Chapter 4: The AB-Effect

Watchpoint Mess Hall - 9 PM

"Stockholm syndrome? Are you telling me that he sympathizes with those criminals?!" That was Lena's most outraged tone to date, she sat with Winston, Angela, and Torbjörn as the others were in the common room.

Winston took a deep breath as he cleaned his glasses then explained "To him those "criminals" are family... He grew up with them and i wouldn't be surprised if he even had a love interest with a grunt or scientist..." Lena shuttered at the mentioning of such a thing, simply putting "Talon' and "Love" in the same context was not right.

Angela placed a hand on Lena's shoulder then explained "He's been with them since he was born Lena, try to understand his position." Lena sighed and muttered some incoherent confirmation, allowing Angela to continue "Good, now like i was saying before being so rudely interrupted, i believe that we have a lot of recruitment potential to work with, but i must insist that AB-31 be kept out of combat for a few weeks."

Winston nodded and simply replied with "I'll have Athena set a schedule for him so he can help around the facility."

Angela smiled then continued "Now, AB-31's substance constructs are very unique, and i finally got to see how he produces this Substance.." She gave everyone a photo of Abel's hands, with the center of the palms circled to show the small slits that were barely noticeable.

However, as their meeting continued, and eventually sprung up more questions, Hana walked out the kitchen with a tray and what was left over from dinner. The chicken and veggies steamed as she walked into the medical ward, the smell of antibiotics and cleaning chemicals filled her nostrils.

Hana sighed and walked towards intensive care, with Athena opening the doors for her until she reached Abel's bedroom. Hana knocked and asked "Hey! Are you hungry?" Athena opened the door, and Hana found Abel changing his bandages, the old ones covered in a bitter and salty layer of sweat and grime, and now in the trashcan.

She watched him put on the new bandages, leaving the top of his head uncovered and leaving a space for his mouth and left eye exposed. His now exposed hair reached past his chin and down to his Adam's Apple, until he pulled it back and gave her a flat, half-lidded look of boredom.

They held each other's gaze for what seemed like an eternity, at least until Hana noticed Abel's nose twitch as he sniffed the air. He appeared right in front of her and eyed the contents of the tray, and asked "You gonna eat that?"

Hana rolled her eyes, and replied "It's for you." and handed him the tray. Abel looked at the tray, took it and replied with a low "Thank you." then teleported back onto his bed. Hana took a seat beside the bed and watched Abel make himself both a fork and knife out of substance.

She watched him slowly shovel down and chew on the food, not even bothering to blow on it to cool it down. Abel simply melted away at the flavor of the chicken in his mouth and sighed out a cloud of steam, making Hana ask "Doesn't it burn?"

He didn't reply, instead he shoveled down another forkful of chicken and broccoli, giving her the idea that he really didn't mind. After swallowing he let out another sigh and muttered "First thing I've had in days..." Hana simply blinked and asked him "Days?"

Abel nodded, and replied "Yeah, i was being kept under observation after a mission in Sri Lanka a week ago... It... It was a mess, to say the least." She blinked and watched him finish the entire tray's worth of food in under two minutes then exhale a cloud of steam. She couldn't help but give a crooked smile as she took the tray and asked "Sooooo... How you feeling?

Abel raised a brow and replied "Feeling? Well... I'm not bleeding or getting shot at... So good, i guess...?" Hana was gave him a confused look and corrected "I meant how do you feel about what's been happening, not how you physically are feeling."

Now Abel went silent, he didn't know what to say. He was glad to be in the land of the living rather than six feet under, but he was upset at being betrayed. He was conflicted, and he didn't like that, so he simply asked "Can you ask something else?" hoping he didn't sound as frustrated as he truly felt, but Hana did pick up the negative tone, sadly. She sighed and asked "Alright... So what's something you like to do?"

Again, silence, "Why is she asking me so many things i don't know..?" Abel thought, but then he remembered the only part of a mission he could honestly say he did enjoy. He looked at her, eyes locked, then replied "I like to listen to music during long trips."

Hana gave a faint smile and thought "Finally, something to work with." then asked "Anything in specific you listen to?" Abel laid down and simply replied "Rock, sometimes some metal." And he lost her with that statement. First Winston cut her streaming and online privileges to make her help, but now she had to babysit a metal-head, to say she was slightly annoyed would be a serious understatement.

"And you? What do you listen to?" Asked Abel as he put his palms together and made a rubber ball and bounced it off the wall, the ceiling and back to him. Hana watched as the ball bounced in a rhythmic manner and replied "Pop... Maybe dubste- How does that black stuff work?"

Curiosity finally got the better of the Korean gamer as Abel threw the ball against the wall and it bounced off all four walls then back at him. He looked at the rubber ball and replied "Well, rubber usually absorbs and distributes force-" Hana face palmed and corrected in a mutter "I mean the black goo you use to make things.."

Abel "Oohed" and made the ball disappear then answered while making some Substance seep out his hands "Substance, as I've grown to call it, is a malleable liquid capable of not just taking the physical shape of things, but their molecular composition as well... I can practically make everything conceivable by man, and am only limited by my imagination and strain the object in question puts on me."

Hana simply stared at him silently, then at the substance and asked "Can you make a sword with that?" Abel gave her a one sided smile and made more seep out then flattened it, while asking "European or Asian?" Hana gave him a smirk, giving him the answer with no words and watched him get to work. First he rounded the handle to a smooth oval cylinder, then made a flat square hilt between the handle and blade itself.

Hana watched grab the shapeless mass that would be the blade from the base of the hilt, then ran it down the length of the mass, using his palm to guide the substance between his index finger and thumb to give it the look he desired. Once done Abel held it out to Hana, handle on her end obviously, and watched a silent gasp escape her lips.

Hana took the blade from the handle and stood up, the weight of it was perfectly centered and it was straighter than a line. She looked at a flower vase next to the window and, gently, cut off a single leaf without even trying. She gave a wide smile and handed Abel the Katana back, and asked "Why would they try to kill you? This is incredible."

Abel fell silent again, he honestly wanted to know the answer to that himself, he really did. He had done everything Talon ever wanted, captured prisoners, protected VIPs, even taken flack for others, literally in some occasions. Abel sighed and made the sword disappear by accident, and replied to her question with "Honestly? I don't know. I wanna know... But, if it was their plan all along to kill me, then i doubt they would even lose a night of sleep.."

Hana could tell that was the straightest answer she was gonna get, and watched him lay down on his side, put the blanket over himself and mutter "Goodnight..."

Talon HQ - 2 Days after Base Evac

The base was at an all time quiet, hundreds of Talon troops, doctors, scientists, engineers, pilots, and office workers all stood in orderly formations as the honorary rifle men fired off their last volley of shots. The hardened veterans who had been in Talon since the beginning simply kept their stance, while the younger, least experienced and non combatants gazed in absolute sadness at the massive wall of photos.

There were photos of valiant men and women who served and died for the global revolution, however, in front of the wall there were five pedestals with four having a bust on them along with a number. The fifth one however was covered by a dark grey piece of canvas, as a single man in a black trench coat with a "01" on his left sleeve walked to before the stone heads.

"I will not lie to any of you, nor do i expect you to lie to yourselves... Today is a tragic day for our family..." Stated the AB-01 as he pulled off the canvas from the bust of the new pedestal, a bust of AB-31, and continued "We have lost our youngest brother in arms... We have lost a valuable asset to our group.. We have lost AB-31..."

AB-01 looked at the 25 other AB's standing at the front row, each of differing nationalities, ages, and so on. He looked at the men and women behind them, 26 different legions belonging to an AB respectively, and he could tell that, besides feeling sad, they were angry, furious, livid. He cleared his throat and continued "Now... I know we will miss AB-31... But i only ask that we not just honor a fallen brother... But avenge him.."

The entire mass of men and women saluted simultaneously as AB-01 saluted back and stated in a firm, and overall dominating tone "Now, go! Hunt down the individuals who took our brother! Hunt down Overwatch! For 31!"

"FOR 31!" Replied the legions as they marched out the, almost impossibly, massive hall, with the ABs all walking together towards their own wing of the facility, leaving the busts of ABs 03, 13, 25, 29 and 31 to eternally remind them of the fallen. They all walked into a large common room and took their seats in their respective places, while AB-01 asked "So... How will we do this?"

AB-11, a fairly tall man with his hair pulled back, a magnificent beard and a lab coat crossed his arms and replied "I must insist that we, as in all of us present, not waste energy on such a futile search... We are getting ever closer to our goal and using our reserves in searching for a dead body won't do us any go-"

He was cut off by both blonde AB-07's yelling simultaneously "But he's our little brother! Does that mean so little to you?!" AB-09, a short woman with her hair in a bun added "He was the youngest, doesn't his death deserve to be avenged at the very least?"

AB-06, the biggest AB standing in at nine feet tall replied in a deep tone "I must agree, but will that bring him back 9? Will that bring anything productive?" AB-05 patted the gentle giant's lower back and added to his statement while fixing his hat "Big ol' lug 'ere is right... We'd be wastin so much for just a moment of satisfaction..."

AB-20, an AB in a skintight suit with a gas mask nodded, along with ABs 4 through 19. AB-21 however remained silent, making AB-01 ask "Why so quiet 21? Out of all of us, i expected you to be more involved with this meeting?"

21 gazed at 01 with her ruby red eyes, her crimson bangs pulled aside to reveal a flawless creamy white face, say for the slight blush of having cried hours ago that still lingered. She didn't reply, instead she got up and walked to the stairs, but stopped when AB-01 ordered "You are to not move the 21st legion... If you do, then-"

A loud screech like howl passed by the room and beside 01's head, he looked at the wall and saw a large burn mark on it with a hole going clean through the wall for several meters. Everyone turned to look at 21 and saw her pointing both her right index and middle fingers at 01 then muttered "I do what i want... Nobody will tell me otherwise, and if they do..."

A red bolt of energy came out her fingers and floated in place as she asked in a stern and malevolent tone "Is that clear?" There were various silent nods as everyone, Cain included, feared AB-21, her power was unrivaled, not even Doomfist himself had a proper control over her. She made the bolt disappear then walked up to her room, dragging along the end of her black dress as she slowly arrived at her room.

AB-01 sighed then shook his hand lazily, dismissing the meeting and simply telling them "... I think it's better if we recollect ourselves before discussing this topic... Goodnight.."

Meanwhile AB-21 entered her room and unhooked the black dress from her shoulders while kicking her flats off. She walked towards her bed and laid quietly on it, the black sheets contrasting with the intense red hair and pasty white skin.

She looked at the nightstand and stared at the photo on display, all thirty-one ABs together in a hangar, all in their respective uniform. 21 remembered the day of the photo, just another season long campaign had successfully been completed and all ABs were more than happy to indulge in celebrating. They arrived and were greeted by a myriad of Talon workers, soldiers and so on preparing to party like never before.

However what she recalled that day was a single promise, a shallow promise that "All of them would look after each other." made by Gabriel. Not even a minute after waking up the following day did they receive the order that they would all go to clandestine locations around the world.

And now, nearly four years after that day, there were only 26 of them remaining, and worst of all, Abel was "dead". She grabbed the photograph removed the glass, then supercharged her index finger until it was white hot and letting out a small string of steam upwards.

She then slowly etched the faces off each AB, starting with 01 and worked her way up. She simply stared coldly at the photo until twenty-nine of the thirty-one faces were gone, leaving only her and AB-31.

She didn't get any sleep that night.

Watchpoint Hangar - 9 AM - Three Days Later

Abel sighed as he helped guide the fueling tube onto the side of the Orca transport, Athena instructing into his headset "Easy, make sure we are connected properly then scan for any obstructions in the Orca's fuel cell."

"Roger that.." Stated Abel in a flat tone as he locked the tube in place and started the scan. This was his third day of working in the base, he had helped around in various areas, from cleaning the entire base over night, helping Torbjörn cook, moving equipment before and after training and loading the Orca, like right now.

The scan came out clean and Abel started injecting the fuel into the cell and asked "Athena, when is my appointment with Angela?" Athena replied in her usual synthetic voice "One hour and eighteen minuets."

Abel nodded then waited for the fuel cell to fill up, all the while Lena arrived and yelled "You need a hand up there?!" Abel looked down, he was on a elevated platform and replied "No thanks, I'm good..." Lena frowned and zipped up to him and asked "Why do you always do that?"

The fuel cell finished filling up and Abel asked while removing the fueling tube "Do what?" Lena rolled her eyes and simply stated "That, you are always alone, you always do things on your own, and you hardly sit and talk with anyone."

Abel lowered the platform back down to ground level, guided the tube back into it's respective area and replied "I work alone, that's all you need to know." Before Lena could even question him further Abel teleported away and appeared in the medical ward, finding Angela waiting patiently at the lounge area.

She hadn't noticed him arrive and drank her morning coffee while looking over various medical reports from around the world, from medicine to surgery. Eventually her peace was focus was broken when Abel knocked on the wall and got her undivided attention. She smiled, put her pad aside and walked up to him and asked "Your appointment is an hour from now.. What can i help you with?"

Abel leaned against the doorway and asked her "Can we move it ahead to say... Now?" Angela rolled her eyes and simply told him "Follow me." and walked to her office. Abel followed her in and took a seat as Angela grabbed a pair of scissors and asked Abel "Are you ready?"

Abel nodded and stood still as Angela cut off the tight knot in the back of Abel's head, seeing how he always loosened the bandages up, and started unwrapping them.

Abel remained as quiet as possible and felt the bandages peel off his head and eventually get pulled off. Angela examined him as the last few inches of bandages came off and hummed to herself.

"What do you think?" She asked as she picked up a mirror from her desk and showed Abel his "new" face.

Abel blinked and whispered "... I really need a hair cut.."

Chapter 4 done, and what a week it's been. Sorry i took a stupid-long time in writing this one, but went to E3 and arrived back home just to get work shoved into my schedule.

icedragon512: Thanks for the praise, and i can't say anything this early bud.

TheNightstalker250: Guests can't be reported, they don't use an account, or simply post as a guest with their account to avoid being reported. Sucks i know.

Not much else to say, soooo...

Until Next time, I'm still in the Trenches, and I hope You Enjoyed.