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“The entire building is run by F.R.I.D.A.Y., the Artificial Intelligence created by Tony Stark himself,” the tour guide was saying, as they were walking past the security check-point one by one.
Peter wiped his sweaty palms on his t-shirt, his nerves calming down a bit after he walked past the scanner without any drama. It seemed someone finally disabled those loud comments Fri kept making. He joined Ned and MJ on the other side and gave them a relieved smile.
“The pass badges you received are coded with your personal information, so that the security system knows where you are at all times. It allows F.R.I.D.A.Y. to give you access to all the places in the Tower in accordance to your level of clearance, so do not take it off,” the tour guide smiled at the group. Peter could tell the girl was as excited as his entire class was. Their enthusiasm was contagious and she was new, so SI probably still amazed her. Ha, it still amazed him. “For example, that elevator over there will take us to the 9th floor, the first stop of our tour, because I’m authorized to access it. But before we go, let me just quickly go over the rules.”
She waited until everyone was done with the security check and giving her full attention.
“For the duration of a tour, visitor passes become temporarily attached to the higher level pass of the guide, usually an intern, sometimes a scientist or even a lab director. It means you can go everywhere I’m allowed to go, but if you stray too far on your own, you’ll trip an alarm.” The girl narrowed her eyes at them playfully, but Peter suspected she was actually a bit nervous about this prospect. It hardly ever happened, but when it did, it was always stressful for everyone involved. “I’m putting emphasis on this, cause I don’t want any of you trying to sneak away into some parts of the Tower you’re not cleared to see. It won’t work, and you’ll get in trouble. Okay? Come on now, let’s start the tour!”
She kept talking as she led them to the elevator.
“Fun fact about F.R.I.D.A.Y., guys. If you’re a regular visitor, such as a business partner or an employee, she remembers your patterns and acts accordingly! This elevator will now take us to the first stop of our tour, because Fri knows that’s where I usually go at this hour on Mondays and Thursdays.”
Excited whispers broke out among the group. Yeah, Peter thought, Fri was pretty amazing.
The elevator door opened with a soft hum and they all filed in. Indeed, the elevator started moving up without any prompting and they all gaped at the guide, who just made a behold! gesture with her hands.
The first stop of the tour was the History of SI exhibit. Peter’s been there already when he first started working with Mr. Stark. It was fascinating to see where it all began, what kind of tech Howard Stark came up with back in his day and how it all led to where they were now. He expected it was rather boring for other people, people who never got to see what Tony Stark worked on in this time and age, to hear his thoughts and ideas, and how it was all connected.
If he remembered correctly, the tour would start getting really interesting at stop three. They would finally reach the labs then. He never actually was on the tour before, but he read the tour program online.
“What?” he suddenly heard the tour guide mumble under her breath. Uh, he never caught her name.
“Is something wrong, Miss Anders?” Mr. Harrington asked, noticing her frown as well.
She quickly plastered a smile on her face, but her eyes showed confusion. “No, no, don’t worry.” She turned back to look at the floor number displayed above the door. “It’s just- It appears that the tour plan has been changed.” And by the looks of it, no one had told her.
The floor number currently displayed was 10, and rising. 11, 12, 13-
“It happens sometimes,” she said. “Not often, but it does. Usually when the higher ups urgently need one of the rooms that was supposed to be reserved for a tour.”
Or when the Avengers do something stupid, Peter smiled at the memory.
...24, 25, 26…
“Don’t worry, F.R.I.D.A.Y. knows best,” the tour guide grinned, taking the change in stride. “Apparently we’ll be starting with the business division. We can come back to the museum at the end- what the-?”
...39, 40, 41...
“Um, I meant, the labs,” she chuckled nervously. “We’ll start with the intern labs.”
“Dude, what’s going on?” Peter heard Ned whisper, but he had to shrug. “Are the lower floors out of commission or something?”
“Not that I know of,” he whispered back. “I have no idea.”
...63, 64, 65...
“Okay, that’s… unusual,” the tour guide admitted. “Apparently our tour will be done backwards? We are now approaching the highest floor available to tours, which was supposed to be our last stop. The so called higher labs, where accomplished scientists- what the fuck?”
...80, 81, 82…
The entire class fixed their eyes on her and one person oohed. She flushed red, realizing her slip up, and muttered an apology (mostly for Mr. Harrington’s sake, Peter supposed), but her eyes were still glued to the rising numbers.
“What’s going on?” MJ asked.
“Have we been kidnapped?” Flash talked over her. “Is the Tower under attack? Are we gonna be held for ransom?”
Everyone looked at him.
“What? My parents are rich, I-”
“No, we’re not kidnapped,” the tour guide hurried to say, trying to cut the budding panic before it grew too big to contain. “The Stark Tower has incredible security. Besides, no emergency protocols have been engaged. The tour plan’s been changed, is all. We’ll know more soon.”
The elevator arrived at floor 93. It was the highest floor in the Tower, exclusive to level ten alpha pass holders. Not even the Avengers had access to this place, as it was the private living area of the owners of SI.
“I’ve never actually been here before,” the tour guide said, her voice incredulous. “I don’t even know anyone who knows anyone who’s ever been here before.”
The door slid open.
Suddenly F.R.I.D.A.Y. came to life.
“Welcome home, Peter, you’re back unusually early. Your toast and coffee will be ready in approximately seven seconds. Boss has been notified of your arrival.”