The Hunter | Overwatch

Science and Destiny

The afternoon was thick with anticipation. Shaun and Liao had planned a one-on-one session right after the meeting, and Shaun felt a mix of nerves and curiosity. He’d only ever worked this closely with Jack, Ana, or Reyes, but Liao’s calm insight in the briefing earlier had sparked something new in him—a sense that she might see a way forward that he hadn’t.

Shaun found Liao waiting in her lab, her data pad already loaded with notes, graphs, and schematics. The faint hum of machinery, combined with the warm lighting of the room, gave it a strangely comforting feel. Liao looked up as he entered, offering a welcoming smile. “Come in, Shaun. Make yourself comfortable.”

He nodded, a little awkwardly, and took a seat on the bench across from her. There was a brief silence as she finished setting up her instruments, her focus unwavering. Her concentration was intense, and he couldn’t help but admire the way she seemed fully immersed in each detail, as if every piece of information mattered deeply to her.

“All right,” Liao began, setting her pad down and folding her hands thoughtfully. “Let’s start with something simple. I want you to describe how you feel when you use your powers—physically, emotionally, anything you can think of.”

Shaun considered her question, his gaze drifting as he searched for the right words. “It’s… like a surge. It’s this intense rush of energy, like I’m channeling a force I can’t fully control. Sometimes it’s powerful, and other times it feels like it’s fighting me, like a wave that could drown me if I’m not careful.”

Liao nodded, scribbling notes in her neat, precise handwriting. “Interesting. That kind of resistance… it might be a signal of an internal limit you haven’t identified yet. We’ll need to experiment with the amount of force you’re using and see if we can pinpoint exactly where that wall appears.”

Shaun chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Experimenting with it is probably smart. Jack would just tell me to ‘keep at it’ until I figured it out on my own.”

A wry smile crept onto Liao’s face. “Jack has a different approach, for sure. But science thrives on precision, and that’s where I think we can make real progress. We can combine the power of what you feel with what we observe here.”

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For the next hour, they worked methodically through a series of exercises Liao had designed. Some were straightforward, like projecting his energy across the room at a specific target, while others were more intricate, requiring careful control as he channeled it into small, delicate bursts. Liao tracked each attempt, noting his expressions, his movements, and the subtle changes in his energy.

Shaun quickly noticed how deeply she analyzed each detail, often asking him to repeat a movement just to see if she could detect the slightest variance. It wasn’t exhausting; if anything, her patience was encouraging, and he found himself relaxing into the rhythm.

As they continued, Shaun felt his initial hesitation melting away. Liao was easy to talk to, and her questions were never critical. Each one seemed designed to understand rather than judge, and that difference made him open up in a way he hadn’t expected. Eventually, he found himself confiding in her, sharing stories from his training mishaps and moments when his powers felt more like a burden than a gift.

“Sometimes,” he admitted, his voice quieter, “I worry that I’ll hurt someone. That I’ll lose control right when it matters most.”

Liao looked at him thoughtfully, nodding. “I understand. I think every one of us has fears like that—fears of our own potential or of falling short. But you have a unique strength, Shaun. I can see it in the way you approach these exercises, in the care you put into every motion. That control is there; you just need to learn to trust it.”