Chapter 1
Scott was sitting at the table, fiddling with the device he’d pulled off the suit as it was taken away.
“So… I don’t just remind you of your daughter, I am her…” Daisy asked Mrs. Stark.
The older woman sat quietly.
“My daughter died that day in 2004, same as my husband, same as the rest of my children. I don’t know who or what that is. Besides, right now, you might want to talk to Scott…”
Daisy walked over to where he was working and sat down next to him.
“What did Stark say to you?” Daisy asked.
“He gave me a list of demands. Items he wants from us, in exchange for sparing our Earth.”
“Well, that was gracious of him…”
“You’d think that till you know what he wants…”
“What?”
“A complete Diviner with crystal, Your dad’s formula, five tons of gravitonium… and the helicarrier.”
“Well… I.”
“And one other thing…” Scott said, looking up with face the basically ran the gambit of every negative emotion “He wants our baby…”
Daisy’s face when into shock.
“You told him no, right?”
Scott looked at her “I didn’t work my ass off to get you three back to give one of you up.”
“Three?”
“One” He pointed at her, putting his finger on her nose, “Two” he pointed at Skye, “three” he put his hand on Daisy’s abdomen where the baby way.
“I won’t let him anywhere near any of you.” He said, taking her hand.
“Scott… I’m sorry I was so…”
“Stop beating yourself up. You had cabin fever.” He said.
“You want cabin fever, try being in this hole for a week. I miss my Soaps already…” she said with a chuckle.
“How’ve you been feeling?” He asked.
“Well, I haven’t been throwing up, but I haven’t been eating like crazy like I was back home.”
“You’re not getting urges?”
“No, still getting them. Kill for a pepperoni slice right about now…”
“When we get home, I’ll buy you a whole pie…”
He leaned back and let her take a look at his work.
“OK, Tal, how’s it going?”
“I wish you wouldn’t call me that, Master.” The alien AI said.
“And I wish you wouldn’t call me Master, but we can’t have everything we want, now can we.”
“Tallus? Where were you this whole time?” Daisy asked
“I was locked away in a safe hidden aboard the zephyr, Mistress Daisy.”
“I wanted him kept safe. Away from the black suits who might try to confiscate him” Scott finished “So, you done yet?”
“Almost.” It said “I’ve completed mainline integration to the device and it’s components. Heavy integration will require more time. But the device will be usable in a few minutes. However, I will need to be in proximity for the system to work.”
“IS there a way around that?”
“Possibly…” Tallus replied.
“So… what’s that other me like?” Daisy asked.
Scott let out a laugh. “You really don’t want to know. She was an absolute asshole to me the entire time. But given what I know now, that makes sense.”
Mrs. Stark sat down across from the couple.
“I don’t mean to be intruding, dears, but… My husband is going to want an answer soon.”
“You can tell him he can go to hell.” Scott said before Daisy jabbed him in the gut.
“She says he can hear her.”
“You’re infected?” Scott asked, sliding the device close to him.
“No, I have an implant. Keeps me from being infected and still allows me to be with him.”
“Well, that’s unsettling.” Scott said.
“Don’t worry. I haven’t been sharing anything with him since you arrived.”
“You don’t want him to succeed?”
“Let’s just say…” She began before her voice dropped a few dozen octaves and took on an unearthly tone. “… that implant does several different things…”
Scott’s eyes went wide as he recognized the voice “Evolt…”