They found an unused hazmat suit in a bunker some family had built in preparation for the bombs. By the lack of use in the room, it looked like the family hadn't been able to use it.

Briar Rose felt uncomfortable being the only one taking precautions. Nick had reassured her repeatedly that he didn't need a hazmat suit because the radiation wouldn't affect him. That didn't make it any less awkward as they headed south with her looking like she prepared to walk on the moon and him in his usual clothes. With Dr. Amari's advice, they had also stockpiled some Rad-X and RadAway for her to use if needed.

The Commonwealth didn't have the most pleasant scenery but as they headed further south to where the bomb had landed over 200 years ago, the landscape grew exceedingly worse. The sky grew green and hazy, to where she couldn't even see twenty yards in front of her. The earth was craggy and broken, and dead trees still leaned crookedly from the shock wave. Nick had to help her climb up and down the rugged earth.

There was a lot of glowing, bubbling pools of some thick liquid, like lava—she and Nick were careful to skirt around the pools, knowing they had to be radiated. The few structures they came across were blasted apart or half-buried under the ground being uprooted. The Geiger counter on her Pip-Boy constantly clicked. Briar Rose thought she had emerged out of Vault 111 into a desolate wasteland; this was a wasteland.

Once the landscape started to turn more hazardous, they were bombarded by creatures: many Stingwings, Bloatflies, and Bloodbugs; two, sometimes three Radscorpions at once; Feral Ghouls climbing out of the radiated lava. Being irradiated made everything much stronger. They once ducked into the ruins of a crashed airplane to kill a Deathclaw—it was too big to be able to reach them.

Every chance they got, she and Nick found shelter to rest, either in a destroyed shack, a concrete bunker, or a half-buried church. They figured venturing into the Glowing Sea would be tough, but they hadn't expected the fight to be this severe. Often, as she leaned against Nick's shoulder, she took a quick nap. Nick had said he didn't get tired, but she could feel his tense posture relax under her as they took a moment to recover.

Briar Rose wasn't sure how long they had traveled when the ground began to ascend and something huge and uneven loomed ahead of them.

"That must be the crater," Nick said.

She released a heavy sigh of relief—almost there. Hopefully the inside wasn't worse than outside the crater. Nick kept a firm grip on her hand as they climbed up the jagged rocks and broken earth as they made themselves a path. They stopped at the top of the crater's lip before it rolled down to look around.

The bomb had made a crater hundreds of feet deep and wide. The bottom glowed with green light, like there was some kind of radiated liquid down there, but oddly obstructed. Briar Rose knew standing at the bottom made anyone feel small at looking up and seeing the crater surrounding them, like jagged teeth.

After making sure no immediate danger could be seen, they began the descent to the center. The obstruction over the liquid came into view as they went further down; she found it to be wooden and metal structures built over the radiated liquid—built by hand. She gaped at them; how could humans possibly live out here?

Nick stopped. "I should've known better..."

"Known what?" she asked.

"Children of Atom."

"Who are they?"

"Complete idiots. They believe the bomb was sent down by a god named Atom and worship him; the radiation left behind is a hint of his power. Sounds to me like radiation has rotted what little brains they had." He looked at her. "We need to be careful; they're usually hostile to non-believers."

They descended the hill, then walked up the metal walkway into the long shack. Within were two men: dressed in tattered robes, and extremely thin, pale, and sickly looking with hollowed-out cheekbones and sunken eye sockets. There was a dazed, almost haunted look in their eyes. Briar Rose clung even closer to Nick as she eyed these crazy people.

One man saw their entrance and walked toward them; the other didn't seem to notice them, even though he faced them.

"Welcome, my Brother and Sister to the Crater of Atom," he greeted. "All are welcomed to bow knee to Atom's magnificent Glow."

Nick took charge. "Thank you... Brother. We have come seeking... guidance; who may we speak to?"

The man raised a hand lazily, like he was in a dream, and pointed to his left. "Find Mother Isolde; she is the one to guide you."

Nick thanked him again, then they made their hurried exit. Taking the man's advice led them up a slight rise to a shack and a woman standing below it in front of its stairs. She looked just as thin and sickly as the others.

She raised a hand to stop their approach. "Stop right there, strangers. You approach Atom's holy ground. Why? State your purpose or be divided in His sight."

"Atom told us to seek someone here; his name is Virgil," Nick said.

The woman's eyes lit up. "Virgil? Yes... we know this Virgil. What did Atom reveal to you about him?"

"He has information we require."

"I see. In truth, this Virgil has caused some concern. Some believe his presence is an affront to Atom. But you have just proved that he is indeed one of Atom's Children as well. Though he came to trade with us on a few occasions, we have had little other contact with him. It was quite clear he wanted to be left alone. You can find him southwest of the crater, living in a cave. I would approach cautiously, were I you. I feel he does not want visitors."

Nick thanked her for her help and they backed away; when they were headed in the direction she told them and out of earshot, Nick angled his head to her. "Sounds like he knows the Institute is after him."

"So, he'll probably think we're part of them. How do you suggest we convince him otherwise?"

"If his first glance at me doesn't tell him, then I guess the truth will."

They had to climb back out of the crater and search for a cave. After at least thirty minutes of searching and hiding to avoid conflict with two Deathclaws walking together, they finally found the dark entrance into a cave. With Mother Isolde's warning, they headed into the cave with their guns out and ready.

Inside, they found two machine gun turrets facing the entrance and many can chimes hanging from the ceiling. If the turrets firing didn't alert Virgil within that someone was coming, no one could get past the chimes without brushing one.

But surprisingly, the machine gun turrets didn't beep in alarm as they spotted the intruders; they continued their normal watch. Briar Rose and Nick exchanged a look before they headed further in, set on the passageway they could see. They tried their best to avoid the can chimes, but they jingled in warning.

They headed down the short tunnel to come into a large room. It was heavily adorned with machines and terminals, and tables leaden down with beakers and flasks—this resembled a laboratory and had everything a scientist would need.

Walking further in, they found two forms: one a Protectron with electricity buzzing between its clawed hands, and the other a Super Mutant wearing glasses and regular clothes that had been expanded for his size. Intelligence blinked in his eyes—this wasn't a brainless creature like his brethren.

"Hold it! Take it nice and slow; no sudden moves," the Super Mutant warned. His voice wasn't slow like the dimwitted ones. His eyes quickly took in Nick's synthetic qualities. "I know you're from the Institute so where's Kellogg? Huh? Trying to sneak up on me while you distract me? It's not going to work! I'm not stupid; I knew they would send him after me."

Briar Rose stared at him—she didn't expect this. "Are you Virgil?"

"You know damn well I am. What're you doing here?"

"You're a Super Mutant..."

"Yes; clearly, you have functioning eyes. Congratulations. I'm hoping you didn't come here just to point that out. Now, what do you want?"

His tone was hard with irritation and anger—she needed to get to the point fast. "We're here for information on the Institute."

Virgil's eyes steeled and his face tightened with anger. "So, they did send you, didn't they? You're working with Kellogg!" The Protectron ambled forward threateningly.

Nick moved around to shield her as he raised his gun. She put a quick hand on his gun to halt his fire. "He's been taken care of."

Virgil's eyes widened, and he raised a hand to stop the robot. "He's... He's dead?" He blinked away the hope in his eyes. "Don't lie to me!"

"She's not lying," Nick butted in. "She killed him herself."

"You did? You truly did?" He was speechless for a while. "Kellogg was ruthless... There's a reason the Institute used him to do their dirty work for so many years. I knew they'd send him after me; tried to prepare for it. But I still wasn't sure I'd make it... and you killed him, eh?" He waved the Protectron off; the electricity disappeared, and it shuffled off. Nick relaxed his defensive position by her. "Then what is it that you want of me?"

"Why did you leave the Institute? I know you came from there." It wasn't what she came to ask, but curiosity made her.

He looked surprised. "You know about the escape? But how?" He raised a hand to stop her answer. "No, it doesn't matter. I'm not going back—I can't go back. Look at me! Why are you even here?"

"We need to get in."

His eyes rounded and his mouth dropped open in shock. "Can I... Are you joking? You want to get into the Institute. Are you insane? Never mind how nearly impossible that is, even if you were to succeed, it'd almost certainly end in your immediate death. What reason could you possibly have for taking that kind of risk?"

"My son; the Institute took him."

Virgil quickly changed his tone. "Oh. Oh no. I had no idea. I'm sorry. Yeah, the Institute has taken people from the Commonwealth in the past. If your son is one of them, I can understand why you would want to get in there. I can help, but... I'm going to need something in return."

She didn't have to think about it; if she had to do something for him to help them, so be it. "What do you need?"

"Before I had to escape, I was working on a serum that would serve as a cure for my... condition. I wasn't able to bring it with me. It's still in my lab and, well, look at me. I need it. I need you to find it for me, if you manage to get inside. What do you say?"

"Of course I'll get it."

He looked extremely relieved to hear her acceptance. "Thank you." He straightened up again for business. "All right; let's talk details. First things first: do you know how synths get in and out of the Institute?"

"Yeah, they use some kind of teleporter."

He blinked in astonishment. "Well, well... not many know about that. Pretty closely guarded secret. You've certainly done your homework."

"Of course; we wouldn't have come out here with nothing to go on," Nick stated.

"You'll have to tell me how you know. Anyway, it's commonly referred to as the 'Molecular Relay'. I don't understand all the science behind it, but it works. De-materializes you in one place, re-materializes you in another. I'm sure it sounds crazy, but it's a reality. The Relay is the only way in and out of the Institute. Do you understand? The only one. That means you're going to have to use it. Now, have you ever seen an Institute Courser?"

"Uhh..." She looked over at Nick to find him shrugging. She recalled Kellogg calling that X6-88 one, but she hadn't physically met one, at least she didn't think so. "No."

"Coursers are Institute synths designed for one purpose: they're hunters. Operations go wrong, a synth goes missing, and a Courser is dispatched. They're very good at what they do, and you're going to have to kill one."

"Why?"

"They're your ticket in. Every Courser has special hardware that gives them a direct connection to the Relay in the Institute. It's embedded in a chip in their head. You need that chip. But to get it, you have to find a Courser."

She had to dig into another person's head—great.

"Now I don't know exactly where you can find one. They haven't sent any after me, and sitting here waiting doesn't seem like a good plan. You're going to have to hunt one down. I can tell you where to start and give you some help to find one, but you'll have to do the dirty work."

She shrugged. "I'm used to it now."

"The primary insertion point for Coursers is the ruins of CIT, directly above the Institute. So you'll want to head there. Now, the Relay causes some pretty heavy interference all across the EM spectrum. You've got a radio on that Pip-Boy, right?" She nodded. "When you get to the ruins, tune it to the lower end of the band and listen in; you'll be able to hear the interference. Follow the signal and it'll lead you to the Courser. Then you just have to... not get killed."

"I don't think you need to worry," Nick began, "we're practically professionals now."

Virgil shook his head. "Not gonna lie: your odds aren't in your favor here. But if you do make it, remember what I said about the serum. I need it—badly. I... I really hope you find your son."

Briar Rose smiled at him. "There's no need to remind me; I'll get it. And I hope I do too."