Status: Finished. No sequel.
My Favorite
Age - 17 Years
“Good morning, Miss Stark.”
“Jarvis, are we friends?” I asked as I entered Dad’s workspace. He had cleared off the tables for me and I saw boxes piled to the ceiling by his hot rods: Jarvis’ parts.
After college, I had spent a bit of time travelling the world. Dad said it would give me more perspective on things – mainly why Stark Industries was no longer in the weapons business. When I got home, I was finally ready to begin work on Jarvis.
“Yes, I believe we are.”
“Then from now on, you have to call me Holly,” Jarvis didn’t say anything after that. I wasn’t sure if he would actually follow through with it. Jarvis had always, always called me Miss Stark. I wasn’t sure if it was part of his protocols, and if that could be changed. He’d always called Dad “Sir”, even when he wasn’t around.
“It has been arranged, Holly.”
“Thank you, Jarvis,” I felt my chest swell with happiness and I sat at dad’s rolling chair, leaning over the holotable, “Alright, Jarvis. I need the plans for your Mainframe. Make a copy of Dad’s on his database, then save a copy to my own files. Make a new folder, name it J.A.R.V.I.S. Body. Save that copy in that folder, name the copy J.A.R.V.I.S. Mainframe Mk II.”
On the computer screens to my left, I saw him performing these commands in seconds. In front of me, an in depth plan of Jarvis’ “brain” came to life. I rested my elbows on the table and sighed. I needed to decide which centers were the most important, that needed to be preserved in case of an attack on Jarvis.
“Alright, isolate the centers for the following: Cellular Devices, Stark Tower, Main Home, Private Databases, Ironman Suit,” I paused, and Jarvis stripped away all of the centers that I didn’t list. The mainframe looked immensely smaller, so I added an afterthought, “Bring back the emotion centers. Any other suggestions, Jarvis?”
“Might I suggest the Stark Industries main database?”
“Right, bring that one back too. That should be enough. Unlock the blueprints, I’m going to be moving them around now,” he consented, and the hologram changed from a dark blue to a deep green. I reached my hand into the picture and began bringing the centers closer together; rotating and shifting them as if like a jigsaw puzzle.
“Holly?” I lifted my head from the holotable to look at my mother walking into the basement. Her eyes softened at the sight of me – messy bun, dark circles and surrounded by energy drinks. There was music blaring from the overhead speakers, and I looked up at the ceiling.
“Pause it for a sec, Jarvis.”
“As you wish, Holly.”
“Holly? When did he start doing that?” Mom asked, grabbing a rolling chair of her own and coming to sit across the holotable from me. The blueprints for the actual body were displayed, and in the center was a familiar circle. Mom looked at it quietly, and I took the time to answer her.
“I’ve been working pretty closely with Jarvis for the past two weeks, I thought it would be better for the both of us I had him call me by my given name, instead of Miss Stark.”
“Thoughtful. You look like you’re making a lot of progress.”
“I haven’t started building anything yet, the mechanisms for his body are causing me problems. And making the mainframe small enough with enough ventilation to keep it from overheating is kicking my butt. I took a break from that to work on this, but this is so hard.”
“Your Dad is so proud of you,” she said quietly, and I gripped the edge of the holotable.
“I know. I don’t want to let him down. He said… he said if I do this, he’d give me Stark Industries. I don’t know if I want that, but I don’t want him to be disappointed that I can’t do this. So I’m not asking for his help. I’ll figure it out on my own.”
“Don’t work yourself to death, Holly. I know you’re serious about this, but be careful. Are you hungry or anything?”
“No, Jarvis has been making sure I eat, Mom. If I don’t, he shuts the holotable off on me and I can’t get any work done until I eat.”
“You haven’t come upstairs, though-“
“He’s been ordering food for takeout, by the time I realize that I need to eat, the food’s already down here waiting for me,” Mom looked up at the ceiling, deep in thought, before giving me a resigned nod.
“Alright, just take care of yourself. Don’t get lost in this. I have to watch your father drown himself in his work, I don’t want that for you, too,” Mom turned and left the basement quickly, and I watched after her with a frown. Jarvis piped up from the computers, reminding me that it was indeed time to eat.
He turned the table off.
“Jarvis, are we friends?” I asked as I entered Dad’s workspace. He had cleared off the tables for me and I saw boxes piled to the ceiling by his hot rods: Jarvis’ parts.
After college, I had spent a bit of time travelling the world. Dad said it would give me more perspective on things – mainly why Stark Industries was no longer in the weapons business. When I got home, I was finally ready to begin work on Jarvis.
“Yes, I believe we are.”
“Then from now on, you have to call me Holly,” Jarvis didn’t say anything after that. I wasn’t sure if he would actually follow through with it. Jarvis had always, always called me Miss Stark. I wasn’t sure if it was part of his protocols, and if that could be changed. He’d always called Dad “Sir”, even when he wasn’t around.
“It has been arranged, Holly.”
“Thank you, Jarvis,” I felt my chest swell with happiness and I sat at dad’s rolling chair, leaning over the holotable, “Alright, Jarvis. I need the plans for your Mainframe. Make a copy of Dad’s on his database, then save a copy to my own files. Make a new folder, name it J.A.R.V.I.S. Body. Save that copy in that folder, name the copy J.A.R.V.I.S. Mainframe Mk II.”
On the computer screens to my left, I saw him performing these commands in seconds. In front of me, an in depth plan of Jarvis’ “brain” came to life. I rested my elbows on the table and sighed. I needed to decide which centers were the most important, that needed to be preserved in case of an attack on Jarvis.
“Alright, isolate the centers for the following: Cellular Devices, Stark Tower, Main Home, Private Databases, Ironman Suit,” I paused, and Jarvis stripped away all of the centers that I didn’t list. The mainframe looked immensely smaller, so I added an afterthought, “Bring back the emotion centers. Any other suggestions, Jarvis?”
“Might I suggest the Stark Industries main database?”
“Right, bring that one back too. That should be enough. Unlock the blueprints, I’m going to be moving them around now,” he consented, and the hologram changed from a dark blue to a deep green. I reached my hand into the picture and began bringing the centers closer together; rotating and shifting them as if like a jigsaw puzzle.
_______
“Holly?” I lifted my head from the holotable to look at my mother walking into the basement. Her eyes softened at the sight of me – messy bun, dark circles and surrounded by energy drinks. There was music blaring from the overhead speakers, and I looked up at the ceiling.
“Pause it for a sec, Jarvis.”
“As you wish, Holly.”
“Holly? When did he start doing that?” Mom asked, grabbing a rolling chair of her own and coming to sit across the holotable from me. The blueprints for the actual body were displayed, and in the center was a familiar circle. Mom looked at it quietly, and I took the time to answer her.
“I’ve been working pretty closely with Jarvis for the past two weeks, I thought it would be better for the both of us I had him call me by my given name, instead of Miss Stark.”
“Thoughtful. You look like you’re making a lot of progress.”
“I haven’t started building anything yet, the mechanisms for his body are causing me problems. And making the mainframe small enough with enough ventilation to keep it from overheating is kicking my butt. I took a break from that to work on this, but this is so hard.”
“Your Dad is so proud of you,” she said quietly, and I gripped the edge of the holotable.
“I know. I don’t want to let him down. He said… he said if I do this, he’d give me Stark Industries. I don’t know if I want that, but I don’t want him to be disappointed that I can’t do this. So I’m not asking for his help. I’ll figure it out on my own.”
“Don’t work yourself to death, Holly. I know you’re serious about this, but be careful. Are you hungry or anything?”
“No, Jarvis has been making sure I eat, Mom. If I don’t, he shuts the holotable off on me and I can’t get any work done until I eat.”
“You haven’t come upstairs, though-“
“He’s been ordering food for takeout, by the time I realize that I need to eat, the food’s already down here waiting for me,” Mom looked up at the ceiling, deep in thought, before giving me a resigned nod.
“Alright, just take care of yourself. Don’t get lost in this. I have to watch your father drown himself in his work, I don’t want that for you, too,” Mom turned and left the basement quickly, and I watched after her with a frown. Jarvis piped up from the computers, reminding me that it was indeed time to eat.
He turned the table off.