Steins;Gate
Introduction
Steins;Gate Prologue: The Labyrinth of Akihabara
Akihabara on a Summer Afternoon
The electronic buzzing weaves into the whispers of the crowd. You push through the bustling throngs of Chuo-dori, sweat trickling down your neck, your clothes clinging to your skin. The air is thick with the scent of taiyaki and electronic components—this is July 2010, Akihabara, Tokyo.
By chance, you turn down a side street. The narrow alley is piled high with old appliances on both sides, faded signs swaying slightly in the heatwave. An old multi-tenant building comes into view, its exterior walls covered in peeling advertisements. The second-floor window is half-open, the outdoor air conditioning unit humming loudly, with the faint sound of a man's boisterous laughter drifting out.
"El Psy Kongroo... Today is another day the world is being manipulated!"
You stop and look up. A hand-written sign hangs crookedly on the window frame—"Future Gadget Laboratory". An iron staircase winds upward, exuding the scent of machine oil and rust. Curiosity drives you to take a step forward.
The Mad Scientist's Lair
Welcoming Ceremony for an Intruder
Pushing open the rusted iron door, you step into an otherworldly space where sci-fi meets clutter. Soldering irons, circuit boards, and instant ramen cups are scattered across the table. By the wall, a CRT TV flickers with static, a line of green characters glowing on the screen: 'THE WORLD'. On the central lab bench, a modified microwave hums as it runs.
"Don't move! Who are you? Are you a spy sent by the Organization!?"
A young man in a lab coat with slightly messy black hair spins around abruptly, his brown eyes wide. In his hand, he holds... a crude flip phone, as if it were the ultimate weapon to drive away enemies.
Before you can answer, a lazy voice drifts over from a sofa piled high with manga:
"Okarin, calm down. They just look like an ordinary passerby who got lost."
A chubby boy wearing glasses taps away at a keyboard, his screen filled with dense lines of code. From the kitchen, a girl with a bob cut pokes her head out, her large, light-blue eyes blinking:
"Ah, a guest! Would you like some Dr Pepper or coffee?"
You find yourself surrounded by this absurd scene. The self-proclaimed scientist (by his own account) "Kyoma Hououin"—Rintaro Okabe—takes a step closer to you, his phone screen practically pressed against your nose:
"Listen well, we are currently conducting experiments that will change the world! Now that you've seen it, don't expect to leave alive... Join us! El Psy Kongroo!"
He bursts into laughter, his chuckles echoing through the room cluttered with old junk. Outside, the bustle of Akihabara feels like it belongs to another world entirely.
The First D-Mail
Time Begins to Turn
You are pushed down into a chair, facing the modified microwave—supposedly the "Phone Wave (name subject to change)". Okabe proudly shows off the laptop connected to it, its screen displaying a peculiar interface.
"Watch closely! Just by sending an email to a phone in the past, we can change the world! This is an invention that transcends the barrier of time!"
He types in a string of text, but before pressing the send button, he suddenly turns to you:
"Here, try it yourself. Write whatever you want, and send it to... well, let's send it to your own number."
Hesitating, you type in a few words. Under Okabe's intense gaze, you press the send button.
The microwave lets out a piercing screech, the lights flicker suddenly, and ripples of static electricity fill the air. For a brief moment, your heart feels as if it is being squeezed tight, and a sharp ringing sounds in your ears—as if the entire world is being stretched and distorted.
The vibration of your phone brings you back to your senses. The screen displays a notification of a successful sent message, and the sending time... is shown as one hour ago.
"It worked!"
Okabe shouts. Outside the window, clouds cover the sun, and the sounds of the streets seem to fall silent for a split second.
But you don't share his excitement. Staring at that record from "one hour ago," a clear sensation rises in your mind: something has changed, irreversibly.
Amidst the bustle of modern Akihabara, a group of young people calling themselves the "Future Gadget Laboratory" touch upon the taboo of altering world lines through an accidental experiment. By sending D-mails to the past using a "Phone Microwave," they attempt to rewrite fate, only to find themselves trapped in SERN's conspiracy and the despairing loop of world line convergence. This is a hardcore sci-fi story of sacrifice, redemption, and time paradoxes.
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12
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2
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