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Greed is what driven people to their own downfall. Even no one really point it out, but Dr. De Kuiper was greedy in his own way. He wanted to harness a black hole, the only thing he didn’t expect to find in his journey is the damage it would cost. “Gravity kills”. And it killed something in his mind. Something that he found out he’d need later on. He was vulnerable after being splited mentally due to the result of his studies. Talon saw it as an opening to misguide a lost person. They had him on their team for a long time, and he thought that it was what he meant to do. Violence was addicting. It controlled how he think and work. He was filled with ectasy and adrenaline so he could never see that they were only using him. Until when he was discarded like a used tool.
He wished they killed him instead. But I guess, a friend inside helped him escape that horrible death. Thought he would have wanted it other way. That would be the best ending for him, at that point. A scientist who reached the end of his career, drowned in the glory of violence and felt down. Just like how Icarus flew too close to the sun, Siebren de Kuiper got too close to the truth. His mind was never the same. It’s broken, and far more broken when fallen into the wrong hand.
He lay there, drifted into unconsciousness. Maybe this was the end. The melody was still there, what was it? What was that melody? Why was the universe singing to him like this? When he woke up, the sign of his awaken was not the Iris nor Death. It was a ceiling of sort. He heard voices, soft voices from a doctor. Someone who looked like an angel. The medical treatment was not painful like he once experienced, the feeling of health slowly immerse into his body was…lively. He felt alive, for once. But come to life there were pain, the pain that once occurred came back, his body was not used to this.
After months and months of treatment, he finally could move around, partly. His legs were still very weak from the lack of use. Most of the time he was wheelchair bounded. Dr. Ziegler suggested he should not use his gravity modification as frequently as he used to anymore. He can use it to do mediocre housechores or obtain objects in close-range but should not use to move himself or anyone else. It would trigger his mind to drift away, she assumed. Due to his physical health being decreased to the bare minimum to fuel his mental abilities, he was struggling with accustom himself back to the normal life. The Overwatch team did not want to pressure him, they knew he was a powerful addition to their combat team though if they did that, they would be no different from Talon.
One thing he liked most about being taken care of here is he had more time on his hand than ever. He got a lot of resources to reconnect with his background. He was an astrophysicist anyway. Siebren found himself days and nights buried in those books that he had read a long time ago. They also provided him the best place at a Watchpoint near the North Pole. He had the whole galaxy at the palm of his hand, he could gaze into it every night. And to be frank, it was enticing at first. Now, it just felt so lonely at time.
Reinhardt was the frontline of the Overwatch team. He could take everything that came for him. He could protect his teammate and charged into the enemies. He could do everything. He learnt a lot from the time he was a Crusader. There were mistakes that he would never want to make again. He lost people that he cared for, and for that, he always blame himself. After that battle with Talon, he was confused why would the Overwatch team bring back the frontier that he fought down. Maybe to ask him question, so that they could know more from the inside? That man was too unstable to answer anything! To Reinhardt, he was kind of useless. Maybe he was on the good side so that he had to see his teammate saving someone that from the enemy? Probably. That man didn’t have bad intentions at the moment, so Reinhardt’s mind was not wander much, not like it usually did that anyway.
After each match, each mission, he always came around the medbay to check on his teammates. And that man was always there. Either laying down, looking at him, doing some tests. He never learn his name, his code name was Sigma or something, which is an odd letter in the Greek alphabet to Reinhardt. Why would someone chose a letter for his name? Well, he would chose Alpha if he got to, but Reinhardt was too good to be diminished in another nickname!
“What’s your name, my friend?” - he asked Siebren one day, out of curiousity. Siebren that day was not the best day of his treatment, he was still partially dazed from the medicines.
“What…is my name?” - he looked at Reinhardt, his eyes were greyish blue, dazed and tired. The wrinkles around his eyes were deep. Those combined with his pale-skin, he looked more like a broken toy than a human being. - “I…don’t know. I guess I’ll have to check in with them, will I not?”
He chuckled, his smile were weak as he felt into another deep sleep. Angela looked at Reinhardt, she sighed and frowned slightly. - “Reinhardt, I thought you were done with your examine? Please leave my patient alone! He is very weak at this point.”
“I’m sorry, Dr. Ziegler, I was just curious. If he were to be our acquaintances, shouldn’t I have the right to know his name?” - Reinhardt said, he tried to lower his voice, but a man his size had the voice of his weight. - “May I?”
“Dr. De Kuiper. Siebren de Kuiper.” - Angela said. - “I know you have great intentions but we have no idea…”
She stopped for a bit.
“You should go. If things get better, I’ll let you talk to him, okay?”
Reinhardt nodded and went out of the medbay. But he…didn’t came around much. Or at all, after that interaction. Not because he was shy, or simply forgot. Just that, he looked in the mirror once, and he realized how deep his wrinkles around his eyes got. And his skin were not as much as youthful as he once was. He saw the age passing on Siebren’s face and wonder: was he at the place that he should be? Torbion had a daughter and Ana also got Pharah, he got…no one. Not a love one, or a child of his own. He wondered if Siebren was like him too? A lonely old man in this busy world. His joints ached after every fight, and he came home to his empty place as always. Would that the life he wanted for himself? At this state of the world?
“Reinhardt, do you have a moment?” - A smaller woman come to Reinhardt, asking for his help. - “Can you help me deliver this to a friend?”
Dr. Zhou was still working and studying for new technology in the Overwatch team. After what happened, it seemed like she hadn’t had a good night sleep in a long time. That’s why she started to find a way to cure her own insomia. She created a very delicious and sweet gummy bears to help with that. And it seemed like she want him to deliver those to a friend that needed those. Maybe he would steal one or two, just to try out if it helps his dreams to be delightful.
“Sure thing, my friend! Who do you want me to give it to?” - Reinhardt smiled, a bright like sunshine kind of smile. What else he had?
“Dr. De Kuiper, I’ll give you his adress, his place is quite easy to find.” - Mei said. - “It’s quite late already, but I suppose he’s still awake. If it troubles you, I can ask someone else…”
“No, no problem. I’ll be on my way.” - he said. He hadn’t heard that name for a while now. He wondered what that man would be doing now, he heard that he is better now. Angela’s medicines are truly magical.
Reinhardt took the package and took the small jet with him. He flew to the Watchpoint where Dr. De Kuiper was occupied. This place was small and cozy, had nothing much. Everything was quite friendly to the disable, and safe-proofed everywhere. Frankly, Reinhardt found himself kind of struggle to move through those small strawberries farm without crushing them with his figure. He knocked on the door.
“Dr. De Kuiper. Are you home?” - He asked, quite loudly.
“Wait a moment.” - the man inside said. His voice was better than what Reinhardt last heard. - “Sorry for keep you waiting. I’m still…not figure out how to balance myself well enough.”
Siebren smiled, he was standing. His shoulder was too broad for his proportion, look at his small waist and hips, he could barely stand still on his own legs. He did physical therapy, and it helped a lot, but he still need to practice more. He tried to walk at least three hours a day, so that his legs didn’t forget how to. He leaned on the door frame, tried to hide his obvious struggle.
“Oh my friend, are you okay? If you can’t stand I can carry you inside!” - Reinhardt said, obviously had good intention and no alter motives.
“N-No need. I’m simply trying to walk again. You can go inside and talk, perhaps. It would be more pleasant to talk sitting down.” - Siebren said.
And they ended up in Siebren’s living room. Reinhardt put the package on the small coffee table. This sofa was a little bit too soft for Reinhardt’s taste. He would sunk in and never wanting to get out if he sat in it too long. Siebren looked a little troubled, coming from the kitchen with two cups of somethings seemed like tea.
“I don’t know if this is the right beverage to offer house guest these day…I’m sorry, I don’t have much. Is chamelion tea ok?” - He said.
“Anything is fine, I’m actually here to deliver some stuff and be on my merry way.” - Reinhardt said. Well, if that was what he wanted he would’ve just knock and leave the package behind. No need to go inside like this. Sometimes he doesn’t fully understand what he did. - “But if you offered, who am I to deny?”
He grinned like an idiot and took the small cup on Siebren’s hand. They sit together a bit, Reinhardt couldn’t help but notice Siebren kept looking to the balcony. There was a small telescope out there, and the curtains were still floating, the door to the balcony wasn’t closed fully, maybe Siebren was doing something out there before the arrival of this big guy.
“Did I interupt your work, doctor?” - Reinhardt said.
“Oh, no no. I’m just star-gazing and pondering about some of the universe’s mysteries.” - Siebren smiled. - “If one is looking at the stars, is the stars also looking at one?”
Reinhardt did not understand any of that. But he had to response.
“Sounds interesting. I’ve never star-gaze before.” - he said. That was a blatant lie. He saw the sky and the stars multiple times. It was not that interesting to him.
“Oh do you want to?” - Siebren said. - “I figure we can look at them for a bit and I’ll eat the gummy that Dr. Zhou sent me. It’s about time to go to bed anyway.”
“That sounds lovely.” - Reinhardt said. No idea why or how he’s agreeing to such idea.
And that’s how they ended up in the balcony. This place was way too small for two tall men. They could feel their shoulders brushing against each other. The sheer warmth in the cold night was a little bit addicting. Siebren look at the sky, his face lighten up. - “Look.” - he said to Reinhardt.
“You can really see the night sky here. The sky is much clearer than the cities. If you look through the telescope, you can really see the stars closely.” - Siebren looked up, gave the telescope to Reinhardt.
Reinhardt looked into the telescope, the stars were just shiny little dots. It could never interest him as much as the face the other man made when looking at them. His smile and eyes were sparkling, as if they were stars themselves. Siebren also lived alone, Reinhardt knew that from all the singular things in his house. Perhaps with all the stars above there, he would never be alone at last.
“These stars are beautiful, Dr. De Kuiper.” - Reinhardt said. - “Do they make you feel happy?”
“In a way, I suppose.” - Siebren said. - “They are here with me, I know that, but do they know that? Do stars know people looking at them, or are they living in their oblivion so all we see is a fraction of the universe?”
Siebren looked over to Reinhardt, he had stopped looking into the telescope. Something in his eye that Siebren could never analysed. Was is dumbfounded or confused? Or dazed from a thing that he couldn’t understand what?
“Are you okay?” - Siebren said.
“I’m fine.” - Reinhardt chuckled as he realized he had been staring at the other man. - “I’m just thinking about those stars, that all.”
“I wonder if the distances we see are actually the distances of the stars? Are they as close at it appears or as far as we are to them?” - Reinhardt said. Maybe being with a scientist helped him become a smarter man himself? Or was he talking about something else?
“You have a point there.” - Siebren said. - “I guess that would be a study for another day…”
They didn’t talk much to each other. They just looked at the sky, the stars and how they were twinkling. Siebren and Reinhardt had something on their minds, they couldn’t de-tangle it, even with all the knowledge they knew. A feeling spurt from nothingness. Maybe loneliness was making them emotional. Siebren felt like he was closer to Reinhardt, closer than how he was with the stars.
And Reinhardt felt like he didn’t want to go home that day.
Maybe the stars were not as boring as he thought they were.
Or was it the man he saw them with changed the scene?
End.