Part 52: Kiryuu Moeka returns to the lab

Things look fairly favorable today. By the way, we haven't talked to Manager downstairs yet. Maybe we should think of an excuse beforehand, but this isn't the time to read the owner's expression. Correct, for this is the war against The Organization, otherwise known as SERN, and their conspiracy controlling the world from the shadows!

"Anzai-sensei, I-I want to eat Faris's home cooking..."

"If you give up, it's game over, you know?



I feel like RaiNet matches are difficult to cheat your way out of in the first place, not to mention that we're limited to 36 bytes. Looks like we'll have to give up on Daru, who's started to sulkily surf the net. Even if we were to use another lab mem as a test subject, it doesn't look like Kurisu would bend her policy, meaning there's only one candidate left.



"Mayuri, let's have you change the past next."








"But changing the past... what should I change about it?"

Mayuri looks stumped as she slurps her cup ramen.

"How about this? I'll change the past and have Ruka wear Mayushii's costume."

"How?"

"By sending Ruka a mail♪ Ehehe..."

That's not changing the past, but just a wish, isn't it...

"You can't think of something more simple and easy to understand?"

"Hmmmm?"

She slurps more ramen.

"...Let's use that cup ramen."

Looks like only I can come up with ideas.



"I don't think that's simple enough to convince her to--"

"Ah, that might be really good☆"

"Eh...?"

"Today, when I was in front of the vending machine, I couldn't decide for about ten minutes. Should I go with cup oden, or should I go with cup ramen?"

"Basically, if she was pushed a little, Mayuri would inevitably want to eat cup oden, right?! Alright, let's go with that!"

"Yup, okay! Well then, before we change the past, I gotta eat all this ramen."

Then Mayuri starts eating the ramen for dear life.

"What's wrong with not eating it?"

"That'd be a waste♪"

"Ah, I, I see. That's right... ahaha."

Mayuri answers while smiling. Kurisu's face goes stiff. She really is a dumb girl. This isn't the first time.

The D-mail preparations are set. Mayuri's D-mail is simple enough:



Now we just pray that Mayuri will be inclined to choose cup oden. We wait for Mayuri to finish eating her cup ramen and activate the Microwave Ophone (Temp). To send it one hour back, we set the timer to 1#. In other words, we set the microwave for only one second. I wonder if the discharge phenomenon will occur in that small time. This is another first challenge for this experiment.

"Microwave Ophone (Temp), activate!"



There wasn't enough time to blink, huh...

"So the discharge phenomenon won't occur with just one second, huh. It might just be data, but that's still good to know."

"What if you try warming it up beforehand?"

"Warming it up?"

"Basically, the discharge phenomenon won't occur with one second, right? Then just operate the microwave beforehand for about 30 seconds without sending a mail. Wait a while after that, and try it again with the timer set at one second. If you do that, won't the discharge phenomenon occur even with just one second?"

"Any basis?"

"Zilch."

"Uhh, Mayuri, got anything else?"

"How about changing the garnish in the onigiri I bought last night?"

"You remember what garnish you had in the onigiri you ate last night?"

"Okaka."



Seems she remembers it clearly.

"So then, change the okaka to, um, let's go with mentaiko♪"

Maybe I should search for another test subject. In the end, the four lab mems sit silently, obviously making me think we can't complete a single experiment. I go to the station to take my mind off my worries.





I left behind Mayuri and the others. I wanted to think alone for a while.

When I sent the D-mail to myself in the past with the LOTO SIX numbers, I felt a strong tremor, and then the world as I knew it faintly changed. The fact that I had sent a D-mail had been undone. I can confirm that with the fact that it had disappeared from my send history, but it was still in the arrival history. The sent mail itself had reached the past.

What does this mean? Isn't that a time paradox? Is that the reason why everyone else went through memory modification? Why were their memories modified in the first place...

If you say it's the butterfly effect, then that's the end of it. Changing the past changed the world - using Titor's words, when divergence changes, aren't people's memories reconstructed to match that changed world line? How come only my memories of the past world line continue even after the past changed?






Tch, don't get in my way. I think since it's a mail, I can just leave the response to later, so I concentrate on drinking coffee.

But--






No doubt about it. It's get to be another serial mail strike from Kiryuu Moeka, otherwise known as Shining Finger - by me, anyway. She's really annoying when it comes to mail, huh... even though she doesn't talk at all. Her character's way too fickle.





She wants to send a D-mail? That reminds me, yesterday I assigned Moeka lab mem number 005, so she's a lab mem too. She's more than qualified to participate in the experiment. Moeka seems serious, so she might meet my demands.

Most importantly, all the other lab mems are completely useless when it comes to D-mails. I still haven't been able to verify whether or not I can remember other people changing the past.

"Wait, but..."

I'm worried.



What if she sends a D-mail and leaks this breakthrough of the century? We'll be flooded by interviewers and gone will be the days of the media not noticing me. Conversely speaking, it'll give out our location to The Organization.

Ignoring the danger to my body, it's not bad to have a means of making our grand announcement. But in that case, I'd rather choose a national newspaper or TV interviewer to cover the event rather than some shady, unknown editorial company. That way, it'll spread faster throughout Japan, nay, the world.

Whichever way I choose, I don't feel like it's a good plan to use Moeka.






Yesterday, we told her everything about the Microwave Ophone (Temp) and D-mails. Moreover, we made her our comrade. We had to do so to prevent a leak.

Feeling there's no meaning in denying Moeka her request, I put my phone to my ear.

"It's me.
...Yeah, I hesitated just a little.
...What? You can tell by my voice?
Hmph, I'm no match for you.
So, about whether or not I should bring Shining Finger into the Microwave Ophone (Temp) experiments.
...Wha, ridiculous, you want me to offer her as a sacrifice?
Certainly, I am prepared to make sacrifices if it's for the cause of visiting chaos on the world, but...
...No, no problem. Rather, I was pathetic to have hesitated. Maybe I'm not cut out to be a mad scientist."



With that said, I reply to Moeka's mail.


After sending my mail, I hurry back to the lab.