Stained (N.R)

Chapter 30

Steve furrowed his eyes in concentration as he carefully read through the files which we were meet to sign. Sam and Rhodes were bickering, and Tony was slouched over the sofa. 

"Secretary Ross has a COngressional Medal of Honour, which is one more than you have." Rhodes flailed his arms in the air. 

"So let's say we agree to this thing. How long is it gonna be before they lojack us like a bunch of common criminals."Sam argued back.

"117 countries want to sign this, Sam, and you're just like, 'no that's cool, we got it?'" Rhodes was incredulous. 

"How long are you gonna play both sides?" Sam crossed his arms, angry. 

"I have an equation." The dreamy voice of Vision popped up from nowhere, he looked round at us. 

"Go on." Sam clearly thinks the robot is on his side. "This will clear it up."

"In the eight years since Mr Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. And during the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen as a commensurate rate."

"Or perhaps." I butted in. "Because we are not government controlled and founded and has our own database, we are able to know more from what the higher ups are trying to hide from us."

"Yet the causality maybe that our very strength invites challenge. Challenge invites conflict. And conflicts... breeds catastrophe. Oversight. Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand." Vision explained. 

"Boom!" Rhodes twisted his head. 

"If you give a study of human mind, Crime, conflict and challenge happens usually when a human being is not satisfied of his or her portion of resources which have been obtained. Think about Loki for instance, about HYDRA. Challenging us because of our fame maybe a factor, yet a small one. We can only say that as we developed, our enemies developed too. 

When Tony thought that his technology was enough as a protection, this mindset is challenged as our enemies have been developing too. Because these events did not happen, we cannot randomly assume causality. This mindset would only lead to self doubt, and therefore destruction." I stared at Rhodes in the eye as I said this, channeling it more towards him than to Vision, whom, I know, is constantly changing his analysis of the situation we are in.

"Aha!" Sam countered. 

"You are very wise, Ms Dreykov." The robot said after a few moments of silence. "Yet the only thing which is sure of now, is that if we do not sign the contract, disaster follows."

"Tony?" Natalia asked, drawing my attention to the man who was slumped on the sofa, a hand over his eyes. He let his hand slide as he heard his name. "You are being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal."

"It's because he's already made up his mind." Steve flipped a page of the accords, 

"Boy, you know me so well.Tony stood up, rounding on Cap. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Cap, it's just pain... It's discomfort." 

He walked to the small kitchen island next to them, peering into it with a disgusted face. "Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?"

He casted the photo of a young man on a holographic screen, half nonchalant, but Katyusha knew him well enough to notice that he was upset. "That's Charles Spencer, by the way." Tony started. "He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA, had a floor-level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul before he parked it behind a desk."