Part 80: Makise Kurisu puts her scientific focus into practice

The specifics of Kurisu's thesis go as follows:

In the temporal lobe exists the parahippocampal gyrus, where all of a human's memories accumulate. But what exactly are memories? Kurisu's thesis says that it's been analyzed from a neuroscientific perspective.

All of the brain's functions manifest as electrical signals running through its neurons as nerve impulses. That's why it can be said that even people's memories are engraved into the hippocampus by electrical signals. Kurisu analyzed how electrical signals corresponded to their counterpart memories. The mechanism through which humans recall memories can be likened to a word association game. Even if the image to be recalled is broad and abstract, that seemingly becomes the key to finely detailing that image.

"You start pulling the drawers of a dresser one by one, and small boxes are packed inside each one. Inside each box is a plethora of smaller boxes. You can think of it like that."

'Retrieval signals', which are necessary for memory recollection, seem to exist in an unexpectedly large number of varieties. Among hundreds of millions of nerve impulse patterns, thousands of signals are related to memory. The analysis of all of those patterns was the result of Kurisu and her research team.

"This single study may seem unrelated to Okabe's idea, but there's one more thing. At the university I attended, Victor Condoria University, the Neurophysiology Laboratory developed the technology called Visual Rebuilding several years ago."



"It can go the other way and convert nerve impulses into normal electrical signals, too. And so, by combining this VR technology, and our research... do you see where I'm going?"

"...no way."

"Conversion of human memories into data?"

"Not just that. Memory transplantation, backups, and external storage... all of those things become possible."

How sci-fi... This is almost like storing a soul.

According to Kurisu, some religious groups strongly opposed this, just as expected. But on the other hand, it seems like something the medical community would praise as groundbreaking research. In any case, conversion of people's memories into data seems very manga-esque - but this assistant was able to accomplish such unthinkable research.

Of course, she didn't accomplish it by herself. She did have the cooperation of her enrolled university's laboratory, but still.

"So basically, is this what you want to say? Using the same fundamentals of D-mails, we can retrieve the memories of the test subject stored inside the brain as light signal data, use the mini-black holes created by the LHC to super compress that data into 36 bytes size, send that data through the Kerr black hole ring singularities formed by the Microwave Ophone (Temp)... and then drive just the subject's memories into his own brain in the past through cellphone usage?"

"What does that mean?"

"Only the subject's memories will leap through time."



"It's not a physical transfer of the flesh, just sending memories into the past. It's so erratic a method that nobody has honestly thought of it."

I guess that's a blind spot. It's too unrealistic, but because of that, none of the great thinkers of SERN would've looked towards it. It's a feat combining physics, neuroscience, and neuroelectrophysiology. To time leap: To transfer memories via cellphone.

"The point is that only memories are being transferred. Personality and consciousness aren't included."

"What does that mean? Is something different about it compared to time leaping in sci-fi novels?"

"The time leaping in sci-fi and stuff sends everything including consciousness, personality, and memory. But it would probably be too much data to send the consciousness and personality as well, and my laboratory only analyzed memories in the first place. Think of consciousness, personality, and memory as separate things. Memories are the same as video or image data on a computer, and the consciousness and personality are like the OS."

"But in terms of data size, videos and images can be larger than the OS."

"It's just an example. In the first place, it's still not clear where personality and consciousness are located, how they're constructed, or how they're formed. That's why we can't convert them into data, or at least, I can't."

"What sort of demerit can we expect with just memories?"

"It's not like personality is formed by just memories. That's why, even if you send memories, everything still depends on the recipient's consciousness and personality."

"In terms of Mindorz, it's like copy-pasting data from a VISTA computer to a 95 computer, huh?"

"The data created with the latest OS might not work on an older OS. It may be incompatible. So, for example, if you sent your current memories to yourself in elementary school, the gap between your memories and your body may cause a mental disability."



Kurisu nods at my question.

"Just like with D-mails, we're leaping with a cellphone as an intermediate, so to be exact, I think you can only leap to your own body in the past, and only at the times you had a cellphone."

There was an exception with Rukako's case where we sent a D-mail to a pager, but that doesn't apply to time leaping.

"And the destination has to be the same person or... umm, for example, there's the concern that the electrical signal could be rejected without matching."

"It would be really bad if it entered someone else's body, huh. I'd happily enter a little missy, though, uhehehe."



"Don't 'Uhehe' me, you idiot! It would be good if it just repelled, but I'm concerned it might even cause a serious personality disorder. I don't know the result, since this is a first for mankind."

That 'first for mankind' phrase has a nice ring to it.

"What I do know is that you should definitely not go to before you were born, and that there's no reason for two of you to exist simultaneously, so you won't have to worry about time paradoxes. You can't kill your parents before you're born."

"So the cellphone replaces the black hole and white hole, huh."

It was a coincidence as well as an inevitability that the intermediate item would be cellphone. Since the cellphone is a personal terminal, it's highly unlikely that anyone other than the owner would pick it up.

Goosebumps rise all over my body.



I immediately whip out my phone and place it to my ear.

"It's me. All these points of data make a beautiful line.
...Yeah, the plan is now entering its final stage.
...Naturally, I mean Operation Verthandi.
Hmph, Cristina's been successfully tricked, but... she has been accepted into the lab mems, which to us, is surely what Steins;Gate's choice had dictated.
Fret not. I'll prove that I can pull it off.
Now we are invincible.
El Psy Congroo."

I put away my phone and turn to Kurisu.



"No, explain yourself a little."

"We'll adopt the entirety of your time leap plan. By the way, I won't allow you to say you can't do the data conversion of intracranial information after all this."

"Well, since we're in Akihabara, I can get all the parts I need, so I guess I can manage."

"It's decided. I appoint you as commander of this operation. You may use Daru and me as you wish. Let's complete the first Time Leap Machine in the history of mankind!"



Rather, her eyes are filled with the fire of the fight. She really is a natural-born scientist. I'm convinced of that.





I thought she was working hard at making her costumes, but she's spacing out without moving her hands.

"Mayuri? You're not going home?"

Usually, she would've gone home long ago. If she doesn't hurry home, her parents will probably worry.



"And when I remembered, I tried my best to somehow figure it out, but it was no good. Ehehe..."
"But what I do kinda understand is that things are going to get amazing, huh..."

"Indeed. Humanity will advance towards a new stage, and our lab will be its guiding torch."

"How dazzling!"

"Dazzling? What do you mean?"

"Okarin and Cris are so sparkly and shiny."

"That's probably my, Hououin Kyouma's aura of insanity. Fuhahaha!"

"You know, it's already been about 10 days since Cris joined us, right? Can Mayushii say what she's been feeling those days?
When Cris became a lab mem, it kinda seemed like the lab's atmosphere snapped and tightened..."

Amen to that.

"Hm. I have to admit that one. She certainly does have an intense wealth of knowledge, and I cannot help but say that winning over such a genius girl as a comrade was yet another one of my, Hououin Kyouma's, magnificent achievements!"

"That’s why you're dazzling. Cris is a really big help to the lab and Okarin, right?"
"But you know, Mayushii's not really that much of a help to Okarin..."

Mayuri looks depressed.



"Mayuri..."

She's never said anything like this before. Is she jealous of Kurisu's ability? Is competition brewing in the lab?

I sign and walk up to the window. Even if I look up from here, I can't see many stars in the night sky.

"Mayuri, are the stars not visible today?"

When I call out like that, Mayuri comes up beside me. We both lean out the window. It's still before 9PM, but the area's already become still and silent. All we hear is the occasional car.



"Yeah, we did."

Daru became a lab mem at the start of Golden Week in May. Before that, he was unwilling no matter how much I persuaded him. But, as soon as he learned that the lab was located just a three-minute walk from MayQueen+Nyan², he flip-flopped and said 'Actually, I've always wanted to be a part of the Future Gadget Laboratory.' So, for about one and a half months after this Future Gadget Laboratory was established, Mayuri and I were alone.

"Is it okay if Mayushii stays here from now on too?"

Mayuri stops looking up at the night sky and looks to me with a questioning gaze. I take that gaze head on and bop Mayuri on the head.

"Don't say such trivial things. All Mayuri has to do is stay here."

"Just stay...?"

"If you weren't around, the lab would probably be more bloodthirsty. Especially with me and Assistant, since we're like water and oil. It wouldn't be strange if our conflicting viewpoints sparked a fight.
But then, at that point, Mayuri, unable to read the atmosphere, would fire off an optimistic comment and neutralize the bloodthirst."



"Of course I'm praising you. Don't worry about a thing. After all, your being here is all according to my plan. Fuhahahaha!"

"I see! Thank you, Okarin♪"

Mayuri smiles in relief. And then her tummy rumbles.

"I'm so hungry! I'll go warm up some oden. Okarin, you want some too?"

"Yeah. Please."

"Okay then, please wait a bit!"