Hearing

New York Sanctum, living room, 10:00 a.m.

Chen Xiao sat cross-legged on the sofa, holding a bottle of cola as he stared at a palm-sized blue ring of light floating in the air before him. Fine spell patterns slowly rotated along its edge, making it look like a tamed firefly.

Daniel sat in the chair opposite him with a book in hand, turning a page now and then. The fireplace burned brightly, filling the entire room with comfortable warmth.

"You're using magic to watch a livestream again?" Daniel did not even look up. "What do you think the Sorcerer Supreme would say if he found out?"

"This is a byproduct of 'monitoring dimensional rifts.'" Chen Xiao kept a straight face. "The rift just happens to be in Washington. And it just happens to have opened at the hearing."

Daniel finally looked up at him. "Keep making things up."

"As long as it works." Chen Xiao set his cola on the coffee table, folded his hands behind his head, and continued staring at the blue ring.

Inside the ring, the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing room was being broadcast live. More precisely, Chen Xiao was remotely spying on it with Mirror Dimension magic. The senators on the dais sat upright and proper, the reporters below were restless with anticipation, and the gallery was packed with people there for the show.

Senator Stern sat in the center. His chin was so broad that it looked as though it had been caught in a door and never sprung back. His hair was slicked down strand by strand against his scalp, as if it were made of plastic. A row of knockoff Iron Soldier models sat before him—silver-gray, crudely made, with burrs still visible along the seams. They were clearly rushed products.

Chen Xiao could not help laughing at the models.

"What is it?" Daniel asked.

"Nothing. I just think some people's sense of aesthetics needs work."

The view shifted to Tony. He sat at the witness table in a dark suit, his tie hanging loosely around his neck. He leaned back in his chair with his legs crossed, holding a cup of coffee that had come from who knew where. A faint smile rested on his lips, as though he had just heard a joke that was not particularly funny.

Here we go. The classic scene.

Stern cleared his throat, his voice as loud as a market vendor hawking goods. He slammed a hand onto the table, making the knockoff models jump.

"Mr. Stark! Do you possess a special suit of armor? Have you used that armor to conduct unauthorized military operations? Do you believe one person can stand above the law?"

Tony looked down at his coffee, then up at Stern, and slowly said, "Senator, your question was too long. I forgot it."

Someone in the audience laughed.

Daniel peeked over the top of his book. "What did he say?"

"He said, 'Your question was too long, so I forgot it.'" Chen Xiao grinned until his eyes narrowed into slits. "That senator's blood pressure should be at one-eighty right about now."

Stern's face darkened another shade of red. He took a deep breath, his chest puffing out like a pufferfish.

"Mr. Stark! Please treat this hearing seriously!"

"I am taking it seriously." Tony set down his coffee and sat up straight. "You asked whether I have a special suit of armor. The answer is yes. You asked whether I use it for unauthorized military operations. The answer is, it's just my toy."

Stern slammed the table again. "You're lying! That is obviously a weapon!"

"And who can prove that?" Tony tilted his head. "You? Have you seen my armor? Do you know what it can do? Those things in front of you—"

He pointed at the knockoff models on the table.

"Those things. Justin Hammer's company products. With all due respect, they look like they were cobbled together from parts pulled out of a junked washing machine. You brought those things here to question me, Senator? Are you sure you have the right target?"

The audience burst into laughter again.

The view shifted to Justin Hammer. He sat in the gallery with a stiff smile on his face, but the light in his eyes had already died. The corners of his mouth twitched faintly, as though he were struggling to keep something under control.

Chen Xiao shook with laughter on the sofa. "Washing machine. He said washing machine."

Daniel finally put down his book and leaned in to look at the ring. "Who is that?"

"Justin Hammer. Tony's competitor. He specializes in knockoff junk." Chen Xiao pointed at Hammer's stiff expression. "Doesn't he look like he swallowed a dead fly?"

Daniel studied him carefully. "Like he swallowed a dead fly but is too embarrassed to spit it out."

"That's exactly it."

Stern's face reddened another shade, and now he looked like an overripe tomato. His fingers tapped twice against the table with a thump-thump, as though he were setting a rhythm for himself. He lowered his head and flipped through the documents on the table, seemingly searching for something to strike back with. He turned two pages, then two more, and sweat began to bead on his forehead.

Chen Xiao took a sip of cola and lounged back against the sofa. "Guess what he'll say next."

Daniel thought for a moment. "Arc Reactor?"

"Right." Chen Xiao nodded. "He'll definitely bring up the reactor in Tony's chest. Say it's part of a weapon."

The moment he finished speaking, Stern abruptly raised his head and pointed at Tony.

"Mr. Stark! You have an Arc Reactor installed in your chest! You admit it is part of a weapon!"

Chen Xiao raised his cola bottle in a mock toast to Daniel. "You got it right. You should be a screenwriter."

Tony did not answer immediately. He stood and adjusted his suit collar. He moved so slowly that Stern thought he was about to leave, and panic began to appear on his face. But Tony did not leave. He simply walked to the microphone, braced both hands on the table, and looked at the reporters and senators below.

Then he did something no one had expected.

He undid the top two buttons of his shirt.

Chen Xiao's eyes lit up. "Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes. The classic bit."

Daniel frowned as he looked at the blue glow in Tony's chest. "What is he doing?"

"Watch closely." Chen Xiao set down his cola and sat upright.

Tony revealed the Arc Reactor in his chest, its white glow especially glaring beneath the lights of the hearing room. Someone below sucked in a breath. The reporters frantically pressed their shutters, camera flashes bursting one after another.

"Senator, what did you say this thing in my chest was?" Tony's voice was not loud, but every word came through clearly.

Stern froze for a moment. "That is the energy core of your armor!"

Tony shook his head.

"No. This is my pacemaker." He paused. "It's also my dialysis machine. It's also my insulin pump."

The room fell silent, so quiet that the faint electric hum from the microphone could be heard.

Tony continued, "In a cave in Afghanistan, shrapnel lodged in my blood vessels. Without this reactor, those fragments would reach my heart, and I'd be dead in three minutes. This thing—" He glanced down at the core in his chest. "At its core, it's just an oversized magnet. It keeps the shrapnel from moving. It isn't a weapon. It's a medical device."

Stern opened his mouth but could not speak.

"And my armor?" Tony straightened. "It connects to this reactor. Without the armor, the reactor is exposed and easily damaged. Without the reactor, I can't live. So the armor isn't a weapon. It's a protective case for this medical device."

He thought for a moment and added, "Like... a glasses case."

Someone in the audience could not hold back a laugh.

Chen Xiao slapped his thigh from the sofa, and even Daniel's lips twitched slightly.

Stern finally found his voice again. His face had reddened all the way to his ears, and the flesh beneath his chin trembled faintly.

"Nonsense!" He pounded the table. "That armor has weapon systems! It can fire lasers! It has missiles!"

Tony tilted his head, wearing an innocent expression.

"Wheelchairs have wheels too. Does that make a wheelchair a vehicle? Does anyone use a wheelchair to race cars?"

The audience erupted in laughter. Some covered their mouths, some slapped their thighs, and one reporter laughed so hard that he could barely hold his camera steady. Stern's face changed from red to purple. His finger pointed at Tony, trembled twice, then dropped.

Chen Xiao laughed so hard that tears nearly came out. "Wheelchair racing. Wheelchair racing! How did he even come up with that?"

Daniel watched the ring expressionlessly, but the corner of his mouth had already risen to an unbelievable angle.

Stern took a deep breath, as though making one last effort to prepare himself mentally.

"You—you're using sophistry!"

Tony sighed, returned to his seat, and took a sip of coffee. Then he looked at Stern, his expression turning serious.

"Senator, this isn't sophistry. It's a medical fact. Would you like to bring in a doctor to prove that the thing in my chest is life support?"

Stern opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Tony put down his coffee, walked to the microphone, braced his hands on the table, and leaned forward slightly. His voice was no longer flippant. It carried something heavy and sincere.

"Senator, you said the country needs this technology. Fine. I can provide it."

The room quieted.

"But answer me first: How do you intend to use it? What will you use it for? Saving lives? Or making more weapons?"

Stern did not answer. His lips moved, but no sound came out.

"Stark Industries has shut down its weapons division." Tony's voice was calm. "I won't make weapons for anyone ever again."

He looked Stern in the eyes and said slowly, word by word, "If you need medical technology, I'll provide it for free. If you need tools for killing—"

He paused.

"I'm sorry, but I'm no longer an arms dealer."

The entire room fell silent for several seconds.

Then, no one knew who started clapping first. One person, then two, then a whole crowd. Applause rose from the gallery, spread to the press section, and eventually even several senators could not help joining in. Stern sat on the dais, his face no longer red, but gray.

Tony turned and stepped down from the witness stand. Happy came over from the side to escort him out. Reporters swarmed forward, questions flooding in like a tide, but Tony did not answer. He merely raised a hand, as though to say, "That's all for today."

Chen Xiao waved his right hand, and the blue ring dispersed into the air. He leaned back on the sofa and let out a long breath.

"All right, that hit the spot," he said.

Daniel picked up his book again. "Did he win?"

"He won beautifully." Chen Xiao took a sip of cola. "That senator's face got slapped swollen. Literally."

Daniel turned a page. "You said he would mess it up."

"That was the hearing. He messed up the politicians' hearing. That doesn't count as messing up. That's victory."

Daniel flipped his book back and kept reading.

Chen Xiao picked up his phone and sent Tony a text: "Full marks for the glasses case line. Full marks for wheelchair racing too."

A few seconds later, Tony replied: "I thought you were going to say I undid too many shirt buttons."

Chen Xiao: "Not too many. Just enough to show the reactor. No skin."

Tony: "You want to see skin?"

Chen Xiao: "No."

Tony: "You're lying."

Chen Xiao: "...Are you Iron Man or Iron Gay?"

Tony sent a smug emoji.

Chen Xiao tossed his phone onto the coffee table and said to Daniel, "This guy is beyond saving."

Daniel did not look up. "Didn't you already know that?"

After a while, the phone vibrated again.

Tony sent another message: "Monaco race next week. You coming?"

Chen Xiao typed: "For what? To watch you crash?"

Tony: "To watch me win. I'll save you a VIP ticket too."

Chen Xiao thought for a moment. "Fine. Bring cola."

Tony: "Bring your own cola. I only provide champagne."

Chen Xiao: "Then I'm not going."

Tony: "...I'll get you cola. Cold."

Chen Xiao smiled. "Fine. By the way, who taught you that medical device explanation?"

Tony replied: "I came up with it myself. Why?"

Chen Xiao: "Nothing. I just think your brain works pretty well."

Tony: "My brain has always worked pretty well."

Chen Xiao: "Then why didn't you think of it sooner?"

Tony: "None of your business."

Chen Xiao laughed.

He rolled over and buried his face in the sofa cushion.

Pacemaker, dialysis machine, insulin pump, glasses case, wheelchair racing.

Chen Xiao closed his eyes.

He could no longer remember the lines from the movie, nor could he be sure whether this was still the same plot he had watched, but who cared?

Outside the window, a sycamore leaf drifted down from a tree. Carried by the wind, it spun once before the Sanctum's window, then fell to the ground.

The fire in the fireplace still burned, and the sound of Daniel turning pages was soft, like some ancient lullaby.

Chen Xiao fell asleep.