Osman gave a small nod when no one objected to the eting beginning that way.
"Good," she said.
Her tone remained calm and professional, but there was a quiet confidence behind it. She was clearly used to running etings and having people listen.
The holographic displays floating beside her remained active, casting soft blue light across the room.
Before continuing, she looked around the table.
"First," she said, "I would like each of you to introduce yourselves properly."
Tony imdiately raised a hand.
"I can do that."
Osman gestured for him to continue.
Tony pointed a thumb toward himself.
"I am Tony Stark. Iron Man."
Osman nodded once.
Tony then pointed toward Tanya.
"She is Tanya Degurechaff. A soldier of the Empire."
Tanya gave a small nod, nothing more. No smile, no added explanation, just a quiet, controlled acknowledgnt.
Osman's gaze lingered on her for a mont. The young girl matched her description perfectly. Even while seated, she carried herself with the posture of a trained soldier, composed and disciplined in a way that didn't feel forced.
But the fact that she was a soldier, and so young, didn't seem to provoke much of a reaction. After everything they had already learned, about people arriving from another universe, that detail no longer stood out as especially shocking. Compared to that reality, it simply beca another fact to accept.
Tony moved on.
"She is Diana Prince."
He pointed toward Diana.
"Wonder Woman. A demigod."
Diana nodded politely.
"Pleasure to et you."
Osman maintained her professional expression, though she noticed one of the ONI specialists beside her imdiately adding notes.
Demigod.
That was not a word people used casually.
Whether it was literal or symbolic remained to be seen.
Tony then pointed toward Naruto.
"He is Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto imdiately gave a thumbs up.
"I'm a ninja."
Tony laughed lightly.
"I was getting to that."
Naruto grinned.
Osman studied him briefly.
The reports on Naruto Uzumaki had been unusual, to say the least. Even in ONI's assessnts, his speed alone had already been enough to raise concern and surprise among the analysts, marking him as far beyond what they had initially expected.
Tony continued.
"She is Mindy Macready."
Mindy blinked.
Then looked at him.
"That's it?"
Tony pointed toward Saeko.
"She is Saeko. A swordswoman."
Mindy imdiately sat upright.
"Hey."
Nobody responded.
"Seriously?"
Tony ignored her completely.
Mindy folded her arms.
"That's rude."
Naruto tried not to laugh.
He failed.
Saeko simply smiled into her tea.
Tony moved on.
Finally, he pointed toward Gaius.
"He is Gaius Maximor Thassor."
The room grew slightly quieter.
"He is a Space Marine. And a Praetor. He holds unparalleled authority."
Gaius gave a single nod.
Nothing more.
Osman paused.
Longer than she had for anyone else.
Space Marine.
Praetor.
Neither term ant anything to her yet, but the weight in Tony's tone mattered more than the words.
The ONI specialist beside her was already writing faster.
Osman did not look at him, but she knew what that ant: classification escalation.
She filed it away.
Questions could wait.
Right now, she needed structure.
She raised one hand.
The holographic displays shifted, reorganizing into clean categories.
Technical Capability.
dical Systems.
Manufacturing.
Energy Production.
Mobility.
Strategic Doctrine.
"Then let's get started," Osman said. "We begin with what is useful. Not what is impressive."
Tony imdiately smiled.
"Those are rarely the sa thing."
A faint hint of amusent appeared in Osman's eyes.
"Sotis."
Her attention shifted.
"The first matter is dical technology."
The display changed.
UNSC casualty reports appeared.
Plasma burns.
Limb loss.
Field trauma projections.
Rehabilitation shortages.
Naruto's expression shifted imdiately. The casual energy faded.
Mindy stopped speaking entirely.
Diana leaned forward slightly.
"Humanity's dical systems remain effective," Osman said. "The problem is scale."
The casualty reports shifted.
"Once the Covenant begin attacking a world, casualty numbers can increase dramatically within hours."
New figures appeared across the display.
"Plasma trauma, limb loss, radiation exposure, and battlefield evacuation continue to consu significant resources."
Another report appeared beside it.
"Every soldier returned to duty faster is one less replacent that must be trained."
Osman looked around the room.
"If you possess thods that improve recovery rates, reduce treatnt ti, simplify prosthetic integration, or increase battlefield survival, that information has direct value."
Tony glanced at the data.
"Now that is a practical starting point."
Osman nodded.
"It is."
Tony leaned back slightly.
"Nanodical repair. Smart diagnostic systems. Portable trauma stabilization. Things that keep people alive until they reach proper care."
He didn't ntion his most valuable technology, the fabrication technology.
Osman made a note of it. She didn't think much of it yet, but that was fine. If they could get their hands on it, they could study it properly, and from there, they might be able to improve their own systems as well.
Across the table, Gaius remained silent.
But his attention sharpened.
dical systems were not glorious. They did not win wars.
They allowed wars to continue without collapsing the society behind them.
That was sothing he understood.
A commander who only counted victories and ignored logistics was a fool. Armies marched because supply lines endured. Empires survived because their wounded could return to duty. Every soldier saved was strength preserved.
Yet as he studied the data, sothing quieter settled within him.
He knew of the Imperium's dical systems.
Apothecaries.
Gene-seed preservation.
Augtics.
Rejuvenat treatnts.
The biological sciences of the chanicus.
But knowing that such things existed was not the sa as knowing how to create them.
He was a warrior.
A commander.
A Space Marine.
Not a Magos Biologis.
Not an Apothecary.
His hand moved unconsciously toward his chest.
Toward the presence residing there.
The fragnt of the Emperor.
His fingers rested against the ceramite over his heart.
A silent question.
For a mont, nothing happened.
Then, deep within his soul, sothing stirred.
A single, steady pulse.
Not words.
Not instruction.
Yet the aning was unmistakable.
There was knowledge.
Knowledge available to him, should he seek it.
Gaius remained motionless.
As a son of Guilliman and one who had studied beneath the Primarch's teachings, he understood better than most that the Emperor was no ordinary man.
The Master of Mankind had guided humanity for ages beyond counting.
A scientist.
A statesman.
A conqueror.
A visionary whose knowledge had shaped an empire spanning a million worlds.
If anyone possessed answers beyond his own understanding, it would be Him.
Across the table, Tanya spoke.
"Then the real question is whether those systems can be integrated into existing industrial infrastructure."
Tony pointed at her imdiately.
"Exactly. That is the real problem."
Osman tapped another control.
The hologram shifted again.
Engineering systems replaced dical data.
Ship components.
Reactor schematics.
Structural fraworks.
Tony's expression changed imdiately.
Interest sharpened.
Osman watched him closely.
Then she said, "Engineering."
Tony stepped forward half a pace.
Nanotech components unfolded from his wrist.
A compact system projected a larger holographic interface over the table.
"Big picture," Tony said.
Arc reactors.
Fabrication systems.
Field repair integration.
Modular deploynt.
One of the ONI specialists paused mid-note again.
Tony noticed and smirked slightly.
"And for the record," he added, "your equipnt isn't bad. But it still looks like it's built around the idea that the biggest gun in the room wins the war."
Marcus shifted slightly at that.
Osman's expression remained controlled.
But her attention sharpened again.
That statent was not wrong.
It was just uncomfortable.
Most UNSC doctrine still leaned heavily on overwhelming force.
Tony's perspective leaned elsewhere.
Flexibility.
Efficiency.
Adaptability.
Osman stored that distinction carefully.
Then she turned her gaze away from Tony.
Toward Naruto.
"What about you?"
Naruto blinked.
"What can you do?"
He hesitated.
Then scratched his head.
"I don't really know much about technology."
Osman's eyes flicked briefly to his clothing.
The black suit beneath the orange coat.
Naruto noticed.
"Oh—this?" he said quickly. "Tony made it."
Osman nodded slightly.
That confird another connection.
Tony was not just a participant in the group's equipnt.
He was a central source.
Her attention did not leave Naruto.
"Then may I ask what your abilities are?"
Naruto thought for a mont.
"I'm a ninja."
He raised two fingers.
"I can make Shadow Clones. Use Rasengan. And move really fast."
The ONI specialist recorded every word carefully.
Osman gave a small nod.
No request for demonstration yet.
That would co later.
Her gaze shifted to Mindy.
"What about you?"
Mindy answered without hesitation. "I'm quite ordinary. I just have unparalleled accuracy, and I can maintain deep focus."
Osman gave a small, acknowledging nod. She did not press further for the mont. Instead, she let her attention settle over the group as a whole.
"As you said earlier to Admiral Parangosky, each of you cos from different universes, yes?"
Tony nodded.
"Then I want to ask," Osman said calmly, her tone steady but precise, "what kind of universes are you from?"
Tony answered first.
" and Mindy are from the sa universe. Earth. Year 2012."
That imdiately drew a subtle lift of Osman's eyebrow.
"Are you speaking the truth?" she asked, her voice turning more formal, her gaze sharpening as she studied him closely.
Tony raised a hand slightly in a casual, almost joking gesture. "Of course it's true. Why would I lie?"
Osman held his gaze for a mont longer, then gave a small nod. On the surface, her expression remained controlled. Internally, however, the implication was difficult to ignore.
She had expected variation in technology, differences in advancent, perhaps even alternate developnt paths. But she had not expected a baseline civilization that, by their own historical standards, was still in its early industrial-to-modern transition phase.
Earth in 2012, as she understood it, had not even achieved routine interplanetary travel. At best, they had reached their own moon. Yet the man sitting in front of her carried technology that clearly surpassed ONI's current capabilities.
And it was not just possession.
It was invention.
That possibility had already been considered, but not fully accepted until now.
A second line of reasoning briefly ford: perhaps the technology was acquired from elsewhere, not created by him. That would be the more logical explanation given the existence of inter-universal movent.
So she asked, carefully, "Your technology, the nano systems and others… were they created by you?"
Tony's response ca without hesitation, almost with pride.
"Of course I made them. Who else could it be?"
Osman's earlier assumption collapsed again.
Even the ONI specialist beside her visibly adjusted his notes, the pace of his writing increasing.
This was no longer just classification of individuals with advanced equipnt. It was a shift in categorization entirely.
Osman updated her internal assessnt:
Subject is not only a user of advanced technology. Subject is a direct inventor operating far beyond the technological baseline of his stated origin.
Outwardly, she remained composed.
"Incredible," she said evenly. "To develop such systems from Earth in 2012 is highly significant."
Tony simply nodded, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Of course. I'm Tony Stark."
~~~
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