Archive of Our Own

“Mei-Ling Zhou.” 

Mei shivered, her breath escaping her as a thick cloud of steam. The mechanical voice that said her name felt colder than the freezing air that’s enveloped her since she was shoved off a dropship by two silent Null Sector troopers. The same dropship that first appeared on the Watchpoint during an ambush upon Overwatch, deploying a trooper squadron and a stalker. A dropship that turned into a terrifying, pitch black aerial prison cell when she was grabbed by the stalker’s tractor beam—her endothermic blaster stolen from her—and trapped inside. The last thing she saw before the doors slammed shut was Snowball hurriedly flying away, as she screamed at him to find the others. 

A dropship that brought her back to the one place she never wanted to return: Ecopoint Antartica. 

It was almost exactly how she left it those two years ago. Every inch of the abandoned facility was covered by a thick blanket of undisturbed snow, the howling winds and crackling of ice filling the eerie silence. Yet…there had been a stark difference that couldn’t go unnoticed. Light . All the working lights, at least, were back on. The hum of machinery and the hissing of cryogenic fluid in the pipes rang against her ears.

Her heart pounded in her chest when she laid eyes upon the cryochamber facility. The windows were still shattered, but the doors were opened. Mei knew that wasn’t right. She had closed every door to the room when she left, so that her friends could rest peacefully. A frozen crypt, their cryopods, their coffins. Mei hadn’t wished to enter it ever again, but the troopers held no reservations about pushing her inside when she hesitated at the door frame. 

She could only assume that the one who spoke to her was responsible for the disruption of their final resting place. A tall omnic, Ravager build, with a dark gray and purple exoskeleton body, parts of it covered by a tan, hooded cloak with gold trimmings with symbols not unlike those found in the clothing and art pieces of the Shambali. Her friend and teammate, Zenyatta, came to mind in her memory. The similarities between the monk and the trespasser didn’t end in appearance alone, as the figure sat at the base of the large cryogenic fluid dispenser in a full lotus position, meditating before the closed pods as a deep purple orb hovered in their center. 

He lowered the hood on his cloak and looked towards her, the purple orb vanishing into a cloud of what she recognized were nanites of some kind.

“Do you know who I am?” 

It was impossible for Mei to forget that voice. The same one that blasted his cryptic message over ruined cityscapes as giant command ships flooded their streets with war machines. Toronto. Rome. London. The list went on. 

“Ye—Yes. You’re…Ramattra,” she said, trying to hide the tremble in her voice and failing poorly. “You’re the leader of Null Sector.” 

Null Sector never took human prisoners, not since the invasion began, only omnics. Any humans unfortunate enough to be caught in their path before rescue arrived didn’t live to tell the tale. And yet, here she stood. Still breathing. The realization that Null Sector must need her alive, whatever reason it may be, felt far more foreboding than the possibility of death. 

Goosebumps trailed along her skin, despite it being thoroughly protected from the cold by her thick parka. 

“I am. I see my brother informed you all of my identity.” With a curious tilt of his head, he then asked, “Tell me. Is Zenyatta well?” 

She swallowed before she answered, “…Yes. He is.” 

“I’m glad,” there was a trace of softness in Ramattra’s voice. It didn’t last long, “Sit.” 

A simple command, his hand gesturing to the empty space on the floor next to him, but one that made Mei’s blood boil. 

“No,” she folded her arms, “I’d rather stand.” 

“Do not make this more difficult than it needs to be, Dr. Zhou,” he said sternly. “I am showing great leniency with you right now, but test me, and it will not last.” 

She glared, anger heating her cheeks, “You have no right to be here! To bring me here against my will! You—!”

It was only then that she noticed several objects neatly set down in front of Ramattra. The first, a copper bell, engravings of the Shambali carved onto its surface, with a small mallet beside it. The second, an empty black ceramic bowl with an unlit incense stick standing on its side. The third and final object, a wooden vase, filled with a bouquet of white flowers. 

Lilies, to be exact. Flowers of mourning. 

She stared at the assortment, and her anger melted into befuddlement, “What? What is all of this…why are you—?!” 

Ramattra only repeated, “Sit, Dr. Zhou. I will not ask again.”

There didn’t seem to be any leeway for negotiation. Slowly, begrudgingly, Mei shifted to the spot next to him, sitting down on her knees. Ramattra appeared content and turned his attention frontwards. 

“Your fear isn’t misguided, and I understand your apprehension. But whether or not you trust me, know this,” he said, reaching to pick up the bell and mallet. “I did not come here to desecrate your companions’ resting place.” 

“Then why are you here?” Mei asked warily. 

He answered plainly, “To pay respects.” 

Before she could question him further, Ramattra struck the bell, its ring marking the start of this makeshift funeral. He ignited the tip of the incense next, Mei was unable to see exactly how he was lighting it as he hid it behind his metal hands, and her nose tickled with a soothing scent. Sandalwood, hibiscus, and cedar were but a few of the smells she recognized, wafting in the air that occupied the short distance between them. 

Omnics can’t smell. Mei wondered if the incense was for mere show or a poor attempt to make her feel more at ease. 

“...You didn’t know my friends,” said Mei. 

He shook his head, “Nonetheless. They deserve to be remembered. That is why you are here.” 

“I don’t understand–,” 

“Mei-Ling,” Ramattra cut her off, “you cared for them. Did you not?” 

She stirred, fiercely declaring, “Of course I did! They were more than just my colleagues! They were–we were—!” 

Mei felt a lump forming in her throat. It ached, but she would not let it drown out her voice. 

“We were family.” 

Ramattra nodded, “Then speak of them.” 

“What?” 

“Your friends. Your family. I would like you to tell me about them. Each one of them.” 

None of this felt right. Ramattra had never shown mercy since the start of the invasion. Especially not towards a human. Humans were killed on sight by Null Sector, while omnics were dragged screaming until silenced by the foreboding claws of a subjugator. Entire cities turned into war zones. Paris. Rio. Toronto. Gothenburg. New York. Rome. Numbani. It never seemed to end, despite the newly reformed Overwatch’s best efforts. 

It was a grim question, but one she had to ask herself.

Why had he not simply killed her? Why was she brought here to him alive? Mei never considered herself a vital asset to Overwatch. She was a part of the team, yes, but amongst the heroes she stood with, who was she in comparison? Not a soldier. Hardly a fighter, even with all the training she was doing. She wasn’t a hero of the Crisis, nor the face of Overwatch’s Golden Age. She couldn’t travel through time or save people on the brink of death. She couldn’t leap across buildings or slice enemies in half with a sword. She never led a rebellion against a corrupt corporation or saved an entire city from a terrorist organization by building its guardian. She was…

Just a scientist.

Just a survivor. 

The sole survivor. 

Why…was she here? 

Tears began to gather in the corner of Mei’s eyes. She hurriedly wiped them, knocking her glasses lopsided in the process. Ramattra didn’t show much reaction to her display of emotion. He, who had been causing thousands of people pain and misery, was only waiting for her next move. She hated him. 

And yet, despite how much she wanted to tear him apart at that very second, he was right. Her friends deserved to be remembered, and she was the only person here who did. 

Mei swallowed again, shakily nodding as she whispered, “...Okay.” 

She went in order of their cryopods. 

“His name was Ian Adams. He was second-in-command next to Captain Opara, and he always kept our spirits up,” began Mei, her eyes trailed along the long-dead vital panel displaying his name. “Being out here, where it’s so cold and lonely…it can get to you. That’s why he wanted to make sure we didn’t forget to have fun. Actually, it was his idea to put all that beach stuff in our personal offices…” 

She chuckled softly, fondly remembering that day. They were all preparing lunch when Adams opened the door and came strolling in wearing a floral polo with a pair of sunglasses. Mei laughed hard enough to send water flying out of her nose. Afterwards, they spent a good hour turning that dull office space into a faux tropical getaway. 

He was the constant ray of sunshine in a place where you hardly saw it. 

“But there were nights where he would be up for hours in his lab studying the scans from the anomaly sights. The more readings we got, the later he would be awake. And…I could always tell he was afraid. What we saw occurring here was unlike anything recorded in the continent’s history, even with climate change as a factor.”

Bloodshot eyes. Another empty mug of coffee. The fierce tapping of a pen on a holo-tablet. Those were the things that accompanied Adams whenever Mei silently checked on him during the night. They only grew worse when the blizzard came and their food supplies dwindled. Her team decreased their portion sizes significantly when they missed the resupply window and had to preserve what was left. Hunger cracked at everyone’s spirits, but especially Adams.

No one but her ever saw him vent his frustration out onto an unsuspecting lab stool or broken test tube. A week before they went into cryostasis Mei found him asleep at his desk, stains of tear trails on his cheek. 

“But he never let it show around us. He would walk in the next day as if he’d slept in, sunny as ever. I—I tried to bring it up one time. He told me not to worry. I don’t think…Adams ever wanted us to worry. Not if he could help it. Even on that day we went to sleep…” 

“Come on, Mei, cryochamber time!” 

“Already?” 

“Ha!” A phantom memory of his hand on her shoulder. It was trembling despite the goofy grin he wore on his face. “An hour ago.”

Mei’s present hand reached to grip that same spot. 

“…He was still smiling. I wish I told him that I was scared too.” 

She went quiet. 

“Ian Adams,” Ramattra repeated the name as he took one of the lilies from the vase. “You shall not be forgotten.” 

There was a humming sound as a cluster of dark purple nanites swirled around Ramattra’s fingers that held the flower. Mei watched with slight intrigue as the nanites hovered the lily into the air before carrying it over to Adams’ cryopod. There, the nanites placed it down in front of his coffee mug, a simple Ecowatch brand cup. Adams always was a man with simple tastes. Once complete, Ramattra drew the nanites back to his body, where they disappeared. 

He rang the bell once more. Mei continued down the line. 

“Her name was Stella MacReady.”

There were many bright and brilliant engineers in the world, but none of them would ever match Stella in Mei’s eyes. Her modified cybernetic hands—prosthetics she received after an accident during her university years—were of her own design, and that was only the start of her ingenuity. She was Mei’s partner in Snowball’s creation. Mei drew up the original designs, but it was Stella who really brought them to life, and in turn, brought their new little friend to life. It was also her idea to add the face recognition system to him, ensuring that he could keep track of everyone on base at all times in case of emergencies. 

Mei remembered smiling so wide the day that Snowball was turned on the first time, and Stella cheered by her side. 

Some often made the mistake of assuming MacReady was cold and distant due to how often she was lost in her own work, but Mei and the team knew better. Stella was confident, witty, and a supportive friend. She had a dry sense of humor that could crack a smile from the most cynical of people, but she also gave such wonderful hugs. 

“They were the soft, quiet kind of hugs,” Mei recounted. “The kind you get when someone just knows you need one.” 

She gripped her arms, as if they could somehow replace the missing embrace of her long gone friend.

“Stella could always tell when I needed one.” 

“Stella MacReady,” said Ramattra. “You shall not be forgotten.” 

Down the line. 

“His name was Habib Opara.”

Captain Opara. The glue that held their small team together even in the worst of times. Their leader and perhaps the warmest, kindest man Mei had ever met. Which was funny, considering how much he loved the cold. He frequently re-told the story of how he fell in love with winter. Being from Numbani, with a year-round hot climate, he never got to experience snow until his parents took him on a vacation to a ski resort in Japan. In his own words it was, “love at first frostbite.” It only made sense that Antarctica was his favorite place on a planet so big. 

“Winter is the time when nature rests. And the snow is its blanket.” He once told her.

There was a spot that he loved here, the “Wolf’s Jaw.” A natural formation of rocks that appeared to jut into the air like the fangs of a fierce predator. 

“Someday, when this is all over, I want to go back,” remarked Mei wistfully. 

Ramattra was rather silent before he finally said, “Habib Opara. You shall not be forgotten.” 

Next.

“His name was Sergio Torres.”

Captain Opara’s protégé and perhaps the most adventurous of their team. If there was any risk in a field expedition, Sergio was always the first to volunteer. He was the best rock-climber of their team and could reach the peak of an ice column in a matter of minutes. 

“There were a few people at HQ who called him an adrenaline junkie. They weren’t totally wrong,” Mei recalled with a small giggle. “But there was a method to the madness.” 

Sergio opened up about it with her, once. How much of his childhood was spent in-and-out of hospitals. His condition only improved through revolutionary strides in cryotherapy, yet he was always warned by the doctors that there was a chance of relapse. Since then, along with diving headfirst into the field of cryonics that had saved him in the first place, he leapt at the chance for the adventures he couldn’t have as a boy. In Sergio’s eyes, life was short, and time was valuable. 

He wanted to take her mountain climbing in Switzerland when they returned from Antartica. Mei spent too many nights dreaming of what the trip that never came to be would have been like.

“Sergio Torres. You shall not be forgotten.” 

Last, but certainly not least.

“Her name was Linnea Arrhenius.”

She was the oldest of their team, and she held no qualms reminding them of that fact daily. She was orderly and no-nonsense, which some people might find irritating, but Mei appreciated it greatly. When Linnea was around, you always knew you had someone competent taking the reins of the chaos. But underneath the hard exterior held a loving lady who was always willing to help people learn better. Mei stuck close to her during her initiation period with the team, and Linnea was happy to have her around. 

The best way to draw out Arrhenius’ sweet side was to ask her about her family. She had several children and grandchildren waiting for her back in Gothenburg, Sweden. 

“Whenever any of us were having a rough day, Linnea would call us over to her desk to show us a baby video one of her kids sent to her,” Mei smiled at the fond memory. “She would always have the biggest grin on her face while we watched, it was so cute.” 

Linnea always said her family surviving the Crisis was the greatest of miracles. Mei wondered how they were doing. If…when the news broke that Mei, and only Mei, had emerged from the long-thought dead cryopods, that the empty chair at their dinner table had become all the more noticeable.

“Linnea Arrhenius. You shall not be forgotten.” 

It was through sheer willpower that Mei managed to keep her words steady throughout each eulogy. But once complete, she couldn’t hold back the sobs any longer. They wretched their way out of her throat, and she hid her tear-filled eyes behind her gloves. 

“I’m sorry for your loss,” said Ramattra as he sent yet another lily towards the final closed cryopod. “I feel its heaviness upon your heart, and I understand it. All too well.”

Mei sniffled, glancing his way, “…You do?” 

“Yes,” he reached down to the vase and pulled the second-to-last flower from it. His free hand moved to carefully smooth its petals. 

“Her name was Lanet. A fellow omnic that I helped rescue from a wretched facility made to subjugate my kind. She was quite similar to your MacReady, now that I think about it. A gifted engineer, she made my own work look like child’s play. But her true strength lay within her passion, there was no one in our cause more determined to build our people a better future than her.” 

Ramattra then spoke with a fragility unheard of from Null Sector’s terrifying leader. “She was my friend. She always tried to steer me right, remind me what we were truly fighting for, and how best to do it.” 

He solemnly placed the lily on the cold floor in front of him. 

“If I had only listened to her at that crucial moment, she might still be here. She paid the price for my foolishness, and it’s a debt that I can never repay. A mistake I will never be able to correct.” 

There shouldn’t have been tears Mei shed for the monster sitting beside her, her anger argued. What right did he have to share his grief, compare it to her own, when his actions have caused hundreds, no, thousands of people that same loss? What justification could he muster to bring her here, to make her relive her own? She shouldn’t cry for his. She shouldn’t show this bully a single shred of kindness.

But…she did. People may call her a fool for doing so, but in that moment, Mei saw something that few would ever expect from the vengeful ravager. Connection. A bridge between them. Maybe it was flimsy, but it was there. Maybe…just maybe…all it needed was a bit more support, and they could bring this war to an end without any more bloodshed.

Mei reached over, shakily picking up the mallet and tapping it on his bell. Ramattra didn’t stop her. The ring bounced off the frost-covered walls, filling the silent air with its sober echoes.

“Lanet,” she said, “you won’t be forgotten.”

Ramattra bowed his head. 

She wasn’t sure how much time passed in the period of silence that followed. The seconds only seemed to freeze, as Mei nearly forgot the circumstances that had brought her here in the first place. For just that moment, she wasn’t worried about whether or not rescue was coming, or if the one beside her had any plans of returning her home. Neither Null Sector’s leader nor Overwatch’s only climatologist spoke another word. They simply sat next to one another, not as two sworn enemies, but as two mourners. As two lost souls, left behind in a world that so often felt like a never ending blizzard, where life’s next throttle would emerge from the frozen white any second. 

But it didn’t last. It was fleeting, as all things were.

“I thank you again,” Ramattra broke the silence once the last of Mei’s cries had quieted down, “for being here today. But I owe you and your team a greater debt than you realize.” 

The omnic rose from his sitting position, and Mei followed, curious. 

“What do you mean?” She asked. 

With another swirl of his nanites, a long, tall staff materialized into his right hand. It had a shepherd’s crook at its top, with a dark purple orb buzzing within its hook. Mei guardedly took a step back with its appearance, but Ramattra held his free hand up in a peaceful gesture to still her.

“For longer than a decade now, I have been the sole guardian of the last hope for my people,” he began, tapping the bottom of his staff onto the floor. “Thousands of miles below this frozen landscape, there is a place untouched by humanity’s grasp. The place where I, and those I once called friends, began Null Sector. It was there that we built the armed forces to fight for our freedom.” 

“But…” said Mei, confused, “your forces are modified versions of Anubis’ war bots. The only place you could have the tech to make such things would be…”

As the answer suddenly dawned upon her, her voice trailed off into a silent, shuddered gasp. Ramattra turned to face her fully.

“Yes. An omnium,” he finished for her.

She shook her head in shock, “No—No that’s impossible. Overwatch shut down all the omniums after the Crisis. And even if they didn’t, there’s no way Omnica could have built one here without notice—,”

“Omnica Corporations had no part in this construction. It was made by Anubis itself, completely machine-built. I can only suspect that it was a fail-safe measure, a way to ensure it could still produce artillery units should the other omniums have been destroyed.” 

“How did you find it?” Mei quietly asked. 

“I am a Ravager unit. We were crafted by Anubis for war. It only made sense that it would hard drive its security measures into us.” 

“And… and you reactivated it,” any calm that Mei had gained from their moment of solemnity was gone. With every word, every realization, she felt her stomach twist. “When? When did you turn it back on?” 

“Thirteen years ago.” 

Thirteen years ago, the year was 2063. The same year that Ecowatch first recorded sightings of—

“The anomaly,” Mei gasped, palming her hand to her forehead.

It…all made sense now. The suddenness of the atmospheric fluctuations. Why those fluctuations had increased rapidly during their cryosleep. The spontaneous ice combustions and the warped frozen structures that appeared throughout Antarctica. The similarities to Arrhenius’ readings on Gothenburg’s atmosphere post-Crisis. Her team’s lack of plausible information for any discernible cause…

The whole time, the cause was right beneath their feet.

This was the breakthrough her work needed, and it was delivered to her by the one who caused all of this in the first place.

But that also meant there was a way to fix this. Time to fix this.

“Please,” Mei stepped forward, “you have to shut it down.”

“I will not,” Ramattra’s grip on his staff only seemed to tighten. 

She fiercely argued, “You don’t understand, this isn’t just about omnics and humans anymore! This is about the entire world!” 

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

“You’re crazy! Don’t you get it?! Your omnium is releasing a surplus of energy into the atmosphere! If the anomaly is allowed to grow any further, it could cause irreversible damage to the planet!”

There was a beat.

“Irreversible damage,” he echoed her.

The ravager took his own step forward, towering over the climatologist as he closed the gap between them. 

“You wish to speak of ‘irreversible damage,’ Dr. Zhou?” His voice rose, sparks of burning rage simmering his words. “You needn’t look far to see it. My people are a single generation. We are finite and fragile . Yet humanity has made no move to preserve us as it does with this planet.” 

“I—I know, but—,” 

He slammed his staff downwards, making her jump, “We’re hardly the first , is the grand irony in all of this. Before omnics, how many other species did humanity drive to extinction? You can hardly preserve each other, let alone anything else that shares this planet with you. How many of your own peoples, cultures, and homes were eradicated by power-hungry tyrants who despised anything they considered different from them?” 

He grew closer and closer. Mei retreated backwards as quickly as she could, speechless.

“Greedy humans in suits sign away the lives of others without so much as an inkling of remorse. They turn the keys on weapons of mass destruction and then easily fall asleep on their plush beds. All while the masses do nothing to stop them.”

She felt her back hit the wall of the chamber. It didn’t stop the omnic’s advance, he soon cornered her. There was nowhere for her to escape. 

“Humanity’s desire for complacency and comfort have been the root of bloodshed since you fleshy beasts first learned how to kill one another with rocks!” He exclaimed, slamming a closed fist onto the wall next to her. Mei yelped.

“Ra—Ramattra,” she quivered, arms moving to shield herself. “I—I’m sorry—,”

To Mei’s surprise, Ramattra went quiet and yielded, backing up. She quickly broke away from the wall into the more open room. 

“…No, I am sorry, Dr. Zhou. My anger is not towards you. I’m not blind to the fact that there are innocents, even among humans. You,” he turned his head back towards the cryopods, “and your teammates were innocents. Only striving to improve the world. That is why I am grateful to you all.” 

“You’re not making any sense,” Mei’s voice cracked. “Why…?”

Once again, he didn’t answer right away. Instead, he moved back to the funeral rites. Reaching down, he plucked the final lily from the vase.

“Because to truly commit myself to saving my kind, I needed to accept a heavy burden. The knowledge that innocents would be killed in the crossfire of this war for our freedom. I didn’t know if I was capable of carrying such a weight, if it would destroy me instead,” he faced her, “until I sacrificed you all for my dream.” 

Time seemed to become as frozen as the air around them. 

What. 

What did he—

No.

No no no. She wasn’t here. He wasn’t here. Neither of them were here. She wasn’t hearing this. This wasn’t real. This couldn’t be real, Mei told herself. This was only a nightmare. Yes, just a bad dream. She had a lot of those, didn’t she? But she would wake up. Mei always woke up. She would wake up in her bed on the Gibraltar base, snuggled in the blue sky blanket that Winston had gifted her when she first joined the recall. Snowball would launch himself from his charging port to greet Mei and nuzzle against her cheek as he did every day. Tracer would be in the bed next to her, probably already up, she’s a morning person like that. 

Everything would be fine. Everything would be normal. 

But Mei wasn’t waking up. Nothing changed around her. Why? She hated this place. She hated the person in front of her. She wanted them both gone. She wanted to leave. She wanted to wake up. Let her wake up. Wake up. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. 

“You didn’t,” Mei muttered in a way that felt as if she were outside of her own body, only directing it to speak, “You couldn’t have…”

“It had to be done. If your team’s research had continued on its intended course, you would have eventually discovered the omnium and reported it to Overwatch. It wouldn’t have taken long for them to destroy everything that Lanet and I built.”

Reality dragged her back to her body kicking and screaming. It demanded she faced the truth before her. Null Sector’s leader, and the one she shared a moment of solidarity only minutes before, was the cause for everything she suffered here.

“But how?!” Mei cried. 

“By sabotaging both the cryofluid lines and the emergency power to ensure you would not wake. Your base had little in the way of security measures, it was rather simple,” Ramattra answered.

Simple? Mei felt a searing pulse race throughout her body as Ramattra spoke of his heinous deed with that same cold, detached demeanor. How dare he. How dare he speak of them in such a way. How dare he claim that he was here to honor his victims! 

“It was you, it was all you!” Mei clenched her jaw as hot, furious tears fogged her glasses. “You killed my friends! Not just killed—you murdered them! And for what, so you could be more comfortable with killing?!” 

“I won’t ask for your forgiveness, only your understanding,” he replied.

“No, absolutely not! I don’t owe you anything! Not after you stole everything from me! My friends, my family, nine years of my life!” 

Ramattra released a long, tired sigh, “I know. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Your deaths were meant to be merciful, a peaceful drift into oblivion as you slept. But I didn’t account for the possibility of a survivor nor the recall message re-activating the base. I am sorry for the pain I’ve caused you.” 

That only ignited her fury, “You’re horrible, awful! Nǐ zhēn ràng wǒ ě xīn! Wǒ zhēn hòuhuǐ zhè bèizi yù dào nǐ! I hate you! I hate you!”

“It was a mistake. An oversight. One that I regret,” said Ramattra, staring down at the flower in his hand. “And that I will amend today.” 

His last few words hung in the air with a grim finality that shook Mei to her core. And that was when she did the bloodcurdling math. 

One final lily in his hand.

One final cryopod slowly opened nearby with the hiss of the fog escaping from it.

One last life for him to “pay respects” to.

“No—,” Mei shivered. 

“It’s time to go back to sleep, Mei-Ling,” Ramattra told her with an uncanny gentleness. 

She shook her head, tears still streaming down her cheeks, “You can’t do this.” 

“I can, and I must. You’re the last remnant of Ecopoint Antartica, and now that you know the truth, I cannot let you reveal it to Overwatch.”

He started towards her again, albeit slower, with softer steps. 

“Do not resist. Allow me to grant you the merciful death I denied you all those years ago, and I will reunite you with the friends you miss so dearly.” 

“NO!” Mei screamed. 

She ran from the approaching ravager, at first in the direction towards the main door before she suddenly remembered the troopers waiting outside. With a sharp diversion, Mei instead bolted up a nearby stairwell. Soon stumbling onto the cryochamber’s second floor platform, Mei’s eyes scanned for an exit. 

She first spotted and raced towards a door on the opposite side, only to find it locked. She hurriedly pressed the keypad and, for all her efforts, was only met with the buzzing of an error message.

“No, no, no! Come on, come on!” She grit her teeth and tried every code she could remember with no success. 

The sound of thudding metal footsteps clanked from the stairwell a distance away. Mei’s breaths grew short and rapid as she gave up on the keypad and frantically kept looking. 

A gust of frigid wind brushed against her tear-stained cheeks, directing her towards the building’s massive observation windows. All three had been left shattered, from the merciless arctic winds and lack of maintenance over the decade, with gaping holes surrounded by a border of uneven glass shards. She could see the bridge of the upper level walkway outside from there. But it would have to be a perfect jump to make it from there, and did she even know if she could—

—To heck with it. As Tracer once told her, sometimes you need to take a leap of faith. 

Mei took off. With a running start as her momentum, she leapt out from the corner of the nearest window. And, through either the most concise timing or a miracle, she managed to grasp onto the side of the bridge and pulled herself upwards. 

“Delay the inevitable all you like. It won’t save you,” Ramattra’s voice called out to her once she stood atop the bridge. “I have all the time in the world. But you? Tell me, Dr. Zhou, how long does it take for the human body to succumb to hypothermia?”

Depending on circumstances such as exposure length and protection, her inner scientist answered the rhetorical question, the range can be from an hour to mere minutes. 

“I would not count on Overwatch coming to your aid either,” He taunted from across the way. “Those incompetent fools will not find us here.” 

His remark sparked another surge of anger within. Against her best instincts, Mei didn’t start running, slowly looking over her shoulder back at Ramattra. He didn’t make any move to come after her, only watching her closely from the building. 

“What did you just call my friends?” asked Mei with a sharp glare. 

“Let us not ignore the facts,” said Ramattra. “Overwatch has a rather terrible track record for rescuing their own. I watched them, you know, when they first sent the Icebreaker to this continent to rescue you. They failed miserably, and then…? They never came back.” 

She opened her mouth to argue, but only silence and the steam of her breath left it. He wasn’t…wrong, necessarily. But…

“That was the old Overwatch,” she shouted back once she gathered her courage. “The new Overwatch, my friends , would never abandon me!” 

Of course they wouldn’t. Lena would never leave her alone. Neither would Winston, or Angela, or Vivian, or…or… 

Ramattra cut off her train of thought, “It’s been seven hours since my forces captured you, Mei-Ling. Plenty of time to organize a rescue effort. And yet, I have seen nothing.” 

“No, no you’re lying!” Mei fiercely shook her head. “They’re looking for me, I know they are!” 

“Denial is merely a stage of grief. Why cause yourself further strife by placing your hopes on those who betrayed you all those years before? It’s just as I said. Humanity cares not for each other. Only their status quo. And you, my dear, stopped fitting into that normalcy a long time ago.”

“Stop…” She croaked out, tears already flooding her eyes. 

He continued, because he either didn’t hear her plea or simply hadn’t cared for it, “You are a relic of their past. A constant reminder of Overwatch’s fall from grace. Did you truly believe they wouldn’t cast you aside the moment they had the chance to? Not even their founders were spared such a fate.” 

“STOP! Just stop, stop talking!”  

“Dr. Zhou. There’s no need for this. No need for you to suffer anymore.”

Ramattra lifted his open hand out to her, even from his distance. A gesture that would normally signify aid was now instead an invitation to a quiet end. 

“Give up and walk back with me. I will not abandon you in your final hours. And you will be remembered when you’re gone. Always.” 

…What if he was right? What if…no one was coming for her? Just as no one came for her the first time. Mei didn’t move from her spot. Shivering in the frigid, howling winds, she slowly moved her arms up to tightly hug her sides. Pain, despair, and pure rage pumped in tandem with her heartbeat. She wanted to scream, to lash out, to destroy something. But there was nothing out here. Nothing but her, him, and the frozen bridge she stood on. 

She was cold. So very cold. And so very tired. She didn’t even have Snowball with her this time. There was no one but Ramattra. Maybe…maybe it would be easier just to…give in. Stop fighting the fate that the world clearly wanted for her. To die here, peacefully in her sleep, with her friends beside her–

“As long as we stick together, we’ll be fine,” Winston had reassured her that day in Paris. “Don’t worry, I’ll be right behind you.”

Ah…

Tracer hugged Mei close while she cried, gently telling her, “ I get what it’s like to have your whole world ripped away from you. After my accident, I didn’t think I would ever feel normal again. But with time, slowly, I got a new normal. It was hard, and it hurt like hell. But trust me when I say, it’s much easier when you’re not doing it alone.” 

That’s right. 

“That was risky, Dr. Zhou,” Cassidy once chided her once they'd gotten the civilians out of a war zone and back onto an evacuation route. His stern look softened however and he grinned. “I respect it. Just don’t go jumping in front of missiles without warning again, y’hear? We’d miss you too much.” 

The others never saw her as a relic. 

Pharah gave her a friendly shoulder nudge after a rough training session, “Don’t beat yourself up, rookie. You’re getting the hang of things already.” 

She wasn’t their past mistake. 

“Us women of science? We’re unstoppable together. Isn’t that right, Mei?” Mercy said to her with a big grin and an arm around her shoulder. 

She was Dr. Mei-Ling Zhou. She was a scientist. She was a sole survivor of a horrific ordeal. But more than that…

Bastion stopped a few feet ahead of her and offered a plucked dandelion. When she didn’t react right away, he simply held it out closer to her. His head tilted to the side in the same manner as a curious cat, and a high pitched sound followed.  

“Oh…? Oh! Is that for me?” Mei asked. When Bastion whirred and nodded, she grinned and took the dandelion. “Thank you, it’s very pretty.” 

She was Mei-Ling from Xi’an. The girl in the apartment building who spent summer nights sitting out on their small balcony to watch the stars with her telescope. The girl who picked up colorful leaves from the grass to show her friends in the autumn. She was her loving mother’s daughter, her bǎo bèi. She was the woman who sang too loudly when she was drunk on karaoke nights. The woman who memorized everyone’s favorite drink so she could have it ready in the morning.

“I followed your journal for a while. You know, I wasn’t able to travel outside of Busan much when I was with MEKA. It sucked sometimes—okay—it sucked a lot,” D.Va admitted to Mei one morning, after the latter caught the young pilot peering over her shoulder while she worked. “But then I’d read about your travels, all the places you got to go to, and…just for a little bit, I could pretend I was there too. So uh, thanks, for helping me, even if you didn’t know you were.” 

After a sheepish grin, she added on, “You’re really cool, Dr. Zhou. You should own that more.” 

And most of all… 

“You’ve got a good heart, Mei,” Sojourn told her as they shared a brew of coffee one late night on the Watchpoint. After taking a long sip, she then said, “Don’t lose it, alright? We’re gonna need a whole lot of heart if we’re going to survive this fight.” 

Mei nodded, “I’ll do my best, Sojourn.” 

“Just Vivian. We’re off-duty right now, no need to be so formal,” she corrected Mei with a soft smile. “Besides, it’s what I like my friends to call me.” 

She was a friend. Their friend. To Snowball, Jiayi, Lena, Winston, Vivian, Bastion, Angela, Cole, Hana, Reinhardt, Jean-Baptiste, Lúcio, Aleksandra…and so, so many more. And everything they had given her, from a home to companionship, was all done in the name of their love for her. The same love that Mei had carried for the friends who passed away in the Ecopoint. 

For them, Mei silently declared, she couldn’t give up now. 

She lifted her head back up, wiping her tears. Ramattra appeared to have taken the opportunity to jump onto the bridge himself and began walking towards her. When he reached again for her, Mei clenched her fists and took a step back. 

“No,” she said defiantly. “I’m not going with you. Not without a fight. I won’t give into the person who stole my friends’ lives just so he could be more comfortable with murder!”

Ramattra scoffed, “Such courage is wasted on a fruitless endeavor.” 

“Listen here, you terrible, no-good bully! ” Mei shot an accusatory finger his way as she kept moving back from him. “My life is mine. And I will fight for it! Because if the world is worth fighting for, and the people in it are worth fighting for…then so am I!” 

She then shouted with all her might, “I am Mei-Ling Zhou! And you’re going to remember me as the woman who fought you tooth and nail to save the world! Not as your precious little victim!” 

Ramattra stared her down, the lenses behind his faceplate glowing a bright scarlet. 

“Very well. Do not say I didn’t give you a chance to end this without violence,” he replied stoically. “Come, Mei-Ling…” 

There was a twitch to his body, then a jerk , before finally the loud buzzing of his nanites engulfed him. They grew in number, keeping him in a protected shell. When they finally settled, Ramattra emerged from the shadows… changed. He was large, standing even taller than before. But most notably, he’d grown an extra set of arms completely crafted out of nanites. Arms that were about as big as her entire body, and ready to strike deadly blows. 

“And suffer as I have.” 

Now or never. Mei felt the pressure in her chest rise. She readied herself with a deep, steadying breath. Let’s science the heck out of this. 

Mei didn’t waste another second, bolting across the bridge as Ramattra charged after her. She made it to the workshop on the other side, racing into another stairwell. She could hear the crashing of tools and workbenches being thrown aside behind her as she descended to the first floor. Ramattra was close on her tail, any doorway that he didn’t fit into was simply reduced to rubble by a hard punch or sheer force. 

He nearly got the jump on her when she reached the first floor, but Mei quickly grabbed a nearby wheeled tool cart and kicked it in his way. He snarled with frustration as he almost lost his balance. The obstacle slowed him for only a minute, but a minute was all she needed to bust out of that building and maneuver her way into another. 

That display gave her a potent reminder: she held the home field advantage. 

As she made her way through the Ecopoint’s various facilities, anything and everything she could find became a tool for Mei. She knocked over shelves, barricaded several doors with cabinets, and tossed a variety of beakers and old canisters straight at his head. 

When Ramattra attempted to corner her in the crews’ quarters, a can of Sergio’s hairspray and Linnea’s spare hairdryer became Mei’s weapons of choice. One quick spray from the former and a harsh hot breeze from the latter, and she crafted a well-smelling smoke screen cover. It lasted long enough to get her to the kitchen and dining area, where she added a kettle full of boiling water and a large soup pot to her arsenal. If the situation weren’t so dire, Mei might have gotten a good laugh out of seeing the giant, menacing ravager struggle to yank the pot off his head sparking with bolts of static from the hot water. 

Mei utilized the nooks and crannies of the base as well, squeezing into the short gap of the office building’s air vents proved to be quite the conundrum for Ramattra’s massive arms. He yanked one vent down from the ceiling in an enraged frenzy, screaming afterwards when his relentless shaking of the cross section did not yield him a scientist sliding out. 

(She almost felt sorry for that one. But not that sorry.) 

Her vent crawling soon landed her in the Hydroponics Lab, where she spotted the fire alarm and promptly yanked it down. The shrill noise blared across the entire building, and Mei could faintly hear a frustrated snarl from Ramattra a few doors down. Good. That would throw off his auditory sensors for a bit. 

She hurried to the doors and made a mad dash outside, sprinting across the outdoor grounds that laid in-between the observatory offices and another section of the crews’ quarters building. Her next–and hopefully not final–destination was on the horizon. 

The Cryonics Research Lab. This lab had been Captain Opara’s main station all those years ago. Here he had installed a massive cryofluid canister into the wall, not unlike the smaller version inside the cryochambers, only this one held samples. Tiny insects, plant species, even soil were cryogenically frozen and preserved inside. One big scientific sleepover, he used to jokingly call it. 

If only she had any semblance of time to spare, Mei might have spent far longer looking over the remnants of her beloved captain’s workspace. But she knew Ramattra would track her here soon in his relentless chase. She needed to plan something to retaliate, and fast . 

Mei drifted her eyes to the second level deck, where the pipelines of the cryofluid systems were stored. Another window was broken, revealing a portion of the upstairs area and…huh. There was something in the wall she couldn’t quite make out. She hurried up the staircase and–

—Oh. Oh…oh no. 

In just that brief glance at the sight before her, Mei felt her adrenaline drain from her. 

For there, stabbed into the wall next to a section of the power line that was in ruins, was a bright red fire ax. Beneath its cutting edge was a large stain. Thankfully not blood, Mei instead recognized it as dried up cryofluid. The size and shape of the ax perfectly matched a series of gashes and incisions made into the nearby pipelines. 

It all looked like it hadn’t been touched in years. 

Mei didn’t react when she heard the lab’s doors being thrown open and the footsteps of a hulking body enter. 

“This is where you did it,” she accused aloud, knowing very well he could hear her. “ This is where you killed them.” 

There was another beat. Then another long, tired sigh. 

“For what little it’s worth, Dr. Zhou, I took no joy in it. No pleasure. No satisfaction. It was all a necessary evil.” 

Mei silently stepped forward to the shattered window to look down upon the guilty one. Ramattra stared back up at her. Most omnics weren’t built with the capability of facial expressions, him included. And yet…there it was again, some tangible emotion Mei could read upon his face. Sorrow ingrained deep into his very being. 

“At least, when it was done, I told myself that it was necessary,” he continued. “That the lives of the few meant little in the grand design of saving the many.”

“And now?” Mei questioned him with a tilt of her head. 

“I don’t know anymore,” Ramattra could no longer meet her gaze. “But what’s done is done. I must see my goals through.”

She grimaced, “I can’t ever forgive you for what you’ve done to me. You know that, right?” 

“I never expected you to.”

Mei nodded and continued, “But that doesn’t mean I think you’re incapable of doing the right thing. You have the power to stop this before it’s too late. Let me go. Shut off the omnium, and stop this invasion. We can help you save your people without any more sacrifices. If we work together…then there’s always another way.” 

Ramattra paused, as if reflecting upon her words. There was a hiss of steam and another jerk of his nanites as his form began to shrink. He shifted back to his original body, the extra mass and set of limbs gone. His nanites returned to his staff. 

He spoke, “I wish I could believe in such hope. I really do. It is the same hope that my brothers attempted to give me, a long, long time ago. Mondatta. Zenyatta…” 

To Mei’s dismay, Ramattra pointed his staff up in her direction, charging a stream of nanites. 

“...But such hope has already led too many I cared for to their deaths. I will see it no more.” 

And so, their bridge crumbled. 

“I’m sorry,” Mei whispered as she reached to her side and yanked out the ax in the wall. “I’m sorry that you were in so much pain that you gave up on the world. But…”

She gripped the ax’s handle, raising it high above her head. 

“I haven’t,” Mei declared and threw the ax straight down. 

It crashed into the cryofluid canister blade-first, shattering the glass. Steam and frost poked out from the cracks before it collapsed into a flood of cold. Ramattra was consumed by it in seconds. Mei couldn’t see if he attempted to run or fight against it.

When the steam cleared, he still stood there, his entire body frozen from top to bottom. Mei wasn’t foolish enough to assume it would hold him forever and made a speedy exit from the laboratory building. 

Stepping back outside into the silent grounds, Mei heard a new sound. Jets. Propulsion. She looked up into the sky…

…And she saw a ship, with a bright yellow insignia, soaring above. It circled around the main premises before landing in a wide open space in the snow. The main door flew open and out zipped a familiar face that nearly tackled Mei when she jumped in for a tight hug. 

“MEI!” Tracer squealed with relieved delight. “You’re alright! Thank goodness, love! We were worried sick!” 

Mei hugged her back, relishing in her friend’s warmth, “Lena…!” 

Four more emerged from the ship. Sojourn, Reinhardt, Baptiste, and Snowball, all of them geared up in polar climate equipment, hurried over with their own cheers of joy. Snowball quickly joined in on the hug, nuzzling up against Mei’s cheek and whirring her name in his automatic voice. 

“Good to see you, cheri ,” Baptiste grinned as he approached. The combat medic received a hug of his own before he pulled back and got serious. “Are you hurt anywhere? I have a med pack ready to go for you on the ship.” 

“I’m okay, but thank you Baptiste.” 

“You fretted too much, my friend!” laughed Reinhardt as he stepped up next to the medic. He leaned forward and gave Mei a hardy pat to her back, “I knew our Snow Queen could handle herself against those Null Sector bugs.” 

“I did my best,” Mei replied with a shrug and laugh of her own as Snowball snuggled into her arms. “How did you find me?” 

Sojourn joined next, “You can thank that little buddy of yours. We were stumped until Winston figured out that Snowball’s facial recognition systems were still linked to the Ecopoint. When Null Sector turned the power back on, he pinged you on the sensors.” 

“Really? Thank you, Snowball,” Mei smiled, glancing down at her adorable assistant and best friend. “You saved me again.” 

And thank you , Stella. Mei quietly added on as she hugged Snowball tighter. 

She looked back up to the others, her smile dropping as she said, “Everyone, we need to get out of here now! Ramattra is here, I stalled him but it won’t hold. Th–There’s so much I need to tell you. Null Sector—there’s an omnium underneath Antarctica—and…and…” 

“The big boss of Null Sector and an omnium? They’re both here?!” Baptiste exclaimed warily.

Mei tried to explain further but soon found her words choked back by restrained sobs breaking loose. Somehow even more tears managed to fill her already wet eyes and streamed down her cheeks. It had all…caught up with her how close death’s embrace had come to her that day. 

“Hey,” Sojourn spoke up gently, placing a comforting hand to her shoulder, “you did great, Mei. You can fill us in on the way back. Let’s get you home.” 

Mei sniffled and nodded, letting Lena wrap an arm around her and hurriedly guide her back to the ship. After they boarded, Sojourn decided to take the reins as pilot, allowing Tracer to strap herself in next to Mei in the seating area. Reinhardt took co-pilot’s seat, while Baptiste sat across from Mei and Tracer, prepping several medical supplies as he did. 

“Mei,” Tracer said softly as she kept a protective hold on her friend, “I’m so sorry we didn’t get to you sooner. We—We tried, we really did. But–,” 

“It’s okay, Lena,” Mei cut her off. “You…” 

She trailed off, wiping at her eyes one last time and sniffling before she finished, “You all came for me, in the end. I couldn’t be happier.” 

Tracer smiled back, “Of course, love. We’d never give up on you.”

“No man left behind on this team,” declared Reinhardt. “Not ever again.” 

“Besides, I think we all know that the Watchpoint would go up in flames if we lost you. Figuratively and literally,” chuckled Baptiste. 

Sojourn turned around in her chair, ending it off with a genuine smile, “You’re one of us, Mei. And we always come back for our people.” 

Mei felt her heart swelter as the ship lifted back into the sky. A heart that was filled with love for all who resided in it. The world. Family. Friends, old and new. 

“Thank you,” she said. 

All of whom were worth fighting for.