Midnight’s Impressions
It speaks volumes to me of the impact the original series had on me when my heart and stomach contract as it plays the scene with Mayuri’s watch. The sheer fear of the impending death to come after it fills me with such a horrid dread. So when the last episode ended split between the memories of the watch scene, and Amadeus failing. I felt nothing but sheer, cold fear.
As the group comes in and aims guns at everyone. A figure comes in a leather suit, very similar to the one that Moeka wore in the original Steins;Gate. With the difference being that this time the fact is covered. An interesting choice, since Moeka had no problem revealing her face.
Leading me to believe, even at this point in the episode that perhaps this person isn’t in fact Moeka at all. Interesting enough, the episode is leading us to believe that the person in the suit. The culprit that led the raid on the Future Gadget Laboratory this time in no other then Yuki. Daru’s future wife and Suzuha’s mother.
The other thing leading me to think that this isn’t Moeka, is that it doesn’t seem to be that Sern is the attacking group. When the group is attacked, they are saved by Mr. Braun. Who we know from the previous series works for Sern as a rounder under the codename FB. This time, he saves the group and helps prevent Kagari from being kidnapped. I mean, i’m sure this help is largely because his own precious and beloved daughter was in danger. It was still amazing to see him fighting for the group rather then against it.
As Moeka also worked for Sern and directly under FB/Mr. Braun. It’s hard for me to imagine that she is involved in this particular attack.
What’s clear though is that the group is after Kagari and most likely are aware that she’s come from the future. So they have to protect her. Protection measures include checking the security around the shrine that she is staying at and getting her and Suzuha a job at Mr. Braun’s CTV shop.
Which leaves her with two extremely capable bodyguards at all times.
Meanwhile, they need to explain what happened to Mayuri and her other two cosplay friends who came back from the store just as the group was retreating from the building to find the TV shot up and the entire rest of the group seeming shaken.
When Okabe remembers something that Mr. Braun brought up. A code. K-6205, which apparently leads them to Mozarts music. Which leads them to Amadeus. Okabe, worried, calls Maho and asks her about the system but she has been unable to access it and the professor is still completely absent from the scene. As Okabe hangs up the call, his phone gets another call from Amadeus itself. He hesitates and then clicks the receive button.
A very scrambled ‘Help me, save me Okabe.’ comes through and the timeline very visibly shifts. The lab that was filled with people is suddenly seemingly empty, the television that was shot is suddenly in tact and the Amadeus program is missing from Okabe’s phone.
More importantly, the lab isn’t as empty as he first thought and right behind the curtain is someone. As the curtain opens we see, Kurisu!?!
Oh boy, what kind of timeline are we in now? Beta? Alpha? What’s the divergence meter? What’s going on? How was Okabe pulled to this timeline where Kurisu isn’t dead but is in fact wearing her labcoat as a proud member of the Future Gadget labs?
That’s a lot of the really important stuff from this episode. Though, I feel bad leaving out the part where Ruka confronts Suzuha about the way she talks about everyone. How he feels left out, how everyone else seems to know something that he doesn’t and it bothers him that he can’t do more to help. Suzuha explains that, she feels that Okabe wants at least Ruka to be left feeling like something is right in the timeline. Like it grounds and comforts Okabe in a way.
I feel bad and I hope this isn’t a one time convo that is dropped and something comes of this and he helps in the future.
As for the horrible pending feeling about Yuki’s involvement in the kidnapping. We’ll have to see where that goes and what other then Kurisu’s presence is different in this timeline.
