同章对照

“And right in front of us, you can see Rust Town’s famous orphanage, where the most dangerous creatures in the world are raised in the wild,” Ryan said as he finished giving his team a tour of the area, parking the Plymouth near the entrance. “Human children.”

“You exaggerate,” Wardrobe chuckled, looking through the window. Len was waiting with Sarah and another boy near the orphanage’s entrance, the kids playing with a labrador. Unlike the previous loop, the Genius hadn’t put on her diving armor yet, sticking to her brown suit and water rifle.

“I think you underestimate these creatures,” Ryan argued. “They eat baby candies, and they listen to loud music at night.”

“Why are we here exactly?” Atom Cat asked from the back.

“Well, according to my intel, the Meta-Gang intends to target the place today,” Ryan said, though he didn’t mention which source. His words caused everyone to look at him in alarm. “They will abduct the residents unless we drive them off.”

“They intend to attack children?” Wardrobe’s adorable face had turned white from the horror.

“I would like to say I’m surprised, but I’m not,” Felix grumbled.

“Don’t worry, Sifu, we will save them!” The Panda said with enthusiasm, a hand on his chest. “We will break these villains like… like bamboo!”

“We will need to work on your puns, arrogant young disciple,” Ryan said as the group stepped out of the car, instantly catching the children’s attention.

“Oh, it’s Wardrobe!” Little Sarah’s eyes widened upon recognizing the heroine. It seemed that while she wasn’t as well-known as Wyvern, the fashion designer had her fans.

“Where, where?” another child asked, rushing out of the orphanage alongside half a dozen of the tiny devils.

“Riri,” Len whispered softly, while the children swarmed the heroes, most asking for Wardrobe’s autograph. The Panda looked really jealous of her fame, which he coveted for himself.

“Guys, this is Len, alias Underdiver,” Ryan introduced them. “She’s a friend. Shortie, this is Atom Kitty, my new BFF Wardrobe, and Superpanda. He can fly and shoot lasers from his eyes.”

“Atom Kitty, huh? Never heard that one before, Quickie.” Atom Cat crossed his arms while he observed Len. “Isn’t she a criminal though? I heard Vulcan paid the Private Security to have her released.”

Len immediately tensed up, looking at Atom Cat suspiciously. “Your corporate overlords are the real criminals,” she replied harshly, waving a hand at Rust Town. “This… this is their work.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Felix admitted with sheepish embarrassment. “You’re taking care of the place?”

“Someone has to.”

“Quicksave, you monster!” Wardrobe glared at him, having finished writing autographs for the kids. “I’m so disappointed in you.”

“About what?” Ryan asked with a frown.

“You can’t let your friend dress like this!” Wardrobe ranted, as she approached a very surprised Len and touched every part of her outfit with her soft fingers. “Her costume is hideous!”

Clearly, Len didn’t know how to react to this. “I’m, what, what…”

“The colors are all wrong, it stands for nothing, and it’s not even form-fitting!” Wardrobe started touching Len’s breasts, much to her dismay. “Look at her beautiful figure! All that potential, wasted!”

“S-stop please,” Len pleaded, as if attacked by an over-affectionate puppy.

“I’m sorry, darling, I can’t look the other way.” Wardrobe removed her hands from the Genius and adopted a pose reminding Ryan of the Rodin’s Thinker statue. She devoured Len with her eyes, the poor Genius now as red as a tomato. “We need silver and blue, with scales…”

“What’s your power?” Little Sarah asked the Panda.

“Oh, I can become the best creature in the world!” The Green Genome immediately transformed into his animal shape, much to the kids’ delight. “Overpanda overdrive!”

“It’s a bear!” a little girl squealed, as the Panda lifted her on his shoulders. “It’s a bear!”

“So soft and warm,” another boy said, as he touched the beast’s fur.

“Oh!” Little Sarah looked up at Felix. “Can you transform into a cat too?”

“No,” Felix replied with a gruff tone.

“But your name—”

“I like cats, that is all.”

“You are a huge disappointment,” Little Sarah snarked back at him, before giving in to the Panda’s cuteness. The animal eventually laid on his back, letting the children use his belly as a trampoline.

The Panda had found his power’s true purpose. Entertaining children.

Ryan would have found the scene quite funny, had his mind not been distracted by something else.

The orange is in the hen house… It was a joke phrase that Ryan told people when they asked details about his power. But he hadn’t used it once in this entire loop! The fact someone sent it to him could only mean one thing.

Somewhere, somebody remembered.

No, no, he shouldn’t keep his hopes up, in case they ended up dashed. For all he knew the Chronoradio could have broadcast that message. But in case someone did remember, who could it be?

Ryan remembered using that sentence three times. Once in the Bakuto during an early loop, once to Shroud when he asked his power, and once with Livia. It could have also been Jasmine, but why would she fake amnesia?

Livia, though, had seemed to recognize Ryan’s name. He was also pretty sure she had a second power like her father, one he didn’t fully understand yet. For all the courier knew, it could allow her to keep her memories from one loop to another.

Rah, his thoughts raised more questions than answers!

Ryan could ask the poor kitten for confirmation, but he had the feeling it would backfire. If it was Livia, Felix would ask why the courier received messages from Augustus’ daughter; he might mistake the time-traveler for a mafia mole, and ruin everything.

Children eager for an autograph managed to distract Wardrobe long enough for Len to escape her clutches. “Riri,” the Genius whispered to the courier. “Do you have a plan?”

“My idea to deal with Psyshock was a flop,” Ryan admitted. He thought Wardrobe could cosplay as Cancel and finish off the bodyjacker, but clearly, it wouldn’t happen. “We’ll have to go with yours.”

“I hope it will work,” she said, raising her water gun. “I never tried it before.”

Her bubble prison worked fine against Reload in the previous loop, so Ryan didn’t doubt its effectiveness. Unless of course, Psyshock had an automatic suicide button to avoid capture. The Psycho didn’t use any against Cancel, but she was nullifying his body-transfer back then.

Automatic triggers were nasty things. The courier developed one in his early loops, but he never found the right balance. One of his devices, meant to protect him against mind-readers, ended up mistaking his ‘saves’ as memory manipulation attempts. In another case, a chest bomb kept detonating at inopportune times. Eventually, Ryan gave up on the idea altogether, finding it more trouble than it was theoretically worth.

Had Psypsy reached the same conclusion? He couldn’t tell until they crossed that bridge.

Which, unfortunately, wouldn’t take that long. Ryan noticed Psyshock’s black, rusted minibus drive towards the orphanage, quickly followed by a second one.

The Meta-Gang had brought reinforcements.

He should have expected it. Without Ghoul to serve as a smokescreen, the Land probably noticed a large group of Genomes around the orphanage. Hopefully, Adam would keep his heavy hitters in reserve to protect the Junkyard, rather than send them all to the orphanage.

Ryan could do without another fight with Acid Rain. Especially since she murdered Felix the Cat the first time they met.

“It’s them,” Felix guessed, tensing up. “The Meta.”

“Go inside, right now,” Len told the children. “Hide in the basement, and don’t come out until I say so.”

“But ma—” Little Sarah protested.

“Do as I say,” the Genius asked more firmly, raising her water gun.

“Don’t worry, sweetie,” Wardrobe said with a reassuring wink. “Heroes always win.”

Unless they took a bullet to the head, but Ryan hoped it wouldn’t come to that. The children fled into the orphanage, the other Genomes preparing themselves up for a fight.

“Alright, guys, let me do the talking until bullets start flying,” Ryan said, stealthily grabbing a device from the back of his Plymouth Fury and hiding it inside his suit. He also put on the Fisty Brothers, determined to personally introduce them to Psyshock's jaw. “No matter what you hear, try to keep calm.”

“Y-yes, Sifu,” the Panda said, fidgeting in place. Though he tried to put on a brave front, Ryan could tell the hero wannabe didn’t have any experience whatsoever.

“What’s this?” Atom Cat asked, eyeing Ryan’s suit. “Some ultimate weapon?”

“You can say that,” Ryan replied, preparing himself for his performance as the Meta-Gang parked in front of the orphanage. “It’s a wiretap.”

Psyshock stepped out of his car first, followed by Mongrel and Mosquito. The other minibus stopped nearby, two more Psychos emerging from it. A reptilian humanoid, and a bipedal jaguar.

Ryan remembered them both from his suicide run. He had run the lizard over on his way to the bunker, while the jaguar-man, Rakshasa, could summon gremlins.

The two groups were evenly matched, or so it seemed.

“Little Cesare.” No matter the number of loops, the possessive way Psyshock said it always sent a shiver down Ryan’s spine. “And the delightful Len. It’s quite the reunion.”

“I told you, I smelled a pack of Genomes,” Mosquito said, cracking his knuckles. The other Meta seemed to barely restrain themselves. Mongrel showed his teeth, the lizard guy’s tail whipped the ground, and Rakshasa prepared to summon gremlins for support. “Guess it's blood harvest time.”

“Yes, though we only came for the children in that shelter, this is a good day indeed,” Psyshock said.

“Then you will have to explain that to Don Hector,” Ryan lied, channeling Blackthorn’s corporate arrogance. “He’s not happy with you already, so I wouldn’t recommend it.”

The sentence made Psyshock flinch.

It was an epic poker bluff, but Ryan knew he could still win with a weak hand. They didn’t call his style loose-aggressive for nothing.

The Meta glanced at their leader, who carefully examined Ryan. He sensed something was wrong, but the fact he didn’t immediately call out the courier’s bluff meant he had hit the mark.

“I did not have the pleasure of meeting with any Hector,” Psyshock said, suspicious.

“Oh well, in that case, we’ll cut off the juice,” Ryan lied as easily as he breathed. “If you don’t deliver results soon, you can say goodbye to your knockoff supply. These crates and the drones were a big investment on the big man’s part, and he doesn’t do charity.”

Now, that took Psyshock aback, because Ryan should have no way to know this information. He could have spied on them, but the knockoffs and drones were safely hidden inside the bunker. Most probably, the supplier himself had provided the information to Ryan… or he could time-travel.

Guess which Psypsy found more likely?

“Why are they here?” Psyshock glanced at Ryan’s team. All of them had tensed up, while Atom Cat seemed to brim with cold rage.

“The boss was worried you would go off-the-leash, and we would have to teach you a lesson.” Ryan’s fingers twitched dangerously. “Will we have to, Psypsy?”

The key to a good bluff was confidence. You had to seem so arrogantly sure of yourself that your opponent doubted his own judgment. Steve Jobs called it a reality distortion field, and it wasn’t that far from the truth.

The Meta-Gang’s second-in-command looked at Ryan dead in the eyes, the tension palpable. Their respective groups prepared themselves for a fight, for now was the moment of truth. The courier stood firm, with the arrogance of someone convinced he would always get his way.

And thankfully, Psyshock caved in.

“No,” he said, before pointing at a spot far from the two groups. “Here, let us discuss things far from unwelcome ears.”

Ryan glanced at his team and nodded at them. Hopefully, they could keep quiet until things inevitably escalated.

The two nemeses’ walked away from their respective groups, at the edge of the orphanage’s courtyard. “Explain yourself,” Psyshock cut straight to business. “Mr. Manada specifically asked Adam and I not to reveal his involvement, even to our own men. What changed? Why did he send you rather than go through the usual channels?”

“Somebody talked,” Ryan replied, faking annoyance with the Psycho. "The old channels are no longer secure."

“It wasn’t us,” Psyshock declared. “As we told your employer when we approached him, we are very careful about security. If there is a leak, it comes from your side.”

“Yeah, sure,” Ryan said while faking heavy skepticism. He noted that the Meta had approached Dynamis first, rather than the other way around.

“I personally altered the memories of anyone involved in our operations, to minimize risks,” Psyshock insisted, forced on the defensive. “The leak does not come from us. Is that why you brought these people? So I can check their memories?”

“No, they don’t like it, but they will keep their mouth shut,” Ryan lied. “Why is the big boss paying you off generously to visit orphanages? Don’t tell me the fatass wants some chicken nuggets for dinner?”

Hannifat Lecter had been cunning enough to keep his mouth shut in the previous loops, at least until he had blown up the city. The courier had the feeling Psyshock wouldn’t share his boss’ self-control. He was too arrogant and confident in his immortality.

“We intend to use these goblins as soldiers against the Augusti,” Psyshock lied as he breathed. “I assure you, we are making progress. We pushed them out of this district and started hitting their suppliers—”

“Barmen and normies,” Ryan replied disdainfully. “Where is the A-material? The Killer Seven? Pluto, Neptune? Looks like you’re underperforming, and company divisions who don’t bring results… get downsized.”

Okay, maybe he was laying it a bit too thick with the corporate metaphors, but it seemed to work. Psyshock lying about Mechron’s bunker also meant that Hector Manada probably didn’t know about it.

The more he listened, the more Ryan saw the bigger picture. Adam had learned of the bunker somehow, and came to Rust Town to unearth it. But since he needed time to do so quietly, the Meta’s leader had approached Hector Manada to secure a knockoff Elixir supply and pacify his crew of addicts. Adam promised to target the Augusti on Dynamis' behalf, without ever intending to deliver.

These Psycho bastards had planned to overthrow their ‘employers’ from the start.

“As I told Mr. Manada, we lack the numbers to move carelessly,” Psyshock argued, trying to save the knockoff connection. The Meta-Gang probably expected to take weeks to fully conquer the bunker, and they couldn’t jeopardize their juice supply until then. “We need to gather more information before we can make a strategic move.”

Ryan raised three fingers. “Three days,” he said. “You have three days to deliver results.”

“Three days?” Surprise broke through Psyshock’s emotionless tone. “That is way too short.”

“You have three days to deliver,” Ryan repeated boldly, “or the deal is off.”

Now, he was mostly trolling Psyshock before the coup-de-grace, but he hoped to make him panic enough to blurt out one last juicy bit of info. And he had guessed right.

“I have made considerable progress on the other project,” Psyshock argued. “If Mr. Manada was willing to extend that period, I could show him.”

The second project? Now, Ryan couldn’t be sure about it, but he could infer its nature from various elements compiled from the previous loops. “The brain scan?” the courier asked, hoping he had guessed right.

“Your technology, while primitive, is compatible with my power,” Psyshock said, regaining his composure. “I can easily copy a mind from one brain to another, as long as they are closely related.”

As Ryan had thought. He had wondered why the Dynamis/Meta alliance quickly collapsed in the previous loop with Psyshock’s death, but now it made sense. With the Meta’s failures against the Augusti and the brain-manipulator's demise, Hector Manada probably thought he should just scrap that alliance and cover his tracks. “How closely?”

“Clones would be the best, but we can work with close relatives. Siblings, children...” Psyshock marked a short pause. “Even Genomes.”

“Careful, there,” Ryan said, though he would make sure Enrique would hear of this. “What you imply could be taken the wrong way.”

“I am simply saying that it is an option, if your employer is willing to entertain it.”

And like that, Psyshock had given the courier everything he needed.

Ryan looked at the skies, hoping to see flying armor. Now was time for Vulcan to show up, and turn it into a ménage-à-trois. Any minute now. Any minute now…

Damn, was it the higher number of Genomes involved that made Jasmine change her mind? At least, Ryan was pretty sure he could rely on someone else.

“Was that enough for you, Mr. Windshield?” Ryan said, glancing at an empty spot.

Psyshock froze in confusion, until a voice answered out of nowhere, “Yes.”

“Oh well,” Ryan said, glancing back at Psyshock, who started to realize he had been tricked. “Psypsy, you probably don’t remember, but there’s something I promised you last time we met. And Quicksave always delivers.”

Ryan punched Psyshock in the jaw by surprise, as all windows in the area exploded into glass shrapnel.

“就在我们正前方，各位可以看到锈镇著名的孤儿院。世界上最危险的生物在这里接受野生放养，”瑞恩说着，为队友们结束了这趟周边导览，把普利茅斯停在入口附近，“人类幼崽。”

“你太夸张了。”衣橱笑着望向窗外。蕾恩正和莎拉、另一个男孩等在孤儿院门口，两个孩子在逗一只拉布拉多犬。与上一轮不同，这位天才还没穿上潜水装甲，依旧是一身棕色套装，带着水枪。

“我觉得你小看这些生物了，”瑞恩反驳道，“他们吃小宝宝的糖果，还会在晚上大声放音乐。”

“所以我们到底为什么来这里？”原子猫在后座问道。

“根据我掌握的情报，超能帮打算今天对这里下手，”瑞恩说，却没提情报来源。他的话让所有人都惊愕地看向他。“要是不把他们赶走，这里的住户都会被绑架。”

“他们打算袭击孩子？”衣橱可爱的脸庞吓得一片煞白。

“我倒想说这让我很意外，可惜一点也不。”菲利克斯低声抱怨。

“别担心，师父，我们会救他们的！”熊猫一手按在胸前，热情高涨地说，“我们要把这些坏蛋掰断，就像……就像掰竹子一样！”

“狂妄的小徒弟，你这双关水平还得练练。”瑞恩说着，一行人下了车，立刻吸引了孩子们的注意。

“啊，是衣橱！”小莎拉认出了这位女英雄，眼睛一下子睁大了。看来这位时装设计师虽不如双足飞龙出名，也有自己的粉丝。

“哪儿呢，哪儿呢？”另一个孩子问着，和六个小魔头一起冲出了孤儿院。

“瑞瑞。”蕾恩轻轻唤了一声。孩子们把英雄团团围住，大多数都在找衣橱要签名。熊猫看上去着实眼红，他也巴不得自己有这样的名气。

“各位，这位是蕾恩，代号深潜者，”瑞恩给他们介绍，“是我的朋友。小矮个，这位是原子猫咪，我的新晋死党衣橱，还有超级熊猫。他会飞，眼睛还能发射激光。”

“原子猫咪，是吧？这称呼倒是头一回听见，快枪手。”原子猫抱起双臂，打量着蕾恩。“不过，她不是罪犯吗？我听说伏尔甘给私人安保队付了钱，才让他们放了她。”

蕾恩立刻绷紧了身体，狐疑地望着原子猫。“你们的企业主子才是真正的罪犯，”她不客气地回道，抬手朝锈镇一挥，“这……这都是他们干的。”

“这话没法反驳。”菲利克斯有些讪讪地承认。“这里是你在照料？”

“总得有人来做。”

“快存，你这个禽兽！”衣橱刚给孩子们签完名，便瞪向他。“我对你太失望了。”

“为什么？”瑞恩皱眉问道。

“你怎么能让朋友穿成这样！”衣橱一边数落，一边走到满脸惊讶的蕾恩面前，柔软的手指在她整身衣服上摸来摸去。“她这身打扮丑死了！”

蕾恩显然不知道该作何反应。“我，什么，什么……”

“配色全错，毫无寓意，连剪裁都不贴身！”衣橱开始摸蕾恩的胸，弄得她惊慌失措。“看看她这身材，多漂亮！全都浪费了！”

“请、请停下。”蕾恩哀求道，仿佛被一只过分热情的小狗缠住了。

“抱歉，亲爱的，我不能视而不见。”衣橱把手从这位天才身上收回来，摆出一个让瑞恩想起罗丹《思想者》雕像的姿势。她的目光恨不得将蕾恩生吞活剥，可怜的天才已经红得像个番茄。“得用银色和蓝色，再加上鳞片……”

“你的能力是什么？”小莎拉问熊猫。

“哦，我能变成全世界最棒的生物！”绿系基因者立刻变成了动物形态，逗得孩子们开心不已。“超熊猫，超速启动！”

“是熊！”熊猫把一个小女孩托到肩上，她兴奋地尖叫起来。“是熊！”

“好软，好暖和。”另一个男孩摸着他的皮毛说。

“哦！”小莎拉抬头望向菲利克斯。“那你也能变成猫吗？”

“不能。”菲利克斯粗声粗气地回答。

“可你的名字——”

“我喜欢猫，仅此而已。”

“你真让人失望。”小莎拉挖苦了他一句，便也拜倒在熊猫的可爱之下。最后，那只动物干脆仰面躺倒，让孩子们拿他的肚子当蹦床。

熊猫找到了自己能力的真正用途。哄孩子开心。

要不是另有心事，这一幕准能把瑞恩逗乐。

橘子在鸡窝里……每当有人追问他的能力细节，瑞恩就会拿这句玩笑话搪塞。可这一整个循环里，他一次也没说过！居然有人把这句话发给他，只可能意味着一件事。

在某个地方，有人还记得。

不，不，不能抱太大希望，免得到头来又落空。说不定这句话是时空收音机播出去的。但如果真有人记得，会是谁？

瑞恩记得自己说过三次这句话。一次是在早先某轮循环中的博徒，一次是裹尸布问起他的能力，还有一次是对莉维娅说的。也可能是贾丝敏，但她为什么要假装失忆？

至于莉维娅，她似乎确实听过瑞恩的名字。而且他相当确定，她和她父亲一样拥有第二种能力，只是他还没完全弄明白。说不定那种能力能让她把记忆从一个循环带到下一个。

啊，越想问题越多，答案却没几个！

瑞恩可以向那只可怜的小猫求证，但他总觉得这样会适得其反。要真是莉维娅，菲利克斯肯定会问，为什么奥古斯都的女儿会给一个信使发消息；他可能会把这个时间旅行者误认成黑手党的内应，那就全毁了。

急着要签名的孩子们拖住了衣橱，终于让蕾恩得以逃出她的魔爪。“瑞瑞，”天才低声问信使，“你有计划吗？”

“我那个对付心震的点子泡汤了。”瑞恩承认。他原本以为衣橱可以扮成消除者，干掉那个夺取别人身体的家伙，现在看来显然没戏。“只能按你的方案来。”

“希望能管用。”她举了举水枪。“我以前从没试过。”

上一轮里，她的气泡牢笼对付读档时效果很好，所以瑞恩并不怀疑它的效力。当然，前提是心震没有什么防止被俘的自动自杀按钮。那个疯魔面对消除者时并没用过这一招，但当时她封住了他的身体转移能力。

自动触发装置这玩意儿很讨厌。信使在早期循环里也开发过，却始终找不到恰当的平衡。有个装置原本是为了防范读心者，结果却把他的“存档”误判成了记忆操纵。还有一次，他胸口的炸弹总在不合时宜的时候爆炸。最后瑞恩索性彻底放弃了这个念头，觉得它惹来的麻烦，比理论上能提供的好处还多。

心心是不是也得出了同样的结论？只能到时候才知道了。

不幸的是，这一刻来得很快。瑞恩看见心震那辆锈迹斑斑的黑色小巴正驶向孤儿院，后面还紧跟着第二辆。

超能帮带了援兵。

他早该料到的。没有食尸鬼打掩护，大地多半注意到了孤儿院附近聚集的大批基因者。但愿亚当会把重火力留在废料场看家，而不是一股脑全派来孤儿院。

瑞恩可不想再跟酸雨打一场。尤其是他们第一次碰面时，她就杀了菲利克斯猫。

“是他们。”菲利克斯猜测道，身体绷紧。“超能帮。”

“进去，马上。”蕾恩对孩子们说，“躲到地下室里，我不叫你们就不准出来。”

“可是，妈——”小莎拉抗议。

“照我说的做。”天才举起水枪，语气更坚决了。

“别担心，小宝贝。”衣橱眨了眨眼，安抚她道，“英雄总会赢的。”

除非脑袋上挨了一枪，不过瑞恩希望不会走到那一步。孩子们逃进孤儿院，其他基因者纷纷做好了战斗准备。

“好了，各位，在子弹乱飞之前，交给我来谈。”瑞恩说着，悄悄从普利茅斯“狂怒”后面取出一个装置，藏进西装里。他还戴上了拳头兄弟，决心亲自让它们认识一下心震的下巴。“无论听到什么，都尽量保持冷静。”

“好、好的，师父。”熊猫站在原地，局促不安。虽然他竭力装出勇敢的样子，瑞恩还是看得出，这个英雄预备役根本没有半点经验。

“那是什么？”原子猫盯着瑞恩的西装问，“某种终极武器？”

“可以这么说。”瑞恩答道。超能帮在孤儿院门前停了车，他也准备好登台表演。“是窃听器。”

心震第一个下车，杂种和蚊子紧随其后。另一辆小巴停在附近，又有两个疯魔走了下来：一个爬行动物模样的人形生物，还有一头双足行走的美洲豹。

瑞恩记得，在自杀的那一轮里，他见过这两个家伙。去地堡的路上，他开车碾过了那只蜥蜴；而那个美洲豹人，罗刹，则能召唤小魔怪。

两边势均力敌，至少看起来如此。

“小切萨雷。”无论经历多少次循环，心震说这话时那股占有欲总让瑞恩脊背发寒。“还有可爱的蕾恩。真是一场难得的重聚。”

“我就说吧，我闻到了一群基因者。”蚊子把指节掰得咔咔响。其他超能帮成员似乎也快按捺不住了。杂种龇着牙，那蜥蜴模样的家伙用尾巴抽打地面，罗刹则准备召唤小魔怪助阵。“看来到收血的时候了。”

“是啊，虽然我们只是来接那间收容所里的孩子，不过今天倒真是个好日子。”心震说。

“那你就得去跟埃克托阁下解释了。”瑞恩扯起谎来，把黑棘那股企业高管的傲慢学了个十足。“他本来就对你们不太满意，我劝你最好别这么做。”

这句话让心震一怔。

这绝对是一次史诗级的牌桌诈唬，但瑞恩知道，就算手里是烂牌，他照样能赢。他那套打法被称为松凶，可不是没有道理的。

超能帮的几个人看向带头的心震，而他正仔细审视瑞恩。他察觉到了不对劲，但没有立刻揭穿信使的诈唬，就说明瑞恩说中了。

“我不曾有幸结识什么埃克托。”心震疑心重重地说。

“哦，那行，我们这就断了你们的药水。”瑞恩撒谎如同呼吸一样自然。“要是再不拿出点成果，你们就跟仿制灵药的供应说再见吧。那几箱东西和无人机可是大老板下的重本，他又不是做慈善的。”

这回心震真吃了一惊，因为瑞恩本不可能知道这些情报。他或许监视过他们，但仿制灵药和无人机都好端端地藏在地堡里。最有可能的解释，是供应商本人把情报告诉了瑞恩……或者，他能穿越时间。

猜猜心心觉得哪种更有可能？

“他们为什么会在这里？”心震看了眼瑞恩的队友。他们全都绷紧了身体，原子猫更是像压着满腔冰冷的怒火。

“老板担心你们挣断狗绳，所以我们可能得给你们一点教训。”瑞恩的手指动了动，透着危险的意味。“需要我们动手吗，心心？”

诈唬成功的关键就是自信。你得显得傲慢而笃定，笃定到让对手开始怀疑自己的判断。史蒂夫·乔布斯称之为现实扭曲力场，这个说法也算八九不离十。

超能帮的二把手直直盯着瑞恩的眼睛，空气紧绷得几乎能摸到。双方人马都做好了战斗准备，成败就在此刻。信使站得稳稳的，一脸傲慢，仿佛坚信自己永远能如愿以偿。

谢天谢地，心震让步了。

“不用。”他说，指向一个远离两拨人的位置。“这边。我们避开不该听的人，单独谈谈。”

瑞恩看了眼自己的队友，朝他们点点头。只希望在局势不可避免地升级之前，他们能一直保持安静。

两个死对头离开各自的人马，走到孤儿院院子边缘。“解释一下。”心震开门见山。“马纳达先生特意要求过我和亚当，不得透露他参与了此事，连自己人也不准说。什么情况变了？他为什么不走惯用的渠道，反而派你过来？”

“有人开了口。”瑞恩答道，装出一副对眼前这个疯魔很不耐烦的样子。“以前的渠道已经不安全了。”

“不是我们。”心震断言。“我们接触你雇主的时候就告诉过他，我们极其重视安全。要是有泄密，也是你们那边的问题。”

“是啊，当然。”瑞恩装得满脸不信。他记下了这一点：是超能帮先找上迪纳米斯，而不是反过来。

“所有参与行动的人，我都亲自修改过他们的记忆，以求把风险降到最低。”心震被迫转入守势，仍坚持道，“泄密的不可能是我们。你是为这个才把那些人带来的吗？让我检查他们的记忆？”

“不是。他们虽然不乐意，但会闭嘴的。”瑞恩继续扯谎。“大老板给你们那么多钱，就是让你们来逛孤儿院？别告诉我那个死胖子晚饭想吃鸡块？”

汉尼胖·莱克特狡猾得很，在此前的循环里始终守口如瓶，至少在炸掉整座城市之前都是如此。信使觉得，心震可没有他老板那份自制力。他太傲慢，也太相信自己不会死了。

“我们打算把这些小鬼当成士兵，用来对付奥古斯蒂。”心震撒谎也跟呼吸一样自然。“我向你保证，我们一直在推进。我们已经把他们赶出了这个区，也开始打击他们的供应商——”

“酒保和普通人。”瑞恩不屑地接道。“真正的一线货色呢？杀手七人组呢？普鲁托、尼普顿呢？看来你们业绩不达标啊，而交不出成果的公司部门……是要被裁撤的。”

好吧，他这套企业比喻可能用得有点过火，不过似乎很管用。心震对梅克隆地堡一事撒谎，也意味着埃克托·马纳达多半还不知道它的存在。

听得越多，瑞恩就越能看清全局。亚当不知从哪儿得知了地堡的存在，于是来到锈镇，想把它挖出来。但要悄无声息地办成这事需要时间，所以这位超能帮头目找上了埃克托·马纳达，确保仿制灵药的供应，以此安抚手下那帮瘾君子。亚当答应替迪纳米斯对付奥古斯蒂，却压根没打算兑现。

这些疯魔混蛋从一开始就打算掀翻自己的“雇主”。

“正如我对马纳达先生说过的，我们人手不足，不能轻举妄动。”心震争辩道，试图保住这条仿制灵药的进货渠道。超能帮多半预计还要花几周才能彻底拿下地堡，在那之前，他们不能让药水供应出岔子。“我们需要搜集更多情报，才能采取战略行动。”

瑞恩竖起三根手指。“三天。”他说，“给你们三天，拿出成果来。”

“三天？”心震毫无感情的语调里透出了惊讶。“这也太短了。”

“三天之内交出成果，”瑞恩毫不退让地重复，“不然，这笔交易就作废。”

到这一步，他主要是在最后一击之前耍耍心震，不过他也希望能让这家伙慌了神，再抖出一条有分量的情报。而他赌对了。

“另一个项目已经取得了相当大的进展。”心震争辩道，“如果马纳达先生肯宽限几日，我可以展示给他看。”

第二个项目？瑞恩还不能确定，但结合此前循环里搜集到的种种线索，他大致能推断出那是什么。“脑部扫描？”信使问道，希望自己猜对了。

“你们的技术虽然原始，却能和我的能力兼容。”心震恢复了镇定。“只要两个人有近亲关系，我就能轻易把一个大脑中的意识复制到另一个大脑里。”

果然不出瑞恩所料。他一直不明白，为什么上一轮心震一死，迪纳米斯与超能帮的联盟就迅速瓦解，现在总算说得通了。超能帮没能成功对付奥古斯蒂，能操纵大脑的人又死了，埃克托·马纳达多半觉得，索性结束联盟、抹掉痕迹更好。“要多近？”

“克隆体最好，不过近亲也能凑合。兄弟姐妹，子女……”心震稍作停顿。“哪怕是基因者。”

“说话小心点。”瑞恩说，不过他一定会确保恩里克听到这段。“你这番暗示，可容易让人想歪。”

“我只是说，如果你的雇主愿意考虑，这也是一种选择。”

就这样，心震把信使需要的一切都交代了。

瑞恩抬头望向天空，盼着看见一副飞行装甲。该轮到伏尔甘登场，把场面变成一场三人行了。随时都会来。随时都会来……

该死，是不是因为牵涉的基因者更多了，贾丝敏才改了主意？至少，瑞恩相当确定，还有另一个人靠得住。

“这些够你听的了吧，挡风玻璃先生？”瑞恩瞥向一处空无一人的地方，说道。

心震困惑地僵在原地，直到一个声音凭空响起：“够了。”

“那好吧。”瑞恩回头看向心震，对方正开始意识到自己上了当。“心心，你多半不记得了，不过上次见面的时候，我答应过你一件事。而快存向来说到送到。”

瑞恩猝然一拳击中心震的下巴，与此同时，附近所有窗户轰然炸裂，化作无数玻璃弹片。