The Perfect Run

Chapter 32

Ryan woke up on a terrible mattress, with a cat on his chest.

The animal looked at the courier with its big blue eyes, as he emerged from his deep sleep. The Persian cat had a coat of fur of the purest shade of white, and the lazy expression of a creature sleeping eighteen hours a day without shame.

It was...

It was the perfect Bond Villain cat!

Ryan immediately let out a cry of joy, while the cat looked at him with noble curiosity.

“I’m gonna call you…” Ryan briefly raised the feline above ground to check if it was a male or female, and then let his imagination do the rest. “Eugène-Henry von Schrodinger!”

Eugène-Henry meowed in response.

“The name sucks,” someone complained from the ‘room’ right next to his—another animal cage repurposed into a prison cell. Ryan recognized the voice as Sarah’s. “It sucks hard.”

“Much like many geniuses, I’m way ahead of my time,” Ryan replied, scratching Eugène-Henry behind his ears. “You like that name, don’t you? You like it, don’t you?”

“Is that the white cat?” Sarah peeked into Ryan’s private space, finding the courier sitting on his bed sheet, the cat on his lap. The courier promised himself to work on his diabolical mastermind pose, though he needed to get a cashmere suit first. “It has a sixth sense to find suckers willing to feed it. That’s why it’s so fat.”

“Hey, he’s not judging you on your appearance!”

“Once, I showed him a rat, like one meter away from his face, and that lazy furball didn’t even react.”

“Slander!” Ryan defended his new sidekick. “Is there a shower though? I think I caught fleas sleeping on that bed.”

“Yes, but the water is muddy. Ma says she will fix it today after she checks your car.”

Check his—

“Goddammit, I hope she doesn’t find the bodies,” Ryan said, rising up from the bed. Eugène-Henry instantly took over his place and moved below the bed sheet, to better protect the mattress from intruders.

“There’s a spot for that,” Little Sarah said casually. “The druggies call it the Happy Hole.”

As it turned out, Rust Town did have tourist spots.

Ryan started dressing, but immediately noticed something wrong. Namely, his A-bomb was missing, and some of his weapons weren’t at their place. Someone had clearly checked on his belongings while he was asleep.

Shortie may be willing to help, but she didn’t fully trust him yet.

The courier emerged from the orphanage to find Len tinkering with his car, having opened the car hood to look inside. She had put the water gun aside, to her right.

“Comrade Shortie, just because it’s an all-American car doesn’t give you the right to wreck it,” Ryan said. “Find yourself a Lada.”

Len turned her head away from the engine, and Ryan's playful demeanor disappeared instantly when she grabbed the water gun. “Riri, what have you done?”

What did he do?

What didn’t he do?

Ryan glanced inside the car hood, his old friend keeping her weapon aimed at his head. Unfortunately, Len had found the brain and jumped to the wrong conclusions.

“Riri, have you…” Len clearly didn’t want to finish her sentence but forced herself to. “Did you put someone in there?”

“You wouldn’t believe how many tries it took before I found the right person.” He immediately raised his hands while Len made a mortified face. “Relax, I’m kidding, I’m kidding! It’s not even sentient!”

“Riri, don’t, don’t joke about this,” she sputtered, keeping her weapon raised.

“Sorry, sorry,” he apologized. “I default to humor when I’m stressed, and I didn’t have my morning coffee.”

Len remained as stiff and grim as ever. “Riri, where did it come from?”

“It’s vat-grown, a gift from another Genius.” No answer. “Shortie, I’m not a serial killer, and I don’t abduct hobos off the road to experiment on them.”

“Riri, I… I want to believe you’re not crazy. I really want to.” She shook her head. “But you keep a thermo-nuclear device with children nearby.”

plushie. “Len, there are

if you jump into another universe every time you die, and leave

I checked. I wouldn’t do like, half the stuff I pull on a weekly basis if I knew I left a mess behind. My power only affects our universe, and all

understand his power’s full scope. “If what you say is correct, then you can rewrite the entire space-time continuum almost at will. It’s not mere

for Christmas, while I got a Fat Man,” Ryan said, putting a finger on the tip of

while you stay here,” Len said. “I… even if there are no consequences from your

“Len, they have guns.”

Genius replied.

over to Vulcan, as a sign of friendship.

long, agonizing minute, before searching in her jumpsuit and handing him the bomb. Ryan put a hand on it, their gloves brushing against the other. The courier sensed her reluctance to give the weapon away, but

didn’t trust him, she wanted to. He wouldn’t

a weapon like that?” she asked, as the courier

to know?” Len nodded, and Ryan sighed. She wouldn’t like his answer. “Because I was

time-stop? You

early

on. "That's how you

had caught on to this mechanism, he had already burnt a lot of bridges.

Genius looked at him with a mix of pity, sadness, and compassion. “Do you think your life is

love living." If he had wanted to die for good, he would have picked a fight with someone like Cancel long ago. “As long as I exist, there’s always a chance things

abruptly changed the subject. “You slept

replied, before shuddering as he remembered one of his worst

“Monaco? Why?”

He glanced at the car, and a flustered Len started putting the engine pieces back in their proper place. “Should I expect a mounted water turret? Please tell

Only then did Ryan notice that while she had stopped pointing it at his

Baby steps.

hand on the hood. “You’re the last Genius in

could work with, actually.” Len closed the hood once

such a long story. Ryan worked many loops

crossroad, not only between time and space but between various dimensions,” the courier

them from these

differ from our own, but some are alternate histories Earth could have taken. Usually, these histories aren’t stable and constantly fluctuate,

“I don’t follow you.”

stone, but in truth, it’s like the water you love so much, ever changing.” Ryan’s experience had taught

trailed off with a worried frown, unable to say it

involved. It was a rabbit hole of depression, questionable ethics,

went well for us,”

car’s door. “But I never found a way to reach an alternate Earth, even with a

think he would get himself killed? Then again, they

a recruitment offer from Wyvern and then Vulcan, but I’m not sure if she will follow through if I’m in Rust Town. After that, I need to have my windshield cleaned, and Bone Daddy

a deeper frown

heard Dynamis jailed you, so I investigated,”

underpaid labor in their factories,” Len said with anger. “They pay them for dangerous work with just enough euros to feed themselves, but provide neither healthcare nor

Migliore supports these practices.” Even the junior heroes he had met during the seminar seemed more

eyes away from the real problems.” Len shook her head. “Not all criminals wear masks.

you attacked one of Dynamis'

grimmer. “But… they caught me. Somebody ratted me

to fight for?” Ryan guessed, his friend nodding.

try to take the easy way out.” Len shook her head. “Wyvern didn’t bust me out, Vulcan did. And even then, it

one way to kill Psyshock permanently, and it’s an Augusti-exclusive option as far

her organization. “We could

would also prevent him from piloting that Mechron mech later on. “And

any alternative. “I’ve… I need more time, Riri. Time to figure this

my

“I want to help you, Riri. I really do. No one else should have to go through

said with genuine warmth. “The fact that you want

we succeed in helping you, I… I’m

We.

brought back memories of the time when Ryan believed they had a future together. He thought his feelings for Len had changed after so many restarts, moved past the realm of teenage romance. But every time he looked at his old partner, the courier always wondered what could have

could never

forget, Riri,” she

around me,” Ryan stated the obvious.

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