When Ryan arrives at the orphanage, night falls on Rust. His good friend Ghoul is trapped behind and has lost most of his limbs. Hopefully, his presence will make the Courier stop bothering La tonight

d。

"I want to take you out for a walk," Ryan said to his captive as he got out of the car, "but I don't think this place was built for the elderly." Besides, the kids there are too big for you. ”

"Beep you!" Ghouls are entangled. "I swear I would-"

Ryan closed the car door behind him, and the skeleton's insults turned into a muffled voice. Most of the animals fell asleep in the large enclosure, and several dogs barked at the courier as if he were an intruder. Unlike the orphanage he had been to before, the door was closed, though Ryan could see light coming in from inside.

Genome knocked on the door and waited. Finally, a little girl dressed in pink opened the door and held a gun to his face. "What do you want, addict?"

"Hello, little Sarah," Ryan introduced himself. "Is your mom here?"

"How do you know my name?" She asked, looking at his hat. "You're a magician?"

"Oh yes, I'm especially good at exploding and disappearing. See. He stopped time and replaced her broken pistol with a gun. See?"

"It's so cool... She said enviously, examining her new toy as if it were a doll. "Is it ready?"

"Yes, but I bolted the safety bolt. I can swap it out for a shotgun, or pretty much any gun. ”

"Are you Mr. Ryan?" She asked him, and the messenger nodded. "Mom is inside. She said you'd come. ”

"Can I go in? Or do I have to dig my own hole?" He asked, pointing to a broken window nearby.

"You can. But if you dare to do something to your mother or anyone else, I'll wipe your face off. Ryan didn't say anything, causing her to frown. It sounds so much better in my head. ”

"It's something that needs practice, my little Punawang," Ryan said as she walked in as she closed the door. From the inside, the orphanage is as dilapidated as the outside, with peeling wallpaper on the walls and only one light in both rooms. Sarah rocks Ryan's new toy to guide him through.

Now that he can take a good look inside, Ryan is increasingly convinced that the place was originally an animal shelter and a few years later converted into an orphanage. The children converted the cage that had been used for the animals into a bedroom, half of whom were already sleeping or reading old books by Jules Verne; Some children sleep with cats or dogs hidden under sheets.

He found Ryan cooking fish in the kitchen for the four children sitting around the table.

His old friend was wearing the same brown wetsuit as last time, and she placed the water gun in the corner of the room. The kitchen was clearly lacking in equipment, as Lunn used a camping stove to roast meat.

As soon as she saw him, she froze, and Ryan took off his hat and mask like a real gentleman. "Riley," she said.

"Who are you, Mom?" Ryan recognizes the person who spoke as the girl who was "in shock" and wanted to blackmail her, Julia. He surveyed her features, her fuzzy skull, and a chill ran down his spine.

Psyshock in Sh

The shack of the oud attacked Rya

There is a similar facial structure at the time.

He also noticed the boy who was playing with Sarah before the psychiatric attack. His golden retriever waited beside him, wagging his tail and looking at the plate. "He looks weird......" he said, looking at Ryan's outfit.

"He's a magician," Sara said to them, showing them her gun. "Look!"

"Sarah," Ryan scolded her, but didn't take any action to get the gun away. "What did I tell you?" Don't point your weapon around, especially at strangers. ”

"Very good, Mom, I know how to use them! The little girl replied with a pout.

"yes, you can't even hit a soda can three meters away," a boy taunted her, and Sarah pinched his arm. "It's true!"

"Ryan, this is Sarah, Julia, Roman, Albus, and Valeria." Ryan made an introduction, then looked at the courier with an ambivalent expression. "Kids, this is Ryan. He's a ...... An old friend. ”

"Is he from a magical place?" Little Valeria asked, a dark-skinned, dark-haired woman under the age of twelve.

"You can't talk to strangers about that magical place!" Sarah told her that the other girl was covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm sorry, Mom."

"It's okay," Len replied, placing his hand on Sarah's shoulder. "Can you divide the food among other people and make sure everyone gets a portion?" I have to talk to my friends. ”

"Is he your friend or boyfriend?" A boy pesters her. "I want to know!"

Ryan smiled reluctantly, while Ryan remained silent. If it was someone else, he would make a joke, but he didn't want to embarrass her. "I'll be back soon," Ryan assured, grabbing the water gun and leading the courier out of the kitchen. The children looked at them suspiciously, and Sarah clapped her hands to get their attention.

Lovely.

"You're doing a good job here," the courier began, immediately realizing that his words were awkward. Now Lunn has such an influence on him that he can't mock her in front of her.

The invisible barrier between them won't disappear anytime soon.

"Thank you." She said awkwardly, and walked up the stairs. "We were able to go to the roof. They'll eavesdrop through the door, or they'll haunt us. ”

Ryan was pretty sure they would be following and trying to eavesdrop on their conversations. He knows children too well; None of them could resist the temptation of a magician's hat.

Len led him to a door that reached the roof and locked it. Ryan sat on the edge of a cliff with his feet dangling in the air. His old friend glanced at him, and then sat in the same position, albeit two meters away, with a water gun in his hand.

For a moment, no one dared to break the ice, and both looked at the sky above. Even with the lights of New Rome and the polluted air, the stars were as bright as ever. This makes Ryan wonder if he should invest in a few loops to study how to build his own spaceship and explore the universe.

Going on a ski vacation to Pluto sounds appealing.

"It reminds me of the past, doesn't it?" The messenger spoke first. "We've been debating whether there is sentient life."

"I still think we're alone in the universe," she replied. "Outside of our little blue planet, it's dark and cold."

"We're not alone," Ryan retorted. "If you ask me, I'd say the stars are brighter."

She moved restlessly in her place. Ryan realizes that his attempts to make small talk just make things awkward. "Let's ......" Len walked away slowly, biting his lower lip. Have we already talked about this?"

So, she believed his words. Even after all this time, Ryan still seems to trust him somewhat. "We've only talked once, in your house under the sea," Ryan admitted. "You told me you didn't want to see me after I brought the carnival to your dad, how did you know I was still alive for two years, how did you know you had built an underwater base for Sarah and the others."

"It turned out to be true," Len muttered to himself. "Time travel. This is possible because many violets can change space-time on a limited basis. However, I still don't understand. Will you be traveling in person? Or is it just messaging?"

"I can mentally go back to a point that I have identified at a specific moment and my last point was done a few hours ago," the courier explained. "Only my consciousness can go back in time"

"A save point, like your video game?" Rya

Always likes to play with them as long as he finds a host that still works. "Can you ......"

"I can't move the save point back in the past, I can't." The courier shook his head. "When I create a new point, it erases the first point. I wish I could save your father, save us, save the world, but I can't. I can't change the past, only the present and the future. What is done cannot be undone. ”

Ryan winced at his words. Ryan immediately regretted his bluntness, but he had to say it. He couldn't let her have any false hope. "How does it work?" She asked a few more questions. "Do you create or travel to another timeline?"

Ryan shook his head. "Do you know Schrödinger's cat?" Thought experiments? Some psychopaths put a cat in a black box with a 50% chance of dying or surviving. As long as you don't open the box to see the results, the cat is technically both alive and dead. ”

"I've heard of it," Lunn replied. Of course she would, she read everything she could get. "I thought it was a ridiculous joke about quantum physics."

"It's a joke. But it turns out that I am a cat, both alive and dead. ”

Ryan clasped his hands together, as if holding something invisible. "This is our space-time continuum," he explained. "It's a black box where all the time and space happens. All moments, all possible timelines. Past, present and future. ”

"It's too small to fit the entire universe," Ryan replied with a smile. The sight warmed Ryan's heart; The children seemed to have a positive effect on her mood compared to the previous cycle.

"You just have to fold it many times."

"But if our universe is a box, does that mean there's something outside the box?"

"Yes." Ryan nodded. A dimension outside of time and space, the dimension of the observer. Let's call it 'Purple World'. ”

"Purple World?" She frowned.

"I haven't figured out the exact name yet, but 'Purple World' sounds good." Even acid rain seems to agree with this statement. "The purple world exists between all moments of time and all points of space, although I only really influenced the first part."

Len listened without saying a word, trying to make out what he meant. But she's smart, even without her powers, and while it may seem strange, she agrees to accept the theory.

"I actually existed at two points in time," Ryan continued. "When I create a save point, I divide it. One version of me exists in the purple world, trapped between two seconds, while another version of me continues to exist; The person you're facing right now. I am both, and we have the same consciousness. You could say that my abilities are temporarily positioned. ”

"So when you die, it's like Schrödinger's cat." Ryan's expression turned into a fear. "You are both living and dead."

"Yes, I cheated just because my consciousness spread between the two versions. I collapse the timeline of my death and create a new copy from my save point with the erased knowledge of the future. Nothing that happened between these two points is gone. ”

"But you don't have to die to trigger that power, do you?" Ryan pleaded. Seeing that Ryan didn't answer, she covered her mouth with her hand in horror. "How ......"

"How many times?" Ryan shrugged. "Innumerable".

"How can you say that?" Even if they had had an unpleasant experience, he could see sympathy in Ryan's gaze. She has always been so pleasant. "This means...... It's horrible, Ri

i。 ”

"Well, my first dozens of times were horrible," Ryan admitted. "I've had a few times when I've gone crazy or nervous because of stress. But after the first 30 years or so, it becomes normal, like taking a cold shower every day. You get used to everything, even death. ”

Nothing eased her worries. If anything, Lunn cares more about him. "But since you're living in two periods, some conceptual abilities, a white genome, or a memory-altering attack could affect both versions."

"I suspect someone like Sykes, wait, do you know Sykes?" Lan nodded. "If I die by her side, cancellation will cause my power to disintegrate. Obviously, I wouldn't tempt her. ”

"What about the time to stop?" Do you have ...... She paused, the question unspoken.

Did you take two doses of the elixir like my father? Are you insane?

"I only have the ability to save points," Ryan reassured her. "Time stop is an application of it. I fused my split two selves together so that our reality and the purple world were aligned. This creates a temporal anomaly, and I'm the only one who can exert force on objects, and my abilities protect me from negative effects. It's a great deal. Still, if I stick beyond the ten-second limit—"

"Two versions of you come together. You open the cat's box and look inside. ”

"It always makes me start over early, meow," Ryan said, but she didn't laugh. "I've spent decades researching Purple World, wanting to see if I can use it to improve my powers and gain more than one save point."

"Your space-time radio, that's why you made it?" She guessed, and Ryan nodded in agreement. "Did you make it to that dimension?"

Ryan thought of the bunny plush toy. "Not exactly," he replied, frowning at her. "By the way, how did you get into the space-time broadcast?" Or do you know I have one?"

She bit her lower lip. "I ...... I've been ......"

"You've been stalking me?"

"Look at you for a moment," Lunn replied with a blushing face, which made her look cute. She immediately changed the subject. "Is that purple world the only one you can enter?"

"Some violet genomes can harness its power." This is the only explanation for acid rain capacity. "Maybe all the power of the violet genome comes from it. The human body can't do half of the purple genome, even with severe mutations. ”

Ryan fidgeted in place. “Ri

i, how old are you?" It must have taken us years, decades to figure it all out. ”

"I don't know," the courier admitted. He had lost count for a long time. "Maybe I'm five hundred years old, or eight hundred years old. Maybe more. ”

"Have you been looking for me?" Now she does sound guilty and remorseful.

"You can't possibly know," Ryan replied. He would never hold a grudge against her. "For the first few decades, I thought you were dead, or out of reach, so I just wandered around and tried new things. It wasn't until I got one piece of your technology that I realized you were somewhere in New Rome. ”

Ryan turned away, and something appeared around her eyes.

"Shorty?" Ryan frowned and looked at her holding back tears, "Ryan, are you crying?"

"I'm crying for you," Lunn said, looking at him with guilt evident in his eyes. "You've ...... You've spent centuries alone, and I'm ......"

"Len, I—" He held up his hand to her.

Before he could touch her, she flinched visibly and told Ryan to back off.

"I'm sorry," Len repeated, feeling even more devastated. "Give me some time to digest it all. It all happened all at once, too much. Too much at once, Reli. ”

"That's good. What we have is time. ”

He immediately regretted saying that, as Len's face became more gloomy. Damn, why does everything he says make things worse?

"Every time you die, everyone forgets about you," she said, wiping tears from her eyes. "Over and over again."

Jesus replied, "Except for you." "You're the only one who knew me before the time loop. I know it's selfish, but ......"

"You think I'm the only one who can make this eternity less lonely." Len glanced at him sympathetically. "Isn't there a way for others to remember you?" To replicate your power?"

"I had to start over with my own mind, and for so many years, I hadn't found a technology or genome that could replicate my abilities. Maybe I could get more results if I crossed the line, but I have to keep some. The consequences will not remain, but the memories will. If I'm used to bloodshed and atrocities, I'm ...... I was scared of what I would become. ”

"You're scared you're going to become like Daddy," she guessed, her eyes vacant.

Ryan didn't want to say it out loud, but yes, he was. Years of life in blood have given him a taste of the impact of antisocial violence on everyone, and how there is no turning back after that. When you embrace the darkness, it follows you everywhere.

"Why don't you ask Dinas about it?" Lunn asked, though she clearly didn't like the possibility. "They can copy abilities."

"Their knockoffs only gained the power of the 'genetic' part, not any cosmic physical support," Ryan replied. That's why their potions are weaker than the original. The Tinder Elixir allows people to use their own enhanced body heat to produce flames, but the true red genome can obtain a near-infinite source of energy. "I mean, unless they can somehow get into the purple world, the elixir that is genetically mimicked from me won't have any effect."

His friend was silent for a few seconds, then finally put down the water gun and crossed his arms. He had seen her in that state when she went into a genius fugue or thought of a new concept.

"It's happening again," Ryan lamented, as she hadn't been able to come up with an invention that might help Ryan. "I can do miracles, but nothing can help me right now. Like Daddy. ”

"That's good." The mere fact that she wanted to help him made him happier. "No one can do everything, you can already do a lot. Even the god of fire admires your work, and her ego is comparable to that of Saturn. ”

She smiled slightly, but not in her eyes. "If you don't think there's any solution, then I'll forget about this conversation," Ryan said, staring into his eyes. "Why should there be it?"

Ah, that's a hard question to answer.

"I don't think there's a solution, no, but I wish there was one. Vulcan has made progress in upgrading its abilities, and Mekron is already okay. "There's a whole treasure trove of his know-how underground." Hope is eternal, you know? Even though my chances of being able to make people remember me are slim, even if we can make up for it, I want to give it a try. ”

She didn't answer, her eyes thoughtful.

"Psyshock will hit here in two days." Rya

Changed the subject.

"Why?" Ryan asked, more sad than surprised. Ever since the big fat man Adam and his accomplices moved in, she had expected this to happen.

"There is a full MEC underneath the dump

o

A bunker of technology that superpowers are trying to break into. Her head immediately screamed at him. I think Psyshock will collect the kids when they run out of cannon fodder and throw them into the fortifications. Dy

Amis someone offered them fake elixirs for reasons I can't remember. ”

The more he spoke, the paler her skin became. "I'll take care of this," Ryan assured. "I've done it before."

"This city ......" Ryan shook his head, glancing at Rusty Town and New Rome in the distance. No matter how hard you try, it never improves. ”

"Yes."

"It was already terrible before Meta arrived," she replied. “Dy

amis, Augusti, they're all the same. They only care about money and power. I want to make a difference, I want to help others, but that's the way it is. This is not New Rome, but New Babylon. ”

"It can be improved," Ryan insisted, pointing to the stars. "Lunn, all you see is darkness, but everywhere you look, there is light."

Ryan didn't believe him. "We've argued," she guessed.

"Yes," the courier admitted. "After our previous conversation, I thought I could wipe out the superpowers, pay off some debts, and maybe do the surface well enough to make you want to come back."

"You don't have to," she insisted. "Let the superpowers and Augustus kill each other"

"Ryan, we can't let superpowers get their hands on McKelen's weapons." Ryan retorted. "It's going to be a repeat of the genomic wars."

It will be a nationwide blood flow.

“Ri

I, it's going to ruin you," she argued, a hint of desperation in her voice. "It has done it. You're not stable at all, Reli. How many times have you failed?"

"Successful enough."

She took his words, but did not offer her own opinion. If anything, she seems to be holding back even more.

"Well, I'm sorry to burden you so much." Ryan apologized and stood up until he stood dangerously on the edge. Take one more step and it's in free fall. "Thank you for listening, Shorty."

"Where are you going?"

"I stayed in a nice hotel in the city center," he replied, wearing a mask and a hat. "I need to go there so things can go smoothly."

She considered his answer and said. "Nope."

Ryan was stunned for a moment. "Didn't you?"

"You can ...... You can stay here. Len took a deep breath. It's not comfortable here, but it's ...... You can spend the night here. ”

"Lunn, I can't. If I don't go to the hotel, Wavin and Vulcan won't-"

"Stay here, Lili." Ryan asked, looking up at him. This time, it's not a proposal, it's a request. "Please stay. This time. ”

Ryan opened his mouth to protest because it would jeopardize his timing, but ...... As he looked into her pleading eyes, and their worries, his resistance melted.

"Okay," Ryan said. "I'll stay."