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Summary: In the Underground there is a room that has been set aside for Stark to work in. Said room garners a lot of traffic as another Avenger checks in, and Cap arrives along with Mike to discuss whatever it is everyone is working on.
Date:August 20, 2020
Log Title Techknowledgy: We has it.
Rating: PG
The Underground - Living Area- NYC
Army barracks would seem like a five star hotel compared to this place, but cots and hammocks seem to fill the area. There are some side rooms where mutants tend to fit four to six to a room and there are even some holes in the wall a mutant or two seems to have made home. Like the rest of the tunnels, its damp and musty in here and not much light save the same electric and gas powered lamps found in the rest of the tunnels. Everything from small children to older mutants sleep in here and it can be seen from the people who cant get out of bed. In this room there is a small corner thats been sectioned off with old sheets and blankets to form a medical area with what stolen medical supplies the mutants have managed to gather.
The Living Area in the Underground left much to be desired between the stale air and the flickering of gas powered lamps. Through the sea of cots, hammocks and amassed bodies there were tunnels that lead off to areas where weapons, and other items were stored. In one room amongst the stacked crates of various weapons and bits of things there was a cot along a far wall behind a sort of table made out of overturned crates. On the crates rested Rashmi's laptop, several connected hard drives and pieces of tech. On the floor leaning up against the cot were a set of modified arrows that were to be given to Hawkeye. In the low lighting of the room amongst all of the weaponry and tech was Tony Stark sitting on an overturned crate wearing jeans, and a black shirt covered by a blue and black flannel shirt.
He comes through the wall. The Vision, Theodore Fegenbush, has told himself that he was just learning his new powers, and working on his virus. That's why he hasn't come to the underground. The truth is, he doesn't want to meet Tony again, not after he betrayed his old teacher so long ago. It was easier when Tony was dead.
Theo walks up behind Tony, uncertain as to what he should say to reintroduce himself. "Hi," he finally says after what seems to be an eternity. For all the power his new body boasts of, Theo feels powerless right now.
Tony was following a thread of information when he registers that someone has appeared in the room behind him. For a forty-five year old guy who was presumed dead for years he moves pretty damn fast as he jumps up and spins around to see who is behind him. Clearly it wasn't someone out to kill him, as they could have easily taken the moment there to do so, but somehow they seemed familiar. With his head cocking to the side he looks long and hard, "Theo?"
Behind his synthezoid eyes, the old Theo is there. "Yeah," he admits. He doesn't move, but somehow, he looks nervous. "Things have changed a little since you last saw me. Congratulations on not being dead," he offers. He stands across from the rather startled Tony. It's funny how walking in through a wall and standing behind someone can do that.
Threads of information. Someone's been spinning those lately; spider-sentinels have been ambushed and had Strange Things done to them but so far the annoying unfriendly neighborhood Spider-Omega has not been taking the bait. Perhaps he doesn't know it's bait, or perhaps he's been offline a bit too much. In any case, Parker has eluded the Ghost in the Machine, so far.
Then, something triggers one of Mike's standby alarms, but the signal is garbled, so he returns at his top speed. Back in the day, Hank Pym was able to fly at near-supersonic speeds with a tiny machine when he was particled to microsize, and that's the size of the wasp-bot that tears through the ventilation to pop out into the room. It's an odd little bug - if it weren't for the speed, it would seem to be an ordinary wasp. Thermals, radar, sound, mass, electromagnetic, even psionic signatures are Perfect.
"Never would I have thought you'd end up in the green and gold, not to mention bald, but it works," Tony offers with a slight smile. "Not being dead has been interesting so far. Quite a bit has changed for me as well but that's not important." The man folds his arms across his chest, looking seriously at Theo for a moment as if pondering what to say. "I'm glad you're alright, kid." Of course this was a bit awkward as they hadn't seen each other in about four years. "Ahh hell," Tony grumbles and extends a hand out toward Theo which would turn into one of those one armed hugs that guys tended to do.
Theo takes the hug, and holds on to Tony tightly. He hasn't noticed the newcomer. His old powers are gone, and so he no longer senses machines that are nearby, nor can he control them. "Thanks," he says. "And I'm sorry." To list all the things he's sorry for would take him far too long, betrayal, manipulation, more than a few outright battles against the old heroes before Ahab came along. He isn't sure what else he can say.
The wasp unfolds. That's the best word for it, since some of the movements are eye-hurting: when it finishes, a standard 185cm frizbee-golf disc in silver and black hovers where it was, then spidery legs extend out below, feeling the air, and a pair of optical scanners pop up on R2D2-like stalks. A transparent holographic image flickers into existence centered around the disc, human-sized. Meeting of the Metal Men, it seems, because the image is of one such, distinctly NOT Ultron.
"Oh. It was you. Sorry to intrude."
The Ghost assumes an at-ease position and waits.
Jakob when below grounds spent majority of his time trying to hone the use of the shield in ways the original users of it managed. Footage Bucky, Taskmaster, USAgent and the original Captain America were constantly playing over and over throughout his internal systems, the HUD display giving him a visible mapping he could work with and the cheat of being able to map trajectory had progress running smoothly. The weight of the object on his arm right now as he walks into the living area was immense, it seems only to grow upon sighting Iron Man, one of the originals. "Evening." The tall muscular man would rumble to those gathered, Mike's holographic projection at this point not unfamiliar, beyond the iconic shield he was wearing faded old black and gray BDUs, the polished to a reflective shine combat boots topped off his attire, glossy enough you could almost see your own reflection.
Apparently the storage room that Tony had been hiding in for a little over a week was quite popular today. Theo is released from the hug but is given a lingering look that clearly states, we'll have to talk later. "Welcome to my corner of the world, Cap. C'mon in." The floating spider-frizbee in the room has been noticed, and given the once over by Stark. "Not sure I've had the pleasure of meeting you before but I have to say you've peaked my curiosity," Tony says to Mike.
The Vision catches the look from Tony, and turns to see Jakob, the new Captain America. "I never thought that I'd be happy to see that uniform," he admits. "I've heard that there would be more Avengers," Theo says. "I'm not certain I was the best choice to take the mantle of one. "Mike, it's good to see you. That information from the spider sentinel has been very useful. Maybe we'll get Parker out in the open soon.
"I hope so," Mike says to the Vision. He looks vaguely amused that Iron Man doesn't remember him, but then, he's only JUST gotten his own memories sorted after that time-wrinkle.
"Michael Drakos. I used to be a real boy but the mutancy fairy granted my wish and turned me into a real live robot. Got killed, though so now I'm the ghost of one."
Mike plays a spooky little "be careful how you wish" theremin tune, then turns and throws one of his not-quite-competent salutes to Cap. "Sirs. Mind if I run a diagnostic sweep?"
He will anyway, but it's polite to ask. The lightest whisper of magnetic field changes pings through the room as extra-dimensional bug-limbs impinge with psycho-magnetic sensors, verifying (among other things) that the room's electronics are still shielded, that nothing is blatantly broken in the Vision, Stark, or the 1/3-machine Captain.
An in general nod came from Jakob as he drops down into a cot that was up against a wall, the large footlocker being knocked open to grab out a different set of clothing, setting it down on the end of the green 'bed' the shield resting atop it. He wasn't one to speculate or try to assume but Theo was in his eyes the Vision, another original. Some power-houses for the good team, nice to see. "Yeah only in here for a minute." He was rarely in the living area, he tended to sleep very little his body didn't require a whole lot. "What's going on with Parker? Assuming you mean Spider-Man. Some sort of meeting going on?" Jakob asks, a grunt cast towards Mike at the salute, "Damnit Drakos, one of these days…" Clearly for once, the soldier was exhausted.
"Hmm another not dead-dead person. Welcome to the club!" Tony jokes as he waves those standing, or hovering, to an open crate. "Be careful, some of the things in here might not take too kindly to being sat upon." Tony sits back down upon his crate-chair and glances over his shoulder at Theo, "There are quite a few Avengers around and regardless of what the Harbingers may have told you Vision, I believe you are. Also, there's no official meeting it just seems that we're having a spontaneous tech convention in my not so super secret lair." At the mention of information on Parker, Tony is all ears as he is aware that Peter is one of the Omega Sentinels. "I have been busy working on something else but if you've got anything on Parker, please do tell."
Theo nods, "You should see my secret lair sometime soon," he offers to Tony. "It looks like it's time for me to have the cool toys. Mike and I have been working on a virus to disable the sentinels. If we do it right, we may be able to stop all of them at once through their communications network. They share knowledge about mutant powers, so if we can somehow send them information that makes them believe that shutdown is necessary to adapt, then we could stop them all, and we can win the war overnight." It's better than his old plan, which was to melt their brains with the virus.
"So far, sad to say, only what I was able to tear out of his spider-sentinels. They have a decent AI, the security is combat-grade but not hack-proof. I've taken over four of them and planted tracers but without any response from Parker. He uses a bioceptor in the ones he controls directly, which seems to respond to some wavelength he emits that I haven't been able to identify. It may be related to the alleged 'spider-sense' … meanwhile I've eaten forty of his destroyed swarm from the collapsed tunnel so my energy reserve is back to 70 tons, still less than half where I was before the attacks."
While Mike makes the report, visuals of the circuit with the green goo, the locations of the fallen spider-sentinels (and two full-sized sentinels) and a map showing the distribution of spider-sentinel patrols flip through the air where he was.
"I've repaired and tested that virus on five of the spider-sentinels, but the giants are a very weak net and they now need feedback approval for anything. They didn't like what I did during their invasion of the upper tunnel."
"Taking out the Sentinels would be the deciding blow. What's left after that Hunters, extremists, Zemo's Thunderbolts? If ya'll can pull that one off… definitely be impressive. " All portions of this grand scale takeover that hit the United States - quietly Jakob considers as he sits there peeling off his shirts to fling it aside - straightening up into a stand the shield left on the cot as he tosses his fresh clothes over his shoulder. The rest of this talk alot of it went over his head but he found it valuable to listen, his shower would wait while he stood there and tried to pick the robotics crowd for more information or at least hang around and glean for the moment.
"Is your virus complete? How did the field test go on the full sized sentinels?" Tony seems to be a man of a billion questions at the moment. Those in the room, with perhaps the exception of Cap, would not know what happened not too long ago topside with the Sentinel attack. If word had traveled fast about the fight then at least Cap would be aware that Tony had taken control of the Sentinels on site physically and traveled the network. "If you've got a functioning virus I may be able to use it, and soon."
"Complete? Yes. Dangerous, a little. I believe you can link via optical, right?" The hologram becomes a bullseye painted in the air, and the center, once Tony establishes contact, will begin sending the combat and adaptation protocols first, then the full design and layout of the virus, and finally the code in an inert form. It would likely be trivial for Iron Man to turn that into an active form. Meanwhile the delivery protocol is amusing: four separate mutant power signatures which require specific adaptations, the sum of which is a rather nasty viral that tells the Sentinels that their internal systems are mutant attacks. Rather like a giant mecha-allergy attack in some senses.
"I've spent the last five years working on this virus," Vision adds. "Mike's input has been useful to help fill the missing holes. I could feel the machines reactions, Mike can experience how the sentinels act and react." He smiles. "But we want to make it perfect. We will probably only get one chance to see this work. At least if the scientists working for the other side are worth their psalt."
Fatigue was setting in and their conversation was beginning to bleed together and make no sense to him. "Hate to cut… right now I'm more in the way anyways I need to hit the showers then catch some rack time. Keep me in mind when you decide to act, plenty here gunning and waiting on what you crowd of geniuses can sort out. Good luck gentleman." Jakob would say before making his way from the room. He'd remember to also hit one of them up when they were less engaged to help him out with his own cybernetic implants. He was overdue for an upgrade and maintenance.
Tony is pouring over the information that Mike has been gracious enough to offer. It was definitely an impressive undertaking, and Tony admired both Mike and Vision for what they had done so far. Seeing that Cap is leaving Tony acknowledges the mans departure with a friendly, "Cya later, Cap." A brief silence seems to stretch between those that are remaining in the room. Tony rubs a hand over his jaw, "I'm tracking down something that I believe will open the door to ending this situation. If I can assist the two of you I am happy to offer my input. If the virus can get finalized I can give you both the opportunity you need."
Theo arches his brow, and folds his arms across his chest. "That sounds promising," he says. "Any opportunity to introduce this virus would be a benefit. What are you tracking?"
Mike's human hologram returns a bit too late to give a proper salute to Cap, but does return for conversational bandwidth purposes after.
"And here's the quandary I've been fighting. Vision's got trump over my high morals if it comes to it but I'd like to be able to save as many Omega Sentinels as is reasonable. I don't think they volunteered for this thing, and I think freeing slaves is a more powerful statement than killing enslaved heroes. I think that matters."
The Ghost walks back and forth, pacing in/over/through/around several beds. "I'm slightly suspicious that I haven't been able to lure Parker out. It seems he should have responded, taken the bait, more than once. Do you have any insights on that? And of course, I'll do anything needed to finish this. If necessary I will build LMDs … Lifelike Mutant Decoys … and pilot them into range myself. The way we've structured this, the first three can be fed to their systems any time, the toxic load is the last one, and if I can get control of any Omega for more than twenty seconds, their massive adaptation network becomes their downfall.
"Firstly, I am not a big fan of anyone dying when it is unnecessary. If something can be done for those that have been enslaved then I'm all for it," Tony begins by answering Mike's questions before Theo's. "As for the other, I am not sure how you want to go about doing things. I may end up tied up with other things but I am capable of screwing up the Sentinel network for lack of a better term. I can take them offline for a brief time until I am kicked out of the network and they reboot but it would give you your window. Physically? I can only handle one at a time and keep hacking at the system with what I know." Turning towards Theo he sighs heavily, "I think I've found something that may be where everything is centralized. I would speak more on it but I believe it is moving and as such I need to not only track it, but figure out what it is when I've got it locked down. Of course, the Avengers would be the first to know when I do."
Theo nods, "If it is centralized, then delivering the virus will be easier. He abstains on comments about preventing the loss of life. He personally doesn't care if it kills the sentinel slaves, that's casualties of war. "Tony, you don't have any of your suits still, do you?"
"Noman, coordinate," Mike says in the voice of a dozen androids from a television program that aired before he was born, a grin on his transparent face. A necklace appears around his neck, a fat silver chain with a big chunky box resting on his chest; the name MIKE 003 on the box begins flashing on and off. (No, he won't explain himself. Both these people are geeks, after all.)
A nod to the idea of taking down the entire network. "They had three separate networks during the attack on our previous base. One was the heavily encrypted command and control, one was the separate heavily crypted and higher bandwidth Omega channel. We're going after the Adaptation net because it's actually not as secure. It needs to be fast.”
"I'm sure between the three of us we can get it working sooner rather than later," Tony speaks to the Hologram with a shake of his head as if trying to ponder if Mike was actually trying to bling out techno. "I have a lab that is semi functional here in NY but beyond that what you see is what you get, Vision. I only have one suit left, and if I go down I'm sorry you can't take a souvenir as its a part of me."
"Well, if you need to build a new one, you can use my facilities," Theo offers. "It's not Stark Industries, but I'm sure you can manage to build something." The Vision explains. "But we can work on that another day. Right now, it is late, and you should get some sleep."
Mike chuckles semi-robotically. "I still do that too, sometimes. I need to do do my downtime maintenance, in any case."
The hologram remains behind but goes sketchy and blank.
"Sleep is for dreamers," Tony sighs as he rises up off the crate he has been sitting on since they had started discussing the virus. "I have something I need to do, and will be back as soon as possible." When he's standing in the open doorway to his room he looks directly at Vision. "Long ago I thought building suits and keeping older versions around was a wise idea, even with potential theft. Now?" With that Tonys clothes seamlessly blend into the Iron Man suit, something Theo has never seen. "A lot has changed, Theo." Tony says after Mike has apparently gone offline. "We'll talk, Theo. If you're here when I get back."
