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 permanent

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

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 it an alcohol

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 time-manipulation,

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

the water gun. “You will behave while you stay here,” Len said. “I… even if there are no

“Len, they have guns.”

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

would hand it over to Vulcan, as a sign of friendship. “Can you give it back then? I swear you

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

him, she wanted to.

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

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

your time-stop? You said it caused you early

said an early restart, I meant an early

caught on. "That's

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

of pity, sadness, and

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

silence, Len abruptly changed the subject.

before shuddering as he remembered one of his worst deaths. “Whatever you do, Len,

“Monaco? Why?”

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 a

associated parts.” Only then did Ryan notice that while she had stopped

Baby steps.

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

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

a long story. Ryan worked many loops and decades

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

pulling them from these

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

“I don’t follow you.”

you love so much, ever changing.” Ryan’s experience had taught him as much. “I mean, I just have to jump back and

considered...” Len trailed off with a

everyone in it when I 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.

went

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

would get himself killed? Then again, they were close

if I’m in Rust Town. After that, I need to have

answered with a deeper frown than

Dynamis jailed you, so I investigated,”

factories,” Len said with anger. “They pay them for dangerous work with just enough

the junior heroes he had met during the

all criminals wear

you attacked one of

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

fight for?” Ryan

bust me out,

Ryan reassured her. “I see only one way to kill Psyshock permanently, and it’s an Augusti-exclusive

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 ability

smart, he will have a suicide button.” Hopefully, it wouldn’t be a thermo-nuclear device. Besides making the world a better place, taking down Psyshock would also prevent him from piloting

have any alternative. “I’ve… I need more time,

out my

Riri. I really do. No one else should have to go through what

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

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

We.

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

could

she admitted.

around me,” Ryan

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