[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/FfNWY2y.jpg[/img][/center] [center][INDENT][h1][color=gray]THE INDESTRUCTIBLE IRON MAN[/color][/h1][/INDENT][/center] [center][sub]arc 1: furnace issue 1.2.1.2 - dead and alive? [/sub][/center] [hr] [i]STARK INDUSTRIES FILE NO 5.A.4578 - 98 PROJECT FILE: SLIVER CENTURION CURRENT STATUS: CANCELLED PROJECT ABSTRACT: Project Sliver Centurion is currently infeasible due to a lack of infrastructure dedicated to miniaturization of current Stark Industries proprietary technologies. Prototype models developed cannot be feasibly scaled down for production purposes and rely on materials that are inadequate for mass manufacture. Currrent power sources cannot reliably sustain operation times for duration required by military and law enforcement personnel. PROJECT AIMS: To develop personnel exoskeletons that fulfill three primary criteria for broad usage across civilian law enforcement and military applications whilst also satisfying broad roles across each field. Modularity Mobility Mass Production RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE PRODUCTION MODEL: N/A ADDENDUM 18.7.95: Can someone please make this file higher clearance? All of the intern techies keep bombarding me with questions about why we’re stalling development on this and I’m real sick of it. Every greenhorn these days think they’re the next Tony Stark….. [/i] [hr] The steady sound of fans that had filled Tony’s ears for so long halted. Then, the inside of the server farm filled with an eerie red glow as klaxons started blaring. “ INTRUDER ALERT. INTRUDER ALERT. ALL SECURITY PERSONNEL REPORT TO SECTION 27-A - “ “Fuck, fuck, fuck - ,” Tony hurriedly drops the palm repulsor, unlatching it from his hand. It bounces off the tiled floor. He can see the inside of the lens smoking away like the spout of a kettle. He stifles his inventor’s instincts, brief musings on using higher-quality silicates to reduce heat issues. There’s no time for that. He has to get out of here before Stark security swarms the area. He looks to where the woman is lying - Well, where she should have been still lying unconscious. Instead, there was a smashed server rack in place of where her body was. Tony looks around wildly, trying to figure where she went to when the heel in his stomach answers it for him. He tumbles to the ground, gasping for breath. The bottom half of his body is paralyzed in pain. It feels like a cannonball has struck him in the belly. “ You got lucky, Hogan,” Through the pain, Tony felt a hand roughly grab him by the chin and pull him up. “ But you blew your chance. Should have killed me when you - “ The masked woman paused in the middle of her sentence suddenly. Tony watches her entire body seize up like a deer in headlights. She looks….shocked? The pressure on his chin relaxes and before he can ask her why, laser dots prick across his forehead and her hair. At the other end of the server hall, a quartet of Stark security guards “ Put your hands up. Both of you right - “ The masked woman tossed something on the ground and grey smoke immediately filled the entire room. In the thick haze, Tony could hear sounds of coughing and wheezing. Lights flickered on and scythed through the fog frantically. Then, the yells started and stopped as soon as they began. The sounds of screams were silenced one by one. The smoke dissipated and Tony saw the masked woman, fist hung by her side and splattered with flecks of blood. The Stark security guards were a comatose pile of limbs and legs, all incoherently groaning in pain. The masked woman’s head twitched and inclined to the right towards him. Tony gulped as she turned around slowly, her movements ragged with fatigue. She took her silenced pistol out of her holster and aimed it at his face. “ Come with me or I’ll kill you right now,” The masked woman spoke matter of factly. Tony gulped. “Any other incentive you can offer?” He didn’t even know why he asked when he knew the answer already. [hr] Being kidnapped by a psychotic masked assassin surprisingly wasn’t the worst moment of Tony Stark’s life, all things considered. The first was waking up from a night in Vegas only to discover himself in a taqueria in New Mexico. The second moment was under a permanent seal of confession between him and Pepper that would never leave the light of day. Sure, none of the prior experiences involved the risk of death but at least it approached some semblance of normalcy. For the next hour or so, Tony and the masked woman carefully sneaked through a labyrinth of tight air vents and under patrols of guards in the halls of the Houston server farm. The masked woman was liteful beyond compare, dancing through shadows and under laser grids, whilst Tony felt like a kid riding a bicycle for the first time. The masked woman would stop him whenever he would take a step in the wrong direction and proceed to guide him slowly. Tony didn’t even know why the merc was willing to tolerate this much ineptitude from him. Hell, when he nearly set off the laser tripwire in the cafeteria, she looked as though she was tempted to put a bullet into his lap. When they finally made it half a mile away from the data farm, past the blockade of police cars and SWAT vehicles, Tony collapsed on the ground wheezing. They had both sheltered away behind the alley way of a Waffle House. “ Why didn’t you kill me back there?” “ I saw an opportunity…” The masked woman replied carefully “....and one just landed in front of me..” “ Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just a data entry intern - “ The masked woman interrupted Tony, crossing her arms in disbelief. “ Who masquerades as Tony Stark? What are you doing here in Houston?” “ Oh, you know.” Tony said lackadaisical. “ Had a mid-life crisis. Thought I’d pivot my career.” “ By hacking into Stark Industries largest data farm?” “ A big pivot,” Tony shrugged before answering back. “ So, here we are still talking. Let’s cut to the chase. You want something from me, don’t you?” “ It’s not what I want from you, Tony,” The masked woman leaned down, staring at him inquisitively. “ It’s who you’ve been pretending to be….Iron Man.”