Is your hearing alright, Apollo? I said that she's Maya's younger cousin.

[pollygrapher]

[The look Apollo sends Phoenix right then could probably strip the paint off walls.]

My hearing's fine and that's not what you said, Mr. Wright.

[bewrightback]

[Phoenix just faces that with a smile.]

What about your sense of humor?

[pollygrapher]

You just tried to trick me into believing I had a daughter, Mr. Wright.

[So grouchy over here. Why does he still fall for Phoenix's lame jokes? He should know better by now!]

I don't think you have any ground to stand on.

[bewrightback]

Hold it!

I needed to see how you would react to that.

And... it's what Maya would have wanted.

[pollygrapher]

[That makes Apollo's complaints die away almost immediately.]

I can see that. I'm sorry I didn't get to know her better.

[bewrightback]

[His smile is lighter, as he shuffles in place.]

Maybe one day you will, Apollo. We should keep hoping, shouldn't we?

And she'll make my jokes look like amateur hour.

[pollygrapher]

Hoping we see her again sounds like a good idea.

[Apollo quirks an eyebrow up.] I'll pass on the jokes, though.