apocalypsehowcomm | Settling In (LOG, OPEN)

Who: Cortana and OPEN (plus a closed thing for her new roommates)
When: Early Feb, before the event.
Where: ADI Canteen and apartments
Summary: Cortana is getting settled in
Warnings: ??? If anything comes up it will be warned for in thread.

A (Open)

(Apparently, for all its benefits over a holo-avatar, the "ghost" body still had some drawbacks.

Like being unable to move more than 10 feet away from a 500 year old flash drive.)

Four gigs, really?

(That wouldn't even be enough to fit the scan used to create her Riemann matrix, much less the rest of her. And yet, she clearly wasn't dead from being compressed into nothing.

She sighed explosively as she worked to string the damned thing onto a cloth cord so that'd it'd be easier to carry it around. It couldn't be containing her systems but she was apparently still bound to it, and for now that meant she needed to keep it with her and out of anyone else's hands.

Hence making a necklace out of it, a thing she can be found working on while sitting at a table in the canteen.)

B (Closed to Tony and Jaeger)

(This is the place, right? Apartment A2? She takes a moment to confirm everything yet again. Breathes deeply.

Okay Cortana, you can do this. It's not like she hasn't lived in close quarters with others before: she did reside in the Chief's head, after all. Still, this is ...different.

She knocks on the door and, regardless of who answers, gives them a bright and slightly awkward smile.)

Hi!

(Is this one Tony Stark or Andrew Jaeger? She knows the names of who she's supposed to be rooming with, but not much else. Well, regardless of who she's speaking to, she hopes they're okay with having a new roommate ...and also AI.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It's rare that Jaeger actually, truly relaxes at any given time, but at home for the afternoon is the most likely time to catch him in a quiet mood. A towering wall of a man with silver-black hair, he's dressed in a long-sleeve t-shirt and jeans when he opens the door, house slippers on his feet and a slightly owlish look from a pair of wire-rimmed glasses.

He'd gotten a text to expect a new roommate, but not more than that. He is most certainly not the tech guy of the two roommates, and he blinks a few times at Cortana, before putting on an uncertain smile.

When he speaks, his voice is a rough rasp, which probably has something to do with the white scar that circles his neck just above the collar of his t-shirt. An old wound, well-healed, but the damage is done. Still, he's polite enough, and opens the door a little further when he sees that it's company and not a threat.]

Hello. I'm guessing you're the new roommate, then?

Edited (forgot header) 2022-02-20 15:00 (UTC)

[ So Tony has more than likely received a text about a new roommate too, but your resident 'tech guy' is currently working on--well, tech, in this case a robotic suit in varying levels of disrepair--and he can't be arsed to check his inbox with any sense of regularity even when he's not immersed in a project, so...this new arrival comes as something of a surprise for him, and Tony is fully prepared to acknowledge it for like a split second with feigned interest and an irritated barb about being interrupted before going right back to what he's doing.

So at first he makes an uninterested sort of grunting sound, deigning to glance up only briefly, but as soon as his eyes fall on Cortana he does a very comedic double take that nearly has his (currently bird-thin) neck snapping right the fuck in half from its velocity. He noticeably perks up then, big eyes lighting up and eyebrows raising in a way that makes him appear more lively and less corpse-like than Jaeger has undoubtedly seen him look at all since they first met. ]

Yeah, hi. Sorry, was expecting someone a bit more fleshy. [ He gets to his feet and walks over to her, his demeanor a clear indication that her non-fleshiness is very much not a bad thing. ] No offense. I'm Tony.

(Cortana herself is a tiny thing, only just over 5 feet even with her "ghost body" at fully Human size. Add in the slight transparency of her form and she might almost look delicate, fragile.

Her life in the military has made her used to large, muscular men towering over her, so she's not at all intimidated by Jaeger when he answers the door.

She smiles wider, relieved that she doesn't have to explain the whole surprise! new roommate thing.

She's about to ask which of her new roommates he is when movement deeper inside the apartment and ...is that? She angles herself to get a better look at what Tony is working on, clear interest written on her face. His greeting pulls her attention back to him-unfortunately she's confined to a single pair of eyes instead of a system of cameras, so seamlessly keeping track of everything at once isn't possible-and she smirks.)

None taken. I'm guessing you at least won't be mistaking me for a ghost.

(Her eyes briefly go back to Tony's suit before focusing on Jaeger.)

If he's Tony Stark, that'd make you Andrew Jaeger.

(She offers a hand to shake.)

I'm Cortana. Nice to meet you-both of you.

[Jaeger gives a small nod, moving aside enough for Tony to see his way through the door, before stepping aside fully to let Cortana in. It would be rude to block the door and in spite of his size, he doesn't need to do any intimidating at the moment. Especially not in house slippers, which lack a certain gravitas.]

I'd be Andrew Jaeger, yes. Nice to meet you.

[For a moment, he's a little unsure about the offered hand, before he makes the decision to accept the gesture. He's not used to the concept of ghosts, at least not this kind, and not quite sure what to make of Cortana's form just yet.

He's not sure if it's more or less strange than the talking cat.]

I expect you've already been through orientation, but if you have any questions, please feel free to ask and we'll do our best to help you get settled.

He'll do his best to help get you settled. I barely paid attention during that thing.

[ Hey, Tony's nothing if not brutally honest. He's also quite preoccupied with trying to scope out Cortana's specs without looking like a huge creep. That's the problem with humanoid AI, isn't it?

Well, maybe problem isn't the right word. Cortana is, after all, very easy on the eyes. Whoever designed her had a hell of an eye for aesthetics. Oh shit, is he staring? Shit, he is. He lifts his eyes immediately, making the action as natural as possible and polishing it off with one of his winning smiles.

Look, his interest is purely scientific, honest. Anyway, it's time to schmooze. ]

I can see you're interested in what I got going on over here, though, so what's say we do a little exchange? Question-for-question? I satisfy your curiosity, you satisfy mine? Andrew here can mediate. Or just glower handsomely, something you'll find he does on a fairly constant basis.

Edited 2022-03-13 12:40 (UTC)

(Cortana's hand is solid enough despite its translucency and slightly cool to the touch. She grins, gripping Jaeger's hand perhaps just a fraction of a second longer than necessary after shaking it; she's still marveling at the novelty of such a gesture.

When that's done she turns to Tony again, only to find him staring at her much the way she was staring at his project before. She almost laughs at this-he'll probably be able to see the amusement sparkling in her eyes when he looks up.)

My eyes are up here, Tony. (Sadly, looking at her won't reveal much about her specs. She's got a flash drive hanging around her neck but that couldn't even hold the brain scan used to make her-it's the bound object for her ghost form, and unrelated to her actual design.

More interesting are the glowing streams of data running over her body. At her fully human size, it's possible to see not only numbers and equations but alien (Forerunner) glyphs. Also interesting, perhaps, is the sheer attention to detail in her avatar: perfectly proportioned individual fingers and toes, bellybutton, nipples, all individual teeth and even the texture of her irises, all of it is there. She even appears to have a very slight overbite.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand...)

I'm game. Maybe set some ground rules? Nothing too personal, for instance.

(Cortana strides into the apartment like she owns the place. Which, she does live here now, so...

She takes a good look at the surrounding area before making a beeline for the suit.)

[The gesture is pretty novel to both of them, to be quite honest: Jaeger still isn't entirely sure what to think of the idea of interacting with an AI, something that's still pretty much far-flung fiction in his world.

Except maybe for the chess-playing computer, but Cortana is still worlds away from that.

He gives Tony a sidelong look, but says nothing more at the tease, taking it in stride. It's probably a good sign that Tony is teasing and flirting, certainly better than the breakdown he'd had the first night here. Also, less damaging on Jaeger's collection of coffee mugs. He'll take it, for whatever it's worth.]

I'm a professional security consultant, it's my job description to pay attention.

[It's said idly, off-handed, but to be entirely fair Jaeger looks the part even in casual surroundings. This is a man who is paid to dress in a nice suit and look scary.]

Settling In (LOG, OPEN)

B- The Apartment

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