Steins;Gate is the story of Rintarou Okabe—the man who accidentally invents time travel and in doing so changes the fates of not only those around him but the world itself.
The basic concept of time travel in Steins;Gate revolves around the idea of “world lines.” While there is only one reality existing at any time, each world line is a path history could take if the right events were to happen. Though various forms of time travel, Okabe is able to do certain things to change which path the river of time flows down. However, that doesn’t mean that Okabe can get his happy end so easily.
Image source: MAGES. GAME CHANNEL on YouTube.
Instead of the world lines existing as an infinite mass, they instead naturally group together in bundles—like strands of rope heading to the future. Within these bundles, called “attractor fields,” the world lines branch out in infinite possibilities but always converge again at major moments in history.
This means that while events may vary slightly, things like major catastrophes and the births and deaths of people always happen in every world line within a single attractor field—though the exact time in which said events occur may vary slightly.
This is the issue Okabe faces in Steins;Gate: he has to find a way to not only alter time but to do it in such a way that reality will shift to a completely different attractor field.
Over the course of Steins;Gate, it’s spin-offs, sequels, and related tales in the Science Adventure Series, we have seen dozens of world lines across several different attractor fields. Let’s break them down and see what sets them apart from each other.
Image source: 科学ADV公式 #シュタゲ10周年 on Twitter.
Alpha Attractor Field
0% to 0.99% Divergence
The vast majority of Steins;Gate takes place in the Alpha Attractor Field. In this attractor field, Okabe invents time travel and SERN finds out about it. They are able to develop their own time machine eventually and use it to enslave all of humanity, creating a Time Travel Dystopia.
In this set of world lines, SERN and the Rounders are incredibly influential and Mayuri, Moeka, and Mr. Braun all die in 2010 (with most of the rest of the main cast dying before 2036).
Image source: 科学ADV公式 #シュタゲ10周年 on Twitter.
Beta Attractor Field
1% to 1.99% Divergence
The vast majority of Steins;Gate 0 is set in the Beta Attractor Field. In this attractor field, Okabe invents time travel but is able to hide the fact that he did so from SERN. Unfortunately, Kurisu’s father, Dr. Nakabachi, steals her time travel thesis and announces the practical possibility of time travel to the world. This public announcement leads to a time travel arms race among pretty much every major power—eventually leading to a World War III that lasts for decades. In fact, the higher the divergence number, the sooner the war starts,
In this set of world lines, SERN and the Rounders are as powerful as they are in the Alpha world lines, however, they have lost control of the situation as every nation on Earth rushes to get time machine technology. Here, Kurisu dies in 2010 but everyone else has the potential to live until at least 2036.
Image source: 科学ADV公式 #シュタゲ10周年 on Twitter.
Gamma Attractor Field
2% to 2.99% Divergence
The Gamma Attractor Field is seen only in Steins;Gate Drama CD Gamma: Hyde of the Dark Dimension. In this attractor field, the Y2K crash was instigated by SERN and devastated the world. This in turn allowed them to get their hands on time travel technology and create a Time Travel Dystopia much like the one in the Alpha world lines.
In this world, Okabe himself is a Rounder and Moeka’s partner. He forms the lab specifically to develop the time travel technology SERN is after. In the future, he not only joins the Committee of 300 but becomes the unquestioned dictator of Japan. Here, Mayuri dies in 2010 due to an illness contracted during Y2K.
Image source: MAGES. GAME CHANNEL on YouTube.
Delta Attractor Field
3% to 3.99% Divergence
Steins;Gate: My Darling’s Embrace and parts of Steins;Gate: Linear Bounded Phenogram are set in the Delta Attractor Field. In this attractor field, while Okabe did create the time machine, it’s true nature was discovered later than in Alpha/Beta/Gamma and SERN is unaware of its existence.
This attractor field is largely at peace, heading neither for World War III nor the Time Travel Dystopia. Both Mayuri and Kurisu are alive and the Rounders are markedly less powerful—being more terrorists than a secret black ops group.
In fact, in most Delta world lines, Moeka and Mr. Braun are normal people, not affiliated with the Rounders. However, it should be noted that as the divergence number grows closer to the 3% Gamma threshold, the Rounders grow in power and Moeka and Mr. Braun are once again members of the group.
Image source: MAGES. GAME CHANNEL on YouTube.
Epsilon Attractor Field
4% to 4.99% Divergence
The Epsilon Attractor Field is only seen in the “Abduction Across Three Worlds” route of Steins;Gate: Linear Bounded Phenogram. Due to the fact that Okabe has holes in his memory, it’s hard to know much about this Attractor Field. Both the PhoneWave and time leap machine exist but there is no sign of SERN or the Rounders.
But the interesting thing about Epsilon is that it appears to be the point at which individuals’ personalities begin to drastically change. While Kurisu and Daru seem the same as always, Moeka is completely different. She talks smoothly and in full sentences—showing none of the shy hesitation or need to talk through her cell phone that all other versions of her have shown.
Image source: MAGES. GAME CHANNEL on YouTube.
Omega Attractor Field
-0% to -0.99% Divergence
On the other side of Alpha we have the Omega Attractor Field—seen only in the Feris ending of the original Steins;Gate and in “Eternal Polaris” from Steins;Gate: Linear Bounded Phenogram. As opposed to Epsilon where individual personalities begin to break down, in Omega, it is personal relationships that do.
In these world lines, there is no time machine nor Future Gadget Lab (though there is a divergence meter, ominously enough) and Okabe is not acquainted with any of the lab members save Feris (at least in one of the world lines we see). It is an attractor field where Okabe loses almost all his friendships but both Mayuri and Kurisu are alive and no World War III has started by July 2011 at the very least.
Image source: 科学ADV公式 #シュタゲ10周年 on Twitter.
Steins;Gate/R-World Line
1.048596 Divergence
The Steins;Gate world line is a rare world line not tied to any attractor field. In it, neither World War III nor the Time Travel Dystopia come to pass and both Okabe’s relationships and the personalities of his friends remain intact. For yet unknown reasons, it forms a double helix with the unstable R-World Line which Okabe slips in and out of during the film Steins;Gate: The Movie − Load Region of Déjà Vu.
In the end, the Steins;Gate is a world line of true freedom with no destiny set by an attractor field. However, it’s singular nature makes its continued existence more tenuous than other world lines as major events within the world line threaten to crash it into one of the nearby attractor fields—as can be seen by the fluctuating divergence meter in Robotics;Notes DaSH.
Image source: 科学ADV公式 #シュタゲ10周年 on Twitter.
Chi Attractor Field
?? to ?? Divergence
The only confirmed example of the Chi Attractor Field comes in the ending of Steins;Gate: Linear Bounded Phenogram’s “Hermaphroditus in the Labyrinth” route. Despite this world line’s 1.049326 divergence, it is not part of the Beta attractor field From the little we see, the world lines in the Chi Attractor Field are similar to the Steins;Gate world line—it’s implied Okabe succeeds in saving both Mayuri and Kurisu while preventing World War III and the Time Travel Dystopia.
Fans speculate that world lines close to the divergence of the Steins;Gate world line, like 1.048599 (Robotics;Notes Legacy Revival) and 1.048728 (Steins;Gate: Variant Space Octet) are also part of the Chi Attractor field.
My own personal (completely unconfirmed) theory is that while the true endings of Chaos;Child, Robotics;Notes, and Robotics;Notes DaSH, happen on the Steins;Gate world line, all other ending routes from these games are part of the Chi Attractor Field. After all, as long as it’s a world line where neither World War III or the time travel dystopia happen, any of those routes could take place.
Though that, of course, leaves us with one burning question: what is the key difference that separates the Steins;Gate world line from those of the Chi Attractor Field? Maybe one day we’ll find out.
Top image source: MAGES. GAME CHANNEL on YouTube.
Be First to Comment