"The analysis results from the university lab show that the gel-banana has been broken down at a molecular level."
The microscopic image flashed by.
"Hmm… Are you saying it turned into something else, not a banana?"
Hashida Itaru pondered for a moment, then said:
"Isn't that terrifying? What exactly happened?"
Under the light, Okabe Rintaro crossed his arms and said, seemingly very calmly:
"Considering the current situation, it can only be due to the electromagnetic waves from the phone microwave (provisional)."
It seemed that only at such times did his demeanor match his white coat.
"Reason?"
"A mad scientist's sixth sense."
Although this feeling shattered once again the moment he spoke.
"Baseless."
Muttering a casual retort, Hashida Itaru painstakingly fiddled with the Phone Microwave.
A moment later, he got up from the Phone Microwave and wiped the sweat from his forehead, which had appeared from a little exertion:
"Alright, connection complete."
Okabe Rintaro very appropriately pulled out a bunch of bananas from behind him:
"Good! Then let's use this!"
The words 'Mayushii's' were clearly written on the bunch of bananas.
"Isn't this Mayushii's?" Hashida Itaru's cheek twitched slightly.
But Okabe Rintaro patted his chest and guaranteed:
"Don't worry, I bought these with the research funds Mayuri provided."
"Then aren't they Mayushii's…" Hashida Itaru's retort was perfectly timed.
"Has the main story finally resumed after the daily life segment?!"
"So what was the point of that daily life segment just now?"
"Uh, to introduce the characters? Don't worry about it so much, isn't it enough that Rukako, Maid Mayuri, and Felis are all cute?"
"Wuwuwu, where's my Moeka?"
"Although her face is indeed good, it's really hard to feel good about her right now…"
"But seriously, Okabe definitely didn't ask for Mayuri's opinion, did he?"
"That's why I said it's better to cut ties with this chuunibyou sooner rather than later."
"Alright! Let's put the whole bunch of bananas in and see the change!" Okabe Rintaro loudly interrupted Hashida Itaru's words.
"One should be enough, think rationally."
"Ah."
At Hashida Itaru's words, he seemed to realize this… In the end, he only used one banana.
The single banana was placed into the microwave, and the remaining bananas returned to their original position.
With a click, the microwave closed, and Okabe Rintaro asked again:
"Will this allow us to detect the true power of the phone microwave (provisional)?"
"That parenthesis 'provisional' is too troublesome, I think you should remove it." Hashida Itaru gave a veiled response through his retort.
The light inside the microwave lit up, and as the set time counted down, the turntable began to rotate accordingly.
"If you are stingy with money in experiments, you cannot change the world's dominant structure!" Okabe Rintaro said while patiently waiting for the microwave to change.
"You're the only one who wants to change it, Okabe."
"Is that so?"
"Of course it is."
In a few words, with a 'ding,' the microwave's set time ended.
"Alright, it's done." Saying this, Hashida Itaru turned and opened the microwave.
But, the scene was empty; let alone a gel-banana, even the banana that should have been there had disappeared.
His pupils suddenly dilated, and his calm expression was instantly replaced by shock.
"It disappeared?!"
"What's wrong?"
"It disappeared! The banana!"
"?!" Hearing this, Okabe Rintaro's expression also changed. He quickly pushed Hashida Itaru aside, came to the microwave, and leaned in to look inside: "How is that possible!"
—
But the result would not change.
There was nothing inside the microwave.
Okabe Rintaro immediately pulled out his phone, held it to his ear, and solemnly muttered to himself: "It's me, emergency request 666, activate harsh seal (unconditional return mechanism)!"
"And government approval? Now is not the time for that!"
Watching him lean over the microwave and talk to himself, Hashida Itaru retorted again: "Self-produced and self-directed, good effort!"
"Shut up, where did you hide it?!" Okabe Rintaro stood up.
"You're the one who hid it, Okabe?!"
"?!" Hashida Itaru's expression didn't seem fake, so Okabe Rintaro made an 'aha' expression: "Is that so, I understand, this might be a microwave with teleportation capabilities!"
"You, what did you say?!" Perhaps infected, Hashida Itaru also expressed his surprise in sync with his pace:
— "That's too absurd."
Not really.
It was impossible to make him easily accept unreasonable things this way; he wasn't a chuunibyou like Okabe and Felis.
"Then how do you explain that the banana that should have been pulled off and put into the microwave—" Okabe Rintaro said loudly, pointing to the banana's original position.
But his words froze.
Because, right where the bananas were, the single banana that should have been picked off had 'returned' to its original position, completely intact.
— In the form of a gel.
The viscous gel liquid was pulled downwards by gravity, wriggling, but there was no doubt, it had 'returned' to its original place.
Hashida Itaru: "?!"
Okabe Rintaro: "?!"
His heart rate suddenly accelerated.
"Gel… banana…" Okabe Rintaro couldn't believe what he was seeing before his eyes.
Hashida Itaru quickly said: "But, but it's completely connected to the banana stem, right?"
Okabe Rintaro confirmed: "We, we definitely pulled one off just now, right?"
Hashida Itaru nodded: "Yes, probably."
Cold sweat dripped from his forehead, Okabe Rintaro's eyes widened, and he said tremblingly: "This is indeed, teleportation."
"Could it really be like that?" Hashida Itaru's retorts gradually became weaker; everything he saw before him was too shocking.
He should have refuted Okabe Rintaro's foolishness without hesitation, but now he truly didn't have the strength.
Suddenly, at this moment, a clear female voice came from off-screen:
"It seems you're doing a very interesting experiment."
Okabe Rintaro suddenly looked up.
And so, he saw her leaning against the doorway, the 'genius girl' who should have died in a pool of blood but had come back to life before his eyes, a physical presence, not a ghost, and who had even easily refuted him with sharp words.
"Okabe Rintaro, no, Mr. Hououin Kyouma, I presume?"
"Makise… Kurisu…" Okabe Rintaro uttered her name word by word.