driftfleet | (no subject)

Who: the Vision and YOU
Broadcast: Video
Action: On Lyndia
When: Video is now, action through the duration of the system

[Video Broadcast]

[The video clicks on to a tunnel opening up to a spectacular cavern with what looks like a lava waterfall, casting an orange-red light onto the surroundings even though it's fairly distant. After a good long moment, the view swings back to the tunnel where a few sparkling rocks are embedded in the gray stone walls.]

I'm pleased to report that one can indeed find diamonds down in the lower mines, though they tend to appear rather close to lava flows. I'd advise caution if you'd like to seek them out, but I am reliably told the natives will craft them into a number of tools for you if you can acquire them.

[There's a brief hissing sound from behind the camera, and he quickly sets it down. The sounds of a scuffle and a high-pitched screech are heard, and after a moment he picks it back up again.]

Ah, and do watch out for the cave spiders if you traverse this deep. They're rather large.

[Action throughout the month]

[The Vision doesn't spend all of his time looking for underground treasures, of course. This is a great planet for some flying, especially when it means checking out some staggeringly giant trees and looking for novel fruits to bring home for testing, or gathering wood for various construction projects. There's also all of the neat tech to be found in the populated areas underground, so he can also be found shopping for upgrades, new media for the library, spare parts, and of course creature comforts. Maybe they even have some donut powder! And since it's been so very long, he can even be found at the water park wearing a ridiculous little yellow Speedo and looking like he's thoroughly enjoying the screaming crowds of young people on inflatable tubes.

Lastly, for those few who might remember, his birthday was officially set as May 16th last time he was in the Fleet, and it's quickly approaching....]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Relief so sharp it's almost painful flashes through him at that. That's what he'd been trying to communicate to Remy without calling the man a coward outright, and if Thor sees it, perhaps the Vision isn't wrong.]

"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." It is not that I completely oppose this--you understand, there are certain aspects of this journey I like very much--but we were at no time given the opportunity to consent/i> to it. I cannot let that go.

[Thor grimaces, glancing at the Stormbreaker axe he's hung on the branch nearby. There are things about the Fleet that Thor knows he'll never be able to regain once they leave. Even so.]

Even if - and believe me, I know the feeling - there are things this Fleet have given us that we cherish. It is built on lies and wrongdoing. We cannot leave on our own accord. We cannot go home to do what must be done.

[And if his tone darkens there, well, Thor has every right to feel that frustration. Leaving here means he may never see Loki again. Staying here means he'll never make right what Thanos did.]

If no one else agreed with me I would still do it.

Some of us cannot go home at all. [He doesn't know his own fate, but--] Kitty's entire home world is destroyed, and she is dead there besides. And still I would fight our captors, knowing that. I choose to believe that going home and living in captivity are not the only options.

[He reaches out to clasp Thor's shoulder.] You would not be alone. Not while I am here.

[Thankfully, mercifully, Thor turns his gaze away from Vision when he starts to talk of those who can't go home. Keeping this secret leaves a bad taste in his mouth, but at the same time is it really his to tell? Being the bearer of such news is something he shies away from, no matter how disgusted he becomes with himself.]

I know, Vision. Loki is-- he cannot go home either.

[And that more than anything speaks to Thor's commitment to this cause. Loki's life is in the balance, with no guarantee he can save him. But he has to try.

He only looks up once Vision grips his shoulder, and it's with some guilt that he finds comfort in it. He has no right to, knowing what he does about Vision's fate. Yet Vision is just another person Thor has to save, if he can.]

Thank you. Truly.

[The Vision inhales sharply. That--explains a lot of Thor's recent moods, honestly. Loki is important to people, even if he's only ever been actively hostile to the Vision (with rare exceptions, like when he gets turned into an adorable child).]

We will find a way. For him, and for everyone.

[He looks back out over the massive jungle.]

It wouldn't be so bad to stay on a planet like this, if that were the option we found.

[All Thor can do is nod. He's talked about this with Steve too - pledging to save Loki no matter what. He knows full well that he doesn't intend to leave this place without his brother, regardless of what happens in the end.]

To stay? [Glancing at Vision, Thor's confusion is evident.] You mean for good?

[He nods, still looking off into the distance.]

If we defeated the Atroma but still didn't have a way home, or a home to go back to.

[That's something Thor hadn't considered - and digging his fingers into the tree branch he's sitting on, he isn't sure he wants to. Breaking out of the Atroma's grasp is meant to go hand in hand with going home. Maybe that isn't an option for some people, but it has to be one for him. There are wrongs he must right. Heads he has to remove.]

Ah, yes... maybe. Those Interceptors are still here, after all.

Ah, that's true.

[If he had the choice, the Vision actually isn't sure what he'd choose, and that frightens him a little. Home is home, but here--he's no stranger than anyone else. He has acceptance, friends, a place. He's been on planets he'd never dreamed of and seen things wondrous and terrible. This could all be a dream, but he feels more awake and alive than he ever has back in the real world.

But that doesn't give him any right to abandon the responsibilities he has, does it?]

It is foolish to speculate, I suppose. We cannot know what the future may bring.

No. [And the word itself sounds heavy coming from Thor's mouth. He knows all too well how a devastating future can be entirely hidden until it's too late.] We cannot.

We can still make our plans for it, though. We can still know what we want it to become.

[He seems to take heart from that.]

Yes, that's true. It is always better to work toward the future we want than to accept anything as inevitable.

Thank you, my friend.

Yeah ... no problem. If you want to speak with your old crew member again, you should. Just remember that him getting angry doesn't mean you're wrong.

[That, of course, is another thing he needed to hear.] I suppose we cannot please everyone all the time, can we?

I will remember that.