driftfleet | Time for family movie night on the Windrose!

[The tank is by far the hardest part of the operation - they'd probably need a lab assistant's help to get it just right. But once the stuff is established, it grows with barely any maintenance at all.]

Frankly, I haven't had very many visitors here, so I thank you for the thought. The ship's a bit smaller than it was before, but they've provided us with additional windows to compensate.

More windows ta stare out into the black? [Rogue shudders.] Not much of a compensation.

I think it will be beautiful when we have a planet in view. [There's something about seeing them from space that moves even him - though he actually likes looking out at the stars and other distant objects as well.]

It's possible they also changed it because several of us are quite tall and they find it amusing. The ladies have it luckier than the rest of the crew, I'm afraid.

[Bah, optimism. ...she could appreciate it, truly. But with Storm's psyche? Closed, tight, dark spaces were... difficult.]

They only gave us a tile job. [Glancing about suspiciously.] Not that I'm complain'. For the record.

[Half his attention is usually in the mental realm rather than the physical, anyway, so it doesn't seem any more claustrophobic than usual. It's probably the worst on their newest crew member, who's even taller than the Vision and Castle are - and not used to being surrounded by the starry void.]

Of course not. Tile is nearly as easy to keep clean as the normal surfaces. Are they patterned? You could make a mosaic with the right paints, if not.

Black an' white. Very Alice and Wonderland. [Pause a moment, brow furrowing.] Y'all have paints too?

[And who is the newest member, she wonders.]

Wrath is a painter; she's working on a mural in the Iskaulit to commemorate the lost. It would appear that finding the necessary pigments isn't terribly difficult, and anyone with a lab support augment should be able to convert them to a usable paint.

Hmm. [Something to think about. But now, Rogue remembers herself, and decides to cut to the chase:] Do you remember me bein' inside your head?

[Somehow, it was hard to imagine that he wouldn't. But it was possible.]

[The Vision purses his lips. He'd understood that not everyone did remember such things, but it had been close enough to the nature of his own powers that, as far as he was aware, he remembered everything from those encounters perfectly.]

I do, and you have my apologies if anything you viewed there disturbed you. I realize I do not have the most human mind.

[Even more bluntly:] Neither do I. I didn't come here for you ta apologize ta me. More ta see if I owed you one.

[Well.] An' ta visit. [Because she still thought he was lonely.] An' ta ask you a really nosy question. [Because Loki.]

[The first part gets a brilliant smile.] Not at all. The calibrations were involuntary, and no harm was done.

[She'd be right about that. He likes his crew, very much, but it's easy for him to feel set apart.]

It could not possibly be nosier than Wrath's questions, and I do not mind those. You may fire away.

[Alright. Fair enough. Beware then, Vision, this question is probably a two-parter.]

Can that [she points at the gem in his forehead] do things without your permission?

[See, that's way less nosy than "do you have a wang?"]

Not while I'm in contact with it, no. And it would take a very great force to remove it from me.

[So unless one of the other Infinity Stones shows up, the Fleet is safe from that.]

[Okay, that meant one of four things. Well. Five.

- Vision was lying to her
- Vision didn't care if the stone was trying to get inside Loki's head (which would be... incredibly stupid)
- Vision was not as in control as he thought he was
- The problem did not originate within the stone, but because of Loki's contact with the stone... somehow?
- Loki was lying to her

That fifth one was really only there in the interest of logic. Loki was not lying to her. She knew him, she knew he'd been genuinely scared. And he didn't lie to her. So.

Rogue frowned a little and crossed her arms.]

How do ya know? I'm told those things -- that thing in particular -- has its own intelligence.

[And she'd been inside his mind. It had been... unified, that was fair enough to say, but she also remembered seeing Jarvis within it, a Jarvis who was distinct from Vision. She wasn't sure if that was metaphorical or literal, but... did a little tiny version of that tiny little gem with a great big punch actually exist somewhere within Vision's brain, as the psyches did within hers?]

This one certainly does. [He pauses, trying to find the words. He is one and two generations removed from it, yet it is a part of him. He is not it and it is not him - it's more symbiotic than that. Or perhaps parasitic would be a better word, if one could consider the body a parasite?]

I know as well as anyone that intelligence does not always equate free will. It does have both, but our wills are not separate at this time. We are one in that. It years to reunite with its brothers, but it cannot while I am here. It is not strictly a matter of control. Control can be broken.

[He pauses, eyes searching internally again.]

For much of its existence, the Mind Stone has used its influence to move from powerful host to powerful host, abandoning them once they no longer serve its needs. I serve those needs well, and should it choose to leave me I would likely die. So, while it is with me, we work together in all things.

[Rogue generously estimates that she understands about... 80 percent of that. She gets lost a bit at 'serve those needs well.'

...and decides to just ask.] What needs, exactly, are ya servin'?

[Loki said it made him think that all would be well.]

In general? Defending humanity, actually. They're a diverse and creative bunch, and that in turn powers the Stone. If we were to lose them, it would be lessened.

[In specific? Well, that's situational.]

...Huh.

[That was interesting. She didn't have anything else to say for a long moment, chewing over the information.

Either she took him at his word or she didn't, and... well. She'd been inside his mind. She was inclined to believe Vision. He just... seemed so genuine.]

Well. Thank ya for answerin' my question.

You're welcome.

[So genuine it makes certain people distrustful, but, well. There's only so much he can do about that. So instead he gestures to the rest of the cargo bay.]

Would you like a tour? It's not terribly large, but it is our home.

[It is strange to think of these ships as 'home.' She doesn't, not quite yet. But then... she supposes Vision has been in the Fleet longer than he has been on Earth at this point.]

Sure. [Simple agreement.] Thanks. Lead the way.

[Quite a lot longer, if one counts the time he's really been himself and not echoes of memories from JARVIS.

So he'll take her on the tour, small enough though the ship is, and point out the various parts he's helped to customize.]

[And Rogue followed along, an appreciative tourist.]

Time for family movie night on the Windrose!

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wrap?

wrap!