Chapter 3

I woke up in a hospital room and could only partially reconstruct the events of th previous night. I slowly turned my grumbling skull to the side and saw Suzuha in the bed next to me with a head bandage. She still seemed to be asleep. Then i realized, This was in 1975. We had travelled through time, and as expected my companion had lost her memories.

Everything had happened so quickly. A day ago, in my self created time loop, I had taken on the everyday monotony of repeating the same two days to delay Mayuri's death and now I was finally free. Things happened unpredictably, life happened without my knowledge of the future and the most important thing, there was hope again. Hope to break the apparent future and steer the fate of the world in a different direction.

I stared at the white wall of the room lost in thought, until the door opened quietly and a nurse entered the room.

"Oh, they're awake! How are you?"

I looked at her blankly and then said, "Thank you, I am fine." bit by bit my emotions are slowly returning. It was still unusual to have conversations, the course of which i did not know in the smallest detail.

"You said yesterday you had a car accident," the young women began.

"Ahem... yes." I had no idea that i had said something like that, but secretly thanked the quick wit of my past self.

"You're friend got it pretty bad," she added regretfully."Nevertheless, she was probably lucky despite the misfortune and apart from a laceration did not suffer any fractures on her skull."

I relaxed a little, relieved by the good news. "Many thanks for your help, Without your quick response the whole ordeal would probably not have turned out so well," I sighed.

The girl smiled at me. "It goes without saying. The doctor will come see you in half an hour."

With that she said goodbye and i closed my eyes for the time being. I wouldn't have thought it possible, but a slight smile ppayed around my lips, knowing that we survived our arrival somewhat unscathed.

"Argghh..." a small voice next to me made. Suzuha turned her head slowly towards me and looked at me with her eyes half closed. "A-are we in the hospital?"

"Yes, i called the paramedics yesterday. i am so glad you're okay." i said in a soft voice.

"Then you are probably my savior. I thank you. But ... i can't remember you," Suzuha replied sadly.

"It's not that bad, You're memories will come back. Do you still know your name?"

The other person hesitated briefly and the said, "Amane Suzuha ... but that's the only thing i remember."

I considered."This may sound crazy now, but we both came from the future. You came from the year 2036 to 2010 where i met you and later we travelled to the year 1975 together."

Something glowed in Suzuha's eyes. "... I don't know how to say this, but ... somehow what you said seems familiar."

"It's true. You suffered an amnesia from ou journey through time because our time machine was damaged by a storm in the year 2010 and was not able to make a perfect transition to 1975," I explained with hope in my voice.

"Don't get me wrong... I would probably think you were crazy if i didn't feel... that what you said is true," Suzuha replied quietly.

"I will help restore your memory. You saved me from a terrible fate in 2010 and for that i am eternally grateful to you that's why this time i will return the favor," I assured her.

After twenty minutes the doctor came into our room and explained the findings to us. Suzuha would recover soon, but she would have to stay here for a few more days. apart from a few bruises i had not suffered any physical damage and my whiplash would also subside after a short time. Fortunately, we were not asked for personal details that we had not yet shown. We did not have health insurance, nor were we registered in the Japanese civil registry. The thought of having to straighten all of these things made my stomach queasy. i turned on the tiny CRT television in the room and heard news about an unknown object that was said to have plunged into Raidio Kaikan last night.

The rest of the first day in the past, i spent feverishly thinking about passport procurement methods while suzuha was resting in bed. We had been brought something to eat at lunchtime, but i couldn't get anything down because of my tension. When evening came, I had worked out a plan for how i would give my companion and me new identities.

Actually, it wasn't a plan, but rather the only option left after thinking it over.

At first, in my youthful naivety, i had thought of simply marching into the citizens office and requesting new personal details, but quickly realized that such an attempt would end in disaster. If the officers found out that there was not a single piece of information about Amane Suzuha and Okabe Rintarou, they would probably notify the police, who would drive us out of the country, or worse, put us in prison. There were no birth certificates or other documents about us that would could be used to verify our identify. We came from a completely different time.

The last option that remained was to illegally obtain ID cards. I had no idea how to do this, but left the hospital unseen at 6 pm.

Akihabara was in spring time, yesterday's rain turned into friendly sunshine. Everything seemed familiar yet different at the same time. The district looked retro. 70s cars drove through the streets, people's clothes were reminiscent of old school fashion trends, and most buildings hadn't reached the height they would have in a few years. There were many small electronics stores that showed "new fashioned" CRT televisions and radios in display, some cafes and shops, but i found no trace of the Moe culture.

I just strolled through the streets in my gray t-shirt because my lab coat would have seemed a little conspicuous and enjoyed the last rays of the sun on this warm May evening. I purposely headed for a very specific part of the district in which Faris had often been at her Rai-Net game tournaments.

I had turned inconspicuously into a dark alley. i knew this dubious area a bit and hoped to find what we need here.