Chapter 22- Different

Without fanfare, Hana's surroundings shifted. One instant, she was in the endless empty void. The next, she was back on her bed in her room. She flinched, startled at the surge of light and noise assaulting her senses. Hana felt wrong, she realised as she began to sit up. She felt light and fragile, like a gust of wind could carry her to who-knows-where.

"Hana! You're back!" Lúcio cried, jolting upright. He had been hunched over, asleep, in Hana's gaming chair. Hana smiled cheerily, putting what she had seen in the void of time out of her mind.

Hana opened her mouth to reply, only for her smile to freeze. She moved her mouth, and she felt her throat vibrate, but no sound left her lips. Hana blinked in confusion, reaching to touch her lips. That's when she noticed her hand was transparent, flickering and glitching as Hana slowly turned her hand around. Her mouth was agape, and she started shaking. She realised why she felt so off.

Quickly, Hana grasped for a bundle of the covers. Instead of the fabric bundling in her grip like it should have, her hand closed on what felt like empty air, passing through the covers harmlessly. Hana jumped off the bed, recoiling her hand and squeezing her eyes shut, taking deep breaths that refused to fill her lungs with oxygen. It looked so wrong, seeing a part of a hand just disappear into something solid.

"Hana. Calm down." Lúcio commanded, voice calm and even. "You're okay. You're all right."

Hana looked at him, desperate for answers.

The DJ sighed. "Come on, we have to get you to the stabilisation chamber quickly. First, though, I was told to take you to Lena's room."

Hana blinked in surprise, tilting her head in confusion as she levelled her breathing.

"Apparently, there's some stuff in there you can interact with, and it's not like Lena is going to be using that stuff anytime soon…" Lúcio trailed off awkwardly. Hana observed Lúcio. He was still yet antsy like he wanted to move and comfort her yet knew he couldn't.

Hana took reluctant steps forward. It was hard to tell how to move. She could see herself move, but everything felt muted. Little sensations such as air brushing against her skin and the sting in her eyes of not blinking were painfully absent. Even as she inhaled, the feeling of her lungs expanding brought no relief.

Lúcio watched her with a sympathetic gaze as Hana closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. This wasn't so horrible. She could live with this. Not that she had a choice… Yeah. This would be fine. This would be fine!

Hana put on a small smile and nodded to Lúcio, who chewed his lip before turning to leave Hana's room, gesturing for her to follow. Lúcio began chattering idly as they walked, Hana following close behind. Her hair flowed behind her, ending in pink wisps of non-corporeal light that faded into nothing. Her skin had a similarly pinkish hue and glow to it, like there was a tinted spotlight on her. Lúcio turned to face her, walking backwards as Hana abruptly tuned back into what he was saying.

"So yeah. I took over the stream and told the viewers you got an injury while fighting and needed a bit of time to heal up. Though, absolutely nobody bought it, because apparently, you're infamous for streaming with all sorts of crazy battle wounds." Lúcio grunted, teasing condescension. "Still not sure how you managed to play StarCraft with a broken arm."

Hana grinned in a weird, contradictory mix of shame and pride, rubbing the back of her head as Lúcio laughed. Her hair felt chilly and light, as though gravity didn't affect it as much, each strand lingering longer than normal before swaying to her back.

"Anyway, we're here. Winston said you can help yourself to her book collection and pyjamas since you look about the same size. Honestly, I'm a little surprised he's so okay with us poking around her stuff, but I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth if that's how the expression goes."

Hana nodded absently as Lúcio pressed the button on the door labelled "Oxton," the door sliding open with a quiet hum. The two of them stepped inside, peering around Tracer's room. The bed was a mess, with the covers and pillows thrown about, one of which was on the other side of the chamber. The ground was littered with bits of coloured wood, plastic, and other craft materials. Model aeroplanes lay in shattered heaps on the ground, many of which were hardly recognisable as such. Hana experimentally reached for one of the fragments, a splintered red wing, but her hand passed through it uselessly. She frowned, gesturing to Lúcio.

"What? You couldn't touch these? I guess these were given to her after the accelerator became a thing. It's a shame… They look hand painted. Maybe we should try our hands at fixing them later when we've got your situation sorted out. Come on, let's check the closet."

Hana followed the DJ to the closet doors, which he swung open after an instance of reluctance at going through Lena's possessions. It was far tidier than the room had been. Several hangers had Tracer's signature uniform hanging from them. There looked to be half-a-dozen or so, all of them sporting various wear-and-tear, but overall in good condition still. Spares of her gauntlets and pistols also sat on a shelf, though some of the designs had slight differences, and one of the gauntlet pairs was blue. Several of the same pairs of shoes on the ground, though some were worn to a state of uselessness. Only a few of them were in some unique style. A black and orange outfit also hung from a hangar, and next to it was a blue and white one with a sailor-esque hat hanging on the top. The rail the hangers were on happened to be supported by the shelves with the gauntlets and guns, though the other side of the shelf had the most unusual items. They appeared to be chest plates of some sort, though none of them seemed protective, every one of them having a gaping hole in the front and back, and offered very little in the way of protection.

"Oh, those must've held her chronal accelerator. Weird. I always thought she only had the one. I think she just took the select pieces of it out and put it into different harnesses." Lúcio shook his head. "Anyway, let's just grab the pyjamas," he said, gesturing to a pair of soft-looking, pale green pyjamas on one of the hangers. He reached out to pull them off, yelping as his hand phased through it.

"Holy hecking heck!" he cried in surprise as Hana snorted in amusement. "That looks weird!" He flipped his unblemished hand over, checking for injury. "What's up with these? I thought people would be able to touch them."

Hana squinted, staring at the outfits. They seemed normal at first glance, but after staring a bit harder, they appeared to flicker in the light, and ignore the shadows of a room, as if an artist drew the closet and forgot to shade the clothes. Tentatively, Hana reached out for the pyjamas, feeling the soft, cool fabric make contact with her hand. Hana straightened, and pulled the outfit off the hook, holding the soft fabric close, relishing in the slight sensation. The feeling was muted and dull, but it was there.

Hana held up the PJs to Lúcio with a bragging look, and he rolled his eyes in amusement. "Yeah yeah yeah, you can touch the pyjamas and I can't. Well lucky for me, I get to touch everything else!" He shot her a glare of mock haughtiness, and Hana put her hand to her mouth, stifling a laugh. Lúcio face palmed, slouching against the door wall. "Okay, yeah… That sounded really bad. But you have enough context to know what I meant!"

Hana shook her head in amusement and gestured to a cardboard box on the floor of the closet. Slowly, Lúcio nodded and opened the box, peering inside.

"Oh hey! Books! All kinds of them!" he cheered, grabbing one of them and tossing it around in his hand. It was relatively thick and had highlighter and pencil marks on almost every page as Lúcio feathered through the pages. "It feels weird… The book that is. It's like… Cold to the touch," Lúcio mused, offering it to Hana. She experimentally tapped the page, feeling the crisp paper under her fingertips. She grinned, offering him a thumbs up.

"Alright! So, the stuff in here you can touch! We'll just grab this box, then. I hope Lena won't mind… We'll return this stuff later." Lúcio picked up the box, surprised at its weight as he stumbled for a moment, nearly falling as he began to laugh. "Didn't realise books could weigh so much! Let's get out of here fast, though. You probably don't have long before you disappear."

That got Hana's attention. She stood up straight, stretching. She noticed, however, that as Lúcio had stumbled, he planted his foot directly into a destabilised book haphazardly tossed onto the ground, not even noticing. "I'll carry the box. Come on, I'll show you where the stabilisation chamber is." Lúcio lugged the box out of the room.

When he turned away, Hana made a split-second decision and picked the book up. She un-rumpled its pages and tucked the small, unlabelled notebook between the pyjamas under her arm before trotting after the DJ as he resumed his idle chatter.

The stabilisation chamber was relatively close to the lab, Hana realised as Lúcio pointed out Efi's lab a few doors away from the one labelled "Stabilization Chamber" in orange letters. The door slid open with a quiet hum at their presence, and Hana got a good look at the room she'd be spending the next who-knows-how-long in.

The walls were a dull grey, almost entirely concealed by tangles of wires that stretched across the floor. A large window on the other end of the room overlooked the ocean. The ceiling was the strangest part, covered with small protrusions that looked similar to what Hana had seen in the video Reaper took of Tracer, except they were smaller, more numerous, and appeared more slipshod.

"Oh! Hana! You're back!" Efi called delightedly from within the room, her voice muffled. The sight was rather amusing, as the girl stood atop Orisa's shoulders, a screwdriver in her mouth with Orisa holding several electronic components as the girl tinkered with some of the wires, somehow managing to maintain her balance.

Hana nodded silently and stepped into the room sheepishly. She felt the same.

"Oh, I was just messing with the engineering of this place. We don't have the tech we need to fully stabilise you, but a little bit of rewiring, clean up, and changed parts should make it at least a little bit better!"
Hana bobbed her head gratefully, making her way to the other end of the room, where she set the pyjamas with the book inside on the windowsill, Lúcio doing the same with the box of books.

"Okay! Let's try this out!" Efi cheered, screwing a panel back one of the boxes of components. She jumped from Orisa's shoulders, stumbling slightly as she landed.

"Efi, be more cautious!" Orisa scolded, righting the child as she giggled.

"I'm fine, thanks, Orisa!" Efi shouted as she ran to the other side of the room while Orisa picked up the screwdriver from the ground.

"Alright, Hana! Thumbs up if you feel this, thumbs down if you don't." Efi pressed a few buttons on one of the control panels, and the room hummed to life. The devices on the ceiling began to glow a dim, gentle pink, and Hana stiffened as she felt the energy on all sides. Saying she "felt" energy was the wrong word. It was more that she could sense it, as it washed over her, acting as a weak anchor to the world. Hana looked at her hand. It still flickered intermittently, yet it was more contained and slightly less transparent. Hana gave a thumbs up.

"Awesome! This should make your fading a bit less frequent, at least until we can scrape together a new harness. Winston supposedly used most of the parts on a temporary harness he made for Lena a while back, and we don't have much funding. I couldn't ask for grant money from Numbani, either, since your condition is top secret or something."

Hana nodded absently, barely listening to the girl's rant.

"Efi, I think Hana tuned you out," he joked, elbowing the girl as she began listing the required components to make a new harness. Efi blushed.

"Sorry," she said with a sheepish smile. "Force of habit. Say, what do you plan on doing concerning your stream? Are you going to keep hiding it from your fans? Even if you did still stream, only Omnics and extremely durable electronics made for militant use could function properly in this place. Videogames would break in no time."

Hana shrugged concomitantly. There were bigger things to worry about than a livestream.

"I got the stream thing under control, though they might be left hanging for a while."

Efi lit up. "Maybe, when Hana has a bit more time, we can livestream with her and raise money for a new accelerator!" Hana tipped her head. It was an interesting idea.

"Hmm. I guess we could, but there are a bunch of things we'd want to keep on the down-low. Like Tracer. People would ask questions."

"The whole internet has been blowing up since Reaper released that video. People will probably figure out sooner or later."

Lúcio fiddled with his shirt thoughtfully. "I guess I could run it by Winston later. What will we do, though? Hana can't use a controller."

"What about some of those antiquated motion control games? The ones that can see your whole body and uses those as the controls," Orisa suggested from Efi's side. "I believe one of those consoles would be relatively easy to import."

"Yeah! This'll be great! We'll have the money to make a harness in no time!" Efi cheered as she began listing familiar games, while Lúcio chattered about the format of the stream. Hana listened intently, nodding or shaking her head when they asked for her opinion. She enjoyed herself.

The twosome stayed for as long as possible, only leaving when a need for sleep called them away as dawn began to peek over the horizon. Orisa pulled Efi away first, who rode Orisa to her room reluctantly. Hana and Lúcio remained as the room lapsed into a comfortable silence, listening to the hum of the stabilisers above.

"How are you doing?" Lúcio asked after a while. Hana smiled and nodded to him. The DJ sighed.

"I'm sorry this had to happen to you. I know it must suck."

Hana shrugged, looking out the window as the light began to poke over the waters. She didn't feel tired in the slightest. She pointed to the spot on her neck where the "Toy" had been.

"I mean, I know you took it off intentionally, but still…"

Hana waved him off. He frowned.

"Just… If you ever need to talk… I mean, I know you can't right now, but if you ever can and want to, I'm here."

Hana chuckled silently and nodded gratefully. Lúcio yawned. "I think I need to go get some sleep now. I'll run the stream thing by Winston when I wake up."

Hana nodded, looking out the window. A feeling of dread filled her. It had been roughly sixteen hours. How long would the stabilisation chamber hold her before she faded again? What would she see when it inevitably happened?

Lúcio must've noticed her expression. "Hey, don't worry, Hana. We'll figure something out. Promise."

Hana nodded again, suddenly aware of a tear dripping down her cheek. "I know," she mouthed. Lúcio left, and Hana sighed silently as she changed into the pyjamas, the book tumbling onto the platform. Cautiously, Hana opened the notebook. The very first words were "Dear Diary." Despite the twinge of guilt in her gut, Hana flipped through the pages. She needed to know. She needed to know how Tracer got through her condition. The penmanship was a neat cursive, which was somewhat difficult to read given English wasn't Hana's first language, but still. Hana read.

…

Sombra watched the scene with a mixture of indifference and boredom from Athena's cameras as Lúcio left Hana alone in the room. That makes two people she has condemned to that Hell. Maybe she'd get a medal soon, because it was some sort of record, surely. Song seemed to be holding up alright so far. No telling how long that would last, though.

Sombra flipped between Athena's cameras, looking for anything notable. Winston was trying to make a new chronal accelerator as well as deal with paperwork and calls from the UK. Fareeha was in there as well, assisting him.

Symmetra was in her lab working on some sort of hard-light device, while Torbjörn did repairs on the e54 Bastion unit. Several other agents were currently asleep, though Dr Ziegler was doing last minute checkups on Mei, who planned on leaving for a meeting with the UK regarding the information they got from Ecopoint Antarctica. Junkrat and Roadhog were currently sleeping, and so was Amari. Morrison was in the practice range.

Overall, Sombra concluded nothing exciting was going on, and she decided she could always check Athena's files later for anything interesting. Sombra stretched and reached for a nearby water bottle, taking a quick swig before flicking over to another tab, where she idly checked some of the code for some more of Slipstream's hardware. The Sympathizer would be ready as soon as the implant was finished, and the prosthetic was operating perfectly fine. The harness could potentially be optimised, but Reaper was against extending the battery life by too much, just to make sure Slipstream still felt the need to return to Talon.

Her HoloVid buzzed, and Sombra noticed it was an alert from one of the surgeons.

To Agent Sombra:

Your immediate presence is required in hospital room 402, the patient is ready to see visitors.

Sombra sighed, turning her PC off. It was finally done. If the device was working properly, Reaper and any other Talon officials should have full control over whether it was activated or not. Naturally, Sombra had access to it as well, and there wasn't much Reaper could do to prevent that, so he allowed it so a. He'd be getting a full report on the level of effect and uptime of the sympathiser, mostly to make sure it functioned properly.

Sombra began the walk over to the medical wing, ignoring the raised eyebrows from those who she passed. Most knew her, but some still found her attire peculiar. Sombra found that fact ironic, given most Talon members had to dress in all-black.

She really should set up translocators at every main area she went. It'd save her a bit of travel time. Though that sick feeling from using them was annoying, but the dizzy spells were farther and fewer between. It was likely her system was building up a resistance to the technology. It was surprising Oxton managed to survive such a sudden readjustment with such a volatile piece of technology in such close proximity.

Sombra didn't bother knocking on the hospital door before letting herself in. Inside, Reaper stood next to one of the doctors, who gave him a full report. The other two were checking Slipstream's system for anything wrong. Lena herself was sitting motionlessly on the bed, though she was a far cry from the shivering mess she had been before the surgery. Her demeanour was calm, even bored as she silently watched Reaper with no traces of fear. Her eyes were even more different than her attitude.

Oxton's eyes, which were once a deep, chocolate brown, were now a neon pink, letting out a dim glow. It looked downright supernatural, as the shining irises focused on Sombra, then flicked back to Reaper in respectful silence.

"Alright Gabe, what's this about?" Sombra asked in a bored tone, leaning against the wall as she fiddled with her nails.

"Ah, Sombra. You've arrived," he announced, waving the doctors out of the room, who all left in a rather large hurry at the order of the ghost.

"So, Slipstream," Reaper began, directing his gaze to the bedridden agent. She turned to him, looking impatient but still not speaking. "How do you feel?"

Oxton finally opened her mouth to speak, and her words were quick, though still with the underlying rasp due to not having fully recovered yet. "Oh, I'm peachy. Head hurts like hell, but whatever. I betcha I could hold my own!"

Reaper quirked his head. "Oh? How about we test that?"

It was only when Slipstream nodded and threw off her covers that Sombra noticed she wasn't attached to any IV drips.

"Gabe! Is she not on pain medication!?"

"Don't need it," Slipstream waved off with a grin. "I can take it. Let's go!"

"That's not how pain works…" Sombra muttered in horror. "You just had major head surgery, and were still recuperating from..." Sombra trailed off, realising the full impact of the sympathiser.

"What? From torture? Yeah, that was my bad. But this isn't 'pity Slipstream' day. Let me go shoot some stuff! I can pretend the bots are Reaper's face!"

Sombra raised her eyebrows, looking at Gabe, who chuckled in amusement. "Very well. Sombra, fetch Slipstream's new outfit, will you?"

Then Slipstream did something really odd. She giggled, soft and mirthful. It was downright unsettling, as she found humour where Sombra saw none.

"Ooh! Fetch! Can that be, like, a code word for some sort of command? I mean, now that I'm supposed to be the dark and broody one with that tragic backstory, it seems like a fun, ironic twist, no? What with the whole 'pet' thing you were so on about in my old crib."

Reaper held up his hand to cut Slipstream off, and she instantly silenced herself, averting her gaze before she even seemed to process what was going on. Her expression went neutral as she waited for his commands.

"There will be plenty of time to discuss that later. For now, we'll get your combat outfit to make sure it is to your liking."

Slipstream stretched and nodded, hopping off the bed without a second thought. Sombra watched as she staggered for an instance, before righting herself with a grin. Sombra pursed her lips. "The doctors estimated at least another week of recovery if you pushed it. This is so not the best idea."

Slipstream shrugged carelessly as she shifted her weight to her leg and prosthetic, waiting for orders.

"Slipstream says she is ready. We will let her test her mettle. First, though, let's go to her living quarters."

Reaper gestured for Slipstream to follow, who had nothing to wear, save the hospital gown and a pair of generic slippers. She only had the one slipper on, though, as the prosthetic had been made slightly longer than her regular leg to account for wearing a shoe on her left foot. Overall, she was looking far healthier. The scars on her limbs and neck were as painfully visible as ever, and the girl still desperately needed a shower, but her skin was a sensitive pink instead of the cherry red it once was. She had begun to regain some body mass after the starvation she endured, though her stomach still caved inward, scarred and skinny. Despite this, Oxton was far from the wiry frame she had been earlier.

Sombra grabbed the chronal accelerator that had remained on the floor in a charging station, holding the charger under her arm and swinging the harness over her shoulder. She waved Slipstream to follow her as Reaper slid out of the room.

"Meet me in the training field when Slipstream is accommodated," he ordered before slithering off in a cloudy wisp past several tense doctors.

There was a certain pep in Slipstream's step as she followed her superiors out of the hospital room.

Sombra sighed as she began the walk to Lena's room. "You can talk now, Oxton."

It was as though a dam broke as words began tumbling from Lena's lips. "Man! That guy does not want to crack a smile, does he? I mean, other than evil villainous smirks, that is!"

Sombra chuckled, tipping her head back to look at Slipstream, who didn't seem bothered by her injuries. "Reaper wears a mask. How can you tell what he's doing with his face?"

Slipstream rolled her vivid pink eyes. "Not like he literally smirks, but you can hear it in his voice. I became very familiar with his favourite tones of voice." She barked a laugh at her own joke. "I mean, he tries waaaay too hard with the villain thing! My new mission in life is to make him sound annoyed or sad or confused or something other than the 'one-step-ahead-of-you-I'm-the-all-knowing-master-edgelord' tone he always has!"

"What would that even sound like?" Sombra asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you know!" She lowered her voice, letting her voice rasp. "Blah blah blah, you're gonna listen to me, blah blah blah do not speak, my pet, now run back and forth, my pet." She grinned at Sombra. "You know! Like that!"

"I'm… surprised you're so okay with talking about what he did," Sombra admitted, shifting the harness to her other arm. It was surprisingly heavy.

"I mean, you just put a sympa-whatchamacallit-thingamabob in my head to keep me from breaking down on a daily basis, so don't act so surprised."

Sombra shrugged. "Fair enough. You're feeling alright, though?"
Slipstream nodded, holding her hands behind her head. "I've only had, what? Three surgeries in the past two weeks? I'm fairly sure the entire point of all of them was to make me feel better, so."

"That's not what I asked. Regardless, we're here." Sombra pressed a few buttons on the door marked 'Slipstream,' as it opened with a quiet hum. "Your room is right across the hall from mine. Gabe wanted to make sure I could be nearby in case any of your chronal tech acted up. She noticed Slipstreams incredulous stare. "What? Are you surprised?"

"Honestly? Yeah. I was expecting something way less… lavish? Homey? Anything resembling not resembling my old room?"

"That wasn't your room," Sombra began to protest, before cutting herself off. "Ah, you know what? Never mind."

And it was a fairly nice room. There was a single bed in the corner with a soft comforter and blanket, a pastel blue wall with grey carpeting, a nightstand, a lamp, a digital clock, a closet, a bathroom, and anything else you might picture in a standard hotel room. The standard military items were there too, such as an intercom, a weapon's safe, though nobody ever used those, and a standard Talon uniform, though Slipstream would never be required to wear that.

The main differences setting the room apart as "Slipstream's room" was the miniature stabilisers in the walls and ceiling that began to glow pink as soon as room detected the chronal signature of Oxton and her harness.

"Woah… this whole room is like one big stabilisation chamber, huh? Does this one actually work? And I mean work work, not 'kinda sort make disappearing happen a little less often' work."

Sombra nodded, rolling her eyes. "It was downright stupid of that monkey to not upgrade it for you."

"Finally! Yes! Someone says it!" Slipstream cheered, pumping a fist. "Overwatch is full of idiots if we're both being honest."

"Yeah! After all, that's where you came from!" Sombra jabbed as Lena poked and prodded around the room.

"I'd say you're wrong, but I'd be lying," Slipstream giggled as she peeked into the bathroom, spotting the shower with all sorts of temperature settings and a surplus of toiletries. "Holy hell! That's a bathroom alright! Lordy, a shower sounds bloody fantastic!"

"Well, you can take one after I show you this thingy Reaper had installed," Sombra called, and Slipstream hurried over, peering at what Sombra pointed out. Mounted on the wall was a charger for the accelerator.

"See this thingy? It'll hold your harness and charge it at a pretty decent speed if I do say so myself. It's kinda weird though, see?" Sombra held the harness up to the charging port, and wires immediately snaked out to catch the plugs of the harness, then pulling themselves taut as the harness was yanked against the port, where it was firmly suspended.

"Don't ask me why Gabe had this installed. I don't understand half of what he does."

Slipstream looked at it intently. "How do you release the harness?"

"Oh, that's easy." Sombra pressed a button on the port, and the harness immediately snapped loose.

"I can see the utility," Slipstream began. "I mean, he could pin me to the wall like that if I ever decide to misbehave, for instance," she giggled again. "Isn't that a mental image and a half?"

Sombra chuckled with Slipstream, but it was an uneasy laugh. "R-right. Anyway, go shower. You smell horrible. I'll show you your uniform after." Sombra re-mounted the harness.

"Not like I had soap earlier, don't blame me!"

"Who said I was?" Sombra threw up her hands defensively as she sat on Lena's bed to wait. "Now get in the shower. Your hair looks better when spiky."

"Hah! For once we agree!" Slipstream grinned and bounded into the bathroom as Sombra waited.

Second thoughts began bombarding the hacker. Slipstream didn't seem like such a good idea anymore. Regardless, Lena wasn't a super sad-sack anymore, so that was good. Sombra wondered how Slipstream would fare on her first mission. Going to attack Watchpoint: Gibraltar didn't seem like a smart first mission for the former Overwatch agent, but Reaper had insisted. If one thing was certain, it was that seeing Lena as she was would hurt Overwatch way more than any battle wound, and that was exactly what Reaper wanted.

Lena came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel twenty minutes later, looking considerably better.

"Alright! I'm ready to see this legendary uniform you guys keep building up! The suspense is killing me!"

Sombra rolled her eyes, gesturing to a drawer with underwear, bras, and socks in it. "Those first. I'll grab the uniform." As Lena did what she was told, Sombra grabbed the outfit off the hanger in the closet, holding up for Lena to see once she was done.

"Woah! That looks epic! Let me try that on! Nice and edgy, though I'm glad you didn't go for the black and red cliché."

Sombra rolled her eyes. "Trust me. Gabriel wanted to. I suggested pink instead."

"Then I guess I owe you for that one!"

"Now come on. Try this on. You have quite the schedule ahead of you."

…

Dear Diary:

It's been ten months since the crash. I wonder if I'm going to run out of pages in this thing before I'm back to normal. Who knows? Anyway, dream talk time.

It was a weird one. Everything was foggy and strange and jumbled. It's hard to remember more than basic details, but here's what I do recall.

Everything was pink, everywhere the person looked. Like everything was tinted a neon pink. They moved fast, like super unbelievably fast. There was blood, too. Lots of it. I mean, I'm kind of used to blood at this point, but it was like splashing blood and oil everywhere.

I was conscious in that dream, but all the person's thoughts were a jumbled mess, and I can't clearly remember anything. Their mind moved at a mile a minute, and they would be halfway through a thought before moving on to another. I do remember key words, though. "Reaper, order, kill, and silence," often cycled through their thoughts without much consideration put into them. I also remember feeling… happy. Really happy. Everything was happy in there, in a weird way. Like it felt as though it was a dream, and not just me dreaming, but almost a dream within a dream. Then there was a flash of more pink light, as in a softer, gentler one, and the person took off after that light as they ran. It was hard to tell what was going on.

The person was in pain, too. A ton of it, but the pain was just… funny. I don't know why. We ran, and I remember the sounds of guns firing and blurring colours. The last thing I can recall, though, was all the colours snapping back to normal. Then everything hurt so, so badly, and I went back to the void.

The dream was weird, and I can only imagine who it might be. Regardless, I don't really care too much anymore. Sure, the dreams absolutely suck, but at least I know I'm not alone when I wake up. Winston comesbythe chamber all the time, and Genji and Jesse spend most of their free time here as well. Honestly, they're what's getting me through this. They're both fairly talkative once you get to know them, but they also know how to just… understand. They've both had some really hard times, I know that. I understand that. They've both done horrible things, but honestly? They're both amazing people. Maybe I'm just biased since I haven't exactly seen a ton of people lately, but I'm so lucky I know them.

Though, Genji has not been doing well lately. He's angrier with his brother, Angela, and himself for what happened to him. I want to help him so badly, but I don't know how. He's mad at the world, at everything, and while he still comes by, he's spending almost too much time in here. He's training less, only leaving the room when ordered to do so, most often. He also leaves when Dr Ziegler comes in. He's even in here when I'm faded, from what I've heard. I don't know how to help him myself. Figuring out how to help him will be one of the first things I do once I'm out of this room, though! Just you watch!

Jesse has finally been doing better though, since the loss of his arm. At first, he whined a lot about how annoying it was to use, but after a while, he's gotten the hang of it! Prosthetics must suck. He said feeling in that arm, while still a thing, is significantly muted like it'sthrougha blanket or something. Can't be worse than no touch, though, right?

I'd let myself be decked out incyberneticsif it meant being able to feel things for myself again. Though I say that, but if given the option, it might be a more difficult choice. Thankfully, I don't see how I'd ever need full on cybernetics, there will probably be some tech involved with getting me back to normal. Whatever it takes, is what I say. I'm lucky nobody's given up on me yet. All this time, I've thought I've been miserable in this chamber, but when I look back at it, while it wasn't exactly a party, it could be a lot worse.

Well, I think Genji just got back from a mission and is here to brood again. Until next time, journal. Thanks again for listening.

-Lena