Episode 04: Solitude of the Mournful Flow: A Stray Sheep

"Solitude of the Mournful Flow: A Stray Sheep" (亡失流転のソリチュード, Bōshitsu Ruten no Sorichūdo) is the fourth episode of the Steins;Gate 0 anime.

Synopsis
Rintaro feels that the worldline is changing because of his Reading Steiner being suddenly active. Meanwhile, Daru finds out that Suzuha is looking for someone, and Rintaro agrees to help. For help, he contacts someone that Rintaro didn't expect...

Plot
The episode starts with a flashback. Prior to the events of the Christmas party, Rintaro had a nightmare about the 1.382733β worldline, where the Soviet Union has invaded Japan in 2010. In this dream, he is accompanied by armed forces to keep him safe. Seeing many corpses lying lifeless on the ground makes his breathing unstable. Spotted by the enemy's patrol, they tell Rintaro to run as far as possible. Three of his armed man get shot and he gets unconscious. After regaining consciousness, he wakes up in the room that looks like an office where a man is sitting in front of him. He suddenly gets a call but hesitates to pick it up. After getting permission from the man, he answers the call while suddenly his Reading Steiner activates, and he wakes up from his dream.

Switching back to the present, Rintaro is confused and terrified on the roof of his lab after feeling his Reading Steiner were just activated. Leaving Maho alone, he runs downstairs searching for Mayuri hoping that nothing had happened to her, as he remembers the trauma from her multiple deaths in the worldlines of the Alpha Attractor Field. He breathes a sigh of relief after finding out that she is fine.

Rintaro had a scheduled meeting with Alexis Leskinen and Maho to discuss the extent of his relationship with Amadeus [Kurisu]. While waiting, he opens the present he got from the Christmas Party's present exchange and is surprised to see a dress. [Kurisu] who sees Rintaro holding a dress teases him. Afterwards, Rintaro asks her why she was not angry at him for having hung up on her earlier. She says that he called her back right after it happened. He had no recollection of that.

Finally after they come, Leskinen apologizes for having Rintaro to wait until late of the night. While discussing the present given by him earlier, he asks what Rintaro's present was. Rintaro hesitates to tell them, while [Kurisu] tells him that there is no reason to hide it when he hangs up. They realize that she has opened up to Rintaro, and add that their expectations and hopes may come true. He asks what Leskinen meant, to which he answers that he is putting all of his hopes that Amadeus [Kurisu] will develop feelings for him. But Rintaro tells them that she's just an AI. Leskinen clarifies the concept of Amadeus that it is a system based on the memory of a person and the memory tries to create their own brain model. They can behave like humans based on that memory, and Leskinen hopes Amadeus will be able to love.

As Rintaro and Maho are on the train, she asks how close he and Kurisu were and assumes that they were lovers. He denies it and says that he had just bumped to her on a seminar. Maho feels that she had heard this answer before, and asks again if their relationship is just limited that. He only clenches his fist, as he remembers how he could not save her. She realizes that she might be asking something sensitive and apologizes saying that she just wanted to know the side of her that she did not know about. In the room where Maho stays in Akihabara, a red laptop and hard drive is shown on her table.

After the girls finally finish cleaning, Faris Nyannyan suggests that they should go to May Queen for some tea. Mayuri hesitates on whether it should be tonight. Katsumi complains that the city is swarming with scoundrels. Yuki assures Katsumi and says that nothing stands in the way of the girls. Joined by Mayuri who says "But he is a dude" referring to Luka. Luka smiles, and says that he can not come because there are guests of his father who will be staying over at the shrine and his father wants him to be there. Kaede asks where Daru was and Mayuri tells them that he was in the Lab with Suzuha as he had to talk to her about something.

Suzuha wears the gloves made from sheep fur that she had gotten from the exchange of christmas gifts and remarks that she didn't expect them to be that warm. Daru's present happened to be two show tickets on Christmas and Suzuha suggests him to invite Yuki. Daru asks her what she was doing as she was rarely seen in the Lab or in Radio buildings. While she hesitates to answer it at first, she admits that she was looking for a girl who came with her from year 2036. She was separated with her in 1998 at Akihabara.

At May Queen, Daru informs Rintaro about the girl that Suzuha had been looking for. Rintaro assumes that if she were alive, at present she would be 22 years old. He tells him that she had almost given up but found a photo on the internet on how she might be dressing up. Rintaro asks the girl's name which Daru says to be "Shiina Kagari". Shocked, Rintaro asks who the father was but is relieved to hear that she was a war orphan that Mayuri adopts in the future. He also adds that the peacekeeping squads in 2036 are after Mayuri and him because he was trying to develop a time machine.

A glimpse of the future shows Daru instructing Suzuha to hurry as the peacekeepers would be arriving soon. Mayuri insists Suzuha to take Kagari with her too and take care of her. Kagari does not want to part with her mother and struggles to be free, but Mayuri wants her to be safe. Suzuha and Kagari first travel to 1975, and then 1998 before coming to 2010.

After some consideration, Okabe agrees to help search for Kagari.

Okabe still wonders why and how his Reading Steiner got activated again. If there was a shift of the world line, then there has to be someone who has made a Phone Microwave or something similar to that. A news emerges that Japan will hold a cabinet meeting with Russia as a result of Dr. Nakabachi defecting to Russia last summer.

At Tokyo Denki University, Rintaro asks Amadeus  about any good methods to locate a missing person from 12 years ago. She suggests him to ask the police first but after knowing that he cannot do it, she suggests him to look at the newspapers or hire a detective. Amadeus Kurisu looks happy to be talking to him but Rintaro remembers Maho's statement that Kurisu is already dead and decides to hang up.

At Akihabara in 1998, Suzuha gives explains to Kagari about how the Y2K problem was never made public but the main cause to it was the IBN 5100 and their mission is to make sure that this does not happen. Kagari asks if it okay for them to change the past as it would alter the future that they have come from to which Suzuha replies that it is something that they must do to reach Steins;Gate. Kagari looks up at the sky and sees someone's shadow telling her something. She then points a gun to Suzuha and that they should not be changing the future, as told to her by the shadow. Suzuha moves quickly to stop her.

At present, in the Lab, Suzuha asks her father how his search is progressing. He informs her that he has looked through the data of every person's missing from the police but has found no sign of her. She asks him if he had talked to Rintaro about it. Daru tells her that he has agreed to help and that he would do what he could. Suzuha thanks him for helping her find Kagari.

After getting advice from Amadeus , Rintaro goes to the library to see the old newspaper articles. She calls him again and he hurries out of the library to pick up her call. She tells him how she feels that he is ignoring her again to which Rintaro replies that he was in the library. She apologizes and he says that it was not a big deal. She offers to help him find the person he wants to look for by using the Amadeus server that connects directly to Viktor Chondria University research building as she is free to use it. Rintaro, being not so sure asks if she should be doing stuff like that but she answers that it would fine as long as no one finds out. Rintaro says that he will think about it.

Faris and Luka spot Rintaro at the bridge. He rarely saw Faris and Luka together. Faris says that Luka's father asked if they could go out and pick up a few things. Luka adds the details that one of his guests that came over were going to be staying with them so they were stocking up. He offers to carry the things but they say that they'll be fine. Rintaro asks Faris and Luka's help to find the girl he was looking for.

Faris informs Rintaro after talking to Kuroki she got no lead, but she heard about a ghost in braids who is seen around the Radio Building asking about a little girl. Suddenly he spots Leskinen walking in the hallway. After following him, he suddenly disappears.

When Rintaro comes to the Lab, Suzuha says that she does not want to burden Daru and Rintaro anymore. Daru states that Suzuha's responsibility is his own responsibility, trying to sound like a real father. He states that if they are looking for someone, they might as well bring a specialist. Suzuya seems to be against it as the lesser that the people know, the better it would be but Daru had already contacted somebody and since they were nearby, they could come right away.

Luka calls Rintaro and wants to meet him as he needed some advice, but Rintaro tells him that he is busy and would have to call him later as the person that Daru had contacted had arrived. Luka's father's guest is shown to be a glimpse of woman with long red hair and using nearly the same outfit as in the picture that Rintaro and Daru had seen. When Rintaro opens the door, he is shocked to see Moeka Kiryu which brings back some horrible memories that happened in Alpha Worldline when she kills Mayuri. She then politely asks if she can come in.

Characters In Order of Appearance

 * Rintaro Okabe
 * Maho Hiyajo
 * Mayuri Shiina
 * Luka Urushibara
 * Kaede Kurushima
 * Katsumi Nakase
 * Nae Tennouji
 * Yuki Amane
 * Itaru Hashida
 * Suzuha Amane
 * Faris Nyannyan
 * Alexis Leskinen
 * Amadeus
 * Kagari Shiina
 * Dr. Nakabachi
 * Kuroki
 * Moeka Kiryu

Trivia

 * This episode adapted from route A Stray Sheep in Promised Rinascimento branch.