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.”

she knew about the plushie. “Len, there are

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

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 I knew I left a

power’s full scope. “If what you say is correct, then you can rewrite the entire

Shortie, some people get water guns for Christmas, while I got a Fat Man,” Ryan

between trusting him and her own fears about him, but eventually lowered the water gun. “You will behave while you stay here,” Len said. “I… even if there are no consequences from your point of

“Len, they have guns.”

replied. “But that nuke, Riri, won’t help anyone. It’s just death in a

I will get rid of it.” He would hand it over to Vulcan, as a sign of friendship. “Can you give

the bomb. Ryan put a hand on it, their

trust him, she wanted

you even put your hands on a weapon like that?” she asked, as

his answer. “Because I was bored, and I thought it would be fun to

automatically restart with your time-stop? You said it caused you early

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

caught on. "That's how

on to this mechanism, he had already burnt a lot of bridges. "And since

him with a mix of pity,

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

abruptly changed the

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

“Monaco? Why?”

putting the engine pieces back in their proper place. “Should

Ryan notice that while she had stopped pointing it at his face, Len kept the gun

Baby steps.

the hood. “You’re the last Genius in a long line to

There’s a lot I could work with, actually.” Len closed the hood once her work done. “Riri, why did you hook up a miniature

long story. Ryan worked many loops

but between various dimensions,” the courier explained. “You know some Violet Genomes summon creatures like

pulling them

own, but some are alternate histories Earth could have taken. Usually, these histories aren’t stable

“I don’t follow you.”

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

with a worried frown,

the universe and everyone in it when I die? I try not to think about 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 specific reality, and then cross

things went well for us,”

alternate Earth, even with a custom particle accelerator. All I

frown. Did she think he would get himself killed? Then again, they were close to the Junkyard. “What

a recruitment offer from Wyvern and then Vulcan, but I’m not sure if she will follow through if I’m in Rust

a

jailed you, so I investigated,” Ryan admitted.

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 safety guidelines. One out of

Even the junior heroes he had met during the seminar

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

one of

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

the people you tried to fight for?” Ryan guessed,

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

“I see only one way to kill Psyshock permanently, and it’s an Augusti-exclusive

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

thermo-nuclear device. Besides making 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

need more time, Riri. Time to

my

Riri. I really do. No one

with genuine warmth. “The fact that you want to help at all means a

“But the thing is Riri, even if we succeed in helping you, I… I’m not sure if there will be a

We.

word had 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

could never

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

me,” Ryan stated the

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