[ Whatever it was, he's glad for it. He doesn't have to even think about picking his way through the honesty minefield today- in fact, he probably wasn't going to bother this time. ]
I'm southwest of the chapel. I'm hoping I can make it south of the school today. How about you? I'm hoping to meet Royce on the way to see you- he could use a little more company. But I'm not going to take more than maybe an extra day on that- they're on the way.
He's in between us, so it's no problem. His anomaly was his wife, so it was- [ He makes a hand gesture that Al can't see, then realizes that. ] -not great. And both he and Alfie have MN poisoning bad, so I just want to make sure he's able to travel.
You- were you able to get your light back? Whatever that means?
[That's awful, but... no more awful than many other people. It's a horrible thing to think, he still feels for Royce, but it seems like everyone here had an anomaly that was a loved one. Or... at least most people.]
No.
[He doesn't sound regretful about it.]
I'm not a killer, I wasn't going to kill her for that.
[ Oh, damn it. He knew he should've called Al more during that whole thing. Except the steel in Al's voice tells him there'd be no arguing with him then, either. There's a long pause before he speaks again. ]
I don't care, I don't have any proof that it was helping me, either. I'm not going to kill anyone, not for anything. I made a promise a long time ago, and it's not one I'm going to break. Besides... I'm fine, I feel fine. Davesprite said-- he said that I look weird on the tablet camera, but that's it.
[With some people he might refuse, but he has no reason to with Sylar. Besides, it's good to see him again, especially looking normal and healthy, albeit stressed and tired.
He turns on his own video, but his face is completely distorted with static, not that he can tell from his end.]
[ Sylar's face falls as Al comes on screen, but the worry is quickly covered over with a neutral expression. He can't pull the concern out of his eyes, though. ]
Yeah, your face has the static distortion that we usually get with dead bodies and anomalies. You sound okay, though. No distortion on that end. I'll show you the recording of it when we meet up.
How about me? I'm coming across normal?
[ He already figures he's fine, but might as well make sure. Plus, it gets him off the topic of Al's current ominous state. ]
Yeah, give it a try. The last time I talked to her, she actually answered my questions. It was crazy.
[ Trying to lighten the mood didn't help much. He rubs at his face, too. It's all very tiring. He tries to find another topic to talk about, because there's nothing they can do for this one. Unfortunately, he ends up stuck on something equally bad. ]
Al, did your anomaly- did she talk to you at the end? About how she came here? I can't get what Claire said out of my mind.
[Al makes a tiny noise of distress in the back of his throat, but luckily both the static and his armour mean that the upset doesn't show on his face.]
[ He doesn't want to, but he feels like he needs to. ]
She said she came in parts. That they didn't bring her here right. She's- she's the only person who could probably survive that trip. But they didn't try to get the rest of her- just stitched her legs onto something else. Like a kid who can't put his action figures back together.
[ That's not the worst part, of course. ]
They got part of her mind- only part, but. "More than you ever got, at least." She said. They were worse to her than I would ever be.
[Pieces of things spliced together, a horrifying facsimile of a chimera, even Nina had it better than that. Not by much.]
It has to be a lie, Martel could never have survived being brought here in pieces, and she-- she was already dead where I'm from. It wasn't her, I just know it.
[ Sylar doesn't feel the same way. If there were such a thing as alternate or branching timelines- and everyone's existence here seemed to indicate there was- then it's probably just a different Claire brought in, someone with many of the same experiences. Maybe they've been sampling from certain 'areas', and that's why they're all there.
There's a long pause as he thinks about all of that. It doesn't make sense with his previous theory about the anomalies they became. Although-
He gasps a bit when he realizes his mind drifted off. ]
Sorry. I was thinking it over and got a little too into it. But yeah, the fact that they know all about us, that's- it had to have been plucked out of our heads.
[ He doesn't quite believe that, but he's picked up enough about Al to know that the kid kind of needs it that way. At least until it's entirely disproved. ]
What I don't know is why they'd be so adamant on convincing us otherwise. Maybe it's a play for guilt? Try to make us feel like we don't deserve to have a 'light'?
Maybe, but I'm not even sure if it's a conscious choice. Eve has said that she never sees these things on the network, right? She didn't see people changing last time, it was just some sort of 'error'. I think maybe these anomalies are shaped by us without us meaning to do it, like... our consciousness imprints on them and changes what they look and sound like.
[It's not a perfect theory, and he doesn't have any proof for it, it's just a thought that won't seem to die.]
It would help if we knew what our 'light' even was.
It might be just what you described- our consciousness, our extra 'brain data' floating through the broken nanites to the creatures that used to be people here. They don't have any data of their own, so they became formless and identity-less- at least as far as the network is concerned. When I first turned into a monster, I know I felt like...like I was losing myself. I needed to get it back, and that's why I needed the light.
So they could've been some of the original residents, or people that were brought here in prior sessions. And them getting our 'light' just meant they took on the face and personality of someone we knew well. That's the data they had.
[ That was his theory before all this happened, and it was still a valid one. ]
[Though that's still a horrifying thought if it is what's happening.]
But I just don't see how they can be the people that we knew; the odds of someone important to everyone here being brought through wrong, that's just insane.
We don't know how we're all here in the first place, still. It didn't sound like that was tech that they had in this era.
But we already know that they can pull things from our minds and make us hallucinate. It makes the most sense that's what's happening. Whether it's this 'beast' behind the scenes, looking to do us harm, or whether it's the nanomachines malfunctioning. Might be a bit of both.
[ Once again, they were reaching the edges of what they knew for sure, and it was so frustrating. Too much of this was unknown. Sylar grunts a complaint as he thought over it all again. ]
[ Usually, discussing this sort of thing makes them both feel better, but they're both too close to it. Sylar just knows it's not working, and is just making him feel tired. He sighs, along with Al. ]
Yep, that's it. It's the right thing to do, but- this town really has us on a marathon run, huh? It's hard to keep our endurance up.
[He hesitates, thinking through what he wants to say.]
I'd be lying if I said it was easy, because it's not. But you have to keep reminding yourself of all the good things this town has as well as all the bad, it helps to keep going if you can still see the spots of light in the darkness.
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[ Whatever it was, he's glad for it. He doesn't have to even think about picking his way through the honesty minefield today- in fact, he probably wasn't going to bother this time. ]
I'm southwest of the chapel. I'm hoping I can make it south of the school today. How about you? I'm hoping to meet Royce on the way to see you- he could use a little more company. But I'm not going to take more than maybe an extra day on that- they're on the way.
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Don't worry about it, you can stay with him as long as you need to. I can keep moving towards you, it's okay.
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You- were you able to get your light back? Whatever that means?
[ Please say yes, Al. ]
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No.
[He doesn't sound regretful about it.]
I'm not a killer, I wasn't going to kill her for that.
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But you're okay, now?
[ He sighs, not able to hold it in. ]
Al, your light- it wasn't helping her.
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[He's really not about to back down though.]
I don't care, I don't have any proof that it was helping me, either. I'm not going to kill anyone, not for anything. I made a promise a long time ago, and it's not one I'm going to break. Besides... I'm fine, I feel fine. Davesprite said-- he said that I look weird on the tablet camera, but that's it.
audio --> video
[ Just wish that he was there so he could've done it himself. ]
Can I see what the weirdness is? Here, you should check me, too--
[ He switches to video. He looks like someone kicked his puppy right about now, but otherwise he seems fine. ]
audio --> video
[With some people he might refuse, but he has no reason to with Sylar. Besides, it's good to see him again, especially looking normal and healthy, albeit stressed and tired.
He turns on his own video, but his face is completely distorted with static, not that he can tell from his end.]
Well?
video
Yeah, your face has the static distortion that we usually get with dead bodies and anomalies. You sound okay, though. No distortion on that end. I'll show you the recording of it when we meet up.
How about me? I'm coming across normal?
[ He already figures he's fine, but might as well make sure. Plus, it gets him off the topic of Al's current ominous state. ]
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[He sighs and runs a hand over his face, not that it comes off as more than static, but he can feel the contours of his helmet still there.]
I don't feel any different, but I think I'm going to try and ask the Admin what it means.
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[ Trying to lighten the mood didn't help much. He rubs at his face, too. It's all very tiring. He tries to find another topic to talk about, because there's nothing they can do for this one. Unfortunately, he ends up stuck on something equally bad. ]
Al, did your anomaly- did she talk to you at the end? About how she came here? I can't get what Claire said out of my mind.
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Yeah.
[He really doesn't want to discuss this, but...]
Do you-- do you want to tell me about it?
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She said she came in parts. That they didn't bring her here right. She's- she's the only person who could probably survive that trip. But they didn't try to get the rest of her- just stitched her legs onto something else. Like a kid who can't put his action figures back together.
[ That's not the worst part, of course. ]
They got part of her mind- only part, but. "More than you ever got, at least." She said. They were worse to her than I would ever be.
...I don't know what to think, now.
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[Pieces of things spliced together, a horrifying facsimile of a chimera, even Nina had it better than that. Not by much.]
It has to be a lie, Martel could never have survived being brought here in pieces, and she-- she was already dead where I'm from. It wasn't her, I just know it.
[He has to believe that or he might go insane.]
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There's a long pause as he thinks about all of that. It doesn't make sense with his previous theory about the anomalies they became. Although-
He gasps a bit when he realizes his mind drifted off. ]
Sorry. I was thinking it over and got a little too into it. But yeah, the fact that they know all about us, that's- it had to have been plucked out of our heads.
[ He doesn't quite believe that, but he's picked up enough about Al to know that the kid kind of needs it that way. At least until it's entirely disproved. ]
What I don't know is why they'd be so adamant on convincing us otherwise. Maybe it's a play for guilt? Try to make us feel like we don't deserve to have a 'light'?
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[It's not a perfect theory, and he doesn't have any proof for it, it's just a thought that won't seem to die.]
It would help if we knew what our 'light' even was.
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So they could've been some of the original residents, or people that were brought here in prior sessions. And them getting our 'light' just meant they took on the face and personality of someone we knew well. That's the data they had.
[ That was his theory before all this happened, and it was still a valid one. ]
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[Though that's still a horrifying thought if it is what's happening.]
But I just don't see how they can be the people that we knew; the odds of someone important to everyone here being brought through wrong, that's just insane.
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But we already know that they can pull things from our minds and make us hallucinate. It makes the most sense that's what's happening. Whether it's this 'beast' behind the scenes, looking to do us harm, or whether it's the nanomachines malfunctioning. Might be a bit of both.
[ Once again, they were reaching the edges of what they knew for sure, and it was so frustrating. Too much of this was unknown. Sylar grunts a complaint as he thought over it all again. ]
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[He sighs, annoyance and weariness mingling together.]
I suppose all we can do is just keep trying to find the answers, and keep fighting against it when this town tries to knock us back.
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Yep, that's it. It's the right thing to do, but- this town really has us on a marathon run, huh? It's hard to keep our endurance up.
[ And they keep hitting walls. ]
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[He hesitates, thinking through what he wants to say.]
I'd be lying if I said it was easy, because it's not. But you have to keep reminding yourself of all the good things this town has as well as all the bad, it helps to keep going if you can still see the spots of light in the darkness.
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[ He still doesn't know how Al made it this many days without losing hope, but this sounds like a good way to look at it. ]
Right. You sure have a way with words, Al. You know that?
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Not really, I just say what I feel. I think anyone's words can be persuasive and strong if they come from a real honest place.
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[ Why not embarrass the kid more, after all? ]
Anyway, thanks. You sure you're feeling okay? Other than all the horror we had the past couple days?
[ He's trying to tamp it down, but he's worried about the static thing. ]
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