"Have fun with your uncle," said Ran. "He's a funny guy."

"I know," said Conan. Ran opened the gate and he walked into the Kudo residence. A rental car was parked outside. "Bye, Ran-neechan."

"Bye, Conan." Conan turned around to look behind him as he rang the doorbell. Ran was still watching. She was probably waiting for Conan to be safely inside, and also to say hello to Yuusaku.

The door opened and Conan found himself picked up by his dad. "Hi there, Conan-kun," he said enthusiastically. Conan acted the same. Yuusaku looked beyond Conan and waved hello to Ran before going back inside the house. As soon as the door was shut, he placed Conan back on the ground. "Sorry about that."

"I don't mind, it's necessary."

Yuusaku handed Conan a piece of paper, which asked whether he knew if there were any bugs in the house. Even if the Organization didn't know anything about Shinichi except that he was likely dead, they could have them set up anyway.

Conan got a pencil out from his backpack and walked over to a table in the library. He flipped over the paper and wrote that he had gotten someone to check several times and there hadn't been any such surveillance set up.

"All right, I think we're in the clear, then," said Yuusaku. "I checked with our house guest earlier, as well."

"Where's Subaru-san?"

"I'm here," said Subaru. He walked out of the kitchen. Conan suddenly wondered if Ran had been waiting to see him as well.

"Akai-san, I have some important information to disclose to both you and Shinichi. I arrived here because using networks to send this information is too dangerous. Let's have a sit-down in the study." Everyone obliged.

"Shinichi recently asked me to investigate the organization that you have been a part of and that Shinichi has been affected by. I have connections within Interpol, which I know the FBI corresponds with on a regular basis."

"That's right," said Subaru. He folded his arms on the table.

"Through my research pertaining to the topics that I was asked to look into, and the cooperation of Interpol, I discovered the very real possibility that the Organization is much more dangerous and in control than we had thought of previously."

"To what scale?" asked Conan.

"The Organization has moles in the government of Japan itself. In a sense, they have total control over our country, excepting intervention from the UN. The organization also has branches in several other countries such as America, which I am sure you're aware of."

"We had a fiasco there with Vermouth. She committed several crimes over there for an exceedingly long time. Our first records of her existence as a criminal threat were in the 1980s. Then, through research, we found out that she was the perpetrator of several selective murders from much earlier. We couldn't act because we didn't know what she really looked like," said Subaru.

"How early?" asked Yuusaku.

"As early as the 1960s. She isn't as young as she looks."

"That's what Yukiko told me. And, with my new findings, I think I have found out why." Everyone waited on his words. "But I need evidence before I can say what I think happened."

"What's your theory?" asked Conan.
"She probably takes some sort of anti-aging drug that they invented. I also have come to suspect that she isn't the only recipient of it. It's likely that other high-ranked members are not aging. This seems to be part of a larger branch of research involved with the longevity of the agents, and with time itself," said Yuusaku.

"Time?" asked Subaru.

"All the top scientists in the world work at the Organization. They have achieved scientific discoveries beyond our own standard line of advancement. They have learned how to reverse age and to stop time from flowing properly."

"So I was right," said Conan.

"I have come to understand that 1994 now has repeated itself for twenty years."

"Wait," said Conan. "How did you find this out? Are the Organization suspicious at all about Interpol or our inquiry?"

"You should take Interpol very seriously," said Yuusaku. "They don't blunder or get discovered."

"Neither does the Organization, though."

"They're like computers playing chess," said Subaru. "They have equally matched intelligence and skill."

"What if the organization has moles in Interpol, though?" asked Conan.

"I would tell you it was secure, but I know that you know that any security can be passed by the right kind of person. We're relying on the best identity technology and riding on trust. That's all we can do, and it's the same for the Organization."

"All right."

"This is a lot of new information," said Subaru, "but with it, things are starting to make a little more sense."

"I knew all of this already, though," said Conan, "or at least guessed it. What can we do now to stop them?"

"I'm not sure how much we can do," said Yuusaku. "The best plan we've got is infiltration. I know that the FBI has already been working on this."

"What has the Interpol been doing? If they already knew about this, why haven't they acted?" said Conan.

"They haven't found an opening yet," said Yuusaku.

"I think," said Subaru, "that out of all people, you would be the most likely one to successfully destroy them, Shinichi."

"Why do you think that?" asked Yuusaku.

"He's physically six and possesses genius beyond compare, as well as the wit to properly use it. He has an advantage over all of us, which is being able to seem innocent and helpless to everyone around him. You've seen him in action, haven't you?"

"I have. He's extremely good at what he does. But around the Organization you're due to get yourself killed, Shinichi. You've been seen with the FBI several times already. In addition, you've told me that Bourbon is suspicious of you. Things are coming down to the wire in that regard, and soon enough they're going to confirm that you are sided with them. If you act now, you'll become a target, and your identity may be found out."

"You're right," said Conan. "But they need to be taken down. We can't just let them ruin the lives of the entire earth's population."

"It may seem urgent," said Yuusaku, "but as you hinted in your call, we've got all the time we need to bring them down. If they keep time stopped like this, we have the advantage. We'll never get older or have different circumstances. We could go on living like this forever, gathering bits of information about the Organization, slowly plotting. It could take fifty years, a hundred. We've already seen twenty."

Conan shuddered. His inward fear of being Conan forever took over. He wouldn't even age up to Shinichi; he'd always be six and Ran would be sixteen and they would still never be able to properly talk or even be in each other's presence unless Haibara finally made a proper antidote that would completely wipe out the poison's effect, forever. If he was going to spend an eternal amount of time like this, he might as well tell Ran so that they could spend it together.

"That's what we've got to stop," said Subaru. "It isn't natural."

"It's the ultimate advantage for now, though, even if it is unnatural," said Yuusaku. "We won't die of old age regretting that we never defeated the Organization or reached a proper conclusion. We are still relatively young and able-bodied. We can't stop it yet, anyway."

"Besides," said Subaru, "that gives Shiho more time to create an antidote for Shinichi."

"Nevertheless, we need to keep investigating," said Conan. "We can't slow down our hunt just because we've been given a longer time limit. It won't end up well."

"I see your point," said Yuusaku, "but it won't end up well if the Organization catches on to us, either. We have to be cautious. Sometimes being slow is the best way."

Conan hated to admit it, but what his father had said had at least some truth to it. He had safely investigated the organization over a span of twenty years and gotten enough information about them that no FBI investigation team could discover in twice that time. Jodie and company had spent nearly two thirds of the paused time learning very little about their enemies, while Conan had been treated to a mutual truce with one of their members, frequent sightings of the assassins, and a hint at the Organization's ultimate goal (a hint that had been turned into a full conspiracy by now.) He wondered if the long span between their interactions was enough for the Organization to forget his potential as a threat.

"I'm going to stay here and get in contact with the FBI," said Yuusaku. "I will also be organizing my research and looking for more leads. Don't do anything hazardous, Shinichi."

"I won't."

Conan was now walking all the way back to the Mouri household, hands in pockets, face very serious. He was still considering confessing to Ran, but his father's words also echoed around in his brain. Telling Ran would still be dangerous, even if it meant that it would put both of them at inner peace. Still, she was probably better with secrets than Hattori had been.

That reminded him to contact Hattori and inform him of the current situation. He could be cautious like his father and get him to fly over from Osaka before telling him anything, but a gathering of allies might be seen as suspicious. Experience reminded him that the Organization did not have listeners on all phone lines. He would probably end up calling Hattori on Shinichi's cell phone, regardless of his father's wishes.

As for Ran, he wasn't fully sure of his decision yet, or how to pull it off. It would have to be at a good time, which was definitely not on a school night like this one. He had to be careful around Haibara in case she spotted him thinking about Ran, which apparently gave him a telltale expression.

Speaking of Haibara, he felt guilty for not actively involving her in their investigation of the organization. In that conversation earlier, she had been little more than a potential source of an antidote. She knew more about the Organization than anyone else that he was involved with, bar Subaru, she being a former scientist for their purposes. However, she had also not always been ready to share the Organization's inner workings with her allies, which may have seemed stubborn on her part, but, Conan considered, was really probably due to something much deeper. She had probably been restricted from high-level information anyway, regardless of her importance to the organization. Still, she had more experience on their way of thought than Subaru and himself, she having been raised on their principles. She was invaluable in the matter of their resistance.

Conan had been on this track of thought ever since he had walked home, and had actually reached his bedroom by the time that he had finished the topic. Ran had noticed.

"Hey Conan, have you been thinking about something?" she said.

"Yeah," said Conan, who was suddenly jolted out of his deep thinking. "I'm reading a mystery novel." It was the perfect excuse because he actually was doing that.

"I hope you solve it before the detective does," said Ran. "What book is it, anyway?"

"It's an Agatha Christie book," said Conan.

"Nice," said Ran.

Situation averted.

Conan stood in a shadier corner of Beika Park.

"Hey, Hattori," said Conan.

"What's up, Kudo?" asked Heiji through the speaker on the cell phone. "Why didn't you call me on Conan's phone?"

"It's important," said Conan, "and if any phone is being tracked right now, it's going to be my other one."

"All right, then," said Hattori. His voice lost its joviality. "You know, if it is that serious, I can just fly over."

"Don't, it'll be suspicious. I've already been talking to our other allies, and if you show up, anyone who's been taking notice will raise a red flag."

"All right, I'll trust your judgement. So what is it?"

"My dad is home and us and Subaru have been talking. I asked my father to do some research into the Organization and what he's found has been essential to our pursuit of them."

"Intriguing."

"It might also shock you if I told you what he found out. You're not in a public area, right?"

"Of course not."

"Well, the Organization has been controlling the flow of time, having put it to a stop. It's been 1994 for a very long time."

Conan listened as Hattori was silent, then nearly got his eardrum injured, as Hattori had screamed into the phone.

"You called to tell me that nonsense!?" he asked.

"But it's true," said Conan. "My father's research with the help of Interpol showed that they had been investigating time. I heard it from the dying words of Vermouth. You have to trust me on this one."

"So it's real?"

"Yeah. Just think about it. How much time have we actually spent hunting down the Organization? How long has it been since we met?"

"Maybe about five or six months? No, wait, make that six."

"Do you think that's enough time for you and I to solve hundreds of murders?"

"No." Hattori grew silent again and Conan had to check if the line was dead. It wasn't.

"We've been at this for nearly twenty years," Conan said.

"How is it even possible!?" Hattori said. Conan was prepared this time and had distanced the phone from his ear beforehand.

"I don't know, but it is how it is."

"What does this mean for us?"

"Well, firstly, it's affected the entire populace's subconscious, who all think that it's only been a couple months. Like what you said earlier. What entitled you to say that it had only been six months?"

"It seemed concrete enough in my mind."

"That's what's behind all of it. It's manipulating us to perceive it like that."

"Oh."

"Secondly, we have spent enough time that I should be in my twenties and you in your thirties."

"That's ridiculous. I don't feel thirty."

"That's because we haven't actually aged. We have enough experience to be that old, but we still have the minds of seventeen year olds."
"And you still have to deal with being six."

"As a matter of fact, I've spent more 'time' being Conan than I have as Shinichi."

"That sucks, but… How does this fit in with our investigation? What can we do based on this information?"

"If we find a lead, we can take them down and get time to flow again, if that's even possible."

"What if this is permanent?"

"I don't know, Hattori. But hey, go look in a picture book and look at how many times we've passed specific dates again and again. That was enough proof for me."

"No, I don't really need proof for this. I have a feeling that everything you're saying is right already."

"Good. Thirdly, if things continue like this, I think I should tell Ran."

"I don't know, Kudo. The last time you did that, you told me Haibara pointed a gun to your head."

"Maybe I shouldn't tell Haibara, then."

"She's bound to find out somehow. Unless you tell Ran to act innocent in front of her."

"That's plausible, but even if Ran is a good actor in a play, she might not be able to seem like everything's fine in front of someone like Haibara, especially with the stress of knowing about me."

"Are you saying Ran isn't strong?"

"No. I'm saying that Ran shouldn't have to do this. I don't want to give her trouble because of my situation. More importantly, I don't want her to die because of it."

"But you already have been giving her trouble by not telling her. When she gets suspicious, she gets depressed because she knows you know she knows and you won't say anything. Also, I still think you're not giving Ran enough trust. You've let many people in on your secret, like that Eisuke guy, and no one has leaked it yet. If Ran finds out, she's going to act normal in the best way she can, just like everyone else. No one is perfect at keeping your identity hidden."

"Too many people already know. Most of the people that found out had either deduced it, like you, Eisuke, and Vermouth, or it was a matter of necessity, like my parents and Agasa."

"She's deduced it more than once, and has been right every time. She just never has proof because you refuse to admit it and get someone else to back you up. You ought to just tell her already. Fooling around and waiting will just make it more awkward when everything is outright revealed."

"That's true, but what will Haibara say?"

"Just don't tell her, like you said earlier. And if she does find out, lie and say that Ran cornered you and that you had no choice."

"I can't lie to Haibara. She can tell."

"Well, if you're not going to tell Ran, do you want me to pretend to slip in public and 'accidentally' reveal you?"

"That just makes for an awkward situation, Hattori."

"Okay, okay. But if you don't tell her soon, I'm going to."

"I'll find some way to work with this. If something comes up and I'm in trouble, you do not tell her, all right? I don't want her coming after me into danger. Her life would be at stake."

"All right. Anything else?"

"No, but stay careful."