"Came to pick you up. You don't have to eat with the regular agents. Your badge gets you into the real restaurant."
"That's good news," James said. "Though I doubt it'll beat the food from the other night."
"Of course not," Hill said, eyes flicking briefly toward him. "But we can always try again, when there's time."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James and Hill left their understanding unspoken. They could meet when it suited them, but neither brought up feelings. That was how true Americans handled things, and James was learning to adapt. In another life, he might've learned sooner, but he'd missed his chance when Stark went off the rails after their first meeting.
By afternoon, James was back in his studio. The hum of processors filled the room. He brought up the helicarrier schematics on holographic projectors, tracing command lines from the bridge to critical sections.
[Cortana: Mapping complete. All lines committed to memory.]
James nodded. Designing a smart system wasn't easy. Earth's intelligence tech wasn't far along yet, not even in this universe. Stark's J.A.R.V.I.S. was the best James had seen — but even J.A.R.V.I.S. wasn't truly independent. It was an assistant. The real mind behind it was still Stark.
James outlined requirements to Cortana. "Primary function has to be flight control. Secondary — security. No repeats of the New York incident from the movies. Nobody gets to fire a nuke without the commander's direct order. And combat response needs better coordination. The helicarrier sat idle during the invasion. One archer compromised half a fleet. That can't happen again."
[Cortana: Parameters logged. Requesting long-term memory allocation for persistent monitoring.]
James let her process while he skimmed through data. Hours passed before his phone buzzed. Kyle Robert's voice came clear.
"Boss, qualifiers for the E-sports competition have begun. The top sixteen will move to the finals. Do you plan to attend?"
"Nicely done," James said. "Let our cooperation company send people to visit and learn. They will start holding it next year too. Is our E-Sports Arena finished?"
"Almost complete. Equipment is being installed. The square is already finished. The entire style matches the game setting."
"You've done well. I'll attend the finals in person. Send me the schedule. I'll bring Stark with me."
Minutes later, a message pinged in. Finals are at night. Championship only. Perfect.
James finished the day with dinner at the executive restaurant, then returned home after stopping by a store to buy bags of ice. Cooking alone wasn't an option — not with his schedule.
Inside the apartment, he locked the bathroom door, filled the bathtub with water and dumped the ice. No cameras here, they wouldn't dare to. From a hidden compartment he drew out a spare BADASSIUM reactor. Stark had left him several for contingencies. Tonight, he needed one.
"Cortana, you ready?"
[Ready. Initiating energy transfer.]
James got naked except for his underwear and submerged into the cold water without whimpering, "I'm a man, this is nothing, it's just cold water hu ah hu ah hu ah".
He pressed the reactor to his palm. Energy surged through his body, familiar but still overwhelming. Last time it had hardened his muscles and bones. This time it was directed inward, fueling Cortana's upgrades and restructuring, making him feel like a furnace.
His nerves hummed like a live wire. His brain spun like a machine, multitasking at inhuman speed. Cortana began arranging the data into structures he hadn't expected.
"What are you doing?" James asked, voice tense.
[Constructing a technology tree. It allows systematic integration of acquired tech. Human, alien, or hybrid can all be placed on branches, compared, and extrapolated. With each addition, higher tiers become predictable.]
James exhaled. "Makes sense. Organized absorption instead of chaos."
[Correct. This way, if we encounter alien systems, we won't just imitate. We'll expand.]
James grinned despite the heat running through his veins. "How Ambitious. Maybe one day we'll reach the Higher Realms of existence or other planets."
[Possibility acknowledged.]
The reactor hummed low. Cortana finished her restructuring.
[Upgrade complete. Remaining energy distributed to biological reinforcement.]
James staggered back, bracing on the sink. He felt quicker and stronger. "Feels good. Think my body can improve indefinitely?"
[Not with this energy. Only pure Infinity Stone-grade sources offer true limitless reinforcement.]
James's eyes narrowed. "Then why is there no safeguard password required this time?"
[This was not a system rewrite. It was information storage and structural refinement. No risk of takeover.]
That eased him. Biological-computer hybrid or not, the balance between them mattered.
He closed the reactor, cooled it, and stepped out into the living room dried and clothed. A cold Coke in hand, he sank onto the sofa heaving from the earlier cold plunge and furnace like experience.
"How's the helicarrier program?"
[Cortana: Feasible. Requirements modest. Estimated two weeks till deployment. Energy cost is negligible.]
"And for us?"
[More complex. The question is: what level of intelligence do you require? If you mean another version of me — impossible. My framework isn't binary. I don't operate on ones and zeroes.]
James froze, Coke halfway to his lips. "What? Then what the hell are you made of?"