The Perfect Run

Chapter 21

All was well so far on the Augusti Path.

Ryan had met Zanbato as expected, beat up Sarin at the harbor, and now repeated the exact same conversation which would lead him to crash at Jamie’s house. All was well and good, to the sound of crashing waves against the piers...

“I have to be sure about something,” Luigi asked the courier. “Are you a snitch or a double agent?”

“Well, I’m not really on anyone’s side,” Ryan replied, but then his mouth acted on its own, “But I’m a Carnival infiltrator, yes.”

… or not.

Everyone present turned to look at him, a tense silence settling in. The grunts raised their weapons, while Zanbato’s face turned from shocked, to disappointed, and finally, to furious.

“Uh oh.”

Okay, two lessons learned.

One, Ryan hated truth-tellers. Hated them, with a passion.

Two, Zanbato could make sashimi out of people with his laser sword. Ryan wouldn’t look at sushi the same way ever again.

But this time… this time, it would be different. The courier had rehearsed the perfect misleading answers. Luigi's power compelled Ryan to say the truth, but only according to the teller’s exact words.

“I have to be sure about something,” Luigi asked him again. “Are you a snitch or a double agent?”

“I can’t snitch on a group I haven’t officially joined yet, and I am not a double agent.” Technically, he was a triple one.

“Are you a mole?”

“Of course I’m not a mole, I’m human.”

There! Saved! He did it, he did it!

“Okay, I should work on my wording,” Luigi sighed but didn’t give up. “Are you, or do you intend, to relay information about us to another organization?”

“Well, yes, I intend to. Hell, I already did!”

Goddammit!

Okay.

Okay, third time's the charm.

Through timing and intelligence, Ryan had skillfully navigated through the chain of causality to avoid the fated question. He had put on the charm, befriended everyone, distracted the grunts with funny anecdotes. Now, the courier and Zanbato prepared to return to the Plymouth Fury, and go eat some delicious pizzas.

“Hey, Quicksave,” Luigi asked, as they took a few steps towards the car. “Before you go, there are a few questions I must ask every new recruit.”

“Luigi, seriously, please, don’t do it,” Ryan replied, his eyes pleading. “For your sake, don’t say this. It won’t end well, I swear it won’t—”

“Sorry, protocol. Are you a snitch?”

“Yes, yes, yes! Yes, I am! Is that what you want me to say, Luigi? Is that what you want me to say?”

Quicksave breathed deeply, fighting off his rising frustration.

“Luigi,” Ryan pointed a finger at the truth-teller, as everyone raised their weapons at the courier's face. “We’re going to have a problem, you and I.”

“Where’s Luigi?” Zanbato asked Grunt 1 when the truth-teller failed to show up at the harbor, leaving only the henchmen to deal with the operation. “Wasn’t he supposed to take care of the shipment?”

“Sorry, he was attacked yesterday night,” Gruntie said, carrying Luigi’s cell phone. Apparently, he would have to fill in for the Made Man. “He’s at the hospital right now, and he’ll be out of commission for a while.”

“What?” The news shocked Jamie, who clearly hadn’t been informed. “By whom?”

crazy psychopath with a hockey mask and stick, from what I

absentmindedly, looking at the

starts opening his home’s door and then BAM! Some Friday the 13th crazy jumps out of the shadows, breaks his jaw with a hockey stick, beats him up for a while,

almost chortled. “Why Luigi? Was it

take his money,” Grunt 1 replied. “Maybe it was a hate

witnesses,” Gruntie said. “At least from what I

Luigi sleeps around a lot, a real homewrecker,” Grunt 2 pointed out, “Maybe it was a jealous boyfriend? It had to happen

Meta.” Zanbato crossed his arms. “But then how

actually took Ryan more time to find the hockey equipment

crash at my place

don’t say,” Ryan

they played poker,

The auto-pilot wasn’t really a sub-power, simply a state his conscious mind entered when he couldn’t be bothered to live through the same events

laws of causality. With a few exceptions, he constantly lived through an endless theater rehearsal. People held no mystery to him after a while, always reacting the same way to the exact same things; they forgot him and relearned the same information, over, and over again. They became machines, and Ryan the only human in the

would drive

necessary suffering to reach the perfect ending and soon, it would finally end. Everything would turn right when

snapped him back to reality, interrupting

remember when and where he was when he snapped back to consciousness. Extensive looping and repetition often eroded the Genome's perception of reality, especially when his power

while Lanka had already left for Vulcan’s factory, the laying defeated on the

Psyshock taken care of. Children are

Thanks for the tip.

such surprises,

he noticed Pluto and her bodyguard talking with Zanbato, Ryan expected events to repeat until he met Vulcan. The Augusti’s

“You,” Pluto asked Quicksave.

Ryan answered, preparing to repeat

“Have we met before?”

surprised Ryan, as he didn’t expect

we already met,” Pluto replied, her tone

it?” her bodyguard asked Pluto, while Lanka stood still next to Ryan. The underboss’ mere attention terrified her into

said. “But I don’t

...

power

boss?” Jamie joined the conversation, carefully backing

is your new recruit,

when Jamie invaded his personal space, putting a hand on his shoulder. You speak to her when talked to,

observed Ryan with an intense stare, as if trying to peer into his soul. The courier couldn’t explain why, but he felt a growing pressure around him.

a memory alteration or infohazard,” Pluto’s female bodyguard pointed out. “Maybe your

away innocently, while Zanbato came to his defense. “Quicksave may be odd, but he is reliable,” the Made

Quicksave?” she asked Ryan, completely dismissing Zanbato’s words. “Your real

reverence, alleviating the tension. “Ryan Romano.

she replied coldly. “I’ve got places to be right now, but I will call you back soon to clear

she threatened him… No, wait, that

Ryan didn’t follow her order, he

courier and his group watched the underboss leave with her bodyguard in complete silence until they were out of sight. Nobody dared to speak up at first, so Ryan broke the ice. “So, who’s up for Chinese?”

of relief. “Blabbermouth, what the

replied, just

Pluto, Augustus’ sister and underboss. Her interest is not a

follow her lead without question,” Ki-jung said, her face

here?” Lanka asked her

to hit the Meta-Gang hard,” Jamie replied, his arms crossed. “Vulcan will take command of the clean-up since she’s been itching to test

after what they did to poor Luigi,” Ki-jung said with a frown. “To attack him in front

it’s the Meta who did that though?” Lanka asked, skeptical. “I mean, it was just a guy with a hockey cross. It if was a Meta, there should have been

isn’t a big group. It would

followed through with his promise and stopped targeting the Augusti with

play out though. It could threaten his entire infiltration mission, and he had to figure out how she could identify him

every time he made progress,

to play along until Vulcan told him how to contact or reach Len. He didn’t have to stay with the Augusti longer than that. And

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