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.”

plushie. “Len, there are no

what if you’re wrong?” she asked, biting her lower lip. “What if you jump

die. I checked. I wouldn’t do like, half the stuff I pull on a weekly basis if

say is correct, then you can rewrite the entire space-time

water guns for Christmas, while I got a Fat Man,” Ryan said, putting a

hesitated, clearly torn between 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

“Len, they have guns.”

in this shithole,” the Genius replied. “But that

to Vulcan, as a sign of friendship. “Can you give it back then? I swear you will never see that

hand on it, their gloves brushing against the other. The courier sensed her

him, she wanted

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

I was bored, and I thought

you automatically restart with your time-stop? You said

early restart, I meant an early restart. Have you never wondered why I called myself

finally caught on. "That's

By the time the courier had caught on to this mechanism, he had already burnt a lot of bridges. "And since I need to commit suicide to get back in time, I figured I should make

a mix of pity, sadness, and compassion. “Do you think your life

for good, he would have picked a fight with someone like Cancel long ago. “As long as I exist, there’s

uncomfortable silence, Len abruptly

in way worse places,” the courier replied, before shuddering as he remembered one of his worst

“Monaco? Why?”

to Monaco.” He glanced at the car, and a flustered Len started putting the engine pieces back in their proper place. “Should I expect a mounted water turret? Please tell me that you added

parts.” Only then did Ryan notice that while

Baby steps.

the hood. “You’re the last Genius in a

I could work with, actually.” Len closed the hood once her work done. “Riri, why did you hook up

worked many loops and decades on that particular

World is something of a crossroad, not only between time and space but between various dimensions,” the

them

differ from our own, but some are alternate histories Earth could have taken. Usually,

“I don’t follow you.”

past is set in stone, but in truth, it’s like the water you love so much, ever changing.” Ryan’s experience had taught him as much. “I mean, I just have

considered...” Len trailed off with a worried frown, unable

rabbit hole of depression, questionable ethics, and self-misery. He preferred to think of it as a

where things went well for us,” Len

alternate Earth, even with a custom particle

Did she think he would get himself killed? Then again, they were close to the Junkyard. “What about

and then Vulcan, but I’m not sure if she will follow through if I’m in Rust Town. After

answered with a deeper frown than

Dynamis jailed you, so I

citizens of Rust Town as underpaid labor in their factories,” Len said with anger. “They pay them for dangerous work

Migliore supports these practices.” Even the junior heroes he had met during

“Not all criminals wear masks. Most wear

you attacked one of Dynamis'

plant,” she gave more details, her face turning grimmer. “But… they caught me. Somebody ratted me out and led the

you tried to fight for?” Ryan guessed,

take the easy way out.” Len shook her head. “Wyvern didn’t bust me out, Vulcan did. And even then, it wasn’t for free. I

one way to kill Psyshock permanently, and it’s an Augusti-exclusive option as far as I

clearly had no love for her organization. “We could

would also prevent him from piloting that Mechron mech later on. “And while I don’t believe it, Vulcan says

I need more

my

Len replied while looking away. “I want to help you, Riri. I really do. No one else should have

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

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

We.

brought back memories of the time when Ryan believed they had a future together. He thought his feelings for Len had changed after so many restarts, moved past the realm of teenage romance. But every time he looked at his old partner, the

what could

are things I can’t forget, Riri,” she admitted. “My father, that

feel safe around me,” Ryan stated

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