welp.

[ferric]

Right. So. Hm. This is— happening. Again.

I'll admit it, I thought it would be. [ vague hand motions wow look at all this body language. ] Bigger. You know, without the— phallic connotations of that sentiment.

Comments

[legwork]

'Again'?

What— you mean she's taken you out for a ride before?

[ferric]

Eh. [ dismissive hand wave. ] Long time ago. Just after I got myself the new ticker.

[ he gives the reactor a short tap. clink-clink. ]

[legwork]

[ Lestrade leans forward, his mouth just barely agape as he — without so much as a hesitation — reaches out to try and tap that 'new ticker' of Tony's for himself. ]

You jimmy that up yourself? I've got a friend who'd have a field day with that.

[ferric]

[ and tony deftly leans back to sidestep that hand and also kind of lazily bats it away for good measure because whoa buddy how about no. ]

Your, uh, friend has that in common with the rest of the developed world.

[legwork]

[ Lestrade laughs. A little rough, a little dry. Straightening, he shakes his head. ]

Nah. He doesn't have anything in common with the rest of the developed world, can tell you that.

[bete]

You know what they say about size.

[ferric]

It matters?

[bete]

That's what they think. What they say depends on how much they like you.

[ki3t]

[Pardon, but you're being scanned by a curious AI, whose vocal tone holds no hint of curiosity.] The interface between mechanical and biological that you have managed to create is interesting. It should have been impossible, yet it functions.

[ferric]

[ tony shrugs. overwhelming amount of modesty to arrive in 3, 2, 1... ]

I'm a genius.

[ki3t]

In one field, it seems you are.

[And the car is unimpressed. He was built by a genius and maintained by two more. Geniuses are part and parcel in his life.]

[ferric]

[ that's the one bad thing about talking tech, isn't it. they're all... subjective and shit.

still. talking car. he can appreciate that. ]

Talking car with a dire need for an upgrade on its personality module, I am the field.

[ki3t]

Thus you remain a genius in one field.

[He wouldn't address the bit about his personality module. He was as he was intended to be - as he was designed to be. A product Charles Graiman could be proud of.]

For ease of reference, you may call me Kitt.

[ferric]

Kitt.

[ a beat. ]

That stand for anything?

[ki3t]

I am the Knight Industries Three Thousand.

[K-I-T-T. It only got confusing when one realised that his predecessor was the Knight Industries Two Thousand. Also Kitt.]

[ferric]

Nice to, uh, meet. You.

[ because wow has it been a long time since he's had to talk to a piece of AI that didn't already know who he was. ]

Tony. Stark. In case you're from— [ insert all-encompassing hand gesture to say 'not the same place I am'. ]

[ki3t]

I am not. In my universe, your place was taken by the originator of my branding, Wilton Knight. He did not invent a reactor such as yours. Instead, he encouraged the creation of sentience in a computer, the Molecular Bonded Shell of my predecessor, the microwave jammer, and many other creations that have been used int he effort to lessen crime. [It almost sounds like a sales pitch, doesn't it? Or it would, anyway, if it weren't stated so matter-of-fact-ly.]

[notjustasidekick]

[Oh hey it's.. wait no. You just look familiar.]

I wouldn't be surprised if she took notice of your expectations and planned accordingly. They like to be contrary, these mundanes.

[ferric]

[ do you mean he looks like the man of your dreams, Watson.

do you. ]

I remember that, [ tony says, and then takes the time to aim the next part loudly at the ceiling. ] How muns don't really listen.

[notjustasidekick]

[This is a happily married man, Tony. Keep dreamin'. ]

I believe they collectively suffer from what we in the medical profession like to call "selective hearing." [He smirks.] I suspect we're supposed to find comfort in that everything they do is "just for fun."

[threeolives]

[ THIS LOOK. ]