Chapter Text
"Ah, Reyes. It's good that you're here now."
"Skip the pleasantries, doc. Just tell me what you found out about this thing."
"Right, right." Dr. Lawrence turned to the console and tapped on the keyboard, opening several files. "It really is a marvel of engineering. I could spend weeks analyzing its components."
Gabriel looked down at the figure lying on the work table, a sheet draped over its lower regions to give it some modesty. He recalled that when he had first found it at the Talon base, he had thought it was a dead body. But there had been no hint of decay, and the room it was in did not have things like syringes or surgical tools, but rather engineering equipment. He had called in his team in so that they could move it to the transport. The thing had been surprisingly heavy, and it had taken 3 people to carry it out and stuff it into a crate.
Even now, knowing what it really was, Gabriel could see how others would have trouble telling it apart from a normal human. The whole body had a sculpted quality to it. The jaw was strong and square, the muscles well-defined. Gabriel might even call it handsome.
"They were very dedicated to making it seem human," Dr. Lawrence was saying. "They didn't just slap some artificial skin on it, they gave it systems mirroring biological functions. It has taste sensors, and a digestive system for processing organic food into fuel."
"Can you cut to the chase doc?" Gabriel crossed his arms. "Tell me what this thing is capable of."
"Right, right, right." Dr. Lawrence pulled up the android's schematics and specs. "It's able to lift about 35 tons, run 40 miles per hour, and it's very physically durable, it can stand barrages of sustained gunfire."
Gabriel scowled as he looked at the metal skeleton glaring down at him. "Now I'm worried about just how many of these Talon has. If they have an army, then we've got a huge problem on our hands."
Dr. Lawrence waved him off. "I'm sure that when you acquire more Talon data, you'll be able to conduct whatever raids you need. In fact..." he grabbed a cable and went over to the android, plugging it directly into the back of its head. "I suspect that there may already be some data stored in our little acquisition here."
Dr. Lawrence started up the hacking program, then looked back at Gabriel, excitement on his face. "I really can't overstate just how valuable it is that we have this in our possession now. There are endless possibilities for this! Imagine what could be done once we reverse-engineer this...Androids working for us..."
Gabriel was about to yell at him for learning nothing from the Omnic Crisis when he noticed that the android's eyes were flickering. "Doc, what are you doing?"
"I'm just accessing the android's memory-" Then he noticed the android twitching to life as well and he furiously began trying to shut it down. But it was too late. The android's eyes fully opened and it sat up on the table, the cable pulled out by the motion. It looked around, bright blue eyes landing on the two humans in the room.
They stared at each other for a long while, nobody making a move. Gabriel's hand crept toward a holstered shotgun. The android had a look of confusion, mixed with caution and a little curiosity. Then, it opened its mouth and asked a simple question.
"Who are you?"
Gabriel and Dr. Lawrence glanced at each other. Dr. Lawrence cleared his throat.
"I will answer your questions, but ah, first, could you please tell us your name?"
Gabriel shot an incredulous look at Dr. Lawrence, but the doctor gestured for him to stay silent.
"Jack Morrison." the android answered.
"Where are you from?"
"Indiana."
"What's the last thing you remember?"
"Getting on the bus for New York..." a look of distress came over its face.”Who are you people? Where am I?"
"Well..." Dr. Lawrence clasped his hands together. "Have you ever heard of Overwatch?"
"Overwatch?" it scrunched its eyebrows, and Gabriel had to admit, Talon had done a helluva job making sure its expressions didn't come off as creepy or weird. "You mean the UN team?"
"Yes! We are them! Well, sort of. Specifically, we are Blackwatch. We carry out missions that are better left unnoticed by the public eye. This here is Gabriel Reyes, our commander."
"Hi." Gabriel grunted. The android looked at Gabriel, then back to Dr. Lawrence.
"Talon is a terrorist organization trying to destabilize world peace, and one of Overwatch's biggest enemies. We're not sure what their motives are, but we do know that they're trying to create deadly super-soldiers. We found you, unconscious, in a Talon base. Reyes here bought you back here. From the files we managed to recover, and preliminary examinations of you, it seems that you were one of their experiments. We're not entirely sure what they did to you, I'm sorry to say."
The android looked down at its hands. "I...this is all crazy..."
Dr. Lawrence placed a hand on its shoulder. "I know it's a lot to take in. But rest assured, you're in good hands now. We're doing our best to help you, and others around the world."
Dr. Lawrence helped the android off the table, and it tied the sheet around its waist. "Follow us," Dr. Lawrence said. "We'll show you to a room where you can rest, and get some proper clothes."
Gabriel and Dr. Lawrence escorted the android to some spare quarters. The whole way Gabriel's hands hovered near his shotguns, ready to blast the android in case it tried anything. There were no incidents however, and it quietly went into the room. As soon it was inside, Gabriel and Dr. Lawrence went to a private spot in the base where they wouldn't be overheard.
"So what the hell do we do now, doc?" Gabriel scowled.
Dr. Lawrence had a stony look on his face. "We use it, as planned."
Gabriel crossed his arms. "In every movie where the military gets a robot with firepower, the robot goes berserk and kills everyone at base."
"The first chance I get, I'm installing a kill switch in it. Whenever it gets ornery, we turn it off, tweak whatever we need to, then turn it back on. If it makes you feel better, I'll hand the switch over to you, sir.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."
The doctor left, and Gabriel rubbed his temples. He was not going to enjoy sending a report of this to Ana.