Summary:Secrets and information is revealed, for better or for worse. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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A week or so ago, Peter would have gotten an email stating that he had been approved for a Visitor's pass at the Stark Tower, and to check in with security on his first visit to record biometrics and get the badge. By the time check-in was complete, Pete would see Riri leaning against a pillar in one of the public parts of the lobby, seemingly immersed in whatever's going on on her phone.
He never thought he'd wear one of these after the school trip here. He and a couple of others had filled out a resume and turned it in at the suggestion of Mrs. Forrestal, the Physics teacher. He had received a politely-wordrd letter that he would need to finish his college first, and a comment about "increasing your reliability as a student."
He had a pretty good idea he knew what THAT meant.
So this was actually a treat. He could get a look inside the nerve center of a genius industrialist.
The man in the suit from the security office was untalkative, and Peter knew a tough crowd when he saw one. So, no joking.
He smiled as he saw Riri. She looked so squared away it almost hurt. But he was glad she was doing so well.
"Miss Williams?" he offered by way of greeting.
Riri twitches in surprise, fumbling her phone a bit, before shoving it back into the waistband of her shorts. She definitely doesn't fit into any office dress code, her casual clothing combined with a smear of some kind of industrial fluid on one arm and a pair of bulky AR goggles hanging around her neck. "Oh, hey Peter. Welcome to Stark Tower. My lab's this way."
She leads the way to the gates into the secure area, swiping her badge there as well as at the elevator. One final swipe at her lab, and the two geeks are inside. "Sooo… Yeah. This is where I build stuff." She gestures vaguely around the room. "Want a soda or something?"
Peter looks around. "Uhm, just water will be fine." He looked to her. "Enjoying the work?"
"I think there's a few of those in the fridge," Riri says, pretending that she doesn't practically live on soda. "Yeah, I'm pretty much free to do my own thing, as long as I work on any actual assigned projects from Stark Industries first. I've also gotten a working electrolaser, but I need a good enough compact power supply that's not an arc reactor before it'd be marketable. MILLIE, Water." There's a series of beeps followed by a metallic clank of something being dropped, and what looks like an oversized roomba with a small industrial robot arm on the front appears from behind a workbench, making for the fridge. It's about now that Pete might notice another oddity, 2D bar codes fastened to most of the drawers, cabinets, and machines in the room with packing tape.
"You know how sometimes you really need a third hand to work on a project?" Riri grins sheepishly, wincing as the robot runs over her foot on its way to Pete, holding up the water bottle.
Peter nodded. "Barcodes. MILLIE uses them to verify the contents?" He sounds intrigued. "And you thought of using QR codes, they hold more data." He takes the water bottle, looking thoughtful as he uncaps it. "Using QR codes in case of emergency. There's a thought." He looks down at the "Roomba" and says, after a tiny pause, "Uhm, thank you, MILLIE.?
"Yeah. And for general navigation. She's kind of an experiment in self-learning. Was pretty useless the first couple days until I tweaked the code to treat actually listening to me as a positive. Otherwise she was just kind of like a metal cat. …I'm still working on what the acronym stands for." Riri bites her lip, looking down at the bot. MILLIE beeps at Pete, manipulator opening and closing a few times, before heading back over to stare at a CNC machine in progress. "Kind of got the idea from Boston Dynamics. you know, those videos they put out?" Riri snags her own orange soda, gesturing to the room at large. "Feel free to take a look around. …Did you ever figure out what your issue was with the suit?"
Peter glanced over to Riri. "I…it's a little early. ALICE tests out fully normal, diagnostics at different times are all green, and independent testing confirms the results. If anything, the main issue is…well, she's TOO good. I tried to get in touch with Thomas, who spearheaded the coding in Oregon, but haven't heard back from him."
"Well… If she's working well and you don't know exactly why, it's betterthan underperforming and not knowing why." Riri shrugs, taking a seat in an office chair and gesturing towards a second one. "You could always have Spidey ask Tony when he visits. I'm mostly still just trying to optimize the control system I've got. Pretty far away from a VI or AI. And I've got to add libraries for all the NEW systems…" She sighs, leaning back as far as the chair will let her. "So much stuff. But it'll be worth it."
Peter tilted his head. Robotics wasn't his field, but he did know a few things. "Have you considered a move-by-wire system, similar to the fly-by-wire systems used by jets? Reaction time is pretty fast for those…" He sips his water, then adds, "As long as you get it at a 1/50th of a second response time, it should work…"
"The whole thing's built like that, honestly. With all the control surfaces it has to micromanage to maintain maximum lift and do maneuvers and stuff, It's mostly automated. Making it interpret body movements into flight was the hardest. It's…. Kind of like riding a bike? Except you're just shifting your weight around." Standing, Riri walks over to the armor and gestures to the back of the legs. "Basically, in flight mode, almost all the external plating has to be able to move and shift independently. I'm getting a lot more bulk on the Mark I…" She waves towards the far boxier still in progress torso on a bench, with a fin on each shoulder. "So I'm having to add a few more external control surfaces. But I figured out that I can use the big ones as part of the radar antennas as well…"
Peter chuckles. "Sorry for forgetting you know exactly what you're doing, Riri." He looks around the lab. "Well, it looks like you have everything you need here for everything you need to do. It's a lot better than my lab at home, with the equipment I got from dumpster-diving along Engineer Row and my uncle's machine-shop equipment from the 50's and 60's."
"S'fine. We've got different specialties. I'm kind of shit at chemistry, You invented web fluid." Riri smiles a little, raising her can again. "I'm kind of surprised Mr. Stark hasn't opened a makerspace already. And some of those old tools are good. Built like tanks." She raps her knuckles against what looks like a new helmet, with heavier armor plating along the sides and jawline. "…Oh yeah. Also, could I get the number of your biokinetic friend? I have a few questions for her."
Peter grins and pulls up his phone. "Sure. Thea's pretty chill, and I know she's no stranger to action. Spidey…"
Suddenly, he feels very tired. It went so badly with MJ, but Riri's different. And she's doing this whole thing…
So, he goes all in.
"Riri…how good are you at keeping big secrets?"
"Well, There's a bunch of stuff that I'm not allowed to tell people about working here, and I don't really talk to a lot of people anyway…" It's true. Riri's said a grand total of maybe seventy five words to her neighbours, and is barely there anyway. Best neighbor ever.
Peter looked around as spotted two cameras. Hmm. He turns slightly to check. Yep, he could keep his hand hidden.
He held the water bottle up so Riri could see it, so that it was resting on the tips of his fingers. He made sure it was capped, of course.
"Take a deep breath."
Then, his body hiding the action, he flipped his hand over so that his palm was facing down, not up.
The bottle stayed stuck to the tips of his fingers. Riri could see the water sloshing slightly, but settling down.
"…Huh. Well, that makes sense." Riri bites her lip, trying to resist the urge to bombard Pete with questions about his powers and gadgets. …It half works. "Okay, now I definitely need to bounce my restraint foam idea off you. And you lied about vertigo, so your loss on getting to go flying." The last sentence is punctuated with a stuck out tongue.
Peter turned the hand back up again. "Sorry. I try to distance myself from Spider-Man. I can only go so far with the whole Peter-Is-Spidey's-Tech-Guy story. There's too much to risk if it gets out."
"Yeah. Don't really get why people hate you. They're just assholes." Riri sighs, picking up the new helmet and gently placing it in her lap. "…was I supposed to be hiding this the whole time? I mean, I kind of fell out of my window in my armor and went flying, then landed at Stark Tower, and then within two days I'm working here…"
Peter chuckles. "Things are different for you than they are for me. If I hadn't been so stupid and selfish, maybe it would be okay for people to know. But…it didn't happen that way, and at least your motives were purer. My first thoughts when I discovered these powers was how to make a fast buck."
"Different circumstances. You've had to worry more about money, so that's what you were thinking about. If I'd had a good enough power source, I would have had a jetpack a few years back, but my mom said I couldn't have the fuels for a rocket pack because concentrated hydrogen peroxide is 'too dangerous'." Riri looks into the distance for a moment, before taking a long drink of her soda. "We've… both lost people. And that changed us."
Peter sighs. "Yes. Yes, it did. And I'd rather be Just Peter Parker to have him back."
Rather unusual path of logic in that statement. "But I don't like the idea of time travel, even if it were possible. Time's a one-way street, and when you go the wrong way…well, accidents happen. So…it has to mean somethings These God-given gifts have to be used RESPONSIBLY. That's what Uncle Ben taught me."
"And you're a great hero. You've helped a lot of people." Standing, Riri reaches out and rests a hand on Pete's shoulder. …This is how you comfort people, right? "So we do what we can to help people, and try to make the world a better place. Probably what Mr. Stark saw in me." From the other side of the lab, there's a clang as something falls over, followed by a surprised beep. Riri sighs, facepalming. "…I'm pretty sure Millie just dropped half a chest plate trying to get it out of the mill. Want to rescue her and help me put things together?"
Peter chuckles. THIS is something he is familiar with. "Sure. Rescuing people is my schtick by now. Nice to do it without wearing glorified longjohns."
Peter smirked to Riri, then began strolling over to where the beep had come from.