Chapter Two

August 13, 2016 – Reactions and Interviewing Tony Stark

Tony opened his eyes and sighed. Another day. Might as well get up, he supposed.

He rose out of bed and went out to start the coffeemaker. He could have programmed FRIDAY to do that but he liked to do some things on his own.

"FRIDAY? Any news headlines that might be pertaining to me or SI?" He asked as the coffee dispensed from the Keurig into his coffee mug.

"Yes, Boss. Playing on TV now." She responded.

The TV flicked on and he turned to see what was being shown, as he made his way over to the living room.

"Tony Stark, it seems, is turning a new page. Here is a clip from his first YouTube video, uploaded yesterday… It seems that the Accords Council did at least one thing right, said one viewer. We love you Tony, said another. Great, more publicity for Stark, one naysayer had to say. But overall people seemed to really enjoy the story, overnight the video, that was only a few minutes long was liked by seven million viewers, not to mention the twenty million views…"

"What?" Tony gazed at the ceiling. "FRIDAY, my video didn't do that well did it?"

"It did, according to your YouTube Analytics, you have 20,120,987 views and made $81,965 in advertising revenue, which is how most YouTuber's make their income." Friday reported.

"Holy shit! They make that kinda money off just YouTube?" Tony asked astonished.

"Indeed. They also get sponsorships, for extra money. Beauty influencers get companies to pay them $20,000 and they'll sponsor that brand for a video or a series for example." FRIDAY informed him.

"Well, shit. Put that 80k in a savings account. I'll figure out what I wanna do with that later." Tony stated.

"Yes, Boss." FRIDAY responded. "Miss Potts and Miss Van Der Pole are requesting entry to the Penthouse. Should I engage the Get Rid of the Trashy Ho Protocol?" FRIDAY asked.

"Oh my god." Tony burst out laughing. "No, FRIDAY, you can let them up." He shook his head. His AI's took his mental, physical and emotional health very seriously and took Pepper breaking up with him to heart and was now very cold to her.

"Fine." FRIDAY uttered petulantly. He shook his head in bemusement. How could he have created AI's with so much personality.

The elevator doors opened and Tony got up, padding in socks and lounge pants with an old band tee stretched across his chest.

"What's up?" He greeted the two women.

"Congratulations on the success of your first video, Tony." Pepper smiled.

"Thank you. Didn't think it would do that well but ya know?" Tony took a sip of coffee.

"We have some ideas. For video ideas. The decision is yours of course." Suzanne Van Der Pole placed a folder on the table next to him and Tony picked it up.

He flicked to the page that was in there.

"Hm. Person interviews in SI and Avengers. Interesting. Car reviews, tech reviews… Peter series?" He looked up.

"Peter Parker is an adorable fifteen year old boy and I think if the two of you team up, you could do some amazing content. Maybe bring him with you to the other SI locations around the world?" Pepper suggested.

"I'd have to talk to Aunt Hottie." Tony mused, not caring one whit about Pepper's eye roll. They were on a "break", he could flirt with whoever he wanted. So there.

"We think it could be a good idea." Suzanne voiced.

"Hm. Noted."

"And…Tony." Pepper intoned.

"Yes?" He arched a brow.

"You should do the house tour for the viewers. I think they would like to see the softer side to you."

"Excuse you, I'm hard as iron." Tony said, mock-offended.

"Viewers like genuine people. This is media you control, not anyone else." Pepper stated softly.

"Yeah, I know. I'll do my best." Tony set his mug down and rubbed his chest.

Tony sat in front of the camera again, sooner than he expected.

He hit record.

"Hello, it's Tony Stark and above all else, I am an engineer… Hello everyone, subscribe before you leave so you don't miss out on this face…" He grinned at the camera. "Any who, I can't believe the reception I got to the first video. I want to say thank you very much. I also wanted to talk about the ad revenue, I'm sure you noticed that there were ads on the video and I am going to keep doing it as it is going into a fund for school loan debt, for MIT especially. MIT was very kind to me when I was in school, I know I wasn't in the best place so I want to give back to students. So the video the other day will pay for almost one student's loans. Pretty good, I'd say!" He rubbed his hands together. "So, my team came up with a great idea for a series and its interview the SI/Avengers employee! So, first, is me!" He framed his face with his hands.

"So, my father started SI and made weapons, I have always been gifted, an inventor and I was good at making weapons, people I trusted told me what to do and I did it because I loved and trusted them. But I was betrayed by someone I trusted with everything I had…and that was how Iron Man was born. But in regards to SI, I was CEO for a short amount of time, and then I handed the reins to Pepper, who is much better at being CEO than I was and I became the CTO, Corporate Tech Officer, and Head of R&D." He cleared his throat.

"A typical day for SI entails answering emails, in virtual meetings with my R&D people on new ideas and working on my own innovations for the various products we have out now. Then I have my Avengers duties, but that has taken a backseat. I'll tell you guys why in a month or so." He took a sip of water from a bottle to his right.

"I have a Bachelor's degree in Engineering from MIT and Master's in Computer Science, Civil Engineering, Engineering Management, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering and Physics. I have a Doctorate in Electronic Engineering. Lately, I have completed some basic Bachelor degrees in Green Energy and Sustainability. That's where I see SI heading, the world needs to catch up. All my degrees sound very impressive but not to sound cocky but I started college at fifteen and I am very quick at picking up new subject material. I absorb information extremely quickly and get bored really easily." Tony shrugged.

"So that's my education, my qualifications to be in SI and a usual day. Remember, kids," He lifted his wrist and a gauntlet flew on his wrist. "I am Iron Man."

The camera clicked off.

Tony was laughing to himself as he read the comments of the latest video.

Can I just say I stan Tony Stark?

Tony Stark brushing off his multiple degrees has me crying over stressing over my one.

I'm the first!

Everyone:

Me:

I feel stupid compared to Tony Stark. #goals.

Tony laughed as he closed out of the video and its comments.