The city of Zurich is many things to many people. But no one would ever call the city “quiet.” Yet that is exactly the word Mercy considered when she entered its borders. Aside from the drops of rain now spattering the ground relentlessly, there was an uneasy silence hovering over the city. It was practically deafening! Mercy narrowed her eyes, trying to find some explanation for the cause.
She stopped at an idle fountain full of rainwater. Adjacent to it was a newsstand with an electronic screen showcasing world news. The cracked screen flickered at random intervals, yet Mercy could still decipher the main headline. In bold letters, it showed, “OVERWATCH DISBANDED: Members to Return Home.”
The pieces were not adding up in her mind. There were very little signs of attack here. Most of the buildings remained stalwart and undamaged. Granted, a few shards of glass littered part of the street, but the evidence spoke of looters more than attackers.
Despite desperately wanting to know the reason for why her home remained a ghost town, her main concern shifted to why she hadn’t heard anything during her time in Overwatch. They protected the world from danger. They had a robust array of technology and intelligence to remain one step ahead of potential threats. So why then did this go unnoticed?
And for how long did this go unnoticed?
She decided to continue onward, each step ever more cautious than the last. She naturally went down memory lane as she took the path she used to go when walking to her university. When she saw the campus, she basked in the nostalgia. Many years were spent in the University’s medical building for research and study. Like everything else, it seemed exactly as she remembered it—almost.
Something glimmered in her eye as she looked up at the roof of the university. Having difficulty identifying what exactly it was, she squinted her eyes. Unfortunately, the rain and fog surrounding the city now obscured the figure.
A random lightning strike illuminated the streets in an instant, giving the anomaly some form, but not enough for Mercy to decipher it.
“Strange,” Mercy grunted aloud. “The University never had gargoyles on the roo--…"
Mercy spun around as a piece of glass on the ground gurgled under the weight of someone else’s foot. She twirled her staff as she turned her body to face whoever made the noise.
Before her stood a purple bipedal robot, called an Omnic, with a gun as one of its hands. It had a face consisting of one large, rectangular orange light at the center. It looked down at its foot, almost in shock.
“Wooooooooort! Zzzzzzzzzzzrt Drooooom Dwwooooooo!” It sputtered, clearly agitated it made a mistake in its stealth.
Without hesitation, Mercy uppercutted the robot with the butt of her staff and immediately transitioned into a quickdraw of her pistol that would make McCree jealous. She fired several shots into the lightbulb of the robot’s face and watched as it crumbled harmlessly to the ground.
Mercy was familiar with these Omnics.
They were called Null Sector, and they were a terrorist group that used excessive force—not for robot equality, but for robot superiority.
Mercy listened to the crescendo of heavy, metallic footsteps as more Omnics—she assumed—were closing on her position. She began running toward one of the back-alleyways behind some nearby houses, but she caught herself. There may be people in these houses, like the girl and the mother on the outskirts of town! She didn’t know who had evacuated and who had remained. Therefore, she couldn’t use these places as cover, lest civilians get caught in the crossfire or get discovered because of her actions.
Instead, she reached down and grabbed a sliver of glass, delicately placing it in her hand as she waited.
Sure enough, another Omnic appeared, though different in stature. This one had a bulkier chassis and a minigun attached to its back. It ran into line of sight of Mercy and gave a shrill sound as it slowly transformed into an immovable, yet devasting turret. Overwatch had dealt with these units before as well. They were called Bastions. How lucky for her!
Mercy refused to waste another moment. Very few trained soldiers could fight a Bastion one-on-one and survive; her chances as a mere medic would be even worse. As it was transforming, she threw the piece of glass with vigor at an exposed section of the Bastion. The glass lodged itself firmly between some exposed wires on the underbelly of the minigun, now at the center of the omnic. The Bastion whined as its transformation was interrupted.
Quickly, a repair module rose up out of the unit and began working to dislodge the anomaly in its system. That gave Mercy an opening.
Mercy pushed hard on the ground and spread out her wings. She soared quickly through the air towards one of the fourth-story windows of the University, hoping four stories was enough to get out of range of the incoming onslaught.
She put her staff and her forearms in front of her face as she braced for the impact. Glass shards rained down on her as if it were part of the storm ensuing outside. She let her wings curl up as she hit the floor, just as the machine gun of the Bastion let loose a flurry of bullets into the room.
The bullets stopped flying after some time as the Bastion let out a few frustrated squeals. Mercy did not know if the unit was talking to itself or if more Omnics had arrived. All she knew was that the uneasy silence that had welcomed her in the city returned.
Cautiously, she sat up from the floor and took a deep breath. A few drops of rain fell into the room and plopped on her head. She could feel something warm dripping from her hand as her adrenaline slowly diminished. She examined her palm and noticed some large cuts on her fingers. She must have grazed herself on the glass when she threw it at her attacker.
Without concern or hesitation, Mercy lifted her staff with the other hand and ignited it. Three prongs on the head of the staff arced out, and a golden beam of light protruded from the tip, traveling to the wound. She watched as the Nano Biology quickly sewed up her fingers without stitches until the blood stopped flowing and her hand was good as new.
She took a deep breath and stood up carefully—away from the windows. The classroom she entered was deserted. It looked like it had been abandoned for some time. The lights were all off, the chalkboard had some old formulas engraved on it--forever waiting to be jotted down as notes--and there were some old labware and Bunsen Burners at the back of the classroom. This must have been one of the Chemistry rooms.
Assuming nothing had changed at the University since she was gone, room 333 would be on the other side of the University, and down a floor.
Hopefully, this place was as abandoned as it looked.
More thunder roared across the city.
With that cue, she carefully pushed open the door, which creaked loudly and unsettlingly into the dark and foreboding hallway of her old college. She raised her staff like a torch and activated it once again. This time, an indigo beam of light traveled to her chest. Since she didn’t have any dire wounds at this time, the staff’s golden healing beam would be inefficient. The best alternative was an indigo beam that enhanced her senses and reflexes. If any Omnics were to ambush her in this void, she would be ready. Nothing was going to surprise her.
She stopped at an idle fountain full of rainwater. Adjacent to it was a newsstand with an electronic screen showcasing world news. The cracked screen flickered at random intervals, yet Mercy could still decipher the main headline. In bold letters, it showed, “OVERWATCH DISBANDED: Members to Return Home.”
The pieces were not adding up in her mind. There were very little signs of attack here. Most of the buildings remained stalwart and undamaged. Granted, a few shards of glass littered part of the street, but the evidence spoke of looters more than attackers.
Despite desperately wanting to know the reason for why her home remained a ghost town, her main concern shifted to why she hadn’t heard anything during her time in Overwatch. They protected the world from danger. They had a robust array of technology and intelligence to remain one step ahead of potential threats. So why then did this go unnoticed?
And for how long did this go unnoticed?
She decided to continue onward, each step ever more cautious than the last. She naturally went down memory lane as she took the path she used to go when walking to her university. When she saw the campus, she basked in the nostalgia. Many years were spent in the University’s medical building for research and study. Like everything else, it seemed exactly as she remembered it—almost.
Something glimmered in her eye as she looked up at the roof of the university. Having difficulty identifying what exactly it was, she squinted her eyes. Unfortunately, the rain and fog surrounding the city now obscured the figure.
A random lightning strike illuminated the streets in an instant, giving the anomaly some form, but not enough for Mercy to decipher it.
“Strange,” Mercy grunted aloud. “The University never had gargoyles on the roo--…"
Mercy spun around as a piece of glass on the ground gurgled under the weight of someone else’s foot. She twirled her staff as she turned her body to face whoever made the noise.
Before her stood a purple bipedal robot, called an Omnic, with a gun as one of its hands. It had a face consisting of one large, rectangular orange light at the center. It looked down at its foot, almost in shock.
“Wooooooooort! Zzzzzzzzzzzrt Drooooom Dwwooooooo!” It sputtered, clearly agitated it made a mistake in its stealth.
Without hesitation, Mercy uppercutted the robot with the butt of her staff and immediately transitioned into a quickdraw of her pistol that would make McCree jealous. She fired several shots into the lightbulb of the robot’s face and watched as it crumbled harmlessly to the ground.
Mercy was familiar with these Omnics.
They were called Null Sector, and they were a terrorist group that used excessive force—not for robot equality, but for robot superiority.
Mercy listened to the crescendo of heavy, metallic footsteps as more Omnics—she assumed—were closing on her position. She began running toward one of the back-alleyways behind some nearby houses, but she caught herself. There may be people in these houses, like the girl and the mother on the outskirts of town! She didn’t know who had evacuated and who had remained. Therefore, she couldn’t use these places as cover, lest civilians get caught in the crossfire or get discovered because of her actions.
Instead, she reached down and grabbed a sliver of glass, delicately placing it in her hand as she waited.
Sure enough, another Omnic appeared, though different in stature. This one had a bulkier chassis and a minigun attached to its back. It ran into line of sight of Mercy and gave a shrill sound as it slowly transformed into an immovable, yet devasting turret. Overwatch had dealt with these units before as well. They were called Bastions. How lucky for her!
Mercy refused to waste another moment. Very few trained soldiers could fight a Bastion one-on-one and survive; her chances as a mere medic would be even worse. As it was transforming, she threw the piece of glass with vigor at an exposed section of the Bastion. The glass lodged itself firmly between some exposed wires on the underbelly of the minigun, now at the center of the omnic. The Bastion whined as its transformation was interrupted.
Quickly, a repair module rose up out of the unit and began working to dislodge the anomaly in its system. That gave Mercy an opening.
Mercy pushed hard on the ground and spread out her wings. She soared quickly through the air towards one of the fourth-story windows of the University, hoping four stories was enough to get out of range of the incoming onslaught.
She put her staff and her forearms in front of her face as she braced for the impact. Glass shards rained down on her as if it were part of the storm ensuing outside. She let her wings curl up as she hit the floor, just as the machine gun of the Bastion let loose a flurry of bullets into the room.
The bullets stopped flying after some time as the Bastion let out a few frustrated squeals. Mercy did not know if the unit was talking to itself or if more Omnics had arrived. All she knew was that the uneasy silence that had welcomed her in the city returned.
Cautiously, she sat up from the floor and took a deep breath. A few drops of rain fell into the room and plopped on her head. She could feel something warm dripping from her hand as her adrenaline slowly diminished. She examined her palm and noticed some large cuts on her fingers. She must have grazed herself on the glass when she threw it at her attacker.
Without concern or hesitation, Mercy lifted her staff with the other hand and ignited it. Three prongs on the head of the staff arced out, and a golden beam of light protruded from the tip, traveling to the wound. She watched as the Nano Biology quickly sewed up her fingers without stitches until the blood stopped flowing and her hand was good as new.
She took a deep breath and stood up carefully—away from the windows. The classroom she entered was deserted. It looked like it had been abandoned for some time. The lights were all off, the chalkboard had some old formulas engraved on it--forever waiting to be jotted down as notes--and there were some old labware and Bunsen Burners at the back of the classroom. This must have been one of the Chemistry rooms.
Assuming nothing had changed at the University since she was gone, room 333 would be on the other side of the University, and down a floor.
Hopefully, this place was as abandoned as it looked.
More thunder roared across the city.
With that cue, she carefully pushed open the door, which creaked loudly and unsettlingly into the dark and foreboding hallway of her old college. She raised her staff like a torch and activated it once again. This time, an indigo beam of light traveled to her chest. Since she didn’t have any dire wounds at this time, the staff’s golden healing beam would be inefficient. The best alternative was an indigo beam that enhanced her senses and reflexes. If any Omnics were to ambush her in this void, she would be ready. Nothing was going to surprise her.