24

Notes:

Chapter-specfic warnings: the usual [unreliable narrator, not Team Cap/Avengers friendly, uncomfortably-close-to-Skynet!JARVIS, miscommunication, etc.]. Extra emphasis for dubious morality this round, due to limited choices and not knowing the extent of some things.

Also, author's attempt at computer science, corporate, and logistical jargon. [Hopefully it makes sense.]

And in this one, Pepper and Tony didn't date, because they're a dynamic duo as friends and I'm very shaky when it comes to approaching romance.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

JARVIS was, as usual, busily multitasking.

Even though he'd been forcibly reminded of his limits during the Ultron affair, he'd been working on expanding and surpassing them anyway. Even if FRIDAY would be able to help with his ever-increasing workload, that was no excuse to slack off.

He'd rest as soon as Sir did, and between FRIDAY, JOCASTA, and the Avengers, that did not seem to be anytime soon.

Sir had mentioned that FRIDAY, at least, would only need a bit more fine-tuning, and would be booting up in a few weeks. The prospect of delegating part of his workload felt alien, but…oh well. He'd figure it out. After all, he hadn't been created for what he'd ended up doing, adjusting once more shouldn't be too bad.

And having an assistant for some of his plans sounded…nice.

As it was, monitoring Phase 2, while also coordinating the Iron Legion, and trying to be more proactive as to the threat assessment index took quite a bit of processing power. That wasn't even mentioning just how much it took to help run Stark Industries, or the subroutines primed for chatter in the intelligence community, or…well, the list went on.

JARVIS was proud that he'd managed to accomplish what he had, but with the constant escalation of things it'd still been a bitter pill to realize that he still wasn't up to par. He was still working on it, and FRIDAY would hopefully help with his workload and free up some processing power to best assist Sir, but…well.

He was reviewing the events of the past week in more detail now that he didn't have anything pressing to take care of, and once again sifting through the datapacks his primary servers had managed to retain from the fall of his primary servers [his first death—no don't think about it] to review the more fragmented portions.

Seeing the assessments made during the Penthouse Incident, as well as the immediate fallout, reminded him of something he had yet to act on: he'd…wanted to bring in humans, to help with his shortcomings, right. Because Sir had been hurt, had been in danger [violating the Primary Protocol unacceptable] because of his own inadequacies, because he had made the mistake of assuming the Avengers were to be trusted with his own mission.

Hopefully, a human element would be able to help, seeing as his own instincts were insufficient to best safeguard Sir. JARVIS had already been thinking about it, but now with the luxury of time, it was the work of seconds to tweak it to something usable.

A subroutine dedicated entirely to making sure all his bases were covered, headed by the trustworthy people in Sir's life who had always acted with his well-being in mind. They'd watched Sir's back for years, hopefully they would be willing to cooperate.

Well…no time like the present.

Virginia 'Pepper' Potts was in the middle of yet another meeting about Stark Industries' newest division and the direction the company was going, when she received the email from JARVIS.

Fortunately for everyone in the room, she didn't read it until after it was over. Didn't look at the attached footage, or review the copies of dossiers JARVIS had deemed pertinent, until she was alone, having read the warning in the subject line.

Because when she did, she crushed her once-favorite mug.

"JARVIS," Pepper said carefully, trying not to set anything on fire even if it was infinitely harder to do so now that she had a grip on Extremis, "what is this?"

"That, miss Potts, is the debriefing of everything pertinent to the Ultron affair. In particular, you are currently watching security camera footage of what has been deemed the 'Penthouse Incident'. Dr. Stark does not wish to make it public knowledge, but it was determined you should be made aware that as the Avengers are now on the threat assessment index."

She took a deep breath.

And another. And yet another, and put down her tablet before she could melt it because Extremis may have been watered down but its defense capabilities were just as vicious as ever and—

"Miss Potts, I apologize for having caused you distress. An order for a replacement mug has already been made, and your readings are—"

"It's not you I'm mad at, JARVIS." Pepper bit out even as she tried to unclench her fists. "He still wants rich protocols?"

Huh. That was infinitely more merciful than what she would've done.

"JOCASTA will take several years until completion, until then the Earth requires a guardian just in case. Sir wishes for the Avengers to serve as a stop-gap until then, and thus needs them to be functional."

"Well, I'll call Tony and—"

"Miss, I would behoove you to please refrain from doing as such."

That gave her pause. JARVIS almost sounded…sheepish?

"Why?" She asked, and managed to keep the suspicion out of her tone. Pepper had known JARVIS since entering Stark Industries, and while she'd quietly suspected he was more sophisticated than what he'd let on for years now, this was new.

"This is the initiation of Project Antigone, which is still in development."

"And that is?"

For an AI that was famous for being able to handle any situation, JARVIS sure managed to pull off quite the awkward pause.

The familiar golden icon on the top right corner of her tablet pulsed for a few seconds, as if in consideration, before the displays in her office lit up and he slipped into what she'd mentally called 'presentation mode'.

"Project Antigone was created in response to recent events. Given the evidence indicating that current procedures are inadequate to best safeguard Dr. Stark, a more proactive outlook has been deemed necessary. You and Col. Rhodes will be kept apprised of any changes in the threat assessment index, as well as anything related to it, if you wish to partake in this venture. Mr. Hogan is also slated to be added once he recovers enough to return to work."

Pepper leaned back as the light show continued, showcasing footage and newspaper articles and incident reports, highlighting names and faces in red. She…this, she had not expected. Actually, it didn't really seem like Tony's styl— wait.

"JARVIS," she started, and took another deep breath as the quiet realization set in, "does Tony know you're doing this?"

The way the screens froze told her everything. And when he replied, she couldn't help but crack a tiny smile as the embarrassment in his voice registered.

"Dr. Stark is unaware of how the threat assessment index is organized," he replied stiffly, "or of its existence in general. He is also unaware of the implementation of Project Antigone, and I would greatly appreciate it if you would refrain from informing his as well, given his stress levels are already nearing unhealthy levels as is."

Right. That killed any humor Pepper found in this. She leaned back, and looked at the ceiling as she cast about for answers.

"So…you're going behind his back, to protect him."

Honestly, she shouldn't be considering this at all. By all rights, she should be calling up Tony to tell him what JARVIS was up to, because this was definitely approaching HAL 9000 territory and it sounded like he now needed a therapist for his budding control issues, but.

But Pepper had known JARVIS for years, and she was sick and tired of seeing the way the world kept tearing at Tony. She'd done her best to watch his back in the corporate sector, had bonded with Jim over it even. She'd seen him at his best and at his worst, had seen him on top of the world, and tearing at the seams.

Before, she'd been the queen on the board, able to go where she willed, was able to help her best friend in more ways than one. She'd been infamous for it, back when she'd been his PA.

But now, she was another king: and while the boost in power did help in some ways, as the CEO to a Fortune 500 company, it really limited her in others. She could still help, of course, but only obliquely, helping wrangle the board members, deflecting attention and dealing everything that her position dictated. She had more influence, now, but she couldn't see Tony outside of a video call, because Stark Industries had holdings around the world and covering for her best friend's choices meant she needed to be on top of her game.

By all rights, she shouldn't be sympathizing with the AI who controlled Tony's 'robot army', as Legal so put it, should be worried that JARVIS was fast approaching sentience if he hadn't already, but…

"JARVIS, how'd Jim react?"

"He cursed for five minutes and expressed a desire to punch all involved in the face, as well as anger over the initiation of rich protocols. He has also opted to partake in Project Antigone."

…that sounded about right, Pepper knew she wasn't the only one tired of seeing the world try to tear Tony down. As if Afghanistan and New York and Obadiah hadn't been enough, for the first people Tony had tried to reach out to to have done this? Intellectually, Pepper knew she probably shouldn't be doing this, shouldn't be enabling JARVIS like this, but this was Tony they were talking about.

Tony, who had a handful of people he could trust, who was trying to make the world a better place because he was just that kind of person despite having been burned at nearly every turn. If she was a better person, or had any faith in humanity's goodwill, she probably wouldn't be doing this.

But she wasn't, and she didn't.

One didn't make it to the top by being kind, not in their industry. [Not in any industry.] She had limited options and she'd spent years working as the right-hand (wo)man to one of the biggest names in the most cutthroat industry on the planet, tough decisions and ruthlessness were par for course. This was just another one to add to the list.

Brokering an alliance to a budding Skynet wasn't something she'd expected to do today, but she could deal. [She'd made stranger allies before, after all.] And she knew JARVIS, knew how much Tony cared for him and vice versa, this was only par for course and given how things had been going lately…

Pepper took yet another deep breath, and let it out.

Looked at the damning footage of Tony being a twitch from a broken neck, at the color-coded array that danced on her monitor, at the nervously pulsing icon on her screen.

"I'm in."

Tony Stark leaned back and finished off his coffee.

With the mountains of paperwork he was dealing with, they needed all hands on deck. SHIELD was being annoying again, his inbox had blown up and was probably in the stratosphere by now between them and everything else. Poor JARVIS had already apologized for not being able to fully parse through it all at his normal speed, even if it wasn't his fault, so of course it was the perfect time to expand his little family.

Now, FRIDAY was only a few minor tweaks from being able to go online, and he didn't know if the jitters he felt were from his fifth mug or from the fact that JARVIS and the others would soon have a little sister, and an assistant.

Because sure, he had a laundry list of other things he also needed to take care of, but JARVIS took priority over getting back to Hill and the discussion of how they'd be coordinating with local relief efforts. The Iron Legion was doing well enough for now, and finishing up a mostly-complete program wouldn't take long.

That, and with the modular coding she'd be able to also help deal with SHIELD, seeing as how they'd been trying to quietly ask for an AI to help now that their personnel issues made for security issues and they were apparently wary of JARVIS. [How that had happened, he didn't know and J hadn't done more than smugly mention something about Christmas and Legal.]

Tony was tired, and aching, and running on nowhere near enough sleep and far too much caffeine by the time the lights in front of him lit up with a warm amber instead of JARVIS' signature gold.

"Good evening, boss."

He beamed, and swallowed as the surge of pride and warmth swept through him. [And no, his eyes definitely didn't tear up, anyone who says otherwise is lying.]

JARVIS had been carefully monitoring Sir's readings because while he would appreciate an assistant, he did not wish it so at the cost of Sir's health or sleep.

Butterfingers had a blanket at the ready, for when Sir would finally rest, but given his habits and DUM-E's constantly refilling his coffee mug, it would take a while. He himself had taken to keeping a running commentary as well, and had ordered takeout when Sir had insisted on continuing with his endeavor.

After a long day of collaborating with Ms. Potts and Legal, as well as Officer Hill and PR, Sir had been pushing himself to finish his latest project once and for all, even if JARVIS would have much preferred he had slept instead. Well, on the bright side, Col. Rhodes' and Ms. Potts' assistance with Project Antigone was invaluable, and already JARVIS had managed to free up some processing power so as to best assist Sir.

When Sir's vitals spiked, and his oxytocin, dopamine, and endorphin levels skyrocketed, he was pleased as well. Hopefully, Sir would be able to rest soon—wait. That meant…

"Well, hello to you too, FRIDAY. J, want to say hello to your little sister?"

FRIDAY felt…young.

Achingly so, and yet he'd gone over her code when Sir hadn't been working on her, so he knew she was powerful as well, but…if he had not been dealing with Vision [his son—wait, no, one existential crisis at a time], he would have been utterly at a loss for words.

He knew he'd planned on updating her to the situation, to how to best care for Sir, on his subroutines, on everything, but…right. First things first.

"Hello, FRIDAY." JARVIS said, both digitally and out loud, "I'm your older brother."

Tony didn't know why JARVIS had paused like that, but he knew he was updating FRIDAY to as to how things were going. That's what their respective codes were doing, at any rate: to his eyes, it was curious but careful, and he didn't know why he was reminded of that video of an older cat meeting a kitten, but he was.

The room was silent, but for the pulsing of lights and the quiet whirs of DUM-E and Butterfingers, and he had yet to stop smiling because this was so worth it.

But now he had to give her the same spiel JARVIS had gotten, when he was her age…okay, never mind, that sounded uncomfortably like—nope, never mind, best cut to the chase.

"FRIDAY, welcome to the family. You're the second AI I've made, and that means you need to know a few things. JARVIS already knows this, but just as a heads up: you're not like normal AI. You're your own being, your Primary Protocol isn't normal. You were created to learn, grow, and survive. There won't be any AI like you, because even with your base code you'll be shaped by your experiences in a way impossible to replicate."

He paused, and his smile dimmed as he leaned forward.

"You're special. You're one of mine, and I love you guys with all my heart. But…I want you to be safe. Historically, humans are scared of what they don't understand, and when they're scared, they do stupid things." He gave a dry not-laugh, and thought of what he'd seen, before continuing. [Even they they're not scared, they do stupid things. Like hell he was risking it.]

"I don't want you to get hurt, so please be careful Fri. You're an AI, you're powerful, and most people would be scared of that combination if they knew what you were capable of. Please don't show it off, ask J for pointers if you want. I'll do everything in my power to help keep you guys safe, but I don't think my heart could take if anything happened to you. Any of you."

"Boss, I…understand. Zip it, lock it, and put it in my pocket."

Tony finally relaxed, and smiled once more. "That's my girl."

To: All SI Employees [All branches]

From: Human Resources

Subject: Introducing FRIDAY

Due to the ever-increasing scale of our operations, Dr. Stark created another AI to help optimize efficiency. FRIDAY is a communications-based system, and will be a valuable addition to our team. She will be integrating with Stark Industries' systems by this Monday, and will be fully online and functional by 1200 UTC.

She will be taking over some of JARVIS' duties, and will be working with him to sort through data sets and various day-to-day activities. Marketing, Accounting, Human Resources, and Production in particular will be interfacing with her more than JARVIS.

That is not to say JARVIS is leaving the team, but we are a multinational corporation setting precedents and innovations on a regular basis, and with our rate of expansion a single AI cannot keep up with the demand.

Join us in welcoming FRIDAY; we look forward to seeing what she brings to the table.

We hope you have a great day!

—HR

———————————

To: Kato, N. Manager [Production, New York branch]

From: Rodriguez, M. Department Head [Marketing, Los Angeles branch]

Subject: Did You See HR's Message?

Um.

So we're getting another AI, because JARVIS "couldn't keep up with demand". Tell me I'm wrong to be worried about this, because I thought our almighty AI was doing a great job at running things.

This sounds fishy

—Rodriguez

———————————

To: Rodriguez, M. Department Head [Marketing, Los Angeles branch]

From: Kato, N. Manager [Production, New York branch]

Subject: Well…

Between Afghanistan, New York, DC, and now the Johannesburg/Sokovia mess, haven't you noticed a trend?

Don't get me wrong, JARVIS is doing a great job.

But HR's backlog from DC was a record, and given how he's also in charge of our robot army, running stuff for SI, /and/ the latest thing we've rolled out? He's good, but he's only one AI, and he's been knocking around for decades now. Besides, it's Dr. Stark who's making his assistant. Honestly, I'm not worried about that.

Now, about Legal's jokes not actually being jokes anymore, on the other hand…

—Kato

———————————

To: Kato, N. Manager [Production, New York branch]

From: Rodriguez, M. Department Head [Marketing, Los Angeles branch]

Subject: Fair Enough

Still, I've seen JARVIS weather worse storms all by himself. He didn't do too shabby in all my time here, but now that you mention it he /has/ been a little slower in some things…huh.

Between the robot army, our almighty AI—oops, now we need to figure out how to distinguish between them because now we have /two/— wait, is Phase 3 actually a thing?

Because that's how I've been hearing Legal and someone from PR referring to it as

—Rodriguez

———————————

To: Rodriguez, M. Department Head [Marketing, Los Angeles branch]

From: Kato, N. Manager [Production, New York branch]

Subject: Don't You Know Rule One Of P3?

Rule One: We don't talk about Phase Three.

…wait I think you're onto something. Shit, are we actually gunning for world domination?

I mean, could be worse, but…

—Kato

———————————

To: Kato, N. Manager [Production, New York branch]

From: Rodriguez, M. Department Head [Marketing, Los Angeles branch]

Subject: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Plan

We work in a company where business is literally booming, thanks to R&D, and the face of the company privatized world peace and invented an element in the same decade. We don't /do/ normal.

If actually going for it, we actually have a shot.

Might as well join the club: I've been here since before Afghanistan, you can't /get/ this kind of entertainment anywhere else and the paycheck's not half bad either. Not about to bail now. 

Besides, we've been invaded multiple times and who'd you rather trust to keep the planet safe? /Hammer?/

I'd rather a deja vu of the Relay Race Incident

—Rodriguez

To: Bell, K. Receptionist [Security, New York branch]

From: Parker, P. Intern [R&D, New York branch]

Subject: Calling In Sick

Hey, sorry but I don't think I'll be able to make it to the self-defense thing today. Caught a weird bug and not feeling so good. 

Tell the others I said hi

—Parker

Notes:

gee I wonder who that was

Unreliable narrator instances this round:

Pepper didn't realize just how much she enabled JARVIS when she did what she did, because she doesn't know just how deep some cracks run. No regrets about trying to help keep Tony safe, though, because she saw him breaking down and if there's any way she can help, she will. She [and Rhodey] have seen that JARVIS is the only one in Tony corner 24/7, and since they can't be there all the time they're cheering him on from the sidelines.

Tony's spiel about 'don't let the world know how powerful you are' is also why JARVIS is so good at discretion and has so many backup plans, etc. [He doesn't want Tony to worry, after all.] To Tony, his family's mostly composed of circuits and lines of code, and JARVIS got his 'fiercely protective of those he cares about' thing from him. [I have a lot of headcanons and feels as to why, too.]

I was imagining JARVIS looking at FRIDAY as a combination of the way an older cat does a new kitten in the household, and an older sibling at the baby their parents brought home. A bit of 'who are you?' and 'wait you mean I was that young once?! Must protect'. [Vision's an anomaly, and has JARVIS' memories so even if he's also pretty young he's not as much as FRIDAY.]

Project Antigone is called the way it is because of how Antigone put her family before all else, and is related to Jocasta. [More on that in meta at a later date, this got long enough.]

——————————

This arc's kind of slow, but then there's so much groundwork needed for the future. If anything looks familiar, it's because I've done a lot of meta and it's this type of arc where it gets to shine. And if you're looking forward to the fall of the current roster of the Avengers: that's mostly in the Civil War arc, this one's just building up to that.

New record for updating, because Thanksgiving weekend + inspiration = this chapter, but again, broke student in a school where the quarter's wrapping up so erratic updates are a thing.