Chapitre 24: Chapter 24: Tony Stark and Knightmare Frames
"Welcome to Celestial Beings mobile suit carrier, though currently it is being used to house the two sixth generation Knightmare Frames."
Emma explained as she walked towards the two huge humanoid armors deep in the carrier.
"Mobile suits? Knightmare Frames? I don't get it but I wanna know if these two hunks of metal actually work"
Tony responded to Emma while Pepper was still unable to comprehend what she was seeing. The huge container that flew like a VTOL aircraft was unbelievable enough, now she was facing two huge humanoid suits of armor.
Emma led Tony and Pepper to a stage near the knightmare frames, she then pointed at two mechs as she started to explain.
"These two suits work, but they have an operational limit of one hour…We currently have a two step energy system that takes power from a large "energy filler" that-"
As Emma was explaining, Tony looked over the huge "Knightmare Frame" and as Emma was explaining he suddenly snuck in a comment about the "energy filler".
"Battery"
Emma paused for moment before continuing her words saying-
"So the power that comes from the "battery" would be passed through a Yggdrasill Drive that amplifies the energy allowing the Knightmare frame to function"
After explaining the energy system, Emma stopped as she gave Tony a glance waiting for him to say something.
Tony noticed this as he gave a wide eyed expression while pointing at himself.
Emma nodded in response to his reaction which prompted Tony to begin talking.
"Well, I understand that you basically created a miniature pseudo-subcritical reactor powered by a larger version of your batteries. My question is what do you do with the heating problem?"
Hearing Tony's question, Emma paused as she replied.
"Heating problem? Mr. Stark, you're assuming that our Yggdrasil Drive is a nuclear fission reactor. Unfortunately it is anything but that."
Emma smiled as she responded to Tony's words, she then waved her hand causing a holographic display to appear before them.
This amazed Pepper Potts but Tony was simply intrigued.
"Holograms? Interesting… could you interact with them?"
Seeing various kinds of technology being presented before him, Tony had many questions but his actions were faster than his words.
He was already playing around with the hologram, a technology he was not entirely new to. But he was still amazed because-
"The range of this thing is interesting, did you cover this whole room with a hologram system? These things are quite fragile, you know. It would be better to place them on key spaces like workbenches and the like"
Tony played around with the hologram that seemed to have been able to go anywhere he wanted.
Based on his own knowledge and experience, he believed it was made using the same technology he was used to but- as if denying his words the projection before him shifted showing him a "simple" blueprint of the ship.
Tony paused as he looked through the blueprint, after which he turned to look around. He spotted a few interesting "camera's" and he then proceeded to walk around while watching these "cameras".
While he was busy testing out various things, Pepper stood beside Emma as she asked.
"You made this?"
To her question, Emma simply smiled as she answered.
"I believe you and I are on the same spot Ms. Potts"
Hearing Emma's words, Pepper Potts recalled the information on Celestial Enterprises and recalled the name of the man behind the company.
"Mr. Giovanni?"
Potts asked but Emma replied with only a smile.
The two silently stared at each other for a while before turning their attention back to Tony who, after walking around the ship, came back with an intrigued expression on his face.
"I like this, give me the design for it"
Tony spoke calmly, he didn't demand an entitled brat or a big boss. Instead he spoke his usual matter of fact tone.
Responding to his words Emma, swiped on her own projection making the document in Tony's panel change to that of a blueprint for the Knightmare Frame.
"Mr. Stark, we would gladly share our technology with you. That is if you are willing to share you technology with us"
Emma smiled and Tony looked through the blueprints of the Knightmare Frame.
Reading through the document, Tony's expression shifted quite a number of times. From a look of shock to a look of interest and even at times pondering.
Tony did not take long, when it comes to engineering and math his mind was surprisingly quick. Almost like a computer, which led him to quickly get a general gist of what the machine was capable of.
In a matter of five minutes, Tony raised his gaze as he asked.
"You wouldn't mind me taking this baby out for a spin right?"
Tony asked to which Emma responded saying-
"Take your pick"
Hearing Emma's confirmation, Tony shifted his gaze towards the two knightmare frames.
"Tony I think this is a bad idea"
Pepper was quick to try and dissuade Tony from doing anything dangerous but Tony raised his hand as he replied to her worry with full confidence.
"Don't worry, these things won't explode, also, I won't be doing anything TOO big."
Saying that, Tony looked over the two Knightmare Frames. They have sleek and slim designs. From the paint job on the two huge mechs, Tony felt that the black armor that looked a lot more aggressive was vibed with him more than the white one.
Plus, when Tony looked at the two designs, the black mech looked more like a king while the white one had more of a subordinate aura.
With Tony's pride, how can he use armor made for a subordinate when there was one made for a king?
Without any second thoughts he walked up to the huge hatch that was situated behind the knightmare frame like a backpack.
"This thing won't tip over right?"
Tony asked as he observed the armor for a moment, to this question Emma nodded with full confidence saying.
"It won't, the armor was designed to be able to balance well. Also the controls are quite complex at first but the system is designed to run you through things first then compensate for any mistakes."
Emma explained but then her gaze changed to one with a bit of challenge as she added.
"Well if you're confident in your piloting ability you could also disable the support interface, though- don't blame me if you end up punching yourself in the face"
Tony ignored the provocation given by Emma as he sat inside the open cockpit and as he did the whole space lit up.
The black walls around him suddenly lit up giving him what could only be described as a complete 180 degree visual of what was in front of him.
"Interesting… now then how do these controls work"
A projection appeared before Tony, they were the information on the controls and following it Tony began to play with the controls.
Outside, Emma and Pepper watched as the black knightmare frames eyes lit up and slowly it started to move.
The mechanical sound of the machine moving coupled with the vibrations that came from the actions of moving such a large mass caused vibrations on the platform.
"Isn't it dangerous to be standing near it?"
Pepper asked but Emma shook her head as she replied.
"A lot of the functions of the knightmare frame are locked. For now all it could do is walk a few steps and move its arms in a limited range… though if we open the hatch it can launch out but I doubt that would do anything good"
Just after Emma explained, the speaker on the knightmare frame played Tony's voice-
"Open the hatch! I wanna test out the landspinner system!"
But in response to this Emma just let out a sigh, the mech was moving smoothly, apparently Tony had already gotten a hang of the controls but she couldn't let the knightmare frame appear in the world yet.
The carrier was already enough for a commotion, the knightmare frame would only cause unnecessary panic and trouble.
Tony was continuously talking about how interesting the system was and wanted to test it out like a kid who just got a new toy or a teen who just got a new car.
He wanted to - "Take it out for a spin" but Emma swiped at the air, a panel appeared before her which went through various changes ultimately flashing red.
As the panel started to flash red, the black knightmare frame stopped moving chaotically and instead moved back to where it was originally. It then returned to its original position, the light in its eyes dimmed and the hatch opened.
Tony, who was having fun analyzing the controls and testing out various things, found two functions that made him develop a deep interest in the knightmare frame.
Specifically these were the landspinners and the slash harkens. These two functions showed the possibility of the huge mech moving through the streets rapidly and doing some interesting 3D maneuvers.
It was basically a huge mech with skates and a grappling hook.
The oversimplification may make it sound like a huge waste of resources but these two functions had a lot of systems that allowed it to have such functions. First was the fact spheres which were highly advanced camera systems that could do precise calculations for vectors allowing for precise movements and controls while also giving a LIDAR like scan of the surroundings.
The Fact Spheres alone was a technology that impressed Tony greatly as the type of information it could relay to the pilot was so vast that the fact spheres alone could already turn the tide of conflict.
Not to mention the perceived guidance systems that could be used in various ways. There was a touch interface that allows for precise smooth guidance to the wire guided slash harkens.
Then the landspinners which allowed the mech to move rapidly through terrain, it didn't run, it would skate through terrain and when needed it could jump and basically go through whatever obstacle.
Just imagining the potential of the knightmare frame got Tony excited. In the back of his mind he still believed that his own armor was better but as an engineer and a man, he could not help but marvel at the potential and fun presented by the Knightmare frame.
Specifically he got interested in adding the same functions to his armor but when he imagined the design…
*For now I'll have to understand Celestial Enterprises… no Celestial Being a bit more*
When Tony found that his controls suddenly locked and the mech started to move on its own, he realized that his time was up. Tony waited for the hatch to open and when he did he got out of the hatch and gave Emma a thoughtful stare.
As he walked towards the two women, a lot of thoughts were running through Tony's mind.
What does Emma- no Giotto need from him.
Yes, for a while now Tony already knew that it was Giotto who was behind the technology.
In fact, he knew it the moment Emma walked out of the Carrier and spoke with him.
Emma did not act like a genius researcher, mechanic or engineer. She was smart, in terms of business and dealing with people she had a professional and skilled aura about her. Tony could see that Emma had talent but that was not in tech.
Moreover, the way she explained the technology compared to how it was explained in the plans presented were different.
It also didn't help that Emma did nothing but swipe her hands and things began working.
In Tony's eyes, what he saw was not Emma controlling the carrier but Emma commanding it instead.
Her actions did show that she was used to it all but how she used it showed that she was more a user than a developer.
With that Tony quickly surmised that it was someone else who made all these interesting tech around him.
Emma was beautiful, she was in fact very seductive and Tony couldn't stop himself from staring at her ass and bust a few times. Though he was able to control himself since he saw a ring on Emma's finger.
If it was before he was kidnapped, the ring would have done nothing to stop him from making moves. But when he saw the ring and thought of the man behind Emma, he couldn't help but think of Pepper and himself.
For a long time now Tony had been suppressing his own feelings. But facing death changes people, when you are made to face your own mortality you start to see things differently.
Being made to realize that he was not the only genius in the world and then being shown how said genius acts, especially to his trusted aid's made Tony look at his own actions and deeds.
Playing around in the Knightmare Frame made Tony forget about things acting like a child with a new toy. But as that moment ended he was made to go over his own troubles once again.
Now his expression turned serious as he stared at Emma before asking.
"You want me to share with you my miniature arc reactor right? As a third stage of your system power system"
Tony's answer was shocking but still within expectations, Emma did not have that big of a reaction instead simply showing a hint of shock as she replied.
"As expected of Mr. Stark, you understood immediately what we needed your help with!"
But her words were cut off by Tony who asked.
"Let's not go over this like businessmen, I want to talk to your boss, Giotto Giovanni. I wanna have a… man to man talk with him, or maybe an engineer to engineer talk? Anyway, I think things will go faster if Giotto and I were to talk things out rather"
Tony said but he saw that Emma did not have much of a reaction still-
"Also, I'd rather talk with a person who could understand me than a businessman. There's a reason why I don't like dealing with shareholders and Stark Industries"
He said casually before turning around and going over the schematics of various other tech that he was allowed to access.
Emma let out a sigh, she knew that she couldn't converse with Tony as a businessman but what could she do? She was not an engineer and all the technology in the carrier was not her designs or ideas.
Moreover, the whole exchange was within the scope of predictions, not by herself but by VEDA.
In the end, after Tony turned around, Emma could do nothing but say-
"VEDA, I'll leave it to you"
Following her words, the synthetic female voice of VEDA started to talk-
[Affirmative Ms. Frost- Mr. Stark, sir Giovanni is currently unavailable but if you would, I could present you the information you need and also the things you would like to know about. First, please follow Ms. Frost to the conference hall]
The voice ended and after it did Tony turned to Emma with a look of shock and deep interest as he asked.
"An AI? Really? Giotto and I may just be soulmates at this point! Though… I see, so everything was being done by- VEDA was it?"
Emma was about to reply but the synthetic voice of VEDA answered Tony's question instead.
[Affirmative Mr. Stark, Ms. Emma is the administrator of Celestial Being and top commander while sir Giovanni is unavailable.]
Hearing the AI's response, the light in Tony's eyes shone even brighter as he continued asking.
"Hey, so have you met JARVIS?"
[I have encountered Mr. Stark's system, though as Sir Giovanni has disallowed me to snoop into Stark Industries and Mr. Stark's private servers I only encountered JARVIS while doing a background check on Mr. Stark]
Hearing the response, Tony recalled JARVIS talking about some attack on its system and the servers of Stark Industries before which made Tony ask.
"Were you the one that attacked Stark Industries database?"
[Negative, but I have done an investigation on this matter as Celestial Enterprises databases were also attacked. The information will be given to you in the conference hall]
The AI's response made Tony have a new impression on Giotto and also at Celestial Being, at the same time he felt something amiss with the whole situation. A lot of different thoughts crossed Tony's mind but he didn't let it consume him.
*First I need to gather information, then I could make conclusions and decisions after going through them*
With such thoughts, Tony followed Emma to the conference hall still continuing to "converse" with VEDA.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone