4/26: "Haibara Ai" is an android given to Shinichi by Akemi at the end of the One Billion Yen Robbery Case
True to Hirota Masami's word, large cases filled with money equalling the amount stolen had been left at the front desk of the hotel.
But retrieving the money wasn't why Shinichi rushed back to the hotel, hoping he'd get there before the police arrives. Shinichi dashed to the hotel, faster than he'd ever gone in his life, because of Masami's last words: "Take care of her."
Hidden together with the stack of cases is an expressionless little girl, sitting down quietly, eyes closed as if she were sleeping, still like a life-sized doll.
Masami had told him that she had left her "little sister", an android she had grown up with, to guard the cases for her, and to incinerate the money once the crows approach. Masami said she'll go with him, only if he says—
"Masami-san told me to say, 'Akemi' loves you."
At that, the android slowly opens its eyes. They're a mix of green and blue that Shinichi finds hard to name—but that's not important right now. He has to sneak her out without being suspicious, without alerting the men in black that might have already been lurking around.
While he's deep in his thoughts, he gets disturbed by a soft voice, flat in tone, saying, "She's dead."
He looks at the source and he sees the same expressionless face he had seen earlier. It did not ask. There was no question in its tone, and there was a finality to its statement. Shinichi wonders if it's him still being affected by today's events, but he detects melancholy in the android—it is an android, right?
Even though he's feeling a bit stupid for talking to a machine, Shinichi replies, "Yes. She told me to take care of you."
"You want me for my data," she declares, after looking at him for two full seconds.
Well, it's not wrong. He definitely wants to know if it can give him a profile of the men in black, and the organization they're working for. But more than anything... "Yes and no. I promised her I'd take care of you."
Shinichi recalls the warmth of Masami's hand, how heavy it had been against his small hands, how she grasped his hands tight until he nodded, until he promised.
And Shinichi recalls the burning feeling in his chest when he decided his mission: "And I promised myself I'll bring the organization down. For that part, I need what you know."
The android just looks at him, blinking. Without as much as nod or a nod of agreement, it just says, "Where to?"
Shinichi grins, though it's a lot more subdued than his usual grins. He feels like he passed some sort of test just now, but there's a lot more that needs to be done at the moment than think about the weirdness of talking to a machine, and said machine replying, understanding him perfectly.
He can save all that thinking for later. Now, how to inconspicuously get out of this hotel..?
The android suddenly pipes up with (and is that impatience he hears in its voice?), "There are three points of exit other than the one in the lobby: parking, emergency exit, employee entrance. So, where to?"
Well.
Maybe having her around is a bit convenient.
—It. He means, having it around.
Sigh. This android is messing with his senses and pronouns.