Video;

[manofiron]

[ Finding out that Pepper's stocks in Stark Industries have been transferred to him - and because she'd been running it, he can only assume that it's the lion's share - and that that means she's presumably gone is not the way he wants to start the day. But it is what it is and there's nothing he can do about it.

He's wearing the suit, though the helmet's off, and the expression on his face is as professionally detached as the matter-of-fact tone of his voice when he speaks. ]

It's come to my attention that Pepper Potts may no longer be in residence in the city.

[ That covers that and he's not lingering on it. If he does, he'll wonder what that means, if some piece of her has gone back to the world she remembers or if she's dead and her body is being recycled or whatever it is they do with clones when they're gone. It isn't something he needs to worry about right now. Not in front of an audience. So he moves right along to business. ]

I've been informed that per her request, her interests in Stark Industries have been transferred to me. For those of you don't know, I'm Tony Stark, and if you work for SI, it means you're working for me.

[ May whatever aliens people consider gods help them all. ]

If you do, I want to know who you are and what you do for the company. If you don't, and you want to, talk to me.

And be prepared for change. It's coming.

[ What that change is, he doesn't know yet. But once he finds out what the company's been doing, he'll figure out the right path for it to take under his leadership. And this time, it's going to be a damn sight better than the last time he was at the helm. ]

Comments

[constants]

I have always been the Archive. It passes from mother to daughter at birth.

[ She is going to fight him every step of the way. ]

[manofiron]

At birth? So for nine months you were a little mass of dividing cells of something that wasn't an Archive. See, it'd be like calling me the Mechanic. That passed from my father to me at birth, but I'm more than just a magical thing that can make the future a reality.

[constants]

For nine months I was a developing human without a name, and then I was born and became the Archive.

[ There's no point in naming something when it's never going to be called by that name. Her mother never came up with a name for her, it was never in her game plan to stick around and raise her daughter, just pass the Archive along and die. ]

[manofiron]

[ He sighs, long and put-upon. ]

Okay, at the end of the day, the Deputy of Fun doesn't have a formal sounding name. That's not fun and is in direct opposition of your job title. Therefore, pick something fun for work.

[constants]

[ If she was one to sigh in front of people, she would as well. ]

I shall return the title of "Deputy of Fun" to you, in that case.

[ It didn't fit her really, for all that she supposed a few people would have enjoyed hearing that she had been assigned such a title and position. ]

[manofiron]

Sorry, no can do, Deputy. Title comes with the job. And you don't want to abandon Bruce to the lab. You won't like him after he's been left to run free in the wilds of the microscope forest. He gets all googly-eyed and talks in nothing but differential equations.

[constants]

[ So. Much. Internal sighing. ]

You are correct, I do like working with Bruce and my job.

[ If he's paying close enough attention to notice, it sounds a tiny bit strained. Expressing and validating emotions she has toward people is an extremely new development for her, it's still a challenge and feels wrong. ]

However, I also like differential equations. Math is my favorite activity.

[ Math is the best in her book. She'd much rather do math than anything else. This is said with none of the previous difficulty. Interest in something knowledge based is something she's comfortable with. ]

[manofiron]

That's not what I—Okay, look. Just do your job and I'll give you a whole notebook of differential equations. And fractals. Everybody loves fractals.

[ Nobody loves fractals but him. At least, that's what he's always believed. ]

We'll work on the name thing later. One step at a time.

[constants]

[ That's a victory for her. She can do this forever, and if she got off without picking a name this time, she can probably manage it in the future. ]

Fractals are nice as well, but usually I don't look at them. I would be interested to see how quickly I could recognize what equation was represented by the image.

[ There are hints of genuine curiosity in her voice. It's the most she's expressed herself the entire conversation. ]

[manofiron]

Yeah? Okay. Tell you what. I'll come down to the lab and we'll do some equation Pictionary. Sound good?

[ Tony likes math. He likes fun. Making a game out of math seems like it will be twice the fun and therefore something he ought to make it a point to do. ]

[constants]

Very well. I will look forward to it.

[ This is a good kind of fun. ]

[manofiron]

Me too. See you soon, Deputy.