It had already been a couple of days since Tony had made his announcement during a press conference and the results were what he expected.
No one seemed optimistic about his new aim for his life and his company but he'd prove them wrong. Death and destruction would not be his legacy; he'd make sure of that.
Reaching out to his chest he held his arc reactor as he thought back to his friend.
"I won't waste my life"
Looking down at his computer he pulled out a holographic image of the armor he made to escape the ten rings. Next, he began to edit and rearrange the parts as he scrapped almost everything in favor of starting over.
[Sir, there has been unusual activity in the companies shares]
"I know Jarvis the stocks dropping ignore it for now" Tony replied with some annoyance as he thought about all those people who didn't see his vision.
[That's not it sir, someone has been actively buying out stock. I found it unusual and traced it back to someone I think you may take an interest in.]
Jarvis's words caught Tony's attention as he paused his actions.
Most people were jumping ship right now as they tried their best to sell the stock they had. Some others did buy hoping for a high-risk high reward but none had done this so actively.
Then there was that last comment Jarvis mentioned.
"Who was it"
[Kol Dagon]
"Never heard of 'em and what's up with that name? Did his parents play Dungeons and Dragons?"
[Very funny sir]
"Well Jarvis what is it about this kid that you feel is so interesting"
[Right away sir]
After that multiple news articles began appearing in front of Tony. Along with various other links and information about Kol.
Some were just random images of him as a kid while others had more recent news. One of which quickly caught his attention as Tony pressed click on a video.
What appeared was a fight straight out of Hollywood with a unique-looking robot facing off against a dinosaur he'd never seen before. However, he soon realized this wasn't some sort of movie promotion as he recognized the person recording the footage.
"Hey, Jarvis isn't that the reporter I slept with a while back what was her name… Carrie?"
[I believe it was Christine Everheart sir]
Hearing Jarvis, Tony made a 'that's it' face as he continued watching the feed from beginning to end. He even replayed it two more times not wanting to miss a single detail.
"Alright, Jarvis I see why you say this kid might interest me. Tell me more about him."
[Yes sir. Kol Dagon is a young entrepreneur from New York. Most recently he established himself by creating his company Dagon Technologies]
"Tacky but continue" Tony interrupted as he pulled out some chips.
[Most of his company's endeavors target app creation with many games being released but their most interesting app is known as Spectre. Which is focused on online security making it difficult for even me to hack but not impossible]
"Something even you have trouble with? So it's not just the robot he gots." Tony looking back at the screen couldn't help but feel this kid was quite similar to himself.
He had started out young as well and has created many great inventions since then. If this kid's talent is even half as good as he might think he is then he really is impressive.
"Jarvis take an image of that robot and expand it"
Listening to Tony, Jarvis immediately took an image of Scout 01 as it compiled all the recordings to make a complete 3D model.
"Huh so that's why he did this here wait no why did he do this? Then there's the movement he can improve it a lot if he fixes its flexibility issues. Ah, there's also that battery. He's not using its energy efficiently enough but I see where he's going with it." Unknowingly Tony became engrossed in the image as he began removing parts and adding parts as he improved the original design.
"There we go this is much better." Looking at the new and improved scout Tony gave a light smile before realizing that he fixed this for no reason.
What was he even going to do with this? It was beneath him to take something someone else invented. So it was just going to sit here and go to waste if he didn't do something about it.
But then he suddenly had an idea. The kid seemed pretty good and he was much better than anyone he had working for him.
Looking back at his suit design he wondered if that kid might have some decent ideas.
"Jarvis compile the new design for his robot and email it to that kid along with an invitation."
[Yes sir]
With that done Tony removed all the clutter in front of him before returning to his work as he began making a new and improved design for his suit. As catchy rock music played in the background.
.
.
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[MC POV]
Inside the warehouse sparks continuously flashed illuminating the room as I soldered pieces onto one of the main components of the headset. I had been at this since the day before but progress was slow.
VR technology was proving to be my most difficult challenge yet requiring lots of delicate and time-consuming work. At the rate I was going this project wouldn't be completed for at least another month.
Sitting back I thought about my options and realized that if I wanted this to progress faster then I needed help. Checking the time I noticed that school should have ended a while ago and decided to send them a message to come visit the warehouse.
They had been asking lots of questions about the Scouts recently anyway so this was a good opportunity for me to introduce them to it. While also getting them to help me with the VR tech.
Looking back at my phone I noticed that they had already replied.
Gwen: On my way there! I hope you actually rested and don't lie to me when I get there
I gave a light smile at Gwen's message. Some may find her behavior annoying but for some reason I liked it. Call me a simp I don't care.
Ned: Coming but before I arrive I just wanna say that I don't want a stealth suit anymore but instead… Can you make me a robot girl?
Without hesitation, I closed that message not wanting that image in my mind before I scrolled down checking Peters.
Peter: Sorry Kol I can't come. I think something bad happened with Connors. I've been meaning to tell you about it but I've been really busy. I'll let you know all about it very soon
I expected this response. In fact, I haven't seen Peter since he fought Connors in his Lizard form. I guess he's been searching all over the city for him.
Speaking of Lizard I wonder why it was so big. Originally I thought this world was just based on the movies but it appears that this wasn't exactly the case.
Using Perfect Recall I knew exactly which lizard that one was and let's just say it's hundreds of times worse than the movie. I thought to myself as I remembered the PlayStation Spiderman game.
This may not have been big but it really was as it meant that this world was much more mixed than I had first assumed. However, I wouldn't let it get the best of me and I would instead adapt to the situation. It's like what Master Chief says in Halo.
The missions change they always do
Getting back to my work I heard a fourth buzz coming from my phone which was unexpected. Looking down I saw that it was actually an email and was surprised to see who the sender was.
Tony Stark
Opening the email I saw a folder that displayed a bunch of schematics that looked extremely familiar. Heck, how wouldn't I recognize it this was my scout! At least it used to be before Tony Tonyfied it.
Analyzing the schematics I began to see that he was busy 'fixing' what he felt were problems. Which was helpful but some of his changes were straight-up useless as he just tried to make the machine look cool. As it lost its rabbit ears and looked a bit closer to the design of Ultron. Which gave me shivers.
Once I was done looking it over I wasn't sure if I should have been offended or happy. So I decided to feel both before looking at the last part of the email which had an invitation to come and visit his house.
It didn't explain why but I had some ideas.
Typing on my phone I sent a reply back confirming that I'd go and meet him before putting it away as I resumed my work.