2012-11-04 The Call

The call comes through courtesy of a polite, young-sounding woman who introduces herself as Ms. Curtis. She's calling on behalf of Mr. Bruce Wayne, who wishes to speak to one Mr. Jim Rhodes. There's a faint hint of a southern accent there, somewhere behind years upon years of Gotham living-- and likely no shortage of proverbial man-hours on the phone, for that matter. 
Oh, she doesn't know precisely what business Bruce Wayne has to discuss with Jim Rhodes, if pressed; but she does know it has something to do with the Thomas and Martha Wayne Foundation. The name carries weight in the world of helping the helpless, honoring humanitarianism. 
Only once and if the call was routed to Rhodes directly would it be transferred back to Bruce Wayne. Sadly, Jim Rhodes would never even get to speak to the charming assistant-- only the reclusive and eccentric billionaire he barely knows. The introduction has the air of being practiced as much as his employee's phone decorum, "Mr. Rhodes? This is Bruce Wayne." There's almost always a pause at that point; for the record it's often necessary.
Rhodey's screening process is fairly simple. PATTON takes all of his calls and deals with them however he sees fit. It's a system that's worked out surprisingly well. His conversation with the secretary is gruff, but fairly painless. 
 
"Jim," PATTON says. "Jim! Bruce Wayne is on the horn. Wants to talk to you about a charity. I told him you'd take the call. Don't make a liar out of me." 
 
"That's fine," Rhodey chuckles as he crawls out of his latest experiment. "Patch him through to my internal comms. Mr. Wayne? I can't say I was expecting your call. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I'd say it's the other way around, Jim. May I call you Jim?" Beat, "You saved a lot of lives the other night, I'm sure it's been said but overdue from my corner." It hits all the emotional points of a man who had feared for his life, the lives of everyone in that room, and been awed by Rhodey's heroism. It's likely at least parts of this message are one hundred percent sincere, anyway. 
"Anyway, with all the..." there's a moment as if Wayne is fishing for the right word, "violence lately, the coordinators at the Foundation were thinking it would be a good time for a unity and future-themed event, we'd like to honor you at this dinner and exhibition. I wanted to talk to you, and express my personal appreciation, before I tell corporate R&D to go ahead on some related projects." He doesn't beat around the bush often, Bruce Wayne.
While Rhodey has attended events like this before, and even been in the center seat, it's never something that he's particularly comfortable with. There's a long moment of hesitation before he replies. "These things always make me feel a bit awkward, Bruce," he admits. "But I'd be honored. You're right, now would be a good time for it. What did you have in mind? After this latest rebuild, I'm less than twenty percent organic, so I hope you invite an open-minded crowd."
"You and me both." Bruce confides more quietly, "I'll make sure the right people know not to keep you center stage, don't worry. I learned a long time ago not to vouch for anyone else's open mind, but.. the simple fact that you did what you did is above and beyond the call, and that you survived? Scientific miracle." At the least, Wayne can vouch for his own perspective on the matter. 
"Anyone who says differently is just plain wrong. Anyway, you don't need to do much beyond maybe say a few words and enjoy being the hero of the hour-- WayneTech is working on a few proposals for SI, maybe help divert this entire mess before it goes even further sideways." He doesn't clarify, but does he need to?
"That seems straightforward enough," Rhodey concedes. The tension in his voice recedes as he relaxes. "But between you and me, I don't believe in the call. Those who have the ability to act have the responsibility to act, right? That's duty." 
 
"Damn right," PATTON chimes in, but he's only audible on Jim's end. 
 
"I'll be interested to hear more about your proposals, as well," Rhodey continues. "You have my number. I'll tell PATTON to put all your calls straight through to me in the future."
"That's what makes you perfect for this call, Jim." Bruce seems quite confident about that. As far as the proposals? Well. "All very technical... we're shifting funding into fuel efficiency initiatives and non-lethal threat response solutions for the 21st century." It's straight off the marketing brochure. The one that'll hit the desks of Stark's people sometime in the next day or so. There's even a slightly distracted, slowed rhythm to the delivery as Bruce slowly reads it off just that pamphlet. 
"So I'm sure it'll hit your desk sooner rather than later." He's at least not clueless twice in the same breath. "I'll be in touch, this connection is my office line, it'll forward to my cell if I'm out." Which is the norm, truth be told. 'A' cell, however, would be far more truthful.
"Sounds fun," Rhodey drawls. There's another moment of hesitation and a brief clearing of his throat. "And thanks, Bruce. It's not always easy being Robocop. It's nice to feel appreciated. I'll see you around. PATTON, terminate call."
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