"But clearly, his learning period should have been longer, creation is but a fleeting moment, yet you remember this moment so vividly. Essentially, your amazement at his talent supersedes the sense of achievement in imparting your own experiences,"
Shiller straightened up, looked ahead, and stated:
"Stemming from this, that moment you first discovered that Tony Stark, with his remarkable gift, would surpass the sum of your life's accumulation and experience...you felt a sense of unease."
"This is also why there's increasingly less dedicated time between you two, because you find there's less and less you can teach him. Meanwhile, his innovations increase and your patience dwindles."
"And the unbearable negative emotion you felt that night when you returned, was when you discovered that in the wonderful future that Tony Stark had created, you saw no reflection of yourself."
Shiller's assertive and fast-paced speech abruptly stopped, the silence was sudden but even more intense, casting a dreadful quietness in the room.
Few minutes later, Howard's trembling fingers touched his face, he kept pursing his lips, blinked, but still felt the tears sliding down from the inner corners of his eyes, along the bridge of his nose. He said in a trembling voice:
"I am his father..."
"We used to be so close, whatever I taught him, he was willing to learn and he learned it really fast."
"I can no longer hold him in my arms, teach him to read numbers, do arithmetic, he no longer needs to learn any experience or knowledge from me."
"The moment I got in the car with the documents, I was thinking, even if I die, the knowledge, the experiences and the good times I've left him will accompany him forever. And so, I stepped on the gas pedal."
"But when I returned, I realized that resurrection is the cruelest punishment for a person, for you'll see how the world has forgotten you."
Howard lowered his head, shedding silent tears. Meanwhile, Shiller slowly went back to his seat, took a sip of water from his glass, and stated:
"You left Earth for the Andromeda Galaxy, not because you didn't want to see Tony, but because you didn't want to see his creations."
"You fear you wouldn't resist rushing upon his life's works, obsessively searching for evidence of your influence. You thought Tony doesn't deserve a father unable to contain his feelings and seemingly unhinged."
Shiller's tone slowed down, it was slower than when he questioned Howard, sounding more like he was reading a poem.
"Parents want their children to become another version of them, yet they also want them to surpass themselves. Parents hope their children inherit all their experiences yet they also hope they can break through and innovate."
"Parents hope their children fly higher and farther, yet they don't want their children to stray too far. Parents want their children to have their own lives, yet they don't want them so engrossed in their own lives that they forget their parents."
"Parents are forever contradictory, they suffer due to these contradictions and these contradictions breed more suffering."
Howard slowly raised his head, and with tear-filled eyes, looked at Shiller. Shiller, with a furrowed brow, looked at Howard saying:
"You are too preoccupied with the transmission of knowledge and life experiences, and have overlooked the extremely important point of one's character."
"You are disappointed that you can't see more of yourself in Tony, while I am amazed by how much of you I see in him."
"You know, people who possess thousands of transmission components in this world are rare. Their hearts house a huge machine that processes subtle emotions every moment, emotions that most people might not even realize."
"Mr. Howard…" Shiller gazed at him and said: "It seems you have finally admitted that, I outdo you in terms of emotional judgment."
Howard just stared blankly as Shiller was pouring water into a wine glass using a jug. The spout of the jug was quite large compared to the mouth of the champagne glass, so Shiller could only pour slowly, a sight that seemed quite comical.
"Aren't you a psychologist? Shouldn't you be comforting me?" Howard's voice cracked.
"What matters is I won." Shiller lifted his head slightly, "and not only did I win, I defeated a genius, let me enjoy this moment."
"Oh, no, I misspoke," Shiller suddenly shook his head. "Actually, there's nothing to be happy about. I'm a psychologist, and you're a scientist, I won over you in terms of psychological conjecture, like a cheetah outrunning a tortoise."
Howard's face flushed, seemingly enraged by Shiller's rude remarks. But Shiller calmly picked up his wine glass, took a sip of water, and said,
"However, next, we can have a fairer competition, that is, let's see who understands Tony Stark better."
"I'm his friend, you're his father, you've taught him for a not insignificant period, and I haven't known him for long. In many ways, this is a far fairer competition, so, Mr. Howard, do you want to compete with me?"
Lifting his eyelids, Howard stared at Shiller with pale pupils and slowly blinked, "…How do you propose we compete?"
"Simple." Shiller stood up from the sofa, took his glass and walked to his desk, "Right now, we're both in the Andromeda Galaxy, far away from Earth, and we're not monitoring there."
"Let's guess what Tony is doing right now. We each voice a conclusion, then call him, whoever gets it right wins."
Shiller stretched out his hand, poured the clear water from his glass into another, then opened a bottle of champagne, poured it into the glass, and took a sip.
But the scent of the wine that came then made Howard frown. He felt his chest trembling and his heart yelling he absolutely can't lose this round. A father's understanding of his son is a round he can't afford to lose.
So. He also stood up, walked to the other side of the desk, looking into Shiller's eyes and said, "Well, then, let me guess first."
"Go ahead." Shiller lifted his glass.
"Right now, it's the middle of the night in New York, Tony Stark is pulling an all-nighter in the lab working on some research. In fact, he's tackling the toughest part of a project. At this very moment, he's leaning over the lab bench, staring intently at the data on the paper, not uttering a word…"
Howard was very detailed in his description, compelling Shiller to match this level of detail in his own. But Shiller remained silent, he dialed the number, and a second before the call connected, Shiller suddenly spoke:
"...He's crying."
The next second, Stark's hoarse voice came over from the other end of the call:
"…Hello?"
Instantly, Howard's arm muscles tightened because he found himself unable to stand there, heard a sob even before Stark spoke.
Shiller hung up the phone with a "click" and Howard's outraced as if he had gone mad. He ran from the other side of the table, lifted the phone with a trembling arm, and shouted, "Call back! ...Quick!!!"
"Sorry, there's no credit left. I had no idea Magneto was so frugal. Although long-distance is expensive, it shouldn't run out of credit after just one call?" Shiller, back facing the desk, both hands braced against it, gazing upwards at the ceiling.
Before Howard could yell again, Shiller suddenly let out an "Oh", and then continued, "Look, how could I forget? Magneto can open a wormhole through space, he could return to Earth anytime, why would he need to pay for calls?"
Howard threw the phone away, bolted out the door in a panic. Shiller, standing at the table, shook his head and chuckled.
But then, the phone on the desk started to ring again. After Shiller picked it up, a deep voice came from the other end:
"Hello, this is Odin, I'd like to chat with you. Are you free now?"