Field Trip to the Golden Age for rekindledtitan

[red_room]

There's a whole lot to like about Steve's new place in the Nexus.

It's in a quiet part of the multiverse, plenty of open air and room to train or scout undisturbed. It's a bigger place with a lot more room for furniture and a spare room that Natasha has already commandeered for a makeshift safe house including a bug out bag all ready to go at the drop of a hat. Ready for missions or trouble and ready to come back and have a safe place if her own place is compromised.

The other nice thing about it is having a perpetually warm doglike creature napping over her leg as she cleans her weapons next to one of the windows. Thanks to the Accords and Steve's determination to have that all go sideways and the fallout because of it they'd be on the run a lot more if they were frequenting their home. Having a safe place to escape to in the Nexus for a breather is every kind of good for the soul.

Natasha spies the bots PINpointing to the front walkway and tosses a look over her shoulder toward where Steve's sitting with his sketchbook in lap.

"Looks like the party's about to be started, Rogers."

She'll let Steve worry about getting up and answering the door for Blaze and Ghost. It buys her a minute to finish with her guns.

Comments

[red_room]

Frankly these scans look like a nightmarish mess. Elements of a biological human brain, a computer's CPU, and something else at the core of her processes that is maintaining her equivalent of the autonomic nervous system. Stark inhales sharply at how unnerving that last one is. It reminds him so much of what powers Vision. That kind of power is terrifying.

Larger than any one man.

More powerful than mere human science. There are no energy signatures cropping up warnings on his screen, but the similarities to such an ancient power are too strong to be ignored.

"Alright c'mere Pint Size. I'm gonna explain what I can here."

Natasha rolls her eyes at Tony's penchant for inappropriate nicknames but otherwise doesn't object to the request. She gives Ghost a tiny nod of encouragement instead. Go ahead, she'll look over your Guardian for a moment here. One of Nat's hands is resting on the tabletop as she looks down at the still Exo.

Just a little longer, Blaze. They'll get you the help you need.

"Sounds like you're the one rebooting and reconnecting her systems when her processor shits the bed and memory wipes. You need to learn what's necessary and what can be cleared out. She doesn't need this extra redundant data clogging up her system. Even just clearing out the redundant files would go a long way toward helping her function at a more optimal level."

That makes Natasha shut up fast and pinch her nose. Are they really going to clear an Exo's cache? It makes a ton of sense to start there, even if the premise is utterly ridiculous to Natasha. Tony's just one of the few who could actually do it to an Exo without getting rid of of anything important in the process.

"You uh...you manage this core program too?" Tony glances up at Ghost out of the corner of his eye.

Unattended alarm going off outside means bonus late-night tag!

[rekindledtitan]

Even under the circumstances, Tony's getting a startled eyeballing from the little bot for that nickname. Despite the look, though, he glances at Natasha and flies over by Tony's shoulder to watch and listen.

"Can we do that?" He hovers closer to the screen, shell spinning halfway back and forth. Clear her memory without damaging anything? "I've never actually seen her reboot. Her own systems seem to handle all of it, but the last time they tried to do it was... it was while we were separated."

And he doesn't wish he'd seen that. But he doesn't know enough about the process to tell Tony what he's watching out for. He can't help the way he should...

"Core program?" He looks back at Tony, then at the display. What does he mean-? Oh. Oh! Ghost is surprised the human noticed it. His equipment is excellent but this is something it surely wasn't designed to track. Ghost can sense it, but then it's the same thing he's made of. The very thing that binds him to his Guardian.

"That is my Guardian's Light." He says it reverently. "It's much more than a program, Mr. Stark. I tend to it, but I don't control it. I can only use it to heal her. It's... not part of her original build."

[red_room]

"Well, look. Her systems aren't handling it properly. That's why all this shit is in here. I'm gonna show you how to do it, but you gotta keep an eye on her going forward."

Tony's fingers hover over sections of duplicate data, old file directories that no longer point to any kind of valuable data, and corrupted files. Little lights begin popping up all over the screens as he continues scanning over Blaze's systems.

"See all this crap? I'd wager everything I'm worth that it's a big part of what's giving her trouble. We need to get rid of it." Though when Tony tries to do that there's a reaction from that third program almost immediately. Refusing to get rid of certain files, while helpfully removing several other ones he'd failed to select that seem to fit the same criteria he was looking for.

"What the fuck." Pint Size just talked about this program like it was some kinda magic and....honestly? Tony's about three seconds away from freaking out at the sentient program arguing with him over how to do his job without so much as ever saying a word. "Not part of her--you DO realize it's keeping her alive right now right? It's worked its way into her most basic controls. Everything Basic she keeps between wipes...that's ALL this program."

"Is that a problem, Tony?" Natasha hasn't strayed from Blaze's side, but she quirks her eyebrow when she asks so Tony knows she's asking after Him too. If he's unsettled then there's a potential for danger, even if he's playing it cool.

"I don't--I mean, maybe? If it ever decides to stop doing those jobs. Right now she's running on what looks like infinite power and that makes no damn sense whatsoever."

[rekindledtitan]

Ghost hovers close, watching every choice Tony makes, following close so he can understand what he needs to. So he can safeguard his Guardian when the fragments inevitably build up and connections go astray once more.

He's not surprised when the Light overrides some of those choices, but he does dart over the display to scan his Guardian directly for a moment or two. He can sense the Light trying to work with Tony's changes- and to him it looks as if it's stabilizing the Exo's circuits before the alarmed monitors of her autonomous functions can take issue with this tampering. Turning interrogating diagnostics aside, settling processors before things get out of control and potentially trigger a reboot.

(And her base systems announce, to whoever might have the tools to see: THEUT ASSESSMENT DIRECTIVES (SUBTLE; SELF-VERBOSITY: TACITA) COMPLETE. Status level: ELYSIAN. Cognitive stability: nominal. DEEP STONE CRITERION: NOT MET.)

"It's trying to protect her," Ghost says quietly. The little bot turns in the air to look at Tony. "You're right. The Light is a part of her. As one of its Guardians, she's bound to it. It won't just abandon her. I... it must be hard to understand, and it might take a while to explain. But it's on our side."

[red_room]

"Not really. Just because we don't understand it, doesn't mean we haven't seen something similar to that before."

Natasha lifts one shoulder in a shrug as she looks between Tony and Ghost. "Vision's no less inexplicable."

"Vision's powered by an Infinity stone, Nat. This is--"

"A terribly Ancient power outside the scope of our capacity to understand that has the power to give life even to artificial bodies? Sounds pretty similar to me."

"Okay, well. I can't do anything for that kind of power so if it ever goes on the fritz you're on your own." Tony turns his attention back down to the screens and continues highlighting extraneous files and getting rid of them as best he can. He needs to write a goddamn script Ghost can run to defrag the Exo without all this manual selection shit. But that won't help Blaze in the Right Now, so he continues to work. Fingers continue dancing across holographic screens with only the occasional swear whenever Blaze's Light stops Tony from doing what he's trying to do.

It goes so much quicker once the programming has caught on to what he's doing. He'd almost think it was helping him. Files keep popping up in the directories he's searching through, ready to be gotten rid of.

To Ghost it must feel like a century before Tony's pushing himself away from the table and stool he's been seated at, banishing the screens as he moves to get up.

"You might want to run a scan next time she's sleeping for anything else but that's about as much as I could find easily. If we want to start looking at what's literally causing all of this I"m going to have to do a hell of a lot more scans and studies before I can even try to come up with a solution. Let's make sure we didn't hurt your friend here. Wanna wake her up?"

[rekindledtitan]

“If the Light ever goes on the fritz, we’ll all have much bigger problems.” It’s strange, talking to someone who isn’t used to treating the Light as an unfaltering fact of life. There must be people – civilians in the City, maybe – for whom Guardians and the power of the Traveler are more story than solid truth. But Ghost has never spoken with them. He is a part of the Light too, born from it, trusting in it, depending on it. He supposes it makes sense for Tony to be so wary of it, but Natasha’s pragmatism is welcomed. And as frustrating as its intervention must be, he’s comforted to know it’s watching over them, so far from the Traveler’s reach.

He does a double-take when Stark wraps it up, but he’s only too quick to dart over to Blaze. He hovers in front of her, the half-spins of his shell betraying his concern as he calls out gently. “Blaze? It’s time to wake up, Guardian.”

She returns suddenly, pushing herself up almost before her optics have powered up. There’s an automatic reach for something beside her that isn’t there, a flex of her hands before she swings herself round to sit on the edge of the table, head snapping round to glance over the room. Ghost follows her, watching carefully.

“It’s all right, Blaze. We’re in-”

“Ghost. I know.” Her voice is calm, but she still seems – feels – a little disoriented. She blinks, looks at both humans. Everything seems all right - no angry faces, no alarm from Ghost. No bullet holes. “How long was I out? Did you find anything-?” She pauses. Takes a slower look around, then down at herself. Something has changed, something subtle enough that she’s going to take a minute to place what feels so odd. “...What did you do?”

[red_room]

"There we go. Everything feeling all right over there?"

Tony's got his arms folded over his chest while Natasha bends down and with some effort heaves a piece of Blaze's gear up onto the table so she can begin to get dressed again.

"Found out a lot more than I bargained for, but what else is new. Your Core programming--Ghost calls it your Light-- is working round the clock to keep you stabilized and prevent another one of those memory wipes you were talking about. Seems like it's also trying to keep your formerly biological brain from freaking out about the new change of scenery going on here, since that seems to be a factor in your crashes."

Natasha offers the Exo a friendly enough smile while Tony's already moved to go pick something up to fuss with while he talks and so he's not effectively watching a lady dress herself.

"I'm gonna teach your little friend there how to perform the maintenance needed to keep your systems clear. You should have an easier time of things for a while. I went in and got rid of redundant and corrupted files that were taking up processing power and making you unstable. But it's gonna be something you have to stay on top of going forward or it'll get bad again."

"More importantly, how do you feel, Blaze?" Natasha's hand hasn't left the Exo's shoulder.

[rekindledtitan]

“Thanks,” she says when Natasha hauls up her cuirass. While Tony talks, Blaze starts pulling it on piece by piece, strapping each on securely before she locks the seals. She stops dead the second Tony brings up biology, though. The Exo’s head snaps up to look at him. Then at Ghost.

“He worked it out almost immediately,” Ghost says softly. “And it might be important…”

She wants to reject that. She wants to tell them it’s irrelevant. She didn’t know it would show. But Tony’s already said it’s part of the problem she asked his help with. Part of the reason she can’t keep a hold on her own mind. She shoots a glance up at Natasha, then grunts and cinches the strap of her vambrace hard.

"I feel..." She feels awkward and angry and embarrassed. She doesn't want to say any of that. She can feel the lurking memories called back, the same confused tangle of emotions as always...

But.

It's not overwhelming. She doesn't feel the urge to go jump in a fight so something will make sense. Doesn't have to talk through her thoughts just to put them in order. The memories are there, but they're not butting in on her while she's trying to think how to answer. She picks up her greaves, and for once she's not grabbing for a task to focus on.

"Clarity," she says thoughtfully. "Not sure how I could describe it. All the same things are there I think, just- hn. Not so much all at once." She lifts her head, optics focusing on Tony. There's gratitude in her voice, and not a little respect. "You really did it."

Some of it, anyway. His description of the situation inside her head is plenty unnerving but just for this moment she's not dwelling on that. Something actually worked.

[red_room]

"Yeah? I should hope so, after all of that. If you're looking to make those things stop altogether, it's gonna take a lot more work than this. All I did this time were some basic scans and some much, much needed Spring cleaning. Keeping that all sorted will go a long way toward building up the emotional duress and processing strain that was one of the contributors to your reboots."

Tony recalls the holographic screens back up and motions for Ghost to come over so he can explain step by step how the little bot can do what he'd done here today. Definitely encouraging Ghost to write a script to do it while his guardian is asleep or otherwise out of commission for repairs and the like. Will go a long way toward helping her.

"It's no panacea but it's a start." Natasha hands Blaze her cloak last and offers the Exo a small relieved nod and another shoulder squeeze. "One less thing to worry about for the time being, right?"

[rekindledtitan]

Ghost keeps his relief to himself, getting to work listening to Tony and making suggestions about what he can do. Maybe Blaze will sleep more often if he can point to such a compelling reason why it's necessary.

"Yeah." Blaze takes the cloak gently, smoothing the stained and ragged cloth in her lap. It still smells faintly of decay and must. The scent of the Nightmare. "I'm not going to reboot. I can actually hear myself think." She lets out a short chuckle, staring down at the cloak for a couple of seconds before she starts folding it over.

"You know, I always figured the reboots were part of our design. Some kind of maintenance protocol - or a security measure, maybe. A necessity our creators couldn't avoid. I used to hope it was a good reason. I don't think I ever considered that it might be unintentional. Hnh. Starting to wonder if they- if any of us knew what we were doing." She looks around then and reaches up, placing her hand over Natasha's for a moment. With its owner back, the mesh lining of her gauntlet is starting to warm up again. "Guess I'm just lucky to have friends who do."

[red_room]

"There is a damn good reason they're in there." Tony pipes up from where he's looking over the schematics with Ghost. He nods at Blaze with more seriousness to his expression than he's had at all when she's been awake for any of this visit. "They're keeping you from shutting down for good. And not like your body or whatever. Your mind. Forced wipes and restarts from backups are a safety feature. Better for you to lose your memories and wake up again than for your mind to go total meltdown and shut down for good. I'm not sure how that would work for you though, since that Light function seems to be keeping you online either way."

It's possible she'd just go back to being a non-sentient robot lady if the Light was bound and determined to keep her functional. Tony doesn't think that would be doing anyone any favors though. He doesn't understand how any of that works. What he does know is that Blaze's wipes smell suspiciously like a work around or a design feature moreso than a bug. There's enough "smart" tech he's built to recognize someone else's ideas for what they are.

Natasha gives Tony a grim eye until he's finished before nodding back down to Blaze. For better or for worse, Tony seems to understand what she is a lot better than most. Even if he's woefully ignorant on some big things about her and her world, including her, there's enough familiar for him to wade into it with some degree of confidence.

Natasha doesn't let go of Blaze's shoulder until Blaze pulls away first.

[rekindledtitan]

The emphatic way Tony interjects makes her sit up and pay attention, even if she doesn't enjoy the point he makes. Logically, yes, better to lose some memories than the whole mind. And yet... Blaze doesn't consider that a obvious choice these days. Even if Tony's last remark presents a new and particularly horrifying alternative. Were her mind destroyed, what Light could she still bear? Or does the Traveler's power really care? Would it go on sustaining her no matter what actually remained? Surely it would try to repair her. But she doesn't feel certain.

"I'd rather not find out what happens if the Light only restores my body," she admits, voice low and grim. She clips the folded cloak at her side again, an unwieldy Titan's mark. She clasps Natasha's arm as she stands, giving the spy a look of wordless thanks. Then she crosses over to see what Ghost and Tony are working on. She may not understand all the details flying by, but it's a strange thing to look over their- well, Tony's shoulder at the scans of her own internals. Ghost looks so wrapped up in the task, it's easy for her to forget that he must be speaking to Steve right now, letting the captain know what's happening at each and every step.

"So what now? Can you replicate the procedure, Ghost? This mean we can stop a reboot from becoming necessary?"

"Yes and... not exactly. It will help your mind function better and reduce the chances of a reset. But as Mr. Stark says, that's only part of the problem."

[red_room]

"It's a start though. A step in the right direction." Natasha doesn't approach the screens. Blaze deserves some manner of privacy where her own mind is concerned. Tony's said more than enough already and the spy wants to remain professional and respectful given the sensitive nature of the talks.

There won't be terribly much insight Steve can offer on the technical jargon, though he sends a text back to Ghost after the explanation that's curious and a bit worried.

If it's to protect her formerly human mind, does that mean the solution could be a human one too? If so, I can help there.

[rekindledtitan]

"I'm not complaining. This is more than anyone's done for an Exo in at least eight hundred years." And yet now she has to wonder how much further they can go. There's a nightmare on her heels and now she tastes hope they can stop it in its tracks.

A human solution? Ghost puzzles over Steve's suggestion, shooting a glance aside at Tony. He floats closer to the screens and peers up, shell twitching back and forth. "Human problems... human solutions?"

"Ghost?"

He looks back at his Guardian quickly. "Well, if the instability issues are tied to the- um, human element of your mind, maybe we shouldn't look at this solely as a mechanical problem." He says that as if he's sure, but he's checking with Steve: You're saying there might be other methods of protecting it?

[juststeverogers]

There's plenty of stuff humans do to protect their mental health and well being all the time. Sleeping right, eating right, healthy hobbies and social interactions. One of my friends used to work at a Veterans' Hospital in the capital dealing with mental trauma in returning soldiers from the field. No one treatment works for everyone but there's coping strategies that help. Might not be that different for Blaze. I can ask Sam about it.

It takes Steve a minute to sent the lengthy texts to Ghost but in that time both Tony and Natasha have turned their attention back to the little bot. Natasha's carefully watching everything, sensing that Steve might have been the trigger for this new idea and not wanting anything to fall through now that they've come so far.

Tony nods though and gives a shrug of one shoulder.

"It's definitely possible. Those measures do seem to be in place to keep the kindasorta human brain that's been turned into a program from freaking out and just shutting down altogether. I'd have to do more scans but that's getting into shit like psychology and I am so not the man to talk to about that if that's the case."

[rekindledtitan]

I would appreciate that, Steve. I think I know what she would say to suggestions like those, but I say we need to evaluate anything that might help.

"Ghost," she's warning right now, "if you're working up to suggest a shrink, just remember the last one."

"I don't think Dr. Hill-"

"Besides," she says flatly, overriding whatever he meant to say, "psychology won't do much good if I can't hold on to it." She glances up at Natasha, then turns an intent look on Tony. "Is there anything more you can do to figure out the physical problem?"

[red_room]

"Don't look at me, Blaze."

Natasha holds both of her hands up this time. Shakes her head ever so slightly from side to side. This isn't anything she understands more than vaguely generic topics of and they're way outside her area of expertise on this one. Tony was supposed to be the expert here.

"Not without a lot more data. We did just meet today you realize." Tony gives a sharp sigh there. Without a lot more data all he can really do is guess.

"We'd have to do a bunch of scans and you'd probably have to be awake this time so I could suss out any differences or errors as they happen. No telling how long we'd have to look before I could catch one. You did say you were a couple hundred years old."

[rekindledtitan]

"Then do it." She says it without hesitation. Without thinking. Then adds, "Please. I don't want to forget again, Mr. Stark." She doesn't mean to sound desperate, but it's creeping into her voice. She can't let this chance go. "I can't have lasted more than a few years between resets. It's been six already. Whatever's screwed up in my head, it should already be happening. Anything you have to do, it's not going to be worse than what's ahead of me."

[red_room]

There's a tic in Tony's jaw and a twitch of his nose that Natasha has learned is a sign when he's upset or having a Feeling about something that he's none too happy with. Stark used to be terrible in these kinds of situations but lately something seems to have been helping him mature at least a bit. He gives a jerky nod of his head after a few moments of silence.

"Alright, no more today though. I need to go over the data I've gathered here and crunch some numbers. See if I can refine my program at all to find what exactly it is we're looking for. Shouldn't take more than a week. I'll make it work."

The spy gives Ghost a meaningful look before turning her attention to Tony and then Blaze very noticeably.

"Might be best to give your contact info to Ghost then, let him know when we can continue, if this is going to be an ongoing thing."

[rekindledtitan]

Ah. Ghost bobs slightly at Natasha's look. If they're going to repeat this visit, they're going to have to make sure they exercise the same care as they did today. Blaze is only going to get less comfortable with how much they're hiding. The more they get to know Stark, the more he does for them, the more he becomes a friend as well as Steve, then the harder it will be for her to accept lying to him.

But neither bot would accept putting Natasha or Steve in danger, so they'll have to take the alternative.

"Right. I'll always be available for contact," he says for now.

Actually exchanging details will have to wait, however. Just now Tony's getting swept up in a big metal hug from the Titan, stray sparks and all. Blaze doesn't know what this job represents for him, but she knows what it means to her, and her gratitude is intense.

[red_room]

"Romanoff what--?!"


Every line in Tony's posture is rigid and startled by the hug. His arms halfway raised as though he's not sure if he should defend himself or reach up to touch Blaze. Given the level of Tony's PTSD when it comes to robots trying to kill him Nat's honestly surprised his knee-jerk reaction wasn't to summon his suit.

Is someone else hugging this wreck of a man lately? Pepper, while affectionate, isn't much of a hugger. Curious.

"I think it's called a hug, Tony." She makes sure to drawl out the words just enough so that Tony's clear that Natasha knows there's no danger here. She's careful to watch until Tony relaxes ever so slightly and accepts his fate.

"Okay that-that's nice let me go. We don't do hugs here."

[rekindledtitan]

"Blaze." Ghost's optic flits over them, assessing carefully. But his Guardian is already releasing Tony and stepping back.

"Right. Sorry." She's a little sheepish, moreso when she realizes how tense Stark looks. There's an awkward rub at one antenna before she folds her arms. Most people she knows can be a little twitchy about sudden physical contact, but Stark definitely doesn't care for it. Probably better they establish that now, anyway. "I'm just- extremely grateful that you're willing to help. Thank you."

[red_room]

"Try. I'm wiling to try to help. Your tech kit is way different to what I'm used to dealing with. Honestly getting to learn more about your structure and systems are only going to help me out in the long run, so it's no trouble."

The more weird ass things Tony can study and reverse engineer the better off they'll be in the long run as stranger and stranger threats keep making themselves known. Without the Avengers (the proper Avengers at least) around to handle things Stark's trying to take on as much as he can manage on his plate to help keep things safe.

This will be a much needed research opportunity with something that won't potentially end in death or an all out war.

"You're welcome. I'll shoot you a message when I'm ready to do some follow up work. Until then, relax, have some fun. You should be running a bit better than you came in here."

[rekindledtitan]

Despite Tony's attempt to temper her hopes, Blaze doesn't look the least bit swayed. It seems she's determined to trust in him no matter what he'd prefer.

She gives him a nod, and turns to join Natasha while Ghost sorts out the contact details. "I owe you for this, too, Romanov. Both a debt and my thanks."