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Genji had forgiven.
Things were different now.
So vastly different in every single way...
There was a constant need to balance it all. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Mercy had saved his body, Zenyatta had saved his soul.
Now it was his turn...
Still, he had much to learn.
Earlier that day he had sat with Zenyatta and meditated. His body had felt light in that moment. Thought not as light as his master, who hovered five feet off the ground next to him.
Genji felt Zenyatta watching him and resisted the urge to grin. The young Shimada had taken his mask off to meditate. It was nice to feel the cool breeze against the skin of his cheeks. What blood he still had left to circulate through his human remains softly flushed the scared skin.
Blood that wasn't his own.
Synthetic.
He slowly roused himself to greet the omnic. "Master," he spoke, slowly opening his eyes to the light of a new day.
"You should get going. I will see you this evening, my student."
"Yes, master," Genji collected his mask, but before he clicked it into place, he stood to kiss the side of the omnic's face. Zenyatta playfully swatted the cyborg away with a loose curl of long metal fingers. Genji snickered as he fitted the facial visor into place. The green light of his eye shield flickered to life. He felt the cool metal over his lips and exhaled his breath in an attempt to warm it.
"Always so busy," Genji said to Mercy, following her around the lab. He stopped in front of her desk as she sat down with a holo-pad, and listened to her hum thoughtfully at his words. Or maybe it was in response to what she was reading on the screen. Genji leaned across the desk to peek.
"Is that me?"
"Hm? Oh, yes," she placed the holo-pad down, a crease to her brows. "Have you had any further issues with your arm?"
"Only stiffness in the fingers."
A few days ago during training he had dropped his katana when his arm locked up. The clatter of the blade on the floor had startled him. He hadn't felt it slip from his grasp. He hadn't felt anything. Things like this happened when his body encountered glitches. The equivalent of a muscle cramp for those with a human body. A simple patch or recalibration would corrected it.
"The diagnostic check isn't showing anything wrong. I'd like to run more tests, if you could—"
Genji leaned back on his heels and folded of his arms. "I'll come back after, I'm already running late."
Mercy crinkled her nose and smirked, "Of course you are. Get going, Genji, I'll be waiting for you after your mission." She waved the holo-pad at him, "Go!"
The day had started well.
Zenyatta, Mercy...
and now Jesse and D.Va.
The three of them bantered around the payload. D.Va leaned against the leg of her battle suit while Jesse looped his arm around Genji's shoulders. Genji straightened up, gesturing towards D.Va who rocked her head back in laughter. It was only when Reinhardt and Ana joined them did they quiet down.
"Alright you three, use your heads out there." Ana said, adjusting her rifle over her shoulder. A shadow cast across her face under Reinhardt's bulk.
Jesse squeezed Genji's shoulder, "You hear that?"
"I did," Genji said, bumping up against McCree's side. "She said, Alright you three, use your—"
Jesse huffed a laugh and nudged the back of Genji's head, "Someone's feeling spirited today."
D.Va groaned in the background, "Just kiss now so I can puke before we start moving the payload."
Everyone got into position. Genji walked side by side with McCree through the front lines with his katana drawn. His arm shook, and while he hadn't noticed, Jesse did.
"Genji, you're shakin'. You alright?"
Genji gave a sideways glance to Jesse's stare, but there was no time for response, they were under fire.
The day had started so well...
It came without warning.
ERROR.
The pain wasn’t from phantom limbs, long since removed, or from the old scars that criss crossed his face. This pain was deep within his synthetic nerves. He felt it through the wiring in his chest, and the coil and release of artificial muscle.
It felt wrong.
ERROR.
Genji bounced the bullets from his katana, and managed a graze to his shoulder. The bullet bounced off his armor, leaving nothing more than a scuff to the polished metal.
It might have well torn his arm off.
Genji twisted around with a scream. He snagged his toe and stumbling forward to catch himself on his opposite leg. His blade lost its edge as he pushed through the locking of his muscles. A rattled gasp echoed through his facial mask as he bent forward.
“Genji! Are you hit?" It was Jesse, his voice coming in clear through the young Shimada's comm. The cowboy was off ahead now, and started to loop back in Genji's direction. Ana was the next to pick up his comm link.
"Genji, what is your status?"
Genji’s shoulder's shook and his knees buckled, he caught himself with his free hand. Gun fire screamed overhead and he flinched away from the sound. He would soon be surrounded from all sides if he stayed like this. Genji tightened his grip and leaned into his knees. Come on! Stand!
“Genji!” Jesse called into the comm.
Genji lifted his head to find McCree breaking away from the charge.
“No, Jesse, I'm fine!” Genji called through his link. The payload was coming up behind him and he could hear the gun fire of D.Va's mech. He needed a vantage point. Genji pushed up against his katana and found his footing. “Ana, I'm alright. I’m going to follow from the buildings."
“Keep in contact,” Jesse replied, changing course to pursue other targets.
Genji heard his comm link click and breathed in the radio silence.
What is going on?
Having a body, mechanical or flesh, meant imperfections. People got sick, code encountered glitches. Genji felt his body seize again, just as he pressed through the doorway of a dilapidated apartment building. This glitch clearly wasn’t going to right itself.
That pain was unnatural, even to his body. Genji brushed his fingers over his shoulder to check for damage. Barely a dent was left to be seen.
He relied heavily on the wall for support as he made his way upstairs to the fifth floor. The hallway carpet was stained and speckled with shards of coloured glass. Most of the doors had been blown apart and lay in fragments at his feet. It was well lit with all the light that broke through the damaged ceiling and gaped walls. Carefully placed steps allowed him to wade through the debris. A loose howl of wind drew his attention into one of the passing rooms and he took pause. It was there he found a window with a vantage point.
Genji stepped up to the broken glass to find the payload, and his team, moving below. The balcony outside would gain him access to the adjacent roof. He just needed the glass out of the way. Genji lifted his blade—
Gunfire shattered the window and Genji blocked the bullets that threatened to tear through his head and chest. He bounced back and landed on shaken legs. A snap of electrically charge pain threatened to cut him down when the bullets didn't. He groaned.
“Genji, I’m surprised to find you slacking off on the job,” Sombra chuckled. “Thought you deserved a break, did you?” Purple hair fell forward as she climbed through the window frame. Brushing glass shards aside with a gloved hand.
“I would not abandon my team when they need me.”
“And yet here you are,” Sombra grinned, “Why is that?” She watched him carefully. A look that had Genji on guard.
There was a pause, a joined breath between them both before Sombra lunged, and vanished. Genji stepped back and turned in one motion to block. He heard her curse, and felt her move again. With his defence ready he backed himself into the wall. She came at him from the side, gun drawn. He pushed it away with the flat of his sword as she fired into the plaster of the wall next to his head.
“You aren’t taking this very seriously! Fight me, Sparrow!”
Genji levelled his gaze through his mask and she smiled, sensing his stare. He crouched and lashed out with his katana, forcing Sombra back. When Genji didn’t advance she held her ground.
“That it?” Sombra asked, lifting her arms in question.
Genji squared his shoulders, and felt the heat of his breath against the inside of his mask. Every block of her attacks, every step in avoidance, shook him to his core. Like a hammer over an anvil, intent on bending metal.
The grip on his sword made his fingers ache. Sombra saw his weakness and came at him. This time he wasn’t fast enough. His reaction caught against locked joints, and he cried out as she pressed her palm against his chest. He felt his body collapse against her will. Sombra pulled back against the threads of light that attached to her finger tips, and drew a gasp from Genji. His sword dropped from his hand and he slid down the wall until he was seated.
Sombra crouched before of him. “Mercy really outdid herself with you.”
Genji struggled to form words, to lift his arm, kick out a leg; even breathing had become a chore. He settled for the ragged breath that synched with the exhale of steam from his shoulders.
Sombra laughed, “Don’t get all hot and bothered on my part. I just want to have a little look.” She flexed her fingers and eyed the holo-screens that floated around her nails in a circular pattern. They rotated until she selected one and enlarged the code. “Oh, what’s this? Looks like you have some bugs to work out.” She clicked her tongue, “Let’s see…how about…this!"
Genji saw the glint in her eye before she pressed the holo-screen. It turned red and the pain that had been lying in wait under the surface of his wiring flared to life. He screamed and writhed against the burning of his nerves. Folding into himself and collapsing sideways onto the floor. Sombra stepped back to observe.
Genji gasped for air between cries.
This pain wasn’t like anything he had ever felt. Even when Mercy was doing her repairs she would put him under or turn off his sensors. He wouldn’t feel a thing. Now though, it was as if his nerve receptors had been turned from 1 to 11. Another wave hit him and he rolled onto his back, arching through his spine as he screamed. He blinked through the red light that flashed behind his eyes.
He had felt pain before, but even when it had hurt the most it wasn’t as raw as this. This was merciless. A never-ending pain made for torture. Genji blinked through tears, his mind loosing its grip on consciousness. He looked out at Sombra and saw Hanzo in her place. Saw his brother lower his bow and arrow to watch him die. Hanzo had crouched at his side then, his bow placed over his lap. There was so much blood...
“Okay, enough of that,” Genji heard Sombra say, somewhere beyond Hanzo’s form.
He blinked away the red light that filled his vision and sputtered for air. Elbows pushed him over onto his side where he groped a shaken hand around for the release of his mask. The metal clicked free and he pulled away the visor to breath.
"Kuso..." he spat and wiped the drool at the edge of his lips. Shaken, he lay panting until his systems had cooled and wrapped an arm around his torso. It was all he could do to hold himself together. A scared cheek pressed against the wooden floorboards to seek out its cool touch.
"What did you do to me? How did you do that? That was…awful.” Genji struggled to focus on Sombra while the room swam in lazy circles. For a moment, there were three of her. Hovering over him with a smile that made him wish he could vomit. There was still an ache pulsing through his body, like a beacon alerting him of the system failure that had just ensued. Reminding him that something was indeed horribly wrong.
Sombra chuckled, “All I did was give you a little push. Code is fragile, easy…Just like you, Genji.” Sombra stepped forward and Genji winced away, his shoulder hit the wall and he realized just how cornered he was. A shuriken rolled out between his fingers but Sombra was quick to quell his actions. She took control of his hand and forced his fingers open. So far he thought they might snap. The metal star bounced between them. Sombra pushed his hand back against the wall and pinned it there.
“None of that,” Sombra said, still tugging at the invisible strings that were connected to him. He felt his other hand move to mirror his invisible shackles.
Genji's brows creased under the green hair that had fallen across his scared forehead. “How dare you.”
“Oh, I dare. Everyone can be hacked, especially you. Here’s what’s going to happen, Genji, you’re going to do something for me, or else I might...” Sombra flexed her index finger. It was a simple beaconing gesture, that had him at her feet.
Genji's strangled cry broke apart in his throat. He pulled away from the wall but his arms wouldn't budge, “S-stop!” Again the red light flashed before his eyes. He felt the bite of Hanzo’s dragon at his neck. The blood that pooled over his tongue. His own green dragon tangled between the blue twins. His voice a roar over barred fangs and ripped scales. He cried—
Sombra released her hold and Genji breathed. A gasp that filled his lungs to the point of burning.
“I want you to make a mess of things. You can do that, can't you?” Again Sombra pulled his strings. Genji’s screams caught within his throat, his face twisted in silent torture. He stared up at Sombra. She was waiting for an answer, but he couldn't respond, not until she let go. When she finally let him speak he dropped his face, “Y-yes—“
Genji felt tears down his cheeks. He could hear his master offering him guidance, but he could not find his balance. This wasn't just physical pain Sombra was pulling to the surface.
I'm sorry, master. I'm....afraid of this pain.
“Good boy," Sombra crouched and allowed him his arms. Genji shifted to sit more comfortably, and rested his head back against the wall. His eyes levelled with Sombra's. She touched the end of his nose, "This'll be fun, you'll see."