CHAPTER THREE
Toni's wheelchair was up against the giant arc reactor, Obadiah walked in with a DOD case with wheels, he was rolling it on the ground, "Well, that... That went well."
"Did I just paint a target on the back of my head?" Toni asked, wheeling around to face him.
"Your head? What about my head? What do you think the over-under on the stock drop is gonna be tomorrow?" Obadiah asked.
"Optimistically, 40 points," Toni answered.
"At minimum," Obadiah added.
"Yep."
"Toni, we're a weapons manufacturer," Obadiah said.
"Obie, I just don't want a body count to be our only legacy," Toni replied. "Besides, I might want to have a child in a few years, and I would prefer it if that child didn't have a murderer for a mommy."
"That's what we do. We're iron mongers. We make weapons," Obadiah reminded her.
"It's my name on the side of the building," Toni said.
"And what we do keeps the world from falling into chaos," Obadiah told her, crouching down to eye-level.
"Not based on what I saw. We're not doing a good enough job. We can do better. We're gonna do something else," Toni assured him. She wheeled so she faced the Arc Reactor.
"Like what? You want us to make baby bottles?" Obadiah asked.
"I think we should take another look into arc reactor technology," Toni replied, turning her head to glance at Obadiah before looking at the giant reactor again.
"Come on. The arc reactor, that's a publicity stunt! Toni, come on. We built that thing to shut the hippies up!"
"It works," Toni said pensively.
"Yeah, as a science project. The arc was never cost effective. We knew that before we built it. Arc reactor technology, that's a dead end, right?" Obadiah asked.
"Maybe."
"Am I right? We haven't had a breakthrough in that in what? Thirty years?"
"That's what they say. Could you have a lousier poker face? Just tell me, who told you?" Toni questioned, turning her wheel-chair around to face him.
"Never mind who told me. Show me," Obadiah asked.
"It's Rhodey or Piper."
"It's in here, isn't it?" Obadiah asked, motioning to the DOD case.
"Alright, Rhodey," Toni crossed her arms. "Open it, I could use legs anyway."
Obadiah kneeled down and opened the case. Both of her legs, polished, and the arc reactor sat in the container.
"How does the Arc Reactor power them?"
"Automatic joints on the braces, premature nervous system connection, automatic balance, the feet and toes can move and adjust," Toni answered. She grabbed one and attached the braces to her right leg. Then she grabbed another and attached the braces to her left leg. She plugged in the arc reactor and stood up. Her legs whirred as they balanced her based on her position.
"Listen to me, Toni. We're a team. Do you understand? There's nothing we can't do if we stick together, like your father and I," Obadiah said.
"I'm sorry I didn't give you a heads-up, okay? But if I had..." Toni trailed off.
"Toni. Toni, no more of this ''ready, fire, aim'' business. You understand me?" Obadiah asked.
"That was Dad's line," Toni said sharply.
"You gotta let me handle this. We're gonna have to play a whole different kind of ball now. We're going to have to take a lot of heat. I want you to promise me that you're gonna lay low," Obadiah told her.
"I hope that you aren't forgetting that I own this company. I'll lay low," Toni said, she grabbed her wheelchair and the DOD case and walked away.
THREE DAYS LATER
Piper was watching television, "Stark Industries! I've got one recommendation! Ready? Ready? Sell, sell, sell! Abandon ship! Does the Hindenburg ring any bells? Let me show you the new Stark Industries business plan! Look, that's a weapons company that doesn't make weapons!" an annoying newscaster yelled. Piper got a call from Toni and shut off the TV.
"Hey Pipes, how much can you lift… dead weight?"
"What?"
"Is it 50 pounds, 80 pounds?"
"Like seventy… I don't understand why…"
"Get down here, I need you," Toni said.
Piper obliged. Toni had her prosthetic legs sitting next to her; she was unplugging them from the arc reactor.
"Oh my god, are those your prosthetic legs?"
"They were, now they are antiques. These will be helping me walk from now on." Toni motioned towards silver metallic legs that were completely molded after her own legs. "It's also a new reactor to power them. I added a few bells and whistles, made them stronger and overall lighter."
"Then why do you need me?"
"They weigh sixty pounds each and I can't walk," Toni said simply. "Can you-?"
"Of course," Piper said, rolling back his sleeves and picking up the two legs.
"Alright, now see those little sticks, they will latch on to my nerves so I can feel the legs, but I need them inserted into my tibia, I already made my legs go numb, so now I just need you to insert them."
"I don't think I'm qualified to do this…"
"No, you're fine. You're the most capable, qualified, trustworthy person I've ever met. You're gonna do great. Is it too much of a problem to ask? 'Cause I'm kinda in a jam here..." Toni motioned at her stumps.
"Will it bleed?"
"Just a bit," Toni said. See those metal ridges? I already marked where they go on my leg with washable marker. Just line it up and insert it.
"Okay, okay," Piper said, taking the right one first, he lined it up. "Are you sure it won't hurt?"
"Yes!"
Piper pushed the leg into the socket, and winced as a small amount of blood trickled out.
"Perfect, perfect, and then the left one."
Piper repeated again, inserting the leg into the socket. Toni grabbed a paper towel and wiped the blood off of her new legs. She attached the wire from each leg to the new arc reactor. "Last part, and I can do this if you're squeamish, it's a growth stimulant to connect my severed nerve endings to the artificial ones in the leg. Toni grabbed a large syringe. "It's a very point needle… it goes in my arm… right here," she tapped it.
"Let me do it, that may be hard to reach," Piper said. He took the syringe and inserted it into her arm, and then he plunged it.
"Are you alright?"
Toni said, "Yeah, I feel great. You okay?"
"Don't ever, ever, ever, ever ask me to do anything like that ever again," Piper said.
"I don't have anyone but you."
Piper smiled a bit and kissed her on the forehead. "What do you want me to do with those?" She motioned at the old legs and the arc reactor.
"Destroy them, incinerate them."
"You don't want to keep it?"
"Piper, I've been called many things. 'Nostalgic' is not one of them," Toni replied.
"Will that be all Ms. Stark?"
"That will be all, Mr. Potts." Toni said. Piper left. Toni turned to her robot. "Hey, Butterfingers, come here. What's all this stuff doing on top of my desk? That's my phone, that's a picture of me and my dad. Right there. In the garbage. All that stuff!"
THE NEXT DAY
At the Edwards Air Force Base, Toni climbed out of a car. She had on a gray t-shirt, leather jacket, denim jeans, and combat boots over her prosthetics.
"The future of air combat. Is it manned or unmanned? I'll tell you, in my experience, no unmanned aerial vehicle will ever trump a pilot's instinct, his insight, that ability to look into a situation beyond the obvious and discern its outcome, or a pilot's judgment," Rhodey was lecturing a group of cadets.
"Colonel? Why not a pilot without the plane?" Toni piped up, in the back.
"Look who fell out of the sky. Ms. Antoinette Stark." Rhodey said, smiling.
"Speaking of manned or unmanned, you gotta get him to tell you about the time he guessed wrong at spring break. Just remember that, spring break, 1987. That lovely lady you woke up with," Toni smirked, crossing her arms.
"Don't do that!" Rhodey exclaimed.
"What was his name?"
"Don't do that," Rhodey repeated.
"Was it Ivan?"
"Don't do that. They'll believe you. Don't do that," Rhodey reiterated.
"Okay."
"Don't do that."
"Pleasure meeting you," Toni waved at the cadets.
"Give us a couple minutes, you guys," Rhodey commanded. He followed Toni and whispered to her, "I'm surprised."
"Why?"
"I swear, I didn't expect to see you walking around so soon," Rhodey said.
"I'm doing a bit better than walking," Toni replied. "I used artificial nerve prototypes and an arc reactor, so my legs are much improved. Rhodey, I'm working on something big. I came to talk to you. I want you to be a part of it."
"You're about to make a whole lot of people around here real happy, 'cause that little stunt at the press conference, that was a doozy," Rhodey said hopefully.
"This... is not for the military... I'm not... It's different," Toni said in a hushed tone.
"What? You're a humanitarian now or something?" Rhodey became agitated.
"I need you to listen to me," Toni begged.
"No. What you need is time to get your mind right. I'm serious," Rhodey crossed his arms.
"Rhodey, you told me to be responsible, this is me becoming responsible," Toni replied.
"What this is, Toni is that you are going through a midlife crisis," Rhodey corrected.
"Women don't go through a mid-life crisis, they go through a period of enlightenment," Toni said. "It was nice seeing you, Rhodey."
"Thanks."
TWO DAYS LATER
"JARVIS, you up?" Toni asked, striding into her workshop in denim shorts, a black tee-shirt and her hair was under her favorite bandana, even though it was rather short.
"For you, ma'am, always," JARVIS replied.
"I'd like to open a new project file, index as Mark II," Toni told the AI.
"Shall I store this on the Stark Industries' Central Database?" JARVIS inquired.
"Actually, I don't know who to trust right now.'Til further notice, why don't we just keep everything on my private server?" Toni suggested. She pulled up a 3D model of the Iron Man suit and started scrapping it. "And put on voice-recognition password too, code 'Yinsen'"
"Working on a secret project, are we, ma'am?" JARVIS solicited.
"I don't want this winding up in the wrong hands. Maybe in mine, it can actually do some good," Toni said softly, looking at the prints.
SOMETIME LATER
In her workshop, she was constructing an outer boot for her leg. She kept yelling at Dummy while working. "Next – Up- Not in the boot, Dummy-Right here- You got me? Stay put- Nice- You're of no benefit at all- Move down to the toe- I got this- Okay, I'm sorry, am I in your way-? Up- Screw it- Don't even move- You are a tragedy."
THE NEXT DAY
In her garage, she had strapped on her outer layer of boots complete with the flight equipment. "Okay, let's do this right. Start mark, half a meter, and back and centre. Dummy, look alive. You're on standby for fire safety. You, roll it. Okay. Activate hand controls. We're gonna start off nice and easy. We're gonna see if 10% thrust capacity achieves lift. And three, two, one," Toni said. 10% was more than enough, and she shot upwards. She hit the ceiling, and fell, landing, luckily, on her legs, so nothing else was damaged.
LATER THAT DAY
Toni was working on the prototype for a flight stabilizer, before actually building one, "Up two. All right, set that." Toni said as she tweaked the stabilizer.
"I've been buzzing you. Did you hear the intercom?" Piper asked as he came downstairs, a cup of coffee and a parcel in his hands.
"Yeah, everything's... What?" Toni had thought that Piper just wanted to check on her.
"Obadiah's upstairs," Piper said, setting the drink and small package on Toni's desk.
"Great!" Toni exclaimed eagerly.
"What would you like me to tell him?"
"Great. I'll be right up," Toni said, fidgeting with the stabilizer.
"Okay. I thought you said you were done making weapons," Piper pointed at the stabilizer.
"It... This is a flight stabilizer... It's completely harmless," Toni motioned, activating it. Unfortunately it shot her backwards and shattered the glass window in front of her. "That wasn't supposed to happen," Toni said, groaning.
Toni, minutes later, went upstairs to the living room, Piper at her heels.
"How'd it go? It went that bad, huh?" Toni asked, motioning towards the pizza.
"Just because I brought pizza back from New York doesn't mean it went bad," Obadiah said.
"Sure doesn't. Oh, boy," Toni took the box and started stuffing a slice into her mouth.
"It would have gone better if you were there," Obadiah told her.
"You told me to lay low. That's what I've been doing. I lay low, and you take care of all-"
"Hey come on. In public. The press. This was a board of directors meeting," Obadiah told her.
"This was a board of directors meeting? I never got a memo," Toni said, thinking that it sounded suspicious.
"The board is claiming you have post traumatic stress. They're filing an injunction."
"On what grounds? My Accident? I was unconscious for most of it that, I don't remember getting amputated. I was barely tortured, I wasn't raped… Do they want to lock me out because the stocks dipped 50 points? We knew that was gonna happen." Toni ran a hand through her hair.
"56 and a half," Piper piped up.
"It doesn't matter. We own the controlling interest in the company," Toni said.
"Toni, the board has rights, too. They're making the case that you and your new direction aren't in the company's best interest," Obadiah said.
"Bullshit. I'm being responsible! That's a new direction... for me... for the company. I mean, me on the company's behalf, being responsible for the way that... This is great!" Toni stood up, annoyed.
"Oh, come on. Toni- Toni," Obadiah followed her.
"I'll be in the shop," Toni said.
"Hey, hey! Hey, Toni. Listen. I'm trying to turn this thing around, but you gotta give me something. Something to pitch them." Obadiah pointed at the arc reactor that was fastened to her hip with a belt. Let me have the engineers analyze that. You know, draw up some specs."
"Absolutely not," Toni said sharply.
"It'll give me a bone to throw the boys in New York!" Obadiah argued.
"This one and these," She motioned to her legs. "Stay with me Obie, forget it."
"Well this stays with me, then," Obadiah took the box from her. "Go on, here, you can have a piece. Take two."
"Thank you."
"You mind if I come down there and see what you're doing?" Obadiah asked.
"Good Night, Obie," Toni walked off with her pizza.
A WEEK LATER
Toni was still in her workshop, constructing the suit. Now, however, she was testing the newly improved flight equipment. "Day 11, test 37, configuration 2.0. For lack of a better option, Dummy is still on fire safety. If you douse me again, and I'm not on fire, I'm donating you to a city college," Toni told the robot. "All right, nice and easy. Seriously, just gonna start off with 1% thrust capacity. And three- two- one-" The thrusters raised her slightly into the air, and then she landed. "Okay," She said happily. Dummy with the fire extinguisher approached. "Please don't follow me around with it, either, 'cause I feel like I'm gonna catch on fire spontaneously. Just stand down! If something happens, then come in," Toni said, pointing at the robot.
"And again, let's bring it up to 2.5. Three- two- one-" Toni was raised even higher this time, and started drifting towards her array of sports cars. "Okay, this is where I don't want to be! Not the car, not the car! Yikes! Table!" Toni flew over the table, spraying pages everywhere. With a chance of luck, she landed in her initial position. "Could be worse! Could be worse! We're fine! Okay." Dummy pointed the fire extinguisher at her, "No! Ah -ah- ah!" Toni held her arms up to the robot. Once he backed away, she lowered them. "Yeah, I can fly."
ANOTHER WEEK PASSED
Toni was being fit with the entire suit. It had a fairly androgynous shape to it, with the waist slimmer than the chest, but not by much. The arc reactor sat near her naval, so it could easily reach her legs and the rest of the suit. The mask closed on her face. "JARVIS, are you there?" She asked.
"At your service, ma'am," JARVIS retorted.
"Engage head's up display," Toni commanded.
"Check."
"Import all preferences from home interface."
"Will do, ma'am," JARVIS answered. The Head's up display started identifying things in the room that she was in.
"All right, what do you say?" Toni questioned.
"I have indeed been uploaded. We're online and ready."
"Can we start the virtual walk-around?" Toni asked.
"Importing preferences and calibrating virtual environment," JARVIS updated.
"Do a check on control surfaces," Toni commanded.
"As you wish," JARVIS said. All the components were tested, "Test complete. Preparing to power down and begin diagnostics."
"Tell you what. Do a weather and ATC check. Start listening in on ground control," Toni instructed.
"Ma'am, there are still terabytes of calculations needed before an actual flight is-"
"JARVIS! Sometimes you got to run before you can walk. Ready? In three- two- one," Toni counted down. The armor powered up and Toni flew out of the garage and shot upwards, flying above the city.
"Handles like a dream," Toni sighed. She flew above a county fair, being able to see children on the Ferris wheel eating ice cream cones.
"All right, let's see what this thing can do. What's SR-71's record?" Toni asked.
"The altitude record for fixed wing flight is 85,000 feet, ma'am," JARVIS responded.
"Records are made to be broken! Come on!" Toni shot into the air, going higher and higher. Adrenaline rushed through her. JARVIS said something about ice and fatality, but she didn't care, the feeling was euphoric. "Keep going, higher!" She urged. But the ice shut down the suit, and Toni started to fall. "Arrgghh! We iced up, JARVIS! Deploy flaps! JARVIS! Come on, we got to break the ice!" Toni tried to spread her arms to increase air resistance, but because of the mass and the metal being designed against air resistance, it helped little. Toni activated the manual flaps. The ice thawed and JARVIS went back online. She was able to activate her thrusters and fly to the roof. "Kill power."
Unfortunately, she forgot the suit's weight and fell several stories to the garage, where she smashed a sports car.
Later, Toni had an icepack on her head and she walked through her workshop. She saw the small gift "From Piper."
You lost your engagement ring in Afghanistan; I thought I would get you a replacement. The metal is from your antiquated prosthetics. Love –P
Toni looked at the ring; the metal was sure enough, titanium from the legs. The gem was an ornate display of diamonds and sapphires, arranged similar to the arc reactor.
Later that evening, Toni was troubleshooting with JARVIS. "Notes. Main transducer feels sluggish at plus 40 altitude. Hull pressurization is problematic. I'm thinking icing is the probable factor," She said.
"A very astute observation, Ma'am. Perhaps, if you intend to visit other planets, we should improve the exosystems," JARVIS suggested.
"Connect to the sys. co. Have it reconfigure the shell metals. Use the gold titanium alloy from the seraphim tactical satellite. That should ensure fuselage integrity while maintaining power-to-weight ratio. Got it?" Toni asked, spinning her office chair.
"Yes. Shall I render using proposed specifications?" JARVIS asked.
"Thrill me," Toni said.
While JARVIS completed a rendering, Toni watched TV. A reporter was outside the Disney Concert Hall. "Tonight's red-hot red carpet is right here at the Disney Concert Hall, where Antoinette Stark's third annual benefit has become the place to be for L.A.'s high society."
"JARVIS, did we get an invitation for that?" Toni asked the AI.
"I have no record of an invitation, ma'am," JARVIS said.
"Antoinette Stark hasn't been seen in public since her bizarre and highly controversial press conference. Some claim she's suffering from posttraumatic stress and has been bedridden for weeks. Others say she dare not show up to the event in a wheelchair. Whatever the case may be, no one expects an appearance from her tonight."
"The render is complete," JARVIS said.
"A little ostentatious, don't you think?" Toni looked at the suit, it was pure gold.
"What was I thinking? You're usually so discreet," JARVIS replied sarcastically.
"Tell you what. Throw a little hot-rod red in there," Toni said, looking at her sports car.
"Yes, that should help you keep a low profile. The render is complete," JARVIS responded.
"Hey, I like it. Fabricate it. Paint it," Toni spun around in her chair once more.
"Commencing automated assembly. Estimated completion time is five hours."
"On an unrelated note, can you show me my selection of mini-dresses?"
"In stock, a total of 300 dresses matching that description," JARVIS beeped.
"Cross reference, formal and long sleeved," Toni said.
"A total of forty three dresses, ma'am," JARVIS said.
"What do you think?"
"I believe this lace piece will be most appropriate," JARVIS said.
"Send it to my room," Toni said, smiling.
AN
SOURCE:
intheir .uk/trans cripts/tran script_iron _man.