At this moment, Luca's mind went blank. He didn't even bother with the Mind Stone that had fallen onto the table.
His gaze kept darting back and forth between mini-Vision and Sherry.
"Huh? Is this right??"
"Huh? He's a robot??"
"Huh? You didn't know Vision was a robot?"
Luca and Sherry exclaimed in unison, followed immediately by a stunned silence as they stared at each other.
"Wait, wait! Let me sort this out!!"
Still in shock, Luca forced himself to calm down, rubbing his temples as he retraced the events leading up to this.
It all started earlier this morning.
Over the past two days, through various scans and Haro's assisted analysis, Luca had basically confirmed one thing.
Although the Mind Stone seemed integrated with Vision, it was more like a dedicated neural receiver slot had been reserved for the Mind Stone during Vision's 'manufacturing' process to utilize its power.
In this setup, the Mind Stone acted like an external 'auxiliary program core,' simulating neural synapses to connect to Vision's brain. The slot on Vision's forehead could be seen as a 'USB port,' purely for receiving and utilizing the auxiliary functions of the Mind Stone.
However, since the Mind Stone—this so-called 'external USB drive'—played a massive role in Vision's initial birth...
To separate it now, Luca needed to simulate most of the functions of this 'external USB drive' while ensuring no 'short circuits' or 'open circuits' occurred.
Basically, he needed to manufacture a chip or a similar component to replace the Mind Stone, mimicking neural connections based on Vision's current simulated nervous system.
While manufacturing the chip was no problem for Luca, neural simulation involved a lot of medical knowledge.
For safety, Luca naturally called upon Sherry and Baymax, whom he trusted most.
Sherry would judge the functions of various simulated neurons, Baymax would handle the massive calculations and neural matching, and Luca would design and build the chip.
With the three combined, the work was tedious in theory, but not overly difficult.
However, a small misunderstanding occurred when Luca called Sherry over...
"So you didn't know Vision was a semi-mechanical lifeform?"
"You never told me..."
By now, Sherry had regained her composure, though she was still curiously examining the pint-sized Vision in front of her.
"You only said you wanted to take the Mind Stone out of his body. Haven't we verified the effects of APTX 4869 many times before?"
"..."
Are you insane!
You verified it on robots too?!!!
Luca roared internally.
To conceal the identity of the stone and the robot, Vision had been appearing around Luca in a normal human guise these past few days.
Just now, Luca was still briefing Baymax on the follow-up work. Who knew that the moment he turned his head, these two would drop such a bomb on him...
"And Vision, you...?"
"Follow doctor's orders... Besides, I can analyze the food I ingest."
Vision blinked his big eyes and answered Luca innocently in a standard 7-year-old's voice.
You sure switched vocal ranges fast enough.
The corner of Luca's mouth twitched slightly.
But after calming down and thinking carefully...
The core of the complete version of 'APTX 4869' manufactured by Sherry came from the 'Conan World'—a world where conceptual powers ran rampant and logic took a backseat.
In the process, she also heavily utilized the bizarre, inexplicable technology from Gray Wolf's 'Shrinking Pill.'
Add to that the creator being Sherry, a genuine escapee from the Conan World.
Honestly, no amount of conceptual power contained within would be surprising.
Oh wait, I also have to account for the Mind Stone showing off its power...
At first, Luca thought the shapeshifting ability the Mind Stone granted Vision was likely 'psychic cognitive distortion,' making others perceive him differently.
However, he later discovered that even on other robots or unconscious recording devices, Vision still appeared human. So, he wasn't sure about the specific principle.
Looking at it now, it might not be psychic cognitive distortion, but direct psychic interference with reality...
Gray Wolf, Conan World, Mind Stone... Dammit, why am I even bothering with the principle?!
With his brain turned to mush, Luca decided to just give up on logic. He looked weakly at the mini-Vision again.
"Do you feel any abnormalities in your body right now? Do you still need the simulated neural circuit chip?"
Hearing this, Vision touched his forehead stupidly. It was now empty, without the external chip filling it like White Vision in the original story.
"No abnormalities for now, but I seem to feel a little hungry."
"Hungry? Uh, okay."
Since he was simulating a human body, now without the stone's energy supply and having just consumed a lot of stamina due to 'APTX 4869,' needing nutrients wasn't strange.
Probably...
"Anyway, let's turn you back first... Sherry, since this was your plan all along, you brought the antidote, right?"
Luca rubbed his temples helplessly, watching Sherry take out the antidote and hand it to Vision.
5 seconds later...
"..."
Silence reigned in the lab.
"No! Vision, did you swallow it or not?!"
"You could shrink just now, so why can't you turn back?!!"
"Sherry, is the antidote you brought expired?!!"
"Vision, try turning into your human form first!!"
This time, Luca completely lost it.
What is wrong with this absurd world?
Yet even at this moment, the other two involved parties didn't forget to twist the knife.
"It's normal for drugs not to work on robots, right?"
"Sir, without the Mind Stone, I have lost the ability to simulate shapeshifting."
10 minutes later...
After repeatedly confirming that the slot on Vision's forehead had shrunk along with his body, making it impossible to stuff the Mind Stone back in...
Luca finally gave up on the idea of having Vision return to his adult form before removing the stone.
"Forget it, forget it... small is cute too..."
Anyway, Vision is a semi-mechanical body. Physical age doesn't affect his abilities at all. Being smaller isn't necessarily bad.
Besides, Vision has literally been alive for less than three days. This appearance actually fits his real age better...
Luca could only comfort himself like this repeatedly in his mind.
"I'll make a smaller chip later to plug that hole in your head. As for your appearance, you decide. If you want a human look, I'll make you a separate holographic disguise watch..."