"Brad" stood patiently in the lobby of Pym Technologies. Wrapped in human skin, the terminator lacked the half-human, half-machine construction of Brad's real body, making him look tall and handsome.
A female receptionist had enthusiastically approached Brad the moment he entered, bringing him coffee and asking about his love life. When she heard that he knew the company's boss, she became even more attentive.
Before long, Dr. Hank Pym came downstairs.
He scanned the lobby in confusion, his gaze passing straight over Brad at first. Only after looking around for a while without spotting the figure he expected did he turn his attention to Brad.
Pym approached him uncertainly, tilting his gaze slightly upward.
"Hello, may I ask who you are...?"
"My name is Brad. A pleasure to meet you, esteemed Dr. Pym."
"Brad" extended his hand, wearing a perfectly standard, professional smile.
"Oh, I've heard of you. The top researcher trailing after Howard. I hear you know quite a bit about computers... If you're here to sell me something, I'm afraid you've come to the wrong place. Researchers like us can generally modify computers ourselves without much trouble."
Although Dr. Pym had left S.H.I.E.L.D., he was not completely out of the loop. Of course he knew that after his departure, the Strategic Scientific Reserve had recruited another genius who could almost rival him and Howard.
It was just that this genius studied computers.
During his years at home, Pym had all but sneered at the very existence of Brad.
As a man with doctorates in both robotics and biochemistry, Hank Pym believed computers hardly qualified as cutting-edge scientific research. They were merely tools.
A so-called computer researcher was just a workshop laborer who made hammers and wrenches, wasn't he?
Far away at X Academy, Brad's real body was teaching