Orisa was originally an OR15 Idina unit, one of a squadron deployed in Numbani to participate in its defense. Their first task was to defend the Doomfist Gauntlet, an advanced prosthetic that was being moved to the Numbani Heritage Museum on Unity Day. This was considered the end of an era, and once the gauntlet was on display, the security would make it nearly impossible for any enterprising criminal to recover.
Doomfist beat them to it. He seized his gauntlet at the airport, and devastated the OR15s waiting to take it into custody. Doomfist hated everything Unity Day stood for; humans and omnics were not to be peaceful with one another. In his opinion accepting omnics had made man weak, and so he was determined to sow discord throughout Numbani.
Sadly, the OR15s were considered totaled. As unawakened drones with no sentience, they were auctioned off as spare parts. With Numbaniās future uncertain, and Doomfist spreading terror throughout the city, they were gathering funds for their defense. Selling the robots as scrap metal was, seemingly, the best they could do.
Enter Efi Oladele. She purchased the chassis of a shattered OR15 unit for 1 million naira on behalf of her grants by the Adawe Foundation. The young engineer, barely 11 years old, rolled up her sleeves and got to work. The OR15 unit in her care needed a new fusion driver, a Brandford Arm capable of firing pulse munitions generated by the reactor, and a strong Tobelstein reactor capable of generating gravitron fields. Efi wasnāt just building a bodyguard or something to put back into service. She was going to end Doomfist, or drive him out of Numbani forever.
Efi and her friends Hassana and Naade got to work rebuilding the OR15. Efi took heavy influence from the Overwatch heroes of old, as well as her own Yoruba culture. She named her Orisa, taking inspiration from her unit name as well as the orisha, Yoruba spirits that represent Supreme Divinity.
The project consumed Efi. She obtained the Brandford arm, even though it had to be upgraded as it was from an OR14 unit. Naade generated a new voice for Orisa, blending the voices of Efi, Efiās mother and grandmother, and President Adawe together into a unique sound only Orisa would possess. As Doomfist spent weeks causing hell around Numbani, Efiās work ethic, heavy handed schedule, and frustrations drove Naade and Hassana away. She worked on Orisa alone, debugging, reprogramming, and fighting with a modified version of Liaoās Adaptive Artificial Intelligenceā¦.the same intelligence that created the god programs. Efi was no fool. She put in a shutdown code imbedded in Lucioās song āWe Move Together as Oneā. If Orisa hears it, she will stop what she is doing as an emergency protocol.
Efi eventually settled on a blend of AAI, some āborrowedā subroutines from the Numbani military, and programming of her own. Orisa would be trained in military field first aid, military strategy, and would be programmed to be a model citizen alongside a terrifying warrior. Along with upgraded armored plating, and a new faceplate, Orisa was complete.
All that was left to do was turn her on.
Orisa booted up beautifully. She was no awakened omnic, and would hold no true sentience. Chained to her programming, she would have no choice but to be the new hero Numbani needed. However, Orisa needed to be put through her paces.
Efi started her on several standard robotics tests to gauge dexterity. She had her hold a glass. Orisa shattered it instantly, and Efi cut herself picking up the pieces. Upon seeing the blood, Orisa leapt into action, seizing Efiās arm and attempting to cauterize the wound. Panicked, seeing as Orisa was about to use a very large cauterizing plasma cutter on a very small hand cut, Efi played her shutdown code.
Efi didnāt blame Orisa; the adaptive AI was still trying to find its feet, and the poor thing was only a few hours old. She showed Orisa a cardboard cutout of Doomfist instead, telling her that was her enemy. Efi cut back a bit on Orisaās weaponry, and decided to take her to the outskirts of Numbani to get familiar with the city.
It was an unmitigated disaster. Orisaās sense of Justice was extremely strong, and a strange robot didnāt fit in well on the streets of Numbani after the spectacular failure of the OR15 squad. After trying and failing to fit Orisa into a tram, the pair decided to walk. However, things didnāt get out of control until Efi spotted a man trying to break into a vehicle and pointed it out to Orisa. She ordered him to bring him to justice, as a test of her AI.
Orisa charged the man, who fled in panic with the robot hot on his heels. Orisa smashed through the streets in pursuit of her prey, quickly outstripping poor Efiā¦and now out of range of her shutdown code. Orisa ran down her prey like she had been designed to do, hoisted the would-be thief into the air, apprehending him. Efi stopped her just in time, and the pair retreated home after dropping their quarry at the police station, rattled but unharmed.
Perhaps Orisaās programming was working a bit too well. Unfortunately, news of the incident had gotten out, and by morning the only assistance job Efi could get Orisa was stacking cans in a local grocery store. Unfortunately for Orisa and every member of the public shopping that day, she was just too big for the store. Her mannerisms and firm insistence on helping people drove customers away. People were afraid of her, especially with the new propaganda Doomfist was spreading.
Orisa could tell she was disappointing Efi. She had to try harder!
The next day, they went for a walk around the city. Efi reasoned that Orisa needed lessons in civics. Surely once she got the laws down, she would be fine enforcing them. Orisa was uneasy walking around the cityā¦she was regretting smashing the place up just chasing a car thief. Efi reassured her that was what her empathy module was for, and not to worry about it.
Things went from bad to worse. Orisa caused a car pileup when she neglected to wait for the light to turn before escorting an old lady across the street. She simply stiff armed the vehicles, protecting her charge and Efi but causing hideous damage to property all along a major section of Numbani. With Orisa embarrassed and Efi terrified of another incident, Orisa was sent back to her docking bay until Efi could decide what was to be done with her.
Orisa worried. She just couldnāt do anything right. Her biometric scans told her Efi was stressed and upset. Orisa didnāt want to be a failure either. Quietly, Orisa used Efiās computers to purchase a lower-quality gravitron processor from the Junkers. It wasnāt a Tobelstein, but maybe it would help her be less of a failure.
Grimly, Efi made the decision to rip out Orisaās empathy module, removing Orisaās ability to feel more complex emotions like self-doubt, worry, sadness, or compassion. She needed a weapon, and not a self-conscious toddler.
Doomfist attacked the Numbani Heritage Museum the next day, and Orisa sprang into action unbidden. Efi tried to get her to stop, but without her empathy module, she was deaf to Efiās impassioned pleas that she wasnāt ready.
Orisa plunged into battle, but blew her shields too early. Doomfist watched as the shields ran down Orisaās power reserves, and used his strength against her as he had before. The strike didnāt kill her this time, thanks to her upgraded machinery, but Orisa was badly wounded. As Doomfist raised his arm to strike the final blow, Efi ran between the two of them. Doomfist, unimpressed at the 11 year old barrier, moved to slap her aside. At the last moment, Orisa reactivated her shields and pushed Doomfist back with her Junker-made gravitron, climbing to her feet. With sirens blaring and the military on its way, Doomfist and Talon retreated.
Efi decided to put Orisa into military training full time. Naade insisted on showing Orisa footage of the Numbani Airport attack, where Orisa got to see her OR15 self slammed into the wall. Doomfist was a monster that wouldnāt hesitate to hurt people, and Orisa needed to see what he had done to her. Efi worried the footage would traumatize her impressionable robot, and her fears were soon realized.
On a training run at their school, several students were dressing up as Doomfist. Orisa, remembering the footage of her killer, fired on the children. She injured several of them before Efi was able to use her shutdown code.
Orisa pleaded for her life. She was still learning! She was barely weeks old and still getting a handle on life let alone the monumental task she had been built for!
Efi, sorrowfully, put Orisa into stasis. She, much like Echo, was put into storage. Not alive, not dead, but asleep.
Lucio, scheduled to perform at the next Unity Day celebration, had heard Efi was on the lookout for a Tobelstein reactor, and helped get her one. Efi was torn; here was the final upgrade for Orisaā¦but could she keep a handle on her? She installed the upgrade, replacing the Junker-made one, and made the decision to reactivate Orisaās compassion module.
Awake again, the full weight of what Orisa had done settled on her shoulders. She could feel again, and regret and grief at attacking a defenseless child who had only been playing washed over her. Efi apologized; she had been impatient with Orisa. She was a new AI, tantamount to an infant, and it had been unfair to push her. Efi admitted that when push came to shove, she simply hadnāt wanted the responsibilityā¦she had been so focused on Doomfist, she hadnāt been thinking of the AI she had created.
Orisa accepted her apology, and the two danced to Lucioās music in celebration of Unity Day. Orisa was put on usher duty at the concert, and performed her duties well, proudly, and with less collateral damage than normal. Her duties done, Orisa settled in with Efi to watch her very first concert.
It wasnāt to be. Doomfist attacked en masse, and this time Efi, Lucio, and Orisa banded together. Lucio used his healing music to protect the crowd, and Orisa moved to engage Doomfist. This time, with all her upgrades, the two were evenly matched. The tide was beginning to turn against Doomfist, and he seized one of his own troops as a hostage, threatening to kill him in cold blood.
Efi recognized Doomfistās plan at once: while she had been upgrading and training Orisa, Doomfist had been recruiting from Numbani itself. The young man he held was none other than one of Efiās cousins, a man named Bisi, that she had been close to when she was younger. She couldnāt reach either Doomfist or Bisi in time; it was up to Orisa.
Orisa had a choice to make. She could let Doomfist crush Bisiās throat, and take Doomfist into custody. Or she could save Efiās cousinā¦but let Doomfist escape. Logic dictated that arresting Doomfist was priority. Her compassion bade her to save the human so callously hung in front of Akande.
Doomfist fled Numbani by the skin of his teeth, and Bisi was arrested for his involvement in Talon.
Despite the bittersweet ending, Lucio, Efi and Orisa were hailed as heroes. Efi and Orisa dedicated themselves to protecting Numbaniās peaceā¦now more than ever.
(Taken from facebook group "Deadlock gang: women of Overwatch from a member there)
