The Perfect Run

Chapter 83

It had been two loops since Ryan last met Vulcan in the flesh. The sight of her mech descending from above filled him with nostalgia, and longing.

Ryan stood in front of the bunker’s entrance, as Vulcan landed her vehicle atop a pile of trash. She climbed out of her metal suit, stood atop it like a pintsized conqueror, and smirked. “I love what you’ve done with the place,” she told Ryan, after giving a cursory glance at the Junkyard.

Mechron’s mech guarded the entrance while surrounded by burning helicopters; all of them bearing Dynamis’ logo. And yet, Ryan didn’t pay much attention to them. He only had eyes for this fierce woman, who once saved him from Hannifat Lecter at this very spot. His heart had beat for her then, and it still did so today.

“What’s wrong?” Vulcan asked, amused. “Have you fallen for me at first sight?”

“Even if I disappear…” she had said, all but pleading. “Promise you won’t forget me.”

It hurt just like the first day.

“Something like that,” the courier lied, before making a mock reverence to hide his saddened gaze. “Welcome to my humble abode, Miss Sharif. You didn’t have any problem bypassing the blockade?”

“I designed Dynamis’ anti-aerial weapons.” Vulcan shrugged, as she climbed down from her mech to join him. “They’re far too slow for me. So are your defenses, for that matter.”

“Try me!” Vulcan’s head snapped at Mechron’s scorpion mech, as a cheerful voice came out of it. “Fastest toaster in the west!”

Vulcan studied the mech with renewed interest. “I thought Mechron made sure his slave AIs couldn’t talk back?”

“We uploaded a new personality matrix worthy of this mighty machine,” Ryan explained, tapping one of the mech’s legs. “One perfect for the job.”

“I’m a toaster, I burn stuff,” the mech replied. “I’m pretty one-dimensional in what I want.”

It was the best kind of minion. The one that loved its dirty work.

With the Land dealing with any intruders on the ground with quakes, and Toasty bombarding any flyer, the Private Security’s haphazardous attempts at raiding Rust Town had failed miserably. Eventually, they simply decided to besiege the district. A ring of tanks and soldiers prevented anyone from moving in or out, and warships blockaded the harbor; in theory, nothing short of a teleporter would allow the Meta-Gang to escape.

A pity Dynamis didn’t know about the bunker’s underwater access. Ryan had carefully edited it out of the plans he sent to Nora, in case she connected the dots. Dynamis would devote all its resources to besieging Rust Town, leaving their HQ vulnerable to a sneak attack.

The fear of Ryan’s A-bombs would keep the megacorporation from attempting anything drastic, but only for a short while. Eventually, they would figure out a way to neutralize his weaponry, but by then it would be too late.

“Still, I’m surprised you showed up,” Ryan admitted, as he invited Vulcan inside the bunker. “Associating with us won’t be good for your reputation.”

“A deal is a deal,” the Genius replied with a smirk. “And a man humiliating that bitch Wyvern in front of the entire city is a man after my own heart.”

“If I don’t make it, go to Laura. Because she’s so fucking perfect!”

And it took New Rome’s destruction for them to bury the hatchet.

“Perhaps I can make the deal even sweeter?” Ryan raised his hat, and drew an A-bomb from it.

Vulcan raised an eyebrow at the courier, but accepted the gift gracefully. The happy face she made whenever he offered her this bomb delighted Ryan. “Are you trying to bribe me?”

“Yes,” the president replied, knowing she would love it. “Is it working?”

“I dunno,” she answered with a laugh, playing with the beautiful metal ball. “Mine are bigger than yours.”

“You haven’t seen my full arsenal,” Ryan replied, unable to resist. “I polish it every day.”

Vulcan smirked coyly. “I only believe what I see.”

Damn it.

Ryan could tell that if he put on the charm, Vulcan would fall for him again. They shared a natural, playful chemistry, the same love of big bombs and innuendos. Holding her in his arms and kissing her would feel like going home to his wife, after a long trip. It would feel just right.

“Don’t replace me with another Jasmine.”

And yet, Ryan had made a promise to Jasmine, his Jasmine, and would abide by her wish. Even if no one would hold the courier responsible if he broke his promise… he respected his old girlfriend enough not to betray her last request.

If only he had completed the brain-transfer machine before… before that cursed loop.

“Make sure this disaster never happens again, okay? Kill that fatass.”

At least he followed through with that promise.

Ryan led his ex-girlfriend down into the corridors overseeing the bunker’s hangars. Vulcan stopped at the repaired glass windows, observing the submarine and the tech gathered here. “A full Mechron base, right below our feet,” she whistled, as Ryan gave her a tour of the facility. “You really hit the jackpot.”

have a matter replicator,” Ryan pitched her the benefits of her new workplace. “You just put in the

she asked, putting a hand on her waist. “Because

a false sense of security, and then they hug you

over the city? Trade the nuclear

her wit pulled him in. “Well, if you want to know, we’ve figured out how Mechron

firewalls, giving the group access to Mechron’s key

streamline the Flux energy a Genome radiates with biomechanical

mimicking the properties of genuine Elixirs. Though they weren’t sentient unlike Darkling or genuine Elixirs, they could modify

a step farther than the Manadas. Though they lacked an innate connection to the color dimensions, his Knockoffs could create microscopic portals to them with sufficient mechanical support. By channeling the Flux

was only one example. By the end of his life, Mechron had started experimenting with

the madman lived a few more years. If he had perfected

true Elixirs, and far less efficient. So Mechrons’ AIs had gone

power armor,” Vulcan guessed, grinning with excitement.

it.” By combining data from both sources and the bunker’s advanced technology, Ryan knew his favored spitfire could create

for it, and his best friend still

and a few others had gathered in front of a TV post put on the bar counter,

the day I

don’t. There is no

Jasmine’s last words, and they summed her up perfectly. She always gave

Boss!” Sarin called him. “They’re going to talk

screen. Obviously, Hector Manada denied everything and tried a silent campaign, enforcing a

elephant in the room through a press conference. Il Migliore’s full line-up had gathered at the Optimates Tower’s entrance, accompanied by Enrique ‘Blackthorn‘ Manada and PR specialists. Of course, Wardrobe always dressed chic, a pillar of culture among fashion disasters. Felix’s claw marks had healed, but he didn’t bother to hide his frustration.

news ticker, each information worse than the last. ‘Unexplained explosions continue, children still missing after daycare attack; the

incidents across town. Tensions were at an

a stage and face an army of journalists. “More dog

corrupt,” Ryan said,

response. “Who told you that

Jasmine.

changed as a person by the end. Jasmine had been willing to give up her

silently as Wyvern addressed the crowd and all of New Rome. She of course

video were genuine,” Wyvern said, her expression stoic and professional. “Or if his

courier braced himself

“They are.”

audience exploded into gasps, shock spread across the Il Migliore team, and the PR assistants looked at Wyvern as if she had lost her mind. Clearly, her outburst was entirely unscripted. Even Vulcan opened her

to interrupt the superhero’s revelations. Perhaps he had wanted to say such things for

simply walked away from the press conference, and from

with an organization capable of something so terrible.

declaration was met with an explosion of questions from

Ryan simply joined his

“All according to keikaku.”

place. The Genome research lab where Ryan had fought Mechron’s spider mech was no different. Though the machines hadn’t yet filled the ceiling hole created by Darkling, they cleaned up the floor

to restrain him. The Augusti princess had removed her helmet, and grinded her teeth

Ryan asked Livia, worried for her well-being. He could tell from experience that Alchemo had no problem roughing up his

naked arm with her sleeve once the machine was done. “This

virtue of having two powerful abilities with no side-effects. A cure for the Psycho syndrome would potentially allow anyone to do the same, causing an arms’ race. “Even you must be curious about your special status,”

“My father said we had been chosen

well,” Alchemo said, as results

smile, as she accepted his help with aristocratic

I cared what the meat said! Now stop

the skeleton and major organs; spots of orange and violet colors flared all over the body,

Rain having served as the

the Orange Elixir affects fifty-one percent of her body, sometimes forty-nine… The exact

Genius uploaded a second picture, which Ryan assumed represented Livia’s bio-signs. The Augusti princess was almost entirely blue in color, with a slight spot of violet near the ears and brain. Unlike the previous

the Genius continued his explanation. “Most of her genetic code has been affected by the Blue Elixir, to the point she might appear as a mono-color Genome at first

Blue Elixir first,”

five percent of her DNA has been rewritten by the second, Violet Elixir. Both substances

least partly. Livia’s powers coexisted without conflicting or fusing. “The million dollar question being why this happened,” Ryan said. “And

see the obvious?” Alchemo asked with smug confidence, happy to see the solution which had evaded the courier

you will enlighten me, oh great keeper of

on his superior position as a teacher. “The original Elixirs were meant to bond with humans. With Homo Sapiens. So far, all attempts to

succeeded by creating a workaround,” Ryan muttered. “Using

on the right track?” Braindead mused. “Just not close

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