At the same time, in New York, USA, inside the Avengers base built by Tony.
Due to the division of the civil war, this place has long become very empty. Apart from Vision who still stays here, only Colonel Rhodes comes to visit occasionally.
As for Tony, he is a very busy man now.
Busy building stronger steel armor, busy... getting married!
Yes, after his unremitting efforts, Pepper was finally unable to give up this relationship, and Tony solemnly proposed to her in front of countless media.
Now that the two have completed their engagement ceremony, they can be said to be newlyweds.
A lot of people came on the engagement day, but Tony and Pepper felt a little regretful that some people who could have come were unable to.
Although Tony never admitted it, Pepper could see that he still wanted those people to come.
Perhaps some of the things that he could not forgive in the past gradually became less important as time went by...
It was under such circumstances that an uninvited guest arrived here one day.
"Are you the only one here?"
Vision, who used the power of the Mind Stone to disguise himself as an ordinary person, was suddenly startled, then turned around and saw a beautiful lady.
It goes without saying how strict the security measures of this base are. It could even be ranked among the top ten in the world. However, this woman was able to walk in silently without even him noticing. This is simply incredible!
This also made Vision alert. This woman who appeared in the room at some point in time was definitely not an ordinary person, and her purpose was still unknown, so she had to be treated with caution.
So he did not immediately choose to subdue the other party by force, but maintained a relaxed tone and said: "For the time being, this place was actually very lively before, with many interesting weirdos, but now they almost never stay here."
"What about you? Why don't you leave here? I feel like this place is like a huge prison with only you as a prisoner." The uninvited guest seemed to enjoy chatting with people and showed a curious look.
"Prison... No, I don't agree with you, and I stay here voluntarily. I don't want to cause trouble to others." Vision's expression changed for a moment, but then he said firmly.
The strange woman smiled and stopped talking about this topic. She said to him in a familiar way, like an old friend who had not seen each other for many years: "As expected, you are also a weirdo. Are you preparing lunch for yourself?"
Standing behind the cooking table, Vision spoke truthfully: "Although I often try whenever I have time, I may not have the talent for cooking. The taste will probably be bad. If you still want to try it, I can prepare more."
I don’t know if it was because he was too lonely, but Vision knew that this woman had big problems, but he still started chatting with her and even prepared to invite her to lunch.
I have to say, this world is indeed a little crazy.
"Thank you. It just so happens that I haven't eaten normal food for a long time."
The woman sat down at the dining table with confidence.
Seeing that she didn't seem to have any ill intentions for the time being, Vision hesitated for a moment and decided not to inform Mr. Stark first. Instead, he turned around and continued to clumsily cook.
At the same time, he asked casually, as if chatting with old friends: "Sorry, I don't quite understand. What do you mean by normal?"
“It’s what you’re making now.”
"So what do you usually eat?"
"An organic compound fused with minerals. It's hard to explain, complicated to make, and most importantly, tastes terrible, but it can keep me alive longer."
Vision didn't understand. "Well, actually I don't need to eat to survive, but in order to make myself look more like a human, I will try many things, including eating and cooking."
More like a... person
The woman was stunned for a moment, her eyes immediately lost focus, and she seemed to be lost in some memories.
Perhaps no one can understand what is in Vision's mind, including the respected Mr. Stark.
But if there is anyone who can understand Vision, she is probably one of them.
It was unknown how long it had passed before the woman came out of her memories. She then said faintly, "It's useless to pretend to be like... No matter how similar the imitation is, it's still fake after all and it can never become real."
After hearing this, Vision, who was trying to arrange the dish, suddenly paused, then he put everything in order and brought the dish over.
"Maybe, but you'll regret it if you don't even try."
The woman stopped arguing with him about the topic and focused her attention on the food in front of her.
A portion of slightly burnt fried fish, a few slices of greasy-looking bacon, half a piece of cheese, boiled broccoli and some beans, as well as bread slices heated in a bread machine, jam and chocolate sauce.
The food placed in front of the two people was exactly the same, and it looked just as he said. He had no talent in cooking, and he made such a simple thing so unappetizing.
But the woman didn't seem to care about that. She took the cutlery and tried a bite of the fish...
It tastes a bit fishy and bitter, and the taste is very bad. I can only swallow it with difficulty.
But she just frowned slightly and ate it, and then began to slowly enjoy her lunch, the first time someone made a lunch specifically for her, a lunch that was not a transaction, not a charity, not obtained by trickery, coercion or inducement... lunch.
Maybe the ingredients are ordinary, the cooking is ordinary, and the taste is ordinary, but maybe it's not that ordinary... at least that's the case for her.
Of course Vision saw her frown, so he smiled bitterly and said, "Perhaps Mr. Stark is right. I shouldn't waste my time on this. If it tastes bad, there's no need to force it."
"You really don't have the talent for this, so it's right for you to stop wasting your time. But if you really like it, then why bother about other people's opinions? You are the one who makes the decision. At least you are an independent individual, not someone's slave, nor someone's vassal, and certainly not someone's... shadow."
After the woman finished speaking, she began to enjoy her lunch leisurely. Although she did not look rude when eating, the food on the table was decreasing rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Vision, who actually didn't need to eat, was stirring the beans absent-mindedly.
Obviously, the few words he spoke to this strange woman today had a great impact on him. Mr. Stark and the others would never say these to him.
Perhaps in their eyes, he is just a program, well, a living program.