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.”

God, if only she knew about the plushie. “Len, there are no

you’re wrong?” she asked, biting her lower lip. “What if you

power works,” Ryan reassured her. “I guarantee you I’m not jumping into an alternate universe whenever I die. I checked. I wouldn’t do like, half the stuff I pull on a weekly basis if

correct, then you can rewrite the entire space-time

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

water gun. “You will behave while you stay here,” Len said. “I… even if there are no consequences from your point of view, I don’t want

“Len, they have guns.”

the Genius replied. “But

He would hand it over to Vulcan, as a sign of friendship. “Can you give it

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

didn’t trust him, she wanted to.

that?” she

I was bored, and I thought it would be fun to

automatically restart with your time-stop? You said

When I said an early restart, I meant an early restart. Have you

on. "That's

mechanism, he had already burnt a lot of bridges. "And since I need to commit suicide to get back in

pity, sadness, and compassion.

good, he would have picked a fight with someone like Cancel long ago. “As long as I exist, there’s always a chance

Len abruptly changed

the courier replied, before shuddering as he remembered one of his worst deaths.

“Monaco? Why?”

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 me that you added

its associated parts.” Only then did Ryan notice that while

Baby steps.

car, putting a hand on the hood. “You’re the last Genius in a long line to work

work with, actually.” Len closed the hood once her work done. “Riri, why

such a long story. Ryan worked many loops and decades on that

not only between time and space but between various dimensions,” the courier explained. “You know some

them from

Most of these universes radically differ from our own, but some are alternate histories Earth could have taken. Usually, these histories aren’t stable

“I don’t follow you.”

the past is set in stone, but in truth, it’s like the water you love so much, ever changing.” Ryan’s experience had taught him as much. “I mean, I just have to jump back

off with a worried frown, unable to say it

it.” If only because of the horrors involved. It was a rabbit hole of depression, questionable ethics, and self-misery. He preferred to think of it as a universal memory-wipe. “Anyway, I thought the Chronoradio could help me locate a

things went well for

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

would get himself killed? Then again, they

if I’m in

a deeper frown than

you, so I

pay them for dangerous work with just enough euros to feed themselves, but provide neither healthcare nor safety guidelines. One out of five

the junior heroes he had met during the seminar seemed more

their eyes away from the real problems.” Len shook her head. “Not all criminals wear masks. Most wear suits and ties. Since nobody would stand up

attacked one of Dynamis'

face turning grimmer. “But… they caught me. Somebody ratted me out and

people you tried to fight for?”

easy way out.” Len shook her head. “Wyvern didn’t bust me out,

time,” Ryan reassured her. “I see only one

with Vulcan, she clearly had no love for her organization. “We could capture him,” she said. “From what you told me, he

the world a better place, taking down Psyshock would also prevent him from piloting that Mechron mech later on. “And while I don’t believe it, Vulcan says she can enhance my power. Unless you have another suggestion, they seem

didn’t have any alternative. “I’ve… I need more time, Riri. Time to figure

my

I really do. No one else should

“The fact that you

even if we succeed in helping you,

We.

his feelings for Len had changed after so many restarts, moved past the realm of teenage romance. But

could never

can’t forget, Riri,” she admitted. “My father, that stuff

me,” Ryan stated the

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