Part 186: Okabe Rintarou sends the final D-mail
Mayuri and Daru look at me and nod. Today's the last day of ComiMa, which Daru was originally looking forward to attending, but he prioritized this, once I begged him.
I take a look around the lab. Before I noticed, our lab mem count had returned to three. In these past 20 days of turmoil, that number had at one point increased to eight.
All the memories of those days.
All the people we met those days.
I, for the sake of saving Mayuri, will make them never happen. It is kind of lonely. I do feel a little guilty. I will engrave everything deep within my chest. I will never forget. I must not forget about these long yet short summer days. Even still, I chose to return things to the start by erasing those memories. It has nothing to do with the future Suzuha told us about. As long as Mayuri will live, it's fine by me.
"Daru, please start."
"...this is okay, right?""...Yeah."
"Okey dokey."
This retromachine we had finally gotten back is already connected to Daru's favorite cutting-edge PC. If we use this, we can access SERN. We will trespass upon the database at the heart of SERN, only accessible with an IBN 5100. Then we will locate the data of the first D-mail I sent to Daru on 7/28, and erase it from Echelon's accumulated log. With this, I can access the β World Line. There lies the world where Mayuri doesn't die.
Spying on Mayuri's condition, I see her sitting down on the couch, tightly straightening her spine, with her grandma's memento pocketwatch, "Pocketty", to her ear. She's staying quiet with her eyes closed. Whenever Mayuri wants to calm down, she always listens to the sound of that pocketwatch.
Ever since she parted ways with Kurisu, Mayuri has said nothing about my choice. It seems like she's prepared herself. I've been leaving the cracking to Daru, so there's no problem there. I walk into the development room, having a little left to attend to.
Squatting down, I gently brush the face of the microwave with my fingertip. Cool to the touch. Ever since I had this, I've met irreplaceable partners, and I've hurt irreplaceable partners, but I don't want to blame the tool. Everything depends on how you use the tool. It's also true that I've been saved by this thing.
But still...
So that I never make the same mistakes again.
"Okarin, I found it! It's seriously in there!""It's in there? The D-mail I sent?!"
"It's in there good."Daru points at a string of characters. There I could clearly see my name and the text I wrote about Kurisu's death. Three lines total. Each only six characters of Japanese.
SERN found out about us because this data was there. At FB's instruction, the Rounders, including Moeka, attacked. If what Suzuha said was true, then if we erased this data, we can escape from the α World Line where SERN dominates the future.
Attractor Field β. The β World Line that converges to that range. There, the future where Mayuri dies in August 2010 doesn't come.
Her hand firmly grasps mine.
"Okarin...""It's okay."
Since she's making an anxious face, I pat her head with a pomf to calm her down.
"I set it up so that pressing the enter key will erase the data."Daru stands up, opening the seat up for me.
"I leave that ceremonial act to Okarin."I sit in the seat when he tells me that. I gulp down my breath in front of the keyboard.
This time for sure will bring an end to everything.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath.
Goodbye, Kurisu.
I slowly raise my right hand. I tightly extend my index finger.
Video: The Final D-mail
Upon my cry, Daru, standing next to me, is taken by surprise.
"I, myself, without giving in to any conspiracy, have adhered to my own believe, fighting Ragnarok to the bitter end! I give gratitude to my comrades, who fought alongside me, as my hands and feet, for the sake of this triumph!"
If I press this key.
Kurisu will die.
I firmly grasp at the shoulder of my coat.
It's mended with a pink thread, with bumpy stitches.
"The world we arrive at is the world I wished for!"
Mayuri's life. And also, Kurisu's death. That is what I wished for.
I will never forget this truth. I must never forget.
This is...
"Everything is Steins;Gate's choice!"
This is the choice I wished for.
"El Psy Congroo. The world... shall be remade!"
I vigorously swing down my extended finger, striking the Enter key...
The rotation gradually slows, and at the same time, the monochrome world becomes recolored. The world becomes still.
Reading Steiner activates. The world line... has changed.
I look around the room.
Behind me is Mayuri. When I reach out to her, Mayuri takes my hand with a smile.
Rather, it looks like nothing has changed. I gently touch the shoulder of my coat. There, Kurisu had sewn up the torn seam.
It's gone.
The bumpy stitches sewn in the dark have disappeared. There's no trace of the clearly mismatched pink thread, either.
I stand up, and head to the development room. The Time Leap Machine, placed under the table...
No...
I notice, what's there isn't the Time Leap Machine.
Only Kurisu's improved parts have disappeared. Only the traces of the 20 days Makise Kurisu spent in the lab have completely disappeared from the earth. Because the past has changed. No, maybe I should say it returned to normal.
Kurisu died. 20 days ago. So, it's obvious that there would be no traces.
I was supposed to be prepared. But now, I see the consequences right in front of me. I want to cry at my bitterness and helplessness.
"Okarin, what's wrong?"Mayuri chases after me and grabs my arm.
"Say, Mayuri."
"Hm? What is it?""...Who was Lab Member 004 again?"
I can't help but ask. Even though I know it's pointless.
I genuflect on the spot. I cover my face with my hands.
"Yeah... that's right, huh... Our lab... doesn't have... a fourth lab member... there never was..."
The world has negated her existence...
Mayuri's hand rubs my back.
"You know, Mayushii wants to become strength for Okarin..."I embrace that Mayuri. I subdue my voice, and cry.
"Okarin... Don't cry...""Mayuri, please don't leave me... Always stay by my side... please..."
Mayuri nervously strokes my head.
"Mayushii will always be with you... Just like this, always..."
That is the proof the world line has changed.
The world I was always aiming for.
The world Suzuha would cross through time to achieve.
The world where a free future waits.
Video: The end?
I've watched the state of affairs for three days since then. The result: No sign of Moeka's attack, no sign of any accidents. That's when I first had confidence that everything's all right now.
With Daru's help, I disassembled the Microwave Ophone (Temp) and the IBN 5100 into scrap. With this, we can no longer send D-mails ever again. At the same time, SERN - the Rounders - will no longer have a reason to target us.
In the Braun Tube Workshop underneath the lab, the manager is watching the 42" Braun Tube TV, like always. No matter how much I search the web for past news, I can't find any information on the satellite that crashed into Radio Kaikan. Obviously, since there was not one scratch on Radio Kaikan's walls, and it's open like usual. In place of news on the satellite crash, in the evening paper of 7/28, in the local section, in a small article...
After that, there was no follow up. In other words, the culprit has still not been caught. I talked to Daru about it, and apparently, the police called me, the first discoverer, many times to ask about the circumstances. I don't have a single memory of that.
Anyway, Mayuri didn't die. I've reached my goal...
Coming out of the station's ticket gate, Mayuri waves her hand and rushes over to me. Running through the gaps between shoppers and maids handing out leaflets, she stares at my face with puppy dog eyes.
"Ah... oooh...""Wh-Why are you crying...?!"
Without answering my question, Mayuri gently strokes my cheek. She's crying, but she doesn't seem sad. Rather, she seems to be overcome with emotion.
"Okarin, you came to pick me up, huh... You were waiting for Mayushii... hau, I'm so happy...""Don't get so happy over every little thing."
"Ehehe♪"Mayushii shyly and innocently wipes away her tears.
"...Indeed."
I'm stumped as how to deal with such embarrassing words.
Mayuri and I started going out. In these long, painful 20 days, I noticed how important Mayuri is to me, and she told me that she loved me.
"Thank goodness... It wasn't a dream...""Okay, okay, let's get going to the lab already. You'll die of heatstroke if we keep standing in this damn heat."
I start walking without waiting for Mayuri's answer.
"Eh? But you know, isn't the lab really hot, too?""Well, it's true we only have an electric fan. I'm thirsty, too. I need my Dr Pepper."
Sunday. On this hot day, like always, Akiba is full of shoppers enjoying themselves, carrying many bags and walking. I suddenly feel emptiness. The everyday scenery where nothing changes, yet it seems like part of my everyday is chipped off. An illusion like that.
But there's no such thing as a perfect future. There's no such person who can obtain it. I need to understand that. This current reality is the future I wished for and won.
Because the most important thing to me is right next to me. Mayuri.
It was good luck that I even got this far. I'm blessed far beyond the common man.
I look over my shoulder, and still can't find her.
"Mayuri...?"
She disappeared. Mayuri was always like this. She would always get distracted and disappear somewhere.
I'm impulsively attacked by uneasiness. I said Mayuri disappeared. If Mayuri disappeared, then there's no point in my choosing this world line.
"Mayuri!"
I shout. I look all around. The crowd of people is in my way, making it hard to look for her.
"Mayuri!"
"I'm over here."
In her hands, is shaved ice.
"Ehehe...♪ Okarin, you said it was hot, right? So I thought, why not eat this together?""Don't surprise me like that..."
I feel relieved inside, and want to embrace her small body, but stop myself since we're in public. I take the shaved ice and hold out my empty hand to Mayuri.
"Hold my hand."
"Okay."
Her slender fingers intertwine with mine.
"Let's save the shaved ice for when we get to the lab. It's a bother to eat on the way."
"Eeh? But then it'll melt, won't it?""Can't do anything about that."
"I see. Welp, can't do anything about it, then. If we're holding hands, we can't eat anyway."I-I won't let go. I won't ever let go."
"Mayushii won't let go, either♪"Mayushii puts just a little more strength into her grip. A loving grip, while we walk side by side.
"Hey hey, Okarin... Is it possible to dream, even when you're awake?""Dream...? You mean a daydream?"
"Is that what it's called? Okarin, you're so smart."
"What...?"
"And whenever I think about that important friend, it's painful, and my heart goes all kyuu... And sometimes I can hear a voice.""A... voice?"
"Ah..."
Everything should have never happened. The memories were erased. Sacrificed.
"I think it might be because that person said so, that Mayuri is here together with Okarin like this."But she faintly remembers events she experienced in the other world line. Her memories of that time are very vague, but they're certainly still there. And perhaps, she's recognizing them in the form of dreams, daydreams, of deja vu.
"If I meet that person, I want to tell them thanks."I'm not the only one who remembers.
"Who could that person have been?""...It was probably God."
"I see! Thank you, God. Mayushii is really happy."
Looking up, Mayuri whispers. Like she usually does, she raises one hand to the sky. She shakes hands with the stardust twinkling above the painted blue sky.
Together with Mayuri.
