[2] Taeyong Lee-Stark and the Dawn of New Change

01 - And you thought it was over

"Oh ho! And he made it in, give the man an award!"

"Yes well I'm just starting up my own research called Advanced Idea Mechanics," he practically preened. They say that in the first seven seconds of meeting someone you can already gauge an impression of them. Tony was a man that went with his gut, although in recent years he had learnt to start slowing things down.

Aldrich Killian was a short, shrug looking man that could probably rival Tony height if he had the confidence to stop slouching and putting himself in an inferior position. His glasses were askew and his hair was long, dirty blond and on the greasier side. Probably because of the alcohol but Tony had a feeling his energy was usually as overwhelming as the lack of boundaries he owned.

So in exactly seven seconds of seeing this man, Tony decided that a, he really just wanted to have sex with a pretty, brunette research chick from MIT and b, he wanted this Killian guy gone. It just so happened that within the seven seconds of meeting this man, Tony could tell he was desperate, and desperation was an emission the billionaire was very much aware of.

"I had two business cards if you'd like," he handed them over. Maya reached to take them both and Tony snorted.

"Yeah one to throw away and one so she won't call you."

Maya was still staring down at the business card and Tony felt himself roll his eyes internally. He plastered on a smile and looked down at the man's t-shirt. It even had his logo on it. "A.I.M.?"

"Yeah! The Advanced Idea Mechanics, but A.I.M. for short. I have a privately funded pitch of sorts on the ground floor and I really think it's going to go well."

The elevator made a soft ding as people started to flow out, Tony nodded off to Happy and watched him take Maya to his en suite. When Killian was just about to leave, Tony placed a hand on his chest, palm flat. "I like your idea."

"Yo-you do?"

"Of course," Tony lied. "There's something there and I can see it. Meet me on the rooftop in like 5 minutes. I think we can really hash it out there and who knows? You might find yourself with an investor."

"Ah- oh- Okay! Sure! Ri-right well, I'll see you then!"

Tony walked out of the elevator and headed to his room, "Sure you will."

***

"-if I'm right, we can access the right part of the brain that governs repair and chemically recode it." Maya explained, showing Tony her laptop and the research she had been producing.

Tony arched his brow, "wow I- uh, thought that was just a theory. That's incredible! Essentially, you're hacking into the generic-"

"Operating system of a living organism," they both finished together.

Maya grinned widely, "yes exactly!"

Happy, who had long since given up trying to understand what the two scientists were saying, was looking around Maya's suit. A bunch of plants in glowing, blue containers were sitting around her desk. Happy's hand went around to touch the leaves of one before Maya gave a startled warning.

"Don't touch that! My plant- you can't-" she looked back at Tony as if asking him to get his little bodyguard to shut down.

Tony shrugged at the offended look Happy gave them. "She has a plant thing. Just don't touch," taking Maya's hand, Tony got her to stand up and head to the bedroom. Maya looked back at Happy, giving him a last warning about the plants before she and Tony were sitting on the bed.

Happy, very characteristically, grabbed a twig from the plant and snapped it right off, throwing the thing away. A very unhappy pout sat on his lips as he walked away, trying to think about what to do in the meantime.