Wow! Oh my God! An update! I'm sorry for the delay. I had a loss in the family in late 2022 and then school started. Thank you for everyone who stuck around! I promise there will be more updates without such a long hiatus! Please enjoy :)
The laboratory underneath Verkhoyansk was frigid, the temperature well into negative digits. The underground bunker that constituted the Talon research facility had fallen into disarray; Broken light fixtures dangled from the ceilings, sparks spraying from their broken bulbs. A buzzing-crackle emanated from the Quantumix as it swirled within its weak confines. Before the interdimensional rift stood a figure clad in dark grey.
"Hmmm, mmm, hmmm," the figure hummed along to the buzz of the rift, drumming their fingers across the smooth surface of the nearly collapsed containment beams. The figure was contemplating the state of the Quantumix. It had been nearly two weeks since they had been pulled into this quasi-familiar reality. Quasi-familiar. The figure hissed out a metallic laugh as they gazed into the buzzing swarm of violet light. There were some things about this new reality that were all too familiar. The figure had spent time scouring news and media to arm themselves with information. There were many similarities between the figure's world and this new one. This world no longer had an Overwatch either. Good. Yet, no Overwatch meant he was gone too. The figure's hand balled into a fist. They had hoped that maybe this reality had spared him, but hope was foolish… The figure let out an angry roar and slammed their fist into the beam. Perhaps if they were normal—more human—it might have hurt; Their fist simply dissipated into a puff of smoke and sparks before reforming. No matter. Another world to feed the flames of their rage. The figure's deep thought was interrupted by a crescendo of music. The figure whirled around searching for the source of the irritating noise. It sounded as if it was coming from one of the nearby offices.
Olivia was perched on her desk chair in her tiny room inside the Talon headquarters. Her purple-contacted eyes were scanning several holographic screens at once; One hand flicking through the columns of code zipping past, the other popping the occasional grape into her mouth. She chewed quietly as the stream of seemingly endless zeros and ones filtered into the implant on the side of her head. She was lost in the wave of information when a notification bubble appeared in her peripheral. The notification was from an encrypted messenger that she had created herself. While Talon paid the bills, she didn't want any of her private matters falling into their hands. Besides, it was her job to blackmail.
She booped the notification to expand it. It was her weekly reminder to check up on Dr. Kuiper. When he had first become a…subject… of Talon, Olivia had not given it much thought. It was only when she discovered through her hacking Talon records what they had let Moira do to the man that she had become protective of him. Olivia may have been a hardened, hacking criminal, but she still had a heart. Sigma, as he was called in Talon operations, had become somewhat like a father figure to Olivia and she was fiercely protective of him. He had been stationed away on a special research mission that was supposed to be undisclosed: She knew it was somewhere in Siberia. Normally she wouldn't have hesitated to hack the information, but she knew this project was something that could have dire consequences for her friend if any information was leaked. She'd, under much reluctance, agreed to his idea of video chatting once a week.
Olivia opened the encrypted video call app she'd made for them, and clicked the only contact on her list. She waited a few moments as the screen displayed a secretly taken photograph of Sigma asleep at his desk. After several more rings an error message occurred. Que mierda… Olivia scowled at the screen. It was incredibly unlike Sigma to not answer her. She pushed down a building wave of panic. He was forgetful sometimes. Yes, that had to be it. He simply lost track of time. Olivia pressed the call button again. It continued to ring before the error message displayed again. She was having a harder time trying to stay calm now. What were they letting that mad woman do to him now? She hit the call button one last time. After two rings, the screen lit up.
"Viejito!" Olivia yelped, "Are you okay? Is everyth-" She was cut off by a chuckle that sounded more like a metallic hiss.
"What do we have here?" the hollow voice purred. Olivia felt her blood turn to ice as a grey hooded figure peered before the screen. The figure appeared to shift in and out of stability as its emotionless mask peered on the screen.
"Who the hell are you?" Olivia spat. She was already working with one hand to start tracing Sigma's location. Confidentiality be damned.
"Oh, that's not really important," the figure cooed, "but if you But I'm afraid your viejito is unable to come to the phone right now. Shall I take a message?"
"Dime dónde está ahora mismo o te lo juro por Dios…" Olivia growled.
"Hmm sorry," the figure hissed, "No hablo Español."
"Why you little…" Olivia hissed as she took in the figure before her in more detail.
The figure before her had a metallic mask devoid of all features, appearing like a chrome slate. Olivia could only see the upper half of the figure's body. The cloak that covered resembled something akin to what Reaper would wear, but with a much lighter platinum color. The cloak appeared to have a distressed look to it, rips lining the edges of the sleeves, revealing a nearly pure white skin underneath. It infuriated Olivia that she could not read the expression underneath the mask.
"I will admit," the figure mused, "I wasn't expecting a call from you, Olivia."
"How the fuck do you know who I am," Olivia spat, limbs frozen. No one knew her identity.
"Oh," the figure chirped, "Don't you worry about that." The figure turned to look over their shoulder, as if something out of sight had caught their attention.
"You'll have to excuse me, Olivia," the figure sighed, "It appears a specific scientist is trying to cause trouble."
"Don't you fucking touch him!" Olivia shrieked, slamming her fist into the desk. The motion caused the figure to snap their head back to the camera. There was a moment of silence as the figure's expressionless gaze bored into Olivia's eyes.
"Heh….heh, heh," the figure started to chuckle in their ugly metallic voice, "I like you Olivia, always have."
Always have?
"Anyways," the figure purred, "I have some business to attend to."
Before Olivia could react the screen went black. She sat there in stunned silence before letting out a frustrated scream. She slammed her hands down onto her keyboard and began typing furiously. Her eyes darted across the screen as she hacked the IP address of Sigma's personal computer. Talon was strict with their firewalls, but there was nothing she couldn't break. After a few minutes of typing an address popped up. Verkhoyansk.
Uridi thought herself a sensible omnic; always ready, always calm, always prepared. Until the Reaper had shown up out of the blue. She wasn't afraid of the Reaper like others she'd met, but what bothered her was Angela's apparent disregard for the danger she was carrying right to her doorstep. It had only been about thirty minutes since she'd found Angela being attacked by some…thing. It had only made sense to believe that the presence of the Reaper was to blame. The doctor had insisted otherwise. Angela walked in front of her briskly, her ponytail bobbing as she walked. She had taken charge after they'd safely snuck out of the hospital. Uridi was thankful that she did not share the human threshold for strength as she carried the unconscious bulk of a man over her shoulder .They walked in silence as Uridi contemplated if she should be allowing the Reaper into their home.
"Ok," Angela said, sounding like she'd not slept in months. Uridi, pulled from her trance, realized they were in front of the house. Angela quickly fished a rusted looking key from the inside of her coat and unlocked the door. Angela pushed through the threshold motioning for Uridi to hurry inside. Once in, the doctor gently closed the door and locked it.
"Why do you insist on using that insufficient lock?" Uridi asked as Angela disappeared into the dark hut.
The lay out of the hut was simple, four rooms in total. From the entry way there was a short hallway that branched off left to a small bathroom, complete with a single shower. To the right of the entry was a meager kitchen with a beat-up refrigerator that had to be from the 50s. A clutter of dishes sat in the sink next to a pitiful pantry shelf. A few steps down the main hallway, past the kitchen sat a bedroom, big enough for a twin bed, clothes strewn across it and a tiny dresser. It was the sitting room directly across from the bedroom where Uridi followed Angela. This room had a beat-up couch, an old lamp and a wall of bookshelves.
"Because we don't want enemies to know we actually live in a secret underground lab," Angela said, twisting the lamp on and approaching the bookshelf.
Uridi watched as Angela pulled a seemingly random assortment of books forward before a quiet click sounded. Angela stepped back as one of the shelves swung outward revealing a dimly lit stone staircase.
"And," Angela added as she began to descend, Uridi following behind her, "It makes me feel better."
"Hm," the omnic grunted in reply. She followed Angela down the stairs, listening to the soft click of the shelf sliding back into place.
A solid metal door with a rectangular touch-sensitive plate to the right, the edges glowing a soft blue. Angela placed her right hand on it, causing the scanner to illuminate more. A thin light scanned her hand before a robotic voice chirped, Welcome Dr. Ziegler. The door rose upwards with a hiss revealing the clean and clinic like living space beneath.
"Please put him on the bed," Angela said to Uridi as they entered.
"Angela are you sure that harboring this monster is a good-" Uridi was interrupted.
"Uridi, please," Angela said, turning to her robotic companion, "Please just…trust me, okay?"
Uridi searched Angela's eyes and sighed, "Okay."
Thank you so much for reading! Please favorite and comment! 3 Sarge