The Perfect Run

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.”

God, if only she knew about the plushie. “Len, there are

you jump into

guarantee you I’m not 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 is give

scarier,” Len said, still struggling to understand his power’s full scope. “If what you say is correct, then

get water guns for Christmas, while I got a Fat Man,” Ryan said, putting a finger on the tip of her gun. “So, can

about him, but eventually lowered the water gun. “You will behave while you stay here,” Len said. “I… even

“Len, they have guns.”

this shithole,” the Genius replied. “But

to Vulcan, as a sign of friendship. “Can you give

a hand on it, their gloves brushing against

trust him, she wanted to. He wouldn’t disappoint

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

want to know?” Len nodded, and Ryan sighed. She wouldn’t like his answer. “Because I was bored, and I thought it

with your time-stop? You said it

early restart. Have you

finally caught on. "That's how you

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

looked at him with a mix of pity, sadness, and compassion. “Do you think your

he would have picked a fight with someone like Cancel long ago. “As long as

silence, Len abruptly changed

he remembered one of his

“Monaco? Why?”

the engine pieces back

was just checking the Chronoradio and its associated parts.” Only then did Ryan notice that while she had

Baby steps.

Ryan boasted about his car, putting a hand on the hood. “You’re the last Genius in

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

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

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

pulling 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 becoming

“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

with a worried

die? I 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 think of it as

things went well

Ryan replied with a sigh, opening his car’s door. “But I never found a way to reach an alternate Earth, even with a custom particle accelerator. All I can do

think he would get himself killed? Then again, they were close to the

a recruitment offer from Wyvern and then Vulcan, but I’m not sure if she will follow through if I’m in Rust Town. After that,

Len answered with a deeper frown than

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

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.

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

Len shook her head. “Not all criminals wear masks. Most wear suits and ties. Since nobody would stand up for this

one

details, her face turning grimmer. “But… they caught me. Somebody ratted me out and led

of the people you tried to fight for?”

easy way out.” Len shook her head. “Wyvern didn’t bust me out, Vulcan did. And even then, it

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

didn’t like the idea. Even if she collaborated with Vulcan, she clearly had no love for her organization. “We could capture him,” she said. “From what you told me, he has to die for his

making the world a better place, taking down Psyshock would also prevent him from piloting that Mechron mech later on. “And while I don’t believe it, Vulcan says she can

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

my power,

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

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

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

We.

had changed after so many restarts, moved past the realm of teenage romance. But every time he looked at his old partner, the courier always

could never

forget, Riri,” she admitted. “My father, that stuff with the

don’t feel safe around me,” Ryan stated the obvious.