Episode 05: Starmine Rendezvous

Starmine Rendezvous (電荷衝突のランデヴー, Denka Shōtotsu no Randevū, lit. "Electrical Charge Conflict Rendezvous") is the fifth episode of the anime adaptation of the visual novel Steins;Gate.

After some late night modifications to the IBN-5100, Okabe and his team uncover the shocking truth behind SERN's many attempts to master time travel.

Synopsis
July 31, 2010. The day is coming to a close, and Suzuha is tasked with closing shop before going home herself. As the shutters of the electronics shop are closed down, Suzuha is joined by Rintarou and Kurisu, who has just arrived after a long walk carrying a box with bulky contents. Suzuha asks about what the two are carrying and guesses that it is the IBN 5100, much to the surprise of the "mad scientist".

Soon, Suzuha notices the girl accompanying Rintarou and she suddenly changes, her eyes fixed at Kurisu like a predator discovering prey. Luckily, Mr. Tennouji has unexpectedly stopped a commotion from happening, but it alarms Kurisu a bit.

Rintarou and Kurisu soon arrive at Lab, where Itaru is accompanied by Mayuri. Mayuri is happy to see Kurisu again, although she also drags Kurisu in a dilemma whether to leave the Future Gadget Lab for good or to stay to join Mayuri, a dilemma that Rintarou uses to tease Kurisu yet again.

Nonetheless, with Itaru's interest with the IBN 5100 rising, Kurisu decides to proceed with analyzing the vintage computer.

Itaru soon discovers a possible hitch on their plan; since the computer has existed before the Internet, it will be impossible to connect the machine to a more recent computer. However, Itaru knows the parts needed to proceed, and he asks Rintarou to buy them; of course, he passes it to Kurisu, much to the girl's chagrin. The two argue yet again, but Itaru urges him to buy since it appears that Kurisu has no idea about Akihabara.

Meanwhile, Mayuri decides to give Kurisu a tour around the apartment unit, and this causes Rintarou to go instead.

At Akihabara's many computer parts shops, Rintarou stumbles upon Suzuha, who to his surprise has been able to help him in choosing the right parts he need.

The two later go at a nearby vending machine and there, Suzuha reveals that she has been in touch with someone who is very knowledgeable about IBNs. Rintarou eagerly wants to get the contact of that person Suzuha mentioned, but she reveals that the one she was pertaining to has died years ago.

Suzuha soon apologizes to Rintarou for what she did to Kurisu, but Rintarou thinks that what she did is understandable as long as Kurisu has done something wrong earlier. She then clarifies that Kurisu has nothing to do with what she did, and that "she does not know anything yet".

Moments later, a helicopter whizzes over them; while Rintarou looks over to the helicopter, Suzuha prepares a stance, only to finds out that it is a media helicopter that broadcasts the incoming fireworks display nearby.

Suzuha decides to go to the venue, but only after she swaps e-mail addresses with Rintarou.

Meanwhile, the topic of the fireworks display in Akihabara has reached Mayuri and Kurisu while ladies dressed with yukatas begin to appear in the streets. Mayuri has tried inviting Kurisu to the event, but she hesitantly refuses. They are soon joined by Rintarou, who has just finished shopping for parts and, interested to know more about what would happen, Kurisu decides to return to the lab; as for Mayuri, she heads back home.

As Itaru tinkers on the IBN 5100, Kurisu and Rintarou talk to each other. Out of curiosity, Kurisu tries out Rintarou's lab coat, and seeing another person in a lab coat has overjoyed Rintarou, since he has tried presuading Itaru and Mayuri into wearing lab coats as well, to no avail.

Soon, Kurisu eats dinner at the lab — a bowl of cup ramen — and plays a certain trading card game with Rintarou, which she enjoys defeating Rintarou in.

Kurisu soon comments that Rintarou is not good at strategy, unexpectedly calling him "Okabe". This causes Rintarou to shout at her face and remind her that she should call him "Hououin" or "Kyouma". He did not notice that he just made Kurisu cry, and even Itaru, busy with his IBN 5100, knows what is going on.

August 1, 2010.

Soon, Itaru has managed to link up the IBN 5100 to his computer, interrupting Rintarou and Kurisu's conversation. The two gather near Itaru as he opens the information he has retrieved from SERN, and soon, Kurisu reads on the information in the site itself. To Kurisu's shock, SERN's report includes the creation of a utopia and the use of space-time travel to achieve it.

There are four stages of the operation: (1) the construction of the LHC, (2) the implementation and tuning of the lifter (a device called an ionocraft), (3) animal experimentation, and (4) human experimentation. The fourth stage shocks Kurisu, but this does not come as a surprise to Rintarou, as he has already known about SERN's experimentation of humans through the phrase "Human is dead, mismatch".

Rintarou asks Itaru to hack into the e-mail that contains the information about the experiment, but for the first time, Itaru feels scared to tread into unfamiliar ground. Rintarou decides that Kurisu should stay out of their plans to keep her safe, but Kurisu refuses. Itaru also accepts his imminent fate and proceeds with the operation, now dubbed by Rintarou as "Laegjarn's Chest".

Itaru manages to open the experimentation reports of SERN.

On the tenth of fourteen reports, the subject, an American named James McCarthy, is presumed dead (again, "Human is dead, mismatch") after the results of an experiment dated January 28, 2005. His body is never found, but news from the date April 3, 1921, a man is found lodged in a wall in New York City. The body of the man itself appears to be soft like jelly.

On the eighth report, the subject, this time a British named Linda Hill, undergoes a February 15, 2004 experiment, with the result "Human is dead, mismatch". Her body is found on October 2, 1972 in India, completely turned into a jelly-like substance.

On the seventh report, Michael Lang, a German, becomes the subject, and like the previous experiments, the result is "Human is dead, mismatch". His jelly-like body is found in Japan, on May 24, 1936.

In total, there are fourteen failed experiments, fourteen "Human is dead mismatch", fourteen deaths transported in the past, at most eighty years. Rintarou is clearly shocked by the results, and leaves for a breath of fresh air. Meanwhile, Kurisu and Itaru discuss on what they saw.

According to Kurisu, the jelly-like state can be explained by SERN's usage of Kerr black holes; the change of consistency of the human body after exposure is caused by compressing 10-21 grams into a space of 10-19 meters and sending it into the past.

Kurisu soon accompanies Rintarou on the rooftop and asks him if he is still willing to proceed.

She thinks that Rintarou is still shocked by the results of a dozen failures.

However, Rintarou sees it as a challenge. He plans to continue with the project using the Phone Microwave (temporary name) in creating a machine that surpasses that of SERN.

Characters

 * Suzuha Amane
 * Rintarou Okabe
 * Kurisu Makise
 * Yuugo Tennouji (voice only)
 * Itaru Hashida
 * Mayuri Shiina

Cultural References

 * Gero Flog is a cameo appearance character from game/anime Chaos;HEAd. The wacky frog was printed on Daru's T-shirt.
 * Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival was actually held at July 31, 2010 in real world.

Unanswered Questions

 * Why is Suzuha showing animosity to Kurisu?
 * Is Suzuha's pinbadge something related to real John Titor 's military insignia?