Stark Industries, Monday

[endsthegame]

His days so far had been quiet, routine, and without note. Even with the strange things that happened on the island, Ender found he was simply bored. Work was one of his only distractions; it was where he learned.

Little things, but little things could add up to a lot. He set up without much fanfare in the morning, greeted Jarvis, and settled back in the corner with his computer. He made sure not to touch anything important, or anything alarming-- he knew Jarvis was watching, and most of it didn't seem interesting anyway.

He'd be there if anyone entered, but for now, he was engrossed in his own studies.

[ open! ]

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[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

Now slightly more rested and glitter free, Tony made his way downstairs.

"...Weren't we just in Australia?" He asked idly, looking out at the fog.

[endsthegame]

"The island changes locations," Ender offered, sounding a little distracted. "It's done it thrice since I arrived here."

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

"Yes, but I liked Australia."

[endsthegame]

Ender glanced up from his computer. "I don't think the island's particularly concerned about that," he said, "but you'll get used to wherever we are now." In the end, you kind of had to.

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

Unless you had a jet. Then you didn't.

Guess which category Tony fell under.

But now was a time for a subject change. Because the kids was no fun at all. "What are you working on?"

[endsthegame]

"New security system for my computer," Ender replied, loath to give too many details. "Yours are more primitive than what I'm used to."

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

Tony raised an eyebrow at that. "It's a desktop that's not connected to anything important, of course it's simple."

Now he wanted to see if he could crack this security system Ender said he had back home.

Just because.

[endsthegame]

"That's no excuse," he replied, "Anything can be an exploitable weakness." Ender glanced up. "And it's good sport." And practice.

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

Eying for a long moment and slowly shifting categories from 'ignore the child' to 'maybe interesting enough to bother remembering his name', Tony went into his work station.

A moment later he came back with a laptop to place in front of him.

"Try that one."

[endsthegame]

Ender leaned back in his seat. It was the kind of attention he'd been hoping to avoid; he'd been happy with being ignored (despite anything Valentine might have said). "And this is...?" There was one thing he was certain about: he'd never venture into anything blind again.

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

"My laptop," Tony answered, like he was a slow child.

[endsthegame]

"I can see that," Ender replied, his voice just a touch too apathetic to quite manage that same tone. "I'm talking about what you want me to do, exactly. And I don't need you to use small words for it." Keeping a low profile was one thing, but he was tired of being talked down to.

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

Then he really picked the wrong employer. Really.

"It's the basic security for my work systems. Nothing too fancy, but enough to keep most people out," Tony said, waving dismissively. "Crack it."

[endsthegame]

He could deal with Stark being Stark. Just as long as he got the information he needed to get the job done. He didn't need the recognition.

Games. It was just another game, and Ender eyed the keyboard. He'd been tired of games for a long time, but this one could potentially lead him somewhere he could do something-- and if nothing else, it'd be a step towards keeping himself busy.

"Fine," he said, reaching for the keys.

[not-ironmaiden.livejournal.com]

Tony nodded. "Get back to me when it's done."