Exploring possibilities, crossover edition, volume two.
When ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
petra posited the mind-bending possibilities of what might happen if Miles Vorkosigan and Tony Stark ever met each other, the first thing I started thinking about was what technology and developments Tony could provide that'd have an impact on Miles' world of jumpships, artificial gravity, terraforming, genetic engineering and more.
Clearly, the answer was artificial intelligence. JARVIS would be something completely different from everything Miles has seen - arc reactors and personal battlesuits and even stuff like genetically enhanced super-soldiers fit within what he's got already. AIs, not so much. An AI that can pilot a ship itself without humans having to go through dangerous surgeries in order to do so? Now that would send shockwaves across the galaxy, and kick off an actual plot for something that'd have to be novel-sized to be done right. And in lie of that, a summary with a good deal of notes from the relevant chat sessions.
Wormholes being canon for both Tony and Miles, plus liberal application of the Rainbow Bridge, takes care of most of the set-up with minimal handwaving. And with the combination of wormholes being the easiest way to get anywhere, and Tony's dislike of piloting himself through them, the only way he'd be willing to travel through another one would be to have the pilot be someone he trusts. Not even someone thoroughly vetted by both Pepper and Nick Fury. No, he'd want JARVIS to take over and fly the jumpship. He carries JARVIS around in a server about the size of a large shoebox that has a little screen and microphone/speaker, and it's as vulnerable as it is transportable.
me: "Phenomenal cosmic power, itty-bitty living space." "Excuse me?" "Never mind. Anyway, once he's plugged in..."
Petra: sniggering
me: Had to be done.
Petra: Yeah, that's the drawback of Tony Stark out of his universe. Nobody understands 75% of what he says, instead of the standard 25% that's designed to go over everyone's head.
Once he's plugged into the ship, pun aside, he finds it a little more spacious than he's used to. And as Petra put it, "Moore's Law states that Holy Fucking Shit."
"Nuh-uh, no can do, I've been through wormholes, I'm not piloting myself through one again, Jarvis, buddy, you wanna take the wheel?"
From all over the ship: "YES, SIR."
Moment later, from one speaker: "Apologies - my goodness..."
"Nice reverb. Jarvis, you okay?"
"Forgive me, sir, but I'm tempted to break into song."
At least three people piss themselves when every single speaker in the entire ship goes off simultaneously. A few people, very unsure of what to do, ask JARVIS if they can get him anything. Miles wants everything to be kept on the down-low, very hush-hush, and he manages fairly well. Once Tony and everyone gets to Vorbarr Sultana, it's easy enough to arrange for one of those tiny meetings heads of state have every so often - single-digit number of people, everything off the record - where Gregor talks to Miles, Tony, and JARVIS about what this could mean.
His comment that puts it into perspective for Tony is saying that jump ships which can pilot themselves would be a discovery "on the level of, say...penicillin."
It's one of perhaps five times in his life Tony has nothing to say. Eventually he gets to, "You're welcome."
me: Jarvis asks that, if he's going to help contribute to an unprecedented advancement in human civilization, can he have a ship of his own, please?
Petra: No liens.
Miles explains the legality of, for lack of a better term, organic AIs. How they're generally full citizens under the law, where there are laws to be under. And Jarvis would be included in that, presumably.
So it'd be his own ship, yes.
Tony isn't willing to give up JARVIS, even for that. Not the JARVIS. But he'd be more than willing to make another JARVIS. "Automated life-form, living-fuction - ALFRED works fine."
A couple of days later, Tony's got the best tech Barrayar has to offer, with a few things from Beta Colony being shipped in, him and JARVIS hard at work on the program that will soon become ALFRED. Everyone very much wants to keep it quiet until everything is stable and replicable and they have at least one new entity to show off.
Of course, a development on par with penicillin means a lot of attention very quickly, no matter how quiet people try to keep everything. And there's no way to buy ALFRED when the asking price would be a planet or two.
The only people who'd think of stealing him - and who'd succeed - are people from Jackson's Whole. ALFRED is less than a week old when he's nabbed. Nick Fury shut off JARVIS for a few minutes in the first movie, so it could be done, theoretically.
me: Jarvis asks Miles if he can watch the executions.
They don't have those anymore.
"You will for this!" "Jarvis..."
Petra: <3
me: Since news about Jarvis is pretty tight, and Alfred moreso, they can't do a big flashy mission to rescue him. Cue the Tony/Miles improvisation extravaganza.
Petra: I bet it's wonderful.
me: Regarding JW: "Is it safe? Don't lie to me, I know it isn't, I want to know how unsafe it - oh, that unsafe? Pepper, call Nat."
"Don't call Steve, he'll rip it apart with his bare hands."
Petra: beams
me: They have to get there to figure out who stole him - he hasn't changed hands, not yet, but that could change within the hour, so they need to act fast. Figure out who has the most to gain with such a risk.
A family with investments in trade routes? In shipbuilding? Someone who wants to reverse-engineer brain uploading, or someone desperate for a rise in social status that would come when this theft goes public?
Petra: All fascinating possibilities.
[...]
me: Does Tony have a suit?
Because a suit would be a wonderful way to find out who's investing in this kind of tech.
A miniature arc reactor.
He's got like thirty of them.
Losing one doesn't mean much anymore, not now that he has the capability of mining asteroids. So putting one out on the market for a buyer, to sniff around...
Petra: <3333
I don't know but I love it.
me: Someone from the Mercenaries, but with Tony there.
Interrogating like how Natasha does it - let them give up everything.
It'd be wonderful, it'd be dangerous, it'd take tens of thousands of words to do properly. Especially the scenes dealing with the fallout of when ALFRED gets plugged in for a live demonstration.
Petra: What's the use of an unplugged AI?
me: Whatever it is, it includes "not trying to kill you."
Have you seen any footage from the Portal series?
Petra: I played the first one to the end. Haven't gotten around to the second.
me: I'm picturing something like GLaDOS going crazy with the testing chambers when she got mad and creative.
They plug him in for a demonstration.
No one makes it out alive.
Petra: yes.
me: They got what they wanted.
Once he's out of his server, he's less transportable, and also in more danger. Harder to get out.
After lots of spy-type stuff, a few fights, and at least three explosions, ALFRED is returned home, safe, to his older sibling and mother. He knows exactly how much it bothers Tony to be called "Mom" - which is why he does it.
Petra: I want to see Cordelia's face when she hears Tony talk about his bouncing baby boy. ... dear cordelia: FUCK your 'all true wealth is biological.'
me: Jarvis: "I couldn't agree more, ma'am."
At about that point, reaching something approaching a conclusion with a reasonably happy ending, and it being bedtime, we left it there. If anyone has other thoughts, I'd love to hear them.
As a side note, I figured that if JARVIS is voiced/played by Paul Bettany, ALFRED ought to be done by Christopher Eccleston. It seemed to fit. Again, any thoughts, I'd love to hear them.
petra posited the mind-bending possibilities of what might happen if Miles Vorkosigan and Tony Stark ever met each other, the first thing I started thinking about was what technology and developments Tony could provide that'd have an impact on Miles' world of jumpships, artificial gravity, terraforming, genetic engineering and more.Clearly, the answer was artificial intelligence. JARVIS would be something completely different from everything Miles has seen - arc reactors and personal battlesuits and even stuff like genetically enhanced super-soldiers fit within what he's got already. AIs, not so much. An AI that can pilot a ship itself without humans having to go through dangerous surgeries in order to do so? Now that would send shockwaves across the galaxy, and kick off an actual plot for something that'd have to be novel-sized to be done right. And in lie of that, a summary with a good deal of notes from the relevant chat sessions.
Wormholes being canon for both Tony and Miles, plus liberal application of the Rainbow Bridge, takes care of most of the set-up with minimal handwaving. And with the combination of wormholes being the easiest way to get anywhere, and Tony's dislike of piloting himself through them, the only way he'd be willing to travel through another one would be to have the pilot be someone he trusts. Not even someone thoroughly vetted by both Pepper and Nick Fury. No, he'd want JARVIS to take over and fly the jumpship. He carries JARVIS around in a server about the size of a large shoebox that has a little screen and microphone/speaker, and it's as vulnerable as it is transportable.
me: "Phenomenal cosmic power, itty-bitty living space." "Excuse me?" "Never mind. Anyway, once he's plugged in..."
Petra: sniggering
me: Had to be done.
Petra: Yeah, that's the drawback of Tony Stark out of his universe. Nobody understands 75% of what he says, instead of the standard 25% that's designed to go over everyone's head.
Once he's plugged into the ship, pun aside, he finds it a little more spacious than he's used to. And as Petra put it, "Moore's Law states that Holy Fucking Shit."
"Nuh-uh, no can do, I've been through wormholes, I'm not piloting myself through one again, Jarvis, buddy, you wanna take the wheel?"
From all over the ship: "YES, SIR."
Moment later, from one speaker: "Apologies - my goodness..."
"Nice reverb. Jarvis, you okay?"
"Forgive me, sir, but I'm tempted to break into song."
At least three people piss themselves when every single speaker in the entire ship goes off simultaneously. A few people, very unsure of what to do, ask JARVIS if they can get him anything. Miles wants everything to be kept on the down-low, very hush-hush, and he manages fairly well. Once Tony and everyone gets to Vorbarr Sultana, it's easy enough to arrange for one of those tiny meetings heads of state have every so often - single-digit number of people, everything off the record - where Gregor talks to Miles, Tony, and JARVIS about what this could mean.
His comment that puts it into perspective for Tony is saying that jump ships which can pilot themselves would be a discovery "on the level of, say...penicillin."
It's one of perhaps five times in his life Tony has nothing to say. Eventually he gets to, "You're welcome."
me: Jarvis asks that, if he's going to help contribute to an unprecedented advancement in human civilization, can he have a ship of his own, please?
Petra: No liens.
Miles explains the legality of, for lack of a better term, organic AIs. How they're generally full citizens under the law, where there are laws to be under. And Jarvis would be included in that, presumably.
So it'd be his own ship, yes.
Tony isn't willing to give up JARVIS, even for that. Not the JARVIS. But he'd be more than willing to make another JARVIS. "Automated life-form, living-fuction - ALFRED works fine."
A couple of days later, Tony's got the best tech Barrayar has to offer, with a few things from Beta Colony being shipped in, him and JARVIS hard at work on the program that will soon become ALFRED. Everyone very much wants to keep it quiet until everything is stable and replicable and they have at least one new entity to show off.
Of course, a development on par with penicillin means a lot of attention very quickly, no matter how quiet people try to keep everything. And there's no way to buy ALFRED when the asking price would be a planet or two.
The only people who'd think of stealing him - and who'd succeed - are people from Jackson's Whole. ALFRED is less than a week old when he's nabbed. Nick Fury shut off JARVIS for a few minutes in the first movie, so it could be done, theoretically.
me: Jarvis asks Miles if he can watch the executions.
They don't have those anymore.
"You will for this!" "Jarvis..."
Petra: <3
me: Since news about Jarvis is pretty tight, and Alfred moreso, they can't do a big flashy mission to rescue him. Cue the Tony/Miles improvisation extravaganza.
Petra: I bet it's wonderful.
me: Regarding JW: "Is it safe? Don't lie to me, I know it isn't, I want to know how unsafe it - oh, that unsafe? Pepper, call Nat."
"Don't call Steve, he'll rip it apart with his bare hands."
Petra: beams
me: They have to get there to figure out who stole him - he hasn't changed hands, not yet, but that could change within the hour, so they need to act fast. Figure out who has the most to gain with such a risk.
A family with investments in trade routes? In shipbuilding? Someone who wants to reverse-engineer brain uploading, or someone desperate for a rise in social status that would come when this theft goes public?
Petra: All fascinating possibilities.
[...]
me: Does Tony have a suit?
Because a suit would be a wonderful way to find out who's investing in this kind of tech.
A miniature arc reactor.
He's got like thirty of them.
Losing one doesn't mean much anymore, not now that he has the capability of mining asteroids. So putting one out on the market for a buyer, to sniff around...
Petra: <3333
I don't know but I love it.
me: Someone from the Mercenaries, but with Tony there.
Interrogating like how Natasha does it - let them give up everything.
It'd be wonderful, it'd be dangerous, it'd take tens of thousands of words to do properly. Especially the scenes dealing with the fallout of when ALFRED gets plugged in for a live demonstration.
Petra: What's the use of an unplugged AI?
me: Whatever it is, it includes "not trying to kill you."
Have you seen any footage from the Portal series?
Petra: I played the first one to the end. Haven't gotten around to the second.
me: I'm picturing something like GLaDOS going crazy with the testing chambers when she got mad and creative.
They plug him in for a demonstration.
No one makes it out alive.
Petra: yes.
me: They got what they wanted.
Once he's out of his server, he's less transportable, and also in more danger. Harder to get out.
After lots of spy-type stuff, a few fights, and at least three explosions, ALFRED is returned home, safe, to his older sibling and mother. He knows exactly how much it bothers Tony to be called "Mom" - which is why he does it.
Petra: I want to see Cordelia's face when she hears Tony talk about his bouncing baby boy. ... dear cordelia: FUCK your 'all true wealth is biological.'
me: Jarvis: "I couldn't agree more, ma'am."
At about that point, reaching something approaching a conclusion with a reasonably happy ending, and it being bedtime, we left it there. If anyone has other thoughts, I'd love to hear them.
As a side note, I figured that if JARVIS is voiced/played by Paul Bettany, ALFRED ought to be done by Christopher Eccleston. It seemed to fit. Again, any thoughts, I'd love to hear them.