Episode 20: Finalize Apoptosis

   

Finalize Apoptosis  ( 怨嗟断絶のアポトーシス,  Ensa Danzetsu no Apotōshisu ) is the twentieth episode of the anime adaptation of the visual novel Steins;Gate.

Okabe's quest to save Mayuri and return to the original timeline leads him to an unexpected -- but all too familiar -- source. Is he prepared to handle the truth about those closest to him?

Synopsis
Okabe is seen the following morning sitting outside the coin locker room where Moeka told him the IBN 5100 was hidden, but appears down while holding his phone.

August 12th, 2010: 12:41 AM

Okabe is seen scrambling about the lab, looking for a crowbar to pry the locker open with. Kurisu makes him explain what's going on, but after he finishes Kurisu says that, because none of the other world lines he re-arranged got him to the IBN 5100, he might only have to undo all of the D-mails before he can get to it, without taking shortcuts. Just as Okabe is about to concede, Kurisu also mentions that the IBN has to be in the coin locker for a reason: so that FB can come and pick it up, meaning that if Okabe sits outside the locker room and waits, he can see FB.

In the present, Okabe waits when Moeka comes and brings him food, intending to keep vigil alongside him despite not knowing if she is sure. Okabe refuses to have her for company while they do so, but after some time reluctantly accepts. That evening he tells Kurisu about it on the phone, causing her to almost chastise him (only not doing so because Mayuri is with her), but Okabe hangs up on her. Kurisu eventually has to tell Mayuri that Okabe was on the phone, and Mayuri gets a bit sad because Okabe and her haven't talked that much recently. On their way back to the apartment, they run into Nae and Mr. Braun, with the latter saying that Okabe will now have to pay a much larger rent than usual. However, he then admits that Okabe is actually having a decent lifestyle, with a room and friends. Nae and him then leave to go elsewhere. That night Okabe and Moeka are still waiting. Out of boredom, Okabe asks Moeka if he can read some of the text messages FB has sent her. Reluctantly, she agrees, and he learns that her code name is M4 and that FB often gives Moeka emotional support.

August 13th, 2010: 1:25 PM

Okabe and Moeka are still waiting when they notice a young man carrying a cart come to the coin locker. He opens the one containing the IBN 5100 and places it on the cart before walking off. Okabe and Moeka, deciding that this is not FB, begin following the man to a train station when they see another man take the cart himself. Okabe also notices a tattoo on the second man's neck, which he remembers seeing on the Rounders when they barged into the apartment. He and Moeka follow the man onto the train and later off of it, but lose track of the IBN 5100 when he discreetly passes it to a woman still on the train. To that end, Okabe begins time leaping, taking photos of the people with the IBN to keep track of them. The chase lasts until that evening, when a man on the side of the road gives it to none other than Mr. Braun. Moeka and a shocked Okabe follow Mr. Braun in a car, and end up spending the night outside of his shop. The next day Mr. Braun gives the IBN to a man in a van, who takes it onto a plane bound for France, meaning he is taking it to SERN. Kurisu then makes Okabe and Moeka come to a bridge, and she shouts at Okabe for making Mayuri sad. After Okabe apologizes, he says that they are going to confront Mr. Braun.

The three come to Mr. Braun's house, where Nae is sleeping, and confront Mr. Braun over tea about having a meeting with FB. Instead, Mr. Braun reveals that he, in fact, is FB, after Ferdinand Braun, the founder of Braun televisions (for whom Okabe constantly calls him Mr. Braun since he always sends them). He convinces the three to come with him to a construction site, where he says that his texts to Moeka were intended to cater to her every desire, and that she expended her worth after getting the IBN 5100 to the coin locker, which is why he stopped texting. Okabe chastises him by saying that his actions were not what Suzuha would have wanted, but Mr. Braun says he did it anyway because he used to be a homeless kid living in the dumps before being asked to become FB. He then says that all of the Rounders' lives are torture either way, then proceeds to take out a pistol and shoot Moeka in the chest (as the Rounders would have done it anyway) just as Nae wakes up. Mr. Braun then explains that the Rounders will eventually see him as expendable, and will take Nae to make him suffer. To avoid any harm happening to her, Mr. Braun takes the gun and shoots himself in the head, just as Nae finishes fixing up a meal.

Okabe gets sick at the sight of seeing Mr. Braun dead, but Moeka regains her senses and asks Okabe to stay at her side. As Okabe holds her hand, she briefly asks for forgiveness before dying. At Kurisu's persuasion, Okabe prepares a D-mail from Mr. Braun's phone telling Moeka to stop pursuing the IBN 5100 at all, and sends it.

0.571046

Okabe finds himself at Moeka's apartment, where Moeka is alive and well. She sends him a text saying that she won't need the IBN 5100 for a while under the persuasion of her boss. He then passes by the Tennoji household and sees an alive Mr. Braun and Nae happily sharing a meal. Okabe then calls Ruka and gets the IBN from him. He tries to get Daru to start the hacking, but learns he went to the convention with Mayuri.

August 13th, 2010: 3:27 PM

After time leaping, Okabe explains the situation to Daru and Kurisu, including Suzuha's lineage and Mayuri's fate, after getting the IBN 5100 again. He then tells Daru to hack into SERN and delete all of the data that flagged them in the first place. While he does so, Daru suggests that he become another time-traveling radio personality like Suzuha's John Titor, which Okabe and Kurisu find tempting. Okabe then comments to Kurisu that she did a great job on making the phone wave, and Kurisu initially says "Aww", but quickly goes "tsundere" (as Daru puts it). Okabe then mutters something about him and Kurisu, but takes it back. As Daru makes the final preparations on the hacking, Kurisu asks Okabe what the very first D-mail was. This causes Okabe to suddenly freak out silently, as he remembers that the first D-mail prevented Kurisu's death, and that if they were to continue with the undoing, Mayuri would be alive and SERN would be destroyed, but in the process, Kurisu will die.

Characters

 * Okabe Rintarou
 * Shiina Mayuri
 * Kurisu Makise
 * Itaru Hashida
 * Moeka Kiryū
 * Yuugo Tennouji
 * Nae Tennouji
 * Ruka Urushibara (vocal cameo)