Part 63: A vital piece of hardware goes missing

"Fuhahaha! Like hell I'd give up such a device of dreams so easily! I am Hououin Kyouma! The insane mad scientist who rules space-time! What I wish for, indeed, is chaos!"

"This guy's hopeless. If I don't do something soon..."

"Eh?"

"Hm?"

"Hwe?"

"Ah..."



(No idea what the meme here is.)

"Cristina, are you an @channe--"



"Shut up don't say any more that's not it okay!"

Kurisu gives me her sharpest dagger eyes yet. So cold my spine freezes. I nod and swallow my words.

"Th-That reminds me, Daru. Did you make any progress on hacking into SERN?"





I confirmed that Daru came to the lab every day, doing something with his computer. His monitor was always displaying a program, and he would keep checking on it and tamper with it.

"Yeah, right now I'm fishing through tons of SERN's data. Even if I translated and read them all, it would take years. Whenever I found something important, I transferred it to Makise. Basically, it's not something I can do. Now I've got SERN in the palm of my hand."

"I'm completely grateful that you're my ally."

Your weakness to seduction is your one fly in the ointment, though.

"So, Cristina. Your report on the translation situation."

"Can you quit it with your theatrical speech? That's kind of vexing."

"Vex☆"

For some reason, Mayuri takes a cute, idol-like pose, and smiles.

"Cris, you know, I'll tell you something as Okarin's childhood friend. You eventually get used to Okarin's way of talking♪"

"I just hope that doesn't take ten years..."



"Sarcasm, man. Sarcasm."

"...I-I see. So, report quickly, Cristina. If you don't then I'll call you a channer--"

"I said that's not it, right?"

She's scowling again. My spine chills again.

"I did try to do some translation, but at present, no new information on time machines. SERN really is struggling to come up with a solution."

Maybe they'll have to wait another 24 years, like Titor said.

"Daru, any other results?"

"Not a result, but it looks like SERN's in the middle of experimenting, so the LHC's at full operation. I'm trying to see if I can cut in and maybe secretly use it."

"No way...?"

Kurisu's stunned. Well, I'm surprised, too.

"Is that amazing?"

"It's not amazing, it's downright outrageous..."



"Hey, Cristina. You doing that on purpose?"

"Ugh... d-doing what?"

So she is an @channeler. No doubt about it.

"But, well, it does seem like we can use it, but we don't have much use for it."

"The strategy's going well, huh. When do we enter the third stage?"

"What's the third stage?"

"SERN's top secret, forbidden domain. Obviously, we're going to open up the darkness hidden inside."

"In Japanese, please."

"There's a database constructed of IBN 5100's, right? I'm asking if you've already commenced hacking there."

Daru frowns at my words.

"Yeah, I said that was impossible."

"Can't you do something as long as we have the IBN 5100?!"





"Hmm...?"

This feeling again. The conversation isn't lining up.

"I got an IBN 5100, didn't I? You haven't touched it yet?"

"Huh? You got one? When?"

Puzzled, I look at Kurisu and Mayuri. Mayuri tilts her head with a puzzled look, like always. Kurisu meets my glance and shrugs.



"Impossible...!"

That just can't be!

I step into the development room. The IBN 5100 I borrowed from Yanagibayashi Shrine should be on the shelf inside. It's in a cardboard box, and it weighs 25 kg, a weight hard to carry by a single person--



It doesn't exist where I thought I left it.

"...IBN 5100! I placed you right here. Where did you disappear to?!"

Everyone looks at me in surprise.

"What's with those pigeon-potshot-with-peashooter faces?! The legendary PC dedicated at Yanagibayashi Shrine!! You guys know about it, right?!"

"I don't know about it."

"Dedicated at Yanagibayashi Shrine? That's retarded."

"You sure you didn't hallucinate? It's hot these days."



Without the IBN 5100, we can't hack that database! Just who did it? Who took it? The Organization? SERN?

SERN is a possibility. Maybe they noticed our hacking and stole the IBN 5100 from the lab.

No, no, no. Even if they could steal the IBN 5100 from the lab, they can't steal Mayuri and Daru's memories of it...! Just what happened?

Kiryuu Moeka.




I don't know if I'll get a response. Why am I sending her a mail like this in the first place?

The reason's obvious. I want to test that woman. If it's an inside crime, then Moeka's the most suspicious one with her strange attachment to the IBN 5100.

I wait a while, but no reply comes. Anyway, even if Moeka were the culprit, she wouldn't honestly admit it.



"You don't have to arrange your thoughts, just slowly say whatever comes to mind. You can organize your thoughts later.

"Ah, ahh..."

I wipe off the sweat with a handkerchief, and explain fundamental knowledge on the IBN 5100 and how I came to obtain one.