Initiative 2028

Stane

Ezekiel Stane sighed as the brown haired man walked into the office, looking around casually. "Nice place you have here," he noted, taking in the various items sitting on shelves. "Very tribal," he nodded to the native mask.

Dr. Karla Sofen smiled warmly, the blond haired older woman getting up to shake his hand. "I'm glad you took the time to see me," she noted mildly, the attractive blond dressed in a tight skirt and low cut blouse.

"President Richards wanted me to," Zeke shrugged irritably, "so here I am."

"Hmm," Karla nodded slightly. As a psychologist she had been recruited by Valeria Richards to assess the mental stability of her agents, and in this case to examine a known unstable individual. "Well, take a seat and let's get started," she said.

"Is this where you ask about my mother?" Zeke asked as he casually sat down, stretching his legs and revealing he wasn't wearing socks with his pants.

"Ooh, tough crowd," Karla flashed a smile as she sat in a chair nearby, avoiding sitting behind her desk. She rather suspected the man would not respond well to her as a authority figure, so she tried to keep things casual.

Zeke chuckled, "Thanks."

"So instead let's talk about the most important person in your life...," Karla offered.

"My mother? Still?" Zeke quipped.

"Tony Stark," Karla said flatly.

Zeke froze a moment, then gave Karla a thoughtful glance. "He is not the most important person in my life," he said quietly.

"Maybe," Karla agreed, "but he's certainly a defining moment in your life."

He looked around the room silently, then Zeke reluctantly nodded. "Stark...," Zeke muttered, frowning thoughtfully, "I don't know where to start."

"How did you first meet him?" Karla asked curiously.

"At a party in a building I blew up," Zeke smiled fondly. "He looked so dumb and clueless as my human bombers took out the building.... it was classic."

Karla gulped as she mildly said, "I imagine so."

Zeke sat back, smiling as he mused, "I've always hated Stark, even from back when I was a kid." He tilted his head to the side, "Do you know I always thought Stark murdered my father? I never bought into the suicide story...."

"You said you always thought," Karla seized on that phrase, "has that opinion changed?"

Zeke stopped, his eyes closing a moment. "I found the video," he admitted softly, "and I checked the logs of his suit. There was no override, he really...."

Karla watched him trail off, but felt the need to push a bit. "He really?" she purred.

"He really," Zeke's voice rose angrily as he jerked to his feet, "HE REALLY BLEW HIS OWN HEAD OFF! All right? Is that what you want to hear?!"

Karla saw his hands begin to glow and braced herself. Stane had cybernetically and biologically re-rigged his body, making it more efficient and not incidentally giving him the ability to shoot death rays from his hands. Still, she calmly asked, "And how did that make you feel?"

The stereotypical psychiatric jargon stopped Zeke for a moment, then he collapsed back into his seat chuckling softly. "How did that make you feel?" he repeated, "Lady, you are a piece of work."

"I try," Karla agreed, glad he hadn't taken a shot at her. If he had she would have been forced to use her abilities as Moonstone to save herself, and that would have been messy.

Zeke looked off into the distance, his expression thoughtful. "I guess once I knew my father had suicided, I had to reexamine why I did what I did," he admitted.

"Yet you still went after Stark," Karla noted.

"Yeah," Zeke brightened, "he's the best, you know?" He gestured with one hand, "In personal armor technology he's the one to beat, the creator of the best suits in the world."

They talked for most of an hour, Karla guiding him carefully to talk about President Richards, the others in the council, and on his view of what some called the new world order. Finally she rose with a smile, "I'm afraid that is all for today, but if you wish you can come back again."

"Thanks," Zeke shook her hand, "I might just do that." He smiled slightly as he admitted, "It was kind of interesting."

Karla watched him go then walked over to her desk, opening a file on her computer and getting to work....

Ezekiel Stane

Interview Notes for Assessment

Ezekiel is a still physically young man who has not emotionally matured to match his age. It's possible the disappearance of his mother and the death of his father may have contributed to this, but he remains a risk with powerful mood swings.

He rails against his absent father, both hating and loving the man. It's interesting to note that Obadiah literally exiled his son from his life, supposedly to protect the boy from his enemies. That fear against 'unknown enemies' has scarred him a great deal, leaving him at times paranoid and highly defensive. Not his deliberate living off the grid as a child and young man, his obsessive efforts to stay hidden. If not for his direct attack on Stark, Zeke likely would have remained off the radar forever.

His hatred and obsession with Stark is unhealthy and possibly dangerous. Zeke didn't just attack Stark, he attempted to destroy him both in person and as a company, doing massive amounts of damage. When Osborne recruited him Zeke willingly surrendered his independence just for a chance to strike at Stark, even designing several Iron Patriot suits for Norman.

Finally, there's the alterations Zeke has made to his body. I do not have a full list yet, but just a partial read through his file shows brain tampering, the redesign of his lungs and other internal symptoms. There is almost no way to know what the long term effects of such tampering might be, but it appears he is showing incidents of a hair trigger temper and a limited degree of sociopathic behaviors.

In conclusion I strongly recommend dealing cautiously with Mr Stane, as well as keeping him under close observation. He can be highly unstable, even though his talents are quite valuable.

Dr. Karla Sofen

Initiative Psychologist

Karla saved her file, then the sexy blond stretched in her chair. It had been a long day, and there was still another appointment to go. Checking her schedule Karla smiled, pausing a moment to check her makeup and tidy her clothes.

Right on time the door slid open and a sexy platinum blond woman stood in the doorway, her beautiful face as hard as a diamond. "Karla," Phobe Sublime purred as the telepath entered the office, locking the door behind her.

Without even thinking about it Karla knelt in front on her, bowing her head reverently. "Mistress," she gasped, feeling wetness gush into her panties in a completely involuntary way

"You've done well," Phobe cooed as she stroked Karla's head like a puppy.

Karla moaned weakly, mentally cursing the powerful conditioning the woman had put her through. Covertly contacting her Phoebe had held her captive for days, using her mental gifts to make Karla think it was weeks. Using a combination of mental blocks and pain/pleasure conditioning she had effectively enslaved Karla, yet also leaving a part of her aware of her captivity and helpless to do anything about it.

"I feel you in there," Phobe knelt down to murmur in her ear, "running around like a mouse in a maze, trying to get free. It's adorable."

"Why," Karla managed to ask, "did you leave a piece of me free, Mistress?"

"It's really very simple," Phoebe led her over to the couch as the blonde sat, spreading her legs to reveal she wasn't wearing panties.

"Oh," Karla mewled as she saw the gates of paradise.

"The reason I left a bit of you fighting," Phoebe gently tugged to pull Karla's head towards her crotch, "your struggling turns me on."

To be continued....

Notes: Don't feel too sorry for Karla, she's a pretty evil character in the Marvel Universe. She manipulated patients to suicide, killed her mother and drove more than one character crazy.