A light shone in my face, making my headache worse, as prior events just played in my head.
Gabriel placed me in an interrogation room with S3bastian to question me about what happened.
He didn't know it, but I had actually succeeded.
I had actually taken control of the Ravager for a bit and I learned a valuable lesson from this experience.
The moment I placed my hands on the Ravager, I felt the powerful electricity flowing through it.
It was all too easy for me to take control of the currents, but that's where the problems started.
Anubis was smart, like insanely smart.
I had figured that Ravagers were just programmed to be that calculating, precise and ruthless.
But the truth was much more frightening.
Ravagers were being created and awakened under his control.
I mean thinking about it now, I kind of already knew this since there were omnics who were once Ravagers and could recount their experiences during the war, like Ramattra.
So when I was sensing the energy within the Ravager, I found another power that was dormant within him.
Curiosity got the better of me and I investigated this power with the intent of adding it to my own.
The moment I touched it, a jolt went through my body and I quickly recognized my own white hair and face.
As I understood I was looking at my own self, I was lifted with insane speeds into the sky.
I could only look down as the building we were in started to grow tinier as the city we were in came into focus.
As the city quickly grew smaller, I could see the North American continent before my vision was obscured by the clouds.
Soon the whole world became a dot in the distance my ascent slowed in space.
Still without control of whatever form i was in, I started to slowly turn around to an overwhelmingly bright yellow glow.
Through squinted eyes, I could make out a giant orb with a ring around it with a smaller orb within it that had eight smaller balls of light that perfectly surrounded a larger central ball.
I could only gaze at it in wonder as a single thought crossed my mind.
'Is this the Iris?'
As if it understood me, its entire being radiates a warmth answering my question.
I hadn't expected to run into such a force, or at least not so early on.
'To what do I owe the pleasure?'
My actions play before my eyes, of me attempting to unknowingly trying to control the Iris, which is worshipped by the Shambali omnic monks that represent harmony.
'Oh. My bad.' I apologize.
A tendril of light caresses my body, putting me at ease.
Scenes of me mediating in the Zazen state with Mamoru appear in my mind.
Another plays of an older version of me, walking with 9 golden floating orbs around me as a crowd of omnics gather around me.
I don't hear what I say to address them, but I see hope and admiration in their eyes.
As I finish, I can see them raise their arms in apparent cheering as another omnic comes from behind me, placing their hand on my shoulder.
I recognize the figure as the one support that was my main for many seasons, but he wasn't floating, or didn't have the orbs with him.
On my other side from Zenyatta, a taller omnic lightly punches my arm and I also recognize them as S3bastian.
The scenes stop and I once again stare at the glowing entity before me and I clearly understand what it's trying to say to me.
'Oh great, another reason to meditate.'
The Iris begins to glow brighter than before, and I have to shield my eyes against its shine to no avail.
Even with my eyes closed, I can see its' brightness through my closed eyelids until suddenly there's only dark.
My eyes fly open and I see my hands on Ravager and I could feel that his power was currently within my grasp.
He was currently in a state of awaiting my orders, meaning that through electricity I could in fact take over someone. Well, omnics so far.
Then came the surprise.
I was suddenly kicked out as the power source for the Ravager suddenly shut off, disorienting me as the sudden change sends waves of pain through my head.
The headache is so intense, I'm briefly paralyzed as don't even feel myself falling to the floor.
As some of the pain subsides, I can make out a deep metallic voice saying, "You can see the future, but you couldn't foresee this?" Very interesting."
Gunther's fast movements make my eyes dart, sending another wave of pain through my head and the booming of an explosion doesn't help either.
It took me a while to notice Gabriel had his shotgun leveled at me and had issued a command to follow him and he led me to an interrogation room.
I should start trying to figure out what questions he's going to ask so I can come up with answers.
Gabriel comes into the room holding a plate of doughnuts that he sets on the table in front of us.
S3bastian wastes no time in grabbing one and holding it up to his mouth.
"Nom nom nom nom." He pretends to eat while staring at Gabriel.
Tucked under his right arm, was a file that he opened up before looking at me.
"I've reported this little stunt to the higher ups and they're not pleased. Your position in Overwatch is being called into question and it's not looking good. As Strike Commander, I can save your position, but I need you to be honest and answer whatever I ask. Do you understand?" Gabriel says.
I knew that he wasn't telling the truth. Without the full picture, he couldn't report to his boss, who I believe was Gabrielle Adawe.
What was he going to tell her? The worst thing that I did was bring in the Ravager which blew up but truthfully speaking, he could have stopped us from bringing it since we were with him the entire time.
"Come on Strike Commander Reyes, I know that's bullshit. Just ask me whatever you want to know, and if I can, it'll get answered." I respond back truthfully.
His face turns serious at my statement as he rests his head on both of his hands.
"Tell me what happened back there." He finally says.
"Well I attempted to gain control of the Ravager, by using its electricity generated by the fusion reactor. I succeeded, but in a last ditch effort, it cut its power off and blew itself up." I explain.
"What about what it said?" He asks.
I sigh as he got to the topic I was trying to avoid. I wanted it to remain a secret so my best route is denial.
"I have no idea what that Ravager was talking about. Seeing the future? That's ridiculous." I deny.
I felt like I was rather convincing, but Gabriel was really good at his job.
He sits there with an unreadable expression, but I can tell from his quietness that he's less than convinced.
"So you want me to believe, that the omnic, capable of commanding over a hundred Bastions, coming up with counter strategizes within seconds, was going crazy as it died and rambled that out?"
Everything when oversimplified sounded stupid, so I wasn't fazed and doubled down.
"Probably to sew the seeds of discord amongst the group." I counter.
"If that's the case, why not say that you, or your omnic partner were actually on their side?" He questions.
"If they had dental insurance I'd probably join them." S3bastian mumbles before once again pretending to eat the doughnut.
Gabriel had me in a corner. I had to keep on the narrative that what the omnic said was untrue because if I try to switch it up, then I'm clearly lying.
My other choice was to convince him that I could see the future, but I wasn't too keen on what that would entail.
They would no doubt add it to my records, where anyone with a high enough rank could just see.
Not only that, but they would question me about future events that I wasn't going to share with them. If I couldn't change them, they can't either.
I open my mouth to double even more down but Gabriel holds up a hand, motioning for me to stop.
"Before you further deny what the omnic said, I want you to hear what I have to say.
I like to think of myself as a pretty understanding guy. As Strike Commander, I'm given access to an abundance of information, therefore, I know and see a lot of things that I wouldn't have thought possible decades ago when I first joined the force.
There's one thing I haven't ever seen, and that's a lying omnic. People lie, Shawn. Omnics act on the information they know and they can be wrong or mistaken, but they are incapable of outright lying. Now, you were saying?" He motions for me to continue but I remain silent for a few seconds.
He got me on that one. I actually kind of doubted what he said because there's no way that Maximilien could own and operate a casino without lying.
I sighed as I knew that the only option I had now, was the truth. Or, my version of it.
"Fine, you got me. I do possess another ability, which is the ability to foresee the future. But, I don't tell anyone because then they want to know the future and when I give hints, it changes to something worse.
Which is why I don't share any information on the future with anyone." I explain to Gabriel.
He sits back in his chair, content with the information I gave, but I could tell something was bothering him.
I remained silent to see what was making him uneasy as I didn't want to assume he was deconstructing my story when instead it was something simpler.
"So that's why you're so effective against the omnics, you knew all this would happen. You knew millions would die and yet as you claim, there's nothing you could do about it unless it would be worse.
If what you say is true, then I know why you're here at Overwatch." He says which puzzles me for a second.
"What do you mean?" I question.
"If you truly do know what happens, you'd have to be an idiot to be on the losing side."
His revelation shocks me a bit but then I realize that Gabriel was a rather intelligent individual and this was within his scope of skill.
He stands up from his chair, "You have some time before Lieutenant Wilhelm arrives in which case you will be deployed to New York to help push back the omnic oppression from the state together.
Get as much rest as you can now because you won't when you get any while you're there."
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Friday when I post again, I'm going to get rid of my sorry chapter and update it with one of the earlier posted chapters.
I expected the strike to last till the end of the week but it's not looking like it'll end till the end of the month like they said.
Good news is that with all these extra hours I'm getting, I'll have some time off and I'm planning a double posting the first week of September.
Thanks to all who are enjoying the story so far and having patience.