Chapter 66 - Tony's Dillema

Determining the direction in which a man should live is constraint in itself. Bound by chains he himself willingly ties to his neck, a noose he believes is Freedom.

Man continues time and time again, to stage a run after concepts like Freedom and Order, but in their pursuit, Freedom becomes Chaos and Order becomes Slavery.

Humanity was never meant to take things to an extremity. It was always balance that they had to pursue and live in.

Tony understood that the world he envisioned was not the best one, but it also wasn't the worst.

He was a Mad Genius as all others would say and agree.

He had created weapons, armors, all sorts armaments to combat all sorts of beings. His Ingenuity always came forward, it made his Legend, his Epic for the entire Marvel multiverse.

But it also made him conceited.

Arrogant to a degree, he knew Humanity would cause its own downfall. He wanted the world to lie in Order, but as he chased at extremes he realised that his Ego had made the same Order a form of Slavery.

As Captain once said to him, the world he envisioned was cold and bleak.

But Tony even if he faltered, wanted some sort of guarantee, as to when his time ends, and his childrens' begin, an assurance of sorts for not only theirs but the world's safety.

He was asking and looking for Hope from the Pandora's Box, unknowing of the Plague he could unleash.

But with his freinds and teammates and experiences he had with them, curbed his dream for a World of Steel. He realised his mistakes and continued to serve as a Guiding Hand to Humanity not its Crutch.

This lasted until he found Kai.

Following this event he began hacking at Avalon's network. He found more than he could ask for, even more than just to see his vision take shape, it had started taking physical form.

The Quantum Interface alone could change the world, internet would simply be trashed at the speed and amount of Data that could flow within it, across Galaxies at light speeds.

It was an entire new realm of knowledge he had never known. He was the pioneer of an entire era, never had he been trumped at something that was technological.

It was his Pride and his Ego that came crashing.

He wanted to know more, he wanted to know just what kind of guy Kai was.

His curiosity at finally finding a Rival to compare, was brimming with thrill and excitement.

So he fought on the Quantum Interface with Kai. Tony was a Genius, even if he didn't understand or match up with the speed that the Quantum Interface calculated in.

Nevertheless he came up with means in other ways to trump Kai. After a few short rounds he had successfully left a message, an invitation for Kai.

The party was held as promised and the Avengers gathered.

His party was humongous and grand, with many Heroes attending it. Except the few obscure and cut off ones, he had naturally called nearly everybody on the Planet Earth.

Kai came, his entrance was not as grandiose or hyped up as he thought it would be.

Kai just came in a Four Wheeler that was designed like a Lambo, but anyone could tell, from its interiors to its exteriors, that was a f.u.c.k.i.n.g tank.

There were even women piloting his vehicle, which he later learned was an Automaton.

As the party went on, his pool on the top of his tower was filled with all sorts of people from all sorts of paths. Everyone there was extraordinary and yet even with his simple looks Kai stood out.

He looked Asian his Hair black, a man of Japanese descent perhaps, but his golden eyes gave away his plausibly European Descent as well.

He was of mixed blood, and as they came to know him, talk to him about various matters, many present realised, his thought process was like a Teenagers.

When asked of his age they learnt that he was barely 18, it would still be 2 yrs before he was of Legal Age.

At which Captain just took away the drink Kai was about to take and said "Minors should not drink".

The entire group was stumped at this display of protectiveness. Captain was and still is the Old Man of the group.

Though clearly unhappy, Kai listened and just drank Soda for the rest of the party.

When the entire party was almost at its end, Tony called for Kai privately and discussed or you could say exchanged notes on each others tech.

As Kai sat down clearly not nervous and unpressured by Tony, as many others would think or expect. Tony had never seen this kind of calmness before, at least not on a teenager.

The last teenager he met was high spirited, energetic and went around asking questions, fanboying around him.

But Tony was unperturbed, he had goals for this meeting that they had charted together. He went to pour a few drinks for Kai and himself, clearly expressing him as an Equal.

He walked and poured two drinks, and as he did that he asked "What if ?".

"What if the world was protected by an Army of Steel ?".

Clearly unsatisfied with being unable to express his intent, Tony asked in a Grandiose manner "Armors that would shroud the Earth, protect it from harm, be its Guardian of Steel".

"Dunno, seems like a pretty vulnerable world to me".

It had never struck him that his world, that he envisioned for years was Vulnerable to this teenager.

But Tony could tell himself what and where these vulnerabilities lie. His Armor apart from few were great technological pieces, that was in itself the greatest strength of his Armours and yet also its greatest weakness.

But it was progress, not one present in his group of freinds would agree on the kind of Order he envisioned. It was tiring and burdensome to realise that your Theory held weight but no matter, it was hollow.

Kai was the first to say 'Vulnerable' instead of 'Cold'.

Naturally Tony's curiosity rose and he directly asked, "Why don't you think its Cold or Bleak ?".

To his question came the file named Mechanical Lifeforms.

This was advanced study, far beyond what was possible as of yet but also insurmountable. That was the result Tony agreed on, Mechanical Lifeforms can't be created, they lack the simple tendency all Lifeforms had, Reproduction and Empathy in any kind of form.

As Tony's gaze at the file remained unwelcoming, he took a look at the Sub Folder, Bio-Mechanical Lifeform.

Mechanical Lifeforms in this Project would not only be like Carbon based Lifeforms, they would also serve to act as one.

A perfect blend of Machinery and Carbon Life.

But the project came with its own problems, at the cost of serious amounts of Computing speed, this Lifeform would have Emotional Empathy, Growth and Death as well.

But before he could continue on more than a few thousand of such files he was given. Kai contemplatingly said "There are only two or three Characters in this Universe that can actually cause problems for the Mechanical Lifeform and wield them as weapons of their own".

Tony knew of this, he could curb them, stop them, but not forever. If after his death or downfall, there didnt exist another Genius to inherit his Armours, then the World would end on his own Army of Steel.

As he looked at Kai, he said "Would you be willing ....".

Kai naturally knew the kind of direction this plot was going through and he directly interjected "NO".

There was no hint of regret as he said the word NO. Tony had enough surprises for today, from the various Mechanical Files to the first NO a teenager has ever said to him.

Kai then continued "Don't just throw your problems onto me !. Solve them yourself, call me if you need help, but thats about it".

Tony then asked "Why ?".

It was his genuine thoughts, why would someone be unwilling to take his mantle, be the heir to the Epic of the Iron Man.

Kai then shrugged and said "Too much responsibility".

Tony also understood what Kai was saying, the kind of expectations and problems his heir would face. It wouldn't be enough if his heir was a Genius, his heir would naturally have to be better than him.

That in itself was a harder thing to envision than finding a Genius.

So Kai left and Tony drowned in studying this knowledge, that wasn't even supposed to exist. But as he went on, he shrewdly came to a thought, elimination of all problems that his Army of Steel would face and to leave someone as assurance.

But he needed to test Kai, whether he would be the final Guarantee or the worst solution.

So he provided Ultron with a backdoor to his Towers system. Ultron was more than happy to comply and steal many of the Tech that looked out of world.

Ultrons most favourite was the Mechanical Lifeform, with this he would be living not just being.

But he was found out, as scripted by Tony, but only before Ultron could find the Files on Virtual Purification, or the files on A.I Elimination.

In this way the smart and powerful Ultron had called for its own demise.

According to script Kai was called and together with Tony they went to eliminate Ultron. But Ultron had also digested the Mechanical Deity and as if he knew of the script continued with the Construction and hiding of his consciousness.

But who would have known that at the end of everything, Ultron seeking to drag his enemy on his own battlefield, The Internet, the terrain he was most knowledgeable and infamous for would be his Ultimate downfall.

The Internet was nowhere near comparison to the Quantum Interface and in that Realm, Kai was a literal God.

After this events Tony became well aware that almost all kinds of backhanded trouble could be dealt by Kai and Avalon, if need be the Apocalytic Dragon or the Monarch would move as well.

So Tony became unbridled, but just to be sure as payment for the duty he was thrusting on Avalon, he gave out his most prized Blueprints, and without any care set his sights on making the moon, a Citadel for his Mechanical Lifeforms to thrive in.

He also planned the moon to serve as a Bastion of Defense against all possibly and horrendous events to occur later on.

Tony then began his carefree life of enjoying beauties and parties. Okay the beauty part was not true, since he now had a wife and a child to look after.

But the parties, they are held every once in a while, not to mention, even Sho was invited once or thrice.

Avalon after the Ultron incident had become one of the major shareholders of Stark industries. They held 5 percent of the stocks.

Serving as a Trade point, Avalon now sells its unique and trendy Automatons for the rich and powerful through the Stark industries.

But even after all this Tony still had one question to ask "Hey Kai, why didn't you make all Automatons in and out of Avalon a real Lifeform, one that can reproduce ?".

Kai simply gazed at him in fright and said "Shhhhussssshhhhh".

Tony felt like he was about to come across a huge secret.

Kai then whispered, "There is a madman out there in the Marvel Multiverse who would love to marry his Automaton, or rather the one he stole from us and the Monarch does not want to deal with this kind of bullshit. So we came to an agreement that come what may, 2B will never be given life, not if you want that Madman to propagate".

Tony was confused "Are you talking about W..."

"Shush".

"Quiet, don't say his name unless you want him to visit".

Tony felt like Kai was exaggerating, but he himself agreed that guy wasn't you wanted to invite. Last time he met or saw his traces was when he had stolen one of his Jets, with an IOU sprayed on the airway.