Nick Fury did not answer Tony's question. Footsteps sounded from the living room entrance—it was Coulson, back at last.
He had not returned alone. Another S.H.I.E.L.D. employee in a black suit came with him, and the two of them carried a silver-gray case. It was about the size of an ordinary suitcase, its surface worn with age.
What caught Tony's attention most was the black lettering sprayed across the upward-facing side of the case: "Property of Howard Stark."
Tony's gaze was drawn uncontrollably toward the case. He was deeply curious about what his father had left behind, about what was inside it.
Nick Fury's voice pulled his attention back. Pointing at Tony's chest, he said, "According to Howard, the thing in your chest was built from unfinished technology."
Tony shifted his gaze from the case to Nick Fury's face, his tone carrying its usual supreme confidence. "No. It's a finished product. I miniaturized it into what it is now."
Nick Fury's expression did not change. He remained as impassive as ever, speaking as though stating a fact. "No. Howard said the Arc Reactor was merely a stepping stone toward greater technology."
"Back then, he intended to launch an energy race that would leave every competitor in the dust. He found a lead on something called 'Super Energy,' and compared to it, this nuclear reactor would be like a AAA battery."
Tony froze.
Super Energy? A nuclear reactor was like a AAA battery?
He admitted that his father had indeed been a genius inventor, but words like that would have sounded like something from a science fiction novel even today—now that he, Tony Stark, had created a miniature Arc Reactor—let alone in the last century.
Without him, perhaps no one on Earth would have ever set foot in that field, not