SERN Bombardment Timeline
A future where time travel is weaponized and history is held hostage by a global power.
In this reality, the discovery of time travel technology is controlled by the international organization SERN, leading to a future where free will is suppressed and historical events are manipulated to maintain their power structure. The protagonist finds themselves trapped in a loop where saving one loved one inevitably leads to the loss of another or the subjugation of humanity. This timeline serves as the primary antagonist force for much of the narrative, representing a stable but dystopian attractor field that resists change until specific conditions are met to break the cycle.
Quick Facts
- Key character
- Okabe Rintaro
- Antagonist force
- SERN (International Research Organization)
- Timeline type
- Alpha Attractor Field
- Status
- Unstable; Escaped in Canon
Lore & Background
The Alpha Attractor Field represents a stable range of world lines where certain key events remain constant regardless of minor changes. In this specific branch, SERN successfully intercepts the invention of the Phone Microwave and utilizes Time Travel for their own ends. This results in a timeline where Kurisu Makise is targeted by SERN agents to prevent her from revealing time travel secrets, often leading to her death or capture. The stability of this attractor field is maintained because Mayuri Shiina survives the initial tragedy that triggers the loops in other branches. However, this survival comes at the cost of global freedom under SERN's surveillance state. The timeline is characterized by a pervasive sense of dread and inevitability, as the protagonist realizes that small changes cannot alter the major attractor points without risking catastrophic consequences.
Reader's Guide
The progression begins when the protagonist sends the first D-Mail to save Mayuri Shiina from an early death. This action shifts the world line into the Alpha Attractor Field, locking in her survival but altering other outcomes. Throughout this arc, multiple attempts are made to change specific events while remaining within the Alpha range. Each attempt reveals that SERN is actively monitoring and neutralizing threats to their control of time travel technology. The emotional stakes rise as the protagonist realizes that Kurisu Makise's fate is tied to the attractor field. Critical turning points involve the discovery of the Beta Attractor Field, where Mayuri dies but Kurisu lives. Escaping the Alpha dominance requires sending a final D-Mail that resets the timeline before SERN can intervene, ultimately aiming for the Steins Gate world line where neither tragedy occurs.
More in Plot Arcs & Timelines
Elsewhere in Steins;Gate
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