Stark Industries, Monday

[endsthegame]

Monday brought another normal workday. Ender had finished going over the data he'd gotten a few weeks ago - even he couldn't keep looking at the same picture to find something new after all of that time - which meant he now had little else to do but start on the satellite's final bits of programming.

It was coming along pretty easily now, and Ender was almost bored by the time noon set in.

[ open post! ]

Comments

[momslilassassin]

Ben came in with a new list of parts in his hand. "Ho, Ender."

[endsthegame]

"Ho, Ben," Ender greeted, "Still working on the same droid?"

[momslilassassin]

"Nah, I'm starting something a little less complicated to take with me to the cabins," Ben replied. "I don't want to drag three hundred parts down with me."

[endsthegame]

"What'll it be this time?" Ender asked him, glancing at the list in his hands. "Caf machine?"

[momslilassassin]

"Good guess," Ben said, grinning. "One that doesn't need to be plugged in."

[endsthegame]

"You just have to fix it so it mainlines into your major arteries, and you'll be all set."

[momslilassassin]

"Half man, half caf droid?" Ben snickered. "Yeah, I don't think so."

Riina would hate it, for one, and she didn't need more excuses to make Tahiri's life miserable.

[endsthegame]

"One of these days, Skywalker, you'll change your mind," Ender said, seriously. "What's on the menu?"

[momslilassassin]

"Nothing too fancy," Ben said. "Just caf and hot chocolate. I don't want to deal with making something do hot and cold at the same time."

[endsthegame]

"Which cabin did our overlords place you in?" he asked, holding his hand up for the list.

[momslilassassin]

Ben handed it to him. "John Adams," Ben replied. "You?"

[endsthegame]

"Rutherford B. Hayes," he said, scanning the list once he took it. "Funny."

[momslilassassin]

"I don't know the names," Ben admitted.

[endsthegame]

"They're American presidents," Ender explained, "Mostly the famous ones. They're probably trying to teach some national history to the newcomers."

[momslilassassin]

"So what did Rutherford--really, Rutherford?--do?" Ben asked.

[endsthegame]

"He was a war hero who ran for president," Ender said, "He was famous for being honest and avoiding conflict; didn't get his presidency until after a long legal battle."

[momslilassassin]

"How'd he do once he was in office?" Ben asked.

[endsthegame]

"Struck down a strike with military force," Ender said, digging back in his memory, "Removed troops from the old Confederate states to win his election, and threw back civil rights by several decades. He only stayed on one term because he'd promised not to run again. I don't really know that much about him; we weren't big on history back home." And Fandom only covered that much.

[momslilassassin]

"Doesn't sound like a place for you at all, then," Ben said with a tiny smile. "You'd never compound problems with more problems."

[endsthegame]

"It's counterproductive," Ender said, with a slight shrug. "I like to end my problems."

Which was problematic in many ways.

[momslilassassin]

Ben's smile deepened for a just a second. "Hadn't noticed."

[endsthegame]

Ender's own smile was vague. He knew what he was capable of. "You got a Founding Father," he said, "Second President this country ever had."

[momslilassassin]

"Even with the Quincy part of his name?" Ben asked. Ben wasn't exactly familiar with the concept of middle names.

[endsthegame]

"Sometimes, even the famous are doomed to bad middle names," Ender intoned, again, seriously. "At least you've got a legend."

Not that Ender was actually envious.

[momslilassassin]

"We're number two?" Ben said with a small smile. "Story of my life."