Chapter Text
Rain dripped down my bangs and into my eyes. I shook my head to fling off as many water droplets as I could.
We had received reports that Makise Kurisu was going to be in Akihabara sometime this week. I had been assigned to wait on the rooftop of the building across the street from where we thought she would turn up. I steadied my sniper rifle as I took a bite of a protein block. I wasn’t sure why I was chosen for this job. I’d say it was because I was the best shot, but honestly, I had started to think that there may not be that many of us left.
I had been here two days, only sleeping when absolutely necessary. I watched the empty street until my eyes felt like they were peeling from the inside out. The rain was cooling. I leaned my head back and let the water wash over my face.
A car drove slowly up the road. My breath slowed down as I looked through my scope. I followed Makise as she stepped out of the car and onto the sidewalk. She turned to the person next to her and pointed to something in the background. As she turned to enter the building, I steadied my rifle, and aimed for her head.
“This is for killing my dad, you bitch,” I muttered. My finger moved toward the trigger.
Makise turned around. My breath caught as I saw her eyes. They reminded me of eyes that I had seen so many times. So tired.
My hand slipped, and the bullet lodged into the building behind Makise. Two men in combat gear leapt out of the car and dashed into my building. I pulled my mask over my face and threw my rope ladder over the side of the building. I tripped climbing down, and fell six feet from the bottom. Broken asphalt scraped down my legs and lodged into my hands as I scrambled up. I sprinted down the alleyway, but one of the men caught up to me and grabbed me. I fought back as he pulled my mask down and pointed my face towards the facial recognition cameras in the alleyway.
I screamed as I elbowed him in the nose as hard as I could. He let go of me just long enough for me to scamper through the alleyway and through the narrow streets towards my apartment.
I weaved my way through the different side streets of Akihabara. When I was sure I wasn’t being chased, I shrank down behind a pile of trash in an alleyway and gasped for air. I cried as I picked the pieces of road out of my hands.
When the sun finally set, I crawled out and slunk through the streets until I reached my apartment building. I climbed up the fire escape and slid the window open.
“Mom…” I cried. “Mom, I need you.”
She didn’t answer. I walked into the kitchen.
“Mom?” My voice cracked as I called out. “Mom?”
I ran into her room and pulled back the covers, looked in the closet, checked the bathroom. She wasn’t there. I ran towards the front door, and started to open it, but was distracted by a squelching sound.
I looked down at my boots. They were covered in a deep, red fluid that was flowing in from the slit in the bottom of the door. I raised my head, and saw the mark where a bullet had lodged in the other side.
I screamed as I dropped to the floor. I untied my boots and threw them to the side. When I saw that the blood from my shoes had gotten on my hands, I rubbed them furiously on the carpet.
I curled into a ball and sobbed. “Please don’t leave me alone. Please. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
I cried until I couldn't cry anymore. When I looked up, a pale light had spread throughout the room. I stood up and walked to the window. The sky was a dusky grey, but I could still see the sun rising, in the distance.
I need water.
I reached up into the kitchen cabinet, and my hand rested on a large manila envelope. I pulled it out, and saw my name scribbled on the front in hasty characters. I opened it with shaking fingers. A manual and a piece of paper fell to the floor. I picked up the paper and read:
Instructions:
Travel to July, 1975
Purchase the IBN5100 (can be found at most electronics shops in Akihabara. Money is included in the envelope)
Hold on to the IBN5100 securely until August, 2010, where it can be handed to Okabe Rintaro in Akihabara
Inform Okabe that the IBN5100 is the cypher needed to access SERN’s encrypted servers
I picked the manual off of the floor and opened the first page.
FG204, 2nd Edition, Ver. 2.31
(Name Subject to Change)
Completed* by Barrel Titor and the members of Project Valkyrie in 2032
My eyes skimmed past lines of technical jargon I didn’t understand and settled on the line at the bottom of the page:
*Caution: Time Machine is incomplete. Can only facilitate travel one-way.
I stared at the blood seeping through the carpet as I pulled my mom’s bag down from its peg. I removed the book of haiku from the front pocket and placed it on the table. In its stead, I added water, a few canned goods, and painkillers. I picked up my boots and rinsed them under the sink. I slid the envelope in the bag, laced my shoes, and opened the window to the fire escape.
“I love you too.”
The air was smoggy. I pulled my mask up to my face as I crept to the address in the envelope. I climbed the twelve flights of stairs to the top floor of a derelict building. I crept through what looked to be an abandoned office building; at least it was, before it started to completely fall apart. Ceiling tiles had detached and were scattered around the room. Animal nests littered the corners of the room, and I jumped as a family of mice ran in front of me.
I pushed open a door on the left side of the building, and walked up to the machine. My whole body trembled as I opened the door and climbed inside. Holding the instructions, I typed the year 1975 into the console.
I paused as a thought flashed through my mind.
Mom always said that Dad was around Akihabara when he was a teenager. Didn’t his time machine meet-up happen when he was nineteen?
What year was that?
I closed my eyes.
Mom was born in 1989. She told me she was two years older than Dad.
2010.
I stared at the numbers flashing on the console in front of me. I was pretty sure I could make a quick stop in 2010 before going to 1975. I mean, why not?
What if he doesn’t want to see me?
I put my head in my hands, knocking the manual onto the ground. As I picked it up, I noticed a letter jammed in the back pages. It was addressed in handwriting that I didn’t recognize:
To Suzuha
From Dad
My hands shook as I read the letter.
Hi Suzuha,
You don’t remember me, I think. But I remember you. When I first saw you, and held you in my arms, I cried so much. I remember your mom laughing at me, but I didn’t see why. To me, it felt so normal. Because you were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
I miss you. I’ve missed you for 16 years. You’re the first thing I think about when I wake up, and the last thing when I go to sleep. Always, always, always. My baby girl.
Somewhere out there. I know without a shadow of a doubt. There will be a time where we will be together. And once I finally get to hold you in my arms, I’ll never let you go. I’m proud of you, Suzuha. I love you, and I always will.
Dad
P.S. Just remember. Sometimes it’ll hurt. But that means that you loved something. I think it’s worth the pain.
I punched the year 2010 into the machine and slammed my finger on the enter key.
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