POST-HUMANITY

By Tony Thornley

Tony Stark took a sip of ginger ale and cranberry juice and set the glass back on the console on the middle of his seat. James Rhodes sat across from him, looking out the side window of Tony’s limo. Tony stared at Rhodey before he spoke up.

“Do I have to use the cliché or are you just going to tell me?” he said.

“Hmm?” Rhodey said, looking back at Tony. He removed his sunglasses and rolled his eyes.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Rhodey chuckled and shook his head.

“Is this wild goose chase Tony?” he said. “I mean, we’ve already got our security teams trying to take Bastion down. Do we really need to know what Maya Hansen is working on from her own mouth?”

“Reports bore me, if that’s why you’re asking,” he said. “I invent. I don’t analyze.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Rhodey said. “We could be wasting valuable time, especially if they find Bastion.”

“Or we could be headed right towards him” Tony said. “We don’t know, do we?” He picked his drink back up. “So, let’s stop saying ‘what if’ and tackle this sucker.” The limo pulled up to a manufacturing facility. The SE logo was displayed prominently on the side of the building. Tony grinned and finished the drink.

“I love seeing my name on things,” he said. “The bigger, the better.”

“You don’t need to pull this cocky act around me, you know?” Rhodey said. Tony smiled again.

“I know, but I enjoy it,” he said. The limo stopped at the front door of the facility and a young woman in a long lab coat walked out of the building. Tony carefully glanced her up and down and whistled.

“She’s hotter than I remember,” he said. “Too bad I’m here on business.”

“That’s never stopped you before,” Rhodey replied. He opened the limo door and slid out. Tony chuckled and followed his friend out of the car. Doctor Hansen walked up to Rhodey and offered her hand.

“Mister Rhodes,” she said. “Welcome to SE Dallas.”

“It’s gorgeous here,” Tony said as he adjusted his glasses. “I’m glad I bought the place. Doctor Hansen, it’s a pleasure to finally see you again.”

“The same Tony,” she said. “It’s been…”

“Fifteen years,” Tony said. “So how about you tell us all about Extremis? And exactly why Bastion may want it?”

Tony watched the computer model of Extremis at work, the nanites working like the opposite of a virus, entering the cells and rebuilding them. He drummed his fingers on the table. The various applications of this technology were unbelievable.

“Our biggest problem at the moment comes down to genetic compatibility,” Maya said. “Unfortunately twenty-five percent of all small scale tests-”

“Small scale?” Rhodey asked.

“Cell samples,” she said. “Cancerous cells, sickle cell anemia, so on. Twenty-five percent of all tests, the samples reject the Extremis material.”

“You found a cause yet?” Tony asked.

“Nothing definitive,” she said. “Until we find it, there’s no way we can put it on the market.”

“Glad to see you have some ethics,” he said. “So can Bastion adapt Extremis to fix his technology?”

“From what you sent me, yes,” she sighed. “I think so at least. It wouldn’t be difficult.”

“Son of a bitch,” Tony whispered. “This is very, very bad. Is it possible to move the operation?”

“It’ll take weeks,” she said. “Minimum.” Tony’s cell phone began ringing. He looked at it and glanced at Rhodey.

“It’s Hap,” he said.

“Damn,” Rhodey said. Tony flipped his phone open.

“Stark,” he said.

“Good news and bad news Tone,” Happy said.

“You found him and he’s headed our way?”

“Nailed it on the head,” he said.

“How many?”

“At least a dozen,” he said. “You both better suit up and quick. You have less than a half hour.” Tony stood up and nodded at Rhodey.

“On it Happy. Thanks.” Rhodey stood.

“Doctor Hansen, evacuate the facility,” Tony said. “If you can wipe the hard drives here, do it. There are back-ups in SE New York.”

“What about the hardware?” she asked. “There’s several working samples…”

“I know,” Tony said. “We’ll do our best to keep it out of his hands.” Tony and Rhodey left the room as quickly as possible and each broke into a run.

“You ship my armor down?” Rhodey said.

“You know it,” Tony said. “And brought it out front.” They burst out of the building, revealing a pair of short tractor-trailers. He pointed at the left one.

“Black and white,” he said, and pointed to the right, “crimson and gold.”

“Crimson and gold?” Rhodey laughed. “Damn you’re a cheeseball Tony.” He sprinted to the left truck and turned to him. “And it’s black and silver.”

Laughing, Tony ran to the truck that held the Iron Man suit. Normally he wouldn’t go for the extravagant set-up but the trucks were equipped with an experimental hydrogen fuel cell and this was a much better set-up for the armor. Although he had perfected an armor that fit into a suitcase, the armor was as stripped down as you could get. With a fully automated system like that held in the trailer, he could have the full capabilities of the Iron Man armor, with the speed of the suitcase.

He stripped down to his t-shirt and boxers, stepped onto a glowing pad, and the machinery went to work. The dataspine flowed over his body, with different components of the armor being fixed into place by mechanical arms. Many people wondered why he wore almost the full armor while serving the administrative functions of an Avenger, and it was simple. The armor was too time-intensive to take off and put back on if he needed to spring into action. It was a simple process, but it took time.

His helmet was fastened into place, and the holographic heads-up display informed him all systems were booted and operational. His tactical screen began feeding him information. Happy’s estimate was correct. There were a dozen Prime Sentinels, and they were within fifteen minutes of the facility, closing quickly. He grinned and looked up at the ceiling of the trailer. A hatch opened and Iron Man blasted into the sky, with War Machine only seconds behind.

“Hey there Big Red,” Rhodey’s voice said in his ear. “Looking good.” Tony smiled and gave him a nod as they slowed to a hover.

“Not looking too bad there yourself,” he said. “I like how that armor looks. And it’s Big Crimson, thankyewverymuch.”

“Aye aye, Captain,” War Machine said. “So do we have the firepower to stop this bastard on our own?”

“Do we have a choice?” Tony asked. Rhodey shrugged, shaking the shoulder cannons of his armor.

“Guess not,” he said. “Sure would feel better if we had back-up.” Tony began opening several communications channels.

“I’ll call for back-up from the nearest SHIELD office,” he said. “They can be here in… forty minutes.”

“With a team strong enough to stop them?”

“Close enough.” Tony checked his sensors. “ETA, three minutes. And by the way, stick to energy weapons as much as you can.”

“Why?”

“Two reasons. One, energy weapons release EMPs with every round. Nothing as powerful as a dedicated EMP device or a nuke, but enough to weaken their systems. Two, the Prime Sentinels are human hosts to essentially a computer virus composed of nanites. It screwed them up pretty badly, but if we can save the host…”

“Point taken. Here they come.” Tony turned. The Primes were visible now. He concentrated on another communication channel.

“Hera, this is Iron Man,” he said, “you reading me?”

“Loud and clear boss,” Pepper Potts replied from New York. “You see them?”

“Sure do,” he said. “It’s about to get noisy, but any tactical you can give me, please feel free.” He looked up. “Here they come.”

War Machine made the first move. Rhodey fired a missile at the small mass of Prime Sentinels and detonated it just before it made impact. The shrapnel slammed into several of the Sentinels, knocking them off course, and blinding the entire group. Tony turned on his rock playlist and rocketed forward, arms extended forward.

“Rock and roll!” he screamed. He blasted the first two Sentinels with repulsors, and clotheslined the next. The third Sentinel grabbed his arm and began pound on Tony’s chest plate. He clubbed the man over the head, and tossed him away.

Rhodey fired his uni-beam into the crowd of Sentinels and raised his arm. He blasted them with his arm-mounted plasma gun, striking one and sending it spinning into the crowd. That Sentinel recovered and redirected itself downwards.

“Tony!” Pepper cried. “One’s getting away!”

“I’m on it!” he said. “You okay Rhodey?” He blasted the Sentinels with his repulsors again and turned away from the fight.

“I’m good!” he said. “The plasma isn’t doing much though!”

“Open it up!” Tony said. “Whatever it takes to slow them down!” He heard War Machine’s Gatling gun open fire as he dove through the sky. He threw his hands forward as he closed in on the diving Sentinel. It suddenly turned and stopped. Tony blasted it in the chest and it slammed into the ground. Tony tackled it and punched it across the face. The Sentinel slumped to the ground.

“Tony, you’ve got a bogey incoming!” Rhodey called. Tony spun and held his arms up. His eyes narrowed as he realized who it was.

“Mister Stark,” Bastion said. “Good to see you protecting what’s yours. It’s an admirable trait.”

“Back down Bastion,” Tony said. “We have more than enough firepower to end this.” He activated the plasma blaster and held his arm up. His HUD locked Bastion as a target. Bastion smiled.

“Yes,” he said, “you can. But there’s a simple point here, Mister Stark. This project is not safe and will never be as long as I want it.”

“And I’ll fight you every time you come after it,” Iron Man said. “Each and every time.”

“As you wish.” Bastion raised his arms and blasted Tony in the chest.

Pepper Potts watched the battle from her tactical screen in Stark Enterprises. Tony and Rhodey had already taken out half of the Sentinels without slowing. Bastion had confronted Tony though, which could open up SE Dallas to an attack from any of the other Prime Sentinels.

“How are they doing?” Happy asked as he entered the room.

“They’re outnumbered, but they’re winning,” Pepper said without turning, instead watching the feed from Tony’s HUD. Entranced in her work she missed the strange tone in her ex-husband’s voice, far too late before a mechanical sound distracted her. She turned to find a Prime Sentinel, a twisted smile, something not entirely human, across its face. “You cannot be surprised, human, designate: Virginia Potts; subdesignate: Pepper. You shall too be utilized.”

The radio connection jammed and the room locked. No one heard Pepper scream.

Iron Man spun, and the energy blast glanced off his chest. Tony held up his arm and fired, striking Bastion in the arm. He took several running steps forward, lifted off and tackled the Sentinel. Bastion twisted and kicked him off. Tony caught himself quickly and blasted himself towards Bastion again.

He punched him across the face, and kneed him in the stomach. Bastion punched him in the chest and blasted him again, sending Iron Man tumbling. Tony grimaced, raised both his hands and blasted him with his repulsors. Bastion fell. Tony strode to where he lay.

He laid on the ground, grimacing in pain. Tony held his arm up again, aiming at his head.

“It’s over,” Stark said. “Accept it. The authorities will be here shortly to take you into custody.”

“They won’t,” he laughed. “Not today Mister Stark.” A holographic image appeared in front of him of a Prime Sentinel. It took Tony a few moments to recognize the human host, but he gasped when he did.

“Pepper,” he whispered.

“Miss Potts will be the newest addition to my army,” he said. “She has already been infected with the Prime nano-virus. Would you like to hear her screams as it converts her? It’s quite a painful process.” Tony stepped forward, his palm repulsor suddenly glowing brighter.

“Undo it!” he growled.

“I’m afraid I can’t,” Bastion said. “But if you let us go, I can assure you, I will not complete the conversion process. Miss Potts will never become a Prime Sentinel. Only if you step away right now.” Tony looked at the man and considered killing him. A quick repulsor blast would do it. Possibly messy but efficient. However, if he did, there was no guarantee of what would happen to Pepper.

He would never be able to live with that guilt.

He lowered his arm and stepped away from Bastion. His weapon systems powered down. He turned his comm on and opened his visor.

“Rhodey,” he said, “stand down. Let them retreat.”

“What Tony?!” War Machine growled. “You can’t be seri-”

“I am, dammit! Stand down.” Tony turned back to Bastion, fire in his eyes. The former commander of Operation Zero Tolerance smiled.

“A wise choice Mister Stark.” Tony walked up to him, his face a mask of rage.

“I don’t care what you say now,” he said. “You come back here… You touch me and mine… You hurt any of the people I love… I will hunt you down. I will tear you limb from limb, and then I will kill you. Understood?” Bastion smiled.

“Crystal clear,” he said. “Thank you Mister Stark.”

With that he rocketed into the sky, running to what he considered home. War Machine landed next to him, staring into the sky. Tony looked at Rhodey.

“Start the process of getting this project moved to New York,” he said. “I want Extremis in New York City by tomorrow night.”

“Tony?” Tony spun, fire burning in his eyes.

“That son of a bitch hurt Pepper,” he said. “I want to make sure that never happens again.”

With that, Iron Man rocketed into the air. He needed time alone.