With the schematics for Bucky's arm and the Serum done, along with the design for their suit which was the same as the one they were using right now, I focused on the hardest part of the pet project.
Experimenting with Adamantium and Vibranium.
This was entirely new territory for me and even with things I remembered and could read on this two materials, with nary a bit of information on the latter, calculations I've ran and also speculations, experimenting with these ores would give me new insights which would do more than just pay for the troubles I went through to get them, not that it would make it any easier.
The first problem I had in regards to the ores was a machine that would allow me to freely use the processed materials form the ores as I was 100% sure that a simple smithy won't be cut out for the job.
Adamantium was easier to handle since all I needed to do was form it into the shape I wanted it to work with and then done.
Vibranium on the other hand I needed to be woven into fabrics and also for different weapons, and I also needed to understand how its abilities affected the ore in its processing method.
The antidote to this query was that I had a lot of Vibranium to work with, so that meant I could afford a lot of trial and error.
Aside from the projects I was about to dive into, I also needed to install new securities inside the house. I already had multitudes in place to monitor any alien signals that were not registered in my cloud.
The reason I opted for one was due to the amount of stuff inside the house. Some of Doom's things were in here and even though I combed through everything during these past three months to be sure that none of his books, gold, energy devices and tomes were bugged, I now had over two tons of Adamantium, if I added what I found in Doom's cache, and also the most bountiful harvest of Vibranium on the planet sans the Wakandans.
I would talk to Fury about getting a satellite into outer space, maybe three, to fully set up my digital autonomy.
I had Fmail, Facebook, ViewTube and the local WhatsApp, all gaining traction and popularity as the day went by. ViewTube was already on its way to becoming the most used media platform in the world due to strange occurrences happening every fucking where on the planet.
To make it even more appealing to users, I even reduced the stipulations on censorship to almost zero, anyone could post the shit that they wanted, 60% of the fault lies with the viewers anyway, 10% for the company and 30% for the ViewTuber if their content was ever called into question.
I had eyes and ears everywhere that made Fury jealous, oh I knew he was. All I needed was a few numbers of satellites to make my network completely global without any fucking soul on the planet even knowing. Such were the beauty of viruses.
No one could come within 5 kilometers of my house with a gun without anyone at home knowing. I still hadn't gotten the time to study the Sentinel parts I had lying around that I snagged from Doom's home, nor have I delved into the inner workings of the cell in correspondence to the X-gene, if not I would have added that to my sensors.
I made sure to keep all the security devices in the basement since I still wasn't cool enough with those fancy techs lying around the house. Keeping the entire place old, plain and simple.
Back to the metals.
Everyone at home was having their entire wardrobe changed to Vibranium-made clothing. I had enough of the thing to outfit an army like Ultron did and there would still be tons of the stuff left to make whatever weapon I could think of.
I just needed to know how Vibranium worked on a cellular level and then maybe build some sort of fabric printing machine.
Maybe I could even try those ideas I had on nano-mechanics. Looks like I would have to postpone my trip by another month, max.
The Black Panther suit was a marvelous piece of technology that even dwarfed 9/10th of Tony's wardrobe.
It was all the hallmark of what science had accomplished so far all shoved inside a piece of jewelry.
…
I spent my next few days inside my lab, reviewing every piece of information I got from the synthesizing Serum and from the slab of glowing rock I was working with.
There was a component, or composition of Vibranium that I found that could blend into the Serum and even strengthen the cells that take in the Vita-particles that were present in abundance in my Serum.
I had to put the final experiment of the Serum on hold and then focused most of my time working on the slab of rock before me.
I had broken some parts of it and heated them before comparing the two different components to see the limit they reached and I easily found out that processing Vibranium made the bonds between its atoms more flexible and more conductive.
With a breakthrough in Vibranium, I focused on the fabric printer, something that I resolved to build with diamonds and Vibranium, not for a show of wealth but because I would need it to print a lot of hardcore materials like Adamantium in strands.
To do that I also had to melt the diamonds and other metals that could work well with whatever sort of printer I was making.
I never thought a day would come where I would be using my fists to flatten heated metals but apparently that was what I was doing now.
Hours turned to days, which extended into weeks as I worked on the machine and the Vibranium.
Sometimes, I wouldn't come out for five days in a row and would have to have someone personally come draw me out.
With the printer done, I then finally focused on processing the Adamantium for Bucky's arm.
Adamantium was easy compared to Vibranium. All it needed was to be heated to unholy temperatures and then start casting.
Using the printer to create some vein-like inlays on the surface of the Adamantium casting, I then started fitting the technological part into the arm-shaped metal.
This arm would be heavier than the one Bucky was used to, but with the application of my Serum, it'll offset any kind of negative effects Bucky might face when it comes to maneuverability.
The printer helped me out a lot in printing miniature parts of the technological facets for the arm that decreased its weight by a lot. Due to my preferred use of medieval weaponry, I'm pretty sure the only person who knows of my technical prowess is Bucky. Fury definitely has no idea what I'm capable of.
The completed form of the arm was something of a technological wonder in the present time.
It was a sleek black appendage, awfully reminiscent of the one Bucky wore in the Infinity Saga. At his knuckles were tiny imperceptible holes which functioned as a directing release for the expelled force, creating some kind of air tunnels.
The knuckles also had some kind of sharpened edge to them that could also be elongated for 5cm for more painful bruising.
Retractable claws that worked on intent like everything else on the arm along with every goodness that comes with Vibranium.
The Serum needed some revising but with this, apart from the satellite, I was done with any major project that I figured would be a must.
The fabric printer could run on input commands with it being mostly automatic as the only thing you needed to do manually was to have the materials ready and the design along any specific pattern you wanted and all those little touches and then viola! You'll have your printed fabric in minutes to hours depending on the materials.
With everything packaged in a box, I left my lab and called everyone to gather at the living room.
The looks they all gave me made me realize that somewhere along the days, my clothes got burnt as I was standing there shirtless with part of a burnt shirt hanging loosely around my shoulders. I telekinetically pulled a robe to me and wore it.
"Now that that's out of the way, let's get this started with." The first on the list was Bucky's arm.
"A technological wonder that can adapt to brain waves. This arm is made from the two most rarest metals on earth. For those of you who don't know, Steve's shield was also made from the product of the combination of these two metals and that thing wouldn't have a dent in it if a nuke dropped. But different from the basic ability of Steve's shield to absorb and redirect force simultaneously, Bucky's new arm would allow him to store the force so it can be used anytime he wants in battle and the amount of force it can absorb is way higher than that of Steve's shield."
"Woah. That IS cool." Yelena stared at the black beaut with star-spangled eyes.
"You know the government, not to mention the army, would kill for this right? You might face a lot of pressure if they find out you have, or had, any kind of amount of Vibranium. I know Howard definitely did." Steve folded his hands as he leaned his back against the wall.
"They can go suck a dick on that one." I huffed.
"Bucky?"
Bucky turned to look at me and then at everyone in the room, and the only thing he said was, "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why this? Everything? Why Vibranium? Why Adamantium? I'm not trying to be ungrateful, but why go to such lengths? Why are you preparing as if there's some sort of war coming?"
I sighed at that. I knew it wasn't going to be this simple. Heck, I haven't even opened the smaller boxes and I knew they knew something else was in there. Sure we were bros and friends but there had to be a reason for doing such a thing.
"I got gifts for everyone you know? For Christmas. But, you know, Doom and Magneto came and wrecked it all, turning everything to ash… That got me thinking, 'What if it happens again?', 'What if this time they decided to hold one of you hostage?', 'What if this time they decide to attack you instead of me?'… 'What if this time I'm not strong enough?'… It's a whole scenario of 'What ifs'."
"Draul, you know it's not your fault." Steve had a sympathetic frown on his face.
"It might as well be. I'm not saying I'm drowning in a sea of guilt or something like that, fuck no! All I'm trying to say is that it's going to happen again and the probability of it happening is 100%. I got out the last time due to some fuckers game but the next time? I'm afraid there won't be a re-do then. Doom is still out there and when he comes back, cause he definitely will, he will be exponentially stronger than he was before and I can't for the love of me play that one by ear. This is as much a power up as it is some form of assurance. There are a lot of people still stronger than me in this world and inevitably when I run afoul against one of them, I want the belief that you guys can protect yourself against them without too much trouble to help me focus."
"… You think we are weak?" Bucky asked with anger clearly evident in his tone.
"Yes you are, and that's a fact. You might not understand this clearly but someone raised the city of New York by its roots. With sufficient training, one of the kids from Xavier's could kick all your asses. The human war ended a long time ago, last year was a clear proof and reminder of that. I will not, with a good conscience, let you all out there when I know there's a high chance of dying if you went with your current strength."
"It might be insensitive of me to say this, but you lose people in war, Draul." Steve said.
"The war isn't here yet Steve, it's coming but it isn't here yet. Right now? What we are facing, like last year, is just opening night. The red lights and carpets are just to show off, to get a feel of who the real players are. Those who get wowed with just the prelude have no hope of making it to the end… So this may not be my call, but it sure as hell is an option I would present."
The entire living room fell silent as I finished my rant. This here was no joke. There were universes out there where the Avengers died or were never made. There might not be any Avengers here but I'll make sure they sure as hell ain't dead. At least those with me.
"You think we'll face more fights like last year?" Steve asked, his face mirroring the serious atmosphere of the room.
"It's only a matter of months or if we aren't lucky, weeks before one shows up." I told them.
"…"
"…"
"Kit me up, quack."
A smile blossomed on my face.
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