She nods, thoughtful, and then, after a moment: "Why?"

"The planets we raid... are not our enemies. Far from it. Their long term well-being--and the well-being of other worlds throughout the cosmos--is our ultimate priority."

Thanos pauses, thinking back across the millenia to the events that set his quest in motion.

"Our enemy is the thing that took my home from me."

She tilts her head at him in obvious question.

"Depletion. Famine. Entropy. Desolation. Complacency in the face of those evils." He had a family, before this one. A mate. Children of his own flesh and blood. All gone now. "My homeworld teetered on the brink for so long, further and further out of balance each year. I saw the end coming, long in advance of its arrival, and offered a solution. But our leaders did nothing. Banished me for acknowledging an inconvenient truth. There had been hundreds of billions of us there, when I entered the world. Now, because they would not listen, I am the last of my kind."

It used to be so difficult, recounting this story. Acknowledging his failure to change his homeworld's destiny. Nearly five millennia later, though, Thanos has grown hard in the face of his old pain.

"I've explored the galaxy in depth, and sent scouts to a dozen other galaxies besides. The situation on my homeworld, as it turns out, is far from unique. The entire universe has grown unbalanced and unless someone intervenes it will eventually reach a tipping point."

Thanos grabs the nearest exercise machine and gives it a gentle push, tearing it halfway loose from its moorings and leaving it swaying precariously under the strain of its own weight.

"And so I have scoured countless planets: for information, technology, allies, resources, artifacts... whatever I need to restore the balance. Whatever I need to save the universe."

She nods quietly as he speaks, can see the logic to his words. Doesn't ask if the universe wants to be saved - that someone had cared enough to hire her father to remove Thanos suggests the answer is 'No'.

"In an ideal universe, all beings would be comfortable making short term sacrifices to secure long term gains. In such a universe, we could solve the problem in front of us almost overnight. As it stands, however, I encounter... opposition. Several past attempts on my life have been made by those inconvenienced by my machinations, and I expect many future attempts before the day of victory comes."

He places a hand on her shoulder.

"I may die, Grim. I don't plan to -- I won't go down easy with the universe on the line -- but it could happen."

Squeeze. Eye contact. Solemn intensity.

"And if it did? I would expect you and your siblings to see things through."

She nods gravely. "Yes, sir, I understand. I'll do my best not to let you down."

Thanos pulls her close for a moment, then steps back and strides to the the door of the gymnasium. His armor's outer plating waits for him there, set aside before his fight with Cull. He dons it now, slotting hard exterior pieces into appropriate recesses on the flexible base layer he already wears.

"Train well."

He leaves, headed for Sanctuary II's central elevator.

A couple seconds pass. The machine Thanos uprooted earlier gives an ominous creak, then tips over the rest of the way and crashes to the floor.

She goes very still as the machine crashes to the floor, slowly turns her head towards it, eyes it for a moment, and then throws herself back into her training.

If that is what they're to do, she needs to be better.

She gets better! Sanctuary II's gymnasium is quite accommodating for that!

Eventually she probably gets tired, though?

Yes! But she'll go and grab something to eat before she returns to her room.

There are a few Chitauri milling around the cafeteria, but she doesn't see any of her siblings.

She doesn't have any trouble getting food she can eat on the go. It's not tasty or anything, but it goes down easy and doesn't shed any crumbs.

On the way back to her quarters, though, a dour sister accosts her...

"Grim."

Once she spots Grim, Proxima approaches quickly--strafing slightly as she does so to back Grim up into the hallway's nearest corner.

"Explanation. Now."

She holds a sheet of paper up. It's hard to make out the words on the paper from this angle, but it unmistakably resembles the cryptic messages Grim has previously received.

Grim shifts smoothly, backed into the corner, but not entirely trapped. "For what?" she asks, her entire being radiating confusion, even as she tries to read the sheet. "What is that?"

Hot, snarling, angry: "Don't play dumb with me."

When anger predictably fails to yield results, Proxima's tone changes abruptly.

Icy, quiet, serious: "You know how Father feels about duplicity."

"I have never been anything but honest and open," Grim retorts, sharp and cutting. "Why would I risk my place here when I worked so hard to gain it?"

"So you're saying you don't know what this is? That you haven't seen anything like it before?"

Proxima holds up the paper again. Grim can make out a few of the lines now:

           --making landfall on another planet, soon.

  He’s going to invite you along this time.

There’ll be fighting. There’ll be chaos.

There’ll be a chance for you to make your move.

She pauses, thoughtful, as though trying to remember. "I might have," she says. "After all, there was already papers in the room when I went in. If I did, I assumed they were yours and didn't bother reading them. Not my place after all."

Proxima's eyes narrow.

"Come with me."

She nods sharply and follows, brisk, businesslike.

She heads back towards the throne room, stopping near the gym to hammer on the door that Grim has seen Corvus Glaive coming and going from previously.

"Hey, Corvus! You there? Need help with something."

"Just a minute, Proxy." Voice muffled by intervening barrier. "I'll be right out."

Proxima rolls her eyes, pulls a cloned keycard out of a back pocket and sticks it into the lock beside the door.

The door whooshes open.

Corvus is completely naked.

He doesn't seem annoyed by Proxima barging on on him like this but, when he spots Grim trailing her, he raises a vexed eyebrow.

"I told you I needed a minute."

Grim averts her eyes politely - clearly more for Corvus' comfort than any problem on her part.