041 - The Sheriff Retires

[bythe_books]

I know I tried to detain or... kill some of you over the past week, so... I'm going to apologise.

Right here.

Sorry. It was completely inappropriate, not to mention unethical. I mean, really, what kind of lunatic interprets laws that way? I was like some sort of fascist version of--

Right, anyway, you've got no idea how relieved I am that I

Comments

He's sucking up to you because of Prefect.

[gray_atonement]

You weren't yourself. These things test wardens as much as they provoke inmates. I.. think you did a good job, despite the things you did. You did the best you could as who you were at the time, were the best you could be.

Maybe you're right, though. Maybe we are slowly losing ourselves.

SUCK HARDER-- er.

[bythe_books]

Yeah, I suppose I was the best complete bastard I could be.

I think... it's only a matter of time before one of these doesn't end. What would've happened if I hadn't stumbled back here? If any of us hadn't?

.....

[gray_atonement]

There was obviously a part of you in there not to have killed anyone. I think you affected yourself more than you realize, in a good way.

Has anyone ever been lost to a port? Maybe the Admiral is bluffing.. Maybe we should test that.

[bythe_books]

Ah... uh, I don't know, actually. I've only been around for this one and the Leave it to Beaver port.

[gray_atonement]

I'm sorry that you became someone you didn't want to be.

[bythe_books]

...

So how'd you do during the port? I'm sorry I arrested you.

Private

[gray_atonement]

My warden tried to kill me again and again and I was saved by the person I hate most. ...I'm trying to forget it ever happened.

Prefect needs a warden like you.

Private - Oh god don't appeal to his ego

[bythe_books]

That sounds par for course with what I know of your Warden.

...

Why?

Private - but it's so fun!

[gray_atonement]

You seem to be one of the few wardens on this ship that actually care about your inmate, wants to help them. Even though you don't understand him, you keep trying, pushing. He might have a chance at redemption because of you.

Some of us.. we don't get that chance, don't get to change. No help, no care.

You shouldn't underestimate yourself.

Private - ERGHHH HERO COMPLEX KICKING IN

[bythe_books]

You don't think you have a chance at redemption?

Redemption doesn't come from Wardens, Sylar. I mean, they're supposed to help, yeah, but I haven't noticed many really doing any-- it's not always the case.

Private - Cue manipulation: playing the victim

[gray_atonement]

I've tried to change. Keep trying. Sometimes, you need someone else, need help. My warden wants to see me as a killer, a monster. He provokes me until I do something wrong then punishes me for it, ignores the good I do.

The reason I've killed people is because of the addiction that comes with my ability, yet he won't even allow me enough strength in my ability to feel that addiction. To be able to overcome it. He preys on my insecurities, tells me I need to forget my family and forget all the things I want to be able to be redeemed-- forget being normal. He avoids me, lies to me.

All I want is for someone to care enough to help me. I guess I envy Prefect for that.

Private - NO FAIR. It's Sam's stupid Achilles heel

[bythe_books]

Why would he do that? I don't get how somebody like that would be a warden at all...

This system is just broken; it's a bloody mess here! And the Wardens are a joke.

[OOC: Sam went back and crossed those bits out a few minutes later, so Sylar could have totally read them]

Private - Ohman. He's so full of crap.

[gray_atonement]

I.. don't know. Maybe it's just me. He.. used to work for a Company that tracked specific people, caged them, experimented. I guess he left, quit. It was the same Company that later hunted me, locked me in a cell and nearly killed me. He knows that. The Company was about loyalty. If he still feels some loyalty to them, maybe it would be reason enough to hate me.

I'm not trying to complain, to ask for sympathy. I just.. want you to keep helping Prefect. I don't know if he can do this by himself. He deserves better.

Private

[bythe_books]

You should get a transfer, see if the Admiral'll move you to somebody who doesn't have an obvious conflict of interest.

But you've got to take responsibility, yourself. He didn't make you play along with Garner, and he can't make you become a monster, even if he thinks you are one. Just remember that.

Private - Touché!

[gray_atonement]

I would rather deal with someone who understands our world and avoids me than risk getting assigned to someone worse, like Tony, Nathan, or Veronica.

What was so wrong with the Quest? No one was hurt, Elle was never in trouble. We spent most of the time talking. He kidnapped her. I agreed to hold her for her own safety. After the first day, when she realized what was going on? She was glad to disappear, to have time without someone watching her every move. It was a game. It was supposed to make the wardens work together, to think. Why do you think I asked for Claude to be added to the list?

You're right. Claude can't force me to do anything. It doesn't mean you should give an alcoholic a bottle of good vodka. I know it's my choice, my responsibility.. sometimes, we need help, support. That's what I'm trying to find.

Private - Oh ho ho! Forgot he was Peter's friend?

[bythe_books]

Just because nobody was hurt physically, it doesn't make it right or innocent. People were threatened, it distracted us from our own Inmates, and no, it didn't force the wardens to work together. It forced a small group of individuals to work together at the exclusion of everybody else. That isn't fostering teamwork.

And that 'game' did hurt people. It hurt Peter.

...but you said that he wouldn't let you feel the addiction. Isn't that keeping the vodka away from the alcoholic? Look, I don't like your Warden I don't like most of 'em here, but... that doesn't mean I agree with what you've done.

But I'm here, if you need any support, alright?