driftfleet | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who: Eugene Woods, et al.
Broadcast: Fleetwide video
Action: HS Marsiva hospitality deck
When: 6/13

[Action]

[Eugene isn't necessarily a light sleeper. But he wakes quickly, when something is wrong. And something is definitely wrong, all at once, enough to have him pushing himself up and looking around, breaths coming fast and voiceless and silent.

He doesn't whisper for the name spinning through his head over and over, just pats to the edge of the cot in a haze of cold dread, feels nothing, curls his hand around the edge for balance as he scans the room. Other cots. Other people. The place is clean in a way nothing's been for years, sleek and shiny. Only the lack of overt scientific or medical purpose keeps at bay the worst of his fears, the darkest rumors and insinuations they'd scraped together over the years.

After several long minutes of staring out into the open room, he finds the communicator set down beside him and begins to browse transmissions and archives. Even then, he's tense and silent, eyes flitting up to track any movement or sound.]

[Transmission]

[Later - after a few hours of reading, and observing the goings-on around the deck, and a few several-minute stints of just trying to breathe slowly and not freak out - Eugene makes his first effort at hailing the network. He's set the device down on his pillow, and his expression is soundly unimpressed as he sits on the edge of the cot.]

Okay - this is the best open letter to our mysterious production staff that I can manage, but someone has to say it.

Seriously, guys? This is your ratings grab? This is your cool new hook for the week?

[He is not amused. He is so not amused.]

Don't tell me - is this supposed to be the inspirational overcoming adversity angle? Or is it just the kind of good old-fashioned entertainment where we can fly people through space, but we can't toss on a few robot limbs or whatever?

Guess I'll have to wait and see how it all comes out in post-production, huh. Great. Good job guys. Get those viewers.

[He reaches for the communicator and tips it, putting all of himself in the frame - down to left thigh that thins out and ends in a twisted line of scar tissue, several inches above where a knee would be. Eyes narrowed in resentment, he pats it emphatically a few times, then switches off the feed.]

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[He tilts his head to one side and smiles ever so slightly. Oh yes, his appearance does tend to have an effect on people meeting him for the first time, but the Vision feels it is necessary to establish from the beginning that he is different.]

Upstate New York, as it happens, and since we appear to be rather far away at the moment I will qualify that the planet was Earth. [He gestures to the back of his neck where even now he can feel the augment implant.] I believe I was somewhat altered when I awoke.

Oh?

[Any questions about Earth or the man himself are forestalled with that detail, and Eugene reaches for his own neck on impulse, frowning as his fingers pump over a hard little lump a few inches behind his left ear, hidden in his hairline.]

The hell?

[He can't feel any cut, any stitches or glue, anything at all but that too-smooth lump where a lump should not be.]

[He nods, expression somewhat concerned.] I assume they are related to the current situation. A reality show peopled entirely with strangers to space travel would end very quickly, otherwise.

When you put it that way . . . huh. Small price to play for the lack of screaming.

[He reaches for his communication device, lifting it listlessly and wobbling it around.]

I haven't had a ton of time to read up on what's going on yet. It's all still kind of . . . a lot.

[The Vision nods again; he process information faster, but there is a great deal of it and video and audio are much slower than text, since one must go through them in real-time.]

That it is. I will leave you to it, although--

[He frowns, not wanting to bring it up but not really seeing a way to avoid it.]

Do you require assistance with mobility? I'd hate to have you stuck in your room.

[It's a nice way of putting it. Very polite. It makes the offer easy to brush off casually, which is the courtesy Eugene appreciates most of all.]

I'm fine, thanks. [The crutch leaning close at hand has seen better days, patched and lovingly grafitti'd, but it still holds his weight just fine.]

Seeing as we're addressing the obvious now, though . . . I, um. [And he at least has the grace to look self-conscious, however undeterred his question.] Sorry, I don't actually have a better way to ask this than what are you?"

,small>[The Vision nods and his expression clears. If he can get along on his own that's much less of a concern, and he's let it be known that his assistance is available if it should become necessary.

The inquiry gets a smile, though.]

I cannot blame you for asking, as I am unique. [He holds up his hands and turns them around slowly, gazing at first the backs and then the palms.] It would be most accurate to say I am an android, as I was created primarily from computer programs and a metal called vibranium.

I've . . . never met an android.

[It's said with the distinctive lightness of someone who hasn't quite mustered all of their brain for their words, mostly because they can't.

But slowly, incrementally, the corner of his mouth is creeping into a curl.]

That is really, really cool. Is that common tech? I mean, for where they grabbed you from-?

[That smile is reassuring, and the Vision rests against the doorframe and takes up a relaxed pose.]

There are several humanoid robots, but they're largely under the control of a single company and are far more robotic in appearance. Depending on how much of a stranglehold Stark Industries keeps the renewable energy market in, they may become more common in as little as a decade.

[He touches two fingers to the gem in his forehead.] My construction was unique, however, using both an experimental tissue generation cradle and the most expensive metal in the world.

[A thoughtful flicker works across his face at Stark Industries and robots, but no. That's summarily dumped to the wayside, he can barely handle being in space right now, he's not diving down the nerdy rabbit hole.]

Wow. [He releases a slow breath.] So . . . do you know why you were made, too?

[Hey, as long as he's being intrusive, might as well go all the way. The guy doesn't seem to mind talking about it very much. And it's probably something he'd wonder if he was intimately aware of the details of his own creation.]

[It is the most recognizable technology brand in the world, so the Vision isn't surprised to see Eugene is apparently familiar with it. He nods at the question and taps the jewel on his forehead.]

Yes. I was created to bear this stone. They have...adverse effects on normal humans and others without the power to contain them.

[Eugene nods, and his eyes move down. Back up. And yeah, there still is that surname nagging in the back of his mind, one that isn't particularly urged to go away when he's talking to an android who is, among other things, wearing a cape.

He replies slowly, not sure if he wants to be right or not.]

. . . let me guess. Superpowers?

[He sounds oddly reluctant to voice that. The Vision tilts his head to one side and smiles just a little bit.]

They are all based in science, if that is what you mean. Very advanced science, but it is not "magic".

Small mercies.

[He gives an unsteady chuckle.]

Probably indistinguishable for me, for what it's worth. But thanks.

Not for you alone. It is very advanced science. [But he seems to be amused anyway.]

For what it's worth, I do try to be responsible about their use.

Like how? No flying inside the house?

[Perhaps this is an abuse of genre-savviness, but come on, whoever wore a cape over a bodysuit and DIDN'T fly at some point.]

[He snorts, amused.] I'm afraid I fly inside quite often, if the ceilings are tall enough. What I meant was that I should always try to improve quality of life and preserve it, to think of others rather than just myself. To stop destruction when possible.

"All that and super-science," he muses, only half to himself, huffing out a breath and doing his best to shake his head clear. Not that a little rotational force is going to make space travel, superhero androids, and abduction-based reality TV to settle into a neat order in his brain.

"But that's good to hear. Thanks." And it's sincere, if still off-balance. It just seems like sound logic to thank someone with those kinds of life goals. "So, uh. What are you called? Named."

"It's a bit much to take in all at once, isn't it?" His smile is somewhat sheepish - he's needing to take it slowly and he's somewhat used to strange situations.

"You're welcome. I am the Vision."

"Eugene. Woods." Non-magical, non-sciencey Eugene Woods. From the world where you got pretty excited when you didn't have to fear for your life on a daily basis.

And somehow, all he could think of was getting back there, and away from the world where he'd already met an android superhero.

"I'll see you around?"

"I hope so. It is good to meet you, Eugene." He sounds sincere about it, too, and smiles as he makes his way out to finish exploring the ship.

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