endgames | 022 -- [Action || Voice]

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022 -- [Action || Voice]

[Filtered to Konoha Shinobi and Temari || 100% Unhackable]

Meeting tonight, at sundown. [What about goes without saying - most of them should know already.] Fourth floor's kitchen. Try not to pull a Kakashi.

[And thus starts off the long to-do-list of Shikamaru's day. The filter goes up in the morning, giving - hopefully - everyone time to see it.

He's decided he needs to talk to Naruto before then. On his way out the building he'll stop by his apartment, or send another filter off to him if he's not around. With everything going on he would be surprised. After he's tracked him down, it's off to the other side of the village to find Tony Stark at his casa, to hand over a project he's been working on for the last several nights. Playing delivery boy again, ugh. No notice this time, though. He's acting like a functional human being again, but he's not up for the sarcastic banter. Once he's done there, it's over to the school to find Katara in the thirty minute window he has after classes let out. Apologies are an order.

Specific things attended to... wow, without Masaomi around this week, he has a lot of time on his hands, huh. Well okay. He goes off to the forest with a bag of coconuts of all things and lines them up at head level when he finds a good spot to sit them for tanto practice - or more precisely: strength training. He's never used his short sword much. The one time he did, he wasn't strong enough with it to do as he intended, so he should work on that now.

And okay, surely by then the sun will be going down... or okay, nope. With a few hours to kill, somehow he winds up at the Seventh Heaven restaurant. In part because he figures it could be a good place to drop off some of the coconuts, and also because he realizes on the way over he hasn't actually eaten yet. Or done much of anything this past week, besides getting Asuma up to speed about Luceti, or working on various projects.

Sooo. Might be nodding off there at the restaurant. Might be napping after he eats, if he doesn't get kicked out for it. SITTING DOWN WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA. Fine, he'll pose a random pointless question to the masses, maybe that'll keep him occupied.]

[Voice]

Wonder why they call this place Luceti. Seems like a dumb name. Does it even mean anything?

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[He nods.] I know.

[This probably should've taken like. Another month or more... Due to recent events motivating him, he went and finished it all in the last three nights.]

Just thought I'd try to speed things along. Can I come in?

[Look at this, he's asking instead of marching in uninvited anyways. That's it, tell everybody it's the apocalypse.]

[Whoa, so polite, Shikamaru. Tony ducks inside the door way and waves him in. Pardon the mess, but at least it's not as bad as it was a few months ago!]

Sure thing. You can get a first hand look at what I've worked on--pictures are great, but I'd like to make sure it's really what it's supposed to look like.

[Yeah, feels weird to be seeking approval from someone else on his work. But this isn't something he wants to get wrong.]

[He walks inside, hands in his pockets and following along. The mess actually gives him some hope here. If Tony has something to show him already, means he's probably been working on that instead of this, right?

Besides, it's not like he's one to complain about someone being lazy. Plus there's a roof this time. That's always styling. 8|a]

How much do you have done?

[Exactly! It's a good sign when he doesn't have time to tidy up his place. Not that he usually has the patience for it, either, but still.

He starts towards his work room, which is has more of an organized madness to it. Pieces, bolts, half-finished projects, notes and tools are everywhere, but Tony knows exactly where anything he would need to find is in this room.

The droid mock-up is rigged up in a suspension from the ceiling. There's some metal plating about the shoulders and back, but most of it is exposed wire.]

Slowly and steady wins the race, as they say. I've worked through most of the torso and both arms--up to the hands. Damn hands are ridiculously complicated. [They always were.] Still, it's progressing. Look up to snuff?

Well when I was dealing with them, they were in pieces.

[Finally cracking a smile here, even if it's only barely. Clearly this warrants close investigation though, so he gets as close as he can without touching.

...it really is kind of fascinating to look at. He heard about the weird Pein body Chouji and his dad fought, but he never saw it himself. The only other time he's been around anything like this was that Halloween.]

Is it hard, getting the materials? [Circling it now. He can tell quicker than most what matches up and what doesn't, but he's being thorough.]

Takes some persistence and improvisation sometimes. [Stripping other electronics and such for their insides has become a regular pastime of his. It helps when you know what goes into making pretty much everything you can pick up at the item shop.] And even if I can find most of the stuff this thing is made of, there's still the little problem of how the shift technology actually powers it. I could power it electrically easily, but that's not really the point, now, is it?

If it were, everyone would be making one to have on our side.

[He comes full circle now, crossing his arms to stare at it. So far there's nothing to point out that's incorrect to what he remembers, other than a few spots where maybe Tony didn't use the same materials. It should be indicative enough that it meets with his approval.]

Whatever we do won't be the same. Is there any point in powering it? Because you'd be better off combining technology and magic to do it, if there is. It'd probably be closer to it.

[Cherish this moment, Shikamaru. It is not everyday Tony Stark is glad to have the approval of someone half his age and unfamiliar with tech. And by 'not everyday' I mean pretty much never except for this one instance.]

Good question. Being able to construct one means the exact opposite holds true--we can deconstruct one. Meaning they can be stopped by someone who knows how to do it right. Of course, then we run into the problem of the Mallies not being too happy when their droids don't come back.

[It helps being as awesome as he is. (yea)]

If it helps even a few people, I'd say it'd be worth it. [For him personally, it wouldn't be difficult at all to tear them apart with his shadows if he knew the weak parts to target.]

Speaking of how unhappy they are though... I think someone may have already pissed them off. [Turning back around.] Did you see one of the newer mission descriptions?

[Now, don't get ahead of yourself there. :|

He nods, a slightly smug grin on his face.]

I did. Thought about volunteering for that one, actually. I wouldn't mind a firsthand look at that facility. Or those top-of-the-line droids.

[He won't try and tamper with them, honest. And he wouldn't mind an excuse to suit up, honestly. He hasn't had an opportunity to since the last draft.]

[Shikamaru did sign up actually, not that that counts for anything. It's not entirely the point either.]

That they asked people not to look into them makes me think we're not the only ones working on something like this.

[A nod as he considers that.]

Could be someone from that science "club" got some info on them somehow. [Complete with air quotes. Yeah, he's still skeptical of that group--especially since they haven't met for awhile.] It might be worth comparing notes, depending on who it was.

That's what I was thinking.

[And he's quietly happy that Tony came to that conclusion too, though that expression will get lost in a yawn. He'd normally crack a joke about it - the guy's always been a problem when it comes to team playing. ...but it's been kind of a weird week. He doesn't feel like looking a gift horse in the mouth.]

One of us could jump on one of the computers out in the tunnels; get a more secure discussion going about it.

Wouldn't be a bad idea to find out what we can in the event either of us go on that mission. Comparing what we know against what we could observe about those better droids--well, it definitely wouldn't be a waste of time.

[He'd be willing to do it, but Shikamaru is right in his thinking--he doesn't leap at the idea of relying on what other people have 'figured out'. Could be garbage information for all they know. But there's still that chance that would make it worth the time.]

I could do it. Might be good for my PR, too. Two birds with one stone.

Seriously?

[You're full of surprises today, Tony.]

I'm Luceti's prime superhero. Usually it helps to be visible when you're saving people.

[Even if that means dealing with smartasses that think they know everything. He's the only smartass that knows everything, okay.]

Not that I'm exactly enthused by the idea, so if you've got a hankering for it, by all means.

[He puts up his hands in surrender.]

Not gonna argue you for it, I was just impressed. Even if all it is is you being a showboat.

...Not going to argue with you there. But if it turns out to be a waste of time, you're really going to owe me cookies this time.

Hn. At this rate I'm gonna end up chucking them through your window just to get it over with.

[Thoughtfully:]

Well, as long as they're delicious I don't care how you deliver them.

[Someday you're going to regret saying that, Tony.]

I'll keep that in mind.

[Yes, most likely.]

And your verdict on my little work-in-progress, here?

It looks good. [Turning back to it for another once-over.] Really good, from what I can see.

Don't suppose you can actually explain to me how some of it's meant to work now, could you?

Good. I'm glad it's matching to what you remember.

[Starting from scratch or even working backwards would be a real bitch.

He crosses in front of the droid, tapping a fingertip into a hollow port in the center of the torso.]

There's a reason powerhouses often end up right here in a bot like this--it's easy to reinforce and protect, and it's central to all other parts of the droid. So my theory is this is where the power source will be. The question is if I can really figure out what the power source is. That is indeed--the big question. This source, I believe, is what gives the rest of the droid its juice. Its ability to move, its ability to self-repair, its ability to suppress any resistance.

[Needless to say, unlocking it would be a pretty big deal.]

So needless to say, what's in there would be heavily protected.

[It's one of the few parts of the droid he couldn't tear into in the time he had, so that makes sense.]

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action; gmail ate this tag like a jerk (fuu)

It's okay, I just figured you didn't like me T_T