[ At this point, I won't be emotional because of text messages anymore. ]
[ Okabe Rintaro, how many women are you flirting with? ! ]
[ Actually, so far, Moeka is the only woman sending text messages (cough). ]
[ Assistant realized that Brooch didn't even refute the taunts, his tone was so flat, and finally realized something was wrong. ]
[ Too many text messages! ]
[ Tonz is really building suspense, I thought there was a big problem with SERN's invasion being exposed. ]
[ He is still so easily deceived by 3D women. ]
[ The maid cafe where you can't enter without money, hasn't that woken you up yet, Tonz! ]
[ Moeka is taking things with her, anyway, I've already joined the lab, so I'll shamelessly ask you for information and see if you refuse. ]
[ So, this text message must be from Titor, right? ]
However, after a quick glance, Okabe Rintaro gritted his teeth and answered the call.
"tuturu, Okabe." Mayuri greeted softly.
Okabe Rintaro's ferocious expression faded. He put away his fierce look and said,
"It's Mayuri."
After a moment of thought, he added,
"Tonz is with you too, right? There's no need to lend him money, you know."
"I know." She said, "And then, Okabe."
"Are you feeling better?"
The scene shifted with the sound of the phone call to a park under the setting sun.
Under the shade of a tall tree and a solitary small slide, Hashida Itaru sat fanning himself. On the slide, Mayuri sat obediently.
The noisy cicadas continued, and Mayuri's smile remained.
"If you're still not feeling well, hug Mayushii's upa."
"That will make you feel energetic."
Mayuri's voice made a smile involuntarily appear on Okabe Rintaro's face.
"Ah, ah, then I'm hanging up." He said with a smile, "Good luck with your part-time job."
"Thank you, bye-bye~"
Without any lingering thoughts, Okabe Rintaro gently hung up the phone.
"..." Looking at the hung-up screen, Okabe's face still held a smile.
Suddenly, Makise Kurisu behind him let out a complaint:
"Okabe, your voice was so... that."
Compared to his usual self, he was a completely different person; he became so gentle when facing Mayuri.
"Hm?" Okabe Rintaro's expression fell. He turned his head and glared fiercely at Makise Kurisu.
Seeing him suddenly glare, Makise Kurisu, who should have been very familiar with him by now and no longer startled, was still startled and raised the 'Science' in her hand to cover her face.
Seeing her like this, Okabe Rintaro wasn't particularly angry anymore; instead, he felt a bit like laughing.
[ The super invincible childhood sweetheart, the pure and innocent Shiina Mayuri. ]
[ It feels like whenever it concerns Mayuri, Brooch always becomes strangely gentle. ]
[ Assistant can't stand it anymore. ]
[ How disgusting~ ]
[ Hagioka is about to transform into a Spinosaurus! ]
[ Whoever thought of Hagioka must have hired an expert. ]
"Du-du—"
'John Titor'
'Very interesting'
"It's here!" Okabe Rintaro clenched his fist.
Soon, the familiar music that plays when John Titor's words appear began to sound.
"I read your text message."
"Just as you surmised, the past has undoubtedly been changed, and the worldline has also shifted."
"The only thing I cannot understand is that you can retain memories from before the past was changed."
Walking crowds, endless traffic, empty streets.
Along with Titor's words, images that were perhaps meaningful or perhaps meaningless, unlike the previous PPT-like animations explaining worldline theory, filled the screen.
"Is this true?" John Titor asked.
Okabe Rintaro lightly typed out his response.
"This is true."
"Similar things have happened before."
"What is going on?"
The train clattered forward, and John Titor responded again.
"I don't know."
"Changing the past with text messages, even in 2036 where I live, is an unimaginable phenomenon."
"This time you changed the past, forcing the worldline to shift."
"However, no one has ever been found who can retain memories across worldlines and observe these fluctuations."
For some reason, John Titor's voice still echoed in his ears, but the scene briefly shifted to Kiryu Moeka.
She stood by the overpass in the shopping district, alone, looking at the glass on the railing in front of her.
Was she looking at her own reflection in the glass, or the tall buildings visible through the glass?
"But, Kyouma, perhaps you possess that power."
The camera once again returned to Okabe Rintaro.
He looked at the last sentence left by John Titor, and his expression began to change.
"If it's you, perhaps you can guide the world, crossing the 1% 'worldline divergence' wall."
"..." His breathing became heavy. He couldn't help but murmur, "You want me to 'guide the world'?"
Gritting his teeth, he typed out a follow-up question.
"What is on the other side of the 1% 'worldline divergence' wall?"
"What exists there?"
He gently pressed the send button, and soon, he fell into waiting again.
"..."
"Du—"
The reply came.
"True freedom exists there." John Titor said.
"If you don't cross this wall, the future will become a land of despair."
Freedom, wall, land of despair.
The heavy words made Okabe Rintaro involuntarily tense up. At the same time, a piano piece, like the calm before a storm, began to play.
"My goal is to change the future, and perhaps only you possess this power."
Seeing this, Okabe Rintaro finally couldn't hold back. He abruptly turned around and slammed his phone onto the table.
Makise Kurisu, who had been watching him, jumped in surprise:
"Okabe, what's wrong?"
"What is this guy talking about?" Okabe Rintaro muttered to himself.
His expression became extremely ugly.
"Me, change the future...?" His brows furrowed, sweat beaded on his forehead, his pupils contracted, his expression was utterly distraught: "That kind of thing..."
The piano music quickened its pace, as if at a critical juncture, the phone, slammed onto the table, once again let out a death-knell-like sound:
"Du-du, du-du, du-du—"
Okabe Rintaro's breathing was about to stop.
—Even so, he still stiffly reached out and picked up the phone again.
"Da."
He opened the text message, his gaze sweeping over the last message from John Titor.
"Kyouma, I hope you."
—"Become the savior."