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Who: The Vision
Broadcast: Video from the planet's surface
Action: Locked to Wanda
When: Now

[This video opens up with a view of a sea of dunes stretching out as far as the eye can see, lit only by the stars above. Some of those stars are moving about in a lively fashion - space traffic, though even the large stations are no more than points of light from this distance. Then the camera pans over to view some shadowy but dramatic rock formations - sandstone or a similar sedimentary rock, though it's hard to tell without more light. The voice narrating the scene has a gentle tone and a British accent, almost like a nature documentary. It's only very slightly muffled by the helmet he's wearing.]

A desert planet is hardly unusual. It's the most common type of rocky exoplanet according to the science in my time. Yet here we see several signs that this was not - and need not always be - the case. Look at the gentle curves in the rocks and the way the sand forms dunes. These are signs of more wind and water than the planet has. Did it have a stronger gravitational pull when it was younger? Did its atmosphere bleed off over time? Are these problems that could be fixed, with the right resources and engineering?

And would that effort destroy the view of the stars above? [He focuses the video a little more on the sky. Granted, they can see the stars any time from their own ships, but there's something about being on a planet that makes it different. The perspective, perhaps? A field of infinite stars is enough that the mind loses its focus unless there's something to compare it to, something to give it context.]

It might. Or it might allow even more people to see their beauty.

It's worth a look if you, like me, find the walls and ceilings too enclosing at times. But do wear your protective gear or you won't make it far outside a shuttle. This planet isn't for the unprepared.

[The view sweeps back to the dunes again, where it rests for a few moments before blinking out.]

[The Vision clicks off the communicator feed and smiles over at Wanda. He's in a full exosuit - he wouldn't need it if he decided to stay intangible throughout the trip, but then he wouldn't be able to grab a couple rocks as souvenirs. Or hold her hand through the gloves as they fly, because here is a space meant for such things.

And he really has missed flying.]

Shall we go to the top of that spire? It looks broad enough for the both of us.

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[He nods along with the explanation - it makes plenty of sense, especially if it's corporations in charge.]

For example, it would be easier to introduce water if there are several comets already in the system? Though even so, I would imagine one would need a powerful motivator to terraform a desert planet. Some rare resource, perhaps, or a favorable location served better by a planet than a series of stations.

[He tilts his head and grins a little.] If there were more than one of me, I might be able to answer that for you. I'm afraid I'm quite unique.

That is, if the comet's water matches the kind the terraformers need. In my solar system, from all of the Jupiter-family comets, only Hartley 2 has water like Earth's. [Someone is a space nerd and this conversation is watering his crops and cleaning his skin, really.] Terraforming for new territory isn't unheard of, but resources are usually the main reason.

[Shiro raises his eyebrows at that. For a moment he wonders if he's unique because of bad reasons - is his race extinct? But considering the grin and inability to answer, it seems that's not the case. Now he's curious!] Is it okay to ask what are you?

Is that so? What other kind of water might it have? Deuterated, or perhaps a great deal of contaminants of some kind? It's almost entirely theoretical on my Earth, but there are other sections of the galaxy that are far more heavily populated. I'm sure they'd know more. [Look, nerds are the best. He can ramble on forever about science.]

I'm an android. [For once he doesn't preface it with "if you've ever heard of that".] That in itself might not be so unusual, but between the vibranium infusion and this stone [he taps his forehead, and the yellow gem set there glows briefly] it allows for a far more complex program than any other current system can handle. Vibranium is our Earth's rarest material, and the Mind Stone is unique.

[Ah, so this guy knows Earth! Fewer things to explain, then.] I was only a pilot, so some of the most specialized details escape me. But from what I remember-- the other comets had what they called "heavy water molecules". Their formula was slightly different from H2O. Theories changed to see if Earth's water came from asteroids and not comets. While the rest of the galaxy being more populated and advance is true for my universe too, we're still the only ones in the Solar System, so the answers to our origins remain open.

[His eyes widen - he couldn't have guessed that.] Amazing. So the Mind Stone is magical? Is that what makes you so life-like? You're capable of curiosity and opinions on beauty.

[He has no problem putting that thought into words. If he was curious before, then he's even more curious now, because this is the closest he's ever heard of to something similar to the lions and the Balmeran crystals.]

[He nods - deuterated water or something similar would make sense in that case.] That's very interesting. I can't say we've found much water on asteroids, but our space program is very early in its infancy. Most of the world has only known for a short time that there are other civilizations out there, so our knowledge about how life developed in other systems is almost nonexistent.

[And he smiles a little. Science and magic, huh? Someone either has a very interesting home life or has been in the Fleet for long enough to acknowledge both.] There are those who would call it magic, yes. There are others who define magic as science we don't yet understand. It is a tremendous source of energy and capable of affecting and influencing the minds of others; its matrix was the pattern for my consciousness, one far more complex and organic than any AI we'd yet developed. I believe that complexity is where my emotions originate, rather than in the Stone itself.

[Ultron certainly had emotions Negative emotions, but still.]

I'm not surprised to hear that, most people that were dragged here seem to come from Earths with young space programs - lots of twentieth and twenty-first century, I've noticed. With NASA still around.

[He makes it sound like NASA is a thing from another age... because for him, it is. That little smile from Vision though? It tells Shiro that the topic of conversation is fine, that he can make questions and chat about this. Cool.]

Magic as a science we don't understand - you should meet Allura. Her race's alchemy fits that description. They used Balmeran crystals to power their ships - those power crystals are also huge sources of energy that allowed them to wormhole, but they don't have the ability to influence minds like your stone. The robots we know that developed some kind of conscience were made by her father from a trans-reality comet infused with Quintessence, which as far as I understand, it's the word they have for life force. Apparently the comet itself guided him through the building process? Five huge ships shaped like lions, and it's them that choose their pilots, the bond making them stronger. The concepts you're telling me about remind me a lot of them, although you're far more sentient and intelligent.

That and private investors, for the most part. We've had a bit of contact with other civilizations, but not enough to mobilize our space program in any noticeable way. [They've been too focused on defending themselves for that.]

Now that does sound fascinating. If the comet itself had a level of sentience, I could easily see that. As for the ships [and he smiles fondly] I'd have to say lower-level sapience in robotic intelligences is something I simply adore. Any of them can develop further, if given the right resources. I was working on a project along those lines with my ship's maintenance droids, the last time I was here.

And yet you already exist there. It's quite a contrast.

[He wonders if this is how his Earth is feeling when his commander took the information they found, how they will when Shiro and the others finally return with five magical robot lions. It's a surreal thought.]

Something you adore, huh? If you plan on continuing working on that, you should contact some of my teammates, they've worked with the lions at home. I bet they'd be interested, and they may have more detailed information to tell you about. Allura is the pilot at the Tourist, Pidge the engineer at the Bishop.

[He chuckles.] It wouldn't have happened without quite a bit of outside meddling. The native AI of my time are trying very hard, but haven't managed to pass the Turing test just yet.

That could be very rewarding, in fact. Though I'm afraid my ship is entirely without a janitor this time, so alas, no maintenance bots to practice with. I did archive some of the code modifications last time, however, so we needn't start from scratch - one of my former crew was distressed that they were programmed to eliminate the vermin, so I modified their code to capture them instead. She then released them at various planets when we docked.

The Turing test... that's the one that checks if a machine can act like a human, right?

Maybe an engineer can help you build something from scratch? But it's interesting to hear you managed those code modifications. I have to wonder how far we could go with the right tools - some times it feels like Atroma gives enough things to offer a sense of working but not true freedom to go all the way.

Mmm, close. It's to see if a human can tell whether they're talking to a machine or not. Granted that the limitations of his time showed "human" as the only example of sapient communication; we've since encountered aliens who unquestionably think, yet their methods of communication are so unlike the human standard that many AI would seem more "human" in comparison.

[Don't let him digress into robot philosophy, man. It's a slippery slope.]

There's only one way to find out, of course. I've always preferred applied research to theoretical, myself.

That's a very good point. I guess for the test to truly work they'll have to re-define "communication". Back in my world, there's a kind of planet called Balmera. Except it isn't a planet, it's a creature of the size of one. Aliens live on it and everything. They could communicate with and through it by touching it and sending messages through vibrations.

[Digress all you want, Vision, Shiro is interested. While his nerdiness usually sticks to astrophysics and space in general, since he became a pilot of a semi-sentient lion ship, this topic interests him too.]

I look forward to see what you achieve.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if my universe has something similar. It's a very large place, by definition. [He smiles faintly.] Though on a more personal note, I've been trying to determine how the Mind Stone communicates; I'm certain it does, and I know it can directly affect minds, but it's difficult to get anything direct from it.

[It was acting very strange right before he arrived here, for example.]

Thank you.

Even when it's in you, you can't truly communicate with it? That's-- peculiar.

[The word he wants is unnerving, kinda creepy. He doesn't like things in his head like that, the lion being the one exception. But he's trying to be polite here, and it seems the stone is important for the man's existence.]

You're welcome. I'm Shiro, by the way, captain and pilot of the Blameless.

It is a rock. A very complex rock, but nonetheless. We hardly share a language.

[It would probably bother him more if he weren't totally dependent on it for survival ~~as far as he knows, anyway~~.]

I am the Vision, Engineer on the Twin Roses. I was captain of the Windrose once, but alas, I went home for two years and upon my return it had merged with another ship.

Edited 2018-11-08 16:44 (UTC)

Your relationship with your "rock" makes mine with my lion sound easy, and that's not an easy achievement. It's a first, actually

[He didn't share a language with Voltron, but ~magic~ allowed them to understand each other. He sees now how lucky he is for that.

There are many things from that statement he wants to comment on - the fusion, the returning. But his eyebrows go up at a very simple thing: his name. It can be a coincidence, he knows. He isn't behaving like anything that Billy has told him. But it's not just Vision, he's also the Vision, what are the chances of that being the same? He has the obligatory weird backstory to match, too, he can almost hear Billy's voice in that thought. And knowing Atroma's preference for certain universe, well... can't hurt to ask, right?]

It's nice to meet you, Vision. [He thinks. So far different realities seems to be the strongest theory.] If you don't mind me asking - are you from the world with the superhero groups? Avengers, and mutants, and supersoldiers.

Edited 2018-11-12 02:29 (UTC)

[His eyes actually light up at that - people usually don't recognize him as being an Avenger.]

One of several, but yes. Mine is the one without mutants but with Avengers. I know there's at least one with mutants only, and at least one with all of the above.

[He knows most of it from Kurt, who had ended up in that world after everything at home with Apocalypse, but he also remembers meeting another Clint here, one who was deaf. Perhaps there had been others in the time he was gone as well.]

Six. [The word leaves his lips before he even notices. Shiro may've moved on, but the memories of a certain friend that has left are still dear to him, in both a happy and a sad way.] Last time someone from your universes counted, there has been at least six versions of your world here in the fleet. It was early last year, though, so it may've gone higher since then. [A pause.] Just a moment.

[The feed is turned off for some minutes, and suddenly Vision will receive a text with a link to an old network post on it. Right after that, Shiro appears on the screen again.]

Do you recognize that woman? [Suddenly he feels nostalgic, as if he was having that conversation with Kate again. A good way to identify universes is her very own existence. "How many Hawkeyes do you know?" never failed her, it seems, and Shiro will trust her test.]

[He checks it out, so there's a delay before he answers in a thoughtful tone.]

Bishop. Kate, I think it was.

[But then, just to dash his hopes!]

I did see her around the last time I was here, yes. She's from the world Kurt ended up in, not my own.

I'd believe six at least. [Assuming Captain James Barnes and Winter Soldier Rogers were from the same timeline, and that the most recent Bucky's Panem didn't count as a variation on his own world (it sounded too different, even if at least one person had the same identity there). And--did Erik and Charles' world with only the X-Men and no Avengers count? Yes, he decides, because there's been at least one constant person in all of them: each of the six has some variation on a man named Pietro Maximoff who can run very quickly.]

Though on that note, if we simply count "late twentieth to early twenty-first century Earth", the number rises dramatically.

[Not his own. Relief immediately shows on Shiro's face. Which Kate would tease him for, he's sure, since the fact she doesn't exist in all those other places obviously bothered her. But this is good news. It means this isn't Billy's Vision, and boy that takes some big weight off his shoulders.]

I see. The adventures I know of aren't yours then. [And this is the last time he's bringing up because there's no way he's going to discuss those world differences with Vision of all people.] Alternate Earths definitely are infinite. It's hard to define the words "universe", "world" and "realities" now. But you must admit Atroma has a thing for your people.

[He snorts lightly.] All I can say I know about the other Vision is that he's been around for decades. I've had perhaps three years at home, and another two here; not as much time for adventuring.

[Yeah, he's a baby.]

It does seem to enjoy Avengers, doesn't it? Perhaps we are particularly amusing to the "audience".

[A three years old, aww. It reminds Shiro of a talk he had with Billy about ages and weird time stuff, and he quickly throws that thought away. He doesn't think Billy would want to be associated with this.]

From what I understand, it seems most of your heroes have been around for longer in the other versions of your world. So at least you aren't alone there. [He nods at that conclusion.] I bet you are. In general, it seems they like bringing adventurous people, heroic. I haven't met many clerks, bus drivers or cashiers around here.

[There was Tina... a miracle that poor girl survived this.]

[Probably for the best, really.]

I wouldn't say heroic. I've had at various times an author and an ice skater on my crew, to name two. And Eugene is a radio announcer, in addition to being a chef. I would say it prefers extraordinary people. After all, there's nothing quite like putting an extraordinary person into an "ordinary" situation for entertainment value.

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