A Bug in the System

by JesterOfDestiny


Chapter 4

It was finally time for swimming class. Sugarcoat and Sunny Flare wasted no time getting changed. They wanted to be the first to arrive at the pools, just so they could have time to investigate. They immediately ran to that crack in the wall to see if they can find anything.

Sunny Flare tried prying it open with her fingers, to no avail. “It is moving slightly.” Her fingertips were turning white, as she stuck them beside the wall.

Sugarcoat tried peeking inside, but it was complete darkness and the crack was way too narrow to make out anything. But she did manage to make out something. “I can see a dot. Something is reflecting the light from outside.”

“Look!” Sunny Flare pointed at the ground. “These scratches on the floor, they line up perfectly with the crack.”

Sugarcoat had to lean in real close to see anything, but there was a very faint circular scratch in the floor. “So it does open.”

“Look at that.” Sunny Flare walked up to one of the windows. “There’s a handle on both sides.”

“That must be where Chrysalis leaves after she’s done dressing up as Cinch.”

“Wow, jumping straight to that, huh?”

“It is pretty obvious at this point.”

There was no more time for investigation. The teacher has arrived and they were called back to their school duties. But what little they have found has been pretty significant.

After the end of the last class, Minuette approached them in the hallways. “Hey...” She meekly called out to them.

The two of them stopped what they were doing and turned to her. They could both see her defeated expression.

“Twilight wants to see you two after school. We got rid of the bug.”

Sunny and Sugarcoat looked at each other, victory sparkling in their eyes. Then they looked back at her and were surprised to see she was already leaving with haste.

“Aren’t you coming?” Sunny called out to her.

Minuette turned around to answer, but before she could, Cinch appeared right behind her like a looming shadow. At first she was glaring at Sunny and Sugar, but then her ominous gaze turned down towards Minuette. “I want to see you in my office immediately.” Her voice calm, like the rumbling of a distant earthquake.

Minuette went after her. Sugarcoat and Sunny looked at each-other with worry, then they bolted. They knew that whatever was going down in that office could spell doom for their operation and Twilight could be their last hope.

Minuette sat down into the chair once again, staring in front of her, just waiting what Cinch had in store for her this time.

Cinch sat down behind her desk. She looked all over Minuette, her eyes giving way to a sort of sadistic amusement. “So, tell me. What have you found out about our friends?”

Minuette said nothing. She just kept staring in front of her.

“That’s not much.”

“I didn’t talk to them much today.” Minuette mumbled.

“Ah, I see... So you failed to fulfil the task I have given you.”

Minuette said nothing.

“There’s something that’s been bothering me since yesterday.” Her voice turned grim. “I know you have met Twilight after school. Something happened to her phone. Perhaps you know something about that.”

Minuette said nothing.

Cinch was just about to have enough of Minuette’s complete lack of response. “I don’t need to remind you that your applications are still in my hands, do I?”

“I threw it in the lake.” Minuette’s voice cracked.

Cinch’s face darkened. “Oh, is that so? So you’re disobeying me now?”

Minuette said nothing.

“I tell you what else I could do. I could go after your friends as well. I could declare them as the phone thieves and fabricate whatever evidence I need to. Even if they come forward and admit it as just some childish prank, they’ll be in deep trouble afterwards. Do you want them to go down the drain along with you?”

“No...” Minuette answered meekly, still staring in front of her.

“Very well...” A smile appeared on Cinch’s face, a kind of fake happiness only the most evil would ever express. “Then tell me, who is involved with this childish prank.”

“It was Sugarcoat’s and Sunny Flare’s idea.” Minuette talked with a weak quiet tone.

“What about the others?” Cinch pushed her further.

“They don’t know what’s going on, they just went with it.”

“And why did they do it?”

Minuette’s mouth opened slightly, but then she bit into her lip and said nothing.

“No matter, you’ve already done so much for me. Well done, my priced student!” Cinch’s words were praising her, but her tone was mocking. “There is just one favour left that I need from you.” She put a tiny device onto the desk. “I heard that they want to meet up with Twilight. You will go to their meeting, record everything they say and give it back to me. I will not harm them, I promise.”

Minuette stared at the tiny device. She then looked Cinch straight in the eyes. “No.” Her voice like the weakened flames under charred wood.

“What did you say?” Cinch tried to mask her fury, by giving Minuette a chance to change her mind about what she just said.

But Minuette knew what she said. “I said no.” She then stood up, her face devoid of expression, but great passion burning in her eyes. “We know everything, Chrysalis. It’s over.”

Cinch said nothing. She watched as her informant left the office and said nothing.


“So before we start,” Sunny Flare’s eyes were gleaming, “how did you get rid of the bug?”

Twilight looked up, then let out an embarrassed giggle. “Minuette threw my phone in a lake.”

Sunny Flare slunk back down into her seat. “Oh, well that’s one way to do it I guess.”

“By the way,” Twilight turned to Sugarcoat, “how did Sunny get involved with this?”

“She expressed doubt in your explanation,” Sugarcoat sat with crossed arms, “I figured her intuition and attention to detail could be great help.”

“Good thinking!” Twilight cheered. “You know what else will be good help?” She turned to Sunny Flare. “Your wrist devices!”

Sunny Flare almost jumped into the air in her excitement. “Gosh, yes! What do you want to do with them?”

“Let’s go from the beginning first.” Twilight took out her notes. “What is it that you already know?”

“We know that Cinch is Chrysalis.” Sugarcoat jumped right into the middle of things.

“Whoa, whoa,” Sunny interrupted her, “she said from the beginning.” Sunny took out her own notes. “We know about the bomb shelter of the school; we know why it exists and we know that it’s at the pools, behind a door that we couldn’t open.”

“Right. Have you figured out how to open it?”

“No, we didn’t have the time.” Sugarcoat stated.

“You’re not that far behind then, because I couldn’t figure out that either. Did you watch the documentaries about the changeling gang?”

Sunny Flare groaned. “Yep.”

Sugarcoat snickered quietly.

“What?” Twilight giggled. “Does jellied bone broth not sound enticing?”

“I’d rather have my mind be taken over by aliens than eat that travesty.”

Twilight laughed at Sunny’s disgust, for she knew the feeling very well. “Right so, here is something that you don’t know. Late at night, the bomb shelter starts emitting radio signals. It’s coded and I haven’t figured out how to decode it, but I managed to hack into the school’s camera system. The camera by the pools cuts out twice every night: Once, at around 9 pm, after the doorkeeper leaves for the night and a little bit before he comes back in the morning, around 6 am. This might be when Cinch is hiding in the shelter.”

“So if we time it right, we could catch Cinch in the action.” Sunny commented.

“But what do we do with that information?” Sugarcoat said. “Do we record her coming out of the bunker or what?”

“Alright, here’s the plan...” Twilight began, but her attention was pulled away.

Minuette was standing next to their table, her face drained of all emotion. She spoke with a coldly serious tone.

“Sunny Flare, Sugarcoat, I’d like to show you something.”


All four of them were in Minuette’s room. She pulled a black briefcase from under her bed. The rest of them were sitting with anticipation. Though, in Twilight’s case, she was looking forward for Sunny’s and Sugar’s reaction, since she already knew what was coming.

“A family friend gave this briefcase to me before he disappeared ten years ago.” Minuette held the briefcase like the sentimental value it has become. “He said that I’ll figure out how to open it when the time comes. That time has come a long time ago and I guess it’s time for you to see it as well.”

She dialled in the code. It was 5705. The briefcase opened. Inside it was nothing but two pages of handwritten note and a sticky note attached to it. Minuette removed the sticky note and kept it for herself; possibly something too personal to share with three other people. She then began reading the note.


I have a confession to you Minuette. Through the years of our friendship, I haven’t been entirely honest on who I am. By the time you read this, I have probably gone without a trace, because that’s the kind of people I hung around with. But hopefully they’ll be gone as well.

I go by the name Thorax and I am a member of the changelings. We are an organized crime group, who specialize in espionage and infiltration. We would specifically target single individuals, track their every move, so we could eventually replace them and gain access to things that we weren’t supposed to.

This is how we managed to rob the Violet Bank and the Museum of Ancestry. Our people still work at those places. In fact, one of our agents is currently stationed in the city hall. It is through them that we would find out about the right places for our operations.

We have our members scattered across all kinds of facilities, from shops, to schools and abandoned buildings. Our favourite was the Crystal Prep Academy bomb shelter, which was built fifty years ago and then was forgotten. The current porter is one of our agents and he would always let us in. There is a hidden door at the pools; you can recognize it when you look for a straight vertical crack in the wall. You need to pull six hinges on the bottom and top to open it. There you will find the entrance to the abandoned bomb shelter. We would meet there, set up our communication devices, then leave in the very early morning, taking everything with us.

Our leader goes by the name Chrysalis. None of us have seen her real face before, or really know who she is. She always appears as a different person. We do not know where she is when we’re not operating and none of us dare question it. She doesn’t actively participate in our heists; she sets our targets and designs our disguises.

This is what I plan on telling the police. I have been involved in many horrible things and I deserve whatever’s coming my way. But I will write this down for you as well, because I don’t think the police will grant you access to this information. The police will be very determined to keep the details a secret to avoid mass panic. I trust that they find the great majority of our agents, but it is unlikely that they’ll find Chrysalis.

If that would be the case, then I kindly ask you to not let her existence be forgotten. But whatever you do, don’t tackle the case on your own. I don’t want you to end up the way everyone else ended up, when they found out anything about us. Turn this confession to the police, if necessary, but it’s unlikely that there’ll be anything new for them. Just don’t let them forget about Chrysalis. She could be just as dangerous alone, than with the gang fully intact. As long as she is around, the changeling gang will live on.

With the way our technology is developing, it might be possible to find her eventually. If so, don’t let Chrysalis be forgotten. She will always be around and she is safe as long as people don’t look for her.

Kind regards...


Minuette ended abruptly. She didn’t read the real name of the letter’s writer out to the others, but she did shed a tear for it. She then quietly put the paper back into the briefcase, while Twilight comforted her. Reading the letter hasn’t become easier for her, no matter how many times she does it. Sunny Flare and Sugarcoat stared with mouths wide agape, trying to gather the pieces of their minds.

“I already read this to Twilight yesterday,” said Minuette, “hoping that she would give up her search, but it only made her more adamant.” She paused and wiped a tear from her eye. She then looked up with a serious expression. “Now I see that it’s necessary to face this danger, now more than ever. We’ve gotten way too deep and it’s a one way street into oblivion.”

Twilight looked up at Sunny and Sugarcoat. “And we can even pull this off. If we can get into the bunker before she does, then we’ll know everything and get the final advantage over her.”

Sunny and Sugarcoat managed to close their mouths in the meantime. “Alright, what’s the plan?” Sunny said.

Twilight began: “We wait until the doorkeeper is just about to leave, so we’ve got enough time before Cinch comes back. You two sneak in and get to the bomb shelter entrance. Sunny Flare goes and takes all the pictures and incriminating data she can. Meanwhile, Sugarcoat keeps track of the time and looks out for any movement. I’ll be in the school’s camera system and make sure nobody sneaks up on you. I’ll also deactivate the security guard’s monitors, so he doesn’t see you. We can communicate through Sunny’s wrist devices.”

“Yes!” Sunny Flare fist-pumped the air. “Finally I can use this thing for legit spy stuff!”

“And what will Minuette do?” Sugarcoat asked.

“Nothing,” Twilight assured, “she has already fulfilled her task.”

Minuette said nothing, knowing full well that she had some plans of her own.