Chapter 2
The screen flickered with the next holovid, an old news reporter speaking clearly about rising tensions with Null Sector sympathizers in another corner of the world. The recordings shown following the reporter's summary showed human and omnic protestors being confronted by human and omnic riot police officers.Things escalated with protestors starting to throw objects at the officers, various profanities yelled amongst their chanting as the footage continued.
"Athena, what was the time for this report?"
A feminine-sounding, synthetic voice rang through the smaller conference room.
"This aired at exactly 19:43 Eastern Standard Time, UTC-4."
Winston nodded before looking at the others around him.
"That puts it at 2:43 our time. Meaning that it's been over five hours since."
"Even longer since the actual protests. Not the televised report."
The bespectacled gorilla hummed as he considered Angela's words. It was true that the protests could have been reported much later than when they actually occurred. He frowned as he thought about how if they had their old connections and spy system, they would have had a more accurate timeline of events. On the other hand, the doctor watched the video with furrowed brows, upset at the violence that needlessly developed from more extremists among the crowd.
"Athena, please keep tabs on the situation there as it develops please. Especially throughout the day."
The Ai let out a sound of confirmation at Winston's command as the screen flickered once more.
A throat cleared as Cassidy leaned forward from his spot at the table, next to a quiet Genji.
"If we need to send agents to handle things with the sympathizers, would it not be better to send them sooner?"
At that, the white-haired woman sitting in the center position, shook her head.
"We have to wait. If we act recklessly we'll only add fuel to the fire." Vivian sipped her cooling coffee as she studied the tablet in front of her with notes. "This isn't like before after all. We don't have all the resources to jump into every situation arising."
The other veterans at the table nodded in resigned understanding. Though Overwatch was slowly crawling itself back from the ashes of its past errors and subsequent shut down, it was still an illegal organization. Its resources, funding, and influence had been crippled through the years after its disbanding. Though their new recruits brought in their own contributions to Overwatch's revival, the group still lacked many of its functional advantages it used to boast in the field.
... And the veterans felt this absence of supplies and support the most.
"So we'll hold off for now. Observe this development."
The group nodded as Winston began typing away to sort the report into the proper folder. Reinhardt groaned from his spot and gestured at the working gorilla.
"Every morning it's the same thing. We go through the news, the world is on fire, and then we do nothing!"
"Just because we can't act immediately on everything that happens in the world, doesn't mean we're not making an effort."
Angela looked at him with a frown.
"We're doing our best now to be more informed than rushing in as we sometimes had to do."
The large crusader harrumphed and crossed his arms, an almost visible pout in his expression.
"At least we did more then! We could have charged into the fray–"
"–While compromising more lives!"
Vivian cleared her throat loudly, immediately garnering the medic and crusader's attention. Reinhardt lowered his head and sighed as Angela merely turned back to the older commander who watched them both with a critical gaze.
"There are always pros and cons when it comes to solving a problem before it becomes an actual problem." She nodded to Winston who had pulled up a file on the screen, making sure it was fully downloaded to their system. He looked at the table with a serious expression as he prepared the holovid to play.
"Erm, and speaking of problems, we have one that might need to be addressed sooner than later."
The screen changed as he pressed play and another young reporter speaking Portuguese flashed on the holo. They spoke fast and almost frantically as they detailed an event from earlier that morning throughout a city close to the coast in Portugal. Their explanation cut to security camera footage from a drone in the area that caught the moment a sudden power outage plunged the whole city and surrounding neighborhoods into darkness. The video went on to show more angles caught by different cameras and even stitched clips from social media that revealed more to the story than a simple outage.
After a few seconds, an on-scene journalist was being interviewed in one of the plazas in real time. They gestured to how power had already returned to most of the city that morning but as the Overwatch members watched, the journalist revealed how repair-workers moved around the city replacing and fixing different tech-based architecture such as lights, signs, and cables, explaining that the outage had caused a lot more damage than expected. Many electrical plugs had short circuited and in one neighborhood, a breaker had been overloaded to the point of bursting and causing minor structural damage to a nearby building. From what was shown, the journalist explained that the city's electrical systems had surged so abruptly that much of the related infrastructure had shut down in the outage as a safety measure.
The news did not conclude there however. Another journalist in an outer warehouse district came on screen and began to provide more coverage on the more shocking consequences from the outage. They stood at an entrance road to a factory area where many omnic workers lived among their human counterparts in apartments and small family condos. Motioning to a blockade being set up around the road, the journalist explained how the outage was actually traced to a sudden electrical surge that occurred in the district. At that reveal, some recovered footage was stitched in again from a rooftop camera on one of the factory buildings.
The Overwatch veterans watched as everything seemed normal that late evening until 5 seconds into the video, what appeared like a series of lightning strikes lit up the night. The footage fizzled as the camera short-circuited and turned off. More still images from the event were shown on screen as the journalist continued detailing the appearance and possible explanations for the yet unknown source.
"That don't look like a factory breaker meltdown."
Angela shook her head at Cassidy's observation.
"That's likely the story they're trying to push to keep tensions from rising."
"Tensions from...?"
The medic gestured again to the screen as the journalist was shown again, this time with a group of local police and paramedics standing in front of one of the apartment buildings. They continued their report but this time, some disoriented omnics were shown being escorted out of the area. They summarized how due to the effects of the surge, many working omnics had experienced pain and the equivalent of human seizures on their robotic bodies– a few even needing to be hospitalized the closer they were to the source. Thus, the area would need to be evacuated for their safety as the electrical grid underwent repairs. The factory heads assured workers they would find shelter within the city inns until the situation had been handled. However, citizens were informed to stay off the premises until further notice.
Finally, the news concluded as the main reporter returned on screen to re-emphasize the safety measures that were put into place within the city before transitioning to the weather outlook.
Winston looked up from his keyboard as he closed out the screen, blinking at the pensive and slightly troubled expressions of the other veterans in the room.
"Alright, I'm gonna say it– this sounds like a terrorist attack."
Cassidy met Vivian's narrowed gaze with his own serious expression. Leaning forward in his seat he gestured to the tablet and notepads in front of her as he spoke.
"Ya'll saw those lightning bolts and flashes. I've weathered many a storm out in the midwest and I can tell ya, I ain't never seen lightning strike quite like that. It's unnatural."
Reinhardt took the opportunity to nod in agreement, making big gestures with his hands.
"Ja, normally when you see bolts, they come from the sky. These came from the ground and if it were a 'surge,' as they said," he flattened his hand on the table with a controlled slapping sound. "The bolts wouldn't be burst to the sky but outwards!"
He grinned at an unamused Angela who recalled a few electrical injuries she had had to treat in the past with the crusader.
"Trust me, I've flattened a breaker or two with my hammer. That's not how it works."
He looked at their acting commander at the head of the table. Vivian was frowning, holding her tablet up as she analyzed the information she had on hand about the event. After a moment of careful deliberation, she lowered it and shifted her focus to the scientist posted at Athena's console.
"Winston, can you comb through any footage Athena can pull from the cameras in the area? Anything from minutes before and after the event if they're still viewable."
At her command, the Ai activated.
"Commander, I have scanned through the Portuguese servers already for recordings as anticipated. Many of the videos are unwatchable due to equipment damage and disrupted connections. However, I have downloaded a few salvaged clips and scanned for viruses or any tracking code."
"Thank you Athena. Stitch, upload, and play."
"Yes commander. Uploading..."
The agents got comfortable as the screen flashed with a loading percentage that took a moment to hit 100. Once the upload was complete, the footage played.
From different, interchanging camera angles, the agents saw the factory district illuminated in the late evening. Large warehouses with garage-like doors lined a block and the alleys snaked around and between the different structures filled with trash bins and the occasional scrap pile. It seemed to be after work hours but the streets closer to the warehouse were abandoned. However, from a distance, the residential sector was lit up and lively with workers enjoying their evenings at home, their silhouettes standing out in the windows along the complexes. All in all, it was a regular evening after work.
As the clips continued, they observed as the area around seemed calm and undisturbed right up until the audio cut in and out from sudden booming sounds. It was only after the loud noise that the camera angles were suddenly farther from the original location and the videos flashed with static grain, corrupting the view. A few clips cut in from even farther cameras, giving a full view of the area as static feedback filled the audio. A couple of clips caught the full spectacle of lightning that erupted in what the veterans assumed to be the warehouses they had viewed before. To their immense surprise, the bolts that danced in the distance didn't die down immediately as shown by the news report but instead continued for a full minute or so before just as abruptly going out, taking the whole city's lights with them and plunging the screen into total darkness.
The agents stared at the black screen in a moment of confusion, thinking the video over, but before any could comment on what they had witnessed, a sudden interference came through as Athena fast forwarded the corrupted video to sometime later. Grainy footage fizzled in and out as a couple of cameras came back online in the area. The feedback-filled clips showed the now darkened district only lit by the occasional emergency light. A few concerning bits revealed the aftermath in the workers' apartment complex with omnic employees either being supported by human fellows, seizing on the ground in pain, or propping themselves back up as they recovered from their episodes.
"They've been debilitated? Almost... disabled..."
Vivian studied the clips as mutters of agreement filled the room, quickly noting down the effects and glancing at Angela who was doing the same.
Before long, the last bit of footage continued, merely showing blacked out sectors and alleys. As the holo closed with the last few clips, one brief capture caught one veteran's attention.
"Wait– pause the feed."
The Ai paused the footage at Genji's command, a grainy image of the outskirts of the warehouses frozen on the screen. The cyborg leaned forward in his seat as he raised a hand to point at something in one of the alleys.
"That set of scorch marks... they look like footprints."
Immediately, Winston increased the magnification of the image to some blackened spots on the floor.
"And a bit above them. There's a blue-light."
As Winston manipulated the video, zooming out to see a point of floating blue, the other agents' eyes fixated on that point. Genji hummed before voicing his thoughts to the room.
"The emergency lights we've seen are all red and high up on the walls of the buildings. But," he gestured, "this area is completely blacked out. Except for this one, low positioned, blue light."
Vivian immediately caught on to what he was explaining.
"Athena, enhance and replay this clip at half speed."
"Yes commander."
The clip rewound and played slowly, the graininess being corrected in real time. Eyes widened around the table as a silhouette took form behind the glow. The figure was hunched over and picking their way out of the sector, a spark or two coming off the blue of the light they carried. As they turned the corner, the source of the light revealed a pack attached to the individual's back. Athena paused right before they could completely disappear offscreen.
"Well I'll be damned. We got our culprit already. Nice catch there, Shimada."
Genji merely nodded at the sharpshooter before addressing his commander.
"If I may, I can gather an intel team and investigate the area. See if we can track this person down."
Reinhardt raised a brow from his spot.
"Will you find anything besides what we see here? It looks like whoever that was has likely fled already!"
Angela frowned as she tapped her stylus to her tablet.
"Whatever technology they have on hand has proven itself to incapacitate omnics, not to mention put a whole city's security at risk." She shook her head. "Those poor people. We've only seen cases like that when there's been high electrical charges from shock batons and the like. That involves physically touching the victim. This actually manages to do so remotely and–"
"–On a massive scale."
The agents all looked over to the acting commander, the older woman's eyes taking in all the detail on the frozen image in front of her.
"In the wrong hands, this could be incredibly dangerous. A biological EMP for omnics. We cannot allow that to exist unchecked."
Vivian looked around the table at her Overwatch fellows before her gaze landed on the cyborg.
"Pick out your team and head out as soon as possible. We don't want to cause alarm so keep it to civilian levels and as low profile as possible." At Genji's nod, the older soldier looked to Winston. "Prep the transport and have Tracer briefed for piloting."
Sojourn looked at the rest of the agents sitting around the table and with a firm nod, dismissed them to prepare.
"Hmph, amateur as always."
A series of digital clicks and beeps filled the room as agile fingers swiftly danced across multiple holographic keys. A purple glow emanated from the figure that sat surrounded by screens, multiple images and looping clips showing on the ones right before her eyes. With practiced motions, a violet tipped hand came up to pluck one of the windows with footage, expanding it into frame by frame images that were enhanced with a couple of key presses. The images showed a shadowed figure rushing through the alleys, a blue-lit, sparking pack on their back as they ran between alleys.
Sombra frowned as she beheld the clips, upset at the quality and the amount of accessible footage. It was rare when she was unable to dig up enough information about events or even gather insufficient, uncorrupted data. The few times she had encountered such issues were when major natural disasters or widespread combat destroyed the equipment and sources of information before she could dig her fingers in. So she was a bit off-put by the bare minimum she could gather about the situation in the Portuguese city. Luckily, she had managed to gain an understanding and timeline of events to go off of so at least she could easily explain the full situation to the Talon hire-ups that wanted it.
The technomancer straightened up in her seat as her personal, office alarms notified her that a certain sniper was on her way to visit her. Any windows with extra data closed and stored themselves back into her implants and she focused her screens with the relevant info about the blackout.
... Well everything but the images of the suspect. Those she would keep for herself and wipe from the system archives.
Leaning back in her seat, she put on a casual smirk and counted in her head.
The office door hissed open and a pair of heels clicked on the metal tiles.
"Hola araña. Bossman sent you for my report?"
A scoff was her answer.
"He is asking when you plan on leaving to continue your investigation."
"Ay, what an assumption! I'm quite comfortable working from here–"
"And he suspects we might see Overwatch activity in the area."
"Hahaha, 'we'?"
Widowmaker looked down at her, expression unamused and eyes narrowed.
"I am to accompany you just in case."
Despite the smirk still present on her lips, Sombra's nose scrunched up in displeasure.
"I thought we discussed that I don't always need–" she brought up her hands to gesture, "'adult supervision' on my investigations."
The sniper hummed.
"You do when Overwatch is involved."
At that, the hacker snorted and waved her off.
"Psh, I've run circles around those washups more times than I can count."
"It's an order."
Sombra grit her teeth but forced out a faux, dramatic sigh as she complied.
"Fine, fine. Standby then. I'll be done here soon."
"Compris."
The sniper's heels tapped their staccato on the floor as she left the room. Sombra listened to her go with a frown as she glared at the screens before her. She had in fact planned to investigate the site and if possible, track down the unknown individual involved. The tech they had access to was valuable and even more so, any specs on its creation.
More so than that, it was dangerous. The way it could shut down technology upon activation made it a counter to her own enhancements and implants. And from her observations, it could ideally do more than simply shut down electronic devices and produce lighting. Not to mention, in the wrong hands, it could start a whole other war and contrary to popular belief, Sombra was not eager to watch the events of her shattered childhood play out once more. Giving it to Talon or their newest business partners was just as bad of an idea as well. They didn't need such an unbalanced advantage in their terror spree nor did they need to know anything about it.
The hacker pulled up the still-frame of the fleeing figure, eyes narrowed as she committed their silhouette to memory.
She would find this... device and figure out what to do from there. She already had some ideas...
I just gotta find una ratita that's gone into hiding. Pfft. Easy.