Joining the Black Organization
At the height of their standoff, Alhaitham suddenly lowered his weapon, turned away without a glance at the gun still trained on him, and strolled over to the sofa.
Watching him, Gin found the whole exercise rather pointless. He holstered his own gun.
Alhaitham settled onto the sofa. "So talk. If you weren't planning to kill me, what did you come here for?"
"What makes you so sure we weren't?"
Alhaitham opened a book resting on the coffee table and resumed reading. "If you wanted me dead, there'd have been a bomb waiting behind that door instead of you. I don't imagine bombs are hard for people like you to come by."
Gin gave a cold snort. "I hope your next choice turns out to be just as clever."
"Then kindly skip the pleasantries and state your business."
Seeing that his Aniki had no intention of speaking, Vodka stepped in right on cue. "Ahem. We're here to invite you to join our organization. Of course, you're free to refuse — but the consequences... heh." He let out a menacing chuckle, doing his best to look threatening.
Alhaitham paid the veiled threat no mind. The truth was, he had already half-expected this; one could even say that part of the current development was something he had engineered himself.
After all, in the anime the Black Organization had come across as rather underwhelming — as if Gin were the only one doing any honest work while everyone else was either useless or a mole. But a multinational underground syndicate that could survive infiltration by agents from multiple countries and still thrive in real life had to have real teeth behind it.
Conan had approached the organization again and again without incident, never once having his identity exposed — but that was protagonist's plot armor, and the Traveler could hardly count on the same. Their mission was to keep the Red and Black factions in balance, which meant contact with the Black Organization was inevitable. Getting to know them in advance — even joining them — was the sensible move. That way, whenever the organization made a move, the Traveler would see it coming and have time to prepare.
That said, even Alhaitham hadn't expected Gin to move this fast. Less than three days, and they were already at his door. He'd assumed they would keep observing him for a while longer before acting.
When Vodka finished, Alhaitham answered without a beat of hesitation. "Fine."
"Huh?" This time it was Vodka whose brain failed to catch up. Every time he'd recruited anyone before, they'd balked at first, refusing two or three times over — some had even tried to call the police, though a few warnings had always set them straight. Such an easy yes felt somehow wrong to him. "You're not planning to agree now and then run to the cops later, are you?"
Alhaitham: "Don't say stupid things. You never gave me the option of refusing in the first place. All I did was skip the tiresome back-and-forth of testing each other, to save us both time."
With that, he raised a hand and pointed at the door.
"Business is concluded, and I've given you my answer. If there's nothing else, you can see yourselves out."
Vodka bristled at such insolence toward his Aniki. "Why, you—"
Gin didn't get angry over Alhaitham's attitude. He studied the figure lounging on the sofa with his book for a long moment, then turned and walked out, pausing only to deliver his parting instruction: "Don't leave your room tomorrow. At eight in the morning, someone will come to take you to the organization's base."
Once Gin was gone, Vodka wasted no more words and hurried after him.
In the Porsche 356A, Vodka drove while stealing glances at his partner. "Aniki, you think that kid agreeing so easily means something's fishy? And how the hell is he such a good fighter?"
Gin pulled out a cigarette, lit it, took a drag, and lowered it as he gazed out the window. "Should be fine. The organization has already dug up everything on him. Alhaitham — an outstanding graduate of a university in Country Y, who went to work at a private research institute after graduating. Through White Dove Pharmaceutical, the organization has already communicated with that institute. As of now, Alhaitham is officially staying in Japan as an exchange researcher."
"As for why he fights so well — Country Y is crawling with private militias and foreign mercenaries, and clashes break out all the time, especially in the border rainforests. The organization found out he spent some time in that region. If he couldn't handle himself, he'd hardly have made it back with all his limbs attached."
He paused, then went on, "And of course, if he really does turn out to be a rat — all the better. That just means we get to play with him to our hearts' content."
As if some deliciously cruel scenario had crossed his mind, an uncontrollable killing intent began to radiate from Gin's body.
Seeing his Aniki bristling with bloodlust, Vodka didn't dare interrupt. He drove in silence and kept his mouth shut.
The next day, the car arrived at the Beika Hotel right on schedule to collect Alhaitham.
Neither driver nor passenger spoke a word the entire way, and they glided quietly and smoothly once more into White Dove Pharmaceutical.
This time they did not use the research institute's main entrance. Instead, they skirted around the building to a discreet side door. After the driver completed the security verification and let them in, he led Alhaitham to Gin and left without a syllable.
Gin saw that Alhaitham had arrived, dispensed with any greeting, and simply turned to lead the way. "Keep up."
The two men walked down a desolate corridor. Overhead, fluorescent tubes threw their shadows long against the walls, and their footsteps echoed back from the far end of the passage, over and over. The atmosphere was quietly unnerving.
Alhaitham was entirely indifferent to the oppressive air. With both hands tucked into the pockets of his coat, he strolled along behind Gin as leisurely as if walking through a garden, and his footsteps never wavered from first to last.
Gin stopped before a door, ran the verification, and pushed it open onto a laboratory.
Alhaitham followed close behind — and found someone already waiting inside: Shiho Miyano, the very person he had met only yesterday.
"This is one of the organization's researchers. Codename: Sherry," Gin introduced her briefly. Then, without warning, he turned his head and fixed a hard stare on Alhaitham's eyes. "You two crossed paths yesterday, I'm told. Talk about anything?"
At Gin's question, Sherry's breath caught. Her hand, buried in the pocket of her lab coat, clenched into a fist. She was terrified that Alhaitham might repeat her warning from their last encounter. Even if Gin found out it wouldn't be the end of her, but Sherry could not bear the thought of her precious, all-too-rare meetings with her sister being cut back any further.
Alhaitham's expression didn't so much as flicker. "Nothing much. Just a greeting. I had no idea she was one of you."
Gin watched him for a while, saw no telltale reaction, and let the matter drop. "In the organization, we go by codenames drawn from liquor. Only those with codenames are core members. Whether you earn one is up to the Boss, and it depends on your performance. Sherry will draw your blood now and collect your data to expand your access within this institute."
With that, he stepped aside to let Sherry come forward and take the sample.
Alhaitham raised no objection, extending his left arm to make her work easier while Gin stood by, keeping watch.
The whole process was over in minutes. Sherry barely spoke at all, managing only two or three words when she needed Alhaitham to move.
When everything was finished, Gin escorted Alhaitham to a second laboratory.
"This will be your lab from now on," Gin said. "Whatever you intend to research, whatever equipment you need — file a request in advance. I expect results from you soon. Otherwise..."