2012-11-01 Mechanical Aptitude

"No. Dummy, no! Stop--crap!" Rhodey hopskips across his workshop to rescue a piece of equipment. His new prosthetic arm has continued to evolve, as have the repairs he's performed on the rest of his systems. The arm, formerly a crude, three-fingered device, has taken on a deadly and elegant shape. Now it has a full five-fingered hand; more than that, each finger has four joints and tapers to a fine point suitable for delicate manipulation. A concert pianist should be so lucky. The servo-motors and mechanisms that power the new prosthetic aren't yet covered by a casing. They're set up to be efficient and powerful. Aesthetics have been sacrificed in favor of strength and durability. The vibranium from his damaged components has been saved, melted down, and sprayed on as a protective coating. His legs have received similar treatment, with damaged motors removed and upgraded. Even his torso has been modified. External titanium ribs and plates have been attached to his artificial spine; they hug against his skin and reinforce his damaged vitals. Rhodey is still getting used to what his new arm can do. He accidentally crushes the circuit board he rescued from Dummy when he squeezes it a little too hard. A long puff of air escapes from between his clenched teeth, then he tosses the mangled board aside. "Damnit. PATTON, run a diagnostic on the nitrogen ampule system for me. I'm pretty sure that putting it next to the plasma tank is the problem. I might have to go hot on one arm and cold on the other." "Diagnostic subroutine is online. Jim, why are you pushing yourself so hard? If you want back in the fight, put on the suit. You control it mentally. Your whole body could be toast and you could still be the War Machine." The AI almost sounds concerned. "You're right about the nitrogen. Splitting up the tanks should solve your problem." Rhodey smiles grimly as he extracts the nitro tank from his new arm and installs it into a hardpoint he's prepped in his old one. He gives all ten of his fingers an experimental flex, then nods. "Obviously, the armor's not always going to be there to save my ass," he mutters. "I've already been blown up twice. That's my limit for this lifetime. Now put the specs for the new eye on all the screens. I'm telling you, I can fit a bigger laser unit in there."

"Maybe it's glaucoma."

How Tony Stark managed to get in here so quietly is likely anyone's guess. He either hacked the system or used some override phrase or maybe PATTON is just okay with Tony being on the premises. Either way, Stark is focused on pushing his S-Phone back down into his pocket and sipping at the coffee that he's gotten for himself as he wanders on into the workshop that Rhodey has designed for himself. He's not exactly looking around, but he is and the look o his face is one that is clearly attempting to see just what he can find wrong with the place. It's in his nature to pick at things. It's half the fun of being him.

"But then again, if you're talking bigger... I could probably spring for some Viagra contacts or something. I dunno. You tell me what you need, buddy." Stark is grinning as he continues making his grand entrance. He can't ever just say 'Hi' like normal people.

It only takes a few seconds for Rhodey to lose himself in schematics and equations. No matter which angle he approaches the issue from, every time he tries to increase the power of his optic laser, he blows up another prototype. "Huh? Tony? What, no coffee for me?" Despite the jests and jibes, Jim is quick to cross the room and offer a hand for shaking. "I don't know about Viagra, but if you've got a smaller focusing lens that can handle a stronger beam, I'll take it. Every single one I build ends up cracking."

"I wasn't sure how you took your coffee these days. 10-30w or 10-40w." Man, Tony has no qualms about talking to Rhodey like he's some sort of Robocop Reject. But then again, when does Tony Stark ever actually hold his tongue? What's the point of doing such things when you're as infamous as Tony Stark?

Stark does hand the coffee over, though, after shaking his friend's hand and is already moving over to where the problems are exploding. "That's because, my aluminum foiled friend, you're not me." Tony's smile fades for just a second as he approaches what looks like a mini mine-field with all the dirt and soot and what not from the failed attempts. "You're burnin' too hot, too fast. Your focusing lens is fine. It's the overheating that's the problem." Tony explains, grabbing another eye and bending over the workstation to jab in a wire here and cut a slit there and sauder on something else there. "It's crude. Depending on the coolant system you're using, though, you can probably patch it right in. You won't need all of this." He gives a dismissive wave at what he just MacGuyver'd up. "The stronger the beam though, the more you're gonna' need to chill it. But at least this way size can continue to matter." He grins and stands back to allow Jim the chance to try it out. It /should/ work.

"If you think I'm putting that thing in my head for the first test run, you've got another thing coming." Grinning broadly, Jim takes a swig of the coffee, picks up the modified eye, and clamps it in a vise. He's clearly had time to perfect his testing procedure, if nothing else. The entire area is made of extremely durable materials and is encased in a transparent blast shield. Rhodey gives his metal patch a thoughtful flick. "Well. Let's find out if you're as smart as everyone thinks. Fire in the hole!" Then, for better or for worse, he triggers the firing mechanism on the modified eye.

For a long moment nothing happens. Simply nothing.

SUDDENLY LASER!

Tony smiles when the laser works but it sputters after a couple of moments and Tony's smile disappears to be replaced by a frown. "You get the idea." He knows he could've done a better job if he was actually paying more attention to things. Or if he had actually had more than the one coffee for style that he carried into this place. "You tell anyone that happened and I melt you down and make a new license plate."

Stark then turns away from the workstation of blast shield radiusness to look at Rhodey more fully. "By the way, about not being there when you got blown to smithereens..." This is about as close to an apology as he's going to be able to make.

Rhodey waves Tony off and shakes his head. "Part of the job description. You know that. You want to make it up to me, you can help me beef up this new body. War Machine can't fight all my battles for me. The next time I get caught without my armor, I want to be ready." The eye is examined critically for a moment, then extracted from the vise. Using the fine manipulators on his new hand, Rhodey digs into the inner workings and smashes down one of the wires until it makes a proper connection. When he's finished, the eye is put back into place and he readies his remote trigger. "Fire two!" This time, the beam that shoots out of the cybernetic eye is so potent that the air hisses and sizzles as it's superheated. The laser burns right through the blast shield, the wall behind it, and finally fades after carving out several feet of the building's foundation. "Now /that's/ what I'm talking about," Rhodey cackles.

Tony offers a small golf clap about the awesome lasering. Granted, he's pretty sure Rhodey is going to use that to destroy some villainy but it is still not as safe and minimally destructive as his Repulsors. But there's a reason why they call Jim Rhodes the War Machine. "I'll help you with the body, but you gotta' do the weapons yourself. I'm still not a fan of this whole: Shoot Everything policy you've got going." Tony just has to make that point known once again, in case Rhodey has forgotten or something. "But I'm not exactly busy with anything else at the moment. Well, there is that building a school thing. But you're my best friend so I think I can find some extra time to make you into Robocop."

Though they aren't yet operational (far from it, in fact), Rhodey deploys the nozzles for his wrist-mounted flamethrower and cryo-sprayer. "Don't worry about the weapons. I know how squeamish you are. Just help me make the whole thing stronger. Faster. Tougher. If I have to spend the rest of my life in this thing..." he pauses to retract the nozzles and knock his metal knuckles against one of his new support ribs. "...I want to get my money's worth."

"Give me a day or so. I'll have some designs and ideas stacked up and then we can get to work." Stark is not about to just jump headfirst into anything like this. He's going to have to design something that will keep Rhodey protected but not weigh him down and also just make it still possible for him to wander around. Already the ideas are flowing through the mind of Tony Stark. "So. Besides the whole Always At War thing, what else have you been up to? Anything of the non-technological nature going on? I mean, we don't do small talk so just a list of life updates will do fine."

"Uh. Well. Bethany and I are thing now. Kind of a big thing, actually." A small, genuine smile tugs at Rhodey's lips. After a few moments, he lets out a small cough and shoots a sidelong glance at his old buddy. "And I don't know if she told you, but I kind of reverse engineered the War Machine suit and built her some armor of her own. It's pretty good work, actually."

"Huh." That's all Tony really has to say about these two subject matters. Not only did Jim manage to get the girl where he failed, but he's also managed to make a suit for her? Interesting. These are some very interesting developments to make note of. "Well. Congratulations." Tony doesn't sound bitter. He sounds more like he's just a little bit shocked that Jim's life is moving forward and his is kinda'.... spinning around in the same circle of foolishness that it always is. "I guess maybe I should fire her, huh? Y'know, conflict of interest and all. I can't have my best friend's girl risking her life for me every day, can I?"

"Don't even think about it," Rhodey cautions him. "She'd kill us both. Let her do her job. She's damn good at it. And I rest easier knowing you two watch each others' backs." There's a brief period of silence, then he claps a hand against Tony's shoulder. "And thanks. She's... the right girl for me. I couldn't be happier. Even PATTON likes her."

"Well. It's about time one of us actually found a reason to live besides our work, right?" Tony flashes a smile at Rhodey, before figuring this is getting a little bit too mushy. There's way too much machodom between the two of them for him to continue to talk about this female type stuff. Besides, he hasn't even decided which girl he's calling up tonight when he gets back home. Or on his way home. Or both. "If PATTON likes her, then she's definitely a keeper. Speaking of, I should probably get to work. Y'know, if I'm going to get you battle ready in a couple days."

"I hate to ask, but I could really use some more vibranium the next time you stop by. A handful of the smallest repulsor units you have couldn't hurt, either. I can mimic your tech now, but I can't miniaturize it." It's a left-handed compliment, but it's a compliment all the same. Rhodey gives Tony a final handshake, takes another swig of the coffee, and passes it back. "Thanks for coming over, man. I'll see you around."