voice; 001

[tekhartha]

I had never given much thought to sexual intimacy before I arrived here.

[The soft, sonorous thrum of Zenyatta's voice comes drifting across the network like a cloud on the wind, punctuated haphazardly by the faintest of chimes as his orbs circle, unseen. His tone is carefully neutral, curious and undemanding, as he continues.]

When my omnic brothers and sisters liberated ourselves, some among us chose to forsake such human forms of sexual gratification as symbolic of our subservience; our bodies were built for the use of humans, and our ability to feel physical pleasure merely a supplement to human pleasure. To use them as free, sentient beings was to agree that we were little more than shallow imitations of our creators.

I had not considered my own path at all, until now- and, for my ignorance, it is all I can think about for a few days each month!

[Wryly amused for a second there before he continues. If he is being perfectly honest there is one person in particular who is driving him to distraction, but... he hums.]

I believe I would like to try it for myself, under the right circumstances, yet I find myself-- quite unsure. Would any of you be so kind as to share your own first experiences? [brightly:] "Virginity" is merely a social construct, of course, but I am sure each of you has a story you might care to tell!

Comments

[codecmoment]

Hi, Zenyatta. It's nice to hear from you.

[ Mostly because he's still overwhelmed and delighted by the existence of such a human-like sentient robot. It's... well, he'd love to pick his coding apart, but that's a creepy thing to say to someone. Flesh or otherwise. ]

I... I mean, I'm shocked you, uh, can interface, but I guess if you're in with humanity it makes sense. We're naughty organics that just want to pass on genes.

[ Yeah, he's trying to keep it light, because this is really... uh. Hmm. He does have a daughter he had to raise and the conversations have happened before, but this feels... harder to do. Maybe because his history is not positive, or funny; it's dark and painful and he has yet to work through it.

But he is an honest man, and also seems to infodump when it may not be appropriate. ]

I... mine wasn't... good. It was... I wanted to be loved. And my stepmother offered it to me.

[tekhartha]

[Zenyatta is on the verge of laughter- there's something to be said for humanity's reproductive drive that they cannot invent a companion without also finding a way to have sex with it. But there is a flutter in Hal's tone that stills him, and by the has waited through that hesitation all the mirth in him has dried up.]

Oh, Hal.

[Soft, so soft. There are no words he can offer to ease the hurt he senses, suppressed though it may be, in the man's voice.]

Your courage is quite remarkable, my friend. It is an honour to be trusted with this. [a pause.] Would you like to talk about it? I will not pry, if you are unprepared.

[codecmoment]

I don't mind. I've talked about it in the middle of a mission before, with someone... in my arms. It just kinda fell out then, though.

[ Deep breath. ]

I just think that people who might not have had a chance to experience being truly loved and safe shouldn't -- I mean, like they should be able to talk about it. Like, this is what I'm worried about with younger people whom are Moonblessed. Does that make sense? Like they'll be pushed into something that they regret because of the effects.

[ No, he went on a tangent. Focus. He can at least give a run-down. ]

Basically... she wasn't happy with my father. I wasn't, either. And she seduced me, and we continued on the affair. And it led to further problems.

[tekhartha]

[Zenyatta gives a soft, sympathetic hum of- not agreement, precisely, but acknowledgement.]

These wounds cannot be covered- they must be opened and lanced clean.

[By which he means that its springing forth is inevitable, if one does not speak about it willingly. Hal speaks with the half-faltering, half-spilling cadence symptomatic of a mind that cannot bear the path it knows it must travel.

From one young life, swayed by forces outside of its control, to another.

He arrives, eventually. Zenyatta answers his thoughts one at a time, wishing that he could take Hal's hands as he speaks.]

What she did to you was not an "affair". She used her dissatisfaction as an excuse to exploit your trust; whatever followed was a result of her own selfish choices. [Kind, but firm. Hopefully he has been told this before, but it is no less true for its repetition.] How old were you, my friend?

[codecmoment]

Sixteen.

[ Underage. Young. The kind of tale that, when told, society doesn't take seriously and claims the boy in question should feel lucky. ]

I don't really talk about it. My dad found out about the affair, and made him commit suicide. He took my sister -- my stepmother's daughter -- into the pool with him, to drown her. And... and I can't really see how this is anything but my fault.

[ His voice wavers and he goes silent, because he's not really ready to deal with that familiar rush of stomach-knotting emotion. It's like his insides go cold, and then his heart squeezes. ]

I'm older now. I'm an adult and moving on.