OTA | Minor Adjustments Needed

[thelegacy]

Who: James Rogers and OPEN
What: Poking at the powerplant
Where: At the powerplant
Warnings: TBA

[So James eventually gets bored of poking around the hospital and the farm and sets out to explore the out past the town square. There's gotta be more out there, right? And farming isn't exactly what he's suited for.

He intends to go explore and work out what it'd take to get this place back online and working properly, but he finds the tool shed and then ends up spread out in a hallway as it's got the best flat space, not even thinking about the fact that he might be in the way. The metal band he wears half disassembled with the pieces laid out around him.

He's been wanting to see if he could figure out what the problem with the zero energy generator was, so he's taking it apart, the base of the metal band revealing a throbbing energy core, blue at the center and almost black at the edges where it dissipates into the air. There are strands of what seem to be incredibly delicate wires in his mouth, and he seems to be poking at the core with a small screwdriver and one of the small crystal rods that glows in his fingers.

Is that even safe, or a good idea? But when he does, there's a flicker in the air, a shape of a round shield in bands of red and white and a star at its center, so whatever he's doing seems to be working, at least? He hums in annoyance as it fades again after hardly a moment. So: not really working, then. He's rather focused on it, so he doesn't look up when someone approaches, instead grabbing one of the hollow metal discs and reaching to slot it back into place, and a small blue projection of what looks a lot like Captain America's shield appears hovering just above the floor as he murmurs something about... resonance?

Oh, is this not ideal? Sorry, he didn't notice.]


[ooc: If you want something else holla and I'll write you up something. PMs or Plurk (natalia_vdova are both good.]

Comments

[outstandingbalance]

[Natasha's interest is largely intellectual curiosity at first, curious what kind of tech the kid's got there and if he can get it working. She doesn't interrupt him, keeping an eye on his progress—right up until he projects that shield.

Then her attention becomes a lot more pointed.]

Having some trouble there?

[thelegacy]

[James looks up at the words, clearly having been a bit immersed in the work. He looks a little bit sheepish, but nods in agreement to the question. He does take the filaments from his lips before talking, twisting the fibers in his fingers.]

Yeah, I haven't been able to get it to work I got here. I thought it was just that the global constants had changed since we're no longer on Earth. So I was thinking I could use the crystals to calibrate it, but uh- not working out quite like I hoped.

[He smiles a little bit lopsided, shrugs his broad shoulders. He'd like an actual workshop for this, and one of Tony's holotables, but considering they didn't even have beds right now, James knows that's a bit off the table. So he's trying his best with what he managed to scrounge up. He fiddles a little, manipulating the settings with a flick of his fingertips. It looks a hell of a lot like Stark Tech.]

I don't think we've met. I'm James.

[outstandingbalance]

Good name. I've known some good men with that name.

[And most of them didn't actually go by James. They had nicknames or code names. Still, it's not an especially deep or important observation. Just a comment, made easily, to smooth over an introduction.]

Did you make that yourself? I don't know how many supplies we have on hand that are going to be useful repairing it, but we've only scratched the surface of what's in some of these buildings.

[thelegacy]

Yeah? I guess James was my father's best friend.

[There's something there, complicated threads, but it's easy enough to smooth them away. Easy introductions, pleasant conversations. But at the question he shakes his head, a slight curve of his lips and there's a spark of loss in his blue eyes for a moment.]

No, I've worked on it before, but not quite to this scale. Tony Stark-- well, he was sort of like my guardian, I guess. He took me in along with a few others. He built it for me when I was just a kid.

[There's that pause where he thinks she might not know who he's talking about, so he tries to explain the relationship there. But Tony's death is still raw and recent and it hurts, even if he chokes it down, covers it with a shake of his head. Of course the idea of a small child having that sort of tech is maybe a little questionable, but James doesn't even consider that.

They were all raised like soldiers.]

I'll feel better if I can get it to work even a little. But yeah, this is sort of less than ideal. If you happen to find a holotable somewhere, let me know.

[outstandingbalance]

[His father having a friend named James didn't necessarily mean anything. It attracted her attention, maybe, but only as a piece of trivia. Sort of an amusing similarity.

Any belief that this is some kind of coincidence goes out the window when James mentions Tony Stark.]

You know Tony?

[That raises so many other questions. Natasha's familiar with the idea of other universes, which would explain how Tony could be responsible for a kid and she wouldn't know. She studies James's face, considering his features, considering that shield. Tony could have been responsible for that last detail, but she finds herself already putting together theories.]

I don't know that we're going to be that lucky here, but I'll let you know if I run into a holotable. Or Stark, if he shows up.

[thelegacy]

Yeah, he pretty much raised me.

[Those earnest blue eyes are still a little sad, but he manages to shake it off, push it down; compartmentalize and settle into a casual sort of warmth. Like those whispers hadn't been there. Tony's body, dead on the floor-- it's still a pain that sits there, under his ribs, in the back of his throat. One of the things he doesn't talk about.]

There were four of us. He took us in after the Avengers-- well, the world got real bad.

[It's subtle, but the way he watches her is a bit more attentive, now. Because she knows Tony and that means something. He doesn't quite recognize her, even if there's a vague sense of familiarity there, but she knows Tony and so James pays a bit more attention.]

[outstandingbalance]

[On the one hand, Natasha has seen Tony grow as a father figure, and she knows how reliable he can be at times.

On the other she knows just how unstable he can be when he spirals, and just how much damage he can cause without meaning to.]

It must have been difficult.

[Tony aside, it sounds like a hard way to grow up.]

If you don't mind me asking, who were your parents?