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?”

with a hockey mask and stick, from what I

sport, hockey,” Ryan said absentmindedly, looking at

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, breaks his jaw with a hockey stick, beats him up for

almost chortled. “Why Luigi?

the maniac didn’t even take his money,” Grunt 1 replied.

to witnesses,” Gruntie said. “At least

around a lot, a real homewrecker,” Grunt 2 pointed out, “Maybe it was a

his arms. “But then how did they learn where he

time to find the hockey equipment than Luigi’s address. Nobody played that sport

should crash at

say,”

him home, they played poker, went to Vulcan’s factory, and

let 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 be bothered to live through the same events over and over again. It was no different than daydreaming while

by the laws 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;

repetition would drive

would finally end. Everything would turn right when Ryan found Len. He

snapped him back to reality, interrupting the

to remember when and where he was when he snapped back to consciousness. Extensive looping and repetition often eroded the

factory, the laying defeated on the ground. The

care

Thanks for the tip.

for such surprises, good

to repeat until he met Vulcan. The Augusti’s

“You,” Pluto asked Quicksave.

answered, preparing to repeat

“Have we met before?”

as he didn’t expect that answer. “Possibly,

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

Lanka stood still next to

marked,” Pluto said. “But I don’t

...

power somehow mark him across

the conversation, carefully backing

is your new

his personal space, putting a hand on his shoulder. You speak to her when talked to, he all but said out loud. “Quicksave,” Zanbato answered Pluto’s question in the courier’s place. “He’s

soul. The courier couldn’t explain why, but he felt a growing pressure around him. The air thickened, something

alteration or infohazard,” Pluto’s female

and looked away innocently, while Zanbato came to his

your name, Quicksave?” she asked Ryan, completely dismissing Zanbato’s words. “Your real

alleviating the

“I’ve got places to be right now, but I will call you back soon to clear this up. Play stupid, play smart,

threatened him… No, wait, that

her order, he would die.

with her bodyguard in complete silence until they were out of sight. Nobody dared to speak up at first,

of relief.

replied, just as

is serious, Quicksave,” Jamie said. “That woman is Pluto, Augustus’ sister and underboss. Her interest

question,” Ki-jung said, her face full of

here?” Lanka

clean-up since she’s been itching to test her new weapons in the field, and Pluto loaned her the Killer

after what they did to poor Luigi,” Ki-jung said with a frown. “To attack him in front of his own house… if you

“I mean, it was just a

isn’t a big group. It would make sense for them

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 on

could threaten his entire infiltration mission, and he had to figure out how she could identify

made progress, a new problem

had to play along until Vulcan told him how to contact or reach Len. He didn’t have to stay

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