Half an hour was not an optimal amount of time. In fact, it wasn't even a fraction of an optimal amount of time. How was she supposed to put a proper rescue plan into place by herself in that time? Nearly impossible.

Nearly.

Satya had but one advantage, one streak of light to guide herself by, and that was her position. She knew everything there was to know about Vishkar's security. She designed these headquarters herself after all and, thanks to Vishkar's ill actions, she knew her installations were hackable. That's all she needed.

First thing first, she needed to grab any items of importance. With a calm look and an a crisp pace Satya begun to make her way to the armory where she knew the boys weapons and other personal effects.

"Halt, show us your identification," A guard, covered head to toe in light armor, said. His hands tightened on his weapon.

"Vaswani," She replied, narrowing her eyes. "Do you not recognize a superior when you see her?"

"I have orders to not let you in, Miss Vaswani," The guard explained, keeping a neutral face. "Unless there is something specific you need, and with good reason, I can have someone retrieve it."

He really does not trust me, Satya thought bitterly. This only confirmed her worst fears: She had been helping a criminal who was using her.

"I must retrieve Mr. Rivero's personal items immediately for the trade off," She stated. "We would hate to keep our very powerful, and easy to anger, partners waiting."

She let that sink through the grunts skull for a few seconds. He seemed to debate this very intensely before his face cleared and he came to a decision.

"Give me one minute to contact the boss, he'll let me know what's going on," The guard said.

"No!" Satya yelled. Instantly, in a flash of blue, a holographic whip formed in her hands. With grace and precision she flicked her wrist and it wrapped around the guards arm, just barely stopping him from reaching the communicator on her ear. Before he could react and lift his rifle she yanked him close and kicked him under the chin, sending the man flying against the wall and knocking him unconscious.

"So much for an advantage," She quipped, disappointed.

With no time to waste she stole the guards badge and opened the door, dragging the body inside and relieving it of all devices before she tied it up. With a simple pressing of her hands and focus she formed a handbag and, one by one, began compressing Rivero's items. It was hard and perhaps a bit more time consuming than she would hope for but it would be helpful to everything in a mere handbag. Last, but not least, Satya took a few minutes to create her own laser gun. Complicated weapons with energy, mechanisms, and so on were harder to create than things like a whip but, given time, Satya could the perfect weapon for any mission.

"Patel? Come in, Patel?" A voice said through the comms device Satya had stolen. "You've failed to check in with us at the designated time, confirm everything is ok or we will send a team in.

"Mal," Satya whispered, suddenly dashing out of the room.

She had about two minutes, maybe three, for the security team to reach the armory and find their ally. If she could make it to the computer towers in that time and handle the automatic security that would surely be enabled by then, she stood a chance.

"Alert! Alert! All civilians and non-essential personnel evacuate! Security personnel only!" An Omnic's voice said in about six different languages. How had they found out so fast? "Engaging security in one minute, please evacuate!"

Everything was suddenly chaos. People were screaming and running in different directions, unsure what was going on but desperate to get to safety, the carts full of officers were trapped and instead of helping the panicked people they began yelling at them to move.

There was her chance. Her eyes focused on one cart with four guards and she sprung into action. Whip once more in hand Satya jumped into the air, landing on the hood, and kicked the driver in the face while also tying the whip around the gun of the companion in the seat behind him. The passenger aimed his rifle at her but she pulled hard and the third's gun came out of his hand and slammed into his partner's head, knocking him unconscious. She threw her suitcase at the fourth guard and flipped over the last two, landing on the ground behind them. Before they could react she pulled out her gun and fired at both of them in the neck. A small device, sparking, electrocuted both of them and they fell against the seats, unconscious.

A quick ten seconds to pull them all out and Satya was in the driver's seat. However, people were still running all around the vehicle in even more panic after seeing that. More guards had climbed out of their cars and were making their way towards her. Closing her eyes and pressing her hands together, Satya gathered her focus.

"Ma'am! Put your hands up and-"

The guard's words were cut off by a sword-like sound as Satya opened her eyes and, around her, two walls of pure blue light coalesced forming a direct path to the security room. She slammed her foot on the gas and sped off, bullets hitting her wall of light.

Idiots, if I hadn't made them gelatin they would bounce and hit the crowd, She thought.

How had she never seen this side of Vishkar before? Or had she simply ignored it…

Moments later she slammed her foot on the brakes and got out, handbag in tow. It would take two minutes, at most, to hack the system and then she would have her true advantage. She went straight to where Alessandro had gone and immediately go to work on the security system. Her fingers flew across the console, which now glowed a brilliant blue, and slowly the systems were turning over to Symmetra. An entire arsenal at her disposal. A self-made escape route.

Click.

Satya's heart skipped a beat. She knew that sound anywhere, heard it many times before, the safety of a gun clicking off. Another second and the trigger would be pulled, how had someone snuck up on her so easily? This couldn't-

Bang! A heavy thump followed by ragged breathing.

Heart racing Satya turned to see Alessandro Rivero, pistol in hand, watching her. A servant Omnic held him up too and looked a bit beaten. A dead man lay between them.

"Get us...out of here…" Alessandro ordered before his eyes rolled into his head and he slumped against his Omnic companion.

/

Rivero's POV

"Any better?" Jake asked, perhaps a bit concerned.

"Not really," Alessandro croaked back, flinching.

He was laying on his bed, shirtless and bare feet, with Jake floating nearby holding a pack of medicine. An hour or so after returning to his room the boy had, much to his surprise, collapsed again. His body had been racked with pain and refused to calm down, even with the painkillers Jake had brought. True, Alessandro refused actual medical attention, but that was simply because he didn't trust Vishkar.

"You need a doctor, there is nothing more to do," Jake reasoned.

"I can wait, just a little while longer," He answered, breathing heavily. "A little longer."

"What are you waiting for?" Jake questioned, obviously confused.

Alessandro didn't answer. It was a feeling, really. After the fire, then him being caught and Sombra's message, he felt something big was about to happen. A chance to escape, maybe to truly recruit Satya Vaswani. Something. And since his body refused to cooperate with him he might as well wait.

And wait he did. Hours seemed to pass as he lay there, unable to sleep or really move, alone in the room with Jake the Omnic who tried in vain to help or distract the boy. Jake was, really, the only person in Vishkar Alessandro trusted. He had helped and worried about his health several times already. He had respected Alessandro's wishes, helped him even though it broke the rules, and overall seemed happy with his guest.

"Jake, you should leave with me," Alessandro said, interrupting the Omnic's poor attempt at a joke.

"Um...sir?" He asked, clearly confused.

"You're going to be in trouble for helping or used against me, you obviously are much more than a dumb servant bot, and we're friends, right?" Alessandro asked, pain still there but momentarily forgotten. He sat up slowly to looked at Jake.

"Sir…"

"We're friends, right? You feel more than just a robot, you have emotions and very human reactions," Alessandro stated, smiling lightly. "You deserve more than this."

It took him a few minutes to answer.

"Sir, I have never left this room," Jake admitted somberly. "I was created solely to obey the wishes of my guests. To clean, cook, wash, and serve. I need not leave at any time or do anything else unless instructed otherwise."

"That's...terrible," Alessandro admitted. But his hopes hadn't dimmed. "But you don't need to listen to that. Just walk out with me! When I leave."

"Sir, I cannot. It goes against my programming, it goes against my reason for existing."

"Humans don't know why they exist, sometimes 'till they die," Alessandro replied, smiling wider. "You don't need to have a reason to exist besides being happy."

"I…" He seemed to process this, harshly. The Omnic had never been so still or given such an anxious vibe. "I need permission."

"Permission granted," The boy finally said. "Jake, as the current guest residing here, and therefore your current boss, I order you to do what makes you happy."

"Very well," Jake answered, without any emotion. However he did float over to Alessandro and, much to the young hero's surprise, hugged him. "Thank you."

"Alert! Alert! All civilians and non-essential personnel evacuate! Security personnel only!" An Omnic's voice said in about six different languages. "Engaging security in one minute, please evacuate!"

Immediately the door burst open and five guards burst in. Without a second to spare Alessandro, still holding Jake, used his free arm to pull a pistol from under his mattress. Vishkar had really thought he wouldn't leave any back-up plans lying around.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Five bodies fell to the ground, frantic voices yelling orders or questions into earpieces in a language Alessandro couldn't understand.

"Sir, we need to go, now!" Jake said, gently extracting himself and putting one of Alessandro's arms around his shoulders. "The security will inevitably activate but we will be trapped in this room if we don't go."

"Ok, but one last thing," Alessandro said, smiling through the newly pulsing pain in his body.

"Yes?"

"Call me Survivor."