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Who: The Vision and you!
Broadcast: Fleetwide video
Action: Windrose
When: Today!

[The video clicks on to an unusual-looking man with maroon skin and a yellow gem set into his forehead. Though he's been a familiar sight around the Windrose, the Vision doesn't tend to post much so he wouldn't be surprised if there are many unfamiliar with him.

This is a special occasion, however. There's even what looks like a cake in the background.]

There was a slight time differential between my last memories of home and the calendar here. Namely, I seem to have missed the month of June entirely. Given that lack, today is the three hundred sixty-fifth day since I was created.

Accordingly, there is cake and ice cream on the Windrose for any who should care to visit.

[He pauses and furrows his brow slightly.]

I cannot vouch for the taste of either, but I assure you they received the highest ratings from the shops they were purchased at.

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[The response is a little encouraging, so she smiles.]

I understand it is customary to celebrate birthdays in many cultures. Congratulations.

Thank you, Makie. In America of my time, it's customary to serve cake and ice cream to guests. You're welcome to have some, if you like.

I must admit, I don't think I've ever had either.

...if it's all right. I'll come down.

It's quite all right. There's enough for everyone.

[It was expensive to purchase on the moon, but he hadn't minded the expense - he thinks of it as his food budget for the month. That and he'd got quite a boost to his ratings from the masquerade, so he has plenty of cash at the moment.

He's set up down in the cargo bay, with the ice cream in a chiller and the cake ready to serve.]

[Makie finds him there soon after, stepping into the cargo bay wrapped in her shawl. Vision shouldn't startle her as much as he does-- she's befriended ponies and talking reindeer before. Perhaps it comes down to seeming human in some ways while distinctly being something other.

Whatever the reason, he seems a perfectly decent person. So she smiles when she sees him. It's just a matter of getting used to his company.]

Have you had many visitors?

[Whatever else he is - and there's quite a lot to him - uncanny is part of it for many. He accepts this, as he sees no reason to deny who he is. Still, it does make some people more shy around him than they might otherwise be.

Regardless, he smiles back warmly when he notices Makie.]

There have been several, in fact. It seems I was correct to order the large cake.

[Not that it wouldn't get eaten anyway, but still.]

I hope they were here to wish you well and not just partake of the gifts you provided. [Dryly. She finds a place to sit.]

If I may ask, how is it that you are so young?

I'd have welcomed their presence regardless, but--yes, they were. I have even received several presents from my close friends. [Which he hadn't been expecting at all.

He paces around a bit, gesturing with his hands as he does.]

I was created by advanced technology rather than born. I don't suppose you're familiar with the concept of a golem? It's a word used to describe a creature made from inanimate material such as clay or stone and brought to life by magic. I am made of flesh and metal brought to life by thunder, but the idea is similar.

[She shakes her head briefly at the question and listens with rapt attention. Nothing she's familiar with in Japanese lore comes close.]

So you are a... truly unique creation. [He doesn't fit 'robot' as she's come to understand it. He seems vastly too intelligent for such a label in any case.] It sounds as if you were blessed by the gods.

[Well, she has no other read on 'brought to life by thunder' than thinking on tales of Raijin.]

Every individual is unique. The circumstances of their lives count as much for the manner of their birth--or creation, as it were. Still, I won't deny my uniqueness is quite dramatic in nature.

[She's not wrong, though. Thor is called the God of Thunder for a reason.]

Would that people in my own time believed in such uniqueness.

[Dryly. Japan with its strict caste system and rules defining everyone. Fun place.]

I must say, I hadn't considered just how different people could be until I found myself in places such as this.

I'm sure there are some that do, even if society does not. It's important to find those people no matter where you are.

[Even if it is rather more dramatic, as he'd said, for people as different as him.]

The sheer variety here surprises even me, at times. It's eye-opening, to say the least.

Oh, yes. There are some actively fighting against the strict traditions of my time. [It's something she can believe in after the fact, with how she's changed.] I... wish them well.

[She smiles with a little more amusement.] I must say the ponies most definitely took me by surprise.

As do I. [It's a good thing to fight for.]

The sentiment is mutual, though both representatives of the race seem to be generous and kind-hearted. I do wonder how they can do their assigned jobs without opposable thumbs, however.

It seems they find a way. In Adstringendum, I met a reindeer who was also a doctor. He had little trouble with his role, either.

I wouldn't mind meeting him either, I think.

[Perhaps he'll simply observe them and see for himself. You can't just ask someone why they don't have opposable thumbs.]

He was an excellent doctor. Very earnest. [She misses him a little.]

I assume it's not... common, even in the future, for animals to do such things?

[He looks a tiny bit amused at that.]

Certainly not. With very rare exceptions such as myself, the Earth of my time is human. Their contact with the greater galaxy is quite limited.

[She flushes faintly. Well, ask a stupid question...]

I should have known that would be the answer. Chopper comes from a world also filled with humans. Perhaps he's a rarity there, also... though the ponies, I think, are a different story.

[Well, it's not like he's a great representation of how "human" the Earth of his time is.]

They are, I believe. The two in the fleet are what they call "Earth ponies", but there are winged pegasi and horned unicorns as well, apparently, and together they make up a society. [He shakes his head, still looking slightly amused.] It's no stranger than some other alien societies, except in that they are so similar in appearance to the horses we know.

How many alien societies are you familiar with?

[Genuinely curious. The Fleet itself seems mostly comprised of normal men and women, albeit some of them have some decidedly odd gifts.]

I'm only truly familiar with a handful, but I read a great deal about other planets while we were on the Starlight station. While I cannot verify the accuracy of those accounts, it certainly provided some excellent ideas.

I've seen some on our travels, of course, though I don't really go out much.

But...I like the idea of alien societies. Wholly unfamiliar places with their own culture, so different to ours.

[It's a reminder that the strict rules she was governed by in her own life are only held by a comparatively tiny niche of the vaster universe. Something she appreciates more and more, as time goes on.]

[He smiles at that, though mostly to himself.]

There are so many of them - anything you can imagine is probably true somewhere. Even on Earth alone, no two lives are the same.

I consider that beautiful.

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