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?”

crazy psychopath with a hockey mask and stick, from what I

very dangerous sport, hockey,” Ryan said absentmindedly, looking at the sea. “I don’t recommend

home late for 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

Jamie almost chortled. “Why

take his money,” Grunt 1 replied. “Maybe it was

really, uh, passionate according to witnesses,” Gruntie said.

real homewrecker,” Grunt 2 pointed out,

Meta.” Zanbato crossed his arms. “But then how did they learn

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

asked Ryan. “I think you should crash at

say,”

predicted. Jamie invited him home, they played poker, went to Vulcan’s factory, and Ryan saved the pandas from

really a sub-power, simply a state his conscious mind entered when he couldn’t be bothered to live through the same

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.

him back to

when and where he was when he snapped back to consciousness. Extensive looping and repetition often eroded the Genome's perception

left for Vulcan’s factory, the laying defeated on the

care of. Children are

Thanks for the tip.

lived for such surprises, good

to repeat until he met Vulcan. The Augusti’s underboss froze the

“You,” Pluto asked Quicksave.

Ryan answered, preparing to repeat the same

“Have we met before?”

surprised Ryan, as he didn’t expect that answer. “Possibly, I’m

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

Lanka stood still next to Ryan.

“But I don’t

...

Did her power somehow mark him

boss?” Jamie joined the conversation, carefully backing Ryan up

is your new recruit,

putting a hand on his shoulder. You speak to her when talked to, he all but said out loud. “Quicksave,”

Pluto observed Ryan with an intense stare, as if trying to peer into his soul. The courier couldn’t explain why, but he felt a growing pressure around him. The air

noticed a memory alteration or infohazard,” Pluto’s female bodyguard pointed out. “Maybe your powers interfere with

and looked away innocently, while Zanbato came to his defense. “Quicksave may be odd, but he is reliable,” the Made Man said. “He helped

she asked Ryan, completely dismissing Zanbato’s words. “Your real

Ryan!” he replied with mock reverence, alleviating the tension.

you back soon to clear this up. Play stupid, play smart, run,

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

Ryan didn’t follow her order,

group watched the underboss leave with her bodyguard in complete silence until they were out of sight. Nobody dared

a breath of relief. “Blabbermouth, what

I do?!” Ryan replied, just as

Pluto, Augustus’ sister and underboss. Her interest is not

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

is she even here?” Lanka asked

boss gave the go to hit the Meta-Gang hard,” Jamie replied, his arms 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

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

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

off,” Jamie replied. “The Meta-Gang isn’t a big group. It would make sense for them to outsource

had 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 wiping out the

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 him even after he

every time he made

it didn’t matter. Ryan only had to play along until Vulcan told him how to contact or reach Len. He didn’t have to stay with the Augusti longer than that.

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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