2013.08.31 - Further Evidence

The Expo is still going strong over the holiday weekend. The long weekend is giving a lot of families and working class folks a chance to visit the Expo when they would otherwise be tied up with other obligations. So the expo grounds are busy Saturday, people milling about, sampling the food from the vendors and taking in the sights. This is keeping the presenters and staff of the various pavilions busy trying to keep the masses entertained.

Things have been going pretty smoothly at the Hammer pavilion. When the Expo had started to lull last week Justin was able to get back to the office to take care of work there, but he's returned on Saturday to look things over and make a couple PR appearances before taking the rest of the holiday weekend off. The production hit a snag, however, when a something went amiss during a demonstration of the new airport security scanners that HI has been developing. One of the heavy-duty 220 power outlets powering the demonstration scanner blew out halfway through, tripping a breaker and releasing sparks and the magic blue smoke. When resetting the breaker failed to fix the issue, Hammer had the interns call in a trouble ticket with Expo staff to replace the outlet.

Two hours after the initial failure, the Expo staff still haven't arrived on scene to fix the problem. Justin, growing more and more impatient, ended up calling the staff himself. When another hour had passed, the hot-headed CEO decided to go track someone down himself. At the Expo offices, Justin was informed that all the electricians were at the main stage, working on a presentation setup to take place this evening, and it could be a couple more hours before one of them could be pulled away. Naturally, this answer just wouldn't do, and Hammer takes it upon himself to head down to the main stage and find an electrician to fix his issue. Walking at a brisk pace, he makes his way to the backstage area of the main events pavilion. His posture is stiff and his hair trigger temper is showing on his face as he scans the area for anyone with a tool belt.

Howard Stark takes a measured approach between his public-facing duties and his work back at the lab. In his younger years, he was an attention whore - not unlike his son. But he's mellowed with age and doesn't crave the spotlight quite as much. As a result, he's split his time between the Expo - where he's been demonstrating the prosthetic arm and a few other innovations that are just as impressive - and being back in his lab. Howard's not presenting what's about to go on the main stage, but he did just introduce it. To coincide with the increase in family attendance, there's an interactive science show about to go on that features a famous PBS scientist who specializes in children's programming. He's wearing a casual, but stylish suit and is chatting with a stagehand about how his entrance went and what they could improve for the 4 PM show. On-stage, the pre-show has begun, which involves a series of circus performers, while the announcer talks about the physics of juggling. There are several children in the backstage area, decked out in lab coats with nametags over colourful clothing. They are lucky children selected from the audience to take part in the show. The little ducklings are urged on by the stage hands, so that they're prepared for their entrance. One little boy has lagged behind, distracted by a series of props at the side of the stage. The rest of the children are ushered on, and the little boy has been left behind. Howard glances over towards the departing children and smiles at them. He happens to catch sight of the little boy out of the corner of his eye. He's crouched down and playing with a series of glass orbs. That alone is enough to concern the former CEO. He's about to point out the wayward child to the stagehand when a very large piece of scenery starts to slide towards the stage. The child is chasing after a dropped orb and is about to cross right in the path of the moving scenery. Without even thinking, Howard moves. He moves extremely fast - too fast, perhaps, and he snatches the arm of the child and pulls him back, just as the large piece of scenery goes rumbling past and onto the stage.

There's an electrician, or at least who appears to be one, not far from where the herd of children are being ushered around. Justin spots the worker and starts in that direction, drawing up short when stage hands start to move large set pieces around. One of the set pieces blocks the Hammer Industries' CEO's path, and he loses sight of the electrician. /Goddammit./ Glancing left and right, searching for another path around toward his intended target, Hammer catches sight of Howard. Now there's someone that should be able to get something done. Turning on his heal Justin starts to make his way to Howard, ready to give the cocky Stark Cousin a piece of his mind, when the lost child nearly blunders. Hammer stops dead in his tracks as the younger man almost seems to blur, catching the child and pulling him back. That wasn't natural, not in the slightest, though someone not paying attention may have missed it. With his suspicions already raised, Justin can't help but question what he just witnessed...

Everyone else had their attention on the rather elaborate science show about to take to the stage, which is how the child was missed in the first place. No one else seems to register anything other than the fact that Howard just averted a disaster. The stagehand responsible for herding the children comes rushing back. She realized belatedly that she'd lost track of one. There's expressions of relief and checking over for injuries. Once everyone is confirmed to be all right, the child is led off - but not before he gives Howard a hug. The scientist is left on one knee for a moment, stunned himself. Howard considers himself many things, but particularly heroic? Not so much. Even his heroic deeds during the war were done partially out of his own thrillseeking. He stands and chats a moment longer with the stagehand, then turns to start for the exit, which brings him directly into Justin's path.

Hammer pulls on a smile that's almost a sneer as he watches the events unfold and Howard starts walking toward him unknowingly. He steps forward, blocking the young man's path. "Nice catch there Howard, nice catch," he offers in his usual semi-obnoxious tone. "If you hadn't moved so quickly there, that youngster could have bit it." He slides his left hand into his pants pocket while he motions back toward the scene of the near accident with his right. "Good thing you were thinking fast, huh?" His choice of words is intentional, and he makes that obvious with the inflections in his tone.

The thing is, Howard isn't exactly accustomed to his own beyond-human abilities. "Excuse me?" Justin gets raised eyebrows and a look. It takes a second for him to go back over those words and what just happened. He puts it together fairly quickly, though. To his credit, he only looks momentarily thrown off-guard. "Is there something I can help you with, Mister Hammer?"

It may only have been momentary, but Justin catches it. The hook is set. Without losing that grin he's got, the CEO glances back toward the chaos of the ongoing production then looks again to Howard. "Maybe, how are you with replacing electrical outlets?" Hammer brushes his suit coat back and puts his right hand in his pants pocket as well, rocking on his heels slightly. Whether it's lack of coffee or the general agitation of the day, something's got his ADD tendencies riled up. "I had an outlet in my pavilion short some three hours ago, can't get anyone over to get it fixed. Quick job, sure it wouldn't take more than... A split second. But I'm not allowed to have my own people do it. Union contracts on the fair grounds and insurance and all."

"That's not exactly my area," says Howard. The irritation wrinkles up his features. He starts to walk on. "Talk to the operations department. Your repair ticket will be placed in order of priority. If they haven't gotten to you yet, that means you're not high enough priority." He puts emphasis in just the right places on those words.

When Howard strikes back in the War of the Words, Hammer finally lets the grin fall completely to a sneer. "I'm on to you, Stark," he says, his tone a lot sharper than it was previously. "There's something not right about you, and I'm gonna figure out what it is. Are you really Tony's cousin, or one of his lab experiments?" Justin doesn't move to follow Howard, simply standing there and waiting to see what reaction his accusations bring.

Howard Stark rolls his eyes. It's an expression that, for once, matches his outward appearance. "I'm really not in the mood for this, Justin. Measure yourself against someone else's cock. We're not into that sort of thing." It's a rare break in decorum for the scientist - perhaps a sign that Justin really did catch him off-balance.

Justin hit a nerve, he can tell. And now that he smells blood, it's set. Something /is/ wrong with Howard, and Hammer is going to keep trying to figure out what exactly is going on. That sort of knowledge could be an incredible piece of leverage against the Starks, especially if they have gone to such lengths to hide it. "Not into that sort of thing?" he says, head tilting to the right slightly in an accusatory manner. "Huh, but didn't you just demo some pretty wicked looking prosthetics? Here at this very Expo? Sure seems to me like you could use that sort of technology to augment as much as heal. I mean, don't you think that's the next logical step in that progression?"

"Imagine all you like. Speculate all you like. Let it distract you from creating products that don't explode in people's faces when you don't want them to." Howard keeps on heading towards the exit at a casual pace. He doesn't want to be seen as running away.

Justin chuckles, but there's no humor in it. It's thin and forced, a strained reaction. "That's good, that's good. Nice jab, there, Howard. Nice one. But mark my words, I'm going to figure this out. And when I do, depending on how the tides are sitting, I'm going to go public with it." Hammer still hasn't moved, letting Howard turn his back and walk away. He won't chance the other man. Hell if Howard doesn't want to turn and face this, that says a lot.

Howard Stark keeps on walking. His only response to to the other man is a middle finger held up in the air for a brief moment before he rounds a corner.

Justin is number one. He snorts lightly, still sneering as the other man disappears around the corner. Slowly the CEO turns and heads back off in the direction of his own pavilion, the power outlet problem forgotten for the time being. He got a hell of a reaction out of the cocky Stark Cousin, and that more than makes up for the day's troubles.