The Perfect Run - Chapter 49: Time and Again
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Chapter 49: Time and Again

Standing in the middle of a white, underground experimentation room, Ryan let out a groan. I need to go to the bathroom.

Too late, asshole, Jasmine replied, as she used a screwdriver to close the armors lightweight alloy chest plate, leaving only the couriers head exposed. Eugne-Henry Schrodinger meowed at her side, looking at his master with curiosity. But I added a urine-recycling system if you want to drink your own piss.

Charming. Ryans body didnt feel so heavy, even if he wore a twenty-five kilogram suit of armor. The weight was evenly distributed to lessen the strain on his muscles, and the servos provided additional strength. While the courier wouldnt be able to move as fast as in his glamorous suit, he could probably punch through concrete.

As per his demand, Jasmine had painted the armor purple, with orange lenses for the helmets eyes. Though Ryan looked like an oversized humanoid bug in it, he would remain outrageously flashy, and that was all that mattered.

Hell, his armors design matched Vulcans own. Wasnt that adorable? Ryan had also memorized its schematics, so he could rebuild it in a future loop if needed.

Separated from a control area by a door and Plexiglas window, the place used to be an underground police interrogation room before the Wars. Jasmine had repurposed it into a lab, even managing to complete the armor in a matter of days using available material. The makeshift workshop was a far cry from Vulcans previous foundry, but it was sufficient.

They didnt even have to lie about that project, not completely at least. Vulcan had promised Augustus that she would work on a new type of armor capable of enhancing Ryans power, and the would-be emperor had given his seal of approval. It seemed the couriers power had left a good impression on Lightning Butt, or he just didnt care anymore after his daughters demise.

Say what you wanted about the Augusti, but they got things done.

Should have figured it out sooner, Jasmine grumbled, as she grabbed the last part of the armor she hadnt put on Ryan yet: the helmet. You were just too fucking perfect. Was it a repeat performance? Did you fine-tune your sweet-talking until it worked?

No. Though Ryan had centuries of experience with women, so he knew what made people tick. You tried to kill me in a previous loop.

Did I succeed? she asked, almost hopeful.

Nope. Not even close.

A shame. Guess I might succeed this time.

Its fine, half my girlfriends tried to kill me at one point or another, Ryan replied with a smirk. Im a masochist.

I know you are, Jasmine replied with a chuckle, though her mood quickly soured. Ive got a request, Ryan.

A request from you? Ryan asked, quite surprised. Vulcan didnt do requests, she gave orders. How can I refuse?

If this fails and it wont fail, because Im a genius Jasmine gathered her breath, as if admitting the mere possibility of failure took a colossal effort on her part. But lets assume that if it fails...

I wont be able to transfer your mind. In Ryans experience, failure would be the rule, and a potential success the exception.

Yeah, right Sherlock, she snapped, clenching her teeth. If I dont make it, it means I will cease to exist. The me right now.

You will just lose your memories, Ryan argued. Dont be so pessimistic. Its amnesia, not death.

I will lose memories of things I havent done. Stop kidding yourself, Ryan. Ill be erased, end of the story. She let out a sigh as if bracing herself for death. So, if I dont make it I want you to leave my other self alone. Make sure she lives and doesnt go to corpo-jail, but dont pull off your summer fling crap on her. Dont replace me with another Jasmine.

I understand, Ryan said.

Before, I said you wouldnt forget me, and I mean it now. Even if I disappear promise you wont forget me.

I promise.

He had made that oath before and always kept it.

The helmet in her hands, Jasmine pushed her lips against Ryans. The courier put his hands behind her waist, the armor clinking as it moved, and held her tight. It was a passionate, intense kiss; he felt as if Vulcan wanted to eat him on the spot.

This may be their last.

Dont forget that, Jasmine said upon breaking the embrace and putting the helmet on Ryans face. The courier started to breathe with a respirator and see the world through lenses. Vulcan then tried to grab Schrodinger, but the cat stubbornly refused to get caught.

I think he wants to stay, Jasmine mused.

Its a Schrdinger's cat, Ryan replied, easily seizing the cat in his armored arms. Hell improve the odds.

Whatever, I hope he has enough lives remaining, Jasmine replied, closing the rooms door behind her. The Genius sat next to a control panel beyond the window, sparing her boyfriend one last glance before starting her work.

The plan was for Ryan to open a rift to the Purple World with his enhanced power. Though the courier had never succeeded in doing so for centuries, it should allow for physical time-travel, at least in theory. It was a far-fetched plan, even a risky one, but they had exhausted all other options. Since they had lost the necessary tech for a consciousness transfer and Europe would soon erupt in conflict, there was no other way for Jasmine to survive the restart.

The chances were slim, but one could always hope.

If you think you might die, why are you going along with it? Ryan asked Jasmine as she began hitting buttons on her control panel, fine-tuning the armors functions. Schrodinger waited, strangely silent. You could keep me chained up in your basement.

Dont tempt me, Jasmine replied, pulling a lever on her control panel. Words and numbers started to appear on Ryans lenses, the suits systems activating. Roughly eight million people live in New Rome and its countryside. The Meta killed what, two, three million of them? No matter how I see it one versus three million. You would have to be a huge dick to consider it a fair deal.

Some would have thought otherwise, Ryan admitted. One Genius tried to keep his brain in storage in an old loop, to prevent the courier from reloading. Thats why I tried to keep my secret under wraps after a few betrayals.

Poor you, Jasmine mocked him, before looking at the armor regretfully. I was a hero once.

Ryan said nothing.

I just wanted to change the world. Make an impact. Like your Len girl is doing, though she doesnt get it yet. I guess thats why I wanted you on my team, Ryan; I had the feeling we were going to do great things together.

We are, Ryan reassured her.

Yeah, she replied, stopping her work to look at him through the window. Make sure this disaster never happens again, okay? Kill that fatass.

Im killing him in every single loop from now on, I promise, Ryan said, frowning. If I told the Augusti about the bunker

No, dont, unless I follow you. At best, Augustus will blow up Rust Town like he did now, casualties be damned. At worst I dont want to think about it. Vulcan clenched her fists, scowling. If I dont make it, go to Laura.

Im sorry, have I misheard? Ryan asked, astonished. You want me to go

I was jealous, alright! the Genius snapped, interrupting her boyfriend. Because shes so fucking perfect! And now she just apologizes? Its sickening.

Ryan didnt answer, letting Vulcan vent out all her pent-up frustration. He had the feeling that the short Genius had invested so much in her bitter rivalry with her former teammate, that she had no idea what to do now that Wyvern had thrown in the towel. Maybe with time, Jasmine would learn to move on. To stop hating.

If she had time.

I know her better than anyone, Jasmine grumbled in admission. Shell help getting rid of that bunker, if only because shes too stupid to see the possibilities. She isnt corrupt, just goddamn naive.

Ryan wasnt sure if it was meant to be a compliment or an insult. Knowing Jasmine, probably both. Do you regret joining the Augusti? the courier asked his girlfriend.

She considered the question for a few seconds. No, I dont regret it, Vulcan finally said. It wasnt the best choice, but it was mine. If that makes sense.

It didnt, but the courier accepted it all the same.

In any case, the Genius finished typing on the control panel and looked through the window. Ryan, were ready. Open the path to that Purple World, for the both of us.

I will do all I can.

Do or dont. There is no try.

Both burst out laughing; Ryan couldnt believe they even shared the same love for pop culture. Truly, they had been a match made in mafia heaven. Even if it ended terribly this loop had been something special.

Gathering his breath and holding Schrodinger in his arms, Ryan activated his time stop. Now was the moment of truth.

The world turned violet, as the Purple World and their universe converged. Instead of freezing in time, Vulcans armor kept working inside the temporal anomaly. Even if the experiment failed, at least Ryan could upgrade his arsenal for later runs.

Two seconds within the time-stop, the courier immediately noticed something unusual. Bright violet particles began to appear inside the interrogation room, swirling points of light coming off from his person. They floated around the room, even as the universe remained frozen.

The armor was meant to focus Ryans power, to fully harvest the theoretical violet flux radiation that powered spacetime manipulators. Could this be those particles?

As two seconds turned into three, four, then five, the number of these lights only increased at an exponential rate; from a few dozens to thousands, shrouding everything around him. Their color turned from bright violet to purple, and they grew from the size of fireflies to bubbles.

At this point, Ryan reached the ten seconds limit and decided to stop before he accidentally made a new save. This was a mere initial test to access more power from the Purple World, but it wasnt worth setting New Romes destruction in stone.

The genome hastily cancelled his power...

But the world remained frozen.

In fact, the number of particles around him only increased, until they drowned his sight entirely. Schrodinger, Jasmine, the entire room vanished behind a veil of colored bubbles.

Jasmine? Ryan attempted to move, but his body refused to. Or rather, the armor didnt follow his movement, keeping his limbs encased in steel. He couldnt even sense Schrodinger in his arms. Jasmine, I cant stop!

No one answered.

The veil of purple bubbles split open, finally allowing Ryan to see through the armors lenses. But instead of the interrogation room, the courier looked at an icy, silent wasteland beneath a dark sky.

Was this Antarctica? It would fit the stars positions in the skies.

Strangely, while the bubbles remained at the edge of his vision and the armor refused to move, Ryan saw snow move with the wind. It felt like watching a 3D movie from an outside perspective.

Ryans viewpoint focused on a dark metal dome emerging from the snow; perhaps a research station or something similar. His vision glitched out, showing a mahogany desk in a darkened room. Three figures spoke around a table, although Ryan couldnt see them clearly; they appeared as phantoms made of blue particles.

These higher dimensions defy physics and our understanding. A womans voice. Yet, to master these alien worlds and conquer the stars is mankinds destiny. To survive, even thrive, in this hostile universe, humanity must ascend to a higher state. From man to overman from homo sapiens to homo novus.

Ascension through genetic engineering. A similar voice, but slightly different. Ryan couldn't explain it, but it seemed like the same actor voicing two characters. But governments and institutions will try to stop us, to preserve the status quo. Those old fossils cant see whats up ahead; they live in the past, while the future came to us with this craft. We were warned.

Old nations are fragile things that will crumble to dust, or they will adapt. The chaos we will unleash

Is well within our budget.

What was that? A vision of the past?

The scene glitched out again, and this time he could only hear broken voices; purple particles obscured his vision, like a VHS tape suffering from a breakdown.

There is no place for Black out of all the colors, it alone cant be safely harnessed. The creatures within the black dimension do not seem malicious, but their mere existence tears our lower reality apart. Physical laws cannot coexist with paradoxes.

All the ultimate ones are compassionate, but also narrow-minded they only understand lower universes through the prism of their color. Limitless power without complexity.

Or perhaps they see farther than we do.

The veil of purple parted ways, revealing a green meadow populated with white rabbit plushies, dozens of them. They all looked at him, raising their ears as if they could see him through time and space. Their fur was covered in blood, and the courier noticed a dismembered human corpse hidden behind tall grass.

Hi, Ryan said.

The plushies raised their tiny paws and waved at the courier in perfect synchronization.

The purple particles brightness intensified, and in a blink, they all exploded in a blinding flash. Ryan had to squint, though he managed to see a shadow inside the light; through it he saw hints of impossible geometries, shifting spaces and doors to other alien worlds. A crossroads between realities, whose existence defied the physics of mankinds universe.

He had entered the Purple World.

The shadow grew in size as if Ryan approached it. It vaguely looked like an inverted pyramid covered in eye-shaped spheres, though the courier couldnt work the details through the purple light. However, he could tell it was colossal in size. A flying structure the size of a planet, maybe a star

No. Not a structure.

A living being.

The godlike entity looked at Ryan with its countless eyes, and

It was May 8th, 2020, a brand new day in Rome.

His hands on the driving wheel, Ryan immediately parked at the nearest spot and glanced through the window. Cars passed by his Plymouth Fury and made their way towards the glitzy city, ready to gamble their souls to win fortunes in its glamorous casinos. Mount Augustus and Dynamis HQ stood proud, two would-be nations facing each other.

Ryan observed his surroundings, trying to gather his thoughts. He had traded the armor for his usual clothes, and after checking, confirmed that everything was back in its proper place. Either the entity had killed him, or it activated a failsafe in the Genomes own ability.

And no sign of Vulcan either. She was supposed to call him immediately should she somehow manage to travel back in time, and so far, his phone had remained silent.

Jasmine hadnt made it through.

Well Ryan let out a deep, sad sigh. That was a failure.

The time-traveler wasnt surprised, just disappointed.

At least Ryan had managed to go back after all, instead of accidentally making a new save. It had only cost him a trusted friend, and everything else. But the Genome had a chance to make things right, and he wouldnt waste it.

Gathering his breath, Ryan put on the chronoradio, and prepared to make his way towards Renescos place.

I still think were alone in the universe.

Ryan stopped, as Lens voice came out of the chronoradio.

Its all dark and cold beyond our little blue planet.

We arent alone, Ryans own voice answered through the radio. And if you ask me, the stars shine brighter still.

The courier behind the wheel froze, as he heard himself discuss with Len through the radio. It didnt take him long to realize what was happening.

He listened to a recording. A recording of that conversation with Len, on the orphanages roof.

How? He didnt record it, and neither did Shortie as far as he knew! How did it travel back in time? Did Len manage to send a recording through her device before Mechrons satellite claimed her life? Or was it that strange entitys doing?

Whatever the case, the whole orphanage conversation repeated perfectly, as Ryan had experienced it. Eventually, the couriers own words echoed in his car.

It can improve. Len, all you see is the dark, but everywhere you look, theres light.

Yes. Even if the world held much sorrow, it was also worth saving.

Ryan pushed the accelerator and drove towards New Rome, to begin again. It didnt matter how many tries it would take, how many false starts and bad endings he would have to go through. He had a city to save, and a Perfect Run to complete.

The courier had made a promise to Vulcan, and he would keep it.