[ In all the time that Snake has known Jack, which admittedly isn't that long, he's never been the talkative type. So the fact that he is opening up now, even if it's for the sake of letting Snake learn more about Angela Ziegler, is more than enough to make him pay attention. There's a little bit more space between them now, with Jack on the arm of the couch, but Snake shifts to look at him and listen.
Snake doesn't know all that much about Overwatch or what it accomplished while it was active, save that their goal had been peace, but Angela's decision to be a part of it spoke for itself as far as he was concerned. Maybe he'd put her on a bit of a pedestal, but as Jack had said, she went into battle with a pair of angel wings and her call sign was Mercy.
He's quiet for a bit longer even after Jack is done speaking, his thumb running over the stubble on his chin. ]
How'd you convince her to join up? Seems like once she was there, she was in it for the long haul.
[ Something like fifteen years, probably. That's nothing to sneeze at. ]
[He says that with something of a wry grin. Angela had principles—they all had principles, of course, but money still talks. She’d had large, far-reaching ideas and needed the the resources to accomplish them. Jack was looking to give the UN something worth funding. They’d wanted to pour the resources into rebuilding efforts and assurance that if the omnics rose up again, humanity would be able to combat them. Jack had convinced them that investing in science, technology, and medicine was worth it.
Angela was worth it.]
That was the exchange. I secured her funding, promised that she’d have say in how her tech got used, and she’d join up.
[ It does always come down to money, in the end. Scientific advancement, particularly in the medical field, isn't likely to be cheap. Snake hadn't fully realized how much of what Angela did with her nanites had been of her own design. She'd been impossibly humble about the whole thing.
Snake's quiet for a few seconds before he finds Jack's eyes. With him wearing the visor half the time, it isn't that often that Snake gets to stare him down like this. ]
I know that Overwatch had a messy end to it, but if you were able to facilitate that kind of progress, then it did plenty of good too. Both of you were out there trying to make the world better.
[ If there's something that Snake has learned, it's that people like Angela and Jack are the exception to the rule. To want to better things for selfless reasons isn't a trait he's found in many people during his lifetime. If Overwatch had existed in his world, he probably still would have been paranoid about its possible connections to the Patriots, but having met the man behind it, not to mention the sort of people he'd recruit (Angela, Lena), it's easier to acknowledge the good that was done. ]
[Jack isn’t quite in the mental position to talk at length about the good Overwatch did or didn’t do—he’s still of the mindset that they caused more damage in the end, but he knows that it is, on some level, a product of his own self-loathing. For as much as he wants to hate Strike Commander Jack Morrison, his role in rebuilding the world post-Crisis is undeniable. They secured peace for a generation.
It’s just too bad they couldn’t make it last.]
Well, there was nowhere to go but up.
[Where else was the world supposed to turn in the aftermath of something like the Crisis? They hadn’t exactly had a choice but to follow Overwatch into a new era, and he can’t deny that the problems came when individual countries wanted their sovereignty back. Wanted to handle things on their own.
He’s not so lost in his own thoughts that he doesn’t recognize a compliment, though he isn’t sure how to take it.]
[ Nowhere to go but up. After a war, it makes sense, but it's not as if Jack only did the bare minimum to make sure the the world recovered. From what Snake understands, he'd gone above and beyond.
It seems like Jack's uncomfortable with the attention to his past work, though, so Snake lets it drop there. Besides, there's something he's been meaning to ask him about, as he glances to the brace on his arm.
He nods toward it. ]
What happened?
[ What would force someone like Jack to have to wear something like that? Snake doubts that someone with his enhancements would suffer long from a sprain or tendinitis, but who knows. ]
[Jack is surprised that Snake hasn't asked about it sooner--talking about Angela has allowed him to forget about the brace, but now he's going to have to provide some sort of explanation for it. He's kept his own death close to the chest. No reason to worry others with it, and Snake is no exception.]
It's nothing.
[Of course he already knows it isn't nothing, and Jack isn't a very good liar, but he'll try anyway.]
Sprained it.
[But now that there's attention on it, it's easy to see there isn't even the slightest twitch of fingers, the hand entirely immobile in the brace.]
[ Any time that anyone says "it's nothing," it's almost definitely something. Jack insists that he sprained his wrist, which may very well be true, but Snake's convinced there's more to the story.
Still, if Jack doesn't want to tell him, it's not like he can make him. Snake plans to keep an eye on his so-called sprain all the same. ]
And you without a doctor to look at it.
[ The words are said with a sigh as he rubs at his eyes and then stands from the couch. ]
All right, well... let me know if you hear anything.
[Jack has put off the conversation for now, but he knows Snake isn’t buying it. A part of him wants to tell the truth, but there’s no good way to detail the entire story without kicking up a fuss that Jack would rather not have. Snake is perceptive, at least. It’s likely he’ll realize what’s wrong with Jack’s hand sooner rather than later, and there will be no need to explain at all.
He can trust, at the very least, that Snake will let it all go unsaid.
For now, there’s only Angela’s empty house, and some packing to do. Jack nods solemnly and stands, surveying the room and clearly thinking of how he’s going to go about this.]
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no subject
Snake doesn't know all that much about Overwatch or what it accomplished while it was active, save that their goal had been peace, but Angela's decision to be a part of it spoke for itself as far as he was concerned. Maybe he'd put her on a bit of a pedestal, but as Jack had said, she went into battle with a pair of angel wings and her call sign was Mercy.
He's quiet for a bit longer even after Jack is done speaking, his thumb running over the stubble on his chin. ]
How'd you convince her to join up? Seems like once she was there, she was in it for the long haul.
[ Something like fifteen years, probably. That's nothing to sneeze at. ]
no subject
[He says that with something of a wry grin. Angela had principles—they all had principles, of course, but money still talks. She’d had large, far-reaching ideas and needed the the resources to accomplish them. Jack was looking to give the UN something worth funding. They’d wanted to pour the resources into rebuilding efforts and assurance that if the omnics rose up again, humanity would be able to combat them. Jack had convinced them that investing in science, technology, and medicine was worth it.
Angela was worth it.]
That was the exchange. I secured her funding, promised that she’d have say in how her tech got used, and she’d join up.
no subject
Snake's quiet for a few seconds before he finds Jack's eyes. With him wearing the visor half the time, it isn't that often that Snake gets to stare him down like this. ]
I know that Overwatch had a messy end to it, but if you were able to facilitate that kind of progress, then it did plenty of good too. Both of you were out there trying to make the world better.
[ If there's something that Snake has learned, it's that people like Angela and Jack are the exception to the rule. To want to better things for selfless reasons isn't a trait he's found in many people during his lifetime. If Overwatch had existed in his world, he probably still would have been paranoid about its possible connections to the Patriots, but having met the man behind it, not to mention the sort of people he'd recruit (Angela, Lena), it's easier to acknowledge the good that was done. ]
no subject
It’s just too bad they couldn’t make it last.]
Well, there was nowhere to go but up.
[Where else was the world supposed to turn in the aftermath of something like the Crisis? They hadn’t exactly had a choice but to follow Overwatch into a new era, and he can’t deny that the problems came when individual countries wanted their sovereignty back. Wanted to handle things on their own.
He’s not so lost in his own thoughts that he doesn’t recognize a compliment, though he isn’t sure how to take it.]
But thanks, I guess.
no subject
It seems like Jack's uncomfortable with the attention to his past work, though, so Snake lets it drop there. Besides, there's something he's been meaning to ask him about, as he glances to the brace on his arm.
He nods toward it. ]
What happened?
[ What would force someone like Jack to have to wear something like that? Snake doubts that someone with his enhancements would suffer long from a sprain or tendinitis, but who knows. ]
no subject
It's nothing.
[Of course he already knows it isn't nothing, and Jack isn't a very good liar, but he'll try anyway.]
Sprained it.
[But now that there's attention on it, it's easy to see there isn't even the slightest twitch of fingers, the hand entirely immobile in the brace.]
no subject
Still, if Jack doesn't want to tell him, it's not like he can make him. Snake plans to keep an eye on his so-called sprain all the same. ]
And you without a doctor to look at it.
[ The words are said with a sigh as he rubs at his eyes and then stands from the couch. ]
All right, well... let me know if you hear anything.
no subject
[Jack has put off the conversation for now, but he knows Snake isn’t buying it. A part of him wants to tell the truth, but there’s no good way to detail the entire story without kicking up a fuss that Jack would rather not have. Snake is perceptive, at least. It’s likely he’ll realize what’s wrong with Jack’s hand sooner rather than later, and there will be no need to explain at all.
He can trust, at the very least, that Snake will let it all go unsaid.
For now, there’s only Angela’s empty house, and some packing to do. Jack nods solemnly and stands, surveying the room and clearly thinking of how he’s going to go about this.]
You’ll be the first person I call.