Chapter 4. The Un-Perfect Veteran
[Bang!]
A loud gunshot rang out inside Gibraltar Watch Point base, which was silent in the darkness. It was because, the firing sound was much louder than any other guns that used by other heroes, but mostly, the sudden ringing in the stillness, also contributed as it recognized as more daunting sound. Everyone in the men's and women's dorms were surprised, and got up.
"What was that? Are we being under attack or something now?"
Jack Morrison got up in surprise and ran out into the hallway of the men's dormitory. Others, who were resting in their respective seats, also ran out barefoot, only wearing their underwear.
"Is it already morning? What a fun way to start the day in here, just like in my... Wait, it's still night, isn't it?"
Junkrat uttered another word in vain, but nobody can afford a time to respond to that.
The situation was the same, in the women's dormitory. Second Commander Ana was the first, who run out of the hallway and flicked on the light. The female heroes who were resting in their respective rooms also rushed out of the door.
"Odesa, I think you just pulled on that? This sounds, it's like an explosion sound, especially, using an old-style gunpowder."
"Ah, piss off! Don't blame me all of a sudden in the night! I don't like to shoot something either right next to someone who's sleeping!"
Ana and Odessa exchanged words sharply. In the meantime, Dr. Angela was investigating the occurrence of a possible patient, even in a dazed state.
[Emergency patient in the lounge, emergency patient in the lounge.]
Athena's voice echoed throughout the entire base. Everyone rushed out to the lounge when they heard it. Of course, Dr. Angela didn't forget to bring her caduceus staff.
Hanzo was pressing his right ear. Kim hurriedly looked around, and found a clean handkerchief left by someone. He quickly picked it up and pressed on Hanzo's ear. Blood was gushing out.
"Hey, stay with me! Don't let it go, I'm here. Take it easy."
Kim spoke to Hanzo as if he were familiar with these situations, but in a voice that was not light at all.
"You, you just, goddamn shot... Me..."
"Be quiet! Don't say anything. Don't lose your energy unnecessarily. You don't know if it's just your ear or something else. We need to stop the bleeding first."
A thin layer of smoke was still rising, from the barrel tip of Kim's revolver on the floor. Kim pressed Hanzo's ear hard, but it seemed not enough to stop the blood from pouring out.
"Hey! Athe…ne? Is that your name? Is there anything you can help me with?"
"It's Athena. And I've already broadcast an emergency call throughout the base. The healers will be running towards here, in no time."
Whatever the Athene or Athena it is, as soon as someone on the screen finished talking, the lights in the lounge lighted up, and peoples who are only wearing underwear, running out of the entrance, and rushed in.
"Medic! Over here, this way! Hurry!"
Dr. Angela's caduceus staff helped Hanzo's ear recover completely. Of course, after dealing with the urgent injury, what would happen next, will be obvious.
"So, Kim. I'd like you to answer about why did you shoot my brother in the ear."
Genji stared at Kim with rage. The eyes of others standing behind were the same. In particular, the fact that everyone had to wake up and run towards here, with only wearing underwear, barely, due to a sudden disturbance in the middle of the night, seemed to be making everyone angry.
"Well, it's because..."
"It's because of this."
Athena said, as a boring voice, showing the scene on the screen that she was monitoring earlier.
"Whoa, what is this? Is this a camera? No, I don't think it's just a simple camera. What the hell is this exactly thing is this?"
Kim looked at Athena's screen in disbelief and said, but that saying was neatly ignored, of course, everyone's attention was focused on the other side, just like what did Junkrat said earlier.
In the video, first, Kim was seen as sleeping on the floor, curling up on a blanket, with a handgun in his hand. Then, the video shows that Hanzo approaching to Kim, with a dagger in his hand, and trying to take away the gun, held by Kim. And Kim reflexively lifts himself, and kick toward Hanzo's chest, and then, eye flashing gunfire follows.
Everyone was still half awake, but it was clear that Hanzo touched Kim's gun first.
"Yes, that. That's what happened. Mr. Genji, I really want to apologize with all my heart for the hurt your brother's ear has caused. However, please know that I didn't attack Mr. Hanzo for no reason."
Kim apologizes to Genji, while rubbing his forehead. Everyone looked at Hanzo, who was still under extra examination from Dr. Angela. Hanzo was trying hard to avoid eye contact with everyone. Genji checked once again that his brother was holding a dagger in his hand in the video, then asked.
"Hanzo, why did you touch a weapon that belongs to someone else, and even while the owner was sleeping? No, more than that. Why did you bring the dagger, while visiting Kim? Did you trying to kill him?"
"…"
Hanzo said nothing. Kim walked over to Dr. Angela and Hanzo, and examined Hanzo's ear.
"This, hmm, it seems like that it looks cured perfectly for me, though… Is he really got fully healed, Doc?"
"Well, this kind of injury can be treated in an instant nowadays."
Dr. Angela shook her hand and said. Once again, Kim looked into Hanzo's ear, and asked Him for handshake for apology.
"I apologize about the previous action once again, Mr. Hanzo. This may sound like a poor excuse, but it was never intentional. I'd like to put everything keeps cool that may cause the conflict in the future between the two of us, because of this."
Hanzo looked at Kim's hand, and stood up after roughly hitting a high five rather than shaking hands.
"I'll accept your apology, but don't expect me to get some good relationship between you."
Hanzo walked out of the lounge. Kim looked at Hanzo's back with a complicated face. Hana and Kiriko picked up the Kim's revolver that was dropped on the floor. The smell of gunpowder, still came from the barrel.
"Cool, I've never smelled old-style gunpowder before."
"Is this really a gun of the 100 years ago?"
When Kim saw it, he rushed in at once and snatched the pistol from Hana's hand.
"야, 송! 넌 군사 훈련도 받았다는 애가 어떻게 총기 다루는 법도 모르냐?!(Hey, Song! How can you not even know how to handle a firearm, that you even had a military training?!)"
"아니, 내가 뭘 어쨌다고…(Hey, what did I do...)"
Kim opened the revolver's cylinder, and pressed the ejecting rod. A one empty shell and five live rounds fell on Kim's palm.
"총이 혹시라도 장전되었는지를 확인하라, 사격 배울 때 보통 이걸 제일 첫 번째로 배우지 않나? (Treat as every gun is loaded by any chance, don't you usually learn that first, when you learn shooting?)"
Hana said, looking at the old brass bullets as if to be amazed.
"그게, 요즘엔 그런 구형 탄환을 사용하는 총기는 서서히 퇴출되는 상황이라…(Well, guns that use old bullets like that are slowly being kicked out these days...)"
"그럼 대체 요즘 총은 어떤 방식으로 나가는데? (Then how do guns work out these days?)"
"에너지-펄스 레이저 방식. 총에다가 배터리만 끼우면 나가. (Energy-pulse laser. Just put a battery in a gun, and you can shoot it out freely.)"
Kim looked at Hana with disbelief, thinking what she is talking about now, then he sighed once after realizing that he was in the future, again.
"하긴, 100년이라는 시간이 흘렀는데. 총기의 매커니즘이 달라지는 건 당연한 수순이겠지. (Well, yeah, it should be. It's almost 100 years passed since this. It should be natural that the mechanisms of guns are changed.)"
Then he handed back an empty gun to Hana and Kiriko.
"Here, you can take a look now, if you want. It's safe now."
However, Second Commander Ana snatched Kim's gun in the middle.
"Not so fast, little man."
Second Commander Ana glared at Kim with a stern look and said.
"Sgt. Kim. While Commander Jack returned your firearm to you earlier, he warned you about the accident. Remember?"
"Yes, Deputy Commander, ma'am."
Kim replied in a crawling voice.
"I know you're not fully responsible for this situation, as Athena showed us at the time of the incident, but I think your attitude that falling asleep with holding a gun in your hand at the first place, is problematic, too. I think we should keep your gun in the locker again, for the safety. Any complaints?"
"No, ma'am."
"Good. Then, the ammo in your hand, too."
Kim also handed Ana the un-fired rounds that he had in his hand. When the situation in the lounge was sorted out, other heroes also complained about the situation of waking up in the middle of sleep, and went back to their quarters. Kim spoke to Kiriko, because she was still standing right next to him.
"Ms. Kiriko, right? I see you're very close to Mr. Hanzo, and I would also like to apologize to you, too, about this."
"Well, he's a close brother to me, but I don't think you need to apologize to me about that, Mr. Kim... And, well, it's also true that Hanzo provided the cause of this…"
Kim swept his forehead once and watch the heroes returning to their dorms.
"By the way, if you don't mind, may I ask you about something?"
"What is it?"
"I know it's rude to talk about people who aren't here now, but why does Mr. Hanzo hate me so much?"
Kiriko was thinking about it and remembered Hanzo's sharp treatment to Kim since the morning.
"Oh, Hanzo is usually that sharp. I grew up with him and Genji since when I was young, and my mom is Hanzo's teacher, so he treats me a little bit lightly, but to the most of the other people, well, it's usually a little rough."
"Huh, then I can think of that as a normal method of him."
Kiriko looked at Kim for a moment, then asked again because there was another question.
"By the way, Mr. Kim. Why are you sleeping with holding your gun, tightly?"
Kim thought for a while and opened his mouth.
"It's one of my bad habits, Ms. Kiriko. I recognize that this place over here, is not a Vietnam anymore, that those bullets are flying around, but I can't shake off the anxiety and fear that creeps up from nowhere at night."
Kim looked into Kiriko's eyes while patting the back of his neck, and sighing.
"Sorry about all of these. I have to show something desirable and exemplary, but I'm already showing everyone this kind of ugliness."
However, Kiriko was able to grasp all of his current situation from Kim's appearance. Dark circles under his eyes, full of anxiety, and eyesight that were not focused on one place, and kept looking around. Although Kiriko had never imagined about the Vietnam War before, but watching him, it seems as she could hear that gunshots and fighter jets ringing only in his head, too.
"No, it's not. Well, it's a little bit big to say that what just happened was a mistake, but... But you managed it well. And you told us in person that you would try to prevent a recurrence, and even apologized to Hanzo. I think that alone has fulfilled your responsibilities."
"If you think so, I'd be grateful."
"What are you two talking about so seriously?"
Hana said, as she took a drink from the refrigerator in the lounge.
"내 얘기 좀 했다. 그리고 내가 별로 성격 좋은 사람 아니라는 이야기도. (I told her about myself a little bit. And the story that I'm not that a good person.)"
"뭐? 설마, 키리코를 위협하거나 그 아니지? (What? You didn't threaten Kiriko or anything, did you?) Kiriko, did he just do anything weird to you?"
"푼값도 안 나온다! 얘 위협해 봤자 내가 무슨 이익을 볼 수 있다고 그러냐 넌? (It's not even worth it! What kind of benefit I can get by threatening her?)"
Watching Kim and Hana exchange words in their own language, Kiriko burst into laughter without, even though she cannot understand any of it. She couldn't understand what it meant, but she could guess what it would be, and she remembered the memories with Hanzo and Genji, who teased her by jokes, and played around with them when they were young.
"By the way, Kiriko. Why are you still talking to Kim, with all that serious manners?"
"Well, since there's a certain age difference..."
"Well, only matters in legal age. But he's still 24 years old in his body. He's only three years above from us."
"What? Hana, Kiriko, were you two the same age?"
The three stared at each other for a while. And it was Kim who broke the awkwardness first.
"Then, you can talk comfortably to me... I mean, If you agree, Ms… Kiriko?"
"I'd love to. Then... What should I call you...?"
"Just call me Kim. It's my last name, though, but it's still the easiest part to call."
"Well, then. Uh... Then... From now on... Let's be close... Kim?"
"Good for me. Nice to know you, again, Kiriko."
Kim recommended shaking hands again, and Kiriko also held hands with a bright heart.
That's how the night's commotion ended, and time starts to passing by again. The sea, where there was nothing in sight, slowly turned in blue, and the distant dawn began to break in the sky. A few minutes before 06:00 A.M., Kim woke up under the influence of his habits that had been plagued by his regular life in the military. Like the other usual mornings, he felt dirty when he had just woken up from the dream, and a sense of relaxation in reality. In fact, Kim didn't like to get waken up in the middle of the night while sleeping. Each time it happened, his nightmares always get worse.
If someone asks Kim, what would be the worst thing that he got from the battlefield, he could answer that, well, everything that lived and moved in front of him, will be the worst, but personally, it was a nightmare. As if all the stress on the battlefield are reproduced in his head, the living hells of Vietnam that he had experienced so far, were constantly replayed in his head. As a result, every time he wakes up, sometimes, he cannot judge easily that is this is a reality or not, and where he is now. No matter that he thinks himself that he is in the battlefield now, and being unconscious by a bomb or something else, and often harmed himself to wake up from a dream that did not exist, let alone thinking that what he sees now, is a world in his memory or a hallucination, or attack the person in front of him, as assume that he's still in a dream.
Suddenly, Kim hesitated while looking at his watch as usual. It was a place he had never seen before in his life, that aroused a sense of incompatibility. At least, it doesn't look like a Viet Cong base's prison. But it wasn't the Quonset Hut either that Sparrow 2 uses now. Moreover, he couldn't find where his revolver has gone.
"Good morning, Sgt. Kim."
Surprised by the female machine's voice that he'd never heard of, Kim took out the M7 bayonet that he had kept in his field bag. Athena said pitifully as she sees that.
"Unfortunately, I'm not a living creature. You can't attack me with that."
"Where am I? And what the hell are you?"
"Was it not enough to hurt Hanzo's ear last night? Now I know that you can shoot a handgun, now I just need to see you as using a knife."
Whose ear? Who did get hurt? He was trying to interpret what that meant, but he was finally able to recall everything that happened yesterday. Oh, Christ. It was surprising enough that the accident was handled so simply, but he admired once again, of the patience of Overwatch heroes, who had gone through it all, but had not yet thrown him out into that open ocean.
"I'm sorry, uh, Athena, I didn't look very good yesterday. I apologize about that. But hey, at least here's one good news. Well, now I do remember your name."
"Well, you're welcome if you care so much about me."
Kim stretched once, and sat in front of Athena's screen.
"So, I know it could be… rude, but I'd like to ask you one thing, though. May I?"
"What exactly am I?"
"Huh, you hit the spot."
"Firstly, I'm Artificial Intelligence, a.k.a. A.I., organized into computer code and command system, but I can understand the intelligence and flexibility to interact with humans, the ability to predict variables, and most importantly, the concepts of emotion and reason."
Kim was dumbfounded, with expression that he cannot understand what did she just say.
"Of course, it's a concept that not have come up yet in the 1980s, so you don't know this for sure."
Athena briefly explained to Kim about the development of computer technology and the birth of artificial intelligence after the 2000s as easily as possible, but there was only one concept that Sergeant Kim did understand.
"So, it's artificial, but it's the same intelligence as us humans, who can feel emotions and reason."
"Well, it's great if you understand that much."
Kim got up from his seat, tapping his waist.
"Nice conversation, Athena. I'll be back later. For now, it's time to follow my routine again. No matter where you're, even in a strange place, you must keep healthy habits."
"Don't worry, Kim. I can see everywhere of the base."
"Oh, that's right. They said you can access to everything on the base. Then try to follow me."
He went to the place where the helicopter has landed in Gibraltar, yesterday. Orange sunlight was beginning to reflect on the outside window of the laboratory. A half-sleeve running shirt, pants, and combat boots. These were the three things that were necessary for the military's longest and most familiar exercise: Running. Oh, and also, the military tag line, too. Kim warmed up by repeating the bending of his body parts.
"자, 이 정도면 충분하군. (Now, that's enough for me.)"
Then, he begins to run along the outskirts of the island.
For some reason, Kiriko's eyes opened early in the morning. It was refreshing in her head and, needless to say, good. Even though she was questioned by the mysterious freshness, she got up lightly. As soon as she left the entrance to the lounge, she remembered that Kim, who had been here since yesterday, was staying in the lounge, still. She couldn't hide her embarrassment for a moment, and, despite being well-dressed, she didn't want to show her twisted hair and inornate face to someone, that she had just gotten to know yesterday. But she didn't have to run back to the women's dorm, because his bedside was tidy up well, and the owner was nowhere to be seen. His 1980 style military field bag, was neatly placed on an evenly folded 1980s blanket. His uniform shirt had also been neatly folded.
"Athena, where is Kim?"
"He's out there, running. Well, he said he did that for his own health, but he's been running three laps through the entire base. Can you go out and take a look?"
The running the whole base, in three times now? Kiriko was curious about what Kim was doing, but she couldn't show her dirty appearance as it was, so she went back to her room to clean her face and hair at least.
Kim was the fourth time to pass Winston's laboratory. The size of the island was not as big as he thought, but the Gibraltar base here, was literally the best environment for running, because of the lack of Vietnam's sticky humidity and hot heat! He didn't feel any short of breath or leg pain than usual, so he thought he could run 10 more laps if he kept this pace.
"Good morning, Kim!"
As Kim looking back, with heard someone calling his name, Kiriko came out at the door and was looking at him. Her neat hair and sportswear looked different.
"Kiriko, Good morning! You wanna join?"
"I'd love to! I was wondering who would win if I do a race with a man from the past!"
"Ha! I'm not gonna let you win that easily, so you'd better be prepared!"
Kiriko started running, following at Kim's feet. Sweat droplets from his chin and neck were reflected by the sunlight, creating a wonderful scene.
However, Kiriko didn't care about Kim's style. No, she couldn't. Kiriko suddenly founds out that Kim's running skill was unusual within three minutes of starting the run.
Although Kim kept looking back and keeping his distance close with her, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't outrun Kim that easily. Every time she gained speed, Kim ran faster than that. Except for Lena, she thought she was the fastest even when she was running with other heroes that she had worked with. However, Kiriko kept running. If some time comes, then Kim would also be exhausted too, so she thought that there might be a chance of a reversal.
Two, three, four laps... Kiriko's breath was slowly starting to run out, but Kim still showed no signs of slowing down. Kiriko looked at Kim amid the constant stream of sweat, who was totally shown no signs of exhaustion, still. Kiriko coughed and stumbled when the breath finally comes up to the limit point.
"Stop! W… wait a minute!"
Kiriko slowed down the speed for a moment, to catch her breath. Kim stops running forward, and returned to Kiriko.
"You okay?"
Kiriko held her knees and breathed heavily, and look Kim.
"What, what are you? Why are you not getting tired?"
"Uh, what?"
"No, gosh, I've been... I've been! I kept trying to overtake you... But why, why don't you get tired?"
Kim pondered what to say. But he couldn't think up a good answer, so he patted Kiriko on the back to help her catch the breath.
"As expected, Kim, you're truly a veteran soldier. Our agents are never be short in terms of endurance, but you are more mobile than I thought, as the soldier of the past."
Ana, the second commander came out in front of the base gate, and was looking at Kim and Kiriko.
"Good morning, Second Commander, ma'am."
Kim said with a brief show of hands salute.
"Howdy. By the way, how many laps did you both run? Even Kiriko, who is standing right next to you, is exhausted as flat down balloon. You're not torturing her..."
"No, it's not, ma'am! Absolutely not! Of course, it isn't for sure, Yeah. It's not like that..."
"He's not even a human! He's so fast, and he doesn't even get tired!"
Kiriko said to Ana, half as a joke, and still trying to catch her breath.
"Athena, exactly how long did Kim run?"
"Eight rounds of base, about 4325 meters, or 2.68743 miles, in terms of distance, ma'am."
Ana looked at Kim once again. Yes, Kiriko, who has some running and mobility, couldn't even keep up with Sergeant Kim... Kiriko was a healthy athlete, and even got ninja training. Ana didn't know exactly how Ninja training was organized, but she knew that it was strong enough to compete with any military training. But still, Kim beats the Kiriko by running… Ana had an idea in her head.
The day at Gibraltar has begun again. And, just like yesterday, Ana, Jack, and Sojourn brought all the heroes together exactly as they did yesterday.
"Well, we've all experienced something we've never encountered yesterday, and we haven't completely managed to fix that situation well, but that does not mean we can abandon our training plans."
Ana came out to the front again and spoke out loud. But the heroes pretended to listen to Ana, and were most concerned about the addition of one of the men, one who appeared to be quite classical.
Not only for Kim's uniform, but also the uniform attracted everyone's attention. First, all military items, including the M1956 Y-shape belt, the M16 magazine pouch, the M1956 field backpack, and the old pistol holster he was wearing, were artifacts that were no longer officially used and were no longer produced in 2078. Moreover, it was even rarer, because of the vivid traces of the site during the Vietnam War. At the peak point, the bullet marks and handwriting on the M1 helmet that he was wearing, and the cigarette and zippo lighter on the rubber band, were symbols itself of the Vietnam War, so everyone was looking that things particularly closely.
"Kim, come out forward for a moment."
Ana somehow finished speaking and called out Kim. Then Ana returned Kim's XM177-E2 assault rifle, which was kept in the armory, as he walked forward.
"Uh, you return my gun, ma'am...?"
"Don't expect any ammunition, of course. We are still keeping an eye on you, because of yesterday's incident. And this gun, you must return it when we're done today's training."
"Yes, ma'am, I understand, Second Commander, ma'am."
Kim, who had nothing to say about yesterday's incident, that blew Hanzo's ear away, quietly replied.
"By the way, why did you make him join here?"
Jack whispered to Ana.
"I saw him running today, in the morning, and his running skills were not comparable to those men of today. I don't think everyone sees him very trustable, maybe because he's from the past, but I think it will motivate others to some extent if he shows them winning over everyone else in the running."
Ana replied quietly. Kim warmed up by stretching his joints, as he did in the morning. Other heroes, though they were still busy, looking at Kim's clothes and equipment.
"Now, then. Let's start the first phase of the warm-up!"
The heroes, who had already experienced yesterday's hardships, came out strongly today in preparation for running. They left some gears that were hard to see outside that were still intact or not, and they prepared in advance to avoid pain while running. Ana quietly approached to Kim and whispered while everyone was warming up lightly.
"Show your skill of this morning to everyone, Kim. I want to show my friends how people used to work these days. Tee-hee."
"Oh, if you say that ma'am, for me... It doesn't matter that much, but... To me, the second commander, ma'am, you are still someone that far beyond from my generation..."
"So, you want to give a try on me?"
"Of course not, ma'am."
Sergeant Kim answered at Ana's stern voice, with a moment of hesitation.
Zarya said right next to Kim, looking down at him with a great size.
"That's old equipment. There's a guarantee that it's not going to break it while running, is there, Kim? Hey, Cas'. Why don't you take this guy to your timeline, too?"
Kim replied, glancing at her.
"Have I done anything wrong to you, Ms. Zarya? At least I'm not someone who cries like a child, who loses on a sports day, so don't worry about it, and put that things away."
"Hey, Grandpa. You can follow me well, right?"
"Are you serious, Cassi'y? If you're being sarcastic about me like that, I'll twist-crush both'of your balls, with this fella's one too, for a bonus, who's standin' right next to me."
"Whoa, hey, watch out about the words."
Cassidy laughed at Kim's retort and calmed him down.
"Hey, watch your mouth. I'm a stern lady, even though I'm bigger than you!"
"What? Oh, I'm sorry. Still, you look better than that steroid-junkie ass crazy twats that I can found in every corner of the gyms in the L.A. in the 80s, man."
"Should I take that as a war declare?"
Kim's words toward Zarya, makes everyone burst into laughter, not only Cathy but also Lucio and Tracer, who were standing right next to him. Everyone thought, is that surely a humor of the 80s.
"Now, then. From the first row, let's go!"
Everyone ran vigorously as Ana's voice rang out. In fact, Kim was at the most disadvantageous position in fairness. He was the only one running with a weapon, even though he had no ammunition and an empty gun. The other heroes did not even take up their arms, and some unnecessary parts of the combat attire were removed, that not suited to ground movement. Although Kim wore a basic lightweight single-armed uniform, he just ran recklessly without considering that facts, because the second commander Ana ordered him to do so.
As soon as the other heroes started running, they felt something strange. Everyone didn't run that much, but Kim, alone, started to run forward, and before they knew it, he was running the front with some distance from everyone. It wasn't a cowardly act because it was not running in line, but was run according to one's own ability, some heroes felt a burning competition without realizing it themselves. They thought he is just an old zoomer, who has been suddenly, and simply flying from the past, but why that man's feet are so fast? Firstly, young heroes, who have confident in running, began to speed up to catch up with Kim.
Ana, Jack, Reinhardt, and Thorbjorn all had some age, so they ran at their pace without getting caught in the front raw.
Since Mei, Zarya, Sloan, Odessa, and Jamison were not originally fast runners, so their running skills were not that fast compared to other heroes. However, in terms of each one's lung capacity, Kim seemed to be a different being, who far exceeded that limit. It seemed clear that he had heavier equipment than them, but he never lagged behind others in speed.
Angela, Lùcio, Baptiste, and Brigitte were bragging about their quick mobility for the performance of their role, Healer, but if Kim, who was running ahead of them, was an ally, they were sure that they would either be dead because of left alone in the middle of enemy force, or running out of energy for trying to follow him. That dude was too quick!
Kiriko have to see that unintended crazy scene again, that she saw in the morning, while competing with him. Cassidy, Fareeha, and Song Ha-na. While the three were somewhat faster in the young offensive and defensive groups, but they were not that fast compared to Kiriko herself, and other faster runners. Song Ha-na and Pharah's case would be different if they both are in their mecca and flight suits, but their bare-bodied running skills were both significantly behind compared to Kim. However, Hanzo, who had been trained as ninjas like her, Vivian and Genji the artificial limbs, and Lena, who was unofficially the fastest on the team, were also unable to catch up to Kim. Even Winston was a gorilla, but he was lagging behind Kim either, even though his lung capacity was superior to others!
Vivian and Genji were stunned to discover that despite their strengthened bodies, they were unable to catch up with anyone in general. Vivian was also one of the runners, so she tried to increase her speed in order not to lose to Kim, but she had to slow down slightly after detects a subtle resistance and small warnings from her joints. This meant that the mechanical joint was overheating. For the safety of her artificial body, Genji was also unable to speed up more than he currently has.
Lena stared at the back of Kim, running ahead of her, middle of the gasping. Why is he so fast? For a moment, she remembered something from her memory. One of the recordings taken during the Vietnam War in the past, that played during the moral education that she needs to pass at a bootcamp after joining the Air Force. Veterans charging to the target point after a helicopter drop. The back of the Kim, running in front of her now, was exactly the same as the veterans in the video. She even noticed a scribble on the back of his helmet, 'No Aim towards Here!'
Kim was the first one who arrived at the rocket launcher on the far side of the base, the end of the run. There was nothing particularly painful or difficult about this run, except for a little short of breath. However, the other young heroes who arrived after him, Winston(more than young, he is more likely a non-human species…), Lena, Vivian, Genji, Hanzo, and Kiriko, flopped on the floor and breathed heavily, and Cassidy, Fareeha, Song Hana, Angela, and Lùcio, followed, and also collapsed to the ground.
"Hey, wait a minute. Is everyone already going down just because of that run?"
Kiriko huffed, and replied to Kim with an angry look.
"Not just because of this... Your speed... Yes, everyone was trying to catch up to you... And got exhausted!"
On second thought, Kim was able to recall that no one outpaced or caught up with him while he was running.
"What? I am that fast? That can't be possible."
"You trying to joke with us or something? Hey, Kim. I don't know what the standard of humility was in the 1980s, but why don't you stop provoking right there."
Cassidy said, with huffing too. Winston was also the first time to lose in running competition with someone else, but it was the first time to run so fast that he cannot even breathe well. He was out of breath today, even though he ate three bottles of peanut butter less than usual.
Lena Oxton took a breath and began to think about something, and soon approached Kim with a look full of anger.
"Ugh! This is a humiliation! Kim, why don't we run together once more? This time, in the short distance, who runs the fastest."
Kim was not in such a powerless situation, but he was very embarrassed when Rena suddenly asked him to compete again.
"Ms. Lena, did I ever do something wrong to you? Why is everyone..."
"Yes, it's definitely wrong to me! I was proud of myself to be faster than others, but now I'm about to lose that!"
Lena shot back like this, took another deep breath and said.
"I'm sorry if I was a little sharp, Kim. But I beg you. Please compete with me again."
Kim didn't understand the situation well, but he didn't want to refuse too much to ask for things that wouldn't be that difficult.
Second Commander Ana, Commander Jack, Reinhardt, and Torbjorn did run, fitting in their own paces, and arrived at in front of the rocket launcher pad. Think about their ages, there were some things that they shouldn't overdo to keep up with the young people. However, as soon as they arrived, they could see Lena Oxton and Kim were preparing to race about 100 meters from the launcher pad to the entrance to the hangar.
"Get set, ready…. Go!"
Vivian signaled to the two. Others stood aside for a moment, and watching an interesting showdown.
Overshadowed by the crazy sight earlier, the two men departed from the start line, more or less similar in speed. However, as the distance from the starting line gradually increased, it was within everyone's eyes that Kim was markedly faster. Lena, again, just now had the feeling that her unintended disgrace would be repeated. Eventually, she touched the chronal accelerator on her chest.
"Whoa, what the?!"
Kim found that Lena, who was running right behind him, had already reached the finish line in front of him, as he sees some lights were passing by right next to his eyes. He looked at Lena as he rush into the finish line, once the race had to be finished.
"Hey, what the hell it was... Put aside the fact that I just lost this time, what was that? Can you show me that one more time?"
This time, Lena, who had a triumphant look on her face, said it was ridiculous.
"Win me one more time. Then I'll show you."
"Oh, here we go again."
"I wonder if that should be considered as a good-faith confrontation."
Second Commander Ana and Reinhardt exchanged words.
[Soon after that, Secret Lab of the Null Sector. Location unknown]
The view of the Laboratory A-418, caught the attention of all researcher omnics, while every omnic robots of null sector were busy, at the Null Sector-affiliated Technology Laboratory. Not that long ago, while a surveillance team examining the bottom of a South China Sea, found out and haul something from a sunken ship at the bottom of the sea. What they found, was a virus that was certain to have been made in the past, but has not been recorded anywhere else in the whole world. But they also didn't know what its source and purpose was, because attempts to investigate that virus, using every kind of organic component analyzer, led to an abnormal operation of the researcher omnics, who just only read the outcome value, and shows indiscriminate destruction of fellow individuals nearby.
Sensing something unusual, they decided to alter its approach this time, and took over several organisms that could be used for experimentation sample, from a mobile command ship, staying near Toronto, Canada, where the Null Sector currently has some influence. Actually, and everyone does know it, but it was humans who first created them, but in this day and age, if they appraisal the humans, conversely, they are nothing but moving chunks of meat that differ only in race or character.
In any case, the researchers exposed some of the virus to these experimental subjects, and the results were truly remarkable. It was because they discovered that all subjects had a consistent responsiveness, and could be used very well in the function they had been searching for so far: Attacks the Humanity.
Researcher Omnic of Laboratory 418, who was looking at the monitor, which shows the view inside the laboratory, wondered what would the leader Ramattra think about this. The monitor showed the human girl, who appeared to be just a teenager, literally tearing to death an adult male, who is three times bigger than her. Though her surroundings had already turned into a bloodbath, but still, blood tears and bloodshot eyes were visible in the high-resolution camera, too.