video;

[upshore]

[There's a man in his late 20s on the screen, and he looks tired. Not like he hasn't been sleeping well - though that, too - but like 'tired' is just generally a state of being for him. His hands are out of frame. He's going to keep it that way.]

Not to diss Raine and Heather, without whom I would be dead, and I am very grateful for their help, I've got a question. Out of curiosity, are there any doctors here? Gonna be clear here - I don’t mean maniacs with rusty shears, I don’t mean someone with a penchant for making people into unwilling human guinea pigs for whatever the fuck, I don’t mean Dr. Strangelove’s crazier Nazi cousin who’s trying to turn mental patients into batteries for nanomachines with more tubes in them than that one senator guy called the internet.

‘Cause before I let anyone come near me with so much as a stethoscope in future, I’m going to need to see some medical credentials.

[A pause, and then:]

Also, if anyone comes at me dressed as a priest, this is the only warning you’ll get that I am going to set you on fucking fire. It worked on the last guy.

Comments

[highprofilerichkid]

Nope. What is it? A corporate logo?

[upshore]

...not exactly. [It's the logo of the worst thing since...no it's a pretty shitty corporate logo basically.]

Since you say you specialize in nanotechnology, what does that extend to? I'm just trying to see how much you might be able to answer.

[NO MILES DON'T GIVE HIM A CHANCE TO ENGAGE HIS EGO]

[highprofilerichkid]

I've done plenty of work with nanoengineering and nanomaterials, especially within the fields of computing, electrical engineering, and biotech. I'm pretty solid on all the current literature, though. Whatever you want to know, I bet I can tell you.

[Tony grins.] Unless you're from the future - then you can tell me all the new stuff that's been developed.

[upshore]

I'm from September 2013. Not sure if that's the future or ancient history for you. Somehow I suspect ancient history.

Biotech, huh? [He taps his pen against the desk, thinking. He really does not want to get into any of this, but it's crucial that he finds out how irregular - okay, how unethical - Project Walrider had been.] You have some free time to meet in the next few days?

[highprofilerichkid]

2012. We should be on about the same page. I work at the College; you can come down to my lab any time. Just ask for Tony Stark and someone will show you where it is.

[Tony hopes he makes it sooner rather than later. The cagey attitude and frankly sort of unhinged rant have made him really curious what this guy knows or wants to know about nanotech.]

oh good, if he's coming off a little wackaloon, that means i'm doing it right :V

[upshore]

Sure. See you.

[And Miles makes it sooner; within a few hours he's at Tony's lab. He knocks on the door and pokes his head in.] Hey. Miles Upshur. We spoke on the consoles...?

[highprofilerichkid]

[Oh, hey, that was fast. Tony wasn't expecting him to show up this soon, so he's in the midst of some welding. He turns off the torch, pulls off the gloves, and pushes up his goggles. Welding gear and grease stains - the classic engineer look.]

Cool, come on in. Miles? Tony. Nice to meet you. What do you need?

[upshore]

[Wow. This guy really does look the part. That all doesn't look very nanotech-y, but he did say he did electrical engineering, too.]

Yeah. You asked about using people as power sources for nanites like you knew what I was talking about. You brought up hosts, too. I think you could help me shed some light on the little science project I encountered before coming here.

[highprofilerichkid]

Uh... [Sort of abrupt, but okay.] Yeah, sure. I'm not sure what you mean about using people as power sources, but I'm familiar with bio-compatible nanotech. I don't know if you have them in your world, but in my world there's an organization called SHIELD, and they had something called the Extremis program. Nanotechnology to enhance human biology. Is that the sort of thing you're talking about?

[upshore]

[Miles shakes his head.] None of that sounds familiar. And what I'm talking about is the opposite. Using people as...farms, I guess, to grow nanites. Manipulating their cells to psychosomatically produce nanites, and controlling them through a lucid dreaming state.

It sounds like bullshit, I know, but it was real enough to toss me around like an orca toying with a harp seal.

[highprofilerichkid]

Oh - manipulating cellular machinery to produce nanostructures, sure. Lucid dreaming...? That's new. So, direct mental control of an independent nanite swarm?

[Tony looks very intrigued, too caught up in the science to pay attention to the not-at-all-subtle hints that Miles is maybe not the biggest fan of nanotech.]

Sounds like pretty bleeding edge stuff. But yeah, if you had a machine to process the mental input and transmit commands to a swarm, it's definitely doable. I haven't heard of anyone in my world working on that, yet, though. I sort of have a mental interface with my nanites, but it's a totally different thing.

"bleeding edge stuff" go to time-out

[upshore]

[Sheesh. Tony is...a little bit oblivious. So, like almost everyone Miles knows when they really get into a subject. Himself included, too, probably. Still, he gets out his notebook and begins taking a few notes. His missing fingers are very much in display now, and it's clear he's still not used to it; he fumbles with the pen as he writes, trying to rest it against an index finger that isn't there anymore.]

Uh-huh, yeah. Someone was hooked up to a machine, [a fucking Death Star of medical torture,] and kept in a constant dreaming state.

[Then the rest of what Tony said catches up with him. Cue cartoon brake noise.] Your nanites?

[ABORT MISSION ABORT MISSION ABORT ABORT]

hueuehuehueuhueheh

[highprofilerichkid]

[Tony frowns, and he's about to ask for some details on just how illegal all this research was, when Miles performs an impressive physical rendition of the record scratch.]

The Extremis nanites, yeah. I was one of the... test subjects. [Sure, 'test subject,' that works. That's technically accurate and only moderately misleading.]

[upshore]

[Super illegal, Tony. The illegalest.

Again, cue record scratch. He heard that pause, Tony.] What do you mean, 'test subjects'?

[highprofilerichkid]

Um... One of the people it was tested on to see how it would work?

[Okay, yes, he's being a little bit deliberately obtuse. But come on, Miles, what kind of question is that?]

[upshore]

See, because the last 'test subjects' [it is by sheer force of will, and remembering that he does not have one index finger anymore, that he keeps from making airquotes] I saw were mutilated half to death with dormant nanites in their bloodstreams, subjected to 'therapy' [THE DESIRE TO AIRQUOTE IS STRONG] against their will. So please, please tell me you knew what you signed up for.

[highprofilerichkid]

[This interaction sure got intense fast.]

Well, I actually, uh... stole it, [Tony admits.] So did the other guy. It wasn't technically ready for human trials yet.

[upshore]

[WHAT THE HELL, DAMN GUY.]

...well, at least you did it on purpose.

So since you specialize in nanites, the ones you have...they're okay?

[highprofilerichkid]

[Situation defused...? Tony allows himself to relax slightly.]

Yeah, they work great. Even better than I thought they would. I just didn't want to die of heart failure, but now I can hack satellites with my brain.

[upshore]

[...what the hell, damn guy?]

...literally none of that is what the ones I have any experience with do. They're, uh...weapons. Murkoff, one of the biggest corporations where I come from, took Nazi science and expanded on it.

[His voice is very tightly controlled on that last sentence, but he's clenching the fist with his pen in it so tightly that if he had the strength, it might snap. Fuck the military-industrial complex, yo.]

[highprofilerichkid]

[Okay, no, still pretty intense.]

Oh. [Given the tone of Miles' original broadcast, Tony probably should have been more prepared for the conversation to go in this direction.]

I guess Extremis would have been a weapon, too, if it had ever gotten off the ground, [Tony says. His tone is cautious - he's not sure how this bugfuck crazy guy will react.] They were trying to recreate a supersoldier serum from the forties. No Nazis, though. [Fury wouldn't stoop to using Nazi science. Probably.]

Mallen, the other guy who got the serum, took way too much. He turned himself into a weapon. A monster, literally - creepy demon eyes, fire breath, the whole deal.

i desperately need miles and cap to meet. someone bring me a cap

[upshore]

[What the fuck is up with people trying to recreate shit from the Forties? The only good thing to come from the Forties was color TV. And his Jeep. And the United Nations he guessed but look can we just give up on this History Channel-like World War II fixation already?!]

Oh. Good. Nanites making people into demon monsters. That doesn't sound familiar at all. [Taste the sarcasm. Well, he's fibbing for dramatic effect; the Variants had been violent and monstrous, but not demons.]

I think there needs to be some sort of Geneva Convention about not recreating weird fringe science from World War II, [he grumbles.]

[highprofilerichkid]

[Tony gives that a chuckle.] Yeah, that would probably save us all a lot of trouble. Of course, I'd also probably be dead, so that's kind of a downer for me.

[Ha ha, gallows humor! But seriously, there's got to be some reason Miles came to see him besides venting about evil Nazi science.]

So... were you part of this program? Are you one of the hosts? Is that why you wanted to talk to me?

[upshore]

[Miles chuckles too. Good gallows humor, kid. Join the club.]

No. No, I wasn't involved with the program at all. I'm a journalist. I went to check out a tip about abuse at a mental asylum. Turns out, the company running it had also been testing their pet project out on the patients.

[He flexes one of his hands, almost unconsciously. They're still hurting - phantom pains in phantom fingers.] Since you said one of your specialties is nanotech, I was wondering what you could tell me about some of the technology. I don't know as much about it as I'd like, and I'll need some context for the story.

[highprofilerichkid]

Damn. That's messed up. [That ranting hadn't been hyperbole after all.]

I can tell you a lot about nanotech, but... you know you probably won't remember any of this when you go home, right?