The hacker hadn't been joking when she said he would see a familiar face. In fact, it could almost even have passed off as a threat; the quiet glimmer in her eyes and the unsettling smirk that Sombra never seemed to drop. She knew something and seemingly always had a way to get under his skin. If she wasn't so useful, Akande would have killed her already.
The automated door clicked; unlocking and sliding to the side, revealing a dimly lit room, holographic projections flashing along the metal sheen of the wall. A transparent cross-section of a building stood at the center of attention at the middle table, casting an almost eerie glow throughout the rest of the room.
But his attention was focused elsewhere, on the cyborg standing there, palms pressed flat against the glass paneling, fingers splayed out over the neat little holograms.
Akande has taken a step back in surprise, alarmed by the appearance of the cyborg in the room, until he noticed the vacant look in his eyes and the purple LEDs glossing over his golden irises. Genji Shimada just kept staring, his gaze fixed loosely at the wall, not even acknowledging his presence.
A familiar face, Sombra had said. A familiar face indeed.
He watches in silence, half curiously and half fascinated of what and how the hacker had been able to accomplish this. The lights on the cyborg's body steadily shone a dim purple, easily relating back to the hacker in question. Everything that belonged to her was a shade between pink or purple, a cruelty he now thinks of the man before him.
He might have mistaken Genji as an omnic the first time, unsure of the fluidity and calculated way of how he moved was either too humanoid for a robot, or highly advanced programming which could predict and simulate the thoughts of a human. But no, the mask had been discarded to the side, only a hands-width away from the cyborg's grasp. The usual green slit cutting across the length of it was blank, otherwise, he knew it would parallel the dark lights that emitted from his body.
Akande stepped closer, his arm moving of its own accord to rest in the air above the cyborg's shoulder. He caught himself last moment, taking a respectful step back as Genji abruptly turned, locking his gaze with the unnatural light replacing his irises. He stared, curious of where the source of the light could emit from as he watched the cyborg's pupils dilate wide open, finally focusing his bleary gaze on an object.
There was something in there. The look.
He could see the strain of life holding onto in his eyes. If he looked past the purple projections, the brown of his iris shone through, bringing forth the cyborg's pain. He noticed the dark lines circling bags under Genji's eyes; and the way his synthetic jaw clenched hard against his upper human one. The scars cutting across his features were twisted, screaming in an unspoken agony.
The pain. He knew it all too well.
Sombra liked to play around, teasing him with her connection with technology. His arm was mainly one of them. Oh, how she loved to see his confusion or surprise when his prosthetic acted up. He feels the sudden, sharp flare of pain in his missing arm as the nerve endings are cut and taken over. He watches as his arm moves without his acknowledgment as if it is not even connected to him. It feels strangely disconnected as if an outside source had taken over his arm, like it has been.
But she only ever makes it last a few milliseconds, maybe till even a single second. Never more, never less.
Sombra was smart. She knew how far she could push it before she had to back away. He would simply swat her away in annoyance afterward.
But now his thoughts travel back the cyborg standing in front of him. He imagines that pain, but amplified for however long she had taken control of Genji's body. He imagines how long he must have gone without being in control. But most of all, he imagines how she keeps his lips sealed tight, not even allowing him a single thought of releasing whatever was surely building inside of his head.
The solitude of his cell had haunted him even after he had been released from it. His anger had built, but he had held it down, building and building till the day he snapped; the day he had punched his way through the concrete walls that held him.
He knows the pain, or at least half of it. No, but he doesn't know how it is to be trapped inside of his own body. Doesn't know how it feels to be unable to vent his frustration. Doesn't know how it feels having tape permanently over his mouth, controlling what leaves his lips.
He feels a quiet pang of sympathy for a split second until it was smoothed over by the thought of the previous time he had encountered this very same cyborg.
Akande remembered the flying little discs of green light arcing from where their owner had been just a split second ago, and easing his arm up in time to block them from cutting into his body. And the time traveling girl. The cyborg had distracted him and she moved in and fired then vise-versa. They had gained ground and closed in, surrounding him.
He had thrown his whole weight into a single strike, his gauntlet sending tremors and shockwaves through the ground. The ground had deformed, concrete tearing and rising from the impact. Tracer flashed away from it, all the debris missing her, but the cyborg was not so lucky; directly in the path of the attack, launching him into the sky. Genji had risen high with it, a car chasing his path. Akande followed as well.
Seconds before the car could have impacted, a green flash of light rippled in the middle of the car. A silver blade embedded with a green light came clean through, parting the two halves of the car and revealing the cyborg.
Akande was ready. His fist swung forward, connecting square into Genji's chest. There was a moment of stillness; he heard the sound of the cyborg's chest contracting, wires snapping, and the groan of the metal frame bending to his force.
He struck a graceful little bird out of the air, watching the cyborg thrown from the impact into the ground, skidding over and over on the pavement. Genji smashed to a stop against the side of the car, struggled to get up before the mess of his body sparked and gave up, and he fell again.
Good.
He landed, almost laughing at the comical way Tracer's mouth had fallen open, a soundless cry for her metal friend. Her eyes swung to him immediately, narrowing between the orange-tinted goggles before she disappeared in a flash of blue. Her legs moved in a blur of orange, leaping from side to side, her guns dealing out stinging blows to his back.
Until he had caught her, ripping the metal contraption from her chest.
He had watched in satisfaction as she flashed in and out of time, finally putting her annoyance to an end. He stood there, waiting, still holding onto the sizzling, flashing pieces he had tore from Tracer's mechanical heart. The ape watched him through his ridiculously small glasses.
But he had gotten too cocky. Much too cocky. He hadn't expected the ape to do- whatever he did. The ape- Winston, he was called- had met his gauntlet head-on, roaring so loud that the sound resounded back and forth through his head. Akande was surprised by the strength of which the ape hit with. His gauntlet had shattered, metal fingers breaking and twisting.
It should have been a fair fight after that. He had heard the sounds of the bones in Winston's furry fist break as well, yet he had fought like it hadn't even hurt.
Akande had misjudged him. Misjudged him and the rage he had purposely coaxed from him, taunting from his higher ledge as they both watched Tracer blink out of existence. He had made a mistake, and had been met with a pair of cuffs and detainment for several years, up until now.
He had waited, months- years. His patience was rewarded at last, again within the ranks of Talon. After his escape, he had easily finished the job Widowmaker and Reaper failed to do: retrieve his gauntlet. He was so very thankful to find it in one piece and functional. Seemingly, the scientists couldn't help themselves but to put it back perfectly together just for the purpose of display.
But now, he watches the cyborg with a cold, hardened stare. He can see his despair and the building madness of a caged animal within Genji's gaze.
The door behind him hissed then slid open without a sound. It was like the sound shut off a light inside of his head. The cyborg's gaze broke contact with him, becoming glassy and unfocused, sinking into whatever hell Sombra had created for him. Genji was gone again, his consciousness collapsing under the weight of his experiences of the past -however many days or even weeks this had gone on.
It definitely was not the first, seeing how Sombra was confident enough to leave him alone in a room full of computers which could access the outside world.
Akande turned, meeting the purple stare of the hacker in question. The door slid shut behind her, a muffled thud breaking the silence between them. Her calculating eyes searched his, looking for anything that could betray his thoughts on the matter. She broke the continued silence first.
"Well, what do you think?" Sombra looks away, sweeping her bangs to the side before her gaze met his again. "Impresionante, no?"
"Taking control of his body and using him as a vessel?" He replies evenly. "No, I do not."
She scoffs in return, rolling her eyes with a tilt of her head. "It isn't much difference with what you did with the spider lady," Sombra counters, picking at the edge of her gloved nails. "In fact, I can almost say they are one in the same; until I make him kill someone he cares for, anyway."
Akande watches her, careful to keep his expression flat and steady. "The same? No. I at least gave her the option to forget. You? You are holding a time bomb. If he ever gets free we will have no control of what would happen." He remembers the look in the cyborg's eyes. He was still very much there, under the madness and drugs- or whatever the hacker had done to him. "Amélie is gone for sure. Genji is not. You keep him caged there. Why not end it? At least I feel enough mercy for that."
Sombra laughs at that, faking doubling over and clutching her stomach. "Amélie? No, she is far from gone. You tell yourself that to put yourself to sleep at night. We both know that she remembers her husband and visits the place of his death. And bringing her to the castle? Not a wise move if you wish to keep her from remembering." She shakes her head at that. "No, Mister Ogundimu. We are one in the same; monsters."
She leaves him with the thought, strutting over to Genji and sweeping his mask off the table. "Hello, Grumpy. How have you been today?"
Genji doesn't answer, but he sees the cyborg's jaw clench tighter on his otherwise impassive face. He turns to face her slowly, his gaze meeting Akande's as a last desperate prayer.
Help.
"Not very talkative, are you today?" Sombra snorts. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot." Her hand traces his jaw and his head stiffly jerks away. "You haven't earned the right to talk again."
Genji's eyes were still locked with his. Watching. Waiting.
No, he thinks. It is good to have someone like the cyborg on his side rather than against, but there is a tinge of pity that it was not by choice.
Sombra cups his jaw again, tilting his head down and her as she replaces his mask, returning those accusing eyes back to a blank solid line.
Genji pulls away, making a single forced step backward as his arm involuntarily raises half an inch, the fingers curling towards the center of his metal palm. The metal joints shook as they were opposing a force much greater then it could exert. Sombra raised an eyebrow at the cyborg's show of resilience, before it had finally collapsed, his arms loosening and lowering back to the side.
Sombra simply snorted and turned, heading back toward the door, but he kept his eyes on Genji. The cyborg's head was lowered, gazing into the ground. His neck tilted a fraction of an inch, his blinding purple visor staring hate that seemed to emit from his entire body.
Who knew a blank faceplate could convey so much emotion?
Are you angry? Akande steps forward, admiring the cyborg's unrelenting will. He knows that he will not be easily broken as Amélie. Good. I liked your temper.
He turns and follows Sombra out the door, just as people started to file into the meeting room. He could feel the cyborg's gaze burning holes into his back, yet he walks away and doesn't return it.