Temperature Control in Academy City

In Academy City, Natsume Sonoko, who keeps up with the trend of the times, hasn't watched TV for several years.

But the date displayed on TV today seems a bit strange. Could it be that the TV station made a mistake?

"Sister Xiaolan, is there something wrong with the date on TV?"

Raising her hand and pointing to the time signal in the corner of the TV, Natsume Sonoko put down the millet porridge in her hand and said.

"----Well, no problem."

Xiaolan checked the calendar on Kogoro Mouri's desk and then spoke.

Natsume Sonoko was suddenly confused and took out her cell phone to check the time. Only then did she realize that the time on the cell phone and on TV were basically the same.

"Impossible, there must be something wrong." Natsume Sonoko showed a puzzled look on her face, and she frowned, holding her chin.

"Hello, it's Officer Megure. What's the matter that you're looking for me now?"

While happily watching Yoko Okino's TV series, Kogoro Mouri's cell phone, which he had placed aside, began to ring. He glanced at the caller ID and reluctantly answered the call.

"What did you say? All those people in the cocktail bar were killed last night."

Suddenly standing up, Kogoro Maori said in surprise.

Conan's face suddenly changed at this moment, his pupils suddenly widened, and his eyes were full of disbelief.

"Ran, I have something to deal with at Officer Megure's place, so I'll leave the house to you."

His face immediately changed to a serious look, Kogoro Mouri quickly put on his formal clothes, and set off in a hurry.

"Uncle Maori, I'm going too."

The little kid Conan, who was sitting next to him, also shouted and ran out.

"Really? You're causing me so much trouble so early in the morning."

After finishing breakfast, Xiaolan was busy cleaning up the dishes, while Natsume was concentrating on replying to messages.

[Natsume-san, my cell phone, computer, and satellite data from Discipline Committee Branch 177 all show that the current time is : on July th, which is the third day since you left Academy City.] Shirai-san replied with a message.

[Ah! I'm suddenly a little confused]

After confirming it again and again, and looking at the date of August 30th on her phone, Natsume Sonoko looked serious.

The time mentioned by Shirai is consistent with Natsume Sonoko's memory. Including the day they left Academy City, today is exactly the third day.

"Maybe something has changed the perception of time, and not only have people not noticed it, but they have become accustomed to it."

Not long ago, Natsume Sonoko tried to ask Sister Xiaolan a few questions again.

What surprised Natsume Sonoko was that the dates of the past few days were normal. The day before yesterday was July 23rd, and yesterday was July 24th.

But today has become August 30th, tomorrow is April 15th, and the day after tomorrow is another day, and it will not be until four days later when it becomes July 25th again.

It's as if these four days suddenly appeared. (It was too complicated before, and the current time disorder is that some days that didn't exist were inserted into the normal days)

But even with this extra day like today, we can communicate with the outside world without any obstacles.

"If these four days are not counted towards the normal time, does that mean my holiday is somehow extended?"

Natsume Sonoko blinked her eyes, a little confused. Her vacation was full of twists and turns. If she sent messages to Shirai-san in the next few days, what would happen to her?

Chapter 87: Abnormal Investigation

Everything around me seems real and illusory, and it is extremely difficult to distinguish the truth from the false.

No matter what this extra time is, one thing is certain: if you do nothing, this time problem is likely to continue.

Because everyone, including Conan, has taken these changes in life for granted as a normal part of life.

But my situation was still good, and I could still sense the time problem. I didn't know if it was because I had just arrived, or because I was a person with special abilities.

After thinking for a while, Natsume Sonoko took out a small notebook from the suitcase and recorded her current thoughts in it to avoid confusion in her cognition.

It took more than ten minutes to write in Martian language. These pieced-together Martian language did not disappoint Natsume Sonoko's expectations and barely expressed what Natsume Sonoko wanted to express.

As Natsume Sonoko's unique password, although its security performance is questionable, it can cope with some common situations, such as some things that Natsume Sonoko finds it inconvenient to record directly.

Until now, Natsume Sonoko still doesn't quite understand how she got involved in such trouble.

Was it because he was infected with this strange thing after coming into contact with Conan and the others, or was it because he had previously ambushed the Black Organization, or was this the true face of the world?

Although this strange world seems pretty good and the holidays can be longer, Natsume Sonoko still hopes to return to the original good world.

Natsume Sonoko couldn't help feeling upset when she thought that her own cognition might be changed one day. This was even worse than having her memory changed by someone else.

The surroundings suddenly became unnatural. I wonder if returning to Academy City can eliminate this influence. According to the situation over there, it seems that the Academy City over there has not been changed by this strange time.

He put away the notebook and hid it in the suitcase. Although he still didn't understand what had happened, he knew it must have something to do with Conan.

In the afternoon, Uncle Maori sat on the sofa in the office with a gloomy face, opened the ice-cold beer and drank it all in one gulp.

"Dad, what happened?"

"Don't mention it. Inspector Megure suspected that there was a secret group behind the cocktail bar, and asked me what I knew about that group."

Uncle Maori stopped here and continued to drink without saying a word.

Kogoro Mouri's ability to solve cases was always bizarre. He would solve the cases while sleeping, and when he woke up, everyone looked at him with admiration and respect, which made him wonder if he had multiple personalities.

But in fact, he didn't remember any process at all, let alone any group behind it.

"Damn it, the clue is broken again." Conan, who was bitter and resentful, showed an extremely unwilling expression.

...Dividing line...

I have never felt that the holidays are so long. One day can be like five or six days, and occasionally I can even celebrate a festival or something.

At most, only seven days had passed since leaving Academy City, but in reality, it felt like more than a month, and there was an even longer vacation ahead.

After taking off the "Calculation Interference" from her head, the buzzing sound in Natsume Sonoko's head began to fade away. Her hearing returned to normal.

The increase in computing power in the brain is the same as in normal time, which means that these extra days are real for Natsume Sonoko.

"Even if I am a person with abilities, my perception will change."

Thinking of this, Natsume Sonoko couldn't help but feel a little worried. People with special abilities are never the only ones who can escape the net. They just have stronger resistance, but they will gradually be assimilated as time goes by.

However, this change can be blocked. Writing down some words or having others remind you constantly can temporarily restore normal cognition.

However, Natsume seems to be a little special. Unlike the brain, his soul, which possesses memories of past lives, can quickly recover from this assimilation.

Natsume Sonoko is not in danger of being assimilated for the time being, but this feeling is really bad, as her brain is being scribbled and modified by something every day.

"Now I know two things. One is that I can maintain normal communication with Academy City. The other is that the time in Academy City seems to be normal, but the time here is not normal. But what are these extra days about?"

Natsume Sonoko had a headache. In order to get more useful information, Natsume Sonoko called Academy City almost every day to verify.

According to Shirai, the phone calls that used to happen once a day became calls at different times of the day in Academy City.

For example, on July 25th, when the problem first occurred, there were four extra days, and including July 25th itself, a total of five calls were made in five days.

But when it came to Shirai, she received five calls at different times on the 25th, one of which was even at 11 o'clock at night. On normal days, everything was the same as usual.

"So, in fact, the time has just been stretched out. This is totally unscientific."

Standing in front of the window, dazed and a little absent-minded, Natsume Sonoko was the only one in the Mori office.

In addition to being busy with investigations and exercising my abilities these days, I also enjoy the hard-earned leisure vacation time.

In the past few days, Natsume Sonoko and Uncle Mori went to the botanical garden, hot springs, holiday inn, magic club and other places together.

As a result, they would encounter murder cases every time. The criminal methods were novel and strange, and there were even murders in closed rooms and impossible crimes.

This made someone doubt his life for a moment. Looking at the victim lying in a pool of blood and listening to Conan recreating various bizarre crime scenes, he was so scared that he still feels a lingering fear until now.

But the good thing is that their resistance is getting stronger and stronger, and they know that the first thing to do after finding a body is to protect the crime scene.

Finally, after repeated experience and lessons, Natsume Sonoko chose to act alone today, and also wanted to go out and investigate by herself.

"Although the world in front of me looks very real, I must not be paralyzed by it. The world is so big, I want to go see it."

Today is March 18th, another day that should not exist. The real time should be July 29th.

After thinking it over carefully, although it was not time to go back, Natsume Sonoko still set her investigation target on Academy City.

Since today is an extra day, Natsume Sonoko wants to see if there will be any changes in Academy City after the time changes here.

With wings spread out, it soared into the air more than ten meters high, moving forward quickly with the help of the natural wind.

There were people coming and going along the road, and it looked no different from a normal day.

Office workers squeeze into the subway to go to work, housewives queue up at the door holding supermarket discount posters, everyone seems normal, the traffic is heavy and bustling.

But as the distance got longer, the number of people did not change, but there was an inexplicable feeling of awkwardness among the crowd, as if an old machine had forgotten to add roller skating oil.

When you get further away, you can only see puppets standing like wooden figures, as if the whole world, except for Beika Town, is filled with only puppets.

Finally, we arrived at the outer perimeter of the huge walls of Academy City. Everything was the same as outside, with motionless puppets everywhere.

During these abnormal times, are these motionless puppets the only ones left in Academy City? This is not the Academy City that I know at all.

Natsume Sonoko suddenly understood that what Shirai saw was the Academy City in normal state, while what she saw was the Academy City in abnormal time. The two seemed to be separated by something.

Just when Natsume Sonoko felt helpless, there was a sudden sound of obvious footsteps behind her.

Natsume Sonoko was startled and turned her head quickly to look.

"Who is there!"

In an unknown corner, a girl with a super long ponytail that fell to her waist walked out. She had fair and shiny skin and a tall and slender figure.

She was wearing a white T-shirt tied up at the waist, revealing her entire belly button. She was wearing jeans, but the trouser leg on her left leg was cut off from the thigh.

On a bench in Academy City, Natsume Sonoko looked up at the girl next to her. Although the girl looked a little fierce, she exuded a sense of Yamato Nadeshiko and was very polite in her dealings with others.

"We are not in the original world. This is a broken magic circle that was summoned using magic... you can think of it as a kind of energy."

Chapter 88: There is only one truth

There was magic in the tall girl's explanation, which did not seem to fit in with ordinary people's understanding of the world.

However, Natsume Sonoko easily accepted the setting that there is magic in this world. After all, the Railgun is only a part of the world view of Toaru Majutsu no Index.

The word "magic" is included in the Magical Index, so I was mentally prepared for it and am not surprised at all.

But she simply couldn't understand the principles governing the operation of magic, which was completely different from what she had learned before.

"Does this magic cover the entire world? It affects almost everyone."

Natsume Sonoko blinked her eyes and communicated with the girl in front of her for a long time, an incredible look on her face.

Not to mention the size of the earth itself, there are billions of humans on it alone, and countless animals of all kinds.

I originally thought that this abnormal time only existed in some people, but these strange puppets were not only seen in the Academy City, but now I know that the range of this so-called magic is actually the whole world.

"But one thing, why everyone?"

Looking around, Natsume Sonoko looked at the students around her who were like puppets with some worry.

"Don't worry. The reason why this magic circle is called broken is because it has lost almost all of its ability to operate and has long been buried in a corner of the world. From what I understand, this magic can no longer pull anyone under its influence and has gradually begun to self-destruct."

"And these puppet-like people are just fake images, similar to the reflection of the real world. Unless they are magicians who know this magic formula or people who are allowed to enter, the effect of this magic on most people is just a shadow appearing here."

The puppets in Academy City are not static, but like the Western silent films of the last century, they automatically change their positions at regular intervals, which also causes the characters around them to change.

According to this tall girl, the inevitable phenomenon of mutual interference and interdependence between magic and the real world can, to some extent, be understood as a reflection of the real world.

"It can be speculated that at some point in the past, an incredible space-like magic was launched, connecting reality and fantasy, creating this magical middle layer. Judging from the traces of magic that still exist, the magic circle was created at least a thousand years ago, and similar magic styles can be traced back to the Middle Ages in Europe."

"Its purpose should be for secret gatherings of magician groups and stealing intelligence. It also has functions such as human nature modification and time alienation. But now it seems to have been completely abandoned. However, there seems to be some changes recently. This magic circle has been salvaged and reappeared in reality."

The tall girl said as she thought about it, and she touched the air slightly with her hand. A visible illusory light appeared in her hand, and the puppets near the Academy City gradually disappeared, and the surroundings turned into a gray area.

But as the light in his hand disappeared, the surroundings returned to their original appearance.

"Come on, take me to the abnormal area in the magic circle. I have some important things to do outside, and I need to deal with the abnormalities here quickly. By the way, nice to meet you, my name is Kamisaki Kaori."

Gentle and cold at the same time, with a long sword on his waist, just like a character in a cartoon. While Natsume Sonoko was a little dazed, Kanzaki Kaori in front of him said seriously.

"My name is Natsume Sonoko, and I'm a student in Academy City."

In a world that seemed both real and illusory, a girl named Kamiya Kaori was moving quickly, her hair fluttering in the wind, and she crossed thousands of meters in a blink of an eye. She was much more capable than the senior students in the track and field club of Natsume Sonoko's school.