The Perfect Run

Nightfall was upon Rust Town when Ryan arrived at the orphanage. His good and unwilling friend Ghoul was trapped at the back, missing most of his limbs. Hopefully, his presence would get the Land off the courier’s back for the evening.

“I would take you out on a walk,” Ryan told his captive while stepping out of the car, “but I don’t think this place was built with the elderly in mind. Besides, the kids there are too old for you.”

“BLEEP you!” Ghoul snarled. “I swear I will—”

Ryan closed the car’s door behind him, the skeleton’s insults turning into muffled noises. Most of the animals were asleep in the big pen, a few dogs barking at the courier as if he were an intruder. Unlike his previous visit, the orphanage’s doors were closed, though Ryan could see light coming from inside.

The Genome knocked and waited. Eventually, a little girl in pink opened the door, raising a gun at his face. “What do you want, druggie?”

“Hi, little Sarah,” Ryan introduced himself. “Is your mama here?”

“How do you know my name?” she asked, looking at his hat. “You’re a magician?”

“Oh yes, I’m especially good with explosions and disappearing acts. Watch.” He stopped time and switched her crappy revolver with a Desert Eagle. “See?”

“So cool...” she said with admiration, examining her new toy as if it were a doll. “Is it loaded?”

“Yep, but I put the safety on. I can switch it for a shotgun, or pretty much any firearm.”

“You’re Mr. Ryan?” she asked him, the courier nodding. “Mama is inside. She said you would come.”

“Can I get in, or do I have to break my own hole?” he asked, pointing a finger at a broken window nearby.

“You can. But you do anything to Mama or the others, and I will disappear your face.” Ryan said nothing, making her frown. “That sounded way better in my head.”

“It comes with practice, my young punawan,” Ryan said, walking inside while she closed the door behind. From within, the orphanage looked as dilapidated as the outside, with wallpaper peeling from the walls, and only one lamp for two rooms. Sarah wagged her new toy at Ryan, guiding him through.

Now that he could take a good look inside, Ryan grew convinced that this place had been an animal shelter first, and repurposed into an orphanage years afterward. The kids had made bedrooms out of caged compartments originally meant for animals, half of them already sleeping or reading old books from Jules Verne; some of the children slept with a cat or dog under their bedsheets.

He found Len in the kitchen, cooking fish for a group of four kids gathered around a table.

His old friend wore the same brown diving suit as last time, and she kept the water gun in a corner of the room. The kitchen clearly lacked equipment, since Len used a camping stove for the meat.

She immediately froze still upon seeing him, Ryan removing his hat and mask like a true gentleman. “Riri,” she said.

“Who is this, ma?” Ryan recognized the speaker as the girl whom Psyshock tried to brainjack, Giulia. He examined her facial features, the vague shape of her skull, and a chill went down his spine.

Psyshock had a similar facial structure when he attacked Ryan at Shroud’s shack.

He also noticed the boy that had been playing with Sarah, before the Psychos attacked the area. His golden retriever waited at his side, looking at the dish while wagging his tail. “He looks weird…” he said, observing Ryan’s costume.

“He’s a magician,” Little Sarah showed them her Desert Eagle. “Look!”

“Sarah,” Len scolded her but took no step to remove the gun. “What did I tell you? Don’t point weapons around, especially not at strangers.”

“It’s fine, Ma, I know how to use them!” the little girl pouted in response.

“Yeah right, you can’t even hit a soda can at three meters,” a boy taunted her, Sarah pinching him in the arm. “It’s true!”

“Ryan, this is Sarah, Giulia, Romain, Albus, and Valeria,” Len made the introductions, before looking at the courier with a conflicted face. “Kids this is Ryan. He’s an old… an old friend.”

“Does he come from the magical place?” little Valeria asked, a dark-skinned brunette no older than twelve.

“You don’t talk about the magical place to strangers!” Sarah told her, the other girl putting her hands on her mouth. “Sorry, Ma.”

“It’s okay,” Len replied, putting a hand on Sarah’s shoulder. “Can you serve the food to the others and make sure everyone gets their share? I must talk with my friend.”

“Is he your friend or your boyfriend?” one of the boys pestered her. “I want to know!”

Len responded with a strained smile, while Ryan remained silent. If it had been anyone else, he would have cracked a joke, but he didn’t want to embarrass her. “I’ll be back soon,” Len promised, grabbing the water gun and leading the courier outside the kitchen. The kids looked at them with suspicion, Sarah clapping hands to get their attention.

Adorable.

“It’s nice, what you’re doing here,” the courier started, immediately finding his words awkward. Len had that effect on him nowadays, to the point he couldn’t do sarcasm in her presence.

The invisible barrier between them wouldn’t fall anytime soon.

stairway. “We can go to the roof. They’ll listen through the

on them anyway. He knew children all too well; none of them could resist

reaching the roof, locking it behind them. Ryan sat at the edge, his feet dangling into the void.

and the polluted air, the stars shone as bright as ever. It made Ryan wonder if he should invest a few loops in researching how to build

on

the old days, doesn't it?” the courier spoke up first. “We always debated if

in the universe,” she replied. “It’s all dark and cold beyond our

Ryan argued back. “And if you ask me, the stars

Ryan realized his attempt at small talk just made it

Len still trusted him somewhat, even after all this time. “We only talked once, in your house under the sea,” Ryan admitted. “You told me you didn’t want to see me after I led the Carnival to your dad, how you had known I was alive for two

to herself. “Time-travel. It’s… it’s possible since many Violets can alter spacetime on a limited basis. But… I still

last one made a few hours ago,” the courier explained. “Only

point, like in your video games?” Ryan had always loved playing with them, whenever

it erases the first. I wish I could save your father, save us,

at his words. Ryan instantly regretted his bluntness, but he had to say it. He couldn’t let her get any false hope up. “How does it work?” she asked more

“You know about Schrodinger’s Cat? The thought experiment? Some psychopath puts a cat in a black box, where the animal has a fifty-fifty percent chance of dying or surviving. As long as you don’t open the box to check the result, the cat is technically both

she could get her hands on. “I thought

joke. But as it turns out, I’m a

a black box where

replied, smiling thinly. The sight warmed Ryan’s heart; it appeared the children

just have to

the box, then does

“A dimension outside space and time,

World?” she

exact name, but Purple World sounds nice.” Even Acid Rain seemed to agree. “The Purple World exists between all moments in time and points in space, though I only

trying to make sense out of his words. But she was smart, even

divide. One version of me exists in the Purple World, trapped between two seconds, and

Schrodinger's cat,” Len’s expression changed into one of horror. “You’re alive and dead at

I

asked, pleading. When Ryan didn’t answer, she put a hand on her

many times?” Ryan shrugged.

compassion in Len’s gaze. She had remained

mad or catatonic from the stress a few times. But past the first thirty or so, it became normal, like taking a cold shower every day. You get used to

Len grew even more concerned for him. “But since you exist

Cancel?” Len nodded. “Cancel would cause my power to unravel if I died in

take...” she stopped herself, the question

you take two Elixirs, like

have the save point as my power,” Ryan reassured her. “The time stop is an application of it. I cause both of my divided selves to converge, and thus both our reality and the Purple World align. This creates a temporal anomaly where I’m the only

two versions of you fuse. You open

“I’ve spent decades studying the Purple World, trying to see

why you made it?” she guessed, Ryan nodding in confirmation. “Did you succeed in physically entering that

really,” he replied, frowning at her. “By the way, how did you hack into the Chronoradio? Or knew I had

bit her lower lip.

“You’ve been stalking me?”

which made her look adorable. She immediately changed the subject. “That Purple World,

its power.” That was the only explanation for Acid Rain’s abilities. “Maybe all Violet Genomes derive their abilities from it. A human body can’t

“Riri, how old are you? It must have taken years, decades

don’t know,” the courier admitted. He had long lost count. “Maybe I'm five hundred years old, or

you’ve been looking for me all this time?” Now she sounded

thought you were dead or out of reach after the first decades, so I just wandered off trying new things. It’s only when I got my hands on a piece of your tech that I realized you were somewhere in New

away, something appearing at

frowned, as he watched her hold

you,” Len said, looking at him with clear guilt in her gaze. “You’ve

raised his

before he could touch her,

sorry,” Len repeated, feeling even more crushed. “Just… just give me time to process all of this. It’s… all of this at once, it’s too

got all

saying that as Len’s face darkened even further. Goddammit, why did every word

you die, everyone forgets you,” she said, wiping away the

“You’re the only person who knew me before

who could make this eternity less lonely.” Len glanced at him with compassion. “Is there no way for someone