同章对照

“I don’t know,” Alchemo said.

Ryan Romano slouched on his chair, the Saturn Armor’s sheer weight making it creak. Vulcan sat at his side, checking a portable computer with a frown on her face. “Well, can you give me more details, oh great keeper of knowledge?”

The cabin’s metal walls thrummed like a great beast’s bowels, as Alchemo transferred data to the Saturn Armor’s computer. Ryan watched a copy of his bioscan appear on his helmet’s lens, his organs and bones as violet as a plum.

He looked in perfect health, even after engaging in a worrying amount of euphoric substances.

“As far as the scanners are concerned, you are an average monocolor Violet Genome, with no genetic anomalies whatsoever,” Alchemo said. “You can only blame yourself for your eccentricity.”

So Ryan wasn’t a Psycho, or at least not a conventional one. The courier considered it good news. “Then how do you explain the chic jet black particles surrounding my body in the frozen time?”

“I know that I do not know,” Alchemo replied with a sarcastic tone.

“Don’t bring Socrates into this.”

“Whenever I develop a theory on powers and Elixirs, meatbag, you invalidate it!” The Genius complained. “I give up!”

“The armor’s scanners record these Black Flux particles, but I don’t know what to make of the readings,” Vulcan admitted, a cute frown of frustration on her face. “They keep changing.”

“So these particles follow quantum superposition?” Ryan asked. “The results change depending on the observation method?”

“No, the data keeps changing after being recorded.”

Vulcan turned her laptop in Ryan’s direction, allowing him to see the screen. Lines of codes and words shifted before his eyes, from binaries to trinaries, from numbers to letters and stranger symbols.

“This substance actively refuses to be categorized, and passively alters reality when I insist.” Vulcan ground her teeth in annoyance. “Either that, or you gained a second power that falsifies my data.”

“A Blue power then,” Alchemo said, jumping to the easy conclusion.

“I’m not yet colorblind, Braindead,” Ryan said. “I can tell black from blue.”

“None of this makes sense,” the cyborg complained, having grown angrier by the minute since they left the bunker. Perhaps the stress was getting to him? Ryan knew from experience that the Genius didn’t have a great mental fortitude. “A Paradox dimension? An energy that actively violates common sense? How do you want me to find logic in a situation that lacks any?”

“If the rest of our theory about Elixirs is correct, then this means you developed a link to this Black World. Perhaps even a secondary power.” Vulcan raised an eyebrow at Ryan. “What are you waiting for? Try it out.”

Ryan froze time, black and violet particles floating around him while his other self appeared in a corner. The poor ghost only advanced a few centimeters per second, desperately catching up to the courier.

Ryan glanced at his hands, and the black spots swirling around them, before raising them at Alchemo.

“UNLIMITED POWAH!” The time-traveler shouted while wagging his fingers like a maniac. “POWAH!”

And…

Nothing happened. No black lightning, no blast of antimatter. Not even the thrill of unlimited cosmic power coursing through his veins.

“Nope, nothing I can figure out,” Ryan said as time resumed. Damn it, why didn’t the dark side come with a manual? “Either I don’t have a second power, or I need to figure out what it does before I can use it.”

“Disappointing,” Vulcan said, though she sounded more playful than angry. “Do you still produce particles without the armor?”

“No more than I generate visible Violet Flux without your wonderful suit.” Ryan only produced Black Flux with the Saturn Armor on. “Neither did my main power mutate, as far as I can tell.”

His time-stop worked perfectly fine, and his ‘violet phantom’ hadn’t changed either. Thus, his save point shouldn’t have moved forward in time, though Ryan could only check by resetting. He was in no hurry to try that out yet.

For all he knew, everything would return to normal on the next save, though his gut told him otherwise. The Ultimate Darkling could apparently violate causality, so Ryan’s condition had a chance to stick.

“Then this Black Flux works on another level than our physical reality,” Vulcan theorized.

“Don’t tell me you believe in souls?” Alchemo grunted. “I thought you were a rational person.”

“A Genome like Geist has no DNA for his Elixir to hang onto, and yet persists as a freaking ghost,” Vulcan pointed out. “A similar thing happened with Ghoul as far as I know. A pity your slime friend killed him on its way out, Ryan. It could have helped us figure it out.”

Ghoul’s remains hadn’t risen up after Darkling threw them up, proving that even immortals could die. Ryan couldn’t help but wonder how Black Flux would react to an inviolable object like Lightning Butt.

The courier needed information that even Mechron’s databases couldn’t provide. Knowledge from the same place where he might find a cure for the Psycho syndrome.

Ryan would take a winter vacation next time around.

Alas, they had other matters to deal with right now, as Shortie reminded him when she opened the cabin’s door in full power armor. “We’re surfacing, Riri,” she said, her voice firm and without any trace of hesitation. “It’s time.”

“Finally,” Vulcan said, as she closed her laptop. “Time to put on my supersuit.”

“Your immense culture is by far your greatest quality,” Ryan congratulated the short Genius, who responded with a smirk. “So, you’re coming with us?”

To his surprise, she shook her head in response. “I’m afraid that’s where we part ways. Boss’ orders. I’ll scramble Dynamis’ communications on my way out, which should help a little.”

Ryan didn’t hide his disappointment. “Don’t let the patriarchy tell you what to do, come fight the system with us!”

“Yeah, well, I like you, but not enough to disobey Augustus for your sake. You’re a Saturday morning cartoon comedian, but that mofo is more lethal than Ebola.”

“What’s happening?” Len asked, concerned. “Is it about the Carnival?”

She worried the last loop’s event might repeat itself.

Unfortunately, this loop’s apocalypse would be much worse.

“Nah, you heard about that rabbit cryptid thing on the news?” Vulcan asked, everyone looking away. “Well, it’s apparently a self-replicating killer robot, and currently assaulting our HQ. Augustus asked everyone to mobilize, which means they’re replicating faster than he can kill them himself.”

The midget glanced at Ryan with a knowing look. “You wouldn’t have anything to do with that?”

“Nah…” he lied. “I want to rule the world, not destroy it.”

She whispered into his robotic antennae, as if they were ears. “I’m a Genius, but I’m also a genius. So don’t fuck with me.”

Two loops too late for that. “You should be fine, don’t worry.”

With her height, the plushies would probably mistake her for a child.

“Yeah, make sure to skip town afterward. I would be loath for us to end up on opposing sides.” Vulcan rose from her seat with a grin, the laptop under her arm. “I had fun.”

“Same,” the courier replied.

“Underdiver?” Vulcan glanced at Len, much to the shy Genius’ surprise. “Don’t hang out too much with him. You’ve got a great future ahead of you, but I’m pretty sure he’s going to live fast and die young.”

“I’ll… keep that in mind,” Len replied sheepishly, Vulcan leaving the room afterward with a shrug.

Alchemo waited for Ryan’s ex-girlfriend to vanish, before turning at the man himself. “So… what will it be?”

“You and Tea will stay behind on the submarine, so we can evacuate in short order,” Ryan explained. If all went well, they could raid Lab Sixty-Six within a short timeframe and flee before Dynamis could mobilize. “You keep sending the brain maps to Livia in our absence.”

“I already sent the ones you wanted, alongside a copy of Sarin’s molecular structure,” the Genius said, having failed to find a better solution. “Am I forgetting one?”

Yes, he did.

“Braindead, you’re an asshole.” Ryan’s bluntness caused the cyborg to flinch. “However… I’ve befriended assholes before, and someone taught me to let go of the past. To move on.“

The courier struggled to find the right words, while Len watched on without any of her own.

“What you’ve done, what the other you did… It hurt. It hurt more than you can imagine. But as you said it yourself, you’re no longer that person. The Alchemo that betrayed me is dead, while you are alive. So, while it feels wrong, I…” Ryan let out a long, long sigh. “I will give you a second chance. Send your own brain map to Livia.”

The cyborg marked a short pause, his lack of facial expressions making his thought process unclear. “Thank you, Ryan.”

“You won’t get a third chance,” the courier warned. “So don’t waste it.”

“I won’t,” the Genius promised, before excusing himself with a short nod.

“Is it wise to bring so many people with us, Riri?” Len asked with concern once Braindead had left the cabin.

“No. But I would rather extend a hand and be disappointed, than never do so and stay alone forevermore. Livia has a point, fear and paranoia lead nowhere.” Len looked at her best friend without uttering a word, her face hidden behind her helmet. “What?”

“Nothing,” she lied, though Ryan didn’t press the issue. “Are you ready?”

“Are you?” Ryan asked the hard question.

“No,” she admitted. “No, I’m not. But I… I can’t delay anymore. There is no other choice.”

“Well, let me put on an accessory and I’m ready to go…” Ryan searched the cabin for the last missing part of his outfit: a black cashmere poncho, which he immediately put on his armor. “How do I look?”

Len giggled, which the courier thought to be the most wonderful sound in the world. “You look cute.”

“I would have preferred you to say fearsome, but cute is nice. Besides, with all the plushies running around, I’m sure leporiphobia will become mainstream soon.”

Even Ryan had to look that word up.

“It’s nice to hear your bad jokes again, Riri,” Len said, as they walked out of the cabin and through the submarine’s narrow corridors. “You’ve been somber lately.”

“You noticed?”

“Yes. Usually… usually you joke all the time, but not so much anymore. Although…”

“Although?” he asked.

“Your smiles reach your eyes now.”

She knew him better than anyone else. “I do have an excellent sense of humor centuries ahead of its time. But... I guess I found it easier to laugh at pain rather than cry at it. My eternal life doesn’t feel painful anymore, especially with you at my side. I’m… there’s no word to express my relief.”

She understood though. She had seen him cry for the first time in centuries.

Ryan would have bet his hand that Len smiled warmly behind the helmet, and she raised her pinky. “Together till the end, Riri.”

“Till the end, Shortie,” Ryan pinky swore back. She had helped him live again, and he would return the favor.

The duo emerged from the Mechron submarine and walked on its metal husk, facing a burning New Rome.

Their vehicle had risen above the waters south of the blockaded harbor, the remaining Meta-Gangsters having moved onto small boats. They could hear the noise of gunshots, lasers, and missiles all the way from Rust Town, as corpo troops assaulted the bunker.

Toasty and the bunker’s robots had been deployed to occupy Dynamis’ forces, while Ryan’s group would ‘sneak’ into the HQ from behind. If all went optimally, everyone would live through the attack; the courier had even made a copy of Toasty’s AI, to ensure its survival.

However, the sight of a flying sun shining in Rust Town’s polluted skies complicated things.

Much like in the previous loop, the Carnival had chosen to collaborate with Dynamis. Considering how they dealt with Bloodstream, Ryan wondered if they had temporarily allied with the company to deal with the ‘bigger threat,’ or if something else was at work in the background.

To Ryan’s surprise though, New Rome looked relatively unscathed. Sure there were fires here and there, and alarms resonated across the street to urge people to stay at home… but he had expected more collateral damage now that the plushie had escaped into the streets.

Could it… could it have become tamer with time?

Len quickly disabused Ryan of that notion, putting one hand on his arm and pointing the other at the horizon. “Riri, look.”

Ryan glanced at Mount Augustus, the hill having turned white.

From afar, the discount Olympus looked similar to an erupting volcano. An endless tide of white fur overwhelmed the entire hill, like an enormous rat swarm converging towards the summit. Nobody could see the villa at the top clearly, as crimson lightning bolts, water arms, lasers, and energy blasts shot in all directions. The ground battle was probably a vision of armageddon.

Ryan’s feeble mind couldn’t understand what dark thought pushed the plushie on this course of action. He did remember that the fiendish rabbit had vanished after hunting Acid Rain during the Augusti Loop, whom Augustus had slain. Perhaps the creature wanted to continue their previous confrontation. Perhaps it had grown bored of helpless targets, and wanted to hunt bigger game.

Or perhaps, it simply wanted to make a god bleed.

Thankfully, Ryan had the foresight to ask Livia to evacuate to a secure location, because there would be no turning back. The plushipocalypse had begun.

Or Leporimachia? They did climb the equivalent of Mount Olympus.

“Whoever wins, the city is BLEEPED,” Ryan said. If Mob Zeus prevailed, he would learn of Hargraves’ presence with his blood already up and probably go on a rampage. If the plushies won, they would ride down the hill on a tide of blood and overwhelm the city. “I know.”

“This happened before?” Len asked, Ryan laughing and glancing away nervously. “It did.”

“It’s… you know, it’s not really important...”

“Riri…”

“It’ll be the twelfth time that I destroy the world,” Ryan meekly confessed, Len tensing up in outrage. “But I swear there won’t be a thirteenth!”

“Mr. President!” Frank shouted, saving Ryan from a highly embarrassing conversation. Only the giant hadn’t taken a small boat due to his enormous weight, his head instead peeking from above the water. “We are ready to storm Mexico at your command!”

“Speak for yourself,” Mosquito answered, juicing up on a bottle of artificial blood. “What are we even doing?”

The leader of the free world oversaw his troops on the small boats. Only a handful of his men had survived so far, though thankfully most of the heavy hitters had made it. However, with the exception of Agent Frank, who wouldn’t die until every enemy of the United States had perished, most of Ryan’s allies looked disgruntled.

“What we are doing, Mosquito, is to write history with blood!” Ryan said, raising his clenched fist to the skies. “Today, New Rome. Tomorrow, the woooorld!”

“I don’t care about the world, I want the juice!” Rakshasa complained. The Land, that stone midget, let out a garbled sound. Somehow, the tigerman seemed to understand it perfectly. “Yeah, why did we abandon the Knockoff factory, after we suffered so much to get it?”

Ryan silently pointed a finger at Mount Augustus.

“Oh,” the tigerman said, having suffered the most from the plushies’ depredations. “Yes, that makes sense…”

“We have all the data needed to create a new factory, and enough stockpiled in the submarine to last months,” Ryan continued, trying to reassure his men.

“Then why don’t we leave immediately?” Acid Rain asked, biting her fingers. “I’m… I’m not sure picking another fight is a good idea.”

“We need Doctor Tyrano to develop a cure, and he’s in the HQ,” Ryan explained. “We get him, we torch Lab Sixty-Six, we leave.”

Well, that was the best-case scenario. The worst one would involve a reload, but Ryan hoped he could ‘borrow’ Dr. Tyrano long enough to develop a cure for Psychos to use in the next loop. They could even relocate to Antarctica, escaping Dynamis and checking up on the Alchemist’s base at once.

“Boss, I… I don’t wanna get choked, but the corpos have the Living Sun with them,” Mosquito pointed out, his voice meek and scared even after gaining in muscle mass. “He can move faster than sound, and… and he can pick fights with Augustus. I say we run while we can.”

“Yes, there will be other opportunities,” Mongrel said with a nod. “I want to get cured, boss, but… can’t we wait for a better opportun—”

Sarin sent a minor shockwave towards the sky, startling everyone.

“Haven’t you learned?” she said, as everyone focused on her person. “This guy… this guy is a gambler. The cheating kind. The kind that always wins.”

Ryan’s vice-president pointed at her superior with her finger, prepping him up.

“Adam spent weeks trying to crack that bunker open, and he did it in a fortnight!” she shouted, with a charisma the courier didn’t expect from her. “Adam always promised us a cure and never delivered, but this guy? This guy is pointing the way! Dynamis, Augustus, the goddamn Carnival? He ran circles around them all, humiliated them! Do you think this time will be any different?”

“Only President Ryan can save America!” Frank roared.

“Exactly!” Sarin said. “This guy brings a nuclear bomb to a gunfight, and wins his wars with a goddamn alien! This guy doesn’t play by the rules! He fixes the game and gets away with it! Would you bet against a cheater? Well, I won’t! He’s going to rob the whole casino, and we’ll only get a share if we follow! They say the house always wins? I say we burn it!”

Her bold speech silenced everyone for a moment, until Frank broke it by clapping his hands above the water. His applause was soon echoed by other Psychos, all doubts in the regime vanishing.

“Thank you, my dear,” Ryan thanked his second-in-command. “Your faith in me shall be rewarded.”

Sarin responded with what could pass for a shrug. “Remember your promise, or I’ll haunt you. I swear, I’ll find a way to come back.”

“I swear to repeat my term in office, as many times as it takes to fulfill my campaign promises,” Ryan replied. “As long as people force me to keep power, I shall keep guiding you with my benevolent iron hand!”

The submarine’s hull opened like a box, a metal platform rising from within. Vulcan’s mech stood proudly at its center, with a worried Tea at her side.

“Shit, that’s even worse than I thought,” Vulcan said, upon noticing Mount Augustus.

The Doll, much more concerned, moved on to hug Len goodbye. “Take care,” she whispered. “I’ll pray for your success.”

“If I don’t come back… if I don’t come back, take care of the children,” Len whispered back, too low for the Meta to listen. Perhaps she thought there was a chance Ryan wouldn’t reload, for whatever reason. “They… they need someone.”

“I will,” Tea said before breaking the embrace, and immediately moving on to hold Ryan himself. “I will be providing tech support from afar. Don’t take too many risks, alright? Your life comes first.”

“Should you ask me not to take any risks then?”

“We both know you can’t help yourself,” the gynoid replied wisely before breaking the embrace. “Don’t let a building collapse on you again. I won’t be there to dig you out this time.”

“Nah, don’t worry, we’ll take the stairway.”

The plan of attack was relatively simple. Mosquito would carry Ryan and Len to attack from above, while the minions attacked the building from below. Acid Rain would provide cover with her weather alteration, the Land would destroy most roads to delay enemy reinforcements, and Frank would simply force a path inside. Everyone else would provide support.

As for what would happen once Ryan’s group reached Lab Sixty-Six… it would be mostly improvisation, but the President believed in himself.

“Please take care of my cat in my absence,” the courier argued. “He’s a very precious creature.”

“There’s something you should know,” Vulcan warned, as she prepared to take flight and regroup with her gang. “My radars detected a spike of radiation west.”

Fallout. Dynamis recalled Fallout.

It made sense considering Hector’s fading star, but it would make the mission extraordinarily more difficult.

“How long until he gets here?” Ryan asked Vulcan.

“One, two hours,” she replied. “Can’t be sure.”

“Let’s make a new Chernobyl then,” Ryan said, his men chuckling. Sarin’s speech had infected them with what could pass for bravery.

The courier glanced at the Dynamis HQ on the horizon. “Now!” He addressed his troops. “Come with me, and take this tower!”

A chorus of shouts and roars echoed his proclamation.

Time to bury those daddy issues.

“我不知道。”阿尔凯莫说。

瑞恩·罗马诺瘫坐在椅子上，萨图恩装甲的重量压得椅子吱嘎作响。伏尔甘坐在他身旁，皱眉查看着一台便携电脑。“那么，伟大的知识守护者啊，能不能再详细说说？”

舱室的金属墙壁嗡嗡震颤，宛如巨兽的肠胃。阿尔凯莫将数据传入萨图恩装甲的电脑。瑞恩看着自己的生物扫描图像浮现在头盔镜片上，脏器和骨骼都像李子一样紫。

看样子他健康得很，尽管嗑过的助兴药物已经多到让人担忧。

“就扫描结果而言，你是个普通的单色紫系基因者，基因上没有任何异常。”阿尔凯莫说，“你那些古怪毛病，只能怪你自己。”

所以瑞恩不是疯魔，至少不是常规意义上的疯魔。快递员觉得这是个好消息。“那时间暂停时，我身边那些时髦的乌黑粒子，你怎么解释？”

“我知道自己一无所知。”阿尔凯莫讥讽地答道。

“别把苏格拉底扯进来。”

“肉袋，我每提出一套关于能力和灵药的理论，你就把它推翻！”天才抱怨道，“我不干了！”

“装甲的扫描仪记录到了这些黑色通量粒子，但我看不懂读数。”伏尔甘承认道，懊恼地皱着眉，那模样倒挺可爱，“它们一直在变。”

“所以这些粒子遵循量子叠加原理？”瑞恩问，“观测方式不同，结果也会变？”

“不，数据在记录之后还在不断变化。”

伏尔甘把笔记本电脑转向瑞恩，让他看清屏幕。一行行代码和文字在他眼前变幻，从二进制变成三进制，从数字变成字母，再变成更加古怪的符号。

“这种物质会主动拒绝被归类，而我坚持尝试时，它又会被动地改变现实。”伏尔甘恼火地磨着牙，“要么就是这样，要么就是你获得了第二种能力，专门篡改我的数据。”

“那就是蓝系能力。”阿尔凯莫挑了个最省事的结论。

“我还没色盲呢，脑残。”瑞恩说，“黑色和蓝色我还是分得清的。”

“这全都说不通。”改造人抱怨道。自从离开地堡，他就一刻比一刻暴躁。也许是压力压得他受不了了？瑞恩凭经验知道，这位天才的心理承受能力并不强。“一个悖论维度？一种主动违背常理的能量？一点逻辑都没有的事，你要我上哪儿找逻辑？”

“如果我们关于灵药的理论其余部分都没错，那就说明你和这个黑色世界建立了联系。说不定还获得了第二种能力。”伏尔甘朝瑞恩挑起一边眉毛，“还等什么？试试啊。”

瑞恩暂停了时间。黑色与紫色粒子在他身边飘浮，另一个自己则出现在角落里。那可怜的幽影每秒只能前进几厘米，拼命想赶上快递员。

瑞恩看了看双手，以及在手边盘旋的黑点，随后朝阿尔凯莫举起双手。

“无穷的力——量！”时间旅行者一边疯了似的乱抖手指，一边大喊，“力——量！”

然后……

什么也没发生。没有黑色闪电，没有反物质冲击。甚至连无穷宇宙之力在血管里奔涌的快感都没有。

“不行，什么也没摸索出来。”时间恢复流动，瑞恩开口道。该死，黑暗面怎么就不附一本说明书呢？“要么我根本没有第二种能力，要么就是得先弄清它有什么用，才能使出来。”

“真让人失望。”伏尔甘说，不过语气与其说生气，不如说是在逗他，“不穿装甲，你也会产生这些粒子吗？”

“不会，就跟没穿你这身绝妙装备时，我也产生不了肉眼可见的紫色通量一样。”瑞恩只有穿着萨图恩装甲时才会产生黑色通量。“而且据我所知，我原本的能力也没发生变异。”

他的时间暂停一切正常，那个“紫色幽影”也没有变化。因此，存档点在时间上应该没有向前推移，只不过瑞恩必须重置才能确认。他暂时还不急着试。

说不定下次存档时，一切就会恢复正常，不过他的直觉并不这么认为。终极暗灵显然能违背因果，所以瑞恩身上的这种变化有可能会保留下来。

“那这种黑色通量就是作用于我们物质现实之外的另一个层面。”伏尔甘推测道。

“别告诉我你相信灵魂存在？”阿尔凯莫哼了一声，“我还以为你是个理性的人。”

“幽魂那样的基因者，都没有DNA供灵药附着了，不还是他妈的变成鬼活着？”伏尔甘指出，“据我所知，食尸鬼身上也发生过类似的事。可惜你那个史莱姆朋友临走时杀了他，瑞恩。本来研究他也许能帮我们搞清楚这件事。”

暗灵吐出食尸鬼的残骸之后，那些残骸再也没爬起来过，证明不死之身也有死的时候。瑞恩不禁好奇，黑色通量碰上闪电屁股那样绝对不可侵犯的物体，会发生什么。

快递员需要的情报，就连梅克隆的数据库也提供不了。而能找到这种知识的地方，也可能藏着治愈疯魔综合征的方法。

下一轮，瑞恩得去度个冬日假期了。

可惜眼下他们还有别的事要处理。小矮个穿着全套动力装甲推开舱门，提醒了他这一点。“我们正在上浮，瑞瑞。”她的声音坚定，毫无迟疑，“是时候了。”

“总算。”伏尔甘合上笔记本电脑，“该穿上我的超级战衣了。”

“你深厚的文化修养，无疑是你最出色的优点。”瑞恩夸奖这位矮个子天才，换来对方一抹坏笑。“所以，你跟我们一起去？”

出乎他的意料，她摇了摇头。“恐怕咱们得在这儿分道扬镳了。老大的命令。我走的时候会干扰迪纳米斯的通讯，应该多少能帮上点忙。”

瑞恩毫不掩饰自己的失望。“别让父权制对你指手画脚，跟我们一起反抗体制吧！”

“是啊，行吧，我是喜欢你，但还没喜欢到为了你违抗奥古斯都的份上。你就是星期六早间卡通里的搞笑角色，那混蛋可比埃博拉还致命。”

“出什么事了？”蕾恩担忧地问，“和嘉年华有关？”

她担心上一轮的事件会重演。

不幸的是，这一轮的末日将会糟糕得多。

“不是，你们在新闻里听说过那只兔子怪物吧？”伏尔甘问，其他人纷纷移开视线。“嗯，它好像是个能自我复制的杀人机器人，现在正在攻打我们的总部。奥古斯都让所有人都出动，这就说明它们复制的速度比他一个人杀得还快。”

小矮子看向瑞恩，目光了然。“这事不会跟你有关系吧？”

“没有……”他撒谎道，“我想统治世界，不是毁灭世界。”

她凑到他的机械天线边低语，仿佛那真是一对耳朵。“我不光是‘天才’，脑子也真是天才的脑子。所以别他妈跟我乱来。”

这话说晚了两轮。“你应该不会有事的，别担心。”

以她的身高，毛绒兔们大概会把她当成小孩。

“行吧，完事之后记得赶紧离城。我可不想最后跟你成了敌人。”伏尔甘咧嘴一笑，从椅子上站起，把电脑夹在腋下。“这次玩得挺开心。”

“我也是。”快递员答道。

“深潜者？”伏尔甘看向蕾恩，让这位害羞的天才颇感意外。“别跟他混得太多。你前途远大，可我敢说，他肯定是及时行乐、英年早逝的命。”

“我……会记住的。”蕾恩局促地答道。伏尔甘耸耸肩，离开了舱室。

阿尔凯莫等瑞恩的前女友消失后，才转向他本人。“所以……你打算怎么安排？”

“你和蒂娅留守潜艇，这样我们就能迅速撤离。”瑞恩解释道。要是一切顺利，他们可以快速突袭六十六号实验室，在迪纳米斯调动人手之前逃走。“我们不在的时候，你继续把脑图谱传给莉维娅。”

“你要的那些我已经传过去了，还有沙林的分子结构副本。”天才没能找到更好的办法。“我漏了谁吗？”

他确实漏了一个。

“脑残，你是个混蛋。”瑞恩的直白让改造人瑟缩了一下。“不过……我以前也跟混蛋交过朋友，而且有人教会了我放下过去。继续向前。”

快递员费力地斟酌着措辞，蕾恩在一旁静静看着，一言不发。

“你做过的事，另一个你做过的事……让我很痛苦。比你能想象的还要痛苦。但正如你自己说的，你已经不是那个人了。背叛我的那个阿尔凯莫死了，而你还活着。所以，虽然我还是觉得不对劲，我……”瑞恩长长地、长长地叹了一口气。“我会再给你一次机会。把你自己的脑图谱也传给莉维娅吧。”

改造人短暂地沉默了。他的脸做不出表情，让人看不透他在想什么。“谢谢你，瑞恩。”

“不会再有第三次机会了。”快递员警告道，“所以别浪费这次。”

“我不会的。”天才保证道，随后略一点头，告辞离去。

脑残离开舱室后，蕾恩忧心忡忡地问：“瑞瑞，带这么多人一起走，明智吗？”

“不明智。但我宁可伸出手后失望，也不想从不伸手，就此永远孤单下去。莉维娅说得对，恐惧和猜忌只会让人无路可走。”蕾恩望着她最好的朋友，没有开口，脸藏在头盔后。“怎么了？”

“没什么。”她撒了个谎，瑞恩没有追问。“你准备好了吗？”

“你呢？”瑞恩问出了那个难以回答的问题。

“没有。”她承认道，“没有，我还没准备好。可是我……我不能再拖了。没有别的选择。”

“好吧，让我再添件配饰，就可以走了……”瑞恩在舱室里找到整套行头的最后一个缺件：一件黑色羊绒套头斗篷。他立刻把它套在了装甲外。“我看起来怎么样？”

蕾恩咯咯笑起来，快递员觉得，那是世上最美妙的声音。“很可爱。”

“我更希望你说可怕，不过可爱也不错。再说，现在到处都是毛绒兔，我相信恐兔症很快就会成为主流了。”

连瑞恩都得查一下才知道这个词。

“又能听见你讲烂笑话，真好，瑞瑞。”蕾恩说。两人走出舱室，穿过潜艇狭窄的走廊。“你最近一直很低落。”

“你发现了？”

“嗯。平时……平时你总是在开玩笑，最近却少了。不过……”

“不过？”他问。

“你现在笑的时候，眼睛也在笑。”

她比任何人都了解他。“我的幽默感确实出类拔萃，领先时代好几个世纪。不过……我想，比起为痛苦哭泣，拿它开玩笑总要容易些。现在永生对我来说不再痛苦了，尤其有你在身边。我……这种如释重负的感觉，实在无法用言语形容。”

不过她明白。她见过他几百年来第一次落泪。

瑞恩敢赌上一只手，蕾恩一定在头盔后温柔地笑着。她竖起小指。“一起走到最后，瑞瑞。”

“到最后，小矮个。”瑞恩和她拉钩。她让他重新活了过来，他也会为她做到同样的事。

两人从梅克隆的潜艇里出来，走上金属艇壳，面对燃烧中的新罗马。

潜艇在遭到封锁的港口以南浮出了水面，剩下的超能帮成员已经转移到小船上。枪声、激光和导弹的轰响从锈镇一路传来——公司部队正在进攻地堡。

烤烤和地堡的机器人已经出动，负责牵制迪纳米斯的兵力，瑞恩一行则从后方“潜入”总部。如果一切都按最理想的情况发展，所有人都能在这场进攻中活下来；快递员甚至备份了烤烤的人工智能，以确保它不会死。

然而，一轮飞行的太阳正照亮锈镇污染严重的天空，让事情变得复杂起来。

和上一轮一样，嘉年华选择了与迪纳米斯合作。想到他们当初处理血流的方式，瑞恩不禁怀疑，他们是为了应对“更大的威胁”而暂时与公司联手，还是暗中另有缘由。

不过，让瑞恩意外的是，新罗马看起来还算完好。当然，仍有一些地方在起火，街头回荡着警报，催促人们留在家中……可毛绒兔已经逃上街头，他原本以为附带损害会严重得多。

难道……难道它随着时间推移，变得温顺了？

蕾恩很快就打消了瑞恩的这个念头。她一只手搭住他的胳膊，另一只手指向远方。“瑞瑞，看。”

瑞恩望向奥古斯都山。那座山丘已经变白了。

从远处看，这座廉价版奥林匹斯山宛如一座正在喷发的火山。无穷无尽的白毛浪潮淹没整座山丘，像一股规模骇人的鼠潮，朝山顶汇聚。猩红的闪电、水之手臂、激光和能量冲击向四面八方乱射，谁也看不清山顶的别墅。地面上的战况，恐怕宛如末日大战。

以瑞恩贫弱的头脑，实在无法理解究竟是什么黑暗念头驱使毛绒兔走上了这条路。他倒是记得，在奥古斯蒂那一轮里，这只邪恶的兔子追杀酸雨之后便消失了，而酸雨是被奥古斯都杀掉的。也许这东西想把之前的较量继续下去。也许它厌倦了毫无还手之力的目标，想猎杀更大的猎物。

又或许，它只是想让一个神流血。

幸好瑞恩有先见之明，早就让莉维娅撤去了安全的地方，因为事态已经无法挽回。毛绒末日开始了。

或者该叫兔神之战？毕竟它们确实爬上了相当于奥林匹斯山的地方。

“不管谁赢，这座城都他——哔——的完了。”瑞恩说。如果黑帮宙斯获胜，他就会在杀红眼的时候得知哈格雷夫斯也在这里，多半要大开杀戒。如果毛绒兔赢了，它们就会乘着血潮冲下山，淹没整座城市。“我知道。”

“这种事以前发生过？”蕾恩问。瑞恩笑了两声，心虚地移开目光。“发生过。”蕾恩断定道。

“这个……你知道，其实不怎么重要……”

“瑞瑞……”

“这会是我第十二次毁灭世界。”瑞恩怯怯地坦白，蕾恩气得浑身绷紧。“但我发誓，不会有第十三次了！”

“总统先生！”弗兰克高喊，救瑞恩脱离了这场尴尬至极的谈话。只有这个巨人因为体重太大没上小船，而是把脑袋探出了水面。“我们已经准备好强攻墨西哥，就等您一声令下！”

“你只代表你自己。”蚊子答道，正喝着一瓶人造血补充能量。“我们到底是在干什么？”

自由世界的领袖检阅着小船上的部队。他的手下活到现在的只剩寥寥几个，好在主力战将大多还在。然而，除了不消灭美利坚所有敌人就绝不肯死的弗兰克探员，瑞恩的大部分盟友都显得心怀不满。

“蚊子，我们要做的，是用鲜血书写历史！”瑞恩握拳举向天空。“今天，新罗马！明天，全世——界！”

“我才不在乎世界，我要的是药水！”罗刹抱怨道。大地，那个石头矮子，发出了一阵含混的声音。不知怎的，虎人似乎听得一清二楚。“对啊，我们吃了那么多苦才拿下那座山寨灵药工厂，为什么又把它丢了？”

瑞恩一言不发，抬手指向奥古斯都山。

“哦。”虎人说。他被毛绒兔祸害得最惨。“对，那就说得通了……”

“我们已经拿到建造新工厂所需的全部资料，潜艇里的存货也够用几个月。”瑞恩继续说道，试图安抚手下。

“那我们为什么不马上走？”酸雨咬着手指问道，“我……我不确定再打一场是不是个好主意。”

“我们需要提拉诺博士研发解药，他在总部里。”瑞恩解释道，“抓到他，烧了六十六号实验室，然后走人。”

嗯，那是最理想的情况。最糟的情况就得读档了，不过瑞恩希望能把提拉诺博士“借”来足够长的时间，研发出治愈疯魔的药物，供下一轮使用。他们甚至可以搬去南极洲，一边躲开迪纳米斯，一边查探炼金术师的基地。

“老大，我……我不想被掐脖子，可公司那边有活体太阳啊。”蚊子提醒道。哪怕肌肉块头大了，他的声音依然怯懦、害怕。“他移动起来比声音还快，而且……而且他敢跟奥古斯都打。我觉得趁还能跑，我们赶紧跑吧。”

“对，以后还会有机会。”杂种点头道，“我想治好自己，老大，可是……我们就不能等个更好的机——”

沙林朝天空打出一道小型冲击波，吓了所有人一跳。

“你们还没看明白吗？”她说，所有人的目光都集中到了她身上。“这家伙……这家伙是个赌徒。会出老千的那种。永远会赢的那种。”

瑞恩的副总统抬起手指着自己的上司，替他壮起声势。

“亚当花了好几个星期想攻破那座地堡，可这家伙两周就办到了！”她高声说道，展现出的号召力让快递员始料未及。“亚当总说会治好我们，可从来没兑现过。这家伙呢？这家伙正在给我们指路！迪纳米斯、奥古斯都、那该死的嘉年华？他把他们全耍得团团转，让他们丢尽了脸！你们以为这回就会不一样吗？”

“只有瑞恩总统能拯救美国！”弗兰克吼道。

“没错！”沙林说，“这家伙打枪战会带上核弹，打仗会靠一个他妈的外星人取胜！这家伙根本不守规则！他操纵赌局，还能全身而退！你们会押一个老千输吗？反正我不会！他要抢空整座赌场，只有跟着他走，我们才分得到钱！他们都说庄家永远赢？我说，一把火烧了它！”

她这番豪言壮语让所有人安静了片刻，直到弗兰克把双手举出水面鼓起掌来。其他疯魔很快也跟着鼓掌，对这个政权的一切疑虑都烟消云散。

“谢谢你，亲爱的。”瑞恩向副手致谢，“你对我的信心，一定会得到回报。”

沙林做了个勉强可以算是耸肩的动作。“记住你的承诺，不然我做鬼也要缠着你。我发誓，我一定会想办法回来。”

“我发誓，我会一遍遍重复自己的任期，直到兑现竞选承诺为止。”瑞恩答道，“只要人民硬要我继续掌权，我就会一直用我仁慈的铁腕指引你们！”

潜艇的艇壳像盒子一样打开，一座金属平台从内部升起。伏尔甘的机甲傲然立在平台中央，一旁是忧心忡忡的蒂娅。

“妈的，比我想的还糟。”伏尔甘看见奥古斯都山，说道。

人偶比她担心得多，走上前拥抱蕾恩，向她告别。“保重。”她轻声说，“我会祈祷你们成功。”

“如果我没回来……如果我没回来，照顾好孩子们。”蕾恩低声回应，声音轻得超能帮的人听不见。也许她觉得，瑞恩有可能因为某种缘故不再读档。“他们……他们需要有人照顾。”

“我会的。”蒂娅松开拥抱，随即转而抱住瑞恩本人。“我会在远处给你们提供技术支持。别冒太多风险，好吗？你的命最重要。”

“那你是不是该叫我一点风险也别冒？”

“我们都知道你忍不住。”女机器人通情达理地回答，随后松开了他。“别再让楼塌到你身上了。这次我可不在，没法把你挖出来。”

“不会的，别担心，我们走楼梯。”

进攻计划相对简单。蚊子带着瑞恩和蕾恩从上方进攻，手下们则从底层攻入大楼。酸雨用改变天气的能力提供掩护，大地摧毁大部分道路，拖延敌方援军，弗兰克直接杀出一条路进去。其余所有人负责支援。

至于瑞恩一行抵达六十六号实验室后怎么办……基本得靠临场发挥，不过总统对自己有信心。

“我不在的时候，麻烦照顾好我的猫。”快递员叮嘱道，“它可是个宝贝。”

“有件事你得知道。”伏尔甘准备起飞，回去与帮派会合，临行前提醒道，“我的雷达检测到西边的辐射值激增。”

辐尘。迪纳米斯召回了辐尘。

考虑到埃克托日渐失势，这倒也合理，却会让任务难上加难。

“他还有多久到？”瑞恩问伏尔甘。

“一两个小时。”她答道，“说不准。”

“那咱们就再造一个切尔诺贝利吧。”瑞恩说，手下们笑了起来。沙林的演讲感染了他们，让他们生出了某种勉强能称作勇气的东西。

快递员望向远处的迪纳米斯总部。“现在！”他向部队发话，“跟我来，拿下这座塔！”

一片呐喊与咆哮响应了他的宣言。

该把那些老爸留下的心结埋了。