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[sub][h3][color=SKYBLUE][b]N E W   Y O R K   S C I E N C E   E X P O[/b][/color][/h3][/sub][hr][sup][color=darkgray]Present Day  |   Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, Manhattan, New York[/color][/sup]
 
Ted Kord walked quickly down 11th Avenue in the early evening.  He still had his Blue Beetle suit on underneath his brand new tux, albeit now obscured by an extra layer of undergarment quickly put together by one Janet van Dyne.  It cleverly concealed the telltale colours and shape of the suit, giving him a smoother contour, but added an extra half inch to his suit size compared with if he were wearing nothing at all underneath.  Gloves and cowl zipped into internal pockets, as well as the BB gun broken down to flat components and tucked away as well.  She’d done a marvellous job, truly remarkable given how little time she had to work with.

Still, his appearance had yet to have to stand up to any real test, although it would now.  Tony Stark was standing out the front of the Convention Center, once again flanked by the same two beauties he’d seen him with on the television earlier.  One a beautiful caramel skinned South American bombshell with striking green hair.  She had matched this feature perfectly with the bare minimum amount of material required to qualify as a cocktail dress in a complementary green shade.  An emerald necklace plunging deep into the neckline - as if that region needed anymore attention - completed the ensemble.  The other appeared far more fair skinned.  Ted might guess Scandinavian or East European, maybe even Russian.  With a straight white bob cut.  She wore a far more subdued royal blue cocktail dress, but still looked just as phenomenal as any female company Tony Stark usually surrounded himself with.

“Kord.”  He said, approaching him with a hand out.  An expression on his face that Ted couldn’t quite pinpoint between a smirk and a smile, but full of unmistakable self-confidence.  “...I see you’ve been making great time.”  Ted took his hand and shook it.  “A dad-bod whilst still in your early twenties.  Impressive.”

There it is.  Ted could almost feel the flop sweat drop and instantly soak both pits.  Still OK.  Keep your cool and stick a comeback.

[color=SKYBLUE]“Yeah, nice work with the Dali.”[/color]  Ted said, ending the handshake and rubbing his chin.

“This isn’t a Dali.  That’s a long thin moustache that curls at the ends.  You’re thinking of a Zappa...”

[color=SKYBLUE]“Yes!”[/color]  Ted blurted out, pointing his finger slightly too excited.  [color=SKYBLUE]“Ha!”[/color]  With a grin as if he’d somehow “Got” Tony Stark.

“Except this isn’t a Zappa either.”  There was no mistaking the expression now.  Smirk all the way.

“Men’s Health Weekly call this a ‘Stark’.  It’s flattering, and let’s face it, perfectly descriptive, but perhaps a little over the top.  You know how those Men’s style magazines get…”

Ted could see the retort coming.  Time seemed to crawl.  The girls Stark was with almost seemed to feel sorry for him now and that was the worst part of all.

“...or maybe not.”  Stark tapped him twice on the stomach and turned around and went inside, followed by the two models who fortunately didn’t spare him a look-behind pity glance.  “I’ll see you in there.”

Ted slouched deeply.  [i]God dammit.[/i]

[center][h3][color=SKYBLUE]* * * * *[/color][/h3][/center]

Ted eventually skulked back to K.O.R.D’s segment of the showroom, tail between his legs.

“Ted!  Over here!”  Murray Takamoto waved him over.  “Where the Hell have you been?”

[color=SKYBLUE]“Some things came up.  Needed my attention.  How’s everything here?”[/color]  Ted asked.  Murray and Jeremiah Duncan looked considerably relieved to finally see him.

“Mmmmmmokay?”  Murray answered, looking to Jeremiah for support.

[color=SKYBLUE]“That sounded more like a question than a statement, and it makes me nervous.  Where are we?  What’s happened to the product?”[/color]

“Oh good.  You’re asking that question.”  Replied Murray with an uncomfortably large grin on his face.  “The product itself is fine.”

“Yes.  We must stress the product is absolutely fine.  Perfect working order.  It’s set up in that Beamer over there.”  Reaffirmed Jeremiah, pointing to a maroon BMW parked across the floor in a corner of the showroom..

[color=SKYBLUE]“That’s it over there?”[/color]  Asked Ted.  [color=SKYBLUE]“Next to the blue Testarossa?”[/color]

“Yes.  It was the original model made over in--”  They both confirmed before Ted cut them off.

[color=SKYBLUE]“Why is there is a multi-million dollar blue Testarossa parked next to what we’re using to market our product?  Waitaminute--  the original was red, how do you get Ferrari of all companies to paint their original model blue?”[/color]

“I guess if you’re Tony Stark then people will--”  Jeremiah elbowed Murray and gave him a disappointed look for running his mouth.

[color=SKYBLUE]“Stark?  But--  He’s got nothing to do with cars?  Why’s he got a blue Testarossa here?”[/color]

Ted rushed over to get a closer look.  The pair waited until he came back, heads bowed.

[color=SKYBLUE]“Are you kidding me?!?”[/color]

Murray and Jeremiah looked on sheepishly.

[color=SKYBLUE]“It doesn’t have anything to do with anything!  He’s painted a work of art a crass blue, slapped on a Stark Industries decal and he’s got some model writhing around on the hood taking pictures with anyone who wants one!”[/color]

“We can only control what we can control, Ted.”  Jeremiah replied, attempting to sooth the CEO.  “People will see it for what it is.  Cheap attention grabbing tactics.”

[color=SKYBLUE]“I saw Jeff Jarvis over there!  He’s a major geek journalist and weblogger and he’s taking thumbs up photos with her by the car like it’s Spring Break!  The man took down Dell!”[/color]

“Jeremiah’s right.  We can only run our race.”  Murray replied.

[color=SKYBLUE]“Well, at least now I know why you were both being evasive…  You didn’t want me to see that.”[/color]

“Well, I’m going to take this opportunity to go to the toilet, while you tell him.  This is why they pay you the big bucks.”  Murray said to Jeremiah, as he quickly walked away.

[color=SKYBLUE]“Don’t you go getting a photograph with her, Takamoto!”[/color]

Murray quickly did an aboutface and walked back past the pair in the opposite direction.  “Sorry.  Toilet’s this way.”  Ted scowled at him all the way.

[color=SKYBLUE]“Spill it…”[/color]  Ted said to Jeremiah once Murray was gone, folding his arms and looking down on the smaller executive.

“Randall Truman called.  The focus group fell through so we still don’t have a name.  All we know is that we can’t call it--”

[color=SKYBLUE]“The Carjack Off.”[/color]

“Yes.  That.”

Ted pinched his brow deeply in frustration.

“Ted, you can’t kill him.”  The Chief Operations Officer reminded him.

[color=SKYBLUE]“I’m not going to kill him, Jeremiah.”[/color]  He mumbled whilst deep in facepalm.  [color=SKYBLUE]“I might shave him bald and feed him each of his $5,000 suits, and the expensive Italian loafers he purchased with his undeserved senior executive salary, garnishing it generously with his own hair… but I’m not going to kill him.”[/color]  He straightened back up, ready to problem-solve.

[color=SKYBLUE]“Alright.  Names.  Any ideas?”[/color]

“That’s not really my kind of field of expertise, Ted.”

[color=SKYBLUE]“Great.  So I guess I’m winging it.”[/color]

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?  You were the one to name it that in the first place.”

[color=SKYBLUE]“It was a joke, Jer’.  Nobody ever goes with the engineer’s name for a product.  It was a dumb juvenile joke because it never matters.”[/color]

“Except in this case.”

[color=SKYBLUE]“Yes.  Except in this case.”[/color]

Ted slouched further.  [i]God dammit.[/i]

[center][h3][color=SKYBLUE]* * * * *[/color][/h3][/center]

Mostly, however, these things were about networking.  Being on the receiving end of Stark’s sarcastic jibes, having Dario Agger the head of Roxxon pretend he didn’t know who he was.  At least he thought he was pretending.  Ugh.

Suddenly he saw a craggly faced older gent with an unmistakable hairstyle in a dark green suit approaching him with his hand held out.

[color=DARKGREEN]“Kord.”[/color]  He said.  [color=DARKGREEN]“I’d like you to meet my son, Harry.  Harry, this is Mister Ted Kord.  Evidence that you’re never too young to take initiative, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and step up into a position of taking responsibility for a father’s business.”[/color]

Ted looked at the younger Osborn, who’d been gifted the same unmistakable haircut either by choice, genetics or unfortunate accident.  He seemed to flinch or twitch at his father’s comment.

[color=SKYBLUE]“Norman,”[/color]  He said, shaking his hand and looking at his son with no small amount of sympathy,  [color=SKYBLUE]“and Harry.  Circumstances kind of played a hand in that.  I used to just be an engineer.  After going to Worcester Polytechnic.”[/color]  He winked at Harry.  [color=SKYBLUE]“So even ESU wouldn’t have me!  So we all have our own pace, Harry.”[/color]  Norman bristled.

[color=SKYBLUE]“So what are you liking at school?”[/color]  Ted asked the youth.

[color=39b54a]"I'm alright. Pretty good at chem, math, that sorta thing."[/color] Harry replied.

Norman's nose wrinkled at the comment. [color=DARKGREEN]"With help from Mr. Parker, I'm sure."[/color]

Harry nodded slightly.

[color=SKYBLUE]“I didn’t ask what you’re doing well in, I asked what you’re liking.”[/color]  Ted prodded.  [color=SKYBLUE]“If you don’t enjoy your job you’re going to find excuses not to do it.  Now again, what are you liking?”[/color]

[color=39b54a]“Well…”[/color]  A wry grin started to cross Harry’s face.  [color=39b54a]“We did this term on coding and programming in Computer Studies a few years back, and since then I’ve been working on some things in my spare time.”[/color]  Harry took out his OsPhone.  [color=39b54a]“Have you ever heard of Byerim?  We’ve got it on our OzBox...”[/color]  He opened up YouTube.

[color=SKYBLUE]“Well, yes.  But I’ve got it on PC...  Oh don’t look at me like that Norman, PC gaming is more customizable.”[/color]  But Norman was more steamed with the redirection that this conversation had taken, than any issue with Ted Kord owning one of his game consoles.

[color=39b54a]“Well, you say that.  But you haven’t seen this yet…”[/color]  Said Harry as he played a video uploaded by ‘LittleOz’.

[color=SKYBLUE]“Oh you made some mods, that’s coo-- Whoa!  Look how clean that is…  Wait, you did this on a console?  How in God’s name?  That’s like it’s part of the actual game itself!”[/color]

[color=39b54a]“Yeah, I taught myself.  We’ve got an OzBox toolkit, I was playing around with it, figuring things out.  I made all this stuff with the OsEdits myself for console."[/color]

[color=SKYBLUE]“This is incredible!  Norman, have you seen what your kid…  Norman?”[/color]  But Norman Osborn had no interest in seeing what his son had done.  He was storming away infuriated by the corrupting influence of what he perceived as Ted’s slacker gamer mentality.  Harry dropped his head, seeing his angry father walk away, only for Ted to nudge him and cheer him up.

[color=SKYBLUE]“You really texture this all yourself?  For a console?”[/color]

Harry perked up again and grinned with pride.  [color=39b54a]“Yeah.”[/color]

[color=39b54a]“Umm Mr Kord, would I be able to take a photo with you?  It’d freak my friend out.”[/color]  

Ted laughed a hollow laugh as much to protect his own ego as anything, he didn't know how many more shots his self esteem could take today.  [color=SKYBLUE]“Are you sure he’d even know who I am?”[/color]

[color=39b54a]“Oh yeah.”[/color]  Harry said.  [color=39b54a]“He’s a full blown science and tech geek.  He’s already jealous my Dad gets us in here.”[/color]

Ted smiled.  After all the snubs at this Expo at least he still had the die hard geeks.  [color=SKYBLUE]“Well, how about we do one better?  We video chat him and really blow his mind.”[/color]

[color=39b54a]“Really?”[/color]

[color=SKYBLUE]“Yeah, why not.  I can spare the time.”[/color]  He looked away to Murray and Jeremiah to make sure they didn’t need him for anything.  Murray awkwardly shrugged and mouthed “What?”  Ted waved him away and shook his head.

[color=39b54a]“OK.  You stand over here and I’ll introduce-- no, maybe you should walk in from the side.”[/color]  The two worked out the choreography of the given call for a few minutes, before Harry was satisfied enough to call his friend.

[center][h3][color=SKYBLUE]* * * * *[/color][/h3][/center]

A few hours later the Expo opened to the general public, with only insiders, their guests and press members previously being permitted inside.

“OK Ted, I think it’s show time.”  Said Jeremiah, getting his things together and ushering the CEO towards the car.  Murray walked slightly behind the pair.

[color=SKYBLUE]“The product itself is fine though, you promise me that?”[/color]

“Full working order.  So keep the flash and the sonic discharging orifice away from your face.”  Murray warned.

[color=SKYBLUE]“Really?  ‘Discharging orifice?’”[/color]  Ted questioned.

“Don’t blame me.  Marketing--”

[color=SKYBLUE]“I got it, I got it.  Focus group fell through.”[/color]  Murray pushed his boss onwards.

Ted stepped up onto the platform with the car, taking a microphone and tapping the top to draw attention and check that it was working.

[color=SKYBLUE][sub]“Crime has been--”[/sub][/color]

Nothing.  No response, barely heard over the din.  Ted hit the car alarm button on the key chain and the cacophony and flashing lights drew in a small crowd who started to settle down and speak in hushed tones.  Even Tony Stark and his followers turned to see what exactly was going on.  For a split second he could have even sworn he saw the girl in the blue dress smile at him, before she turned away and looked around at the rest of the room, whilst returning to Stark’s side.

[color=SKYBLUE][b]“Huh--”[/b][/color]  Started Ted, sitting down on the edge of the platform.  [color=SKYBLUE][b]“--I’m surprised that worked as well as it did.  After all we’re in New York City.  Who here actually turns around at the sound of a car alarm these days?  It’s become background noise.  The soundtrack of a city, yes?”[/b][/color]  Ted stepped down and walked around the front of the platform, looking people in the eye.

[color=SKYBLUE][b]“It hasn’t helped with the crime problem at all.  In fact the NYPD has said there’s evidence to suggest that it actually makes matters worse and often acts to conceal crime.  To the point where there’s been conversations regarding legislation on these loud, abrasive hindrances which do little to help in our daily lives.”[/b][/color]  Ted jumped back up on the platform with a single sweeping glide-step.

[color=SKYBLUE][b]“Unchanged since the 80s.  Old.  Stale.  And frankly of questionable value.  Sounds to me like someone needs to take a look at completely revolutionizing the form anti-car theft measures take place for the new century.”[/b][/color]  He turned to face the growing crowd.

[color=SKYBLUE][b]“So we did.  Ladies and gentlemen, I present the CJO Anti-theft system.  From K.O.R.D’s laboratories to your tomorrow.”[/b][/color]

Murray hit a few keys and a screen dropped to the floor, where demonstration videos were played.

The crowd seemed to huddle in a little more.  Even Stark and his entourage seemed to be at least temporarily taken by Ted’s presentation.

“...Kord Omniversal Research and Development.  Simplifying tomorrow for a better future, today.”  Ted winced slightly, he’d never liked the corporate tagline marketing had come up with.

“So what exactly does it mean?”  A familiar voice from the middle of the pack.

Ted started to sweat at the thought of having to explain his company’s ridiculous campaign slogan.

[color=SKYBLUE][b]“Excuse me, what was that?”[/b][/color]  Ted asked, hoping to buy himself a few seconds to think.

Stark paraphrased himself.  “‘CJO’.  What exactly does it stand for?”

[color=SKYBLUE][b]“Oh.”[/b][/color]  Said Ted, walking around the platform, trying desperately to think of something.

[color=SKYBLUE][b]“Well, ‘C’ and ‘J’ stand for ‘Car’ and ‘Jacker’ respectively…”[/b][/color]

“And the ‘O’?”  Pressed Stark.

[color=SKYBLUE][b]“Well, the ‘O’ stands for ‘Oooooohmygodlookouteveryone!”[/b][/color]

It all happened so fast.  That’s what people seldom realize about these hero/villain slugfests.  Everything happens quickly, only the people who train to react generally do.  And often things happen so fast people can barely be sure of exactly what they saw.

First, five people in brightly coloured garb pushed through the crowd.  Then the weapon was drawn.  Suddenly a metal figure dropped from the glass ceiling and stepped in front of Ted Kord, pushing him back firmly with a solid metal arm.  Ted Kord tumbled over the hood of the car.  The girl who had been on top of the blue Testarossa screamed as shards of thick glass came down.  Ted dove over the car with little regard for its place in automotive history, and kept her head down away from the glass.  Covering her with his tuxedo jacket.

[color=yellow]“[/color][color=red]That’s it!  It’s not in the car![/color][color=yellow]”[/color]  Yelled one of the colourful men.  The weapon was lined up again.  Ted ran around the car and the blast hitting the metal suit was large enough to blast him back over the car and against the back corner wall of the showroom.

He looked up just in time to see his company’s B.E.E.T.L.E suit aiming a weapon at one of these colourful men as people screamed and pandemonium broke out all around.

[i]“Abner you lunatic.  What the Hell have you done?”[/i]