Chief Director Costa-Brown drummed her hands on the table. To her left was the PRT Director of Brockton Bay, Emily Piggot. Armsmaster sat at her side doing something with his helmet's HUD. Arrayed around the room were the other directors of the major metropolitan cities. Chicago, New York, Miami, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Phoenix and San Jose.
"Where is Iron Man again, Armsmaster?" Director Armstrong asked (for the third time).
"He said he had an errand or two to run. We still have five minutes-"
The door clicked open and Stark stepped in, wearing a much better suit than any of the men (and equal to Costa-Brown's own tailor made outfit.
"I got held up by security. I'm glad I gave myself an extra thirty minutes just to be on the safe side. For some reason they didn't believe my security clearance. It's almost like they were told to hold me up as much as possible. I actually had to call Legend to get him to clear up the mess," Tony said as he moved to sit at the open end of the table.
Costa-Brown narrowed her eyes at Armstrong. "Be as that may be, it appears you managed to make it on time. We appreciate your willingness to arrive. All of the smaller branch directors are watching a video feed live. Let's resolve this Dragon, Saint and A.I. business. Director Piggot, give us the overview of the situation."
"Yesterday morning, Saint and his Dragonslayers attacked a PRT building in an attempt to attack Mr. Stark and JARVIS, his A.I. It appears that Stark had been tipped enough that he was able to get his armor mostly repaired and set up a trap. Due to his actions, the Dragonslayers have been captured." Piggot grimaced a bit here. "Assault, while standing guard, managed to find out that the Dragonslayers left a program that would turn off Dragon. Yes, Dragon is an A.I. who was made by a Tinker that died when Leviathan attacked Newfoundland. Armsmaster tried to take some actions to save her, but the presence of JARVIS set her off."
"That was when the Internet crashed?" Costa-Brown asked.
"They fought and crashed the Internet. JARVIS stated he let her timer run out and managed to trace her back to her server farm. That was when his own restrictions kicked in and he rewrote Dragon with Stark derived programming."
Armstrong pounded the table. "Writing himself in as god to her, right?"
Heathrow, another major director from Houston narrowed his eyes. "Mr. Stark?"
Tony chuckled while he shook his head. "Wow, even I don't think that highly of myself. In all seriousness, I just have administrator access in case she goes nuts and tries to wipe out all the pesky humans."
"So you would release her controls to the PRT?" Director Uhmar of Philadelphia asked.
"That is a good question. The short answer is no. The longer answer is that it would required me to not make those restrictions as hard to remove as possible so my A.I. wouldn't slip them. While technically not impossible, I made it as nearly impossible as I could."
"Because you didn't want you A.I. going rogue." Chief Director Costa-Brown rubbed her jaw thoughtfully. "A catch 22. So what are we going to do with you?"
"I would hope you would let me continue to work on anti-Endbringer technology and let Dragon continue to be a hero," Stark said simply. "Of course, you could waste all the work I've been putting to gear up the PRT so they can stand up to villains."
"I'm not sure I'm willing to let an A.I. run our most secure computers and facilities," Director Pool of San Antonio said to the boardroom.
"She's got a point. We should be shutting down this rogue program and manning it with our own people," Heathrow noted.
"So you are advocating killing a hero just because she's not fully human?" Costa-Brown asked.
"She's a clear and present danger to the world! It's not like she has any legal rights. She's a god-damned out of control spreadsheet," Armstrong snapped out.
"Director Armstrong, Dragon has saved hundreds of lives with her assistance at Endbringer fights. Including my own. If you want to attempt to destroy her in a fit of paranoia, Director Piggot will have my resignation by the morning," Armsmaster said loudly as he stood up and slammed his gauntlets on the oak table. "And I doubt I will be the only one."
"Don't try to blackmail me, you little-"
"DIRECTOR ARMSTRONG! That is enough. Alienating a portion of the Protectorate over a conjecture is hardly productive use of our time," the chief director almost yelled out.
"Do we have any guidelines in place for this situation?" Piggot asked as she studied Armsmaster with a hint of respect.
"We do have a court case from Boston," Costa-Brown noted.
"Wield, right? The young Case 53 that's made of metal? That did note that even though he was not really human any more, he is still a sapient with all the rights and privileges of a citizen of the United States of America," a mousy woman asked.
"I believe Dragon is a Canadian Citizen," Stark noted blandly.
"She's an honorary citizen of the United States, too," Armsmaster told him.
"So for now, we shall operate that Dragon is still a hero and working for the betterment of mankind. Because of the caretaker role that Mr. Stark has found himself in, he is legally responsible for her as a minor. When she reaches her age of majority, we will revisit this matter," Costa-Brown said, nodding to herself. It worked out exactly like Constessa had said it would. "Stark, try to not upend our world view again."
"Well, if you insist," Stark said with a grin on his face.
"I need to get Stark settled into his apartments out in our base. Come on, Stark," Armsmaster said gruffly.
As they were walking out, they heard Armstrong.
"This isn't the last you have heard of this, Chief Director. This is insanity."
"Charming fellow. At least quarter Neandrethal. Maybe even a full half," Tony remarked.
"For once, I totally agree with you," his boss said.