Chapter 18: Dreadful Transition
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 13th, 2021
Another day rises, but this time with more chances of snow. The temperature grows colder, and everyone is in coats, and in other protective wear from the cold. Inside the old lab, Okabe is sleeping on the floor snoozing away. Kagari is also in the old lab after being told she would stay with Okabe for a couple more days. She is currently sleeping on the couch. Suddenly, a cellphone begins to ring, which causes Okabe to wake up from his sleep. He sits up and yawns as he tries to reach his phone. Then, he turns it on, and he is shocked to see so many missed calls from Amadeus.
He instantly calls back Amadeus by video call. It only takes a second before Amadeus responds, with virtual Kurisu Makise appearing on screen. "Okabe, where have you been?!" Kurisu asks with a bit of annoyance.
"S-Sorry, I am just waking up now." he responds as he yawns. "What's up?"
"I am here to tell you, that last night at 1:00 am, someone tried to hack into the database of the lab."
Okabe's face turns serious instantly. "A-Are you sure?!"
"Yea. I will send you a report about everything that occurred once you get to the lab."
Okabe realizes instantly he can't. "I unfortunately cannot go there today. I have to watch over Kagari today and tomorrow."
[Kurisu] realizes that Okabe hasn't been to the lab because of her. This makes things more tough, and she doesn't want to pass on information through calls and other devices that is not part of the lab either. Then, an idea comes up. "I know. How about taking Kagari with you to the lab today?"
'H-Huh? I can't do that, she could harm herself if anything bad happens in the lab!"
[Kurisu] nods in sadness for Okabe's response. "That's why you will still watch over her. The only thing is this time, you will do so in the lab. Think of this like "Take your child to work." You can watch over her like a parent while managing some work in the lab. Since you will be mainly busy with Kagari, you can leave the rest to your supervisors."
Okabe thinks that is a decent idea, but he puts on his persona. "Well, it's not bad at all of an idea. However, that is just pushing more work on me, the insane Mad Scientist!"
"Stop complaining." she says. "You are an adult and leader of the Future Gadget Laboratory. Take full responsibility for your position."
"Yea, yea, [Kurisutina]!
"There is no tina in my name!"
As midday closely arrives, inside the lower floor of the Future Gadget Laboratory, Okabe, Daru, Kurisu, and Maho are gathered to acquire information about the attempted hacking that occurred last night. Amadeus loads up all the reports about what was occurring when the hacking was taking place and all the times it took place and what information was taken. Fortunately, the reports indicate that no information was stolen, thanks to the highly anti-theft protection system created by Daru.
Okabe sighs in relief nothing happened, and turns to talk to Daru with his persona. "Congratulations My Favorite Right Arm. Your advanced anti-theft protection managed to do its job perfectly, keeping the enemy organization from steal information from the Future Gadget Laboratory!"
"Of course it would. It would take a miracle for the enemies to break through my software. Besides, I am a hacker myself."
'Then, we need to figure out who is the organization that is trying to get through our defenses, and make them pay for messing with the Future Gadget Laboratory! Commence Operation Atlas!" Okabe implies.
Kurisu sighs. "Really, Greek Mythology?"
"That's right. You all will need to find out the location of the enemy's organization and then we will proceed from there. That is why this operation is called Atlas."
Kurisu, Maho, and Daru suddenly get confused by only meaning them. "Wait, you're not going to help us?" Maho asks.
Okabe sighs. "I would definitely like to, but I brought Kagari with me today, Also, I have to take care of paperwork with the teleportation research and with the divergence meter that I created. So, I will need to head back to my office to watch over her while I work."
Daru teases. "Well you look at you being a responsible parent."
"H-Hey! I have been taking care of her well being so she can continue to be happy. Especially since she has amnesia."
"You just sounded like a father of the year already." Maho implies.
Okabe puts on his persona. "Of course. Even the mad scientist can be very considerate of someone's well being." There is a pause. "Anyways, you guys get to work! I'll be in my office if you need anything." He leaves the Amadeus room.
As Maho and Daru get to work, Kurisu gets a bit strange as to hearing about Okabe being a father, but continues her work. They work for over an hour, going through file after file to ensure that nothing was taken. Daru works on trying to find the connection used by the enemy and track them down using that same source. However, as time passes by, the room seems to be to quiet. They all seem to be very focused on there job. So, to keep things alive, Maho decides to start a conversation. "So, have either of you decided about your gifts for Okabe-san's birthday?"
"No, I haven't had a lot of time to figure out a gift." says Daru
"Me neither..." says Kurisu.
"Is that so?" says Maho. "Well I have figured out to get him a new laptop. His old one is becoming outdated, and I figured it would be best to get him a new one."
Kurisu is shocked. "Huh? A new laptop? That is rather such an expensive gift."
"It is, but I have nothing else to give him this year. And his old laptop will need an upgrade soon."
Daru then decides something. "Well then, if that is the case, I can get him a new game or other video source so he can try it out in that BCI experiment he does once and a while. It has been over 3 years since we have done another BCI experiment though."
"That is because Kurisu is in charge of that experiment. Not Okabe-san. We can only get her permission, and she didn't visit the lab other than that event she attends to every year here."
"That's...Well...Never mind." says Kurisu with a sad tone. "However, of course you need my permission for the BCI experiment. I was the one who introduced it to you guys from the University I worked in. Professor Leskinen put me in charge to supervise you guys with the experiment as well. It is not something anyone can just test out whenever they want. Also, be proud that even one of the top scientists in Viktor Chondria University trusts people like you to handle such a possible life threating experiment. You guy made lots of money for that."
"That is true." says Maho
"But, even after all of that, the first BCI experiment went terribly wrong." says Daru. "It was just another harem story in school that Okarin could easily complete. But then, Makise-shi's character had to be the Yandere and which made Okarin so flustered and nervous. Then he triggered the bad ending, so it made Makise-shi go crazy! it gave him nightmares after that for a few days!"
"You should of not used that game in the first place!" yells Kurisu. "Because of that, Okabe didn't want to be near me for a few days, and that hurt our relationship for a bit too! It was a video game that was part of your perverted habits! Be glad I didn't make your life go horribly wrong!"
Maho sighs. "Calm down you guys, ok? That was in the past." There is a pause. "If Hashida-san wants to test the BCI experiment with Okabe-san, then we will wait until we have free time. Besides, this is about a birthday gift in the first place."
"T-That is true..." says Kurisu. She suddenly feels sad since as the girlfriend of Okabe, she should have already had something in mind for his birthday gift, but nothing comes to mind. She feels a bit worse since Daru and Maho have mentioned they already decided on a gift for him. Suddenly, Daru speaks to her in a teasing tone to reveal her intentions. "Makise-shi? What have you decided to give for Okarin's birthday."
"I don't know…..." she says with a bit of disappointment.
"I'm surprised. I thought you would try to cosplay for Okarin in one of those sexy santa outfits and offer yourself to him as one of his gifts. After all, Christmas is almost here."
Kurisu's face turns red with embarrassment for Daru mentioning such a comment. "H-HASHIDA! What are you thinking?!"
Maho teases along. "Eh? You were going to do something like that? Such boldness you have Kurisu. I'm impressed."
"S-S-Senpai! Stop it!"
"Then, you will at least offer yourself to him, right?" Daru asks.
Kurisu embarrassment fuses with huge anger. "Hashida, say one more thing about this, I'm going to jam an electrode into your hippocampus!"
"Alright." says Maho. "Since Kurisu said that, let's stop there." She then turns to Kurisu. "Look. we are surprised you haven't thought of a gift for Okabe-san. Since you are his girlfriend, we thought you would have had something by now."
Kurisu's face turns to a bit of sadness. "I know...I just don't know what to get him."
Maho sighs and decides maybe she should help. "Then, let me help you decide a gift for him later on."
Kurisu smiles and thinks it would be great to get some help. "Thank you Senpai."
"Then, let me help too." says [Kurisu]. "After all, I am the same as you. We can try to help each other think as one."
"Sure."
At Okabe's office, both him and Kagari have finished working together on the wrist band and is ready for addition production. Okabe has given instructions to all of his Interns about helping create a certain amount of copies of the wrist band to be able to use for testing. They should be able to finish it all by tomorrow.
Okabe puts on his persona. "There. It is finished." There is a pause. "Thank you, my worthy ally, this gadget is operational and ready for production."
Kagari smiles. "I'm glad to be helpful."
Seeing Kagari smile then reminds him of his conversation with the future Suzuha, and how he should work on repairing the divergence meter he has on the bookshelf. He is curious about who Kagari really is, espeically since she has Reading Steiner as well. This would be also a good thing to see something about Kagari's memories. Okabe puts on his persona. "Hey Kagari. Since you have been of great use to the insane mad scientist, how about helping me fix on another future gadget important to me?"
Kagari nods with a cute tone of excitement that she would really like too.
Okabe then goes to the bookshelf to take his divergence meter, and then sets it back on his working desk. "Behold your eyes, Kagari! This is a classified gadget only the mmmaaaddd scientist and the Elite Four know about! Future Gadget Number 100: The Divergence Meter!"
Kagari is shocked to see such a very unusual look gadget as it looks very fancy. However, as she continues to look at it longer, her mind begins to hurt, as she has definitely seen this gadget before in her life. As her head hurts, Okabe's head also begins to hurt. He already knows that this is due to his Reading Steiner sensing Kagari's Reading Steiner activated due to her current mental condition. Moments later, both of their heads stop hurting, and they both manage to focus again. However, Kagari is different. Just like last time, her eyes have changed color, as they are now yellow instead of blue.
Okabe is a bit shocked by this, but he decides to see what she does next. As Kagari looks around, she questions what she is doing here. Then she looks at the divergence meter, and she then speaks. "So, the divergence meter is broken."
"Y-Yea that is right."
There is a pause. "It would seem something impactful happened which cause the meter to break."
Okabe is shock to here such a response. "H-Huh? What do you mean?"
"It would seem that there are multiple things that can cause the meter to break, but I don't even know all the possibilities myself."
Okabe follows along. "T-Then, what are some theories you have in mind?"
"Well, I can only come up with three at this time." There is a pause, as Kagari gathers her thoughts. "One, something inside the meter broke which cause it to shut off. Two, the world we are currently in is not the same, which was then detected by the meter. But then, that would mean a huge change happened to this world, that it actually caused the meter to malfunction due to some power overload. Three, both theories I had mentioned before are both the reasons the meter doesn't work."
Okabe sits in shock. Although the thought about a part breaking in the meter is more possible, thinking about the part of something happened to the world to make it affect the meter is also a possible thing. It is scary to think about.
However, Kagari suddenly falls to her knees and breathes heavily to catch her breath. Okabe goes to her if she is alright. She fortunately is, as she manages to quickly recover. When Okabe looks at her eyes, her eyes are back to blue. Yet, he continues to think how can this girl think about such theories. It is like her other version is just like another Kurisu Makise, being able to think of possible theories quickly.
Kagari then re-gains focus and looks back at Okabe. "O-Okarin-san….."
"Are you ok?" he asks.
She nods in agreement.
"Are you aware of what just happened?"
She nods again. "Yep. My beta version replaced me for a short time. That happens when I try to remember things that are important."
Okabe is confused. "Wait, beta version?"
"Yep. That is what I call my other self. This is because of the people who I can partially remember from where I am from, They would call my other version Kagari Beta."
"So, you have managed to gain more of your memory?"
"Mhm. But, the things I can't remember are the people who were involved with me. I do remember that meter from when I was a little."
Okabe is stunned. He questions how much Kagari was involved with the lab and the lab members in the future. How many of her memories that are returning triggered from events and items that are part of the Future Gadget Laboratory. He however decides he should put it aside as he still cannot do much about her memories, and focus on the meter for now.
However, as they were about to start, he gets a call from Daru to head to the Amadeus room immediately.
Okabe heads inside to meet up with Daru and the others. They had printed out some documents of more information about the hacking that occurred yesterday.
"So, the people who attempted to hack our lab are located in New York, U.S.A."
Daru nods. "Yes. The strangest thing is they are located not too far from Viktor Chondria University."
Okabe wonders. How did this unknown organization find out about the Future Gadget Laboratory in the first place. Could it be that they know something about them since the only person who is in contact with them there, is Alexis Leskinen?
Kurisu then speaks. "That is just one thing. Then we found a folder that was part of the unknown organization's database when Daru hacked into it." Kurisu pulls up a folder that has no title on it which is really strange. However, when they opened it up, a whole bunch of files started to appear.
Everyone inside the room is shocked by what they see. They see files in all sorts of languages. What is more strange is there are more files that are written in English, French, German, and Russian. Daru decides to open some files. They contain documents and reports of experiments and theories. Nothing out of the ordinary.
"These are all reports of testing and experiments." Maho says.
Daru opened another file, and it was another report of testing and experiments. However, the report is written in Russian, "This one is written in Russian?" Daru asks
"Seems so." Kurisu replies.
"This is really strange. Why are there reports from parts of the world in one folder?" Okabe wonders.
Daru decides to dig deep further into the folders to see what else is there. However, curiosity turned into terror, as the next files open contained a folder that had the title, "HUMAN." Daru opens the folder, and what pops up is reports of human experimentation. The report is very gruesome as it even shows a picture of the result that occurred on the humans what were tested on. Everyone in the rooms is shocked with fear.
"N-No way…..." Daru says.
"This is…... Maho says.
"Human…..." Kurisu says.
"Experimentation…..." Okabe says to finish off Kurisu's sentence.
Seeing these reports makes Maho feel very sick and she turns to the bathroom in a hurry.
"S-Senpai!" Kurisu shouts as she runs to go help her.
Daru closes off all the files as they were just extremely gruesome to continue looking at.
Okabe is shocked with fear to the core. He could not believe who they are dealing with. This is like the situation with SERN all over again, but worse, because the human experimentation was on another level. Not only that, but this organization tried to hack into the Future Gadget Laboratory. This begins to affect his mentality and trigger his PTSD. However, he manage to regain composure as he is beginning to adapt to them more and find a way around them. Then he theorizes again. They don't know who they are or what they even want. He doesn't even want to attempt finding out more about them because of all they have found out.
Okabe then speaks up to cut the silence. "Did we just find out...about Pandora's box?"
"You mean top secret information we should never have found out?!" Daru asks.
"That is correct! This is very dangerous. This organization tried to hack into our lab!"
There is a pause. "What do you think they wanted Okarin?"
"I do not know. However, they are clearly trying to take research documents from our database based on what we already know about them." Okabe says. He remembers the time in the Alpha Worldline with something similar to SERN. After finding out about them, things turned for the worst. This begins to worry him however as to what they can possibly do. He then decides to speak to Amadeus. "Amadeus! Activate all security defense immediately! Make sure no one tries to hack into our database anymore."
"I understand. Activating all security defenses and measures. Authorized by Rintaro Okabe, Top Administrator of the Future Gadget Laboratory. All data will now need passcodes that can only be accessed by the The Administrator and Supervisors of the lab."
As evening begins to approach, at Mayqueen Nyannyan, everyone has reached the end of their shift for the day. Mayuri changes from her work clothes, and begin heading home. However, before she could, Luka and Yuki stop by the place to check on everyone.
"Mayuri." Luka calls.
"Oh everyone! Tuturu!" she says.
"So have you decided if we will do a party at the old lab or the new lab?"
"Mhm." Mayuri smiles. "We will do a party and the lab so we can have room. After all, for Okarin's birthday, we should celebrate in the place he worked hard to make a reality."
"I see." Yuki replies. "Then, we should prepare a big sign for him so he can be amazed."
"How about we make another cake just like Suzuha wanted hers!" Luka implies.
Mayuri nods in agreement. "Mhm! But we also try to make it large so everyone can have more pieces! We should also be able to finish it before the party tomorrow evening."
Everyone agrees as this birthday already sounds like it is going to be the best time ever. Suddenly, Faris steps in to ask them something. "So, what flavor should be the cake-nyan?"
Everyone takes a moment to think. Fortunately, it isn't long before Mayuri makes the decision. "We should make the cake out of mainly chocolate." she says with a smile. "After all, Okarin likes chocolate."
"Well since Mayuri knows Kyouma longer than us, we will just have to agree-nyan." Faris then puts on a teasing smile. "If we make the cake, we need to have Kuunyan with us-nyan. I want to see what she does for Kyouma."
"Y-You mean make her explode?" Luka asks.
"Exactly! That way, we can see how she reacts-nyan! And that way we can all help her with her gift to Kyouma." Faris winks.
Yuki puts on a weird face as she might know what they are referring too.
Back at the old lab, Okabe is in his office, putting away his stuff as another day in the lab comes to an end. He decides this time to take the divergence meter home to be able to work on it. So he puts in a bag with the necessary parts to work on it. Kagari prepares her little bag which contains some upas and items she uses while with Okabe.
As they prepare to soon leave, Kurisu enters the office.
"Umm, Okarin-san?" Kagari says.
Okabe turns to Kagari to then see Kurisu. "Oh, Kurisu."
"Hey Okabe." Kurisu then turns to Kagari. "Oh! Hello Kagari. How are you doing?"
"Kagari is very happy! I had fun helping Kyouma-san with his future gadget!"
Kurisu smiles as she is charmed by Kagari's cuteness. "I see. I'm surprised you like to help Okabe with future gadgets. Kurisu gets down on one knee to talk with Kagari head to head for a bit.
Okabe finishes preparing everything and sees both Kagari and Kurisu speaking together. He smiles as what he sees looks adorable. However, Okabe suddenly becomes shocked as he notices something very strange. Comparing Kurisu facial looks to Kagari, they look similar, like Kagari was a much younger version of Kurisu. The eyes, the skin color, the hair color. But then, he thinks that just may be coincidence as doppelgangers are a possibility, so he sets the thought aside.
Then, Kurisu turns to Okabe. "So Okabe. I wanted to ask you, if you are ok of not worrying much about the unknown organization?"
Okabe puts on his persona. "Don't worry Kurisutina. Since they are a dangerous organization, we will need to be more alert than ever. We will not make any moves on them to avoid exposing ourselves."
Kurisu sighs. "Well, lets just hope it turns out that way. Also, there is no tina in my name."
He chuckles. "You keep reminding of your name when as my assistant, you will always be recognized as Kurisutina!"
Suddenly when Kagari hears the name Kurisutina, her focus freezes. She begins to remember a scene where she remembers the same scenario. She remembers a female saying the same lines to a man on a virtual video about the name Kurisutina. This memory begins to make Kagari's head hurt again and falls to her knees. Kurisu is startled and worries instantly for Kagari's sudden reaction.
"K-Kagari?! Are you alright?!" Then, Kurisu suddenly notices Okabe. Okabe begins reacting the same way as Kagari as he falls to one knee, and then collapses. His head is hurting as his Reading Steiner is sensing Kagari's Reading Steiner, which is likely due to her trying to remember something. "O-Okabe?!" Kurisu is shocked, as this situation is getting very unusual, yet worrisome.
Inside a foggy area, we can view the same place that occurs with Okabe. He gets us to view the area, but there is nothing. Then he looks behind him, and he sees a girl lying down. He runs over to her, and for the first time, he manages to be able to be right next to her. The girl then gets up, and it revealed to be what was mentioned yesterday. The girl in the dream with Okabe is Kagari. "A-Are you alright, Kagari?"
She nods "Mhm." There is a pause. "Oh? If you can see me and be right next to me now, that means you acknowledge that I am the the person who has been showing up in your dreams."
"If that is true, then why couldn't I before?"
"That is because, unless you acknowledge everything here, you will never understand what this place this."
Okabe wonder. "So, unless I come to terms that this place is real, I cannot see what this really this place?"
"That is correct. You came to terms that the girl who is me, is really Kagari, so now you can see me, and be right next to me."
Okabe is shocked to here this conclusion, but since Kagari knows more about this place then he can, he goes with her answer. He takes a moment to look around, and then wonders if Kagari can answer another question. "Then, what is this place?"
Kagari nods in disagreement. "I'm sorry, I do not know. My memories haven't fully returned yet, so I can't remember."
Okabe feels a bit down to not being able to get more information, but it can't be helped.
Suddenly, both of there heads hurt, and they begin to fade out of the foggy area.
Okabe and Kagari begin to re gain conscious, as they slowly get up from a huge headache.
"Are you guys alright?!"
As then regain focus, Okabe and Kagari turn to who said that, at it was Kurisu, who was worried for them. "Y-Yes...We are." says Okabe.
"What happened to you guys?" Kurisu wonders.
Okabe was about to speak about the dream, but then, he realizes this would have to expose the truth about Kagari being from the future. Since there is still not a lot of information about what is really happening, he will still need to hide where she is from. "S-Sorry...we stood up late night night, fixing more future gadgets since that is what me and Kagari love doing."
Kurisu gets upset. "Idiot. You realize you need a good night sleep, and especially keeping Kagari up with you as well?! That is irresponsible!"
"S-Sorry, Kurisu. It won't happen again."
She sighs. "I hope so. Learn from your mistakes."
As day turns to night, Luka and Mayuri walk home since they have finished over and Mayqueen Nyanyan. They are chatting together as they make plans for the upcoming birthday party for Okabe. They plan for all the good things to make Okabe have a great birthday, especially since he is turning 30, which is another decade gone by for him. However, as they walk, two suspicious people begin to appear around the dark alleyways as Mayuri and Luka walk by.
They both do not realize who was behind them, and they continue to walk and chat together as they seem to have a great time. The mysterious people hiding then come out and begin walking behind them. They are wearing black suits that are very similar to ones from what happened to Okabe and his encounter with the people in black suits back in July. They begin to walk slightly faster as they try to catch up. Soon enough, they reach behind Mayuri and Luka.
As Mayuri was getting ready to say her next sentence, she stops, as both her and Luka get startled by the sudden two mysterious people behind them. However, they don't turn around, because they already feel a gun pressing on their backs.
"Do not make a single sound, and we will not shoot you." Says the first mysterious person.
"Follow us easily and quietly, you will be joining us for sometime." Says the other mysterious person.
Mayuri and Luka get scared as they look at each other for only a moment, and realize they are going to be taken away by two unknown people. They become very afraid, as they cannot escape this situation.