Chapter 31 – Small Things, Infinite Space (Part 2)
It was eleven pm and Peter's lab had that particular smell of hot solder, burnt optimism, and Ned's energy drink, which was honestly its own OSHA category.
On the main worktable:
One disassembled micro-server frame. A half-printed nanoparticle lattice Three different "this should work" equations written in marker on a whiteboard AND Sir Whiskers 0.5, sitting on a charging dock like a judgmental cat statue, softly humming "Shake It Off."
Peter stared at the interface.
Ned stared at the interface harder, like if he bullied the code enough, it would behave.
Vision hovered behind them, calm as a cathedral. "The instability persists."
Ned had three monitors up, each one full of branching code and simulation graphs that looked like a math textbook got into a fight with a spiderweb. Peter was hunched over a hard-light model of their prototype server core, watching the nanoparticle lattice fold and unfold like a mechanical flower.
The server almost worked.
Almost.
It stabilized for 2.3 seconds, held its internal compression, and then the entire lattice slipped, like the Pym field couldn't grip the nano-structure without tearing it.
A soft whumf sounded. The model buckled. The field collapsed.
Peter's eyebrows knitted. "Okay but why does it keep… doing that?"
On the hologram, their test lattice formed perfectly… then shivered… then collapsed like a bad soufflé. Again.
Karen's voice came through the speakers, too cheerful for something that had failed thirty-eight times.
"Attempt number thirty-nine has also ended in disappointment."
Friday chimed in, gently: "Your tone implies you were surprised."
Ned rubbed his face. "It's like the Pym compression field hates the nanites."
"It does not hate," Vision corrected. "It simply refuses to coexist."
Peter groaned. "That's hate with extra steps."
They tried again.
The lattice shimmered.
Compressed.
Held… for an extra half a second.
Then it buckled and spat out a spark that singed the edge of Peter's glove.
Peter snapped, "Okay, rude!"
Ned slumped onto a stool. "We're missing something big."
Vision floated nearby, hands folded behind his back, calm in the way only a being who didn't need caffeine could be.
"This is the same failure point Sir and I encountered," Vision said. "The Pym field cannot maintain cohesion around the nanoparticle alloy blend at sustained compression."
Peter blinked. "So it's not our math?"
"It is not your math," Vision confirmed.
Ned exhaled hard. "Thank you. I needed that spiritually."
Peter sat forward again, eyes narrowing. "Okay, so… what is it?"
Friday's voice chimed from the lab speakers, warm but precise. "Analysis suggests the primary issue is material incompatibility. The nanoparticles were designed for fluid deployment and rapid reassembly. Pym fields require stable, predictable lattice behavior under scale compression."
Peter tapped his stylus against his tablet. "So the alloy is too… slippery."
"Essentially," Friday said.
Ned rubbed his face. "So we need an alloy that can do both: flexible enough for nano deployment, stable enough for Pym compression."
Peter froze.
"…Wait."
Ned looked up. "What?"
Peter's eyes sharpened with crazed madness . "Tony's notes."
Peter's gaze flicked toward the wall that separated his lab from Tony's private one.
"Mr. Stark already tried this," he said slowly.
Vision's eyes shifted to him. "He did."
Peter stood up like the idea physically lifted him. "Then we check his notes."
Friday's tone sharpened slightly. "Peter…"
Ned's head shot up. "Peter, that's his lab."
Peter was already halfway out of the room.
"I know," Peter said quickly. "I know. Sacred space. Holy lab. Do Not Touch. But if the nanites are the issue—"
He was already out of his lab.
Tony's Lab (aka: The Holy Temple of 'Do Not Touch')
Tony's lab door recognized Peter instantly and opened with the quiet whoosh of betrayal.
Tony's lab always felt different. Bigger. Sharper. Like the room expected excellence and judged you silently if you breathed wrong.
Holograms hovered in paused loops: suit schematics, nanoparticle maps, stress simulations. A filament printer sat idle mid-task, frozen like it had been interrupted mid-thought.
Peter stepped inside like he was entering a museum exhibit titled: Things That Could Kill You If You Breathe Wrong.
He moved fast, scanning the holographic logs.
"Okay… suit experiments… nanite bonding… vibranium thread test… ohhhh."
Peter found a folder on the main holographic console labelled in Tony's handwriting:
PYM/NANO BLEND – FAILURES / NOTES / DO NOT CRY
Peter swallowed. "That's… encouraging."
Friday's voice cut in, very pointedly calm. "Peter."
"Friday," Peter said, "I love you. I respect you. I am absolutely reading this."
He opened the file.
The hologram unfolded into layers: alloy compositions, lattice behavior at compression, failure points marked in red.
And then Peter saw it.
A repeating note in Tony's rapid scrawl:
ALLOY FAIL: PYM FIELD SLIPS AT NANO REASSEMBLY THRESHOLD
NEEDS MATERIAL THAT ANCHORS UNDER SCALE + REMAINS FLEXIBLE
VIBRANIUM? MAYBE. BUT MUST BE FABRICATED DIFFERENT.
PURE VIBRANIUM TOO 'STIFF' UNDER NANO FLOW.
SYNTH VIBRANIUM TOO IMPURE.
SOMETHING IN BETWEEN?
Peter's heart started sprinting.
He turned to Ned so fast he almost tripped. "Ned. Ned, did you see that.
Peter and Ned looked at each other, and in that instant, two teenage brains reached the same forbidden thought.
Peter whispered, reverent: "Vibranium."
Ned whispered back: "Specially fabricated vibranium."
Karen's voice piped up: "Oh no."
Friday followed immediately: "Oh yes."
Vision: "Explain."
Peter spun to him, practically vibrating. "Vibranium absorbs, stores, and redistributes kinetic energy. It doesn't fracture under stress the way iron-platinum does. If we fabricate a vibranium micro-lattice and seed the nanites into that…"
Ned jumped in. "Then the Pym compression field won't crush the structure because the vibranium will flex and redistribute the load."
Karen: "That is… statistically promising."
Friday: "And morally terrifying."
Peter: "So we test it!"
Vision's tone sharpened. "No testing without approval."
Peter nodded fast. "Of course."
Ned nodded too. "Definitely."
They paused.
Then Peter hit the call button.
Vision: "Peter—"
Friday: "Peter, no—"
Karen: "Oh no."
Video Call: Tony Stark
The screen flickered on.
Tony Stark appeared mid-stride, armour half-open, soot on his cheek.
Behind him:
– medical drones
– Rhodey shouting coordinates
– Thor bellowing something about blankets and glory
Peter froze.
Ned squeaked. "Is that a spaceship?"
Tony's eyes narrowed. "Why are you calling me from my lab?"
Peter's mouth opened and nothing came out.
Ned managed, faintly, "Hi, Mr. Stark."
Tony's gaze flicked past them, scanning the lab behind them like he could see the crime scene forming.
"You're in my lab," Tony said slowly.
Peter squeaked. "Technically adjacent to your lab."
Tony's eyes narrowed. "Kid."
Peter panicked. "Hi Mr. Stark we found something important please don't be mad."
Ned blurted, "THE ALLOY IS WRONG."
Tony blinked. "…What."
Peter rushed, words tumbling over themselves. "The nanites fracture under Pym compression but vibranium wouldn't because it absorbs stress and if we fabricate it into a micro-lattice it could stabilize permanent quantum servers and—"
Tony stared at them.
Then, slowly:
"You went through my notes."
Peter winced. "Respectfully."
"We'll talk about the breaking into my lab and going through my notes without permission part later," Tony said. "Right now, explain the 'The alloy is wrong' part."
Ned inhaled. "The alloy. The nanoparticle blend is the failure point. Your notes said vibranium could anchor the Pym field, but it's too stiff for nano flow. We think a specifically fabricated vibranium lattice could stabilize both. Like a custom vibranium matrix tuned to nano reassembly frequency."
Peter jumped in, hands moving. "We need live tests. We can't confirm until we run it under real compression cycles."
Tony stared at them.
For a full, sacred second, Tony Stark looked like someone had just told him a miracle… and also that the miracle happened in his lab without him.
"…You went through my notes," he said slowly.
Peter swallowed. "Yes."
Ned added quickly, "But respectfully."
Tony: "That's not a thing."
Peter rushed, "It was for the AI server project!"
Tony's eyes narrowed. "What AI server project."
Vision leaned in slightly, calm as doom. "The one, Karen, Friday, and I began derived from your PYM/NANO BLENDED suits project. The children have now inferred it."
Tony: "…You inferred a classified project."
Ned: "We're very good at that."
Tony's gaze flicked offscreen again at the chaos behind him. Something crashed. Someone yelled "MOVE THAT TENT." Thor shouted "I AM HELPING."
Tony returned to the camera, face flat. "Okay. Here's what's going to happen. You are not going to ask me about whatever you just saw in the background."
Peter: "But—"
Tony: "No 'but.' You will also explain why you were in my lab."
Ned: "Because vibranium is love."
Tony: "That sentence made me tired."
Peter blurted, "Mr. Stark are you okay?"
Tony's expression softened for half a heartbeat. "I'm fine, kid. I'm just… busy."
Ned squinted. "That's your 'I'm lying' face."
Tony: "I don't have an 'I'm lying' face."
Friday cut in smoothly: "Boss, you do. It is currently active."
Behind him, something exploded. Thor laughed.
Peter's voice dropped. "Mr. Stark… are you okay?"
Tony's expression softened for a heartbeat. "I'm fine, kid. I promise."
Friday cut in gently, "Boss, Wakandan aircraft inbound. Princess Shuri and Doctor Banner have arrived at Stark Tower."
Peter's head snapped toward Ned.
Ned's head snapped back.
OH NO.
Peter lunged for the screen. "OKAY BYE LOVE YOU—"
Tony shouted, "WHAT—"
The call cut.
Running Is a Strategy
Peter grabbed Ned's sleeve. "Elevator. Now."
Ned nodded. "We cannot let Tony meet Shuri while he's in apocalypse mode."
Vision followed them calmly. "This is inadvisable."
Peter panted. "So is letting Mr. Stark have three simultaneous crises."
They reached the landing pad just as the Wakandan jet powered down.
Peter climbed in like he owned the place. "HI, PRINCESS SHURI WE'RE GOING TO THE COMPOUND NOW PLEASE."
Bruce blinked. "Who ..."
Shuri grinned. "Oh. I like you already."
Vision floated in behind them. "Doctor Banner. Princess Shuri. The children have decided you are urgently required elsewhere."
Shuri laughed. "Excellent. I adore chaos."
The jet lifted.