What the Future May Bring
Future Peter comes back to tell his past self of a future where Sylar is all powerful and he has a unique solution.
Peter and Peter, Sunnydale, California
Peter was looking into his own face, scarred. His future self. "You again."
"I don't have long before he knows I've time traveled. He told me he'd kill me .. for good, if I tried it."
"What? What the hell is going on? Why are you here again?"
"I'm from the far future, Peter. Thirty years from now. And no matter how I approach it, it's always the same. We can't stop it from happening.. but maybe we can change the way it happens."
"You're not making any sense."
"Hiro tried to jump ahead twenty five years and he hit a psychic brick wall. I sensed his presence too late to help him. That's the only reason, I was able to lock into this time period and return here. He's made sure there's no way back."
Peter looked at him curiously, "Yeah, it almost killed him. He's catatonic or something. What does it all mean? I mean it's not.."
"The end of the world? I suppose in a way it is. The end of the world as we know it. Sylar."
Peter rolled his eyes. "What's he done now?"
"He achieved his goal. He evolved."
"Into what?"
"For lack of a better description, a god. He's all powerful, unstoppable. His whim is manifest. Can you begin to understand what that means for humanity? He has no conscience, no empathy."
"Doesn't sound like much has changed then."
"But that's just it Pete, it has. We thought he was a monster when he was taking brains but that was just the beginning. He's gone mad."
"That's not a big leap either." Peter sighed, "If it's as bad as you say what can I do about it?"
"Maybe nothing, maybe everything. Remember mom's butterfly wings? We can't really change the timeline in a big way but we can make little changes that can cause huge events to shift in the right direction. We still end up in the same place but the outcome can change. Make sense?"
"I don't know. Sorta."
"I need your help."
"I get that, but why me? Every time I've come up against Sylar it's ended badly for me. I can't beat him."
"I don't want you to fight him, Peter. That won't change anything. I'm here because I'm one of the few that he tolerates."
"I don't understand."
"I told you. We can't really alter the big things by traveling through time. There are events that are fixed within the continuum. Sylar is one of those things. He will be the first of humanity to evolve and that can't be changed."
"So what do you want me to do?"
"I want you to change what he becomes."
"How can I do that? You just said..."
"Sylar has no empathy for anyone and part of that comes from the fact that he has no connection to anyone or anything. But he is capable of it. He's reached out here in the past for that connection. Once with our family."
"Yeah, but that was all our mother's scheme to use his powers for her own ends. You must know how that turned out."
"Yes, but he still stopped our father from remaking the world in his own twisted image. He kept you from having to kill our father. I think that makes my point for me. He didn't have to step in, he could have let the events play out."
"Sylar never did like competition. He always does what's best for Sylar. And even if he did feel some sort of connection to our family, it was pretty much blown to hell when he found out that mom played him for a fool."
"It'll be harder now I realize, but if someone doesn't reach out to him before it's too late there won't be anything left to save."
"Reach out? What are you smoking? You think he's looking for a friend? The only thing Sylar wants is abilities. That's his sole purpose, it always comes down to that."
"This could be our last chance. At this point in time, he still feels human emotions. He still has human needs and desires. And while he does, he can be influenced. You saw him with his son in the alternate timeline. There are possibilities."
Peter thought back to the strange future where he and Sylar were still brothers. It was almost impossible to wrap your mind around the idea that Sylar could reform unless you'd seen it yourself. But he had, he'd become a good father to his child. Though even then, he had admitted that his hunger was still with him, always would be. "You think he can be reformed?"
"No. I think it's probably too late for that," Future Peter considered. "He's never going to be a good guy, but at this point humanity will just settle for him not being the most destructive force on the planet."
"And you think this will somehow stop that? Stop him?" the odd image of Sylar in the kitchen making waffles came to mind.
"I don't know for sure. All I know is he is unreachable in my time. He has no connection to humanity and as such we are less than animals to him. He is all powerful and he is alone."
Something suddenly occurred to Peter. "Why not talk to Suresh? Sylar seems to be attached to him. Anytime he has a problem he ends up on Mohinder's doorstep."
"I thought about that but their relationship is too complicated by the past. Mohinder could never do what needs to be done. He can't forgive him for Chandra's death."
"Why should he?" Peter shook his head. "Sylar has hurt a lot of people in a lot of ways. Not just the killing for power. Do you have any idea what he did to Claire? Now you're asking me to reach out to him? Offer him forgiveness? I've got a newsflash for you. He doesn't want forgiveness and he sure as hell doesn't deserve it," he said with conviction.
"And yet that one act of kindness might be enough to alter the future, to save humanity from an insane god. Isn't it worth trying?"
"He knows when you're lying."
"So don't lie. Why do you think I came to you? You mean what you say Pete and Sylar knows that. You're the only one that can find something good in anyone."
"Not anyone."
"If you can find good in Sylar then you can make a connection with him. You aren't an empath for nothing, Pete. You have that grace within you. He made that leap with you when he thought you were his brother. He saved your life more than once. Now I'm asking you to make that leap yourself."
"I'm not his brother."
"Not by birth maybe, but all of us with abilities are interconnected in ways that we have yet to understand. We've seen that over and over. Please. Try."
"I don't get it. Why can't you just do it? You're here now.."
"I told you. I can't stay. If he doesn't already realize where I've gone he will soon and he'll find me and kill me.. or worse."
"So what stops him from coming back and changing things himself?"
"He knows what a monumentally bad idea it is to mettle in time. You can easily make things worse instead of better. He won't come back here. He won't interfere."
"You're not taking your own advice?"
"Believe me, nothing could be worse than the future that humanity is going to face. He takes out all his misery on those around him. You have no idea what that means. I'm the only one that even has the power it takes to journey back."
"Hiro?"
Future Peter just shook his head in response.
"How do you expect me to even find him?"
Future Peter smiled. "I already know where he is."
"Of course you do. It's not like I have a choice is it?"
"You have a choice, Pete, but the future of humanity doesn't."
"I have no idea how to go about approaching him. He's going to try and tear me apart."
Future Peter shrugged, "You'll heal."
"Yeah, thanks for the concern."
"Though it would solve all our problems if he would take your empathic ability."
"That's not going to happen. He knows what it would mean."
Future Peter looked thoughtful, "Unless he completely lost control. It might be possible to push him that far."
"There's no way I would try that. I've been there remember? I felt that hunger. I don't wish that on anyone, not even Sylar."
"I remember, too clearly. I thought I would lose my mind with the hunger, thought I already had. We would have killed our mother you know. He stopped us." Future Peter searched his younger counterparts eyes. "I guess it's amazing that he's retained any humanity."
"Such as it is.."
"Yeah," Future Peter smiled. "You have a point. You ready?"
"No, but let's go."