Chapter Text
The workshop was dark and quiet in the middle of the night. Shadows of the late hours and the silent buzzing of electrical devices still plugged had replaced the daily sounds of hard working hands, the ones so familiar to the Valorant Protocol's entitled spy. Noises of metal plates, of neverending explosions coming from the corner of the room dedicated to Raze's makings and Cypher's discreet music in his earpiece were gone for the night. Instead, he was listening to the melody of the hanging clock ticking above the metallic door of the entrance.
Tic-tac. Tic-tac.
Slow, its noise echoing against the boring walls of the building, it sounded cold. A pen was spinning in between Cypher's fingers as his gaze stayed locked on the clock's hands, desperately waiting for them to meet at the right time. How could the minutes be spent so slowly when you stare right at them ? As if a pair of eyes were all it needed to force a breach through time itself. The man was sitting here, enlightened by the cold white neon above his head, in a grey and white dull room that could be devoid of personality if not for the hard working engineers that forced their own in each of their personal spaces. Splatters of colors were Raze's signature, messy sketches were Killjoy's, a perfectly arranged desk on which was standing only a blueish cup was Chamber's, as for Cypher, it was his organized mess crawling on every piece of furniture he owned. Boots on his desk without a care in the world for he was all alone at this late hour of the night, he stared. Stared at the clock until time was up.
Tic. 4am.
Like a startled animal, the last ticking of the time put him on his feet. He abandoned the pen he was playing with like a vulgar toy among the others, and rushed to the other side of the room. It was dedicated to bigger projects, such as the portal Killjoy invented to allow them to travel between worlds. It was precisely the nature of Cypher’s long waiting. He had a mission tonight, an important task to fulfill for the greater good, or something like that, he couldn’t quite remember Brimstone’s encouraging motivational speech. The goal was quite easy: wait until 4am, an hour they judged late enough on both Alpha and Omega earth to reduce risks of encounters, and for Cypher to go through the portal to extract files from the Legion itself. The VP feared an incoming attack again, and with most of their members busy spending time with new agent Waylay on team work, or with her forever colleague Tejo in the shooting range, it was probably for the best to get a step ahead of Omega, to give his own team more time to practice. Any more successful extraction of radianite could cause issues to both Kingdom and the VP’s anonymity, as well as the world itself. It wasn't something they wanted to gamble with, so Cypher was sent there, because who other than the man himself could break into his own counterpart’s encrypted locks ? It would be quick. An hour at most. Longer than that and it would become a real trouble.
Lucky for him, even at this late hour of the night, a small team would be there to support him on this mission, and here they were, announcing themselves by a discreet knocking on the door. Cypher didn't need to allow anything for them to pass through the sliding door, because it was all planned, and also this workshop was also theirs. The intelligent young brain responsible for the very portal the information broker was about to cross was obviously there. Killjoy, wearing bright yellow pajamas and slippers, had evidently just woke up judging by her messy hair and squinting eyes behind her glasses. She had been taken away from her girl's arms just to make sure the logs were all good to go. Behind her was another genius, the weapon connoisseur but also and mainly one of their greatest designers around, Chamber himself. He was less overdressed than his usual, and who could blame him ? But anything next to Killjoy's lazy outfit would make a good appearance, even just jeans and a sweater. He was requested here to keep up on the communications through both worlds, as the rightful maker of the transponder in Cypher's earpiece. A prototype so far, but better than the last they used during their mission in Portugal, which was frying the communication lines a bit too much. Now, they should be able to talk in between universes, a thrilling news Chamber wouldn't miss in the world, for some reason.
“Good morning !” He greeted the spy with an excited tone that shouldn't come out of anyone at 4am, or so Killjoy thought so.
“Morning ? Night isn't even over yet.” She yawned, dragging her feet to the terminal where Cypher was still standing. She didn't have much energy, but enough to smile at him. “Not too anxious about that lonely adventure Cy ?”
A warm giggle answered her question first, full of confidence and reassurance as always. “Of course not, dear one. I can't scare myself, can I ?”
“Mh, I would be scared of myself.” Chamber shrugged, going for his laptop on his desk before he returned next to the two other sentinels while opening it.
“Anyone would be scared of the two of you together Vince.” Killjoy larked, making the two others chuckle.
It was strange for the three of them to meet up in the middle of the night for an important mission such as this one while the whole compound was sleeping on both ears, yet it wasn't that much different from the working days. Jokes and silly teasing were an usual thing going around in the sentinel's workshop, and those three often had the need to talk while they were all working on personal matters, each at their respectful workbench.
“Everything seems to be in order.” The young engineer started as she replaced her glasses on her nose, checking at the terminal. “Coordinates are matching, the time is right.”
“4:02am,” Chamber continued in an unserious tone as he was tracking numbers on his own laptop, “the weather is nice, 20 degrees Celsius, hope you'll have a safe landing.”
“Vince, you're an idiot.” Killjoy briefly answered before she turned to Cypher who was taking a few steps closer to the portal, this time her hands on her hips and her tone serious. “Did you eat ?”
“What ? Yes.” His artificial blue eyes opened wide in surprise as he felt scolded by his mother.
“Drink ?”
“Yes.”
“Don't forget your snack, Cypher.” The gunsmith added with an amused smile, mocking the young woman without looking at any of them.
“I am fine and ready Klara.” The spy reassured her, although it was his first time truly going on Omega on his own and he did feel a little bit anxious about it. Of course he would not bother worrying any of them with it, it was just quite a mission to infiltrate Legion's base and data. It had always been his job though, there was no reason for him to fail anytime soon, he never did.
“ Parfait , let's go now.” Chamber stood up and took a few steps towards the spy. “Once you're there, don't forget to communicate with us. I don't need to tell you how important everything is.”
“And in case of trouble, come back to the portal immediately, we'll extract you.”
Now two pairs of eyes were staring at Cypher, waiting for approval, which he didn't even feel he had the need to give. It was all obvious and they went through it a hundred times already, he wasn't stupid. Plus, the gurgling sound of the portal behind him was getting louder and louder, and so were his thoughts. It was a strange sensation, as if his mind was already getting sucked through dimensions and he couldn't really think, as if he was missing a part of him. But before he was about to give an answer, short but sweet, to make sure his friends wouldn't worry for him, Killjoy pressed the “enter” key.
“See ya !”
Those were the last words he heard before he was suddenly sucked by the portal he was turning his back to, in a scream of surprise that echoed in his own head. For a moment, he didn't understand a thing he saw or heard, images and sounds everywhere, overwhelming. Flashes of black and white, his own scream, a voice he barely recognized as his, but also many more, including Killjoy's, Chamber's, and others too faded to put a name on. But they were all speaking at the same time, like a loud jabber of a neverending crowd he couldn't see. It felt both like an eternity and a second before he came out of it all and fell on the floor after harshly hitting a desk just outside the portal.
It was all silent all of a sudden, but now he was miserably holding his aching back and cursing in his native language words he shouldn't be allowed to say out loud, so he just whispered them very low. It took him a second before he managed to get on his feet, massaging his lower back in a groan while his lenses were adjusting to the darkness of the room.
“Are you good ?”
Chamber’s voice in his right ear startled him for a second. Ah, he forgot everything he will see through his artificial eyes would be transmitted to the Frenchman’s laptop, including his difficult landing. But at least it meant the transponder was working.
“No one told me it would be that rough.” He said with a raspy voice, broken by the pain still radiating in his spine. It would quickly vanish though, but he wasn’t very fond of the idea of the two sentinels having to witness it.
“You’ll make it through, old man. Now, passons aux choses sérieuses. What do you see ?”
Cypher held onto the desk he landed on and scanned his surroundings. It was pitch dark, but thankfully his glowing lenses allowed him to see with a practical night vision. For a moment, his interest was caught by his own hand on the table. The strangest of auras was covering it, as if his own edges were blurred in a glitchy signature. It was discreet, but odd enough to understand it was an effect he observed before, mainly when he had to fight against their mirrors back on his Earth. It was the sign he didn’t belong here, that he was a stranger, as if the world itself was drawing the mark of the intruder on him, for its agents to hunt down. Well, he didn’t like it, but if it was his cross to bear until he could go back home, then he would. He didn’t have much choice anyway. He looked up to observe the room around him, strangely looking like the one he just left but empty, the desks covered by plastic sheets. The mask on his face prevented him from breathing in all the dust in the air, but a layer had already covered his gloved digits when he raised his hand to give it a look.
“Are we sure they even work here ?” He asked, both his teammates and himself. The answer took a few seconds to arrive.
“Yes, Sova scouted the area beforehand. They’re near.”
Fine then, perhaps they didn’t use this room in particular. After all, both worlds weren’t exactly similar. So, slowly and careful not to trip over anything, he walked to the door. Other than all the missing mess he was used to, it looked so familiar he could almost let his instincts guide him through. The door slid open, and he stepped out in silence, in case anyone was around, ready to jump on him. A look on the right, a look on the left, but the corridor was empty, just as dusty as the workshop he just left, and as lifeless. Nevertheless, he headed towards the security room where he knew he would find what he came for in the first place. He didn’t have to find out why parts of their base were left vacant, he just needed to retrieve the files concerning the incoming attack. No need for questions.
“I’m heading to the east wing. Do you still copy ?”
“Sure do.”
“Good. It seems like your transponder works well now.”
He heard a giggle on the line, as fancy as Chamber himself. “I’m good, ain’t I ?”
“I must admit you are.” The spy sighed. “Ah, here’s the room.”
Cypher was cautious when he opened the door and at first only perked his head in the room, as dark as the rest of the base along with that old smell of dust floating around. No sign of life, again. He took a few steps in, searching for his own landmarks as the main occupant of his own security room back on Alpha. But there weren't many traces from his mirror self. Not a single one actually. The main console was there, sure, along with the many computer screens and servers around it, even his chair, but it was also covered with the same plastic sheet he saw earlier, covered itself with a thick layer of dust. How could Sova not notice any of that ?
“Chamber, this place hasn’t been used in years.”
“I can see that. Mmh, donne moi un instant . Give me a second.”
Cypher could hear typing on the other side of the line as he waited for new instructions. He walked around, looking for any clue that could give even a fraction of an answer to his question. He allowed his agile fingers to wander on the furniture, but nothing was left behind. Not a sheet of paper, not a string of metal, only scratches on the overly used workbenches. It was completely abandoned, perhaps the Legion moved to a fancier location now. After all, it was now common knowledge among the agents that their counterparts were famous and appreciated like heroes on this Earth, they didn’t need to hide on that silly and cold volcanic island in the middle of the northern seas. If Cypher could decide, they would have hid somewhere warmer, even if they had to go to the desert itself. Maybe his mirror was allowed more warmth than him…
“Cypher ?”
Chamber’s voice drew the spy out from his thoughts. “Yes ?”
“Klara tells me power might still be running, can you try to access the console ?”
Cypher doubted any kind of electricity could still be able to power this up, but it was worth a try. He walked to the desk, pushed away the plastic covering the keyboards and coughed a little because of all the dust twirling around his face. Even with his mask on, it was quite heavy in the air.
“Let’s try waking you up, my dear.” He whispered and bent over to use the power up button.
Surprisingly enough for both men, screens lit up with the geometric logo of the Legion Protocol. The noise the servers were making under there wasn’t very promising, way too loud for what it’s supposed to be, but it was probably filled with dust. Yet, it was awaking.
“ Shkran radianite core… It’ll never let us down.”
Instinctively, he tried to sit down on his chair but was met with the unpleasant sound of plastic sheets and groaned with discontentment. He didn’t like to have his habits disturbed, and this place looked too much like home to wipe them away like it should. But soon enough, his mind was focused on the blue and green screens finally displaying the desktop. The technology looked exactly like his, there was no doubt his mirror had spent many hours sitting here in silence. Well, at least he shouldn’t feel thrown into the unknown. His fingers started their quick dance on the keyboard, his glowing blue eyes staring at the screens above him like an owl in the dark.
“Hey, Cypher ?”
“Shush, I’m working.”
“Would you mind checking your pocket ? I left something inside.”
The spy sighed, tired of Chamber’s surprises, but stopped his search to give a look at his pockets. He had to rummage almost every single one before his fingers finally met a strange item in his back pocket. He drew it out, only to discover one of Chamber’s signature credit cards. Black, decorated with the usual golden pattern similar to his tattoos.
“What’s that ?”
“It’s a bug. Can you plug it in for me ?”
“What are you up to, you weasel ?”
“We think we could find interest in everything stored in those servers. You just need to plug it in the system and I’ll receive everything here on Alpha, in a couple of minutes. Smart, isn’t it ? My design, bien sûr .”
Cypher’s lenses shrunk with doubt as he examined the card between his gloved fingers. “Why didn’t you tell me about it ? I could have helped with that.”
“Or you would have taken it as an insult to your genius. My own bug, breaking into your locks ?”
Oh, Cypher hated when Chamber had to brag so much. He truly didn’t believe that anything that man came up with could break information out of the information broker himself, but if it could make him happy. So he found somewhere on the console to plug the card in.
“Please don’t shove anything into my back pocket again, Chamber.”
“I kind of enjoyed it though.” He chuckled.
Cypher shook his head in disbelief and returned to his work, this time without allowing his mind to wander anywhere else. He knew perfectly how to break in the security made by himself, and was sadly surprised that the password of his counterpart’s files was the exact same as his own, a tribute to his previous life as a civilian and the one little pride of his heart.
He scavenged through all the data that remained, searching by dates, until something unusual and a little scary caught his eye.
“Chamber ? Are we sure the portal was set to the right time ?”
“Yes, Klara checked. It is 4:14 at the moment, what about you ?”
“I’m not talking about the hour. Chamber, listen to me well. I see files that are 5 years ahead of us.”
“ Quoi ?”
The surprise in the sentinel's voice was as loud and clear as Cypher's. None of them were aware that the portal could send them somewhere else in time as well. Did Killjoy even intended that to be part of her creation ? Whether it was or not, they could all consider this as a feat, as scary as it was.
“This is extraordinary ! We can take this as an advantage.”
Cypher didn't give it a second thought before he rushed in the logs and found a connection with the global network. It was a gold mine, he could find missions that they never even thought would happen and predict their outcome, or have a glimpse of what the world was like on Omega. He could be 5, 10, or 20 years in the future here, and it was with stars in his eyes that the information scavenger searched for precious knowledge.
“I received all the data here, maybe it would be better for you to come back now.”
“Wait, there are a few things I want to check first.”
His lenses were going from left to ring, imprinting every line of whatever news was appearing on the screens, downloading in his very brain all the images and snippets of videos, drinking all the information poured in his pupils like alcohol. But a sudden metallic sound took him out of his addiction rather quickly. He turned around like a startled animal and looked at the room around him, enlightened by the subdued blue lights of the screens behind him. It sounded like a door sliding, but the spy had been too absorbed to know if it was the entrance of the security room which had been opened or one in the corridor. Either way, his heart was starting to beat faster.
“Did you hear that ?” He whispered to his earpiece, still scanning his surroundings with his wary eyes.
“Yes. Maybe a mouse. Come back now, Cypher.” The spy could hear doubt in Chamber's voice, he wasn't believing his own words and was trying to hurry Cypher to leave without scaring him.
It took the sentinel a few seconds to finally agree, just to make sure no one was there in the room with him.
“Alright, heading back now.”
He snatched Chamber's card from where it was plugged and slid it back in the same pocket as before. Even with the feeling in his guts telling him to leave that place, he made a point of honor to leave no trace behind. He shut the system down, covered the whole console with the plastic sheets and even blew a little bit of the dust back on it, hoping it would fool anyone who might take an unexpected trip around. The room was back to pitch black if not for Cypher's glowing eyes allowing his night vision to work. But something felt off. A smell that crawled around him from the moment that sound happened, so slowly that even the spy's sharp senses weren't alarmed until now. Now, that scent of burnt oak was floating in the air, replacing the vicious dust in his lungs, and it was so omnipresent he couldn't ignore it anymore. As a memory lost in the back of his head, that scent was so familiar yet so usually a synonym of comfort that it took a few seconds for Cypher to finally put a name on it and be alarmed. And as the image of the man appeared like a lightning in his head, a cavernous voice echoed behind him, filled with a pain that tore the sentinel's chest open, as if the unexpected guest was about to cry.
“Cypher…?”
The spy turned around, and there he faced three familiar glowing slits in the dark.
“Omen ?”