Prologue


Wednesday, June 29

A creak from the door halted the hush conversation inside the room. A small child entered the room.

"Konichiwa, Onii-san. Ran-nee-chan said you are looking for me?" a high pitched voice echoed throughout the room. He closed the door behind him and walked toward to the person seated at the end of the room. The child stood attempting to feign innocence while wearing his childish smile.

A raven haired boy sat in front of an office table. His pale fingers rest upon his jaw as his other appendices drummed on the table. His Armani suit is pressed and clean. He radiates an immense authority and cold tension that could freeze the African continent in mere seconds. Eyeing a seven year old child in front of him, his mismatched eyes scan and scrutinize the boy like a researcher studies his samples extensively. The child became anxious as he sensed the dense atmosphere.

"Let's drop the façade shall we?" The teenager replied in annoyance.

The child was taken aback. He let his eyes moved subtly to assess the room and the person in front of him. He took several deep breaths to calm his racing mind and he almost dropped the act of innocence.

"What do you mean?" The child is still hoping for that innocence that he was trying to portray.

The seated young man was amused. He grinned one sided then looked at the child, seeing him eye to eye as if to convey his message 'I know your secret'

"What do you want?" the child dropped his high-pitched voice and replaced them with adult-like tone.

The message was received. Of course, the younger boy thought, He IS a genius.

The seven year old boy wears a pair of large round-framed eye glasses, a red bow tie around his neck, a blue suit and a pair of white shorts that reveals half of his thighs. He knows that acting like a child is futile.

He knows far too much, and he's a criminal to boot!

Behind his composed face, his heart trumped violently under his skin and his blue eyes widen in realization that the teenager in front of him is beyond competent.

Artemis smirked, seeing the subtle twitch in the child's facial features. I won, he is now under my mercy "As you well know, according to your personal data that I have gathered your name 'Conan Edogawa' does not exist. All of them are fabricated, poorly in my opinion. Even an amateur could see behind that ruse" He scoffed.

Conan rolled his eyes. He's insufferable. But his frustration is short-lived as he realizes the situation he is in. The teenager enjoys the sight as the boy loses his facial composure further. He leaned forward and rests his elbows on the table. He let his chin rest on the stippled fingers and he began to speak in his patronizing tone "As to oppose of what I wanted from you is simply, Information. Your mental faculties do not coincide with your physical appearance. Everything you have said is vital to that case and yet they are beyond the grasp of a typical child" Like an adult stuffed inside a child's body. Or better yet you simply became younger in your physical age.

"Why would that make me suspicious to you? I'm just a really smart boy"

Artemis showed his vampire grin.

Conan furrowed his brows, is he going to suck my blood? He bemused despite the interrogation.

"But your disposition and body language suggest otherwise." Artemis is now in lecture mode. He is about to discuss and quote his many Psychology book under his pseudonym Sir Neille D. Mencha when Butler cleared his throat in the background. Conan did not notice the mountain man until now, He is good at being inconspicuous. He wondered what type of trouble he got himself into this time.

Artemis halted his speech in a heartbeat and proceeded to business. "It is better to confess to us right now rather than I broadcast of what I know to your current resident family. Believe me, I know a great deal of information"

"Why do you need my confession if you already know?"

"Confirmation" He said simply. "And the information that you are privy to"

So that means he didn't know everything. Conan became hopeful that his secret is still safe. "What information?"

Artemis leaned back casually. "How did you become 10 years younger? And how are you connected to this 'Black Organization'?"

Conan stiffened and his heart increased to 200 beats per minute. He felt his stomach lurched as he felt dread and anger in hearing that faction. He knows. But how!? He did not expect these questions to be asked. What does he know? he narrowed his eyes and formed fist with his hands. His jaw clenched before he answered "Why do you need such revolting knowledge?"

"It doesn't concern you" Artemis wanted this information badly. Unfortunately, this organization hid their existence so well that even with combined efforts of LEP techie and the child prodigy could not gather sufficient data about this mysterious faction, Even Butler with his wide range of underworld connection could only take so far.

They only discovered its existence during an incident. A group of human was suspected in possessing a fairy technology by buying it from a gnome convict in the black market. This piece of hardware is so obsolete that it doesn't possess self-destruct feature of any kind. The LEP tried to retrieve it but surprisingly they failed. They say that these Mud men 'do not exist'. They followed the lead given by the gnome after arresting and interrogating him. The gnome said that the mud men wears black coat and they call themselves 'Gin' and 'Vodka'. After getting the item, these Mud Men in black tried to assassinate him with a sniper bullet. The hat that covers his pointed ears stopped the bullet from penetrating his skull, but the blood poured from the pierced skin. This is enough for these Mud men to confirm that he is dead and fled the scene immediately. Besides, who would have thought that the fabric of the hat is a reinforced polymer that could cushion any subsonic moving projectile rather than made out of ordinary cotton. The LEP Retrieval team found him unconscious and brought him in the hospital before arresting him then asking him some questions.

Foaly is stumped because these Mud men doesn't have records on the surface, even with large databases of existing aliases doesn't match any faces that the gnome obligingly described. He even used supposedly deleted files and corrupted scriptures and even that could only give little information.

This is the second time that Foaly found himself helpless—first time is battling against that insufferable Mud Boy with a goddess name-so he asked a favor to a particular female elf to call their favorite Mud boy ask for help. If you wanted to catch a criminal, ask a resident expert.

When Foaly asked Artemis about these men, Artemis relayed it to Butler for information. Butler said that these names are known in certain underworld circles. They belong to group called Black Organization that uses alcohol brands as their code names and kills anybody who knows 'too much'. That is one of the reason why they retained their secrecy for a long period of time, and the info ends there. Foaly and Artemis hacked from the Interpol file to classified FBI, NCIS, CIA file. These may contain detailed information about related events but they lack specifics like 'what are they?' or 'Who are the members and what do they really do?' even 'What are their purpose?' Even their fairy with their fairy technology reveals the events.

Their system must have that of a closed one.

So Artemis and Butler found themselves interrogating a child that could be their only lead in obtaining vital information about that Organization and retrieve that hardware.

Conan narrowed his eyes in defiance and said nothing.

Seeing this, Artemis bargained with him "I know that transformation of yours is an accident. Let's make deal shall we?" He paused. Seeing that there will be no response coming from the boy, Artemis continued. "I'll make an antidote to counteract that transformation and revert yourself back to a teenager and in return, you tell us everything you know about that Organization"

Artemis calmly and patiently waited Conan's response.

Conan thought the pros and cons in revealing this information. It could also pose high risks to the people around him.

"No, I refuse to that offer" Conan turned to his heels to leave but Butler blocked the exit. He was right to not trust these people. Especially a criminal

"I thought you might say that. Very well, accept my offer or else I will not just broadcast your secret but also we will take you to scan your brain and retrieve the information against your will, IF the truth serum fails to make you reveal them." Artemis leaned forward and smiled his best vampire grin "I await your answer, Shinichi Kudo"

Conan faced the teenager, Blackmail. He glared him as if he could make him disintegrate from looks alone. Who are you really? He eyed him. After a few moments, he opened his mouth to give his response.


a/n: Please R&R