"His condition is dire. Aside from the infection risks from all the wires he implanted in his body, he's old. His recovery rate isn't what it used to be. At his age, injuries mean a high chance of permanent damage. Even if he survives the infection and inflammation, his bodily functions are already badly compromised. I suggest you ask if he has any last wishes…"
Tony slammed his fist on the table. The bang startled Strange, who muttered, "You'd better make sure the fee you're paying me is worth putting up with that temper."
Schiller quipped, "And I'm pretty sure your courage is just barely worth surviving Tony's fists."
Tony looked at Obadiah, lying on the lab table, pupils clouding. A storm of emotion swallowed him. He still couldn't understand why Obadiah had done this to himself.
"I always wanted to prove to Howard that my biotech route wasn't worthless," Obadiah rasped. "That it could grant strength, let even a broken body control armor flawlessly…"
"But you're dying!" Tony snapped. "What could matter more than staying alive?!"
"Howard died younger than I will…" Obadiah sighed. "Served him right… But a pity nonetheless."
A knot of emotions twisted in Tony's chest. He realized their partnership hadn't been the perfect legend people imagined. Walking beside a genius like Howard, how could Obadiah not feel envy? Maybe once, he'd dreamed of proving himself without Howard. But when Howard was gone, who was left to prove it to?
Now Obadiah was old. He must have known if he didn't do this now, he'd never get another chance. Someone in the Stark line had to acknowledge he was right. If Howard wouldn't, maybe Tony would.
"I'll save him!" Tony lunged across the lab, rifling frantically through papers and parts. The theft of his armor cores no longer mattered—Obadiah was the closest thing to family he had left, and he was about to die. Nothing else mattered.
"Cardiac stents! We need to put in a stent!" Tony said.
Strange shook his head. "You have no medical training. His heart is failing. A stent won't fix it."
"Then put in more!"
"Unless you can build him an entirely new mechanical heart, his current one can't pump blood. In three hours—less—he'll die of heart failure."
"Do you only know how to gloat, Doctor?!" Tony roared.
Strange roared right back: "You rich bastards waste my entire afternoon on miracles you can't buy! I'm telling you the truth! He's finished! Even God couldn't save a heart you've riddled with holes!"
Schiller patted Strange's shoulder. "You still don't see it? This billionaire, stripped of everything but money, would pay anything to save his uncle. Name your price."
Strange rubbed his temples. "Do you think I don't want that payday? But if medicine could save him, no one on Earth would ever die."
"What did you just say?" Tony's head snapped around.
"…What?" Strange blinked.
"Yes… a mechanical heart! Build him a new one!"
Schiller checked his watch. "You've got three hours."
He glanced at Obadiah. "That's the optimistic estimate. More likely two. Beyond that, even with a new heart, ischemia will destroy him."
Tony fell silent. The fury drained from his voice. His cursed, brilliant mind spun into overdrive.
"This is insane," Strange said. "Implanting a machine heart in a living body? What about rejection?"
Tony punched him in the face. Schiller dragged Strange out before he could retaliate. Strange muttered, rubbing his nose, "Damn rich lunatics…"
"Cheer up," Schiller said. "Think of the eight-figure fee coming your way."
"…He'd really pay that much?"
"He's Stark. The tile under your shoes probably costs a month of your salary."
For once, Strange didn't argue. Even the payday didn't brighten his mood.
Moments later, Tony burst out of the lab, wild-eyed. "I've got it! The arc reactor model—it's perfect!"
"I need an assistant. Now!"
Strange stayed seated. Schiller sighed. "Fine. As long as it's not another lightbulb."
Inside, the lab was chaos. Schiller stepped over piles of schematics while Tony worked feverishly at a console. "The reactor's structure isn't just energy efficient. It matches human physiology. As for rejection…"
Tony froze. His hands braced on the table, head bowed. "…I almost died from rejection once. Maybe this is karma."
"Save the fatalism," Schiller said, glancing at Obadiah.
The old man still clung to consciousness, but he couldn't speak. He stared at the workbench.
Maybe, years ago, he'd stood just like this—watching Howard, young and burning with brilliance, working late into the night. They'd share experiments, then breakfast, dreaming how their inventions would reshape the world.
Howard, brilliant and ambitious, was born to change everything. Obadiah had been the shadow beside him. A man who only wanted to use his skills to get by.
Now Obadiah felt warmth spread from his chest through his limbs. Memories flickered before him like film reels: the glory years, when the giant they built together rose and ruled the world.
Howard had died too soon—but perhaps it was better that way. Their friendship stayed preserved, never corroded by years of petty disappointments. Even on his deathbed, Obadiah could recall it with pride, without any regret.
"You need to hurry," Schiller warned. "We miscalculated—he's got an hour and a half at best. He's slipping."
"No! No, wait—don't you dare—" Tony cried, panic breaking through.
"When the will to live goes, the body collapses fast," Schiller said.
Tony's knuckles whitened around a part. He didn't answer, just kept building.
Schiller asked the symbiote in his mind, Can't you rebuild his heart?
No. His heart is incomplete. Without me, he dies.
Unless… the voice added. With the right parts, I can bind them to flesh.
Schiller relayed it. "Build the components. I'll fuse them without sutures."
Tony scribbled furiously, pointing. "The arc reactor structure fits perfectly. Replace the left ventricle, reinforce here, install a mechanical pump there—"
Schiller dragged Strange back in. The doctor scanned the plans. "Theoretically, possible. But it's madness. Metal and flesh don't mix. Even if it works, it is a short-term solution, with maintenance and decay—he'll never be able to survive with it. And you're not a doctor."
"Obadiah's been researching biomechanics," Schiller countered. "He must have notes. Jarvis, find them."
"Locating… success," Jarvis replied. "Stark Industries' old automotive division. Storage detected. Physical encryption in progress…"
Minutes later, a suit delivered a massive computer. Tony plugged in a drive. Jarvis processed. "Encryption broken. Files uploaded."
Tony turned to the screen. His breath caught. Pages of dense schematics scrolled past. Schiller couldn't read them. Tony staggered back two steps. "…Maybe he was right. Maybe he was right all along. He found another path… one beyond armor…"
"You're out of time," Schiller urged.
"No—I only need half an hour. No, twenty minutes. These are complete! Jarvis, start the calculations. Begin the prototype—"
An hour later, Tony, Schiller, and Strange stumbled out of the lab, drenched in sweat and blood. Strange's hands were crimson. "Unbelievable… you actually made a heart from scrap metal—and it's beating. Dear God…"
Schiller's chest was soaked, too. Heart surgery was brutal labor.
Tony leaned against the wall, sliding down. "Am I just like my father? Blind, arrogant, reckless?"
"No," Schiller said.
Tony lifted his head.
"You're worse."