The Perfect Run

Chapter 32

Ryan woke up on a terrible mattress, with a cat on his chest.

The animal looked at the courier with its big blue eyes, as he emerged from his deep sleep. The Persian cat had a coat of fur of the purest shade of white, and the lazy expression of a creature sleeping eighteen hours a day without shame.

It was...

It was the perfect Bond Villain cat!

Ryan immediately let out a cry of joy, while the cat looked at him with noble curiosity.

“I’m gonna call you…” Ryan briefly raised the feline above ground to check if it was a male or female, and then let his imagination do the rest. “Eugène-Henry von Schrodinger!”

Eugène-Henry meowed in response.

“The name sucks,” someone complained from the ‘room’ right next to his—another animal cage repurposed into a prison cell. Ryan recognized the voice as Sarah’s. “It sucks hard.”

“Much like many geniuses, I’m way ahead of my time,” Ryan replied, scratching Eugène-Henry behind his ears. “You like that name, don’t you? You like it, don’t you?”

“Is that the white cat?” Sarah peeked into Ryan’s private space, finding the courier sitting on his bed sheet, the cat on his lap. The courier promised himself to work on his diabolical mastermind pose, though he needed to get a cashmere suit first. “It has a sixth sense to find suckers willing to feed it. That’s why it’s so fat.”

“Hey, he’s not judging you on your appearance!”

“Once, I showed him a rat, like one meter away from his face, and that lazy furball didn’t even react.”

“Slander!” Ryan defended his new sidekick. “Is there a shower though? I think I caught fleas sleeping on that bed.”

“Yes, but the water is muddy. Ma says she will fix it today after she checks your car.”

Check his—

“Goddammit, I hope she doesn’t find the bodies,” Ryan said, rising up from the bed. Eugène-Henry instantly took over his place and moved below the bed sheet, to better protect the mattress from intruders.

“There’s a spot for that,” Little Sarah said casually. “The druggies call it the Happy Hole.”

As it turned out, Rust Town did have tourist spots.

Ryan started dressing, but immediately noticed something wrong. Namely, his A-bomb was missing, and some of his weapons weren’t at their place. Someone had clearly checked on his belongings while he was asleep.

Shortie may be willing to help, but she didn’t fully trust him yet.

The courier emerged from the orphanage to find Len tinkering with his car, having opened the car hood to look inside. She had put the water gun aside, to her right.

“Comrade Shortie, just because it’s an all-American car doesn’t give you the right to wreck it,” Ryan said. “Find yourself a Lada.”

Len turned her head away from the engine, and Ryan's playful demeanor disappeared instantly when she grabbed the water gun. “Riri, what have you done?”

What did he do?

What didn’t he do?

Ryan glanced inside the car hood, his old friend keeping her weapon aimed at his head. Unfortunately, Len had found the brain and jumped to the wrong conclusions.

“Riri, have you…” Len clearly didn’t want to finish her sentence but forced herself to. “Did you put someone in there?”

“You wouldn’t believe how many tries it took before I found the right person.” He immediately raised his hands while Len made a mortified face. “Relax, I’m kidding, I’m kidding! It’s not even sentient!”

“Riri, don’t, don’t joke about this,” she sputtered, keeping her weapon raised.

“Sorry, sorry,” he apologized. “I default to humor when I’m stressed, and I didn’t have my morning coffee.”

Len remained as stiff and grim as ever. “Riri, where did it come from?”

“It’s vat-grown, a gift from another Genius.” No answer. “Shortie, I’m not a serial killer, and I don’t abduct hobos off the road to experiment on them.”

“Riri, I… I want to believe you’re not crazy. I really want to.” She shook her head. “But you keep a thermo-nuclear device with children nearby.”

she knew about the plushie. “Len, there

lower lip. “What if you jump into another universe every time you die, and leave a nuclear

jumping into an alternate universe whenever I die. I checked. I wouldn’t do like, half the stuff I pull on a weekly basis if I knew I left a mess behind. My power only affects our universe, and all I do

even scarier,” Len said, still struggling to understand his power’s full scope. “If what you say is correct, then you can rewrite the entire space-time continuum almost at will. It’s not mere

Christmas, while I got a Fat Man,” Ryan said, putting a finger

trusting him and her own fears about him, but eventually lowered the water gun. “You will behave while you stay here,” Len said. “I… even if there are no consequences from your point of view, I don’t

“Len, they have guns.”

the Genius replied. “But that nuke,

Vulcan, as a sign

agonizing minute, before searching in her jumpsuit and handing him the bomb. Ryan put a hand on it, their gloves brushing against the other. The courier sensed her reluctance to give the weapon away,

she

did you even put your hands on a weapon like that?” she asked, as

sighed. She wouldn’t like his answer. “Because I was bored, and I thought

restart with your time-stop? You said it caused you early

said an early restart, I meant an early restart.

on. "That's

a lot of bridges. "And since I need to commit

a mix of pity, sadness, and compassion. “Do

good, he would have picked a fight with someone like

uncomfortable silence, Len abruptly changed the

as he remembered one of his worst deaths.

“Monaco? Why?”

future. Don’t go to Monaco.” He glanced at the car, and a flustered Len started putting the engine pieces

the Chronoradio and its associated parts.” Only then did Ryan notice that while she had stopped pointing it

Baby steps.

a hand on the hood. “You’re the last Genius in a long line

saw that. There’s a lot I could work with, actually.” Len closed the hood once her work done. “Riri, why did you hook

long story. Ryan worked many loops and decades on

crossroad, not only between time and space but between various dimensions,” the courier explained. “You know some Violet Genomes summon creatures

them

these universes radically differ from our own, but some are alternate histories Earth could have taken. Usually, these histories aren’t stable and constantly fluctuate, only

“I don’t follow you.”

is set in stone, but in truth, it’s like the water you love so

Len trailed off with a worried frown, unable to say it

try not to think about it.” If only because of the horrors involved. It was a rabbit hole of depression, questionable ethics, and self-misery. He preferred to

where things went well for us,” Len

door. “But I never found a way to reach an alternate Earth, even with a custom particle accelerator. All I can do with the Chronoradio is listen to what

going?” she asked with a worried frown. Did she think he would get himself killed? Then again, they were close to

if I’m in Rust Town.

Len answered with a deeper frown than

Dynamis jailed you, so I investigated,” Ryan admitted. “What happened

use the citizens of Rust Town as underpaid labor in their factories,” Len said with anger. “They pay them for dangerous work with just enough euros to feed themselves, but provide neither healthcare nor

junior heroes he had met during

the real problems.” Len shook her head. “Not all criminals wear masks. Most

attacked one

face turning grimmer. “But… they caught me. Somebody ratted me out and led the Private Security to my old

the people you tried to fight for?” Ryan

shook her head. “Wyvern didn’t bust me out, Vulcan did. And even then, it wasn’t for free. I had to help the Augusti transport their drug, take their blood

I don’t intend to go to Dynamis this time,” Ryan reassured her. “I see only one

clearly had no love for her organization. “We could capture

a thermo-nuclear device. Besides making the world a better place, taking down Psyshock would also prevent him from piloting that Mechron mech later on. “And while I

have any alternative. “I’ve… I need more time, Riri. Time to figure this

out my power,

to help you, Riri. I really do. No one else should have to

warmth. “The fact that you want to help at all means a lot to

thing is Riri, even if we succeed in helping you, I… I’m not sure if there will be

We.

so many restarts, moved past the realm of teenage romance.

what could

are things I can’t forget, Riri,” she admitted.

feel safe around me,” Ryan stated the obvious. Like

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