Jarvis, the butler, politely guided William to the elevator leading to the underground workshop.
The metal door slid open smoothly.
A wave of heat mixed with the smell of engine oil poured out.
Deafening rock music.
A cutting table with sparks flying.
And a man in a dirty tank top, polishing a dark red suit of armor with a mechanical arm.
Tony Stark.
"Hey! My Risk Strategist!"
Tony didn't even look up, his voice cutting through the music.
"Want something to drink? I had 'Dumb-Dumb' mix you a glass, '82 Scotch whiskey, with a tiny bit of engine oil, I call it 'Engineer's Tears'."
A mechanical arm, holding a glass, clumsily extended.
Sure enough, a rainbow-colored oil slick floated on the amber liquid in the glass.
William took it without changing his expression, but didn't drink.
"I prefer my tears to stay in my eyes, Mr. Stark."
"Call me Tony."
Tony finally stopped what he was doing, grabbed a towel to wipe his hands, and strode over.
"You gave me top-level clearance, I've seen all the data."
William's finger swept through the air, accurately pinpointing the massive list of exhibitors.
"Hammer Industries, one of the Military's largest arms suppliers, their security system is full of holes, like a sieve."
"Advanced Idea Mechanics, their drone technology is unstable, with over a five percent chance of losing control. And this..."
His finger paused.
Ivan Vanko.
He was singled out from a list of thousands of suppliers and technicians, and magnified between the two of them.
"Ivan Vanko, registered as a technical consultant for Hammer Industries."
"Do you know who he is?"
Without waiting for Tony to answer, William continued.
"A Russian physicist, son of Anton Vanko, who once researched the Arc Reactor with your father, Howard Stark, and was later expelled for espionage. Ivan himself has a record of selling weapon technology on the black market, and was recently released from a prison in Russia."
The smile on Tony's face gradually disappeared.
The playful look in his caramel-colored eyes faded, replaced by a sharp scrutiny.
He certainly knew Anton Vanko.
That was a stain his father never wanted to mention.
But he never knew that stain also had a son.
And this son had already infiltrated his expo list.
"Jarvis."
Tony's voice deepened.
"Sir, all the information Mr. Rodriguez provided is accurate."
The butler's soft voice echoed in the workshop.
"This information is distributed across at least seventeen different encrypted databases. I am currently performing a correlation analysis and expect to have a preliminary risk report in about an hour."
Tony looked at William again, the scrutiny turning into a complex emotion mixed with surprise and wariness.
"How did you..."
"I sell 'certainty', Tony."
William cut off his question.
"My job is to tell you directly which direction the bullet will come from, while your supercomputers are still calculating probabilities."
He held up two fingers.
"So, my offer also has two parts."
"First, funding. I need to establish a Stark Industries Risk Hedging Fund. An initial investment of fifty million U.S. dollars. This money will be entirely managed by me, to cover all additional expenses related to the expo's security."
"For example, pre-purchasing the abandoned factory Ivan Vanko might use to create chaos, or buying a maximum personal accident insurance policy for all residents of a neighborhood that might be affected."
Tony's breath hitched slightly.
"You're robbing me."
"No, I am paying a discounted insurance premium in advance for your expensive future."
William corrected him.
"Believe me, once the disaster actually happens, at least two more zeros will be added to this amount."
He looked at Tony and continued to state his second condition.
"Second, access. I need partial processing access to Jarvis. Not core access, I don't want your armor, nor your Arc Reactor technology."
"I need its information processing and model extrapolation capabilities to assist my system in risk assessment. Think of it as... my 'calculator'."
The workshop fell into a dead silence.
Only the faint hum from the Arc Reactor core in the distance remained.
The other party hadn't threatened him, hadn't even raised his voice.
He had simply calmly placed a test paper with the answers already written, along with a price list, in front of him.
Buy, or don't buy.
After a long pause.
Tony suddenly started laughing.
The laughter was filled with the frustration of being defeated and the excitement of meeting a kindred spirit.
"You really are a complete bastard, William."
"Many people say that."
William accepted it calmly.
"Fifty million is too much."
Tony shook his head.
"Thirty million. As for Jarvis's access, I can set up an independent secondary port for you, but all data interaction must be recorded."
Tony Stark was not a stingy person.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have so easily resolved William's debt issues and arranged his property.
But when it came to negotiating, he was no pushover.
"Forty million."
William immediately countered.
"And, all expenditure statements for the fund will be carbon copied to Ms. Pepper. I am even less eager than you to be invited for coffee by the U.S. tax authorities."
"Deal!"
Tony clapped his hands sharply, as if completing a multi-billion dollar order.
He walked around the table, patted William's shoulder firmly, his eyes sparkling with a light called "appreciation."
"I'm starting to like you, William. You remind me of my dad, just as shrewd, just as... infuriating."
A faint smile finally appeared on William's face.
"Then, a pleasure working with you, Tony."
He turned to leave, but stopped at the elevator entrance and looked back.
"Oh, and as partners, a friendly reminder."
"What?"
"Ivan Vanko's revenge is just the appetizer."
William's voice was not loud, but it clearly carried throughout the workshop.
"The real big trouble is from those 'friends' who handed him the knife and fork, wanting to see you devoured."