A faint thought lingered in her mind, so faint she could hardly tell whether it was a prank: could this man who claimed to be cursed with knowledge use that knowledge to reverse her Regeneration Cradle technology?
She took a deep breath and pressed the start button.
The Regeneration Pod gave off a low, steady hum. Inside, the nanoscale scaffolds began working according to the preset cell differentiation map, and a soft blue-white glow enveloped Tony.
On the monitor outside the pod, the waveform of the cellular regeneration signals advanced steadily, methodical and precise.
Pepper clenched her fists. Happy held his breath.
Helen Cho stood behind the terminal, watching the regeneration percentage climb bit by bit.
Her fingers tapped twice against the edge of the keyboard, bringing up a hidden auxiliary settings panel. She tapped the preset option "Female" under "Sex Differentiation Guidance," then quickly closed the panel and wiped the operation log.
The whole thing took less than two seconds. No one noticed.
Before long, noon arrived.
The Regeneration Pod's progress bar completed its final five percent. The blue-white light slowly faded, and the pod's lid lifted. Fragments of nanoscale scaffolding receded like the tide into grooves in the pod walls, revealing the body beneath, its regeneration complete.
Tony Stark lay in the pod and slowly opened his eyes. He instinctively looked down at his body.
Then his face took on the horrified look of a man seeing his dead father in broad daylight.
Beyond the glass, Pepper's mouth formed a wide O. Her eyes were twice their usual size.
The coffee cup fell from Happy's hand and shattered.
Tony Stark stared in disbelief. He ran both hands over his chest once, then again, before jerking his head down.
The area he remembered having sparse chest hair and an