Monday, June 2nd
Wright Anything Agency

It was getting ridiculous.

Well, to be fair, it had really gotten ridiculous when he had stubbornly sat in a closet for half an hour so he could avoid her.

Obviously there was something wrong; when he had been insulting her, he hadn't been angry or disdainful… He had been sad. Really sad. It was hard not to feel for the guy a little.

But only a little. Athena was most definitely not a kid and really didn't appreciate being called incompetent.

Still… If she could just get a therapy session out of him, maybe she could figure out what was wrong, and they could start over. Save everyone a lot of heartache, y’know?

Speak of the devil…

Chase walked into the room, saw her, and promptly walked out.

“Hey! Come back!”

He reluctantly poked his head back in, and said, “What.”

He's… Nervous? Afraid might actually be a better word.

“I just wanna talk to you.”

“OOOhh no. Not happening.”

He was trying to leave again, so she blurted out, “Can't you at least explain why?”

He sighed, and plodded over to her. “Look. I just think having a lawyer so young isn't a good idea. Your brain won't even finish growing for another seven years or so, and--”

“I know you're lying.” On the bright side, he stopped lying. On the not-so-bright side, he now looked terrified.

“I… uh…” Her ears confirmed it, and now she sighed.

“I’ve got this thing. I can hear the emotions in a person’s voice, including yours. It’s pretty obvious that you don’t hate me, and you actually kind of admire me. It’s also really clear that you’re overwhelmed by sadness. I know I might not be the best person, situationally, to help you, but I’ve been trained in analytical psychology and I really don’t want to see anyone suffering like this. Let me help you. Please.”

Honestly, she was surprised he hadn’t tried to interrupt her again. Not that she minded being able to finally get a whole word in edgewise.

“You would do that? Even after what I said to you?”

“Of course! I… I know what it’s like to feel terrified and alone and to lash out at people with things you don’t mean.”

He fiddled with his necklaces and looked away. After a few moments, he finally said, “Trucy has to be here,” with a lot of fear in his voice. But there was a bit of hope, too, and Athena clung to that.

“Of course! She just got back a little while ago, right?”

“Yeah. She's up in her room.”

“Perfect! I'll go grab her.”

Athena stood up, but Chase said, “Now?!” with such worry in his voice she almost fell back down.

“It's better to get it over with, right?”

He looked everywhere besides her, and chuckled anxiously. “Uh, yeah. Right.”

It was mostly only the fear in his voice that kept her from shouting in satisfaction as she climbed the stairs.

(O)

It took a while to carry Trucy downstairs -- literally; she had been woken up from a nap and was refusing to move while muttering something about exhaustion and “looking for glass all day.” Athena put Trucy down on the couch next to Chase, and feigned having to go to the bathroom so the pair would have a moment to talk. Also so Trucy could actually be awake. She couldn't really do this on her own, after all.

It felt like forever before they were all on the couches and she was opening up the Mood Matrix. She gave him one more moment to collect his thoughts, and to grab Trucy’s hand for reassurance, before she began. “Alright. Tell me about why you freaked out when we met. Try to be as honest as possible, because even if you're not we’ll figure out the truth anyway.”

He blinked at that and swallowed, fiddling with his necklaces. Trucy gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, and he took a deep breath.

Mood Matrix - Overload Error!
Emotion: Sadness

When I met you that day, I was already preoccupied by what happened to my dad.

Plus, I was stressed about how everyone was treating me, because of what I said on the news.

By the time I got to the Agency, I was just about ready to explode.

And then… seeing you and remembering… it was all too much!

Hmm… What could be the thing causing him so much pain? Athena flipped through the statements again, and finally settled on a guess.

“Got it! It's me, isn't it?”

“What?” Chase started, confused.

“There's something causing you overwhelming sadness and fear. It's me, isn't it?”

He went pale. “I…”

“Chase, what were you remembering when you saw me?”

He took another deep breath. “It's ‘who’. My sister.” The words came out in a rush, but she was so glad he was finally starting to open up. This was working, and maybe he would really let her help him. Even better, beginning to open up had gotten rid of the overwhelming emotion, and they could start to dig deeper, now.

Mood Matrix - Update
Noise: 100%

When I met you that day, I was already preoccupied by what happened to my dad.
Happy: 0 Angry: 1 Sad: 2 Surprised: 0

Plus, I was stressed about how everyone was treating me, because of what I said on the news.
Happy: 0 Angry: 0 Sad: 3 Surprised: 0

By the time I got to the Agency, I was just about ready to explode.
Happy: 0 Angry: 0 Sad: 3 Surprised: 0

And then… seeing you and remembering… it was all too much!
Happy: 0 Angry: 1 Sad: 4 Surprised: 3

You are so much like my sister. She was strong and beautiful and bubbly and kind, just like you.
Happy: 1 Angry: 2 Sad: 4 Surprised: 3

Every time I look at you, I see her, and I miss her so much.
Happy: 1 Angry: 0 Sad: 4 Surprised: 1

“Was, huh? So your sister…”

Chase looked away, squeezing Trucy’s hand even tighter. “She's gone, now.”

“I'm sorry.”

“It’s… it's fine,” he said, though she was pretty sure it was anything but. He looked like he was about to cry, but she didn't want to push the issue.

She thought of a different question instead. “What was her name?”

“Clari. Clarisse. She was named after the girl in Fahrenheit 451. My mom came up with that.” He smiled a little, here, and Athena was glad he could. “My mom died when I was young, but she loved literature. I'm named after it, too. After my favorite book.”

Even if he wasn't entirely on topic, at least he was talking to her. Freely and without malice, too! She couldn't really take that for granted, could she? “Which one?”

“To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Trucy said, “I don't remember a Chase in that book.”

He blushed a little and looked away, rubbing his forehead under his bangs. Or, actually… was that a scar he was tracing? “That's because my name’s not Chase. Well, my first name, at least. It's Atticus.”

“So, Atticus Chase Key, huh?” Trucy seemed to be rolling the words around in her mouth. “ I really wanna call you ‘Atti’, but it doesn't quite fit you, does it?”

He laughed, and its genuineness made Athena’s ears warm with pleasure. “Not really, no. That's why I go by Chase.”

There was silence after that, and Athena figured it was time to get back to the hard stuff. She flipped through the statements, until she found the second-to-last one. “So, Chase. I noticed you seem kind of angry when you talk about how great your sister was. Why is that?” He paused, so she added, “Did she do something that hurt you?”

“No!” His voice was full of surprise. “No, she never would have done anything like that.”

“Then what was it?”

He looked away again. “She… didn't die naturally.” It took him a moment to get the next words out, but Athena waited patiently until he said, “She was killed. In a car crash.”

This time, Trucy gave up on the hand squeezing and just gave him a full out bear hug. He seemed appreciative, but Athena still gave him another moment before updating his statements.

Mood Matrix - Update
Noise: 80%

When I met you that day, I was already preoccupied by what happened to my dad.
Happy: 0 Angry: 1 Sad: 2 Surprised: 0

Plus, I was stressed about how everyone was treating me, because of what I said on the news.
Happy: 0 Angry: 0 Sad: 3 Surprised: 0

By the time I got to the Agency, I was just about ready to explode.
Happy: 0 Angry: 0 Sad: 3 Surprised: 0

And then… seeing you and remembering… it was all too much!
Happy: 0 Angry: 1 Sad: 4 Surprised: 3

You are so much like my sister. She was strong and beautiful and bubbly and kind, just like you.
Happy: 1 Angry: 2 Sad: 4 Surprised: 3

Every time I look at you, I see her, and I miss her so much.
Happy: 1 Angry: 0 Sad: 4 Surprised: 1

She… died in a car crash. I was 14.
Happy: 0 Angry: 4 Sad: 3 Surprised: 0

He seemed ready, so Athena kept going.

“Got it! Chase, why are you more angry than sad when you talk about how your sister died? Shouldn't it be the other way around?”

“I'm not really sure.” His voice confirmed that he was genuinely confused, so she started to brainstorm some possibilities.

“Hmm… What caused the crash?”

“A drunk driver.” She saw Trucy start a little and wondered if she had caught a nervous tick. The emotions seemed to line up: overwhelming anger and sadness.

She was surprised to see, though, that updating Widget threw everything into chaos again. It was going to be more difficult than she thought.

Mood Matrix - Overload Error!
Emotion: Anger

When I met you that day, I was already preoccupied by what happened to my dad.

Plus, I was stressed about how everyone was treating me, because of what I said on the news.

By the time I got to the Agency, I was just about ready to explode.

And then… seeing you and remembering… it was all too much!

You are so much like my sister. She was strong and beautiful and bubbly and kind, just like you.

Every time I look at you, I see her, and I miss her so much.

She… died in a car crash. I was 14.

A drunk driver coming the other way crossed the middle line. We swerved, but hit a lamppost.

She died instantly.

It was pretty clear that the drink driver was the source of emotion, in this case. But how to tease out cathartic information…

“Got it! Could it be that you're so angry at the drunk driver because they were never found?”

Chase reached up and pulled at his necklaces, to the point where she was impressed that they didn't snap. “No.” Aside from the anger, there was a horribly dark tone to his voice. She hadn't heard anything like that from him before, and it was a little concerning. “We know full well who it was.”

“Then, who?”

He pulled even harder, and now one of the necklaces did break. He didn't seem to notice though, as he looked straight into her eyes with intense hatred. “Myrtle Marshall.”

She started. “Whaaaaaaaaaaat?!” She certainly hadn't been expecting that.

“But there wasn't a trial. That bitch killed my sister, and she was never held responsible. She just paid her way out of it and that was that.” The anger in his voice almost made her wince. “She took a life and someone took hers in return. I feel no sympathy.”

There was silence for a moment, before Trucy decided that Chase needed something to drink. Athena agreed and let him snap out of it, have some water, and worry about his now broken pouch before updating things again. Except… That didn't fix things? Why is he still overwhelmingly angry? Maybe if I turn my thinking around. Is there something here that I've assumed that might be wrong?

She took another look at his statements and at the visuals on the Mood Matrix. And another look. And a fifth look. It took a long while -- so long that Chase had finished the water and had fixed his pouch -- but she finally found it. There was a contradiction between one of the pictures and his statements.

“Chase…” She took a deep breath. It felt like this was probably it, and like she was getting to the heart of something he had kept inside himself for a very long time. “If you swerved and hit a lamppost on the edge of the road… why was your sister killed instantly.”

The boy froze. “What?”

“A crash like that would have hit the passenger side of the car.” His eyes widened. “So that's where she must have been sitting.” He pulled the black case on his back in front of him, and hugged it like it was the only thing grounding him. Trucy reached her arms around him, but it didn't seem to help this time. “14 is the age when you can start drivers’ training. It wasn't her driving that day. It was you.”

The sound that came from his mouth in that moment was something between a moan and a very quiet scream. Athena glanced away for a moment, and when she looked back tears were streaming down his face.

Mood Matrix - Update
Noise: 0%
Good-Bye

The discord was gone, but his heart was still screaming. “Chase!” He didn't respond. “Chase, listen to me!” He didn't say anything, but he looked up at her with wet eyes, and that was enough. “Whatever happened that day, it wasn't your fault.”

“But…” He hiccuped. “But if I'd only been more experienced. If I'd only reacted sooner or swerved better. Maybe… maybe I could've saved her.”

“Even if it had been your father, or your driving instructor, they wouldn't have been able to save her, either.” He looked at her, and she could tell he was trying to suppress his emotions again. “I know it hurts, but you need to be honest about how you feel before you can make any steps towards healing. It's okay. Just… feel.”

With that, he started crying again. She tentatively sat beside him, and said, “Can I?” He nodded, slowly, and she put her arm around him. She finally understood, and, she hoped, he did, too.