2013.08.22 - Stark Expo - After Hours

The Expo winds down late. All of the concerts and the flowing alcohol really doesn't help with that, but the doors to the Wayne Enterprises building close about 10. Then cleanup begins- there's a lot of foot traffic throughout the day, and subsequently, a lot of mess to clean up at night.

That's mostly done by now, though there is what sounds like a vacuum being run somewhere, and someone outside cleaning the windows.

Stupid funnel cakes. Powdered sugar finger prints everywhere.

A lone security guard is standing watch by a propped open door, and he waves Ms. Potts and her guest in. The lights are all on, still, and the displays running, though in the interest of his oncoming migraine, Tim has muted them. He's still at his usual spot, behind the podium up on the stage in the main room, though he's found a stool somewhere to sit on. "-I know, but it'll look good on my resume if I ever, y'know, pull a you and decide to get the hell out of Gotham. Except I'll find somewhere nicer than /Bludhaven/ to run to, jeez."

When he looks up and spots his guests, he picks up his phone and turns off speaker in one smooth movement. "Gottagotextmebye," and then tucks it into his pocket. "Hey. Welcome to Wayne Enterprises, temporarily relocated to New York."

He hasn't had a chance to change, yet, but he's ditched his tie and his shirtsleeves are rolled up. His WE badge hangs off a lanyard from inside his pocket.

Pepper Potts leads Bruce through the now-quiet Expo area, letting him walk as slowly or as quickly as he likes. She is, though, gradually steering him toward the Wayne Enterprises exhibit area, as she'd arranged to meet with Tim Drake so that Banner could get a closer look at the technology there. She thinks it'll catch the physicist's interest. When they arrive she smiles and offers her hand to the young man as he greets them. "Hello, Mr. Drake. Thank you so much for staying late to meet us here."

"Thank you, Miss Potts," Bruce says as he walks along side Pepper. "I have been looking forward to the Expo for some time, but just the crowds." He smiles. "Especially Metropolis crowds. Everyone is so scared they are going to miss something." He is dressed in slightly rumpled button up shirt and slacks. A tie is around his neck, but loosened. As they get to the Wayne exhibit, he smiles at the young man. "Let me say thank you too. It is a privilege to see what Wayne Enterprises is doing these days."

Tim abandons a half-eaten salad to wilt and some coffee to step down from the stage, tablet in hand, and greet his guests properly. "It's a privilege to have such a highly respected member of their field in our exhibit, Dr. Banner," he says as he offers a hand. "Tim Drake. Technically I'm on an internship with Wayne Enterprises, but I'm the Events and Social Media Coordinator for the Expo." He shakes Pepper's hand too, of course, and flashes her a smile, before he taps at his tablet.

"Where would you like to start? Do you want the general tour, or does something in particular interest you? The maglev drones, the water purifiers, our patented laser targeting treatment for metastic cancer?"

That's not the full list of technologies Wayne Enterprises is showing at the Expo, of course. Just some of the highlights. The purifiers have been working non-stop since the Expo opened, and it's been a big draw for the public- free water.

Pepper Potts smiles and steps back a tiny step, clearly letting Bruce take the lead here even as she considers getting a sample of that water. Because, really. Nice. Though, she had had no idea that Tim was an intern there. "Go on, Bruce," she prods gently. "Have fun."

Bruce gives Pepper one more smile before looking towards Tim and shakes the extended hand. "I would love to see a bit of the general tour, and then perhaps WE's work on radiation exposure and treatments? Clean ups like the one in Japan after the tsunami would be extremely difficult if you did not have an effective way to deal with the radiation exposure, and I heard that Wayne Enterprises was one of the first teams over there to help."

"Well, a good bit of our Wayne Biotech floorspace has been focused on some of our pioneering cancer treatments because of the public challenge Mr. Stark issued during his opening speech, but I'm sure I can satisfy some of your curiosity. Follow me, please," and then Tim turns on his heel to lead them away from the stage.

He motions around to the various screens, flashing through information and visuals on several different projects within the company. Almost like a screensaver. "The main room here is modular, it's not designated space for any particular exhibit. So far we've had a few speakers here, live demos on the screen," he points to the giant one behind the podium, "Some hands-on activities, that sort of thing. Mr. Wayne was very specific about wanting to give proper attention to all of the different projects we're showing here during the Expo."

The building, built just for the Expo, splits off into two wings. Tim heads to the east one first. "We have a holographic tour of Wayne Tower in this room," he says as they pass one door, and then as they pass another, "This is a theater room for some of the documentaries we have about Wayne Enterprises and its history. Then, here-"

Two big double doors, and Tim pauses to key in his access code before pushing them open. At first it looks... vaguely like a bar. The basic features are there: the bar itself, glasses, but instead of bottles there are three massive machines against the wall, and Tim steps over to one. "Sorry, they have to put these through a cleaning cycle at the end of the day. The machines themselves aren't the purification system that we plan to roll-out into production, just something we rigged up for the Expo. The chemical process itself is capable of purifying at a ration of one to nearly twenty thousand, which is a huge improvement over charcoal. Right now we're still in the design stages for the actual kit, the distribution of which will eventually be handled by the Martha Wayne Foundation."

On that note, Tim motions around to the rest of the room. There are seating areas all around for people to relax in, but each table and in various places along the walls are displays for some of the Foundation's future projects. A new rec center in Gotham, veterans services, humanitarian aid efforts across the globe. Most of it is centered in Gotham, though, combating the rampant poverty and sky-rocketing crime rates. The public transportation system that was designed and built by one of Bruce Wayne's predecessors.

The machine behind Tim starts whirring, faintly, and he turns around to fill up two glasses before presenting them to Dr. Banner and Ms. Potts.

Pepper Potts follows along quietly, but looking around with interest as she'd not yet had a chance to do the tour thing herself. "So it's a chemical purification process, not a mechanical? Wow." She accepts the water glass and takes a sip, expecting something like the naturally very pure waters similar to Acqua Panna.

Bruce follows behind Tim, listening intently as they move through the displays and the information. "It is incredible work what you are doing over there in Gotham to be sure." He walks over towards the purification machine and runs a hand along one smooth surface. He can feel the humm of the machine working. He turns back towards Tim as he presents them with a glass of water. He takes a sip and almost treats it like wine in his mouth as he swishes it about before swallowing. "I have to say that the only water that I have had better was up in the mountains of Alaska. This is probably closer to mountain water than anything else you will find in the cities."

Tim nods an affirmation at Pepper. "Yeah. It won't solve all of our water pollution issues, but it's a big step in the right condition, and combined with some of the other things we're working on, the company is very optimistic about the potential for the project," he explains as he steps back around the bar. One brief glance down at his tablet and then he tucks it back against him.

Don't worry, he's not playing Angry Birds or anything. But his title had "Social Media" in it, and he has to keep on top of that. "And that's it for the east wing. The Foundation is very important to Mr. Wayne for obvious reasons, so it was afforded a large portion of our allotted square footage for the Expo. All of the proceeds from Wayne Enterprises charity benefits, concerts and events generally go directly to the Martha Wayne Foundation."

He motions them towards the double doors, again, and then starts to walk. "The west wing is where we have exhibits for Wayne Biotech & Medical, Wayne Industries, and of course Wayne Electronics, which produces all of our commercial products. Cell phones, personal computers, even home appliances. Basically just about anything powered you can find in the average home."

"One of StarkTech's competitors," he notes after a moment, smiling over his shoulder at Pepper. "It's also responsible for our aerospace and military contracts."

They have to pass through the main room to get to the other side of the building, of course, and Tim diverts briefly to pick up his coffee. "Sorry, it's a little past my bedtime," he jokes before taking a sip.

Bruce follows quickly behind Tim. He sets the glass of water down as he leaves the purification area. "Wish I could say I used Wayne Electronics all the time," he says with a smile, "but truth is that I am often....off the grid, and just don't have a lot of use for all those electronics most of the time." He looks over the displays however. "The one thing I do use is a lap top some times, but it has to be a fairly rugged and sturdy thing. I admit that I am not always gentle with my toys."

Pepper Potts hangs on to her water glass, because she really could use the hydration. Following along, she looks at Bruce, wondering what happened to the last laptop Tony insisted the physicist take with him. Oh well, nothing she can do about it here and now. The military exhibits of course get her attention and she looks at them for a moment before taking a few quick steps to catch up again.

"All of the computers in my school are Wayne products. If they can survive a bunch of teenagers, I think they can probably handle whatever you can throw at it," Tim answers. He keeps his head facing forward, because even though there's nothing in his voice to suggest he knows anything about Dr. Banner's alter-ego, he's not as sure of his face. It takes more effort for that, and the Expo has been nearly as mentally taxing as his usual job on Gotham rooftops.

The first area they pass through has a wide variety of Wayne Electronics on display. The good majority of them are either prototypes or not on the market yet. He stops at a laptop on display and pats it lightly. "This is the model I'm using right now. It's running our newest operating system, PRO-4. One of the perks of my job is getting to be a guinea pig. It's really nice. Syncs with all of my other Wayne tech. The thing I'm most excited for, though, is the new television we're debuting in a couple of days. I can't really say anything about it, but it's really awesome."

Bruce Banner looks over the computer Tim is going over and nods as he examines it. "It seems like a fantastic bit of technology." His voice tone, however, seems to say that while it is fantastic, it can't keep up with the punishment he could put on it. "Now what kind of encryption do you have for your computers? If I lose the computer, some kid in his mother's basement isn't going to be able to crack his way into it, is he?"

Pepper Potts looks at the laptop that Tim indicates, now wishing she knew all of that spec stuff that describes the Stark computers so she could mentally compare them. For Banner's sake, of course. There is simply no way that any other computer manufacturer could top her tablet, considering it's got a nearly 24/7 connection to JARVIS, and she has yet to hear of anything that can get even close to the snarky Brit of an AI.

Tim's about to say "Depends on which kid's in the basement" but he manages to bite his tongue in time. "All of our products have really good security. They all come with antivirus and firewalls standard, but it's consumer-grade stuff. Now, the military branch of Wayne Electronics has developed a few encryption programs, and I imagine they could potentially be run on our OS with a bit of tweaking," he says, and that sounds much better than what he had in his head, isn't it?

On the topic of their military projects, they're at the section of the room dedicated to it. "Right now one of our big projects is armor-plating for military vehicles." He knocks his hand against a large plate on display, and then smiles. "It's expensive, but maybe we could apply a layer to a laptop for you?" He's mostly joking, but it's surprisingly light for its size when he lifts it up out of the display. After dialing in his access code into a hidden keypad. "It sounds like you'd need something custom-built. I could maybe put you in touch with someone from R&D...?"

Banner nods at the question. "It might be something I could use, yes. My demands on my hardware tend to be pretty specific." He doesn't look especially comfortable while looking at the military displays. He lets his eyes go over them once, but then shudders slightly before stepping away. He moves towards the Medical displays instead. "So cancer research is your top priority here on the Medical side?"

Pepper Potts notices Banner's reaction to the military application and does not so much as breathe a protest when he moves quickly on to the medical stuff. This holds less interest to her from a technical standpoint, but she can very much appreciate the reasons behind it and the potential applications.

Ever a graceful tour guide, Tim quickly segues into the Wayne Medical info he's drilled into his brain. "Cancer and AIDS, primarily, yes," he says. A tap on his tablet and some of the nearby screens come to life. He glances up at them and then turns to Dr. Banner. "The laser treatment therapy I mentioned earlier is our primary focus in terms of research, right now, but we're also looking into cloning and genetic modification of human cells as possible avenues to a cure. Wayne Biotech is also pioneering cloning technology for organ transplant."

One clip on the screen looks like a kidney being grown in a petri dish. Small, but a step in the right direction.

"We also have several clinics and research hospitals under the Thomas Wayne Foundation."