(A/N): Yep. Knew something like this was going to come. Who would've thought that Eskimo Satan herself would get such a touching animated short.

That short was awesome, but it doesn't make proper sense as to how ONLY Mei survived. I find it hard to believe that she was the only one who managed to make it, especially since some of the others were probably more physically healthy that her. So in an effort to give the short just a bit more depth and more relationships, I decided to do this little remix.

There are a few major changes I'm going to make concerning the short in order to accommodate said remix.

1) There will be one more cyro pod added to the room, which will contain the survivor (who is an OC of my design).
2) The battery situation will be less dire, allowing the two of them to stay there for a while before they have to leave.
3) Mei will be a lot more shaken than she was in the short upon seeing the rest of her friends and co-workers dead.

Any other differences, you guys can see them :)

Rest assured, the story will have the same ending as the short, but in a different light. I've always wanted to try and get into Mei's head and this is definitely a great opportunity to do so.

Remaining Hope

Chapter One: On Their Own

~ o ~

Carrying on is often difficult when there is no one to support you.

However...one person can be the difference between persevering and giving in.

~ o ~

"Snowball...how long have we all been asleep?"

The little robot's eyes turned to pixelated tears before shifting to the time period I asked for.

"9 years?!"

I stumbled back, absolutely astonished at what my friend just told me.

"What?! No! Overwatch would've come for us!" I exclaimed.

I immediately turned back to the table and entered a few keystrings in an attempt to bring the communications online. However...two red screens let me know that my efforts were futile.

"And our comms are down?!"

I pressed the eject button for the flash drive that contained the 9 years worth of data and picked up it before making my way back to the projector room. Snowball went back to his docking station as the screen came online. Much to my horror, numerous articles and newspaper covers littered the screen. The one that struck me the hardest however was one that read two words I never thought I'd see.

Overwatch Disbanded.

"Gone?! Nobody even knows we're here..."

Now that I thought about it, I hadn't seen anyone since I came out of my pod.

"Wait a minute...where is everybody?"

Ignoring the kettle whistling loudly, I immediately sprinted towards the cyro pod chamber. I made it, panting heavily but I knew that I needed to ensure that I could rescue my friends. I immediately slammed my hand onto the status button of the middle most cryo pod, as it contained the head of our team, Dr. Oparas. Much to my horror however, red text filled the small display which spelled the word I feared most to read:

MALFUNCTION.

I then noticed that his heart rate had completely flat lined.

The rest of the pods then lit up, displaying the same message as well as the same flat line on Dr. Oparas's pod.

"No...no no no...please no..."

Feeling a deep fear begin to take over my body, I rubbed the frost from the glass in order to see what was inside. I then froze in place, my legs turning to jelly and the uncontrollable urge to cry began to take over. I stumbled back to the counter...feeling tears begin to run down my cheeks. I fell to the ground, feeling completely helpless...and alone.

I brought my knees to my chest and folded my arms over them before beginning to sob. I couldn't believe that I was the only one who survived...the last remaining member of Ecopoint Antarctica's research team. Snowball immediately brushed against my left arm and once I looked at him, he nestled into my chest. I held him and cried out. My friends were gone...the people I spent so much time working with and who I began to call my family...all perished in their cryo pods.

A loud hum broke me from my sobbing and I looked up to see that the last cryo pod had suddenly come to life. My eyes widened as I rushed to it before hitting the status button. I then read the display.

Critical Condition.

Lee Maxwell.

I couldn't believe my eyes as I looked to the heart rate monitor.

It was slow...but he was still alive. I looked to Snowball.

"Get a source of heat for him Snowball, he'll need it to recover once I free him." I asked.

The little robot nodded and zipped off. I immediately ran to the desk and typed frantically, searching for the override system to allow me to manually open the pod. After several minutes, I finally managed to get it open. As the door raised, I ran back to it and just as I arrived, Lee's body slumped out the pod. I managed to catch him before lowering him to the ground as gently as I could. Not a few seconds later, Snowball returned with a heat lamp balanced on his head. I placed it next to Lee before lifting him into my lap.

"Come on Lee...please...wake up."

Out of all of the members of the team, Lee was undoubtedly my closest friend. He was the person who introduced me to everyone here at Ecopoint and he was also the one who taught me most of what I know about the technology here. He was also the one who was assigned to take care of the batteries, which were the only reason why it was possible to stay in this frigid climate. I lowered him to the ground and placed my ear against his chest.

It was beating...but he wasn't breathing.

Remembering everything I was taught in initial training to join the research team, I brushed my hair out of the way and immediately pressed my lips to his, giving him rescue breaths as best I could. Every few breaths, I leaned away to press his chest with my hands. I continued this for several minutes, but no results. The fear continued to fill me and soon, my initially tame attempts at resuscitation were beginning to get desperate.

"...Please...don't leave me Lee...I need you...please..."

A loud cough broke me from my focus and much to my astonishment, it came from Lee. I watched in amazement as he slowly opened his eyes, gasping for breath as he looked around frantically for a moment. Upon seeing me however, he seemed to relax.

"...Morning." he said softly.

My emotions took over and I immediately hugged him tightly. He returned the gesture by wrapping one of his arms around my back.

"You're still alive...thank the heavens..." I cried.
"Still alive? Mei...what's going on?" he asked.

I got up and helped him to his feet before sighing deeply.

"...A lot has happened Lee...and you're not going to believe most of it."

Two Hours Later

"...I can't believe that Overwatch has been disbanded." gasped Lee.

Mei nodded slowly, letting out a saddened sigh.

"Do we have a lot of supplies left?" he asked.

She shook her head slowly, sighing yet again as she looked to Snowball.

"We have a few batteries left...but I don't think they'll last us very long. A couple of weeks at most." she replied.
"So we have to get out of here before our batteries run out then..."

The scientist shook his head, still trying to process everything that his friend just told him.

"This place was really going to make a difference Mei...I felt it in my bones." he said.
"I know Lee...and the nine years of data we've collected will save so many lives if we can get it to the right authorities." she exclaimed.

Lee approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder before looking at Snowball.

"Between the three of us, we'll figure something out...but for now, we should ensure that everything we need to survive is up and running." he explained.

Mei suddenly felt new hope pour into her and for a reason she couldn't explain, she immediately grabbed the scientist in a hug. Lee flinched and didn't return the gesture, instead nervously clearing his throat.

"I'm so glad you're okay Lee...I thought I'd be here alone when I checked the pods." she explained.

After a few moments, the scientist returned the hug.

"I guess I was lucky to have gotten out of that pod in one piece...now we just gotta stay alive until we can find a way out of this iceberg."

She released him before looking at Snowball.

"What time is it?" she asked.

The robot's eye display turned to numbers that read 19:49.

"It's getting late. We'd better get some sleep. We'll see what we can find in the secondary lab tomorrow to salvage." said Lee.

Mei nodded in agreement as she led her friend to the sleeping quarters. After ensuring she was comfortable, Lee turned to leave to his own quarters. Much to his surprise however, Mei spoke up.

"...Could you sleep in here Lee?...I'm scared of being alone..."

The scientist turned back to see her face. What was usually an optimistic, happy-go-lucky face that was always full of hope...was now replaced with deep fear and despair. Clearly, losing the rest of the research team left a much deeper hole in her psyche than he previously anticipated. He nodded before climbing into the bed next to hers.

"Alright...get some sleep Mei. I'll see you in the morning okay?" he assured.

She smiled at him and even though she still looked scared, she took off her glasses before snuggling under the thick blankets.

"Thank you Lee...good night." she whispered.