The establishment of the Time Travelers Alliance began in the first year of Conan

Chapter 199 When did Vermouth realize something was wrong? (Two chapters combined, please vote at the end of the month)

The issue of "character design" has never been as simple as the league previously believed.

Previously, the Narrative Studies Department and the Chronology Department conducted extensive research on the historical progression of Koizumi Akako and Kuroba Kaito, and then raised more questions—

"The deeper logic behind RSI exceeding 100 may not simply be due to the influence of Shinichi Kudo, or Akako Koizumi..."

"Although our research on the derivative effects of its RSI fluctuations allows us to temporarily categorize it with its source, it does exhibit a certain degree of independence. Whether its historical inertia is inherent to its 'persona' or stems from the influence of its source RSI remains a question we need to answer..."

"...Furthermore, the reason why individuals named 'Shinichi Kudo' or 'Akako Koizumi' can be the source of RSI anomalies, and why their anomalies manifest as RSI values ​​exceeding 100, rather than through a decrease in RSI values..."

This is also why, as the alliance has developed, the departments within the research layer that study RSI indexes are now more inclined to measure and apply it rather than study its principles.

It's the same old problem.

The RSI index should not exceed one hundred from the very beginning of its design.

This problem is similar to scientists' research on black holes or quantum mechanics in the real world—

The league can only keep patching it and fixing the problem by providing additional correction values.

For example, they could lazily assign a very high CS value to [Shinichi Kudo].

There is clearly something wrong with this, because Conan Edogawa outwardly appears to be a normal person.

Just like the researchers at the Conan Psychological Analysis Institute raised the question, they believe that Conan simply cannot reach those values:
"If Conan Edogawa had a CS value exceeding six figures, he would have woken up long ago!"

Therefore, a more common approach is to modify the PLS.

For example, as done with Akako Koizumi, "Red Magic" could be treated as another different PLS dimension value and added to form a new correction formula.

Regardless, after the "Ekoda High School historical deviation" incident, many departments in the research field began to doubt whether the "story timeline" was actually created by the "character design".

Moreover, this matter eventually even reached Lin Sheng's ears.

After Lin Sheng confirmed the timeline status of Kidd and the other person again, the executive team finally received an affirmative answer.

"Actually, I've been thinking about this ever since I saw the research report."

Faced with Shigenobu Hitomi's daily reports, Lin Sheng skillfully drew a timeline above her head—

He stole the entire process of Koizumi Akako and Kuroba Kaito's timelines from the dual timelines.

"Hitomi, look here. When I took those two timelines from the [Story Timeline] and prepared to maintain them, Koizumi Akako's timeline had already stabilized Kuroba Kaito's timeline in some way."

"After attempting to separate her timeline from the dual timelines, she actively prevented Kaito Kuroba's timeline from collapsing."

The scene that unfolded before Shigenobu Hitomi's eyes made her pupils shrink.

"This is not the domain of Red Magic, and Koizumi Akako's 'character design' has never shown any ability related to timelines."

“Even now that she has ‘broken the barrier’ and doesn’t have a time crystal, she can’t do that.”

"Hmm, that's strange, isn't it?"

In fact, after the research team raised this question, Lin Sheng checked Koizumi Akako's timeline many times over.

In particular, her timeline records the day magic disappeared from the world.

Looking back, there are just too many suspicious points.

Especially that part where, after her entire family disappeared and all magic in the world vanished, she still chose to go to school and search for Kidd despite being pursued by the League—

Even at such a point, Koizumi Akako showed no inclination to "break the established rules".

Lin Sheng nodded and continued to share his views.

"This shows that a part of her 'persona' actually exists independently of her, and can even have an impact independently of the timeline."

……

And that is certainly true. If the story timeline had an extraordinary grasp of the character settings, then the process of "breaking the character settings" would simply be impossible.

This gives Vermouth's "persona" the possibility of contradicting the story's timeline.

Actually, this is the fault of the [story timeline] itself.

It was because of its absolute advantage in the second pointer case that it insisted on "confidently" creating "Ms. Miyano".

Moreover, he confidently granted Ms. Miyano so much authority at the time.

[Story Timeline] Everything he did conflicted with Vermouth's original "persona".

What kind of person is Vermouth?
She is a mystic and a key member of the Black Organization.

And as someone who, for some reason (most likely by taking APTX-4869), regained their youth or stopped aging.

She is not only the famous American actress Sharon Vineyard, but also the famous American actress and nominally "Sharon's daughter," Chris Vineyard.
She was also someone who was deeply favored by the organization's boss.

She is a character with a very complex personality.

Therefore, rather than saying that Vermouth "broke down," it's more accurate to say that her "persona" realized things had gone off track.

This woman was likely the first to notice that something was wrong with the Black Organization.

First of all, most of the members of the Black Organization are codenamed after alcoholic beverages, so when Ms. Miyano suddenly took over the reins, it made Vermouth's "persona" seem suspicious.

Then, when asked her questions, Boss didn't respond at all the first time, and when she asked Rum or Gin, the responses from others were just formulaic—

"Just follow the orders given by the organization."

Unfortunately, in Vermouth's "persona," she is not a pure black side.

In the past, she had been rescued by Shinichi Kudo and Ran Mouri, and was moved by their actions and words.

She even started calling Shinichi "Cool Guy" and Ran "Angel" afterward. In the future, she will help Conan hide his secret of shrinking and even help him resolve the Black Organization's suspicions or pursuit of him.

So, as is typical of this mystic, she began to investigate the matter in secret.

When she first received the task assigned to her by the so-called Ms. Miyano, her "persona" realized that something was wrong.

The mission required her to impersonate Kogoro Mouri, using a GSSRA identity prepared by the organization, and to take away a boy named Conan Edogawa when he leaves the Beika branch.

This makes the problem even stranger—

Where did this GSSRA come from?
Furthermore, the mission specifically required "relocating a child named Conan Edogawa and preventing him from reaching the Beika Town cargo transport port."

Vermouth discovered ahead of time that Conan Edogawa was actually Shinichi Kudo.

Of course, there is still room for the story timeline to be salvaged regarding the identities of the Gray Team, GSSRA, and Conan Edogawa.

After all, one has gained the approval of Shinichi Kudo, and the other can be considered a slightly special case of the "red side".

Even Vermouth's discovery of Shinichi Kudo's identity can be explained using the usual "plot advancement" explanation.

Just like the league tried to skip the Maple Leaf Coins case in the past.

But how does Ms. Miyano explain this?

Even Ms. Miyano's appearance directly relates to one of the most crucial aspects of Vermouth's character—her mysticism.

In the period before the [loop], Ms. Miyano was theoretically omniscient, which meant that Vermouth had no secrets from her.

Then, Ms. Miyano is more mysterious than "Vermouth" and is also more favored by the "BOSS".

Furthermore, this mission directly involves Shinichi Kudo and his "Cool Guy" persona.

With so many buffs, Vermouth, through collecting rumors about "Sherry" within the organization during this period, and through various other channels—

She finally realized that "Ms. Miyano" was very likely "Akami Miyano" herself.

Thus, this woman unfortunately glimpsed a corner of the truth.

They fell into that terrible cycle that could possibly never end, and were trapped in a daily state of constant fear.

Then she was reset by the [story timeline], even many times.

After all, if we look at the script designed by the [story timeline] himself, there is absolutely no possibility of failure. Given this, Vermouth's priority was naturally lowered by the storyline.

During that time, the story timeline was forcibly reset time and time again, and it almost succeeded.

After all, each time Vermouth discovers the "truth," it takes time, and the storyline keeps resetting until she sets foot on land she shouldn't have, standing before someone she shouldn't have stood before—

That was the first and last time Vermouth saw Ms. Miyano.

Just as the Alliance discovered in its research on the CYZ effect that "resetting" is actually a timeline trick, just as in the Möbius Timeline War, the "flashback" phenomenon generated by multiple backtrackings allowed Hattori Heiji to discover the errors in his memories.

Upon seeing Ms. Miyano for the first time, the fear from countless resets, along with the "flashback" phenomenon, caused Vermouth to deliberately forget herself—

This is why the story timeline ultimately had to send Tequila and the others to their deaths. It essentially put Vermouth in a "dead" state.

If it resets Vermouth and forces her to complete her plan, Vermouth will faint from fear or even forget everything.

This is undoubtedly a problem that cannot be solved by resetting; in fact, the more times it is reset, the greater Vermouth's fear will become.

Those fears were like thorns piercing the depths of her consciousness, fueling her resistance and her attempts to escape—

The more she tore at the thorns, the more the fear grew.

Finally, as Vermouth herself remembered, because she didn't want to see "Ms. Miyano," she used her relationship with the Boss as an excuse to go to America to resume her acting career.

Then she discovered that she had a "split personality" or "amnesia".

And that inexplicable terror in my heart, the fear of the Boss, the fear of the Black Organization...

Even... the fear of the next day.

Vermouth begins to hate the night, but even because of her persona, she can't help but hate it.

She could only feel fear, even seeing the rising moon as a gleaming blade on a gallows, or a cold, gleaming circular saw.

This also made her the first person to try to escape this horror by using her "persona".

Yes, Vermouth did not "break the rules".

Instead, amidst repeated fears, she held onto that one unchangeable anchor point, that initial "persona"—

They proactively reinforced and utilized the area.

This is undoubtedly a brilliant idea.

In fact, Vermouth is likely the first person in this Conan universe to try to escape the clutches of the dual timelines by using her own persona.

If the alliance's "breaking the rules" guidance can be compared to getting overtime pay through various means after working overtime.

Vermouth's behavior was as if she simply finished the daily tasks assigned to her by the company and left work.

Anyway, we can't fire her from the [story timeline].

Of course, very fortunately, the solution to this problem in the end, according to the story timeline, was quite simple.

Whether for the purpose of "understanding human logic" or "making it easier to interfere," it devoted more power to the being called "Karasuma Renya."

It almost came to the point of replacing the character.

So, poor "Vermouth" was eventually found by the [story timeline], and after meeting the Boss in person.

The cell phone that the Boss personally handed to her became Vermouth's greatest source of fear.

From that moment on, the storyline itself took on the role of the boss; in other words, Vermouth received more "tasks" during her work hours.

Moreover, unlike the previous time when Ms. Miyano indirectly gave the order for the storyline, this time, the phone in her hand was handed to her personally by the "Boss".

This makes the reset of Vermouth's story timeline seem so natural and frequent, even to the point of happening once a day.

After all, the more solid her "persona" is, the less she can refuse direct orders from the "Boss".

Although these numerous resets allowed Vermouth to almost always quickly realize that something was wrong—

She took the phrase "secrets make a woman a woman" and Vermouth's "mystic" persona to the extreme.

She even used her fear of the phone her boss gave her and the text messages that kept coming in.

After all, the orders and instructions the Boss sent when he contacted him were really...

It's really like a machine wearing a human appearance.

Just like the commands that the phone had given her before—

"The detailed steps for blowing up Professor Agasa's basement are: at 6:30 PM, on Beikacho 3-chome Street..."

"The detailed steps to prevent Professor Agasa's basement from being blown up are: at 6:30 PM, at the Beika Town cargo transport port..."

"To prevent Ran and Conan from meeting at the hospital, the detailed steps are: at 6:30 PM, at Beika Town Central Hospital..."

"The detailed steps to facilitate Ran Mouri and Conan meeting at the hospital are: at 6:30 PM, at Beika Town Central Hospital..."

In fact, if she hadn't discovered the mnemonic phrases and various hints that "she" had left for "herself," Vermouth felt that she probably wouldn't have been able to "remember to look through the old text messages" at all.

—Otherwise, why would countless "pre-amnesia selves" remind themselves of something as simple as looking through old text messages?
Moreover, and more importantly, is the time when the text message is received.

All the text messages came almost without any interval.

Accepted – 5:33 PM

Accepted – 5:33 PM

Accepted – 5:33 PM

……

And for Vermouth, on the first day of the battle to win over Shiho Miyano, this same thing happened again.

What the Boss gave him was not its trust, but Medusa's head!

Every cold, white ray of light illuminating the phone screen is like Medusa's icy gaze—

It petrified its own memories, imprisoning itself forever within the Boss's gaze.

"Disguised as Akemi Miyano..."

"Help Shiho Miyano leave the laboratory..."

"Prevent Shiho Miyano from leaving the laboratory..."

"Request/command Shiho Miyano to immediately begin research on APTX-4869..."

"I agree/allow/comfort Shiho Miyano that she doesn't need to immediately research APTX-4869..."

……

And so, just as countless "Vermouths" have said in the past, on that day, under the pressure of that fear, and through repeated self-suggestions—

She left behind the only thing she was capable of, as verified by countless "Vermouths".

The arrangement of things in the room, the jot that looks like a plan for tomorrow, the marks accidentally scratched on the wall...

So, at 00:00:0 on the second day.

Vermouth calmly picked up the "trust" given to her by the Boss and, as usual, checked her tasks for the day.

Then, very quickly, just by glancing around the room, all the traces of yesterday silently reminded her that something was wrong.

His gaze carefully explored the places in the room that seemed deliberately different from his usual habits...

Finally, she found the voice recorder.

A chilling fear crept up Vermouth's spine to the back of her neck, gripping her soul and causing her to involuntarily reach out her hand—

Then, the play button was pressed, and yesterday's "she" whispered to Vermouth: "Secret, to make a woman more womanly."

Vermouth then recalled the terrible fact that she "had a secret".

This time, the time displayed on the text message screen was even more alarming.

Not only has it reached the point where there are absolutely no time gaps, but even the timestamps of the first and last text messages are identical—

Everything is still at 0:00 this morning.

With her throat feeling constricted, Vermouth felt as if she were breathing out fear itself.

Fear filled my lungs with my rapid breathing, entered my blood vessels with my alveoli, and was pumped into every part of my body with the pumping of my heart.

Engulfed in boundless terror, Vermouth now resembled a zombie.

Following the clues left by "Vermouth" yesterday, the zombie, with trembling hands, pressed the buttons one by one and slowly typed in the text message.

"Di-"

A text message exactly the same as before was sent out.

Accepted - 0.01 AM

Of course, as has happened countless times before, she quickly tries to calm down and then tries again to see if there's anything she can do.

(End of this chapter)