Part 196: Okabe Rintarou departs for Steins Gate

Shock runs through my whole body. What was that just now...?

Save... Kurisu...?

Kurisu, who was killed on July 28th...?

But how? The Microwave Ophone (Temp) is no more. I can't send D-mails or time leap back to that day--

"Ah...!"

The I noticed.



"A time machine... with that we can...!"

If it can come to 2010 all the way from 2036, then going back a mere three weeks shouldn't be a problem. That, and its ability is different from the one Suzuha used in the α World Line. The time machine here can go both ways. I can go from here to July 28, save Kurisu, and then come back to today, August 21 - in other words, a round trip. Without a D-mail or a time leap. Honest to goodness time travel...! Physical leaping through time...!

I couldn't refuse if I tried. I clearly saw this satellite-like device once in the past. July 28, 2010. That fateful day. About an hour before Kurisu was killed, I saw this time machine, just like I'm seeing now. That could only mean one thing:

Everything was not a coincidence, but an inevitability. It's already been decided that this time machine appeared on that day and at that place. Was it already decided at that point in time that I'd return, no matter if I refuse now?! What the hell's up with that? It's like my will doesn't even matter... It's like I've just been walking on a rail arbitrarily placed by some supernatural existence, be it fate or god...

"The world line I wish for isn't... what did uncle Okarin call it? Uhh, the α World Line? It's not that. What we should aim for..."





The valley... between... attractor fields?

"Completely unaffected by any attractor field, there lies a single world line..."



"Wha...!"

That name... is the pretentious hipster bullshit name I pulled out of my ass, with no particular meaning. So, why...

"It seems like the Steins Gate is an unknown world line nobody has seen before."

"By 'seems like', does that mean someone has observed it?"

"It hasn't been observed. That's why it's unknown. But the Steins Gate's divergence has already been calculated by dad and uncle Okarin."



"That's the Steins Gate."

"So the necessary condition to reach that world line... is Kurisu's rescue...?"

"That's right. That's the key to avoid World War III. If she lives, the war doesn't break out. At least, 5.7 billion people won't die."

"Why...?"

"Eh?"

"Why Kurisu? She certainly is a genius girl, but... are you telling me she's the hero who will save 5.7 billion people?"

"...I don't really know."

"You don't know? That's too irresponsible!"

"All I'm doing is carrying things out just as dad planned, and it seems like uncle Okarin was the one who originally came up with that plan. So if there's a flaw in uncle's plan, then what I'm doing has no meaning, either."

"Why is this second hand? You mean I didn't instruct you directly?"



The same result as the α World Line.

"So I don't know the truth. Dad succeeded uncle Okarin's will, creating a time machine all by himself to carry out this plan."

That's our Supah Hakah for you... So, he probably hacked SERN after they abandoned time machine research and stole their data. And then I'm sure he constructed one all by himself using that as a reference. In the α World Line, SERN killed Daru, leaving his time machine incomplete. But in this one, Daru stays alive and completes the time machine. That's why it can also jump into the future... Is that it?

"Uncle Okarin. That world line - the Steins Gate, is unknown, so nobody knows what kind of future could be waiting. Perhaps after World War III ends, a dystopia is formed. Perhaps Makise Kurisu dies only two days after you save her. Perhaps you don't die in 2025, but after a week."



"Maybe neither Makise Kurisu nor anybody else dies. Maybe a wonderful future is waiting. At the very least, it won't be the 2036 I came from. It won't be the 2036 the α World Line me came from. That much is certain."

Is there that much merit in having an unpredictable future? I'd be sorry if it turned out to be a "You did your best, but everything came out worse" bad end.

"Unpredictable, completely unknown..."

It should be impossible to save Kurisu in the first place. Even if we leap through time and change the past, everything will converge. I'm painfully familiar with that. Impossible. There's no way that plan will succeed. The world is just toying with us.





The cool Suzuha who hadn't smiled since a while ago holds out her hand. You couldn't say it's a pretty hand. It's ungroomed, with very rough skin.

"Then grasp this hand."

But if you think about it, Suzuha came from a ruined world ravaged by war, with over 5.7 billion casualties. This hand is natural.

Save Kurisu... I want to save her. I long to. I want to save her through any means possible.

But I couldn't think of this as anything other than the devil's plan.



"But this Makise is a very important person to Okarin, right? In that case, Okarin, you need to do your best."



"But don't sweat the small stuff, and just think about that girl, okay? If you do that, then you'll definitely reach the peak of your popularity!"

Mayuri and Daru encourage me. But I'm still shaking.



Even if we save her now, that Kurisu won't have any of her memories with us. So it's useless... space-time won't bend to my convenience any more than this. I am not god. I don't have that right. Even if I do this, only retribution awaits!

Reason stops me. Held out in front of me is Suzuha's hand.

I look at that hand,

and with feelings of resignation,



"I'll do it."

I'll keep rebelling until the end. Regardless of my will, the choice has already been made. It was chosen on July 28th, on that day, at the instant I laid eyes on the time machine.

"...In the end, me taking your hand is just fate converging, huh."

I have no confidence I can save Kurisu. All these times, I thought I was rebelling against the wheel of fate. I don't want to see the moment Kurisu dies.

But still, all I can do is go. I believe there's a possibility Kurisu can be saved, no matter how small. I want to save her, even if I won't be rewarded for it.

All I can do is go.



"Thank you, uncle Okarin. Then, hop on in!"

"By the way, is it OK for two to ride that time machine?"

"Of course. It's my dad's masterpiece, after all, so it’s only natural!"

"Daru, your daughter really loves you."

"I don't quite understand, but anyway, don't call me dad, but onii-chan."

"Okarin, be sure to come back, okay? I don't want you to leave and never return, okay?"

"It's not like I'm going to a different world. Just a little bit back into the past."

I lightly tap Mayuri's upper arm to calm her down. Suzuha guides me to the entrance of the satellite - of the time machine - and I slip in.





I sit face to face with Suzuha in the cylindrical interior. Almost like an amusement park attraction, like the teacup or a Ferris wheel gondola.

The circumference of the cylinder is slightly higher than the floor, suitable for sitting. The number of buttons is astonishingly small. I also saw the interior of α World Line Suzuha's time machine, but this one gives the impression of more refinement. However, the current time machine's time display panel is the same as the α World Line's: Black with red letters. Maybe that's just Daru's taste.

"Give me your phone."



"H-Hey?!"

"It's best you not bring it. It'll cause crosstalk."

...Crosstalk?

Ooh, I see. Since we're going to July 28th, there will be two of me, and, if I bring it, two of my phone. Things could get troublesome if I got a call or something. Time travelers really do need to be careful about what they bring into the past.

"Close the hatch."

I hear Mayuri and Daru's cheers from outside. Mayuri caught my phone. I nod back to them one last time, and close the hatch.



Suzuha is operating the time display panel. Our time travel destination is July 28, 2010 at 11:50.

"This time should be about right, huh?"

"Isn't that cutting it a little close?"

I remember Doctor Nakabachi's presentation began at 12.

"This time machine can't move physically."

"Meaning?"

"Basically, if we were to time travel here from the Radio Kaikan's rooftop, no matter what time we travel to, we'll arrive at the same coordinates of the rooftop. Well, actually, there's a lot more complex calculations involved, but let's not get into that now.
Anyway, that's how it is, so even though we can leap to the day before the presentation, it'll be bad if it gets canceled due to the commotion we make, right? That's why it's best to cut it close."

"I see..."



"First, stop calling me uncle. I've time leaped so much I'm sick of it, but this is my first time time traveling. According to John Titor, you're subjected to a fairly large G-force, giving the sensation of being stretched out."

"Yeah, I wrote that."

"The John Titor stuff?"

"Right. When I leapt to 2000."

"I see..."

The past changed. Or, I should say, changed back.

In the α World Line, I witnessed Titor's 2010 posts on @channel in real time.

"Don't be so surprised, okay?"

These past few minutes, so much information has come into my head at once, it seems like it's gonna blow. I no longer have the capacity to be surprised.

"I'll explain this mission again, okay? Because we'll have no time to talk leisurely on the other side."



Ever since I returned to this world line, I've intentionally avoided news of Kurisu's incident. I was afraid it would decide the result. So, at this point in time, I don't know who killed Kurisu. I don't know how or why she died. I don't know at all. If I knew things would turn out like this, maybe I should have looked things up.

As soon as I ask myself this, I deny it.

"What about attractor field convergence?"

"Didn't I say so already? That day is a turning point. The possibility of Makise Kurisu's death is roughly calculated as 50%."

"So, it won't converge?"

"It may or may not. No, it probably will. But I'm sure there's a loophole somewhere. That loophole itself is the entrance to the Steins Gate."

So in the end, it's a game...



"What do you mean?"

"I told you that in my 2036, World War III broke out, right?"



"But that bastard just ripped his time travel theory off of John Titor..."

...wait, John Titor's sitting here in front of me.

"Ah, so... what Titor posted on the net... was true?"

"I mixed in some lies, so not many people listened to me at the time I posted it, but I never thought it would be reevaluated 10 years later. It looks like he built his theory off the one I wrote. It seems its level of completeness is high.
Anyway, Doctor Nakabachi was there in the assembly hall where Makise Kurisu was killed, right? He should also be a key figure in large world line divergence."

Doctor Nakabachi is...? I thought he was just some suspicious old guy.



Now that I look underneath me, I do indeed see something resembling a car seatbelt. I wrap that around my waist, fixing my body to the seat.

"Does it shake a lot?"

"It rarely shakes."

So that means it does stuff other than shake? Whoa, hold on, will I be okay...?!

Suzuha bends forward and pushes a conspicuous yellow button on the bottom of the panel. I can't see the outside, so I can't even tell if the time machine is moving at all.

"It's only three weeks, so it shouldn't take more than two or three minutes."

Suzuha fastens her own seatbelt and sighs.

"When I first leapt to 1975, it was six long hours with nothing to do and nothing I could do."

Time travelers have their own problems, it seems.

"It's only two or three minutes, so I won't put on an oxygen mask, but for the duration of the time travel, there won't be any oxygen.

"You can put up with that?!"

"Here."

Suzuha points to the center of the cylinder - the space between me and her.

"An air pocket forms. If you stick your head in there, you can breathe for about ten minutes."



"To be honest, we don't have much fuel. Barely enough fuel was put in in the first place. There's not even enough for me to get back to 2036. In other words, if we fail to change the world line, then I'm stuck in this era.
Ah, but don't worry. If it's just going back and forth from August 20 and July 28, we can still do two round trips."

Conversely, that means we only have two chances.

"If you don't have enough fuel, then how do you plan to get back to 2036?"



"Cause and effect will be reconfigured. The me sitting here will disappear, since I'd probably be living peacefully in 2036. But that all depends on you, uncle Okarin."

Her tone is light, but he face is serious... It's been so long since I've talked to her, but I just now noticed: The woman known as Suzuha acts without considering the consequences.