Most of the characters in this story belong to Marvel Comics and whoever else has current legal ownership of Iron Man at the moment. No infringement on any corporate, business, or individual's rights is intended in any way. This story is not being written for profit, just for enjoyment.
Meeting Jarvis and the Bots for the First Time
That same evening about ten o'clock Pepper picked up the Blackberry and turned it on. On the outside, the cell phone looked like a regular Blackberry, but once she powered it on, she realized immediately that this was no assembly line model. Someone, most likely Tony Stark, had made numerous changes to the phone's operating system. Pepper was fairly tech savvy and she knew that the features on this phone were well beyond current market technology. The aps were advanced, but intuitive. After working with the phone for a few minutes, she actually wondered why it was that Stark Industries did not manufacture cell phones. Definitely a question for Mr. Stark later. Once she felt comfortable with the operation of her cell phone, she turned on the Bluetooth and adjusted it to fit her left ear. It too looked ordinary, but she highly suspected that the broadcast signal had been upgraded to provide a secure, hack-free link to the Blackberry which current assembly line models did not have.
She decided to call Jarvis before she took a shower and quickly punched in '2'on the speed dial.
"Ms. Potts" a distinctively British accented voice greeted her. "So good of you to have called."
"Thank you…Mr. Jarvis." She replied warily not knowing his title exactly. Tony had called him his 'AI' in his note, but Stark Industries lived and breathed acronyms, and she wasn't exactly sure what 'AI' really meant in this situation.
"Please, madam" Jarvis replied pleasantly "'Jarvis' will do just splendidly."
Jarvis had impeccable manners, she had to admit that. "Well then Jarvis, please call me Pepper."
"As much as I would like to, madam, I cannot." Jarvis explained quietly "I must follow protocol and address you as Ms. Potts, if that is agreeable with you."
Pepper realized now that Jarvis's behavior was very much like a butler's. She decided to just follow along. "Ms. Potts is fine, Jarvis. Thank you."
"Very well, madam." Jarvis acknowledged politely "I have now analyzed your voice pattern and have updated your cell phone with voice recognition protocols for security. Only you and Mr. Stark will be allowed to use your cell phone now."
Her suspicions about her cell phone being modified and non-standard were now confirmed. "Thank you, Jarvis." She replied, not really knowing what else to say.
"My pleasure, madam. I am here to serve," Jarvis responded "My records indicate that you are the owner of a Honda Civic SE with California plates. 2ZB3286."
Somehow Pepper was not surprised that Jarvis knew this information. "Yes, I am".
"I am assuming that you will drive this vehicle tomorrow morning to travel to the Stark Malibu mansion, Ms. Potts." Jarvis surmised.
"That is correct, Jarvis." She replied, curious to know what Jarvis was up to.
"I will upload this information into our mansion security system immediately so you will be allowed to pass through both security gates tomorrow morning, madam." He started "And I will provide you turn by turn instructions from your apartment to the mansion through your Blackberry. All you need do is to push the map icon on the display and say the word 'Ready'."
"Thank you so much, Jarvis." She said with a smile, impressed with Jarvis' efficiency.
"You are quite welcome, Ms. Potts." He replied with a flourish "I shall await your arrival in the morning."
"I will be there a little before 8 o'clock." She said wanting to make sure Jarvis knew what time she was supposed to be there.
"Very well, madam." Jarvis said and promptly ended the call.
Pepper had always admired efficiency in people. And Jarvis appeared to be quite efficient. She had a feeling she was going to like working with him.
The next morning she arrived at the mansion even earlier than she had expected with Jarvis giving her not only turn-by-turn directions, but rerouting her around not one, but two wrecks with flawless accuracy. She knew that Stark tech was advanced, but Pepper somehow had the feeling that Jarvis had tapped into SI's security satellites as he gave her detailed accounts of the accidents and her alternate routing. As she slowly drove past the mansion's second security gate, which like the first one had opened automatically for her as she approached, Jarvis directed her to drive onto the circle drive at the front of the mansion and to park under the porte cochere. As she got out and looked around, she could tell that the landscaping was a very recent addition to the mansion, as she admired the tall California Fan palms which framed the front of the massive home. These palms were at least 50 feet tall and each of them no doubt had cost a small fortune.
She had dressed smartly for her first day at work, not knowing exactly how casual or how formal to dress. She wore a navy blue business suit with her usual heels. Pepper knew from previous experience in the business environment that personal height was sometimes an advantage. And she knew from her meeting with Mr. Stark yesterday that he wasn't tall, so she figured that being on equal footing with him in a literal sense might help with her transition to PA.
As she approached the front door, the door opened before she reached it. She had been expecting Jarvis to meet her as she quickly looked inside but could see no one at or near the door. She cautiously walked inside the house peering all around her, still not able to see any one inside the house. Once she was completely inside, the door began to slowly close. Pepper had to now control her strong urge to flee the house before the door closed all the way.
Suddenly a very British voice surrounded her. "Welcome to the Stark Malibu Mansion, Ms. Potts. I must say that it is a distinct pleasure to see you in person."
Pepper did her best not to jump too much at the sound of Jarvis' voice, but the door opening and closing by itself had caused her to be just a little nervous. "Thank….thank you Jarvis." She quickly replied feeling her face start to light up in a blush at being caught off guard.
"Mr. Hogan delivered your boxes to your office here late last night as per Mr. Stark's orders." Jarvis continued without missing a beat. "If you would like to place your briefcase and other personal items in your office now, I would be delighted to direct you to your office."
Pepper couldn't help but look around her as if trying to find the source of his voice. She tried her best to be discrete. At first she only noticed the lack of furnishings in the large expanse of what she believed was a living area. But scanning the room a second time she was able to spot the security cameras placed strategically yet inconspicuously all around the area. "That would be great…Jarvis. Thank you." She hesitated a second before asking "Perhaps you could show me your office, later Jarvis? I would really like to meet you in person."
"I don't have an office like yours, Ms. Potts." Jarvis replied "And as for meeting me in person, I'm afraid that is impossible for you to do."
"Why is that, Jarvis?" She asked, her curiosity now peeked when she swore she could detect a trace of almost sadness in his voice at his admissions.
"Because I am not a person, Ms. Potts." He replied politely. "Master Stark created me to oversee, protect, and control Stark Mansion. I am who I am, the artificial intelligence known as Jarvis."
Pepper let his words sink in for a few seconds. "Well then, Jarvis." She began smiling towards the nearest camera. "It's good to meet you, too."
"Splendid" Jarvis replied with the cheerful tone returning to his voice once again. "I am sending Dummy and Butterfingers to assist you with unpacking."
Pepper suddenly heard the whir of gyros and wheels against the marble floors behind her and quickly turned around to see two robots rolling quickly towards her. She watched them carefully as they stopped about three feet from her.
"The bot on your left is Dummy, and the bot on your right is Butterfingers, Ms. Potts." Jarvis said in explanation. "They assist Mr. Stark in his workshop and they are now programmed to assist you with anything that you need help with such as carrying heavy boxes."
Pepper looked at each of the bots in turn. She gingerly stepped forward and patted them each on top of their cameras, what she assumed was their 'head' in turn. "Nice to meet you Dummy, and nice you meet you too, Butterfingers." As she stepped back from them, Pepper heard each of the bots beep and whine a very distinctive string of electronic noises at her in return.
"Ms. Potts." Jarvis translated "Both Dummy and Butterfingers are pleased to make your acquaintance also. If you would be so kind to follow them to the elevator, they will lead you to your office and help you with your boxes."
"Thank you Jarvis." She replied as the bots immediately turned and wheeled away toward the back of the house towards what Pepper assumed was the service elevator. Considering the size and weight of the bots there was no way the three of them were fitting inside a standard elevator.
The ride up to the second level was quiet. Pepper had always had the ability to strike up a conversation with just about anyone, but she couldn't quite figure out how to make robot small talk….at least not yet. Once the elevator doors opened, Dummy and Butterfingers rolled quickly down the open walkway which overlooked the living area, stopping at the third door on the right. Dummy quickly opened the door for her and waited for her as she stepped into her new office. She looked around and noticed that her boxes were neatly stacked along the wall just inside the door. And other than her boxes, a large modern looking glass and chrome desk with two chrome chairs, nothing else at all was to be found in the large room.
"We were waiting on your approval for adding anything to your office, Ms. Potts." Jarvis explained as Pepper stared at the desk and chairs. "Mr. Stark wanted you to personally select your furnishings. He also said that if the desk and chairs are not to your satisfaction, we can replace them with whatever style you wish."
Pepper looked up at the corner of the room near the ceiling and immediately spotted Jarvis' camera.
"The desk and chairs are fine, Jarvis." She replied walking towards the floor to ceiling windows behind her desk.
From her windows she could see miles of blue ocean meeting a rock strewn beach that appeared to be the private beach for the Stark mansion. The view was indeed spectacular and she instantly fell in love with her office because of the view. Directly below her windows was a huge swimming pool that looked like it had just been recently installed. She noted that there was a total absence of any landscaping which also confirmed that the newness of the mansion.
Even though she had been raised in the mountains of northern Arizona, Pepper was, at heart, a water baby. She had been a member of her high school swim and diving team and made frequent trips to the lakes and rivers that were close to her home growing up. But in her mind nothing would ever match the thrill of swimming in the ocean. Being near the ocean was one of the reasons why she applied to UCLA as an undergraduate. She had even bought a surfboard when she was still a freshman, and had become a fairly competent surfer. Her apartment was only two blocks from the beach and she would find herself on the beach either before or after work and every weekend. To have an office overlooking the beach was more that she could have hoped for. She smiled as she continued to stare out the window, watching the sea gulls soar above the waves.
"The view is quite spectacular, Ms. Potts." Jarvis noted.
Pepper suddenly realized that Jarvis could probably see the reflection of her huge smile from the window glass. "It is indeed Jarvis." She agreed wholeheartedly.
Behind her she heard the bots roll into her office. She turned around to find Dummy pointing his mechanical arm towards a box as he chirped at her. "Thank you, Dummy." She said to the bot "You can put that one on my desk for me."
Dummy happily obliged and Pepper opened the box and began putting her office supplies into her desk. With Dummy and Butterfingers' help they were done quickly with only one minor mishap when Dummy dropped and broke her desk lamp.
"It's OK Dummy." Pepper said patting the bot on the head in an effort to console the now whining robot. "It was an old lamp anyway."
Dummy immediately beeped pathetically, then chirped once, picking up the lamp and rolling out of her office at a high rate of speed. "Where is he going?" Pepper asked, amazed at the speed at which he moved.
"Dummy is off to repair your lamp, Ms. Potts." Jarvis remarked.
Now finished with unpacking, she and Butterfingers slowly made their way down the walkway back towards the elevator. As they walked Pepper again noted the bareness of the mansion as she looked around and down at the living area. "So Jarvis" she began, curious now "either you have just moved in or someone's forgotten about decorating."
"Mr. Stark has been busy finishing up his workshop and garage area ahead of the rest of the mansion." Jarvis explained patiently. "It is true that the mansion is definitely lacking home décor. But I believe that Mr. Stark is hopeful that you would help him in that endeavor."
Pepper shook her head at the thought of 'home decorator' being added on to the job description without her knowledge. "So in the meantime, does Mr. Stark eat and sleep in his workshop then?" Pepper teased waiting on Jarvis to reply, then realizing with the resulting silence that the AI may not pick up on her intended humor.
"Yes he does, madam." Jarvis replied simply after a few seconds. "Mr. Stark has requested that you join him in his workshop now that you are finished moving into your office."
As she and Butterfingers entered the elevator and the doors slid shut behind them, the elevator display suddenly illuminated the 'S1' icon and the elevator began to move slowly downward. "So Jarvis, does Mr. Stark's PAs spend a lot of their time in his workshop?" she asked now rethinking her choice of clothes for today.
"Not at all, madam." Jarvis replied firmly "To my knowledge you are the first Personal Assistant that he has ever allowed into his workshop."
Pepper suddenly didn't know how to respond to that. The opening of the elevator doors thankfully saved her from making a response. As the doors opened, the loud music that rumbled within the workshop suddenly lowered in volume. Pepper recognized the song playing as 'Sanitarium' by Metallica. Smiling to herself, somehow she felt the song did fit the occasion.
As she walked out into the workshop she saw Dummy huddled over her lamp now laying in pieces on a work table, a MIG welder sitting next to the table. She watched as Butterfingers rolled over to join Dummy, presumably to help him reassemble her lamp.
Pepper continued to walk slowly past Dummy and Butterfingers, her heels tapping a staccato beat on the clean concrete floor. She had only walked about 20 feet when she saw a brand new white Audi TT Coupe still with dealer's tags, and two oil stained, tattered, jean clad legs sticking out of the driver's door.
"You made it Ms. Potts." Came the muffled voice of Tony Stark out of the driver's door. "Dammit, I left the snap ring pliers' on the worktable." He mumbled quietly to himself.
Pepper turned and walked to his worktable picking up the pliers without thinking, being very familiar with tools from being raised on a ranch, and carried them back to the Audi with her. She quickly shoved her hand with pliers in them inside the Audi next to Tony. "Are these what you need, Mr. Stark?"
As she asked him the question, she suddenly remembered Mr. Stane's words of warning about Tony Stark not liking anything handed to him and she suddenly cringed, realizing her mistake. But it was too late to do anything about it now. She listened quietly as he mumbled something unintelligible and felt him slowly take the pliers out of her hand.
"Thank you Ms. Potts." came the formal, muffled reply.
She breathed a sigh of relief, as she stepped back and waited for him to finish working under the driver's side dashboard. She didn't know whether to be happy that he had actually taken something from her that she had handed him, or be worried about the repercussions of her forgetfulness. Pepper looked around as she waited for him to finish, and noticed many small, empty SI boxes and rolls of wire strewn about the floor around the driver's door. What ever he was doing under the dash obviously involved copious amounts of Stark tech.
"That's got it!" He suddenly announced happily, slowly extracting himself out from the floorboard of the car and pulling out a small bag full of tools with him. "Jarvis, fire her up."
He rose to his feet then turned quickly in order to stick his head once again back into the car, staring intently at the instrument cluster. Pepper now had the opportunity to look him over carefully. Tony was wearing a black t-shirt which was well worn, and full of holes. The shirt actually looked in worse shape than the jeans. He had streaks of what looked to be engine grease smeared on both arms along with one cheek. Pepper suddenly found herself having to resist trying to wipe off the grease on this cheek with her thumb.
The Audi's engine suddenly roared to life. "Telemetry coming in now, sir. I will proceed with data uploads immediately. Estimated completion time is five minutes forty-three seconds, sir."
"Very good, J" he replied as Jarvis turned the Audi's engine off. Tony turned to look at her as he spoke "Let me know when you're done so we can take a test drive."
Pepper's curiosity was peeked again. "Test drive for your new car?" she asked.
"Nope" he countered staring at her intently "Test drive for your new car." He corrected firmly immediately turning and walking quickly over to his work table, setting the tool bag on the table, and grabbing a cloth to wipe his hands on. "This TT Coupe is the closest thing Audi has to your Civic."
Pepper followed him to his work table and stopped next to it staring at him intently. "I don't need a new car, Mr. Stark. My Honda is just fine."
He turned his head to lock eyes with her and regarded her for a moment before he began to speak. "Ms. Potts, just consider this your company car." Tony said throwing the cloth down on his table haphazardly "Remember the perks that I spoke to you about yesterday…well this car is one of them." He then smiled crookedly at her. "And besides that, the PA for the CEO of Stark Industries will absolutely not be seen in public driving a Honda Civic. That would be bad for my image."
Pepper held his eyes for a moment still very much resistant to the idea of him getting her a car on her first day at work. Noticing the twinkle of what she thought was mischief in his bourbon eyes, she began trying to figure out what he was really up to. "There is absolutely nothing at all wrong at all with the image my Honda projects." She defended. "It is a very business-like car."
"Ah, come on Ms. Potts." He pleaded noting her defensive stance "I have made some really cool security upgrades to the car. You've got to at least check them out before you decide you don't want to drive the Coupe."
"Please don't tell me that you've added lasers and rocket launchers as extra security for the car."
She teased back, rolling her eyes for good measure at the thought of getting past traffic jams by simply blasting her way through.
"No, but the rocket launchers idea is a good one." He said closing his eyes in thought briefly "Jarvis, be sure to include rocket launchers in the next upgrade."
"Yes, Mr. Stark." Jarvis obediently agreed.
"You can't be serious." Pepper warned, now fully aware of what teasing the world's foremost weapons designer could get you and she began following behind Tony as he walked quickly towards a huge, glass-enclosed computer main frame room located to one side of the huge workshop.
"When it comes to security" Jarvis stated calmly as they walked "Mr. Stark is always serious."
"Oh god." Pepper muttered under her breath as she thought she caught a fleeting glimpse of a smile on Tony's face.
Tony punched in a code on the keypad located just outside of the door and it slid open with a 'whoosh'.
He then walked over to a workstation mounted in one of the equipment bays and began typing onto the keyboard as Pepper followed him into the cold room.
As Tony continued to type, Pepper took the time to look around, impressed by the shear size and complexity of the equipment set up within the room.
"Ms. Potts" Jarvis said quietly as if speaking only to her. "Per our earlier discussion, I now welcome you to my office."
Pepper smiled up at one of these security cameras realizing that somehow Tony had managed to program a sense of humor into Jarvis. "Very cool, Jarvis." She had hoped Jarvis would understand her double meaning.
"Thank you, and yes it is, Ms. Potts." Jarvis replied as Pepper chuckled softly at his response.
Tony quickly glanced at Pepper with what she thought was curiosity about her and Jarvis' conversation. "Take a look at that J, run some test scenarios, and let me know later what you think." Tony said as he finished typing in code. He turned to leave the room with Pepper once again hot on his heels grateful to be leaving the cold room.
As they walked out of the main frame room, they suddenly heard a crash which sounded like it had come from Dummy's work table. Even knowing Dummy for the short amount of time that she had, the thought had already occurred to Pepper that letting the bot repair her lamp may not have been a wise idea.
Tony immediately turned and walked quickly towards the noise.
When they arrived at the table, Pepper couldn't help herself but laugh at the sight. Dummy had managed to weld the lamp back together all right, but in the process the bot had added a few extra parts. Her lamp now resembled more of an abstract piece of art than a lamp.
"Dummy" Tony scolded "what have you done now?"
"He is attempting to repair Ms. Pott's desk lamp that he accidentally damaged while helping to set up Ms. Pott's office, sir."
Pepper saw a small flash of anger in Tony's eyes and she moved quickly to stand between Tony and Dummy, placing her hand gently on Tony's chest. He froze immediately at her touch looking down at her hand thoughtfully. She heard him sigh softly.
"Please don't be angry with Dummy." She pleaded quietly "It really was an accident." She quickly removed her hand from his chest and he looked up at her, his bourbon eyes locking with her blue ones briefly. She reached across him to pick up the newly repaired lamp. "And I kinda like what you did with the lamp, Dummy. It sorta goes with my desk now."
Dummy clicked and beeped, suddenly proud of his repair job.
"I believe Ms. Potts is correct, sir." Jarvis agreed formally.
It was Tony's turn to roll his eyes. "Ms. Potts" he began, as she sat the lamp back down on the table and turned to face him again. "Here you've been my PA for less than ninety minutes, and I already have the distinct feeling that my entire staff now likes you better than me."
At that point Dummy started to beep and whir noisily as Butterfingers quickly laid his heavy pincer on top of Dummy's head as if to silence him and keep him out of even more trouble. Dummy immediately began trying to remove Butterfingers' pincer, their child-like antics drawing a small laugh from Pepper.
"I must agree with Dummy, Ms. Potts is indeed quite likeable, sir." Jarvis confirmed, earning Pepper a small smile from Tony.
"I do believe you still owe me a test drive, Mr. Stark." She said as she giggled at the two bots now frozen in place, their pincers still entangled. She was doing her best now to distract Tony from being angry at Dummy. She had also realized that in the less than ninety minutes she had been working with Jarvis and the bots, she had found them to be quite 'likeable' too.
Tony cocked his head slightly and she realized that he somehow knew exactly what she was attempting to do by distracting him. "I'll deal with you two later." He said glancing back at them, a small smile now on his face as the bots began to move again. "Make sure Ms. Potts' lamp gets back into her office safe and sound."
Dummy and Butterfingers both beeped at his words as they set about finishing the repairs on the lamp.
She followed Tony as he walked back to stand in front of Audi TT Coupe. Tony shot her a quick glance and then immediately walked up to the driver's door and sat down in the driver's seat, pulling the door closed behind him.
She smiled to herself as she walked slowly around the car, opened up the door, and sat down in the passenger's seat, pulling the door closed behind her. She glanced over at Tony who was busy making adjustments to the stereo system. She quickly put the seat belt on, pulling it securely onto her hips.
"Uploads now complete, Mr. Stark." Jarvis' voice reported through the car's speakers.
"Good." He replied putting on his seat belt. "Is Ms. Potts' voice recognition downloaded, J?"
"Of course, sir." The AI replied as Tony put the car into reverse backing it up quickly.
"Good, 'cause she's driving home." He said with a smile putting the car into first gear, squealing the tires on the new concrete as they accelerated up the ramp leading to the outside.