บท 98: Chapter 98 Terrible A.I.M.
It was near the end of November when Stark announced he would give one hundred Iron Man suits to Shield. Stark didn't know how corrupt Shield was, but figured anything given to them would get to the bad guys eventually so they were the best choice. It was rather easy to plan to lose since the worst case scenario was that only good guys would use the suits. Stark even included a 'hidden' kill switch that could be removed with a bit of difficulty.
The software aspect of the suits would only allow someone keyed into them to use them and Stark had yet to key anyone at all. So even though Shield ended up with one hundred Iron Man suits, no one could use them. Stark said he wanted a list of the applicants and to the ones he vetted, they would be added to the list of authorized users and only they could use the suits. Stark promised he'd give at least twenty people access before the end of the year.
Fury and the current heads of Shield were all under the impression that Stark was worried about world security after the alien invasion, so though it was an unusual change, it wasn't completely out of character. Especially with how much Stark annoyed Fury when Fury specifically requested for certain teams or individuals to be given access sooner rather than later. Stark's stalling and being a general pain in the butt seemed completely normal.
Of course, if they could remove the 'hidden' kill switch and the Stark software and replace it completely, they could use the suits without permission. Very, very difficult, but certainly not impossible. Of course, Stark told Shield that any unauthorized usage of the suits was grounds for Stark to recall every last one of them. It sounded like a threat, but to people with dastardly plans, it was something they could work around.
The real trap inside the suits was a Technomancer Spell Harry had lying dormant inside the power source. No matter what they switched out, they'd never switch the power source. The Technomancer spell would activate if someone in the suit aimed and activated weapons at someone who was not considered a threat. The spell would go off and overwrite any existing OS to knock out the pilot, eject the Pilot, and allow the person who had been targeted to enter the suit as the new pilot. Tony ensured the suit would be vulnerable to Technomancy spells and it was unlikely anyone would add an upgrade which changed that.
Steve was asked not to show off the abilities of the Nova crystal for now. Harry already informed Steve that he wanted to make a peacekeeping group using these crystals and Steve was basically the test pilot. Steve had no issue with that as long as precautions were taken with who gained access to such power, but when Harry described all the safety measures included with the use of Nova crystals, Steve was sold on the idea since this wasn't the first time he'd be used as a guinea pig.
Nova Force from what Harry could tell, mainly affected space, momentum, and gravity. It was a bit similar to Red energy from Cyttorak's Crimson Cosmos in the way it amplified momentum, but was not as violent. The gravity manipulating aspect was similar to the effect of gravitonium, but more refined. In addition to flight, Nova Force could potentially create wormholes and allow for interstellar flight from planet to planet without the need of a spaceship. A very useful feature for an interstellar peacekeeping corps. The momentum enhancing effects would allow Nova Force to be used to generate concussive blasts, though more than a single crystal's worth of Nova Force would be needed for that.
The main reason Harry couldn't mass produce them yet was that he needed time, so he'd been spending all his free time trying to level up to 300. Once he had access to Time Magic, he could accelerate the growth of Nova Crystals by thousands of times. He could technically borrow the Eye of Agamotto and do the same with the Time Stone, but such a drastic use of an Infinity Stone could easily be detected, and Thanos would know within a week of its use that the Time Stone was on Earth. Harry preferred for that to be kept secret a bit longer so it was better to learn Time Magic himself, even if it took a while.
It was the first week of December when Harry was kidnapped. He wasn't sure why he was surprised since he had in fact been pretty overdue for a kidnapping.
While Harry was walking from the NYU science building to his house, which was literally across the street, someone shot a dart at his neck containing a powerful knockout drug, grabbed his body, stuffed it in a van, and drove off.
Harry was not immune to drugs, but the effect of the Ring of Recovery he always wore automatically kicked in and removed the Status immediately. Though he likely would have woken up within a few minutes regardless. While feigning unconsciousness, he cast a continuous spell on himself that would increase his resistance to Status effects for a few hours to ensure even if they hit him with another dose, it would do nothing since the Ring of Recovery only worked once every twenty-four hours.
Harry then used some technopathy to send a message on his phone to Jean that he was being kidnapped again and to order take out for dinner.
Moments afterwards, his impolite kidnappers went through his pockets and took everything from his ring to his pants and shirt. Even his belt was taken, which was smart because Harry did in fact keep a fully charged metagem inside a hidden compartment in the belt buckle.
Harry was rather surprised how thorough they were, they even hooked him up to an IV which constantly administered a sedative. Harry regulated his heartbeat and vital signs to ensure he looked unconscious while the van went about losing its pursuers. Harry's house had dozens of cameras so Harry being kidnapped would not go unnoticed so the drivers of the van were racing the clock to get away before the helicopters showed up. Harry wouldn't be surprised if the Shield Helicarrier would be airborne and the Avengers called within the next five minutes.
Fury had in fact called Steve and Natasha a minute after Harry was taken as they were both still in New York. The latter was already friends with the Reds and had their number. When she called to give them a heads up so they could work together, she was surprised to learn that Harry had already sent them a message which implied Harry would take care of it on his side.
Jean and the Reds trained and got stronger for a very specific purpose, to protect Harry when the Universe learned that its fate was basically handed over to him. That being said, Harry didn't always want to sit in the back and operate as the man behind the curtain. He barely got to have any fun during the Battle of New York and since Obscurus was considered a Mercenary for Hire, he couldn't just suit up and go fight crime whenever he felt like doing so like the girls could do.
Because Jean was connected to Harry through his Multiplayer function, she was the only clairvoyant in the world who could spy on Harry from a distance. The moment she got the text, she'd been keeping an eye on him to make sure nothing truly dangerous happened while he was playing around.
Through the call to Natasha she said, "You remember what happened to Mole Man when they kidnapped Harry right? Feel free to make it look like you're giving chase, but if they get away, then you'd best pray for their sanity once they are left to the mercy of Harry Potter."
Natasha was also someone who'd let herself be kidnapped in order to fulfill certain goals, so she understood the principle though Harry likely had slightly different goals in mind. When she relayed what Jean told her to Steve, the Captain replied, "Ah, that sounds about right. I really can't believe he'd get kidnapped so easily."
She considered telling Fury but decided against it. If Fury found out Harry allowed himself to get kidnapped, he'd insist on getting a message to the Professor to stop wasting his damn time. He didn't appreciate operations like that going down without his input.
While Steve and Natasha were on motorcycles hauling ass down the streets towards the van, Harry was shifting through the minds of his would-be kidnappers. Each was a war veteran and used to be an amputee. They were either missing a hand, their forearm, their whole arm or even their leg.
Each vet had been approached by Aldrich Killian, the head of Advanced Idea Mechanics, a privately funded Think Tank Harry had gotten a lot of invites to and just like every other invitation ever sent to him, completely ignored.
The reason they used to be an amputee was because each had regrown their limbs in a way that would make Dr. Curt Connors jealous. They had been given an injection of a serum called Extremis and told to inject somewhere public. If it worked, they would gain superhuman abilities and regrow their limbs. If it did not, they would violently explode.
Harry and the girls did in fact watch the News and were familiar with the 'Mandarin Bombings.' Harry always laughed when he saw the British actor with a beard pretending to be the Mandarin, especially when Harry killed the actual Mandarin two and a half years ago.
From what he could guess, they wanted Harry to help them fix Extremis so that no one would explode. Harry had to use every ounce of willpower not to laugh maniacally at the thought these people actually intended to give Harry access to nanites capable of rewriting DNA. Every human being on the planet collectively shuddered at that moment, and no one but Jean knew why.
The van eventually drove into a warehouse which had a hidden underground tunnel. They tossed Harry's clothing out the window and floored it through the tunnel. A moment later, the tunnel started collapsing behind them, preventing anyone from following them.
At the end of the tunnel Harry was moved into a nondescript car which finished the trek to what Harry figured was an offsite Lab owned by A.I.M.
Harry was eventually taken into a room and the IV drip removed. Harry calculated it would take about half an hour for the effect to wear off and patiently waited. Wouldn't want to spoil everything before the fun started.
When the timing was right Harry wearily opened his eyes and examined his surroundings, though did so without obvious concern for the fact that he was in his boxers. There was a pile of clothes next to him that were probably his size. Looking at the pile gave Harry a terrible idea.
After determining the room had nothing of interest besides clothes, Harry started knocking on the door. He continued this for about ten straight minutes, probably driving whoever was watching him crazy.
Eventually, someone opened the door and pointed a gun at Harry prompting him to step back. He noticed another armed guard looking fellow standing next to beautiful brunette Harry figured was Maya Hansen. The other guard was pointing a weapon at her and she was looking distressed.
Harry mentally rolled his eyes. These guys were going to pull a Yinsen using Maya. Well, that just meant one more target to prank.
Maya was shoved into the room where she turned to the side the moment she noticed Harry was still in his underwear. She asked, "Um, can you put some clothes on?"
Harry answered, "No. So who wants to fill me in on why I've been kidnapped?"
From the speakers in the room, the voice of that British actor with the fake middle eastern accent came through. "That would be my doing. I am the Mandarin, and I require your assistance. The woman standing next to you is Dr. Maya Hansen. I acquired both her and her work some months ago, but the results have not been... satisfactory."
Maya sneered and said, "You kidnapped me!"
The speakers continued, "Both of your lives are now in your hands Professor. In one week I will inject you both with Dr. Hansen's project. If you finish her work before then, you both may survive. If you do not. Then you will die, most horribly."
Harry shrugged, "Sounds fun."
The setup wasn't too stupid. If they succeeded, Aldrich Killian and A.I.M would come in and defeat the Mandarin and rescue Dr. Hansen and Professor Potter and Dr. Hansen would sell her finished work to Killian out of gratitude and everyone would live happily ever after. It was such a beautiful story Harry almost felt bad for what he was going to do to it. Almost.
The guards lead Maya and the boxer wearing Harry to the lab where Maya gave a sob story about how she was trying to make the world a better place before she became the victim and was kidnapped by the Mandarin.
Maya started wiping away her tears when she heard a slurping sound that caused her to jerk upright and look at Harry.
Harry was sitting at a table with a half eaten cheeseburger in a wrapper set next to a box of fries, a McDonalds Happy Meal Bag, and a small drink Harry was finishing up through the straw.
Maya couldn't help but ask, "I'm sorry but where did you get that?"
"This Happy Meal? Good question. So what's this project the little orange wants me to fix of yours?"
Maya looked like she had far more she wanted to say, but decided to move on and started going over the Extremis project. Meanwhile, Harry got the little toy out of the bag and started playing with it.
Killian who was watching the cameras suddenly realized that Harry had somehow gotten a Happy Meal out of nowhere and he hadn't noticed. That was of course because of the targeted Notice-Me-Not, but Killian didn't know that. He stopped the footage and tried rewinding it, but the footage went to static for a while until just after they entered the lab. The footage had somehow been corrupted and he couldn't see where Harry got his Happy Meal.
Once Maya finished explaining what Extremis was and how it worked, Harry started writing on the chalkboard they were allowed and explained, "The problem is that some variable is causing your nanobots to diverge from their set parameters after splitting a certain number of times outside of controlled conditions. These divergent bots fall into an accelerating state overwhelming the nanobots which are still working causing the divergent set to feedback into the controlled set, causing them to overwhelm the host and explode."
As he continued writing he said, "These are some experiments we'll need to do to figure out how the divergence occurs so it can be rooted out and stabilized. What kind of equipment do we have to work with?"
Dr. Hansen gave him a list of all the nice toys and expensive machines they would be allowed access to in order to fix the issue.
Harry was of course speaking out of his ass. The reason Extremis worked on some people and caused others to explode was because, intentional or not, it targeted the X-Gene which was the easiest to manipulate and change. Maya thought it targeted the whole DNA, which it did, but a majority of the work was done with the X-Gene. To people without the X-Gene taking Extremis, they would explode.
Harry could fix this, but the data would probably get out, so he wanted to sabotage it as much as possible before then. Harry was more interested in the nanomachines anyway. He hadn't done much with nanotech before this point and now would be a good time to expand.
While Harry spent the next several days convincing Maya and Killian they were crazy, news about Harry getting kidnapped spread across the states. Jean had already informed Tony, Reed, and Hermione that Harry was having fun, but everyone else was scouring the globe for the world's youngest genius.
Harry's classes actually continued mostly as normal since a hard-light copy of Harry was teaching them. It couldn't answer questions about philosophy, but the programming was advanced enough to answer any questions on the class material as long as it was phrased well enough. For everything else, Harry's classes had assistants.
Two years after he started teaching Metaphysics Harry finally had some Masters students and since Harry had a 'leave of absence,' his hologram had already asked the Masters students to assist with teaching his classes to ensure his students wouldn't get an inferior lesson.
During Harry's stay at the lab, he would randomly roam the halls though his door should be locked, he would obtain fast food or delivery food through unknown means, and there was one instance where a Pizza Hut delivery driver came to the hidden lab and delivered five large pan crust pepperoni pizzas Harry had ordered. He ordered five to make sure there was enough for everyone, which of course implied Harry knew exactly how many people were in the building.
Besides messing with AIM, Harry was also having fun with the nanomachines. Harry considered using Nanomachines to re-write genetics to be on the same level of ridiculous as using an Infinity Stone as a paper weight. I mean, yeah, you can use it that way, but it's such a waste.
Nanomachines were made of a certain metamaterial, a material which had artificially grafted properties due to the structure of the form the material has taken. The nanomachines weren't really machines, but particles of matter that could fulfill two specific purposes. One was to bind to certain materials and forge and change those materials into copies of themselves. The second was to bind to another material and adjust that material in a certain way. So they were like a two sided stamp. One side turned certain things into another two sided stamp, the other side turned certain things into something else.
The nanomachines of the Extremis program had one side which could turn the tiny platelets within blood into a copy of themselves, and the other side could bind to DNA molecules and edit them just slightly.
However, Nanomachines could only use one thing to duplicate themselves and were not flexible in editing things. They had potential, but were far from omnipotent. At least Maya's version.
Harry didn't bother spending any time fixing Maya's Extremis. He spent it hacking and altering the machine which made the nanoparticles to create actual complex structure machines out of different nanoparticles. Why? Because once they were true technology and not just a singular particle, Harry's technomancy would be able to control them.
Maya and Aldrich were both anxiously waiting for the deadline and the day they could rid themselves of Harry Potter. Harry still refused to wear clothes so this entire time, he had been working with her in his underwear.
Today when Killian had his guards return Harry to his room, they saw Harry walk over to the bed, pick up a remote control, and turn on the tv. The thing was, that room didn't have a TV when Harry left that morning and no one installed one. Harry didn't seem the least bit surprised it was there and acted as if it was there the whole time.
Killian checked out the lines and confirmed it was connected to a satellite dish on the roof he didn't remember setting up at any point since the lab had been built. Yet the line was professionally done and looked as if it had always been there.
Maya was also asking if Harry could just complete it on his own because working with him was getting to her. It wasn't just the nakedness. There were points where she was certain he was in one part of the room doing something and in the next moment he was somewhere else doing something she hadn't seen him start. The more she tried to pay attention to him, the worse it got. She pulled up the security footage one day and everything he did looked normal, but she hadn't remembered Harry walking around at certain times. It was like she was forgetting segments of time and catching up, only to realize she missed something.
Killian insisted she push through since they were so close. The experiments Harry ordered had been completed and though Dr. Hansen didn't understand the results or the explanation Harry gave as to how they worked, everything had been written down and preserved so that others could.
Eventually the day in question came and according to what Harry said, the new batch of Extremis would have no chance of causing explosions.
The resulting concoction was filled into a canister which Maya took off the machine along with two syringes. Harry then casually walked up to the machine and pressed a few buttons. The screens went black and Harry grabbed Maya and ran for the door.
The guards sprinted towards Harry but he had been behaving himself this whole time so this had caught them off guard. Harry pulled Maya through a security access down and closed it before entering the wrong pin to cause it to lock for a minute before another attempt could be made to open it.
Maya used the moment to shout, "What are you doing?!"
Harry answered, "I purged the computers of all of the data, so that sample is the only one left in the world. We're going to exchange it for our freedom since I don't trust little orange to uphold his end of the bargain."
Maya frowned but had no way of arguing that. The data was backed up off site each day, but the final adjustments Harry made today were not in any system but the one Harry just purged. They had no absolute guarantee they could replicate the results.
The door Harry just locked began to melt as the Extremis soldier superheated the door. Harry dragged Maya and continued to run. Maya was shocked that none of the doors they went through were locked. Why weren't they locked?
Eventually they made it all the way to the roof where they saw the outside. The building was in a warehouse district and none of the nearby structures could be reached by standard jumping. Harry saw a camera and said, "Listen here the Panda ring, You are going to send a helicopter to this roof. The pilot will get out and Maya and I will get in. If you try to breach the door, Maya will drop the only sample of perfected Extremis off the roof."
After addressing the camera, Harry then turned and smiled at Maya and said, "Now we just have to wait here together."
When Maya heard the words, 'Wait here together,' she became pale and nearly dropped the canister. Harry grabbed it and said, "Careful with that," before taking it from her and walking over to the edge of the roof and setting it next to him. If he was shot, he'd easily drop it.
Jean noticed this and knew it was time for the end game.
Maya spent the next half hour facing the roof access door since she didn't want to face Harry's boxers. She also used that time to inject herself with the syringe of Extremis she had. After everything that had happened, she finally decided to kill Harry. She couldn't stand being on the same planet as him anymore and with the Extremis enhancement, it would be easy. It didn't even matter if he threw the canister over or not because she still had the syringe Harry was supposed to inject into himself.
Maya stood up and turned around, but Harry was gone.
Maya rushed to the door and ran down the stairs. She thought Harry had escaped, but since she still had the sample, it didn't matter.
When she reached the lab, she found that the door she remembered getting melted was normal, as if it had never melted.
She opened it and saw Harry Potter speaking with Aldrich Killian. Harry was wearing clothes and speaking to him as if they were old friends.
Harry turned and noticed Maya and said, "Ah, there you are. I was worried. Dr. Killian here has secured the building so we are both free. We were just discussing what to do about Extremis."
Maya dropped the syringe, it shattered as she took a few steps back. She said, "No, wait, but we ran to the roof. You betrayed Aldrich."
Harry looked confused and said, "What are you talking about? I've never met Dr. Killian before."
Aldrich stated firmly, "Perhaps you should take a seat and calm yourself. You have been through a terrifying ordeal. Dr. Hansen."
Harry walked over and offered a hand but Maya shrieked, "Get back you Naked Mad Man!"
Harry took a step back and asked, "Naked? I'm clearly wearing clothes."
She shouted, "Now! But you never did before!"
Harry gave her a puzzled look and walked over to a computer screen. He pulled up some security footage of the pair working in the lab and Harry was clearly wearing clothes.
Maya gasped in shock and turned to Killian. "No! You saw him right? You saw him running through the halls in his underwear!"
Killian had no idea what she was referring to. Maya had never once told him that Harry was in his underwear because there was no point in repeating it. It was obvious. Killian just thought the pressure was getting to her and that was why she didn't want to work with him. He had no idea Harry cast a spell on her that caused her to see him in his underwear.
Harry asked, "Why would he have seen me before today? He just came to rescue me."
Both Maya and Killian realized at that point that Maya's deluded ravings had just exposed their carefully laid plan.
Killian gave Maya a look that promised punishment later. Maya didn't take it well, she started shaking her head and backing up to a corner where she crouched down into the fetal position shaking her head and muttering about a naked man.
Harry simply asked, "So you're the Orange guy?"
Killian sighed and answered, "Yes. And now you have to die."
Killain grabbed Harry by the neck and scowled. All that work down the drain. He didn't bother squeezing. He had confidence Harry succeeded in perfecting Extremis and 'rescued' him before he could administer any to himself. Without Extremis, Killian could kill Harry by burning his head clean off his torso.
Except he didn't. It took a moment but Killian realized he was not generating any heat.
Harry smiled, grabbed Killian's arm, and twisted it into an arm lock. Harry then struck his shoulder from behind, dislocating the man's arm entirely.
Killian shouted, "Guards! Kill him!"
Several of the guards around ran over to Harry and tried to tackle him. Harry took out the first with a rising knee strike to the chin and threw his collapsing form into the other, causing the pair to crash into each other.
Killian was looking at his remaining working hand wondering why it wasn't glowing. Harry spoke up and said, "You used Extremis right? Sorry. But I kinda used your tools to create an airborne counter to Extremis. Everyone who was enhanced in this building has lost their enhancements and is immune to another dose."
"What? No, that's impossible. You couldn't have, I watched everything you did."
"But did you understand any of it? The reason I didn't want to join that little Think Tank of yours is because we're not on the same level."
Harry then punched him in the face, knocking him out. He took Killian's phone and called Fury's number.
[Who is this?]
"Hey Fury. Miss me?"
[No. Now where the hell are you?]
"Just track this phone. I'll keep it open."
Harry set the phone on the table and went over to the computers to delete everything on them.
This was mostly for show. He'd already edited the footage to show what he wanted it to show and he knew someone with enough skill would recover the contents. When people looked over the footage, they would see Maya slowly lose touch with reality and various guards giving Harry fastfood.
There was a reason Harry went so hard on Maya. In a way, she was worse than Killian. Killian wanted power. Maya wanted to prove herself smarter than god and didn't care how many exploding corpses it took to get there. Being right was more important to her than the lives lost on her faulty attempt at divinity. She never had any intention of stopping. Even without Killian she'd continue trying to perfect Extremis, even knowing the danger.
It only took about fifteen minutes for a dozen vans to show up and break in. Harry calmly ate microwaved leftover pizza while they entered the main lab guns pointing everywhere. Natasha and Steve showed up and Harry offered them some pizza as well which Steve accepted but Nat declined.
Fury showed up another half hour later and Harry gave the edited version of what happened while Maya was taken away in a straight jacket. Fury decided not to even bother calling out all the obvious BS in the story since it had been a long week.
Shield confiscated everything but the machines Harry altered had already been changed back. The prototype nanomachines they created for him had already been collected into his inventory.
After getting released from Shield, Harry wondered what he should get his girls for Christmas. Maybe a little vacation someplace far away? He'd think of something creative.
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