SERN Time Machine Project

Lore & Background

Research into tachyons began decades before the main events, with SERN identifying these particles as the key to breaking the light-speed barrier for information transfer. This discovery triggered a secret arms race involving various world governments, though SERN remained the most aggressive pursuer of the technology. The human cost of this ambition is significant, but it is important to note that Dr. Nakabachi's actions are not directly caused by SERN's project. Kurisu's father, Dr. Nakabachi, stole her paper on time travel and fled to Russia for his own ambitions, not as a SERN agent. Throughout the Alpha Attractor Field timeline, agents from SERN monitor communications and eliminate threats to ensure their dystopian future comes to pass, creating a reality where free will is compromised by temporal manipulation.

In Their Own Story

The hum of cooling fans filled the sterile white room, masking the nervous tension in the air. A researcher adjusted the dials on the modified microwave device, watching the tachyon counter fluctuate wildly. Outside, rain lashed against the reinforced windows of the facility, isolating them from a world that didn't know what was happening inside. They knew one misstep could erase their existence entirely. Success brought no joy, only the cold weight of knowing they were now prisoners of their own timeline.

Reader's Guide

The SERN Time Machine Project emerges from Cold War-era research into tachyons, particles that theoretically move faster than light. In the Alpha Attractor Field timeline, this initiative drives much of the conflict as agents seek to secure technology capable of altering history. Researchers attempt to utilize modified microwave ovens to send messages back in time, creating a feedback loop with their own past. This pursuit leads them to target key figures like Kurisu Makise and her father, whose work laid the groundwork for tachyon detection. As Okabe Rintaro discovers the truth behind D-Mail, he realizes SERN is manipulating worldlines to ensure their survival in a dystopian future. The organization monitors communications and eliminates threats to their timeline dominance. In the climax of the saga, the protagonist must destroy the prototype time machine located within the facility. This act severs the connection between past and future transmissions, collapsing the Alpha attractor field. Ultimately, the project is dismantled in the Steins Gate worldline, preventing the dystopian outcome where SERN controls history through temporal manipulation.

Did You Know?

• The Phone Microwave, a modified microwave oven used for time travel, is actually an invention by Okabe Rintaro and the Future Gadget Lab, not SERN.
• SERN agents often operate under false identities to infiltrate organizations like Future Gadget Lab.
• The IBN-5100 computer is hardware famously used by Okabe in the Future Gadget Lab, rather than being linked to SERN's communication protocols.
• Time travel in Steins;Gate relies on D-mails or sending physical objects to a specific past point, and SERN's methodology requires precise synchronization between sender and receiver dates.