Technomancer in MCU #67.1 (Patreon)

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Chapter 67.1

Technomancer in MCU

Stark Tower

–Tony Stark–

When he had arrived at the repaired Stark Tower after the Battle of New York, he had gone over every single inch of the place to make sure that Alfred and Ed didn’t leave any nasty bugs to spy on him but after going through every nook and cranny and tasking Jarvis to analyse every single incoming and outgoing data stream, he was able to come to a single conclusion that Ed and Alfred were truly far ahead of him in terms of technology because there was no way they were not spying on him right then and probably, even now.

After days of him being jumpy around the corners of the Tower, Pepper had finally given up and dragged him back to LA for a few days and that had been a godsend for him because after a good night’s sleep, he was able to come to the obvious solution for his problem. He just tore it all down and had it rebuilt, all the while one of his suits being piloted by Jarvis was supervising their work. It definitely caused some of the workers to make mistakes due to nervousness but it gave him the required peace of mind so he was fine with it.

During their routine check, they had found something odd going on with the basement floors so they told Jarvis about that and after him being unable to scan what was behind the basement doors, had a hunch and called him immediately. Naturally Paranoid about what Ed could have done to his Tower(or more like Avengers Tower but those guys never stayed with him so he could call it whatever he wanted it to), he had come running but even after scratching their collective heads for hours, he and Bruce were nowhere near close to figuring things out. It was made worse by the fact that the doors and even the walls didn’t even have a scratch even after he used all the energy weapons he had on hand to open them. Their curiosity peaked, and they began working on the door and its composition with renewed vigor when suddenly, one of the machines that Banner had been building in his free time began beeping and while he and Banner both looked at each other, Banner went to check in on the results and whatever he saw shocked him so much that for a moment, he thought that he could see hints of green under his neck but thankfully, for his heart and health, Bruce didn’t go all Hulk on him and instead began focusing on the readings of the machine.

He didn’t recognise what the machine was since Bruce had custom-built it and he was not someone who would not understand respecting Lab Privacy. Especially, since the person could squash him like a bug if he felt like it. “Tony,” Bruce whispered as he began rapidly swiping at the screens on the machine, “This is denser than anything I have ever seen. In fact, its density is even higher than that of Vibranium somehow.” His eyes widened at that particular piece of information and he immediately ran over to check on the results.

After a while, both of them sat there after having exhausted all their means of opening the bay doors, exhausted and frustrated at their inability to open a simple door. Bruce had multiple PhDs for God's sakes and even he was not foolish enough to allow the Hulk to come out to open a mere door. Especially since there was a solid possibility of failure and nobody wanted an angry Hulk around, especially not him since it was kinda his home. Just as they were about to give up and go home, an infuriating voice came through the doors, “Greetings, Dr.Banner and Mr.Stark.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Bruce was the one to reply first as faint green undertones could be seen on his face and eyes as Alfred had appeared in front of them in his signature digital avatar. He seemed entirely unphased by the fact that at any moment a wild Hulk could appear and ravage his tower. Of Course, he would not be worried, it was not his tower. Before he could try to calm Bruce down though, Alfred did something and a golden glow was emitted from the blast doors which calmed him down. Looking at Bruce, he could already see the effects as the subtle tension that he always carried around with him faded away, giving him a relaxed vibe for the first time since they had met.

When he looked back at Alfred, he was somehow inside the basement whose doors had opened silently in the time he had taken to check on Bruce. Hesitantly, he poked Bruce and signaled him to walk with him. Walking ahead, he followed Alfred into the basement, only to see a scene straight out of fiction somehow. He opened and closed his eyes multiple times in disbelief and actually asked Jarvis about it but everything else confirmed what he was seeing but he was still not sure about what was happening. “Bruce, you seeing this?” he asked Bruce, “Yeah but h-how? Can they even do that?”

The space inside the basement looked endless, the hallway alone was longer than what the building would permit. They would have to have a Stark Tower that was twice as long to accommodate that hallway alone, not to mention that it had a door at the end of it, indicating that it could not be the end. Before they could ask Alfred about it though, he said, “This is one the Tier-I lab that Ed has decided to give to both of you, Dr.Banner and Mr.Stark, despite my objections, might I say.”

A Lab? But all he saw was a large empty hallway with multiple doors on each side of the walls.

His question must have shown on his face because the next moment, a screen appeared in front of his face, using the same UI that Ed had used during the Battle. Using it, he came across a host of options that had him as well as Bruce salivating at their mouths. The Lab somehow contained tech that he had only dreamed of and never thought could make it a reality in his lifetime, at least before he met Ed.

“What is this? Where is this? Does the basement have the space for an actual particle accelerator?” Bruce asked Alfred.

Particle accelerator? In his basement? Were they mad?

“Don’t worry about that. Our particle accelerators could fit in the palm of your hand if we gave them to you. Remember, Vibranium’s sole purpose is not to be made into a frisbee. Its properties will astonish you. Now, the UI you have access to, Jarvis will soon get a plug-in to connect to it and through that, you’ll get the basic gist of the lab. Don’t worry,” here, he could see the smug look on his face as he said, “I’ve made sure to dumb it down so your VI and you can use it properly. No Offense, Dr.Banner,”

“None taken,” Bruce raised his hands as he said, “This might actually help cure my condition so thank you for that.”

The statement seemed to draw an eye roll and a sigh from Alfred at the same time, “Look, Dr.Banner, no matter what you say, the Hulk is a part of you and please believe me when I tell you that no matter what you do, it won’t be separated from you. Even if you do manage to suppress it somehow, the problem will only grow larger. The solution to your problem is acceptance and no amount of advanced lab equipment is going to help you with that.”

The statement drew stunned looks from me and indignation from Bruce as he roared the next moment, “What do you know? I have to live as a monster, all alone. I can't even die in peace with that monster inside of me.”

Alfred’s face and eyes softened as he replied, “Dying is easy, Dr.Banner. It's the coward's way out of tough situations. Living is infinitely harder but also infinitely rewarding. The world needs you Dr.Banner but not if it means destroying Dr.Bruce Banner just for the sake of the strength of Hulk. You just have to say a word and we’ll have you taken somewhere where you and the Hulk won't be treated as a monster but a champion. Hell, even in our organisation, we have walking monsters who could, if given enough time, destabilise the rotation of the entire planet, destroying the very planet we live on. And you have had the distinct pleasure of meeting the strongest of them all.”

Destabilise the Earth’s rotation? Destroy the Planet? Were these people insane?

“Is it Ed?” Bruce asked Alfred with oh-so-tired eyes before he could say anything. Damn, today was the first day where he had been made speechless so many times.

Alfred nodded, “Yes, and now I have to go but do remember, all the machines and anything you might find in the lab cannot be taken outside, only used inside. You can build the machines here, bring your own raw materials, process them, and take the finished product outside for your use but nothing that came with the lab will be taken out of this place. Not that you will be able to since everything is bolted shut using very strong bolts,” and then promptly winked out of existence.

He rolled his eyes at that. As if just any bolt could hope to keep them out. He was stripping this entire place down the first thing tomorrow when he could get a legion of Jarvis operated machinery here.

“Oh, it looks like he was right, Tony.” He heard Bruce tell him. He looked towards Bruce only to see him swiping on the holo screen he had in front of him, resulting in his window becoming visible on his holo screen as well.

Looking closer, he could see that nearly all the stuff in the lab was made out of reinforced Adamantium, which was a name he had never heard of. It must be something they custom made but what custom alloy could stop him? But as he kept reading the material properties of Adamantium, the more he struggled to believe that the material was real and even if it was real, he refused to believe that they were using it for something as mundane as bolts to hold down equipment. The doors, he could understand as that was the single point of entry and they had to secure a lab of this level but bolts? Honestly, that was the point where he understood how big the difference between his technology level and Ed’s technological level was.

As he was using the hologram, it glitched somehow and then the ever-comforting voice of Jarvis came throughout the lab, as if he was speaking from all directions at once, “Hello, Sir. Should I call the post office to inform them about your future change in residential address since I believe this is going to both of your homes for the foreseeable future?”

Oh, the sass!

He dramatically clutched his heart and sported a devastated look on his face, “Et tu, Jarvis?” Then immediately went back to his normal mood and said, “Eh, might happen. Anyway, get us some pizzas down here, Jarvis. We are science bros working here. Tell Pepper it might get late since the list of things we could do here seems never ending and even you might need time to go through everything here. It seems the upgrade I had planned for you needs to happen ahead of schedule then.”

“Uh, sir. The processing power available in the lab's server nodes is currently a million times greater than the power I had access to before.” Jarvis said out, shock clear in his voice.

“Whaa–”

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Word Count - 2021

A/N ➖ This background tidbit had been forgotten by me and had to include this as I feel it is vital to the story progression ahead.

The things that will happen after Ed’s public announcement will need a certain background of how the technological advancements happened and these two part chapters will provide that background.

Stay tuned for more!

Toodles!