09/26/207X - 8:00 AM - Watchpoint: Gibraltar
The blaring alarm wakes him up with a jolt. He's lying — face down — on his desk. Again. The blurry outline of his computer is the first thing to greet him, dancing silhouettes dotting the screen. He wastes no time in silencing his alarm with one hand, retrieving his glasses with another, and grabbing a jar of peanut butter with his right foot while popping the lid with his left.
"Good Morning, Winston."
Of course, Athena is the next to greet him, probably gearing up for a passive aggressive remark about his sleep habits.
"There's no shame in hitting the snooze button, you know. Possibly even in your actual bedchambers."
There it is. He's spooning peanut butter into his mouth with his feet as he does his regular routine. Tensions rise in Cairo. Los Muertos activity grows bolder in Dorado. The Hashimoto residence has undergone an attack. That last one makes him pause; he wonders if Genji knows. Last he heard, Genji was in Nepal; he wonders how (or what) he's doing. Is it important? Away from technology? Completely unable to respond to his recall? Or just purposely ignoring it?
"Winston, there's no-"
"-no new messages, understood." His voice is perhaps a little too curt.
"-no need to do this first thing in the morning. There's no need to-"
"-to what? Torture myself?" He lifts himself from his tire chair, stretching his legs and purposely turning away from her little voice symbol on screen, "Inform myself of how the world is falling apart while I sit here and do nothing?" The slight growl in his voice echoes off the walls of the war room.
Athena doesn't respond immediately, leaving enough of a pause for Winston to feel guilty.
"I'm sorry, Athena. I didn't mean to yell."
"There is no need for apologies. Perhaps some light exercise will-"
"Why won't they respond?"
The question is quiet and desperate, and it takes a moment before he realizes it came from him.
"Winston, not everyone is able. They have lives to deal with." Lives to deal with. The statement makes something dark rear its ugly head in his mind. They moved on, because of course they did. They aren't trapped like I am. "They need time. You knew this wouldn't happen overnight."
He bristles silently. "How much longer? Because I've been waiting for six years. When will it be enough?" She doesn't respond, though he supposes she doesn't need to; he knows he's being childish. That doesn't make it any less frustrating. He exhales roughly.
"Umm…"
Winston feels his heart stop for a fraction of a second, and sees Mei standing in the doorway with uncertainty, a steaming mug in either hand. She's dressed in what looks like pajamas, though he supposes she probably doesn't have much variety in clothing. He makes a mental note to get her clothes later.
"Good morning Mei." He says with a bright smile, "You're up early."
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Or, uh, bother you." She's shuffling awkwardly on her feet. He realizes she heard him yell. Great.
"No apologies necessary," He says with a disarming voice, "I guess I'm still getting used to other people living here again." Her posture slackens, much to his relief. Being a gorilla, he's had to learn how to make himself look as unthreatening as possible. Even without much practice these last few years, he feels confident in that ability; he feels more confident that most people would be terrified of him otherwise.
She strides forward, her boots clanking on the metal floor, with a mug held out. "I made you coffee. I, uh, didn't know if you could drink coffee, but then I remembered that you did the other night, so… I ended up making you coffee." She ends with an awkward giggle. He recalls what she said the other day, about making people comfortable. Is she uncomfortable? Of course she is. She just saw me get frustrated, it's a wonder she's not running away.
"Thanks." His smile does not wane, "I could use a cup." He grabs the mug and takes a quick swig, the warm liquid already doing its magic. She smiles brightly at him before taking a sip of her own. He wants to ask how well she slept — or how much she slept — but immediately decides against it. She's already in far better shape than when she first arrived, and that's good enough for him.
"It's been a while since someone else made me coffee. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I was up, and was making coffee." She responds with a laugh, "But I guess you can say it's thanks for yesterday."
"Ah." He nearly forgot. In all his years, he can't say he's ever been in a situation quite like that before. Humans were quite protective of their privacy after all.
"I usually drink tea in the morning, but-" She pauses, and though her face doesn't change, something about the pause feels off "-but coffee seems a bit better right now."
He nods and decides to unpack that later.
"So, when do you think you'll be ready?"
"Hmm?" She blinks up at him expectantly.
"You know, to improve your endothermic blaster?"
"Oh, right, yeah." She looks caught off guard, "Um, aren't you busy?"
"Not in particular." He tries to leave out any negative connotation, "Not much to do, with only two active agents." Three active agents would be a lot better, he thinks.
"Oh, then I guess I'll get ready?" She says with slight hesitance. He side-eyes her.
"Do you have something else?" He asks. Mostly out of curiosity, but her panicked face makes him worry it sounded accusatory.
"Oh, no, of course not! I, uh, I'll be right back."
"It's okay Mei, you can take your time-" And she's already gone.
9:05 AM
"Hmm, interesting." He can feel Mei shifting nervously beside him as he inspects the gun. He stares just a bit longer than necessary. "Hmmmmm….very interesting."
"Oh, stop it." She shouts indignantly, but he can see the smile still poking through. He chuckles at her reaction.
"The design is definitely rough, though truly ingenious for what you had at the time. I'm especially impressed with the use of the whipped cream canister."
"Oh," She seems surprised, shifting from nervous to bashful. How critical did she think I was going to be? "Uh well, I needed something pressurized to propel the cryo-fluid, and… Adams wasn't using it anymore." She sounds like she's trying to joke, but the crack in her voice makes him think, Too soon.
"Well, it's a master work for being so rushed. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had a minor in engineering. You certainly know your way around machines." He keeps his voice light, but her face seems to fall further.
"Oh, well, MacReady taught me a few things." She says with the same slightly strained voice. MacReady, Engineer for the Antarctica team, he remembers. "She helped me build Snowball, you know." She turns to see the small droid floating behind her. The droid is noticeably less animated, staring intently at Mei with a neutral expression. She looks nervously at the droid before giving Winston a tight smile. Well, so much for a subject change, he thinks.
"So, you made Snowball while at the Ecopoint?" He continues smoothly; a scientist is never happier than when describing their work, after all. "What exactly is its purpose? A companion of some sort?" As he predicted, her face brightens considerably.
"Not really — well, kind of. I suggested giving them a friendly appearance and personality cause I thought it'd be cute." She says with only a hint of shame, "But really, their main purpose is to incorporate my theories into practice. They're actually a weather unit capable of rapid condensation. If I wanted, I could make it snow in here using Snowball."
"Seriously?" He gives the droid a side-eye, looking at it in a whole new light, "I never would've thought. It's, um, not going to do that now, is it?"
"Ha ha, no, of course not! Snowball's a good boy. Isn't that right?" She says as she pats the small droid. Snowball reciprocates, leaning into the touch, but the expression stays neutral and trained on her.
"That's the technology you were showcasing years ago, right?" She gives a slight nod. "That's amazing! You'll have to show me a demonstration sometime." His words aren't a lie, he means it. If her rapidly reddening face is anything to go by, she knows he means it.
"Well, I hardly think there's much to improve here, save for the obvious. My lab is at your disposal." He says with a grand gesture. It's not all that much to look at, but the facilities are still state-of-the-art.
As she looks around, he senses that her mind is elsewhere.
"Is something wrong, Mei?"
"No. Well, maybe?" She answers, "Do you think that…I should really be a field agent? I mean, wouldn't I be better off doing what I do best, trying to save the world with science?"
Save the world with science, Winston thinks. Yes, that would be nice. With Overwatch properly back together, people like him and Mei could focus on scientific endeavors where their strengths lie, while the rest of the team keeps the world from imploding. But until they get more people…
"Well, there's not much Overwatch can do right now." He says. "The world is falling apart a little more each day, and if we want to save it we'll need all the help we can get."
"So I should be shooting omnics with an ice gun?" There's a slight edge to her voice.
"Well, if the situation calls for it. I think of it more as saving innocents from getting involved. These conflicts involve so many people that have no control over these events, and even less ability to defend themselves. Sometimes, all that stands between them and harm is us."
She nods, a bit more enthusiastic, but eyes still distant.
"...and that doesn't involve the ever-worsening weather anomalies?"
Winston can make out something running underneath her words, some meaning he can't quite grasp. She's right, of course, but… it's not like we can do anything about that yet, with so few agents.
"Well," he tries, "things like the omnic crisis are a bit more immediate is all."
"...Yeah." She nods; there's a weight and a decisiveness to her nod, as if she's steeling herself. "Yeah, you're right."
She pushes her glasses up and gives a determined look.
"Let's science the heck out of this thing."
11:30 AM
"It is currently 11:30 AM. I advise taking a break." Athena's voice barely makes its way through the thick haze of concentration.
"Yes, thank you." He responds with barely a side-glance, his full attention on what's in front of him. "So, if you add the frame piece here, you could…"
"...increase accuracy, but it'd be more cumbersome." Mei continues, one hand jotting down notes while the other gesticulates, "But, it could be countered with adding-"
"-some extra weight here, and that could be where we put the icicle strike! Great idea!"
Mei shoots him a playful grin. "It would be if you didn't keep saying them before me."
He winces at the accusation, gaining a slight giggle from Mei.
"Right, sorry. It's just-"
"-we seem so in sync you forget yourself?" She teases in response.
"Couldn't have said it better myself." Winston returns, and the two of them laugh. I can't deny it, this feels nice. He admits to himself; it's been so long since he's worked so in depth with someone else.
"Now, onto the-"
"Winston, this is yet another reminder to take a break." The overhead voice of Athena cries out. Thoroughly disrupted, he looks over at her symbol with annoyance.
"Yes, we heard you the first six times, Athena."
"And have yet to listen."
Mei giggles while Winston pouts. Now that he's not so deep in concentration, he does feel a little sore from standing for so long. And hungry. Very hungry. The loud growl of his stomach reminds him that he never had a full breakfast.
"Umm, I could go for lunch." Mei says it delicately, but it doesn't make him any less embarrassed.
"*ahem* Yes, lunch sounds good."
11:38 AM
By the time Winston joins Mei in the kitchen, she's already toted two bowls towards a table, filling the table with a heavenly aroma. She taps the spot next to her, where Winston's bowl awaits him.
"What's this?" He inspects the meal with avid curiosity.
"Ramen," She replies simply, "I found some that wasn't expired. You, uh, can eat ramen right?"
"It's stocked here for a reason." He tests the soup with a spoon. It's basic, but tolerable enough for a meal. Mei wastes no time in joining him, slurping up noodles greedily.
The flow with Mei feels so smooth, it's practically effortless working with her; despite their short time together, it feels like they've been colleagues for years. He eyes her as she slurps down the rest of her soup, finishing with a satisfied sigh. Has being alone really changed my perception this much? He thinks to himself.
"I'm surprised by the progress we've made." Winston adds, taking far more careful bites than his companion. Mei nods amiably as she comes up for air.
"I guess it helps working with an actual engineer." The way she words it is mocking in tone, but he can sense enough to see the bits of insecurity peaking through.
"Please, the design was already flawless. You're not giving yourself enough credit, for a climatologist." His tone is no less jestful, but he can see the thin sparks of a genuine smile ignite on her lips.
"Well, you should really thank MacReady. I wouldn't know a nail from a bolt without her." Her shoulders slouch, though her face remains unchanged. Winston awkwardly clears his throat as he finishes his meal. Creative flow or no, it doesn't alleviate the elephant in the room, and Winston has absolutely no clue how to even broach the topic.
"Well, uh, should we get back to it?" He asks, probably failing spectacularly at being smooth. Mei gives a nod, but her eyes appear distant.
"Um, sure! How much longer do you think this will take?" The enthusiasm in her voice sounds forced.
"Hopefully not much longer." He keeps his suspicions at bay. "There something else you need to do?"
It's the second time he asks, but she responds just the same.
"Oh, no. Just curious, is all." He can still see the subtle reactions. She's lying.
He stares at her with great scrutiny, holding his gaze for a few seconds. Gradually, her smile turns nervous.
"Whelp, no time like the present!" He says as he starts moving towards the door.
"Wait."
He stops, fighting back a smile. I knew it!
"Something you'd like to share?"
Mei stands in place for a moment, fidgeting with her thumbs. Suddenly, she grabs a napkin and jots something down before handing it to him. A cursory scan shows a list of different substances paired with amounts.
"I need these." She says. "For the blaster. The cryo-fluid I use is limited, and all the rest of it is still in the Antarctic, so I'll need to make more."
Glancing over the list, Winston hums in thought.
"Well, good news and bad news." He says, Mei watching on anxiously. "Good news is, I'm 96% sure we have most of this here at the base."
"Is that so?" She says with tension in her voice. "And the bad news?"
"Well, I don't know where on the base that is."
"Oh, well that's too bad." Her chipper tone conflicts with the disappointed words. "Umm, so what do we do now?"
1:25 PM
Winston grunts as he drops a large crate into the lab with a resounding thump, right beside several of its kind.
"...and that's the last of it." He says while dusting off his hands triumphantly, "Thank goodness Athena was keeping inventory, or that would've taken far longer."
"Heh, yeah. Thank goodness…" Mei responds with a neutral tone, despite her weak smile. As he kneels to inspect the crates, Winston hears a small thud and looks up to find Mei nursing a foot while (he assumes) cursing quietly. When she catches his concerned glances, she gives a too wide smile.
"I'm fine! Just, uh, stubbed my toe." If she weren't in pain, he'd almost laugh at her bizarre antics.
"If you say so." He says with an amused smile. "So, what do we do first?"
1:47 PM
Setting up the different flasks, beakers, and tubes took some time, especially with how clumsy Mei's stubbed toe made her. She said she was fine, but something is making her footing less sure. She'd have dropped a rather valuable glass orb if Winston hadn't caught it.
"Careful there, not sure there's many more to replace these. You sure that foot's fine?" He poses. She gives another clueless shrug.
"No, it's fine. I just tripped." Winston scans the meticulously cleaned working space before looking back at Mei's boots.
"Tripped on…what?"
"Umm… my boots?"
"You tripped on your boots? The same boots you hiked through Antarctica in?"
"I…tripped a lot there too?" Even her tone sounds like she didn't believe herself.
"Hmm, maybe you should sit this one out and let me finish setting up. I wouldn't want any of this to break."
"No no, it's fine! I handle equipment like this all the time!" She shuffles her feet in place nervously.
"But you still trip on your boots? A lot?" He keeps his tone light to let her know he's only teasing, to which she relaxes a little.
"I'll be careful, I promise." She replies, though he can't help but notice her tone sounds just a touch defeated.
Finally, they finish the set up, employing Mei's container.
"So, this is what causes the chemical reaction?" Winston says with amazement.
"Pretty much. Without it, it'd never stay in a liquid state." Mei responds. "Now all we need to do is set it up, and wait."
Winston takes a step back and looks at their handiwork. Something that's actually being accomplished.
"I can't believe we actually did it. I haven't felt this good about something in years!" He shouts with joy. He turns to Mei expecting to see a similar reaction, but she looks far from happy.
"Mei, what's wrong?" Despite his immediate alarm, she doesn't look in his direction. Before he can inquire further, a high pitch whistling noise catches his attention.
"Wait, can you hear that noi-"
Crack
Suddenly, one of the containers cracks, and a deluge of icy fluid begins to spray out. Mei gasps as she stumbles towards the destruction.
"Wait, that's not supposed to happen-"
"Mei, watch out!"
He grabs her and jumps to cover just as a whirlwind of cold air erupts, covering the entire room.
The drastic change in situation leaves Winston feeling a little emotional whiplash, but his years of training keeps his mind sharp. Next to him, Mei is panicking.
"Oh no no no, this isn't supposed to happen!"
"It's fine Mei." He says with a cheerful voice, hardly heard over the screeching winds. "Accidents happen. What is Science if not the study of everything not to do, after all."
"No, that's not-" She shuts her eyes tightly before giving him a mournful look. "I purposely sabotaged it!"
It takes a full ten seconds for her words to fully register.
"You what?"
"I was just trying to make the process fail, I never thought it'd react so violently!"
"I'm sorry, back up," Winston shouts, his throat feeling dry from the frigid air. "You sabotaged it? Why?"
"Because I don't want to become a field agent!" She shouts. He stares at her dumbfounded.
"O-Oh." The day's events flash through his head with a different light.
"Wha- Why didn't you tell me?"
"I'm sorry. I wanted to be what you needed, but I can't!"
The cold air is making it hard to think. He feels his joints locking up, and his breath has become visible.
"Let's… worry about that later. Right now, let's deal with this problem." Mei gives an exaggerated nod, her movements already disrupted by shivering.
He tries to distract himself from his imminent guilt and shame, his chest tightening as images of Angela - reluctantly donning her Valkyrie armor - flood his mind. The same reasons she left. The same reasons Overwatch got shut down. His distraction comes in the form of a tiny robot flying past him, fighting desperately against the harsh winds. He instinctively reaches out and grabs it, receiving a grateful boop. An idea springs to mind.
"Mei, you said that Snowball can cause rapid changes in condensation, correct?" He asks slowly, "Can it possibly do the opposite?"
Mei's eyes widen in immediate understanding, as she nods vigorously.
"Then how about that demonstration you promised me?"
She smiles widely, lifting her frosted glasses as she grabs Snowball from him and starts fiddling with it, "It'll need to get close. Snowball doesn't have that strong a motor."
"Easy enough." Winston grabs the droid gently before violently punting it towards the container, hearing an 8-bit 'Weee'. Its blue body disappears into the blizzard just as Mei shouts, "Snowball, xianzai!"
The roaring winds give way to a deafening silence, and the biting cold is replaced by a slight chill. Winston and Mei rise to see the violent reaction of the container still happening, but the winds swirl around in an orderly fashion towards the ceiling, where a gentle stream of snow falls around a swirling Snowball.
The scene steals an empathic 'Wow' from Winston, distracting him momentarily from the situation. Mei rushes over to shut off the device, while Winston takes the strongest duct tape he can find to cover the crack. With the dying wind, Snowball finally stops and lowers back down with a joyful face. Both scientists give a simultaneous, loud sigh before sinking to the soft, snow-covered ground.
They take a few moments of silence, taking the picturesque scene. Even if it only lasted a few moments, the disaster left the room looking like a rattled snow globe.
"Well, Snowball certainly lived up to expectations." Winston adds with an awkward laugh, getting a light hum of agreement from Mei. His smile melts away with a heavy hearted sigh.
"Mei, I'm so sorry."
"Winston, it's fine."
"No, it's not! I should've known you felt forced."
"No, Winston, it's really fine!"
"How can I bring back Overwatch if I make the same mistakes that got it shut down in the first place?"
"Winston, I lied to you."
"Yes, I know, that's why I'm so-"
"About something else!"
The statement catches him off guard enough that she laughs at his perplexed face.
"There's…there's something else I need to show you."
3:05 PM
"Here," Mei awkwardly shuffles her feet in place, handing something over to Winston in his office. It took them a surprisingly little amount of time to clean up the War Room, with Snowball handling most of it. Mei then left and came back with something she said was important. From her stiff composure, she looks like she's waiting to be court-martialed.
In her hands is a little flash drive with the Overwatch symbol on it. He carefully takes it from her hands and, after one more confirming nod, plugs it into his computer. The screen then lights up with numbers and charts faster than he can track. It leaves the screen and starts filling the room with holographic images.
"What is all this?"
"It's data. Nine years' worth."
His eyes widen.
"I left the sensor on before 'hibernating', and woke up to find this." She gente walks forward and presses a hand against a hard light screen. "With this much data, the discoveries we could make would be revolutionary."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
She sighs.
"Because I thought I could be what you needed, but I can't. This is something I need to do."
"You could've just told me, I would've understood."
She shrugs with an uneasy smile.
"I guessed as much, but…you were already so nice, and-"
"And nothing. Mei, if you think this is important, then I believe you." He gives her a warm smile that she hesitantly returns. Snowball bumps into her back aggressively, giving her a sturdy look. Mei looks back at Winston with hesitation. Snowball bumps into her again, and she shoves it away playfully, shouting "Alright, alright!"
"There's uh, one other thing." She draws the words out, like a fuse for a bomb. "The, uh, data is usually analyzed by a whole team. Now, it's just me, so-"
She stops herself before moving backwards.
"I'm sorry, never mind. Forget I said anything, okay?" A very upset Snowball once again bumps into her, with Mei holding it back with one hand.
"Mei," He says with a barely held back smile, "I would be honored to help you."
Her eyes flash brightly.
"R-really? But you have so much else to do! You have a whole organization to put together!"
"Honestly, that's far off in the future. I was naive to think anything would happen too soon. This is something we can do now."
He taps his computer before clearing his throat.
"Well Athena, think you can give a head start?"
"With pleasure."
The chaotic mess of screens suddenly shifts into an organized line-up of screens.
"I organized them based on date, severity, and frequency. I hope that helps."
From Mei's look, her head seems to be spinning.
"That, I, uh, yes! Yes, that helps a lot! Thank you Athena?"
"Glad to help."
She looks on in wonder at the newly organized data set then back at Winston, and he won't deny it: it feels nice. Much, much nicer than staring at an empty globe all day.
"Shall we get started?
She still looks uneasy.
"What about the cryogenic blaster?"
He casually waves his hand.
"No need to worry about it. If you don't want to be a field agent, and you don't want your technology to be used for combat, we can just scrap the designs."
"What, just like that?"
"Sure. In fact, Athena? Shred the blueprin-"
"W-WAIT! Don't do that!"
"Oh, was that too impulsive? I just thought…"
He trails off as she fidgets with her hands.
"I think we could keep the design. We worked so hard on it, after all."
She pauses again, giving him a shy smile.
"And maybe even practice with it? You know, in case of emergencies and all."
His heart skips a beat.
"Are you sure? There's nothing forcing you, you know."
"I know. I thought I had to choose one or the other, but I guess I can do both? So, if it helps you, and it can help the greater good…"
She breathes in and out deeply.
"...then I'll try my best!"
Winston feels a smile force its way onto his face. He turns back towards the data.
"Shall we, as you say, science the heck out of this?"
She smiles widely with a joyful nod. He looks back at the screen and sees the Recall status, now buried under the data. He fights the impulse to check it, a bittersweet calm taking its place; he thinks he can wait just a bit longer before checking it again.