Heroes of New York

FIVE - TOWER

Chapter Five

~Percy Jackson~

     Pepper and I walked through the doors of the sleek building, passing business people of all sorts in the lobby. I suddenly felt a bit underdressed in my hoodie and jeans. I looked down at my shoes, trying to hide my face, but it only made me realise how ratty my old sneakers looked. I felt my face get hot.

     Pepper, unfortunately, noticed my embarrassment. She smiled at me softly.

     "Don't worry about it, Percy. You don't have to dress up unless you're working in the offices. And if you really want, we can get you some new clothes later on. Anything you want," she said.

     Still feeling a bit awkward, I mumbled my thanks. She patted my shoulder slightly, then turned to grab something from the secretary's desk. Pepper handed it to me and I found that it was a keycard, probably for the elevator or whatever else in this high-tech building required identification to access.

     "This card," she explained, "will allow you access to most places in the building - some of the office levels and Tony's lab are restricted for specific access levels, but the one you probably don't want anyway and the other only Stark himself can give you access to. You'll only need the card for a little while, the building's AI will come to recognize you and your access levels once you're inputted in the system. Sound good?"

     I nodded, "Yeah, that works. Thanks."

     I wasn't too certain about being put in some rich guy's personal database, but I figured it was best not to argue right then. We stepped into the elevator, which was at the back of the lobby and required a keycard to access. I clenched my fists a bit as the doors closed, memories of my time in Tartarus coming forth. They'd gotten a little better, but it's not like I had to deal with elevators on a daily basis. I took a deep breath.

     "Hey, are there any stairs in this building?" I asked, trying to find a way to avoid the elevators later.

     Pepper looked at me a bit oddly, but responded, "Yeah, they're a little hidden though. I'll show you them when I give you the tour. Our floor is near the top though, so it isn't really a common way to go."

     I nodded. I'd be fine for now, but I didn't think I'd be able to handle using the elevator every day. The elevator made a little 'ding' as it stopped and the doors opened.

     "The common floor, Ms. Potts," came a voice from the ceiling as we stepped out.

     I flinched a bit and automatically looked for the source of the noise.

     "That," Pepper said, "is JARVIS, the AI I mentioned earlier. He'll help you with anything you need, just ask. He's pretty much everywhere in the building. JARVIS, say hi to Percy."

     "Good afternoon, sir."

     "Uh... Hi, JARVIS," I replied. It felt weird talking to the air.

     Pepper smiled at me, "Anyway, shall I give you the grand tour?"

     "Sure, why not?"

     We began walking as Pepper talked. The room was minimalistic but homey. Despite the modern, sleek look of the furniture and design, I could see that the room was well lived in. There were scuff marks on the walls, open books and magazines lying on the coffee table and a few foam bullets lying around the room like someone had recently had a massive battle and didn't quite get everything cleaned up.

     "As you can see, this is the living area. Everyone who lives here in the building hangs out here at some point during the day. There's a gaming system hooked up to the TV, and we have all the channels. The kitchen is just on the other side, I think it's mostly why they all like this spot so much," Pepper laughed a bit.