This work is a translation made by Luf5. The original version is in Spanish (Original name: Epistasis de la decoherencia). It is really a great job and I am very grateful to her. (Really, I thank you with all my heart Luf5!).
Introduction:
Hello, readers.
This is a story I've written since last year and whose first version I published before in fanfiction. I am currently editing and republishing it, with the intention of also translating it into English. The translation is in charge of the user Luf5.
The fanfic already has 13 chapters (several details of the plot have been altered from the previous publication), plus two others in writing process.
The list of chapters is as follows:
Chapter 1: The Schrödinger squad
Chapter 2: About tsunderes and mad scientists
Chapter 3: Genetic Inheritance
Chapter 4: Round Table
Chapter 5: Women's talk
Chapter 6: Part-time warrior
Chapter 7: Envoy of chaos
Chapter 8: Reading Steiner
Chapter 9: Quantum Decoherence
Chapter 10: The Schrödinger Squad II
Chapter 11: The intruder
Chapter 12: The snag
Chapter 13: Coexistence
Chapter 14: Liar Paradox
Chapter 15: The DNA test
and more…
We hope it does not take long to publish the material.
The story is set two years after the end of the first visual novel or anime Steins; Gate. It also contains references to characters from Steins;Gate 0 and other spinoff works.
Warnings:
*This fic may contain OoC and deformation of canonical interpretations about the mechanics of world lines and attractor fields.
*This fic uses scientific concepts not validated yet.
*This fic touches sensitive topics.
*The real historical events can be altered.
*The name of real commercial brands are deformed for reasons of rights.
*The original characters do NOT seek to be realistic.
*This fic uses stereotypes of the manga / anime genre.
*In this line of events, the OVA "Egoistic Poriomania" and the movie "Load Region of Déjà Vu" never happened.
*This story has no relation to the canonical continuation of the characters shown in Robotic;Notes, Robotic;Notes DaSH or any other work in the Science Adventure series.
*This fanfic can be cataloged as an "alternative future of the Steins; Gate made by a fan for other fans".
*Finally, although there is OkaKuri, this is not a fanfic focused on romance. If you just want to read a romantic story between them, this may not be your fic.
I declare that I wrote this to entertain you and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.
Bye!
Disclaimer: Steins; Gate and its characters are property of 5pb / Nitroplus.
EPISTASIS OF DECOHERENCE
Chapter One
The Schrödinger Squad
Saturday, September 27, 2036
The young man put on a long black trench coat, and looking at his own reflection on the metal surface, he fixed his reddish-brown hair.
He took three steps back and spent some time taking a better look at the big artifact he had worked on. He thought that since the time machine was completely functional, it deserved some kind of name. Following tradition, it had to have the previous future gadget's consecutive number. Despite his intentions of snatching it away from its true creators, he didn't want to abandon that custom. So, he'd name it "K204 (name subject to change)," until he thought of something better.
The time machine's similarities with an old satellite, added to the cyberpunk appearance of the coat he chose which made the young man feel like the main character of an old Sci-Fi series. As if he were to start a Space Opera style adventure with a historical fiction tinge; or it would perhaps be more appropriate to expect a kind of thriller, with action, drama, comedy and last but not least, romance. That'd be good for him.
The only thing missing was for him to start narrating. Then, taking inspiration from a show he remembered having seen as a child, he began to recite the great introduction in his mind:
"Time: The true final frontier."
Overcoming limits that were believed to be impassable, does it matter if man reaches Mars? Reaching space was only a matter of time and defeating the latter would be his goal.
"Our mission: To explore the past to fix the web of temporal grids, traveling to places where no man has gone before."
He who controls time can control everything: past, present and future are all one thing. Everything could be changed, nothing was inalterable. The current circulating reality, which his parents named "Steins;Gate" could be fixed. He'd use this invention for that.
"That's it. Didn't you say I was a fool for wishing to travel in time?"
He told the figure that barged into his mind.
"Perhaps you wanted to try it and failed, but I have shown that I am better. I finished your invention and I'll take it without your permission. I'll go fix what you don't dare to. 'Nobody should interfere with the Steins;Gate?', 'We must accept reality as it is?', don't make me laugh."
He felt the sudden desire to imitate that evil laugh he heard so many times in his childhood. He crossed his arms in front of him and took a big breath.
"Muahahahahaha!" His voice resounded all across the room.
Yes, the imitation was really good; he could even receive an award for it. But he soon heard some steps walking across the enclosure and he went on the alert.
Was he also there? Had he caught him? The young man had secretly worked all the time, but he never moved the apparatus from the place they abandoned it. Perhaps he had discovered his work. Perhaps he'd try to stop him.
The young man closed his fists. He wouldn't allow them to stop him. He'd turn around and face him if necessary: It didn't matter what he said. He'd go to the past, fix everything, he didn't care about anything else, he.…
"What's so funny Keitarou?"
A young woman with two long braids wearing dark green sports clothes was at his side.
"Hashida-san!" Keitarou exclaimed, feeling a big relief. "I'm glad it's you."
"Of course, it's me. Were you waiting for someone else?" She replied, tilting her head. "Tell me, what were you thinking before? You seemed amused and I want to laugh too."
"Nothing special. Did you bring your things?"
Perhaps that was an unnecessary question since the girl carried a big military style backpack on her back. Rather than responding, she stared at him. She noticed that her friend wanted to divert her curiosity.
"If you don't want to tell me what you were thinking I'm just going to try to guess it." And putting her hand on her chin, she began to think about it. "Yeah, I got it! It must've been that."
Keitarou looked at her, intrigued. His dear childhood friend loved playing those kinds of games. He wondered if this time she had successfully figured his thoughts out.
Hashida's look seemed serious.
"I know you were thinking of some perverted stuff and that's why you don't want to tell me!" She said, pointing at Keitarou with an accusing finger.
A brief silence followed the accusation while she lowered her finger and gave him a mischievous look.
"In fact, I'm sure it was something extremely perverse by the way you were laughing, similar to a netorare story or perhaps something with tentacles, isn't it?"
"Of course not, Hashida-san!" Keitarou finally responded. "Why do you always have to assume those things?"
"Eh? That wasn't it? Well, it looks like I got it wrong again, don't get so offended." She added, keeping her smile and rubbing her head. "But due to your reaction when I got here, I'd swear you were thinking about someone. I wonder who that could be..."
After adding that comment, and while she thought about the person in her friend's mind, Hashida occupied herself with walking around the imponent apparatus.
Keitarou couldn't take his eyes off the attractive athletic figure walking around the room. He knew that, behind that feminine appearance, hidden, was a great fighter who could defeat a thousand men in a fight. However, despite considering herself a "soldier in training," Hashida kept her happy personality and treated everyone around her with kindness.
Everyone except Keitarou, of course. She loved to poke fun at him every chance she got, but does that really matter? She was his best friend and was there to accompany him as his loyal right-hand woman.
"The only person I can think about now is Hashida Suzuha."
He said it quietly; he thought she wouldn't hear him due to the distance between them. But after saying it, the aforementioned girl turned towards and looked at him.
"Wait! Don't think I do it in a perverted way!" He exclaimed nervously. "What I meant was that I, I, Hashida-san…"
"I understand why you're so happy Keitarou.", she interrupted. "It looks phenomenal now that it's finished. It amazes me that our parents designed this, it is an incredible invention."
The time machine was Keitarou's parents' idea, with the collaboration of Suzuha's dad. Those three united brilliant minds had accomplished the planning of such a magnificent device that could travel to both past and present without using big quantities of fuel in the process.
However, before the apparatus was finished and the last technical details solved, they abandoned the project, and the machine was left in a rented shed next to other faulty or incomplete devices. Their children discovered its existence by mere luck.
Keitarou decided to seize the prototype, and without letting the former owners know, he dedicated himself to complete the apparatus and make it work. After seven months of work, he finally achieved his objective. The result gave him the biggest satisfaction he had ever felt in his life.
"Listen Hashida-san," he called his friend's attention, "we will soon travel to the past in this machine. I thank you for responding to my request of help for the mission I've decided to take on. As a reward I, Okabe Keitarou, promise to you that on your nineteenth birthday, after completing our work in the year 2012, will take you to the time in history that you wish to visit."
"Really? You can take me anywhere I want?" Suzuha happily asked.
"That's right.", he confirmed, "To the Gardens of Babylon, the Mayan Pyramids, or even to the first Kinkaku-ji. Neither one of those places will be a big challenge, because this machine is calibrated to travel both in time and space. That was my best personal improvement from the original version, which could only move in one of the four dimensions."
He made a brief pause to fix the collar of his coat and continued with his speech with a confident demeanor.
"From now on, our team will be called 'The Schrödinger Squad'. With that name we will make history as the first time-travelers in the world. I know you like being the leader Hashida-san, but I think I must be the one to guide this expedition."
"I'll let you do it, but this time only." she responded, smiling still.
Keitarou's excitement kept increasing with each word he said and after hearing his friend's response, it wouldn't stop now. While going up the machine's steps he began to proclaim:
"We will do it. The Schrödinger Squad will travel to the past and will discover all the secrets of history! The world won't be able to hide anything from us!" he exclaimed, peaking with excitement. "With your strength and my mind, we will overcome all the obstacles, and nothing can stop us as long as we're together. I promise you that you and I will experience a great adventure, Hashida Suzuha!"
He said those words honestly, trusting that she'd realized what his true feeling were. It wasn't the first time that he expressed his intentions, yet he still expected that this time, she noticed them.
Instead, Suzuha began to endlessly laugh. Her loud laughs were so strong and so long that she had to hold her belly with a hand, while she dried the tears coming out her amber eyes with the other.
Okabe Keitarou felt humiliated. He went down the steps and his knees wobbled, making him almost fall to the ground. But he didn't want to give up the small remains of his already hurt masculinity.
It didn't matter how many times Suzuha destroyed him with her unexpected reactions, he wouldn't give up.
"Am I only a joke to you, Hashida-san?" he asked firmly.
"That's not it Keitarou, please don't get mad." she responded, while trying to stop laughing, "It's just that you… you were…"
Without success, she began to laugh again, which bothered Keitarou.
"I what? Tell me what's so funny already!" he demanded.
She managed to contain herself and got ready to talk, keeping her usual smile, but with a more serious tone in her voice.
"You see, first it's the name you gave us, then that speech you gave, and lastly the coat you're wearing."
"What's wrong with my coat?" he asked, "I think it looks good."
"That thing? I don't even believe people in 2012 wear that, although you always liked dressing weird."
But Keitarou believed that there wasn't anything wrong with his fashion sense. He trusted he had inherited the good fashion taste from his mother.
He crossed his arms and raised one eyebrow, he waited for her to explain her true thoughts.
"I suspected as soon as I heard you while I came in." Suzuha confessed, "What you did before was, nothing more than, acting like uncle Okarin!"
Keitarou didn't appreciate the comment and looked at her with a puzzled look, as if he didn't understand what she was saying.
"And the funniest part was that you did it your own way, do you understand now, future child?"
"Yes, I was imitating him before, but only that silly laugh he's got." He refuted. "Plus, you very well know that I don't look like that guy, so don't compare me with him."
"Come on, Keitarou, stop being so grumpy and admit it already, after all, he's your father." she reproached, "You shouldn't be embarrassed, actually, I think it's really cute that you try to look like him."
Cute? Did she really use that word?
Suzuha may be a few months older, but he wasn't a kid either to be treated as such. Plus, when it came to being compared to his father, Okabe Keitarou didn't want to admit any similarities. Doing it was inconceivable.
"No, Hashida-san, you're wrong." he denied it, "Stop imagining that I want to be like that loser Hououin Kyouma."
"Dad is not a loser."
A voice was heard on the other side of the room and caught the attention of the youngsters, who turned towards the spot it came from.
"Good morning Shizuka-chan." Suzuha greeted, "I didn't see you there."
"Good morning." was her reply.
In a corner, next to her bag and with a big stuffed bunny as her luggage, there was Okabe Shizuka. She was barely a teenager with big light brown eyes and long black hair. It could be said that her childlike appearance gave her a certain charm; but, as her name denounced, her biggest feature was not talking much. It was rare when she would express herself through any means and if it wasn't for the few times she made some comments when she wanted to intervene in what was happening around her, her presence would go unnoticed.
Keitarou looked at his younger sister with disgust. He knew that she hated to waste her words without a good reason, but even so, she chose to defend their father. He couldn't understand her.
"Did you finish that Shizuka?"
She made an affirmative movement with her head and gave her brother the three cellphones that up until a moment ago, were in her possession. She had worked on them the whole previous time.
"What is that? They look really ancient, what do you need them for?" Suzuha asked.
"This will be the way we communicate when we arrive to the past, they're that era's models. I managed to make them work and I asked Shizuka to encode them so nobody can intercept us."
The encoding of the teenager had to be infallible. After all, Okabe Shizuka was Hashida Itaru's favorite disciple, who had trained her in the art of all programming codes developed since the 80's. She was also an expert in information security and an experienced hacker at only fourteen years of age, being able to outsmart every security barrier with a monstrous easiness.
Even her dad liked to admit that she was a "lover of chaos, destruction, and most of all, jumping rabbits, IT genius girl."
Suzuha felt uncomfortable. She didn't like the idea of giving up her usual technology, but she understood that camouflage was a necessary feature for every active soldier, so that wasn't the reason for her discomfort. Her main concern was the fact Shizuka would accompany them.
Keitarou insisted that Shizuka could be useful in the past, but the young woman with the braids couldn't trust people capable of betraying others. Since Shizuka's brother couldn't complete the time machine without the help of the original blueprints, it was Shizuka who took them without permission from her teacher's computer. A hacker hacked another hacker.
Even so, Suzuha decided to let it go and didn't say anything about it.
Without having to wait on anyone else, the Schrödinger Squad was ready to depart.
They secured the luggage in a machine's empty seat. It was originally designed to transport four people, but the squad only consisted of three.
"Can I pilot it?" Suzuha asked setting herself next to the control panel, "I have a feeling that I know how to do it."
Her friend gave his approval. Despite the possible complications, he knew that the machine was safe. He had tested it with short trips, to both the past and the future, always trying not to arrive at dates that could cause problems. The worst part of the experiments was having to avoid running into himself or being gone for too long. Going and coming right away wasn't recommended, because the intensive use could overheat the apparatus. So, he had to wait at least some hours in between tests. The trips never went over a few days of temporal displacement.
If unexpected risks were a possibility when trying to go 24 years back in time, the protocol was still the same for all the actions. The only thing needed was to input the date into the clock and the desired location into the coordinates map: the location had already been predetermined. If it had worked before, it would work now.
Shizuka was the only one that wasn't aboard and instead was looking from the entrance without moving.
"Come on in already, don't you want to get that old computer?" Keitarou insisted from the inside, "What was its name? N3Xt Computer?"
"IBN5100." she responded.
"That one. You'll have a better chance of finding it in the past than just standing there."
Without speaking any more words, the last crew member set herself into her seat. The bunny was on her lap.
Hashida Suzuha input the date into the panel and pulled a lever. The door closed and the machinery started up. However, the trip wouldn't be immediate, so they had to wait for a brief lapse to arrive at their destination. The silence became deeper as they went through the dimensions.
"Tell me again, why the year 2012 specifically?" Suzuha asked, trying to break the silence.
"The theoretical calculations indicate that year as the beginning of the superposition of worldlines. Plus, I have a clue about the date my parents could've worked together in what I'm looking for."
"Are you sure that you'll cure your amnesias with that? Because I don't understand what one thing has to do with the other. I mean, you hadn't been born yet."
The question was difficult to answer. The amnesias that Keitarou suffered were so peculiar, that not even his mother, a great well-known neuroscientist and expert in the field of human memory, hadn't found an effective solution to fight them. However, the young man knew that their cause wasn't a physiological error that could be treated, but a secondary effect from the imperfections on the time physics.
"I'm sure." he responded.
"I just hope we get back home before the afternoon. Mama promised to bake me a gigantic cake."
"Don't worry Hashida-san, my priority will be for you two to go back safely. Plus, if things went south and you were in danger, I…"
"If anything bad happens, I'll protect you Keitarou, so don't go crying." Suzuha interrupted happily, "Remember that we have to go play airsoft together next week. I saw a Marucen M870 shotgun in Shinjuku that you could buy with your savings."
Before her friend could begin to show a little interest on investing his money on airsoft markers and accompanying her to survival games organized by the Valkyrie Resistance, Suzuha groped her pocket looking for something.
"By the way, I brought this for you." she handed him a package, "They were my dad's. Mama was going to get rid of them, but I thought you'd like them. You know, they'll go well with that weird coat."
Keitarou felt very weird having an object that belonged to Hashida Itaru. He usually avoided running into him, who despite being his father's best friend, accused him of irrational things, like paying too much attention to the 3D world, or belonging to a male generation that had lost the habit of playing the sacred eroge games. But he must admit that the fingerless black gloves had a style he liked.
While they talked, some strange white lights began to blink all around. Those shining lights were only a secondary effect from a Kerr black hole when traveling through time, but the scene was impressive to the sight. Even Shizuka, who usually seemed uninterested, put a lot of effort trying to catch the sparkles that crossed her hair.
As they got closer to their destination, the gravity's force began to suddenly increase and the final phase felt like a long free fall, that they could only resist by holding onto their seats. When the shaking ended and the machine stopped moving, the first one to unbuckle his seatbelt was Keitarou, who then opened the door and went outside, followed by Suzuha.
They both went to a nearby railing.
"We did it Hashida-san!" he exclaimed looking around, "We truly did it!"
"But where are we now?"
It looked like they were on the rooftop of a 5 or 6 story building approximately. The view wasn't very clear, and some skyscrapers towered above their heads. Despite being morning when they left their time, the sun was already descending.
"In Akihabara, I chose this place because it's abandoned in the future."
Looking down, they realized that the place was still in business. People came in and out the main entrance; some people walked on the streets and others directed their eyes towards the sign crowning the building's façade.
Hashida Suzuha feared that the apparatus could stand out and get people's attention. She turned around to confirm it, but behind her, she could only see Shizuka, next to the luggage that they brought for the expedition, which was now laying on the ground.
"It's covered with invisibility layers from plasmonic technology with automatic activation when evacuated." Keitarou clarified, "I believe that is this machine's best characteristic."
"But if the buttons are invisible, how are we going to open it back up?" his friend asked.
"It's a little bothersome, but it takes me less than thirty minutes to find the digital fingertip authenticator." he responded, admitting that the idea of invisibility was better in theory than in practice. "The important part is that they don't discover us."
"Hey you!"
A middle age man opened the door to the stairs.
"You aren't allowed to come up here. Plus, we just had an earthquake. So, leave now before you get in trouble."
Given the current situation, they didn't have any other options other than to grab their things and go downstairs. The time machine would have to stay there, waiting for them to discover a better place to hide it.
"Excuse me sir, what is this building?" Suzuha asked going down the stairs.
"What!? What kind of question is that, child?" the man reclaimed, "Are you to tell me that you can't tell this is the legendary Super Potatoes? Blasphemous people aren't welcome! Get out of here now!"
When they were inside, they understood that it wasn't just any store. It was packed with paraphernalia of ancient videogames, all of them discontinued from manufacturing. They were only able to recognize them through pictures they had seen online as children.
Despite the previous seismic movement, the visitors didn't stop buying the entertainment contained in impractical cartridges of 8 and 16 bits, in CDs sensitive to being scratched, and in portable consoles that looked very heavy to hold for long hours. Meanwhile, on the fifth floor, others played with hard buttons and handles of wide machines, with monitors of tubes without any tactile function.
But despite the impracticality of the past, nobody would dare question the unbreakably sacred things that museum held.
The Schrödinger Squad felt like participating in that retro fever, and temporarily forgetting their mission, they decided to stay and play. Suzuha beat Keitarou several times in the fighting games, although he managed to get a win after multiple tries. Even Shizuka achieved a high score on one of the machines and got surrounded by an entourage that encouraged her, although she didn't exchange a word with them.
It got dark soon and it was time to leave the store.
Already on the street, the three of them were ready to go their separate ways. The girls would stay together and search for a place where they could stay in the city; he would go farther away to execute his plan.
They gave the final indications of their tasks, exchanged goodbyes, and before the squad split up definitely, a voice interrupted Keitarou.
"Onii-chan."
He felt how his sister was fixatedly looking at him when he turned around. He knew she had one last thing to tell him.
"Are you scared?" she asked.
"What do you mean, Shizuka? What should I be scared of?"
"To change history."
He sighed. He understood well the worry that she wanted to express, although she didn't even move one muscle on her face when saying it.
"You very well know the reason for this. It'll be the best thing for all of us." He put his arm on her head, giving her a soft blow. "So, don't worry about me, silly little sister. Just do me a favor and do not reveal your identity and don't get in any trouble."
Shizuka didn't say anything else.
They watched how their partner walked towards the train station, and then they began to go their own way towards the opposite direction from Chuo Dori, disappearing among the crowd.
