Just a Man in a Can

The empty room’s temperature seemed to drop with Tony’s every word as he confirmed what Wanda knew what was true for months, but didn’t have the courage to face. Not yet. Her body froze in the chair she’d sat in and her eyes glazed over as he talked. “Yes, I understand.” Wanda replied, hoarsely. For some reason, a tiny part of her truly believed that he could be brought back, but Wanda could feel it the day he died: Vision was never coming back. “Thank you and I apologize for bringing up such a morbid subject.” Her words were mechanical and automated

Tony’s crestfallen as soon as he sees the way she shuts down. He sighs and comes to sit on the arm of the chair she’s sunken into, reaching over. He hesitates for a moment before deciding to just make the leap, letting his hand come to rest comfortably on her back. “Don’t apologize. I don’t blame you for wondering... I’m sorry, Wanda... and I’m sorry you had to be there to see it.” He remembers watching Pepper fall down into the fiery bellows of the barge, closing his eyes for a moment. Even though in the end he hadn’t lost her, for those moments he thought he had. He wouldn’t wish it on anyone. “I wish we could’ve done something to save him too.”

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Wanda waited until Natasha was out of earshot before she continued. “I was wondering…” Gods, how did she start this conversation? “You created Vision from downloading some sort of computer into synthetic body, yes?” She floundered again, wondering how insane she must sound asking her next question. “What….is there….could you possibly do it…again?”

Tony’s confusion quickly turns to sympathy. He was wondering if Wanda would ever think to ask him this at some point. “Let’s have a seat,” he offers, leading her to a more private conference room so no other distractions might come along. “Well… Short answer would unfortunately be no. The thing about Vision is that he started to create himself. He came from JARVIS, who even though I miss him every day, I could never recreate to be the AI he was to me. The other pieces of him came from the body Ultron created, and the Mind Stone. If you’re asking if I can create an AI, and put it in a synthetic form, then yes. But to create something actually living… that could develop a personality and be self-sufficient… I’m not trying to play god.”

“What? No. Noooo. I mean, May… if she feels ready, she’s ready, right?” And they barely mentioned uncle Ben anyway. There was always something going on.

He shrugged it off (or at least tried to). “Couple of years.” Right after he got his powers, but there was no need to mention that.