同章对照

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.”

...

And shit! Did her power somehow mark him across time?

“Is something wrong, boss?” Jamie joined the conversation, carefully backing Ryan up with Ki-jung.

“Who is your new recruit, Zanbato?”

Ryan prepared to joke when Jamie invaded his personal space, putting a hand on his shoulder. You speak to her when talked to, he all but said out loud. “Quicksave,” Zanbato answered Pluto’s question in the courier’s place. “He’s a Violet. Time-stopper.”

“Not a Blue?” Pluto observed Ryan with an intense stare, as if trying to peer into his soul. The courier couldn’t explain why, but he felt a growing pressure around him. The air thickened, something weighing on his mind.

“Cancel would have noticed a memory alteration or infohazard,” Pluto’s female bodyguard pointed out. “Maybe your powers interfere with each other somehow?”

Pluto didn’t seem convinced, her eyes set on Ryan. The courier whistled and looked away innocently, while Zanbato came to his defense. “Quicksave may be odd, but he is reliable,” the Made Man said. “He helped us fight off Sarin yester—”

“What’s your name, Quicksave?” she asked Ryan, completely dismissing Zanbato’s words. “Your real name.”

“Oh, I’m Ryan!” he replied with mock reverence, alleviating the tension. “Ryan Romano. I’m immortal, but don’t tell anyone.”

“No one lives forever,” she replied coldly. “I’ve got places to be right now, but I will call you back soon to clear this up. Play stupid, play smart, run, or say no, and you will die.”

The way she threatened him… No, wait, that wasn’t a threat. That was a statement.

If Ryan didn’t follow her order, he would die. The end.

The courier and his group watched the underboss leave with her bodyguard in complete silence until they were out of sight. Nobody dared to speak up at first, so Ryan broke the ice. “So, who’s up for Chinese?” he asked.

“Shit,” Lanka said, letting out a breath of relief. “Blabbermouth, what the fuck did you do?”

“What didn’t I do?!” Ryan replied, just as confused. “Or would you prefer Italian?”

“This is serious, Quicksave,” Jamie said. “That woman is Pluto, Augustus’ sister and underboss. Her interest is not a good thing.”

“I suggest you follow her lead without question,” Ki-jung said, her face full of concern, “She can kill with a thought.”

“Why is she even here?” Lanka asked her team leader.

“The boss gave the go to hit the Meta-Gang hard,” Jamie replied, his arms crossed. “Vulcan will take command of the clean-up since she’s been itching to test her new weapons in the field, and Pluto loaned her the Killer Seven hit squad. I say it’s finally time we clean up the trash.”

“Especially after what they did to poor Luigi,” Ki-jung said with a frown. “To attack him in front of his own house… if you can’t feel safe at home anymore...”

“Are we sure that it’s the Meta who did that though?” Lanka asked, skeptical. “I mean, it was just a guy with a hockey cross. It if was a Meta, there should have been a lot more casualties.”

“It’s probably an unpowered junkie they paid off,” Jamie replied. “The Meta-Gang isn’t a big group. It would make sense for them to outsource their dirty work.”

Ryan listened to the discussion, trying to puzzle out the sequence of events. It appeared Shroud had followed through with his promise and stopped targeting the Augusti with assassinations. With no one to divert their attention, the criminal syndicate had decided to focus entirely on wiping out the Meta-Gang.

Ryan wasn’t sure how Pluto’s newfound interest in him would play out though. It could threaten his entire infiltration mission, and he had to figure out how she could identify him even after he altered the timeline.

Goddammit, every time he made progress, a new problem arose!

No, wait, it didn’t matter. Ryan only had to play along until Vulcan told him how to contact or reach Len. He didn’t have to stay with the Augusti longer than that. And if they tried to force him into one fetch quest after another…

Well, it wouldn’t end well for them.

They entered Vulcan’s factory next, with Zanbato lecturing Ryan on how he should talk to the Capo once more. Ryan barely paid attention, having already disregarded the advice the first time, but the tense meeting with Pluto made the courier reconsider how to treat with the mercurial Genius. With already one high-ranked Augusti suspecting him and his long-awaited meeting with Len on the line, there was no point in alienating another.

Even if he hated it, Quicksave would have to behave.

Ryan and co entered Vulcan’s workshop, the courier’s eyes immediately drawn to the enormous armor. It was odd to look at this enormous machine again after the Genius tried to murder Ryan with it.

Instead of teasing Vulcan about her height this time, Ryan focused entirely on the armor while Zanbato exchanged introductions with the Capo. Vulcan, however, quickly noticed Ryan’s interest in her work.

“Impressed yet?” she asked Ryan, clearly expecting him to flatter her.

“Interesting design, especially the miniature fusion reactor,” Ryan replied innocently. “But you should coat the joints with a protective, anti-shock layer. Someone might break them by applying selective pressure.”

“I thought of that,” she replied, a bit surprised by his insight. “But I haven’t found an alloy composite which may resist the intense movement friction without causing an arm-jamming. Considering its intended target, I favored speed over defense.”

Ryan remembered how Wyvern stomped on the machine last time but kept that amusing anecdote for himself. “Why not a plastic derivative then?”

Vulcan sat on her workbench, a flash of interest crossing her face. “Are you a Genius, Quicksave?”

“Not really, but I have experience with Genius-tech.” He absentmindedly tossed her the A-bomb. “And, well, pretty much everything.”

“Everything?” Wyvern’s nemesis observed the bomb with fascination. “Such a beautiful design...”

“Except ice-skating.” Now that he thought of it, Ryan really should dedicate a loop to mastering that skill, in case he had to fight Ghoul again. “You want to keep the bomb? Can I bribe you with it?”

“I can keep it?” By now, Vulcan looked like a child receiving a surprise Christmas present.

“Is that what love at first sight looks like?” Lanka mused with a deadpan face. “I thought it was a lie.”

“Careful with your tongue, Sphere,” Vulcan replied, keeping the bomb. “Quicksave, I want you in my division. You start tomorrow.”

Wow wow wow, she was skipping a lot of steps there! Jamie immediately tried to defend his imaginary purity. “I thought he might do well with Mercury,” he cleared his throat, “and Pluto wants to check up on him. She doesn't like him.”

“Pluto?” Vulcan shrugged. “She’s a paranoid bitch, but I know how to handle her. She didn’t even want me on the team when I joined, and yet, here I am. Don’t worry about her, Quicksave, I’ll cover you.”

Was she actually being nice? The contrast with the short-fuse, violent criminal who tried to murder Ryan a few loops ago couldn’t be clearer.

“As for Mercury, I scouted Quicksave first, and he’ll be wasted on minion work,” the Genius added with smug disdain, brushing Jamie off.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m not interested in long-term employment,” Ryan replied. “I’m looking for Len, black hair, blue eyes, Marxist-Leninist.”

“The Underdiver.”

“I know she has an undersea base and you’re in contact with her,” Ryan said, putting his hands behind his back. “If you could send me there, I would greatly appreciate it.”

“You’re well-informed,” Vulcan replied, before making a strange face. “Contact isn’t the term I would employ with her. We’re more like Genius penpals, trading tech sometimes. I can make a meeting happen, though not for free.”

Ryan thought she wanted him to invite for dinner as payment, but instead, she still ordered them to ruin Wyvern’s movie for petty revenge. Some things never changed.

Still, he looked around for hidden cameras or a bomb. Things couldn’t work out so well, could they?

“Come back tomorrow when the work is done and your trouble with Pluto is solved, Ryan,” Vulcan said. “I’ll give you your reward, and change your mind about the long-term employment part.”

The courier noticed she spoke to him on a first-name basis now.

Nothing better than an A-bomb to earn a woman's affection.

“That worked out well,” Lanka said when they left the factory, quite astonished. “I thought you would fuck this up somehow, blabbermouth, but she seems to like you.”

“Are you alright?” Jamie asked Ryan once they were out of the factory.

“Why the question, Yojimbo?” the courier asked back.

“You look subdued,” the swordsman pointed out. “I can’t say it’s a bad thing, but you seem to feel down, man.”

Sharp. In truth, Ryan didn’t feel so well because he was very close to reaching his goal. He had eliminated Shroud’s interference, things were moving smoothly, and unless Pluto decided to kill him outright, he should be able to meet back up with Len tomorrow. The path seemed clear.

He thought he would feel excitement, joy at having overcome all obstacles in the way, but Ryan couldn’t shake off a vague sentiment of unease. Like someone having trained all their life to climb Mount Everest, and having the summit in sight.

He was afraid of being disappointed.

到目前为止，奥古斯蒂路线一切顺利。

瑞恩如期见到了斩马刀，在港口揍了沙林一顿，现在又把同一段对话原封不动地重来了一遍，接下来就该去杰米家借宿了。海浪拍打着码头，一切都顺顺当当……

“有件事我得确认一下。”路易吉问信使，“你是告密者或者双重间谍吗？”

“这个嘛，其实我不站在任何人那边。”瑞恩答道，紧接着，嘴巴却自己动了起来，“不过，没错，我是嘉年华派来的卧底。”

……才怪。

在场所有人都转头看向他，紧张的沉默笼罩下来。喽啰们举起武器，斩马刀脸上的表情从震惊变成失望，最后化为暴怒。

“哎呀，不妙。”

---

好吧，学到了两件事。

第一，瑞恩恨真言者。他对这种人的痛恨，简直充满了激情。

第二，斩马刀能用那把激光剑把人切成刺身。从今往后，瑞恩再也没法用从前的眼光看待寿司了。

不过这次……这次会不一样。信使已经排练好了完美的误导性回答。路易吉的能力会强迫瑞恩说实话，却只会严格按照这位真言者的具体措辞来执行。

“有件事我得确认一下。”路易吉又问他，“你是告密者或者双重间谍吗？”

“我还没正式加入一个团体，自然也就谈不上出卖它的情报。而且我不是双重间谍。”严格来说，他是三重间谍。

“你是鼹鼠吗？”

“我当然不是鼹鼠，我是人。”

成了！逃过一劫！他成功了，成功了！

“好吧，我得改进一下措辞。”路易吉叹了口气，却没有放弃，“你是否正在向其他组织传递我们的情报，或者有这样的打算？”

“嗯，没错，我是有这个打算。妈的，我都已经传过了！”

他妈的！

---

好吧。

好吧，第三次总该走运了。

靠着精准的时机把握和聪明才智，瑞恩巧妙地在因果链中穿行，避开了那个命中注定的问题。他使出浑身魅力，跟所有人交上朋友，用趣闻轶事分散了喽啰们的注意力。现在，信使和斩马刀正准备回到普利茅斯“狂怒”上，去吃美味的披萨。

“嘿，快存。”他们刚朝车子走了几步，路易吉就开口了，“走之前，有几个问题，每个新人我都得问一遍。”

“路易吉，说真的，求你了，别问。”瑞恩眼神恳切地说道，“为了你自己好，别把这话说出来。不会有好结果的，我发誓，绝不会——”

“抱歉，规矩如此。你是告密者吗？”

“是，是，是！没错，我就是！这就是你想听我说的，是吧，路易吉？这就是你想听的？”

快存深吸一口气，压下不断上涌的烦躁。

“路易吉。”众人纷纷举起武器对准信使的脸，而瑞恩伸出一根手指，指着真言者，“咱俩这梁子，算是结下了。”

---

“路易吉呢？”真言者没有在港口露面，只剩一帮手下负责这次行动，斩马刀便向喽啰一号问道，“这批货不是该由他来照管吗？”

“抱歉，他昨晚遇袭了。”小喽啰手里拿着路易吉的手机。看来，他得代这位正式成员的班了。“他现在在医院里，有一阵子没法干活了。”

“什么？”杰米大吃一惊，显然还没人通知他。“谁干的？”

“听说是个戴着冰球面罩、拎着冰球杆的疯癫变态。”

“冰球这运动，很危险的。”瑞恩望着大海，心不在焉地说，“我不推荐。”

“是啊，真够疯的。”喽啰一号点点头，“听说路易吉那天有个派对，很晚才回家，你懂的，这很正常。他刚要开家门，砰！一个《十三号星期五》里的那种疯子就从暗处蹿了出来，一冰球杆打断了他的下巴，又揍了他一顿，然后就走了。”

“为什么？”杰米差点笑出声，“为什么偏偏找上路易吉？抢劫吗？”

“不是，那疯子连他的钱都没拿。”喽啰一号答道，“没准是仇恨犯罪？”

“按目击者的说法，袭击者看着确实，呃，打得很有激情。”小喽啰说，“至少我听到的是这样。”

“路易吉到处睡人，拆散别人的家庭可是一把好手。”喽啰二号指出，“也许是谁的男朋友吃醋了？早晚有这一天。”

“也可能是超能帮。”斩马刀抱起双臂，“但他们是怎么知道他住哪儿的？”

实际上，瑞恩找冰球装备花的时间，比找路易吉的地址还长。如今都没人玩那种运动了。

“快存，你现在住酒店，对吧？”杰米问瑞恩，“今晚还是去我家凑合一晚吧，以防万一。这城里一点都不安全。”

“可不是嘛。”瑞恩答道。

---

此后，事情都如预料中一般发展。杰米请他回家，他们打了扑克，去了伏尔甘的工厂，瑞恩还拯救了熊猫，使其免于灭绝。

瑞恩的大脑早已进入自动驾驶状态，任由自己的时机感引导他前进。这种自动驾驶其实算不上什么附属能力，只是当他懒得一遍遍经历同样的事情时，意识会进入的一种状态。跟重复一项令人麻木的工作时开小差没什么两样。

人类受因果律束缚。除了少数例外，他始终活在一场无休无止的戏剧排练中。时间一长，别人对他就毫无神秘可言了，同样的事情总会引出同样的反应；他们忘记他，再重新获知同样的信息，一遍，又一遍。他们成了机器，屋里只有瑞恩一个人还是人。

这样的重复足以逼疯任何人。

可要抵达完美结局，这些苦就非受不可，而且很快，这一切终于要结束了。只要瑞恩找到蕾恩，一切就会好起来。他对此深信不疑。

手机的一声提示音将他拉回现实，打断了流淌的因果。

回过神后，瑞恩花了一秒钟才想起自己此刻身在何时、何地。大量的循环与重复，常常会侵蚀这名基因者的现实感，尤其是当他的能力察觉到个人时间线发生变化时。

瑞恩查看手机，此时兰卡已经动身前往伏尔甘的工厂，熊猫则败下阵来，躺在地上。消息里附着一张锈镇孤儿院的照片，建筑完好无损，下面还有文字。

S：心震已解决。孩子们安全。

多谢提供线索。

瑞恩活着，就指望这些意外了，不论好坏。

注意到普鲁托和她的保镖正在与斩马刀说话时，瑞恩还以为，见到伏尔甘之前，事情都会照旧重演。奥古斯蒂的这位二把手一见到他，便和之前一样愣住了，说出的话也一模一样。

“你？”普鲁托向快存开口。

“我？”瑞恩应道，已经准备好把同一段对话再说一遍。

“我们以前见过？”

这句话出乎意料，瑞恩不禁有些惊讶。“有可能，我这人见过就忘不掉。”

“我很确定，我们见过。”普鲁托答道，语气从好奇转为困惑，“你是谁？”

“老大，怎么了？”她的保镖问道。兰卡则一动不动地站在瑞恩身边。这位二把手光是把注意力投向这里，就吓得她不敢说话。

“他身上有标记。”普鲁托说，“可我不记得他。”

……

妈的！她的能力莫非能跨越时间，在他身上留下标记？

“有什么问题吗，老大？”杰米加入了对话，和基贞一起小心地替瑞恩撑腰。

“你这个新人是谁，斩马刀？”

瑞恩正要开个玩笑，杰米却凑到他跟前，一只手搭上了他的肩膀。她问你，你才开口。他就差没把这句话直接说出来了。“快存。”斩马刀代信使回答了普鲁托的问题，“他是紫系。能暂停时间。”

“不是蓝系？”普鲁托目光灼灼地打量着瑞恩，仿佛要看透他的灵魂。信使说不出缘由，却能感觉到周遭的压力越来越大。空气变得黏稠，有什么东西压在了他的心头。

“如果是记忆篡改或者信息危害，消除者会察觉到的。”普鲁托的女保镖指出，“也许你们的能力以某种方式互相干扰了？”

普鲁托似乎并不信服，视线始终钉在瑞恩身上。信使吹起口哨，一脸无辜地望向别处，斩马刀则出面为他辩护。“快存是有点怪，但很可靠。”这位正式成员说，“他帮我们击退了沙林，就在昨——”

“你叫什么名字，快存？”她问瑞恩，完全无视了斩马刀的话，“你的真名。”

“哦，我叫瑞恩！”他故作恭敬地答道，缓和了一下紧张的气氛，“瑞恩·罗马诺。我是不死之身，不过别告诉别人。”

“没人能永远活下去。”她冷冷地回答，“我现在还有别的地方要去，不过很快会叫你过来，把这件事弄清楚。装傻也好，耍小聪明也好，逃跑或者拒绝也好，你都会死。”

她威胁他的那种口气……不，等等，那不是威胁。那是在陈述事实。

瑞恩不听她的命令，就会死。没了。

信使一行人沉默地目送这位二把手和她的保镖离开，直到两人消失在视野之外。起初没人敢开口，于是瑞恩打破了僵局。“那么，谁想吃中餐？”他问。

“妈的。”兰卡如释重负地吐出一口气，“大嘴巴，你他妈到底干了什么？”

“我还有什么没干过？！”瑞恩同样摸不着头脑，“还是说，你们更想吃意大利菜？”

“这事很严重，快存。”杰米说，“那个女人是普鲁托，奥古斯都的姊妹，也是他的二把手。被她盯上可不是什么好事。”

“我建议她让你做什么，你就做什么，别多问。”基贞满脸担忧地说，“她一个念头就能杀人。”

“她怎么会在这里？”兰卡问自己的队长。

“老大批准了，要狠狠收拾超能帮。”杰米抱着双臂答道，“这次清剿由伏尔甘指挥，她早就手痒，想在实战中测试新武器了。普鲁托把杀手七人组也借给了她。要我说，早就该把那些垃圾清理干净了。”

“尤其是他们还把可怜的路易吉害成那样。”基贞皱着眉说，“居然在他自己家门口袭击他……要是连家里都不安全了……”

“不过，能确定那是超能帮干的吗？”兰卡怀疑地问，“我是说，那不就是个拿着冰球杆的家伙吗？要真是超能帮，伤亡应该大得多才对。”

“八成是他们花钱雇的普通瘾君子，没超能力的那种。”杰米答道，“超能帮没多少人，把脏活外包出去也说得通。”

瑞恩一边听着他们讨论，一边试图理清事情的前因后果。看来裹尸布遵守了承诺，停止了针对奥古斯蒂的暗杀。没人分散注意力后，这个犯罪集团便决定集中全力，剿灭超能帮。

但普鲁托突然对他产生兴趣会引出什么后果，瑞恩还拿不准。这可能危及他整个潜入任务，而且他必须弄清楚，为什么自己改变了时间线，她却仍能认出他。

妈的，每次刚有点进展，就又冒出一个新问题！

不，等等，这不重要。瑞恩只需要配合下去，等伏尔甘告诉他如何联系上蕾恩，或者怎么去找她。之后他就没必要继续留在奥古斯蒂了。要是他们想逼他没完没了地做跑腿任务……

那他们可不会有什么好下场。

接着，他们走进伏尔甘的工厂，斩马刀又一次叮嘱瑞恩，该怎么跟这位头目说话。瑞恩几乎没听，毕竟头一回他就把这些建议全当成了耳旁风。但刚才与普鲁托那场剑拔弩张的会面，让信使重新考虑起该如何对待这位喜怒无常的天才。奥古斯蒂已经有一位高层在怀疑他了，没必要再得罪另一个，免得盼了这么久，到头来还是见不到蕾恩。

就算再不情愿，快存也得规矩一点。

瑞恩一行人走进伏尔甘的工作间，信使的目光立刻被那副巨大的装甲吸引了过去。这位天才曾试图用它杀死瑞恩，如今再看见这台庞然大物，感觉颇为古怪。

这次瑞恩没有拿伏尔甘的身高开玩笑，而是在斩马刀和这位头目互作介绍时，一门心思地研究装甲。不过，伏尔甘很快就注意到了他对自己作品的兴趣。

“佩服了吗？”她问瑞恩，显然在等他奉承。

“设计很有意思，尤其是那个微型聚变反应堆。”瑞恩一脸无辜地答道，“不过你应该在关节上加一层抗冲击的防护涂层。有人可以对特定部位施压，破坏这些关节。”

“我考虑过。”她对他的眼力略感惊讶，“可我还没找到一种合金复合材料，既能承受剧烈运动产生的摩擦，又不会导致机械臂卡死。考虑到它预定要对付的目标，我优先选择了速度，而不是防御。”

瑞恩想起上次双足飞龙是怎么踩踏这台机器的，不过没把这桩趣事说出来。“那为什么不试试塑料衍生材料？”

伏尔甘坐到工作台上，脸上闪过一丝兴趣。“你是天才吗，快存？”

“算不上，不过我对天才科技有些经验。”他随手把原子弹抛给了她，“嗯，基本上其他什么事，我也都有经验。”

“什么都有？”双足飞龙的死对头着迷地端详着炸弹，“这设计真美……”

“除了滑冰。”说起来，瑞恩真该专门花一轮循环掌握这项技能，为日后可能再跟食尸鬼交手做准备。“你想留着这颗炸弹？我能拿它贿赂你吗？”

“可以给我？”这会儿，伏尔甘看起来简直像个意外收到圣诞礼物的小孩。

“这就是一见钟情的样子？”兰卡面无表情地说道，“我还以为那都是骗人的。”

“管好你的嘴，球体。”伏尔甘收下炸弹，回了一句，“快存，我要你来我这边。明天上班。”

哇，哇，哇，她这中间跳过了多少步骤！杰米立刻试图捍卫瑞恩那份虚构的贞操。“我觉得他去墨丘利那边可能更合适。”他清了清嗓子，“而且普鲁托想查查他。她不喜欢他。”

“普鲁托？”伏尔甘耸耸肩，“那是个疑神疑鬼的婊子，不过我知道怎么对付她。我刚来时，她还不想让我加入呢，结果我不还是在这儿。别担心她，快存，我罩着你。”

她这是在对他示好？几轮之前，她还是个一点就炸、想要杀死瑞恩的暴力罪犯，这反差简直不能更鲜明了。

“至于墨丘利，快存是我先看中的，让他去干喽啰的活儿简直是浪费。”天才又得意而轻蔑地补了一句，把杰米的话挡了回去。

“谢谢你的好意，不过我没兴趣长期受雇。”瑞恩答道，“我在找蕾恩，黑头发，蓝眼睛，马克思列宁主义者。”

“深潜者。”

“我知道她有个海底基地，也知道你跟她有联系。”瑞恩把双手背到身后，“如果你能把我送过去，我会非常感激。”

“你的消息很灵通。”伏尔甘答道，随即露出一个古怪的表情，“不过，跟她的关系，我不会用‘有联系’来形容。我们更像是天才笔友，偶尔交换一下技术。我能安排你们见面，但不是免费的。”

瑞恩还以为，她想要的报酬是让他请吃晚饭。结果她还是命令他们去毁掉双足飞龙的电影，图的无非是一点小心眼的报复。有些事永远不会变。

不过，他还是环顾四周，搜寻隐藏的摄像头或炸弹。事情哪能这么顺利，是吧？

“明天回来找我，瑞恩。到时活儿得干完，你跟普鲁托的麻烦也得解决。”伏尔甘说，“我会给你报酬，也会让你在长期受雇这件事上改变主意。”

信使注意到，她现在已经直接叫他的名字了。

要赢得女人的好感，什么都比不上一颗原子弹。

“这事还挺顺利。”离开工厂时，兰卡颇为惊讶地说道，“我还以为你总会想出个法子把事情搞砸呢，大嘴巴。不过她好像挺喜欢你。”

出了工厂，杰米问瑞恩：“你还好吗？”

“怎么这么问，用心棒？”信使反问。

“你看起来收敛了不少。”剑士指出，“我不能说这是坏事，不过，兄弟，你好像挺低落的。”

真敏锐。事实上，瑞恩心情不佳，正是因为他离目标已经太近了。他排除了裹尸布的干扰，事情进展顺利，只要普鲁托不决定直接杀了他，他明天应该就能跟蕾恩重逢。前路似乎已畅通无阻。

他原以为，扫清了路上的所有障碍，自己会兴奋，会喜悦，可瑞恩心头却始终萦绕着一丝挥之不去的不安。就像有人为攀登珠穆朗玛峰训练了一辈子，如今山顶已近在眼前。

他害怕失望。