The atmosphere in the boardroom of Stark Industries was thick with tension and the smell of expensive espresso. Since the Department of Defense lawsuit, the board had been in a state of flux.
As the shareholders filed in, Tony Stark stood at the head of the mahogany table, looking over the digital registry. His eyes widened slightly as he scrolled to the top of the list. After his own 45% controlling interest, a single name held a staggering 28.2% of the company: Umbrella. He hadn't even had time to process the name before the doors opened.
Aryan walked in, looking relaxed, wearing a tailored charcoal suit that screamed quiet wealth. Beside him was Wanda, acting as his executive secretary.
Tony paused, his mouth slightly open, the digital tablet in his hand momentarily forgotten. He recognized them immediately. Ever since the second meeting of the Tarot Club, where the veils had been lifted and they had seen each other's true faces, Tony had known that Aryan and Wanda were players on a level he couldn't quite fathom.
But seeing them here, in the corporate reality of Stark Industries, was a different kind of shock. It was one thing to discuss the fate of the world in a mystical dimension; it was another to see that Aryan had been quietly devouring nearly a third of his empire while he was busy fighting off the Ten Rings and the Pentagon.
He looked at the registry again. He was now his most powerful business partner, standing in the boardroom with a calm expression. Beside him was Wanda, looking every bit the high-powered executive.
Tony wanted to laugh at the sheer brilliance of the play, but with thirty of the world's wealthiest investors watching for any sign of weakness, he maintained his composure. He forced a professional smirk and gave a slight nod—a silent acknowledgment between two men who shared secrets the rest of the room couldn't dream of.
The conversation was intense, the air in the room thick with the unspoken fear of men who had built their fortunes on the machinery of death. Several old-guard shareholders, their faces flushed with indignation, gripped the table as if it were a sinking ship.
"You're talking about dismantling decades of infrastructure, Tony!" one senior board member barked, his voice trembling. "Our military contracts are the backbone of this company. Without the missile programs, without the ballistics, we are just a research lab with a high overhead. You're committing corporate suicide!"
Tony stood slowly, with a flick of his wrist, he projected a rotating hologram of the Arc Reactor in the center of the table. The cool blue light washed over the skeptical faces of the board, illuminating their greed and their hesitation.
"Weapons are the past," Tony declared. "The era of the 'Merchant of Death' ended the moment I stepped out of Afghanistan. We aren't just a tech company anymore; we are the architects of a new world. We are the world's new power grid."
He tapped the hologram, and the display expanded to show a global map of cities illuminated by a clean energy source.
"Every war you've profited from was fought over resources that are now obsolete," Tony continued, his eyes locking onto the dissenters. "I am making those resources irrelevant. Stark Industries is moving from the business of ending lives to the business of powering them. If you want to keep selling bullets in a world that's moving toward the sun, find another company. But on my watch, the only thing we're launching is a future that doesn't need to bleed to keep the lights on."
Aryan sat in the second-most prominent chair, listening intently. Occasionally, he would lean over to Wanda, who whispered data points about the European energy markets and the stability of the transition. When it was his turn to speak as the second largest shareholder.
"Umbrella supports the Stark," Aryan stated. "The ROI on global energy independence far outweighs the messy margins of regional conflicts. My analysts have run the numbers; we are in for the long haul."
"Mr. Aryan," Tony said, "I see you've been quite busy. It's a rare thing to be surprised in my own boardroom, but Umbrella is a name I'm happy to see at the top of the list. Welcome to the table."
Aryan returned the nod, friendly glint in his eyes that only Tony would understand. "I liked the direction you were taking, Tony. I figured it was time to put the full weight of Umbrella behind a vision that actually matters."
With Aryan's 28.2% backing Tony's 45%, the motion passed instantly. The "Merchant of Death" was officially dead; the "God of Energy" was born.
Once the room cleared, Tony signaled for Aryan and Wanda to follow him into his private office. The moment the door hissed shut, Tony turned around, throwing his hands up.
"28.2 percent, Aryan? Seriously?" Tony turned around, grinning with a mix of shock and admiration. "I knew you were fast, but using a small firm like Aethelgard as a smoke screen while you moved Umbrella into my house? That's a masterclass. Most people buy a watch when they're impressed; you bought a seat next to the pilot."
Aryan chuckled, "After our last 'club' meeting, I knew your pivot to energy would be a war. I didn't want you fighting for funding while the military-industrial complex tried to starve you out."
Wanda stepped forward, her professional mask softening into a genuine smile. "And we thought you could use a partner who understands that 'clean energy' isn't just a corporate slogan—it's the foundation for the next century. We're here to make sure that foundation is solid."
"Speaking of foundations," Aryan said, shifting the topic smoothly as he handed Tony a silver-foiled invitation. "Umbrella is launching a new flagship information platform soon. It's called Google. I'm hosting the official unveiling at the New York Plaza, and I'd like you to be there as my guest of honor."
Tony took the invitation, flipping it over in his hands. He raised an eyebrow, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Google? What is that, a typo? Sounds like something a toddler would say. What happened to the era of strong, intimidating company names like 'Stark' or 'Umbrella'?"
Aryan chuckled, "It's actually a play on the mathematical term 'Googol'—which is a 1 followed by a hundred zeros. It represents the infinite nature of information. The goal isn't just to search; it's to organize the world's knowledge and make it universally accessible and useful. We're moving past static libraries and clunky databases, Tony. I want to create a world where any person, anywhere, can find the answer to any question in half a second."
Tony's expression shifted from amusement to genuine intrigue. As a man who spent his life processing data, he understood the sheer scale of what Aryan was proposing.
"Organizing the world's knowledge," Tony mused, looking at the logo on the card. "That's an ambitious bite to take, even for you. But if it's coming from the man who bought a third of my company overnight, I'm guessing it's more than just a digital encyclopedia. I'll be there. It'll be nice to be at a party where I'm not the one under the microscope for once."
Aryan smiled warmly. "I think you'll find the atmosphere much more refreshing than a DOD hearing. Besides, in a world that's changing this fast, the people who hold the map are just as important as the people building the roads."
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