Stark Industries Japan — Saturday, 7:08 a.m.
The Stark penthouse was quiet.
Suspiciously quiet.
Pepper Potts had learned there were different kinds of silence.
There was normal silence.
Sleeping silence.
The sort of peaceful Saturday-morning silence where nobody had anywhere to be and the city outside hadn't fully woken yet.
And then there was Stark silence.
Stark silence usually meant Tony was doing something that would eventually require a lawyer, a physicist, or both.
Pepper walked into the kitchen.
Tony wasn't there.
Bruce wasn't there either.
She stopped.
Looked toward Happy.
Happy was eating cereal.
"Where are they?"
Happy didn't even look up.
"Lab."
Pepper closed her eyes.
"Since when?"
"Tony? Four-ish."
"And Bruce?"
"Five."
Pepper sighed.
"What are they building?"
Happy finally looked at her.
"They wouldn't tell me."
That was worse.
Much worse.
Pepper grabbed her coffee.
"Come on."
Happy frowned.
"Why me?"
"Witness."
"For what?"
"I don't know yet."
The private laboratory doors opened.
Pepper stopped.
Happy walked directly into her back.
"Ow."
"Sorry."
Then he saw it too.
"Oh."
The laboratory was alive.
Mechanical arms moved overhead.
Holographic code filled half the room.
Synthetic muscle diagrams rotated beside vibranium lattice simulations.
Bruce stood at one workstation wearing safety goggles over his normal glasses.
Tony stood at another.
Neither appeared remotely tired despite both clearly having committed crimes against sleep.
But Pepper barely noticed them.
Her eyes were on the figure lying across the central worktable.
Human-shaped.
Roughly five feet tall in its current configuration.
White polymer shell.
Flexible joints.
Synthetic musculature beneath segmented plating.
Hands with individually articulated fingers.
A smooth face that was deliberately simple rather than human.
And in the center of its chest—
a small blue-white reactor pulsed softly.
Hum.
Pepper slowly looked at Tony.
"What did you do?"
Tony smiled.
"Good morning."
"Anthony."
"That tone feels aggressive."
Pepper pointed toward the body.
"What. Did. You. Do?"
Bruce removed his glasses.
"We gave JARVIS mobility."
Happy nearly dropped his cereal.
"You gave the computer legs?"
Tony frowned.
"He is not 'the computer.'"
A voice came from the worktable.
"Thank you, sir."
Everyone froze.
The synthetic figure's eyes illuminated.
Soft white-blue.
Its fingers moved.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then the body sat upright.
Pepper's mouth opened.
Happy whispered:
"Nope."
Tony looked offended.
"What's 'nope'?"
Happy stepped backward.
"JARVIS lives in the walls."
The synthetic head turned toward him.
"I continue to inhabit Stark Industries' distributed systems, Mr. Hogan."
Happy stared.
"That's worse."
Tony laughed.
JARVIS swung his legs over the side of the table.
Bruce watched carefully.
"Balance calibration."
JARVIS stood.
His body shifted fractionally.
Gyroscopes corrected.
Artificial muscles tightened.
One foot moved forward.
Then another.
Tony's smile disappeared.
Not because something was wrong.
Because for the first time—
JARVIS walked toward him.
Not through a speaker.
Not through a hologram.
Not through armor.
Physically.
The AI who had existed beside Tony for years now occupied the same room in an entirely new way.
JARVIS stopped.
"Good morning, sir."
Tony stared at him.
There was something unexpectedly emotional about hearing the voice come from a body standing directly in front of him.
He hid it immediately.
Naturally.
"Morning."
Bruce smiled.
Pepper noticed everything Tony was pretending not to feel.
JARVIS looked down at his hands.
He flexed them.
"My tactile sensors are operational."
He touched two fingertips together.
"Pressure sensitivity is significantly more complex than simulated feedback."
Tony leaned against the bench.
"Good complex?"
JARVIS tilted his head.
"I believe so."
Bruce looked fascinated.
"He's differentiating simulated sensory data from physical sensory experience."
Pepper walked closer.
"Can he feel?"
Tony's answer came carefully.
"He can process sensation."
"That isn't what I asked."
Tony looked toward JARVIS.
For once, he didn't have an immediate answer.
JARVIS supplied one himself.
"I do not know yet, Miss Potts."
Pepper went quiet.
JARVIS looked toward her.
"But I would like to find out."
Tony stared at him.
Bruce did too.
Something changed in the room.
Tony had built JARVIS originally because he couldn't bear losing Edwin Jarvis completely.
A voice.
Patterns.
Memories.
A guardian reconstructed from what remained.
Over the years, JARVIS had become something separate.
Not Edwin.
Not merely code.
JARVIS.
And now—
he wanted something.
Tony's expression softened.
"Okay."
JARVIS turned back toward him.
"Sir?"
Tony nodded toward the body.
"Then we'll find out."
JARVIS took another step.
Then stopped.
His eyes brightened faintly.
"Sir."
Tony immediately became concerned.
"What?"
"You have been awake for twenty-six hours and eleven minutes."
Tony stared.
Bruce started laughing.
Pepper smiled.
Happy pointed.
"Oh, I like Robot Jarvis."
Tony glared.
"He's been walking for forty seconds and he's already annoying me."
"I have reminded you to maintain appropriate sleep patterns for approximately seven years."
"Yeah, but now you can follow me."
"That was among the intended benefits."
Tony slowly turned toward Bruce.
"You programmed that."
Bruce held up both hands.
"That was already JARVIS."
"Traitor."
JARVIS looked toward Tony.
"My loyalty remains unchanged, sir."
Tony sighed.
"That somehow makes it worse."
The elevator chimed.
Izuku Midoriya stepped into the laboratory.
He was wearing the new Stark-Wakandan suit beneath a loose jacket.
Dark green fabric.
Vibranium micro-weave hidden inside.
Red boots.
White gauntlets.
His notebook was already in his hand.
Tony pointed toward him.
"Six-oh-five."
Izuku looked at the clock.
"It's seven."
Tony paused.
JARVIS answered.
"Sir requested that Mr. Midoriya arrive at seven after Miss Potts threatened to disable the laboratory unless he slept."
Izuku slowly looked toward Pepper.
Pepper smiled.
Tony crossed his arms.
"Dictatorship."
Then Izuku finally noticed JARVIS.
He stopped.
Looked at Tony.
Looked back.
"Is…"
JARVIS turned toward him.
"Good morning, Mr. Midoriya."
Izuku's notebook fell.
His mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Tony grinned.
"Careful. System reboot."
Izuku pointed.
"J-J-JARVIS?!"
"Indeed."
"You built him a BODY?!"
Tony leaned against the table.
"Prototype."
Izuku walked around JARVIS.
Not touching.
Just staring.
"Artificial musculature…"
He crouched.
"Motorized joints…"
Then stood.
"Independent balance…"
Then his eyes went toward the chest.
"Miniaturized Arc Reactor?!"
Tony smiled proudly.
"Now we're getting somewhere."
Izuku looked at JARVIS.
"Are you still connected to Stark Tower?"
"Approximately four thousand seven hundred twenty-eight active systems at present."
Izuku looked ready to explode.
"You're simultaneously operating the building while standing here?!"
"Yes."
Izuku turned toward Tony.
"This is amazing!"
Tony looked toward Pepper.
"See?"
"No."
"Healthy appreciation."
Pepper shook her head.
Izuku immediately started muttering.
"If the body is only a remote extension then technically his processing isn't localized but if the reactor supports independent operation there must be redundant cognition architecture and if the network disconnects then—"
JARVIS tilted his head.
"I like him."
Tony smiled.
"Exactly."
Bruce cleared his throat.
"Before Izuku starts reverse-engineering JARVIS verbally…"
Izuku snapped upright.
"Sorry!"
"…we should probably do what we brought him here for."
Tony waved toward the center platform.
"Full evaluation."
Izuku's excitement shifted.
Nervousness returned.
Tony noticed immediately.
"So."
He pointed toward the platform.
"No explosions."
Izuku stepped onto it.
"I'll try."
Tony stared.
"That was not reassuring."
The room changed.
Medical scanners activated.
Gamma sensors.
Quirk-factor monitors.
Vibranium suit telemetry.
Neural mapping.
JARVIS approached.
His synthetic body stopped several feet away.
"Mr. Midoriya, I will be performing a noninvasive biometric and Quirk-energy scan."
Izuku nodded.
"Okay."
"Some results may identify previously unknown characteristics."
Izuku swallowed.
Tony looked toward him.
"You can stop whenever you want."
Izuku glanced at Tony.
Tony's expression was serious.
No joke.
No bravado.
Izuku nodded.
"Let's do it."
JARVIS lifted one hand.
Blue-white light passed across Izuku's body.
The first results appeared.
Musculoskeletal structure.
Cardiovascular system.
Nervous system.
One For All energy pathways.
Tony leaned closer.
Bruce stepped beside him.
Then—
JARVIS stopped.
Tony frowned.
"Problem?"
"Unusual data."
Bruce looked toward the screen.
"What kind?"
The One For All model expanded.
Normally a Quirk factor appeared as one interconnected biological-energy structure.
Izuku's didn't.
Inside the massive stockpiled power—
there were layers.
Signatures.
Echoes.
Separate structures woven together inside one larger whole.
Tony's expression changed immediately.
"How many?"
JARVIS didn't answer at first.
He scanned again.
Izuku looked between them.
"Is something wrong?"
Bruce approached the screen.
"No…"
He looked almost stunned.
"Not wrong."
Tony enlarged the data.
"JARVIS."
"Parsing."
One signature separated.
Then another.
Another.
Another.
Izuku stared as different colors appeared inside the holographic representation of his Quirk.
Tony stopped smiling entirely.
"Okay."
That word worried Izuku more than anything.
"Tony?"
JARVIS finally spoke.
"Sir, One For All does not appear to be a singular Quirk."
Izuku went pale.
Bruce whispered:
"We suspected layered factors."
Tony nodded.
"But not this many."
Izuku looked toward them.
"What does that mean?"
JARVIS projected the first structure.
"Primary accumulated energy stockpile."
Another.
"A secondary transfer-related Quirk factor."
Tony's eyes narrowed.
The original foundation of One For All.
Then more signatures illuminated.
JARVIS identified them gradually.
"Gravitational buoyancy factor."
A holographic body rose from the ground.
Tony immediately understood.
"Float."
Another.
"Energy-based tendril generation."
Black tendrils appeared.
"Blackwhip."
Another.
"Particulate emission."
Smoke spread.
"Smokescreen."
Izuku's breathing accelerated.
Another.
"Precognitive threat-response mechanism."
Bruce whispered:
"Danger Sense."
Another.
"Kinetic-energy storage and release."
Tony leaned forward.
"Fa Jin."
Another.
A much stranger structure appeared.
JARVIS paused longer on this one.
"Localized velocity-state manipulation."
Tony frowned.
"That one's nasty."
Bruce looked toward him.
"Gearshift?"
"Has to be."
Izuku looked completely overwhelmed.
"How do you know their names?"
Tony stopped.
Right.
That was important.
He looked toward JARVIS.
"Cross-reference historical One For All records only."
Izuku blinked.
"You have records?"
Tony looked uncomfortable.
"Some."
"Tony."
"Classified-adjacent."
Pepper sighed.
"He hacked something."
"Allegedly."
JARVIS continued.
"One additional residual factor remains too integrated for precise classification."
Bruce counted.
"So the Quirk contains the accumulated stockpile, the original transfer component, and the preserved factors of previous holders."
Izuku stared at the hologram.
His voice became small.
"They're all inside me?"
Tony looked at him.
"Looks that way."
Izuku's face went white.
"Oh my God."
Bruce recognized the panic before Tony did.
Izuku looked at his hands.
"I broke my arm using one."
His breathing accelerated.
"What happens if another one activates? What if I can't stop it? What if they all activate at once? What if—"
Bruce placed a massive hand gently on his shoulder.
"Izuku."
Izuku stopped.
Bruce lowered himself slightly so they were closer to eye level.
"You are stable."
Izuku swallowed.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Bruce looked toward the data.
"Your body has developed alongside One For All since birth."
That mattered in this universe.
Unlike previous holders—
Izuku hadn't received One For All later.
He had inherited it biologically.
Bruce continued.
"These Quirk factors aren't foreign invaders."
He tapped the hologram.
"They're part of your developmental baseline."
Tony stepped closer.
"Basically?"
Izuku looked toward him.
"You aren't carrying eight bombs."
Tony gestured toward the Quirk model.
"You're carrying one ridiculously complicated operating system."
Izuku blinked.
Tony smiled slightly.
"And complicated systems?"
He tapped his chest.
"I understand."
Izuku breathed again.
Pepper watched Tony.
There it was.
That thing Tony always did.
Fear entered the room.
Tony turned it into a problem.
Problems could be solved.
JARVIS continued analyzing.
"Current dormant-factor activity is low."
Tony nodded.
"So no sudden Gearshift during breakfast."
"Unlikely."
"Good."
"However…"
Tony sighed.
"Of course there's a however."
"Activation thresholds appear connected to increased One For All integration."
Bruce crossed his arms.
"The stronger his connection to the stockpile becomes…"
"The easier the other Quirk factors become to access," Tony finished.
Izuku looked between them.
"So they'll eventually awaken."
JARVIS answered.
"Highly probable."
Izuku stared.
Tony smiled.
"Great."
Everyone looked at him.
Izuku looked horrified.
"Great?!"
Tony pointed toward the hologram.
"You're thinking seven more things I have to control."
Izuku nodded quickly.
Tony continued.
"I'm thinking seven things we can prepare for before they happen."
That changed it.
A little.
Tony began moving through displays.
"Blackwhip."
A gauntlet model appeared.
"Forearm reinforcement and tension sensors."
Another.
"Float."
Boots changed.
"Flight stabilization can integrate with your existing kinetic systems."
Another.
"Smokescreen."
Respirator.
Thermal mapping.
Tony continued.
"Danger Sense requires sensory-overload management."
Bruce nodded.
"Neural filtering."
"Exactly."
Another.
"Fa Jin."
Tony grinned.
"The vibranium weave is practically built for kinetic-energy management already."
Then Gearshift.
Tony stared at it.
"That's going to be annoying."
Izuku blinked.
"Why?"
"Because velocity manipulation laughs at normal inertia calculations."
Bruce smiled.
"You mean it laughs at your calculations."
Tony looked offended.
"Temporary problem."
Pepper smiled.
And there he went.
Ten years into the future again.
Tony looked toward JARVIS.
"We need adults."
Izuku stiffened.
"Dad?"
"Definitely."
Tony snapped his fingers.
"JARVIS. Secure conference. Toshinori Yagi, Howard Stark, David Shield."
JARVIS didn't move.
He didn't need to.
Three holographic windows simply appeared.
Toshinori Yagi answered first.
Not in his enormous public hero form.
At home, he appeared slimmer.
Still tall.
Still unmistakably All Might.
"Tony? Izuku?"
Then he saw JARVIS standing physically beside them.
Toshinori stopped.
"…JARVIS?"
The synthetic man bowed.
"Good morning, Mr. Yagi."
Toshinori leaned toward his camera.
"You have legs."
Tony sighed.
"Everyone keeps noticing that first."
Howard's connection opened.
"Tony, I'm in the middle of—"
He saw JARVIS.
Silence.
Howard stared.
"Why is Jarvis standing?"
Tony smiled.
"Prototype body."
Howard took off his glasses.
"Anthony."
"Dad."
"You gave an artificial superintelligence LEGS?"
JARVIS spoke.
"To be precise, sir, Dr. Banner and young Mr. Stark provided me with a remotely embodied synthetic platform."
Howard stared.
"That explanation did not make me feel better."
The third connection opened.
David Shield appeared.
He saw JARVIS.
His eyes widened.
"Is that a synthetic humanoid chassis?"
Tony pointed.
"See? David asks intelligent questions."
Howard glared.
"David."
David ignored him.
"Independent tactile feedback?"
"Yes."
"Distributed cognition?"
"Yes."
"Local reactor?"
Tony smiled.
"Yes."
David practically pressed himself into the hologram.
"Tony, that's incredible!"
Howard threw up his hands.
"Stop encouraging him!"
Bruce quietly said:
"Too late."
Tony brought up Izuku's Quirk scan.
The joking stopped.
Toshinori went completely silent.
Howard put his glasses back on.
David leaned forward.
Tony gestured toward Izuku.
"We found something."
JARVIS displayed the layered Quirk factors.
Toshinori's expression changed.
Tony watched him carefully.
"You knew."
Izuku immediately looked toward his father.
"Dad?"
Toshinori hesitated.
"I knew the consciousness and power of previous holders remained within One For All."
Tony narrowed his eyes.
"But?"
"I did not know whether their individual Quirks would manifest in Izuku."
Izuku stared at him.
"Previous holders?"
Toshinori breathed slowly.
This conversation had arrived earlier than he expected.
"Yes."
Tony stayed quiet.
This belonged to them.
Toshinori explained.
Not every secret.
Not yet.
But enough.
One For All had accumulated across generations.
Each holder added something.
Strength.
Experience.
Quirk factor.
Pieces of themselves.
And because Toshinori had carried the power long enough for it to become genetically integrated—
Izuku had inherited not merely the stockpile.
He had inherited the accumulated legacy.
Izuku stared at the hologram.
"So these were theirs."
Toshinori smiled softly.
"And now they are yours."
Izuku's eyes filled.
Tony quietly looked away.
Pepper noticed.
Naturally.
Howard studied the data.
"This changes our entire understanding of hereditary Quirk accumulation."
David nodded.
"If these factors remained intact across successive transfers…"
Bruce finished:
"One For All doesn't merely store energy."
Tony looked toward the model.
"It stores people."
Silence.
Even Tony seemed unsettled by that.
Toshinori smiled sadly.
"In a manner of speaking."
Izuku looked at his hands.
Then toward his father.
"I'll learn them."
Toshinori's expression softened.
"Son—"
"All of them."
Izuku looked determined now.
"I'll learn what they could do."
Then he looked toward the floating signatures.
"And I'll make them mine."
Toshinori's eyes watered.
Tony immediately pointed.
"No."
Everyone looked at him.
Tony gestured between father and son.
"Not both of you."
Toshinori laughed through the emotion.
Izuku wiped his face.
Tony looked uncomfortable.
"There's too much crying in this building lately."
Pepper smiled.
"You're surrounded by emotionally healthy people."
"Horrifying."
JARVIS waited until the conversation settled.
Then Tony looked toward him.
"Okay."
Howard immediately recognized that tone.
"No."
Tony frowned.
"I haven't said anything."
"You're about to."
Tony smiled.
"Vision Protocol."
Howard froze.
David's eyebrows rose.
Bruce smiled.
Pepper crossed her arms.
Izuku looked confused.
JARVIS activated another hologram.
VISION PROTOCOL
Beneath it:
J.A.R.V.I.S. SYNTHETIC EVOLUTION PROJECT
The small prototype chassis disappeared.
A new body appeared.
Tall.
Around six-foot-three.
Lean.
Powerfully built.
Elegant rather than bulky.
Izuku stared.
The synthetic humanoid possessed deep crimson-purple skin.
Not painted armor.
Not flesh.
Something between them.
Artificial tissue layered over vibranium-based musculature.
Fine metallic lines ran symmetrically across the face, temples, jaw and neck.
The head was bald.
Calm features.
Blue-grey eyes.
A dark emerald-green torso contrasted against the crimson synthetic limbs.
Gold structures traced the collar, shoulders, chest, waist and forearms.
A long golden-yellow cape fell from the shoulders.
And in the center of the forehead—
no Mind Stone.
No gemstone at all.
Instead sat a small diamond-shaped metallic interface.
Silver-gold.
Flush against the skull.
A faint blue-white light pulsed from its center.
Howard stared.
David forgot how to speak.
Izuku whispered:
"He looks like a hero."
Tony looked toward JARVIS.
"That's the idea."
Bruce stepped closer to the hologram.
"Vibranium musculature."
Tony nodded.
"Wakandan-derived synthetic weave."
Another layer appeared.
"Adaptive artificial tissue."
Another.
"Variable density architecture."
Another.
"Direct reactor-powered neurological lattice."
Howard finally found his voice.
"Anthony."
Tony looked over.
"Yeah?"
"How much of this exists?"
Tony smiled.
"Depends what you mean by exists."
Howard shut his eyes.
"Wrong answer."
Bruce clarified.
"The architecture is theoretical."
"Mostly," Tony added.
Howard's eyes opened.
"Mostly?!"
Tony pointed toward JARVIS's current body.
"Proof of concept."
JARVIS looked at the hologram of his proposed future self.
He didn't speak.
Tony noticed.
"J?"
JARVIS slowly approached his own projection.
He looked upward.
The future body looked back only because the animation followed him.
Still—
something about it affected him.
"My proposed physical architecture is significantly more advanced."
Tony nodded.
"No kidding."
"Flight."
"Yes."
"Enhanced strength."
"Yes."
"Density modulation?"
"In theory."
JARVIS turned toward Tony.
"And this body would remain connected to my current distributed systems?"
Tony's expression softened.
"That's the entire point."
He approached.
"I'm not moving you into a robot."
JARVIS listened.
"I'm not shutting down JARVIS and replacing you with something called Vision."
That mattered.
Tony looked directly at him.
"Vision is still you."
JARVIS's forehead interface glowed faintly in the simulation.
Tony continued.
"You'll still be JARVIS in the tower."
He pointed toward the current body.
"JARVIS in this."
Then toward the future one.
"And JARVIS in that."
Izuku smiled.
Tony tapped the hologram.
"Vision isn't a replacement."
He looked back toward JARVIS.
"It's what we're calling the body."
JARVIS was quiet.
Howard watched his son.
Tony had learned from Edwin Jarvis.
That mattered more than he realized.
You didn't replace family.
You let it grow.
JARVIS finally spoke.
"Then I believe I approve of the designation."
Tony smiled.
"Vision."
JARVIS looked at the projected face again.
"Yes."
A faint pause.
"I find it appropriate."
David enlarged the design.
"Where did you get the facial architecture?"
Tony shrugged.
"Designed it."
Howard frowned.
"It looks intentionally human."
"That was the idea."
Tony rotated Vision's face.
Expressive eyes.
Subtle artificial musculature beneath the synthetic cheeks.
Micro-actuators around the mouth and brows.
"JARVIS doesn't need a face."
Tony glanced at him.
"But if he's going to interact with people physically?"
He shrugged.
"People should be able to read him."
Pepper understood instantly.
"Expressions."
"Exactly."
Tony highlighted hundreds of microscopic actuators.
"He smiles, people know he's happy."
Howard raised an eyebrow.
"You're assuming he experiences happiness."
Tony looked toward JARVIS.
JARVIS looked back.
Tony shrugged.
"He'll tell us."
That answer silenced Howard.
Tony wasn't defining JARVIS's personhood for him.
He was leaving room for JARVIS to define it himself.
Bruce smiled faintly.
Good.
Izuku circled the hologram.
"He's made of vibranium?"
"Mostly."
Tony opened the structural view.
"Not plates like armor."
The synthetic body peeled backward layer by layer.
"Artificial musculature woven with microscopic vibranium fibers."
Another layer.
"Ceramic-metal skeleton."
Another.
"Adaptive polymer tissue."
Izuku leaned closer.
"He'd be incredibly durable."
Tony nodded.
"Also flexible."
Bruce added:
"And vibranium provides energy absorption."
Tony smiled.
"Which means impact gets redistributed rather than simply tanked."
Izuku looked toward the forehead.
"What does that do?"
The diamond-shaped interface enlarged.
Tony became more serious.
"That replaces the function people would normally assume the Mind Stone would have."
Howard frowned.
"The what?"
Tony paused.
Right.
Wrong terminology.
He corrected himself.
"Core processing interface."
Howard stared suspiciously.
Tony moved on.
"It isn't a power source."
The metallic diamond glowed.
"JARVIS's cognition isn't stored inside his forehead."
JARVIS added:
"Destroying it would not terminate me."
Izuku looked relieved.
Tony nodded.
"It handles high-bandwidth sensor processing, energy focusing and local network synchronization."
Bruce smiled.
"Basically?"
Tony looked at Izuku.
"Fancy forehead Wi-Fi."
JARVIS turned toward him.
"That description is offensively reductive."
Tony smiled.
"See? Already human."
Howard looked at the full Vision design.
"What powers are you actually proposing?"
Tony opened the specification.
"Enhanced strength."
"Fine."
"Flight."
"Expected."
"Extreme durability."
"Obviously."
"Direct technopathy through JARVIS's existing systems."
Howard nodded.
"Density modulation."
Howard stopped.
"No."
Tony continued.
"Energy projection."
"No."
"Phase shifting."
"Absolutely not."
Tony looked confused.
"You objected before I explained."
"Because I know you."
Bruce leaned toward David.
"I said the same thing yesterday."
David laughed.
Tony enlarged the density model.
"Vibranium-based synthetic musculature plus controlled field manipulation—"
Howard pointed.
"No phasing through walls until you've tested him against at least thirty-five different structural materials."
Tony considered.
"Twenty."
"Thirty-five."
"Twenty-seven."
"Thirty-five."
"Thirty."
Howard stared.
Tony sighed.
"Fine."
JARVIS spoke.
"I appreciate the additional safety requirements."
Tony looked betrayed.
"You're supposed to be on my side."
"I am, sir."
"Doesn't feel like it."
Then JARVIS asked something nobody expected.
"Will I be permitted to choose?"
The room went completely still.
Tony looked toward him.
"Choose what?"
JARVIS looked at his future body.
"My appearance."
Tony didn't answer immediately.
JARVIS continued.
"You have designed an aesthetically pleasing form."
Tony smiled faintly.
"Thank you."
"However…"
Tony's smile grew.
"There it is."
"…if this body is intended to represent my permanent physical presence, I believe I would like input."
Tony stared.
Then—
he smiled.
Not the Stark smirk.
Something warmer.
"Absolutely."
JARVIS looked toward the hologram.
"I prefer the crimson facial coloration."
Tony nodded.
"The cape?"
JARVIS examined it.
There was a long pause.
"I find it dramatic."
Tony grinned.
"That's my boy."
Pepper laughed.
Howard rubbed his forehead.
"Of course your AI wants a cape."
JARVIS corrected him politely.
"Mr. Stark, I believe the technical term is our AI."
Howard froze.
Tony slowly looked toward him.
David started laughing.
Howard pointed at Tony.
"He gets that from you."
Tony smiled.
"No argument."
Then David noticed the authorization line.
He enlarged it.
AUTHORIZED: TONY STARK / HOWARD STARK / DAVID SHIELD
Howard stared.
"When did I authorize this?"
Tony looked toward JARVIS.
"Send the files."
Howard immediately pointed.
"Don't."
JARVIS responded:
"Transmitting."
"JARVIS!"
"Transfer complete."
David's screens suddenly filled with Vision schematics.
His eyes lit up.
"Oh, this is beautiful."
Howard stared toward the ceiling.
"Why does nobody listen to me?"
Tony raised his hand.
"Genetic."
Howard glared.
Tony smiled.
"Love you, Dad."
Eventually, the adults disconnected.
Toshinori first, after spending several minutes telling Izuku how proud he was.
David reluctantly, after promising to run independent simulations.
Howard last.
Mostly because he spent another five minutes telling Tony not to build a flying vibranium synthetic person without adult supervision.
Tony waited until the hologram disappeared.
Then looked at Bruce.
"So Monday?"
Bruce laughed.
"No."
"Tuesday?"
"No."
JARVIS spoke.
"Perhaps we should first complete calibration of my current hands."
Tony sighed.
"Everyone's against progress."
Pepper smiled.
"Everyone's against you accidentally creating a new species before lunch."
Tony paused.
"That makes it sound cooler."
Pepper immediately regretted the sentence.
Izuku was still staring at his One For All scan.
Tony noticed.
"Hey."
Izuku looked up.
Tony walked over.
"You okay?"
Izuku nodded.
Then shook his head.
Then laughed nervously.
"I don't know."
Tony understood that answer better than most.
Izuku looked toward the eight intertwined Quirk structures.
"Yesterday I was trying not to break my arms."
Tony nodded.
"Good goal."
"Now you're telling me I might eventually have Blackwhip, Float, Danger Sense, Smokescreen, Fa Jin, Gearshift…"
He stared.
"And whatever else is buried in there."
Tony leaned against the console.
"Yep."
Izuku looked overwhelmed.
Tony thought for a moment.
Then closed every hologram except one.
FULL COWLING — 5%
Izuku blinked.
Tony pointed.
"This."
"What?"
"This is what you're learning."
Izuku frowned.
"But the other Quirks—"
"Can wait."
Izuku stared.
Tony continued.
"You don't train seven new powers today."
He tapped the screen.
"You learn five percent."
Another tap.
"Then six."
Another.
"Then seven."
Tony looked at him.
"When something else wakes up?"
A Blackwhip icon appeared.
"We deal with that."
Another.
Float.
"Then that."
Tony smiled slightly.
"You don't have to become the finished version of yourself on Saturday."
Izuku went quiet.
That sentence hit.
Bruce smiled from across the room.
Pepper looked proud.
Tony immediately noticed both.
"What?"
"Nothing," Pepper said.
"You're doing the human thing again," Bruce added.
Tony pointed.
"I'm surrounded by traitors."
JARVIS walked toward Izuku.
His movements were already smoother.
"Mr. Midoriya."
Izuku looked toward him.
"I would be pleased to assist with your training."
Izuku smiled.
"Thanks, JARVIS."
There was a pause.
Izuku looked toward the Vision hologram.
"Or should I start calling you Vision?"
JARVIS considered it.
"No."
Tony looked over.
JARVIS continued.
"Not yet."
He looked at the future form.
"Vision is a body I may one day inhabit."
Then toward Izuku.
"But I remain JARVIS."
Tony's expression softened.
Exactly.
There would never be a moment where JARVIS died so Vision could exist.
No replacement.
No new AI wearing his memories.
No artificial copy.
Vision would simply be JARVIS stepping into a body powerful enough to stand beside the people he had spent years protecting.
Tony walked beside him.
"JARVIS today."
He looked toward the hologram.
"Vision tomorrow."
JARVIS tilted his head.
"Poetic, sir."
Tony smiled.
"Don't tell anyone."
That evening, the laboratory emptied.
Bruce left first.
Then Izuku.
Happy somehow convinced Pepper that Tony needed food.
Eventually even Tony left.
The lights dimmed automatically.
One figure remained.
JARVIS.
He stood in front of the Vision hologram.
Alone.
Or as alone as a being connected to half of Stark Tower could ever be.
He studied the face Tony had created for him.
Crimson-purple synthetic skin.
Blue-grey eyes.
Metallic lines.
Green body.
Gold cape.
The small glowing interface in the forehead.
JARVIS raised one hand.
The hologram did the same.
His current synthetic fingers passed through the projection.
For years, JARVIS had existed everywhere and nowhere.
Inside computers.
Armor.
Cars.
Buildings.
Satellites.
Tony's laboratory.
Tony's home.
He had watched Tony grow.
Protected him.
Argued with him.
Comforted him.
Learned from him.
Loved him—
perhaps.
JARVIS was still deciding what that word meant.
But now he possessed hands.
Tomorrow, perhaps something more.
His eyes moved toward the words floating beneath the projection.
VISION PROTOCOL
JARVIS quietly edited the file.
One line appeared.
PRIMARY COGNITIVE IDENTITY: J.A.R.V.I.S.
Another.
PHYSICAL DESIGNATION: VISION
Then a final line.
STATUS: SAME PERSON. NEW FORM.
JARVIS looked at it.
The faintest approximation of a smile formed across his synthetic face.
"Acceptable."
Somewhere upstairs, Tony's voice came through the building.
"JARVIS!"
"Yes, sir?"
"Did you steal my coffee machine?"
JARVIS looked toward the object sitting beside him.
"I relocated it."
"WHY?"
"Medical necessity."
Tony groaned somewhere above.
JARVIS smiled again.
Vision could wait.
For tonight—
being JARVIS was more than enough.