The darkness was perfect, a sort of visual silence that gave revered awe. With eyes closed, there was the simple sweetness of existing, of being, of breathing, and how these moments extended with such grace until the dawn chose to bring back the colors.
The sky is a rolling blanket of clouds the color of wet ash, and the ground It's damp reflection.
In the distance, a traditional Japanse temple that seemed extremely out of place in the midst of the modernized city. Sighing, Alice attached above her wrists the spring-loaded dagger, this time making sure to wear gloves.
She had spent the previous hours preparing herself, and honing her skills with her new weapon, until she was satisfied that she was fully proficient in its use.
Her thoughts dwelt onthe Owl's words and the cruel tones of the doctor. She didn't want to think about his death, she needed to focus.
"All I'm asking in return is for you to go to the Shimada Castle and find the Legendary Shimada Family Blade and then you will understand." The voice of the Owl rang all too clearly in her mind.
She slipped on her black leather jacket, turning off the Tv in the same time. She then let Khai-Ja cover her body in the armor, the owl mask covering everything but her yellow eyes. She rushed out of the apartament, closing the door's behind her and began to make her way towards the traditional temple that seemed out of place in the middle of the city. She had only one mission: steal the Shimada's blades.
As Alice climbed over the walls of the Shimada Castle, the perfectly balanced darkness and her black costume allowed her to move unseen on the walls. Countless sakura trees blooming with bright pink blossoms filled the barren courtyard. A few lanterns scattered here and there were the only sources of the light, and because of the large walls that surrounded the castle, the area was much darker than the rest of the city. As she approached, she could see two sillhouettes of guards standing in front of the large wooden doors that led inside the main temple. Alice knew she would have to find another way in.
So activating her mini map, she decided that the safest way in would be from behind the building where there were fewest guards.
Going from rooftop to rooftop, she jumped on the high wall, Khai-Ja keeping her glued to the wall, she climbed on the other said and landed on the soft grass soundlessly.
Alice eyes followed towards an open window on the second floor of the building. Warm yellow light shone out into the darkness, and shadows danced along the walls of nearby buildings. A moment later a figure stepped into view, red dot moving around the room like the person was searching for something. It took a moment to realize that it was just another servant. Alice stayed quiet, watching the old lady. She stayed completely still, patiently waiting for the lady to leave.
Then, she disappeared. She stayed for a moment, wondering if the lady was going to come back, but the red dot disappeared completely, indicating that she left onto another floor. Suddenly, bright light flooded the courtyard around her as a the entrance to the back of the building opened. She froze as her eyes were blinded but Khai-Ja was faster and camuflaged It's host, making her invisible for the human eye. It was another guard, closing the doors, he walked past her frozen figure and disappear behind the wall.
'T- thanks...'
Just be more careful next time.
Her steps become slower, more cautious. She paused again when she reached the other entrance of the castle itself. She carefully drew the castle doors open and stepped within. A wooden walkway lit yellow with the glow of the scarab's parts, Khai-Ja immediately lowering the lights in the armor. She passed few more guards, but this area of the building seemed more quiet than the front of it.
Following her map, she entered the dark room. Looking down at her feet, she stepped onto a tatami mat occupying most of the room. She walked slowly towards what looked like ancestral shrine. The name Shimada Sojiro was engraved on a small wooden stick. Two katans had been set beside it. Alice narrowed her eyes, which one was she supposed to take? She let both her fingers slide on the cold metal of the blade, it was fresh clean, someone must have been here before her.
There was something familiar about the katana- the look of it, the marking of It's sheath and the color of it. It was all familiar, yet she couldn't remember why. She was unable to make sense of the familiarity she felt to the weapon, thought it only made her all the more eager to take it.
Scanning the room for any indications of traps, she brought her hand down and grabbed the katana.
The same aura of the Owl was surrounding the katana and like a manget, it stuck to her hand. She gripped it more tightly, feeling the warm energy radiating from it.
It was so familiar.
It felt like home.
On her back, a blue glowing symbol of an bird appeared and spread to her right arm. It was glowing brighter and brighter every second.
She didn't know how it happened but the next thing she knew, she was in pain as something was burning her inside out. Her legs gave up on her, dropping her to her knees, but the blade was still tightly attached to her hand. Her yellow eyes were completely dimmed, her body was burning and yet she couldn't make any noises as she fell limp to the ground. Alice spat on the ground and begrudgingly stood up, her eyes widened as she didn't feel balanced and was close to the ground if it wasn't for Khai-Ja. She pants and groans again as her senses were flaring too much, making her dizzy and weak all of a sudden.
She needs to puke. Instead, she coughed and held her chest as it burned for a second. She gasped for air and dropped to her knees. What is happening to her? Why is everything burning?
The glow on her back formed fully and now it was representing an owl with both wings spread wide and both It's legs extended in such a way that it looked as if the bird was about to catch its prey. The katana's glow disappeared as if it never happened and her hand finally let go. The sound of falling metal echoed through the dark room.
There was no red dots coming towards the room, but it didn't mean that any guards hadn't heard her and it was just a matter of time until someone come here. She has to move.
There was a window, she could use as an escape but her body was too weak to survive the fall.
Using wings wasn't an option either. They were glitching and too heavy, she needed to be concentrated while using them and that wasn't an option.
She started panicking as her vision become blurry and blackness swallowed her mind back again.
.
.
.
"Are ya sure we're at a good location?"
"Yes I am sure that this is the right location." Then he turned towards a man who was sitting on a wall, a red light was flicering on his chest.
"Go fetch them Genji, but remember take them alive."
The sound of her heartbeat was the first thing she heard as she woke up to the boring real life. It pounded in her ears, almost as if her body was crying out to let her know that she was alive.
She groaned as she blinked confused, that's not Shimada Castle. Looking around more, she realized that she was indeed in her apartament, the broken devices laying everywhere. In fact, Alice was currently very confused as to how she managed to get here in the first place.
She was laying on her mattress, surrounded by machines and darkness.
"Khai-Ja?"
Silence.
She shrugged, her friend must be tired. Laying back on the bed, Alice found it wasn't that hard to drift back off. However, while she slept, two man watched. One wore a simple black hat while the other was wearing a cowboy hat.
Several hours passed until Alice woke up again, this time, she felt a lot better. Turning her lamp on, her eyes widened.
What.
She reached up to her right hand. Her eyes widening upon landing on the dark ink that now adored her pale skin.
"I've heard about waking up with a strange tatto after getting drunk, but never after getting burned and nearly dying." Alice's eyes was humorous, though the shakiness of her words gave away the uneasiness she felt as she stared down at the tatto.
Or maybe she got drunk.
Alice stumbled on something hard, and she looked down at her feet to only find a bright katana laying on the floor.
So it wasn't a dream...
The katana glow a weak white light as if it was answering to her problem.
Oh shit, oh fuck, she really did that. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, shit! I thought it was a dream! Fuck, why did I even listened to that bird that might just be another figment of my imagination?!
"Owl? If it's you causing all this, I swear to god, next time I will see you, I'll pluck out all your feathers and shove them down your throat!"
How dare you!
The same katana moved on It's own and cut her leg a little.
"You bitch-"
.
.
.
Genji stopped in front of the apartaments and began to climb from balcony to balcony, trying his best to stay quiet. When he was on the right balcony, he peeked through the window. It was mostly dark, but he could distinguish the room being a kitchen. He could see a moving shadow through the window.
He climbed into the window soundlessly and peeked around the corner to see Alice sitting on the floor, working on something, scraps of metal and machinery were laying everywhere. She was wearing wireless headphones in her ears, her body moving in the rythm of music.
He hesistated. This wasn't looking like another Talon hideout, was their intel wrong?
He waited until her back was turned then slowly and soundlessly, walked inside the room. Or so that was his intention, but he ended up stepping on some sort of metal scrap on the floor.
Alice froze.
He bursted in, but Alice suddenly sidestepped and he tripped on her foot that she placed in front of him.
Genji fell headfirst onto the edge of his desk and slumped over dazed. His vision blurred as he tried to stand only to slip on dirty laundry and hit his back on the desk. He tried to stand again only to feel something lift and slam him into the floor. Alice put her weight on his shoulders and brought one of his arms under her knee while stretching his other arm so he couldn't move.
"Excuse me but what the fuck are you doing in my house?"
"Ha. You think you can steal from me? I don't think so, thief. Take a look around; I have nothing but trash everywhere. It's funny how you think there might be money here." Although her body was trembling and her eyes burning, she was not going to let herself get robbed from all her precious treasures.
"But if you're not a robber but a serial killer, then you better run! Because I have watched too many horror and criminal movies to even think about hesitating to shoot you!"
Genji was stunned by the blow to the head but it cleared up when he felt something touch his prosthetic arm and chest.
"What is that? Are you an omnic?"
He immediately stiffened, before getting angry and headbutting Alice off him.
"Oww. My nose. Do you have any idea how much that hurts?"
Genji frowned in irritation but smirked under his mask when he stood up to see Alice clutching her nose.
The man was wearing some sort of matellic armour that illuminated with a red glow. Glowing red eyes met hers, and she took a step back in surprise.
"Who the hell are you?"
"That is not important." He said, "But I know who you are, Talon minion, and I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man said. His voice was heavily accented and it had an almost robotic tone to it; similiar to hers.
His words grabbed her attention. She looked at him seriously as if she believed in his words before bursting into a loud laugher.
"I believe there has been a misunderstanding. I do not take orders from Talon; I am my own person and will not lower myself to work for someone like them."
She shook her head, lowering the cannons, "And I don't really care if you know who I am. My name dosen't mean anything to me."
Shrugging, she continued. "And you dare to accuse me of working for Talon while looking like this? No offense, but all that red and armor doesn't make you look any better. For all I know, you could be working with them too."
She ducked the punch he tried but had to block the kicks that followed. Genji punched her in the side then spinning kicked her at the wall.
"Would you stop attacking me? What is wrong with you? You break into my house, dressed like an omnic and when I try to be civil you attack me."
"I wouldn't do that if you didn't start touching me. Is that what you call civil?"
"No idea what you're talking about."
"Why you--. I'm going to enjoy this."
He cracked his knuckles with a menacing look. Alice stared at him blankly.
"You know what they say; Anger is a fuel that burns quickly. Those who keep their calm in battle will always be the victor. *Her stomach grumbled loudly drawing their attention to it.* And he or she who fights with an empty stomach will lose."
She straightened and without giving him another look pulled out her phone and sat on the couch. Genji stared at her with a raised eyebrow.
"You know sitting down is an option? Or do you want to stand?"
"What? Aren't we going to fight?"
"Why would we ever do that? At first I thought you were an omnic but your clearly not, and I don't like hitting omnics for no reason. Especially the ones that have two katanas on their back. What's that about any way, are you doing this so when you steal things people would think that you are robot?"
Genji closed his eyes and rubbed his temples to calm the headache that was forming. He opened them to see Alice was now standing so close, that he realized that her face was now covered in some sort of mask resembling a bird. Yellow electric eyes staring at his. Her face under the mask was twisted into a maniac grin. He jumped back in surprise and tried to kick her but she had already moved back on the couch. Genji's mind raced, trying to understand what happened.
"See anger clouds your judgement and blinds you to the world around you. Leaving you open to attack."
Genji observed the girl lying on her back on the couch still typing on her phone. This person had snuck up on him, avoided his surprise attack and took him down like he was a rookie at this.
"What type of topping do you want on your pizza? They have double cheese."
Genji did a double take. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out.
"What's wrong? Don't like pizza? Okay, how about instant ramen or are you more of a Chinese food type?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Huh? Oh, I'm hungry and I haven't eaten all day, and was asking you if you would like to eat too? I know you're a thief and all but I'm really lonely and I could use some company. I will even pay for you, no need to thank me."
She narrowed her eyes at him, scanning him silently. 'Wait a second- oh." Her eyes widened and both cannons were aimed at the man back again, "You're that guy from Blackwatch, erhm, I mean Overwatch."
Terminate him immediately.
"Y- you're, Genji Shimada..."
The male froze in place, staring at her with wide eyes, lowering his hand away from the blades on his back.
"Genji. We don't have time for this." Commander's stern voice sounded in his ear. "We need to get the kid as fast as possible!"
Alice obviously took this as her opportunity and stormed out of her apartament, not bothering to close the door. Running at full speed down the hallway, laughing loudly and yelling. "SUCKERRRRRR!"
His reaction was all she needed.
She wasn't supposed to know that.
Genji frowned, annoyed and ran after the teenager.
"She's coming your way, McCree." He said into his comm.
Meanwhile, Alice was trying to reach the emergency exit. She was about to reach the third floor, but stopped, noticing the red dot behind the door and turned around to see another one running very fast in her direction. Realizing that this was most definitely a trap she took off running out different door leading to another hallway.
'This is bad, this is bad! How did they found us?!' She dove into a room and locked the door, luckily for her, the weird looking man ran by, ignoring the doors.
They have been tracking our movements past these weeks, Alice Smith.
'And you tell me this now?!'
Now that she was able to sit for a moment, Alice calmed down and started to think on her escape plan. She looked down at her hands, noticing the spring-loaded dagger still attached to her wrists.
Alice didn't think things could have gotten as bad as it had recently. Yet somehow, it turned out that yes, things could get this bad. Blackwatch agents are running around inside the building she lives in, her scanners only managed to find two individuals, all were armored and wanted nothing but probably beat the shit out of her, especially the robot... human, I don't know, he didn't seemed happy to her knowing his full name.
She was now, slowly crawling upside down on the ceiling towards the elevator that was her only way of escaping without being noticed. Looking around, she absorbed the armor back and jumped down on the floor.
Entering the elevator, she sighed in relief, relaxing to the music. Lifting the dagger down, she noticed her old scar that she got from the doctor.
'Damn, I almost forgot about it.'
When the elevator's doors opened a small object was throwed straight at her face. Her eyes widened as she realized what it was but didn't manage to close her eyes in time as a loud bank went off with bright light and blinded her. Everything was ringing in her ears, making her lose balance. She groaned annoyed as her vision was black back again
"Seriously, straight in the face? That was a dirt move; I didn't even have a chance to dodge it." She said, rubbing her eyes. A loud thumb could be heard behind her and literally out of nowhere the same guy from before appeared, his blade dangerously close to her throat. Colors were spinning around her but she managed to stay still. As her vision slowly returned to normal, her eyes were meet with a revolver pointed at her head.
Now that was troubling.
"Whoa, I'm not the bad guy here. Can we please talk about it?"
"Sure you can start by lowering that big knife of yours."
She shook her head, "Not happening, unless your friend does it first."
Alice Smith, play along, I have a plan.
The male looked at his friend for a few moments before nodding, making the other lower his weapon.
She felt a large surge of energy shoot out of her back, then not giving the chance to act, she punched straight in the face the man in front of her, causing him to drop his gun and slid between his legs.
Running full speed, she yelled "YOU WON'T TAKE ME ALIVE!!" She heard gunshots behind her and ran even faster. The cowboy began firing his gun at her, and successfuly tagged Alice two times, causing her to cry out in pain.
Take the stair and go on the rooftops.
Alice did as Khai-Ja told her, struggling to move because of a bullet stuck in her leg, and the other in her shoulder muscles, paralyzing her left arm. She weakly began to climb onto the stair, keeping herself balanced by holding onto handrail.
Arriving at the last floor, she fall down, face first.
Your shoulder and leg are bleeding out. You must seek medical attention or find a safe place so I can help you before you go unconscious from Hemolytic Anemia.
"What the crap is Hemolytic Anemia?"
Hemolytic Anemia is a heavy blood loss.
"Great. You're more useless than usual." She sits up, putting her armored hand on the bleeding shoulder to slow the blood loss. Glancing at the wound, It's deep, and I can't see the bullet inside. Her head is spinning from the bleeding and that almost overwhelms her.
Yeah, I need a doctor.
Alice Smith, you must get out of here immediately. I cannot help you when the enemy is near.
"Yeah, yeah, It's on top of my to-do list." I reply back, snarky.
She tried to stand up, leaning against the wall, almost falling again.
Your body temperature is at 90 degress and is increasing. You will go unconscious soon.
"Would you shut up for a minute? I'm trying to think here!" I glanced around the almost empty hallway, trying to find the entrance to the rooftop of the building.
Looking back at my wounds, I cover my shoulder in web, same with the leg and limping, I began to make my way towards the entrance, following the map, Khai-Ja is providing for me.
Turn to your left.
Alice pants and drops to the ground on one knee. She grunts as she takes her hand away from her shoulder and groaned to see it stained with blood.
Detecting multiple threats coming towards us.
I whirl around, plasma cannon ready as I stop supporting my bleeding shoulder, letting it hang motionless. I don't have time for this, I'm about to faint.
Seeing the same red light, I did not waste any time and immediately shot the energy beams towards them without stopping.
Incoming!
What I didn't expect was my own beam being deflected and hitting me straight in the stomach. The blast sent me flying into a wall; the sound of something snapping echoed through the hallway.
Damage alert! Damage alert!
Armor resistance: 92% effective.
Detecting damaged bones. Unconscious will occur in 2 minutes.
"Shut up, I know!" Her cannon shakes as she struggles to keep it aimed at the guy with a weird hat.
The other guy's eyes are focused on her, holding his blade in front of his friend protectivly. The blade was red from the contact with the blast, smoking faintly.
"Look, kid, we don't want to fight you. If you come with us quietly, maybe the boss won't kill us for accidentally killing you."
"You're with the Overwatch... Blackwatch, I don't know anymore." I hiss, aiming my plasma cannon at the armored guy.
Seeing their reaction again only confirmed her theory.
"Kid, you're bleeding-"
"Oh really? How could I not know it, well thank you for reminding me about my hemolytic anemia problem." She said sarcastically, and coughing.
Unconscious will occur in 20 seconds.
"Well shit, isn't that just great?" She said to herself, receiving a questioning look from both males.
"You want me?" She stood up, ignoring the pain as her both hands changed into long and sharp scythes. "Come and get-" That was as far as Alice got, due to the blood loss, she passed out.
Both man watched with wide eyes as if she was crazy.
McCree asked, "Is she...dead? Oh god, she can't be dead. How am I going to explain this to the boss? He's going to kill us, I can't die, not yet. I still have one more bag of chips to finish."
His partner walked towards the body, checking the girl's pulse.
"She'll be fine." His hand stopped as he noticed a long scar down her throat.
"So... who's taking her-?"
.
.
.
Of course he got stuck with the stupid job. His body- well, what was left of it- hurt, and he was stuck having to carry an unconscious and bleeding teenager back to the ship. His cybernatic parts were glitching because of getting electrocuded. When he told Morrison and Reyes that he would do anything to prove that he was ready for field work, this wasn't what he had in mind.
When Reyes explained the situation, he expected to see a bunch of Talon soldiers. Not a teenager having a breakdown in the middle of the night.
It was supposed to be a stealth mission at first, not kidnapping. He was supposed to only see if it's the Talon's doing, and not just anywhere- to the city where he had been mutilated by his own brother. And they expected him to be just okay with that?
Genji frowned as he looked down at the unconscious girl in his arms. The black mask she wore over her face was glitching, the black goo desperately trying to stay together and hide her identity. He tried to pull it back into It's place, but took away his hand as the substance burned his skin.
He was thankful when he finally reached the airship. Reyes and Moira were waiting for him on the open ramp to the cargo hold. Commander's eyes widened at the state of the girl.
"Oh, how wonderful. Another child, why I am not surprised?" Moira said, looking over at the McCree. "And what happened to you?"
McCree was holding his hand to his bleeding nose that was probably broken. "The kid put up a good fight, that's all."
"Bring her in." She said in her usual voice. Genji nodded curtly, avoiding the eye contact of both of the agents. He hoped that the her injury didn't mean that he failed.
"Good job." Reyes said curtly, dismissing his worries. Genji did not respond, thought relief washed over him as he nodded towards his commander. He then followed Dr. Moira O'Deorain back into the ship.
Upon arriving in the doctor's makeshift office aboard the ship, Genji felt the entire aircraft shift a bit as it lifted into the air. He stumbled a bit, still not entirely used to the way his artificial legs worked, and his grip on the teenager tightened a bit. He scowled as he set her down on the examination table, and although he wanted to leave and forget about the whole mission, he found himself watching closely as Moira looked over her wounds.
"Didn't commander said to bring her alive?" Moira asked, glancing at Genji, his expression turning into horror as he looked back at the body.
"But she was-"
"She will live." Moira cut him out, chuckling quietly at his reaction.
He glared at her but said nothing.
She began to clean the battered skin where the bullets had entered the body. Genji only grunted. He did not want the doctor to think he cared about a random teenager. He was simply there out of curiosity, or he just didn't wanted to talk with the commander and have to explain why the kid is in such state. Moira then reached for the dark bird mask that covered the girl's face.
"Don't-"
Moira hissed, taking her hand away from the mask, the black goo burning her skin as it was made of paper. Blisters began to appear on her burned skin. She immediately walked towards the sink and poured cold water into her wound.
When she stopped, she looked at Genji questioningly.
"I tried to warn you." Genji said calmly, "But you were too quick to touch the mask. Whatever that is black substance is, It's very powerful and hurts our skin." He said, pointing at his torso that was also covered in burn marks.
"Do you want me to attend your wounds too, Genji?" Moira called after him.
"I am fine." He responded, dissmising her with a wave of his hand.
'Like I don't already have enough.' He thought with a frown.
.
.
.
Mondays. The worst things always happen on Mondays. Sometimes It's just a bad grade or you tripping over a wet floor in the school toilet, or It's you the teacher chose whenever he's asking questions and there's 3 people lifting their hands up but no, he has to chose you for some fucking reason than just knowing that you have no idea what the answer is and all he wants is just some entertaiment. But that's how school works in a nutshell.
Sometimes, if you're lucky enough you can see some cannibalism and cannibalism is always fun.
Maybe not cannibalism but rather a lot of mental and psychical violence, from time to time you can even see kids on breaks having a mental breakdown, crying in the corner.
Or kids having 1v1 outside of the school. That actually is funny to watch, believe me, I'm speaking from experience.
Or sometimes It's a family member trying to kill you.
Well fuck that.
Fuck it all.
Fuck my school.
Fuck my n1 parents and fuck my n2 parents that I don't even know.
And don't you think I forgot about you, my brothers, fuck you two too.
Fuck this entire situation. Fuck the entire world that expected me to play by their rules and become subsumed under the universe, become nothing but a background character, a noise in a musical pitch of existence.
No. I am going to live in this world with my own rules.
Damn it.
I am going to live.
.
.
.
Her yellow eyes flickered in life as she groaned, feeling something tight wrapped around her shoulder and leg. She rubbed her eyes, grimacing slightly as a dull pain shot through her shoulder. For a moment she was confused. This definitely wasn't her room.
Then she heard it. A high-pitched beeping sound coming from somewhere to her left. Aching pain shot through her shoulder with every inch that she moved. The beeping drilled into her head like torture. As the sound continued to pulsate through her skull, Alice instinctively reached up to cover both her ears. She felt familiar power travel through her back, giving her a sense of security, knowing that her friend was still with her.
Looking across the room she notices a counter with several medical supplies rest on it. To her right were several move hospital beds. Looking down, an I.V stuck in her arm, immediately jerking it out, I almost yell from the pain. Holy crap, I should not have done that.
The armor is on immediately, I even let my wings out, the metal feathers slice the wall.
All systems online. Welcome back, Alice Smith.
"Help me get out of here." I say as I kick down the door, it fly off It's hinds. Everything here was white, the walls, ceiling, making her even more confused.
The colors reminds her of a certain person and she instantly pales. He is dead.
'No, I'm not back there. He's dead, I killed him. There's no way-'
Lost in her thoughts, she dosen't notice a person in fron of her. They fall to the floor, her butt hitting hard.
"What the crap!" She yelps as she scoots back.
A woman dressed in a pure white lab coat stood before her, hands rised slightly in front of her almost cautiously. She had golden blonde hair that was pulled behind her head in a ponytail, and a pair of thick-rimmed glasses rested on the bridge of her nose. She seemed to almost glow in the bright light, and her blue eyes were surprisingly warm. And yet, Alice found herself stepping away from the woman in fright. She knew all about wolves in sheeps' clothing, and she didn't trust this strange women one bit.
"Wait, calm down!"
Her back hits wall. She quickly moves her arm forms it into a cannon but pain in her shoulder stops her from doing so.
"I know you have to be really confused, but please calm down and let me explain-"
She tries to reach her but Alice twists and kicks her to the side. The woman hits the floor and she rans down the hallway.
Entering random doors, I close them immediately. Breathing heavily, she stops as she hears movement behind her. Turning around, her eyes were meet with red glowing eyes of the cyborg staring back at her, a guy dressed like a cowboy stuffing his mouth with chips, and two other men playing solitaire.
"Crap..."
Detecting hostile personage, take extreme caution.
"Um... who's winning?"
They all look at me before one of them points at the blonde guy, wearing a blue jacket with some logo on it. She didn't recognize the men to be Jack Morrison, probably of her general tiredness.
Awkward...
"That's good, I think... Well, I gotta goooo-"
I reach for the door handle and open it slowly, not breaking the eye contact, opening the door and, running away in another random direction.
She even ran faster when hearing the footsteps behind her.
She ended up locking herself in a small broom closet.
Alice sat down, taking in her surroundings. She woke up in a strange room, that looks almost the same as the Ray's room and she dosen't like that at all. The idea that he could be alive are almost 0, she crushed his neck, there's just no way he could survive this and the collapsing building. She looked around, the closet was dark, and full of different kinds of chemical substances. There was a bucket standing next to her and a broom laying on the floor.
'Am I back there? This can't be real, no, no, I killed them, all of them. I-'
Alice's breathing became labored, and she backed away from the door to the closet behind her, hitting it lightly and causing few soap buttles to fall from their places and hit the floor.
Breath, your heart is beating faster. I can inject sedatives if you-
'No! Don't you dare-'
You are having a panic attack. I will inject the sedatives if you don't calm down.
"Shut up!" She whispers, hitting the wall in anger. That's when she feels the stitches in her shoulder.
The handle to the room squeaked slightly as it was pulled. The door swung open, and Alice was blinded by the bright light of the corridor. The same doctor from before entered, behind her was the same cyborg.
Activating defensives.
The cannon activates on It's own and immediately starts firing at the two. Genji was able to pull Angela aside and neither was hit.
A sonic cannon would be the best tactical attack to take down many enemies.
"Sometimes you actually help." I compliment the scarab as I form it. Then the pain in my shoulder instensifies as I move my arm.
Before the cyborg is able to pull himself up, he is meet with a cannon pointed straight at his face.
"Please listen."
"WHERE AM I?" She screams, forming another cannon and aiming it at the doctor.
"You're in Rom-" She began
"AND WHO THE HELL IS THAT EDGY LOOKING GUY ON THE FLOOR?!" She was cut off by the teenagers screaming.
"That's Genji-"
"WHY I AM HERE? DID YOU TWO KIDNAPP ME, MAD SCIENTIST AND A FUCKING ROBOT?!"
The said robot growled and tried to reach his katana's but the look of the doctor made him stop.
"We didn't kidnapped you, we saved your life-"
"Oh really? Because I'm pretty sure that this guy has been chasing me all over the building I was living in. There was someone else too but memory is a little blurry now. Then I guess you kidnapped me for kicks and giggles." The teen's frazzled nerves seemed to have calmed slightly, and now her insanity seemed to be steadily replaced with fear.
Genji huffs an annoyed breath. "I didn't realize saving your life is considered kidnapping."
Angela shot him another glare, telling him to shut up.
"Please, if you calm down, I assure you everything can be explained rationally!" She said, trying to reason with the teen.
Eleminate the threats with a sonic cannon.
"Shut up, we're talking." I say, receiving funny looks from them.
"Few days ago, someone have managed to hack into our most classified files and downloaded them all into some unknown system. I don't know the details, but apperently the last location where the files were opened was in the building you live in."
Alice stared at her, her eyes didn't indicate any lies.
"Oooooooooh."
She lowered the cannon away from the women but the other one still stayed aimed at the cyborg.
"Why didn't you say so."
Angela sighed, "I tried but you kicked me and then ran away, talking to yourself and ignoring my shouts."
Alice chuckled nervously. "Well, let's start again then. Hi I'm Alice Smith. I'm a huge fan of rock music, books and old things, and I think you're very intelligent. Now It's your turn." She said, smiling warmy. Angela didn't know what to think of the girl's sudden change of emotions.
"My name is Dr. Angela Ziegler. I am-"
"Combat medic for Overwatch." Alice finished with a nodd, recognizing the name from the files. She had seen photographs of her, though she looked much different in a lab coat and glasses than rather than her famous Valkyrie Suit.
"That's right, how did you know that?"
"I have my resources." She shrugged then turning her attention towards the cyborg that was still laying on the floor with a cannon pointed at his face.
"Now your turn."
Genji's eyes narrowed as he and Alice stared intently at each other. Alice's smile that wasn't visible in the owl's mask never left, instead becoming wider.
"Hmmm. Great! I already like him. You remind of that one character from a movie that hates everything and anyone." She then lowered the weapon and turned to the doctor. "So, your not with Talon?"
"Of course not!" Angela exclaimed.
"You guys are Overwatch?"
"Yes!"
"And he's...?"
"One of my snappy patients, like you." She said, though there was both humor and affection shining in her blue eyes.
"Right. Sorry, about my freak out." Alice began slowly, "I have a bad experience with being kidnapped, and I guess, I lost control over myself."
"Oh, It's quite alright." Dr. Ziegler dismissed her with a wave of her hand, "I've had my fair share of snappy patients."
Do not trust those people, they have taken you without your free will. Terminate them with a sonic cannon.
"Gosh, what is it with you and killing people. Can't you see I'm having a civil conversation with them?" She said to herself, turning her back to them.
Alice had questions. So many questions. When she passed out, she was in Japan, specifically in Hanamura. This woman was obviously not Japanase, and every sign she passed was written in english. She was definitely not in Japan anymore.
Turning back to them, wanting to ask more questions, however the sound of someone clearing their throat caught Alice's attention. She turned to see the man standing in the doorway of the hospital room, leaning against doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. It took Alice few moments to recognize the man as the commander of the Blackwatch, the bad side of Overwatch.
Alice stayed silent, examining the man in front, until doctor walked to her.
"You have nothing to worry about... Alice, right?" She started, "You were lucky that Genji and McCree managed to get you to the Dr. O'Deorain, you lost a lot of blood, and the blast gave you a few broken bones, but we were able to fix everything. You'll be fine."
"But nothing like that wouldn't happen if McCree didn't start to fire his gun at her. It was unnecessary." She looked at the commander, who only snickered.
"Now, come with me please, so I can fix your shoulder."
Alice looked at her confused, until noticing the blood gushing from the stitches on her shoulder.
Alice narrows her eyes at the commander, but follows the doctor. They came back into the medical bay and Angela makes her sit down on the bed. She goes and gets new stitches.
Alice didn't flinched as the doctor began her work, the pain was nothing towards what her body had experienced before. The cyborg was also there, obviously to make sure that she won't try anything. Now that she was calm, she could get a good look at the man. Turns out he wasn't an omnic. Although over half of his was covered in what seemed like metallic armor, though upon closer examination she realized that it was all prosthetics. His left arm and chest were still organic. His face was also covered in a metallic mask.
That's probably why her hand hurt so much when she punched him in the face.
Alice watched as Dr. Ziegler led the man over to some sort of machine. He sat down in a seat, silently staring at the wall as the doctor connected long tubes from the machine to smaller ones sticking out of the back of his helmet. Dr. Ziegler spoke softly to him as she did this, though the cyborg did not seem to be listening to her. When Alice looked at him, she was surprised to find that he was already watching her intently.
And so both now were staring at each other, not daring to blink. She laughed internally when he blinked.
"So, what was your name again?"
The cyborg acted as though he hadn't even heard her. He looked away, focusing his gaze on a random wall with a faraway look in his eyes.
Alice tilted her head, "Oh, I get it, you're like a real life version of Batman but the one that actually kills!" She exclaimed proudly.
Dr. Ziegler shot Alice an apologetic look, and she looked confused at her. Apology? She didn't want an apology on his behalf. She didn't care.
"Aren't you going to tell her your name?" Dr. Ziegler questioned the cyborg softly. Patience was evident in her voice, much like a mother speaking to her child. Alice had to give her credit for being able to handle such an ill-tempered patient so well.
"Genji." The cyborg muttered. He dosen't look at her, his head hanging low as if ashamed. Alice tilted her head even more.
Scann complete.
Identity: Genji Shimada. Physical state: left side of the body is completely destroyed, lungs badly damaged, many iternal organs damaged. The prosthetics added to his body are keeping him alive.
Emotional reading: Feeling of shame, worthlessnes, helplessness. Persistent: sad, anxious, or empty feelings, mistrust in others.
Anomaly detected: Unknown, similiar to the host energy source radiating from the male.
Further investigation advised.
Biological similarity detected: further investigation is advised.
Alice's lighting-fast thought processes halted for a moment at this. More and more emotional instabilities in her mainframe were being detected.
'Why... why is he ashamed?
No data found, unable to answer the question.
'Why is he looking like that?'
His body seems to be missing vital organs. Right arm completely severed off is replaced by a mechanical limb, the red light on his chest is his heart, part of it is replaced with unnecessary adjustments. It's what keeps his suit powered, as well as helps his heart beat faster and more efficiently than it would naturally. Most of his torso remained intact, although disfigured and covered in old scars. Both legs are severed off just above the knee, leaving him completely dependet on the cybernetic suit. His right lung is completely replaced with a mechanical one; stomach and pancreas and liver and everything that should help him provide the energy and sustenance to his organism replaced by cybernatic organs that work twice as well as organic ones.
'Even the healthy organs?'
Affirmative.
'Why would the do that? I don't understand.'
The answer is simple; they wanted a weapon. With the help of the artificial organs, he burns calories and produces energy twice as fast as any normal human, making him faster, stronger. More deadly.
'Who did that to him?'
No data, unable to answer the question.
She blinked, staring at her hands covered in the black matter and her fingers ending with long bird talons. Squeezing her eyes shut, she cursed herself under her breath.
'What do you mean biological similarity?'
Detecting the same unknown energy that is surrounding you radiating from the male. Blood sample or any other biological samples are needed in further investigation.
Alice stayed silent as Dr. Ziegler finished up on the cyborg. When she was finished, she headed back over to her other patient's bed, sitting down once more.
"In a moment I will go and speak with the commander about your situation, and what we will do with you next." Alice nodded absentmindedly. Her thoughts weren't on her recovery, but on the gnawing thoughts that ran through her head as she glanced over at the cyborg once more. His eyes were shut now as the machine that he was hooked up to hummed lowly.
"Dr. Ziegler?"
"Call me Angela, dear."
"Um, Angela." Alice corrected herself, whispering. "What happened to him?"
"There was... an accident. He dosen't like to speak about it." She said sadly, compassion in her eyes as she looked over at Genji. "I got to him just in time."
Thousand of questions raced through Alice's mind. What happened to him? How was Angela able to safe him?
Dr. Ziegler smiled at her, understanding her confusion and curiosity. "He is still healing, Alice. Unfortunately, he has a long way to go."
As if he sensed that their low whispers were about him, Genji's eyes suddenly snapped open. He looked over Alice, his red gaze meeting her own as if challenging her to say something.
"You're not the only one with a shitty backstory." She chuckled, and lay down on the bed.
"Alice, dear. Can you remove that suit? You didn't have it before, where did it come from?"
"Oh, well, you see, I- I can't really take it off."
"What do you mean?"
"Unfortunately for both of us, this is skin."
"I'm sorry I don't understand-"
"I had an accident not so long ago. Something bad... happened to me... I should have died that day, but I survived, and now I'm stuck in that suit for the rest of my life. I can't take it off, It's not a normal costume, It's part of me, like a skin. I'm still learning on how to life like this, you know, I can't really go outside while looking like this, so I learned to mimick other people looks. When you saw me, it wasn't how I used to look before, I don't even remember how I used to look, It's all foreign, I can't even fucking remember who I am-" Alice began mumbling uncontrollably, but stopped as Khai-Ja send a weak stream of electricity through her body, making her shut up.
Reveal nothing. Especially to the man called Genji Shimada. He is a lethel threat. Stop wasting our time and terminate them quickly.
As she stopped she noticed a tall man with blonde hair, she recognized him immediately. He introduced himself as Jack Morrison.
He stood silently as Angela unhooked Alice from the tangle of wires used to monitor her vitals. Alice was shaky, fear consuming her as she continued to glance over at the man standing in the doorway.
Alice said nothing as she followed Morrison out of the room and down the bland hallways. She saw no one else thoughout the entire journey, and she wondered where everyone was. She knew she was in big trouble; as the one person that managed to steal all their classified data that many terrorist organizations would pay good amount of money to get their hands on it.
Morrison led her to an office that she assumed was his. She wasn't really surprised to find Gabriel Reyes waiting inside. He was sitting in one of the two chairs in front of the wooden desk. He looked over his shoulder upon her entry, nodding once at Morrison though acting as though she wasn't even there. Morrison gestured for Alice to take a seat in the other empty chair before going to his own behind the desk. Alice as he asked, crossing her hands in her lap. Alice was thankful for her mask that was hiding her face. She couldn't help but feel completely helpless in front of the Overwatch agents.
She wondered if dying in that collapsing building would be better than this.
"So," She began after several moments of sitting in uncomfortable silence. Morrison raised an eyebrow and she wondered if she was speaking out of place. Not that she really cared.
"If you're going to arrest me, just do it. Stop being so mysterious." Gabriel snickered a bit, though Morrison only rolled his eyes before shooting a warning look at his companion.
"We're not going to arrest you, kid."
"Then why I am here?" Alice asked.
"You work for Talon, right? Because I don't believe that 16 year old managed to hack and steal all our valuable informations in one day using a library computer." Morrison said.
"Talon? Why is it always Talon, there are other annoying organizations that I have been taking care of before a random cyborg and a fucking cowboy decided to give me a visit."
"...No I don't work for Talon. I don't for anyone." She repeated in a monotone voice.
"So dazzle me on how you did it. We didn't find anything advanced in your apartment... just garbage and an barely working laptop."
"Just garbage?! It's not just garbage, It's still useful, people are just stupid for not knowing how to use them properly!" She said, offended.
Morrison sighed, "So you don't work for Talon. Then why did you even do that, or better how did you do that?"
"Calm down, I wasn't going to blackmail you or anything. I was just doing my own research, that's all."
"And how I do that? Let's just say that I know my way around a computer."
Morrison looked at his partner, "Alice, right? We didn't track you just because of the hacking incident, we've had our eyes on you for a while."
"So you were stalking me?" Alice questioned, raising an eyebrow. The men beside her snickered quietly, mumbling something along the lines, "I like her already."
"Listen." Morrison began, unamused. "I undertand what you are trying to do, but simply getting rid of every member of Hashimoto, and at the same time helping other people and stopping thiefs is not going to bring them back."
"What are you talking about?"
"Like you, we've done our research. You are that kid that went missing after their home exploded and their parents were brutaly murdered. What happened to you?" His voice was gentle, but Alice didn't care.
Alice was silent for a moment, staring at her hands. "Accident, it was nothing but an accident, and accidents can happen... to all of us." She felt the other man eyes on her but she ignored him.
She then tries to change the topic. "So if I am not going to the prison then can I leave?"
"No." Both man said and she groaned.
"You have two choices: you work for us, you become an Overwatch agent, or we arrest you on the spot and let the government do whatever they want with you."
"It dosen't seem like much of a choice then." Alice retorted with a frown. "What if I don't want to do either?"
"That's not an option." Gabriel said, "Work for us, kid, or have fun rotting in a jail cell."
"Or being thrown off a boat because most of the people I beat out the shit of are there."
"That, too." The man agreed with a snicker.
Alice sighed, squeezing her eyes shut as sheet out a shaky breath. "So, what? Do I go around shooting bad guys and saving civilians like you guys now? I don't really mind violence, but you know, that's kind of a major leap from my work. I did save some people, but I'm not a hero, I don't really know who I am."
Morrison shook his head. "Not exactly. We want you to join Blackwatch." He paused, allowing her to shoot him a confused glance before he continued. "You will be a part of the covert ops division of Overwatch, lead by Gabriel Reyes here." The man who was sitting beside her nodded in greeting, "Unfortunately, not everything can be handled the way that we want it to be. That's where Blackwatch comes in. Reyes and his team essentially handle the not-so-legal work that Overwatch has to do. Your days as an vigilante aren't exactly over."
"Wait a second, first you send your people to stalk me, then those people break into my house, attack me, almost kill me and then kidnapp me? And you want me to join you? I'm sorry but is this some sort of sick joke, because I am not laughing."
The other man snickered again and Morrison sighed, "Look, I apologise for the trouble those people caused, and this is not a joke. It's either us or prison."
Alice was silent for a moment, she realized that she really didn't have a choice.
You still have the advantage of surprise. Destroy them all with the sonic cannon.
She let out a long sigh, silently cursing herself for allowing her to be caught in this situation. "Can I atleast get all my things back from home?"