It was that harbinger of doom!
The plague god had arrived, bringing along his daughter and her best friend...
"Conan-kun? What are you guys doing here?!" Ran exclaimed, spotting the group standing by the roadside the moment she stepped out of the car.
Weren't they supposed to be going camping?
"..."
Kogoro Mouri was equally dumbfounded. It really didn't matter where they went; they always seemed to run into this same crowd.
"We were on our way home from camping and decided to stop by for a look," Conan explained, looking up at them.
It was strange, though. For Kogoro and the others to take a taxi all the way out here suggested something specific was going on.
"The owner of this building, Mio Tokiwa, is a junior of mine from university. She gave me a special invitation to come for a tour before the grand opening next week," Kogoro said, sliding one hand into his pocket with a smug, satisfied grin.
"The owner of this building?" Tsuneo glanced up at the towering skyscraper before them.
"A special invitation?" Conan's tone matched Tsuneo's—skeptical. If there were a troublesome case that needed a detective, it would be understandable, but this felt different.
"That's what I'm saying! Even I didn't know about this," Ran said, fixing a sharp gaze on her father. She had only found out after badgering him for a long time about this so-called "junior."
"Don't talk nonsense," Kogoro muttered, his face flushing slightly. I was just... keeping it under wraps for a bit.
"I get it. Ran-neechan, the two of you came along to keep an eye on Uncle Kogoro, didn't you?" Conan, the master director of the scene, had already seen through everything.
"Exactly," Sonoko chimed in with a grin. "Since this Mio Tokiwa is the eldest daughter of the Tokiwa Group and is currently single, Ran is naturally worried—especially since her parents are living apart."
Of course, Sonoko didn't actually think anything would happen between the two.
"Well, if he pulls it off, he'll have peaked in life," Tsuneo said, nodding toward Kogoro with a look of mock encouragement. Marry into wealth, and these Twin Towers are yours!
"As if that would ever happen..." Genta muttered, always the one to speak the blunt truth.
"Are you Mr. Kogoro Mouri?" a woman dressed in professional, elegant attire asked as she stepped out of the building with a smile.
The secretary was quite beautiful. She turned and began leading the group inside.
"Tower A consists entirely of office space. Everything from the thirty-first floor up belongs to the Tokiwa Group. The showrooms are located on the second and third floors."
Ms. Sawaguchi, the secretary, guided them onto the escalator, intending to show them the equipment on the display floors first.
"Whoa!"
The moment they hit the showroom, the three children were captivated. There were plenty of fascinating things to see.
"Welcome, everyone." A kind-looking man wearing round-framed glasses approached them.
"This is Mr. Hara, one of our directors and engineers," Ms. Sawaguchi introduced him.
"Nice to meet you," Kogoro said with a polite nod.
"What's this?"
"Is it a game console?"
Seeing the three kids huddled around a machine, Hara Yoshiaki walked over with a smile and began to explain the device.
It wasn't anything too complex. It was a computer designed to predict and display what a person would look like ten years in the future.
"That's quite impressive!" Professor Agasa remarked from the side, giving it a look of approval. Such technology was indeed state-of-the-art.
"Would you like to try it?" Hara offered generously, inviting them to take a seat.
The machine could process two people at a time. The first pair to step up were Ayumi and the Professor.
"I really have no desire to see my own old, wrinkled face ten years from now..." Kogoro said, crossing his arms. His expression made it clear he wasn't a fan of the device.
"You should take a look; there might be a surprise," Tsuneo said, giving Conan a subtle nudge with his foot.
"You'll understand once you reach my age. Another ten years is a terrifying thought," Kogoro said, taking a step back to distance himself from the machine.
Conan felt the same. After Tsuneo's kick, he had absolutely no intention of going near it. Ten years later, he would just look like his original high school self...
As they spoke, two complex-looking mechanical helmets lowered onto Ayumi and the Professor's heads. Multicolored lights flickered, followed by a burst of white light and the sound of a camera shutter.
As the two stepped down from their seats, the machine spat out two photographs.
"Alright, here is what the two of you will look like in ten years!" Hara picked up the photos and handed them over.
The Professor's photo showed almost no change. His face was still round, and there weren't many new wrinkles to speak of.
"Is it broken?" Mitsuhiko and Genta looked from the Professor to the photo and back, shaking their heads. He looked exactly the same!
"It doesn't look broken to me," Ran said, standing behind Ayumi.
Ayumi's photo showed a girl around seventeen or eighteen years old—pure, innocent, and lovely.
"She's so cute!" Mitsuhiko and Genta rushed over, wearing dazed, lovestruck smiles.
"Hey, hey, don't go making faces like that at a girl's photo," Sonoko said, rapping the two boys on the head.
"Ten years from now, Ayumi will definitely be more charming than Sonoko-neechan!" Genta shouted, clutching his head.
"Hmph, you brats don't understand the charm of an adult woman," Sonoko said, huffing with her arms crossed.
"I agree with that. Not only can Sonoko drive a Ferrari with one hand, she can probably pilot a yacht with the other," Tsuneo added with a nod. And she can toss me a stack of high-end restaurant vouchers whenever she feels like it...
"..."
"How can you drive a car and a boat at the same time...?" Genta and Mitsuhiko couldn't wrap their heads around the logic. They turned around and ran to the machine, eager to see their own futures.
Less than five minutes later, the two of them held their photos with slumped shoulders. They weren't ugly; they were just... incredibly ordinary.
"I've seen high schoolers like that before!" Sonoko teased, standing behind them.
"You two look very handsome in your photos," Ran said, stepping in to comfort them. Children tended to take these jokes to heart.
Upon being praised, their faces instantly lit up. Suddenly, their ten-year-older selves didn't look so bad after all.
"Not bad. You might be quite popular with the girls," Tsuneo said, patting their heads with a chuckle. Although they sometimes said the wrong things or made mistakes, the kids were good-hearted. There was a time when he was swamped with work specifically because they had helped hand out his business cards.
"Next up is Ran and me!" Sonoko winked, dragging her best friend toward the machine. Come on, let's show these brats what real adult charm looks like!
A few minutes later.
Sonoko sat staring at her photo, lost in thought.
With her hair styled into a sharp, sophisticated bob and wearing bright red lipstick, she looked like a successful professional giving a public speech. She looked... perhaps a bit too mature.
"I've seen this kind of O-ba—"
Tsuneo reached out just in time, clamping his hand over Genta's mouth.
The word you're looking for isn't "Obasan" (Old Lady), is it...?
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