Trash or Treasure?

[websnextdoor]

Someone's made a bit of a mess in a little out of the way corner of the main drag of the plaza. An entire picnic table has been taken up with electronic bits and bobs that sit in stacks that don't seem to make much sense to a passer by, but definitely seem as though they were organized in some manner by whoever gathered all of this junk. In front of the table a cardboard box is stuffed to the brim with wires and cords of every kind.

HDMI? USB? A weird curly cord with a plug shaped like an octopus? It's all here and then some. It's hard to know if someone's organizing a donation to a local recycling center or setting up the multiverse's strangest tech themed garage sale.

Eventually Peter shows up (don't ask where he showed up from, the kid has a habit of dropping in when you least expect it) dragging a beat up toolbox over to the table so he can start poking around at his findings. He'd thought there'd been one back at the clubhouse and was very pleased it hadn't grown legs and walked off since the last time he'd checked.

Anyone who wanders close enough to inspect or greet him gets met with the same dirt streaked grinning face.

"Hey, can you hand me that screwdriver just over there?"

[OOC: First of all, https://tinyurl.com/zz5bdme enjoy your soundtrack. Please limit tagging in to one character per person (if you'd like to do more please just ask me OOC!) so I can try to actually do a thread all the way through.]

Comments

[stark_ravingmad]

Tony was on his daily health routine of taking a long walk everyday to keep himself in shape. He had just got into the habit back home after taking a new leaf out of his life and actually trying to keep a healthy mind and body. All that stuff had to count for something, right? Along with the health shakes and lack of alcohol, he was onto a winner with his detox. Only, he didn't get as far as he wanted this morning, since he noticed a kid working with what looked like a load of wires.

How could he not introduce himself and say hello? The kid looked like he knew his tech and Tony lived for tech. He had already met Astro boy, the kid robot, so meeting another tech kid would be a good experience. Stepping up to the young man, Tony peeked towards the box of wires and then had the question thrown at him.

"Sure. You mean this one?"

He picked up the screwdriver close by and handed it to the kid. What sort of thing was he building? Tony's interest was already piqued and already decided that the walk could wait.

[websnextdoor]

It's amazing how many of Peter's dreams have gone just like this. Something mundane and stupid and ordinary where he's doing chores or fixing his Suit or just sitting at his desk playing with his dumpster dive finds and Tony Stark is just there like he never left. Teasing him all the while he helps with whatever Peter's doing. They're very good dreams even if he wakes up crying a lot.

So at first Peter doesn't even register when he thinks he hears a voice he knows all too well. Wishful thinking, Pete. Nothing more. Of course this is the kind of thing Mister Stark would--

The screwdriver slaps into his palm.

"...Uh." His voice has gone and dried up on him. He's definitely staring. "Y..y-yeah. That....that one..."

[stark_ravingmad]

What was wrong with him? Tony frowned, as he passed over the screwdriver and wondered why the kid was acting so weird in front of him. Was it what he was wearing? Hey, he didn't think the Black Sabbath t-shirt made him look that old. Besides, it was more of how the kid was acting right now. It was almost as if Tony had shocked the poor guy.

"Hey, you ok? You look a little pale, kid."

He sat down next to Peter close by the box of wires and stared intently. Was there something he could do to help? Because right now? The kid looked seriously freaked out. He had only passed him the screwdriver and the kid seemed to freeze when he looked at Tony.

"I didn't think I had this effect on people. Is it the handsome face or cool shirt? Relax, kid."

Tony almost felt it normal to place a hand on the kid's shoulder but didn't. He was a stranger almost in the Nexus and this guy was clearly upset about something.

[websnextdoor]

Peter has to clear his throat and look down before Mister Stark sees his eyes watering. There's no recognition here, and Peter knows the risks, the drills. The two Lokis he's met in the Nexus aren't actually the ones from his world, either. Thor's already talked to him about it. So he gets it, he really does. But it doesn't stop his chest from hurting just a little to be a stranger to his hero once again.

"N..no it's uh. I just. I've seen you on TV back home Mister Stark, sir." He rubs at the back of his neck.

"I..it's an honor. Is all."

[readvondaniken]

It's been a long time since Palmer saw Peter Parker, but he remembers the instructions he was given a long time ago by Steve Rogers. A Stever Rogers, anyway. A lot has happened since then. Palmer looks a little more rugged than he did before, the look of someone who's been through some rough times, but he's clearly the same man. Same brown hair, same questionable denim jacket.

He passes Peter the screwdriver, a smile flashing on his grimy features. Judging from the grease on his fingers, Palmer's been hard at work himself. He always is. His business has grown since he last met Peter.

"Nice to see you again, kid. What're you up to, and can I help? I'm a mechanic, too, so I might be able to offer some tips if you need 'em." Palmer is known to salvage things and recycle them for his own use, so he figures that he and Peter might be able to come up with some ideas together. Two heads are better than one when it comes to mechanical work.

[websnextdoor]

"Oh! Hey there Mister Palmer, uhm. Sir." He recognizes Peter so he's definitely someone he's met while Out of the Suit. It's surprisingly hard to remember who he is and isn't supposed to know a lot of the time. They never tell you that about having a secret identity.

Peter tips the screwdriver by way of thanks and sets about to unscrewing the casing on a weird sort of CRT looking display.

"Haven't figured it out yet. I'm. I'm not even really sure what half of this stuff even does. That's part of the fun! For now I'm trying to take some of this stuff apart to see if I can fix it up." Peter's area of expertise is a bit more specialized than an all out mechanic. Rather than motors or analog devices most of what he's collected here is all electronics.

"Business going well, sir?"

[readvondaniken]

"It's goin' as well as it can. I got some fish to help give the place some color."

Palmer looks over the display. He's not sure what Peter's trying to build. From the sound of it, Peter himself isn't even sure. Either way, it looks cool and that's good enough for him. He's curious about what's eventually going to come out of Peter's tinkering.

"Not a bad idea. I imagine there's all kinds of tools to fiddle around with in a place like this. You wouldn't believe the kinda stuff I see over at the shop. I can't handle anything too high-tech. No spaceships, no time machines, nothing past the twenty-first century. Nothing alien, and nothing a guy from 1982 can't handle. Even with those restrictions, there's some weird things."

He turns back to Peter, smiling. "Hope you're doin' well, kid. If there are any other tools you need, give me a shout."

[websnextdoor]

"Really? What kinds? Are they freshwater or saltwater? I've kinda wanted to keep a terrarium but I was looking online and it's really way more expensive a hobby than I thought it was gonna be plus a lotta stuff spooks my Aunt May and we've kinda had enough unnecessary stress about lately so..." Peter catches himself rambling and quickly clears his throat.

"Uh. Sorry. Anyway." He gestures around. "Yeah a lot of this stuff is over my head and I pretty much specialize in electronics."

Hard to specialize in something that's not of your world though. But that's half the fun!

[ididntasktogetmade]

A heap of junk of questionable origins may as well be a siren call for Rocket. Sure, most of it is liable to be trash and not useful for anything in particular, but you’d also be surprised what kinda use you can get out of random electronics and the like.

He’s already got his eye on it even before the youngster returns, and the human’s presence isn’t a deterrent whatsoever. He’s pretty sure he recognizes the kid anyway; they didn’t talk much that he can remember, but Rocket remembers him being among those at Stark’s funeral. One of the good guys, for sure.

“Sure thing, kid.” Rocket’s little hand reaches over to pass up the screwdriver, and uses that as an excuse to hop up on the table directly, scaling it with ease. “Makin’ anything exciting?”

[websnextdoor]

Does this kid even know what he's got tucked away in here? Those battery packs properly tinkered with could probably make a pretty kickass explosive in a pinch. What even is that display he's trying to take the casing off of? Smells probably like it's burnt out its wiring years ago, but Peter's barely more than human. He probably can't smell as good as Rocket can.

He'd most definitely been at Stark's funeral. Had been in a few pictures with the guy that were in the house, after even.

"Oh...h-hey there." Like Rocket, Peter's not totally sure where Rocket fits into the whole saving their universe kind of thing but he'd been wearing the right uniform. Not a whole lot of talking raccoons with guns running around. Leaves an impression.

"No idea yet. I haven't got half of this stuff apart yet. Not even sure what most of it does, but if some of it can be fixed it'd be pretty neat to find out." Kid's definitely not been in contact with a whole lot of doomsday devices to be so innocent about trying to put a mystery device back together.

[ididntasktogetmade]

Rocket's not much good at telling when humans are young or not after they've gotten big, but he's got a vague enough idea to tell that this one's not quite on the edge of adulthood just yet. Still getting' experience in what's good and what's bad, if the sights and smells from this junkheap is any indication. Some of these circuit boards are so old and dusty that they'll fry the second they have power, and there's something that looks an awful lot like a spacesuit generator that's been waterlogged beyond recoverability. But there are some gems in there, piled on top of junk that might as well broadcast that the kid has no idea what he's got.

He picks up one of the battery packs and turns it over idly in nimble hands, already mentally reviewing the best way to strip it down and hotwire it into something with a brighter punch to it. "Could be a dangerous game," he says, amusement in his voice. "Does this antiviolence thing stop things from blowing up?" Because if it doesn't, that's even more incentive to rework some of this junk into a bomb. You never know when you're gonna need one, after all. "I never got around to testing it, which is kinda an oversight on my part."

[websnextdoor]

Peter's got heart at least. Got it in spades. He won't figure out what most of the non-Terran stuff he's got his hands on is, but half the fun's in learning how some of this stuff ticks and maybe figuring out what it could be used for.

"Wait like...you think some of this stuff's gonna blow up?" Peter can't scoff at that notion. The last time he brought something home he'd found randomly on the job he'd accidentally almost let Ned blow up a national treasure for good. A prickle of fear spikes through his gut looking down at the monitor looking thing he's currently trying to take apart. "Uh...I...I don't know. And now I'm kinda nervous to find out."

[onward_and_upward]

Astro had been wandering through the plaza when he spotted the table full of electronic parts and wiring. There was a fellow there who looked around the age of a senior high schooler. Perhaps a few short years older than Astro (who was designed after a boy who was nearly 14). He appeared to be tinkering at bits and pieces on the table. Curious now, the teen robot wandered over to get a closer look. The request caused him to grin and he reached over for the screw driver in the tool box and placed it in the guy's hand.

"Here you go!"

He was silent for another few moments before curiosity got the better of him. "What are you working on?"

[websnextdoor]

"Hey, thanks man!"

There aren't that many kids hanging around the Nexus, and while Peter likes to complain and groan about being treated like the kid he is yet he's sure quick to notice another one he's not met before taking a good long look at the table full of potential treasure he's dug up.

"I'm trying to figure out how some of this stuff works. We've got all kinds of gadgets and electronics in my home world but half of everything here I've never seen before in any capacity. Which, you know, is cool because it's probably from some other world. But also really really confusing."

He flashes a smile to the younger kid.

"I suppose I just like taking stuff apart to see if I can put it back together. What about you? Recognize anything here?"

[onward_and_upward]

"I think it's really cool." Astro said in regards to tech here possibly being a mix from different worlds. He returned the grin. "I come from a technologically advanced city, so I might recognize something here. I like to tinker with tech, myself." He hummed thoughtfully as he looked through the various items on the table. He might have used his scans if he was alone, but didn't want to startle the other teenager, so he refrained.

"Where did you find all this?" He asked curiously, poking at some wiring. He saw items that looked like various sized power cells - but they looked old. Robots on his world had newer ones that were smaller but held more charge. His own power source was different and self sustaining. So he didn't have to use fuel or physically recharge. Sleep did just fine for that.

[websnextdoor]

"You do? Like, with flying cars and all that?" Media always goes on and on about the flying cars. It's grossly infeasible but man sometimes a guy's gotta ask. One of these worlds will have them, and then he might miss out if he doesn't!

He blushes a little bit when he's asked where he found all of it. Shrugs one shoulder before he finishes prying off the covering of the CRT he's been working on.

"Y..you know. Junkyards, mostly. Here and there, definitely not in a dumpster or six."

[mrhix]

Jason tilts his head at the boy, looks about for a screwdriver, sees one and picks it up then approaches Peter and tries to stab him with it, the anti-violence field making him stop a clean foot away from his Peter's body.

There he stays, holding the screwdriver out in front of him, business end first.

[websnextdoor]

Peter's busy wrestling (gently, he's stronger than he looks) with the casing on the monitor he's fussing with. Enough that he doesn't quite notice Jason's looming approach until it should really be far too late to do anything about it. He stops in place when a spike of anxiety hits him. Turns and would so easily be just one more dead teen this side of a summer camp if he was in fact a normal kid. Also if the AV field wasn't giving him quite a bit of help.

As it stands, the man just looks a bit ridiculous holding the screwdriver up as though he might want to gesture with it.

"Uh. You alright there?" What's with the outfit? Ohhhhh, wait. What time of year is it? Is there a convention going around? "You really had me worried for a second there. That's a pretty sweet getup. Did you do the work yourself? It reminds me of like, these really really old movies I saw my Aunt May watching a while back, you know. Like, vintage slasher flick type stuff."

Congratulations Jason. No kill, and now, no way out of this one sided conversation.

"And then the girl was like 'Aieeee no--!' but then, I think it was her best friend but I don't remember because I wasn't supposed to be watching it--"

[mrhix]

As Peter talked, his adolescent trilling dragging nails of sound down the chalkboard of Jason's decaying psyche, he tried to push the screwdriver at him again but only managed an insistent shake of the object.

During his time in the Nexus many had approached him and talked. There were those that asked him who he was, what he was and even how he was feeling but not in all his years and all his many lives had Jason ever faced such a ceaseless torrent of questions and anecdotes as he did now.

He tried again in vane to drive the screwdriver in, break the rib cage and stop this noisy boys heart but again all he could do was shake it insistently in Peter's direction as he droned on and on.

[sweetcandygirl]

Harley is making her rounds in the Nexus, once again on roller skates. It is perfect weather to be out and about these days anyway. And she gets to explore the whole plaza pretty quickly on a pair of skates.

She skids up to where the weird collection of electronic bits and bobs. And was wondering if this was a garage sale... because she spots some thing that she could definitely steal buy.

Then Peter shows up. She watches him for a moment. And then grins. "Ain't you too young to be drinking booze at this time of day?"

Yes. She knows he is asking for the screwdriver -- the tool, not the screwdriver -- the drink. Anyway she is picking up said screwdriver for him, to hand it to him, with his question. But it was a opportunity she just couldn't pass up.

[websnextdoor]

"Wait. Booze?" Peter quickly sniffs at the part he's fumbling with but nothing he can poke at smells like it's been doused in alcohol. Which is a good thing because he'd be in so much trouble if anyone stopped him and thought they smelled drink on him. We're talking grounded for Ever type trouble here which is really the worst kind of trouble to be in when your extra curricular activities involve vigilante heroism.

"I don't smell anything, oh! Thanks. I forgot I was looking for that."

He got all in a panic for nothing!

[sweetcandygirl]

"Oh good. That must mean this is clean laundry day." Harley does work at a bar, so it would not be uncommon for her to smell like booze herself. She pops a piece of bubblegum into her mouth, and kneels down.

"Whatcha working on?"

[somekindofspaceuncle]

A screwdriver, huh? Hiroki Shirogane takes it and hands it over to the boy.

"Here you go, buddy. What are you going to make, here?"

[websnextdoor]

Oh, this one's a new face. Older than Peter is too by the looks of it but to be fair there's ten year olds who look more like an adult than Peter Parker does. He can't help it if he looks young!

"Thanks." He's immediately going to use it to unscrew the corners of this monitor casing off so he can peel back the plastic to see the wires and circuitry underneath. "Uh, I'm not sure if I can make much with this yet. I don't know what half of it does. But I am hoping I can fix some of it up and maybe find Out what it's good for."

He shoots Hiroki a grin.

"It's like an adventure."

[somekindofspaceuncle]

"Now I'm curious. Let's hope it doesn't explode!"

Said good-naturedly, really.

"Or if it does, let's run away in time, okay? Nothing to be ashamed of."