Trapped in a Strange New World
Steins;Gate
Chapter Ten
2012.07.24 - 4:10 AM PDT
Tuesday
After stating that she had built three time machines, my future self continued on to list her inventions to the older Violet.
"Suzuha took the MTM-001."
"You and Okabe took the MTM-002."
"And I took the MTM-003."
"Why three?" The older Violet asks this in response.
"They're backups. It's like they say in the military."
"Three is two, two is one, one is none."
I wasn't sure if that was an actual military expression, but I wasn't in any position to question my older self. Okabe decides to ask this older me a typical Okabe question.
"What does MTM even stand for? You clearly have no taste in names, woman."
"If you had approached me earlier, we could have made these devices future gadgets."
"Like I wanted my time machines to be in your greedy little clutches." The older me told him off.
"I only got you involved because I had to. I'm surprised you haven't bought yourself a lottery ticket yet."
"Is that why you're here? You went a bit far for that."
"No. That's not why we're here." Okabe answers. He turns to me and gives out a stern look.
"We're here to convince your younger self to return to her home worldline."
This older Okabe walks over to me and speaks to me directly. He seemed a bit sad, quite unlike him.
"Kurisu, I understand you want to keep all of us happy. However, this is not the way."
"Even here in 2012, your sister can tell something is wrong."
"You're clearly suffering and you'll continue to suffer well into your 40s."
"You think that makes us happy? No. In fact, we're miserable too."
I was dumbfounded. I hadn't thought of the real consequences of my actions. I was trying to protect Violet, but maybe keeping her in the dark wasn't the right thing to do. I turn away from Okabe to talk to my sister. Both versions of her looked right back at me. I could only ask them one question.
"Is… is… that true?"
Violet's older counterpart nodded immediately while the younger one just stared at me with the strangest expression. It was halfway between confusion and crying her eyes out. I knew I had messed up. My older doppelganger was starting to get irritated. She must've known what I was about to do.
"If… if you tell her the truth, you'll only be hurting her more."
"It was a horrible mistake telling Violet in the first place."
I look at my future self, irritated as well. Her arrogance was getting on my nerves. Was this really me from over twenty years in the future? We seemed so different.
"I think we've caused enough heartache as is." I told her.
"Our true mistake was not telling Violet sooner."
I approach the younger Violet with the most sincere of expressions. When I reach her, she unexpectedly draws me in for a hug.
"You're finally ready to tell us what's wrong?"
"What this Reading Steiner thing is?"
"Y-yes. O-of course." I barely get out in the tight pressure of the embrace. Violet soon lets go of me and I begin my explanation. I went over everything. Worldline theory, SERN, Reading Steiner, deja vu, etc. We spend almost an hour talking. This included the occasional question from either Violet or Mayuri. When I was finally done, Violet takes one deep breath before speaking.
"Okay then. What's the plan?"
"Huh?"
"You're not too happy with this most recent worldline shift, right?"
"How can we fix it?"
"Well… first we need to determine the cause of the shift." I told her.
"Then we can try to reverse it."
"What differences have you noticed so far?" Suzuha added.
"Too many to count." I said with a sigh.
"But, most of them seem be traceable back to my father."
"Maybe we should have a chat with him."
"Sounds reasonable." Okabe comments.
"Why not give him a call?"
"I'm afraid that's not really possible." The younger Violet tells us.
"Papa is currently at the cottage. I've been calling his cell phone for weeks, but I still haven't been able to get ahold of him."
"And if the cottage does have a landline, I certainly don't know the number."
"Where is this cottage?" I ask her.
"It's in Idaho. About a six hour drive from here." She replies.
"In that case, you want to leave in at around nine?" Suzuha asks Violet.
"I need to get some sleep first. Hopefully I'll be ready to hit the road by then."
"Sounds good. What do you think, Kurisu?"
"I agree. That seems like the best course of action right now."
Something seemed off. I took a look around the parking lot and got my answer.
"Wait… how many people can your truck accommodate?"
"There's like six or seven of us."
"Right. I totally forgot. What can we do about that?" Suzuha mutters.
"Suzuha, you disappoint me." My older self teases her.
"Did you forget the time machines can travel through space too?"
"We can just jump to the cottage."
Everyone looked her in a sort of disbelief. I thought she was against us doing this. I guess she had warmed up a bit.
"N-nice plan Aunt Kurisu, but there's not enough seats in the time machines." Suzhua told her.
"As you know, each unit only has room for two and the one I took is almost out of fuel."
"I barely have enough to get back home." She pauses for a breath.
"Why don't three of us take the truck and the rest take the remaining two time machines."
"Your truck can take three people?"
"Yeah, it has a middle seat."
"Oh! Mayushii wants to ride in the time machine!" Mayuri called out.
"Is that possible?"
Mayuri gave us the biggest puppy face she could muster. My older doppelganger smiled and patted her on the shoulder.
"Sure. You can take a ride with me." She told her. Mayuri jumps with joy. Okabe and the older Violet looked at each other.
"I guess that's settles it." Okabe says with an amused tone.
"We have some planning to do."
Suzuha pulls out a map from the truck and we spread it across the ground. According to Violet, the cottage was located along the Payette River near the small town of Letha. We planned exactly what route we were going to take in the truck as well as where the two time machines were going to touch down. A nearby golf course looked perfect. We didn't want to scare Papa by having the time machines suddenly appear right in front of him. We also decided on the touch down time of 10 PM. Therefore there shouldn't be anyone at the golf course when we arrive. However, chances are we'll arrive in Idaho in the truck long before then. In that case, we've decided to approach my father without everybody being there. Once we were finished, Suzuha went to bed to catch up on some lost sleep. After a brief goodbye, my older self and Mayuri headed out to the time machines. Okabe soon followed. The older Violet went to get up too, but her younger counterpart stopped her.
"Hey, did… did… we ever approach Mama or Papa about the Child Citizenship Act?"
The older Violet froze. She looked up at her teenage self. She almost looked afraid.
"I… I… work as a flight attendant." The older Violet tried to form words.
"Since we're currently employed by a tourism agency, it was a logical next step."
"I've seen so many places. I've talked to so many people. I…"
"You didn't answer my question." The younger Violet told her.
"Please do. Don't turn into Kurisu."
"We're talking about your future here. It's... different."
The older Violet got up and left. I turn to the younger Violet sitting beside me. I told her what was probably already on her mind.
"She seemed quite desperate to avoid your question."
"I would take that as a no."
******
(Chapter Eleven: Out Now!)