Tony Stark, the Tony Stark seen on the TV, in the newspapers, wasn't the real Tony Stark. He is not the man who was once Tony Stark.
Tony had led a double life since returning from Afghanistan. All he had wanted was to spend time in the labs. He didn't want to put a fake smile on his face and go out in the crowds.
So he developed a life model decoy and no one knew. It proceeded to steal his life from him.
If that were to happen, he would have thought that the LMD would kill him, or oust him from the life of Tony Stark.
But no, the LMD had another use for Tony.
*A*
Anthony Edward Stark, the real one, was reduced to a nameless entity, locked inside the Malibu mansion, and then Stark Tower after it was built, forever.
Tony got his one dream and his greatest nightmare all at once. He was allowed to spend all his time designing and making things in his lab and workshop. He didn't have to go to any meetings. He didn't have to talk to stuffy board members or keep his public reputation up.
But he didn't exist anymore. JARVIS recognized him as creator still, but he didn't call him 'sir', that was reserved for the LMD. JARVIS could do nothing to help him except ease his loneliness. He didn't get to talk to anyone. JARVIS and the bots were a bit of company, but Tony hadn't realized how much he'd needed human contact until it was gone.
Tony was lonely. It was a given that he would be lonely. He used to have one of those lives, the ones where you went out every night and you got drunk, and made scientific breakthroughs whilst working off the hangover.
Now, he just had scientific breakthroughs, though being minus the hangover was a plus too. He hardly slept, though with the loneliness and the pointlessness of his life, he should have been crippled with legarthy and depression.
But he wasn't. Maybe it was because of hope, but he had a feeling that he was being given antidepressants in his food or something.
He was only an asset, in the long term. That was why he was being kept useful, he was an asset. The LMD was generally better than him, had much better physical health, as he had never gone through the palladium poisoning. The LMD doesn't do any designing, Tony does that, and the LMD just gives him the briefs. The LMD has been setting up an image for himself, an image of a new, mature man who is happy and in a strong, steady relationship with his CEO, and is doing well making friends with the Avengers and setting up business links with SHIELD and some place called UNIT, and still making phenomenal scientific discoveries. Except that was the real Tony.
Did he even qualify as the 'real' Tony now? All of the world had the other one down as Tony Stark. And, technically, they were both born as Anthony Edward Stark, and they both had the same memories when the LMD was created.
In some ways, Tony loved that he was alone. No Pepper to nag him (though he missed her terribly), no Captain Too-Perfect-For-Words America, always disappointed in his every word and action. Apparently the new Tony Stark got on great with him.
To be honest, all in all, Tony saw no hope in the situation. Even when he was transported from Malibu to New York, it wasn't like he was treated like anything but cargo. He was put in the cargo hold, in a box. It was cramped and horrible and Tony has had more than a few nightmares about it. It was inhumane.
But then again, he didn't exist anymore.