7433/Sentinels: Meanwhile, murder-bots

Sentinels: Meanwhile, murder-bots
Date of Scene:	07 May 2019
Location:	Penthouse - Stark Tower
Synopsis:	Tony and Steve have an ethical debate over the Sentinels being good or bad
Cast of Characters:	Iron Man, Captain America
Tinyplot:	Sentinels

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Iron Man has posed:
It's morning: a clear, warm morning, without clouds in the sky, just the usual city's haze. Tony's home: which, of course, means his Tower. The guards guide Steve inside and into the elevator, where they leave him; Rogers isn't one of the guests that needs a constant babysitter by default: at least, not right now.

Not that Rogers can control the elevator anyway.

"Good Morning, Captain Rogers," JARVIS's serene and polite voice greets him while the elevator ascends. "Mr. Stark is in the penthouse suite, awaiting your arrival."

Indeed, Tony is: he's relaxed on one of the couches in comfortable loungewear, barefoot, flipping through news channels on a screen split into a ton of different smaller grids. The smell of expensive coffee is strong from the kitchen, as is a tray of mixed bagels and fruit.

Captain America has posed:
The Captain, captive of the elevator and the impossibly stoic AI system, glances up at the ceiling to see his reflection looking back down at him. "G'morning to you too, JARVIS, and thank you." Others might not thank the computerized butler, but old manners die hard and why not? Maybe there's some tally system he'll ring up with the AI through respect.

Exiting the elevator when the doors swoosh open in smooth hydraulic grace, he inhales and sighs. Ooh, the good stuff -- his footsteps make soft sounds as he crosses the room over to the kitchen. He's in casual office wear today, a blue plaid button-down and khaki slacks.

"Something on your mind then, Tony?" Steve asks as he gathers himself a bagel and begins hunting out a knife to spread liberal amounts of cream cheese upon it.

Iron Man has posed:
"You are most welcome," answers the polite AI. He's more than just a computer system, and has always been responsive to courtesy. It isnt' just in Steve's imagination.

"Hey." Tony calls in his simple, quick bark of greeting so common to the snarky inventor, with a lift of one hand to sort of wave backwards towards Steve. "Help yourself," he says, without turning.

At the question though, he turns around, arm on the back of the couch, but still remains sprawled. "Always. As if there were ever a state of empty relaxation around here? Attempts at that is what the booze is for," Tony jokes. His mood is good, as evidenced by his manner. "But have some of that French onion cream cheese on a bagel first. It can wait a minute for sustenance."

Captain America has posed:
Scanning the counter for the cream cheese in question, Steve finds the tub and squints at the label before setting it down again. He locates that knife and begins liberally spreading the French onion cream cheese over the halved pastry-bread.

"'ppreciate it. Brain's already up and running like a gerbil on a wheel, but a little coffee never hurt anything, right?" He gives Tony a small smile, a true one given how his eyes squint the slightest. In fact, about that coffee -- he's sure to pour himself a mug to the brim of it and sips it down a notch to safe, un-sloppable volume before taking it up as well as his plate. Meandering over to one of the sofas nearby to Tony, the Captain sits after placing down his food and drink on a nearby table. "You sleep at all?"

Iron Man has posed:
"Doesn't my clearly bushy-tailed manner prove that I did?" Tony asks, smirking. He probably ate already, there's an emptied plate near him, and a cup with a low amount of coffee there. He stretches, resuming his previous drape on the couch after picking it back up.

"But, I admit, first time to actually get in a full eight in some days." Tony shrugs a shoulder. "I've got some good headway on a lot of things, though, as well as a bit on our pal Trask. I think the whole 'attempt on his life' wasn't what he's pretending it was."

Captain America has posed:
Steve's brows flick at the perky response and he leans forwards to grab up his mug of coffee still wearing that small smile. A sigh leaves him as he leans back into the couch, comfortable as it is. Tony never spares any expense, not even with the furniture. The Captain sips at the brew and mulls it around his tongue, his expression slipping into the usual state of mild intensity over Tony's musings.

"Yeah? I know you spoke with him earlier on. You suspect Trask engineered it himself or something?" Those mobile brows meet in reproof at the idea.

Iron Man has posed:
"If you recall, Sebastion Doe, or whatever he's calling himself now, ordered that fleet of Sentinels away, took some as his personal bodyguards, sent out some messages, things like that." Tony's flippant tone turns more businesslike, though he looks into his coffee briefly, before dark eyes settle on Steve's blue ones.

"JARVIS has finished going through all of that mire of communication nonsense after I broke into it. It seems Doe, along with those things, /also/ sent an ultimatum to Trask to back off. He did that through a Sentinel near Trask: and there's a command in there that could result in somebody named Trask getting shot: enough to warn, but not kill."

Tony lifts both brows, with a smirk. He lets Steve think that one over, he doesn't immediately rush to explain what he thinks: it's a mark of respect. And laziness, sometimes: Tony doesn't leap to fill in information if he doesn't need to.

Captain America has posed:
"Mmm." Steve takes another full-mouth swig of the coffee, disrespecting its quality, before he leans forwards to grab up the plate showcasing his bagel. "Wondered if there was anything under that veneer of cooperation." He leans back again and takes a bite of the pastry. Despite the mouthful of food, he then speaks around the cheekful tucked out of the way.

"Were you able to confirm that he filed away the list of Avengers sent to him? Figured if he's got that information filed, it can be locked...maybe manipulated?"

Iron Man has posed:
"I can't tell what he did with that list in his own system, but I can see it's in the Sentinels there. Whether we're seeing what we want to see, and if he can't just remove the list when he pleases, that's another thing. BUT. If he were destroyed, they'd hold the programming that protects us, is what I can tell you," Tony replies, finishing his coffee.

"And, it looks like he's designing all these updates to spread to others. He's going to spread the upgrade to the whole of them. If we get programming we want, I guess that's good. I don't like either of 'Doe' OR Trask in power over the whole mass, it's getting larger and larger as a military presence every day. They're weapons, and you know how I feel about escalation of arms."

Tony's jaw tenses and he rolls to get to his feet, taking his mug and emotions with him into the kitchen.

Captain America has posed:
The frown deepens on the Captain's face. Still, he works another bite of bagel into his mouth rather than replying immediately. Thus, he's silent as he watches Tony excuse himself and his emotions to the kitchen. A slow sigh leaves Steve as he looks beyond the vacant couch now, out the wide windows and onto the forest of gleaming skyscrapers that make up New York proper, full of the day's workforce. Finding the bagel suddenly unappealing in the moment, he puts down the remaining third of the half upon the table and takes up his coffee again.

"You want Doe put down." Steve's words seem loud in the grand stillness of the penthouse.

Iron Man has posed:
Tony turns near the counter, resting back against it, and his hands splay to either side on the edge of the counter. "Don't make me the bad guy here. I'm aware that he's a conscious entity. He seems to have emotions, self-awareness. But we can't tiptoe around this: He's a potentially rapidly evolving creation that has programming related to the mass murder of innocent people. Period."

Tony pauses, and then continues. "Put him down? Maybe not, but either he needs an update in his core programming with some actual safeguards against being a murder-bot, or to be kept away from the sentinel forces. It's the mix that's volatile. I don't believe he's taking over Sentinels in order to de-escalate: he's upgrading their software." Tony's grumpy but still able to eat: he picks at the fruit while he talks.

"Maybe ask him to dismantle them, and we'd get our real answer there: what his agenda is. In the footage he's never struck me as elusive, at least. He'd probably describe how mutants should be killed if we asked for advice," Tony says, tone dark. He refills his coffee cup.

"Silver lining: I might be able to talk to Trask again, get him to slow his facilities while there's the possibility of losing them to Doe," Tony says, rubbing a hand across his goatee. "Worth a shot, except that he suspects we kept Doe from him, so he's not too happy with us."

Captain America has posed:
Tony gets a flat side-eyeing, but only briefly, before Steve goes back to looking out the windows upon the city. He sips at his coffee and would be forgiven for appearing to be disengaged were it not for the subtle tilt of his head towards Tony and the occasional glance.

"You'd have a good point bringing it up to Trask, how him continually making the robots is only furthering Doe's cause." The Captain rubs behind his ear and lets his hand fall to his thigh with a quiet slap of sound. "I'd hazard even turning them on each other, but the fallout's not worth it. Can't contain it like I used to be able to with HYDRA in the European theater. Tech's gotten too advanced. He listens to me."

Turning on the couch, he gazes at Tony now. "You've seen him. I'll talk to him again, tell him to stop upgrading the robots -- tell him he's not earning himself any trust with us. Diplomacy. If it fails, well..." Steve's face falls into grimness. "I'll lead the team to take him out myself. Not like I haven't had my trust forced back through my teeth before." A sudden influx of weariness greys out his true-blue eyes, like the passing of a cloud over the sun, but he never looks away from Tony.

Iron Man has posed:
"You'll talk to him. Okay. I did see him go along with you, yes. So, here's my problem with Doe," Tony says, approaching the counter and setting one palm on it firmly, as if punctuating his words. "What if most everything he says is bullshit?" Tony asks. "Hear me out here. Just follow his actions. So far he's crouched for months in our facility, possibly while tapped into our communications."

" He's done, what, a hunger strike, that doesn't actually mean anything, because he doesn't need to eat. While he's followed what you want, it got him what he wanted. He's interfaced with military Sentinel robots and appropriated a bunch of them for his personal use. He's physically assaulted not only Janet before, but now Trask, both of them human. I'm not comfortable with this machine, the evidence is not FOR him; I'll change my mind if I get inside his code and really see what he's about."

"T'Challa says he's out of time or our reality, and if that's so, he fits as some future horror Trask's team created: either a system that went out of control, or something else. I'm not optimistic enough to think he was sent here to stop the Sentinels. So far he's shown he's doing the opposite. He's taking control of them and making them WORSE."

Captain America has posed:
The coffee cup makes a quiet thunk on the table but thankfully doesn't slosh as Steve gets to his feet, unable to sit for any longer. "He stayed in that bunker when he could've left every single technician in a bloody spatter on the ground and walked out of it before they had time to call it in," the Captain points out coolly as he walks over to the windows, hands in his pockets. He adds, rarely and almost acidic, "And y'know, it's a crazy idea that a man suddenly aware he's in a world he doesn't know wouldn't suddenly turn on aid -- or wonder if he's considered a living being or a weapon when he's a step ahead of everybody else."

A hard sigh and shake of his head, as if shooing away the buzz of his own thoughts. "I've said it before. T'Challa confirmed it. He's not from this time and we can send him back to his own. If we're off by a few years, fine." The Captain shrugs and looks at Tony. "If he turns out to be the genocidal inhuman creation you think he is, better he shows up having been influenced by diplomatic treatment rather being held at gunpoint -- because you're right, Tony. Keep threatening him and yeah, he's going to keep trying to put up defenses."

Iron Man has posed:
"I did shut him down before," Tony replies, though not in a tone that's defensive. More to redirect, possibly back to himself. Tony often pulls conversations back to himself or what he can do. "I've seen some adaptation since then. I've kept my hands off and left the diplomacy about it to you. Even if I disagree, I didn't meddle," Tony says, pointing towards Steve once, direct, his tone firm. Tony can move to a strong, charismatic leadership angle when he's in the right mood.

It's those times that the Avenger leaders can clash the hardest, though Tony isn't being very combative: just sticking to his view. "I'm looking into the timeline correction, but while he's here, we deal with that problem. That means the other part of my project is to stay ahead of him, and get some new ways to get him offline if it comes to it. If he won't respond to you in a way we like, or he won't /go/ home, we'll need it."

Captain America has posed:
A quiet laugh from Steve, vaguely annoyed. "We're sure as hell going to need your meddling if he decides to take a swing at me because I'm gonna swing back and nobody's gonna like it. Don't think I won't. What he did to Janet..." The Captain falls silent and the thunderous glare is directed away from Tony given he's not the reasoning for it. Steve looks out onto the cityscape again.

"Not gonna risk that again, not when she's on the front line -- not when any of us will be. But...I gotta have faith in something, Tony, and that's what humanity I've seen in him. Otherwise, he's just another face on the battlefield that I have to drop. For once, I'd rather talk him down."

Iron Man has posed:
"So long as we remember that it MIGHT be as effective as arguing with your microwave for melting your lunch," Tony replies, smoothly sliding back into snark mode. He refills his coffee, and moves a hand to indicate for Steve to bring his cup over for a refill as well.

"But, hey, if we've found an AI that's truly deeper than a wading pool, I'm interested too. I'd like for him to be a lot more, I'd LIKE to find a present that fell in our laps to simply stop all the Sentinels from murder." Tony gives a little shrug and smile. "History suggests it's bad. I'll be ready, at least."

Captain America has posed:
"I listen to you argue with JARVIS all of the time," Steve points out drily as he wanders over, having snagged up his coffee mug. He slides it the short distance necessary to be topped up, still mindful not to slosh it, and takes it up again once it's refilled. A heavy sip of it and he holds it, standing still by the counter.

"We'll be ready for it. //We//," the Captain repeats firmly. "You're gonna burn yourself out without the team. I know, pot-kettle-black, but you gotta trust me, Tony. Trust me to try one more time with him. I know you've got my back if it all goes to hell in a handbag and fine, Plan B for Blow It the Hell Up. But trust me to try once more."

Iron Man has posed:
"We don't argue. Sometimes JARVIS doesn't anticipate my needs," Tony says with a sleek verbal spin, and self-satisfied, amused little smile. "Which is, obviously, on me to fix. It's in the queue," Tony adds, cheeky.

"No one appreciates it more than I do," JARVIS says, and Tony points up at the ceiling vaguely to indicate JARVIS with a smile that's now evolved from little to a full scale one. He then drops his hand and nods.

"Crack him open: get him to let me see what he's doing, for that trust angle. Worst case, I'm nosy in my helpfulness."