( colligo ¬ get collected ) → network.

[ The resounding clang of metal on metal drowns out the beginning of a dialogue, and even as the voices grow louder, a storm of swords can still be heard loudly in the background, punctuated by shouts of manly, English-accented rage. ] YOU! THE MAN WHO WEARS THE ARMOR OF A WARRIOR! WHO DARES TO CHALLENGE THE MIGHTY THOR, YET MAKES A MOCKERY OF ASGARDIAN BATTLE PROCEEDINGS? VERILY THOUGH DIDST NOT RECKON WITH THE MIGHT OF THOR, KNAVE!

[ A large object (a hammer?) smashes through something wooden, sending books to the ground in a clatter and temporarily immobilizing one fo the guards, but lo! It impedes him little! ] UNHAND ME, VILLAINS! I WOULD TAKE MY LEAVE OF THIS LAND AND RETURN TO MY RIGHTFUL HOME!

YOU FLEE, COWARDS? RETURN THIS INSTANT, AND GIVE ME THE ANSWERS I SEEK OR I SHALL BRING ABOUT A STORM THE LIKES OF WHICH YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN. YOU WILL ANSWER FOR THE TRICKERY YOU WROUGHT AGAINST THE SON OF ODIN, YOU MEN OF METAL! DESPITE YOUR MANNER OF DRESS, YOU ARE SURELY NOT THE COHORTS OF MY FRIEND, THE MAN OF IRON.

[ a long pause, as Thor bangs against the door hard enough to rattle them on their hinges, but receives no answer. ]


WHAT CRUEL DECEIT HAS BROUGHT ME HERE? BROTHER? IF THESE ARE MORE OF YOUR GAMES --- [ A shout of indignation, and the sound of thunder and lightning cracks through the silence like a gunshot. It's likely that people actually heard this happening before they heard it on the post.]

Okay. I'm going to go scrap scrounging tomorrow. I've got four projects lined up, and I could use some people to help me sort through this stuff and see what might be useful. Anyone with an engineering background and/or super strength is invited to come. Other applicants will be evaluated on a case by case basis. I built the first Iron Man armor in a cave, so this should be cake in comparison.

Cap, Thor, you guys are third on my list of priorities. (Congratulations, that's much higher than most people will ever be.) Mandatory technology orientation. This week or next week. First, someone's going to need to beg, borrow or steal me a larger monitor. I can't do a technology orientation on this laptop. Also, you'll both be getting new phones when I get around to making them. The name of the game, my friends, is shock absorption. Making Thor's withstand lightning is going to be interesting. But if we play it right, I guess you might never have to plug it in to charge it. And obviously they'll have to be user-friendly, since you're both dinosaurs. And I say that fondly.

Actually, no. New holographic lab environment is number one, you guys are bumped to number four. But a number four that is very close to my heart. Fourth closest. But still close.

After that, we're watching 2001: A Space Odyssey. That's number five. Though I wouldn't call it a project, exactly. Well, I guess your ongoing cultural education is sort of a project. If not one that will respond to scrap metal.

Banner, I could use your help with something. Especially if you don't have a problem with larceny, but even if you do.