The Perfect Run

Sitting on a sofa right next to the inactive plushie, Ryan stared into the abyss of the Tyrrhenian Sea. He found it relaxing to wake up to the sight of silent darkness and mutated fish, especially after he had grown used to New Rome’s noisy environment.

Each ‘apartment’ was a carbon copy of the other, each tenant free to decorate their own as they saw fit. Ryan had of course brought his entire wardrobe, and thrown euro bills everywhere to protect himself from the specter of Vladimir Lenin. It certainly haunted this underwater kremlin.

As it turned out, Len meant that she had borrowed the Meta’s own submarine during the raid. Now the vehicle waited right outside the underwater habitats, and Ryan had an excellent view of it from his underwater apartment.

However, while the submarine had allowed Len to smuggle the Plymouth Fury to her base, it also meant that the Meta-Gang could reach the area if they wanted. The courier would keep it in mind for future loops.

“Don’t do anything rash,” Ryan jokingly told the plushie while rising up from his sofa. He then moved through the corridors linking the underwater habitats together. Shortie’s own lair was next door to his own, probably because she worried the courier might influence the kids without surveillance.

Besides her own habitat, Len had established a workshop close to the living spaces. Unlike the comfortable apartments, this part of the underwater base reminded Ryan of a steampunk factory, all metal walls, and steam pipes. It wasn’t as well-equipped as Vulcan’s, and far less organized; Len had hooked the servers administering the underwater base to Dynamis’ brainscan machine, while half-finished machines covered various workbenches. Len had hung designs of submarines, underwater cocoons, and even artificial fish on the walls to save space.

Most important, Ryan’s Plymouth Fury waited in a corner. Len had removed the Chronoradio’s components, the engine, and pretty much every piece of Genius tech inside. He knew it was a sacrifice for the cause, but the sight of his beloved car turned into a husk filled the courier’s heart with sorrow.

And of course, Len listened to Alexandrov Ensemble’s March of the Artillerymen while working. Even Ryan had to admit that it was a good song, but his Genius friend couldn’t look more Marxist even if she tried.

Thankfully, somebody else was already annoying her today. “But Mama, you said I would get a suit too!” Little Sarah complained to Len, carrying a cat in her arms. The Genius was sitting behind a workbench, working on the Dynamis tech. “That I would be the Little Diver!”

“Sweetie, I know… but I have to work on something else first…” For once, Len had traded her jumpsuit for simple blue clothes. She looked a lot more lively when she turned to face Ryan, perhaps because she felt more confident inside her lair. “Hi, Riri.”

“Hi Shortie, Little Hellion,” Ryan greeted them, before recognizing the cat in Sarah’s arms. “Eugène-Henry!”

“He showed up in my room this morning,” Little Sarah said, the animal meowing in her arms. “Did you bring him from the surface to the magical place?”

“No, he brought himself,” Ryan replied, immediately petting the placid cat behind the ears. The feline’s teleportation ability had an enormous range. “Also, it’s called the Commie-Cave.”

“The Ark,” Len said with a frown.

“The Commie-Cave,” Ryan insisted. “Corpos are a cowardly and superstitious lot. To instill fear in their heart, we must abolish private property.”

Len rolled her eyes. “If this is… a Batcave, what do we call ourselves?”

“The Hammer and the Sickle,” Ryan immediately answered. “The perfect union of peasant and working-class superheroes. The children can become our minions, the Proletariat.”

Len let out a small sound that the courier hadn’t heard in centuries.

“Ma?” Sarah asked, having never heard it either.

“Shortie, you chuckled?” Ryan asked. Len tried to look away to hide her facial expression, but he was persistent. “Even you must admit my jokes are funny.”

“No, they aren’t,” his old friend replied while trying not to smirk. “You’re bad, Riri. You’re so bad, it loops back to good. Like a… like a boomerang.”

“What can I say, all my jokes are state-approved by our soviet supreme.”

Len now wore a warm smile on her face, which in Ryan’s mind was worth all the runs so far. “I’m not like that, Riri.”

“What’s a soviet supreme?” Little Sarah asked while petting Eugène-Henry.

“Wait, you didn’t send her to the Party Congress?” Ryan frowned at Len. “These children will be lost without a good revolutionary education!”

Len shook her head, the smile still on her face. “I… I haven’t thought much about education,” she admitted. “I was… too focused on building the place first.”

“What’s a soviet supreme?” Little Sarah asked, before glaring at Ryan. “Talk, motherfucker.”

“It’s a bad idea,” Ryan answered truthfully before patting Sarah on the head. “And that’s all you will ever know.”

Sarah immediately stuck out her tongue at him, causing Eugène-Henry to meow loudly and leap out of her hands. He immediately took over a server as his throne, looking down at the humans like a noble sphinx.

“Sweetie, can you leave us for a moment?” Len asked Sarah. “I… I need to discuss something with Riri. Privately.”

Little Sarah looked at Ryan and Len in turn, her gaze turning very, very suspicious. “Yes, Ma…”

The little girl left while squinting at them, and Ryan sat on the workbench once she was gone. “Are you happy now? They will think we do adult things behind closed doors… though we did, long ago.”

“That was…” Len’s face turned embarrassed. “Awkward.”

“Well, it was both our first time.” And they had to do it in a hurry, so her father wouldn’t notice. “I remember it fondly.”

intimacy they once shared however. Maybe that was what he was looking for with Jasmine; the

that how Livia felt

subject upon sensing

of,” she replied, joining her fingers.

sighed. Now it was his turn to feel uncomfortable. “An idea crossed my mind,” he admitted. “Did your father ever use his power

if he had, I wouldn’t be here. I would

more

are you asking me this?” Len asked, her smile

Elixir?” She nodded slowly in response. “Your father instantly knew you had done so. At first, I thought it was because he

“Like a... blood beacon?”

daughter, his only reason to live,” Ryan said with a frown. “He always managed to find us when we

the courier she considered it a strong possibility. “You think…

to check, and the tools in

suddenly. “You, you studied Elixirs, right? Didn’t you… didn’t you notice

made sure to erase any trace of your father specifically to prevent him from returning. I

now…” Len frowned. “Riri, if

“But can we focus on the brain-transfer project first? I… it’s dangerous, Len. It might take me more than one run to get into Dynamis’ labs,

can.” Len cleared her throat.

to overcome, but

can make a brain-map and create a… a computer simulation. I can then send it… send it to a host, to overwrite the

if we send your memories to your past self, then there

should be fine. Maybe a harmless concussion, maybe nothing.” Len crossed her arms. “Should work even

“Then where’s the catch?”

time, you need…” Len struggled to find the right words. “You need more

quickly caught on. “Like

we can only send signals, let alone the brainmap, back in time if we hook the Chronoradio to Vulcan’s

previous run. The Chronoradio was destroyed,

don’t think I sent the Chronoradio messages, Riri. Or at least, not the previous me.

how time works, unless I have been wrong about everything,” Ryan replied, scratching his hair. Only two time-periods could exist through his save point. “It has to be something else. All the messages revolved around our interactions during the

sent

to remember the end of the previous run, and his trip to the Purple World. The visions he had seen, and

are compassionate,

happened right when Ryan seriously considered

who,” the time-traveler

powers across time, deliberately led Livia to the courier, and then appeared in the Commie-Cave right when Len considered studying Violet Flux for her experiment. Far

aren’t teleporting at random at all,” the courier accused Eugène-Henry. “You’re being teleported by something else. Something showing

meowed in

you’re talking to

sense in the context,” Ryan defended himself, while Eugène-Henry licked his own shoulder. “You remember what I told you, Shortie? About what I

think the pyramid thing

leaving Eugène-Henry to his cleaning. “I’m starting to wonder if these visions, the Chronoradio signals, and Eugène-Henry’s teleportations are truly random events, or an attempt

you think it is, why do so little? Why only teleport a

I find all these strange coincidences oddly convenient, and I’m

base in Antarctica, right?” Len asked. “Could you

“I have only seen the night sky, not enough to pinpoint the exact position, but at least we can narrow

could visit that base,” she suggested. “With the submarine. Check,

rest. Such an

work on that heist

car—and they weren’t even married—Ryan had to use a bathysphere to reach the surface, and then

A taxi.

leaving my car to die?” Ryan wondered out loud, as he stepped out of the taxi and right in front of a Dynamis-owned hospital; the same one where Psyshock’s victims had been brought to during the courier’s first Il Migliore loop. Private

his way towards the entrance, Ryan quickly noticed a familiar face leaving the hospital and climbing at the back of a Mercedes Benz.

Narcinia.

sunglasses. Though the courier only caught a glimpse

waiting for him in the entrance hall. The former was talking with an unknown woman, and the latter texted on his phone with tears in his eyes. They

courier, though the Panda was too focused on his task to notice.

hand at his favorite fashion designer, before glancing at the other woman in the room. She was in her early twenties, with shoulder-long brown hair and striking amber eyes;

she said with a warm smile, offering him her hand to shake.

said with

in the most gentlemanly way instead of shaking it. The woman blushed a little at the surprise

Wardrobe

can’t wear a costume like yours at work,” Nora replied with an embarrassed smile, before glancing at Ryan. “I’m not

with a bright smile. “Come on, Nora,