Chapter 27
Bucky dropped her off at Stark Industries since he had something to do in New York anyway. It was really early still so very few people were in the building, letting Salem get up to the residential area of the Stark Tower to go to her dad's room without any fuss.
She dressed in a black turtleneck, black jeans along with boots and her favourite leather jacket, mostly because it was cold in New York during mid November.
And to hide the growing amount of dark veins.
"Time to join the land of the living, Pops," Salem said, coming into the private lab of her father's to find him sprawled over a table. "I got you a fresh set of clothes. Go shower."
"What?" He said, sitting up to look at the bundle of clothes in front of him and then to already dressed and awake daughter. "It's only seven."
"You've got meetings today, and you need to debrief the staff because of my school visiting, what they're allowed to go to, what they're allowed to see, blah blah," She said. "You get the jist."
"Why can't you just show them around?" He asked, grumbling as a hot coffee appeared in front of him and he sighed in relief. He took it and cradled it to his mouth.
"Why should I?" She asked.
"You know enough about the tower, know where they'd be allowed to go, what to see," He said. "And they already know you."
"Yeah, they're my classmates, doesn't mean they'll pay attention to me," she put her hands in her back pockets. "Fine. What do I get out of it? I'm not gonna torture myself for nothing."
He gave her a look before nodding, almost like he was proud of her for that comment, "You get to help build a suit."
"DIdn't I already do that?"
"But a Iron Mamba suit?"
"Iron Mamba?"
"Type of snake, and iron. They call you Mamba in Europe, did you know that? Some people call Hawkeye Archer instead, so I think branding needs to be fixed on that issue,"
"Right. Do I get to design it?"
"Of course, with my approval. Needs to have certain things in it for safety, but otherwise, free rein."
She bit the inside of her cheek, thinking before nodding, "Alright. I'll do it, but only until lunch."
)()()(
Her watch vibrated with a message at almost eleven o'clock.
SpiderBoy: We're here. The bus just dropped us off. Flash won't shut up about how he plans to get a job here.
SAS: I'm not surprised, it's Flash. Where are you heading first?
SpiderBoy: We got met by Jolene, she's bringing us in now and then something about the badge bracelets. We get them in a couple minutes. Probably the intern area will be first. When are you joining us?
SAS: Soon. Dad said I'm stuck with you lot. I know more about the building than Jolene does.
SpiderBoy: Alright. Ned and MJ say hi.
SAS: Really?
SpiderBoy: MJ says get your ass here, she hates the amount of testerone around her.
SAS: That's what I thought. GTG, Dad's giving me the caffeine eyes.
Salem got a small box of the glass and metal bracelets, having it under her arm as she walked onto the main area of the ground level of the building where her class was being spoken to by Jolene.
Mrs Warren and Mr Harrington were the supervisors on this trip.
"Hi guys," Salem said before greeting Jolene. "I got the badges. I emailed you about the change of tour guide, did you get it?"
"Yes, I got it," She said. "Mr Hogan told me to inform them of the rules. They got warned. I'll relieve you of the position when you send them down for lunch."
"Brilliant. Thanks, Jol. You've got enough work to do without having to show these lot around," Jolene nodded gratefully before she scurried back inside to her desk again, quickly getting back to her assignments. Salem began to hand out the badge bracelets to the class. "These are your badges, they can be worn on your collar or pocket or wrist, but you have to wear them at all times. Press your thumb into the little circle and it will activate."
They did as asked, activating the brages as a little Greek letter appeared in the circles.
All of them had Os in them, all but Peter's.
"We have five ranks of badges in Stark Tower, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omega. The lowest which is used for press and visitors is Omega, which you all have," Salem said. "They are recognised by the little Greek letters which just appeared in the glass. FRIDAY knows who you all are, your government names and all that jazz so there is no point in trying to change your badges because as soon as you wear them, they will change to the appropriate level."
"What level do you have then?"
"I've got Alpha, the highest rank Stark Towers have. This level is reserved for a very select few individuals, which do include the Avengers. Any other questions before we continue?"
"What about the other three levels?"
"Right. Top to bottom, it goes Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Omega. Alpha has the fewest members, while Omega has the most purely because everyone who visits gets that rank regardless of their station in the Government. Yes, that does include the president. Beta is a couple of our scientists that deal with aggressive, experimental or defensive experiments or research. Gammas are their assistants or other scientists that do not have the needed experience or clearing to do the work and access the materials. Deltas are mostly interns and people who deal with non-aggressive and/or defensive research along with certain types of business."
"Where are we heading first, Salem?" Mr Harrington asked.
"First, we're going upto the Delta areas to witness some of the interns helping out the scientists and their assistants," She said. "It's all stuff you'd've seen on YouTube as promotional adverts for internships and stuff like that. Right now, we need to get through security."
They walked over to the large glass screen that had little doors that opened whenever a badge got scanned at the side panel of each one. There were about four doors in total, two guards standing there on either side to make sure nothing bad happened.
"Security is strict at Stark Tower, so there are several security measures placed in. An example are these doors," She gestured to them. "They are automatic, using the local AI of the building to scan your badges and let the authorised personnel in. However, Gamma, Delta and Omega badge owners have to scan in manually. Mrs Warren, you can go first and everyone can follow."
"Do I just…" She walked up to the door, putting the bracelet badge against the scanner before the door slid into the wall. "Oh, that's easy."
She stepped through and the door closed straight away, not leaving enough time to let anyone slide in with her.
"Everyone else?" Salem said, gesturing. "Go on."
"This is so cool!" Flash said, talking to his phone as he was videoing stuff for his apparent 'fans'. "Flash Mob, this is Flash Thompson coming at you from Stark Tower! I'm on a trip to the towers because…"
He went through the doors and his droning voice stopped as the doors closed.
After all the students and staff went in, Salem walked straight to the door, letting it open without a need for a badge or anything since FRIDAY controlled them too.
With there only being a dozen of them, they all fit in the large elevator as Salem got in and pushed the button for a Delta Area.
)()()(
Lunch came at around 1 o'clock, and she led the group to the canteen area where food was free.
Salem got a large pizza, half meat feast and half veggie before coming up to Tony's private lab.
She almost collapsed onto the sofa in that room, putting the pizza down near a table before plopping herself onto the sofa with the largest, most exgatgerted sighing groan.
"Tired?" Tony asked, coming over to open the flap of the pizza box. "Oooh, pizza."
"I'm never being a tour guide ever again," She muttered into the sofa cushion. "It's all answering questions, but I have never heard such stupid questions. Flash wouldn't just shut up. I wanted to slap him."
"Flash is Flash," He said, chomping on his pizza slice before going for another. "The Thompson family is like that. Here," He passed her a white Monster Energy can, just so she would have something in her system to get her going. "Up you go. Go start working on the schematics, but check your Medusa suit first."
"Right," She said, standing up slowly before waking over to the cleared area of the lab, somewhere she could work.
Putting the Medusa Medallion onto the table, it manifested the whole suit and allowed FRIDAY and LILITH to take measurements and analyse it. A projection of the suit and all of the little bits of it, every inch of nanobite technology was shown and calibrated to perfection.
It took about an half an hour before she grew bored and hungry, so she left to get more pizza and coffee for both herself and Dad. She had to go downstairs for both since they finished the pizza and had run out of the coffee beans in the coffee machine in the nearby kitchen area.
She stood in the elevator, using her powers to carry both coffees and two large pizzas along with a side of french fries and a burger for her dad.
"FRIDAY, order more of the number 5 blend we have in the coffee machine. I want it for the coffee machine in the lab, it's really good. And more of those white Monster energy drinks, I liked them," The doors of the elevator opened and she stepped out, only to see a dozen people in the lab now.
What the fuck?
She quickly grabbed the pizzas, carrying the coffees and burger and fries on it. She was surprised Tony allowed the class to see his private lab.
The glass doors of the lab opened, letting her catch the end of his mini lecture about safety, "—Step over that yellow line and you'll be escorted out of here. Only if you have clearance, can you step over them without tripping the alarms."
The yellow line was a metre from the edge of the glass wall, far enough away from all the tables and screens to not clearly see anything on them.
"Put 'em on the table," Tony ordered as he stepped back to show them a screen with a few details.
Salem nodded, putting a coffee cup near his work area before putting the pizzas in another area along with the other greasy foods.
"Hey, Dad," She interrupted, jutting a thumb towards her table area where the Medusa suit was now gone since she wore the medallion again. "Can I finish up the schematics with them here?"
"Go ahead," He nodded, turning to the screen he used to explain a critical detail to the group again.
She went over to her table, letting it become holographic so a projection of her basic, older suit armour showed. It was the same one from when she was younger, only modified for an older Salem now.
Taking a stylus, she began to draw designs into the suit projection, adding in notes of where there needed to be extra material or less because it would inhibit her movements. The main one was around her hands, back, chest, and pelvic area with how she fought. She used her middle and lower body more than anywhere else.
The suit was much like her father's, but less restricting than his but much more than her normal one. A helmet was added, a heavy duty one. Techanlly, this new suit was a heavy duty one, and would be built into the medallion to activate if anything happened.
Putting the schematics onto a tablet, she went over to her dad and quickly handed him the tablet even as he continued to monologue.
He looked over it, continuing to speak before pressing all of his fingers together and then against the screen, reaching upwards as he expanded his fingers to activate the projection system.
The blue hued suit was projected, the colours not yet chosen so it was left as blue due to the projection system. He took the stylus from her, getting the helmet of the suit up and adding a note to the eye area.
"Light dampeners," He said to her, letting her see as he quickly brought up a system while he explained it. "Decreased the amount of light let in but everything is visible. A little like night vision but more for too much light."
"Right," She nodded. "And here?"
She pointed to where the fingers met the palm, "Should I add the rings or should they just become part of the gloves?"
"Up to you but I'd have both options since this is a heavy duty armour instead of the basic combat one," He said, handing her the both back. "That would let… the user choose between the suits, if they needed the fuel or the power thrusters of the gloves."
"You're adding power thrusters?"
"Yep," Tony said. "Along with 2 parachutes, a heater, a dryer, a tracker, and a basic aid kit built in."
She shrugged. "Fair. Thanks. Want me to start the colouring of it? Or start programming the 'bites now?"
"Programming now, colour later,"
Salem nodded, leaving him to continue speaking with teh class as Peter made a curious look at what she was doing. She just winked and grinned, which made him blush a little which she found adorable.
She began to work out the programming, using her dad's main system from her combat suit as a base before adding to it with LILITH's help.
)()()(
"She's out," FRIDAY said at around nine in the evening, alerting Tony to the slumped form of Salem on the table as she slept.
"How long?"
"Three hours now," She said. "She'll sleep for a lot longer if you leave her but it will disrupt her night sleep. It might be time for you to show her your gift."
"Alrighty then," He stood up, shutting the lab down completely before going to his daughter's side.
Tony knew he had to carefully wake her up, otherwise she would react badly and that would be bad for both of them. Last time he did that, he had to get one of the walls of her room replastered because she had shattered a hole into the brick. They had both laughed about it from then on.
Somehow, she had gotten her hands on the hoodie he had left around the lab whenever it would get cold. She used it as a pillow, tucking her arms under it as she laid her head down and napped.
"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey, kiddo," He tried.
She frowned. "No."
"Come on," He said again. "You've got to get your present."
"Present?" She sat up, a confused look on her face. "Oh, right. It's my birthday. Fine."
She stood up slowly, shrugging his maroon MIT hoodie on before also slipping on her leather jacket with a yawn. "I'm cold, okay?"
He just gave her a look, laughing as he grabbed his coat and herded her towards the elevator. When it opened and they got in, he pressed the button for the sublevel parking lots, specifically his private ones where he, Pepper, and a couple privileged people had access to.
Salem leaned against the wall as the elevator moved.
"Don't you dare start napping there, Sal'," He said. "Pepper will have my head if you fall asleep again."
"Daaaaaaad," She whined, pouting. "I'm exhausted."
"We'll see," He said as the doors opened to reveal the garage area.
Both Starks left the elevator, one more confused than the other. They walked over to where several cars and motorbikes were, for Tony's personal use mostly.
"So, kid," Tony started, hands in his trouser pockets as he shuffled his feet before rubbing his goatee a little. "You're 16 now, but that does not mean I want to be a granddad, no siree. Nah. No thanks."
"Thanks, Dad," Salem snorted, sliping her hands into the pocket of the hoodie to keep them warm in the chilly garade. "Why we down here? It's cold."
"Because of this," He went through his pocket and got out a small folder the size of a match box before handing it to her. "Go on, open it."
She fiddled with the side, sliding the plastic out of the case.
It was her drivers' licence, with a slight change.
Instead of saying Class D which meant that she could drive a car or similar, it now had Class DM.
M meant Motorcycles.
Motorcycles?
She made a face of shock before it turned to excited glee, "Does this mean what I think it means?"
"That you can no longer pester me about getting you one? Yepo," Tony grinned. "FRI, light it."
Around a certain bike, a spotlight appeared.
The bike was a Harley-Davison, a 2009 Nightster in a dark, mysterious purple with gold accents of machinery. There were also accents of matte black, covering any exposed areas that could be flipped open to get to the wires and gold pipes inside.
"It's got all of the shit your jeep had," He said, itching his goatee. "And if you scan your thumb onto the middle just below the handles, you'll activate it. I programmed the possibility of adding LILITH if you want."
Salem's tiredness went away as a sly smile came onto her lips.
"Can I?" She pouted. "Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease. I wanna try her out."
"It's getting a little late though," Tony sighed, looking at his watch in fake thinking before waving a hand. "Of course you can. FRIDAY will keep an eye on you on the streets though. I want you back by midnight, alright?"
"Fine with me. Thanks!" She kissed him on the cheek, quickly slinging a leg over the bike before she put her thumb against the scanner. The bike began to purr beautifully, the gold seeming to glitter in the dark as the gas, mileage and everything else glowed a faint purple.
"You only need to activate it once because the bike is also connected to your biometrics and to the medallion," He said, putting a hand on the bars for a second. "Helmet. Now."
She grinned, letting her powers activate the medallion and allowing the motorbike helmet materialised.
"And you better wear that throughout the journey," He swore at her. "Otherwise I will take the bike again and program it until you can't use it until you got a helmet on. Alright?"
"Alright,"
He patted the back of the bike, stepping back as she revved it and was soon zooming out of the garage and into the streets of New York City.
Gods help anyone on the streets now.