"Who are you?" asked Amazo, looking down upon me.
The guy was... tall. What, could Ivo not reach the tall shelves? Fortunately, the android seemed to be a pretty cool dude in this continuity. I waved politely. "Hi," I said, deciding honesty was best- "I'm Framework, and I'm having trouble with some science stuff. Is Profesor Ivo in? I was wondering if he'd be willing to help."
"He is not here," said Amazo. "He is late. Please wait here." The robot turned around and walked back into the house, leaving the door wide open behind him.
Robin dropped down from... wherever he'd been to land beside me. "A giant robot?" he asked. "I thought you said he did nanotech. That thing doesn't look very 'nano' to me."
"He does work on nanotech," I replied, scratching my head... "I guess he's just one of those genius types- makes sense considering how much Luthor likes him. Though honestly I'm just as surprised as you are." Taking a moment to peer in, I was surprised by just how much machinery was in the front entrance- and by the faint sound of something that sounded like television. Not static or anything- the sound of a program, which clicked off just as I was about to figure out what it was.
The robot reemerged from the house after a second. He looked at us both. "Would you like a cup of tea?" he asked me.
"Do you have any mint tea?" I asked. Mint tea best tea.
The android nodded. "Cetainly," he agreed, "it shouldn't be hard to fetch. And you?" he asked Robin, seemingly unperturbed by the fact the Boy Wonder had seemingly appeared from nowhere while he wasn't looking.
"Uhh... sure," Robin agreed hesitantly, looking like his fight-or-flight reflexes had hit a ten-foot steel wall. Oh, Robin. You may be the comedy for Batman, but you're a mere straight man for the shenanigans of Framework. Muahahahahahah.
"Come in," said Amazo, leading us past the science machines to a small side room- probably the living room, though it didn't exactly seem lived in, beyond those rather comfortable-looking sofas it contained. There was a small computer in one corner of the room, where I could make out a paused video that was sitting comfortably underneath a search engine of some sort. "Take a seat," he said placidly. "I will brew the tea now." He left the room.
I did as the android requested, sitting next to the computer and glancing at the search engine upon it. Robin, on the other hand, started poking and prodding at where he wanted to sit.
Finding no reason to distrust the sofa beyond plain ol' paranoia, Robin reluctantly sat down at the edge of the sofa cushion, and frowned. "Why do you think it had to leave?" he asked, looking back at the way Amazo had gone.
I reached over to the computer beside my seat, and started the video from the beginning. It was some sort of old-timey British program (or program set in Britain, either one) where someone had just answered the door. "Looking up what he was supposed to do," I replied, as I paused it again- just as the housewife in the video went offscreen to put the kettle on.
"So he's pretty much a robot butler... that doesn't know anything about being a butler," summated Robin. "Sounds about right." He crossed his arms and leant back on the sofa. "I'm guessing this Ivo isn't very good at AI?"
I shrugged. "Beats me."
The android returned to the room. In his hands were three saucers of steaming hot tea- I gratefully received mine and put it on the side to cool down, while Robin nodded and glared at it suspiciously. Amazo sat down on a sofa- and seemingly found itself utterly stumped by exactly what it was supposed to do with the last cup. In the end it settled on just holding the saucer. "...How have your days been?" he asked, in a feeble but welcome effort at active conversation.
"Frustrating," I replied. "Alas, I can't really talk about it without spoiling my secret identity." I am equally bad at conversation. My sympathies, Amazo, my sympathies.
"Well, err... school was pretty boring," said Robin, apparently having decided to play along after all. "I did some training with Batman earlier. That's about it, today."
Amazo considered this for a second. "Professor smokes when he is frustrated," he mentioned. "Do you?"
"We're too young to smoke," I explained, giggling slightly as it conjured up a mental image of me and Robin dressed up like stereotypical teenage delinquents. "It's unhealthy, too, so it's best not to start smoking in the first place."
The android nodded politely. "That seems sensible."
Robin glanced between us. "Y'know," he mentioned, "I'm not exactly sure when I got jaded enough to be perfectly fine having a tea party with a ten-foot robot. I don't think that much jadedness is a good thing, either."
"Y'know," I replied, mimicking him slightly, "it was probably when you started going out at night to wear tights and punch people in the face at the behest of a man who dresses like a bat to fight clowns. Just a thought."
He sighed. "That would make sense, wouldn't it... Hah."
"Do you refer to Batman?" asked the robot. I nodded. "Professor will be pleased to see you, then," he explained. "Professor speaks of Batman frequently."
"...In the 'I'll-show-them-all' sense or the normal sense?" queried Robin, carefully putting down the cup of tea he'd been about to finally drink from. I sipped my own contentedly in defiance of Robin's newfound paranoia. Silly Tim, genre saviness is for kids.
The android seemed to have a pleased expression. "He speaks nostalgically," he explained. Then he looked up- I followed his eyes, to see the light from a car. "There he is! I shall go open the door for him."
"Remember to explain we're here!" I called out to him as he stood up and left the room, still holding the cup of tea he hadn't figured out what to do with.
Me and Robin both stopped to listen as Amazo went up to greet his creator. We heard the door open- the placidly calm voice of Amazo, then another, higher-pitched voice. Then there was the sound of footsteps- lighter, more energetic than the android's- and the door opened again to reveal a small, wiry-haired man with a fantastic grin.
"Ah!" he exclaimed, looking ever-so-pleased to see us. "For a moment I thought Amazo here had evolved a sense of humour! No such luck, alas, just a bunch of sidekicks." He tipped his hat, which would have been more effective had it not been that soft, almost plush round cap owned by grandparents everywhere. "Professor Anthony Ivo, a pleasure to meet you both. You must be Robin," he said, gesturing to the Boy Wonder, "and you would be...?"
"Yet-to-be-announced," I explained somewhat apologetically. "Framework, pleased to meet you."
"Getting into the crime-fighting business young, eh?" he said, chuckling at the both of us in our ridiculous outfits. "Ah, to be young and foolish again..."
"You were a superhero?" Robin asked, eyebrows raised.
Professor Ivo laughed at that. "Me? A hero? Oh, that must be some other geezer!" he exclaimed. "Oh, heavens no- I'd be bored out of my skull if I ran around rescuing kittens from trees or whatever you heroes do nowadays. Has Batman never regaled you with tales from his mentor?" He tutted.
"Batman doesn't really... regale," said Robin, just as disarmed as I was by Ivo's demanour (if still a bit less on-balance than I). "But- you? A supervillain?"
"Ah," said Ivo, a hint of sadness in his voice before he scrubbed it out. "Well, not just any supervillain! I suppose you two- if you're also training under Batman, I suppose-" I nodded, to confirm it- "-could call me your grandnemesis."
I blinked. Suddenly, the pieces were coming together. "You fought Wildcat?" I questioned.
"Not just Wildcat," the old man cackled. "The whole flippin' Justice Society of America! But yes," he confirmed, "I always did have a grudging respect for the guy. Though..." He paused, turning around. "Amazo, you can come out if people already know you're here, you know!"
The robot walked in again, slightly sheepish. "I was reheating your tea," he explained.
"Reheating tea!?" the Professor scolded, receiving it from him nevertheless. "Silly 'bot- you can't reheat tea! It's preposterous!" As the saucer passed hands, I noticed the robot stand ever so slightly taller, even as his creator started to grumble about microwaves and 'proper brewing'. My lips quirked ever so slightly upwards.
The robot made a coughing sound that sounded suspiciously like him just saying the words 'cough, cough'. "I believe the children had some questions," prompted Amazo. The old man considered that for a second, sipping his tea as he thought, before he nodded.
"Yes, yes," he agreed. "I'm far enough past my supervillain days to know that lending a helping hand would surely be in my best interests- and a bit of fun, perhaps. What did you two want to ask?"
"Well, I was planning on asking about your work on nanotech," I said. The Professor raised an eyebrow in interest. "I'm doing work on genetic engineering- I'm a bored supergenius, y'see- and I kept having issues with macro-scale gene expression... but I'm also a small child who's just been offered storytime," I noted. "It can wait- none of it's urgent, and it's still a while before I should probably be asleep. You fought the Justice Society?"
"Well, I think my ears would start bleeding if I had to listen to too much science talk," admitted Robin in implicit agreement. "And I need Framework to drop me off back at Gotham once this is done, anyway- I might as well listen."
The old man tutted at Robin. "Kids, never admitting they're never too old for a good story," he complained. "But-! Let's begin. Amazo, could you look up some fitting music, please?"
"Certainly Professor," Amazo agreed, fingers tapping keys as if he were Clark Kent with a deadline to meet. "Ominous?"
"Ominous is good," he replied cheerily. The music started playing, and the tale began. "Now, then- it all started when Doctor Mid-Nite noticed the heat coming off a certain series of roads in the city. These were better days, ofcourse- no just sticking -man or -woman on the end of a name, heavens no, you had to be creative- I'm glad you two whippersnappers thought of something better than that... Oh! You can tell that other Robin of yours that Nightwing's a name to be proud of, we need more inventive fellas like him with our heroes... But anyway! I digress. It all started when he noticed this strange heat on the roads..."
