Meet the Team
The Medic couldn't believe the suggestion that the Administrator had proposed. Then again, she did have a logical reason behind it.
"Mr. Ludwig, I think it's time for the others to meet your little science experiment."
"Are you sure? I mean, you yourself have yet to meet Alpha and-"
But the older woman interrupted him. "I will meet him in due time. Since that creature shows promise as a mercenary, it is important that he gets to know his future teammates. Besides, I'm sure he can learn a thing or two from the other men, don't you agree?"
"Yes, I wholly agree. It's just...I fear that Alpha would react quite poorly. He took some time getting to know Miss Pauling."
"You're right. But that's no excuse. I expect you to have all the men meet up with the creature by the end of the week."
"Yes ma'am."
To help ease any tension that may occur between each of the meetings with Alpha, the Medic had Miss Pauling assist him. The first teammate to be introduced to the hybrid was the Heavy. The German already had a good rapport with the hulking Russian and figured he would be the easiest mercenary to convince that Alpha wasn't a threat.
"Doctor! It is good to see you!" the Heavy bellowed happily as he gave the Medic a hug.
"As you too, mein Freund." the Medic replied.
"So, what does Doctor need to talk to Heavy about?"
"There is something I must show you. It may seem a little odd, but rest assure he means no harm."
"He?" the Heavy was confused.
"Perhaps if the Medic shows you rather than explain it outright, you'll better understand." Miss Pauling said to the Russian.
The Heavy nodded and followed the Medic and the assistant to where the creature was being kept. At first, the Heavy thought it was some sort of trick.
"Has the wizard been here? Heavy don't like magic; very bad."
"No, Merasmus has had no involvement with this. I was the one who created him." the former doctor said.
The giant man looked down at the half man/half octopus. Alpha gazed up at the large Russian in awe; he had never seen anyone so tall! The creature then gripped the Heavy's large finger and held onto it. Startled, the Russian kept his cool, as not to frighten the hybrid. Alpha studied the man's large hand, examining it against his own in size comparison.
Suddenly, the Heavy reached down and scooped up Alpha and held him up to his eye level. Alpha froze in fear, not sure how to react. The mood was lightened by a hearty laugh from the Russian.
"Little one is a curious one! Heavy like him already!"
While still finding him intimidating, Alpha liked how jovial the burly man was. He gave the Heavy a wide smile, to which the Russian laughed once more and smiled back.
Despite the Heavy had warmed up to Alpha rather quickly, the same couldn't be said for the Scout. When the young Bostonian saw the hybrid for the first time, he jumped in fear and started cursing up a storm.
"Jesus Doc! Just what the fuck is that thing?!"
"Scout, would you lower your voice." the Medic demanded. "You are scaring Alpha."
"You even named it?! I knew you were whacked, but this just brought it to whole new level!"
Alpha immediately hid behind the Medic, covering his ears due to the young man's yelling and shivering in fright. As the German tended to his creation, Miss Pauling quieted Scout.
"Scout, I know it's a lot to take in, but it's very important that you remain calm. The Medic's creation may seem like a threat, but I assure you that it is more frightened of you than you are of him. So for the Medic's and Alpha's sake, but for mine as well, please be respectful."
The Scout could see the desperation on the assistant's face and agreed. He turned to the Medic, who held the hybrid in his arms. Alpha had his face buried in the former doctor's chest, letting out a faint whimper. The young man felt a ping of guilt over how his outburst frightened the oddity.
"So, your name is Alpha? Well, I'm Scout. Nice to meet ya." But Alpha didn't respond, still nuzzling against the German like a security blanket.
"Look, I'm sorry for all the hooping and hollering earlier. That was rude of me and I think we got off on the wrong foot. So how about we start over and we become friends?"
It was then Alpha turned his attention to the Bostonian. The creature saw the sincerity on the young man's face. He then extended his arm out, to which the Scout gave a puzzled look.
"He wants you to shake his hand. I think Alpha has accepted your apology." the Medic explained.
"Nice!"
Aside from Scout, the only other mercenary that scared Alpha at first was the Pyro. The mysterious firebug had joined the Engineer that day it met the Medic's creation.
"I knew you were cookin' up something strange, Doc. But to see it come to light...wow!" the Texan gazed in wonder at Alpha. "Kind of a cute little fella." the Engineer chuckled as he tousled the hybrid's hair in sweet affection. Alpha smiled coyly at the short man and giggled at the gentle patting he was receiving.
But his mood quickly changed when the creature got a good look at Pyro. The person was covered head to toe in a red jumpsuit, gloves and gas mask with no distinguishable markings. The dark eye lenses and muffled breathing made Alpha's eyes widen in uneasiness and caused the hybrid to immediately slink behind Miss Pauling.
"Oh dear." Miss Pauling said.
"Uh, Pyro. You'd better think of something quick to show the little guy you're alright." the Engineer told his friend.
The Pyro rummaged through its suit, looking for anything to ease the creature's reluctance toward it. It opened a side pouch on the utility belt and found what it was looking for. The Pyro produced a small toy made of crochet yarn. It was a pink Ballonicorn with black button eyes and a soft white horn in the middle of its forehead.
"Hmph-hum." the Pyro called to Alpha, holding the toy out for him to see.
With a cautious stance, the creature peaked from his hiding place behind Miss Pauling's legs. He saw the toy and gasped.
"Pyro wants you to have this." the Engineer explained to the oddity. "Don't be shy."
Alpha slide forward as the Pyro handed the Ballonicorn to him. Holding it in one of his octopus arms, Alpha studied the woven toy, turning it upside down and right-side up. He then looked up at Pyro, who nodded. The firebug then plopped down on the floor in front of Alpha and pulled out another Ballonicorn from its pouch, this time in the color blue. It then showed the creature how to play with the toy by making it gallop and whinny. Alpha soon mimicked the actions and quickly began enjoying this impromptu playtime.
When it was the Demoman and the Soldier's turn, the two men were not even fazed by the half man/half octopus. The Scotsman just stared at Alpha, then at his ever present bottle of Scrumpy.
"I think me Scrumpy has gone bad." the Demoman said as he swished his half-filled drink.
"To say you're not drunk enough is an understatement, but no; what you are seeing before you is not a hallucination." the Medic reaffirmed the Demoman.
"Oh." Suddenly, Alpha tried to take away the bottle of booze from the Scot. "Oy! This is not for you, wee one!" He jerked the bottle away, but the creature wouldn't let go.
"I got this!" the Soldier said and grabbed a hold of Alpha.
Both the German and Miss Pauling watched in awe as the Soldier successfully separated the hybrid and the Demoman's bottle. The Midwesterner then glared at Alpha.
"Now listen here, short stuff! It's not very American to try and take something that doesn't belong to you, especially another man's alcohol. So if you do that again, I'll beat you so hard, you'll see Stars and Stripes!"
As with the Medic and the assistant, Alpha just stared at the Soldier in disbelief. Alpha could only nod in compliance, which pleased the American. The Soldier placed him on the floor.
"You need to better control him, you Kraut."
"Certainly." the Medic still couldn't get over how both the explosives expert and the crazed rocket fanatic readily accepted the oddity. Miss Pauling felt the same way.
"Mr. DeGroot, Mr. Doe. I must say I'm impressed by how the both of you acted today. Your teammates had to be eased into this situation."
"Oh, you bonnie lass! I've dealt with far weirder things like the Bombinomicon and Solly here has Merasmus as a roommate!" the Demoman laughed.
"Believe me when I say that wizard has shown me more kooky things than your little experiment." the Soldier then turned his attention to Alpha. "You kid are going to be a great Patriot of the good ol' U. S. of A and ol' Soldier is gonna show you how!"
The Sniper and the Spy where the last men to meet the Medic's creation. As different as night and day, the Frenchman and the Australian bickered like siblings, yet the two could agree on one thing: the hybrid that was in front of them was a sight to behold. The Sniper lifted his aviator sunglasses to get a better look at the creature.
"Bloody hell…" he said in awe. "What do you think, spook?"
The Spy, who normally kept his cool, was taken aback by Alpha. It was like looking into a mirror; a warped carnival mirror. Aside from the dark blue octopus arms, claws and yellow eyes, the resemblance to the Spy was uncanny. Alpha must have had similar feelings as he stared at the Spy. The dapper man before him was intriguing, yet the Frenchman also made Alpha nervous.
"Incroyable." was all the Spy could say.
The Medic knew this day would come, as both Spies for RED and BLU where identical. The German was curious as to how his teammate would react to meeting his genetic clone of sorts.
"I need a minute." the Frenchman muttered and left the room.
The Medic and Sniper watched as the Spy made a hasty retreat. They were hesitant to follow; unsure if either one could provide the right support to the distraught man. Miss Pauling offered to go after the Spy and exited the room. She found him in a dark corner smoking a cigarette.
"I'm sorry." the assistant managed to say with little confidence in her words.
"You don't need to apologize, mademoiselle."
"I do. I knew about how the Medic used the BLU Spy's; no! You're DNA to create Alpha and didn't think about how you'd react. I was so caught up in the moment I forgot to consider how you would handle this reveal."
The Spy looked at Miss Pauling, who was averting her eyes from him in guilt. He took a drag of his cigarette before responding.
"I've already proven I'm a terrible parent with the Scout. I just don't want you or the German to make the same mistake. And if that creature is anything like me...I only ask that you make the right call when the time is right."
"We already have."
"That's not what I mean. You can nurture him, but ultimately nature will take its course. He will show his true colors and it won't be pretty."
"Then I won't let that happen...ever." Miss Pauling's determination made the Spy show an impressed smirk.
"I admire you, Miss Pauling. The Administrator made a good choice hiring you. But we shall see. For now, I will help you and the doctor out anyway I can with the creature. And when that day comes he needs to be éliminé...don't try to stop me."
"OK." Miss Pauling said after a moment of silence.
"We should head back." the Spy said as he stamped out his cigarette butt. "Who knows how the Bushman is reacting to the creature."
"I'd say he is taking it better than you."
"I do believe you are right."
The Frenchman and the assistant returned to the lab. When they entered the room, the two saw that Alpha had taken the Sniper's hat and sunglasses and was wearing them. A gentle smile was on the Aussie's face.
"You're a sneaky bugger, aren't ya?" he told the hybrid, to which Alpha laughed.
"I assume everything is alright. You left so quickly I wasn't sure you'd return, Spy." the Medic said to his teammate.
"As right as rain." the Spay said to the former doctor. The man then caught a glimpse of Alpha in the Sniper's accessories. "Be careful, mon petit. The Sniper here will surely teach you how to piss into Mason jars in no time."
"Ah, blow it out your arse, Frenchie!"
"At least I would make sure he grows up to be cultured, unlike you who are crass and unkempt."
"Herren, if you please." the Medic warned. The Sniper and Spy immediately stopped their squabbling.
Much later that day, Miss Pauling had brought up the Spy's concerns with the Medic.
"The Spy has made it clear that he doesn't approve of Alpha. He thinks that your creation will turn on us at some point."
"I can't say that I wholly disagree with the Spy. There is always that risk." the Medic said. "However, I wouldn't worry too much. So far, Alpha is quite stable, sans a few animal traits but those are manageable."
"I wish I had your confidence." Miss Pauling told the German. "The Spy also mentioned that if Alpha does turn, he wants no one, not even us, to stand in his way when it comes to taking down your creation."
"Not if I can help it." The Medic said in a harsh tone. "I still have that fail safe. At least Alpha can have a peaceful death instead of whatever that Frenchman has planned."
"True."
The two stood in silence, knowing that the previous conversation was grim. The Medic and Miss Pauling didn't want Alpha to be exterminated by any means, but it was a situation one simply couldn't ignore.
"You know, he did get along with everyone well. I'm proud of Alpha." the Medic commented, hoping that the mood would be lightened.
"Me too. He does have the ability to charm anyone he meets." Miss Pauling replied. "It will be interesting to see Alpha grows as a person now that he has other mentors guiding him."
"And we'll be there every step of the way." The Medic grasped the assistant's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. She squeezed back, glad to have someone to comfort and ease her doubts.