The next day, Winston spent the entire morning and afternoon coming up with a script for a video he wanted to broadcast to all agents that received the recall. There were so many papers on the ground when Tracer stepped in. He was at his desk scribbling and then crumpling up papers and throwing it behind him. One of them rolled over to Tracer's foot. She thought of asking why he didn't just do the drafts with the help of Athena on the computer but decided not to disturb his rhythm. Instead, she picked up one of the papers off the ground and read out loud "to all agents of overwatch"
Winston immediately spoke "that was not accurate so I disposed of it"
She picked up another one and read it while trying to sound all high and mighty "To the former agents of Overwatch..."
Winston interrupted again "that just didn't sound right, so I disposed of it too"
Tracer couldn't keep it together and laughed "you won't get anywhere like this Winston" she paused and moved closer to his desk "Just make one from the heart, without a script. Here I'll hold the camera" She blinked over quickly to the shelves on the side, grabbed a camera and blinked back again. "Come on big guy, show em what you got"
Winston was sitting at his desk with papers in his hand. He looked straight at the camera and was silent. He gave an awkward smile, fixed his glasses and took a deep breath. "30 years ago, the omnics declared war..."
He projected a hologram in front of the camera with images of the crisis and continued talking about it. He tried to sneak a look at Tracer's expression for approval but she just gestured with her hands for him to continue.
"...overwatch was created to save humanity. You were chosen to be a part of something bigger. The greatest champions of peace and progress. You were chosen... You joined... Because you..." He sighed and looked away from the camera. His enthusiasm lost. "You already know this..." he looked up at the camera again "the people decided they were better off without us. They even called us criminals. They tore our family apart." his eyes lit up with fire again "but look around!"
He brought up some images of omnics fighting humans, unsettlement in different countries, uprising of omnics who seek violence, and much more chaos worldwide. Finally, he showed an image of Mondatta' s assassination and Widowmaker. He turned off the holograms and continued "The world needs us now more than ever" He took off his glasses and moved closer to the camera "Are you with me?"
"And cut!" Tracer said out loud in joy. "See that was great"
"Let's have a look at it on the computer and then decide"
The following few hours they continued editing the video. When they were almost done. Tracer decided to make some hot chocolate for both of them. She came back carrying one large mug that she had to carry with both hands. She placed it at his desk. "One mega hot coco for the scientist" she blinked back and forth instantly holding a mug in her hand and continued "and one for me" she took a sip and gave a refreshed sigh.
All that was left was clicking send. Tracer was so excited that she wanted to be the one to press it. Winston had no objections. She did so and Athena spoke "Emergency broadcast sent to all active overwatch channels"
Tracer asked "who do you think would respond?"
Winston said in a calm but hopeful voice "All of them... I hope"
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The computer at Ecopoint: Antarctica came online when it identified an incoming broadcast message. However, it was a weak signal and unable to play it. At the same time, it sent a signal to release occupants from their cryochambers in the facility. When one of the chambers opened, the person inside suddenly vomited. She was extremely drowsy. A flying helper bot was present to help guide her to the bathroom. It looked like a blue flying mushroom with a screen on its head and 4 thrusters underneath it. It splashed water onto her face and she slightly came to.
"Good morning, Snowball... is it morning?" looking a bit dazed as she asked the flying robot, snowball. The robot nodded. She did a few stretches and began brushing her teeth. She fell asleep halfway through. Snowball had to fly underneath her arm to nudge her awake. She picked up the blow dryer and turned it on at snowball, pushing it away. She finished washing up and getting ready. She looked at herself in the mirror; She was a petite woman with a medium build. She has fair skin, medium long brown hair held in a bun by a hairpin, and a pair of black glasses. She is wearing a blue blouse and white cardigan with some light blue shorts. She felt like having some tea but did not have an appetite to eat yet. She went out of her room and walked through the metal corridors wearing her polar slippers. The entire facility was a bit colder than the usual but given the continent they are on; she wasn't too concerned. She put on the kettle and flipped the stove on. Brought out a mug and started prepping her famous Chinese tea that everyone loves. She turned to the table in the kitchen which had a built-in computer; as expected from a research facility. She scanned her fingerprint, and the holographic screen unlocked displaying the login ID: Dr. Mei-Ling Zhou.
Mei is a climatologist who was sent on a research mission by Overwatch to investigate the drastic climate changes that have been occurring. She dedicated most of her life research climate preservation. She was quite interested to see what the new dataset looks like since waking up from cryostasis. She looked at the initial data and though out loud. "The fluctuations in the atmospheric pressure have gotten..." her thought was interrupted as she noticed that there are multiple priority level climate threat alerts that occurred during her stasis. In shock, she continued "We must send this data immediately". She started downloading data and realized there are years' worth of data on the system. "Where is all this data coming from?!" She turned to snowball. "Snowball, how many years have we been all asleep?". Snowball's screen that showed his eyes went dark. A second later it displayed: 9 years. Her eyebrows rose and she stumbled backwards. In a state of panic, she started questioning snowball "why hasn't overwatch come for us!?". Snowball accessed the computer to show her the reports of Overwatch's downfall and disbandment 5 years ago. She looked devastated and spoke to herself in a defeated voice "no one knows we are here". In a second, she realized that she was sent here with a group of scientists "wait, where is everyone!?"
She started running towards the cryo room but snowball was flying ahead of her in an attempt to stop her. She refused to stop and continued. Once there she noticed the pods were offline. She went onto the cryo computer and saw that all life signs were lost in the 5 pods. Only the sixth pod was functional and it belonged to her. She could no longer hold herself together. She slumped down on the ground against the computer stand and began crying into her knees. Snowball snuggled itself in to help comfort her. She replied to the kind gesture. "its just you and me now snowball".
After she regained her strength, she went back to her kettle that was continuously whistling as it has been ready for a few minutes. She poured herself a cup and sat at her desk to try and contact someone for help. She noticed an incoming broadcast message on the overwatch emergency channel, but the signal was weak. Finally, some hope that someone does know she is here. She tried to look outside the window to see the satellite dish's status but the snow has built up against the window for a while and nothing is visible. She decided to wear her snow suit and step outside to have a look.
The door was extremely difficult to open. She had to push against 2 feet of snow. The satellite tower was completely filled with icicles with parts of it broken and the satellite dish was nowhere to be seen at the top. It must have been blown away during one of the storms in the past nine years. Finding it would be near impossible now. She went back inside and looked at a group photo on her desk. It was of a group of scientists and her holding an overwatch banner that said persevere. She got determined not to lose hope.
The next few hours were spent compiling the data that were gathered during their hibernation and using them to develop the plan for her original research, harnessing the cold. She was starting to get tired and wanted to go to bed when the lights in the facility began flickering. Mei realized that this facility must be operation on battery cells now since no one has been doing repairs on the solar panels. She rushed to the electrical room to see only one battery cell remains glowing. This means this entire facility will lose power in less than two days. All heating, computers and life support systems will cease to function. Her research will be halted and she will be stuck in the cold. There is no time to lose and no time to rest now.
She made some coffee and got back to working on her research. The calculations were ideal and it was time to implement them practically. She picked up a blow drier from her room, disassembled it, and began reassembling it with modification. She kept getting tired in between and taking short naps. Snowball kept arousing her as instructed. She completed the device and when about to finally finish up the final steps the entire facility lost power. She walked over to the electrical room in defeat to see that the last battery cell lost its glow. She walked back to her chair, turned to snowball "we were so close" and put her head down on the desk.
Snowball, flying behind her, was looking over to the right side of the room where its charging pod is. It turned to her again, as if to look at her one last time. Then flew to the charging pod and linked up. Instead of charging itself, it was draining its own battery to charge one battery cell in the facility. The computer on the desk turned on. Mei was in complete surprise and turned to tell Snowball only to realize it wasn't there. She glanced across the room and saw snowball's battery symbol draining while linked up to the pod.
"No, no... I don't want to lose you too"
The last thing on snowball's screen before it went black was the word Persevere, followed by Goodbye Dr. Zhou.
Mei had a Tear in her eye "thank you my friend"
She finished up her device. It was a modified cold blow-dryer that can shoot blue ice, a compressed form of ice that forms on glaciers. She glanced one more time at their group photo and smiled, a smile of pain and accomplishment. Their work and mission are finally complete, to build and endothermic device. She packed a laptop and an aerial in her backpack, put on her red snow suit and boots, and headed to the door. Her next mission was to climb the tower to get a signal to decipher this broadcast message.
At bottom of the satellite tower, the ladder was broken. Mei had to create some climbing holds with her new endothermic blaster. She started climbing the tower, she was never afraid of heights but everyone is afraid of falling. The constant image of falling haunted her with every step in her climb. When she was halfway there, she pulled out the blaster and aimed at the part of the tower that was broken. She froze it in place to stabilize it and continued going further. As she reached the top she sat whilst stabilizing herself. She was amazed by the aurora in the night sky. She took out the laptop and aerial. Started waving it around to try and get a good signal. Once she got the perfect position, The broadcast video began playing. It was Winston. Her eyes lit up in joy. The video kept cutting and she had to find a new position for the aerial. She was so desperate to hear what he has to say.
"The people decided they were better off without us. They even called us criminals. They tore our family apart"
It cut off again and resumed "the world needs us now more than ever. Are you with me?"
Mei smiled to hear that overwatch is still there. That in this strange new world that she woke up too, at least overwatch is still there. A home she can hope to reach. She stayed up on the tower looking at the sky a little longer. With tears in her eyes, she said "Yes Winston... I am with you"
The next day, she was all packed up and ready. She had a backpack of ice substance slung on her back with snowball on the top. A solar panel was attached to snowball. She took a teapot to the cryo chamber room. Placed a mug with tea in front of each pod. Sipped her last cup of tea with her friends as the power in the facility finally gave out. She wiped her tears and headed to leave the facility. In the garage, was a sled with a few bags on it, her supplies. She had enough to get to the next nearby public facility which is a 2-day journey. They would be able to help and arrange transport home for her. Using the wheel on the side of the garage, she was able to manually open the large garage door. She attached the sled to her waist and began her journey.
About 30 minutes into her journey, Snowball was finally awake again. Made a few beeping sounds to alert Mei. Mei replied in joy "Rise and shine snowball, we are on our way... Home"
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credit to the artists: JayReichman and Picstatio