![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nonstopnarcissist) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
sixthiterationlogs2019-01-12 06:38 pm
- !mingle,
- !ota,
- 9: 7,
- ac: malik al-sayf,
- dbh: connor-60,
- dmc: kat,
- ff: nida,
- ff: rinoa heartilly,
- ff: seifer almasy,
- hunger games: finnick odair,
- marvel: james rhodes,
- marvel: loki odinson,
- marvel: thor odinson,
- marvel: tony stark,
- overwatch: brigitte lindholm,
- rvb: agt washington,
- voltron: takashi shirogane
[ MINGLE ] FORGE AFTER HOURS
WHERE: South Village Forge
WHEN: January 8th
OPEN TO: Smitherns (Thor, Brigitte, Annie Cresta, Siefer), Plus Ones, Passers by, and Friends! Anyone, really, come on down.
WARNINGS: Language, discussion of canon typical violence probably, drinking?
THE HEARTH
With the bulk of the work and chores done for the day, the heart's banked down to a tolerable level rather than steel meltingly hot, positively cozy. Tables are cleared of metal filings and shavings, the floor is swept, extra chairs and seating or overturned crates serve as places to kick back and enjoy the warmth. A large kettle of tea is kept brewing all night, another of coffee, and a jug of cool water for those thirsty with no real requirement RE flavor. There's a rack for coats and scarves when people don't need to be quite so bundled up, and space cleared enough for milling about, tossing ideas back and forth, or simply relaxing. Arguments happen at The Debate Wall, not by the fire.
THE FOOD
It's an eclectic spread- a pot of stew, some crusty bread, frittatas, a few large, simple cheese pizzas, bottles of wine, and whatever other food the Smitherns or their Plus Ones chose to bring. It's a bit of a potluck, food spread out on one table for perusal, plates waiting and a bin for dirty dishes. Tony will scrub up at the end of the night. By the fire there's a waffle iron and as many toppings as they could find for waffles- jams, zalpaca butter, dried fruit, preserved peaches. Serve yourself or sit and sample!
THE CHILL OUT CORNER
For the more introspective or anyone taking a break from The Debate Wall, there's a comfortable chair tucked in the far corner where the light isn't as bright, the sound not quite so loud- and in this chair sits a young Peacat, a smaller pot for tea, and a few books. Elton's a friendly sort and will chirrup to lean for pets or simply sit on a lap and purr, offering calming, quiet company.
THE DEBATE WALL
Scrubbed clean for the night, the wall opposite Tony's Scrawled projects, equations, rules and definitions- currently marked only with a few notes RE proper charcoal use 'It's for the wall, not your hands, not anyone's clothes', the large space cleared for marking out or drawing out- well. Games, hangman, tic-tac-toe, sketches, or debate points. The only other rule listed is 'If you're going to pick a hill to die on, cite your references'.
no subject
He taps his chest- not bragging, not elaborating- it's tangential information. Background noise to the potential conflict. "Where these two are from? They're mass produced. Someone decided that building people to bulk up the labor force was the best course of action and they are very human, very emotive- but machines. Or that's how they're designed, and it's a shitty design, the internals are a mess-"
Visibly he has to reel himself in, scrubbing at his jaw, eyes flicking from the middle distance back to Loki. "Let alone the software. They're not meant to see themselves as people, even if they are. Deviating from their code makes them 'deviants'- very creative, I know- and therefore dangerous. Allegedly. I say a self-aware learning system with thumbs deciding it's a person is progress, not dangerous- except where this one decided the best way to handle a disagreement was to jam a pipe into someone's shoulder. He doesn't think much of people- honestly? Talking to him was a little like talking to you in New York all those years ago- but nowhere near as charming."
Because he was, despite everything. "Or as smart. A violent, unpredictable idiot isn't someone I want wandering around deciding maybe to start stirring shit. The potential for fallout here? Is pretty staggering. An AI with a mission, 'decommission unit B' will do anything to fulfill that mission. I'm not going to hope he'll decide to shoot around someone standing between him and his target if he finds out that the good twin? Isn't dead."
A beat.
"Also he was a dick to my cat. So fuck him."
no subject
But that's not the point of this conversation, nor is it where Loki cares to allow it to deviate when the picture Tony begins to paint with this information opens up too many other points of consideration. A world with an artificial workforce and those who built them were still foolish enough to give them room to think they could possibly be more than their base parts. Machines with emotional range, with the capacity for determining their own course of action? Loki would have to correct himself; humans are arrogant and stupid, proven yet again by this mess Tony thinks they have for themselves.
Or, perhaps, a mess Tony has already found first hand. Loki's eyes narrow, watching the way the other seems to lose himself for a moment, noticeably shaken by whatever his mind has resupplied for him, and--
Honestly, Loki could laugh at the absurdity of it, of how deeply, how personally, Tony has apparently entangled himself into this situation. Already drowning under matters that shouldn't concern him for no other reason than because he can't stop the way his heart bleeds, and perhaps this is why he looks so much wearier than the last time Loki saw him. Exhaustion is etched into the man, and for all that he remains the proud creature Loki remembers in New York the strain that weighs upon him is obvious for anyone who cared to look. Loki can't help but wonder who else has noticed.
A shadow crosses over Loki's expression for the comparison between himself and this machine Tony speaks of, something flickering darkly in eyes for the memory of the man who once came to Earth looking to own it. Mad with power, with fury and heartache and spite and fear, determined to meet his goal by any means necessary with unrelenting determination. Loki isn't that person any longer, not in this moment, but some things never truly leave a person. "I think I'm nearly flattered."
The sarcasm in his voice is clear, and there's a frown pulling at that edges of Loki's mouth as he considers the information before him, sifting through the implications of involving himself in something that has the potential to be a larger headache than Loki thinks he's really eager to suffer. "And you would ask me to do what, exactly?" He can't say he isn't curious as to what Tony's goal is here, or what the other things he could possibly achieve by involving someone like Loki in it. "Dismantle it? Risk myself to see this creation destroyed so you won't have to dirty your own hands before it finishes what it started?"
no subject
How harried he'd actually looked. Strung out and worn down and- somewhat familiar.
The shoe is well on the other foot this time around and no small part of Tony appreciates the irony. Upper hand then was his, now is Loki's. There's too much weight, too many variables, and he really can't spare the energy for another puzzle. The sharper edge of his laugh has a faint mew picking up, Elton slipping out of Tony's lap to bound across the distance, leaping up into Loki's.
Source of distress. Please stop with making the distress. A dainty, delicate chirrup accompanies two blue paws set neatly on Loki's chest as Elton leans up and in, sniffing. Who is this person?
Charmed, somewhat, by the tableau- the android had been a dick but Tony is sixty seven percent certain Loki won't be as much of a dick to Elton if only for the rumors of Frigga and the chariot pulled by cats. That had been a thing, right? Right. "No, that- that's not the plan. We have a no shank rule, remember? If I wanted to stab someone, shit, I'd stab them myself."
No need to involve Loki in it in the slightest. Some of the weight returns but- not all. A glimmer remains of that younger self in his eyes, but just that. A glimmer. "No I was hoping you'd keep an eye on him. Make sure he didn't find what he was looking for or, I don't know, make sure he doesn't snap and decide to start murdering people for fun. Watch him. Poke him a little? He thinks himself superior because he was designed that way, lacks any kind of empathy I could read- treating him like a person bothers him. Because he's not a person in his own mind and usually I'm pretty well live and let live for how AI choose to present themselves but this guy? This guy's an asshole. So, again. Fuck him. I'd do it myself but-"
He gestures to the forge. "Kind of busy. You, I think, could make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, maybe get under his skin a little. You're good at that, finding shit people are sensitive about and dragging it into the light."
no subject
Well. It isn't as if it would change anything had it ever come to that. Given the sense of humor the fates appear to possess, they likely would have met here again regardless.
He's distracted from those thoughts by the unmistakable feline trill that precedes the sudden weight upon his lap, Elton only just missing the chance to upset the wine glass in Loki's hand as it's raised to safety before Loki finds his personal space entirely invaded. They're undeniably beautiful, these creatures, though Loki knows better than to believe it comes without a price. Emotional manipulation isn't exactly Loki's idea of a good time, certainly not in the middle of negotiations of this sort, and he leans away from the brilliant blue face attempting to investigate his own with a scoff entirely directed towards Tony. "Is there no exception for reasonable retaliation?" One finger finds the cool tip of Elton's nose to nudge him back, encouraging the peacat off his chest with care not to touch any more of the animal than he needs to. "One would think that retribution for such a savage and needless attack would be well warranted."
What Tony is suggesting amounts to little more than babysitting, and the urge to tell the man he has better things to do is incredibly tempting. After all, one of them is getting significantly more out of this than the other and Loki isn't in the habit of making agreements so unbalanced in his favor. One small weapon in exchange for the responsibly of managing a machine he has no measure of, who may respond to his efforts with lethal force? Loki isn't sold. "Where is the other being kept? I assume you intend to keep them separated if it thinks it's already succeeded in it's goal."
no subject
Yeah. It's a thing. "I can't come down on them about not making weapons and not stabbing their way out of problems if I do the same thing. Also tweedle dee the first, the one that got stabbed, was...pretty unperturbed by the whole thing. Annoyed more at not having hands for a little while than upset by being harmed. Because machines can't feel bad for being harmed- it's a thing. I don't agree with it but I'm not in a position to start shit I don't know that I can end. Also why I'm asking you to fuck with him. We both know-"
For various reasons, various causes. "There are worse things than being killed. Or decommissioned. Not that I recommend leaning into physical torture but making someone question their reality and existence? Doesn't that sound like fun? I'd do more of it myself but he knows I'm hostile already, so it wouldn't work half as well."
Or at all. "Somewhere safe, and keeping his head down. He still hasn't completely recovered. The problem with advanced tech appearing here, even if that tech is a person? No way to replace some shit."