Doctor Agasa's House.
Haibara Ai woke up groggily and rubbed her eyes.
Last night, she had been startled awake from a nightmare and couldn't fall back asleep. After the anesthetic effect of the Hypnotic Gas wore off, she actually managed to get a good night's sleep.
The round structure of the house, the Wooden Bookshelf placed against the wall, the circular Kitchen Counter, the Large Fish Tank with six Goldfish swimming around, Doctor Agasa's coat draped over the chair... Everything around her was incredibly familiar, and she was sleeping on the Sofa.
Could everything before this have been a dream?
Haibara Ai sat up, and the more she recalled, the more bewildered she looked.
Initially, she dread that she and the Boy Detectives were on their way ho from school when Gin discovered them, and then they were chased, and her Little Friends were killed one by one...
Then she woke up and realized it was the middle of the night. She was still at Doctor Agasa's House, and Doctor Agasa was sleeping soundly beside her.
After dawn, she went to School. On the way ho from School, she and Conan discovered Gin's Car and tracked it all the way to Beito Municipal Hotel, only to be captured by Pisco...
Then, she found herself awake again, slumped over and asleep in the Classroom. Ayumi was beside her, asking if she was feeling unwell...
Then, she heard Conan's voice, sotis near and sotis far. She woke up and found herself in the Wine Cellar. She had really been captured by Pisco. Before, Ayumi's concern for her had just been a dream...
Then, she was talking to Conan when she seed to hear the sound of beads falling to the ground. She vaguely collapsed and woke up to find herself asleep at Doctor Agasa's House...
So, the question is, which part of her experience was actually a dream?
Or was it a dream within a dream within a dream within a dream... and she's only waking up now?
No, maybe she's still dreaming now?
If this is a dream, when she wakes up, will she be getting chased, or will she be locked in the Wine Cellar, or perhaps at School?
No, no, maybe she was dreaming even earlier. If it's been a long dream, when did she start dreaming?
Did she really shrink?
Who am I?
Where am I?
What am I doing?
For a mont, Haibara Ai, unable to distinguish between dream and reality, froze, her mind becoming more and more blank as she thought.
She touched her head and felt sensation.
She silently pinched her face, and it hurt.
But, the feeling in a dream might not be real...
She looked down and saw that she was wearing a gray coat. In her dream, she seed to have been wearing this coat all along...
She turned her head to look outside and saw that it was already dark. Snow was piled up at the bottom corner of the Window Fra. In her dream, it seed to be winter as well...
After her mind had been blank for a while, Haibara Ai finally realized that Doctor Agasa seed to be absent. She jumped off the Sofa and called out, "Doctor? Doctor, are you there?"
There was no response.
Haibara Ai went to the Phone and dialed Doctor Agasa's Mobile Phone Number.
On the other side, Doctor Agasa and Conan were still sitting in the Car.
Conan's face and body were covered in black soot from the Smoke, but he wasn't in the mood to clean himself up. He was staring blankly at his feet.
Doctor Agasa's Mood was also heavy, but he still comforted him, "Shinichi, didn't they not discover Ai?"
"Yeah," Conan replied, not actually imrsed in frustration, "Haibara should have been taken away by soone else. We just don't know who it was. Or perhaps Pisco had ulterior motives and hid Haibara sowhere else. There was a Tid Ignition Device in the Wine Cellar, maybe it was a Trap for Gin, but why would he do that? And where was Haibara taken...?"
"If it really was Pisco who did it, he's already dead. We have no idea where Ai was taken," Doctor Agasa said worriedly, "Communication has been cut off. If it's so Enclosed Place, Ai won't be able to contact us at all..."
"Don't worry, let think again," Conan said, still staring at his feet and frowning, "There must be so Clues! There must be sothing I've overlooked!"
Doctor Agasa heard the Mobile Phone Ringtone, took out his Mobile Phone, and looked at it. "Uh, it's the Ho number..."
Conan was taken aback and looked up at Doctor Agasa.
Who else would be at Doctor Agasa's House right now?
Even if Ran went over, she wouldn't just barge in, would she?
Doctor Agasa answered the Phone Call, "Hello..."
"Doctor, where are you?" Haibara Ai asked tentatively.
"Ai!" Doctor Agasa exclaid in surprise, "Where are you? No, no, are you Ho now?"
"Yes," Haibara Ai said, "I woke up and found myself asleep on the Sofa..."
Doctor Agasa: "?"
What's the Situation?
Listening to Ai's State, she didn't seem frightened at all, acting as if nothing had happened. Could it be that the one who was captured was a fake Ai?
Has the real Ai been at Ho the whole ti?
Or did Ai split into two? Restless soul, reincarnation...Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense, could it be that he's dreaming?
Or is the person calling him not actually Ai?
"You... are you Ai?"
"Am... am I not?"
Conan, who was listening in next to the Mobile Phone: "..."
What kind of confusing conversation is this?
"Doctor, let talk."
"Ah, okay, um... Ai, Shinichi will talk to you," Doctor Agasa said and handed the Mobile Phone to Conan, still looking sowhat bewildered.
Conan took the Phone Call and asked, "Haibara, do you rember what happened Before?"
"What happened?" Haibara Ai asked blankly. She was calling Doctor Agasa to confirm precisely because she couldn't distinguish between dream and reality, okay?
Conan paused, a little suspicious whether the person on the other end was Haibara Ai, or if the Organization had discovered sothing and was trying to Draw Out Information. "Cough, Beito Municipal Hotel... rember?"
"Were those things real?" Haibara Ai cald down a bit, putting aside her confused thoughts. "I was captured by Pisco and locked in a place that seed like a Wine Cellar, and the door was locked. I just contacted you, wanting to tell you about the Drug Data for APTX-4869, but then I heard a weird sound and fainted... I thought it was a dream..."
"Uh, Doctor Agasa and I are still Outside Beito Municipal Hotel," Conan said, a little confused as to why Haibara Ai thought it was a dream, but still relieved in his heart. "You should have been rescued by soone else. Afterwards, Gin and Vodka went to the Wine Cellar, and I followed them. They didn't find you. Pisco's Murder was exposed, and before he could say anything about you shrinking, he was killed by Gin. You're safe now."
Haibara Ai: "..."
She just slept, and everything was fine?
This... she really must be dreaming.
A dream woven to escape Reality.
"By the Way, you said you heard a weird Sound. What was it?" Conan asked.
Haibara Ai suddenly felt that being in a dream was a good thing. The later she woke up, the better. "It sounded like the sound of beads falling to the ground... near the Fireplace."
"Maybe it was sothing like a Tranquilizer Dart..." Conan analyzed and then asked, "What about the person who took you away? Do you rember anything?"
"I fainted very quickly and didn't see who the person was," Haibara Ai frowned and recalled, "But, at the end, I seed to see a Ring-shaped Ornant shining with silver light fly past against a dark gray background..."
"Huh? What is that? Could it be that you mis-saw it because your Consciousness was hazy? There doesn't seem to be a Ring-shaped Ornant shining with silver light in the Wine Cellar..." Conan said, "In any case, Doctor Agasa and I will go Ho right away. We'll talk more when we get back!"
"Okay."
Hanging up the Phone Call, Haibara Ai returned to the Sofa and sat down, recalling the background she had seen before she fainted.
Her Consciousness was very hazy at the ti. Could it really have been her eyes playing tricks on her?
But, that Ring-shaped Ornant shining with silver light... she seed to have seen that kind of Ring-shaped Ornant many tis, like a Ring?
No, Rings are usually worn on the Hand. Even if it reflected light and flashed past, she would only see the cross-section, which would be rectangular-like. What she saw was the Ring face, so...
When Conan and Doctor Agasa returned Ho, they saw Haibara Ai squatting in the Living Room, holding a thin string loop in her hand. A Ring was looped onto the string loop, and she was swinging it back and forth, back and forth.
She looked like a Little Girl who had discovered a new Toy, staring intently and playing with great interest...
If this were an ordinary eight-year-old Girl, it would be normal, but on Haibara Ai, it was very strange.
Doctor Agasa watched Haibara Ai squatting and playing with the Ring, and fell into Silence.
Could it be that Ai was too frightened and her ntal State was a bit abnormal?
Now that he ntioned it, when Haibara Ai called Before, she did seem a bit confused...
Conan was also taken aback for a mont, walked forward, and looked at the string loop and the Ring. "Um... Haibara, are you imitating Brother Chi's Necklace?"
"Brother Chi?" Haibara Ai looked up.
"Yeah, isn't he wearing a Necklace?" Conan walked to the Sofa and sat down. "I accidentally saw it when we were in Izu. The Pendant is a Ring, a bit different from yours. It's a wider n's Ring, with no Pattern, and the Inner Circle is black. I was even wondering if it was given to him by a Girl. He seems to keep it under his Clothes all the ti. Haven't you seen it?"
Haibara Ai squatted in place, staring blankly at the swaying Ring.
Chi Feichei has this kind of Necklace?
She hadn't seen the Inner Circle clearly, only vaguely seeing a silver Ring-shaped Ornant flash past. But judging from her simulation of the Outco, the person who rescued her at that ti was likely wearing dark gray Clothes and squatted down in front of her. In her hazy Consciousness, she saw the Necklace Pendant he was wearing reflect light and flash past.
Chi Feichei was also at Beito Municipal Hotel at that ti. Could the person who rescued her be Chi Feichei?
"Speaking of which, you said that before you completely fainted, you saw a Ring-shaped Ornant shining with silver light fly past..." Conan also Realized, staring at the string loop and the Ring in thought. "It's indeed possible that it was so Ring-shaped Ornant on the person's body. Didn't you see clearly whether the person was male or female?"
Haibara Ai shook her head. "No, I didn't see anything."
"Brother Chi was also at Beito Municipal Hotel at that ti," Conan said, stroking his chin. "And making you fall asleep before taking you away, maybe it was because he was afraid of being recognized by you. Specifically sending you to Doctor Agasa's House also shows that the other party knows where you live. Chi Feichei is highly Suspect, but I asked Inspector gure to keep the people who received the Purple Handkerchief behind, and he was one of them..."
"Is that so?" Haibara Ai glanced at Conan.
Conan paused for a mont. "Uh, it wouldn't be good to just let him leave, and since he's there, he might be able to find so Clues. Anyway, the Police won't suspect him... In short, at that ti, he shouldn't have left Beito Municipal Hotel. If he left the Hotel to go to the Annex, Doctor Agasa was waiting in the Car Roadside, he would have seen him."
Doctor Agasa nodded, "I was constantly paying attention to the Situation on the road and didn't see Mr. Chi go from the Hotel to the Annex."
Conan turned his Head again and asked Haibara Ai, "Do you rember where the person ca in from?"
(End of Chapter)
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