2013.08.13 - Overtime

The Stark Expo presentation is only a week away, and things... Aren't quite ready. While the initial flight demonstrations for the MQ-28 BullShark drones went well, there are some plaguing problems in the control systems. High packet loss between the control deck and the drones' receivers have resulted in loss of human control, leaving the drones to fall back on their autonomous AI systems. While so far nothing critical has happened during these control losses, it could potentially be a problem down the road. So what does that mean? There's a lot of Hammer Industries employees that are pulling extra hours on the weekend.

Poor suckers, most of them are salaried.

The engineers aren't the only ones putting in extra time, however. The CEO himself, for better or worse, is also on site trying to puzzle through the problem. No one thus far has been able to figure out where the packet loss is occurring, since the data links and satellite communications all seem to be checking out. So after going on 14 hours at the lab trying to diagnose the problem, Justin Hammer made a call to a resource he had hoped he wouldn't have to tap. But desperate times called for desperate measures, and the benefits of bringing in the oddity known as 157 outweighed the risks.

Hopefully...

Undoubtedly, it caused a bit of a fluster at the front gate when a portal opened up before it--but 157 was at least polite (or more likely, methodical) enough not to portal /inside/ Hammer Industries. Stepping out of the portal and letting it shut behind him, the small kid in the school uniform (and fedora) walked up to the gate and introduced himself--in excruciating detail--to the guards. That ordeal complete, the guards were finally able to direct him to Hammer's room. The kid did not exactly make good time--for someone who can travel by portal around the city with ease, he never seems to be in a hurry. So it's probably been a good hour, maybe even more, since the call, when 157 is finally escorted in by an unfortunate guard who has likely tried, unsuccessfully, multiple times to get the lad to walk at more than a snail's pace. Standing just inside the doorway, 157 slowly looks from one side of the room to the other.

The creaking metal of the door inset into the hanger bay wall draws Justin's attention. He was getting horribly impatient, he's been here since 7AM, and it's going on 10PM now, leaving the normally hot-headed CEO in a worse position than normal. He turns away from the test bench where one of the engineers has a router unit splayed out and connected to test equipment, and walks toward the door. He's not dressed in a suit as he usually is- instead having donned a simple long-sleeved work shirt and a pair of cargo pants. It's obvious from his somewhat ragged appearance he's actually been working today, not just standing back and yelling at the engineers. "About time," Hammer half-snaps by way of greeting. "I'm on a tight schedule and I need a second set of eyes on this. You up for the task?" No formalities, no greetings.

157 slowly looks up at Justin, regarding him for a few moments before he finally speaks in that slow, even monotone of his. "Query: You up for the task? Answer unavailable. This one is unable to evaluate suitability for a task without information regarding task requested." As one might have guessed, Justin's general irritation and gruffness have absolutely no impact on the emotionless kid--he looks as utterly calm as ever.

It's a good thing that Justin's short temper doesn't effect 157. However, the kid's flat reaction leaves the CEO on the edge of snapping again. Sure, the kid is brilliant and can do things Hammer can't even begin to fathom, but Jesus Christ, can't he just answer a question without having to have it spelled out? It's like talking to a damned computer... Justin pushes his glasses up and rubs the bridge of his nose, taking a moment to compose himself before he goes off on a yelling fit. This needs to be resolved, screaming isn't going to get it done. "We are having a problem with the data stream between the drones and the control deck. It's dropping data packets. Do you think you can trace the problem and correct it?" His tone is far more even, though there's still a lot of underlying tension.

"Query: Do you think you can trace the problem and correct it? Answer: High probability that this one will be capable of task requested," 157 says. He /does/ seem fairly likely to be good at working with data, doesn't he. "Notification: This one is not familiar with data manipulation systems of planet designated 'Earth'. This one may require short time to study data manipulation system in order to properly analyze data stream." A pause, and then he slowly mimics Justin's rubbing of the bridge of his nose. "Explanation required: Meaning of demonstrated movements."

/Are you serious?/ Hammer sighs, looks back toward the test bench and a very confused looking engineer, then returns his gaze toward the oddball kid. He humors the request, just to move this show along. "Frustration," he says flatly, almost as monotone as 157. Almost. "The router is over here. Run whatever tests you need to run. But make it fast. I'm on a really tight schedule here, and we need this running like yesterday." The CEO motions toward the test bench and the dissected comms system.

"Understood," 157 says. "Priority: Speed." He slowly walks over towards the test bench, staring at all the gear spread about and the testing equipment with the same intent stare he had given Justin's ice cream when they first met. Stare. Stare. Staaaaaaare. He looks over the readouts, inspects each and every piece of tech on the table, goes over the programming code line by line by line, asks the engineer several agonizingly slow questions, and even, at one point, starts poking and actually sniffing at one of the parts for no apparent reason. Finally, with a look up at the poor, befuddled engineer, he begins actually working on things--editing the code (he types, incidentally, by hunting and pecking, and as one might expect is just horribly slow) and actually working directly on some pieces of equipment (only bothering with safety gear if someone actually thinks to clue him in...and rig up something that fits him). Whatever he's doing, he's quite focused on it...and his pace is, ah, 'deliberate'. If this is what 157 looks like when he's making speed a priority, one shudders to think what it looks like when he's taking his sweet time.

Justin stands there, arms crossed over his chest and head tilted slightly to the right, watching the strange kid work on the equipment. The slow typing and snail-like movements get a sigh, several grumbled profanities, and more than one 'Come on' from the CEO. For the most part the engineers stand back and let the kid work, the only interference coming when 157 starts working on the equipment itself when one of the engineers places an anti-static strap on the boy's wrist. Otherwise they watch, talking among themselves and observing the unusual child. After some time Hammer checks his watch, snorting. "It's nearly midnight, how much more do you have to do, kid?" he says, running his fingers through his hair as he paces lightly.

Type. Type. Type. Stare at the monitor. Type. Type. Type. Stare at the monitor. "Query: How much more do you have to do, kid? Answer: This one estimates remaining time until completion at ten seconds." Type. Type. Type. Save. He turns to Justin. "Task complete." Exactly ten seconds. The boy yawns, then, quite suddenly and quite mechanically.

The resulting work...well, it's nearly incomprehensible. 157 basically taught himself coding to an extent while he did this, so it's likely that there's several somewhat roundabout ways utilized when a shorter path might have done. More importantly, however, the kid's odd mind came up with some very alien means of designing things, with coding and equations that do appear valid on a cursory glance but don't resemble anything Justin's ever seen...or probably any of his engineers, either. That's what happens when you let a kid who learned mathematics from an alien civilization at a level advanced enough to let him reprogram the universe work on your computer code--it might work, but unless you're a member of 'access denied' you probably aren't going to be able to make heads or tail of it without a bunch of study.

Oh, well. It'll probably be fine. The kid's weird, but he does seem quite brilliant...right?

"Excellent." Hammer claps his hands together as 157 announces that he's completed the task. Looking toward the engineers, the CEO motions toward the equipment. "Fire it up, start running diagnostics. I want a full rundown on this tonight." The engineers, who have been mostly lulled into complacency and chatting among themselves, stop what they're doing and look toward their boss when they're addressed. When none of them starts to move immediately, Justin snaps, "Let's go, move it!" That gets them moving, and they start to run the augmented system through it's paces. In the background the three drones themselves- low to the ground, delta-winged aircraft swathed in a dark grey, matte paint job- start twitching the control surfaces in sequence.

157 mimics--much more slowly, too slowly in fact for it to even make noise--the hand-clap. "Notification: This one requires energy sources. Information required: Purpose and intended area of operations of devices. Quid pro quo." Justin is probably going to want to shoot whoever taught the kid that phrase before long if he continues working with him (which might not be that smart: it was Magneto).

Hammer looks back toward the unusual kid. He blinks, then straightens up, placing his hands on his hips. "Demonstration at the Stark Expo," he replies. That is the honest truth- the prototypes will be demonstrated at the Expo this coming Saturday. But in a stroke of clever thinking, Justin doesn't mention their purpose /after/ that. Hey if the kid can play the literal game, so can he. The CEO gets a smug smirk, then addresses the request for energy. "So you're hungry, huh? What do you want, I can have anything you want delivered." /Delivered a hell of a lot faster than it took you to show up, too,/ he thinks to himself, though his tone has lost some of the edge now that the work is done.

In the background the engineers continue their tests on the comms systems between the control deck and the drones. So far everything seems to be going smoothly.

"Understood," 157 says. "Information recorded." It seems Justin's little trick worked--the kid /is/ extremely literal, and Justin gave /a/ purpose, so that appears to have satisfied his requirement. "Query: What do you want? Answer: Energy sources designated 'food' and 'drink'," he responds to Justin's question, utterly nonhelpfully. Evidently he doesn't go in much for having opinions on what he eats. He turns, observing the work of the engineers, then looks to Justin again and holds out his arm that has the anti-static bracelet on it, before turning his attention to the engineers again while he continues holding his arm out.

"Well that's real helpful," Justin mutters to himself at the kid's reply. 157 is a hell of a resource, but damn is he difficult to work with. Hammer pulls his phone from his pants pocket and quickly pulls up the number for his driver and sometimes personal assistant, Jack. "Hey Jack, go grab some pizzas and a couple two liters," he says into the phone. There's apparently an answer, and the CEO hangs up without responding. That done, Justin turns to watch the engineers. A pair of them are now calling commands and results back to each other, checking to make sure that each drone responds when it's supposed to and correctly. So far the results look promising, and the packet loss has dropped significantly.

But on the bright side, you can pay him in pizza and, apparently, very simplified or misleading answers! (The saying "you get what you pay for" might come to mind.) 157 is still standing there holding the arm with the bracelet out, watching the engineers. An ordinary person might show some worry or tension as the tests are run, seeing as it's his work that's being tested. 157 is watching as calmly as ever. "Information required: Stark Expo."

Hammer looks back toward 157 when he requests more information. He notices the kid holding his arm out, and reaches down to remove the anti-static strap himself. He's not going to bother the engineers, who are actually making progress, with something that trivial. Once removed from the boy, the anti-static strap is tossed onto the workbench. "The Stark Expo is a multi-million dollar exhibition of Tony Stark's over-inflated ego to make up for his small-" Justin cuts himself off. The kid's a minor after all, he has a shred decency.

157 drops his arm once the strap is removed. "Input not understood. Analyzing. Analysis complete. Confirmation required: Stark Expo is performance or demonstration before governing official or notable authority for purpose of gaining status in eyes of governing official or notable authority, in this case designated 'Tony Stark'. Similar events: Musical performance before patron. Arena combat before emperor."

That takes a couple seconds for Justin to puzzle over. Arena combat? What? His snarky response to 157's question was completely missed. He was, admittedly, hoping that the robo-boy would store his rather accurate description away in his data banks. Damn. "The Stark Expo is an exhibition of new sciences and technologies," Hammer answers truthfully and with some resentment. Tony Stark is no governing body, and Justin certainly isn't trying to gain status in his eyes. Well, that's what he's telling himself, anyway.

"Understood. Corrected answer recorded," 157 says, continuing to watch the engineers operate. "Exhibition of new sciences and technologies. Priority observation target. This one will observe Stark Expo to acquire information on sciences and technologies of planet designated 'Earth'."

There's a snorted laugh from the CEO. "Yeah, kid, you wanna observe? That's the place to go. Everyone's gonna have their best toys spread out across the playground." Hammer's use of metaphors is likely to get him into more trouble with 157, as he's likely to end up having to explain /everything/ he says in triplicate. "And hopefully those babies there," Justin motions toward the three drones lines up in the hanger, "...are gonna make everyone else want to take their balls and go home."

157 does seem to have at least a /little/ ability to figure out metaphors, but...not enough by far. "Notification: Toys are not a priority observation target," he says. "This one is to observe technology of import." He looks over at Justin. "Clarification required: Purpose of current technology is to force surrender of enemies at conflict during Stark Expo."

Justin sighs and loses some of his cool with the questions. "Clarification," he says in a mocking tone, "Toys is a metaphor. Further clarification- technology is to prove that you don't need a fancy red and gold suit to protect this country." Bitter? More than a little. Hammer crosses his arms over his chest again, turning to watch the engineers once more. From the front of the hanger the door can be heard opening, and Jack walks through with four pizza boxes stacked on one arm, and a bag with two two-liters of soda in the other.

"Understood," 157 says. "Subject 'Justin Hammer' seeks to prove superiority to alternative method of defense of nation designated 'United States of America.' Personality traits designated: Ambition, envy. Possible points of manipulation. Recorded." With that, he turns to look at the approaching pizza boxes. Not that he offers to help at all, though given how tiny the kid is, really, that's actually probably a good thing.

There's a moment where Justin seems to gain some confidence. Damn straight he's going to prove his superiority. The cocky smirk fades, however, when 157 records possible 'points of manipulation'. Ah, hell. He turns, dropping his arms to his sides, as Jack approaches. He doesn't move to help either, even though he's more than able to. The driver sets the boxes and soda down on an empty work cart, and sets to organizing the makeshift feast. Hammer gives a wave toward the spread of food. "Eat up, kid, you earned it," he says dispassionately. Whatever's left will be given to the engineers, once they've finished with the diagnostic tests.