Players:
Summary: When you're just sixteen anything can happen!
Date: July 15, 2010
Log Title: 16 Candles
Rating: PG-13
NYC- Stark Industries Flushing Plant
Another run of the mill day was in the forecast for a great many of the people living in New York. This, however, would not be the case for a certain young man who was turning sixteen. Plans had been set up weeks in advance by Tony Stark, to celebrate the young mans turning 16, and coming to work for Stark Enterprises. Right now, Tony was up in his apartment at Stark Towers waiting for Theo to arrive so that the day could get under way.
The first day of work! Theo has tried not to think much about his birthday. Instead, he's thought about his start at Stark Industries. He went out and got a hair cut. He bought a suit. Granted, it was JCPenny's clearance rack, but it's a fairly reasonable looking cheap suit. Pin striped and navy blue, with a lighter blue dress shirt underneath. He nixed the tie, leaving the top button undone.
He hits the doorbell at the entrance of the apartment. He feels a little awkward in a suit, the only other time he's ever worn them was for family weddings and funerals. He pats down the jacket, checking for loose hairs. Sure, Tony has been a fun guy, but now he's also the boss, and he doesn't want to make any assumptions. He's even twenty minutes early to work.
Back in the bedroom of the apartment, Stark shoves several things he's going to need for the day into various pockets of his cargo pants. Of course, if Theo is paying attention to the fact that Tony is wearing a polo shirt, cargo pants, and sneakers, the gig may already be up before it begins. The doorbell is really the alert button in the elevator, so Tony shuts that off and allows the doors to part letting Theo come into the entrance area as he makes his way out into the living room to greet Mr.Fegenbush.
"Looking pretty sharp there, Theo!" Tony greets with a smile as he waves the young man into the living room. "Welcome to my humble abode here at Stark Towers."
The teenager steps in, eyes moving around the scene. "Yeah, humble like Lady Gaga," he says, his lips turning up into a grin. He spots Tony's much more casual attire, and suddenly feels even more awkward than he did a moment ago. "I guess I overdressed a little," he adds sheepishly. "I wasn't sure what was appropriate, but I figured a suit would be about right." He's a lot more reserved than he has been in most other encounters. One might even see him as shy. His voice is more quiet, and he looks less sure of himself than usual. First day of work must have him really freaked out.
Lady Gaga? Tony would really have to rethink his interior decorating if that is the case. "You did the right thing by showing up on a first day in a suit. It makes a good impression," Tony says to Theo as he rounds the couch to grab his shades. "I have put together something that should be informative and at the same time a good way to celebrate your birthday."
The encouragement on the suit does put him a little more at ease, and the boy releases a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Okay," he answers to Tony's statement. He's not sure what else he has to say, so he doesn't say anything else at all.
"I know the grand tour is a little bit boring but I promise things will get a lot better as the day progresses. Trust me," Tony says to Theo with the trademark smile in place as he reaches the younger mans side. "I know you're familiar with the tower but we've got to take a vehicle over to the Flushing Plant where you'll actually be spending most of your time at." Tony calls the elevator to come back upstairs.
Theo waits with Tony for the elevator. "Flushing Plant?" he echoes with an arched brow, not familiar with the term. "Sounds like where you go to work on new toilets."
Tony snickers, "You don't know how many people make jokes like that but its actually a town. I don't know if you're familiar with that area but that is the heart of my Research and Development team." With the elevator having arrived the two men enter and ride down to the parking garage. "Have you eaten? I have someone dropping off coffee and what not. I'm sure I can add to the list before we get over there."
Theo shakes his head, "Actually, I didn't, and now I'm starting to get hungry. I was afraid I might throw up, and I thought that might not be a good way to start." He watches as the elevator cruises down the floors, each light lighting up one after another. He expects of course that they'll be riding in one of Tony's fancy cars, or be meeting a limo. "Is the guy I'm gonna work under pretty cool? Or does he only talk with words that can have decimal points added to them?"
With a well placed phone call Tony tells the employee running the errand for him that he needed to pick up something more substantial on top of the current list of items before he turns towards Theo as the doors open revealing the parking garage. "Bob's a good man. He's been with the company for well over a decade and he can get caught up in his work from time to time but for the most part he'll be a good guy to work with." In front of the elevator is a black car with dark tinted windows. Happy is waiting leaned up against the side of the car. Tony greets his long standing friend and introduces Happy to Theo. After introductions are made Tony ushers Theo into the car and their on their way over to the Flushing plant which is a good 15 minute drive from the Towers.
Theo eagerly shakes Happy's hand, and as he gets into the car, his energy level seems to rise. He doesn't start rambling, but it looks like he's doing all that he can to keep his mouth shut, rather than just turn into a pile of blabbering goo. So instead of rambling, he doesn't say anything at all to perpetuate the conversation, he just tries not to explode.
Stark is having a hard time containing his plan for the young man sitting beside him. Normally, he'd be able to plot out and appear detached from the situation but this was considerably different givne that Tony saw a lot of himself in Theo. One of those, what might have been if he hadn't been forced down the path he had been set upon by circumstances. As they rode over to the plant Tony talked about what the RND was working on currently and how things functioned over at the plant. Theo's job would be to soak up anything and everything he could from the people there and assist with anything that he could to gain experience. As the car arrived at the plant Tony was about ready to fidget himself to death as Happy dropped them off outside of the large warehouse.
Two very large doors parted ways just as Tony arrived. Several people came pouring out offering greetings to the boss. Two were security guards, one was Bob, and the last was the young man coming over with bags of pastries and a coffee for Stark. "Bob, this is Theo. I'm going to leave him in your capable hands starting on Monday but for today we're just here to pick up the thing I've been working on." Bob smiles at Tony then turns to extend his hand towards Theo. "Welcome to the RND department, Theo. It'll be good to have you on staff. If you ever have any questions at all please ask. It's what we're all here for!"
Theo smiles as best he can and shakes Bob's hand firmly. "Pleasure, sir," he says, "I really appreciate the opportunity to work with you." His shoulders have gone stiff again, and he rolls them once to try to shake the stiffness out. "It looks like you have a great place here." It's after he says it that he realizes it sounds like he's complimenting the guy's home, but he just leaves it. It's already said now.
"Looks good now, you should have been here a week ago when we caught it on fire!" Bob laughs as he relates the truth to those around him and ushers the small group into the building. As they walk Tony hands a small bag over to Theo, "I hope you like donuts, it was the best I could come up with on short notice." Of course, Tony's all ready plowing through his donut as they follow Bob through the tour of the facility. In the end they arrive at a object covered by a gray tarp. Tony lights up and hands his coffee over to one of his guards. "Now, this is my part of the tour. I'm trying to climb out of the shadows of the past, and this is the first step in the future of my company."
As Tony speaks he walks up to the tarp covered object and lays a hand atop it as he regards the small group of people gathered. "I tested my design on various things that one might find around the house and gradually up'd my scale till I got to this point." Of course he's rambling now, not entirely sure how he wants to present what lays beneath the cloth. The rapt audience isn't helping as he's feeding upon their curiosity and excitement. "This may very well be the future of the car industry, and I will be talking more about it in the future but for now I'm presenting the very first one of its kind as a birthday present to Master Fegenbush for his birthday." With that Tony pulls off the tarp to reveal a heavily modified Smart Car that is sure to cause an onslaught of questions.
Theo has a slight look of dread at the mention of the fire. "Thanks," he says to Tony as he receives the bag He pulls a donut from the bag, and takes a bite out of it. He watches as Tony passes the guard his coffee, and then turns his eyes to tarp. As Tony rambles about his presentation, he asks to Bob aside.
"That fire thing, you were just kidding, right?" he says, hoping for some assurance. It's at that very moment that Tony announces that the tarped creation is a present for him. Truth be known, he already was fully aware that it was a car underneath, but all the same, he is floored that the car is for him. His eyes go wide, and as the tarp is pulled off, he finds that his mouth has dropped open.
The look on his face is a cross between shock and uncertainty. It's clearly caught him completely flat footed, and he's not sure how he should respond. He looks around the room at his future co-workers, wondering if everybody got this sort of treatment. He can feel the eyes of everyone turn and look at him as Tony makes the announcement, and his face turns bright red. He laughs nervously, offering a smile that matches. He swallows the piece of donut in his mouth. "Me?" he asks, as if there might be another Fegenbush with a birthday.
"Give the man another donut!" Tony laughs aloud as he leans up against the side of the car and waves Theo up. Bob simply chuckles softly, "You get used to him. It takes a few years but then everything seems normal after awhile." With that Bob leaves the others to explore as they see fit. Tony taps his fingers against the car, "Its been modified, but I'll let you play with all of the bells and whistles yourself. It doesn't need gas nor electricity. The engine runs off a new reactor that I'm looking into marketing in the near future. It should power this thing for a good fifty years or so." Tony suddenly becomes a bit off kilter as he regards the clearly stunned Theo. "Too much? I guess I shouldn't mention that I found a parking garage near the school that will house it."
Theo still seems a little unable to respond. "I…" he starts, not sure how to continue. As Bob leaves, he finds some words. "It's great," he says finally, laughing again to release some stress. "I don't know what to say. Thanks." All the same, the teen looks like he'd rather hide underneath a desk than do anything else at the moment. He's not used to this kind of attention, nor is he sure what to do with it. He looks at the guards, trying to gauge their response to the situation, desperate for some sense of normalcy. He scratches the back of his head as he speaks, "I just…you don't really know me that well. And this seems to be one of those things you get for someone that you…know really well."
"Well, if its any easier for you to accept, I knew you had a serious transportation problem that I could easily fix." Tony says as he stops leaning on the car to walk back down to stand in front of Theo. With a well concealed silent signal the guards give them more space. "I also thought you might like to take this on as your first project. Test it out, write down what you find out about how it performs, what can make it better. You can even tinker around with it if you choose. The schematics are in the computers here but for obvious reasons you won't be able to pull them up outside of the building."
That seems to register with the dark-haired teen. "Okay," Theo answers, relaxing a little. He walks over to the car, and looks inside. "I guess I better go get a driver's license," he says. "And insurance." He reaches in and pops the hood, then goes to the front of the small vehicle. lifting the hood up. "I didn't know you even did cars."
Tony hadn't considered that Theo didn't have a drivers license yet. A minor oversight on his part! Tony remains where he is standing for a moment before going over to join Theo at the front of the car. "I am now; this is the first. I have a pair of bikes as well but those are not tailored toward ever being put on the market." Leaning over the engine Tony points out where the modified reactor is located and the various modifications that are connected to the power supply to make the car run. "This would be the beginning of another industrial revolution. If I can get this off the ground I will be able to convince investors to broaden their gaze, move on to much bigger things such as powering homes with an energy source that doesn't give off a bi-product that harms the environment."
"Note to self:" Theo says aloud. "Don't forget to lock the doors." He examines the reactor. "You realize that every OPEC will try to sink you for this, right? Unless you market in a way that will make them think you're not a threat. When digital watches were invented, the Swiss made more watches than any other country. But they didn't buy in because they never did anything like it before. Japan thought it was pretty fly, and now they make a majority of the world's watches, because they were willing to do things in a way that had never been done before." Somebody was paying attention in Economics.
"Seriously, if this works and doesn't blow me up, it would seriously impact the oil industry," he comments. Apparently technology isn't his only forte in school. He's already thinking about the ramifications of such an economic shift.
"You make valid points, Theo but when have I ever cared about what others think?" Tony smirks as he takes a step back from the car to allow Theo to explore at will. "Of course there are going to be those that are going to want to see me six feet under for altering the market but there are far more people in this world that would be all for clean energy. The days of dinosaurs and reliance upon fossil fuels is all ready coming to an end. I'm just going to swiftly kick it out of the way."
With the engineering mode engaged Tony starts spitting out numbers about the engine, the longevity of the cars life span, the safety features, and the alterations to the car. He concludes with, "Normally a car like this, with just the kit on top of it, would max out at 70mph and very limited time due to its energy conversion but this version is capable of 120mph and has an endless power supply. Just don't go getting speeding tickets right off the bat. You're still going to be on a learners permit for awhile." With a half smile the inventor opens up the passenger side door and slips into the seat to fire up the computer system. "This will tell you if there is a glitch in the engine, or if there is something wrong with any part on the car." As if to prove his point the car announces, "Sir, the driver and passenger doors are open."
Theo closes the car door. "Thank you car," he says. He starts up the car, and revs the engine, curious what it will sound like. "I bet if you worked on it, you'd make the rail industry really happy." Of course he would think of trains already. "So, should we take it for a ride?"
Tony is very tempted to go out and ride about in the car but doesn't think that it would be for the best given the recent developments with his security during the week. "I'll have to take a rain check today. There have been a few things that have occured this week that permits me from spontaneous things." Tony slides out of the car, and shuts the passenger side door. "Oh!" he exclaims as he digs out a flash drive as well as what looks like a card. "The drive holds information that you need for coming to work and the location of where you can safely park the car over night. If I've forgotten to say it, Happy Birthday Theo, and welcome aboard the team officially."
Here comes the cavalry, to ruin the fun. The redheaded Security head is announced by the click of heeled boots that go with her work attire of black slacks and button down. "Mister Stark?" She's trying to be polite, hands folded in the small of her back.
Theo gives a once over at the arriving security official, and turns the car back off. "Thanks, I can't wait to see the look on Scott's face," he says, his more relaxed demeanor coming back to him. He takes the card and the flash drive, and puts it on the inside of his suit jacket pocket. "Got a date?" he asks with a wicked looking grin.
Tony smiles at Theo, as he waves to Al as she's coming over towards them. "Officially? Not yet." Tony flags over one of the two guards that have been standing nearby the main doors during the conversation. "If you want, David here can drive with you, just to appease the law enforcement officers. Or you could hang out here for a bit and track down Bob." Tony steps around the back of the car to toss the fallen tarp away from the wheels, then heads over to where Al is standing, "What do you think?"" He asks her as he waits to see what Theo wants to do.
Alessia arches a brow at the young man, her gaze all but scorning his question. "Of the car, sir? Very nice. Ah hate to break up your gift giving, but you have a full day, today, Ah have been told."
The boy looks at the mentioned security. "Okay," he says. He doesn't seem to mind the fact that he needs someone to ride with him. "Maybe I can take it to Westchester and…damn, getting a license might be hard. Is there a way to do that without a birth certificate or a social security card?" he calls back to Tony as the guard comes over to the car.
Tony quirks an eyebrow at this, "Considering I don't even know my social security number…" Then again, this wasn't about him. It was about getting Theo set up properly. "Tell you what, I'll look into it. I've got connections; there shouldn't be too much of a problem." With that he takes his coffee back from the guard nearby and waves to Theo. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" He calls out to Theo before walking out of the double doors to where Happy is with the car.
Alessia turns on one heel, a very militaristic about face maneuver, to walk with Stark towards Happy and the car.
