New Girl in Town
A/N: It's really been longer than I had hoped for to get this chapter out, but hopefully I can get a ball rolling for this with the introduction of more characters. In case you didn't catch on last time, this is a new story arc for MSTT that takes place a few weeks after the events of the last chapter.
This chapter was originally supposed to have a lot more in it than what I got out, but I realised by the 4K+ word milestone that I didn't want this chapter to be too long either. As such, the next few chapters have already been planned and flushed out, so all that's left is for me to get to writing them.
I really didn't feel like sacrificing detail and snappy dialogue for story progression this time, so I hope ya'll still enjoy this one.
Two months before Volume 1…
After finally catching sight of the familiar wooden cabin on the plateau, Fida Blush let out a sigh of relief as she shifted the weight of the rucksacks on her back. Her crimson-coloured steel boots crushed the patches of green Mistral grass that grew on the ridge as she followed the familiar path of padded dirt, stones and grass to the house. The indigo-purple travel shoal she wore covered her grey blouse and black battle-skirt, which was covered by bits of indigo and crimson armour pieces.
Of her attire, the bronze bracelets on either of her wrists were what stood out the most, which blinked with an amber light ever few seconds. The light of the late-morning sun catches her in one of her navy-blue eyes as she used her free hand to adjust her dark-blue and pink braid, tossing it over her left shoulder as her brown cat ears twitched freely.
As she neared the house, Fida was met by an orange and white cat that ran towards her from the front porch of the cabin, meowing as it rubbed its side against her leg. The simple action caused Fida to sigh, breathing out some of the exhaustion of having walked up the narrow path to get to the plateau as she lowered one of the rucksacks so that she could run both her hands through the cat's fur.
"Hey there, Sunset." She said with a gentle smile while cupping the feline's face with both her hands. "Did you make sure Rena kept out of trouble?" the cat mewled in reply as she chuckled to herself while standing back up. "Yeah, I got the cat food you like – don't worry."
Stepping up onto the front porch of the house, Fida tried the doorknob to find it was unlocked and pushed her way in, dropping her bags by the foot of the table in the living room. "Babe, is that you?" a voice called out from further back in the house.
"No, it's Professor Lionheart, from Haven." She called back in a joking tone as a tanned woman with a black bob haircut walked out from around the corner carrying a few carving tools in one of her hand.
Her face broke out into a huge smile she walked up to Fida and gave her a big hug. "Hey, Fida."
"Hey, Cerena." She replied before placing a kiss on the corner of her mouth. "Didn't I tell you to lock the door while I was out?"
"I'd lock it more often if you switched to a more modern lock." Cerena replied with a pout. "Y'know, one where I didn't have to put the key in every time I wanted to step out?"
"What if a Grimm or a bandit came into the house while you weren't looking?" Fida asked before looking at the cat. "Sunset can't fight off every stray crook that comes this way."
"You make it sound like I'm helpless." Cerena stated while throwing a light punch at the blue-haired woman's shoulder. "I know how to fight for myself. Besides, someone has to tend to the garden while you're not here."
"Alright, alright! I know how much you love that garden." Fida conceded while taking off her travel shoal. "I'll get a new doorknob the next time I'm in town." She said while laughing. "Do you wanna help me prepare lunch?"
"Sure." She said before placing the carving tools down on the table. Her eyes turned to the cat, who had his front paws placed on the windowsill as he looked through the glass. "C'mon, Sunset. We need someone to eat anything we drop. Don't worry, it's fish this time." Sunset didn't move from his spot, instead letting out a loud meow before continuing to stare out the window. "What're you doing you silly cat?" Cerena walked over to pick up the cat and pet its head, but as she glanced out the open window for just a second, the black-haired girl froze where she stood.
When her girlfriend didn't follow her to the kitchen, Fida instead felt worry creep up her neck. "Cerena, what's wrong?"
"Fida," she breathed out. "Were you expecting guests?"
Fida's hands instantly went to her bracelets, but lingered on the buttons along it as she walked up beside the midnight-haired girl. "No, what do you mean gue-" her voice caught in her throat as she looked out the window to see a familiar – and entirely unwelcomed – woman in red, flanked on either side by two unfamiliar people. "Oh no."
At the worry in her tone, Cerena turned her eyes to her girlfriend as her hand found Fida's. "Do you know them?" her voice was calm, understanding the nature of the situation.
"Only her." Fida muttered in reply as she turned Cerena to look at her. "Cerena, I need you to take Sunset and go to the back of the house – like we talked about. Get to the cellar if you can."
"But-"
"Rena, please. I can handle this, but if she sees you, she might try to use you to get her way." The Faunus argued, the determination in her eyes nearly enough to put away the worry in Cerena's.
Swallowing hard, Cerena nodded quickly before reaching up to kiss Fida on the lips. "Ok. Be careful." She stated as she hefted the cat in her arms and began walking to the back of the house.
The indigo-haired girl had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself before walking over to the front door of the house and activating her bracelets, causing the devices to glow with a steady amber light. Taking in one last deep breath, Fida put her hand on the doorknob and stepped out of her cabin.
It seemed Cinder had not moved from her spot as she held eye-contact with the ash-haired woman while closing the door behind her with her foot and taking a few steps down the porch.
"So, this is what's become of you; the once infamous Fida Blush." Cinder stated with a smug grin.
Fida had to swallow a lump in her throat before responding with as much authority as she could muster. "Cinder Fall; I believe the last time we parted I said I didn't want to ever see you or your…" she droned on while gesturing to the two teens standing at her side. "Who are these two?"
The boy with gunmetal-grey hair looked like he was about to speak up when Cinder held a hand out in front of him and spoke for him. "These are my newest students; Emerald and Mercury."
"I didn't know you taught classes now." Fida scoffed with a bitter half-laugh.
"I don't." there was a bit of bite to Cinder's tone, but it disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared. "It's more like…an apprenticeship, but enough about them." The edges of her mouth curled up in a sinister-looking smile. "I have to say, it was a little harder to find you than I thought it would be."
"That's kind of the point." Fida replied while flapping her arms at her side. "I told you I was going to drop off the radar, go somewhere quiet. I'm happy here, not to mention retired."
"I see." Cinder said absentmindedly. "Are you living alone?"
The words sent a shiver of fear up the woman's spine, but Fida did her best not to show it. "It's just me and the cat, yeah."
"Cat, huh?" Cinder said while subtly glancing up at her Faunus ears. "I see. I guess it only seems appropriate given your…background."
The ears atop her head twitched once in irritation at the comment, which made her more anxious to get to the point of it. "Alright, Fall. Why are you really here?"
The ash-haired woman made an innocent pout for a few seconds before it disappeared in place of a more serious expression. "Fine. I've got an issue I need you to take care of, and I'm willing to pay you handsomely if you can take care of it quickly – like you used to do."
And with that, Fida's suspicion as to why this dangerous woman would come looking for her were confirmed. "I just said I'm retired." She replied forcefully. "That means I'm not working – or up for hire. End of story!"
"I understand, Blush, but if you would just-"
"Do you think I just quit my line of work for fun or something?" Fida snapped back when Cinder didn't seem to be getting the message. "People like me don't just quit, I had to go through months of preparation to make sure that I didn't have any more string attaches. I dropped out of the manhunt business because I didn't want to do it anymore, and that's that."
Cinder's expression seemed to tighten in a half-scowl. "This is your last chance, Fida, come with me quietly or I'll make you come with us."
"I said 'no', now get off my property!" she shouted while raising her open right arm as a threat.
"Fida." Cinder said while taking a step forward, which caused the woman before her to twist her arm to the side while taking a single step backwards. Sensing her motives, Cinder continued to speak without moving. "You are the best tracker and battle analysist that I can afford to go to, so if you think you're just going to walk away from this after I've asked nicely, you're wrong!"
Fida seemed visibly shaken by Cinder's words, but stood defiantly all the same. "Try me, bitch."
Cinder's eyes turned cold when she next spoke. "So be it." Her head turned to Mercury when she gave her next set of instructions. "Bring her down – don't kill."
At her word, the boy immediately lunged into action, striking out with a kick aimed at Fida's chest. Dashing out of the way, she immediately held out both her hands at her sides with her palms open, confusing Mercury. "What're you doing?"
"Give it a second." She warned while maintaining her posture. After a second, the sound of things being knocked over and smashing could be heard from within the wooden cabin behind them as Fida smirked. "Also, you might want to get back a couple feet." As she said this, the cabin's wooden door suddenly burst open as it was pushed aside by two flying swords, spinning through the air while still covered in their cloth scabbards.
As they span through the air towards Fida, the cloth wrapped around each blade unfurled, falling to the ground and revealing the swords to be a pair of bronze-coloured khopesh-like weapons. The hilts of the weapon seemed to be made of leather – and seemed rather ordinary, while the blades themselves were covered in markings and patterns that looked like they could come apart.
The sword closest to Fida immediately spun in a wide arc towards Mercury's side when she swung her hand as if to direct the sword. Though caught off-guard by the attack, Mercury was able to block it by raising his boot to intercept the blade with the sole of his shoe.
The speedster had less success with the second blade, however, as it sailed by Fida's side directly at him when she pointed her other hand in his direction. Bending backwards just in time, the blade only barely knicked his shoulder as Mercury did a backflip to rebalance himself.
Fida wasn't done yet, as she brought both of her arms together and swung them to her right, causing the swords under her control to swing right side-by-side. Together, she brought them for a backwards wind-up before driving them up an overhead arc and bringing both blades down on the speedster.
Though the attack came quite quickly, Mercury was able to react appropriately to dodge out of the way just as the blades slammed into the ground, creating a crater in the ground as they did. She threw a glare at the surprised boy before flipping him off with both hands, which caused the blades lodged in the ground to shake free before lurching to the left at Emerald, who had been trying to flank around Fida unseen.
Crossing her arms over each other, Fida caused the dual blades to spin parallel to the ground as they flew towards the mint-haired girl, who had to roll out of the way to avoid them as they span in an arc back to Fida, who caught them in her outstretched hands.
At this point, Cinder had gotten into a flanking position around Fida, though the half-Maiden had yet to draw a weapon. Between the three of them, the former-bounty hunter's eyes continuously flitted between them as she pointed each of her blades at them in challenge. Eventually, it was Emerald who made the first move, firing from her dual long-pistols.
Fida was able to block the oncoming salvo of bullets with relative ease, flourishing her blades to catch the bullets before throwing one of her khopesh like a throwing dagger at the girl. Emerald initially flinched out of the way of the weapon, but it was unnecessary as the blade seemed to miss the trickster by a wide margin.
Before Emerald could hold the smirk on her face for more than two seconds, however, Fida pulled the arm that threw the sword back, causing the weapon to return to her like a boomerang. Emerald did not have enough time to dodge out of the way as she turned around to stare at the incoming projectile and took the hit straight to her chest, knocking the mint-haired girl to the ground as her Aura caught the brunt of the hit.
Immediately after the sword flew back into her hand, Fida had to spin on her heels to intercept Mercury, who had launched himself at her while she was busy with Emerald. Raising her dual Khopesh up, she was barely able to block the high-jump kick that Mercury threw at her by putting the bronze blades of her weapon between her and the boy's shoes.
Fida pushed back to put some distance between her and the speedster, causing him to fly a few feet backwards through the air before landing in a crouch. The woman was about to move in and continue her attacks when a feeling of danger compelled her to twist to one side, narrowly avoiding an arrow that Cinder had fired at her.
The shot was immediately followed up by three others, however, and Fida had no room for rest as she raised her blades in defence, deflecting each arrow that came her way as Cinder slowly closed the distance between them.
"Impressive." She stated immediately after lowering her bow. "You still fight as well as you did the last time I saw you."
"I've had to keep in shape." She quipped back while turning around at the sound of approaching footsteps. With a dodge-roll to the left, she was able to avoid another one of Mercury's attacks before throwing out a high kick that knocked him on his back.
"Oh, is that so? Protecting something, are we?" Cinder asked while disconnecting the two ends of her bow into their dual blades-form. "Or is it someone?"
Fida's eyes widened in shock at the knowing smirk on Cinder's face, and the way her tone made it sound like she knew exactly what she was referring to. With a cry of anger, she immediately charged the half-Maiden with both blades raised to kill.
The two women met each other again and again, throwing both blades into every attack they delivered to give each hit more power. Eventually, Fida was able to lock the curved portions of her dual khopesh around one of Cinder's swords, disarming her of it by twisting her wrists.
Before she could deal the next blow, however, a bullet sailed by her, missing her neck by an inch as she backpedalled out of the way of the next salvo of shots from Emerald. Taking only a couple seconds to estimate her trajectory, Fida threw one of her swords at the girl and boy who were advancing on her, guiding it through an arc that kept them at a distance as the blade came back around in a full circle for another pass.
Distracted by the two, Fida narrowly blocked the lunge attack Cinder threw at her after having retrieved her other sword. Going up against Cinder with only one sword proved more of a challenge than Fida thought it would be, but she managed while controlling the other blade to keep her apprentices distracted.
"You're afraid." Cinder hissed out once she had Fida's khopesh locked between her blades.
"Yeah, that happens when three serial killers show up at your house and try to take you out of retirement!" Fida hissed back before breaking the hold the half-Maiden had on her by grabbing one of Cinder's arms and pushing her away.
"No, you're not afraid – not for yourself at least." Cinder continued while holding her swords at her sides in a relaxed stance. "You're afraid for Her." She said with a smirk while pointing back to the wooden cabin with one of her swords.
When Fida turned to face the cabin, her blood instantly turned to ice as she saw Cerena being held at blade-point by a shorter, more menacing girl with multi-coloured hair. The girl had the tan woman up against the wall of the house with her rapier poised to thrust right into her heart.
"It's a shame, really, that someone so young and pretty has to die for your sake." Cinder continued to taunt as Fida turned her wide, enraged eyes back to her.
With a shout of anger, Fida struck her empty hand out to her side to call the khopesh spinning through the air back to her. "Let her go, right now!" she demanded.
"That's not how this works." Cinder stated as her expression turned hard and cold. "I need you to find someone for me; if you can do that, then I'll let her go, and you two can return to your lives as if none of this ever happened. Otherwise…" glancing over at the heterochromatic girl with the rapier, Cinder gave a subtle signal for her to put some more pressure on the rapier, causing the end of it to poke harder against Cerena's chest.
"Leave her out of this!" she shouted while taking a few steps closer to Cinder. "This is between you and me."
"You're the one who brought her into this." Cinder countered. "You've always known something like this would've happened, yet you took the risk anyway – like you always do." The smirk curling up half of her mouth was knowing when she next spoke. "Go ahead; call my bluff."
The grip Fida had on the handles of her swords was enough to crack bones as she felt her face twitch in frustration. "Fida," she immediately turned a glare to the voice that spoke, though it immediately fell away when she saw that it was actually Cerena that had spoken. "-don't do it. Whatever they want you to do, don't do it!"
Her throat was suddenly filled with cotton that she had to swallow down before trying to speak again. "I…"
"I'll give you another five seconds to think over your answer." Cinder said while stabbing one of her swords into the ground to raise her free hand.
"Wait! Wait." Fida exclaimed desperately, causing Cinder to freeze. Looking at her girlfriend briefly with a sad expression, Fida mouthed the words, "I'm sorry." Before turning back to the ash-haired woman. "I'll do whatever you want – just let her go."
Cinder dropped her smug grin in favour of a victorious smile – which, all things considered, wasn't very different. "Good choice." She remarked before turning to the multi-coloured girl. "Take her with us."
At her command, the shorter girl uses the firm hold she has on Cerena to turn her around and push her forward with one of her hands behind her back. Immediately after, Fida threw an accusatory glare at Cinder. "You said-"
"I said I would let her go." Cinder reaffirmed. "After you caught my guy." At this point, Mercury had moved to help Neo escort the black-haired girl. "You have my word; she will be cared for and treated well until you find your target."
"What's this about, Fall; refusing your generous offer, or to make sure I don't leave with the job half-done?" Fida asked, desperation clearly in her tone as her mind scrambled for any sound reasoning that might get the other girl out of this mess.
"You are perceptive, Fida." Cinder complimented while walking up to her and placing a cold, firm hand on the small of her back in order to force Fida to start walking back down the plateau. "Always have been."
"You have my word that I'll follow through with what you want, there's no need to keep her captive – please." She tried not to make it sound like she was begging, but it was especially hard when Cerena turned around and made eye-contact with her, silently trying to reassure the indigo-haired girl that everything was alright as she was pushed along.
"Your word means nothing to me anymore." Cinder stated firmly. "The old Fida Blush wouldn't have given herself up for anything, or acted so desperate for an 'out'. Love has made you soft." The ash-haired woman threw a smirk at her as she continued gently pushing her along the familiar path back to town. "But I'm sure I can fix that. Now, there's some people I want you to meet…"
Two Hours Ago…
"Captain, are you sure about this?" Overwatch's omnipresent voice echoed through the database vault below T's compound. "I've calculated that, in the event these upgrades malfunction, it could affect my performance in the field by about twenty-six percent."
"Those are just odds we're going to have to live with." T reaffirmed from underneath one of the CPU data-shelves, which was about the size of an actual bookshelf, with the processing power and memory capacity of roughly a dozen Scrolls. "You'll be more useful to the operations this way, and it may help the others accept your permanent presence as part of the team."
"I'm still unsure about these new 'personality programs' that you insist on installing, captain." The formless artificial intelligence continued. "According to my predictions, additional personalities may conflict with mission tasks in the future, and could reduce our chances of success by as much as eighty percent if I were to…hesitate because of one or more conflicting programs."
"Well," T breathed out as he unlocked one of the panels underneath the data-shelf to remove one of the playing card-sized chips and insert two more. "-I'll leave that up to your good judgement. From what I've understood about the reports from Atlas Tech, giving one of their synthetics free will has improved its situational awareness and ability to improvise in the field twice as effectively as any of their best specialists." He continued while sliding out from under the large mechanical case. "I'm hoping these programs will do the same for you, and if not I've ensured that the master override remains part of your base programming."
Overwatch was silent for a few seconds before she spoke again as T began running some diagnostics with his Scroll. "I suppose it would not hurt to give it a shot. Though, if it were between the mission and you, I think we both know I'd always choose-"
"I know you would." T replied in a neutral tone. "I'm hoping these upgrades will allow you to somehow achieve both without having to sacrifice the other."
"Well, when you put it that way…" all the lights on T's Scroll blinked green as a large 'Restart' button appeared on the screen. "All necessary backup files have been saved and system is ready for reboot."
"This'll only take a second." T reassured, even though there was no need for it. "Initiating system-wide restart in three, two…one." His finger hit the screen, causing all the lights in the underground server room to dim before going out completely, coming back on five seconds later.
"Beginning initial system check." Came Overwatch's neutral tone as T walked over to a console attached to another data-shelf and opened it up to begin typing some command while he threw a metal disc into an open space in the underground vault. "All systems checked – no issues detected. Systems operating at optimal levels."
"Begin first live test of the 'Avatar' program." T commanded as the disk split apart into three, each sliding equal distance apart from one another. "Are you ready?" T asked after a few seconds hesitation.
"I don't think that matters at this point." Overwatch replied with a light laugh before the pieces of the disc began glowing bright-blue. "Initialising Avatar program." The synthetic repeated as the pieces of the disc began projecting beams of light that met one another to form a cage-like shape between them.
A few seconds passed by as the discs continued to emit a beeping noise before a figure began to materialise in the cage. A woman, wearing long work pants, a denim button-down vest and a light long sleeve shirt underneath it began to take form. Her hair reached down her back and her complexion was flawless. She had her eyes closed by the time the process was complete. She looks just like her… "Overwatch?"
The figure immediately opened her eyes and turned to face T, her expression curious and neutral. "Yes, Captain?" her synthetic, accented voice sounded as if it had come from the figure – just as planned.
"Figure projection seems to be working normally." T said to himself while Overwatch began looking her holo-projected form. "Avatar response physics and sound redirection also working normally."
"Couldn't you have at least designed a more stylish form?" Overwatch suddenly asked the hacker. "I look like an Atlesian businesswoman – plus I know which year this outfit is from, and it is beyond outdated."
"Small talk and quirky speech patterns also appear to be functional." T deadpanned. She always did dress to impress…
"Is that what that is?" Overwatch asked when she looked at him again, waving a hand in front of her to shatter the cage of light around her new form. "Curious, it doesn't feel as unnatural or unnecessary as I initially theorised."
"It's…probably part of the new personalities I installed." T continued. "Before you ask, I did intentionally install a sarcasm software."
"I remember, you mentioned it yesterday." Overwatch stated as T took a few steps closer to the holographic figure while Overwatch held up one of her hands to create a holographic display. "If I may, why did you give me a sense of sarcasm?"
"Honestly?" T waved his Scroll in front of Overwatch's face – to her annoyance – while speaking. "I thought it would make for more interesting conversation."
"Like that won't get in the way of the missions in the future." The synthetic said with an eye roll before freezing when she just realised what she did.
"Exactly." Folding up his Scroll, T pocketed the device before holding up his normal hand to her. "Follow my finger."
The light projection's eyes – which glowed with a neon-blue – followed T's finger left and right as her mouth curved up into a smile. "Huh, it's…a little fun, actually."
"You're going to experience a lot of new, interesting features over the next few weeks." T continued. "You already know what they are, but it'll be different to experience them first-hand. You should take to them quite quickly, though, much faster than organics."
"The fact that I'm feeling at all is surprising enough." Overwatch stated with a gentle smile. "It's…I guess I could use the word 'exciting', finally being able to express emotions this way."
"Follow me up to the compound – I want to test if the PRSM projectors are working." T commanded while he made his way to the ladder access for the server room. Behind him, Overwatch dematerialised and the lights on the discs went out.
"Captain," Overwatch began again, this time speaking through the earpiece that T wore. "Am I expected to still maintain a physical form while you are out of The Compound, or would you rather that I keep it off until you ask for it?"
"Use it whenever you feel like it." T answered simply while exiting the cellar that acted as a weapon storage. "There's things about it that you'll need to get used to."
"And about the ability to create shapes and forms, am I allowed to use those whenever I feel like it, too?"
"I don't see why not." T stated while entering the house. He walked into the room which had once been the kitchen of the house, but had since been converted into what looked more like a repair shop, with mechanical parts strewn all over the place. "Overwatch?"
Overwatch's physical figure suddenly materialised in the middle of the room, sitting in a chair while holding a cup to her lips and blowing the steam that wafted off it. The form was being projected by a series of lights – similar in design and function to the disc T had left in the server vault – that hung from the ceiling.
She looked up from her cup at the hacker before speaking. "Tea?"
It took T a couple of seconds to register that Overwatch may have made a play-on-words, which he responded to with a roll of his eyes before pointing a hand at her. "Follow me around the house."
The synthetic let out a resigning sigh before standing up from her chair and trailing a few paces behind T as he made his rounds around the house. Every time she walked out of range of one of the overhead lights, another would come on ahead of them and help maintain her image.
"Do you have any plans on giving me any abilities to physically interact with objects, Captain?" Overwatch asked just as her form flickered as it passed through the couch in the living room.
"Maybe in the future." T admitted. "But the technology would be hard to acquire as of late, and would be difficult to integrate into your system as it is." He explained while holding the door open for her into the above-ground storage room.
"I'm just saying, if I could interact with things, I could – I don't know – clean the house while you're out." Overwatch offered with a shrug. "As of two minutes ago, I can't help but notice how…disorderly some of the facilities in The Compound are, let alone the state of my data-shelves."
"I prioritised function over fashion, it doesn't matter how the place looks so long as it works." T replied.
"Well, now that we know it works, why not try to optimise a little?" the synthetic was insisting at this point, and T didn't feel like arguing at the moment.
"Fine, I see your point." He said in his usual irritated gruff voice. "Power up the Bullhead next; we're going to take it for a spin."
T immediately made a beeline for the exit to the house, but Overwatch stopped him before he could get very far by walking in front of him. "I'm…not so sure that's such a good idea, Captain."
Concerned by her tone, T stopped and turned around to face her holographic projection. "Why?"
Frowning, Overwatch's voice was laced with worry. "Captain, you haven't had any solid rest in the past thirty-three hours. Our rendezvous with the rest of MSTT is due in another fifteen and a half hours, and I'm concerned your fatigue may affect your overall field performance…not to mention your attitude."
T returned the frown at the synthetic's reasoning. "I'm fine, I just need to take another stimulant shot."
"You've already taken three in the past twenty-four hours; any more would exceed the recommended dosage. On top of that, your vitals are starting to intensify, which will likely result in a full-system crash in the next ten hours." Overwatch argued while bringing up a window to show T his own vital signs. "If you insist on working through your fatigue, at least take a seven-hour rest to allow your body time to recuperate."
Stubbornly, the hacker held his stare with the synthetic for a few additional seconds before relenting with a sigh. "Fine. Continue running diagnostics while I'm out, and make sure to come wake me in six hours – that's an order."
Without another word, T turned and began making his way to his quarters as Overwatch continued to watch him as he went, frowning in worry as she brought up the holographic cup of tea to her lips and took a sip. "I don't even know why I bothered – I know I can't taste." Overwatch said to herself. Standing there in silence for another few seconds, the synthetic intelligence continued speaking to herself. "No, don't be ridiculous; taste isn't a vital function – it would just be unnecessary programming."
Yet, she found herself lifting the cup to her lips after a couple seconds of idleness.