The Perfect Run

Ryan had to give it to Hector Manada. In spite of being far richer than Augustus, he didn’t show it.

The CEO of Dynamis lived in a three-floor manor of yellow stones within walking distance of his company’s HQ, north of New Rome. The property was big, but nothing compared to Mount Augustus; the architectural style reminded Ryan of South America’s 19th century properties, though Hector had also gathered a sizable collection of mesoamerican artifacts in his garden. Statues of Aztec gods lined the path to the house, like a private guard. And of course, the property crawled with Private Security guards with top-of-the-line weaponry.

When Ryan arrived, Sunshine and Enrique’s helicopter had already landed in the garden. Security guards checked on the courier, but let him pass unmolested; apparently, the siblings had forewarned them.

Alphonse Manada had joined his brother, both backed by an elite security team. Leonard Hargraves had landed on the grass, though he somehow didn’t set it on fire even while in his sun form. Even Ryan had taken the time to change himself back to his old costume, Acid Rain having savaged the cashmere suit. One didn’t confront a final boss without looking nice.

But the scene quickly disappointed Ryan.

Hector Manada wasn’t raising a submachine gun to die in a blaze of glory, Scarface-style. He didn’t look worried about the urban warfare happening a few districts away from his house. In fact, he didn’t seem troubled at all.

For Hector Manada was gardening.

“I guess this is a family thing,” Ryan said snidely, as the corporate mastermind tended to an ugly rose bush. The floral arrangements were terrible, the work of an amateur.

“Sons.” A pudgy man with gray hair and a face resembling Pablo Escobar’s, Hector Manada had traded the business suit for casual white clothes and a straw hat. If Ryan hadn’t seen his face before, he might have mistaken him for a mere employee. “I didn’t expect you. Especially not in such…”

His eyes wandered to Leo Hargraves. “Shining company.”

“Surprised, Father?” Alphonse asked, his tone lacking any familial warmth whatsoever.

“Mr. Manada,” Leo said, always polite. “It has been a while.”

“Not long enough, I must say,” the CEO replied, before finally noticing Quicksave. “And who might you be?”

“Hi, I’m Quicksave,” Ryan presented himself. “I’m the guy who ruined all of your evil plans, but don’t tell anyone.”

“My evil plans?” the CEO answered with a forced smile. “I do not understand.”

“I think you do, Father,” Enrique said, as he straightened his tie. “We destroyed the Meta-Gang one hour ago.”

“An action which I did not authorize,” the CEO replied with a frown, before forgetting Ryan’s existence and glancing at Alphonse instead. “Nor do I remember recalling you to New Rome either.”

“You forfeited any authority over me when you betrayed us all, Father,” Alphonse replied. “You wanted to stay in power so much, you would rather clone yourself than let us inherit?”

“Clone myself?” Hector Manada feigned ignorance.

“We have Psyshock in custody, father,” Enrique said. “He admitted everything. From your secret deal with Adam the Ogre to your mind-transferring project.”

Ryan knew it was probably a bluff, considering the timeline of events, but it worked like a charm. “Is that so?” Hector asked, glancing at the soldiers following his sons. The courier could almost see the gears turning in the CEO’s head, as he weighed his options.

“We have recordings, captured technicians, proof of monetary transactions,” Enrique continued. “Did you know the Meta-Gang had unearthed a Mechron base beneath Rust Town?”

Though he quickly corrected his expression, the CEO’s brief look of genuine surprise told Ryan that no, he didn’t. As the courier guessed, the Meta-Gang had planned to betray him from the start; take Dynamis’ Elixirs, until they could overthrow the company with Mechron’s weaponry.

“So you were a traitor and a fool,” Alphonse Manada said, with a grunt of disgust. He had noticed the look of surprise too. “You despise us so much?”

“Can you blame me, Alphonse?” Hector replied with a sneer. “Sometimes I truly wonder if you came from my loins. You and Augustus would have turned Italy into a bloody battlefield if I hadn’t sent you away.”

“So instead you sent Psychos to wage war for you?” Enrique asked, shaking his head. “I still remember what you told me when I welcomed Felix Veran into our fold. ‘Don’t rock the boat.’”

“Augustus’ influence needs to be constrained, but we can’t afford a direct confrontation,” Hector snapped back. “We have no means of getting rid of him permanently.”

“We do,” Alphonse said with confidence. “The Gravity Gun.”

“Your obsession with miracle weapons will be your undoing,” Hector lambasted his son. “If yours fails, we will have an invincible madman with nothing left to lose on our hands.”

“Augustus will never be satisfied,” Leonard Hargraves interrupted the conversation. “He wants nothing less than total dominion over Europe.”

“His delusions of grandeur mean nothing,” Hector scoffed. “You don’t know him like I do, Hargraves.”

Sunshine scoffed. “I have been sparring with Augustus long before you came to Italy, Mr. Manada. I know him well.”

“No, Hargraves, because if you did, you would have grasped a simple truth. With all his power, Augustus could have established himself as a god-king, written laws, but what does he do? Peddle drugs, launder money, corrupt existing infrastructures. At the end of the day, Augustus is just a gangster with cancer, and that’s all he will ever be.” The CEO shook his head in frustration. “Don’t you see that to win, we only have to outlast him? Let nature do its work.”

“And let countless suffer in the meantime?” Sunshine replied. “Assuming the next Augusti generation isn’t made of the same cloth?”

“Well, to be honest—” Ryan raised his hand to speak on behalf of Livia.

“The adults are talking, Quicksave,” Alphonse interrupted him.

“Then why are you here?” Ryan replied with a mocking tone, being far, far older than the VP. The nuclear-powered cyborg glared at him, but the courier wasn’t intimidated in the slightest.

“Enough,” Enrique said, a hint of frustration in his voice.

“And are you truly so different, Father?” Alphonse asked mockingly.

Hector’s expression turned into one of pure disgust. “You dare compare me to Augustus, my son? I am no saint, I confess, but I do not go around murdering people who never crossed me.”

“You raised us to believe Dynamis had a mission. To rebuild a better civilization, based on free-market, the rule of law, and individual freedom.” Alphonse’s voice turned bitter. “One that wouldn’t repeat the mistakes of the pre-war nations. Yet all you have done is repeat the patterns of the past, and maintain a status quo unsuitable for mankind. One that benefits Augustus.”

Ryan realized he had met Fallout’s type elsewhere before. Disappointed idealists.

And as he listened to the man’s speech, he couldn’t help but be reminded of Livia’s own situation. Like her, the Manada were children disagreeing with their father’s rotten, rigid vision of the world. Unlike Livia though, who couldn’t escape Augustus’ grasp, the Manada siblings had decided to rebel.

Would it work though?

“That unsuitable status quo, as you call it, is the only one we have,” Hector replied angrily. “I’ve played with the cards dealt to me.”

“Whatever your reasons, you conspired with the Meta-Gang, provided them with company resources, and, willingly or not, nearly allowed Adam the Ogre to get his hands on Mechron technology,” Enrique pointed out. “We can’t let that slide, and neither will the Board.”

“I am the Board,” Hector replied with a frown.

Ryan couldn’t resist. “Not yet!”

“Alphonse and I have enough shares to force a vote, and you know the Board and other corporations will vote for your retirement,” Enrique said. “We have too much proof, and they can’t be seen cooperating with Psychos. Our image and reputation is our armor, but they are also our weaknesses.”

“And most importantly, we have the army,” Alphonse stated the obvious. “Do not think you can prevent what’s coming.”

deepened. “You would harm

what you did? What you planned to do?” Alphonse asked, lowering his head to lock eyes with his father. “Yes,

his other child. “Et tu, Enrique? You know what your brother will do if he inherits my

“but dabbling with Psychos won’t

be my vice-president, and we will clean up your mess. We will reforge Dynamis into what it should have been. A beacon that will rebuild civilization, one without Psychos, and certainly without Augustus. You may

the heat around him. “I promise you will

graceful way out, Father,” Enrique pleaded, before glancing at Alphonse.

his sons, then at Leonard, and finally to the Private Security members backing them up. Whether out of fear of Alphonse Manada, disgust, or opportunism, none of them moved

in Dynamis, power shifted

Manada offered

is a new dawn for Dynamis, Father,” Alphonse Manada

with quiet dignity, as soldiers grabbed him by the

watched his father being carried away, the time-traveler realized he might have put someone far more dangerous in charge of Dynamis. “That’s it?”

Il Migliore’s manager replied dryly. “Unlike Augustus, we do not shoot all of our problems. My father is many things, but a fanatic isn’t one of them. He would rather go into forced retirement than

imprison him on

be kept away from any form of power whatsoever.” Enrique looked at Ryan with disapproval. “This is what we adults call diplomacy, Romano. It is boring, but it usually spares us

was good. Ryan had expected the change of power to end in violence, because that was all he ever

it’s over. Now, we must decide what to

said. “There will be a transition of power, and I wish you to assist us with it. I will pay

not work

“Our goals are the same. We both want Augustus dragged off from his throne. Now that my father has been dealt with, it is time

the opportunity too great

here.” Alphonse glared at Ryan next. “And I have had enough of your blatant disrespect, Quicksave. You did your job, but that’s it.

set out to do. Besides, staying in Alphonse Manada’s company

the time-traveler.

I won’t join your circus,” Ryan cut him off. “Too much

Rome… thank you. Most people won’t know it, but your actions saved countless lives. History books may not mention you, but we will

promises you can’t keep,” Ryan replied with

shiny paladin was too

to his car. “This isn’t the end, is it?” the courier asked Blackthorn. It didn’t feel

storm, Romano. My brother is in charge, and he is not as… subtle as our father. If Augustus didn’t know we cooperated with Hargraves already, he will learn it soon. And even if it suffered heavy damage, that base below Rust Town contains a treasure trove

part,” Ryan mused, his mood turning from curious to

to my brother’s speech,” Enrique said.

replied, his thoughts turning to Len and Bloodstream. “And even dead, his influence still holds a friend back. So when I looked at you two… I can’t

door though, Blackthorn moved right in front of him. “You are not leaving yet,” the new Dynamis VP declared. “I told

it’s for gardening lessons,

in the bunker during the attack. One of the Meta-Gang’s members was found trapped in a bubble, and Psyshock’s living quarters were ransacked. And most curious of all, our men couldn't find the brain-scanning technology our father lent

people to do your ground work, Mr.

your stakes were in this, but now I understand,” Enrique said, ignoring the jab. “You were after this tech from the start. This entire exercise

Ryan’s thoughts turned to Jasmine. “If I told you the Meta-Gang caused the permanent death of someone I cared for,

wording, but Ryan didn’t enlighten him. “People also saw you at a dinner with Livia Augusti and Fortuna Veran, and you apparently brought the

said, immediately sensing the

matching the Augusti assassin Mortimer’s description came to your rescue against Acid Rain. You

allegiances to any faction. I’m

in anything? I thought you were a better man than

“Aw, did you care?”

the time of a day if I didn’t believe it. You are a powerful fighter, a skilled tactician, and incredibly resourceful. I

said. “I expected you to be a lot more cutthroat, but… you seem rather honorable and well-meaning

Enrique replied. “By themselves, humans can only do so much. We conquered the planet by sacrificing our individuality for collective strength. Though I do not share his methods, I agree

replied, before smiling behind his mask. “But I’m an optimist.

put the time-traveler in a cheerful mood. After all the darkness of the previous failed run, this loop had proved he could turn

to none, and probably the

“Thank you, Greenhand.”

I hate to use the term, I will look the

do one thing, and it is finished.” Ryan pointed a finger at the manager. “I’m keeping all my

best to forget you even

the hospital though. Spoiler warning, if you

to say your goodbyes to your teammates unmolested, and I will wire you a generous compensation for your service.”

“Leave for where?”

away from New Rome,” Enrique said. “He will be too busy with the transition in the next few days to do so, but once his position is secure, my brother will hunt you two down. I

outlived his usefulness, but Shortie? Why were they so

have turned into a statue. “I let Len Sabino go once,” he finally admitted. “But I cannot protect her forever. Alphonse knows her base’s location, and

as the Meta-Gang can attest, I’m very effective at killing weeds. Your

is a warning. Strange as it may sound to you, I harbor no ill-will towards you or your family.” Blackthorn raised his sleeve to

felt it would be under

to the harbor, when

asked

she answered on the other end of the line, a hint

sighed with relief on the other end of the

glad he is alive at all. I did not inform his sisters yet. I…”

for sending Mr.

Livia briefly paused before continuing. “I hope

if it can reassure you, I’ve

you would consider employment with

as he reached the harbor. “I’m not sure if my presence is needed anymore. I get the feeling Dynamis will hit your drug factory

does it, rather than an unknown party. But we can discuss that when the situation

you will even be

think

see you or his family.” No answer. “Hey, you can always try. If I’m

had fallen completely silent. Though he had only said the truth, Ryan regretted his bluntness. For a second,

She asked out of the blue. “Not a fling, but true love? To the point that

Ryan said sadly, as he noticed

chuckle, before gathering her breath. “You lived for centuries. Don’t you

change,” the courier admitted, before considering it thoughtfully. “But sometimes, it’s better to learn to let go. You’ll hurt yourself otherwise. Some wounds never heal, and you have

the wisdom in his words, but she

time-traveler replied, before falling silent. His

“Ryan?”

overthrew their father,” Ryan said out of nowhere. “They… talked it out and forced him into retirement. Now they intend to reform Dynamis

didn’t even need to elaborate. Livia could probably see the parallels with her own situation, with a major difference. “My

Her regretful tone