Stark Industries, Friday

[midichlorianfail]

So, one of the upshots of how Theron had spent his break was that he was now in possession of his very own racing swoop, and while he was pretty sure that it wasn't particularly unsafe as swoops went ('safe' wasn't really a concept that applied to swoop bikes), it didn't hurt to give it a thorough going over before trying to use it anywhere near the island. Which is what he intended on spending any free time on his shift doing.

A situation not helped by the fact the murder-roomba had gotten stroppy in his absence, and was attacking his ankles with even more fervour than usual.

[Open!]

Comments

[imafuturist]

After class, Tony had headed back to the apartment for a change of clothes, but...

"What do you have there?"

[midichlorianfail]

"Swoop bike," Theron called out over his shoulder, because Tony would totally know what that was. "And a droid who's not getting any more upgrades if it's not careful."

[imafuturist]

"He never stabs me," Tony replied, coming closer to give the swoop bike a closer look. "Where are the brakes?"

[midichlorianfail]

"Guess I'm just special then," Theron muttered, before adding conversationally "It's a racer, they've been taken out. Less weight."

Someone sounded awfully matter of fact about that.

[imafuturist]

"Alright." He accepted that logic. Kind of. "We can make them lighter."

[midichlorianfail]

"It'd certainly be a surprise for anyone expecting you to slow down the traditional way." Which would be easing up on the accelerator. Or crashing. Though that tended to be very final.

[imafuturist]

Pretty final. They could workshop that one, though.

"Well, a surprise can be the best weapon."

[midichlorianfail]

"Especially since this one has no actual weapons."

Again, too heavy.

[imafuturist]

Tony smiled, running his hand over the lines of the vehicle. "Mind if JARVIS takes a scan? It'll help come up with what we can do to it."

Also, fun new project.

[midichlorianfail]

"Sure," Theron said. "Can always use another set of photoreceptors."

[imafuturist]

He clapped his hands together at that as JARVIS took a scan, overlaying the bike with a holographic model that rose up above it where it could be altered. "Haven't played around with a bike in ages."

[midichlorianfail]

"Well, swoops aren't that complicated, really." At least compared to something like a shuttle. "Pretty much just a engine with handlebars."

He meant it with affection.

[imafuturist]

"Don't you listen to him, sweetheart," Tony told the bike. Because clearly it was very offended by that. "We are gonna fix you up real good. You using it for fun or to race?"

[midichlorianfail]

The bike knew Theron meant it with love. "Both," he said, smoothing a hand over the chassis. "I won it racing, but it's not like there's a circuit on this planet."

[imafuturist]

"Both," Tony muttered to himself, peeling away the holographic layers with a expansive wave of his hands like miming an explosion. "We could test it out west. But otherwise off planet, I'm afraid."

[midichlorianfail]

"Off planet's probably a good idea," Theron agreed. "These go pretty fast, especially compared to anything with wheels."

Friction and high speeds, not a friend to rubber.

[imafuturist]

"We have some ships like this back home," Tony said with a quick grin. "Not for the general public, though."

SHIELD, mostly.

"I'd also wager this is faster."

AND INFINITELY LESS SAFE.

[midichlorianfail]

If Theron was interested in safe he'd never have tried swoop racing to begin with.

"Top speeds for this model is a round the 600 klicks per hour mark," he said. "Something like a Daggerstar is faster, but too hard to manoeuvre." Unless you were a Jedi, which, no.

[imafuturist]

Ah, yes. Just as The Force intended those powers to be used. YOLOing on a death rocket.

Tony was just going to translate that to MPH or MPK, to be honest. "We could get it faster. Just have to figure out the maneuverability."

[midichlorianfail]

Theron, don't grin at Tony's bad influence.

"Faster is good."

[imafuturist]

It was for science, though!

"Maybe if we put smaller thrusters on the sides and front?" He was totally using the suit as inspiration for that.

[midichlorianfail]

"We'll have to balance the extra weight against the extra thrust," Theron said, like the nerd he was.

[imafuturist]

NEEEERD.

"Change the material in the frame," Tony suggested, pulling out the bare bones of the machine for them to look at.

BOTH NEEEEERDS.

[midichlorianfail]

GIANT NERDS. Just wait until Theron started getting proper cyber-implants.

"What to?" Theron asked. "It's hard to go lighter than durasteel without risking the frame coming apart."

AND THAT WOULD BE EMBARRASSING. ALSO DEADLY.

[imafuturist]

BUT THE FORCE WOULD PROTECT HIM, RIGHT? THAT'S HOW IT WORKED.

"Well, we can run through simulations with the different materials I can get here to see what blends would work best."

Oh yes, this was gonna be a project.

[midichlorianfail]

THAT'S NOT HOW THE FORCE WORKED.

"Certainly better than just winging it."

Not that Theron would ever do that. Really.

[imafuturist]

Oh, no no no. Only Tony was allowed to injure himself here. Theron had to be kept safe from harm. Sorry, those were just the rules.

"We'll run stress tests on the rest of the bike too. And then we can test it out."

[midichlorianfail]

Tony sure wasn't going to like that Theron said next then.

"It was sturdy enough while I was racing it, so we're starting from a good place."

[imafuturist]

Okay, that was in the past and they could only move forward while Tony gave him a slightly concerned once over to check for injuries. "Going forward while testing experimental alloys then."

[midichlorianfail]

If Theron had crashed, Tony'd be able to tell.

"Sounds like a plan."

[imafuturist]

HE WOULD STILL MOTHER-HEN.

"Awesome," Tony replied, holding up a hand for a high-five.

[midichlorianfail]

Theron slapped his palm against Tony's. "Astral."

Neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerds.