The Perfect Run

Nightfall was upon Rust Town when Ryan arrived at the orphanage. His good and unwilling friend Ghoul was trapped at the back, missing most of his limbs. Hopefully, his presence would get the Land off the courier’s back for the evening.

“I would take you out on a walk,” Ryan told his captive while stepping out of the car, “but I don’t think this place was built with the elderly in mind. Besides, the kids there are too old for you.”

“BLEEP you!” Ghoul snarled. “I swear I will—”

Ryan closed the car’s door behind him, the skeleton’s insults turning into muffled noises. Most of the animals were asleep in the big pen, a few dogs barking at the courier as if he were an intruder. Unlike his previous visit, the orphanage’s doors were closed, though Ryan could see light coming from inside.

The Genome knocked and waited. Eventually, a little girl in pink opened the door, raising a gun at his face. “What do you want, druggie?”

“Hi, little Sarah,” Ryan introduced himself. “Is your mama here?”

“How do you know my name?” she asked, looking at his hat. “You’re a magician?”

“Oh yes, I’m especially good with explosions and disappearing acts. Watch.” He stopped time and switched her crappy revolver with a Desert Eagle. “See?”

“So cool...” she said with admiration, examining her new toy as if it were a doll. “Is it loaded?”

“Yep, but I put the safety on. I can switch it for a shotgun, or pretty much any firearm.”

“You’re Mr. Ryan?” she asked him, the courier nodding. “Mama is inside. She said you would come.”

“Can I get in, or do I have to break my own hole?” he asked, pointing a finger at a broken window nearby.

“You can. But you do anything to Mama or the others, and I will disappear your face.” Ryan said nothing, making her frown. “That sounded way better in my head.”

“It comes with practice, my young punawan,” Ryan said, walking inside while she closed the door behind. From within, the orphanage looked as dilapidated as the outside, with wallpaper peeling from the walls, and only one lamp for two rooms. Sarah wagged her new toy at Ryan, guiding him through.

Now that he could take a good look inside, Ryan grew convinced that this place had been an animal shelter first, and repurposed into an orphanage years afterward. The kids had made bedrooms out of caged compartments originally meant for animals, half of them already sleeping or reading old books from Jules Verne; some of the children slept with a cat or dog under their bedsheets.

He found Len in the kitchen, cooking fish for a group of four kids gathered around a table.

His old friend wore the same brown diving suit as last time, and she kept the water gun in a corner of the room. The kitchen clearly lacked equipment, since Len used a camping stove for the meat.

She immediately froze still upon seeing him, Ryan removing his hat and mask like a true gentleman. “Riri,” she said.

“Who is this, ma?” Ryan recognized the speaker as the girl whom Psyshock tried to brainjack, Giulia. He examined her facial features, the vague shape of her skull, and a chill went down his spine.

Psyshock had a similar facial structure when he attacked Ryan at Shroud’s shack.

He also noticed the boy that had been playing with Sarah, before the Psychos attacked the area. His golden retriever waited at his side, looking at the dish while wagging his tail. “He looks weird…” he said, observing Ryan’s costume.

“He’s a magician,” Little Sarah showed them her Desert Eagle. “Look!”

“Sarah,” Len scolded her but took no step to remove the gun. “What did I tell you? Don’t point weapons around, especially not at strangers.”

“It’s fine, Ma, I know how to use them!” the little girl pouted in response.

“Yeah right, you can’t even hit a soda can at three meters,” a boy taunted her, Sarah pinching him in the arm. “It’s true!”

“Ryan, this is Sarah, Giulia, Romain, Albus, and Valeria,” Len made the introductions, before looking at the courier with a conflicted face. “Kids this is Ryan. He’s an old… an old friend.”

“Does he come from the magical place?” little Valeria asked, a dark-skinned brunette no older than twelve.

“You don’t talk about the magical place to strangers!” Sarah told her, the other girl putting her hands on her mouth. “Sorry, Ma.”

“It’s okay,” Len replied, putting a hand on Sarah’s shoulder. “Can you serve the food to the others and make sure everyone gets their share? I must talk with my friend.”

“Is he your friend or your boyfriend?” one of the boys pestered her. “I want to know!”

Len responded with a strained smile, while Ryan remained silent. If it had been anyone else, he would have cracked a joke, but he didn’t want to embarrass her. “I’ll be back soon,” Len promised, grabbing the water gun and leading the courier outside the kitchen. The kids looked at them with suspicion, Sarah clapping hands to get their attention.

Adorable.

“It’s nice, what you’re doing here,” the courier started, immediately finding his words awkward. Len had that effect on him nowadays, to the point he couldn’t do sarcasm in her presence.

The invisible barrier between them wouldn’t fall anytime soon.

she said, embarrassed, before leading up towards a stairway. “We can go to

He knew children all too well; none of them

it behind them. Ryan sat at the edge, his feet dangling into the void. His old friend glanced at him before sitting in the same position, albeit

the polluted air, the stars shone as bright as ever. It made Ryan wonder if he should invest a few loops in researching how to build his own spaceship and

on

the old days, doesn't it?” the courier spoke

still think we’re alone in the universe,” she replied. “It’s all dark

if you ask me,

it awkward. “Did we...” Len trailed off, biting her lower lip. “Did we already have

me you didn’t want to

Len muttered to herself. “Time-travel. It’s… it’s possible since many Violets can alter spacetime on a limited

fix at a specific moment, with my last one made a few hours ago,” the courier explained.

in your video games?” Ryan had always loved playing with them, whenever

point back into the past, no.” The courier shook his head. “When I create a new point, it erases the first. I wish I could save your father, save us, save the world, but I can’t. I can’t

winced at his words. Ryan instantly regretted his bluntness, but he had to say it. He couldn’t let her get any false hope up. “How does it work?” she asked more questions.

thought experiment? Some psychopath puts a cat in a black box, where the animal has a fifty-fifty percent chance of dying or surviving. As long as you don’t open

course she would, she read everything she could get her hands on. “I thought it was meant as a nonsensical

turns out, I’m a cat,

“That’s our spacetime continuum,” he explained. “It’s a black box where all of time and space happens. All moments in time,

Len replied, smiling thinly. The sight warmed Ryan’s heart; it appeared the children had a positive effect on her

to fold it enough

is the box, then does that mean there’s something outside

and time, the observer’s dimension. Let's call it

Purple World?” she

Acid Rain seemed to agree. “The Purple World exists between all moments in time and points in space,

she was smart, even without her power,

points in time,” Ryan continued his explanation. “When I create a save point, I divide. One version of me exists in the Purple World, trapped between two seconds, and another me continues on; the person

die, it’s like Schrodinger's cat,” Len’s expression changed into one

timeline where I’m dead, and I create a new copy from my save point with the knowledge of the erased future. All events

die to trigger that power, right?” Len asked, pleading. When

times?” Ryan shrugged.

compassion in Len’s gaze. She

from the stress a few times. But past the first thirty or so, it became normal, like taking a cold shower every day. You get used

for him. “But since you exist in two time periods, some conceptual powers, White Genomes, or memory-altering attacks

Cancel, wait, do you know Cancel?” Len nodded. “Cancel would cause my power to

stopping time? Did you take...” she stopped herself, the

two Elixirs, like my

our reality and the Purple World align. This creates a temporal anomaly where I’m the only one capable of applying force to objects, and my power protects me from the negative side-effects. It’s a pretty sweet deal. However, if I keep it up

You open the cat’s box and look

“I’ve spent decades studying the Purple World, trying to see if I could use

Ryan nodding in confirmation.

plushie. “Not really,” he replied, frowning at her. “By

her lower lip.

“You’ve been stalking me?”

while blushing, which made her look adorable. She immediately changed the

Genomes derive their abilities

how old are you? It must have taken years, decades to figure all of that

admitted. He had long lost count. “Maybe

you’ve been looking for me all this time?” Now she sounded positively guilty

dead or out of reach after the first decades, so I just wandered off trying new things. It’s only when I got my hands on a piece of your tech that I realized you were somewhere in

turned away, something appearing at the edge of

frowned, as he watched her hold back tears, “Len, are you

crying for you,” Len said, looking at him with clear guilt in her gaze. “You’ve been…

raised his

he could touch her, making

crushed. “Just… just give me time to process all of this. It’s… all of this at once, it’s too much. It’s too much at

okay. We’ve got all the time

saying that as Len’s face darkened even further. Goddammit, why did every word he spoke

you die, everyone forgets you,” she said, wiping away the

only person who knew

this eternity less lonely.” Len glanced at him with compassion. “Is there no way for someone to remember you? To replicate