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

Chapter 244 Ai Haibara only completed one-third of the journey.
[Conan Edogawa] Tonight is destined to be a nightmare.

For a comic book, whether it's about saving the world or going to school before saving the world, it's essential.

After all, tasks like fighting the Black Organization or the universe, or saving the world, should be left to high school or elementary school students.

This applies even to Shiho Miyano, who was once eighteen, and to Ai Haibara, who has also become an elementary school student.

She is now a soon-to-be elementary school student in Class B of Grade 1 at Teitan Elementary School in Beika Town.

Moreover, I'm worried about going to school tomorrow.

The fourth day of the new timeline is school day.

After all, for someone who has saved the world, what could be more relaxing and enjoyable than a wonderful campus life?
Of course, there are always some people who work hard behind the scenes, even if it's just for a day of wonderful campus life.

This is also what the [Eternal First Strike] team sent out to do—

With the help of [panoramic surveillance], they have successfully joined the police system in Beika Town.

This is all they can do now.

Because they can't get too close to Conan, nor can they get too far away.

If they get too close, their TDD won't be able to hold up, and several of them have already disappeared because of this.

But too far away won't work either, because that new timeline will treat them as foreign objects—in the form of a case.

After all, who knows how much historical inertia was shattered when Shinichi Kudo pushed that new timeline forward? Perhaps thousands of episodes of "cases" were shattered within it.

Koizumi Akako is currently dealing with the matter of Kuroba Kaito's disappearance.

Her divination abilities "disappeared" after that—she knew it was because of Shinichi Kudo.

No matter how much she inquired about Kaito Kuroba's whereabouts, all she saw projected from the crystal ball was a completely black image.

"I just need some time to come to terms with this..."

The alliance gave her a day to accept the fact, which she agreed to. In the meantime, she also requested some disguise equipment from the alliance.

She would disguise herself as Kaito Kuroba and ask Aoko Nakamori for a "long leave".

—This witch can now understand why Kaito Kuroba didn't want to involve Aoko back then.

If she had another chance, Koizumi Akako would never have taken Kuroba Kaito onto that plane bound for America.

……

Ai Haibara is currently sitting on the sofa.

The night before school started, she was packing her books and equipment, including some gear to prepare for a possible attack by the Black Organization.

Professor Agasa's tranquilizer needle and tranquilizer watch are very interesting gadgets, and Ai Haibara tried to get one from the professor.

She disassembled some of the mechanical components and made them into a palm-sized jewelry box.

She had placed the anesthetic needles on the top of the jewelry box—this "gun" could fire two different types of "ammunition," corresponding to different buttons on the left and right sides of the jewelry box.

Ai Haibara secretly made something behind Professor Agasa's back—a second type of "ammunition," which she has now coated with a deadly poison.

It is not "cyanide".

The oracle machine is still active, and the universe manages to help the [story timeline] in the end, or rather, Karasuma Renya—the last three real "cyanide" are in his hands.

Ai Haibara switched off the safety on the "gun," carefully tucked the box away from her body, and then looked up at Professor Agasa, who was fiddling with the black box.

She was always curious about what was in that box, but unfortunately, the doctor raised the height of the experimental platform, and at night he would lock the black box.

Shaking her head, her coffee-colored hair swayed gently with Ai Haibara's movements. She temporarily put aside her curiosity; that wasn't the important thing right now.

The key now is how to convince Professor Agasa to tell me what he knows.

Let's start with something insignificant.

For example, the question of who exactly is the person who saved their life.

Ai Haibara felt that everything that had happened in the past three days was like a dream.

She took the APTX-4869 that her sister had left her from Kudo Otaku, and then miraculously shrank, successfully escaping the organization.

I don't remember the rest of the story very clearly, or rather, what happened that night.

Ai Haibara tried to recall the night she was found by the Doctor, and she knew very well that her body had forgotten those memories in order to protect itself.

All she could recall was the biting cold of that night, and then the snow-laden branches overhead knocking her unconscious to the ground.

Then, all Ai Haibara could recall was a warm feeling and two very bright car headlights in the night.

Ai Haibara tried her best to make the memories in her mind clearer, almost clear enough that she could feel the last few tears left in the corner of her eye and a blurry shadow.

"It seems... someone rescued me in the woods and then handed me over to you, Doctor?"

Although she spoke in a questioning tone, the doctor detected a sense of certainty in her voice.

"Doctor, do you know who it is?"

When Ai Haibara looked over with her calm eyes, Professor Agasa felt a sense of pressure.

He stammered, "Ah! Well, I don't think I saw it very clearly at the time, because—"

"lie."

Ai Haibara jumped off the sofa, and the child pressed closer and closer to Professor Agasa, causing a few beads of sweat to appear on Professor Agasa's forehead.

This is not the kind of pressure a child should be putting on their child.

Ai Haibara raised her head, her cool gaze meeting Professor Agasa's somewhat guilty look. "Professor, you know who that person is, right?"

She used an affirmative tone again this time.

"Ai, I really can't tell you, because I'm not sure if you'll put yourself in danger..."

Dr. Agasa knew very well that this child was no longer the original "Ai Haibara".

After all, the first thing she did after regaining consciousness was to try to use her computer to anonymously expose the Black Organization's hideouts and the names of its members that she knew.

In fact, if I hadn't patiently persuaded her, she would never have agreed to change her status to that of being adopted by me.

"Being an unregistered person now is more advantageous for my actions."

—These are Ai Haibara's original words at the time.

Ai Haibara's drive is astonishing; the flame of revenge within her has never been extinguished, nor has it diminished even slightly.

She began her covert actions almost immediately after regaining consciousness.

Ai Haibara thought she had concealed it very well.

At the time, she even deliberately chose to do it when Professor Agasa was fast asleep, quietly got out of bed, and used the password she had secretly seen him enter to unlock the computer.

However, Professor Agasa's villa had already been "renovated" once by the Alliance in the past.

When Ai Haibara turned on her computer and started searching for "Professor Agasa" and information related to herself, the professor felt a little relieved.

—This child has indeed grown a lot; at the very least, he is very vigilant.

But when Ai Haibara began to search for what had happened in the western suburbs of Beika Town based on the coordinates on the box, Professor Agasa began to frown.

Especially after she found out that the "abandoned pharmaceutical factory" on the western outskirts of Beika Town had been destroyed by arson.

If it weren't for the small team sent by [Panoramic Monitoring] to support him, which intercepted the information sent by his computer in advance...

Some of the information on APTX-4869 has probably already appeared on the desks of GSSRA or intelligence agencies of various governments.

This is also why Dr. Agasa has not been able to make up his mind about whether to reveal the "boundaries of science" or the "truth" to the child.

The historical inertia has already created a complete mess.

According to information sent by the Alliance, the dual timelines have now lost the ability to "reset" everyone.

Dr. Agasa is unsure, or perhaps quite certain, what Ai Haibara would do if she knew the truth.

If this child were to angrily confront Shinichi and demand that he give up his "detective game," or beg him to use his divine powers to "restore" everything...

Only then will it all truly be over.

Therefore, when faced with Ai Haibara's various questions, Professor Agasa could only use Shinichi as a shield.

"I'm sorry, Ai, I promised Shinichi that there are some things I can't just tell other people."

"If you get Shinichi's consent..."

Seeing Professor Agasa's troubled expression, Ai Haibara didn't say anything more. She sat back down on the sofa in the living room and began to think about the questions she had raised these past few days.

"The person who saved me in the forest must be Ran Mouri, right?"

Professor Agasa sighed, "I don't know, Ai, I really can't tell you."

Ai Haibara didn't argue with the doctor about this; she was now convinced that it was Ran Mouri who had saved her.

She looked up, a thoughtful look in her eyes, at Professor Agasa, who was fiddling with the black box by the lab table.

“Doctor, I’m going to school tomorrow,” she said. “You’ll tell me everything as long as the detective agrees, right?”

Dr. Agasa paused, stopping what he was doing.

"Let's have a good talk, Haibara."

She's finally halfway done, Dr. Agasa thought. This is a good start.

……

Many methods have been completely ineffective against Ai Haibara.

Just like before, she tried to sneak up in the middle of the night to search for data related to herself on the computer.

Ai Haibara is much smarter and more perceptive; she almost has an intuition that allows her to distinguish between true and false information.

Dr. Agasa could vaguely guess where this part came from.

"Let me ask you a few questions first, Haibara."

In Ai Haibara's eyes, Professor Agasa's expression suddenly became much more serious, and his eyes carried a different kind of...coldness.

The feeling even made her shrink back slightly, but she tried her best to melt it with the flame in her heart.

"Go ahead and speak, Doctor."

Ai Haibara's aggressive attitude towards Professor Agasa in the past few days suddenly disappeared.

Her voice suddenly became much softer, and she couldn't help but avoid the gaze that Professor Agasa was casting at her, and couldn't help but look around at herself.

The soft sofa beneath her suddenly felt as cold as a snowy winter ground; the solid walls seemed to become transparent; and the cold wind blew straight into her heart.

The armor forged by hatred seemed to have suddenly rusted away completely.

"Can you accept not telling Ran Mouri anything related to this?"

"For example, what kind of things?"

Dr. Agasa did not answer her question.

—Ai Haibara thought she was prepared, but Professor Agasa actually knew she wasn't.

"If that member of the Black Organization, Gin, whom you mentioned, appeared in front of you, could you control yourself from pulling the trigger?"

Ai Haibara remained silent for a while.

“I won’t expose myself,” she said with a determined look in her eyes. “I also won’t implicate you, Doctor, or that detective.”

This time it's even worse. Looking at the look Ai Haibara is giving him, Professor Agasa thinks to himself that she has realized something.

But now she's walking back.

The progress is now less than halfway complete.

Dr. Agasa sighed under Ai Haibara's somewhat puzzled gaze and took the watch out of the box.

“Haibara, you’re a strong person. I know you can get through this,” he said suddenly.

"Doctor?" Ai Haibara didn't understand why the Doctor suddenly brought this up.

She felt that the questions the doctor had just asked were loaded with hidden meanings, or contained some deeper implications, or something else entirely. Dr. Agasa simply held up the watch and said earnestly, "This watch is what the Black Organization wants, and it's also related to the truth."

He turned the watch over so that the dial was facing Ai Haibara.

Ai Haibara's scream rang out immediately afterward.

"Professor Agasa! Why—?!"

……

One minute later.

Ai Haibara is currently sitting on the sofa, organizing her equipment—some gear to prepare for a possible attack by the Black Organization.

She then stuffed the lipstick-shaped pepper spray she had made over the past few days, along with a miniature voltage converter that looked like a flip phone, into her backpack.

Then she shook her head, her short, brown hair making her look as delicate as a porcelain doll.

However, that wasn't the key point. Ai Haibara turned her gaze to Professor Agasa, who was busy at the lab table—he was repairing the detective's skateboard.

She had talked with the professor many times over the past three days, and judging from his subtle actions, she felt that Professor Agasa definitely knew something.

After all, she remembered that the doctor picked her up in the western suburbs of Beika Town.

I had just escaped from that organization, so how did the Doctor find me so precisely at the edge of that forest?

And the several phone calls Dr. Agasa has made these past few days—although Dr. Agasa has tried his best to cover them up, Ai Haibara thinks the doctor's acting is terrible.

His hesitant tone always betrayed his actions immediately.

For Professor Agasa, it was all just a disguise—he was now indeed a master of disguise.

"Perhaps we should let her forget about these things."

Standing in front of the consciousness-modifying device in the basement, Dr. Agasa heard a voice coming from the mask on his face—his own voice.

"We can't keep doing this."

"Why not?"

Professor Agasa skillfully adjusted Ai Haibara's memories, which were preserved in the jar, backwards, saying, "We can try many times before those memories become long-term memories."

“She’s already vaguely sensed something,” Dr. Agasa tried to convince himself in a more rational way. “Don’t you feel that she always seems to have a sense of déjà vu about her surroundings?”

Dr. Agasa stared at the screen; this machine was designed and manufactured entirely using time crystals.

He is carefully retracting Ai Haibara's hippocampus and memory-related neurons in her brain, taking advantage of the resonance effect of APTX-4869.

"to be honest."

"I think this is too cruel."

"She was just momentarily blinded by anger, but she can control it and channel it into power."

“She can’t do it. She’s just a child. Her ‘persona’ is still in effect. She’s just using anger to cover up her vulnerability.”

The voice said, "Just like I am now, do you understand? Dr. Agasa, we've never truly gotten rid of it."

"And coincidences like faking timelines will not happen."

Dr. Agasa fell silent. He looked at the small figure inside the connecting device, and his voice, as he answered the mask, carried a hint of pain and a sob.

"Keep up the good work, Agasa."

As if speaking to himself, and also to the mask, he pulled a device from the back of his head and attached it to the mask.

“This time you’ll be playing me, so let’s start by adjusting the original ‘historical inertia’ and change the setting to a rainy day.”

"This won't work."

The voice carried an overwhelming sadness, "The data has proven that she has nothing left in her heart but revenge."

"This has nothing to do with whether she can control her emotions; it's her 'persona'."

“You can’t find a balance between her completing her plan and maintaining herself, because once she calms down, her ‘retreat’ will come over her, and she has to use ‘anger’ to…”

Professor Agasa slammed his fist on the table in front of him.

Then, he pressed the button.

……

There are many things that Ai Haibara doesn't remember very clearly.

He escaped from the Black Organization and then, following the information his sister left him, headed... to the western outskirts of Beika Town.

The chill made her lose her way in the rain-soaked forest; she only remembered feeling very cold at first, and then becoming very warm.

Finally, what appeared before me were two lights that resembled the headlights of Dr. Agasa's Volkswagen Beetle.

Then came two days that felt like a dream.

With the help of Professor Agasa's friend, he obtains a normal identity and tries to scare the detective with a prank.

—That's right, Ai Haibara felt a vague sense of disconnect.

"Why did I go to school after I escaped?"

A suppressed emotion lingered in Ai Haibara's heart, an emotion that made her extremely irritable and even caused her to feel inexplicably angry.

Professor Agasa did nothing this time; he just stood by and watched me pack my bag.

this time?

"And then there's the makeup box for self-defense—?"

This time, there was nothing on the sofa.

There were no more makeup cases, no pepper spray disguised as lipstick, no more stun guns or pens filled with poison.

Ai Haibara paused, then looked out the window, just as she had when she escaped the pharmaceutical factory—?
Escape from the pharmaceutical factory?

Shouldn't it be Kudo's home?

Ai Haibara felt a little "drunk".

……

Now, Shiho Miyano, through the lens of "Sherry," looks at Professor Agasa and asks, "Isn't everything here real?"

Professor Agasa shook his head.

"Where is Sister Xiaolan?" she asked.

"She was reset, and Kogoro was reset too. Everyone who knew the truth and was close to him was reset."

"Reset," Ai Haibara remembered the word; she had seen it many times on that computer—in a novel written by the Doctor himself, about some people's amnesia.

Shiho Miyano looked at the schoolbag in her arms; it now looked like a joke, though of course, it was quite good for an elementary school student.

"Am I going to be reset too?"

"No, you remember all of this. On the very first day I received you, I used a time crystal to preserve you."

She recalled what had happened "the last two days".

The people on the street, the people who greeted me, the people at the police station who helped me with the paperwork...

Aside from their different names and backgrounds, they all looked very similar to people they knew in the research institute.

Not a single face felt unfamiliar to Shiho Miyano.

"So I had already started to suspect it," she thought, without feeling much shock.

"Doctor, let me tell you the truth this time. I can accept the 'truth' now, about you, about my sister, about..."

Ai Haibara felt that she had completely calmed down.

Or rather, she felt that a cruel truth was approaching her.

She gradually expressed her doubts and offered her analysis.

"You arranged all of this, didn't you?"

“Yes,” Dr. Agasa nodded, “APTX-4869, as I said, is actually a time crystal.”

Ai Haibara did not refute that this was not scientifically sound.

Even though she found it somewhat absurd.

The effects of this drug, its theoretically complete form... Ai Haibara knows all of this perfectly well.

"What is the purpose of the pointer? What is the 'truth' about all of this?"

I don't think you're ready yet.

Ai Haibara couldn't help but laugh; she genuinely thought it was a joke played by Professor Agasa.

She has lost everything, and even so, she is not ready?

There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Even if I've accepted that my brain is completely submerged in a jar and I already know so much?" she asked.

“About two-thirds.” Professor Agasa paused. “Haibara, that’s enough.”

Each time is harder than the last.

For the alliance, she now knows enough about the boundaries of science.

"I want to know the truth, and I need to know it now."

Then the mask said to her, "You can't do it."

"I can make my own judgment."

The masked man didn't receive a signal to stop everything here, and he sighed.

"Alright, Haibara, if you insist."

The mask knew that it was going to fail again.

The facts have proven that Ai Haibara could not accept the cruel reality that had happened to her.

She couldn't accept that everything that had happened to her was caused by just one person's thoughts. Whether it was the deaths of her family and friends, the terrible treatment she had suffered for over a decade, or anything else...

More importantly, she couldn't accept losing the last thing she had left.

Because she still has some things she can lose—

Her anger.

Or memories.

……

Ai Haibara is currently sitting on the sofa, preparing the surprise she wants to bring to the "detective" tomorrow.

Professor Agasa did her best, but in the end she only completed a third of the journey, or even less.

In the end, she was only allowed to retain some vague memories.

Memories of Akemi Miyano and Ms. Miyano, vague memories of the amber necklace, and a hazy impression of Ran Mouri…

Just like now, Professor Agasa's experimental platform is still at the same height as it was at the beginning, and the box is not locked.

He then took the watch out of the box.

Ai Haibara looked up with some curiosity at the watch-like device in the Doctor's hand.

She looked at the amber-colored hands, and in that instant, she remembered that she had bought a similar one for her sister.

And then that moment passed.

Immediately afterwards, she bent down and put the lipstick-shaped pepper spray that the doctor had made for her into her pocket.

Tomorrow, she will finally be able to meet the detective.

(End of this chapter)