"Ah—!"
"Why did this machine explode?!"
"It's smoking!"
The others clearly didn't have Fujino's composure and were startled by the sudden explosion of the machine.
"Mr. Fujino... are you hurt?" Yuu Kashima appeared out of nowhere with a fire extinguisher, quickly put out the flames, wiped a bead of cold sweat from his forehead, and looked at Fujino with an apologetic expression.
"No..." Fujino shook his head, looking curiously at the still-smoking time machine. "Is it normal for your machine to explode?"
"Ah, well..." Yuu Kashima paused, frowning. "I don't know. This has never happened before... And given the machine's design, it shouldn't explode even if it malfunctions."
"Yeah, why would a machine like this explode?" Professor Agasa also looked puzzled, stroking his chin as he curiously examined the device.
"..." Haibara, who had been strolling around the venue, was drawn by the explosion and walked over. She looked at the exploded machine in silence. As a science and engineering whiz, she was also quite baffled by a computer that could explode.
Whirrrrr!
Just then, the black-smoking machine began to hum. Fujino turned around and saw a photo slide out of the un-damaged outer casing, falling to the floor.
Fujino: "..."
This machine sure is well-made; it exploded and can still print a picture.
However, he didn't dwell on it. He walked forward and picked up the photo. But as soon as he saw what was on it, his expression suddenly hardened.
The photo, slightly blackened by smoke, seemed to have a layer of shattered glass effect on its surface. Behind the glass were two worlds, one half black and one half white, divided down the middle. His face was right in between the two worlds; the one on the black side looked exactly like his current self, while the one on the white side was a familiar yet strange face, a bit chubbier than him, with an extra tear mole near his eye.
"Fujino-senpai, let me see what you'll look like in ten years!" Sonoko leaned in, curiously peering at the photo. "Huh? That's weird, there's no change at all... And does this machine also add animation effects?"
"It is a bit strange." Ran leaned over for a look, also nodding. "I just feel like there's something different about Fujino-senpai in this picture, a feeling of familiarity yet strangeness."
"Really?" Fujino narrowed his eyes, surprised.
"It's true!"
"It's just like a Kamen Rider transformation scene!" The kids gathered around, chattering excitedly.
"It might just be that the machine broke." Fujino gave a sheepish laugh, his gaze falling on the time machine. "Since it exploded, it's bound to produce some strange photos."
"Mhm!" Sonoko nodded vigorously, trying to reassure herself. "It definitely broke! My photo will probably be like this too!"
Fujino nodded in agreement, then looked back at the machine, a ripple of thoughts passing through his mind. The reason Ran said it felt both familiar and strange was probably because the person in the photo was a fusion of himself from two worlds. To be precise, the slightly chubbier one was his past self...
Normal future appearance predictions usually relied on AI combined with a database. Although the technology in the Conan world wasn't fully developed, the AI technology at this time was incredibly bizarre. He had initially thought this thing was just AI-generated art, but after seeing this photo, he immediately discarded that idea. Even AI couldn't predict what his counterpart from another world looked like...
Could this thing be directly scanning souls? Was there some kind of magic involved? The black technology in the Detective Conan world really is terrifying...
After the brief interlude, Chinami Sawaguchi received a call and then led everyone to the banquet hall on the seventy-fifth floor of the building to meet the president of the Tokiwa Group.
They took the VIP express elevator from the second floor up to the seventy-fifth floor. Everyone admired the view from the floor-to-ceiling windows for a while. It wasn't long before they reached the seventy-fifth floor.
The elevator doors opened, revealing a massive banquet hall. The floor was covered with a seamless green carpet, accented with light tones around the edges. At the very front was a very large podium, surrounded by busy workers who were setting up the venue.
"Mouri-senpai." A woman in a red suit with neat, coffee-colored short hair and an exceptionally refined and capable appearance walked over, greeting Kogoro Mouri. "Thank you for coming all this way."
"Tokiwa, it's been too long." Kogoro Mouri also stepped forward with a sheepish smile, then looked back at the group behind him. "I should be saying thank you, really. I was supposed to come alone, but these kids heard it was a visit to the Tokiwa Corporation building and insisted on coming along. It's almost troublesome."
"It's fine." Mio Tokiwa didn't mind at all. "After all, our company makes video games, so it's perfectly normal for children to be interested."
"Hello, I'm Ran Mouri." Ran stepped forward with a smile and greeted her. "My mother, Eri, asked me to send her regards to you."
Having mentioned her mother and achieved her goal, she turned around and introduced the others who had come along: "This is my classmate Sonoko Suzuki, Tomoharu Fujino, and Professor Agasa, the scientist, and Conan Edogawa..."
"Nice to meet you all. I'm Mio Tokiwa... I'll introduce someone too." Mio Tokiwa politely greeted them, then turned to an elderly man standing nearby, dressed in a gray kimono with white hair and a short stature, and introduced him: "This is my painting mentor, Sensei Fusei Kisugi."
"Fusei Kisugi, isn't he that famous landscape painter?" Sonoko thought back and quickly recalled his identity. "My dad really loves landscape paintings and mentioned him before..."
"Isn't that the Suzuki Group's young lady?!" Just then, a rather plump, bald middle-aged man standing behind Mio Tokiwa, with only a fringe of hair around his head, suddenly noticed Sonoko and exclaimed in surprise.
Sonoko Suzuki: "?"
Uncle, I don't know you!
Mio Tokiwa quickly introduced him: "This is Iwamatsu Oki, a councilman from West Tama City. This building's construction owes much to his help."
"Heh heh!" Iwamatsu Oki puffed out his chest, looking proud like a man in a position of power, and extended his hand with a smile. "We met at a banquet last time! I never expected to see you here today!"
Sonoko: "..."
She tried hard to remember, but he didn't ring any bells. After all, she attended many parties; she couldn't possibly remember every councilman. She looked at the extended hand, then at his lecherous expression.
It felt a bit disgusting.
Facing the creepy old man's advances, she decisively retreated behind Fujino, who was standing nearby.
Fujino: "..."
Why are you hiding behind me?