Null Protocol || Ramattra x Reader

☙Chapter Twenty-Eight❧

Ramattra's hands tightened at his sides as he watched, grumbling, "They will hurt my people long before they find a way to take the headgear off."

"A 'o ia!" she cheered like he was finally understanding. "They're going to hurt them if this continues, Rama. Maybe it's time we take them off-"

"No," he cut her off firmly, and Laylani shifted her attention to (Y/n) almost pointedly.

"Wahine, how do the defensive bot designs come along?"

"Slowly," (Y/n) admitted, but her attention wasn't on the warbots anymore. "But what's this about people hurting the subjugated omnics?"

Laylani seemed pleased at her taking the bait, explaining, "The headgear Rama put on them doesn't allow anyone to take it off." She gestured at the person on the screen as they attempted to break it with a bat, which just splintered in two. "So they're stuck as lifeless husks until he deems it time."

"Those poor people..." (Y/n)'s concerned eyes lingered on the monitor as Laylani sent Ramattra a look.

Ramattra crossed his arms, not pleased with the game the smaller omnic was playing. "Do not waste your worry. Laylani assures me they are healthy and safe as they are."

"If they manage to rip it off, they're gonna do some mighty serious damage." (Y/n) finally tore her gaze from the screen, sending a pleading look his way. "Ain't you concerned about that?"

"I have much bigger matters to attend to." He nodded at the monitor assigned outside a Talon base, where she could see soldiers pacing back and forth. Darius.

"Your own people deserve more attention than this, Rama."

His fingers dug into his sleeves, his gaze flashing with heat as he pinned it on Laylani. "They are fine. While they sit waiting in good health, my fellow brothers and sisters are treated as slaves in a sweatshop, Darius is tortured for any information he may or may not have about my operation, and my brother is being held hostage in order to ensure my compliance. Do not speak to me of what my people deserve. I am the only one doing something to secure a future for them, and they label me a terrorist." (Y/n) pressed her lips together as Laylani's head fell, her lei crown obscuring her optics. The silence that followed permeated the air like stage lights in a midnight concert, loud in all the worst ways as it weighed heavily on each of them.

Then, (Y/n) cleared her throat. "Did finding Darius bring you any closer to finding Zenyatta? You know, 'cause they're both in Talon's control?" It was a feeble attempt to spur conversation at best, barely loud enough to crack a whisper, but in the stillness of the room, it was deafening.

"Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing." Ramattra's fingers relaxed, the creases on his sleeves the only remnants of his once iron-tight grip. "Laylani, have you received news on Darius' condition?"

"Nothing new." She tapped away on a laptop built into the control room panel, the one she'd called them on when they were coming back from their trip into King's Row. "Like you said, there's nothing we can do for him. He may have sold us out already."

"What are they gonna do once he gives up what he knows?" (Y/n) glanced up at Ramattra, but when he refused to meet her gaze, she turned to Laylani.

"Nothing good." Her voice was strained like she didn't want to admit it, and she tapped away at the keys before a new screen popped up. "We think Zenya might be kept here, in Rome, Italy where Talon's headquarters are, or he might be kept with Darius in London."

"To launch a frontal assault on their base in Rome would cause an undue number of casualties and would be most dangerous for my brother should he be there." Ramattra's tone was stern and deadly, a complete contrast to the omnic (Y/n) had seen out in the halls when the two were alone, and part of her wondered if she was a therapy pet human – like simply being around her made him relax.

"There's a chance they might kill him if they suspect Rama's trying to rescue his brother – a punishment for stepping out of line," Laylani explained with a sigh. "So if we attack, we need to know he's in there."

The girl's face twisted into a sympathetic frown. "Daggum. I'm sorry, y'all."

"There is nothing to be sorry for, human," Ramattra scoffed. "We are not beaten yet."

"They'll have a time of it trying. You don't go down easy."

What sounded like a chuckle rumbled from his throat, so gruff it might have been a cough instead. "You would certainly know." She found herself smiling at the memories, able to look back at that time in the cave almost fondly despite how it felt in the moment. It might've been scary, but she was on the other side now, the cave nothing more than a fading memory, and soon enough, this situation she was in the middle of now would turn out the same way.

"(Y/n), are you part omnic?" Laylani phrased it casually, but instantly Ramattra was glowering at her.

"No." (Y/n) shook her head, continuing after a beat with, "Humans and omnics ain't able to have a baby together, they don't have compatible, um..." She trickled off into silence, then cleared her throat and tried again. "Why do ya ask?"

"Just checking." (Y/n) couldn't read the look passing between the omnics, but she got the feeling Laylani was teasing Ramattra about something based on how agitated he appeared as she stifled a giggle.

"Remove your nose from my business, Lalyani," he growled, the sound of his engines whirring just loud enough for the girl to hear. Was he overheating? Why?

"I knew it was big news that you accepted a human on board." The smirk was obvious in her voice, and Ramattra glared at her. That was old news, but the way she said it suggested there was something more she wasn't saying because the human in question could hear her.

"Need I remind you of her contributions to the cause due to her life debt?" He tapped his fingers on his sleeve and she sighed, shaking her head in disappointment.

"Right, I always forget that." She turned back to the laptop, mumbling something about 'always having an excuse ready' as she perused the options on the screen. Ramattra turned to leave, but paused with his back to her as she spoke. "Maybe you should think about letting the omnics go. You've shown them the Iris, what they do next is in their hands. You have a brother to find." He said nothing to that, simply walking out with a tug on (Y/n)'s scarf so she'd trail after him.

[Hawaiian] A 'o ia! = There you have it!

[Hawaiian] Wahine = woman/lady