thewarningafter | IC inbox for Snowblind

[ It's hard to know how his confession went over when he can't really see Stephen's face. At least the audio isn't distorted. He huffs out something like a chuckle. ]

Yeah, me too. And I'm thinking a lot of us are problem-solvers, you know? My ability is literally being able to figure things out. I've thought for awhile that it points towards a specific selection of us, rather than just a random sort of kidnapping.

It became clear to me, after those first few weeks, that we're gonna have to work together, use all of our specialties when they pop up. So I've been collecting tools- I still have fifteen years experience with fixing things. So far, though, it hasn't come up.

[ He shrugs, but he's also not looking at the camera. ]

To say that there's a lot of downtime here is something of an understatement.

...Huh.

[That's...a weirdly comforting thought, in a way. Like they were chosen because someone wanted them to be able to come together and solve this instead of just at random.]

That's not one of the patterns I'd looked for. I'd like to think it's true, though.

[ It's nice to get something positive in response to one of his guesses. He'd spent far too long with Sherlock, apparently. ]

I'd noticed the pattern when we had more children here. Every one of them seemed to adapt to this situation far better than you'd expect. They were all very active in figuring out the mystery of this place, too. All of us are accustomed to pushing through until we find the answer. And most of us are used to being exceptional in some way or another.

That this place neutralizes our 'anomalous states' seems particularly cruel.

[ Even if it kind of worked out better for him. ]

One could be compensation for the other.

[He's still feeling kind of awful about life in general -- the reference to when we had more children hurts in its own special way -- but he's game to turn over this little puzzle piece in an attempt to rationalize something about the life they're being forced to live.]

Say there are two entities working against each other here. One ensures that we're all neutralized, but the other picks people it thinks have the drive to function anyhow.

[ Puzzling out parts of this place always seemed to make him and Al feel a little better about things- he's not surprised Stephen's the same way. The distraction helps. ]

Right. Except I think maybe they're reversed- the first entity picks the best people to survive in this place, and the other interferes and tries to take away any advantages we had. If I had to guess right now, I'd say the first person is Andromeda and the second is the Prophet. Maybe the Prophet's controlling the Admin in some ways, or maybe the Admin's on the Prophet's side. Either way, I think that's where we're at.

[It's almost like Stephen's let himself be alone with his own thoughts too long, without something like this to bring him back down.]

Right -- and if it's Andromeda, that at least explains the drive to pull people from other worlds, if not the means. The admin doesn't strike me as a think-outside-the-box type, generally speaking.

[ This is why Sylar no longer travels alone, if he can help it. He nearly fell apart the past few times. ]

Not so much, no. I'd sure love to find out how the extra-dimensional transport is happening, though. Doesn't it seem completely unlike the rest of the tech here? I mean, I know Andromeda loves space, but...

[ He shrugs. ]

Winter said she didn't think it was possible given this world's technology, and who are you going to trust if not the Russian spybot? Interdimensional shifts -- it's not something you can do with a machine, generally speaking, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility. We interact with other dimensions through alignment of the spirit, not the material.

So that's something you've seen where you come from? And it's controlled via magic? We have a time traveler back home. But considering how many times he's appeared to be specifically obnoxious to me personally, I'm guessing he sticks to a single universe.

[ He thinks for a moment, then chuckles. ]

It's a little sad that Winter's our most trustworthy source of information. I do think she's a reliable one, though. She wants to help us find Andromeda, there's no reason for her to get in our way.

Not to a parallel universe in the sense we're seeing here, but I don't have any reason to think it isn't possible. The other dimension I've been to outside the layers making up my normal reality was...less Earth-like.

So it got you to the more Lovecraftian parts of the multiverse, then? Sounds like a crummy form of transportation. Is it the sort of thing that could be automated in any way, you think?

I don't know. Maybe? And it wasn't really for transportation, exactly.

[ The confusion in his eyes is clear, although he's rather pleased to hear that Strange doesn't immediately hit him with 'no, magic doesn't work that way.' ]

What...was it for, then?

Ah...in that instance it was a guy named Kaecilius trying to give the Earth to the ruler of the Dark Dimension in exchange for eternal life. It was kind of a bad idea all around.

[ Sylar's face scrunches up in disbelief (and maybe a little amusement). He's gone too far out of the way for immortality himself, but he's not that stupid. ]

And where was he going to live the rest of his immortal life, if he was just giving away the whole planet to someone from a place called the Dark Dimension? I'm guessing it's not a fun vacation destination.

Ah, but see, we were all supposed to be granted eternal life as part of the great and glorious One.

It wasn't what he chose to think it was.

[ He is still shaking his head a little, because what. ]

What a great deal to make on behalf the human race.

[ Ugh, even he wasn't that bad. He wasn't even the one who was going to blow up Manhattan, in the end! ]

So what ended up happening to him?

He and his followers got what they wanted. It was just the rest of Earth that didn't.

[ He probably shouldn't smirk the way he does. Oh, well. ]

That's some ironic justice there. Good.

If my regen ability ever comes back, I'll probably live a good long time myself. But- not like that, thankfully. What idiots.

I thought so, too.

[Because guess who made sure they got their just deserts.]

Anyway, that's the closest thing I've seen to interdimensional travel like this, and obviously it's not all that close.

Yeah, not exactly similar. Maybe it's enough to know it's possible. This place clearly has some sort of control over it.

That's about the gist of it, yeah. Someone's found a way to do it, and that means we should be able to reverse engineer it if we can just figure out how.

Right.

[ He knows he probably could- if he had his powers back. Which he explicitly has told people he doesn't want to do. It's too dangerous. But maybe they'll need it at the end. ...he doesn't know. And he doesn't want to admit that, even if that's where his theorizing always brings him. ]

Okay, I've probably eaten up enough of your time tonight. I'm going to get to bed before Al calls and hounds me about it.

[ He looks back up at the tablet, his own expression oddly vulnerable as he smile shyly. ]

Thanks, Doctor. Really. I thought I was going to spend the rest of my time here traveling alone, and now- at least it's enough protection that we can risk it.

[That brings a smile to Stephen's face, too. It's so rare that he feels like he's doing any good here.]

I'm glad. Just let me know if anything changes that feels like it shouldn't.

[ It's really too bad he can't see the smile on Stephen's face thanks to the new static issue, but he can kind of hear it in his voice. ]

Will do.

I know it's hard to manage here, but- stay safe, huh?

[ And he disconnects. ]

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