Chapter 10
"Sir, I recommend that you allow me to complete a full diagnostic on your brain functions."
"Yeah, yeah. Give me a minute." Right now, he's busy making some upgrades to Rhodey's suit.
"Mr. Stark," comes Jarvis' calm reply, "I fear that you do not recognize the severity of your situation."
"I said, in a minute, Jarvis!" Tony shouts, then drops his screwdriver back onto the table with a yelp. In his anger, he has cut himself against the sharp metal edge of the suit's casing. Tony sits back in his chair, gritting his teeth against the stinging pain. The cut is clean but deep, and blood is already gushing out of the wound. He stares at it, waiting, expectant.
Tony watches as his flesh repairs itself, leaving only a small trail of blood behind as evidence of his injury. With his new healing factor, his body is able to repair and rebuild itself, regenerating tissue and restoring his body to its former state. He has the Extremis to thank for that.
Jarvis interrupts Tony's scrutiny of his now-fading cut. "Sir, if you have completed the adjustments to Colonel Rhodes' suit, I recommend that you allow me to run some scans to analyze your brain functions."
Tony sighs, but concedes. "All right then. Let's get this over with."
He considers using Extremis to run the scans, but he knows he can't do that, not with what happened last week in the bathroom. He can feel the familiar pull of the Extremis, screaming for his attention, but he knows he must resist it. If he doesn't fight it, he'll black out again, damaging his brain even further.
He has to fight it. He can't use the Extremis again, or else he risks losing himself.
"Looks like we're doing this the old-fashioned way, Jarv." Tony rises and steps onto the platform, standing still as Jarvis's metal arms work around him.
In a few minutes, Jarvis has finished the scans, and what he finds is unsettling. "Sir, it seems that the nanocells of the Extremis have melded with the brain tissue of your frontal lobe. The electromagnetic waves the Extremis nanocells are emitting are overpowering your own brain waves. At the rate your condition is declining, a total loss of memory can be expected in about two months."
Tony rubs his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "Two months?" he whispers.
"It would appear so, Sir." There's a hint of sadness in his computerized voice and this tone evokes a pang of emotion deep within Tony. Leave it to him to create an AI with human emotions.
Tony doesn't have to ask Jarvis to realize what will happen in three months. In two months, he will lose everything: his memories, thoughts, his intelligence. Only his episodic memory has been affected so far, but soon the Extremis will completely overwhelm his mind and he'll either be killed or reduced to a permanently comatose state.
He sits there thinking for a while, head aching as his brain struggles to work past the Extremis.
When he looks up, an idea is forming in his mind. "Jarvis, what's the frequency of the nanocells?" Hope seeps into his tone.
"900 Mega Hertz, Sir."
"And my own brain waves?"
"You are currently emitting beta waves at a frequency of 42 Hertz."
Tony whistles. "That's quite a difference."
"Yes, it is, sir."
"Tell you what. Run a few more tests, then do a search for a couple different frequencies. I need 120 Hz and 110 Hz. My brain will lock onto the difference, altering my brainwaves by using the different frequencies." He pauses, turning to Dummy. "Hey, you, go find me some electrodes. You know, the sticky ones. I know we have some down here somewhere."
He's a mechanical engineer, not an electrical engineer, but he took enough classes at MIT to know what he's doing.
When Pepper steps into Tony's workshop, he's slumped on the couch, eyes closed, a myriad of wires and trailing from pads stuck to various parts of his head. It's not nearly the strangest thing she's seen him doing, but it definitely cannot be considered normal.
"Tony, what–? What are you doing?"
He mumbles a bit, a look of intense concentration on his face. "What?" Pepper asks again.
He opens his eyes and looks at her. "I'm using delta waves to attempt to synchronize my brain waves with the electromagnetic waves the Extremis is emitting." He says it as if it's the simplest thing in the world. She chuckles a bit, falling silent when Tony gives her a confused look.
"Will it work?" She questions cautiously.
Tony shrugs. "In theory, it should. And I'm feeling better right now. But it will probably only be a temporary fix. The frequencies of the waves will only be coordinated as long as I've got these hooked up to me." He gestures to the electrodes.
Pepper smiles, a fierce hope coursing through her body with comforting warmth. "Well, that's a start, isn't it?" She sits beside him on the couch, gently mussing his dark brown hair.
Tony sighs contentedly, a small, satisfied smile spreading across his face. "Yes," he says, "Yes, it is."
This was a fun chapter to research. I find brain waves very interesting!
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