Heya dudes. Sorry this chapter took a bajillion years. I hit a roadblock in my writing. Though, I do quite like this chapter. Let me know what you guys think, the feedback is what keeps me writing this fic! Anyway, I hope I see you all soon! Enjoy!

Chapter 25: Happiness

"Christ, Hana. It's only been a few hours… maybe slow down, so I don't feel bad about takin' so long to learn this stuff," McCree moaned as Hana joyfully signed another word to him, having already memorised the alphabet and a few basic words.

Genji chuckled from his part of the room. "Once one has learned this ridiculous language, anything else comes easier," he offered, likely smirking under his visor.

"Hey, I know Spanish too, and this still was a pain to learn!" McCree whined as Hana laughed from behind him.

"To be fair, you only needed to learn how to understand it, not sign it," Genji added.

"M'kay, and how's your sign language?" McCree leaned against the wall in frustration as Genji tipped his head.

"Oh, I'm fluent in it, but I'm a freaking cyborg ninja." Genji teased.

"Since when does that come with a sign language translator?!"

"Since I found one on the Internet of course."

Hana shrugged and nodded with a grin. His reasoning was legit.

"Ugh, fine! Just you watch! Imma study up on this book and come back for more lessons tomorrow fully fluent!"

The cyborg snorted. "Be grateful you're not going on the mission then."

Hana perked to attention and quickly sighed out a single word.

"What?"

"Oh yeah… kinda slipped my mind."

Hana smacked her face with her translucent hand.

"Well, some of the agents went to the U.K. for a meeting," Genji said, spinning a shuriken around in his hand. "Which is boring as Hanzo's old speeches about family honour, so naturally that's a big skip."

"I didn't go given the bounty on my head and whatnot," McCree added, leaning against the wall after brushing aside one of the dusty chords.

Hana bit her lip in a brief moment of consideration before signing one of the words she knew. "Who?"

McCree blinked. "Who? Who what?"

"She likely means who else went on the mission," Genji added helpfully. Hana nodded. "Context, Jesse."

"Hush up. Anyway, who else? I dunno actually… who all is goin' again?"

Genji sighed. "This is why you pay attention in meetings."

"You're no sage of payin'-attention-ness either!" McCree retorted defensively. "Remember the mission with Talon and the OR14s?"

"I was listening to that; I just didn't care enough to obey. I was in my edgy phase around then, so."

Hana laughed in surprise at Genji's remark, covering her mouth even though it was inaudible.

"To be fair, we all were," McCree pressed. "Reyes was the one makin' the outfits after all."

"I'm surprised he had input as to the colouration of my robotic limbs, to be honest. That seems like something more in Angela's realm of authority."

Hana blinked, surprised at how relaxed they were given the sensitive subject matter. It was probably for the sake of keeping her spirits up that they were so nonchalant.

"I personally didn't mind the black and red. It fit ya perfectly."

"At the time, I suppose so," Genji chuckled. "Then there was the whole 'finding the tranquillity Omnic then inner-peace and whatnot' thing, now I'm enlightened or something."

Hana tipped her head curiously. McCree huffed humorously. "Genji wasn't exactly a big fan of the whole cyborg thing when it first happened."

Genji chuckled, his metallic voice ripe with amusement. "You weren't exactly the pinnacle of serenity when Blackwatch first recruited you, either."

"Reyes only caught me because of dumb luck! I'd have been fine otherwise!" McCree defended indignantly, shoving Genji away dejectedly.

"He was always one step ahead of you. Otherwise, you'd have escaped a long time ago."

"I only stayed because I felt like it! Reyes would have nothin' on me if I'd have wanted to escape!"

Hana chuckled as the two bickered. She sat against one of the metal beams, kicking her legs as she grinned. It was hard to tell if they were playing things up or not. She really hoped they weren't.

"No, you were jealous of Reyes' skill. He was almost as good a shot as you, and better than you at everything else."

"I don't recall what yer talkin' about, Partner," McCree denied, shaking his head.

"He's able to spin in a circle, hitting everything in sight."

Hana wrinkled her nose and spelt out another word as both men paused to read her signing. " Spammer."

"He was, ain't he?" McCree agreed. "Wonder if he does that with all them shotguns Talon's givin' him…"

In the mentioning of Talon, the playful atmosphere vanished, and McCree his face with his prosthetic arm. "Ah, shoot. I wasn't tryin' to spoil the mood."

Hana waved it off with a shrug.

Genji shook his head, giving McCree a punch to the shoulder that was powerful enough to knock the man off balance.

"That is not important now," the cyborg assured, looking to Hana. "We will strike down Talon soon enough, and save Lena." His voice was calm and composed with an expression hidden behind his visor.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Oh, Hana, any clue how that chronal accelerator is comin'?" McCree asked, partially to change the topic.

Hana sighed and shook her head indifferently. She hadn't seen Lúcio or Efi for a little while, so it was hard to know what was going on. Now that she thought about it, though, it was clear she had no idea what was going on anywhere. She was stuck in the isolated bubble of the chamber.

"Yeah, guess ya wouldn't know. How're ya doin', though? You don't exactly make it easy to read your emotions."

Hana shrugged again, tipping her finger in the so-so gesture.

"Well, that is already more honest than what Lena would say," Genji mused. "She would have always given a thumbs up even if her eyes were red and puffy."

"What's the difference then? You and Lena were both stuck here 'round your age, and she acted kinda similarly to ya with tons more denial."

Hana thought about that for a moment. She and Lena might have their similarities, but Hana probably wasn't nearly as upset by everything as she probably should have been. Maybe she's just been getting lucky with the dreams. Though, if Hana had to guess, it was probably because she chose to be like this.

Not wanting to spell it out, Hana pointed to the back of her neck, Genji nodding pensively as McCree stared blankly for a moment before giving a quiet "oooohhh," as he realised what she meant.

"I suppose that is true, you did develop chronal disassociation voluntarily. It's still odd, though, how you and Lena act so subtly the same yet different in this situation. Perhaps it is just the behaviour the room brings out in people…" he mused, sitting back down.

Hana sighed again and began spelling something out as Genji paid close attention, though McCree seemed to be a bit behind, but didn't call for her to slow down.

"Tracer was a pilot. I'm already a soldier, right?"

"Ah, yeah, I suppose that'd make sense. It was pretty obvious that was her first time goin' through real shit like that."

Genji shook his head. "I still find it horrendous that you were forced to begin fighting so long ago. You were still underage, right?"

Hana sighed. This was a conversation she's had to have too many times. "It was for my country. I had no choice."

That is true. Sometimes ya just gotta do what needs to be done," he agreed in a sombre voice. "It's morbid as Hell, but at least the exposure prepped ya a little for this mess."

"Small Mercies."

…

Lúcio rushed back to his room to grab the unique communicator. If he was lucky, he could pull off his little plan. This was the allotted time he was given, after all. The device lay on his countertop, directly next to his PC. It was small and round, comfortably fitting in his palm. Lúcio slipped the video chat device into his pocket.

The DJ yawned, rubbing his eyes. He was probably overdue for some sleep, but between training, the recent attack, and sorting the stream out, there just wasn't much time. That was okay. It wasn't his first time having to go without much sleep for a few days.

"Mr. dos Santos, I would like to speak with you," a female voice said from his doorway, making Lúcio jump. He whipped around and saw Mercy, staring at him with an all-business expression. She was wearing casual jeans and a black Overwatch shirt, though she wore the usual lab coat Lúcio almost always saw her in when she wasn't wearing her Valkyrie suit.

"Oh, Dr Ziegler! I thought you were going to the meeting in the UK?"

She nodded as her eyes appeared to scan him. "Yes, but we do not leave for a few hours. In the meantime, I'm here to discuss something with you."

"Really? Is it about Hana?" he asked idly, gesturing for her to enter.

"No, it's about you. I am concerned about your current health."

"If it's about my injuries from Vishkar, the meds you gave me are working wonders. Most of the gashes are just scars now," Lúcio told her, sitting down on his bed with a casual grin. "Thanks again for all the help you guys have given me."

"It's no problem, and I'm glad to see you're healing well," Mercy said with a kind smile. "However, it is apparent to me from the meeting that you have not been getting sufficient sleep."

"Oh, you noticed? Sorry about that. Things have been crazy lately, as you know," he leaned against the wall and fiddled with the green comforter of his bed as he spoke.

"They have. However, according to your Athena, you've been spending a fair amount of time training."

"I need the practice. After that fiasco with Talon, who knows when we'll need to fight again?"

"You won't be of any use if you're suffering from exhaustion. I implore you to take better care of yourself," she ordered calmly, watching him carefully.

"Haven't had the time too. I just got the livestream set up to fund a new accelerator. That'll be a few hours and happen pretty often. I had to organise something for Hana, too. During the in-betweens, I usually help Efi with the accelerator, manage both D,va and my fanbases, and do some alone streaming using D,va's channel to try and get whatever other bits of cash I can." Lúcio blinked as he counted his activities on his fingers. "Okay that's a bit more than I thought, but it's nothing I'm not used to handling."

Mercy sighed. "How much sleep have you gotten these past few days?"
The DJ shrugged. "Not keeping track."

"Not much, I'd wager then. Before you do anything else today, please get some rest."

"No can do, Doc," Lúcio said as he shook his head. "I'm on a time crunch with this one thing I've been planning for a while. Then the stream is right after," he sighed. "I'll go to sleep right after that if it makes you feel better."

The doctor nodded, satisfied. "Yes, please do that. There will be plenty of time to raise money afterwards. Although…" she looked to Lúcio sceptically. "How much do you think the accelerator costs? I find it hard to believe you'll be able to make the money you need solely off of livestreaming."

Lúcio waved her off. "Yeah, Efi and I compiled a list. It hurts to look at, but the only thing way out of our price range is the battery. It's all fancy made for that crazy energy it uses."

Mercy nodded. "Without that, she can still be stabilised, but you won't be able to produce and hold enough energy to give it a wide area of effect. Not to mention, she will essentially be tethered to a charging port. If the harness weren't attached to it for more than perhaps ten seconds, she'd be back to how she is now."

"Hey, it's better than nothing. Efi said she might be able to figure something out when it comes to that, but right now we're just trying to take the first step."

"Very well. It seems you have everything planned out." Mercy turned to leave, only for Lúcio to stop her, jumping off the bed.

"Hey, wait!" he called. She turned to him curiously. "Yes?"

"I'm going to see Hana right now. Wanna come? I'm hoping this will put her in a bit of a good mood. You can say hi before leaving too!"

The doctor thought for a moment. "Very well. That sounds like a good idea."

The two of them made their way to the stabilisation chamber in comfortable silence. Mercy broke the discussion with some idle chatter.

"You two and Efi seem to be getting quite close lately. You act like good friends despite the significant age difference."

Lúcio chuckled. "Ew, don't say that. It makes me feel old. But yeah, I guess so. It's hard to tell she's twelve, to be honest. Her mind never stops working, and she's cleverer… more clever? then half the people here. Not to mention, when you spend time on the Internet, you get used to age barriers being less important. I have good friends online of all ages out there. I guess it just isn't as unusual to me."

Mercy hummed. "That is certainly interesting. I suppose the easy availability of anonymity on the Internet can make it easier to hide your age initially, preventing that from impacting first impressions."

"I guess if you wanna sound fancy about it," Lúcio said with a chuckle.

The two of them turned a corner as the stabilisation chamber's door came into view.

"What is it we're going to see Hana for?" Mercy asked. "You've been quite vague about explaining."

"Let me be vague for a little while longer, okay?" Lúcio said with a wink as the two of them approached the door the chamber. Just as Lúcio reached out to press the button, the door opened, and McCree blinked from within the room, nearly walking into the newcomers.

"Oh, howdy Agent dos Santos. Howdy Angel," the cowboy greeted, his voice distant and distracted.

"Jesse!" Mercy greeted in delight. "Are you feeling any better than earlier?"

McCree smiled and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I am. Gotta go see the commander now, though."

"Are you in hot water now?" Mercy asked in amusement.

"Naw. Nothin' like that. It's about Lena though." He sputtered, his eyes darting past them. Lúcio nodded.

"Ah, I gotcha. I hope you figure something out! We're just here to see Hana, though. Is she…" he trailed off, not sure how to ask the question.

McCree shook his head. "Naw, she's in there with Genji. I reckon she's got a little while longer. Now I'm gonna go. Have fun in there," he said, pushing past the two of them, hurrying down the hallway.

"I do hope he can figure something out about Lena while we're gone…" Mercy mused before shaking her head. "This room always makes one feel odd, doesn't it?" she asked as she stepped in. Lúcio couldn't help but agree as a shiver ran up his spine. The strange, static air washed over him. Hana and Genji turned to the twosome, and once again Lúcio was struck by how strangely ethereal she appeared. Her entire body radiated a pink aura the matched the small devices in the ceiling, and her hair never seemed to sit still, always flowing and fading in a brown and pink cascade. She indeed appeared like a ghost from the movies.

Hana's face lit up when she saw Lúcio. She jumped off the windowsill and bounded towards the twosome eagerly. The cyborg that had been nearby turned to face them as well.

"Greetings, Angela. Lúcio."

"Hello, Genji," the doctor greeted back, her voice warm and affectionate. She turned to Hana. "And hello to you, Miss Song. How have you been feeling as of late? Relatively speaking, that is."
Hana's shoulders bounced in what must have been a chuckle. She merely smiled and shrugged. Mercy took that to mean something good as she smiled kindly. "I'm glad to see you're in high spirits!"

Genji quirked his head. "You must be busy preparing to leave. What brings you here, doctor?"

"Lúcio, actually," Mercy said as she stepped back, gesturing for Lúcio to show what he brought. Lúcio grinned as he set the communicator onto the windowsill.

"So, I had to ask Winston for this, supposedly it was specially made for Lena after she got her accelerator. I did some poking around, may have used your StarCraft account, sorry about that by the way, and I found a few certain people's information! They cut training just for this!"

Lúcio pressed the button on the communicator, and it hummed to life. A red light flickered on next to a camera, and a large image, easily several feet's length, projected upward. It was just a simple logo for several seconds until a girl's face appeared.

"Hana! Is that you? Oh my God! You really are friends with Lúcio!" She had an accent that sounded similar to D,va's, though her voice was a bit softer and more melodic.

"Whatup, Asi9?" Lúcio greeted as he waved from behind Hana, who covered her mouth with her hands. Although, their transparency didn't do much to hide her smile.

Asi9 fiddled with her tangled hair, flustered. "Man, I knew Lúcio had contacted me but to think it was ACTUALLY you… ah, sorry, I'm getting off track! Uh…" Asi9 tipped her head back to one of the bunk beds in the background. "Guys! It's Hana! Come on!"

Lúcio blinked as another MEKA pilot clad in a black and white suit stylistically identical to D,va's jumped up from the bottom bunk and ran over to the screen.

"Jesus Christ, you weren't kidding… it is Lúcio… Let me just say, if Hana didn't look like literal death, I would so be asking for your autograph! But Hana is looking like literal death, so I'll just ask you to forward it to me later!" the boy said with a wink. Hana tipped her head back as her shoulders bounced with childlike mirth, even though no audio came out.

Lúcio smirked. "You got it, Q-Ball," he agreed, carefully working to remember each pilots name in his head.

Another boy's voice chimed in. "What's this about death? Has it finally come to us with its sweet release?" he asked in mock eagerness. Then Lúcio finally saw his face as he draped himself over the top bunk, hanging upside down as he grinned at the camera. His suit was baby-blue and orange. His hair remained combed into spikes despite his hanging upside down, held together with copious amounts of hair gel.

"You wish," Q-Ball snorted, "Anyway, Hana! Lúcio wasn't kidding with the ghost thing! Wow…"

Asi9 giggled. "He totally thought you were a troll account."

"Even after I checked the IP and such!" C6piders grinned from his spot hanging off the bed.

Lúcio just made an amused scoffing sound.

"Are you still doing that motion control game thingy that Lúcio's been posting about?" Asi9 asked, her soft voice concerned but firm.

Hana nodded, moving her arm around as if to gesture she could still move fine.

"That is so freaky to look at!" C6piders noted, twisting his body to a slight angle for a better view, his arms hanging down and almost touching the floor.

"I wanna see you phase through something or else I say it's fake!" Q-Ball egged Hana on, curiosity burning in his voice. Hana raised an eyebrow and smirked, sliding over to Lúcio as she jabbed at his head. He flinched away, stiffening as her hand plunged through his skull and appeared on the other end.

"Ack! How about some warning next time?" Lúcio shouted with no real anger in his voice. Hana beamed, enjoying the MEKA squad's various expressions. Q-Ball gaped; C6piders laughed, which turned into a strained cry as he nearly fell from the bunk, catching himself at the last second. Asi9 wrinkled her brow in concern.

"Woah! Do you feel anything?" Q-Ball asked Lúcio in amazement.

"Really friggin cold. Other than that? No, not really," he answered warily, watching Hana closely, who still seemed to be enjoying herself.

"That's incredible! It's too bad it's so debilitating and difficult to utilise. Otherwise, it'd be an amazing party trick!" C6piders noted, rotating his arms to keep them from falling asleep.

Genji, who had remained out of the camera, stepped into the shot. "Although, once we make a new chronal accelerator, she will likely gain powers similar to Tracer's." His voice was cheerful, albeit his expression remained concealed.

"Holy shit! It's Genji Shimada! From the Doomfist news ages ago! You look badass!" Q-Ball nearly shouted, slamming his hands onto the desk in front of them.

"That's true, I do look awesome. My regards go to the doctor," Genji bragged playfully. Mercy chuckled from her spot on the windowsill.

"Whatever the hell you have, Hana, sign me up for that if I get to meet these people in real life!" C6piders beamed from his bunk. Asi9 whipped around to chastise him.

"I don't think you should joke about this!"

C6piders rolled his eyes. "Too soon? Ah whatever, the joke wouldn't be funny if we didn't all unanimously agree that the source material is horrible. Nobody ever jokes about good things."

"What about love clichés? People joke about that!" she fought back, crossing her arms. C6piders snorted.

"Naw, we make fun of the fairy tales where the lovers know each other for two minutes and want to be married. Or when true love's kiss comes from random Joe-Shmoe on a white horse with a crown. We make fun of the super fake parts of it, not love itself: same with everything!"

Hana waved her hand in front of her, tipping her head in agreement with her blue and orange squad member.

"He does have a point," Q-Ball added, putting a shoulder on Asi9, who huffed indignantly.

"I was trying to be supportive!" she argued with a slightly embarrassed smile.

Lúcio laughed at the banter. These were arguments they've had before. Perhaps their dynamic had been a display for their fans' amusement, and it had just become a mainstay for them.

"On a more serious note though," Asi9 began. Her tone must have meant something to the other two since they immediately settled down. "What can we do to help? We get some money from our streams, but some cash is supposed to go to MEKA. We'll send what we can for a new accelerator."

"Oh boy! I smell a seventy-two-hour mega stream! We'll have to get some of the other squads in on it too!" C6piders suggested, beaming. Despite being pale and transparent, Hana somehow managed to blanch, chuckling as she face-palmed.

"Excuse me, that sounds far from healthy." Mercy commented, stepping into the shot.

"Doctor Ziegler too…" Asi9 muttered, impressed. She shook her head, grinning. "Uh, don't worry! We don't do it often!"

"MEKA hates it though! So, I mean, that boosts the frequency a sliiiight amount," Q-Ball commented from beside her, spinning his gaming chair around.

"We always get a ton of coffee ready in the lounge. And we each get one break to sleep. It's the best when we've got a bunch of the squads joining. We split the cash evenly and give about half to MEKA, but that still usually leaves a ton! People love those long stupid parties of despair and rage and bets that never pan out for everyone." C6piders said, mock horror washing over his facial features. "See the legendary Smash incident…"

Hana seemed to shiver, rubbing her temples as she grinned.

Q-Ball huffed. "Okay look, seven stock level nines put on one team against you is NOT that hard if you know what you're doing! I was not hacking!"

"You sure did get a lot of money from that though," Asi9 remarked.

"I still say that Smash Ball right near the end was super suspect though," C6piders teased, seemingly unaware that his face was going red from being upside down for so long.

"Oh, hush up!" Q-Ball shouted, enjoying the banter as she grabbed C6piders arm and pulled him down from the bunk. The blue and orange pilot shrieked, grabbing onto Q-Balls arm.

"Men going down!" he shouted as the two toppled to the ground in a heap. Groans followed from outside the shop. Asi9 shook her head and rubbed her temples.

Then there was a knock on the door. A frantic female voice chimed up, blabbering something in Korean, which Asi9 responded to similarly. Q-Ball and C6piders both lurched up.

"Oh, God dammit. MEKA's getting pissy with us." Q-Ball lamented, quickly putting on headphones and other paraphernalia for his uniform.

"Sigh. Alrighty, looks like we need to go. Sorry, D,va!" Asi9 apologised as the two boys scrambled for their gear from behind her. "I hope you get the accelerator soon! I'll keep in touch with Lúcio in regards to what we can do to help!"

"Thanks a ton! I'll keep an eye on my messages!" the DJ thanked.

"Aww! Why can't I keep in touch with him?" C6piders whined as he slipped on a pair of white gloves.

"Because you're an annoying fanboy?" Q-Ball suggested, earning punch to the shoulder.

"Anyway, see ya later, everybody!" Asi9 closed out. Hana waved as the projector turned off and the red light flickered out of existence.

"They seem fun," Genji remarked after a moment of silence.

Hana was frozen in place with a soft and content smile. She turned to Lúcio and clasped her hands together, bowing in what must have been an expression of gratitude. Tears trailed down her cheeks, glitching and flickering as they fell to the ground. Dr Ziegler put her hand on Lúcio's shoulder, nodding in approval. He nodded back.

"No problem, Hana. I hope it helped a bit," he expressed earnestly. Hana nodded quickly. Lúcio grinned. "Now, how about that livestream?"

"It seems you all have your plans. I must be on my way to prepare for the meeting. Well done, Lúcio." Mercy thanked as she turned to leave. "Goodbye, everyone."

"Have a wonderful day, Angela," Genji said with a nod. She beamed back at him.

"Oh! Genji! How about you join us? We'll get Efi and Orisa, and have a great time."

Genji thought for a moment. "Sure. I'm not nearly as wanted as Jesse is, so I'll join. I bet I would rock at motion control games."

Hana nodded in agreement, turning to lead the way. She only paused as she reached the door to the chamber, before shaking her head and passing through with fresh resolve. She would probably have a few hours tops. Better make the most of them.

…

"Hey, Dr Winston? Can I ask a question?" Efi said from the doorway to Winston's lab. Orisa stood behind the girl, diligently watching for any trouble.

Winston, who was busily sweeping folders and other items into a briefcase, turned to her, surprised. "Of course, what is it, Miss Oladele?" his expression was carefully neutral as he closed the suitcase overflowing with documents, despite every file he could need likely being on a thumb drive.

"Why did Tracer stay Slipstream with Talon?" Winston flinched, gesturing for Efi to walk in. She sat on one of his benches. "I mean, I know they hurt her and such, but if that Sympathiser thing you mentioned really does remove her negative emotions, then she shouldn't be scared of being tortured, right?"

Winston listened to her, swinging up to his tire as he pensively considered her words.

"Do you think Talon was lying to her? Maybe the sympathiser changed her memory, or it's some sort of mind control device."

Orisa listened intently, soaking in the conversation as she settled down by the stairs, her eyes flicking between the two. Winston shook his head. "No, I think Talon did exactly what they said. That device only blocks negative emotions."

Efi hummed, kicking her feet from atop an empty portion of Winston's lab. "But why then? She obeyed them because she was afraid they'd hurt her more, right? But she couldn't be scared of that. And if her memories were not altered, she should still be able to remember her ideals and adhere to them enough to come back to Overwatch and get the sympathiser taken out."

The gorilla tapped his chin, trying to figure out how to describe Lena's situation. "Efi, why are you trying to help Hana?" he asked, gently rocking on the tire swing.

"What? It's because I care about her! But what's this got to do with anything?"

"But what if I told you care can technically be considered a 'negative emotion?' And because of that, Lena physically cannot care about anyone or anything?"

"I… I don't understand. Care is good, right? So that's a positive emotion to feel, and it wouldn't be blocked!"

"No, care is an important emotion, not a 'positive ones.' Think of it like this. You said you care about Hana, right?" Efi nodded in response, fiddling with a few metal trinkets on the desk as she tightened and loosened screws.

"Well, define caring for her."

Efi thought for a moment, wrinkling her brow. "Um… I think it's like… thinking someone is important enough to you to be concerned for their well-being," she decided with another nod.

Winston climbed down from his tire swing and grabbed a jar of peanut butter. "The keyword there is concern. Care is the concern for an individual. Now define concern."

"To feel concern is to be worried, right?"

"Yes. Care is built from concern. Concern is equivalent to worry. Worry is based off fear. And the sympathiser is blocking any 'fear' stimuli. It's the same thing with something like love. Love is an intense feeling of deep affection. That intensity stems from protectiveness and care. With protectiveness being rooted in something akin a deep-rooted fear at the concept of harm coming to that person in some way."

Efi's eyes widened as she fit the pieces together. "But if we're following that train of logic, that would leave almost nothing except extremely primal emotions such as raw happiness, joy, maybe confusion and curiosity too. Other than that, though… there's not much."

Winston sighed sombrely. "Exactly. So by removing her 'negative emotions,' she's left only able to be happy about whatever horrible things they make her do since it's pretty much all she's capable of feeling."

"Why does she feel compelled to obey them, though? Something like respect could stem from the acknowledgement of being inferior in some regard, and being jealous or afraid to remain as such in some way. She shouldn't be able to feel any respect that would lead her to obey them."

Winston thought about that for a moment. "I think they accomplish that by dethatching her compulsion to obey from her emotions. By tormenting her, they reached a point where they could order her to do something, and she would instinctively obey in some sort of survival response until it became second nature. She doesn't need to put consideration into her obedience."

Efi remained silent for several seconds, absorbing what she was just told. "Then… how do we save her?"

Winston shook his head, wiping away yet another tear. "I'm not sure."

Athena's melodic voice interrupted the two, her voice almost reluctant. "My apologies for the intrusion, but Lúcio asked that Efi proceeds to the streaming room."

"Thanks, Athena," Efi called before turning to Winston. "Sorry, I gotta go I guess. Just… let me know if I can help! Maybe some of Orisa's code can be useful since I added an emotion module like Omnics have!"

"Alright, Miss Oladele. Please be careful on your way there," Winston said, swinging back up to his computer. He looked at the photo pinned to the device. It was a picture of Lena and him. She was smiling, her smile somehow lighting up the room through the image. Winston could only hope he'd get to see her genuinely smile again.

…

Slipstream devoured the food Sombra put in front of her, eating portions large enough to feed three men. It was the private kitchen for important Talon agents, so the entire room was empty, leaving just the two of them. The food tasted remarkable, never mind that it was only sandwiches. The burning hunger Slipstream hadn't notice started subsiding immediately, and Sombra watched her in some mix of being impressed and shocked.

"You really do need to eat more often," Sombra scolded as Slipstream finished the last of the food with a huge grin. "Consider it an order, if you feel you're hungry, and you have the time, go ahead and eat."

Slipstream nodded, the command imprinting itself upon her mind like a stamp. She watched the hacker curiously. Sombra was fiddling with her nails and kept looking to Slipstream like she wanted to say something, only to look away several seconds later.

Finally, Sombra spoke up. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

Slipstream blinked, not having noticed that she was staring at her. "My bad," she responded directly, averting her shining eyes. Everything around her was tinted pink. It was nearly impossible to distinguish colours from each other. Slipstream vaguely remembered something about Reaper mentioning to her that the glowing eyes were a chemical designed to make it easier to tell when the sympathiser was activated.

"You can still look at me, I just wasn't sure if you were staring at me for a reason," Sombra remarked, sitting down at the table across from Lena. Slipstream laughed.

"No, I wasn't ordered to stare at you, so I wouldn't have a reason to! Jesus that sounds edgy, what with the whole 'I act on orders and I'm an unfeeling weapon,' thing I've got going, but I mean, that's what it is so I guess I'm not helping.

"About that," Sombra chewed her lip. "If you could do me a favour and not laugh at me or judge me for a moment, I need to talk to you about something."

Do not laugh or judge. Slipstream dropped her smile and nodded, waiting for Sombra to continue.

"I want to apologise. For getting you into this mess," she began, standing up and bouncing from foot to foot. "It's because of me you first got chronal disassociation, and it's my fault you got tortured by Reaper. So…. I'm sorry, feel free to just… say whatever you think about me now or something…" Sombra offered in some attempt at giving Slipstream permission to speak.

Slipstream thought about what Sombra said. She thought back on her previous memories of her condition regarding the glowing device on her chest, and about the suffering Reaper put her through.

She felt nothing. Slipstream could still vividly remember many of the dreams she had, the terror she felt, the pain she went through, all branded into her mind. She would never be able to forget these experiences. She could remember how much she cared about Winston, Jesse, Genji, and the rest of Overwatch, but that devotion no longer existed in her.

Countless memories would have caused an infinite amount of pain to recall. But now, Slipstream could finally be free of those heavy chains with the sympathiser in place. She could act and live and enjoy life without having to worry about hiding all the things she kept buried. She could obey orders without having to consider the consequences. Any consequences for her actions would not be able to hurt her anymore. There was no obligation to feel concern for anyone on a personal level. No ties were dragging her down and forcing her to take certain sides. Her only team was Talon. She only had to obey an order, and she and everyone around her would be satisfied. If anything, she had more freedom than ever thanks to all Sombra had done. Why Sombra would ask for forgiveness for releasing Slipstream like this was beyond her comprehension.

"Don't be sorry. You deserve my thanks," Slipstream finally said, the glow of her eyes reflecting back at her from Sombra's pupils. "It's because of you I'm like this, and I've never been happier in my life. There's no more sadness and pain. It's all so easy to do anything."

The hacker stuttered, at a loss for words, trepidation thick in her voice. "But… it's because of me you're barely even a human anymore…"

Slipstream smiled. "I know. I'm not human anymore. And it's incredible."