Part 116: Shiina Mayuri fails to think her plan through

"Please, please! Give us your cooperation please!"

"What is she...?"



Why is Mayuri passing out leaflets?

When I call out to her, Mayuri smiles and wipes the sweat off her brow with a handkerchief.

"Okarin, Suzu! You know, there's been something I'm meaning to ask."

Something to ask?

"The 'Barrel' in Mr. Barrel Titor. What exactly does it mean?"

That's abrupt...

"It's a name, so it doesn't have a meaning, does it?"

"But but, it's not his real name, right?"

"Right. It's a codename."

"Why'd he go by Mr. Barrel Titor? Suzu, why do you go by John?"

"Since John's the most common name.

"Mr. Barrel isn't common."

"Now that you mention it, no, it's not."

So does that mean the codename has some meaning? I thought that maybe Mayuri wrote that on the leaflets she's handing out, but she didn't write a word of it.



'If you've witnessed the culprit, or have any information, please contact the following address!'

All of that was written in multicolored marker, plus cute illustrations and a photo of Suzuha's pin badge. The gap between the fanciness of the writing and the sensationalism of the message is just cruel...

"Whaddya think of the leaflets? I think they're a masterpiece!"

"What's this kidnapping stuff about?"

"That's Mayushii’s idea! This way, everyone will think 'OH!' I think."

Mayuri looks triumphant.

"It's a good strategy, dontcha think? Umm, the operation name is 'Mayushii's Overwhelming Leaflet Victory'."

"But you know, isn't kidnapping too much of an exaggeration?"

Yeah, it wouldn't be strange of the police caught on--





My heart freezes as if sprayed with liquid nitrogen. I slowly turn around..

There stands a policeman with unfriendly eyes on a stern face, folding his arms. Speak of the devil! Is this a coincidence?



"Ehh??"

I thought we should run away, but that would make things worse. Suzuha recklessly tries to run away, but I grab her by the arm. We obediently accompany the policeman...





Kurisu greets the three of us when we return to the lab dead tired.

"Okabe, there's something I want to ask you, but could you find out what the Microwave Ophone uses instead of a lifter...? Well, I know you won't, though."

That's right, at this point in time, we hadn't discovered what that was.

"I've already found that out. It's the 42" Braun tube TV downstairs."



"I've come here after time leaping several times. Understand the rest?"

"...I see. So that's it. Hmmm, I see."

Kurisu returns to the development room while nodding 'yes, yes'. Is she convinced?

"Okarin, Suzu, I'm sorry... Mayushii's getting in the way..."

I give the downhearted Mayuri some karaage to change the subject. There's not much time left. What else can we do before the time limit...







When I provide the time machine repairman Daru with the refreshing gift of Dr Pepper, his sweaty face looks downhearted.

"You're supposed to give me an ice cold zero calorie cola. Common sense, man..."

So he's a cola type of guy... No sense letting it go to waste. I drink the Dr Pepper myself. Daru and Suzuha have a one-on-one discussion about the time machine's structure, while Mayuri and I watch from a distance.



"Yeah, sure was."

Speaking of Titor's time machine, I thought it was a car - a 1970's Chevy - so I didn't even suspect that it was the satellite. You know what they say when you assume.

But if you think about it, an unidentified satellite falling from somewhere is blatantly suspicious. Titor's appearance on @channel was also almost right after the satellite fell. I'm disappointed in myself for not noticing.

"It stuck into the building, but I'm glad that Suzu's safe!"

No, it's not like it crashed. Most likely, it appeared there, and then the surrounding wall scraped off. After all, the time machine isn't self-propelled. It doesn't fly.

"She says it's really hard to drive."

Suzuha said that, huh.

"If the gravitational whatchamacallit device gets the coordinates the slightest bit wrong, the whole time machine becomes a Jellyman and it goes all ploop ploop. And since that time machine isn't made by SERN, she said it's not all that stable."
"I'm worried about when she goes to 1975... If it's a two seater, then I could go with her."

"What are you going to do if you go with her?"



She'd actually be useless baggage.

"Hey hey, Okarin, does that time machine have a name, you think?"

"A name, huh..."

I obviously want to know more about the time machine from the future, not just its name. Time permitting, I'd like to spend a whole day just asking Suzuha questions.

I'm pretty certain John Titor's time machine had a model number, but the John Titor I know who appeared in 2000 and Suzuha might not be one and the same. In th is current world line, John Titor didn't appear in 2000. Though, there is the possibility that after Suzuha time travels to 1975, she'll drop by 2000.

"If you're interested, then just ask Titor directly."

"Ah, that's right! Mayushii completely forgot. Ehehe..."



She comes back quickly.

"Yup. It has a name!"

"What sort of name?"

"FG204 Something Something, she said."

Something Something...?

"Anyway, don't you think that Daru and Suzu really match?"

"Haah?"

Today, Mayuri's conversation's jumping all over the place... I look at Daru and Suzuha again.



"Ah, I see. Is that so?"

She tilts her head to the side. Good grief...

Mayuri and I aren't of any use here, so I thought maybe we should leave it to them and restart the search for Suzuha's father and the pin badge, but Mayuri doesn't move at all. We don't have any clues for either. Maybe it was impossible to find them in just two days...

I don't want to think that. Just like I told Suzuha, I don't want to give up. Besides, even if we don't find them, I can keep time leaping to repeat these two days until we finally find them.

"Oh yeah, Mayuri. What about your costume sewing?"

There's only a few more days until ComiMa. At this time, Mayuri should've been working overnight on making her costume, but there's no sign of that now.

"Hm? You know, I've already made two of them. One for Kaede and one for Fubuki."

"Weren't you going to have Rukako wear the third one?"

"Yeah, I was, but I couldn't persuade Ruka, so I gave up this time."



"Don't get in their way."

"Okidokey♪"

Mayuri replies energetically as she rushes over to the time machine. Like it's a field trip...

I can clearly see the sunlight sloping as the sun sinks from the rooftops. As the sunset fades into twilight, Suzuha stands beside me as if to change places with Mayuri. The setting sun stretches our shadows.





"Daru's ability is authentic."

"Even though he looks unhealthy and lackluster."

"Don't judge a book by its cover."

"Yeah. I have a better impression now. Umm... you know. If I don't say it now, I won't ever have another opportunity, so I'll say it now."

"What? Don't exaggerate."



"When I first came to this era, I didn't know anybody... It's completely different from my era, where I did nothing but fight. This era is a lot more peaceful, so peaceful that it really frightened me. But now I have friends... no, comrades, that I can expose all of myself to. I met people who lived before I was born, and everyone's working so hard for my sake. That makes me feel very strange... but also very happy, you know? Those are my true feelings."

For some reason, Suzuha has a very serious expression. I try to talk, but Suzuha continues before I can.

""I was able to come to this era and spend time with all of you. It was really fun. Or rather, every single one of you was selfish, had weird habits, and was too dense... actually, I thought 'what's with these guys?' at first. But before I knew it, the times I spent with you all became fun. In 2036, everyone's too peaceful. There aren't any fights, you know?"

"There's no way I could. I mean, I don't even live until 2036."

"Ahh, that's right... Sorry. Anyway, there aren't any fights. Any disputes, from the micro to the macro level, have all completely disappeared. Instead, everyone has dead eyes like fish. Nobody has any aspirations. They just shuffle their feet forward. People do smile, but they don't get angry or sad. Nobody has any individuality. Everyone's like a robot.
Just before, you got really mad at me, didn't you? Back then, it really surprised me. It was a big shock, but at the same time... I was really happy."

"You're an oddball."

"Ahaha, certainly."



"Everyone in your lab is so lively... so radiant. Shiina Mayuri and Hashida Itaru... and Makise Kurisu. And you, too."

"...what foolishness."

There's nothing admirable about my lifestyle. I’m always self-righteous even though I can't save Mayuri.

"I wanted to be like you guys."

"Well, I think you're more amazing."

"I think I'm happy to hear that. The reason I can work this hard is because I met you guys. Being a lab mem, even for just a little while... was great."

Another serious smile. So serious she might cry at any moment. So serious she might break at any moment. That smile, was so fragile...



"...Suzuha?"

"Okabe Rintarou. I'm sure you'll change the future. You'll change it into a world free like the present."

"Hey, what's wrong? Why are you so sentimental?"

Does she not want to go to 1975? But I mean, with the time machine, can't she just come back afterwards?

And then, I notice... Ah, I see. If Suzuha were to get an IBN 5100 in 1975 and then come back here... at that instant, just like the D-mail experiments, the world line will change. The future will be reorganized in accordance with the law of cause and effect.

Suzuha will never be able to return to her original 2036. Even though she called it a cruel era, that was the era Suzha had lived in. Suzuha probably has friends there, too. The mementos left behind by her late father - Barrel Titor - are probably there, too. If she changes the future, all those things will be lost to the Suzuha who changed the future. Of course she'd be sentimental.

"If the time machine gets fixed, let's have the party again."

"...Yeah, thank you."