//------------------------------//
// Empire: The Rescue 
// Story: InFamous: The Unusual Conduits 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

Cole, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata were able to return to the apartment building without anything happening at all, which was strange since the majority of the path from Memorial Park to Zeke's place rested in area that they hadn't been taken from the Reapers yet. It was Adagio that came to the conclusion that the Reapers had pulled a good number of their forces out of some of the other areas they controlled to create the force that attacked them earlier, though Aria did have to joke that maybe they were hiding now that they were fighting four people with unique powers. Cole had the feeling that neither of them were right about why the Reapers weren't showing up, but unlike them he didn't have a reason behind why they were able to get back to the apartment building without being attacked, though he wasn't about to complain. It was a nice change of pace, since he hated being shot at, and the four of them climbed up to the top of the building, where Zeke was waiting to greet them with a beer, for Cole, and some of the last remaining sodas he could get his hands on, for the sisters.

While they drank their drinks Zeke told them that they couldn't turn the Ray Sphere over to the feds, indicating that either the FBI or someone else would make use of the 'ultimate' weapon that was now within their reach, to create soldiers that the military and cops couldn't even stand against. Zeke then suggested that, when they finally claimed the Ray Sphere, they 'crack it open' and give everyone superpowers, as it would prevent them from being screwed over in the future, to which Cole couldn't resist and said that they were 'already screwed'. Once Zeke was done with his attempt to win them over, for now anyway, he asked them what he missed, to which Cole stepped aside and let the sisters take the stage, causing Zeke to raise an eyebrow as Cole sat on the couch as well. That was followed by Sonata demonstrating her control over wind, Aria flexing her fingers as flames danced around her wrists and between her fingers, and Adagio showed off the fact that she could manipulate the water around her to create crystals... though as she soon discovered her power was over the element of water and that the crystals were actually ice, which explained why it was so brittle earlier.

"So let me get this straight, one of you unlocked electric powers, another has command over the wind, a third now has the power to generate flames that don't hurt the user, and the last one can manipulate water?" Zeke asked, his tone indicating that he couldn't believe what he was hearing, especially since he was still sure that the original powers that the sisters had demonstrated belonged to a show of his, "I can't believe this is happening... the Reapers are going to be sorry that they were ever brought together! Just wish I had powers as well."

"Sure, we might overpower the Reapers now, but we shouldn't be cocky," Adagio said, to which she sat on one of the boxes that rested near the couch, as she knew that her own arrogance over the Rainbooms had brought about the downfall of her and her sisters, "If we had additional phones that came with GPS locators, like Cole's does, we'd be able to evenly divide up the optional objectives Moya has sent us and test out the powers we've gained, only really grouping back together on difficult objectives or the main hunt."

"I'll have to see what I can do," Zeke stated, though his tone revealed that he was still upset over the fact that he didn't have any powers of his own, something that they couldn't fix at the moment.

Once Zeke said that the others really didn't have much to talk about, not since they had spent the majority of their day helping people out and had unlocked their actual power, in the case of the sisters, so the five of them had something light for dinner, where Zeke moaned about the lack of provisions they had. After that Cole took the couch while Zeke retreated to his own room, leaving the sisters to head back to the rooms that they had been given since the other people who lived in the building vacated the building when the quarantine. The four of them slept through the night, where they recharged their normal batteries, before the morning of the fifteenth day of the quarantine arrived, which the group met with some eagerness as they returned to the roof after a light breakfast. The moment they had regrouped on the roof they waited to see what Moya, or anyone else, had for them to do before they moved out to do some of the optional objectives.

Before they could move off the building, however, Cole's phone went off and he accepted the call without delay, as he noticed that it was from their handler and she likely had some news for them, especially in regards to either the hunt for John or what the Reapers were doing.

"I've flagged the position of the next substation in your GPS." Moya said, to which Cole nodded his head, indicating that the location was on his phone, meaning that they could head out and see what sort of powers he unlocked when he powered up the next substation.

"Okay, we'll get moving immediately," Cole replied, though he understood that Moya seemed to know something about his abilities, most likely because he and the others had talked about the fact that substations gave him new powers and abilities when he re-established the circuits before them.

"It will be interesting to see what sort of new powers you get," Aria said, though the light smile on her face indicated that she knew exactly what was coming, because after Sonata and Adagio went down into the sewer with Cole she knew her time had come at last, as she was interested in seeing the process for herself, "and then, once we've turned the substation back on, we can continue searching for John and the Ray Sphere."

"I'm glad that someone gets the bigger picture," Moya stated, to which an annoyed look appeared on Adagio's face for a moment, especially since Cole had openly agreed with the plan and knew what they needed to do, "I'll contact you once you get the substation back online."

"Hey brother, I've got something you'll want to see," Zeke spoke up, to which the group turned towards the door that the stairs were behind, where they noticed Zeke seemed to have some new supplies with him, as he set the box on the floor for a moment, "It seems that your 'friend' agreed with your earlier statement and has provided us with three more phones that are identical to yours, save for their numbers."

"That's... great." Adagio commented, though this time her voice lacked any enthusiasm, as now Moya had the means to keep track of all four of them and contact them whenever they wished, though at the same time it provided them with the tools to help the people that were all around the Neon District.

Cole knew what Adagio was thinking, as he had been thinking the same thing, but instead of saying anything he grabbed the new phones, which he was still amazed that Moya had been able to get the supplies Zeke found through all the security measures, but if she was in charge here he guessed it made sense. The sisters stood still as he reminded them of how to use the phone, since he knew that none of them seemed to know how to use this type of phone, before he helped them attach them to the phone holders on their pack straps. Once they were ready all four of them bid Zeke farewell for now, as he sat down on the couch once more, before they jumped over to the nearby building and used the grind line they found there to move closer to the area of the Neon District that was without power. This time around they did something else in addition to helping the injured civilians out, they collected a few of the Blast Shards that happened to be on the buildings around them... as while they discovered that the shards did nothing for Adagio, Aria, or Sonata they knew that it worked for Cole and let his powers grow a tiny bit.

How Cole's powers grew from taking the power of a Blast Shard they had no idea, but for the moment they simply collected the shards and stored them in their packs so he could harvest the power when they took a break later on, when they needed one anyway.

The group discovered that, from the route they took to reach the coordinates Moya had sent them, the Reapers were actually more spread out this time around and that the four of them could approach the manhole easily, though they also had to take out the turret truck that was further up the road. Once the vehicle had been destroyed, and the Reapers in the immediate area weren't aware of the situation, Adagio and Sonata lifted the lid and let Cole and Aria drop down into the sewers below them, before they stood guard over the manhole and prepared for some resistance. They knew that the Reapers would be coming this way in no time, especially after what they had seen when they tackled the other two substations, but they stood their ground and waited to see what happened when their foes came for them... and they were more eager to show the Reapers that they weren't limited to just throwing blasts around anymore.

While Adagio and Sonata prepared themselves for trouble, which they knew was coming, Cole and Aria touched down on the platform below them as they entered the sewers, though a smile appeared on their faces as they spotted a circuit in front of them. Since it was so close the duo jumped onto the small vertical pipes on their right, jumped over to the pipe that they had to hang from, and then dropped down onto the walkway that allowed them to access the circuit that needed to be re-established. Aria stood back as Cole bridged the two halves of the device and a rush of electricity surged through his body, though when he landed on the floor his smile remained, as he liked whatever power he happened to get from that circuit.

"So, what did you get?" Aria asked, because based on what she had seen so far, from when Cole emerged from the other two areas with her sisters, he always had a new power to try out, and she suspected that the case would be the same this time around.

"A grind ability." Cole replied, to which he stood up as he beckoned to the grind line that was resting near them, though that caused Aria to raise an eyebrow for a moment, "I can use these grind lines to travel faster and, if I can believe what I saw just now, the same can be said for train tracks."

Aria nodded and watched as Cole jumped onto the grind line, though this time he didn't actually move on his own, as his electricity gathered around his feet and propelled him forward at a greater speed than when he walked over the grind lines earlier. Aria quickly determined that if they were chasing someone down, or something else that was similar to that, this would be the ability to use, though that only made her wonder if she and her sisters could learn a technique that allowed them to do something similar to what he was doing. Cole also seemed to be in control of the direction he was going when he was on the line, even if it was only two ways, though a few seconds later he jumped off the grind line and touched down on the area at the end of the first line. Aria focused on her own powers for a moment, seeing the flames dance around her hands once more, before she sighed as she jumped onto the line and followed after Cole, knowing that she and her sisters would get new abilities in time.

Cole seemed to know what she was thinking, as he was the only one that was gaining powers left and right, so he patted her back and smiled, knowing that she, Adagio, and Sonata would get some new abilities in the future, but before they moved forward their phones beeped, where they found it was Zeke this time.

"Hey guys." Zeke said, revealing that he was talking to all four of them this time around, where Cole and Aria could have sworn that they heard some gunfire on the other end, where Adagio and Sonata were, indicating that they were dealing with some Reapers.

"Hey Zeke, what's up?" Cole asked, knowing that there had to be a reason behind his friend contacting all of them, especially when they had been at his apartment building a few minutes ago and could have easily told them what was on his mind before they came down here.

"You know that TV Jacker?" Zeke inquired, referring to the Voice of Survival, though his tone indicated that he wasn't pleased about something else this time around, though Aria was beginning to think that Zeke was upset about everything that was going on, "I used to think that he was pretty righteous, but now he spends half his time trashing you... and he just started trashing the girls as well. He's calling all of you terrorists now... so I think that the lot of you should pay him a visit."

"Except that no one knows where he's holed up." Aria commented, knowing that she and her sisters had no idea where the man who was the Voice of Survival could be, and the other civilians seemed to be confused as to where he was located as well.

"He's probably holed up in the old TV station over in the Historic District." Zeke said, more in the fact that he was talking to himself, though that didn't stop the two groups from listening to him as they continued their own tasks, "You guys should find him and give him a taste of the good stuff. He's gotta learn not to run his mouth all the time."

Cole and Aria waited until Zeke was off the line before they jumped forward and used the grind line to continue deeper into the sewer, though Aria had to wait a second or two for Cole to get ahead of her before she could follow after him. While the duo moved through the sewer they found some Reapers waiting for them, like usual, though this time around their enemies were facing someone that could use electricity and someone that could use fire, but the interesting thing was when Aria loosed a fireball and set one of the Reaper's jackets on fire. The Reaper, seeing that happened, dropped to the floor, rolled for a few seconds, and fell into the water to get the flames off of him, only for Cole to shock the water and knock him out, causing his body to float to the surface. While the two of them moved through the sewer, however, they came to a part where Aria started to fall behind, though when she focused her aura so she could attack the Reapers that were ahead of Cole, who were aiming at him, she lifted off the floor for a few seconds and crossed over to where Cole was waiting... and she knocked out the Reapers in the process, opening the way for them to move forward.

"Wait, did you just glide over to me?" Cole asked, as he had seen Aria move and hover over to where he was standing, as well as taking out the Reapers that were blocking their path.

"Maybe?" Aria replied, as she wasn't exactly sure what she had done, though based on what little Zeke had told her about that fighting show he liked she wondered if this was a flight based power, one that could be trained over time, or if her elemental abilities had given her something to keep up with Cole.

Cole was interested in what Aria did and tried to see if she could do it again, though as they progressed through the sewers he noticed that she either seemed incapable of doing it again or she had no idea how to call it back to the surface, but he was sure that with some practice she would be able to do it again. He then wondered if Adagio and Sonata could do something like what Aria did, though he suspected that because Sonata controlled the wind she'd be able to glide around no problem, once she decided to try using her powers in that manner. Despite the fact that Aria couldn't use the other power she followed after Cole to the best of her ability and they made their way through the sewer, where they blasted the Reapers out of their way as they neared the substation that was their target. Once they reached the substation Cole blasted it a few times to restore the power to another part of the Neon District, giving him and the sisters to move around in when they got back to the surface.

Since they had taken out the Reapers that had been blocking the way earlier, and had restrained those that had survived the initial attack, it was a simple matter for Cole and Aria to return to the surface and climb out of the sewer, where they found a second turret truck had been destroyed by Adagio... mostly because of the ice crystals that happened to be sticking out of the vehicle's sides.

"It seems like you two had fun." Cole commented, looking at the Reapers that were laying on the floor, alive and bound by the looks of it, before he turned towards Adagio, who was smiling, and Sonata, who seemed to be looking for any additional enemies that might want to do them harm.

"Some Reapers showed up, wanting to get into the sewers so they could stop you," Adagio explained, though she turned around and waved her hand towards the ice crystals, which turned back into pure water, which was what they had been earlier before she manipulated the water around them, "it gave Sonata and I some time to practice our new powers. Did you get anything interesting from the substation?"

"Yeah, a faster mode of transportation," Cole replied, though he held up a hand to stop them from asking questions, where he found that they actually wanted to see what he was saying for themselves and were patiently waiting, "Don't worry, you'll see my new power soon enough. And, since Moya doesn't have any leads for us at the moment, I think it's time we continued helping the people, and I know a 'good' mission we can do to help boost our reputations."

Adagio raised an eyebrow as she, Aria, and Sonata followed Cole through the powered up sections of the Neon District, pausing to help the wounded civilians and beat up the Reapers that wanted to fire at them, before they started to approach a very familiar sight; Stampton Bridge. Cole walked into the underpass that was below the area they, and some innocent civilians, had tried to use to escape the city earlier, though when they did so they found a cop and someone that looked like a junkie waiting for them, where the cop had a blue band around his wrist and the junkie had a red glow in his eyes. It was rather easy to tell which person they were here to see, though as they approached the cop the junkie growled and moved away from the area, knowing that they weren't here to help him and his friends out. As the four of them drew closer to the cop, however, they heard the sound of some shots being fired nearby, though since it wasn't at them they decided to assist the cop... and then take out the Reapers that were causing problems for the people.

"What seems to be the problem officer?" Aria asked, as she and the others were wondering what they could be doing this time around, as the last 'good' person they assisted had them escort some Reapers to a police station for some interrogation, which likely was going to help them stop the Reapers at some point.

"There's a Reaper conduit that we're having a hard time bringing down." the officer said, though at the same time the group heard the sound of a White Reaper's shockwave hit the ground, where the sound revealed that he was close, and that included the cops that were apparently chasing him and his gang, "Can you guys capture him for us?"

"Shouldn't be too hard." Cole replied, to which he and the sisters moved out from the underpass and found the White Reaper in question firing at the police officers that were near him, while his fellow Reapers did the same thing.

Instead of going after the White Reaper to begin with, since he was the major threat, the group scattered to the four directions and attacked the Reapers from all sides, carefully blasting their way through the normal gun carrying Reapers that stood between them and their target. Since it was now four people who had powers, conduits as the officer had labeled the White Reaper, against one powerful person and a group of normal gang members, it was rather easy for Cole, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata to blast their way through the Reapers and square off against the White Reaper. Unfortunately for their opponent he couldn't deal with having the four of them be his opponent, as he couldn't accurately dodge all of their attacks and eventually found himself laying on the floor, where Cole restrained him. With the task done, and the officers thanked them for assisting them in clearing out this part of the gang, and capturing the person they were after, the group headed made into the Neon District and they continued searching for more things to do while they waited for Moya to contact them again.

Fortunately Cole had another 'good' mission they could take care of, one that was back by Archer Square, to which the four of them headed out and retraced their steps back to where they performed their first act of assisting the people, where they found another officer standing near the entrance of the area, which had some Reapers preparing near the large statue.

"We got a notice saying that you needed some assistance," Cole commented, causing the cop to turn towards them, where he looked them over once, as if deciding whether or not he could trust them, before nodding his head, "what can we do to help?"

"We need you, and your lovely friends, to nab some Reapers for us." the officer said, meaning that this was like the last mission, where they beat up some people and Cole restrained them to the floor so they could be picked up later, "We need the information they have, and capturing them alive will let us get what we need... though four Reapers should be enough to get the information we need."

Cole and the sisters didn't know if the cop knew about the small group of Reapers that were in Archer Square, four of them to be exact, and used that number when he was asking them for assistance, or if it was a random number and there just happened to be four Reapers nearby. Instead of worrying about it the group headed into Archer Square and engaged the Reapers, where they each took one of them and dodged the bullets that were coming their way, only for them to quickly blast their targets to the ground so Cole could restrain them. It was a simple task, one that would improve the people's opinions of them now that the Voice of Survival was trying to make them seem like the villains, but they were fine with taking an easy mission every now and then. Once the task was done they climbed up the building that the cop had been starting near, or at least stopped in the outside table area that was a few floors off the ground, and considered what they were going to do next for the people.

Before they could actually decide on anything, however, Cole's phone went off and he discovered that it was Moya, though all four of them discovered that Adagio, Aria, and Sonata's new phones weren't making a sound, meaning that she was going to use Cole's phone when they were together... to which he clicked the button, accepted the call, and they prepared themselves for what she was going to say next.

"It seems that you and the girls are doing some fine work in the Neon, Cole." Moya said, though the sisters knew they could be doing more, especially since they were mostly ignoring the majority of the optional objectives they had been given so far, "I have a couple of things I'd like you all to look into... and one of them might even lead us to John. Get to the building that's in front of the substation you just reactivated and I'll explain everything when you get there."

Cole and the sisters looked at each other for a moment, as they were surprised to hear that Moya might have a lead on John, to which they jumped back down to the street that was below them and made their way back to the building that Moya wanted them to get to. As they climbed to the roof of that building, however, all four of them noticed a beat up train that was sitting on the tracks, though something told them that the train might be their objective, especially with the Reapers that were guarding it.

"See that old train?" Moya asked, knowing that they had gotten into position, exactly like she asked them to, and was ready to brief them on their new mission, one that might be the end of their time in Empire City, "The Reapers have some people locked up in there, as collateral to keep the people of the Neon in line. more importantly, there's a chance that John might be aboard that train."

"Well, we can't bust them out here," Adagio commented, though now she was sort of regretting their decision to not help the people more, as she knew where the train resting in relation to the zones the Reapers still owned, "that train is resting inside the heart of the Reapers' territory. Busting them out here is a death sentence waiting to happen."

"But how do we move a train when there's... no... power..." Aria started to say, though that was when she turned and glanced at Cole, as she was starting to see something that she hadn't considered beforehand, "Of course, we have someone that's essentially a third rail, as Zeke says. Cole, I bet that if you made contact with the lead car, and stayed on it, we'd be able to move the train out of here and get these people to safety."

"Worth a shot." Cole said, to which he disconnected the call and the four of them jumped down to the street below them, before they started making their way to a better vantage point, one where they could fire at the Reapers a little easier and take them out quicker before they realized enemies were near them.

Of course that plan really didn't work all that well, as the Reapers started firing at them the instant they knew that enemies were coming their way, so while Cole and Adagio climbed back up to the track Aria climbed up the buildings on the left side of the tracks and Sonata did the same on the right side. As it turned out it was rather easy to take out the Reapers in the immediate area, as there were only a few of them actually guarding the train, which didn't made sense considering that it was right in front of the Reaper Stronghold, but as the sisters got into position Cole used a shockwave to move the dead cars off the track. Once the pair of cars were on the ground level he climbed up onto the lead car and the entire train started to move forward, causing the sisters to follow after him from either the rooftops, in Aria and Sonata's cases, or follow on the track to the side of the train, like Adagio was doing. They didn't get very far as the train came to a stop a few seconds later, where Moya informed Cole that the low-voltage feeder box must have been disengaged by the Reapers and that he would have to turn it back on by blasting it a few times... and that it, along with the other feeder boxes, happened to be below the tracks.

It didn't take long for Cole to find the feeder box and energize it, to which they started moving towards the next station, which happened to be near Memorial Park, though as they approached it Cole focused on the train while the sisters engaged the Reapers that were guarding the area. After charging the feeder box that was below the station they got moving once more, though as they followed the track Cole found something else to do while focusing on the train, using his shockwave power to knock back the rocket that an RPG carrying Reaper decided to fire at him. As it turned out redirecting the rocket actually took out the Reaper in question, as the rocket hit close enough to where it came from to knock the Reaper on his back, but Cole wasn't about to question it as they continued to move the train through the Neon District and left the Reaper Stronghold behind. Of course they still had to stop every now and then for the feeder boxes, though while Cole dealt with that obstacle Adagio, Aria, and Sonata fired at the Reapers and knocked them to the ground, preventing them from doing any damage to the train and the people that were trapped inside it's cars.

Eventually Cole, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata regrouped on the train, with the sisters being on the second car, as it rolled into the station that the civilians were crowded around, where they moved out of the way as Cole blasted open the door and the hostages were released into the care of their loved ones. The civilians were surprised by that sudden act, even though Moya had somehow informed them that the group was bringing the train in, but that didn't prepare the four of them for what happened next. People started thanking them for what they were doing to clean up the Neon District, took a moment to shake all of their hands, praised them for being the heroes they needed at a time like this, and even pulled out some posters that had been made of them, for them to sign for some reason. Those posters showed one side of each of their faces, somehow accurately catching the likeness of all four of them on their individual posters, and even had a little image of the power they wielded, like lightning for Cole and fire for Aria. All of them had to admit that it was nice to be treated in such a way, with the people on their side instead of against them, though even then they remembered their mission and kept an eye out for John... who never surfaced, even as the people and families of the Neon District went back home with their families complete once more.

Cole knew that Moya wasn't going to be happy with that bit of news, and he knew that the sisters were a little sad they didn't find John anywhere on the train, but he was certain that they could find John... even if they had to go to the Warren and the Historic District in order to find him.