The Talk

Life, Death, and the Meaning Behind It All

1

Undisclosed morgue in Sweden, 21:00

Jack and Ana worked well together. They always had. Since the early days of Overwatch, the two had been in many operations and the communication and execution of those operations proved to be nothing short of perfect. Jack had to admit to himself, a younger, stronger Ana was throwing him off his game some. Even with the enhancements he had still in his own body from the Soldier Program, he found Ana to be faster and more alert than he was.

As she had said, Ana did not pack her sniper rifle. The two opted for handguns only as this was more and get-in-and-get-out mission. Wait until dark fell, sneak inside, collect the data they needed from the computer databases, and get out to meet up with their ride. Ana had grumbled that Amélie's tactical infravision visor would have been a godsend for this, but Ana was not one to use such advanced equipment. Even younger, she still preferred to do things old school.

Jack certainly felt old school. As the lithe and exuberant Egyptian jumped and climbed, he felt his age as he lumbered after her. When he grunted softly, Ana turned with a sparkle in her eye.

"Come on, Old Man," she teased. "You can do better than that. Just because you have a spirited girl with you this time doesn't mean you're not up to par."

"I feel off my game," he admitted. "but I'm not falling behind you, Little Lady."

Ana chuckled as she took out a special set of goggles. They weren't an infravisor like Widowmaker's, but they still had good capabilities. She examined an outside door that led to a basement. There were a keypad, lock, and a camera. She took out a small device like a smartphone and made some quick settings before aiming the device at the camera. They both watched as the red light on the security camera went from a steady red to green and then blinked green. The signal had been successfully jammed, showing any night watchmen a looping footage of an empty outside door at two AM.

"Simple lock," she whispered. "We just have to have some direction of where the payload is once we're inside."

"Looking at the blueprints, I can guide you," Athena said through their comm links. "The morgue is in the lower levels. Once there, we can link up to their databases."

"I've got the data mine link," Jack said. "Once connected, how long before you download what you need?"

"I should be able to go through records pretty quickly so you won't have to stay for long," Athena answered. "Estimated download time: approximately five minutes maximum."

"This is why we love you, Athena," Jack said and Ana laughed quietly.

Jack took out a small datapad and placed it over the keypad lock outside the door. There was a series of numbers that rolled over the screen until, one by one, they stopped and the light turned green on the keypad. The door unlocked with a click.

Ana and Jack looked at each other and nodded before they slipped into the door and took positions beside it. Ana let the door close back softly with her hand. Jack pointed at his eyes and then pointed at two cameras. One was aimed at the back door and one was down the hall. The one aimed at the door was also blinking green meaning it had been reprogrammed to loop the last two minutes of recording like the one outside. The one down the hall was going to be a problem if they didn't work fast.

"Athena, we're in the building," Ana said into her comlink. "Where to from here?"

"The door to your right is unlocked. It is a stairwell," Athena said calculating a course. "From there, you and Soldier 76 will have to go down two flights and through the door marked 'morgue'. There is a camera in that hallway and a guard posted."