17943/What if we paint it gold
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What if we paint it gold | |
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Date of Scene: | 14 May 2024 |
Location: | Stark Tower: Penthouse |
Synopsis: | Tony designs space stations in the living room, Pepper gives him some ideas. They're not sure where to get zero-g construction workers. |
Cast of Characters: | Tony Stark, Pepper Potts
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- Tony Stark has posed:
For some reason, Tony has felt the need to design the space station in the living room. He might be having a few problems with it, given that he has no less than three holographic space stations filling most of the room, each one decidedly different from the other.
He appears to be having an argument with himself, and it's difficult to tell who's winning it. "Ok, so this one has the big central tower that we can put the Stark logo on, way easy to see. Major brand recognition. But this one has more landing bays for cargo ships. And then this one is better for tourists and the like, more interior space for non-cargo purposes."
He zooms in on each in turn with well practiced motions in the air, setting them to spinning slowly as well to see them from all sides. "I could slam them all together, but then it'd be huger. Is that the right word? Massive might be a good adjective. I wonder if I could get the big one past the board. Most of them wouldn't comprehend the size I'm really talking about without twenty powerpoint presentations anyway. Dad should have just kept the company in the family, all the board ever does is complain anyway."
He goes back to staring at the holos, then starts pulling pieces of the models off and throwing them together into a fourth holo, at least twice the size of the others.
- Pepper Potts has posed:
The day's ended, at least the part where the office is concerned, and Pepper is trying to get back into something of a routine. One of her favorite exercises, other than yoga (Wednesday morning!) is her run through the park. Returning to the Penthouse, she's dressed in black lycra running pants, a black sports bra is under a short sleeved shirt, and strawberry blonde hair is up in a ponytail, bobbing with every move, every step.
The door opens, and there, in the middle of the large living area, large models of space stations are floating in the air, each separated enough where they're not in any danger of hitting each other. Pepper pauses at the door, exhales in a soft, longsuffering sigh, and begins a cross towards the kitchen for some water, actually moving around the holograms, ducking when a cargo arm spins around. She gleams with sweat, and her step has a bounce to it; the after-run high is present.
"Well, couldn't the one with landing bays for cargo ships be able to be modified to hold passengers?" Pepper listens, even when it may seem that she doesn't.
- Tony Stark has posed:
"It's a matter of priorities. We started talking about this as mainly a cargo handling station, thus the partnership with Cranston. So we need to make sure that's the primary focus. Cargo and shipbuilding, because we can't expect all the cargo to come from alien worlds brought by alien ships. We're going to need out own ships to start making runs, and we don't even know where yet. Nor do we actually have a working supraluminal drive, which is one of the first things we need to work on."
He turns away from the models for a moment to look at her, then smiles and says "How was the park, dear?" It appears he also listens from time to time, at least well enough to know her habits. "So, you tell me. Should I be designing the station or trying to figure out a drive system so we can actually become part of the greater galactic community? We'll always be a small backwater planet until we can actually get out of our solar system and to others in a time that isn't measured in generations."
He actually seems a bit frustrated. Apparently the mind of Tony Stark is working against him today, throwing up obstacles and jumping from problem to problem. It's something that happens from time to time, usually when he's working on something big, and it doesn't really get bigger that what he's wrestling with right now. He runs a hand through his hair, then picks up a bottle of soda from the table and takes a drink.
Distracted, frustrated, working in overtime mode, caffinated and sugared all at the same time... Pepper may have been better off running around the park a few more times.
- Pepper Potts has posed:
A bottled water is gained, and Pepper stands in the kitchenette, out of the way of the rotating models as they hang in 'space' that is their living room. Twisting off the cap, she takes a quick swallow before setting the cap back on loosely. Leaning on the counter with her elbows, brows rise, "Then how about you work on the drive and we have some of our rocket scientists downstairs in R&D work on the design of the station? You can design the ships, both the ground based and the orbitals? We do pay them a lot, so they could make a few design suggestions."
She can hear the frustration, though score one for him that he reached out and asked about her day, or rather, her run. A smile creases her face, reaching her eyes easily. "It was fine. Happy is getting a little faster so I don't have to wait for him quite so much." Poor Happy. It's that frustration level that is rising in him, however, that does take her attention a little more.
Leaving her water bottle behind, Pepper saunters slowly across the now shorter distance, rolling her shoulder to avoid any 'collision' with the models hanging in the air, towards their great designer. She reaches out to rest her arms on his shoulders in a loose embrace, and leans forward for the briefest of kisses before, "One step first. Let's get to orbit. I figure the timetable is about a year, start to finish?" A soft 'hmmm' escapes her before she finishes, "You'll do it. We'll do it. You've worked late nights before, and so have I." There's a pause; she's not finished, "I don't think we'll have to, though."
- Tony Stark has posed:
"A year is pushing it. Doable, if we throw a hell of a lot of money at the problem, which I'm perfectly willing to do. You have to realize the scale we're working at, even the smallest of the stations is over a mile long. And they need to be that big if we're talking about cargo shipping, both interstellar and up and down from Earth, building starships _and_ having a civilian area with places to stay, eat, shop and generally be entertained."
He pauses to slip his arms around her waist and give her a hug after the brief kiss. "As for R&D, they're fine for the normal stuff we do, but this is way beyond normal. This needs to stand out, it needs to be a statement. This is humanity's first step into the stars, it has to make the rest of the galaxy take us seriously. It's not another strip mall down the road, it's not standard corporate office building number twelve. For some reason, despite several alien invasions in the past few years, most of Earth still acts like we're alone here. We have to wake up before a powerful enough force comes along and actually wins, and this is the wake up call. Maybe if we paint it gold or something, it'd really stand out when the sun is hitting it."
- Pepper Potts has posed:
All Pepper wanted was to get his attention, to help him focus. When Tony talks, he at least is allowing his brain to slow down, if only a little bit. It helps him focus. To start forming patterns and work through things that perhaps are still in pieces in different corners of that brilliant mind. Once he's found his voice, and he sounds just a little less frustrated with everything around him, she lets go in order for him to resume his work, now hopefully with a little more positive, problem solving patter as opposed to his own wrapping himself around the axle sort. "Right now, to get it into the air, we don't need the storefronts. We need storage bays, living quarters and a dock that can offload. Once we have that, everything else can come. It's okay." The last words sound in support.
This is where, however, Pepper looks up at the various iterations of stations with a little more of a critical eye, nodding slowly. "They might surprise you. We do hire some of the best minds, you know." She doesn't push, however; this is not only Tony's project, it's a labor of love AND a huge showpiece that is built of 'What Stark can do next' all throughout. A pride project with practical applications.
Brows rise at the thought of painting it gold, and Pepper opens her mouth to say something, but closes it once more. She'll let him consider that...
- Tony Stark has posed:
He nods, "You're probably right. If we can get the guts of the thing working, the additions can come later. I still need to get the full thing designed, because even if we're not filling the space until later, it needs to at least have the shell in place so we don't run into 'why don't these parts match up' problems later."
He looks at the holos, then closes the third one. "That wasn't right. It's got to have the tower, it's iconic. First New York, then the stars. That could be part of the presentation, for that matter, it's kind of catchphrasey." He reaches out to the partial holo he was building and pulls a few ship docks off it, adding them to the station with the central tower. He then goes quickly through the holo, dipping in and out of the station interior as he starts marking pieces of the holo in red. After a few moments, he nods and says "Save and forward to R&D." As the holos vanish he says "There. Those guys can handle all the logistics and wiring. The general design was the thing I needed to be sure of. The plumbing doesn't need to make a statement, that's the hull's job."
"So, I should just go design the FTL drive that humanity has been trying to make for decades? You must have one heck of an opinion of me." He smirks, adding "But then, I usually live up to it. I should talk to Reed, I might be able to cheat here. He might be willing to license the drive he put that ship of his. So far he hasn't shared, just used it for his team. If I can talk him into sharing it, we can seriously fasttrack the ship design."
- Pepper Potts has posed:
'Probably'? Pepper smirks as Tony draws the lines, making the connections as he talks to another living person about the potentials, the paths, the way forward and how to get to where he wants to be. He's not alone. Not anymore.
As he begins once again, and the third is closed, Pepper is back at the kitchenette, leaning once more on the counter, fingers lightly touching the water bottle. She's watching the progress, engaged in the convesation at hand. "I like the tower," she smiles, those tones absolutely approving, filled with that affection. "And R&D is going to love you. You might even have made their year."
The water is lifted again, the cap unscrewed, and this time, Pepper takes deeper droughts of the water, finishing it before she sets the empty back down onto the counter. "I have that much faith in you, yes," she counters. "Now, working with Reed, I'm not so sure.." There's that smirk again, teasing him. "It might take a little while, a little give and take.."
- Tony Stark has posed:
Tony shrugs "We managed well enough designing the helicarrier. Of course, Bruce was in on that too, so we kind of had to keep any conflicting ideas polite so that we didn't end up getting pitched through a wall by the thundering ragemonster he carries around. But we do pretty well bouncing ideas off each other, even if he is a bit plodding at times. I prefer jumping to the answers when I know them already."
"As for R&D, you're right, we do pay them a good amount. Might as well get them working on something that matters. And yeah, I bet they'll go all giddy with the thought of designing a space station. I know how many Star Wars fanboys we have down there. At least working off my plans they can't make it a Death Star."
With all the holos now closed, he breathes out slowly, trying to bring himself out of work mode. "Ok, so that's done for now. Next problem: We need to start hiring for a job that doesn't exist yet, and I'm not sure how we'll get a well trained workforce for it. Put simply, there really aren't any zero-G construction workers out there looking for work. We're going to have to train people to handle working in space, and I don't know how we're going to pull it off."
- Pepper Potts has posed:
Pepper smiles and dips her head, hiding the expression before raising her head again, the love easily showing on her face. The elastic that holds her ponytail in place is pulled, allowing her hair to fall freely. "You know they're going to name it something silly anyway. All projects seem to have an unofficial name." Even Pepper knows that. "They may even surprise you with additions." She has faith in her crew; after all, why not? Best and brightest talent as far as she's concerned.
Tony's trying to shift gears, and she's very proud of him. He's learning that balance, and she will absolutely support that. Perhaps because it's something she has to learn as well? At least she gets out for yoga, and that evening run does wonders to clear the head.
"Construction workers? The ones that work on skyscrapers, maybe?" She's not sure either; her words are actually questions, looking for discussion, that give and take to come out to a decision as to how to move ahead. "I don't know.
"I need to take a shower, though. We have that appointment at Philippe's tonight that I don't want to be late for. I'll set out your clothes.."