Heroes 1.8: Seven Minutes to Midnight.
Kanyakumari, India. Mohinder?s voiceover says you can?t run from destiny. He carries the urn containing his father?s ashes into the surf at a beach and scatters the ashes over the water. His mother consoles him, and he cries.

An institutional room, location unknown. Isaac Mendez lies asleep in a bed. Eden McCain enters. Isaac?s had a rough couple of days, but he?s doing fine. The drugs are out of his system and she?s come to clean him up a little. He?s worried about being able to paint without heroin, but she can teach him how. She begins to shave him with a straight razor. They won?t let the mural on his floor come true, and she?s sure of this because she went through the same thing herself.

A gallery, location unknown. Eden wanders through a maze of Isaac?s paintings, which have been set up on easels for display. She pauses at one picture of a waitress carrying platters.

Burnt Toast Diner, Texas. The waitress from above carries platters to a table where the sheriff and his deputy sit. The sheriff is having trouble with a crossword puzzle. She displays remarkable knowledge by giving him the answer (Kanyakumari) and telling the deputy who won the Oscar for best actor in 1981. She?s planning a trip around the world, but so far hasn?t got enough money to make it any further than the next state. Hiro and Ando sit in a booth, Ando complaining that American diners don?t serve anything but waffles and French fries, and he?s getting fat. Hiro thinks they need their strength if they?re to meet Peter and help him save the cheerleader. The waitress approaches and demonstrates her knowledge of Japanese by reading the logo on Hiro?s jacket. She says a few more phrases, which she learned by spending a week studying a Japanese phrase book given to her on her birthday six months ago. Japan is going to be the third stop on her world trip. Hiro and Ando are astounded by her memory, but remembering everything is something her brain just started doing a little while ago, and it won?t stop. At Hiro?s request, she recommends a big breakfast for Hiro and a cottage cheese plate for Ando. She moves on again, watched by Sylar, a shadowed man in a baseball cap who sits at a small table. He holds out a hand wearing a broken wristwatch and a coffee cup slides across the table to him. The wristwatch is stopped at five minutes to midnight.

Kanyakumari, India. Mohinder sits on the steps of a building and is joined by a friend/boss from the university, who wonders whether he?s going back. Mohinder doesn?t know why he went to New York; there were no answers for him there. All he found was a country full of lonely people, and he was one of them. Mohinder?s job is still waiting for him. The new semester is starting soon, and he can move into his father?s old office. As they discuss things, Mohinder?s gaze falls on a beautiful young woman talking to others in the funeral party. It is Mira, and Mohinder?s friend hints that there may be more waiting for him in India than just his job.

Chennai University, India. Mohinder carries a box of his things into his father?s old office. He pulls out his father?s book, Activating Evolution, and tries to open a drawer of the desk to place the book inside. The drawer has a large, old lock on it and will not open. As Mohinder tries to force it, he knocks the keyboard of the computer on the desk and the screensaver dissolves to show that the computer is still running Chandra Suresh?s genetic tracking program. Mohinder brings up a ?Do you want to quit?? window, but is interrupted by the arrival of Mira at the door. When she heard about his father?s death she had to come to the funeral. The last time she had spoken to Mohinder, she had said some terrible things about his father and Chandra?s theories. She has heard that he?s not going back to New York. She?s been promoted to the head of genetic research at ?the company,? the kind of cutting edge science they used to discuss late into the night when they were involved. If Mohinder?s willing to abandon his father?s research and theories, she?s willing to arrange an interview between him and the company partners. Mohinder promises to think about it, and Mira leaves.

F.B.I. Headquarters, Los Angeles. The agent in charge of the Ted Sprague/Sylar investigation gives Audrey and Matt one hour to get answers. Audrey is furious, having just found out that Matt assaulted a superior officer. Matt tries to make light of the situation, but Audrey doesn?t take it. She?s angry that he may have jeopardized their investigation, and just wants to know if the guy he hit deserved it. Matt assures her he did. The move to an observation room outside the interrogation room where Ted Sprague sits shackled in prison orange. He hasn?t talked to anyone, and Audrey needs Matt to find out whatever he can. Homeland Security wants to take Sprague away on suspicion of nuclear terrorism. He?s putting out a lot of radiation without ever coming into contact with radioactive material. Audrey doesn?t know how. Her life made sense before she drew the Sylar case. Now she?s got crime scenes without fingerprints, frozen bodies, missing brains? and Ted makes three people who can do things she just doesn?t understand. Matt?s offended that she?s lumped him in with Ted and Sylar. He doesn?t know how or why he can hear thoughts, and so that just leaves Ted to give them a clue as to what?s going on. Audrey gives Matt a dosimeter badge. Green indicates everything?s all right. Any other color indicates it isn?t. They enter.

Burnt Toast Diner, Texas. Hiro and Charlie the waitress practice Japanese at the counter. Charlie?s memory is amazing. She calls it a skill. Hiro confesses that his skill is a little more complicated, but when she presses for details, he lies, telling her his skill is teaching Japanese to anyone. She thinks he?s sweet. When she gets up to deliver an order, Hiro gives Ando an excited wave. Ando, reading a paper alone in their booth, is less than thrilled. The shadowed man watches everything.

Interrogation room, Los Angeles. Audrey gives Ted a glass of water. They want to know how he can do the things he does. Matt can?t just pick them out of his head because there has to be some record. Ted doesn?t know. They tell him that Homeland Security is going to take him away, and no one will listen to him. It doesn?t matter. Ted killed his wife, and nothing matters. In his anger, he strikes the table. Matt and Audrey?s dosimeters turn red. Matt tries to tell Audrey, but she?s watching Ted?s meltdown (sorry, gratuitous pun). Ted doesn?t care. If H.S. wants him to be the terrorist, he?ll be the terrorist. He?ll blow up the whole place. He grabs the glass of water and it begins bubbling furiously. Panicked, Audrey draws her gun. Ted pleads with her to shoot him. Matt tries to calm him down, but Ted won?t listen until Matt explains that he?s just as messed up as Ted, and the same thing is happening to both of them. The water stops bubbling and Ted relaxes some. Matt wants him to take them back to the beginning.

Matt hears Ted thinking about blacking out, then waking up and having everything start to die. Matt grows excited and draws comparisons to his own blackout. Matt woke up with bruises on his arms. So did Ted, and one-ups Matt by showing him the brand/tattoo lines on his neck. Matt pulls down his collar to show identical marks. Audrey doesn?t understand.

Chandra?s office, Chennai India. Mohinder begins gathering up and packing his father?s things, including the little notebook containing the mysterious key we last saw in the second episode. He sits down in front of the computer. The ?Are you sure you want to quit? message still flashes, and he stares at it until he begins to nod off. In the darkness behind his eyes, he stands witness to an argument between his father and? himself. Chandra is leaving, and Mohinder is furious. Chasing his theories is a fool?s errand. He?ll have no money, and doctors in America drive taxis. Chandra?s become a laughingstock at the university. Chandra doesn?t care. Family, job, respect don?t matter. All that matters is finding patient zero and proving his theories. He wasn?t looking for Mohinder?s permission, and Mohinder stalks off, leaving Chandra hurt and reconsidering. The scene shifts, and now Mohinder watches his mother and father discussing Chandra?s decision to go to New York. Chandra wonders if he should stay. His wife disagrees. If he stays his obsession will destroy him and eventually all of them. Chandra thinks he should stay for Mohinder, to keep the boy from hating him. His wife thinks it?s too late for that, and regardless, Mohinder will never take ?her? place. Chandra looks stricken. A soccer ball (football, for those outside of North America) strikes Mohinder?s foot and he steps through an archway to see a teenaged boy standing there. Mohinder questions him, but receives no answer. The boy wants his ball back, and skips away when Mohinder tosses it back. Mohinder awakens at his father?s desk, glances at the still-running computer, and gets up to leave.

FBI Headquarters, Los Angeles. Ted was in Kansas a few months ago, and had sold a couple of dialysis machines. The commission was big, and Ted went to the hotel bar to celebrate. There were only a few people there; one of them was a student from Haiti. Matt perks up at this. Ted passed out. He woke up two days later in his car, in Arizona. A couple of days later, he started noticing things, like flowers wilting around him. Then Karen came down with radiation poisoning. Audrey wants to know if Ted?s left any more bodies out there. Matt glares at her, and she falls silent again. Matt wants to know about headaches, and yes, Ted?s had them. Matt?s story is similar: he passed out, lost two days and now he can?t stop hearing thoughts. Audrey?s upset that he didn?t tell her. Matt hasn?t told anyone, not even his wife. He?s hearing thoughts that could ruin lives; could end marriages. He turns talk to the Haitian, and describes Symbol Man from the bar. Ted recognizes the description. Audrey wants to know what they?re talking about. They can do things that are not normal, and people must have done something to them, but they don?t know what. Homeland Security barges into the room to take Ted, over Matt and Audrey?s protests. Their leader doesn?t understand what Matt is doing there, since his badge has been suspended. Audrey?s peeved. Ted tells Matt to find the Haitian just before H.S. drag Ted out of the room. Matt and Audrey?s badges have gone back to green. Matt demands Audrey get them to bring Ted back. Audrey refuses. Matt?s furious: he?s come running every time Audrey?s called, but she won?t do this one thing for him. She can?t. It?s out of her control.

Primatech Paper Company, Odessa. Mr. Bennet arrives and walks through the plant offices. Rufus the security guard wants him to sign for this month?s parking sticker, but Bennet puts him off. He makes his way through the building to a warehouse in which squats a smaller building. It?s a complex of rooms including the gallery of Isaac?s paintings and the room where Isaac recovers. Bennet enters and finds Eden sitting at a desk. She reports that the heroin is out of Isaac?s system, but he?s still an addict. He?s coherent though. Bennet eyes the paintings that show Claire in danger. He wants to meet Isaac. Isaac sits on his bed, scratching in a sketchbook and looking cleaner and healthier than he has in the series run so far. He?s not drawing anything interesting, but Bennet disagrees. He knows Isaac can draw the future, and even though Isaac thinks it?s a curse, Bennet knows it?s a blessing, and they?re going to teach him to understand that. Isaac?s grateful for all Bennet and Eden have done but doesn?t understand why. Their motive is simple: Bennet needs Isaac?s help.

Burnt Toast Diner, Texas. Sylar watches Charlie serve Hiro and Ando. She leaves them for the back room. Hiro rises and goes into the men?s room. Charlie grabs a can of tomatoes from the storeroom and puts it in the can opener. She?s about to open it when she hears a noise behind her. There?s nothing there when she looks around, so she returns to opening the can. She stops again, but this time her eyes have glazed over and blood has begun running down her face. She topples over. Out in the diner, one of the other waitresses hears a crash from the back room and goes to investigate. Her screams shock Ando and alert the sheriff and his deputy, who go to investigate. Charlie?s dead. Hiro comes out of the washroom, oblivious to what?s happened until Ando draws his attention. Hiro?s perpetual smile fades. In the background, Sylar?s table is now empty.

Suresh household, India. Mohinder questions his mother about the argument she had with his father. Did it actually happen, or was it merely a dream? Did she convince him to abandon everything in search of proof for his theories? She did. Two people can?t be married for thirty-three years unless they are able to let each other be the people they are. Mohinder wants to know about the ?her? his mother had mentioned in the dream. Mohinder had an older sister, Shanti, who died when she was five and Mohinder only two. Her death was too painful for Chandra to ever discuss. They were also afraid Mohinder would spend his life comparing himself to her. Chandra thought she was special, and Mohinder?s mother breaks down in tears while admitting that she was special.

Isaac?s room, Odessa. Bennet identifies each of the tragedies Isaac has painted which have come to pass. He also points to the pictures of the cheerleader. It?s Claire, his daughter. Claire is special, like Isaac. The shadowy figure in the paintings calls himself Sylar, and he?s killing people who are special. He?s going to kill Claire tomorrow night at her homecoming. Bennet hasn?t found and stopped him because nobody knows where Sylar is. Bennet needs Isaac to paint that for him, to show Bennet where he can find Sylar in order to stop him. Isaac?s been trying but he can?t, not without the drugs. Bennet pulls out Isaac?s drug kit and offers it to him. Isaac?s horrified. After all he?s gone through to shake the habit, he?s not going back. Bennet?s composure begins to crack. For several years, he and his people have been tracking and monitoring people like Isaac. Usually, as in Isaac?s case, the process goes smoothly, but sometimes the subject misinterprets their motives and things go bad. Fourteen years ago, they went bad enough that a woman died and left behind a baby girl. Bennet and his wife had been having difficulty conceiving, so they looked on Claire?s appearance as a blessing. Bennet begs Isaac to do something. Isaac agrees to try one more time without the drugs.

Suresh office, Chennai University. Mohinder enters to find someone trying to open the locked drawer in the desk. It?s the boy from his dream. The boy darts out of the room and Mohinder chases him down some stairs and out a door, which somehow leads to an alley in New York. A cab idles in the alley, and Chandra Suresh sits behind the wheel. Chandra watches as the doors of the cab lock themselves, then a hand punches through the safety window between the front and back of the cab. Two hands grab Chandra?s head and smash him into the side window again and again, breaking the wristwatch on the murderer?s arm. Mohinder screams for his father and tries to get into the cab, but can?t. In only moments, Chandra is dead. The watch has stopped at five minutes to midnight. Mohinder looks away, and when he looks back, the cab is gone. The boy stands a short distance away, and silently holds out one hand. Mohinder approaches him and the boy hands him the key from Chandra?s notebook.

Mohinder awakens in his office, where the computer still waits for him to decide whether to quit the gene-tracing program. He pulls Chandra?s notebook from the box where Mohinder had packed it, takes the key from the book and stares at it reflectively.

Primatech Paper Company, Odessa. Bennet walks down a hallway, examining a file when Claire calls to him from Rufus? desk. He?s surprised to see her at work, and is worried something has happened. Claire has a paper emergency: a teacher has asked them to put a banner over the trophy case, but Jackie is sure it can?t be done because they don?t make paper that big. Claire?s come to beg for a donation. It?ll make her a hero. Bennet figures that if it makes Claire a hero and takes Jackie down a peg, it?s worth it. They head off to find something when Eden appears from a side door. They have a situation that requires Bennet?s attention. Bennet directs Claire to the sample room. She can take whatever she wants from there. Once Claire?s out of earshot, Eden apologizes. She didn?t know Claire would be there. Isaac hasn?t been able to paint without the drugs. Bennet storms into the hidden complex. They tried it Isaac?s way, now they?re going to try it his. He breaks out Isaac?s heroin kit and begins preparing a dose. Eden protests. After Isaac?s gone through so much to come clean, Bennet can?t make him dirty again. Bennet doesn?t intend to make him do anything. Eden will. She?s horrified. He promised her she?d never have to do ?that? again. Bennet is unimpressed. She knew there was a possibility it would come to this point. He taught her, and she needs to remember what she was when he found her. She?s the easy way. They both know the hard way. Eden?s surrenders and takes the drugs into Isaac?s room. Bennet watches as Isaac protests. Then Eden whispers in his ear and he goes complacent, although they both stare angrily back at Bennet.

Burnt Toast Diner, Texas. A bulletin board on the wall holds a picture of Charlie, alone, in a party hat in front of a birthday cake. The coroner?s men carry Charlie?s body out in a bag. The sheriff is very upset. Neither Hiro nor Ando heard her say anything that might have indicated she was scared. She was nice, too nice to die like that: with her head ripped open. They have to stay around until the Sheriff takes their statements. He leaves to talk to others. Hiro and Ando argue. Charlie died the same way Hiro saw Isaac die in the future, so they?d better be careful. Hiro can?t let her just die, even though it?s already happened. He can bend time, so he?s going to go back to yesterday and convince her not to come to work. Ando doesn?t believe Hiro has sufficient control of his powers, and is worried Hiro will die in the attempt. Hiro figures that, if he can?t use his powers, then there?s no point in his having them. Ando should count to five, and Hiro will be back. Hiro concentrates, and vanishes. Ando counts to five, but Hiro fails to reappear.

Parkman house, Los Angeles. Janice sits on their bed and looks through a photo album of her and Matt. Matt enters and begins undressing for bed. The station called, wondering why Matt punched Tom McHenry. Janice told them Matt hadn?t. Matt hesitates a moment before admitting that he did. He hears Janice thinking, ?he knows.? She?s upset. He hit a superior officer. Matt takes issue with the word, ?superior.? He got a one-month suspension without pay. She makes to leave the room, but stops. She confesses that she slept with Tom. Their affair is over, and now Janice is worried that so is her marriage. Matt isn?t sure. His cell phone rings. It?s Audrey, standing near a couple of burning cars. Ted has escaped. Matt hangs up abruptly and gets ready to leave the house.

Suresh office, Chennai University. Mohinder uses the key from his father?s notebook to open the locked desk drawer. There?s nothing in it, and Mohinder tries to close it in frustration, but it jams. He pulls the drawer out and reaches into the area behind it, pulling out a file folder marked ?Iyer Sanjog.? The folder contains newspaper clippings on dream research, primitive drawings like those of a child or from a cave wall, and a photograph of a boy holding a soccer ball. It is the boy from Mohinder?s dream.

Primatech Paper company, Odessa / Bennet house, Odessa / Burnt Toast Diner, Texas. Mohinder?s voiceover intones that you cannot escape destiny. Eden watches through a window while Isaac, his eyes white, paints feverishly. The open drug kit lies on a table beside him. Claire lies on the floor in her living room, coloring a big ?Homecoming? banner identical to the one showing in Isaac?s painting. Bennet, pretending to finish some paperwork in a chair nearby, watches her anxiously. She notices, but he dismisses it as nothing and she returns to her work. Ando waits in the diner. Restless, he rises from his chair and wanders over to the bulletin board to lean on the shelf underneath it. He does not notice the picture of Charlie?s birthday. It now shows Hiro right beside her, smiling weakly?