Chapter Eight

Erin was nervous about this. Dr. Suresh's friend had finally arrived and there was something strange about him. Maybe it was the glasses, but she didn't think so. There was just something…off about this guy.

"Hello," he greeted, "I am Noah Bennet."

"Jesse Martin," Jesse responded. The others followed suit by giving their own names. Grudgingly, Erin gave her own name to him.

"So, you've acquired a list of people like you," Noah said, "May I see it?" Jesse nodded and produced the list from his pocket. He handed it to Noah, who inspected it.

"Yeah, this is definitely the Company's work, all right," he said, "Where did you get it?"

"From a power plant downtown," Tom said, "Obviously a company front. I controlled one of them with my ability and used them to get it."

"Pretty impressive," Noah said, "But you should be careful performing stunts like that in the future. The Company is incredibly dangerous. There are some of them that would do anything to accomplish their agenda."

"Which is what?" Erin said, "Should we feel threatened?"

"The Company fears people like you," Noah said, "These abilities frighten them. They want to control people, but they can't do that if people start developing these powers. They intend to stamp this problem out before it spreads."

"You're saying they plan to kill us?" Jesse said.

"Exactly," Noah said, "You've all heard about Sylar, the serial killer?"

"We've met him," Erin responded, "He tried to take my powers and Jesse's. We were lucky to escape."

"Sylar is powerful, but he is only one man," Noah said, "The Company represents a far bigger threat to you than Sylar ever will. They are incredibly ruthless. I have seen people killed simply because they were there." He shuddered slightly at this.

"But how do we deal with them if we don't even know who they are?" Erin asked.

"I can give you two names," Noah said, "Bob Bishop and Kaito Nakamura. They are both co-founders of The Company. If you choose to seek one of them out, I would suggest Nakamura. He is an honorable man and will likely do nothing to harm you. Bishop, however, will operate under no such constraints."

"Kaito Nakamura," Jesse said, "I know that name. Isn't he the head of some big business in Japan?"

"Yes he is," Noah said, "He is probably one of the wealthiest of the founders."

"What interest does someone like that have in people like us?" Erin asked.

"Kaito has a son named Hiro, who possesses an ability," Noah explained, "You'll probably meet him eventually."

"Hiro," Jesse said, as though to burn the name into his memory. Just after he said this, he looked at a television screen where the local news was running. Suddenly, he stood up.

"Erin," he said, "Come look at this." He grabbed the nearby remote and turned up the volume. Erin hurried over.

"Today at 4:22 p.m. Simone Deveaux entered a loft belonging to a local artist named Isaac Mendez," the reporter was saying, "Upon entering, she discovered the dead body of Mr. Mendez, with his head cut open. Ms. Deveaux called the police, who came immediately to investigate. Upon their investigation, the police concluded that Mr. Mendez was attacked by an unknown assailant…" The reporter's voice trailed off as Jesse turned down the volume.

"Unknown assailant?" Erin asked sardonically, "I bet I know him."

"Sylar," Jesse agreed, "He got to Isaac."

"Isaac Mendez?" Noah asked, "You've met him?"

"Yeah, why?" Jesse said.

"I recently acquired a copy of one of Isaac's paintings," Noah said, "I think you might want to see it." He took out a bag he had brought with him and took out a rolled up canvas from it. He unrolled the canvas and showed it to them.

"Everything is destroyed," Erin said, "There are flames and other things everywhere. Is this New York?"

"I think so," Jesse said, "It looks like it got hit by a nuclear bomb."

"It's worse than that," Noah said, "I suspect that this is the result of someone's ability. I saw a much more extensive list of the people with abilities during my association with The Company. One of those people is a man named Ted Sprague. According to the company, his ability is to generate compressed bursts of nuclear energy, not unlike the energy that would be used to create this explosion."

"So you think this Ted Sprague is going to do this?" Chris asked.

"Either that or someone with his power," Noah said.

"Like Sylar," Tom said, "It all seems to come back to him. So what should we do about it?"

"From this painting," Chris said, "It looks like the origin of the explosion is the Kirby Plaza. We should probably head there."

"But we don't even know what time this is going to happen," Erin said, "We can't just wait there."

"The events in Isaac's paintings usually occur within a month or so of the time he paints them," Noah said, "I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that this one will happen soon."

"I suggest we wait and see what happens," Dr. Suresh said, "There doesn't seem to be any other course of action."

"I agree," Jesse said. The others nodded.

"Good," Noah said, "I have to go. I can't be gone for too long. The Company will be after my daughter. I have to make sure she's protected. Until next time, Dr. Suresh." He hurried out the door and into a waiting cab, which drove away immediately.

(Peter's POV)

Miles away, Peter Petrelli struggled to focus himself, to control his abilities. He had to master them if he was ever going to change the future. He had seen the future and he knew what would happen if didn't control them. He would never be able to bear having that on his conscience.

"You have to master yourself first," Charles Deveaux had told him, "You have to face death and know that you have the power to defeat it."

Well, he thought, here goes everything. He stood at the edge of the building, looking down at the ground. He took a deep breath, then slowly stepped off and began falling. As the ground approached, Peter closed his eyes.

Come on, he told himself savagely, Fly. Save yourself, you idiot! He looked down and saw the ground coming toward him, faster, faster. Then suddenly, it stopped. Now it was moving horizontally and no longer approaching him. He had done it. He had successfully managed to control his flight power. Maybe he could do this after all.