"As we can see from this scan result, the human brain in its early years is still very good at compensating for the damage it has suffered. In old age, however ... "

"Wow!" Mayuri exclaimed enthusiastically. "It's twice as big. Has Mayushii's brain grown so much, too?" she asked, stroking her hair as if she feared that her head had grown too big for the rest of her body.

"Turn your eyes away, Mayuri, this is not for such a tender soul as yours." When his childhood friend cocked her head questioningly, he sighed as if she forced him to make a reluctant explanation. So he got into position, stuck his index finger in the direction of the scans, and shouted: "There is the shameful act!" He traced down the right side of the toddler's brain, at the same length where the adult's one was divided in the middle. "They show us the abnormal machinations of their reprehensible experiments on living people. Without a doubt, they removed part of this poor creature's brain to see how far they could go. "

"This is called a hemispherectomy and is a medically acclaimed practice," added Daru, while his eyes jumped from Makise's lecture and the Wittypedia article like two table tennis balls. "And anyway, sit down again, that's embarrassing a f."

"It's a good thing Kurisu-chan isn't bothered by anything. She is a really cool scientist."

Okabe took a step back and gripped his shoulder as if he had suffered a severe blow. "Rethink your loyalty priorities, labmem 002! Right before you stands the mad scientist Hououin Kyouma, who, as a luminary, uses his knowledge to outshine everyone else!"

Mayuri just laughed as she let her legs dangle from the chair, which was deliberately too high. "And that's why Okabe-kun is the coolest mad scientist and Kurisu-chan the coolest scientist."

Okabe nodded complacently as a conviction manifested behind his grin. "Well spoken, labmem 002. You have grasped the situation. She is my counterpart, my antagonist, the Cain to my Abel. "

Daru raised an eyebrow. "You are not related, nor does she want to kill you," he murmured, but Okabe was already too far gone.

"She tries unsuccessfully to order my chaos. A foolish endeavor. Doesn't she understand how much intellectual wealth is in my work? Alas, the day of the Last Judgment is not far away when people will recognize what is brewing in secret. I feel it."

If Mayuri were like the anime characters she cosplayed, she would have sparkling stars instead of eyes. She stared in admiration at Okabe, who had put his arms on his hips and raised his chin as if he could look down on the world.

"Yes, yes," said Daru, waving his flat hand up and down. "And now stfu, I can hardly understand Kurisu."

"Daru, you'd better listen to the head of this organization!"

"Don't worry if you miss something. You can ask her when she comes to visit us soon."

A heartbeat later, the screen was just a minor matter and the two young men had turned to Mayuri with curious eyes.

"What do you mean, Mayuri?"

"Well, in a few weeks she'll be coming to Japan to study here for a semester. Have you already forgotten- Oh!" she cried out, putting on her silly grin. "Didn't she tell you yet?"

Daru shrugged. "I'm not surprised about that, we've hardly talked since last summer." There was a meaningful look at the lab-coat-wearer next to him. "But she would've told Okabe for sure."

Okabe was suddenly busy tugging at the collar of his t-shirt. "Celeb-17 seems to be under the impression that she's too special to tell properly."

"We should have expected that you weren't talking to each other. Otherwise we probably wouldn't have had to hack into the university's private livestream until Mayuri asked whether we would be included in the link distribution list. "

"You willingly played our email address into the hands of the enemy? Daru, that's qualified information!"

"What are you raging about? "Chuunibyou4869" will hardly give away our identities - well, perhaps yours, but I wouldn't be surprised if you had acquired questionable fame in the university already. However, we never got anything other than the mass mails from her assistant. The biggest disappointment since EA's loot boxes. "

Mayuri cocked his head, her index finger against her chin. "And she seemed so excited about it." She pulled out her cell phone and scrolled through the Rine log. "Here, look."

Yay, Kurisu-chan is coming to visit us. Tuturu: 3

Yeah, it's been too long.
Is the lab still intact? ;)

Sure. I tell Okabe to finally clean it up. A girl guest deserves better! But where will the poor dust mice live ...?

Okabe growled and prepared a snarky comment, but Daru just scrolled down a few messages with his thick index finger.

See you on the 15th =)

I can hardly wait *squeal* ^ - ^

In apprehension, Daru scrolled up a bit and the message's date promptly appeared at the top of the screen.

"5th of June", Okabe read out loud. He turned abruptly and hurried to the calendar on which Mayuri had marked the past few days with her Upa stamp. His jaw dropped when he saw pink on turquoise that his numbered days had almost run out

Thank you for reading my passion project. Since I've discovered Steins;Gate almost two years ago, I fell in love with the characters immediately. Since then, I knew that I wanted to write something about them, but it took a couple of episodes of 0 to know what story I want to tell.

Anyone who spots the references will be rewarded with a cake (may or may not be a lie ;) ).

As this is a translation to english, which is my second language, I'd appreciate it if you'd point out any mistakes I've made. If anyone wants to be my beta reader, I would appreciate it^^

El. Psy. Congroo~