I walked back towards the investors, and their chatter quieted down as I got closer. A satisfying click echoed in the warehouse as I locked my briefcase. They watched me, a mix of anticipation and nervousness on their faces. A smirk curled up on my lips. They were hooked.
"Gentlemen," I said, my voice a little amused, "care to fill me in on this lively debate?"
Schmidt cleared his throat. "Miss Vasílissa, you're back. We were discussing funding and testing logistics for these weapons," Schmidt said, trying to cover up his worries about the weapon systems, though his voice had a little shake in it. I noticed.
"Trust," I replied, grabbing the laptop from Carl Anderson's hands. "It's the cornerstone of any solid partnership. Doubt sticks around like a bad smell, don't you think?"
The room went silent for a second. Unbothered, I started handing out the security tags. "These'll keep us safe from… accidents."
"Just attach the security tags. The drones will follow the commands you give them," I added, flicking on the autopilot system and tossing a stack of disks into the air. The drones' rotors hummed as they lifted. The investors all gasped as the drones pointed their targeting systems at... nothing. They were just waiting for more instructions.
"See?" I said, smiling at the cautious investors. "No mistakes. Just perfect obedience."
A bead of sweat slid down Davis Hall's temple. "Miss Vasílissa," he said, his voice shaking with barely hidden anger, "such... demonstrations don't exactly promote a productive partnership."
"Demonstration?" My smile dropped. "These are failsafe protocols, gentlemen. Tested over and over again. And as for the anti-tank weapons—those aren't part of the deal yet," I said, like it didn't matter. "Any other questions? If not, let's talk equity and certification."
The investors exchanged looks, their earlier excitement returning. Schmidt spoke up right away, "We're ready to offer fifty million," his voice full of excitement now. "For a forty percent stake in the company."
I did the math in my head. The funding. The lifeblood of my operation. Secured. A slow smile spread across my face. "Excellent," I purred, smooth as silk. "Let's wrap up the legal stuff, then." With the funding locked down, I could finish the renovations on my new lab and cover all the other costs.
I walked through the warehouse, handling company matters while I waited for the car.
"Company name, Miss Vasílissa?" Schmidt asked, a bit of humor back in his voice after all the tension in the warehouse. "Don't want any registration issues."
I tapped my phone, frustrated with the rental company's slow response. "Hold on a second," I muttered, scratching my head with one hand while the phone stayed tight in the other.
Finally, a chime pinged on my screen. "Krypton," I said, my voice sharp. "diamond logo. Already a registered shell company. We'll fine-tune the details later."
Just then, a black business van skidded to a stop outside, pulling up beside the group. A man with a scruffy face poked his head out the window.
"Your chariot's here?" he drawled, motioning to the van.
I climbed into the passenger seat, annoyed. "Not exactly fast service. We could've walked back faster by now."
I shot back, "Don't tell me you got stuck in traffic. We paid three times the regular rate for an express service."
"Well, about that," the driver stumbled, "there was this young lady, pretty persistent about getting a ride. The sun's blazing, and the streets are packed today."
I cranked up the AC, my face blank. "Middle of the day, and you're picking up... strays. Spare me the details."
"Forget it. Just get us back fast so we don't miss afternoon tea. Everyone good?" I gave my team a quick look, then signaled the driver to get moving.
"Miss Vasílissa, perhaps we could speed up the acquisition of that… metal processing plant… while we still have time this afternoon," Schmidt suggested, carefully calling the weapons factory a "metal processing plant" in front of the driver.
I nodded, keeping it short. "Good suggestion, Mr. Schmidt. Tonight, Times Square's calling to celebrate our... initial success." I glanced at the back seat where my team gave silent nods in agreement.
The rest of the ride was quiet, just the hum of the engine as everyone got lost in their own thoughts, ready for the work ahead. When we finally arrived, the silence broke with the rush of activity. My team got out, moving with purpose to tackle their tasks.
...
I stood alone on the sidewalk, eyeing the cozy brownstone in front of me. A quick flash of doubt crossed my mind, and I muttered, "Hope this doesn't come back to bite me later."
Krypton Technologies was just the beginning, I knew that much. Traditional financing was a total drag, so getting my hands on a sweet defense contract—that was where the real game was at. Plus, there was the Black Triangle network to build. Africa's got a ton of rare earth metals, and there was one I'd been eyeing for ages. The best metal in the world, and key to everything I wanted to do.
Once I stepped inside the comfort of my brownstone, I ditched the evening plans.
"Mr. Schmidt? Look, something's come up, and I won't be able to make it to the celebration tonight," I said, the phone pressed to my ear. "I know it's short notice, sorry about that. I'll send a legal rep to meet with you tomorrow to handle the details. Take care."
I hung up and headed straight for my Tech Forge.
As I walked into the basement, my phone rang, cutting through the silence. A glance at the screen told me it was Lan Zhang, one of my angel investors. Her voice crackled through the receiver, full of nervous energy. "This is too risky, right? Selling illegal weapons? Really?"
I slammed the phone back down onto my workbench, the loud crack echoing through the room as the screen cracked.
"Unbelievable," I muttered. "Everything's all sunshine and roses this afternoon, and now this. Women like her always need a dozen pillows to sleep right."
Jobs were jobs, though. I wasn't picky. Money talks, and I listened. A little danger was just a bit of spice, right? Besides, a few "performance incentives" from clients didn't hurt. "Negotiate, then. I know what I'm doing. Anyone with half a brain can see that."
...
Two days later, I was back in my zone, the familiar comfort of my Tech Forge—well, technically a private studio—filling me with that same sense of home. With three MIT degrees in mechanical engineering from my past life, this place was where I felt alive.
"Good, good," I muttered, pulling a silver alloy suitcase from the storage room and placing it on the workbench. It was packed with the gear I'd ordered that morning. "Just need to whip up a new outfit for myself, that's all."
I opened the case, making sure everything was there—specialized materials, all of it. This new gear? It was all about self-defense. I was cooking up a fabric that could protect me from all kinds of nasty stuff, that's the story, but mostly it was to explain my durability. Not just shock absorption, but something wearable every day. This was going to be a huge hit with S.H.I.E.L.D.or the military.
As I sifted through the materials, a jolt of excitement hit me. Finding those energy crystals had thrown me a curveball, but a good one. With this new gear, I was ready to push boundaries and protect myself from whatever came my way.
This new fabric had to hit three points: lightweight, easy to cut, and able to absorb impact like those weird non-Newtonian fluids. Steel armor wasn't going to cut it for future fights, and getting shot at on the streets was definitely not on my to-do list.
"Ava, fire up the projector and pull up the creation interface," I said, getting to work.
Ava was exactly what I'd asked for—her core was a self-made copy of Stark's Arc Reactor, and she had enough materials to make her nanites work their magic. In no time, she'd fashioned herself a humanoid body—kind of like that T-X terminator from the movie, but with a little more sass. She kept reminding me to use "she" when referring to her in humanoid form.
The next second, the entire studio exploded with holographic data windows. The walls, floor, desks—everything—transformed into a chaotic, yet beautiful mess of scrolling data and moving images. Basically, the whole room turned into a massive computer screen.
"Run the simulator," I continued. "Main body's gotta be composite materials, carbon nanotubes for the framework, graphene sheets connecting everything. Then we'll build the whole thing into a dot matrix with an electronic grid at its core."
Layer by layer, blue electric projections popped up on my workbench. Ava, with her digital heart, translated my instructions into action as I spoke. The materials I'd ordered rearranged themselves into a neat pattern on the holographic display. This new creation was basically a wearable, nano-sized electronic computer network. Super cool.
"Uh, Ma'am," Ava chimed in, "the simulation says the material works, but we're short on supplies."
"Yeah, no kidding, Ava," I said, rolling my eyes. I knew the materials I'd ordered wouldn't be enough, but that fancy nano liquid metal? Too expensive.
"Just use aluminum for the filler," I sighed. "I'll try to produce some nano liquid metal later."
"And bulletproof. Also, if it can keep me warm, that'd be nice," I added. If everything went according to plan, I'd be rocking a suit made of this new fabric soon. I didn't need a suit necessarily, but I needed a solid excuse for why bullets wouldn't hurt me. Don't want to be classified as a mutant. Plus, this was going to be the foundation of my future Combat Realizer Unit, my own version. I'd gotten blueprints from another universe and built one using nanites, but that was going to have to wait. Vibranium would be a must for that project.
With the material specs finalized, I watched the holographic layers stack together, creating the blueprint for my innovative design. This fabric was a total game-changer—protection and comfort, all wrapped up in one sleek package. As Ava kept running the simulations, satisfaction washed over me. This was just the beginning of what I could do with the right tech and tools.
Tech Forge was well equipped, it even had all the R&D equipment I needed. And when I needed it, so the current studio's setup was more than enough to get me started.
Creating fabric wasn't like heavy industry. Even with a new label, it was all about precision. For this kind of work, I had a workbench full of cutting-edge tech.
As the digital control systems worked overtime, a piece of black fabric gradually formed on the workbench.
"Due to the equipment's limitations," Ava said, "it's not quite up to the highest standard yet, but this will do for testing."
Looking at the black fabric lying on the workbench, I smiled with satisfaction. "Ava, activate the control panel. I want to give this a try," I instructed.
"Of course, Ma'am. Core control system activating. Wireless connection signal is stable," Ava confirmed.
I watched in fascination as the black fabric in my hand transformed into an indescribable color. The fabric felt as soft as silk, reflecting a kaleidoscope of colors under the basement lights, creating an unparalleled beauty.
As the blue and green hues alternated, the fabric slowly began to vanish in my hand. Thanks to the photosensitive layer covering it, the fabric completely disappeared from sight. If it weren't for the sensation in my hand, I might have thought it had vanished entirely.
"The photosensitive layer is functioning well, miss. I believe this optical camouflage technology could be developed into standalone weapons," Ava announced.
"I see that. But for now, it only achieves invisibility to the naked eye, not complete disappearance," I pointed out with a slight pout of frustration. I gently flicked my wrist, causing the invisible fabric to ripple like water.
Even a flashlight's beam could pass through the fabric with its optical camouflage activated, though some flaws remained. "It'll have to do. With the materials at hand, this is the best I can achieve," I sighed.
In my original vision, this new fabric was supposed to be composed of self-replicating electronic cells. In other words, it could transform into any type of clothing under any circumstances—a basic feature, of course.
This new fabric wasn't just clothing; it was also a versatile weapon, capable of both offense and defense, that could be carried discreetly. The so-called bulletproof, shock-resistant, and optical camouflage capabilities were just the basics. Thanks to the special properties of this fabric, I could integrate any desired functionality into everyday wearable clothes.
Moreover, this fabric could be incorporated into my combat suit or those of my team members in the future, or maybe in an Ironman-style armor.
This composite material, nearly five millimeters thick, felt as soft as regular fabric when not powered up. However, when the kinetic energy it absorbed exceeded its limit, the impacted area instantly hardened like steel. Its impact resistance was about twenty times that of steel, comparable to high-strength low-alloy steel with a yield strength of 460 megapascals.
Even bullets from a heavy anti-material sniper rifle couldn't penetrate this fabric, not to mention its inherent shock-absorbing capabilities.
The initial design for the composite material envisioned up to 6,500 layers, if not more. Between each layer, nano-scale gaps would allow carbon nanotubes to dissipate impact energy 6,500 times. It was clear just how strong the impact resistance of this new fabric could be—though it was only theoretical at this point.
With the current technology and equipment I had, it was impossible for me to fully realize this concept. "Continue with the impact tests," I instructed Ava. "Let's see what its limits are."
I sighed as I looked at the fabric, which had become visible again, and tossed it onto the robotic arm next to me. The mobile robotic arm, now controlled by Ava, was originally a Stark design. I had managed to obtain the schematics when I infiltrated his Malibu villa. After that, it was just a matter of having Ava use her nanites to build one.
"Understood, Ma'am," Ava confirmed. "I'll have the test report ready for you as soon as possible."