Episode 02: Time Travel Paranoia

Episode 02 時間旅行のパラノイア Time Travel Paranoia

Released on: April 13, 2010

"Time Travel Paranoia" (時間旅行のパラノイア, Jikan Ryokō no Paranoia) is the second episode of the anime adaptation of the visual novel Steins;Gate.

Rintarou discovers major discrepancies in his memories and enters a period of paranoia. As he tries to sort out the truth behind his experiences, he meets more characters, including a girl who turns out to be a boy, a famous worker at a maid cafe, and a mysterious girl who is highly defensive of her cellphone.

Synopsis
Rintarou stumbles upon a shocking sight when he returns to the Akihabara Radio Hall: Kurisu Makise, the same person whom he has seen bathing in a pool of her own blood, is standing unscathed. Overwhelmed by the feeling of confusion, Rintarou tries to examine Kurisu's body, wanting to know about what really happened; however, this is considered by Kurisu to be harassment.

The confrontation is interrupted when Kurisu is called away, and Rintarou gives his name "Hououin Kyouma" to Kurisu before she heads off.

It turns out that instead of Dr. Nakabachi, it is Kurisu who will be giving the lecture. As she starts the lecture, Rintarou and Itaru listen at the seats at the back. Rintarou is still at grips at the realization that Kurisu is not a ghost, much to Itaru's disappointment.

Soon, Kurisu points out the main topic she will handle in the lecture: that "time machines are foolishness". This causes Rintarou to stand up from his seat and express his objection. Rintarou points out that it is still too early to determine the possibility of a time machine; Kurisu, on the other hand, explains that it is not time that is the matter, rather that it is theoretically impossible for a time machine to exist. Kurisu then decides to change the format of her lecture into a discussion, particularly to "punish" Rintarou.

Kurisu turns out victorious, as she uses the intelligence that granted her a spot in the famous academic journal magazine Science to debunk Rintarou's theories on time travel.

Rintarou's head hangs low on his way back as he recalls how each argument he has supporting time machines is taken down by Kurisu's expertise in mathematics, and it needed his delusions to calm himself down. However, a message from Mayuri brings him back to reality.

Mayuri's message brings him to a small temple, where a girl wearing a miko costume is practicing swinging a sword. It turns out that the girl is actually a boy (denoted by Mayuri's usage of the suffix -kun to refer to him) and the boy, named Ruka, talks to Rintarou about the food that he has brought for Mayuri and him. Soon, Rintarou decides to test Ruka's skills in exorcism, which he is supposed to have inherited from his father.

Although Rintarou is not really possessed by an evil spirit, a small act causes Ruka to frantically rush over and prepare his tools for exorcism. Rintarou soon ends his act, and soon laments on the fact that Ruka is a boy in reality despite being feminine — even more feminine than a real girl.

Mayuri and Rintarou soon leave with Ruka's donated food.

As sunset looms over Akihabara, Rintarou and Mayuri pass by the bridge that is supposed to lead to the area behind the Akihabara Radio Hall. Mayuri soon checks the time and notices that she should head to her work. Rintarou relieves her of the food that she is carrying and lets her go to her destination after double-checking if she did not hear a scream at the Radio Hall.

Rintarou soon sees "Mister Braun" closing his shop early. As usual, Mr. Tennouji is anoyed at Rintarou's nickname for him and soon tells him that he has a part-timer that he has to interview. It turns out that it is an 18-year-old girl named Suzuha Amane. She instantly displays a certain interest in Rintarou despite his delusions.

That night, Rintarou researches in the Internet about the events he witnessed. After several searches, he realizes that there is really a satellite crash at noon on Akihabara Radio Hall, that Dr. Nakabachi's conference is canceled, and Kurisu Makise is unhurt.

Rintaour soon stumbles upon the BBS site @chan, and there, he discovers several topics about John Titor, a self-proclaimed time traveler from the year 2036. According to John Titor, he is trying to fix the future by stopping a certain organization called SERN and creating a time paradox to undo the chaos brought by SERN. He also explains the presence of multiple "world lines" that allow an endless possibility of events to occur.

All this takes him to one name — John Titor — and this causes him to revisit his many research materials about him. However, he finds out that he only finds a handful of sites about John Titor, and his books are nowhere to be found. Rintarou tries to call Itaru to ask about John Titor, but Rintarou finds a shocking response from him:

"Who's John Titor?"

What's worse, is that the John Titor who has been posting on @chan said that he never traveled in the year 2000, contrary to the information Rintarou has.

Rintarou spends the rest of the night looking for information regarding John Titor.

The next day, as a disillusioned Rintarou stands in front of the streets of Akihabara, he notices someone taking his pictures. He chases the girl and frantically asks her to delete his pictures; however, the girl points out that Rintarou is not the subject of his pictures... rather, she is taking pictures "as proof". Also, she is also looking for a certain computer unit.

The girl tries to extract information from Rintarou using the picture to blackmail him, but Rintarou continues being defensive. Soon, Rintarou demands the girl's phone, which the girl responds with alarm, and decides to send blank e-mails to acquire the girl's e-mail address.

Rintarou soon visits Mayuri at her workplace, which turns out to be a maid cafe named Mayqueen Nyan-nyan. He is welcomed by Mayuri (who calls herself "Mayushii Nyan-nyan" when working) and Feiris Nyan-nyan, who appears to play along with Rintarou's role-playing with ease. Rintarou soon looks for Itaru, who is actually a frequent customer of the maid cafe, and the two soon talk about the mysterious girl who is looking for an old computer unit. Itaru reveals the identity of the unit as the IBN 5100, an infamous device which has yet to be seen by anyone.

Soon, Rintarou receives a message from the girl who was looking for the IBN 5100 and introduces herself as Moeka Kiryuu, although he doubts it because of the immense amount of emoji in her message.

His serious talk with Itaru is soon interrupted when Feiris arrives with a special kind of omelette that has "The World is in Danger!" (世界がヤバイ Sekai ga yabai) written on it.

He soon returns to his house to meet up with Mayuri and Itaru. Rintarou reveals that he has managed to examine pieces of the gel-banana in a laboratory in Tokyo Denki University and he concludes that the banana has been ripped apart at the molecular level. In layman's terms, the banana has turned into something that is not a banana.

Rintarou decides to use the Phone Microwave (temporary name) one more time, this time using a bunch of bananas with one banana having Mayuri's name written on it. However, Itaru decides to use only one for this experiment. Despite Rintarou's doubts about using a single banana, he decides to push through.

The Phone Microwave (temporary name) is set to 120, and is turned on.

Soon, the microwave finishes its cycle, and the banana is gone.

Itaru and Rintarou can't believe their eyes. Rintarou, overwhelmed by the sudden development, immerses himself to his roleplaying, while Itaru is there to pull him back to reality. Itaru suspects Rintarou of cheating into a result, but Rintarou soon defends himself, telling that he did not do anything.

They two soon focuses on the bunch of remaining bananas on the table across the room and discover that the banana that they shoved inside the Phone Microwave (temporary name) is now attached with the rest of the bunch, and is now made of the same gel that makes the bananas they used in previous experiments. Rintarou soon wonders if they made not a time machine... but a teleportation device.

Another surprise soon unfolds, with Kurisu Makise being the third witness to the most recent development of their experiment.

Characters

 * Rintarou Okabe
 * Kurisu Makise
 * Itaru Hashida
 * Mayuri Shiina

New Characters

 * Ruka Urushibara
 * Suzuha Amane
 * Moeka Kiryū
 * Feiris Nyannyan

New Locations

 * Urushibara Temple, Akihabara
 * Mayqueen Nyan-nyan, Akihabara

Trivia

 * The person called by Itaru as "Lightning-Speed Night Heart" is in fact Takumi Nishijou, the main character of the visual novel ChäoS;HEAd.

Cultural References

 * Various terminology used in BBS sites are shown, like "wwwwww" and "sage".
 * The acronym SERN has a stark similarity with the real-life organization CERN (French: Organisation Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire, English: European Organization for Nuclear Research). Several users from @chan in this episode recognize this similarity.

Unanswered Questions

 * Why are information related to John Titor suddenly disappear?