Of Neuromancy & Iron Wills 16 (Patreon)

"This synthetic skin is quite impressive," Yinsen said as he examined William's cybernetic arm. All the tests had come back positive, his body was accepting the replacement with amazing speed and clarity. It was beyond anything he’d expected. He’d seen the best prosthetics in production by cutting edge research companies, and William’s made those look like the wooden blocks used to teach children shapes.

William shrugged, “I’m not entirely happy with it, doesn’t move as smoothly as I’d like, but for a first draft it’ll suffice. But I’ve got too many irons in the fire right now to focus on that, maybe in a couple months.”

Yinsen chuckled as he continued examining the cybernetic limb. The range of motion was comparable to a human arm, tactile response was as well. It really functioned almost identically to an average arm. It wasn’t quite as flexible as the outer range of human potential, but William’s build wouldn’t have allowed that anyway.

Eventually, Yinsen sighed and removed his surgical gloves, “Despite my misgivings, I cannot find any problems with your limb. Well done, William.”

“Thanks, Yinsen,” he said with a smile as he stood up, before a slightly nervous look spread across his face. “On an unrelated note, can I… talk to you about something?”

“Of course,” Yinsen agreed.

“How did sex change your relationship?”

If Yinsen had been drinking, he’d have choked on it. Instead, he simply turned to look at the still nervous, almost sheepish, looking young man. Yinsen raised an eyebrow, and William continued, “Toni and I… well we had our first time together last night. I don’t want things to get awkward between us, and you’re the only person I can talk to who has had a healthy married life, so… yeah…”

The brainchild of countless inventions over the last few months, a man who had looked death in the face without hesitating, now sat before Yinsen looking like a boy after asking his crush on a date. It took all Yinsen had not to laugh at the juxtaposition.

Instead, he nodded slowly, “I will speak frankly, William.”

“Thank you,” he said quietly, his body relaxing.

“I say this as a friend, with all that implies,” Yinsen began. “You’re thinking too much.”

William blinked, looking up at Yinsen, “Come again?”

“Sex will make no difference to your relationship, nor will it change the way Toni feels about you. Anyone who spends time around the two of you can tell you are in love with each other. A little physical intimacy won't ruin what you have. Continue doing what you already were, before you took that step, and everything will be fine.”

William looked down, nodding slowly. Yinsen smiled, patting him on the shoulder, “You are a good man William, and from all I have seen, you have nothing to be concerned about. Toni enjoys spending time with you, you enjoy spending time with her, that is the most important part. Not what you get up to in the bedroom or the workshop.”

Yinsen paused, realizing how that could have been interpreted. The snort from William made him close his eyes as he spoke, “I don’t know what you were thinking, but we haven’t done it there.”

“Good,” Yinsen dryly said. “I don’t want to imagine what sort of fluids would get in your projects if you had.”

[hr][/hr]

Dimitri Smerdyakov walked through the halls of SHIELD HQ, the most advanced security force on the planet surrounding him, unable to pick up that he didn’t belong. After nearly ten minutes, he reached his destination and sat at the computer terminal. He didn’t do anything as mundane or noticeable as plugging in a flash drive to the computer, with the equipment provided by his superiors he didn’t need to.

Even without moving his head, the professional spy took in his surroundings. Dozens of computer workers, security staff on the room’s perimeter, a squad of agents running through on an exercise run throughout the perimeter. Security standing bored, not leaning to speak into radios, no indications from body language of any awareness of Dimitri’s presence.

Keeping his awareness up, Dimitri continued to play the role of an office worker throughout the day. At no point was there any indicator of his presence being made. When the work day ended, Dimitri left, getting on the same bus he rode into SHIELD on, and making his way to the apartment of his target. He entered, shut the door behind him, and made his way past the kitchen towards the bathroom. There were preparations to be done.

In the span of fifteen minutes, the apartment was staged to look like a home invasion that, when combined with a faulty gas line, caused the entire apartment to burn down. At the same time, Dimitri was at his superior’s office, half a world away.

“Were you identified?” his employer asked.

“No,” Dimitri answered as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small metal disk before placing it on the desk. “There were no signs that my presence was noticed.”

“Good, you are dismissed.”

Dimitri turned around and exited the room, moments before an orange circle appeared midair and a figure clad in green walked through, the circle vanishing behind them. The figure gave a glance towards the disk as the person behind the desk picked it up.

“You waste your time with your petty trinkets,” the newcomer said.

“And your kind got where they are without using tools?” they returned, turning to level a glare at their guest. “You would be well not to make offers you cannot keep, Project Shockwave has hardly had the results you promised.”

“I clearly overestimated the mental fortitude of your kind. If you cannot handle the slightest amount of energy running through them, it is a miracle that your species has survived thus far.”

What neither individual noticed, Dimitri had left more than one item in the room. An earpiece fed every word they said to Dimitri’s ear. The HYDRA agent rolled his eyes as the two bickered, his respect for the organization that signed his paycheck dropping a little more each day. If they continued, he’d find some way to ditch them within the next year or two. Project Shockwave had been somewhat of a mixed bag: there were a bunch of eggheads in the base making shit, but each of them also needed a handler to make sure that they didn’t drown in their own spit.

The only unqualified success had blown up the base they’d made him in, and then promptly fallen face first into the only living Stark. Making him far too high profile for HYDRA to reclaim, even for one with Dimitri’s skills and talents. Moderately annoying, but Dimitri didn’t really care for the thought of finding out what sort of gear Stark kept for herself. That was without considering the sort of toys she’d have with a Shockwave recipient to bounce ideas off of.

Dimitri knew that attempting to get the Shockwave with Stark back to HYDRA was a lost cause. That genie was out of the bottle, and there was no putting it back in. It would be one thing if the two split apart once they were back in the States, SHIELD would be keeping an eye on him, but it would be conceivable. But not anymore, Fury had his remaining eye keeping close watch on Stark and Gibson. HYDRA wasn’t quite at the point where they could overthrow SHIELD, that was the whole point of Project Shockwave in the first place.

Putting his thoughts on Stark aside, Dimitri entered one of the various offices on base and placed a metal disk next to the computer. He may be the best field agent that HYDRA had, but that didn’t mean he didn’t take precautions. By this point, he had hidden accounts and years worth of blackmail hidden in dozens of different caches. When he was ready to burn the Dimitri Smerdyakov identity, he’d have plenty of options waiting for him.

He chuckled, at the thought. HYDRA thought they’d made him who he was, and sure, the procedures they’d augmented him with had certainly made him deadly, but not even the Head of HYDRA realized just how many lives he’d lived. This was merely the longest one he’d gone without burning a given identity.

Maybe he’d head back to New York when he left HYDRA, he’d had more fun than he’d expected when he was working alongside Conners and Parker. Maybe he’d pick up that identity again, see if they’d be up for a game night or two.

[hr][/hr]

Obadiah Stane gave his reporter’s smile and shook the hand of the next person at the event. It wasn’t a big event, but given how Stark Industries had soared, it was something that they needed to do every now and then. The biggest source of entertainment, for him at least, was how obviously uncomfortable Gibson was with all the attention and focus on him. Toni had been a lot like that, before she got used to it. What was especially surprising was that Toni was the one to organize this event.

Toni still didn’t like these events, but she could handle them. So long as she had time to tinker undisturbed in her lab for twenty four hours afterwards. It was the best compromise she’d been able to manage. It wasn’t that she’d refuse to attend events without her lab time, but it was needed for her to be able to function on a level that wouldn’t cause problems. The benefits of having her show up just weren’t enough to put up with those issues.

A loud clap gathered the attention of everyone in the gallery, drawing all eyes to Toni, her eyes glittering in a way that told Obadiah that she was getting ready to unveil something new. Something that she’d decided to keep a surprise from him, which was annoying but unsurprising. Gibson was standing in front, a soft smile on his face, as Toni began to speak.

The speech was her usual, filled with more technical details than Obadiah understood, but it was surprisingly light on them. Gibson probably had something to do with that. But the item they were unveiling surprised him: an exoskeleton designed for mobility assistance for people recovering from spinal trauma or with paralysis. Obadiah immediately thought of a dozen different contractors who would be interested in attaching weapons and armor plating to it.

Obadiah nodded to himself, this was a good product, for both civilian and military use. By announcing it this way, it also served as good PR for Stark Industries. Nice to see that Toni and Gibson worked so well together. Obadiah’s gaze turned back to look at Gibson, and he was hit with an immediate sense of deja vu. The young man had a look on his face, one that he hadn’t seen in well over a decade. It was the same way that Howard used to look at Maria, like the rest of the world disappeared and all that mattered, all that he saw, was her.

“I wish you could see him, old friend,” Obadiah muttered to himself, lifting his glass in a silent toast.

Howard would have liked Gibson, and not just for how happy he made Toni, though that was certainly a point in his favor. There was something about the young man, a drive to push technology ever forwards, yet a fondness for the past. Obadiah chuckled to himself, he couldn’t think of anyone who’d been so excited about an antique anvil of all things.

Turning his attention to the unlikely couple, Obadiah smiled as the two fielded questions from the reporters and paparazzi. Yes, Gibson was easily one of the best things to happen, not just to Stark Industries, but for Toni. He looked forward to seeing everything they’d achieve once their space program got running, especially once they started bringing back materials mined from asteroids. That would be a game changer.