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Most boys would count themselves lucky to have a toy car that went on its own. The year was 1965 and there was Fitz sitting on the fire escape on the second floor above the Wing Sing with what looked to be some sort of small helicopter?
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz-
What was this world coming to. The man int eh neighbouring window called out of his window chiding the noise, "You raising a really big mosquito? Make it quieter!"
The Scotsman just grinned in amusement as it started finally losing altitude. "Riiiight, Mr. Murphy. I'll look into that." Sadly the small remote flier came to a land on the sidewalk. Standing up Fitz pointed, "Hey, don't kick that please! It's a prototype!"
Stalls are set up on the street in between the doorways leading into businesses. They display herbs, trinkets, and lots of other things for sale. Noh-Varr, dressed in jeans and tank top, is standing at one stall munching in what's left of an egg roll and looking over what's for sale. This merchant is selling small carved statues of the Chinese gods and dragons in various poses. Picking up one carved from a reddish stone, he says something in Chinese and he and the merchant start haggling. That is, until a remote controlled helicopter comes in for a landing. Glancing down at it, he then looks up at whoever spoke. "I wasn't planning on it."
The very best Ramen in town, that is the nature of this excursion into Chinatown for Riri Williams. With her backpack on her shoulders, her thumbs hooked behind the straps, she ambles from one stall to the next. Ever driven by the exotic aromas.
That draw to delights is curbed, however, by the appears of a small buzzing flying machine not far from where she's strolling. "Holy smokes!" Interest instantly and irreversably peaked, eyes fixed on the 'prototype', looking up and around as it settles on the sidewalk. "Where did you get th-" She nearly bumps into Noh-Varr in her excitement, "oh, excuse me…"
Fitz stampede jogged to the end of the fire escape, climb down, and arrive slightly winded, remote in hand. To Noh-varr he turned a grateful look, "Thank you." He looked to Riri and made a gesture with his hands where words failed him a moment. "It's a, um, it's a prototype." Fitz paused and added, "Something I've been working on. Do you smell that?" He blinked and looked back to Noh-Varr sniffing for something. No, the spring roll wasn't it. His head swiveled, "Ooooh someone made the barbecue pork bao… it's like the world loves us."
"You are excused." Noh-Varr tells her. Never let it be said that he wasn't forgiving. Sometimes. He sets down the figurine and turns away from the stall. The old Chineee man just lsot a sale thanks to Fitz. And the look the merchant delivers upon the scientist says he knows it. "You are an inventor? I didn't think remote controlled drones were part of your tech level yet."
Riri doesn't have the words either, not while she's staring at the remote operated gyro She doesn't even know what to call it! "It's incredible.. What is it made of? How do you even get enough power for the rotors to keep it airborne for longer than a few seconds?" Wild eyed like some crazy scientist, Riri kneels down and slips on her glasses to take a closer look. "Nevermind all that, I assume it's remote controlled, but that's…" Drumming the numbers in her head out on her knees and trails off with har jaw hanging open. "This is groovy, man."
Fitz smiled pleased with it and like any engineer, appreciated it when people had respect for the tech. He had to laugh at the verbage, "My tech level?" There was a phrase to confuse the man for the agest. Mistaken identity, or… something. "You'd be surprised at the level of tech people don't discuss. The physics are all there patiently waiting to be employed." One could almost wonder if he talked about waiting for Santa in the same tone.
Looking to Riri he offered, "The prototype is just scrap aluminium. I'm hoping to get opportunity once I get the design flaws out to make it out of something sturdier and lighter." Which might describe only few materials really. "The double propeller actually helps stabilize it quite a bit offreing VTOL capability. The battery I had to work with jsut gets drained really fast. Sooooo yeah. Power source is a wee bit of a problem." He looked back to the vendor and then to Noh-Varr having sympathy for the vendor, "I didn't mean to interrupt your negoation." Looking back to them both he seemed a bit impressed, "You know a bit about this? Not to sound… like a jerk, but really that's great." Not common, but always exciting to see.
"Physics is a constant." Noh-Varr agrees. "But you not only have to understand the principles you're working with but also have the technology base to implement them." He considers the drone a moment then says "You not only to build it from lighter and more durable materials but develop a power source that can be miniaturized enough to fit in your prototype and keep it working for long enough to be useful. Add in whatever other additions you will want it to carry such as a camera or weapons and you're still years away from anything approaching a working tool." After a moment, he adds "You might want to look into solar energy. If nothing else, you'll make a lot of money if you figure it out."
Riri raises her hand and wobbles it on a teeter, clearly not understanding or catching on how that's weird for her to know at all, "I know a little. I've only done minor research into minaturization technology, but I did place third at the Chicago science expo for building a solar-powered record player." Just third. For that.
"Have you considered using mundane solutions to your power requirement problem? Like a real helicopter; using catch-releases on the main props?" Squinting, she asks in a thoughtful voice, "How much torq do those propellers have?"
Fitz frowned to Riri, "Third for that? Is it because you wouldn't be able to use it after 5 pm… or if it's raining… or if you live in Glasgow?" He looked to Noh-Varr, "I swear it is never not cloudy there. As for solar? I've been considering creating a miniaturized zero-point energy field to disrupt the gravatational pull of the earth on it so it actually repells upward thereby using the rotors as stabilizers only. Like a fish swimming really…um… don't take this the wrong way, but I can't actually believe I get to have this conversation. At work I get as far as, "it's going to fly, and please don't try to eat it."
Noh-Varr frowns at Fitz as he talks. "Who are you? You're not Stark and you're not Reed Richards. You're talking about concepts that less than a half dozen people on this planet should have any idea about. The technology level of Earth is nowhere near advanced enough."
"They wanted to disqualify me." Riri says with a shrug, "They said I had to have cheated, but my science teacher argued in my favor, but they would only give me third place." She doesn't seem bothered, not in the slightest, at least not by that. "I mean there's a thousand reasons why a solar-powered record player is impractical, but I was twelve. I wasn't trying to save the world, just win a ribbon."
Then there's zero-point energy fields in the conversation.
One eye narrowed, the young woman raises her stare on Fitz, but she doesn't say anything all at once. The gears are turning behind her eyes, "You're talking some pretty spectacular levels of power to operate a disruption field… even for something this small." Nodding to the helicopter. "Like the size of a chevy nova… or something like a fusion reactor." Her hand turns upwards, "This big. Otherwise carrying the battery that nulifies the gravity would make the whole thing the size of an ''actual'' helicopter…"
"I mean.. still really cool, but… not very practical.. unless it's ''this big''.." She holds her hand up again.
She's just as interest in WHO Fitz is as Noh-Varr.. but also very much into a power supply ''that big''. For reasons.
Fitz grinned to Riri and seemed genuinly fascinated by this. "That's brilliant. Real scientists don't need awards though, just results. SOmeday they'll see their loss. At 12 though? That's an amazing talent, especially for a world that likely insists on you playing with dolls." He wasn't blind to teh socionormative typecasting people put upon thier children. There was a respect in teh tone, "All the more you'll show em. Also, I said it was a prototype." He grinned a bit, "I didn't say it was to scale." He looked back to Noh-Varr with an eyebrow raised and said "Well you left Dr. Pym off that list. His owrk in particle reduction and miniaturization is quite spectacular. Stark… focuses too hard on making weapons. I respect his work but I feel he's missing out on opportunity." Very bold statement. There was no arrogance in the tone, just a flat observation. "I suppose though, if you've not heard of me I might be doing my job properly. I didn't catch your names either." He offered a hand to Noh-Varr more formally, "Leo Fitz. They just…call me Fitz really though." No he wasn't one to drop his qualifications in a greeting, it's just gauche.
Noh-Varr glances at the hand a moment before taking it. "Captain Noh-Varr of the 18th Kree Diplomatic Gestalt." Someday, he might learn the value of being discreet but that day is not today. "I haven't studied the names of the few people on this planet who might be able to understand advanced physics. I've met Stark and Richards previously and so I know of them. I haven't met anyone named Pym."
"Kree?" Riri furrows her brow and glances at Noh-Varr, "Is that in Canada?" If there's information on these things, she's clearly not paying attention to it. Space travel, while absolutely facinating, is not really the woman's main point of interest.
She looks back to Fitz with a smirk, "How very double oh seven of you." Still grinning, a little easier now, "Riri Williams." Her greeting is accompanied by a little wave. "It's nice to meet you Fitz and Mister Noh-Varr."
Fitz arched an eyebrow curiously and said in imperfect accent of one that reads something rather than speaks it really, "Captain Noh-Varr, welcome to Earth." He picked the helicopter off the ground, paused and looker to Riri, "If we make it solar or fission powered we should in all fairness call it a heliocoptor. I'm actually rather fond of this idea to tell you the truth, Riri Williams." He couldn't help but grin at this. Physics puns and clever naming? Hey it was a good afternoon. To Noh-Varr he offered with a smalll nod, "I've gotten my doctorate in particle and quantum physics. And… mastered engineering but really as a physicist you really wind up building all your own things. It can't be helped. To be fair you're not wrong, Earth's not yet equipped and Kree are from… sliiiightly further more 'north' than Canada." By a few light years, but you know, northish would do fine.
"How did you learn to speak Kree?" Noh-Varr asks, studying Fitz much more intently now. "Or are you one of the ones my people experimented on long ago? They kept some of the language and are more advanced than humans." And now he looks at Riri in the same considering light. "It would explain the knowledge of advanced technology the average person here still considers speculative fiction."
"Hey! I never said it was fiction… just impractical at that size." Riri hurrumphs and crosses her arms. She's kind of connecting the dots that Fitz is saying Noh-Varr is from space, though not yet ready to jump onboard the train. She does not know anything of space travel, "I kind of feel like this conversation is way above my paygrade.."
Fitz looked to Riri with agreement, "Mine too, but they won't raise my salary." The smile hung and he shook his head. "I've been fortunate enough to have been consulted on the tech. I don't believe I've ever been expieremented on. I got a vaccine when I was six but that was for polio." Yeah, Fitzy, that doesn't count. "Riri, I have to ask, what is it you do? And I dare ask, what is a 'diplomatic gestalt consist of effectivly?"
"This was many thousands of years ago." Noh-Varr clarifies then pauses. "At least I assume it's not that different in this reality. Which agency do you work for?" he inquires of Fitz. "You came from an apartment so are not wealthy. If you worked for Stark, Richards or one of the others, you'd have mentioned it. You commented that not having heard of you was not just expected but encouraged. Therefore, a secret agency most likely government sponsored. As to what a diplomatic gestalt is, it is a ship's crew who are all trained in diplomatic relations as well as our other abilities. It makes us mroe effective as a whole than as individuals." He too is curious as to who and what this girl is and looks to her for an answer to Fitz's question.
"''Do''? I'm in community college." Riri's brow creases and shoulders shrug, "Vo-tech level engineering.. like working on combustable engines…" There's a frown, "It's not MIT, but they're still kind of iffy on who they let in.. not that I could go to MIT, or afford it, or want to… who wants to go to MIT? Not me, I promise you that. I want to work in Saul's auto parts when I graduate top of my class amidst the brightest children of mailmen in New York City." Scoff, play it off, who indeed. "So, really, nothing? I'm bored most of the time. I'm smarter than my teachers and could probably comp into a degree if I wasn't worried they'd try to have me expelled for asking."
Eyes shifting back and forth between the diplomat and the super spy. "Is there some sort of undercurrent of interstaller diplomacy happening right now? I feel like at any moment a galactic war could break out if I distract one of you… it's making feel weird."
Fitz nodded with Riri in agreement, "Yeah no kidding!" He paused, and considered this and offered politely, "Well if this is some sort of invasion my director would love to meet you. He loves those things. I just consult on the science really. In all seriousness, if you have contact information I'm certain he'd love to talk to you, granted that you already know Stark and Richards." Was he going to name drop SHIELD? Oh hell no, not in the middle of the street, but the man seemed to put pieces together. To RIri he asked curiously, "If, and this may sound very forward and I apologize," He bit his lip and fianlly let the words fall out of his face, "If you have a resueme, I'd really like to look it over. To be blunt it seems a kind of bollocks deal they're giving you on that and I'd be happy to pass that around to help you get some endorsement." He didn't want to say it but he was going to with a deep breath, "A lot of those professors are too worried about ego and placement that they seem to have this allergy to actually promoting good scientists and engineers because of various hangups. It's mad. Really though, I'd love to see if I can help someone who respects engineering find those opportunities if… you're interested. We could do coffee you can bring what you have on paper maybe?"
"There's already a galactic war that your planet is on the fringes of." Noh-Varr informs Riri. "If you're lucky, it'll stay that way." Looking back to Fitz, he shakes his head. "No, I don't. Though I suppose if you really want to get in touch with me, you can send a message via Johnny Storm."
"Well there goes sleep for the rest of the month…" Riri says under her breath in response to Noh-Varr's assertion that war with other planets is not just possible, but probable. Thankfully there's a distraction ready and apparent with Fitz, "Seriously?" She blinks a few times, "I don't really have a resume.. I mean nothing official. Third place in a middle school science fare probably isn't opening doors at any major technical firms."
Fitz really didn't want to tell Noh-Varr he lived in an apartment on the second floor because it was 7 stories above where he worked. He seemed to take this news of intergalactic war, not lightly, but ins tride offering, "Well.. the fringe is good. Better than right smack dab in the middle of a thing I suppose. Unlike that messy business in the South China Sea right now what withthe Vietnam situation coming to a head and the KRee ruins found there. Big mess. All over global news." His hands fidgeted withthe helicoptor for a longer moment considering the solar power before looking back to Riri with his brow furrowed, "Serious as a funeral. Really, resuemes can be tricky. It's really a matter of how things are compiled. Beyond thatI'd honestly love to see what you could do with access to the tech. You have solid ideas and given teh resources I honestly think could develop some way groovy things. Sooooo yeah?"
Kree ruins? News to him but this isn't his world. Not even his reality. "Judging people's abilities by their gender and skin color is a very stupid thing your species is doing." Noh-Varr says, shrugging lightly. "If you are given the opportunity, and you are, just do it." But that's none of his business nor does he really care. "If you need something, send a message to Johnny Storm." And he knows where Fitz lives should he want to talk to the man again. "I will be going."
There are ruins in Vietnam and a species of people who don't judge on race and gender? Seriously, Riri's world is kind of being smacked around a little. She's taking it pretty good, then she's an intellectual and no doubt had a suspicion of life off earth. "Well that's pretty cool.." Ruins, not war. It's all she can think of at the time. It's weak and has a shrug stapled on the end. "It was nice meeting you, Mister Diplomat. What's the honorific? Do Kree have honorifics? Nevermind.." To Fitz she nods slowly, "Okay, yeah. I can bring some of my sketches or something. We didn't cover resume writing at my school."
Fitz turned to Noh-Varr, slightly more formally, "Captain, it…was honestly a pleasure talking to you. I'll reach out to teh Baxter Building and set something up when you are able. And yes, Earth is still… getting its faculties together. I like to think it's just still realizing its potential." Optimistic one, isn't he? He paused, squinting an eye digging into his back pocket while balancing the heli-drone and remote in one hand and fishing out his wallet with the other. Flipping own the well-loved bifold wallet he pulled out a card and handed it to Riri, "Here. That's got my office line on it." It read Dr. Leopold Fitz; Science and Technology Division. Barely seemed old enough to be a doctor of anything, but when you give up things like going outside much or being social one can really streamline their youth apparently. "If you have contact info so I can reach out that'd be grand."
Riri looks at the car, flipping it over in her fingers a few times before putting it in the pockets of her jeans. "I have a phone in the common room of the dorms, but there's no telling if I'll be there or not." She says with a frown, "I'll give you a call and we can figure out when to get together." Eye shift a little to watch the Kree head off into the middle distance. "So you know the Richards well enough to just ring them up at the Baxter building? And Stark too?"
Fitz looked up and down the street and shrugged. He offered her what would be truthful enough on the oblique but also publically acceptable without giving up Shield's initiative. "I do build outs for the Avengers as a technical consultant and designer. I don't go do field work like they do, but I do get to make the toys." Sure, modesty now. This was less about the tech and more about him though. He offered to her with an earnest smile, "There's a lot of opportunity out there. I mean, your comprehension and ideas are being squandered by self-important men with small minds by the sound of it. If I can help make people listen to what you have to say?" He shrugged , but nodded, "Maybe we'll all learn something from ye."
Riri stared at Fitz quietly when he mentioned the Avengers and doing technical consultation. Her weight shifts from one foot to the other as she considers something and when the decision is finally made, it comes out in a string of consciousness, "I reverse engineered one of the Iron Man armors from salvaged parts when I was thirteen…" Barely managing it all with a single breath, the last few words trail off as she goes breathless. "I mean… what? No I didn't, how would someone even do that." Realizing maybe, just possibly, she shouldn't tell a potential ally of said Iron Man this fact.
Fitz blinked and arches and eyebrow slowly looking up. His fingers fidgeted with his drone and the remote. Yup. Fidgeting. There was a blink and a shake of his head doing a double take, "You took apart one of TOny's suits?" Aw hell. Was that bad? Fitz's expression became a grin of delight and amusement, "HA! That's brilliant! How would some one do that? With patience and an innate comprehension of light wave synchronicity I'd imagine. That's… fantastic. See this is the sort of thing we need to figure out how to put into your resueme. This-" He paused nad the expression softened shaking his head, "Riri, I swear that information's safe. Honestly, he should likely be really impressed by that. Look, I've got to get back, buuuut," He bit his lip and nodded with affirmation, "It was truly great getting to run into you. Please give me a call when you have the opportunity. I can't promise anything but I'd love to make sure you have a better opportunity to talk to the right people. You seem really groovy and…obviously capable, and I'd like to see you get to do something witht hat." With a fumble he piled all of his tech into one arm offering her a handshake.
Like him, Riri fidgets after blurting out what could, probably, be considered copyright infringement and get her arrested. She hadn't really considered that when she did it, just wanted to see what it could do or, at least, what she could do with it. "I mean.. it was just parts. Salvage. I never got a whole suit." She says sheepishly, brushing her sandal against the pavement while looking anywhere but at the otherwise grinning Fitz. "I wouldn't say what I built is anything close to anything ''he'' built." Which means she ''has one''. Maybe.
"Yeah.. yeah of course, sorry. I'm sure you're busy keeping the planet from breaking into war with another planet." She sounds serious, "I'll give you a call. Just… yeah please don't mention the suit? I shouldn't have mentioned it. Just.." A shrug. "Anyways, seeya around Fitz. Glad to have run into you!"