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.”

about the plushie. “Len, there are no permanent consequences around

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

stuff I pull on a weekly basis if I knew I left a mess behind. My

“If what you say is correct, then you can rewrite the entire space-time continuum almost at will. It’s not mere time-manipulation, but

Man,” Ryan said, putting a finger on the

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

“Len, they have guns.”

shithole,” the Genius replied. “But that nuke, Riri, won’t help anyone. It’s just death in a

as a sign of friendship. “Can you give

hand on it, their gloves brushing against the other. The courier sensed her reluctance to give the weapon away, but she

she wanted to. He

even put your hands on a weapon like that?” she asked, as the courier put the bomb inside

want to know?” Len nodded, and Ryan sighed. She wouldn’t like his answer. “Because I was bored, and I thought it would be fun to have a nuke as a restart

with your time-stop? You said it caused you

I said an early restart, I meant an early

finally caught on.

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 it

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

had wanted to die 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

he remembered one of his worst deaths. “Whatever you do, Len, don’t sleep

“Monaco? Why?”

a flustered Len started putting the engine pieces back

Only then did Ryan notice that while she had stopped pointing it at his face, Len kept the gun in

Baby steps.

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

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

was such a long story. Ryan worked many loops and decades on that

space but between various dimensions,” the courier explained. “You know some Violet Genomes summon creatures like that monster from Alien? Or

them

but some are alternate histories Earth could have taken. Usually, these histories aren’t

“I don’t follow you.”

stable, that the 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

you never considered...” Len trailed off with a worried frown, unable to say it

hole of depression, questionable ethics, and self-misery. He preferred to think of it as a universal memory-wipe. “Anyway, I thought the Chronoradio could help me locate

went well for

I never found a way to reach an alternate Earth, even with a custom particle accelerator. All

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

if she will follow through if

answered with a deeper

you, so I investigated,”

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 safety guidelines. One out of five people gets

don’t think Il Migliore supports these practices.” Even the junior heroes he had met during the seminar seemed

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

attacked one of

she gave more details, her face turning grimmer. “But… they caught me. Somebody ratted me

to fight for?” Ryan guessed,

didn’t bust me out, Vulcan did. And even then, it wasn’t for free. I had to

to go to Dynamis this time,” Ryan reassured her. “I see only one way to kill Psyshock permanently,

love for her organization. “We could capture him,” she said. “From what you told me, he

device. Besides making the world a better place, taking down Psyshock would also prevent him from

I need more time, Riri.

my power,

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

Ryan said with genuine warmth. “The fact that you want to

succeed in helping you,

We.

his feelings for Len had changed after so many restarts,

what could never

Riri,” she admitted. “My father, that stuff

feel safe around me,” Ryan

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

Comments ()

0/255