[video] after the plot (cw: talk of robot suicide in comments)

[orbislife]

[ Given recent events, seeing Zenyatta on the screen may or may not be welcomed. He sits in lotus position with his hands folded in front of him. His mala spins quickly before he takes a deep, calming breath. The orbs slow. ]

Greetings, fellow Legionnaires. I am Zenyatta... just Zenyatta for now. I could not think of another name for myself.

I understand that have joined after a difficult time, so I would like to offer my aid. My biome is open to anyone who seeks some peace, a place for meditation and reflection, or simply to visit. It is far too big for a single omnic and his houseplant roommates, but we are all good listeners.

[ He chuckles. A life of wandering doesn't lead to many chances to take of plants. He'll probably end up helping in the farm biome in the near future. For now, he's indulging his green thumb in this manner.

And yes, Zenyatta is the kind to talk to his plants. ]

While this is unrelated to my previous offer, is there anyone who knows this place well? It would be easy to get lost in a place as large as this.

[ He's actually not all that worried about becoming lost. Zenyatta could easily wander and explore by himself, but he hopes someone would like to show him around. Let's become friends! ]

Comments

3 things: 1. I love Junkrat; 2. Time is an illusion; 3. Junkrats gonna Junkrat

[orbislife]

I wondered if the timing is mere coincidence or something planned. Still, the fact does not change that I am here now with the Legion.

[ Guess who doesn't realize they're from the same world. ]

[muroieda]

[Someone must not make a habit of watching international news.

...on second thought: yeah, makes sense he wouldn't. However, it's not mutual.]

Coincidence or not--figures they'd bring in a tin-can preaching love and peace exactly when the free-for-all bot-purge ended.

[Why are following rules so hard?]

Listen. Ya come anywhere near my wife? I'll turn ya into scrap faster than ya can beep.

[orbislife]

[ Keeping in touch with international news is harder when wandering to locations where such information is harder to obtain. Also he tends to read and watch more about social topics than crime sprees done by an Australasian duo.

Maybe he should have considering how out of nowhere and specific the man's threat was. ]

I have no intention of harming anyone.

[muroieda]

[They're connected! Kinda. Not really.]

Sure, sure. That's what they all say, mate. All the way up ta the split second before ya put yer fist through some poor bloke's ribcage.

[orbislife]

If I become compromised, then you may stop me in any way you see fit. However, I stand by what I said. I have no intention of harming anyone.

[ Zenyatta, don't give him permission to do that... ]

[muroieda]

...

[Junkrat isn't exactly known for taking an open door. He's known for blowing through them with dynamite.

He puts a hand to his chin.]

Define...compromised.

[Be very, very careful.]

[orbislife]

I shall put it this way. Compromised is defined by my body taken over by a God AI or similar entity.

[ He seems to be familiar with Zenyatta being something other than a Robotican, so he might know what a God AI is. ]

However, you will have to be quick if you wish to be the one to stop me. If I become compromised, I will take matters into my own hands and become one with the Iris. I will not let others come to harm through me.

[ Yep. Zenyatta just said he'd kill himself. ]

[muroieda]

[Junkrat stills--there's something awfully familiar about that sentiment. God AI, taking their own life...it brings to mind a recollection of hole-filled memories from Fareeha's past. He recalls it about with about as much accuracy as he does his own life experiences, which really isn't saying much, and while it's easy to forget facts, figures, and faces, it's harder to forget emotions she felt when Ok-something became compromised and ended himself before anyone had the chance to do it--or for him to act on that invading code...the trust she had for him leading into the moment, and the heartbreak after.

There's a blissful unawareness of time passing while Junkrat processes what basically amounts to a flashback. On the outside, though, he looks like he's thinking about this much too hard. While most would consider establishing this with some kind of professional standard, he looks up with a smirk.]

Yeah, alright. Challenge accepted!

[Because apparently all that needs to be done to make a truce with Junkrat is to make an agreement that involves, even given conditions, allowing him to blow something up.]

[orbislife]

Very well. You are now tasked to end my life should I become compromised and have not already done so myself.

[ Hopefully this... arrangement... will never be put into practice.

On some small level, Zenyatta is... relieved? Maybe not that exactly but a similar sentiment. He cannot say the potential doesn't exist. He knows he could be hacked and put under another's control. He also knows that he has no qualms towards dying if he cannot fight it off. It's what he would want.

In a haphazard way, Zenyatta has found someone who'd take that responsibility and see to it. ]

May I have your name, so I know who to ask for if need be?

[muroieda]

[It's how he's been getting by in Legion: he's not so much removed his habits but directed them in very specific ways. He can blow up the bot if he goes haywire, which--as long as Zenyatta keeps his word that he intends to harm no one--is really what Junkrat's all about preventing in the first place.

If Zenyatta tries to take his stuff is another point of contention, but anyone who tries that regardless if they're made of silicon or carbon runs the risk of getting smithereened.]

Junkrat, at your service! [He salutes. Spoilers: the service in question is blowing him up.

And instead of asking for Zenyatta's name in return:]

What's an Iris? Assumin' you ain't plannin' ta become one with someone's eyeball.

[orbislife]

No, I do not intend to do that. I imagine that would be very messy and not pleasant for either of us.

[ But at the question of what the Iris is, Zenyatta noticeably pauses. He hums before answering. ]

The Iris the warmth of the sun on a cold day. It is the refreshing breeze waking the drowsy. It is the earth below our feet and the sky above our heads. We are all one within the Iris.

[ Enjoy that answer, Junkrat. ]

[muroieda]

[Instead of being shocked, Junkrat seems to consider it with a decent amount of sincerity.]

S'pose it follows that a bot's preference of spirituality would be animistic.

[Still, the idea makes him really uncomfortable. It makes the line between them just that much fuzzier; it's easier to think of them as just machines.]

[orbislife]

[ He hums, pleasantly surprised. That reaction isn't one he normally gets; he usually faces some exasperation and a request for clarity. Or denial and arguments. He's interested to hear what more he has to say. ]

You sound as if you have experience in this matter.

[muroieda]

Eh. [A shrug.] Ya could say I'm well-travelled.

[In the name of stealing shit and blowing other shit up, that is. But that doesn't mean there was a lot of sight-seeing involved in the process; one does not lay low for a period of time without absorbing local cultures through osmosis.]

[orbislife]

We have that in common. Before I arrived here, I wandered around meeting new people and learning about their cultures. Perhaps you could tell me about some of your travels.

[ Junkrat probably was able to see a lot more of the world. Zenyatta took a more... leisurely pace. ]

[muroieda]

Reckon ya rather wouldn't like ta hear about 'em.

[At least, the stories that Junkrat wants to tell.]

I lived a much different life before comin' here. Better off askin' me direct questions, mate.

[It's a rather open-ended request, but unless he wants to hear Junkrat bloviate about his violent, chaotic heists...]

[orbislife]

You may be surprised at the company I have kept on my travels, but I will keep your warning in mind. I do not want to bring you unnecessary distress.

[ Beyond just existing as he is. ]

[muroieda]

...ah.

[Yeah that did come off a bit...different than he intended. Then again, may not be too off the mark anyway: Fareeha has brought up that he was dealt a not-great hand a few times before. It's true, maybe, but he doesn't dwell on it.]

May have given the wrong impression there; I wouldn't be the one in distress.

[Of course he can't exactly say that Zenyatta would be in distress. He seems like the kind of bot that doesn't really know how to be in distress.]

[orbislife]

Oh, I see. Then, I must thank you for keeping my potential distress in mind. That is most kind of you.

[ He knows Junkrat's motives were probably not that. ]

[legionnpcs]

I'm not sure what's more appalling here, the racism or the threats against a teammate. [Definitely the robo-racism.] Either way, neither of them have a place on this team.

And, from what I've seen, your wife can take care of herself.

[muroieda]

Soooooooo...wot, ya been in a coma for the last coupl'a weeks or somethin'? Pretty sure a threat can exist without my big mouth throwin' it out there. One that exists beyond what just happened here.

Monk-bot damn well knows what I'm talkin' about. So rack off and stop tryin' ta paint this as racism.

[legionnpcs]

What happened recently was the result of one sentient's ambitions. Were you too busy griping about 'tin cans' to notice the Roboticans assisting us to keep things under control? A threat like that is very different from you threatening to kill a teammate.

You will back down. We have enough dangers around without having to make sure our own teammates aren't going to tear each other apart.

[muroieda]

And here we have the higher-up makin' demands ta back off when we're just tryin' ta protect our own.

I know they say history repeats itself, but I didn't think it was gonna be so literal!

[legionnpcs]

He's a Legionnaire. That makes him 'your own'. If you don't think you can work with that, then hand in your ring. Otherwise, suck it up and realize that whatever problems and petty racism filled your world has no place on this team.

[muroieda]

Oh, I don't mind him bein' on the same team, mate. Plenty of use for a bot on the fritz for Legion, desperate enough ta include wanted men on their roster.

He can just be on the team far, far away from me and what's mine.

Big ship, after all.

[legionnpcs]

Just keep in mind who's going to be wearing the handcuffs if Zenyatta winds up dead.

[araignee_du_soir]

[Now this had been very interesting to watch unfold. Note to self: Junkrat has set himself up as a potential patsy if potential plans with the omnic fail.

The junker was useful in many ways.]

[muroieda]

[And after all he's done for you.]

[araignee_du_soir]

[Talon's gotta Talon.]

[muroieda]

[...squinting.]

There are a lot more ways ta die around here than by my hand.

[legionnpcs]

Then it's in your best interests to keep him alive then, isn't it?

[Like the Legion would really arrest him if Zenyatta was obviously killed by someone else. But Umbra's a firm believer in being insufferable. It worked when she was the religious leader of her world (up until they shipped her off to join the Legion because she was a pain) and it worked when she joined the Legion (when people would listen to her).]

[muroieda]

Wh--

[His brows knit into his squinting.]

That's not how murder convictions work! That's not even how reckless manslaughter convictions work!! If it did, every Leiggo that was ever five minutes late, or screwed up, or had somehin' happen out of their control--everyone on this bloody ship would all be sentenced ta life imprisonment!

I grew up in a lawless wasteland [not entirely true] and even I know this.