"So now I'm going to meet...Symmetra," I muttered, cracking my neck.
"Yes, and please, no fighting," Doctor Ziegler said. "I don't understand how you healed so quickly, but you should be cautious. Your injuries were severe."
"I'm fine, Angie," I replied with a smile.
Although, if I was honest, my healing bothered me too. I was glad I had healed, it had allowed me to defeat Reaper, but how the hell did I even do that? So far, nobody had an answer, and there was no time to figure it out. Fareeha and Angela had picked us up in the jet, making a beeline for Vishkar's headquarters in Asia. Our destination happened to be in Symmetra's country of birth, India and was one of the hardest places to access in the world.
Yet I had a personal invitation to go there.
"We're going in there with you," Fareeha called from the cockpit. "After everything that's happened we're not letting anyone travel alone."
"Thanks, Faree, I appreciate it," I called back.
"We're approaching Vishkar," Anglea informed us. "Remember, no weapons. Not even a concealed weapon. There's no point."
"Can't I take my knife?" I asked, whining like a child.
"Take a knife and I'll ground you," The doctor answered sarcastically.
I chuckled as we began to go down, gently losing altitude. The three of us were dressed as civilians, no armor, nothing. We'd go in, talk, leave. Simple as that. I stood up and walked towards one of the few windows inside the jet, my jaw going slack at what I saw.
Vishkar's headquarters were like a castle. No, not a castle, several castles all put together. The building was enormous and seemed like a small town itself. It was obviously made of light, from the famous light architects Vishkar was known to have trained. Most of the structure was made of pure light, yet you couldn't see anything inside it and it wasn't blinding. Cars drove through streets that cut through the property, ships flew here and there, both landing and taking off. People could be spotted everywhere, working, walking, talking, or simply enjoying themselves. It looked like a paradise.
"We've got permission to land," Fareeha said. I felt the ship stop moving and gently begin to ease toward the ground. "There's a security detail waiting to escort us, so don't panic."
"Roger Dodger," I murmured. The aircraft landed with a slight bump and the three of us walked towards the ramp.
"Fareeha, leave it," Angela ordered sternly. The soldier huffed and pulled a pistol out, leaving it aside. Angela gave me a look then faced the ramp which had started to open. Quickly, quietly, I grabbed the knife Diva had gifted me and hid it under my shirt, sheathed.
"Welcome," A Hindu voice said. Angela prodded my back and I began to walk forward, towards Symmetra.
She had dark brown skin, amber eyes, and wore a lab coat. Her dark hair was tied into a ponytail of sorts, her hands were clasped behind her back. She smiled politely, although without emotion, and offered one. It was metallic white, going from the shoulder down to her hand. Her entire arm was a prosthetic much like McCree's. I gave her my hand and we shook.
"I suppose you know who I am," I stated, looking around. Several guards with light armor and guns stood around us.
"Indeed, we know who you are," Symmetra admitted. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"I'd say the same thing, but I'd like to know how you found me first," I replied, crossing my arms. "As far as the world knows, I'm dead or missing. And it's not like I was important enough to warrant a search from Vishkar."
"It's a...complicated situation," Symmetra said. "All will be explained in due time."
"I'm sorry if I sound rude, but I'm not moving another step until you explain. Things have been dangerous and I'm not taking chances." I stared Symmetra down and I could barely see, from the side of my vision, Angela step closer to me. I felt Fareeha put a strong, protective hand on my shoulder. Symmetra sighed.
"You haven't done well at concealing yourself," The light architect began to explain. "Vishkar always keeps an eye out for exceptional individuals. You, how do you Americans say it? You fit the bill, my superiors wish to talk to you."
"What do you mean, fit the bill? What do they want him for?" Angela questioned, standing in front of me now.
"I'm afraid that information is for Mr. Soto only," Symmetra announced. "This meeting is exclusively for him, after all."
"We're all going together-"
"If that is the case, then I suggest you board your aircraft and leave at once. We will not be tolerating rule breakers. Alessandro is the only one needed."
"Say I go alone, what happens to them?" I questioned.
"They will be allowed to explore the premises as you attend the meeting."
"Survivor-"
"There's no need to use code names, Angela Ziegler, we know who you all are," Symmetra cut in.
"Alessandro," Angela continued, clearly annoyed. "What do you want to do?"
"I'll go alone, get this meeting out of the way, then we can meet up and discuss it," I replied.
Fareeha looked like she wanted to argue, but Angela hooked their arms together and tugged her away. Half the guards peeled off, giving them an armed escort...although I felt that they weren't there to protect the two heroes, just to keep an eye on them. I sighed and turned to the woman in front of me, eyeing the other guards.
"Thank you for your cooperation," Symmetra said, smiling politely. "There is no time to waste."
I nodded as she turned around and began to walk. After a few moments, I followed. The guards tagged along of course, always at a respectable distance...a distance that, if they fired at me, I wouldn't be able to stop them. Still, I didn't let myself get bothered by this. If they wanted to capture me they could have done so the moment we touched down, so I had to assume we were safe.
"As you can see, this is a huge facility," Satya said, sounding a bit proud. "It has served as the center of Vishkar's operations on this side of the world for years."
"It's impressive," I admitted as we walked inside. I paused for a second, just to take it all in. The building was a perfect mix of traditional Hindu architecture and the light, filled with decorations, beautiful lighting, and yet somehow it still managed to look professional. Maybe all the men and women rushing around with briefcases and suits helped give me that impression. "Who made this? Like, the design."
"I did," Symmetra answered contently. "I was in charge of the entire project, and most of my career has taken place here."
"Where'd you spend the rest of your career?" I questioned, wanting some information. Anything might help.
"In Brazil," She said, sounding bitter. We passed through an arch and appeared outside, a small, sleek car was waiting for us. The two of us entered, alone, and the car sped off.
"Oh, the place your people enslaved?"
"We did no such thing," Satya answered, although she sounded...unsure?
"Course not, that's why the fought against you guys and ended up kicking you out of Brazil. Which also happened to be the only place in South America Vishkar was located-"
"I apologize but you are not here to have a discussion with me about the controversy some people see in our work," Satya interrupted. "You are here for an interview with the head of Vishkar, that is all."
We remained silent for the rest of our brief travel. It only took a few minutes through the high tech, beautiful properties of Vishkar to reach the central building. The biggest of all the "castles" that Vishkar had here. When we got off the car Symmetra led me down a large path, filled with people. Of course, guards flanked every possible road and stood in every possible corner. Weird thing is, they all seemed to be focusing on me...
I did my best to ignore the guards and relax as we walked inside the building, through an endless amount of hallways. I tried to keep my tracks but after the sixth turn, I was utterly lost. Satya, with the confidence and authority of a combat veteran, walked the halls to guide me. Everyone moved out of our way, a good amount of people gave her nods or quick words in her native language. I was starting to feel worried, wondering where we were actually going, when she finally stopped by a door and opened it for me.
"He's waiting for you," She stated.
"He?"
"You'll see."
I sighed and walked inside, carefully, keeping an ear out. But there wasn't much in here, which struck me as odd. This office was small and, well, kinda lame. Some seats on the sides, mahogany desk and big mahogany chair in the center, behind those a shelf with different awards. It reminded me of the stereotypical principal's office in American movies.
"Uh...where's the person I'm meeting?" I muttered.
"Right here," An American voice answered. A virtual face was suddenly projected from the desk, scaring the crap out of me. I jumped back bumped into Satya, who must have followed me in and closed the door. Above the desk was the light blue face of an old man. Bold head, white skin, clear eyes, wearing a suit. He chuckled and shook his head. "Apologies, I didn't mean to startle you."
"You...you're American?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"All of this...and that is your first question?" He sighed, not in an unfriendly way though. "Please, take a seat. We have much to discuss."
I did as he said, sitting in front of the desk on a spare chair. Symmetra stood behind the hologram, standing up and staring straight ahead. The old man smiled at me, but I just stared at him.
"So, what'd you want me here for?"
"Ah, straight to the point I see," He answered. "If you would allow a question, what did you think of our facilities?"
"They're...impressive," I admitted, easing on the chair. "Incredible, to be honest. Making this place out of pure light."
"It's a blessing, one we hope to spread throughout the world someday," He continued. "But to do that we need talented people, such as Satya here."
"And you're telling me this cause...?" I already had an idea, despite my question, I had a pretty good idea of what he wanted from me.
"You wanted me to cut to the chase, so I'll do just that," He replied, his smile disappeared. "I believe your talents could be incredibly useful for the Vishkar movement, and I believe they can be improved upon and used to a better extent for more people."
"Gee, boss, don't try to make me sound like a tool you want to buy-"
"I'm serious," He interrupted. "You have talent, you've helped people. It is my strong belief that here at Vishkar you could accomplish even more."
"And it's my strong belief that Vishkar has abused of people before, and isn't worth my time," I answered, maybe a bit rudely.
But I was annoyed, no, I was mad. These people enslaved the good folk of Brazil, people like Lucio, and they wanted me to help them? The thought of helping these corrupt people made my blood boil-
"I understand you may have, um, misconceptions about our company," The man said. "But I assure you we aren't the monster some would have you think."
"You enslaved the Brazilians-"
"We brought them resources, homes, cracked down on crime," He countered. "The thanks we earned was hatred. You should know how this works, our own country has had this problem."
"The U.S?" I questioned, confused.
"Every time America went overseas to help, the world allowed it at first, then the world hated Americans," He explained, visibly angry. "Blamed us for the wars and crimes, when we had gone to end those. Then America leaves, and they get blamed again!"
"Might want to calm down, your patriotism is showing," I murmured. He opened his mouth to answer, but thought better of it and went quiet.
"Anyhow, when the Brazilians showed that they wanted us to leave we respected their decision and left."
"They had to fight you-"
"They didn't have to fight us, or even protest, they could have requested their government to speak to us like any civilized people would. They attacked us, and we left. We had every reason to retaliate but we left. As you can see, we didn't oppress them, we respected them even after they hurt us."
"Sir, you must not get angry-"
"Yes, I am very aware of that, thank you, Miss Vaswani," He said, speaking over her. "I must go, I have important business to attend to. Please, finish the meeting here with Mr. Rivero."
She nodded stiffly and took a seat behind the desk as the hologram shut off. I sighed, leaning back on the chair. Now that he was gone I felt better, but why did he tick me off so much? Something about him threw me off, got me tense...
"Not even a goodbye," I finally said. "How professional."
"He's a very busy man, you'll have to excuse his sudden absence," Satya explained. "And your attitude wasn't adequate either, Mr. Rivero."
"Are we done here?" I asked, leaning forward. "Can I go now?"
"No, we have a proposition," Satya stated. "We would like you to remain here, with us, for a few days. Only so you can see for yourself what we are like, have the...how did he put it? Have the Vishkar Experience."
"You mean, we get to stay, right? Angela, Fareeha and me?"
"No, only you."
This made me go silent. It definitely sounded like a bad idea to stay here, in an unknown territory by myself...but on the other hand, we did want to recruit Symmetra. How else could I do that if not by staying and spending time with her? I still didn't know how Vishkar had found me and everything points that they are not to be trusted...
But we need new members. I sighed and stood up.
"Fine, I'll stick around," I said. Symmetra, for once, gave an honest smile and nodded at me.
"I assure you, you will not regret this decision."
OK Y'ALL SO-
It's been a hella long time, I know, let me explain. First off: Finals, last couple weeks of school I had finals so I did NOT work at all on this. Second off: Vacation. I went with my family on a trip the last two weeks as well, got back a few days ago. Third off: Writing, I wrote this damn chapter three times and didn't like it. Hell, I still am iffy about it but this is the final draft. I know I know, it's not that great for a month's work but I swear I'll make up for it! Fourth: To make up for it, I got some NEW fanfics you guys might like~ All Overwatch of course, I'll post them soon and let you know.
Just, sorry guys for taking so long. It's not like I can warn you whenever I'm gone...or can I? I've set up a Twitter realizing it's good for giving updates on story progress, hiatus, etc. Follow me and there'll be a constant flow of updates from "new fanfiction in progress" to "new chapter for New Hero" and so on, plus links to other pages I post on ;0 That aside, you can get updates from stuff like YT videos, AMV's, photos (I'm kinda getting into photography) and so on. Lots of cool stuff my dudes.
I gotta say I haven't forgotten you guys, and I've read the reviews, thank you so much for your support even when I was gone, it's the one thing that kept me kicking and had me make this chapter! See you soon with chapter 27!
Twitter: /NeppyTheDork