driftfleet | Winter & Vision's (not so) Excellent Adventure

Entry tags:

Winter & Vision's (not so) Excellent Adventure

Who: Winter, Vision, & You
Broadcast: n/a
Action: Forest, planetside
When: July 9th

[ This thread is going to serve both as a canon update to post Captain America: Civil War for Winter and Vision, but also be used as a monthly catch-all with prompts. ]

[ It's been a few weeks since they've landed, so Winter's finally gotten over most of his initial uneasiness. Enough to finally venture into the forest for a hike and get the lay of the land. He's familiar with the beach and the markets, and he's heard things about the forest and a certain tree, so he needs to see for himself if the rumors are true.

It's relatively peaceful, and he hasn't come across anyone else yet. He's making his way around a fallen tree when an animal jumps out of a nearby bush and startles him. Winter stumbles back, and his immediate reaction is to reach out with his left hand to steady himself. Unfortunately it's still broken, so it doesn't cooperate like it's meant to. Which means that he trips and falls. Down a steep hill. Only having one functioning arm means he raises his right to shield his head until he can manage to slow down or run into something. Which is exactly what he does before his head smacks solidly against a hard surface. ]

[Meanwhile, the Vision is similarly engaged in heading toward the tree to investigate it. He’s heard you need someone’s hand to hold in order for the magic to work, but his curiosity has the better of him and he’d like to observe it in action first. A scuffle down below his flight path catches his attention, and he swoops into the forest to see what’s going on just in time to see Winter, of all people, taking a tumble down a steep hillside. He rushes over to try and intercept the man before he seriously hurts himself, and in his rush he miscalculates his own density and slams down hard enough that Winter smacks his head against the Vision instead of catching himself safely.

Oops.

The impact is enough to snap the Vision’s head back and hit it against the tree he’d been trying to prevent Winter from hitting. So now there are two enhanced individuals knocked out on the forest floor. How very impressive.]

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Would you? [It's sharper than he perhaps intends.] Knowing a moment of distraction on my part could cause a hull breach, for example?

[He shakes his head.]

I wouldn't trust myself.

I would, because anything can happen at any time. My captain on the Tourist is convinced that I'm going to be a ditz and heat vision my way through the hull because I accidentally pulled the door off the washer once. Would you trust me, even though I've made a mistake?

[Darn, he can't even use the "it's expected of humans" defense on her, because she's not.]

Kara, you must understand I'm held to a very high standard because of the destruction I could cause. The only reason I am permitted to exist is because there is a small chance I can contain the chaos of the Mind Stone. I cannot afford to fail, and yet I am shown to be fallible.

But the thing is, I do get it. I don't have a Mind Stone and I'm entirely organic, but I don't even know the amount of damage I could cause people.

My mother sent me away from Krypton. She could have come with me, but I think her guilt over her decisions which led to the destruction of my planet was too strong. I think... she didn't believe she deserved the chance she was giving me.

It haunts me every day that I could follow the same path. That I could make choices that destroy my new home, too, or hurt the people I've grown to love. Her voice is always in my head, telling me I must protect my new home. It wasn't until recently I really realized that it's tinged with regret.

My cousin doesn't remember Krypton, but I do. I'm the one who's left with language, culture... the humanity of a dead planet. I cannot afford to fail, either. But one of the pitfalls of free will is that our choices and actions have consequences we can't always see.

[He listens to her carefully. While it's true that he's entirely unique, she may at least have similar problems. Does it matter so much that it's a different kind of power she has? No. That she's doing her best to be responsible, yes, that does matter.

He looks away, not yet ready to take that step with himself. It's good to hear, very good to hear--but the guilt is still raw. He's still feeling like the one who doesn't deserve a chance at a normal life anymore, if he'd ever even had it to begin with.]

And when those consequences outweigh the good the actions have done? The memory of a threat stopped is forgotten more easily than that of the damage caused in stopping it.

[He crosses his arms and looks at her again.]

For example, recently my team stopped a group of mercenaries who had secured a biological weapon and prevented the agent from being released into a crowded urban area. Yet during the battle, an explosion in a building caused directly by us killed several dozen people. Do you think we were praised for saving millions, or condemned for the deaths? Were they wrong, to focus on that?

[ what a bad situation to find themselves in. how would she react? ]

If you let everyone else define you, then you're already behind. But I think that the media should hold people like us accountable, too. It's a balance. Was it as bad as it could have been? No. Was it as good as it could've been? Also no. But the media—their job is to make money. They're going to find the angle that generates the most views and gets people to stop what they're doing to follow the story. And "not as bad as it could've been" doesn't make for a good news story. It sucks, and sometimes there's no way to win. I think people can be thankful you saved more while still mourning those who died. I wouldn't be satisfied, personally, with that result, so I get it. But if we stop protecting everyone because we can't protect one person, then what's the point?

[The media he's perfectly capable of ignoring. The United Nations, not so much. Still, it's good to hear someone (that's not Tony, he likes Tony very much but the man's bias is huge) talking about it.]

And if the people themselves should decide they wouldn't like our interference, are we still responsible for them? At what point do we disregard so selfish a wish?

[ she talks about what she knows, which is definitely media ]

At the risk of sounding paternalistic... There are some things we have to do because of the opportunities afforded to us. To have these powers and do nothing is, to me, worse than trying.

You would still rather the attempt were made, even if the consequences of failure were worse than the original threat.

[He says it musingly, rather than as a question, but after a long moment he shakes his head. She's right about the confidence thing.]

I don't trust in myself any longer, Kara. Not to be a help rather than a hindrance.

I can't afford to not try to save people. The gamble, for me, of saving people weighed against the certainty of not trying—there's no question. I will always try.

But if you can't trust in yourself, you will be more of a liability than an asset. I trust you, but that doesn't mean anything if you second-guess yourself. It's work you need to do on your own, but I'm happy to help you however I can.

[That feels more in line with how he's been approaching the whole situation. He can't be trusted, and he doesn't know when--or if--that will change. So he nods.]

What can be done?

Honestly?

It sounds like you need to figure out why you do what you do. Is it because you can, or because you want to?

Once you figure that out, maybe try to do small things that still accomplish that goal. You don't have to be all powers all the time.

[Or because it's what he was created to do - the peril of being an artificial being. Yes, he has free will (he's pretty sure), but the expectations have always been there. Always.

And maybe that's part of the problem. Would he hold himself to higher standards if others didn't also do the same?]

I will need to think about it. If the only variable in the equation that has changed is myself, perhaps a different equation is in order.

[He nods to himself.]

Thank you.

Good luck. I'll be cheering for you.

Are you headed anywhere in particular?

[He shakes his head.]

Only to clear my mind. It's not been particularly successful.

Sorry. I probably haven't been very helpful for that.

Better than nothing, I think. Thank you for that.

Can you share something good about what you remember?

[Good question.]

I did thoroughly develop another ability of mine - one not likely to end up disabling a teammate.

What is it?

[He tilts his head to one side.]

Controlling my own density. The practical effect is not unlike Kitty's phasing ability, for the most part, but I'm also able to dive into something with a very heavy impact.

Oooh. So it goes both ways? That's so interesting! I bet it'd be really useful if we ended up on a planet with a different gravitational structure.

It would certainly help me to keep my bearings. I do think it interesting that we've as of yet only visited planets with gravity very similar to Earth's, when statistically speaking it shouldn't be all that common. A deliberate choice on our hosts' part, perhaps?

I would assume so, or variant enough that we don't quite notice. Krypton's gravity was very similar to Earth's.

[He nods.] I'll grant I haven't looked for minor changes, though it would be easy enough. But within a, let us say ten percent variable, it's rather difficult to notice.

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