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?”

hockey mask and stick, from what I

hockey,” Ryan said absentmindedly, looking at

know, perfectly normal, he starts opening his home’s door and then BAM! Some Friday the 13th crazy jumps out of the shadows, breaks his jaw

“Why

didn’t even take his money,” Grunt 1 replied. “Maybe it was a hate

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

out, “Maybe it was a jealous boyfriend? It had

it could be the Meta.” Zanbato crossed his arms. “But then how did they learn

more time to find the hockey

you should crash at my

say,”

happened as predicted. Jamie invited him home, they played poker,

auto-pilot, as he let his sense of timing guide him forward. 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 over and over again. It was

an endless theater rehearsal. People held no mystery to him after a while, always reacting the

repetition would

ending and soon, it would finally end. Everything would turn right when

him back to

a second to 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 noticed an alteration in his

already left for Vulcan’s factory, the laying defeated on the ground.

care of.

Thanks for the tip.

such surprises,

he met Vulcan. The

“You,” Pluto asked Quicksave.

to repeat

“Have we met before?”

surprised Ryan, as he didn’t expect that answer. “Possibly,

sure of it, we already met,” Pluto replied, her tone turning from curious to confused.

Lanka stood still next to Ryan. The underboss’ mere attention terrified

marked,” Pluto said. “But I don’t

...

her power somehow mark him

wrong, boss?” Jamie joined the

your new

his shoulder. You speak to her when

stare, as if trying to peer into his soul. The courier couldn’t explain why, but he felt a growing pressure around him. The air thickened, something weighing on his

or infohazard,” Pluto’s female bodyguard

his defense. “Quicksave may be odd, but he is reliable,” the Made Man said. “He helped us fight off Sarin

she asked Ryan, completely

with mock reverence, alleviating the tension. “Ryan Romano. I’m immortal, but don’t tell

replied coldly. “I’ve got places to be right now, but I will call you back soon to clear this up. Play stupid, play smart, run, or say

she threatened him… No, wait, that wasn’t a threat.

follow her order, he

in complete silence until they were out of sight. Nobody dared to speak up at first, so Ryan

out a breath of relief. “Blabbermouth, what the fuck

didn’t I do?!” Ryan replied, just as confused. “Or

Quicksave,” Jamie said. “That woman is Pluto, Augustus’ sister and underboss. Her interest

her face full of concern, “She can kill

is she even here?” Lanka asked her

clean-up since she’s been itching to test her new weapons in the field, and Pluto loaned her the Killer Seven

frown. “To attack

that though?” Lanka asked, skeptical. “I mean, it was just a guy with a hockey cross. It if was a Meta,

an unpowered junkie they paid off,” Jamie replied. “The Meta-Gang isn’t a big group. It would make sense for

Shroud had followed through with his promise and stopped targeting the Augusti with assassinations. With no one to divert their attention, the criminal syndicate had decided to focus entirely on wiping

entire infiltration mission,

every time he made progress, a

didn’t matter. Ryan only had 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.

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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