Chapter 10: Solving for X
Are ye the ghosts of fallen leaves,
O flakes of snow,
For which, through naked trees, the winds
A-mourning go?
Or are ye angels, bearing home
The host unseen
Of truant spirits to be clad
Again in green?
~John Bannister Tabb, "Phantoms"
Present:
Tony, Bruce, and Natasha sat at a table across from King T'Challa, Okoye, and a young woman named Nakia, who despite her youth was apparently a high ranking operative in Wakanda's extensive intelligence network.
"Whoever is behind the attacks, it appears to be an extremely well organized operation. Since they're targeting both militias and peacekeeping forces, it's safe to conclude their goals are material rather than ideological," Nakia said.
"I don't know; stealing tanks and guns from all sides in a war zone could be meant to send a message, especially since they seem to be avoiding fatalities," Nat said.
Bruce raised his hand. "Are we completely sure a single person isn't behind this? I mean, I'm sorry if everyone else has already thought of this, but is this something Wanda could do?"
"Not her style," Tony stated.
"Besides," Nakia added, "soldiers sometimes wake up kilometers apart after these attacks. I don't see how one person could do that, no matter how powerful they are."
T'Challa spoke next. "One of our war dogs was able to get hold of blood samples from some of the victims after one attack. Our scientists' tests showed no chemical anomolies. So either the victims are being knocked unconscious by a gas that metabolyzes too quickly to detect, or the attackers are using some kind of electromagnetic, sonic, or psychic weapon."
"The U.N. investigators didn't find any unexplained chemical traces either," Tony said.
"I'm sorry we weren't able to provide more information," said Nakia.
"Well, now we know the U.N. isn't being specifically targeted," Tony said. "That's huge. And if those stolen guns show up on the blackmarket, we'll have a better chance to trace them."
"We'll let you know if we learn anything more," T'Challa assured them. "Whether we learn of any more attacks, or if we hear rumors of any of the stolen arms coming up for sale. In the meantime, I'm sure you would like to rest and have a meal before flying back to America."
"I'd like to have a workout before getting in the air," Nat said. "I haven't had a chance to train today."
Okoye smiled. "You up for some sparring?"
"Absolutely. Armed or unarmed?"
"We did armed last time. Nakia, do you wish to join us?"
Nakia rose from the table. "And finally get a chance to fight the Black Widow? I wouldn't miss it."
Tony watched the women leave the room. He would have loved to watch them train, for mostly appreciation of Nat and Okoye's fighting prowess and curiousity about Nakia's—mostly. But he and Bruce had something else to do while they were in Wakanda. "I would like to talk with Shuri if she's around."
"Of course. I'll have her meet you in her lab."
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"I've retested the connections several times," Shuri said as she led them through her lab. "Switching his power to the miniaturized arc reactor you sent made no difference. All circuits I can find are conducting energy with no problem. As you suggested, Mr. Stark, I invited Dr. Cho to have a look at him in person. Her assessment agrees with mine."
She pulled off the cover draped over the rolling table, revealing Vision's body. The hole in his forehead had been repaired, but it still looked empty without the Mind Stone. The vibrant crimson of his complexion was only a memory, replaced with a deathlike pale gray.
"Physically, there's nothing preventing him from working," she concluded. "I've regrown the damaged vibranium-cellular matrix. I wish I had any memory or records from when he first came in, but since the altered timeline makes that impossible, I've been working off scans made by you and Dr. Cho. If I could remember anything from my initial evaluation and the operation to remove the Mind Stone, I might understand why regrowing the connections and supplying energy to his body isn't enough."
"It's okay," Tony said. "I would like Dr. Banner to take a look at him. He helped program him in the first place, and fresh eyes couldn't hurt."
"If that's okay with you," Bruce said to Shuri.
"Of course."
She went to a nearby control panel and, with a touch on a screen, brought some kind of elaborate scanner down from the ceiling and adjusted it directly over Vision's body.
"The technology is pretty intuitive, but the results come up in Wakandan, so I'll need to translate for you. Let me show you how it works."
As she gave him a quick demo, Tony looked down at Vision's expressionless face. He'd seen it first when they stopped in Wakanda to bring Okoye home after defeating Thanos. He'd hoped—expected, really—that he'd find Vision alive in the new timeline. But after they passed the moment of the Snap, when the new timeline fully resolved, they'd found Vision's body in the Wakanda woods. Tony had tried not to get his hopes up when he'd asked Shuri to try to repair him.
He reached out hesitantly and placed his hand on Vision's gray forehead. Should he consider him dead, or on the android version of life support? At what point should he pull the plug, give up hope, and let himself really mourn for this remarkable being he'd come to regard almost as a son?
Maybe Bruce would think of something the rest of them had missed. But probably not. Once again, he tried not to get his hopes up.
He stepped away from the body and realized Bruce and Shuri were watching him, waiting for him to have his moment before beginning the scans.
"Sorry," he said.
"No, it's okay. I get it," Bruce said. "I mean, I didn't know him as long or as well as you, but...we brought him to life. It doesn't feel right to outlive him. And you watched him grow, watched him learn, watched him evolve. You programmed JARVIS in the first place. He was your baby."
"He was my friend," Tony added.
Shuri and Bruce began the scans. By altering the energy waves coursing through him, they could get Vision's body to levitate, phase, and move. It was eerie to watch.
"I see what you mean," Bruce said after a while. "Everything seems to be in working order, it's just not working."
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It was quiet on the Quinjet, at least after Nat had finished her blow-by-blow account of her training with Okoye and Nakia. She was obviously in awe of Nakia's unarmed combat techniques, but still insisted she'd won.
Nat was taking a turn at the controls. Bruce was staring out the window, deep in thought.
Tony got a cup of coffee and sat down next to him. "What's on your mind?"
"The mind's connection to the body."
Tony raised his eyebrow. "What about it?"
"The brain and the body shouldn't be regarded as two separate things; they're always talking to each other, always influencing each other. What we eat, our hormones, inflamation, physical movement, even our physical surroundings has a huge effect on our emotions, our psychology. You know babies can die if they go a long time without physical touch?"
"No I didn't. Do you think that has something to do with Vision's condition?"
Bruce glanced toward Nat. He lowered his voice. "Imagine two minds inhabiting one body, two consciousnesses, one form for them to use to interact with the world."
"Sounds far-fetched," Tony joked. "But go on."
"They're never going to be completely separate entities, because their shared body is affecting both of them in the same ways. They're probably gonna crave the same food, pick up on the same chemical signals."
"Find themselves attracted to the same kind of woman?"
"Yeah. Things like that."
"If you want to talk about your and the Hulk's sex life, I'm here for you."
"No. It just got me thinking."
"About what?" Tony pressed.
"When we fought Thanos after the Snap, he used the Gauntlet three times before we got it away from him, and three people who'd been dusted reappeared: Wanda Maximoff, Peter Quill, and Dr. Strange. Why those three? Out of all the people who vanished in the Snap, why did those three come back, and in that order?"
"I figure it was part of Dr. Strange's master plan. Wanda was powerful enough to take care of Thanos, Quill had the connections on Xandar that let us get the Power Stone, Strange could control the Time Stone. Those were the three people we needed to win."
"So you think Dr. Strange channeled his power through the Gauntlet to bring them back?"
"Something like that."
"Did Strange actually say that? Did he say it was him who brought them back?"
"No, but who else could it have been?" Tony asked.
"I don't know, maybe this is crazy, but can you think of someone who would bring Wanda back first, then bring back Quill—someone who also lost his significant other to Thanos—then Strange, the person who could potentially undo what Thanos had done? Can you think of someone who would choose to bring them back in that order?"
Tony frowned. When they'd found Wanda, she'd been beyond distraught; she'd been broken. She would have been useless in their fight, and then Quill had talked to her, probably about their shared sense of loss, and she'd joined them to track down Thanos. Judging by the state she'd been in, Wanda hadn't orchestrated their reappearance. Even though Quill called himself Star Lord, he didn't seem to have that kind of power. If it wasn't Strange, then who?
Or what?
Two minds, one body...
"You're thinking the Mind Stone? The Mind Stone was sabotaging Thanos from within the Gauntlet? Brought Wanda back?"
"It's just a thought. But we know the Mind Stone contained it's own intelligence. You're the one who showed it to me. We gave that intelligence a physical body, maybe for the first time in its existence, living on this planet. Even if that wasn't the intelligence directing Vision's actions, it was seeing the world through Vision's eyes, seeing Wanda through Vision's eyes. If that sentience persisted when the Mind Stone was stolen from Vision and put in the Gauntlet, I can't imagine it was happy about it. And its priority might easily have been saving Wanda."
It was possible, Tony had to agree. Not the most likely explanation, maybe, but far from unlikely. Even if that wasn't how it happened, the Mind Stone might be the missing piece in bringing Vision back. And if there was even a possibility it was true, they owed it to the Mind Stone to try to restore it to it's body.
"Change of plan," Tony called to Nat. "Let's drop by New York City before we go back to the compound." To Bruce he added, "We're off to see the wizard."