Chapter 10:

"How is Jamison after the attack?" Zenyatta wanted to know, stabbing a pin into part of the eggshell.

"Oh, he's all right. Just as feisty as ever," Genji replied, holding up what they'd done so far. "Egg snake is almost three feet long. When do you think we'll finish him?"

Zenyatta shrugged. "Whenever we feel like it,"

Genji nodded, reaching for another pin. "Why are you so concerned about Jamison? He can't stand you,"

"I know that," Zenyatta sighed. "And I understand. A lot of the agents have pre-conceived notions about my type, but the only way I change that is by being kind. You understand?"

"I think I do," Genji fiddled with a pin in his hands thoughtfully, and he set it down when there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it,"

Genji opened the door, and he paused when he saw two unfamiliar men standing there. "Can I...help you?"

"Yeah, is Zenyatta here?" Scout asked, glancing over Genji's shoulder.

Zenyatta overheard this, and he called, "Oh, let him in, Genji!" Zenyatta mentioned for Scout to sit as he entered. "It's so wonderful to see you, Scout,"

"Thanks, you too! I-" he noticed Egg snake lying on the floor. "What's that?"

"Just a little project my good student Genji and I have been working on. Tell me, what brings you here today?"

"Well, actually," Scout beckoned his father, who stood off to the side. "My dad is the one who needs help today,"

Zenyatta looked Spy up and down, and Spy leaned towards Scout to hiss, "You didn't tell me he was an omnic,"

"Does it matter?" Scout hissed back.

"That won't be a problem, will it?" Zenyatta asked.

Spy thought about it. "No, no, it won't," he sat down on the mat, crossing his legs. "My son says you helped him remember everything about his past life?"

Zenyatta nodded. "I helped him remember what his mind could comprehend, yes,"

"I see. Well, I need some help remembering, but I already have some memories,"

"Do you?" Zenyatta sounded intrigued. "Interesting. What is it you remember?"

"Basic elements," Spy explained. "Names, places, but everything else is...blurry,"

Zenyatta put his hands together, thinking this over. "Do the memories from your past life feel like a dream?"

"When you phrase it that way: yes, they do,"

"I understand," Zenyatta sat up, his hands falling to his sides. "I know what's happening. Genji? Scout? If the two of you could step out for a moment, please,"

Scout got up, following Genji out of the shed and stopping in the doorway to briefly glance back at his father. They made eye contact for a few seconds before the door closed.

After the door had shut, Zenyatta reached out and gently took Spy's chin to make him look at him. "I won't have to go quite as deep as I went with your son. Since you already have some memories, uncovering one major event should help get everything back in order. Understand?"

"I..." Spy swallowed. "I understand, yes,"

Zenyatta tilted his head. "You seem nervous. Why is that?"

Spy looked away, murmuring, "It's nothing,"

"It's definitely something, I can tell," Zenyatta took his hand, and Spy found the cool metal strangely comforting. "You don't mind telling me, do you?"

"Not at all," Spy took a breath, then admitted, "I'm worried about remembering something...bad. Yet I already have a feeling I know what it was,"

"Was it something you did?"

Spy nodded. "Yes,"

Zenyatta hummed understandingly. "Tell me: does it have to do with your son?"

Spy looked up, surprised. "How could you tell?"

"You love that boy," Zenyatta remarked. "And something happened between the two of you in that life, didn't it?" when Spy nodded again, Zenyatta went on. "Whatever it was, just know that it happened in a life that's behind you, and now you have a new life with your son. You're very lucky to have this new chance,"

"Thank you," Spy gave a slight smile. "I appreciate it,"

Zenyatta reached for a strip of cloth, continuing, "Now, we're going to dig into your mind to get your memories in order, so relax, and I'll be here the whole time,"

Spy tried to loosen his shoulders as Zenyatta tied the blindfold around him, blanketing his vision in darkness.

"What do you see?" Zenyatta's voice cut through the silence after what felt like several minutes.

Shapes began to manifest in the blackness, and light began creeping in. "A table," Spy observed.

"Can you tell me what's on the table?"

"A newspaper, a coffee mug, and an ashtray,"

"Describe where you are,"

Spy looked all around, taking everything in. "I'm in the dining room,"

"Which dining room?"

"The base's,"

"Are you alone?"

"For now. I hear someone in the hallway,"

Footsteps and conversation seemed to get closer, and Spy strained to listen. "It's...it's Medic and Engineer," he managed to pick out a squeaking sound accompanying the other voices and noises. "Engineer is pushing a cart...wait, I remember this. I remember this moment,"

"Relive it," Zenyatta instructed, and Spy did just that.

"Anyway, the Administrator wanted you to take a look at it," Engineer explained. "She wouldn't tell me anythin' else. You think you can use it?"

Medic studied the outside of the box, and he felt his pockets. "Do you have a box cutter?"

"I have one," Spy spoke up, nearing them and handing the tool over.

"Danke, Herr Spy," Medic sliced the box open, revealing a set of small jars filled with a golden liquid.

Spy wrinkled his nose. "If this is the Bushman playing some kind of prank-"

"No, no," Medic picked up one of the jars and squinted at it. "'C-3709: Black Forest'. Odd name. What did the Administrator say this was for?"

"She said it was a weapon," Engineer shrugged. "Some kinda poison,"

Medic rubbed his chin, thinking. "I'll have to do a test on it. Are you sure she didn't give you any other instructions?"

"Look, doc, all she told me was what I told you,"

"Strange," Medic put the jar back and closed the box. "Let's take this to my office for now. Here is your box cutter,"

"Merci," Spy took the box cutter back and tucked it away. As Engineer and Medic headed for the office, Spy lit another cigarette.

Spy's eyes adjusted to the light as the cloth was pulled away.

"How do you feel?" Zenyatta asked.

"I feel..." his body felt oddly calm. "Better, somehow,"

"Good, that's good," Zenyatta responded. "Is everything clear, now?"

Spy nodded slowly. "Yes...yes, it is," a thought crossed his mind, and he looked around. "Do you have any paper?"

"I do!" Zenyatta grabbed a notepad and a pen.

Spy quickly sketched something, and he explained, "I saw this symbol at one point. Do you recognize it?" he turned the notepad to show Zenyatta.

"I'm afraid I don't," Zenyatta shook his head. "But show your son. He may know,"

"I will," Spy stood up, and he smiled at Zenyatta once more. "Thank you again,"

Zenyatta dipped his head in respect. "I'm glad I could help,"

Later, as Scout and Spy left the shed, Spy showed his son the drawing. "I saw this at one point. Does it look familiar to you?"

Scout's brow furrowed, and he went silent for a few seconds. "Oh, yeah!" he realized finally. "Sometimes we'd get boxes with that picture on them!"

"Yes," Spy squinted at the image. "I do remember. See, this was printed on the box those samples came in,"

"Huh," Scout rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I wonder-"

"Hey, how'd it go?" Tracer chirped as she approached them, Mei trailing behind her.

"It went great!" Scout chimed, gesturing to his father. "I mean, he's not pissed off at me for once, so that's a good sign,"

Spy only clicked his tongue, reaching up and ruffling Scout's hair. "Hush,"

Scout snickered but then had a thought. "Hey, could you take a look at this?" he handed Tracer the drawing. "Do you know what it is?"

Tracer took the paper, pursing her lips together. "Hmm...I don't recognize it. Do you, Mei?"

"No, I..." Mei trailed off, studying the image. "Actually, I think I do. I don't know what it's called, but I think I've seen that before,"

"Great!" Scout passed the paper over to her. "Could ya look into that for me? Might be kinda important,"

"Uh-" Mei took the paper, fiddling with it before grinning at Scout. "Yeah! Yeah, I can do that,"

"Okay, good!" Tracer clapped her hands together. "Do you need a ride back?"

Spy nodded. "Yes, thank you,"

After bidding them goodbye, Mei headed for the computer lab, feeling a sense of giddiness. It was strange for her, experiencing these emotions as an adult rather than a teenager. She was a professional for God's sake! Here she was, a professional, acting like a young schoolgirl around a guy- a guy who was younger than her. But what was the harm? No harm at all, just a woman experiencing normal feelings. There was nothing wrong with that.

She thought she'd masked her emotions well until she sat at a computer and opened it, and she heard Hana speak up from behind her. "What are you so happy about?"

Mei suddenly became very self-aware. "Oh! Um...nothing, really," she got the picture out, looking it over. "I just found something interesting to do,"

Hana smirked. "Really?" she sat in the chair beside her, leaning over. "Something interesting to do? That wouldn't happen to be 'you know who'-"

"Hana, come on!" Mei covered her face, embarrassed. "We're professionals!"

"Yeah, professional cuties!" Hana giggled, standing back up. "Mm'kay, get your work done. I'll talk to you later,"

Mei shook her head, sighing. "You too, Hana," she put the image through the scanner and did a reverse image search.

Nothing came up. She didn't really know what she'd been expecting since it was a rough sketch after all.

Yet, she knew she recognized that picture from somewhere, so she pressed on. She put it through a photo manipulator and began to put different colors over it.

Yes, yes, that made more sense. The picture was a circle with a curved line traveling through it, but as Mei played around with the autofill, it started to take on a different form. She put gray beneath the line and blue above it, and it became a mountain against a blue sky.

This time, she put the completed picture through the reverse image search, and her mouth fell open. "Oh, no way,"

At the hotel, within the employees' quarters, David poured a cup of coffee for the disturbed costumer he'd met only recently.

"So..." David began thoughtfully, seating himself in a folding chair. "You have no idea how you got in our showers?"

John shook his head, his fingers gripping the paper cup. "I saw that woman, she knocked me out, and I wound up in that shower. That's all I know," he thought it was best not to mention the blood from the showers, as he assumed David would believe he was crazy if he did.

"Did you catch her name?" David wanted to know.

"No, I- wait," John thought about it, sipping the coffee. "Her bag...her bag had 'Widowmaker' on it. Made me think that was her name or at least a nickname,"

David went silent, taking a swig from his cup. He drummed his fingers on the cup, and then asked, "This was near the laundry room, right?"

"Yes, it was,"

"Could I take a look at your head?"

John hesitated, then leaned forward. "Sure,"

David rooted though John's hair, making a face at the sight of a nasty bruise. "Yep, you got clonked all right. I'll look into it, don't you worry,"

"Thank you," John nodded.

Yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that David knew more than he was letting on. John didn't pursue this matter further, though, but he knew he'd never forget it.

As John left the employees' quarters, he suddenly became aware of strange memories flashing through his mind. Where had they come from? They were foggy and distant, yet familiar somehow, like a dream. Perhaps that was it: he was simply recalling a dream he'd had, one where he had a job he cared about very much...

He thought about the conversation he'd heard Rene and Dylan having earlier, where they were talking about memories and what they could remember, and of course, Dylan wouldn't stop talking about a past life of his. Could it be...? No, no, it was too silly, too ridiculous. But, was it?

John paused at the elevator door, and he texted Rene.

"When are you coming back?"

He stepped into the elevator and then checked his phone when he got a reply.

"We are on our way back,"

The van pulled up to the curb, and the two men stepped out.

Scout leaned into the driver's side to talk to Tracer. "So you're busy tonight, right?"

"Yes, yes," Tracer waved him off. "I think it's best you spend the rest of your day here, you've done a lot today,"

"Yeah, and I can do more tomorrow!" he winked at her. "And the day after, and the day after that-"

"Dylan," Spy called, beckoning his son.

Scout just grinned at Tracer, springing up. "See ya!"

"You too!" she waited for him to walk away, and then sighed. "Damn it...I'll have to tell him at some point,"

Rain began to pour down, so Scout and Spy entered the building with much haste to avoid getting wet. As they headed for the elevator, Scout piped, "So, you really remember everything?"

Spy rolled his eyes, pressing the elevator button. "For the last time, yes. You don't need to keep asking,"

They stepped into the empty elevator side by side, and Scout asked another question. "If you remember everything, can you tell me somethin'?"

"What?"

"Did you..." Scout paused and then tried again. "Did you hate me back then?"

Spy looked appalled. "Of course not! Why would you think that!?"

"Oh, I don't know," Scout tried not to make eye contact. "Just...a lot of things used to make me think that,"

"Well, I didn't hate you then and I don't hate you now," he tried to sound reassuring, but he mostly sounded annoyed.

The elevator doors opened, and they made their way to their room. "You ain't just sayin' that to be nice, are ya?" Scout wondered, his voice a little softer.

Spy stared down at the room key in his hand before pushing it against the screen. "Everything I've said to you is the truth,"

They entered the room, with Spy announcing, "We're back,"

"Thank God," breathed John, rising up from the couch. "I need to talk to you two,"