Chapter 17: Unknown Existence

Note: I don't not own Steins;Gate. Only this fanfiction story.

This story follows the events that happened after the following Steins;Gate titles. Steins;Gate, Steins;Gate OVA, and Steins;Gate 0. Also, there are situations from other Steins;Gate titles that inspired multiple events in this story.

Check out my profile for upcoming dates for new chapters on Steins Gate: Epsilon.

December 11th, 2021

Nearly 2 months have passed since Kagari made her appearance with the lab members. She has been enjoying her time with everyone who is a part of the Future Gadget Laboratory, especially Rintaro Okabe. Her curiosity for him and the way he acts always gets her interest as she also enjoys hearing his mad scientist persona. Hanging out with all the lab members also has helped her regain more of her memory, but there are unfortunately still many gaps in the memories she has, so she still can't remember clearly. Regardless, she is still going along with her life.

Time passes by for everyone, and it eventually arrives on December 11th 2021. Winter approaches, and it is now cold outside. Then, there is the countdown to the end of the year, and most importantly, there is less than 3 days left before the founder of the Future Gadget Laboratory's birthday arrives, and that is Okabe. He doesn't pay much attention to this, but all the other lab members do. With every lab member present for the first time on Okabe's upcoming birthday, they want it to be very special.

Inside the Future Gadget Laboratory, Okabe is busy dealing with paperwork about research on the teleporter that he wants to turn in for Leskinen, since there has been some progress on it. He and his supervisors have managed to mostly rebuild the device that will be tested to create wormholes for teleportation, so he is prioritizing that info first.

While Okabe works, in another conference room, Maho, Kurisu, and Daru are on a video call with Leskinen however, about Okabe and his upcoming birthday. "So? There are less than 3 days left before Lintahlo's birthday, right?" asks Leskinen.

"Yep." says Maho. "We plan to have a party at this lab, and we want to invite you."

Leskinen smiles. "Sure I don't mind. I will bring along a camera, so I can take pictures of Kurisu giving a gift to Lintahlo and seeing their reactions."

Kurisu gets embarrassed. "W-W-What are you thinking Professor?!"

He laughs in response to Kurisu's obvious reaction. "I want to see the genius female scientist of all time give a present like a little girl in love to her boyfriend who is to be the next Einstein."

'Professor?! S-Stop saying such things!"

"Relax Kurisu." says Maho. "We all are going to give a gift to Okabe-san anyways. We just need to keep this a secret from him. That is all we are here to say."

Leskinen nods. "Sure. I can keep it a secret. I will also go ahead to buy him a gift."

"Then that settles it for now. Well, we will see you later, Professor." says Maho.

"Alright, see ya." Leskinen hangs up the call.

After the call there is a moment of silence before Daru speaks. "So, we need to figure out how to keep him busy. Although today we kept him busy with the teleportation research, that won't work again."

"That's true. I don't know how we can make sure he is not curious about what we do."

Kurisu, Daru, and Maho think as they are currently stuck at a bump.

Suddenly, Okabe enters through the door and gets ticked off of his supervisors with his persona. "What are you doing?! You guys shouldn't be slacking and focus on creating more future gadgets!"

"Yea!" says Kurisu as she tries to hide what just happened.

It is now lunchtime and everyone is munching on what they have brought to eat. Okabe can't eat at the moment since he is still busy with the research papers.

While they eat, Daru starts a conversation. "So, what are we going to do to keep Okarin busy?"

"Well, I was thinking of calling off work tomorrow so he can take over my group to keep busy." says Maho.

"Senpai? You know Okabe will head over to your place and see if you are lying, so that won't work. Besides, you live right above him." says Kurisu.

"I won't respond to the door. He can't just barge in my home either. I will call the police on him if he does that."

"Umm, I think we should avoid that, because then that will cause us to have more work in the lab if he gets arrested, and Okarin may lose his job by the authorities." says Daru.

Maho takes a moment to realize that and now believe her plan is terrible. "O-Oh yea…...I forgot."

There is a pause. It is difficult to figure out how to keep Okabe busy because he is not someone who can fool easily when it comes to trying to hide something from him. After all, since 2010, he has become more alert than ever.

Then, Kurisu remembers someone who can possibly fool him more than any lab member in the Future Gadget Laboratory. Kurisu takes out her phone, and dials Mayuri's phone number.

It takes only a couple seconds, before she picks up. "Tuturu! This is Mayushii!"

"Hello, Mayuri." Kurisu responds.

"Oh Kuris-chan! What's up?"

"I was wondering. Since we all have decided to keep this party a secret from Okabe, can you find a way to keep him busy for tomorrow? And possibility for the next days until his birthday arrives? That way, he won't start to think everyone is trying to hide something from him."

Mayuri thinks for a moment as what can keep Okabe busy for a whole day. Then, she has the perfect idea. "Oh I know what to do!"

December 12th, 2021

It's a snowy day in Akihabara, as it is quite cold too. Everyone has claimed to Okabe they will be busy today, which are of course Kurisu, Daru, and Maho, but for a good reason. All the other lab members also will be busy so they can have days off tomorrow and the day after that. Okabe however, is not going to work today.

Inside the old lab, Okabe is preparing his tools and places them on a table. He takes a moment to remember something important to him. He remembers how a couple months ago, he promised Kurisu to get a bed for his place so she can then move in with him. However, he has been busy with the teleportation research, continuing to suffer through PTSD, and having a side job as watching over Kagari when it is needed. These events have put the thought of the bed out of focus. He feels bad, but he hopes Kurisu will forgive him. With that in mind, he makes himself aware from now on to make it one of his priorities. Then his thinking is interrupted by a noise coming from across the room. It is revealed to be Kagari, who is putting away a couple of dishes she washed herself.

Flashback (Early Morning)

"Tuturu, Okarin!" says Mayuri.

Kagari runs in from entering the old lab and hugs Okabe. "Hi, Kyouma-san!"

"Hello, Kagari, and to you too, Mayuri."

"Hey Okarin? All the lab members will be busy for the next couple of days. Our jobs had shifted to be quite intense this week. So, Mayushii was wondering if you can take care of Kagari-chan for today?"

Okabe is shocked and puts on his persona. "I would like to, but I must be at the Future Gadget Laboratory at all times! Without me there, the lab may be under siege by an unknown organization and fall into chaos!"

"Please, Okarin? Think of this like this the only thing you are capable of. You are the only one who can ensure Kagari-chan's safety, as the mad scientist."

Okabe takes a moment to think and process Mayuri words. Then, he makes his decision and pulls out his phone. "Well, if this is the choice of Steins Gate, El Psy Kongroo."

"Yay!" says Kagari with excitement.

Mayuri smiles for Kagari's happiness and for Okabe who agrees to this. "Well then, I will come by later in the evening to see how you both are doing. See ya later."

(End of flashback)

Okabe smiles as he gets back to focusing on setting up everything he needs. He is preparing to work on the same future gadget he has been working on since the day he first had to take care of Kagari. Now, this gadget looks more completed than ever.

Then, Kagari walks over to Okabe. "Hey, Kyouma-san! What are we going to do today?!" she asks with excitement.

Okabe puts on his persona and responds. "Well, I was thinking of finishing this future gadget I have been working on to unlock the seal on my right arm! And since the grip is done, I think maybe you want to be a test subject for this prototype."

Kagari smiles. "Okay!"

With that decided, Okabe begins finishing up the adjustments needed to fit the gadget around Kagari's wrist. He clips on each component so it looks like a smooth steel bracelet. He then puts it on Kagari's right wrist. The result, it fits well. "Ok! This is a good start." Okabe then takes off the gadget from Kagari.

He sets it down. "Now, I need to get all the electrical components to fit in the bracelet without having them disturb each other."

"Oh?! Let me help!"

Okabe smiles with his persona. "Sure, you are my volunteer test subject after all."

They both fix the gadget for over a couple of hours. They clip on ends of wiring to the bracelet carefully, and test a few wirings at a time to make sure they all work properly, that way, they don't need to go back and undo their assembly. They manage to get most of the components in and the bracelet starts to operate on only power alone. However a different problem arises. The buttons that are part of the future gadget are not syncing properly, and the monitor is having trouble displaying things.

"Damn! There are some issues but I don't know what." Okabe takes a moment on what to do next, but this comes to a quick solution. He then gestures to Kagari to grab something. "Hey Kagari, can you hand me the research papers that are on the bookshelf by the couch? They are part of this gadget."

"Yep!" says Kagari with happiness. She walks over and sees the papers, and grabs them. She gets curious about what's written on them so she decides to quickly skim through them before heading back. Suddenly, as she reads through it, she begins to remember something clear for once. She remembers seeing the same research papers where she was from. What is more strange, is she remembers even seeing Okabe's name on them. Then her memories reveal scenes, where she was already doing a similar project with the same gadget. However, the person in charge of this was not Okabe.

This begins to cause her head to hurt as she drops to one knee and closes her eyes. While this happens, Okabe also begins feeling a huge headache and stops working for a moment. He quickly visions the area from his dreams for only a split moment, before it already stops.

Then, Kagari and Okabe's headache stop. Okabe takes a deep breath momentarily to question what happened. Kagari though, quickly recovers from her headache as if she was already fine. When she opens her eyes however, they reveal something different. They are now yellow. They don't glow, but they are just suddenly a different color. She then walks with the research papers and hands them over to Kagari. "Here you go, Okarin-san." she says.

"Thank you, Kagari." Okabe begins going through the research papers on his electrical mapping for the gadget. He sees where the problem may lie and decides to take apart some components. This takes a few minutes. After doing that, he then gets confused as to what the problem is. He sees that everything is fine and that nothing looks wrong. "Damn. What is really happening to this gadget?"

Suddenly, Kagari gives her thought. "The motherboard seems to be the problem." Kagar points to a part of the board. "See? They are sort of burnt, which means you used a motherboard that was already used up, or it could have been defected already in the first place. You need to replace it."

Okabe is shocked by what he hears from Kagari. He did not at all expect a girl at her age to pinpoint the issue so easily. "W-Wow, I didn't expect you to sol-"

As Okabe turns to look at Kagari, he is shocked by her eyes. He notices they are now yellow and not blue. This begins to confuse him. "U-Uh Kagari? Are you….ok?"

Kagari nods. "Yep. Everything is fine. Why?"

Okabe also notices her tone is slightly different. She sounds like she is more calm and observant. "Y-You sound different….. Your eyes are also yellow."

"Really? I still feel just fine."

Suddenly, who appears out of the corner in the other room, is a familiar face, the future Suzuha. "Seems like Kagari's condition has kicked in."

Okabe gets very startled. "S-Suzuha?! Since when you were there?!"

"The whole time." she replies.

He then gets curious. "Where have you been all this time. I have tried to contact you, but you never answered, and then suddenly vanished."

"Sorry, Uncle Okarin. I decided to take some time off and gather my thoughts. Time traveling has been affecting me mentally and I wanted to relax for a bit."

"Well, I can relate to that."

There is a pause, as Suzuha sits on the couch and gathers her thoughts. Then, she explains something important. "Since Kagari has suddenly reached this point, I will tell you about something you must know." There is a pause. "She has a mental condition."

"Mental condition? Well, Kagari told me about something about that a couple months ago. But, she never could remember what." Okabe asks.

"Yea, that is to be expected since she has amnesia. Well, I will tell you then that her mental condition involves her having two personalities."

Okabe is shocked. "Two personalities?! You mean she has two versions of herself?"

"Yes." Suzuha explains even further. "Dissociative Identity Disorder, or D.I.D. for short. It's a mental condition where the memory fails to recognize who you originally are, and begins showing a new set of ideas and emotions that vary from the person's experience. This mental condition is caused by Kagari's mental ability. She is able to tell the events of other people that happened in their lives, but then she gets confused about which one is the real thing. This then disrupts her awareness of reality and identity, which then forcefully pulls out the other version of Kagari."

"She is able to tell the events of other people that happen in their lives?!" Okabe gets really shaken up from hearing this, as this sounds similar, like it is some sort of Reading Steiner. He decides to ask Kagari a question. "Kagari? Do you dream of things that seem real?"

"Yes." she says. "However, I never believed they were real, since they ended up just being dreams. Maybe it just tells me a possible outcome in the future which can always be avoided."

Suddenly, Okabe and Kagari's heads start hurting again, and both of them fall to their knees on the floor. It takes a few seconds before it finally stops and Okabe begins to regain focus. Suzuha is shocked to see Okabe act this way, since she already know about how Kagari headache occurs. But then, they notice Kagari lying unconscious. Okabe gets worried for Kagari. "Kagari?! Are you alright?!"

"Don't worry." says Suzuha. "This is a common thing for her. She will be fine with a bit of rest."

Okabe decides to set Kagari on the couch to have her rest until she wakes up again. This situation is becoming very unusual, as he finds out Kagari has a mental ability with a mental condition. "Suzuha, does Kagari have a form of Reading Steiner?"

Suzuha hesitates for a moment to respond, but then, she sighs and responds. "She does."

Okabe eyes widen as he is absolutely shocked to hear her response.

"However, compared to yours, her Reading Steiner is different. Unlike the Reading Steiner you know, where you can sense a divergence in the worldlines, Kagari's Reading Steiner is affected from a different factor. The more concerning situation is she has never time traveled nor diverged through worldlines before, until she traveled with me."

Okabe thinks. How can Kagari already possess Reading Steiner that is already at a severe degree, and without using any sort of time leap machine? The only possible answer at this time is she was born with it, from another person with Reading Steiner. He becomes curious on who her parents could be, however, since everyone can possess the ability to a small degree, her parents could literally be anyone. Then, the possible theory of Reading Steiner can be acquired just like what happened to him as a kid is another possibility instead of genetics. Thinking through this then raises another curiosity for Okabe. "Speaking of Reading Steiner, what does Kagari tend to vision of?"

"Well, aside from possible futures, Kagari mentions this one dream she tends to have quite often. She tells me she ends up being in a foggy area, and she is trying to help a man in a white coat as he is apparently unaware of the destruction that is to come. Then she is trying to make this man aware of something very crucial."

Hearing this makes Okabe stunned to the core. This makes him remember that the girl in his dream of the same place would have her eyes blue, and then yellow at times, and her tone would also slightly change. This then brings one of the big pieces together, as Okabe finally realizes who the girl in his dreams was this whole time. "Y-You mean, t-the girl…...in my dream….was Kagari?"

Suzuha questions what Okabe means. But, she then also puts the pieces together. Kagari's dream was all about Okabe, and Okabe's dream was all about Kagari, in the same place in their dreams. "No way! How is that even possible?!"

Okabe is still shocked about this, but then speaks up. "I have no idea. What is more unusual is how my head hurts whenever Kagari's head hurts."

Suzuha is now curious about the same thing, but elaborates something else. "Well, whenever Kagari's head hurts, she is experiencing the effects of Reading Steiner. It activates against her own will and pulls out her other personality because of it."

Okabe is shocked. "So, Kagari's Reading Steiner is caused by another factor, which is her mental condition." Then he realizes something. "Wait, then that means….my headache also sensing Kagari's headache at the same time…..?" There is a pause. "Then that means…. my Reading Steiner is sensing her Reading Steiner?! But how?!"

Suzuha scratches her head. "This is where I no longer can provide you information. This is the first time I am seeing this type of phenomenon so I can't provide you that answer. Also, I can't tell you everything about the future. I would rather try to avoid altering events that may make the future worse."

"Didn't I tell you, this is the Steins Gate Worldline! How can you be so sure the future is the same?"

Suzuha disagrees with Okabe's answer. "I don't think so. There is something more than thinking this is really the Steins Gate worldline. Kagari's Reading Steiner activated multiple times in the future is a theory that makes me believe we may not be in the Steins Gate Worldline. The only way to find out of course is if you focus on repairing the divergence meter. Only then, will we be able to move on from there."

Okabe realizes he has set off the divergence meter aside for a long time. This is because he wanted to focus on the future and not worry about any time traveling events again. However, with Suzuha and Kagari present from the future, this may need more attention after all. "Ok, I will focus on repairing the divergence meter. That way, we can see if we are in the Steins Gate worldline after all. I am telling you though, we should be still."

"I sure hope so." Then, Kagari wakes up from being unconscious. She regains her focus and opens her eyes. They have returned back to being blue, which means her personality has too.

"Are you alright, Kagari?" Suzuha asks.

"Yea." she responds. Kagari then looks up to see Suzuha who was with her. She gets up quickly and hugs her. "Big Sis Suzuha!"

Suzuha blushes a bit. "I-It's nice to see you too, Kagari."

She then gets a bit sad. "Where have you been all this time?"

"Well, I have been trying to explore around the city to make sure everything is ok, and I needed to take a short break. But, while I was gone, you have met some new people. Besides, you have your-" Suzuha instantly stops to re correct herself. "I mean Okarin here to take care of you. After all, you seem to enjoy being around him."

"Yep! He is always fun to hang around!"

Okabe steps in with his persona. "Of course. No one ever gets bored of my presence!"

Suzuha sighs. "Perhaps." There is a pause. "Anyways, I will have to leave for now, for as I must check on the time machine again to see if it is still in good condition. I will be back to see you guys in a few days. And Uncle Okarin, keep our conversation a secret from the other lab members."

Okabe nods in agreement. "Got it. However, why don't you stay to meet the other lab members? You could at least meet them and thank them for taking care of Kagari?"

She sighs. "Out of all people, you should realize the reason I avoid most of the lab members. There are two of me in this world. I can't have any interaction with the lab members while my past self is mostly around them. After all, Papa has been a lab member since you guys hung around each a lot, and my Mama is about everyday around my younger self."

"A-Ah, that is true. It would cause a time paradox if you ever looked at your past self, or even probably interact."

"Yea." says Suzuha. "Well I will be leaving for now, but I will be back. See ya." Suzuha leaves.

Okabe and Kagari decide to take a long walk outside for the next couple of hours. Kagari enjoys the amount of snow dropping down from the sky and Okabe just smiles how Kagari is enjoying her time. He is still shocked after what happened with her at the old lab. Kagari has two personalities that depend on the state of her Reading Steiner. The more interesting thing as well is how his Reading Steiner senses her Reading Steiner, and that her eyes change to a different color when that occurs. He wonders why that happened, and if there is a theory that there is something more to Reading Steiner than he ever thought about.

However, he decides to put all those ideas aside and instead, wants to help Kagari regain her memories, because if she could, maybe she can explain her condition better. "So Kagari, what can you remember at this moment from where you are from?"

Kagari thinks for a moment, before responding. "Well, I know I am not from this time, and that Big Sis Suzuha has been with me most of my life."

" I see. Is there anything else?"

"Ummm…..The only other thing is for some reason, all of your friends give me a small memory that I don't know well. But, I think I might have seen them at some point in my life."

Okabe thinks. This narrows options down, that Kagari maybe has a close relationship with Suzuha in the future, and maybe she meets every lab member at some point too. This can be through Daru and Yuki as a possible solution. "Then, how old are you Kagari?"

"13." she responds.

"How about your date of birth?"

"Ummm, December 14th 2022."

Okabe is glad she remembers her year of birth. Then, he realizes what she just said. December 14th is the same birthday as his. "Interesting, your birthday is the same as mine."

Kagari eyes widen in happiness. "Oh?! That is so cool. I have the same birthday as Kyouma-san!"

This possibly means maybe at some point, just before her birth, they may meet her parents. He also noticed that her memories are slowly coming back for being around the lab members. He hopes her memories will return soon, that way this messy situation of time traveling can clear up.

"Well that's good you can remember. I believe your memories will return with time. Ok?"

Kagari nods. "Mhm!"

Okabe smiles. "Then, let's head back to the old lab."

Back at the old lab, Mayuri and Luka are together, creating a new cosplay outfit. It is quiet until Okabe and Kagari arrive.

"Okarin and Kagari-chan! Tuturu!"

"Hello, Mayu!" says Kagari as she runs up to her and hugs her.

"So, how was your day with Kyouma-san?" Luka asks Kagari.

"It was great! We worked on a future gadget and we went out for a long walk!" she responds with excitement.

"I see. Then it was a very good day."

"Indeed." says Mayuri in agreement. Then, she pulls out and upa she had acquired earlier today. "Hey Okarin, I got another upa today, and this time it is blue. But, Mayushii wants you to have it."

Okabe is surprised. "O-Oh, thank you Mayuri." He then puts on his persona. "I, the insane mad scientist, will always take good care of the gift my ally has given me!"

When Okabe finishes his sentence, Kagari's eyes begin to widen as the upa she sees Okabe having gives a flow of memories through her brain, but yet she can't remember exactly everything. She remembers seeing a blue upa from her timeline, and for her, it was very important, However, she can't make out the scene completely. Then, she suddenly collapses.

This shocks everyone in the room. "K-Kagari?!" says Mayuri with a shout.

Inside Kagari's mind, we see for the first time her, inside the same place that Okabe has been dreaming of. The place is foggy, but now, in the far distance, and a set of gear wheels reveal themselves. However, that doesn't have a specific meaning currently.

Then, Kagri sees an orb appear just ahead of her in the fog. It lights up brightly and makes her go to it. She then touches the glowing orb, and suddenly, a rush of memories come through. Although they are not clear, they show at least something very interesting. Kagari remembers the same voices of Luka, Mayuri, and Okabe from a different time and having spoken with them about random topics to keep themselves busy. Then Okabe would come in with his persona and make a fool of himself. However, Kagari would always laugh as she enjoyed hearing Okabe's persona.

Out of all of that, Kagari remembers something clearly. She remembers how she would be in a room, where she would always head to a counter, and look at 3 upas. One was colored blue, the second was red, and the third one was purple. She would always cherish these 3 upas the most.

After this rush of memory, Kagari steps out of the dream and wakes up in reality.

Kagari slowly wakes up. She regains focus and notices she was lying down on the couch. Everyone in the lab then notices her waking up. "Kagari? Are you alright?" Mayuri asks.

"Yep." she responds, as she is wide awake.

"What happened?" Luka asks.

Kagari then turns to everyone. "I remember something of myself."

Everyone is shocked that she has regained some memory. This makes Okabe very curious. "Tell us, Kagari. What did you remember."

"Umm, I remember those Upas you guys have, like I actually have seen them before and cleaned them myself. I remember having the purple one and seeing the blue Upa Okarin-san has. Then I remember meeting everyone here, and talking about the little things to keep us happy. Then I remember seeing Okarin-san at one point who calls himself Hououin Kyouma."

Everyone is now very confused as to what she means. They all have no recollection of being around Kagari until nearly two months ago. They question where they all meet at one point. Okabe however, since he knows the truth, thinks that Kagari may be involved with the lab members more than ever in the future. He wonders if she was either an adopted child, or they knew her parents. This makes Okabe ask her something. "Kagari, do you remember who your parents are?"

Kagari nods in disagreement. "No. Every time I try to remember them, my head hurts so much."

"So, you still can't remember everything, but you remember things based on past experiences in similar situations." Okabe implies.

"Then, does that mean Kagari is…."

Okabe confirms Luka's assumption to hide the truth that Kagari is from the future. "Yes, Kagari remembers past experiences she had, but since she can't remember the people she has met exactly, her brain can only use us to get a clear picture of where she is from. However, as for me, I still don't know who can act like me. Then for the Upas, that is still a current mystery."

Mayuri and Luka go along with Okabe's explanation since they don't know a lot about science. However, they realize suddenly that even after nearly two months, it's strange how Kagari's parents haven't looked for her even after all this time. They question if she really was abandoned, or she was already homeless. Also, they wonder who is her old sister to this day, but they let it go for now since she is happy in the place they stay at.

Now that the day comes to an end, Mayuri had something different for Okabe. Since he will be taking care of Kagari for another couple of days, she decides to leave Kagari in his care. "Well Okarin, since you will be taking care of Kagari-chan for two more days, she will be sleeping over in the old lab."

There is a pause. "Huh?" says Okabe as he just wonders why.

"Mhm! Besides, Kagari-chan likes being around you more, so this is a good chance to be best friends together."

Kagari is very happy. "Yay! We can now do more work with future gadgets!"

Okabe smiles and takes out his phone while putting on his mad scientist persona. "If that is the choice of Steins Gate, El Psy Kongroo.

As the day comes to an end, over at the Future Gadget Laboratory. Everything is turned off like how it should and nothing unusual at first. But then, over in the lower floor of the lab, we reach the room of the Amadeus Project. The screen begins to boot up by itself, as if something just either turned it on, or something else caused it. Then the program begins running an automatic run through of the system, and then it confirms its reasons to turn on by itself. The system suddenly detects an anonymous attempt of being hacked.

Behold, Pandora's Box