Date: July 26, 2012
Divergence: 1.048596 (Steins Gate)
Time until Overwrite: 24 years, 3 months, 21 days.
Maho was sat, working at her desk in Victor Chondria's Institute of Neuroscience, with a cold sweat down her back. It had been a day since the man with the sword confronted her in her apartment and she couldn't help feeling wary of everyone around her. However, she knew deep down that the person who put her in such a tough position in the first place was standing just a couple paces away. She watched him in her peripheral as he happily, yet authoritatively chatted away with her colleagues about the potential revival of the Amadeus project.
"So you're saying there's a chance that we can pick up where we unfortunately left off?" he asked.
"Well," the man in front of him said. "It'll be slow, but I'm sure that, if Ms. Makise and Ms. Hiyajo were willing to head the project again, we could make up for the years of progress we lost by the end of the year."
Remembering what had happened to Amadeus hurt Maho in more ways than she could have ever possibly imagined. In the Spring of 2010, the servers in Victor Chondria underwent a stealthy cyber attack. For some reason, nothing of note seemed to have been touched by the attack, but to her dismay, Amadeus and all the progress they made with the project was nowhere to be found. Whoever attacked them willingly ignored everything within the servers, aiming to directly take down Amadeus for whatever reason. The project wasn't even made public, so no one should have known about it, but that didn't stop wheover attacked them.
Maho and, to a lesser extent, Kurisu mourned on the morning they found out that Amadeus and everything related to the project had been forcefully taken from them. Maho felt like her child that she nurtured had been ripped out of her hands. It got to the point that Professor Leskinen had to remove Maho from the team for a couple months so that she could stabilize herself emotionally. However, he never asked the same of Kurisu. For the first couple days, she resented Kurisu for not taking the sudden death of the project as seriously as her, but she learned to control her emotions and took every step she could to rekindle that friendship she had nurtured with her stubborn junior over the course of their time working with Amadeus.
She felt the gaze of the men who were standing and talking with the Professor land on her. For the first time in her life she could only wish that she was smaller so that she could hide from them, but to no avail.
"I'll ask her," she overheard the Professor say. "Thanks for the update."
He dismissed her colleagues and focused his attention on her.
"Maho. Can you come over here for a second?"
She flinched at hearing her name being called. She swore at herself for not masking her fear of the Professor better than she had at that point, but she held out hope that he was unaware of the man's visit with her. Maho knew that the Professor was well-aware that he had exposed her position within the Committee of Antimatter, so there was absolutely no way to get around it.
She got up and out of her desk to go face the Professor for the first time since she discovered his secret life as a member of the intelligence group, Stratfo. He smiled warmly, but she didn't know whether she should have believed the smile or not. Everyone around the Institute came under strict scrutiny by her. She didn't know how many others had a side occupation like Professor Leskinen.
"I could tell you were listening pretty intently to the conversation we were having there about Amadeus," he said. "Does this mean that you're interested in taking the lead in the project again?"
"Y-Yeah..." Maho wanted to control her emotions but it was obvious that she couldn't hide her distrustful fear of Leskinen.
Leskinen took note of it and the smile gave way to a frown of concern.
"Is everything okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, everything's fine," she tried smiling but very likely failed to achieve even that.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized. "I almost forgot how much Amadeus meant to you. You don't have to lead the project if you feel like it'd take too much of a mental toll on you."
He had to have known what he had done. There's no way he's so capable of putting aside the fact that he outed her to the Committee and talk about projects, even if that project is something important like Amadeus.
"Professor," she finally swallowed her fear. "Do you think we can talk in your office?"
"Sure," he said. "Are you sure everything's okay?"
They walked in silence toward his office. Leskinen seemed slightly worried about Maho's well-being, oblivious to what she knew about him.
"So, what's up?" Leskinen guided Maho into his office, closed the door and took a seat at his desk - motioning her to take a seat as well.
"Professor..." Maho remained standing. "...I..."
She kept having a hard time trying to put her words together. It shouldn't have been harder than it seemed, but Maho's mind and her mouth were working on totally opposite polarities.
"Maho," Leskinen interrupted her before she bumbled further. "It's okay if you don't want to be a part of the Amadeus project. I can barely fathom just how much it hurt when the project went missing two years ago, but you don't have to force yourself-"
"It's not that, Professor!" Maho accidentally snapped at him, startling both herself and the Professor. "...Sorry."
Leskinen eased up slightly at Maho's apology.
"What's wrong, Maho?"
Maho felt so confused, scared, angry, and betrayed. Every negative emotion she carried within her had piled on, one after the other, until the point that she had broken down into tears. She felt like such a kid for crying without even explaining herself, but being pulled headlong into a conspiracy such as this took a toll on her psyche much worse than the deletion of Amadeus ever had.
"Maho?!"
Leskinen jumped out of his chair to reach out and console his crying assistant, but she cowered away from him.
"I know about Stratfo!"
Leskinen froze in his tracks when Maho was finally able to piece a sentence together. He dropped his hand limply to his side - his mouth wide. His reaction was not what she expected whatsoever out of him. He wasn't angry, nor was he smug. He just had a look of deep sadness that she couldn't quite understand.
"I'm so sorry," he dropped his head in seeming shame. "I didn't want this for you, my little Einstein."
"Then why?!"
Maho let her emotions run rampant. She wanted to calm herself down, but seeing the person who betrayed her to that man made it all-the-more difficult for her to control herself.
"How much did that man tell you?" Leskinen ignored her screaming and kept a leveled tone to speak to her.
"...What?" Maho sniffled.
Leskinen's response caught her so off guard that she had to stop her incoherent crying just to understand where he was coming from.
He offered her his handkerchief, which she took with caution. She didn't know whether she should trust him anymore, but so far he hadn't given her any reason to doubt him whatsoever.
"I know this feels like a lot, but I'm begging you to hear me out," he said as he motioned for Maho to sit once more.
Finally budging, Maho chose to accept his offer and sat down in the seat in front of his desk. Leskinen followed suit and sat behind his desk once more, eager to try and explain himself to her.
"I imagine he told you that Stratfo was hired to do some digging into that Anti-Committee of yours, right?" Leskinen asked.
Maho nodded silently, still wiping her tears on the handkerchief that Leskinen offered.
"That man - the one with the big sword - he was there when I was able to find communications attached to your codename," Leskinen seemed apologetic as he spoke. "I... I tried my damndest to lie my way out of having to reveal you, but..."
Maho was staring intently at Leskinen as he spoke. He looked like he was about to break into tears, as if he sold one of his children off to someone to repay a debt. Not once did he look her in the eye - very likely out of shame for what he had done.
"He knew that I recognized your codename," he said. "And he said he would kill you if he was forced to figure out who was behind 'Salieri' by himself."
For the first time since he started telling her about what occurred between himself and that man with the giant sword, Leskinen looked at her. He seemed to have finally regained his footing after being taken aback by Maho's outburst.
"Maho, I'd let myself be tortured and killed before I would allow for anyone to lay a finger on you. I'm so sorry that this happened to begin with, but we both have to adapt to the situation at hand."
She was confused. From what it sounded like, the Professor was placing the blame on Maho for not being able to adapt to a man threatening her life with a giant sword to her face. He made it sound like his outing of her as a member of the Anti-Committee was her fault as much as his in order to rid himself of some of the blame he deserved!
"Professor-" Maho was about to interject, but Leskinen cut her off by raising his hand.
"Listen," he said. "I'm not going to question why in God's name you're participating in something so dangerous, nor am I going to try to get any more information out of you."
His face was all business. From one second he was disappointed in himself, the next he was scolding her, and now he's seemingly trying to get her to listen to him for how to proceed.
"Our fates are linked now, Maho. We have to rely on each other in order to get through this together."
His proposition made her even more confused. What more could she offer to him when Stratfo basically had all the bases covered in terms of gathering information? If he wasn't going to ask for any more information out of her, then what was the point of keeping her around?
"...What do you mean?" she voiced all her concerns in that one sentence.
"I've been in this business for longer than I'd like," he admitted. "I can tell the schemers from the idealists."
She was wondering how that had any bearing to what they were currently dealing with.
"That man," Leskinen continued. "I'm sure he gave you some sort of deal under the guise of being an idealist interested in serving the world, but he's the worst person I've come across in my 40 years of living."
Maho thought back on the deal that the man had given her. All he had asked for was to stop the research of "Gigalomania" in exchange for nothing more than to just not let anyone else other than Leskinen know that she had been contacted by the Committee.
"I'm sure he offered you a deal that seems like it's totally in your favor, right?"
Leskinen had predicted what the man had told her as if he was reading Maho's mind. Maho nodded in response.
"What was it?"
"That, if I wanted to, I do my best to stop any research related to something called 'Gigalomania,'" she said. "He said that I didn't have to follow through with it, but that stopping this research would enlighten me in some way."
Leskinen leaned back in his chair and stroked his chin.
"What does he have to gain by letting you choose your own fate?" Leskinen pondered as if he was thinking of what he would do in that man's shoes.
"A partner," Maho quoted the man, making her feel slightly sick.
"Yes," Leskinen nodded. "A mole within the Anti-Committee to destroy it from the inside."
He took a deep breath before speaking again. It seemed like he was trying to be careful with his words.
"I'll tell you what," he said. "I hear Doctor Coleman from the Coleman Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience is looking into experimenting with what you've been asked to stop. Additionally, Kurisu's protegee - that girl Mio - seems to be helping her out."
Leskinen pulled out his desk drawer to look through his files.
"Granted, the whole thing is so classified that not even I - the director of Victor Chondria's Institute of Neuroscience - know the details of it."
He pulled out a folder and handed it to Maho. She opened it to reveal all the information he had on Dr. Coleman's research as well as her personal contact information. She looked up at him, awaiting some more explaining.
"This should give you a headstart and give you an idea of what you're dealing with," he said. "Just tell me and I can give Doctor Coleman a call so that I can butter her up and allow you to view this research for yourself."
Maho nodded along with what he was saying. Her final remaining concern was why the Professor was so willing to stick his neck out for someone like her, a low-level Anti-Committee member who was stupid enough to get caught.
"Why are you doing all this for me?" she asked as she closed the folder.
"I dragged you deeper into this mess," Leskinen was totally serious. "The least I can do is make it easier to survive in the hole I dug for you."
Leskinen kicked his desk drawer shut, slightly startling Maho.
"I only hope that I can rely on you if I ever need help," Leskinen said, revealing the slightly methodical side to him that he always hid beneath his youthful exuberance.
"I'll do what I can, Professor," she said. "But I don't think I'll be much help if that time ever comes."
Leskinen laughed as if Maho told him a joke.
"I see a lot of potential in you Maho," he smiled. "I know you won't let me down when that time comes."
Maho felt a weight disappear from her shoulders - she now had a debt she felt she had to pay back to the Professor in some way for what he had done. Now that she was calm, she realized that he wasn't at fault whatsoever for her discovery as a member of the Anti-Committee. Everything leading up to that point was her fault because she didn't do enough to mask her trail.
"...Thank you... Professor..."
She couldn't feel any more grateful that she had someone like the Professor on her side. Despite the fact that he outed her, he was doing everything in his power to correct that wrongdoing, so it was only right that she tried her best on her front.
"Don't thank me," he said. "All I've done is get you started. Everything else is up to you."
Maho smiled and ran to hug him. She felt tears streaming down her eyes, except this time they were streams of gratitude for her mentor.
"Ah!" he yelled in surprise as the girl who was half his size enveloped him in her embrace. "Use the handkerchief, Maho! You'll ruin the suit!"
Maho pulled away after a couple seconds and wiped her tears and snot on the handkerchief. She knew she couldn't give it back to him at that point because of how many of her germs were on it, and she was happy that the Professor was willing to give up his favorite piece of cloth to her.
He smiled down at her as she did so.
Just before they were both about to step outside, a knock was heard at the door. Maho was slightly panicked because of all the sensitive information she spilled to the Professor, but that worry quickly subsided when she remembered that the Professor's office was soundproofed and had black-tinted windows to keep anyone from spying on them from the outside.
"You all good now?" Leskinen asked.
Maho nodded, allowing Leskinen to open the door in front of her. However, before she could step out, she paused in surprise.
Standing at the door in front of her was none other than her junior, Makise Kurisu. However, just behind her, was a tall Japanese man that she had never seen before. The aura he exuded was one of arrogance. He wore a labcoat with all the buttons unbuttoned; beneath that labcoat was a plain white t-shirt and khaki pants that were loosely kept around his waist by one of those cheap D-ring belts that one could buy at a swap meet. If he were to remind her of someone, it would be that man with the giant sword who had approached her the day before. Such a thought produced suspicion of him that she knew was irrational, but she couldn't help it.
"Oh!" Kurisu said in surprise. "I didn't expect you in here too, Senpai."
She spoke in English, as it naturally happened around Leskinen or any other American that was in the conversation.
Maho was about to speak, but the Professor didn't give her the chance.
"Maho and I were just talking about something important that I need to fill you in on later."
Kurisu's interest was piqued, but she shook it off because it was apparent that the man behind her was more important. She motioned, with an annoyed look on her face, for him to get closer so that both the Professor and Maho could get a look. Once he got in the room, Kurisu shut the doors.
"And who might this be?" he asked. "Don't tell me, is he your boyfriend?"
Maho swallowed her spit too quickly and coughed at the thought of that man being the person that Kurisu was willing to build a relationship with. Everything about him screamed "Get away!"
Kurisu blushed, but she never denied Leskinen's assertion. Given that the man didn't exhibit the same reaction, Maho could only assume that he didn't speak English, so he never understood Leskinen's question. Such a sight produced a hearty laugh of pure enjoyment out of the Professor, but Maho could only get more uncomfortable. Was Kurisu actually the type of girl to flaunt her boyfriend to others?
"You told me a while back that you were interested in meeting the person who saved my life when I went to Japan two years ago," she looked at the ground, embarrassed. "He is that person."
"Oh?" Leskinen was interested.
Maho couldn't deny being interested either. The way this man dressed was the exact opposite of the action that Kurisu claimed he had done.
"Professor Leskinen," Kurisu switched up to Japanese to bring the man into the conversation. "This is Okabe Rintaro, a university student at Tokyo Denki University."
"Tokyo Denki, huh?" Leskinen switched to Japanese as well, albeit somewhat reluctantly. "That's a pretty prestigious engineering school."
That comment seemed to bolster whatever arrogant attitude the man had. He stepped in front of Kurisu, putting himself right in front of Maho and the Professor.
"Oka-"
"I'd like to apologize for my Assistant interrupting your meeting with your long-lost little girl, Meestah Leskinen," the way he spoke was way too over-the-top. "I would also like to apologize for the incorrect introduction."
...Was he actually serious? Whatever comparison Maho drew between this "Okabe" person and the man with the sword immediately flew out the window once those words burst out of his mouth. Maho could see Leskinen smiling out of the corner of her eye, no-doubt entertained by this person's rude antics.
"I am the seeker of chaos, the destroyer of this world's ruling structure," Okabe started making flashy gestures that angered Kurisu more and more. "I am the insane mad scientist, Hououin Kyouma!"
He flipped up his labcoat for dramatic effect.
Got it, Maho thought. He's delusional.
"Okabe!" Kurisu yelled at him. "Why do you always have to do things like this - why can't you be normal for one second!?"
"Mad scientist, huh?" Leskinen seemed to be playing along, smiling the entire time.
"You're playing along?!" both Maho and Kurisu shouted in surprise at the Professor.
The differences between the man she had seen minutes before Kurisu came in and now were way too drastic. Maho wouldn't be faulted for believing that the Professor had something like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde complex.
"Well, Mr. Mad Scientist," Leskinen said, ignoring both of his assistants. "You have my sincerest thanks for what you did for Kurisu."
Okabe was taken aback, not expecting what the Professor had said. It seemed like he thought he wasn't being introduced as Kurisu's savior, but as a colleague of some sort.
"I-I don't need thanks," he tried keeping up that boisterous voice. "I wasn't going to allow my Assistant to die in order to escape her obligation to my lab!"
"Seriously, how far are you going to take this?!" Kurisu berated him again.
The effect he had on Kurisu was something that Maho had never seen before. She never spared a second thought to those she thought couldn't keep up with her, but it seemed like the man awakened some sort of petulant child that had lain dormant within her. Maho had also never seen Leskinen laugh quite as hard as he had been at this current moment. The Professor was enjoying everything about this meeting with a seemingly normal, delusional college student.
Just who was this guy?
"We've done as you asked. So far, he hasn't been too talkative, but hopefully you can make better progress with the Amadeus system than we have made with the actual person."
The person who spoke those words reminded Kyouma very much of the man who was all-business on the Beta Worldline. The man in question was Urushibara Luka. Luka was in charge of overseeing Wakui with a small part of the Tokyo-branch Rounders left behind by Moeka while she searched for Kurisu with the rest. Apparently, it was with these Rounders that Luka saved Okabe, so there seemed to be a sense of closeness with how everyone spoke of them.
According to Daru, Luka was more-than-distraught once news of the Okabes' and Maho's kidnapping broke. He hunted day-and-night for any sort of clue he could come up with, not getting any rest until he could find at least one of them. At least, that was what Daru thought. Luka was hellbent on recovering both of the women in question as well. Once Kurisu's tracker went off, he was the first one there, and he was the one to discover that it had been removed to throw Valkyrie off the Committee's tail. It was only after this incident that Daru had to forcefully order Luka to take a break; there was only so much a human could take, especially one in their 40s.
Luka had traveled back and forth between the United States and Japan, trying to gather any sort of clues concerning the dissapearance of the trio, but the way he carried himself betrayed how tired he was supposed to feel. Despite the heavy bags that could be noticed from a mile away, and despite the fact that he seemed to be taking things slower, Luka carried himself with more poise than anyone Kyouma had ever seen. The man before him was different from the fragile boy that he had befriended all those years ago. Kyouma didn't know what to make of it, but at the very least he could feel satisfied that such a devoted soul was with Valkyrie rather than with the Committee.
Currently, they were at the Neuroscience Institute in Wako City, the most prominent location for Valkyrie to perform their operations after Akihabara had been discovered by the Committee in 2016. Despite all the talk about what happened in that year, no one seemed to have a want to fill Kyouma in on what actually occurred out of seeming fear. The Institute in Wako City was built from the ground up by two genius girls who's reputation preceded them, bringing the most talented minds from many parts of the world together. It first started when Kurisu made many advancements in memory technology while she participated in an exchange program between the Wako City Institute and the Victor Chondria Institute. Later on, it became a hotbed of development when a young, 19-year-old girl by the name of Kunosato Mio was introduced to the team in 2016 and quickly began making advancements of her own in the field of Quantum Brain Science. This competition between two stubborn geniuses attracted the likes of the world's most renowned scientists and, by the time Kurisu returned to America a year after Mio's arrival, the Wako City Institute of Neuroscience was able to stand toe-to-toe with the likes of Victor Chondria's Institute of Neuroscience.
Before Kurisu left, though, the incident in the Fall of 2016 had occurred, spurring the need to introduce a new, safer, and more protected base of operations than Akihabara had served under Faris' and Moeka's protection. It was then that the Committee of Antimatter - rebranded to Valkyrie with Okabe joining as a leader on that year - set up shop in the basement, growing as quickly as the Institute did on the surface. However, despite Wako City being Valkyrie's main base of operations, it didn't stop all the other leaders: Sawada, Rimi, Takumi, Sena, Izumi, Okabe, Kurisu, Daru, Faris, and Moeka, from working in other places. Faris and Moeka were the most insane because they chose to remain operating within Akihabara while everyone else either branched out to America or other parts of Japan.
Needless to say, the Wako City Institute was under the guidance of one of its key founders, Kunosato Mio. She greeted Kyouma alongside Luka, but so far has allowed Luka to do most of the talking. To Kyouma, Mio seemed to be carefully studying him as if he were a new specimen brought before her. Her long, black hair was tied back in a ponytail, and she wore a labcoat over a simple striped blouse and dark jeans. She was close to hitting 40-years-old, but she looked like she was barely even breaking into her 20s. The only real evidence to her age was the fact that her voice was pitched a little deeper than that of a usual teenage girl. Then again, Kyouma couldn't assume much considering he had never heard of this woman before he made it to Steins Gate, so perhaps her voice had always been deep.
"We could have handled all of that ourselves," she said in regards to Amadeus. "You should be resting up, Okabe."
"The insane mad scientist, Hououin Kyouma does not sit out of the battle due to mere scrapes, girl," Kyouma retorted. "You've known of my legend for this long and yet you expect me to react just like any weak-minded human?"
Mio sighed. "And here I was hoping to be speaking to someone who was actually more rational. To think that you actually acted like this during World War III makes me fear for the people you associated with during that time."
Mio was well aware of Kyouma's situation with Reading Steiner. In fact, up until this point, she seemed to be one of the only ones that was actually okay with the overwrite because of how much of a pain in the rear Kyouma had been throughout the time they've known each other. However, that opinion she held was slowly shifting thanks to the fact that the man before her had not changed whatsoever.
"...What do you mean by that, Kunosato-san?" Luka stopped and looked at the both of them.
In the brief moment of comfortable familiarity, Mio had totally forgotten that Luka was totally unaware to what happened to Kyouma. As a matter of fact, the only people who actually knew about the overwrite were Maho and the rest of the leaders of Valkyrie.
"That's none of your business unless this dimwit tells you about it," Mio was quick to shift all the attention on Kyouma whilst keeping herself blameless in revealing such a sensitive secret. "Ask me about it again and I'll revoke your clearance from this institute."
In the time that Kurisu took to teach Kyouma all the details about Valkyrie in their downtime, she was also sure to mention just how much of a sharp tongue the young Kunosato Mio had. With such a sharp tongue and an innovative mind, he could see just why Kurisu and herself were such good friends - they practically bounced off each other really well. Luka's stoicism meant that the offense that any normal human would have taken to being so harshly responded to was absent from his face. Kyouma didn't even know if the words registered with Luka just based off how serious his face looked.
Mio, obviously taking note of the look on Luka's face, was about to say something else, however the mad scientist cut her off before she decided to use that sharp tongue again.
"Let us continue on," Kyouma conceded. "I'll tell you my story very briefly because I'm more interested in your own, Lukako."
Luka nodded and allowed Mio to continue guiding the pair further into the more darker recesses of the campus. The Institute was rather large and there was only one way into the basement with multiple different escape routes that could be utilized in case of a raid. The walk to the basement, especially, was going to be a test to see just how well Kyouma's limbs and respiratory system had recovered.
"I have a power called Reading Steiner," Kyouma explained. "I don't know whether or not my past self has explained that to you, but the root of the story lies in just how much of a double-edged sword this power is."
"In 2025 of my worldline, I sent the Okabe Rintaro you knew a D-Mail on how to rescue Kurisu on July 28, 2010 and then sent Suzuha back in time in 2036 to ensure that he received the mail and shift the world onto Steins Gate. With my power, I'm able to remember the events of the worldline I come from at the cost of the memories I had accrued on the current worldline. That is to say, because of how differently events played out between these two divergent worlds, I have no knowledge of what's occurred ever since 2010."
No matter how many times he explained his situation to the people he cared about, he still couldn't help feeling sorry for them. To them, he was nothing more than a stranger with the face of their loved one. Such was the case with Kurisu, Maho, and now Luka. However, despite how Kyouma personally felt about the situation, the look on Luka's face remained as straight as ever.
"I see," he said. "And World War III happened on the worldline you're from?"
The way Luka responded surprised Kyouma. This kind of response was to be expected from the Luka who was an integral part to Valkyrie's forward-scouting groups on the Beta Worldline, and the way the man in front of him shrugged off such a massive change reminded him of the battle-hardened warrior of World War III. It only made Kyouma more interested in figuring out why Luka's personality was the way it was because the lifestyle he was currently living in was not one that Kyouma wanted for the former shrine maiden.
"...Yes," Kyouma said after a moment's silence. "And you were one of our lead soldiers on said worldline."
"So you've forgotten the reason for why you're fighting the Committee in the first place?"
Luka caught Kyouma by surprise once again by jumping into another almost-accusatory question. It was in this question that Luka let out some semblance of emotion.
"Urushibara, that's enough," Mio cut in before Kyouma could get any more info out of the man. "Hashida already told you not to speak of that incident well before this version of Okabe took over."
"Don't worry, Kunosato-san," Luka said, recovering his former stoicism. "It's good that he doesn't remember. As long as he still fights with the vigor of the Kyouma-san before him, I will hold no complaints."
Kyouma could only guess that they were talking about what had occurred in 2016. It was quite the eventful year given the summary he got from his Assistant and his Favorite Right Arm. Of course, it was the year that he himself had joined the fight, six years after the initial formation of the Commitee of Antimatter. Apparently, he had been quite adamant on not joining the group until that turning point in 2016. The letter didn't do much to point out what had happened, but it must have been quite traumatizing for himself considering there was such a strict gag order in regards to what happened. He didn't know whether his past self had intentionally left out what had happened, or suconsciously blocked out the event from his mind when writing the letter.
"You can question my vigor once my Assistant is back in my arms," Kyouma finally said. "For now, I'm willing to crucify all members of the 300 on flaming crosses if it means rescuing Christina."
"Now that's a first," Mio commented on Kyouma's ferocity. "You know what? I think I might take a liking to you after all."
"War does ugly things to one's mindset, Kunosato-san," Luka said. "That statement isn't something to applaud Kyouma-san for."
Once again, the enigma that was Steins Gate's Urushibara Luka was on full display for Kyouma to see. He spoke as if he had experience in war despite the fact that Valkyrie was almost-always covert in their operations. His apprehension to Kyouma's statement didn't surprise Kyouma, but the reasoning was not what he had expected at all.
At that moment, they had finally approached the secret entrance to the Institute's basement, but there was a lot more walking to be done just to reach the room Wakui was located in. Even with its location underground, the basement level was much more sophisticated than the surface campus thanks to Faris' contributions.
"I've told you my story," Kyouma said. "Now I'd really like to hear yours, Lukako."
Luka took a deep breath.
"To be honest, it's not quite as simple as yours, and considering the orders we have in place, it'll be tough getting you to understand without knowledge of that day."
"Try me," Kyouma said.
"Very well."
As they walked, Luka began recounting his story, going as far back as 2016. It was this mystery event that also got Luka motivated to fight the Committee, but he didn't have the means to immediately do so like Okabe had. He enlisted in the Japanese Self-Defense Forces a couple months following that day and trained his body vigorously to be able to be of use to the Anti-Committee in some way. Through his efforts, the SDF immediately recognized him as their best enlistee and sent him to train with the Americans in Okinawa for two more years. It was there that the Americans negotiated with the Japanese government to naturalize Luka as a U.S citizen, and use his skills in the Navy Seals as America was ramping up operations in the Middle East once 2020 rolled around.
Essentially, from 2016-2026, Luka had traveled from Tokyo, to Okinawa, to America, and to the Middle East, being a part of the SEAL teams that were involved in uprooting the budding government powers althroughout the region and helping install American puppets. He wasn't proud of what he was doing, but it was all an effort to make himself useful to Valkyrie in the end. The experience he accrued was both negative and positive, though. He is no longer able to sleep soundly through the night, always waking up to constant night terrors brought on by the battles he fought. However, thanks to the brief descriptions of these night terrors, Kyouma was able to deduce that some of them were faint memories of the time he spent as a fighter in the Beta Worldline, but he didn't bother interrupting the story. Luka also had permanent tinnitus thanks to an explosion that he had the misfortune of being a couple feet away from. This meant that he had to constantly have something to listen to or else the ringing in his ears would drive him insane. To prove his point, he brushed his hair away from his ear to reveal some wireless earbuds that were probably playing music to distract him from the ringing.
After serving a mandatory tour of duty from 2023-2026 - beginning the day after Okabe and Kurisu got married - Luka was finally able to leave the army he had grown to dislike. His quest to become stronger ultimately hurt him, but he claimed that he would do it again given the opportunity. Taking note of his accomplishments, Okabe had invited Luka into the fold of Valkyrie, joining Moeka, Nae, Sena, and Rimi as the Anti-Committee's most capable fighters. Despite how humble he was being about it, Luka's analytical mindset that he picked up with the Americans had played a critical role in the Valhalla Operation - the operation that toppled SERN's puppetmasters within the Committee and converting the organization and its shadow-group - the Rounders - into a tool for Valkyrie to utilize.
According to Mio, who had spoken up about the particulars of the plan, Luka was responsible for identifying the priority targets within SERN and where they would be. Just like he had done with the Okabes, he spent long nights cross-referencing everything he could with the people connected to the organization until he was able to narrow down the suspected Committee members to two sole people. Aside from the snarky comments in regards to how unhealthily obsessive the man could get, Mio conceded that Luka was one of Valkyrie's best, and wouldn't know where the organization would be without his contributions. It was because of him that Valkyrie finally had enough firepower to stand up to the Committee directly rather than rely on luck and ability as they had been before Operation Valhalla. Mio also made sure to mention that there was always a plan to try and go after SERN ever since Okabe joined the fray in 2016, but it wasn't until Luka was recruited that Okabe's dream of converting the organization became a reality.
Ever since that major operation, Valkyrie had been coasting, spending ten years easily foiling Committee plots around the globe thanks to their acquisition of the Rounders. Luka wished to atone for the actions he committed under the command of the American Navy, so, with the help of Mayuri, he embarked on humanitarian efforts throughout Third World countries suffering from the aftermath of war in 2034. It was enough to distract him for two years, spending a lot of his days with Mayuri in these countries until they reset for a couple weeks before embarking on another quest. It would have lasted longer, but, all of a sudden, a lot of activity sprang up over the course of the past couple months. It was as if the Committee was waiting for Okabe to be replaced by Kyouma before they began operating again to take him by surprise. Of course, because Kyouma had led people prior to changing worldlines, he and Daru had no problem battling these issues as they came, but it wasn't long until they were finally overwhelmed. Now, they had to play catch-up and rescue Kurisu before anything happened to her. Kyouma neglected to mention that she had a baby on the way, not wanting to add any more haste and risk coming up with a plan that could endanger more lives than it'd save. He thought back to the letter again, remembering the emphasis put into Okabe's words when he wrote that there was no retry with time travel.
Needless to say, Kyouma was impressed with Luka's willingness to fight as hard as he had been. Had he not been through war and seen Luka as the fighter he was on Beta, Steins Gate's Luka would have totally taken him aback. However, he could not shake the melancholy he felt for not being able to bring about a perfect world so that no one would have to deal with the problems that plagued them today. Despite this feeling, he had to agree that this world was a million times better than the hellish Beta Worldline and the dystopia of the Alpha Worldline.
The trio finally reached the true entrance to the hideout after ten minutes of enduring the twisting-and-turning labyrinthian maze that was the basement beneath the Wako City Institute. Okabe was more-than-cautious to make sure they were well-hidden, and it reminded Kyouma of the maze he constructed out of the subway station beneath Akihabara in the Beta Worldline. Mio flashed her ID card at the steel door in front of them, eliciting a beep in response before it slid open to allow the group to enter. While the basement was already well-lit, the actual hideout itself was very bright on the inside. The fact that there was more life within the hideout, as dozens of others were mulling about either working on their pokecoms or chatting up a storm, probably added to the brightness of the room. They were very different from the intellectuals that walked around the campus on the surface; they seemed much more lax and more confident in the work they produced. This was a side-effect of how scary Mio was as the Institute's director. It was a constant bout of one-upmanship, making the environment tense due to each and every member of the Institute were trying to get on the Director's good graces, which was already difficult in its own right. However, underground, Mio didn't have quite the same effect because the members of Valkyrie answered to Okabe before they answered to her.
As soon as Kyouma entered the room, everyone stopped what they were doing, surprised to see their leader walking around after what had happened. Men and women alike didn't know what to say or do, but Kyouma wasn't interested in being entertained as leader.
"Do as you were," he said. "I'm just visiting."
The people in the room with him nodded and resumed their work with a little extra edge to them. Kyouma didn't know what kind of reputation Okabe had, but the only observation he could make of their work was that they were inspired rather than scared into doing their jobs. It was as if his presence brought the room's morale through the roof.
"You're a living legend," Mio said, taking note of his observations. "As much as I hate to say it, you're a natural-born leader, and these men and women would be willing to lay down their lives for you if they had to because of what you've done for them."
"I take it they're the offspring of SERN's Rounders?" Kyouma remarked how young they seemed.
"Yes," Luka spoke up. "You saved their parents from their indentured servitude under SERN. This is the second generation of Rounders following our takeover of SERN in 2026."
"Last I remember, you were the one who changed the path of their destiny, were you not, Lukako?"
"I may have helped loosen the Committee's grasp, but your treatment of the Rounders and your mercy were blessings beyond words for them, so this is how they wished to repay you."
"I see."
Kyouma nodded, finding Luka's explanation agreeable. He wasn't surprised that Okabe was so charismatic as to have the children of contract mercenaries swear their loyalty to Valkyrie's cause.
"Let's continue onward," Kyouma said. "The hands of time are counting down. My Assistant's fate lies in what we can get out of the Committee's puppet."
Mio sighed at Kyouma's words, but she agreed with them nonetheless. She pushed the group further down the main hall, into the room they hastily set up to house the Gigalomaniac.
The room was dim compared to the main hall they were just in. There were two people overseeing it, a woman with dark hair and a labcoat who had a popsicle stick hanging out of her mouth, and a woman in a casual blouse with pink hair - the same woman that greeted Kyouma in the hospital when he first regained consciousness. Seated in front of them, was a battered Wakui with a helmet sitting atop his head. He watched as the trio entered the room and smiled at the sight of Kyouma, a reaction that Kyouma didn't expect in the slightest. The two women turned to follow Wakui's gaze and couldn't help eliciting their own form of surprise when their eyes landed on Kyouma.
"Okarin-san!" the woman in pink hair said. "I didn't think we'd see you here!"
Kyouma noted her use of his nickname. She was either really close to Okabe or she was one of those cutesy types that enjoyed using those kinds of nicknames like Mayuri.
"Why aren't you resting in the hospital, Okabe?" the woman in dark hair asked.
Kyouma was about to speak, but Mio cut him off.
"I asked him the same thing, Sena," she said. "Simply put - without his delusional ramblings - he wanted to visit Wakui."
Kyouma made sure to recall their names as they were said. He may have known the names of Valkyrie's more important members, but he could never put a face to them. Now that he saw Aoi Sena for himself, all he could think about was how well her looks matched what he had been told about her. Initially, she was against the Anti-Committee's transformation into Valkyrie, mostly because Okabe was not scared about trying out the more risky sciences like Gigalomania. His desire to delve into that research without consulting her led to a confrontation between him, her, Kurisu, and Mio that eventually led to Sena to allow for it to continue under the condition that she lead the research. Having devoted her life to it ever since her discovery of her father's work with it, she was more proactive than most in safely and efficiently making progress on scientifically defining why Gigalomania occurs and how it manifests.
"I'm surprised you let him steamroll past you regardless, Mio-chan," the pink-haired woman said. "What made you budge?"
"To be honest," she said. "I wanted to have a good look at what this Okabe was like, but it seems like my curiosity got the best of me."
They both tensed up once they heard her revelation that Kyouma was different from Okabe. However, she calmed them down when she explained that Luka was already filled in on the situation.
"He's still the same delusional maniac," she said. "Albeit one that seems to be more inclined to violence than the other one."
As their conversation was ongoing, Kyouma eyed Wakui with a mixture of contempt and pity. A man with such power had misused it and was now suffering the consequences of crossing the path of the mad scientist. The man, however, exchanged a gleeful smile rather than showing any anger toward his captor. The smile made Kyouma suspicious, but it was probably one of, "Try as you might, you will not break me."
"Were you able to get any info out of him at all, Sakihata?" Mio asked. "Going the Amadeus route is a lot more work for a lot more information, so I was hoping transferring his memories there would have made him want to start talking."
Sakihata Rimi. One of the other vital leaders within Valkyrie, and the only other Gigalomaniac with such an active role besides Aoi Sena. There had been other Gigalomaniacs that had engaged in bouts against the Committee and their subgroups such as Nishijou Takumi, who lost his powers after destroying Noah II in 2009, and Miyashiro Takuru, who was imprisoned after taking responsibility for the Return of the New Generation Madness in 2015. Because of their current state, though, and the unpredictability of the other Gigalomaniacs who opposed the Committee, Rimi and Sena were the only ones Okabe could count on.
Rimi's accomplishments and reputation, unlike Sena, did not seem to match the bubbly energy that the actual person seemed to exude. Both Luka and Mio stressed how vital she was as the woman on the frontlines doing the actual work when Operation Valhalla went underway, so Kyouma could only guess that she got serious when the situation called for it.
"Sadly, no," Rimi said. "He's more stubborn than Taku and Sawada-san combined."
"I wanted to save myself for Okabe-kun," Wakui spoke up from the back, cutting off all lighthearted conversation. "Consider it my apology for what I did."
The women were about to speak, but this time Kyouma beat them to the punch.
"You're quite cheery for a man who's path from here will only lead to an untimely death," he said.
The statement caught the two women and their subject by surprise. Having heard of his more violent tendencies, both Luka and Mio were not fazed. Luka was still concerned and shifted a little bit closer to Kyouma.
Wakui's bruised face lit up, betraying the reaction Kyouma expected out of him. His initial read of the Committee's puppet was that he was an opportunistic coward who was afraid of the concept of pain or mortality. Despite Kyouma's threat of killing him, he seemed undeterred. It was as if he was already planning on dying. Kyouma masked his surprise by trying to call out his bluff.
"Lukako, give me your knife," Kyouma said. "We have no need for him."
Luka was hesitant on handing his pocket knife to Kyouma, however he conceded once he realized that Kyouma was only trying to call Wakui's bluff. At least, Kyouma hoped he realized it when he flashed the "ok" sign behind his back as he stuck his hand out for the knife. It was a black switchblade, something simple and easy to use just in case anything ever happened.
"Oh, what's this?" Wakui kept strong. "You're actually approaching me? Despite the damage I've undoubtedly done to your body, you're still willing to get close to me?"
"I can't carve you without getting closer," Kyouma continued his own bluff with the knife now in hand.
"Oh, ho," Wakui giggled. "Then come as close as you'd like."
There was no stopping at this point. Kyouma didn't know whether Okabe was mentally capable of getting his hands dirty, but having come from World War III, Kyouma was not averse to spilling blood. That was his thought process before everything slowed down.
As he got within a couple inches of Wakui and began raising the knife to stab it into his leg, Wakui's smile broke into him opening his mouth wide and chomping down as hard as he could. It was in this one moment that everyone, including Kyouma began scrambling. He had seen this kind of thing in manga and anime, but never before did he think someone was actually crazy enough to attempt such a suicidal plot. Given his proximity to Wakui, there was no way Kyouma was going to get out of the way without suffering possibly-fatal injuries.
However, there was one person who was right behind him and was probably more insane than the insane mad scientist. As soon as Wakui's smile broke, Kyouma felt a huge weight bear down on him as he was forcefully shifted to face away from the ticking time bomb. This one instant was necessary to ensure his survival, but it would come at the cost of the person who was acting as the shield between Kyouma and Wakui.
It only took a moment. Just one single moment turned a dimly-lit interrogation room into a smoldering mess of glass, metal, and wires. Aside from that, the explosion was louder than anything Kyouma had ever heard.
Kyouma was knocked forward, rolling with the momentum of the blast, feeling as his body was cut by the glass that littered the floor. The fact that he was conscious enough to experience all the pain that coursed through his body was all thanks to whoever took the brunt of the blast for him. Due to Wakui's torture, however, his nerves were practically numbed out, meaning that this was not the worst pain he had experienced. The weight behind him had disappeared as the person who saved Kyouma was launched farther than him across the room.
When it was all said and done, there was nothing left of Wakui. No blood, no guts, just a charred floor where he had previously been. The remaining emergency lights in the room were flashing and the PA system was blaring. The door to the main hall burst open as those who were sitting outside undoubtedly heard the explosion and were rushing to check on the status of a very important core-group of Valkyrie's leaders.
Kyouma put his hands to the floor and shakily pushed himself to his feet, wasting no time attempting to analyze the aftermath of Wakui's suicidebombing. His labcoat was in tatters, and there were cuts all over his body, but none of them felt life-threatening. He looked around him as the room was flooded with Luka's Rounders, guns drawn and barking orders at each other. He saw as Mio, Sena, and Rimi were being helped to their feet, mostly unharmed save for burns on their skin and cuts from the glass of the lights that shattered in the blast.
"How the hell did we not catch that bomb?!" Mio could be heard cursing at anyone who'd listen to her.
That only left one person who was unaccounted for.
Kyouma's search brought his gaze to a couple feet in front of him. Lying in a heap with severe burns across his entire body, and gashes in his arms and legs from the tumble he took was none other than the man who protected Kyouma from the blast in the first place. Kyouma clambered over to him as best he could, dragging some Rounders along with him to check on Luka.
"Someone tell Apollo to come back to the Institute!" Kyouma began barking orders at those who were left standing around. "We need a medical team, quick!"
Kyouma fell to his knees next to Luka, rolling him over with whatever strength he had left in him. Luka's face was a bloodied mess and his hair was singed off from the blast. The one thing that eased Kyouma's anxiety was that he could still feel Luka's strained breathing. As he held Luka in his arms, worried for the boy whose fate should not have turned out like this, Luka's eyes fluttered open.
"Kyouma...san..." Luka smiled. "I'm glad... you're okay..."
Luka coughed, making blood come out of his mouth as he did so. This action prompted Kyouma to try to get Luka to sit still and wait for the medical team to come and help him. In Luka's current state, Kyouma didn't know how much longer he had. He could barely keep his eyes open, his breathing was becoming increasingly ragged, and blood poured out of his wounds as he coughed, covering his face with more of it. Had Luka not been there to block the explosion, Kyouma would have easily been killed.
"Lukako, please," Kyouma said. "Don't force yourself."
"I... wasn't strong enough to protect her... back then..." Luka continued on despite Kyouma's pleading. "I'm happy... that I got to protect you..."
With those words, Luka's eyes slowly closed, smiling as they did. He only took a couple more breaths before his chest stopped moving.
"Lukako!"
Okabe Rintaro, a man who had struggled as much as he could to build a worldline free of suffering and despair, was now feeling how he felt an eternity ago when Urushibara Luka died in his arms on the Beta Worldline. He may have witnessed death in wartime, but it could never match the feeling of someone as close as family dying in a time where peace should have prevailed.
"Lukako!" Okabe yelled as loud as he could, clutching Luka tightly to his chest.
The man didn't move. It was clear that at this point, there was nothing that could have been done to save him.
"This is Steins Gate!" Okabe yelled at no one in particular. "This is supposed to be a worldline without war - without dystopia! This was supposed to be a worldline where you all could have lived without worry!"
Tears worked their way out of his eyes as he spoke.
"It was never supposed to be like this! I suffered so that you shouldn't have to!"
Okabe's mind was flooded with memories of the time he had spent with Luka in the past. He was brought back to the time when teaching the shrine maiden how to wield Samidare were the most stressful things for the boy. He remembered the time he spent in Alpha, helping him come to terms with who he was, and how nothing was going to change how he saw Luka. All the parties they attended with Mayuri, his resilence despite the horror of World War III bearing down upon them, the time he sacrificed himself to allow Faris and the rest of Beta's Valkyrie to escape after Okabe had woken up - everything that had to do with Luka was taking over his mind.
He wished that this was just a result of some twisted dream he was having in the hospital. He hoped against all hope that something - anything - would wake him up and allow him to escape facing this situation. He remembered the letter that his previous self had written. The words "there is no reset button" flashed in his mind as he looked down at Luka's bloody face. No matter how much he wished for a different outcome, reality remained the same. This was his reality. Steins Gate would only be a peaceful worldline as long as he was proactive in protecting it, and he had let his guard down. The reason why any of this is happening was because he shirked his duties in favor of spending time with Kurisu. The Committee may have done the damage, but he blamed himself for allowing it to happen.
The blood from Luka's deep wounds had pooled around them, but Okabe didn't care.
"The Committee will pay!" Okabe felt the flame of the Phoenix re-engulf him. "I swear it! If this is the choice of Steins Gate, then I will force its hand once more!"
All Kyouma could do was wait for Izumi and his team. There was no one to comfort, no one to help. He held on to Luka, believing that the man would crumble into nothingness if he let go.
All Hououin Kyouma could do was let out a roar of regret at the loss of one of his lab members.
A/N: Hey all, sorry for the wait on this one. I hit a real speedbump due to some personal issues as well as university, so this couldn't come out quite as fast as I wanted it to. Regardless, this is my second longest chapter in the story, so I hope that's able to somewhat make up for the wait. Also, I wasn't lying when I said things would only pick up from here. It's my goal to end this story by July at the latest, so we'll see how well I'm able to keep myself to that deadline. As I said before, we are rapidly approaching the end, and there's still some twists and turns to get through before we get to enjoy the climax. Anyway, thanks again for reading!
~Quil