For a while after Vishkar's procedure Hana had felt almost deliriously overjoyed with everything around her. She spent hours watching the holovid, having no idea what anybody was saying but for some reason finding it highly amusing. Vishkar also set her up with a gaming PC and let her pick out over two dozen games on the company's dime. They even hung around with her while she was gaming, asking questions and showing what felt like genuine interest in her favorite pastime. It all made her so excited that sometimes her head would start to ache, forcing her to go calm down in her room until she felt better.

As time went on, the effects of whatever Vishkar did seemed to level off somewhat. It was a good thing, Hana decided, because it reduced her days from unending manic ecstasy to a general feeling of overall goodness. It was a pleasant existence, made only better by Vishkar's promises of fame and public adoration to come.

She couldn't imagine why she'd ever wanted to live like a Junker when her lifelong dream had been to become a star.

Just thinking about the Junkers made her feel sick now. In fact, thinking about anything from her past life gave her that sick feeling, and often brought on a headache as well. In the back of her mind she occasionally picked up a niggling feeling, like something was trying to venture to the forefront of her mind, but it made her nauseous to dwell on it for too long. It was much easier to just think about positive things. And Vishkar had no qualms helping her out with that.

She was in the process of doing her makeup one morning when someone knocked lightly on her door. "Come in," she called, carefully blotting the faintest bit of blush onto her cheeks. The door opened, and she heard heels lightly click their way inside. She glanced into the mirror to discover it was none other than Satya standing behind her.

"Oh, hi Satya! Man, it's been so long – I thought you quit or something."

"I would not do that. And hello." She created a seat for herself beside Hana. "How are you? I have heard you are…reforming."

Hana nodded. Then, furrowing her brows, she said, "Honestly, you should never have let me go in the first place. But I know I convinced you to do it. I didn't know any better."

Satya folded her arms. "I acted foolishly. I let myself get caught up in your group's madness when I should have been the responsible one, the one looking out for all of you. I am sorry, Hana."

"It's okay. I'm just glad I'm not still on the run with those guys. They never cared about me."

Satya bit her lip. She said nothing in response.

"So," Hana eventually said, "did you hear? Vishkar's going to go public with me soon. They're gonna try to get me all sorts of interviews and stuff. I'm gonna be famous again."

"How exciting!" Satya clasped her hands together. "I am sure your family will be ecstatic to discover you are not only alive, but quite well."

Hana hesitated. "My…family…"

Satya's small smile disappeared. "I misspoke."

Hana bit her lip. "I…I can't even remember them. I think…they're dead." She winced as her brain punished her for dwelling too long on the past. "I don't think I have a family to go back to."

Satya touched her lightly on the shoulder. "Vishkar is your family now. As it is mine."

Hana stared at Satya's metal hand as it made contact with her shoulder. "Do you ever see your parents?"

"Occasionally. They still live in the inner city, which I am not fond of traveling through. And as I said, I view Vishkar as my true family." She paused, as if deliberating whether or not to elaborate. "Parting ways with my parents was mutually beneficial for all involved," she finally said. "I was able to find a place to flourish, and they no longer had to divide their meager earnings between my brother and I."

"You have a brother?"

Satya nodded. "He was quite young when I left home. Only five years old. So I do not feel I know him all that well."

Hana smirked at her.

"What?"

"I could totally tell you're a big sister. You just have that big sister way about you."

"Do I?"

"Definitely."

Satya smiled but for a moment – it faded as quickly as it appeared. For a second Hana swore she could detect a change in her eyes, a flare of emotion. She shifted her gaze away from Hana, running her organic fingertips across her synthetic arm.

"I always wanted a sibling," Hana continued, the silence bugging her for some reason. "I used to think about what it would be like to have a big brother or sister to look out for me, or a younger one, so I could look out for them and teach them stuff." She scratched her head, then moved into Satya's line of sight. "But if Vishkar's my family now, then doesn't that make you kind of like my sister?"

"I…suppose it does." Satya finally met her gaze again. "Are you glad to be a part of this?"

"A part of Vishkar?"

"Yes."

The answer seemed an easy one, but for some reason Hana faltered. A part of Vishkar – that's what she was now, wasn't it? They had helped to heal her. They gave her a home. They got her away from the Junkers, who never showed any concern for her health – right? Boss and Junkrat didn't care, they just wanted her sexually. Roadhog didn't care about her. Ana…

"Hana!" Satya caught her as Hana doubled over and nearly fell out of her chair. She cried out as the paralyzing pain deep in her head prevented her from thinking clearly. Satya held tight to her, keeping her steady. "Are you all right? Do you need medical attention?"

Hana couldn't speak for some time – the pain was all-consuming. All that could pass from her lips were moans. Satya led her over to her bed, then helped her to take a seat on its soft bedspread. She stayed with her while Hana hugged her knees and shivered, pleading internally for the agony to pass. It had been this bad a few times before, but usually not for this long. It lasted for such a long time that Satya eventually sat down on the bed beside her and simply waited it out with her.

The pain distorted Hana's perception of time. It could have been minutes or it could have been hours that passed with her curled up, crying, clinging to Satya for some sort of grounding. Fortunately, for however long it took, relief eventually came. The pain subsided, and in its place flowed a sensation of pure euphoria. The ecstasy faded quickly, but was soon replaced by a wonderful, wonderful numbness. A calmness. And then it was back to her usual, yet source-less, joy.

She looked up at Satya with a serene smile on her face. "I'm happy to be a part of Vishkar," she said, her tone floaty and dreamlike.

Satya's response did not match what Hana would have expected. She felt good, and she was telling Satya she was happy – shouldn't Satya be happy to hear that? But the woman did not look happy. In fact she looked arguably more distressed than when Hana was in screaming agony just before that.

"Hana," she said, still keeping a light grip on one of Hana's wiry arms, "you said Vishkar cured you?"

Hana nodded, still smiling.

"What did they do?"

"I think Satya is mad at me."

Sanjay looked up from his computer screen. "Hm?"

Hana walked around to face him. His office was small and a bit cluttered, very much contrasting the majority of Vishkar. On his desk sat a few framed photographs of him with a couple of small children and a woman.

"I don't know. She asked how you guys cured me and when I told her she got all weird and left."

Sanjay sat back in his chair. "You'll find that she sometimes has odd reactions to things. It isn't you." His tone was casual, but his eyes were alert and fixed on her.

"You don't think she's mad at me, then?"

"Not at all. I will speak with her about it, though. This should be…addressed."

He got up from his desk as if to leave, but before he could Hana spoke up again. "Hey, Sanjay?"

"Yes?"

She stared at the photographs on his desk. "Do you consider Vishkar your family?"

He searched her face, as if trying to puzzle out where she was going with her question. "In a way, I suppose. Why?"

"Satya says you're her family. Mine now, too."

"Oh. Well of course. Yes, we're a family here."

"Are you sure?" He didn't sound very convinced of his own words.

"Absolutely."

"Okay. I believe you."

Sanjay avoided eye contact with her after that. It seemed a lot of the Vishkar employees did that. Maybe Hana still looked bad from her time in the Wasteland and they didn't want to be rude and stare at her. She'd probably never really be beautiful again. She couldn't understand how the Junkers had thought she was – stop. Stop thinking about them, you'll get sick again.

She managed to stop her train of thought before the pain in her head grew to anything significant. One last, fleeting thought passed through her mind though – a memory of someone holding her, hugging her, spinning her around like a playful big brother. Jamie...

She missed him so much. She missed all of the Junkers–

Clutching her head, she hurried out of Sanjay's office. He called after her, but she just kept going.

I thought I was cured. Why is my brain acting like this?

They spent what must have been close to two weeks on the run from Vishkar. The Indian winter was thankfully mild, so they didn't have to worry about freezing or overheating to death out in the elements. However that was only a mild comfort in the long run – they were still starving, sleep-deprived, and on constant alert for any signs of Vishkar or the police.

In a laughable twist Boss determined she was probably in the best shape among the remaining Junkers – she'd grown accustomed to not eating or sleeping. Perks of being dead, she supposed.

Boss had originally planned to scout Vishkar out for entry points, but found that she couldn't get near it. There was something disrupting her energy flow, the only thing keeping her tethered to the mortal plane – it was the same as when they'd had her in that laboratory tank. She and her powers would be of no use to Hana, it seemed. So instead she became the round-the-clock lookout for the rest of the Junkers. They spent their nights sleeping in alleyways, under overpass bridges, and under trees by the river. Every night they tried to formulate a plan, and every night it ended in nothing but frustration – and, in some cases, in fighting. Junkrat especially butted heads with Boss. He was firmly of the belief that they should simply blow Vishkar out from the inside with his stupid homebrew explosives. "That's not going to get Hana to come with us, dumbass," Boss would repeatedly point out. "Vishkar made her think we're dangerous. We can't just prove them right."

It seemed they would never make any headway – nobody could come up with a good plan. Hana remained locked away in her tower while her idiots in shining armor repeatedly failed to help her.

Then, one morning, everything changed.

A faint buzzing noise caught Boss' attention while the others slept in their claimed alleyway. She looked up to discover a small drone descending above them.

"Guys," Boss whispered. The other Junkers slowly roused from their sleep. "Something's up." She nodded in the direction of the drone. Ana was on it in a second. With one shot from her DIY silenced rifle the drone exploded into a shower of sparks and scrap. One part of it hit the ground with a clang – then said part began to glow.

"Stay back." Boss held an arm out in front of the others. "I don't know what it's doing."

A blue light burst forth from the object. It formed into a solid, three-dimensional shape. A hologram projector? Boss was just leaning in closer to investigate it when it revealed itself completely.

"Vanessa Calgori, right?"

Boss startled as the hologram took on the shape of a woman. Her hair was half shoulder-length, half shaven, and the shaven side of her head was covered in glowing stripes. She was dressed in a long coat with a high collar and gloves with sharp points on the end of each fingertip. She wore a grin, and it was not a very friendly one.

Before Boss could even respond the woman continued, "You look great for being dead! What's your secret? Wait, I know, it's radiation exposure, right? I hear Vishkar's gonna corner the market on that one."

"You're with them." Boss stood up and hovered one booted foot over the hologram projector, ready to crush it.

"Whoa, hey!" The woman held her hands out submissively. "Why does everybody think I'm with Vishkar? You really think they'd be competent enough to recruit someone like me?"

"Who are you, then?"

The woman clasped her hands together and smiled again. "I'm a friend of Hana's. You can call me Sombra."

"You're a friend of Hana's?" Junkrat pushed his face up close to the tiny hologram. "Wait, she mentioned talkin' to a hacker–"

The woman called up a video of Hana seated in a chair in the middle of a tiny white room, staring up at a holovid. On the screen was a figure dressed in Sombra's clothing, her hair and face obscured by a hood and mask. Though there was no sound in the projection, it was clear they were talking. Hana's body posture was surprisingly relaxed, as though she were quite used to communicating with the masked woman.

"I was helping her try to get out of Vishkar quietly before someone went and blew the power." She paused for an uncomfortably long time, staring at Boss. Boss refused to confirm or deny her involvement, despite knowing that this woman most likely knew she was the one responsible.

"They recaptured her," Junkrat piped up. "We don't know what they did to–"

"I know what they did to her," the woman replied.

"You do?"

"Yeah. They planted a chip in her brain that regulates her neural impulses. Basically alters her thoughts and emotions and keeps her from making certain connections in there that they don't want her to make."

A shudder coursed through Boss' already-cold body. I knew it was something like that. That didn't make it any less horrifying to hear, though. "So that's what it was."

"Yeah. Honestly I don't know how anybody can't tell when they're showing her off to the media. You can see it in her eyes." She waved a gloved hand in front of her own face. "They're dead."

"Wait, they're already showing her to people?"

"Oh yeah. I have a file of it somewhere around here..." She hummed to herself as she fished around somewhere off-camera. "Oh, here."

A series of hologram images appeared around her. The largest one had Hana in an expensive-looking dress sitting opposite what looked to be a news interviewer or something. The images around it were similar, Hana posing for pictures with Vishkar employees, screenshots of news stories about her, and so on. Boss leaned in close and stared at Hana for a long time. It was true. Her eyes did look dead.

Boss swallowed. "Is there anything we can do for her?"

Sombra tapped her chin with her disturbingly long-nailed gloves. She was still grinning. "Well, lucky for you re-wiring by technological means is the easiest to undo – especially for me. I'm guessing Vishkar used it because it's quick and has immediate effects, and they want to get their reputation out of the toilet as fast as possible after I trashed it last time."

Boss was tempted to ask what exactly that last part meant, but Hana was her immediate concern. "So you can undo it? She'll be fine after?"

Sombra turned away in her chair. "Whoa, hold on a minute. One, no guarantees she'll be fine. They did perform brain surgery after all, and I'm pretty sure they're not qualified surgeons. And two, I never said I'd definitely do it."

"Isn't that why you came to us?"

"I came to you to see what you can offer me. Maybe we can make a trade."

Junkrat's eyes were wide, imploring, as he stared at Boss. "What kind of trade?" she asked. "We have practically nothing to our names."

"That, my friend, is where you are wrong." Sombra spun back around and leaned in close to the camera. "You have information. A lot of it. And I want it all."

Boss glanced around at the other Junkers. Ana was stoic as usual, revealing nothing. Junkrat and Roadhog were just watching Boss, Junkrat fidgeting a little.

"What do you mean by 'all' of our information?"

"I mean you tell me everything you know. Tell me about the Junkers. Tell me about Vishkar. I'm sure Captain Amari has some interesting stories to tell at the very least."

Boss blinked. "Who's–" She turned to Ana, who was staring intently at the hologram. Her exposed eye did not reveal much emotion, but her posture was tense now.

"The world's most elite sniper, reduced to a common criminal." Sombra chuckled. "Isn't it funny how life works like that?"

"Seems like you already have your fair share of information," Ana replied, still not letting any emotion seep into her face or voice.

"Are you kidding? I can never have enough info." Sombra's malicious grin returned. "Don't worry Captain, I promise I won't tell anyone that you've been evading your taxes for years."

Ana clicked her tongue. "Right. Of course you're to be trusted."

"So you really won't help Hana unless we all disclose everything to you?" Boss' shoulders drooped. That was such an unfair trade. This woman knew they had no options and was taking full advantage of it.

"I know, isn't that awful of me? Maybe I should reconsider and have some sort of moral epiphany." She pursed her lips, resting one hand under her chin. "Hm...nah. I'm still gonna do it."

"Some friend of Hana's you are," Boss muttered.

"Hey, friends do for each other. And Hana screwed me over by letting herself get caught. She still owes me her share of information. Which reminds me…"

Boss crossed her arms and waited.

"She's part of this deal, too. So once I fix her brain I get to pick it as much as I want. You guys are gonna give consent for her."

"No way." Boss shook her head vehemently. "She's been through enough. Leave her alone."

Sombra chuckled. "Jeez, awfully protective of someone who thinks she hates you now." She cast a glance around at all of the Junkers. "Fine. Here's my condition for her, then: Someday, if I ever need a favor done – someone to do some dirty work, create a distraction, lift a heavy box for me, whatever the heck I need at the time – I can call on the Junkers to help me out. That includes Hana."

Boss swallowed. That was a lot to commit to, especially to someone she didn't know in the least. And to commit Hana to it, too…

"How do I know you'll even help her? What if we tell you everything and then you just fuck off?" Boss sat back, keeping her arms crossed tightly over her chest. "We don't even know you."

"No, you don't." Sombra's expression sobered, her grin melting away into a look of seriousness for the first time in their conversation. "Here's the thing, though. Full disclosure, Vishkar is trying to take over my home. I'm going to do everything I can to stop them. That includes taking away their precious mascot, and using every bit of info I have against them."

That gave Boss pause. She had wondered before if Vishkar had tormented groups other than the Junkers. Apparently this was her answer. "So you want our information to help stop Vishkar from hurting anyone else."

"Well, that and I'm just a nosy bitch in general." Sombra's smile returned. "But yeah."

Boss sighed. "Are you guys okay with this? Ana?" She paused on the old woman beside her. She suspected this Sombra would not be getting much in the way of truth out of Ana. Boss was planning on lying about most things herself, and she was sure Sombra was expecting that. The only thing she was going to be honest about was how Vishkar had treated her while she was imprisoned there. She wanted the world to know that.

"In case you're still unsure about agreeing to this," Sombra added, "let me sweeten the deal a little. I'll tell you something very important about this city if you agree. Heck, I'll tell you before you even tell me anything. That's just how nice I am."

"Be cautious with this," Ana murmured, so quiet that Boss could barely hear her. "It's a deal with the devil."

"No, the devil is Vishkar." Boss returned her attention to Sombra. "I guess…we'll do it."

"Great!" Sombra golf clapped. "That's a wise decision, especially considering you can't leave this city without my help."

Boss blinked. "What does that mean?"

"So here's what I agreed to tell you," Sombra said. "This entire city, everything around you – none of it is real."

"What?" Junkrat interjected. He looked like he was going to say something else, but Boss shushed him so Sombra could continue.

"I mean, it exists in the real world. But it's not a 'real' city. This was Vishkar's first Utopea, a city made entirely out of hard light. It's the city they use for their advertisements and for when news stations and stuff want to do features on their company. It's a model. That means it's got to be perfect all the time. And you know what isn't perfect all the time?"

"…Humans?" Boss wasn't sure where she was going with her question.

"Yeah. Humans." Sombra folded her arms idly. "Humans are messy and flawed. Vishkar can't take a chance on letting random humans represent their company's ideal city. So there are no humans living here."

"That's not true," Junkrat butted in. "We've seen tons'a people here!"

"And isn't it weird how none of them have reported a bunch of obvious criminals roaming their streets? Hell, a few hours after you guys took your little city bus joyride Vanessa was strolling right down the street in broad daylight. Did anybody seem concerned at all?"

"…No," Boss mumbled. "They didn't."

"They're robots. Not Omnics, they're not that smart or high-end. Basically low-grade knockoffs meant to fill the background space when Vishkar films promotional videos and stuff."

"So this whole city is fake…?" Boss lowered her gaze to the ground. She had noticed how eerily perfect everything was. The streets were all so flawlessly aligned and symmetrical, everything perfectly in its place. She'd just never assumed it was something as crazy as the possibility that the entire city was a Vishkar creation. "Did Satya know this?"

Sombra chuckled. "She helped design it."

"This can't be true." Junkrat hopped up, pulling his frag launcher off his back. "That hard light shit goes up in smoke when ya so much as breathe on it. We were out here gettin' in car crashes with all sorts of explosions. The bus didn't shatter like hard light."

"The hard light you're used to is Satya making shit in like two seconds. This city was done by an entire team of Architechs. It's probably a little more sturdy than some ass-pulled turrets." Sombra examined her nails. "And you can't leave, either. The only way in or out of the city is through Vishkar and their teleporters. Otherwise you eventually just hit an invisible force field that you can't get past. At least that's what their files say. I haven't been there myself." She pulled up some more documents, skimming them as she spoke.

"So Satya knew what she was doing. She didn't let us go. She just lengthened our leash a little."

"It's weird, though." Sombra closed the documents, returning her full attention to Boss and the other Junkers. "I don't know why she would do that in the first place. The only theory I can think of is that maybe she was, like, testing you or something. Seeing what you'd do with your 'freedom'." She stifled a laugh. "And look what you went and did."

"She thought we might have changed." Satya had said that right out, in front of Boss and Hana. "We didn't change at all."

"Satya Vaswani is a lot of things," Sombra said, "but she's not an idiot. No way was she gonna let a bunch of criminals run loose in a real city. She must have known you guys weren't really reformed at all."

"So we are technically still imprisoned by Vishkar." That was the first time Ana had spoken since her warning to Boss about Sombra.

Sombra nodded. "You know how people put their kids in playpens to keep them out of trouble? Well, this is your playpen. Maybe they wanted you out of their hair for a little while so they could mess with Hana all they wanted."

"I could get out of here." Boss got to her feet. "I mean, couldn't I?"

"I doubt it. They did a lot of research and testing on you while they had you there. But hey, try it if you want."

Boss disappeared into the ground. Sombra tapped her nails against an unseen surface, waiting. She reappeared several minutes later.

"Well?" Sombra asked.

Boss grunted. "You were right. I tried to follow the river…after a while it just ends. A big wall of light you can't get through."

"No surprise there. I'm usually right about most things." Sombra was still wearing a cocky smile. A good part of Boss felt like this woman was not at all out to actually help Hana or the Junkers. It seemed she was more amused by their predicament than anything. "So you're all trapped in a simulated city and your friend has been taken over by a mind control chip in her brain. You're really lucky to have me."

"Can you even help us?" Boss was beginning to have her doubts.

"Of course." Sombra leaned in close to the camera. "In fact, I have a plan already. Here's what we're gonna do…"