know you're tired of it, d_m, but here's another for the AoU crowd

[suchajerk]

Knew you missed me.

[Smug little shit that he is, look at that smirk on his face right now. Yep, there it is.]

Now, stop whining over how you wanted to play with the Anti-Coulson and get back to me. You know you won't have time for anything else once this ball gets rolling, honey.

Comments

[sonofcoul]

This was probably a guaranteed outcome once she walked into the theater, wasn't it?

[suchajerk]

You have to ask?

[sonofcoul]

Knowing your mun as well as I do? No, not really.

[suchajerk]

Then don't ask.

[sonofcoul]

Fine, then. Consider the question retracted.

[suchajerk]

Good man.

[Speaking of which.]

Keeping out of trouble?

[tadashiwashere]

[Tadashi is not tired of it. He's been increasingly intrigued about all of the new faces!

Look at him! He's impressed!]

Mr. Stark, I've heard a lot about your work with AIs and robotics. It's unbelievable what you've been able to accomplish. I just wanted to tell you that you're an inspiration.

[suchajerk]

Yep. Glad to inspire. Keep on keeping on, kid. Pen? Paper? Object? [He mimes signing an autograph--that's what you want from him, right? Right.]

[tadashiwashere]

Object? What...

[Oh. Autograph. Yeah. He should probably get that while he's here. What does he have on him? His student ID? If that too weird? That's too weird. What else? Robotics textbook. Seems appropriate. He's offering that and a pen he dug out of his bag.]

Actually, I did have a question. Have you considered being more proactive in the medical field? There's a lot your tech could do there beyond what you already contribute. I'm working on a healthcare companion for my robotics project, but if it works I don't have the means to make it available as widely as it would need to be to really make a difference.

[suchajerk]

[Tony takes the pen, steadies the book with the opposite hand, and signs the book with a quick scribble. He's not even really looking at the kid much less paying him any attention--

That is, until:]

Sure. Prosthetics. Thought about them. [It wasn't just a joke to make in the court room. Tony knew he really could/should make such things. A part of his company was, no doubt, doing just that in some facility or another. That said--] Healthcare companion? What, you mean like a robotic dog? They have that already: it's called a dog. Hear they work wonders.

[tadashiwashere]

[Some of that awe is fading now that Tadashi is being given a tiny chance to talk shop. A small part of him is still freaking out that he's talking to the Tony Stark, but he's able to come back with a half smirk now as he shakes his head.]

Yeah, something like that...

[A robotic dog isn't actually a bad idea now that he considers it, though -- it might be better for low risk patients or children who are frightened of the Baymax-style companion for one reason or another. It's mentally going on his project list now.]

I'm working more toward something that's programmed with hundreds of basic medical procedures and the ability to evaluate a patient's needs accurately enough to download information on more specific ailments if it needs to. Medical treatment errors are the third leading cause of death in America. A healthcare companion would know a lot more about its patient -- it could treat them for something minor, keep track of symptoms more accurately, convince someone to go to the hospital the moment something triggered a warning flag in its protocols...

[Okay, so he's a little passionate. A little.]

[suchajerk]

[Tony froze, implications finally hitting home. Not a companion but a full-time nurse. A mechanical nurse.

At one point in time, Tony would have loved to agree with the kid on the basis of the idea. It was a good idea.

But he'd just fought off his own murderbot, quite literally, so this was not... this was not high on his lists of "good idea" right now. He'd ruined that one for everyone.]

It would also have the best anatomical knowledge to know exactly how to disable a human body, create biological weapons the likes of which this world could never fathom, and-- [Tony stops. Takes a breath.] No. Artificial intelligence is more risky than the television makes it out to be, kid. Skynet? Yeah, been there, done that. Don't want to do it again.

[To be fair, there were programs like JARVIS that wouldn't go murdering its owner but. Bad timing. It was just bad timing right now, kid.]

[debts]

[ Dryly: ]

Congratulations.

[ Yay, reunions. ]

[suchajerk]

[The mun is definitely way more excited than he is. But he offers her a wry smirk anyway.]

It was inevitable. It always comes back to this.

[Carefully:] Been up to anything fun lately? [Besides, you know, the canon stuff. Not counting that here.]

[debts]

I was kidnapped by fairies once.

[ Equally as dryly. Because, you know-- that doesn't sound that bad compared to world takeover by robots.

Still. ]

Flying city still wins.

[suchajerk]

[Deadpanned:]

Fairies. Really.

[Because really. Fairies?]

[busdriver]

Anti-Coulson.

[And what exactly gives Stark the right to call anyone the Anti-Coulson? That should be her job, right? She's quality control on the genuine article. She slid the certificate of authenticity into Actual Coulson's suit pocket.]

[suchajerk]

Yeah. Wears a suit. Arranges things nice and neat. Works for the bad guys.

Anti-Coulson.

[Definitely not what May probably wanted to hear. But it was a dead-ringer of a comparison if ever there was one. For the life of him though, he couldn't remember the guy's name at the moment.

Oh wait. That was par for the course.]

[busdriver]

James Wesley?

[Now, this is likely because Tony's dealing with extinction-level events and May's dealing with the banality of evil, but she can think of a wealth of perfectly reasonable options, all fitting the description.

And she's making such a sour face.]

[suchajerk]

[Oh hey!]

That's the one. Damn, you're good.

[Are you a Natasha clone? Squinty-eyes. You don't look like one but maybe that's just a cover.]

[busdriver]

[She doesn't gloat much.]

Coulson's not that neat.

[suchajerk]

[Taken slightly aback. Wasn't she supposed to be on Coulson's side? Ouch, man. Even he wouldn't--

Actually yes he would. He so definitely would.]

I stand corrected then.

[alwaysamonster]

So does that really work on your mun?

[suchajerk]

Yeah, it does. You see, I have that particular effect on people. I get what I want.

[free_r_kevin]

StrexCorp is very interested in your company, you know.