She woke up in the middle of the night, with the headquarter mostly silent. It was her last night before the trip, she knew she'd have to gather up as much useful information as she could.
After an hour spent on her computer trying to learn about Anubis and its construction, she took some time to think about her plan of action. Shutting it down wouldn't be too hard as an EMP would work on any kind of machine unless they had specific cover for those type of waves, but she knew an old program like Anubis would not have such technology unless it knew specifically that she was out to get it. The problem lied in it's innards, she didn't know how Anubis looked from the inside and, because of that, snapping the processors and the memory bank out would take longer than usual which, in a dangerous place like the temple, was a problem to her.
She quickly though of a solution which may not have been perfect, but was still a good start. She got up and walked out of her room in the middle of the night, turning invisible and quickly going down the different stories of the building until she got in the basement, which was built within a natural cave alongside the mountain of Gibraltar. The doors weren't a problem go get through, although she knew that forcing them open would give up her location.
When she got into the room she was looking for, she took some time to process what she was seeing : a large machine was holding a glowing core, with monitors and holograms around it showing a large symbol, a curved « A » that confirmed she was looking at Athena.
« I can see you, Agent Sombra. »
The speakers all around the room turned her voice into an strange sound, like a choir that spoke in perfect unisson. Sombra took her invisibility away. « Thermal cameras? she asked.
- I can sense your electromagnetic field.
- That's a new one.
- My sense of deduction made me conclude that both human beings and Omnic will emit an electromagnetic field when they are active, which is why I have adapted to sense it.
- You're still learning just fine, then.
- Thanks to the good care of Overwatch, I have been surrounded by a safe shell for my most important pieces, leaving me free to fully develop my understanding of the world. »
She could feel a powerful pressure in her brain, especially the left part that she had modified. She knew what is was : Athena was trying to get into her mind. Sombra grinned at the idea, it wasn't going to do anything to her, god-programs could only take control of Omnics, but the idea that it was still trying to to the same to her was… interesting to say the least.
« That's good and all for you, but that's not what I'm here to chat about.
- Tell me, then, Miss Colomar. »
She ignored that last part and kept going. « Look, I know you don't like me.
- I do not have emotions, but I have put you on my list of restricted individuals.
- It's basically the same thing really, but that's not what matters. We're going on a big and important mission and I'll have to take on Anubis. I'm pretty confident I'll be able to disable it for a minute or so, but I need to know how he's been built. I need to see what a program like him looks on the inside.
- You will not find the information you need in here, agent Sombra. I am a more sophisticated version of Anubis, my processors are not the same. Additionally, individuals that are part of my restricted list cannot approach me in such way that would be threatening to my integrity.
- I know that, she said as she looked inside her jacket.
- I know you have an electromagnetic pulse inside your jacket. If you use it, I will have to contact Winston.
- Do what you want, I'm not here to harm Overwatch. Winston won't be doing anything to me anytime soon. »
She activated the EMP and an alarm went off for less than a second, with Athena shutting down, leaving Sombra in the dark and with a large machine to open up and look into. She managed to take out the metal plates and were covering the processor and, with her own source of light, she started digging through to see what was what inside such a large machine. It was complex and, seeing the size of all of its compartment, it was immensely powerful machine, no wonders something like that could send signals and take over the minds of other Omnics all around the world. Athena, however, was a new model, not designed to take over Omnic minds, but instead made to remotely control machines built to be controlled, such as airplanes, radios or the entire headquarter that was Watchpoint Gibraltar. Of course, that didn't mean she couldn't still take control of some unfortunate Omnic minds. Sombra knew there was a difference and that looking at Anubis' innards wouldn't be as easy, but as an improved model to Anubis, Athena was still a good way to start.
Now of course she wasn't here to harm Athena, only to peak at it and understand what a god program was meant to look like. She also knew that Anubis could also modify its own processors since it was a self-improving program, so all of this may have been for nothing. Although, on the contrary, it may just be the perfect thing to do : as a self-improving program, Anubis would want to be more sophisticated and Athena was a more advanced version of it, thus reading its next action, Anubis would probably want to look more like Athena. However, since she couldn't make out what was happening inside the mind of a god-program, she'll have to guess what it would try to do and use every single bit of information she could get in the aftermath of a problem.
She took mental notes as to how Athena's pieces were assembled and she replaced everything where it was due. It would restart in the next few minutes and would probably not be pleased to know what she had just done, better get out before anything bad happened.
Someone grabbed her by the shoulders and tossed her on the ground away from Athena. She immediately got back up and tried to see who it was, but instead a hand wrapped around her neck and pushed her all the way back against the wall. She could finally see who it was : Morison.
« You think I don't see what you're trying to do?
- Relax, I just needed to take a look at that program.
- You think I'm gonna fall for that? I know about your ties to Los Muerto.
- Oh, of course you do. »
She felt his hand strangle her against the wall and she held onto it to get out of his grasp. « You're not gonna get away with this. I'll bring you to Winston and you'll have a hard time explaining why you were messing with Athena.
- I… already told you… I need to see what it looks like. »
She started having difficulty breathing, she felt his hand slowly ease, leaving her some space to breathe in. « If I'm going to get into the temple of Anubis, I better know what it looks like. »
- Athena has nothing to do with that and, even if that were the case, I wouldn't let you go. »
As he was talking, she was trying to find a way to escape. He was much stronger than her, but not quicker. The problem was that she couldn't get that far anyways and then explaining herself would be useless if it was her voice against his in Gibraltar.
« Morison. »
A strong and deep voice made them both look at the door as Athena was slowly rebooting, putting the lights back on. Doomfist stood in front of them. « Leave us, Morison said, this does not concern you.
- She is not your agent. She is working for me. If you try and hurt her, you'll have to get through me first. »
Morison set her free and turned around to look at Doomfist. « You're not the one in charge here, aren't you?
- And you're not her employer. Sombra is our most powerful tool right now, if she needs to look at the god program to know how it works, we should let her. »
Morison walked up to him and they both stood straight up, looking at each other in the eyes. Sombra was wondering which one would jump on the other first? Probably Morison, he seemed to be much less calculated than Akande. No matter which one, it would be a good escape route for her.
« We are in this together, Morison, Doomfist said.
- Are we? Last time I checked, Overwatch put you in prison because of your terrorist attacks.
- Last time I checked, I was sitting with you at your table, helping us plan our defence against our real enemy : the Omnics that are currently swarming the world.
- A war that you started.
- I have recognized that mistake, and now I will do what I must to stop it. »
Morison turned around and looked at both of them. « I did not make my way across the world to see Overwatch infiltrated by people like you. Angela must've lost her god damned mind.
- Maybe that, or maybe she can see things you still cannot.
- You won't get away with it that easily. »
He walked away and, once he was at the door, he turned around. « Next time any of you try to even get close to this room, it's going to be a bullet right through your head. No more warning. »
He left and Sombra looked at her nails. « He's definitely mad at us. »
Akande turned to her with a dark look. « What were you thinking?
- I had to look at Athena, what can I say?
- You could've asked instead of sneaking up on it in the middle of the night.
- I already knew they wouldn't want to, also I always work at night.
- Next time, I won't be here to help you.
- I didn't need your help.
- Of course, he was just going to drag you all the way back to Winston and they would've banned you.
- You know Angela wouldn't have let them.
- We cannot rely on her at all time, she is not our servant.
- No, but that doesn't mean she can't be useful to get us out of trouble.
- Sombra, we are here to work with Overwatch. You cannot do these kinds of things and expect them to trust you.
- I've already given up on getting people to trust me a long time ago.
- It isn't just about you, you are putting me, Angela and Amélie at risk when you do this.
- You know me. Even if they ban me from the place, I can still work with you.
- Next time, tell me before you do something stupid again.
- It wasn't stupid, I needed to know. »
Akande's look was enough to silence her. He left the room and she followed him all the way back to his room. « I meant what I said to Morison : we are all in this together, and you are one of our most valuable ally.
- Isn't that sweet of you.
- This isn't a joke, Sombra. Anubis may be the one thing that will make the difference and save thousands if not millions of lives. Your mission needs to be successful.
- It's as if you were hitting on me right now, she chuckled.
- This is serious Sombra. »
He walked up to her. « No more sneaking around and no more vandalizing. »
- Alright then.
- Now go to sleep, or whatever you were doing. »
She looked and him and sat on his bed. Akande sighted. « In your own room.
- I don't feel like walking all the way back to my room. Looks like you're stuck with me. »
Akande was not amused, giving her a serious look. « Not tonight.
- Oh, don't worry about that, I just want to be around you, that's it.
He sighted and got in bed next to her. She tried to get her arms around him, but he pushed her away. « I said not tonight.
- You know I'm leaving tomorrow? Who knows how long I'll be gone?
- We have very important planing to do tomorrow and I need to be up early. I need some sleep.
- And you know what would help you sleep? »
She tried to get on top of him but he held her away with his arm. « I'm serious, Olivia. » He normally never used her name, hearing it seemed weird and let her feeling a weird taste in her mouth. She stood next to him, listening to his slow breathing as he slowly fell asleep next to her.
