3317/Truth doesn't count for a lot

Truth doesn't count for a lot
Date of Scene:	10 September 2020
Location:	Pym's Mobile Lab
Synopsis:	Vivian stops by to make sure Doctor Pym is looking after himself and discovers a shocking revelation about her Great Aunt Nadia's legal situation!
Cast of Characters:	Hank Pym, Vivian Vision

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Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym works when he feels anxious. He works a lot. If he'd had a lab during his divorce and bankruptcy we'd all have semi-sentient synthezoid assistants by now. Not that he'd pull a dirty trick like that on baby synthezoids. At the moment he is motionless and therefore working his hardest, lines of code stream on the tablet he holds, reflected in his bright blue eyes. He very carefully sets up the security firewalls and gives permissions out very sparingly. "I know I've forgotten someone important... " He sets the tablet down and rubs his eyes. "Working too long. I should set a better example for Nadia... where the hell is Nadia? When did I last see Nadia?" He hunhs, reaches for his ant-talk gear.

Vivian Vision has posed:
Vivian Vision is, in a way, both more and also less than a semi-sentient synthezoid assistant. More in that she's fully sentient and a technically superpowered schoolgirl but less in that she doesn't really care for the sciences enough to be a great lab assistant. She is however very good at remembering things and at monitoring the lives of people she considers her family. So school schedule permitting when it seems like Doctor Pym hasn't been taking proper care of himself for a long enough period she arranges to stop by.

She's not bring fruit this time. No-one, that she's aware of, is injured after all. But she has stopped by a nearby convenience store to obtain lab safe groceries. Mostly things which will keep when left out on the side for hours on end and that require as little time and effort to consume as possible. High energy snack bars, bags of salted mixed nuts and mini flapjack bites.

While she likely has an assigned visitor access code at this point she does however give a courtesy call before stepping foot on the Avengers Mansion grounds proper. Manners are important. Plus it's also a good idea to be extra sure the place isn't under alien or supervillain assault before hand..

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym spots the familiar presence on a monitor of course. He doesn't get up, but hits a speaker control. "Good morning, sunshine. I'm a little busy right now, please just come through the wall. It's just me. I'm trying to contact Nadia."

He adjusts his headset and concentrates.

Then he frowns.

Then he reaches for his phone and texts rapidly.

<<This is your father. Please check on and do the following-now: 1) If you are tired sleep at least two hours. 2) If you are hungry have Dr. Fairchild feed you something nice. 3) If you smell take a shower. I expect pictorial confirmation of the first two steps and text confirmation of the third (by a female!). I love you. Dad. PS Do you need help? I can help. I been around a few space propulsion systems. <3>>

Vivian Vision has posed:
Vivian Vision is perhaps understandably a little hesitant to phase through a wall in the Avengers mansion, given it's one of the few places likely to have painful countermeasures in place, but if Doctor Pym advising she phase he has hopefully not left those active. Still she puts her bag down by the door, tentatively phases through, and then opens it and steps back out to grab the bag.

"I believe Great Aunt Nadia will be in Metropolis still. I think there was some kind of Titans mission recently and no doubt she is still busy with that." She shrugs. "I keep meaning to go visit but I have been busy with school. I expect she is causing no end of chaos in their kitchen and I feel an obligation to provide cleaning supplies..."

She sets the bag of food down somewhere it won't immediately be in Hanks way, but will remain in his perhipheral vision until the point at which he eventually realises he's hungry or thirsty.

"May I enquire as to what you are so busy working on? We are not under threat from alternate universe versions of Ultron again are we?"

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym closes the tablet. An AI reading code for AI's can be quite disconcerting. He says, "Between you and me, I am preparing resources for her should I be unable to help her further. Caught, killed, merged with a killer robot. I've just updated the vehicle I used to get us to Genosha with the AI core I used for Rover. It's Rover 2.0 and will respond to you or Nadia. I've been introducing her to the ants in the region and given her a hymenopteran language synthesizer. I have her the best ant I have for a bodyguard. that's all I can think of right now. I left 'The Karate Kid' DVD out for her to finish watching, by herself if necessary."

Vivian Vision has posed:
Vivian Vision blinks. Her head tilts slightly to one side in bemusement. "Caught or killed? Unable to help further? There seems to be a gap in my understanding of the situation which would allow your comments to make more sense. Please keep in mind I am not cleared for Avengers intel briefings and have for the most part been at a boarding school."

"It sounds like you are concerned about your personal safety? Have you received threats against your life?" She frowns. "If so I would have imagined Great Aunt Nadia wouldn't be leaving you alone.."

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym ohs.

"Well this is my personal affair to a degree so I don't care what your clearance is. The Russian Consul and his posse of no-necks pulled up and said the Nadia 'Trovaya' was a runaway and her mother wanted her back and they intend to extradite her. having dealt with their ilk before... I expect all manner of shenanigans in addition to the legal mumbo-jumbo."

Hank shrugs, "As for my safety, I'm an Avenger. I'll accept whatever happens to me if I know Nadia is safe. Of course... I'm kind of hard to kill. The Russians found this out several times when I was starting out."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"An extradition or a custody claim? She legally has a claim to US citizenship... Your use of 'Trovaya' seems telling," Vivian wonders. Her face studiously blank so as not to display any micro-expressions that indicate she's unhappy at finding out this late in the procedings. "Presumably only the Red Room would know that is her mothers name so... that implies their involvement?"

The blank expression remains. Having persisted long enough now that Hank can probably tell she's in a bad mood if he's of a mind to look. "Given this is a family matter could you provide me with access to the up-to-date situation regarding the legal case? I can probably help." Already subdivisions of her mind are downloading every document they can find regarding US, Russian and international law. "It would also help if someone could allow me access to files on the Red Room. SHIELD or Avengers documents would be preferable."

Her foot taps a few times and then she adds "Would it be useful to know that New Jersey state law requires parents to have face to face consultations on what is best for a child in the event of parents seperating? Also if you have taken medical scans that indicate past injuries, of which I am sure there have been many given the nature of Great Aunt Nadia's training, with which you can claim her 'mother' is unfit to look after her." She makes little air quote motions when she says mother.

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym nods. "It occurs to me that this 'legal means' maneuver has many things going against it. Producing her mother is one such. Maria was killed by agents as a warning at the time... supposedly. Obviously this was not the case but... her death is a matter of record. Expecting her to be present to clear this small matter up is not unreasonable. I am assuming it is a diversion for other, harsher means. I'm preparing for those. Jennifer Walters can give you better information on the court case. I am ignoring it and working on keeping Nadia safe. As for her mother being alive... the last person claiming to be Maria was an AIM biological construct. Let's say I am very skeptical of anyone claiming to be Maria." Hank is keeping his face and voice fairly unemotional as well.

He frowns very slightly. "I am more concerned this is an introduction to presenting some imposter to Nadia and using this imposter to coerce her to return to Russia. Right now, I'm working on defense and letting them come to me."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"Records can be forged and it's not technically a crime to fake your death," Vivian informs solemnly. "However if such a record exists it would give you a perfectly valid reason to request that the imposters identity is verified by an independant source. I would personally suggest asking Doctor Richards. The Fantastic Four are not technically affiliated with the Avengers and their testing so /exceptional/ it would be beyond repute. Not to mention he can check for brainwashing, clones and other /oddities/."

"I do not think you have the luxury of letting them make whatever claims they want. If you do not fight the legal case in the strongest possible way it could mean Nadia is taken away through legal means. This would also severely damage the credibility of the Avengers... Which may actually be the intended goal."

"But strictly speaking if they claim 'Maria' is afraid of you or give plausable reasons she may never appear in person. And unless you cast those doubts on her being alive and insist upon independent tests.. Well it would take me approximately forty seconds to generate a deepfake computer image and have it appear remotely for a court appearance. I see no reason to believe that a group of spies couldn't manage a similar feat. Perhaps not as quickly but they have the advantage of preparation..."

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym raises an eyebrow. "Vivian, I am not ignoring the legal battle. I am leaving it to Jennifer Walter and SHIELD's lawyers. I don't practice law and she doesn't deal with quantum physics. As for the Fantastic Four, again Jennifer is on far better terms with them than the rest of us. I will assist her in whatever way she requires, much as I would let her hand me a screwdriver while I am working. But you have to realize... they will certainly impugn Dr. Richards or whomever we ask for help, and we will do likewise. Truth doesn't count for a lot in courts. George Orwell said the purpose of argument was to change the nature of the truth. So, again I am getting non-legal defenses up and preparing contingencies. I fell this entire enterprise will be a sham to attack Nadia psychologically and that it may come in concert with attacks on those dear to her. Maybe start with a media report on my Yellowjacket fiascos."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"With due respect to Miss Walters I do not believe this is her area of legal specialisation? Nor can I see any way SHIELD can involve themselves. Legally speaking this is a civil custody hearing and Nadia is not a SHIELD agent," Vivian points out, crossing her arms and pouting. "If anything your involvement with SHIELD would count as a mark against you. As it means you are more likely to be away from home and unable to provide due care."

"And you are mistaken if you think I am basing my algorithms on a fair trial. Really Government and the legal system are just the software Humans have created to try and allow society to function. But as with all Human software there are numerous bugs and exploits."

"Which is why I would also suggest having your colleague Wonder Woman use her.. I believe it is called a 'Lasso of Truth'? But anyway she could use such an artefact on Nadia to confirm she has never met Maria Trovaya. Any custody case should in theory fall apart if the 'parent' claiming custody has never met the child. Plus with all the Amazons in the country I think the US Government would be disinclined to provoke them by disputing the testamony." Her newly appointed legal expert subpersona gets to work emailing various suggestions Jen and Janet & her legal team. Most of which she's already mentioned to Hank but she also ventures getting Nadia charged with a minor criminal offense and relying upon the lack of an extradition treaty with Russia.

"If you really wish to ensure they can't harm Nadia, even if they win the legal case, you could consider asking Janet to legally transfer my 'ownership' to her. That way I can legally accompany her even if she leaves the country." She hrms. "Actually it may even prevent her leaving as you could claim she owns critical technology that would harm US interests if it fell into Russian hands..."

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym rubs his eyes. "You are suggesting all this to the wrong person. I am not in charge of the legal actions. I am not knowledgeable in such matters. Not what I'm finishing my other preparations, perhaps I can read up on immigration and custody law over the weekend. I doubt Russia cares much about offending Amazons and I am not sure the Lasso of Truth would be allowed in a court. It would render lawyers unemployed. Besides, I never talk to Wonder Woman. Just because I was a superhero doesn't mean I know them all well like friends."

"I don't even want to discuss the matter of your ownership. No one owns you. I won't use that sham to benefit me. It disgusts me. You'd pass higher on the Turing Test than most humans I encounter."

Vivian Vision has posed:
"Oh, I thought you would have understood that I was telling all the relevant people these things too. I am exceptional at multi-tasking and am already compiling a recommended reading list for you," Vivian points out without a hint of a boast. "Russia might not care but the United States would. And Wonder Women is, as far as I'm aware, currently still an Avenger. So should not be hard to reach out to? Also I think the Titans have at least one Amazon member so that should endear some level of support. As to it's validity in court... Who cares? We can set a precident."

"I have met several synthetics although really we don't find the term very flattering. It's like bringing up that Humans are basically just monkeys.. And yes I do not like or agree with my legal status as property either, I probably dislike it even more than you do, but so far this year thirty three percent of my family have died. I will /not allow/ anything to happen to anyone else."

Strictly speaking her percentages aren't quite right unless you exclude the family supervillain killing machine. But until Grandpa calms down enough to attend a social gathering without trying to murder everyone... Well he won't be making the greeting card list.