On the drive to the beach villa, Pepper Potts glanced at Tony Stark in the seat beside her. "Tony, when I asked Smith to help yesterday, I didn't mention any compensation."
She shifted in her seat, her fingers drumming against her tablet. "Last time we paid a million dollars for equipment, plus other conditions. What should we offer this time?"
The question had been gnawing at her since yesterday. Relying solely on friendship wasn't professional, and Pepper knew better than most that relationships and business were two different things. Even friends deserved fair compensation for their services.
Tony rubbed his temples, leaning back against the leather seat. "If you hadn't brought it up, I would've completely forgotten. Smith's saved my ass more than once or twice now."
He stared out the window at the passing coastline. "He definitely deserves something substantial."
A slow grin spread across his face. "Given where we're at in our friendship, just throwing cash at him feels cheap. Go find Smith later and tell him I'm giving him an AI. The full package, everything needed to run it."
Pepper's eyes widened. "Tony, that's..."
"It's a thank you for saving my life multiple times," Tony continued, waving off her concern. "I remember his chief scientist, Bulma, was pretty fascinated by AI when she visited last time. Showed real understanding of the concepts too."
He gestured animatedly as he spoke. "Developing something like this from scratch takes forever. You have to feed it massive amounts of data, train it properly. Even with the right skills, rushing it just creates an artificial idiot. Hell, sometimes I think Dum-E fits that description. I've considered donating him to a scrap yard."
Tony paused, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Let me think about which AI to give him. But make sure he knows he'll need space for the equipment. A lot of space. This isn't some movie nonsense where you plug in a USB drive and boom, instant AI. We're talking an entire building's worth of hardware to house the servers and processing units."
Pepper processed this information, her professional mind already calculating the cost. An AI system like Tony was describing couldn't be purchased for hundreds of millions of dollars. Major corporations invested tens of billions and still ended up with glorified chatbots.
"Tony, isn't that excessive?" she asked carefully.
Tony's expression grew serious. He spent the next few minutes recounting what had happened at the villa, the close call with Obadiah, how Smith had arrived just in time.
Pepper's hand flew to her mouth. "Oh my god, that was way too close. Thank god Smith got there when he did."
She nodded firmly. "You're right. If he wants an artificial intelligence, give it to him. Smith has proven he's trustworthy."
Tony's signature smirk returned. "My friends are all as reliable as I am."
"Plus, doesn't the media keep comparing us to Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent?" He laughed. "What's Batman's real superpower? Money. Lots and lots of money."
He clapped his hands together. "Alright, Pepper. Have Happy drive you over and deliver the good news to Smith."
After finishing his discussion with Fox about the Fraternity's operations, Smith headed to the research wing to brief Bulma on the upcoming product launch. She was deep in her work, analyzing the pheromone compounds in Yelena's bloodstream. According to her latest update, she'd developed a preliminary detoxification protocol and expected results within days.
Back in his office, Smith leaned back in his chair and mentally reviewed his schedule. The Stark Industries board meeting in three days. The groundbreaking ceremony for the new facility. The Universal Capsule product launch. Finding safe placements for the rescued Black Widows. Coordinating with Bulma on multiple research projects. And somewhere in all of that, he needed to figure out the Dragon Ball situation, the revival, and that second wish.
His jaw tightened slightly. Too many administrative tasks, not enough training time.
He'd clear this backlog within a week. Then he could focus on pushing his power level higher.
A knock interrupted his thoughts.
"Come in," Smith called out.
Fox entered, Pepper Potts following behind him. "Boss, Ms. Potts is here to see you."
Smith nodded, and Fox quietly exited, closing the door behind him.
"Please, sit down." Smith gestured to the chair across from his desk.
As Pepper settled into the seat, Smith smiled. "We just saw each other this morning. What brings you back so soon?"
Pepper reached into her bag. "Tony wanted me to personally deliver something. A thank you for your help."
She produced a compact device, sleek and clearly Stark-designed. "This is Friday. An artificial intelligence. Tony asked me to give her to you."
Smith's eyebrows rose as he leaned forward to examine the device more closely. "This is an AI?"
Pepper shook her head. "This contains part of Friday's subroutines, but running her properly requires significant infrastructure. The server equipment alone takes up an entire floor."
She set the device on Smith's desk. "If you activate Friday using only this, she'll still be running off the equipment and computing power at Stark Industries. Which means Tony would have access to everything you do with her. All your data, all your secrets."
She met his eyes. "Tony said once you have a location prepared to receive the full system, he'll have everything delivered and installed."
Smith picked up the device, turning it over in his hands. So this was just a shell without the proper hardware behind it. He'd need to designate substantial space in his base for the server infrastructure.
Still, even incomplete, Bulma could examine this. Maybe even modify it, improve it, make it truly his own.
"Tell Tony I appreciate his generosity," Smith said, carefully placing the device in his desk drawer. "I accept."
He stood, extending his hand. "I'll see you at the board meeting in three days."
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