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?”
hockey mask and stick, from what I
absentmindedly, looking at the sea.
home’s door and then BAM! Some Friday the 13th crazy jumps out of the shadows, breaks his jaw with a hockey
almost chortled. “Why
take his money,” Grunt 1 replied. “Maybe
uh, passionate according to witnesses,” Gruntie said. “At
out, “Maybe it was a jealous boyfriend? It had to
crossed his arms. “But then
actually took Ryan more time to find the hockey equipment than
Jamie asked Ryan. “I think you should crash at my place for the night, just in case. The city isn’t
don’t say,”
predicted. Jamie invited him home, they played poker, went
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 repeating
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
repetition would drive
reach the perfect ending and soon, it would finally
to reality, interrupting the flow of
took Ryan a second to remember when and where he was when he snapped back to consciousness. Extensive looping and repetition often eroded the Genome's
laying defeated on the ground. The message involved a
Psyshock taken care of. Children
Thanks for the tip.
lived for such surprises, good or
Pluto and her bodyguard talking with Zanbato, Ryan expected events to repeat until he met Vulcan. The Augusti’s underboss froze
“You,” Pluto asked Quicksave.
to
“Have we met before?”
surprised Ryan, as he didn’t expect that answer. “Possibly, I’m
of it, we already met,” Pluto replied, her tone turning from curious to confused.
while Lanka stood still next to Ryan.
said. “But I don’t remember
...
Did her power somehow mark him
joined the conversation, carefully backing Ryan up with
is your new recruit,
her when talked to, he all but said out loud. “Quicksave,” Zanbato answered Pluto’s question in
with an intense stare, as if trying to peer into his soul. The courier couldn’t explain why, but he felt
infohazard,” Pluto’s female bodyguard pointed out. “Maybe your powers
Ryan. The courier whistled and looked away innocently, while Zanbato came to his defense. “Quicksave may be odd, but he is reliable,” the Made Man said. “He helped us fight off Sarin
your name, Quicksave?” she asked Ryan, completely dismissing Zanbato’s words. “Your real
I’m Ryan!” he replied with mock reverence, alleviating the tension. “Ryan
now, but I will call you back soon
way she threatened him… No, wait, that wasn’t
order, he
his group watched the underboss leave with her bodyguard in complete silence until they were out of sight. Nobody dared to speak
breath of relief. “Blabbermouth, what the fuck
do?!” Ryan replied, just as confused. “Or
Pluto, Augustus’ sister and
follow her lead without question,” Ki-jung said, her face full of concern, “She can kill with a
she even here?” Lanka asked her team
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 it’s finally
poor Luigi,” Ki-jung said with a frown. “To attack him in front of
the Meta who did that though?” Lanka asked, skeptical. “I mean, it was just a guy with a
unpowered junkie they paid off,” Jamie replied. “The Meta-Gang isn’t a big group. It would make
and stopped targeting the Augusti with assassinations. With no one to divert their attention, the criminal syndicate had decided to focus entirely on
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
he made progress, a
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. And
About The Perfect Run - Chapter 21
The Perfect Run is the best current series of the author Void Herald. With the below Chapter 21 content will make us lost in the world of love and hatred interchangeably, despite all the tricks to achieve the goal without any concern for the other half, and then regret. late. Please read chapter Chapter 21 and update the next chapters of this series at booktrk.com