The Perfect Run

Ryan always did science in his underwear.

Clothes embodied society’s restrictions upon the human spirit, the crushing power of civilization attempting to make the individual fit into the mold. But by being mostly naked, Ryan reconnected with his creativity, unbound by conformity; while his boxers represented his lingering attachment to his mental stability, preventing him from going completely off the rails. The one time Ryan had worked completely naked, he ended up building his rabbit plushie.

Also, his boxers felt comfy and warm. Len had made them for him, years ago.

Having rented a hotel room near the city center, Ryan spent the early morning splitting his time between researching information about New Rome and improving his gadgets. The receptionist had given Quicksave a strange glance upon seeing him move upstairs with his hands full of weapons, but didn’t call the Private Security. Masked strangers were nothing unusual in this city.

Of course, Ryan took the time to hack the bedroom’s camera to protect his secret identity, and to avoid panic. He had a lot of unsafe stuff in his arsenal.

Resting on a chair, Ryan typed on his computer with his toes—a skill he spent many loops mastering— while he worked on his coil gun with his hands. The client had wired him his money for yesterday’s delivery, with compliments for Ghoul’s arrest, although the courier didn't care much. The job was just an excuse to travel across Italy, looking for new adventures.

Though he had put his endless wandering on hold, once he heard Len might be in New Rome.

From what Renesco had told him, he should go to Rust Town for information; according to the local Dynanet, that was the nickname given to New Rome's poor northwest neighborhood. The corporations controlling the city had put all the industrial plants there, turning the area into a dumpster. They had even built a wall to prevent vagrants from moving into the other districts.

According to the receptionist, the ‘Junkyard’ was a landmark of that area, an old coal mine transformed into an open landfill. Many rogue Geniuses and adventurers exchanged stuff there. Maybe Len was among them.

Someone knocked on his bedroom window.

Ryan glanced at it, a woman waving her hand at him from the other side. “Hi,” she said. “Can we talk for a minute?”

Ryan’s room was on floor ten, and it had no fire exit.

“Hey!” Ryan grabbed his mask and put it on, alongside the hat. “You’re violating my secret identity!”

“You don’t have one, Ryan Romano,” the woman replied, raising an eyebrow. “And according to your file, you never did anything to hide it.”

“I have a file?” Ryan asked, overtaken by happiness. “I’m famous! How am I described?”

“Deranged, but reliable.’” Sweet! They got him halfway right! The flying woman eyed him from head to toe through the glass. “Don’t you intend to put on your other clothes?”

Ryan chuckled. “No.”

He would always stand against oppressors.

invader responded with a frown, knocking on the window again,

one hand, and kept the coil gun

translucent dragonfly wings flapping at high speed on her back, her hands on her waist. This made her look as graceful as a fairy,

star surrounded by golden laurel on the right. She was probably between her mid-twenties and early thirties, and quite the eye-catcher. “I wanted to thank

“Oh, you’re welcome.”

Ryan started to close the

bench press a school bus even while partially transformed,

I deliver mail. No

you as muscle?” the superheroine asked, a bit amused by his last comment. “The place you defended was one of their fronts. I figured they might have hired you to defend their turf

was in the way of completing my side quest.” Wyvern made a strange face, unable to understand his jargon. The Genome Wars had all but destroyed the video game sector, making Ryan feel very alone. “Oh, by the way, have you heard of a girl my age called Len? Black hair,

“You mean communists? Those

know that’s probably a dirty word in

her head. “But I can look at our files. Is that why you are in New Rome? Looking for

best friend!” Ryan couldn’t help but gush about her. "I've

if I can,” Wyvern replied with a smile. “Actually, I

Oh.

the

called Il Migliore,” Wyvern said, confirming Ryan’s suspicions. “You’ve probably

were the official protectors of New Rome, and modern celebrities. Of course, they were also on Dynamis’ payroll, who owned their image, merchandising rights, and told them whom to

were real, pro-bono superheroes, wandering knights style! Ryan couldn’t help but admire them,

damage… you possess an extremely useful superpower, and as far as we know you haven’t dabbled into reprehensible enterprises, nor closely associated with wanted criminals.” Poor girl, if only she knew. “Since you stopped Ghoul before he could go on a killing spree,

what, you want me to audition for a movie or something? Because I've only

sensing a little bitterness in her tone. “But we do our best to protect citizens. Come visit our HQ, see

replied, a bit insulted that she

reasonable like the Augusti,” she insisted. “They are a roving band of Psychos, and you’ve beat

have a

the joke, her smile straining and her wings

said. “I’ll think about it if I ever get

noticed an earplug in her left ear, although he couldn’t

the courier a business card. “If

“Sure.”

“Take care.”

no sound either, except for the wind they produced. She was gone within the blink of an eye, moving north and accelerating until she reached near