Epilog

Shawn walked along the long white hall, a feeling in his guts as if he was about to enter the bowels of hell. A clinically clean, white and sterile hell but hell nonetheless. The guy that was waiting for him in there was not the devil – not quite – but he gave him the creeps no less. And since Shawn had seen a man transform into him right in front of his eyes without any kind of drug being involved, he was not so sure anymore if there wasn´t a devil somewhere beyond this world he could see with his eyes.

Earlier in his life he would have laughed about such thoughts. Now …

He threw a look at the man beside him. His guide through all these endless halls of insane science, that had to be part of an even insaner project, he was sure. Just looking at this man convinced Shawn that it couldn´t be anything else. He had a feeling as if he looked at a clone of a dead man. The similarity was unbelievable. Though this Dr. Suresh had introduced himself as Raj´s cousin, Shawn couldn´t help but wonder if this was the truth. He´d had a twin not so long ago and only a moment before all of that had been over, Jules had had one too. So who told him that this man was really just a relative of Raj that happened to share the same face with him?

Shawn wasn´t sure about anything anymore. His whole concept of the world had been turned upside down within only two days.

"We will transfer him in a few days." Suresh just told him with an accented version of Raj´s voice and opened another door. Another door that led into another hall. All of them looking just the same. God, how he hated these government buildings.

"The injuries he obtained during the fight, are fully healed by now." Suresh finished his summary.

"How´s that possible?" Shawn asked. "I mean … he fell down from the top of the church. How can he …?"

But in fact it wasn´t even necessary to ask that question, was it? The same way he´d survived the gunshots from Lassiter. A man that survived a bullet right between his eyes, would also survive to jump off a roof.

"I can´t answer that question." was all Suresh would say. "Usually you wouldn´t even be allow to come here to talk to him. But the circumstances are unique in this case."

Shawn only nodded. Then he reached out a hand to stop Suresh for a moment. "Can I ask you a question?"

Suresh nodded.

"Do you feel … hate … for him? He killed your cousin after all."

"Not only my cousin." Suresh replied after taking a deep breath. "My father died from his hands too."

"So you do hate him?" Shawn asked uncertain.

Suresh looked ahead the hall in silence for a moment, honestly considering that question. He seemed to struggle with himself. At last he faced Shawn again, a hard look in his eyes.

"I´m a scientist." he stated. "Sylar … was my father´s patient zero. And now he is mine. He has things in his body, his cells … his blood, that will help us understand human development. He is … something special. Biologically speaking. And therefor he´s worth preserving."

Shawn felt a strange stitch of something like disgust in his chest. This whole speech reminded him of the kind of dark science fiction films in which humans were used as guinea pigs by scientists. And this doctor was talking exactly that same stuff they always talked about in these films. It´s for human kinds best. We do what is necessary for the greater good.

Shawn didn´t know how exactly he felt about Sylar. The guy had tried to kill him after all and not only him. But something about these people made him shiver no less than the thought of Sylar himself made him shiver. When they´d arrived at the church he´d been grateful. But the way they´d acted, the way they´d looked at all of them and especially the way they´d talked about Sylar and the whole incident … It had felt strange. He wasn´t sure if these people were so much better than Sylar.

Maybe he watched too many of those films, he mused. Secret government agencies that experimented on humans? That was Raj´s cousin after all and he had every reason to feel hate for this murderer at the end of this hall.

Shawn could only look at this strange doctor, who looked so awfully familiar and yet so different from the man he´d known. He had the same eyes as Raj. But he wasn´t Raj. Raj was dead. So was Mina. And almost Gus and Jules and he himself too. He wasn´t sure if he hated the guy that was in the cell at the end of this hallway. But if he could handle to work with him the way this man obviously planed to do, he didn´t know either. Probably not.

Suresh gestured for him to keep going and they did. At the end of the hall they had to go through another door. The third one since they´d entered this labyrinth of hallways. This time it was gratefully the last one.

It was dark on the other side. Shawn could only see that there was a glass wall, just like in Silence of the Lambs and in the cell behind it, there was a figure, sitting on a bed right in the middle of the room. He had his legs crossed and his head bowed down as if in deep meditation.

Suresh reached for the light switch and the room was illuminated in cold white light. The figure in the cell slowly raised his head to look at them. Shawn was still not able to believe that it was the same man, he´d seen being shot in the head by Lassiter´s bullet. No, that was not entirely true. The person he´d seen being shot that way, had had Juliet´s face. Still, when these strange government agents had arrived to collected the body from the pavement before the church, it had been Sylar again. And he had looked quite dead back then.

Now he was alive and well and he looked directly at Shawn. There was something attached to his head that looked like a strange sort of IV. But Sylar didn´t seem to notice it. He was smiling.

"How nice of you to come by and visit me before I´m transferred." he said. When Shawn didn´t answer, Sylar raised both eyebrows at him and asked: "How´s Juliet? And Gus?"

"Better." Shawn answered the second question. "Sorry, you didn´t get him."

Sylar shook his head. "If you believe it or not, I didn´t plan to kill him."

"Right, you kicked him into the heavy traffic by accident." Shawn replied but only got another chuckle from Sylar. The killer turned to Suresh.

"Could we have a minute in private, Doc?" he asked politely.

Suresh just stared at Sylar for a moment and Shawn could almost feel how much strength it must cost him to keep his emotions under control. Especially since the killer obviously enjoyed this inner struggle of the other man. Eventually Suresh turned to Shawn.

"I´m right outside." he told him, and left in silence.

After he´d closed the door, Shawn and Sylar just stared at each other for a while, surrounded only by the cold light and the deafening silence. Slowly Sylar got up from his bed and walked over to the glasswall. Shawn didn´t move. He didn´t intent to go any closer to that wall if he didn´t have to. Sylar seemed to read that decision in his face and chuckled again, nodding understandingly.

"What do you want from me?" Shawn asked harshly. "You asked me to come and I´m here. So what is it?"

"I told you what I wanted from you." Sylar said.

"Yeah, sorry." Shawn replied. "But no."

Again Sylar smiled. "I know. What a pity."

Shawn just couldn´t believe it. Did this guy really make fun of him? After all that had happened? Was that the only reason why he´d asked him to come?

"Whatever you say, it doesn´t change a thing." he said. "You´re in here. You´re locked away safely. Forever. You´ll be a human guinea pig."

"You think I don´t know what waits for me in here?" Sylar suddenly burst out and made Shawn flinch. "Believe me, I know what they have in mind for me." Sylar told him, now much calmer again. "It´s not the first time, you know."

Shawn didn´t give a response. He was busy enough with his try to keep up a calm face. He only had the gnashing feeling that Sylar could see through this mask, easily.

"Did they ask you about any gift of yours?" Sylar asked him all the sudden.

Shawn blinked. "No." he said.

Sylar nodded. "They will." he foretold him. "Before you can leave this place, they´ll stop you for … Just a Few More Questions. I know what you would do under different circumstances. I did some research on you. With my own methods …" he raised the finger that he´d had in Shawn´s blood. "As well as the old fashioned way. I know your way. Do yourself a favor and don´t do it this time."

Shawn narrowed his eyes, unsure what to think.

"If you don´t want anyone to find out that you are not really psychic, don´t let them stick needles in you. Because that´s what they´ll do. Not the small ones you know from your doctor when he gives you a vaccination. I´m talking about the big calibers. The ones that go not only through your skin, but right through your bones."

Shawn swallowed dryly.

"But most of all …" Sylar went on when he was sure Shawn had gotten his message. "Don´t tell them anything about Juliet. Because if they find out that she actually has an ability … it won´t stay with the needles. Believe me. I know what I´m talking about."

"Why do you care?" Shawn asked. "You were ready to kill us. Why do you care about our well being all the sudden?"

"Because of the system." Sylar said.

"The system?"

"Yeah. A system like yours … it´s like a clock work. You all are a part in it. It´s gentle and sensitive. If one element gets lost, the whole system breaks down. I have seen this system. It wasn´t meant for me to take over your part in it. But it is unique nevertheless. I respect that. And I envy you for it. Take care of it. Don´t let them break it."

Shawn looked into those dark mysterious eyes of the man that had tried to kill him, and for a moment, just one moment, he believed he maybe could understand Suresh´s view on this man after all. "I won´t." he promised and Sylar nodded at him as if they´d just agreed on a shared secret. In some way they had.

"That all?" Shawn asked.

"Just one more thing." Sylar said and inched even closer to the glass. "Keep watching out for me." he told Shawn, fixing his eyes on him. "You survived me once. No one survives me twice."

For all of you who are interested, feel free to read (and review) the sequels to this pilot. This series is not finished yet, so keep watching out for it if you like.

And thanks for reading.