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?”

mask and stick, from

very dangerous sport, hockey,” Ryan said absentmindedly, looking at the sea. “I

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

“Why Luigi? Was it a

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

uh, passionate according to witnesses,” Gruntie said. “At least from

Luigi sleeps around a lot, a real homewrecker,” Grunt 2 pointed out, “Maybe it was a jealous

his arms. “But then how did

actually took Ryan more time to find the hockey equipment than Luigi’s address. Nobody played that sport

staying at a hotel right?” Jamie asked Ryan. “I think you should crash at my place for the night, just

don’t say,” Ryan

as predicted. Jamie invited him home, 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 over and over again. It was no different than daydreaming while repeating a mind-numbing

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,

repetition would drive

it would finally end. Everything would turn right when Ryan found Len. He was certain

snapped him back to

where he was when he snapped back to consciousness. Extensive looping and repetition often eroded the Genome's perception of

the laying defeated on the ground. The message involved

care of.

Thanks for the tip.

lived for such

until he met Vulcan. The Augusti’s underboss froze the exact same way upon meeting him, and said the exact same

“You,” Pluto asked Quicksave.

answered, preparing to repeat the same

“Have we met before?”

didn’t expect that answer. “Possibly,

already met,” Pluto replied, her tone

while Lanka stood still next to Ryan.

said. “But I

...

Did her power somehow mark him across

wrong, boss?” Jamie joined the conversation, carefully

is your new

her when talked to, he all

into his soul. The courier couldn’t explain why, but he felt a

or infohazard,” Pluto’s female bodyguard pointed out.

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

asked Ryan, completely dismissing Zanbato’s words.

reverence, alleviating the tension. “Ryan Romano.

be right now, but I will call you back soon to clear this up. Play stupid, play smart, run, or say no, and

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

Ryan didn’t follow her order, he would die. The

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

of relief. “Blabbermouth,

do?!” Ryan replied, just as confused.

“That woman is Pluto, Augustus’ sister and underboss. Her interest is not a good

without question,” Ki-jung said, her face full of concern,

is she even here?” Lanka asked

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 her new weapons in the field, and Pluto loaned her the Killer Seven hit squad. I say it’s finally time we clean up the

to poor Luigi,” Ki-jung said with a frown. “To attack him in front of his own house… if you can’t feel

“I mean, it was just a guy with a hockey cross. It if was a Meta,

paid off,” Jamie replied. “The Meta-Gang isn’t a big group. It would make sense for them to outsource their

appeared Shroud had followed through with his promise and stopped targeting the Augusti with assassinations. With no

Pluto’s newfound interest in him would play out though. It could threaten his entire infiltration mission, and he had to figure out how she

time he made

Ryan only had to play along until Vulcan told him how to contact or reach Len. He didn’t have to stay with the

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