Watching the Performance (Part 1)
Conan shared what he'd just been thinking about Focalors with Moroboshi, who gave him an oddly curious look. "Huh. Never expected you to think about something like that."
Conan narrowed his eyes at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing, nothing. It's just that after all this time spent together, I figured your brain only had room for mysteries and puzzle-solving. Who knew you could be so perceptive once in a while?"
"You—!" Conan started to protest.
"So Focalors has had a pretty rough time of it, huh? I'm actually starting to respect her." Moroboshi barreled right past him, denying Conan any chance to grumble. "But she's still committed to playing the Hydro Archon, which makes any real conversation impossible. How do we get her to snap out of this performance mode?"
At the question, Conan let the earlier jab go and thought for a moment before answering. "My mom used to be an actress. From what I know, whenever actors are in front of a movie camera or a photographer's lens, they always try to present the best version of themselves. There are no cameras here—but there are three spotlights, all of them trained on Focalors. I'd guess they mean the same thing a camera would. Focalors has been performing for the people of Fontaine this whole time, so my hunch is that those spotlights represent their eyes watching her."
"Then what we need to do now is shut all the spotlights off?" Moroboshi offered a solution.
By then, Xiaxi had concluded that she wasn't going to get anything more out of Focalors. She ended the conversation and came over to where Conan and Moroboshi were standing.
She'd caught bits and pieces of their discussion while talking with Focalors, and now she looked at Conan with naked curiosity. "Conan, your mom used to be a star? I had no idea Ms. Fumyo was in the same line of work as Kudo's mother. You and Kudo really are fated, huh—no wonder you look so much alike. Oh! Don't tell me your dad's a novelist too?"
Cold sweat broke out across Conan's brow.
Disaster. I let my mom's occupation slip. Xiaxi is way too sharp sometimes—how does a passing comment about my mom sharing the same job as his connect straight back to my high schooler identity?!
But how did she even know the fake name his mother used? As far as he could remember, Xiaxi had never once met either of his parents.
"Um... Xiaxi-neesan, so... how exactly do you know my mom's name?"
Conan deliberately did not answer her other question—it was simply too dangerous to touch. If he claimed his father was a novelist too, then his parents would mirror Kudo's parents down to their professions. That was far too much coincidence. But if he denied it, and later his father had to show up under another assumed identity and ran into Xiaxi, what then? Conan grudgingly had to admit that Xiaxi was unnervingly perceptive in certain areas. He couldn't guarantee she wouldn't see through it—and if she realized he'd lied to her now, that would only make him more suspicious.
So he chose silence. He was a little kid, after all. It was only natural for a child's attention to wander off in a different direction than an adult's.
Xiaxi found his slightly flustered expression rather amusing.
For all that Kudo Yukiko is a major star, the woman passed on zero acting talent to her son. The moment he's put on the spot, his face gives everything away.
Which is to say, Conan—or rather, Kudo Shinichi—takes after his father. The man's a mystery novelist, and the kid himself is obsessed with deduction and dreams of being a detective.
Come to think of it, in this world of the "Detective Conan" anime, most people's career choices seem shaped by their fathers. Kuroba Kaito became Kaito Kid because of his father. Detective Sato Miwako joined the police because of hers... A fitting miniature of inherited society, I suppose.
Xiaxi sighed inwardly, but didn't dwell on it—none of that had anything to do with her. She didn't press Conan for an answer either. Seeing him deflect, she simply rolled with it. "Oh, I heard about her from Ran. Apparently Ms. Fumyo left her quite a generous settlement. Could that money be what she saved up from her acting days? Earning that much, she must have been a terrific actress. Say, Conan—what movies or dramas has your mom been in? Tell me some titles. When I get the chance, Ran, Sonoko, and I could watch them together."
At this fresh barrage of questions, Conan's panic only deepened. Why is this conversation getting more and more lethal?!
"Uh... well... I, uh, don't really keep up with that stuff..."
"Save the chit-chat for later. Shouldn't we be focusing on beating this game right now?"
Just as Conan was stumbling through an answer, Moroboshi impatiently cut him off and yanked the conversation back to the game at hand.
Conan exhaled in relief and shot Moroboshi a grateful look—which earned him a baffled one in return.
Xiaxi let Conan off the hook and returned to the matter at hand. "So what we need to do now is turn off the spotlights? Perfect, there are exactly three. One each—let's move together."
Conan and Moroboshi nodded and sprang into action, each dashing to a spotlight at the edge of the stage, ready to shut it down.
The two of them searched the fixtures top to bottom, side to side, and still couldn't find a switch anywhere.
Just as they were standing there stumped, a tremendous BANG rang out, making both of them jump.
They whipped toward the sound—just in time to see Xiaxi withdrawing the leg she'd just kicked out.
Clearly, having discovered the absence of any switch, she had opted for the direct approach: booting her spotlight clean off the stage. Turning it off by force.
Conan and Moroboshi were somewhat speechless—but the stunt did hand them inspiration. They couldn't exactly kick theirs off the way Xiaxi had, but the spotlights already sat close to the stage's edge. They could drag them over inch by inch and push them off.
Before long, all three spotlights had been "turned off," and the stage sank back into darkness.
The three of them regrouped at center stage, and Xiaxi tried once more to speak with Focalors—but the Archon gave no reaction at all.
Just as they began to wonder whether they'd done something wrong, three beams of light suddenly blazed to life in the audience seats below the stage, illuminating three chairs dead center in the front row.
"Is this telling us to go sit down?" Moroboshi guessed.
"Probably. Front and center facing the stage—maybe it wants us to see what Focalors really looks like when no one's watching?" Conan's voice was hesitant.
The three of them discussed it briefly, but with no other leads to go on, they ultimately decided to follow the instructions.
The moment all three had settled into their seats, a voice rang out in their ears:
— Act One —
⟨ Before the Mirror: Focalors ⟩