quinto formaggi: chapter thirteen
Fandoms: Stuff ZQ was in
Words: 3,146 3,777 (oct'10 rev)
All Chapters
I Can Dig It, and Other Philosophical Musings of Jach Juan.
Chapter One: PROMISES PROMISES SON!
"..." thought Leo. He flipped to the next page. And the next, randomly opening pages and scanning through their contents before realising that he should have probably picked a different book off the shelf, because this one looked to be the opposite of enlightening.
Leo shut the book and put it down on the table.
Adam stood up from where he had been plugging the laptop charger into the wall socket, and sat down on the chair as the laptop booted up.
"This place has Internet," Adam said to no one in particular. A sudden thrill shot through him. If they were staying here for good, he could be online as long as he needed. He could try and hack into the system; find out how it worked, how to control it, perhaps bring the whole thing down or send them home or both...
His fingers eagerly attacked the keyboard.
"Where'd the Shift keys go?" Leo asked from where he had been pondering the keyboard.
"I don't know; they were missing when I first found it," Adam murmured absently, then fell silent in activity, engrossed with the task at hand.
Leo watched him for a while before losing interest. He sat back on the swivel chair and gazed idly around the room. Smudge and Sasan were still fast asleep. Spock had wandered back out to the main area to stare out the hole again. He seemed to like that place.
Leo glanced at the clock in the room. 6:25. He looked back at the two asleep in the corner and felt a twinge of envy. They looked so peaceful together, lost in dreams away from the cares of waking life. Sleep beckoned to him. It wasn't as though there was anything else to do. But the carpet was uninviting and he doubted that his intrusion would be welcome if he tried to join Smudge and Sasan.
He found himself thinking of the bed he had left mere minutes before, soft and warm in the cool darkness of the room until Adam had yanked his door open and said to wake up because the common room door appeared to be locked or stuck.
He had felt safe there; almost, with the door blocking off the rest of the world and imagination free to take him wherever he wished. Threats had seemed meaningless then. Time had seemed to stand still. But now that was gone, and they were fugitives sent running to a different part of their prison out of fears they had not deserved.
He wanted to go back. Return to his bed and shut the door and pretend that no one could find him; for all appearances they had left the floor, and he doubted that Sylar would bother going into every room to check. The Mysterious Old Man probably knew where they all were anyway, because he seemed to always know things like that.
He could go back. Catch another couple hours sleep, then rejoin the others... take a few more things from the floor, like pillows and blankets and a better book... he would be quick. Safe.
Leo considered the option. Alone, sleeping, in the dark. He liked it-
No, he told himself. We left for a reason. It's too dangerous to stay there.
But if he just nipped by and got the things...
"I'm going back to get some stuff," he told Adam.
"Don't get killed," Adam said distantly, lost in his hacking.
Leo left the room. Spock was sitting by the hole in the wall, looking almost sad by half-Vulcan standards.
On his way down the escalator, Leo realised that he could probably get all he needed free from the various stores. Sleeping bags, food, perhaps a TV and things to watch on it...
Leo pushed the thoughts aside. He wanted to go back to the seventeenth floor. It felt like a right that Sylar had taken away from them. If they had to be imprisoned in this building, he'd rather they be in the place that had been specifically prepared for them. Even if it were just for a few more minutes.
*
"Why is he here?" someone asked, eyeing Mike warily the same way everyone else in the party had.
"He wants to prove that he's on our side," Noah said.
Mike attempted a friendly smile, but the hostile, fearful glances did not stop. He dropped his head and fiddled with the gun instead, feeling deeply out of place.
"Just ignore them," Elle said by his side as they walked towards the seventeenth floor.
Mike nodded, suddenly wishing that he had never volunteered. He found his mind going back to the scene from the previous night: the others sitting around the common room, harmlessly watching television and playing chess, Leo inviting him to join them, the unspoken sense of family that hung in the air...
He forced himself to think back to the bodies that he had seen. The three on the floor in that room and the latest ones with their heads sliced open. Those people had something to do with it, somehow. And if that's the case, then they aren't your friends, he told himself. They were just trying to lure you in to be a part of it.
But he still couldn't shake the desperate loneliness.
*
The opening of the corridor link to Block J was unusually crowded. Leo thought about continuing on anyway when he recognised Peter in the group and pulled back on reflex, just as he made out Noah amongst them.
They had to be going to the seventeenth floor, Leo thought as he hung out of sight to watch them pass by. But why-
And then he saw Mike amongst the small group, looking scared but determined, and bit back the urge to call out to him, half-hoping that Mike would look his way and half-hoping that he would not.
He didn't like how he had a gun in his hand. Leo didn't want to consider the implications.
They had gone down the hallway. Leo moved uncertainly after them, curiosity driving him now. They entered the lift and headed up. Leo watched the numbers ascend and stop on 17.
They're looking for us, he thought. All of us. And they brought weapons.
He shouldn't be here. But Mike was-
Forget him. He's safe. They let him live. They might not be as kind to you. Run.
The lift had started to descend. 16. 15. 14.
Leo left.
*
They were gone, Mike thought, and in that instant all doubts seemed to vanish. Why else but out of guilt and not wanting to be held accountable for their crimes would they have left the floor so suddenly?
"All right," Noah said, as they walked back to the lifts, "we now know that they're all guilty. Shoot them on sight. No questions asked. These people are dangerous."
A few more wary looks flew Mike's way. He huddled in the corner of the lift and tried to pretend that he wasn't there.
The lift doors opened. They walked out.
Mike jumped as the small electric spark hit him from behind. He whipped his head around.
Elle grinned. "Hey. Cheer up."
"What did you do that for?"
"Got your attention, didn't it?" She fell into step with him, trailing a little way behind the rest of the others.
"...Everyone hates me," Mike said.
Elle shrugged. "You can't blame them. You do look a lot like their worst enemy."
"It's not my fault. What do they expect me to do? Plastic surgery? Kill myself?"
"I'm sure at least some of them would like that."
Mike fell silent.
*
"I found Mike," Leo said, bursting into the room. "He's with them."
"Who?" Spock asked, looking up from where he had spent an agonising few minutes trying to make sense of Jach Juan.
"Peter, Noah... the others. They went to our floor, and they had weapons-"
Smudge rolled over and rubbed his eyes. He blinked.
"They wanted to kill us," Spock inferred.
"Good thing we got out," Adam said, eyes still glued to the laptop.
Leo shut the door tight. "But why would Mike be with them? He's one of us-"
"An arbitrary categorisation," Spock pointed out. "Technically, Sylar is one of us too."
"That's different-"
"To what difference do you refer?"
Leo gave up and sank into a chair.
"...All right," Adam said with a hint of triumph. "I broke into their surveillance system. Check this out."
A series of camera feeds popped up on the screen. Adam cycled through a few.
"They've been watching us," Leo said.
"Yeah. This whole place is rigged. All the common rooms on every floor of every block... most of the central block-"
"What about here?" Smudge asked, having wandered over to look.
"I'm looking for that..." Adam managed to call up a larger plan of the building. He found their location and called up the camera feeds-
They saw themselves on one of the open windows.
They looked up at the camera.
Smudge gave a slow wave and watched the action repeated on the screen.
"Can they hear us?" Leo asked.
"I don't know," Adam said.
"Should we destroy the camera?" Leo asked.
"That would only draw attention to ourselves," Spock said.
"But then they can see us and know we're here," Smudge said.
"We don't know if the feeds are being monitored," Adam said. "There are a lot of them."
"They have a lot of staff," Spock countered.
Smudge waved at the camera again, which caused Adam to scowl at the screen and cycle to another feed.
"Don't do that," he said. "We don't want them to know we're being watched."
"But who are these people, anyway?" Leo asked. "If these are the people running the place then they should be content knowing that we're still in here; I don't think they're trying to find us. That's a whole other group of people who think we should die because we happen to look like a serial killer."
In the corner of the room, Sasan opened his eyes and realised that Smudge was gone. He closed his eyes again and tried to ignore all the talking.
"The video recordings could work in our benefit," Spock said. "They prove our innocence."
"I don't know how to access the recordings," Adam said. "These are just the live feeds."
Sasan gave up and got up to join the others, marginally more awake than before. He peeked over Adam's shoulder at the screen.
"They've been watching us," Smudge informed him. He pointed at the camera.
Sasan looked at the camera. He waved at it.
"Adam doesn't like it when you do that," Smudge said.
"Do what?" Adam asked.
"Nothing," Smudge said.
"Can you find Sylar?" Sasan asked.
"There are hundreds of cameras," Adam said incredulously. "It'll take forever to go through each one and hope that he's in front of whichever one I happen to be looking at."
"What about the areas leading to this place?" Sasan asked. "We could keep a watch on those just so we don't get caught unawares."
"Okay." Adam went back to the floor plan and found the place. A single camera hung above the base of the escalator, showing its last few steps and the glow of warm lights on the timber walls and floor. Cosy, yet with a subtle claustrophobic menace.
"Coast is clear," Leo observed.
"We should go and get food before it's too late," Sasan said.
"What if they find us?" Leo asked.
"They might not think of searching the cafeteria this early in the morning," Spock said.
"They'll know we need food," Adam said. "They might start watching the cafeteria to catch us when we go in-"
"Which makes it imperative that we hurry," Spock said. "Hopefully we can get in and leave before they arrive."
*
Mike decided he needed to be alone for a while. He sat by himself against a wall in one of the empty stores that Noah and the others had fashioned as temporary headquarters, and tried to convince himself that he'd made the right choice. He thought he had. They just needed to see that he was really on their side, and not-
"Hey!"
Mike turned towards the voice, and a shoe crashed into his face.
Knocked over onto the ground, gagging in pain as he tried to look up and see his attacker, his hands rising reflexively to protect his head before another kick slammed into his stomach and rough hands were hauling him up by his shirt-
"You gave us away, didn't you?" a voice hollered as Mike blinked through redness to make out a trio of angry faces, all strangers, and tried to scream but couldn't as a fist smashed against his face and the hands dropped him back onto the floor, head ringing with pain, trying to protest-
"I didn't... I was with you the whole-"
"Then how the hell did they escape?" another voice demanded, or perhaps it was the first, for he couldn't tell; couldn't make sense of the sudden attack, felt thick wetness on his face and tasted blood on his lips.
"I don't know..."
"Really?" Another kick. Mike curled up in pain, tears stinging his eyes.
One of them bent down. Grabbed Mike by the collar of his T-shirt, pulled his face close, hot breath against his cheek.
"Why did you join us? Mighty suspicious, isn't it? Are you a spy? Have you been telling your friends all about us? Playing innocent, thinking no one will ever suspect-"
"No!" Mike cried.
The man shoved him against the ground. His head cracked against the concrete and sent a thrum of pain resonating out throughout his skull.
"No," he said again, rambling through tears of pain. "I swear, I didn't do anyth-"
He screamed as one of them grabbed his ear and yanked his bloodied face up to meet the hostile glares.
"For your sake, you'd better not," one said. "Or the next time, we won't be this easy on y-"
Footsteps. "Let go of him!" Gruff voice, unfamiliar.
His ear was released, his head falling back onto the floor; shielding his face with his arms, knees drawn up as he lay there; heard brief chastisements and angry exchange, and then footsteps left, and one pair stayed behind and with gentle firmness pulled his hands away from his face.
"You all right?" the stranger asked. "You're all right," he concluded, as Mike blinked at him and confirmed he was still alive. "...God, you look exactly like him."
A shake of the head, and then the stranger left too; and Mike was left alone, looking weakly forward to the cool darkness of unconsciousness. He curled up tighter, hugging himself, shaking, crying, wanting his mom...
"Mike?"
Elle's voice.
"Mike!"
And he heard her rush over and fall to his side, taking in the injuries, letting loose expletives.
"What did they do to you?"
"It's okay..."
"It's not okay! Mike! Who were they? I'll go after them; they're going to pay for this-"
Elle wiped the blood off his face with her hands, casting furious glances backwards as though she might catch a glimpse of those responsible-
"I don't... I don't know who they were... it's not their fault, I don't know how the... the other people escaped..."
"Look here. You've been nothing but nice the whole time. You're not a horrible person, and you don't deserve this." Elle swore again.
"I can fix this," Mike said.
"What?"
"I can fix this," he repeated, some strength returning to his voice. "I just... I need to show them I'm for real, that I'm on your side, and then they won't hate me..."
He fumbled for the gun in his pocket and wondered if he should have used it earlier; but no, that would only have confirmed their suspicions...
Mike tried to stand up, his head swimming. Elle grabbed him to stop him from falling.
"Mike, you're not going anywhere like this, okay? You need medical attention or something-"
"I'm okay," he insisted, trying to convince himself. "It'll be okay, I just need... I'll find them, and I'll... I'll kill one of them, and then they'd know for sure and then they'll trust me..."
Elle regarded him uncertainly.
"I just gotta prove... It'll be okay, I promise, I can do this. I'll be back, okay? I'll be back..."
And Elle watched him in despair as Mike wiped more blood off his face with his sleeve and limped out of the store, one hand on the gun, face set in earnest determination to prove that he was one of the good guys.
*
"You're up early," said one of the standardised chefs as they found a table near the food counters and got breakfast. "Most people sleep in. No work, no school; just more of the same monotony."
They were the only ones in the cafeteria apart from a smattering of individuals here and there.
"So what's the plan?" Sasan asked as they sat down to eat. "We hide until... what?"
"Until they open the place to the public," Adam said. "Then we try to get out."
"We'll need supplies," Leo said. "It can't be safe to keep going in and out of that room. People might notice-"
"Yeah," Adam agreed. "What do we need? Food? Water..."
"Where can we get food?" Sasan asked.
"They might have packed meals. I'll check." Adam put his spoon down and went back to the counter.
"Do you provide packed meals?" he asked.
"Why would you need them?" the chef asked.
"Does it matter?"
"No," the chef admitted. "But no, we don't. We pride ourselves on the freshness of our food."
"Do you know anywhere we can get packed food?"
"You could get sandwiches from the vending machine. The supermarket sells some. Or you could kill someone and eat-"
"Okay," Adam said hurriedly, and returned to the table.
"...Where's my spoon?" he asked.
Nobody appeared to know, so he got another one.
*
"Hello, Gabriel."
Sylar gave a start, looking up from beneath the brim of the free baseball cap he'd taken from a store.
Dem smiled. "Waiting for someone?"
"How did you find me?"
Dem shrugged. "The same way I find anyone else. Who is it now... that little girl over there? Picking on kids now?"
"She's special."
"What are you going to do - go up to her and slice her head open in front of everyone? A bit obvious, don't you think?" Dem picked a bar of chocolate off the shelf and peeled off its wrapping. "Or are you just compiling your To Do list for tonight?"
"Why are you here?"
"Why not?" Dem asked through a mouthful of chocolate. "This is good chocolate," he added parenthetically. "Want some?"
"...Leave me alone."
"I'm impressed that you're alive, actually. I had thought I might need to intervene there."
Sylar contemplated the old man and the chocolate bar before him. "Do you know who killed me?" he asked.
"Out for revenge?" Dem asked.
"Perhaps."
"If you must know, it was a collaborative effort between the Vulcan, the bisexual guy and your good friend Peter Petrelli."
Sylar twitched. "Peter," he said.
Dem took another bite of chocolate. "Leave the poor guy alone. He's emo enough as it is. Just look at his hair."
"What about the others? Where are they?"
"In hiding. You scared them off the seventeenth floor. Congratulations."
"Where?"
Dem smiled aggravatingly. "Are you just going to barge in and kill them all? Not really your style, is it?"
"Tell me where they are. I'll know what to do."
Dem popped the rest of the chocolate into his mouth and swallowed. "Somewhere on the West side of the central block. That's all I'll tell you."
"Where's West in this place?"
"Find a compass and figure it out."
*
"That's a lot of sandwiches," Sasan commented as Adam and Spock lugged over the loot from the vending machine and dumped it onto the table. "It's not a very balanced diet."
"There's bread and meat and vegetables," Adam stated. "It's balanced."
"The supermarket's on the third floor," Sasan said. "There's a wider variety of food there."
"Fine; go see what you can get from it."
"What about water?" Smudge asked.
"There should be some there too," Sasan said.
"All right, you two get the water and whatever else you want," Adam said. "We'll take the sandwiches up, Leo can finish eating, and everyone meets back at the room when they're done. Be quick."
*
"Hi, Mike," Dem said cheerfully. "Looking for someone?"
*
"All supermarkets should have free stuff like this one," Smudge commented, pocketing pieces of chocolate and cheese off the shelves as he and Sasan made their way through the mostly-empty place.
"It'd destroy the economy," Sasan said. He scanned through the rows of products. "All right, uncooked food is out because there's no stove."
"Where's the water?" Smudge asked.
"It's probably under 'Drinks'," Sasan said, pointing at the sign.
They located and picked up a heavy water tank, carrying it together to balance out the weight. Sasan grabbed a column of disposable cups off a shelf.
"Let's just take this first and come back for the food," he decided, and so they left the supermarket.
"What're we going to do up there?" Smudge asked as they headed past stores on the way back, lugging the water tank between them. Standardised attendants smiled blankly out at them from behind the counters.
"We'll figure something out," Sasan said. "This is a prison. It's not meant to be entertaining."
"But there's all the fun stuff out here," Smudge said.
Sasan shrugged. "It'll only be a few days at most," he said. "We could spend that time revelling in the beauty of human fellowship and watching the hours go by. Plus, we have a bar, and an android bartender to talk to. We'll manage."
"Yeah," Smudge said, sounding unconvinced.
"Things could be worse," Sasan said. "We could be starving to death somewhere or out on the streets or stuck in some dead-end job typing numbers into a computer."
"Yeah," Smudge said, feeling slightly better.
"Just a few days, and then we'll figure a way out, somehow."
They walked on in silence.
"Sas?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think we'll ever get home?"
"I hope so. Don't stop believing, all right?"
"All right."
They turned the corner towards the escalator that would lead them back to the room, and stopped short.
Mike shakily pointed the gun at them. "Don't move," he said.
*
CHAPTER FOURTEEN >>
Words: 3,146 3,777 (oct'10 rev)
All Chapters
I Can Dig It, and Other Philosophical Musings of Jach Juan.
Chapter One: PROMISES PROMISES SON!
"..." thought Leo. He flipped to the next page. And the next, randomly opening pages and scanning through their contents before realising that he should have probably picked a different book off the shelf, because this one looked to be the opposite of enlightening.
Leo shut the book and put it down on the table.
Adam stood up from where he had been plugging the laptop charger into the wall socket, and sat down on the chair as the laptop booted up.
"This place has Internet," Adam said to no one in particular. A sudden thrill shot through him. If they were staying here for good, he could be online as long as he needed. He could try and hack into the system; find out how it worked, how to control it, perhaps bring the whole thing down or send them home or both...
His fingers eagerly attacked the keyboard.
"Where'd the Shift keys go?" Leo asked from where he had been pondering the keyboard.
"I don't know; they were missing when I first found it," Adam murmured absently, then fell silent in activity, engrossed with the task at hand.
Leo watched him for a while before losing interest. He sat back on the swivel chair and gazed idly around the room. Smudge and Sasan were still fast asleep. Spock had wandered back out to the main area to stare out the hole again. He seemed to like that place.
Leo glanced at the clock in the room. 6:25. He looked back at the two asleep in the corner and felt a twinge of envy. They looked so peaceful together, lost in dreams away from the cares of waking life. Sleep beckoned to him. It wasn't as though there was anything else to do. But the carpet was uninviting and he doubted that his intrusion would be welcome if he tried to join Smudge and Sasan.
He found himself thinking of the bed he had left mere minutes before, soft and warm in the cool darkness of the room until Adam had yanked his door open and said to wake up because the common room door appeared to be locked or stuck.
He had felt safe there; almost, with the door blocking off the rest of the world and imagination free to take him wherever he wished. Threats had seemed meaningless then. Time had seemed to stand still. But now that was gone, and they were fugitives sent running to a different part of their prison out of fears they had not deserved.
He wanted to go back. Return to his bed and shut the door and pretend that no one could find him; for all appearances they had left the floor, and he doubted that Sylar would bother going into every room to check. The Mysterious Old Man probably knew where they all were anyway, because he seemed to always know things like that.
He could go back. Catch another couple hours sleep, then rejoin the others... take a few more things from the floor, like pillows and blankets and a better book... he would be quick. Safe.
Leo considered the option. Alone, sleeping, in the dark. He liked it-
No, he told himself. We left for a reason. It's too dangerous to stay there.
But if he just nipped by and got the things...
"I'm going back to get some stuff," he told Adam.
"Don't get killed," Adam said distantly, lost in his hacking.
Leo left the room. Spock was sitting by the hole in the wall, looking almost sad by half-Vulcan standards.
On his way down the escalator, Leo realised that he could probably get all he needed free from the various stores. Sleeping bags, food, perhaps a TV and things to watch on it...
Leo pushed the thoughts aside. He wanted to go back to the seventeenth floor. It felt like a right that Sylar had taken away from them. If they had to be imprisoned in this building, he'd rather they be in the place that had been specifically prepared for them. Even if it were just for a few more minutes.
*
"Why is he here?" someone asked, eyeing Mike warily the same way everyone else in the party had.
"He wants to prove that he's on our side," Noah said.
Mike attempted a friendly smile, but the hostile, fearful glances did not stop. He dropped his head and fiddled with the gun instead, feeling deeply out of place.
"Just ignore them," Elle said by his side as they walked towards the seventeenth floor.
Mike nodded, suddenly wishing that he had never volunteered. He found his mind going back to the scene from the previous night: the others sitting around the common room, harmlessly watching television and playing chess, Leo inviting him to join them, the unspoken sense of family that hung in the air...
He forced himself to think back to the bodies that he had seen. The three on the floor in that room and the latest ones with their heads sliced open. Those people had something to do with it, somehow. And if that's the case, then they aren't your friends, he told himself. They were just trying to lure you in to be a part of it.
But he still couldn't shake the desperate loneliness.
*
The opening of the corridor link to Block J was unusually crowded. Leo thought about continuing on anyway when he recognised Peter in the group and pulled back on reflex, just as he made out Noah amongst them.
They had to be going to the seventeenth floor, Leo thought as he hung out of sight to watch them pass by. But why-
And then he saw Mike amongst the small group, looking scared but determined, and bit back the urge to call out to him, half-hoping that Mike would look his way and half-hoping that he would not.
He didn't like how he had a gun in his hand. Leo didn't want to consider the implications.
They had gone down the hallway. Leo moved uncertainly after them, curiosity driving him now. They entered the lift and headed up. Leo watched the numbers ascend and stop on 17.
They're looking for us, he thought. All of us. And they brought weapons.
He shouldn't be here. But Mike was-
Forget him. He's safe. They let him live. They might not be as kind to you. Run.
The lift had started to descend. 16. 15. 14.
Leo left.
*
They were gone, Mike thought, and in that instant all doubts seemed to vanish. Why else but out of guilt and not wanting to be held accountable for their crimes would they have left the floor so suddenly?
"All right," Noah said, as they walked back to the lifts, "we now know that they're all guilty. Shoot them on sight. No questions asked. These people are dangerous."
A few more wary looks flew Mike's way. He huddled in the corner of the lift and tried to pretend that he wasn't there.
The lift doors opened. They walked out.
Mike jumped as the small electric spark hit him from behind. He whipped his head around.
Elle grinned. "Hey. Cheer up."
"What did you do that for?"
"Got your attention, didn't it?" She fell into step with him, trailing a little way behind the rest of the others.
"...Everyone hates me," Mike said.
Elle shrugged. "You can't blame them. You do look a lot like their worst enemy."
"It's not my fault. What do they expect me to do? Plastic surgery? Kill myself?"
"I'm sure at least some of them would like that."
Mike fell silent.
*
"I found Mike," Leo said, bursting into the room. "He's with them."
"Who?" Spock asked, looking up from where he had spent an agonising few minutes trying to make sense of Jach Juan.
"Peter, Noah... the others. They went to our floor, and they had weapons-"
Smudge rolled over and rubbed his eyes. He blinked.
"They wanted to kill us," Spock inferred.
"Good thing we got out," Adam said, eyes still glued to the laptop.
Leo shut the door tight. "But why would Mike be with them? He's one of us-"
"An arbitrary categorisation," Spock pointed out. "Technically, Sylar is one of us too."
"That's different-"
"To what difference do you refer?"
Leo gave up and sank into a chair.
"...All right," Adam said with a hint of triumph. "I broke into their surveillance system. Check this out."
A series of camera feeds popped up on the screen. Adam cycled through a few.
"They've been watching us," Leo said.
"Yeah. This whole place is rigged. All the common rooms on every floor of every block... most of the central block-"
"What about here?" Smudge asked, having wandered over to look.
"I'm looking for that..." Adam managed to call up a larger plan of the building. He found their location and called up the camera feeds-
They saw themselves on one of the open windows.
They looked up at the camera.
Smudge gave a slow wave and watched the action repeated on the screen.
"Can they hear us?" Leo asked.
"I don't know," Adam said.
"Should we destroy the camera?" Leo asked.
"That would only draw attention to ourselves," Spock said.
"But then they can see us and know we're here," Smudge said.
"We don't know if the feeds are being monitored," Adam said. "There are a lot of them."
"They have a lot of staff," Spock countered.
Smudge waved at the camera again, which caused Adam to scowl at the screen and cycle to another feed.
"Don't do that," he said. "We don't want them to know we're being watched."
"But who are these people, anyway?" Leo asked. "If these are the people running the place then they should be content knowing that we're still in here; I don't think they're trying to find us. That's a whole other group of people who think we should die because we happen to look like a serial killer."
In the corner of the room, Sasan opened his eyes and realised that Smudge was gone. He closed his eyes again and tried to ignore all the talking.
"The video recordings could work in our benefit," Spock said. "They prove our innocence."
"I don't know how to access the recordings," Adam said. "These are just the live feeds."
Sasan gave up and got up to join the others, marginally more awake than before. He peeked over Adam's shoulder at the screen.
"They've been watching us," Smudge informed him. He pointed at the camera.
Sasan looked at the camera. He waved at it.
"Adam doesn't like it when you do that," Smudge said.
"Do what?" Adam asked.
"Nothing," Smudge said.
"Can you find Sylar?" Sasan asked.
"There are hundreds of cameras," Adam said incredulously. "It'll take forever to go through each one and hope that he's in front of whichever one I happen to be looking at."
"What about the areas leading to this place?" Sasan asked. "We could keep a watch on those just so we don't get caught unawares."
"Okay." Adam went back to the floor plan and found the place. A single camera hung above the base of the escalator, showing its last few steps and the glow of warm lights on the timber walls and floor. Cosy, yet with a subtle claustrophobic menace.
"Coast is clear," Leo observed.
"We should go and get food before it's too late," Sasan said.
"What if they find us?" Leo asked.
"They might not think of searching the cafeteria this early in the morning," Spock said.
"They'll know we need food," Adam said. "They might start watching the cafeteria to catch us when we go in-"
"Which makes it imperative that we hurry," Spock said. "Hopefully we can get in and leave before they arrive."
*
Mike decided he needed to be alone for a while. He sat by himself against a wall in one of the empty stores that Noah and the others had fashioned as temporary headquarters, and tried to convince himself that he'd made the right choice. He thought he had. They just needed to see that he was really on their side, and not-
"Hey!"
Mike turned towards the voice, and a shoe crashed into his face.
Knocked over onto the ground, gagging in pain as he tried to look up and see his attacker, his hands rising reflexively to protect his head before another kick slammed into his stomach and rough hands were hauling him up by his shirt-
"You gave us away, didn't you?" a voice hollered as Mike blinked through redness to make out a trio of angry faces, all strangers, and tried to scream but couldn't as a fist smashed against his face and the hands dropped him back onto the floor, head ringing with pain, trying to protest-
"I didn't... I was with you the whole-"
"Then how the hell did they escape?" another voice demanded, or perhaps it was the first, for he couldn't tell; couldn't make sense of the sudden attack, felt thick wetness on his face and tasted blood on his lips.
"I don't know..."
"Really?" Another kick. Mike curled up in pain, tears stinging his eyes.
One of them bent down. Grabbed Mike by the collar of his T-shirt, pulled his face close, hot breath against his cheek.
"Why did you join us? Mighty suspicious, isn't it? Are you a spy? Have you been telling your friends all about us? Playing innocent, thinking no one will ever suspect-"
"No!" Mike cried.
The man shoved him against the ground. His head cracked against the concrete and sent a thrum of pain resonating out throughout his skull.
"No," he said again, rambling through tears of pain. "I swear, I didn't do anyth-"
He screamed as one of them grabbed his ear and yanked his bloodied face up to meet the hostile glares.
"For your sake, you'd better not," one said. "Or the next time, we won't be this easy on y-"
Footsteps. "Let go of him!" Gruff voice, unfamiliar.
His ear was released, his head falling back onto the floor; shielding his face with his arms, knees drawn up as he lay there; heard brief chastisements and angry exchange, and then footsteps left, and one pair stayed behind and with gentle firmness pulled his hands away from his face.
"You all right?" the stranger asked. "You're all right," he concluded, as Mike blinked at him and confirmed he was still alive. "...God, you look exactly like him."
A shake of the head, and then the stranger left too; and Mike was left alone, looking weakly forward to the cool darkness of unconsciousness. He curled up tighter, hugging himself, shaking, crying, wanting his mom...
"Mike?"
Elle's voice.
"Mike!"
And he heard her rush over and fall to his side, taking in the injuries, letting loose expletives.
"What did they do to you?"
"It's okay..."
"It's not okay! Mike! Who were they? I'll go after them; they're going to pay for this-"
Elle wiped the blood off his face with her hands, casting furious glances backwards as though she might catch a glimpse of those responsible-
"I don't... I don't know who they were... it's not their fault, I don't know how the... the other people escaped..."
"Look here. You've been nothing but nice the whole time. You're not a horrible person, and you don't deserve this." Elle swore again.
"I can fix this," Mike said.
"What?"
"I can fix this," he repeated, some strength returning to his voice. "I just... I need to show them I'm for real, that I'm on your side, and then they won't hate me..."
He fumbled for the gun in his pocket and wondered if he should have used it earlier; but no, that would only have confirmed their suspicions...
Mike tried to stand up, his head swimming. Elle grabbed him to stop him from falling.
"Mike, you're not going anywhere like this, okay? You need medical attention or something-"
"I'm okay," he insisted, trying to convince himself. "It'll be okay, I just need... I'll find them, and I'll... I'll kill one of them, and then they'd know for sure and then they'll trust me..."
Elle regarded him uncertainly.
"I just gotta prove... It'll be okay, I promise, I can do this. I'll be back, okay? I'll be back..."
And Elle watched him in despair as Mike wiped more blood off his face with his sleeve and limped out of the store, one hand on the gun, face set in earnest determination to prove that he was one of the good guys.
*
"You're up early," said one of the standardised chefs as they found a table near the food counters and got breakfast. "Most people sleep in. No work, no school; just more of the same monotony."
They were the only ones in the cafeteria apart from a smattering of individuals here and there.
"So what's the plan?" Sasan asked as they sat down to eat. "We hide until... what?"
"Until they open the place to the public," Adam said. "Then we try to get out."
"We'll need supplies," Leo said. "It can't be safe to keep going in and out of that room. People might notice-"
"Yeah," Adam agreed. "What do we need? Food? Water..."
"Where can we get food?" Sasan asked.
"They might have packed meals. I'll check." Adam put his spoon down and went back to the counter.
"Do you provide packed meals?" he asked.
"Why would you need them?" the chef asked.
"Does it matter?"
"No," the chef admitted. "But no, we don't. We pride ourselves on the freshness of our food."
"Do you know anywhere we can get packed food?"
"You could get sandwiches from the vending machine. The supermarket sells some. Or you could kill someone and eat-"
"Okay," Adam said hurriedly, and returned to the table.
"...Where's my spoon?" he asked.
Nobody appeared to know, so he got another one.
*
"Hello, Gabriel."
Sylar gave a start, looking up from beneath the brim of the free baseball cap he'd taken from a store.
Dem smiled. "Waiting for someone?"
"How did you find me?"
Dem shrugged. "The same way I find anyone else. Who is it now... that little girl over there? Picking on kids now?"
"She's special."
"What are you going to do - go up to her and slice her head open in front of everyone? A bit obvious, don't you think?" Dem picked a bar of chocolate off the shelf and peeled off its wrapping. "Or are you just compiling your To Do list for tonight?"
"Why are you here?"
"Why not?" Dem asked through a mouthful of chocolate. "This is good chocolate," he added parenthetically. "Want some?"
"...Leave me alone."
"I'm impressed that you're alive, actually. I had thought I might need to intervene there."
Sylar contemplated the old man and the chocolate bar before him. "Do you know who killed me?" he asked.
"Out for revenge?" Dem asked.
"Perhaps."
"If you must know, it was a collaborative effort between the Vulcan, the bisexual guy and your good friend Peter Petrelli."
Sylar twitched. "Peter," he said.
Dem took another bite of chocolate. "Leave the poor guy alone. He's emo enough as it is. Just look at his hair."
"What about the others? Where are they?"
"In hiding. You scared them off the seventeenth floor. Congratulations."
"Where?"
Dem smiled aggravatingly. "Are you just going to barge in and kill them all? Not really your style, is it?"
"Tell me where they are. I'll know what to do."
Dem popped the rest of the chocolate into his mouth and swallowed. "Somewhere on the West side of the central block. That's all I'll tell you."
"Where's West in this place?"
"Find a compass and figure it out."
*
"That's a lot of sandwiches," Sasan commented as Adam and Spock lugged over the loot from the vending machine and dumped it onto the table. "It's not a very balanced diet."
"There's bread and meat and vegetables," Adam stated. "It's balanced."
"The supermarket's on the third floor," Sasan said. "There's a wider variety of food there."
"Fine; go see what you can get from it."
"What about water?" Smudge asked.
"There should be some there too," Sasan said.
"All right, you two get the water and whatever else you want," Adam said. "We'll take the sandwiches up, Leo can finish eating, and everyone meets back at the room when they're done. Be quick."
*
"Hi, Mike," Dem said cheerfully. "Looking for someone?"
*
"All supermarkets should have free stuff like this one," Smudge commented, pocketing pieces of chocolate and cheese off the shelves as he and Sasan made their way through the mostly-empty place.
"It'd destroy the economy," Sasan said. He scanned through the rows of products. "All right, uncooked food is out because there's no stove."
"Where's the water?" Smudge asked.
"It's probably under 'Drinks'," Sasan said, pointing at the sign.
They located and picked up a heavy water tank, carrying it together to balance out the weight. Sasan grabbed a column of disposable cups off a shelf.
"Let's just take this first and come back for the food," he decided, and so they left the supermarket.
"What're we going to do up there?" Smudge asked as they headed past stores on the way back, lugging the water tank between them. Standardised attendants smiled blankly out at them from behind the counters.
"We'll figure something out," Sasan said. "This is a prison. It's not meant to be entertaining."
"But there's all the fun stuff out here," Smudge said.
Sasan shrugged. "It'll only be a few days at most," he said. "We could spend that time revelling in the beauty of human fellowship and watching the hours go by. Plus, we have a bar, and an android bartender to talk to. We'll manage."
"Yeah," Smudge said, sounding unconvinced.
"Things could be worse," Sasan said. "We could be starving to death somewhere or out on the streets or stuck in some dead-end job typing numbers into a computer."
"Yeah," Smudge said, feeling slightly better.
"Just a few days, and then we'll figure a way out, somehow."
They walked on in silence.
"Sas?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think we'll ever get home?"
"I hope so. Don't stop believing, all right?"
"All right."
They turned the corner towards the escalator that would lead them back to the room, and stopped short.
Mike shakily pointed the gun at them. "Don't move," he said.
*
CHAPTER FOURTEEN >>