Part 165: Kiryuu Moeka misidentifies Okabe

Just who?! Mayuri and Daru should be at ComiMa. It would be strange for even Kurisu to be here since I asked her to escort Mayuri yesterday. She wouldn't even use the Time Leap Machine in the first place. My declaration of "no experiments" should've been effective even in this world line. That, and Kurisu's policy is not to change the past.

The building is shaking. That vibration reverberates to the streets. The Time Leap Machine shouldn't be used to tamper with the law of cause and effect any more than this. Someone, I don't know who, is using it!

I don't know if that someone knows how to use it, though. Anyway, I need to stop it, or we'll be in big trouble...!



The discharge phenomenon and the vibration have already calmed down. I gently peek into the development room.





The lab door was unlocked, meaning anyone could sneak in. I click my tongue at my own carelessness.

The Time Leap Machine is still faintly warm. I knew someone used it. So, did they time leap?

Just who... I don't know. Someone other than me used the Time Leap Machine. This is the first time that's happened. Just to make sure, I check the settings on the connected X68000, but it's useless. Just like with D-mails, the setting history has been erased.

...It worries me, but I can't do anything but ignore that worry. What's more important now is what happened to Moeka.

I set up the Time Leap Machine. The maximum leap time is 48 hours. To leap more than that, you need to leap 48 hours and then leap again. The 42" CRT downstairs is on. Since the discharge phenomenon occurred, that should be plain as day. I put on the headgear. Preparations complete.



(Hey look, another very obvious minor decision point!)

Nah, it's obviously okay. Just a little more. Just a little more and I can save Mayuri for real. There's no need to hesitate now. Even if I don't time leap now, all that waits for me is another memory of seeing Mayuri die. So in the end, all I can do is time leap, tattered.

What I'm doing is the same...



(Oh, the things we do to not miss scenes.)

No need to rush. I tell myself to calm down. I don't care how tattered I get. I should use my weapon of time leaping to its maximum merit.

I should check the deadline of Mayuri's death in this world line.



But things are a little different this time. Namely, the fact that Moeka committed suicide. How much influence does that have?

There's the possibility that Mayuri won't die. We might have already succeeded at avoiding that death. In that case, I shouldn't waste my effort time leaping. I have no obligations to save Moeka.

Let's wait. Until Kurisu contacts me. It's 12:30 now. There's still 7 hours left until the expected time.



That sound is already echoing inside my head, and won't stop even if I plug my ears. About an hour ago, I chased after the IBN 5100's whereabouts, but just as I thought, I couldn't find it. I also tried to think about how Moeka's mail to cancel the phone model exchange would influence the whereabouts of the IBN 5100, but just couldn't think of anything. Does that mean exchanging phone models somehow lets Moeka know the IBN 5100 is in Yanagibayashi Shrine? That's confusing. Even the Butterfly Effect has its limits.

But real life is different from novels. There are many times where unreasonable things happen, and when the cause is revealed, it makes you say "Oh, so that's what it was." So, I couldn't rule it out entirely.

"In the end, I don't know anything, huh..."

Murmuring in self-derision, I twist my life.



I hope to hear good news. To hear Mayuri's voice - proof in itself that Mayuri didn't die - would be the best news I could ask for.





"Hello?!"





On the other side of the phone, Kurisu is sobbing, terribly confused. So, I know, even without asking.

Mayuri died before Kurisu's eyes...

"She... died... in front of my eyes... Hey, Mayuri died...! Mayuri died...! This is... this is just... Suddenly, she suddenly collapsed... why?! Why so suddenly... she's not breathing... she won't answer at all... please, Mayuri! Okabe... what, what should I... what should I do... help... Mayuri died..."

"...I'm sorry. I pushed the hard job onto you."



Maybe because I didn't see Mayuri's death firsthand, or maybe because my heart's been paralyzed. I don't really feel sad this time.

I loathe myself for that...

I beat my fist on the table. The deadline is 7-8PM on the 16th after all. Mayuri will die unless I change the world line. I put on the headgear and immediately activate the Time Leap Machine.

I need to get Moeka's phone, no matter what it takes...!









It's past 8PM when I look at the clock.

"I'm heading out."

I leave the room without waiting for the lab mems to respond.





Obviously. Moeka's suicide happens four days after this.








Nothing is turned on inside the room. I start getting anxious that maybe she's not there. I can't find anything like an intercom, so I reluctantly rap on the door, but no matter how much I beat on the door, there's no reply from inside. I click my tongue and try turning the doorknob on a whim--



I take a single gulp of air.

This might be a trap. My opponent isn't normal, after all. She's a member of SERN's combat force, the Rounders.

...If I were to die here, what would happen to Mayuri? Would Kurisu or Daru use the Time Leap Machine to save her? I need to be cautious.

Having said that, if I don't do anything, I can't save Mayuri. Resolving myself, I open the door and peek inside.



But in that narrow room, I feel a person's presence. I trespass into the room.

There's not much stuff. No decorations. No sense of daily life. From the window, the light of the almost-full moon shines in.



Nobody else is there. Standing in front of that woman and looking down, I grind my teeth. I desperately keep myself from losing it.

Ever since she attacked the lab and killed Mayuri for the first time, I've avoided all thoughts about this woman as best I could. But now, I'm forced to face her. Unless I get an answer from this woman, I can't get what I seek... to obtain the IBN 5100, escape from the α World Line, and save Mayuri.

"...Kiryuu Moeka."

I've called out to this woman before. I don't even want to remember that.

"Are you awake?"

Moeka's fingers shiver with a twitch. She sluggishly lifts her head, but she doesn't look up, instead glancing at my feet.



She finally mutters in a frail voice. Moeka always seemed like that, but today is especially worse. Now that I take a good look, her hair and clothes are disheveled. She looks really disturbed. She kills herself in four days, though, so it's not too strange.

"...FB? Are you FB...?"

"FB...?"

I've heard that name before. If I'm not mistaken, that's her superior. Basically a code name, huh.