nysalogs | ( open ) you, strange as angels

Entry tags:

( open ) you, strange as angels

Who: Angela "Mercy" Ziegler (

cadeuces) & YOU!
What: Introducing your newest doctor! The calm (intro) before the storm (event), a chance at starting CR before things get Bananas, and exploring the area
When: All January
Where: Thesa Station & Nadril mainly, a bit of Olympia on the side
Warning(s): Possible mentions of the trauma/sickness from the cryo pod ejections on arrival

█ thesa station

( Their arrivals hadn't been easy, with the state of emergency and alarms blaring to bring them to consciousness, bleary and nauseous. But Angela has never been one to let that stop her. Instinct kicks in and she's quick to go to others and help where she can, trying to rouse anyone else unceremoniously dumped on the floors and setting to righting those who simply weren't ready to wake in the least, ensuring they're hooked back up to the vital monitors before resealing the pods.

Whether you're also recently waking or you're around trying to secure people back in place as well, Angela almost looks like she knows exactly what she's doing even with the advanced technology.

There's only so many places a heart can be, after all, so the sensors are easy to apply again. The rest... well, guesswork and waiting for "green" responses. That seems to be quite universal in all interfaces.

Once she's done as much as she can in that regard, she settles for wandering the station and exploring every inch she can (which is not very many inches in the end, beyond mess hall and the observation deck), ultimately settling wherever she can find a decent cup of coffee and wishing desperately for cream.

Let the combat medic help you get your space legs, or join another weary soul and lament the coffee, or hear a new neighbor slumping into one of the starter cabins just to catch a break. (Or maybe it wasn't as unoccupied as it seemed at first glance, and you find a nice Swiss doctor in your bed— a modern day Goldilocks. Oops.) )

█ nadril

( It's after her romp through the simulations (and boy, was that a doozy) that she actually gets the chance to explore Nadril properly. There is a sense of tension in the air but this is far more familiar to her than anything else she's seen— Angela's from Switzerland. If there's anything in her blood, it's winter.

There's ice skating (tempting, but she's too rusty) and plenty of shops to browse, and she enjoys the will of the people here. She hasn't seen a single person not busy at work with some task or another, making those from outside the city stick out like a sore thumb in their meager clothes and their lack of purpose. Still, it's finally the air of Nadril that invigorates her again and finally makes her feel awake.

Anyone exiting the simulations with her or recognizable from the station will have her sticking around to ensure they're all right for some time, to continue chatting, before they ultimately decide to return to the station. Eventually they wear out their welcome even having attempted (and partially succeeded) to help solve the mysteries in those recollection-simulations, and there is nowhere for them to stay here. It's just as well; they can only stay in the cold for so long without the appropriate attire. Her appreciation is openly offered for the company, both in-sim and out, and she's clearly glad to have made some new friends in this place. They all had to look out for each other, don't they? )

Shall we get something hot to drink before we go?

█ olympia

( This is where they were to stay, is it...? Angela is mostly found wandering the market district and checking the boards for anything she may be able to accomplish, but it seems with the worry looming overhead in the darkening night skies, no one is particularly looking to hire so much as bunk down and ride out the storm.

It's a touch problematic for someone that needs to earn some measure of money to get herself started. She's been comfortable for so long even while stranded in the middle of a desert or a remote jungle or wherever her work may have taken her back home that she doesn't recall what it's like to start from scratch. To not have money in hand to buy a few spare pieces of clothing, or a better meal. She can't even buy some street cart meal for those around her, if she happens to spot someone hungry and homeless, or a young child eyeing sweets without any parents visible nearby.

It's beautiful in a way that nowhere in 2076 could be. Everywhere she looks is the sign of age and warmth, older construction techniques she's only ever seen the likes of in historical photos or renderings of the past. She's a bit taken with it, to be honest.

She scopes out different areas and vacancies, trying to see if she can't find a place to rest her head so she isn't taking up any of the limited spaces aboard the station, but she doesn't want to be so far from those she already knew here and she doesn't know where anyone happens to be. She may just have to keep imposing, and tell herself she's best put to use monitoring those in cryo. At least it's easier to find her on Thesa should anyone need her.

...Oh, dear. It seems she's quite lost. )

Excuse me— do you know the way back to the plaza? I think I ended up a bit turned around.

█ wildcard

( Feel free to hit me with anything in the area! I'm new and not too familiar with the setting or its current state yet so I'm Doing My Best but I'm very open to any alternate scenarios / approaches / locations! )

( ooc: her test drive thread was here, her permissions/info post is here, and her CR meme thread is here for more information!

I can be reached via PM, private plurk @

clegane, or on disco @ 🍑milkies#5968 (in the game server as "Jamie! | Mercy" in green). I'm very open/comfortable with chatting so please don't feel shy if you wanted to prod or had any questions! )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Gabriel knows that Angela is here by now--if he hadn't known by her empty stasis tank, well, he'd spoken about it with Jack. Given his work with Moira, however, he's a bit hesitant to reveal himself right away. In true Blackwatch fashion, he keeps an eye on her first, getting an idea of what she's up to now that she's planetside, before he chooses to make himself known.

He spends a great deal of his time in Nadril these days, mostly because the level of tech is more comfortable, even if the temperature is not. When he finally addresses her directly, he's been tailing her through the marketplace for some time now, finding a convenient stall to lean on as she rounds a corner in his direction.]

You look lost.

[He wouldn't be surprised if Angela was waiting for this. Gabriel knows full well that she might have further pieces of information he hasn't gleaned from Jack or Moira, so at the very least, this will be something of an interesting reunion.]

( Jack had mentioned Gabriel's presence to her, as well, and she figures he'll make himself known to her eventually if she didn't chance a run-in much as she had with Jack. She doesn't know where to seek him out and she doesn't see him anywhere on the network, but she begins to get the feeling somewhere along the way that someone's watching her.

He won't have found anything different about her, really. Her hair's longer, perhaps, but she still has the same purpose to her walk and she's still bright, always smiling a little smile that warms whenever she happens to make eye contact with someone, bowing her head in mild deference and silent greeting, taking in everything around her with no small measure of wonder. It's beautiful, after all, and the technology is amazing.

There are already a couple of familiar faces to her that she greets and spends a few minutes with, visibly looking them over and seeming pleased with the result, seeing if everyone's still all right. When she gets her hands on a bit of some hot beverage or another, she's clasping it in cold hands and her breath puffs a little more visibly after sipping it, warming her mouth and throat.

The sound of his voice has her perking immediately, alert and interested, eyes finding him almost immediately. One brief scan from the opposite direction and then over to him, not so much as passing him by even by an inch. Her smile comes just as easily, even if she doesn't do anything as familiar as reach out to him as she had Jack.

He looks like not a day's gone by. )

Is that an offer to be my chaperone? ( Fondness weighing her tone down, expression a bit complicated— she's glad to see him well and whole, of course, but she also remembers how the mood had been seven years ago. It wasn't particularly pleasant. ) It's good to finally run into you, Gabriel. How are you?

[Angela doesn't look that much older--certainly not six years or so older, but then again, she presumably hasn't suffered the real physical traumas that have Jack and Ana looking so haggard. Still, he can tell that there's that gulf between them, if only based on her expression alone. She's clearly thinking about how to approach this.

And she's as tactful as ever, the familiarity of it a little comforting, especially when Jack and Ana treated him like an enemy right off the bat. He knows full well that she won't be entirely forthcoming, but for once someone is glad to see him, and not because he's a willing experiment in their mad science.]

Well, you never know what's out there.

[So yes, for now he'll be her chaperone, if only to do a little requisite information gathering. How are you feels like a trite question to answer for Gabriel, whose general state of being is always a little complicated.]

Can't complain.

( Now that he's up close, he may be able to see the fine lines when she smiles or crinkles her nose (only when she's truly amused, of course), or the deeper furrow between her brows. All things that take time to come out, showing that the nanites are certainly trying to keep up with elasticity but never quite completely on top of it. Stress takes its toll on them all; she just had an edge, and hadn't been shot at or blown up nearly so often or so extensively.

That he eases even just incrementally to her acceptance of his presence is something that has her easing further. He's still Gabriel, after all. He was important to her too. She held respect for all the founding members of Overwatch and their vision, even if she disagreed with the line of work he'd fallen into and a lot of what he had to do.

As with all things, she understood the other side, she just didn't care for it. It isn't something she focuses on when she gets to see him again, alive. Well (enough). )

Then I'll gladly say "thank you" and place myself in your hands. Coffee?

( She cracks the cover open on the side opposite where she'd drank from, offering it. It's important to keep warm, Gabe. And she's certainly not afraid of cooties. )

Still having your good days and bad days?

( She remembers. Even if it meant remembering there was little she could do. )

I wouldn't want to impose.

[He refuses the coffee, simply out of habit--Gabriel very rarely drinks or eats anything he hasn't seen prepared or done himself, unless he knows it's coming from a trusted source. A holdover from a lifetime in black ops, and he's just as distrustful of anything in Nadril's market.

Still, it's nice of her to offer, and he keeps pace.]

I've been doing better.

[Gabriel isn't going to tell her why he's been doing better. It's more an indication that he's not going to say much more than anything else.]

You never could.

( The offer will remain open and she'll easily allow him to take the cup if he changes his mind. It's had no effect on her thus far, but she understands and recalls the hesitation. (Paranoia.)

For someone with an escort, she doesn't really seem to have any particular destination besides "gently meandering back out of Nadril", though she wishes she could stay. Purchase some of the warmer clothes. She's eyeballing every fur-lined coat they pass with considerable envy.

Clearly, if she were able, this is where she would choose to take root. When he says he's been doing better than she knew of before, however, she turns a smile up to him and seems to consider him for it. )

I'm very glad to hear that, Gabriel. It's been some time since Overwatch, for myself, but I could never fully stop thinking about it.

( It didn't do her any good to pursue a cure for a dead man, when the only SEP graduates (survivors) were now deceased and Jack had never shown signs of the genetic degradation Gabriel had. She thinks they'd all had slightly different formulas to begin with.

She doesn't ask after it. Likely assumes it's something the people here have done for him, as they had so many others. Their technology was incredible. )

Tell me about this place; where is it you usually go? You're in the south with Jack, right? Wyver?

[Paranoia, sure. Something he's never been able to shake, not since he signed himself away to the US government in a last-ditch attempt to fight back against the omnic uprising. Angela's concern is nice to hear, and had been at the time as well, but Gabriel had always known that the solution wasn't going to come from an adherence to medical ethics. He'd always known that he was going to need to find his own solutions.

That, and Moira's idea of weaponizing his condition had been appealing to him in a way he knew people like Jack and Ana and Angela would never understand, much less condone.

So it's best to drop the subject. Gabriel is perfectly content to talk about where he's living, and where Angela has settled for the time being.

He nods--Wyver is where the apartment is, at least.]

When I get tired of living in a Renaissance fair I come here. Where'd you end up?

( Which, again, she gets. She had to try and understand her patients to help them, even if he scarcely scratched the surface of the definition. They had all at least tried. If someone, somewhere, had eventually found a way to help him, she wouldn't scoff at it.

(The weaponizing, however...)

In the end, it's a subject that is his very personal business and she wasn't one to pry unless absolutely necessary. This is far from it. He will share what he feels like sharing or tell her what he thinks she should know, and she trusts that well enough. He picks up on the question and replies mildly enough, and she can't shake her smile.

To just be walking at his side again, having such a mundane conversation. Had they ever held one like this before? It's hard to remember between medical briefings on Blackwatch agents, reports on Genji's mood swings or behavior in the field, vehement insistence he wasn't ready for x, y, z— it had more often than not come down to such topics. She finds she likes this far more. It's easy to mistake that idle gladness for amusement with his joke, at least for a little bit. )

I didn't know you'd like the cold. And I suppose my room is still on the station, until I decide on... what is it, one of the three cities? It doesn't seem they have any lodgings here, and it's so far away from everyone else... ( Including them, in Wyver. Transport or no, to Thesa and back down, she would rather know she can look down the street any given day and find people she knows. They just seem to be rather spread out, is all. ) I only just arrived, so I haven't had the chance to travel around yet either way. So many people were ejected from the cryo chambers with alarms blaring, and no one on the ship was around to explain what was going on, so I stayed and tried to wake or right as many people as I could. Leaving brought us here, where there were simulations for reconnaissance on some similar issue.

( 'Similar issue', like the night sky wasn't darkening star by star, setting off those alarms. It wasn't an easy arrival and it didn't much make for a sightseeing state of mind. No matter how easily she relays the situation, it's clear it still bothered her. )

I don't mind it.

[Sure, born and raised in a warmer climate, but Gabriel's spent more time traveling the world at this point than he has in Los Angeles. He might not prefer the cold, but he can weather it, especially if it means spending time around real technology.

He files the things she's saying about the station away for later--can't hurt to get back up there and check on the pods. Make sure Ana and McCree and the others are okay.]

If you want to keep an eye on Jack, then Wyver's your best bet.

[He doesn't mention that Jack is technically not allowed in Olympia.]

Otherwise, it's Olympia. Not a jungle--it has that going for it.

It is easier to warm up than it is to cool down, of course.

( Which is to say, she's right there with him. His mention of Wyver has her sighing with some measure of disappointment, because she'd already heard about the climate (and also the dragons??? what the fuck you guys). )

I may be put to better use monitoring the pods on the station, instead of trying to find somewhere to settle for now. Should I have reason to want to keep an eye on Jack, though?

( It's a curious thing to offer out of the blue. Was something wrong? )

[Gabriel manages a little laugh, and raises an eyebrow in Angela's direction.]

Because he's Jack.

[Sure, she never knew Morrison in the worst of the crisis, but Gabriel still thinks there's nothing to elaborate on in that department. It's also nicer to talk about Jack than it is to fully elaborate on how he's been doing. Gabriel still wants to play that close to the chest.]

He gets in trouble.

That... is fair enough. Still much the same as his heyday, then.

( She's had a difficult time figuring him out; they didn't exactly speak, much, and it will take time to open up more. For the both of them, certainly. (For all three of them.) )

Has he been in much trouble, here, already?

He got lost in the woods about a month ago.

[He turned into a wolf, too, but Gabriel isn't sure how he's going to explain that to Angela. He's still trying to wrap his mind around it, too.]

I had to drag him back kicking and screaming.

[And barking.]

Wait, is he all right...? After the explosion.

( As in, subtly, asking if all his mental faculties are. Firing correctly... because PHRASING™, Gabriel. Now she's just worried!!! How does Jack Morrison get lost in the woods and then why would he complain about being brought back!!!

Way to go, dingus.

Just tell her he was a dog and she'll accept it easier than thinking he's been injured in a way they can't reach. )

[Gabriel frowns a little, perhaps betraying that he's only sort of joking around. She's speaking in reference to Jack getting lost in the woods, but Gabriel is now thinking in more general terms. The Jack that's here is different from the person he once knew in many ways.]

He's lost a lot.

[That should say enough--he imagines Angela knows how it feels. Gabriel knows he's not being entirely truthful about the whole situation, but it can't hurt to keep Angela sympathetic to him.]

Treated me like an enemy, when I first showed up.

( The frown doesn't escape her, though his ulterior motive certainly does. He's different from the Jack she'd known, as well, and she's still trying to map out just how that could be, short of a hair change and a few extra scars, melancholy at his shoulders and distrust rife with a familiar but now deeper-rooted paranoia.

The answer Gabriel eventually gives her is an obvious one, so she only hums under her breath to acknowledge it, remembering that his time was different from hers and Jack's. )

Did he ever tell you about what had happened? After.

( She doesn't know if he wants to even know what the future may hold, but she bumps against his side on one off step and they careen together, using it to shoulder against him an extra moment longer. Empathetic as ever. )

I know that I'm supposed to be dead.

[Of course Angela woudln't say anything about it to him, likely for his own comfort.]

Weaseled that out of him eventually.

[Implying that Jack had been less-than-forthcoming with the information. Gabriel sounds fairly casual about his own death, mostly because he knows that, in the future, he's not really dead. ]

( Her brows furrow to it, but she nods an acknowledgement with a soft "mm", confirming that much at least. He phrases everything so particularly that he conveys exactly what degree of information he's received, how difficult it was to get it, and debates how best to proceed and how to word it in turn. )

You both are. Though I suspect if one of you survived with a few extra scars, you should have, as well. The smartest thing to do would have been to go underground. It was six years ago, for me, and I hadn't seen hide nor hair of either of you. No one surmised otherwise.

You and Jack both have empty coffins interred at Arlington. It was the last time any of us saw the other agents together. The UN dismantled Overwatch and forbade us from contacting one another or continuing any activities.

I still hear from Genji sometimes. The Lindholms, of course, and Reinhardt through them. Brigitte is off about the countryside with him, helping tend to his armor— do you remember her? Torbjorn's youngest, the one always smeared in grease.

( It was a fond recollection of pictures they'd all seen, at least. He'd been so proud of her. The only one to follow in his footsteps, after all. But her smile falls again, exhaling a breath that fogs before her in the cold. )

There had been some raids on past bases; I presume that was you or Jack, now. But six years... It's hard to say how either of you have been. What you've been through since. No one had heard from either of you.

( Which is the roundabout way of agreeing that yes, Jack has lost a lot. And that she thinks it's well within reason for him, and that she worries. Six years of absence isn't easy to bridge when she's the one reaching out. )

It may not be much, but I will always be here. For the both of you. And I'll do what I can to help.

Well, apparently I didn't.

[If Jack is to be believed, then Reyes' future involves a strange undead state, something he's not sure he wants to think about--either way, it's best to squash Angela's notion that he might have survived the blast the way Jack did. It might afford him some flexibility in the future, if they find their way out of this and all things come to pass.

Hearing that Angela has done her best to keep in touch with the fragmented ex-Overwatch doesn't surprise him in the least. She's sentimental in a way he's not, as evidenced by the fact that he glosses over most of what she says, especially with regards to her devotion to the both of them.

The raids on past bases are easy to guess at.]

Sounds like Jack. If I was breaking into old bases, no one would know.

And was he so certain of that?

( She never received the details of the undead portion, either. Forgive her the optimism in light of that. He only told her he was here and he was from before Overwatch fell.

Besides, it isn't as though they're returning home. Earth is gone. All iterations of it, she supposes. There is nothing she can return to and affect with the knowledge either way. He ignores a portion of what she'd mentioned, not deigning to answer it, and she supposes that's answer enough even if he hadn't used his words. )

That was half of it. But there were deaths, too. He wouldn't have gone so far. Not the way they had been killed.

( Withered husks, and all that. He had ignored her reassurance as well, which only has her tone dropping off, closing off. Shifting toward business rather than the friendliness of before, if that's what he prefers.

It certainly isn't what she'd prefer, which he well knows. )

Seemed pretty certain.

[Here, he'll capitalize on the fact that Jack isn't very good at subtlety and is even worse at lying. Sure, this will all fall apart if she questions Jack directly, but Gabriel likes to think he's not so willing to share the details of what he's been up to for the last six years.

At the assertion that Jack wouldn't kill anyone, Gabriel can only snort.]

You don't think Jack would kill anyone?

( That isn't what she said, dingus!! )

Not the way those men had died, no. He isn't capable of that. They were husks, Gabriel. As if the life had been sucked out of them.

It was an ugly way to go for people just doing their job.

( Of course Jack had the capability; but he wasn't cruel or unusual. If he didn't stop at simply disabling them, he'd put a bullet between the eyes and be done with it. Her brows are furrowed when she turns to look at him, trying to gauge if he thought Jack was capable of something like that. )

[What she's describing sounds more like Moira than anything else, and the thought unsettles him a little. Not something he's going to tell Angela, though he imagines she could make some educated guesses.]

Yeah, maybe not Jack.

[They can agree that something like that is beyond both his ability and his morals, even if the latter has changed over the years.]

Who do you think it is, then?

( Even Angela hasn't seen Moira suck the life out of anyone; but he agrees with her assessment, which has her nodding slowly, murmuring a soft assent of her own. A little mm that says "I didn't think you'd answer otherwise", though the relief in the set of her shoulders seems to counteract his lack of it.

At least they can still find common ground in something. )

I wish I knew. I couldn't even begin to hazard a guess, I'm afraid. Certainly someone who must know the layouts and security points of the watchpoints, yet...

Jesse is off somewhere in the Southwest with a bounty on his head, Genji in Nepal with the Shambali monks, Lena is still safe in London, Winston hides out... at Gibraltar, I believe. Where he had landed. Torbjorn in Sweden. Reinhardt and Brigitte still in the German countryside, last I'd heard.

( Besides themselves, that's all they have left. )

I don't see why it would be anyone we know.

[Not on the Overwatch side, at least. He's still entertaining his thoughts of Moira, but it unsettles him a little that she recounts ex-Overwatch agents as if they would be responsible for killing people in such a way.

He reminds himself that it's not out of the question someone from the outside could easily familiarize themselves with the Watchpoints.]

Overwatch's secrets were never airtight.

[And if it eventually falls, Gabriel wouldn't be surprised if the tech was sold to the highest bidder.]

nadril wildcard

starts crooning AAAAAT LAAAAAAAAAAAST and sways

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