#which on a purely resources point is not exactly wrong and in a vacuum i always support getting your story out there in any way you can BUT

[icedille]

one of my toxic traits is that i can't stand writers as a class of people WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A FEW ONES ok some of them are also the loves of my life but. they're crucially a minority so apart from those they're all SO annoying to me. and the fact that i'm also one doesn't help. anyway if you're a writer and i don't know you personally you should die

[julia-drusilla-xii]

Okay so, @haec-est-fides​ and @fizzkiz​ wanted to know more about my OCs. I was going to put them all on one post, but then I got too carried away with writing just one of them 😂

If everyone wants to hear the rest of them, I’ll make more posts. There’s also a drawing at the very end <3

Aeliana Maxima Novius

Sixth-generation legacy of Melpomene, Muse of Tragedy.

She has two first names. Her first name starts with A because her mother’s name started with an A. And her second first name starts with M because her father’s name started with an M. 

 Has a middle name, but never really mentions it because...why let everyone know her full name??

And her middle name is her mother’s maiden name and no one can ever pronounce it correctly so she decided that it was better to never let anyone know at all, after letting a few people know.

And she’s biracial, her mother is a mortal from the Philippines. 

After her father served his time in the legion, he left to live in San Francisco because he wanted to see what it’s like living outside of the place where he grew up. Besides, he knew legacies weren’t likely to be sniffed up by the monsters. He figured that as a legacy and trained legionnaire, he could take care of himself just fine.

Her parents met at a library. Her mom, at the time, wanted to write but had writer’s block. And her dad just liked reading. The legion was nice and all, but being in the city at least meant he didn’t have to worry about his usual duties.

When raising Aeliana, her parents tended to speak to her in a mixture of English and their language. Meaning her father spoke to her in either Latin or English or having a little of both in a sentence. And her mother spoke to her in either Tagalog or English or had a little of both in a sentence. Since they mainly spoke English, Aeliana ended up learning to speak, write, and understand English. 

She understood her parents’ other languages perfectly but never learned to actually speak either.

Mainly because going to school in San Francisco, she learned that everyone only ever spoke English.

And decided it wasn’t worth learning to speak something she’d never use.

Especially when she found out Latin was a dead language.

When she finally did go to Camp Jupiter and had to be taught Latin, it usually ended up with her mind going through the following moods: “Wait I know this.” “No, I don’t know this.” “Shit, what’s the word in Latin??” “I know this word in Tagalog but what is it in Latin-” 

The above does not have to be in that order or all at once, take your pick.

It takes a while for her to be fluent in the language, but she’s determined, because she hated not knowing the Latin side conversations in the legion.

Started going to Camp Jupiter at eleven years old, currently eighteen years.

A member of the First Cohort.

Being raised as a Roman by her father, she already disliked the Greeks, but she was mostly indifferent because for the most part she never met them.

And because she knew what it was like for people to assume things about you, she voted to not really gain an opinion until she met them. 

 Absolutely loathed for a while the moment they set fire to New Rome. (When Leo, unintentionally, launched the Argo II’s weapons in the Mark of Athena.)

She eventually calmed herself down, since the Greeks that came to camp didn’t seem that bad.

Octavian made it difficult for her to see the other point of view.

What made it easier was knowing that Octavian always hated the Greeks so she brushed it off as his bias.

If anything else, she was still wary of the Greeks.

Octavian’s been a thorn in her side for years actually.

Mainly because she was ambitious.

She had her own agenda for power and would’ve gone for Praetorship if it weren’t for how he found blackmail against her.

That never stopped her for at least campaigning for a spot in the Senate, the moment she became a Centurion.

She’s known of the Triumvirate since the war against the Titans, through a complicated series of events. (I’d elaborate, but she’s mostly my ToA OC)

When she was invited to come aboard Caligula’s yachts, was absolutely shocked by the pure amount of boats.

Immediately began to wonder what was in each and every one of them.

Definitely in awe of the display of wealth, even if she was wary of the water.

Admired how much power the Triumvirate had.

And so, when she was granted an opportunity to work for them, she took her first opportunity. (Happened during the war against the Titans.)

Her plan consisted of leeching off the Triumvirate’s resources in the most subtle ways possible. She didn’t exactly approve of everything they did, but she never showed it because she was worried about the consequences.

When Apollo was missing and connections started dying down, that’s when she knew something was going to happen.

By this point, she’s been in two wars. And has been eyeing for chances for power since the beginning.

If there were one thing she’d know, then that would be spying events ripe for a tragedy.

Especially when she heard, via the Triumvirate, that Apollo was now a mortal named Lester.

Apollo was part of the main twelve Olympians. Someone that important would figure out a way to gain back his own immortality with help.

Regardless of her little information, she knew Apollo still had a good chance of becoming immortal once more, the moment he had a demigod on his side.

She had seen Jason Grace, a demigod, defeat a Titan with his own hands.

But she did know that equally meant that demigods, as always, would suffer a blow and tragedy would at least befall on them, even if Apollo did gain back his immortality.

She continued to wait, deciding to let more events fall into place until there was a clear winner, but getting more involved with Caligula’s portion of the Triumvirate.

If Apollo were to succeed, then she decided to take advantage of Caligula’s defeat in hopes of taking over the power vacuum.

If Apollo were to fail, then she hoped that she could be on the emperor’s good side and possibly at least get a high position of power.

Preferably not too close to him, knowing that Caligula naturally was wary of those around him. One wrong step and she would be done for.

Every interaction with Caligula was spent with her being eternally grateful that she had a way with words and was smart enough to know how to navigate around him.

She gained a regular habit of offering sacrifices as thanks to Melpomene because of that actually.

She doubted that Melpomene actually intervened, but that still never stopped her from being thankful to her anyways.

On more unrelated notes, she has a good singing voice, she just doesn’t like to sing that much.

Vibes with most genres of music, so long as she likes the lyrics and the beat. 

When she was younger, she used to be jealous of how she didn’t get any fancy flashy powers like the demigods.

Loves listening to gossip. It’s her source of entertainment. And while you never see her be the person directly spreading rumors, she has started some.

Finds the Lares both entertaining and annoying.

Spends most of her free time wandering around either Camp Jupiter or New Rome.

The first time she had a meal in camp, she was extremely surprised to see adobo on the plate.

Like...she could see the wind spirits somehow bringing the food they liked, but that still completely shocked her.

She still believed her mother’s adobo was better.

Speaking of which, she always loved it when her mother’s side of the family sent snacks. Especially polvorón. The problem was they didn’t send stuff often.

Sure American brand names are great, but she did love 

She’s more a planner with ambitions and isn’t really good in things relating to math or science.

She did always love history and learning about the history of other places in the world.

And she’s obviously proud of her own history, because of her parents.

[mst3kproject]

Menace from Outer Space

 With that for a title, we can only be looking at one of two things: this is either a Star Man movie or an installment of Rocky Jones, Space Ranger!  I’d ask you to guess but I’m sure you all recognize the Orbit Jet up there, so without further ado, Menace from Outer Space.

Little Bobby thought he was gonna get a comet named after him, but a closer look at the approaching object reveals a missile of some sort, headed straight for Earth!  Vena determines that it could only have been launched from Fornax, an incredibly hot moon of Jupiter where it was thought nothing could live.  Rocky and the gang immediately set out for Fornax to ask them if they can please stop shooting at us, but when they arrive, they learn that they are not the first Earthlings to land here.  The wicked Professor Cardos crashed his own rocket here eight years ago, and he plans to use the power of Fornax’ unique crystals to conquer the galaxy!

The opening of Menace from Outer Space had me groaning.  I’ve seen enough movies about comets or asteroids about to strike the Earth to have a good idea what was coming, and I did not want to see 1956’s version of Armageddon.  Imagine my relief when the meteor turned out to be a missile, which came down and blew up and the whole thing was over and done with inside of five minutes!  I kind of want to apologize to the writers of Rocky Jones, Space Ranger!  I should have had more faith in you guys.

The rest of the movie has everything a MSTie could want from our old friend Rocky Jones.  The technobabble is completely meaningless when it’s not just dead wrong, the aliens are white guys in stupid costumes, the special effects are delightfully hokey, and the fight scenes are as clumsy and stilted as anything with William Shatner in it!  Even Cleolanta makes a cameo appearance, just when I was resigned to not seeing her again. The plot goes through a number of the twists typical of the series, with multiple bad guys making and breaking alliances against the heroes.  It’s pretty involving, and you honestly do want to keep watching and see what happens next.

Traditions are good, so I shall keep one up by talking about the science that appears in this storyline.  One of the most breathtakingly stupid lines comes very early in the movie, when Professor Newton announces that the object he’s spotted can’t be a comet, because it’s making a wooshing noise and “there’s no sound associated with a comet or meteor”.  Uh… professor?  There’s no sound in space, period, on account of the vacuum.  Tom Servo’s head would have exploded.

Then there’s the moon Fornax, which is presented as a bizarre and glittering landscape of crystal pyramids and weird, hourglass-shaped monuments.  There doesn’t seem to be any plant life, which leaves me wondering what the Fornacians eat.  Perhaps they don’t need food, since Professor Newton describes the life of the moon as being based on crystals.  Earth’s scientists had believed that nothing could live in such heat, but crystals, the professor says, can grow, and “growth is life!”  This leads to a bit of a disappointment, as I was hoping we’d get to see something weird and alien like the Horta from Star Trek or the crystal-based organisms of The Monolith Monsters.  But no, the Fornacians are merely people in vaguely Arabian costumes.  I probably should have known better.

Although the moon is described as far too hot for life, with a reference to thousands of degrees, when the Orbit Jet lands there the crew climbs out in their shirtsleeves and likens the weather to a nice day on Palm Beach.  So… what happened to the inhospitable heat?  When King Zorovac visits Earth with Rocky, he never comments on the cold – or on the fact that Earth’s gravity is said to be half that of Fornax’.  The high gravity makes landing and taking off on the moon difficult, but otherwise doesn’t seem to affect anything the humans try to do there. It’s like the writers couldn’t be bothered with their own plot point.

Well… there is that nasty little scene where the guys tease Vena about gaining weight, but that doesn’t count.

The other weird thing about the high gravity is that it implies some very odd things about Fornax itself.  Let’s say Fornax is the biggest moon in the solar system – that would make it the size of Ganymede, a real-life moon of Jupiter, which has a radius of 2600 km.  The surface gravity of Ganymede is about fourteen percent of Earth’s.  In order to make it twice Earth’s, the moon would need a mass about a third that of our home planet, which doesn’t sound like much until you consider that it’s thirteen times Ganymede’s real-life mass and would require a density of nearly ten grams per cubic centimetre.  Such a moon would have to be made almost out of pure lead! And that still wouldn’t have the weird gravitational effects further out in space…

The writers, of course, did not do that math (I can barely believe I did that math). It seems they were just assigning their fictional moon traits willy-nilly, without worrying about whether it was astrophysically possible or even internally consistent.  So it’s actually kind of interesting that Jupiter does, in fact, have a hot little moon!  That, of course, is Io, which has been squashed and stretched by Jupiter’s gravity until its insides spill out in the form of sulfurous volcanoes. The writers of Menace from Outer Space couldn’t have known that, since the volcanism of Io wasn’t discovered until 1979, when astronomer Linda Morabito noticed a volcanic plume in one of the Voyager I photos.  A neat coincidence, though.

As for the people of this curious world – the standard trope would have the inhabitants of a hot planet be belligerent and impulsive (fiery, if you will), so it’s kind of nice that the Fornacians are very much the opposite of this.  They’re presented as valuing reason and careful in their judgment.  Cardos has told the king of Fornax about Earth, but when given the opportunity Zorovac would rather see for himself.  His un-named queen clearly knows what kind of movie she’s in, because she actually listens to children who come to her with information relevant to the plot.  Princess Vollica is a quick study in English and quite resourceful, even though she’s no more than eight years old.  Their missile, we learn, was not actually an attack, but a misguided attempt at communication!

Despite the title being Menace from Outer Space, the real menace in the storyline is the very earthly Professor Cardos. He has told the Fornacians that Earthlings will come to them speaking sweet words about friendship and trade, only to conquer and enslave when Zorovac has his guard down.  I think we’re supposed to be angry that he would say such things, but considering human history, it’s not as if he’s lying. When Zorovac insists on making up his own mind about what Rocky and co have to say, Cardos turns instead to some more reliably evil allies.  This seems to imply that the greatest threat to humans in the entire universe is ourselves, which… again, history makes that seem reasonable.

Menace from Outer Space does do one thing neither of the MST3K installments of Rocky Jones, Space Ranger! did, which is to give us a bit of an idea what some of the characters besides Rocky and Winky actually do.  We still don’t find out exactly how Bobby joined this team but it seems he is a child prodigy and an invaluable assistant to Professor Newton.  When they’re figuring out what they can and can’t take to Fornax with them, Newton argues that Bobby is ‘worth more than his weight in equipment’, and there are bits where he rattles off some rather intense technobabble that Winky is shown as unable to keep up with.  At the same time, the writers never forget that Bobby is only about twelve and while Rocky and Winky joke about his ‘romance’ with Princess Vollica, the friendship between the two children is clearly nothing of the sort.

Vena, too, does a little better in Menace. She’s shown to be a skilled mathematician, and capable of taking over as Rocky’s navigator if Winky is out of commission.  It’s clearly not that she isn’t intelligent, it’s just that her bubbly personality makes her come across as a ditz.  If this were used in the plot, by having the villains underestimate her, I would want to think that it was an intentional attempt to make the audience examine our prejudices about women, but sadly it never is.  Rather, I get the impression that the writers didn’t know what to do with Vena. She makes her one contribution early on when she determines the missile’s origin, and then spends much of the rest of the movie as a hostage.

When people describe Rocky Jones, Space Ranger! as a proto-Star Trek, they’re mostly speaking in terms of the plot, which involves exploring space and meeting very human-like aliens who all speak English.  This isn’t entirely fair.  While obviously not as progressive as Star Trek tried to be, Rocky Jones is smarter than I think it’s given credit for.  The politics of the no-win situation in Crash of Moons, or Cardos disguising his own imperial ambitions by projecting them onto his enemies, is actually pretty weighty for a half-hour tv show.  The acting may be bad, the science wrong, and the gender roles dated, but Rocky Jones, Space Ranger! does a good job of giving the audience food for thought.

[laurazepamwrites]

The Chemicals between us ~ Ch.10

The Italian government had taken great steps to preserve the beauty of Venice, tourists now roamed the streets sampling the local Gelato and Pizzerias, taking romantic walks along the many canal sides and enjoying relaxing Gondola rides. If one was to scratch the surface and peer under the sophisticated culture and peaceful environment Venice had to offer they would see the vicious underbelly that lived unnoticed among people and Omnics alike. A decade had not even passed since the infamous Rialto Incident, a covert mission gone wrong that was a turning point for both Overwatch and Talon. For Overwatch the mission had been a disaster and eventually became its downfall, For Talon it created a power vacuum that was quickly filled by Akande Ogundimu the ‘successor’.  It was in the long deceased Antonios office that the formidable terrorist leader now stood behind the rich mahogany desk and watched the unassuming Venice below from the very window Gabriel Reyes had shot the former occupant through. To the right of him, barely visible from the shadows, a living memory of a woman stood, her cold eyes watching Akande's guest from where he stood the other side of the desk. She had smirked when he refused to sit, Men of all kinds liked to play their power games.

‘You promised Akande.’ A metallic voice spoke.

Akande took a moment to reply as he watched an Omnic Gondolier help a young family on to his boat. The child happily took its hand as she climbed aboard, no sense of fear, no mistrust. She was born in happier times. ‘      Ignorant.’ he thought, turning to his guest. ‘I remember exactly what I promised. I hope you do not insult me by thinking Talon will not deliver. I am Talon and I will reward my allies. As long as they are patient and continue to play their part.’

The silence hung heavy in the room and the woman's fingers twitched with impatience. ‘Give me the name.’ She thought.‘Give me the name and he will not leave this room.’  Yet eventually and to her disappointment the light glinted off the metal of the guests body as he nodded his understanding, at that moment a heavy hand knocked on the large double doors of the office.

 ‘That will be our meeting over my friend.’ Said Akande, holding his hand out. Shrike, the leader of Null sector, considered before taking it and shaking once. ‘Enter.’ Akande called and the doors opened slowly revealing Reaper. He and Shrike ignored each other as they passed, Reaper remained silent until he heard the door close behind him.

 ‘Gabriel.’ Akande said ‘If you please?’ He gestured to the empty chair.

 ‘I’m not staying.’ He replied, he heard the woman in the shadows scoff.

 ‘As you wish.’ Replied Akande as he returned his attention back to the view outside. ‘Like my new windows? Double reinforced.’ He smirked as he tapped them with his knuckles. He heard a growl from behind him. ‘A joke to lighten the mood Gabriel, and I have much reason to be unhappy. You have not obtained my prize.’

 ‘Its under more protection than we thought.’

 ‘Ah yes..the Junker. Then dare I ask why have you not brought him?’

 ‘ He’s under more protection than we thought. Somehow Overwatch has got him.’ Reaper growled.

 Akande laughed and walked over to a beautifully carved drinks cabinet and selected a vintage whisky. He glanced at Reaper as he poured two glasses, ‘So that's what happened in Darwin, and now you mean to tell me the last remains of overwatch bested my soldiers and indeed you?’

 ‘They were prepared. Your men were arrogant, that's why they are all dead.’

 Akande placed the glass of whisky in front of him and took a sip of his own. ‘Yet here you still stand.’

 ‘I went for recon, not for battle. I've learned who the target is with.’

 ‘And have you learned where the target and Overwatch are? What was the last watchpoint they used?’

 ‘That watchpoint is long abandoned after I stole the agent files, they would be foolish to remain there. Sombra scans every watchpoint weekly and has come up with nothing.’

 ‘She is on thin ice.’ Akande stated. ‘I feel her allegiance wavers.’

 ‘You would lose your best hacker over feeling than fact Akande? Let her play her games and she delivers, she is your best bet at finding them.’

 ‘Is that trust I hear Gabriel?’

 ‘No more than I have for you.’

 Akande smirked and took another sip. ‘It's quite the vintage’ He said as he studied the amber liquor. ‘A pity you are too ashamed to remove your mask to sample it. I thought O’deorian did a remarkable job.’

 Reaper ignored the slight and looked toward the strange woman who in turn was watching him with curiosity. ‘Why is she here?’

 ‘Bad behaviour.’ Stated Akande. ‘Killed four men whilst she underwent her treatment. She screamed for her husband and drove a pen through one of the scientist's eyes when he told her she herself had murdered him, I admire her creativity.’

 ‘They taunted her.’ Snarled Reaper. ‘Amelie is not a plaything!’

 ‘Is that sympathy for your deceased friend's wife, Gabriel?’

 ‘Realism. She knows too much of our mission to risk her slipping.’

 ‘It is already being dealt with. Our good doctor will take her back into her care soon enough then she can return to work.’

 Amelies eyes widened with fear and she looked desperately to the door, Akande noticed and snapped his fingers at her, the crack in her mask disappearing as quickly as it appeared as her eyes glazed over once again and she cooly returned her gaze to the two men before her.

 ‘Hmm’ Akande grunted ‘Much easier to quell then Siebren..’

 ‘My orders?’ Reaper asked, sounding bored.

 ‘Now that we are certain of Overwatch's return I want you personally in charge of wiping them out for good. Despite their lack of resources and men they have still got in our way and more importantly they have the target, our vision can only go so far without the final piece.’

 ‘If he even has it.’

 ‘One thing I am certain to find out in my mission of goodwill, my friend. Keep in contact, soon Shrike will engage phase two and on my return the council will be summoned.

 Reaper groaned as he made to leave. ‘Just don't sit me next to Moira.’

                    ----------------------------------------------------------

 The briefing room was buzzing with conversation and excited chatter over the success of the latest mission as everyone talked -and shouted- amongst themselves.

‘Reinhardt why does your armour have a huge dent in it?’

‘I earned it from strength and valantry my young squire!’

‘It was a wall.’ Said Zarya.

‘- And their mech had nothing on us right Fareeha?’

‘We were lucky, and actually you were-’

 ‘Pure skill Lucio!’

 ‘-Bring ya back a souvenir next time i'm out Frosty? How’s bout a snow globe.’

 ‘I'll throw it at your head!’

 ‘Reckon she's still pissed with me Hog..’

 ‘Children, behave!’ Ana clapped her hands for attention as she entered with Jack and Winston,

 when they approached the table jack remained standing to address the team. ‘First I want to offer congratulations for our recent mission, as I'm sure everyone now knows it was predominantly a success. The weapons cache was destroyed and We’ve gained valuable information and more avenues to work from. One thing in particular we will certainly be investigating,  Athena? Play the viskar security file.’

 ‘What?!’ Exclaimed Lucio, jumping from his chair and leaning in to stare intently at the holographic footage of the Talon weapons compound welcoming Sanjay Korpal. Athena paused the footage on Sanjay's smiling face.

 ‘This is Sanjay Korpal, he is one of the head officials for the Vishkar corporation, recently he has been seen meeting with Talons accountant Maximillien and very recently he was at the Bryansk weapons compound flown in by Talon aircraft. We have little idea as yet to his reason for visiting but Ii think I can safely say he could be one of the council, with this lead we can-’

 ‘I  KNEW IT!’ Lucio shouted triumphantly, slapping the table for effect, ‘I knew it! This is amazing! We can bring Vishkar down with this! Yeah man up top!’ He high fived Junkrat sitting next to him. ‘Commander Morrison! Sir! You gotta let me in on this, I….i’m gonna sit down and be quiet now sir, my bad, sorry..’ He slunk down in his seat under Jack's unamused eye.

 ‘All done? Good. With this lead we can focus on Vishkar and look for more evidence on their connection with Talon, this could be an isolated incident and Sanjay is working alone or the entire company is involved. Getting to Sanjay will be near impossible but we may be able to infiltrate one of their offices. Winston will talk you through the plan.’ He nodded to Winston as he took his seat and the Great ape cleared his throat as Athena changed the footage to a photo of one of Vishkars many office buildings. ‘Here we have the Viskar corp Offices based in Turkey, conveniently its the closest one to us and Athena has flagged up that vishkars most decorated Architect has recently been stationed there, her name is Satya Vaswani. Interestingly she was last to be seen at the Oasis university where  Dr Moira O’Deorian is minister of genetics.’

 Angela made a distasteful noise and muttered under her breath which was shared by many of her teammates who knew the scientist as once one of their own until her greed for knowledge twisted her and enticed her to join Talon where she was free to do as she pleased regardless of human cost.

 McCree uttered a curse and rubbed at his beard, ‘We know where that witch is. Why not go get her? Hell, I’ll happily tie that woman to a stake.’

 ‘Unfortunately she is well protected by her position as a minister as well as her status within Talon.’ Ana answered. ‘Which may also implicate Oasis as having Talon ties but we can't investigate every single place they step foot in, they hide well and cover their tracks.’

 ‘Not unless you are Sanjay.’ Genji chuckled darkly.’Maybe just wait it out and Talon will assassinate him themselves for blowing his cover.’

 ‘I’d prefer him alive but as we have no idea where he currently is following his trip to Bryansk our best bet is his architect, he is personally in charge of Vaswani and she may know something.’ Said Morrison

 ‘Bet she does.’ Lucio interrupted. ‘Someone that cold and ready to destroy good peoples lives can’t be on a moral level.’

 ‘Yes thank you Lucio dear.’ Ana said patiently.

 ‘How do we get into a Viskar building?’ Asked Fareeha. ‘A company that size and with Talon connections must be well guarded.’

 ‘It will be quietly done.’ Answered Morrison who ignored McCree’s chuckle, ‘No teams, no storming the building, one person undercover.’

 Junkrat nodded in apparent understanding, ‘I’m sure Winston will do a great job.’ He grinned at his successful joke as Hana and McCree burst out laughing.

 ‘Very good Jamison, but it shall be myself taking this task.’ Ana smiled, ‘And please don't look at me like that Fareeha. One day you’ll find out there are at least some quirkes to being a woman my age.’

 ‘How do you propose to get in?’ Asked Genji.

 Ana smiled mischievously and tapped her nose, ‘I have my ways children, I have my ways.’

 ‘Let's move on.’ Said Morrison as the holograph disappeared, he paused before continuing and weighed his words. ‘I know there's divided opinion to Omnics within the base but I will ask you all to remain amicable, especially with what I am about to show you. Athena?’ There were murmurings of curiosity as the AI began to play the found footage of the captured Omnics. A range of emotions showed around the table from shock to impassiveness and in Junkrats case, boredom. Soon his mind began to wander and he started to fidget, a glint caught his eye and he found himself studying Mei’s hair pin. He wondered how it kept her hair up, then he thought it would make a good improv weapon then suddenly the thought of her stabbing him with it if he pushed her far enough. Wonder what her hair looks like if she wore it down, how long was it?...Suddenly his stomach growled lightly. He had forgot to eat again. A nudge from roadhog.

 ‘Huh?’

 Roadhog nodded towards Morrison who had apparently been talking the entire time. What was he on about again?

 ‘Why give any thought to some random missing Omnics?’ Asked Zarya. ‘Surely we have bigger issues?’

 ‘I agree.’ Grunted Torbjorn.

 ‘Do we know why they are taking them?’ Questioned Angela. Ana shook her head sadly ‘I’m afraid not, it seems they were just in Bryansk temporarily and moved on quickly to who knows where. Talons' flight movements are heavily encrypted and there is only so much Athena can unearth.’

 ‘We believe Talon had at least three groups of Omnics move through here, some er..remains were found.’ Said Winstons.

 Junkrat scoffed ‘Spare parts’ he muttered under his breath.

 ‘This could well be an isolated incident.’ Said Ana ‘And if so we don't have the resources to find out what became of these Omnics, it is up to the local authorities to follow up the disappearances..unfortunately that is unlikely. However there could be a pattern here, other disappearances, reports maybe. I need a volunteer to research and..yes Mei dear?’

 Mei's hand was eagerly up in the air like a student trying to get her teacher's attention. ‘I’ll do it ma’am!’

 ‘Very good. Thank you Mei we shall await your findings.’ Mei settled back into her seat looking pleased, finally she had a task at hand that held some importance. She smiled shyly to herself as Jack stood up once more to address the room. ‘Hang on a minute Jack.’ Said McCree lazily lifting his arm in the air, ‘I think we’re overlooking a rather important detail here..Just who the hell was that guy that tried to grab the kid?’

 ‘Probably just one of Moiras freaks guarding the place. No doubt the explosion finished him off.’

 Torbjorn said dismissively. Jack and Ana gave each other a dark searching look before Ana eventually nodded. Jack sighed and raised his hands for silence. ‘His name is Reaper.’ He said solemnly, ‘He is an assassin for Talon and the one responsible for attacking this base and stealing agent information. Me and Ana have been tracking him for months now before he kills any more of our own. Some of you here have had dealings with him before and lived to tell the tale. The fact that Fawkes is still here and not dead confirms he’s wanted alive.’

 ‘What's under the mask Jack? Do we know who he is?’ Winston asked.

 Jack thought of his words carefully, ‘I don't know who the man behind that mask is.’ Ana raised her eyebrow at him from behind her steeped fingers yet remained silent. ‘All we know he has orchestrated many Talon attacks including this base, Volskaya and tried to steal the doomfist Gauntlet. Winston and Tracer fought him off but in his failure he then proceeded to free Akande Ogundimu  ‘The Successor’. Lena shuddered in her seat and lightly touched her chronal accelerator, vividly remembering the powerful gauntlet snatching her from the air and crushing her anchor.

 ‘Whoa back up a fucking minute mate!’ Said Junkrat, ‘Youre saying this goth fuck knows we’re here?!’

 It was Winston who answered. ‘Not exactly. I was the only one here when Reaper and his strike team invaded to steal the data. After the fight I immediately sent the recall and with Athena we fortified this place as much as possible. We have beacons set around the base within a mile radius that give off a ‘cloaking effect’. It basically shields us from spy drones and gives the illusion of abandonment.’

 Junkrat nodded his head as he tried to get his head around this new information. ‘Okay..okay..so      You're     the one to blame if he rocks up at the front gates.’

 Winston looked offended, ‘Well in the very rare circumstance that one of the beacons happened to malfunction there may be some responsibility but blame is a strong word and i don't appreciate-’

 ‘We’re protected for now Fawkes. Leave it at that. If you want to leave you know what you need to do.’ Interjected Jack. To Junkrat this seemed to be the perfect time to slouch back into his chair, fold his arms and scowl, Jack chose to ignore him and continued. ‘Now that Doomfist is free he has shaken up the hierarchy of Talon and has become head of the council with Reaper at his side. Me and Ana last saw him in Egypt, from there we lost his trail and got word of Winstons recall.’

 ‘And now we’re all one big happy family again.’ Drawled McCree, ‘Missing a few folks and adding a few of course.’ He drew a cigar from his pocket. ‘Is this meeting done?’

 ‘Oh i fucking hope so.’ Muttered Junkrat.

 ‘All dismissed, return to your duties. Mei? Lets have that report by tomorrow AM.’ Said Jack. Mei smiled and nodded as she got up to leave, Ana remained seated with her fingers still steeped in front of her and a slight frown on her face. When the room had emptied Jack turned to her. ‘Go on then, say your piece Amari.’

 Ana sighed, lowering her hands and looking up at Jack. ‘Why did you not tell them that Gabriel is Reaper?’

 Jack was ready for this, ‘The same reason you didn't. It wasn't the right time.’

 ‘And when is the ‘right’ time?’

 Jack sat down next to her. ‘Honestly? I don't know. I don't know if we should even tell them. Half of the team don't even know who he is.’

 ‘But half of them do Jack. He was their friend, comrade. He played with my child, he was Jesse’s mentor!’

 ‘And how do we explain to them that he has murdered our own?’

 Ana had no answer for him. They both sat in silence for a few moments lost in their own thoughts, eventually Jack spoke again. ‘I know we will have to tell them the truth sooner or later Ana..but not like this. It has to be done delicately.’

 ‘I know..they’ll be angry with us Jack.’

 Jack laughed bitterly, ‘Just blame it on me Ana, God knows i deserve it.’

 Ana tutted ‘You're not responsible for what Gabriel has become.’

 ‘Aren't I?’

 ‘No.’ She stated firmly. ‘He chose this path Jack. You were both in that explosion..did you feel the need to dress up in a costume, become a serial killer and join the same terrorist organisation you tried to bring down?’

 Jack smirked and then a thought occurred to him. ‘Do you think Talon knows who he is?’

 ‘I believe so, he’s a weapon against us in more ways than one and a huge advantage to them.’

 ‘....I’m going to kill him Ana.’

 ‘For revenge or to put him out of his misery?’

 ‘Both I suppose.’

 Ana sighed and stood up to leave. ‘I think Gabriel died in Switzerland Jack, whatever wretch he is now is no longer redeemable...but i don't believe you could ever bring yourself to kill the man who was your dearest friend.’

 ‘I suppose we will find out soon enough.’ Jack replied, her words in his mind. Could he really bring himself to do it?

                           ----------------------------------------------------

 Finally feeling encouraged and a task at hand, Mei had headed straight to one of the smaller computer labs and began the search for any news of Omnic disappearances. Much of the team would think it was a waste of time but Commander Morrison was right, If Talon was involved it couldn't be good. Besides, she was a firm believer in Omnic rights and doing what was right and good, and this was certainly the right thing to do to help these omnics and possibly give closure to the families of the missing. A sudden intrusive thought entered her mind of her teammates' families, desperate for closure when they discovered the Cryostasis had malfunctioned. ‘They hate me.’ She thought. ‘They hate me for surviving instead of their loved ones.’ Her droid, sensing her sadness snuggled against her. Mei took a deep breath to compose herself and gratefully petted her little friend. ‘Thank you Snowball. Don't you worry about me, I'm fine. Honest.’ Snowball made a sceptical emotive at her but Mei had already turned back to the screen and was typing away eagerly. Ten minutes had passed with no results, had no one made any reports at all? Maybe Bryansk was too much of a hot zone for Omnics for anyone to care, maybe their families felt it no use to report the disappearances. Maybe she was just wasting her time here..the thought made her miserable. ‘Hey Snowball? Happen to know of any missing Omnics outside of Russia?’ She asked glumly. The little droid shook side to side and a message of ‘sorry.’ flashed on its screen. Mei sighed, ‘Guess you're just as out of the loop as I am..’ She turnt to the sound of the door sliding open behind her. ‘Oh great..’ She thought.

 ‘Aw why so sad Frosty?’ Junkrat asked as he sauntered in and sat down heavily on a spare seat and draped both his legs over the armrest, he gave Snowball a suspicious glare. Mei ignored his question and typed away more fervently, ‘What do you want?’ She asked.

 ‘I’m on free time Frosty, I’d say I earned it. With my successful mission and what not.’

 ‘Yes I heard how you oh so bravely destroyed a building.’ She replied sarcastically.

 ‘Now now no need to get all snippy cos you're jealous, I'm sure you're getting your fill on your silly little quest here. How's that going by the way?’

 Mei shot him a glare, ‘You're not in here because you care.’

 ‘Too right I don't, think you're wasting your time personally. No one cares bout some missing bots.’

 ‘Of course they do! I do!’

 ‘Yeah? Having much luck finding missing Bots from a place currently at war with them?’

 ‘Just get to the point.’ Moaned Mei, rubbing her eyes behind her glasses.

 ‘No one said those Bots n bolts even came from that place, fuck they might not even be from Russia. Those Ruskies have the right idea about bots, far as I know hardly any of em live there.’

 ‘Look if your just here to spew your hate then you can-’

 ‘Whats that stupid city called in Africa? Numble something or fucking other?’

 ‘Numbani. You're thinking of Numbani’

 Junkrat waved her off. ‘Whatever, point is they live with Omnics there right? Like.. peacefully..? I calls it bullshit but anyways, If Omnics are going missing or being taken by Talon then  maybe they know more about it? If not then it's probably just a random thing and you can forget about wasting your time here with your shitty little icemaker.’

Snowball flashed red and a tirade of insults crossed its screen making Mei smirk, but he had given her food for thought. Maybe she was missing the bigger picture. She turned back to her computer and searched for omnic disappearances on a Numbani journalist website, She felt Junkrat scoot closer on his chair to better see. Headlines flashed up of Omnics being attacked and businesses vandalised but nothing struck out about Omnics missing or kidnappings. Mei groaned in frustration. ‘Fine. Just say it! Im wasting my time!’

 ‘Just fucking hang on a minute and stop moaning.’ He retorted, half standing and leaning over her.

‘You smell like bonfire.’ She wrinkled her nose.

‘That would be from the bonfire I started.’

‘What?! Where-?’

‘Relax, I left Hog to put it out.’ He replied lazily as he typed.

‘What are you doing?’

‘Helping.’

 Mei snorted, ‘Oh that's what you call it.’

 He ignored her as he typed away, Mei felt annoyed and scowled unbeknownst at him for invading her personal space but she made no attempt to move back herself. ‘At Least he had a shirt on today.. ‘ His arms are rather muscular..What?! Why did I notice that? Just..Just keep scowling.’  

 ‘You're not going to find anything I wouldn't have done.’ She snapped.

 Junkrat grinned, sat back down and finger gunned at the screen. ‘Eat those words Frosty!’

 Mei looked at the computer, a recent article loaded about ‘Liberte’ the revolutionary Omnic artist famous for his political street art.

     ‘You need only to travel the Quartier Omnic to see the incredible  

     Art of Omnic artist Liberte. His thought provoking pierces strike a cord  

      of Omnic and humans alike with his distinctive technique…’  

 Mei stopped reading. ‘I don't get it? So you found some Artist, never would guess you would appreciate anything like that.’

 ‘Harsh. Look just read the article woman. It's gone AWOL.

 ‘But that could mean anything.’ Mei argued, ‘Maybe he’s…’

 ‘What? Under the weather? Come down with something? Been fucking nicked?’

 ‘It's really not likely you just so happened to pick a missing omnic out a haystack.’

 ‘No but I reckon no ones gonna give a shit if some random Bots go missing, but It raises a few eyebrows if a kinda famous one goes off radar. If you bothered to read the rest you’ll see he’s missed his last three events. The last rally was even cancelled because some Null sector bots got caught nearby.’

 ‘Wait what? Really?’

 ‘Oooh now she's interested!’

 ‘Sssh!’ Mei scanned the article quickly, sure enough Three rallies were cancelled, two due to ‘personal reasons’ but the other because Null sector, the extremist Omnic group was found not two towns over. It was certainly suspicious. Mei quickly searched the social media and news outlets of the town in question, Calais. Her breath caught in her throat,  there were three social media posts looking for information on Omnics not seen for 48hours, four days, Over a week. Mei let out a squeal and clapped her hands in excitement as Snowball did a flip in the air.

 ‘Aww, I’m happy when Omnics go missing too..’

 ‘No its-! Shut up I found something! I can work on this!’

 ‘ I found something.’

 ‘Ok fine you helped.’

 She began printing out pages of what she found and couldn't help but smile, Commander Morrison will definitely be interested If Null sector was involved in any way.

 ‘Oi can I look at your pin?’

 The question came at a surprise and shocked her out of her thoughts. ‘Excuse me?’

 ‘Pointy thing in your hair.’

 ‘Erm..?’ She lightly touched it, the smooth shiny red bauble on the end to the pointed metal snowflake. ‘Why?’

 ‘Dunno, looks nice i guess..like..I dunno. Just asking.’

 ‘I..erm..’ Mei looked uncomfortable and had visions of him dropping it as soon as she handed it to him. ‘I’m not sure..My dad gave it to me.’

 ‘Alright, Fair do’s say no more.’

 ‘Sorry, it's just..It's      really     precious to me.’

 ‘S’alright I'm not gonna break it, I'm surprisingly delicate.’ He giggled. ‘Kinda have to be with what I do.’

 ‘I meant no offense.’

 ‘None taken. If i had something like that id let no fucker touch it.’

 She looked at him for a second, a question on the tip of her tongue..’Don’t you have..?’ She shook her head, she didn't want to be insensitive and she had heard Jamison could be defensive. ‘Nevermind.’ She stood up and collected her printed pages. ‘I'm going to take these to compile a report for the commander..and erm..thanks?’

 Junkrat folded his arms behind his head, ‘Ya know..you should tell him you’re gonna go to that town to investigate.’

 ‘I ..I did think..should I?’ Mei looked unconvinced.

 ‘Why the fuck not? You wanted the task to get more info, you did all the legwork. Why stay here at the last hurdle?

 Why      should    she remain here? She did have all the information to devise a mission plan. Junkrat was right though it pained her to think it.

 ‘You know what..Im going to tell the commander im going to Calais!’ She said feeling encouraged.

 ‘Atta girl, stick it to the man!’

 ‘I will!’

 ‘Hope it does turn out to be a waste of time.’

 ‘I...wow! You just had to ruin it didn't you?’ She snapped.

 Junkrat laughed, ‘Go on, fuck off to the Old man.’

 ‘Fine I will.’

 ‘Good.’

 ‘Good!’

 ‘Good!’ He said mocking her voice

 ‘Ugh!’ Mei tried hard to slam the sliding door but it refused, closing painstakingly slowly and making her feel like she had truly lost that round as she turned on the spot trying to save the last of her dignity. ‘Act your damn age Mei Ling!’ She told herself.