Hey there everyone, hope you're all enjoying this story so far. So at the time of me writing this chapter (6/21/2022) Overwatch 2's PvP Beta is just a week from dropping. I will try to get this out before then, but in case not hope to see you guys at the beta. With that said, this chapter as hinted at will focus on a character that isn't Tracer or Winston (Sorry to anyone who's a fan of those two.) But with the preliminaries out of the way, I hope all enjoy chapter 3.
I do not own any characters or locations within this story, only original characters. Overwatch is owned by Blizzard Entertainment.
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Chapter 3: Rise and Shine
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Location: Ecopoint: Antarctica, Antarctica
Date: Unknown
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The scent of coffee filled the halls of the base, laughter can be heard as a man in a yellow coat grabs one of the mugs in the kitchen and pours himself a cup of coffee. The cold air from outside chilling the man's skin, he sighs before looking to where the laughter is coming from, two other individuals inside a living room also having a cup of coffee.
"Bad news gang, looks like we're still gonna be in this storm for a while." The yellow coated man states. One of the individuals, the young man looks over to the man and gives a sigh.
"Chingado." The young man groans in a thick Spanish accent. "It's been over three days Adams, this storm is becoming a real pain in the ass." He adds before taking a sip of coffee.
"And complaining about it ain't gonna make it go away." The woman sitting by the young man replies. "It's a polar ice storm, it's pretty common around here Torres." She continues.
"I get that, but damn this storm's been going on for way too long." Torres complained. "Our rations are running low, and we missed the resupply because of this storm, Macready." He states to the woman.
Adams sighs taking a drink before putting the mug down. "He's not wrong. We don't have much food left, medicines almost out, and it doesn't seem like this storm is going to end anytime soon." Adams states before an older gentleman walks into the room.
"We musn't lose hope my friends. I figured this storm was going to be a nuisance, and by the data Mei and Arrhenius have collected it's going to be some time before this storm passes." The older man states.
"Captain Opara, what are you suggesting?" Macready asks looking to the man.
"We'll have to sit this one out. We'll have to hibernate until the storm passes over." Opara answers getting looks from the trio. "Macready, get the cryochambers ready. Adams inform the others about the decision. and Torres seal the base off from the storm." He commands getting the three to start rushing over to their respective tasks.
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In what looked like an office, a young woman of Chinese origin was setting up a camera. She removes her glasses and clean them up before putting them back on. She takes a quick breath before looking to the camera.
"We're still in the middle of this massive ice storm. It's crazy." She states with a slight hint of excitement in her voice. "We missed our resupply window, and we're low on rations. So, Captain Opara is having the team "hibernate." so to speak." She states adding air quotations before Captain Opara walked in behind her with a mug of coffee in his hand, placing it onto the woman's desk.
"Come on, Mei. Cryochamber time." He says with a smile getting a shocked look from the woman.
"Already?" Mei asks before Opara puts a hand on her shoulder.
"An hour ago." He chuckles before walking hearing Mei shout "Be right there!" As Opara walked out he finds a small mechanical drone floating about with a pair of socks on its head. "Snowball, give me my socks back!" He demands before chasing the little drone.
Mei chuckles before blowing into her drink to cool it down.
"I'm leaving the sensors on so when we wake up, I'll have a whole new data set to examine!" Mei states, beaming with excitement.
"Mei, you're holding up nap time!" Opara shouted down the hall.
Mei jumped in her seat before calling out to Opara. "Sorry." She turns her head to the camera before waving goodbye to it and turning the device off.
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Mei-Ling Zhou, or "Mei" to most people is a world-renowned climatologist hailing from China. At a young age she had a fascination with the world and the abnormal climate phenomena affecting the different ecosystems all over the globe. In her early years as a climatologist, Mei introduced cutting-edge innovations in the field of climate manipulation that protected at-risk areas in Asia. This gained the attention of Overwatch, and offered a position in a new program the organization had begun developing.
Many people had believed that the abnormal climate phenomena was due to the advent of new technologies, the rapidly growing omnic population, and drastically increased consumption of resources, the true cause remained unknown. To find a solution, Overwatch established a series of eco-Watchpoints at remote, critical locations worldwide. This was when Captain Jack Morrison and another scientist, Winston had came to offer Mei the position as a researcher at one of these watchpoints.
This is where Mei finds herself, a member of the Watchpoint: Antarctica team. She was stationed with five other researchers.
First was Joshua Adams, the team's primary researcher. A young man in his mid 30s, his humble personality and charming smile are only matched by his knowledge of abnormal weather, having been a storm chaser before being hired by Overwatch.
Next was Aurora Macready, a woman from The Bronx. Her skills as an engineer made her a known member of the ironclad guild, working alongside another Overwatch engineer, Torbjörn Lindholm. She was not exactly keen on the idea of working out in the middle of the arctic, she eventually got used to it and became the lead engineer of the base.
Then there was Helena Arrhenius. An older woman hailing from Sweden, she's a fellow climatologist and associate of Mei's. Her studies of climate change in the Middle East got the attention of Overwatch's second-in-command, Ana Amari, offering her a position as an Overwatch scientist.
Angelo Torres was the youngest member of the team, having only been in the field of cryonics for about five years before being recruited into Overwatch. Hailing from Spain, Torres is a good-hearted man, but can also be foul-mouthed and childish.
Finally came Kojo Opara, the Captain and lead cryonics researcher. Opara is said to be an expert in the field, having been in the field for nearly thirty years, and having been recruited by Captain Jack Morrison himself.
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The team gathered in the cryostasis chambers, each pod being turned on and open up for them. Opara looks over to the team and takes a deep breath before speaking.
"I'm not sure how long we'll be in cryosleep, but the storm should pass by the time we awaken." Opara says before looking over to Mei and Arrhenius. "You two made sure to set the sensors to examine any anomalies that can possibly happen while we are asleep, correct?"
"Yes, Captain." Arrhenius stated. "Our sensors will be keeping track of anything that can possibly happen." She adds before turning her head to Macready.
"Cryopods should be able to maintain from any possible disruptions, so long as Torres sealed the place up like Opara asked." Macready states getting an annoyed glare from Torres.
"Excellent, then everyone it's time." Opara states before slowly getting into his pod.
The team begins to enter their pods, while Mei brings Snowball to a charging station.
"See you soon Snowball. Rest up, ok?" She says rubbing the drones head, getting joyful booping sound from the little drone. Snowball plugs in and begins to charge, while Mei heads to her pod. Opara looks to the team and smiles.
"Well then my friends, I'll see you all after the storm. Sleep well." Opara states before closing his pod, sealing tightly behind him. Following Opara, Macready closed her pod, then Arrhenius, followed by Adams, and finally Torres.
Mei looks over the room one last time, looking over to Snowball, then the other pods, and nods. And with one last smile, she slips out of her slippers and into the cryopod. She slowly closes the pod, letting it seal behind her. She closes her eyes and enters a deep slumber, the area around her going colder as she drifts off.
And as the team drifts off into their frozen slumber, the facility is engulfed in a snowstorm. One by one, the lights shut off as the scientists enter cryostasis.
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Location: Ecopoint: Antarctica, Antarctica
Date: Unknown
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The facility has sunk into decrepitness, with a broken comm tower and every surface frosted with snow. Water drips can be heard through the lifeless halls and only one power reserve is still blinking. Computers in the team's cryostasis chamber turn on. A transmitted message appears on the monitor, but cannot be seen due to the weak signal. The computer analyzes the team's tanks and only awakens the last one.
The door to the last cryostasis tank slides open and Mei steps out, yawning and stretching. She takes a step, lightly touching the cold metal floor before she slips into her fuzzy slippers, covering her shivering form as the cold air escapes the pod. She slowly walks over to Snowball's charging station. Rubbing her eyes, she places one hand on top of its head.
"Get up, Snowball." She yawns. Snowball awakens, its interface showing full power. The little drone happily boops, greeting Mei before it follows her as she yawns and walks out of the chamber. "Rise and shine, sleepyheads." She says to the pods before making her way to the bathroom.
Mei goes to brush her teeth, with Snowball nudging her arm to help. She playfully blows him away with her hairdryer. After she finishes getting herself cleaned up and fixing her hair, Mei heads to the kitchen to prep some hot tea. She sets a kettle of water to boil on the stove and takes out enough mugs for her team. Finally, she makes her way over to their computer table.
"Now, let's see what our new data set looks like." Mei states swiping a window of a paused game aside and pulling up a screen showing a sizable amount of charts and data. She begins to scroll through the windows of data, her facing becoming more puzzled as she looks through more of the gathered information.
"Hmm… the atmospheric fluctuations above the anomaly have gotten…" She gasps as charts spike. "It's much worse than we predicted! We have to get this to headquarters." She says looking to Snowball before more windows begin to pop up.
Mei steps back, astonished by all the windows appearing. "Where is all this data coming from?" She asks before turning to Snowball again. "Snowball, how long have we all been asleep?" She asks the little drone. Snowball's interface displays "9 yrs." Mei stumbles back, catching herself on the edge of the table. "What? No! Overwatch would have come for us." She says before she presses another button on the table, and red error windows pop up. "And the comms are down?" She asks, a hint of fear in her voice.
Mei ejects a hard drive with the Overwatch label as Snowball settles into its charging station. She heads over to another screen spanning the wall and watches as news articles about Overwatch controversies, omnic crises, and worldwide unrest appear on-screen. The last article that pops up is titled "OVERWATCH DISBANDED!". Mei gasps.
"Gone? Nobody even knows we're here. Wait a minute… where is everybody?" At that moment, reality struck Mei, hitting her at full force.
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Mei runs as fast as her feet can take her, the sudden realization that nobody has been looking for them for nine years. None of her collegues have awakened, and all that information about Overwatch's disbandment. She runs, stumbling, to the cryostasis chamber.
She looks to the pods, seeing none have opened yet. Mei runs up to the third pod and presses her hand to the glass. "MALFUNCTION" appears on the screen and the vital signs for Opara are negative. Mei gasps as the screens on the other pods flicker to life and all read negative vitals for her team.
"No, no, no, no..." "She whispers, her voice quivering. She rubs away the frost on the glass of Opara's tank and looks in. She reels back, shocked. "No!" She cries.
Mei steps away from the pod, leaning against the water tank. She slides to the floor and begins to sob. Snowball nudges her elbow and she embraces him in a tight hug. Time passes and she remains in the room with her dead team. Eventually she lifts her head and observes the Overwatch-labeled drive in her hand.
"Nine years worth of data…" She whispers to herself. "I could save millions of lives." She closes her hand and rises from the ground. She looks over to the pods, the icy graves of her fallen comrades, determination written on her face. "I'll take our work to the world, my friends. I mean…I will try." She whispers to the pods before leaving the room.
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Mei opens the door leading to the central area and approaches the creaking comm tower. The frozen wind kissing her face as she walks towards the communications tower. She raises a hand over her eyes, looking at the damaged dish.
"The dish is broken. How do we get this data out?" She asks prompting Snowball to dejectedly beep.
Looking around the snow-covered area, Mei spots a set of old vehicles the team would use for arctic exploration. Mei opens the door to one of the vehicles and finds that snow has piled up inside of it. She shuts the door. Snowball inspects a helicopter on the rooftop pad and reports that it's useless.
Heading back inside, Mei and Snowball make their way to a large doorway. Pressing a button next to it, the door opened and revealed the Antarctic tundra, observing it before stepping away back into her office.
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Mei slumps into her desk, facing a photo of her team. Misery filled her mind, the photo they all took the first day on base. She takes a somber breath before inspecting the hard drive.
"I can't do this alone. I wish you guys were here." She says to the photo, looking over the team. Macready, Arrhenius, James, Torres, and Captain Opara, all gone.
Mei looks over to see Snowball balancing her steaming mug. She takes it with a soft smile.
"Thank you, Snowball. At least I still have you." She says to the drone, rubbing it softly and getting a happy beep from it. Suddenly the lights begin to flicker, causing the room to momentarily go dark. " Let's see if we can make the batteries last a little longer."
She signs on to the computer and sees the weak signal broadcast. Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest.
"Wait, what is this?" She asks looking at where it's coming from. "This is broadcasting on the Overwatch emergency frequency." She looks to Snowball. She gasps at this discovery. "Maybe someone knows we're here!" She beams before looking out the window, gazing upon the gargantuan communications tower. She sighs, creating a patch of condensation on the window. She draws a circle on it and smiles.
"Come on, Snowball. We're not on ice yet." She cheers and begins her plan to decipher this sudden message.
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Heading into the supply room, Mei takes the water jug, her hairdryer, and other equipment from the facility. Over time, Mei assembles a machine using all of the facilty items, crafting a blaster and using the water with a chemical formula in order to create what she calls an "Endothermic Blaster", a weapon with the ability to freeze objects in place.
"Cool!" She cheers, giving Snowball a high five. Suddenly the power went out, prompting for Snowball to turn on a flashlight. Mei jolted her head back to the device, hoping for the power to return. Unfortunately it did not, and she and Snowball begin to locate another battery.
Following Snowball's light, Mei enters the room where the power is stored. The one module that was blinking is now lifeless. She sighs, hope slowly fading from her.
"That was the last battery, wasn't it? I can't believe I forgot about the batteries! Without power, we're dead." She cries." While Mei despairs, Snowball turns its attention to its charging station. As she speaks, it droops with resignation. "There has to be a way to fix this… I just needed a little more time!" Mei states, trying to reignite her hope of survival.
Snowball glances at Mei and then flies over to the charging station. It settles in, shutting off and transferring its power to the facility. The lights soon come on, and Mei looks up, amazed.
"The power!" She exclaims looking to Snowball. Her smile quickly fades as she sees Snowball's power drop to zero and shut down. "No!" She cries, frantically running over to the drone.
She whispers to the drone, hoping her words would wake it up, but it didn't move. The cascading light that emitted from Snowball had faded, leaving only it's unmoving body. She grieves for a moment, then wipes her eyes. As Mei begins to arm herself with her blaster, she looks over to her depowered companion, giving it one last tear and whispers.
"Thank you…my friend."
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The cold air once again hits Mei's coat, leaving an icy mark across her skin. She moves to the comm tower and creates a handhold with her blaster. She begins her ascent, stopping at the midpoint to repair a broken section next to a tank. Near the top, she hoists herself up onto another section. It begins to rattle; the screw on it has come loose. The section falls off and Mei leaps off, catching herself on the tower. The broken ledge hits the ice, causing the tank to burst in a fiery blast. The top half of the tower begins to plummet towards the cliffside. Mei pulls out her blaster and manages to create a block large enough to stop the tower's fall and allow her to continue on.
Eventually, she reaches the top and plugs her laptop into the tower. She holds the antenna up as high as she can and presses play on the message transmission.
"Come on, come on, come on…" She begs as the screen scrambles to form the image. On the screen Mei sees a large primate in a high-tech suit, he seems to be reading off of a piece of paper.
"To all agents of Overwatch..." The ape starts getting a gasp from Mei.
"Winston? Oh my gosh! Come on…" She cried, trying to fix the signal as much as she could.
"...the people decided they were better off without us. They even called us criminals!" Winston exclaimed. "They tore our family apart. But look around. Someone has to do something. We have to do something!" He roared.
Mei looks at the drive with the Overwatch label in her hand, then turns her gaze to the southern lights in the sky. The brilliant colors lighting up the arctic night, bringing a glow to Mei's eyes. She looks back to the screen, tears in her eyes.
"We can make a difference again. The world needs us now, more than ever. Are you with me?" Winston asks, a smile on his face before the transmission ends.
She sniffles, holding back her tears. A soft smile creeps onto her face before she looks back up to the stars.
"Yes, Winston. I am with you."
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Mei pours the last mug of coffee, leaving five mugs in front of each of her friends. She looks over, giving a silent prayer for each of her fallen comrades. With one final goodbye, she leaves the resting place of her friends.
She heads to her office, having just enough power to make one last call. She takes a seat and lowers her lips to the microphone.
"Winston, do you read? It's Mei, I recieved your message. I need assistance." She says before the power dies. She sighs before walking away, closing her office door.
Mei once again opens the door leading to the outside. She takes a deep breath and steps over the threshold, dragging a sled full of supplies behind her. She travels for some time, her legs slowly beginning to tire. But her determination continues to push her forward. Mei hikes up another hill and looks back. Her tracks lead far behind, to the point where the facility is no longer visible among the dunes.
The snow begins to push away from Mei, making her look up. Her eyes brighten as she sees Winston and another woman bringing an aircraft down to her location. She smiles before hearing a sound from behind her. On her back, Snowball beeps as it fully charges from an attached solar panel.
"Rise and shine, Snowball." She cheers to the drone, just as the aircraft lands. "We're on our way."
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And that's all she wrote. This one took me a lot longer than expected to finish, but I hope it was worth the wait. I'd like to thank Hello891011 for the heartwarming review, it's really nice to know someone is enjoying this story, and giving me the inspiration to write this chapter in particular. I hope you all enjoyed and I hope you all enjoyed the Overwatch 2 beta as well. Not sure who the next chapter will be about, but I'll do my best to write them well. With all that said, thank you for sticking through this one, I know it was a bit of a longer chapter, wanted to get as much info as I could write. Thank you all for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter.
-Kris ;)