Four days.
It has been four days since he was admitted to the ward, a significantly longer time for him to recover than usual. Just a year ago, he was able to heal and walk after only two days at most with far more broken bones.
Even before Angela told him, he had already guessed. His prototype body was already several decades due and it was only a matter of time before it reached its limits, especially when he almost died back in Venice despite medical care from Angela and Baptiste.
Because of this, he was told, warned, even almost ordered to stay in bed, to give her more time to find ways to reverse the 'degradation effect' and for his body to properly recover, specifically his bones, which she described had become 'brittle powder'.
But he knew deep down, he was already at the end of his rope.
The constant broken bones, combat, injuries, muscles straining to keep up with his Battle Rages, if he rests now and allows his body to fully recover, he will no longer be combat effective.
"This is just a speculation" Morrison said, leaning back on his chair.
"Yes sir, but you and I know that prototypes like me aren't meant to last this long" Quillion replied.
"Still, there is a chance that Angela would be able to find a cure"
"She must focus on Amelie, not me"
Morrison shifted in his seat and tapped his pen on the proposal that Quillion wrote and hour ago.
"Tell me then, why do you want to do this? Revenge? A score to settle?" he asked.
"Neither sir, I'm doing this for her"
Morrison paused for a moment, nodded, and signed the papers.
"Very well. Quillion, tomorrow, I, as Commander of Overwatch and an official of the United Nations, will declare you a dangerous terrorist with deep connections with the terrorist Sombra and the last elements of Talon, whom we suspect are regrouping in Russia. I would highly suggest that you visit Winston for a final conversation before your departure"
"Thank you sir, and if the worst happens, please take care of Amelie for me?" Quillion said, holding out his hand.
Morrison didn't move and merely stared at the hand until it was retrieved awkwardly.
"If you ever hold out your hand with words of cowardice again, the God Program will be the least of your worries, now get out" he spat.
*Overwatch: Cemetery"
The ocean breeze was welcoming, far better than the constant, cold temperatures of the Medical Bay.
Looking around, he was surprised that the place was not only clean, but it was alive. He had never really explored the base after its renovation and had an impression that it was transformed into nothing more than rock, wire, and metal.
Thanks to the wind breakers, the trees rustled gently and comfortably, giving the area a much needed environment of relief and peace. The grass was also perfectly mowed, mostly thanks to the little robots that glided silently over them.
The only thing that was out of place was that instead of sparrows or pigeons, seagulls littered the area.
He followed the path and stopped briefly at the first grave that he came across.
Here Lies
Dr. Mina Liao
Scientist & Founder
Overwatch
"Echo… Wonder what that is" he thought.
He had briefly read about the people here. It wasn't hard as there were only less than 20 of them and much of their information had been redacted for security reasons, so he could only speculate when they were born, served, and passed. Despite that, each and every one of them absolutely deserved to be rested here.
Dr Liao was one of, if not the first of Overwatch's Six Founding Members. A preeminent expert of robotics and AI, so much so that many considered her to be the Originator of Omnics, and her knowledge of their mechanics and limitations were key to fighting them efficiently.
The others had also contributed powerfully to the world through Overwatch, some of them combatants that had served far beyond the call of duty, achieving feats that even Quillion himself doubted that he would ever accomplish, and some were fantastic scientists who broke ground in medical and/or technological fields that skyrocketed human advancement.
However, in this place of titanic achievements, only one is the most 'normal' amongst them, one whose deeds and identity was so secret that no one but the highest echelon of Overwatch had access to her information.
Taking a deep breath, he looked down to the one he came to visit. To his annoyance, it was only inscribed with a single word, and it seemed to be too far to the left.
Emily
Squatting down, he brushed away the non-existent dirt and noticed something odd. The name was centered, but the last name was covered by a fresh coat of paint.
He placed a hand over it, trying to feel out what was covered when a familiar, soft whoosh sound Blinked from behind.
"Oxton. They tried to put Oxton…" Lena said sadly.
"Oh… Should've kept it then" he said, standing up.
"No. She does not deserve my name"
"Like I said, should've kept it" he repeated.
"Why are we here Quil?" she sighed. She was finally enjoying something other than hospital food when Athena told her that Quillion had a message for her here.
"Dunno, just felt that you needed to talk, that's all" he said.
"What makes you think that?"
"Everyone heard you shouting at Genji back there, and I'm hoping that I could help, beats lying on the bed for days too"
He half expected Lena to brush it off and walk away, but she didn't, rather she looked conflicted, so he waited patiently and leaned against a nearby tree.
"How do you keep going? How can you just carry on as if life does not owe you anything?" she finally asked.
"Owe me? It doesn't owe me anything"
"There you go again! How do you do that? Life throws you a curveball and all you do is just… Ignore it? I mean…" she started but paused again as she struggled for the right words.
"Just be frank" he encouraged.
"I-I… I mean how do you do it? How do you keep fighting? How do you keep yourself sane? Like last year… You were depressed after…" she paused and glanced at Emily for a moment before back at him.
"Then you were tortured and almost killed in Italy, but you didn't only recover, you literally went off to liberate your people right after all that! Then you built a life only to have it blown up by another big bad guy, and you're just ready to go fight again? How? How do you keep going? Amelie is in the ICU and here you are trying to help others?! How?"
She waited anxiously as he thought about the answer. This was it. This was as clear as she could make it. If he could just point her in the right direction, then maybe she could finally make some progress for herself.
Quillion struggled for words, having never actually thought about this in its entirety before, because the answer has always been simple and never needed to be expressed in words.
"To be honest, the first 80% of all that? I had absolutely no clue"
"What?"
"Well, more like I was too angry and confused to care, I mean common, I was literally trying to take revenge on something that Sombra planted in my head"
"How did you know it was Sombra?"
"Amelie mentioned it once, you can imagine my surprise"
"What about the other 20% then?" she asked, feeling her hopes deteriorating.
"I think…I just did what I thought was right" he mumbled through, not blaming Lena for cringing.
"That's… So cringey"
"Yeah… Sounded better in my head" he admitted.
Lena sighed with heavy disappointment. Once again she had hit a dead end, just another 'do what's right' speech and nothing else.
"How do you know what you're doing was right? Just let history decide?" she asked, repeating Morrison's words to her and hoped Quillion would have a different perspective.
"Wow, you're not pulling any punches" he replied and ran his fingers through his hair "I'd say… There is absolutely no way we could please or tick the 'right' checkbox for everyone in the world"
"What do you mean?"
"You've been everywhere, I'm sure you must've noticed that countries, regardless how much they claim that they are right or do what is 'right, the people will never be happy… So if countries or, heck even God, can't please everyone, why bother trying?"
"So you're saying I'm suffering just because I try to please everyone?"
"I'm saying that no one can do everything right on such a large scale. Just zone it down, make it smaller, focus on the people that matters"
"But why? If we have the resources to try, why don't we try?"
"Hey, you're asking for my opinion, and this is how I do it"
Lena was silent for a moment. She had never noticed it before, but it was true that Quillion had never tried to please anyone around him… If she were to guess, the only person he was hoping to impress was her, which made her very uncomfortable because she was also the source of much of his pain before.
There must be another reason.
"What about the other 20%?" she asked.
"I focus entirely to make the people who loves me proud"
"But that's only when you found Amelie right? I don't think that can help me very much…" she sighed.
"I think you can start right now, I know someone here who still loves you dearly" he smiled.
"Who? Angie? Winston? I mean they're great but-"
"I'm talking about Emily" Quillion said, cutting her off.
Lena blinked a few times, confused and angered that he dared to make such a stupid statement. She stared at him and felt her rage bubbling when it became apparent that he was not jesting.
"She's dead" she replied through seethed teeth.
"She's alive, Lena. Though not with us now, I know she's watching"
"How would you know? You can talk to the dead now?"
"After Venice, I saw something-"
In great detail, Quillion recounted his near death experience to Lena. How he woke up in what he was convinced was the hardware in his brain, how he saw the recordings that survived his cryosleep, and finally, how he saw his loved ones.
The first thought that crossed Lena's mind was that Quillion had either lost it, hallucinated the whole thing or was suffering from whatever drugs that Talon might've injected into him. Heck, it could easily be another one of Sombra's tricks.
However, she knew that he would've already considered everything she was thinking and more, as he always has been more articulate in his understanding. Knowing him, he would've already tested it all out diligently to believe what he is saying now.
"No, I can't believe that" she said.
"Well, I don't expect you to and even if you don't, do the things that she would've loved you to do"
"Uh huh, right, I'll get right on that"
"I'm serious, what would Emily love to see you become?"
Noting the serious tone in his voice, she decided to entertain him and thought about it, comforted by the gentle breeze that continues to blow around them.
"I don't know, it's- Why are we pretending to be someone who's gone? She can't love me anymore even if she tried. She can't hug me, kiss me, do things with me..." Lena finally said, fighting back tears.
"Love is much more than that I think"
"What else could it be?"
"Most people think love is only a feeling or action, but I think one thing is missing. A desire to improve or to see the things you care about improve. That's why love can take so many forms, see? Either through loving words and arms, or harsh discipline and rod, behind it all, it could be the desire to see you to be the best that you can be"
Lena said nothing, trying to figure out whether she should scoff, laugh, cry, or ignore everything he just said. On face value it seemed to be too optimistic for this cruel world, something that only belongs in fairy tales and or the dreams of a naïve child.
Quillion was neither.
"What does that have to do with Emily?"
"She may not be able to do things with you and you may not be able to hear her voice, so what you can do, to honor her memory at the very least, is to become who she hopes to see you become. As for me, I know that she is waiting for you to take that step"
Dumbfounded by the conviction that is behind his words, Lena didn't know what to say.
Then her communicator rang. Pulling it out, she saw that it was from Morrison.
"We'll continue this later, gotta go to a meeting"
"Sure, do what you need to do"
With that said, she Blinked away.
When he was sure that she would not Blink back randomly, he let out a big sigh of relief and slumped against the tree.
The conversation, as far as he could tell, was a success. He had thought that since she shouted at Genji, he would get a piece of her mind too, especially with the subject matter involved, but she was strangely calm about it.
"I remember my promise, don't worry, she's gonna be fine" he said, speaking to Emily before leaving himself.
*Overwatch: Winston's Lab*
"Hey there Winston, is… Everything alright?" Quillion asked when Winston jumped away from the corner.
"Good. Good. It is good to see you walking again" Winston said awkwardly, jogging over to the containers and slamming them shut.
"Yeah… Is someone else coming? Cause I don't mind the mess" he said as Winston continues throwing random objects into anything that has a lock.
Whenever Quillion tried to help, Winston would rush over to grab it instead. After this he just shrugged and waited until Winston was satisfied.
"Sorry about that. Alright, let us begin, Athena, bring them up" he called and the screen flickered on.
"'bout time" Sombra yawned, stretching in her seat.
"Is everyone here?" he asked.
"Let's just get the meeting started"
Annoyed, Winston studied the room. The first person he noticed was Reaper, though still as a statue, his presence overshadowed the others. Sigma and Moira were also there, each playing with what looked like orbs over their hands.
"Alright, Sombra, I believe you have the schematics?"
"Oh I got more than that"
With a snap of her fingers, a full layout of Horizon Lunar Colony, pictures, research papers, documentations, and even a full breakdown of its weekly maintenance fees was uploaded onto the screen.
"How did you get all this?" Winston asked, astonished.
"Really? You're really gonna ask me that?" Sombra asked back.
"Err..."
Embarrassed, Winston looked at Quillion, who could only shrug.
"Yeah, you know what she's capable of" he whispered.
"But it's Lucheng Interstellar!"
So the meeting began and they could tell Winston had many fond memories of the station, which proved to be advantageous, as he had detailed knowledge of every corner, every camera, and every pathway going around it.
First they will perform a forced landing into Bay 12, where the Scientist Quarters used to be and establish a base of operation. They theorized that the God Program would discharge any or all oxygen from the station, so they will have to immediately secure the Hydroponic Chambers, which for some reason are still operational.
Though they do not plan to risk bringing less oxygen than needed, having a steady flow of fresh oxygen is of great strategic value.
After that, it was just a question on what sort of resistance that the God Program would have set to prevent a direct entrance to the Observatory, where Its hardware is intrinsically linked to all parts of the station.
Short. Simple. And all of them knew that this would be incredibly dangerous, being veterans of many battles, they knew that the simpler the plan, the harder everything will be.
Another thing Quillion noticed was that there was a lot of emphasis that they must launch the attack at most a day before the Pax Aeternum Ceremony, which is due in three weeks.
"All that's left now is for Sombra to hack into the system. I suppose I do not need to ask if you are ready?" Winston asked.
Everyone looked at her and expected rolling eyes or snapping of fingers, but to their surprise, they saw that the colour had left her face.
"Sombra, are you ready?" Reaper growled, unfolding his arms.
"I'll be ready, don't worry about that" she stammered back unconvincingly.
Everyone but Quillion groaned, looking at one another with a mixture of annoyance and concern. Which made him even more concerned about this.
"You have three weeks left, make sure you get it done before we launch'' Reaper threatened.
"Can't it wait until we are all fully prepared? I'm sure the moon ain't going anywhere" Quillion asked, trying to calm the situation.
"Don't speak when you do not understand" Moira snapped.
"And what don't I understand? I just got here"
"What we are doing here is a sacred duty boy, don't belittle it with ignorance"
Anyone would've been insulted by those words, but it brought more shock to him than anything. Moira is actually calling this a sacred duty?
"Then educate me"
"You barbarous-" she started but Reaper raised a hand.
"You heard of the Pax Aeternum event?" he growled.
"Yes, the one happening in three weeks" Quillion replied, even more surprised that Reaper would be the one who debriefs him.
"If it fails, the world will end as we know it, even if Overwatch and the UN send more boys into the meat grinder"
"What? We've just beaten the Omnics, there's no way they could start another global scale war"
"The Omnics will not be alone"
He paused, letting the words sink in.
"People? You mean people? Sure there maybe some fanatics but I doubt it'll make that much of a difference"
"60% of the world population will join the God Program. At best"
No one spoke and looked down grimly as Quillion digested the terrifying information.
"What does that mean? There's no way so many would agree to such a thing" he finally said "Even if they do, we can inform everyone right now right? Spread the news?"
"Are you familiar with the poisoning of the Russian Army last year?"
"Yes?"
"It was no random act from the God Program, it was a test to see how fast a country would fall if its armies were wiped out, but once It saw that it did not secure victory, rather it sped up Its own defeat, It changed tactics"
"How so?" he asked and Sombra was the one who answered.
"Food. It has been feeding spiked food to everyone with transmitters that were encoded into Hardlight pills the size of dusts, these transmitters will temporarily force people to do whatever It wants"
"Spiked food? You mean we-?"
"No, unless you've eaten from a Shambali Temple, or been given food from a Shambali Priest, you should be clean. Told you those guys were bad news"
"How could you possibly know that?"
"Remember those people who attacked Overwatch months ago? We studied the bodies, they were long time Shambali worshipers and had enough Hardlight Pills in them to be controlled for at least a month"
"So they become slaves? Zombies?" Quillion asked, barely able to believe the words coming out of his own mouth.
"Close… They will become highly obedient to Its influence and believe that it is entirely their own choice to follow whatever It wants them to do"
"Then why make it temporary?"
"The Space Station would not have enough power or hardware to control trillions of people at the same time, so we suspect worst case scenario, by my calculations, It will only control everyone for three days" Sigma said.
"By then the world would be in a nuclear firestorm" Reaper added grimly.
"Huh?"
"The God Program has already infiltrated almost all government sectors around the world, and we have no doubt that they would have already fed the transmitters to everyone who has access to nuclear codes" Sombra said, flicking up multiple pictures of Omnics standing behind each world leader.
"And even if by some miracle that the nukes stayed in their silos, the world would go to war anyway, especially when there's blood on everyone's hands" Reaper finished.
Quillion felt sick. Everything they just told him was almost too heavy to bear. Never once had he thought that the First and Second Omnic Crisis is only the setting stage for what's potentially to come.
"There is a chink in the armor. While the God Program launches its transmission down to Earth, It will surely lag for a few seconds, giving us an opening to hack it"
"Why can't we just blow the station to kingdom come?" Quillion suggested.
"Too risky. The God Program will surely see the missiles coming, then It will transfer Itself to another location, and we will have no time to find out where It'll be before the ceremony"
"So that's it… We only have one shot to take it down or else the world gets destroyed?"
Their silence was the confirmation he needed.
Suddenly the need for Sombra to master the codes as quickly as possible became even more dire.
*Overwatch: Meeting Room*
Lena Blinked right outside the door and found herself staring at a few unfamiliar faces, all equally shocked or excited to see that she may potentially join their meeting.
"Lieutenant Oxton?" one asked, stopping mid-sentence of his presentation.
She looked around in confusion, thinking where she could have Blinked to. A quick glance confirmed that she did come to the right place, but the meeting was not. Is the Chronal Accelerator malfunctioning?
"What's the date?" she asked, keeping her voice calm.
"Lieutenant Oxton, please proceed to the Mess Hall" Athena announced.
"Athena! When are we?"
"You just spoke with Quillion a few seconds ago before leaving for a meeting"
"Then why is it about… What is this meeting about?" she asked the presenter.
"Err… How we could maximize the dishes we could make for the base, Lieutenant"
"Then where's the others?"
"The Mess Hall" Athena repeated.
Nodding, Lena apologized before Blinking away, but not before hearing the speaker mentioned about how to use all the leftover bones to make a nutritious stew.
*Overwatch: Mess Hall*
She sighed in relief when she saw that everyone looked like they were in the right time period. There's Hana, who was huddled together with Mei and Brigitte, reading a book. Ana and Fareeha were looking over a map with McCree.
Surprisingly, Angie, Genji and Jack are not here.
"Hello Lena, just in time" Ana said, alerting others to her presence.
"When did we change the venue?"
"Hmm? It was never changed"
Puzzled, Lena looked down on her communicator and realized she had not read it properly.
"Was there a change?" Fareeha asked, pulling out her own communicator.
"Nope, never mind" Lena blurted out "Man we're just having meeting after meeting now huh?"
"Well, that's what happens when its peacetime, people just sit around all day" Ana laughed.
With that said, everyone continued what they were doing, and Lena found it difficult to go with the flow. Ana's group was discussing battle tactics in King's Row, which she was not eager to participate, and Mei's group was reading her journal (promptly named "Mei's Adventures"), which Lena found it hard to connect because she lacked the empathy of a person who had never travelled.
After a few agonizing minutes, Lena smelled smoke coming from the kitchen. Excitedly, she Blinked towards the source, only to feel it deflate when she saw the cause of it.
"I believe it is overcooked Master" Genji warned.
"Is it really? Interesting…" Zenyatta chuckled, peering into the toaster oven "Ms Oxton, would you care to try this?"
Lena froze as she was a second away from Blinking away. The last thing she wanted was to be in the same room with Genji and Mondatta's replacement, but things will become even more awkward if she just leaves now, especially after a direct invitation.
She approached them cautiously, hoping that the new strain that she created between her and Genji would not surface. Thankfully the tension was broken when she realized they were both wearing aprons.
"What are you guys making?" she asked.
"An American dish called French Toast"
"Err… I think it's made by the French?"
"I thought so too until I learned of Joseph French" Zenyatta replied and opened the oven, revealing a blackened toast.
"Yup, it's definitely overcooked" she said, covering her nose.
"Are you sure? You have not even tasted if it is good"
"I don't need to try it to know that's gotta be bad"
"Curious, very curious" Zenyatta mused, pulling it out and looking at it "This begs the question why people would be willing to try Chou Dou Fu or Durians and still call it delicious"
"It is because those foods were not burnt, Master" Genji said.
"And yet many would still accept Creme Brulee or Burnt Cheesecake"
"O...kay… Well, I'll be going now" Lena said and started for the door when Zenyatta spoke.
"Before you go, Genji, don't you have something to say?"
"Yes" Genji said, walking up to Lena and bowing his head slightly "Forgive me for my words, I still lack the necessary skills to know when to assess and when to comfort"
All Lena could sound out was a "Huh?". She had never heard him apologize for anything before, so this was a shocker.
"Very good. And allow me to apologize for my student as well" Zenyatta added "As his Master, I have failed to educate him properly due to my own nature as an Omnic, therefore we hope that you will forgive us for our follies"
She didn't know how to respond. Thankfully they heard the doors outside open and Morrison could be heard addressing everyone.
"Dr Ziegler will not be attending, and Winston will be a bit late, so we may begin" Morrison said, his ears still ringing from the shouting that she had given him for, once again, discharging Quillion without her authority.
"Shame, I look forward to meeting her" Zenyatta said, offering a cup of coffee to everyone.
At first Morrison was worried that it had been spiked, even if the Omnic monk was no longer part of the Shambali, but after smelling the coffee, he relaxed. There is no other soul besides Angela herself who would be sane enough to drink a brew this strong, maybe except Genji.
Just to be safe, he whispered a reminder to Genji about his concerns and was relieved to hear that Genji had successfully (and grudgingly) sabotaged everything that was made, ensuring that no one would eat it by accident later.
He was already suspicious when Zenyatta requested the change of the venue to the Mess Hall because of the specific reason to 'test out his cooking skills', and if the UN did not twist his arm to adhere to whatever request that was made, he would've already rejected this.
"This is the map of King's Row. The signing ceremony will be near Mondatta's Statue" he said, glancing over at Lena, who noticed and nodded.
The local law enforcement will be the main line of defense, keeping the peace and ensuring that the public will be out of harm's way should the threat from the God Program come to fruition. Each officer on duty that night is currently going through rigorous training on crowd control, leaving combat to Overwatch if the threat is far above their experience.
Following Hana's proposal to 'balance' the teams, the Response Team was built around mobility as it is the greatest strength that they possess.
Winston and Hana will be the spear tip, diving directly into the fight to break up any groupings the enemy may have.
Then comes to the question of who the heavy hitters will be, as they will need to keep up with the mobility. By default, Fareeha, Genji, Lena are the typecast choices, but because Mondatta has been assassinated under heavy guard, Overwatch was forced to dedicate their best fighters to protect Zenyatta, duties which fall upon Genji and Lena.
Therefore, Fareeha and McCree are assigned to the Response Team, due to Mei's inexperience and Torbjorn's obvious disadvantage. This way the open streets and the narrow alleyways can be easily secured.
Finally, providing support will be Ana and Angela, whose skills and expertise can explain for themselves.
To assist Genji and Lena, Brigitte will be part of the Protection Team, whilst Mei and Torbjorn will act as backups or sentries in key positions.
"Hold up, I should be part of the Response Team" Brigitte said, clearly angered by the decision.
"Your responsibility to protect Zenyatta is no less important than those in the Response Team" Morrison replied.
"It's not the responsibility, it's my honor as a Crusader! We should always be the shield in the front, not tucked away in some safe room!"
Brigitte held her breath for a response from Morrison, her mind racing to guess and counter what he might say, but instead of a reprimand, he looked at Ana and they both chuckled.
"Reinhardt's definitely rubbed off on you" Ana commented.
"Captain Lindholm, you will not be 'tucked away'. You are protecting the last image of peace that mankind may have for decades. It is no less honorable to ensure Zenyatta's safety than fighting in the streets" Morrison encouraged.
"I believe I will be quite safe with Genji and Lena, the good Captain does not need to protect me" Zenyatta voiced out.
"No, if the UN sees that we are not following Hana's strategies, then we might come under scrutiny again. Basically a PR nightmare" he added when Zenyatta tipped his head to the side in confusion.
"Sorry" Hana apologized.
"I do not understand, however, I will comply"
"Do not worry Brigitte, my Master will not make it difficult for you" Genji assured.
Seeing that she had no support from the table, Brigitte bit her lip and nodded.
Next was just a matter of tactical positions and logistics.
Obviously, Ana and most of her relocation points will be stationed on the high ground. Fareeha and Angela will be watching from the air, whilst Winston and Hana will be patrolling the streets with McCree. Prior to the event, Morrison will also assign someone to drop off Medical Packs across King's Row, and how he had permission to plant one of these packs under Mondatta's Statue, they do not know.
If the worst comes and the Response Team fails to contain the situation, the Protection Team must fall back to The Underworld, where they will await further instructions or until Torbjorn and Mei reach them.
"Wait, why do we need to go all the way back there?" Lena asked.
"Because you have connections with the Omnics there. Use them" Morrison replied.
"What if they don't listen or trust me? It's been a while since I've even contacted them"
"I am sure that they would still want to protect their own, even if they disagree with his methods" he finished, looking at Zenyatta, who remained silent at the comment.
"Not being tucked away my arse..." Brigitte muttered.
Finally, they concluded the meeting with a general reminder of London, its rules, the relationship between Humans and Omnics, and words they should avoid using.
"That's it, any questions? Good, Athena has prepared simulations, please proceed to the Training Rooms" he said when they all shook their heads.
"Ms Oxton, may I speak to you for a moment?" Zenyatta asked as everyone stood up.
"I suppose, can it be quick though?" she said.
"It will be, all I wish to ask is, may I collect my Orb?"
"Eh? Oh the golden thing? Sorry, but I left it back in the Medical Bay, Athena can send someone to get it"
"I am going to guess that I may collect it, thank you" he said, extending his hand over her shoulder and grabbing what seemed to be thin air.
"Thanks…?" Lena said, thinking this was some sort of prayer or blessing from the Omnic.
"You're welcome. Oh? It has already been converted" he said, revealing a purple orb in his hand.
"Huh? Where did that come from? What is that?" she asked, looking over her shoulders to check.
"This was the Orb of Harmony that I passed to you"
Lena stared, trying to figure out if it was testing her or insulting her. It has not been a week since it passed her the orb, so does it really think that she'd forget what color it was? Or was this some weird, bogus spiritual test? And even if it was the same orb, how was it following her around without her knowing?
"Okay, if that's the Harmony Orb-"
"Orb of Harmony"
"Whatever, if that's the same one and was gold, why is it purple now?"
"That explanation will take too long I think, but I believe you can figure it out. I believe they are waiting for us in the Training Room" he said, floating away.
*Russia: Hotel*
The room was darkened for maximum visuals, her fingers flying across her keyboard as she tried to crack the code.
"Again and again and again and again you STUPID-" Sombra yelled before throwing it across the room.
Frustrated, she sat down on the sofa before grabbing the vodka from the table.
"Why don't they have tequila" she thought bitterly.
For days she had tried to crack the code in secret, far away from the others to maintain some sense of authority, for if any of them know that she was having this much trouble to hack even the simplest simulation of the God Program that she managed to recover from her files, they would abandon her in a heartbeat.
Slouching, she opened her palm and watch the alien symbols dancing before her, their figures and images burned deeply into her mind.
"What and how are you..." she moaned.
It has been forever since she was in such a tight spot, especially with an extremely limited timeline.
"Common Sombra... Just one more thing to take down Conspiracy" she tried encouraging herself, to bring herself to pull up the screen again and hack, but she was too demotivated to do it.
She had pulled, used, forced and researched everything that she could think of, but yet nothing was working. It looked so hopeless that she even began to consider just EMP-ing the entire planet and blow up the Lunar Colony just so that the God Program would be trapped.
However, even if that was possible, even the slightest chance that It would somehow transfer Itself somewhere, It will easily rebuild itself even from the smallest fragments they would be back to square one.
She must ensure that It will not escape. She must hack into It and take control.
Rubbing her eyes, she pulled up a recording of the meeting just now just to kill time. She scoffed when Moira actually said 'sacred duty'.
"Just because your research was used by someone else, does not make it sacred, chica" she laughed, pausing at just the right moment when Moira's face looked ridiculous.
"And you Siggy, I bet you were just happy to go back to the Moon" she continued, moving the camera towards him.
"Reaper, just an edgelord as usual aren't you? Winston? Just some ape playing hero... And Quillion? Probably seeking for revenge again..."
Everyone's so predictable, so easy to manipulate if she wanted to. To have something else that could potentially threaten that power...
Sighing, she decided to call it a night when she noticed something that was potentially interesting.
Winston still pressed on a keyboard when he ended the meeting earlier.
"Aww that's cute, a monkey typing" she thought.
Easily hacking through the simple firewalls, she gained access to Athena's perspective, enabling her to see almost every part of the room at will.
And that was when she saw salvation.
"Winston! Get up!" she yelled through the speakers, shocking him awake from his afternoon nap and sent the peanut butter flying.
"Sombra? How'd you-?"
"Never mind! We got work to do!"