Brad once again carefully reviewed all the scenes from the different universes involving Tony Stark.
This time, he examined them in extraordinary detail. Even the number of bed partners the kid would have in the future and how many times he would sleep with them were laid bare.
"Nothing."
"Nothing in this universe either."
"Still nothing!"
Brad could hardly believe it. He could clearly see even passersby who would cross paths with Tony Stark just once in the future, so how could there be no information whatsoever about his older brother?
Brad sank into thought.
Who had given him this ability to see the future?
The trigger had been Deadpool Wade, who had inexplicably seemed disconnected from space and time. Every superhero and villain who would interact with him in the future, and the connections branching out from them, formed scenes that diverged at various points in time.
Was it possible that such a person really existed in one possible timeline, but Wade, as Deadpool, simply never met him?
No, plenty of people had never met Wade, yet Brad could still view their stories through the connections branching out from other people.
"Or perhaps this 'person who doesn't exist in the future' has been hiding somewhere in this world all along, so Tony Stark genuinely never knew he existed throughout his childhood."
"Or this unborn child is Tony Stark himself, and the butterfly effect is simply causing him to be born earlier."
Brad decided to take a closer look at the family dinner Howard had invited him to that evening.
He had an inexplicable feeling that this child's birth would have a major impact on him.
That evening, Brad arrived at Howard's front door with a plain box tucked under his arm and gently pressed the doorbell.
JARVIS, the butler, opened the door and courteously welcomed him inside.
"Mr. Stark has spoken of you for some time. He says you are the most talented computer expert he has ever met. He rarely praises anyone so highly. Aside from the late Dr. Erskine, you are only the second."
The brief conversation with JARVIS left Brad feeling utterly at ease. He certainly lived up to the standards of a wealthy household's butler. No wonder Tony would name an artificial intelligence he developed after JARVIS.
The old butler certainly knew how to talk. Brad wanted to hire one too.
Howard's house was enormous. Apart from his own base, this was Brad's first real glimpse of a wealthy man's private mansion, and he actually seemed a little ill at ease.
Upon reaching the living room, Brad quickly scanned his surroundings. Instead of the crowd of wealthy guests he had expected, most of those attending were colleagues and researchers from the Strategic Scientific Reserve.
And Doctor Zola had not been invited.
Even Brad had received an invitation. Just how bad had things become between Doctor Zola and Howard?
Brad had never attended a gathering like this before, so he sidestepped JARVIS, who kept hinting that he could simply hand over his gift, and walked up to Howard instead.
"This is, uh, for your unborn child."
Howard looked a little taken aback. He disliked accepting things from others, so he did not immediately take the box. Fortunately, JARVIS hurried over and accepted the gift, smoothing over the awkward moment.
Only then did Howard take the box from his butler and thank Brad for the gift.
"Actually, a gift like this should be given after my child is born."
"But Dr. Brad is devoted to his research," Howard said with a smile. "It's understandable that he wouldn't know about such things."
He turned to introduce him to everyone. "This is Dr. Brad, my colleague and an expert on supercomputers."
The others were all from the Strategic Scientific Reserve and naturally knew who Brad was, so they merely nodded from where they stood and offered perfunctory greetings.
Only one somewhat bashful young man, who had been following Howard everywhere, approached with a slight bow and shook Brad's hand.
"Oh, this is my new assistant, a young man with a real talent for management. His name is Obadiah."
Brad studied the young man's flushed face. He had seen him before, in the scenes involving Tony Stark.
He existed in every universe.
Obadiah Stane.
In most universes, he was the first villain Tony Stark faced when he made his debut: Iron Monger.
An uncle in all but blood, he had looked after Tony Stark as he grew up after Howard's death, only to eventually try to kill Tony so he could seize the Stark Family's fortune.
Brad's gaze turned slightly peculiar as he looked at Howard.
Does he really have no eye for people?
First, he lets Doctor Zola build up Hydra right under his nose. Then he mistakes me for a peerless genius. Finally, he picks someone who wants to steal his fortune and kill his son to run his business.
Aside from research, making money, and chasing women, this guy was actually terrible at everything!
While Brad kept maliciously disparaging Howard in his mind, Howard had already unwrapped his gift.
Inside were two metal rods joined together by an oddly shaped mechanism.
A few people nearby murmured and chuckled.
With a somewhat resigned expression, Howard shook one end of the rod. Then his brow furrowed, and he raised the interlocking spherical mechanism between the rods to his eyes for a closer look.
The people around him fell silent, watching his suddenly serious expression in confusion.
Howard examined it for more than two full minutes, repeatedly twisting the two metal rods into different positions.
Finally, he sighed in admiration.
"This is... a marvelous mechanical design!"
"A universal joint."
Brad nodded. "This mechanism allows both ends of the metal arm to twist freely. It's even more flexible than human bones."
"This is a design you could patent and make a fortune from!"
Having reached that conclusion, Howard turned to Brad in shock.
"You're giving this to me... to my child?!"
Brad scratched his head, pretending to be embarrassed. "I didn't know what to give you, so I just..."
Just picked some technology that wouldn't appear for at least another forty or fifty years and gave it away as a present.
That was what Brad really thought. He had plenty of similarly advanced technologies in his head, so he hardly needed the money from this one patent.
"This is far too valuable."
JARVIS murmured his appreciation.
Howard hesitated, intending to return the universal joint to Brad, but Brad saw through him and pushed it back.
"I have hundreds, even thousands of similar mechanical technologies in my head. It's only a universal joint."
A group of scientists with expertise in materials science and structural engineering gathered around.
After examining and discussing it, they all expressed their amazement.
"Good heavens. Even if someone finally manages to develop this remarkable mechanical structure in the future, they'll have no choice but to discover they owe a huge sum in licensing fees, because someone invented it decades earlier."
"You could also choose to make the technology public. That would be a major step forward for mechanical design around the world."
Brad still looked reserved, but his words made him sound as though he answered to no one but heaven itself.
As for Obadiah, he bowed even lower when facing Brad, his eyes shining as though he were looking at a living god of wealth.
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