13785/Reign of Terror - A Dutiful Relationship

Reign of Terror - A Dutiful Relationship
Date of Scene:	09 January 2023
Location:	Conference Room: Helicarrier
Synopsis:	Roberto gives Toni a mystery to look into and gets a lecture on the war mongering ways of one Tony Stark
Cast of Characters:	Roberto da Costa, Toni Ho

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Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa walks the halls of the helicarrier with the usual escort assigned to a non military VIP. He looks around mildly intrigued as they lead him to the conference room. Berto is dressed in a black suit exquisitely tailored and expensive shoes, belt, white shirt, black tie, pocket square the works, he even has french cuffs and cufflinks, very well put together. He's wearing a pair of expensive blue tints glasses and has a tablet under his arm.

Toni Ho has posed:
Toni has been busy the past couple of days with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s new arrival. It's been interesting to say the least. She had expected to handle that and her lab work, but instead was invited to a meeting with a very, very rich man for some reason. She read the dossier as she got dressed, making herself presentable for this kind of thing.

She hates it.

She's already waiting in the conference room, dressed for a business meeting in a white blouse, black pencil skirt, low heels and her labcoat. Her bubblegum pink hair is pulled back in a tight bun, and she's wearing her serious face.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa's face is open and smiling, "Dr. Toni Ho? I'm Roberto DaCosta and I'm here at the bequest of the President and Nick Fury. It's nice to meet you. You have three PhDs with a specialty in armor design? Kind of Shield's tame Tony Stark?" Roberto sits, " I have some things I wanted to talk with you about. What do you know about Sentinels, HYDRA and Dark Energy? Roberto slides the tablet to the center of the table and it expands rendering a hologrphic image of a broken satelite powered by dark energy and a sentinel that is in pieces on the table, the images can be interacted with and disasembled by interacting with them.

Toni Ho has posed:
Toni takes in Roberto when he comes in. Immediately, she pegs him as a businessman of some success, and that annoys her slightly. She's not for sale, her technology is not for sale. Still, she doesn't do much more than make a slightly sour face. Until he compares her to Tony Stark.

She plants her hands on the table and leans forward, suddenly aggressive. "Do -not- compare me to that warmongering playboy. I work in non-llethal weaponry and forcefields. My technology can't blow up buildings."

She stands up straight again, taking a deep breath as he asks other questions. She peers at the display, her outburst apparently over and done with. "Sentinels are a filthy project that disgusts me that they ever were used on people, HYDRA, well, we just picked up a handful of their goons the other day, and I am generally in favor of locking them all up, and I'm familiar with the theory of Dark Energy."

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa raises his eyebrows at Toni, and nods slowly like facing down an enraged moose, stay calm, show not fear, more slowly, he makes a note to himself, "Right, I meant you develop armor, no insult intended. Yes, your non-lethal technology and force fields are quite impressive, especially the forcefields. My powers are based on energy absorption, and to some extent redirection, so I stay current on that sort of developing research." He smiles, "I'm not hear to try and buy you Dr. Toni Ho, I am just seeking information. Right, the sentinels are all that they are are also a reality that exists in the world, and one my people have to deal with. So, if you could help us find out where these came from by examning the pictures and holos I would appreciate it." He pauses and smiles, then sighs, shaking his head, "And how has throwing those goons in jail worked for your organization so far? For a group of smart people you have remarklably little insight into curbing human behavior. It'm mildly ridiculous, like I stood in a Room with Lex Luthor, Captain American, Nick Fury and none of them can tell me where HYDRA gets it tech. So, let me ask you Doctor, where does HYDRA get its tech?" He tilts his head, "Okay, Good, the theory? These satelites apparently remotely powered a Sentinel and are immune to our efforts to detect them. Other than tripping over them."

Toni Ho has posed:
Toni's eyes are fixed on the holos, looking them over and trying to glean things from them. "Can I get a copy of all this? There's only so much I can get out of it in here with this cursory look. I need to dig in, Mister Da Costa."

She seems to let the whole Stark thing slide for now, replacing it with a frown when he gets to the meat of the matter. Hidden satellites with Dark Energy projection capabilities? "That's theoretically possible, but very impressive. And I wish I knew where HYDRA got their toys so we could stop it, but. They're HYDRA. Remove heads, more grow back."

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa sighs and rubs his face, "Your people haven't done logistical analysis? Analyzed the parts and and seen where they get built?" He shakes his head, "You keeping fighting them like they're a supervillain team or an army and they aren't. They're a company, a global conglomerate. This is the reason I created X-Corp, the other side has already made the switch to chaos for profit, exporting fear and undermining our governments by buying power. I've been in the room, when it happens, walked the halls, and we need to play catch up before they all bury us." He shakes his head and takes a deep breath, "I'm sorry, Dr. Toni Ho. It seems we all have our triggers. I... I just need a lever, you give me a lever and I will pull this whole thing apart. It's just no one can give me the lever or show me where to stand to paraphrase Archimedes." Berto listens and nods, "I can leave these with you, please also take a look at the Sentinel, I know robotics aren't your thing, but this is AI is new and I thought with your background in developing armor automation systems some of this might seem familiar, even if it's just a feeling about who might have done the programming."

Toni Ho has posed:
Toni listens to what Roberto has to say. She can feel his passion and drive to solve this. She gets it, she really does, but she's just one woman with three Doctorates. She can only do so much. She sighs a little, looking to him as he offers to leave the information.

I'll give this a comb through, maybe bring in some help from around here. And listen, I get your feelings about this, but I'm literally just an agent who's stuck in a lab til they need me for something. I can't change how S.H.I.E.L.D. operates, but I will leverage what resources I have at this, and let you know if I figure something out."