Steins;Gate>16. Sacrificial Necrosis

That's right. This guy came up and asked me to make him a pin, and the sketch he showed me looked like the pin you came around.

Sort of like it, or exactly like it?! A lot is riding on this!
Hum, what does this customer of yours look like?

Look like? I don't know.
I guess the dude kind of looked like a barrel.

Like a barrel?

Did he ever give you his name?

He didn't say and I didn't ask. But he was round. I can tell you that much.

Round Like a barrel …?

Did you know Taru is another word for barrel, you guys?

“Taru”??

Aha. I picked that up from watching the Rai-Net anime.
There was a barrel monster guy and his real name was "Taru."

I'm telling you.
He looked just like a barrel or maybe a balloon.

So he was a big guy who looked like a barrel or balloon.

He didn't leave you his phone number perchance.

Say what? He came to get a pin made, not to ask me out on a date.



The trail went cold, huh?!
But hey, he'll go back to pick up his pin when it's done being made, right?

When the vendor informed him it would take a full week, apparently he left without placing an order.

I see,

I don't want to say it, but maybe we can't find him after all.

Yes, we can.

There is another option.

Hum?

Makise will have the time leap machine finished by tomorrow.
Once it's operational...


[opening]


Where's Suzuha?

Huh? She left here a little while ago. Don't you remember?

I'll explain later!

Dammit! I didn't think to ask him what time Suzuha's father shows up.

Hey, can I help you?

Is that him?! He does cut a rather spherical figure.

Wait, that hat!?

Daru?!

Oh man, Okarin?!

What's gotten into you? Sneaking off to make a copy of Suzuha's pin!?

Seriously, how bad she's gonna feel if we never find her old man.
I figured I'd get another pin and fake being her dad, you know, give her some hope.

But the hope you speak of is based on a falsehood.

Not all lies are created equal.
Sometimes a little white lie can spare somebody's feelings.

Think about the bigger picture! We can locate her real father in due time.

I'm not supposed to tell you this, but it's the only way you'll stop busting my balls.
Her time machine's a one-way street, it can't go forward, only back.
Once she leaves us, she's gone for good.


How goes it? Take a soda break, huh?

Awesome!! I got me a wicked thirst on that only an ice-cold Diet soda can quench. It's like you read my mind, man.

Well, do you think you can get it working?

Should have done by tomorrow.

Check this guy out! We're gonna have time to spare.

Daru is a cheater when it comes to tech jobs.
I told you not to judge a book by its cover

Huh?

Wait you did? I don't remember that.
Anyway old Daru here, so I'm assuming I never have known he was such a badass.
So I guess you're right, Okabe.

Wanna hop in and lend a hand, Suzuha?
The heat in the time machine might be oppressive, but it's nothing that couldn't be fixed by stripping down to our unmentionables.

Why are you such a creeper?

Wow, Suzuha and Daru make a pretty good match, huh.

Listen, There's something I need to say and the chance might not come up later, so....
Thanks so much.
You guys have really gone to bat for me.
When I first came back to this time, I didn't know a single person around here, you know?
This place might be a walk in a park compared to where I'm from, but to me it was still as scary as hell.
But now I just get a load of all the awesome people here that I can call friends. Traveling back to this period was a good idea.
This was the most fun I've ever had.
I'm glad I got this time to be with you guys even if it wasn't for long.
Being a member of the Future Gadget Lab. It was nice.

Once she leaves us, she's gone for good.

It's up to you now. You're the only chance we've got...

Promise you I'll do it!
Suzuha, I'll keep the world exactly the way it is right now.

Okabe, how did you...

Do you…, do you regret the time you spent with us?
If you could never see us again, would you come to regret having known us in the first place?
I mean, were we worth it?

I get it. Daru told you, didn't he?

He's worried. And he's not the only one.

I can't not go.

Changing the future was my dad's life work and now it's mine.

This is your future we're talking about too! How can you just maroon yourself in the past?

I'm not headed to some Gulag. It's the 70s.
Long as I can make friends half as cool as you guys, I think I'll be alright wherever I end up.

Here goes nothing.
Phew, I think you're good to go now, but if you want to double-check then knock yourself out.

All systems are go. I can't believe you got it working!
Wouldn't kill you to smile!
Hey, You just fixed a time machine cheer up!

No one else on earth can say that! OK, What part of 75, you guys?
Oh, I could go in the summer, the weather'd probably be pretty nice.
What do you think, Daru?

Nah, I name a bit earlier.
If you arrive just as the cherry blossoms're blooming, more folks would be out and about, better for making friends, you know…

Oh, good thinking. Earlier it is.

“FG204”…? Hey, Suzuha!

Huh? What's up?

What does that mean?

Ah, should've introduced you sooner, That's the time machine's name.
My dad came up with it.

Huh…

What's my bike doing here?
Take the tires off and it's small enough to bring along. We knew how much you like the darn thing.
I'll treasure it. Thanks you guys.

I got it!!

Eh?
Huh?

Detective Mayuri figured out who your father is, Suzuha, and just in the nick of time!

What?!
Huh?!

What's better, you could reach out right now and give your dad a great big hug.

Eh…, right now?!

See I was wearing my thinking cap and I suddenly realized why you two make such a good match.
It isn't just 'cause you're friends, cause we're your friends too.
It's because you two are family.

Wait, are you saying...?

Suzuha's long lost father,....is Daru!!

Huh…?!

That isn't the sort of thing you joke about Mayuri.
As if any self-respecting woman would ever actually...

Hey! No need to be mean!

This is a big deal. Please tell me you got more than that to go off of.

Well, remember how I said that Barrel and Taru were the same?
Taru, Itaru, there you go!

That's your reason?

Wordplay does not establish fatherhood.

Yeah, but what about that rebel group Suzuha's part of in the future, Okarin?
It was founded by you and Barrel-Titer, wasn't it?
And the only other guy who knows about all the time machine stuff you're doing in Akihabara in 2010, and your reading stoner thing…

Reading Steiner.

Sure. Well, the only guy who know about those is Daru, right?
So...? But the very best clue that I found was right under our noses.

What? The time machine's name?

Yup!

“FG204”! "FG" like “Future Gadget," you see?

I suppose it could be, but...

Check out the rest. Does that remind anyone of anything?

'Kay, it says "Future Gadget 204 second edition version 2.3 1."

That padded naming style...

You're my dad.

Er, guess you gotta call me Big Daddy from now on, huh?

Are you seriously going to make even this moment pervy!

You're my dad.

Yeah.

I…, guess I am.

I went back.

Just like you wanted, dad. And I found you.
Found you with the time machine you built.

Yeah.

You never got the chance to fix the world. But I'm going to finish what you've started.
And I'm going to make you proud of me.

That's going to be kinda tough. 'Cause I already am proud of you.
I have to know.
Your mother, was she smoking hot, short, baby faced, huge rack, am I in the ballpark?

I'm keeping that one to myself.

Well, I guess it's time.
Right.

I know you're going really far. But please don't forget about us.

You be careful.

Thanks, you too.
That IBM 5100 is as good as mine, you'll see.
I'll make sure it gets to you guys in one piece, 'kay?
I won't see it, but - make it a good future, yeah?
The next time you guys see me, I'll be a little old lady.
You better recognize me when I'm 35 years older.

Suzuha!!

------Thanks
------Goodbye

Suzuha!! I promise you!! We're going to meet again.
Thanks. Things might get rough, but you've got to hang in there. You've got to be strong!
For you dad.


This just in. The rogue satellite on the roof of the Radio Building in Akihabara has disappeared.

Hey, this word on the pin -- call me crazy, but I think it's just our initials.
“O”s Okabe, “H”'s for “Hashida”, “S”'s for “Shiina”,

Ah, then the "M" gotta stand for “Makise“ and “A” is for “Amane”, right?

Cool !! It's a lab member pin!

Guess we should get some made, huh?

Totally.

What's that look for?

Why aren't we seeing any difference in the numbers on the divergence meter?

Maybe they can change until she brings us the IBM 5100 in the present.

If I did the math right, Suzuha's 54 years old by now.
Man, that's a trip. That means I'm three decades younger than my own daughter.

Probably has grandkids too. She's old enough, you know.

Whoa, hold the phone.
You mean I might get to meet my own great-grandkids while I'm still young enough to enjoy 'em.

You better spoil them like crazy, that's what great grandpas are for.

[Knock]

Suzuha?!

Mr. Braun?!

A letter?
Hashida… Suzu?!

Do you really think it's from her?

Wait a sec. Why'd he bring it up to us?

That letter's from a woman who did me a favor once upon a time.
She told me to pass it along to you, but only on this exact day.

This woman, where is she now?

A better place.

?!

She passed on ten years ago.

“Dear Okabe,
This is your very old friend, Suzuha.
In 2010, I would have gone for a matter of hours. I'm writing from year 2000, a decade before I left.
I need to tell you... that I failed my mission.

I failed. I failed. I failed. I failed. I failed. I failed. I failed.
I only had to do one thing and I failed.
I failed. I failed.
I only remembered the truth of who I am a year ago. How's that wasted time?
Everything that happened before 1975 was just gone.
When I made the jump, there was a critical failure. Something in the machine was still broken.
Please tell Dad not to blame himself. The fault was all mine.
I should have just gone straight back to 1975 like he wanted, instead of risking everything with the stop in 2010. God, how could I have been so selfish?
The future is doomed because of me.
I've never even seen an IBM 5100.
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
I forgot about my mission, my duty. I lived in easy life with my head in the goddamn sand.
Please, please forgive me.
Dear Okabe, when I couldn't find my dad that one evening, you stopped me from giving up and heading to 1975. So I stayed. And the storm that night damaged the time machine in ways we never found.
If you can turn back time, I ask that you not stop me that night.
My life was a waste.”


Mr.Braun.

Huh?
What do you want? I'm trying to call it a day here.

I don't mean to pry, but can you tell me how Hashida Suzu died.

Why the hell do you care?

Please Sir, this is important. I'll beg if I have to.
I need to know what happened to her. All I'm asking for is some closure.

If this is you just being nosy, I'll wring your neck like a damn chicken.

But I'll bite. How did a kid like you know a lady who died in 2000?

We were old friends. Very old friends.
I remember all the time we've spent together, a lifetime ago but it feels like yesterday.

Talking about the whole thing still eats at me.
She killed herself.

!?

Hanged herself in her house one day. I should've seen it coming.
She'd been off for about a year, you know, mentally.
She was so sunny and all before, guess I thought she'd get through it.

It's all my fault.
Her time machine never would have malfunctioned if I hadn't prevented it from leaving that night the way she intended to.
If I hadn't messaged myself to follow her, she could've traveled back to 1975 with the memory of what she had to do intact.

You didn't know.

What are you doing? Hey, talk to me!

I can't let her die. Not again.

Please don't send another one, Okarin.
If you press that button, it's like none of this was ever real.

I have to.

Don't you see what will happen? She'll never know who her father was if you send that message.

I have to!!

I won't see it, but - make it a good future, yeah?

Okarin!!


Hum, what're you looking at?

Hashida Suzu, huh?
Wasn't expecting that.
So I'm assuming that you knew her?

Yeah, and she's been well? I hope...

Passed away about ten years ago, give it or take.
Hmm, she was real good to me, Suzu was.
Wish I could've done somehin' to help her there at the end.

Killed herself, didn't she?

What the hell!? She got sick and died, you freak!
I lived with her, so I'd know!
Killed herself? My ass!


That bicycle?
It's a beaut.
Suzu loved a hell out of a lot that bike.
She'd ride it any chance she got.
I don't have the heart to scrap it, so it's been sitting out here ever since.
We were just neighbors at first. "Hi," "How are you doing?" You know?
But later when my house burned down along with all my stuff, she rented one of her rooms out to me.
charged me next to nothing and only accepted that because I insisted.

Did she have a family.., or was it just her?

I don't think she's ever gotten married if that's what you mean.
She was a rare bird that one.


You know I asked her once, "Why are you being so good to a fellow who is nothing to you?"
She just smiled that easy smile of hers and then said, "Everybody needs a hand at some point or another.
That's how life works. Just make sure you're ready to lend a hand yourself when your number comes up."

Oh yeah, give me a sec.
This thing was her prized possession.
Any idea what those numbers are about?
Near the end, when she was bedridden, she would just gaze at it.
"Is this the number from before? Or the number form after?" she muttered to herself.
Always asking "Did I change it or was it all for nothing? I can't be sure." It was constantly on her mind.

The divergence number, it went up.
It's higher, but it's still under one percent.

The train on the outside loop will be arriving momentarily.
For your safety please remain behind the yellow line.

But that means... no body's called in a bomb threat.
Mayuri.
No one.

Mayuri!?

Are you feeling okay?

Yeah, I'm fine.

Oh, hey, Mayuri's phone was going nuts a bit earlier.
Sorry if that was you man.
I hollered for her to wake up, you know? But no dice.


Suzuha, did we change the world enough?
Is Mayuri going to live?