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Genji sat atop one of the building’s large air conditioning units and gazed out into the night sky. This high up the light pollution was minor, and he could see the stars glittering back at him. The sky stretched out forever in any direction past the vast metropolis he had found himself in. He sighed. What was he supposed to do now?
Overwatch was gone. He had heard about the explosion at the Swiss HQ and read that Jack Morrison had perished in the blast. It had been labelled an accident, but Genji knew better. Even before he left, he could sense a feeling of division in Overwatch’s ranks. It seemed to be centered mostly on Morrison and Reyes and those who supported them, but Genji chose not to involve himself with their civil war. He showed up at Morrison’s funeral and spoke briefly with his old teammates, but he quickly left before any of them could convince him to stay with them.
Not long after that, the Petras Act was soon passed and Overwatch was shut down for good. Now they were just names in a record book and all of their accomplishments swept away under the rug. It made him a little ill to think of how quickly Overwatch was demolished as if though it had no power at all. All of the times he spent there, Overwatch seemed almost untouchable, but all good things must come to an end he supposed. All things…
He glanced at his wrist and a holographic clock appeared. Almost midnight. He glanced back up at the sky. What was he supposed to do now? After leaving Overwatch he had felt lost. What was his purpose now? He couldn’t go around righting wrongs anymore because the Petras Act had forbid all acts of vigilantism, and he was still a known ex-Overwatch agent. He hated the way he looked and felt now. Half man and half machine in a world where those two things might as well be separate species put him exactly on the border between them. When he was in Overwatch he never thought about such things. Instead he just focused on his missions and his own personal goal of taking down the Shimada Clan, his own family.
He had nowhere to go now either. He had ruined his clan and their territories. He had no idea where his brother could be, not that he really wanted to see him anyways. Overwatch was gone, and although many of his old teammates offered to let him stay with them, particularly Dr. Ziegler and Lena “Tracer” Oxton, he could not accept their invitations. He stated he had his own path to follow now, but even he did not know what that path was anymore.
Was there anything left for him anymore? Without Overwatch, without his clan, without his brother, what was he? A creature of machine and flesh doomed to live in a world that despised both parts of him. Was it really worth it anymore? Genji glanced down towards the edge of the building. He was on top of a skyscraper. No one would really miss him. He might even be mistaken for an omnic that decided to just end it all. He remembered Dr. Ziegler telling him about his artificial parts:
“Your body is much more durable now, but it’s not immortal. You must be careful out there. It will break from a great amount of force.”
She would miss him he thought. She had saved his life after that horrible day he had to face his brother. She made certain that he was getting used to his new body. She was by far one of his closest friends at Overwatch, but she probably had her own life to worry about. She most likely wouldn’t find out about his death until way later. It would give her time to prepare for such bad news.
Before he knew it, Genji was standing at the edge of the roof. He had taken his katana and wakizashi and set them aside. If he could even wear shoes anymore, he would’ve taken them off and set them aside as well. That’s how it was always done when you read about these sorts of things in Japan. He trembled slightly. Was he really going to do this? He glanced down and saw little dots of light speeding to and from every destination. He took a deep breath through his mask, closed his eyes, and turned around. He leaned backwards and began to fall. He opened his eyes briefly to see something floating in the distance on top of the building. He gasped before straightening back up and using his own techniques to give himself some forward momentum. He landed safely back on top of the roof and glanced up towards the floating figure.
It was an omnic he quickly realized. It was dressed only in a rather ragged looking pair of pants and a rope tied across its waist. It had a bunch of orbs simply floating around its neck giving the appearance of a large prayer bead necklace. The omnic itself was floating at least three feet off the ground, and it was simply staring at him. Well, Genji assumed it was staring at him. It was rather hard to tell with omnics exactly what they were focusing on.
“How long have you been watching me?” Genji stepped away from the edge and picked up his weapons. He hadn’t noticed the omnic had shown up at all. He would’ve heard the door open if it came through there, and while it seemed like a ludicrous idea, there was still possibility that it had simply floated up to the top of the building and hovered there when it saw Genji. “Well?”
“There is a wonderful moon out tonight.” It replied as it turned to look up at the sky.
“What?” Genji glanced up at the moon, it was only half full. It was waxing if he remembered the term correctly. “What are you doing here?”
The omnic ignored him and simply kept staring. Now that Genji had a better look at it, it appeared to look like a monk. He remembered reading something a while back about a group of omnic monks called the Shambali, but he couldn’t determine if this was one of them or simply an omnic dressing up like them.
“Have you ever heard of the teachings of Mondatta?” The omnic said, still not looking at Genji. “He and my brothers and sisters teach about how human and machine can co-exist together in the Iris. Though we may be made of different parts and materials we are all beings with a soul.” It clasped its hands together and the orbs rotated around him slightly. Genji kept a firm grip on his weapons.
“I’ve never heard of that name before.” Genji spoke. “Tell me what you’re doing here now.”
“You must not keep up with current events.” The omnic continued to ignore his threats. “My brothers and sisters of the Shambali have become overnight celebrities.”
“And you?” So this was a Shambali monk after all, but what was it doing here?
It didn’t answer him for a moment. “I disagreed with the path they were taking. I believe that the bond between omnics and humans cannot be repaired by teaching mass amounts of people.” The orbs slowed their revolutions and barley moved by this point. Genji continued to listen. “I believe that in order to mend the bond between omnics and humans we must sit down and speak in interpersonal relationships.”
“Wouldn’t that take much longer?” Genji questioned.
The omnic chuckled. “Perhaps, but slow and steady wins the race, so they say.” Genji wasn’t certain that particular analogy worked in this case, but he decided not to argue with the monk.
“I ask again, why are you here?”
“The other day I dreamt I was a butterfly.”
“What?”
“I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly.” Genji was starting to question the sanity of this particular monk. “I was only conscious of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was myself.”
“Can omnics even sleep, let alone dream?” Genji asked. He sat down finally to listen to the monk.
“Soon I awakened,” the monk continued without answering Genji’s question. “And there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.” The monk clasped its hands again and the orbs began to rotate around him again. “Do you know where that poem comes from?”
Genji thought. It did sound somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t place the name exactly. He was certain he probably would’ve learned it during the tutoring sessions he had with his brother, if he hadn’t slept through most of them. Genji simply shrugged, not having an answer to give the monk.
“It was from Zhuangzi, an ancient Chinese text from the late Warring States period.”
“I’m afraid my history knowledge isn’t much better than my literature knowledge. Forgive me.”
The omnic chuckled again. “It is alright, who has time to read these days anyways?”
Genji let out a small laugh at that. “I suppose.”
“Shall I tell you the time I dreamt I was a turtle instead?” The monk finally glanced over at Genji.
“Now that would take forever.” The two laughed for a moment at the joke. The monk stared back up at the sky and Genji did the same. They sat in silence for a while, simply taking in the stars and the half lit moon hanging in the sky. Eventually Genji had to ask again.
“What’re you doing here?”
“I am preventing you from killing yourself.” Genji’s head snapped towards the floating monk, who did not face him. “It appears to have worked for the past two hours.”
“But…” Genji looked at his wrist, and sure enough the time read 2:00 A.M. Two hours had passed since he had attempted to kill himself by throwing himself off this building. He glanced up at the monk again.
“I sense a great amount of negative emotions in you. Anger, fear, disgust, and loneliness. You are not an omnic, nor are you completely human. You are both man and machine.” Genji simply sat stunned by the monk’s words. “I sense you feel alone in this world. Not just because of your biology, but because you have no one left to rely on. At least, you don’t think you have anyone.”
“Why? Why do you care so much?” Genji began to get angry at the monk’s constant prodding at his emotions.
“A life, no matter where it comes from, is a terrible thing to extinguish.”
“You have no idea what I’ve been through!” Genji yelled as he stood up. The monk turned its entire body towards him now. “My life, my future, it’s all worthless now! What am I even!? Who would ever want to help me, a man stuck between flesh and machinery?” Genji trembled as he spat all his troubles at the monk. Why was he doing this? What did this stupid monk do that caused him to lose control? He was so busy wondering how he had lost control he didn’t notice the monk float up to him and place its hand on his shoulder. He was shocked at the sudden contact, but didn’t move away from it.
“You are right.” The monk said. “I do not know what you have been through. I do not know what trials you have experienced in your life, but I do know this. You have lost your way, and need to find the path again.”
“There is no path for me, not anymore.” Genji tried to move away from the monk, but it kept a firm grip.
“Then you must forge a new path for yourself. Admitting your faults, whether they are physical or emotional is the first step to rediscovering your true self.” Genji simply stood there, not sure of what to say.
“What if I can’t?” He said finally. He shook slightly.
“You must try. What have you got to lose?” Genji stared at the monk and then at the ledge he almost fell from. He calmly took the monk’s hand off of his shoulder and turned away. What did he have to lose? His own brother hated him and tried to kill him, his friends and comrades were scattered all over the world, and he had nothing. Why shouldn’t he take a chance?
“You’re really annoying, you know that?” Genji laughed. “Here I was ready to end my life, and you just show up and wouldn’t shut up.” The monk didn’t respond. Genji chuckled. “I suppose…I need some time to think.”
“Of course. Take all the time you need, but if you try to kill yourself again I shall tell you the story about dew on grass blades.” Genji laughed at that statement. It was the first time he had truly laughed in a long time.
“Where should I meet you if I choose to forge this new path for myself?” He turned back to face the monk. It was currently pondering his question.
“Lijang airport would be suitable. I intended to return to my order’s temples soon anyways. Tomorrow around noon.”
“Very well, I shall meet you there tomorrow. That is, if I decide to follow you.” Genji tried to sound confident, but he had already made up his mind. “I never actually got your name.”
The monk brought its hands together. “You may call me Zenyatta. What shall I call you?”
Genji hesitated. He was always cautious to reveal his true name to people. However, he felt strangely at ease around the monk. “Genji. My name is Genji.”
“A pleasure to meet you Genji. I hope I can assist you on your path to enlightenment.” Genji began to say something, but was cut off. “IF you decide to follow me.” If the monk could make faces, Genji was certain it would be smirking. The pair laughed together again.
The two eventually bid each other farewell. Genji gave a deep bow of respect to the monk before leaving. As he left, he kept thinking about Zenyatta’s words about forging a new path and how eerily similar it was to what his brother used to tell him.
“Forget about father and the rest of the elders! Forge your own path Genji! Don’t worry about me.”
“Hanzo…I hope you’re happy wherever you are. I will forge my own path for once.” With that said, Genji exited the building and made his way out into the city. His first steps into forging his own path, one not restricted by his father, the elders, or even Overwatch started now.