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[The feed opens to Tony's form from about the waist up. His sleeves are rolled up and his left arm is covered in burns that look to be about a week old. He's holding a strange device about eight inches long. It's encased entirely in a shell and seems to have a small domed sensor on top.]

I just wanted to say, if you start seeing these around, it's not a tiny alien invasion, they're sensors. I'm setting them around key locations in the hopes of finding a way to predict these event things. In light of the most recent catastrophe, I think it's only a reasonable step towards surviving something like that again. There has to be something preceding these things, right? Like a low-pressure system before a storm. We get a warning, sure. Sometimes, anyway? Maybe, if we can figure out what causes them or where they're coming from, we can delay or stop them?

[It's... all he's got, okay? He hates feeling like he isn't in control and he hates that people die because of it, even more.]

I'm... [He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, the beginnings of a sleepless headache coming on.] officially out of retirement. Hold the "I told you so"s. You know who you are.

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Did you get medical attention a week or a little less ago? Did anyone tell you about the chance of long-lasting damage? [ She's only half paying attention as she locks her door behind her and sets off for Tony's room. ]

I think they call mean "old" rock when they call it classic now. [ Sorry, Tony, she's still not paying much attention. She's going through everything she knows about burn wounds and everything in her kit that may or may not help. And she's going to have a talk with him about taking care of himself, damn it.

She only pauses when she registers him say that people died. She glances down at her comm, her face bobbing on the screen as she walks. ] People do that here, Tony. Even I died a while ago. It's not the end of the world. [ Her tone is almost nice. Nicer than she uses most of the time, at any rate. ] None of us can protect everyone all the time. That's how things go.

I... didn't really get the chance when it happened. [He's still not sure how he managed not to get an infection.] Long-lasting damage? Other than the nasty scars they're gonna leave?

Yeah, I got that. Thanks for rubbing it in, princess. [His tone is a little playful for the moment, until the conversation continues. He doesn't like hearing that she died, and it might show as the lines in his expression deepen.]

We need as many people helping prevent deaths as possible. Maybe then something will change. If I could've prevented at least one death, it would've meant something. When did you...?

[Okay, now that's even more interesting to him. A culture that limits technological advancement?]

So, I take it, the two cultures don't get along very well? Or, probably at all. A shame. If they worked together, they could probably benefit from eachother and advance eachother.

I'm gonna back out here for a sec, to explain. I work with a team of people to keep others safe. I'm, as you've noticed, not magically inclined. I'm a tech guy. We've got two guys who have their own powers--let's call them super powered for the moment. They're a mix of science that went right or wrong depending, and gave them gifts. Two assassins, they're just normal people with incredible skills enhanced with tech. And then you have two people who use 'magic'. Now, that's not all of them, but you get the point. Together, they get things done that they couldn't by themselves.

Long and short of it is, they both have a place. So I think, at least here, we could make it work. I could give you a run-down of what my world's like, if you're really curious.

Unfortunately not. We've been at all-out-war with Qunari more times than I think either side would like to admit. In fact, there was an extreme conflict with them a few years back in the city I was living in, Kirkwall.

[And her brother totally killed the Arishok in one-on-one combat and became a huge hero, but she doesn't feel particularly proud of that little feat -- so she's not going to bring it up.

She nods, though.]

I do not doubt that you're right. Even among the Chantry's community, mages and templars -- the people who are to 'control' the mages -- are constantly in conflict. If we could work things out, I have no doubt great things could be accomplished.

[Oh, Tony -- you shouldn't have suggested giving her a run-down. She beams.]

I am very curious. Being in this place has been, at least, educational.

Yeah? And who said I'm gonna be the one to try?

[He can build robots that will kick your ass, Barton. Even if it's more literal than metaphorical.]

You lot can't seem to handle Avenging without me. [Like hell he's gonna actually say it, dammit.]

Kirkwall... why does that--? [He snaps his fingers and points at the screen when he makes the connection.] Isabela. Are you two from the same world? Eh, but yeah, war's no fun. That's a shame.

Yeah. It's a shame people don't always see what's best but what they want to see. [He's been guilty of that, he knows. But he likes to think he's learned.]

Okay, here--

[Tony pulls back the view of the video to include a work table. Now that he's walking away from the video, it's a little more obvious he has it mounted on something. The table is cleared of random parts and tools haphazardly. He places a tablet on the table and taps a few commands into the device. A holographic projection of Earth hovers above the device about a foot. The globe itself is roughly three feet across.]

Okay, this is home for me. Earth. I'm froooom... [He spins the hologram with hand gestures and pokes the North American continent, causing it to highlight and enlarge. With both hands, he makes an expanding motion and blows up the image to make it much larger, drawing in on New York.] here. Or, well, this is where I'm living right now. It's a state called New York. [He keys a few more things onto the Starkpad and the holographic image changes to show a rendering of buildings, roads, cars, a bird's eye view of Avenger's Tower and the surrounding area. All telemetry he pulled from his phone, so obviously it wasn't recent.] That's what a stroll down my neighbourhood looks like. Can you see it okay? This'd be easier in person, wouldn't it?

Or nerve damage. Did you even get it cleaned? [ Do they have antibiotics in Wonderland? They've got to have antibiotics in Wonderland. ]

And anytime, Grandpa.

[ She cuts the feed after that, finding his door and giving it a firm knock. As soon as the door opens, she greets him with: ]

And yeah, it turns out zombies are assholes. So... during the zombie apocalypse event. The most recent one. Now sit so I can look at your arm.

[When he opens the door he's about to huff about the 'grandpa' comment, but she cuts in first. His mouth snaps shut and he just steps aside, motioning for her to come in, then takes to his work bench when ordered.]

Zombies are not really very cool anymore. [He rests his elbow on the table to prop his arm up for her, hooking his ankle into the rolling chair he usually uses, dragging it into place for her.] I'm... uh. I'm sorry. That mess took a lot of good people. It's also where the burns came from.

Are you okay? [Tony may be in the public eye a lot, but he's pretty shit when it actually comes to interactions with people. What is even the social protocol on addressing one's death?]

[As he points at the screen and mentions her good friend, Bethany all but lights up.]

Oh! You know Isabela? Yes, we're from the same place.

-- well, sort of the same! I'm not sure what might be different for her.

[Considering the whole 'your brother was the one who lived' thing that Cullen had told her about, and the fact that her other brother here was a mage ... well, anything could be different.

She watches with no small amount of fascination as Tony spins and weaves his design, pressing in a little closer to her tiny screen so she can see it a bit better.

She nods eagerly.]

It would be bigger, at the very least.

I went home recently, so I'm probably a little too fresh off of that to be very homesick. Besides, things can get...complicated where I'm from. This place is actually better in some ways.

It might be easiest to meet in person. That way you can easily ask for any details you think are important.

Then it doesn't count.

[ He knows you can build robots that can kick his ass Tony, you've already done that. Don't do it again. ]

Clearly. [ That's his sarcastic voice. ] Zombies aren't really something we're used to.

[ She slips inside and gives his place a quick once-over. Exits (door, windows, standard), potential weapons (everything, including the stuff she can't see and other things he might have invented that she can't imagine).

He takes a seat and pulls a chair over for her, and she's more than a little struck by how grown up Tony has become. She'd always thought he was so concerned with himself that she'd never even dared ask him if he wanted to play Nerf guns with her. And yet, here he is, working on ways to save people and even pulling a chair over for her. Being Iron Man might be better for him than he admits.

She takes the seat and gently pulls his arm toward her. Her fingers trail along his arm, pressing gently every couple of seconds. ] Not much I can do at this point, really, but tell me if you can't feel anything.

And yeah, this is the second zombie event I've been in. They really suck.

[ She examines his arm in silence for several seconds. ] And... yeah. I'm fine. It was just a bit of death. [ She glances at him and forces a smile. ] You wake up again pissed off as fuck. Other than that, no big. [ The most disconcerting part of it had been how utterly fine she'd been afterward. No sign of infection left, no injuries, just... fine. That had been the worst. ]

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