Prologue
Pixilated, purple blobs floated, wandering aimlessly inside the musty concrete. The room was dark, save for a single, swinging lightbulb flickering terrifyingly above. The click click click of a woman typing almost covered the endless strings of angry Spanish she swore under her breath. Several blobs of pixels were being discharged and reabsorbed and pulled apart like putty with the strange, typewriter-like machine the woman was using. Her hair was frayed and her eyes bloodshot- she had been doing this for hours, maybe days. The Talon agent immediately regretted not knocking on the door first.
He was wearing a black suit, his helmet off and left in his locker. She'll remember my face. He realized, breaking out in a cold sweat. He had only been part of the patrols around the Mexican HQ for a week, and he now knows why she is called the "shade of Los Muertos". His hands shook so hard that they almost dropped memory stick and cardboard cup of coffee he held. He'd ordered the coffee without sugar or milk or anything. Shit, did she want sugar? I didn't ask. His mind was working frantically, his heartbeat was pounding against his chest. God, I don't know. I don't want to die, not today. She hasn't noticed the guard yet, maybe he can slip away, go back to that store and see what she usually gets-
The clicking stopped. She had noticed. He was frozen, completely unable to move. His chin quivered as he tried to speak. "Ms. Som- Ms. Sombra-"
"¿Que?" She spun around, and the man visibly jumped. A purple gun was lying on her lap, polished and emblazoned with her insignia, the purple skull. Her right hand moved towards it… until she spotted the coffee. Then the hand moved away from the gun, and extended outwards. Her purple nails looked like claws in the flickering light.
With rigid terror, the guard slowly walked to the shade, handing her the cup. He flinched when she snatched it away, her red eyes frenzied like a wildcat's. Immediately, she took the cup and brought it to her painted lips, easily draining a half-liter in a single gulp. She then brought the cup to her lap, holding it in both hands. She exhaled, looking almost calm.
Perhaps now… "Ms. Som-" BANG! The speed at which she pulled the gun from her lap and shot was inhuman. The guard fell to the ground with a yelp, clutching his leg as fire shot up his thigh. She shot me! She actually fucking shot me! He dared not make any other noise, and he bit the kevlar on his shoulder to stifle his cries.
The shade took another huge gulp, finishing the largest size coffee in the town in record time. She crushed the styrofoam in her fist, threw it aside, and sat there, breathing. After a very long moment, gestured towards the guard with her gun. "Dimelo."
The agent wiggled forwards, and leaned onto his good knee. He was breathing heavily and bleeding everywhere. "Ms. Sombra." He held out the memory drive with his left hand. "Your… your mission."
The shade threw herself back in her chair, swearing loudly and so fluently the guard truly wondered if she was speaking Spanish or her native Demonic. After a solid minute, she stood up and over the guard. "I told the Council, I am working on it, alright? Do you know how difficult it is to remotely hack into thirteen different countries databases at the same time? Do you?" She didn't wait for an answer before turning around. "You go back and tell Doomfist exactly where he can stick that gauntlet of his, entiendes?"
The guard didn't move, and the shade somehow sensed this. She didn't turn around. "Are you still here?" Her trigger finger was literally twitching.
The guard swallowed dryly. "This is not from the Council, Ms. Sombra." He didn't know how his voice didn't shake. "It is from the Widowmaker. Top secret, for your eyes only."
The shade went rigid and completely silent. But when she turned around, she had a perfectly calm, terrifying face. She plucked the drive from his outstretched hand. "Widow? And even more classified than the Council." She thought for a moment, looking the guard over. "I see. You are brave for bringing me this information. And I know the price for a good informant."
The guard almost smiled for a half second, before the shade's bullet punched through his skull. He collapsed behind her, and she spun around, plugging in the memory drive and getting back to work.