Not long had passed since Cody met and was interrogated by Overwatch. Afterwards, he was given a temporary room to call his own while he stayed under Overwatch's care until they figured out what to do with him since he shouldn't exist at their point in time. If he had to be honest, he highly doubted they would just let him run free. He's a highly trained special forces soldier who fought against an alien covenant for countless years, someone like that can't just be set free without restrictions. Especially someone from the future. When he was left alone in this room, he found himself in, he immediately used the room's computer to do research on the time he was in. First, he checked out what an Omnic was and from what he could gather, they were now sentient robots created by Omnica Corporation and built in Omniums which appear to be self-improving factories. Originally, they weren't sentient and couldn't really feel emotions until The Awakening caused by another advanced Omnic named Aurora. But this Awakening happened during what was called the Omnic Crisis.
He heard about this Crisis loosely when he first met Jack and the others. But it turns out the Omnic Crisis was a global war against rogue Omnics controlled by God programs, basically super advanced AI. The Omnic Crisis ended roughly three years ago, and Overwatch was the main driving force in Humanity's victory. Now Omnics have been integrated into society as their own race, but discrimination exists against them. Cody wasn't surprised. Omincs created all this chaos, killed countless people during the crisis so he can understand why a lot of people hate them. It almost reminded him of the Covenant. Basically all humans hate the Covenant including him so when one side commits mass genocide on a galactic scale or a global scale in this case it's easy to generate hate for that side. Given all the suffering that occurred, he expects this hatred to be widespread. He investigated other things like world news and other events to get an idea on what is happening in the world. Rogue Omnics still exist and Overwatch is basically on clean up duty in the aftermath of the Crisis.
That doesn't change the fact that Cody sees Overwatch as idealistic considering they call themselves heroes and their overall mission. He doesn't believe in long lasting peace, he's only ever known war. The Human-Covenant War has been going on his entire life; many others don't even remember what peace looked like. When he was done with doing his research, he now had a general idea on what to expect about 2053. He will admit though, it seems more optimistic than 2552. He had to admit though; it was a nice change of pace. But he knew it wouldn't last. Nothing good lasts forever. He moves away from the computer and towards the window in the room he was given. Outside he saw the rest of the Overwatch Headquarters and saw all the activity. He then looked over at the bed in the room and saw his helmet sitting there before a knock came from his door.
"Come in." Cody said, inviting whoever it was into the room.
The door slid open to reveal Jack who steps into the room.
"Getting settled in well?" Jack asked.
"Affirmative." Cody responded. "I also just did research on this time period to get on the same page with other people, though I doubt I learned enough."
"Well, there's a lot to know about our time period." Jack said. "But I'm sure you'll learn all you need to know in due time."
"So, what brings you here?" Cody asked. "I doubt it's to visit."
"I've told a trusted friend about you, and he wants to meet you." Jack said.
"Alright, where are they?" Cody asked.
"Follow me." Jack instructed as he turned and left the room.
Cody followed him out but left his helmet in the room as he didn't need it. The trip through Overwatch headquarters was uneventful besides the number of Agents that greeted Jack as they walked past them. The way they greeted Jack showed how much they respected him and the ODST can guess why. From what he researched, Jack was part of the original Overwatch strike team that ended the Omnic Crisis. Ever since the War ended, that strike team was hailed as heroes and that resulted in anyone else joining Overwatch being called heroes. The two of them reach a door and Jack stops right in front of it so Cody does the same.
"We're here." Jack said before knocking on the door.
"Come in." a muffled voice said on the other side of the door.
Jack opens the door as it slides open, allowing them both to enter the room. When Cody stepped inside he saw an office belonging to someone who was clearly high ranking. The office was professionally laid out and whoever owned it sought a pristinely cleaned office. He then saw a man in a suit sitting at his desk. The man sees him and Jack and closes the book he was reading before he stood up and walked around the desk.
"Cody, meet Gerard Lacroix, a close friend and trusted member of Overwatch." Jack introduces. "Gerard, this is that out of time soldier I told you about."
"So, I see." Gerard said before holding his hand out. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Calloway."
"Likewise." Cody said while shaking the man's hand.
"When I heard of your situation, I thought Jack was joking, but after seeing the results from the lie detectors my mind changed its tune." Gerard said. "When he told me about 2552… I must say. I'm sorry you had to deal with that."
"Didn't really have a choice, the Covenant attacked without a chance for diplomacy." Cody said.
"Really?" Gerard asked.
"Peace was never an option with them." Cody explained. "They wanted our extinction because it was the will of their gods as they say."
"That's just sick." Gerard said with clear disgust. "Genocide is never justifiable. Regardless of context."
"So why did you want to see me?" Cody asked.
"Well, hearing your situation it'll be hard to integrate you into our era considering you have no official documentation of your existence. Meaning if someone tried to do a background check, it would raise eyebrows." Gerard said. "But Overwatch just so happens to have friends in high places, so I'm sure we can convince them to… how should I say this? Forge documents to show that you always existed in our era."
Cody gave it thought while Jack crossed his arms.
"Hm, sounds risky." Cody said. "You sure it will work?"
"Without a doubt." Gerard said before speaking to himself. "Though we'll have to give them a good reason as to why they should do it."
"Maybe if we tell them he decided to join Overwatch." Jack suggested.
Cody looked at Jack hearing this.
"Hm, that could work." Gerard gave it thought. "However, that all depends on our man out of time."
Jack turned to face the ODST who did the same.
"I know it's a lot to ask, but given your skill set you've no doubt attained from the Covenant War, you could do a lot of good here in Overwatch." Jack said. "Besides, you'll be helping us keep Humanity safe in a way."
Cody gave this some thought. He belonged to the UNSC, but there was no real way to get back to them and that meant he was a soldier without an army. Perhaps through Overwatch he can make Humanity stronger so that when the time does come in hundreds of years, they'll be ready for the Covenant. Gerard and Jack can see that he's seriously thinking about it.
"Well?" Jack asked as he held his hand out.
The ODST looked at it before he reached his hand forward and shook the Commander's hand.
"I'm in." Cody said. "But I keep my armor and weapons."
"No problems here, besides I'd rather keep you with a familiar kit." Jack said with a smile.
"Welcome to Overwatch, Cody." Gerard said.