Neutral Ground

The control room was busy and filled with people. It wasn´t loud but the sounds were everywhere. People were talking in different languages and still the process seemed to flow without any problems. The experiment they were about to iniziate was almost complete.

Mohinder Suresh stood between all of this like a misplaced mason in a conference of brain surgeons. Someone gave a signal to start and then everything happened only on the monitors. They were showing diagrams and numbers that meant nothing to Mohinder but were obviously very exciting for Frank Wieland and his team.

„We´re measuring Hawking radiation." someone cried.

„The particles are gone." another one added.

„Distances get shorter … Size of the dimensions still not fitting … Energy measured during the collisions extremely high … Events have occurred."

Frank clapped his hands in a triumphant way. He was smiling radiantly.

„What does that mean?" Mohinder asked him.

„That it worked." Frank told him, his smile growing even more excited.

„It did? You created a black hole?"

„Well, not exactly. There is no black hole in the LHC anymore. If there ever was one. But the experiment was a full success."

„Then I assume the higher pulse that I measure can be ignored." Mohinder mentioned and switched off the mini heart rate monitor, he had attached to Frank the whole time to watch his vital signs.

„Man, you can ignore that." Frank laughed. „We were so close to see at least three other dimensions."

Mohinder could only chuckle about the physicist´s excitement „As long as you know what you are talking about." he said.

„It´s like the string theory." Frank immediately started to explain to him. „Black holes could only occur if there are more than one dimension and only if they have the right size at the right space. In this case that wasn´t the case."

„But … doesn´t that mean the experiment failed?" Mohinder asked uncertain.

„Not at all. We had the radiation to prove it didn´t."

Mohinder could only smile politely and shook his head. „I´m sorry, I don´t understand that."

„In Quantum physics there can only occur a particle and the respective anti-particle." Frank told him. „But they would annihilate each other right after their creation. That happens so fast that we cannot detect any difference between energy and no energy. But it happens all the time. Now imagine that such a particle- anti-particle pair occurred right at the edge of a mini hole. One of them would fall into the hole while the other one could escape just in time. This escaped particle is what we call the Hawking radiation. Since the first particle fell into the hole, the mass of the hole decreased, so there is nothing left for us to detect. Except for the radiation."

„So there really was a black hole in there." Mohinder dared to summarize what he had understood from all of this.

„That´s the theory." Frank nodded. „We can´t prove it though, because no one invented the technology to take a picture of such a mini hole yet."

„And what do you think?" Mohinder asked him curious. „If I would ask you to take a guess. Was there a black hole?"

„Are you asking me that as a colleague of science or as my doctor?" Frank wanted to know, referring to the last few weeks in which Mohinder had watched him closely, doing one test after the other, to find if there was any trace left of his ability.

Mohinder just shrugged. „Both." he said.

Frank looked over at the monitors for a moment. „I think there was one." he then said and nodded in a selfconfident manner. „I don´t know how to describe it. But I … can feel it. There was something. I could always feel that there were things happening in there." For a moment neither of them said anything and Frank´s excitement was replaced by uncertainty again. „Is this a bad sign that this hasn´t changed?" he asked.

„To test that theory, I´ll need a few more samples from you." Mohinder replied and held up an empty syringe.

Frank sighed and offered him his arm. „Go ahead." he said. „But leave me some of the good stuff. I´m literally living from it."

Mohinder smiled and took the sample that he needed. When he was done, he told Frank that he would have the test results in a few hours from now. But if he was honest, he already knew what the result of his test would be even before he saw it affirmed in the lab.

He´d been working with Frank for over a month now and there had been no signs that indicated that there was anything left of the physicist´s ability. There were no cells that could be called out of the ordinary, no genetic abnormalities and no physical reactions to Frank´s closeness to the LHC. Also there had been no reports of missing people or mysterious destructions in the area, so Mohinder assumed that the mini black holes the team created in the LHC – or not – were the only black holes that occurred in the near area.

The samples he´d taken today were officially meant to be the last. He hadn´t told Frank that so far but when the test results affirmed his expectations, he decided to not to keep it secret anymore. When the physicist came to him in the afternoon to see what the tests had brought, he showed it to him with an almost proud smile.

„There are no aftereffects visible." he told him. „At least not that I can see it."

„So … I´m really healed." Frank finally accepted this diagnosis.

He had been very careful with his hopes in that matter, Mohinder had known that. But four weeks of working the LHC again with no accidents or ripped open dimensions for that matter, was a good sign. A very good one. Mohinder had just affirmed that for him.

„Thanks, Doc." the physicist said and it was obvious how relieved he was.

„I have to thank you." Mohinder replied. „You were my first patient I had the pleasure to use that remedy on." But the pleasure this opportunity had brought for him was immediately replaced by regret and he lowered his head. „Unfortunately I won´t be able to repeat it." he stated.

„Why that?" Frank asked with a confused frown.

„When I made it I had to hurry and therefor I had no time to document it." Mohinder explained how the remedy had been done. „I was just so set to stop Sylar that I ignored anything else. And now that he´s gone, I can´t repeat what I did anyway. His brain substance was the base for this remedy."

Frank nodded understandingly. „It´s really a shame." he stated.

„Yeah, it is." Mohinder agreed and took on a new smile. „But the good news is … you´re healthy." he said. „And in top condition. There should be no problem in the near future. That means my work here is done."

„You want to leave then?"

„As soon as I´m done with my report."

„Where do you want to go?"

„I´m going back to India. Picking up my work again where I left it."

„To study people´s abilities?"

„If I find some who will offer their cooperation." Mohinder admitted a little reluctant. It was never easy to convince people that you had only their best interest in mind, especially when you started with telling them that there was a genetic abnormality about them.

„You could do that from here, too." Frank offered. „I´m sure I could convince Professor Braungart to give you your own lab in here."

For a moment Mohinder was struck by surprise. But then his sense for realism took over and made him smile in a generous way. Things like that didn´t happen. Not to him. Even if Frank meant this offer honestly, but that didn´t mean his boss would see it the same way.

„That´s really kind of you." he said therefor. „But you already did enough. That is not your fight."

„Science shouldn´t be a fight." Frank said in an almost sad tone.

Mohinder couldn´t deny that. But there were too many things in his past that proved different. At least for him. He looked at Frank not less sad than the physicist had looked when he´d spoken.

„Sometimes it is." he said.

...

Mohinder was just in the process of packing his stuff, when his cell phone started to ring. He answered it without stopping his business of packing. The plane would leave in a few hours and he didn´t want to be late.

„Suresh." he answered the call and stuffed a bunch of shirts in his bag.

„Mohinder." a totally unexpected voice said and made him gasp silently. „This is Noah Bennet."

„Noah?" Mohinder knew it was close to be paranoid but the fact that the ex-Company man called him right in this moment, just didn´t feel right. „What is it?" he asked him.

„I need to ask you a favour." Noah said. „There has been a murder here in Santa Barbara. A woman was killed."

Mohinder felt his throat tightening. Somehow he knew what Noah´s next sentence would be even before he said it.

„Her head was opened … and her brain was removed."

Mohinder had no idea if he had moved to the chair by instinct or by pure coincidence but it was a good thing that he was standing right next to it, because all the sudden his legs gave in and he fell right into it.

„That´s impossible." he breathed when he sat. „Sylar is dead, you know that."

„Still that body exists." Noah replied calmly.

„No." was all Mohinder knew to say. „That´s impossible. You were there that night. You know what happened."

„I know. But that doesn´t change the facts, Mohinder. I can´t ignore this body."

The geneticist swallowed. All the sudden the warm air of his room seemed to be much colder than before. He tried to think, to somehow make sense of all these impossible information.

„You think it could be a copycat or something?" he finally asked.

„Maybe." Noah admitted. „Or maybe … somebody wanted her ability. If she had one. Not necessarily Sylar."

„What are you talking about?"

„We´ve seen that people can have the same abilities." Noah explained himself. „Matt had the same mind reading ability like his father. Sylar got his ability from his father too as far as we know."

„Are you saying this could have been done by a relative of Sylar?" Mohinder cried and couldn´t help but laughed about the ridiculous sound of this theory.

„Or by someone who has the same ability by pure coincidence." Noah replied absolutely reasonable. „Or …" he went on. „It could be all pure coincidence. But we need to find that out. Will you help us?"

Mohinder blinked. The laughter had died in his throat again. Now the question was really serious.

„I´m in Switzerland." he informed Noah. „How could I help you?"

„We thought of that." the Company man replied confidently. „There´s a lab assistant here that will do the tests for us. You only need to tell him what to do and when the results are there … what they mean. Can you do that for me?"

Mohinder closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. Did he have any choice? Why was it, he wondered for a moment, that even in death, Sylar wouldn´t let him go? But of course there was no answer to this question. There would never be one.

„Let me talk to this lab assistant." he said at last.

„Thanks, Mohinder." Noah Bennet sounded relieved.

...

Somewhat around an hour later, Mohinder finally finished the call and hung up. His ear was hot and he felt as if he had been in a conference about continuing the funding of his research with the headmaster of the university. He barely believed it when the clock told him it had only been fifty-two minutes since Noah had called him. The exhaustion he felt was usually something he only knew after a week of tensed research and very less sleep. But it was not his body that was exhausted. It was his mind that troubled him.

He was confused. Very confused. What had happened? And how the hell could it happen so fast? He´d just been packing to go back home to India and now … he wasn´t even sure what was now. The only thing he was sure about was the fact that Sylar couldn´t be the one who´d killed this woman in Santa Barbara. Because Sylar was dead. Wasn´t he?

Someone knocked on his door, but he barely heard it. A minute or so later, the door was just opened and Frank Wieland peeked in.

„Hey, Doc." he greeted uncertain. When he met Mohinder´s gaze his smile vanished and was replaced by a frown. „What´s the matter?" he asked. „You look as if you´ve seen a ghost."

Mohinder wanted to laugh but he just couldn´t. This comment was too close to the truth to be funny.

„Frank …" he started thoughtful.

He had to make himself go on. He knew the Swizz would probably wonder if he had lost his mind but he just needed to ask him this question.

„You are a physician." he stated. „Those black holes are your expertise. Is there any possibility that Sylar … might have survived … this …?" he found himself lack of words to really describe where he wanted to go with this. But Frank seemed to have understood it anyway.

„Why are you asking me that?" he wanted to know.

„There was a murder in Santa Barbara." Mohinder told him. „I just got off the phone with Bennet. A woman was killed the exact same way Sylar used to do it … back in the days."

For a moment Frank seemed to be shocked as well by that information. But then he lowered his gaze and shook his head.

„All I can say is that a black hole is pure gravity." he said. „No human body would be able to stand the pressure in there. He would have been crushed."

„Sylar is no normal human." Mohinder stated. „He can heal."

„Even then." Frank insisted. „A black hole is not like in the films a wormhole into another dimension or something like that. Nothing that opens at one point like an entrance and at another as the exit. What´s in there is in there. Gone. Destroyed. Crushed. I´m sorry but there is no way that he survived that. I would wish it too but …"

„That´s not why I asked." Mohinder stopped him, still deeply in his thoughts. „I just needed to be sure that … that whoever killed this woman in Santa Barbara …"

„I understand." Frank said, nodding at him reassuringly.

Mohinder was grateful for this. More than he could express, especially in this moment. His mind was still racing, trying to find a hold by making sense of all this craziness that happened to come upon him once again. But if there really was no way for it being Sylar – and honestly, he never really believed that this could be possible in any way – then there was only one other conclusion to this mystery.

„Then it is a copycat." he spoke it out. „Who would do something like that? Imitating Sylar?"

Frank could only shrug and shake his head. „I´m just a physician." he recalled. „That question should be answered by a profiler."

...

Mary Lightly sat on his desk in the Santa Barbara police station and stared down on the files he had brought with him. It was already getting late but he still couldn´t stop thinking about this case. Nobody had never done anything like this before. He had killed his people with clubs and knifes and most of the time with his bare hands, bludgeoning them to death in his never ending rage. But he had never done anything only remotely as skillful as this. The way he had opened the head of this woman to remove the brain …

Mary was sure it hadn´t been Sylar who´d done that. The autopsie had shown that a knife had been used to open the skull and that it had been done by an unexperienced person who had no idea where to cut. He had needed several tries to finally find the right line to get through the skull. That was not the clean work Mary remembered from Sylar´s victims. Sylar had known very well how and where to cut and as far as the autopsies were concerned, he had not used a knife.

Back then Mary had wondered for nights what he´d used instead. But now of course he knew it. Strange that he´d been able to believe in the shapeshifting ability of this killer and the same time he´d missed to consider telekinesis as well. It hadn´t even occurred to him that he could have such an ability.

But Sylar was not the problem anymore. Sylar was dead. This man was even more dangerous than Sylar because he killed without any kind of reason, except maybe for his hate. Nobody might not have an identity but Mary knew that he had a psyche. And a very pathological one for that matter. Nobody was just hating and loathing everybody on this planet and he let everybody feel that as soon as he felt like it.

Mary suspected that Nobody had had the typical hard childhood just like most of the killers. That he had experienced a lot of violence in his childhood and probably a lot of betrayal and loneliness, what would explain that he never took a partner of any sorts. Sure he let others do the dirty work for him but those guys were mostly small minds and he dropped them as quickly as he picked them up. Sometimes he killed them himself after he was done with them.

No, Nobody was not the type that took a partner. He just hated. That was his motive for everything he did. It had been his only motive for years. But now … now it seemed he had gained a totally new motive. To copy the MO of another serial killer the way he had done it … that indicated respect for this other person. Maybe even worshipping. That was something new to Nobody´s profile. Mary had not expected that. It was interesting. But it also meant that he had to rethink his whole profile again. From the start.

„Mr. Lightly?" the voice of Karen Vick dragged him out of his musing. Mary looked around and saw her standing in the door. „What are you still doing here?" she asked.

„Thinking, chief." he answered her.

She gave him a kind smile. „It´s late." she informed him. „You should go home and rest."

„Maybe you´re right." Mary admitted. He felt tired and now that he stood up from his chair he realized how long he´d been sitting there. The chief winced at the cracking sound that came from his back when he stretched himself a little.

„Good night, chief." he said after he´d gathered his files and passed her to finally leave the station.

„Good night." she replied, slightly relieved.

It was half past eight and they could all need a night full of sleep. The next few days would not get any better she suspected. And it should turn out that she was right with that.

...

It was six o´clock in the morning and the lab was still pretty much abandoned. Except for the caretaker and the security staff, no one was around that early. But Adam Doyle had chosen to start work an hour early today for a reason. He didn´t want anyone to see what he was doing. The job he had agreed to do was for the Santa Barbara police fair enough, but Gus had told him it had to be kept under the radar so he figured it wasn´t completely official police business. And since Adam was as geeky as Gus when it came to secret missions and forensic stuff, Adam was only too eager to do his best so it would really stay under the radar.

Just to get a chance to work on one of those cases, Gus and his buddy worked on all the time, was cool enough to beat one year of research on pharma lab rats. Not that Adam didn´t love his job, but sometimes it was worth a quick escape into the world of crime solving. God, he felt like one of these cool guys from CSI-New York.

He threw one last checking glance out of the door to make sure none of the security guys was interested in him – why should they, they knew him and he had told them he wanted to work up some free time in the afternoon for a date with his girlfriend – and then hurried over to his secret lab where he had done the tests for Gus´ police friends. The results were there by now and ready to be reported. Adam took his cellphone and hesitated a moment. What time was it in Switzerland now? Not that it was in the middle of the night there. But no, they were ahead so it had to be somewhat in the afternoon there. Adam dialed the number.

„This is Dr. Suresh." the accented voice of the man that had given him instructions for these tests the day before, answered his call.

„Dr. Suresh? Hi, ehm. Adam here. From Santa Barbara?"

„Yes." the Indian geneticist replied eagerly. „You have the test results?"

„Yes." Adam told him proudly. „I´m looking at them right now. But to be honest, I´m not sure what you hope to find in there."

„To be totally honest with you. I hope to find nothing at all." Dr. Suresh answered and confused the pharmaceutical lab assistant a little. „What do the cells show you?" he asked him. „Are there any abnormalities?"

„I might be able to find them better if you would just tell me what to look for exactly." Adam probed still hoping for some inside information about this case he was helping with.

„I just did." was the short reply.

Damn, Adam thought but had to run with that disappointing answer.

„Well, there is nothing special that I could see." he informed the reticent geneticist. „Honestly. What are we looking for?" he tried it again. „A disease or something?"

„You could call it that." Suresh replied vaguely. „I´m not allowed to talk about it."

„Oh, come on, doctor." Adam now dared to risk a more direct approach. „I did these tests for you and I´m practically risking my job here. A few answers are not too much to ask."

There was a brief silence in the line and Adam was already afraid the other one might hang up the next moment. That was a ridiculous thing to think, he knew that. They needed the test results after all. But he was still scared to lose this opportunity.

„It´s more like a mutation." Suresh finally told him and Adam exhaled in relief. The same time his heart started to speed up. Did he just say mutation? Like in X-Men?

„Not every human being gets it." Suresh explained it to him. „And we don´t know why the ones who get them, get them."

„A mutation?" Adam repeated speechless.

„It´s nothing catching." the geneticist hurried to assure him. „But it has to be kept under the radar to keep people from panicking. It´s … how do you Americans say? A matter of National Security."

„Don´t worry I got this part." Adam assured him. „Wow. Okay. W … what shell I look for?"

„Is there any change in the mitochondria?" Suresh wanted to know.

„This mutation effects that?" Adam cried excited. Man that was so cool.

„Sometimes." was the hesitant answer of the geneticist.

„No, there´s nothing out of the ordinary." Adam told him.

„How about the cellular fluid?" Suresh kept asking.

„Looks normal to me."

Geneticist, Adam thought to himself. Of course, now that makes perfect sense. If that was a mutation that effected the body cells of the human host, you of course needed a geneticist to do the diagnosis. He shook his head in amazement but in this moment he also noticed that the doctor on the other end had grown silent all the sudden.

„Doctor?" Adam asked uncertain. „You still there?"

„You can tell Bennet that I said the answer is no." Suresh told him at last. „She is not a special. He knows what that means. And please tell him that I´ll be flying back to India."

„All right." Adam replied a little startled but that couldn´t deminish his excitement that he still felt. „Thanks, Doc." he said therefor, a smile on his face that went almost from ear to ear. „It was an experience."

Suresh said his goodbye and Adam, regretfully hung up. Man, that was probably the coolest phone call he´d ever had in his whole life.

...

A few hours after Mohinder had gotten off the phone with Adam Doyle from Santa Barbara, he had finished his packing and was ready to leave C.E.R.N. It was funny. Yesterday he had been reluctant to leave. Today he couldn´t wait to get away. What was it that every call from Mr. Noah Bennet had the tendency to freak him out? Was it just Noah´s personality or was the man indeed a magnet for bad news? Mohinder didn´t know and he didn´t want to know. All he wanted was to get out. Away from all of this and back to his senses. He wanted to get the trouble out of his system.

Frank asked him one last time if he didn´t want to consider his offer to talk to Professor Braungart about giving him a permanent job at C.E.R.N. but Mohinder declined politely. He couldn´t have explained to the physicist why he felt the urge to run away, but Frank seemed to understand anyway. He didn´t try to probe any further and Mohinder was very grateful for that. So he left and when he drove through the gate that separated the area of C.E.R.N. from the rest of the world, he really felt as if he was leaving a world behind to enter another one. A world he knew a little better than the one he just left behind. Not a better world but one that he knew to handle.

But even that was not a given fact anymore, now was it? Not after all the things that had happened to him over these last years. Learning that people with superhuman powers existed, chasing a superhuman powered serial killer that had murdered his father, gaining superhuman powers himself … How messed up could a life become in only a few years? And especially this last year. These last months. And as if that wasn´t enough to need therapy in order to deal with it, there was one thing that troubled him even more than all of this. And this was – surprise, surprise – Sylar.

Never in his life Mohinder would have expected to feel remorse for the death of this killer. He´d denied this even to himself so far. Had told himself that it was only the memories that troubled him and the close destruction of the world they had prevented only by an inch. But there was no denying about the fact that he felt guilty about what had happened with Sylar in the end. About how it had ended. And feeling guilty for the death of his father´s murderer was … not right, was it? It was so totally twisted that Mohinder didn´t know what to do with it. So far he´d delayed that question but somehow driving through that gate and leaving C.E.R.N. behind, had changed that. All the sudden he couldn´t escape that question anymore.

When he reached the crossroad that offered him to either drive to Genf right away or to head for the mountains, he surprised himself by taking the second turn. He would miss his plane, he knew that but he could always take the next one. But before he would climb into a plane that would once again carry him half around the world, he needed to come to terms with himself. To come to a rest. He needed to stop running – or driving for that matter – away and finally think things through.

At last he stopped the car at the curbside and hurried to get out. He needed fresh air. The mountains were beautiful and their noble sight delivered a quietness to Mohinder´s mind that the geneticist needed so desperately. He took a breath and closed his eyes for a while. Yes, that was better. He would not move anymore until his thoughts had stopped racing. And if it would need hours or even days, so be it. But he had to stop running. From himself, from his memories and especially from those feelings of guilt and anger. And he would. He promised that to himself here and now. No more running.

Frank had been right, science shouldn´t be a fight and Mohinder´s days of fighting were over. Once and for all. He sat on the hood of his car and just listened to the sounds of the mountains. No more running, he though. No more running.

...

The door was opened and Adam flinched and swirled around. He expected his boss to stand in the door, a wary frown on his forehead and a notice of dismissal ready to be filled out in his back pocket. But instead it was Gus who stood there, accompanied by the grimly looking detective and the strange guy with the glasses.

„Oh, hey guys." Adam greeted them. „I just got off the phone with your friend in Switzerland. In fact you just missed him. He said the answer is no. Your vic is no Special. He said you´d know what that means."

„Indeed." the guy with the glasses said but he sounded a little disappointed to Adam.

„Oh and that he´ll fly back to India." the lab assistant added quickly. „So you´ll probably not reach him for a while I guess."

The guy with the glasses nodded and then just turned around to leave. The detective followed him. While Adam took Gus aside to ask him what the heck all this was about and what mutations had to do with a police investigation, Lassiter stopped Bennet just outside the lab.

„We need to think about another option, Noah." he told him, speaking quietly so the security guys at the end of the hallway wouldn´t hear them.

„What other option?" Bennet wanted to know.

„That there is someone out there who wants to be like Sylar." Lassiter spoke it out. „Lightly said this Nobody they are chasing is insane and I think he´s right with that. I think we should consider that he is a fan of Sylar. And that he wants to be his heir."

Noah didn´t say a word but Carlton didn´t need him to say anything. He just needed to see his face.


Just a word about the little scientific speech Frank gave at the beginning of the chapter. Sorry if it was boring or too long or whatever but the guy is a scientist and they are just talking and talking. But in case you were wondering, those things he talked about were actually true. I didn´t make that up. Those theories really sound like that. I just tried to put it in understandable words … or rather, Frank did.