Cyber Widow

Outside the launch shaft on the cliff beneath the seaside villa.

Wearing the Mark 3 and hovering in midair as he waited, Tony grew bored and grumbled to himself, What's that kid doing? Why is he taking so long...

Just then.

Whoosh—

A sharp whistling sound came from the launch shaft, which had already been opened. Leon shot out in the Jet Glider, then immediately accelerated into the distance without stopping.

"Hey, that's blatant provocation!"

Tony raised a brow beneath his helmet. The repulsors in his palms and the jets beneath his feet instantly increased their output as he flew after Leon.

The two brothers were like a pair of carefree birds, chasing one another through the sky in pure delight.

Leon merely wanted to test the Jet Glider's acceleration and load resistance. So, after reaching a top speed of Mach 5 in thirteen seconds and finding the ride even more comfortable than driving normally.

He began slowing down, waiting for Tony, who had been left farther and farther behind.

Before long.

Tony caught up and complained to Leon, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"So you're blaming me because you couldn't keep up?"

Leon shrugged and added smugly, "I thought the Mark 3 could fly this fast too."

"Use your head. That was obviously impossible."

"Mach 2.5 is already the limit of what can currently be achieved."

Rolling his eyes, Tony said, "With the same technological support, a large motorcycle like the Jet Glider can just have materials piled into it without restraint. But when it comes to armor, there are many more factors I have to consider."

"After all, armor is meant to be worn by a person. I have to make the most of its limited space to get the best performance for the cost, balancing weapons systems, power systems, and all sorts of auxiliary systems."

Once Tony started talking about his armor, he showed signs of becoming quite chatty. Leon listened quietly with gratitude.

"So why not build an unmanned one?"

Leon suddenly asked curiously.

"Good question."

"I asked Rhodes something similar before."

Tony replied, "He said that no matter how well an unmanned fighter performed, it could never match a human's ability to adapt on the fly. So AI could only serve as an assistant to humans, and final decisions had to—and could only—be made by humans."

"I think he had a point."

"After all, AI is created by humanity. It can never stand above humanity."

"Maybe someday I'll build some unmanned Iron Man armors to serve as the company's bodyguards and guards, but my own suit has to be the strongest."

"That makes sense."

Leon nodded, thinking, I hope you can still hold onto that conviction when you suddenly decide to create Ultron someday.

"By the way, how did you solve the problem of getting the Vibranium for my shield? I heard Wakanda usually doesn't sell Vibranium to outsiders. You can't buy it even if you have money."

Very few people knew that Wakanda produced Vibranium, and Leon and Tony happened to be two of them.

"What do you mean, you can't buy it even if you have money? That only means the people who couldn't buy it weren't rich enough. If it were me..."

"Uh, fine. Even I couldn't buy it."

"Those natives in Wakanda are all stubborn as rocks. You can't reason with them, and every one of them has their nose in the air like they're somebody special."

Tony got irritated whenever Wakanda was mentioned.

"Then how did you get the Vibranium for the shield?"

Leon asked, while a bearded middleman surfaced in his mind: Marvel's designated Vibranium supplier—Ulysses Klaue.

If Tony's Vibranium had come from him...

Leon planned to purchase another batch, saving himself the trouble of finding someone on the black market.

"Although those Wakandan little blackies are all ridiculously full of themselves, their old king, T'Chaka, is actually quite a nice guy."

"When he heard I wanted to buy Vibranium to make a shield, he immediately waved his hand and agreed to provide raw Vibranium for free."

Tony explained.

"The free stuff is always the most expensive, isn't it?"

Leon pressed, "So what was the price?"

When Leon raised that doubt, someone might ask—surely there was some catch to a system that gave things away for free. Just wait until the system sells you out.

What a joke.

With a system this simple, useful, and conscientious, even if it really sold Leon out, Leon would still put in a good word for it.

"Figures I couldn't fool you."

Tony replied with a smile, "King T'Chaka said his youngest daughter, Shuri, really likes modern high-tech products. He asked me to remember to bring her along the next time Stark Industries holds a technology expo."

"Is that so..."

Leon fell into thought.

Tony might only have a vague idea, but Leon, who had inherited memories from his previous life, knew the truth perfectly well.

On the surface, Wakanda seemed to be nothing more than a backward, conservative primitive tribe. Yet, backed by a Vibranium vein, its technological level had actually surpassed the outside world by several centuries.

Still, in the end, they used such advanced technology for primitive hand-to-hand brawls. Traditional customs accounted for most of the reason, but it was still rather ridiculous.

Leon did not understand, but he respected it.

Besides the little-known Vibranium, Wakanda had another "local specialty" that outsiders could almost never know about: the Heart-Shaped Herb that gave birth to the superhero Black Panther.

With just those two things.

Leon was bound to visit Wakanda sooner or later.

As for whether he would infiltrate physically or use some other method, that would depend on whether they showed him some respect.

"Wait!"

Tony circled around the Jet Glider and noticed several blue-purple streaks of paint on its body. He was instantly speechless.

"Don't tell me you had me freezing outside in the cold wind for fifteen minutes just so you could spray on these childish little paint streaks?"

Before Leon could answer, the Jet Glider performed a sharp turn in place. Tony was caught off guard and sent flying away by the exhaust flames.

Right after that.

Arcee's somewhat haughty, alluring mature voice came through Tony's helmet communicator. "You're the one playing childish games."

Uh-oh...

Sister Arcee was angry.

Even so.

Leon felt more joy than anything else.

Arcee's reaction had made it obvious that she was not some cold machine without self-awareness or emotions. She simply did not like talking and was a little withdrawn.

"Shit?!"

"What the hell is this?!"

"She can talk?!"

"Leon!!!"

Arcee's sudden voice caught Tony completely unprepared. His flight posture immediately twisted out of shape, and he lost balance, spinning through a spectacular 720-degree loop as he fell toward the sea. Too lazy to save himself, he simply called for Leon.

"I'm coming!"

Leon answered at once. Then, beneath the astonished glare of Arcee's bright headlights.

He opened the roof hatch and leaped out of the Jet Glider's cockpit.

Golden light flashed from Leon's eyes, palms, and the soles of his feet as he rapidly chased after Tony.

Not long after.

Leon caught up to Tony before he could crash, hooking his hands beneath the Mark 3's armpits and carrying Tony gliding over the sea for a stretch, kicking up massive sprays of water.

Then.

They soared into the sky.

And chased after Arcee.

However.

Leon and Tony always maintained neither too close nor too far a distance from Arcee. She seemed to want some time alone.

Tony's joke was merely the trigger. The dramatic change in her worldview was the real reason Arcee wanted to be alone.

Everyone...

Was dead...

Only she remained...

Could a cyber widow get depressed too? Leon thought as he followed behind Arcee, then said to Tony, whom he was carrying beneath him, "Bro, can you fly any faster? Put some effort into it."

Leon roughly understood how Arcee felt right now. What she needed was comfort.

"I'm already at maximum speed!"

"You have no idea how heavy you are!"

"What exactly is going on with the Jet Glider?"

"Where's JARVIS? JARVIS!"

"Give me an explanation! Stop it already!"

"Sir, I can no longer control the Jet Glider. The intelligent AI named 'Arcee,' whom Master Leon picked up, has kicked me out."

JARVIS dutifully explained, his tone carrying a trace of resentment.

"What the hell??"

"You can pick up AI too??"

Tony felt like he could no longer understand what JARVIS was saying.