Part 4: The Microwave Ophone (Temp) is put into action

There were people here. According to that policeman, Central Street was closed off by the police, and nobody is allowed there.

After that, we headed back to the lab. I'm in a state of complete confusion.



So, I do a quick check on the news and the net. Certainly, the news about a mysterious object that crashed into the Radio Center is a current hot topic. All the Tokyo-based key stations are replaced by special news programs which are broadcasting the state of Akiba.

Happily, the crash didn't cause any victims. Regardless of that, the Central Street is still closed off. Nobody is bringing up the subject of thousands of people disappearing or Makise Kurisu getting stabbed.

This is truly mysterious.



Wondering if something happened, Daru and Mayuri stare at me.

"Everything is being covered up by The Organization! If they can put pressure on the police, then that means that they now hold this country in the palm of their hand... kuh, how dreadful! However, I am not that easily fooled... Someday, I will expose these vile acts, and put an end to their ruling structure...!"



This lab doesn't have an air conditioner. That's why I'm not being reserved in gulping down a cold drink.

"As usual, Dr Pepper is delicious after a hard thinking session."

"Cola's better, isn't it?"

"Okarin really likes Mr Dr Pepper."





This is an area for the development of Future Gadgets. The lab was originally a single room, so we put up a curtain to divide it. I'm not satisfied with this setup at all, because if reeks of poverty... Though, when I look at this realistically, you can live in luxury even if you're poor. The important thing is not the money, but the strength of our ambitions.

So, I drag Daru with me into the development room.



Man, is it hot. Its like a sauna in here.

Upon entering the development room, I put on the lab coat that ws carelessly hung on the chair. I made it a rule for everyone to always wear it when in this room. It has ritualistic meaning to me.

However, Daru denies these customs of mine. He doesn't want to go through the hassle of constantly taking it on and off. Our generation is ridiculed because we have men like these among us. The lab coat that I bought for Daru with my own pocket money is just staying on the shelf, not even worn once. Give me my 3000 yen back.

"Daru, is our plan coming along well?"

"Eh? What's the plan?"



"The plan is the plan. What else is there besides the tuning of gadget #8?"

"Oh, that? When you said 'The plan', I thought it was something more important.

"We've known each other for about 3 and a half years by now, right?

"In the 2nd year of high school, we were in separate classrooms and didn't talk at all, so it's more like 2 and a half years, ain't it?"

"I don't care about the minor details. We've known each other for so long, so try to keep up with my ideas already."



(It's an old 2chan meme.)

I dream that someday we will have a commandant-adjutant relationship where we can fully understand each other.

"So, did you make progress on the investigation concerning the condition of gadget #8?"

"No, not yet."



The future goal of our lab is, just like I told Alpaca-Man, to create items which could be used to fight The Organization and its dark supremacy.

None of the inventions we made are actually complete. It's more like we're still trying to think up what to make, with no success. On the other hand, the byproduct of this brainstorm was the successful creation of our original futuristic gadgets. Most of these gadgets are only accidents which were created while we were in the middle of researching something. I guess you could call this Serendipity.

A total of 8. I shall now introduce our glorious Future Gadgets.
Gadget #1, the Bit Particle Gun!
Gadget #2, the Take-cop Camera!
Gadget #3, the "Could this be 'ORAORA'?"!
Gadget #4, the "Moad Snake"!
Gadget #5, the "Once again, I made something stupid, by Goemon"!
Gadget #6, the "Cyalume Saber"!
Gadget #7, the "Ghost in the Ball"!



(Information on the future gadgets added to the info post.)

I plan to change the name into something less tasteless, thus the '(Temp)' part. The one who gave it the name 'Microwave Ophone' was not me, but Mayuri.

But let's ignore the name for now. The Microwave Ophone (Temp) is a dream invention which allows remote control of a microwave oven by connecting it to a cellphone. Before leaving, you can put food into the microwave, and when you are close to coming back, you can use your phone to remote control it and have the food warmed up and ready when you enter your home sweet home.

I guess this example doesn't make it seem very useful... however, a few days ago, we discovered that the Microwave Ophone (Temp) has a strange function outside of what we planned.

Our nonchalant girl Mayuri was going to warm up her daily dose of fried food, and decided to use the remote control function of the Microwave Ophone (Temp). Trying to defrost Mayuri's favorite 'Juicy Kara-age Number One!' under such conditions caused a strange event to happen. The friend food froze instead of being warmed up.

From that time, Daru and I have been investigating to find the cause...



"When we tried it with a banana, it became something really weird. I don't get it at all..."

I, too, know about that 'something really weird'. We will now proceed to test whether or not it will happen again.

"Mayuri! Mayuri! Bring the bananas over here!"



"This has been bothering me for a while, Mayushi. Can you stop abbreviating them as gelbana?"

"But gelbanas ARE gelbanas."

I put the whole bunch of bananas that Mayuri brought into the Microwave Ophone (Temp).



"We won't win the battle against The Organization if were being stingy."

"We don't have to win that. Mayushii is the one who buys the bananas, you know. If you do this, I can't even eat one of them."

"Starting next time, we'll do it with a single banana."

This time, however, I shall magnificently ignore the grumbles of the hungry girl.



One just needs to call the number of the cellphone we forcibly connected to the microwave oven. The number is already registered in my cellphone.

Now, were did I put it...



(This is Steins;Gate's interactivity gimmick! I can pull up Rintarou's cellphone at any time, and change the settings, look through the address book (and, contextually, make phone calls), or read and reply to new emails. All choices in the game's branching structure are made through the phone.)

(For now, I'll call up the microwave, as it's about all I can do.)



("R-E-N-G" because the Japanese word for microwave oven is 'denshi renji'.)

Upon calling, I was automatically connected. What came out was guidance voiced by Mayuri.

"From here, you can control the timer. After entering #, please input the heating time in seconds. For example, 1 minute would be #60. 2 minutes would be #120."

Entering what the guidance says will cause the Microwave Ophone (Temp) to begin heating with no problems. For this case, though, anything besides '120#' will not work.



And that's that. It was originally just a mistake that Mayuri made, but for some reason, this input makes the microwave freeze instead of heat.

Microwave Ophone (Temp) starts working. The dish and the banana on it begin slowly rotating.



"What?! Spinning in reverse?! That might be important! If we look at how this affects the behavior at the quantum level, and apply Hund's Law to it--"

"I'm sure tha-- Nope."

"Nope?"

"Nope."

We continue to silently watch the spinning bananas. After 120 seconds have passed, the microwave oven lets out a sound.

"The gelbanas are done!"