riverview | video | un: iron.man

[The video flicks on to Tony's tired face, though he actually looks pretty good, considering that he's still mildly sick. He grins at the camera, though, the pleased look of someone who's managed something.]

Hey, so. For anyone still caught with this plague thing, I've got a...well, not a fix. A work around, maybe. A focused EMP seems to deactivate the nanities long enough for some of the symptoms to fade, at least for a little while. It doesn't get rid of the things entirely, but it should give you a nice break from feeling like shit.

I'd like to thank my lovely assistants for working with me on this.

[The camera pans across the workroom to focus on the couch, and the two bodies sprawled on it. The eagle-eyed might recognize one (or both) of them as Bucky Barnes, but the way they're both just kind of slumped in a heap makes it kind of hard to tell. It's not that large a couch.

One of them twitches slightly, and there's a snort as Tony turns the camera back on himself.]

That's it for now. I'm still working on a more permanent solution, but magic is really not my thing. Someone else wants to have a crack at that part, be my guest.

[A sudden crash comes from what seems like the vicinity of that couch, and Tony gives the screen a sardonic look before the feed cuts.]

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[True to her word, Wanda shows up a few hours later. She hesitates for a moment before finally knocking - he clearly remembers her but that doesn't mean this will be any less awkward.

There are people all over the city who need help. She has to remember that.]

It's still standing. Should I be surprised?

[deflect deflect deflect this is fine everything is fine]

I might be.

[It's a little dry as Tony makes his way towards the front of the workroom. Things are indeed quiet at the moment, though that might be because he's down to one body on the sofa, clearly sacked out cold. Considering Dum-E is still holding on to his metal wrist.

Though he does pause to arch an eyebrow in her direction. He's expected at least a little tension between them, but still.]

You okay?

[Wanda cracks something that's close enough to a smile to mostly count. She's just not going to question it. It's not worth it, and she probably doesn't want to know why a robot is holding a Bucky semi-captive.]

I am not sick, I think. Yet.

[Which is not the same thing as being okay, but Wanda's still not sure how much he wants to know or where the line is. Starting fresh is going to take some figuring out.]

Well that's good. Want me to check?

[He waves a hand vaguely around them, somehow trying to indicate the various scanners he has available. If nothing else, searching for signs of nanotech isn't all that hard. He knows what to look for.]

[Wanda's as ill at ease in labs as ever and tries not to tense. She mostly manages.]

It would probably be best.

[Tony nods once and directs a quick, J? at nothing in particular. A moment later, a glowing window flickers to life at Tony's side, and he can't help but toss a quick smile in Wanda's direction.]

Not so bad, right?

[She blinks. Wait, what?]

Was that all?

[She'd expected something a little more involved.]

Not that hard to scan for nanotech.

[His smile widens a little as he turns to glance through the image. It's almost visible as a human form, her's presumably.]

Looks like you're all clear, lucky you.

For now.

[Hopefully this little house call won't change that.]

Do you know how it spreads?

[He lets out a breath and closes the window with a flick of his hand.]

I thought it was contact, but it seems to be spreading too fast for that. I can scan you again before you leave, just in case.

I will try to be careful.

[She survived an Infinity Stone; she is not letting herself get taken out by nanotech if she can help it.

One scan deserves another, and Wanda's eyes become unsettlingly neither focused nor unfocused, like she's very intently staring through him at nothing.]

You feel a little strange... [A beat. There's the source of the confusion - they're not working as a unit. They're working independently, a thousand pinpricks of otherness in Tony's aura.] There's so many.

[It should maybe be a little uncomfortable having Wanda go anywhere near his head again, but honestly Tony has too many things to worry about to get too wrapped up in it. And if she wanted to do damage, there were easier ways.

He tips his head to give her a curious look, instead.]

The nanites?

[She'd been shocked he'd offered at all after last time, to be honest. But at least he hasn't run away screaming yet.]

I can feel them. They have their own presence.

[That would be the lingering traces of magic.]

[Tony can feel his eyebrows lift a little. Well that's...unsettling.]

So you could sense them in anybody? Or is it like a you need to concentrate thing?

I can see them if I look. But I have to be looking for them. They aren't... [Words. Describing a sense most people don't have in a language that isn't her first is hard, okay?] They aren't loud.

[Until he'd said something she hadn't even been aware there was a magical component to it at all.]

[She might be struggling, but Tony just nods once anyway.]

That makes sense, if the nanities are just there as sort of a vehicle for whatever magic is going on. Well, I say makes sense.

[He grimaces slightly, the expression overexaggerated mostly to see if he can amuse her.]

[Wanda lets out a small snort of laughter. She's Pietro's sister, so of course dry humor works on her.]

Strucker had experiments that felt a little like this, but I was never ever to put my power into something. I think I can reset it? But I don't know if I can stop them.

[It affects the mind, right? So theoretically there should be something she can do.]

More temporary fixes, huh?

[It's more thoughtful than a out-down, Tony's not going to laugh off any help he can get.]

How long do you think you could disable it for?

Maybe, maybe not. I might be able to stop the magic, but I can't pull them out of you.

[And as long as the tech side of the nanites keeps rebooting, they'll still have a problem even if she can fully remove all traces of magic from them.

She shrugs, looking sheepish.]

Normally if I stop something, it's done. I've never seen anything like this.

Yeah, you and me both.

[He lets out a long breath, more frustration than anything.]

You want me to give you a sample of these things, so you can mess around with them?

[She makes a face. Ewwwww, don't give her a bunch of tiny evil magic-machines.]

You have a way to keep them from making me sick?

...don't get them into your bloodstream?

[He shrugs. Your guess is as good as his, Wanda.]

[Tony]

Can't you...put them in something?

[He blinks and then gives an almost startled laugh.]

I wasn't going to just make you carry them in your hand. I've got a container.

video | un: iron.man

>> action!

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preference for infected or not?

she's fine! someone has to be

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