A/N: Just wanted to thank all the guest reviews. Since I have no way of replying, I wanted to let you guys know that I do read your reviews :) And if you make an account, then I can answer your questions. You can even follow the story ;)
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of DC.
? ? ? ? ? ? (Hallway)
"Well, well, Gin. This is a pleasant surprise. Do you plan to honor us with your presence at the executives' meeting?" Mead asked. Between the upturned nose and the dripping sarcasm, it was clear that the man was trying to push some buttons. Gin, though, didn't take the bait.
"You've sure managed to get cocky these last few months, Insect," Gin replied without missing a beat.
"I-Insect?!" Mead exclaimed, clearly taken aback by the bluntness of Gin's insult. But quickly recovering, and trying to regain the upper hand, he replied, "Ha! I see. You're just jealous that the boss finds me more important now and gives you all the menial tasks."
"Is that what you think is going on?" Gin asked, laughing smugly.
"What do you mean by that?" Mead snapped.
"Your little science project is just a pawn to the boss," Gin said with a shrug, the laughter now gone from his face, a serious, and threatening, look having replaced it. "Do you know how many ways there are to sacrifice a pawn in chess?"
"Why you-!" Mead began before Gin interrupted, slapping an envelope into his hands.
"Take this to the boss for me, will you, Insect? Oh, and I hope it's not too menial a task," Gin said, walking away before Mead could give any kind of response, protest or otherwise, and leaving a rather enraged scientist behind.
? ? ? ? ? ? (Another, But Different, Hallway)
"Damn that Gin! How dare he treat me like some pawn?!" Mead cursed as he made his way down the hall towards Conference Room C, the room where the executives meetings was to be held. As he walked along, he continued to grumble to himself, the blow to his pride quite evident. It wasn't until Mead reached the door of the conference before he finally shook his head and said, "Wait, this is probably exactly what he wants. Well, I won't let him get into my head." With a harrumph, he put his hand on the doorknob, about to enter. A sudden voice from inside caused him to pause though.
Listening closely, Mead realized that it was Etanoru's voice. What's more, it sounded like he was talking to someone. Did the meeting begin already? Mead wondered, checking his watch. No, it's still early. And besides, who would the boss be speaking with?
The meetings nowadays only consisted of the boss, Vodka and himself, and Vodka was never even on time, let alone early. Then again, at least Vodka bothered to show, which was more than could be said about the other executives. Mead found it funny, or perhaps annoying, that the executives' meeting was so called despite most of the executive members failing to attend- Gin flat out avoided them like the plague; Vermouth always "happened" to be away on assignment; the other executives seemed to have similar excuses for not attending. In the end, Mead was stuck with Etanoru and Vodka, both of whom he wanted to avoid as much as possible, the former being rather intimidating and the latter being plain stupid. Unfortunately for the scientist, he didn't have the position or wherewithal to play hooky like the other executives, at least, not yet.
Mead sighed, his hand still on the doorknob as he pondered the situation, recalling that a similar thing had happened before. A few weeks ago, he had visited Etanoru's private study to give a report. At the time, he was also sure he had heard the boss conversing with someone. However, when he actually entered the room, Etanoru was alone. Though Mead had asked about it then, the boss had feigned ignorance and Mead, not willing to anger the man, had let the matter drop. But now that it had happened again, the scientist's innate curiosity was piqued. Mead was about to press his ear to the door, in hopes of catching what was said, when a voice, this time from behind, suddenly called out to him, causing him to shirk backwards in surprise.
"What are you doing, Mead?" the voice asked. It was Vodka. "Why are you just standing outside the door?"
"Ah, I was-" Mead began, trying to think of an excuse for his rather suspicious behavior. "You know, waiting until you got here, so we can go in together," he lied, giving the burly man a pat on the back. Vodka grinned, apparently having bought the story. What an utter idiot, Mead thought before saying,"Shall we then?" He opened the door and gestured Vodka inside.
"Gentlemen, welcome," Etanoru greeted as the two of the walked in. "Please, sit," he added, pointing to the two chairs beside him. Etanoru himself was already seated at the head of the table.
As Mead sat down, he glanced around and noticed that like last time, the room was completely empty save for the three of them. But then who was he talking to? Was I just imagining it? Mead wondered. He didn't get to continue the thought though, as the boss suddenly called for the meeting to start.
"For the first order of business," Etanoru began, turning towards Mead, "I assume you have something from Gin?"
At the mention of the name, Mead felt his blood pressure rise, evidently having yet to get past the encounter from before. Still, the scientist kept himself in check, pushing the envelope across the table to the boss. Etanoru took it and opened the lip, pulling out a set of letter-sized photos from inside.
"Excellent," he said as he flipped through the pictures, a smile dancing in his eyes, "It seems things are proceeding along smoothly. Would like to have a look, Mead?" Etanoru handed over the pictures, which Mead promptly received.
The scientist scanned through the images, all taken of a boy standing next to a local bakery. However, it was neither the boy nor the bakery which caught Mead's interest, but rather, the color of the boy's eyes- they were violet. Seems like the investment into a high speed camera paid off, Mead thought, as he noticed the boss' pleased expression. Mead stopped himself from enjoying the success, however, realizing that there was still a long way to go before he could become the boss' "favorite". There was still much work to be done. "He was hospitalized after that," Mead said, putting down the pictures, "They did an MRI but fortunately, they didn't do a fully body CT scan. Our plastic transmitter would have been discovered otherwise."
"And would that be so bad?" the boss asked, catching the scientist by surprise.
Is that a trick question? Mead wondered. It'd obviously be bad if our plan was discovered, right? Isn't that the entire reason we've taken so many precautions up until now? Still, Mead couldn't help but feel that the boss had some particular answer in mind, though what it was, the man had no idea. He could never quite figure out what went through the boss' head, which made Etanoru all the more frightening. What does he expect me to say? Mead wondered, paralyzed by indecision. Fortunately, he was saved from answering when Vodka suddenly decided to join the conversation.
"I've been wondering this for a while now, but why don't we just have a wiretap installed? Wouldn't that be much better than just having a GPS signal?"
Ha? How stupid can you get? Mead thought silently.
"Vodka," Etanoru said before Mead could comment, "What do you think we would hear if we installed a subcutaneous wiretap next to his stomach?"
"Uh, his stomach?" Vodka replied, unsure.
"Very good!" the boss complimented, giving Vodka a smile, "So you see, that would be rather pointless, right?"
"Oh, I see. That makes sense," Vodka replied, also grinning.
Mead, at this point, wanted to slap himself across the face. Can't he even tell when someone's being condescending?! Before he could make a snide remark though, Mead quickly shook his head, realizing that it was none of his concern. If Vodka wanted to be dumb, then it was his prerogative. More importantly, Mead wanted to keep the meeting going so that it'd end as fast as possible. "Onto the subject of emergence, I have the updated data," he said.
"Go on," Etanoru gestured.
"Hai. The C.C. coefficient is resting at 98%, though you may have already inferred as much from the photos Gin provided. The emergence rate is holding constant at 100%. And now, the stability has also peaked at 100%," Mead reported.
"Good, good. And the time table?"
"Aside from the weeklong pause, there have been no further delays."
"I see. And do you have the locations?"
"Hai. They were Lake Yamanaka, Nirasaki, Kamikochi Resort, and Mount Tateyama."
"It's just as I suspected then," Etanoru said, folding his hands in front of him.
"What do you mean, Boss?" Vodka asked.
How long is this meeting going to take if he keeps interrupting with stupid questions? Mead wondered, though in truth, he wanted to know what the boss was thinking as well.
"It seems our little guinea pig is coming quite close to the truth," Etanoru replied.
"Masaka," Mead said, but then paused as a realization dawned on him, "Wait, is that the reason for those particular locations?" Etanoru nodded. "Then what should we do? Isn't it too risky to proceed as we have been?"
Etanoru just smiled, evidently not a worry in the world. "I've told you before, Mead, there's nothing he can do at this point. After all, the ace lies with us."
The Next Evening- Performance Theatre, Ekoda (Backstage)
"Kuroba-kun, how are you feeling? Are you ready?" Miyamoto asked. He was the producer of the night's magic show, the one in charge of setting up the exposition and the venue.
"I'm ready," Kaito replied, looking confident as he waited backstage behind the curtains. Unlike his usual "Kaitou KID" attire, for the upcoming show, Kaito was dressed in a black suit, topped off by a rather eye-catching red bow-tie. Though in stark contrast to the white he was accustomed to, Kaito had to admit the outfit wasn't terrible. At the very least, it was expensive, and he had Miyamoto to thank for that.
"Alright, that's what I like to hear," the man said, giving Kaito a pat on the back, "Now, I know you've performed a lot in front of people before. But this is probably the largest audience you ever had. I just want to make sure you aren't nervous or anything."
Largest audience, huh? Kaito wondered silently, trying to make a mental comparison between the current crowd and those that showed up to his "KID heists". In truth, his heists probably drew larger crowds, but there was no way he could tell Miyamoto that. "I'll be fine," Kaito reassured, "And besides, can you hear that?" Kaito closed his eyes and cupped his ears with his hands, letting the ambient noise wash over him. The hushed anticipation, the stifled laughs, the rustling of restless bodies as the audience waited for the show to start- the sounds were simply music to his ears. Kaito let the feeling sink in for another moment before opening his eyes. He then turned to Miyamoto and, with a mischievous glint, said, "I'm ready."
"I'll go tell the stage crew then," Miyamoto said, giving Kaito one last pat on the back. "Break a leg!" he called as he ran off to get the show started.
Kaito watched as the producer disappeared into the shadows, then took a few steps so that he was positioned center-stage. As he stared at the curtains in front of him, Kaito inhaled for a deep breath. This was his time now. The people on the other side were here to see him. All he had to do now was perform, to entertain with his passion of magic. Though the last few days had been rough, Kaito felt he could do it, could rekindle that passion. After all, with an audience like this, how could he not?
"It's time," Kaito mumbled as he heard the cue to begin.
The stage curtains slowly drew back.
(Audience)
So this was the surprise Occhan bought tickets for? A magic show? Conan wondered. He could already feel himself growing bored, practically falling asleep in his seat before the show had even begun.
Hadn't Ran realized yet that he simply wasn't interested in these sorts of things? After all, he had said as much after the last two shows they had attended. Well, grant it Ran claimed it was for a change in scenery, to do something that he normally didn't do. But did it really have to be a magic show of all things?
Truth be told, it wasn't as though Conan hated magic shows, at least, he didn't hate them in theory. He understood the sense of wonder magic shows were supposed to evoke, the return to childhood magic shows were supposed to allow- though in his case, a return to childhood was rather unnecessary. At any rate, he understood all that, in theory. But in practice, Conan found that magic shows never lived up to expectations; he never found himself in awe of a good illusion because, for his analytical mind, there was no illusion to speak of. Regardless of the trick, regardless of the magician, Conan was able to analyze and understand, figure out how it was done. And once he understood, then what he saw was no longer magic, but a mere trick- a slight of hand, a bait-and-switch, smoke and mirrors.
And if all the famous magicians he'd seen in the past failed to capture his fancy, how was he to expect some random kid to? After all, just who the heck was Kuroba Kaito supposed to be?
Conan glanced down at the pamphlet he had received upon entry, flipping to the biography section. According to the text, Kuroba was a high school student, whose father had been a famous magician. And Conan couldn't help but wonder if that's how the teen had managed to secure such a huge venue, on the laurels of his father. It was only a passing thought, however, as Conan quickly lost interest, his mind returning to what really held his attention, that is, his plan with Akai Shuichi…
"Are you sure this is what you want to do? You'll be putting yourself in a lot of risk. And if we don't make it in time, you may never be able to come back."
"It's a chance I'm willing to take, if it means we can finally strangle Them at the source. And besides, if we tamper with Their plans, there's no telling what could happen. They might lash out and I don't want to endanger the people around me."
"I suppose you're right."
"More importantly, will things work out on your end?"
"I have a couple of strings I can pull."
"In that case then, there's one last thing left to do: confirm our premise."
"Right, this entire theory hinges on your dreams being more than just dreams. And that grin, seems like you have a plan?"
"How does this sound? First, you claim that I'm suffering from stress anxiety and that the solution is to distance myself from Tokyo."
"I see. If there is a max window of two hours, then the dreams should stop once you exceed that timeframe."
"Exactly. If the dreams abruptly stop once I exceed the timeframe, then that would prove the dreams aren't just dreams. After all, since I can wake up at 4AM, then it can't be more than two hours to the location where the dream takes place. Moreover, if I chose a gradient of distances-"
"We might even be able to pinpoint a precise location, ne?"
"Hai. So, Dr. Redgrace, what shall we do then? In this live or die match-"
"Conan-kun, look!" Ran suddenly exclaimed, breaking Conan out of his recollection. "It's starting!"
"Un!" Conan nodded, turning his eyes towards the stage.
There was much he needed to prepare, much he needed to tell Akai. He needed to inform the man that their plan was set to go, that their premise was correct. But that would all have to come later. First, he had to get through the magic show.
Conan leaned against his arm and sighed, preparing himself for the next two hours.
The stage curtains slowly drew back.
(Stage)
Kaito watched as the curtains parted, the spot light instantly shining through and onto him, blinding him momentarily. The moment passed though as he took a step forward and announced, "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for attending tonight's show. Are you ready to see some magic?"
The crowd erupted into applause, so much so that the stage began to tremble. Kaito smiled. This was exactly the type of crowd he liked. He took a slight bow before raising his hands into the air.
Shall we start off with something simple?
(Audience)
Conan watched as the magician made his appearance on-stage and, though he had seen a picture beforehand, he was still surprised by how young the magician looked, more or less a teenager. And for that, Conan had to give the magician credit- to perform in front of such a large audience was probably no easy task, given the teen's likely lack of experience. But that was about the extent of Conan's praise, as he quickly realized the performance would be your run-of-the-mill magic show.
The magician, Kuroba Kaito, began with the clichéd welcoming speech used at all such events, followed by a standard opening trick, namely, clapping his hands together as two doves appeared, seemingly from thin air. After the doves were allowed to fly off, Kaito proceeded with the tried and true infinite handkerchief from the sleeve trick, drawing several Ooh's and Ahh's from the audience. Conan, on the hand, wasn't impressed and made his best effort to stifle a yawn, wondering if the two hours had passed. A quick glance at his watch, however, showed that they were only five minutes into the show, drawing a sigh from the boy.
Conan returned his attention to the stage and noticed that the magician was busy sawing his assistant in half.
"Can this guy be any more average?" he mumbled, tapping his finger impatiently against the armrest. Actually, he's probably even worse than average, Conan thought as he watched on. The more he saw, the more he realized that the magician, in addition to employing rather clichéd tricks, also lacked the distinctive qualities that separated great performances from mediocre ones, namely: energy, passion, and charisma. For whatever reason, the magician was performing rather half-heartedly, a fact that escaped the audience thus far, but, Conan was sure, like the magician's tricks, would be revealed sooner or later. And when that happened, the show would inevitably come to an early end.
Maybe it won't last two hours after all, Conan hoped.
(Stage)
Not good. I'm totally out of sync, Kaito thought as he set the stage for his next trick. Though the show had started off decently enough, he was quickly beginning to realize that the problems of the past few days were arising again. He just couldn't put his heart into any of the tricks. A glance over at Miyamoto showed that the man had realized as well, a look of worry across his face. At this rate…
He had to try something else.
Kaito reached into his pocket and pulled out a deck of cards, holding it up for the audience to see. "Now, for my next trick, I'll need a volunteer," he said, scanning around. This should do it, he thought, recognizing that everyone loved audience participation. His eyes settled on a middle aged man, sitting towards the front. "You sir, can you please come up?" Kaito asked, pointing to the man. The man hesitated for a moment before finally making his way onto the stage, letting out a nervous laugh when he arrived.
"Don't worry, you'll do great," Kaito whispered, giving the man a wink, "Now, can you tell me your name."
"Funaki Sachi," the man replied.
"Alright, Funaki-san, can you please pick three cards at random," Kaito said, holding out the deck. Once the man had pulled out three, Kaito continued. "Okay. We don't need this anymore," he said, tossing the cards aside. Instantly, the cards transformed into doves and flew away, drawing another "Ooh" from the crowd. Kaito waited for the audience to settle down and then asked, "Can you tell everyone what three cards you picked?"
"Ace of diamonds, jack of clubs, and nine of diamonds," Funaki replied.
"Are you sure about that?" Kaito asked as he wrapped his hands around the man's and squeezed for a moment. He then let go and said, "Check again, Funaki-san."
When the man looked again, a surprised expression appeared on his face. "W-wait. They're just shapes now! A square. A circle. And a triangle."
(Audience)
Conan watched as the volunteer held the cards up for the audience to see, the big digital screens to each side of the stage confirming what he said to be true.
A square, a circle, and a triangle on cards? Conan wondered silently, Now why does this trick sound so familiar?
Post Story Notes
Don't mind my setting tags...I was just being facetious.
Anyways, the BO's plans are slowly becoming revealed. Some of you might already know what they're up to :P If you don't get it, don't worry. It'll become more apparent what's happening in the next chapter.
By the way, as a heads up, we're about 10 chapters from the end of Part 1! Woohoo! We're almost out of the prologue xD Now just like...100 chapters to go...