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,

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

late for a 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,

“Why Luigi?

the maniac didn’t even take his money,” Grunt

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

Grunt 2 pointed out, “Maybe it was a jealous boyfriend? It had to happen

arms. “But then how did they learn

time to find the hockey equipment

asked Ryan. “I think you should crash at my

say,”

him home, they played poker, went

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

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

repetition would

to reach the perfect ending and soon, it would finally end. Everything would turn right when Ryan found Len. He was certain

cellphone beeping snapped him back to reality, interrupting the flow of

looping

defeated on the ground. The message involved a photo of Rust Town’s orphanage, intact, and a

care

Thanks for the tip.

for such surprises, good

Pluto and her bodyguard talking with Zanbato, Ryan expected events to repeat until he met Vulcan. The Augusti’s underboss froze the exact same way upon meeting him, and said the

“You,” Pluto asked Quicksave.

preparing to repeat

“Have we met before?”

didn’t expect that answer.

it, we already met,” Pluto replied, her tone

asked Pluto, while Lanka stood still next to Ryan. The underboss’ mere

marked,” Pluto said. “But

...

power somehow mark

something wrong, boss?” Jamie joined the conversation, carefully backing Ryan up

is your new recruit,

shoulder. You speak to her when talked to,

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

female

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

your name, Quicksave?” she asked Ryan, completely

mock reverence, alleviating the tension. “Ryan Romano. I’m immortal,

one lives forever,” she 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,

No, wait, that wasn’t a threat. That was

didn’t follow her order, he

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,

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

replied, just as confused.

“That woman is Pluto, Augustus’ sister and

her face full of concern, “She can

even here?” Lanka asked her team

the clean-up since she’s been itching to test her new weapons

attack him in front of his own house… if you can’t feel safe at home

that 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

replied. “The Meta-Gang isn’t a big

the discussion, trying to puzzle out the sequence of events. It appeared 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

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

every time he made

Len. He didn’t have to

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