Date: November 14, 2036
Divergence: 1.048596* (Steins Gate)
*Worldline shift in 2020 - Not the exact same worldline as it was before the shift.
Time until Overwrite: ERROR - NEGATIVE VALUE - CANNOT COMPUTE
Okabe softly set the letter addressed to him down on the dining room table. He didn't know what to feel about the sudden turn of events so he decided to distract himself even if it were for just a couple moments. He looked around and saw a bloodied knife on the floor, he assumed that was the reason why Kurisu got hurt in the first place. He picked it up and headed straight for the kitchen to wash the blood off of it. His thoughts were heavily clouded and for good reason, he was just given the ultimatum that would decide his life.
He placed the knife in the dish rack and made his way to the bottle of pills that were sitting there unassumingly on the kitchen table. It was a clear rectangular case with a white top and the pills were cylindrical blue capsules. He picked up the bottle and investigated.
"So these are capable of stopping my Reading Steiner from overtaking me, huh," he thought out loud. "I really could have used these in the Beta worldline."
He put them back on the kitchen table and made his way back to the dining room table where the letter rested.
Okabe looked the letter over multiple times, but nothing changed. He wasn't imagining a single piece of information regarding the letter. The fact that the version he replaced had the foresight to store his previous memories meant that he was more than qualified for anything. He knew that he wouldn't be able to think everything through and would have probably allowed himself to be overwritten without a chance at revival, but this man opened that chance up for himself and it was all up to Okabe now.
He was a teacher, a scientist. He leads an underground resistance against the Committee of 300 yet he still has the ability to live the semblance of a normal life with Kurisu. Not to mention the fact that he had to endure more worldline shifts while in Steins Gate and spent a good 10 years trapped on another nightmarish worldline, yet he seemed to not have lost his cool whatsoever. Okabe knew that the version he replaced was a much better choice to keep in this worldline, but for some reason he couldn't stand the thought of laying down after trying so hard to get here. He knew he was being selfish and wasn't thinking properly, but he didn't want to just die after enduring the pain of the Beta Attractor Field.
Then he thought of Kurisu, of the pain that she's going through at this moment because she lost the man that saved her not too long ago. The fact that he had no recollection of the event of her kidnapping meant that he had no way of deserving the love she wanted to give. He knew she loved the version that came before him more than anything in the world, that she'd most likely do anything to bring him back, but he didn't want to go.
But at the same time, he didn't want to fight. He just wanted to rest, to be able to relax and not have to worry about his friends dying any minute. The eternity he spent trapped on the Alpha worldline combined with the 3 decades he spent on the Beta worldline along with the 11 years he spent trapped in the time machine made him tired beyond belief. He slumped in the chair with the letter hanging from his right hand. He sighed and straightened out, the choice which was so seemingly obvious was too tough for him to make. He didn't want to die, yet he wanted to not fight; he knew he couldn't have both, but he just wished for that third option to exist, to be some sort of secret route that he could take if he triggered each and every flag he needed, but he knew this wasn't some visual novel.
Okabe got up from his seat, folded the letter, and placed it back in the envelope. He knew that if Kurisu saw it, she would flip out and force him to undergo the memory overwrite. He looked over to his left as he was re-sealing the letter to see that they never ate breakfast. The omelette that Kurisu had made was sitting there, probably cold from the amount of time that passed between her making it and now. He took the plate and went to microwave it, he knew some food in Kurisu's system would help her recover a little faster. While the omelette was heating up in the microwave, he grabbed a glass and filled it with water. The microwave beeped signaling it was done and Okabe grabbed the fork that Kurisu was going to use along with the plate and water and slowly made his way down the hallway into the bedroom.
The door automatically slid open to allow him in.
Kurisu was awake for certain, seems she never properly got much sleep. She looked over at Okabe and softly smiled.
"Breakfast in bed?"
Okabe smiled in return and walked over to where Kurisu was laying. Kurisu adjusted herself to sit up while Okabe placed her omelette and fork on her lap while putting the water next to her glasses on her nightstand.
"How are you feeling?"
"Well I could feel a lot better to be honest," she softly chuckled while looking at her bandaged hand. "But I'm feeling better than I was earlier. Thank you."
"You have no reason to thank me," Okabe waved his hand in front of his face trying to refuse the thanks. "I was the one that hurt you in the first place."
"And it all can be traced back to the moment I accidentally triggered your Reading Steiner to overflow," Kurisu out-logic-ed him. "You can't beat me this time Okarin, the blame can be pinned on me for this one."
"You know about how Reading Steiner affects my memories?"
"Why of course," she smiled. "I was the one that helped you develop those pills in the first place. You did most of the thinking behind how to stop your Reading Steiner, but I helped make your thoughts a reality."
Okabe couldn't help put his hand behind his head and let out a small laugh. Of course Kurisu would be the one behind the miracle pills.
"And? How did you deduce that taking those pills would cause amnesia to regular people?"
"Wait, how do you know that?"
Okabe quickly shut his mouth. The only reason why he knew that was because of the letter that he addressed to himself, but Kurisu doesn't know anything about that. His loose lips may have just caused his plan to crumble into pieces. He could feel Kurisu stare into his very soul as she chewed on her omelette.
Okabe sighed. "I'll tell you once you've recovered well enough from your injury. Just focus on eating for now."
He knew Kurisu wouldn't be satisfied with his response, but she surprisingly let up and focused on eating the omelette she cooked. Okabe stayed seated by her feet as she chewed away, she was a really quick eater; she ate quicker than he had ever seen since the Alpha worldline. He had his suspicions on why she was eating quickly now; she wanted to know how Okabe came across his knowledge of the pills.
Okabe knew he wouldn't be able to fabricate a sound lie within a short time so he decided to tell the truth instead. He knew exactly how Kurisu was going to react once she saw the letter, but there was no stopping it now.
"Wait here for a second," he told her. "Let me go get it."
"It?"
Okabe got up from the bed and stepped out the room. "You'll see when I hand it to you."
He slowly walked down the hall to the dining room table which had the unassuming envelope sitting atop it. He grabbed it and made his way back to the bedroom. At this point, Kurisu had already wolfed down the omelette and was waiting patiently with her glass of water in her hand. Without a word he placed the envelope on Kurisu's lap and made his way back to his side of the bed as Kurisu curiously picked the envelope up.
"Oh, I saw this under your pillow earlier."
Okabe didn't bother speaking and instead reached under the mattress looking for what he needed and found it almost immediately. The smooth feel of a wooden case. He grabbed the case without paying attention to Kurisu and turned his back to the lady who was now reading the letter. He took the small machine that represented the only hope he had in the hell that was the Alpha worldline. It may not serve any purpose anymore considering it depended on manual input and was only useful for being sent to the past, but it was still comforting to see that number: 1.048596.
He sighed as he turned the farthest right dial counter-clockwise.
The number changed: 1.048595.
He knew he didn't belong and this divergence meter will forever serve as that reminder for him. This was no longer just the Steins Gate worldline. This was the Steins Gate worldline with the nightmare of the Beta worldline tainting it; that taint emanated from the man who lived and breathed World War III. He was still trying to get used to the whole "living a normal life" thing, but it was a lot harder considering how long he spent fighting in resistance of the new and oppressive American-occupied Japanese government.
Okabe was getting ready to put the divergence meter back in its case when he felt a pair of arms snake round his chest.
"Thank you for showing me the letter," Kurisu said. "I can't put into words how much it means to me that you chose to show me this letter instead of lie to me."
"And? What's your opinion on it?"
"I leave the choice to you as well," she rested her head against his back. "It's what he would want and I'm not going to get in your way."
Okabe sighed, that wasn't the opinion he had expected nor hoped. He could feel Kurisu poke her chin over his right shoulder.
"Wait, the number changed? What's that supposed to mean, I thought the number wasn't supposed to change anymore?"
He couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "I changed it myself, don't worry."
"Why?"
"Because this truly isn't Steins Gate if I'm here."
Kurisu's right hand which was still wrapped around Okabe's chest detached itself from her left and it grabbed the switch that controlled the nixie tube on the farthest right of the divergence meter. She twisted it clockwise and the number was set back to what it originally was before Okabe touched it.
"Don't do that to yourself," it almost sounded like Kurisu was scolding him. "You belong just as much as Mayuri and I do. You're the reason why we're here, you deserve it."
"But-"
Okabe was interrupted by the sensation of lips being pressed to his neck for a quick second.
"Okarin," Kurisu said resting her chin atop his shoulder again. "I know we didn't start our morning off right, but in the end I love you no matter what worldline you come from. You saved me once in 2010 and you saved me again a couple years ago and I could never have been so lucky to be married to someone who cares for me as much as you do."
"But I gave up on you," Okabe felt the guilt of that August day settle in. "I'm a coward who couldn't fight to save the woman I loved."
"Now now," Kurisu tried comforting him. "I can't stand by and let my husband call himself a coward now can I? You lived through the horrors of the Beta Attractor Field, you fought hard to bring this worldline didn't you? How are you a coward for that? And if you ever truly gave up on me, then I wouldn't be sitting here in this bed with you right now. Okarin, sometimes you say the dumbest things you know?"
"You really are different from the girl I knew in the Alpha Attractor Field, huh?" Okabe softly chuckled. "You're so grown up and so touchy that it's almost impossible to compare you to before."
He got the reaction he wanted, she loosened up her arms and she freed herself from him. This movement allowed him to lean down and set the divergence meter on the ground and promptly turn to grab Kurisu and pull her to him before she got too far.
"But," Okabe was validating himself now. "The fact that you're always there for me, just like you were on that hellish world, I can't begin to tell you how much it means to me."
"The choice is yours now, Rintaro Okabe," he could hear her saying against his chest. "I gave you good enough reason to stay, didn't I?"
She looked up to him and smiled as she said it.
"But why would you want me to stay?" Okabe couldn't help asking her, he wasn't the man she married to begin with. "There's a chance for you to see your husband again, why not push for me to take it?"
"Stupid," Kurisu rested her head in Okabe's chest once more. "I told you that you're my husband no matter what choice you make. And if you decide to stay I might just jam an electrode into your hippocampus to see if I can make those memories come back myself."
Kurisu giggled. Okabe nervously laughed at the prospect.
"Come on now," Kurisu tried explaining. "That's a pretty good joke mind you."
"Yeah, and you usually said it as a threat whenever I 'misbehaved'."
"Wait, I've said that before? No wonder it sounded so familiar."
Kurisu freed herself from Okabe and grabbed his hands with hers. "Don't think of you staying as something that would drag anyone down. Your different experience coupled with the fact that you're still literally the same person as the man that came before you makes you just as valid to stay here like he does."
"To be honest with you," Okabe looked down trying to avert her eyes. "I expected you to tell me that I could just die and bring back your husband."
"That's just too cruel, even for me."
Kurisu released his right hand and raised his head up to make eye contact with her.
"I learned my lesson Okarin," she said. "You're my husband no matter how I'm supposed to see it. And, I'm sorry for saying the things I said earlier."
Okabe couldn't help smiling. "Apology accepted my darling assistant."
"Okay," Kurisu quickly interjected. "I may be your darling, but I sure as hell am still not your assistant."
"Now," Okabe quickly disconnected himself from Kurisu. "I'm still not sure about anything, but if there's anyone that can really give me the push in either direction then it's Daru."
"You know he's probably going to tell you the same thing, right?" Kurisu said still sitting on the bed. "If you want to try your luck then go ahead and call him, your PhoneDroid is right there."
Kurisu pointed at the tablet-looking device resting on Okabe's nightstand.
"PhoneDroid?"
"It's a thing that was first developed way back before 2020, but so far they've made better updates on the hardware and practically monopolized the development of smart phones. Don't worry though, Daru jailbroke each of ours so that it's not tracked by anyone."
"Oh right," Okabe couldn't believe he forgot. "I'm still fighting a resistance in this worldline."
Without much else thought, Okabe picked up the phone and began looking through his contacts to find Daru.
He pressed on the contact picture and anxiously awaited for his Favorite Right Arm to answer the phone on the other end.
A/N: Yeah, you waited that long for this short of a chapter to come out.
So, bad news: school is rearing to start up and this little side project just won't be able to get as much attention from me as it has over these past couple weeks (I write other stories and I'm prioritizing my original works which I'm trying to get published). With that, the wait-time for each chapter is going to have to increase by quite a lot since I only really see myself working on this thing each weekend. Seeing as I don't want to see the quality suffer because of how little time I'm spending to work on it now, it may take a lot longer to pump out a new chapter.
Some good news though: You can pick how the story ends! That's right! I have a rough idea of how to guide the story for both instances, but I can't choose because I hate choosing. I put up a poll to determine whether the Okabe from the Beta Attractor Field stays or if the Okabe from Steins Gate returns. If no one chooses or if the vote is split, I'll just flip a coin I guess.
Oh well, thanks for reading! Don't expect to wait for an eternity to get chapter 7, but don't think it'll come out as quick as these other chapters have.
StrawPoll: .me/13422096 (just put strawpoll before the dot to access the link)
~Quil