Part 113: The search for Barrel Titor begins

While waiting for the ringing in my ears to calm down, I promptly check the date and time on my phone screen. August 11, 2:21PM. Alright. Now I have two more days.

As a matter of fact, I've gone back 52 hours. I first jumped to the 13th at 2 o'clock, when the machine was completed. From there, I leaped the limit of 48 hours to the 11th at 2 o'clock. It was my first time doing consecutive time leaps, but it seems to have gone well.

I immediately head to where Suzuha is. Thanks to time leaping, Suzuha's hand wasn't burned in the first place. What a relief.

When I explain the situation, Suzuha rushes to Radio Kaikan to confirm what I said. She believes me when she notices the time machine is broken.





In the end, all we can do is ascertain whether Suzuha's time machine can be repaired or not.

"Then we should go look at it right now."

Daru's unusually eager. Maybe he's interested in Suzuha's story about the world's structure and the act of history revision.

"Hey, wait, wait!"

Mayuri flaps her hands and calls us to stop as we're about to leave the lab.

"Hey, hey. Guys, you're forgetting one more thing."

"One more thing? What's that?"



Ah, that's right. I thought Suzuha was lying about that, but she unexpectedly hangs her head painfully.

"...Father doesn't really matter, does he?"

"It does so matter! I mean, won't it take time to fix the time machine? In that case, Mayushii thinks we should search for Suzu's father in the meantime. Whaddya think?"

"No, but..."

I hesitate when Mayuri's cheeks start swelling.

"Ah, Okarin, that's no good! You know, promises are meant to be kept."

Promise...?

"Just before, we promised, right? That we'd all look for Suzu's father."

That's right. When she couldn't meet him, we promised that and detained Suzuha.

"Yeah, that's right..."

"You know, Suzu did come here on a mission and stuff, but I think it's also because she really wanted to meet her father. In that case, Mayushii wants to help them meet."

If Mayuri says that much, then there's no way I can refuse.



Suzuha sniffles a little.

"...exactly. I thought that if I came to this town, I could meet him... I know that father was in Akihabara in 2010."

"Wai- he's really here?!"

"He is. How rude. At this age, he's probably still young and cool."

"His name... was Barrel Titor, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Waah, a foreigner?"

"No. He's probably Japanese. Barrel Titor is his codename from the Resistance's time, so now, in 2010, I don't think he calls them that yet."

I see. So that's why Suzuha called herself 'John Titor'.



"Even though I'm his real daughter."

Suzuha looks like she's about to cry for an instant, but she quickly covers it with a bitter smile.

"He never told me it, and before he could, he died."

That part about the age Suzuha lived in makes me think she's even more heroic.

"So, what about the name Amane?"

"My mother's maiden name."

"So, no clues?"

"Clues... ah, that reminds me."

Suzuha claps her hands together and starts feeling around her body. Finally, what she takes out of her pocket is...



What Suzuha has always been fiddling around with. Its form is nothing special. A common pin badge.

"Something's written on it?"

It reads 'OSHM***A 7010.'

"This is father's memento."

"Memento..."

"Daru, google it!"

Daru looks it up on a search engine, only to be brought to unclear foreign sites.

"Father was seemingly around Akihabara, so I think we can leave out the foreign sites."

"So in Japanese please, I guess."

We narrow down the search to Japanese sites, but even the top 10 results were unrelated sites.

"I don't get it at all."

"But but, this will surely be a hint!"



"With that said, all in favor of searching for Suzu's father?"

I was about to say 'We don't have that much free time', but the time machine's lack of function means we can't do anything. So maybe we can just let Mayuri do what she pleases. Because now that I know about attractor fields, I know that even if I take Mayuri to the ends of the earth, we can't avoid her death.



"Thank you, Okarin♪ Ehehe..."

Daru raises his hand, too, followed by Kurisu. So, with unanimous approval, we'll search for Suzuha's father.

"Everyone... thank you. But to the very end, I would prefer to go to 1975. That was my father's dying wish. So, if it looks like we can repair the time machine, what do you think if we give up the search for father?"

"Is that okay?"

"I think if we can't find him after searching that much, it just means we weren't fated to meet."

It helps me out for Suzuha to say that.

"So, how are we going to search?"

"The pin badge is our only hint. Our only starting point. They say every man knows his business best, so let's try going to maniac shops."

"Maniac shops?"