Skye Pictures and Skye Data shared the same office building, and the place had suffered heavy damage—half the building had collapsed. After pulling the surveillance footage, Daisy discovered that Stark had wrecked it while leading a huge swarm of Chitauri Chariots through a high-speed turn. She went straight to him to argue about it.
"Doesn't your armor have missiles? Did you really have to play flight simulator with them? You did that on purpose, didn't you?" she demanded, very seriously discussing compensation with Stark.
"Why don't you mention that you used my Stark Tower as a command center? Hundreds of aliens were shooting at it! And while we're at it, when are you paying me for phase three of your supercomputer? You're already two months behind." Stark had clearly expected this. The look on his face said it all: That's right, I did it on purpose. What are you going to do about it?
Daisy gave two dry laughs. She had indeed been delaying that payment because she genuinely had no money. Paying over two hundred million dollars in one lump sum would hurt far too much.
She had also kept hoping something would come up that would let her write the expense off entirely, but after waiting and waiting, no such opportunity had appeared. For now, all she could do was keep stalling.
After trading a few accusations, they agreed to repair their own buildings and call it even. Supercomputer? What supercomputer?
Once she handed over command, Daisy quickly held a short meeting with Nick Fury and Hill. Washington had invited every government agency to attend a conference, and since S.H.I.E.L.D. still carried the formal name Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, it naturally fell within the invitation list.
As the king of spies, Fury rarely appeared in public, while Hill's rank was still too low. That left Daisy. She knew nearly everyone attending, and nearly everyone there knew her. At present, she was the only suitable choice for external liaison work.
She could not wear her agent combat uniform, so she changed into a suit, put on high heels, and headed to the White House.
There was nothing novel about the meeting. New York had to be rebuilt; no one disputed that. But the New York government simply could not produce that much money, so it appealed to the federal government. According to them, the mayor had already cried himself unconscious in a restroom, while several city councilors had been trapped by displaced citizens clinging to their legs. None of the councilors dared leave home anymore.
The city had no money, but in truth, neither did the federal government.
In previous wars, they could make the defeated nation foot the bill. Who were they supposed to charge this time? The Chitauri?
Obama tentatively consulted several government advisers, including Norman Osborn, to see whether the major conglomerates might provide some assistance.
Norman Osborn rejected the idea without a moment's thought, and the other conglomerates took the same position. Even the landlords had no grain left in the storehouse.
That was merely an excuse. Capitalists supported America because America let them make money and turn a profit. What profit was there in post-disaster reconstruction?
"Could we permit some research into the alien weapons captured on the battlefield?" Obama offered another incentive.
Several arms magnates, Daisy included, still refused.
Chitauri weapons were scattered everywhere, and every major weapons company had already collected quite a few. If the government forbade them from conducting research, did it think they would obediently stop? What a joke.
Besides, to be honest, Chitauri technology was nothing remarkable. It was not much more advanced than Earth's.
Simple point-and-shoot energy weapons, bombs that failed to explode even half a minute after being thrown—the only noteworthy equipment was their personal flying craft. What else did they have?
None of the arms magnates spoke. Their thoughts were much the same. These were not one or two isolated weapons; they were lying everywhere. Studying alien weapons did not require government or military approval. We will research them ourselves. What can you do about it?
The drawbacks of "freedom" were laid bare here...
Obama then imposed contributions on several real-estate developers. Their own interests were involved. Postwar reconstruction was of little value to Daisy and the other arms dealers, but to these people it was an enormous cake. The developers bled a little money between them, finally making Obama look somewhat less embarrassed.
And that was as far as it went. Rebuilding New York would cost hundreds of billions. No individual, however wealthy, could bear that burden. The government had to take the lead and mobilize the nation.
Obama's next measures would amount to raising taxes, having the central bank print more money, and shifting more of the burden onto the middle class. The fiscal deficit would predictably reach another record high.
None of that had much to do with Daisy. She had plenty of methods for avoiding taxes, and ordinary officials would not dare come collect from her anyway. Her tax-avoidance methods were actually rather crude, but no one examined them closely. As long as she covered them up a little and everyone could save face, that was enough.
She was first and foremost S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Deputy Director, and only second a businesswoman. As long as S.H.I.E.L.D. existed, no one would bother her over trivial matters.
While Daisy listened to a roomful of people spout nonsense at the White House, every faction still focused its attention on the Tesseract. Many forces wanted to see what was so miraculous about this alien creation. Stark and Thor both demanded that the ruins be excavated, and even the World Security Council sternly ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. to dig out the Tesseract.
Ownership could be set aside for the moment, but the cube had to be recovered.
A large group spent half the day digging and came up empty-handed.
The entire research-site ruin was excavated twice, yet nothing was found.
Where was the Tesseract? The same thought appeared in countless minds. Other than Daisy, Jessica Drew, Kitty, and the few others who knew the truth, everyone automatically assumed the Chitauri had used some unknown advanced technology to take it away.
Daisy had originally worried that Odin or Heimdall might have seen what happened. If either of them asked for it, she would hand it over. Yet after she took the Tesseract, Odin said nothing. Combined with the way the old man had given her the glove, the silence was rather thought-provoking.
Since the old man did not care, she might as well keep it.
Representatives from many factions had personally witnessed the Tesseract "vanish." Apart from sighing, there was nothing they could do. They could hardly launch a spaceplane and chase the Chitauri.
As for Thor, capturing Loki was enough to satisfy him. Forget six Infinity Stones—even sixty Infinity Stones would not matter as much to him as Loki did.
That evening, Thor shared an awkward meal with several Avengers, then took Loki back to Asgard.
The Chitauri ended up taking the blame for the Tesseract's disappearance. Neither Kitty nor Jessica Drew knew what role they had played in the whole affair.
Kitty happily hugged the game console Daisy had given her and returned to school to play. Miss Drew also felt she had completed Daisy's assignment and was filled with accomplishment. She was not a child anymore. At last, she was an adult.
Daisy took a roundabout route outside, then handed Wanda the lead box containing the Tesseract and asked her to cast some kind of concealment spell.
When she heard that it was an important item, Wanda did not even look closely before trying to put the box under her bed. After Daisy stopped her, she tried to stuff it into the wardrobe instead.
"Magic. Use magic!" Daisy did not know whether to laugh or cry at the slightly scatterbrained Wanda.
Realizing she had embarrassed herself again, Wanda sheepishly pulled out the Darkhold and began searching for a suitable concealment spell.