Stark Industries, Tuesday

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

Guess who had the exciting job of fixing a watch today. That wasn't sarcasm. The watch was clearly spy gear based on how the laser almost gave Jessica a new haircut (and possibly headcut) when she tried to wind it.

But since that function hadn't been disclosed when the watch was dropped off, she didn't feel bad about "accidentally" disabling a function that "wasn't" there to begin with.

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[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo had been doing a lot of internet research, but she was really more a hands-on sort. So she'd decided that if she was going to find out more about those drone camera things, she'd have to find someone who knew something about them.

Which had led her to Stark Industries.

Hopefully someone there could help.

"Hello?" she called as she walked in.

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

Jessica had just removed the hidden superlaser battery when she heard Ringo's voice. She dropped it in her desk drawer, locked the drawer, and made her way out to meet the possible customer. "Hey. Welcome to Stark's. What can I do for you?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Hey!" Ringo shot Jessica a friendly grin. "Um, do you know anything about those flying drone things? With the cameras? I was thinking about trying to get one, but I've only seen them in videos, you know?"

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"Yeah. I used to use them a lot for an old job," Jessica noted. "They're not too hard to control once you get the hang of them."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Oh, good." Ringo's shoulders relaxed slightly in relief. "Um, do they have ones that you don't have to control? Like, that can just follow you around and stuff? Or do you have to have someone running them?"

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"Depends on how much money you have to spend," Jessica said. "Tony Stark could have a fleet of tiny drones to carry every screwdriver he's ever owned while having a conversation, but that costs more than you or I could imagine. But I know that even in less technologically advanced Earths, there's some commercial stuff (https://shop.airdog.com/?_ga=1.132671054.1107868589.1460507622) for a couple grand."

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo blinked. "A couple grand? Like, um, dollars?"

Yes, Ringo. Dollars.

"What about, um, like, building one?" Ringo was good with mechanical stuff, but she'd never tried to build a drone before.

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"That's still going to be pretty expensive, unfortunately," Jessica said. "Parts and labor cost money, especially if you want something smart enough to follow you around without crashing or slicing things that you shouldn't be slicing with small rotor blades."

"But if you could get your hands on a cheap drone, I should be able modify it to give it automatic controls for less than the big professional thing."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Hmm." Ringo pursed her lips. "I might be able to get some parts." If, you know, she could find a way to repurpose AT parts, anyway. "But I've never built anything with propellers or anything like that before."

"And, um, how much would it cost? To, you know, modify?" Because Ringo was pretty sure that even if she could figure out how to put one together, she knew she couldn't make it actually follow her around.

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

Jessica said a price that was expensive, but in a way more affordable way than the AirDog would have been.

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo chewed on her lower lip. "That sounds," expensive, "fair."

"Um, can I think about it?" And wonder where she'd get the money even if she could manage to build something.

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

"Absolutely," Jessica said. "We're around all the time. Except for when we're being flakey and doing other things."

[soniaroadsqueen]

Some of the odd tension at discussing money fell away at that, and Ringo snorted. "That might have happened to me a time or two."

[craftyladyparts.livejournal.com]

Awkward for Ringo. Not for Jessica. Jessica had bills to pay. "It's the joy of science. Sometimes you' work on something good enough to keep you from other important things."

[soniaroadsqueen]

Bills were tough. Not that Ringo had ever really had to deal with them.

"Well, I don't know about science, but I've definitely gotten lost tinkering a time or two." It was all AirTrek, of course, but you could do an awful lot of tinkering with them.