Flying to the meeting with Black Bolt gave Tony a good chance to get a better look at the area. He mapped out the geography beneath him, and flew past Black Bolt at first, turning and making a wide circle to check the area before he approached and landed.
He'd already met with the other Tony here. He had his work cut out, dealing with that version of himself. He wasn't sure what to do about his alcoholism.
"Black Bolt. I think calling an incomplete meeting like this is probably against some secret society rule but I don't think anyone will mind," Tony said, pausing for a moment before he caught up with himself and decided to continue talking. It wasn't as if Black Bolt could say anything right now.
"On to the first order of business. As it turns out, that younger, better looking, less experienced, alcoholic version of me is only less experienced and alcoholic, and in case you didn't know, he managed to let some of his armors get stolen. I don't think I need to say how bad that is, but they shouldn't be anything you can't handle."
He'd heard Tony approach, of course, as he'd heard the wide circle and eventual landing. He didn't move or open his eyes until the final thump of armor boots on the roof sounded, and then it was to regard the suit before him calmly.
It wasn't a familiar suit, was the first thing he noticed. It was familiar enough to be recognizable as Iron Man, yes, but unfamiliar nonetheless. Upgraded, he thought. Substantially. Tony must have made quite a few changes since they'd last seen each other. Unsurprising, really; the suit seemed to change subtly every time they met.
He listened carefully and silently, his watchful gaze steady on the other man. The other Tony wasn't younger? Hmm. A large difference in universes, then. Reportedly common among the doubles. He didn't bother to nod in agreement with the question of whether or not he could handle the stolen armor, though. The answer was obvious enough that confirmation was unnecessary -- provided, of course, that Black Bolt retained his powers. Twice now he'd been stripped of them in his
( ... )
The other major topic Tony needed to discuss was one he was reluctant to bring up. Perhaps that was why organic Tony had created the automated message in the event that the emergency consciousness upload happened. Tony couldn't quite recall the thought process behind that decision. His memory issues were definitely at the top of the list of things he wanted to talk to his original self about
( ... )
That did manage a shift in Black Bolt's placidly solemn expression. It wasn't much more than a blink and a slight widening of his eyes, but for as composed as the man usually was his jaw might as well have fallen open. Bolt climbed to his feet, a touch hesitantly, and took a few steps nearer for a better look at the empty interior. He'd seen Tony raise that faceplate often enough, he knew what he was supposed to be seeing.
And then something else caught his eye. That bloodstain was more than a little disconcerting, and the mild concern flushing over his face stood out just as effectively as the surprise had. He wasn't entirely sure just where to direct his questioning look without any eyes to meet, though.
...Strange. As diverse as his Inhumans were, he hadn't seen anything quite like this in any of them. He nodded, slowly, with a frown. The situation was... understood, at least. It was a start.
Tony didn't pull away or close the faceplate as Black Bolt came in to examine him. There was a reason he'd left this until a face to face meeting. He wasn't sure anyone he knew could accept this without seeing proof of it first hand. "Is there anything you'd like to ask or tell me? We've come to the Q&A portion of today's presentation." He said when Black Bolt nodded.
A telepathic translator would have been useful, but Tony wasn't prepared to have this information spread yet. He wanted to control who knew this, when they knew it, and how the information was presented, and now was not a good time to make this public knowledge.
He stared for a few seconds longer, eyes traveling over what he could see of the interior of the armor, as if looking long enough would produce a face for him to focus on. No suck luck, of course, and in time he gave a wondering shake of his head. Only Tony Stark.
Black Bolt stepped away again when he'd concluded his examination, moving back to his previous seat. His journal sat there, and he lifted it with a small flourish to speak of his intentions to write in it. There were indeed questions and comments, if Tony had the patience to wait for them to be written out. Black Bolt took a seat again to do just that, positioned to both write and keep an eye on that unnervingly hollow suit of armor.
There wasn't anything that needed to be done that Tony couldn't work on right here, so when Black Bolt pulled out the journal, Iron Man shifted his focus inward, away from the world around him, to check on a sub-personality he created to work on software patches.
This would have been faster with a translator, and Tony spent a few moments wondering if Black Bolt's brain would be compatible with his neuroinduction sensors. If so, he could build something to translate for him. If not, modifying it so it would work with Black Bolt wouldn't be too difficult.
He added it to a growing list of projects to work on.
After a filter to this version of Tony had been created, Black Bolt set to work writing. ...It was strange, working with Tony so eerily silent. He'd seen this trick preformed often enough, of course, wherein the man would retreat from the present to deal with the inner electronics. But always before it had been a man retreating. Now it simply seemed an empty suit behaving the way empty suits generally tended to.
But such thoughts weren't conductive to the matters at hand, and so Black Bolt turned his mind from them. His pen moved quickly and precisely, pausing often for thought. It was best to get all of his thoughts done in one fell swoop; passing notes back and forth like a schoolchild was detestable, avoided if he could help it at all.
In time he leaned back from his work, read over it again to make one final correction and a quick addition, and then stood to move back to Tony and offer the page of the journal out to him.
The stolen suits: I will be able to disable them, although I can't speak for the safety of any inside when
( ... )
Black Bolt listened carefully, watching where under other circumstances he knew Tony's face would have been. Habit, he realized, but there seemed little point in breaking it. There was nowhere better to look, after all. The answers were both reassuring and disconcerting in an odd blend; the stolen suits operated with battery power. It meant they might very well come to a face-off in the Dead Zone, which would find Black Bolt next to useless. And at the same time, with such a single glaring weakness, the task looked considerably easier
( ... )
"Good. There's work to be done, and not many people to do it," Tony said. It was a little strange to talk to Black Bolt alone like this. But not unpleasant. At least he wasn't having this conversation with Namor.
"I may be able to build something that can interpret your thoughts and translate them into speech if you want. The whole reason this upload was possible was due to neuroinduction sensors, they were calibrated specifically for my brain, and I'm not sure how your neurobiology differs from my own, but I should be able to modify the technology. I would need to ask the castle for the parts," He said, "I anticipate that not sleeping will give me time to work on additional projects."
Oh. Well, that would be convenient, wouldn't it? A personal mechanized Xavier, nearly. Not something that Black Bolt would at all mind, as long as it could be disabled at will, as he certainly didn't relish the idea of spilling all> thoughts out to be head.
The interest at the suggestion showed clearly in lifted brows and a suddenly more focused watch of Tony. He nodded once; agreement, permission, and thanks all in one.
Tony nodded as well, though it was a slightly odd movement in the armor. "I'll notify you by journal if there's anything else," Tony said. It would probably be easier than conducting more face to face meetings until Black Bolt had a better way to communicate.
Unless Tony came up with something else equally difficult to believe that required a demonstration.
One more nod, quick and businesslike this time. It was good to have someone from home, even if not one of his Inhumans. Tony Stark -- or at least the personality and empty armor of Tony Stark -- didn't make terrible company. He gave something close to a thin smile and stepped to the edge of the roof. With a spread of his fanned wings and a strong leap, the man was off. There were always other things to occupy his attention, even if life did manage to stay quiet around Paradisa.
He'd already met with the other Tony here. He had his work cut out, dealing with that version of himself. He wasn't sure what to do about his alcoholism.
"Black Bolt. I think calling an incomplete meeting like this is probably against some secret society rule but I don't think anyone will mind," Tony said, pausing for a moment before he caught up with himself and decided to continue talking. It wasn't as if Black Bolt could say anything right now.
"On to the first order of business. As it turns out, that younger, better looking, less experienced, alcoholic version of me is only less experienced and alcoholic, and in case you didn't know, he managed to let some of his armors get stolen. I don't think I need to say how bad that is, but they shouldn't be anything you can't handle."
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It wasn't a familiar suit, was the first thing he noticed. It was familiar enough to be recognizable as Iron Man, yes, but unfamiliar nonetheless. Upgraded, he thought. Substantially. Tony must have made quite a few changes since they'd last seen each other. Unsurprising, really; the suit seemed to change subtly every time they met.
He listened carefully and silently, his watchful gaze steady on the other man. The other Tony wasn't younger? Hmm. A large difference in universes, then. Reportedly common among the doubles. He didn't bother to nod in agreement with the question of whether or not he could handle the stolen armor, though. The answer was obvious enough that confirmation was unnecessary -- provided, of course, that Black Bolt retained his powers. Twice now he'd been stripped of them in his ( ... )
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And then something else caught his eye. That bloodstain was more than a little disconcerting, and the mild concern flushing over his face stood out just as effectively as the surprise had. He wasn't entirely sure just where to direct his questioning look without any eyes to meet, though.
...Strange. As diverse as his Inhumans were, he hadn't seen anything quite like this in any of them. He nodded, slowly, with a frown. The situation was... understood, at least. It was a start.
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A telepathic translator would have been useful, but Tony wasn't prepared to have this information spread yet. He wanted to control who knew this, when they knew it, and how the information was presented, and now was not a good time to make this public knowledge.
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Black Bolt stepped away again when he'd concluded his examination, moving back to his previous seat. His journal sat there, and he lifted it with a small flourish to speak of his intentions to write in it. There were indeed questions and comments, if Tony had the patience to wait for them to be written out. Black Bolt took a seat again to do just that, positioned to both write and keep an eye on that unnervingly hollow suit of armor.
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This would have been faster with a translator, and Tony spent a few moments wondering if Black Bolt's brain would be compatible with his neuroinduction sensors. If so, he could build something to translate for him. If not, modifying it so it would work with Black Bolt wouldn't be too difficult.
He added it to a growing list of projects to work on.
Reply
But such thoughts weren't conductive to the matters at hand, and so Black Bolt turned his mind from them. His pen moved quickly and precisely, pausing often for thought. It was best to get all of his thoughts done in one fell swoop; passing notes back and forth like a schoolchild was detestable, avoided if he could help it at all.
In time he leaned back from his work, read over it again to make one final correction and a quick addition, and then stood to move back to Tony and offer the page of the journal out to him.
The stolen suits: I will be able to disable them, although I can't speak for the safety of any inside when ( ... )
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"I may be able to build something that can interpret your thoughts and translate them into speech if you want. The whole reason this upload was possible was due to neuroinduction sensors, they were calibrated specifically for my brain, and I'm not sure how your neurobiology differs from my own, but I should be able to modify the technology. I would need to ask the castle for the parts," He said, "I anticipate that not sleeping will give me time to work on additional projects."
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The interest at the suggestion showed clearly in lifted brows and a suddenly more focused watch of Tony. He nodded once; agreement, permission, and thanks all in one.
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Unless Tony came up with something else equally difficult to believe that required a demonstration.
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