Chapter 59: Speeding up

Chapter 59: Speeding up

It took the usually unflappable inventor a full thirty seconds to finally respond to my statement.

"Are you fucking serious?" He asked, his eyes wide. "Where the hell did you find an ingot of vibranium? Do you have any idea how much money this is worth? No, of course you do, or you wouldn't have done your whole dramatic reveal thing."

"Of course I do." I confirmed with a smile and a shrug.

Of course my issue wasn't not knowing what it was worth. My issue was knowing if anyone would recognize the name or not. Thankfully it seemed they did.

"I'm not really looking to sell it per say. Money really isn't an issue at this point."

"Sounds to me like you're looking to trade." He pointed out.

"It's possible." I said with a smile before shifting to a more serious look "I want you to help me build something."

"Really? Going to be all dramatic about that too?" He asked, rolling his eyes before looking back down at the vibranium. "You know one of the dumbest things my dad ever did was gather all the vibranium he could find and build it into a shield? The things we have been able to learn from the tiny amount we have found since then"

"It's a versatile metal. Unfortunately all I've been using it for is to reinforce my armor."

"Wait, you did your combining thing with vibranium? How much did you use? Where the hell did you get it?"

"A few dozen ingots." I explained, smirking now. "And I have as much as I need."

"As much as" Tony made a critical face for a moment, looking at me suspiciously. "You fucked with reality again, didn't you."

"I absolutely did."

"Alright, I'll bite." He said, throwing the ingot back to me, which I caught and put down on the counter. "What do you need help building?"

"Well, honestly, at this point I have most of my problems solved." I admitted. "My armor is well I won't say unstoppable but I consider it sufficient for now. Money problems are solved, and I have access to intel and other resources through Shield. I'm pretty stable in most areas. Which leaves nothing else to do but expand and experiment."

"You're bored." Tony said, smirking now. "You're looking for the next project because you're bored."

"Not really, not yet at least. I'm just looking for the next project. I have a few planned out ideas, some of which are kind of depending on Shield to well they need some-"

"You realize I know about Hydra already right?" Tony said with a smirk. "Jarvis hacks the pentagon daily and makes a list of everything I need to know. Shield is a bit more challenging but once Hydra came in his report I got curious. Why do you think I was so adamant about getting my armor running before I let you work your voodoo?"

"Huh Alright, that's fair. Then you know about?"

"That you de-aged Peggy Carter and she is running around with the all American popsicle? Yes, I know." Stark said, turning to tap on the computer behind him.

He worked for a moment before pulling up cell phone camera footage of Steve, Bucky and Peggy, along with a few Shield agents storming a building. The footage zoomed in on Steve and Peggy's faces.Updated from novelbIn.(c)om

"Why did he just let you leave like that?" Ema asked, floating around as she scrolled through the quad stacked UCM's control screen. "I mean as basic as it is, it's still a robot platform."

"If I had to guess? Because he assumed he would be my only source if I wanted new ones, and that it's not that advanced. I could have gotten something from half a dozen different places. I bet Hammer industries would have given me a dozen drones for half an ingot of vibranium. " I explained with a shrug. "Tony wasn't kidding when he said that the important part was missing. Making a bipedal robot isn't the hard part, programming one to interact with the world with any sort of proficiency is."

We waited an hour for the UCM's to spit out their first copies before starting to experiment. I combined the cartridge with books on speech, language and conversations, as well as basic psychology, body language, and even a few books on bedside manners for nurses and doctors. I then added a dozen books on first aid, paramedic training, triage and all sorts of other medical knowledge, all focused on in-the-field treatment. When I was done I inserted it back into one of the copies. The robot jerked as its limbs unlocked before it turned to look at me.

"Greetings." It said in a robotic voice. "Are you injured?"

"My hand is a little sore." I said, holding my glove covered hand out to it.

The robot stepped closer before gently taking my hand and removing my glove. It examined me, turning my hand over and checking for anything wrong. Finding nothing it stepped back and looked up at me.

"You are uninjured. If you continue to feel symptoms please notify your doctor as unexplained pain can be a symptom of several deeper issues."

The robot said clearly, before looking around and noticing Ema, who was floating just next to it.

"Greetings. Are you injured?"

"...No." She answered, looking the robot up and down before looking back at me. "Not the brightest bulb in the batch, huh? I'm made of metal, floating and less than six inches across for crying out loud."

"It's just a proof of concept Ema, Just wanted to make sure it would work at all." I assured her, stepping around the robot and pulling it into a card. "Not bad all things considered, it even adopted a slightly more natural pose."

I examined the card for any hints of sentience, nodding in satisfaction when I found none, though its knowledge had grown quite a bit. Satisfied my concept was achievable I knuckled down and got to work.

I started by removing each of the robots arms, combining one with a powerful healing flashlight, augmenting with a copy of my own healing amulet. I combined the other with one of my medical scanners. I pulled the robot apart piece by piece, enhancing, reinforcing and empowering everything I could. I even combined an energy cell with its battery, as well as some powerful multi stacked solar panels to its plating. My final act was to bind it to myself, but instead of using a lock, I used a combination of instruction manuals, a children's book on the importance of obeying those in charge, and a few other bits of electronics and switches. At first I deliberately left out any trace of magic save the healing flashlight now embedded in its left palm, but I soon gave up on that concept when it started getting in the way of how far I could push its design.

When I was finally done two days later I reactivated the robot, standing outside the tent of the quarry. It stood up from its folded form, now fully fleshed out instead of just a robotic skeleton. It still retained its fully robotic look, but between the vibranium, Asgardian alloy, super metal plating and several other additions, it now looked more streamlined and finished. It had a wing pack permanently attached to its back, though it was a basic version that was stuck going under five hundred miles per hour. Its metallic plating, which was smooth and sleek, was painted completely white, with various red accents painted on, a large caduceus staff softly glowing red and blue on its chest and shoulders, signifying its singular purpose.

"Hello" It said, finally standing upright, its face turned to me. Its stance was completely natural, the robot doing its best to seem open and peaceful. "I'm here to help. Are you injured?"

"No." I said simply. "There aren't any injured people here."

"Really?" The robot said before looking around, scanning across the open space before nodding in agreement. "Very well. Please notify me if you become injured."

"Could you do me a favor?" I asked the robot. "Jump in place ten times."

It got into position and started jumping, smoothly following my orders immediately. I spent the rest of the day checking its abilities and obedience, making sure that it would only follow my directions, even if I asked it to damage itself. I would have liked to have made it follow Ema's orders as well, but I couldn't risk adding any sort of electronic control mechanism into it. When I was done putting it through its paces I instructed it to fold up and hibernate, which it promptly did.

"That was not bad for a few days of work!" I said excitedly, fist bumping Ema before she exited her exosuit. "It seemed to follow my directions pretty well, and not hurting people seems pretty well locked in. I need to test it on other people, but I think we successfully made an autonomous healing robot doctor. The Caduceus Droid."

"...why though?" Ema asked, flying around my head, before floating down and scanning the hibernating robot. "I asked before but you just waved me away."

"This is a Marvel world Ema. We have already had a few small scale fights, but a huge massive conflict will happen eventually. Skrulls, Kree, mutants, inhumans, demons, vampires, the list is fucking endless. Having a bunch of quick healing droids could save hundreds, if not thousands of people who get stuck in the crossfire. " I explained, reaching down and carding the robot once Ema was done scanning it. "PlusThis is still just a proof of concept. I already have ideas for the next few sets."