New York's weather had begun to turn colder. Morning mist clung to the window glass, leaving behind a hazy layer of white and casting the newly lit streetlamps in dim yellow halos.
Schiller sat at a desk in Stark Laboratories with a cup of coffee. Stark came over carrying a thick stack of data and said, "We need to modify Joint No. 5 again, then run a control experiment against Joint No. 13. There's also a problem with the data for the outer armor on Arm No. 7. I need to readjust it later..."
"Can't you take a break? Aren't you tired?" Schiller asked.
As Stark spread the documents across the desk and sorted them, he said, "You've asked me that question at least twenty times tonight. You started asking at seven last night and kept going until seven this morning."
"That's because you've had me doing experiments with you nonstop since seven last night. I haven't even had time to drink a cup of coffee."
"Then what are you doing now? Three minutes have already passed. You're done drinking, right? We still have two deployment experiments to run. We have to finish them before eight today."
Schiller dropped face-first onto the desk.
Peter emerged from behind the laboratory's glass doors carrying two documents. He said, "Mr. Stark, there seems to be a problem with the external support frame for Leg Skeleton No. 5. In the third batch of data Jarvis just gave me, the skeletal support structure seems to be showing signs of instability, and there's a risk that the frame could crack. Jarvis recommended changing the material, but if we use overly rigid keelbone, it'll weaken the flexibility and mobility..."
Stark took the documents from Peter and glanced through them. "That's not a major problem."
He reached out and pointed at the blueprint for Peter. "We'll add a buffer system to this joint later, then move this part two centimeters lower..."
Peter rubbed his chin as he thought. Stark stepped forward and hauled Schiller upright. "Usually, it takes you three seconds to drink a cup of strong coffee. You've been drinking this one for almost five minutes. Get up and get to work."
"My magic needs time to recover..."
"I seem to recall someone saying that was a low-level method?"
Schiller covered his eyes. "Could you just bring over a complete suit of armor, let me cast magic on it once, and then use it directly? Why do we have to take it apart and experiment with every single component?"
Stark said rather speechlessly, "Why do I sometimes think you understand this stuff, but other times think you're a complete mechanical idiot?"
He spread the blueprint on the table and pointed at its diagrams. "See this? Once you used magic to solve the shrinking and deployment problem for Mark 4, I could focus the design on its performance and functions. But once I improve the performance or function of any part, I have to test again whether it can shrink and deploy, or whether its functions after deployment match what I expected."
"So I need to run a huge number of modular experiments to test whether each function achieves the intended result when it is independently shrunk and deployed."
"So has any component failed to achieve the result you wanted?" Schiller asked.
"What if the next one does?" Stark said.
These damned, rigorous science students. Schiller dropped face-first onto the desk again.
"I agree with Mr. Stark," Peter said. "Building armor like this isn't a joke. If you fly tens of thousands of meters into the air and one component fails, that would be incredibly dangerous."
"More than that." Stark sorted through the blueprints as he spoke. "The results at low power, high power, and even overclocked operation are all different. You have to make sure it performs as perfectly as possible at every level of energy output."
Then Stark grabbed Schiller by the arm and dragged him back to the workbench. Peter handed over a component, Schiller broke it down and reassembled it, then Stark took it away to test it. Peter handed over another component, Schiller broke that one down and reassembled it too, then it was taken away for testing.
Peter and Stark were conducting experiments, but Schiller felt like he was just screwing lightbulbs into an assembly line.
The Symbiote kept repeating in his head, "Both their heads smell so good, really good. I want to eat them so badly. Can I eat one of them? Just one, then I'll eat the other one next meal. I want to eat the blue-eyed one first..."
Schiller discovered that the Symbiote seemed able to detect brainwaves. When someone's brain began operating at high speed, it could sense a certain pheromone released by their mind. The faster a person's brain activity was, the better they smelled.
Unfortunately, super geniuses like Peter and Stark were like walking, super-delicious pieces of fried chicken to the Symbiote. They were simply impossible to resist.
For some reason, the Symbiote had also learned to repeatedly play the sound of swallowing in Schiller's head. It was making even him hungry.
After screwing in the last lightbulb handed to him, Schiller said, "Let's go get something to eat. Aren't you two hungry?"
Stark tossed him two compressed biscuits. "Thank S.H.I.E.L.D. for their new invention. I can work continuously for forty hours now."
Schiller took a deep breath. "Then aren't you sleepy? And you too, Peter. You probably haven't slept for nearly two days, have you?"
"The reason I brought this kid here is because he has far more energy than everyone else."
Peter shrugged. "Ever since I got my abilities, I only need to sleep for a very short time to stay energetic. I slept for fifteen minutes in the Lounge just now, and I feel pretty good."
"More importantly, why would a mage like you feel sleepy? Don't you have any magic for staying awake?"
Schiller was not physically sleepy. With the Symbiote, he could even go without food, water, or sleep. But anyone who had spent over twenty hours screwing in lightbulbs would feel mentally exhausted.
Schiller did not understand the design of their armor in the slightest. Yet whenever Stark came out from behind the glass doors excitedly displaying a new idea, Schiller had to play cheerleader and applaud him. If he did not, Stark would rush back through the glass doors, and after a series of clanks, bangs, and explosions, emerge with another new idea.
"How can you be so indifferent to such a great undertaking?" Stark said. "This is a milestone in the history of human science! Maybe magic too! For the first time, we've combined a product of human technology with a new and miraculous power. Aren't you looking forward to the results?"
"I'm more concerned about another question," Schiller said. "Are you planning to call this line of armor Mark as well? I think it should have a new name."
"A new name? How about the S series? The first letters of your name and my surname."
"Peter will be sad. He helped build it too."
Stark scratched his head. Peter said, "I don't really mind that, but compared to its name, I think the new armor should have a cooler appearance, something completely different from the Mark series."
"I think you could make it blue," Schiller said. "It suits magic, and it would distinguish it from your Mark series."
"Then let's move faster. Once we finish testing all the components, we can begin assembling it. Then we can paint it a nice color very soon. I think blue and silver would look good together."
"Also." Stark looked at Schiller. "I think this armor should have some magical offensive capabilities."
"But unfortunately, the magic I learned doesn't have much offensive capability," Schiller said.
"What about that weightlessness spell? I think being able to make objects float would be pretty good."
"You could consider magnetism." Schiller sold out Magneto without the slightest psychological burden. "Maybe magnetism is stronger than you think."
By the time Natasha arrived, the three of them had gone nearly fifty hours without sleep. Schiller and Peter looked fairly normal because they had superpowers, but Stark had enormous dark circles under his eyes. Natasha said, "We were almost ready to put out missing-person notices for you. You've been gone for nearly three whole days."
"But we have an outstanding result!" Stark said.
Then Natasha saw Stark take out a cigarette. The female agent smiled and said, "Looks like you're still as unromantic as ever. Ever since I joined S.H.I.E.L.D., I stopped smoking."
"You're only thinking about staying healthy now? Isn't it a bit late?" Schiller asked.
"Staying healthy? I didn't quit for my health! Have you ever seen a Russian care about staying healthy? That damned smoke detector in the S.H.I.E.L.D. office goes off more than twenty times a day. I was driven crazy by it, so I quit."
"Hey, look over here! What are you talking about? Look at me, look at my achievement!" Stark said.
He tossed the cigarette upward. In an instant, a suit of armor made of silver and deep blue appeared around him.
This armor did indeed look somewhat different from the Mark series. It was lighter, sleeker, and better fitted to Stark's body. It made none of the mechanical sounds produced by his other armors, either while equipping itself or while he moved. Rather than armor, it looked more like an unusually designed skintight suit.
Schiller stood up and said, "When you wore armor before, you were ten centimeters taller than me. Now you're only three centimeters taller."
"Is that the point?!"
"Of course. Because without armor, you're one centimeter shorter than me."
"Two centimeters shorter, sir," Peter said. "You have to subtract the shoes."
Stark took a deep breath. With a light jump, the armor floated into the air. There was far less commotion than before. Stark said, "Thanks for the inspiration. I also thought jet propulsion was a little cheap. But this magnetic levitation system is still somewhat immature. I need to improve it further."
Schiller hurriedly asked Natasha, "Did Nick Fury need me for something? I can go over and write him another invoice. It can be as large as he wants."
Natasha said, "All right, there is something. It seems to be related to those Ninjas Captain and Peter dealt with before."
"So you came for Peter, then Schiller..." Stark said.
"No, no, no. S.H.I.E.L.D. paid me a great deal of money. I think it's necessary to give all of them a basic psychological and emotional assessment. You know, it's important for some Field Agents. It can keep them from going insane from anxiety."
"This time, you're not charging?"
"Of course!"
Before you continue