560/Big Brains in Forest Hills

From Heroes Assemble MUSH
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Big Brains in Forest Hills
Date of Scene: 16 March 2020
Location: Basement - 20 Ingram Street - Queens
Synopsis: Riri Williams pays a visit to the Parker house to get a legal issue taken care of. Plus, cookies.
Cast of Characters: Peter Parker, Riri Williams




Peter Parker has posed:
The letter from the legal department of Stark Industries (AKA Cyber-Shark Pool) was formally written and politely worded.

"Note: Current Project is to be put on hold. Drone software for collision-avoidance and stability-compensation currently infringes on Patent #2451365 (Parker, Peter B. 'Drone Software - Guidance System' - Patent Pending). Please allow for sufficient time until this issue can be resolved with the primary patent holder's permission."

In other words, wait for six MONTHS for Legal to drag their feet while the recon drone gathers dust.

Riri Williams has posed:
     ...Huh. Well that was annoying. Riri was pretty sure that she isn't the only one who'd be interested in a baseball sized sphere of micro repulsors, a complex sensor package, and a thirty minute operating time. Not only would it be useful for search and rescue, but it'd give her a bit more subtlety than her full armor. Especially after she got the retro-reflective panels... No. Concentrate. ...Maybe if she went to talk to him, asked his permission...

     After some googling, it wasn't too hard to find out where the patent owner lived. The local science fair wins did give him a bit of a news presence, after all. Coming in for a landing, careful not to scorch or crack the driveway, Riri unclips the secure case containing the prototype drone from the back of the armor, and makes her way to the front steps. ...Okay. Time to talk to people. She rings the doorbell.

Peter Parker has posed:
There are light footsteps approaching the door, and then it opens.

This can't be Peter Parker. The door opens by an elderly woman, 60's or 70's, with faded blonde hair that is now more white than blonde, wearing a blouse, slacks, and an apron. She has blue eyes widen and a pleasant look about her. She is currently holding a wooden mixing spoon, and a bit of dough with a telltale chocolate chip is embedded in it.

Those blue eyes widen as she looks out and up...and up at the mechanical monolith standing in front of the porch.

"Good HEAVENS," she blurts out, almost dropping the spoon. "Uhm...can I help you...miss...?"

Riri Williams has posed:
     "Uh, Hi..." Okay, keep it together, Riri. "I'm here to talk to Peter B. Parker? He filed this patent for drone navigation software, and I'm working on something that apparently is similar enough that Legal didn't like it, so I thought I'd come here to talk to him, and... ...Would it be okay if I parked this in your garage so the couple across the street stops peeking at me through the blinds?" ...Okay, you didn't keep it together. But you still might be able to salvage this...

Peter Parker has posed:
The old woman tilts her head, then says, "Well, young miss, if you're going to park that next to my Benjy's old truck, then may I have the pleasure of your name? Peter's downstairs in his lab, and I think it would be proper to announce your arrival more formally if there was a name to go with the face."

Riri Williams has posed:
     "Oh, Uh... Riri Williams. I work at Stark Industries? Sorry, I'm not... I'm not really good with people. Better with machines." She nods towards the case in her hands, and... well. The armor she came in.
     Once the armor is safely stored inside, the much less imposing teen who's probably still shorter than Aunt May is left holding the carrying case, one sneakered toe twisting a little against the floor.

Peter Parker has posed:
The woman nods as the garage door closes, then steps aside for Riri to enter. "Come in, Miss Williams. You must be a very smart young lady to work there. Peter applied and they wouldn't let him in, and he's VERY smart."

She walks over to the kitchen, then picks up a plate of warm chcocolate-chip cookies, fresh from the oven, then hands them to Riri. "Down the hall, last door on the left, leads into the basement. Watch the fourth step down, Peter hasn't fixed it yet." Her eyes glitter with amusement. "Now, there are 12 cookies on that plate. IF there are less than six by the time you get down there, we will have WORDS. And you can call me Aunt May. Everyone I like does."

Riri Williams has posed:
     "I honestly got kind of lucky. Turns out that making your own version of Iron Man's armor impresses him?" ....Oooooh. cookies. Riri's eyes lock onto the plate, gingerly accepting it with her hand that isn't holding the case. "My hands are a bit full anyway... And I'll be careful. Thank you... Aunt May." ...Huh. She's apparently already part of the family? Just like that? That was... surprisingly easy. There's a bit of awkwardness to open the door where she has to free up a hand, but eventually she's making her way downstairs. "Uh... Hello? Peter Parker?"

Peter Parker has posed:
The lab is...well, it's not a small table with Your Child's First Chemistry Set. It's rather large, and it's fairly well-set up. The concept of Parker developing something down here gains more credibility the more of it she sees.

The man himself...is more of a boy than a man. Youthful face, somewhat thin under the lab coat, but he is working on...yes. He has a mass spectrometer.

Peter looks up as his name is called, and he blinks as he spots Riri. Brown eyes, short brown hair, slightly-befuddled look. Then he spots the plate and says, "Uhm...hi. I guess Aunt May let you in."

Riri Williams has posed:
     Oooooh. This... reminds Riri a lot of the garage where she did her first tinkering. "Uh... Hi. yeah, I had to park my armor in your garage. I'm Riri Williams." The cookies are placed on a free spot on a work table, along with the case which bears the Stark Industries logo. "I wanted to show you something and ask you a few questions... I'm working on a recon drone, and Legal said that my software was kinda close to yours, but they take forever to do anything. So I thought I'd come ask in person." Two thumbprints unlock the case, revealing a roughly baseball sized sphere studded with lenses, sensors, and what look distinctly like the pale circles if micro-repulsors.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter's eyes go wide. It's not merely awe, because the drone looks pretty sweet, but a certain level of growing familiarity. "Wow. I always wanted to get a look at repulsor tech up close, but..." He nods. "Okay...uhm, what exactly are you having legal issues with? The hardware, or the code?"

Riri Williams has posed:
     "Legal said it was. ...Also please don't make any repulsor stuff or weaponize it because then I'd probably be in massive trouble." Riri snags a ruggedized tablet from its recess next to the drone, turns it on, and enters a few commands. The drone itself lights up, lifting into the air with a soft whine. "I was trying to make something a little more subtle than my armor, and it'll be even better once I've got the retro-reflective panels on it. The source code is..." Another few tablet swipes. "Here."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter looks at it, then walks over to the computer desk and brings over something that looks like a matchbox painted glossy red, a tablet in his other hand. The tablet screen is cracked, but the screen comes up when he presses the power button.

And then the matchbox unfolds into an eight-legged drone, four of the legs bearing tiny rotors.
"Lemme do a code comparison and see where the similarities are. I can add a couple of boolean markers..."
He taps a couple of keys, and the code begins to scroll past quickly.
"Well, Miss Williams, this will take a minute."

Riri Williams has posed:
     "Oooooh..." One cookie is snagged, and nibbled on as Riri examines the tiny drone. "That's... That's way smaller than mine. Although I went for a few more off the shelf components, and I can only make the repulsor elements so small... Did you have to wind your own motors?" ...Yep, she's been nerd sniped.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter looks at the code, and seeming to ignore the cookies, which is no small feat. "I used the vibrating motors from a couple of cell phones. Altering the speed in the microtronics station was a trick, so I re-coded the circuit and...there it is. We used the same math, and the algorithm is...hunh. Mine's a little simpler than yours. You're pretty good at this."

Riri Williams has posed:
     "I try. If I can make it even smaller, I might be able to have them easier to carry with my armor. ...Especially when I get around to the Mark II. Less space. And I wanted to make sure it didn't get lost, since, you know... proprietary technology." Riri reaches out and boops the sphere, which wobbles a bit before returning to its place.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter nods. "As Rick Blaine once said, others TRY, you SUCCEED." Then the tablet beeps, and a message pops up. "54 MATCHING LINES."
"Dang. Well, we've ruled out concurrent development. I wonder if..."

He trails off. "...Riri...are you going to help people with this technology?"

Riri Williams has posed:
     "What... Of course!" Riri looks over at Pete, almost looking a little hurt. "I started building stuff because I wanted to help superheroes. But that wasn't enough, so now... I kinda have to be one. ...The armor's in the garage if you want to have a look." Nom. Time to drown emotions in cookies. ...These are /really/ good cookies.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter nods. He goes to his computer, and this is probably the point where he is typing out his compensation expectations, publishing rights, the stuff she's going to have to take to Legal so they can pay him off...

And then he is done, the page is printing, and then he hands her a single sheet of paper.

I give complete approval to Riri Williams of Stark Industries to use the material of Patent #2451365 in any way she sees fit, for the purpose of assisting people, in perpetuity.

Compensation Requirement: $1.00

He has already signed it.

Riri Williams has posed:
     Riri looks up and down between Peter and the paper, eyes flicking over to the cookies and the drone occasionally. ...There has to be some kind of catch, but if there isn't... She pats her pocket, before remembering something. "Uh... I don't carry cash. Do you take paypal?"