Chapter 2
Tony hadn’t wanted to go down to the lower labs to look at some kids’ projects today. Hell, being in a room full of teenagers wasn’t ever something he wanted to subject himself to. But Pepper thought he needed to engage in the social side of the company more, let the employees see his face every once in a while, and apparently this was the perfect opportunity. He and Pepper weren’t together anymore, but she was still the CEO, and she was scary.
So, room full of teenagers it was.
After the first few projects, Tony was bored out of his mind. But just as he was contemplating calling a suit and blasting out the window just to get out of there, he ended up face-to-face with the smallest kid in the room, who seemed to have a much more interesting project than the rest of the kids.
As the kid started explaining his robot, Tony inspected it and quickly realised this robot was almost as complex as DUM-E. Which Tony had made at 17. After MIT.
This kid was thirteen.
Tony politely looked at the other kids’ projects but his mind was always on the small kid with the autism support robot.
Tony was going to make some calls.
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Peter walked into his next day at SI excited to receive a new assignment. They were allowed to keep working on their old projects, but now that the scientists had assessed their skills, they were being given something new to work on.
He walked into the elevator, and Peter expected it to take him to floor 16 like it always did, but then it kept going up.
“Uhhhhh..” Peter exclaimed, not really expecting a response.
“Hello Mr. Parker, I am FRIDAY. Mr. Stark’s personal artificial intelligence system. I’ve been tasked to bring you to floor 89, Boss’ personal lab”
Came an irish-accented voice from the ceiling. And wow, there was a lot to unpack there.
“Uhhh Miss FRIDAY? Are you sure you’ve got the right person? Because I don’t think I’m supposed to be going to Mr. Stark’s lab. Also uh you can just call me Peter. And uuuuh ohmygod I’m talking to an actual AI right now what is happening.”
The voice in the ceiling sounded faintly amused:
“I’m quite sure Peter, the paperwork to make you Boss’ personal intern for the duration of your robotics program was put through yesterday. Boss seems to think you would be able to learn much more up here than down on the 16th floor, as your skills seem to be far beyond those of your peers. However, if you’d like me to request you be placed back-”
“Nonono no need for that Miss Friday, I’m good here!”
Peter was in shock. He was going to be Mr. Stark’s personal intern. He was going to Mr. Stark’s Personal lab.
The elevator doors finally opened and Peter immediately winced hearing the loud AC/DC blasting from the speakers. He’d always had trouble with loud noises, but after the spider bite it became almost unbearable at times.
Peter covered his ears and took a few deep breaths in the elevator before stepping out into the lab. He found Mr. Stark tinkering with a repulsor in the middle of the room and headed towards him.
Mr. Stark looked up at him and noticed his expression and covered ears right away.
“FRI, turn the music down would you?” He directed toward the AI, “And make that a new protocol, decrease the music volume by 70% when Peter Parker enters the lab.”
“Sure thing, Boss.”
Mr. Stark looked back towards Peter: “Sorry about that, kid, I lost track of time. So, I was thinking for today I could give you a tour of the lab and then you can tell me more about that little robot you were working on. Sound good?
Peter was momentarily stunned. Mr. Stark had noticed he was uncomfortable with the music and just… accommodated him. Immediately with no questions asked. Nobody had ever done that for him before and honestly the idea made him a little light-headed but he shook himself out of his daze when he realised Mr. Stark expected him to respond.
“Yeah that sounds great Mr. Stark!” He finally replied.
Mr. Stark showed him around the lab (The coolest place Peter had ever seen), pointing out the holo-tables, the dangerous chemicals he wasn’t supposed to touch without permission, and finally:
“And here’s where you’ll be working, kid.”
Mr. Stark showed him his workstation (Peter had his own personal space in Tony Stark’s personal lab and Peter thinks there’s a very good chance his head is going to explode before the end of the day), which already had STIM-E and Peter’s designs and calculations from downstairs on it.
“So, I was wondering if you wanted to keep working on this little guy, or if you wanted to start a new project.” Mr. Stark asked him.
“Oh, well I think I might want to keep working on STIM-E for a little while if that’s alright” Peter replied, a little nervously, “I’ve grown pretty attached to him and I want to make him the best he can be.”
“Sounds good to me kid,” A smirk grew on Mr. Stark’s face after that. “Speaking of robots we’ve grown rather attached to, I’d like you to meet DUM-E, U, and Butterfingers.”
Three robots suddenly came barreling towards Peter, and it took all his self control not to let out a startled yelp and attach himself to the ceiling. They came to a stop in front of them and DUM-E started making little electronic happy(?) chirping noises. Peter looked down at him and promptly decided this was the second cutest little robot he’d ever seen in his life (after STIM-E of course, no one could replace STIM-E) Peter would die for this robot.
“Hey there little buddy,” Peter reached down and pet his claw. DUM-E started making more happy beeping sounds, so Peter figured he must’ve done something right. He glanced over to the side at Mr. Stark, and saw the man watching the exchange with a smile. It looked different than the ones Peter had seen in Mr. Stark’s press conferences on TV; He hoped he would see it more often
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They spent the rest of their lab day with Peter giving Mr. Stark a more in-depth explanation of STIM-E and his ideas for ways to make the robot even better, while Mr. Stark gave him tips and suggestions for how to implement them. Peter was still getting used to the idea that he actually had access to the resources and materials he needed to make his ideas come to life.
Peter liked to think he was pretty good at finding spare parts and used electronics around Queens; he was a pretty resourceful kid. However, there were things he could do with state of the art lab equipment that he just couldn’t do with parts he found in a dumpster.
Once Peter and Mr. Stark had finished their upgrades to STIM-E for the day, they gave him one final test run. This time it was for deep-pressure therapy:
“Alright, take it away, kiddo,” Mr. Stark prompted him.
Peter turned toward STIM-E: “Ok STIM-E, one more time. Pressure!” He exclaimed in a high voice as if he was speaking to a dog.
STIM-E flew off the counter and came barrelling towards him. Peter braced himself, but the drone slowed down its descent before moving towards Peter’s chest, expanding, and resting on top of it.
Tony clapped his hands together once, “Looks like a success! How’s it feel, kid? Is it too heavy or unbalanced in any places?”
“Nope, Mr. Stark it’s perfect!” Peter responded. Mr. Stark looked genuinely excited, and it made Peter feel warm and fuzzy inside, with the idea that someone else cared about his silly little robot almost as much as he did.
Peter used another command to remove STIM-E from his chest and sat back up onto his chair.
“So, kiddo, I’ve gotta ask, how did you come up with the idea for little STIM-E over here?” Mr. Stark asked, gesturing to the robot.
Peter knew the question was coming, but he still needed to take a couple subtle deep breaths anyway to calm down. It’s okay it’s okay Peter he probably knows anyway it’s just a few words that’s all you have to do just say the words
“Well -um, I’m autistic and I-” Mr. Stark nodded for him to go on. “I thought it might be helpful, not just for me, but also for other autistic people that could benefit from a service dog, but either can’t afford one or don’t have the time or energy to train and take care of one properly. I mostly just thought about what I need when I have a meltdown or start getting overwhelmed and I just went from there.” Peter had started speaking hesitantly, but got a little more confident as he kept speaking.
Peter was a little nervous about what Mr. Stark’s reaction would be, but he looked up at the man and it didn’t seem like he was pitying Peter, or was about to start talking to him as if he was five years old, which was already a lot better than a lot of the reactions Peter had gotten from people. In fact, Peter could be reading it wrong, but it kind of seemed like he was a little bit proud of him: like he knew that was hard for Peter to say.
“Well kiddo I think STIM-E was a great idea.” Mr. Stark said with a soft smile on his face. “Maybe we could make some version of him that we could release to the public. Something simple and affordable yet equipped with as many things to get someone through a meltdown or sensory overload as possible.”
Peter beamed at the man as if he’d hung the moon and all the stars in the sky and Mr. Stark chuckled. “So kid, are there any accommodations you think you’d need from me or in the lab so you’re completely comfortable science-ing in here?”
Peter blinked a little in shock at the question, though he honestly shouldn’t be surprised, the man had been great about this entire thing so far.
“Well you already had Friday turn down the music, thank you for that by the way!” Peter exclaimed and Mr. Stark chuckled again. “The only other thing I’d say would I guess be to make sure I always have clear instructions? I get anxious when I don’t know exactly what I’m supposed to be doing.”
Mr. Stark nodded. “That sounds easy enough. That’s all?”
“Yep,” Peter nodded, “that’s all.”
“Alright, kid, well let me know if anything comes up, yeah?”
“Yeah” Peter confirmed with a smile.
“Great. Well I think that’s all for today kiddo, my head of security is waiting downstairs to drive you home. I’ll see you in a couple days.”
“See you Mr. Stark! Thank you!” Peter called as he walked out the lab doors. He stepped into the elevator with a smile on his face, his chest feeling lighter than it had in a long time.
Yeah, today was a good day.