Chapter 5: A Blank Canvas

The lab had grown quieter as night settled over the compound, most of the regular staff gone home. Only the soft beeping of monitoring equipment and the hum of computers broke the silence. You'd been given another hospital gown, and a hoodie with the Stark Industries logo inscribed on the front, but it did little to dispel the chill that had settled into your bones after hours of tests.
 
Tony paced the lab, his reflection multiplied in the dark windows. He'd been quiet for the past twenty minutes… never a good sign, according to the concerned glances Dr Banner kept throwing his way.
 
Finally, Tony stopped, spinning on his heel to face the others. "We're going about this wrong. We need to think bigger. Quantum bigger."
 
Bruce set down the tablet he'd been studying. "Tony..."
 
"The quantum-enhanced MRI." Tony was already moving, pulling up holographic schematics that filled the air with ghostly blue light. "It's ready. We've tested it, it works, and it'll let us see down to the subatomic level." The blueprints rotated between them, showing a machine that looked far more complex than standard medical equipment.
 
"You want to use experimental quantum technology on her? We don't even know if her molecular structure is stable enough for–"
 
"If there's anything unusual in her neural pathways," Tony interrupted, expanding a section of the blueprint, "brainwashing, memory erasure, whatever… she won't be able to hide it." His eyes met Bruce's over the hologram. "Let's see what's really going on under the hood."
 
The schematics cast strange shadows across the lab, making everything look slightly unreal. Almost ethereal. Or eerie, depending on your general perspective. Through them, you could see Dr Cho watching the exchange, her expression growing more concerned.
 
"Tony," Dr Banner removed his glasses again, “are you sure this is safe?"
 
Tony chuckle mirthlessly. "Is it safer than having someone with impossible biology and our names branded on their back walking around our compound?" He minimised part of the hologram, highlighting what looked like safety protocols. "We've tested it. It works. And right now, it's our best shot at answers."
 
"It's still experimental technology."
 
"It's safer than not knowing what we're dealing with." Tony's voice dropped, becoming deadly serious. "Whatever's been done to her, whoever sent her… they went to a lot of trouble to make her undetectable by normal means. So let's use abnormal means."
 
You watched as sections of the quantum MRI diagram rotated, showing layers of technology you couldn't begin to understand. Somewhere in that maze of quantum mechanics and cutting-edge engineering was supposed to be answers about who (or what) you were.
 
Doctors Banner and Cho exchanged glances, having one of those silent conversations that only longtime colleagues could manage. Finally, Bruce sighed, reaching for his tablet again.
 
"We'll need to recalibrate the quantum sensors," he said, already pulling up specifications. "And run a full diagnostic before–"
 
"Already on it." Tony's fingers flew through the hologram, sending commands to unseen systems. "I'll have FRIDAY start warming up the quantum core. Helen, we'll need a new set of baseline readings..."
 
The lab burst into fresh activity, the late hour forgotten as they prepared for this new avenue of investigation. You sat perched on the examination table, watching as they transformed the surrounding space, wondering what they might find when they peered into the quantum depths of your being.
 
More importantly, you wondered if you were ready for those answers.
 
Doctor Cho held up a syringe, measuring the dosage of something you hope would ease your anxiety. "This will help you rest," she confirmed softly. "After everything that’s happened tonight, your body could use the break."
 
You nodded, grateful for the offer of escape, and swung your legs up onto the padded surface. As you settled back against the thin pillow, movement in your peripheral vision drew your attention to the doorway. Your breath caught in your throat.
 
A figure stood there, hovering silently. Literally hovering. Feet inches above the ground. But it wasn't the floating that made your heart stutter. It was his face: deep crimson with metallic planes that caught the fluorescent glare. Most striking was the golden gem that seemed embedded in his forehead.
 
Your sharp gasp echoed through the small room. Doctor Cho's hand squeezed your shoulder reassuringly.
 
"That's just Vision," she explained, her calm demeanour unchanged. "He's harmless."
 
The being—Vision—inclined his head in acknowledgment. When he spoke, his voice carried an unexpected British accent, refined and oddly soothing. "My appearance often startles people at first. I apologise if I caused you any distress."
 
The sedative was already beginning to work its way through your system, softening the edges of your surprise. Your last conscious thought, as your eyelids grew heavy, was how strange it felt that a face that had initially seemed so alien now looked almost kind. In fact, you almost preferred his features. It gave you a sense of… home?
 
The golden Mind Stone in Vision’s forehead pulsed with concentrated energy as he reached out with his consciousness, searching for yours.
 
Where there should have been a tapestry of thoughts, memories, and emotions—the complex weaving that made up a human mind—he found only void. Not darkness, not light, but absence. His artificial synapses struggled to process the anomaly.
 
Tony approached from the control room, hands tucked into his pockets. "Doing what I think you're doing over here? Connecting with her consciousness?"
 
Vision's eyes remained fixed on your unconscious body through the window, his expression troubled. "Curious..." he whispered. "There is no trace of good, nor evil within her. No emotional history. It's as if she has just been born. A blank canvas."
 
Tony's shoulders slumped. "Yeah, she's not giving us anything, either. The scans are all over the place—no signs of normal brain activity for someone with her past... if she even has a past."
 
Vision took a step closer to the observation window, the Mind Stone's glow intensifying as he concentrated harder. But still, there was nothing. No ripple of feeling, no echo of memory, no hint of moral framework. "It's not just her brain. Her emotional state... it's null. There is no chaos, no peace—no moral compass guiding her."
 
The muscles in Tony's jaw twitched. "That makes her dangerous."
 
Through the window, the scanning equipment continued its methodical work, mapping the contours of a mystery that seemed to deepen with every revelation. Your peaceful expression betrayed nothing of the void that Vision sensed within. A blank page in a universe full of stories.
 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
 
As night slowly turned to day, Tony caught movement at the door. Natasha stood there at the threshold, her presence announced only by the subtlest shift in the air. She waited in that characteristic stance of hers, arms crossed over her black tactical suit, her face a carefully composed mask that gave away nothing. This wasn’t Tony’s good friend known for her loyalty and quick wit. No, no, this was Agent Romanoff in all her glory.
 
Her eyes were sharp, alert, carrying an urgency that Tony had learned never to ignore. He caught her minute head tilt toward the hall. A gesture so slight it would have been missed by anyone who hadn't spent years working alongside her.
 
Without a word, he rolled back from the control panel and slipped out of the room, following her lead until they reached the balcony.
 
The pre-dawn air hit his face like a splash of cold water, and only then did Tony realise how long he'd been breathing recycled lab air, how much he'd needed this moment of respite from the endless stream of inconclusive data and mounting questions.
 
"She's a Trojan horse, Tony. You know that, right?" Nat’s words cut through the stillness.
 
"We don't know that yet. Could be she's just a victim caught in a web she didn't even spin."
 
"Or she could be the one pulling the strings and doesn't even realise it." Her eyes narrowed, recalling Vision's earlier report. "You saw the look on Vision's face—she's a blank slate. People like that don't just show up without a purpose." Something darker crept into her voice, echoes of personal history. "Someone built her for this. I know that kind of weapon, because I used to be one."
 
"And that's exactly why we need answers before jumping to conclusions. We don't know what they did to her—or who she even is."
 
"That's the problem." Natasha's jaw tightened. "We don't know who she is. But someone went through a hell of a lot of trouble to make sure we found her, and that's what bothers me." She moved closer, her voice dropping lower. "There's no way it's a coincidence that we're sitting here right now, with her in that scanner. In our home."
 
Tony braced himself against the railing as he lowered his head, lost in thought. A new possibility occurred to him, and he whipped his head up, fixing Natasha with an intent gaze.
 
"You think Fury had something to do with this?" Even as he spoke the words, Tony knew the idea was a stretch. Fury, who had been presumed dead for several years, would have been a viable theory, except it still didn't make any sense.
 
Natasha's brow furrowed slightly. "Nick's gone, Tony. You don't buy any of those rumours, do you?"
 
"I think if anyone could disappear without a trace or fake their own death, it’s Nick." Tony's voice was laced with a hint of wistfulness, as if part of him wanted to believe the idea.
 
"Hypothetically, if Nick were still alive, he'd never be reckless enough to throw us a wildcard like this. Not without some kind of backup plan."
 
Tony sighed heavily, the weight of their impossible situation growing by the second. "Alright, let's assume you're right. Let's say she's a Trojan horse, and someone sent her to us to bring us down from the inside. What's your play?"
 
Natasha's expression darkened. "Keep her under constant surveillance," she begrudgingly admitted. "And if it turns out she's a weapon..."
 
“Then we figure out who’s holding the leash.”
 

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