The Heart of A Man- Genji Shimada

Chapter 2

Genji groaned, slowly opening his eyes. He felt sore everywhere. Blinking a couple of times, he adjusted to the light flooding through the window. Where was he? What had happened?

Oh yeah. That.

Shit.

He sat up a little, resting against the headboard. He was alive, so that was good. And aside from the soreness, he wasn't in much pain at all, so that was even better. The blankets had started to slip off the side of the bed, and he went to grab them- and then stopped when he saw his arm. That definitely wasn't his arm. He looked at his other arm, just the same as his left. He tapped his right arm gently, not feeling anything. They were prosthetics. Just great. He sat up more, and was about to call Angela when he noticed the rest of his body. It was all metal. Metal, synthetic skins and fibers- Throwing off what was left of the blankets, he saw his legs matched the rest of him. His hands flew up to his face, feeling around. The top half of his face was his, the bottom half metal. He felt the top of his head- His hair. No, not his hair-

"Dr. Zeigler!" He called out. What the hell had she done?

"Genji?" Her voice rang out from down the hall. He heard footsteps, and then the Doctor's head popped up in the doorway.

"You're awake," she said, coming into the room more. "Good, good. I'm glad everything went well."

"What did you do to me?" Genji snapped.

"I-" She paused for a second, gathering her words. "Look, Genji, sometimes in life there are hard decisions you have to make, and-"

"I don't want to hear all that! I want to know what made you think all this was okay! What happened to me?"

"Genji, this was the only way I could-- Y-your skin was all burnt off, you had so many broken bones, I-I couldn't do anything-!"

"Bullshit!" He yelled.

"Please believe me! It's not my fault! This was all I could do, Genji! If not, then you would've died!"

"Then you should have let me die!"

Angela froze. She watched Genji with wide eyes.

"Wait, Angela, I didn't mean-" He was cut off by Angela leaving the room briskly, slamming the door behind her. Genji sighed. That stupid loud mouth of his had gotten the best of him. Again. He got up out of bed and left the room.

"Angela?" Genji called softly, looking into the doctor's office to find her at her desk. She was scribbling something on a piece of paper. She didn't look up from what she was doing, and didn't reply to Genji.

"Angela, I'm sorry," he continued. "I didn't want to make you angry. I just- it was an impulsive thing, you know?" She still didn't say anything. Genji sighed and continued. "Look, it's like... In my home, my brother and I were raised being told that we were once divine beings. Everyone in my clan was. We have the power of the dragons; it must be true. But having that divine power means you're higher than mere humans. You're entitled to get whatever you want whenever you want it. I've got every right to be angry if I don't get it! And so seeing this-"

"Genji," she said finally, cutting him off. "That's enough. I've heard enough."

"Are you still mad?" He asked.

"I never was mad," she replied. "I'm more.. hurt than anything. I didn't have to do all that for you, Genji." She put her pen down and looked up at him. "Everyone else I was with ignored you, and I'm sure most other people who would've seen you like that would've ignored you as well. You should be grateful I stopped to help, and you should be even more grateful you're still alive."

"I know all that," Genji whined. "They tell you that stuff when you're little. I just-"

"You never thought you would ever have to actually be polite," she said quietly. "Is that it?" Genji paused before nodding shamefully.

"I think I'm starting to understand your clan better now, Genji," Angela said, going back to her work. "And I'm afraid your diagnosis is a bit worse than I originally saw."

"Wh- What is it?"

"Well, you're now over ninety percent metal, for starters. I had foreseen some mental issues coming from that already, not to mention all the hours of physical therapy you'll be needing, and I had of course accounted for the brain damage you'd gained from the fall (and the stuff I had to take out), and so I scheduled some reeducation in for that, but now-! Now I'm afraid we're going to have to teach you basic manners as well."

"Hold on a second," Genji said. "Who's 'we'?"

"The people I work with," Angela replied. After seeing the confused look on the other's face, she suddenly realized- "Oh my gosh! Did I never tell you about that?"

"No..?"

"Oh my-" Angela stood from her desk and went over to the shelf on the right of it, pulling off a book. She beckoned Genji over to the desk as she opened it up. It was a photo album filled with pictures of her and her coworkers.

"This is the organization I work with," she told him, flipping through the pages. "It's called Overwatch."

"Are you all doctors?" He asked jokingly.

"No, no. We're an organization that works to maintain peace between us humans and the omnics. We were a pretty important part of the war, and now that that's over, we're working to restore the good feelings we once had with our more... automatonic brethren."

"Okay," Genji said, "but where are these guys if you work with them?"

"Ah- well, uh, we were on a trip to Hanamura for business," Angela explained. "I got separated from the rest of the team, and while I was trying to find them again, I came across you and your..."

"Brother," Genji mumbled, not looking at her.

"Yes, of course," she replied, returning her gaze to the scrapbook. "I found you there, and in helping you, I completely forgot about the mission we had been assigned to do in the first place. I've gotten in touch with the rest of my team, though. They tell me they're back at Gibraltar."

"Gibraltar? But that's-"

"Don't worry about the distance," Angela said, closing the book. "They'll send a jet for us." Before Genji could ask any more questions, she continued.

"Genji, I know things haven't... well, they haven't been the best, to put it gently. But I think this change will be good for you. I think it'll be a chance for you to make friends, form new, healthy relationships with your future teammates." Genji only shot her an unimpressed glare. "And I know you may not be so warmed up to that," she added quickly, "but just... give it a shot. Okay?" Genji watched her a moment longer before sighing.

"Fine," he said. "I'll 'give it a shot'."