Night_stalker
Slava Ukraini!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Maybe offer him a reward for all his hard work?SuperSonicSound said:
Like the CEO job?
Stark Transcendent (Iron Man/Marvel Quest)
- Thread starter Roarian
- Start date
Like the CEO job?
For the next board meeting I would like to do this to them.
"Hello fellow employees and board members of Stark Enterprises. I will call this meeting into session. Now before I start has someone something important to get off their chest or need go to the bathroom they better do it now. Don't be shy, speak up. Speak up." Tony lets a moment pass.
"No? Ok. As the one and only owner of this company I have a announcement that will make you happy and another whose happy feeling are tied to the size of their bank accounts will not. So what's it going to be?" says Tony,
"Do you want the bad news?" he points at a monitor displaying a black question mark set on a red background.
"Or the good news?" the backgrounds changes to blue as it splits in two and now both the red and blue windows sit side by side on the monitor.
"THE GOOD NEWS"
"I have delivered on my promise and have the practical technology that will kill the fossile fuel era. You can read the summary on your pads and I emailed details on costs, contracts and possible profit margins to all of you."
"Now onto the..."
"THE BAD NEWS"
"Is that as of this moment Start Industries will cancel all their military contracts to supply weapons for as long as my weapons get into the hands of terrorists." now Tony brings up images of Stark weapons being used by terrorists, mercenaries and killing people with them.
"As you can see by the images my weapons are being to kill innocent adults and children and the cell that captured me was touting some serious firepower. Since then I discovered this was not a isolated incident and someone is using my company, the company my father made what it is today into merchant of death. His vision was to help protect the rights, liberties and freedom of people, but his tools are being to do the opposite."
"Till this problem is not solved Stark Industries will not be a part of the weapons trade anymore."
"Hello fellow employees and board members of Stark Enterprises. I will call this meeting into session. Now before I start has someone something important to get off their chest or need go to the bathroom they better do it now. Don't be shy, speak up. Speak up." Tony lets a moment pass.
"No? Ok. As the one and only owner of this company I have a announcement that will make you happy and another whose happy feeling are tied to the size of their bank accounts will not. So what's it going to be?" says Tony,
"Do you want the bad news?" he points at a monitor displaying a black question mark set on a red background.
"Or the good news?" the backgrounds changes to blue as it splits in two and now both the red and blue windows sit side by side on the monitor.
"THE GOOD NEWS"
"I have delivered on my promise and have the practical technology that will kill the fossile fuel era. You can read the summary on your pads and I emailed details on costs, contracts and possible profit margins to all of you."
"Now onto the..."
"THE BAD NEWS"
"Is that as of this moment Start Industries will cancel all their military contracts to supply weapons for as long as my weapons get into the hands of terrorists." now Tony brings up images of Stark weapons being used by terrorists, mercenaries and killing people with them.
"As you can see by the images my weapons are being to kill innocent adults and children and the cell that captured me was touting some serious firepower. Since then I discovered this was not a isolated incident and someone is using my company, the company my father made what it is today into merchant of death. His vision was to help protect the rights, liberties and freedom of people, but his tools are being to do the opposite."
"Till this problem is not solved Stark Industries will not be a part of the weapons trade anymore."
...first off, how did Tony manage to buy out all the company's stocks?Vlad III said:
SuperSonicSound
Shadowmancer of the Shadow Cabal
Considering we told the board that we've just created a printing press for money all the directors will snap up shares where they can. I expect tony to do the same but he's not going to be getting enough shares to completely own the company.Demonic Spoon said:
He has at least 51% control of the stocks. If he didn't then he couldn't have done what he did in canon with taking out the company out of weapons making.Demonic Spoon said:
Practically he is the owner of the company because he can do whatever he wants with it even if all the rest are against his decision.
Enohthree
Hypersane
No, he and Obi combined have at least that. That's why Obi could overrule him with the board.Vlad III said:
SuperSonicSound
Shadowmancer of the Shadow Cabal
Cteatus
A Guy Who Fell Down a Hole
Not entirely true. There are ways to get around that. Especially if they can prove that Tony isn't competent enough to be leading the company.Vlad III said:
Like say if he were suffering from PTSD after going through back-to-back near-death experiences.
I am pretty sure if Tony hadn't had that much controlling interest in the company then Obi would not have panicked so much in the movie as he could have just voted to deny this issue and ignore Tony's drama of getting out of the weapons manufacturing as the drama it was.Enohthree said:
Heck, if Tony didn't have controlling interest Obi could have had Tony voted out of the board.
KnightDisciple
Brotherhood. Unity. Peace.
- Location
- Midwest, USA
As Obi said (rightfully) in the movie, the board has legal rights too.
If we want to suspend weapon production, temporarily or permanently, we need to have hard, tangible proof. That's what Rhodey is doing for us. He's leveraging everything he can to give us the solid proof we need to get the board saying "Suspending most weapon lines for at least the short term is a good idea". Rather than them saying "well you can keep making cool toys Tony but you don't get to make decisions for a good long time".
If we want to suspend weapon production, temporarily or permanently, we need to have hard, tangible proof. That's what Rhodey is doing for us. He's leveraging everything he can to give us the solid proof we need to get the board saying "Suspending most weapon lines for at least the short term is a good idea". Rather than them saying "well you can keep making cool toys Tony but you don't get to make decisions for a good long time".
Then Tony reveals perfectly accurate and true information that his weapons are getting to terrorists and the board now has to deal with the bad press this will cause, stocks will still plummet like a rock and Tony will not be giving them the carrot he is dangling in front of them. (The Arc Reactor - Gas Killer)Cteatus said:
Cteatus
A Guy Who Fell Down a Hole
That's wandering awfully close to cutting off your nose to spite your face. We'd almost certainly come under federal investigation if we go public with that news.Vlad III said:
SuperSonicSound
Shadowmancer of the Shadow Cabal
Considering the GM liked his post I rather think you are very wrong here.serapheus said:
Movie Tony was fucking killing people and had what amounts to combination of a tank and jetfighter and still kept his company, suit and was making fun of politicians and judges while doing it.Cteatus said:
Cteatus
A Guy Who Fell Down a Hole
He S.H.I.E.L.D. protecting him, and he never acted directly against the U.S. government. AND there were still Congressional hearings trying to get him to turn over the Iron Man technology.Vlad III said:
If it goes public that Stark industries ACTIVELY sold weapons to terrorists, all bets are off.
croaker
Six Hundred and Sixty-Six Beasts
The GM likes any arguments that force people to respond. Don't read too much into it.SuperSonicSound said:
SuperSonicSound
Shadowmancer of the Shadow Cabal
You claimed the vast majority of his speculation was worthless that's not something I can agree with no matter how you slice it.serapheus said:
Especially as he's quite right on what he said about Obidiah.
I don't see how it didn't leak out seeing as that was big part of the first movie. Getting out of the arms trade and the problems with Obi, plus killing terrorists because they have your weapons would draw big headlines and investigations.Cteatus said:
Rogue elements and corrupt employees of Stark Industries was selling to terrorists, maybe the military is crooked and terrorists are getting them from them.
Tony needs to just not assume any personal blame, which is the trust as he isn't responsible. His company would be fine anyway.
Durabys
Miaow! Break the Chains!
- Location
- the land of the Boii
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Oh shit.Croaker said:
Night_stalker
Slava Ukraini!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Agreed.KnightDisciple said:
Or at least, suspend our missile and other large ordinance shipments until we can audit them and find where the hell they're going.
Small arms I don't give a shit about, but missiles? No, those need to get locked down ASAP.
Calanor
Not so silly Silicoid
Oh, I'm not claiming that Obi is a good person, just that he might not be Tony's enemy. Much depends on who exactly the target is and why he wants them dead. It would be different if it is someone innocent or someone dangerous like, say Justin Hammer, Osborn or another villain. If there is some ambiguity it will make an interesting decision on our part.Chunq said:
Well, if you take a look at the real world many big companies dealing with spaceflight and civilian aviation are weapon producers as well. It honestly doesn't seem to bother people that much.
Another question is how much dropping weapon production would actually help the regearing of the company. I doubt the weapon factories are suitable for arc reactor production on a large scale. Selling them is possible I suppose, but that would just mean that somebody else is producing current generation Stark weapons. Closing them down means that no new revenue is incoming while the facilities for arc reactor production are constructed and production is starting up. Besides, that would mean breaking contracts. Contractual penalties are a nasty thing.
Without that revenue we need another source of funding. If we announce it people will invest, but that requires emitting more shares. Our ability to do that is limited if we want to maintain a controlling interest. Credit in that order of magnitude has its own share of problems, too.
Relevant against the big threats? Probably not. But against medium- or low-tier threats it might make a difference. If they get something from us they might be more understanding if we don't deny them outright but stave them off with excuses. e.g. something like the suits still being tested or working on a cost-effective model... that somehow never materializes.
I don't say we should treat SHIELD as the enemy. I just argue against seeing them as the big good guy and trusting them completely. Just like you said, Tony doesn't know much about them yet. To him they are just a shadowy organization that seems unduly interested in him. Considering that Tony's daddy was apparently involved in supersoldier programs (and not necessarily white ones) that isn't exactly a recommendation.
Yes, Yinsen is in SHIELD custody, but that doesn't mean it will stay that way forever.
Arc 2 - Chapter 9 - Fruits of Thy Labour
- Location
- Netherlands
[X] Arc Custom Industrial Design : Mass-production is neat, but inherently dangerous due to the portability and ease of use of your reactors, even with their safeties armed. Large, unwieldy versions that work at lower energy densities would be far more long-term reliable, and they would be all but impossible to use for any nefarious purpose. Designed to fail at any tampering, these could really revolutionize clean energy-generation.
[X] Repulsor Mk1 : You've worked on these beauties before, but you'd never had the opportunity before to make them mobile, or even practical. Reactionless drives will get you in the door with every private spaceflight company in the world, and probably with NASA, who have been standoffish in making deals before.
[X] Exoskeleton Mk1 : You've got enough supplies to work on a little project that occurred to you in Afghanistan, though you didn't have time to make it happen, there. With the power of the arc reactor, you could make a suit that makes the wearer exponentially more powerful and bulletproof, improving on military exosuit plans. With your tools, you can skip big and bulky, and go straight to sleek and powerful.
[X] Main Computer Upgrade : Upgrading Jarvis' mainframe will make him more helpful, and besides that any technological feats will be easier with the proper support. If you ever want to get into proper sci-fi-style craziness with computers or AIs, you'll need good computers. REALLY good computers.
XXXXXXXXXX
The first week back had been grueling. Long days in the pit, followed by meetings and appointments and worse things, until your schedule looked like a Christmas tree. You'd been utterly exhausted by the end of the first weekend, but you couldn't stop; you couldn't cycle down. Pepper was worried you were messing up your recovery from a second near-death experience, and Rhodey thought you'd come back too focused. Neither of them realized why you barely spoke to them for that time. You'd been inspired.
The next weeks were worse.
It wasn't the bomb - that was mundane. Given that you hadn't gotten to speak to more than two or three people at the conference before it went to hell, it was not exactly the influence of fellow genius blowhards, either. No - a single instant had crystallized, a momentary flash of that encounter with the assassin Deadpool.
Deadpool threw his hand around, gun at the ready, and fired with the precision that he'd shown on all the other people that had been shot - but he'd missed. The image of a mere reporter ducking a bullet and then smashing the hand that had delivered the shot. He'd slapped away someone who should have overpowered him by sheer size, let alone his Weapon Plus heritage, the brutal strength you'd felt at your throat.
Leaving aside the why, that moment called on the instinct that had been built up by twenty years of arms development, of designing planes, and bombs, and missiles. The arms race was in your blood, now, and escalation was a fact of life. You'd just been shown a target to aim for, someone who could flatten you with a single blow. Two people who were simply better.
It was time to level the playing field.
"Jarvis," you spoke softly. "I'm flipping the switch, now. Hope you can hold on in there."
The AI bleeped once - the only form of communication he currently possessed. There was no real way to isolate a program so complicated and distributed as his; he was spread out across every computer in your home. Like the proverbial Ship of Theseus, then, there was only one way to make an upgrade. Piece by piece.
The final part - the most important part - was the central core, right at the heart of the building, nested neatly in the bedrock three stories below your feet. It had taken three days to lift the cluster out, on account of its sheer size, and nigh on twice as long to install the new mainframe, and setting it up as you required. It was always easier to destroy than to build, much to your chagrin.
"Seventy-seven percent complete," you recited, more to keep yourself busy than to ease whatever fears an artificial mind might have. Cut off from the majority of its functions, you imagined it was rather like Locked-In Syndrome for the bot, with a generous helping of sudden onset Alzheimer's. The only reason it wasn't a total cruelty was that you'd made sure Jarvis knew what was going on at all times. He'd agreed to this - brain surgery.
"How're you feeling, buddy? Everything okay? Eight-five percent done, now."
The AI bleeped once in affirmation.
The computer's upgrade had stalled most of your work in the house, but thankfully there had been other places to keep you busy, and to get some work done. You'd never bring your secret work to the company, on account of the weapon thefts, but everyone already knew about your work on arc reactors, and the version you were constructing wasn't particularly dangerous. Not anymore, at least.
You'd toyed with the idea of making a mass-production version of your arc reactor - but the consequences didn't take long to occur to you. The little device in your chest could put out several megawatts - enough to power some serious machinery. With that kind of unfettered power, even if Stark Industries didn't develop weapons based on it, someone else would. Roxxon or Hammer would have a prototype out within the year, and there'd be arc-fueled mass destruction the instant one of them screwed up. So - a change of plans.
Safety was what you'd programmed into the small arc reactors, and you already had confirmation that at least one functional arc reactor of a larger scale existed. As such, you'd taken apart the big one at the company - it had only been running one building for at least a decade. It had taken some days of design and a full week of tinkering, but you'd finally gotten that version rebuilt into something you recognized as modern. It wouldn't measure up to a freshly constructed one without the constraints of an existing design, but it would work.
Today, you were going to turn it on.
"Ninety-seven - last legs now, Jarvis." You turned to the screens behind you, all of them on but showing only darkness. Suddenly, with a burst of colourful flickering and static, they all turned bright white for a brief moment. "Ah, there we go."
"I have been uploaded, sir," Jarvis declared with what could only be relief, though you weren't sure if you were anthropomorphizing the emulated consciousness. You would've called Dr. Turing for a consultation, but alas…
"Right - excellent! Enjoying the new home, then?" You smiled at the screens as they slowly flipped to more familiar designs and lists of code. "It's at least four times as powerful as the last one, and it's got way, way more gadgets." You gestured vaguely behind you. "I installed another 3D-printer while I was at it, to complement the others. Finally some ceramics, I think."
"Very good. I look forward to testing it later."
"Yeah. Print me some - I dunno, replica Ming vases that I can break? Maybe some Space Shuttle tiles? Basically go for all the cool stuff and we'll figure out how to use it later." You stretched, yawning. "...Speaking of space shuttles, I'm gonna see if NASA called back yet. Without you to watch the phone, it's been ringing off the hook, but even with my persistence, they're keeping awfully silent…"
"NASA, sir?" Jarvis inquired. "Did they not ask you to stop calling, nine years ago?"
"I was drunk that time," you defended. "How was I supposed to know she was the Director? I didn't even know feminism got to that level yet. I mean, sheesh, if there's anything that's a men's sport, it's watching giant Freudian symbols penetrate the virgin sky!"
"I warned you."
"And I was stupid not to listen to my teenage AI," you muttered. "Remember what you were like back then? Constantly tattling on me, incapable of understanding sarcasm? It took me months to cure you of that shortcoming, it was terrible."
"I'm sure it was, sir. Incidentally, you have an appointment with the Board of Directors this evening. I also note that you have attended four of the last six - a statistical anomaly."
You grimaced. "Pepper's making me do it?"
"Yet I notice that Miss Potts is presently absent."
You sighed. "Fine, smartass. I'm making me do it. There's a - thing with the arc reactor that I'm working on, and I kind of need the board's help on this one. Or their approval, anyway. Obi's usually enough for this sort of thing, but if we're talking something with major impact…" You rubbed your forehead tiredly. "This is why I tend to upgrade, not innovate…"
"If you do not leave within thirty minutes, you will be late."
"How can I be late? I set this meeting myself," you muttered. "Alright - I'll handle this, and you get used to your new duds. If there's a problem, you are still attached to the primary backup, so you should be fine. You have the means to call me. Don't let Dum-E out of the lab - he's tried twice since the locks stopped working - and don't let in any strangers. Got it?"
"I am able to attend to my duties, sir."
"Great! Because I really don't know if I am." You turned, waving to the camera. "Off to make or break this oil-killing thing. Wish me luck!"
XXXXXXXXXX
The company seemed downright spooky, with the power off - with the usual shift relocated to some of the side-buildings for a week, the main building looked foreboding in the gloom. The only lights were a few small spotlights you'd rigged up to the grid, illuminating the place just enough to give it a proper horror house vibe. Given that meetings tended to be around sundown, this was perfect. The darkness all around you was oddly soothing.
It was interesting that, even as you were at the company, preparing to show off a new variation on the arc reactor, your thoughts were on other things. It had been a month since the incident in Vegas, and Peter had never responded to your invitation - he'd left, and in the days thereafter you'd constantly expected him to show up at your doorstep. Instead, you got silence. The disappointment had largely been drowned in work, though.
The other consequence of that particular mess was involvement with S.H.I.E.L.D. - a subject that your dad's files had contained rather a lot of information about, even if most of it was couched in other terms. Usually they were just mentioned as 'my organization' and it was often hard to tell whether or not Stark Industries was referenced, or the spy club you'd so suddenly found out about.
It wasn't until well into the second week of work, when you'd been working on repulsors and your ideas about exoskeletons that you'd realized that Coulson, that friendly face that had visited you the first day, was only ever showing up when you were slacking off for a bit. For a moment, you wondered if you'd been bugged - but it had become quickly apparent that Jarvis had been the bug - or rather, the bot had voluntarily informed the agent when you were available. It seemed the AI actually liked Coulson.
If it weren't for the fact that you never messed with Jarvis's programming for fear of the possible consequences, you might've deleted that particular tendency.
"Well, everyone's late," you muttered to yourself. "Figures they would be, the one time that I set the time. How's that for revenge…"
"Tony."
You turned around rather quicker than you intended, the slight glow of your arc reactor shining through your clothes and illuminating the figure in front of you in eerie blue. You recognized that beard and shiny bald head anywhere, and sighed in relief. "Ah, Obi. I suppose this is why you don't turn off all the lights."
"You put lights up yourself, didn't you?" the man asked disbelievingly, clapping twice. The darkness receded from the clinical white that shone down. "What are you doing, hiding in the dark?"
"Thinking about the deepest questions in life, I assure you. Why are we here - where are we going - where's the pizza." You gestured to the arc reactor in the middle of the room, shrugging. "Will this thing work?"
"You didn't test it?" Obadiah demanded.
"Can't - not without either ruining the wiring, or the suspense. Probably the latter." You smirked. "But don't worry - I built one of these in a cave. I think I can handle it here, too."
Obadiah nodded slowly. "And you really think you can make this - clean energy thing happen? You've been all over this thing - far more than anything else in living memory, I'd say. Even the Jericho - and you were so proud of that one!"
"Well, that is a thing of beauty," you defended. "Anyway, this is bigger, better. None of the moral ambiguity or leftist hand-wringing, all of the awesome. I mean, there's a rather large difference between Merchant of Death and Clean Energy Revolutionary, isn't there? How about the headline 'Stark Industries solves Energy Crisis?' Sound good?"
"Sounds unbelievable."
"You think I'd voluntarily submit myself to half a dozen meetings of the Board of Directors over a failed experiment?" you asked rhetorically. "Look, I'm not a good CEO. I know that. I've accepted that despite my many skills, I have a bit of a respect problem, and I'm sure that nobody's surprised by that. However, I am a damn good engineer, and nobody would deny that."
Obadiah nodded, sighing. "We all know you're the golden goose, Tony. It's why nobody's jumped at getting you out of the position yet - you make us money. As long as the money keeps flowing…"
"You said 'yet',"you pointed out, narrowing your eyes. "Has anyone been talking?"
"Not since you came back."
"Vegas?" You asked. "What, they got scared of my failed attempts at strangling a guy?"
Obadiah shook his head. "Afghanistan. You made an impression, when you came back and handled the press and the board with finesse, despite your obvious… troubles." He frowned. "I stuck up for you, Tony - and thankfully you acted as I hoped you would. Maturely. I know it can be a problem for you."
You rolled your eyes. "Oh you, stop flattering me."
He frowned. "I'm serious, Tony. I know we haven't really talked, lately - but I am on your side. We together control the company - you have to remember that. But the board has rights, and given your actions before the kidnapping, can you blame them? You were leaving your duties aside, whoring it up with - "
"That was a one time thing, and I apologized," you argued. "...Alright, maybe a two or three time thing. But they forgave me. In writing."
"And refused a contract with SI," Obadiah said. "Tony - I'm not saying it's not an overreaction on the part of the board, but they have good reasons for their position. Make sure that you don't get any more of those reasons, and you'll be fine. Otherwise…" He grimaced, looking away. "Your Vegas adventure bought you some goodwill - even if the details are murky, the press mentioned your part in stopping the bomber. It makes you seem more - human - that you'd try to save a life. It's probably good that they don't realize the specifics."
"That's for sure," you agreed, thinking back to the confrontation with Deadpool, and its last few minutes, etched into your memory. "Fire and shards of glass are not exactly the friendliest of weapons, I admit."
Obadiah grunted in agreement. "Just keep the course, and hold yourself back from doing anything too troubling in the coming weeks or months. Meanwhile, I'll figure out a way to bring the company under tighter control, alright? That should give you some more leeway, and if you're right about reviving the arc reactor project - perhaps a lucrative thing to do, too."
"Hmm, how are you gonna do that?" You wondered aloud. "Buy them out? I've offered, you know, back when I first returned."
"And nobody believed you," Obadiah muttered. "You're rich - but you know what kind of contracts they signed, most of them dating back to your dad's era. Buying them all out would bankrupt you - if they were civil about it. Odds are they'll decide you're trying to kick them out because you're onto something big, and they'll hire big-time lawyers to stay in."
"Which means I'm stuck with them," you decided glumly. "Great."
"Take it this way - they are on the side of whoever makes them lots of money. If you do that, then you'll have the best allies around. And if that's not enough to settle your nerves, there's always me." He smiled thinly, though he looked haggard in the pale light. "You have to realize, Tony - as long as I'm around, they can't hurt you. Not really."
You tapped his arm, smiling. "I suppose that's something I ought to remember."
"Hm. I know I haven't always trusted you as I did your father - but I should have. Sooner or later, you always make the right call." He glanced at the big arc reactor, shrugging. "We're ironmongers, we make weapons, Tony. I always figured this big old thing was a waste of time and resources. If you can change all that, if you can move beyond the box you've been living in for the last decades, then maybe you're right about the rest of it, too. About all those dreams you have, or had." He looked away. "Maybe."
You frowned at the man's odd mood. It seemed almost - melancholic. "Obi? Is something wrong? You seem..."
Obadiah looked back, shaking his head. "No. It's - nothing. Well - actually, it's personal." He refused to meet your gaze. "Look, Tony, I know I can trust you. Probably now more than ever." He slipped a hand into his pocket. "You're a good kid, and I'd hate to see anything happen to you."
"What…?"
Your old mentor pulled out a cylindrical device, staring at it for a long moment. "You know that at some point in our lives, we all run into our past mistakes. You've been face to face with a few of yours lately, I would say. And I have run into some of mine." He looked up again, and raised the device. "I want you to have this."
You took the object, and only then did you realize what it was. "...What's on it?"
Obadiah raised his eyebrows as he crossed his arms. "Information. That flash drive contains all of my secrets - everything I might have hidden from you, everything your father might have conveniently omitted. It's locked tighter than Fort Knox, though, with one of the encryption algorithms that your father invented. The only one who knows how to get in these days is me." He rubbed his brow tiredly. "It also contains everything you need to know to take control of my share of the company."
You stared at him in incomprehension. "Why?"
"It's - insurance, Tony. Keep that somewhere safe - and if everything goes well, you'll never have to use it. If anything were to happen, though, I'll make sure that the key gets to you." He narrowed his eyes. "It's a precaution - I'm not going to drop dead, Tony. But after what you've been through recently, I really can't be too careful."
"...You're not telling me everything."
"Oh, no, I'm not." Obadiah smiled, then. "I rescheduled our meeting, by the way. The half hour I bought us is nearly over. You'd better get ready."
"You did that?" You wondered for a moment. "Wait - Obi…"
The man turned to face you, but said nothing more - and the arrival of one of the other directors prevented any further discussion. You turned the flash drive in your hand, looking after Obadiah with narrowed eyes as you slipped it into a pocket. It was clear that he wasn't going to say more - but you were going to try and break that encryption. Of course you were.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Presto! Eureka! Insert meaningful quote here, history books!" you exclaimed as you flipped the last switch, and with a slow groaning noise and a flash of artificial lightning skittering across the inside of the protective enclosure, white-hot plasma burst into existence, a glowing coil of energy that quickly suffused the reactor. It already looked far more impressive than the previous version, and it hadn't even been dialed to full yet. You didn't intend to try that until the next week.
"Over fifty megawatts of power, if we dial it up," you said clearly. "Enough to run a small town from one of these babies - and at a fraction of current asking price. We might be able to undercut existing prices by as much as two-thirds - and that's including the investment costs for building the reactors in the first place."
"That's -"
"Insane? Impossible?" You gestured to the reactor, smiling. "Tell that to the humming wonder there. Even if you had to build a new one every year or two, you'd still come out on top while reducing the price of power by more than half - and I don't see other energy companies jumping into that pool. Given that it's clean energy on top, and thus gets all the tax benefits of that…"
You didn't know if the directors were slack-jawed from awe or greed, but at the moment it really didn't matter. The fact that they were all focused on the bright blue glow was telling enough.
"I am proposing that we built pilot reactors in each of our locations - here, in all our facilities up the west coast, and a few in the heartland, though those are lower-priority until we have enough built. When that's done - we're going to offer the excess power to the immediate neighborhoods, in much the same way that other clean energies get that done."
"And next thing you know, they'll want more," a certain Mr. Klein said, a graying man that'd been around since time immemorial. "This is good - this is something we can work with!"
A second person cleared her throat - the venerable Mrs. Beaumont. "This is - interesting, Mr. Stark, but you have yet to mention selling this technology to our primary partners. While supplying our own company with cheap power is commendable, it seems rather small pickings compared to the profits that could be made."
You nodded, shaking your head. "I assume by primary partners you are euphemistically referring to our military connection. I also trust you have realized that Mr. Rhodes is not with us right now - and as such, I am not at present considering selling this to anyone." You met Beaumont's eyes and smiled. "This will remain in-house for as long as I deem it necessary - and that's final. If this gets into the wrong hands before we secure it, we might lose a lot more than a few bucks of profit. Besides, the civil market is broad enough that it shouldn't matter in a few months."
"...is there something wrong with our army contracts?" Klein inquired. "You have never objected to their bids before."
"This is a clean energy project, people," you said slowly. "Clean. Energy. You know what would be the greatest way to completely kill off enthusiasm from the left and environmentalists? Turning their greatest hope, even if they don't know it yet, into the new nuke. This has to be a blank slate project - because our name alone is enough to make people wonder. We can't afford to add to that paranoia."
Obadiah cleared his throat, then. "Actually, Tony, you could consider founding a sister company, for the PR-friendly stuff like this. Keep SI for the military contracts that the public's iffy about anyway, and shunt the humanitarian efforts to something new. Something without a history. You have the people to make that happen, and the profits would ultimately end up in the same pot, so nobody would go broke over it."
That was - actually not a bad idea. Something new - founded by Tony Stark, not Howard. Something that could delve into all the crazy directions you'd thought about - exoskeletons and repulsors, spaceflight and clean energy. Building the future.
"...That's worth considering," you allowed at last. For one, you would have much less oversight from the board of directors - since technically, they're not in charge. It'd just be you, and whoever else would help you set it up. Pepper, maybe. Rhodey. "I'll get back to you on that."
"I'll sketch up some proposals," Obadiah offered. "Katherine - you can arrange the logistics of getting a bunch of reactors shipped off the instant they're done. Knowing Tony, he'll have the factories ready to make the things within weeks."
"Actually, the one downstairs already can," you said easily. "Robots, you know - they can build it, even if nobody around here knows how the things work. That's a thing of beauty, I'd say. They're pretty much magic." You smirked. "Clarke was completely right."
Right then, the tones of Thunderstruck erupted from the side of your jacket, and you sighed. You flipped open your phone to general muttering, and a small holographic display popped up. It was an unknown number - traced by Jarvis to New York. It was coming from the Daily Bugle building.
"Can you guys hold on a minute, here?" You asked, repressing the smile that was threatening to take over. "I have to take this."
XXXXXXXXXX
After a month, Peter finally called you to take you up on that invitation. How do you approach this? Pick One.
[ ] The Friendly Tour : You shouldn't make this too formal or too guided - whatever comes naturally might just be the best. Just give the guy a tour of the area, show the new reactor, and generally impress him with your stuff. If he's still interested in taking you up on your earlier implication, you can take it from there.
[ ] Make with the Introductions : The core of your company isn't places, but people. Introducing Peter to Pepper - whom he barely spoke to in the hospital - or Rhodey would probably set him at ease. Hell, maybe you can swing by Jarvis and have a chat, too. At least it might help get everyone off your back over your reasons for inviting Peter over.
[ ] Engineer's Heaven : You know that the places you love most are the grimy undergrounds, the places where the impressive stuff happens, and that's what you'll show him. From your newfangled repurposed factory for arc reactors to the garage where you're building experimental repulsor prototypes, there's plenty to see. Of course, you risk boring someone who isn't too interested in that sort of stuff...
[ ] [Science Major] Be a Total Show-off : You've made awesome new toys, even secret ones, and nobody knows about them. You already know that Peter's got secrets - so why not share a few of your own to set him at ease? It's time to suit up and show him what you're working on in the dark hours, when nobody's looking.
[ ] Go for the Job-ular : The reason you originally offered the visit was to see if he would fit in with your company, whether or not you had a good reason for him to stick around while you figured him out, however ethically questionable that was. Given that he's taken you up on your offer at last, odds are he's looking for that job. Why not give it to him?
[ ] Supersoldiers and You : You know what you saw, and you can't not bring it up. You'll have to be careful about it and not spook him, but someway or somehow, the truth has to come out. You've done your research - you've got a few suspicions about Peter, and perhaps he could use an ally that has some power in the world.
What do you do in the evening, after everyone's gone? Pick two. (You'll get another pick at a later point.)
[ ] [Exoskeleton Mk1][Repulsors Mk1] Take a Joyride : You've finished the design of your first exoskeleton, and it's a thing of beauty. It's time to take it out of the shop and into reality, though: sometimes you have to run before you can walk. Get a new perspective on things, maybe break a few record, meet cool people.
[ ] Get in Bed with NASA : You still have to get back to that NASA thing, and you have a strong suspicion that if you press hard enough, even your previous problems won't keep them from listening to you. Reactionless drives would certainly get you in the door, and NASA has plenty of cash to fund a space venture that has merit.
[ ] Go, Go, Private Spaceflight : Screw NASA - they're not returning your calls, and she wasn't the best lay ever, anyway. How about you call up ol´ Elon and Branson, see if they're still interested in taking their mission to the next level. You'd probably get less cash from them, but if you keep out of the government´s reach, you can get away with some amazing things that would take years to get done with the feds.
[ ] Stark Industries Rearrangement : Starting a sister-company seems like a remarkably good plan, even if it's mostly a fresh paintjob. In time, though, you might be able to divorce your weapons from the rest, and changing one won't affect the other much. That, at least, would give you a way out without destroying yourself or your investors. You'll need to have a name for this new branch, though…
[ ] Losing My Possessions : Your weapons are still being lost - it's time to call up Rhodey and get on this. It might take some time to get to the bottom of it, but it's better to catch this now than to risk any more leaks in the future, possibly including the very technologies you've just introduced. You really can't afford to lose arc reactors, even 'safe' ones.
[ ] [Careful] Make an Emergency Plan : You are busy with all sorts of fun stuff, but you know that there's important preparations to be made in case you get involved in another terrible debacle. After Afghanistan and Vegas, nowhere seems safe… so you'd better be ready.
[X] Repulsor Mk1 : You've worked on these beauties before, but you'd never had the opportunity before to make them mobile, or even practical. Reactionless drives will get you in the door with every private spaceflight company in the world, and probably with NASA, who have been standoffish in making deals before.
[X] Exoskeleton Mk1 : You've got enough supplies to work on a little project that occurred to you in Afghanistan, though you didn't have time to make it happen, there. With the power of the arc reactor, you could make a suit that makes the wearer exponentially more powerful and bulletproof, improving on military exosuit plans. With your tools, you can skip big and bulky, and go straight to sleek and powerful.
[X] Main Computer Upgrade : Upgrading Jarvis' mainframe will make him more helpful, and besides that any technological feats will be easier with the proper support. If you ever want to get into proper sci-fi-style craziness with computers or AIs, you'll need good computers. REALLY good computers.
XXXXXXXXXX
The first week back had been grueling. Long days in the pit, followed by meetings and appointments and worse things, until your schedule looked like a Christmas tree. You'd been utterly exhausted by the end of the first weekend, but you couldn't stop; you couldn't cycle down. Pepper was worried you were messing up your recovery from a second near-death experience, and Rhodey thought you'd come back too focused. Neither of them realized why you barely spoke to them for that time. You'd been inspired.
The next weeks were worse.
It wasn't the bomb - that was mundane. Given that you hadn't gotten to speak to more than two or three people at the conference before it went to hell, it was not exactly the influence of fellow genius blowhards, either. No - a single instant had crystallized, a momentary flash of that encounter with the assassin Deadpool.
Deadpool threw his hand around, gun at the ready, and fired with the precision that he'd shown on all the other people that had been shot - but he'd missed. The image of a mere reporter ducking a bullet and then smashing the hand that had delivered the shot. He'd slapped away someone who should have overpowered him by sheer size, let alone his Weapon Plus heritage, the brutal strength you'd felt at your throat.
Leaving aside the why, that moment called on the instinct that had been built up by twenty years of arms development, of designing planes, and bombs, and missiles. The arms race was in your blood, now, and escalation was a fact of life. You'd just been shown a target to aim for, someone who could flatten you with a single blow. Two people who were simply better.
It was time to level the playing field.
"Jarvis," you spoke softly. "I'm flipping the switch, now. Hope you can hold on in there."
The AI bleeped once - the only form of communication he currently possessed. There was no real way to isolate a program so complicated and distributed as his; he was spread out across every computer in your home. Like the proverbial Ship of Theseus, then, there was only one way to make an upgrade. Piece by piece.
The final part - the most important part - was the central core, right at the heart of the building, nested neatly in the bedrock three stories below your feet. It had taken three days to lift the cluster out, on account of its sheer size, and nigh on twice as long to install the new mainframe, and setting it up as you required. It was always easier to destroy than to build, much to your chagrin.
"Seventy-seven percent complete," you recited, more to keep yourself busy than to ease whatever fears an artificial mind might have. Cut off from the majority of its functions, you imagined it was rather like Locked-In Syndrome for the bot, with a generous helping of sudden onset Alzheimer's. The only reason it wasn't a total cruelty was that you'd made sure Jarvis knew what was going on at all times. He'd agreed to this - brain surgery.
"How're you feeling, buddy? Everything okay? Eight-five percent done, now."
The AI bleeped once in affirmation.
The computer's upgrade had stalled most of your work in the house, but thankfully there had been other places to keep you busy, and to get some work done. You'd never bring your secret work to the company, on account of the weapon thefts, but everyone already knew about your work on arc reactors, and the version you were constructing wasn't particularly dangerous. Not anymore, at least.
You'd toyed with the idea of making a mass-production version of your arc reactor - but the consequences didn't take long to occur to you. The little device in your chest could put out several megawatts - enough to power some serious machinery. With that kind of unfettered power, even if Stark Industries didn't develop weapons based on it, someone else would. Roxxon or Hammer would have a prototype out within the year, and there'd be arc-fueled mass destruction the instant one of them screwed up. So - a change of plans.
Safety was what you'd programmed into the small arc reactors, and you already had confirmation that at least one functional arc reactor of a larger scale existed. As such, you'd taken apart the big one at the company - it had only been running one building for at least a decade. It had taken some days of design and a full week of tinkering, but you'd finally gotten that version rebuilt into something you recognized as modern. It wouldn't measure up to a freshly constructed one without the constraints of an existing design, but it would work.
Today, you were going to turn it on.
"Ninety-seven - last legs now, Jarvis." You turned to the screens behind you, all of them on but showing only darkness. Suddenly, with a burst of colourful flickering and static, they all turned bright white for a brief moment. "Ah, there we go."
"I have been uploaded, sir," Jarvis declared with what could only be relief, though you weren't sure if you were anthropomorphizing the emulated consciousness. You would've called Dr. Turing for a consultation, but alas…
"Right - excellent! Enjoying the new home, then?" You smiled at the screens as they slowly flipped to more familiar designs and lists of code. "It's at least four times as powerful as the last one, and it's got way, way more gadgets." You gestured vaguely behind you. "I installed another 3D-printer while I was at it, to complement the others. Finally some ceramics, I think."
"Very good. I look forward to testing it later."
"Yeah. Print me some - I dunno, replica Ming vases that I can break? Maybe some Space Shuttle tiles? Basically go for all the cool stuff and we'll figure out how to use it later." You stretched, yawning. "...Speaking of space shuttles, I'm gonna see if NASA called back yet. Without you to watch the phone, it's been ringing off the hook, but even with my persistence, they're keeping awfully silent…"
"NASA, sir?" Jarvis inquired. "Did they not ask you to stop calling, nine years ago?"
"I was drunk that time," you defended. "How was I supposed to know she was the Director? I didn't even know feminism got to that level yet. I mean, sheesh, if there's anything that's a men's sport, it's watching giant Freudian symbols penetrate the virgin sky!"
"I warned you."
"And I was stupid not to listen to my teenage AI," you muttered. "Remember what you were like back then? Constantly tattling on me, incapable of understanding sarcasm? It took me months to cure you of that shortcoming, it was terrible."
"I'm sure it was, sir. Incidentally, you have an appointment with the Board of Directors this evening. I also note that you have attended four of the last six - a statistical anomaly."
You grimaced. "Pepper's making me do it?"
"Yet I notice that Miss Potts is presently absent."
You sighed. "Fine, smartass. I'm making me do it. There's a - thing with the arc reactor that I'm working on, and I kind of need the board's help on this one. Or their approval, anyway. Obi's usually enough for this sort of thing, but if we're talking something with major impact…" You rubbed your forehead tiredly. "This is why I tend to upgrade, not innovate…"
"If you do not leave within thirty minutes, you will be late."
"How can I be late? I set this meeting myself," you muttered. "Alright - I'll handle this, and you get used to your new duds. If there's a problem, you are still attached to the primary backup, so you should be fine. You have the means to call me. Don't let Dum-E out of the lab - he's tried twice since the locks stopped working - and don't let in any strangers. Got it?"
"I am able to attend to my duties, sir."
"Great! Because I really don't know if I am." You turned, waving to the camera. "Off to make or break this oil-killing thing. Wish me luck!"
XXXXXXXXXX
The company seemed downright spooky, with the power off - with the usual shift relocated to some of the side-buildings for a week, the main building looked foreboding in the gloom. The only lights were a few small spotlights you'd rigged up to the grid, illuminating the place just enough to give it a proper horror house vibe. Given that meetings tended to be around sundown, this was perfect. The darkness all around you was oddly soothing.
It was interesting that, even as you were at the company, preparing to show off a new variation on the arc reactor, your thoughts were on other things. It had been a month since the incident in Vegas, and Peter had never responded to your invitation - he'd left, and in the days thereafter you'd constantly expected him to show up at your doorstep. Instead, you got silence. The disappointment had largely been drowned in work, though.
The other consequence of that particular mess was involvement with S.H.I.E.L.D. - a subject that your dad's files had contained rather a lot of information about, even if most of it was couched in other terms. Usually they were just mentioned as 'my organization' and it was often hard to tell whether or not Stark Industries was referenced, or the spy club you'd so suddenly found out about.
It wasn't until well into the second week of work, when you'd been working on repulsors and your ideas about exoskeletons that you'd realized that Coulson, that friendly face that had visited you the first day, was only ever showing up when you were slacking off for a bit. For a moment, you wondered if you'd been bugged - but it had become quickly apparent that Jarvis had been the bug - or rather, the bot had voluntarily informed the agent when you were available. It seemed the AI actually liked Coulson.
If it weren't for the fact that you never messed with Jarvis's programming for fear of the possible consequences, you might've deleted that particular tendency.
"Well, everyone's late," you muttered to yourself. "Figures they would be, the one time that I set the time. How's that for revenge…"
"Tony."
You turned around rather quicker than you intended, the slight glow of your arc reactor shining through your clothes and illuminating the figure in front of you in eerie blue. You recognized that beard and shiny bald head anywhere, and sighed in relief. "Ah, Obi. I suppose this is why you don't turn off all the lights."
"You put lights up yourself, didn't you?" the man asked disbelievingly, clapping twice. The darkness receded from the clinical white that shone down. "What are you doing, hiding in the dark?"
"Thinking about the deepest questions in life, I assure you. Why are we here - where are we going - where's the pizza." You gestured to the arc reactor in the middle of the room, shrugging. "Will this thing work?"
"You didn't test it?" Obadiah demanded.
"Can't - not without either ruining the wiring, or the suspense. Probably the latter." You smirked. "But don't worry - I built one of these in a cave. I think I can handle it here, too."
Obadiah nodded slowly. "And you really think you can make this - clean energy thing happen? You've been all over this thing - far more than anything else in living memory, I'd say. Even the Jericho - and you were so proud of that one!"
"Well, that is a thing of beauty," you defended. "Anyway, this is bigger, better. None of the moral ambiguity or leftist hand-wringing, all of the awesome. I mean, there's a rather large difference between Merchant of Death and Clean Energy Revolutionary, isn't there? How about the headline 'Stark Industries solves Energy Crisis?' Sound good?"
"Sounds unbelievable."
"You think I'd voluntarily submit myself to half a dozen meetings of the Board of Directors over a failed experiment?" you asked rhetorically. "Look, I'm not a good CEO. I know that. I've accepted that despite my many skills, I have a bit of a respect problem, and I'm sure that nobody's surprised by that. However, I am a damn good engineer, and nobody would deny that."
Obadiah nodded, sighing. "We all know you're the golden goose, Tony. It's why nobody's jumped at getting you out of the position yet - you make us money. As long as the money keeps flowing…"
"You said 'yet',"you pointed out, narrowing your eyes. "Has anyone been talking?"
"Not since you came back."
"Vegas?" You asked. "What, they got scared of my failed attempts at strangling a guy?"
Obadiah shook his head. "Afghanistan. You made an impression, when you came back and handled the press and the board with finesse, despite your obvious… troubles." He frowned. "I stuck up for you, Tony - and thankfully you acted as I hoped you would. Maturely. I know it can be a problem for you."
You rolled your eyes. "Oh you, stop flattering me."
He frowned. "I'm serious, Tony. I know we haven't really talked, lately - but I am on your side. We together control the company - you have to remember that. But the board has rights, and given your actions before the kidnapping, can you blame them? You were leaving your duties aside, whoring it up with - "
"That was a one time thing, and I apologized," you argued. "...Alright, maybe a two or three time thing. But they forgave me. In writing."
"And refused a contract with SI," Obadiah said. "Tony - I'm not saying it's not an overreaction on the part of the board, but they have good reasons for their position. Make sure that you don't get any more of those reasons, and you'll be fine. Otherwise…" He grimaced, looking away. "Your Vegas adventure bought you some goodwill - even if the details are murky, the press mentioned your part in stopping the bomber. It makes you seem more - human - that you'd try to save a life. It's probably good that they don't realize the specifics."
"That's for sure," you agreed, thinking back to the confrontation with Deadpool, and its last few minutes, etched into your memory. "Fire and shards of glass are not exactly the friendliest of weapons, I admit."
Obadiah grunted in agreement. "Just keep the course, and hold yourself back from doing anything too troubling in the coming weeks or months. Meanwhile, I'll figure out a way to bring the company under tighter control, alright? That should give you some more leeway, and if you're right about reviving the arc reactor project - perhaps a lucrative thing to do, too."
"Hmm, how are you gonna do that?" You wondered aloud. "Buy them out? I've offered, you know, back when I first returned."
"And nobody believed you," Obadiah muttered. "You're rich - but you know what kind of contracts they signed, most of them dating back to your dad's era. Buying them all out would bankrupt you - if they were civil about it. Odds are they'll decide you're trying to kick them out because you're onto something big, and they'll hire big-time lawyers to stay in."
"Which means I'm stuck with them," you decided glumly. "Great."
"Take it this way - they are on the side of whoever makes them lots of money. If you do that, then you'll have the best allies around. And if that's not enough to settle your nerves, there's always me." He smiled thinly, though he looked haggard in the pale light. "You have to realize, Tony - as long as I'm around, they can't hurt you. Not really."
You tapped his arm, smiling. "I suppose that's something I ought to remember."
"Hm. I know I haven't always trusted you as I did your father - but I should have. Sooner or later, you always make the right call." He glanced at the big arc reactor, shrugging. "We're ironmongers, we make weapons, Tony. I always figured this big old thing was a waste of time and resources. If you can change all that, if you can move beyond the box you've been living in for the last decades, then maybe you're right about the rest of it, too. About all those dreams you have, or had." He looked away. "Maybe."
You frowned at the man's odd mood. It seemed almost - melancholic. "Obi? Is something wrong? You seem..."
Obadiah looked back, shaking his head. "No. It's - nothing. Well - actually, it's personal." He refused to meet your gaze. "Look, Tony, I know I can trust you. Probably now more than ever." He slipped a hand into his pocket. "You're a good kid, and I'd hate to see anything happen to you."
"What…?"
Your old mentor pulled out a cylindrical device, staring at it for a long moment. "You know that at some point in our lives, we all run into our past mistakes. You've been face to face with a few of yours lately, I would say. And I have run into some of mine." He looked up again, and raised the device. "I want you to have this."
You took the object, and only then did you realize what it was. "...What's on it?"
Obadiah raised his eyebrows as he crossed his arms. "Information. That flash drive contains all of my secrets - everything I might have hidden from you, everything your father might have conveniently omitted. It's locked tighter than Fort Knox, though, with one of the encryption algorithms that your father invented. The only one who knows how to get in these days is me." He rubbed his brow tiredly. "It also contains everything you need to know to take control of my share of the company."
You stared at him in incomprehension. "Why?"
"It's - insurance, Tony. Keep that somewhere safe - and if everything goes well, you'll never have to use it. If anything were to happen, though, I'll make sure that the key gets to you." He narrowed his eyes. "It's a precaution - I'm not going to drop dead, Tony. But after what you've been through recently, I really can't be too careful."
"...You're not telling me everything."
"Oh, no, I'm not." Obadiah smiled, then. "I rescheduled our meeting, by the way. The half hour I bought us is nearly over. You'd better get ready."
"You did that?" You wondered for a moment. "Wait - Obi…"
The man turned to face you, but said nothing more - and the arrival of one of the other directors prevented any further discussion. You turned the flash drive in your hand, looking after Obadiah with narrowed eyes as you slipped it into a pocket. It was clear that he wasn't going to say more - but you were going to try and break that encryption. Of course you were.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Presto! Eureka! Insert meaningful quote here, history books!" you exclaimed as you flipped the last switch, and with a slow groaning noise and a flash of artificial lightning skittering across the inside of the protective enclosure, white-hot plasma burst into existence, a glowing coil of energy that quickly suffused the reactor. It already looked far more impressive than the previous version, and it hadn't even been dialed to full yet. You didn't intend to try that until the next week.
"Over fifty megawatts of power, if we dial it up," you said clearly. "Enough to run a small town from one of these babies - and at a fraction of current asking price. We might be able to undercut existing prices by as much as two-thirds - and that's including the investment costs for building the reactors in the first place."
"That's -"
"Insane? Impossible?" You gestured to the reactor, smiling. "Tell that to the humming wonder there. Even if you had to build a new one every year or two, you'd still come out on top while reducing the price of power by more than half - and I don't see other energy companies jumping into that pool. Given that it's clean energy on top, and thus gets all the tax benefits of that…"
You didn't know if the directors were slack-jawed from awe or greed, but at the moment it really didn't matter. The fact that they were all focused on the bright blue glow was telling enough.
"I am proposing that we built pilot reactors in each of our locations - here, in all our facilities up the west coast, and a few in the heartland, though those are lower-priority until we have enough built. When that's done - we're going to offer the excess power to the immediate neighborhoods, in much the same way that other clean energies get that done."
"And next thing you know, they'll want more," a certain Mr. Klein said, a graying man that'd been around since time immemorial. "This is good - this is something we can work with!"
A second person cleared her throat - the venerable Mrs. Beaumont. "This is - interesting, Mr. Stark, but you have yet to mention selling this technology to our primary partners. While supplying our own company with cheap power is commendable, it seems rather small pickings compared to the profits that could be made."
You nodded, shaking your head. "I assume by primary partners you are euphemistically referring to our military connection. I also trust you have realized that Mr. Rhodes is not with us right now - and as such, I am not at present considering selling this to anyone." You met Beaumont's eyes and smiled. "This will remain in-house for as long as I deem it necessary - and that's final. If this gets into the wrong hands before we secure it, we might lose a lot more than a few bucks of profit. Besides, the civil market is broad enough that it shouldn't matter in a few months."
"...is there something wrong with our army contracts?" Klein inquired. "You have never objected to their bids before."
"This is a clean energy project, people," you said slowly. "Clean. Energy. You know what would be the greatest way to completely kill off enthusiasm from the left and environmentalists? Turning their greatest hope, even if they don't know it yet, into the new nuke. This has to be a blank slate project - because our name alone is enough to make people wonder. We can't afford to add to that paranoia."
Obadiah cleared his throat, then. "Actually, Tony, you could consider founding a sister company, for the PR-friendly stuff like this. Keep SI for the military contracts that the public's iffy about anyway, and shunt the humanitarian efforts to something new. Something without a history. You have the people to make that happen, and the profits would ultimately end up in the same pot, so nobody would go broke over it."
That was - actually not a bad idea. Something new - founded by Tony Stark, not Howard. Something that could delve into all the crazy directions you'd thought about - exoskeletons and repulsors, spaceflight and clean energy. Building the future.
"...That's worth considering," you allowed at last. For one, you would have much less oversight from the board of directors - since technically, they're not in charge. It'd just be you, and whoever else would help you set it up. Pepper, maybe. Rhodey. "I'll get back to you on that."
"I'll sketch up some proposals," Obadiah offered. "Katherine - you can arrange the logistics of getting a bunch of reactors shipped off the instant they're done. Knowing Tony, he'll have the factories ready to make the things within weeks."
"Actually, the one downstairs already can," you said easily. "Robots, you know - they can build it, even if nobody around here knows how the things work. That's a thing of beauty, I'd say. They're pretty much magic." You smirked. "Clarke was completely right."
Right then, the tones of Thunderstruck erupted from the side of your jacket, and you sighed. You flipped open your phone to general muttering, and a small holographic display popped up. It was an unknown number - traced by Jarvis to New York. It was coming from the Daily Bugle building.
"Can you guys hold on a minute, here?" You asked, repressing the smile that was threatening to take over. "I have to take this."
XXXXXXXXXX
After a month, Peter finally called you to take you up on that invitation. How do you approach this? Pick One.
[ ] The Friendly Tour : You shouldn't make this too formal or too guided - whatever comes naturally might just be the best. Just give the guy a tour of the area, show the new reactor, and generally impress him with your stuff. If he's still interested in taking you up on your earlier implication, you can take it from there.
[ ] Make with the Introductions : The core of your company isn't places, but people. Introducing Peter to Pepper - whom he barely spoke to in the hospital - or Rhodey would probably set him at ease. Hell, maybe you can swing by Jarvis and have a chat, too. At least it might help get everyone off your back over your reasons for inviting Peter over.
[ ] Engineer's Heaven : You know that the places you love most are the grimy undergrounds, the places where the impressive stuff happens, and that's what you'll show him. From your newfangled repurposed factory for arc reactors to the garage where you're building experimental repulsor prototypes, there's plenty to see. Of course, you risk boring someone who isn't too interested in that sort of stuff...
[ ] [Science Major] Be a Total Show-off : You've made awesome new toys, even secret ones, and nobody knows about them. You already know that Peter's got secrets - so why not share a few of your own to set him at ease? It's time to suit up and show him what you're working on in the dark hours, when nobody's looking.
[ ] Go for the Job-ular : The reason you originally offered the visit was to see if he would fit in with your company, whether or not you had a good reason for him to stick around while you figured him out, however ethically questionable that was. Given that he's taken you up on your offer at last, odds are he's looking for that job. Why not give it to him?
[ ] Supersoldiers and You : You know what you saw, and you can't not bring it up. You'll have to be careful about it and not spook him, but someway or somehow, the truth has to come out. You've done your research - you've got a few suspicions about Peter, and perhaps he could use an ally that has some power in the world.
What do you do in the evening, after everyone's gone? Pick two. (You'll get another pick at a later point.)
[ ] [Exoskeleton Mk1][Repulsors Mk1] Take a Joyride : You've finished the design of your first exoskeleton, and it's a thing of beauty. It's time to take it out of the shop and into reality, though: sometimes you have to run before you can walk. Get a new perspective on things, maybe break a few record, meet cool people.
[ ] Get in Bed with NASA : You still have to get back to that NASA thing, and you have a strong suspicion that if you press hard enough, even your previous problems won't keep them from listening to you. Reactionless drives would certainly get you in the door, and NASA has plenty of cash to fund a space venture that has merit.
[ ] Go, Go, Private Spaceflight : Screw NASA - they're not returning your calls, and she wasn't the best lay ever, anyway. How about you call up ol´ Elon and Branson, see if they're still interested in taking their mission to the next level. You'd probably get less cash from them, but if you keep out of the government´s reach, you can get away with some amazing things that would take years to get done with the feds.
[ ] Stark Industries Rearrangement : Starting a sister-company seems like a remarkably good plan, even if it's mostly a fresh paintjob. In time, though, you might be able to divorce your weapons from the rest, and changing one won't affect the other much. That, at least, would give you a way out without destroying yourself or your investors. You'll need to have a name for this new branch, though…
[ ] Losing My Possessions : Your weapons are still being lost - it's time to call up Rhodey and get on this. It might take some time to get to the bottom of it, but it's better to catch this now than to risk any more leaks in the future, possibly including the very technologies you've just introduced. You really can't afford to lose arc reactors, even 'safe' ones.
[ ] [Careful] Make an Emergency Plan : You are busy with all sorts of fun stuff, but you know that there's important preparations to be made in case you get involved in another terrible debacle. After Afghanistan and Vegas, nowhere seems safe… so you'd better be ready.
- Location
- Netherlands
The relevant passages :serapheus said:
I'd like a re-analysis after the events of this part.
