Stark-Tech Personal Database

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Data Encryption Level at Maximum...

Recording...


"Here's the thing, people are always asking me: what does it mean to be Iron Man. Sure there's awesome toys, the thrill of smacking The Mandarin so hard he rethinks his bling fetish, fighting alongside some of the finest individuals to ever walk the earth, fast cars, and at one time faster women. But in the end that's not an answer. So what. Does. It. Mean."

"The truth is, like my armors, Iron Man and hence the man underneath is an ever-evolving work in progress. I went from building things that destroy lives and the world to building things that save both. I went from a womanizing playboy to being outright respectable and capable of commitment. Hell, I may have, dare I say it, grown up a little. Howard's bouncing baby genius finally learned something I wish I'd learned sooner: responsibility. There's this guy I know who says something about great power and great responsibility going hand in hand and while true, it is a simplistic view of things. Because when you have my brain, when you don my armor, that responsibility is more than even some green rage machines could shoulder. Because it isn't just a responsibility to the world and everyone alive, but to the future and everyone who will be alive. I can make their lives better...if I just had the time and didn't have to keep interrupting things like developing clean energy, figuring out how nanotech can cure the incurable, and protecting the planet from both accidental and not-so accidental space-based threats to go play Rock-Em' Sock-Em Robots with Ultron, that purple Homer Simpson with the skeleton kink, or....well I was going to say Living Laser but c'mon, it's Living Laser. That's less of a distraction and more like...well bullying the short bus kid. Where was I going with this?"

"Oh yeah, being Iron Man and what it means. Part of it is shaping the future, making the present better, and saving the world so that the next generation can carry on and be even better. Humanity is never going to reach it's full potential if some crackpot who wants to worship death and chaos gets their way. But it isn't all flashy gadgets and awesome armors. Me being me, I can't just look at and worry about the small day to day stuff. I see the big picture, I see what is coming, and I worry about making the right moves to avert the problems nobody even knows are going to be problems. That is why I am always designing. Always building. Always improving. Problems are not problems if you solve them before anyone even knows they are problems. One problem I can't solve? People not understanding why I do as I do. More on that later. F.R.I.D.A.Y. just pinged me. Something is happening in downtown L.A. I mean sure I am across the country but whatever it is has guided nanobots carrying some kind of biological mutagen. That's definitely a me thing."

[Rift]

Resume Recording...

"And back. So as I was saying, getting people to understand why I do things the way I do? It's difficult. They are not me, they don't think like me, they can't climb inside my skull and see things the way I do...not that plenty of them, friends being no exception, wouldn't love to crack my skull open more often than not. I wish I could say something about me being complicated and not sound like I'm being an intellectual elitist, but frankly, I can't. If you can't keep up with me or at least understand the cliff notes, you are not going to be able to relate to everything I say and do. Not being a jerk, but its just facts. On occasion I can sort of connect with like-minded folks. Banner when he isn't throwing a hissy fit and Richards. Hell, even Doc Doom. Scary comparison I know but hear me out. He thinks big picture. He has armor, not as good as mine, but still it gets the job done. He has fancy tech, connections, and the will to do whatever it takes to win. Basically, me but less fashionable and with all his knowledge and skills geared towards ruling everything. Not think about that. Everything Doom does and has done? Cakewalk compared to what he can and will do if given half a chance. He's a genius in near about every field that counts plus he does the whole Merlin schtick that I hate. A dude that can seize the power cosmic from the Silver Surfer, summon up demons from Hell, travel to the past to bring a T-Rex forward to help him, and openly mock Thor all before noon? Yeah, forgive me for taking precautions and not just trusting that we can just wing it when he really acts up. Patriotic jargon, feelgood speeches, and hoping for the best are not going to save us. Something I think up ahead of time might. Better to have it and not need it than not have it when the time comes."

"Which brings me to the main source of contention between me and my friends, former friends, and the heroes who want things to be business as usual. The SRA. Yeah, I signed on and championed it. Has it gone down as smoothly as I hoped? Not even remotely. Have there been missteps? Absolutely. Do I like it? Not really. Am I going to apologize for it, throw myself on the fickle alter of public mercy in some vain hope that the people not in the thick of things and who are not privy to what I am will forgive me? No, because if I had to do it all over again? It was still the best course of action. It wasn't one I liked, it wasn't what I would have preferred, but all things considered it was the right move. I am capable of apologizing, but it requires I be wrong and here? I did and am continuing to do the best with a bad situation. The world isn't what we want it to be. We can't just wish upon a star and hope it magically gets better. We can build a better world, a better future, but it takes hard work and choices we don't always like having to make to get there. That's one of the things that children and idealogues share in common. They either lack the emotional maturity or the vision to see the larger picture outside their own wants."

"Think of it this way. The dams sprang a pretty significant leak and here I am putting myself in the way, trying to plug them or at least slow the waters before a flood washes all of us away. Do I like being Co-Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., added red tape, and having to appease suit and tie folks that answer to special interests groups and have no real concern for the men and women that act as costumed adventurers? Not even a little, but if not me, who? You think Thunderbolt Ross would turn a blind eye to the Defenders as they run around unregistered? You think our illustrious emerald elf in chief and his mighty fine haircut would think twice about smacking down the latest wallcrawler as they remain unregistered and develop an app that grows their connection to the city? While we are at it maybe they could have had the second coming of Bastion and see if they stop at mutants or decide to take out anyone with power for being less than their definition human. Would any of them turn a blind eye to things as long as they don't have to have disobeying the law thrown in their faces on the nightly news? Would they use their position to divert attention from those most likely to run afoul of the law? Would they create brand new programs with the intention of finding new, younger heroes and giving them a friendly warning? Or would they use the power to jail anyone they dislike, to kill those with a different view, or to dissect them in attempt to replicate powers to make more compliant soldiers? I don't think so and if others do? well their are either incredibly naive or so stupid they shouldn't be outside without a protective helmet, let alone trying to fight crime."

"Now lets play a game of what if. What if I signed up with Steve instead? Well the government has wanted complete access to my armors since forever and a renewed push coupled with my unwillingness to submit to the SRA once it was made law? They may just get the and then my tech is out in the wind, out of my control, and likely to be used against anti-registration forces. That would be on me. And if the heroes went to full-scale conflict? We prove every critic, villain, and internet talking head right about us. We obviously think we are better than normal people. We don't care if they want us to have accountability. We are even willing to not only tell elected officials to sit and spin, but also that we willing to fight and maybe even kill to remove them. That happens, even if Steve or Ben Grimm or some other beloved figure hands the keys to the kingdom back over to the people? Nobody trusts us ever again. Can't. Shouldn't. I know I wouldn't."

"So back to the original question. What does it mean to be Iron Man? It means taking on responsibility you never wanted. It means an incredibly irresponsible person is demonized for finally trying to take some responsibility. It means you get painted as the enemy, called a fascist, and have to endure the same lecture over and over and over again. It means you lose lifelong friends and are looked at sideways by the few you have left because people can't get past black and white morality or see the tide of public opinion racing towards them. It means having your life's work, your legacy, everything you've ever done thrown out the window and replaced by buzzwords because every critic that is armchair quarterbacking doesn't see everything. They don't see the secret systems giving me the intel Oz and others think they are keeping from me. They don't see me taking a leap of faith and gambling the farm on a youngster who just wants to do good but doesn't want their personal life upended. They don't see that on the off chance this goes sideways, there is a mountain of data, resources, and more that can be used in the worst-case scenario, all gathered by a man who never asked to be where he was, but made the best of a crummy situation. Alright, cut it F.R.I.D.A.Y. I have a meeting to get to, I'll pick this up later."

[Rift]

Additional Encryption Measures Activated...

Storage Location Changed...Neural Link Database Selected...

Recording...

"Recording any of this is risky. Possibly even borderline stupid. Assuming everything works out, and that's a big assumption, I'll pull this out later. For now? Only safe place is stored in my brain which I can wipe with a simple mental based command phrase. Now, let's talk more about what it currently means to be Iron Man."

"Being Iron Man presently means that you are smack dab in the middle of a freaking alien invasion. Not ravenous goo types this time though. Now it's the Skrulls. Shapeshifting, memory stealing, power copying zealots who have managed to sneak in right under our noses. They could be everywhere by now. Every institution, every agency, every country, every government. Oh yeah, and they've already infiltrated the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and S.H.I.E.L.D. all while I have had to sit at a desk sparring with politicians, activists, a literal supervillain that got elected president, and oh yeah, my fellow Co-Director. Hill? She's one of the reasons I am here, because the idea of that woman having sole discretion over the deployment of S.H.I.E.L.D. resources is the stuff Ludlum novels are made of. So while I was busy sparring with them, trying to repair relationships with people I never owed an apology in the first place, and juggling every terrorist threat in between trying to keep my former friends out of the spotlight? We done got Body Snatched."

"So far I have spoken with Reed. He shared intel revealing Sue to have been a Skrull. Is he? I have no clue. The man is alien on the best of days so if a shapeshifting green space elf took his place how the hell could anyone tell the difference? Had to take a chance though. I hate that. I like data, evidence, hard proof. Here I am having to take a gamble and believe me, gambling is one addiction I don't need to add to the collection. What this means though is I can't trust anyone. Not Hill (not that I ever did), not S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, nobody save for the very small number of people I already know had been replaced and their alien doubles handled. So its me, Mockingbird, Squirrel Girl, and fingers crossed, Richards. Not exactly an army and that's what I am going to need. But soldiers have to be trusted and things were dicey even before the Green Meanies showed up. I put in a freaking suggestion box in the mess and Dum Dum acted like I replaced toilet paper with the flag. I can't say that half of these guys would listen to me, let alone follow me into battle, and that's without them being aliens. There's more loyalty to the old guard, to Fury's people, to the Howling Commandos, and even Coulson. I don't mind or I didn't, but now things are too dangerous to risk insubordination from what may actually be Skrull agents."

"And then we have the Kree starting crap all while I am rushing to figure out how we can reliably verify someone's Skrullness or lack thereof. I'm pulled in a million directions at once and I don't know if it is just the nature of the job or by design. I guess it is a good thing my most loyal companions are built by me. At this point they are the only ones I know are not Skrull, but then the question becomes, are they? I mean A.I. can be compromised. For that matter I have heard whispers of some form of Extremis data being on the black market. Nothing major, just bits and pieces of the baseline, but while AIM couldn't do squat with it, the Skrull might be able to. I have to actually start looking for flaws in Extremis, exploits, and that's on top of everything else."

"For now I have to play it cool. Keep things compartmentalized. And try not to have a nervous breakdown considering I am in a less cool, but still scary as hell version of The Thing. Carpenter's version, not Grimm. Not an easy task since I now have to go to some shindig with suits and ties and socialites all while being babysat by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who at best are reporting on me to Osborn, Dugan, and Coulson and at worst their Skrull overlords. So, no pressure right? Hmm. I wonder if I'll run into Elon at the party? That guy has to be a shapeshifting alien. Maybe he can give me some pointers on finding the rest of them."

[Rift]

Neural Link Database Selected...

Resume Recording...

"This whole Skrull thing? It's freaking me out. Full-on panic attack, hard to breathe, freak outs. Dugan looks like he wants to toss me out of a Hellicarrier without a parachute, let alone armor, and that's without there being an alien invasion on. Agents are being extra Agenty with narrowed eyes and whispers. Yes, I made up a word, a man in my position is allowed to when surrounded by how many potential enemies. Now I get why the royalty of old had food testers in case there was poison. I'm so paranoid, I don't even know if Jarvis is Jarvis and more than half my non fast-food meals are prepared by him. No, not the AI, Edwin Jarvis the man and butler I've known longer than almost anyone. Is he a Skrull? I don't know. For all I know the girl at the BK drive-thru was one. Needless to say, its all getting to me. So I had to get out and away. Clear my head outside the range of agents, secretaries, assistants, soldiers, and not so little Green Men. My new system picking up on a new powered person? Just the excuse I need. I'm slipping out now. Told F.R.I.D.A.Y. to tell Hill I was driving, or meditating, or jogging? I don't remember. All I know is I'm walking into a situation with an unidentified potential threat with unknown capabilities and I'm perfectly okay with that. Hell, I'd be okay with a lunch date with Thanos, Ultron, and the Zeke Stane. At least those are known variables."

"Also, since I arrived, I can't help but notice I don't like crowds. Used to love them. The spotlight, center of attention? Not my jam these days. Not when ever single one in that crowd could be ready to put a blade in my back. Good news is the soda is decent. I checked my internals and aside from the typical unhealthiness of corn syrup laded liquids, it isn't any more poisoned than usual. So go me. Anyway, this will commence later. Assuming Rainbow Brite with her pink highlights here isn't a Super Skrull ready to eat my face off, I'll be back to narrating my demise into paranoia. Which I only trust to record...in my brain. Yeah, this is perfectly healthy behavior."