"Casual Assistant! I'm ready!"
"Don't take your dirty clothes to the laundry, you'll run into Okabe Rintaro. Please give your clothes to me, I'll pay for them properly."
"Ugh—so disgusting."
"As expected, Assistant is still bothered by this."
"Don't worry about it, it's time to go back and push the plot!"
The bullet comments slowly drifted by, and Mayuri's lament mixed with the gurgling sound of water.
"Felis-chan, why did it turn out this way..."
A T-shirt with Felis's design was soaking in the water, spinning with the bubbles.
"It's going to close now." Okabe Rintaro gently closed the washing machine lid, not giving Mayuri time to mourn.
Leaning against the entrance of the laundromat, Okabe Rintaro finally explained Mayuri's question from earlier:
"Because Tonz is like the universe, expanding every day."
In that case, it was no surprise that the design on the T-shirt would be stretched.
"Dududu, dududu, dududu..."
A sudden vibration, like a death knell, rang out.
Okabe Rintaro took out his phone and then showed a look of understanding.
"Ah, the Flash Acupressurist, huh?" It was no surprise it was this guy.
He sighed and grumbled, "What is Titor doing? Still telling me to 'text him.'"
Saying that, he began to scroll through his unread messages.
'Tell me the contact info for Super Hacker-san~ ♪ (smiley face) Moeka (heart)'
"Super Hacker... so annoying." Before he even read half of it, Okabe Rintaro recognized the guy's intention.
He was about to ignore the message, but the vibration rang out again at just the right time.
'One new message'
'From: John Titor'
'Is this the real person?'
"Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo—"
Okabe Rintaro ran, panting, under the sun.
"Thank you for contacting me."
The reply he had just received from John Titor echoed gently in his ears.
He ran wildly, he ran fast, he moved through the streets, he tried hard to catch up with his childhood friend who had suddenly started running, leaving her behind.
"Judging from the program photo you sent, this is indeed an independently developed programming language by IBN."
Behind him, Mayuri, unable to keep up with his pace, could only stop and sigh, watching him leap over obstacles and pass through.
"To decipher it, we must obtain the IBN5100."
Suddenly running back to the Laboratory, he pulled open the unlocked door. Okabe Rintaro didn't have time to catch his breath; he took a deep breath and shouted loudly:
"Listen! From now on, the Future Gadget Laboratory is launching an emergency secret operation plan!"
He seized every gap in his breathing, shouting with utmost solemnity.
But, inside the Laboratory, no one responded.
"Snore—" The only sound that answered him was snoring.
Hashida Itaru, the only one in the Laboratory, was lying on the sofa, sound asleep.
"..."
Finally, Mayuri, behind Okabe, returned to the Laboratory a step later than him.
"Okabe, what's suddenly wrong?"
Okabe Rintaro went straight up to Hashida Itaru and then reached out his hand.
"Tonz, wake up quickly." He patted Hashida Itaru's cheek, urging him impatiently.
Unfortunately, such gentle actions had no effect.
Helpless, he withdrew his hand and leaned close to Hashida Itaru's ear.
"From now on, we are going to war with the huge dark forces secretly manipulating the world!" he shouted loudly.
"...Oden cans?" Hashida Itaru mumbled in his sleep, asking back.
"It's SERN!"
Okabe Rintaro clenched his fists.
"Those guys, as a world-class research institution, are obsessed with evil research and plotting a huge conspiracy!"
He clenched his hands tightly, then, furiously grabbed Hashida Itaru's collar and pulled him up from the sofa.
As he pulled him, he said, "The world doesn't need two mad scientists!"
"Before they get ahead, we must find a way to strike first!"
Okabe Rintaro vigorously shook Hashida Itaru's body. Because of Tonz's excessively heavy weight, even just this shaking made his body tremble slightly.
"I don't understand anything you're saying," Mayuri said quietly from the side.
"In short, we first need to find the IBN5100 and then decipher SERN's mysterious program!" Hashida Itaru, whom he was holding, was still snoring. Okabe Rintaro had given up on waking him, so he could only turn his head and order Mayuri:
"Get ready to go out!"
"But Mayushii has to work today..." Mayuri smiled.
"My Felis... swallowed by the vortex."
"That's why if you don't reply, they'll send these 'death-knell' messages—though if you do reply, they'll probably send even worse ones."
"Woah, this expression and emoji... Kiryu Moeka, is this her character setting?"
"Normal, normal. How can texting be the same as reality? Don't let my active bullet comments fool you; in reality, I'm a pure dark shut-in, finding it hard to speak."
"Okabe Rintaro really cares about John Titor. Maybe the real heroine is actually Titor."
"Can't you just wait for Mayuri? And, aren't your clothes still not done washing?"
"Abandoning his childhood friend, Okabe Rintaro, bad!"
"So everyone really doesn't care much about Titor's conspiracy; only Okabe is very invested."
"I feel like it'd be better to get Assistant back to research the Phone Microwave."
Standing in the middle of the bustling Electric Town, Okabe Rintaro sighed:
"Am I the only one left in the end?"
Tonz was sleeping, Mayuri had work, Assistant had deserted.
The Laboratory was in a situation where no one was available!
"Dudu—"
His phone vibrated again.
Okabe Rintaro took out his phone and smoothly opened the message.
As expected, it was a message from Kiryu Moeka.
'I apologize for the trouble.'
'Are you angry?? (sweating), I'm sorry for being annoying, but I desperately need information about the IBN5100...'
Casually glancing over the message content, Okabe Rintaro suddenly changed his mind.
"Information exchange isn't a bad idea," he murmured, his fingertips beginning to tap the screen.
As he was typing his reply, a surprising voice suddenly came from beside him.
"Ah."
He turned his head to look, only to see the red-haired Makise Kurisu standing beside him, dressed as always.
She looked stunned.
"Assistant?" he said casually.
Makise Kurisu's expression immediately fell, and she turned to leave without hesitation.
But before she could take two steps, a pulling force from behind made her stop involuntarily.
"Wait," Okabe Rintaro said.