driftfleet | Twin Roses Mingle

[So many small changes, so much that's stayed the same. It's not his Windrose, but it's close enough that it's no stretch to start thinking of the Twin Roses as a new home. The Vision spends much of his first few days wandering around the ship, pausing to contemplate something here and there - a new set of windows in the hallway, a little bit of graffiti from a previous resident in the bathrooms, his old familiar nook in the Engineering section that he now gets to share with someone else. He spends a lot of it in the cargo bay with the plants, much like he always had before - floating up to the ones on higher shelves, checking them each individually for health and harvesting leaves or seeds or roots when appropriate.

And he spends time at the kelp tank, coaxing out the little glow fish that live there and transferring them one by one into portable little sphere-tanks with wicker hangars, leaving them for a few hours, and then transferring them back. On the planet they'd come from, the little fish were used as light sources, and he wanted to make sure they still felt comfortable with the old job. Power outages did occur, and not everyone could see in the dark. Plus, they're kind of adorable.

Most importantly, he'll use his time to seek out the other crew members and introduce himself. He largely sticks to wearing his Avengers outfit on the ship; no real need to camouflage his clothing out here. So hi, there's a tall maroon person with lots of interesting costumey bits and no hair wadering around your ship, occasionally floating and phasing through objects.]

[Vash may have been asleep when Vision first arrived, but once he was awake he wasted no time to go looking for his crew. Dressed in a red sweater, blue jeans, black leather gloves, and boots he doesn't exactly look like a co-captain.

Finds Vision tending to the kelp and smiles when he spots him.] Hello, there. You must be, Vision, right?

[He's been trying to coax the green one out of the fronds to check on its health, but straightens up and puts his full attention to the visitor. He looks vaguely familiar, but between the time that's passed and the lack of his signature jacket, the Vision doesn't quite place him.]

I am. Might I ask whom I am addressing?

Ah, I'm Vash. I think I'm a co-captain when Kitty remembers. [Moving on past that.] I don't believe we had a chance to meet the last time you where here. [He holds out a hand for shaking.] Good to meet you.

[He shakes Vash's hand firmly, long past the point in time when it would have been awkward for him to do so without some kind of caution. His flesh is noticeably fleshy, and only a little cooler than a typical human's body temperature.]

I'm glad to meet you as well. Do you prefer to be addressed as Captain?

[Is he going to ever get his hand back? Vash is suddenly have just a couple regrets, but he wants to make a good impression. So he keeps on smiling regardless.] Actually, I'm not a big fan of it. It's not like this place really gives much meaning to the title anyway.

[Oh, right, he should probably let go. One of these days he'll get it right.]

Aside from a slightly more spacious room? No, I don't suppose it does. The significance comes from the fellow crew, if you decide to treat it that way. Just Vash, then. Are you from Earth as well?

Ahh- haha, no. I'm not. [He can't help but chuckle because he wasn't. He was born on a space ship carrying passengers looking for a new life that had come from the planet Earth.] I'm from a planet called Gunsmoke. Or No Man's Land. It's a bit up for debate, really.

That certainly sounds friendly and hospitable. [His tone is nearly as dry as the desert.]

Eh, [Vash shrugs with a chuckle.] It's not all bad. We just need to think of some more creative names is all.

So I'm assuming that you're from Earth? Or at last a version of it? I think I heard that you're an Avenger, right?

[He nods.]

Yes, that's correct. My timeline is generally identifiable by the alien attack on New York City in the early twenty-first century. It's currently the year 2018 for me, if that means anything to you. I live in a largely isolated facility in upstate New York, though I've traveled to many areas of the world.

Oh. [He doesn't remember Rem mentioning an alien attack in any of her history lessons about Earth. So maybe his Earth will be safe in the future. Then again, her lessons did get cut abruptly short.] That is one specific way to tell your Earth from other Earths.

I have to say. I've never had that problem before. No one has ever heard of the planet I'm from. [Which is a good thing that there hasn't been multiple people stranded on a literal desert planet.]

Unique events are the best method I've found for differentiating them, though I'm sure it's hardly the only way. [It does kind of suck that an alien attack is the best unique event he has, though.]

I can't say I have, come to think of it. Do you miss it much? Or do you enjoy the opportunity to travel to other places? [It's both for the Vision, but then, he's known some people who just pine for what they've left behind.]

Well, I hope soon you have a better unique event past aliens attacked. Sounds pretty scary to me.

[Vash shrugs at the question about his planet.] The planet itself? Not really. I've always been a drifter so moving from place to place never bothered me. [Also, the planet SUCKS.] But I do miss some of the people there. It may sound strange but I wish some of them could be here and see some of the places that we've visited. [Particularly the ones that died. He wants them back now.

He chuckles lightly after that last statement.] Although I suppose maybe that's a bit odd. I probably shouldn't wish for them to get stuck on some weird alien show where their lives are constantly being messed with and put on display.

Well. I should hope we do get to that point as well. [~~Just think, soon it'll be the Infinity Gauntlet timeline, because that's so much better.~~]

No, I understand that very well. It's true that most of my own friends have been here at one time or another, but--even so, there's much I'd like to share.

[His expression falters a bit.]

And it's not as though our lives aren't under scrutiny at home, either.

Oh? Are you on television at home too? [Says the man who from a world without television or superheros.]

[He smiles just a little bit.]

I have been. I'm something of a public figure there, when I go outside the Avengers' facility.

Oh yeah? [Vash knows the Avengers are a group of heroes, but he briefly wonders if his bounty would make him a "public figure" at all.] That must be difficult. To always have people's eyes on you. I can only imagine how tiring that could be. [What with the running for your life. Oh wait, that might just be him.]

[The smile is still there, but now it's strained, and he closes his eyes for a moment. There are times, most of them recent, when all he's wanted is a little privacy, and the things he's had to do to get even that make him feel guilty. But then he shakes his head and opens them again, clearing the impinging memories form his immediate consciousness.]

It was inevitable, I think. I'm too visibly different from baseline humans not to draw attention, and my chosen career would put anyone in the spotlight. Frankly, I've always felt I blend in better here on the Fleet. Androids aren't exactly common here, but nonstandard appearances aren't nearly as unique as at home.

[Vash smiles softly.] I think I can understand that. I have been lucky in looking human so it's easy for me to fit in at a glance back home. The fact that here in the fleet so few people even raise an eyebrow to hear someone isn't human is refreshing.

I do get a few odd questions about being an android, but largely from those who are not familiar with the term. I think it does help that there are so many here that are exceptional in their own ways: if they already see themselves as living outside the box, what difference if you or I are a bit further from the baseline?

[It's a large part of why this place had in many ways been more of a home than, well, home.]

May I ask how you identify, if not as human?

Yes. I actually think what could be classified as a normal human may actually be the minority on this fleet at times. Even those who call themselves human seem to excel in their own unique ways. [Yuri may not agree with him, but Vash finds his ice skating exceptional in an almost inhuman way.]

Ah-- [How does he identify?] I suppose the best way to describe myself is an Independent Plant. Not a tree! [He's quick to add. Having learned that's what most people first think of.] The world I'm from there are-- [Things? Creatures?] Plants and they're, well, you could call them terraformers. Life and technology mixed together to be able to help create a world that's safer to live.

I was-- [Evolved? Created?] --born from one of those. [Vision can probably easily pick up by Vash's tone that while he's trying to act calm and collected, he's not actually overly comfortable talking about himself in this way.]

I would agree. Perhaps the Atroma and their audience enjoy watching exceptional persons thrown into what they consider a "normal" experience? Strange as a space reality show may be to most of us.

[The Vision, on the other hand, looks delighted at that description.] That's a highly noble purpose. Is that why you didn't mind the gardens and such from the Windrose when the ships combined?

For my part, I was originally designed to destroy all life on Earth. [He says this in an awfully casual tone.] Fortunately, my programming was heavily modified before I was ever activated. Now, there's little I enjoy more than being surrounded by living things.

Maybe. I don't really understand the idea of watching people live their normal lives for entertainment. So maybe that's what makes it interesting.

[He chuckles at the idea that he likes the gardens because his sisters are terraformers.] No. That's not the reason. I just really like flowers and plants. They're beautiful and we don't have a lot of variety back home. [They had basically none.] So it's amazing to see how many different kinds there are.

[Wait. Did he say destroy all life?] Ah--- well. I'm glad your original design didn't stick? You did say you're an Avenger, right?

[He hesitates a bit that that. "Watching people live their normal lives for entertainment seems to have struck something deeper in the Vision than expected.] As it happens, I--think I would watch that. But not for entertainment. More as a sort of stand-in for my own experiences. A "normal" life? I doubt it will ever come my way.

[He shakes his head as if to clear it and blinks.] Yes, I did, and yes, I am. I saved the world the day after I was awakened. [He touches the stone set into his forehead, which briefly glows a bright yellow.] It turns out that particular father of mine was not counting on the influence this stone would have. it's called the Mind Stone, and while there's still much I don't understand about it, one thing is clear to me. It likes to be surrounded by life. And so, therefore, do I.

[He smiles, finally.] Hence my own dedication to the gardens.

Twin Roses Mingle

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