The story starts with flashes of Okabe's experiences; Kurisu and Doctor Nakabachi, her father choking her, charging to attack Doctor Nakabachi when suddenly Kurisu rushes in between, and lastly Kurisu covered in blood fallen against him. The time machine's hatch opens upon world line divergence 1.129848%, 2010/08/21 17:56:01hrs.
Absolute Zero
Full Title: 零化域のミッシングリンク –Absolute Zero– (Reikaiki no Misshingu Rinku, Missing Link of the Annihilator)
Chapter .01
Divergence: 1.129848%
Date: 2010/08/21
Suzuha pulls the bloodied and in shock Okabe from the time machine. Mayuri and Daru rush over in concern, and Suzuha sends her father for a towel, water, and some clothes. Okabe, wishing desperately for nothing but to be left alone, falls to his knees under his extreme fatigue, the hopelessness, and the crushing weight of having killed Kurisu.
Return from failing to save Kurisu, August 21, 2010
When Mayuri asks what happened, he admits that he killed Kurisu and everything is his fault. Suzuha tries to reason with him to try again, but fails as Okabe knows how impossible it is to escape world line convergence no matter what you try. Suzuha comes to the point where she is going to slap Okabe in an attempt to bring him back to his senses, but Mayuri stops her. Mayuri does not believe that it is alright to force someone who is so shattered. Suzuha argues that at this rate the future will not change, but Mayuri asks her why Okabe alone has to shoulder the burden of the future.
Suzuha explains that Okabe has the ability to observe the world, but Mayuri does not change her opinion. That ability was something that Okabe had not wished for, and she thinks that Okabe might only get hurt once more if they try again. For one person to change the world's future must be impossible.
Suzuha starts to mention the Steins Gate, but stops and explains instead that she understands Mayuri's feelings, but she traveled to this time with the future on the line and can no longer return to 2036. Giving up so easily is not an option for her. She addresses Okabe telling him that the time machine has a limited amount of fuel, but there is some surplus. However, it is only enough to travel 344 days. Before a full year has passed it will become impossible to reach July 28 even when making a one way trip. Before it comes to that, she will jump to the past again even if it is only her who goes.
However, by this time Okabe is so far gone in his exhaustion and shock that though he can tell that someone is speaking to him, he cannot make out the words. As he begs internally to be released, Mayuri embraces him. She calls out to him that it is alright to not keep trying, that he can cry, and that she is by his side. Okabe begins to brokenly sob.
He doesn't know what brought Mayuri to say such things, but as his tears overflow, he decides to forget everything and that is why from that day forward he never visits the Future Gadget Laboratory.
After Okabe has given up on everything, he discards his Chuunibyou name “Hououin Kyouma” and decides to live as a normal college student. Three months later, he is helping out an associate professor of his university, named Izaki, because Izaki has connections to Kurisu’s university, Viktor Chondria, where Okabe would like to go to learn more about her research and continue it if possible.
Izaki is participating in the winter Akihabara Techno Forum (ATF), and Okabe is helping him out by working at the convention’s reception desk when Okabe meets Maho Hiyajo, a 21 year-old woman who looks like a young pre-teen.
Maho while showing Okabe her id card: “That’s my name, Maho Hiyajo. I’ll say it to you now, because nobody’s ever been able to read it right. Not in Japanese or English.” Note: Preproduction photo, the final product differs.
He, like many others before him, treats her at first like a child, much to her irritation, until she wearily shows him her I.D. card from Viktor Chondria University’s Brain Science Institute. Realizing his mistake, he apologizes, and as the two talk she invites him to come listen to the seminar on artificial intelligence by Professor Alexis Leskinen, whom she is assisting. With Okabe guiding her, she proceeds to the staff room.
As Maho walks away after they part, Okabe sees Moeka Kiryu, who has an appointment to interview Maho’s professor, approach Maho. Seeing Moeka once more causes Okabe to suffer the beginnings of a panic attack due to his PTSD from his experiences in the Alpha world lines. He attempts to calm himself and swallows some tranquilizing medicine.
RINE conversation discussing the seminar with Mayuri on Okabe's phone around the time that Okabe is looking at Izaki's pamphlet.
While waiting for the medicine to fully kick in, Okabe’s eye is caught by the pamphlet for Izaki’s lecture, which is lying on the reception table. Izaki will be speaking about the history of pseudoscience and the “Nakabachi thesis”, which is how the thesis that Nakabachi stole from Kurisu has come to be known as. Okabe reflects on what has happened since Nakabachi defected to Russia. Since then, the time machine theory Nakabachi presented remains hard to accept for the public academic, scientific society. The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) controls information to prevent leaks, and Nakabachi is happily living without being aware that he is really being kept under house-arrest in a lab. However, following what John Titor from 2036 said, Okabe knows that an information war must be already underway beneath the surface.
Awhile later, Okabe heads to the lecture hall where Maho and Leskinen will be presenting. On his way there, he sees Maho and Leskinen come out of the venue’s staff room and overhears a scrap of their conversation in English. He is able to barely make out “Makise”, “Fire at Kurisu’s house.” “Mrs. Makise is all right.” “Robbery.” “The police called off the investigation.” “Why was the FBI there?” “It doesn’t make sense.”
Leskinen and Maho giving their presentation.
Upon entering the filled lecture hall, Okabe notices that Moeka is in attendance and searches for a seat away from her. As Leskinen’s presentation, entitled “The Artificial Intelligence Revolution”, begins, Maho stands next to the professor and provides simultaneous interpretation. Their current research incorporates Kurisu’s research that was published the year before in Science magazine on the neural pulse signals of memories stored in the temporal lobe and the theory of turning analog memories into digital patterns. Based on her theory, Leskinen’s team is developing a system that converts human memory into digital data and stores it in a computer.
At this announcement the audience begins to stir and gets louder as Leskinen continues. Okabe is lost in thought, realizing that Kurisu’s research had been continued after her death and that the storing and manipulation of memories as digital data being presented here is basically the same as the theory of time leaping that Kurisu had made possible in the Alpha world lines.
Leskinen explains that they are applying this research to two projects. One is in the medical field and is being researched collaboratively with the Viktor Chondria psychophysiology lab. This project focuses on how to write memory data that has been previously saved on a computer back to the brain of the owner of the memories with the goal of being able to use it as symptomatic therapy for memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s. Eventually, automatic back-ups of memory data could be made via a continuous connection between a computer and a patient’s hippocampal gyrus. Then when the patient loses their memories, the data could be re-installed into the brain. Eventually, by making externally stored memory data constantly accessible via the hippocampal gyrus even patients with brain damage or atrophy might be able to continue to maintain brain functions. It would essentially be like an external memory back-up of a person’s brain.
While listening, the audience is filled with mixed feelings of astonishment, skepticism and repulsion for this research. Leskinen who apparently can understand Japanese, though not speak it, quickly begins to answer some of the audience’s questions. As he goes deeper into some of the limitations the research is currently facing, the members of the audience become disappointed with what they see as a lack of feasibility of the project and begin to aim more provocative, dismissive questions at Leskinen. Okabe’s irritation rises, since this research is also what Kurisu was involved in and is something that Okabe has experienced personally.
Okabe notes Maho’s dissatisfied expression and increasingly harsher interpretation in contrast to Leskinen’s calm on-stage. When one of the questioners calls writing memory data to the brain impossible and begins to explicitly criticize Kurisu, Okabe’s self-control snaps. He stands up shouting “Objection!”, stunning the lecture hall. He continues to scold that there has been lots of technology before this that people deemed impossible. However, there were scientists who overcame such thinking leading us to our current advancements today. Okabe finishes by declaring that there is no purpose in just offhandedly criticizing them.
Leskinen breaks the dumbfounded silence that descends on the hall following Okabe’s outburst, by applauding Okabe happily and complements him, though he follows up by warning Okabe that a scientist must always keep his composure. With an apology, Okabe embarrassedly sits back down and reflects on having changed less than he thought in the past several months.
Before moving on to the next topic for presentation, Leskinen calls on the audience to applaud Okabe as well, saying that brave men such as him will make stunning discoveries and that Okabe may become the third Einstein after his assistant Maho. After loosening up the audience with some quick banter between Leskinen and Maho, Maho announces that she will shortly be taking a break as a much better interpreter will take her place, and they begin the presentation of their second project, the Amadeus System.
Maho:"The Amadeus system"
On a large screen a seemingly perfect copy of Maho appears and greets the audience in an almost completely human voice. She introduces herself as the Maho derived from a memory recording made 78 hours and 22 minutes previously. She begins to address their doubts as to the feasibility of downloading and using memories by posing the question what they think she is if its not possible. Finally, Leskinen asks several questions of Amadeus Maho about her past and private information, but AmaMaho refuses to answer them, since they are inappropriate. Seeing as how the A.I. seems able to refuse to answer questions despite having the necessary data to do so -as if she is capable of shame-, Okabe is stunned at the difference in level between this A.I. and ones that have been developed up til now. The audience is astir once again as Okabe wonders if it is real, as it so convincingly seems, or if she is just programmed to act in that way.
However, Maho assures the audience that Amadeus’s ability to decided for itself what questions to answer is not something that the researchers have programed it to do. Amadeus uses “the memories given to it to make its own autonomous decisions”. Amadeus Maho takes over speaking once again to explain another peculiar aspect to the audience. AmaMaho has certain memories that she “forgets”. Things like “what color pajamas she wore last week”, she certainly has in her memory storage, but the data is inaccessible to her, since, just like for humans, it is unnecessary information for survival. This further points to the memory system of “Amadeus” seeming to be close to that of a human.
Leskinen tells the audience that they have been further surprised by Amadeus’s capability to use its memories to decide to and intentionally tell lies. Furthermore, when doing so, this is not the result of any programming error, and AmaMaho even speaks of having a sense of conscience that plays into the matter.
Leskinen ends with a striking statement, “It may be possible to give Amadeus a soul, just like a living human’s”, and that this “would mean the creation of artificial intelligence, in the true sense” of the words.
Following utter silence in the hall at the presentation’s end, the hall dissolves into chaos as the audience discusses amongst themselves.
Okabe is able to join the convention’s formal after-party thanks to Associate Professor Izaki, but in the unfamiliar setting Okabe feels out of place and grows bored. When he accidentally voices such thoughts aloud, he finds himself met with sympathizing agreement by Hiyajo Maho. As they get to talking about the contents of the earlier presentation, Maho reacts with great surprise when Okabe recites the theory as he had previously learned it from Kurisu.
Leskinen to Maho: "Why not introduce ‘her’ to Mr. Okabe?" Note: Preproduction photo, the final product differs slightly.
While they further discuss Kurisu, Maho can't help but begin to cry as she remembers her late junior.
When Professor Leskinen appears and hears how Okabe had been a friend of Kurisu, he proposes that Okabe become a conversation test partner for Amadeus. Maho reveals that an Amadeus A.I. derived from Kurisu’s data eight months prior exists.
Having agreed to become a conversation test partner for “Kurisu”(Amadeus Kurisu), Okabe travels to Wakou, Saitama on the Sunday a week after the ATF to meet Maho at the hotel she is staying at. From there they travel to the Japan office of the Global Brain Science Comprehensive Research Organization, an endeavor led by Leskinen’s lab to form an organization of brain scientists from around the world working together. However, the office is currently only being used by Leskinen and Maho, and Maho brings Okabe there in order to introduce him to Amadeus.
They talk on their way to a small, heavily secured room with a single computer and while Maho lets the Amadeus system start up. Maho takes the time to give Okabe several warnings to brace him for the differences and possible problems experienced while interacting with Amadeus instead of the original person. Amadeus can seem so natural that people will find themselves treating the Amadeus just like the real person. However, especially the difference in or lack of shared memories can be very difficult for humans to keep up with. Maho gives Okabe the chance to quit if he thinks it will be too much of an emotional strain on him, but Okabe decides to go through with meeting “Kurisu”.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Okabe Rintaro-san. I’m Makise Kurisu.” Note: Preproduction photo, the final product differs slightly.
Suddenly, Okabe hears Kurisu’s unforgettable voice coming from the computer speakers and sees her rendered as an Amadeus on the screen before him. Maho tells “Kurisu” who he is, and “Kurisu” greets him as a stranger. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Okabe Rintaro-san. I’m Makise Kurisu.”
Steins;Gate - Meeting Kurisu's "Memories"
Gameplay preview 3: Depicts the latter part of this sub-chapter in which Maho Hiyajo introduces Okabe to Amadeus Kurisu.
Chapter Title Explanation
“Absolute Zero” chapter title design
零化域のミッシングリンク –Absolute Zero– (Reikaiki no Misshingu Rinku, Missing Link of the Annihilator) is meant to indicate several things. 零化域(‘’Reikaiki’’), also known as 零化イデアル(‘’Reika Ideal’’), is the Japanese equivalent of the mathematical term “Annihilator (of a set)” in English. It is a Euclidean space concept from ring theory, generalizing torsion and orthogonality[1].
The ミッシングリンク(Missing Link) part of the title refers to the gap, or "missing link", in the story of the original work leading to Okabe’s arrival at the Steins Gate.
The English title “Absolute Zero” is meant to impart a sense of the confrontation scene between Okabe who is lost in despair and Suzuha who is cool-headly revealing matters after their return to August 21, 2010. ”Zero” is furthermore used as an indication of this chapter's place as the beginning chapter of this story.
Together, the dual Japanese and English titles are meant to impart the standstill that Okabe is in having given up, twisting torsion, and the feeling of being frozen in this world line.[2]
Wracked by a sense of guilt, Okabe is receiving hypnotherapy at a clinic in an attempt to overcome the trauma he is under. However, he clearly recalls the moment of Kurisu's murder during the hypnotic treatment and cries out in agony. In the end, it is decided to halt the therapy for now and monitor the further progress of symptomatic treatment via medicine.
Mayuri: "How was it, Okarin?" Note: Preproduction photo, the final product differs.
Mayuri: "Y'know, Luka-kun and Feris-chan would love to see Okarin, since it's been awhile"
Mayuri has been waiting for Okabe’s treatment session to end in order to go home together, but she invites him to stop by Akihabara for a bit first, saying that Faris and Luka would love to see him. Since he no longer visits the lab frequently, Okabe has not met them in a long time and agrees to go.
While the four talk when they meet up at the Akihabara Station, Mayuri lets them in on a new “Operation” that she and Daru have come up with in order to cheer up Suzuha. They have decided to hold a Christmas party, since Suzuha has never experienced one before. Okabe is unsure about whether to participate when Mayuri invites him, because things have been strained between him and Suzuha since he refused to time travel again, leaving her mission unfulfilled. However, he agrees to think it over after Mayuri assures him that she believes that Suzuha does not hate him.
As the group’s conversation continues, he begins to remember the things that happened the day before. Since the Amadeus A.I. is made from Kurisu’s memories before she came to Japan, Okabe was a stranger to “Kurisu”. However, conversing with “her” was very nostalgic, and in the end, he officially accepted the responsibility of being a test partner for Amadeus.
Amadeus calling.
AmaKurisu: "This is Makise."
AmaKurisu: "Or would it have been better to introduce myself as 'This is Christina'?
An app connected to Amadeus was installed on his phone, but to his surprise not only is he able to call “Kurisu”, but she as well is able to initiate contact with him. He is still feeling unprepared and discomforted, when his phone begins to ring again, and he finally resigns himself to pick up.
“Kurisu” addresses him discontentedly, since this is the eighth time since yesterday that she has tried to contact him, but he has ignored her until this evening. Faced with her nostalgic attitude, Okabe is pained and unable to make much of a reply before she hangs up, but his heart races at the thought of continuing their conversations.
Maho remembers her last conversation with Kurisu (March 28, 2010 23:18:01hrs) before Kurisu had gone to study abroad in Japan. In their shared lab room at Viktor Chondria, Kurisu had been frustratedly talking aloud to herself. When Maho was no longer able to concentrate, she brought it to Kurisu’s attention and asked her to stop. This exchange inspired Kurisu to think of giving Amadeus the capability to talk to itself, and she discussed with Maho whether talking to oneself might be a proof of having an ego.
Kurisu in conversation with Maho. Note: Preproduction photo, the final product differs[3]
When the conversation turned to Kurisu’s study abroad in Japan and her scheduled lecture at the July ATF in Akihabara, Kurisu happily told Maho that her father had sent her an invitation to his research presentation. After some more chatting, the two agreed to look further into giving Amadeus the ability to talk to itself once Kurisu returned.
There had been a reason for Kurisu to be sent to Japan. The two young women who had shared a special position as researchers at the forefront of neuroscience, were often exposed to jealousy from their surroundings. Because Professor Leskinen had judged the situation as serious, he had sent Kurisu away to study abroad for awhile. Maho had sent Kurisu off while keeping her own small feelings of jealousy towards Kurisu’s genius hidden… And like that, Kurisu died.
Though Maho has a sense of pride as and the heart of a researcher, her feelings have continued to be unstable since the death of her junior. As she sits lost in these thoughts of her last memories of Kurisu, they lead her to thinking about Okabe who had known a Kurisu that Maho hadn’t...
Amadeus Kurisu’s voice suddenly brings Maho back to her senses. Maho tells “Kurisu” that she wonders if it is alright that the professor is trusting Okabe so much when they’ve only just met him. “Kurisu” has gotten it into her digital head that Maho might like Okabe, but Maho continues to be adamant that that is not the case.
As Maho falls into thought again, wondering what kind of relationship Okabe and Kurisu had had, “Kurisu” asks Maho if her “original” and Okabe had known each other, which Maho confirms. Maho leaves it up to “Kurisu” to decide if she wants to talk with Okabe about it or wait and see if he brings it up himself. “Kurisu” considers that “pretending not to know something” is similar to lying, and decides to go that route, expressing that it will deliver interesting data for the research on Amadeus.
Mayuri: “We’re holding a Christmas party. Yuki-san, Kaede-san and Fubuki-chan, we would love for you to come!” Note: Preproduction photo, the final product differs.
Fubuki is a cheerful, tomboyish cosplayer whose real name is Katsumi Nakase. With her fellow cosplay lovers, Kaede Kurushima, Mayuri, and Yuki Amane, she has spent a day shopping in Akihabara for supplies for the upcoming Winter Comima. As they head towards the train station on their way home in the evening, they chat happily. Mayuri invites the girls to the Lab Christmas party, but Yuki hesitates to accept the invitation. However, she does agree to teach Mayuri how to make a quiche at the lab the next day.
Yuki: Are you’re making them(quiches) for the Christmas party?
As they discuss cosplaying as Santa at the party, Fubuki, Kaede and Yuki start to tease Mayuri about her relationship with Okarin. They do not believe Mayuri’s protests until Mayuri tells them that Okarin is in love with someone else. They regret teasing her, but she tries to assure them that it is all right since she and Okarin are just childhood friends.
When Mayuri kindly asks Yuki what she thinks of Daru. It seems clear that Yuki is interested in Daru, but she believes that Daru is avoiding her and is under the false impression that he is more into a “younger sister” type of girl, someone like Suzuha. Because of this Yuki thinks it would be better for her to not attend the Christmas party. Mayuri is left at a loss as to how to clear up the misunderstanding, since she cannot reveal that Suzuha is Yuki’s daughter from the future.
Seeing Mayuri feeling down, Fubuki tries to cheer her up, and in the midst of playing around, they reach the station. Suddenly, Fubuki’s mind is struck momentarily by a flashback of Mayuri falling before a train.
Fubuki’s flashback
Coming to her senses again, Fubuki is left disconcerted from the awful sight of Mayuri’s death, though it is impossible when faced with the reality of Mayuri standing before her talking right now. Fubuki tries to cover it up and waits until Mayuri and Yuki leave for a different train. However, Kaede, who remains, has noticed Fubuki’s state and questions her. Fubuki has been suffering from similar impossible, horrific flashbacks and nightmares since last summer, in which Mayuri dies in various ways often held by Okarin who is crying out. When Fubuki tells Kaede about the dreams, Kaede comforts and calms her. However, that night Fubuki once again dreams of Mayuri’s death.
Suzuha: "You're being so irresponsible. You spend a whole day doing nothing but lazing around, eating, browsing the net and playing games!" Note: Preproduction photo, the final product greatly differs, e.g. the lab is not yet decorated for Christmas.
Suzuha is unable to hold back her irritation as she sees Daru amusing himself by surfing the net in the lab. Knowing his future condition if he continues on a path of unhealthy habits, she is worried, but he seems to be making no real effort to change despite her warnings. She begins scolding him yet again, this time even tricking him into thinking she is holding him at gun point in order to get him to finally pay attention to her and stop making excuses about the strain of his secret work as a hacker and researching how to make a time machine.
Suzuha is feeling pressured. She needs to persuade Okabe, since he is the one person who can become the key to preventing the Third World War. However, nothing she says seems able to convince him to try again to save Kurisu Makise and reach the Steins Gate. At this rate, the world will plunge into the most terrible future possible filled with the war that sacrificed many people and took so many comrades and dear ones from her.
However, this is not her only burden. She has been constantly searching Akihabara this winter looking for Kagari Shiina, who got separated from Suzuha while they made a stop further in the past before Suzuha came to the present time. She also needs to see the fulfillment of Daru and Yuki’s love come about in order for her to be born. None of these things is going well.
When Daru and Suzuha hear Yuki humming as she comes up the stairs to the lab, Suzuha ducks behind the curtain of the development room to hide. After entering the lab, Yuki tells Daru about her and Mayuri’s promise to meet in the lab today in order to cook and asks after Daru’s “sister”, Suzuha. Since Suzuha is living in the lab, the story of her being Daru’s younger sister, “Hashida Suzuha” was made up. In order to make sure the truth stays hidden, however, Suzuha tries to avoid meeting Yuki, which is why she is hiding right now. As she listens to her future parents chatting, Suzuha is reminded of her last moments with her father in 2036.
2036/8/13 19:46:01hrs Amidst the nearing sounds of heavy gunfire as the security forces closed in on them, Suzuha, Daru, Mayuri and Mayuri's adoptive daughter Kagari made their way to a secret room built on top of the remains of the war damaged Radio Kaikan Building. Inside stood the time machine that Daru had completed. Suzuha started it up and set the destination for August 13, 1975 with the ease of her experience as the machine's test pilot, having trained and made small test jumps many times before with the machine. Before she could depart, however, the security forces were upon them. Daru stopped Suzuha from going to fight them off, telling her that she must jump to the past now.
Daru and Mayuri then decided to send Kagari with Suzuha as well, since the machine could carry two passengers. Kagari struggled against leaving her mother, but Mayuri firmly ordered her to go and gave Kagari a green Upa keychain, which Mayuri had been cherishing for a long time, as a keepsake. After the two parents had entrusted Suzuha with messages to not give up for Okabe, the time machine hatch was sealed, and Suzuha would never see them again.
Steins;Gate - Suzuha and Kagari Shiina Jump to the Past
Gameplay preview 6: Depicts Suzuka's memories of August 13, 2036 as she and Kagari Shiina part from Daru and Mayuri to jump to the past using the time machine.
Daru: "Oh, Okarin, it's been awhile.
Suzuha resurfaces from her memories to hear Yuki and Daru continuing to talk. Yuki flirts with Daru, but also scolds him firmly yet gently about his health pointing out the exact same things that Suzuha has been scolding him for.
Mayuri then arrives at the lab and to Daru’s surprise Okabe has come along with her for the first time in a long while. When Suzuha hears Okabe’s voice from her spot still hidden behind the curtain, she lightly grinds her teeth.
Using the Amadeus smartphone app and the camera of his phone, Okabe had been showing “Kurisu” around Ikebukuro. In the ease of conversation so much like with the old Kurisu, he had slipped and told her about the Future Gadget Laboratory. Her interest caught, she demands that he take her to the lab. Okabe is hesitating when he coincidently meets Mayuri on her own way to the lab and is invited by her. In the end, Okabe obeys “Kurisu”’s demand.
"Kurisu": "“Why are you lowering your voice? Do you not want your friends to know about me?”"
In the lab, he sees Daru and Yuki, who are both surprised at Okabe’s visit. Okabe is feeling awkward being in the lab again, but “Kurisu” suddenly calls again. While keeping her a secret from the others, he starts to show her the lab’s developmental room, when he is suddenly startled by the hiding Suzuha asking him who he is talking with.
Suzuha: “Sure, but Mom wants to be friends with me more than I thought she would. If I talk to her too much, I might slip up.”
Okabe’s startled cry attracts the attention of Daru, Mayuri and Yuki, causing the latter two to discover Suzuha’s presence in the lab. Mayuri quick-wittedly changes the awkward atmosphere that follows by inviting Yuki to take a shower with her. As Okabe recalls that the only ones who know Suzuha is a time traveller are Daru, Mayuri and Faris, the three remaining in the living room talk about Suzuha’s avoidance of Yuki. Suzuha is afraid that she might let something important slip under Yuki’s warm regard, but Daru and Okabe try to encourage her that it is all right to engage with her mother more, since Yuki is not the type to pry. After Daru returns to his PC, Okabe and Suzuha are unable to continue a conversation and turn to watch the news that is showing on the TV.
Suzuha: “Listen, Uncle Okarin…”
While watching peaceful news reports that give no sign of an approaching Third World War, Suzuha starts to open up to Okabe about the extreme gap between the life she experienced in the future and what is now being shown on the TV. She talks about the necessity to kill or be killed in that time period, the many she has killed and the many friends she has lost, about her being in the army, and for the first time, she shares about how her mother died protecting her. Okabe can tell that Daru must hearing all this despite his currently wearing headphones. As she begins to tear up, Suzuha tells Okabe that they still have a bit of time before the time limit to travel back to the past is reached, so he does not have to decide right now, but she begs him to consider trying once more.
Okabe wants to respond to her, but the violent remembrance of Kurisu’s death causes him to become sick in a panic attack. Both Suzuha and Daru are worried for Okabe, and Suzuha apologizes for talking about these things too soon. Okabe tells her that it is alright. He understands what she is trying to tell him and her feelings, but he explains to her what he has seen and experienced in the hopeless, powerless fight to change to a better world line via time travel. He believes that if they try to mess with what humans should not control then things will only become worse. That is his answer for now.
Next, a news report is aired on the Japanese government’s steps to prepare for possible cases in Japan of a new, widespread form of encephalitis currently affecting the United States. The disease’s description shocks Okabe, since the symptoms they explain are familiar to him. People are experiencing things like finding themselves in places they have no memory of traveling to, knowing people whom they have never met before and inconsistencies between their memories of events and those of the people around them in a way that is like déjà vu only clearer. All of those symptoms are what Okabe experiences as part of his ability to observe changes in the world line, Reading Steiner.
1975/SUMMER - Inside the time machine atop the roof of the Radio Building
After being away for almost an hour, Suzuha returns to find Kagari still crying.
Suzuha tries to rally Kagari.
With the weight of her heavy mission on her shoulders, Suzuha takes a stern approach towards helping the timid Kagari rise above her grief at parting forever with her mother. She tells Kagari that from now on she is a member of Valkyrie, too, and will work for Suzuha. Then, she impresses on Kagari that since this is 1975 there is no one they can ask for protection and Kagari must protect herself. The longer they are here the greater the chance that someone might discover their time machine, so Suzuha tells Kagari that they need to hurry with their mission and leads her out of the machine. The sight from the roof stuns Kagari. For though the sky above Akihabara in 1975 is polluted by factories, it is still blue in color and the sun is strong. Kagari has grown up only knowing the grey, cloud-covered sky caused by the nuclear war in the future and air so dirty that a filtered mask is necessary. Breaking things down to give Kagari a more tangible motivation, Suzuha encourages Kagari to fight for the sake of protecting the sky she sees now.
Seeing Kagari collecting herself and trying to understand things,
Kagari: "Um... Okey dokey
Suzuha closes and locks the time machine, which will only open again in response to Suzuha’s biometrics. The two agree to split up to search for the IBN5100 and meet up each hour and a half in front of the Radio Building to share information.
Suzuha recalls these things as she stands atop the Radio Building at night in 2010. From Suzuha’s perspective it has only been several months since that exchange 35 years ago. Since they were separated, Suzuha has been searching for Kagari in hopes of finding her in Tokyo. She has also been coming daily to the roof to check on the time machine and make sure that her father had not been coming here to examine the machine, since she was afraid that his gaining too much knowledge in advance might cause a time paradox.
Faris joins her on the roof. Faris has been helping Suzuha hide the time machine by renting out the Radio Building’s roof and sealing it off to outsiders, saying that they were working on developing a knew VR-game. Faris feels a protective/motherly affection and concern when watching Suzuha struggle and keep up a stoic, on-guard stance here in 2010. To cheer her a bit Faris has brought a box of leftover cake from May Queen, since she can tell that Suzuha truthfully loves cake.
While Faris is inviting Suzuha to eat dinner together at Faris’s home, Suzuha suddenly becomes aware that someone is spying on them from the rooftop door. She gives chase as the mysterious figures flees. However, they prove to also be a well-trained combatant. Laying a hasty but cunning trap for Suzuha on a long flight of stairs, the spy successfully makes it to their get-away motorcycle, and all Suzuha manages to see is their helmeted, black-suited figure before they disappear into Center Street. Aghast at the possibility that the spy might have overheard the brief mention that Faris and Suzuha had made of the time machine during their conversation. Suzuha looks to the sky she had once gazed at with Kagari, and sighed -Something that was fast becoming a habit for her these days.-.
Suzuha asks Faris not to tell the other labmems about this happening, out of fear that Okabe might decide that the danger was too great and destroy the time machine. Suzuha must protect the machine and deliver Okabe to the Steins Gate, as she promised to those in 2036. Faris agrees to keep quiet on the condition that Suzuha tells Daru.
As Maho and Leskinen are preparing to head to Tokyo to meet Okabe and hear his report on Amadeus, Maho is fidgeting and feeling tense. Leskinen’s continued teasing about Okabe being a love interest for Maho does nothing to help. Maho herself is trying to deny internally that she is nervous because of meeting Okabe but even more because of seeing how “Kurisu” might have changed in the last couple of weeks. Maho has been trying to talk seldomly with Kurisu while Okabe is being a tester. If in the course of the tester experiment “Kurisu” changes into someone Maho does not know, then it would make Maho feel sad.
When Maho finally asks Leskinen why he chose Okabe as a tester, a question that has been burning in her mind. Leskinen asks Maho if she is jealous, which is true. She reluctantly admits that it bother her. And, Leskinen assures Maho that he chose Okabe because Leskinen wants an outside catalyst, someone uninvolved with the research, to help Amadeus truly evolve. Since Okabe is smart and a friend of Kurisu, Leskinen believes him to be a good choice. The professor further feels like Kurisu and Maho’s personalties are the best defense to safe-guard Amadeus. Even if Okabe should prove untrustworthy and try to sell the Amadeus technology, their AI counterparts would never be persuaded to cooperate with such a move.
While waiting in Akihabara for the time he is set to meet Professor Leskinen and Maho, Okabe stops by the quiet Yanabayashi Shrine in order to speak with “Kurisu” in a place where people won’t stare at him. He calls “Kurisu” and asks her if all their conversations from the past two weeks have been recorded in her logs, which she will be handing over to the professor and Maho after the meeting.
“Kurisu”: “I-It’s just an example. Don’t try to read anything into it.”
She affirms this to his dismay, since he only just fully realized that anything personal he tells her would also be relayed to Leskinen and Maho then. He quickly asks her if there was anything very personal that he told her. After teasing him about a few embarrassing tidbits he had shared, she asks him again why he had called her “Christina” when they first met. She theorizes that he might have possibly known her “original”.
Thinking to himself that it was because a genius like Makise Kurisu was the kind of person whom he always had wanted to be, he finally tells “Kurisu” that the nickname was to mask his embarrassment. He admits that he feels this way not just with the original but with “her” as well, since he has never spoken with a girl inside a monitor before. “Kurisu” becomes embarrassed at being treated as a girl. Seeing her flustered reaction, Okabe catches himself just as he is about to tell her that he really likes that side of her. The realization that he was just about to treat a computer program like it was the real person hits him hard.
“Kurisu” is curious about her original’s relationship with him and how her original reacted when he called her nicknames. Did she get mad at him or eventually forgive him and laugh it off? Thinking of Kurisu, Okabe is overwhelmed by a flashback of her death once again and hears her voice blaming him for killing her. Regaining consciousness, he hangs up the call abruptly, and his legs give out from under him. The weight sinks into him that he is just using “Kurisu” to avoid reality and what he had commited. Clinging to “her” as a replacement in disrespect of Kurisu. Determining not to talk with “Kurisu” anymore, he turns off his phone when Amadeus tries to call him again.
On the UPX building overpass Okabe drinks some water and tries to pull himself together, when Mayuri’s cosplay friends, Fubuki and Kaede, greet him. The two are concerned since he is visibly ill, but he tries to pass it off, in order to not worry Mayuri through them. As they talk he call tell that Fubuki and Kaede really care for Mayuri, which he is glad for. However, Fubuki, who is still concerned by Mayuri’s earlier revelation that Okabe has someone else whom he likes, suddenly blurts out a question, asking Okabe who the girl he likes is. At the thought of Kurisu, a flashback once again springs up. Fubuki apologizes for her rudeness. But then—
Chapter Title Explanation
“Closed Epigraph” chapter title design
閉時曲線のエピグラフ –Closed Epigraph– (Heijikyokusen no Epigurafu, Epigraph of the Closed Curve)
“Epigraph of the Closed Curve” is a title that originally refers to the first novel of the (now) non-canon Epigraph Trilogy, which served as inspiration for several important plot lines in Steins;Gate 0. In its terms glossary, the novel explains 閉時曲線(‘’Heijikyokusen’’, “closed time curve”) as referring to a closed timelike curve (CTC).[4] A CTC is a mathematical physics theory of a world line which is “closed”, meaning it returns to its starting point.[5][6]
The Steins;Gate 0 guidebook’s explanation of the title leaves out mention of the CTC theory but does explain the term as being derived from the Japanese terms 閉曲線(heikyokusen, closed curve) and 閉じられた時間軸(tojirareta jikanjiku, closed time axis). A “closed curve” being of significance to this story, since it means a curve formed by making the two ends of a line into one. Any round figure, perfect circle, ellipse, etc., is in fact a closed curve.[2], which represents the story’s plot developments and is visualized by its logo.
One meaning of the word “epigraph” is “a short quotation or saying at the beginning of a book [...], intended to suggest its theme.”[7]
Until this chapter the story flows following what was revealed in the original work’s prologue. That at this rate things will just repeat, starting from the prologue and returning to the prologue. In other words, if nothing changes, then the world will become an endless cycle of repetition. And, in this chapter, Okabe’s choice will cause a change in the world line from this point on; an “epigraph” to the following story.[2]
Full Title: 私秘鏡裏のスティグマ –Gehenna's Stigma– (Shihikyouri no Sutiguma, Stigma Behind the Hidden Mirror, alt.: The Stigma Beyond The Secret Mirror)
Chapter .01
Divergence: 1.129954%
Date: 2011/06/03
POV: Maho Hiyajo
[To be added...]
Chapter .02
Divergence: 1.129954%
Date: 2011/06/25
POV: Rintaro Okabe
[To be added...]
Chapter .03
Divergence: 1.129954%
Date: 1998/08/??
POV: Suzuha Amane
[To be added...]
Chapter .04
Divergence: 1.129954%
Date: 2011/06/25
POV: Suzuha Amane
[To be added...]
Chapter .05
Divergence: 1.129954%
Date: 2011/07/03
POV: Rintaro Okabe
[To be added...]
Chapter .06
Divergence: 1.129954%
Date: 2011/07/03
POV: Suzuha Amane
[To be added...]
Chapter .07
Divergence: 1.129954%
Date: 2011/07/06
POV: Rintaro Okabe
[To be added...]
Chapter .08
Divergence: 1.129954%
Date: 2011/07/07
POV: Rintaro Okabe
[To be added...]
Chapter .09
Divergence: 1.129954%
Date: 2011/07/07
POV: Maho Hiyajo
[To be added...]
Chapter .10
Divergence: 1.129954%
Date: 2011/07/08
POV: Rintaro Okabe
[To be added...]
Chapter Title Explanation
"Gehenna's Stigma" chapter title design
私秘鏡裏のスティグマ –Gehenna's Stigma– (Shihikyouri no Sutiguma, Stigma of Behind the Hidden Mirror)
The word “stigma” is used in the sense of a mark of wrongness/criminality. This is pressed upon an individual by another/others and affects said individual’s social existence.[8]
The English half of the title, “Gehenna’s Stigma”, gives it a sense of repugnance and taboo. Gehenna is a name from the Bible that refers to the Valley of Hinnom where human sacrifices were burned to Canaanite gods. -The name and its burning fire later acquired the connotation of eternal torture/punishment and Hell.[9]- As a symbol, it brings forth the feelings and mental images of human death, burnt bodies, and depravity.
“Gehenna’s Stigma” can therefore be interpreted as a “taboo mark”.[8]
In the Japanese half of the title, though the first part “私秘鏡裏” (Shihikyouri) should be read as kanji on'yomi as other titles, but its meaning is not that intuitive. However, the characters can be interpreted as “the me hidden behind/in the back of/within the mirror”.[10] Also, the characters for "mirror"(鏡) and "back"(裏), in this instance together pronounced "kyouri", are similar in sound to the word "表裏"(hyouri), which means "two-sides" or an "inside and outside".[11][8] It refers to Kagari Shiina who is a two-sided character in the story. Just like how a mirror surface shows not what is behind it, there is more behind what people readily see of her.
As a pawn in Leskinen’s conspiracy, she is manipulated and made to fraudulently pose as Yuki Amane, though her own true feelings and intentions are completely different. Leskinen holds this power over her by committing the taboo deed of overwriting individual personality via brainwashing. He poses as a people-loving university professor, but in truth behind his outer appearance is a real mad scientist of Strategic Focus.
The title ultimately describes how Kagari suffers and piles up crimes under the “stigma/mark” which Leskinen forces upon her, and as she is burned by the fire of Gehenna, it is already no longer possible to save her.[8]
Full Title: 交差座標のスターダスト –Milky-Way Crossing– (Kousa Zahyou no Sutādasuto, Stardust of Intersected Co-Ordinates)
Divergence: 1.123581%
Date: 2025/??/??
POV: Rintaro Okabe
[To be added...]
Translation of the ending's quote:
The universe has a beginning, but no end. —Infinite. The stars too have beginnings, but their power accompanies their decline. —Finite. It the wise who are the most foolish. History has taught us as much. The fish of the sea know not the world of the land. Were they to possess wisdom, they too would experience decline. It is more absurd that humans should surpass the speed of light than it is that fish should start living on the land. This concerns those who have defied God’s final warning—
↑A closed timelike curve (CTC) could also be more literally translated in Japanese as a 時間的[[1]](‘’jikantekiheikyokusen’’, timelike closed curve); ’’Heijikyokusen no Epigurafu’’ novel, page 192.
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