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I’d hardly expect you to be a scourge.

[Company keeps the mind sane, and sometimes keeps men like them from forgetting to take care of themselves.]

How many peters do you know then? And yes, water would be lovely.

[He just makes a quiet thoughtful noise at the "scourge" comment.]

I've met five of them. Six, if you count the pig. That seems improbable, doesn't it?

[Nonetheless! Peter Parkers just get around, he supposes. One of the actuators retrieves a glass, and Otto takes it, fills it, and gives it to David - a rather seamless process. He seems to use them a lot more freely when he's not in public.]

[The pig? David’s expression goes blank for a moment while he tries to process this. It’s a lot to process.]

I mean, I’ve heard of things like that. And there’s always Howard the Duck. So I guess it’s not that improbable.

[The smoothness makes David smile even if he doesn’t comment on it. He’s happy enough just to sip the water.]

Edited 2022-09-05 19:46 (UTC)

Howard the Duck?

[Is that. Is that just a thing we're all supposed to know about.]

I wish I was kidding. Walking, talking duck. Like Donald Duck except crass, drunken, and horny.

I...wasn't aware your world had talking animals.

[is that normal???

All the food's in the oven, so Otto moves to the counter to sit with David. Shouldn't take too long, they can just chat until it's done.]

It does. Not many to my knowledge, but they exist. And I don’t know if he’s from Earth or he’s an alien or what.

[He sips again and then looks to Otto.]

You didn’t invite me here to hear about a talking duck that makes out with women though. Because you didn’t know about that.

I could've done with never knowing about the making out. [But here we are!] Yes, yes, please - come to my study.

[It's a joke; the "study" is just a workspace attached to the main living area, standard for these apartments. There's a desk, and some projects underway - up close, it's definitely arc reactor diagrams, and it looks like someone around here's working on a super-suit!]

Forgive the clutter. We've all got some personal projects going on...here we are.

[The plans for the actuators! He'll spread them out over the desk, moving aside so David can peruse them as he likes.]

Those are the latest copies. I don't have access to any of my original work, of course, but I've made some modifications since coming here anyway. I don't know how I managed before the improved waterproofing.

[Showering was bad!!! It's a feature he hadn't had originally due to the fact that they were never meant for use outside of a controlled environment. It's fairly clear in the designs that they were intended as tools for operating a fusion reactor, certainly not as long-term body mods.]

[Ah, busy spaces for research please him. David definitely made a lot of use of his own, though he assumes Tommy’s is probably just a game room or something.]

Personal projects make sense most of the time, so I’m not shocked.

[What does stop him, shock him, leave him staring, is the plans. For a long moment he watches, studies, considers. Then he looks to Otto with shock.]

This is a lot more trust than I was expecting.

[He nods; he knows it's a lot. Frankly, he's rather anxious about it. But:]

I think it's necessary. I've made some changes since... [A claw taps the ground uneasily.] ...well, since the last time Peter and I fought. He wouldn't be able to use the same trick again.

[Otto had debated that for a while - blocking off the actuators to forms of outside connection like that. It had been vital before. "Bluetooth" was probably the only thing that stopped him from killing Peter and Norman that day. But he'd decided it was simply too risky. Peter's certainly not the only person who might have been able to figure it out.

Luckily, now that he's here, Peter's also not the only person who might be able to help.]

I've been thinking about it ever since the blackout. How easily things could have gone wrong then. If anything serious ever happens to them, there's a very good chance that I won't be able to manage on my own, one way or another. It'll be better for more than one person around here to know what they're working with.

[God knows he hasn't shared any of this with the Alliance.]

Now, this... [Paging through here a little to the new inhibitor chip design. It's on its own sheet, much of it in different handwriting. He got Peter to do that one; Otto himself had been too limited by his inability to really study the chip without first removing it.] ...is the most serious vulnerability.

[There's other things that he might need help with one day, of course. Damage to other components is likely to hinder his mobility, and there's parts he just can't access anymore with only his hands. But he didn't really ask David here to talk about those. This is what he's really worried about - the worst-case scenario.]

[A lot more trust than David is expecting. He stares at Otto and then looks to the sheet. His gaze roves over the thing, studying it at the notes, and that leads to a bit of a deep breath. Oh dear.]

You're worried something is going to happen to this inhibitor.

[He smiles, wry and humorless.]

I'm always worried about that. Without that, I'm not...well, I'm not particularly pleasant.

[David, he's sure, knows what he means.]

Like Hulk on a bender. Or Logan on a day ending with a Y.

[He sighs and looks at it. This is so much more than he had expected.]

I'm going to need to make something to address this, if I can. The Actuators, they are clearly too self-aware for my technopathy to do more than allow me a pleasant conversation before they try and overwhelm my mind as well.

They're...they've evolved, since we became this connected. They weren't so self-aware before.

[He believes it just went both ways - they'd certainly gained access to far more processing power, once they had free access to a human brain. Even now, with the inhibitor replaced, it isn't like it was. Though of course, he's got nothing to compare their current state to.]

They aren't exactly malevolent. They just don't have any moral sense - they'll stop at nothing to achieve their goals. [He's quiet for a moment, distant, before refocusing.] Oh, you don't need to do that. I didn't mean to dump another project on you.

They're alive.

[David has far different gauges on what is and isn't living from, you know, most people. He accepted it more easily too.]

And they'll want to survive. But trust me, for my concern for you, my friend, it's needed. It's probably not that high priority of a project anyway.

It shouldn't be. This new chip was designed for regular use. It's far better insulated, much more durable.

[It's not that he has any specific cause for concern. His new work is perfectly safe. He's gotten himself through various metahuman antics without much difficulty. If things go on as they have been, the chip could just as easily outlast Otto. He just...worries, he can't help but worry.]

But you're right. I'm not...sure anymore what we might end up doing, but if anything were to happen... [Though, now that he thinks of it, he's concerned to realize that he has some new theories.] ...we, I wouldn't just let anyone fix it. They viewed all of this as a threat.

[And probably some of that was on his end, but that's a lot to untangle.]

Things can always go wrong. First principle of long term design is figure out a way to fix it if it does.

[Or, at least, it's David's first principle.]

You probably were a threat at the time. And would be. So there has to be a way to knock you out. You know, without being as strong as Peter.

Oh, yes. I didn't make any of this easy on him.

[The Bluetooth brought him to heel pretty easily, but that doesn't mean he wasn't struggling and raging the entire time Peter did his research and fabricated the thing. Like so many, it's a vaguely alien memory - Otto can hardly think of another time he's felt that furious.

He sighs, rubbing at his eyes. A migraine is building, one he's quite sure indicates the actuators' distress over these plans. They've got a point - it's stressful, knowing that he's just handing out keys to his own downfall. But he's decided. He needs to take responsibility for the risks he poses, and he won't be convinced otherwise. It's too late now anyway.]

I agree - it's a necessary safety measure. I wish I could help you, but I'm not...sure it's safe for me to have all the details. [Another unnerving admission, but it's true; he'll only use it against David if the time ever comes.] I'll certainly cooperate where you need me.

[Hey, safety measures aren't a bad thing. And for this trust...]

They can knock me out. The actuators. They are aware enough for that. If I start... if I end up corrupted in some way, they could do it. I don't think most people I know and care about would care to see it or stop me. I hope yo would.

[David feared the darkness he could fall to. It was too easy sometimes.]

[Otto listens seriously. He thinks this a less likely outcome than his own corruption, but David's clearly worried about it. And he should know best. Otto would hate it, if someone he's only met in this world tried to brush off his concerns just because he hasn't done anything awful here.]

It's a deal. [He offers his hand.] If it comes to that, I'll do whatever I can.

[Less likely? Possible. Disastrous in a whole other way? Absolutely. So David tried to cover his bases, and mots of his friends didn't take it seriously.]

Thank you. Mutually assured assistance is definitely a better way to live life anyway.

I do feel better for it. None of us should be dealing with that sort of thing alone.

[Otto suspects it would be worse, if he lost control a second time. He has more experience now; he knows everyone involved much better, and he has their trust. Hell - two of the Spider-Men sleep down the hall from him! It's a disaster waiting to happen. But what was he supposed to do, learn they had nowhere to stay and just leave them to it?]

But you keep your distance, if it's me. I don't want to use this against you like that.

No, none of us.

[But he didn't think those he loved would ever entertain the idea that David could do wrong.]

Of course I'll keep my distance. I already know who I'd ask for help if we needed to stop you.

[A speedster can be really useful in those situations, and he knows two.]

Good.

[No follow-up questions! He doesn't want to know! Even if his head's pounding about it - he needs to get the actuators to calm down. Otto's quiet for a moment, looking at the plans, while he mentally devotes some attention to that. The tentacles sway slightly, but there's no outward sign otherwise - he was prepared for this conversation, he's been keeping a tight leash on their reactions.]

Well, let me know if you need anything more. I'm happy to help however I can. [Even if his ability is limited, just due to the nature of the thing.] Maybe if we're both lucky, we'll never need any of this.

[Judging from his tone? He doesn't really believe it.]

So, now I have to ask something else.

[With his technopathy he's making very serious notes about everything that Otto has given him. That way the Actuators doesn't have to be upset by all of that. But he has other things to think of too.]

Seriously, is that arc reactor tech?

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