riverviewlogs | [open] i can't forget it

[One of Tony's eyebrows lifts as Cisco retreats to go hang out with Dum-E, but he just lingers where he is, sipping at the coffee. Dum-E seems gratified by the attention anyway, claw dipping down in Cisco's direction.]

I simply take after my namesake.

[Tony clears his throat at that, eyes flicking briefly towards the ceiling.]

I modeled him after someone I knew. So a lot of the quirks are. Yeah. J's grown into his own though.

I am delighted to hear you say so.

Oh. Uh, sorry. Awkward.

[ It's one thing to poke fun at a name and an accent when he thought they were merely programming choices Tony had made, for this or that reason. But if those aspects of JARVIS are based on an actual person, it's suddenly much ruder. (Even if he is kinda right about the snootiness). ]

Are AI... common, in your world? We haven't got them, yet, where I'm from. The theory exists, but it's still only that.

[ Which, yes, does contradict what Cisco had said only like a minute ago about JARVIS not being the first AI he's met. ]

[Tony waves off the apology with his free hand, looking faintly amused. It's not something either of them are likely to be too offended by, though JARVIS can be oddly touchy sometimes. He seems to be behaving himself at the moment, though. Maybe he registers that Cisco is someone Tony likes.]

Common, no. I mean there's Siri and all that. But if you mean real AI's, pretty much just mine.

[Which does sort of imply more than one. But Tony's not real eager to bring up Friday while JARVIS is around. Or the reason he'd needed her instead.]

Hey, that's funny, we got Siri, too. Definitely would not say that qualifies even as half AI. I mean, not the version we got where I come from, anyway, which is basically just a furby in a phone.

[ But Cisco doesn't have too much time to make fun of Siri because he's picking up on the implications of what Tony is saying, even if he is not making them entirely explicit. And so he asks slowly: ]

So... you're basically saying... not only is JARVIS the first real, proper AI, but also you... invented that tech?

[ The tech, the programming - he's sure Tony was partly working based off a foundation of work by others, but if he was still the first one to get it to work, that's a pretty fucking huge deal. ]

Pretty much.

[It's not really bragging, the way he says it. Ot at least not trying to bed. Just kind of matter-of-fact. That's exactly what he did.]

If there are any others, I haven't heard about them. But I haven't made JARVIS all that public either.

[Maybe it's selfish, but it's not something that ever occurred to him. Not before, anyway. Now, with the knowledge of just how badly wrong an AI can go, Tony's even less likely to want to share.]

[ Tony can downplay the significance of what he's just said, but it's still not lost on Cisco. Any of his uneasiness, about the cameras or JARVIS, are forgotten. Cisco just grins up at Tony from where he is sitting on the floor; something about the way this particular kind of delight sits on his face makes him seem younger for it. For him, intellectual excitement has always come across as something more like childish glee. ]

Of course not. I mean, that's just gotta be twenty different kinds of complicated. And probably dangerous, too. 'Cause you know there'd be hackers and thieves and zealots and shit.

[ It is perfectly logical to Cisco, that Tony would want to keep knowledge about JARVIS relatively contained, for the same reasons (okay, analogous reasons) they kept S.T.A.R. Labs's affiliation with the Flash a secret. It just made things easier, and it wasn't harming anybody. ]

Has Tony explained to you where we are, yet?

[ He addresses that to JARVIS, trying to be careful not to just speak to Tony about JARVIS, but to loop the AI into the conversation, too. ]

[The smile that flickers over Tony's face his both dry and more than a little humorless. Dangerous. He's not kidding.

JARVIS gets there before anything Tony would have said, which is probably a good thing.]

Our current location being somewhere other than earth, you mean? Indeed. The lack of satellites is both telling and rather unsettling.

[Which, okay, maybe not a great thing to make it clear that JARVIS has access to satellites. But Tony's not about to contradict the AI, not when he's apparently making friends. Or whatever it is that's going on here. Not like it makes a difference here, anyway.

Between Cisco sitting with Dum-E and staring up in JARVIS' vague direction with that bright smile, Tony feels oddly like he's supervising some sort of playdate. He smothers the amused grin that threatens to bubble up before it can get too far.]

J probably has a better handle on exactly where we are than I do.

Edited 2017-09-14 22:02 (UTC)

[ Cisco, for his part, seems to think absolutely nothing of JARVIS's access to satellites (or lack thereof, now). He'd been so excited, the first time he was allowed to work on anything involving retasking the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite, before the particle accelerator exploded, before Team Flash. By now, it is thoroughly banal. Just a part of everyday work, like googling something.

He is unaware of Tony's amusement, and of the vague ridiculousness of the way he is sitting on the ground with a semi-functional robot, making friends. Even if he were aware, he probably wouldn't mind. He's given up trying to pretend not to be interested in the things he's interested in. He never really fooled anyone. He is just a guy who loves machines, and Dum-E and JARVIS are very interesting machines. ]

Yeah, but it's not just not Earth. You're in a whole other part of the multiverse. See, I come from a parallel Earth to the one you and Tony know. One where nobody's heard of a dude named Tony Stark, or Iron Man. Which is a total shame if you ask me.

[ There's not a hint of irony in the way Cisco says that; and why would there be? He knows that Tony used to design weapons, sure. But that was before he'd become a superhero, before he'd changed his path and started trying to help the world. Cisco isn't going to hold past sins against him, and as for any more current ones, he doesn't know of them. ]

Does JARVIS have, uh, any kind of holographic body, or anything like that? Or is he just a voice?

[ The only other AI Cisco had met had projected a vaguely human face, had formed herself a hologram out of light to stand in the room as a physical presence with Cisco and Barry and Caitlin. Cisco is wondering if JARVIS can do the same. ]

[The statement startles a huff of a laugh out of Tony, not least because it's not a sentiment he's been hearing much of lately. Or ever. But he just shakes his head, still smiling a little even as Cisco's question sends a pang through him.

He's had a holographic manifestation of JARVIS' code, of course. But considering how that went the last time, it's not something Tony particularly wants to bring up. That had just been a diagram, anyway. Not JARVIS. Not really.

So when he answers, it's with a small shrug.]

Nah. He's never wanted or needed anything like that. Unless I've been doing you wrong, J?

I can do without, sir, thank you. And I am not simply a voice, I am a program.

[As if to prove it, the lights suddenly dim, then flicker back to life. Tony snorts and rolls his eyes.]

Point proven, thank you HAL.

[ It doesn't take much to guess that there is probably a story there, behind Tony's laugh. To Cisco it had seemed a fairly standard and straightforward question, but apparently not. Maybe it's an old joke, between him and JARVIS. Maybe there is some history involving holograms he is unaware of. ]

Of course. I didn't mean just a voice like it was a bad thing.

[ Cisco gets to his feet again, says: ]

I like you, JARVIS. I like your style. You ever need anything and Tony's busy or in trouble, you call me, okay?

[ Maybe it's a bit presumptuous, true. Tony has other friends here, friends from his own world who he has known longer and doubtless trusts more. But Cisco still thinks it is worth saying. Just in case there's some huge crisis, and the heroic types around this place all get themselves in a bad situation. He wants JARVIS to know that he's an ally. ]

And I like you, too, Dum-E. But you don't seem like the calling type.

The thought is appreciated, Mr Ramon. If you have need of my assistance, you may also contact me.

[It makes Tony raise an eyebrow, though he doesn't argue the point. Either JARVIS has taken a serious liking to Cisco or he's just picked up on Tony's fondness for the other engineer, but either way that's a friendship he should probably be worried about. He isn't, really, but when does he ever make good decisions?

Dum-E gives a little electronic whistle like an agreement, but who ever knows what's going on exactly in the bot's metaphorical mind. Tony leans over to pat his chassis lightly anyway.]

They make themselves known when they need to. But feel fry to swing by whenever you want, I'm probably just going to be getting things set up for a while yet.

[open] i can't forget it

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