同章对照

It wasn’t the first time Ryan had woken up naked and strapped to a chair. At least his captors wisely let him keep his boxers; if naked, he would have gone on a rampage.

The courier coughed out leftover water, and it took him a while to see clearly. The room was dimly lit, cubic-shaped, and as unwelcoming as it could get. Steel walls covered in brown stains surrounded him from all sides, with a single reinforced door as the only way out and cameras in every corner. Ryan’s chair was positioned at the end of a tin table, where sat enormous plates shielded by steel lids.

The courier recognized the place.

Mechron’s bunker.

“Cesare.” Psyshock was sitting at Ryan’s right, carefully opening a robot head with his tentacles and tinkering with the processors. “Did you sleep well?”

Ryan instantly froze time and attempted to lunge at the brainjacker. Unfortunately, he couldn’t move an inch. The courier’s eyes wandered to his hands and feet, noticing steel restraints almost everywhere it counted. The chair itself looked anchored to the ground, with syringe arms raised at the sides. He couldn’t even move his head!

Ryan attempted to bite his tongue and choke in his own blood, but his teeth hit a metal plate near the molars; when the courier focused, he realized a metal device attached to the chair restrained his jaw’s movements. Damnit, his captors weren’t usually this thorough!

“Can’t move, sleeping beauty?” Ryan recognized Sarin’s voice as time resumed. Hazmat girl waited in a corner on his left, back against a wall. “Gotta admit, I thought you were a goner for a second.”

“Where’s Len?” Ryan asked while glaring at Psyshock, the metal bits in his mouth making it difficult to speak.

“Working on your car upstairs, alongside my other thralls.” Other thralls. The very word made Ryan’s blood boil. “She is happier this way, Cesare. Little Len only feels at peace when she uses her power, and now, she will do so nonstop. It was an act of mercy. Kindness, even.”

How? How could it be? Did Psyshock infect Len during the bunker assault? No, Ryan would have noticed. Something in the tech?

The metal door opened, Big Fat Adam stepping through alongside Ghoul. “What’s wrong, Mr. Time Traveler?” the Meta-Gang’s leader taunted Ryan while sitting on the other side of the table. “Can’t kill yourself today?”

“I suppose the safe word is ‘weight loss’?” Ryan taunted him back, unimpressed.

“How witty, I guess we have a new Bill Murray in our custody.” Adam pointed a finger at the chair holding Ryan, while Ghoul took position right behind his boss. “You won’t restart this time, mate. Mechron used these devices for human experimentation. The chair will keep you alive, whether you like it or not.”

Ryan would have clenched his fists, if he could.

This was bad. This was really, really bad. He was restrained, and at the Meta-Gang’s nonexistent mercy. If Psyshock used his power on the time-traveler...

“How?” Ryan asked, as Hannifat Lecter put a napkin around his neck and prepared for his meal. The psychopath opened his mouth and brought out cutlery, alongside salt and pepper shakers. “How did you do it?”

“I told you before, Little Cesare,” Psyshock said, interrupting his work on the robot head. “Dynamis’ technology is compatible with my power.”

“I had Psyshock booby trap the tech the second Manada gave it to us,” Adam said, smirking to himself. “Anyone who gets their mind overwritten by it? They become Psyshock’s newest host. It was a back-up plan, in case Dynamis pulled a fast one on us.”

Ryan’s eyes widened, as he read between the lines. “It only happens during the overwriting? Not the memory map creation process?”

“Well, no.” Adam chuckled. “The sabotage would have been too obvious otherwise.”

Thus Livia still had an uncorrupted copy of Len’s mind, stored in the Blue World.

Ryan just had to kill himself, abort this loop, and then he could figure something out. Psyshock wouldn’t follow him back in time without Len’s machine, and the courier could find another way to transfer his friend’s memories back. Ghoul’s presence meant he had killed everyone at Renesco’s bar anyway, so this run was already ruined beyond repairs.

Adam guessed his intentions. “I’m sorry mate… you won’t get a happy ending.”

“Your real target was Hector Manada,” Ryan said, stalling for time as he furiously tried to figure a way out. “You wanted to take over Dynamis if he ended up using that technology.”

“What can I say, mate? People think I look like a fool, but you don’t reach my age by being one. Taking over your girlfriend as she went back in time was a fluke, but my insurance policy paid off.”

Adam lifted the lid off one of his plates, revealing some fried chicken alongside apples, and meat that wasn’t chicken meat. “You want some?” Hannifat Lecter offered the terrible dish to Ryan. “It’s Lebanese.”

“No, I’m a vegan,” Ryan lied. “My compliments to the chef.”

Adam chuckled, raising a finger at Ryan with a jovial smile. “You’re funny. I admire your wit and self-control. It’s like you went through something similar already.”

Ryan said nothing, causing Adam to raise an eyebrow. “You did?”

“You know what’s tragic about you, fatass?” Ryan taunted him. “You aren’t original. I killed dozens of you. It wouldn’t even be the first time I got cooked alive.”

“Wow,” Sarin said. “That’s messed up.”

While Adam kept his jovial smile, it no longer reached the eyes. The courier took some joy in wounding his ego. “Well, guess I’ll be the one to do you in,” said the Psycho, as he started eating. “Keep the best for last. Frankly, the only reason Psyshock didn’t scramble your brain already is that I’m not sure if it’s a good idea. I feel like we’re playing with fire here.”

“You are,” Ryan said, his voice dripping venom.

Adam chuckled while he continued his meal, and Psyshock took over. “She still loves you. Cesare.”

Ryan froze, his body trembling with anger.

“I dived deep into Little Len’s mind,” Psyshock said, twisting the knife. “I know her greatest secrets. I even know what she thought when you deflowered her; you didn’t leave a good impression, I’m afraid. But then again, you were her only one. The special one.”

“Shut up,” Ryan said.

“Deep down, she still believes you are the knight in shining armor who will make everything alright. She is just too scared to let you in. She thinks the white prince has gone rabid. It’s tragic, really.”

“It would be endearing,” Ghoul chuckled cruelly, while Sarin remained silent as a tomb. “If it wasn’t pathetic.”

To have these monsters use Len’s cherished memories as a taunt infuriated Ryan beyond words. But now his fury had cooled down into a cold, quiet feeling of hate. “One day, Psypsy, I will pick your brain open,” the courier warned, “but I assure you, it won’t feel pleasant at all.”

“We both know you are in no position to carry out this threat,” Psyshock mused. “Perhaps I will pair you and Little Len, once I have dominated your mind. It will be the closest thing to marital bliss you will ever experience.”

“Will it actually work though?” Adam asked as he finished his meal and wiped away his cheeks with his napkin. He had only left the apples untouched. “Your power modifies brainwaves, and he’s in two places and times at once. Which means two brains, right?”

“I should be able to overwrite his consciousness,” Psyshock insisted, clearly eager to brainwash Ryan. The brainjacker found a sick, twisted pleasure in forcefully invading minds. “It worked with Little Len, when she transferred her mind through time.”

“Should work.” Hannifat Lecter raised an eyebrow, a little skeptical. “That’s the optimistic outcome, but what happens if there’s a failsafe in his power? What’s the worst-case scenario?”

Psyshock seemed annoyed that his boss doubted him, but knew better than to argue. “The two patterns could conflict and cause brain damage. Maybe death.”

“But if his brain explodes right after he reloads, would his power keep working? Do we risk being trapped in an endless loop as he immediately dies and reloads? Or will it stop eventually? Could your brainwashing count as death as far as his power is concerned?”

A heavy silence fell upon the room, none of the Meta daring to say a word. Finally, Psypsy was forced to admit his own ignorance. “I do not know, Adam. But it should work.”

“But you can’t know for sure until you try.”

Psyshock’s silence was an answer in itself.

“Yeah, that’s my beef with your power, mate,” Adam said, as he glanced at Ryan. “We won’t know its limits until we test them, and if we mess up once, you win. You’re as bad as Augustus in your own way; if we fail, we die, so we’re too scared to even try.”

“Speaking of Augustus, his daughter keeps trying to contact him on his phone,” Psyshock pointed out. “Eventually, she’ll start suspecting something’s amiss.”

“Well, we planned to kill her anyway.”

“What I mean to say is that the longer we wait, the greater the risk,” Psyshock argued, looking at Ryan with what could pass for desire. “I can enthrall and force him to save.”

“But it causes his two selves to align, right? That’s what he told his girlfriend. We know his power activates when he dies, but what counts as death? Would stopping his heart for a minute count? Would rewriting his brain and destroying his personality count?”

Ryan knew the answers, but remained silent as a tomb.

“I can make him tell us,” Ghoul said, white mist surrounding his hands. “Freeze his extremities one by one.”

“My fingers don’t make the best ice creams,” Ryan replied, unimpressed. He doubted the Meta had anything that could surprise him. “Just chill out, Picard.”

The undead took a threatening step forward, but Adam stopped him with a wave of his hand.

“No need for that, Ghoul.” The Meta-Gang’s leader narrowed his eyes at his captive. “I can see it in your eyes, boyo. Everybody who thinks they can use you, Dynamis, the Augusti, they’re kidding themselves. You’re a goddamn hurricane. You can’t be tamed, or broken; just avoided.”

Godammit, why out of all the people who tried to capture Ryan, Adam was the only one smart enough to realize that?

Thing was, even if Ryan were trapped in a capsule and jettison into space, he would eventually die and find a way out. He had come back from Monaco, and faced overwhelming odds. They just had to slip up once, and Ryan would win the next time around. They were NPCs, and he was a Player Character.

However, Psyshock’s power did have a credible chance of brainwashing him across time. He needed to make Adam keep doubting, so he wouldn’t even try.

Wait. Something was wrong.

Big Fat Adam wasn’t doubting himself. At every point in the conversation, he had made the other Psychos doubt themselves, slowly guiding them towards his own conclusions. That manipulative bastard only gave his men the illusion of listening, to gaslight them into following his agenda. He had already made up his mind about how to deal with Ryan.

What was he really planning?

“He could be useful in another way.” Everyone looked at Sarin. “If he’s really a time-traveler, maybe he knows the cure? Psyshock could read his mind and find out.”

“The cure?” Ryan frowned. “The cure for what?”

“For us, jackass,” Hazmat Girl replied, as if it were obvious.

“A cure for the Psycho condition?” Well, that made sense. Ryan doubted Sarin wanted to stay a gas cloud trapped in a suit, or Mongrel, an animal unable to use the abilities he collected. “Is that what Whalie pitched to get you all in line? He isn’t working for a cure. He’s not even trying to save himself!”

The courier looked at Hannifat Lecter, sensing an opening to sow discord.

“Last loop, after we took over the bunker from you, I looked at the base’s plan at the entrance. And I noticed something interesting. You tried to conquer the place, room by room. But the path you took wasn’t the shortest to the lab, or the mainframe… but it is the shortest to the Orbital Communications Tower.”

Adam’s smirk didn’t falter, but his hateful gaze told Ryan he had guessed correctly.

That madman had made up his mind from the start.

“You want me to stun him, Adam?” Ghoul asked his boss, as Hannifat Lecter grabbed a big apple from his plate. “Freeze his lying mouth shut?”

“He doesn’t want to save anyone, not even himself!” Ryan shouted. “He just wants to kill everyone, because he’s a sick evil bastard who thinks he’s already doom—”

Adam shoved the apple into the time-traveler’s mouth like a pig, preventing him from speaking. The courier tried to swallow it and suffocate, but the metal plate in his mouth prevented him from doing so.

Psyshock had to know. The bastard was too smart not to guess his boss’ plan, but too sociopathic to care. Ghoul was too dim or too crazy to bother. Only Sarin seemed bothered, but Adam immediately noticed her unease. “Got anything to say?”

Hazmat Girl remained silent a moment, as if trying to digest the news. In the end, her survival instincts kicked in. “No, Adam, I don’t.”

“Good, because you’re a dear friend and I would hate to have you for dinner,” Adam said with a falsely warm tone, before grabbing another plate and removing the lid. “Especially when we’re reaching the dessert.”

The courier’s blood froze, as he gazed at the horrifying dish.

Sarah was bound and gagged like a pig on the plate, surrounded by salad and tomatoes. Tears of terror rained down the little girl’s cheeks, her eyes pleading Ryan, anyone, to save her.

Adam snickered, as he started salting Sarah with the shakers. None of the other Psychos flinched at the horrendous spectacle. “You think you can turn this around, mate,” the sadistic monster said, “but from what I gather, the only way we can lose the game is if you play. If you’re taken off the board, nobody will suspect a thing until it’s too late.”

Ryan didn’t listen, his eyes set on Sarah as he furiously tried to figure out a way to save her. Even after all these loops, there were still things that terrified him. Things that he didn’t want to see.

“Let’s suppose your power won’t work, Psyshock.” Adam looked at his second-in-command, once he had finished salting the little girl. “What else could deal with him permanently?”

Psyshock couldn’t tell. He only had Len’s memories to work with, and while Ryan told her much, he didn’t share everything either. “Cancel, maybe? From what he told Little Len, his power is top tier. Even Livia Augusti cannot affect him.”

“Shame. Guess we’ll use the tried and true method then.” Adam opened his mouth wide like a pelican, and shoved his hand down his throat.

A second later, it came out with a bottle marked with Mechron’s symbol.

The Black Elixir.

No.

“You see that light in his eyes, people?” Adam said, dangling the container at a horrified Ryan. “That’s fear. First time he has been really afraid yet.”

No, no, no!

Ryan tried to escape the restraints, froze time, tried to pull off a Houdini, suffocate, anything! But the chair kept him frozen, and he had no tool to call upon!

“You’re sure, Adam?” Psyshock asked, quite uneasy with this development.

“Something has been bothering me,” Adam said with a cruel smirk. “He has been exploring all his options for centuries. Yet, he never tried to get a second Elixir, even with his unlimited tries. Which means that it’s the one thing he knows will wreck his save point beyond repair. If we can’t remove his power... we’re going to poison it.”

That bastard.

He didn’t want to neutralize Ryan’s power, he wanted to corrupt it! He thought turning the time-traveler into a Psycho would be just as devastating as firing the Bahamut… and he was probably right.

Worse, the Elixir bottle started to shake, much to the Psychos’ surprise. The thing inside the container wriggled at the courier’s proximity, and Ryan felt a chill down his spine. An unnatural cold he had never experienced before.

The Black Elixir remembered.

“Oh oh! Looks like that ooze really wants to bond with you too!” Ryan’s panicked expression only made Adam laugh louder. “Well, boyo... time to take your medicine.”

“Don’t worry, we’ve got enough of a supply to keep you hooked,” Ghoul added, delighting at the scene. Sarin kept her arms crossed, seemingly lost in her thoughts. “We’ll be like family.”

That moment was Ryan’s worst fear coming to pass. The cruelest, most terrible ending possible. Worse, Adam relished it. The bastard’s only pleasure in his own life was to destroy other lives. It wasn’t enough to kill the time-traveler; he wanted him ruined beyond recovery.

He would become the new Bloodstream. An unending nightmare.

The room shook as Adam rose from his seat.

First a tremor, then a second. Ryan thought it might have been the Land causing a quake, perhaps in response to an outside attack, but it sounded more like explosions from inside the bunker.

“What’s happening?” Big Fat Adam asked, as Psyshock rose up in alarm. Another tremor shook, the source closer to the room this time.

“The robots again?” Ghoul moved in front of the metal door, approaching his head and seemingly addressing the guards on the other side. “Hey! Hey, what’s up?!”

Ghoul barked at the door, and for a brief moment, neither Psyshock nor Adam kept an eye on Ryan, or even the terrified Sarah. Instead, they focused entirely on the metal door, with Hannifat Lecter covering his skin with a layer of carbon alloy.

Ryan noticed Sarin subtly move closer to him. The time-traveler thought she would execute him, but instead, Hazmat Girl moved her head next to his ears. “Do you have a cure?” she whispered, too low for the others to notice. “Can you find a cure?”

Ryan looked at her, utterly astonished by this turn of events. Was she the cause of the explosions? No, she looked as confused as the other Psychos in the room. She was just seizing an opportunity to jump ship, perhaps because his words had shaken her faith in Adam. She must have realized he wouldn’t deliver.

Could Ryan find a cure for Psychos? He had never managed to do so in the previous runs, but… he never had access to Mechron’s bunker before either, nor people like Dr. Tyrano.

Maybe… maybe this time would be different.

Ryan blinked repeatedly, hoping she would get the message. Sarin moved her hand behind the chair, and he sensed his restraints slowly weakening. Perhaps she caused the machinery to rust with her gas power.

“No answer, boss,” Ghoul said, covering his body in a thin layer of ice.

“Did someone come to rescue you, mate?” Big Fat Adam glanced at Ryan, causing Sarin to pull off her hand before he could notice her sabotage. “The Augusti? Did you prepare an insurance plan of your own too?”

Ryan wished he had.

Who could it be? Was it Livia? Did she gather forces and assault the bunker? Was it Jasmine? The Carnival? What kind of unstoppable force could have fought its way through a base full of Genomes?

“Ghoul, open the door,” Psyshock ordered the ice manipulator, tentacles raised for battle. “If it's not one of ours, kill it.”

Mr. Frozen Food obeyed the order, the door opening to reveal a metal corridor. Someone had painted the walls with blood, and two armed thralls of Psyshock dangled from the ceiling, hanged by ropes made of their own intestines.

Ryan’s savior waited right between them, its whitened fur as pristine as snow. For by praying for salvation from the Meta’s depredations within reach of a preteen child, the time-traveler had only called upon a greater evil.

And as the courier looked into the beast’s blue sun of an eye, this dark abyss of infinite darkness, he couldn’t help but wonder.

Why?

And the abyss answered, its long ears raised.

“I will always be your friend!”

瑞恩不是第一次醒来时光着身子，被绑在椅子上了。好歹抓他的人还算识相，给他留了条平角内裤；真要让他一丝不挂，他非闹个天翻地覆不可。

信使咳出了残留的水，过了好一会儿才看清周围。房间光线昏暗，四四方方，简直找不出比这更不友善的地方了。四面的钢壁上遍布褐色污渍，唯一的出口是一扇加固门，每个角落都装着摄像头。瑞恩的椅子摆在一张白铁皮桌子的一端，桌上放着几个硕大的餐盘，都扣着钢盖。

信使认出了这个地方。

梅克隆的地堡。

“切萨雷。”心震坐在瑞恩右侧，正用触手小心翼翼地打开一个机器人的脑袋，摆弄里面的处理器。“睡得好吗？”

瑞恩立刻暂停了时间，试图扑向那个劫持心智的家伙。可惜，他连一寸都动不了。信使的视线扫过自己的手脚，发现几乎所有能发力的地方都被钢制束缚器锁住了。椅子本身似乎固定在地上，两侧举着装有针管的机械臂。他连脑袋都动不了！

瑞恩试着咬破舌头，让自己的血呛死自己，牙齿却碰上了臼齿附近的一块金属板。他仔细感受了一下，这才发现，一件连接着椅子的金属装置限制了他下颌的活动。该死，抓他的人通常没这么周到！

“动不了了，睡美人？”时间恢复流动，瑞恩认出了沙林的声音。防化服姑娘在他左边的角落里等着，背靠着墙。“不得不说，刚才有那么一会儿，我还以为你死定了。”

“蕾恩在哪儿？”瑞恩瞪着心震问道，嘴里的金属零件让他说话很费劲。

“在楼上修你的车，跟我其他的奴仆一起。”其他的奴仆。光是这个词，就让瑞恩的血液沸腾起来。“这样她更快乐，切萨雷。小蕾恩只有在使用能力时才会感到安宁，现在她可以一刻不停地用下去了。这是怜悯。甚至可以说是善举。”

怎么会？怎么可能？心震是在他们攻打地堡时感染了蕾恩？不，瑞恩不可能没察觉。难道那套技术有问题？

金属门打开，大胖亚当和食尸鬼一起走了进来。“怎么了，时间旅者先生？”超能帮的头目在桌子另一头坐下，嘲弄着瑞恩。“今天没法自杀了？”

“我猜安全词是‘减肥’？”瑞恩不为所动，反唇相讥。

“真风趣，看来我们抓了个新一代比尔·默瑞。”亚当伸手指向困住瑞恩的椅子，食尸鬼则站到了老大身后。“这次你没法重来了，伙计。梅克隆以前用这些装置做人体实验。不管你愿不愿意，这把椅子都会让你活下去。”

要是做得到，瑞恩已经攥紧拳头了。

糟了。这下真的、真的糟了。他被死死束缚着，任由根本不知怜悯为何物的超能帮摆布。要是心震对他这个时间旅者使用能力……

“怎么做到的？”汉尼胖·莱克特往脖子上围好餐巾，准备开饭，瑞恩开口问道。那个变态张开嘴，掏出了餐具，还有盐瓶和胡椒瓶。“你们怎么做到的？”

“我以前告诉过你，小切萨雷。”心震停下了摆弄机器人脑袋的动作。“迪纳米斯的技术和我的能力是兼容的。”

“马纳达一把那套设备给我们，我就让心震在里面埋了陷阱。”亚当得意地笑着说。“谁用它覆盖自己的心智，谁就会成为心震的新宿主。这是个备用方案，防着迪纳米斯跟我们玩花样。”

瑞恩听出了话里的含义，眼睛睁大了。“只在覆盖的时候生效？创建记忆图谱的过程中不会？”

“嗯，不会。”亚当轻笑了一声。“不然动的手脚就太明显了。”

也就是说，莉维娅那里仍有一份未受污染的蕾恩心智副本，保存在蓝色世界里。

瑞恩只要杀死自己，中止这次循环，之后总能想出办法。没有蕾恩的机器，心震就没法跟着他回到过去，信使也能另找办法把朋友的记忆传回去。反正食尸鬼出现在这里，就说明雷内斯科酒吧里的人已经全被他杀了，这一轮早已毁得无可挽回。

亚当猜到了他的打算。“抱歉，伙计……你不会有圆满结局的。”

“你真正的目标是埃克托·马纳达。”瑞恩一边说话拖延时间，一边拼命思索脱身之策。“你是想，如果他最终用了那套技术，你就能接管迪纳米斯。”

“还能怎么说呢，伙计？别人看我像个傻子，可真要是个傻子，我也活不到这把年纪。趁你女朋友回到过去时控制住她，纯属走运，不过我买的保险到底还是派上了用场。”

亚当掀开一个餐盘的盖子，露出里面的炸鸡、苹果，还有并非鸡肉的肉。“来点吗？”汉尼胖·莱克特把那道可怕的菜递向瑞恩。“黎巴嫩的。”

“不了，我是纯素食主义者。”瑞恩撒了个谎。“替我向厨师致意。”

亚当呵呵笑着，抬起一根手指点了点瑞恩，笑容欢快。“你真有意思。我很欣赏你的机智和自制力。简直像是早就经历过类似的事。”

瑞恩没说话，亚当不由得扬起眉毛。“还真经历过？”

“知道你最可悲的地方是什么吗，死胖子？”瑞恩嘲弄道。“你一点新意都没有。你这样的货色，我已经杀过几十个了。就算被活活烹熟，也不是头一遭。”

“哇。”沙林说。“真够丧心病狂的。”

亚当仍然满脸笑容，眼里却没了笑意。能挫伤他的自尊，信使也算找到了点乐趣。“好吧，看来我会是最后收拾掉你的那个。”疯魔说着，开始进餐。“最好的总得留到最后。说实话，心震还没把你的脑子搅乱，唯一的原因就是我不确定这么干是不是个好主意。我觉得我们这是在玩火。”

“的确如此。”瑞恩的声音里淬着毒。

亚当笑了笑，继续吃饭，心震接过了话头。“她还爱着你。切萨雷。”

瑞恩僵住了，身体因愤怒而颤抖。

“我深入探查过小蕾恩的心智。”心震继续往伤口上撒盐。“我知道她最深的秘密。我甚至知道你给她破处时，她心里在想什么；恐怕你没给她留下什么好印象。不过话说回来，你是她唯一的男人。那个特别的人。”

“闭嘴。”瑞恩说。

“在内心深处，她还是相信你是那个身披闪亮铠甲、能让一切好起来的骑士。只是她太害怕，不敢让你走进心里。她觉得白马王子已经发了狂。真是悲剧啊。”

“倒是挺惹人怜爱的。”食尸鬼残忍地笑道，沙林则始终死一般沉默。“要不是这么可悲的话。”

这些怪物竟然拿蕾恩珍藏的记忆来奚落他，瑞恩的愤怒已无法用言语形容。但此刻，那股怒火冷却成了一种冰冷而沉寂的恨意。“总有一天，心心，我会把你脑子里的东西挖出来。”信使警告道，“不过我保证，那滋味绝不会好受。”

“我们都知道，你现在根本没法兑现这个威胁。”心震悠悠说道。“等我支配了你的心智，也许会把你和小蕾恩配成一对。那将是你这辈子最接近美满婚姻的体验了。”

“不过，真能行吗？”亚当吃完饭，用餐巾擦了擦脸颊，开口问道。盘子里只有苹果没动。“你的能力能改变脑波，可他同时存在于两个地点、两个时间。这就意味着有两个脑子，对吧？”

“我应该能覆盖他的意识。”心震坚持道，显然迫不及待地想给瑞恩洗脑。这个劫持心智的家伙，能从强行侵入他人头脑中获得一种病态而扭曲的快感。“小蕾恩把心智传回过去时，我就成功了。”

“应该能行。”汉尼胖·莱克特挑起一边眉毛，颇有些怀疑。“那是乐观的结果，可要是他的能力有防护机制呢？最坏会怎么样？”

老大的质疑似乎让心震很恼火，但他还不至于蠢到去争辩。“两种脑波模式可能会冲突，造成脑损伤。也可能死亡。”

“可要是他刚读档完脑子就炸了，他的能力还会继续生效吗？我们会不会被困在一个无穷无尽的循环里，看着他立刻死掉、读档？还是说到头来总会停下？在他的能力看来，你的洗脑会不会也算是死亡？”

房间里陷入了沉重的寂静，超能帮没有一个人敢出声。最后，心心不得不承认自己也不知道。“我不清楚，亚当。但应该能行。”

“可不试一试，你就没法确定。”

心震的沉默本身就是回答。

“对，这就是我讨厌你这能力的地方，伙计。”亚当看向瑞恩。“不试就不知道极限在哪儿，可我们只要搞砸一次，你就赢了。换个角度看，你跟奥古斯都一样难缠；一旦失败，我们就得死，吓得我们连试都不敢试。”

“说到奥古斯都，他女儿一直在打这家伙的手机，想联系他。”心震提醒道。“迟早她会察觉不对劲。”

“反正我们本来就打算杀了她。”

“我的意思是，拖得越久，风险越大。”心震争辩道，看着瑞恩的目光简直称得上渴望。“我可以控制住他，强迫他存档。”

“可那会让他的两个自我重合，对吧？他是这么告诉他女朋友的。我们知道他死的时候能力就会发动，可什么才算死？让他的心脏停跳一分钟算吗？改写他的大脑、摧毁他的人格算吗？”

瑞恩知道答案，却始终死一般沉默。

“我能让他开口。”食尸鬼说，双手周围泛起白雾。“把他的手指脚趾一根根冻起来。”

“我的手指做成冰激凌，滋味可不怎么样。”瑞恩不为所动。他不觉得超能帮还能拿出什么让他意外的花样。“冷静点，皮卡尔。”

那具活尸气势汹汹地上前一步，亚当却挥手拦住了他。

“没这个必要，食尸鬼。”超能帮的头目眯起眼睛，打量着俘虏。“我从你眼里看得出来，小子。所有以为能利用你的人，迪纳米斯也好，奥古斯蒂也好，都是在自欺欺人。你他妈就是一场飓风。驯服不了，摧折不了，只能躲开。”

他妈的，那么多试图抓住瑞恩的人，怎么偏偏只有亚当聪明到看出了这一点？

事实就是，哪怕把瑞恩关进密封舱扔到太空里，他最后也会死，然后找到脱身的办法。他从摩纳哥回来过，也曾面对过看不到胜算的绝境。他们只要失手一次，瑞恩就能在下一轮赢回来。他们都是NPC，他却是玩家角色。

然而，心震的能力确实有可能跨越时间给他洗脑。他得让亚当继续心存疑虑，连尝试都不敢。

等等。不对劲。

大胖亚当并没有怀疑自己。在整场对话中，他一直在让其他疯魔怀疑他们自己的判断，一步步引导他们得出他的结论。这个玩弄人心的混蛋只是假装听取手下的意见，用这套把戏蒙骗他们，让他们按他的算盘行事。如何处置瑞恩，他早就打定了主意。

他究竟在谋划什么？

“他还能有别的用处。”所有人都看向沙林。“如果他真是个时间旅者，说不定知道治愈的办法？心震可以读他的心，查个明白。”

“治愈的办法？”瑞恩皱起眉头。“治什么？”

“治我们，白痴。”防化服姑娘答道，仿佛这是明摆着的事。

“治好疯魔的办法？”这倒说得通。瑞恩不觉得沙林想一直当一团困在防化服里的气体，也不觉得杂种想当头连搜集到的能力都用不了的野兽。“这就是小鲸鱼让你们乖乖听话的说辞？他根本没在研究什么疗法。他甚至都没想救他自己！”

信使望向汉尼胖·莱克特，嗅到了一丝挑拨离间的机会。

“上一轮，我们从你们手里夺下地堡之后，我看了入口处的基地平面图，发现了一件有意思的事。你们试着一间一间地攻占这里，可你选的路线，既不是去实验室最短的路，也不是去主机最短的路……倒是通往轨道通信塔的最短路线。”

亚当的坏笑丝毫未变，但他眼里的恨意告诉瑞恩，自己猜对了。

这个疯子从一开始就打定了主意。

“要我弄晕他吗，亚当？”汉尼胖·莱克特从盘里抓起一个大苹果，食尸鬼向老大请示。“把他那张满口谎话的嘴冻上？”

“他谁都不想救，连他自己也不例外！”瑞恩喊道。“他只想杀光所有人，因为他是个病态的恶毒混蛋，觉得自己已经没救——”

亚当把苹果塞进时间旅者嘴里，像对待一头猪，让他再也说不出话来。信使试着把苹果吞下去噎死自己，可嘴里的金属板让他连这也做不到。

心震肯定知情。那个混蛋聪明得不可能猜不到老大的计划，却又反社会得根本不在乎。食尸鬼不是太蠢，就是太疯，懒得管这些。只有沙林看上去心生疑虑，但亚当立刻察觉了她的不安。“有什么想说的吗？”

防化服姑娘沉默了片刻，像是在消化这个消息。最终，求生本能占了上风。“没有，亚当，我没有。”

“那就好，你可是我亲爱的朋友，我可不想在晚餐桌上见到你。”亚当用虚假的温和语气说着，又拉过一个餐盘，掀开盖子。“尤其是我们都快吃到甜点了。”

信使盯着那道骇人的菜，浑身血液都凉了。

莎拉像头猪一样被绑住手脚、堵住嘴，放在盘子上，周围摆满了沙拉和番茄。恐惧的泪水淌过小女孩的脸颊，她的眼睛哀求着瑞恩，哀求着任何一个人，救救她。

亚当窃笑着，拿起盐瓶，开始往莎拉身上撒盐。其他疯魔看到这骇人的一幕，没有一个流露出不忍。“你以为自己能翻盘，伙计。”这个以虐人为乐的怪物说道，“可依我看，只有你下场，这局游戏我们才有可能输。只要把你从棋盘上拿掉，就不会有人起疑，等他们反应过来，一切早就晚了。”

瑞恩没有听，双眼死死盯着莎拉，拼命想着救她的办法。即便经历了这么多次循环，依然有些事会让他恐惧。有些事，他不愿亲眼看到。

“假设你的能力没用，心震。”亚当给小女孩撒完盐，看向自己的副手。“还有什么办法能一劳永逸地解决他？”

心震答不上来。他只能依靠蕾恩的记忆，而瑞恩虽然告诉了她很多事，却也并非毫无保留。“也许消除者可以？按他告诉小蕾恩的说法，他的能力属于最顶尖的一档。连莉维娅·奥古斯蒂都影响不了他。”

“可惜。看来我们还是用屡试不爽的老办法吧。”亚当像鹈鹕一样张大嘴，把手伸进了喉咙。

一秒后，那只手抽了出来，手里多了个印着梅克隆标志的瓶子。

黑色灵药。

不。

“各位，看见他眼里的神色了吗？”亚当在满脸惊恐的瑞恩面前晃着瓶子。“那叫恐惧。到现在为止，他还是第一次真正害怕。”

不，不，不！

瑞恩试着挣脱束缚，暂停时间，试着来一手胡迪尼式逃脱，让自己窒息，什么都行！可椅子把他牢牢钉在原地，他手头又没有任何工具可用！

“你确定吗，亚当？”心震问道，对这个发展颇感不安。

“有件事一直让我很在意。”亚当脸上挂着残忍的笑。“几百年来，他一直在探索种种可能。可就算能无限次尝试，他也从没试过再喝一剂灵药。这就意味着，唯独这个选择，他知道一试就会把存档点毁得无可挽回。既然没法剥夺他的能力……那我们就给它下毒。”

这个混蛋。

他不是想废掉瑞恩的能力，而是想污染它！他认为，把时间旅者变成疯魔，造成的破坏不亚于启动巴哈姆特……而他很可能是对的。

更糟的是，灵药瓶开始摇晃，连疯魔们都吃了一惊。随着瓶子接近信使，里面的东西蠕动起来，瑞恩感到一股寒意顺着脊背窜下。那是一种他从未体验过的、违背自然的寒冷。

黑色灵药记得。

“哦哦！看来这团黏液也很想跟你结合啊！”瑞恩惊慌的表情只让亚当笑得更响。“好了，小子……该吃药了。”

“别担心，我们的存货够多，保管你一直上瘾。”食尸鬼看着这一幕，兴高采烈地补上一句。沙林始终双臂交叉，似乎陷入了沉思。“我们会像一家人一样。”

这一刻，瑞恩最深的恐惧正在成为现实。最残酷、最可怕的结局。更糟的是，亚当正尽情享受着这一切。这个混蛋活着唯一的乐趣，就是摧毁别人的人生。杀死时间旅者还不够；他要让瑞恩彻底毁掉，再也无法复原。

他会成为新的血流。一场永不终结的噩梦。

亚当从座位上站起身时，房间震动起来。

先是一下，然后又一下。瑞恩以为可能是大地在引发地震，或许是在应对外部袭击，可听着更像是地堡内部传来的爆炸。

“怎么回事？”大胖亚当问道，心震也惊觉不对，站了起来。又一阵震动传来，这一次，源头离房间更近了。

“又是机器人？”食尸鬼走到金属门前，把脑袋凑过去，似乎在向另一边的守卫喊话。“喂！喂，怎么回事？！”

食尸鬼冲着门大吼，短短一瞬间，心震和亚当都没再盯着瑞恩，甚至没去看吓坏了的莎拉。他们的注意力全放在了金属门上，汉尼胖·莱克特的皮肤也覆上了一层碳合金。

瑞恩注意到沙林悄悄向他靠近。时间旅者以为她要处决自己，防化服姑娘却把脑袋凑到他耳边。“你有治愈的办法吗？”她压低声音问，轻得其他人都没注意到。“你能找到治愈的办法吗？”

瑞恩看着她，完全没料到事情会这样发展。爆炸是她引起的吗？不，她看起来和屋里其他疯魔一样困惑。她只是抓住了跳船的机会，也许是因为他的话动摇了她对亚当的信任。她一定已经意识到，亚当不会兑现承诺。

瑞恩能找到治愈疯魔的办法吗？他在此前的循环里从没做到过，可是……他以前也从没机会进入梅克隆的地堡，更接触不到提拉诺博士那样的人。

也许……也许这次会不一样。

瑞恩一连眨了好几下眼，希望她能明白。沙林把手伸到椅子后面，他感觉束缚在慢慢松动。也许她正在用气体能力锈蚀这套装置。

“没人回答，老大。”食尸鬼说着，在身体表面覆上了一层薄冰。

“有人来救你了，伙计？”大胖亚当看向瑞恩，沙林赶在他察觉破坏行为之前缩回了手。“奥古斯蒂？你也给自己留了保险？”

瑞恩倒希望自己真留了。

会是谁？莉维娅吗？她集结人手攻打地堡了？是贾丝敏？嘉年华？究竟是什么样的力量势不可挡，能从一座满是基因者的基地里一路杀到这里？

“食尸鬼，开门。”心震命令那个操纵冰的家伙，触手扬起，准备战斗。“不是自己人就杀了。”

冷冻食品先生遵命照办。门打开，露出一条金属走廊。有人用鲜血涂满了墙壁，心震手下两名武装奴仆悬在天花板下，吊死他们的绳索是用他们自己的肠子做的。

瑞恩的救星就在他们中间等着，洁白的毛皮一尘不染，如同白雪。时间旅者在一个不到十三岁的孩子身旁祈求从超能帮的魔爪下获救，却只召来了更大的邪恶。

信使望进那野兽如蓝色太阳般的独眼，望进那充斥着无尽黑暗的深渊，不由得在心中问道。

为什么？

深渊竖起长长的耳朵，给出了回答。

“我会永远做你的朋友！”