dear_mun | In regards to maisondeportes

What's so bad about the place you're in?

This, universe? multiverse? Seems kind of tame next to some of the universes I've seen, but I can imagine I'm only seeing the surface.

Things are trying to kill us, but we can't stay dead. There's no way out. If that's tame, I'd rather not know what could be worse.

[He looks up at the sky.]

You didn't mention those parts.

[He's frowning as he looks back at Mohinder.]

Yeah that's no place for a kid to be. I've been trapped in worse places, but I don't think I've been to one where I couldn't die. Haven't exactly tried though.

[There is no such thing as the SCP where he's from, though not knowing about them is the whole point really, so he can't give too much of an opinion on poor Tommy or whatever he wanted to be called these days.]

I haven't tried it out myself either. But it seems to be fairly true. I'm not sure what to make of it.

My Mun won't even allow me to remember Molly, though Matt does. The whole of it is worse than awkward.

I can't imagine what might be worse. I'm very sorry if that's truly the case.

I won't go into too much detail, but there's a universe where the plants are sentient. They don't move or anything they look like normal plants, but if you try to eat them they let out a psychic scream.

I've been in more scary circumstances, but that one was particularly hellish.

Oh.

[That holds a particular horror for a vegetarian like Mohinder.]

How many universes have you visited? Were they all tortuous?

I've lost count, but no not all of them are bad. Some of them are pretty similar to regular old Earth. Just with a few details changed. Like who killed Lincoln or people who are male in one universe have female counterparts in this other one.

[Is it wrong that he's intrigued? Probably.]

Your ability is amazing.

[And you know. Terrifying.]

And I suppose proves multidimensional string theory.

[Maybe, but he's finds it fascinating too.]

On a lot of days I'd agree with you, but it would be a whole lot better if I could control it. It doesn't really matter when. I can disappear at any time for a random amount of time.

[He nodded to the second statement.]

Yeah though this place does that too. I haven't met a lot of people yet, but I know we're not all from the same universe.

I've met a lot of people that have been unable to control their abilities at first. It could be a matter of mental discipline or cognitive thought.

[Oh he loves to lecture about this stuff. Egad.]

Where I'm at, there are multiple instances of Earth as well. I've met a few people who aren't from Earth and several people from my own version of it, but from the future. Or, perhaps, part of my memory has been erased.

The jury, I'm afraid, is still out.

Certainly not rare. That's how the foundation finds people after all. Strange news stories or peculiar incidents.

If we all had a handle on ourselves we wouldn't get noticed. At least not as easily.

[He doesn't mind hearing a lecture or two. He ate this stuff up even before he started teleporting about.]

I'm not sure I can even control it. It's not affected by my state of mind. I could be sleeping and still end up switching over and I know from experience it's not connected to my fight or flight reflex.

[Hm.]

The Foundation? I suppose we have something similar here. We call it the Company. They track down and assess the danger of a person's ability, should they have one.

But if there are not patterns to how your ability works-- Could it be set to a timer? Or perhaps a chemical release? I'd had initially thought that adrenaline was the key to a person's abilities but that was only because I had not found an exception to the rule.

[Like any good scientist, Mohinder actually enjoys being proven wrong. It means more experiments and more work.]

Yes the "SCP" foundation to be exact. Short for Secure, Contain and Protect. They're not exactly a kindly organization, but they do what it says on the tin and treat me alright.

Without their medical care and understanding I'm sure I would rotate between being in a prison or being ill. Can't exactly hold a job when you disappear without notice and anything could happen in those other universes.

As for the timer I don't think so. It would be more of a randomizer if anything. The only constant anyone has found is that I don't disappear for a minimum of two weeks after I shift to and then back from a different universe.

I don't think it's a chemical release either. We haven't found anything to suggest that's the case. Especially since if anyone is touching me at the time of the shift they get caught up in it too.

[He is definitely liking the conversation. Even if he's the subject he always found this paranormal stuff interesting.]

[He sympathizes. A lot of people in "Grabnok's" situation might actually resort to crime rather than be complacent and even happy about an organization somewhat similiar to the Company running their lives.]

I know of a man that can move through time and space at a whim and take others with him. You ability is more unique, however. Are all of the universes you visit different? Are you able to bring objects back the way you can transport people with you?

[Science talk is good talk. Mohinder could easily get carried away.]

[It seemed like the safest of options really. He's not entirely happy with it, but there was a lot he could do from within the organization's walls. Especially meeting the more friendly SCPs like himself.]

Sometimes I'll go back to the same universe, but with no indication as to why. Yes I can bring anything to or from another universe if I'm touching it. Any item or person outside of my touch when the shift happens though don't come back with me.

That's lead to at least one public indecency charge.

[He laughs off the embarrassment of that memory.]

If we were near a stove or a coffee shop, I would ask you to tea. I've never met anyone as forthcoming as you are about your ability!

[Not even Sylar, mister ego extraordinaire, could tell him much about his ability because he hadn't understood it the way that this man does.]

Mohinder Suresh, by the way. I study people like you. Though not for an organization in particular.

Tea would be nice, but I don't mind continuing our chat without it.

[He tilted his head.]

Why wouldn't someone talk about it with someone willing to listen? You're pretty sociable compared to a lot of the scientists I've worked with.

[He extends his hand out.]

A pleasure Mohinder. I do have to wonder how you manage that. The travel expenses alone sound like they would put most people in debt.

[Interesting. He didn't give a name. Mohinder decides not to push it, though. And, despite the warning about touching a person that could accidentally travel to another dimension with him attached, Mohinder takes the hand any way. He has a warm, welcoming grip.]

I'm lucky to have a small trust fund. And, at various times, gotten paid particularly well for less than scrupulous employment.

[He figured his mun somehow managed to keep things on lock-down with the way he was acting.]

I'm certainly jealous of the freedom you have in your work. Being a subject rather than a scientist I don't exactly have clearance to a lot of the more interesting notes. Thanks to my compliance though they let me see the items and people they've gathered that are less likely to kill me.

I'm not so sure that I would say that I have a lot of freedom. People are wary. There's a super powered, ability hungry serial killer on the loose and-- Oh, I wouldn't worry entirely too much about him.

[Depending on where abouts in Mohinder's timeline I let him exist in, Sylar's not always such a bad guy, mwaha.]

I understand why they keep you under watch if your ability is so erratic, though I'm not entirely sure I agree with it. Do you work for the Foundation as well?

Well I have to assume I'm safe unless he wants to appear in other dimensions at random.

[That doesn't mean he wouldn't want to stop Sylar though, but thinking practically his skill was more of a hindrance.]

It's not a perfect solution, but they keep us at a facility no matter our level of threat. For me at least it makes sense since I appear in correlation to wherever I move in the new universe. So more often than not I'm always pretty close to the foundation building I'm housed at.

[He frowned at that question.]

No for some reason they won't let me be an agent.

[It's true. Sylar would likely cause himself more harm with these jumps than any good.]

Why wouldn't they let you be an agent? I'd have thought you would be rather prized considering all we could manage to learn about other dimensions through you.

[He wasn't just trying to butter the other man up or stir the pot or anything. He was genuinely sad for the loss.]

I'm really not sure what they're thinking. Another dimension's organization let me rise through the ranks for the few months I was in that universe.

[Mohinder struck him as the honest sort, and he would hardly deny his own effectiveness in this field. He ate this sort of thing up and had nothing better to do than work.]

[Mohinder was a painfully naive and gullible sort. It was why he was constantly being used or tricked into various things he might not normally do.]

Then you've already had agent training. Such a waste not to see your potential.

[People tended not to let him do things either. Mostly because he was too stupid to live sometimes and made terrible life choices. Oh well. His moral compass always pointed north (minus a little stretch of time in which his mun doesn't like to think about) and that leads him into trouble.]

Does it ever frighten you? I'm not sure how I'd take dealing with the constant unknown.

I think they're just uptight about a breach or don't want me dying. I'm not really sure, but I get what studying in I can at least.

[He nodded to that question.]

Of course. There was this smiling creep in some darkened universe. I've been there multiple times now.

[And he can understand why. His new 'friend' here seemed to have a very important gift, even if it could not be controlled.]

Smiling...creep... That sounds horrible.

[Horrible enough that Mohinder didn't exactly bother to ask questions about it.]

But some lovely places too? How long do you stay in other dimensions?

Yeah maybe if I can dig up my file somewhere I'll let that tell the account. I'm not exactly interested in recounting those instances.

[He's more than happy to move on.]

None of them are paradise, but there have been some nice looking places and ones very much like our own Earth like I mentioned.

It really depends. It could be a few minutes, a few hours, days. The longest I've been gone is about three months.

I see why you said it would be difficult to hold a job.

[Honestly, he's really torn between feeling pity and being impressed.]

I hope you don't find yourself where I've been stuck. Not even for a few minutes. It'd tediously boring save for when we're in terror.

Yeah and having a car would be a hazard to everyone involved.

[He tilts his head at that.]

What's this place like exactly?

[Such a small thing, but it had never occurred to him what it might be like to just have this man disappear behind the wheel.]

It's...a series of houses with interconnecting corridors and gardens. The days last a week...perhaps more. So do the nights. The monsters come out at night.

Not the strangest rules I've had to deal with, but I could see why that might seem boring.

Are the people interesting at least?

There are people there that know me but whom I don't know.

And evidently, I've an adopted daughter.

[Matt Parkman should have explained that better because Mohinder was now convinced he and Parkman were lovers who had adopted together which...seemed very wrong and out of character for him. He didn't comment on that at all.]

It worries me that I've forgotten so much.

The best thing you can do is roll with the punches.

I've never forgotten lengths of time like that, just that one strange shift.

I can obviously sympathize with things being out of your control though.

I'm trying. It gets a little more difficult every single day. Or...whatever amounts to a day here.

[What a pathetically weak smile.]

I can't exactly give you much advice without coming off like a greeting card, but I think all you can do in that hopeless situation is focus on whatever you can set your mind to.

You're in a nexus of sorts after all. Studying the various universes through those who come from them might be a good task.

Or perhaps studying the physiology of the monsters you refer to. If you can anyway.

The thing you need to ask yourself about this situation isn't if it's monstrous for her to end up there. What you should ask yourself is can it be prevented, and if not, what are you going to do when it does happen?

'If' it happens. Not 'when.' Fate is a fickle thing.

[Coming from someone he didn't consider himself religious or even moved by such notions as fate or karma or the rest.]

Though to answer your question, there is little of anything I can do in any of the situations my mun forces me into.

Blaming uncontrollable forces is convenient. Can I assume you're the type to at least try with the tools at hand, even if they are inadequate for the situation?

I wouldn't call it blaming so much as dislocating your shoulder against barred and sealed doors.

[Which had nearly happened, but he was the type to be poetic in his queries and answers.]

I could type myself as a man who wouldn't disregard a tool until it was tried in as many combinations as possible. And one who might recondition a tool to suit a better purpose.

[Perhaps not true. Mohinder didn't often give up, but he did find himself frustrated more often than not. No wonder he kept throwing himself into everything.]

Then a word of advice, focus on the tools and not the bigger picture outside your control.

Then what do you do when you don't have any tools?

[He does need the advice, he's even willing to listen to it.]

Or materials at all?

If there is nothing you are able to think up that can help in the now, focus on the after. Survive the now and work on what comes next.

In regards to maisondeportes

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