Evening set in and the sun began to set by the time they made it to the interstate. The three younger conduits spent that time mainly reminiscing about the previous battle, while Sam, metal put away, and Bentley sat in the four by four, having their own conversation.
"I've been after this thing for three years," Sam said while driving, "And all this time, it never left Empire City."
"You're not going to give it to that—"
"I've explained it to you a hundred times, I have no choice. It should be in their hands," Sam replied. Bentley redirected his attention to the road in front of them.
"And what about Delsin, Fetch, and Eugene?" Bentley asked.
"What about them?"
"Now they know what this is and why you're after it," Bentley hinted.
"Actually, they don't," Sam retaliated. Bentley gave him a look of disbelief.
"A: They only know what it's called, they don't know what it does, and B: they don't know why we're chasing it down," Sam explained.
"I thought you told Delsin in one of your little dead drops."
"I told him I was military."
"Military huh?" Bentley mocked.
"It's kinda' true… felt like the military anyway," Sam defended.
"And you don't think that's gonna' blow up in your face?" Bentley countered. Sam stayed quiet for a few seconds before responding again.
"Look, I'm dealing with this as I go. If that bridge comes up, I'll cross it. But in the meantime, let's just focus on getting the Ray Sphere," Sam concluded. As the hours passed, and the teenage conduits fell asleep in the back, the realization of this road trip finally sunk in.
"How much longer until we get there?" Sam asked Bentley. He pulled out his phone and tapped on it until he reached the GPS.
"We got about thirty-five hours left," Bentley answered.
"Should've taken a plane." Sam complained.
"Yeah, cuz' that would've worked well," Bentley replied sarcastically.
"What do you think we'll find in Empire City?" Sam asked.
"You mean other than rubble?"
"What about other conduits?"
"It's a wasteland, I'd be surprised if anybody still lived there."
"Clearly you never played Fallout." Sam insisted. Bentley rolled his eyes at him.
"What about the First Sons?" Sam asked, "You think there are any of them still around?"
"I'm sure there are," Bentley said blankly. Sam understood the message clear enough, and stopped talking in order to let Bentley get some sleep. After a few hours, close to one 'o' clock, Bentley took his turn at the wheel, stopping at the side of the road so they could switch places. Bentley continued driving until morning, stopping when Sam woke up. They pulled off to the side of the road once again and Sam walked towards the back of the RV and threw open the doors.
"Rise and shine!" he called. The three zombie-like conduits slowly left their bunks and got to their feet.
"What time is it?" Delsin asked groggily, taking out his phone.
"About six 'o' clock," Sam answered.
"C'mon Sam, at least one more hour," Fetch pleaded while yawning.
"Why even wake us up?" Delsin asked, "Shouldn't we be driving?"
"We've got about thirty-three hours, you'll be stiff as sticks if you don't exercise," Sam explained.
"Thirty-three hours?" Fetch whined.
"Stiff as sticks?" Eugene whispered.
"Exercise how, exactly," Delsin inquired.
"How do you think? Training!" he exclaimed, "Let's head off the road a little bit further so we could let Bentley get some rest." With that, the four conduits headed towards a small clearing hidden behind some trees.
"This is perfect!" Sam announced, looking at the scenery. Small patches of grass littered the floor while large trees hid their view of the freeway. "One thing I'm noticing a lack of is stealth. You three are incredibly versatile, but speed and raw strength are only going to get you so far."
"Alright, how do we change that?" Fetch asked, crossing her arms.
"Simple, I'm going to stay here, and you three are going to try and sneak up to me."
"You're kidding right?" Delsin asked as smoke snaked his curled fist.
"The idea here is disarming a target without killing him," Sam explained, "If you can take my weapon before I shoot you, you win."
"Shoot?" spoke Fetch.
"Oh come on, you guys have fast healing and this is only a handgun," Sam countered, waving a silenced nine-millimeter in front of them, "If I hit you once, you're out. That said, you can still use your powers."
"Alright I guess," Delsin agreed, "Just not the face."
"Of course," Sam assured, "Now go on, make a plan and try to take my gun." With that, the three conduits headed into the safety of the trees as they huddled together.
"Alright, how are we doing this?" Delsin asked.
"Actually, I have an idea," Eugene pitched. After a few minutes of explaining, they all got into position. Eugene was up first, he turned invisible and slowly walked up to Sam. However, as soon as he entered the clearing, his cloak expired. He materialized in front of Sam, disclosing his location. A look of disappointment materialized on his face as he held the gun up to shoot Eugene. However, before he could pull the trigger, Fetch came up from behind at light speed and tripped him. As soon as he landed face first, Delsin appeared on top of him, ready to pin him.
Once Sam came to terms with their plan, he clenched his fist and thrusted it away from his body. The action threw Delsin off of him, chain-hand leading the charge. Sam then immediately stood up and shot at Delsin. Delsin, though, transformed and dashed before he pulled the trigger. He looked around and saw that all three had vanished. He wasn't alone for very long however. Soon enough, Fetch zoomed into the clearing once more and Sam fired. The first shot went right through as the particles of light seemed to reform around the bullet. He continued firing just as Fetch was right in front of him and jumped over. He turned around and kept on Fetch as he was bombarded with smoke projectiles.
He felt his back get singed, but it wasn't until he was nailed in an unarmored part of his arm that he turned around to see Delsin running up to him. Once more, he held his gun up, only to have it stolen when Fetch zoomed in front of him. She waved the gun in front of Sam with one hand while making the shape of a gun with the other and creating a shooting motion with it.
"Nice work guys," Sam said sincerely as he grabbed his grazed arm. The next couple of hours were spent with three conduits sparing with one another while Sam supervised. After some time, Sam called time and the group headed back to the RV where Bentley stood outside drinking a cup of coffee.
"How'd it go?" Bentley asked once they were within sight.
"We kicked his ass," Delsin bragged, pointing at Sam. Sam rolled his eyes as Delsin looked over at him. It was then that Delsin noticed something odd.
"Shouldn't that have healed by now?" Delsin asked, motioning towards the wound that Delsin made while hitting Sam in the arm. Sam looked at it himself.
"No wonder it still hurts," Sam replied.
"Come inside and I'll patch you up," Bentley said while opening the door to the command center. Sam followed behind and soon enough, was brought the first aid kit. The wound, now starting to blister, was disinfected and wrapped up.
"I thought all conduits had superhuman healing," Sam said as the operation was completed.
"So did I," Bentley said while putting away the first aid kit.
"That's weird."
"That's extraordinary."
Sam raised his head at Bentley's comment, "How so?"
"Think about it, we could use this to further our knowledge about the conduit gene, specifically fast healing. That was the only thing we couldn't crack when giving powers to the D.U.P. soldiers. Now we can!"
Sam seemed confused.
"If can get samples of your DNA and samples of say… Delsin's DNA, I can compare the conduit genes of the both of you and isolate what causes conduits to heal quickly."
"Is it really that simple?" Sam asked, astonished.
"Well, I'd have to run several tests and simulations, and it would probably take a few weeks to actually understand the data and come to a conclusion, but pretty much."
"Okay, just remind me when we're done with all this," Sam said as he stood up and walked outside of the command center. Bentley nodded his head as he continued cleaning. When he walked outside, the trio jumped up.
"You alright Sam?" Fetch asked.
"Yeah I'm fine. Just no more training like that from now on." Sam replied.
"Sly, I'm so sorry. If I knew you couldn't—"
"Delsin it's okay, I didn't know either," Sam interjected.
"Sam! We should probably get going," Bentley called out after slightly opening the door.
"Okay, I'll drive," Sam replied.
"Got it, I'll sit back here and start looking at those files from Curdun Cay," Bentley remarked.
