Author's NOTE: This story is inspired by the works of Jonathan Hickman. People who read it know what's about to happen. But I changed some things to be different from his work. Everything that will appear is based on popular games you might be familiar with. I just don't address their names. It is a slight crossover to other games. Stay tuned.


THE COSMIC CALAMITY

Overwatch: The Problem

Three hours ago, Talon imprisoned the man in one of their cells. These are the cells that could hold down a powerful gorilla or a lethal super Omnic. The man was unmasked but they could not find him in the database. That confirms Seibren's first suspicion. He's alien. But not the ones they look like.

The man is human and his accent is Irish.

He was sitting down and taking a nap. But he heard footsteps outside his cell and spoke. "First meal of the day. That was quick. I was thinking you would interrogate me and promise me some drinks." He turned and saw a gorilla staring back at him. "Yep. This one is not new to me."

Winston gave him a stern look. "I'll be your interrogator."

The man responded, "Here we go. No deal, monkey."

"I didn't ask yet."

"And I know what the questions are. I don't give a flying f-k what you're going to do with me." He smirked. "Just do your worse. I won't talk."

"You were sobbing in your cell an hour ago. Was it because you are guilty of what you've done? Or is it something else?"

The man remained silent but he looked away from the gorilla. "You have no idea- what I've been through. That big blue ball means nothing to me. But it is my duty. I've been tasked to do this."

"You killed a planet. Billions of people died because of you."

"How do you know that Earth has people in it?"

Winston paused. "What do you mean by Earth?"

The man kept talking. "Earth that I blew up. How do you even know there are still people there? That place is abandoned. We can easily sacrifice that planet for the greater good."

"Tell me everything you know," Winston asked.

"Okay. If you are listening carefully, you might agree with the things I'm about to tell you. Prepare to crush everything that makes us decent. In the future, you'll all be like me."


One hour ago, Seibren was alerted by the agents of an unexpected visitor. "Any word?" He asked.

"None, sir. No one has heard any reports of this."

"Good. It is best to keep it that way." Seibren said. "Open it."

They opened the door and inside the waiting room was Moira looking at his latest study of the red element. She hoped for progress but instead, she heard a rumor about the old doctor. "What are you doing, Doctor? Are you still working on the crystal?"

"I'm still working on it. But something big is going on."

"Oh! A secret project." Moira smirked.

"Not exactly."

"Oh, dear doctor, may I remind you that Akande does not like our guests."

"I know," Seibren said. "Are you going to tell him yourself?"

She paused but smiled. "No. But I'm intrigued. I want to see this."

Seibren sighed with relief. He does hope she will help them solve this.


In his facility guarded by his trusted Talon agents, they escorted the Overwatch agents to the round table where Seibren waits. Familiar faces and new ones all looked at him, waiting for him to say the urgent news.

"Everything dies," Winston said. "You. Me. Everyone on this planet. Our sun. Our galaxy. And, eventually, the universe itself. This is simply how things are. It's inevitable... and I accept it."

He looked at them at the round table. Great minds with great power at their hands.

"What I will not tolerate- What I find unacceptable- is the unnatural acceleration of that End. Which is why I summoned you here... as the untimely end of everything is what we now face."

"It is strange to hear those words coming from you, Winston." The short man said. "Sounds troubling."

"Many times this world faced threats from the Omnics. Many times this happened because of your organization. What makes this so different?" The woman asked Seibren.

"That conflict has died yesterday, Satya. What followed... it dwarfed that."

Moira, who does not recognize some of them, wanted an introduction. "Before we start, can we start introducing ourselves first? I don't quite remember any of these people."

Winston agreed. "She's right. Before we start, we need to know each other."

"Fine. I'm more anxious to find out why the Talon summoned us after recent events." The short man started. "Torbjorn Lindholm, former Chief Engineer of Overwatch. This automaton is with me. You can call him Bastion."

The robot waved its hand to everyone.

"Winston from the Horizon Lunar Colony."

"My name is Satya Vaswani. You can call me Symmetra, architect of Vishkar Corporation."

"Doctor Siebren de Kuiper, Sigma."

"Doctor Moira O'Deorain... nice to meet you all."

"And I'm Jack Morrison, Overwatch Commander." Soldier said. "Great. And as we've been briefed on what happened here, perhaps someone could explain what it all means? Winston?"

"Alright." Winston activated his holographic presentation so he could explain it to them clearly. "You do know the multiverse theory?"

Some of them nodded.

"Well, that theory is no longer a theory. We live in a vast multiverse with infinite possibilities. But of course, everything that has a beginning has an end. When a universe is born and it will eventually die in the future. Our Earth was born after the birth of our universe and it will die before the end of our universe. This thing happens simultaneously across infinite numbers of universes. But here's the problem. Somewhere, on one of these Earths, an event occurred that caused the early death of one of these universes. That untimely unnatural event then caused a tiny contraction in the multiverse's timeline. Now everything would die ever-so-slightly sooner."

Everyone can see the presentation that Winston provided. It helped them understand.

Morrison felt something crawling up his spine.

"That contraction caused two universes to collide at the incursion point and that point was Earth. When they touch, both universe collapses and destroy each other in the process. And it is happening throughout the multiverse. Every hour in here, Earths die, and universes cease to exist. This is something we have never faced before. That is what Seibren witnessed, that is why he's concerned."

Silence in the room, people from different alliances were thinking about the problem they are facing. This is bigger than they could ever imagine.

"I don't understand. If this is what happened, why are we still here?" Morrison asked.

Seibren answered. "The man we captured, Zane, used a device to destroy the other Earth, preventing impact."

"Zane?" Torbjorn asked.

"Just Zane."

"Great. The name means Gift from God. Not foreboding at all."

"Is there a solution to all of this?" Symmetra asked.

"There is and it is the one that Zane did. But I have a feeling he's lying. So we don't know anything. Too many unknowns. We don't know the source of the problem. We don't know if it can be stopped or slowed down."

Winston added, "But we have analyzed Zane's tech and I found out we have the technology to build it plus the trigger mechanism to whatever destroyed that planet."

But then Morrison stepped in. "Let me stop this conversation right here. We are going to handle this in a different way. We will prepare, gather intelligence, and when the next event occurs, use that information to figure out a way to win. Because that's what we do."

Winston objected. "There's a good chance that won't work, Jack. We won't have enough time."

"Why not?" Moira asked.

"Once the two worlds align in the same space, we have a few hours before they collide with each other and destroy both realities altogether. But if one Earth is destroyed, both universes are spared. Right now we have two possible outcomes. Admittedly, Zane could be lying... but I have a feeling he's leaving some things out. And, of course, he did destroy the other world, thereby sparing ours and saving himself."

"How about the Red Element?" Moira remembered it lying in Siebren's lab. "We can use it better than his."

Everyone in the room remembered what it can do. It is possible.

"I agree." Winston said. "But I'm not too familiar with its power."

Moira suggested, "We need to inject it to Seibren."

Seibren did not expect that. "Me? How?"

"You have the power, Seibren." She was sure. "It amplifies people. It can make you stronger."

"Any alternatives you would like to share?" Morrison asked everyone.

They have none. The doctor does not like it. There are many outcomes of that process. He theorizes he might start a black hole or worse.

"Now that we have a plan. I'll start constructing an early warning system." Winston promised.

"Okay. Good." Morrison said. "Now... I want everyone to know this. Yes, this is massive. But remember we have shaped the world and protected it as best we can. No matter what happens we will always find a way. This is all going to work out. I know it."


Later, while the group began working and Seibren watched the sky wondering. Winston approached him with an update. "Morrison and the others are preparing to leave- Torbjorn has begun assembling the early warning device."

Seibren responded. "It appears everything's going to out fine. But we know better than that, don't we?"

Winston sighed. "Infinite worlds. Infinite outcomes. If this could easily be stopped... it should have been stopped. Which means there are two more likely possibilities..."

"Right. Do we really have the time to fix this? The collapse feels- inevitable."

"Like dominos."

"Like the house of cards."

Wondering, Seibren looked at the palm of his hand his power emitting. "If it doesn't work?"

Winston answered. "Then we teach ourselves to do the unthinkable..."

He remembered the man's words. "Okay. If you are listening carefully, you might agree with the things I'm about to tell you. Prepare to crush everything that makes us decent. In the future, you'll all be like me."

"We have to learn how to destroy a world."

-to be continued-