Log Entry 705. December 2nd.
Fuck Flying.
Angela felt as though that summed up her thoughts quite well. She had taken out the log tablet so as to take her mind away from the horror she felt inside the plane, and instead had come right back to fear. Lena sat beside her, trying to calm her while Reinhardt sat beside Angela, snoring through a magazine. Lena had linked her hand through Angela's, and would squeeze it every now and then too reassure her.
"I'm glad you came last night, love" Lena said to Angela. Angela glanced to Lena and tried to smile.
"How could I resist?"
"It was good of you to take Amir home. Poor Bastard could barely stand. Akira won't be happy"
Angela shrugged. "I'm glad I came" Was all she said through clenched teeth. She was glad Lena had sat next to her, something still felt off. The wall between them felt as though it was thinning, but it was still there. She had packed four books to read on the flight in hope to distract herself, but immediately recognised she would not be able to read them.
"Tell me about your new project" Lena prodded. When she saw Angela's eyes flare she knew she was onto something. Gungnir was packed and ready for use, and Lena had noted schematics and mathematical notes surrounding Angela every time she was at the Library. Whatever it was, Angela had devoted a lot of time to it.
"Okay" Angela said shakily. "But you should understand, I haven't got anything concrete yet" She reached down to her feet for her bags, and brought out some schematics. "It's an extension to the Valkyrie suit. For the more dangerous places we will go" She gripped the papers tightly in fear with her free hand, Lena was worried they'll rip. "Overall it should add an extra 500 kilograms worth of strength augmentation to the suit, triple armour able to take a bullet, and this is my personal favourite" Blue eyes flared as she talked about her work. Lena watched her eyes, she was watching how happy it made her. "A specialised magnet in the arm that allows Gungnir to come to my arm at any time I need. With the Gungnir upgrade done that will be massive" She turned too Lena and smiled. "I call it the Odin armour"
Lena smiled back.
"That's great, sounds really good. But when will it-
"Never" Angela replied, the light in her eyes faded. A small spot of turbulence made Angela grip Lena's hand in a vice grip, and Lena winced as her hand was crushed.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Angela hissed through her teeth as she saw Lena. Lena swore as she wrung her hand.
"Good grip you got there" she muttered. She gave a look at Angela and almost laughed at her face, completely apologetic and afraid that she had really hurt Lena. She smiled in return and placed her arm around Angela's shoulders instead. "Don't worry about it. I'm a tough bird, but you should look at your face" she laughed and Angela managed a weak laugh back. "So, why not get it built?"
"Oh. It's because the energy needed is immense. I'll have to strip it down" she referred back to the schematics. "I've calculated it as taking up 20 times as much energy as the current suit. The suit can work currently off it's own internal micro fuel cells fabric for a hell of a long time, perfectly balanced so as to have the amount of energy produced be the output of the suit. Put that equation out of balance and suddenly you drain the fuel cells in a few hours, or you have a lot of energy with nowhere to go, followed by a big boom"
"Why don't you put in more fuel cells layers?" Reinhardt said, causing the two women to jump. He had woken during the commotion with Lena's crushed hand, and was looking over the schematic with a expert eye. Angela meanwhile was suddenly ripped from her fascination with her own creation to the reality that she was sat on a plane, and her fear flew back to her.
"Oh, I see" Reinhardt said. "It'll be too heavy. Valkyrie weighs about say 10 kilograms now, half that's the fuel cells spread throughout the membrane. I remember them when they were these big boxy things see, incredible they were able to minimise the procedure into a fabric" he harrumphed in a way that could only be described as satisfied. "Course, a bigger suit requires more layers of the damned things"
"Yes, you're correct!" Angela said, her eyes were suddenly on fire again and Lena watched. "I've estimated it to be about 75 kilograms!"
"Not a problem to wear with strength enhancement, but an utter swine too carry. Logistical problem, you knew it from the start"
"I want to use the schematics for different reasons" Angela sounded defensive, but not afraid Lena noted. "The idea isn't to have a concrete plan going forward, this is an idea for a prototype. It was a stressful week!"
Lena watched with increasing interest and amusement as the two talked, and studied intensely Reinhardts reaction to being told Angela had made the schematics in a week. His face jumped from surprise to confusion to disbelief back to confusion again and finally rested on something Lena couldn't quite pin down. If she had to have labelled it, she would have said it was a sad pride.
"A week? You made this in a week?"
"Well, I used some software to help me"
"It usually takes the RnD team ages to make schematics like this! They take at least a week to design a sponge on a stick!"
"In their defence they have to go through like a million meetings and focus groups to get the sponge budget" Angela replied dead pan
"Oh, my mistake. They take a day to design a sponge on a stick" Reinhardt replied. "Verdammt! Yet you haven't realised the obvious"
"What?"
Lena piped up. "The suit, why does it have to be a development of the original suit, could it be a seperate piece used for only small bursts?"
"She gets it!" Reinhardt exclaimed. Angela's eyes unfocused for a moment, and then darted back to the schematics.
"Why didn't I think of that! It was so obvious"
"You started with the wrong mindset, you weren't expecting it to amount to anything, so you didn't see the obvious" He shook his head. "Shameful"
"Alright, It was a simple mistake"
"Something like this can not afford mistakes! This is fantastic. You do it a disservice if you don't take it seriously. Nein, nein, you must be taught how to properly work on this. I take it what you've gathered is what you've picked up in the labs? No formal training"
"Yes" Angela sounded defensive, but Lena noticed she was no longer terrified. "And I've done well regarding that"
"You have" Reinhardt conceded. "You have indeed. But" he grinned. "Why not have some formal training. There is a garage where we're staying, I'll lead you through what you're missing. We could be at the place for a while between expedition trips"
Angela was suspicious. "And what do you want in return?"
"To see your skills put too good use" Came the reply.
Lena had been watching carefully, and thought herself a good judge of character. She didn't get the feeling he was lying, or had ulterior motives. On the contrary, he looked somewhat desperate. Like he had hoped for something like this for a while.
Angela's face was impassive. Finally she spoke. "We've heard very little of the place we will be staying, yet you know there is a garage there. Why do you know more about it then we do?"
Reinhardt started, and seemed to draw into himself. Both Angela and Lena could tell he didn't like the question, and clocked it. He spoke.
"That's personal. But if you must know, it's my place. I was going to use it for retirement" He grew quiet, and Lena edged forward, trying to read why he was hiding his connection to the place, and see if they were adverse. Angela stared a little longer, and then moved back to the schematics.
"You can teach me how to improve on this?"
Reinhardt nodded. Angela looked back to the schematics and gave a look to Lena. Lena realised what she was doing, she was asking her opinion, seeing whether or not Lena trusted Reinhardt and deferring to her opinion. With a barely perceptible nod, Angela turned back to the interested Reinhardt.
"Deal"
"We start now" He pointed down to the schematics and Lena allowed herself to drop out of the conversation. Every now and then an excited gasp and "Verdammt! Why didn't I think of that!" Came from the seat near Lena, and she happily relaxed into the flight.
After touching down and getting luggage, Reinhardt and Zarya strode out confidently into the cold to the awaiting transport. Lena took a step out the door and swore.
"F-F-F-F Fuck!" she exclaimed. The cold bit deep into her and through her clothes. Angela watched her and gave a small smile as she reached the airport transport.
"Gotten used to the African heat, sweetheart?" Angela asked as they were taken to their connecting flight.
"Why aren't you shaking?" Lena demanded. "Shake you inhuman bastard!"
"I've been colder" Angela replied, she turned to see Lucio perfectly at home in the cold.
"Oh, come on! You live in Brazil, you should be freezing your knackers off!"
"Have you forgotten my wife is Finnish?" Lucio replied, barely suppressing a grin. "We visit her family for two weeks every year"
"As a matter of fact I had. Dammit, I want someone to suffer with me"
"A Brit complaining. How rare" Zarya put in as they finally reached the connecting flight. The Omnic in the front gave a happy wave as they piled in the back. He was an exceptionally tall Omnic, and nodded to Zenyatta, who stopped and stared at him.
"Problem, Zen?" Zarya said
Zenyatta kept staring at the omnic, but eventually looked back to Zarya and shook his head.
Angela decided to ask about the place they were staying from Reinhardt. She had hoped that the last few hours would defrost him from the first response they had gotten, and she needed something to distract her from the horrible knowledge they were in a plane that; in a pinch, could double as a coffin.
"Like I said, it was for retirement. Of course, retirement never came and we decided to keep in case we finally get our pensions"
"we?" asked Angela, and Reinhardt swore.
"You don't need to know that" came the curt reply.
Zarya as head of the operation knew the history of the area, and gave Angela a look too back off. At that time the planes engines restarted, and Angela felt terror in her stomach kindle.
Halfway through, Angela felt a small buzz on the inside of her head. Looking at Lena her face changed and morphed, and for a short moment, Angela could have sworn her black hair had turned a bright red, and her eyes became a gentle emerald green.
"Angela?" Lena asked as Angela yanked away from her linked arm in shock. Lena gave a concerned look with shadowed brown eyes.
"Sorry" Angela shrugged. "Turbulence"
It makes sense, I suppose. she told herself. I was supposed to come here with him anyway. And she is the first since he died. Feeling bad for pulling away so suddenly, she placed her arm over Lenas shoulder.
Lena reluctantly allowed herself to be drawn in, their coats and layers so thick they could barely feel each other between them. She herself was unhappy. She could swear she could smell smoke.
"I've been wondering" Lena asked to put her mind at ease. "why Odin? Why not Frigga or Skadi?"
"Because no one knows who they are"
"I do"
"Yes, but from what you told me, you would"
Lena shrugged. She had told Angela about some visions she occasionally had, which Lena theorised could only be her ancestors.
"Still though"
Angela gripped harder through a moment of turbulence, and her voice took on the tone of someone trying to stay calm despite terror.
"I don't like the name, Valkyrie" Angela confessed. "In the myths they were too often just the lovers of heroes" she gave a quick look at Lena, who nonchalantly brushed some hair out of her face and tried not to let on how much she liked the implication.
"Or carry them to Valhalla, or Folkvangr" her eyes narrowed. "Odin though"
"Was a bastard. Cunning, but a right bastard" Lena put in.
"The commander of heroes in preparation for Ragnarok. And who in their right mind, would choose to be the servant of heroes, when you could be the commander?"
"What about the healer? Eir?"
"I was hoping to get my name changed from Mercy to Eiry" she looked out on the admittedly beautiful landscape of Sweden from high up. "I like the Norse connection"
They would land two hours later, outside of a small town on the outskirts of a massive forest. Angela gladly got out of the plane and sighed as she felt the ground beneath her feet, releasing her pent up fears.
Soon, they were outside of the airport, and Angela was struck by the differences between rich, stable nations and the city state they had left behind.
The world of sand and heat had been replaced by snow and cold, instead of slums, suburbs rose from the cities, and instead of the vendors and street pedlars that were a given in Numbani, small rows of local shops and cosy cafes littered the streets. The few people who walked the streets did so confidently and without fear of attack, even the Omnics. Angela watched, and not for the first time felt guilt over how they were leaving Numbani at such a time as then.
"I feel the same way, sometimes" Lena said, angela turned to look at her.
"Pardon?"
"I feel it too. Usually when I go back to my parents at Christmas. I feel like I'm abandoning those I should be helping" Lena pointed outside the car window. "Look how many Omnics there are. Free citizens, people with their own lives and their own little private worlds. Remember, if we don't find the Bastion they will always be at risk. If Blackwatch does the same as last time with a bigger transmitter, thousands could die at a time. Numbani increased ten fold"
Zenyetta was watching, and when Lena glanced to him, he nodded his approval.
Angela linked her hands through Lena's. "We'll find it" Moving through the town, they moved past its outskirts and into the forest beyond it. Dark imposing trees grew thick around the town, decked in white from the snow and bathed in the pale moonlight. The forest was eerily beautiful, and big. Angela trusted Zenyetta, but even he admitted he could only track the Bastion so far. It could be meters away, and with the forest and the undoubted camouflage it had developed over the years, it could hide away or worse, attack.
Driving on through plowed, heated roads the car finally pulled up outside a large lodge. Angela gave it a dismissive look and trudged out of the car towards it.
"Nice place for retirement" she said too Reinhardt. Reinhardt turned to her and gave her a piercing look.
"Thank you" he finally said warily. He addressed the group and his face changed to a grin "Take your rooms wherever. I don't care which ones you take, I don't care who takes them. Fuck! Take two for all I care. You have free reign. Enjoy it. Bars fully stocked"
A bar? How much are they paying you?
"Angela!" Reinhardt shouted making Angela jump. He laughed. "Once your done come with me! I'll show you the workshop while this lot gets Total Besoffen. We'll see about making some changes to the suit"
Angela nodded, though slightly startled. She gave a look to Zarya and could tell she was not happy with Reinhardt. The plan was to use the lodge as a base and make long distance, overnight trips into the forest using Zenyattas admittedly dodgy neural link so as to find the Omnic. It was pitch black, and would not be getting lighter for another month, so Angela felt that Zarya was only letting Reinhardt off due to the misery of the coming weeks. As the rest trudged off, Lena approached Angela.
"I'm wondering" Lena said with uncharacteristic shyness "Would you like to share a room? Just... For warmth?"
"Warmth?"
"And whatever you want to do, I won't judge"
"Sure" Angela replied. She didn't see the point in not doing so, and Lena practically beamed.
"Its not a big deal" She continued
"Great. Give me your bags, you're going with Reinhardt, aren't you?"
"Thanks" Angela grimaced, and wished she hadn't said yes so quickly. "But you should know. I've been having nightmares"
"Numbani?" Lena grimaced. "I've been having them to"
Angela raised her eyebrows. "I didn't know. You should have told me"
"I didn't want you to worry. But seeing as how we're sharing a room, well, just being near someone helps"
Angela smiled.
"Look, I've got to see Reinhardt. But we'll talk about this later"
"Tomorrow. I'm Knackered love."
"Then let me-"
"I can manage. You go play with fire" With that, Lena kissed her goodnight, and left Angela with Reinhardt.
Following him, Angela was taken to the workshop. It was on the bottom floor and filling out a large portion of it. Angela gasped once she stepped inside.
"Not bad, huh?"
"You have a furnace? This isn't a workshop, this is a fucking blacksmiths!" She looked over the equipment. In the middle stood a old version of Reinhardt's armour, against its stand. The equipment was impressive, if a little outdated. Laser heaters and 3d printers for the mass production of small, simple machinery pieces. A automatic moulder for the shaping of hot metal sat beside; something that Angela particularly liked, an old school hammer and anvil.
"I had it installed once it was clear I wasn't retiring"
"It's incredible"
Reinhardt swelled with pride at the compliment, and motioned to the furnace
"The furnace can heat to 4000 celsius. Open that garage door to the outside and this room drops to -30. -60 after the decimation" His grin spread from ear to ear. "My own little sun in the tundra"/