Author's Note: Yes! I completed my self-imposed goal of finishing this chapter for NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month. I both remembered it was happening early enough to start it immediately, and was determined to complete my goal since writing this story quickly is not at all my forte, but 12000 words in three weeks is pretty good (for me) if I do say so myself.
Figuring out when to end this chapter was difficult now that I've entered the climax of the story. I knew I couldn't fit it all into one chapter, but I also wanted to make sure that I moved all of my characters into the proper places I need them to be for the next part. Even though I got this chapter done in less than a month, I'm still probably not going to finish this story by the end of the year, which is a bit of a pity since this story's third anniversary was earlier this month. I really need to finish it. ^^'
But some excellent unrelated news! The original story I submitted to the Writers of the Future contest got an Honorable Mention! It's the first professional acknowledgement I've ever gotten about my writing that I might actually have what it takes to be a published author in the future if I keep at it!
… Often Go Awry
There were lights set into the walls of the tunnel. Not bright ones, but they were still present and, more importantly, on, which meant somebody was paying for them, and Haibara observed it was unusually pristine. Japanese people were much better than Americans at keeping their streets clean and the structure was still newly built in the grand scheme of things, but still, there wasn't even a speck of dirt or standing water present in the yellow-tinted tunnel. It seemed the Organization was indeed maintaining it in case of a need for the emergency exit in the VR room.
"And yet it's still dark in the stairwell…" Haibara mused.
"What was that?" Conan asked.
He seemed to have forgiven her for the deception she'd practiced on him for the better part of a year, seeing as how he was walking alongside her instead of hanging out with either Bourbon or Akai. Or perhaps he'd just decided to set aside his personal feelings to focus on the bigger picture.
"The entrance to the VR room is only accessible via a metal fire escape-type stairwell with no illumination except for the footlights marking the edges of the steps, yet this tunnel is clean with working lights," she explained. "It almost makes me wonder if it's intentional."
"I don't know what to think about the Organization's workings anymore," Conan sighed with a shrug.
Haibara watched him silently for a moment, but Conan didn't look at her. "Kudo, I'm sorry."
Conan straightened and made a puzzled frown. "For what?"
"For putting you in this situation and being dishonest with you about its true nature."
"Oh…" He glanced away and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well… you did it all to protect me even though I didn't know it at the time. Being a kid again hasn't been all bad though. I mean, yeah, there have been plenty of times where it was super inconvenient, and it did take me a while to adjust to acting like a kid, but I also now have a much better appreciation for how kids are perceived by adults, and also…"
He trailed off looking somber and Haibara wondered if he would continue.
Eventually, he did, his tone still morose. "I've also learned not to take Ran for granted anymore like the old timer did with Ms. Kisaki."
Haibara tilted her head and smiled a little. "Well, you won't have to keep her waiting too much longer, Kudo," she said.
Conan smiled to himself at the reminder and there was more energy to his step afterward. The tunnel remained unblocked for the entire passage and fortunately, there was nobody waiting for them at the end of it. When they got closer, Haibara was disappointed to see that the exit was normal: just a standard grayish-white set of double doors barring their way.
"Chianti, Korn, scope out the room and make sure there's no one waiting to ambush us," Gin ordered.
"Yes, sir," they said in unison.
They had their sniper rifles out, but Haibara noticed their side arms were within easy reach. Korn pulled open one of the doors slowly while Chianti peered within through the scope. After a bit, Chianti lowered the rifle and nodded silently at Korn who opened the door a bit wider, and she repeated her previous action.
They did that two more times before Chianti finally said, "All clear."
"So far, so good then," Haibara muttered as the mass of about fifty people began to move forward into the VR room. It was dark initially, but that was quickly remedied when Korn flipped a switch and light flooded the back half where everyone was congregating.
"It's pretty empty in here," Conan observed.
"The VR technology fills in the scenery and background effects, but it needs the space to create sufficient depth to the environment," Haibara said automatically.
"Is there ever a time when you're not explaining something scientific?" he asked.
"Is there ever a time when you don't give a deduction show for a crime?" she retorted.
Before Conan had the chance to respond, Gin's voice called out, "Alright, everyone's inside now, so split up into your assigned groups we established in the warehouse. Don't forget: the earpieces aren't to be used until after we've secured the CCS."
"That's our cue. Good luck, Kudo," Haibara said.
"Yeah, you too, Haibara," Conan said back.
"Oh my, are you worried about me?" she teased and smirked at the grumpy scowl he gave her before she parted company and made her way over to Bourbon's coalescing group.
"Our group is still going first?" she asked the blonde half-Japanese man.
"Gin hasn't said differently," Bourbon said as he tugged the black baseball cap a little further down his forehead.
They were certain Vermouth had turned the entire Organization against Gin, but they couldn't be sure she hadn't named any other agents as traitors. Haibara pulled the small bag she'd been carrying since the warehouse around to the front and set it on the ground. She withdrew the vial of antidote for the mind control serum and six 1 mL syringes. She popped the cap off one and dipped the needle into the vial. She drew the full length of the syringe and then turned it upside down, flicked the air bubbles out of it, and replaced the cap. She repeated the process with the rest and gave one of the now-filled syringes to Bourbon. He accepted it with a brief nod and placed it in a side pocket of his pants. Haibara put one of them into her own side pocket and gathered the rest to distribute to the other groups who would receive them.
By now, everyone had split up into nine distinct groups. Chianti and Korn with James Black and seven other FBI agents made up the largest group designated as 'home team' because they were the ones who would be staying behind in the VR room to guard their escape route if things started going really badly for them. Then there were six teams of six: Kir was in one, Jodie and Camel were in another, and she was with Bourbon and his right hand, Kazami. Except for her and Kir's group, the assorted FBI and PSB agents without MiB members would wander around the building looking for MiB members to tell the truth of what was going on.
Kir's group, however, was given the task of searching key locations where the victims or Vermouth might be located which was why Haibara approached the lithe CIA agent and gave her two syringes. If she did find any of them, she would be able to administer the antidote immediately.
Haibara's own group was heading for the CCS to take control of all internal communications and to deactivate the lockdown security protocols. It was guaranteed that at least one victim was located there, so her group was also taking two syringes as a precautionary measure.
The last group was also the smallest composed of Gin, Akai, and Kudo. Like Kir, they were going to be looking for the victims and Vermouth, but they were going to be starting their search in the boss's office. The hope was that they'd either find one of their targets or some hint of Vermouth's plans for the Organization. Karasuma's office was linked to many important features in the MiB after all, and with three of the brightest minds working together, they could surely figure out something.
"Here Gin," she said and held out the last two syringes.
Rather than just taking and pocketing them without fuss, he sunk down on his knees before her and Haibara felt a bunch of eyes on them.
"Gin, get back up! There are work colleagues here!" she hissed even as he clasped her hands gently in his much larger ones.
"Be careful, Sherry, and don't do anything reckless. Let Bourbon protect you," he said.
"You're traveling with the reckless one," she retorted with a nod at Kudo, trying to recover her sass and finding it lacking.
"Oh, I'm aware," he sighed, then abruptly leaned forward and kissed her cheek. Chianti exploded, but Haibara was too embarrassed that he'd kissed her in public to notice. "Take care," Gin murmured, smirking as he took the syringes from her and stood up.
He hadn't left her empty-handed though. In place of the syringes, there was now a small slip of paper with two lines of writing. One of them was a string of twenty random kana and numbers and the second said 'black blood red moon'. She had no idea what that meant or what it was, but she didn't get to ask him because Chianti was already stomping over, so Haibara meandered back over to Bourbon. She was sure her face was beet red, even without a mirror to confirm it.
"You ready?" Bourbon asked.
His tone was off, probably because of Gin's overly public display of affection towards her, and Haibara nodded without looking at him because she didn't trust herself to speak nor did she want to see his judgmental expression.
"Good, we're first. Once we reach the top of the stairwell, stay in the center of the group so you're blocked from view of the security cameras we may encounter," Bourbon said. To the rest of the room, he called out, "Group 1 is leaving now. Kir, your group can start five minutes after us."
"Understood," Kir said.
Haibara moved with the rest of the first group out of the VR room to the adjoining hallway that led to the VR environmental controls and the dark access stairwell.
"Geez, they really don't have any other lights on in here," one of the PSB guys muttered as they ascended.
She hardly noticed the absence of light or the quite conversations from the officers around her. She was too preoccupied with what Gin had done just now and her thoughts were racing. She was flustered and confused. Why did he do that? He was the one who had insisted from the very beginning that if they were going to be together, then they had to keep their relationship a secret from everyone. Given her age at the time, she completely understood why. Even when she turned eighteen and legal, they hadn't discussed when or how they would let their relationship become public knowledge since they, or at least she, didn't want it to be a secret forever. Was it his sister's death that made him spontaneously want to reveal they had a romantic relationship in front of their coworkers? Even if that was the case, did he have to do it now when they were in the middle of an infiltration mission?!
"Alright, we're here." Bourbon's voice pulled Haibara from her thoughts and he looked down at her expectantly.
She sighed to herself and maneuvered between the wall of legs to stand in the middle of the group where she wasn't as likely to be seen on camera, and Group 1 stepped from the access stairwell into the main HQ building with its sterile walls and floors and brightly-lit hallways. Now the fun part began.
()()()()()
"You're what?!" Chianti screeched at a pitch even mice would react to.
"Sherry and I have started dating recently," Gin repeated calmly. He hadn't planned on kissing Sherry, it just kind of happened, and now he was facing Chianti's wrath as a result.
"How- Why- When?!" she demanded.
"When? About four months ago before we shot up Tokyo Tower," he lied as he started to craft the story that he and Sherry would have to use from this point onward as the starting point for their relationship if they didn't want to reveal the truth to others. "As for how and why, Sherry's been lonely, isolated from everyone at the MiB with her sister dead and me being her only point of contact. I was the only one she could talk to for the better part of a year when she spontaneously asked me to take her on a date when she had the free time to take an antidote that would temporarily grow her back to her original age. I agreed out of obligation and sympathy, but we both ended up enjoying each other's company in that kind of context much more than I think either of us expected, and one thing led to another until…" he gave a small shrug and extended his arms. "… here we are."
Chianti was still scowling, but at least she was no longer assaulting his ears. After a while she said, "First chance I get, I'm asking Sherry about this myself."
"You're more than welcome to it," Gin said, though he privately hoped he found Sherry before Chianti did so that he could fill her in on the new story before she was ambushed and unprepared for the interrogation that would follow.
"Alright, it's been five minutes since Group 1 left, so we're going now. Group 3, are you ready?" Kir said.
"Yes, we're ready," Jodie Starling answered.
"Best of luck everyone," Kir said with an encouraging smile and left with the other five members of her team. She was also wearing a hat for the same reason as Bourbon, but they didn't really expect issues with either of them.
"Two down…" Akai murmured.
"… and five to go before it's our turn," Conan agreed.
Five minutes is a long time when you're not doing anything except waiting for time to pass, and with them being last in the lineup, that meant he, Akai, and Kudo had to wait thirty-five minutes before they could even start their mission objective.
It was after Starling's group left that Akai finally spoke up in a low, sinister tone. "If you hurt her, Gin, I swear on her sister's grave I will make you regret it a thousand-fold."
"Nothing you could do to me would make me regret it more than the actual act of hurting her," Gin said and glanced down at Kudo who was staring at him intently, his brow furrowed.
With a start, Gin remembered the shrunken detective had been at the Haido City Hotel incident, and from what he'd seen there, he had good reason to suspect the truth and denounce him. Kudo could easily reveal to Akai and everyone here that he was lying and put him in a lot of hot water, but the boy only shrugged and started reviewing his equipment. Gin was grateful, but also impressed. After everything he'd put Kudo through, this was an excellent opportunity to get back at him where it would hurt, but Kudo wasn't taking it. If their positions were reversed, Gin wouldn't have hesitated to exploit a weakness in his enemy, but then Gin never pretended he was one to take the moral high road.
The next team of agents left, and Gin found himself playing with the lighter in his pocket, flicking the lid open and closed. He was bored and anxious and he really wanted a cigarette right now, but he had none. The last one he had was the day his sister died, and he was determined not to buy anymore. He'd promised Sherry he'd quit his smoking habit after all.
Eventually, the next group left. Then Group 6… and finally Group 7. Gin didn't take his eyes off his watch from the second the group left the room. Five minutes… four minutes… three… two… one…
The second hand landed on the twelve and Gin turned to the home team. "We're heading out. If anything goes wrong, it'll probably happen now, so be on guard," he warned.
"Roger," Chianti and Korn said, though Chianti sounded grumpy about it.
Gin looked to his two companions: his former rival and his pretend nemesis. "Let's go."
They both nodded, and all three of them left the VR room. For once, Gin was glad to have the poor lighting in the stairwell, though it still wasn't to his liking in normal circumstances. Their steps rang loudly on the metal echoing off the walls up and down the vertical tunnel, and they came out onto the landing absent of people. They hadn't expected to run into anyone, but it still made things easier.
"This way," Gin said with a wave directing them to the right.
They followed alongside him at a walk keeping an eye open for anything unusual in the passages. Even Gin's eyes flicked about. He knew there were security cameras in the halls, but it wasn't like he had the locations memorized. Worse still, not all of the cameras were easily visible; some were set flat into the walls and ceilings and those were the ones they'd probably be caught on sooner or later.
"Hey, up ahead," Akai muttered and pointed. Gin followed his finger and saw a black half-sphere hanging from the ceiling at a T-junction. It was a security camera
"It seems to be pointing down the split-off path," Gin observed.
"Do we need to go that way?" Conan asked.
"We don't need to, but it is a quicker route to get to 'that person's' office," Gin said. "Kudo, if one of us raises you up, would you be able to remove the cover and turn the camera in the other direction away from us?"
"Probably, but if there are no screws at the base of it, I'll have to break the covering which will alert anyone passing through here that something is wrong," Conan said.
"Our other alternatives would be to take the left split and be seen on the camera while hoping we're lucky the person receiving the video feed at the CCS doesn't notice us in that brief window of time; destroying the camera completely, which would cause the screen on the other end to black out and definitely draw attention; or to continue going straight and take a longer route to the boss's office while hoping we don't run into more such complications," Akai listed off.
"Even if you do have to destroy the cover, the only ones who'll notice will be anyone who passes through this location which may not happen," Gin said.
Conan sucked on the inside of his cheek and nodded. "Let's at least see if there are any screws on the base of the security camera cover first, because if there are, then we won't have to destroy anything."
"Fair enough," Gin said and, being the tallest of the three, hoisted Conan into the air and settled him on his shoulders.
"Geez, warn me next time before you do that!" Conan groused.
"I'll try to," Gin said, smirking, and carried Conan to the security camera.
He positioned himself directly under it and Conan made a happy exclamation. "There are screws!"
"Good, can you reach them?"
Conan strained his arm as far as it would go but let out a disappointed groan and relented. "I'm still not tall enough. Sorry in advance."
"For wha- Oi!" Gin exclaimed when Conan pushed his hat down further on his head and lifted one leg to plant his foot on his shoulder, then did the same for the other and stood up using his head for support. His stance was wobbly though. "Akai, come help keep him steady," Gin requested.
"You sure are a reckless one, kid," Akai chuckled in amusement and stood beside him with both his hands on the shrunken teenager's waist.
"I have no other way of getting up here," Conan explained, then fell silent as he got to work unscrewing the base of the security camera cover.
It didn't take him long, there were only four screws. Akai had to release one of his hands to hold onto the pieces and Gin just tried to stay as still as possible so that Conan didn't overbalance.
"Just a little more… There! The security camera is now turned the other way," Conan announced and started retrieving the objects from Akai in the reverse order he'd given them.
"Good job, kid," Akai said, and once Conan put the last screw back in, he picked him up off Gin's shoulders to set him down.
"We should keep moving," Gin said after readjusting his hat, and they turned left at the split now that it was no longer overseen by the security camera.
However, they had gone no more than ten meters when a siren blared through the loudspeakers and red lights started flashing from the ceiling panels.
"Shit, the alarm. Run!" Gin barked, and they all took off down the hallway.
"That wasn't us, was it? We moved the security camera exactly so that this wouldn't happen!" Conan said.
"The person on the other end might have seen Shiho pass by a security camera or decided Bourbon and Kir were threats…" Akai put in.
"But it's also possible that we happened to pass by one of the in-set security cameras if they were placed in this hallway as a precaution against the security camera being tampered with," Gin growled, angry at himself for not thinking of such a backup being in place. "Either way, we've lost the element of surprise, so we just have to get to 'that person's' office as quick as possible and hope we can find something useful there."
()()()()()
"Gin…" Rum snarled when he saw the long-haired agent on one of the security camera video screens in the Central Communications Station where he was holed up. "So you've dared to show your face here after all, traitor. Well, we'll see about that."
He moved over to one of the main control consoles as he withdrew a key from his kimono and inserted it into a manual control panel. He turned the key which slid back a panel on the dashboard to reveal a large rectangular red button labeled 'Alarm'. He pressed it, and all throughout Headquarters, red lights flashed, and the siren-sounding alarm wailed, alerting everyone to the presence of an enemy intruder. Rum reached over to activate some of the other lockdown procedures, but then paused. He wasn't the one calling the shots. Much as he wanted to make Gin pay for getting Emma killed and then having the gall to turn his back on the Organization, he needed to check in with Vermouth first and see how she wanted to handle this situation now that Gin – and Kudo and Akai, now that he noticed them running alongside the other man – was physically present in the MiB's headquarters.
Rum dialed Vermouth's number and brought the phone to his ear, waiting for her to pick up. "Yes, Rum, what is it?"
"Gin's here," Rum stated bluntly. "Along with Akai and Kudo, though I have no idea how the three of them managed to get inside."
Vermouth made a soft tsk. "Well, this is an annoying but not unexpected development. The timing is fortuitous though. I've just come back from running a little errand, so I will take it from here; follow my lead."
"Of course," Rum said and ended the call. He wasn't even aware Vermouth had left the building, but he didn't question it. In his mind-controlled state, it didn't even occur to him that he could.
()()()()()
"Ow, what is that noise?!" exclaimed one of the PSB officers that Kir was leading in her group.
She looked to the door she'd just shoved open and back up at the blinking red lights on the ceiling. Had she just tripped an alarm by opening this door? She didn't think the Research and Development labs would have this kind of extra layer of security at the present time. Or maybe…? She quickly glanced at her watch. Gin's group should have left the VR room by now, so maybe her opening the door was just coincidence with his being spotted on the security cameras?
"It's the intruder alarm which means the person in the CCS who activated it might activate other security lockdown defenses, so we need to hurry and see if anyone we're looking for is inside these research labs. Remember, we're also investigating them for any indications of plans towards biological warfare," Kir said calmly and ushered her group inside.
They might not know what Vermouth's plan was, but there were only so many rooms that Vermouth might find important enough to use. Unfortunately, the labs were huge, and it would take time that they might not have to look through them. Small blessing that at least they were all contained in one location though.
()()()()()
"Bourbon…?" Haibara said worriedly as she peered up at the flashing red lights and the screaming siren pierced her ear drums.
Bourbon's jaw tightened as he frowned up at the lights. "There's nothing more we can do but to press on and stop it at its source. I wish we could have gotten to the CCS before our presence was noticed, but…" he trailed off with an abrupt shake of his head. "Come on, everyone. It's not much further now, but still be on your guard. We don't know what other surprises the person inside the CCS might have in store for us if they've figured out there are more of us here than just those three."
They continued as they had been, walking in a circular formation around her, alert and on-guard for trouble and hoping that none came their way. The sound and the lights made it tempting to run, but that might draw unwanted attention and make it impossible to enter the CCS if it was fortified against them. Haibara found herself squeezing the slip of paper in her pocket that Gin had given her, trying to draw strength from it and also hoping that everything would turn out okay for once.
()()()()()
Conan was pounding the ground hard doing his best to keep up with the full-grown men in his much smaller body when his phone started vibrating in his back pocket. He pulled it out and saw he'd received a text message with an image attachment from Dr. Agasa. Confused, he opened the message and his heart stopped as did his feet. The image was of the Professor tied up and unconscious with a strip of duct tape over his mouth, and the message read:
If you want to save him, meet me in the west wing cafeteria.
- Vermouth
"Gin, Mr. Akai, stop, we need-!"
He broke off when he realized both Gin and Akai had already stopped not too far away from him and Gin had his phone to his ear looking furious while Akai's brow was furrowed. Akai noticed him staring and must have read the distress in his expression because he immediately came over to him.
"What happened? What's wrong?" he asked.
Conan turned his phone around to let Akai see the message himself. The FBI agent's avocado green eyes widened. "She has him hostage?"
Conan nodded. "He was supposed to be safe at Kogoro Mouri's home, but if she has him, then…" Were Ran and her father...?
"Not necessarily," Akai said, cutting off his unspoken thoughts before they'd finished forming. "Assuming Vermouth does care about the Mouris as much as Gin believes, if Vermouth did manage to trace Gin's location through their phone call or if she just knows him well enough to have guessed what his next move would be in such a situation, she might have made her move quickly enough that she captured him before he reached the Mouri Detective Agency."
Conan breathed a short sigh of relief. It wouldn't help his friend, but at least there weren't more people he cared about that were hurt or in danger. Right at that moment, Gin let out a wordless snarl and shoved his phone back into his pocket. His forest green eyes were blazing when he turned to them.
"That was Vermouth telling me that Vodka will be waiting for me in the east wing gym," he said.
Conan's eyes widened. "But she just sent me a text telling me that she has Dr. Agasa in the West Wing cafeteria!"
"She does?" Gin said, looking startled.
"We can't split up," Akai said firmly. "This is obviously a trap to separate and distract us from our original plan. Vodka's not in any danger if Vermouth really is in the west wing, and now that we know where she is, we can go there together and-"
"I'm not losing another person I care about to her!" Gin yelled and bolted down the corridor.
"Gin, wait!" Akai shouted after him, then muttered, "He's making the exact same mistake that I did."
He started to move in the same direction Gin had gone, and Conan was about to follow him, when he received another text notification from the Professor's phone. There was a new picture attached. He hesitated, swallowed, and then opened the message. The picture was of the Professor again, but this time there was a bomb strapped to his chest and the message said:
There's no timer on this bomb, but if you don't arrive soon, Cool Guy, then I will detonate it.
- Vermouth
"No!" Conan panicked and sprinted back the way they'd come. He didn't know where he was going, but it was in the opposite direction Gin had gone. Akai yelled at him, but he didn't stop to listen. He couldn't let Dr. Agasa get hurt, especially not on his behalf!
His panicked thoughts were rudely interrupted by a metallic screech and slam. He whirled around and gasped. Behind him was a solid steel wall that had not been there previously, and he was alone.
"Mr. Akai, are you alright?" Conan called.
"I am, but another wall shot up from the floor on the opposite side, so I'm completely blocked in this short stretch of hallway."
Conan blanched. This really was a trap to separate them. "Mr. Akai, Vermouth sent me another message about the Professor telling me that if I didn't come to the cafeteria soon, she would activate a bomb she placed on him," he explained.
"And we can't take the risk that she's bluffing either," Akai said grimly. "I'll see if I can cut my way through these doors with the Particle Beam Rifle, but even if it works, I don't think I'll be able to get it done quickly, so you'll have to go on ahead without me."
"But I don't know how to get there," Conan protested.
"Neither do I, but Vermouth knows that, so she's probably had the person in the CCS close off all other access points along your route to funnel you directly to her."
"I see…" Conan murmured. That made a lot of sense. He set his jaw and resumed running down the open corridor ahead, shouting an apology over his shoulder to Akai.
()()()()()
"Ms. Jodie, look," Camel said under his breath.
"I know, I see them too," she whispered back.
Up ahead was a group of six people, like theirs, dressed all in black coming their way and Jodie didn't see any familiar faces. They were actual MiB agents.
"Everyone, remember to keep calm. They shouldn't be able to tell we're not employed by the Men in Black," Jodie said quietly to her group as they drew closer.
They were hailed first. "Hello, have you all found anything that way?" asked a short man with a round face and chubby cheeks.
Jodie shook her head. "No, it's all clear back that way."
He sighed and nodded. "Not surprising. Rum must have spotted Gin on the surveillance cameras, but if we haven't received orders from him to go to his location, it probably means he's closer to other teams."
"I still can't believe it though," one of the other men, this one with the tall, gangly look of adolescence, said with a shake of his head. "I mean, Gin is infamously loyal to the Organization, everyone knows that. I know that and I've only been working here for a year."
"Well… grief can have strange effects on a person sometimes, Jun," the short man said gently.
The young man, Jun, didn't look satisfied with his leader's response, and Jodie saw her opportunity. "Actually, from what I heard, Gin hasn't really turned traitor," she said. "One of the other teams told us that Vermouth used a mind control drug on the boss and Rum, and Vodka saw it, so she nabbed him too but not before he managed to send a message to Gin describing what he witnessed."
Everyone's eyes widened and several jaws dropped. Then they all started speaking on top of each other.
"Vermouth did?"
"Now that doesn't seem likely…"
"No way, that would explain everything!"
"Are you serious? Which team? Who told you guys?"
"It makes more sense than Gin turning traitor."
"Wait, if this is true, then what was Vermouth doing with that old guy?" Jun asked the rest of his group.
Jodie stiffened in alarm. 'Old guy'? Were they referring to her boss? Had Vermouth figured out their entry point and captured Mr. James?
"What did this old guy like?" Jodie asked, trying not to sound too interested.
Jun shrugged. "Just some old, fat guy in a lab coat that Vermouth was dragging behind her. Never seen him before, but I don't spend much time near the labs, so that's nothing new."
That sounded like Dr. Agasa! But why-? No, she knew why Vermouth had brought him here. She intended to use him as bait to lure Conan to her and then force him to do something by threatening his friend's life. She may even use the opportunity to inject Conan with the mind control drug.
"Where? Where did you see her and which way did she go?" Jodie demanded, stepping forward and making Jun step back.
"Eh? Well, it was a while ago, but it kinda looked like she was heading in the direction of the cafeteria," Jun answered, staring bewildered at her.
"The cafeteria," Jodie repeated blankly.
She had no idea where that was, and she couldn't ask the people who did because they thought she was one of them and admitting she wasn't would undo their effort to spread the truth.
Before she could think of what to say, Camel threw up his hands. "Ah! Finally, I can ask someone who'll be able to give me clear, complete directions so I don't keep getting lost!" he exclaimed.
Jodie stared at him and Camel smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, teacher. I know you've done your best, but I'd like to be able to actually make it to the cafeteria for lunch in a timely manner."
"Ah, no, that's alright. I know I'm not good at giving directions," she said, playing along and silently thanking Camel for his quick thinking.
The MiB agents were more than happy to give the new guy easy directions to the cafeteria and Jodie encouraged them to pass on the truth to any other teams they bumped into before they parted ways, and Jodie led them to the cafeteria where they would hopefully find Vermouth.
()()()()()
Gin had heard security lockdown doors slam shut behind him not long after he'd separated from Akai and Kudo, but the path to the east wing was suspiciously clear of obstacles. That alone was more than enough to convince him this was indeed a trap, but he had no choice. He had to rescue Vodka.
It wasn't long before Gin found himself in front of the blue double doors with a dragon etched into the metal that led directly into the gym. He slipped his hand into his coat pocket and felt the two syringes Sherry had given him. He closed his fingers around one and released a long exhale. He hoped the Arquillian's antidote worked. He removed his hand and pushed open the doors. All the lights were on, the bleachers were folded up against the wall, and the room was empty of all equipment.
The only thing present was the stocky, black-suited man standing in the center of the room. He grinned, and it was a cold, toothy smile that looked wrong on his face. "Yo, Aniki, what took you so long? I've been waiting for you to come save me since last night and it's now what? Nearly noon?"
Gin grimaced and stepped forward, observing his partner. His stance was wide, but relaxed, and his hands were in his pockets. He could be holding a gun or some other weapon and was just waiting for him to let his guard down.
"I came as soon as I could," Gin said in response.
Vodka snorted. "Oh yeah, well after you finished fucking your jailbait girlfriend."
"Jailbait!" Gin repeated, so taken aback that he stopped moving.
"What? Did you think all this time that I was completely cool with you screwing a girl about the same age as my youngest sister?"
Gin was floored. "I… No, I knew you weren't okay with it at first, and rightfully so, but it's been four years since then and you never-"
"That's because I was afraid of what you'd do to me if I protested, dipshit. You have a nasty habit of making people you don't like disappear," Vodka said.
"Uh, no, otherwise Bourbon would be gone already," Gin said, his brow furrowing quizzically at the flawed logic.
That's only a matter of time though, right Aniki?" Vodka sneered. "After all, you're proud of your patience which is why it took you so long to seduce Sherry. You wanted to milk as much out of her as you could, and considering it's been about four years now, I'd say you've already doubled your initial investment, haven't you?"
Gin recoiled at first, but then steeled himself, remembering why he was here and what he had to do. "You wouldn't be saying such things if you weren't being mind-controlled, Vodka."
Vodka laughed loud and hearty, and when he stopped, he said, "Wow, Aniki. Do you think that Vermouth is somehow giving me directions on what to say to you this very minute? Nah, it's all me, and since no one else will put down the rabid dog, it looks like I'll have to."
If it were any other opponent, Gin would have reacted sooner. Vodka had his gun out and fired before Gin even moved and pain blossomed in his right shoulder. He staggered back with a grunt and clutched it.
Vodka grinned. "That's for Sherry, Aniki, and this one's for Kir."
This time Gin did move. He spun to the right, barely dodging the bullet aimed at his left shoulder. "Vodka, stop this! This isn't you!" he shouted.
"You didn't stop when Akemi requested you leave her sister alone." He fired again, and Gin jumped back, but Vodka continued to shoot at him. "You didn't stop when you cornered Sherry on the rooftop until she was lying prostrate on the ground and unresponsive, and you didn't stop when Kir and Bourbon begged you to until the very last second! I'm the only one who can stop you!"
The next bullet flew so close to his face he felt the heat of it as it passed. He couldn't believe it. Vodka was really trying to kill him. His jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed. Vermouth was the one responsible for this. Vodka wouldn't be shooting at him otherwise, but he couldn't administer the drug on him from this distance. He had to get in close, but Vodka wasn't giving him the chance. It was taking all of Gin's concentration just to avoid getting hit again, but he would have a brief opening when Vodka stopped to reload.
At last, the trigger clicked but only fired a blank. Vodka swore and moved to reload, but Gin was ready. He drew his Beretta and fired. Vodka yelped as the gun was struck out of his hand and careened through the air, landing with a clatter several meters away. Gin sprinted at him, but Vodka snarled and ran after the gun. Gin shot the gun again as he closed in on his partner and sent it spinning out of reach.
"You should have shot my left shoulder instead of my right if you wanted to handicap me!" he shouted.
Gin was nearly to him when Vodka stopped and, still facing away from him, said, "Thanks for the advice, Aniki. Allow me to correct that mistake!"
Vodka spun back on his heel and Gin barely glimpsed the flash of steel in time. He couldn't stop, but he lunged sideways, leading with his right side and the knife cut through his sleeve, slashing his upper arm instead of boring into his shoulder. They both overbalanced and Vodka stumbled forward a few steps while Gin let himself fall into a somersault. A pained grunt escaped his lips when too much of his weight landed on the injured shoulder. By the time he'd righted himself and spun around to face Vodka again, he too was back on his feet and the brief advantage Gin had was lost. Vodka still had a weapon he was willing to use to hurt him, and Gin was no closer to giving his friend the antidote. The only good thing about this situation was that Vodka's gun was now at Gin's back and still empty.
Vodka started to laugh, and Gin watched him warily. The sound was harsh and cruel and set his teeth on edge. "For someone so smart, you can be incredibly stupid sometimes, Aniki. All I've got for a weapon is a knife while you've still got a loaded gun yet you're trying to grapple with me instead of just shooting out my kneecaps and immobilizing me that way. Or better yet, shoot me in the spine. That'll definitely do the trick."
Gin gaped at him. Even knowing Vodka was not in control of himself, the very suggestion horrified him. "I don't want to hurt you!"
"That makes one of us…" Vodka said, idly tossing the knife from one hand to the other. "… because I'm sick of staying silent and being your obedient little lapdog. You wanna know the truth, Aniki? I've been terrified of you for years, ever since I met you, wondering if you'd ever turn on me, and it seems I had good reason to believe that. Remember? You nearly shot me in the head earlier this year."
Gin startled. "What? When did I-?" But then he remembered the train station locker room and Kudo's Itakura CD trap.
"Yeah, now you remember it, but I never forgot," Vodka snarled. "You're a menace and everyone that gets close to you ends up suffering for it. Akemi was your friend, but you kicked out her boyfriend, screwed her sister, and she ended up killed in the worst way, but you didn't even notice for two whole weeks."
Gin's blood ran cold and feelings he'd shoved to the back of his mind this morning when he read Vodka's message started leaking through the cracks in the wall he'd hastily erected. Akemi… his mother… his sister.
He tried to shove them aside. "No, that wasn't… I didn't…"
"We both knew it was all your fault, don't even try to lie to yourself, Aniki." Vodka sneered as he walked forward, his tone becoming more sinister with every step. "You can't help but hurt everyone around you because you don't trust anyone but yourself. That's why you shot Sherry…"
Images flashed through his mind, memories sharp and violent. Sherry collapsed in the snow panting and glaring at him. "Vodka, don't-"
Vodka ignored him. "Why you nearly shot me…"
Gin once again saw his Beretta pressed against his partner's throat and the terror on his face, and he felt the savage certainty that he'd kill the other man if his answers didn't please him. "Stop it…"
Vodka was very close now. "Why you shot Kir and interrogated her on pain of death with only the slimmest of possibilities that she might be a traitor despite her history and trust in us…"
Kir trembling and her voice desperate, and Bourbon loud and aggressive while his eyes were wide with panic.
Blood tingled in his hands, which had gone numb and shaky, and pounded in his ears. The strength in his legs gave way and he fell to his knees. He wasn't really seeing Vodka anymore, but his accusations echoed mockingly in his head. "Please stop it!" he begged.
"And why your twin sister and her baby no longer exist in this world."
An unrecognizable black-charred corpse.
Gin screamed. He clawed at his face and curled inward on himself, moaning in anguish as his grief and guilt surged anew. It was his fault. All of it. The sum total of his existence had done nothing but cause misery to those whom he cared for.
"Don't worry, Aniki. I'll be sure to put you out of your misery," Vodka said. His voice seemed to echo like he was at the far end of a long tunnel.
Vodka knocked aside his hat when he grabbed a fistful of hair and hauled him upright. Gin had no strength to fight back. His extremities still tingled unpleasantly and couldn't support him even if he wasn't trapped in his own head. It didn't feel like this was happening to him but somebody else, not even when he felt the sharp edge of the knife against his throat. This was it. All the pain he'd caused would end here. Maybe he'd be lucky enough to get a glimpse of his mother and sister before he was cast down to Hell where he belonged. He closed his eyes waiting for the final blow.
He waited…
He waited so long that his heart had calmed, his head was no longer pounding, and the tingling sensation had gone from his limbs. He felt exhausted but clear-headed, and he slowly opened his eyes. The knife was still at his neck, but it hadn't pressed into his skin at all. Bewildered, Gin's eyes flicked up to Vodka's face, and there was some kind of battle being waged there. His brow was furrowed and beads of sweat trickled down his forehead. His jaw was set, and he seemed to be struggling to speak.
"N… No…! E… dward…!"
Gin's eyes widened in shock. Vodka, the real Vodka, was fighting against the perfect version of Vermouth's mind control drug and holding his own.
"Koji? Koji, is that you?" Gin asked hopefully.
Vodka didn't answer or give any indication he heard, but he continued to force words slowly out of his mouth while he kept the knife at bay, even as tears started flowing down his cheeks. "Live… friend…!"
Gin was ashamed. He'd listened to the poisoned words that mirrored his own feelings and given up, but his best friend, who was a literal prisoner in his own body and crying for him, was still fighting.
"I'm sorry," Gin said and dipped his hand into his pocket. He pulled out one of the syringes, uncapped it, then plunged it straight into the arm holding the knife.
Vodka yelped and released him. Gin backed away as soon as he was free and watched anxiously. Would the antidote work? How long would it take? Vodka ripped the syringe out of his forearm and tossed it aside. There was no sign of his friend in the glaring face.
"What the hell did you inject me with!" he yelled and stomped towards him. Or he did for two steps and suddenly went very wobbly on the third.
He put a hand to his head and shook it vigorously. His brow creased and Gin was under the impression that Vodka's expression would look dazed if he were able to see his eyes. Then like a puppet with its strings cut, Vodka collapsed in a heap and didn't move further.
"Vodka?" Gin said. He stood up and cautiously made his way over to Vodka while he pulled out his handkerchief to slow the bleeding of his left arm.
It might be a setup, but Gin didn't think so. He kicked the knife away and Vodka didn't even twitch. He knelt beside the prone man and reached for his neck. He felt a pulse and a wave of relief rushed through him. Since the drug was an antidote for a mental effect, it must have forced him unconscious to 'reboot' everything correctly, so to speak. He hoped that was the case anyway.
Gin's right shoulder ached, his left arm was bleeding, and he already felt exhausted, but he wasn't done yet. He still had to rescue Karasuma and Rum, stop Vermouth, and foil her plans, but he allowed himself a moment to sit there with his unconscious partner and give his shoulder an affectionate squeeze. He didn't deserve a friend like him.
"Thank you for not giving up on me, even though I gave up on myself," Gin murmured.
He wasn't comfortable with the idea of abandoning Vodka in the middle of the gym floor while he was unconscious, but he couldn't delay here any longer and his shoulder injury meant he couldn't drag him off to the side against the wall. Reluctantly, he stood up and retrieved his fedora, then left the gym with one last lingering glance at his partner.
"Please recover quickly," he whispered and let the doors close behind him.
()()()()()
Just as Akai said, Conan was being funneled in the direction Vermouth wanted him to go which made it easier on the one hand, but on the other, it didn't leave him much opportunity to figure out what to do once he reached the cafeteria. For once, he wished Gin was with him so he could pick his brain on the layout. Even having Akai or Amuro with him would have been preferable to going alone, but Vermouth hadn't left him that option. There was only one thing he knew for certain and it was that Vermouth didn't want him dead or she wouldn't be going to all this trouble.
He eventually arrived at a set of white doors with a stylistic tiger engraved into the metal and a sign overhead that read 'cafeteria'. He might have appreciated the cleverness of coloring the door and engraving it with one of the Four Symbols from Chinese mythology for the correct cardinal direction if he wasn't so worried about his friend. He entered the room and found it no different from a standard, if empty, school cafeteria with the lunch lines, tables and chairs, and dishwashing conveyor belt. However, all of that was secondary to the woman sitting on top of one of the tables with a secretive smile on her lips.
"Welcome Shinichi," Vermouth said. "Ah-ah, stay right there. I have no intention of getting within range of your watch's sedation needle."
Conan halted and his eyes flicked to her right at her captive. Agasa was still bound and unmoving, and he eyed the bomb strapped to his chest.
"I came like you demanded," he said.
"So you did," Vermouth agreed. She reached over to Agasa and removed the tape keeping the bomb in place then set it on the table beside her. "Happy?"
Conan's eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"
Vermouth raised an amused eyebrow. "As straightforward as usual," she said. "Don't worry, I have no intention of hurting you and won't hurt the Professor if you cooperate."
"That's not what I asked," Conan said.
She smirked. Her smile was wide, but her eyes were cold, very much like the last time he saw her true face back in July when he was trying to obtain the Organization's NOC data. "I want you to leave," she said.
Conan blinked twice. "Leave?"
"That's right. I want you to leave the Organization immediately. You may take the Professor with you and I will see to it that you are both safely escorted outside, but you will not come back here because if you do, I will kill him," she said with a wave toward Agasa.
He couldn't leave. Vermouth was responsible for the deaths of several people and had tried to kill Haibara on multiple occasions. Even now was trying to do something malevolent that could affect the entire planet, and she was demanding he just walk away from that as if he could.
"Why do you care so much that I live? You've killed plenty of other people who've stood against you, so why the exception?" Conan asked.
He was curious, yes, but he was also trying to stall for time to try and come up with a plan to knock her out. If only Dr. Agasa was conscious…
Vermouth tilted her head slightly and her expression softened. "When you were in New York two years ago visiting your mother with Ran, you both saved a man, a known serial killer even, from falling to his death without a moment's hesitation, despite the horrible things he did, because you're both such kind people. The only reason you didn't try to bring him to the police was because Ran was sick, and you were worried about her. His body was found later that night by the police and determined to be a suicide."
Conan stared, his eyes wide and mouth agape. There was no way she could know any of that. There were only three people present at the scene at the time, and until recently, he was the only one alive who remembered what happened. No amount of investigating could have given her those details unless…
"You mean you were the…?"
"Temporarily," Vermouth clarified. "I made the serial killer's death look like a suicide and used his likeness for a completely unrelated purpose, but it was me you both saved that night."
He could hardly believe it, yet why would she lie? "Is that why you've been helping me all this time- Wait, hold on…" his brow furrowed in sudden confusion. "Why have you been helping me when you at least knew the truth about the Organization and the real reason I was shrunk since the beginning?"
Surprisingly, her eyes flashed with anger and for a moment, they seemed to be tinted red. "I was in America at the time, so I was neither aware of your situation nor included in the plans. All anyone seemed to know was that you had disappeared with rumors that you'd died due to Gin using an experimental memory-erasing drug that has an unexpectedly lethal side effect. Imagine my surprise when I attended the mourning party at the Haido City Hotel with Pisco and noticed you alive but shrunken."
Conan was listening with half an ear. The rest of his brain was running through his options. His first instinct was to get closer and shoot her with the tranquilizing needle in his watch, but it hadn't worked on Gin and, remembering that Vermouth had fought off the sleep gas after their showdown at the dock, he doubted it would work on her either. Alternatively, if he had some way to distract her, he could activate his super kick shoes and pop out a soccer ball to blast at her, though if he missed, he had no alternative.
"It's pointless, Shinichi," Vermouth said. His real name brought him back to full attention and she wagged her finger in disapproval. "I know you can't help but try to resolve this in your favor and that your questions were just to stall for time to come up with a plan, but I chose the cafeteria specifically because this location lacks convenient objects you could use to turn the tables against me. I'm fond of you, Shinichi, but I'm done playing with you now."
She pulled out a gun from inside her black suit jacket and pointed it at Dr. Agasa's head.
"Yield," she demanded, all playfulness dispersed like mist.
Conan clenched his teeth and furrowed his brow. She had him; he couldn't pull this off alone. "Alright, I…"
He paused, distracted by some movement behind Vermouth at the other end of the cafeteria. His heart leapt to his throat. It was Jodie and Camel and the rest of their group! He didn't let the elation show on his face as he gave his full attention to Vermouth again, trusting the two FBI agents to give him the opening he needed.
"I yield, but would you answer one more question I have first?" Conan asked.
Just like that, the coldness was gone, and her demeanor was warm again. "Of course. Ask away."
"Why do you hate Sherry so much?"
Vermouth stiffened and her smile faded. "Sherry!"
A shot went off, Vermouth gasped and retracted her hand, now bleeding, and the gun clattered to the floor. Now was his chance! Conan turned the knob on his tennis shoes and released a soccer ball from his belt. He kicked it as hard as he could at her head with a spin that caused it to arc toward the left.
It missed, but the ball's trajectory still forced her to dodge right, her left, to escape it and consequently put some distance between her and Agasa. It was enough. Conan closed the gap and planted himself in front of the Professor with his watch raised, and Jodie and Camel and the other FBI agents had also made their way over to him. They flanked him and had their guns all pointed at Vermouth.
"Freeze!" Jodie yelled.
Vermouth sneered at her. "No, I don't think I will, kitten."
"Give it up, Vermouth. You lost your bargaining chip and I have no intention of leaving here until you're stopped," Conan said, glaring at her but keeping his arm steady.
She dropped her gaze to his and sighed. "I really hoped you'd reconsider, Shinichi, but I've worked too hard to bring my dream to fruition to have you ruin it now."
This time, Conan was certain of it. Her eyes did turn red, but it wasn't just her eyes. Her skin, hair, and even her clothes started to take on a reddish tint that steadily became more pronounced. The details of her features disappeared and melted together as the red hue deepened until all that remained was a Vermouth-shaped red gelatin-like figure with a pattern of kinetic dark and light red bars and spots traversing her body like blood vessels. They reminded him about her hand injury, but there was no sign of it, like it hadn't happened. Though beneath the hypnotizing patterns in the center of her chest, Conan noticed a darker red mass that remained stationary. Was that her heart? He was so mesmerized by the pulsing patterns on her body that he realized too late that she was making a break for the doors.
"Hey, wait!" Conan shouted and reached to shoot another soccer ball, but Vermouth crashed through the entryway and took off down the hall out of sight. "Come back-!"
"Conan, hold up!"
He stumbled to a halt and looked back to Jodie who, with Camel, was removing the ropes from around Dr. Agasa.
"There's no point. We can't catch her like this, and we still need to get him out of here," Jodie said with a sympathetic smile.
He ground his teeth, frustrated that she got away, but turned to the adults once he'd calmed. "Can I rely on you two to take care of him? Gin was led into a similar trap to separate us and he might need backup."
"Yeah, we've got the Professor, and we'll get him out of here safely," she assured him.
"Be careful, Conan," Camel added.
"Yeah, I will," he called over his shoulder and bolted out of the room retracing his steps to where he'd come from.
()()()()()
By some miracle, Haibara's group encountered no obstacles on their way to the CCS even after the intruder alarm went off. They had a narrow brush with a group of regular MiB agents, but fortunately, they turned out to be direct colleagues of Bouron's in Intelligence, so while they were curious about a little girl traveling among them, they didn't find it suspicious. Bourbon was even able to go into the full truth of why they were there, and they accepted it readily. One of them even pumped his fist and declared to his buddies that he knew all along Gin wasn't a traitor, just a murderous asshole. They had agreed to spread the word around with much gusto and wished them luck.
Now they were standing before a plain, solid metal door with no handle, no peephole, and no window, but a keypad on the right side. Obviously, they had to input the correct set of numbers to enter, otherwise they would get no further.
"You don't happen to know the passcode to get in, do you?" Haibara said with a side glance at Bourbon.
Bourbon pursed his lips. "I did before the shutdown, but if might have changed since then."
"Do we want to risk whoever's inside hearing our failed attempts or just break into the pane and try to hotwire it?"
"Then there's the risk that the panel might be booby-trapped like bombs are sometimes to prevent tampering," he countered.
"Hm. Valid," she admitted. She pulled out the paper Gin had given her and sighed. If Gin had known it, he hadn't written it down, and whether he knew it or not would be the biggest clue of whether the password had changed.
"I'll try the code I know first," Bourbon decided and stepped forward. He tapped out five numbers and pressed the star key afterward.
An LED light on the side of the keypad lit up green and the door slid open. There was only one person inside the CCS: a tall, broadly-built man in a black kimono and hakam with long curly brown hair in a pony tail.
Rum whirled around and stared at them in surprise, then his brow furrowed. "I wasn't expected visitors."
"We weren't invited," Haibara said.
His right eye fell upon her while his left prosthetic eye remained eerily still, and he smiled coolly. "Vermouth will definitely be happy to see you, Sherry. In fact, she only just got back. Should I call her and let her know you've arrived?"
"You're going to be a bit too preoccupied for that," Bourbon said and rushed at Rum with the same energy as a charging bull.
The others all followed his lead and left Haibara alone. She ducked behind one of the center consoles and peered around the corner just in time to see Bourbon throw the first punch. Rum sidestepped, caught his wrist, and pivoted. He released him after a 90 degree turn and sent Bourbon flying into his coworkers. Kazami caught him and stumbled backward, and the other agents surged forward around them. Rum smirked. He ducked another punch and struck his opponent's chin with a flat palm, then dropped down and kicked another guy's leg out from under him. Rum was beating them as easily as if they were rookies.
Haibara tore her eyes away and propped the medical dart gun against her legs. She squeezed the contents of one of the antidote syringes into a capsule she then loaded into the dart. She slid back the cover at the base of the barrel, slotted the dart into the chamber, and pushed it forward until she heard the soft click of it locking in place. She closed the chamber compartment and spun back around on her knees with the dart gun raised to her left eye. She hadn't been slow, but in the short interval that had passed, all but Bourbon and Kazami were unconscious on the floor. She aimed at Rum, but he was moving so fast darting around like a snake, striking and retreating, that she couldn't get a fix on him, especially not with his loose clothes obscuring his figure. She needed him to stand still for just a few seconds!
Rum spun like a top straight for Kazami whose eyes flashed in recognition. He flung himself to the side and struck Rum hard in the center of his torso. Rum stumbled out of the spin, disoriented and trying to regain his balance.
Kazami smirked. "Too bad for you, a silver-haired woman used that same move on me earlier this week."
Rum froze. "A silver- You met-?"
Got him. The dart struck him right in the large gluteus maximus muscles. He stiffened and quickly removed the dart from his posterior, then rounded on her with a hateful glare. He only managed one step in her direction though before Bourbon karate-chopped the back of his neck. Rum's right eye rolled up into his head and he collapsed face down. Nobody moved for a minute and the only sounds were Bourbon and Kazami panting.
Eventually, Bourbon released a deep exhale and brushed his bangs back, then smiled at her. "You alright, Sherry?"
"Yeah, are you?" she asked, eying the two men. They were the ones who had fought the MiB Vice Chief after all.
She shouldered the medical dart gun and approached the unconscious bodies on the floor. The fight had been barely two minutes long, if that, yet this was the damage that had followed.
"They seem to be okay," Bourbon said after he finished checking on his subordinates and then glanced over at Rum. "We should probably restrain him before he wakes up just in case the antidote is ineffective."
"Agreed. I'll leave you to it," Haibara said and made her way over to the prime communications console.
She had to drag a chair over to climb up and see the dashboards only to stare blankly. She had no idea what she was looking at. Most of the buttons and switches were labeled with abbreviations or shorthand she didn't understand. There was a microphone and a green button with a label underneath that read 'intercom', but nothing seemed to happen when she pressed it. She tried saying 'testing, 1, 2, 3', but heard nothing over the external speakers either. There had to be some way to turn it on.
She chewed on her bottom lip looking over the console and tried tapping the touch screen in the bottom center. The black screen suddenly came to life and showed her a login window demanding a user ID and password. She typed in her own, but it beeped, and a red error message appeared at the bottom.
"Unauthorized user," Haibara read aloud. So there were only certain people who could login to the communications system? She looked back over her shoulder at Bourbon who had just finished propping Rum up against the wall. "Bourbon, could you come here and try logging in? I'm not authorized to."
Bourbon's brow creased, but he nodded. "Sure." He came over and typed his own, but the same error popped up. He tsked in annoyance. "We're this close and we're being thwarted by a damn login screen of all things."
"Can you hack it?" she asked.
"You have a lot of faith in my computer skills," he said dryly.
"I'm a biochemist, not a computer scientist," she retorted in the same tone.
Bourbon huffed and stared at the screen. "Again, I might be able to, but it'd really be better if we had the login information for one of the Communications staff. Wish I hadn't knocked out Rum now. Gin could have warned us we'd need either a Communications department or executive agent's login."
He walked back over to Rum not noticing how Haibara had stiffened. She slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out the paper that Gin had given her: the one with the randomized string of kana and numbers and the weird phrase. Going on a hunch, she inputted the first row into the user ID and the second, 'black blood red moon', into the password bar, then pressed 'Enter'. The login screen turned black this time and a yellow loading bar appeared at the bottom of the screen. It touched the other end and a new window appeared. It was still black, but now the letters 'M.I.B. written in silver enclosed in a circle was present in the center. The logo remained for a few seconds then shifted to a normal-looking menu screen. She was in.
"Bourbon, I got it!" she called across the room.
The blonde man sprung to his feet in an instant. "What? How?"
"Gin gave me the information before we left, and now we have access to everything in here," she said and reached for the intercom microphone button again.
This time when she pressed it, the button lit up.
She smiled and spoke into it. "Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3."
She heard her voice come from both her mouth and the loudspeakers. It worked.
"Attention everyone, this is Sherry from the biochemistry division of Research and Development," she said. "You have been lied to. Vermouth has staged a coup and infected Mr. Karasuma, Rum, Vodka, and possibly others with a mind control serum that forces them to do her bidding. She has tested weaker versions of it in the past on fellow MiB staff, including the likes of Curaçao from Intelligence, and Scotch, Calvados, and Irish from General Oversight to name a few."
"Hey, Mr. Furuya, what's this?" Kazami asked his younger superior.
"What's what?" Bourbon said and joined Kazami's side.
Haibara heard them, but only as background noise and didn't pay them any attention as she continued without pause. "Gin has not betrayed the Organization despite the claims to the contrary, Rum is fine here in the CCS, and if anyone has seen Mr. Karasuma, Vodka, or other people that might be acting strangely, please contact the CCS either on the station's landline or channel 2 if using the radio. Thank you."
She had just released the button for the microphone and ended the transmission over the intercom when Bourbon yelled, "No! She didn't!"
Haibara didn't like the alarm in his voice. "What happened?" she said while sliding off the chair.
"Vermouth had Rum activate the missile defense launch sequence," Bourbon said, pointing at the display in front of him. "Every single one of them is being primed and nearly ready for launch."
"Where are they targeting?"
He grimaced. "Every other MiB HQ on the planet."
She gasped. Every other-? "Including the American one?"
"That's what the first missile is aiming for."
A cold wave of dread washed over her. The American headquarters was MiB prime, the oldest of which all other branches were an extension, but she wasn't thinking of that. Memories flashed through her head of the place that had been her childhood home and the people she'd grown up with who'd raised her. She thought of old Chief Zed who'd doted on and spoiled her like a grandfather; of Jay who was so easy to trick into giving her things she wasn't supposed to have but was always supportive and fun to be around like an uncle; and of Kay, the hard, stoic man who rarely smiled and was hard to please, but was the closest thing she had to a father. A father whom she'd never told she felt that way towards.
"We have to stop it!" she exclaimed.
"I know, I'm already on it," Bourbon said through gritted teeth.
She and Kazami hovered on both sides watching him with bated breath as his fingers flew across the keyboard and windows flicked in and out.
A new login window popped up and Bourbon cursed. "Sherry, Gin's info. Hurry!"
"Right, lift me up," she said.
He picked her up underneath the armpits and she typed the user ID and password once she was high enough to reach. That window disappeared too, and Bourbon quickly set her down.
"Thank you," he said.
"Don't mention it," she replied but doubted he heard her; he was too focused. She counted three more mini windows that Bourbon shifted through when a rectangular bar appeared and read 'Missile launch sequence deactivated'.
"You did it, Mr. Furuya!" Kazami said, and Haibara breathed easier. They'd stopped it in time.
Bourbon relaxed too. "Now that that's taken care of, let's deactivate the extra security measures and see about locating- What?"
Haibara saw immediately what had interrupted his train of thought. Back on the screen, a new bar had popped up reading 'Missile launch sequence activated'.
"But how?" Kazami said, gaping at the words. "It was just deactivated; we all saw it!"
"I don't know and now it's not letting me back in! Someone must have manually reactivated it from the other end and is locking me out from being able to turn it off remotely again," Bourbon said.
Haibara gasped in sudden realization. "Bourbon, we're using Gin's information to access all of this, and there are only two people in the Organization that have the authority to override him, one of which is unconscious in here," she said with a meaningful glance back at Rum, who was still trussed up in a corner against the wall.
On the bright side, they now knew exactly where 'that person' was.