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***
Somewhere in the workshop of an eccentric genius.
-Jarvis transfer some of the systems to the skeleton of the suit. - Said the man, finishing a call to the suppliers of the details of his future project.
-Which model to take as a basis. - The speakers answered.
-Use the one that was prepared for the project Warrior and if possible use the drawing of the kid. - Replied the man, dialling a new number.
-Okay sir.
***
-How was your trip? - Alexander asked his son.
-Good. I've seen the cities. Still, travelling abroad is good, but it's good to know your own country too. - Replied the boy trying to change the subject to his previous holidays.
-Where have you been? - Asked the man.
-Shall I list all the cities? - Asked the guy with a smile pouring juice into a glass and sitting down to eat breakfast.
-So, for example, what city did you end your journey in? - Pierce asked casually.
-New York. - Answered Ryan with a mocking smile.
-And before that? - Without showing anger asked Alexander.
-Hartford. -Named the city by the boy.
-Oh, it's a nice town. It's pretty nice this time of year. - Said Pierce, looking his son in the eye.
-"Nice? Are you sure you're talking about Hartford? It's a fucking icy hell! - Raine answered and even shuddered as if remembering that place.
The man tried a couple more times to catch his son in a lie, but he was defeated in these attempts and left, dropping just one phrase on his way out.
-If you run away from the guards again, I will deprive you of all your money and you will not leave the doors of this house until you are 21 years old. - Said Alexander as he left the kitchen.
***
After breakfast I called the publishing house and arranged a new meeting. Firstly, my earnings from Brotherhood had increased my account by $3,423,000 and its sales were still growing, and the number of fans waiting for the sequel was sure to make the second book a success.
My account now has finances of $15,234,000. Where's the rest of it coming from? Well, it's my songs. They may not be as famous as the one I recorded that night... but let's not talk about the bad parts of life. Anyway, they're doing pretty well too, considering I've never released anything before them. And that's all, by the way, not counting the account I used to pay for those months in the team. There's a couple of mil there, too.
During the breaks after work, I managed to write a few more books besides the second part of the ring story. It was Harry Potter, the first two parts and The Da Vinci Code.
At a meeting with the people of the company, I gave them the amazing news that we were releasing a trilogy. And that I had three more books for their publishing house. The news was so good that their faces were full of the desire to strangle me. They even asked me for time to discuss some of the finer points of the business. It looked like they were deciding how they could change their original negotiating tactics to get as much out of me as possible.
When they returned, they decided to listen to my demands for other books first. I requested 1,000,000 copies for the two fortresses, 800,000 each for both parts of Poteriana, and 2,000,000 for Da Vinci.
While they considered my request for Fortresses small considering the success of the first part, they were shocked by my demands for Potteriana and especially The Da Vinci Code. It looks like a couple more meetings and this publisher will have to include free treatment of cardiovascular diseases in the social package.
We left the office after four hours of heated debate. We're down to 1,500,000 copies for Two Fortresses. 500,000 for both parts of Potter and 1,100,000 for The Da Vinci Code. From Fortresses I'll only get 25% this time, but for the third part they'll pay me 32% and the whole trilogy will be printed by their publisher. For Harry, I'll get 30%. But for the code, I was able to bargain for the full 37% of sales. The publishing bosses didn't really believe in the success of the book because the genres had changed too much. And the third part was too attractive for them, and they knew that if the news got out, the big business sharks would rush to grab their piece.
Having said goodbye to all those cheapskates, I returned home and decided to devote the rest of my time to raising my level of code knowledge and bypassing security systems. Even software that is shit is still software.
***
-I heard your prodigal son was back. -Yes. - Said the voice on the phone.
-Yes. -He's home again. - Replied Alexander Pierce.
-So what did you decide to do? - Asked a man's voice with a note of mockery in it.
-I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet. - Pierce replied.
-"Well, think about it. Just remember, our offer still stands. And it's pretty effective. - Said the man on the other end and hung up.
***
Today I went to a secret facility in Queens that was bought out by Hammer Industries last year. It's where Wanko works and lives now. And no, I'm not trying to take him down early. I just need to get something from Hammer's servers. Using the electronic key I got by hacking into the main server responsible for the locks in this building, the emergency exit was unlocked without incident. Hammer does like to show off its technology. Why does he need remote access to the droid workshop? So he can open and close doors while sitting on a couch?
Once inside, I used the blind spots in the camera coverage area and my speed to get to the server under the guise of a guard. And finding the right entrance, I inserted the flash drive and connected the hard drive in the right place. The programme installed in it would activate automatically at 22:37 on the last day of the exhibition. At that time, our Russian friend would already have to fly in his suit to meet Stark again.
After I got out, I went to my room to prepare for tomorrow's meeting with the evil Russian.
***
So I'm back at the Stark Expo. Taking a seat in the front row, I waited for the Hummer presentation to start.
Skip the unimportant no-names and here comes this turkey. Having done his little dance, he finally gets round to making his speech.
-Ladies and gentlemen. For too long, our country has lost its brave sons and daughters to war. Iron Man made us think those times were behind us, but unfortunately that technology has not been shared with the people. It's not fair. Wrong. And finally despicable.
-Oh, God. - I heard it from behind me.
I turned round and strained every muscle in my face not to look surprised. Sitting behind me were Natasha and Pepper. I looked away for a second, but strangely enough, I could see the Widow's eyes on me. And it wasn't the kind of stare one would throw at a random person in a crowd. I was distracted from thinking about it by the liquid applause that erupted at Hammer's joke. It was a joke, wasn't it?
Realising that his efforts to appear as great a businessman as Stark were not appreciated, he finally got to the point.
-Ladies and gentlemen. Today I present to you the new face of the United States military. The Hummer Drone.
After he said that, rows and rows of death machines began to emerge from underneath the stage. And people began to cheer and applaud. Not knowing that in a couple of minutes these machines will go to attack them.
Just as the second pack of droids appeared, my phone rang.
-Hello.
-Rain you're at the exhibition now, aren't you? - I heard Stark's voice on the phone.
-"Yes." I answered, realising what he was trying to say.
-"Come to the front of the exhibit hall. I'll send you a present. - Stark said and hung up.
***
In the sky three minutes from the exhibit.
-Jarvis, how long before the suit's ready? -Yeah. - Tony was trying to squeeze everything out of the new reactor.
-The suit is 63% complete. Main armament is installed and armour is ready for use sir.
-What about the speed of delivery? - Stark asked, looking at the graphs on the armour.
-It's about a minute behind you, sir. -Sir. - Jarvis replied.
***
Standing at the entrance, I noticed Stark's figure flying by, and I didn't know whether to run inside or stay behind to wait for his gift. But logic overrode impulsiveness, and I waited for the armour. Why armour? Well, what else could Stark send? Even with my speed and regeneration, I don't think I'd be able to dodge a couple of machine gun bursts.
A few dozen seconds later, a jet-propelled coffin descended before me. When it opened, it revealed a suit that looked partially the same as the one I'd drawn. Climbing inside, a bunch of screens appeared in front of my face. After a couple of seconds, I was greeted by Jarvis' voice.
-Greetings Mr Pearce. - Said the AI.
-And I see you didn't waste any time and managed to find out who I am. -I replied, adjusting to the sensation of moving around in the suit and heading inside the building.
-I'd like to point out that you weren't exactly hiding, sir. - Said the AI.
-Well, it is what it is. Now tell me you're already working in this bird. - I said, squaring my shoulders.
-The combat systems haven't been tested and the suit hasn't received a full set of armaments. Right now you have machine guns on your wrists, two grenade launchers on each arm with 3 charges, a disposable giga ray on your chest and a rocket launcher. - Listed my AI weaponry.
-How long will it last without charging, because I haven't seen a reactor in it? - I asked one of the most important things.
-The suit is powered by Mr Stark's old design, and this battery will last five hours of active combat. Also, firing a giga ray won't affect the run time as it runs on a separately disposable power source. -The AI cheered me up.
-What about adjusting for size? - I asked as I ran into the hall and watched Rowdy aim the machine gun at Stark.
-This technology requires more fine-tuning and Mr. Stark didn't have time to adjust it to the armour systems. - Replied the AI.
Seeing Tony take off I shouted to Jarvis to warn Stark not to fly through the glass overhead, but it was too late and he chose the glass ceiling to escape the fire.
The glass broken by drone bullets fell down and killed at least 20 people and maimed many more. And that was only 10-20% of the entire ceiling, what would happen next when the air drones that flew up behind Stark punched through the rest was frightening to imagine. There were screams and pools of blood from those who were hit by the pieces of glass I don't know what compelled me to act at that moment, but I couldn't just stand there and watch the scene. One of the grenade launcher charges managed to shoot down 2 drones in flight and they fell to the left of the scene. But the others continued to fly on without paying attention to me. I ripped off the front of my helmet that was obstructing my face as I transformed and the moment the drones hit the ceiling I gave in to the desire that was tearing from within. I screamed, though in this form it was more like a howl. My howl was so strong it began to make the glasses burst and raising my head to the sky I amplified my scream to the maximum power possible for my ligaments. The shards that should have killed most of the guests were just shattered to sand. And as such they were dangerous only to those who could look up at that moment, but I could see from the general mood of the hall that they had a more eye-catching sight. Namely me. They were now trying to see if I was the enemy, and I was wearing Stark armour, which did little to lessen the fear my appearance caused.
-RUN!!! - I shouted to them.
And as if waking up from a dream they realised that most of the drones were still in the hall and they were moving towards the exit, crushing the corpses and the wounded who couldn't get out of their way.
At that moment, the screen with the mission hung in front of my eyes.
Mission received
"Iron and Blood."
Save the people at Stark Expo and destroy the Hammer drones that have taken control. Also help Iron Man and Warrior in the battle.
Reward for completion: depends on the number of drones destroyed and lives saved.
Punishment for failure: loss of Stark's respect, placement on the Shield's threat list, and public hatred.
***
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