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Nikola Tesla : The Electric Jesus (oncemighty) wrote in colligo_threads,
@ 2012-05-23 13:25:00

Entry tags:

bruce banner, nikola tesla, tony stark, zoe tesla

WHO: Nikola Tesla, Zoe Tesla, Tony Stark, & Bruce Banner
WHAT: Tony needs a lab. Nikola has space he isn't using. It's really just common sense.
WHEN: May 23rd; Afternoon
WHERE: Nikola Tesla's Lab; Warehouse District
RATING: PG
STATUS: In Progress

It had been awhile since Nikola had anyone about who he could have continued in the competent colleague category. He had lost each of those that he had considered close to either the function of the city or other concerns. Helen had been sent back a year ago, as had Henry, and John had much more pressing things to worry about than science for quite awhile now. Zoe was the one person that he could constantly rely on for not only assistance but the sort of guidance that he often needed from the other mind in the room who could actively point out when he had flubbed up when his mind was going far too fast for his hand to keep up. But the thought that he could not only offer a fellow scientist a space to work in but gain another mind to help him sort out the kinks in the things that he was working on was more than he could have passed up when he had spotted the new arrival discussing the loss of his labs from home.

It had taken quite awhile longer than he had figured to clean out the half finished, abandoned projects from the corners of the lab that he had just been storing the things that he ended up stuck on. Even with the functioning transporter that he and Zoe had managed to put together, shifting each load onto the platform to send to the partner set up at the Sanctuary, it had been a good few hours until he had managed to get everything to a point that it looked workable. Even so, Nikola wasn't really looking forward to the pile of things that he was going to have to move when he actually made it back to the Sanctuary.

He just hoped he got back before Ashley stumbled across it and texted him to come get his crap out of the middle of the floor.

Either way, with that done, Nikola was more than ready for the visitors that he was waiting for. Flashing Zoe a bit of a smile, Nikola rubbed his hands together before sparing a glance between the door and the area that they had cleared, "It actually makes the place look bigger," He said before grinning. "Want to spread yourself out a bit before we give it up?"

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quantumkid
2012-05-23 05:59 pm UTC (link)

Chewing absently on her bottom lip, Zoe peered around the lab with a critical eye. It definitely looked bigger, she agreed with that much. However the reason it looked bigger - the fact that they were moving stuff out of the lab to make room for a stranger to move in - wasn't something she was sure she liked so much. She had agreed to give the man a chance, and she would, but she still couldn't help but feel a bit territorial of the lab and really wasn't sure how fine she was with sharing it.

"No," she finally decided after honestly considering Nikola's question for a moment. "I like my stuff where it is." And that, really, was the biggest problem she was having with this new change. She had a system, when she worked. A very specific way she did things that had taken her months to work out just right. Now, there was a chance she would have to alter that. Maybe not - and Zoe was hoping that Nikola was right when he insisted it wouldn't be necessary - but there was a chance and she didn't like that. Not even a little.

Still. There wasn't much to be done about it. The guy was on his way over and, being a kid, Zoe's opinion wasn't quite high ranking enough to keep that from happening. Sighing softly, she made her way over to the desk she had pressed against one of the walls. It was clearly her area, what with the bits of construction paper with complicated mathematical equations scrawled in crayon hanging up all around it. She could do this, she decided as she pushed her chair in and turned away from the table, back to Nikola. She'd given her word and she would do her best. And who knew? Maybe it wouldn't be that bad. She just had to think positive.

A low beep coming from the security monitor that alerted them to anyone approaching made her jump slightly before she offered Nikola a nervous smile. "I think he's here," she stated. Her nose crinkled slightly as she grinned a little more before tacking on, "Or the stinky homeless man's trying to get in to get food again."

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tonystarks
2012-05-23 07:52 pm UTC (link)

As the two men approached Nikola Tesla's laboratory, Tony Stark had to actively fight the ridiculous grin that kept creeping onto the corners of his face. It was one thing for Banner to see him grinning like an idiot (although he was attempting to avoid that as well,) but it was another thing entirely for him to go all Twihard in front of the man who pioneered modern electrical engineering. In truth, he could count on one hand the number of times he'd felt this anxious, giddy and starstruck. One finger, in fact, and that was only if you were counting right now towards his total.

He spent his saturday nights with celebrities, princes, foreign dignitaries, nobel laureates, superheroes, demigods, and on one memorable occasion, a tiny lesbian whom he later discovered was Justin Bieber. But this was Nikola Tesla. And he was certainly more of a god in Tony's book than Thor had ever been. They'd had a poster of Nikola Tesla reading next to a high-frequency transformer on the walls fo the Engineering lab at MIT. It was like he finally understood how Coulson felt about meeting Cap. But he was not going to ask him to sign his suit.

Probably.

He'd deliberated for a long time on whether or not he should bring his suit, but ultimately decided it would be best to leave it in the apartment to avoid the temptation. But not before slapping on the bracelets in case he needed to call it. Because hey, if you get the opportunity to show off in front of Tesla, you're a fool not to take it.

"You ready for this?" Tony asked, looking at Banner with a sly smile and reminding himself to be cool for what was probably the hundredth time in the last half hour.

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smashes
2012-05-23 08:12 pm UTC (link)

Ready for this? Ready for this? No, Bruce thought to himself, he most definitely was not ready for this. How was he ever supposed to be ready to meet Nikola Tesla, in the flesh? Nevermind getting to see his lab, firsthand. This was a glimpse into one of the most brilliant minds throughout all of mankind. It so far surpassed anything Bruce had ever before seen or done that he was having a hard time getting himself to believe it was even real.

"Are we-" No. Wait. Wrong wording. You didn't ask Tony things like 'are we doing this'. That was a bad idea because the answer, no matter how ridiculous the question, was always going to be 'yes'. See? Bruce was learning. Pausing, he tried again.

"We're really about to do this, aren't we?" There. That was a little better. It made it obvious he wasn't backing out, certainly wasn't changing his mind. He was just... overwhelmed. By a lot. And although Tony hadn't said as much, Bruce had a feeling he was feeling much the same way. After all, this was the sort of thing that scientists could only dream about doing. Yet here they were, standing in front of a warehouse with a security panel beside the front door that indicated it definitely was not just a warehouse, about to meet Nikola Tesla.

"I haven't felt this nervous since... ever." Bruce scrubbed a hand down his face, then glanced at Tony. "Okay, let's go." Because that was the best way to do it, right? Quick, like a band-aid. Just like telling Clint about Phil and-

No, he decided quickly as the door began to unseal then slowly open, no this was not the best way to do it. Quick like a band-aid sucked. It was too fast, didn't give him enough time to prepare at all. He needed to figure out what to say, how to act, what to do. But now it was too late. Now the door was opening and it was now or never.

Trying to school his expression into something that wasn't an equal mixture of awestruck and terror, Bruce straightened up a bit and turned, standing beside Tony, to face the man waiting on the other side.

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oncemighty
2012-05-23 08:36 pm UTC (link)

Nikola had done what anyone with a security system set up to monitor anything or anyone in the area would have done when they were expecting guests. He watched them. At least, for a moment or two, to try and gauge just how they were reacting. To be fair, Nikola had only been expecting one individual, but there really was no reason to turn the other away simply because he was unexpected addition. He looked anxious enough as it was, and Nikola would have hated to turn away someone who really and truly wanted to take a look around. It was rare enough to find one person with both the capability and appreciation to keep up with him. Two would be an even bigger treat.

Pulling open the door to the lab, Nikola lingered in the door frame for a moment, just grinning at the pair of them, "I'm not really sure I've got room for two," He said, glancing between the two men, Stark and Banner if he had gathered enough correct information from the network, before stepping back to let them inside. "But you're welcome share the area that I've cleaned out if you're both looking for a place."

Nikola had come a rather long way from the rinky-dink lab space that this had been when he had first arrived almost two years ago, with bits of stolen equipment from all over the city propped together in a slowly rusting out abandoned warehouse, and even as the warehouse surrounding them was still falling down, the eye was directed instead to the projects and equipment which littered the area. Kitted out with reserves from the Sanctuary, items that he'd bought with Parker's funds, as well as the various elements that he'd built, as well as a huge series of chalk and whiteboards propped up all over the place, the lab was about the best example of organized chaos that one could come across in the city.

"Normally this is the part where I tell you not to touch anything, but I think you boys can probably tell what's finished and what's not."

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tonystarks
2012-05-24 02:47 am UTC (link)

When the door to the lab opened and Tony saw Tesla holding onto the doorframe with a grin on his face, he was so utterly dumbstruck that he very nearly forgot to breathe for a few seconds. It was one thing to talk to a man who claimed to be Nikola Tesla on your PDA, but to stand in front of one of your childhood heroes as he welcomed you into his lab? This must be how his interns felt when they met him. On a much larger scale, obviously, but nevertheless. In any case, whoever came up with that old adage about never meeting your heroes was clearly just jealous. This moment was objectively awesome.

"Thank you again, it's a real pleasure to meet you. I hope you don't mind that I brought a friend. I knew there was a good chance he'd kill me if I came to see the lab without him," Tony said, flashing a grin and reaching out to shake Tesla's hand before gesturing towards Bruce in introduction. "This is Dr. Banner, he's done some tremendous work on anti-electron collisions and he's a big fan." Following Tesla into the lab, Tony's mouth opened ever so slightly of its own volition as he took it all in. The lab may not have had the space or the bells and whistles that Tony was used to working with at home, but he wasn't about to complain. He was in the presence of greatness, and if he was very lucky, he might get a chance to see what some of this greatness could do.

"Oh, don't worry about us. We hardly take up any space at all. Well, most of the time," He added, nudging Bruce in the ribs with a conspiratorial smirk. "I love what you've done with the place. How long have you been here? And how'd you get all this stuff put together? I can't imagine they've got much in terms of resources around these parts. No major university with labs, no funding, no defense contracts. This is remarkable."

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smashes
2012-05-24 03:21 am UTC (link)

Normally, Bruce wasn't overly keen on the idea of someone speaking on his behalf. Part of finding balance between himself and the other guy - even if it was tumultuous at best - meant becoming comfortable enough in his own skin that he could speak his mind when the situations called for it. However in this particular instance, when he felt as though his heart had stopped beating and breathing became a task that was much easier said, than done, he had to admit that he didn't mind Tony speaking up for him. Truth be told, he wasn't entirely sure he would have been able to talk right away, anyway.

Fortunately, by the time Tony had finished speaking, Bruce had managed to find his voice. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Tesla," he finally said, extending his hand to shake the other man's while offering him a smile. "And you don't have to worry. I may stop in to check on Tony, from time to time..." He hesitated. "Provided that's fine, of course. But I don't need any space for myself. Not really. I just..."

Have wanted to meet you since I was a boy. Didn't trust Tony to handle this on his own and wouldn't have let him come alone even if I did. Bruce smiled slightly, shoving the thoughts to the back of his mind and ending his introduction with a simple, "Really didn't want to let this opportunity pass me by. It isn't every day someone gets to meet one of the greats."

And okay. So maybe that was a little over the top, but Bruce couldn't help it. This was the Nikola Tesla. This was his lab. His notes. His experiments. His... daughter? Bruce blinked in faint confusion as his gaze suddenly landed on a small girl with a head full of curly hair and a somewhat wary look on her face.

"Well," he said, a bit dumbstruck as he looked from Tony to Nikola as though seeking some sort of confirmation for the existence of the child. "Hello, there."

"Hello," Zoe replied without missing a beat, her gaze sliding easily from Bruce to the man she recognized from the network. "And to you, too," she tacked on before looking back to Nikola. "The machine's ready," she stated, eerily enough, a split second before a timer off to the side of the room began to beep. Looking from Bruce, then Tony, then Nikola once more, she then turned on her heel and made her way back to her own little corner of the lab and immediately reached for a crayon before she began scrawling down a complex math equation onto a piece of construction paper.

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oncemighty
2012-05-24 04:03 am UTC (link)

"Nikola, please," Nikola said, shaking each of their hands in turn, unable to keep the utter amusement off his features. He had met a lot of people who were more than happy to voice their appreciation of his work since he'd been here, so much so that saying he had fans had almost become a staple in provoking annoyed eye rolls from everyone at the Sanctuary, but it was still so gratifying to know that there were still people who were working to expand the knowledge base that he'd laid down. "This era isn't nearly as formal as things used to be. I might be a good century your senior, but there's no reason that I should feel it," He said, taking a step back towards the project that had just went off, the indicator light glowing a bright blue as Nikola pulled open the container and tossed in all of the trash that he'd gathered up during the clean out. Shutting it back and locking it up, the piles of worthless papers, loose wires, and scrap parts that weren't worth salvaging slowly started to glow a dim red before vanishing into thin air inside the containment area. It really hadn't taken much to reverse engineer the disintegration ray that he and Zoe had put together into a garbage disposal system, but it was coming in a lot handier than a lot of the things that he spent forever putting together.

"I built most of it," Nikola said with a bit of a shrug. "I've been here almost two years. I borrowed, well, stole most of the equipment that I started with, and used mostly scraps until I stumbled across someone here that was willing to pay for me to work," He said with a bit of a laugh. "There's actually a pretty decent scrapyard not far from here. You would be amazed at the sort of things you can find there. And there actually is a University. It's not the height of technological advancement, but it has more than enough to suit. It's where I got this," Nikola said with a hint of a mischievous grin as he gave the mass spectrometer set up near the biological area of the lab a bit of a pat. "There is little in the way of massive funding around here, but you make do with what you can get your hands on. I can't say I've ever been overly concerned with money, anyway. As long as I can get done what I need to."

Grinning at the pair of them for a moment longer, Nikola made a sweeping gesture back at the bare area of the lab, "That's your area," He said with a nod to Tony. "And I don't mind the added company so stop by whenever you like," He said, turning his attention to Bruce. "And that's Zoe," He said with a bit of a chuckle. "My daughter and lab assistant. She keeps mostly to herself, but if she offers assistance, you're probably best to take it. She's a godsend pretty much all of the time."

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tonystarks
2012-05-25 07:36 pm UTC (link)

Some part of Tony was almost compelled to throw out a hand and stop Tesla from destroying the scraps of wire and bits of paper that had collected in piles on the floor of his lab. After all, there had been a time - and that time had been roughly two days ago - when a rich man like Tony Stark would have paid through the nose for a coffee mug that Tesla had looked at in the hopes that some of the man's brilliance had managed to stick. But he restrained himself. Truth be told, the only thing that stopped him was the realization that outing himself as a crazy person might make Tesla rescind the invitation to use his lab. And of course, the understanding that working in the lab meant he'd have plenty of opportunities to thumb through the man's scraps and papers without looking like an unhinged private detective.

Tony wasn't entirely convinced that he hadn't died and crossed over into some weird afterlife, but this was proof positive that whatever this place was, it wasn't hell.

"Good for you," He nodded, duly impressed at the man's resourcefulness (not to mention his balls, stealing a mass spectrometer and hauling it out to a warehouse without anyone catching on.) With a sly, conspiratorial smile at the mass spectrometer, Tony gave Bruce another gentle prod in the ribs. He wondered if Crazytown Community College hadn't realized that was missing, or if they just saw Tesla walking around in the science department and assumed he was supposed to be there. Not that anyone could have blamed them for the oversight. "I'll have to get you to point me in the direction fo that scrapyard, see if I can't jerry-rig some decent tools."

"But I get you. Money is great, but if you're not doing it for the love of the game, then what's the point?" There was no way Nikola Tesla could know enough about Tony to realize how preposterous that statement would sound coming from him, right?

Trying not to look too confused at the revelation that the notoriously celibate Tesla had somehow acquired a small child, Tony gave the curly blonde wunderkind a wave and a smile, briefly reminded of himself at her age. After all, he'd made his first circuit board when he was four, and was dancing circles around other so-called brilliant scientists while other teenagers drove around in beaten-up volvos knocking over mailboxes. Of course, he did his share of that, too, but that was a story for another time.

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quantumkid
2012-05-27 05:22 pm UTC (link)

Although somewhat distracted, Zoe glanced up from her piece of paper when Nikola introduced her. She offered both Tony and Bruce a small smile and waved back. She still wasn't sure if them being there was a good idea, or that she was going to like it, but she also knew better than to act out about it. Nikola wouldn't take that very well, she was pretty sure, and it would only make her look like some kind of baby anyway.

"I'm working on the Catalan–Mersenne conjecture," she announced in a matter-of-fact tone, deciding that speaking to them was probably better than standing there, staring. "I almost got it figure out, too. So I pro'bly won't be bugging you lots just yet cause I really want to get it done."

Bruce blinked, gaze sliding to Tony with an expression that was part amusement (mostly at the insinuation that Tony Stark wasn't interested in money), part befuddled (which was due primarily to there being a small child in Nikola Tesla's lab). This, he decided, was almost too much. "That's an interesting conjecture," he finally managed to say to the girl before his gaze went to Nikola.

"So you just walked out of the science department with a mass spectrometer?" he asked. There definitely wasn't any judging in his tone but rather he sounded impressed. And still awestruck. After all. Nikola Tesla.

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oncemighty
2012-05-27 09:44 pm UTC (link)

Nikola was well aware that it would probably take Zoe some time to get used to having someone else in the lab regularly. It had been just them, and the occasional visitor, for pretty much as long as they had been working together. Another person would not only add extra disruptions for her to have to get used to working through but might pull his attention in other directions. She had expressed her reservations about the new set up, and Nikola was going to do his best to make sure that the young Stark didn't make thing too difficult. But all the same, he was equally as proud of her for not insisting that the lab was just for the two of them. Especially since he had a feeling that that might be what she really wanted to say.

With a gesture to lead the pair of them a bit further back into the lab, if only to give Zoe a bit of peace to work in, Nikola smiled a bit at Tony's statement before chuckling, "Money's more often than not the endgame that most people have in mind," He said. "I'm not as naive as I used to be, thinking that the collective benefit of mankind was somehow enough of a motivator for everyone. Money makes the world go round," Nikola said before pausing and allowing himself a broader grin. "Luckily, this place isn't run on the larger world rules."

Offering Bruce a hint of a self-satisfied smirk, Nikola just shrugged at the question, "A hint of confidence and a few well placed words, and I would be amazed with what you can get away with around here. The mass spec was easy. It was getting the centrifuge out of the clinic that was the tricky bit," He said before flashing a broad smile. "Anymore questions? Just about the area in general? I've been here long enough to pretty much be able to tell you where you can find anything."

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tonystarks
2012-07-08 11:03 pm UTC (link)

"I'll be sure not to get in your way, then," He told her, giving the tiny blond thing a curt nod of understanding. Huh. Guess he really didn't have to worry about the kid crying or making a fuss in the lab, did he? If only all children could be put to work on things that useful. Okay, now that he's heard that thought rattle around in his brand a bit, it's probably good no telepaths were around to hear him think it.

Tony responded to Tesla's smirk with a conspiratorial grin in Banner's direction. He could feel his fingers itching to touch the equipment, eager to just jump in and get to work. He hadn't been here long, but going any amount of time without his lab was really too much. He needed a project. Anything to keep his brain from standing still. He did have questions - like, how harshly is theft punished around here? and, is it still grand larceny if you do it for the greater good of the scientific community? but they didn't seem like entirely appropriate starter questions. "Where can I get a hologram projector, and what do we have in terms of transparent conductor materials for a projected capacitance touch screen? Indium tin oxide will do, but I guess that will depend on what this planet has handy."

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