El!
El has been with the site for nearly two years now and has continued to prove her value. Currently, she is heading up our site event, Battle for Liberterram, on top of keeping up with her own personal plots.
CHARACTER
SPOTLIGHT
Peggy Carter!
Lux's posts are all wonderful to read. She has done a wonderful job of grasping the new universe and incorporating Peggy into it.
CHARACTER
SPOTLIGHT
Peter Parker!
It's good to see Spidey back on the site. Watching him deal with the universe shift in his own snarky way has been nothing short of entertaining.
THREAD
SPOTLIGHT
Eight O'Clock on the Dot!
El and Lux are making magic in this thread. Straight up fireworks, and the way they've played with drawing out the reveal is top class.
All this noise, all these lights, and all these people.
It was fantastic.
Despite the constant thrum of sound, and the huge press of people (many of which seemed not to have discovered the wonders of personal hygiene and deodorant) this place was a marvel.
The Stark Expo.
Sure it was a lot of flash, but there was some real substance behind it all. If you could look past some of the cheap coloured lights and the big fancy slogans promising a better tomorrow most of this stuff was absolutely amazing to look at; and in some rare cases, even get your hands on. These scientists, inventors, and engineers were the top of the respective fields – Tony Stark didn’t let any crackpot into his special Expo. Of course that would have looked bad on Stark, and this whole thing was basically a testament to his ego. But hell, if you’re as brilliant as Tony Stark, you’re allowed to have a bit of an ego, right?
Kitty sauntered between displays, pausing at booths to watch demonstrations, look at schematics, and take in some of the prototypes. She drank in all the innovation around her, feeling almost lightheaded in her giddiness. This truly was the best of the best, and the girl was in heaven. Already her mind was buzzing with new ideas sparked from what she had seen, and she hadn’t been here for more than an hour yet. From the moment she had walked through the doors she had been mesmerized.
Okay, okay. Calm down. Think out a plan of attack. The young woman pulled a folded up map of the convention floor from the back pocket of her jeans. With the map now in front of her, she spun on the spot slowly, trying to orient herself using the big signs overhead. She didn’t want to miss a thing, so she had to go about this logically. Taking a small stub of a pencil out of her pocket, she marked off the booths she had already visited in her uncontainable excitement. Alright the best place to start waaaaas...
Stark. (Duh)
Why wouldn’t you start off with the man who had it all? Of course, she could save the best for last but who knew when duty would call and she’d get pulled away. If there was one booth she’d kick herself for missing, it would be his. And of course if she could get in on any of his speeches…
Quickly, weaving her way through the crowds she made her way over the to Stark Industries booth. By the time she reached it she was pretty much vibrating with excitement, already envisioning some of the feats of technical prowess Stark would have pulled out for this year. And she definitely wasn’t disappointed.
She quickly submerged herself in all the wonders she found there – practically ignoring the people manning the booth as she took the opportunity to look through anything she could get her hands on. Her mind was reeling as she looked through everything on display – the schematics had her mind racing as she tried to imagine how anyone could go about building these new technologies. Say what you want, but the man was a genius. Sure he was a bit rough around the edges from what she had heard, but he was practically a living legend. When she had been growing up she had studied some of his earlier work and drew inspiration. She was practically salivating over the work laid out before her.
As she considered some of the goodies on display, her head turned this way and that, trying to get a good look. Her fingers ached to reach out and touch some of the prototypes, but she knew that was probably frowned upon. She checked over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching before she moved closer, her face only inches away from one of Stark’s inventions. Tony Stark | Notes: Wasn't sure what's on display - make it whatever you want, I'm flexible. She'd geek out over anything really...
Notes: finally! apologies for the wait. Tagged: kittykat
Tony equal parts loved and hated the Expo. The lights, the cameras, the ability to show off all his gadgets; these were the things that he loved. Getting in front of people to show off what he did best was one of his favorite things, and he was therefore happy to have this event to do so on such a wide scale. However something this big required so much planning and paperwork and other such things that he hated that at the same time he kinda hated putting the whole thing on. He could do without all that setting up side of things, but in the end he was pretty sure that it was worth it.
For now Tony was checking over the various projects on display in the Stark Industries display area. He was a bit worried about all his little babies being out in public, as there was no telling what could happen if the public got to touching them or something. This time he was particularly worried, as he had, in his stupidity, decided that DUM-E needed a trip out of the Tower, and that the Expo would be a good place for him. Especially with Tony planning on implementing AI 'bots into medical technology in the near future. The reaction DUM-E got at the Expo would show him what directions he needed to go.
He'd quickly realized that this had been a terrible idea. As Vision had said, Tony's 'bots were essentially his children, and Tony found himself worried about the poor thing being left without him around all kinds of strangers. Especially as he'd only brought the one so he didn't have his brothers to distract him.
Finally arriving back around to what was essentially his child, he crouched down in front of the 'bot, who seemed a little out of it at the moment. Probably overwhelmed by everything around him, seeing as the most crowded events he attended were usually company meeting related. Not as giant as something like the Expo.
"How you doing, buddy?" he asked, patting the 'bot a bit. DUM-E only whirred quietly in response, bumping his arm against Tony's shoulder gently as if trying to reassure either itself of Tony. He chuckled a bit, checking over the 'bot to make sure that everything was in place still and he didn't need any repair for the moment.
Various other things on display for his booth included various ideas for future tech he was hoping to get feedback on interest for and displays of the latest consumer-level tech that was soon-to-be-released. He'd even blown out a couple Iron Man suits so that people could get a feel for their inner parts, almost like an art display. The important part of the suits, the reactor, wasn't anywhere in sight. Protecting its secrets was what protected the suit. Everything else inside it were things it was possible for other people to build, so there was really no point in attempting to hide it. Plus it was one of the most visited displays. No one could resist seeing what made the older versions of the suits tick.
DUM-E rolled along behind Tony, whirring happily, as he wandered through the exhibit. He caught sight of some people staring at the 'bot and grinned a bit, knowing that his little 'bot had a unique personality that could attract attention. Catching sight of a girl that was leaning so closely to a new, smaller, more efficient medical scanner that he'd brought along at the last minute due to his desire to get deeper into that field, he grinned a bit, turning to address the 'bot behind him.
"Hey, DUM-E. How about you go show that girl something cooler than a silly medical scanner?" he said and the 'bot wheeled off towards the girl, reaching out to tug at the hem of the girl's shirt with his claw.The 'bot then extracted a bolt from his spare parts container to hold out to her, chirping and whirring happily as he stretched his arms out. Tony chuckled a bit at the display, grinning a bit as he watched for the girls reaction. She was clearly a bit of a tech-head, and he wanted to see what she thought of his 'bot.
The device in front of her was some kind of medical diagnostic tool…but how did it work? Kitty loved these kinds of things – she always walked away with a mind full of new ideas of her own after seeing some of the spectacular work other people were doing. Everyone needed inspiration, and this is how she found hers.
She leaned over to one side, trying to get a better feel for the tech – reading body temperature would be easy, but how could Stark have accomplished the rest of this? There was no doubt he was one of the smartest guys around, but her ego took a bit of a kicking when she had to admit she really didn’t fully understand it. Maybe if she could get a peek at the schematics…or even take it apart…
Just as she was daydreaming about pulling out the inner workings of this terrific piece she felt a slight tug on the hem of her shirt. Fully expecting to see a small lost child, Kitty was taken a little aback by the small robot she came face to face with. A startled expression crossed her features as she made no effort to supress her shock. She watched speechless as the tiny mechanical marvel pulled a bolt out of a container and held it out to her. Slowly, a wide grin on her face, Kitty held her hand out to the small creature to accept the bolt. “Well hello there,” she said in a tone most people reserve for puppies and kittens. “And just who would you be?” Although she didn’t really expect it to answer back to her, there was a chance it would – this was after all the sort of place where that kind of thing happened.
The happy chirping noises the robot made only caused her smile to grow larger - this little guy was damn adorable, not to mention impressive. It almost seemed capable of fully emoting. But it was a robot. Even AIs weren’t really capable of showing a full emotional range yet – at best they were cheap imitations. But that didn’t seem to be the case with this one.
Holding the bolt closely she looked at the machine curiously, trying to figure out what made it tick. She rolled the piece carefully between a couple of fingers, considering it carefully. “What do you want me to do with this?” Was it a token? A cute party trick? She held the piece up between two fingers. “Do you need a little repair work buddy?” Of course she wasn’t the one to do the repair work…no matter how much she’d love to. This all had the feeling of a toddler handing a grown adult its toy phone – of course she was going to play along.
“Fascinating…” she mumbled to herself, leaning in for a closer look. It seemed familiar – like something she had seen once before, but surely she’d remember coming across something like this? Maybe she had read about it somewhere…
She could feel the answer lurking just out of reach in her mind. This little ‘bot was definitely kind of familiar. Though considering she was standing in the Stark area that wasn’t really a surprise – she ate up everything about their work ravenously.
“So who do you belong to anyway?” she smiled, looking around as though expecting someone to be standing just a few feet away. Though given that this robot seemed totally autonomous she wouldn’t be surprised to see it just roaming around on its own.
Tony watched with amusement as DUM-E whirred happily at the young woman, adding a couple chirps for good measure. DUM-E had a way of charming people with his adorable personality, which Tony had let develop mostly on its own over the years. His AI tended to do such things, and had since he'd started designing them. It was what made them so special, and what made Tony care about them so much. Aside from the fact that he had built them himself.
The 'bot seemed happy to attempt to communicate with the young woman, although Tony seemed to be the only one that had figured out what he meant by his attempts to communicate. He chirped again at her question, motioning with his arm for her to keep it. Tony shook his head a little bit at the motion as the 'bot spun in a small, happy circle while the young woman attempted to play along, much as one would with a small child that they didn't quite understand. Points for effort, he figured.
Deciding that it was time for him to stop spying on the attendees of the Expo and probably introduce himself, he made his way over to DUM-E and his new friend, hearing her question as he did so. "That would be me," he said, shooting her a grin and holding out his hand for a handshake, "Hi. Tony Stark. I see you're making friends with my little 'bot here." He patted DUM-E's claw affectionately and the bot chirped again, spinning in another circle.
"He wants you to keep it. The bolt," he said, nodding to where she was still holding it, "It's like when a kid picks a wildflower and gives it to you. It means he likes you."
DUM-E bumped against his legs in what he knew to be a sign of affection - or as close as a 'bot could get to it. Tony was pretty sure that the poor thing was getting overwhelmed and needed a break. "So, I can see that you're a bit of a techie," he said to the young woman, "Got any questions while I'm here?"
When the little bot began to spin, she couldn’t help but feel like it was showing happiness – likely a product of her projecting her own emotions onto it, but something about it felt really…joyful.
The last thing she expected was for Tony Stark himself to walk up. Though considering she was standing inside the Stark booth maybe she should have seen that coming. For a moment she was a little star struck – this was the man who had inspired her when she had first starting tinkering with her own mechanical experiments all those years ago. What he had accomplished as a child, most people couldn’t hope to pull off during their entire life. Any burgeoning mechanic or engineer who didn’t hold Tony Stark in the highest esteem was crazy. And yet here he was. In the flesh! Keep calm. Keep cool.
Pulling herself away from her mental gushing, she reached out to shake his hand, trying her best not to look like some crazy fangirl. What was she supposed to say? “Kitty,” she responded, not sure what the situation called for. What did you say to someone like this? What could you say really? “This is yours?” she asked, but the question quickly answered itself as the boy chirped and spun again, clearly pleased to see the older man. “He’s amazing.” Probably something Stark had whipped together in an afternoon. She envied that kind of skill. To be honest, she was pretty good at that sort of thing herself, but no one was in league with Tony Stark. How could they be?
“Oh?” for a moment she had forgotten about the bolt in her hand. She curled her fingers around it, feeling the sharp edges of the threads push against the skin of her fingers. “Well in that case, thank you,” she spoke directly to the bot, hoping that in some way it understood her. And perhaps it could. Maybe it had progressed beyond basic commands and could really understand human speech. Wouldn’t that be something spectacular? She smiled happily – this was better than a kid giving her a wildflower. This was so much cooler. “What a gentle-“ man? “Bot.”
A little flush of pride passed through her – how could he possibly have noticed she was a techy? Well, other than the fact that she was at the convention at all. Though lots of people came just out of mere curiosity. And she didn’t doubt more than a few of them were hoping to catch a glimpse of Iron Man himself.
Any questions? That was broad territory. She had a million questions she could ask him. Casting her eyes around the display area her eyes settled on the blown out version of the Iron Man suit. “A few,” she smirked turning back to him. “Really depends upon how much time you have.” All of the questions she had probably didn’t have a lot of straightforward answers. “I wouldn’t want to take up all your time…” but how do you pick just one good question?! Her eyes fell back down to the little robot. “Is that really a fully functioning AI?” she asked almost accidently. “I mean – it’s so emotive! I thought we were still years off from perfecting personality matrixes. But this little guy…It’s like he really understands!” At least, it did from what she’d managed to glean in just a few minutes with it. She’d never seen anything like it. Everything else was just a cheap imitation of life but this…reacted. Felt. She leaned down a bit to get an even closer look. “It’s not just collecting data, it’s interpreting…but to have that kind of functionality you’d need some serious hardware to back it up.” And considering it was just basically a mechanical appendage it seemed odd that it would even require such a high level of ability. What was it for?
Immediately she regretted her question. What about the power source of the Iron Man suit?! Clearly it was missing. So where was it? Or rather, what was it? And the medical scanner (small potatoes in comparison but still!). Urgh. Way to blow it. Tony Stark
There was a look that some people got upon meeting him that he'd learned how to interpret quickly; one that meant that their brain was rushing around trying to figure out what to say first as they'd just met their favorite celebrity. The young woman was wearing such a face now, and he contained his smirk as well as he could. People often got embarrassed if they thought that Tony Stark was laughing at them. The girl, Kitty, was at least able to get her thoughts under some semblance of control fairly quickly, which he appreciated.
"That he is," Tony confirmed in answer to his question, "I originally built him when I was a kid. He's been around for a while." He patted the 'bot again as it started picking garbage up off the pavilion floor and taking it to a nearby trash can. It was the kind of thing that the 'bot did a lot, even in places that weren't under his 'cleaning jurisdiction'. DUM-E just seemed to like picking up trash. At the moment, he was stuffing a piece of shiny something into his holding case instead of the trash bin, as if it was special. Tony was pretty sure he'd be throwing it and some other things out when they got home. The 'bot could behave a bit like a crow on occasion.
DUM-E made a happy chirping sound at the acknowledgement of the young woman before going back to his task. Well, it looked like his 'bot was having a good time at least, which he was a bit relieved by as he'd been worried that DUM-E would get bored at the Expo. Most people probably wouldn't worry about a 'bot's feelings, but Tony was not most people and he believed that his little AIs had something akin to feelings; they'd shown so over and over again.
Shrugging a bit to indicate that he wasn't sure as to exactly how much time he had to stand around talking to her, he shoved his hands into his pockets as he listened to her hesitate a moment before blurting into her questions. They never really did last long before being unable to hold back their curiosity.
He chuckled as the words came bursting out of her, DUM-E moving back over as well as if he sensed that he was being talked about. His attention was on the young woman, and he made vague gestures with his claw that might have been dancing. Tony really wasn't sure.
"He's fairly high-functioning," Tony confirmed, "Not as elegant as my other efforts, but his base was created by a nine-year-old, so that's to be expected. He's been upgraded many times since then, of course. I've been trying to develop fully emotional artificial intelligence since I was old enough to understand what it was. He understands and reacts to the world around him in the same way a toddler would, I think." He shrugged a shoulder. "He helps me in the lab a lot, so the hardware is worth the effort. When I first built him it was because I wasn't allowed a dog, but now he does have a lot more in common with people than household pets."