Knock Out laughs richly at her assertion, his engine firing with its usual resonant sound, reversing out of the parking space and then out onto the road. The summer morning is once again bright and welcoming, deceptive in its peacefulness, but for the moment he'll take it.

"No, I've just seen you without it," he teased. "One stray look in my direction and I could practically feel the coolant curdling in my lines."

There are a number of coffee shops once they reach the nearest small town, and they pass easily through one for Rogue's ordered beverage. A strip mall parking lot provides a vantage point overlooking the road and the ramp down to the highway while they work out where to go next.

"I don't think we should go much north of here," he says, and the dashboard screen blinks to life, showing the east coast and the large cities clustered there. "But other than that, I'm open to suggestions."