Overwatch: Origins

The warmth of the sunset basked the land of Indiana. Across the landscape, acres of land filled with cornstalks stretched for as far as the eye could see. The evening sky, clear and cloudless, extended just as a far, a beautiful gradient of dark blue to orange caused by the setting sun. People around the world would travel all the way to the state just to catch a glimpse of the mesmerizing view.

At the edge of a particular cornfield, a lone boy at the age of 12 sat on a huge boulder that seemed out of place on the plot of land. His dirtied white singlet hung loosely off his scrawny shoulders, reaching down to his blue tattered shorts. His bright, blue eyes stared blankly at the descending sun, the gentle evening breeze tussling his short blonde hair lightly. He was as oblivious to the hovering robots spraying the insecticides across the cornfield, as he was to the huge bruise on his right cheek. With a small sigh, the boy got up onto his feet, grabbing a crude toy rifle he made using parts he found in his family's barn. Turning to his side, where a golden retriever sat patiently on the ground staring up at his human friend, the boy smiled.

"One day, Rex, I will be a hero of justice!" He declared aloud, raising his handmade toy above his head. "And I will beat up all who stands in the way of good!"

"And all heroes need to eat too, do they not?" A kind, female voice sounded out behind the boy, causing his head to turn.

Behind the boy approached a tall, slender lady dressed comfortably in jeans and a loose, red plaid shirt. Her long, brown hair was tied into a braid, and the evening sun sparked brightly in her deep blue eyes, similar to that of her son's. She wore a small smile on her face, a healthy, natural glow emitting from it. As she slowly strode to the large rock, she reached up to grab her son with her slim, yet strong, arms. She gently lowered the boy onto the grass and knelt in front of him, their dog quietly walking up to the two.

"Jack dear, have you been fighting in school again?" the mother asked out of concern, but her voice was soothing. She softly stroked the bruise on the boy's face, who winced a little but was calmed down by her touch.

"It was nothing, Ma," Jack turned away, trying to hide his injury from his mother. He loved his mother, and it pained him when he made her worry. "Some boy in class was taking things that didn't belong to him, and I wanted to make him stop."

"My sweet child, that was very noble of you," Jack's mother embraced her son, pulling him close to her chest, "but there is only so much you can do! You should have told the teacher!"

"I'm sorry," Jack whispered, his tiny arms tightening its grip around his mother's neck. "I promise to be stronger when I grow up. Then I can do the right thing and protect the people I care about."

"That's my little hero," the mother let go of her son, her blue eyes looking straight into his, as if staring into his soul. "And one day, I know that you will make a fine hero. But for now, how about we go have dinner with your dad? I made your favorite today!"

"Steak?" Jack's eyes lighted up, and his mother nodded. A huge smile spread across the boy's voice, and he bolted back towards the small farmhouse he called home, Rex sprinting right behind him. "Steeeaaaaaaakkkkkk!"

"Be sure to wash your hands first, Jack! Jack!"

"Jack!"

It was chaos all around. A simple grab-and-go mission that went south fast. Really fast. Two soldiers in grey, pixelated army attire took cover behind a large debris that was once a wall, red bolts blasting towards their direction. The two men were in the middle of a shipyard, one that became a battlefield and was now scattered with destroyed shipping containers and patches of fire. Smoke and debris helped to conceal the soldiers from their assailants, but the cover was not going to last.

"Jack!" One soldier called out again. Both of them were in full battle dress, making them almost indistinguishable. His brown eyes stared intently at his partner. "Got anymore bright ideas?"

"I count 4 hostiles, 2 on each flank," the soldier named Jack replied as he checked his ammo.

"Well good for you, you can count," Jack's partner snapped back, reloading his shotgun. "Let's use your mathematical skills to annihilate our enemies!"

"We go when this blows," Jack ignored his partner's remark, detaching a small flashbang grenade from his vest. "You go right, I'll go left."

"10 bucks says I clear mine before you," the soldier grinned at Jack beneath his face mask.

"You're on, Gab," Jack nodded, throwing the flashbang grenade out from his side of the cover.

The two soldiers have done this drill countless times, and this was no different. At the familiar sound of the grenade going off, the two men charged out of their cover, dashing straight to their dazed enemies. Jack sprinted as fast as he could, closing the distance between himself and his targets. Raising his rifle and propping it up against his shoulder in one swift motion, Jack fired two shots at his two opponents with dead-on accuracy. The soldier called Gab, on the other hand, went with a more savage move, kicking one of his enemies aside while grabbing the other at his throat. Without hesitation, Gab shoved the barrel of his shotgun into the stomach of his foe, and tore a hole in his opponent. Unfortunately, the enemy that was kicked aside did not stumble much, and was able to recover from the sudden assault quickly. As Gab ripped the abdomen of his teammate, the assailant had enough time to raise his rifle for a headshot—

"Look out!" Jack, who saw the whole scene play out, knew the danger his partner was in, and quickly took down the last opponent. Gab, realizing his mistake, turned around in time to see his would-be murderer slump onto the ground, a bullet buried in his head.

"Damn," Gab muttered, throwing his own kill aside. As the limp body flew towards the ground, its attire and features faded away, revealing a metallic coat underneath. When the body finally touched the ground, it was no longer a human, but instead an android. Around the two soldiers, the whole scene faded out in pixels, revealing a huge, empty simulator room and 4 lifeless androids. The one called Gab removed his helmet and face mask, revealing a dark-skinned face with a dark mustache leading down to a short beard. He wiped some sweat off his slightly scarred face, his cold eyes staring at Jack. "I thought the execution style would pan out nicely."

"Well, be grateful that we're partners then, Gabriel Reyes," Jack chuckled as he removed his helmet and face mask too, combing one hand through his blonde hair. "And you owe me ten bucks."

"Here you go," Gabriel admitted defeat, taking out a ten from his uniform's breast pocket. The name on it stated 'Reyes'.

"One last drink, good friend," Jack waved the money, before putting it into his own pocket. 'Morrison' was the name on the uniform.

"I can't believe you're going back to your tiny farm tomorrow, man," Gabriel shook his head, as the two men headed to the showers. "You're doing so well in the US Military! We are the two best senior officers here! Who am I going to trust with my back? Have you seen the little boys we are bringing in these days? They look so weak!"

"Now that's just exaggerating," Jack laughed at his friend's complaints. "But I've done what I set out to do in the military. And Indiana isn't so bad. You should visit it sometime."

"Only if there's good booze and babes there, pal," Gabriel joked, giving Jack a wink. "Then will you see me there."

"Shave off that beard and you just might stand a chance there with the ladies," Jack pointed at his friend's beard. "That thing is totally dou—"

Jack immediately cut off his sentence upon seeing a figure appear in front of the two. Both Jack and Gabriel stood at attention and saluted the figure, who returned the salute. The newcomer wore a military uniform, his rank of general signifying his superiority over the two officers. The general spoke in a serious, flat voice.

"Evening, officers. I would need you two to report to the conference room later at 1900 hours. There will be a confidential and important meeting there, and I would appreciate if you two will not be late." As the general spoke the last sentence, his eyes darted to Gabriel for a second, who did not flinch or react to that tiny gesture.

"Yes, sir," Jack replied. "We will be there on time."

"Very well, then." The men exchanged salutes, and the general walked off.

"Your last day here and there's some big meeting?" Gabriel pondered aloud, as the two friends entered the shower room. "Maybe it's a surprise farewell party for you."

"Yeah, I guess," Jack wondered as he opened his locker, yet he felt that whatever the meeting was later, it was nowhere close to a farewell party.

At 1859 hours, Jack and Gabriel, now in army pants and T-shirts, walked into the conference room, which was empty. The circular room had a large, round table in the center, with eight chairs surrounding it. At one end, a large screen was on the wall, and the two men decided to sit at the seats facing it.

"Those superiors always nag about punctuality, and yet here we are, waiting our asses off," Gabriel muttered, raising his boots onto the table. The digital clock flashed 1900 hrs.

"If this was a party, I'm definitely going to be surprised now," Jack replied, sinking his body into the chair beside his friend. "Wonder what important meeting this is."

As if to answer Jack's question, the door slid open and the general walked it, causing the two men to stand up in attention and salute to their superior. The general brushed their gesture off with a hurried salute of his own, throwing a file across the round table towards the two officers. Either with skills or by sheer luck, the file skidded on the table and stopped within reach of Jack, large red "Classified" words stamped on the cover. Jack turned to Gabriel, who seemed unfazed with all of this. Almost as if he knew what was going on.

"Officer Reyes here was nice enough to play dumb," the general spoke up, breaking the silence and causing Jack to turn his attention back to his superior. "Jack, have you heard of the Soldier Enhancement Program?"

"I-" Jack started, racking his brains for any information. He recalled hearing bits and pieces of it through his two years in the military, but nothing much. "No, not really."

"A few years ago, our military found a formula that could enhance people." The general pressed a button on the panel in front of the large screen, and it came to life. On it was a recorded footage of a masked US soldier running through a standard obstacle course. But something about him seemed off. He was moving faster than Jack has ever seen any soldier in the military. "Through these… upgrades, a soldier would feel an increase in his strength, agility and speed. This is our Soldier Enhancement Program, which is highly classified and highly secretive."

The screen switched to another footage, this time of a lone man in black T-shirt surrounded by at least ten US soldiers. The soldiers pounced at the lone man, who dodged their blows with grace and speed that surprised Jack, while delivering precise counter-attacks that sent the attackers flying backwards. That is not normal strength, Jack thought. Then he noticed the face of the lone man in the video. It looked a lot like…

"Officer Reyes was one of the earliest successful enhancements," The general carried on, noticing the realization in Jack's widening eyes. Jack turned to Gabriel seeking for answers, yet he received none. Gabriel simply stared at the video and smirked to himself, as if reliving the whole fight that was on the screen. "I asked him to partner up with you, Officer Morrison, as I saw potential in you. He was made to get to know you better, in order to assess your capability and worthiness of this program."

"When were you going to tell me?" It was as if Jack was no longer listening to the general, his focus solely on Gabriel. Betrayal and confusion were in his eyes. "So all this time our friendship was-"

"No, Jack, our friendship was not a lie." Gabriel cut off Jack, putting his legs off the table. Staring his hazel eyes into Jack's own blue eyes, Gabriel reassured his partner. "In my whole military service, you were the only guy around who would take up with my shit and still trust me. Heck, you're one of the best soldiers I've seen, both in skills and in heart. Yes, I was ordered to keep tabs on you. Yes, I needed to know you better. But I'll be damned if I don't consider you my best pal in this goddamn facility."

Jack closed his eyes and took a deep breath to absorb everything. He could tell that Gabriel was being sincere; two years of friendship told him so. Yet two years of friendship did not hint to Jack that Gabriel was a super soldier or have been keeping secrets. Jack's immediate reaction was to flip out and cut off ties with Gabriel, but he took a step back and analyzed the situation. He could see where Gabriel was coming from, and that he meant no harm. Gabriel never did anything to prove not trustworthy, and this was not necessarily any different. In the military, orders were orders.

"Wait, so whenever I did better than you…" Jack trailed off a little, before taking out the money he won earlier and putting it on the table in front of Gabriel. "I did not win that bet."

"Just keep it, you honest fool," Gabriel laughed, sliding the money back to Jack. "When you're as enhanced as me, believe me when I say that I won't be giving chances."

"That's the thing, Gabriel," Jack turned to back to the general, who was silent the whole time. "I'm not sure I want in. I mean, I'm already planning to go home, try something else in life… this… this is so sudden."

"Officer Morrison, you have proven yourself to have the courage and work ethics that we seek in a soldier. Your sense of right and wrong does not waver, regardless of the odds. You fight for what is right, standing your ground and never backing down. If you think another person is more suitable to have this privilege and powers, you tell me." The general slowly walked to Jack, never once taking his eyes off him. Jack did not react, his eyes glued on the screen which froze at a past Gabriel standing in the middle of beaten soldiers. The general quickly changed tactic. "You said you wanted to be a hero. And with this enhancement, you can be that hero. Think of it as allowing you to better protect your loved ones. What do you have to lose?"

Jack sat there, silent. Gabriel planted a cigarette at the side of his mouth and lit it up, letting out a slow puff of smoke as he stared at Jack. The general continued staring at Jack, trying hard not to look as if he was begging. The general's last few words echoed in Jack's mind, and he was brought back to his young self standing on his rock, facing his family's cornfield. His thoughts changed to a boy hugging his mother, who called him her little hero. A young boy's voice echoed through Jack's head, reminding him of how he wanted to be more capable of protecting those he cared about. After some consideration, Jack looked up to the general.

"When do I start?"