Sam crosses the country back to the east coast, but just before arriving at his destination, he is caught up in one last storm of Cliff’s design. At the pinnacle of their final confrontation, Cliff comes to realize the truth: that the BB Sam is carrying is not the one he’s looking for, but instead, Sam is his child. He embraces his son one last time before passing on, his quest to reconnect with Sam fulfilled, although Sam has not had the same epiphany as his father.
Sam awakens, this time in Port Knot City, within spitting distance of his final destination. It is here that one of his team members, Deadman, reveals a discovery to Sam via a recording left behind by the Director in case he were to not return from Amelie’s Beach.
Die-Hardman reveals that he was able to get to Amelie’s beach thanks to an invitation from the extinction entity herself. He then explains that, due to the timing of Bridget Strand’s cancer, Amelie cannot be Bridget’s daughter. In fact, has anyone ever actually met Amelie in person or only interacted with her via hologram? Sam swears that he has, but when he thinks about it, he realizes that the only time he ever had physical contact with Amelie was on her Beach.
Sam takes the time to ponder everything as he completes the final leg of his journey, bringing a vat of Cyptobiotes, edible creatures that help alleviate the effects of Timefall, for Fragile in order to wake her up from a coma she fell into after teleporting everyone to Capitol Knot City.
