同章对照

With his Plymouth Fury out of commission, Ryan had expected to be transported in a Cadillac. Instead, he had to settle for the same black minivan which the Meta-Gang used to attack the orphanage in the past.

These Psychos had no taste at all!

“This is a disgrace,” Ryan complained at the back, Eugène-Henry on his lap. Sarin was driving at the front, while Mosquito sat on the second row of seats. “At least it’s a Chrysler!”

“Nobody can see us with the tinted windows,” Sarin grunted at the front, as she drove through New Rome’s streets. They had left Rust Town soon after dusk, and Ryan had taken the opportunity to memorize the name of the border guards they bribed to get out. “People raise the alarms when they see us out in the open.”

“Yeah, right, a black minivan doesn’t scream suspicious at all.”

“Half of us are too big to fit in a normal car, Boss,” Mosquito pointed out, having to lower his head to fit inside. “We have to transport Frank by truck.”

Ah, the logistics of superhumans. Ryan wondered how the Danish managed to deal with their giant serpent overlord Nidhogg. They probably had to redraw the maps after every transformation. “What’s your second power, Mosquito?” the president asked, as they traveled through the southern slums. “Besides the whole bugman thing.”

“I took the Hercules knockoff, the super-strength one.” Mosquito let out a sigh. “Didn’t work out well. I only get the superstrength after I’m filled with blood, and I weaken every minute afterward.”

“You took a second Green?” Ryan asked, squinting in skepticism. “Why? You didn’t want to go for the full rainbow?”

“Well, being a giant mosquito isn’t very glamorous, ya know Boss? I figured if I drank an Elixir of the same color as the first one, it would wash away the first power and replace it. It made sense to me.”

“You’re a dumbass,” Sarin said out loud what Ryan was thinking.

Mosquito bristled. “Yeah, but at least I’ve got a body.”

“Shut your mouth!” Sarin stopped looking at the road to raise her hand at Mosquito, as if to blast him. “I’ll tear your wisecracking head off!”

“Hey, everyone calm down, there’s a cat at the back!” Ryan said to defuse the situation. Mosquito and Sarin exchanged fingered gestures, but the Meta’s new vice-president focused back on the road. “Besides, you took two Elixirs too, Chernobyl. It’s the pot calling the kettle black.”

“That’s fucking different, asshole,” Sarin replied. “I took my Elixirs soon after Last Easter, back when nobody knew taking more than one was a terrible idea. While that bug knew exactly what he was getting into.”

Ryan blinked. “Wait, you’ve been like this for fifteen years?”

“Fourteen. I swear, if you find a cure, first thing I’ll do is to fuck someone’s brains out. Fourteen years of celibacy, man; fourteen years. I don’t get how priests do it.”

There was a sick joke to make here, but even Ryan had standards.

Mosquito had none though. “Well, they learn how to handle kids.”

Ignoring the bugman laughing at his own joke, Ryan meditated on this information. Sarin’s situation made him pause, but watching her join Adam in burning down New Rome lessened the sympathy he might have felt for her. As for Mosquito, he happily helped to abduct orphans to throw at the bunker’s defenses.

Yeah, these two had made bad calls. But instead of turning their life around, they kept making worse ones. If anything, the only mutant the courier felt pity for was Frank the Mad, who clearly suffered from a mental illness and needed psychiatric treatment. Maybe it was Ryan’s experience with Bloodstream talking, but the time-traveler had a hard time seeing Psychos as anything but monsters.

Eventually, Sarin reached their destination, and parked the minivan in front of Deadland Motel.

Livia and her escort were waiting in the parking lot. Unlike last time, where she had shown up with only Cancel and Mortimer, the Augusti princess had brought reinforcements. Sparrow, Night Terror… and Luigi the Hockey Victim.

Damn it, Ryan knew he had overlooked something!

“Howdy, legitimate gentlemen,” Ryan greeted the group, as he and his Psycho bodyguards emerged from their car. The president carried Eugène-Henry in his hands. “We come in peace!”

“Hi, I’m Cancel!” Only Greta raised a hand and waved it at the group with a fake smile. Ryan wondered what it would take to break her cheerful demeanor. “Nice to meet you!”

The others weren’t so enthusiastic though. Mortimer hid a gun beneath his cloak, Sparrow shielded Augustus’ daughter with her body, Night Terror stood still in eerie silence, and Luigi courageously stayed at the back.

As for Livia...

“So, you’re the new leader of the Meta-Gang?” Though she seemed confident and in control, Ryan noticed the slight unease at the edge of Livia’s gaze. While she could read notes left by her previous self, the presence of Psychos didn’t help make her feel safe. “Quicksave, is it?”

“President,” Ryan replied, carrying his cat in his hands. “Mr. President.”

“Who elected you?” Mortimer asked, curious.

“You don’t want to know,” Mosquito replied while shuddering. “They had... persuasive arguments.”

“Six against three,” Sarin taunted the Augusti. “You really fear us that much?”

“Considering you’ve been attacking our businesses lately, we expected a trap,” Sparrow replied, before checking an earplug hidden beneath her hair. “Miss Livia, it seems they indeed came alone.”

“I know the previous administration and yours didn’t get along well, but it’s all in the past now,” Ryan said. “We want peace between our two nations. We even brought a gift to show our goodwill.”

“A gift?” Greta’s smile turned genuine, having been informed ahead of time. “I love gifts. What kind of gift?”

“The old administration, of course!” Ryan said before snapping his fingers. Mosquito opened the black minivan’s chest, grabbed the content, and tossed it at Livia’s feet. “Packaged just for you.”

Psyshock wriggled on the ground, blissfully out of commission.

The Augusti princess looked down at the brainjacker’s limp body with contempt. Sparrow and Mortimer studied the Psycho with curiosity, while Greta’s gleeful joy turned to disappointment.

“Aw, he’s drugged out?” Cancel complained, as she noticed the liquid dripping from Psyshock’s mouth. “I prefer it when they understand what’s coming. It doesn’t feel right otherwise.”

“We fished this squid yesterday,” Ryan said. “You’ll need to negate his power first to make his death stick though.”

“Wait, she can negate powers?” Sarin asked, immediately interested.

“Yes, I am doing it right now,” Greta said with pride, which Ryan confirmed after a failed attempt at activating his time-stop.

“Then why am I still made of gas?” Sarin complained, before raising her hand to the skies. “Huh, I can’t generate shockwaves anymore.”

“I don’t know why, but some powers trump mine,” Cancel said with disappointment. “Like the Boss. He can’t shoot lightning in my presence, but he’s still invulnerable.”

“And be thankful for it,” Sparrow said ominously. “He would have killed you otherwise.”

So this confirmed Ryan’s theory. Cancel didn’t nullify powers; she disrupted the Elixir’s connection to their color dimension, preventing access to this bottomless power source, but couldn’t affect physical mutations.

However, she managed to negate Mongrel’s pyrokinesis in a previous loop, which he got from a knockoff that didn’t draw upon the Red Dimension for fuel. Ryan tried to reconcile these two contradictions, until he realized the missing link: Mongrel’s original White Elixir. Since it was the one keeping his multiple powers in balance, by disrupting it, Cancel probably caused his other abilities to go haywire.

As for Augustus, it could only mean his invulnerability was a physical mutation. Combined with the other information Ryan had gathered, then Mob Zeus’ body probably mimicked the properties of a specific metal. A superior variant of Frank’s power.

Probably an Orange.

A damn strong Orange, but it didn’t explain how Lightning Butt could move in the stopped time, or why most powers failed to affect him… unless…

Unless the metal itself had unique, anomalous properties.

It was just a theory and he would need to test its limits, but Ryan felt he was onto something. More worrying, since Ryan’s power relied on his connection to the Purple World, it meant Cancel’s power would probably kill permanently. His other self would remain trapped in the purple world, unaware his future incarnation had perished.

“Anyway, can we wait until the squid wakes up? I want to see the light go ou—” Mortimer drew a silenced pistol before Greta could finish her sentence, and shot Psypsy twice in the head. “Morty, you hyena! Find your own kills!”

“What?” he asked, smoke coming out of his weapon. “It’s teamwork. You soften the prey, I finish it off. Fifty-fifty."

“But you always get the good part!”

Ryan would lie if the sight of Psyshock’s corpse bleeding out on a parking lot didn’t fill him with joy. “VP, please call our staff to check if Psypsy’s victims recovered,” the POTUS asked Sarin, before turning at Livia. “So? Do we sign a peace treaty, shake hands...”

“Let us discuss that inside a private space,” she replied. “Luigi will be present as well.”

“You’re really sure about that?” Ryan asked, disliking the man’s presence. “He might go mad from the revelation.”

“I hear people’s dirty laundry every day,” Luigi replied with a snort. “Nothing you say will surprise me.”

Oh well, he asked for it.

Livia led the two men upstairs, to the same cozy suite where she welcomed Ryan in the previous loop. She invited them to sit around the table, with the cookies and coffee cups already set. “A drink?” she offered Ryan.

“No thank you,” Ryan replied, letting Eugène-Henry leap onto the bed nearby. His host couldn’t suppress a raised eyebrow. “Is this really necessary? You should have all the information available.”

“I wish to hear it from you,” Livia said, glancing at Luigi. “And have my intel confirmed.”

“Don’t try to lie,” the truth-teller warned Ryan. “You can’t.”

“Do you want the short version or the long one?” the time-traveler asked, as he sensed Luigi’s power take over.

“You could give a summary,” Livia proposed.

Alright.

Time to rant!

“I am a time-traveler, and I’ve been at it for centuries. I’ve lived a full life in Monaco, which I don’t recommend, and I’ve tried pretty much everything you can think of. Including beating you up, Luigi. Livia, you can make notes that carry through my time jumps, so everything you wrote down is true; this is the third loop where we meet and I really hated how you took away my control over all factors, but like cancer, I’ve learned to live with it. Also, you really remind me of a friend who suffered from a toxic family environment, so I want to help. I beat the shit out of the Meta-Gang last loop before they could kill everyone with an orbital laser, but your daddy waged war on the Carnival and Dynamis and the city burned again.

“I saved your ex-boyfriend from your aunt for you, but she ended up killing Fortuna instead, and your Lightning Dad smashed a Living Sun into New Rome and I had to reload. But Psypsy managed to follow, which didn’t end well for him; I helped feed Big Fat Adam to a black alien whom I called Darkling, because it eats hope and happiness. Then I gave the Meta-Gang the democratic choice of voting for me or dying, I became President, and I love democracy so much I’m never relinquishing power until my death. The whole timeline is ruined so I decided to try new stuff like finding a cure for the Psycho condition, and also, you have the brain patterns of a friend trapped in your head, which I really want back, please. I haven’t doctored your notes or anything, and I have no intention of causing you trouble until you go after me first.

“Except for you Luigi. I hate you, I hate you so much. The first time I beat you was one of my eternal life's best memories, and I love doing it. I love it so much I’ll keep doing it in every loop until the last one. Also, nothing you will do during this loop really matters since I’ll reload eventually, so your life is meaningless. You don’t matter.”

Ryan joined his hands. “I think that’s all.”

By the time he had finished, Livia’s fingers fidgeted around her coffee cup, and her gaze lost itself in the pitch darkness of her beverage. Luigi’s stare had turned distant, as he underwent an existential crisis.

Eventually, Livia glanced at her truth-teller. “Luigi.”

“Y-yes, ma’am?”

“I overworked you, and you need a vacation,” Livia said with a calm, friendly tone. “To make up for it, I will make a generous deposit on your account. I think twenty million euros should be a good compensation. You leave New Rome right now.”

Luigi’s eyes widened in shock. “Like, what, now now?”

“Now,” Livia said, her tone less friendly than before. “You leave and you don’t look back.”

“Where am I supposed to go?” the truth-teller protested.

“Not here,” Livia said with a smile that wasn’t a smile. “Obviously, you won’t say a word of this to anyone else, even my father. If you do, I will know, and your free-time will be cut short. Do you understand?”

Luigi was an ass, but he could see the blood on the wall.

“Also, if you don’t leave the city by next sunrise, I will beat you up with a hockey stick,” Ryan blurted out while still under the power’s effect. “Oh wait, no, I’m president now. I can order drone strikes.”

Luigi wisely rose from his chair and left the room. Ryan briefly froze time to look out the window; the truth-teller was running down the motel’s stairs as fast as he could, much to his fellow Augusti’s surprise.

“Convinced, princess?” Ryan said as time unfroze, sitting back in his chair.

“I admit this is… a lot to process, even with prior warning.” Livia glanced at Eugène-Henry, who had claimed the bedsheet as his own. “Why can I see him this time? My notes said I couldn’t before. Is this a different cat?”

“No, but he lost his power,” Ryan replied with a shrug. “You’re sure Luigi won’t talk?”

“He will be too busy processing what he heard to do anything about it,” Livia replied before wincing. “Sending him away now is the best choice. My power gave him one chance out of three of killing himself if I didn’t.”

Ryan couldn’t tell he was surprised. In his experience, it was usually the most common response to people learning the truth, closely followed by attempting to capture the time-traveler himself. “So, you believe me?”

“Well, your tale does match what’s in my records, but there are a few things I wish to discuss.” Livia peered into Ryan’s eyes. “Since you’ve taken over the Meta-Gang by force, it means you control the bunker during this iteration?”

So she knew. Of course she did. Her father probably had moles in Dynamis, and Livia probably recorded its existence in her notes for future loops. “Yes.”

“What will you do with it?”

“Well, for now, I’ll learn everything I can about its content, and then I will destroy it in the final loop,” Ryan explained. “It’s an apple of discord. Every time it’s unearthed, it spells disaster for this city.”

She frowned. “You’re sure what’s inside can’t be used for good in the right hands?”

“There are no right hands,” Ryan quoted Leo Hargraves, and he was tempted to agree. “True, some of the technology inside can benefit humanity, and it will once I’ve filtered it out. But you must understand a big orbital laser will never be used for positive ends.”

“No, probably not,” Livia admitted. “You want to cure Psychos?”

“I thought you could help me with that, actually.”

“You want to figure out why my father and I can use two powers with no side-effects,” she guessed, crossing her arms. “Dynamis already made a similar offer, but I refused to assist. They would use this knowledge to make an army.”

“And I will use it to cure people.”

She looked away. “I’ll… I’ll consider it. Just give me some time to process everything, Ryan. It would be so much easier if I could remember directly, instead of catching up with written notes.”

“Maybe you could,” Ryan said. “But Psyshock sabotaged the tech needed. I’m trying to figure out how to solve that during this loop.”

“Is that why you need Len Sabino’s mental map?” she asked, and the time-traveler nodded in response. “Alright. I will need time to type down all the data, but I could forward it tomorrow at the earliest.”

“Wait, you’re giving it to me?” Ryan asked, surprised. “Just like that?”

Livia blinked in confusion. “Yes, why? That wasn’t our deal?”

“Yes, but I expected another fetch quest or a blackmail attempt.”

“I am not an ingrate, Ryan.” The Augusti princess sounded a little offended by his skepticism. “Though I do not remember it, from what I read, you did me a great favor. I trust my previous self’s judgment.”

That… that was extraordinarily noble of her. Someone else would have tried to use that leverage to exact concessions. “I’m deeply in your debt.”

“No, Ryan,” she answered with a smile. “I’m the one with a debt, and I’m clearing it off the books.”

The time-traveler looked away. “You know, I’ve been doing this alone for so long… after what happened with Psyshock, you can’t imagine how good it feels to have someone helping me out with no strings attached.”

“‘You’re not alone,’” Livia said, “That’s what you told my other self. It impacted her enough to write it down, and… I believe she had come to trust you a great deal. Even though it will take time for me to catch up, I hope we can continue on this path.”

Yes. Ryan too. “So what next, princess? You will join me in trying to explore the bunker?”

Livia shook her head sadly. “I think my father will get suspicious if I do. He already wanted to eliminate you before I convinced him a conflict would only benefit Dynamis, and even then my family will want to retake Rust Town. I can give you a week or two, but afterward, you will need to leave or hide beneath the earth.”

“Yeah, I expected as much,” Ryan said, finally deciding to sip a coffee cup. “To be honest, I don’t expect this loop to last that long. Too many things went off-script.”

Livia’s smile faltered. “There will be no long-term consequences? You will reload, no matter what?”

“Yes. If you want to try something you never dared to before, now is the time.” Livia didn’t answer, focusing on her cup. “It’s about Atom Kitten, isn’t it?”

“I… I thought I should use the opportunity to try and make up with him. See if…” The princess struggled to find the right words. “See if I’m wrong.”

Livia and her ex-boyfriend had a final talk, right before the end. Ryan didn’t know exactly what they told each other, but he strongly suspected it.

Felix had told her the truth. About why he left, and wouldn’t return. That he never loved Livia at all; not the way she did. Her old self had written it down, and sent a bottle to the sea to reach her next incarnation.

And now, Livia was in denial over the bitter truth. She needed to prove this information wrong, to see if she could change the ending.

Ryan knew, because he had been there first. He wanted to talk her out of it, because she would only hurt herself, but he respected her wish. The princess needed to learn the same lesson he did.

More and more uncomfortable, Livia hastily changed the subject. “There’s something else you should know, Ryan. A few of our members perished in mysterious circumstances lately. Assassinations, bombs…”

Shroud.

As Ryan worried, without the handsome courier to talk him out of it, he had already started his assassination spree. The president had tried to visit Mr. See-Through at the harbor on his way to the meeting, but the hideout almost blew up in his face instead.

Shroud had seen Ryan with the Meta-Gang, and assumed he turned Psycho.

Which meant the Carnival might start targeting Ryan during this loop, as if he didn’t have enough on his plate already. At least the fact the Meta-Gang didn’t send anyone to the harbor prevented a massacre there, as seen by Luigi’s continued existence. “Are Jamie Cutter, Lanka, and Ki-jung still alive?”

“They are,” Livia confirmed before frowning. “You think they will be targeted next?”

“Yes.” Shroudy Repairs bombed their apartment once, he would do it again. “I’ll find a way to avoid a war in New Rome. I’m sure there’s a combination of events that can prevent an open conflict. A path to the perfect ending. I just need to figure it out.”

“We,” Livia corrected him. “We need to figure it out.”

Ryan examined her closely. “Princess, your father—”

“Ryan, stop,” she cut him off.

“Your father put a hit on Felix and sent his armies to burn New Rome to the ground,” Ryan said. “True, Alphonse ‘Walking Cancer’ Manada shares half the responsibility, but Lightning Butt is clearly part of the big picture problem.”

“I… I read my other self’s report on the war.” But since she hadn’t experienced these events, it hadn’t had the effect Ryan would have had hoped. “I… I understand who my father is, Ryan. I do. I’m not blind. But he’s still my father. I don’t want him dead. I want him to retire and away from power, so he can’t harm anyone else.”

“And let him get away with all his crimes?” Also, retire? To quote Enrique, men like Augustus didn’t go into quiet retirement.

“Like you want Hargraves to get away with my mother’s death,” Livia replied, her tone harshening. “Ryan, you spoke of a perfect ending. What is it to you?”

“An ending where all the people I like get to live happily ever after,” Ryan said. That was horribly cliché, but that was the truth. “An ending where as many innocents as possible survive.”

“I want to save as many lives as possible and make my loved ones happy too,” she said with a sigh. “We’re both making concessions here. I’m… I’m willing to set aside my own grudges, if you set aside yours. If you’re right, and there is a path to a good ending, then… then we can find something that satisfies us both. If we cooperate, then we will find it eventually.”

And if they couldn’t find a common ground, then nobody would get their happy ending.

Ryan exited the suite a few minutes afterward with Eugène-Henry in tow, quite happy with the meeting. He wouldn’t have to worry about the Augusti this time around, and he had secured Len’s uncorrupted brain-map.

Now, he only needed the technology to make the transfer work.

“So?” Sarin asked, as Ryan returned to the minivan while stepping over Psyshock’s corpse. “Do we pack our things and run, or…”

“We signed a peace treaty, but we will keep an American presence in Rust Town for a while. Maybe we’ll retire them next year.” Of course, nobody would believe it, but it was the thought that counted. “What about Psypsy’s thralls?”

“The ones in our custody returned to their senses, right when Psyshock bit the dust,” Sarin said. “They completely forgot their time under his control, but they can think for themselves now.”

Ryan nodded, knowing it was only a matter of time before Dynamis reacted to this change. However, someone else was always on his mind. “And Len? Is she alright?”

Chernobyl’s short hesitation told him something had gone wrong.

“They… she’s awake, but doesn’t respond,” Sarin admitted. She sounded strangely apologetic for once. “Like a vegetable. I think Psyshock scrambled her brain real bad on his way out.”

That bastard… he had tried to make sure Len wouldn’t recover, even if he was somehow beaten. He couldn’t just die with dignity, he had to twist the knife.

If Shortie had brain damage, then Ryan had no choice but to rely on Alchemo. He didn’t like it at all, but he was running out of options. Almost.

“What do we do next, Boss?” Mosquito asked, arms crossed.

“I received a thirty-five pages report from an underground base specialist.” Yuki’s girlfriend had been nothing if not thorough. “Time to commit robocide.”

Even without Psyshock, Big Fat Adam had managed to gain partial control of the bunker.

Ryan bet he could do better.

普利茅斯“狂怒”开不了了，瑞恩本以为至少会有辆凯迪拉克接送自己。结果，他只能屈就一辆黑色面包车——正是之前超能帮袭击孤儿院时用的那辆。

这群疯魔真是一点品位都没有！

“简直有辱国格。”瑞恩坐在后排抱怨，欧仁-亨利卧在他腿上。沙林在前面开车，蚊子则坐在第二排。“好歹还是辆克莱斯勒！”

“车窗贴了深色膜，没人看得见我们。”沙林在前面哼了一声，开着车穿过新罗马的街道。他们在入夜后不久离开了锈镇，瑞恩趁机记下了那些收钱放行的关卡守卫的名字。“我们要是大摇大摆地露面，别人就该拉警报了。”

“对对对，黑色面包车一点都不可疑，绝不会让人一眼就起疑心。”

“老大，我们有一半人块头太大，普通车根本装不下。”蚊子指出。他得低着头才能坐进车里。“运弗兰克都得用卡车。”

啊，超人类的后勤问题。瑞恩很好奇，丹麦人是怎么伺候他们那位巨蛇霸主尼德霍格的。没准每变一次身，他们就得重画一次地图。车子驶过南部贫民窟时，总统问道：“蚊子，你的第二种能力是什么？除了变成虫人那一套。”

“我喝了仿制的赫拉克勒斯，就是超级力量那种。”蚊子叹了口气。“效果不怎么样。非得吸饱血才能有超级力量，之后每过一分钟都会变弱。”

“你第二瓶还喝绿色的？”瑞恩眯起眼，满脸怀疑。“为什么？你就没想过集齐整道彩虹？”

“唉，老大，你也知道，变成一只大蚊子可不怎么风光。我琢磨着，要是再喝一瓶同样颜色的灵药，不就能把第一种能力洗掉，换成新的吗？我觉得挺有道理的。”

“你就是个傻逼。”沙林把瑞恩的心里话说了出来。

蚊子火了。“是啊，可我至少还有个身体。”

“闭上你的臭嘴！”沙林连路都不看了，抬起手对准蚊子，像是要轰他一炮。“我把你这颗嘴贱的脑袋拧下来！”

“喂，都冷静点，后面还有只猫呢！”瑞恩出声打圆场。蚊子和沙林互相比了几个不友好的手势，超能帮的新任副总统才重新把注意力放回路上。“再说了，切尔诺贝利，你不也喝了两瓶灵药吗？五十步笑百步。”

“那他妈能一样吗，混蛋。”沙林回道。“我喝灵药是在最后的复活节刚过去没多久，那时候根本没人知道喝第二瓶会出大事。可这只臭虫明明知道后果，还往坑里跳。”

瑞恩眨了眨眼。“等等，你这副样子已经十五年了？”

“十四年。我发誓，你要是真找到疗法，我第一件事就是找个人操个昏天黑地。十四年没做过了，哥们，十四年。真不知道神父们是怎么熬过来的。”

这里正好能接个下流笑话，不过就连瑞恩也是有底线的。

蚊子却没有。“嗐，他们学会了拿小孩下手呗。”

瑞恩没理会那个被自己笑话逗乐的虫人，默默消化着刚听到的信息。沙林的遭遇让他心头一滞，但他毕竟亲眼见过她跟着亚当一起火烧新罗马，那点本可能生出的同情也就淡了。至于蚊子，他可是乐呵呵地帮着绑架孤儿，再把他们扔去消耗地堡的防御火力。

没错，这两人都做过错误的选择。可他们不想着改过自新，反倒一错再错，越陷越深。真要说起来，信使唯一同情的变种人只有疯子弗兰克；他显然患有精神疾病，需要接受精神科治疗。也许是与血流相处的经历在作祟，但在这位时间旅行者眼中，疯魔实在很难被看作怪物以外的东西。

沙林终于抵达目的地，把面包车停在了死地汽车旅馆门前。

莉维娅和她的护卫已经等在停车场了。上次她只带了消除者和莫蒂默，这一回，奥古斯蒂家的公主还带来了增援。麻雀、夜魇……还有冰球受害者路易吉。

妈的，瑞恩就知道自己漏了什么！

“各位守法绅士，晚上好。”瑞恩和两名疯魔保镖下了车，向众人打招呼。总统双手抱着欧仁-亨利。“我们为和平而来！”

“嗨，我是消除者！”只有格蕾塔挂着假笑，抬手朝他们挥了挥。瑞恩真想知道，究竟得怎样才能打破她这副欢快的模样。“很高兴认识你们！”

其他人就没这么热情了。莫蒂默在斗篷下面藏着一把枪，麻雀用身体护住奥古斯都的女儿，夜魇一动不动，沉默得令人发毛，而路易吉则英勇地躲在最后。

至于莉维娅……

“这么说，你就是超能帮的新首领？”她看起来信心十足、镇定自若，但瑞恩还是从她眼底捕捉到了一丝不安。虽说她能查阅上一个自己留下的笔记，身旁有疯魔可实在让人安心不起来。“快存，对吗？”

“总统。”瑞恩双手抱着猫，纠正道。“总统先生。”

“谁选的你？”莫蒂默好奇地问。

“你不会想知道的。”蚊子打了个寒战。“他们有……很有说服力的论据。”

“六对三。”沙林嘲讽这群奥古斯蒂成员。“你们就这么怕我们？”

“考虑到你们最近一直在袭击我们的经营场所，我们当然会提防陷阱。”麻雀说完，确认了一下藏在头发下面的耳机。“莉维娅小姐，看样子他们确实没带其他人。”

“我知道，上届政府跟贵方的关系不太融洽，但那都已经是过去的事了。”瑞恩说道。“我们希望两国和平相处。为了表示诚意，我们甚至带了份礼物。”

“礼物？”格蕾塔事先已经得到过消息，此刻笑容终于真诚起来。“我喜欢礼物。什么样的礼物？”

“当然是上届政府！”瑞恩说着打了个响指。蚊子打开黑色面包车的后备厢，抓起里面的东西，扔到了莉维娅脚边。“专门为你打包好了。”

心震在地上蠕动，正沉浸在极乐中，毫无行动能力。

奥古斯蒂家的公主低头看着这位夺脑者软绵绵的身体，满眼轻蔑。麻雀和莫蒂默好奇地打量着这个疯魔，格蕾塔原本兴高采烈的神情却变成了失望。

“啊，他已经嗑傻了？”消除者注意到心震嘴里滴下来的液体，抱怨道。“我更喜欢他们知道自己接下来会遭遇什么。不然总觉得少了点味道。”

“这只鱿鱼是我们昨天钓上来的。”瑞恩说。“不过，你得先消除他的能力，才能让他死透。”

“等等，她能消除能力？”沙林立刻来了兴趣。

“对，我现在就在这么做。”格蕾塔自豪地说。瑞恩试着发动时间暂停，没成功，证实了她的话。

“那为什么我还是一团气体？”沙林抱怨着，朝天空抬起手。“咦，我倒是没法发出冲击波了。”

“不知道为什么，有些能力就是能压过我的能力。”消除者失望地说。“比如老板。有我在，他就没法发射闪电，但仍然刀枪不入。”

“你该为此庆幸。”麻雀阴森森地说。“否则他早把你杀了。”

这下，瑞恩的理论得到了证实。消除者并非让能力本身失效；她干扰的是灵药与其对应颜色维度之间的连接，阻止它们汲取那无穷无尽的能量，却无法影响身体上的变异。

可是在之前的一轮里，她确实消除了杂种的控火能力。那项能力来自仿制灵药，并不从红色维度获取能量。瑞恩试图调和这两个相互矛盾的事实，终于找到了缺失的一环：杂种最初喝下的白色灵药。维持他多种能力平衡的正是它，所以消除者干扰它时，很可能连带着让他的其他能力也出了故障。

至于奥古斯都，这就只能说明，他那坚不可摧的身躯源于身体变异。结合瑞恩收集到的其他情报来看，黑帮宙斯的身体很可能是在模拟某种特定金属的性质。相当于弗兰克能力的升级版。

大概是橙色灵药。

一种强得要命的橙色灵药，但这还是解释不了，闪电屁股为什么能在暂停的时间里行动，也解释不了为什么大部分能力都对他不起作用……除非……

除非那种金属本身就具有某些独特的异常性质。

这还只是个理论，需要测试它的适用范围，不过瑞恩觉得自己已经摸到门道了。更令人担忧的是，既然瑞恩的能力依赖他与紫色世界之间的连接，就意味着在消除者的能力影响下，他很可能会彻底死去。另一个他会被困在紫色世界，根本不知道未来的自己已经丧命。

“总之，我们能不能等这只鱿鱼醒过来？我想看着他眼里的光熄——”格蕾塔话还没说完，莫蒂默就拔出装着消音器的手枪，朝心心脑袋上连开两枪。“莫蒂，你这只鬣狗！自己找猎物去！”

“怎么了？”他问，枪口还在冒烟。“团队合作嘛。你削弱猎物，我补刀。五五分账。”

“可好玩的部分总让你占了！”

看着心震的尸体在停车场上淌血，瑞恩心里别提多痛快了；要说不是，那就是睁眼说瞎话。“副总统，麻烦打电话问问我们的工作人员，看看心心的受害者有没有恢复。”美国总统吩咐沙林，随即转向莉维娅。“怎么样？咱们签个和平条约，握个手……”

“我们找个私密的地方再谈。”她回答。“路易吉也会在场。”

“你真确定？”瑞恩不喜欢有这个人在场。“听完真相，他可能会疯掉。”

“我每天都在听别人的丑事。”路易吉哼了一声。“你说什么都吓不到我。”

那好吧，他自找的。

莉维娅领着两个男人上了楼，走进上一轮她接待瑞恩的那间舒适套房。她请两人围桌坐下，桌上已经摆好了饼干和咖啡杯。“喝点什么？”她问瑞恩。

“不用，谢谢。”瑞恩答道，任由欧仁-亨利跳上旁边的床。女主人忍不住挑起了眉。“真有这个必要吗？你应该已经掌握所有信息了。”

“我想听你亲口说。”莉维娅瞥了一眼路易吉。“也想核实一下我的情报。”

“别想撒谎。”这位真言者警告瑞恩。“你撒不了。”

“你想听长话短说，还是从头细说？”时间旅行者问道，感觉到路易吉的能力正开始支配自己。

“你可以概括一下。”莉维娅提议。

好吧。

开喷时间到！

“我是个时间旅行者，干这行已经几百年了。我在摩纳哥过完了一整辈子，不推荐；你能想到的事，我基本全都试过。包括把你揍一顿，路易吉。莉维娅，你能留下跟着我一起穿越时间的笔记，所以你写下的东西都是真的；这是咱们见面的第三轮循环，我是真的很讨厌你让我没法掌控所有变量，但就像得了癌症一样，我已经学会带病生存了。而且，你实在很像我的一个朋友，她也被糟糕的家庭环境折磨过，所以我想帮你。上一轮，在超能帮来得及用轨道激光炮把所有人轰死之前，我把他们打出了屎，可你爹又跟嘉年华和迪纳米斯开战，这座城又烧起来了。

“我替你把前男友从你姑妈手里救了下来，结果她却杀了福尔图娜，然后你的闪电老爸把一个活体太阳砸进新罗马，我只好读档。可心心居然跟了过来，下场当然很惨；我帮忙把大胖亚当喂给了一个黑色外星生物，我管它叫暗灵，因为它吞噬希望与幸福。然后我给了超能帮一个民主选择：要么投票给我，要么死。我当上了总统，而且我太爱民主了，所以我到死都不会放权。整条时间线都毁了，我就决定试点新东西，比如找个办法治好疯魔。另外，你脑子里还存着我一个朋友的脑活动模式，我真的很想拿回来，拜托了。我没篡改过你的笔记，也没做过别的手脚，而且只要你不先来找我的麻烦，我就不打算给你惹事。

“除了你，路易吉。我恨你，恨死你了。第一次揍你，是我永恒人生中最美好的回忆之一，我太喜欢揍你了。我喜欢到每一轮都要继续揍，直到最后一轮为止。另外，你在这一轮里干什么其实都无所谓，反正我最后都会读档，所以你的人生毫无意义。你根本不重要。”

瑞恩双手一合。“我想，就这些了。”

等他说完，莉维娅的手指已在咖啡杯上不安地摩挲，目光迷失在杯中漆黑的液体里。路易吉则两眼失神，陷入了一场存在危机。

终于，莉维娅看向了自己的真言者。“路易吉。”

“是、是，小姐？”

“我让你工作太辛苦了，你需要休个假。”莉维娅语气平静而友善。“作为补偿，我会往你的账户里打一笔丰厚的款项。我想，两千万欧元应该够了。你现在就离开新罗马。”

路易吉惊得睁大了眼。“什么意思，现在，立刻？”

“现在。”莉维娅说，语气已经没那么友善了。“离开这里，别回头。”

“那我该去哪儿？”真言者抗议道。

“别在这里就行。”莉维娅露出一个毫无笑意的微笑。“当然，这件事你不能向任何人透露半个字，包括我父亲。如果你说了，我会知道的，到时候，你的假期就会戛然而止。明白吗？”

路易吉虽然混账，却也看得懂这血淋淋的警告。

“还有，下次日出之前你要是还没离开这座城，我就拿冰球杆揍你。”瑞恩还受着能力影响，脱口而出。“哦，等等，不对，我现在可是总统。我可以下令发动无人机空袭。”

路易吉明智地站起身，离开了房间。瑞恩短暂地暂停时间，往窗外看了一眼；这位真言者正拼命往汽车旅馆的楼梯下跑，把其他奥古斯蒂成员惊得不轻。

“信了吧，公主？”时间恢复流动，瑞恩坐回椅子里。

“我承认，这些……即使提前有了心理准备，也有太多东西需要消化。”莉维娅瞥了一眼已经把床单据为己有的欧仁-亨利。“为什么这次我能看见它了？笔记上说，我之前是看不见的。这是另一只猫？”

“不是，只是它失去了能力。”瑞恩耸耸肩。“你确定路易吉不会说出去？”

“光是消化刚才听见的事，就够他忙的了，他没余力做别的。”莉维娅答完，神情微微一紧。“现在把他送走是最好的选择。我的能力显示，如果不这样做，他有三分之一的概率会自杀。”

瑞恩并不觉得意外。按他的经验，这通常是人们得知真相之后最常见的反应，紧随其后的，就是试图把这位时间旅行者本人抓起来。“所以，你相信我了？”

“嗯，你说的确实与我的记录吻合，但有几件事我还想谈一谈。”莉维娅注视着瑞恩的眼睛。“既然你用武力接管了超能帮，就说明在这一轮里，地堡在你手上？”

原来她知道。当然知道了。她父亲大概在迪纳米斯安插了眼线，而莉维娅多半把地堡的存在记进了笔记，留给以后的循环。“没错。”

“你打算怎么处置它？”

“眼下，我会尽可能摸清里面的一切，然后在最后一轮把它毁掉。”瑞恩解释道。“那就是个祸根。每次它被挖出来，都会给这座城带来灾难。”

她皱起眉。“你确定，里面的东西到了合适的人手里，也不能用来做好事？”

“没有什么合适的人。”瑞恩引用了利奥·哈格雷夫斯的话，而他自己也越来越倾向于认同这个观点。“没错，里面有些技术可以造福人类，等我筛选出来，它们也会派上用场。但你得明白，一门巨型轨道激光炮，永远不会被拿来做好事。”

“是，大概不会。”莉维娅承认。“你想治好疯魔？”

“其实，我觉得你能帮上忙。”

“你想弄清楚，我和父亲为什么能同时使用两种能力，却没有副作用。”她猜了出来，双臂抱在胸前。“迪纳米斯也提过类似的要求，不过我拒绝了。他们会用这项知识打造一支军队。”

“而我会用它来治病救人。”

她移开目光。“我……我会考虑的。给我一点时间消化这一切，瑞恩。如果我能直接记起来，而不是靠读笔记补课，事情就容易多了。”

“也许你能。”瑞恩说。“只是所需的技术被心震动了手脚。我正在设法趁这一轮解决这个问题。”

“所以你才需要蕾恩·萨比诺的心智图谱？”她问，时间旅行者点头回应。“好。我需要时间把所有数据输入进去，不过最快明天就能发给你。”

“等等，你愿意给我？”瑞恩有些吃惊。“就这么给我？”

莉维娅困惑地眨眨眼。“是啊，怎么了？我们不就是这么说好的吗？”

“是，不过我还以为，你会再给我派个跑腿任务，或者趁机要挟我一把。”

“我不是忘恩负义的人，瑞恩。”奥古斯蒂家的公主似乎被他的怀疑冒犯了。“虽然我不记得，但从笔记来看，你帮了我一个大忙。我相信之前那个自己的判断。”

这……她这份高尚，实在难得。换成别人，肯定会抓住这个筹码，逼他做出让步。“这份人情，我欠大了。”

“不，瑞恩。”她微笑着回答。“欠债的是我，我只是在把账还清。”

时间旅行者移开目光。“你知道吗，这些事，我一个人做了太久……经历了心震那件事之后，你想象不到，有人愿意不附带任何条件地帮我一把，感觉有多好。”

“‘你不是一个人。’”莉维娅说，“你对另一个我说过这句话。它深深打动了她，她才会把它写下来，而且……我相信，她当时已经非常信任你了。虽然我还需要时间才能跟上，但我希望，我们能继续走下去。”

是的。瑞恩也希望如此。“那接下来呢，公主？你要跟我一起探索地堡吗？”

莉维娅遗憾地摇了摇头。“我想，我要是这么做，父亲就会起疑。他本来已经打算除掉你了，我好不容易才说服他，冲突只会让迪纳米斯得利。即便如此，我的家族也会想要夺回锈镇。我能为你争取一到两周，但之后，你就得离开，或者躲到地下去。”

“嗯，我也猜到了。”瑞恩终于决定端起咖啡喝一口。“说实话，我不觉得这一轮能撑那么久。脱离剧本的事太多了。”

莉维娅的笑容淡了。“不会留下长远的后果？不管发生什么，你都会读档？”

“对。有什么事是你从前一直不敢尝试的，现在就是时候。”莉维娅没有回答，只盯着自己的杯子。“是为了原子小猫，对吧？”

“我……我想，应该趁这个机会，试着和他重归于好。看看是不是……”公主艰难地斟酌着措辞。“看看是不是我弄错了。”

在上一轮结束前，莉维娅和她的前男友进行过最后一次谈话。瑞恩不知道他们具体说了什么，但心里已经猜到了大半。

菲利克斯告诉了她真相。他为什么离开，又为什么不会回来。他从未爱过莉维娅；至少，不是她爱他的那种爱。之前的她将一切写了下来，仿佛把一只漂流瓶投入大海，送往下一个自己手中。

而现在，莉维娅不愿接受这个残酷的真相。她非得证明这条信息是错的，看看自己能不能改变结局。

瑞恩明白，因为他早已走过这条路。他想劝她放弃，这只会让她受伤，但他尊重她的心愿。公主也得亲自学会他曾学过的那一课。

莉维娅越来越不自在，匆忙换了个话题。“还有件事，你应该知道，瑞恩。最近，我们有几名成员死得很蹊跷。暗杀、炸弹……”

裹尸布。

正如瑞恩所担心的，没有这位英俊信使劝阻，他已经开始大开杀戒了。总统在赴会途中，曾试着去港口拜访透明先生，结果差点被那处藏身点炸个正着。

裹尸布看到瑞恩和超能帮混在一起，认定他已经变成了疯魔。

这意味着，嘉年华在这一轮里也可能开始对付瑞恩，简直是嫌他还不够忙。至少超能帮没派人去港口，避免了那里的一场屠杀，路易吉还活蹦乱跳就是证明。“杰米·卡特、兰卡和基贞还活着吗？”

“都活着。”莉维娅确认道，随即皱起眉。“你认为他们会是下一个目标？”

“没错。”裹裹修理铺炸过他们的公寓一次，就会再炸一次。“我会找到办法，让新罗马免于战火。肯定有某种事件组合，能阻止全面冲突。有一条通往完美结局的路。我只需要把它找出来。”

“我们。”莉维娅纠正他。“是我们需要把它找出来。”

瑞恩仔细端详着她。“公主，你父亲——”

“瑞恩，别说了。”她打断他。

“你父亲下令暗杀菲利克斯，还派出军队，要把新罗马烧成白地。”瑞恩说。“没错，‘行走的癌症’阿尔方斯·马纳达要负一半责任，可从全局来看，闪电屁股显然也是问题的一部分。”

“我……我读过另一个自己写下的战争报告。”可她没有亲身经历那些事，报告也就没能产生瑞恩期望的效果。“我……我知道父亲是什么样的人，瑞恩。我真的知道。我不是瞎子。可他终究是我的父亲。我不想让他死。我希望他退休，远离权力，没法再伤害别人。”

“然后让他犯下那么多罪，却不用付出任何代价？”再说，退休？借用恩里克的话，奥古斯都这样的人，是不会安安静静退休的。

“就像你希望哈格雷夫斯不用为我母亲的死付出代价一样。”莉维娅反驳，语气变得生硬。“瑞恩，你说过完美结局。那对你来说，是什么？”

“所有我喜欢的人，都能从此幸福地生活下去的结局。”瑞恩说。俗套得要命，却是实话。“让尽可能多的无辜者活下来的结局。”

“我也想尽可能多救一些人，也想让我爱的人幸福。”她叹了口气。“我们双方都得让步。我……我愿意放下自己的仇怨，只要你也愿意放下你的。如果你说得对，确实有一条通往美好结局的路，那么……那么我们就能找到一个让彼此都满意的办法。只要我们合作，总有一天能找到。”

而如果他们无法达成共识，就谁也别想得到自己的圆满结局。

几分钟后，瑞恩带着欧仁-亨利离开了套房，对这次会面相当满意。这一轮暂时不用担心奥古斯蒂了，蕾恩那份未经篡改的脑图谱也已经有了着落。

现在，他只缺能完成传输的技术了。

“怎么样？”瑞恩跨过心震的尸体，回到面包车旁，沙林问道。“咱们是收拾东西跑路，还是……”

“我们签了和平条约，不过会在锈镇保留一段时间的美方驻军。也许明年就撤。”当然，这话谁都不会信，不过心意到了就行。“心心的那些傀儡怎么样了？”

“我们看管的那些人，在心震咽气的那一刻就清醒过来了。”沙林说。“受他控制时的事，他们全忘了，不过现在已经能自己思考了。”

瑞恩点点头，知道迪纳米斯对这一变化做出反应，只是时间问题。然而，他心里始终惦记着另一个人。“蕾恩呢？她没事吧？”

切尔诺贝利短暂的迟疑，让他知道出了问题。

“他们……她醒了，但没有反应。”沙林承认。这一次，她的语气竟难得带了些歉意。“跟植物人似的。我觉得心震临走前，把她脑子搅得够呛。”

那个混蛋……哪怕自己真被人打败，他也要确保蕾恩恢复不过来。他就不能死得体面点，非要在伤口上再拧一把刀。

如果小矮个的大脑受损，瑞恩就别无选择，只能依靠阿尔凯莫。他一点也不愿意，可他几乎没得选了。几乎。

“老大，接下来怎么办？”蚊子抱着胳膊问。

“我收到了一位地下基地专家写的报告，整整三十五页。”由纪的女朋友做事可真够细致的。“是时候搞机器人灭绝了。”

即使没有心震，大胖亚当也曾成功夺取过地堡的一部分控制权。

瑞恩敢打赌，自己能做得更好。