6954/Father's Dream

Father's Dream
Date of Scene:	15 July 2021
Location:	Common Area - Milano
Synopsis:	As the Guardians recover from their battle with Ronan, Gamora describes what's happened to Nebula to Peter; as well as Thanos' ultimate ambition for the Infinity Stones.
Cast of Characters:	Gamora, Peter Quill

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Gamora has posed:
    Everyone got hurt. Everyone but Gamora.

    And yet, by all accounts, it was a glorious victory! Gamora isn't sure how to feel, exactly; but for now - docked on Xandar, awaiting the inevitable meeting with the people they just saved, Gamora sits in the commons area where most of the injured crew have been laid up so an eye can be kept on all of them as they're given what they need for recovery. She's been shifting back and forth between seething and worry for... forever now, sitting on a chair a short distance away from everyone. That composure she always clinged to seems to have been well and truly shaken loose.

    A lot happened very quickly, but... there's been enough time to notice that Gamora came back alone.

Peter Quill has posed:
For once Peter seemed to get off the easiest in the injury department. Oh he still felt like he'd been hit by a truck but he had no obvious burns or other marks on him and he'd generally been in good spirits talking about how they beat Ronan with the power of friendship.

He's still moving slow though, and so he shuffles from his temporary bed in medical to the common area pulling on a fresh shirt. "Hey," he greets, his tone somewhat muted now having noticed that Gamora had come back alone. "How are you holding up?" he asks as he straightens his t-shirt and slips into the chair across from Gamora.

Gamora has posed:
    Gamora sits with her arms folded and her legs crossed at the knee, her furrowed brow raising slightly when she hears Peter approach and turns her head to look at him. "... Hey." She says softly, her voice tired, but less rigid than she can normally be. It creeps back in a little when she starts to say: "I am..." but Gamora sighs a little and just says, "I'm fine. I got hit pretty hard but..." Gamora taps the side of her nose once, her green skin still baring the last vestiges of a bruise where she was hit hard enough to surely break her nose, and says "... I heal quickly."

Peter Quill has posed:
Peter leans in to look at her nose. "Oof," he says as he leans back to sit more comfortably in his seat watching Gamora for a moment before he speaks, "Glad that's the worst of it," he begins before a little awkward pause and he pushes forward. "And sorry it didn't go well with Nebula," a beat. "I mean I assume it didn't go? well?" he says suddenly concerned as he broaches the sensitive subject of Gamora's sister.

Gamora has posed:
    Gamora watches Peter sit down, and briefly flinches as he speaks, when it occurs to her she should have asked how he's doing. He fought a man wielding ann Infinity Stone, after all. From her perspective, Peter could have had an army behind him, and he'd still have been outgunned.

    The mention of Nebula drives that from her mind, for the moment, and her lips press tightly together, as she looks away for a moment, and then looks back to him, keeping her eyes turned downward slightly. "... She's alive." Gamora finally says after a moment of hesitation. "But she wouldn't come back. She... *won't* come back."

Peter Quill has posed:
"That's good right?" Peter asks after hearing Nebula was still alive. He'd been worried Gamora had to put her down when she came back alone. The rest of the news is less cheerful but all the same Peter asks. "Why not? What happened? I mean she saved us with that trick she pulled, I would have figured she'd just be waiting for the moment to jump ship and join us again." Even if she could have easily done that on Knowhere.

Gamora has posed:
    Gamora takes a deep breath as her fists clench tightly, struggling to calm herself. She closes her eyes and says, "... Over time, our Father... replaced parts of her with those cybernetics. It wasn't just her body. Her organs... parts of her brain... she's more machine now, than not." Gamora's voice sounds distant, regretful. "Whenever she becomes two resentful... whenever she fails badly enough that a normal punishment won't appease him... he..." Gamora grimaces, baring her clenched teeth for a split second. "... resets her."

    "Our father picks a point in her life where her feelings and attitude suited him better, and he erases nearly everything that came after that. The memories remain, but they're just... data. Nebula's feelings return to those of a loyal soldier. The Nebula who travelled with us... he..."

    Gamora visibly seethes for a moment. "... He deleted her. Erased her. ... She's gone. She doesn't even know why she'd want to come back any more."

Peter Quill has posed:
Peter's first thoughts as she mentions that Nebula was more machine than not are: "Wow, so like Darth Vader," which of course tumbles from his brain to his mouth before he can stop it. Though as the true horror of what that means is explained he blinks and his expression grows grim. "So he just deletes who she is until she's back to being what he wants?! What an asshole!" he declares before he starts to think. "Is there anything we can do to get the old Nebula back? I mean on the Milano here, I try to erase incriminating comm logs, but there's like echoes and stuff that need to be scrubbed or someone who knows what they're doing can bring them back. Maybe there's echoes of the old Nebula in her head somewhere we could bring back."

Gamora has posed:
    "I don't know who that is." Is Gamora's simple response to the invocation of Darth Vader, which Peter can probably consider a bullet dodged.

    This time she doesn't flinch or lash out when Peter insults Thanos. If anything, it's... cathartic now. Peter's suggestion seems a bring a glimmper of light to her golden-hued eyes, but she frowns. "... I don't know." she says of the hope of restoring her. "That's... a nice thought. That one might... reattach her to her memories. That Father may even keep some sort of backup, if that's even possible. But I wouldn't know how. I never..."

    Gamora visibly feels a pang of regret, and says, "... I never asked questions. If you've felt Father's displeasure once, you..." she shakes her head slowly, her eyes distant, and finishes in a soft whisper, "... you never risk it again."

    "He won't abide anything... *anything* that may get in the way of his dream. He'd do anything, to anyone, to get those Stones. All for... those damned stones..."

Peter Quill has posed:
Peter opens his mouth to explain but closes it again. "Not important," he says about Vader. He'll explain at a less sensitive time.

"I can understand not asking questions, especially with what he was doing to Nebula, taking parts out and swapping them like she was an old car or something..." he says giving Gamora an understanding look. He reaches his hand across the table for her to hold if she wants, well if she understanda the meaning of the gesture anyhow. "Is there someone who we could grab and beat that information out of? One of those what did you guys call them The Black Order or something? They must know if there's a back up somewhere."

"Well having felt just one of those stones, I can understand why he'd want them... how many did you say there were? Six? I don't even want to think about what he could do with that many."

Gamora has posed:
    Gamora looks thoughtful for a moment, though her thoughts are muddied by emotion. "I'll... think about it. There are a few who might have been in a position to know." She thinks specifically of the Ebony Maw, and grimaces. "You don't just... fly out and pick a fight with the Black Order. But if they show their faces near us again... they will answer me. And then they will die."

    Okay, maybe it's just as well that Gamora doesn't seem to take the meaning of your gesture, because the mood's a tiny bit tense now.

    When Peter speaks of the Stones, Gamora closes her eyes tightly. "I know exactly what he'll do with them. He speaks of it often. It was the bedtime story of my childhood."

Peter Quill has posed:
"Sure, but then people used to say you don't just fly off and pick a fight with Ronan the Accuser and well, look how that turned out for him?" he counters. "We just gotta be smart about it, use our advantages like Phylla and what you know about these guys and hit them hard and fast and be gone before the rest of the order realizes we've snatched one of their people." All so simple, at least to someone who doesn't kmow the Order like Gamora does.

"Annd? What's he going to do with them? Rule the galaxy? Destroy his enemies? Give swirlies to all the kids that used to bully him back on whatever planet he comes from?" despite his light tone there's no missing those closed eyes, which more or less rules out whatever happening being any sort of good.

Gamora has posed:
    Despite herself, Gamora smiles just slightly, her eyes opening narrowly. "... Titan." Hey, just like her last time! "And, no. He wants..."

    ... This requires some context. The longer she talks, the more she realizes that the context doesn't make it much less shocking.

    "Fath-... Thanos... doesn't want to *rule* anything. He holds no grudges for those who defend themselves, and anyone who's wronged him is already dead, or soon will be."

    "He sees... suffering, all thruought the galaxy. Needless death and chaos, all for want of... limited resources. His solution, his... 'equation', is... to be the monster that's needed. To do what no good person would ever do. Thin the herd. Rebalance worlds until there are more resources than are needed by... whoever's left."

    "But it's slow. Gruesome. Exhausting and... futile. But with the Infinity Stones... he would use them once. And only once."

"He would bring them together, and with a snap of his fingers..." Gamora demonstrates, clicking her fingers as she says the word snap, before her eyes become distant and ashamed. "... He would erase half of all sentient life." Gamora lets that sink in for a moment. "Not half of his enemies. Not half of a world, or half of the galaxy. Half. Everywhere. Chosen at random. Young and old, rich and poor, powerful and weak... turned to dust in the wind."

    Gamora lowers her head and bitterly repeats the word Thanos would use to summarize his 'sorting': "... 'Fair'."

Peter Quill has posed:
Well this is new, Peter is struck dumb by the news. No quips, no jokes, just the colour draining from his cheeks and a long stunned stare into space.

Finally he speaks. "So... like half of everyone everywhere?" he asks finally still not quite sure he heard her right. "Just like that?" he snaps his fingers too, trying to imagine the power needed to make that happen, and what sort of person who could *want* to do that.

He stands up suddenly. "Okay then we need to make sure the stone we got vanishes for good, that way he's screwed and everyone, or well half of everyone is safe." He looks to her, desperate to know that'll work somehow.

Gamora has posed:
    Gamora nods once and confirms, very softly, "... Just like that."

    "I agree." Gamora says, and almost seems surprised to hear herself say it. The dream had made sense to her for so long - just yesterday she would have been tempted to defend the outcome... but until they boarded the Dark Aster, Thanos was a hero and a father to her. The depths of his dispassionate cruelty hadn't been laid bare to her in a way she could understand, having grown up immersed in it. But now?

    "But those Stones are meant to be the building blocks of existance itself. It's hard to imagine anything that could destroy them. The way Father spoke of them, it seemed like if you threw them into a sun, the sun would be the one to burn out."

    "If we can't find a way to do that... our best hope might be to keep them seperated. Luckily it was a miracle to find even one, but now that we have... Xandar might be the safest place for it. At least Thanos will not rush to challenge an entire planet's military. ... Though he will try, if it comes to that."

    Gamora looks down for a moment. "... There's another solution, however. It may be just as insane as trying to destroy an Infinity Stone, but..." Gamora looks at Peter, and her eyes are blazing with intensity. "... I want to kill him, Peter. I want him gone. I want him to pay for every second he made Nebula wish for death, and for every second of joy he erased from her. I want him *dead.*"

Peter Quill has posed:
Peter nods, "Well sounds like Xandar is a good start if the Nova Corps scares him enough to hold off at least."

Then comes the rest and he looks across the table at Gamora searching her face for any signs of doubt about what she's after, "Then I'm in," he says of killing Thanos. "Whatever it takes to stop him. I'm in."

Gamora has posed:
    The mere concept is utter madness. She's clearly suffering some kind of (hopefully) temporary insanity to even consider it...

    And Quill agrees. Just like that.

    Gamora looks as startled as you've ever seen her, standing up suddenly. "I..." Gamora's fists shake for a second, and she takes a sharp breath, and for a split second, one could be forgiven for thinking she was FURIOUS and about to lash out, before she impulsively pulls Peter into a strong - honestly possibly juuuust too-strong - hug with her arms around his shoulders, crushing herself against him. "... *Thank* you Peter." She says, emotionally, though she tries to gather herself quickly. "I- I promise I won't rush us into this. We'll need a lot of things, not the least of which is time, but..." Gamora releases Peter, and instead clasps her hands on his upper-arms, putting herself a slightly-crooked arm's length away. "... but I'm glad I can rely on you."

    Normally she'd think someone a fool for trusting a human with something this big, this quickly - there's plenty of time for common sense and survival instincts to kick in - but... this is the guy who gave her and Nebula a chance at a home, even after he learned they were daughters of Thanos. Gave them a place to belong. At best, he might just be a hero.

    At worst? Perhaps... a wonderful fool.

Peter Quill has posed:
Peter's eyes widen for a second when Gamora stands suddenly with that sharp intake of breath. He has to wonder how many for people that's the last thing they saw or heard, but then she's hugging him and he's hugging her right back even as he lets out a groan as she wraps her arms tightly around his already sore and stiff body.

"No problem," he wheezes as he gets his breath back and smiles. "Hey, whatever it is we need we'll get and when the time's right I'll be right there with you to take Thanos out."

He offers a warm smile, "Besides, it's about time we earned our name and actually guard the galaxy."