STEINS;GATE 0

"This is the story of the 'future' that could not be saved." December, 2010 - Beta Worldline: At the end of his journey through countless worldlines filled with untold sorrows and hardship, the protagonist, Okabe Rintarou, sinks into despair and abandons all efforts of saving "her". As his friends grow concerned for his well-being, Okabe immerses himself in the lifestyle of a serious student in a desperate attempt to push past his guilt and grief. He attends a college seminar for extra credit while still struggling with trauma, where he comes across two scientists who belonged to the same school and research team as "her". After he publicly defends their work against skepticism during a presentation, Okabe is invited to be a test subject for a research project titled "Amadeus"— an experimental AI which uses digitized memories as artificial intelligence avatars, one containing none other than "her" memories. But little did he know that the project would soon draw him back into that very world of dark conspiracies he had strived to avoid. The story is inspired by the "Epigraph Trilogy" light novels and other various drama CDs.

Steins;Gate 0 takes place after a hypothetical bad ending to Steins;Gate, where main character Rintaro Okabe fails to save the life of Kurisu Makise after travelling back in time and gives up. Zero follows the consequence of Rintaro's choice and the effects it has in the world, as World War III draws closer with each passing day. Several months later, Rintaro attends a lecture by Alexis Leskinen and Maho Hiyajo, from Viktor Chondria University, the university at which Kurisu worked. There, he is presented the project Amadeus, an advanced artificial intelligence capable of replicating a person based on their memories, by using Kurisu's previously published thesis as a basis. Upon getting to meet Maho Hiyajo and Dr. Leskinen, Rintaro is presented with the opportunity to act as a tester for Amadeus, or, more precisely, a version of Amadeus that uses the memories of the deceased Kurisu Makise.