Chapter 25: Partnership

Tony sat silently as he watched a video of Giotto flying around above point nemo. Based on what he was watching Tony could infer a lot of things-

"Different design philosophy, there are some interesting weapons shown, especially that huge purple death ray. But what I am also curious about is the powersource. Those green particle-like things aren't just some random emissions are they?"

[GN Particles, Mr. Stark, these are from the GN drives developed and designed by Sir Giovanni. It is also the main power source of Celestial Beings various weapons systems and vehicles]

"I'm assuming this thing runs on GN particles then?"

Pausing, Tony directed his attention outside the conference hall. But his attention was not at the two knightmare frames but instead the whole carrier.

[The Carrier runs on a single GN drive powered by the Nexus System, a system that transfers energy wirelessly on a global scale]

"You really know how to keep a man interested don't you?"

Tony snickered as he replied to VEDA who was baiting him endlessly.

[A necessary procedure Mr. Stark]

"Tsk"

Clicking his tongue, Tony redirected his gaze towards the display panel before him. 

Details on various projects that would require his assistance as well as the many hidden deals made by Obadiah Stane. 

At first Tony felt that they were lies, he could not believe that Obadiah Stane, a man who he considers family, would actually try to kill him.

But the evidence presented by VEDA was convincing, the documents and video evidence made him clench his fist in anger. 

It also didn't help that video footage of Obadiah working on the armor he created in the middle east and a new armor that was similar to the knightmare frame was presented.

What was even more infuriating was that the researchers working on the projects that Obadiah was doing were all people he knew of. They were researchers of Stark Industries, as such Tony felt even more anger.

In fact, Tony had the desire to just rush to his workshop, complete his armor and take down Obadiah himself. But he knew this idea was going to kill him at best and chaos tremendous chaos at worst.

"Who is this collaborator of Stane?"

At this point, Tony had long dropped any respect or care he had for Obadiah. Instead he saw his former close friend as an enemy. He was curious about many things though, one was the identity of Stane's collaborator and the other-

"Why does Stane have a Knightmare Frame?"

[The collaborator is Miles Morales-]

VEDA began to explain who the collaborator was, revealing images of Miles Morales. From before when he was under Kingpin, then images of what happened to him after Giotto caused the explosion. 

The scarred face was then followed by an image of Miles wearing a mask to cover up his scar.

[Miles Morales was previously a collaborator of Sir Giovanni's. He trusted Miles Morales but the man tried to run off and use Sir Giovanni's technology to get rich. Miles was planning to sell the various weapons data to the highest bidder but Sir Giovanni caught wind of these actions and disrupted them. Unfortunately Miles had found a way to escape and is now undercover, recently he had been working alongside Obadiah Stane on a project entitled "Future Warfare". This project involves the Generation 4 designs of Knightmare Frame created by Sir Giovanni named "Glasgow"]

Hearing the explanation of VEDA, Tony scoffed as he turned to Emma, he directed her attention at the image of Miles Morales before asking-

"Friend of yours?"

But Emma was not perturbed as she replied apathetically.

"No, but I would love to meet him and give him a piece of my thoughts"

Emma spoke apathetically but a hint of anger and annoyance could be felt from her tone as she stared daggers at Tony.

"Woah there tigress, I'm not planning anything bad, but I do wonder how this Miles Morales could get past your dear friend VEDA here~"

Tony remarked, making Emma pause as even she felt that something was amiss with VEDA's information. Especially since she knew how powerful VEDA was in terms of network security.

The fact that Miles Morales was able to steal key information and hide from VEDA made her think that things were not as simple as they appeared.

[In relation to your queries, the information Miles Morales stole came from an isolated terminal. It was not connected to any network as Sir Giovanni did not believe that my systems are completely secure. This is also the reason why Sir Giovanni is currently out of reach as he has begun research in a secret facility that is detached from any network making it virtually impossible for me to trace his movements.

Miles Morales took advantage of the special access granted to him by Sir Giovanni and to steal the information and try to escape. But he proved to be far more tricky than we initially expected. Miles Morales has survived Sir Giovanni's attempt at taking him down and now Miles Morales has sold dangerous information to Obadiah Stane]

Hearing the information given by VEDA, Emma quickly understood the circumstances while Tony had a different reaction as he replied-

"I'll let the, "I'll kill traitors" kind of action that Giotto Giovanni took. Then again… even I had thoughts of killing Stane moments ago… its just that the opportunity was not right… maybe if I found out about things as I walked into him wearing my suit…"

At first Tony felt that Giotto's actions were extreme. To kill a friend due to betrayal felt like an extreme reaction.

But as he continued to talk, Tony realized that what Giotto did was try to stop Miles from spreading dangerous tech to the world. Tony then realized that he was in the same position as Giotto when he found out about Obadiah's betrayal.

The only difference was probably that Tony learned of things from a third party and away from Obadiah. If he walked into Obadiah Stane and found him developing a suit of armor based on his own design with full intent to sell it to the military to be used for war-

When Tony put himself in Giotto's place, he realized that he would have probably did the same. 

The anger of betrayal coupled with the threat of a dangerous weapon being spread all over the world made Tony understand Giotto's reaction.

Now though, the situation for Tony was that he wasn't able to quickly pull the trigger.

On the other hand, Giotto probably found out that his dangerous documents were compromised and despite knowing that it was his friend who did it, he chose to blow up his secret base where he hid the information.

When Tony thought of it that way he lost any desire to call out any of Giotto's actions.

"Well, it's a hypothetical but he probably tried to prevent the release of such technology to the world… well it seems that he failed… and so did I"

Looking at the documents and videos showing both Obadiah Stane and Miles Morales working on the "Glasgow" model knightmare frame, Tony felt a surge of anger and sorrow flood his heart.

But as he thought of this he also realize that things weren't all that bad-

Tony turned to look back at the two knightmare frames. 

"VEDA, if I remember correctly, these two knightmare frames are sixth generation variants and the one Stane and that Miles guy were working on was a fourth generation variant right?"

[Affirmative]

"Then tell me, what exactly is the difference between the two"

[Reporting, The Fourth Generation Glasgow was the knightmare frame design that was made specifically to be a weapons platform. But its capabilities were focused on being anti-infantry and anti-tank. The capabilities of the knightmare frame was more focused on being able to carry high power weapons and maneuver through the battlefield with speed and agility far greater than infantry while being able to carry around heavy weaponry to neutralize modern weaponry. It's factsphere architecture is directly connected to an onboard operating system that allows the knightmare frame to automatically detect incoming dangers such as guided missiles and other projectiles that could cause great damage. 

The onboard system will immediately respond to detected danger and override controls to evade. The range of the factsphere could reach 5 kilometers in radius.]

Upon hearing the explanation, Tony felt that he missed a few lines in the information he was given as he looked through the data he had read before. But he could not find the information that VEDA was giving him.

[Mr. Stark, this information was not added in the documents provided to you. If you officially join a partnership with us Celestial Being, all the information will be provided to you]

When Tony heard the response of VEDA he let out a self deprecating laugh as he said-

"Quite crafty for an AI"

[Thank you for the compliment Mr. Stark. But moving on- Seeing the potential of the Glasgow, Sir Giovanni believed that it would become a dangerous weapon of war the needs to have a balancing agent]

Hearing the statement of VEDA, Tony snickered as he quipped-

"A self-made arms race? Interesting, though I'd probably be in the same situation"

Tony's words may have been an attempt to mock Giotto but it was also a shot at himself as he knew that he would not stop at a Mark 2, 3 or even 20. He'd probably build hundreds of different variants, for different purposes and applications.

Ultimately, he would probably be moving with the same type of mindset as Giotto. As such, his quips also became a commentary on his own personality and psyche.

[Anti-knightmare frame variants came about with this, these variants became the fifth generation knightmare frames, given the name "Sutherland", this variant was made with improved systems and capabilities. Its frame was made to be slimmer and more agile. 

Development of lighter, tougher materials were done in order to support this design requirement. Sir Giotto has also developed a variety of systems to break through the materials used for Glasgow. Weapon systems such as the anti-knightmare rail gun, the stun tonfa that are meant to destroy the operating system of knightmare frames and a balance module that allows the knightmare frame to move at rapid speed]

"This is the fifth generation?"

Tony asked as he went over the information about the "Sutherland". Seeing the various test data and the video's showing the type of weaponry that was developed Tony snickered as he thought of the Glasgow Obadiah and Miles were spending hours and millions on.

But as he thought of this, he once again turned to the two "Sixth generation" Knightmare frames with a curious look.

Most of the information he was given was basically already given to him when he hoped on the black knightmare frame before.

The only difference being that the specific capabilities were a lot lower than what was on the sixth generation knightmare frames.

Then again, they were an upgrade, but Tony was even more curious why the design of the sixth generation knightmare frames look a lot more- "personalized" than the other generations that looked very "Mass Produced".

These thoughts of Tony made him ask-

"Why do these knightmare frames look so special? What's up with the sixth generation knightmare frames?"

[Completing the previous response will answer your query Mr. Stark. The sixth generation came about not out of necessity but a desire to surpass the fifth generation. These sixth generation knightmare frames were described by Sir Giovanni as the Testbench generation.

The current designs are incomplete but Sir Giovanni has visualized a few weapons and systems. One of these systems was called the "Float System", which is the reason why sir Giovanni opted for smoother, more aerodynamic designs.]

Hearing the explanation of the sixth generation knightmare frames, Tony snickered as he said.

"Aerodynamic? The human body is not aerodynamic and these knightmare frames were modeled after the human body. I don't think smooth and sleek edges would do much when moving that much weight through the air"

[Mr. Stark, may I remind you that this carrier moved even more agile than any VTOL aircraft of the current generation. Also, you may not have seen it but it is also capable of supersonic flight]

The reply of VEDA made Tony swallow his words as he clicked his tongue before replying.

"Fine, you have technology I want to know about. So tell me, what do you want anyway? Look, I could already tell that you don't need my technology. You have that global wireless energy system to power your suits. Why use these batteries then? Why not build a system that directly taps into this network and make perpetually operational machines?"

[Mr. Stark, the Nexus System would be used for our specialized Knightmare frames and mobile suits. On the other hand, Sir Giovanni does not believe that he could hide the technology of Knightmare Frames forever.

In this case he wishes to obtain your help, to create a balancing force and should Knightmare frames become the new weapons of war, Celestial Being could act as a peacekeeper utilizing the Nexus System and higher generation Knightmare frames.]

In response to Tony, VEDA gave him a response that reasoned out some of the problems and questions Tony had. But it gave Tony even more questions than he asked. There were a lot of holes that Tony wanted to talk about but then-

*I'm talking with an AI… Giotto Giovanni… what are you planning? The more I learn the more I find out I'm far behind… but-*

As Tony thought about the many problems he could find in VEDA's response to him, he also turned to look at the two Knightmare frames. Tony's eyes wandered around as he looked over the various technological marvels that he had seen in this ship.

Tony closed his eyes, he was contemplating, Emma and Pepper were having a quiet girls talk away from Tony who had closed his eyes to think. 

After a few minutes, Tony let out a deep breath as a look of determination flashed in his eyes.

"I want direct access to your database, and also a few prototypes and one carrier"

Tony gave his demands to VEDA but in response the AI responded immediately after Tony finished his words.

[Limited access to our database, one prototype and access credentials to our base]

The immediate response made Tony even more interested in the AI. There were two possibilities for this.

One- his actions and decisions had long been mapped out and VEDA was only playing on the predetermined script.

Two- the processing power of the AI was so great that it was able to go through various processes to map out the most appropriate response.

In the end Tony found many reasons to support both possibilities. For now, he could not come to a conclusion but whatever the reason may have been, his response would still be the same-

"... fine"

His words put a stop to the conversation between Pepper and Emma as Tony then began to talk with VEDA about the various stipulations.

At first the two women thought that things were going to end then and there but Tony stood up as he turned to Pepper and said-

"Pep, I'll be here for some time, how about you and Ms. Frost, continue your conversation in the villa?"

After Tony spoke, VEDA followed-

[Ms. Frost, I will need you to take this module with you and stay in Tony Stark's mansion for a few hours as I integrate Mr. Stark's system into the public framework]

As VEDA completed it's words a small cube device was presented to Emma by a robotic arm.

Grabbing the cube, Emma turned to Pepper as she said.

"Let's leave the engineering stuff to the engineers and… AI"

Pepper turned to Emma as she responded saying-

"Let's go, do you like red or white wine?"

"Red please"

Tony watched as the two women casually left the carrier as he commented-

"Giotto and I would have had the same kind of atmosphere if he was here"

[Affirmative, Sir Giovanni has a lot of similarities with Mr. Stark]

Hearing the response of the AI, Tony smiled as he then said-

"Alright! Let's start with creating another arc reactor for these two Knightmares!"