同章对照

Sometimes, Ryan wondered if fate existed.

He had seen it across many loops. While they didn’t exactly repeat, events often echoed one another even after he interfered. Though the circumstances were wildly different, this loop would end similarly to the previous one; with New Rome burning, Ryan trapped in a suit of mechanical armor, and a Genius trying to transfer her consciousness through time.

It made sense. Ryan was only one person at the end of the day, a stone thrown into a river; until he mastered a loop enough to maximize his impact and send it off-the-rails, the sequence of events was tempted to reassert itself. The courier literally fought against the whole universe, and the rule of causality.

But even if it cost him a great many things, Ryan always prevailed in the end. He never gave up on his hope that things would be different, because each loop was a little better than the previous one. His life was a process, each iteration optimizing the final run.

And if the courier succeeded in ferrying more people across time, he could do more than just throw pebbles in the river. He could throw it off-course with a landslide.

“I will need you to activate your power when I ask,” Len said, as she put the modified armor’s helmet on Ryan’s face and hooked the courier to her machinery. “From what I gathered, the Violet Flux should build up, reach critical mass before… before you approach the ten seconds mark.”

“Good, I would rather avoid making a new save point.” Ryan looked through the helmet’s lens, though no data showed up on them. Unlike Jasmine’s armor, Len’s design was cruder, experimental. It would serve as a fulcrum for his power, but her computer would run the actual computations. “So, how should it go?”

“I will send the memory map to my… my previous self.” Len sat behind her computer. “My current memories should overwrite the old ones. Hopefully. Maybe.”

“It will work,” Ryan said, both for her sake and his own. “It has to. Everything is in place for it to work.”

“We can’t be sure…” Len shook her head. “I… I hope it will work, Riri. But I can’t promise anything.”

The workshop’s door opened, interrupting the discussion. A bandaged Felix walked inside the room, his gaze switching from Len to Ryan. The courier could see the disbelief in his eyes, and then the quiet acceptance.

He had been standing behind the door for a while.

“How long… how long have you been listening?” Len asked with a worried frown.

“Long enough,” Felix replied as he sat on a workbench in front of Ryan. “Nice armor, but I prefer the cashmere suit.”

“One day, I’ll make a cashmere power armor,” Ryan joked.

“I guess you’ve got all the time in the world needed, when you can turn it back?” Felix marked a short pause, his eyes focusing on his former teammate. “Time-travel. It’s crazy, but it explains a great many things. How long have you been at it? How far can you go?”

“Honestly, I don’t know how old I am,” Ryan admitted, before remembering one of his early encounters with Pluto. “Between five hundred and one thousand, give it or take it. As for how far I can turn the clock, right before my arrival in New Rome.”

“You’ve been at this for almost a millennia.” Felix shook his head in disbelief. “That’s crazy.”

“Did… did Livia tell you?” Len asked with a frown.

“No, but I was starting to wonder. When you’ve eliminated the impossible, what remains must be the truth, no matter how improbable.” Felix shook his head. “I stayed around Wardrobe for too long.”

“You’ve made peace with Livia?” Ryan asked. It was one of the hopes he set for himself during his loop, and it would probably carry over to his perfect run.

“I wouldn’t go so far, but… I think she understands why I left now. It took a war, but her faith in her father is finally shaken. Still too little, too late.” Felix clenched his fists. “You can save my sister?”

“Yes,” Ryan said. “I will.”

“Thanks.” The hero let out a sigh of relief, but his face remained full of concern. “Can’t you bring me in for the ride too? You’ll need help.”

“No, sorry,” Ryan said. The machine could only host one brainmap. “Believe me, I would if I could.”

“We’re…” Len cleared her throat. “We’re not even sure I can make it at all.”

Felix took it well, all things considered. Or more likely, all that he went through lately had numbed his emotional reaction. “I see. And once you go back, we all die?”

“You will forget,” Ryan reassured him. “Like amnesia.”

“Amnesia... I suppose that’s one way to see it. Did…” Atom Kitten’s eyes squinted at Ryan. “Did you fuck me before?”

“No,” Ryan replied, much to his Kitten’s disbelief. Of all things, that was the bit he worried about? “I have a whole ‘Fuck, Marry, Kill’ list to fulfill before my perfect run. Marry Jamie, marry Yuki, fuck the Vamp, kill Psypsy...”

Len rolled her eyes, while Atom Cat crossed his arms. “I don’t know why I’m not even surprised,” he said, before falling silent. Clearly, he had a lot to process.

“Kitten?”

“I didn’t understand how much she loved me,” Felix said, looking at the floor. “Fortuna. I thought she would choose our parents over me, but I was wrong. I was wrong about her, and about Livia too. There’s still hope for them. I… I never appreciated my sister, Ryan. I see that now. My own parents signed off my death warrant, but Fortuna… she chose me over them. When her back was against the wall, she did the right thing.”

Neither Ryan nor Len said anything. Both understood that the hero spoke with his heart, and needed to get a truth off his chest.

“And when you turn back time, Ryan, I’ll forget that. I’ll be angry and bitter at her, all over again. Her death will mean nothing.”

“No, because I will remember,” Ryan reassured Felix. His opinion of Lucky Girl hadn’t been the best, but after seeing her sacrifice, it had greatly improved. She would make it through his perfect run, one way or another.

“Can I ask a favor, Quickie? Make sure I…” Atom Cat gathered his breath. “Make sure I understand that by the time you’re done, and without her dying. I… I don’t think I will ever make up with Fortuna, if you don’t interfere.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll find a way.” Most likely, he would kidnap them both and bring them to family therapy. Even if he had to turn one of them into a pickle.

“Thanks.” A genuine smile spread on Felix’s face. “I had fun working with you, Ryan. You’re a good friend.”

“Damn it, Shortie, you should start the process before I die of diabetes.” Ryan looked away from Felix, as his Genius friend typed on her keyboard. “We never got around to doing a training montage with the Panda.”

“Yeah, I’ll carry that regret to my grave,” Felix mused. “Would have been fun.”

A terrible alarm echoed through the underwater base, interrupting the happy moment.

Ryan turned his head at Len, his heavy helmet slowly moving with his skull. A picture of the abyss outside appeared on her computer’s screen, alongside the shape of an enormous submarine. Projectors from Len’s base cast light on its hull, and the logo painted on its steel shell.

Dynamis.

The computer bleeped, as someone tried to establish contact. Len cautiously answered with a frown, a new video feed forming on the screen. A ghoulish, shining skull looked at the Genomes in the workshop.

“So you lived, Atom Cat.” There was no relief in Alphonse Manada’s voice, only a hint of curiosity. “I was wondering where you had run off to.”

“Fallout?” Felix said as he climbed down from the workbench and approached Len’s computer. “What is the meaning of this? Aren’t you in New Rome?”

“I was, but we are moving our HQ and laboratories out of the city. Augustus destroyed our previous installations.” The Dynamis CEO glanced at Len. “And we will pick up Miss Sabino along the way.”

Len bristled in dread, much to Ryan’s frustration. “Et tu, Nagasaki?” he taunted the nuclear cyborg.

“Is that you inside that armor, Quicksave?” Fallout replied with a scoff. “Good, you’re coming too. I will give you ten minutes to get out of this underwater hole and join us onboard our submarine. We are on a tight schedule, and Vulcan might give pursuit soon.”

“No,” Len protested, shaking her head.

“We politely deny your request,” Ryan said. “Don’t force us to raise a new Berlin Wall.”

“I don’t think you understand.” Alphonse focused on Len, his shining gaze without emotion. “We need her, dead or alive. If you don’t surrender now, we’ll flood this entire complex and harvest the corpse’s genetic material.”

Shortie’s face lost all color. “There are children inside!”

“We helped you against the Meta,” Ryan pointed out, deciding to add this man to his kill list. “You have an odd view of long-term partnerships.”

“I knew of your dealings with Livia Augusti, Quicksave. You betrayed us first.” Alphonse grunted, ignoring Len’s comment. “It doesn’t matter. If you want to spare lives, you’ll join us.”

Felix didn’t hide his fury and disappointment. “I thought you were one of the good ones.”

“I am. Augustus will never be the face of Europe, so long as I live. All I do is to make sure he and his twisted kind don’t win.”

“How are you any different?” Felix snarled angrily. “You heard Hargraves. Augustus murdered an entire peaceful community to get his hands on my sister Narcinia. And now, you threaten the lives of children to put a Genius under your yoke.”

“The difference is that I do it to save human lives, not destroy them. Can you even fathom how many people Augustus slew? How many more he will kill, now that he has let go of whatever brakes he had?” Alphonse turned to look at Len. “The faster we end this war, the less people will die. If she comes with us, we will be one step closer to victory.”

“Why me?” Len asked, her voice breaking. “What… What did I do to you? Is this about the factory?”

“What point is there in telling you now?” Alphonse replied gruffly, but did shed some light on his motives. “You are the key to refining our Elixir processing, Sabino. To mass-produce these potions, so they’re no longer a tool of oppression by the few.”

“You want to make everyone a Genome,” Ryan realized.

“Yes. Augustus and warlords like him are able to exert so much influence because they concentrate Genomes into their organizations. But if everyone is powerful, then no one is. Don’t you get it? The only way to break these superpowered dictatorships, is to democratize Elixirs. And Sabino is the key to fulfilling this dream.”

He was a Red in more than one way. A shame; if he didn’t want to carve her open, Fallout and Shortie would have probably gotten along perfectly.

“Because you keep Bloodstream in your labs?” Ryan asked, Len bristling at his bluntness.

Fallout ignored them, denying them even information for the next loop. “I tire of this nonsense. What will it be? Dead, or alive?”

Len looked at Ryan, and her answer came swiftly.

“Better dead than corpo,” the Genius said, as she abruptly cut off the communication.

Alphonse immediately answered this act of defiance with a bombardment, the entire undersea complex shaking as projectiles hit the habitat. “Now, Riri!” Len ordered, as she booted her program.

Ryan immediately froze time, Violet Flux particles floating out of his suit. As they grew in number, the courier took a moment to observe the scene around him one last time. Water breaking through the ceiling thanks to Dynamis’ torpedoes; Len, looking at her screen with dread and hope; and Felix, who waited for the end with quiet dignity.

It wasn’t the ending Ryan had hoped for, and he swore it would not happen again.

Violet particles swallowed the world around him, and this loop came to an end.

---

It was May 8th, 2020 in New Rome. Not for the first time, and not for the last.

At least he could feel his legs again.

Instead of driving straight into the city, Ryan parked his car nearby and waited. Music came out of the Chronoradio, instead of a message from an erased timeline. Much like Eugène-Henry, whatever force had influenced the device during the previous loop had stopped doing so.

It was all up to Ryan now.

The courier didn’t say a word, didn’t move an inch. Dread overtook his body, as he desperately waited for a sign from Len. Any sign that she had made it through. Any sign that Jasmine’s loss and all the sacrifices afterward had meant something.

Ryan had never believed in any god, but right now, he was sorely tempted to pray.

The Chronoradio’s music stopped abruptly, and her voice came out.

“Riri.”

Ryan’s heart skipped a beat, as a wave of intense relief overtook him. “Shortie?” he asked, his fingers fidgeting around the driving wheel. “Do you… do you remember?”

A short silence followed, and then came the moment of truth. The two words Ryan had hoped to hear one day, since he first gained his power.

“I do.”

It worked.

It worked.

It worked!

After so many trials, so many false starts, so much loneliness and pain, Ryan’s patience had finally paid off. He had spent countless loops researching his power and accumulating the necessary knowledge; and many more gathering the tools needed to pull it off. This quest had needed contributions from Len, from Jasmine, and so many others, but it had finally reached its final stage.

This time was different.

Things had changed, and they would never be the same.

There wasn’t a word in any human language to describe Ryan’s joy. A centuries-old curse had finally been broken, and he would no longer be alone before eternity.

“Riri,” Len said with a cough, and he could sense something wrong in her tone. “You must go to the orphanage. Now.”

“Right now?” Ryan blinked, his relief overwhelmed by concern. “But Ghoul will kill—”

“You must come quickly,” Len interrupted him, her cough getting worse. “There’s little time. The procedure… there’s a problem, and I’m feeling… I’m not feeling right. Forget Ghoul, I… I need your help right now. Or it will all be for nothing.”

“Shortie, what do you mean?” Silence. She had cut the communication. “Shortie!”

Ryan smashed the accelerator, and immediately drove to Rust Town. Though the idea of letting Ghoul get away with murder annoyed the courier, even if it wouldn’t be permanent, he shut off his conscience. Len needed him. Asked for help.

And she remembered.

“It worked,” Ryan muttered to himself, as he drove north. He couldn’t believe it. “It worked.”

Len’s idea had worked! Maybe it had come with a health cost or side-effects, but it had worked! He was so overjoyed, so hopeful, that he threw money at the Private Security so they would let him pass through the Rust Town border.

It didn’t matter if the consciousness-transfer had side-effects; the fact it worked at all meant it could be perfected. The future was bright and hopeful.

Ryan’s phone rang as he came within sight of the orphanage. His cellphone didn’t recognize the number, but the courier did.

Livia.

She had kept her word, but Ryan didn’t answer yet. Len was waiting for him in front of the orphanage’s doors, all alone. She wore her jumpsuit and carried her water rifle, her eyes sullen and her face pale.

More worryingly, blood dripped from her nose.

“Shortie!” Ryan hastily parked his Plymouth Fury, stepped out of the car, and immediately rushed at his friend’s side. “Shortie, are you alright?”

His best friend looked at him without a word, clearly sick. Did the transfer damage her brain?

“Shortie, I’m here,” Ryan said, approaching her. “It’s going to be alright, I sw—”

She shot him.

If it had been anyone else, he would have dodged. If it had been anyone but Len, the courier would have frozen time and moved out of the way. But his mind… his mind simply couldn’t imagine Shortie raising her weapon at him, and pulling the trigger. Ryan froze in place for a split second, and it was all it took.

Before he knew what happened, a sphere of water formed around the courier and immediately absorbed him. An intense pressure restrained his body, and liquid broke into his mask.

Why? Ryan held his breath, utterly shocked, as his friend observed him from the other side of the watery prison. And as he looked into her cold, soulless eyes, he realized something had gone terribly wrong.

Len came back through time alright.

But someone else hitched a ride.

有时候，瑞恩会想，命运究竟存不存在。

他在许多轮循环里都见过这种现象。事件虽然并不完全重复，却常常彼此呼应，哪怕有他的干预也一样。尽管情形大相径庭，这一轮仍会以与上一轮相似的方式结束：新罗马燃烧着，瑞恩被困在一套机械装甲里，一位天才试图让自己的意识穿越时间。

这并不奇怪。说到底，瑞恩只是一个人，是投入河流的一块石头；在他对一轮循环了如指掌，足以将自己的影响发挥到极致、让整轮循环脱离轨道之前，事件总有回归原有顺序的倾向。快递员对抗的确实是整个宇宙，以及因果法则。

但即便付出了许多代价，瑞恩最终总能获胜。他从未放弃过让事情有所不同的希望，因为每一轮都比上一轮好一点。他的人生是一个不断改进的过程，每次迭代，都在让最终的那一轮趋于完善。

而如果快递员能成功带着更多人穿越时间，他能做的就不只是往河里扔几颗石子了。他可以引发山崩，让河流改道。

“等我说的时候，你要发动能力。”蕾恩说着，将改装过的装甲头盔罩在瑞恩脸上，把快递员接入她的机器。“根据我收集到的信息，紫色通量应该会不断积聚，在……在你接近十秒时限之前，达到临界量。”

“很好，我可不想建立新的存档点。”瑞恩透过头盔的镜片往外看，上面却没有显示任何数据。与贾丝敏的装甲不同，蕾恩的设计更粗糙，还是实验性质的。它会充当他能力的支点，真正的运算则由她的电脑执行。“所以，具体要怎么做？”

“我会把记忆图谱发送给……给过去的自己。”蕾恩坐到电脑后面。“我现在的记忆应该会覆盖旧记忆。但愿吧。也许。”

“一定会成功的。”瑞恩说，既是说给她听，也是说给自己听。“必须成功。该准备的全都准备好了。”

“我们没法确定……”蕾恩摇了摇头。“我……我希望能成功，瑞瑞。但我不能保证什么。”

工坊的门开了，打断了两人的谈话。裹着绷带的菲利克斯走进房间，目光从蕾恩移到瑞恩身上。快递员看见了他眼中的难以置信，随后，那眼神变成了平静的接受。

他已经在门外站了好一会儿。

“你……你听了多久？”蕾恩忧心忡忡地皱起眉。

“够久了。”菲利克斯答道，在瑞恩面前的一张工作台上坐下。“装甲不错，不过我更喜欢那身羊绒西装。”

“总有一天，我会造一套羊绒动力装甲。”瑞恩开玩笑道。

“既然能让时间倒流，那你想要多少时间都有，对吧？”菲利克斯稍稍停顿，目光落在这位昔日的队友身上。“时间旅行。这太疯狂了，不过确实解释了很多事。你这样多久了？能回到多远以前？”

“说实话，我都不知道自己多大了。”瑞恩承认，随后想起早先与普鲁托的一次碰面。“五百到一千岁之间吧，大差不差。至于能把时间拨回多远，就是我抵达新罗马之前的那一刻。”

“你这样过了将近一千年。”菲利克斯难以置信地摇了摇头。“太疯狂了。”

“是……是莉维娅告诉你的吗？”蕾恩皱眉问道。

“不是，不过我已经开始怀疑了。排除一切不可能之后，剩下的无论多么离奇，都必然是真相。”菲利克斯摇了摇头。“我跟衣橱待得太久了。”

“你跟莉维娅和好了？”瑞恩问。这是他在这一轮里给自己定下的愿望之一，多半也会成为完美通关时的目标。

“还谈不上，不过……我想，她现在明白我为什么离开了。打了一场仗，她对父亲的信任才终于动摇。可惜依然太少，也太晚了。”菲利克斯攥紧双拳。“你能救我妹妹？”

“能。”瑞恩说，“我会救她。”

“谢谢。”这位英雄如释重负地叹了口气，脸上却仍然满是忧虑。“不能也带上我吗？你会需要帮手的。”

“不行，抱歉。”瑞恩说。这台机器只能容纳一份脑图谱。“相信我，能带的话，我一定带。”

“我们……”蕾恩清了清嗓子。“我们甚至不能确定，我到底能不能过去。”

考虑到眼下的情形，菲利克斯接受得还算平静。更可能的是，最近经历的这一切已经让他在情感上麻木了。“明白了。那等你回去，我们就全都死了？”

“你们会忘记。”瑞恩安慰他，“就像失忆一样。”

“失忆……也可以这么看吧。你……”原子小猫眯起眼睛看着瑞恩。“你以前睡过我吗？”

“没有。”瑞恩答道，他家小猫却一脸不信。这么多事，他偏偏担心这个？“完美通关之前，我还有一整张‘睡、娶、杀’清单要完成呢。跟杰米结婚，跟由纪结婚，睡妖姬，杀心心……”

蕾恩翻了个白眼，原子猫则抱起双臂。“不知道为什么，我居然一点都不惊讶。”他说完便沉默了。显然，他还有很多事情需要消化。

“小猫？”

“我从来没明白她有多爱我。”菲利克斯望着地板说道，“福尔图娜。我以为，她会选父母，不会选我，但我错了。我看错了她，也看错了莉维娅。她们还有希望。我……我从来没有珍惜过我妹妹，瑞恩。我现在明白了。我的亲生父母同意处死我，可福尔图娜……她选了我，而不是他们。被逼到无路可退的时候，她做出了正确的选择。”

瑞恩和蕾恩都没有说话。两人都明白，这位英雄正在吐露心声，有些实话，他必须说出来。

“可等你让时间倒流，瑞恩，我就会把这一切忘掉。我又会生她的气，怨恨她。她的死就毫无意义了。”

“不会，因为我会记得。”瑞恩安慰菲利克斯。他原本对幸运女孩的评价并不高，但亲眼看见她的牺牲之后，已经大为改观。不管用什么办法，他都会让她在完美通关里活下来。

“能求你帮个忙吗，快枪手？一定要让我……”原子猫深吸一口气。“等你把一切办妥的时候，一定要让我明白这一点，而且不能让她死。我……如果你不插手，我觉得自己永远都不会跟福尔图娜和好。”

“别担心，我会找到办法的。”多半是把两人都绑架了，拉去做家庭心理治疗。就算非得把其中一个变成腌黄瓜也在所不惜。

“谢谢。”菲利克斯脸上绽开了真诚的笑容。“跟你共事很开心，瑞恩。你是个好朋友。”

“妈的，小矮个，你最好赶紧开始，免得我先甜出糖尿病死了。”瑞恩把目光从菲利克斯身上移开，他的天才朋友开始敲打键盘。“我们一直都没能跟熊猫来段训练蒙太奇。”

“是啊，我得带着这份遗憾进坟墓了。”菲利克斯感慨道，“肯定会很有意思。”

刺耳的警报响彻海底基地，打断了这段愉快的时光。

瑞恩转头看向蕾恩，沉重的头盔随他的脑袋缓缓转动。她的电脑屏幕上出现了外面深海的画面，以及一艘巨大潜艇的轮廓。蕾恩基地的探照灯照亮了艇身，也照亮了钢铁外壳上喷涂的标志。

迪纳米斯。

电脑发出哔声，有人在尝试建立通讯。蕾恩皱着眉，谨慎地接通了，对方的视频画面出现在屏幕上。一颗阴森森、闪着光的骷髅头望着工坊里的基因者们。

“原来你还活着，原子猫。”阿尔方斯·马纳达的声音里没有半点欣慰，只有一丝好奇。“我还在想，你跑哪儿去了。”

“辐尘？”菲利克斯从工作台上下来，走向蕾恩的电脑。“这是什么意思？你不是在新罗马吗？”

“之前是，不过我们正把总部和实验室迁出城。奥古斯都摧毁了我们原先的设施。”迪纳米斯的首席执行官瞥了蕾恩一眼。“我们会顺路接上萨比诺小姐。”

蕾恩吓得浑身绷紧，这让瑞恩很是恼火。“连你也一样，长崎？”他嘲讽这个核能改造人。

“装甲里的是你吗，快存？”辐尘嗤笑着答道。“很好，你也一起走。我给你们十分钟，离开这个水下洞穴，到我们的潜艇上来。我们时间紧迫，伏尔甘可能很快就会追来。”

“不行。”蕾恩摇头抗议。

“我们礼貌地拒绝你的请求。”瑞恩说，“别逼我们再筑一道柏林墙。”

“我想你们没听明白。”阿尔方斯盯住蕾恩，发光的眼睛里没有一丝情绪。“我们要她，死的或活的都行。要是你们现在不投降，我们就淹掉整座设施，从尸体上提取遗传物质。”

小矮个脸上的血色褪得一干二净。“这里面还有孩子！”

“我们帮你们对付过超能帮。”瑞恩提醒道，决定把这家伙也加进自己的必杀名单。“你对长期合作的理解还真奇特。”

“我早就知道你和莉维娅·奥古斯蒂有来往，快存。是你先背叛我们的。”阿尔方斯哼了一声，完全不理会蕾恩的话。“无所谓。想保住人命，就跟我们走。”

菲利克斯毫不掩饰自己的愤怒与失望。“我还以为你是好人。”

“我就是。只要我还活着，奥古斯都就永远别想成为欧洲的代表。我做的一切，都是为了确保他和他那群扭曲的同类不会获胜。”

“你跟他又有什么区别？”菲利克斯愤怒地低吼，“哈格雷夫斯的话你也听到了。为了把我妹妹纳尔西妮娅弄到手，奥古斯都屠杀了整整一个与世无争的社区。现在，你却拿孩子们的性命作要挟，要给一个天才套上你的枷锁。”

“区别在于，我是为了拯救生命，而不是毁灭生命。你想象得出奥古斯都杀过多少人吗？现在他连原先那点顾忌都抛开了，又会杀多少人？”阿尔方斯转头看向蕾恩。“越快结束这场战争，死的人就越少。只要她跟我们走，我们就离胜利又近了一步。”

“为什么是我？”蕾恩问，声音都变了调。“我……我到底对你们做过什么？是因为那座工厂吗？”

“现在告诉你又有什么意义？”阿尔方斯粗声答道，不过还是透露了一点自己的动机。“你是完善我们灵药加工工艺的关键，萨比诺。我们要大规模生产这些药剂，让它们不再是少数人压迫他人的工具。”

“你想让所有人都变成基因者。”瑞恩明白了。

“没错。奥古斯都和其他像他一样的军阀之所以能有这么大的影响力，就是因为他们把基因者集中到了各自的组织里。可如果人人都强大，那就没有谁算得上强大了。你们还不明白吗？打破这些超能力独裁统治的唯一办法，就是让灵药人人可得。而萨比诺就是实现这个梦想的关键。”

他是个红色分子，还不止一种意义上的。真可惜；要不是想把她开膛破肚，辐尘跟小矮个大概能相处得特别融洽。

“因为你们把血流关在实验室里？”瑞恩问。他问得如此直白，让蕾恩一下绷紧了身体。

辐尘没有理会他们，连留给下一轮循环用的情报都不肯给。“我听够这些废话了。选哪个？死，还是活？”

蕾恩看向瑞恩，很快便给出了回答。

“宁死不当公司狗。”天才说完，猛地切断了通讯。

阿尔方斯立刻以炮火回应了这次反抗。弹药击中居住舱，整座海底设施都在震颤。“就是现在，瑞瑞！”蕾恩命令道，同时启动了程序。

瑞恩立刻暂停了时间，紫色通量粒子从装甲中飘出。粒子越来越多，快递员趁这片刻，最后看了一眼周围的景象。迪纳米斯的鱼雷炸穿了天花板，海水正从破口灌入；蕾恩望着屏幕，眼里满是恐惧与希望；菲利克斯则安静而有尊严地等待着终结。

这不是瑞恩想要的结局，他发誓，绝不会再让它发生。

紫色粒子吞没了他周围的世界，这一轮循环结束了。

---

新罗马，2020年5月8日。不是第一次，也不是最后一次。

至少，他又能感觉到自己的双腿了。

瑞恩没有直接开进城，而是把车停在附近，等着。时空收音机里传出的是音乐，而非来自某条已被抹去的时间线的信息。就像欧仁-亨利一样，不管上一轮是什么力量在影响这台设备，如今都已不再干预。

现在，一切都得靠瑞恩自己了。

快递员一言不发，一动不动。恐惧攫住了他，他近乎绝望地等着蕾恩的消息。任何能证明她成功过来了的消息。任何能证明失去贾丝敏、以及那之后的一切牺牲没有白费的消息。

瑞恩从不相信任何神明，可此刻，他却无比想要祈祷。

时空收音机里的音乐戛然而止，她的声音传了出来。

“瑞瑞。”

瑞恩的心漏跳了一拍，巨大的宽慰淹没了他。“小矮个？”他问，握着方向盘的手指不安地动着。“你……你记得吗？”

短暂的沉默过后，揭晓答案的时刻终于到来。自从最初得到能力以来，瑞恩就一直盼着有朝一日能听见那两个字。

“记得。”

成功了。

成功了。

成功了！

经历了那么多考验，一次次刚起步就受挫，熬过了那么多孤独与痛苦，瑞恩的耐心终于得到了回报。他用了无数轮循环研究自己的能力，积累必需的知识；又用了更多轮循环，收集实现目标所需的工具。这场求索离不开蕾恩、贾丝敏，以及许许多多其他人的付出，如今，它终于走到了最后阶段。

这次不一样了。

一切都变了，再也不会回到从前。

人类所有的语言中，都找不出一个词能形容瑞恩的喜悦。延续数百年的诅咒终于被打破，他再也不用独自面对永恒。

“瑞瑞。”蕾恩咳了一声，他听出她的语气不对。“你得去孤儿院。现在就去。”

“现在？”瑞恩眨了眨眼，担忧压过了如释重负的喜悦。“可是食尸鬼会杀——”

“你必须快点来。”蕾恩打断他，咳得更厉害了。“时间不多了。转移过程……出了问题，我感觉……我感觉不对劲。别管食尸鬼了，我……我现在就需要你帮忙。不然一切就全白费了。”

“小矮个，你是什么意思？”一片寂静。她切断了通讯。“小矮个！”

瑞恩一脚踩下油门，立刻朝锈镇开去。一想到要让食尸鬼杀人后逍遥法外，哪怕只是暂时的，快递员就感到恼火，但他还是压下了良心的声音。蕾恩需要他。她向他求助了。

而且，她记得。

“成功了。”瑞恩一路向北开去，喃喃自语。他简直不敢相信。“成功了。”

蕾恩的办法成功了！也许损害了健康，也许有副作用，但它成功了！他欣喜若狂，满怀希望，直接把钱扔给私人安保队，让他们放他通过锈镇的关卡。

意识转移有副作用也没关系；只要能成功，就意味着它可以完善。未来一片光明，充满希望。

孤儿院刚进入视野，瑞恩的手机就响了。手机没有识别出来电号码，快递员却认得。

莉维娅。

她信守了承诺，但瑞恩暂时没有接听。蕾恩正独自站在孤儿院门前等他。她穿着连体服，拿着水步枪，目光阴郁，脸色苍白。

更令人担心的是，鲜血正从她鼻子里滴下来。

“小矮个！”瑞恩匆匆停好普利茅斯“狂怒”，下了车，立刻冲向朋友身边。“小矮个，你没事吧？”

他最好的朋友一言不发地看着他，显然很不舒服。是转移损伤了她的大脑吗？

“小矮个，我来了。”瑞恩说着，向她走近。“会没事的，我保——”

她朝他开了枪。

换了别人，他一定会躲开。只要是蕾恩之外的任何人，快递员都会暂停时间，闪到一旁。可他的头脑……他的头脑根本无法想象，小矮个会把武器举向他，扣下扳机。瑞恩在原地僵了短短一瞬，而这一瞬就已足够。

他还没明白发生了什么，一颗水球便在快递员周围成形，立刻将他吞没。强大的压力禁锢了他的身体，液体涌进了他的面罩。

为什么？瑞恩屏住呼吸，震惊得无以复加。他的朋友站在水牢另一侧，注视着他。而当他望进她那双冰冷、空无灵魂的眼睛时，他意识到，有什么地方出了可怕的差错。

蕾恩确实穿越时间回来了。

可还有别人搭了顺风车。