Chapter 21: The Rehearsals (1/2)

All was well so far on the Augusti Path.

Ryan had met Zanbato as expected, beat up Sarin at the harbor, and now repeated the exact same conversation which would lead him to crash at Jamie’s house. All was well and good, to the sound of crashing waves against the piers...

“I have to be sure about something,” Luigi asked the courier. “Are you a snitch or a double agent?”

“Well, I’m not really on anyone’s side,” Ryan replied, but then his mouth acted on its own, “But I’m a Carnival infiltrator, yes.”

… or not.

Everyone present turned to look at him, a tense silence settling in. The grunts raised their weapons, while Zanbato’s face turned from shocked, to disappointed, and finally, to furious.

“Uh oh.”

Okay, two lessons learned.

One, Ryan hated truth-tellers. Hated them, with a passion.

Two, Zanbato could make sashimi out of people with his laser sword. Ryan wouldn’t look at sushi the same way ever again.

But this time… this time, it would be different. The courier had rehearsed the perfect misleading answers. Luigi's power compelled Ryan to say the truth, but only according to the teller’s exact words.

“I have to be sure about something,” Luigi asked him again. “Are you a snitch or a double agent?”

“I can’t snitch on a group I haven’t officially joined yet, and I am not a double agent.” Technically, he was a triple one.

“Are you a mole?”

“Of course I’m not a mole, I’m human.”

There! Saved! He did it, he did it!

“Okay, I should work on my wording,” Luigi sighed but didn’t give up. “Are you, or do you intend, to relay information about us to another organization?”

“Well, yes, I intend to. Hell, I already did!”

Goddammit!

Okay.

Okay, third time's the charm.

Through timing and intelligence, Ryan had skillfully navigated through the chain of causality to avoid the fated question. He had put on the charm, befriended everyone, distracted the grunts with funny anecdotes. Now, the courier and Zanbato prepared to return to the Plymouth Fury, and go eat some delicious pizzas.

“Hey, Quicksave,” Luigi asked, as they took a few steps towards the car. “Before you go, there are a few questions I must ask every new recruit.”

“Luigi, seriously, please, don’t do it,” Ryan replied, his eyes pleading. “For your sake, don’t say this. It won’t end well, I swear it won’t—”

“Sorry, protocol. Are you a snitch?”

“Yes, yes, yes! Yes, I am! Is that what you want me to say, Luigi? Is that what you want me to say?”

Quicksave breathed deeply, fighting off his rising frustration.

“Luigi,” Ryan pointed a finger at the truth-teller, as everyone raised their weapons at the courier's face. “We’re going to have a problem, you and I.”

“Where’s Luigi?” Zanbato asked Grunt 1 when the truth-teller failed to show up at the harbor, leaving only the henchmen to deal with the operation. “Wasn’t he supposed to take care of the shipment?”

“Sorry, he was attacked yesterday night,” Gruntie said, carrying Luigi’s cell phone. Apparently, he would have to fill in for the Made Man. “He’s at the hospital right now, and he’ll be out of commission for a while.”

“What?” The news shocked Jamie, who clearly hadn’t been informed. “By whom?”

“Some crazy psychopath with a hockey mask and stick, from what I heard.”

“It’s a very dangerous sport, hockey,” Ryan said absentmindedly, looking at the sea. “I don’t recommend it.”

“Yeah, that was crazy,” Grunt 1 nodded. “Apparently Luigi returned home late for a party, you know, perfectly normal, he starts opening his home’s door and then BAM! Some Friday the 13th crazy jumps out of the shadows, breaks his jaw with a hockey stick, beats him up for a while, and then leaves.”

“Why?” Jamie almost chortled. “Why Luigi? Was it a robbery?”

“No, the maniac didn’t even take his money,” Grunt 1 replied. “Maybe it was a hate crime?”

“The attacker looked really, uh, passionate according to witnesses,” Gruntie said. “At least from what I heard.”

“Well, Luigi sleeps around a lot, a real homewrecker,” Grunt 2 pointed out, “Maybe it was a jealous boyfriend? It had to happen one day.”

“Or it could be the Meta.” Zanbato crossed his arms. “But then how did they learn where he lived?”

It actually took Ryan more time to find the hockey equipment than Luigi’s address. Nobody played that sport nowadays.

“Quicksave, you’re staying at a hotel right?” Jamie asked Ryan. “I think you should crash at my place for the night, just in case. The city isn’t safe at all”

“You don’t say,” Ryan replied.

After that, events happened as predicted. Jamie invited him home, they played poker, went to Vulcan’s factory, and Ryan saved the pandas from extinction.

Ryan’s mind had long entered auto-pilot, as he let his sense of timing guide him forward. The auto-pilot wasn’t really a sub-power, simply a state his conscious mind entered when he couldn’t be bothered to live through the same events over and over again. It was no different than daydreaming while repeating a mind-numbing task.

Humans were bound by the laws of causality. With a few exceptions, he constantly lived through an endless theater rehearsal. People held no mystery to him after a while, always reacting the same way to the exact same things; they forgot him and relearned the same information, over, and over again. They became machines, and Ryan the only human in the room.

The repetition would drive anyone insane.

But it was necessary suffering to reach the perfect ending and soon, it would finally end. Everything would turn right when Ryan found Len. He was certain of it.

His cellphone beeping snapped him back to reality, interrupting the flow of causality.

It took Ryan a second to remember when and where he was when he snapped back to consciousness. Extensive looping and repetition often eroded the Genome's perception of reality, especially when his power noticed an alteration in his personal timeline.

Ryan checked his phone, while Lanka had already left for Vulcan’s factory, the Panda laying defeated on the ground. The message involved a photo of Rust Town’s orphanage, intact, and a text below.

S: Psyshock taken care of. Children are safe.

Thanks for the tip.

Ryan lived for such surprises, good or bad.

When he noticed Pluto and her bodyguard talking with Zanbato, Ryan expected events to repeat until he met Vulcan. The Augusti’s underboss froze the exact same way upon meeting him, and said the exact same thing.

“You,” Pluto asked Quicksave.

“Moi?” Ryan answered, preparing to repeat the same conversation.

“Have we met before?”

This surprised Ryan, as he didn’t expect that answer. “Possibly, I’m unforgettable.”

“I’m sure of it, we already met,” Pluto replied, her tone turning from curious to confused. “Who are you?”

“Boss, what is it?” her bodyguard asked Pluto, while Lanka stood still next to Ryan. The underboss’ mere attention terrified her into silence.

“He’s marked,” Pluto said. “But I don’t remember him.”

...