The Perfect Run

Chapter 34

The current loop might be the calmest yet.

Ryan had finally optimized the Augusti path. He first completed the harbor mission without incident. Fat Adam didn't send anyone for once, and Ryan had previously taken care of Luigi. The truth-teller was scheduled to get out of the hospital on Wednesday, but Ryan intended to score a few goals during the hockey match’s second period.

Afterward, Jamie invited the courier to crash at his place, and he received a 'surprise' inspection from Pluto. The Underboss’ interrogation had been less thorough this time around, since the intel Ryan provided on Psyshock had earned him some measure of trust. The courier then landed a job as Vulcan’s assistant, who had lobbied very hard to recruit him after she got her hands on his A-bomb. She didn’t even ask him to trash Wyvern’s movie this loop.

Ryan had waited patiently for today’s Rust Town raid. He had provided all the necessary information for the Augusti to improve their odds, from the Land’s range to the powers of every Psycho he fought so far. He didn’t say anything linked to the bunker like the mech, but overall, things looked bright.

Truly, Ryan was pumped for this restart.

“Plasma tor—” Ryan handed Vulcan her tool before she could finish her sentence, the Genius too busy working on her armor’s cannon. “—ch. Wrench.”

Ryan handed her a wrench and a cup of coffee.

“I didn’t ask for a cup,” she said.

“You were about to.”

Vulcan stopped in the middle of her welding, putting her tools aside and raising her iron mask. A short silence took over her workshop, as she examined the courier from head to toe. “Ryan, where have you been hiding all this time?”

“Mostly behind explosions, and sometimes forest fires.”

“I should've hired you years ago,” she said without any hint of sarcasm. “You’re the best assistant I could ever hope for; hell, you anticipate my desires as if you read my mind before I spoke. You’re perfect, except for one thing.”

Vulcan pointed a finger at the white cat having taken over her workbench. Eugène-Henry meowed in response. “Why did you bring that furball here?” she asked Ryan.

“I couldn’t leave it at the shelter. It’s a noble cat, it can’t survive in the wild.”

“No, I mean, why did you leave it in my Armory as if he lived there? Now half the guards spend their shift petting it when they think I’m not looking. It’s distracting them.”

“Ki-jung doesn’t want him at the house. I keep telling her Eugène-Henry is too good to hunt rats, but she won’t hear anything.” Ryan grabbed the cat and showed him to Vulcan. “Admit it, you can’t resist him either. Look at him. Look at his big, beautiful eyes.”

The Genius didn’t look impressed. “If he causes an accident, I’m taking the repair costs out on your pay,” Vulcan said, before grabbing the cat. She put it on her lap and moved her feet on the workbench. “I had a ferret once. He wasn’t afraid of anything.”

“What happened to him?”

“He wasn’t afraid of cars either,” Vulcan replied with a morbid face. She liked her comedy pitch black. “Speaking of animals, about that rabbit plushie—”

“No,” Ryan interrupted her.

“But—”

“No.”

“Do I have to take it at gunpoint?” she threatened, her curiosity too overwhelming.

“You would have an easier time with my virginity, but spoiler warning,” Ryan whispered in the Genius’ ear, “it’s long gone.”

Vulcan chuckled, scratching Eugène-Henry between the ears. “I thought you were dating the Underdiver?”

“Oh no, it will be a miracle if we settle into anything.” Considering her issues, a long-distance radio friendship sounded more likely. “Though it would take a Genius to steal my wounded heart.”

“I would be careful with that smart mouth of yours, Ryan,” she replied playfully, his good mood infecting her too. “What’s up with you today? Is it the raid?”

“Of course it’s the raid, I can tell it’s going to be great!”

Especially now that Psypsy had perished for good.

tasked Ki-jung to investigate, and from

squid hadn’t been sighted since the orphanage ambush, Ryan assumed he had perished for

implied Psyshock’s brainwashing

Ryan was in an

“I’ve heard what you told Jamie. That they received knockoffs

of his acquaintances among the Augusti considered it a conspiracy

She nodded. “Lab Sixty-Six.”

“Hmm?”

Dynamis HQ, next to Il Migliore’s shiny tower? They make the knockoffs on the

ominous at all. Is there a pentacle on

at the Colosseum Maximus. It’s not even his Genius specialty, he’s just obsessed with them; I’m pretty sure he only works at Dynamis because they let him make more of those

out to take over the

Migliore. He visited the lab for two hours, and he immediately asked for a transfer afterward. Never learned why.

quickly grasped her point. “You think Dynamis uses

to be where the evidence isn’t. Unfortunately, I doubt we’ll find any proof of his involvement, and the big boss doesn’t

cold instead of hot, to

“Dynamis nuked it in an attempt to kill Augustus, who retaliated by sinking the

peace agreement, then it meant Dynamis had some kind of leverage over their opposition. Perhaps they threatened Augustus’ family

Thursday night, right?” Vulcan asked while changing the subject, though her question was purely rhetorical. “If the assault on the Meta’s base goes well, I think I will attend.

time Ryan met him, Mortimer attempted to startle the

Ryan replied by

Wall Pass replied, saddened

Vulcan noted with

fires coming out of Rust Town, chief. I thought

the Meta had set

front of the fence. Mr. Wall Pass sat on the front seat, Fortuna, and Cancel

No kidding!

see flames everywhere he looked. The Meta had set alight the trash mountains with gasoline, turning them into candles, while clouds of smoke darkened the skies. Although the blazing inferno remained localized inside the junkyard, it might

as shocked as everyone else. Their troops had surrounded the area without meeting any

What the hell happened?

sociopath was,” Cancel told Ryan, completely unconcerned

on the flames. Did

but it

through the intercom. “Any sign of

and a few others are driving

fleeing?” Cancel asked, immediately disappointed. “But we only killed three of

fun, I wanted those sweet bounties

it would be a piece of cake,” Fortuna replied, too busy typing on her phone

Vulcan said.

had truly given up, but why leave the bunker behind and

The submarine.

The bunker had a hidden sea access route, so the Meta could easily hide below ground and resupply while abandoning

through the front door, and

they pulled this stunt at all reeked of desperation. Psyshock must have been more important

asked him,

this is an elaborate ploy and they have secretly retreated to an underground base below the city,” Ryan said. “I’m sure they have a doomsday weapon,

they have a base on the moon,”

once,” Mortimer said. “It was made

The current matter made him

try to murder him a previous loop while fully expecting to get away with it. Augustus had a reputation for brutality, and if Shroud’s story was true, then nothing good would come out of him discovering the bunker. Even if the Meta getting their hands on Mechron’s tech remained the worst scenario, he was wary of

inform

and he was afraid of falling back into

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