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,

very dangerous sport, hockey,” Ryan said absentmindedly, looking

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 a while,

Jamie almost chortled. “Why Luigi?

Grunt 1 replied. “Maybe it was a hate

really, uh, passionate according to witnesses,”

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

arms. “But then

actually took Ryan more time to find the hockey equipment than Luigi’s address.

“I think you should crash at my place for the night, just in case.

don’t say,” Ryan

events happened as predicted. Jamie invited him home, they played poker,

long entered auto-pilot, as he 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

an endless theater rehearsal. People held no mystery to him after a while, always reacting the same way to the exact same things; they forgot him and relearned the same information, over, and over again. They became machines, and Ryan

repetition would

reach the perfect ending and soon, it would finally end. Everything would turn right when Ryan found Len. He was certain

cellphone beeping snapped him back to reality, interrupting the flow

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

Vulcan’s factory, the laying defeated on the ground. The message involved a

Psyshock taken care

Thanks for the tip.

lived for such surprises,

her bodyguard talking with Zanbato, Ryan expected events to repeat until he met Vulcan. The Augusti’s underboss froze the exact same way upon meeting

“You,” Pluto asked Quicksave.

preparing to

“Have we met before?”

surprised Ryan, as he didn’t expect that answer.

it, we already met,” Pluto replied, her tone turning from curious to confused. “Who

asked Pluto, while Lanka stood still next to Ryan. The underboss’ mere attention terrified

marked,” Pluto said. “But I don’t

...

Did her power somehow mark him

something wrong, boss?” Jamie joined the conversation, carefully backing

your

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 a Violet.

trying to peer into his soul. The courier couldn’t explain why, but he felt a growing pressure around him. The air thickened, something weighing

female

The courier whistled and looked away innocently, while Zanbato came to his defense. “Quicksave may be odd, but he is reliable,” the

name, Quicksave?” she asked Ryan, completely dismissing

replied with mock reverence, alleviating the tension. “Ryan Romano. I’m immortal,

I will call you back

way she threatened him… No, wait, that wasn’t

follow her order, he would die. The

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

a breath of relief. “Blabbermouth, what the fuck did you

didn’t I do?!” Ryan replied, just as

Pluto, Augustus’ sister

follow her lead without question,” Ki-jung said, her face full of concern, “She can

she even here?”

crossed. “Vulcan will take command of the clean-up since she’s been itching to test her new weapons in the field, and Pluto loaned her the Killer Seven hit squad. I say it’s finally time we clean

said with a frown. “To attack him in front of his own house…

the Meta who did that though?” Lanka asked, skeptical. “I mean, it was just

Meta-Gang isn’t a big group. It would make

through with his promise and stopped targeting the Augusti with assassinations. With no one

sure how Pluto’s newfound interest in him would play out though. It could threaten his entire infiltration mission, and he had to figure out how she could identify

time he made progress, a

didn’t have to stay with the Augusti longer than that. And if they tried to force him into one fetch quest after

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