Author's Note: Sorry that Chapters will be slow, I want to take my time with planning and writing so I hope you all understand.
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Cody found himself in an interrogation room at Overwatch HQ after he joined them on a trip back to their base. While he expected this, he didn't expect these Overwatch people to leave him waiting for a long time. He was stripped of his weapons but not his armor, which is nice. He had been sitting in this room for an hour and a half with his helmet off and resting on the table in front of him. He wasn't handcuffed or under arrest, just stuck in this room alone. There was a window in front of him, but he couldn't see through it, only his reflection. He was beginning to think they were testing his patience but eventually, the only door leading into the room opens. The blue armored soldier entered the room, and he knew the man's name. During the flight to Overwatch HQ, he learned some names but not all of them. The man was named Jack Morrison; he was the leader of Overwatch. When he asked what Overwatch was, he got a few confused glances, but Jack answered. Overwatch is an international organization formed during the Omnic Crisis, now they are acting as a peacekeeping and crisis intervention organization focused on global stability.
Cody believed that seemed too idealistic, especially since Overwatch were apparently called heroes. But what can you do when you fought a War against Aliens who sought Humanity's extinction for 27 years. His world view had been shattered multiple times, and his personal experiences left no room for idealism. His innocence has long since been eradicated thanks to the Covenant. All he seeks now is simple. Finish the Mission. That's it. That's all he's good for now, that's all anyone is good for. But even that seems impossible thanks to the Covenant.
"So, Calloway." Jack started as he sat down across from him. "I tried to have my people search for you in any records and nothing came up. It's almost like you don't exist."
Really? That makes Cody confused, if he is truly on Earth then there should be records of him. Then again, this Omnic Crisis and Overwatch are things that hasn't happened or doesn't exist. Perhaps these people are insurrectionists and they are lying. But that's the problem. Nothing was telling him it was a lie.
"So, who are you?" Jack asked.
"Lieutenant Cody Calloway, United Nations Space Command." Cody said honestly.
"United Nations Space Command?" Jack asked as if he heard something foreign and made up. "Nothing like that exists."
Cody immediately became confused beyond belief. How doesn't the UNSC exist? It's the main fighting force against the Covenant. Jack picked up on the ODST's confusion as sincere and not fabricated, which intrigued him.
"Where are you from, Cody?" Jack asked.
"I'm from Reach, one of humanity's many colonies." Cody said.
This made Jack raise an eyebrow. He wasn't sure if this man was lying or was just crazy. But the more he processed it, the more confused he got. Cody wasn't lying, that or he was a good liar. Yet if he was a good liar, Jack would be able to tell.
"We don't have any other colonies called Reach." Jack said.
Something's up and Cody doesn't like it. How doesn't this man know about Reach? It's one of Humanity's most important military colonies. A thought and a question came to mind. What year was it?
"What year is it?" Cody asked.
"2053, why?" Jack asked.
Cody's eyes widen hearing this. That can't be right. It was 2552 last he knew. How the hell did he go back five hundred years into the past? When Jack saw his reaction, he saw it as a genuine reaction and not a faked one which made him both interested and confused.
"Is something wrong?" Jack asked.
"How do I know you aren't toying with me?" Cody asked with clenched fists.
Jack reaches into one of his pockets and pulled out a phone which made Cody confused. The model was old, very old. Phones that he's seen look way different compared to what Jack just pulled out. The ODST watches, as the leader of Overwatch places it on the table and pushes it towards him. Cody looked at it and saw the date. It was indeed 2053. But that can't be right. If it was true, then that means he was sent backwards in time. Is that even possible?
"That… that can't be right." Cody mumbled, sounding like he was about to lose his mind.
"Something wrong?" Jack asked.
"Yeah." Cody said. "Last I knew it was 2552, not 2053."
This surprised Jack but he didn't want to believe it, yet Cody didn't appear to be lying. He was being honest. Yet it all sounded crazy.
"You mean to tell me that you're from the future?" Jack asked.
"With what information I've been given, yes." Cody said.
He realized how insane and crazy it made him. The leader of Overwatch absorbs this information before he stands up and pauses for a moment.
"One moment." Jack said before he left the room.
On the other side of the glass, two people were listening and were dumbfounded. These two people were Ana Amari and Gabriel Reyes. The other people who Cody saw in that town before being brought to Overwatch HQ. When Jack entered the room, he immediately asked a question.
"What did the lie detectors say?" Jack asked.
"They've been green the whole time." Ana said. "He isn't lying."
"But time travel?" Gabriel asked. "He has to be making this stuff up."
"The detectors say he isn't." Ana commented. "Still, how is this even possible? It shouldn't be possible."
"Well apparently, it is." Jack said. "How though, I'd like to know."
The revelation that time travel to some extent is real shook them. Time travel is usually something of fiction not something in the real world. There were questions being made and they wanted answers. Cody had those answers. At least they hoped so. Back in the interrogation room, Cody was attempting to figure out what was happening. Evidence tells him that he truly is in the year 2053 but he is having a hard time rationalizing it. Maybe that Forerunner artifact he found that created that portal sent him here. After all the Forerunners make some pretty insane stuff so maybe—just maybe, the Forerunners made something capable of time travel. He hears the door to the room open again and he sees that Jack returned. He sits down and he looks shaken.
"Alright, this… revelation that you're from the future shook not only me but my teammates as well." Jack mentions.
"You believe me?" Cody asked, surprised to hear this.
"We have Lie Detectors online at the moment and they haven't flashed red." Jack said. "So, tell me, how did you travel through time?"
"Not sure to be honest but I have a small idea." Cody said.
"Let's hear it." Jack said.
"I was deployed to a planet where the UNSC picked up a strange Forerunner signal." Cody begins. "I managed to locate a Forerunner facility on the planet and inside a Forerunner Artifact."
"Forerunner?" Jack asked.
"An ancient civilization with highly advanced technology that the UNSC and our enemy the Covenant seeks and studied." Cody revealed.
Jack was curious about this Covenant but waited as he wanted to know about this artifact. He gestures for the ODST to keep going.
"This artifact reacted to my touch and activated, which resulted in a portal opening." Cody explained. "But Covenant soldiers were rushing towards me, and I was trapped so I took a gamble and went through the portal. Next thing I know I'm appearing in that town."
Jack absorbs this information before he asks another question.
"What's the Covenant?" Jack asked.
Cody sighs.
"You're going to want to brace yourself for this." Cody said.
He then went on to talk about the Human-Covenant war and how billions of humans have been massacred by the Covenant and countless worlds have been glassed by them. The conflict couldn't even be called a War. Humanity couldn't score any major victories and had very few victories against the Covenant. It was a losing War, and humanity was getting closer to extinction. The Covenant believed Humanity's extinction was the will of their gods who they believed were the Forerunners. They conducted genocide against Humanity in the name of fake gods that weren't gods but pretenders. Hearing all of this, Jack was horrified to hear this. His eyes widened and he couldn't imagine living in 2552 while fighting a losing War against genocidal aliens. He honestly felt bad for Cody, knowing all the kinds of horrors he must've faced.
"that's… a lot to take in." Jack said. "I can't imagine how all that must've been to witness."
"To most it felt like the world was ending." Cody responded. "But there was a few who kept hope that one day we'll win. While I don't subscribe to hope, I'm not going to just lay down and give up without a fight."
"Is that so? Well, you're one brave man to face this kind of threat and one hell of a fighter if you're willing to keep fighting." Jack said.
"What happens now?" Cody asked.
"You stay here. With us." Jack said. "At least until we can figure out what to do with you."
"Very well." Cody said with a slight nod in understanding.