纽约市夜幕降临后,整个城市的灯光逐渐暗淡下来.斯塔克塔的顶层只剩下几层微弱的灯光.忙碌了一整天的佩珀走进了电梯.当电梯指示灯亮起时,她深吸了一口气,但并没有完全放松.
电梯门打开了,她走着走着,天花板上的灯一盏一盏地亮了起来,引导着她来到了斯塔克的实验室,她已经很久没有去过那里了.
实验室的门缓缓打开,没有发出任何声音.整个房间一片漆黑,只有实验仪器微弱的灯光照亮了整个空间.斯塔克躺在实验台上,似乎睡着了.
贾维斯打开了一盏柔和的灯,让佩珀在不吵醒斯塔克的情况下看到她的脚.他睡得很熟.当佩珀走近时,她注意到他的眉头皱了起来.
她看到他的桌子上有一堆文件.以前,它们都是 Pepper 无法理解的实验数据.但今天,她注意到那里有几本不应该出现的书.
社会工程学,博弈论,政治学,国际关系,甚至还有她在大学里学过的一些教科书.它们有被翻阅的迹象,有几本书被打开并留在桌子上,表明斯塔克还没有读完它们.
她走近了,拿起那些文件,其中大部分是与军方,国会和神盾局有关的情报,尤其是关于他们人员的信息.
佩珀正要走过桌子走到斯塔克身边,但他动了.他突然咳嗽,然后醒来.在昏暗的灯光下,他看到佩珀站在他面前,在梦中思考自己.
斯塔克摇了摇头,用力眨了眨眼,看起来很困惑.佩珀经常在他身上看到这种表情,通常是在他喝酒或熬夜做实验之后.
"哦,你来了.你完成了你的工作?你好吗?斯塔克似乎有些不知所措,好像他已经很多天没见到佩珀了.他用一种有点尴尬的语气向她打招呼.
但佩珀并没有受到他的行为的影响.她走过去问:"你怎么了?你为什么开始读这些书?
斯塔克回头看了一眼他的办公桌.他的脸就像一个被父母偷偷玩电子游戏的孩子.他尴尬地扭了扭脖子,说:"朋友推荐的,说我应该多读这类书,不然我处理不了麻烦.
斯塔克停顿了一会儿,然后低下了头.他的声音听起来有些低沉,显示出一种前所未有的严肃.
"S.H.I.E.L.D., the military, and Congress essentially get what they want. The next step will be the final negotiation of this incident."
"I represent Stark Industries. I know no one will handle these troubles for me this time. I have to learn to deal with everything myself."
"I have never participated in any negotiations seriously. Sometimes, even if I attend, I just need to sit there and wait for Obie to finish everything. Like a symbol. Everyone knows I'm a genius, so even if I show impatience or leave early, no one dares to say anything..."
"I know, I'm really an asshole. I've caused a lot of messes and troubles. I used to mock others' representative as an idiot or willfully spill coffee all over the table just to leave early."
"I can't even remember how many times I've done such stupid things, but I know that this time, I have to do it by myself."
Stark rubs his eyes, then rubs his face with both hands, trying hard to regain his sad and lost expression. He murmurs, "No one will do these things for me anymore. No one will solve these troubles for me anymore. No one will even look at my inventions or listen to my genius ideas...".
Pepper has to admit, it is the first time she sees Stark with such a sad expression. In the past, whenever he made those sad faces, it was always for joking around or intentionally making someone happy. But now, he is truly sad.
After a moment of hesitation, Stark claps his hands, "Alright, nothing. I could handle all this, right?"
"I am Stark, how can't I make it? Are they harder than making my suits? Just wait, as long as I finish reading through these materials and books, I can beat them down in the next negotiation..."
Pepper feels a pang of heartache. Previously, whenever Stark throws tantrums and doesn't want to do anything, she feels a headache, thinking she wastes too much time appeasing this big child and wishes Stark will mature faster.
But now, when Stark calmly accepts doing things he doesn't want to do, Pepper suddenly wishes he is still as willful as before.
She doesn't even know what is happening to herself. Stark becoming mature should be a good thing. But Pepper can't be clearer, such growth is inevitably accompanied by intense pain and sadness. She would rather Stark not experience this kind of pain and forever live in a utopia.
Pepper chokes back tears and is about to say something when her phone in her pocket rings . Out of choice, she has to leave to answer the call and can't spare time to chat with Stark, forced to deal with the seemingly endless work again.
Stark watches Pepper's leave of figure, his pain and helplessness reaching its peak. He props one hand on the stable, then covers his eyes. He has never felt before the nights in New York are so long.
When he immerses himself in the experiment, the night seems to pass in the blink of an eye. Before he can finish a small part of the experiment, the day has already dawned. He would always complain in such moments that this pure and blissful time is fleeting.
But tonight feels like it will never end, as if no matter how much pain he endured here the sun will never rise.
In the dim and dark room, Stark thinks the book is right. In this world, not everything can be handled by suit. Human beings in society cannot exist outside of social rules. As long as he still lives in this society, he has to follow some social rules.
Previously, Stark believed he doesn't have to abide by them, doesn't have to think about anything, and can live carefree every day. But now he realizes, it's someone that has paid the price of following rules for him.
It is they that paid the price first so that Stark can continue living in this warm shell, not having to think about anything.
Actually, Stark knows Pepper stays up late every night dealing with those scandalous news for him. Obie has also cleaned up various messes for him more than once.
But since the kidnapping case, reality is like a heavy hammer that directly smashes open this little bird's shell. The cold wind of reality blows on his still-growing feathers, making him stumble a few times. After getting covered in dirt, he has to struggle to stand up again.
After the warm wings he relies on leave him, he is left to face everything on his own. The nest is once perched on a cliff now suffers from the howling cold winds, but Stark has to learn to fly on his own.
After a while, Stark seems to accept the fact. He slowly tidies up the scattered materials on the table, then puts the various books aside with bookmarks and picks up one to continue reading.
In reality, Stark doesn't know whether it will be useful. When he learns from Schiller the other sides have almost prepared their chips and only the final negotiation remains to divide all the interests, Stark has never felt such anxiety and panic.
In many years past, he never considers such matters. But at least he knows , if he does nothing, it is equivalent to giving up the entire Stark Industries, giving up all the efforts of his father, uncle, and himself.
If he doesn't take this step, the Stark Industries will only retreat further and be completely divided by them, coming to others' sweet cake.
And now, there will be no one to turn the tide in this situation, except Stark himself.
In his many years of life, he never needs to consider anyone's feelings. But now he is about to participate in what can be the highest-level negotiation in this country, with politicians who have been in politics for years, senators who are influential figures, behind-the-scenes agents from S.H.I.E.L.D., and ambitious military leaders.
While Stark, in this situation, is like a primary school student suddenly participating in a doctoral forum. He has no theoretical knowledge or practical experience, and he doesn't even know how to read people's expressions. Stark can already imagine, his previous antics, which brought him some advantages in the past, will be of no use except for giving these wolves more opportunities to take a bite.
He has to learn to stay calm, learn to keep a poker face, learn to use strategy and skills to complete a non-combat war in a battlefield without gunshots.
It is not easy, nor is it easier than launching a real war.
Stark is like a newborn baby. Upon Schiller's suggestion, he can only start with theory.
Not all politicians know everything. But in contrast, they have abundant practical experience.
But Stark is a blank slate.Fortunately, he is the genius Stark. His brain allows him to memorize all this knowledge in extremely short time. Even if there is no time for him to digest or practice, having this knowledge in his mind is better than having nothing.
Stark feels Schiller is right. Since he has already decided to lower his head and learn these theories which he used to disdainfully ignore as empty words, he has to finish reading them as quickly as possible and try to understand them.
The former isn't difficult. Stark's genius brain allows him to memorize several books in just one night. When his brain is at its peak, he can practically have a photographic memory.
But reading, memorizing, and understanding are completely different matters. After Stark memorizes the books, he has to contemplate how to act in accordance with the information on people's backgrounds and relationships.
Which of them react to which topics? Within the same faction, what intricate subdivisions exist? Which relationships can be utilized? Why are some people's bottom lines lower than others? Why would some be willing to pay their chips than others?
These questions almost overwhelm Stark. Even though he is a super genius, he can't learn the essence of human knowledge overnight.
Moreover, sometimes game theory and psychology seem more like occultism. Because human nature is always mysterious and unpredictable. Using theory to analyze everything will only result in increasingly erroneous answers. Everything still relies on instant reaction, which truly burdens Stark with immense pressure.
Finally, in the profound darkness of New York's night, Stark mutters, "You are a genius... Stark. You are a super genius... No one in this world is smarter than you, of course, you'll be fine..."
Then, as his voice gradually fades away, he sinks into a deep sleep. At that moment, a tint of purple-red dawn appears on New York's skyline.