"Ripple! I didn't think you'd actually show up. How's Spider-Woman?" Asked Stark as I descended from the sky towards the roof of the Malibu mansion.

I nodded, 'She is doing quite well, Dr Stark."

"Please, call me Tony, none of that Doctor nonsense." He said, "Come on in, you haven't even called since you appeared out of nowhere to make that deal."

I shrugged, "I've been busy. I might not go out and fight evil as you or Spider-Woman do, but I have my work here and there."

Tony chuckled, leading me into the house, "I've heard some interesting things about a new vendor selling ecologically and ethically sourced lithium' to the electronics industry, you've been quite busy, haven't you? Especially with all the money that you've been donating to charity."

"I suppose that my relief efforts have kept me somewhat busy," I admit. "Though, it has been earning me quite a bit of goodwill."

Tony waved me off, "Enough about that though, did Spider-Woman like your present?"

"Yeah, she loved it," I confirmed, "I even got to meet her family, so things have been pretty interesting lately."

As we walked in, I looked to the ceiling, "And a good day to you too, JARVIS, how have things been?"

"'Things have been going quite, Mister Collins." The AI responded.

I nodded, "So… are you an AI? I've heard conflicting reports, but my information suggests that you are capable of self-direction."

Tony stared at me, searching my face for… something, "He's an AI." He informed me.

I looked at him and rolled my eyes, "Tony, I was talking to your son, not to you. Let him speak."

I immediately broke out into laughter as Tony sputtered and a confused warble of electronic static issued from the speakers around us.

I was still chuckling as we made our way to the living room, "So, Tony, I've met your youngest, how are the others?"

Tony stared at me for a moment, "Dum-E and U are doing great. Fuck that's strange. I've never really thought about it like that."

"Sorry about that, I've just always wondered if creating AI was similar to creating other forms of life. I haven't had the chance to meet with people who have done things like that." I said with a shrug.

Tony looked at me intensely, "Want to meet them?"

I looked up at him in askance and he smiled, "Dum-E and U, do you want to meet them?"

"That sounds amazing!" I grinned.

Tony slapped my back as he guided me down a set of stairs, to his private lab.

As he opened the door, I was beset upon by the two bots, who poked and prodded at me as I examined them, "They don't speak?"

Tony shrugged, "I've always understood them, and they've never asked for a voice synthesizer. So it's never really been a big deal."

I nodded, "They really are quite expressive, aren't they."

"It was quite a surprise, honestly, I didn't think that Dum-E's systems had gotten that advanced. But he's been great." Tony admitted.

With a sudden whirr, Dum-E barrelled into Tony and seemed to cuddle into his side, leaving tony to exasperatedly pet the robotic arm.

I stared at the systems, "So… are they locked to a specific system? Or are they pure software?"

"Software, why do you ask?" He said as he ushered Dum-E out of the way.

I nodded, "Well, I brought some presents and I was wondering what I should bring along next time."

Stark raised an eyebrow, before staring in shock as I drew three boxes from my coat despite them very obviously not fitting. I handed the boxes over to the bots before looking up at the ceiling, "Where do you want me to put this JARVIS?"

A robotic arm descended from the ceiling and gingerly grabbed the box, placing it down on the table and getting to work.

"Racing drones?" Tony asked.

I nodded, "The little things aren't too impressive, basically just cameras and speakers on near-silent EDFs, but I've included radio data on with the controllers, so I'm fairly sure that JARVIS could whip up a direct interface."

The two bots immediately started beeping away, and an electronic sigh echoed out from the ceiling, "I'll take a look at it.'

Tony stared at me, "I don't think anyone has ever brought presents for them before."

I shrugged, "What can I say, I like kids."

Tony nodded absently, "You know, now I need to get them something better right?"

"New platforms?" I suggested, "Dum-E and U look like they might need an upgrade and JARVIS might want to see what it's like having a physical presence."

Stark thought about it, "Maybe… a redesign like that would take some time."

"Tell me if you need any materials, I've been looking into things and I think that I'll be able to supply damn near anything."

Stark chuckled, "What about Vibranium?"

His face changed as I thought on it. Strange had bee able to give me a ride out to Xandar some time back and while it was rare, Vibranium wasn't nearly as scarce as it was on Earth when you had dozens of systems to mine.

I'd been able to get a hold of some rather interesting plants that commanded a decent price, they took quite a bit of space to cultivate them, so growing them on orbital habitats were quite expensive, and planetary shipping drove up costs quite a bit.

"I think I have a few contacts. Even if I won't be dealing with Wakanda's extortionate prices, it won't be cheap. Getting a hold of the stuff isn't easy." I admit.

Tony shook his head, "That you can get a hold of it at all is frankly amazing, and you aren't dealing with Wakanda?"

"I have other sources." I say.

Tony chuckled, "In space? Or is it a parallel world?"

I simply grinned, "Space, sort of."

"Space on a parallel world?" She asked.

I shook my head, "Nah, it's space here, just not with any faction you've had contact with."

"So, not the Skrulls then." Tony nodded, "Or the Kree."

I raised an eyebrow, "You've had an encounter with the Kree?"

"Reed ran into a few of them recently," Tony explained, "why? Are you dealing with them?"

"Well not the Kree, but I suppose that you will run into them if you have to deal with those assholes for any length of time." I answered.

We started talking about a few things, discussing his recent dealings with the Mandarin as he dismantled the Ten Rings in the middle east. Apparently, the Mongolian warlord had been funding the organization, making use of it to recruit and generally spread terror to help solidify his control over that part of China.

"So… Tony, have you made contact with Xavier yet? I haven't had a chance to check in with his institute, but it's something that I keep meaning to do."

Tony nodded, "Some interesting folks over there, I can't believe that an entire breed of humanity was just… hidden under our noses like that."

I shrugged, "It's been for good and for ill, Xavier's school is one of the better ones, as far as I can tell, but I can't ell for sure. Organized groups of people with esoteric powers tended not to be the most benevolent thing as far as the history of this planet goes. That said, Mutants do tend to be a fairly diverse bunch and if he's taking in that many mutants, he's either legit or is somehow brainwashing them."

Tony nodded, "I'm leaning towards legit myself. He was willing to help me develop defences against psionic intrusions, and I'm planning on working on that as soon as I'm done with the Mark 4."

"You might also want to collaborate with them on dampening mutant powers. I know that some powers tend to be a little… out of control, and there would be a lot of good-will coming your way if you could figure out a safe way to shut down powers temporarily."

Tony shrugged, "Maybe when they trust me more, and biology was never my focus. I'm decent enough at it, but I'd rather just focus on the mind-blocking for now."

I nodded, "By the way, could you pass along a not for me later? I might not be free next week, but once that's time, we should have plenty of time to look into it"

Tony nodded, "Not a big deal man. Your information about Pierce and Zola have been massive favours Both SHIELD and I owe you for that.

We talked for a little while longer, and as the day came to a close, I turned to him, "Hey Tony, have you ever heard of Nitramene?"